Reviews : WINSTANLEY, D. A. Lord Chatham and the Whig Opposition. Pp. ix, 460. Price, 7/6 net. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons

AuthorW.E. Lunt
DOI10.1177/000271621405300155
Published date01 May 1914
Date01 May 1914
Subject MatterArticles
346
least
satisfactory
of
any.
It
is
interesting,
however,
in
that
it
draws
certain
contrasts
between
American
and
European
trade
methods
and
governmental
policies.
Mr.
Whelpley
regrets
the
fact
that
American
diplomacy
has
done
relatively
so
little
for
American
trade.
&dquo;In
the
general
scramble
for
selfish
advantage
it
(American
diplomacy)
has
taken
little
or
no
successful
part.
And
yet
American
diplomacy
has
been
called
that
of
the
’dollar,’
and
has
been
credited
in
the
minds
of
many
of
her
own
citizens,
as
well
as
by
foreigners
with
a
mercenary
basis.....
’Dollar
diplomacy’
did
not
originate
in
the
United
States,
nor
has
it
ever
obtained
such
development
there
as
it
has
in
other
countries.&dquo;
University
of
Pennsylvania.
GROVER
G.
HUEBNER.
WINSTANLEY,
D.
A.
Lord
Chatham
and
the
Whig
Opposition.
Pp.
ix,
460.
Price,
7/6
net.
New
York:
G.
P.
Putnam’s
Sons.
The
successful
attempt
of
George
III
to
establish
the
personal
influence
of
the
crown
has
been
described
in
a
copious
literature.
Nevertheless
our
knowledge
of
the
means
used
by
this
king
to
attain
his
end
has
remained
lamentably
inadequate.
Mr.
Winstanley
has
already
done
much
in
an
earlier
study,
Personal
and
Party
Government,
to
supply
this
defect,
and
he
now
makes
a
second
and
even
more
substantial
contribution.
In
the
present
monograph
he
deals
with
the
struggle
between
the
whig
factions
and
the
crown
in
the
eventful
years
from
1766
to
1771.
The
interaction
of
conflicting
princi-
ples
and
personalities,
which
kept
the
whig
groups
apart
during
this
period,
despite
several
nearly
successful
attempts
to
unite
against
the
court,
created
a
political
situation
of
singular
complexity.
This
is
analyzed
with
great
clearness;
and
a
mass
of
detail,
which
might
easily
have
been
rendered
tedious,
is
constructed
into
an
interesting
narrative.
To
indicate
the
scope
of
Mr.
Winstanley’s
contribution
briefly
is
difficult,
because
it is
by
nature
so
largely
supplementary.
The
attitude
of
the
whig
leaders
towards
one
another,
towards
the
king,
and
towards
the
policies
of
the
period
is
illumined
at
innumerable
points
by
evidence
derived
largely
from
the
Newcastle
and
Hardwicke
manuscripts
and
the
Pitt
papers.
Especially
noteworthy
in
this
respect
is
the
treatment
accorded
the
relations
between
the
Rockingham
group
and
Chatham
during
the
summer
of
1766,
the
part
played
by
the
American
question
in
keeping
Rockingham
estranged
from
Grenville,
the
negotiations
between
the
king
and
Charles
Yorke,
and
the
dispute
with
Spain
over
the
Falkland
Islands
and
its
effect
on
the
party
situation.
Char-
acter
sketches
of
leading
statesmen
are
numerous
and
almost
uniformly
well
and
impartially
drawn.
Chatham
is
not
perhaps
the
central
figure
that
one
might
anticipate
from
the
title,
but
many
interesting
side-lights
are
cast
here
and
there
on
the
great
statesman’s
personality
and
aims.
In
short,
the
book
is
a
mine
of
new
material.
Whoever
is
interested
in
the
personalities
of
the
politicians
or
in
the
important
political
and
constitutional
developments
of
the
early
years
of
the
reign
of
George
III
is
likely
to
derive
both
pleasure
and
profit
from
a
perusal
of
Mr.
Winstanley’s
pages.
Cornell
University.
W.
E.
LUNT.

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