vehement, his voice loud, his laugh louder’ (Walpole, Mem. of the Reign of George II, ed. Holland, i. 340). He first made his mark in debate by his speech on 21 May 1753 in opposition to Hardwicke's proposed changes in the marriage law [see Yorke, Philip, first Earl of Hardwicke]. In the redistribution of offices which followed Henry Pelham's death in March 1754, Townshend sought appointment as a lord of the treasury, but at length with some reluctance accepted a lordship of the admiralty (Walpole, i. 451). He was elected for Saltash at the general election in April, yielding his former seat at Yarmouth to his cousin, Charles Townshend, afterwards Lord Bayning [q. v.] (see Notes and Queries, 10th ser. xi. 282–3). On 11 Dec. following he made some stir by his attack on Lord Egmont [see Perceval, John, second Earl of Egmont], the ‘warmth, insolence, and eloquence’ of which deterred Egmont from accepting office. Some time in 1755 Townshend seems to have resigned, and in December he vigorously attacked Newcastle for his employment of German mercenaries. When Devonshire became prime minister, with Pitt secretary of state, in November 1756, Townshend was appointed treasurer of the chamber, being re-elected for Yarmouth on 13 Dec., and in April 1757 he was sworn of the privy council. The vacillation of his attitude towards the execution of Admiral Byng brought upon him the contempt of Pitt, but he retained his office throughout Pitt's great administration (1757–61).
On 15 Aug. 1755 Townshend married at Adderbury Caroline, eldest daughter and coheir of John Campbell, second duke of Argyll [q. v.], and widow of Francis Scott, earl of Dalkeith. In 1758 he visited Dalkeith, and was presented with the freedom of the city of Edinburgh; he thought of standing for that city at the next general election, but was dissuaded by Alexander Carlyle, who was ‘considered as chaplain-in-ordinary to the family,’ and told Townshend that even the countess would oppose him. The ‘Select Society’ of Edinburgh broke its rules and elected Townshend a member in order to hear him talk one night (Carlyle, Autobiogr. pp. 386–90). On 18 March 1761 he succeeded Barrington as secretary-at-war, and in that capacity took an active part in the conduct of government business in the House of Commons. At the general election in the same month he was elected for Harwich. He was apparently opposed to the war with Spain, and in 1762, soon after Bute became prime minister, Townshend was succeeded as secretary-at-war by Welbore Ellis. He seems to have resigned in the expectation that Pitt would lead a vigorous opposition and soon return to power; but when he saw the weakness of the opposition and Pitt's disinclination to lead it, he repented, and at the end of February 1763 accepted the presidency of the board of trade. Grenville succeeded Bute in April, and offered Townshend the post of first lord of the admiralty; he refused to kiss the king's hand unless his nominee (Sir) William Burrell [q. v.] were also appointed to the board. This was refused, and it was intimated to Townshend that the king no longer required his services.
Townshend now became a frequent and unsparing critic of Grenville's administration. The death of Egremont and the necessity of strengthening his cabinet led Grenville to offer Townshend Egremont's secretaryship of state in August; but Townshend refused to take office without Pitt, and continued his attacks on Grenville's ministry. On 17 Feb. 1764 he ‘made a most capital speech, replete with argument, history, and law,’ against the legality of general warrants and the outlawry of John Wilkes, whom, however, in spite of his former acquaintance, he said he abhorred. A few weeks later he issued a pamphlet, ‘Defence of the Minority in the House of Commons on the Question relating to General Warrants.’ Almon says it was ‘universally read and highly esteemed’ (Anecdotes, 1797, i. 78–82); but Horace Walpole, who wrote a rival pamphlet on the same side, describes it as quite ineffective (Mem. of the Reign of George III, ii. 6). Nevertheless, in May 1765, when Henry Fox was dismissed, Townshend accepted from Grenville his office of paymaster-general (Cal. Home Office Papers, 1760–5, p. 553), and retained it throughout Rockingham's ministry, which succeeded Grenville in July, and fell twelve months later. That result was not a little due to Townshend's conduct. He ‘treated his colleagues with undisguised contempt, described the government of which he was a member as a “lute-string administration fit only for summer wear,” and ostentatiously abstained from defending its measures’ (Lecky, ed. 1892, iii. 273).
Pitt was now prevailed upon to form a second ministry, and on 2 Aug. 1766 Townshend was appointed chancellor of the exchequer. The cabinet was a piece of patchwork, including politicians of every shade of opinion. Pitt weakened his own authority by retiring to the House of Lords, and ill-health soon prevented him from exercising any control over his colleagues. ‘In the
