Arniston memoirs

140 ARNISTON MEMOIRS. [1746.
Sow, 1 believe, it is a maxim amongst all good politicians, that how
ever much they may be disobliged at one another, yea, tho' secretly
they should be disobliged at the King himself, they are never to
show it, if they don't resolve to incapacitate themselves from serving
their King and country for that King's reign at least, which is a
situation in which no man at your age should put himself.
In the third place, resigning at this time is plainly giving a
great victory to those who may be your enemies. When a man is
laid aside in the course of a change at Court, that is the effect of
the King's pleasure and of the other side's influence there, which
is thought nothing of, but ofttimes does a man honour, gains him
more friends, and perhaps puts him in the way of making a better
figure than before without the King's displeasure. But where
people make a man so uneasy as to make him throw up from
resentment, it is they that get the triumph. It is their deed and
not the King's, for which they take the glory to themselves.
In the fourth place, whatever you may write or say with
truth, as to your reasons of resigning, your taking this nick of
time, immediately upon Tweedale's resigning, and also in the
midst of so hot a rebellion, will give those who like to do it the
strongest opportunity for misrepresenting you to the King, and to
all the ministers, in as bad lights as they please. They can paint
you as a bigotted party man, yea, as one disaffected ; that you give
up at this time, both to put matters into confusion, and to with-
draw your service when the Government most wants it. They may
go so far as to say, that at bottom it shows your inclination to
another when you withdraw your hand from the plough in labour-
ing time; and such prejudices will not be removed, however
falsely impressed, by all your assurances to the contrary . . .
Indeed, to conclude, I do not think resigning can be at all approved
of in a time of such distress and danger. If they say they have
no use for your service, and so throw you aside, why not ? But I
would not have you refuse to serve till the rebellion is at an
end. When that is over then you may do what you will. It may
then be a time to show resentments, and then time to shun what
may come to be a disagreeable work. But now I don't think it a
time at all to resign. — Farewell. Yours, Ito. Dundas.
In spite of his father's objections, Dundas resigned his
office of Solicitor-General, giving as his reason the heavy
nature of his duties ; and his resignation was at once accepted.
His real reason was the difficulty he found in holding his own