Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 57.djvu/22

 was that the king said he should not feel himself to be king if he could not appoint the archbishop, and that he considered it his duty to appoint the person he thought fittest. The king secured his own way, and Charles Manners-Sutton (1755–1828) [q. v.] was appointed.

Tomline was with Pitt for the last two days of his life and attended him on his deathbed; the dying statesman's last instructions, under which the bishop was left literary executor, were taken down by Tomline and signed by Pitt (original document in the Orwell Collection), and his last words to the bishop, ‘I cannot sufficiently thank you for all your kindness to me throughout life,’ exhibit the deep and lasting character of their friendship. Though by Pitt's death Tomline's intimate connection with politics came to an end, his advice and assistance were sought by Lord Grenville, with whom he continued in confidential communication.

In 1811 he continued the campaign against Calvinistic doctrines, which he had begun in his episcopal charge in 1803, by the publication of ‘A Refutation of Calvinism.’ The work was widely read, and reached an eighth edition in 1823; it drew its author into controversy with Thomas Scott (1747–1821) [q. v.], Edward Williams (1750–1813), and anonymous writers. In his episcopal charge in 1812 Tomline still showed himself strongly opposed to Roman catholic emancipation, upholding the view that Roman catholic opinions were incompatible with the safety of the constitution, and he wrote to Lord Liverpool desiring to set on foot petitions against the measure, which action the government deprecated. On the death of John Randolph (1749–1813) [q. v.] in 1813 Tomline was offered the see of London by Lord Liverpool, but refused it, as he felt the need of relief from episcopal work which the bishopric of London could not afford. In 1820 he was appointed bishop of Winchester, and at the same time vacated the deanery of St. Paul's.

The memoir of Pitt by Tomline, extending only to 1793, in two quarto volumes, appeared in 1821; a second edition, in three octavo volumes, appeared in 1822. In the preface the author speaks of his qualifications for his task from his long intimacy with Pitt. Much was expected of the work owing to Tomline's unique opportunities of knowledge, and the fact that Pitt's correspondence was in his possession; but Tomline altogether disappointed public expectation by the scanty use he made of Pitt's letters (Quart. Rev. xxxvi. 286). In the opinion of the Edinburgh reviewer the work was ‘composed, not by means of his lordship's memory, but of his scissors.’ Another volume promised in the preface, and which was to deal mainly with Pitt's private life, never appeared, but the bulk of the manuscript for this final volume is among the other Pitt papers at Orwell Park. Tomline's extreme caution made him unwilling to print the work. Writing to his son on 4 Sept. 1822, he says he had made sufficient progress to show him that he must either not tell the whole truth of 1802 or not have the work published till Lord Sidmouth's death; the same, he was sure, would be the case with respect to Lord Grenville in 1803. Though not as interesting as it might have been, the memoir was accurate, and went through four editions. In his account of Pitt's policy in 1791 and of the negotiations between Great Britain and Russia with regard to the conditions of peace between Russia and Turkey, Tomline repeated the severe attack made on Fox by Burke in his observations on the conduct of a minority (published 1793), declaring that the truth of Burke's assertions was proved by authentic documents among Pitt's papers (Memoir of Pitt, ii. 445). This statement was challenged by Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) Adair on 23 May 1821, who denied that he had acted in 1791 as Fox's emissary at the court of St. Petersburg. As Tomline, in the controversy which ensued, fell back upon Burke's authority and Pitt's speeches without quoting the ‘authentic documents,’ Adair's defence of Fox and himself gained credence (, History of the Eighteenth Century, vol. v.;, Life of Pitt, ii. 120). Copies, however, of letters, partially in cipher, from Adair at St. Petersburg to Fox and others, of such a character as to justify, if not conclusively to prove, Tomline's statements and inferences, were at the time when he wrote in his possession, and possibly were not published owing to some pledge having been given to the person through whose agency they were secured (copies of these letters are among the Pitt papers at Orwell Park).

In 1823 Tomline established his claim to a Nova Scotia baronetcy which, on the death of Sir Thomas Pretyman in 1749, had been allowed to lapse (Genealogist, iv. 373), and was served heir male in general on 22 March 1823. Henceforward to the end of his life he was known as Sir George Pretyman Tomline; his eldest son, however, on succeeding to the estates, laid no claim to this honour.

Tomline died on 14 Nov. 1827 at Kingston Hall, Wimborne, the house of his friend Henry Bankes. He was buried in Winchester Cathedral, near the western end of the south