ABSTRACT
O n c e again it was to be demonstrated that stability could only be secured by a minister who had the confidence both of the Commons and of the Crown. North seems to have had little ambition. What kept him for twelve years as head of the administration was the insistence and persistence of the King. At times North appears almost like a puppet held in position by George I l l ’s manipulation of the twin wires of Jenkinson and Robinson. One quality he shared with Walpole and Pelham: he was a good House of Commons man. He was aware of members’ prejudices and was able to play both on them and on their loyalties. Though as a colleague he could be difficult,1 irresolute of purpose and without the power to animate and direct to a common cause his co-members of the Cabinet, in handling the Commons as a body his touch was sure. It took the disasters of the American war to break the partnership of North and George III. But for twelve years more the world was to be shown that while the Commons was composed only partly of active politicians and partly of independent gentlemen, that while the patronage of the Crown was at the service of the administration, and that while the King and his chief minister were in concord, nothing which even a combined opposition could do could shake the minis terial majority in either House. To do that a national crisis was required.
