Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 09.djvu/219

 and in September 1742 went himself to the States-General in order to concert measures with them for the protection of the United Provinces. Though appointed one of the lords justices of the kingdom in the absence of the king, he attended George during the whole of the campaign of 1743, and was present at the battle of Dettingen. By furthering the king's Hanoverian policy, and otherwise flattering his prejudices, Carteret had now obtained complete influence over him. This period of Carteret's ascendency was known by the name of 'The Drunken Administration,' and the expression, as Macaulay remarks in his 'Essay on Walpole's Letters,' was not altogether figurative. The war, however, became very unpopular, as it was alleged that the interests of England were subordinated to those of Hanover. The ministers were incensed at Carteret's arrogance and his neglect in consulting them on foreign affairs—in short, he speedily became the most unpopular man in the country. In December 1743 Pitt, in the debate on the address, described him 'as an execrable, a sole minister, who had renounced the British nation, and seemed to have drunk of the potion described in poetic fictions which made men forget their country' (Parl. Hist. xiii. 135 note).

On the death of Lord Wilmington in July 1743, Henry Pelham had become the prime minister, and after a protracted struggle in the cabinet, Carteret, who had succeeded to the title of Earl Granville on the death of his mother on 18 Oct. 1744, being unable to withstand the combined opposition against him, resigned the seals, which were accepted by the king with great reluctance on 24 Nov. 1744. Carteret, however, accepted his defeat with his usual cheerfulness, and, according to Horace Walpole, retired 'from St. James's laughing.' Early in 1746, being still in favour with the king, he made another attempt to regain power. Under his advice the king refused to admit Pitt to office. This advice was far from distasteful to the king, as Pitt had vigorously opposed the Hanoverian policy on the continent. The ministers, being bound by their promises to give office to Pitt, thereupon resigned, and the two seals of the secretaries of state were on 10 Feb. 1746 delivered to Granville that he and Lord Bath might form an administration as they pleased. After a vain endeavour to form a ministry, he resigned the seals on the 14th, only four days after his appointment. His high spirits did not forsake him even on this occasion, and he continued to laugh and drink as before, owning that the attempt was mad, but that he was quite ready to do it again. One of the many squibs which were published at this time, entitled 'A History of the Long Administration,' concludes with the following ironical remarks: 'And thus endeth the second and last part of this astonishing administration, which lasted forty-eight hours, three-quarters, seven minutes, and eleven seconds; which may truly be called the most honest of all administrations; the minister, to the astonishment of all wise men, never transacted one rash thing; and, what is more marvellous, left as much money in the tr-y as he found in it.' From this time he severed his political connection with Lord Bath, who, he declared, had forced upon him the short-lived administration, and by which he considered that he paid all his debts to him.

He still continued in the king's favour, and having been elected on 22 June 1749 a knight of the Garter, was installed at Windsor on 12 July 1750. On 17 June in the following year he was appointed president of the council. When congratulated on his conciliation with his former opponents, he replied: 'I am the king's president; I know nothing of the Pelhams; I have nothing to do with them.' Notwithstanding the various changes in the administration which occurred from time to time, by keeping himself aloof from the broils in which the other ministers engaged he continued to hold the post until his death. In 1756 the Duke of Newcastle, as a desperate effort to avert resignation, offered Granville the first place in a ministry of which he himself should be a subordinate member. Granville had, however, by this time lost his ambition, and refused the offer. The last recorded speech which he made in the House of Lords was in the debate on the second reading of the Habeas Corpus Bill on 9 May 1758 (Parl. Hist. xv. 900). During the last four years of his life his health gradually failed, though he still continued to preside over the meetings of the council. In October 1761, when Pitt proposed in council an immediate declaration of war with Spain, and threatened to resign if his advice was not taken, Granville is said to have replied: 'I find the gentleman is determined to leave us, nor can I say I am sorry for it, since he would otherwise have certainly compelled us to leave him; but if he be resolved to assume the right of advising his majesty, and directing the operations of the war, to what purpose are we called to this council? When he talks of being responsible to the people, he talks the language of the House of Commons, and forgets that at this board he is only responsible to the king. However, tho' he may possibly have convinced himself of