" He resigned office with Pitt in 1761, on the
question of the war with Spain. This circumstance estranged him from his
political connection with his only brother, George Grenville, who
remained in office under Lord Bute, as Treasurer of the Navy. Lord
Temple, espousing the cause of Wilkes (for which he was dismissed from
his Lieutenancy of the county of Bucks) continued in opposition till he
was finally reconciled to his brother in 1765. He afterwards had a
serious difference with Pitt on the formation of the Cabinet in 1766;
but a reconciliation having been effected between them in 1768, they
subsequently acted in concert except upon the taxation of America, Lord
Temple invariably supporting the policy of his brother and the Stamp
Act.

George Grenville had been educated for the bar, and entered Parliament
for the borough of Buckingham at the instance of his uncle, Lord Cobham;
joined the Administration in 1744, as a Lord of the Admiralty,
afterwards as a Lord of the Treasury, then as Treasurer of the Navy, and
continued in office at intervals till 1762, when, separating himself
from Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt, he joined Lord Bute as Secretary of
State. On the resignation of Lord Bute in 1763, he became First Lord of
the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, remaining at the head of
the Cabinet till his dismissal in 1765, after which he never again
accepted office.

He left three sons, George, Thomas, and William Wyndham, who variously
distinguished themselves in the public service, and whose letters,
chiefly those of the last, in all respects the ablest and most
celebrated, constitute the bulk of the following pages.

George Grenville succeeded to the title of Earl Temple on the death of
his uncle, and was afterwards created Marquis of Buckingham, and was
father of the late Duke of Buckingham. He twice filled the office of
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.

Thomas Grenville, who died recently at an advanced age, filled several
high offices in the State, and accumulated one of the most splendid
libraries in the kingdom.

William Wyndham Grenville, afterwards Lord Grenville, was one of the
most eminent statesmen of the reign of George III., and, surviving all
his great contemporaries, died in 1834. "The endowments of his mind,"
observes Lord Brougham, "were all of a useful and commanding sort--sound
sense, steady memory, vast industry. His acquirements were in the same
proportion valuable and lasting--a thorough acqu