was in the House of Lords kept Shelburne away from the debates
on that measure, to which we may be sure he would, if present, have
offered a persistent and uncompromising opposition; but at the end of
April, 1765, he appeared in his place in Parliament to deliver a
vigorous speech against the Regency Bill, and showed the courage of his
opinions by leading a minority of eight into the lobby. To Rockingham,
now at the head of the ministry, it was obvious that Shelburne, despite
his years--he was barely eight-and-twenty--was a personage whose support
was worth conciliating, and in July he offered to replace him in the
Board of Trade. The offer was declined, and not unnaturally. Shelburne
had always, with Pitt, protested against the policy of the Stamp Act,
and could hardly have sat in a cabinet which, domineered over by the
king, was preparing to carry it into execution. We may surmise, too,
that he was not unalive to the advantages of a waiting game, and that,
closely allied with Pitt as he had now become, and heartily believing in
him, he was unwilling to take office on any other than what we may call
the Pitt platform. Indeed, he himself says as much in writing to Pitt, a
few months afterward, apropos of the Rockingham overtures: "My answer
was very short and very frank--that, independent of my connection, I was
convinced, from my opinion of the state of the court, as well as the
state of affairs everywhere; no system could be formed, durable and
respectable, if Mr. Pitt could not be prevailed on to direct and head
it." In the same letter--the date is about December, 1765--he tells
Pitt, "'Tis you, sir, alone, in everybody's opinion, can put an end to
this anarchy, if anything can. I am satisfied your own judgment will
best point out the time when you can do it with most effect. You will
excuse me, I am sure, when I hazard my thoughts to you, as it depends
greatly upon you whether they become opinions, but, by all I find from
some authentic letters from America, nothing can be more serious than
its present state; and though it is my private opinion it would be well
for this country to be back where it was a year ago, I even despair of a
repeal [of the Stamp Act] effecting that if it is not accompanied with
some circumstances of a firm conduct, and some system immediately
following such a concession."

Whatever the faults and weaknesses of the Rockingham administration of
1765-66--and they were many--their moral courage