ABSTRACT
The admission of the Bedford party into the administration marks the beginning of a new chapter in Grafton’s troubled and unfortunate ministerial career. From the time that Chatham had withdrawn into gloomy seclusion at Hampstead, the youthful first lord of the treasury had been playing the game of politics with the dice loaded against him. In considering the practicability of this resolve Grafton realised that no opposition would come from the court or the Bedford faction in the cabinet; but if he thought that the expulsion would be unattended with difficulty, he reckoned without the absent leader of the government, Lord Chatham. The Duke of Grafton might well feel deeply hurt and chagrined at such a public rebuff by the man whom he had striven faithfully, if mistakenly, to serve; but he was not the only member of the cabinet who had reason to regret Chatham’s action.
