The circumstances of Shelburne's career had not rendered the imputations of insincerity embodied in the appellation unnatural in the eyes of those who were not behind the scenes of the political world. The country was constantly being reminded that "the Earl of Shelburne had initiated himself in business by carrying messages between the Earl of Bute and Mr. Fox, and was for some time a favourite with both,"[1] and then the changes were rung on the eternal story of the "pious fraud." The ambiguous position he had for some time past occupied in a ministry, from the chief measures of which he was known to differ, could be justified by facts known only to a few persons; while the politicians best acquainted with the wheels within wheels of the recent negotiations, were also those most interested in making the character and conduct of Shelburne appear in an unfavourable light. His sudden rise to very high office when a young man increased the number of his enemies. Those who were ready to declare "that before he was an ensign he thought himself fit to be a general, and to be a leading minister before he ever saw a public office," were not unwilling to add that "his life was a satire on mankind," and, while telling the public, in the solemn tones of virtuous indignation, "that the treachery which deserts a friend might be a virtue compared to the fawning baseness which attaches itself to a declared enemy,"[2] they pointed the moral with the story, how Chatham—who was congratulated that "Shelburne had not acted to him with greater insincerity than to his former connections"[3]—having become the "idol" of Shelburne, "introduced him into the most difficult department of State, and left him there to shift for himself."[4] "It was a masterpiece of revenge," said Atticus.[5] "Un-
- ↑ Letters of Junius, October 19th, 1768, under the signature of "Atticus."
- ↑ Ibid., October 19th, 1768, under the signature of "Atticus."
- ↑ Ibid., October 19th, 1768.
- ↑ Junius to Chatham, January 2nd, 1768; Chatham Correspondence, iii. 303.
- ↑ Letters of Junius, October 19th, 1768.
political opponents. Many other persons of all ranks, either known or believed to have been implicated in the Duke d'Aveiro's conspiracy, remained in 1772 shut up in the various State prisons of Portugal. Most or all of these unhappy sufferers who survived have, I believe, been since liberated in 1777, on the accession of the present Queen."—Memoirs, i. 63.
