But he still, in difficult conjunctures, frequently applied to Elizabeth Villiers for advice and assistance.

She now implored Shrewsbury to reconsider his determination, and not to throw away the opportunity of uniting the Whig party for ever.

Wharton and Russell wrote to the same effect.

In reply came flimsy and unmeaning excuses: "I am not qualified for a court life; I am unequal to a place which requires much exertion; I do not quite agree with any party in the State; in short, I am unfit for the world; I want to travel; I want to see Spain." These were mere pretences.

Had Shrewsbury spoken the whole truth, he would have said that he had, in an evil hour, been false to the cause of that Revolution in which he had borne so great a part, that he had entered into engagements of which he repented, but from which he knew not how to extricate himself, and that, while he remained under those engagements, he was unwilling to enter into the service of the existing government.