"--"Oh yes: you must; I have just done." The King
went to the closet and Mr. Pitt attended him. Nothing could
exceed the kindness of the King towards Mr. Pitt: he was
affected very much and more than once. The conversation lasted
more than half an hour; and in the course of it the King said
that, tho' he could no longer retain Mr. Pitt in his service, he
hoped to have him as his friend. Mr. Pitt, with strong
expressions both of duty and attachment and love to His Majesty,
submitted that any intercourse of that kind might be injurious
to His Majesty's Government; for that it was very important that
his new Ministers should appear to act by themselves and for
themselves, and that if he was frequently with His Majesty,
unfavourable conclusions might be drawn concerning his
interference or influence. This seemed to satisfy the King, and
they parted. At the _levee_ the King spoke in the highest terms
of Mr. Pitt's conduct throughout the business of his
resignation, and said that it was very different from that of
his predecessors.

This narrative needs little comment, except on the phrase that the
Cabinet had promised to grant the Catholics "some further indulgences."
Probably the schism occurred on the extent of those concessions, Pitt
and the majority desiring the admission of Catholics to Parliament and
to offices of trust, while Loughborough and the minority refused to do
more than grant some measure of support to the Irish priests.[592] The
King probably opposed both concessions; and Pitt seems to have ascribed
his strenuous opposition more to the intrigues of Auckland than to those
of Loughborough. In this he was probably mistaken. The best judge on
this question, the monarch himself, certainly looked on the Chancellor
as a traitor. But in truth the crisis could not be avoided. The King
acknowledged as much in his effusive comments on the extremely
honourable conduct of Pitt, but he also most firmly declared that he
could no longer retain him in his service. This was in effect a
dismissal. On 18th February, George wrote a brief letter expressing his
sorrow at the close of Pitt's political career and his satisfaction that
Parliament had passed the Ways and Means without debate. Thus did he
close his correspondence with a Minister who had devotedly served him
for more than seventeen years.

* * * * *

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