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 of the opposition (Grenville Papers, ii. 203, 226, 236). On 29 Nov. he took part in the debate on the proceedings against Wilkes, and spoke against the resolution that ‘privilege of parliament does not extend to the case of writing and publishing seditious libels.’ For his speech on this occasion Shelburne was dismissed from his staff appointment (8 Dec.), and on his next appearance at court no notice was taken of him by the king. Shelburne thereupon retired into the country, where he occupied himself in the improvement of his estates, and in the collection of manuscripts.

On 25 April 1764 he took his seat in the Irish House of Lords as Earl of Shelburne (Journals of the Irish House of Lords, iv. 311). He refused Rockingham's invitation to return to the board of trade, and at the opening of the session, on 17 Dec., he attacked the policy of the Stamp Act. On 10 Feb. 1766 he spoke warmly against the declaratory resolutions, maintaining that there were only ‘two questions for the consideration of Parliament—repeal, or no repeal’—and that ‘it was unwise to raise the question of right, whatever their opinions might be’ (Life, i. 376–7). In the following month he assisted Rockingham in passing the repeal of the Stamp Act.

Upon Pitt's return to power, Shelburne was appointed secretary of state for the southern department (23 July 1766). In order to put an end to the evils of a divided administration of the colonies, the board of trade was reduced to a mere board of report by an order of council of 8 Aug. 1766. By these means the entire administration of the colonies was placed under the undivided control of Shelburne, who immediately set to work to regain the good will of the American colonists. He assured their agents in England of the intention of the government to adopt a conciliatory policy, and of his own determination to remove any well-founded grievances. He also instructed the governors of the various colonies to furnish him with particulars of all matters in dispute, and to report on the actual condition of their respective governments. Finding, however, that his conciliatory measures were thwarted by his colleagues during Chatham's absence, Shelburne ceased attending the meetings of the cabinet for some time, and merely attempted, in his executive capacity of secretary of state, to neutralise as far as possible the disastrous effects of Townshend's policy. Shelburne's position was one of peculiar difficulty. Hated by the king, and denounced by his colleagues, he was naturally anxious to retire; while he also felt bound to keep his place so long as Chatham held the privy seal. By the appointment of Lord Hillsborough as a third secretary of state in January 1768, Shelburne was relieved of his charge of the American colonies. But, in spite of this change, the differences between Shelburne and his colleagues continued to increase. In April he successfully opposed the adoption of Hillsborough's injudicious instructions to Governor Bernard with reference to the circular letter of the Massachusetts assembly. In June he vainly protested against the annexation of Corsica by France. In September all the members of the cabinet were agreed upon coercive measures against the American colonists, with the exception of Shelburne, and Chatham, who was still absent through illness. Shelburne is also said to have been the only one who was against the expulsion of Wilkes from the House of Commons (Grenville Papers, iv. 371), a measure which was clamorously demanded by the king's friends. On 5 Oct. 1768 Grafton wrote to Chatham, and demanded Shelburne's dismissal. To this Chatham refused to agree, but immediately afterwards tendered his resignation to the king on the ground of his shattered health. On 19 Oct. Shelburne, who appears to have been ignorant of Chatham's retirement from office, obtained an audience of the king, and resigned the seals.

At the opening of parliament on 9 Jan. 1770, Shelburne supported Chatham's attack upon the government, and called attention to the alarming state of affairs on the continent, where England was without an ally. On 1 May he spoke in favour of the bill for the reversal of the proceedings in the House of Commons against Wilkes, and declared that Lord North deserved to be impeached (Parl. Hist. xvi. 965). Three days afterwards he supported Chatham's motion condemning the king's answer to the remonstrance of the city of London, and alluded in scathing terms to the secret influence of the king's friends (ib. xvi. 972–4). During the debate on the Duke of Richmond's American resolutions, Shelburne made a violent attack upon the ministers, and asserted that they ‘were so lost to the sentiments of shame that they gloried in their delinquency’ (ib. xvi. 1024–6). On 22 Nov. he renewed his attack upon the ministers, and declared that the country would ‘neither be united at home nor respected abroad, till the reins of government are lodged with men who have some little pretensions to common sense and common honesty’ (ib. xvi. 1113–14). On 14 Feb. 1771 he spoke ‘better than he had ever done’ while pointing out the many objections to the convention with Spain with