Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 61.djvu/33

 motion on 23 Feb. 1810 for an address to the king asking for all papers submitted at any time by the Earl of Chatham was carried by seven votes, and the subsequent motion of censure on Lord Chatham's conduct by thirty-three (2 March 1810). Despite the carrying of this resolution, it is said that Chatham only resigned on Whitbread threatening publicly to ask whether he was still master-general of the ordnance.

On the tumults preceding Sir Francis Burdett's arrest, Whitbread, though generally in sympathy with the extremists, played the part of prudent adviser to his friend, and urged him not to resist the speaker's warrant he also affirmed in the house the legality of the warrant and the consequent proceedings.

He was one of the few who uniformly and on principle expressed disapprobation of the regency bill, and on 25 Feb. 1811 he moved for a committee to inspect the journals of the House of Lords concerning the king's illness in 1804, and condemned the conduct of Lord Eldon in 1801 and 1804. When in 1811 it appeared certain that the whigs would secure office, it was arranged, despite objection to him from the Grenvilles, that Whitbread should be secretary of state for home affairs (, Autobiography, vol. ii.) The calculations of the opposition were, however, upset by the abrupt determination of the regent to maintain in office the Perceval administration. After Perceval's death, Whitbread pursued his independent course in opposition, acting separately from the bulk of his party.

In the summer of 1812 he appears to have made the acquaintance of the Princess of Wales (ib. ii. 148). From the first he deemed it his duty to stand by her, 'considering her as ill-used as possible, and without any just ground' (ib. ii. 165). Although his action was absolutely independent and alienated him from some of his own relatives (, Memoirs of Caroline, i. 561), he was on better terms with the whigs now than in 1809. In the House of Commons he constituted himself champion to the princess, and, with his usual earnestness, attempted on all occasions to do her service. His zeal, however, outran his discretion when, in a long speech on 17 March 1813, he made a groundless charge against Lord Ellenborough and the other commissioners who had inquired into the princess's conduct, of suppressing a portion of Mrs. Lisle's evidence, On this occasion his friends in the commons censured him for his rash credulity, and Lord Ellenborough in the House of Lords on 22 March 1813 denounced the accusation 'as false as hell in every part.' Whitbread with characteristic obstinacy refused to admit himself in the wrong (Hansard, pp. 25, 274). His ardour on behalf of the princess was not checked by this episode, and he continued to exert himself in her support. On her departure from England in August 1814 he wrote expressing 'his unalterable attachment, his devotion and zeal for her re-establishment' (, Memoirs of Caroline, i. 565).

During the last year of Whitbread's life his desire for peace, despite all change of circumstance on the continent, determined his conduct in opposition. He questioned the grounds of war with America on 8 Nov. 1814, urged the maintenance of peace on 20 March 1815 whether the Bourbon dynasty or Napoleon should prove successful, protested on 3 April against the declaration of the allies in congress against Napoleon, and on 28 April moved an address praying the crown not to involve the country in a war upon the ground of excluding a particular person from the government of France. When, however, war was actually entered upon, he supported the vote of credit for its prosecution.

During the last few years of his life the part taken by Whitbread in the rebuilding and reorganisation of Drury Lane Theatre occasioned him great anxiety and annoyance, and is said to have materially affected his health. On the burning down of the old theatre, 24 Feb. 1809, he became a member, and soon after chairman, of the committee for the rebuilding of the theatre. A bill for its re-erection by subscription was passed through parliament, and Whitbread supported the interests of Drury Lane in the commons, successfully opposing the introduction of bills for the establishment of rival theatres, one of his arguments being that the more theatres the worse actors and no one good play (9 May 1811, 20 March 1812). In 1811 and 1812 he was much occupied with the rebuilding and reorganisation of the theatre, which was opened again on 10 Oct. 1812. Innovations which he attempted by beginning the performances at an earlier hour and by playing every night the whole year round involved him in disputes and difficulties with other theatres (Addit. MS. 27925, f. 40), but his monetary relations with Sheridan were to him a source of still greater annoyance. His businesslike abilities enabled him to stand firm against Sheridan's powers of persuasion (, Life of Sheridan, ii. 443), but there does not appear to be any ground for the suggestion that he treated Sheridan harshly,