Hints about the rise, fall, and reformulations of ministries were common currency in 18th‐century British political rhetoric. However, in 1778, chief among such rumours were three purported negotiations between the earls of Bute and Chatham, aimed at bringing one or both of them into administration. So damaging were these rumours to the political legacies of both individuals and their families, however, that they resorted to a ‘press war’ in order to absolve their respective kinsmen of any involvement. Drawing on previously neglected sources, this work examines these negotiations of 1778 and the subsequent press war in order to highlight the longevity, potency, and significance of the myth of Lord Bute's secret influence 15 years after his resignation from high office. In doing so, this work seeks to correct the common narrative that Lord Bute ceased to be a potent political symbol for constitutional issues following the publication of Edmund Burke's Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents in 1770. Far from being merely an anomalous and spontaneous revival of ill‐sentiments towards Lord Bute, this episode should be seen as a flashpoint in a process of vilification and traducement of the Scottish earl that had never, in fact, ceased and was symptomatic of the continuation of symbolic, or hieroglyphic, depictions of arguments concerning the significant constitutional issues which had been raised by Bute's political presence since the accession of George III.

中文翻译：

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“查塔姆的幽灵”和毕特勋爵秘密影响的持久幽灵：1778 年的政治谈判

在 18 世纪英国政治言论中，有关部门兴衰和重组的暗示是常见的货币。然而，在 1778 年，此类谣言的主要内容是比特伯爵和查塔姆伯爵之间的三场据称旨在将他们中的一个或两个纳入管理的谈判。然而，这些谣言对个人及其家庭的政治遗产具有如此大的破坏性，以至于他们诉诸于“新闻战”，以免除他们各自的亲属的任何参与。这部作品借鉴了以前被忽视的资料来源，考察了 1778 年的这些谈判和随后的新闻战，以突出比特勋爵在辞去高级职务 15 年后的秘密影响神话的长寿、效力和重要性。在这样做，