Meanwhile, he could not refuse the confidence with
which his master honored him; and he resolved to employ it to the public
service. He represented to the king, that, as the jealousies of the
nation were extreme, it was necessary to cure them by some new remedy,
and to restore that mutual confidence, so requisite for the safety both
of king and people: that to refuse every thing to the parliament
in their present disposition, or to yield every thing, was equally
dangerous to the constitution as well as to public tranquillity: that
if the king would introduce into his councils such men as enjoyed the
confidence of his people, fewer concessions would probably be required;
or, if unreasonable demands were made, the king, under the sanction of
such counsellors, might be enabled, with the greater safety, to refuse
them: and that the heads of the popular party, being gratified with
the king's favor, would probably abate of that violence by which they
endeavored at present to pay court to the multitude.
The king assented to these reasons; and, in concert with Temple, he
laid the plan of a new privy council, without whose advice he declared
himself determined for the future to take no measure of importance.
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