Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 54.djvu/50

 teret's foreign policy, and in the summer of 1744 signed Hardwicke's memorial to the king, proposing that an envoy should be sent to Holland declaring that England would withdraw from the war should they refuse to enter into it. Harrington himself seems to have been asked to undertake the mission but to have declined, presumably from the fear of not being well supported (Marchmonts Diary, 28 Oct. 1744). On 23 Nov. the Pelhams succeeded in driving out Carteret and replacing him by Harrington.

In the summer of 1745 he accompanied George II to Hanover, but continued, in concert with the Pelhams, to oppose his desire for more extensive operations against France, and especially Carteret's project of a grand alliance. In January 1746 Harrington again urged the Dutch to declare war against France. He announced that, in consequence of the rebellion, England would have to limit her financial assistance, and would be unable to contribute to the defence of the German empire. The king now tried by means of Pulteney (Bath) to detach Harrington from the Pelhams, and on 7 Feb. 1746 had a personal interview with him. Harrington not only remained loyal to his colleagues, but took the lead in resigning office three days later. According to Chesterfield, he flung the purse and seals down upon the table and provoked the king beyond expression (Marchmont's Diary, 30 Aug. 1747). He had told Bath previously his opinion 'that those who dictated in private should be employed in public' (, Pelham Admin, i. 289). When, after a few days, the king was obliged to recall Henry Pelham, 'the chief resentment was shown to Lord Harrington' (Newcastle to Chesterfield, 18 Feb. 1746; cf. Marchmonts Diary, 30 Aug. 1747).

Harrington had now irretrievably lost the king's favour, and retained the seals only till the following October. His wish to accept the French proposals as a basis for peace was opposed by Newcastle and Hardwicke, and a warm debate took place between him and Newcastle in the king's presence. Harrington made use of the fact of Newcastle's having carried on a separate correspondence with Lord Sandwich, British envoy at Breda, as a pretext for his resignation, which he really gave because of his treatment by the king. Hardwicke tried to avert this extreme course, and Henry Pelham greatly regretted it, and even hoped that after a time Harrington would be enabled to resume the seals. Both Pelhams concurred in urging on the king Harrington's request for the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland, which office, after some difficulty, they obtained for him. Harrington exchanged offices with his kinsman, Lord Chesterfield. He retained the viceroyalty till 1751. In the previous year, when the Pelhams tried to get him a pension or a sinecure, the king said 'Lord Harrington deserves nothing and shall have nothing' (, Pelham Admin, ii. 134). Harrington's viceroyalty was disturbed by the agitation headed by Charles Lucas (1731-1771) [q. v.], and saw the beginning of an organised opposition in the Irish parliament. 'Bonfires were made and a thousand insults offered him' on his departure in the spring of 1751 (Chesterfield to S. Dayrolles,27 April 1751). Horace Walpole says that the Pelhams sacrificed him to the king. But this account is unfair, at least to Henry Pelham, who had a high regard for Harrington. In Sir Charles Hanbury-Williams's 'The Duke of Newcastle: a Fable,' Harrington is represented, with more justice, as the duke's cast-off favourite and friend. But it is difficult to see what the brothers could have done for their friend in face of the implacable resentment of the king.

Harrington took no further part in public affairs, and died on 8 Dec. 1756 at his house in the Stable Yard, St. James's.

Harrington shone rather as a diplomatist than as a statesman. Though he never spoke in debate, his advice as a strategist was listened to with respect. Horace Walpole does justice to his career, but Lord Hervey's estimate of his character was probably influenced by a private motive (Memoirs, i. 336, Croker's note). When he was at the court of Spain Hervey says that 'people talked, heard, and read of nothing but Lord Harrington,' who was rapidly forgotten as soon as he returned. In Hervey's 'Political Epistle to the Queen' (1736), Harrington is described as      An exile made by an uncommon doom From foreign countries to his own; and the statesman's fortune is compared to a piece of old china, bought at an enormous price, never used, and laid by and forgotten. In the satirical piece called 'The Death of Lord Hervey; or a Morning at Court,' extreme indolence is imputed to Harrington by Queen Caroline in words which she appears actually to have used (cf. Memoirs, ii. 42). Hervey, however, admits that he was 'well bred, a man of honour, and fortunate.' Of foreign observers Saint-Simon, who met Harrington in Spain, writes of his taciturn and somewhat repellent demeanour, but credits him with 'beaucoup d'esprit, de con- duite et de sens' (Memoires, xix. 419).