A^ Al ^^- Ln (_ = ^=: 33 = =^= J3 'r> = = o ■» ^ Q ~~" ^i == H — f =^= CO H = 3 = -^^ ^ — I 1 1 11/ ,ll' I'i Nil ! I ti'iSit ^'y i 'iiiiiii', mil.:' I '|i!i -0 C5i:i£C7iJiiK^\ilY> JLOOMSBURY SQUARE. \ m i (1 siNGi.K srusciurriox. s s 7 Per Quarter, 21 I'er Aniiuiu lili.,, '<'..,illllll |,,j |j],lti'"iiU|i| )i{ |||)i i|j| l*l||illl"'"""M|l|li'| jjlil ililii ml i ' ll/Kr'llll.HMl.l^ r^'lillnnHli;' ■ .'»•, 'Illll.nlilll'K !i:i''ii illlililillilllllil!il!i!iiiliiilli!lili!li!lill!!lil!liiill!l|]l :'%:^'.iii"": I ,| .iiiiH„|„.ii i ! 'i' jt„i„„.i'; !^ . III,;;;;,,!;! ;,/• , '"'iiiiiiiiiii ;Ji, H'liiiniiii'"; ,' „>iMii/ all Booksellers, and at all the Hallway Stations. nRADDUBV AND EVANS, miNTEKS, WIIlTErEIABS, MEMOIRS OF THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM AND HIS CONTEMPOllARIES. (DMAE.3LIES WATTSOM WlHTrWOMSTM, iiE(C(Q)WB MArnQUH^ @w m,OGW.m(^MAm.m a TWICE PRIME MINISTER OY ENGLAND. MEMOIRS OF THE MARQUIS OP ROCKINGHAM AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. WITH ORIGINAL LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. BY GEORGE THOMAS, EARL OF ALBEMARLE. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, ^Uufilisijer in ©rtinarp to ^}n iHajfStfi. M.DCCC.LII. LONDON: PrintetJ by Samuel Bentley and Co. Bangor Houac, Shoe Lane. LIBRARY UNIVEUSn 1 OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA TO CHARLES WILLIAM, EARL FITZAVILLIAM, K.G, HEIR TO THE VIRTUES AND TALENTS OF- HIS UNCLE THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM, THESE MEMOIRS ARE DEDICATED WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF AFFECTION AND RESPECT, BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. Some years ago, while assisting my brother, Mr. Thomas Keppel, in collecting materials for his " Life of Viscount Keppel," I met with several of the letters relating to Lord Rockingham's time, which I now send forth to the world. It occurred to me that the publi- cation of them would be a desirable contribution to literature. The Bedford and Chatham Correspondence have already displayed the opinions which guided two sections of the Whig party : there remained a third, which hitherto has had no exponent — that section, namely, of which Lord Rockingham became, soon after George the Third's accession, the acknowledged leader. I have endeavoured to supply this defect in the present Volumes. The Letters will speak for themselves. In the Illustrations which connect them I have endea- voured to restore a portion of their contemporary interest. Whatever opinion may be formed of my portion of the work; the value to the historian will remain the same. Vlll PREFACE. The staple of the work consists of the Papers of Lord Rockingham himself, now in the possession of his nephew and successor, the present Earl Fitzwilliam. My own family collection furnished its quota ; and I have been further assisted by the kindness of the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Hardwicke, and the Rev. Charles Lee, great nephew of Lord Rockingham's friend, Attorney-General Lee, who have granted me free access to their respective family documents. To my friend, Sir Denis Le Marchant, my best acknowledgments are due, for a sketch of the character of the Right Honourable Henry Seymour Conway, accompanied by several interesting letters, written during the early period of the Field Marshal's life. I avail myself, likewise, of this opportunity to ex- press my sincere thanks to the officers of the British Museum, Sir Henry Ellis, Sir Frederick Madden, Messrs. Panizzi, Holmes, Watts, and Von Bach, for the readi- ness and courtesy with which they have on all occasions assisted me in my researches. 11, Grosvenor Square, January 19, 1852. CONTENTS OP THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. PAGE George the Third's First Speech. — His Claim to the Character of "Briton" considered — His Education. — The Leicester House School of Politics. — The First Day of the King's Reign. — Cha- racters of Newcastle, Chatham, Choiseul, and Hardwicke . 1 CHAPTER IL Menaced Invasion of 1759. — France sues for Peace. — Hans Stanley. — Abbe de Bussy. — Duke of Newcastle to Lord Hard- wicke. — Negociations for Peace. — Lord Hardwicke to Viscount Royston. — Character of the Duke of Bedford. — Duke of New- castle to Lord Hardwicke. — Lord Hardwicke to Lord Royston. — The Pacific Professions of France considered.— Duke of New- castle to Lord Hardwicke. — Mr. Pitt resigns the Seals. — Letters from Dr. Birch and Soame Jenyns . . . .20 CHAPTER in. Earl of Egremont appointed Pitt's Successor. — Duke of New- castle to Lord Hardwicke. — Threatened Rupture with Spain. — Lord Royston to Mr. Yorke. — Want of Union at Court. — Sum- X CONTENTS. PAGE moiling a New Parliament. — Rival Lists. — Characters of Lord Temple and George Grenville. — Choice of a Speaker. — The King's Visit to the City. — Pitt's Conduct on that Occasion.— Mr. Milbanke to Lord Rockingham. — Character of Barre. — Mr. Milbanke to Lord Rockingham. — Effects of tlie Parliamentary Debate . . . • - • .54 CHAPTER IV. War with Spain declared. — Letter of Duke of Newcastle. — Proposed Attack on the Havannah. — Earl of Albemarle. — Com- modore Keppel. — Sir George Pocock. — Letter to Lord Albemarle. — Character of Count de Viri. — Choiseul to Bailli de Solar. — Letter to Lord Hardwicke. — Duke of Newcastle to Lord Hard- wicke. — Lord Bute's secret Negociation with Vienna. — Letters from the Duke of Newcastle to Lords Hardwicke and Rocking- ham, on his Resignation of the Office of First Lord of the Trea- sury, and to the Duke of Cumberland with his Answer , . 85 CHAPTER V. Duke of Newcastle's Resignation. — Character of Sir Francis Dash wood. — Negociations for Peace. — Character of Due de Nivernais. — Capture of the Havannah. — Henry Fox. — Court Persecution of the Whig Party. — Duke of Devonshire's Dis- missal. — Character of Lord Rockingham. — Characters of Lords Kinnoull, Lincoln, and Ashburnham, and Duke of Rutland. — Proposed Alliance among the Whigs. — Dismissal of Whig Lord Lieutenants and Custom-House Officers. — Lord Mansfield . 117 CHAPTER VL Resignation of Lord Bute. — Alleged Motives for it. — Grenville Administration. — Imprisonment and Liberation of Wilkes. — Leicester House Scheme. — Negociations between Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt. — Mr. Pitt's Interviews with the King. — Bedford Ad- CONTENTS. XI PAGE ministration. — Death of Duke of Devonshire — Proposed New Ministerial Arrangements. — Correspondence between Lord Hard- wicke and his Brother . . . . .165 CHAPTER VII. Arbitrary Dismissal of General Conwa}-- and other Military Officers. — Letters relating to the Regency Bill. — Duke of Cum- berland's Statement of Negociation for Change of Ministers. — Character of Lord Lyttelton Protectionist Riots. — Appoint- ment of Commander of the Troops. — Correspondence with the King and His Ministers on the Riots. — Prorogation of Parlia- ment. — Ministerial Difficulties of the King. . . . 1 80 CHAPTER VIIL Meeting of Whig Leaders. — Characters of the Duke of Graf- ton, Gen. Conway, Dowdeswell, Lord John Cavendish, Thomas Townshend, and Sir G. Savile. — Rockingham Administration. — Character of, and Overtures to. Lord Shelburne. — Lord Dart- mouth. — Lord Holland's Overtures. — Death of Duke of Cum- berland. — The " General Warrant."— The King's Aversion to the Rockingham Administration. — The Stamp Act. — Opening of Parliament. — The King's Correspondence on Parliamentary De- bates.— Proposed Change of Ministry. — Overtures to Pitt. — Characters of Lords Talbot and Northington. — Right of Taxing the Colonies. — Cabinet Resolutions on the Stamp Act. — Corre- spondence and Debates on its Repeal.— Pamphlet on the Repeal. — Character of Jeremiah Dyson. — Bill for Repeal passed. .218 CHAPTER IX. Hume and Rousseau. — The Militia Bill. — Character of Mr. Trecothick. — Dinner in Celebration of the Stamp Act Repeal. — Mistrust of England in Continental States. — Resolutions on Xll CONTENTS. P^GB General Warrants. — Resignation of Duke of Grafton. — Extracts from Lord Hardwicke's " Memoriall." — Character of Duke of Riclimond. — Characters of Lords North and Egmont. — Duke of Richmond's Journal. — Inquiry into Lord Bute's suspected Inter- ference in Public Affairs. — Pitt appointed Minister. — Dismissal of the Rockingham Ministry . . , , .315 Field Marshal Heney Seymour Conway . . .371 MEMOIRS OP THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES. CHAPTER I. GEOKGE THE THIRD's FIRST SPEECH. HIS CLAIM TO THE CHARACTER OF " BRITON " CONSIDERED. HIS EDUCATION. — THE LEICESTER HOUSE SCHOOL OF POLITICS. THE FIRST DAY OF THE KINg's REIGN. CHARACTEIIS OF NEWCASTLE CHATHAM — CHOISEUL AND HARDWICKE. " BoKN and educated in this country, I glory in the name of Briton, and the peculiar happiness of my life will ever consist in promoting the welfare of a people, whose loyalty and warm affection I consider as the greatest and most permanent security of my throne." Such was one of the first sentences which George the Third addressed to Parliament, on his assumption of the kingly office. By the words of the paragraph here cited, he evidently intended to imply some pre-emi- nence on his own part over his two immediate pre- decessors, who were "born and educated" in another land. That the sovereign should have first drawn VOL. I.- 13 2 GEORGE THE THIRD. [17(50. breath within his own sea-girt isle, that he should speak its language, unalloyed by foreign accent or idiom, were attractive novelties to Englishmen who, for nearly half a century, had been governed by alien princes. Equally new and pleasing was it to the people to find in the new monarch, a youth of manly form, of an open and ingenuous countenance, of affable and prepossessing manners, and untainted with the usual vices of his age and station. But, admitting these moral and physical advantages, it may, I think, be questioned whether he were really better qualified than his royal progenitors to promote the welfare of the people whose affection and loyalty he thus aspired to possess. To any " education " befitting the consti- tutional sov^eign of Great Britain he had little or no claim. In tastes and habits he was an English- man ; so much the mother country had done for him : but his youth had been passed almost exclusively in the society of his mother, the Princess Dowager of Wales, and of his governor, John Stuart, Earl of Bute. The former, a German Princess, derived her notions of the rights and immunities of a sovereign from the petty despotic court in which she had been herself brought up. The latter, a Scotch nobleman, arbitrary and inexperienced, mysterious and intriguing, added to these disqualifications for a royal instructor, that of having hitherto lived in such complete seclu- sion, as to know as little as his youthful pupil him- self of the character and feelings of the English people. It had ever been the Princess's aim to instil 1700. J LEICESTER HOUSE POLITICS. 3 into her son's mind her own political prejudices. From his boyhood she had whispered into his ear, " George, be King." Lord Bute had sedulously enforced this maternal precept, and the joint tutelage of these two instructors proved, during his protracted reign, that the seed had fallen upon no ungenial ground. Immediately on the accession of George the Third to the throne, an artful system of party management was organized so as to give eflfect to these precepts and injunctions. The system, indeed, was not altogether new. It originated in the factious court of Frederick Prince of Wales, George the Second's eldest son. From the residence of the heir apparent, its centre and cradle, it was denominated the Leicester House School of Poli- tics. Its inventor was Bolingbroke, and its leading features are shadowed forth in the " Craftsman " and the " Idea of a Patriot King." In the preceding reign a somewhat similar experiment had been made by Pulteney, Wyndhani, and Carteret. But it was Lord Bute, the favourite of the youthful sovereign, who really rendered the machinery, for a time, effective. The primary object of the Leicester House system was to break up the powerful Whig confederacy which had been, with little intermission, in power since the Revolution, and without any interval since the acces- sion of the House of Brunswick. Strong in family connexion and popular sympathy, the Whigs had seated and retained that dynasty on the throne, and their motive in upholding a foreign rather than a native B 2 4 LEICESTER HOUSE POLITICS. [l7G0. line of princes was, that they might the more effectually protect the liberties of the people against the encroach- ments of the crown. But since the Whigs, collectively, were too power- ful and too popular a body to be summarily dismissed, the leading men were to be removed, one by one, from the Cabinet and the Household. They would thus be expelled from ofl&ce without the benefit of popular feeling in their behalf, and Avould enter opposition as a corps distrustful of one another, and disunited among themselves. Had the designs of the Court been con- fined to the adoption of a less liberal school of policy, the new scheme would not have differed from an ordi- nary intrigue for the removal of opponents and the acquisition of office. But the royal junto had a deeper and more unconstitutional purpose in view. They wished virtually to supersede both the old Whig and I Tory parties, and to create a third party, which might form a permanent barrier against the attempt of any future cabinet to act independently of the royal will. The old method of ruling by favourites was to be revived under a new form. In the place of an indivi- dual minister, a Buckingham or a Strafford, whom popular odium might easily displace, or an Abigail Masham, whom a responsible minister might purchase or disregard, a cabinet or household of favourites was to be placed around the sovereign, in numbers sufficient to divide and weaken popular hatred, and with influence enough to command a certain measure of political sup- port. A confederacy of renegades from every political 1760.] LORD IIARDWICKE'S MEMORIALL. 5 section of the state was accordingly formed, which was afterwards known by the appellation of "King's Friends." The members of this new association abjured all party distinction, and professed to regard the pleasure of the sovereign as the sole source and condition of power. Although holding many of the offices under the crown, they acted irrespectively of the King's constitutional advisers, and voted with or against ministers according to the expressed or supposed predilections of their royal master. In a " Meraoriall of Family Occurrences," written by the second Earl of Hardwicke,* in the year 1770, he describes the treatment which the Whigs experienced at the accession of George the Third. He refers, it is * Philip Yorke succeeded to the earldom of Hardwicke, on the death of his father, the celebrated Chancellor, in 1764. He sat for several years in the House of Commons as member for Cambridge- shire, under the title of Viscount Royston, and was a frequent and effective speaker in Parliament. He became subsequently Lord-lieu- tenant of the county, and High Steward for the University of Cam- bridge. In 1766 he was admitted into Lord Rockingham's cabinet. He was indeed a warm friend of that statesman, but, unable from the infirm state of his health to take any very active part in politics, he devoted the greater part of his time to literary pursuits. Lord Hardwicke was a writer both in prose and verse. While an under- graduate at Cambridge, he was a contributor to the " Athenian Letters." He published also " State Papers," and the " Life of Sir Dudley Carle- ton." Some of his poetical compositions may be met wdth in the Cambridge Collection of Verses. He was the friend of Birch, Soame Jenyns, and Dr. Young, all three of whom have dedicated some of their works to him. He was also in correspondence with Robertson, Hume, and Garrick. His private letters, many of which appear in these pages, convey a favourable impression of his abilities. 6 FIRST DAY OF [l760. true, only to his own relations, but the remarks apply equally to the party of which the Yorke family were leading members. "In the beginning of the new reign," writes Lord Hardwicke, " no apparent alteration happened in our situation, — we were cajoled and courted for the first weeks of it : in short, the exterior was fair and plausible ; but, in reality. Lord Bute had the sole power and influence ; and he was determined to work out the old servants of the crown, as soon as he possibly could bring it about, notwithstanding the many difliculties which seemed to be in the way of it. How he accom- plished this great task, which has made him, ever since, so unhappy a man, is not within the compass of this paper. It will suffice to mention, that he princi- pally availed himself, with great art and finesse, of the dissensions between the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt ; that he played off" one against the other occasion- ally, till he had got rid of the popular minister; and when that was compassed, he strengthened himself in the cabinet, by bringing in Lord Egremont and Mr. Grenville, and never left intriguing till he had rendered it impracticable for the old Duke to continue in office with credit or honour." With the tenderness which characterized the Whis of that period towards a prince of the dynasty of its own adoption. Lord Hardwicke has omitted to mention Lord Bute's most effective coadjutor, in playing off Newcastle against Pitt,— the sovereign himself; who, in all the mysteries of king-craft, so far, at least, as they 17(J0.] THE king's REIGN. 7 consisted in " art and finesse," was perhaps the more accomplished adept of the two. To the truth of this charge, the transactions of the very first day of his reign bear evidence. Early on the 26th of October, 1760, his grandfather, George the Second, had risen apparently in his usual health. At half-past seven of the same morning he had ceased to breathe. His death took the nation, but not his successor, by surprise. " The Princess Amelia," says Walpole, " as soon as she was certain of her father's death, sent an account of it to the Prince of Wales, but he had already been apprized of it. He was riding, and received a note from a German valet de chambre^ with a private mark agreed upon between them. "With- out surprise or emotion, without dropping a word that indicated what had happened, he said his horse was lame, and turned back to Kew. At dismounting, he said to the groom, " I have said this horse was lame, I forbid you to say to the contrary." From Kew, the new king went to Carlton House, which then belonged to the Princess Dowager, Here he first met his ministers. The account of what passed at that interview, and the manner in which he adroitly "played off" one minister against the other, are given in the following letter from his first Lord of the Treasury, written the day after the demise of the Crown. 8 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [17G0. TUE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDAVICKE. " Cockpit,* October 26, 1760. " I WILL give you a short account of what passed since our ever to be lamented loss. Mr. Martin f had * From the Cockpit at Whitehall, Philip Herbert, Earl of Pem- broke and Montgomery saw Charles the First walk from St. James's to the scaftbld. Here, in the Council Chambers, Guiscard stabbed Harley, Earl of Oxford, " And fixed disease in Harley's closing life." Thus far Cunningham's " London." What follows is from the pen of that most excellent man and upright, intelligent judge, the late Lord Chief Justice Tindal to his niece Mrs. Frederic West, who obligingly, at my request, wrote to him for the information it contains. " As to your enquiry about the Cockpit, you will find frequent mention of it in the time of Charles the Second and James the Second, both in Evelyn's " Memoirs " and in Pepys's. At that time it was used for the purpose its name denotes, frequent matches of cock-fighting being carried on there by the Court, forming part, as it did, of the Palace of West- minster, close behind the place where the Treasury now stands. Queen Anne, of course, did not indulge in such unladylike amuse- ments ; and the graver manners of the Court during the succeeding reigns, soon put the site upon which it stood to a more useful destina- tion ; for it was turned into a Court for the Committee of the Privy Council to sit in, on the decision of all Prize causes, all appeals from the courts in the colonies of Jersey and Guernsey, and the like. " There is at this moment, nearly on the same spot, a new court fn- the same purposes, forming part of the Treasury buildings. I my- self have fought many matches there when I was at the bar, not with warlike birds armed with steel spurs, but with the more peaceable weapons of argument, and at this day I not unfrequently form one of the judges there to decide the contests of the combatants." t Samuel Martin, Member for Camelford, Secretary of the Trea- sury. He owed this office to l\Ir, Legge, and was the earliest deser- ter from Newcastle's standard. He earned for himself considerable notoriety by his_duel with Wilkes, whom he shot through the body. 1760.] TO LORD HARDWICKE. 9 orders to send to me yesterday upon the road, to come immediately to the new King at Carlton House. I first went to Kensington, and there put on my clothes, and went to Carlton House, where I expected to meet the council; but, upon my arrival, found Mr. Martin. He explained it, that I was to come alone. Imme- diately my Lord Bute came to me, and told me that the King would see me before anybody, or before he went to council; that compliments from him, Lord Bute, now were unnecessary ; that he had been, and should be my friend, — I should see it. I made suitable returns, and was called in to the King. He began by telling me, that he desired to see me before he went to council ; that he had always a very good opinion of me ; he knew my constant zeal for his family, and my duty to his grandfather, which he thought would be pledges or proofs of my zeal for him. I said very truly, that no one subject His Majesty had, wished him more ease, honour, tranquillity, and success in the high station to which Providence had now called him ; and I think I cannot show my duty to my late royal master better, than by contributing the little in my power, to the ease He is said to have practised at a target six months before he uttered the words which led to the hostile meeting. As ministerial favours quickly succeeded this affair, Churchill assumes that he took this step as the readiest way to acquire or regain them. In his " Duellist," the poet speaks of Martin, as, " Placing his craft in confidence, And making honour a pretence To do a deed of deepest shame, Whilst filthy lucre is his aim." 10 LETTER TO LORD HARDWICKE. [1760. and success of the reign of his grandson and successor. His Majesty said these remarkable words, ' My Lord Bute is your good friend^ to which I replied, I thought my Lord Bute was so. Mr. Pitt was not sent for to Carlton House till some time after I had been there, and suspects, and, indeed said, the declaration was concerted with me, whereas I did not know one single word of it till the King communicated it to my Lord Halifax, Mr. Pitt and myself, and ordered me to read it, which I did very clearly and distinctly. His Majesty then said these words, ' Is there anything wrong in point of form f ' We all bowed and went out of the closet. Mr. Pitt afterwards said he did not hear it distinctly, particularly the last words. I then, from memory, repeated it to him. " He wrote last night to Lord Bute. He had a con- ference of two hours, and told me that, as far as related to himself, Mr. Pitt, it was as satisfactory as he could wish. In short, Pitt was extremely hurt with the declaration projected, executed and entered in the council books, of which he had no previous notice. It was at first ' engaged in a bloody ivar.'' ' That,' says Pitt, 'is false in the English part of it, we are sine clade victor y'' and that the last words about ' peace ' certainly hurt him ; he said the ' allies ' were left out; and to be short, it is altered, and Mr. Pitt's words were put in, but Lord Bute is not pleased." * From front to rear the bloodless victor sped, Mowed down the embattled field, and wide the slaughter spread. Fkancis's Horace, B. iv., Od. 14, 1700.] DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. 11 Mr. Harris, who has given this letter in eMenso^ in his Life of Chancellor Harclwicke, has made two errors, one of omission, the other of commission, which mate- rially weaken the point of Mr. Pitt's remarks. The learned biographer has not given the Latin quotation, and he has written " words " instead of " allies." The last word of the following paragraph from the King's Speech will point out the latter erratum, and the words in italics will show the epithet which Pitt substituted for " bloody. ^^ " And as I mount the throne in the midst of an ea^pensive but just mid necessary war, I shall endeavour to execute it in the manner likely to bring on an honourable and lasting peace in concert with my ' ALLIES.' " It is with much diffidence I venture to appear as an apologist for the writer of the foregoing letter. Forty- six years of public service have procured for the Duke of Newcastle notoriety rather than reputation. Few portraits, indeed, have been sketched by so many un- friendly hands. Smollett, King, Glover, Chesterfield, Walpole, Waldegrave, Dodington, have each assailed him in turn. He was, in fact, the butt against which contemporary ridicule levelled all its shafts. That he was fretful, busy, intriguing, unmethodical, and self- sufficient; that his demeanour lacked dignity, and that he mistook expedients for principles, cannot be denied ; indeed his numerous unpublished letters, to which I have had access, rather corroborate than weaken the fidelity with which these traits have been deli- 12 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. [1700. neated. But his contemporaries would see only the superficial and ridiculous points of Newcastle's cha- racter. They would not do justice to his many sterling good qualities. He was courteous, affable, accessible, humane, a warm friend, a placable enemy. His talents were not sufficiently appreciated. They were far above mediocrity. It was his want of method that made them not more generally available. He both spoke and wrote with ability and readiness. Upon his private life rested no stain, and in an age of political immorality he was one of the most personally disin- terested men of his day. He understood clearly our relations with the continental states. His views of civil and religious freedom were in advance of his age, and he acted on them whenever his fears, his jealousies, or his ambition — a most comprehensive ex- ception indeed — permitted his opinions to affect his conduct. His faults were obvious; he clung indeco- rously to place and power. But it does not appear that either its emoluments or even honours were the real attractions of office. Newcastle, like the Sergeant- at-Law in Chaucer's tale, had a morbid appetite for employment : — " No whar so besy a man as he thar n'as, And yet he seemyd besier than he was." To this restless craving for occupation, may be ascribed the Duke's officious intermeddling with the departments of his colleagues, and his querulous jealousy of the least interference with that over which he himself presided. Like an enthusiastic chess-player, he would 1700.] EARL OF CIIATILUr. 13 eagerly direct Jinotlier's moves, while he would hardly endure even a looker on at his own game. . In the following pages frequent mention will be made M^jjJ of Newcastle's great contemporary, William Pitt, after- wards Earl of Chatham. Original documents will be produced illustrative of his character and his policy. Should this eminent statesman appear in an unfa- vourable light, the reader is requested to weigh well the authorities before he rejects the verdict. There is no wish to derogate from Lord Chatham's real merits. Yet the writer of these pages cannot overlook the almost concurrent testimony of his contemporaries, or conceal from himself that Pitt's reputation was more specious than solid. His brilliancy as an orator, in fact, obscured as "with excess of light" his errors as a statesman. Much will remain to him when the glare has been removed from his renown ; but the public has been too prone to take Lord Chatham at his own estimate of himself, and not to have distinguished sufficiently between the dazzling surfiice and the sub- stantial worth. Few public men, indeed, present a more imposing aspect to posterity. The effect of his eloquence is unquestioned, but his speeches themselves have been scantily recorded. He was at once the Cicero and the Roscius of his age ; a great orator, and a consummate actor. As a member of the cabinet, he was incredibly haughty, impracticable, and even obstructive to his colleagues. As a leader of opposition, he was more formidable as an assailant than faithfrd to his adherents or consistent in his measures. L« 14 EARL OF CHATHAM. [1760. To his sovereign, he was alternately harsh and sub- servient; to the nation he was an energetic, but a costly and hazardous guide, never scrupling to arouse passion, or to incur debt where glory was to be won " in flood or field." Finally, as a statesman, he dis- played rather the accomplishments of a Bolingbroke than the solid prudence of a Burleigh. He shone principally as a war minister. His talent for con- ducting military operations blinded him to the disastrous effects of war to his own country, and to mankind. Of social improvements, or financial skill, he exhibited no proofs.* He rendered his country glorious rather than prosperous : and he bequeathed to his successors, the dangerous rather than the salutary precedent of preferring "arms to the gown." These were his defects, and they were grievous; but his virtues too were singular and illustrious, especially if they be measured by the general standard of his age. " His private life," as Lord Chesterfield justly remarks, " was stained by no vice, and sullied by no meanness." His habits were domestic, his sentiments lofty, his knowledge was various, and his taste refined. His letters to his nephew. Lord Camelford, breathe a noble and generous spirit, and abound in weighty sense and graceful diction. Throughout his correspondence with his wife and his illustrious son, pervades a tenderness j * Junius's Letters, xi. : " I entirely agree with Macaroni, that this i country does owe more to Lord Chatham than it ever can repay, for 1 to him we owe the greatest part of our national debt, and that, I am * sure, we never can repay." 17(30.] DUG DE CIIOISEUL. 16 which shows that his arrogance was part of his theatrical, rather than of his natural temper. He was made up of contrasts. It is much easier to eulogise or to condemn him, than to draw a just portrait. lie was a man to be loved and to be feared equally. To him belongs the merit of having been the first to raise the standard of morality in public men. To him also, unfortunately, clings the discredit of raising his voice at all seasons for open war, from the moment when on first entering parliament he promoted a rupture Avith Spain, in order to overthrow an obnoxious minister, to the time when, with his dying breath, he braved the enmity of Europe, rather than forego the claims of England to supremacy over emancipated America. The letters which are interspersed in this work will show the strong and various inconsistencies of this powerful, rather than great statesman. The councils of France were, at this time, guided by Etienne Francois Due de Choiseul, a man Avho rivalled Pitt in the boldness of his measures and the energy of his character, as he resembled him in his public and private profusion. The common ancestor of the De Choiseuls was Regnier, Comte de Choiseul, who flou- rished in 1060. The Duke has been described by a contemporary, as being " of an excessive ugliness ; " but this plainness was redeemed by the brilliancy of his eyes and the intelligent expression of his countenance. His man- ners were gay, flippant and presumptuous. He was thoroughly unguarded in his language, and careless IG DUG DE CIIOISEUL. [l7G0. whom he offended. The Dauphin having complained to Louis the Fifteenth of his conduct, Choiseul replied, — " That he might have the misfortune to become his subject, but that he would never be his servant." His wit clever, pointed, and satirical, vented itself in epi- grams and hons mois^ and the bitter irony of his remarks is said to have suggested to Gresset, the original of Cleon, in the comedy of Le Mechant. He commenced his career as a soldier, as Comte de Stainville, and acquired much distinction in his profession. The favour of Madame de Pompadour turned him from war to diplomacy. After obtaining, through her influence, the embassies of Eome and Vienna, he suc- ceeded, in 1757, Cardinal Bernis as minister of foreign affairs. From this period Choiseul became virtually the head of the French Cabinet, although he was never formally invested with the title of Minister. It was in vain that Pitt enfeebled the armies, and annihilated the navies of France. Choiseul reinvigorated the one and replaced the other, and by his famous "Family Compact," in 1761, he united once more against Eng- land, the sovereigns of the House of Bourbon. His firmness long secured for him the confidence even of an unstable and profligate master, while his expulsion of the Jesuits in 1764, rendered him the darling of the French nation. His name was in every mouth, his portrait on every snuff-box. In the following extract, from a letter of the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Eockingham, 8th of July 1767, we have a con- temporary glimpse of Choiseul's renown. " France, 1761.] EARL OF IIARDWICKE, 17 everybody knows, is master of Spain, and those two monarchies are as efFcctiially united as if they were under one head. The Due de Choiseul, the present sole minister, absolute, ablet bold, and enterprising^ and I suppose no friend in heart to us. Their army complete to a man, well officered, well appointed, and well paid. Their trade flourishing everywhere, and encroaching upon ours, and I am afraid, after what has passed, their credit as stable as ours." Choiseul had risen by the favour of one royal mis- tress: he owed his fall to the displeasure of another. Having by some biting sarcasm oflended the notorious Madame du Barri, he was, in 1770, driven by her intrigues from the capital. His departure was an ovation. His exile on his estate at Chantilly thinned the halls of Versailles. For all great and good men shunned the court of the sovereign, while a splendid and select society flocked to the retreat of the banished minister. Madame du Deffand has drawn an agreeable picture of the retirement of the Due and Duchesse de Choiseul; and the Abbe Barth(^lemi has introduced them into his " Anacharsis," under the names of Arsane and Phedame. If the suffrages of contemporaries and posthumous history may be accepted as proofs of extraordinary merit, Philip Yorke, first Earl of Ilardwicke, may be justly considered a great man. His greatness, indeed, had not the glare of Pitt's reputation; it was rather forensic than parliamentary, and more judicial than either. His gifts were both natural and acquired. He yOL. I. c ^1 18 CHARACTER OF [17G1. had nearly all the qualities of a great orator, and nearly every charm of personal demeanour. His manners per- haps would have been more attractive if he could have acquired a little more ease. But a certain degree of stateliness was natural to him. He lived on terms of intimate friendship with his sons, yet he would address them as " Dear Lord Royston," and " Dear Mr. Yorke." As a Judge, his demeanour was perfect. " When Lord Hardwicke," said Lord Mansfield — an admirable critic of eloquence and law — " pronounced his decrees. Wis- dom herself might be supposed to speak." His appoint- ment to tlie Great Seal forms an era in our juris- prudence He resigned it, indeed, in 1756, but he was still regarded as the ministerial leader in the House of Lords. George the Second held Lord Hardwicke in such esteem, that during his frequent absences from England he six times appointed him one of the Lords Justices for administering the affairs of Government. In the cabinet and on the woolsack he was indeed " a counsellor well fitted to advise.'' To the strictest integrity he added consummate knowledge of the law ; to his professional experience he brought acquaintance with men and manners, and his skill in foreign politics and international jurisprudence equalled his learning in the statute book. His eloquence was of the grave, deliberative kind. It did not arouse the passions, but it convinced the reason of his audience. His arguments were a chain of demonstrations; his illustrations were enforced by expressive and handsome features, and by dignified and graceful gestures. The moral character 1761.] THE EARL OF IIARDWICKE. 19 of Lord Ilardvvicke corresponded with his public career; he was temperate and consistent. In the bosom of his family he was as indulgent and estimable as Pitt him- self, while to his friends and colleagues he was more equable and trustworthy. His staunch Whig politics did not render him a mere partisan. He gave reasons for his faith, and indeed inclined rather more to the side of Prerogative than was acceptable to some of his political associates. A noble, serene, and deeply learned man, Lord Hardwicke may be regarded as the most able member of the administration which George the Third inherited from his predecessor. c 2 20 FRENCH INVASION MENACKD. f 17(51. CHAPTER II. MENACED INVASION OP 1759. FRANCE SUES FOR PEACE. — HANS STANLEY. ABBE DE BUSSY. DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD HARD- WICKE. NEGOCIATIONS FOR PEACE. LORD HARDWICKE TO VISCOUNT ROYSTON. CHARACTER OF THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. DUKE OF NEW- CASTLE TO LORD HARDWICKE. LORD HARDWICKE TO LORD ROYSTON. THE PACIFIC PROFESSIONS OF FRANCE CONSIDERED DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD HARDWICKE. MR. PITT RESIGNS THE SEALS. LETTERS FROM DR. BIRCH AND SOAME JENYNS. Early in 1759, France declared her intention of making a descent upon the British coast. This was but the repetition of a menace which, uttered three years before, had caused consternation, disaster, and disgrace throughout the land, and led to the judicial murder of Admiral Byng. But in the interval between the first and second threat, the helm of state passed from the trembling hands of Newcastle into the firm grasp of the elder Pitt. The change soon became manifest; a few months after France had made the boastful announcement, her troops had been beaten, her fleets annihilated, her commerce destroyed, her colonies rendered valueless, and her credit reduced to so low an ebb that her government was obliged to declare itself bankrupt in no less than eleven descrip- tions of stock. 17(5 I.J MR. STANLEY, 21 In this desperate state of affaii's, Choiseul sued for peace. But Pitt, who thought the prosperity of a country depended upon conquests, rather than com- merce, and who fully partook of the vulgar prejudice, that " France is our natural enemy," turned a deaf ear to every offer of accommodation. " Some time be- fore, he would," he said, " have been content to bring that country on her knees, now he would not rest till he had laid her on her back." * All further attempts at negociation were, in consequence, for a time aban- doned; but, in the spring of 1761, Choiseul, encouraged by the pacific declaration of George the Third, made another effort to bring hostilities to a close. His over- tures were favourably received by the pacific section of the Cabinet,-f- who were all agreed as to the expediency of closing a war which had outlived its original objects, and who so far prevailed, as to appoint three commis- sioners for a general congress, to arrange that ministers should be sent from the respective Courts of London and France, to settle the preliminaries of peace. Augsburgh was the proposed place of meeting for the commissioners. Hans Stanley, of Paul ton's Park, New Forest, | the negociator on the part of England, was grandson of Sir Hans Sloane, the founder of the British Museum. He was a man of awkward appearance, ungracious * Walpole. t The Dukes of Newcastle, Bedford, ;ind Devonshire, Lords Hard- vvicke, Mansfield, and Granville, &c. :{: Mr. William Sloane Stanley, the present possessor of Paulton's Park, is great nephew of Mr. Hans Stanley. 22 ABB^ DE BUSSY. [1761. manners, irascible temper, and eccentric habits. Yet he possessed considerable talents and acquirements. Lady Hervey describes him as " a very ingenious, sensible, knowing, conversable person, and what is still better, a worthy, honest, valuable man." In the Chatham administration he was appointed Ambassador to St. Petersburgh. He continued to hold some office or other till 1780, when he was displaced. This treat- ment so preyed upon his mind that he put a period to his existence. The French minister, the Abbe de Bussy, was one of the senior clerks of the French Foreign Office. He had, on a former occasion, been sent by his court on a mission to George the Second, whom he greatly disgusted by the impertinence of his manners. The King once asking him " Is there anything new in Paris?" Bussy flippantly replied, "Yes! Sire, there is a frost." The Abbd was adroit, persuasive, and thoroughly conversant with business. He had formerly been private secretary to the Due de Richelieu. He was a short, thickset, deformed little man, and had the nickname of Bussy Ragotin, to distinguish him from Dupleix's coadjutor in the Carnatic, who was called Bussy Buti7i^ and from Madame de Sevigne's agree- able cousin and correspondent, the Comte de Bussy Rabutin. Beyond the appointment of these negociators, the peace party in the cabinet were unable to make any advance. Two days before the bearer of the French olive-branch arrived in London, Pitt dispatched a large 170 1. J DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD HAUDWICKE. 23 armament under tlie joint command of Major-General Hodgson and Commodore Keppel, to Belleisle, in order to effect the reduction of that island. " The plan," says Walpole, " was by many believed calculated solely to provoke the Court of France, and to break off the negociation."* The language of the great war-minister breathed the same spirit in the Cabinet and in the royal closet, as in his public acts and demonstrations. In a letter to Lord Hardwicke, dated the 15th of April, 1761, the Duke of Newcastle gives an ac- count of a long audience of Mr. Pitt with the King. After stating that his great rival's conduct was "as bad, as unjust, as hostile, and as impracticable as ever came even from him," the Duke thus pro- ceeds : — " When he (Pitt) came out he told me part of it, and his Majesty told me the rest. Mr. Pitt said he had laid his thouglits fully before the King; that he had told his Majesty that he did by no means think ill of the state of the war; that he Avas far from doing it with regard to the war in Germany ; that he thought the total destruction of the French in the East Indies, the probability of taking Martinico, and the effect this expedition to Belleisle might have; as well as the pi'obable events of this campaign, would enable us to get a peace which should secure to us all Canada, Cape Breton^ the islands, the harbours, the fisheries, and par- ticularly the Ccvclusive fishery of Newfoundland ; that if he was even capable of signing a treaty Avithout it, * " Geo. in. i. 5G." 24 NEGOCIATIONS [1761. he should be sorry he had ever got again the use of his right hand, which use he had but just recovered; and went on railing at the Commissariat as the occasion of all our misfortune. " The King said, he was sure I had done my part, and when Mr. Pitt talked of an inquiry, the King said he knew I had given strict orders for a strict inquiry to be made. He then told the King his scheme of peace. His Majesty understood him, as I did, to mean that he should at first acquaint the French Minister, who is expected here, that these are the terms from which we will not depart. His Majesty reasoned strongly with him against making any such declaration ... I with- drew fully satisfied with the King and myself, but more sensible of the injustice and ingratitude of Mr. Pitt |, than ever man was. I told the King, whenever any measure of his own (Pitt's) miscarried he would fling the blame upon anybody to get off himself — King of Prussia, Elector of Hanover, or any other person what- ever. Mr. Pitt talked strange stuff to me. Upon the whole, I look upon all he said to me for a menace, in which he will be greatly disappointed; but at the same time I see what T am to expect from him and his blood- liounds." In the course of the negociations, France proposed to guarantee Canada to England, and, in return for this concession, desired a confirmation of the same privilege of fishing on the coast of Newfoundland, that had been enjoyed by her subjects under the treaty of Utrecht; that Cape Breton should be restored as an abri or point 17U1.] FOR PEACE. 26 of refuge for their fishermen. Upon this proposal the Duke of Newcastle writes as follows to the Earl of Ilardwicke : — "August 7th, 1761. " The method I would propose to your consideration is this, that after M. Bussy has received and executed his orders, and Mr. Pitt has had Mr. Stanley's full account and observations which he has promised, we should propose to state our real ultimatum^ which we should make as low and as near to that we may judge would be accepted as possible. The great point is that of tlie fisheries; the rest, I think, may be accommodated. " Whether there is a right to fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or whether that part of the sea is pro- perly called ilf«re Clausum or Mare Liberum^^ I can't pretend to say, but it is what Mr. Pitt has ever been fencing against, and is, to be sure, in itself a consider- able question in point of interest and navigation. The next point is the giving some unfortified place, a port in those seas as a place of refreshment or refuge for their seamen. " But the great point to be thoroughly weighed and considered is what will, what must be the consequence of our breaking off this negociation for peace, and continuing this dangerous and expensive war, and whether after many more millions spent, and many thousand more valuable lives lost, we may not be in a condition to accept a much worse peace than we even * This is in allusion to two celebrated treatises by Selden and Grotius in the preceding century. 26 LORD HARDWICKE [1701. now may have, and infinitely worse than we might have had three years ago." At the same time that M. de Bussy presented the French ultimatum to our Government, he wrote to Mr. Pitt to beg for a conference upon its contents. The British Minister drew up an answer to the application, and laid it before the Cabinet Council on the 13th of the month; " Not," writes the Duke of Devonshire, "as a document to be deliberated upon, but as a decision to be adopted."* This statement is confirmed in the following letter, which furnishes a forcible illustration of the haughty tone which Pitt habitually adopted towards such of his colleagues as happened to differ from him. EARL OF HARDWICKE TO VISCOUNT ROYSTON. " Grosvenor Square, August 15th, 17G1. " Tired with the attendance of two very long dis- agreeable days, I sit down to thank you for your kind letter of the 11th. Our fii'st meeting was on Thursday (13th), when we sat from half-an-hour past one till half-an-hour past seven; and yesterday (14th), from two till half-an-hour after five. Very stormy they were ; but we rid out the tempest. IVIr. P had no conference with Bussy, though the latter had asked one by letter. ^; The reasons assigned for declining it, * Wiffen's House of Russell, ii. 472. t "M. de Bussy to Mr. Pitt. August 5th, I7CI: — If your 170 1.] TO LORD ROYSTON. 27 were taken from some passages in the letter, relative to the return of the French memorial concerning Spain, and of the other concerning the King of Prussia's countries and places conquered by the arms of France ;'"" but more particularly by reason of a strong complaint made of the ' Ton imperatif et peu fait pour la negotiation,' used in the letter, sending back those two memorials, and in the paper of points. We know that the draught of Bussy's letter was transmitted to him in licec verba by the Due de Choiseul, with orders to send it as it was. You guess who was much hurt by this ; though in my conscience, I think the balance of words is still on our side. After much altercation, and some thumps of the fist on the table, it was at last carried (on my motion), that the conference should be had ; but not without an answer to Bussy's letter, by which the interview was to be appointed. The meeting of yesterday was pro- fessedly upon the draught of that answer. It was produced : much too long and too irritating, f Several objections were humbly made, and strongly supported ; but not a word would be parted with. ' We would not suffer our draught to be cobbled!' Neither side receded, but it will go as drawn. If, after this letter, excellency is desirous of having a conference with me on the subject of the ultimatum, I will attend your commands." — Par. Hist. xv. 1055. * French Ultimatum. — " As to what concerns Wesel, Gueldres, and other countries in Westphalia, belonging to the King of Prussia, which are actually in the possession of the Empress Queen, the King (of France) cannot stipulate to surrender the conquests of his allies." — Par. Hist. + See Parliamentary History, xv. 1059. 28 CHARACTER OF [1761. Bussy agrees to the conference witliout fresli orders from his Court, I shall think it a good sign, that France has no mind to break off the negociation. A long letter was read from your friend Stanley,* of just half a quire of folio paper, in a close hand. It is a very able one, though witli a mixture of flights and improprieties. But he says in so many words, that he is absolutely convinced and sure, that the French Court will as soon part with a province of old France, as with the entire fishery^ and that he is no more attended to when he talks upon that subject, than if he talked of Japan. M. de Choiseul says he should be pulled to pieces in the streets of Paris. There are also some civil but strong observations upon the style of his principal,! which you may be sure con- tributed not a little to the ill-humour. I remember Sir Robert Walpole used to say that two nations might be writ into a war, and so I think they may into per- petuating a war." All the members of the Whig cabinet were opposed to this warlike policy, with the exception of Pitt himself, and his brother-in-law Lord Temple. But the real, if not the acknowledged leader of the advocates of peace, was John Russell, fourth Duke of Bedford. Upon him alone"flie loud thunders and supercilious bearing of the great commoner, made no impression. * " Article IV. of the answer of the Britisli Minister to the ultiiiiiiluin of Franco." — See Par. Hist. xv. lOCy. t Mr. Pitt. 1701.] THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. 29 " When they Avantcd to combat Pitt," says Horace Walpole, "they always summoned the Duke of Bedford." The noble author of the Reform Bill, has, I think, suc- cessfully rescued his great grandfather's reputation from the virulence of Junius and other assailants. For that viridence, there were at the time many pre- texts. The Duke's character presented several points of attack to his adversaries. Plis abilities were rather solid than brilliant. He was an inelegant speaker; although, in the opinion of an admirable judge of par- liamentary eloquence,* "he was not Avithout some reason- ing matter, and method." But neither by his oratory nor by his pen was he qualified to demolish argument, or to blunt and intimidate invective. He filled with credit to himself, many of the highest offices in the state, and while at the head of the Admiralty, contributed greatly to improve the efficiency of the navy. His feelings were naturally warm ; but neither in friendship nor in enmity was he very discriminating. He was more under the influence of domestic and social pre- possessions, than was quite salutary for his public character: for his relations were Tories, and his com- panions profligates, and the prejudices and excesses of his own circle reacted upon his own estimation with the world. Hence the Duke of Bedford was often held re- sponsible for errors of conduct from which he was him- self really exempt. In his case, the proverb " noscitur ex sociis," was applied in its full extent, and to his general disadvantage. Partly through the vices im- * Chesterfield. 30 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l7Gl. puted to him, and partly from his facility in adopting the tone of his companions, he became one of the most unpopular men of his day. Prior to his departure for his embassy, he was hooted by the mob, and as he was getting into the boat at Brighton, that was to convey him to the packet, some one in the crowd called out, "It is not the first time he has turned his back on Old England."' In two respects posterity will judge of the Duke more impartially than his contemporaries could do. He was not, like them, dazzled by the glare of war, and he held doctrines analogous to those of free trade. Thus the very opinions which render his descendant and namesake " so known, so honoured " by his country- men in these our times, were the source of obloquy and misrepresentation to the " John Russell " of the eighteenth century. Indignant at the dictation to which the Duke of Bedford had been subjected in the two " long disagree- able days " to which Lord Hardwicke refers, his grace declared his determination of taking no further part in deliberations upon which there was to be no exercise of private judgment. A like assurance was made by the Duke of Devonshire, and on the 17th of August the Duke of Newcastle apprises Lord Hardwicke of his resolution to desire the King's leave to retire from business. " The manner," continues the Duke, " and matter used and agitated in all our late meetings, the deter- mined resolution to carry on this dangerous and ex- 1701.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 31 pensive war, without considering hoio or ivith whom; the treatment that the greatest and most respectable persons meet with, if they presume to differ with any thing that has been done, or shall be proposed, and the making personal points of what ought to be free, cool, and deliberate debate and consideration amongst those whom his Majesty has appointed for that purpose — this conduct has, and will drive every person from the Council who is at liberty to go. The Duke of Bedford has already taken the resolution to come no more. The Duke of Devonshire the same, after the present consideration of the peace be over, which will now be very soon at an end. Your lordship (my great and first adviser and assistant there) will not, I conclude, come oftener than shall be absolutely necessary. My Lord Mansfield, I conclude the same. In what situation and with whom alone should I then be, if I was weak enough to remain in my present station. " But that which has determined me is this. I doubt the possibility of finding twenty millions (and less would not be sufficient) for carrying on the war another year. I see the dreadful consequences to the public, if it could be done, for it must be at such an interest as must affect for ever the proprietors of above one hun- dred millions in our Funds; and this, in my opinion, with less chance of obtaining a good peace at the end of the year 1762, than (if we had temper and good disposition) there is even, at the present time; and that, I think, is clearly Mr. Stanley's opinion." Although the Court had not deviated from its in- 32 PACIFIC PROFESSIONS OF FRANCE. [1761. tention of getting rid of the Whig Administration, it was most anxious to prevent their retirement at this critical juncture. Lord Bute told Dodington, in the early part of this year, he was not for pushing them yet, for if the peace was a bad one, as it must be, they would certainly proclaim that it was owing to their dismission, because they were not suffered to bring the great work to a happy conclusion, to whom the glorious successes which had hitherto attended their conducting it were entirely to be attributed.*"" In ac- cordance with these views the King made it a personal request to the Duke of Bedford that he would attend the Cabinet Council in which the British ultimatum was to be presented, and " the Duke was apprised that after much discourse with Lord Bute, he would not differ with them (the peace party) in the next dis- cussion, but yield the opinion he had formerly ex- pressed."! The Court was alarmed into this concession by a dinner at Newcastle House, of which the Duke of Bedford had partaken. J Accordingly we shall find that at the next meeting of the Cabinet there was a considerable abatement in the tone previously adopted by the advocates for war. * Diary, p. 433. t Wiffen's House of Russell, iii. 474. X Wiffen. 17(51.] LORD IIARDWICKE TO LORD ROYSTON. 33 EARL OF HARDWICKE TO VISCOUNT ROYSTON. " Grosvenor Square, August 22nd, 1761. ' Hi motus animorum atque hsec certamina tanta, Temporis exigui spatio suspensa quiescunt."* "We had two meetings this week; the same persons present. All was calm and decent. The great points of liberty to fish in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and an abri. Many speeches. At last, both agreed to by all. Those who had the most violently opposed, professing to acquiesce in the opinions of others for the sake of preserving unanimity in the King's council. " For your clearer information, I enclose two papers : owe, a short abstract^ wherein you will see, in one view, wherein we and France have hitherto agreed, and wherein we differed. The other, notes^ which I put down to assist my own memory, and from which I spoke. You need not trouble yourself to send them back; but bring them with you when you come to town. It is also agreed to speak clearly now about Dunkirk being put on the foot of the Treaty of Aix, and the liberty of fishing and drying fish on Newfound- land, according to the thirteenth article of the Treaty * It is hardly necessary to point out the Httle freedom which Lord Hardwicke has taken with Virgil : — Hi motus animorum atque hsec certamina tanta, Pidveris exigui /ac^w compressa quiescunt. Virg. Georg. iv. 86-7- VOL. L D 34 PACIFIC PROFESSIONS [l701- of Utrecht. It has also been agreed with the bonne foi of the French king's declaration about Nieu- port and Ostend; and that each side (after our par- ticular Peace made) may assist their respective allies in money only. Thus far is settled, and we meet on Monday to fix the particular place for the abri^ which does require information and consideration. I suppose the despatch to your friend may go on Wednesday. Whether this will do now, I don't pretend to prophesy, but I believe it would have done some time ago. Much will now turn upon the boasted union with Spain, which I fear has gone a great way. I should have told you, the conference between Mr. P(itt) and B(ussy) was had, but that did not advance the negociation much. Mr. P.'s letter to Mons. B. was sent as drawn; to which B., in his answer, only says, that he should make no observation upon it, than to say, that, on consideration, he judged it best to leave it to his Court to determine whether any answer at all, and if so, what answer should be given to it; insinuating that the letter would have warranted him to write to his Court for further orders before he took his conference. They seem to endeavour to chicane about the limits of Canada on the side of the Ohio. Here we stand at present." In the early stage of the negociations, France, not content with sending in to the British government her own memorial of propositions, forwarded also one from the Court of Madrid. Adolphus infers from this step, 1761.] OF FRANCE CONSIDERED. 35 that tlie French ministers were not " sincere " in their wish for peace. It is possible that the Court of Ver- sailles, rather than submit to the terms which we have seen Pitt Avas inclined to impose,* might have hoped that another campaign would have rendered the British cabinet more reasonable ; but it is hardly to be supposed that France, wholly exhausted in her resources, would, even with the aid of an additional ally, have wished for a continuance of hostilities, or that Spain, entirely dependent on her distant colonies for her revenue, would have been desirous to embroil herself with the " Mistress of the Seas." The characters, indeed, of the persons possessing the principal influence in those countries are opposed to the historian's hypothesis. The sensual Louis regarded, as is well known, all business connected with the war as a disagreeable inter- ruption to that course of licentiousness into which he had plunged. Madame de Pompadour, the reigning favourite, was a friend to peace and England. To the Duke of Choiseul, "peace," as Mr. Wiffin properly observes, "was almost as necessary as to Lord Bute; for, though he enjoyed the entire confidence of his sovereign, he had potent enemies, and the rupture of a treaty so necessary to the treasury, and the repose of France, would have been fatal to his credit, and, indeed, existence as a minister. Then as to Charles the Third, though sovereign of Spain, and resenting the indignities which England had heaped upon him as King of the Two Sicilies; yet, being a wise, humane, and prudent * See page 23, line 19. h 2 36 ' nl:gociations with France. [noi. prince, he would hardly have wished for a war that must have put a stop to those plans of internal improve- ment, which he had been so anxious to introduce into his country ; while his minister, Don Ricardo Wall, had created himself enemies for his supposed partiality towards English interests. The most natural conclusion appears to be, that France, anxious to avoid the mortifying concessions which would have sunk her in the scale of nations, sought the Spanish alliance, in the hope that England, from the fear of involving herself in a new war, might be induced to relax the rigour of her conditions. These expectations may have been strengthened by the pacific professions of the King and Lord Bute. Unfortunately, for all the countries concerned, the course adopted by France was productive of exactly contrary effects — although the memorial from Spain was immediately withdrawn, and the Court of Versailles disclaimed all intention of offence, Mr. Pitt's resentment, so far from being aj)peased, turned into a fresh channel. He ap- peared to be now determined to lay Spain " on her back," as well as France, and instructed Lord Bristol to make the strongest remonstrances against a memo- rial which, as he termed it, " best spoke its own enormity." To Mr. Pitt's angry representations, the Spanish minister replied with much temper and moderation; declared that the King of Spain was " absolutely free from the least offence to His Majesty, and, indeed, appeared disposed to set aside every claim which the 1761.] LETTER TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 37 national pride of his master would allow him to con- cede." These conciliatory advances were not, however, pro- ductive of an amicable adjustment. On the 18th of September, Mr. Pitt laid before the Cabinet intelligence which he had received of a secret treaty recently concluded between France and Spain. Conceiving the articles of this treaty to be adverse to the interests of Great Britain, he proposed to commence a series of hostile operations against Spain, and submitted a plan of them to the Council. These proposals bearing the signatures of himself and Lord Temple, became the sub- ject of anxious discussion in the secret conclaves of the advocates for peace, and of stormy debate in the three Cabinet Councils which assembled to consider them. DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " September 21st, 176L " Mr. Pitt brought his paper, or rather protest, this day to the King, and offered it to his Majesty, who declined accepting it. My Lord Bute was present, and said, 'As you. Sir, have given your reasons, and those of Lord Temple, for your opinion, it is but rea- sonable that those who dissent from you should give theirs also.' And I think it was agreed that Mr. Pitt's paper should be inserted in the minute with our dissent. " The King said to Mr. Pitt that he would take no resolution with regard to Spain till Mr. Stanley was 38 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l7fil. arrived, for he believed he might give some necessary lights with regard to Spain. Mr. Pitt seemed sur- prised, but said nothing. " When he came to Council (my Lord Mansfield, who had been very ill in tlie night, was there), Mr. Pitt resumed the debate, so far as related to the paper, to which he was determined to adhere. " Lord Bute spoke, and mentioned with great respect your Lordship's absence, and my Lord President's, which, added to the use that might be had in seeing Mr. Stanley, was a reason for putting off this con- sideration. Mr. Pitt replied, that he had heard all that the most able men could say. He had not de- parted from his first opinion, and should not; neither did he see any use that Mr. Stanley could be of. Lord Bute named the King as wishing to have Stanley here, before his Majesty came to any decision. The Duke of Devonshire and myself spoke strongly in ad- hering to our former opinions. The Duke of Devon- shire proposed the orders to be sent to Lord Bristol, to require an explanation what the intentions of Spain were, and to enter into the expedient proposed about the logwood; but, at all events, in case of an unsatis- factory answer, my Lord Bristol should immediately come away. Lord Mansfield spoke long, not very clearly, but rather on our side, laying it down that it did not appear to him what operations could be un- dertaken against Spain that would suffer by the delay. " That gave Mr. Pitt a great advantage, to expatiate upon his great schemes, and the almost certainty of the 1761.] TO LOUD IIARDWICKE. 39 success against tlie united force of the House of Bour- bon; but then there was not an hour to be lost. " Lord M — replied, that ' if that was the case, it would then appear in a very different light,' and plainly- made fair weather with Mr. Pitt. " My Lord Bute mentioned his behaviour to me after- wards, and said, ' My lord., that is the man.'' * Mr. Pitt adhered to his paper, said he would not execute any other measure, and insinuated that the other Secretary of State might do it. f Mr. Pitt lamented his situation, repented of the difficulties he had been led into by the French negociation, and was determined now to abide by his own opinion. He spoke very long, very well, and very determined, but with great politeness and candour. His brother-in-law | was the very reverse ; he spoke long, indeed, very pompously, very passionate, very ill-bred, but very determined; and showed plainly that their party was rather to quit, or at least to have no share in any measure but their own. " My Lord Temple was very abusive, and said he thought ' some of the company had paid dear for their whistle, relaa^ation.'' I took this up, I hope, Avith spirit, and I think, to the satisfaction of my friends. The meeting ended ; adjourned, as it were, sine die., for Stanley ; and ]\Ir. Pitt gave his papers in form to my Lord Bute, to be delivered to the King. After all was over, my Lord Bute, the Duke of Devonshire, and I had * Note by second Lord Haidwicke : — " Yet Lord Bute made great use of hiin afterwards." t Lord Bute. % Earl Temple. 40 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [1761. a most material conference, which they desired I would communicate to your Lordship. The Duke of Devon- shire and I declared that no consideration or threat from Mr. Pitt should make us depart from our opinion. My Lord Bute said we were right; that the thing was over; that after what had passed, Mr. Pitt and my Lord Temple would not stay. Besides, if Mr. Pitt would execute nothing but his own paper, business could not go on, and, therefoi'e, he would concert with us what was to be done. " We both said that, without departing from our opinion, we wished anything might be done to keep Mr. Pitt; ray Lord Bute said that was impossible." DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Newcastle House, September 23rd, 1761. " The King Avith great difficulty made Mr. Pitt leave this letter * with his Majesty, and his Majesty was so good as to show it to me and to the Duke of Devonshire. The substance of it, to the best of my memory was, that he Duke de Choiseul had sent his sister, Madame de Grammont j- to him, Stanley, to desire that the nego- * From Mr. Stanley. t Beatrix de Choiseul Stain ville married in 1759 the Due de Grammont. The duchess was a portly Amazon, with a florid com- plexion, small sparkling eyes, a rough voice, and haughty, overbearing manners. " Wonderfully agreeable," says Walpole, " when she pleased ; a vehement friend ; rude and insolent enemy." For thirty years her salons were the resort of all that was witty and gay in Paris. She had an almost tmboundcd influence over lier brother. 1701.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 41 ciation might not be broken off; that he, Choiseul, was sincere for peace ; tliat the affairs of Spain should not prevent it, or should he dropped; and that if Ave, Eng- land, meant sincerely peace, and not to justify ourselves to the public upon the measures we had taken, he, Choiseul, would sincerely concert with us the measures to be taken jointly with regard to our respective allies in Germany. Stanley also says, ' I have this not only from the Duke de Choiseul's sister, but from M. Choi- seul's enemies, and from some of the highest rank and distinction,^ whom the King very rightly observed to me was from the Prince de Conti,* from whose house Mr. Her memory stands charged with having availed herself of that in- fluence to promote the unjust accusation against General Lally, and to confirm the iniquitous and cruel sentence of death pronounced upon that brave but unfortunate officer. The duchess became, in her turn, the victim of a sentence equally iniquitous and cruel, as that which she had instigated. In April, 1794, she was dragged with her friend, la Duchesse du Chatelet, before the bloody tribunal of Fouquier Tinville. She was accused of harbouring aristocrats. She haughtily replied, that she would not tell a lie to save her life. At length, turning round on her judge, she said, — " Que ma mort soit decidee, 9ela ne m'etonne pas, j'ai en quelque sort occupe I'attention du public, quoique je ne me sois jamais mele d'aucune affaire depuis le com- mencement de la revolution, mes principes et ma maniere de penser sont connus ; mais," continued she, pointing to Madame de Chatelet, " pour cet ange, en quoi vous a-t-elle offense ? elle qui n'a jamais fait tort a personne et dont la vie entiere n'offre qu'un tableau de vcrtu et de bienfaisance." Both were led from the tribunal to the scaffold. * Louis Frangois de Bourbon was born in 1717, and succeeded his father as Prince de Conti in 1725. At the age of eighteen he entered the army, and made his first campaign with Marshal Belleisle. In 1744 he was sent with twenty thousand French troops to co-operate with the Spaniards in the conquest of Piedmont. At the battle of 42 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [1761. Stanley dates his letter. I find by the King that these letters have made no impression upon Mr. Pitt, though they have made a great one upon his Majesty and Lord Bute. The King seemed so provoked and so weary, that his Majesty was inclined to put an end, at all events, to the uncertainty about Mr. Pitt. I told my Lord Bute of it, who admitted what I said to him, but observed very rightly, that the King went too fast. He said, Mr. Pitt had given in his opinion in writing to the King, which the King showed me this day. It is signed Temple (P.S.) W. Pitt." Coni he had his cuirass pierced in two places, and two horses shot under him. He served subsequently in Germany and Flanders. He returned to Paris at the time of the peace, devoted himself to litera- ture, and associated with the most distinguished men of letters of his day. Some of his poetry has been preserved. Siding with those who were in opposition to the measures of the Court, the Prince incurred the displeasure of Louis the Fifteenth, who nicknamed him " mon cousin I'avocat." " The Prince of Conti," writes Lord Tavistock to his father in 1764, " has gained great credit in the affairs of the par- liament this winter, and continues very full of employment." * In the following reign he supported the parliaments in their opposition to the economical reforms of Turgot. It is said that shortly before his death (which happened in 1776), he caused his coffin to be brought to him, and caused himself to be placed in it to see how it would fit. " He was," says Walpole, " handsome and royal in his figure, gracious at times, but arrogant, overbearing, luxurious, and expensive." * Bedford Correspondence, iii. 260. 1701. J TO LORD IIARUWICKE. 43 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Clareinont, September 26th, 1761. " The lords, without exception, that is, our friends, have all been severally with the King, and have spoken their opinions boldly to his Majesty. The King told me nobody spoke stronger than my Lord Mansfield; and his Majesty is much pleased with my Lord Halifax. I am sorry to acquaint you, that yesterday a second letter was received from Mr. Stanley (copies of which I here enclose, and beg that you will return them to me) ; that Stanley, contrary to Ids declaration in his last letter of the 25th, is coining away tvithout either waiting for, or putting M. Choiseul in mifid of the memorial he promised us. I suppose he thought his orders were too strong for him to dare to disobey them. " Mr. Pitt saw the King yesterday, but said not one word upon Stanley's letter. He triumphs much upon Grimaldi's letter,* and I suppose will do no more upon that very remarkable expression in Stanley^ s, ' when Spain declares war, I suspect an attack upon Portugal.'' This, my Lord Bute says, supposes a resolution in Spain to * The Marquis Geronimo Grimaldi was at this time ambassador from the King of Spain to the Court of Versailles. He was a member of a noble Genoese family. He had been originally intended for the church, and received his education at Rome. In the time of Philip the Fifth, he was the representative of his native republic at the Court of Madrid, where he was known as the handsome Abbe. There he so wormed himself into the good graces of the King, as to be retained in his service. Before he went to Paris, he had been sent by the Court of Madrid in a diplomatic capacity to Sweden and 44 LETTER TO LORD HARDWICKE. [l76l. declare war. But, however iinforturiate that may be, it by no means justifies Mr. Pitt's advice, ' To break first with t/iem.'' The Kincj seems every day more offended ivith Mr. Pitt, and plainly wa.nts to get ond of him at all events^ On the 20th of September, Mr. Stanley demanded his passports, and shortly afterwards arrived in Eng- land. The Duke of Newcastle thus announces to Lord Hardwicke his conference with the late envoy. "October 1st, 1761. Thursday morning. " I HAVE had a very long, dry, and fruitless conver- sation with my friend Stanley, the whole tending to war and not peace. Former facts abridged by him, softened, and not quite verified, and supported; pre- sent dispositions stated in a favourable light for the views and measures of those who difier with us. " I send your lordship, for your consideration, before I see you, a note I took of Avhat passed with my Lord Mansfield, relating to what we should do at our meeting to-morrow."" Holland. On his return from his French embassy, he was, at the nomination of Choiseul, appointed minister of foreign affairs in the place of Don Ricardo Wall. Grin-jaldi appears to have been a man of very inferior capacity. Choiseul, who acquired a great ascendancy over him, induced him to sacrifice the interests of Spain to those of France. But for his mismanagement the Havannah need not have been placed in jeopardy. The Duke of Bedford in his correspondence speaks of Grimaldi's intrigues, and of his hostile disposition towards England. 17G1.] RESIGNATION OF PITT. 45 [The following note upon this letter is by the second Lord llardvvicke.] " After Mr. Pitt was out, Mr. Stanley did say clearly, and to myself, that he thought his manner of negociat- ing, spoilt the peace, and that France, though humbled and weakened, was still a power which had an exist- ence in the world. H." The " meeting to-morrow," alluded to in the fore- going letter, was summoned for the purpose of giving a final answer to Mr. Pitfs proposition. With the exception of the great Avar-minister, and his brother- in-hiw. Lord Temple, the cabinet was opposed to an immediate declaration of hostilities with Spain. Mr. Pitt, on this decision of his colleagues, declared " this to be the last time he should sit in that council. He thanked the ministers of the late King for their sup- port; said he was himself called to the ministry by the voice of the people, to whom he considered himself as accountable for his conduct, and that he would no longer remain in a situation which made him re- sponsible for measures he was no longer allowed to guide."'"' On the 5th of October, accordingly, he re- signed his office, and his example was followed two days afterwards, by Lord Temple. Mr. Pitfs secession, and his motives for it, appear to have been foreseen by more than one person. " Your lordship must remember," writes Bubb Dodington to Lord Bute, " some months ago, I said I thought Mr. * Annual Register, 1761, p. 43. 46 RESIGNATION OF PITT. [l701. Pitt would never make peace, because he could never make such a peace, as he had taught the nation to expect."* Soame Jenynsf makes a similar remark in * Adolphus' History of England, App. vi. p. 481. t Soame Jenyns, the poet, M.P. for Cambridge, a friend and neigh- bour of Lord Hardvvicke, whose children he frequently made the subjects of his muse ; hence Walpole calls him " the poet laureate of the Yorkes." This agreeable writer was born in 1703. During Sir Robert Walpole's administration he was appointed a Lord of Trade, but having a great dislike to party distinctions, was allowed to hold his appointment under every succeeding minister, until the Board itself was abolished. His writings in prose and poetry spread over almost the whole field of literature, comprising, amongst many other topics, Essays on theology, metaphysics, politics, and dancing. In private life, Jenyns was a man of much sweetness of temper. He had a lively and pleasant turn of wit ; his conversation was sparkling, "and," according to the Rev. Mr. Cole, "full of merry conceits and agreeable drollery, which was heightened by his inarticu- late manner of speaking through his bioken teeth." " He was," says Richard Cumberland, " the man who bore his part in all societies, with the most even temper and undisturbed hilarity, of all the good companions I ever knew. He came into your house at the very moment you had put upon your card ; he dressed himself, to do your party honour, in all the colours of the jay; his lace, indeed, had long since lost its lustre, but his coat had faithfully retained its cut ever since the days when gentlemen wore embroidered figured velvets, with short sleeves, boot cuffs, and buckram skirts. As Nature cast him in the exact mould of an ill-made pair of stiff stays, he followed her so close in the fashion of his coat, that it was doubted whether he did not wear them ; because he had a protuberant wen just under his pole, he wore a wig that did not cover above half his head. His eyes were protruded like the eyes of the lobster, who wears them at the end of his feelers ; and yet there was room between one of these and his nose for another wen, that added nothing to his beauty. Yet I heard this good man very innocently remark, when Gibbon published his History, that he wondered anybody so ugly could write a book." — Memoirs, 4to, 247-8. 17(51. J ATTEMPT TO INJURE PITT'S CHARACTER. 47 the following extract from one of his letters to Lord Royston : — " I am not much surprised at the intended resigna- tion, because I was always satisfied, that sooner or later, it must happen. Your lordship must remember, that I have often said Mr. P(itt) never would or could agree to any peace, but that he must push things so despe- rately, that no one could follow him, and then make that an excuse for quitting, when he found it impossible to go on ; every event since, has confirmed me in this opinion, and I am certain that it is not in his power to act now on any other plan." When Mr. Pitt quitted the government, the Court resolved he should leave his character behind him. Unconnected by birth with any of the old Whig families, the source of his power lay in the affections of the people. His haughty bearing towards the late sove- reign, had long excluded him from that place in the administration, which in public opinion he was en- titled to fill. This proscription had obtained for liim a high reputation for independence, while his refusal to appropriate, when paymaster of the forces, the emo- luments of his office, had produced an opinion highly favourable to his disinterestedness. To destroy his cha- racter for these two qualities, the Court persuaded him to accept the barony of Chatham for his wife Lady Hester Pitt, and an annuity of three thousand pounds a-year for three lives for himself. In the first instance, he appears to have been duped by these insidious boons, for, in his interview with the King, to give u}) the seals. 48 ATTEMPT TO INJURE PITT'S CHARACTER. [l761. he was so overcome by the apparent graciousness of his reception, that he declared he did not come prepared for such exceeding goodness, and burst into tears; and in a letter to Lord Bute, in which he desires his lordship " to lay him at the royal feet," he declares himself " penetrated with the bounteous favour of a most benign sovereign and master." But he cannot long have doubted the design of the Court, for they inserted in the same gazette, his resignation of the seals, and his acceptance of the peerage and pension. Further to im- pugn the aggressive policy on which he grounded his resignation, they added an article from Spain, setting forth the pacific intentions of that country. The announcement was not without its effect at the moment. " The city and the people," writes liigby, on the 12th of October, " ai-e outrageous about Lady Cheafem^ as they call her, and her husband's pension," and in a postscript he mentions, that Mr. Pitt was to be burned that night in great pomp in the city. With a view to repel these attacks on his popularity, Pitt wrote to his friend, Mr. Alderman Beckford, to justify his conduct. The letter afterwards made its appearance in the Public Ledger. In this document he alleges the same reasons for his retirement that he had assigned to his colleague, that " he would not remain responsible for measures which he was no longer allowed to guide." 1701.] DR. BIRCH TO LOUD ROYSTON. 49 THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EAllL OF HARDWICKE. " Newcastle House, October 20th, 1761. Tuesday, 7 o'clock. '' I ACQUAINTED Lord Bute with my city news, that all was fire and flame there; that Mr. Pitt's letter had brought back all his old friends to him ; that there was to be a meeting of the Common Council this day to instruct his Majesty in the most violent manner to sup- port war and warlike measures ; with some compliments to Mr. Pitt. My Lord Bute seemed quite unconcerned, and said bravely, that he did not trouble himself about it, or inquire what Mr. Pitt did. I told his Lordship that I knew, as I do, that an agent of Mr. Pitt's said, ' there was no union at Court ; ' and Lord B. made me no answer to that." • DR. BIRCH* TO VISCOUNT ROYSTON. « Oct. 27th, 17G1. " The St. James's Chronicle of this evening, will, in all probability, furnish your Lordship with a copy of * Thomas Birch was born in 1705. His parents were Quakers; his father was a coffee-mill maker. The son, by unremitted applica- tion, and amidst numerous difficulties and disadvantages, became qualified to take orders, though he had not received an university education. In 1732 he was recommended to Chancellor Hardwicke, then attorney- general, to whom, and to whose son, the second earl, he became indebted for his numerous church preferments. In 1752 he was elected one of the Secretaries of the Royal Society, and the following year was created a doctor of divinity. Poor Birch used to yOL. I. E 50 DR. BIRCH [1761. Mr. Pitt's letter to some eminent citizen, which appeared this morning in the Public Ledger, and occasioned so great a demand for that paper, that above three thousand were sold before noon ; before which time the Gazetteer was reprinted with that letter, which came out early in the morning, wanting that very remarkable piece. Bristow, the publisher of the Ledger, acknowledged to me that he had seen the original, and that his copy was given to the public with the writer's consent, but would not inform me to whom it was addressed, whether Sir James Hodges or Alderman Beckford,* though he in- timated that my Lord Mayor had a copy of it, or another pride himself on his riding. In 1766 he was killed by a fall from his horse. Hudibras has spoken of " An ancient sage philosopher Who had read Alexander Ross over." A reference to " Watts' Bibliotheca Brltannica " will show that Birch's works are nearly as voluminous as those of Ross. His first great work was a General Dictionary, historical and critical, including a translation of Bayle, with several thousand new lives. He was the author of twelve other publications, chiefly historical or biogra- phical ; and was an extensive contributor to many other works. Dr. Heathcote, a brother author, and fellow member of a club of literati, who met once a week to talk learnedly for three or four hours, says " Birch was an honest, humane man, warm and zealous in his attach- ments to persons and principles, but of universal benevolence; that he was cheerful, lively, and spirited, an early riser, and a man of great general knowledge. He afforded much literary information to Johnson, who made him the subject of a Greek epigram." " Tom Birch," said the great lexicographer, " is as brisk as a bee in con- versation, but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand, than it becomes like a torpedo to him, and benumbs all his faculties." * William Beckford, M.P. for London, of whom more hereafter. 17G1.] TO LORD ROYSTON. 51 letter to the same purpose sent to him. Your l-ordsliip needs no criticism upon the inaccuracy of the compo- sition,* nor shall I animadvert upon his avowal that his inducement to quit his post was because he was no longer allowed to quide the public measures. His owning the acceptance of the public marks of his Majesty's favour will overset the representation made by Mr. Beckford, who employed his agents to circulate on Thurs- day, that though Mr. Pitt had received such offers from Lord Bute, he had not yet accepted them. Mr. Dingley,t the Russian merchant, was in particular authorised by Mr. Beckford to declare this; and an attempt was made under the colour of such an assertion, to form a cabal in the city in his favour. On Thursday it was asserted that Mr. Pitt had written to his friend, Sir James * Wilkes used to say that Chatham was the best orator, and the worst letter-writer of the age. t Charles Dingley, the projector and proprietor of some saw-mills at Limehouse, was a man of much eccentricity. He obtained consider- able notoriety in 1769, by standing in opposition to Wilkes and not obtaining a single vote. " The hero of the meeting," writes Lord Temple, " Master Dingley, struck Wilkes's attorney, who knocked him down in return." His own version of the encounter is contained in a letter to Lady Chatham : — " In 1 745 I entered myself a com- mon soldier in the foot-guards, and the same spirit of loyalty, and the desire to do some noble act, induced me to offer my services to snatch and destroy the danger and confusion, by representing the County of Middlesex, I got into a scuffle. By a blow I gave Wilkes's attorney, Reynolds, I got such a hurt from his teeth, as to make my hand very lame and worthless." Junius says that " the miserable Dingley was induced to oppose Wilkes by the Duke of Grafton, and that he died of a broken heart in consequence of having been so contemptuously treated." E ^ 52 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l761. Hodges, to contradict the Gazette account from Madrid, of Saturday last, with regard to the pacific disposition of Spain; and yesterday there were alarming appear- ances of a new popular ferment, tending to restore him once more to power." The " meeting of the Common Council," to which the Duke of Newcastle alludes,'" agreed upon a repre- sentation to the four representatives of the City, urging them " to oppose all attempts for giving up such places as may tend to lessen our present security, or by re- storing the naval power of France, render us subject to fresh hostilities from that natural enemy;" and in another part alludes to the nation's ability still to carry on, and vigorously prosecute the present just and neces- sary war.f THE DURE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Claremont, Oct. 18, I 761. " Mr. Pitt's almost avowed opposition opens a new scene, and his directing that opposition to the applica- tion of the supplies, shows what I always foresaw, that all his malice would be directed against the old Admi- nistration^ notwithstanding his compliments at Council. He will think by that to be less offensive to the King by sparing his Minister and favourite, and may be glad not to be desperate with either. He will also * See ante, page 49, line 4. t Annual Register for 1761, p. [301.] 1761.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 53 Itiy the enormous expenses occasioned singly by his own measures, on the corrupt, ignorant, or loose ad- ministration of the Treasury, which ought to have pre- vented it. I just touched yesterday upon Mr. Pitt's most astonisJmig letter ; nothing can be more offensive to a King, more insolent in itself, more mischievous to Council, or show more marks of a hurt disappointed heart. But it carries with it also, certain proofs of hatred, revenge, and opposition. ' Against whom ? the principal object ought to be the principal actor in it. But, in fact, he was the sole author of it. ' Resolved to ruin or to rule the state.'"* * Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, Part I. v. 1 74. 54 EAUL 01' EUREMONT [l7<>l. CHAPTER III. EARL OF EGREMONT APrOINTED PITT's SUCCESSOR. DUKE OF NEW- CASTLE TO LORD HARD\V:iCKE. THREATENED RUPTURE WITH SPAIN. LORD ROYSTON TO MR. YORKE. WANT OF UNION AT COURT. SUMMONING A NEW PARLIAMENT. — RIVAL LISTS. CHARACTERS OF LORD TEMPLE AND GEORGE GRENVILLE. — CHOICE OF A SPEAKER. THE king's visit TO THE CITY. — PITT's TREATMENT ON THAT OCCA- SION. MR. MILBANKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. CHARACTER OF BARRE. MR. MILBANKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. — EFFECTS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE, Newcastle had hoped that the retirement of his great rival and colleague would lead to the restoration of his own political pre-eminence. " I never," says Sir George Colebrooke,* "saw the Duke in higher spirits than after Mr. Pitt, thwarted by the Cabinet in his pro- posal of declaring war against Spain, had given notice of resignation ; " but Lord Talbot, who as " a King's friend," probably knew what was likely to happen, ad- vised his Grace "not to die for joy on the Monday, nor for fear on the Tuesday." f The poor Duke was not left long in doubt, for immediately upon the resignation. Lord Bute assumed the entire management of public affairs. * Manuscript Memoir, quoted by Sir Denis Le Marcliant in Walpole's Memoirs of George tlie Third, t Walpole. 17G1.] APPOINTED PITT's SUCCESSOR. 55 The first act of the favourite was to bestow the vacant Seals on Charles Wyndhani, Earl of Egremont, son of Sir William Wyndhain, the celebrated Tory leader in the two preceding reigns. Walpole, who speaks disparagingly of him, admits that he had "a great deal of humour." He was a thoroughly well-bred man, but of a haughty, overbearing disposition. Junius says " that, notwithstanding his pride and Tory principles, he had some English stuff about him." The principal act of his short ministry, was his answer to the Spanish memorial, which did him much credit. Like his father, he died suddenly at the age of fifty-two. "If," says Bishop Newton, " he had entered earlier into business, he might have made as considerable a figure as his father. He had seldom occasion to speak in parlia- ment, but whenever he did speak, it was with great clearness, force, and energy, and he was thought very much to resemble his father in manner as well as good matter, having a little catch and impediment in his voice as Sir William Wyndham."* It is difficult to form a correct opinion of the first official act of the new secretary ; for although he de- clared that act to be his own, yet it is not quite clear from the letter that follows whether the document to which he was directed to put his name, expressed his own opinions, or whether, in the spirit of the new regime^ he was the mere registrar of a royal edict. * Bishop Newton's Life and Anecdotes, folio edition, p. 69-70. 56 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD IIAUDWICKE. [ 17(51. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HAEDWICRE. " October 20th, 1761. " Lord Bute said, the King has given orders to my Lord Egremont to prepare a letter for my Lord Bristol,* expressing his Majesty's desire to correspond with their {the Spaniards) assurance to heal and soften all the depending disputes amicably with each other, '' pro- vided. tJieij made it appear to the Kin(j that there was nothing offensive contained in the last treaty with Parish My Lord Bute said, ' this has been agreed at St. * George William, second Earl of Bristol, eldest of the three sons of the celebrated Lord Hervey, and of the equally celebrated " Mary Lepel," a lady whose wit, beauty, and vivacity, inspired the pens of Pope, Chesterfield, Pulteney, and Voltaire, of whom, the last-named addressed her in English verse. Lord Bristol was at this time ambassador at the Court of Spain. Throughout his difficult mission he appears to have conducted himself with singular ability and temper. Walpole says he was " a very Spaniard in formality and pride." From other accounts he appears to have inherited that degree of effeminacy in person, manners, and dress, that led Pope to dub his father " Lord Fanny." But this exterior by no means indi- cated Lord Bristol's real character. He was a man of great personal bravery. Sailing once in his brother Augustus Hervey's ship during the Seven Years' war, the vessel was menaced with an attack from a French ship of greatly superior force. In spite of the entreaties of his brother, Bristol insisted upon remaining on deck, sword in hand, saj'ing that as he had the honour to represent a Sovereign distin- guished for personal courage, he ought to behave as his master would have done on a like occasion. When Bristol was ordered to quit Spain, in every Spanish village that he passed, he was pursued with huzzas and acclamations deprecating the war. — (European Magazine, xxix. 2^9.) Lord Bristol died in 1775. Both his brothers succeeded in turn to the earldom. 17(U.] THREATENED RUPTURE WITH SPAIN. 57 James's, I suppose, between my Lord Egremont and himself; for, notwithstanding the little council of us four, I know nothing of the matter' " I found, by his brother,* that strong measures and strong declarations are to do everything to prevent the junction of France and Spain. Sure, we have tried these measures long enough." The official despatch here ordered to be prepared, whether emanating from the King himself, or the joint production of the conciliabulum^ had very important results. The obvious policy of the Court was to pre- serve peace with Spain, for thus alone could Ministers hope to justify their rejection of Pitt's aggressive policy. The object of the letter, therefore, was evidently to " heal and soften all the depending disputes," while the " strong declarations " it contained were to prove to the Court of Madrid that the British Government had lost none of its vigour and efficacy by the late change of hands. The means did not answer the end. The PROVISO mentioned in the Duke of Newcastle's letter was more than Castilian pride could endure. Don Ricardo Wall, the Spanish Minister, who had hitherto proved himself a warm friend to England, upon receiving Lord Egremont's communication, de- clared with much vehemence of manner that he him- self would be the man to advise the King of Spain, since his dominions were to be overwhelmed, at least to liave them seized with arms in his subjects' hands, * The Hon. James Stuart JMackenzie, Lord Bute's only brother. 58 LORD ROYSTON [l7()l. and not to continue the passive victim he had hitherto appeared in the eyes of the world. Lord Bristol, the British Ambassador, was at the same time informed that no answer would be given, and that his Excel- lency might retire at the time and in the manner most convenient to himself. VISCOUNT ROYSTON TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother, " St. James's Square, Dec. 27, 176L " This affair of Spain gives me a good deal of con- cern, and the more, as I cannot approve the conduct of our friends in it. I think they have been weakly and timidly submitting to others, whom they ought to have led. They have been playing Mr. Pitt's game in the nation, and that of France at the Court of Madrid. If ever there was a quarrel founded on punctilio and a point of good breeding^ this seems to be the instance; and then it becomes a little serious to engage two nations in blood and enmity, on no stronger provoca- tion. Lord Bristol has executed the King's orders in a masterly manner, as appears by the copy of the note he left in Wall's closet, and which I doubt not the Duke of Newcastle will show you. Fuentes'"" will * Count de Fuentes, Spanish Ambassador at the Court of St. James's. " A dull, cold man," according to Walpole, " and wedded to all the forms of his religion." From his public despatches, from his private letters in the Chatham Correspondence, and from Coxe's account of him in his Memoirs of the Kings of Spain, he appears to have been a skilful diplomatist. " M. de Fuentes," writes Walpole to Lord Strafford, " is a halfpenny print of Lord H . His wife homely, but seems good-natured and civil. The son does not dege- 1701.] TO MR. YORKE. 59 impute to his Lordship's offensive language the rough answer of his Court, and will declare that the treaty between France and Spain is a mere family compact, on which the latter have given their guarantee to the former^ with a view to what they, the French, shall lose in the course of this war. What are we then going to quarrel about? I must freely own, I think our Chief has been too passive in this affair. I mean, when the draught of Lord Egremont's letter was considered in Council, and that he should have obliged them to weigh the consequences of extending and prolonging (I wish I may not add perpetuating) the war, a little more coolly and deliberately. Though Mr. Pitt would not submit to have his draught cobbled,* the Earl of Egremont surely had no such privilege to plead; and when his Lordship said that Jds head was concerned in writing a proper letter to Spain on this occasion, I wish he had been told that every Minister at the Board was equally responsible to his country for the advice he gave, and for the manner in which that advice was directed to be carried into execution. " Above all, it was most extraordinary, in those who know Lord Bristol's connections with Mr. Pitt, to entrust him with the execution of such orders, and nerate from such high-born ugliness ; the daughter-in-law was sick, and they say is not ugly, and has as good a set of teeth as one can have when one has but two, and those black. They seem to have no curiosity, sit where they are placed, and ask no questions about so strange a country. Indeed, the Ambassadress could see nothing; lor Dodington stood before, the vvhulc time, sweating Spanish at her." * Sec ante, page 27, line 22. 60 WANT OF UNION AT COURT. [l76l. not lay him under all the guards and restrictions in the manner which words can convey. The first person who gave me any intimation of the style of the despatch to Madrid, and the opposition which Lord Eg(reraont) had given to the softening it, was Mr. Jones,* about three weeks ago; and I can safely declare, that I then said to him everything that I now say, after the event. This quarrel with Spain opens so wide a field of con- troversy — to many old claims, new acquisitions, schemes of private gain and public ambition, together with a certain increase of expense in every quarter where an attack is to be made or apprehended — that I own I see no end of the violent situation we are in, and which I doubt will continue till public distress or absolute inability compels us to wind up, not as we might, but as we may — ' liberavi animam meayn.^ " Yours affectionately, " H." In this same letter of Lord Egremont, which was afterwards submitted to Parliament, the ambassador at the Court of Spain was informed that " the most per- fect harmony and mutual confidence now reign in his Majesty's Councils." This was evidently to do away with the report in the city that there was " no union at Court." The concluding paragraph in the Duke of Newcastle's letter of the 20th, already quoted, will show how far the intimation was founded in fact. * Hugh Valence Jones, first cousin of Lord Royston, successively Secretary to the Duke of Newcastle, Member for Dover, and a Com- missioner of Revenue in Ireland. 1701. J SUMMONING A NEW PARLIAMENT. 61 " As for the matter (he, Mr. Stuart Mackenzie, said) of there being no union amongst us, that was the lie of the day, and would fall in twenty-four hours. I wish there were not so good grounds for the report." The summoning of a new Parliament afforded the King an opportunity of violating the spirit of the Con- stitution without openly departing from the letter. The time was not wholly unfavourable for such attempts. The country had lost its early zeal for the principles i of the Whigs. The Whigs were not cordially united I among themselves. The Tory party had begun to resume their ascendancy in the counties, even some of the old Jacobites had re-entered the precincts of the court. The issue of writs was delayed purposely, in order that Lord Bute might have the more time to mature his plans, and secure seats for the personal adherents of the Crown. From the following extracts it would appear that his Majesty, if he did not claim, at least appropriated to himself, as part of his personal prerogative, a share in the nomination to the govern- ment boroughs, and that both his ostensible minister, and his real adviser, each produced rival lists of his own friends and supporters. A century and a half had elapsed since similar artifices had been resorted to by the family, whose posterity the House of Hanover now excluded from the British throne. It appeared a bad omen, for the new reign to commence with a policy, the results of which had formerly overturned the monarchy. But neither the King nor his coterie were capable of benefiting by the lessons of history. G2 RIVAL LISTS. I 1701 TOE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF IIARDWIOKE. "January 19th, 17G1. " I AM to be with my Lord Bute to-morrow at St. James's whilst tlie King is at the House. I told his Lordship that I should come to talk to him about the Parliament, and that I had but just got my papers and lists. He said it was high time, and I think (though in very good humour) talked in such a man- ner, that I expect more lists from him than I shall carry to him. He said. Lord Falmouth had offered the King three members, but he did not tell me the King's answer." This liberal offer came from one of the most unblush- ing borough-mongers of the day. Hugh Boscawen, second Viscount Falmouth. In effrontery of solicitation he was equalled by Bubb Dodington alone, and he lacked the mother-wit which made that effrontery en- durable. In George the Second's reign, he told Pitt, at that time minister, that if he had not the garter, which was then vacant, his five members should vote against the government. " As long," replied Pitt, " as I remain in the Cabinet, your Lordship shall not re- ceive that distinction:" then turning to some by- standers, he added, " Optat ephippia Bos." — " Who calls me Bosf^' inquired Falmouth. — "The remark," replied Pitt, " is not mine, but Horace's." — " If Horace 17G1.] RIVAL LISTS. 63 Walpole," exclaimed his Lordship, " has taken this liberty with my name I shall resent it." * TUE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF IIARDWICKE. " January 29th, 17G1. " I HAVE heard nothing bnt civil messages from Lord Bute. Lord Anson told me yesterday, he complained of having heard nothing from me about the election. You know how I have been put off from time to time, and I don't see that his Lordship is yet disposed to fix a certain day. Lord Anson also said that Lord B. told him, the King would have several members to put in. His Majesty must find places for them ! " FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. " Newcastle House, Monday, 5 o'clock. " I HAVE received the enclosed list from Mr. Legge. I beg you would communicate it to the Duke of Devon- shire, and my Lord Kinnoul, who, I hope, have told you what intelligence I had relating to Mr. Fox and his list. I see Legge proposes to make a complete list at present, and to alter it when he shall see the Court list. I am promised that, as soon as it is settled ; but Mr. Fox said this day, that they were to meet about it. I doubt whether Ave shall have time to let our friends know what to do." Mr. Legge, alluded to in the foregoing letter, was at " Wraxall. 64 RIVAL LISTS. [1761. this time Chancellor of the Exchequer, and member for Hampshire, He had, in 1759, ofiended George the Third, then Prince of Wales, by declining to withdraw his pretensions to the county representation, in favour of Mr., afterwards Sir Simeon, Stuart, a cousin of Lord Bute's. The following letter will show that this refusal was neither forgiven nor forgotten. THE DUKE or NEWCASTLE TO THE xMARQUIS OF ROCKING- HAM. " My Lord Anson has received orders from the King himself, to declare to the Docks,* that they may vote for whom they please in the Hampshire election, even though the Chancellor of the Exchequer is a candidate." THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " I WILL go through the elections as well as I can, and endeavour to see what they (the Court) really intend. I think it is too late for them to do any mischief. They may be disagreeable, and defeat some of our friends, and act directly contrary to what they pro- mised; but they can't now alter the tone and com- plexion of the new parliament. That is all settled, and so far, my staying in to this time has been of use." On the above letter, the second Lord Hardwicke has made the following remark: — • " Notwithstanding the choice of the parliament, which * Of Portsmouth. 1761.] CHARACTER OF LORD TEMPLE. G5 the Duke of Newcastle piques himself upon, they forsook him for Lord Bute, when his standard was set up." No two monarchs were probably ever more pestered by their advisers, than George the Second and his suc- cessor, by Lord Temple and George Grenville. Nor were their Majesties the only victims. There was scarcely a contemporary statesman who had not been bullied or bored by this ruthless pair of brothers. Both, indeed, were tormentors of the first order. Yet their connections rendered them indispensable; their talents, their knowledge of the world and of parlia- mentary forms, made them serviceable ; and their pro- fession of Whig principles gave them a kind of repu- tation for liberal sentiments. ^ Richard, Earl Temple^ the elder brother, had good I business-habits, and much industry, and was by no means an inefficient speaker. His huge ungainly figure procured for him the nickname of " Squire Gawky." The qualities of his mind were indeed as loosely put together as his limbs. With much ambition, his own wayward caprice, or masterless pride, constantly marred his plans of self-aggrandisement. He was frequently asking favours of George the Second. That monarch accounted himself at least a Turenne in war; yet his Privy Seal gracefully insinuated that his Majesty had no more spirit than Admiral Byng, whose death-warrant (unjustly however) he had just signed. One of Temple's grand schemes was to establish a triumvirate government, to be composed of himself, his "voTTir^ '" ^"""^ '^ "^ '"" -"«:«.. , _. . ,^. G6 CHARACTERS OF [l7Gl. brother George, and his brother-in-law, Pitt, — three'men whose opinions were as opposite as the antipodes, and who were almost always at personal variance with each other. Temple appears to have had no fixed princij^les of action. He adopted the cause of prerogative against the Americans, and the side of Wilkes against the l\ prerogative. Mischief appears to have been the main \[ incentive of his actions ; nevertheless, he preferred being a backer rather than a principal. He was Wilkes's prime instigator in his wicked pranks against the King and the Court. He Avas likewise Chatham's evil genius; and occasionally led his brother-in-law to com- mit imprudences into which a school-boy would scarcely have fallen. He was indeed the cause of half the errors and inconsistencies committed by that statesman. The result of his political life was, that Lord Temple, after thirty years' factious meddling in public affairs, died, dis- trusted and avoided by the associates of his earlier days, ^j George Grenville was greatly superior to his brother in talents. Pitt considered him to be the best parlia- ment man in the House. Formal, punctual, and exact, he undoubtedly was. But his pride and pertinacity were as obstructive, as his regularity was conducive, to progress in affairs. Ingratitude was one of his besetting sins. Whatever may have been Lord Bute's demerits, he was at least Grenville's benefactor. Whatever may have been Pitt's profusion in war, Grenville long supported his martial measures. Yet he was among the first to turn against Bute, and to upbraid Pitt for his extravagance. Unlike as were the brothers in personal appearance, 17G1.] LORD TEMPLE AND GEORGE GRENVILLE. G7 there was much similarity in the conformation of their minds. Their common characteristics were pride, want of tact, and jealousy of all around them. Each lost office by the violence of his temper, and the haugh- tiness of each rendered a return to power impractica- ble. Each of them was revengeful ; each vented his feel- ings in pamphlets. Each possessed a stream of words, which, in all places, and on all occasions, flowed from him "in omne volubilis asvum."* Like Temple, too, George Grenville regarded the King as the proper butt of his tedious harangues, and at times of his angry invective. " When he has wearied me for two hours," said George the Third, exhausted after one of these inflictions, "he looks at his watch to see if he may not tire me for an houi;,more." It was this last-named brother whom Lord Bute, at the commencement of 1761, succeeded in gaining over to the Court, haying been, up to this period, the constant supporter of his brother-in-law, Mr. Pitt. " Avarice," says Walpole, " which he (Grenville) possessed in no less a proportion than his other passions, concurred to lead him from a master who browbeat and treated him superciliously, to worship the rising sun. Lord Bute was in want of tools, and it was a double prize to acquire them from his rival's shop." * Grenville was one evening at a concert. In the midst of a " bravura " he addressed his neighbour in his usual loud monotonous voice on the subject of some grand fiscal scheme. This auditor sought a pretext to shift his place. Whereupon the financier, possessing him- self of pen, ink, and paper, committed his thoughts to writing, making the pianoforte, at which the singer presided, serve for a table. F 2 / 08 CHOICE OF A SPEAKER. [l761. In the early part of the year, Mr. Grenville had been admitted into the Cabinet; but on Pitt's resigna- tion of the seals, he was appointed ministerial leader of the House of Commons. A meeting was held at the Cockpit, the night before Parliament assembled, for the purpose of hearing the King's speech read, and agreeing upon the choice of a Speaker. Since the days of Queen Anne, the Whigs only had attended on such occasions ; but now that the friends of the Government and the friends of the King did not mean the same persons, the Tories uninvited made a strong muster of their forces. On this party, as on the sleeping courtiers in the fairy tale, time had wrought no change of sentiment or opinion. The crown, not the wearer of it, was the object of their idolatry. Cast- ing aside as untenable their favorite dogma of indefea- sible hereditary right, they complacently transferred their allegiance from a Stuart to a Guelph, — from a dejiire to a de facto King, EDWIN LASCELLES,* ESQ., M.P., TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "'Pall Mall, Star and Garter, Nov. 2, 1761. " After a very pleasant journey, we arrived in town * Edwin Lascelles, Esq., Member for Yorkshire, was elevated to the peerage in 1790, by the title of Lord Harewood, of Harewood Castle. Dying without issue in 1795, the barony became extinct, but his estates passed to his heir-at-law, Edward Lascelles, created successively Baron Harewood, Viscount Lascelles, Earl of Harewood. 170 l.J CHOICE OF A SPEAKER. (59 this afternoon; I called upon Sir George's* at eight o'clock, to go to the Cockpit, where we found such a crowd, of all complexions, especially of the old Tories, that with much difficulty we got up stairs. I made my way into the room, and got up to the table where G. G.f was placed at the head of it, and then re- commending Sir J. Gust for Speaker, which everybody seemed to approve. Sir John replied in the episcopal style, and thus it ended. Half of those who were present, I am sure never saw that room before — Shuttleworth,J for one; he is coming to sup with us." "■ Sir John Gust is Speaker," writes Walpole, " and, bating his nose, the chair seems to be Avell filled." § The new Speaker was selected for the post by Lord Bute, on account of his Tory politics. He was a country gentleman, of good family and large estates, of an amiable disposition and obliging manners. He was well acquainted with the usages of Parliament, but * Not Mr. Lascelles' colleague Sir George Savile, who was unable to attend the meeting, but Sir George Armytage, Member for York. The Armytages are a very ancient Yorkshire family. The present Sir George is the great grandson of the baronet alluded to in Mr, Lascelles' letter. f George Grenville. :j: James Shuttleworth, Member for Lancashire, a Tory follower of Lord Bute. His great grandaughter, the heiress of Ganthype, mar- ried Mr.Kaye, the Commissioner of Education, now Sir James Phillips Kaye Shuttleworth, Bart. § The caricatures of the day point out the deficiency of the feature here alluded to. 70 THE KING'S VISIT TO THE CITY. [l76l. was deficient in the energy necessary to restrain the turbulence of an unreformed Parliament. The following day he continued what Mr. Lascelles terms " the episco- pal style," refusing to sit down in the chair till he was forced into it by the douce violence of his proposer and seconder. On the 9th of November, George the Third, who had been married only two months, went in state with his youthful Queen, to dine with the Lord Mayor. It was their Majesties' first visit to the city. Mr. Pitt, yield- ing to Lord Temple's persuasions, and as he afterwards declared, " against his better judgment," * went with him in his carriage, and joined the procession. The result of this procedure might partly have been an- ticipated. The regal bride and bridegroom were re- ceived by the people with indifierence, and Pitt's late colleague, with cries of "No Newcastle salmon."' As for Lord Bute, he was assailed everywhere with hisses and execrations, and would probably have been torn in pieces by the mob, but for the interference of a band of butchers and prize-fighters, whom he had hired as a body-guard. All the enthusiasm of the populace was centred in Mr. Pitt, who was "honoured with the most hearty acclamations of people of all ranks," f and so great was the feeling in his fiivour, that the mob clung about every part of the vehicle, hung upon the wheels, hugged his footman, and even kissed his horses. | Mr. Pitfs "joining himself to a pomp dedicated to a * Chatham Correspondence, ii. 165. t Gentleman's Magazine. J Annual Register, 17C1, p. 2ii7. 1761. J PITT'S TREATMENT ON THAT OCCASION. 71 Court which he had just quitted was," as Walpole observes, " not decent." The effect of his conduct upon the King is alluded to in a letter from the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Hardwicke, written a few days after the banquet, in which he speaks of his Majesty's dis- pleasure with ]\Ir. Pitt, for " his abominable conduct on my Lord Mayor's day." The day of retaliation was at hand. On the 9th of December, the King's Ministers were to move the renewal of the treaties with Prussia, and on the same day, the King's friends were to propose as an amendment, the recall of the troops from Ger- many. " A knot of chicken orators," were to be let loose on the ex-Secretary, to impugn his favourite war policy, and to be as personally offensive to himself, as the forms of the House would allow. Some idea of the interest anticipated from this debate may be gathered from the fact, that the house was so crowded with ladies, that it became necessary afterwards, to enforce the stand- ing orders against the admission of strangers. " The House," writes Lord Eoyston to Lord Hardwicke, " was hot, and crowded as full of ladies, as the House of Lords when the King goes to make a speech. The Members were standing above half-way up the floor." JOHN MILBANKE,"' ESQ., TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "Dec. 9, 1761. " The grand debate on the troops in Germany has been deferred a week, on account of Charles Bunbury, * Mr. Milbanke married the sister of Lord Rockingham. In 1766 he was appointed Commissioner of the Revenue in Ireland, 72 MR. MILBANK.E [l761. a son of Sir William's, just imported from Florence, a pretty man, a beau, and very fond of his figure,* who is to handle that slight and easy question of con- tinental measures, the Russian Treaty, &c. ; to move to have our troops immediately recalled. Mr. Dempster,! a Scotchman, lately started up, of a promising genius, and Mr. Glover, J are his seconds. I am told Mr. Bunbury is under the banners of Mr. Fox. Whether he means to patronize these popular points, and gain a little credit, or means it in enmity to Mr. P , * Thomas Charles Bunbury, of Mildenhall, M.P. for Suffolk, for which county he sat forty-three years. " Young Bunbury," writes Walpole to Sir H. Mann, "whom I sent to you, and you have lately sent us back, is enrolled in a club of chicken orators." In 1764, Mr. Bunbury succeeded his father in the baronetcy. Sir Charles was better known at Newmarket than St. Stephens, and was long the " father of the turf" His brother was the celebrated caricaturist. In 176^, he became the husband of the beautiful Lady Sarah Lennox, whom it is supposed George the Third would have made his Queen, if he had not been prevented by the Princess Dowager. After the dissolution of this marriage with Bunbury in 1776, Lady Sarah took for her second husband the Hon. George Napier, and by him, amongst other children, had Charles, the late gallant Commander-in-Chief in India. Lady Sarah was grandaughter of Charles first Duke of Richmond, the illegitimate son of Charles the Second, by Louisa de la Querouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth. Thus then there was till very lately in the active service of his country, an officer who is only fourth in descent from the " Merry Monarch." •|- George Dempster, Member for Forfarshire. •J: Richard, or as he was familiarly called from his poem, " Leo- nidas" Glover, had received his political education in Leicester House. He at this time sat for Weymouth, and was one of the Members of whom Bubb Dodington made a present to the King. At the age of sixteen he wrote a much-admired poem in honour of Sir Isaac Newton, and later in life the more celebrated political ballad 1761.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 73 (who is with the Ministry on this question), I know not. I shall not close my letter till I try to glean something from the debate of the day." '* Dec. 10th 1761. " As the foregoing part of my letter was the opinion of the day, I let it stand, and now present you with what I can collect from hearsay. After C. Town- shend* had opened his military Budget very ably, and declared the necessity of continuing the troops in Ger- of "Hosier's Ghost." His other poems were the "Athenaid" and " Boadicea." His last political act was to support the claims of the West India planters. " In his person and habits he was a finished gentleman of the old school, slow and precise in his manner, grave and serious in his deportment, and always in the highest degree decorous. Before the year 1776, he wore a bag, his wig very accu- rately dressed^ and a small cocked hat under his arm. In this costume he constantly walked from his house in St. James's Street, Westminster, into the city." This minute description of his dress was intended to identify him as the author of Junius, the " tall gen- tleman" who was seen to throw a letter of Junius' in Mr. Woodfall's printing office in Ivy Lane. * The Right Hon. Charles Townshend. Burke's character of this "splendid orb" is too well known to be repeated here. Vanity appears to have been his ruling passion. Among the few persons he feared was George Selwyn. These two wits had once a trial of skill. Selwyn prevailed in the war of words. Charles afterwards took Selwyn in his carriage to White's. At parting, Selwyn said, " Re- member this is the first set down you have given me to-day." Townshend " had almost every great talent and every little quality. His vanity exceeded even his abilities, and his suspicions seemed to make him doubt if he had any. With such a capacity he must have been the greatest man of his age, and perhaps inferior to no man of any age, had his faults been only in moderate proportion. In short, if he had had but common truth, common sincerity, common honesty, 74 MR. MILBANKE [l761. many, as we were in point of honour obliged to go on with the plan we had engaged in, a plan that we had hitherto succeeded so well in, that the employing 130,000 French in Germany, prevented them annoy- ing our coasts, and recovering what we have conquered, besides, the French might fall on Holland, who were not in a condition to defend themselves, and that the totality of the war had been the great means of success. "Eigby* spoke next; complained of the immense common modesty, common steadiness, common courage, common sense." — Walpole. * The Right Hon. Richard Rigby, of Mistley Hall, Essex, Member for Tavistock, Paymaster of the Forces, the leader of the Duke of Bedford's party in the House of Commons, hence called " Bloomsbury Dick." " His parts," says Walpole, " were strong and quick, but totally uncultivated ; and so much had he trusted to unaffected good sense, that he could never afterwards acquire the necessary tempera- ment of art in public speaking ; he placed his honour in a steady addiction to whatever faction he was united with ; and from the gaiety of his temper, having indulged himself in profuse drinking, he was often humed beyond the bounds of that interest which he meant should govern all his actions, and which his generous extrava- gance for ever combated." We may gather from a letter written by Garrick to Burke what sort of a life Rigby led at Mistley. " If jj-ou had a house on the swamps of Essex, where you were obliged to drink brandy by way of small beer to keep the ague out of your bones, I should long to be with you, but I have not a day to spare till I set out for the Paymaster." "When in his place in the House of Commons, Rigby," says Wraxall, " was invariably habited in a full suit of a dark colour, without lace or embroidery, close buttoned, with his sword thrust through the pocket. Corpulent in his person, he was not on that account unwieldy or inactive. His countenance was very expressive, but not of genius, still less did it indicate timidity or modesty." 17C1.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 75 expense, and the vast effusion of blood; attacked the Treaties, particularly that with the King of Prussia, which confined us not to make a peace without his consent; made a weak attack on Mr. Pitt with great heat and impetuosity, and sat down. " The next champion that stood up, was Sir F. B. Delaval,* who talked much, and said too little, for the recalling the troops : said he recollected to have heard a considerable person, lately retired from a great post, affirm, that whoever, in this country, of what size or stature soever, should venture to support Hanover measures, he would find it hang about his neck like a millstone, and sink him to the bottom of the sea;f but * Sir Francis Blake Delaval, Bart. Member for Andover. He was at this time a zealous disciple of Leicester House, but later he became a member of the society styled " The Supporters of the Bill of Rights." He was, however, looked upon with distrust by his associates, who considered him as a spy from the Court. On one occasion he and his family played " Othello" at Drury Lane, having hired the theatre for the purpose. In 1754, being opposed to Beckford at Shaftesbury, he thus addressed him : — " Art thou the man whom men famed Beckford call ? " To which the other replied : — " Art thou the much more famous Delaval ? " Sir Francis was no friend to the statesman upon whose conduct he now commented. When Pitt received the pension and the peerage, Delaval said, " The man is a fool ; if he had gone into the city, told them he had a poor wife and children unprovided for, and opened a subscription, he would have got 500,000/. instead of 3000/. a-year." t In the debate on the treaties in 1755, Pitt, attacking Fox, said, " He did not know what majorities would do, but this treaty (with Prussia) would hang like a millstone round his neck, and sink any minister along with the nation." — Walpole's George the Second, i. 413. 76 MR. MILBANKE [l761. lie saw that person, though not very robust, sitting as if it sat light on his shoulders. "Stanley* spoke well and ably; said he should speak to a point, that his late employment had given him an opportunity of examining thoroughly, and that if it was proved, all the rest was needless, namely that the German war was highly detrimental to France; he also attempted to show, that the Austrian alliance with France was unnatural, and the French at this time hated the Austrians worse than the English. " George Grenville spoke against the German war in general, f the Treaty, but thought it necessary, as we were so far embarrassed, to continue, but thought other plans might be proposed more effectual.J " Mr. Pitt, with great serenity, congratulated the House on the temper of the day; that gentlemen spoke their opinions freely, without heat or animosity; gave his reasons artfully, for coming into, and going on with their plans, when he was entreated, pressed, and com- pelled to take the seals, but declared, from his infancy, he had ever inclined towards Continental measures; * The British Minister in France during the late unsuccessful negociation. See above, p. 43. t Mr. Grenville " had, during the last reign, avowedly or silently supported every one of Pitt's expensive German measures ; indeed, he had held by Pitt's favour one of the most lucrative places under Government, the Treasurer of the Navy, The scene was changed, and Grenville with it." — Walpole's George the Third, i. 104. X Grenville " levelled several reflections indirectly at Mr. P[itt], and was more the aggressor than was perhaps advisable in this de- bate." — Lord Royston to the Earl of Hardwicke, Dec. 9, 1761. 17H1.J TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 77 complimented his friend Stanley, to the highest degree, for his abilities in his late negociation; congratulated his King, his country, &c., that they had a person of so great capacity among them; sneered at Rigby and Sir Francis Delaval ; said he would not disappoint the gentlemen so far as to take no notice of them ; he con- fessed he did see the person of the latter standing up, and recollected to have heard him, — that was sufficient. " Lord Barrington supported the German war, and took an opportunity of defending Lord Ligonier, who was absent, and had been attacked upon some trivial military matter, by Rigby. High words arose between them, and Itigby said, though he confessed himself not of abilities to face Mr. Pitt; he was not a bit afraid of that noble lord, upon any ground. Lord Barrington assured him in return, that he was not in the least afraid to meet that gentleman in any shape, on any ground. "Mr. Ongley''" spoke next, for recalling the troops, without prevailing much, and said nothing worthy of notice. " Mr. Nugentf spoke next, with the Ministry, but indifferently. * Robert Henley, M.P. for Bedfordshire, assumed the surname of Ongley, on succeeding to the estates of his graiiduncle, Sir Richard Ongley. In 1776 he was created Baron Ongley, in the peerage of Ireland. " Ongley spoke on the same side with Rigby, that he came down to the House with an honest enmity to the German war." — Viscount Royston to the Earl of Hardwicke, Dec. 9, 1761. -f- Robert Nugent, a native of Ireland. He had lived on terms of much intimacy with Frederick Prince of Wales, who, at the time of 78 MR. MILBANKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [l761. " Mr. Legge said that it appeared to him that the diflference rose upon whether of two modes were the best, — the one that had succeeded, or one that might succeed; was much inclined to a peace, — not a bad one ; and wished we had one. " Tommy Townshend, Mr. Huett,* Rose Fuller,i- — all for continuing the troops. " Rose Fuller declared that he believed, if we recalled his death, owed him a considerable sum of money. The debt con- tracted by the father was liquidated by the son, who paid him off in the form of places, pensions, and peerages. Nugent became succes- sively Baron Nugent, Viscount Clare, and Earl Nugent. Opinions upon public matters he had none. He spoke and voted exactly as his master bade him. His religious creed sat as loosely upon him as his political. He was brought up a Protestant, turned Roman Catholic, wrote a satire on his original creed, and died in the bosom of the Church he had so much ridiculed. This " voluptuous Irishman," as Glover calls him, was indebted to nature for an athletic form, a vigorous constitution, and a stentorian voice, an inexhaustible flow of spirits, a rich fund of humour, and a ready eloquence, in which bashfulness had no share. His coarse jokes lie scattered over the pages of Walpole. Nugent was author of several odes and epistles. He was a friend of Dr. Goldsmith, who addressed to him his celebrated " Haunch of Venison." On one occasion he sent the Queen a bale of Irish manufacture, accompanied by a copy of bad verses from himself The wags of the " RoUiad " make her Majesty thank him for both pieces of stte^. * James Hewit, Member for Coventry, King's Sergeant, brother- in-law of Sir George Savile. He subsequently became Lord Chan- cellor of Ireland. In 1768, he was created Viscount Lifford, in the peerage of that kingdom. The Duke of Grafton speaks of him in his Journal " as a true Whig, who bore a character to which all parties bore their assent of respect." t Rose Fuller, of Rose Hill, county of Sussex, M.P. for Maidstone, and afterwards for Rye, Chairman of Ways and Means in Lord Rock- 17G1,] CHARACTER OF BARRK. 79 the troops, our whole conquests would fall back into the hands of the French. " The whole closed at eight o'clock, for continuing the troops, 7iemine contradiceutey Before I give Mr. Milbanke's account of the second night's debate, I would introduce the following sketch of a new and subsequently conspicuous performer on the parliamentary stage. a Isaac Barrd was a native of Ireland. His parents ^^}A kept a small grocer's shop in Dublin. At an early age he entered the army, and served with much distinction in America, against the French. Dividing his time between literature and the study of his profession, he found a kindred spirit for both pursuits in General Wolfe, who lived with him on the most intimate terms. He was present on the heights of Abraham, where that gallant young soldier, in the moment of victory, received liis mortal wound. He was himself wounded in the same action. In West's celebrated picture of the death of Wolfe, Barr(5 forms one of the group of officers round the dying General. Returning to England, in 1760, ingham's first Administration. He was for several years a zealous Whig, but suddenly cooled towards the party. Among Lord Rock- ingham's papers is a list of the House of Commons, showing the political bias of each member ; his name there appears among the " doubtfuls." Almon says, that after Fuller's death it was discovered tliat he had for several years been in the receipt of a pension of 500/. a-year. Burke, who knew nothing of the cause, but felt the eflFect of his desertion, lamented to Lord Rockingham that "his Lordship's withered old rose, who, in his best, was no better than adog-rose, had, within a few weeks, totally altered his hue." — Correspondence, ii. 8. 80 MR. MILBANKE [l761. he became the following year, through the agency of Mr. Fox, Lord Shelburne's nominee for Wycombe. His motive for attacking Pitt, in the manner described in the following letter, was for having neglected, as he supposed, his application for promotion. In a letter to Pitt, written in April 1760, he says, " After the defeat of his Majesty's enemies, the trophies I can boast only indicate how much I suffered, — my zealous and sole advocate killed, my left eye rendered useless, and the ball still in my head." His appearance on this his parliamentary dehut^ is graphically described by Walpole. " My ear was struck with sounds I had little been accustomed to of late — virulent abuse on the last reign, — and from a voice unknown to me. I turned and saw a face equally new; a black, robust man, of a military figure, rather hard- favoured than not, young, with a peculiar distortion on one side of his face, which it seems was a bullet lodged loosely in his cheek, and which gave a savage glare to one eye. What I less expected, from his appearance, was very classic and elegant diction, and as determined boldness as if accustomed to harangue in that place." MR. MILBANKE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " Argyle Street, Dec. 28 th, 1671. " In my last I was rather hasty, as I concluded before the sport was over. The next day produced some new combatants. Mr. Bunbury (whom I described in my last), with a flashy speech, and no small assurance, 1701.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 81 abused Continental, Hanoverian, and Russian measures; called the King of Prussia ' the petty elector of Branden- bourgh,' and spoke disrespectfully of the late King; a great deal of bombast and false action; a set speech calculated for a reply to Mr. Pitt the day before, but kept till it was stale. " Mr. Glover gave a long history of treaties for several years back, and aimed to prove the absurdity of the Prussian Treaty, wherein we were bound not to make peace without the King of Prussia's consent. Mr. Pitt showed the obligation was reciprocal, as was usual between parties engaged in a general treaty. I pass over some stragglers, to hasten to the hero of the piece. Colonel Barre, an Irishman of low birth, bred an attorney, but taking to the sword, was in high favour with General AVolfe, and good repute as a soldier, with a most consummate assurance, good figure, military countenance, and ready at his tongue, made a most violent attack on our late measures, the late K — g, and a personal one on Mr. Pitt. After abusing our treaties, &c., he said the nation had been so biassed in the late reign by the Court, that from the K — g to the lowest of the people, Ave were all become Hanovers. Then he attacked Mr. Pitt's political principles, and said his life had been a series of change and contra- diction, from the beginning to the end; that after the most violent protestations against Continental and Hanoverian connections, when he had thrust himself into the Ministry, cameleon-like, he took the colour of the ground he stood on. He then ridiculed his VOL. I. 6 82 MR. MILBANKE [l7Cl. figure and action, saying, he was amazed to see the gentleman with solemn looks, with eyes uplift to heaven, one hand beating on his breast, and formally contra- dicting and disowning the principles he had maintained the day before. " Mr. Pitt was so mortified and hurried, that he said once or twice to his friend Beckford, ' What 's to be done?' At last Beckford, all in a tremble, called him to order for using the King's name, when, he said, the King had no confidence in him. A debate from thence arose on the use of the King's name, when Mr. Fox started up, and said the use of the King's name in that sense was not irregular, and that the honourable gentle- man had said nothing disorderly from the beginning to the end, and so hallooed Barre on again, who got up with the same intrepidity, and concluded without vary- ing his style. I fancy the House would not have suffered such scurrility on any other person, but they sneered to see the great warrior worried. I find Mr. Pitt was exceedingly mortified to find the House so little inclined towards him. I fancy he expected to shelter himself behind the Duke of New— e, and his party in the House ; and out of doors, thought he stood on good ground. In his speech, he had flattered the Duke of New — e for his conduct at the head of the Treasury ; in the same style he flattered Lord Anson. Barr6, in plain words, in one part of his speech, called him ' the most infamous minister tliat ever England produced.' " The Solicitor-General vindicated the late King very 1701.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 83 handsomely and ably, thoroughly answered all the dis- respectful hints that were thrown out against him, and declared that, to his certain knowledge, so far from the King's heaping up his Hanoverian treasures, and cut- ting up the bowels of Englishmen, as Barrd had expressed himself, he never applied any money from hence to the defence of his Hanoverian territories, till he had entirely exhausted the Avhole of his Hanoverian coffers. This is a circumstance but little known, and deserves to be made public. " I left Mr. Pitt's answers to Sir Francis Delaval short in my first letter. He turned to Mr. Fox, and looked him full in the face, and said, ' if any gentleman in this country would venture to take the lead, on any other plan but the present, he would make his heart ache ;' and now, I think, I have answered the mill- stone." The effect produced upon the House by this extra- ordinary philippic may be judged of by the observation to which it gave rise. Pitt made no manner of reply ; only turning to Beckford, and asking pretty loud, " How far the scalping Indians cast their tomahawks?"* When Barre sat down, he was observed to eat a biscuit, upon which some one cried out, " You should feed him upon raw flesh." Another observed that he knew of nobody fit to enter against him but an officer in America, who was distinguished by the name of " Kill him and eat him." Charles Townshend, being asked when the House * Walpole's George III. G 2 84 EFFECTS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE. [1761. would rise for the holidays, replied, " I do not know, but when it does the roads will be as dangerous as if the army M'ere disbanded." And Barr^, having said that he would not answer for his head, but would for his heart, " Yes," said George Selwyn, " if he could not the former would have been broken long ago." * * Walpole. 1702.] WAR WITH SPAIN DECLARED. 85 CHAPTER IV. WAR WITH SPAIN DECLARED. LETTER OF DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. PROPOSED ATTACK ON THE IIAVANNAH. EARL OF ALBEMARLE. COMMODORE KEPPEL. SIR GEORGE POCOCK. LETTER TO LORD ALBEMARLE. CHARACTER OF COUNT DE VIRI. CHOISEUL TO BAILLI DE SOLAR. LETTER TO LORD HARDWICKE. DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD HARDWICKE. LORD BUTE's SECRET NEGOCIATION WITH VIENNA. LETTERS FROM THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORDS HARDWICKE AND ROCKINGHAM^ ON HIS RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICE OF FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY, AND TO THE DUKE OF CUMBER- LAND WITH HIS ANSWER. On the first day of the new year, the Count de Fuentes quitted England. On the fourth, war was formally proclaimed against Spain. The immediate occasion of these fresh hostilities, was Lord Egremont's vapouring despatch. But the war might probably have been altogether avoided, had Mr. Pitt, while Minister, adopted a more conciliatory tone towards the Court of Versailles. If that statesman would have granted such terms to France as she could have accepted without losing her position in the scale of nations, the famous " Family Compact," the ostensible cause of the rupture, would have been altogether unnecessary. Thus when Pitt, at the meeting of Parliament, claimed credit for his foresight and intelligence, in recommending im- mediate hostilities, may not the prophet be accused of having had some share in fulfilling his own prediction? 86 LETTER OF DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. [1762. It is clue to the Duke of Newcastle, whose memory stands charged with political delinquencies enougli, to show that from almost the greatest crime of Avhich a public man can be guilty, that of unnecessarily involv- ing his country in war, he was, in this instance, exempt. His correspondence throughout shows, that he was oi3posed to the aggressive policy adopted towards Spain. Writing to Lord Hardwicke, on the 10th of January, he says: — " Every friend I have dings in my ear, that the whole load of our miserable situation will be laid upon me. My Lord Bute complains that I am laying it all upon him; as long as he is the sole dictator^ there it ought to lie. But I never withdraw from what I have advised and think right. To be sure I did, and do, think the Spanish affairs might have been treated in a manner that would have given us a chance to have avoided the war. But that was mere matter of opinion, in which, to be sure, others might, and indeed did, differ Avithout any unkindness or disrespect to me. I have (shown), and shall show, as much desire to carry on this terrible war against Spain with success, as any- body ; perhaps having tried a Spanish war with as much zeal, I am sure, as any man, even Mr. Pitt himself can do, and having found little success in it, I may per- haps not be quite so sanguine as others are." Two days after the declaration of war, the Cabinet assembled, to concert measures for the approaching conflict. i';g2.] proposed attack on the havannah. 87 " At the meeting on Wednesday," writes the Duke of Newcastle, " where there were none but the two Secretaries, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Anson, Lord Ligonier,"' IVIr. Grenville, and myself, we began with my Lord Anson's project, of attacking the Havan- nah, and after hearing the facilities, which his Lordship and Lord Ligonier apprehended there were in doing it, we all unanimously advised the undertaking it as certainly a measure of the greatest importance to Spain; and the method proposed by them for it, will cause as little additional expense as a measure of that magnitude and consequence would do." In selecting the Havannah, the centre of the whole trade of the Spanish West Lidies, as the point of attack. Ministers sought to avoid a repetition of the errors committed by their predecessors, in the former war with Spain, when operations were directed against so inferior a place as Porto Bello, instead of proceeding at once to Carthagena. The choice of the chief officers of this expedition was assigned to William, Duke of Cumberland. For * Field-Marshal Viscount Ligonier, of Enniskillen, created in 17GG an English Earl. He was a Frenchman by birth, but entered the English service at an early age. " This honest old General," as Chesterfield calls him, served with much distinction under the Duke of Marlborough, and afterwards in the wars of Germany. So bril- liant was his conduct at Dettingen, that George the Second invested him with the order of the Bath on the field of battle. Ligonier was a thoroughly amiable man, and was both a favourite in the camp and the Court. He died in 1770, at the advanced age of ninety-two, retaining the gaiety of his nation to the last. 88 EARL OF ALBEMARLE. [l762. although the Whig predilections of the hero of Culloden prevented much intimacy between him and George the Third, yet the young King appears to have looked up to his uncle as a great military authority, and to have consulted him on all matters connected with his pro- fession. On this occasion, the Duke nominated to the chief command of the army. L ord Alb emarle. Asso- ciated with Lord Albemarle, were his two brothers. To Augustus Keppel, the elder, who bore the distin- guishing pendant of commodore, were assigned the active naval operations of the siege, while upon William, devolved the storming of the Moro, the fort upon which the city of the Havannah mainly depended for its defence. George Keppel, third Earl of Albemarle, was at this time a Lieutenant-General, a Privy Councillor, Governor of Jersey, and Colonel of the King's Own Dragoon Guards. From the age of sixteen he had been in the household of the Duke of Cumberland; and up to the period of his nomination, his Royal Highnesses inse- parable companion, whether in peace or war. After the battle of Culloden, Lord Albemarle, or, as he then was, Lord Bury, brought the intelligence of the victory to George the Second, who made him a present of a sword and five hundred guineas, and appointed him his aide-de-camp. He was very near, however, being dis- qualified for ever as a messenger of triumph, for on the morning of the action, " a poor mountaineer approached the lines of the English, demanded quarter, and was sent to the rear. As he lounged backwards and for- 17G2.] COMMODORE KEPPEL. 89 wards through the lines, apparently very indifferent to what was going on, and even paying no attention to tlie ridicule with which the soldiers greeted his uncouth appearance, Lord Bury, aide-de-camp to the Duke, happened to pass, in the discharge of his duties, when all at once the Highlander seized one of the soldiers' muskets, and discharged it at that officer; receiving next moment, with perfect indifference, and as a matter of course, the shot with which another soldier immediately terminated his existence. He had intended to shoot the Duke of Cumberland, but fired prematurely, and without effect, at an inferior officer, whose gaudy apparel seemed, in his simple eyes, to indicate the highest rank." * Augustus Keppel, the next brother, entered the navy at ten years of age, " went foreign " immediately, and continued afloat, with little intermission, until he hoisted his flag. After three years' cruise in the Mediter- ranean, as a midshipman, he returned home, in time to accompany Anson on his famous voyage round the world. He had the peak of his cap shot off at Payta, and was promoted to his lieutenancy for his gallantry in the capture of the Acapulco galleon. "On the 30th of November (1743), I went," writes Augustus Keppel, "up in the cutter to Wampo, and so to Canton, to attend the Commodore to the Vice- King of Canton." f On the 30th of November, 1843, being, to a day, one * Chambers's Hist, of the Rebellion, ii. 90-1. t Keppel's Lite of Viscount Keppel, i. 68. 90 COMMODORE KEPPEL. [l702. hundred years later, Augustus Keppel's great nephew, Henry Keppel, also a sailor, succeeded for the first time in getting within the walls of Canton.* At the age of twenty, Augustus Keppel, having now attained the rank of Captain, was appointed to the command of the " Maidstone," a fine fifty-gun frigate, in which he was the most successful cruiser of his time, until he ran her to pieces on the coast of Britany, while in hot pursuit of a large privateer, amidst rocks and shoals, and under the fire of the enemies' batteries. In the year 1749, Keppel was sent with a squadron of ships, to demand from the Dey of Algiers compensation for injuries inflicted upon English vessels by the Bar- bary pirates. The youthful Commodore and Envoy was of fair complexion and diminutive stature, and looked younger than his actual age — tAventy-five years. " On his arrival at the palace," says Northcote, "he demanded an audience, and, on his admission to the divan, laid open his embassy, requiring at the same time, in the name of the Sovereign, ample satisfaction for the injuries done to the British flag. Surprised at the boldness of his remonstrances, and enraged at his demand for justice, the Dey, despising his apparent youth, exclaimed that he wondered at the insolence of the King of Great Britain, in sending him an insigni- ficant beardless boy. " On this the youthful hot-spirited Commodore re- plied, ' Had my master supposed that wisdom was * My brother. Captain Keppel, was then in command of H.M.S^ " Dido." 17G2.] COMMODORE KEPPEL. .91 measured by the length of beard, he would have sent your Deyship a he-goat/ The tyrant, unused to such language from the sycophants of his court, ordered his mutes to advance with the bowstring. The Commo- dore, being very near a window which looked out upon the bay, directed the attention of the African chief to the squadron then at anchor, telling him that if it was his pleasure to put him to death, there were Englishmen enough on board to make him a glorious funeral pile. The Dey cooled at this hint, and was wise enough to let him depart in safety." * Keppel was the junior Member of the Court Martial that condemned Byng to death. His efforts to save tliat unfortunate Admiral are too well known to be repeated here. In the year 1758, Keppel captured the Island of Goree, and, the following year, commanded one of the eight ships which, under Lord Hawke, in a heavy gale of wind, a high sea, a strange and rocky coast, and a lee shore, completely anniliilated the French fleet. In this action Keppel sank the Thesee, an eighty-gun ship, with a crew of fifteen hundred men. "KeppeFs ship," says Walpole, " was full of water, and he thought he was sinking ; a sudden squall emptied his ship, but he was informed all his powder was wet. ' Then,' said he, ' I am sorry I am safe.' They came and told him a small quantity was undamaged. ' Very well,' said he, ' then attack again.' "f The next year he was appointed, * Northcote's Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds, i. 32-3. t Walpole's Life of George IL ii. 395. 92 SIR GEORGE POCOCK. [l762. with General Hodgson, to the joint command of the exjDedition to Belleisle. Lord Albemarle's naval coadjutor, in the expedition against the Havannah, was Admiral Sir George Pocock. This officer commenced his career under Sir George Byng. In 1748, as chief officer on the leeward station, he captured nearly forty vessels belonging to a French convoy. At the attack on Chandernagore, in 1757, he would not quit the deck, although he had received seven wounds. His principal services were in the East Indies. His competitor was poor Admiral Lally, who was so brutally executed in 1761. Lally was for some time a prisoner in England. On being introduced to Pocock, he thus addressed him : — " Dear Sir George, as the first man in your profession, I cannot but respect and esteem you, though you have been the greatest enemy I ever had. But for you I should have triumphed in India, instead of being made a captive. When we first sailed out to give you battle, I had provided a number of musicians on board the 'Zodiaque' (the French flag-ship), intending to give the ladies a ball on our victory; but you left me only three fiddlers alive, and treated us all so roughly, that you quite spoiled us for dancing." To those who may wish to see a favourable portrai- ture of William, surnamed " The Butcher," from his severities in the Highlands, after the rebellion in 1745-6, the following letter, and others of similar tenor, may prove interesting. 17G2.] LETTER TO LORD ALBEMARLE. 93 H. R. H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND TO THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE. " My DEAR Lord, '•' Windsor, Great Lodge, Feb. 24, 1 762. " A THOUSAND thanks for your letter of the 22nd. I have felt the bad weather, that has lasted ever since we parted, both in body and mind, for I have had a sharp fit of the gout (which, by the by, is going off) ; but the contrary winds were still more unpleasant, as I dread the loss of one single day at present, and that not the less for Knowles's* company, who is here croaking every day at dinner. Any bystander would think me the projector and Jitter-out of the expedition ; but the truth is, the subject is so tender, that I cannot even allow suppositions, which, perhaps, are not quite groundless. " I must not omit saying, that I gave your brotherf false intelligence about the Moro fort, for he asked me whether ships could anchor before that fort, and I answered in the negative; but on further inquiry of Knowles, he says, the men-of-war may anchor as near as they please, in from four to six fathoms water; * To Admiral Sir Charles Knowles is due the merit of the original project for the reduction of the Havannah. Returning from Jamaica in 1756, he obtained leave to view the fortifications of that city, and on the appearance of a rupture with Spain, submitted to Mr. Pitt a plan — probaV)ly the same which he laid before the Cabinet at the time of his resignation. Sir Charles afterwards showed his papers to the Duke of Cumberland, who forwarded them to the Government. t Commodore Keppel. 94 CHARACTER OF COUNT DE VIRI. [l762. though, he assured me, he had told your brother, yet I thought it best to write myself. " I have a million of compliments and good wishes from my sister Mary ;* and you know too well how much she loves me, not to think her sincere on the subject. " Dear Albemarle, get away as fast as I wish, and judge whether I don't love my easterly wind more than ever. Nobody can tell better what you have felt on this occasion, for our feelings have truly sympathized, as I am in hopes they ever will. " Yours for ever, " William." Scarcely had the war with Spain been proclaimed, than the Government, or rather Lord Bute, re-opened the negociation with France. " The first great outlines of the peace," writes Lord Chesterfield, "were arranged, under the sole direction of Viri, for Lord Bute was wholly ignorant of negociations and foreign policy." The Count de Viri was a native of Savoy ; he had been originally a monk. In the reign of George the Second, he was appointed Minister to the English Court. Viri had the sagacity to foresee the position Lord Bute * Princess Mary, fourth daughter of George the Second, married in 1740 Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. "He was a brutal German, obstinate, of no genius, and after long treating Princess Mary, who was the gentlest and mildest of her race, with great in- humanity, had for some time lived upon no terms with her," — Wal- pole's Memoirs, i. 351. Queen Caroline, on her death-bed, spoke of " the meek and mild disposition of the Princess Mary." — llervey, ii. 513. 17(52.] CHARACTER OF COUiNT DE VIRI. 95 would eventually hold, and paid his court to him so effectually, as to gain a complete ascendancy over him ; indeed, the love of intrigue and mystery of the wily Savoyard, found a responsive feeling in the breast of the favourite. The conduct of the Peace was not the only commission with which Lord Bute charged Viri. It appears by the Hardwicke papers, that he had assigned to him the scarcely less difficult task of re- conciling the Duke of Newcastle to part with the power, while he retained the title of Minister. His services were amply rewarded. The King granted him a pension of a thousand a-year, on the Irish Pension list, under the name of Charles, and allowed his son to succeed him at the Court of London. On his return to Sardinia, Viri retired to his States in Savoy, on the plea of ill health, but in reality, to avoid the Marquis de St. Germain, the Sardinian Minister of Foreign Affiiirs, who he knew could not endure him. But hearing that the Marquis was ill, he so timed his visit to Turin, as to arrive when his enemy was at the point of death. Viri knew that he was in no good odour at Court. He had reason to suspect that the King of Sardinia was aware of the intrigues that he had set on foot, to prolong his stay in England. The day after the death of M. de Saint Germain, he appeared before the King and made his peace wdth his Majesty, by presenting him with a magnificent suite of Gobelin tapestry, which had been given him by Louis the Fifteenth. M. Dutens, the author of " Memoirs of a Traveller in 96 CHARACTER OF COUNT DE VIRI. [l762. Retirement," was at this time Charge d' Affaires at the Court of Turin, and went frequently to see Viri. He was treated with much apparent confidence by the Count, who seemed anxious to know who was spoken of as the new Foreign Secretary; Dutens telling him that the Count himself was considered the successful candi- date : he replied, " I am tired of business, I have already one foot in the grave, and how could any one be so simple as to imagine that / would now go to mix in the bustle of courts and politics." This assur- ance he repeated several times. He was actually at the time the Foreign Secretary. Dutens, on another occasion, applied to Viri on behalf of a friend. Some time after, the Minister sent for him as early as eight o'clock in the morning ; spoke in high terms of his friend, and satisfied him that his request would be granted. Dutens had scarcely got home, when he saw his friend, who laughing, told him he knew all that happened. " Count de Viri," said he, " sent for me at seven o'clock ; he wished me to witness how much he had my affairs at heart, and made me conceal myself behind a screen, while he was talking to you." This love of concealment manifested itself in the most trifling concerns. He had once a slight wound on one of his legs, and sent for a surgeon to examine it. A similar accident happening to the other leg, he put that under the care of another surgeon, so that it might not be known he had hurts on both legs at the same time. When Viri died, his secretary said in answer to an inquirer, "He is dead, but he does not wish it to be 1762.] CIIOISEUL TO THE BAILLI DE SOLAR. 97 known f and the King of Sardinia, when he heard of his death said, " That he would have made a mystery of it, if he could." The uegociations with France were carried on by Count de Yiri through the medium of his country- man the Bailli de Solar, the Sardinian Ambassador at Paris. The Bailli had been previously Ambassador from his own Court, to that of Rome, at the same time that Choiseul was Ambassador from France. A warm friendship had, since that period, subsisted between them. M. Dutens makes a favourable mention of the Bailli in his Memoirs. The allusion in the following letter, to the " dissen- sion interieure," sufficiently accounts for the tone adopted by the writer. LE DUG DE CHOISEUL A M. LE BAILLI SOLAR DE BRIELLE. " he 23 Janvier, 1762. " Nous nous parlerons Lundi, mon cher Ambassadeur, sur les lettres de M. le Comte de Viry. Elles ont un tour entortill6, qui nous jette dans la mefiance. II nous parait que, dans la situation actuelle, si les Anglais veulent de bonne foy la paix, il faut qu'ils agissent avec la meme franchise que nous avons en vis-a-vis d'eux quand nous la voulions au printemps passe. Cette franchise consiste k nous faire dire nettement, ' Nous voulons la paix et nous vous offrons ainsi qu'a I'Espagne telles conditions.' Sur cela on n^gocie, on se rapproche, VOL. I. H 98 CIIOISEUL TO BAILLI DE SOLAR. [l7G2. et on conclue; si au contraire, Ton imagine a Lon- dres que sur des insinuations que peuvent etre des- avou^es, nous ferons des propositions, on les y attendera long temps. Voila mon avis, et ce que je vous con- seille de mander a Monsieur de Viry. Je pense qu'il faut beaucoup refl^chir avant que de prendre un parti ; mais, quand on Fa pris, il ne faut pas f etonner pour I'executer sur tout lorsqu'on a a ftiire as d'honnetes gens, qui sont bien ^loignes de vouloir compromettre meme leurs ennemis. Le Ministere Anglais ne pent avoir que trois vues, ou de semer, par des insinuations faciles, de la jalousie entre nos allies, ou d'avoir interet de faire actuellement la paix pour remedier a la dissension interieure, qui se trouve dans le Conseil Britannique; ou parcequ'il sent que le fardeau de la guerre devient trop pesant pour la monarchie. Si c'est la premiere vue qui la dirige, vous pouvez avertir M. de Viry qu'il ne reussira pas; si ce sont les deux autres, il doit croire que nous desirous tres sincerement la paix; que nous nous piquons d'une pro- bite exacte, et que par consequent il n'y a nul incon- venient de nous faire des propositions. Yous observerez que nous ne sommes pas les maitres de parler les premiers, car nous avons des allies, dont il faudroit avoir I'agrement, ce qui seroit tres longue et difficile; mais ces memes alli(^s adopteraient par notre canal, les propositions decentes, que nous pouvions leur faire. Au reste ne croyez pas que la prise ou la non prise de la Martinique puisse nous d(^ranger de notre systeme politique. Je ne s^ais pas ce qui arrivera de cette 1762.] NEWCASTLE TO IIARDWICKE. 99 opdration, mais je me suis arrang^, comme si les Anglais en avaient fait la conqu^te. Adieu, mon clier Ambassadeur ; je doute que j'aie rien 'X vous ajouter Lundi a tout ce que je vous mande, je vous aime, et je vous embrasse de tout mon coeur." The copy of M. de Choiseul's despatch was sent to the Earl of Hardwicke by the Duke of Newcastle, with the following note from himself. " Newcastle House, Wednesday, four o'clock. "I AM sure you were as much concerned and disap- pointed as myself, at the answer to Comte Viry. To be sure, they are provoking, especially some passages in M. de ChoiseuFs letter, that ' la dissension dans le Ministere,' or ' notre impuissance de faire la guerre,' may make us wish for peace. I find they have puzzled my Lord B extremely. I could not, however, avoid giving it as my opinion, both to his Lordship and to the King afterwards, that we should not put a final stop to this channel, for that I was concerned that the German war was totally abandoned. This nation was not in a condition to carry on the remaining war one more year, and I think I can prove it. H(is) M(ajesty) made no reply. Lord B was high; that we must not lie down and submit, pointing out the going on no longer in this channel or way, but the Duke of Devonshire tells me since, that Lord Bute told him that Lord Egremont should write an ofiice letter to Comte Viry, complaining, I suppose, of the H 2 100 LORD BUTE'S SECRET NEGOCIATION [l762. answer, and possibly sending to put a stop to the nego- ciations, and his Lordship, would also write a letter himself to Comte Viry. That may be to qualify the oilier^ but as he did not do me the honour to mention this to me, I can say nothing certain upon it. I wish to know your Lordship's thoughts upon the whole." Lord Bute's conduct, at this time, is an enigma. While he was half inclined to put a stop to negocia- tions in one quarter, he appears to have been equally zealous to promote them in another. " He had or- dered Sir Joseph Yorke," says Walpole, " to treat pri- vately with the Court of Vienna, without the know- ledge of the King of Prussia. To the confusion of the favourite, the first news he had of any answer to come, was from the Baron de Knyphausen, the King of Prussia's minister here." '"' This step, which Lord Bute took without the know- ledge of his colleagues, was, in the belief that the Court of Vienna would be more disposed to pacificatory arrangements than any other powers,— a most egre- gious blunder, considering the close relationship that existed between Austria and France, and the bad construction that would inevitably be put upon the proceeding by Frederick of Prussia. Nor does this message to Sir Joseph Yorke appear to have been the sole imprudence that Lord Bute committed in the matter; for it appears by the following letter, that * Walpole's George the Third, i. 157. 1762.] WITH VIENNA. 101 he wrote also to M. Alt, the minister of Hesse Cassel at the Court of St. James's. THE DUKE OF NEAYCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Newcastle House, Feb. 17, 1762. " I SEND your Lordship, the very extraordinary letter which I mentioned, from M. Alt, though perhaps you may have had it in circulation. I think there never was so imprudent a communication from a Secretary of State, and sole minister, to a minister of a very suspected ally, and who will not fail to acquaint both the Courts of France and Vienna, that we are unable to go on with the war." On the 5th of February, the Duke of Bedford moved a resolution in the House of Lords against carrying on the war in Germany. His motion was rejected. The nature of Lord Bute's communication to M. Alt on this subject may be inferred from the next paragraph in the Duke's letter. "I think, also, with regard to his (Lord Bute's) colleagues, myself in particular, there never was so presumptuous, false, and oflfensive one. To assume to himself the sole direction of the House of Lords. To assert, contrary to fact, that that majority would reject the Duke of Bedford's motion, no other way than by a previous question, and as contrary to fact, to assert afterwards that it was his Lordship that had induced the 102 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l761. majority to do it by the previous question. Is it possible for me to go on with this man? " The letters of the Duke of Newcastle, which have appeared in the preceding pages, will have pointed out some of the expedients by which the favourite sought to drive his veteran rival from that office which he aspired himself to fill. To show, by his correspondence, all the affronts that, with this object, were put upon the poor old Duke, would weary the reader's patience. One more letter will suffice. It was written five days prior to the declaration of war with Spain. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Claremont, Dec. 30,1761. " I HAVE not heard one word from my Lord Bute, in answer to my letter last Sunday ; — and, to my greater surprise, I received this morning, at eight o'clock, the enclosed extraordinary uninforming note from my Lord Egremont, inclosing the draught of his answer to Count Fuentes, which I immediately returned with the en- closed letter, " I have also, this morning, from my porter, a sum- mons for a council, I think this day, upon what I know not. Was ever any man in my station, or infinitely less, treated with so much slight and contempt? When I had wrote to the Mmister, particularly to be informed when there was a council for the declaration of war, when that letter was showed to the Secretary of State, 17G1.J TO LORD HARDWICKE. 103 and when that Secretary sent me a note this moment, and mentioned the declaration of war not being settled, to have (if this shonld be the case) a Council fixed for this very declaration of war, and to have no notice of it from either Secretary's office, is an indignity, I believe, which never before was put upon a minister of my rank, station, age, and experience; add to all this, promises to Portugal of six thousand men, and even of money, and not one word said to me upon either, except that His Majesty was graciously pleased to tell me of the first {viz. the troops) but particularly said, that there was no promise of money. Though your l.ordship will find, by my Lord Bute's letter to General Yorke,"' that even that was resolved also. I men- tioned the six thousand men to my Lord Bute ; his Lord- ship said, that they would not promise money without speaking to me ; I answered, ' My Lord, Troops are Afoiiei/," to which he replied, ' That is true.' Besides, even Mr. Pitt, till towards the last, always had that attention to me (and, I believe, to your Lordship) as constantly to send me his draughts, with copies for my own use, desiring me to make such alterations as I should think proper, before he produced them at the meeting of the King's Servants. These Ministers act in a very different way. When the great and fatal news came of the rupture with Spain, I was summoned the next day but one to the meeting of the Lords ; when I came to St. James's, the two Secretaries were ') * The Hon. Sir Joseph Yorke, K.B. third son of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, from the year 1751 to 1780 Minister at the Hague. 104 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [1761. in with the King : when they came out, neither of them said one word to me, by way of conversation, — every- thing had been settled before; and at Council, your Lordship saw how little passed, and since that, you know all that has happened. " Whether it was a presumption in me to write to the Minister in the manner I did on Sunday, I don't know; I am apt to think that that which was wrote with quite a different view has displeased. The whole proves to me what I have mentioned to your Lordship before, that my Lord Bute's design is, that the first concoction of business shall be settled only between his Lordship, my Lord Egremont, and Mr. G. Grenville, which is in fact by my Lord Bute only. In this situa- tion I cannot, I will not, go on to execute the most burthensome, the most difficult, the most responsible office in the whole kingdom, without rightful concert, confidence, and communication ; and that I desire my Lord Bute may be told. I have my doubts whether any the best instead of the worst behaviour towards me, could or should induce me to expose myself any longer in the station I am now in. I wish your Lord- ship would say what you think proper, at least upon that point which relates to the Council." Unable, by personal slights, to drive his adversary from liis post. Lord Bute, as Avill appear from the letters which follow, now assailed him in his adminis- trative capacity. The Duke of Newcastle had always maintained tliat this nation was bound by every prin- 1762.] TO LORD HARDWICKE. 105 ciple of honour, to continue subsidies to Prussia. Hitherto the favourite had supported him in this sentiment. When, on the 5th of February, the Duke of Bedford moved in the House of Lords the discontinu- ance of the war in Germany, Lord Bute opposed the motion, on the ground that " the calling away the troops now would be attended with disgrace, infamy, and destruction." The following letter is characteristic both of the public policy and the individual vacillation of the veteran Minister. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " April 10, 1762. " Though I have many observations to make, upon what passed at our last meeting, chiefly upon Mr. Grenville's treatment of the Treasury, his arraigning the German war, and his urging even the most absurd impracticable method for reducing, or rather not pay- ing, the money now actually due thereupon; and on my Lord Bute's almost declaring that the Prussian subsidy should not be given, — I should scarce have troubled your Lordship with a letter upon them, if an incident had not happened since, in which, I think, we are all concerned, and myself very materially : nothing less than the inserting in the minute some material words, viz. ' in a proper and parliamentari/ method^ which were never so much as mentioned ; but the view is plain, to answer Mr. Grenville's view of not raising the second million upon the vote of credit or sinking 106 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l7G2. fund, upon which your Lordship must remember no resolution was taken, but left to future consideration; as there was more than time sufficient for that purpose, the minute was read over correctly by my Lord Egremont word for word, and approved by everybody. If, after that, such a material alteration is to be made, and our names to be put to it without knowing one word of it, I for one will attend no more of these meetings. This is particularly hampering upon us in the Treasury, for I don't understand what is meant by it ; though it must have some meaning, or it would not have been inserted — ' a proper and parliamentary metJiod /' The raising it upon the vote of credit is as proper and parliamentary method as any, if the vote of credit is extensive enough to enable you to do it. Does ]\Ir. Grenville mean to come to Parliament for this measure? I sup- pose he does; but then he should consider where to raise the money by some new loan this year. For my part, / would not attempt it. I have promised to raise no new money this year, and I will not break my word for Mr. Grenville. But what is remarkable, no one man has been so strong with me against raising more money this year than this very Mr. Grenville. But, my dear Lord, the whole is plain; Mr. Grenville, and perhaps others, are determined to get rid of the German war immediately [and of the D. of N tie too].* He therefore loads it with all the imputations he can find out, in order to render it so odious that nobody should * The words within the brackets inserted by the second Lord Hardwicke. 1762.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 107 be for it; he sees that he cannot carry his point with me, and therefore he tries to overrule me in my own department; that, as to ecvecittion, he shall not do. I am not sure that his view may not be to force me out, and to set himself at the head of the Treasury.* That, with all my heart; for if there is not a peace (of which I don't see the least appearance this summer), I am determined not to engage another year; let Mr. Grenville carry on his maritime war as he pleases, and much good may it do him. " But to return to the question in the minute. I must have it set right; I cannot consent to have my name put to a thing I don't understand, much less when I am to have no interpretation of it, and the execution in consequence. When I see my Lord Bute I shall tell him my thoughts. I don't care to write about it to his Lordship, much less to Lord Egre- mont, to have it scanned by Mr. Grenville. " If your Lordship agrees with me as to the fact, of which I am certain, and as to the consequences which I apprehend, you will be so good as to let me have your thoughts; or if accidentally you should see Lord Bute, I wish you would talk to him upon it. . . . " I hear a messenger from Petersburgh arrived yes- terday. I know not one word of what he brought. I perceive Sir Joseph f knew nothing of his passing by. Indeed that mystery between Ministers obstructs busi- ness extremely, and never was practised before. But * Note by second Lord Hardwicke. " It certainly was the view." t Yorke. 108 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [1762. we deal too much in mystery throughout. I will add only one thought upon our foreign business. It should be determined forthwith whether we are to give the Prussian subsidy or not. The King of Prussia has been promised it. He ought to know in time whether that promise is to be fulfilled or not. I spoke two words to my Lord Bute upon it. I conjured him to think seriously before he refused it. AH the answer I could get was, that the affair was still open." THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Newcastle House, May 3, 1762. "I AM under the greatest uneasiness and distress. The affair, I think, is over. I talked it fully with my Lord Barrington, who wrote a paper to prove that it was impossible for the Treasury to go on without a million in addition to that of the vote of credit; not to be put in the vote of credit, but to be voted in the Committee of Supply. " I went to Court at one o'clock, but my Lord Bute was gone. They said he was not well. When I went into the closet, I told the King I came to know his Majesty's command about the message. His Majesty seemed not to understand me. The King then went immediately, of his own accord, to the vote of credit. ' You will have but a million, my Lord.' ' Sir, that will not do.' I have discoursed with my Lord Bar- rington, who says we must shut up the Exchequer, if we have not more granted. His Majesty persevered. 1762.] TO LORD HARDWICKE. 109 and I told him, since that was so, his Majesty must put it in a way that his pleasure should be carried into execution, meaning that myself and my Lord B(arring- ton) could not. " This being the case, it is most probable that I shall be obliged to resign on Wednesday next." FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. " Newcastle House, Monday, May 10, 1762. " This day has produced some extraordinary discove- ries, all tending to prove the resolution taken by my Lord Bute to force me out immediately. The King, who ivas very gracious the other day, said not one word to me upon my own subject^ — a proof the party is taken. His ]\Iajesty talked very oddly about the borough Tiverton; that it was a Court borough ; but, thank God, that is over, and I hope Mr, Gore chose.* Lord Bute Avent early away from Court to avoid the Duke of Devonshire and me. But, what is the more extraor- dinary, I send your Lordship direct proof, under Mar- tin's own hand, of such a behaviour in my Lord Bute to me in my office as hardly any gentleman acted towards another, let him be ever so insignificant. For a first Minister to give queries in writing to a Secretary of the Treasury, relating to facts to be known only in the Treasury, which facts were to determine his Lord- ship as to measures to be taken by the Government, without the participation or knoAvledge of the first * Mr. Gore was elected for Tiverton. 110 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l762. Lord of the Treasury, Minister in rank equal to him- self, and perhaps equal in responsibility, is an indignity never heard of before, or ever to be acquiesced in by me. The guilt of that pitiful secretary needs no explanation; the point now remaining to be considered is the time where, and the manner how, I should quit; as to the time, I should think about the rising of the Parliament. As to the manner, I would put it upon the last offensive act of overruling, or rather in med- dling with the business of my office, and engaging my colleagues and my secretary in open opposition to me. This the Duke of Cumberland approves. I have great reason to be satisfied with his Royal Highness. I have asked one favour of him, I ask of all my friends, and that is this, not to quit their employments, but to let everybody know, that what I do is with their approba- tion, and with some, by their advice, and that tJiey shall continue to act with me, in the same conduct as when I was in business, or otherwise I am to be the scape-goat for the whole. The Duke says the Duke of Devonshire will go no more to Council. I should think my friends should cease doing that when I resign." Upon the above letter the second Lord Hardwicke observes, " It is immaterial to ruminate on such old stories now, but the Duke of Newcastle when he quitted should either have got his friends to resign too, or retired a])solutely, like L(ord) T(ownshen)d." Burke, in his " Thoughts on the Present Discontents," 17(5-2.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. Ill offers the following defence of their continuing in office after the retirement of their chief: — " To the great Whig families it was extremely dis- agreeable, and seemed almost unnatural to oppose the administration of a Prince of the House of Brunswick. Day after day they hesitated and doubted and lingered, expecting that other counsels would take place, and were slow to be persuaded that all which had been done by the cabal was the effect, not of humour, but of system." """ DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE MARQUESS OF ROCKINGHAM. "May 19, 1762. " .... I WAS this day at Court. His Majesty was barely civil ; would not do a very right thing in the post-office at the recommendation of my Lord Bess- boro' f and Mr. Hampden. I desired the King's leave to attend his Majesty some day next week to settle my private account, and that I hoped his Majesty would allow me to retire from my employment a day or two after the Parliament rose. His Majesty asked me, whether I should go to Claremont. I said, ' Yes ; I might afterwards go to other places.' The King did * Burke's Works, ii. 238. t William Ponsonby, second Earl of Bessborough, married in 1739 Lady Caroline Cavendish, eldest daughter of William, third Duke of Devonshire. He w^as at this time one of the Postmasters General; an office which he resigned five months later. 112 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l762. not drop one word of concern at my leaving him, nor even made me a polite compliment, after near fifty years' service, and devotion to the interest of his Eoyal family. I will say nothing more of myself, but that I believe never any man was so dismissed. But all this puts me the more in the right. C '"' told the Duke of Devonshire that the resolution was taken not to ask me to stay." Writing on the 21st to Lord Hardwicke, the Duke of Newcastle says; " The Duke of Devonshire told me this day as the greatest secret, that the King told him he would have a chapter of the Garter, and that he would give his brother Prince William one, and my Lord Bute the other. f They time it well, and I am glad of it. The chapter is to be held on Thursday next, the day after my resignation. This lays me under the greatest difficulty. I am absolutely determined to go that day to Claremont, to avoid all speculations about the day after. / am afraid this will be thought want of respect in an old knight, to be absent at the election of a King's brother. If that should be your Lordship's opinion, I must come to town again on Thursday morning, and return immediately after the election to Claremont. * Probably Mr. Calcraft, the army agent. t When this disposal of the vacant garters became known to Prince Henry, the liveliest of the King's brothers, he said, " I suppose Mr. Mackenzie (Lord Bute's brother) and I shall have the green ribands." 17G2.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 113 I don't like tlie aiipearance of assisting so soon after my resignation at Lord Bute's election, but that is of no great moment." There is no evidence to show that the Duke of New- castle attended the investiture of the new knights. But he was present at their installation, which took place at Windsor, on the 22nd of September. " The pomp was great; the King, Queen, and all the Royal family were there, except Princess Amelia." " His Grace (of Newcastle), Lord Temple and Lord Bute," writes Walpole, " met last Wednesday at the installation of the last. The first, when he performed the ceremony, embraced Lord Bute ; Lord Temple sat next him at dinner, but they did not exchange a syllable; and yet I do not esteem habitual virulence more than habitual dissimulation." * This incident appears to have furnished a subject for the pencil of the caricaturists of the day. In a letter of the 28th of September the Duke of Newcastle observes to Lord Hardwicke: ^^ As to my kissing my Lord Bide at the ceremony^ it is a necessary part of it, and, determined as I am to have nothing to do with his Lordship as Minister, I am the more disposed to show all sorts of civilities as a gentleman. I own I don't understand any of these prints and burlesques; I am too dull to taste them, and if they are not decyphered for me, I could not in the least guess, very often, what they mean. I don't yet know what part I have in them, and * To Sir H. Mann, Sept. 26, 1762. VOL. L I 114 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l7C2. as little what is designed for your Lordshijo. / detest the whole thing." Shortly after the decease of Frederick, Prince of Wales, " The Duke/' as he was called, par excellence^ had been on distant terms with the Duke of Newcastle, who had espoused the interests of the Princess Dowager, on the Regency question, to the prejudice of His Royal Highnesses pretensions. But shortly prior to the date of the previous letter, the Duke of Cumberland was reconciled to the Duke of Newcastle, and became more immediately identified with that section of the Whigs, of which his Grace was the recognized leader. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. "May 26, 1762. " His Majesty was pleased yesterday to express him- self more graciously to me than he had done for some time past. " The King was afterwards pleased to speak more directly to the Duke of Devonshire, and said that he knew what I had done for the service of his family — that I had prejudiced my fortune by it; and therefore he wished the Duke of Devonshire would sound me, whether I would take a pension in any shape, privately or publicly, in any manner I should like. " His Majesty was this day very gracious also. I told the King I came to resign my employment, and return his Majesty my thanks for his gracious offer to 1702.] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 115 me yesterday, and more particularly for what he had said to the Duke of Devonshire. That as I never served his Majesty nor his Royal predecessors with any view to the emolument of my employments, I was determined when I was out of his service, not to be any charge to him. That if my fortune had suffered by my zeal for his Majesty's Royal Family, it was my honour, my glory, and my pride ; and the gracious sense his Majesty had expressed of it was all the reward I desired. The King seemed to receive it very graciously ; pressed me again to accept his offer, which his Majesty said he looked upon as a debt owing to me. To which I made the answer I have mentioned above. The King was pleased, at parting, to say that, he could depend on my support, to which I made a bow, and said nothing. I have been so much misunderstood on both sides of that question, that I thought it was best to be absolutely silent; as I had twice declared to the King, that I could make no promises, nor enter into any engagements upon that head." H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. " Windsor, Great Lodge, May 26, 17G2. " My Lord Duke of Newcastle, — " I return you many thanks for the early communica- tion of this great event, concerned as I and every honest man must be at it. Yet I have some pleasure to see the King has been pleased to show the sense he and I 2 116 LETTER TO DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. [l762. all his family ought to have of your long, expensive, and most useful services. But I must take the freedom to add, that I most heartily rejoice at the manner in which you received the King's good intentions. Your friends must like it, your enemies will not dare to blame it. We shall meet at the Chapter to-morrow. If court should be over in time, perhaps you may like to call upon me afterwards, if not, the Lodge is not so far from Claremont, but that I may flatter myself with your company sometimes, for we have become spectators not actors, and have leisure to talk over past transactions, if precluded from the knowledge of fresh events. I hope you have no doubt but that I shall have the same regard for your services to the public, whether you are in place or out; and I must add that the manner of your going out has more decency and dignity than I have seen in my period. " I remain, " Your very affectionate friend, " William." 17(>2j DUKE OF NEWCASTLE'S RESIGNATION. 117 CHAPTER V. DUKE OF Newcastle's resignation. — character of sir franois DASHWOOD. NEG0CIATI0N3 FOR PEACE. CHARACTER OF DUG DE NIVERNAIS. CAPTURE OF THE HAVANNAH. HENRY FOX. — COURT PERSECUTION OF THE WHIG PARTY. DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S DIS- MISSAL. — CHARACTERS OF LORDS ROCKINGHAM, KINNOUL, LINCOLN, AND ASHBURNHAM, AND DUKE OF RUTLAND. PROPOSED ALLIANCE AMONG THE WHIGS. DISMISSAL OF WHIG LORD LIEUTENANTS AND CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICERS. LORD MANSFIELD. On the Duke of Newcastle's resignation, Lord Bute became first Lord of the Treasury, Mr. Grenville,""Se- cretary of State, and Sir Francis Dashwoodj Chancellor of "the Exchequer. This last appointment was not a happy one. Sir Francis was highly eccentric and grossly immoral. In his youth he went to Russia dressed in the costume of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden, in the hopes of captivating the heart of the Czarina. After leading a life free even for Italy, he returned to England, when he openly set at defiance every principle of decency and decorum. It has been urged that the public service would suffer if the private character of its servants were too narrowly examined. But no plea of state expediency could be pleaded for such an appoint- ment as that of Dashwood. His capacity was on a par with his propriety. His knowledge of accounts, if we 118 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE'S RESIGNATION. [I7«'i. \ may believe his contemporaries, was confined to the I reckoning of tavern bills, while to him " a sum of five figures was an impenetrable secret." He had a coarse style of speaking, which had hitherto passed current for unadorned good sense; but no sooner did the new Chancellor of the Exchequer make his financial state- ment than the illusion was dispelled, and his budget was received with loud shouts of contemptuous laughter. Scarcely had the favourite been two months installed in his new office than he invited the old Duke to return to the administration from which he had so lately driven him. In an interview with Lord Hardwicke, on the 28th of July, Lord Bute said, "He was glad to see the Duke of Newcastle look so well, and in such good spirits ; that he had been sorry to hear reports that he was uneasy." Lord Hardwicke replied, that " He knew no grounds for such reports. He (the Duke) might possibly not be easy respecting the public, but that he never knew him in better health and cheerfulness per- sonally in his life." Lord Bute said it had given him a great deal of uneasiness that his Grace had thought it necessary for him to leave the administration as he did; that he thought he could have gone on with his Grace longer and better than with anybody else ; for there was always a good humour about him, and he had not the starts and emotions that some others were liable to; that if he (the Duke) should think any office proper for his rank and age the King would most readily confer it." The next conciliatory overtures were made tlirough 1702.] CHARACTER OF DUG DE NIVERNAIS. 119 the medium of Lord Lyttleton, — first, in a conference with Lord H.irdwicke, and after in two direct communi- cations with the Duke of Newcastle himself. In these interviews with the ex-minister, Lord Lyttleton offered the Duke the post of Lord President of the Council. " The conference ended," said the Duke, " with mj resolution to accept no employment, nor to return to the Council. To come," said his Grace, " to support my Lord Bute and his measures, to have the odium thrown upon me, would not be a part much approved in the nation, and very improper for myself." The foreign negociations of the preceding year were resumed in August 1762, and as a pledge of reciprocal sincerity it was agreed on both sides that envoys of the first distinction should be exchanged by the French and English Courts. Accordingly in September, the Duke of Bedford went to Paris, and the Due de Nivernais repaired to London, furnished respectively with full powers to adjust the preliminaries of peace. Louis Jules Barbon, Due de Nivernais, or Duke Nevernew^ as the London mob soon learned to call him, was remarkable for his high birth, his poetical talents, his social accomplishments, and his personal ugliness. He was the French representative of the ancient and illustrious house of Mancini, was a Peer of France, a Grandee of Spain, a Roman Baron, and a Prince of the Empire. The fastidious Chesterfield held him up as a model of politeness. He spoke several languages fluently, and was the author of many trifles both in verse and prose, which were popular enough at the time to excite 120 CHARACTER OF DUG DE NIVERNAIS. [17«2 the raptures of the Chevalier D'Eon,* and the spleen of Madame G^offrin.f By his efforts to be universally agree- able, " la coquetterie de plaire a tout le monde," Niver- nais laboured to indemnify himself for the unkindliness of Nature in giving him a most unpromising exterior. :j: He was the meagre Frenchman of Hogarth's pictures and Smollett's novels. On his landing at Dover, a sailor, who having been a prisoner in France was fami- liar with the Duke's person, pointed him out to the crowd as the fattest Frenchman he had ever seen. And this nautical pleasantry was relished by no one more than the Duke himself. With all his advantages of birth and manners, the Duke was by no means a fortunate man. His health obliged him to quit his original profession of arms. His legation at Berlin, in 1756, was a failure — " It was thought," said Voltaire, " that an Ambassador who was at once Peer, Duke, and poet, * " Le Seigneur dans toutes ses ambassades a toujours paru comme Anacreon couronne de myrthe et de roses, et chantant les plaisirs au sein de ses infirmites, et des plus penibles travaux." May there not be a touch of satire in this compliment : — " Oft I'm by the women told, Poor Anacreon thou grow'st old." t Madame Geoffrin, who belonged to a rival coterie, calls the Duke, " Guerrier manque, politique manque, enfin manque partout." But this lady's epigrams never want point, however they may lack truth. X " If," said St. Simon to a Spanish sentry, who had been repri- manded by the Duke de Medina Cell for not presenting arms to his Grace " If, friend, you see any one exactly like a monkey at Court, in future, present arms to him, for you may be sure he is a nobleman of the highest order." 1762.] CAPTURE OF THE HAVANNAII. 121 would flatter the vanity and the tastes of Frederic." But the philosophic monarch of Prussia was at that time in no yerj gracious mood with France, and vented his spleen by ridiculing its representative. Under Louis the Sixteenth, the Duke forfeited the favour which he had enjoyed under that monarch's grandfather. His domestic joys were as transient as his court fa- vours. His second wife, the Comtesse de Rocliefort, whom he tenderly loved, died a few days after their marriage. Of his sons-in-law, one, the Comte de Gisors, fell at Cre- veldt, the other, the Due de Brisac, was torn in pieces by a revolutionary mob. He himself was stripped of his hereditary distinctions and his fortune, and thrown into prison. The Abbe Barthdlemi, on that occasion of titles being abolished, said, "M. de Nivernais n'est plus Due k la Cour, mais il Test encore au Parnasse." But even in the dungeon his desire to please did not forsake him. The ex-Duke, now " Citizen Mancini," wrote verses, even when momentarily expecting to be summoned to the scaffold. His good fortune — if to survive wealth, honours, and friends, can be so called — prevailed to the end. He survived the " Reign of Terror," and died in 1798, at the advanced age of eighty-two, writing on the day of his decease a humor- ous epistle to his friend and doctor M. Caille. On the 29th of September, intelligence reached Eng- land of the fall of the Havannah. The siege had been obstinate and protracted, but on the 12th of August, the era of the succession of the House of Brunswick to the throne, and the day on which the Prince of Wales, 122 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l762. afterwards George the Fourth, was born, that important city surrendered to the British arms. " We have dwelt," says Burke, in his " Annual Re- gister," " on this memorable' siege, a longer time than we have on our plan allowed to such transactions ; because it was, without question, in itself the most considerable, and in its consequences the most decisive conquest we have made since the beginning of the war ; and because in no operation were the courage, steadi- ness, and perseverance of the British troops, and the conduct of their leaders more conspicuous. The acqui- sition was a military advantage of the highest class ; it was equal to the greatest naval victory, by its effects on the enemy's marine, and in the plunder it equalled the produce of a national subsidy." THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. "Sept. 30, 1762. " I MUST begin by first most sincerely congratulating your Lordship that our fears for the Havannah are now over, by the surrender of that place with eleven men of war of the line, three more sunk, and one million and a half sterling in money,* of which I had the first account last night, from the postmaster at Cobham, upon Captain Hervey'sf going through there with the news, * The plunder exceeded three millions sterling. t The Hon. Augustus John Hervey, afterwards Earl of Bristol, third son of the celebrated Lord Hervey. He was born in 1724; entered the navy at an early age, formed part of Commodore Keppel's squadron in 1759, and was under his immediate command at the 1702] TO LORD HARDWICKE. 123 and in a moment after, by a very obliging letter from the Duke, enclosing my Lord Albemarle's to him, of both which I send your Lordship copies; as also of a letter which I had this morning from my Lord Albe- marle. This event is of such real importance to the public, especially at this time, as you will see by the request of this letter, and does so much honour to the memory of those ivho jJrojected and directed it, iti which nobody can take a greater share than myself, and also to those who have had the execution of it, that I must own I have never known any one public success which has given me more real joy and satisfaction. I enclose also my Lord Egremont's dry note, and my d^y answer." VISCOUNT ROYSTON TO DR. BIRCH. " Dear Birch, " Wimple, Sept. so, 1762. "Lord Hardwicke received, this morning, by a Havannah. He was commanded by Keppel to cannonade the Moro Castle. In the heat of the action, while his ship was strewed with dead and dying, he wrote as follows to the Commodore. The letter, which is in my possession, is unsealed and written in pencil upon the back of the private signals. " I have the misfortune to be aground. Pray send a frigate to drop a bower off, and send the end of the cable on board here. We are luckily in a good line for our fire on the fort ; but the smoke is so great that it makes it impossible to see the effect we have had, or are likely to have ; nor can tell when the army will advance. Often duller, and ever yours, *' A. Hervey." A portrait of Captain Hervey by Sir Joshua Reynolds is in the possession of the Corporation of Bury St. Edmunds, and is placed by them in the public library. The background of the portrait represents the attack on the Moro Castle. 124 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND [l7G2. flying packet from Mr. Cleveland, the great news of our success at the Havannah, upon which I most heartily congratulate you. I agree with you, that the impres- sion of such a blow must render the Court of Spain more tractable in the negociation, but how far, on the other hand, it may increase the dislike at home to a pacific system, I cannot pretend to determine. The nation in general will expect something very advantageous in the future treaty with Spain, in exchange for such a con- quest ; and it is well, if the old cry of Take and Hold, is not revived on the occasion. The uninterrupted course of prosperity which has attended our arms, in enterprises the most difficult and important, is scarce to be paralleled in history, and will make this era in our annals a most splendid one." rr -sc- % % % The following congratulatory letter must be read with all due allowance for the writer's partiality. H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND TO THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE. " Windsor, Great Lodge, Oct. 2, 1 IQZ. " My dear Albemarle, " You have made me the happiest man existing; nay, you have almost repaid me for the severe anxieties I have gone through for these last three months, besides the disagreeable and tedious time your absence gave, without rellection of what you were to go through. Upon the whole, no joy can equal mine, and I strut 1702.] TO LORD ALBEMARLE. 125 and plume myself as if it was I that had taken the Havannah. In short, you have done your king and country the most material service that any military man has ever done since we were a nation, and you have shown yourself an excellent officer; all this, I knew, was in you, but now the world sees it, and owns it. " Militarily speaking, I take your siege to have been the most difficult that has been since the invention of artillery. Sixty-eight days in that climate is alone prodigious; without any partiality to you, 'tis a great action in itself, setting aside the immense service you have done your country. I am so wrapped up still in your share of honour and glory, that I don't yet quite feel that pleasure I have to come to, as an Englishman, and an old soldier. " Pray make my most sincere compliments to both your brothers. I hope, before you receive this, they will both be recovered. The storm of the Moro does William's heart and head great honour. "^^ " I must thank you for your kind and informing letters. Your difficulties my heart shared with you; but, I must say, I grudged even myself the trouble you were at, in the middle of all your business and ill-health, to give me that satisfaction. I am sorry to say, the Minister f is not quite so much obliged to * Major-General the Hon. William Keppel took the Moro Castle, upon which the town depentied, by storm, but did all in his power to stop the further effusion of blood. t Lord Bute. 126 LETTER TO LORD ALBEMARLE. [l70'i. you, for you have removed the peace. By this time, you know the change of hands, and great as you and the army have made us appear abroad, as little are we at home, by unavoidable divisions that increase daily. You may judge the part I take when I tell you that * Permis,' "' is, once a fortnight, for two hours at least, in the library here; you will see too much of all this at your return, and it is an improper subject for a letter. The King was very gracious to me yesterday, and seemed to allow you and family the merit you and they deserve ; — I won't answer for the reward.-f " We make you as rich as Croesus, J I hope it is so ; if not, it is the least matter ; health and owned merit are sufficient ingredients for happiness, so much the better if you add wealth to it. Brighton illuminated his thatched church, and all Egham was on fire, and even Bishopsgate had its burn-fires and illuminations. I hear London, the City especially, were nobly lighted up. * " Permis," the name given at Court to the Duke of Newcastle, who always prefaced his visits to the apartment of the Princesses with " Est il permis ? " In his correspondence he speaks of himself under this soubriquet. t " My nephew, Mr. Keppell," says Walpole, " is made Bishop of Exeter. How reverently ancient this makes me sound. Lady Albemarle ! there is a happy mother ! Honours, military and eccle- Biastic, raining upon her children. She owns she has felt intoxicated. The moment the King had complimented the Duke of Cumberland on Lord Albemarle's success, the Duke stepped across to Lady Albemarle and said, ' If it was not in the drawing-room, I would kiss you.' He is full as transported as she is." — To Sir H. Mann^ i. 119. \ So spelt in the original. 1702.] MINISTERIAL DIFFICULTIES. 127 " Keep yourself well, and return to us soon. It has been a long absence for two friends like us ; may it be the last. " Ever your hearty and sincerely affectionate friend, " William." The hint thrown out by the Duke of Cumberland, in the preceding letter, that Lord Bute did not feel obliged to Lord Albemarle for the conquest of the Havannah, will receive elucidation from a letter that will shortly appear, but which itself requires a few preliminary observations. Short as had been Lord Bute's tenure of the ministe- rial throne, it had not proved quite the bed of roses he anticipated. The peace, unpopular in itself, be- came doubly so from his being considered its author. The meeting of Parliament was at hand. The Treaty was to be carried through the House of Commons. A purchased majority was the only mode in which this object could be effected. To whom was the task of bribing members to be entrusted? Dash wood was not fit for the business, and Grenville would not under- take it unless the recipients of the bribes were to look up to him as their patron. In this dilemma Lord Bute tried to gain over Henry Fox, the pupil of the Whig minister Sir Eobert Walpole, the private friend and political adherent of the Whig Duke of Cumberland, and the avowed opponent of the Leicester House faction. The favourite's efforts were successful. Grenville was sent back to the Admiralty very much against his Avill. 128 HENRY FOX [l762. Fox, in consideration of a peerage in perspective, con- sented to take the management of the Commons, and to secure their assent to the peace, by any means, fair or foul. So eager had Fox been to accept Lord Bute's invi- tation, that he closed the bargain before he had given any intimation of his intentions to the Duke of Cum- berland, or any other of his political associates. The following letter appears to have been put forth as a feeler. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY FOX TO H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. " Sir " Wednesday night, Sept. 29, 1762. " I most cordially wish your Royal Highness joy of Lord Albemarle's success, to hear the particulars of which letter, after I shall have seen Lord Bute to- morrow, I stay in town to-night. " Yesterday, peace was thought desperate, at which time Rigby saw Lord Bute, and found him to appear- ance firm and not at all frightened. At noon a mes- senger came to Nivernais, and to the Ministers, and some letters from the Duke of Bedford, which brought all that had been asked, or could be expected, and peace was thought certain, and so declared by Niver- nais and Lord Bute. I went to dinner with the Duchess of Bedford in this opinion, and had my chaise at the door to carry me out of town as soon as dinner sliould 1)0 over. I found Lord Bute with the Duchess. 17G2.] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 129 He was excessively glad to hear I was there, and sent to me. He began with telling me how much he had wished, and how glad he was, to have half an hour's conversation with me, hoping he should learn your Royal Highness's sentiments on this peace, which he had heard were changed. ' If the K — were now to ask you, what did I think would be your opinion?' For it imported his Majesty to know men's opinion, and no person's more than your Royal Highness's. But first he would show me the Peace, and tell me the state of the present case with regard to it. Had he seen me yesterday morning, he should have told me our enemies would not make peace; he must now, he was afraid, say, that our friends could not. He then showed me the Peace, with its Articles relating to Spain and Portugal, as well as France, and the strongest assu- rances from France of Spain's consent in a week. Tn all these I think there were no amendments to be wished, but such as were merely verbal, and such as it cannot but be supposed the French would make as soon as asked. But, besides some immaterial ob- jections made by G. Grenville, Avhich he had been to tire Lord Bute with this morning, he at last declared that he coidd not bring himself to sign any Peace, without stipulating some equivalent for the Havannah, which, by the way, he at that time thought we should not take ; and he talked of sending for everybody that could be got to the Cabinet Council, nommement^ the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Hardwicke, and the Duke of VOL. L K 130 HENRY FOX [1762. Devonshire. ' You have no right to send to the two first,' says Lord Bute, ' and neither of the three would come.' In short, Grenville, frightened out of his wits, without knowing what compensation to ask, still in- sisted that he would sign no Peace without one. Lord Egremont, I hear, is as bad, or worse. ' What do you think of this, Mr. Fox?' 'I think, my Lord, that you have been very unlucky in your choice.' He asked Grenville whether he had any plan to lay before the King for carrying on a war, when he should tell his Majesty that he would not sign the Peace; for he. Lord Bute, assured him he had none. G. Grenville had none, but said, he was sure France would agree to this if asked (which your Royal Highness sees was the business of Spain, not France). My Lord Bute desired him not to tell the King that ; for if it came to speculation, he had a right to declare his, and should tell the King that he was as fully persuaded that France would not, as Mr. Grenville was that she would agree to it. Lord Bute then returned to his question about your Royal Highness. I told him that your Royal Highness always was and would be very sensible of the King's civilities, for you loved him ; and that I believed your Royal Highness had rather any Minister made a good peace than his Lordship; but I was persuaded you had rather even his Lordship made it than that it should not be made at all. " I was all this time so intent on finding out, if possible, what your Royal Highness wished to know, that I cannot be mistaken when I say, that he either 17G2.] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 131 disguised his sentiments admirably, or has, as yet, no thoughts of treating.* I brought the Duke of New- castle's name in often; and, when I could do it very naturally, I directly asked him, if there was any tendency on either side to unite. He answered, ' None in the world; and if there had been such a report, there was not the least ground for it.' I asked the same as to Pitt and him. He answered, 'None;' and added, that the rancour and aversion of Pitt and Lord Temple was as great as possible. " I observed with astonishment, and so had Lord Gower and E,igby, who had talked with him before I came, that he seemed cool, and really at his ease, and, now and then, even jocose in talking of his own precious Cabinet Council. " Upon reflection, sir, though I believe he has no thought of treating, yet I believe that he must, and will be driven to it. If that should be the case, and that the King tries to make your Royal Highness the mediator, it will be much more worthy of you, than the character of the head of an opposition. Give me leave to add to what I said yesterday, these two considera- tions : — If his Majesty must have a sole Minister made in the room of his favourite, no share of administra- tion left with that favourite, his Majesty is lost, for as long as he sits upon the throne ; and however it might please people now, on reflection the usage would be * The word " treating " might mean for peace, but the context and letters which follow, will show that it related to invituig some of the late Ministers to return to office. K 2 132 HENRY FOX. [17G2. thought hard, and your Royal Highness not to have acted a very friendly part to the Crown. " The next consideration is this : — may not Lord Bute (who being to continue in administration might prefer the Duke of Newcastle to Mr. Pitt for a col- league), if he is to leave administration quite, choose to give it up to Mr. Pitt, who would bring such a popu- larity with him to the King as has never yet been seen. Drove to go quite out, I think this would be the case. But at present he has, I verily believe, no thoughts of treating with anybody ; and perhaps may intend to give up to Grenville the point, so far as to ask a compensation for the Havannah. This indeed is delaying, not curing the evil ; and yet it may per- haps cure it by unforeseen accidents. But if he is drove to treat, your Royal Highness will, I dare say, excuse my having offered, in conversation and in this letter, some things to your consideration, which I can- not forbear thinking have great weight. " I am, Sir, Your Royal Highness' ever obliged, ever obedient, and ever devoted, humble servant, " H. Fox. " Thursday morning. " P. S. I am come from Lord Bute more than ever convinced that he never has had, or now has, a thought of retiring or treating. He says the French have been always told tliat if peace was not signed till the Havannah should be taken, some compensation should 1702.] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 133 be asked. He could wish this peace signed as it is, but nobody would join with him in that opinion; so a com- pensation Avill be asked, and I guess it will be Florida. This puts off the difficulty arising from his secretaries, till an answer shall come from Spain. He shewed me Lord Albemarle's letter to him, commending him and his letter very justly, and very highly. In conversation he spoke of the setting out this expedition; in which he hoped he had some merit towards your Eoyal High- ness, and what had been his demerits since^ he was at a loss to imagine. Indeed, sir, I could not tell him." In giving in his adhesion to the Court, without con- sulting his Royal Highness, or any of his friends. Fox had trusted to his own powers of persuasion to bring them over to his views. But in this expectation he was disappointed. When he made the avowal to the Duke, his Royal Highness bitterly reproached Fox with lending himself to the support of a tottering adminis- tration, and never again admitted him to his presence except at public levees, where he was treated with the utmost coldness and indignity, nor, as I shall have occasion to show, could any submission on his part ever restore him to the favour of that Prince. Failing with the Duke of Cumberland, Fox tried in turn to bring over the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Waldegrave to the Court, but in vain. "He even," says Walpole, " made applications to Newcastle, but the Duke of Cumberland had inspired even Newcastle and Devonshire with reso- lution." In a letter to Lord Ilardwicke, dated the 21st 134 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. [l762. of October, the Duke of Cumberland thus expresses hiraself : " Instead of advancing too fast, your Lord- ship will see that I have given a peremptory refusal to the overtures that have been made to me. Those by my Lord Halifax^ I am sensible, as far as relates to himself were meant with all the friendship, affection, and respect imaginable. Those flung out by Mr. Fox you will all have in your turns. His vie7v is to create jealousies amongst us, and to divide us. I thank God he has failed in his great attempt, and that will sufficiently mortify him.'''' Foiled in this attempt to weaken if not to sever the ties of the Whig party, the Court now adopted another course. The King, it was given out, would be King, — would not be dictated to by his Ministers. The prerogative was to shine out — great lords must be hum- bled. The first victim to the new tactics was William Cavendish fifth Duke of Devonshire. In the preceding reign he had held the high posts of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and First Lord of the Treasury, and Lord Waldegrave says, that "In the ordinary business of his office he showed great punctuality and diligence, and no want of capacity." He now held the office of Lord Chamberlain. He was a man of unsullied purity of conduct in every relation of life, but cautious and timid in his disposition, and not disinclined to a court. He had a great aversion to Lord Bute, and had been ill- used by George the Third when Prince of Wales, as well as by the Princess Dowager, who ironically styled liiui "the Prince of the Whigs." 1762.] LETTER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 135 Shortly after Newcastle's retirement, the Duke of Devonshire had intimated to the King that out of respect to his Majesty's person he would, if it was the royal pleasure, continue Chamberlain, as he did not consider that office of a political nature. He re- peated, however, that it was his determination to assist no longer at Councils which were conducted upon prin- ciples he could not approve. Notwithstanding this declaration he received early in October an official summons to form one of the Cabinet to decide on the final orders of the peace. This, agreeably to what he had declared to the King, he declined doing in the most respectful manner. " I am amazed," writes the Duke of Newcastle, on the 12th of October, " that after what had passed, the King should expose himself to a refusal, or to lay the Duke of Devonshire under so great a diffi- culty as the King's commands on such an occasion must put upon him." The result of this refusal is shown in the next letter. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " Newcastle House, Oct. 28, 1762, Thursday at night. " My DEAR Lord, " This express brings your Lordship an account of the most extraordinary event that has happened in any court of Europe. The Duke of Devonshire went to St. James's (I believe, between you and me) with a design to resign the staff; but that, neither I nor any mortal knew, and I am sure was not suspected by the 136 LETTER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [1762. King or Lord Bute. The Duke of Devonshire desired to speak to the King. This page came out and told the Duke of Devonshire that his Majesty had commanded him to tell his Grace he would not see him. The Duke then desired to know to whom His Majesty would have him deliver his staiF? His Majesty sent him word by the same page that he would send his orders to the Duke of Devonshire. My Lord Duke has since been with my Lord Egremont, and has delivered to him his key and staff. I believe there never was such a beha- viour to the first and best subject the King has. It must affect all the nobility, and all those who can ap- proach His Majesty. Had I any call to it I know what I should do to-morrow. " Indeed, my dear Lord, these violences are very alarming, and the more as in this instance they are exer- cised upon one who the last time the King saw him at the installation was treated by His Majesty with the greatest seeming confidence and regard, and I know the Duke of Devonshire went to the Bath under the delu- sion that he was personally particularly well with the King, and never heard otherwise from the Court till he met with this treatment at St. James's." On the same day that the Duke of Devonshire re- signed, his brother. Lord George Cavendish, rendered up his wand of Comptroller of the Household. " He was," continues the Duke of Newcastle, " as ill-used in the closet as his brother, who was not permitted to come there. All the King said to Lord George was, ' If a per- 1702.] CHARACTER OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. 137 son wants to resign his staff I don't desire he should keep it.' His Majesty gave his head a toss back and retired towards the window to set the staff down, and this is all that passed." This stretch of power called forth another opponent to the measures of the Court, — Charles Watson Went- worth, second Marquis of Rockingham, at this time a Lord of the Bedchamber, but soon to become the leader of the Whigs. This nobleman, born 19th March, 1730, was the youngest of five sons, who all, except himself, died in childhood. His father, Thomas Wentworth, was a direct descendant from the celebrated Earl of Strafford, whose fate is so intimately interwoven with that of his unfortunate master Charles the First. ''" Mr. Wentworth became, in the course of nineteen years, a Knight of the Bath, member for the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lord Lieutenant of the same county, Baron Haith, Viscount Higham, Earl of Malton, Baron Rockingham, Marquis of Rockingham. So rapidly had some of these honours descended upon him, that Sir * The following hitherto unpublished letter of Lord Strafford is addressed to his daughter, Lady Anne Wentworth, who afterwards married Edward Watson, second Baron Rockingham. It was written three weeks before his execution. Either he was unconscious of his impending fate, or he was anxious to delay for a time the affliction which its announcement would but too soon occasion : — " My dearest Nan, " The time, I trust, drawes on wherein I may hope to see you, which will be one of the best sightes I can look upon in this world. Your father, as you desired, hath been hearde speake for himself, now thes three weekes together, and within a few days we shall see the conclusion. Ther is, I think, little fear of my life, soe I hope for a 138 CHARACTER OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. [l7G2. Robert Walpole said jokingly, soon after his being created an earl, " I suppose we shall soon see our friend Malton in opposition, for he has had no promotion in the peerage for the last fortnight." His son Charles, the more immediate subject of our consideration, was educated at Eton. But little is known of him till the winter of 1745, when, at the age of fifteen, he went to Wentworth to pass the Christmas holidays. One morning he went out hunting, attended by a confidential groom, named Stephen Lobb. Nigh* came on, and neither master nor groom made their appearance. The next day it was reported that Lord Higham and Stephen were seen riding in a northerly direction. A short time afterwards a letter arrived from the truant himself, dated Carlisle, the head-quar- ters of the Duke of Cumberland, who had just taken the field against the Pretender. Zeal for the Whig cause had impelled him to join the royal army. His family were, or professed to be, much displeased with him for meanes to be left me, to let you see how deare and much esteemed you are and ever shall be to me. " Look that you learne to play the good housewife, for now, per- chance, ther may be need of it ; yet however fortune befall me, I shall willingly give you the first good of it, and content myself with the second, " My dear hartte, plie your book and other learnings, which will be of use unto you hereafter, and you shall see we will live happily and contentedly, and live to see all thes stormes blowen over, that so at leisure and in fairer weather, I may tell you that which I am, and must infallibly be, in all the conditions of life. Your loving father, " Strafforde. " Tower, this 19th April, 164L" 17G2.] CHARACTER OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. 139 the anxiety his escapade had occasioned them. One only stood up for tlie youthful volunteer. This was his aunt, Lady Bel Finch, who being of a kindred mind, rejoiced that " the monkey Charles had shown such a spirit." The letter which obtained his father's pardon, has not been preserved. But amongst his papers is the following to the Countess of Malton. It is without date, and written in a large schoolboy hand. " Dear Madam, " When I think of the concern I have given you by my wild expedition, and how my whole life, quite from my infancy, has afforded you only a continued series of afflictions, it grieves me excessively that I did not think of the concern I was going to give you and my father before such an undertaking; but the desire I had of serving my King and country as much as lay in my power, did not give me time to think of the unduti- fulness of the action. As my father has been so kind as entirely to forgive my breach of duty, I hope I may, and shall have your forgiveness, which will render me quite happy. " I am. Madam, " Your very dutiful Son, " IIlGHAM." In 1750, Lord Iligham, or, as he had since become, the Earl of l\Ialton, succeeded his father as Marquis of Rockingham. Soon after he came of age he was ap- pointed Lord Lieutenant of the North and West 140 CHARACTER OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. [l762. Eidings of Yorkshire, and, in 1760, was made a Knight of the Garter. He had formerly been a Lord of the Bedchamber to George the Second, and held the same post under his successor, till the Duke of Devonshire resigned the Chamberlain's wand. Eighteen years the leader of a party, and twice sum- moned to the councils of his reluctant sovereign, Lord Rockingham holds a prominent station in the reign of George the Third. Nor can it be objected to him that the fidelity of his adherence was secured by the ordi- nary ties of faction or interest. Faith to their leader was, to the Whigs, a virtual renunciation of all those rewards which a chief magistrate has it in his power to bestow. Their adherence was the loyalty of respect and affection, not the casual allegiance of a cabal. It stood the test of long discouragement. It survived the severer trial of a brief official prosperity. The causes of the attachment of his followers must be sought in the character of the leader himself. Lord Rockingham possessed by nature a calm mind and a clear intellect, a warm benevolent heart, of which amiable and conci- liatory manners were the index. He was imbued with sound views of the principles of the Constitution, and with a firm resolution to make those principles the guide of his actions. If eloquence were the sole crite- rion of a great leader or a great minister, Rockingham would have but small claims to such a title. The malady which consigned him to the tomb, when he was little more than fifty years of age, had imparted to his frame a sensibility of nerve which only extraordinary 1702.] CHARACTER OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. 141 occasions enabled liini to overcome, lie was a hesi- tating and an inelegant debater. His speeches, like those of the late Lord Althorp, commanded attention, not from the enthusiasm aroused by the persuasive arguments of the orator, but from the confidence placed in the thorough integrity and practical good sense of the man. He stood in a similar relation to a great minister — to a Fox, a Grey, or a Russell — which an able chamber-counsel bears to an Erskine. He lacked / the outward graces. He possessed the inward power. If success in public measures be a test of ability, Rock- ingham stood pre-eminent. In no one year between the Revolution and the Reform Bill were so many immuni- ties gained for the people, or, more properly speaking, so many breaches in the Constitution repaired, as in what was contemptuously called his " Lutestring Admi- nistration ;" '" and all too in the face of one of the ablest and most unscrupulous Oppositions, of which the King himself was the head. In his relations to George the Third, Rockingham was " impar congressus Achilli." He was thoroughly in earnest, but his earnestness was for his country. The King was likewise in earnest, but his earnestness was for his prerogative. The one was all honesty, the other all insincerity. As the reader proceeds, he will find the royal letters most gracious, the royal conduct most disingenuous. He will perceive that the King authorized his Ministers to contradict rumours which * Charles Townshend said, the Rockingham " was a lutestring administration, fit only for summer wear." 142 LORD ROCKINGHAM [1762. himself had circulated, and that the " King's friends " were busily employed in refuting the official state- ments of the Cabinet. Had George the Third possessed common sincerity, Lord Eockingham's efforts to preserve the American colonies would probably have been effec- tual. But between the Minister, whose " virtues were his arts,"* and the Monarch, who, like Lysander, pieced the lion's hide with the fox's skin, the struggle was unequal, and Rockingham was arrested in his career of usefulness, and added one more ministerial victim to royal duplicity. The attention of the reader should now be called to Lord Rockingham's conduct on receiving the intimation of the Duke of Devonshire's dismissal. It will be seen in the letter which follows. THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. " Sir, " Nov. 3, 1762. " After the repeated instances of your Royal High- ness's condescension towards me, I hope it will not appear presumption in me to take the liberty to inform your Royal Highness of the motives and manner of my conduct. " The late treatment of the Duke of Devonshire seemed to me, in the strongest light, fully to explain * A quotation from Burke's inscription on the mausoleum at Wentworth, erected by the late Lord Fitzwilliam, in honour of his uncle. Lord Rockingham. 1702] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 143 the intention and the tendency of all the domestic arrangements. I, therefore, had the honour of an au- dience of his Majesty on AVednesday morning, wherein I humbly informed his Majesty, that it was with great concern that I saw the tendency of the counsels, which now had weight with him : that this event fully showed the determination that those persons who had hitherto been always the most steadily attached to his Koyal predecessors, and who had hitherto deservedly had the greatest weight in this country, were now driven out of any share in the government in this country, and marked out rather as objects of his Majesty's displea- sure than of his favour: that the alarm was general among his Majesty's most affectionate subjects, and that it appeared to me in this light ; — it might be thought, if I continued in office, that I either had not the sentiments which I declared, or that I disguised them, and acted a part which I disclaimed. " His Majesty's answer was short ; saying that he did not desire any person should continue in his service any longer than it was agreeable to him." THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S ANSWER. " Windsor Great Lodge, Nov. 5, 1762. " My Lord Eockingham, "I am very much obliged to you for the letting me know anything that relates to you, but much more for your information on so interesting an occasion as that of leaving the King's personal service at present. 144 RESIGNATION OF LORD ROCKINGHAM. [ 170-2. " I am most sincerely sorry that we live in such times, that a man of your rank and steady attachment to the King and his family, should find himself neces- sitated to take the step you have taken. " You have one satisfaction, that all the kingdom will be convinced your views are meant entirely for his Majesty's service, however they may be received at present; and no one is more so than I am. " I hope we shall soon see these clouds — nay storms — well over, and you, and others of your principles, at Court again. You'll be so good to make my sincere compliments at Chatsworth, and I hope we shall soon see you quite well in town. " I remain your very affectionate friend, " William." To the Marquis of Granby, Lord Rockingham, in announcing the same event, says — " Seeing the affair in this light, I had the honour yesterday of an audience of the King, wherein I de- clared to his Majesty most fully, that, with the greatest concern, I saw that those whose counsels now weighed with his Majesty had, by this base step, fully explained the tendency of all their proceedings : that this, added to all that was gone before, would increase the alarm which I believed was very general among his Majesty's most affectionate subjects, and that, as my continuing in office might look as if I either did not feel these sentiments, or, if I did, that I disguised them, I 1702.] TREATMENT OF THE UUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. 145 begged liis Majesty's permission to resign, that I niiglit not appear to act a deceitful part, which I disdained ; that I acted upon the dictates of my own judgment, and that his Majesty was tlie first man whom 1 had acquainted with my determination. His Majesty's an- swer was short, only saying that he desired no person to continue in his service any longer than was agreeable to him." On the 4th November, the day on which Lord Tioc-k- ingham resigned, the Duke of Manchester was nomi- nated to the Bedchamber. The King then in council, called for the book, and, with his own hand, struck out the Duke of Devonshire's name from the list of Privy Councillors. The only two precedents for such a course in the preceding reign, were those of Lord Bath, and Lord George Sackville; the one for open and virulent op- position, tlie otlier for his conduct at the battle of Mind en. From this exercise of the prerogative may be dated the first attempt since the Revolution to organize an opposition on constitutional grounds. Thus, after the crown had passed to another family, and the controversy had shifted itself to other grounds, we find the Wliigs were once more banded together to resist the encroach- ments of prerogative upon privilege. " The shocking event," writes the Duke of Newcastle, " in striking the Duke of Devonshire out of the Privy Council, enrages, frightens, and alarms everybody ; and VOL. I. L 146 EARLS OF KINNOULL AND LINCOLN. [l702. particularly my friend my Lord Kinnoull, who is come up a very different man from what I expected; full of wrath and resentment, without management or disguise, determined to quit the Chancellor of the Duchy im- mediately ; '"" that ' the Ministers (Lord Bute and Mr. Fox) have begun their acts of violence and they must take the consequence of it.' This, I dare say, we shall find the general language, except some few Rats^ who will do their own business. Lord Lincoln,! and I dare * A few days afterwards, Thomas Hay, eighth Earl of Klnnoull, resigned the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lancaster, which he had held since 1758. During the life-time of his father, he sat as Viscount Dupplin, for the town of Camhridge, in three Parliaments. He was at different times a Lord of the Bedchamber and Paymaster of the Forces. In 1759 he was appointed Ambassador to the Court of Portugal, a mission rendered memorable by the line — " KinnouU's lewd cargo, and Tyrawley's crew." After his resignation of his office, Lord Kinnoull retired to Scotland and passed the remainder of his life in improving his country-seat. Mrs. Montague, who paid him a visit in 1 770, writes, "Iwas delighted to find an old friend enjoying that heartfelt happiness which attends a life of virtue. He is continually employed in encouraging agriculture and manufacture, protecting the weak from injury, assisting the dis- tressed, and animating the young to whatever is most fit and proper. He appears more happy than when he was whirled about in the vortex of the Duke of Newcastle." t Henry Clinton, ninth Earl of Lincoln, married Catherine, eldest daughter of the Right Hon. Thomas Pelham, and succeeded to the Dukedom of Newcastle on the death of his uncle. In January 1763, he was made " Auditor of the Exchequer for life, the amplest sinecure in England," says Walpolc, "except the Archbishopric of Canterbury." The following is the same writer's account of the expected resignation alluded to in the text : — " Lord Lincoln, Newcastle's favourite nephew and heir, displayed 1762.] EARL OF ASHBURNHAM. 147 say my Lord Ashburnham,* will resign next week, according to what we settled the other night." Amidst the many obstacles that presented themselves to the formation of this confederacy, was the dislike of the Duke of Cumberland to Mr. Pitt. So strong had been this feeling in 1759, that the Duke had sti- pulated the dismissal of Mr. Pitt as the sine qua non of his acceptance of the command in Germany. But this difficulty was now overcome. Some weeks before, the Duke of Newcastle declared his Royal Highness to be " in a very good way, and much softened towards Mr. Pitt :\ and in the letter just quoted, he says — more open ingratitude. He asked an audience of the King, called his uncle a factious old fool, and said he could not forget a message which himself had Vjrought from his uncle to his Majesty in the year 1757, in which the Duke had signified to his then Royal Highness, that if he would not disturb the tranquillity of the rest of his father's reign, the Duke, in or out of place, though he hoped the latter, would sup- port his measures to the utmost. It was justice to recollect this promise ; but Lincoln's subsequent conduct, at the same time that it was inconsistent, was honourable neither to the King nor his uncle. He had a second audience, in which he told the King that the Duke insisted on his resigning ; ' but if I must,' said he, ' I will show but the more warmly the next day that I remember the message, of which I have kept a copy in writing.' The third time when he went to resign, he said he must oppose. The King told him his tone was much changed since his first audience. But the Court never had much reason to complain of Lord Lincoln's hostilities." * John Ashburnham, second Earl of Ashburnham. Walpole speaks of him as "the chief favourite of the Duke of Newcastle, whom he afterwards abandoned, being a very prudent and interested man." He resigned at this time his offices of Lord of the Bed- chamber and Ranger of St. James's and Hyde Parks, and was made Keeper of the Great Wardrobe in Lord Rockingham's first adminis- tration, f Letter to Lord Hardwicke, September 30, 1 7G2. L 2 148 DUKE OF RUTLAND. [l762. " I had yesterday a long conference with the Duke. I am every day more satisfied and convinced that his Royal Highness will act in concert with us in every- thing ; and is in the rightest disposition imaginable; firm and determined — not rash or passionate. I think the following resolution is a thorough proof of it, for his Royal Highness would never desire to see Mr. Pitt, and that (if possible), since the conclusion of the peace, if he intended to keep any measures with Mr. Fox. " The Duke lays vast stress upon the Duke of Rut- land's* quitting. That devilish Foa; and Calcmft f get in everywhere. The Duke apprehends Calcraft will do great hurt with Granby. The Duke extremely ap- proves our resolution, not to let our friends in the House of Commons resign, till we can communicate to * John Manners, third Duke of Rutland, father of the celebrated Marquis of Granby. His Grace was appointed Master of the Horse in 1761, but did not quit his office until five years afterwards, and then in order to facilitate some Ministerial arrangement of the King and Lord Chatham. In a letter, dated August 22, 1 766, George the Third desires Lord Chatham to " convey his approbation to the Duke of Rutland for his very meritorious conduct." -f- John Calcraft, a cousin, and formerly Private Secretary of the first Lord Holland, by whom he was introduced into public notice. He subsequently acquired a very large fortune as army agent. He afterwards abandoned his patron, and became in turn the confidential friend of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Chatham. It is probably to his desertion of Lord Holland that he is so severely liandled by Junius, who always evinced a great partiality for that nobleman. The Duke of Cumberland's apprehension that Calcraft would " do great hurt with Granby," was probably that knowing Granby to be embarrassed in his circumstances, he thought he might be under pecuniary obligations to Calcraft. 170-2.] PITT'S CONFERENCE WITH MR. T. WALPOLE. 149 them our plan of meiisures. Both his Royal Highness as well as myself wish that plan would be set about." Another impediment which lay in the way of a poli- tical alliance of the various sections of the Whigs, was the dislike which Pitt entertained for the Duke of New- castle. To soften this feeling, Thomas Walpole* had an interview with the great Commoner. The result of the conference is stated in the paper which follows. As the Duke of Newcastle observed in another letter: " It is the many " Mr. Pitt entered into a long discourse of his con- duct, at the latter end of his late Majesty's reign, and duirug his present Majesty's, to the time of his resig- nation, when he was reduced to such a situation, that, out-toried by Lord B., and out-whigged by the D. of N., he had nobody to converse with but the Clerk of the House of Commons. " That lately he had been applied to by persons of high rank to concur with Lord B. for the public good, with offers much above his deserts, and therefore he was ashamed to mention them. He told those persons Lord B. could not expect he would abet the tran- scendancy of power his Lordship had arrived at, after what had passed between them upon that subject, on the day of his Majesty's accession to the throne ; when * Hon. Thomas Walpole, second son of Horatio Lord Walpole of Wolverton, a partner of Sir Joshua Vanneck, a banker, whose daugh- ter he married. He sat in many Parliaments. He was for some time President of the Constitutional Society. Mr. Walpole died in 1803. 150 PROPOSED OPPOSITION [1762. in a private conversation with his Lordship, Mr. Pitt told him his advancement to the management of the affairs of the country would not be for his Majesty's service. " Upon Lord B. taking the seals, Mr. Pitt having never seen Lord B. in private since the day above- mentioned, his Lordship came to acquaint Mr. Pitt with his promotion, and received the same opinions as before : that Mr. Pitt did not think it for his Majesty's service. And that now his Lordship was arrived at fulness of power, he could not bear with the Duke of Devonshire, but insulted the nobility, intimidated the gentry, and trampled on the people, — he, Mr. Pitt, would never contribute to that yoke Lord B. was laying on the neck of the people. " He said, if others had been as firm as himself, things would not have been brought to their present crisis; that he did not well see what was to be done; that the D. of N., D. of D., and Lord Hardwicke had been so much disposed to a peace; the peace was now come, and seemed to be final. " After passing some strictures upon the late treaty of peace, " Mr. Pitt then returned to the domestic part, — expressing his apprehension that the distinction of Whig and Tory was rising as high as ever; that he lay under great obligations to many gentlemen who had been of the denomination of Tories, but who, during his share of the administration, had supported govern- ment upon the principles of Whiggism and of the Revo- 1702.] OF THE WIIIGS. 151 lution; that he would die a Whig, and support invari- ably those principles; yet he would concur in no prescriptive measures; and though it was necessary Lord B. should be removed from the office he now held, he might not think it quite for his Majesty's service to have the Duke of N. succeed there : begging that this might not be thought to proceed from any resentment to the Duke of N., for whose person he had real regard, and who perhaps might have as much cause to complain of Mr. Pitt, as Mr. Pitt of his Grace. "With regard to himself, he had felt inexpressible anxieties at holding office against the goodwill of the Crown; that he would never put himself again in that situation, nor accept of any employment whilst his Majesty had that opinion of him which he was ac- quainted with." Upon this document the Duke of Newcastle remarks, " The Duke (of Cumberland) does not dislike the ac- count Tommy Walpole gives of Mr. Pitt's conversation. It is the man^ and, as such, we must take him, if we would have him. . . The Duke apprehends he (the Duke of Cumberland) is to be closeted by the King, who Avill put him the short question, ' Will you be for me or the Duke of Devonshire?' His Royal Highness does not intend to go to St. James's till the day before the Parliament, that they may know as late as possible his resolution and determination. He will take special care that none of his servants shall attend Mr. Fox's meeting before the Parliament." 152 COURT PERSECUTION [17G2. Every Whig of note had by this time been driven from office, or been absorbed by the King's friends. The deserters, indeed, formed a very numerous section. " It is but too true," writes Newcastle to Hardwicke, on the 19th December; " what Mr. Fox said at first, my Lord Bute has got over all the Duke of Newcastle's friends Never was man who had it in his power to serve, to make, to choose, so great a part of the mem- bers of both Houses, so abandoned as I am at present." The Court now pointed their batteries against the subalterns of the liberal party. Every relative, friend, or dependent of the Duke of Newcastle Avas, one after the other, turned out of his office, and their proscrip- tion extended even to the offices of Customs and Ex- cise. Lord Bute disclaimed these violent proceedings, and in some instances recompensed the aggrieved parties, the object being that he might have all the merit and Fox all tlie odium. Upon this conduct the Duke of Devonshire thus comments, in a letter of the 26th of December, 1762, to the Marquis of Rock- ingham. " The turning out inferior officers, persons that are not in Parliament, and can have jjiven no offence, is a cruel, unjust, and unheard of proceeding, and will most undoubtedly do the ministers no good, but on the contrary, create a general odium against them. As to one set of men endeavouring to throw it upon the other, I look upon it as mere artifice, for measures of this kind cannot be done but in concert, and there- 1762.] OF THE WHIG PARTY. 153 foi-e I pay no regard to wliat they say on the subject, and only wish the time was come to retaliate upon them, and that they may have ample justice done them. " I have wrote my mind fully to the Duke of New- castle, that we should if possible keep our people quiet for some time; wait for events, and see what steps the Ministers take : if they propose anything that is wrong, oppose it; if not, let them alone, by which means we shall gain time to collect our strength, and see whom we can depend upon ; if we can get leaders and a tolerable corps of troops, I am for battle; but I am against appearing in a weak opposition, as we shall make an insignificant figure, prejudice our friends, and do no good." While one Duke was preparing, with his natural caution, temper, and dignity, for the approaching party struggle, another Duke — Newcastle — with an equally characteristic absence of these qualities, was venting his complaints to all who would listen to him. The Duke of Devonshire, to whom, among others, he had sent a detailed account of his grievances, wrote in reply : — " I am not surprised that these things affect you nearly, but the more you feel, the less you ouglit to show it, and therefore keep up your spirits, and con- sider that by talking of it and complaining, you afford matter of triumph to your enemies, and give them 154 DISMISSAL OF NEWCASTLE FROM [1762. encouragement to proceed to further acts of violence against your particular friends, in order either to in- timidate you or to oppress you quite." . . . " I agree entirely with the Duke of Cumberland, that it is much better we should be quiet for the pre- sent, and wait till some facts arise, that we can with weight and propriety lay hold of. When the Ministry come to lay open their plan of force and the different regulations for this country in time of peace, I am persuaded there will be matter for animadversion. Another advantage will be, that it will give time to collect our strength, and find out whom we can really depend upon: for acting in the uncertain manner we did before Christmas, will expose us and make us weaker." Tn the letter from the Duke of Devonshire to Lord Rockingham, of the 26th of December, already quoted, his Grace says, " I question much whether they will remove the Lord Lieutenants. I have told the Duke of Newcastle that the resigning deserves serious consideration, as our friends in the country may think we give them up. However, I shall be ready to do as my friends do; I should be glad to know your opinion in case his Grace (Newcastle) is removed, if you think it right to resign, whether you could stay till I came to town, that we might go together." 17(J2.J HIS LORD-LIEUTENANCIES. 155 Three days prior to the date of this letter, the Duke of Newcastle received an official notification from Lord Halifax, of his being deprived of the Lieutenancies of Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, and Sussex, and of the Stewardship of Sherwood Forest. The Duke of Devonshire, in a letter of condolence* upon this event, writes — " 1 am pleased with a bon-mot that I am told is in one of the public papers (for I never read them), viz. that the Ministers have turned out everybody your Grace helped to bring in, except the King." To the Marquis of Rockingliam the Duke of New- castle also enclosed a copy of Lord Halifax's letter, " I send your Lordship," he writes, " a Ullet-douaj I received this morning from my good friend and rela- tive, the Earl of Halifax. I dare say it is the only one of the sort, for I have heard of no otlier: pray let me know if you have had one. Your Lordship knows that my opinion has always been that I am to be run at and singled out from all the rest." But on this occasion the poor Duke was not singled out, for the same official circular had been sent to the Duke of Grafton and Lord Eockingham, their re- spective Lieutenancies only being specified. In answer to Lord Halifax's letter. Lord Rocking- ham replied on the 24th of December. " I had the honour to receive your Lordship's letter, by his Majesty's command, to acquaint me tluit his * Dated Bath, December 29, 17G2. 156 DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE RESIGNS. [l762. Majesty had no further occasion for my services as Lord Lieutenant, &c. I have one satisfaction which no person can deprive me of; wliich is, that during the time my father and I have held these offices, no opportunity has heen omitted by either of showing our zeal for his Majesty's royal family, or for the service of our country." Walpole says that the same affront, the dismissal from the Lieutenancy, being designed for the Duke of Devonshire, Fox affected to make a point of saving him, but the Duke, with proper spirit, scorned to be obliged to him, and resigned to accompany his friends. This assertion is confirmed by the following letter. THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE TO THE EARL OF HALIFAX. "Dec. 30, 1762. " The removal of the Duke of Newcastle and Loixl Rockingham from the Lieutenancies of their respective counties, appearing to me a clear indication that his Majesty does not tliink fit that those who have in- curred his displeasure should continue his Lord Lieu- tenants, and, as I have the misfortune to come within that description,, his Majesty having j)een advised to show me the strongest marks of his displeasure that could possibly be shown to any subject, I look upon it as a respect due to ray sovereign, and I owe it to myself, not to continue any longer in such an office. T must therefore beg the favour of your Lordship to carry to the King my resignation of the Lord Lieu- 1762.] THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY OF DERBY. 157 tenancy and Cnstos Ilotuloruui of the County of Derby. " 1 am, &c. " Devonshire." the marquis of rockingham to the earl of hardwicke. " I AM glad the Duke of Devonshire has resigned ; I wish his Grace's letter had been turned more seriously to the Ministers, but the eflect in the world will tell the same as if it had been so expressed in his letter, for certainly the resignation is defeating the artifice, and declaring that his Grace cannot bear the surmise that either of the present Ministers prevented his being turned out along with the other Lord Lieutenants." Lord Hardwicke says in answer — " The observa- tion which your Lordship makes, is, I think, in a great measure met by the words, ' His Majesty having been advised,' &c., which plainly point at the Minis- ters ; but if these words should be thought to fall short, they are amply supplied by his spirited letter to the Duke of Newcastle, which his Grace judged very rightly in sending by the common post and trusting to their curiosity." The dismissals were not long confined to persons of high rank ; a bitter persecution raged in every depart- ment. Men holding such humble situations as door- 158 DISMISSAL OF [l7G3. keepers were thrust out of them, solely because they had originally owed them to the opponents of the peace. In reference to this savage proscription, the Duke of Newcastle thus writes, on the 24th of January, to the Earl of Hardwicke : — " I SEND your Lordship the most cruel and inhuman list that was ever seen, not only in a free country, nor even in any civilized nation. This list, as I under- stand, was sent to the Custom House on Saturday last, and yet, cruel as it is, we are told it is only their first fire^ and that we are to have a second; and what favours that opinion is, that they seem hitherto to have gone through only the Port of London, and the poor unhappy County of Sussex. Their brutality and inhu- manity may have satisfied, in some measure, their revenge. But if they meant by it to promote their interests in our county, I can assure them it will have a quite different effect. " The Duke of Devonshire was so kind as to come hither on Saturday, and indeed his conversation was a great relief and comfort to me. The repeated proofs he gave me of his friendship, his manly way of talking and acting upon these cruelties committed upon me and ray friends, and his resolution to let all the world know his detestation of them, will and must have an effect upon all honest men. " My Lord Cornwallis,'"" and Lord Thomas Cavendish, * Charles Cornwallis, second Earl of Cornwallis, at this time a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army, became a General Officer, was 1763.] CUSTOM-HOUSE OFFICERS. 159 Lord Middleton,'" and Mr. Onslow, whom I have seen since, are determined, as well as my Lord Villiers f and Tom Pelham, ' 7o cry aloud and spare not'/ and indeed, after such a behaviour, measures or management with the authors are only marks of fear and weakness, and will encourage these men in tlie continuance of their barbarous proceedings. There is not one single man turned out, against whom the slightest complaint can be made, in the execution of their office. Most of them were excellent officers. I find several of my friends are determined to mention these cruelties in their speeches in the House of Commons. " I hope they will be supported by men of more weight and experience than themselves. They don't propose to make any motion or formal complaint. I hear the late Speaker | (who is provoked beyond mea- sure) says ^/^«^ may be regularly done; and I am told created Marquis Cornwallis in 1792, filled the office of Co^imander- in-Chief, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in 1799, was twice Governor-General of India, in which country he died in 1805. * George Broderick, third Viscount Middleton, married, in 1752, Albinia Townshend, great niece of the Duke of Newcastle, and sister of Thomas Townshend, first Viscount Sydney. t George Bussy Villiers, Viscount Villiers, afterwards fourth Earl of Jersey, Member for Tamworth, a Lord of Admiralty in 1761, which office he resigned in 1763. In Lord Rockingham's first admi- nistration he was Vice-Chamberlain, but did not quit office with his friend. General Keppel, in anticipation of the united parties of Bed- ford and Rockingham coming into office in 1767, proposes to his brother to make " examples of the Onslows, Townshends, Shelleys, not forgetting the little Lord Villiers." — (Life of Lord Keppel, vol. i. p. 392). X The Right Hon. Arthur Onslow, for upwards of three and thirty 160 EARL OF MANSFIELD. [l7<53. that there are many instances in the old Journals of such speeches, or part of them, being inserted in these Journals." The allusions in the next paragraph will be more intelligible, if we recall to mind that the name of Mur- ray had been a few years earlier than the date of this letter intimately connected with Jacobitism, and that the odium of such an imputation was by no means obsolete. In a poem entitled the " Processionade," published in 1746, William Murray, Earl of Mansfield, and Cliief Justice of England, is thus celebrated : — years Speaker of the House of Commons. He retired on the 18th of March, 1761. " He was elected Speaker," says Brown Willis, "by as unanimous a concurrence of all the Members in general, as any of them had been by their constituents in particular ; and as he enjoyed this eminent station a longer time than any of his predecessors, so he executed this important trust with equal, if not superior, abilities to any of those who have gone before him." " No man," Walpole says of him, " ever supported with more firm- ness the privileges of the House, nor sustained the dignity of his office with more authority. His knowledge of the Constitution equalled his attachment. To the Crown he behaved with all the decorum of respect, without sacrificing his freedom of speecli. Against the encroachments of the House of Peers he was an inflexible champion. His disinterested virtue supported him through all his pretensions ; and though to conciliate popular favour he affected an impartiality that by turns led him to the borders of insincerity' and contradiction, and though he was minutely attached to forms, and that it often made him troublesome in affairs of higher moment, it will be difficult to find a subject whom gravity will so well become, whose knowledge will be so useful and accurate, and whose fidelity to his trust will prove so unshaken." 17(5:i.] MURRAY OF HROUCIITON. \i}\ " This new fiingled Scot, who was brought up at home, In the very same school as his brother at Rome, Kneeled conscious, as though his comrades might urge, He had formerly drunk to the King be/ore George." This charge was reiterated a few years afterwards by Lord Ravensworth, wlio brought the subject before the Privv Council and a Committee of the House of Lords. The nephew and brother of tlie Chief Justice had also both committed overt acts of treason. The former, David ]\Iurray, seventh Viscount Stormont, and one of the sixteen Eepresentative Peers of Scotland, had been " out in the '45," and been pardoned : the latter, James ^lurray, of Broughton, titular Earl of Dunbar, had been ^ the Pretender's Private Secretary, and recompensed the confidence of his unfortunate patron, by betraying his as- sociates and directing the pursuers of the fugitive Stuart. How hateful to all lionest Scotchmen — even to those who adhered to the House of Hanover in the Eebellioii — the name of James Murray had become, will appear .by the following anecdote, taken from Lockhart's "Life of Sir Walter Scott " (vol. i. p. 244, 2nd edition). The Mr. and Mrs. Scott here mentioned were the father and mother of the great novelist. " Mrs. Scott's curiosity was strongly excited one autumn by the regular appearance, at a certain hour every evening, of a sedan-chair, to deposit a person carefully muffled up in a mantle, who was immediately nshercd into her husband's private room, and commonly remained with him there until long after the usual bed- time of this orderly family. Mi". Scott answered her VOL. I. M 162 LORD MANSFIELD. [l763. repeated inquiries with a vagueness which irritated the lady's feelings more and more, until at last she could bear the thing no longer ; but one evening, just as she heard the bell ring, as for the stranger's chair to carry him off, she made her appearance into the forbidden parlour, with a salver in her hand, observing that she thought the gentlemen had sat so long, they would be better for a dish of tea, and had ventured to bring some for their acceptance. The stranger, a person of distinguished appearance and richly dressed, bowed to the hidy and accepted the cup; but her husband knit his brows, and refused very coldly to partake of the refreshment. A moment afterwards the stranger with- drew, and Mr. Scott, lifting up the window-sash, took the cup, which he had left empty on the table, and tossed it out on the pavement. The lady exclaimed for her china ; but was put to silence by her husband's saying, ' I can forgive you your little curiosity, madam, but you must pay the penalty. I admit into my house, on a piece of business, persons wholly unworthy to be treated as guests by my wife. Neither lip of me or of mine comes after Mr. ]\lurray of Broughton." With this preamble, I introduce the next paragraph in the Duke of Newcastle's letter. " I wish when my Lord Mansfield mentioned my name, your Lordship had given him your thoughts upon these cruel measures. I should have been curious to know what my Lord Mansfield would have said, in justification of his friends the ministers, who are the 17G3.] DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. 163 authors of tlieiu ; or his own silence, inactivity, and indifference upon the occasion. " Had I been a Scotch rebel, and pardoned, I might have had a good chance, in those times, to be one of the sixteen; but, in all times, common humanity would, as it did most remarkably in the two late glorious and compassionate reigns, have prevented the families of the rebels from starving, and, in some instances, have even put them upon a better foot than they were before. Most of the successors are Mr. Fox's creatures, but that makes no alteration. jNIy Lord Bute is the man that does it, and must support it, and Mr. Fox the servile interested agent." Lord Waldegrave, in his " Character of the Duke of Newcastle," says, " His mind can never be com- posed; his spirits are always agitated. Yet this con- stant ferment, which would wear out and destroy any other man, is perfectly agreeable to his constitution; he is at the very perfection of health when his fever is at the greatest height.""* According to Waldegrave's hypothesis, Newcastle could not have had a better physician than Lord Bute; for his treatment of him certainly kept his Grace in that constant ferment which the noble memoir-writer considers so salutary for him. But the best remedies may be abused; and the dismissal of his friends so acted upon the Duke's excitable temperament, that he was thrown into a fever. Upon his recovery, he wrote to the Earl of Hardwicke as follows : — * Memoiiv, pp. 11, 12. M a 164 DUKE or NEWCASTLE. [1763. " My dearest Lord, "Claremont, Jan. 6, 1763. " I flatter myself that your Lordship will not be displeased to have an account, under my own liand^ that by the blessing of God, I am, I hope, perfectly recovered, and that I have reason to hope that the very severe discipline which I have undergone, having lost so great a quantity of bad, fiery, Bute blood, will greatly contribute to strengthen and amend my con- stitution. The goodness and affection of my friends, and most particularly your Lordship's, has, I am per- suaded, greatly contributed to my cure. " The courage, resolution, and cool behaviour of the Duke of Devonshire, upon the late occasion, have made such an impression upon my Lord Lincoln, that he is at once become an altered man both in his public and private situation towards me. He is highly pleased with the conduct of my great friends, and will join most heartily in it. In my private affairs, he is the first to settle everything to my satisfaction, and to make me perfectly easy, as he has done: you can't imagine how happy I am, " Nor envy Bute his sunshine and his skies."* * " Nor envied Jove his sunshine and his skies." Last line of the third act of Addison's tragedy of" Cato." 17(53.1 ABDICATION OF LORD BUTE. 165 CHAPTER VI. RESIGNATION OF LORD BUTE. — ALLEGED MOTIVES FOR IT. — ORENVILLE ADMINISTRATION. IMPRISONMENT AND LIBERATION OF WILKES. — LEICESTER HOUSE SCHEME. ^^NEQOCIATIONS BETWEEN toRD BUTE AND MR. PITT. MR, PITT's INTERVIEWS WITH THE KING. BEDFORD ADMINISTRATION. DEATH OF DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. PROPOSED NEW MINISTERIAL ARRANGEMENTS. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD HARDWICKE AND HIS BROTHER. Lord Bute had borne his blushing honours ten months, when he abandoned the post which he had incurred so much obloquy to attain. His motives for resignation still remain a mystery. The following is the motive assigned by Viscount Royston, in a letter to the Earl of Hardwicke. "Bath, April 11, 1763. " The alarms of Lord Bute's family about his personal safety, are reported here to be the immediate cause of this sudden and unexpected abdication.'^ I shall make no rejlections on this strange scene; your Lordship has already reflected much better for yourself. The nil admirari of Horace seems in our days to be as applicable to politics as it is to ethics and philosophy.'' * This is the view taken by Mr. I\Iacaulay in his 2nd article on Chatham. 166 LMPRISONMENT OF WILKES. [l7G3. Three days prior to the date of this letter, Mr. Grenville was declared First Lord of the Treasury, and Lords Egremont and Halifax Secretaries of State. "Of the three," says Walpole, " Lord Halifax was by far the weakest, at the same time, most amiable man. His pride, like Lord Egremont's, taught him much civility. He spoke readily and agreeably, and only wanted matter and argument. He aimed at virtues he could not support, or rather was carried away by his vices than sensible of them," From other sources we learn that he possessed a handsome person, elegant manners, and a cultivated mind. Mr. Macaulay considers "that the worst administra- tion which has governed England since the Eevolution, was that of George Grenville."* It was certainly a very important one, for it had scarcely been installed in oflSce, than it found itself involved in the ever memorable squabble with the notorious John Wilkes, at that time Member for Aylesbury. On the 23rd of the month, being a fortnight after the formation of the Grenville Ministry, appeared the famous " Number Forty-five of the North Briton." In this paper, severe strictures were passed on the conduct of ministers in general, and on Lord Bute in particular. After a week's deliberation, Wilkes was seized on a cjcneral warranty and brought before Lords Halifax and Egre^ mont, by whom he was committed to the Tower. His demeanour on the occasion w^ould have served as a warning to wiser men, against meddling with such a * Macaulay 's " Essays," in one volume, p. 747. 1763.] LIBERATION OF WILKES. 167 firebrand. On arriving at the place of his imprison- ment, he wounded the stately pride of Lord Egremont, by desiring to be confined in the same apartment where his fiither, Sir William Windham, had been kept on a charge of Jacobitism ; and the national vanity of Lord Bute, by hoping that, if possible, he might not be lodged where any Scotchman had been prisoner. On the very day of his commitment to prison, his friends procured a writ of habeas-corpus from the Court of Common Pleas ; and on the 3rd of May he was brought before Lord Chief Justice Pratt. In a speech, which lasted an hour, Wilkes complained " that he had been worse treated than any rebel Scot,"— a remark that was hailed with loud acclamations by the crowd in Westminster Hall. Three days afterwards, Pratt de- livered his judgment, in which he declared that Wilkes was " entitled to his privilege as a Member of Parliament, because, although that privilege does not hold against a breach of the peace, it does against what only tends to a breach of the peace." Wilkes was in consequence set at liberty. Immediately after the enlargement of Wilkes, letters from the Honourable Charles Yorke and Sir Fletcher Norton, the Attorney and Solicitor-General, were presented to the Court, demanding to be admitted, as the case concerned the King's interest. The Chief Justice's answer to both was, that they had come too late. Upon these proceedings, the Attorney-General's brother. Viscount Koyston, wrote to his friend Dr. Birch as follows : — / I(j8 IMPRISONMENT OF WILKES. [\HJS. " Dear Birch, " Bath, May the i oth, 1 763. " Shall I congiatulate you on the discharge of your old acquaintance? or shall I condole with you on the licentious spirit, repugnant to all decorum and order, which has appeared amongst the populace on this occa- sion? or shall I lament that the proceedings of govern- ment have not been conducted with all the propriety and judgment one could wish? As a good Englishman and a dutiful subject, I shall concur in the two last particulars. The House of Commons is much obliged to Lord C(hief) J(ustice) P(ratt), for I do not know, that we ever claimed the privilege for ourselves, which he has been pleased to allow us. Has our old Speaker been consulted on the occasion? Did Pratt take any notice of the warrant of apprehension^ which has the word treasonable^ and leaves the messengers at large ? Is it thought that any art or management was used to bring down such great crowds to W— r H — 11. I question whether the other Chief Justice will choose (if he can help it) to have the affair brought into his court. I presume it will be fought through all the weapons, from the courts of justice to St. Stephen's Chapel. We have a story here^ which I cannot give credit to, ' that Lord H(alifa)x asked W — kes if he was at the dinners,'"' and that the latter replied, that he did not sit down to table, but only blew the coals.' " * Note by Lord Hardwicke to his own letter. — " Tlie dinners were amongst the opposition." 17G3.] LETTER TO LORD HARDWICKE. 1 {)9 It was a favourite scheme of the Leicester House faction, the moment an Administration was formed, to open a negociation with the chiefs of the different sections of Opposition, the object being to ensure a greater degree of subserviency from the Ministers to the wishes of the Crown. A plan of this nature was set in operation shortly after Grenville entered upon his functions of Premier, but, true to the principle of " ruling by divisions," the Court treated with each leader, to the exclusion of the other. Some of the letters which follow will show the working of this system. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " Clarcmont, June 30th, 1763. " Mr. Pitt mentioned the proposals made to him hy my Lord Biite^ much in the same way that he had done to the Attorney General, and that his answer was, that he never would have anything to do with my Lord Bute; that he is now thoroughly connected with us; Avas determined to remain so, and to take all oppor- tunities to do everything to bring us together . . . "... Lord Granby is just come in, so I must finish my letter sooner than I intended. I can't, however, forbear repeating to yonr Lordship my thanks for your kind and able conversation with my Lord Egremont, and particularly in what your Lordship said of your liumble servant, and the supposed declaration I had made, though I am still ot the same opinion upon that head that 1 ever was." 170 NEGOCIATION BETWEEN BUTE AND PITT. [1703. Note by second Lord Hardwicke : — " N.B. It was in this conversation with Lord Egre- mont that my father had a direct offer from the King of President of the Council, then vacant, which he very properly declined, but did not mention to the Duke of Newcastle, to avoid jealousies, and to which his Grace was liable." " On this behaviour," says Walpole, referring to the offers to Newcastle and Hardwicke — of that to Pitt he was not aware — " the tliree ministers had deter- mined to bring his Majesty to an explanation." As to one of the three, Lord Egremont, he must have been in error, seeing that he was the actual negociator of the King with the ex-Chancellor. But there appears to be no doubt that the other two made a strong remon- strance to the King, that Grenville in particular "re- proached his Majesty with violating the assurances he had given them (the Ministers) that Lord Bute should meddle no more, and with abandoning the Ministers he had himself chosen." The death of Lord Egremont, which occurred on the 2 1 st of August, hastened a negociation that had long been on the tapis, between Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt, which ended in the latter statesman being summoned to attend the King at Buckingham House. The interview lasted three hours, and Mr. Pitt considering himself authorized to form an administration, Avrote an urgent summons to the Marquis of Rockingham. 1703.] LETTER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 171 RIGHT HON. W. PITT TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " Jermyn Street, August 2Sth, 1763. " A MATTER has opened which must make me very impatient to learn your Lordship's sentiments. I will in this critical situation venture to request of you to be so good as to come immediately to town. Miij I add that I shall esteem it a great favour if your Lord- ship could engage Sir George Savile to take the same journey, to whom I would write if I knew that my letter would he sure to find him. Be assured, I shall think any plan highly defective, in which a person of such honour and ability does not take a share. I saw the Duke of Newcastle at Claremont this morniuir, who joins in wishing extremely that your Lordship would come directly to town, as his Grace's desires on this subject will best stand for my apology for the liberty I am taking. I will add no more to your trouble than to assure you of the great truth and respect with which I am, &c., " W. Pitt." Lord Eockingham forwarded a copy of this letter to Sir George Savile, together with the following note from himself: — " I will only now say in general, it is my earnest and steady opinion, that it is neither the conduct of an honest or of a wise man, to abet tlie skimming over the present confused system, but is the duty of us both to give what help we can towards a perfect and pro- 172 MR. PITT'S IiNTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 1703.] bably permanent cure. Whether the time is yet come, is a matter difficult to judge upon; but I hope and trust that nothing will be entered upon without the fullest and clearest prospect of stability." The above letter is dated " Birom, Monday night, half-past twelve, August 29th, 1763." On the morn- ing of that day, Mr. Pitt had a second interview with the King, when his Majesty suddenly broke up the conference, by saying, " Well, Mr. Pitt (I see, or I fear), this will not do; my honour is concerned, and I must support it." The following day, the 30th, Lord Shelburne, who had been the channel of communitiation with Mr. Pitt, wrote to that statesman, felicitating him personally on a negociation being at an end, which carried through the whole of it such shocking marks of insincerity, and three days afterwards resigned his post as President of the Board of Trade. VISCOUNT ROYSTON TO DR. BIRCH. "Oct. 4, 1763. " It were endless to attempt detecting the falsities Avhich are inserted in all the relations of the late very extraordinary negociation; but I cannot help contra- dicting one fact, which is positively inserted in the narrative you refer to in your last of the 1st instant, viz., that the K(ing) saw none of his ministers between the Satiirdaj/ and the Monday. Now T have the best authority for saying tliat Mr. Grenville was in the 1764.] LETTER TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 173 closet on Friday, luid was introduced again on Saturday after the other gentleman '" left it. N.B. This is true ; he told my brother so. It seems remarkable, and tends to confirm the public opinion of the present jumhlc at Court, that the papers published in defence of the A n, throw out pretty strong insinuations against Lord B., and that his Lordship's advocates are as free in reflecting on the M rs. With me, " ' Xros Tyriusve milii nullo disciimine.' " The following extract of a letter from the Honourable Charles Yorke to his brother, second Earl of Ilardwicke, written shortly after the decease of their father, f has reference to some attack upon the Memoirs of the ex- Chancellor by Lord Northington, who succeeded him on the Woolsack in 1756. " My dear Lord, "Saturday evening, Mar. 25 (1764). " Wliat you mention of the Lord Chancellor I never heard till this evening, from Dr. Plumptre, who had it from my brother John. It is very gross and unde- served. " I am not aware of the custom to which another paragraph in the same letter appears to refer. " But allow me to say, that if your Lordship sends rings to the Judges^ I hope you will send one to the Lord Chancellor, that sucli a trifle may not be marked. I take it for granted that you called at his door upon * Mr. Pitt, t Lord Hardwicke died on Tuesday the 6th of March, 1 7G4. 174 LETTER TO CHARLES YORKE. [l764. taking your seat in the House of Lords. If any acci- dent prevented it, I know that he is capable of being moved by such trifles. It is the temper of many. But I can only add, as to myself, that in truth, a situation between enemies and friends, I know that (Avithout management and temper) it will be impossible for me to do anything, but retire at once into the country, out of a profession which is independent of everything but that impertinence which may be created by those whom the King places in the great offices of it." Note by second Lord Hardwicke : — " After Northing- ton's language in the House of Lords, I did not wait upon him, nor (I think) send him a ring. My brother was too delicate and nice. He was above being hurt by the impertinence of any Chancellor. " H." THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother, ' " St. James's Square, July 26, 1764. " I wish you would find a quarter of an hour to let me know in three lines, whether you saw the D. of Devon again, and what language he held. I ask because Jones told me he had made some thunderino- declaration to Mr. Pitt, about acting more vigorously next session, with an intimation that iiis friends would do so, Avhatever part he (Mr. P.) thought proper to take. " I do not find that this made the Great Commoner more explicit. Tones says, the afl'air of the interview 17G4.] DUKE OF BEDFORD PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL. 175 with Ltl. B. is less believed than it was a fortnidit ago. "Jones picks up nothing material; yet messengers come and go between ns. What is now talked of is, that the Parliament may now meet before Christmas, on account of the supply. " Lord Bute makes many hugger-mugger visits at Richmond, in a way neither creditable to his master nor himself." In a letter to Dr. Birch, written at about this time, Lord Hardwicke asks, "Is it true that Mrs. Pritchard was greatly ap- plauded the other night, upon speaking a line against favourites, in the ' Careless Husband?' If the audiences begin to be so much on the catch, Mr. G(arric)k must be cautious what plays he acts. If it would not appear pedantic, I might remind you that Tully often mentions such circumstances Avtich passed at the theatres, as indications of the temper of the people." Soon after the failure of the negociation with Mr. Pitt in 1763, the Duke of Bedford became President of the Council, and the ostensible head of the Government. The Bedford Administration experienced no better treatment than its predecessors. Like Grenville, the Duke stipulated for that which the King himself pro- posed, namely, the exclusion of Lord Bute from his presence, and from any participation in public affairs.* * The Duke of Bedford to the Duke of Marlborough, May 19, 1765. 170 DEATH OF DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE. {\HM. And the f\ivoiirite liimself wrote to tlie King, stating that for his Majesty's service, as well as for his own ease, he Avas resolved to remain at his house the ensuing winter. " He kept the word of promise to the ear, But broke it to the hope." He passed, it is true, the winter at Luton Hoo, returned to town early in the spring, and went publicly to Court and to the House of Lords. " His return," says Wiffen, " was regarded by the Duke of Bedford as an entire infraction of the bond on which he had consented to take office." Since the retirement of the Duke of Newcastle from the Ministry, tlie Duke of Devonshire became the ac- knowledged leader of the Whigs, but his health ren- dered him unequal to the task which the partiality of his friends assigned him. He was obliged to be frequently absent from town, and at length retired to Spa, where he died on the 2nd of October this year, in the forty-fifth year of his age. The rumours of disagreement between Lord Bute and the Ministers seeming to offer an opening for some new ministerial arrangement. Lord Hardwicke thus wrote to his brother, Mr. Charles Yorke, on the 11th of April, 1764:— " Dear Brother, " I had my confab with his Grace of Devon this morning, whom I find (juitc without plan or system, much dissatisfied with Mr. Pitt, whom he knows nothing 1764.] LETTER TO CHARLES YORKE. 177 about, and finds be can make notbing of. He lays little weigbt on Cbarles Townsbend's information about ac- commodations at Court. I told bis Grace, points must be waited for — tbat I saw none at present of magnitude sufficient to declare upon .... " Tbe Duke of Devonsbire goes to Newmarket at tbe end of next week. I only mention tbis in case you bad tbougbts of waiting upon bim. I tbink if you saw tbe Duke of Bedford, you migbt find out wbetber be would undertake any conciliatory scbeme. My idea is, tbat Lord Bute, if pressed, would prefer Pitt and Temple, because tbey bave fewest followers and carry tbe greater popularity. " Ilis Grace of Bedford bas taken antipatby to Lord Bute, on account of tbe transaction of last summer. I tbink all tbis Paddy Noddy to little purpose. In losing Lord H(ardwicke) we are at sea witbout pilot or rudder. " P.S. — Tbe Duke of Devonsbire said be tbougbt Pitt would be more tractable, if we sbowed tbat we could go on witbout bim. My opinion of Pitt is, tbat be will neitber lead nor be driven. He is animal sui generis — un unique. Tbe Duke admitted bis bealtb made bim less to be depended upon." Tbe first paragrapb in tbe following letter evidently bas reference to tbe removal of one of tbe Duke of Newcastle's protc'gcs from tbe Palace Gardens ; tbe second, to tbe dismissal of General Conway from tbe colonelcy of a regiment and tbe post of Groom of tbe VOL. L N 178 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l764. Bedchamber, for voting against Ministers in the ques- tion of " General Warrants," — a subject which, as Lord Hardwicke surmised, became the cheval de bataille of the opposition in the next session. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother, "St. James's Square, Aug. .3, 1764. " I send back his Grace's letter, and think much does not arise out of it. The turning out of Greening was an ill-natured act ; but there is no making that a con- stitutional point, and the Duke chooses to forget that he stands ill with the King as well as the Minister, and that a domestic gardener to a Royal Palace is one of those places which kiiigs think they may ^nake free with the disposal of " His Grace's declaration to Mr. Pitt was premature, unless he knew better how to conduct, to increase, and strengthen his opposition ; but the great cheval de bataille will be, I apprehend, Conway's affair ; and that^ to use a phrase of Sir William Temple's, ' will make a meal's meat, but will not keep the house.' 1 >> THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. "Sept. 8, 1764. " The great reports of the Duke of Bedford's uneasi- ness with my Lord Bute are, I believe, true. But it is very uncertain what, if any, material consequence will arise from it. I hear the language of Woburn is, that 17G4.] TO LORD IIARUWICKE. 179 the Duke of Bedford knows nothing of my Lord Bute, has seen him but once, and does not know Avhcn he shall see him again; that the Duke of Bedford is Minister; that Lord Bute, the favourite, may obtain favours for his particular friends, as was the case of the regiment given to Colonel Fletcher. '"' That may be wrong, but that was a small object. That the Duke was coming up to town the 22nd of this month, and would then go to Bath.f If this be true, it does not look as if his Grace thought himself the Minister, or troubled himself much about administration." * " The affair of Turk's Island, and the promotion of Colonel Fletcher over thirty-seven older officers, are the chief causes which have ripened our heats to such a height." — Walpole. t " The Duke of Bedford has crossed the country from Bath to Woburn without coming to town." — Walpole to Hertford, Nov. 9, 1764. N t 180 DISMISSAL OF GENERAL CONWAY. [l765. CHAPTER VII. arbitrary dismissal of general conway and other military officers. letters relating to the regency bill. duke of Cumberland's statement of negociation for change of minis- ters. — character of lord lyttleton. — protectionist riots. — appointment of commander of the troops. — correspond- ence on the riots. — prorogation of parliament. — ministerial difficulties of the king. The violent ministerial measures of the preceding session, naturally aroused a determined resistance on the part of the Whigs. The dismissal of General Con- way and other military officers from their employments, as a royal penalty for their votes in Parliament, was no ordinary cause of provocation, and was regarded as a dangerous example, as well as a most unjust and arbi- trary proceeding. With the view of inducing Mr. Pitt to co-operate with them in their opposition to the Court, Lord Rockingham was prevailed upon by the leading Whigs to pay the retired and refractory old statesman a visit at Hayes, His errand, indeed, proved fruitless. The Great Commoner condemned the dismissal of Con- way ; but " the question," he said, " touched too near upon prerogative; it ought to have been brought on earlier in the session. He had never urged the subject being mooted at all." In short, he produced doubts in 1765.] LETTER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 181 Lord Rockingham's mind whether the cause he had at heart might not be more prejudiced than benefited by Mr. Pitt's presence in the House of Commons ; and he returned to town, "less satisfied than ever with Mr. Pitt."* THE DUKE OF NEAVCASTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "Bath, March 26, 1765. "I AM more sorry than surprised, that your Lord- ship found Mr. Pitt in the disposition you did, with an appearance, and, I am afraid, with a real deter- mination to remain inactive. It is agreeable to all his declarations for this last year, and to what he so positively declared in his letter to me. I doubt he is searching for reasons to justify that resolution, — one, I am sure, has not the least foundation. That we had given up Ms war (and in that he means me only), for he does me the honour always to fling all the blame upon me, as I am persuaded your Lordship plainly perceived by his discourse ; and greater injustice cannot be done a man. Could I be such a fool as to give up Ms war, as he called it? Who provided for it? Who raised such immense sums for the support of it? Was it Mr. Pitt or myself? I will be bold to say, Mr. Pitt could not have done it; and am I to have all the re- proach from Mr. Grenville and the enemies to the war, for the load of debt which I had brought upon the * Walpole's George the Thh-d, ii. 87. 182 LETTERS RELATING TO [l766. nation, for the support of it, and am to be told by- Mr. Pitt that I had given up Jiis war? In short, I have seen so much of this cruel part towards me, that I am determined not to mind it, but to go on with Mr. Pitt as I have done, wishing and doing every- thing in my power that the public may have his assis- tance. For I see how much it is wanted. The oppo- sition is dwindled down to nothing, and Mr. Grenville, for he is the man of consequence, and that does the business. Let them say what they will, Mr. Grenville, I say, will have champ libre, and nobody to oppose him." The session of 1765 had been opened by the King in person, but towards the end of March, his Majesty was attacked by so serious an illness, that it became necessary to make some provision for the contingency of a long minority. Accordingly, on the 24th of April, the subject of a Regency was brought before Parliament, in a speech from the Throne. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HONOURABLE CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother, "St. James's Square, April 25, 1765. " We [the Duke of Newcastle and himself] had no conversation about the Regency Bill, except that I was able to acquaint him that Lord Halifax had moved to-day to take the King's speech into consideration on Monday. I suppose the Bill will then be brought in. " I was at the levce this morning ; the King avail 1765.] THE REGENCY BILL. 183 fort bon visage. I walk in and out of St. James's like a country lord, -whom nobody that knows anything has anything to say to. . . . " Lord Lyttleton (whom I saw this morning) appre- hended the debate would be on your second reading. A notion prevails that Mr. Pitt will attend in the House. D. of Cumb. much hurt that the Princes of the blood are not to be named in Council of Eegency. All laid to the door of Lord Bute ; a scheme of his to keep Queen, brothers, &c., dependent on his good word with the K— ." The "Memoriall" of the same writer affords some additional observations upon the same subject. " While the Regency Bill," says his Lordship, "was in the House of Lords, the clause naming the King's brothers was concerted, with the Duke of Cumberland, unknown to the Ministry till the King sent it to them. They, to return the compliment, framed the clause for omitting the Princess Dowager, [and] procured the King's con- sent to it. This raised a storm in the interior of the palaces ; and the result of it, after many intrigues and jarrings, was the overthrow of that administration." An address was moved in the House of Lords by Lord Lyttleton, to give the King the power to name the person he would recommend. This was rejected by eighty-nine to thirty-one. The Duke of Richmond then moved that the Regency should consist of the Queen, the Princess Dowager, and all the descendants of the late King usually in England. On the following day. Lord 184 THE REGENCY BILL. [1705. Halifax moved the Duke of Richmond's words, with the single omission of the Princess Dowager. The amend- ment was agreed to. The Regency Bill was read a second time on the 7th of May. On the 9th, Mr. Morton, Member for Abingdon, Chief Justice of Chester, and well known to be in the Princess Dowager's confidence, moved, with the King's approval, and at Lord Northington's sugges- tion, the insertion of her Royal Highness's name. To Mr. Yorke, who had taken an active part in the debate, his brother. Lord Hardwicke, wrote as follows. " I HOPE you are well, after all your House of Com- mons fatigue, where I think there have been strange doings. Curiosity would engage me to attend the House of Lords on Monday, when you send up the Bill with your amendments; but as indisposition pre- vented my being in the beginning of the fray, I think it more prudent not to come in at the latter end. It is impossible not to concur with your mention of the P(rincess) of Wales's name, now the point has been started; but surely the Court and the Ministry have contrived to bring the House of Lords into a very awkward situation, first inducing them to leap over the stick one way, and then bringing them to jump over it the other" In consequence of the difiiculties attendant upon these " intrigues and jarrings," the King solicited his uncle to form a government for him. The Duke accepted the 1705.] DUKK OF Cumberland's statement. 185 office, and, after sundry messages to Hayes, at last paid Mr. Pitt a visit in person. No slight sensation was pro- duced on the public mind by this condescension of the proudest of Princes towards the proudest of Commoners. Mr. Wright, in his " House of Hanover," has re- produced a caricature of the day, illustrative of the event. It is entitled " The Courier." From the door of a hedge alehouse, protrudes a gouty foot. The sign is an inflated bladder, on which is inscribed " Popu- larity." Underneath is the further inscription, " W.P." On a cantering horse appears a figure intended to repre- sent the very portly person of the Duke of Cumberland, and not unlike the statue of his Royal Highness in Ca- vendish Square. He wears a large pair of Dettingen boots and has a horn at his mouth. "Yesterday," says Walpole, "the hero of Culloden went down in person to the conqueror of America, and, though tendering almost carte blanche, blancJiissime^ for the constitution, and little short of it for Red Book of places, brought back nothing but a flat refusal." That this version was not the correct one, will appear from the account given by the Royal Ambassador himself. THE LUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT.* " An account of the Negociation for the intended change of Ministers, in April and May, 1765; recol- lected some days after the whole was over, by help of * To the best of my belief, the only two copies extant of this " Statement " are in Lord Fitzwilliam's papers and my own family collection of MSS. 186 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. Lord Albemarle, whom I had entrusted in the whole transaction, and who had his part also to act. " On Easter Day, the 7th of April, 1765, I received his Majesty's orders to attend him at the Queen's House, before I set out for Newmarket. Accordingly, I at- tended there at ten o'clock that same morning, when his Majesty was pleased to inquire particularly after my health (I having been all the winter extremely ill), and said he had sent to me to meet him there, that I might save myself the fatigue of going up the stairs at St. James's, and of long standing in the drawing- room.* To which gracious words I returned my most dutiful thanks ; and rejoiced in seeing his Majesty also thoroughly recovered. He said he was ; but that yet his late illness had been an additional reason for him to desire to speak to me; for that though he was now well, yet God alone knew how soon an accident might befall him. Therefore, he acquainted me that the Thursday before, he had given to his four Ministers * The Duke of Cumberland was at this time considered in a very precarious state. In 1764, the wound he had received at Dettingen broke out at Newmarket. It became " necessary to make an incision of many inches in his knee. Ranby" (the sergeant-surgeon to the King) " did not dare to propose that a hero should be tied, but was frightened out of his senses when the hero would hold the candle himself, which none of his generals could bear to do. In the middle of the operation the Duke said, ' Hold 1' Ranby said, 'For God's sake, sir, let me proceed now ; it will be worse to renew it.' The Duke repeated, ' I say, hold,' and then calmly bade them give Ranby a clean waistcoat and cap, ' for,' said he, ' the poor man has sweat through these.' It was true, but the Duke did not utter a groan." — Walpoles Letters to Lord Hertford, p. 154. I 1705.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 187 an order for preparing a Bill of Regency, in case any accident happened to him : that, heat being a good deal allayed, was an additional reason to him for having it done at a time when men's passions were abated. " I returned his Majesty my most dutiful thanks for this his gracious information: that I should give my thoughts fully and openly, when I should see the draft of the bill : that, as I rejoiced to see, then, no pressing necessity for any precautions against such an unfor- tunate event: therefore, I must own, I feared that the importance of the subject-matter would, especially at the end of a session, cause jealousies, which might frustrate his Majesty's most gracious and generous in- tentions on this occasion : that, as to our heats, which his Majesty thought were allayed, I Avas sorry to be obliged to say, that far from it ; that though the first people did not express their opinions and their feelings with as much warmth and as repeatedly as last year, it proceeded not from their being over; but that they were already communicated and spread out into the lower class of mankind, from whence it would be more difficult to eradicate them, and set their minds at ease. " I did perceive, or at least thought I did, that his Majesty had still more on his mind to communicate, but I did not think it respectful to endeavour to know more fully what was in the King's mind. TJius ended the first conversation I had had with tlie King in his closet or in private since the peace. " The first or second day at Newmarket my Lord 188 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. Northumberland ^^ took occasion to call upon me, singly^ one morning, under the pretence of going with me to the stables to see my horses. Whilst in the stables he much lamented both the King's situation and that of his affairs; that with such an administration nothing great could be done; that they lived from day to day, whilst France was restoring their finances, paying off their debt, and putting their naval force again in condition. That, therefore, if ever it pleased France to begin with us, they would find us in the same exhausted state that had obliged us to grant them the favourable terms of peace they had obtained from us. I entirely agreed with his Lordship in the state in which he represented his Majesty's affairs were, and that I was fully sensible of the diboires and indignities which these gentlemen in power insulted his Majesty with each day ; instead of applying themselves to the good of the public in general, or to restoring to his Majesty the affections of his people. He said he rejoiced much in hearing me * Sir Hugh Smithson, Bart, married Lady Elizabeth Seymour, only daughter of Algernon Duke of Somerset, at whose death in 1 749 he succeeded to the Earldom of Northumberland. He was created Duke of Northumberland under the Chatham administration. Though pro- fuse and ostentatious, he was a kind and amiable man, a patron of the arts and of men of letters. He " had an advantageous figure, and much courtesy in his address, which being supported by most expen- sive magnificence, made him exceedingly popular with the meaner sort." — Walpole. Lord Northumberland's son, Lord Warkworth, having married Lord Bute's daughter, was admitted to the King's private junto, which met daily at this time at Mr, Stow's. It consisted of Lord Bute, Lord Northumberland, Lord Mansfield, Sir Fletcher Norton, Mr. Stow, and Mr. Stow's brother, the Primate of Ireland. 17G5.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 189 express these sentiments, which he had never doubted to find in my breast, and which the King was convinced were implanted there ; and that, if I had understood his Majesty, the King was intentioned to talk more fully himself over the state of his affairs, and that nothing had prevented that total confidence of his Majesty but fearing that he saw a coldness on my side to endeavour to extricate him out of the troubles he was engaged in. Whether the Lord Northumberland sent a messenger to town to acquaint his Majesty with this conversation, or no, I know not ; but I am certain that a messenger was sent to him from London, upon the receipt of whom I had a second visit during the week, which seemed to me more explicit, and to be warmer in the King's desire for assistance. " On the 16th of April, in the evening, I received in town another visit from Lord Northumberland, acquainting me it was by the King's pleasure and his order that he had had those conversations with me at Newmarket. I assured him of my readiness; but that this Regency Bill, which was again upon the tapis^ was of such importance, and of which I had not had the least communication; that therefore I must humbly deprecate the having any hand in whatever negocia- tions might be, during this Bill's hanging over all our heads, without any person among those who were con- cerned being able to obtain two similar answers from any two of his Majesty's servants in the law, or other- ways ; that, even as to myself, I had reason to fear and believe that my name was quite omitted, as well as 190 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l705. those of my nephews. The Lord Northumberhind, in an awkward manner, denied his having at least any knowledge of such a design ; but must stop the nego- ciation till things were riper for it. On Wednesday, the next day, we (Lord Albemarle and I) went into the country ; but at night I heard from the House of Lords, that not only my nephews and myself were totally left out, and that there were disputes whether or no it should be the Queen, by name, or the Queen or any of the Koyal Family. On which Lord Albemarle went to town and expostulated roundly and warmly with the Earl of Northumberland. The consequence of which was, the King was pleased to signify to the House his pleasure that my nephews and I should stand fixed members of the Council of Regency. " The 30th of April I set out for Newmarket, leaving Lord Albemarle, and most of the lords indeed, to attend the finishing of the Bill. During this week the Bill was sent to the Commons, after several amend- ments and several extraordinary divisions in the House of Lords, wherein the Duke of Bedford had been so extremely masterly, that had his Grace stuck to his own opinion, he would have stood in a far dijSferent light than he had ever stood in, or ever will stand in again. For, after having amended and settled that part of the Bill touching the Queen's Regency upon a clear, honour- able, popular plan, he allowed these his amendments to be totally overset by the House of Commons, and passed this Bill contrary to his former just amend- ments. 1765.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 191 " That day (Monday, May the 6th), very late in the evening, my Lord Northumherland sent in to desire to speak to me, acquainting me that he came to me by his Majesty's orders, that I should endeavour to see whether Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple, with the other great Whig families, could not be brought to form him a strong and a lasting Administration, which might empower him to form systems at home and abroad, such as the dangers of the times might require ; desiring withal that this negociation might be carried on with the utmost secrecy and celerity, as its magnitude would allow of. " In answer to all this, I desired the Earl of North- umberland would lay me at the King's feet, and assure him that I would endeavour all that lay in my power to execute the important commission I was charged with. That I feared his Majesty was convinced by the event, that the Kegency Bill, with its different changes, had superadded many difficulties; that, for to quit the King's work in hand, I must be allowed to open myself to Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt, as well as to the Duke of Newcastle and the Marquis of Rockingham. " On Tuesday, the 7th of May, I spoke to the Duke of Newcastle and the Marquis of Rockingham, acquaint- ing them with the orders I was charged with from his Majesty, and that the King had been pleased to chalk out for all our joint considerations the following out- lines of Administration, viz. Mr. Pitt to be Secretary of State with Mr. Charles Townshend, Secretary of State also; Lord Northumberland, First Lord of the Trea- 192 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. sury ; the Duke of Newcastle and Earl Temple, one or the other President, the other Privy Seal; and Lord Egmont First Lord of the Admiralty; and that the other noblemen, and others who were to come in, should be, as much as possible, considered in the new arrange- ment to be formed. " I should do injustice to both these Lords, if I did not remark their zeal for the execution of his Majesty's great and just views ; only the Marquis objected to any employment for himself, believing he might be of more use as an independent man, than personally engaged in the service ; and we agreed that whilst those two Lords were sounding our friends in town, the Earl of Albe- marle should repair to Hayes, to communicate, in my name, to Mr. Pitt (who was unable to come to town); that as his health did not allow of my seeing him, and secrecy prevented my going to Hayes, I charged him (the Earl of Albemarle) to acquaint Mr. Pitt with his Majesty's most gracious thoughts with regard to him and the public; to assure him that the King had pitched upon him as the man whose abilities made him the most desirable to be employed at these times; that his Majesty had chalked out the above-mentioned arrangement, thinking Mr. Charles Townshend might be the properest person to execute, whenever Mr. Pitt's health should incapacitate him from either Court or Parliament- attendance ; that he (Mr. Pitt) was sen- sible that the eyes of the whole nation were now all looking up towards him, and that should he not come to the relief of his King and country, at this time 1765.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 193 both in danger, I greatly feared that he wouhl no longer preserve that weight in this country which he so justly bore. Lord Albemarle acquainted him also, that the King's Ministers had taken such possession of the Closet, that they scarcely acted with decency to their master. " In return to this, and much more that passed, in a conversation of four hours, it concluded on Mr. Pitt's part, without a negative : but insisting, Jirst, on the restoration of all the officers of the army, as well as many others, as had been displaced for their opposi- tion; — secondly, on ample justice and favour being shown to Chief Justice Vvsiit',— thirdly^ on a necessity of making men's minds easy about the warrants^ as well as the amending the unpopular clauses in the Cyder Bill ; — fourthly, a necessity of restoring the re- laxations got into both the navy and the army, and preferring the officers for their services, and not for dancing attendance; — as also, fifthly^ on a foreign sys- tem of affairs, which he feared had been greatly neglected, avowing himself still in Prussian sentiments, which, he feared, would not render the closet more favourable to him. " On that same evening, I wrote to Lord Temple, at Stowe, to desire I might see him upon very urgent business, that I durst not communicate in writing ; and ordered the same servant to leave another letter from me, at Wakefield, for the Duke of Grafton. " On Wednesday, May the 8th, before I was got out of bed, the Duke of Grafton, arrived, having set out VOL. L n 194 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. immediately on the receipt of my letter. I informed him with his Majesty's general ideas, and pressed him most sincerely to take a part on this occasion, which no man was more capable, both by parts and judgment, to maintain; that, though I knew the dislike he had to public employments, yet that he himself would regret, ten years hence, having given up this opportunity of serving the King most essentially, and serving the public also. I proposed to him, if Secretary of State should stagger him, that he would be First Lord of Trade with the Cabinet -Council, as that would be reckoned in the world to be short of what he had shown himself fit for. " It did not avail me, as he was equally sanguine that the affair in general must succeed ; and that there was no present need for him to engage in business; yet that a place at Court was what he could not endure, from the attendance requisite. Therefore, fearing his stay in town might add to the other suspicions the ministers would have, he would return directly into the country, most heartily Avishing us success. " The Duke of Newcastle and the Marquis of Rock- ingham both repeated their assurances, that our friends were warm; and that, if Mr. Pitt took the lead, our numbers would be very considerable. " While I was at dinner, the Lord Temple sent to inform me of his arrival in town. I desired him to meet me at my house at six that evening. At six we accordingly met, and I cannot help saying that I think he was more verbose and pompous than Mr. Pitt; 1765.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 195 nor do I think so near concluding. I again stated to him his Majesty's situation, displeased with his present ministers, both for their behaviour in the Closet, and that the King found tliem extremely dilatory in public affairs. Wherefore his Majesty had chalked out for the beginning of an arrangement, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Charles Townshend, Secretaries of State ; the Earl of Northum- berland, First Lord of the Treasury ; the Duke of New- castle and Lord Temple, — one President, the other Privy Seal; and Lord Egremont, First Lord of the Admiralty; and had been pleased to order me to treat with him and Mr. Pitt, as well as with those Lords that formed the head of the Whig party, whom the King looked upon as his best friends, and who had always supported his Hoyal Family. He made great expressions of duty, deprecating any public situation whatever; but at the end of a very long and tedious conversation he desired to ask tliree questions. The first was, whether it was his Majesty's intention to restore the officers of the army and others. The second, that satisfaction must be made to the public for the zvarrants, favour shown to Lord Chief Justice Pratt, and the system of affairs at home must be entirely changed. The third, that they might know the situa- tion of foreign affairs, to see whetlicr there was still a possibility of following what they thought the only true system for this country. But, even then, sup- posing the answers from his IMajesty should be both favourable and gracious, they gave me no latitude whatever to assure his Majesty of their readiness to 2 196 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [ 1765. come into his service. I strongly represented to them the impropriety, in any negociation whatsoever, but much more so when it was with the King; that as to the first question, I need not ask it, as I had his Majesty's most gracious promise on that., without my having asked it. That as to the second proposition, I could assure him it was the King's intention to do handsomely by Lord Chief Justice Pratt, which was the strongest proof his Majesty could give to his people, when he supported by favours those judges who should dare to stand up for the defence of the liberties of his subjects; and that, therefore, I should hope less or nothing need be said in parliament relative to this affair ; as it was never the duty of any well-wisher to King or Constitution, to venture to trace exactly the law-boundaries of the King's prerogative, or the pri- vilege of his people. " All I said on this occasion was extremely fruit- less, and I was sorry to see it would be necessary that something should be done parliamentary to ease the minds of these gentlemen. As to the third question, relating to Foreign Affairs, after much disputing, and stating p'o and con the impossibility of there being time or means of stating the present view of foreign affairs clear enough to enable them, as yet, to say anything on that point, they desired that the question might be: — Whether his Majesty was pleased to in- tend a counter-system to be formed to the House of Bourbon. This conversation, though here stated as that of the u f 1765.J DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 197 Wednesday alone, includes the purport of that of the Thursday also, Avheii he returned from Hayes ; and on my understanding him to speak for Mr. Pitt as well as for himself, he objected, and desired Lord Albemarle would make one jaunt more to Hayes, to know whether Mr. Pitt's final answer would be of the same nature ; and such as it proved I will again now recapitulate as nearly as I can, which was: — That he (Mr. Pitt) was rejidy to assist his Majesty's affairs, as a private person, as far as they should agree with the general idea of measures that had been laid down; but that neither Lord TemjDle nor he could engage themselves any fur- ther, until his Majesty should deign to answer their doubts, stated in the three questions ; that they were highly sensible of his Majesty's grace and favour, in having condescended thus far towards them. " Thus far, 1 have accounted to the Friday evening, May the 10th, for all that passed in the negociation with these two persons chiefly; as I had no difficulties with our friends, but a little too much caution, not caring to engage without T\lr. Pitt. Of this number I must except the Marquis of Kockingham, who from pri- vate reasons and inclination, prefers a private life, and really thinks he might be equally useful to his King and country ; yet when he saw the shyness of our friends he shook off his natural dislike and was ready to kiss tlie King's hand in whatever shape was most for the service in general. To this resolution I flatter myself his personal friendship for me had some share, seeing the distressed situation my friends had left me in, from 198 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. their fears of stirring hand or foot without Mr.|Pitt at their head. " Late this Friday evening, Lord Northumberland desired to see Lord Albemarle, when he expressed the King's impatience for a determination, and agreed to call on me the next morning at eight o'clock. Accord- ingly, on Saturday morning he came. I desired he would acquaint his Majesty that it was with the utmost concern I was obliged to inform him that, in answer to his gracious oiFers, I had nothing to return but compli- ments and doubts; that he (Lord Northumberland) might inform his Majesty of their three questions^ though I had told them that I did not think it decent to propose them, when the King's answer should noways bind them; and his Majesty would be at liberty, either to order them to be answered, or leave the negociation there; that I had done my utmost, and that though I had failed, yet it was not my fault, nor that of my friends, any further than the timidity and fear of acting without Mr. Pitt — that the negociation being now at an end, I humbly hoped for his Majesty's leave to return into the country, there to lament over my inutility in the King's service. He stopped me and desired I would not leave London that day, as perhaps he might have some fresh message from his Majesty. " It will be necessary here to give an account of a trifling event in itself, but which Avas artfully worked up, and did his Majesty's negociations the utmost harm, as it represented the King's desire of amending his Administration, and, therefore, parting with the Duke 1765. J UUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 199 of Bedford would look like the giving liim up to the incensed mob. " The whole winter there had been heavy complaints that so many French silk stuflfs were introduced, that our looms stood still, and numbers of families were starving for want of work in Spitalfields, Moorfields, &c. Mr. George Grenville countenanced a Bill in the House of Commons, intended for their relief; but, as I have been informed, it would noways have turned out either to their advantage or to trade in general. This Bill, after much canvassing in the House of Commons, was transmitted to the Lords. Here, unluckily, though perhaps not unjustly, the Duke of Bedford takes up the Bill and throws it out, without a second reading or com- mitting of it. This haughty treatment was on the Monday the 15th of May, the same day that the House of Lords went through the Kegency Bill. Several of the master-weavers who attended at the bar of the House, resented this treatment as they called it, threat- ening that they and their people should endeavour to petition the King for redress. On Tuesday they came down in great numbers, but insulted no one, and the King being gone to Richmond that day, they returned home. On Wednesday they came and beset the House of Parliament ; but piqued themselves on behaving respectfully to his Majesty, who came to the house that day. But then, they declared they would have satis- faction of the Duke of Bedford, attempted to insult him, and broke his coach-glass as he drove through them. Hereupon the mob resolved to go to Bedford House to 200 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [1765. pull it down and murder the Duke. All the Guards, horse and foot, that were in or about the town, were ordered up, and some mischief was done, especially in Bloomsbury Square, where the proclamation was obliged to be read before they dispersed. This was the last and only weak effort of a deluded but half-starved people. But though they were quiet and submitted, yet it was taken up with such warmth, and such ungenerous innuendoes that it raised a flame in the House, which served them very usefully on this occasion ; but which zeal died instantly on His Majesty's reinstating them into his service again; and on letters from the Earl of Halifax to Lord Hillsborough, wrote to communicate to the master weavers, assuring them the Bill should pass both Houses. " On Saturday afternoon, May 11, about five o'clock, being just sat down to dinner with my sister at her house, the Marquis of Eockingham and the Earl of Al- bemarle came to me from the Earl of Northumberland, acquainting me that I was hardly gone from my house before the Earl of Northumberland arrived there; and finding them there he desired them to inform me that he was tliat moment arrived from Richmond, and that Lord Northumberland believed his Majesty would desire me to go in person to Hayes ; that I might take Guards with me, if I pleased, as the King no longer intended the negociation should be carried on in secret. I set out for the Lodo;e as soon as mv set of horses could be put to, and I arrived a little after six, and staid till past ten. I fo)ind the King much agitated, and after the 1766.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 201 most gracious reception, expressed his desire to know what had passed with Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt; which I did in the most ample manner, agreeable to all that has been related before. The King said, that notwith- standing all that had passed, he would still have me try what I could do personally at Hayes, and the better to put me au fait of the true state of his affairs he went through, in a masterly and exact manner, all that had passed since Lord Bute's resigning the Treasury. He also went through Mr. Pitt's two audiences of Au- gust, 1763; particularizing, with great justness, the cha- racters of several persons who are now upon the stage, or who are but just dropped off. In short, it was a conversation too important (I hope) to forget; but improper for pen and ink. " Sunday, May the 12th, Lord Albemarle and I set out for Hayes, between nine and ten in the morning ; and just before we set out I desired Lord Temple might have a note to meet us at eleven. I got to Hayes, and kept Mr. Pitt tete-d-tcte for an hour and a half, before Lord Temple joined us and Lord Albemarle. I repeated to Mr, Pitt the King's most sincere desire of seeing affairs both at home and abroad carried on with more spirit and activity than he was able to do with this present Administration. That his Majesty had looked round, and found none so proper to assist him in reinstating affairs as he (Mr. Pitt); that, therefore, as great marks as the King could give of his sincere desire for his assistance, he had ordered me personally to go down and bring him to Court, where his Majesty desired 202 DURE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. [l765. he would take an active part. I represented to him the manner in which this Administration used his Ma- jesty, and that no time was to be lost, as the Parlia- ment must be soon up; that this country looked up to him as the man who had been the author of the great successes during the war; that they almost universally wished him at the head of public affairs; the public affairs requiring as much spirit in their present situa- tion as they might have done during the war. " He began his answer by desiring that he might be laid at the King's feet ; that he was confounded at the honour which it pleased his Majesty to think of him at all; but much more so for that distinguished mark of his grace and favour, which he received by my personal visit; that he was almost rendered an invalid by the gout ; but that he had still vigour and strength of mind to undertake business, if he saw a probability of success ; that, as to foreign affairs (which he began with) he was afraid that his personal ideas were so much disliked at Court; he would even own, that perhaps nine men in ten in the kingdom were against him in opinion, but that yet it was his opinion, and therefore it rendered him, if not totally improper to enter into his Majesty's Council, at least it would incapacitate him from acting in the intended sphere of Secretary of State, as, in honour, he never could set his hand to what was dia- metrically opposite to his opinion. That in any other situation, he would give his negative or single voice in Council without any further consequence attending thereon ; that, without foreign affairs were altered, he 1765.] DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S STATEMENT. 203 could see but little hopes that other things, equally necessary, would follow ; and then repeated the three questions which have already been mentioned. First, that a counter-alliance be formed to the House of Bourbon ; secondly, that the officers particularly, as well as others, who had been turned out for their opinions in Parliament^ should be restored ; thirdly, that some- thing must be done to put people's minds at ease with regard to the illegality of the warrants." Here ends the Duke of Cumberland's narrative. He infers, rather than states, that his mission was unsuc- cessful. If Pitt had been guided by his political prin- ciples, he would at once have coalesced with Lord Rock- ingham and his friends. But, influenced by Temple (who wished the " brothers," as they were called, should form a government of themselves), he declined the overtures of the Court, and it is said, that at parting he mournfully addressed his brother-in-law with Virgil's lines : — " Exstinxti me teque, soror, populumque patresque Sidonios, urbemque tuam." * On the 18th of May, Mr. Grenville waited upon the King, with the speech which was to close the session. "There is no hurry," said the King; "1 will have the Parliament adjourned, not prorogued." — " Has your Majesty any thoughts of making a change in your Administration?" inquired Grenville.— " Certainly," was the reply, "I cannot bear it as it is." — "I hope your * Virg. IEx\. iv. 682. 1^ 204 CHARACTER OF LORD LYTTLETON. [1765. Majesty will not order me to cut my own throat?" — " Then," said the King, "who must adjourn the Parlia- ment?" — "Whoever," replied the Minister, "your Majesty shall appoint my successor." This significant hint was followed by an intimation from the four Ministers, that they should resign the following Tuesday, if no administration was formed in the meanwhile. The Duke of Cumberland's services were again placed in requisition, and the government was next offered to George, Lord Lyttleton. This noble poet, historian, and statesman, was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Lyttleton, of Hagley, Worces- tershire, to whose estates he succeeded in 1751. He was one year older than his cousin, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. The two kinsmen were contemporaries at Eton, entered Parliament the same year, made their parliamentary debut on the same day, and for a long period occupied the same bench in the House of Com- mons. Lyttleton, Ayscough, whose sister he had mar- ried, Richard, George, James, and Thomas Grenville, and William Pitt, formed that political faction which first went by the name of the " Cobham Squadron," and was afterwards spoken of as the " Grenville connection." When Pitt, " that terrible cornet of horse," was stripped of his commission in the Blues by Walpole, Frederick, Prince of Wales, indemnified him with the post of Groom of the Bedchamber, and his poetical cousin, Lyttleton, was at the same time appointed private secretary to liis Royal Highness. George the Second, 17G5.] CHARACTER OF LOUD LYTTLETON. 205 who could never understand, " what Boetry was good for," showed but little favour to the gefms irritabile. His son Frederick, on the contrary, took them under his especial protection, and they repaid his patronage with the incense of their muse. His Royal Highness's secretary, who, though not yet known as an historian? was already celebrated for his pastorals, and other light pieces, came in for his full share of these flattering eff'usions. Thomson, Shenstone, Hammond, Capel Lofi't are among his warm eulogists, and though last, not least. Pope says of him, " Free as young Lyttleton her cause pursue, Still true to virtue, and as warm as true." But our business is rather with Lyttleton as a poli- tician than as a poet. He filled, at different times, the offices of Lord of the Treasury, Cofferer of the House- hold, and Chancellor of the Exchequer. For the last of these employments, he appears to have been but little qualified, seeing that, " he never could comprehend the commonest rules of arithmetic." In 1751, Sir George was advanced to the dignity of a Baron. Lyttleton was born at seven months, and thrown away by the nurse as a dead child, but upon closer inspection was found to be alive. Though he lived to the age of sixty-four, his appearance bespoke this in- auspicious entry into the world. He was a pale, thin man, with a very plain face, and with a frame so loosely put together, that " every limb was an incumbrance." 206 CHARACTER OF LORD LYTTLETON. [l765. In one of the caricatures of the times, his tall, spare form is portrayed, and attached to it is the following doggrel : — " But who be dat bestride a pony, So long, so lean, so lank, so bony ? Dat be de great orator Littletony." Horace Walpole, with his usual love of antithesis, thus describes his character. " No man so propense to art was less artful; no man staked his honesty to less purpose, for he was so awk- ward that honesty was the only quality that seemed natural to him. His cunning was so often in default that he was a kind of beacon that warned men not to approach the shallows on which he founded his attach- ments always at a wrong season." Lyttleton was a constant speaker in parliament. Of his merits in that capacity there are different opinions. His speech on the " Jew Bill," has been cited as a model of oratory. He is said to have spoken well when he studied his part. " With the figure of a spectre," says Walpole, " and the gesticulations of a puppet, he talked heroics through his nose." Lord Hervey's de- scription of his mode of speaking is not more flattering : ( " He had a great flow of words, that were uttered in / a lulling monotony, and the little meaning they had to boast of, was generally borrowed from common-place maxims of moralists, philosophers, patriots, and poets, crudely imbibed, half digested, ill put together, and confusedly refunded." 1765.] PROTECTIONIST lUOTS. 207 As Lord Lyttleton would give no answer to the Duke of Cumberland, unless he were allowed to consult his kinsmen, Pitt and Temple, his Koyal Highness recom- mended the King to recall his ministers. While the affairs of the kingdom were in this un- settled state, the riots alluded to in the Duke of Cumberland's narrative assumed a more alarminsc as- pect. On Wednesday, the 15th of May, large bodies of weavers, with black flags, went down to the Houses of Parliament, and implored the King, who went in person to give his assent to the Regency Bill, to inter- pose in behalf of themselves and their families. The Duke of Bedford, who was better versed in the science of political economy than his contemporaries, defeated this impolitic attempt to obtain what would now be termed "protection to native industry." He, conse- quently, became the principal object of the attack of the rioters. One of the mob taking up a large paving- stone, dashed it into his chariot. The Duke broke the force of the blow by holding up his arm, but the stone cut his hand and bruised his temple. Two days after- wards, Bedford House was completely besieged by the rioters, who could only be repelled by a body of cavalry. Hence, it was deemed expedient to employ a larger military force. As the Ministers were now at open war with the King, they made their arrangements necessary for the suppression of the disturbances subservient to the as- sertion of their authority. Aware that the King would wish to appoint the Duke of Cumberland on the occa- 208 APPOINTMENT OF COMMANDER OF TROOPS. [1765. sion, they not only resolved to nominate another officer to the chief command, but to insinuate very broadly to the King that his uncle was no "favourite of the people." THE EARL OF HALIFAX TO THE KING. May 20 (1765). "His Majesty will determine whether it may not be proper to appoint the Marquis of Granby to tlie chief command of the troops to-morrow, with the Earl of Waldegrave (who offers himself, as well as the Duke of Richmond, for the service), or any other general officers his Majesty shall please to appoint. Lord Granby is a very popular man, and might save the lives of these deluded wretches, which may be exposed and sacrificed by another commander, equally well- intentioned, but less a favourite of the people." the king, in reply, writes, " Lord Halifax, " I will be at St. James's by twelve to-morrow, when I will receive the address of the Lords, through the white staves. " As to the directions I shall think necessary to give, for appointing any generals, I will also talk of that when I shall see you at that hour at St. James's. " A council must be ordered as for that hour. " The regiment at Chatham must be instantly or- 1765.] CORRESPONDENCE ON THE RIOTS. 209 dered to advance. You will, therefore, intimate this, in ray name, to the Secretary at War."*= The King sent copies of Lord Halifax's memorandum and of his own answer, to the Duke of Cumberland, with the following letter from himself: — "Dear Uncle, " The very friendly and warm part you have taken has given me real satisfaction; but I little thought I should be so troublesome to you, as the conduct of the men I have employed forces me. I, in the whole course of the transaction, had proposed consulting you in all military affairs. But now, I must desire you to take the command to-morrow morning, as Captain-General. I should think, Lord Albemarle very proper to put your orders in execution. I have sent this by one who has my orders not to deliver it to any one but yourself, and to bring an immediate answer, and also your opinion where and how soon we can meet; for if any disturbance arises in the night, Ushould think the hour proposed for to-morrow too late. I beg you will show the enclosed abstract of their very extraordinary paper to those whom you think it may force to act a right part. " I remain, dear Uncle, " Your most affectionate nephew, "George E." * Lord Frederick Cavendish, who forwarded a transcript of these letters to Lord Rockingham writes, "Here is the copy (Lord Albe- marle's writing at the time) of the King's letter to Lord Halifax. I think that the word instantlt/, in ordering the regiment to march from Chatham rather shows he was not quite at ease about the riots." VOL. L P 210 CORRESPONDENCE ON THE RIOTS. [l765. The Duke of Cumberland's answer — " Sir, " Richmond. " I shall ever obey your orders with obedience and readiness. All I hope is, I am only ordered, and ex- pected on this occasion. *' I don't imagine this report ought to break a moment of your Majesty's rest. I wish to God you had no more formidable enemies tlian these poor wretches. " I shall attend at eleven at St. James's with that zeal and affection, " Your most humble and dutiful attached Uncle, " Servant, and subject, " William." Copies of the foregoing correspondence were forwarded to Lord Eockingham by Lord Frederick Cavendish,* with the following letter from himself: — "May 21, 1765. " Enclosed are the papers your Lordship saw last night. His Eoyal Highness desires you would not * Lord Frederick Cavendish, third son of William, third Duke of Devonshire, godson of Frederick, Prince of Wales. He w^as, at this time, Lord of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Cumberland, a Major- General, and became eventually a Field-marshal. He was a good cavalry officer, and distinguished himself on several occasions in the Seven Years' War. " Lord Frederick," says Walpole, " was lively, and having lived in courts and camps, a favourite of the Duke of Cumberland, was by far the most agreeable, and possessed the most useful sense of the whole family." 1705.] PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT. 211 show any of tliem, except Lord Halifax's letter to the King, and his Majesty's answer, and of those two you may make such use as you think proper. " Mr. Pitt said he thought, on such an information as the Secretary of State had, it was his duty, though he should happen to be under his Majesty's displeasure, to suggest to him such measures as the exigency of the time might require, but owned he should not have wrote in such a style — thought his Majesty would do perfectly right in appointing his Eoyal Highness Commander-in- Chief, and he should say he approved of it. He was sorry to find there was so much confusion, but did not see a possibility of his being able to be of any service, for as yet he had heard nothing that gave him room to hope the Closet would be propitious to him. On the contrary, my Lord Bute, whose influence was as strong as ever, and whose notions of government were widely different from his, would disincline the King to his system; but expressed a wish that his Eoyal Highness would persuade his friends to undertake the Kihg's affairs. " He drew a conclusion from the situation of the pre- sent Ministers, that if they were turned out for no other reason than supporting the measures they advised, it augured ill for him, and therefore he must know why they were turned out." The Duke of Bedford and his colleagues, once more in the ascendant, prorogued the Parliament on the 25th of May. The King, thwarted in his attempts to get rid p 2 212 MINISTERIAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE KING. [1765. of them, took every occasion of marking his resentment against them. The Ministers proposed to make Lord Waldegrave Master of the Horse to the Queen. Her Majesty said, no Minister should interfere in her family, and appointed the Duke of Ancaster. The first regiment that fell vacant was bestowed on Lord Albemarle's bro- ther, General Keppel. The young Duke of Devonshire was, by the desire of George the Third, carried to Court and greatly caressed by his Majesty, and it was inti- mated to his uncles that the King regretted the manner in which the Duke, his father, had been treated. On the other hand, the Ministers were not passive under these marks of the royal displeasure. On the 1 2th of June, the Duke of Bedford, Lords Sandwich and Halifax, and Mr. Grenville, brought the King a remon- strance, which took an hour in reading. When they were gone, the King said, that, " If he had not broken out into the most profuse sweat, he should have been suffocated with indignation." * Again was the Duke of Cumberland called upon to extricate his royal nephew out of his difficulties. Over- tures were renewed to Mr. Pitt, who after two audiences of the King, undertook the direction of affairs, and even nominated to several offices. Thus Lord Temple was named for the Treasury, the Duke of Grafton for Secre- tary of State with himself. Sir George Savile for Secre- tary at War, and Saunders and Keppel for seats at the Admiralty Board. The last interview with the King was on the 22nd, on the following day the Duke of * Walpole's George the Third. 17(55.] LORD TEMPLE REFUSES OFFICE. 213 Newcastle wrote to Lord Albemarle. " I bad tbe honour this morning of your Lordsbip's letter, wberein you acquaint me, by His Koyal Higbness's order, witb Mr. Pitt's acceptance :" an intimation which does away with Adolphus's statement that Mr. Pitt " required time to deliberate." * But scarcely bad these arrangements been concluded, when Temple declined to accept tbe Treasury. Tbe effect which this refusal bad upon his brother-in-law will be seen in tbe following letter from his iloyal Highness the Duke of Cumberland : — U.R.H. THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND TO THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE. " Windsor Great Lodge, June 26, 1765. " I FEAR, by what I understood last night from bis Majesty, that we are all afloat again, Lord Temple having most peremptorily and determinately refused bearing a part in any shape, great or small, in tbe Administration to be formed. This declaration of Lord Temple's prevents Pitt from taking a share, Avbich in- deed most thoroughly and most heartily be had done. He, Pitt, is to be this morning with tbe King again, with whom he intended to part witb tbe utmost respect and thankfulness, declaring with what great satisfaction be would have undertaken affairs, if my Lord Temple would have come in with him. He is also to declare that he . would not have displaced either the Earl of * Adolphus's History of George the Third, i. 180, '2nd edition. 214 LETTER TO LORD ALBEMARLE. [l765. Huntingdon,* Lord Pomfret,t Lord Denbigh, ;[: Lord Litchfield, J Lord Despenser or Mr. Elliott, || or Mr. Os- wald.^ Moreover, Mr. M'Kenzie to be restored to the sine'CUYQ of Privy Seal of Scotland, though not to power. " These circumstances, so different from what I hoped and really thought were in a manner settled, must, I suppose, bring me to town again. In the mean time, either before you leave London, or else, if you don't propose coming from thence to-day, I should beg a line from you by the return of the messenger, after you have seen the Marquis and the Duke of Grafton, informing them with the purport of this letter, and observing to them, that I found the King already intrenching himself with Pitt's promises of mercy in so many particulars. By what I can pick up, Pitt is completely mortified, and I am heartily sorry for it, as he had entered more sincerely and cordially into the King's service, nay, and went farther almost than the King's views, " I am your very affectionate friend, " William." * Francis Hastings, Eavl of Huntingdon, Gr6om of the Stole. + George Fermor, second Earl of Pornfret, a Lord of the Bed- chamber, Ranger of the Little Park at Windsor. I Basil Fielding, sixth Earl of Denbigh, ]\Iaster of the Harriers. § George Henry Lee, Earl of Lichfield, a Lord of tlie Bedchamber. II Mr., afterwards Sir Gilbert, Elliot, Treasurer of the Chambers, " a chief confidant of the favourite." II James Oswald of Brumikier, joint Vice- Treasurer of Ireland. All the persons here ruuned were either Tories or " King's friends." 17G5.] LETTER TO LORD IIARDWICKE. 215 The unpleasant position of the King from so many abortive attempts to form an administration, particu- larly the last, which had failed through the refusal of Lord Temple, is thus adverted to in a letter from MR. CAMBKIDGE* TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " June 29th, 1765. " Templa quam dilecta." f " If your curiosity leads you to question me in that way, I answer, that all the Politicos leave me to my * Richai'd Owen Cambridge, author of the " Scribbleriad," and several minor poems, also a contributor to the " World." Although his works are now almost forgotten, he was one of the most popular writers of his day. He was an agreeable companion, and possessed a most extensive acquaintance amongst men of all ranks, parties, and professions. He lived almost entirely at his villa at Twickenham, in a house still occupied by his family. Cambridge was a great toxophilite, the head of a duck swimming in the Thames was a favourite mark which he seldom missed. One singularity he had, which has ceased to be one now, he was a " teetotaller." His friend. Lord Chesterfield, thus describes him : — " Cantabrigius drinks nothing but water, and rides more miles in a year than the keenest sportsman ; the former keeps his head clear, the latter his body in health : it is not from himself that he runs, but to his acquaintance, a synonj^nous term for his friends. Internally safe, he seeks no sanctuary from himself. No intoxication for his mind. His penetration makes him discover and divert himself with the follies of mankind, which his wit makes him to expose with the truest ridicule, but always without personal offence. Cheerful abroad, because happy at home, and thus happy because virtuous." — (A paper written to expose the folly and ill effects of hard drinking). t The family motto of Earl Temple, a punning paraphrase of a verse of the 84th Psalm. 216 MR. CAMBRIDGE [1765. own conjectures. The late interludes have ended like the tragedy of Tom Thumb, for all the dramatis 'personce are dead ; and if Dr. Young was alive, he might truly begin a new piece : — " ' Like Death a solitary king I reign.' " One authentic piece of news I will tell you, and you may make the most of it. With my own eyes I have just seen the Duke of Cumberland cross the ferry to Richmond, otherwise I should begin my drama, ' Enter a King and Mr. Brown * solus.^ There are who report that they have seen a ministry in manu- script at Windsor, but I do not hear that it is yet ordered to be printed at Strawberry Hill,t — not * Lancelot Brown, the famous landscape gardener, called from the constant use of the words, '< This spot has great capabilities," " Capa- bility Brown." The grounds of Richmond, Luton, Stowe, Nuneham, and VVimbleton bespeak the high cultivation of his taste. To some places, however, he would not allow any "capabilities." When desired by the King to improve the grounds at Hampton Court, he declined the hopeless task, " out of respect to himself and his profes- sion." To a nobleman whose territory was very dreary. Brown said, " My lord, there is nothing to be done here, unless you plant one- half of your estate, and lay the other half under water." After lay- ing out the fine piece of water at Blenheim, Brown is said to have exclaimed, '' Thames ! thou wilt never forgive me." The King was living at this time in such complete seclusion, that Cambridge's idea of " a King and Mr. Brown solus" was very natural. By the Chatham Correspondence, it appears that his Majesty occasionally employed Mr. Brown on political errands. Mason says, that when Brown's death reached the royal ear, his Majesty went over to Rich- mond Gardens, and, in a tone of great satisfaction, said to the under gardener, " Brown is dead. Now, Mellicant, you and I can do what we please." t Horace Walpole's printing press at Strawberry Hill. 1705.] TO LORD IIARDWICKE. * 217 un-apropos, as Conway is there to correct the press. Errata : — For ' Ellis' read ' Conway,' for ' Stanley ' read ' Ellis; for ' Clive' read ' Young.^ " G. Selwyn wants to make wit out of gold and pewter, but does not bring them together, nor yet in opposition, with any tolerable success. I wish it had been witty, for your sake, for I send you nothing but a melancholy account of our miscarriages in wit and poli- tics, and conclude very seriously, in praying for some happy end to the' present very unhappy state of a great nation, and its greater dependencies, being at present without government. We laughed at the perplexity the foreigners were in the other day; I am afraid now we may be ashamed to think they see too plainly the con- temptible figure we make." 218 * MEETING OF WHIG LEADERS. [17G5. CHAPTEE VIII. MEETING OP WHIG LEADERS, CHAKACTEBS OF BUKE OF GRAFTON, GEN. CONWAY, DOWDESWELL, LORD JOHN CAVENDISH, THOMAS TOWNS- IIEND, AND SIR G. SAVILE. — ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION. — CHA- RACTER OF, AND OVERTURES TO, LORD SHELBURNE. LORD DART- MOUTH. — LORD Holland's overtures. — death of duke of Cum- berland. — the "general WARRANT." — THE KING's AVERSION TO THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION. — THE STAMP ACT. — OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. — THE KING's CORRESPONDENCE ON PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES. PROPOSED CHANGE OF MINISTRY. — OVERTURES TO PITT. CHARACTERS OF LORDS TALBOT AND NORTHINGTON. RIGHT OF TAXING THE COLONIES. CABINET RESOLUTIONS ON THE STAMP ACT. — CORRESPONDENCE AND DEBATES ON ITS REPEAL. PAMPHLET ON THE REPEAL. — CHARACTER OF JEREMIAH DYSON. — BILL FOR REPEAL PASSED. On the 30tli of June, a meeting of the Whig leaders was held at the Duke of Newcastle's. The following paper, drawn up by his Grace, makes us acquainted with the result of their deliberations : — " This day, the Lords and Gentlemen hereunder mentioned, viz., (( 1 . Duke of Portland, 2. Marquis of Rockingham, 3. Earl of Albemarle, 4. Earl of Ashbuniham, 5. Earl of Besborough, 1706.] MEETLNG OF WHIG LEADERS. 219 (). Lord George "j 7. Lord Frederick > Cavendish, 8. Lord John * 9. Lord Viscount Villiers, 10. Lord Grantham, 11. General Conway, 12. Hon. Colonel Fitzroy, 13. Hon. T. Walpole, 14. Captain Walsingham, 15. Mr. George Onslow, 1 6. Mr. Charles Townshend of Horningham, 17. Mr. Charles Townshend, junior, 18. Duke of Newcastle, were unanimously of opinion that they could not venture to come into any new Administration, except it was agreed that the thought of replacing Mr. Mackenzie should be laid aside; and also, that some of the par- ticular friends of the Earl of Bute should be removed, as a proof to the world that the Earl of Bute should not, either publicly or privately, directly or indirectly, have any concern or influence in public affairs, or in the management or disposition of public employments. " It was then considered whether these conditions, being previously agreed to (as his Majesty had been pleased to signify his intention to have a new Adminis- tration) any of the persons here would, upon the con- ditions above mentioned, advise and assist the forming a new administration. Upon which there was a diffe- rence of opinion. " 1. Duke of Portland, 2. Marquis of Rockingham, 3. Earl of Albemarle, 4. Earl of Besborough, 220 CHARACTER OF UUKE OF GRAFTON. [l7G5. 5. Lord George Cavendish, 6. Lord Frederick Cavendish, 7. Lord John Cavendish, 8. Lord Grantham, 9. General Conway, 10. Colonel Fitzroy, 11. Captain Walsingham, 12. Duke of Newcastle, declared strongly of opinion that they should advise and assist the forming a new administration, to be composed of proper persons, upon the conditions above-mentioned. " 1 . Earl of Ashburnham, 2. Lord Viscount Villiers, 3. Mr. George Onslow, 4. Mr. T. Walpole, 5. Mr. Charles Townshend of Horningham, 6. Mr. Charles Townshend, junior, were of opinion that, in the present circumstances, no new administration should be undertaken." In accordance with the opinion of the majority of this meeting, a new Ministry was formed, at the head of which was the Marquis of Rockingham. Augustus Henry Fitzroy, third Duke of Grafton, obtained the seal of Secretary of State for the Southern Department. He was at this time in his thirty-second year, and possessed considerable graces, both of mind and person. But these advantages were marred by an infirmity of purpose or principle, which coloured, if it did not justify, the assaults of Junius. We are not bound to believe, on the assertion of that terrible 1765.] CHARACTER OF DUKE OF GRAFTON. 221 shadow,* that " the Duke of Grafton's heart was the blackest in the kingdom." But we can hardly avoid the conclusion, with his whole career before us, that the period of his ministerial life, during which he held office under a Tory Government, was calamitous for his country and disreputable to himself. He abandoned the principles in which he had. been reared, and the pal;ron by whom he had been initiated into statesman- ship. He quitted Chatham for Bute, and the doctrines of the Whigs for those of the " King's Friends ; " nor was his inconstancy more venial, because he occasionally allied himself with the Bedford party, and Avith the other political connections, at the suggestions of a selfish prudence, or a yet more selfish ambition. The incon- gruity of the Duke of Grafton's conduct was the more striking, because the commencement and the close of his political life were both of them in strict accordance with the principles of the Constitution, Could his intermediate career be blotted out from the annals of his country, he would have transmitted a respectable, if not a distinguished, name to posterity. But his memory must ever be exposed to the censure which history pronounces upon those who sanction measures which they cannot approve; and who, by the distrust they thereby inspire, weaken the bonds of the more consistent sections of parties. " The Duke of Grafton," writes an anonymous con- temporary, " is one of the most persuasive, or rather pathetic, speakers in the House. His speeches are * " Noininis umbra," the motto to the Letters of Junius. 222 CHARACTER OF DUKE OF GRAFTON. [1765. delivered in the style of a gentleman and a scholar. His language is chosen, chaste, and correct. His judg- ment in arranging his matter is not equalled by either side of the House." Walpole has made the following contrast between this Duke and the one who succeeded him in his office : — " Richmond and Grafton were much of an age; each regarded himself as a prince of the blood; and emulation soon created a sort of rivalship between them. The Duke of Richmond's figure was noble and his person singularly handsome. The Duke of Grafton was low, but manly, with much grace in his address. The passions of both were strong, but of the first, ardent; of the latter, slow and inflexible. The Duke of Grafton had a grace and dignity in his utter- ance, that commanded attention in lieu of matter; and his temper being shy and reserved, he was supposed to be endued with more steadiness than his subsequent conduct displayed." George Bloomfield, the elder brother of Robert, the " Farmer's Boy," thought that, in the books published by his brother, " the great and truly good man, the late Duke of Grafton, ought to have been more particularly mentioned. Surely," continues George Bloomfield, " after near thirty years, the good sense and benevolence of that real nobleman may be men- tioned. When in my boyhood he held the highest ofiice in the state that a subject can fill, and, like all that attain such pre-eminence, had his enemies; yet the more Junius and others railed at him, the more I revered him. He was our ' Lord of the Manor,' and 1766.] CHARACTER OF DUKE OF GRAFTON. 223 as I knew well his private character, I have no doubt that he was ' all of a piece.' I have on foot joined the fox-chace, and followed the Duke many an hour, and witnessed his endearing condescension to all who could run and shout." There was, however, a portion of society not of an age and size to participate in the Duke of Grafton's favourite amusement, and these were not so honoured as George Bloomfield; and it is to that portion I then belonged. His Grace was not fond of children; they came in for no share of his " endearing condescension." I have a lively recollection of the awe with which he inspired me. As the Duke's and my father's country houses in Suffolk were only four miles distant, and the families were on intimate terms, I had frequent oppor- tunities of seeing him during the first twelve years of my life. On some occasions I saw him in the luncheon room at Euston Hall, but this was a rare occurrence, for I was generally hurried out of the room whenever he was expected. I used mostly to meet him riding. He was usually mounted on a fiery thorough-bred horse, on which he sat with much ease and dignity. I know not how far local traditions may have mixed with personal recollections, but the "mind's eye" presents the picture of an elderly gentleman, of spare form, middle stature, straight silver hair, a prominent nose, and a countenance of much severity ; and dressed in a light-coloured tight- fitting coat, long black boots, and a small three-cornered hat. But it was not to us little people only that the " Junius Duke of Grafton" was formidable. From the 224 CHARACTER OF GENERAL CONWAY. [l706. accounts I have heard his nephew, the late General William Fitzroy, give of him, he was evidently an object of terror to " Children of a larger growth." The leadership in the House of Commons was assigned to Lieut.-General Henry Seymour Conway, who had served with distinction at Culloden, Fontenoy, and Laf- feldt, and in 1761 had commanded the British division under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick. Conway was a better soldier than he was an officer, and more of an officer than a statesman. His features were singularly handsome, and he was dignified in his person and de- meanour. Although his disposition was courteous, his constitutional timidity made him reserved, and he had the semblance of pride without the advantage of firm- ness. In the field he would march with imperturbable coolness up to the carihoVs mouth.* On the Treasury Bench he faltered and wavered; and although by no means deficient in eloquence, irresolution rendered his speeches tedious and obscure. This infirmity of purpose often laid him open to the sneers of his contemporaries. It was said of him that if two doors opened to one apartment, Conway would be tortured to decide through wliich of them he should finally pass. He thus became exposed to the influence of any one Avho would advise him. Lord Rockingham urged upon him the claims of * " I don't pretend," said George Stanhope, a brother of lord Chesterfield's, " to be like Harry Conway, who walks up to the mouth of a cannon with as much coolness and grace as if he was going to dance a minuet." — Walpole. 17(!5.] CHARACTER OF DOWDESWELL. 225 political virtue and independence, but into the other ear Horace Walpole whispered the duty of self-interest ; and Conway too generally preferred the worse to the better reason.* / . The virtues of William Dowdeswell, the Chancellor o^ 0hj^i'<^''''' the Exchequer in the new Administration, have been recorded in the epitaph which Burke has inscribed upon his tomb — "An epitaph so perfectly true," says its author, " that every word of it may be deposed upon oath." Dowdeswell was fortunate in his chronicler, but still more fortunate in having authenticated by his life the portrait which friendship, both political and personal, has drawn of him in the following words : — ;;?^" His understanding was comprehensive, steady, vigor- • ous, made for the practical business of the State. In ( debate he was clear, natural, and convincing. His f knowledge on all things which concerned his duty pro- found : he understood, beyond any man of his time, the revenue of his country, which he preferred to every thing except its liberties ; he was perfect master of the ' . law of Parliament, and attached to its privileges, until ^' ; / / they were set up against the rights of the people." -^r" ' (SfiT/^ Lord John Cavendish, a younger son of the third / JLJ^r'^ Duke of Devonshire, was one of the new Lords of the " Treasury. His tutor at Cambridge was Mason the poet, * Since the above remarks on Conway were in type, my friend Sir Denis Le Marchant has sent me some of the Field-Marshal's early letters to Walpole ; which, as they are both characteristic and amusing, I have placed in the Appendix to this volume. VOL. I. Q 226 CHARACTER OF LORD JOHN CAVENDISH. [1765. who on his leaving the University addressed to him the beautiful lines beginning — " Ere yet, ingenuous youth, thy steps retire." Like Dowdeswell's, Lord John's character was irre- proachable ; his conduct was uniformly marked by gene- rosity, sincerity, openness, and integrity. His manners, like Dowdeswell's, were thoroughly simple and unassum- ing. Throughout life he was the warm friend of Lord Eockingham, under whose second Administration he filled the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Wal- pole, whom Lord John used to thwart in his schemes to Tender the Whig party subservient to his friend Con- way's interests, has given the following sarcastic sketch of him : — " He had read a good deal, and his eyes saw not faster than his memory retained. He was accurate in repeating words, sentences, nay, volumes if he pleased : nor was he defective in quickness or reasoning. Under the appearance of virgin modesty, he had a confidence in himself that nothing could equal, and a thirst of dominion still more extraordinary. It consisted solely in governing those with whom he was connected without views either of interest or power. His plan seemed to be the tyranny of a moral philosopher ; he was a kind of heresiarch that sought to be adored by his enthusiastic disciples without a view of extending his sect beyond that circle. His fair little person, and the quaintness with which he untreasured as by rote the stores of his memory, occasioned George Selwyn to call him the learned Canary-bird .'' 7^^ 1765.] CHARACTER OF THOMAS TOWNSHEND. 227 One of Lord John s colleagues at the Treasury Board ')J was Thomas Townshend, a grandson of the second •/t/^-'i Viscount Townshend. His name must be familiar to ^fj)^^"^^ every one, from Goldsmith's lines, wherein he represents Burke — " Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat. To persuade Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote." " He always," says Wraxall, " spoke with facility — sometimes with energy — and was never embarrassed by any degree of timidity." When Lord Rockingham re- turned to power in 1782, Townshend was appointed one of the Secretaries of State. He continued to act with the Whigs until the coalition, when he ranged himself under the banners of the younger Pitt, at whose nomina- tion he was successively created Baron and Viscount Sydney. Eeplacing Lord Fitzwilliam in the chair of the newly formed India Board, he is thus noticed in the " Eolliad "_ " Sydney, whom all the powers of rhetoric grace, Consistent Sydney fills Fitzwilliam's place. had, by Nature, but proportioned been His strength of genius to his length of chin. His mighty mind, in some prodigious plan, At once, with ease, had reached to Hindustan." The Premier's friend, Sir George Savile, was invited to take part in th^ Eockingham Administration. But with his habitual delicacy and candour he declined the offer, alleging that, as an independent Member of Par- liament, he could better assert his privileges and serve his friends. Faction has spared the name of Savile: Q2 228 CHARACTER OF [l7G5. contemporaries are unanimous in representing hira as~iii the highest degree generous, benevolent, disinte- rested, and unostentatious — a high commendation in an age where mere negative virtues were rare, and states- men imitated the maxims rather than the practice of Sir Robert Walpole. In person Savile was somewhat above the middle size ; his figure was slender, his complexion adust, his constitution delicate ; his address was easy, and almost bordering upon negligence. As an orator he pos- sessed great facility of utterance, and was simple even to austerity in the choice of his words. In debate he was clear, sensible, and persuasive. A peculiar radiance spread over his features whenever philanthropy was the theme of his discourse. Indeed, the general belief in the honesty and benevolence of his intentions pro- duced such an impression in favour of his arguments, that " Truth came mended from his tongue." His habits of thinking were very original. " He had a head," Walpole remarks, " as acutely argumentative as if it had been made by a German logician for a model." He was a shrewd observer of contemporary statesmen. He predicted early the future greatness of Charles Fox. When that statesman was scarcely a man, he praised him for his readiness in finding out blots — his celerity in hitting the bird's-eye of an argument, and his general talents for opposition. " Hence," said Savile, " others A may have more stock, but Fox has more ready money about him than any of his party." Toleration in matters of religion is a doctrine of comparatively recent growth. It was imperfectly un- J'^fV"' rs M 9^ 1765.] SIR GEORGE SAVILE. 229 derstood by the Whigs of the hist century, who com- bined the ideas of Protestantism and the Hanoverian succession. It was utterly unknown to their political opponents, who recognized the Church of England as the sole Church of Christ ; but Savile was an honour- able exception to both these extremes. He advocated the claims of the Roman Catholics, and his advocacy ex^oosed him to the fury of the Church and King mobs of the year '80; and yet, even while his house was assailed, and frequent attempts were made to set it on fire, he spoke of the incendiaries with compassion, and ascribed the zeal of the multitude rather to their ignorance than to their evil passions, rather to their being led by blind guides than to the spontaneous aber- ration of their own feelings. Savile's conduct on this occasion was highly charac- teristic. Several of his friends agreed to sit up with him during the night for the protection of his family. It was arranged amongst them that parties from time to time should sally forth in search of intelligence re- specting the riots, but, as their accounts varied from each other, Savile said, with great composure, "Here, gentlemen, is a fine lesson for an historian. We have a fact of the day before "us, reported by men of integrity and ability, anxious to search for truth, and willing to record it with as much circumstance and minuteness as possible. Yet, such is the nature of the human mind, that with all its inclinations to do right, it is under that operation which in some degree pre- vents it." / 230 ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION. [l765. Such was this wise and virtuous citizen, who indeed exhibited in his character many of the qualities which the Roman satirist ascribes to the senator Crispus : — " Cujus erant mores, qualis facundia, mite Ingenium : maria ac terras populosque regenti Quis comes utilior 1 " * In forming his ministry, Lord Rockingham was natu- rally anxious to secure the co-operation, or at least the neutrality, of Mr. Pitt. With this view he appointed his friends the Duke of Grafton and General Conway Secretaries of State; his brother-in-law, James Gren- ville, Vice- Treasurer of Ireland, and raised Chief- Justice Pratt to the Peerage, with the title of Baron Camden. But the advancement of friends, relations, or recent colleagues did not conciliate the impracticable Minister. . He not only would not assist the Government, but by the disparaging tone that he adopted, he discouraged many of his followers from joining them. Thus, for example, when Sir Fletcher Norton was dismissed by Lord Rockingham from the Attorney-Generalship, be- cause he was a bitter and uncompromising foe, Pitt sent word to Sir Fletcher, that " he was not turned out by his advice, and that, were he Minister, he should be glad of the assistance of such abilities." The failure of Lord Rockingham to win over Lord Chatham and his adherents is the more to be lamented, because, had the co-operation been effected, much of the misrule and misunderstanding which at this period * Juv. Sat. iv. 82. 17G5.] CHARACTER OF LORD SIIELBURNE. 231 sullies English annals, might probably have bee n avoided. Among those whom Pitt's example and demeanour if pi deterred was John Fitzmaurice, Earl of Shelburne. lie f^At^^^^ was now in the twenty-ninth year of his age. The army was at that period the general school of men of high birth ; and, as Viscount Fitzmaurice, he had greatly distinguished himself in the battles of Camper and Minden. At the commencement of the new reign he had been appointed one of the royal aides-de-camp, and in 1762 he represented High Wycombe in Parliament. In the year following he succeeded to the Earldom of Shelburne and a seat in the House of Lords. In 1763 he was for a few months President of the Board of Trade, but resigned that post on Mr. Pitt's failure to form an Administration. For public life, Lord Shel- burne possessed m any e minent qualifications. His coun- tenance was handsome and expressive; his demeanour dignified; his insight into character was shrewd and generally accurate. His wit was general, and his eloquence graceful and persuasive. His knowledge of business, especially that which related to foreign aflairs, was extensive; and at times he was capable of steady application to official duties. Perhaps, however. Lord Shelburne was better adapted to second a political leader, than himself to conduct a leading department in the Cabinet. There were, indeed, grave errors in his political career. In the first place, he was carried j| away by what we must consider an undue admiration of '< \ Lord Chatham. " Regis ad exemplar," he was often • » 232 CHARACTER OF [l765. sullen and impracticable in intercourse with his proper political allies. At an earlier period, indeed, he had been a staunch opponent of the "Great Commoner;" and he prompted the celebrated attack upon him by- Colonel Barre, of which mention has already been made in these pages. But Lord Shelburne seems to have thought with Mrs. Malaprop, that in unions it was " as well to begin with a little aversion." But his opposition became warm partisanship, and he even acted in concert with one who was nearly as formidable to friends as I to foes, and on Lord Chatham's decease he became the i leader of that section of Whigs which thenceforward was denominated " the Shelburne party." Lord Shelburne's standing aloof from the Kockingham Ministry in 1765, and from Charles Fox's Cabinet in 1783, were favourable neither to his own reputation nor to the interests of the country at large. Himself it placed in the false position of heading and perpetu- ating a schism, which had no just or even plausible ground to rest upon. The Whig party it enfeebled, while it enabled the Court to carry on its machi- nations against constitutional principles and the liber- ties of the people. The " King's friends " indeed, when they contemplated the severance of their opponents, might be excused if they applauded their own suc- cess dividing and crippling adversaries who, if united among themselves, would have presented an impene- trable phalanx against both the sovereign and his favourites. 1765.] LORD SHELBURNE. 233 Division among the Whigs was, at this juncture, the one thing needful for the Court. T hese errors were tlic more regretted, because, in many respects, he was an enlightened and consistent statesman. In the affair of Wilkes, and in the case of the printers, he took the side of reason and liberty. He condemned the equally foolisli and wicked measures in their dealings with the American Colonies; he uni- formly resisted the encroachments of the Crown, while he advocated inquiry into the public expenditure, and the abolition of sinecure and superfluous places. On / the appointment of the younger Pitt, in 1783, as First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Shelburne, who had then \ become Marquis of Lansdowne, retired into private life. ' The French Revolution once again recalled him to a public career, and he strenuously co-operated with the party which would have avoided the equally unjust and unfortunate interference with France — Diis aliter visum — but a strong union of the Whigs in 1793 would have saved ourselves~and our neighbours from many crimes and much repentance. In his retirement at Bowood, Lord Shelburne became the host of the eccentric and philanthropic Jeremy ^ Bentham. Lord Mansfield has spoken with encomium s of the " Fragment on Government," but he took no notice of its author. Lord Shelburne, although he had introduced Blackstone to the King, both commended the "Fragment" and afforded a temporary home and much hearty encouragement to poor Bentham — at that 234 LETTER TO LORD SHELBURNE. [l765. time smarting under poverty, and suffering from all kinds of despondency. Bentliam describes himself as coming to Bowood, "cowed by past humiliations; feeling like an outcast i in the world." " Lord Shelburne," he adds, " raised f me from the bottomless pit of humiliation, and made i me feel I was something." It comes not within the scope of this work to de- scribe this intimacy further. So far as Lord Shelburne is concerned, however, his intercourse with the codify- ing philosopher was honourable to his heart and his understanding. THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE EARL OF SHELBURNE. "My Lord, "July ii,i 765. " I did myself the honour to wait upon your Lord- ship on last, but had not the good fortune to find you at home ; and I should have desired the honour of a conversation with you, if I had had any expectation of succeeding with you in what I was empowered to propose. " I must, nevertheless, in order not to appear want- ing in respect to your Lordship, desire to know from your Lordship, whether it would be agreeable to you to return to preside at the Board of Trade. " Tlie conversation I have had with Mr. Dempster has given me the utmost satisfaction, as it permits me to flatter myself, that your Lordship is not disinclined 1765.] LETTER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 235 to give your countenance and assistance in support of his Majesty's present servants; as well as that your Lordship is far from objecting to any applications being made to Col. Barre.""" THE EARL OF SHELBURNE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "My Lord, "July ii, 1765. " It is impossible for me, except I could convey to your Lordship, at the same time, how desirous I have ever been, by unalterable duty and respect, to preserve his Majesty's good opinion, to express to you the satisfac- tion and happiness it would give me to serve him in any situation, much more in the considerable one your Lordship does me the honour to point out to me. I' am, therefore, extremely concerned, that besides the total ignorance I am under in regard to the measures you propose to pursue, a real consciouness of my own inability in so active an office, to which the domestic habits I have lately fallen into add not a little, makes it absolutely incumbent on me to decline the honour done me, through a conviction that more evil might come to his Majesty's affairs, than the little aid I could ever hope to give, could compensate. " As to my future conduct, your Lordship Avill pardon r){y\ 2 if I say, ' J\reasures and not men ' will be the rule /h , |J me ot it; especuilly as I can add, that besides the sincere ^ ^ terest * Colonel Barrc sat in Parliament, through Lord Shelburne's in- j] est, for the Borough of Calne. ' 236 OVERTURES TO SHELBURNE. [l765. I affection I shall ever bear his Majesty's person, my \ opinion of the present state of this country, in many respects, is such as will make it matter of very serious concern to me, not to concur in whatever shall be proposed by his Majesty's Ministers. " This, as I recollect, contains the substance of my conversation to Mr. Dempster, when he did me the favour to call on me some time ago, and in the course of his visit took occasion to speak to me of myself " I am sorry it is impossible for me to give your Lordship any light in regard to Colonel Barr6. So many public events have happened since he has been at a distance, that I cannot even conjecture what his sentiments may be in the present situation. Your Lordship may be assured, if he approves the public plan of government proposed, I shall hear with the greatest pleasure of his obeying the King's commands, and yielding to your Lordship's wishes. "I have the honour to be, with great consideration and regard, " My Lord, " Your most obedient and most humble servant, " Shelburne." These overtures to Lord Shelburne were renewed in the month of December of this year; and Mr. Pitt, in answer to his Lordship's announcement, certainly gave him no encouragement to alter his determination. " The openings," writes Mr. Pitt, " from Lord Kock- ingham to your Lordship and Colonel Barre, you will nC5.J EARL OF DARTMOUTH. 237 easily believe do not surprize me; notliing being so natural as for Ministers, under the double pressure of affairs all in confusion, and doubtful internal situation, to recur to distinguished abilities for assistance."* On the failure of Lord Rockingham's negociation with Lord Shelburne, the Chairmanship of the Board of Trade was bestowed on William Legge, second Earl of Dartmou th. He went outlvTtTrilielVTiTgs 'in'r766, but in 1772 was appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, and in 1775 became Keeper of the Privy Seal. He resigned his situation when Lord Rocking- ham became a second time Minister; and, in April, 1783, he was appointed Lord Steward of the Household, but resigned with his friends, and continued ever after in private life. Lord Dartmouth was always remark- able for his strict attention to his religious duties. Hervey, the author of " Meditations," ranks him among his friends. He bore an excellent character in all the domestic relations of life. The Grenville Ministry had annexed, among other conditions to their continuance in office, the exclusion of their late friend and ally. Lord Holland, from the Pay Office. This point was, perEaps, the only one which had been yielded without a murmur. Lord Holland had not been forgiven by the Princess Dowager for advising Mr. Pelham, on the death of her husband, to take her son (afterwards the King) from her, that she might not get an ascendant over him. Abandoned by the Court, Lord Holland tried to be reconciled to * Chatham Correspondence, ii. 359. 238 LORD HOLLAND [l765. the friends whom he had deserted, particularly to the Duke of Cumberland. Eight days after the new Administration w^as formed, he addressed Lord Albe- marle, whose cousin. Lady Caroline Lennox, he had married, in the following terms : — " I NEVER wrote with so much anxiety as I write this letter, and you can't wonder at it, since on it depends the only view I have, or ever shall have, of content and pleasure the remainder of my days. " Whilst the new administration was forming, I thought my writing might be construed as an attempt to have a hand in forming it, which no man in England desired I should, and I as little as any. But it is now made, and, unless it does as the Duke of Bolton did, will live" long, or I am mistaken. Lord Bute must be content with the revenge he has had of his Calcraft; the King, with having got rid of G. Grenville, &c., and being treated for the future with good breeding ; whilst his Eoyal Highness will meddle with public affairs only from the highest (his proper) sphere, unmolested with the little intrigues or under-plots of court politi- cians. I wish that I might again kiss his hand at Windsor, as I used to do; I say, though it is a bold word, as I wish to do, because 1 can, with the strictest truth, affirm solemnly, that my affection was never alienated one moment from his Eoyal Highness, my gratitude never lessened. His Majesty (with whom his Royal Highness has had lately much discourse, I hear) could, if he pleased, give ample testimony of this. But, 17G5.] TO LORD ALBEMARLE. 239 it may be said, why should the Duke forgive and see me? Not, certainly, with hope of my being of any use what- ever, more than if I was dead and buried. But, my dear Lord, he will see a devoted servant so obliged, that in his whole life he cannot make another man, with so much reason, or so much, or so affectionately, his, as I am. "If he would forget everything but how he has obliged me, I could, and do think of nothing but how much I have been obliged ; and, my dear Lord, you 'd act like what you have always been, a generous and sincere friend, if you give me your best assistance on this occasion. "Whatever lies you may have heard, and I doubt not many have been told, indeed, my dear Lord Albe- marle, I am not unworthy of your friendship for me with the Duke. I presume to hope an answer soon. When it does come, it 's the whole difference between a cheerful and a discontented life to, " My dear Lord, yours ever, " Holland. " Nobody knows, or will know, that I have had the courage to write this letter." . The bad success which attended Lord Holland's over- tures, will be seen by the following letter from Lord Rockingham to the Duke of Cumberland, and from his Royal Highness's answer. 240 LORD ROCKINGHAM [l705. THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. «' giR "October 20, 1765. "It is necessary for me to begin by apprising your Royal Highness of the origin of the affair which I now lay before you, and sliall hope for your excuse if I am rather prolix. " Lord Holland, through various channels, for some time has been labouring to persuade me to restore one Mr. Earle, of Wiltshire, who was Receiver of the Land- Tax, and who was turned out by G. Grenville, just before he left the Treasury, in order to give the place to a Mr. Wilkins, a friend and apothecary to Lord Suffolk. Lord Suffolk is a competitor with Lord Hol- land for the Borough of Malmsbury, in Wiltshire. " I inquired some time ago, at the Treasury, into the circumstances of Mr. Earle's dismission, and found that Mr. Earle was rather behindhand with his remittances, and indeed that many other receivers were so too; but that he only was dismissed. I am quite persuaded that Mr. Earle's dismission proceeded from no other cause but the intention of Mr. Grenville to oblige and assist Lord Suffolk and to offend Lord Holland. I have again renewed an inquiry into what has been the general custom at the Treasury, when receivers have been dilatory in their remittances, and rather think that the usual process is, first by suspension, and that dismission only follows, if they do not quickly pay up the deficiencies, and cannot give good security for their 1765.] TO DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. 241 future better conduct. In general, the dismission of a receiver is very unusual. The language I have held to those (who have, as I imagine, been employed by Lord Holland) has been, that I should not have the least difficulty in my own mind to do justice to a friend of Lord Holland, but that matter of favour was what I thought could not be expected. That I had restored many, who had been unjustly dismissed from low offices, but that I had not dealt in retaliation of injuries, even though pressed by friends to gratify their resentments. " I was surprised on Thursday last at receiving a letter from Lord Holland, but much more so this morn- ing at being told by Ranhy^'^ as mere chit chat, that Lord Holland had inquired of him, on what day and at what hour my levee was, as ' he, Lord Holland, in^ tended to coined I treated this hint as very improba- ble, and then it was again renewed with a question: ' Why, you would not surely shut your doors to Lord Holland?^ I continued the same sort of rei)ly, by treating it as improbable. " Though I fear I tire your Royal Highness with this long narration, I must still beg to state to your Royal Highness my thoughts on this matter. If no hint is conveyed through Ranby, I do imagine that probably next Thursday Lord Holland will make his appearance at my levee. " This phenomenon Avill, of course, occasion much speculation and much discourse, and, I think, will have two effijcts ; the one is, that all parliamentary lookers- * Surgeon-general to the King. VOL. L R 242 DUKE OF CUMBERLAND [l765. out will immediately conceive that it is a great addition of strength and support to the present administration, and many a Avavering man will fix with us. " The other effect is, that Lord Holland's appearance will not tend to the general credit with the public, on which this administration founded their reliance of support. " Your Royal Highness will not wonder that, seeing the affair in the light I do, I should request your Royal Highness for your directions. " I scarce believe, howsoever anxious Lord Holland may be on this point, relative to Mr. Earle, that his visit in Grosvenor-square is merely confined to that object. Perhaps not having succeeded in other at- tempts he has made, he may think a public mark of his intentions to support the present administration, formed under your Royal Highness's protection, may operate so far as to give him a chance of regaining, in some small degree, that favour which he now so much regrets. " I sent to the Duke of Grafton this evening, and he has been with me; and after having stated the two points of view in which this aifair strikes me, his Grace was as much perplexed to determine as I was. I must say, Sir, that to hesitate is laudable, and that it is the first time any administration ever hesitated, whether the acceptance of a declaration of Lord Holland's in their favour, was matter of doubt. I own it is to me much matter of doubt, and I would not take upon rae to detennine, on my own judgment alone, what may be of 17G5.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 243 SO much general importance; and especially as I may think that it is the first step to a consequential intention. " In all consideration, I submit it to your Royal Highness's directions." The next morning, the Duke of Cumberland thus replied to Lord Eockingham : — " My Lord Rockingham, "Newmarket, October 21st, 1765. " I have this evening received yours, with the en- closure from Lord Holland. " I am highly sensible of your delicacy towards me, in not deciding on the propriety of this measure with the Duke of Grafton without my opinion on the subject; but, as you both seem to want to know my thoughts, I shall fully give them, having nothing more at heart than the honour and success that ought to attend the prin- ciples on which you undertook the administration. " As little as the appearance of seeking Lord Holland would do honour to the Administration, as much hurt might come on the throwing of him into the enemy's scale. It were to be wished, he would have contented himself with letting his friends assist Government with- out appearing himself; but as that will not do, and that he will show himself personally at the Minister's, it is much better it should be publicly, and at a levee, than in any other -way, because the whole world will see how far that goes, and is all on his side only. " If the granting his request be just and proper, grant it, and accept his visit as a return of thanks for R 2 244 DEATH OF DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. [1765. justice done to his friend. Upon the whole, I do not see how you can shut your door upon him ; and there- fore, let the measure be his, and only acceptance on your side. " Excuse the hurry of this letter, and assure yourself that I am as zealous of your honour as you yourselves can be. " I am, &c., " William." Ten days from the date of this letter, the writer had ceased to breathe. His Royal Highness had long been in a precarious state of health; he had grown enor- mously fat, had completely lost the use of one eye, and saw but imperfectly with the other. He was asthmatic, had had a paralytic stroke, and the wound in the leg that he had received at Dettingen never completely healed. On the 30th of October, the Duke was playing at piquet with General Hodgson; he grew confused and mistook the cards. The next day he was sufficiently recovered to appear at Court, and dined in the after- noon with Lord Albemarle. A Cabinet Council was held the same evening, at eight. Being then at his house in Upper Grosvenor-street, just as the Duke of Newcastle and Lord North ington came into the room, he was seized with a suffocation. One of his valets, who was accustomed to bleed him, was called, and prepared to tie up his arm, but the Duke exclaimed, " It is all over," and immediately expired in Lord Albemarle's arms. The Duke dying intestate. Lord Albemarle, under the 1765.] PRINCESS AMELIA. TO LORD ALBEMARLE. 245 King's sign manual, took out letters of administration to his estate. With the exception of a few letters in my possession, all the Duke's papers were burned, as will be seen by the following letter from his Royal High- ness's favourite sister: — H. R. H. THE PRINCESS AMELIA TO THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE. " Gunnersbury, Nov. 2, 1765. " You are always attentive and obliging, my good Lord Albemarle. I thank you for the letters, and I have burnt them. I need not tell you, I hope, how sen- sibly I am pleased with the message the King hath sent you.""'' It would be a great pleasure to our friend if he could know it, and I think will do infinite honour to the King. " I am, and ever shall be, " My good Lord Albemarle, your sincere friend, " Amelia. " The King hath done me the honour to write to me a very gracious, affectionate, and feeling letter upon my great loss." At the Duke of Cumberland's request the King had promised Lord Albemarle the first vacant garter, and his Majesty now with much propriety bestowed upon him that recently vacated by his deceased master. * Through Lord Rockingham. The Kmg's letter is published in my brother's Life of Lord Keppel, i. £f84. 24G MR. CHARLES YORKE [l765. Soon after Wilkes had been discliarged by the Court of Common Pleas, actions were brought, at the suggestion of Lord Temple, against Lords Halifax and Egremont, against the under Secretary of State, the Solicitor of the Treasury, and the King's messengers. Lord Chief Jus- tice Pratt, before whom some of these actions were tried, declared it as his opinion that the warrant was illegal, that it was illegally executed, that the Secretaries of State were not within the Acts of Parliament of James the First and George the Second, and consequently that the action would be against the messengers. Accordingly the juries in all the cases of the parties attached under the warrant, found verdicts in favour of the plaintiffs, and awarded heavy damages. In the action against Mr. Wood, the Under-Secretary, Wilkes obtained damages to the amount of one thousand pounds. HON. CHARLES YORKE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM, " Sunday morning, 9 o'clock, Nov. 3, 1 765. " My dear Lord, *' The state of the material actions depending in the affair of the messengers is this. One was argued by the Solicitor-General in the Court of King's Bench last Term. Two others, in the Court of Common Pleas. That de- pending in the King's Bench stands now to be argued by me, as Attorney-General. Lord Mansfield and the other Judges have determined on the general warranty and laid it oUt of the case. So that the points remain- ing are, Whether the Secretaries of State and their ser- 1765.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 247 vants are within the statute laws, which favour Justices of Peace; and whether the messenger apprehending a man who was not printer and publisher of ' North Bri- ton,' No. 45, can justify under any warrant directing him to take up those who were so. Now, I am clearly of opinion that even supposing the Secretaries of State are within the statutes, and supposing the warrant had been proper, still the mistake cannot, in strictness, be justi- fied by the officer. In short, my Lord, the true com- plaint of all these verdicts is the excess of damages^ which cannot be set right ; and from what has passed in both Courts, I know that it is impossible to avoid the payment of them .... As to the other actions in the Common Pleas they turn mostly on the same points, except that, in one of them, the indefensible clause in that old warrant, directing the general seizure of a libel- ler's papers^ comes to be considered. " Upon the whole, the favour I must beg of your Lordship is to inform his Majesty, with my humble duty, that, in my opinion it is for his Majesty's service and honour to make an end of all those proceedings. Though the King may think, as the impartial world does, the damages too great, yet his servants must sub- mit to the course of law and justice. " Your Lordship knows that (in allusion to a Spanish phrase) I was for clearing the inkhoru in Westminster Hall, long since. But the time is now come, if it ought ever to be. And I trust, that his Majesty will have the goodness (in the countenance and protection which he is pleased to grant me) to leave this matter to me ; 248 THE king's aversion [1765. unless any particular objections yet unexplained occur to his own royal mind. " The misfortune of the Duke of Cumberland's death has prevented the King from coming to St. James's to day ; otherwise I would have presumed to trouble him with one word upon this subject myself. " Your Lordship will do it better for me. In the meantime, let me beg, that nothing be mentioned of this letter but to the person of the King himself. " I am, my dear Lord, with the truest respect, " Your affectionate and faithful humble servant, " C. YORKE. " P. S. Let me hear from you to-morrow morning. Wednesdat/ is the first day of Term." It was not to be supposed that the King would regard with a more favourable eye Ministers to whom his em- barrassments alone had compelled him to consign the Government than those whom he had appointed of his own free will. Indeed, of the various political sects not one was so distasteful to the sovereign as that of which Lord Rockingham was the acknowledged head. They were at once too wealthy, too indifferent to office, too much actuated by public principles, too closely bound to- gether by party ties, to yield to the King, or to suit the views of a Court, that required Ministers to be not the public servants of the State but the private domestics of the sovereign. Two years previously his Majesty had declared, in allusion to the Rockingliam party, he would never suffer those Ministers of the late reign, " who 1765.] TO THE ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION. 249 had attempted to enslave him, to come into his service while he held the sceptre," '"" and although his neces- sities compelled him to depart from the strict letter of his vow, he appears to have contemplated the conti- nuance of his Ministers in office only until he could supply their places by a more subservient corps. The Kino-'s disinclination to his new servants was further strengthened by a circumstance not contemplated at the time of their coming into office. On the 9th of March 1764, Mr. Grenville introduced his famous project of draAving a revenue from America ., by means of a duty upon stamps. ,yv / Yjin^^^ .^ Up to this period the Colonies appear to have excited but little attention, either in or out of Parliament. Sir Robert Walpole, true to his principle of " quieta non movere," left the department entirely to the Duke l| of Newcastle, who had not opened a dispatch for a \\ series of years. The late Lord Essex informed Sir Denis le Marchant that one of the under-secretaries of that day said to him, " Mr. Grenville lost America because he read the American dispatches, which his predecessors had never done;" and so complete a sine- cure was the Board of Trade then considered, that a Colonel Bladen, one of the commissioners, happening to apply himself to the duties of his office, the colonel went by the name of " Trade," while his colleagues were called " The Board." The Ministers had been called to the government a very short time, when they received intelligence of the * Bedford Correspondence. 250 THE STAMP ACT. [l7G5. general resistance of the Americans to the enforcement of the Act. The King would fain have brought the refractory colonists to obedience by measures of coer- cion, but the Rockingham Administration, desirous of re- storing the loyalty of the Americans by the removal of the cause of their disaffection, early announced their inten- tion to stand or fall by the repeal of the obnoxious law. The second Lord Hardwicke, after assigning, in his " Memoriall," his own reasons for assenting to the repeal, adds: "But, from a personal inclination of the King, and influenced by Lord Bute and the Princess Dowager, the followers of Court favour went the other way, and half the Court at least voted in opposition to Administration." " Lord Eockingham," says Nicholls, " repealed the j Stamp Act, and from that hour the King determined to remove him." Amidst many ills which the Stamp Act caused to America, one advantage accrued to the new Ministry; it brought them in contact with men of business, and they became possessed of a knowledge of commercial matters, which their predecessors had never attained. In the following letter, from a Mr. Sparhawk to Lord Rockingham, the practical working of the Act is pointed out. " My Lord, " I have just hinted at the Act of Parliament com- monly called the Stamp Act, and, without stirring the (question, how far this Government has an exclusive 1765] THE STAMP ACT. 251 rigid of taxing its own inhabitants, will your Lordship allow me to say, that there has never happened among us anything that has thrown the people of this province, and indeed the whole continent, into such a conster- nation as this Act has occasioned. And besides its being universally disliked, it is thought by the best judges here to be wholly impracticable, from the nature of the Act and the peculiar circumstances of the colo- nies relative to it. It is much doubted whether all the circulating cash among us (which is no more than is absolutely necessary for the carrying on our trade and business, and answering the common occasions of life), supposing the Act should be carried into execution, would be sufficient to answer its demands. " It is very plain, then, that the consequence thereof would be the ruin of the trade and commerce of the country; and your Lordship need not be told how detrimental that must be to the trade of our mother country, from whence we have imported annually such an immense, I may say, an amazing quantity of her ma- nufactures, to her great utility and emolument. But it is to be hoped, my Lord, that the humble petition of the inhabitants (not less, perhaps, than two or three mil- lions) of a whole continent, which are to be presented to his Majesty and the great Parliament of the nation, will be graciously heard; and that in their great wisdom and goodness they will remove our fears, and vouchsafe us deliverance. " The high station Providence has placed you in, my Lord, will give your Lordship an opportunity of patro- f) 52 SIR GEORGE SAVILE [l765. nizing the distressed state of these American colonies, and of doing much towards the rendering of them happy. Will your Lordship, then, pardon my freedom in requesting the favour of your interposition on our behalf, which, besides the satisfaction that must result to your Lordship from the reflection, will secure to your Lordship (so far as it shall be known) the esteem and affections of this whole people; and your Lordship's memory will be transmitted to their latest posterity with every mark of honour, gratitude and respect. " I have the honour to be, &c. " N. Sparhawk." Sir George Savile, inclosing an extract of a letter from Boston, relating to the distress of trade, accom- panied it with the following letter from himself. " My Lord, "Rufford, November 1, 1765. " Captain Grame writes, that I must be surprised at receiving a 'naked Memorial, without a single line of explanation, and void of mercantile terms, &c.' The nakedness he means is, that it does not state the causes of the decline of trade; the taxes; and the Spanish matters. The last he says he can account for, as being a matter not to be talked of aloud; the first he blames much. " I could not help observing this circumstance; and yet I am not sure but it might do as well. Pointing out the grievance might have looked concerted, or at least the effect of party spirit ; and the cause does not 1765.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 253 want pointing out. Their saying they are hurt, and drawing no consequences, has really, I think, more the air of sincerity. You can find out what hurts them. They speak as ignorant men. Our trade is hurt^ what the devil have you been a doing f For our part, ive dorCt fretend to understand your politics and American mat^ ters, but our trade is hurt ; prai/ remedy it, and a plague of you if you wont. " To say, Doctor, that medicine has made me worse, may be pique or prejudice against the doctor; but to tell the doctor simply, one is worse, is the natural com- plaining of a man who really is worse. You may say, Gentlemen, you see these people had no acrimony against any man, but the effect breaks out. The testi- mony is sincere. I have no answer from Leeds or Wakefield. I wont say this is singular, because it is so from Leeds and Wakefield, but if grammar was out of my way, I should say so. " Hartley has told your Lordship that I have no hobby-horse to ride to town upon. That is a very civil phrase. I do not mean to affect any modesty, and therefore will preface by saying, I find my talents in some ways better than I thought. I find them worse in the questions of finance. I can only say, I have the strongest faith in his opinions about them, and the critical and decisive moment of doing things whole. If he be right, I do beg most earnestly you will not refine, and mince, and do pretty well. Do it. Do it! and ' now, now, now ! ' You flattered me much by observ- ing the phrase, so you will know it again. It did not 254 LORD HARDWICKE [l7C5. come from the head. He is disheartened. One thing I am sure of. You advertise that G. G. should have continued Minister if you ride the heat as he did. He waited, and lay in a good place till he came to the ending post. I beseech you, make the play, if you are stout. " Captain Grame, to supply the baldness of the Memorial, sends me the enclosed extract. " I am, with my best compliments to the Marchioness, " My Lord, " Your most obedient, most humble servant, " G. Savile." " (Lord Rockingham)." Prior to the meeting of Parliament, Lord Hardwicke was invited to attend the ministerial meetings, but it was not till the following year that he became a member of the Cabinet. He had been previously invited to accept oflSce, but he declined on the plea of his health. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " St. James's Square, December 9th, 1 1Q5, " Dear Brother, " h at night. " I had not an opportunity of acquainting you last night, that when I waited on the Duke of Newcastle he asked me, without my having said anything which led to it, whether I should like to attend their meetings, viz., of the Ministers? I gave no direct answer, but rather of the declining kind. His Grace bid me con- sider of it, and talk with you upon it, and seemed to make no doubt of its being acceptable to his colleagues. 1765.] TO CHARLES YORKE. 255 This may be only a morning cajolerie^ in which our old friend is a great adept, and I shall certainly not revive the subject; but if he says anything more upon it, shall leave it to his Grace and the other Ministers to do as they think proper. We shall see a little clearer after Tuesday, how the world is like to go, for I cannot help thinking that if the opposition are in spirits, and in numbers, they will kick up a riot the very first day. I presume his Grace meant, by attending their meetings, that I should be of the Cabinet Council. It would flatter my ambition (that is certain), and I hope I do not overrate my abilities in thinking that I should make as good a figure in it as many we have known called to that smictum sanctorum. I am clear in opinion, not to ask for it; but if it should be offered ^ I see no reason for declining it, most sincerely wishing, for the sake of the kingdom, that it was filled with persons of the best abilities and experience, who could agree to act together. I do not expect an answer to this, but if anything occurs, shall be glad to hear from you on the subject." Although Ministers had, soon after their coming into ofiice, become aware of the dark cloud of discontent that lowered in America, it was not till near the meet- ing of Parliament that they heard the storm had burst. One general feeling of indignation appears to have per- vaded the colonies, on hearing that the Stamp Act had received the Royal Assent. At New York the towns- people reprinted the Act, and hawked it about the ^ 256 THE KING TO GENERAL S.CONWAY. [l765. streets as " England's folly and America's ruin." At Philadelphia the guns were spiked. At Boston the flags of the vessels in harbour were hoisted half-mast high, while muffled bells tolled a funeral knell. In Virginia, Patrick Henry, one of the Members of Con- gress, he whom Byron designates " the forest-born Demosthenes, Whose thunder shook the Philip of the seas," exclaimed, " Caesar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Oliver Cromwell, and George the Third may — " here cries of " Treason " drowned for a while the speaker's words. When the tumult subsided, he adroitly added — " profit by their example." It was the news of these proceedings which led to the following letter from the king to the right hon. henry seymour conway. " Lieut.-General Conway, " The enclosed is the memorial from Mr. Pitt. It is the copy of the one delivered by me to Lord Halifax, but I received this a day or two before that one. I am more and more grieved at the accounts of America. Where this spirit will end is not to be said. It is, undoubtedly, the most serious matter that ever came before Parliament; it requires more deliberation, can- dour, and temper than I fear it will meet with. " 53 m. past five, p.m. " When the Memorial is copied, I desire to have the original returned." 1765.] OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. 257 Endorsed by General Conway, " His Majesty, Dec. 5, 1765, opinion on America." On the 17 th of December, the following letter was written by THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " I RETURN you the list of Peers that attended the reading of the Speech last night. I am glad to see names among them that I thought doubtfully of before. In the evening, you will not forget to send me word whether there has been a debate. " Past eleven, a. m." On the same day, the King opened the Session in person. In his Speech from the Throne, he stated that he had called the Two Houses together sooner than usual, in consequence " of matters of importance which had lately occurred in some of his Colonies in America."* Lord George Cavendish f moved, and Lord Palmer- ston 'I seconded the Address. No debate was expected, * Parliamentary History, xvi. 83. t Lord George Cavendish, second son of William, fourth Duke of Devonshire, — Member for Derbyshire, which county he represented in seven Parliaments. He was Comptroller of the Household in 17G1 ; a Privy Councillor, and, in 1766, Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire. I Henry Temple, second Viscount Palmerston. He had been a Lord of Trade, and was now appointed to the Admiralty Board. He was member for East Loo. He was a man of considerable accomplish- ments. Lord Palmerston was, in the male line, the representative of VOL. I. S 258 OPENING OF PARLIAMENT. [l765. as the Members who had vacated their seats, by accept- ing office, were absent on their canvass. But Mr. Grenville, perceiving that his Colonial policy would be called in question, proposed, as an amendment, to " ex- press the indignation of the House at the ' outrageous tumults ' in North America." " He spoke," says Mr. Cooke,"'' ^^ 671 prince, and told us he should ask why the Parliament was not called together sooner, why his Majesty was advised to speak with so much lenity, and many other whys." * On the 19th, the Duke of Bedford, who was at this time acting with his late official colleague, Mr. Grenville, moved for all papers that had been sent to America relating to the Stamp Act, and since the passing of it. The Duke of Grafton quashed that proposal, by pro- mising all the papers should be produced. the Temple family, as the Duke of Buckingham was of the female line. He was succeeded in his title and estates in I 802, by the recent Secre- tary of State for Foreign Affairs. * George Cooke, Member for Middlesex, Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas; " a pompous Jacobite," according to Walpole. In Lord Chatham's motley administration, Cooke was joint Paymaster- General with Lord North. It was in reference to the discordant politics of these two colleagues, that Burke said, " Persons had a single office divided between them, who had never spoke to each other in their lives, until they found themselves, they knew not how, pigging together heads and points in the same truckle bed." t Chatham Correspondence. 1705.] THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 259 THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " (Dec. 19th, 1765), 13 min. past 8, p. m. " Lord Eockinghasi, " The few squibs on the address would have appeared to me as planned by a late Secretary of State, ^ even if he had not been a speaker this day. From that quarter I make no doubt but every art will be used to hamper Administration during every debate; but that is so poor a conduct that it must turn against its own author. " The Duke of Bedford's motion seems to be most extraordinary, for one would think it were necessary to weigh every paper carefully before they either them- selves or by any committee, direct any of them to be printed." To the Ministerial Leader of the House of Commons, the King wrote as follows : — " Lieut.-General Conway, " I thank you for your attention in sending me the account of the very ungentleraanlike conduct of Mr. Grenville on this day, for others of the Opposition, un- doubtedly, act in the House of Commons by his advice. " I hope people will be on their guard to-morrow, if he should again try to give some pain."t * Mr. Grenville proposed the House should adjourn, but to the 9th instead of the 14th (Jan.), as Ministers intended. The motion was rejected by 77 to 35. f Egerton MSS. 984.— British Museum. s 2 2G0 THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [l765. A reference to the " Bedford Correspondence """' will show, that on the 31st of the following month the Duke of Bedford and Mr. Grenville, whose conduct the King here arraigns, received secret invitations from the Court to return to administration. The parliamentary records of this period of history are so scanty, that I have difficulty in assigning dates to the two letters which follow. It appears that on the 27th of December, 1765, " Lord Temple declared that there was no truth in the reports spread of differences between himself and Mr. Pitt," " and, disheartened at so unpromising an outset of the session, he had the confidence and meanness to hurry to Mr. Pitt at Bath, but that Mr. Pitt was inflexible.^' THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " I AM obliged to you for your summary account of this day's debate, and shall be curious to-morrow to hear the grounds of Lord Temple's so total a change of opinion. "10 min. past 10, p, m." THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " If Lord Rockingham has nothing particular, except Lord Temple's language yesterday, I will not give him the trouble of coming till a little after two to-morrow, at St. James's, as I shall go to church at twelve. " 20 past 9, A. M." * Vol. iii. pp. 325-9. 1765.] CHARACTER OF LORD DENBIGH. 261 The Ministers had now become aware of the preca- riousness of their position. Lord Bute aflfected to hold the balance between the late and the present admi- nistrations; and "the Crown itself," says Walpole, " seemed inclined to consign its members to turn against its own measures. Lest mankind should mistake the part the Favourite intended to take on the Stamp Act, Lord Denbigh, * his Standard-bearer, and Augustus Hervey, asked leave to resign their places, as they pur- posed to vote against the repeal. The farce was carried on by the King; and to prevent any panic in the minds of those who might have a mind to act the same part, his Majesty told them that they were at liberty to vote against him and keep their places y * Basil Fielding, sixth Earl of Denbigh, born 1 7 1 9, a creature of Lord Bute, and Master of the Harriers. In his youth he resided abroad nine years with Lord Bolingbroke. Cradock thinks he acquired much of his subtilty in debate from his long intimacy with that nobleman. If by the epithet " Standard-bearer," Walpole meant that Denbigh was the point round which the " King's Friends " were in the habit of rallying, we find him, eighteen years later, serving the same purpose. " The Rolliad," speaking of the Peers of Scotland, who assisted in throwing out Fox's famous " India Bill," says, — " With every change prepared to change their note, With every government prepared to vote ; Save when, perhaps, on some important bill, They know, by second sight, the royal will. With loyal Denbigli heading birds that sing. Oppose the JMinister to please the King." In 1770, when the Peers drove the Commons from their House, almost by main force, Colonel Barre drew a severe picture of the Court Lords, particularly of the Earls of Marchmont and Denbigh. —See Walpole's George the Third, iv. 228. 262 CORRESPONDENCE ON [1766. The above remarks are corroborated by the letter which follows. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother, "St. James's Square, Jan, .3rd, 1766. " The Ministry are much alarmed, and apprehend a strong division in our House, if any question should arise. They are making out lists of Lords, Pro, Con.^ and Doubtful. Lord Rockingham shows an inclination to insert a few stronger words in the third Resolution. » Lord Temple pronounces them gone^ and is in high spirits. The King's family and household are divided. I wish his Majesty himself is not neuter ; and this I collect from what Lord Rockingham told me, that the King professes to know nothing of what Lord Bute is doing, and yet will not speak to his servants, nor send to Lord Bute. The Prince of Brunswick (I think) told Lord R. the last particular, for I do not believe the Marquis ventured to suggest so strong a measure. I know not what will come of all this emhroglio. The Ministry should in prudence leave their adversaries as weak ground to attack them upon as possible. Lord B. will overturn every Ministry who do not court him, and yet they most all disclaim him by turns. The King should banish him. " P.S. This intelligence is material, or I should not send it." The general belief at this period apj^ears to have 17GG.] PROPOSED CHANGE OF MINISTRY. 2G3 been that Pitt, in refusing his assistance to the Kock- ingham Administration, hoped to form a government composed of his two brothers-in-law and his kinsman, Lord Lyttleton. Lord Hardwicke, writing to his bro- ther, Charles Yorke, on the 18th of July 1765, when the Attorney-Generalship was offered him, says, " I cannot conclude without taking up some points in your letter relative to the general state of affairs. You seem to think from such hints as you have received that Mr. Pitt, the Grenvilles, and Lord Lyttleton mean to come back, and put themselves at the head of the new system. I can understand Mr. Pitt's becoming, before it is long and when these new Ministers are at a plunge, a part, or rather the head, of this Administration, in some shape or other; but in the present moment, I cannot combine the Grenvilles (G. G. especially) and Lord L. with the great Commoner, unless all this dif- ference between Mr. P. and his brother-in-law is a political bam.''^ The writer of the following letter, it will be seen, entertained a similar opinion. THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE TO THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. " Tuesday (Jan. 7th, 1766), past 4 o'clock. " In hopes of seeing your Grace I have called twice upon you to-day, and will wait upon you as early to- morrow morning as you please. If I had the honour of the King's ear, I would advise his Majesty not to remove so faithful and so attached a servant to his 264 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE [l766. family as the Duke of Newcastle from council, though Mr. Pitt desired it, or rather ea^pected he should. I should likewise advise his Majesty to refuse the remov- ing of the Marquis of Rockingham from the head of the Treasury in favour of Lord Temple, or even making the offer, if sure of his refusing it. " I remain, &c. " P.S. I have not been very partial to Mr. Pitt for some time past. I dread and abhor the thoughts of a Grenville Administration." LORD JOHN CAVENDISH TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. [With Lord Albemarle's copy enclosed.] " I WENT to Court in hopes of meeting with you, to show the enclosed letter from Lord Albemarle, which some people at Newcastle House thought might as well be shown to the King. I wish nothing may be done to confirm him (the King) in his aversion to sending for Pitt, for as he must, sooner or later, swallow the pill, the fewer wry faces he makes the better." THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "Newcastle House, Jan. 9th, 1766. " I CANNOT avoid taking the first opportunity to thank your Lordship for the noble and honourable part which you took last night upon the consideration of Mr. Pitt's discourse with Mr. T. Townshend, jun,, and 17G6.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 265 for your extreme goodness to me, which will make the continuauce of my affection and attachment to your Lordship a debt of gratitude, as well as an act of judg- ment and inclination. I should, however, ill deserve it, if I omitted to suggest anything that I thought for your Lordshij^s service. If the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Conway should resign their oflfice, I do not know how you will be able to fill them. The strength of the Administration will be much lessened by the loss of those two very able and material men in both Houses, and the weight of opposition so much increased by Mr. Pitt's setting himself at the head of it, that I really do not know how you will be able to go on, and there- fore I would humbly submit it to your Lordship, how far you would resist the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Con- way if they should persist in advising the King, this day, to send for Mr. Pitt, to hear what he has to say, and particularly to know his thoughts about the Ame- rican affairs. The cordial and affectionate manner in which you acted towards me on this occasion yesterday, and ever since you have been informed of Mr. Pitt's exclusion of me, has given me a sufficient proof of your goodness; and I must desire that you will have no further thoughts of me, or suffer me to be in any degree an obstacle to what, in other respects, it may be right for your Lordship to do, with respect to the King, the public, and yourself I shall desire nothing but your confidence and friendship, and that I shall hope for in its full extent, whether in or out of employment." 266 THE KING [176G. THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "Lord Rockingham, "January 9th, 1 766. " I return you the speech and address of the Lords, which I think will do perfectly well. I am not sur- prised that, at so very serious a moment, they should have escaped your memory this morning. " I have revolved, most coolly and attentively, the business now before me, and am of opinion, that so loose a conversation as that of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Towns- hend is not sufficient to risk either my dignity or the continuance of my administration, by a fresh treaty with that gentleman; for if it should miscarry, all public opinion of this ministry would be destroyed by such an attempt. I shall therefore, undoubtedly, to- morrow, decline authorizing the Duke of Grafton to say anything to Mr. Pitt, and don't doubt that, when I set the example of steadiness, most of you will see the propriety of that conduct, and will follow it also. I wish, therefore, you would be at St. James's by one to-morrow, that I may talk this affair over with you, previous to my seeing the two Secretaries of State. The Duke of Newcastle's conduct this day was very handsome and dignified. " George R." " The fact was," says Walpole, " the King, not de- sirous of the junction of Pitt and the actual Ministei's, and choosing that Pitt should solely to him owe his 1760.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 2G7 admission, pleaded tliat he had sent so often for Mr. Pitt in vain, that he would condescend no more, — a resolu- tion his Majesty was at that very time in the intention not to keep." * The above statement explains the following letter from the king to the marquis of rockingham. " Lord Kockingiiam, " You have very properly put an end to the idea of writing to Mr. Pitt. I don't doubt of success, but if you in the least seem to hesitate, inferiors will fly off. "Queen's House, 30 min. past 10." " The King," writes Lord Hardwicke at this time to his brother, '' is extremely unwilling to let in the Trojan Horsey On the 11th of January, Lord Rockingham wrote to Mr. Charles Yorke :; — " The continual hurry, from the late occasion, occupies my mind so much, that I can hardly remem- ber anything, or else I should not have forgot the memorandum in your letter, of sending you the speech and address " No message or note will be sent to Bath,t but whether — if the person comes to town — it may not be * George the Third, ii. 320. t Mr. Pitt was then residing at Bath. 268 THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [1766. pressed that he should have an audience, is still matter of doubt to me." . . Parliament, which had adjourned for the Christmas holidays, re-assembled on the 14th of January. THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " Lord EoCKINGHAM, "(Jan. U, 1766.) " I return you the list of the Peers that were at the meeting last night. Upon the whole I think it a full meeting, considering the numbers in town; yet am surprised at not seeing the names therein of some persons that are in my service. I desire you will send me, when the House is up this evening, the names of the speakers, with P and C at the end of their names, according to the sides they take ; and also to state the amendments proposed. I entirely agree with you in opinion, that if Government fluctuate [in] their mea- sures, to oblige every person that finds fault, that it would be both endless and weak. Coolness, and the attempting to pursue prudent measures, and that with firmness, is the only way to obtain either credit or the approbation of wise men. " George R." " Eleven, a. m." In the debate on the address, Mr. Pitt, after stating that he was " unconnected and unconsulted," declared that he could not give his confidence to Ministers. " Confidence," said Mr. Pitt, " is a plant of slow 17G6.] DISINGENUOUSNESS OF PITT. 2G9 growt h ill an aged bosom ; youth is the season of cre- dulity ; by comparing events with each other, methinks I plainly discover the traces of an overruling influence. I had the honour to serve the Crown, and if I could have submitted to influence, I might still have con- tinued to serve." The speech from which the above is an extract, is equally remarkable for its beautiful language and its disingenuous insinuations. Mr. Pitt states that he was " unconsulted." In a letter of the 3rd January, from the Duke of Newcastle to Lord Rockingham, his Grace remarks, "I am ex- tremely glad to find that the King and the Ministers have thought proper to learn Mr. Pitt's sentiments upon this great question, the repeal of the Stamp Act; and I hope regard will be had to them." Again, as regards the charge of submitting to an " overruling influence," it is only necessary to refer the reader to the Duke of Cumberland's letter of the 25th of June, 1765, showing that Mr. Pitt was ready to acquiesce in so large a measure of this " influence," that his Eoyal Highness found " the King already intrench- ing himself within Pitt's promises of mercy to so many particulars."* Lord Rockingham's next letter to the King shows the injurious effect of this unfriendly speech upon the Go- vernment. It affords evidence of the coldness that was beginning to spring up between Pitt and the brother-in- law, on whose account he had so lately refused to accept * See ante, p. 214, line 14. 270 LORD ROCKINGHAM TO THE KING. [l766. office. The fact is, Pitt was displeased with Temple for his opposition to the repeal of the Stamp Act, and Temple with Pitt for not consenting to form a " Gren- ville connection." THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHA.M TO GEORGE THE THIRD. a gjj^ "Jan. 15, 1766. "It is great presumption in me to venture to intrude upon your Majesty the thoughts which occur to me on so critical a situation as the present. But the con- sciousness of that unfeigned zeal, duty, and gratitude which I shall ever feel for your Majesty's Eoyal person, emboldens me to transmit in writing, the opinion which my judgment has directed. " That your Majesty's present Administration will be shook to the greatest degree, if no further attempt is made to get Mr. Pitt to take a cordial part, is much too apparent to be disguised. That the chance of Mr. Pitt's cordiality to Administration appears very doubtful after what passed with Mr. Townshend, is also very true. That the events of yesterday in the House of Commons have shown the amazing powers and influence which Mr. Pitt has, whenever he takes part in debate. " His declaration in the debate, roundly and posi- tively against all the measures of the late Administra- tion, has given him great credit, and gratified the animosity of many who now form the firm support of the present Administration. " His personal altercations with Mr. G. Grenville, 170G.] THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 271 and the conduct of Lord Temple in the House of Lords, who was peevish, and who dissented to every assertion of Mr. Pitt's, has made very many now believe that Mr. Pitt is more separated from G. Grenville and Lord Temple, than could have been relied on some days ago ; and in that light strengthened the Duke of Grafton's and General Conway's ideas, that Mr. Pitt might be separated from them." THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " I THINK your sending a written answer to Mr. Pitt, extremely dangerous, and, therefore, am clearly of opi- nion that your even seeing him alone is preferable. I, at the same time, confess that I think the Duke of Grafton has more delicacy than there appears cause for, in declining accompanying you. I recommend it strongly to you, to avoid a long conversation, by saying your business only permits you to call for a few minutes. Be extremely civil, but firm in what you say; and as the Duke of Grafton will not accompany you, I think the showing him the impracticability of his answer to my first question is necessary. Pray, as soon as you have seen him, send me a line how things have passed. As to the full explanation, that may wait till I see you to-morrow. I am much pleased that Opposition has forced you to hear your own voice, which I hope will encourage you to stand forth in other debates. " Talbot is as right as I can desire, in the Stamp Act — strong for our declaring our right, but willing to 272 CHARACTER OF LORD TALBOT. [1766. repeal ; and has handsomely offered to attend the House daily, and answer the very indecent conduct of those who oppose with so little manners or candour. "10 min. past 9, a.m." The words, " Talbot is as right as I can desire," must have been read by the Minister with a smile. The King, disingenuous on system to all around him, was here practising a kind of fraud upon himself. He affected to take pride in the support of a servant whom he would have dismissed on the first symptom of oppo- sition to his will. But there was no cause for appre- hension. Independence was no part of Lord Talbot's character, as twenty-one years' subserviency fully proved. " He had," says Walpole, " some wit, and a little tincture of a disordered understanding, but was better known as a boxer and a man of pleasure, than in the light of a statesman." In the less formal age of Charles or Henry Tudor, Lord Talbot might have rivalled Archy or Will Somers. As it was, the Lord Steward of the Household greatly enlivened, when he did not seriously irritate, those with whom his office brought him in contact. He was the son of William, Earl Talbot, Lord Hard- wicke's immediate predecessor on the Woolsack. His features were comely ; his form was symmetrical. But neitlier dress nor demeanour improved these advan- tages. It naturally excited surprise, that an avowed profligate should be the regulator of a decorous Court, and the apparent confidant of a pious Prince. 176G.] CIIARACTER OF LORD TALBOT. 273 Hardly was he appointed to the Stewardship, when he set up for a reformer of the Household expenses. The Royal cooks fell suddenly on evil times; the smoke curled sparingly from kitchen chimneys; a voice of lamentation, over scanty breakfasts, was heard among the maids of honour and pages; and gentlemen in waiting groaned over their daily bill of fare. When a batch of Peers was spoken of, it was asked if any Dukes were to be made ? " Oh yes," replied Lord Chesterfield, "there is one. It is Lord Talbot; he is to be created Duke Humphrey, and no table is to be kept at Court but his." Success begat confidence. At the Coronation ban- quet, Earl Talbot abolished the table of the Knights of the Bath, nor did he yield to the sarcasm of Sir William Stanhope, who significantly remarked that ^^ some of them were gentlemen." On the same occasion, however, the reformer nearly pushed his parsimony too far. He threatened to deal with the Corporation of London as he had dealt with the Knights of the Bath and the Barons of the Cinque Ports. But Alderman Beckford stood up for the immemorial privileges of his order to fare sumptuously, and intimated to the Lord Steward, that it was hard if the Citizens should have no dinner when they must give the King one, which would cost them ten thousand pounds.* The menace prevailed, and the municipal board was at least decently furnished. Lord Talbot, however, amused as Avell as mortified the guests at the coronation. He was bound, as cham- * Walpole's George the Third, i. 74. VOL. L T 274 CHARACTER OF LORD TALBOT. [l766. pion, to appear on horseback before their Majesties, and, with a proper sense of decorum, he sedulously trained his charger to move backward as well as for- ward, so that on leaving the Royal presence, both the horse and the rider might retire, as Ajax retired from the Trojans, " Undaunted, and presenting still his face." But, alas! the overtoward brute had learned his lesson " not wisely, but too well." Like an inexperienced actor, he overdid his part, and backed into the Hall of Rufus, thereby exposing the " stout Earl Talbot " to the inextinguishable laughter of the crowd, and par- ticularly of those whose " sizes he had scanted." The Lord Steward's misadventure was not lost upon John Wilkes, soon after at open war with the Court. In No. — of the " North Briton," he gives a narrative of Earl Talbot's " false presentation," from which a few extracts are here selected. " A politeness equal to Lord Talbot's horse ought not to pass unnoticed. Caligula's horse had not half the merit. We remember how nobly he was provided for. What proportion of merit between his lordship and his horse, and how far the pension * should be divided between them, I will not take upon me to determine. The impartial and inimitable pen of Cervantes has made Rosinante immortal as well as Don Quixote. Lord Talbot's horse, like the great planet in Milton, * Danced about in various rounds his wandering course.' At different times he was progressive, retrograde, or * " His Lordship has a pension." — Note by Wilkes. 17G6.] CHARACTER OF LORD TALBOT. 275 standing still. The progressive motion, I should rather think to be the merit of the horse, the retrograde motion the merit of the noble lord." When the squib met Lord Talbot's eye, he wrote to Wilkes to ask if he was its author, and a long corre- spondence ensued. Wilkes at length proposed, and Colonel Berkeley, on the part of Lord Talbot, consented, that the principals, attended by their seconds, should sup together at the Eed Lion at Bagshot, on the Tues- day evening, and fight on the Wednesday. The parties met at the time appointed. Lord Talbot wished to finish the business immediately. Wilkes replied, that, as an idle man of pleasure, he had put off some important business; and added, that he had just left the jovial monks of St. Francis, and the world would conclude he was drunk, and form no favourable opinion of his Lordship. Talbot persisted, and they repaired to the garden of the inn. " It was near seven o'clock," says Wilkes. " The moon shone very bright. We stood about eight yards distant. Both our pistols were in very exact time, but neither took effect. Lord Talbot then desired we might drink a bottle of claret together ; which," adds Wilkes, " we did with great good humour and much laughter." On the 21st of January the great question of the repeal of the Stamp Act was brought before the House of Commons by General Conway, and leave was given to brini? in the Bill. Mr. Grenville endeavoured to substitute the words " explain and amend " instead of " repeal," but his motion was rejected by 275 to 167. 27G DEBATES ON THE STAMP ACT. [l766. THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " I JUST take up my pen to thank you for your atten- tion in sending me a few particulars of this day's debate in the House of Commons, which, by the great majority, must be reckoned a very favourable appear- ance for the repeal of the Stamp Act in that House. "13 min. past 12, a.m." In reference to this division, the Duke of Bedford states, that Sir LaAvrence Dundas informed him that a person, " whom," writes his Grace, " he did not name, but I suppose to be Colonel Graeme, had told him that he never saw the King so affected as he was at the result of the last great majority in the House of Com- mons, and that he believed he wished for nothing more than to be able to change his Administration." '"' And yet the next letter from the King is in the following strain. " Lord Kockingham, " I am much pleased that the appearance was so good yesterday. I hope you will be, if possible, by twelve at St. James's, as my levee will be half an hour past twelve, that I may hear some further particulars of the debate. "50 min. past 10, a.m." * Bedford Correspondence, iii. 327. 1760.] CHARACTER OF LORD NORTHINGTON. 277 The following letter, though bearing no specific date, appears to have been written by his Majesty on the same occasion. " Lieut.-General Conavay, " Nothing can in my eyes be more advantageous than the debate in the House of Commons this day. I shall not fail when I see you this day [to ask you for a list of speakers],* that I may more fully hear the colour of the language of those that spoke : it will give some kind of rule to judge of their future conduct this session. "13 min. past 10." While the private letters of George the Third ex- pressed nothing but cordiality towards the Ministers, and approbation of their plan of repealing the Stamp Act, and while Lord Talbot and a detachment of King's friends were making a show of support, a strenuous opposition was organized against the measure by the main body of the same corps, under the leadership of Lord Chancellor Northington. Robert Henley, the scion of an ancient Somersetshire family, was born in 1708. He received his education at "Westminster School, having for a contemporary, William Murray, afterwards the celebrated Earl of Mansfield. Murray was a King's scholar; Henley a * The words within brackets are not in the original, but they comprise the usual requirement of the King from his Ministers. 278 CHARACTER OF LORD NORTHINGTON. [l760. town boy. After graduating at Oxford, the two school- fellows were called to the bar at nearly the same time. It was said of Murray, that " he drank champaign with the wits." Port wine, and the company of a few choice spirits satisfied Henley's less refined but more jovial tastes. His practice at this time consisted in taking notes, cracking forensic jokes, and in arranging oyster suppers. From his family connections he made choice of the Western Circuit, of which, in process of time, he became the leader. It was the fashion in those days for young barristers to spend their vacations at Bath. Thither Henley sped, and passed his time very much to his satisfaction, in dancing with the young ladies in the Pump-room, and in tippling with the old gentlemen in the taverns. There happened at this period to be at Bath, for the benefit of the waters, a Miss Husband. This young lady was of exquisite beauty, but so much of an invalid as to be unable to stir out of doors, unless wheeled about in a chair. Powerless as she seemed to be, she made a conquest of our lawyer's heart. He pleaded and gained his cause. Miss Husband made a wonderful recovery, consigned over her votive crutches to the nymph of the spring, danced a minuet with her handsome lover, and in due time became Mrs. Henley. The happy, but not very wealthy pair, did not indeed retire to " love in a cottage," but to a small house near Bedford Square, and to such economical dinners as briefless barristers can best afford. After a few years, Henley, by the death of his elder brother, came into the family pro- 1766.] CHARACTER OF LORD NORTIIINGTON. 279 perty; but his tastes were now formed, and he con- tinued in his profession. Bath had already helped Henley to an agreeable helpmate. The next favours were of a different descrip- tion. The good stories of the convivial counsellor made an impression on the snug corporation of Bladud, and they first elected him their representative in Par- liament, and then made him their Recorder. Like other political adventurers, particularly of his pro- fession, Henley became an adherent of Leicester House, and when, in 1751, a partial dispersion of that party was occasioned by the death of Frederick, the wily lawyer, preferring the worship of the rising to the setting sun, attached himself to the new heir apparent, upon the formation of whose establishment as Prince of Wales, Henley became his Solicitor- General. From this time forth a series of unforeseen circumstances caused his rapid rise. In 1756, his schoolfellow, Murray, unable any longer to endure the badgering of Pitt, sought refuge in the House of Lords, and Henley stepped into his place as Attorney-General. The next year. Lord Hardwicke ceased to be Chancellor, and Henley was at hand to receive the Great Seal from the hands of Pitt. But it was stipulated that the Lord Keeper should have the office without the peerage. A third accident procured for him this dignity also. Lord Ferrers shot his steward. Some one was required to try him. No qualified person coveted the office. Sir Robert Henley, now created Baron Henley of the Grange, presided at the trial. The new Lord, whose inclinations 280 CHARACTER OF LORD NORTHINGTON. [1760. had ever leaned to low buffoonery, boisterous merriment, and coarse jokes, was a little out of his element in an office where a certain degree ol decorum seemed re- quisite. " For the Lord High Steward," said Walpole, " he neither had any dignity nor affected any. He said at his own table t'other day, 'I will not send for Garrick and learn to act a part.' " The trial of Lord Ferrers took place in the spring of 1760. In the autumn of the same year, Henley's royal patron had ascended the throne, and when a few months later the Lord Keeper resigned the Great Seal into the hands of George the Third, he received it back as Lord Chancellor, Earl of Northington, and Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire. The first advantage Lord Northington took of the partiality Avhich his new Sovereign soon evinced towards him, was to ask permission for the discontinuance of the evening sittings of the Court of Chancery, because, said he, " I wish to be allowed com- fortably to finish my bottle of port after dinner," or according to another version, " because at that hour I am apt to be drunk." Whichever was the plea assigned, the latter appears to have been the true one. " The Chancellor," writes Walpole, in 1763, "is chosen Go- vernor of St. BartholomcAVS. A smart gentleman, who was sent Avith the white staff, carried it in the evening, when the Chancellor happened to be drunk, ' Well, Mr. Bartlemy,' said his Lordship, snuffling, ' what have you to say?' The man, who had prepared a formal harangue, was transported to have so fair an opportunity of uttering it, and, with much dapper 17(>(;.] CHARACTER OF LORD NORTHINGTON. 281 gesticulation, congratulated his Lordship on his health, and the nation in enjoying so great abilities. The Chancellor stopped him short, crying, ' It is a lie ! I have neither health nor abilities. My bad health has destroyed ray abilities.' " To Bath, the scene of his former gaieties. Lord Northington continued to resort, but health, not plea- sure, was the cause of his visits. " Time had played his usual tricks." The handsome, briefless young barrister, who, with light heart and light step, once enlivened the ball-rooms of the city, was transformed into a wealthy, old, cynical valetudinarian. It is in the latter capacity Anstey has introduced him into his "Bath Guide." He there figures as " Lord Ringbone, who lay in the parlour below, On account of the gout he had got in his toe." Northington had now attained the highest dignity of his profession, but the complaint above mentioned greatly diminished its enjoyment, and marred the pleasure he would otherwise have derived from those profitable walks which the greatest of law functionaries is in the habit of making, from the woolsack to the bar. It was in one of these painful promenades that he was overheard to say, " If I had known that these legs were one day to carry a Lord Chancellor, I would have taken more care of them when I was a lad." Lord Northington was a good-looking man, of a florid complexion. Though the expression of his countenance was agreeable, his temper was haughty and imperious. 282 CHARACTER OF LORD NORTIIINGTON. [l766. and his manners were morose and overbearing. Yet the surly deportment is supposed to have been rather assumed than natural ; and he was considered a fellow " Who, having been praised for bluntness, did affect A saucy roughness ; and constrain the garb, Quite from his nature. — " One day he was obstructed on his way to the House of Lords by a carman. " Did not your Lordship," inquired some one, " show him the mace and strike him with terror?" " No," swore the Chancellor, for an oath was the usual preface to every sentence, " but 1 told the rascal that if I had been in my private coach I would have beaten him to a jelly." To the Bill for repealing the Stamp Act was annexed a declaration of the right of Parliament to lay imposts on the Colonies of the British Empire. Mr. Pitt and his adherents denied the competency of the legislature to tax the Colonies at all, and Lord Campbell, in his Life of Lord Camden, has recently re-affirmed the opinion of Mr. Pitt. " Nothing," says the noble and learned biographer of the Chancellors of England, " could exceed the folly of accompanying the repeal of the Stamp Act with the statutable declaration of the abstract right to tax." Against so distinguished an authority upon a question of jurisprudence and consti- tutional history I should enter the lists with equal diffidence and reluctance. But the laws of tourney in certain cases permitted the weaker party to nominate his champion, and I am fortunately enabled to shelter my own opinion on the celebrated declaration, behind 17(56.] RIGHT OF TAXING THE COLONIES. 283 tlie broad buckler of the most brilliant and learned of recent historical writers. Upon the right of Parliament Mr. Macaulay has thus forcibly delivered his judg- ment : — - " The opinion of the most judicious and temperate statesmen of those times was, that the British Consti- tution had set no limit whatever to the legislative power of the British King, Lords, and Commons over the whole British empire. Parliament they held was legally competent to tax America, as Parliament was legally competent to commit any other act of folly or wickedness, to confiscate the property of all the mer- chants in Lombard Street, or to attaint any man of high treason, without examining witnesses against him, or hearing him in his own defence. The most atrocious act of confiscation or attainder is just as valid an act as the Toleration Act or the Habeas Corpus Act. But from acts of attainder and acts of confiscation lawgivers are bound by every obligation of morality, systemati- cally to refrain. Li the same manner ought the British Legislature to refrain from taxing the American colo- nies. The Stamp Act was indefensible, not because it was beyond the constitutional competence of Parliament, but because it was unjust and impolitic, sterile of revenue, and fertile of discontents." * But there is another reason, which will at least redeem Lord Rockingham and his friends from the charge of folly and inconsistency in accompanying the abolition of a law with the affirmation of its principle. * Macaulay 's Review of the Life of Chatham. 284 DIFFERENCES OF OPINION [1766. On the one hand, without such declaratory chiuse neither the legislature nor the Sovereign would have passed or ratified the Act. On the other, the Eockingham party itself was by no means unanimous in its view of the question at issue. Lord Hardwicke — and there were many in the Upper House who coincided with him — thought the concessions to America had gone too far. His Lordship, after stating that the Duke of Cum- berland had offered him the Chairmanship) of the Board of Trade in July 1765, and assigning some of the reasons for declining, adds : " Neither had I any intimation given me what plan they (the Ministers) intended to pursue, or whether, as we had differed on opposition points, it was not equally probable that we might disagree when we met together in Administra- tion; and this would, in fact, have happened, for I never should have concurred in the tame despatches which were sent to America from hence on the first accounts of the Resolutions of the assemblies and the tumults at New York and Boston." In another part of his narrative Lord Hardwicke says, " I was rather disgusted with the half confidences which were made me during the course of the winter, and with the little weight which was given to my opinion, when it interfered with the plan which Lord Rockingham and friends were previously determined to follow in America and in mercantile affairs. I did not take an active part in Parliament, though, from the necessity of the times, and the universal clamour which 17GG.] ON THE STAMP ACT. 285 the merchants and manufacturers had raised about the Stamp Act, 1 concurred in the repeal of it." Witli respect to the declaratory Act itself, his Lord- ship remarks: — "It was principally owing to my brother that the dignity and authority of the legislature were kept up by the Bill for asserting the dependence of the Colonies." In the House of Commons, too, the Ministry would have been deprived of a very able coadjutor had they persisted in repealing the Act without asserting the abs- tract right of the Legislature to enforce it. I allude to Charles Yorke, Lord Hardwicke's brother, at this time Attorney-General. The licsolutions passed in the Cabinet on the subject of the Declaratory Clause, and the subsequent corre- spondence between Lord Rockingham and Mr. Charles Yorke on the subject, will show, that, if the suggestions of the latter had been adopted, the Act itself would have been still more irritating to the feelings of the colonists. The words in the text are the Resolutions themselves, those within brackets the corrections of Mr. Yorke. I. " Resolved, That it appears to this Committee that the most dangerous tumults and insurrections have been raised and carried on in several of the North American colonies, in open defiance of the powers and dignity of his Majesty's government there, and in mani- fest violation of the laws and legislative authority of this kingdom. 286 RESOLUTIONS [l7G6. 11. " Kesolved, That the said tumults have been greatly [ unwarrantably ] encouraged and inflamed by sundry [ leave out ] votes and resolutions passed in several assemblies of the said provinces [directly contrary to law, highly injurious to the honour of his Majesty and this House], greatly derogatory to the honour and dignity of his Majesty's Government, destructive of the legal and con- stitutional dependency of the said Colonies on the Impe- rial Crown and Parliament of Great Britain. III. " Kesolved, That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, to desire that his Majesty would be pleased to give directions to the Governors of the aforesaid North American provinces [ . . . [His Governors in N^ America,] to take the most effectual methods for disco- vering and bringing to deserved punishment the au- thors, abettors, and perpetrators [ and principal actors in] of the said riots and insurrections. IV. " Eesolved, That a humble address be presented to his Majesty to desire that his Majesty would be [graciously] pleased to give orders to the Governors of the several provinces where the above-mentioned [said] riots and insurrections have happened, that they should apply and recommend to the assemblies of the said provinces to make proper recompense to those who have suffered in their persons or properties in consequence thereof. 17G0.] ON THE STAMP ACT. 287 V. " Resolved, That the Parliament of Great Britain had, hath, and of a right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the Colonies and people of America in all cases whatsoever [as well in cases of Taxation, as in all other cases whatsoever.] THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. "Jan. 25, 1766, Saturday evening. " General Conavay having sent to me the proposed Resolutions with some alterations which you have made, I cannot help troubling you with my doubts upon some of them. The Resolutions in general exceed in spirit what the generality of our friends wish, but, in expecta- tion that coming into them will pave the way for the actual repeal of the Stamp A ct^ I think they will be agreed to. In one of your alterations I dislike the expression of undoubted rights, and am sure, upon con- sideration how goading that word would be to a great person in the House of Commons, it cannot be advisable to put it in. " The other alteration which I particularly object to, is the insertion of ' taxation^ and I think I may say that it is our firm resolution in the House of Lords (I mean among ourselves) that that word must not be inserted. I see more and more the difficulties that surround us, and therefore feel the necessity of not temporizing. Convinced as I am that the confusion at 288 RESOLUTIONS [17G6. home will be much too great (if the repeal is not obtained) for us to have withstood, either as private or public men, my opinion being entirely for repeal, I shall certainly persist in that measure ; and though many in the House of Commons may be against us, and particu- larly some who have lately called themselves under the denomination of Lord B.'s friends; yet I am persuaded that the House will repeal the Stamp Act by a great majority. If it does, we shall then show hoiv we stand as Administration. If it does not, I wish no man so great a curse as to desire him to be the person to take Administration, and be obliged to enforce the Act. . . . On all occasions ever your most affectionate friend, " Rockingham." In a letter of the same date as the foregoing, Mr. Yorke writes — " Since this letter was sealed up, your servant has brought a letter from your Lordship. If Mr. Conway and you have a mind in the third resolution to leave out the word undoubted ; or even in the second resolu- tion, the words directly contrary to law ; and think that it will be a means of conciliating and softening in this wild time, I am not tenacious of such correc- tions, provided there is enough to express my real meaning. " To ' maintain the authority with dignity will assist the repeal.^ " A petition was presented on tlie 27th of January, by 17fiO.] ON THE STAMP ACT, 289 Mr. Cooke, Member for Middlesex, from some of the American provinces assembled in Congress, against the Stamp Act. The " Parliamentary History " makes no mention of the proceedings of this evening, yet the debate was lively and the war of words fierce. It Avas, moreover, on this evening that Edmund Burke made his first speech in Parliament. Messrs. Jenkinson and Dyson, both holding ofiice under Lord Rockingham, as did Nugent and Ellis, belonged to the Court party, who called the Congress a " dangerous federal union." High words passed in the course of the evening be- tween Pitt and Norton. The latter having said that his blood was chilled by the gentleman's sound- ing the trumpet of rebellion; the Great Commoner replied, that " he would be glad to meet him in any place, with the same opinions, when his blood was warmer." The following are a few of the remarks that called forth Norton's declaration. Mr. Pitt affirmed the petition to be innocent, dutiful, and respectful. He painted the Americans as people who, in an ill-fated hour, had left this country to fly from the Star Chamber and High Commission Courts. The desert smiled upon them in comparison of this country. It was the evil genius of this country that had riveted among them this union, now called dangerous and federal. He would emphatically hear the Colonies upon this their petition. " You have broken the original compact if you have not a right of taxation. The repeal of the Stamp Act was VOL. I. U 290 LORD HARDWICKE [l766. an inferior consideration to the receiving this peti- tion." * The following comment upon Mr. Pitt's speech, from a member of Lord Rockingham's Cabinet, is an answer to those who condemn that statesman for introducing the Declaratory Act. THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " Dear Brother "St. James's Square, 28th Jan., 1766. " I am very sorry you was not at the House yester- day. The Great Commoner never laid himself so open, never asserted such absurd and pernicious doctrines, and richly deserved to have been called to the bar, or sent to the Tower. The petition was from an illegal congress, calling the right of Parliament in question ; and on that account I could have wished you had been there to bear your testimony against it. " I presume you have seen the resolutions which are intended for our House. Who is to be the mover I know not. I proposed some words to the third resolution about strengthening the King's hands, to preserve good order, &c., in the Colony — very measured ones, in my poor opinion — but which I think absolutely necessary. Some are substituted, which I do not like so well, and I flatter myself, you will approve mine. I heard such stuff thrown out at the meeting by the Duke of New- castle, and such a tame acquiescence from most of the Lords, that I was obliged, in duty to the Crown, to tell * Walpole's George the Third, ii. 270-1. 176G.] TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. 291 them what I thought of the proceedings and principles which prevail in North America. " The question about the rigJit is in general terms — all cases ivhatsoever. I presume it is the same in your House. Tell me what you will do^ if taxation is pro- posed to be inserted. The Ministers desire to flatter North America, not to make it subordinate to this country. They dread the idea of sending more force there, which I think necessary to protect Government from tumult, and to enable the Governor to execute these resolutions. " What will come out of all this, the Lord above knows. I do not desire to trouble you with corre- spondence ; but if it was the last time I ever heard from you, I beg to know your opinion : — first, about being for or against making particular mention of the power of tawing; secondly, about inserting some words in rela- tion to strengthening the King's hands; and thirdly, how we shall get rid of, or modify, the late Acts, which impose duties on North America. " Eeading the papers will take up a day more, and I suppose we shall not sit on the 30th of January. I do not like Mr. Conway's letters to the Governors, but those I shall not meddle with." The marked intention of a large portion of the King's household to avail themselves of his Majesty's permission to vote against his Ministers, doubtless produced the two letters which follow. u G.] THE REPEAL ON THE STAMP ACT. 303 THE EARL OF DARTMOUTH * TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " Sunday Evening (Feb. 12, 1766). " I HAVE thought of nothing but what you told me last night, since I saw you, and am fully persuaded that you ought, by all means, to stand it out to the last moment, and, for the sake of your country, to cling (to office) with the same tenacity that others would use for the sake of themselves. The case is not yet des- perate, and while there is the least shadow of hope of doing good, I would on no account give up the game to those who will, undoubtedly, do mischief. The Act once repealed, I shall heartily congratulate your Lord- ship upon a release from your fatigues. Your successors may then be left to enjoy the sweets of an honourable coalition, and hug themselves in the possession of em- ployment, which nothing but concern for the public good could make it worth your while to hold. It will be some time before they can contrive to get us into such another scrape; when they do, it will be time enough to call upon Yourself and Co. to deliver us from it." In addition to the numerous obstacles that lay in the path of Ministers, in their endeavours to restore tran- quillity to America, was the turbulent spirit of the American Colonists themselves. The following paper on this subject, entitled " Considerations on the Repeal * See ante page 237. 304 PAPER ON STAMP ACT. [1766. of the Stamp, and recommending a suitable behaviour to the Americans on that occasion," was drawn up by Sir George Savile. " The constant argument against the Eepeal has been that, in case it should take place, the vote of Right will be waste paper ; we shall ' strut in mock majesty,' and the Colonies will understand very well that what is pretended to be adopted, on mere com- mercial principles of expedience, is really yielded through fear, and amounts to a tacit but effectual surrender of our right, or, at least, a tacit compact that we will never use it. " It has struck me long since, that this would be the line of argument, and every debate and every question from opposition, as to this point, confirms me in this opinion, and in a persuasion how very material it is, that the event should not support, or even seem to support, their arguments. " The event will justify those arguments in the strongest manner, if the Colonies should triumph on the Repeal, and affect to seize the yielding of Parliament as a point gained over parliamentary authority. The Opposition would immediately throw in your teeth : — ' See your work ; it is as we said ; it is but too well proved what use the Colonies make of your weak and tiinid measures.^ " On the contrary, if duty, submission, and gratitude be the return made by the Colonies, then, ' We are in the right,'' we may say. ' Is it not as we said f See 17GG.] PAPER ON STAMP ACT. 805 the Colonies regained to this country by our modera- tion ; regained with their loyalty, thevr affection, and their trade' " I need not say how extremely preferable the latter supposition is to the first. How much more desirable for this country and for the Colonies ! Might they not be reasoned with thus : — " You must be sensible what friends you have had in the present Ministry, and what pains they have taken to serve you. It is justice likewise to them to inform you what difficulties they have encountered in your cause, and from whence those difficulties have mainly arisen. You should know, that the great obstacle in this way has been unhappily thrown in by yourselves. I mean the intemperate proceedings of various ranks of people on your side the water, and that the difficulties of the repeal would have been nothing, if you had not by your violence in word and action awakened the honour of Parliament, and thereby involved every friend of the repeal in the imputation of betraying the dignity of Parliament. This is so true, that the Act would certainly not have been repealed if men's minds had not been in some measure satisfied with the Decla- ration of Right. If, therefore, you would make the proper return to your country, if you have a mind to do credit to your friends, and strengthen the hands of your advocates, hasten to express your filial duty and gratitude to your parent country. Then will those who have been (and while they have the power will be) your friends have reason to plume themselves on the VOL. I. X o OG CHARACTER OF JEREMIAH DYSON. [17G6. restoration of peace to the colonies, union, trade, and reciprocal advantages to them and to us. " But continue your violent measures, triumph in the point you have gained ; talk of it as a victory ; say the Parliament have yielded up the right, if you have a mind to give your enemies here a complete triumph. If you have a mind your friends should lose the power to serve you, and if you have a mind your two masters should be restored, you have your choice. " This is the idea which I think might be instilled and cultivated in the colonies by merchants to their correspondents ; and I think, in our present situation, a very great deal depends on its being done universally and immediately." Among the most active opponents of the repeal of the Stamp Act was Mr. Jeremiah Dyson, member for Great Yarmouth, and one of the Lords of Trade. He was one of those parasitical persons who serve govern- ments a little, and disgrace them much. He was by /"^th a tailor, by education a Dissenter, and, from j interest or vanity, in his earlier years a Republican. ( But he was not a person whose conscience at any time ( stood in the way of his preferment, and his republi- canism speedily yielded to more profitable investments \ in politics. He was a quick, shrewd man, with a cool head and a prompt tongue, and an atrabilious tempera- ment, that made him impatient of repose and obscurity. He entered Parliament Avith a character for holding / 17GG.] CHARACTER OF JEREMIAH DYSON. 307 anti-monarchical opinions, although he was at the time " secretly sold to Lord Bute." For some time he was supposed to be a staunch supporter of George Gren- ville, but when the Grenvillian horizon became over- cast, Jeremiali tacked to windward. Shortly after this desertion, having assumed a bag instead of a ^^ an event," says Burke, " that caused more universal joy > ^ y throughout the British dominions than perhaps any other \(r y/^ that can be remembered." 176G.1 HUME AND ROUSSEAU. 315 CHAPTER IX. HUME AND ROtJSSEATT. THE MILITIA BILL. — CHARACTER OF MR. TRE- COTniCK. DINNER IN CELEBRATION OF STAMP ACT REPEAL. — MIS- TRUST OF GOVERNMENT IN CONTINENTAL STATES. RESOLUTIONS ON GENERAL WARRANTS. RESIGNATION OF DUKE OF GRAFTON. EX- TRACTS FROM LORD HARDWICKE's '* MEMORIALL." CHARACTER OF DUKE OF RICHMOND, AND OF LORDS NORTH AND EGMONT. DUKE OF Richmond's journal. — lord bute's suspected interference IN PUBLIC affairs. PITT APPOINTED MINISTER. DISMISSAL OF THE ROCKINGHAM MINISTRY. After three years' residence in Paris, David Hume, the historian, arrived in England. He wenTtcTTi'ance a plain, unaffected Scotchman. He came back with the airs and feelings of a Frenchman. The incense he re- ceived had been too much for his philosophy. Passing his time in courts and coteries, he mistook adulation for affection, and on his return home used to launch out in encomiums on " the gallant nation so famous for its loyalty," contrasting their peaceable demeanour with the turbulence of his own countrymen. This Gallo-mania induced him to bring with him Jean Jacque s llousseau . They arrived in England in January 1766. Perhaps the characters of no two per- sons ever formed so strong a contrast as Rousseau and Hume. They were the Jean qui pleure and the Jean qui rit. The Frenchman being the crying, the Englishman, 316 HUME AND ROUSSEAU. [l766. the laughing philosopher. The one violent, extrava- gant, melancholy, unsociable— the other calm, moderate, cheerful, and fond of society. The motive of importing this very troublesome guest was doubtless a natural kind- ness of disposition, moved perhaps with a little national vanity. In the month of ]\Iarch, Kousseau was, by the exertions of Hume, settled at Wooton, in Derbyshire, the seat of Mr. Davenport of Davenport. The historian was unremitting in his attentions to " the great profes- sor and founder of the philosophy of vamty 'in Eng- lanlT' as Burke calls him.'"' '' I and my friends," said Hume, "gave way to all his caprices, excused all his singularities, and indulged him in all his humours." While Eousseau was thus the recipient of so much real kindness, his ill-regulated mind made him believe that Hume had only enticed him to England to injure his reputation, and to degrade him by his favours : but the historian's exertions did not stop there. Through the medium of General Conway and General Graeme, the Queen's Treasurer, he procured him a pension of a hun- dred pounds a-year. The following letter, the original of which is in Lord Fitzwilliam's possession, refers to this transaction. "April 5 (1766). " Mr. Hume presents his respects to General Conway. He cannot forbear thanking him, in the name of all that is ingenious in Europe, for the favours he has con- ferred on Monsieur Rousseau. He will keep it a secret, * See Burke On the French Revolution. 170(5.] HUME AND ROUSSEAU. 317 though one of the most laudable actions of the world. He has informed ]\Ionsieur llousseau, who, as he has the greatest sensibility imaginable, must feel the proper gratitude for the obliging manner in which he is treated. " Mr. Hume desires to know how that pension is to be paid ; whether it is to pass through the Treasury, or is to be paid secretly from the Privy Purse. If the former is the case, he apprehends that M. Rousseau must write to the Secretary of the Treasury, desiring him to pay the money to some banker whom he shall appoint. If the latter, he must choose some friend into whose hands it must be secretly paid. " 5th of April." Unfortunately at this very moment appeared Wal- pole's famous letter, which, purporting to be from the King of Prussia, quizzed most unmercifully Rousseau's mania of fancying himself persecuted by the whole Avorld. " If," the philosopher King is made to say, " If you persist in perplexing your brains to find out new misfortunes, choose such as you like best; I am a King and can make you as miserable as you can wish ; at the same time, I Avill engage to do what your enemies never will, I will cease to persecute you, when you are no longer vain of persecution."'-^ The subject of the letter believing his host to be the * Walpole's letter was an imitation of an anonymous epistle to Rousseau, in which the foibles of the Genevese were handled with caustic pleasantry. Neither the object of the satire, nor any one else, could doubt that its author was Voltaire. 318 LORD ROCKINGHAM TO HON, C YORKE. [1700. author, a violent quarrel ensued, and the Englishman and Frenchman became henceforth bitter enemies. Walpole, writing of the events of the month April, says, "Mr. Pitt was grown impatient for power; and having discouraged Lord Rockingham from seeking his aid or protection, began to wonder that he was not courted to domineer; and he betrayed his ambition so far as to complain that the Administration had had his support and now neglected him." When the subject of the Militia came before Parlia- ment Mr. Onslow proposed some trifling saving. Lord Strange opposed; and the Government not caring to risk a division, gave way : whereupon Pitt declared, " that he would go to the farthest corner of the island to overturn any Ministers that were enemies to the Militia." " This," adds Walpole, " was all grimace ; he did not care a jot about the Militia." This proceeding of Ministers, which was agreed to at a meeting of their supporters, does not appear to have been agreeable to Mr. Charles Yorke, to whom Lord Rockingham wrote as follows: — "Dear Sir, "April 15, i 766. " I have just had an account from the meeting at Sir George Savile's, where I find that the general senti- ments amongst them were for adhering to that mode which I showed you, and which had been settled and agreed on amongst them for some days. As I under- stand, very little was said upon it, but, having once agreed, they did not care to alter. Your name was not 1760.] CHARACTER OF MR. TRECOTIIICK. 319 used to inforce the alteration, which was what I parti- cularly desired might be avoided. I am not pleased (neither do I think you will), as indeed for many reasons I was anxious that it should have been con- ducted in the manner which you most approved. I wish Thursday "'' well over, and am sure nothing can procure a good end to this matter, but from your making use, not only of your abilities but also of your temper. " Grosvenor Square, Tuesday night." Among the most efficient agents in carrying out the repeal of the Stamp Act was Barlow Trecothick, member for London, and one of the aldermen of the City. He was a merchant in the American trade. On the back of a copy of a " General letter sent to the out-ports and manufacturing towns on the 6th of December 1765," Burke has written in pencil, " N.B. This letter con- certed between the Marquis of R. and Mr. Trecothick, the principal instrument in the happy repeal of the Stamp Act, which, without giving up the British au- thority, quieted the Empire." He was an attached friend of Lord Rockingham, a good speaker in Parliament, and the most sensible of the City patriots. Burke says, in one of his letters : " Trecothick is certainly a man of strong principle and good natural sense, but his experience of the world is * By the Journal of the House of Commons, it appears that on Thursday, the 17th of April, the House ordered that it would, on the Monday following, resolve itself into a committee on the expenses of the Militia. 320 DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [ 1700. but moderate." He died in 1775, and bis bomely epitapb records, tbat " be was mucb esteemed by tbe mercbants for bis integrity and knowledge of commerce, truly beloved by bis fellow-citizens, wbo cbose bim as tbeir representative in Parliament, and sincerely lamented by bis friends and relations, wbo looked up to and admired bis virtues." On tbe 23rd of April a grand dinner was given at Drapers' Hall in celebration of tbe repeal of tbe Stamp Act. It was among tbe most brilliant ever seen in tbe City, and tbe cbronicles duly record tbat nine dukes ^ were amongst tbe company. Mr. Trecotbick presided. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "April 22, 1766. " Alderman Trecothick was bere tbis morning, and I endeavoured to be excused dining in tbe City to-morrow, for indeed I am too old for sucb entertain- ments and sucb crowds, but be will not excuse me, and said tbere were endeavours used to prevent tbeir friends from coming; and upon tbat, and tbe particular circum- stance of this time, I promised bim to come. Tbe Duke of Portland '''' goes witb me. I bope all our friends will go, and particularly tbe Duke of Grafton. Trecotbick said, tbey did not see bis Grace, but be boped he would come. As I see tbis may be attended * William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, third Duke of Portland, at this time Lord Chamberlain. In 1 782 he was appointed Lord Lieu- tenant of Ireland. He became, twice, Prime Minister. 1766.] ANTICIPATED CHANGE OF MINISTRY. 321 with bad consequences if our first friends do not go, I hope your Lordship will speak to as many as you meet in the course of this day. My Lord Chancellor, I con- clude, was not invited, as he voted against the repeal." The next paragraph in the Duke's letter has a significance from the events which immediately followed. " It was observed," continues his Grace, " yesterday in the House of Lords, that there were very long con- ferences: first, my Lord Camden and the Chancellor (Northington) for half an hour; afterwards my Lord Camden and the Duke of Grafton retired into a private room, and were together a full hour. The Duke of Grafton then went to the Chancellor, and whispered him for half an hour — that your Lordship saw. What this was I know not, but something to be sure."" The Ministers had been frequently informed by the King, that those members holding places, who voted against the repeal, were actuated by conscientious scruples, and that when once that question was settled, they would regularly vote with the Government. But the carrying of that measure produced no change in their conduct, and their opposition continued as sys- tematic and violent as before. One of the evils arising from his Majesty's thus '' act- ing in opposition to himself," was the mistrust of the Government that it engendered in the Continental States. Walpole mentions that the INIinisters showed the King VOL. I. T 322 THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [l760. " an intercepted letter of the Russian Minister to his Court, in which he wished his mistress not to conclude too hastily with the present Ministers, who could not main- tain their ground ; and he pointed out the damage the King brought on his own affairs by having a Ministry who did not enjoy his confidence. This the King denied, and said they had his confidence."* This con- duct was the more impolitic, because it placed in jeo- pardy a new treaty of commerce between England and Russia, then in preparation, which proved highly bene- ficial to the interests of both countries. The transaction here alluded to took place in the month of June ; but we shall show, on the authority of the King himself, that the Prussian Minister had also made a similar representation to his Sovereign, and that his Majesty attributes the " coyness" of Frederick to those reports. The " Baudouin" mentioned in the King's letter was M. de Boduin, Secretary of Legation to the Prussian Legation. Count de Malzahn had been appointed Minister, but had not then arrived. THE KING TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "Lord Rockingham, "(April 25), 1766. " What you mention to have been the inclination of Sir Richard Aston,f by his charge to the Jury, is very * Walpole's George the Third, ii. 332. t Richard Aston, Esq., Sergeant-at-Law, was knighted, and sworn in one of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench on the 25th of April, 1765, which office he resigned in 1778, and died shortly after. 176C.] THE KING TO GENERAL CONWAY. 323 material; and as Lord Mansfield (whose opinion on these subjects I would more confide in than on that of any man) does think favourably of the convict, I with plea- sure direct you to send to Lieutenant-General Conway that the sentence may be changed from death to trans- portation/"' You will laugh when you read the decy- phered letter I have just seen of Baudouin, wherein he talks of a fresh change in the Ministry ; I should rather hope it is [more] from want of sense than ill intention that he writes such gross falsehoods to his Court. "George R. " Richmond Lodge, 2m. past 5, p.m." the king to the right hon. henry seymour conway.f " Lieut.-General Conway, " I have just received your packet, but cannot help expressing some surprise at the great coyness of the King of Prussia. I should have expected a different answer to the very friendly and, I may say, indulgent part I have on this occasion acted towards him ; but I would fain hope this is owing to the fallacious accounts he has received from Baudouin. If he expects that I am to go all the way, and that he is only to receive me * In the Lent Assizes of 1766, Sir Richard Aston went the Western Circuit. The sentences of more than one convict on that circuit were commuted from death to transportation, t It is right to state that General Conway has dated this letter, April 25, 1765 ; but there is evidently a mistake in the date of the year, for in April 1765, Lord Rockingham was not minister; General Conway was not leader of the House of Commons, and Sir Richard Aston had not then gone circuit as a Judge. Y 2 824 RESOLUTIONS ON GENERAL WARRANTS. [l766. if he pleases, he is much mistaken; for I think the Crown of Great Britain a more useful ally to the King of Prussia, than he ever can be in return ; and I here repeat, what you heard me express to the Duke of Grafton at the opening of this affair, that if the King of Prussia means anew to live well with me, I shall have no objection to do so with him ; but if he expects that I am to express any sorrow for what has passed betwixt us, that is impossible, for I could not act otherwise than I have done, if my sole object was the interest of my country, which I should not be an honest man if I at any time neglected for other concerns. «* 30 m. past 1, p.m." Lord Rockingham and his friends, fully aware of the precariousness of their situation, determined to devote the remainder of their brief political existence to repair the breaches in the Constitution that had been made by their predecessors. With this view, on Tuesday the 22nd of April, they moved in the House of Commons a series of resolutions declaring the illegality of general warrants. No detailed account has yet been given of the debate on this constitutional question ; but a few remarks from Walpole will render the following letter intelligible. " The Ministers, thinking themselves bound to give the last blow to general warrants, which had now been decided in Westminster Hall to be illegal, moved a resolution of their being illegal and a breach of privi- lege. Grenville, hoping to squeeze out a little popularity 1766.] SIR GREY COOPER TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 325 from the same measure, moved to bring in a bill for taking them entirely away. This happening when Mr. Pitt was in his hostile mood, he seconded Grenville's motion; but his lending himself thus to the cham- pion of these warrants, highly offended the Ministerial Whigs."* SIR GREY COOPER TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "My Lord, "April 26, 1766. " I have the honour to inform your Lordship, that late in the night of Tuesday last, after Sir George Savile and Sir W. Meredith's motion had been agreed to, Mr. Pitt, in order, as he said, to make the question in Par- liament co-extensive with the decision in the Courts of Law, moved that all general warrants were illegal, and that, being executed on the person of a Member of Par- liament is a breach of privilege. After some debate and hesitation that night, it was thought proper to define a general warrant by its want of attributes, namely, not describing both the offender and the offence. The Master of the Rolls having recommended it to the House (though a friend to the proposition) not to come too hastily into a resolution of so much extent and impor- tance, it was postponed for that time, but not till after Mr. Grenville, in a wonderful springtide of liberty, had pledged himself to record the motion of the very honour- able gentleman. " The further consideration of this matter came on * Walpole's George the Third., ii. 317. 326 SIR GREY COOPER [176G. yesterday. Mr. Pitt moved his resolution with apparent and, as / think^ with real diffidence of carrying his point. It received a very affectionate adoption from Mr. Yorke, who defended the generality of the proposi- tion with great talents aiid great firmness. Sir Fletcher shook it by his first speech to its foundations. It was again set upon its legs, and whilst it was tottering, Mr. Pitt, in what is called a very Parliamentary manner, shifted his ground, and put his question, not upon a declaration, but an assumption of law, in this manner : A general warrant to apprehend any person or persons being illegal (except in cases provided by Act of Parlia- ment), if executed on the person of a Member of this House, is a breach of the privilege of this House. Mr. Solicitor-General opposed this proposition with great warmth, as being too large and too assuming, and upon the general ground of the impropriety and want of dignity in the House of Commons to declare that to be law, which no Court of Westminster Hall would regard as law; and that though the resolution upon a matter incident to privilege, and brought before the House, might be excusable, it could not be so to declare a general resolution upon a special case. " Mr. Attorney-General spoke in favour of the ques- tion with great weight, and, I think, superiority of argument. Sir Fletcher took the opposite opinion, and bore very hard both upon the Attorney and Mr. Gren- ville, who had half-seconded Mr. Pitt's motion upon a subtle distinction (which he loves better than any of his brothers), that he seconded the motion merely as 17G(5] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 327 the foundation of a Bill to be brought in, for the better securing the liberty of the subject. Sir Fletcher said Mr. Grenville's distinction had neither solidity, common law, nor common sense. He argued that the resolution moved by Sir W. Meredith, was co-extensive both with the question before the House and the determination of Westminster Hall. He /zaZ/'-asserted that there were general warrants good and warranted by the common law, besides those provided for by Act of Parliament. Mr. Yorke took up the reply with great ability and advantage, and after much altercation on both sides, and much suppression of truth on one side, Mr. Yorke kept the field with great acclamation of the House. Sir George Savile did, as he always does, masterly and greatly. His character, his spirit, his prowess, his sagacity, and his power of expression never carried more weight or ran better. Great men were rebutted in his presence. I never heard, I never shall hear, a more truly eloquent speech (according to all the rules of the art) that [than?] Mr. Pitt's reply. No man ever rode upon a better-dressed horse, or brought him up to the object which made him snort, with more address than that rider did upon that occasion. " After this lesson in the great political manage, the altercation rose again between Mr. Attorney and Sir Fletcher, but still to the honour and victory of the Attorney. Sir Fletcher was groaned down for nisi- prills misrepresentations of what his opponent said. Lord George Sackville spoke with spirit against the question. At last, Mr. Yorke, being pressed by Mr. 328 SIR GREY COOPER [l766. Wilbraham, Mr. Forrester, Mr. Harvey, and all the other lawyers, to declare whether any respect was due to a determination of Parliament in the Court of Judi- cation, and whether the honourable gentleman would venture to pledge himself, that in no case a general warrant was good by the common law^ he got up, and, to the satisfaction and with the cry of the House, declared, that it was his firm opinion that, at this day^ after the declarations in the Third of Charles the First and the Revolution, no general warrant, that is, no warrant not describing the offender and the offence, was good at the common law ; and he said, with great warmth, that if he were a Judge in Westminster Hall, he would always treat a determination of either House of Parliament, upon a matter incident to and growing out of their privileges (in which matter they had judi- cial authority), with great respect and reverence, though he should not think himself obliged to determine the law according to such declaration \ and that if any Judge should treat the declarations of Parliament with contempt or irreverence, it might be said to him with great propriety — ' Rode, caper, vitem — tamen huic cum stabis ad aras In tua quod fundi cornua possit, erit,' * " At the close of the debate, Mr. Dowdeswell got up, and, with great weight, accused the man who had de- fended the officers who had executed such warrant at the great expense of the public, after the legality of them" had been disavowed by all the lawyers in West- * Ovid, Fast. i. 357. 1705.] TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 829 minster Hall, and whose opinions must have been communicated to the Ministers immediately after the question arose. " Mr. Grenville got up in great wrath and vehemence, and desired to know of the honourable gentleman, whether, if he had been in the Treasury at the time of such prosecutions, he would have suffered the mes- sengers to rot in gaol and not have defended them. Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer got up in reply, with his own temper and firmness, and said, ' If I had been in that gentleman's situation, I would have taken the best advice as soon as possible, whether these warrants were defensible, and if I had found they were not, I should have recommended an early submission.' " This reply was received, as all such declarations are, with great applause from the House, and great noti- fication by the few who wish well to the man who asked the question. Mr. Serjeant Hewitt, upon motives of delicacy, and I dare say honour, declared he could not vote for the question ; and to avoid it, moved the pre- vious question. There was no division, and the question was carried as I have stated it before. " I have the honour to be, " With the utmost affection and gratitude, " Your Lordship's faithful servant, "Grey Cooper. " In very great haste and hurry." The reader will, doubtless, remember that the Duke of Newcastle, in his letter of the 22nd of April alludes -■r/;. 330 LORD IIARDWICKE TO HON. C. YORKE. [l7GG. to certain ominous conferences between the King's con- fidential friend, Lord Northington, and Mr. Pitt's confi- dential friends, Lord Camden and the Duke of Grafton. A few days afterwards, the Duke of Grafton paid a visit to Mr. Pitt at Hayes, and on his return took an early opportunity of saying in the House of Lords that the Government wanted " authority, dignity, and exten- sion," but added, that " if Mr. Pitt would give his assist- ance he should with pleasure take up the spade and dig in the trenches." On the 14th of May the Duke re- signed the seals of Secretary of State. The vacant ofiice was off"ered to Lord Hardwicke who notices his refusal of it in the following letter : — " Dear Brother, " St. James's Square, May 14th, 1766. " Lord Rockingham called upon me to-day before dinner, with an ofler of the Seals, which he said he now made me with the King's knowledge and approba- tion, the Duke of Grafton having resigned this morn- ing. I will not trouble you by a repetition of my disabling excuses, or of the dutiful sense which I en- deavoured to express of his Majesty's grace and good- ness towards me on this occasion. The more coolly and seriously I think of undertaking this important office, the less inclined I feel myself to accept it. I am sure it would be too much for me, and, as a confinement in and about Town all the summer, extremely inconvenient too, if not prejudicial to my health. " I repeated to Lord Rockingham what I had said before about the Cabinet Council with the communica- 1766] LORD IIARDWICKE TO HON. C. YORKE. 331 tion of the papers ; and that if it was thought I could be of service in that situation, I was at his Majesty's disposal. " Lord Kockingham seemed to think there could be no difficulty in granting me that mark of distinction, but intimated that it would be proper to make my own excuses for declining the Seals, and take that oppor- tunity to mention the other. I said I should be ready to attend his Majesty whenever it was most convenient. Lord Rockingham promised to let me know in the course of to-morrow, and, I presume, I shall be ap- pointed for Friday after the levee. " There is another promotion which I am sure would be of more use to the King's affairs, which I am sorry to see postponed, and which, if things were on a right footing, would not be delayed a week, and which was indeed promised you in a very ejctraordinary manner by the end of the session. Would you have me drop anything on your subject when I go into the Closet? I mean, if any handle is given and it falls naturally in my way." THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE UON. CHARLES YORKE. "Dear Brother, "Richmond, May 17tli, 1766. " I made my disabling speeches yesterday in the Closet, and was very favourably heard. His Alajesty was pleased to say, he knew of nobody so fit for the office; but, after what I said to him of my health, and the effect which a constant weight of business might 332 LORD HARDWICKE TO HON. C. YORKE. [1766. have upon it, he would not blame me for declining, and graciously let me off. I plainly saw he was much embarrassed and perplexed. He said two things about yourself (which is the chief occasion of my troubling you with a letter) ; the first, that he had been informed (by the Duke of N., I think) that you had sometimes talked of quitting your profession; if that was agree- able to you, he wished you would take the Seals, and that, in his opinion, the Great Seal would with equal propriety be transferred to you afterwards, whenever there was an opening. " I told his Majesty, I believed if you had ever talked of quitting your profession, it had been in case circumstances should make it absolutely impossible for you to continue in it, and then it would be for an absolute retreat, and not to go upon another line. The King said, he only threw it out to convince me how much he wished to have one of your family in his inti- mate service. " The other point relating to you was, that the King desired I would let you know how he was concerned and hurt at the part which his servants took the other day in dividing from you in the House of Commons; that he had talked to them about it, and was greatly surprised at their conduct. On this head we both lamented the want of concert, faction, &c. of the times; all which chapter may well be spared, as I see no remedy to the evil. I cannot help adding, and then shall conclude, that his Majesty seemed very unwilling to make the Duke of Richmond [Secretary], and to 17CG.] LORD IIARDWICKE'S " MEMORIALL." 333 entertain a very favourable opinion of Lord Holder- nesse, whose savoir faire in that department he com- mended, particularly his accuracy and exactness. I threw out a word of Lord Egmont, and his Majesty said shortly, and as if he did not choose to be asked any questions about it, ' Oh, he will not think of it!' " Upon the whole, I left the King much agitated, and I could not help heartily pitying his situation, and that of the public. However, I have thrown off a great burden from my own mind, and I am not con- scious that it would have been in my power to have mended matters. " I am, dear brother, yours sincerely, "IL " P. S. The King seemed to taste the Duke of Grafton, and commended his parts; neither did he express any resentment against him for quitting so abruptly and (I think) unhandsomely." In his " Memoriall " Lord Hardwicke says in relation to these transactions, — " Towards the close of the session in April 1766, and when most of the material business was over, the Duke of Grafton (upon whom the labouring oar had lain in the House of Lords) declared his resolution of resign- ing. The only reason he assigned (as far as I could learn) that, as he had declared from the beginning, and even to the Duke of Cumberland, that he would not go on without Mr. Pitt, whose accession to that 334 LORD IIAKDWICKE'S " MEMORIALL." [1766. Ministry he looked upon as a sine qua non^ and, as there was no prospect of taking him in, several fruitless attempts having been made for that purpose, he must adhere to his original declaration; that, however, he would support the measures they were embarked in to the end of the session out of office ; and his Grace so far made his words good, that he spoke for the new Window tax bill in the House of Lords, which was strongly opposed by the Duke of Bedford and others. " Lord Rockingham's bottom was now much weak- ened; by his want of management for Lord Bute, he had lost all interest at Court. Mr. Pitt, who was possessed of real abilities, and at that time of great popularity, had refused his assistance without having carte blanche^ and would open himself to no ear but the Royal. The Opposition in Parliament were strong and numerous, and in the House of Lords much inferior in the weight of speakers. " Thus circumstanced, and having resolved not to unite with any of the sets which composed the Oppo- sition, his (Lord Rockingham's) choice of a new Secre- tary was confined to a very narrow circle. The Duke of Richmond and myself were the only persons under consideration. The former had been more active in Parliament, and was of an ambitious, enterprising turn. I have been told that Lord Rockingham (but will not answer for the truth of it) was more inclined to his Grace from the beginning, but that the Duke of New- castle's opinion, and the King's inclination, turned the scale in my favour. However that may be, the offer 17G0.] LORD IIARDWICKE'S " MEMORIALL." 335 of the Seals was made me in form by the Marquis of Rockingham not long before the Whitsun holidays in May 176G. There was great temptation in the offer; the dignity and figure the employment gave were self- evident; the opportunities it afforded of serving one's friends, were considerable ; the business was of a nature for which I had always had a predilection, and in which I had been conversant, so far as theory and study would carry me. I was tolerably well acquainted with the modern state of Europe, and, by the confidence which my father had for some years reposed in me, had been kept well informed of the most important anecdotes of a very long period. But, on the other side, there were strong and cogent objections to my undertaking so great a branch. I could not flatter myself that my expe- rience in the practice of the world (having never con- versed largely in it, and lived a good deal amongst my books), was sufficient to steer me through the rocks and quicksands of a Court and public life, and I thought myself rather too much on the other side of forty, and had lived too much in my own way, to begin acting a new part in it." After mentioning the state of his health, Lord Ilard- wicke continues : — " On weighing the whole matter as well as I could, and talking it over with some of my friends (amongst whom none but the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Grantham strongly encouraged me to accept), I soon 336 LORD IIARDWICKE'S "MEMORIALL." [17G6. determined to decline this great offer as I had done the former. " When I communicated this resolution to Lord Eockingham, he received it with much candour, ad- mitted that I was best able to judge for myself, though he could have wished my determination had been other- wise; but expressed his hopes that I would consent to be called to the Cabinet Council, where, he was pleased to say, I should be of use, and might take no greater share of the business upon me than was agreeable. It was then, if I mistake not, that he assigned the nego- ciation with Mr. Pitt, mentioned in one of the preced- ing pages, as the reason for this mark of confidence not having been shown me sooner. I readily consented to this last proposal, which was to me very flattering, and had as many of the agremens of the greater offer as I wished to enjoy, and none of the supposed difficulties; and I was in hopes that my being of the Cabinet might tend to facilitate my brother's promotion to the Great Seal ; and the confidential informations which I should receive from it, would be of service in the station he then filled* at the same time that his knowledge and abilities would be of use to me. " So much being settled between the Marquis and myself, it was necessary that I should take an audience of the King, to thank his Majesty for the great honour he had done me ; and to give my reasons for declining. His Majesty received my apology very graciously, and was pleased to say that, however agreeable my accept- * That of Attorney-General. 17(5G.] LORD IIARDWICKE'S " MEMORIALL." 337 ance would have been to him, he could not ask it after what I had said to him of my health and disinclination; that he hoped I should not have the same objection to the attending at his Cabinet Council; to which I replied with the duty that became me. " There were some remarkable passages in the con- versation, in which the King talked with seeming frank- ness and sincerity. He appeared thoroughly sensible of the weakness of his Administration, and of the dif- ficulty he found himself under to fill up this vacancy in it. He commended the Duke of Grafton's parts and manner of speaking in public (which, I believe, had been much cried up by those about him). He did not seem to taste the successor who was intended (viz., the Duke of Richmond), and said it was replacing a young man by one who was younger ; and I thought he meant I should understand, not so proper in other respects. He asked, in this part of the conference, if my brother, Mr. C, would not come into the Secretary's office; and upon my observing that I did not pretend to know his mind on that head, but that it lay out of the line of a profession which those engaged in had always kept to, he replied readily enough, ' Why should his accepting those seals be in the way of his having the other f ' I bowed and made no answer, but wished at the time that his Majesty had spoken more explicitly on the point of the Great Seal. T endeavoured to sound the King's disposition towards Mr. Pitt; but he appeared not at all favourable to him at that moment; called his popularity an Ignis fatuus^ and took some merit in VOL. I. z 338 LORD HARDWICKE'S "MEMORIALL." [1766. not having admitted him to state his own terms, which he knew were levelled against his present Administra- tion. I said something of Lord Egmont's fitness to be Secretary of State; but the King answered shortly, ' No ; he could by no means think of it, and would not own further on that topic.' Upon the whole, I was so far struck with — (I wish I may not add) was so far the dupe of his Majesty's gracious and condescending reception of me, and thought he appeared so much dis- tressed with his situation, that I verily believe had he pressed me to take the Seals with any earnestness before I left the Closet, I should have accepted out of pure duty and zeal — ' Sic me servavit Apollo.'' " After I had given the Marquis of Rockingham a short account of my audience, I went to Richmond for the Whitsun holidays, where for a week or ten days I heard no more of political arrangements, but that the DuJce of Richmond was come to town, and had accepted the Seals." George the Third, to borrow the expressive phrase of Lord Hardwicke, " did not taste the successor to the vacant seals." Among other reasons for the Royal dis- relish of the appointment, Walpole assigns the following : " Early in this reign. Lord Fitzmaurice, afterwards Earl of Shelburne, being at the time in high favour with Lord Bute, was made Equerry to the King, over the head of his superior ofiicer. Lord George Lennox. The Duke of Richmond, irritated by this slight to his rela- tive, carried a memorial to his Majesty, and commented 17G0.] CriARACTER OF DUKE OF RICHMOND. 339 upon tlie appointment in a manner that was neither ' forgiven nor forgotten/ by a Prince equally remarkable for his keen resentments and his retentive memory. The following pages will indeed afford more than one proof that the King for several years to come continued to re- gard the Duke of Richmond with no favourable eye.'" Charles Lennox, second Duke of Richmond, succeeded to his title at the early age of sixteen, and soon after- wards entered the army. He was present at the battle of Minden, and his gallantry on that occasion attracted the special notice of the Commander-in-Chief On the formation of the Rockingham Ministry, the Duke was appointed to the Court of Versailles, and performed the duties of his embassy with great ability. He was ever a devoted adherent of Lord Rockingham, under whose second Administration, in 1782, he held the office of Master- General of the Ordnance. On the death of that Minister, in the summer of the same year, the Whigs consulted who was to be the future head of the party. The Duke of Richmond claimed the post, but the Cavendishes and the other great families objected to his Grace, on account of his being so deeply pledged to Universal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments. He was highly offended at this, more especially as the Duke of Portland was proposed by the majority of the Whig party. Charles Fox tried to pacify the Duke of Richmond by saying that, per- haps, he himself, as leader of the House of Commons, might have as good pretensions as his Grace, but that he thought it right to waive those pretensions, as he z 2 340 CHARACTER OF DUKE OF RICHMOND. [l76G. too, although to a mucli less degree, was pledged to Parliamentary Reform. Moreover, as the Cavendishes and their friends were not disposed to support even the moderate views which he entertained on that subject, it was clear that neitlier the Duke of Richmond nor himself could succeed to Lord Rockingham's place, without risking a fatal breach in the party. In con- sequence of this declaration, the Duke, on the ibrmation of the Coalition, broke off from his former friends, and joined a combination still more heterogeneous in its elements than that which he quitted.* The Duke of Richmond was remarkable for the beauty of his person and the grace and courtesy of his manners. In every relation of private life his cha- racter was unexceptionable. He was a zealous friend, an affectionate brother, an attached relative. As a public man, he was very ambitious and somewhat vio- lent and impracticable. As an orator, he was rather effective than agreeable. His speeches abounded in information; his language was characterized by bold- ness and warmth of expression, and he excelled in reply. On the other hand, his memory often failed him; he made frequent pauses, and his delivery was unnecessarily slow. Yet with all these defects, he was, perhaps, the most formidable antagonist that the great- est orator of that day had ever encountered. When the Indemnity of 1766 was brought up to the House of Peers, Pitt, who had just been created Earl * My authority for this statement is the Right Hon. Sir Robert Adair, G.C.B., to whom it was made by his uncle. Lord Keppel. 17(56] DUKE OF RICHMOND TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 341 of Chatham, and appointed first minister of the Crown, wound up a fierce diatribe against the House of Peers, by declaring that he would set his face against the proudest connexion in the country. The Duke of Rich- mond took this up, and said, " he hoped the nobility would not be browbeaten by so insolent a minister." Lord Chatham is said to have been " stunned by this rough attack," and it was observed that from that day, during the whole remainder of his Administration, he appeared no more in the House of JLords. When Chatham again took part in debate, it was as a political associate of the Duke of Richmond. The alliance lasted several years. In their next difierence of opinion, Richmond uttered that speech which was considered to be Chatham's death-blow. Walpole mentions that the Duke, in answer to the notification he received from Lord Rockingham, on the subject of his appointment, marked his being sensible how little he had been his Majesty's choice. The letter alluded to is as follows : " Goodwood, Monday Evening, 19th May, 1766. " The King's thinking of appointing me his Secretary of State for the Southern Department, must ever fill my mind with the highest sense of duty and gratitude. At the same time I feel it is an honour I had no right to expect, from any use I can possibly be of, and must proceed from the partiality with which your Lordship and General Conway have represented me to his Ma- jesty. This is even more pleasing to me, than to have 342 DUKE OF RICHMOND TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [1766. been thought equal to so great an undertaking; for the esteem of my friends far outweighs my vanity. " But, however unable I fear I am to fill so important a post in the manner I could wish, I think it my duty to the King to undertake it, since his Majesty has been pleased to name me ; and the entire confidence I repose in your Lordship and the rest of his Majesty's servants, ensures me that, though my part may fail in the execu- tion, I can never be embarked in any measures, but such as are directly, tending to his Majesty's honour and the good of the public. If perseverance in these can make my services acceptable to the King, I shall esteem myself happy. "As to opposition, I foresee a great deal of very troublesome work, but am no way dismayed at it, for I have no doubt but that good measures, supported by honest men and protected by his Majesty, will ever meet with the approbation of the nation in general. The discontents of interested and disappointed men need only be despised to be ineffectual. " Lord Dartmouth's being either Secretary of State for the Plantations, or First Lord of Trade, with fuller powers, is, I imagine, very proper, having often heard that the American affairs load the Southern Department with so much business, as to make it almost impossible to go through with it. For my part, I shall be happy to leave that branch in so much abler hands." A few days after the Duke of Eichmond was ap- pointed Secretary of State, Lord Rockingham received 17G(>.] LORD NORTIIINGTON TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 343 the following characteristic letter, from the captious and grumbling Chancellor. The first paragraph appears to refer to the Bill for Quebec, which Northington made the pretext for over- throwing his colleagues. THE EARL OF NORTHINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. " My Lord, " Grange, May 22, 1766. " Your messenger came here last night as I was going to bed, (so) that I could not return him with this and the copy of the Bill till this morning. I have perused the Bill, according to your Lordship's desire, and my thoughts of it are, that should it pass into a law, it would be the most ojjpressive to the subject that ever was enacted; and that it erects into an Inquisi- tion every inferior magistrate ; and, in a summary way, vests the supreme power of tormenting in the Court of King's Bench. These are my private thoughts, perhaps shallow ones, for I own I cannot fathom the depth of modern politics. "I am glad to find your Lordship hath supplied the vacant Seals, as the state it was in was not creditable to Government; and the like satisfaction I receive in the accession of Lord North. "I am acquainted with no particulars of the state of Ireland; bad enough I suppose it must be, from the nature of that people and of our government of it ; and I presume its disorder too rank to be remedied ; but I shall be in Loudon on Sunday evening to attend my duty. 3U LORD north's anticipated rise. [1766. " The weather is so fine, the country so pleasant, and the birds so melodious, I shall regret to leave them even for the harmony I shall meet in London. " I wish your Lordship health and happiness, and have the honour to be, with great respect, " My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient '' And most humble servant, " S o'clock, A. M." " NORTHINGTON." " See," said Charles Townshend, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, " see that great, heavy, booby-looking, seeming changeling; you may believe me when I assure you as a fact, that if anything should happen to me, he will succeed to my place, and very shortly after come to be First Commissioner of the Treasury." The person here alluded to was Frederick Lord North, and the prediction was exactly fulfilled, immediately on poor Charles's death. Nor was Townshend the only person who foretold his rise. George Grenville, walk- ing with another gentleman in the Park, met the future Minister, apparently rehearsing a speech. " Here comes blubbery North," said the latter to Grenville. " I wonder what he is getting by heart, for I am sure it can be nothing of his own." " You are mistaken," replied Grenville; " North is a man of great promise and high qualifications, and if he does not relax in his political pursuits, he is very likely to be Prime Minister."""^ To Lord North, Rockingham now offered the post of * European Magazine, xxx. 82. nm.] LORD NORTH TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 345 Vice-Treasurer of Ireland; but the conduct of the Court discouraged him, as Avell as many others, from accept- ing office under the Government. " It cost him/' says Walpole, " many bitter pangs, not to preserve his virtue, but liis vicious connexions. He goggled his eyes, and groped in his money pocket, more than half consented ; nay, so much more, that when he got home, he wrote an excuse to Lord Rockingham, which made it plain that he thought he had accepted." The letter here spoken of is as follows. LORD NORTH TO THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM. "My Lord, "May 24.th, 1766. " As this is your Lordship's levee day, I am in hopes this letter will find you before you see the King. I am much obliged to your Lordship and Mr. Conway for the message you sent to me this morning by my friend Mr. Townshend, and can never be an ill-wisher to an ad- ministration from whom I have received such marks of kindness. But not to enter at large into my motives, I shall rest more self-satisfied, if I continue as I am, than if I accept the office you have been so good as to pro- pose to me. I beg pardon for all my difficulties, which must have embarrassed you and my other friends, and, particularly, for this last change of opinion. I shall be always constant in regard to your Lordship, and grate- ful remembrance of your kind intentions. " I am, my Lord, with the greatest respect, " Your most faithful humble servant, " North." 346 LORD ROCKINGHAM AND DYSON. [1760. The expression used by Lord Ilardwicke in the last quoted extract from his " Memoriall,"* that Lord Rockingham had " lost all interest at Court," did but convey the almost universal belief of the tottering con- dition of the latter nobleman, as a Minister. Yet, from the King's demeanour, he might have been led to an opposite conclusion. " Lord Rockingham and Dowdes- well," writes Lord Temple, on the 4th of May, " are caressed by the King at Court beyond expression." "Lord Rockingham himself told me," says Nicholls, " that the King never showed him such distinguished marks of kindness as after he had secretly determined to get rid of him." A message from the Crown was brought down to the Commons on the 3rd of June, by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, respecting a settlement for the Princess Caroline Matilda, about to be married to the King of Denmark. Mr. Dyson offered a precedent against the consideration of the message on that day. The Govern- ment divided, and rejected Dyson's motion by 118 to 35. The following day. Lord Rockingham begged the King would dismiss Dyson. His Majesty hesitated, but desired Lord Rockingham to talk to him. Lord Rockingham had an hour's interview with Dyson, who disclaimed opposition, but professed to dislike measures, taking care, however, to take exception against every act of the Government. Lord Rockingham, thereupon asked the King to dis- miss Dyson ; and it may be inferred from the King's * See page 334, line 12. 17()G.] THE KING TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 347 tiuswer, requested also that some Peers might be created, as a proof that he had the royal confidence. The fol- lowing answer will show with what success. the king to the marquis of rockingham. " Lord Rockingham, " I have just received your letter, and shall to-mor- row talk over the aflair of Mr. Dyson with you. As to the Peerages, I thought I had yesterday, as well as on many former occasions, expressed an intention of not, at least for the present, increasing the Peerage, and remain entirely now of that opinion. "George R. "Richmond Lodge, 35 m. past 6 p.m." Writing, towards the latter end of May, to Sir George Savile, Lord Rockingham says, " Politics are much as they were when you went away. We shall have a rough ocean to sail through; but as I hope our bottom is sound, we may weather all storms, or, at least if we should be wrecked, we shall not suffer in honour, or as private men." It was not, however, by storms, but by hidden shoals and false beacons, that the Whig vessel was doomed to founder. Secret negociations for its destruction were set on foot almost immediately after the prorogation. The first agent for this service was John Percival, Earl of Egmont. Ever since the for- mation of the Leicester House faction, this nobleman had been amongst its most able and active partisans. 348 CHARACTER OF LORD EGMONT. [1706. He was a fluent and plausible debater, and the author of several political tracts, which had considerable popu- larity in their day. When his ambition was not con- cerned, he was, if Walpole may be trusted, " humane, friendly, and good-humoured as it was possible for a man to be, who was never known to smile or laugh ; he was once, indeed, seen to smile, and that was at chess. "With considerable talents, he combined numerous eccen- tricities. When scarce a man, he had a scheme for assembling the Jews, and making himself their king. Another whim was such an affection for the olden times, as to wish to establish a feudal government in the Island of St. John ; and when he rebuilt his house at Enmore, in Somersetshire, he made it in the guise of a castle, moated it round, and prepared it to defend itself with cross-bows and arrows, against the time in which the fabric and use of gunpowder should be for- gotten." A journal which the Duke of Richmond kept of the last days of the Eockingham Administration, has reference to Lord Egmont; and when it is borne in mind that his Lordship was a Cabinet Minister, and first Lord of the Admiralty, in the Government of Avhich he speaks so freely, it renders intelligible what Burke says of the " parade of superiority" which the Court faction were wont to assume over the exterior Ministers. 17CG.] DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. 349 EXTRACT FROM THE DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. " Tuesday, June 17th, 176G. " Heard that Lord Egmont was, on Thursday the 12th, at Mr. Kigby's, wlio said, that Lord Egmont had talked of the present Administration as everybody else does; meaning that he held them very cheap. Mr. Rigby, after this, went out of town to Moore Park, for some days, in his way to Woburn. If anything had been concluded at this meeting, he would probably have gone direct to Woburn. This agrees very well with Lord Talbot's having been with the King on Thursday the 12 th and Friday the 13 th for above an hour each day, and particularly on Friday, the King's looking flustered when we went in, which was directly after Lord Talbot, for it is probable that he was dis- pleased at the negociation not having succeeded. The point, in all likelihood, was to engage the Bedfords, without the Grenvilles, to join the Butes. This Lord Egmont woidd wish, as his great dread is Pitt, and a combination of Grenvilles. " Upon giving a hint to Lord Kockingham and Mr. Conway, that some such negociations had been on foot, Lord Rockingham was for trying to get the Bedfords, without the Grenvilles, to join us, and said that Pitt, Grenvilles, and Butes together, even in administration, could not stand such an union. Mr. Conway was for getting more light into this transaction, and if it proved true, to come to an explanation with the King, for to 350 LORD HARDWICKE'S "MEMORIALL." [1760. let things go on so was ridiculous. I was for offering handsomely to take in several of Lord Bute's friends, to make the King easy, for I do not fear letting them have any places, in order to their assistance and the King's countenance, provided they are not places of Ministers, and that we keep them out of the Cabinet." " Towards the end of this month of June," says Lord Hardwicke's ' Memoriall,' " a matter came before us which was of great importance, and the rock upon which we split, or rather served as the match with which the Chancellor was permitted to fire the mine laid for the demolition of our weak Ministerial fabric. " The Proclamation which issued in 1764, when the Duke of Bedford Avas President, and Lord Hillsborough at the Head of the Board of Trade, by which all the laws of Great Britain were introduced at once into the new acquisitions, had thrown the affairs of the Province of Canada into a good deal of confusion. The natives complained that their laws of property were overturned, and new ones established, to the principles of which they were as much strangers as the language in which the decisions of the Judge were to be pronounced. Gover- nor Murray had framed local ordonnances upon this Proclamation, which the Board of Trade had reported against, and things were in such a state that it was evident some new regulations were necessary. The papers relative to these disputes had, according to custom, in the course of the winter been transmitted from the Council Office to the Attorney and Solicitor [176G. DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. 351 General. They had (from the best information they could collect) prepared a report which, before it went in form to the Council, was to be considered by the Cabinet. It is not necessary to enter further here into the report, than by saying it was a plan for the Civil Government of Quebec, the principal line of which was to leave the natives to their old rights of property or civil laws, and to temper the rigour of their criminal code by the more equitable and generous meaning of the English law. At our first meeting on this report, Lord Chancellor declared his absolute dislike to it, made several frivolous objections to particulars, and was absolutely for doing nothing till we had a com- plete code of the laws of Canada sent over, which was postponing the whole business for a twelvemonth. His Lordship took this opportunity to complain of some trifling ill usage he had met with from the Secretaries of State in the transmitting of papers; and, in short, the meeting, which was at his house, broke up re infectd^ and before another could be summoned, the Lord Chan- cellor declared he would attend no more." The next quotation from the Duke of Eichmond's Journal, refers to the same Cabinet meeting. " June 27, 1766. " At a meeting at the Lord Chancellor's, to consider further on the instructions to be sent to the Governor of Canada, his Lordship was in a very ill humour indeed. He said he disapproved entirely of the foun- dation upon which they were planned, and, therefore. 352 DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. [1766. would have nothing to do with them ; that he had, besides, never seen the papers which came from Canada, and could give no information upon this matter; that he doubted if it was legal for the King to empower the Governor, with or without his Council, to establish Courts of Judicature; that it was necessary to bring matters of such weight before Parliament. To all this Lord Dartmouth answered, that he imagined the powers given by the King could not be disputed, as it was founded on a similar practice in almost all the other Colonies; and that it could not be illegal, since this very commission to the Governor, under which he had these powers, was under the Great Seal, which my Lord Chancellor himself had affixed to it ; that what we were now doing was only acting under that commission. Mr. Murray* had executed his former instructions for ap- pointing Courts of Judicature, and other matters, in a way that was much disapproved of; we did not now pretend to give fresh powers, but instructions how to execute the former ones in a manner less exceptionable. My Lord Chancellor could make no other reply to this, than that he did not pretend to be answerable for all * Lieut. -General Murray, Governor of Canada, uncle to the Duke of Athol. In the " Church and King" riots of 1780, when there was danger of the mob forcing their way into the House of Commons, Murray thus addressed Lord George Gordon, who was sitting next him : " If any one of your lawless followers enters, I shall consider rebel- lion as begun, and will plunge my s^vord into your bosom as its pro- moter." — Hugiies' Hist, of England, vol. iii. p. 24. — "He was a brave and adventurous officer. When in command at Quebec, disdaining to await a regular siege, he marched out with an inferior force, attack- ed the French, and was defeated." — Walpole. 1766.] DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. 353 he had set the Gres^ Seal to; that these things came to him of course, and that he did not so much as read or inquire about them ; and that he had at first, when the Duke of Bedford sent the first instructions to Go- vernor Murray, disapproved of the whole plan. It being however agreed to read the instructions, the Chancellor objected to several parts, — first, to the ap- pointing Canadians being Roman Catholics, to act as Justices of the Peace, or as Judges. He doubted whether the Crown could give that power to Roman Catholics, and whether penal laws did not extend to Canada. " 2ndly. He objected to appeals from the superior Courts of Judicature to the Governor and Council. He said they should be to the King in Council in England. " His Lordship also said that he thought the old Canadian laws were to subsist till, by the aathority of Parliament, they were altered. To this it was objected to him that the King had issued a proclamation, the day of in which he promised all his new subjects the benefits and advantages of the English law; to which his Lordship replied, 'I know that, and a very silly proclamation it was.' " After much talk upon this aff'air, the Chancellor concluded with saying, that he disapproved of the prin- ciple upon which the plan was formed ; that he had always done so, and, therefore, could and would give no advice about it. " I represented to his Lordship, the diflSculties we VOL. L A A 354 DUKE OF RTCnMOND'S JOURNAL. [ 17(50. laboured under ; that the methodyn which Murray liad executed his instructions was disapproved by everybody (to which he agreed) ; that if we did nothing, we, in fact, confirmed everything Murray had done, and those very courts which he had established ; that in altering, we wished much to receive his Lordship's advice and assistance, and to do what was really for the best ; that if his Lordship would point out what was wrong or illegal, and advise us what was better, we would certainly pay the utmost attention to it; that I had, in particular, refused to sign the instructions — first, without having his approbation of them, and, afterwards, when I heard he disapproved ; that every attention had been showed in appointing councils at the times that might be most convenient to him, and that Lord Dartmouth had waited upon him with all the papers, now material, and the instructions previous to this meeting, in order to give him time to consider of them, and to make such alterations as he thought proper ; that it was, therefore, very hard to object so far, as to say that parts were, perhaps, not strictly legal, and thereby render it im- possible for us to venture to do anything against such an opinion ; and, at the same time, to refuse telling us what was wrong, or advise us how to proceed ; that if further information was necessary, his Lordship should have every paper he could wish, and that if any neglect of that sort had happened, it was certainly not de- signed, and, therefore, I hoped he would not, for a reason of that kind, refuse his assistance and prevent our doing some real service to that Colony. 17(56.] LORD ITARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 355 " His Lordship's answer was very short. That he disapproved of the whole, and would give no advice ; that it was true, Lord Dartmouth had lately been with him and explained the whole, and that he would do him the justice to say, that the instructions upon this plan, such as it is, were very well drawn up, but that he could not assent to the principle upon which they were founded; that, though he had now had information, he had never seen the first letters which were circulated in September or November last, and that now papers came to him so irregularly and so late, that he could not read them in time, to consider matters before they came to Council; that it was ridiculous to expect him to give his opinion upon matters he was not prepared upon, and, therefore, he declared he would attend Councils no more. " Other matters being taken into consideration, they were determined on, as appears by the minute of that day." LORD HARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. " St. James Square, June 30th, 1766. " I PROFESS myself to be, in many respects, a very incompetent judge of what is proper to be done in Canada, but as far as I am master of my brother's report, I think he struck out, or pretty nearly so, the true medium; and I understand from him, that the Canadians liked our free and impartial forms of judica- ture, and only desired to be left to their old laws and A A 2 356 LORD HARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. [1760. customs for private property. I doubt our great lawyer * will not agree in our ideas, and perhaps the matter may now be postponed till Governor Murray's arrival, who can give further lights. " Your Lordship will doubtless do well to talk to my brother upon it, though, having made the report, he is functus officio. Lord Winchilsea and Lord Dartmouth should likewise be taken along in the aifair. " We are packed up and ready to set out for Bed- fordshire, but as the weather is so bad, we shall not move till Thursday, which will give me an opportunity of paying my duty at the levee on Wednesday, and of receiving any commands which your Lordship and the rest of the King's servants may have for me. " I thank your Lordship for the Boston intelligence. I hope, besides rejoicings and healths (the latter of which are mostly to the Great Commoner), we shall have the more substantial returns of duty and acknow- ledgment from the Colony Assemblies. Our friend Tom* was very cross indeed, and would neither lead nor drive." * " Tom Tilbury," i. e. the Chancellor, Lord Northington. In several letters to and from my grandfather, I find this nickname applied to Lord Northington. The Hon. John Yorke, writing to his brother Lord Hardwicke, on the 19th of July, 1770, " I see by the papers that old Tilbury has hobbled up to town again ; I suppose he has been sent for to help forward some unsatisfactory change, and endeavour to divide the opposition. I always expect some mischief when I hear of the interposition of that sorry fellow." 176C.] LORD ROCKINGHAM TO HON. C YORKE. 357 THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HON. C. YORKE. " Dear Sir " Grosvenor Square, July y* 1st. " I should be glad to know if we could contrive to meet to-morrow. I think I could most conveniently to myself call at your house after Court, which would be about three o'clock. One business I have with you is relative to the Quebec affair." THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HON. C. YORKE. " Grosvenor Square, Friday, 12 o'clock, "Dear Sir, "July ye 4th, 1 766. " I intended to have wrote to you yesterday, to ex- plain to you the note you would receive from the Duke of Eichmond, desiring to see you at his house this evening. " At the Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday night (where the Chancellor was not), it seemed to be the desire and intention of all those present, that if you and the So- licitor-General would come to a private meeting at the Duke of Richmond's to-night, we might settle the mat- ter, as well as the circumstances will allow; and that your assistance, both in law and in the prudential con- sideration of the Chancellor's differing, would be of the utmost service, and that, probably, we may then do some good in this matter. " I hope to hear that you will come, and am ever, "Dear Sir, &c., " Rockingham." 358 LORD BUTE'S SUSPECTED [l766. The next entry in the Duke of Richmond's Journal is on July 6th, 1766. " When I came to the Court, after the drawing- room, I found the Chancellor had just mentioned to Lord Winchilsea, before he went into the King's closet, his dissatisfaction, and that he would attend Councils no longer. Mr. Conway and Mr. Dowdeswell had also begun to talk with the Chancellor, but were interrupted. When he came out, he went away with- out speaking scarce a word to anybody. Lord Rock- ingham went in best." THE MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM TO THE HON. CHARLES YORKE. " Grosvenor Square, Sunday Evening, 9 o'clock, " Dear Sir, . July y^ 6th, 1766. " I called at your house this evening, as I am anxious to communicate to you a political event of importance which happened this morning. I will delay mentioning what it is till I see you, which I beg may be to-morrow morning." There was, perhaps, no subject in the last century on which a greater unanimity of opinion prevailed, than that Lord Bute continued to act as the King's secret adviser several years after he had ostensibly withdrawn from all participation in pul)lic affairs ; on the other hand, the disbelief of the existence of any such secret in- terference is equally as strong and universal in the pre- 17G6.] INTERFERENCE IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 359 sent times. Writers differing upon almost every other subject agree upon this point, and have backed their opinions by various anecdotes. Lord Brougham says, "the King had never any kind of communication with him (Lord Bute) directly or indirectly; nor did he ever see him but once ; and the history of that occurrence sud- denly puts the greater part of the stories to flight which are current upon this subject. His aunt, the Princess Amelia, had some plan of again bringing the two parties together; and on a day when George the Third was to pay her a visit at her villa at Gunnersbury, near Brentford, she invited Lord Bute, whom she pro- bably had never informed of her foolish intentions. He was walking in the garden when she took her nephew down stairs to view it, saying there was no one there but an old friend of his, whom he had not seen for some years. He had not time to ask who it might be, when on entering the garden he saw his former minister walking up an alley. The King in- stantly turned back to avoid him, reproved the silly old woman sharply, and declared that, if ever she re- peated such experiments, she had seen him for the last time in her house."* Li a letter addressed to the newspapers in October, 1778, Lord Mountstuart said, "He, Lord Bute, does * Lord Brougham's Historical Sketches of Statesmen who flourish- ed in the reign of George the Third, vol. i. page 48-9. In support of Lord Brougham's hypothesis, see Adolphus' History of England, i. 108-9. Hughes' History of England, i. 137. Edinburgh Review, cxli. Oi. Quarterly Kcviovv, oxxxi. 360 LORD BUTE'S SUSPECTED [l76G. authorize me to say, that he declares upon his solemn word of honour that he has not had the honour of waiting upon His Majesty but at his levee or draw- ing-room; nor has he presumed to offer an advice or opinion concerning the disposition of offices, or the conduct of measures either directly or indirectly, by himself or any other, from the time when the late Duke of Cumberland was consulted in the arrangement of a ministry, 1765, to the present hour." In addition to the evidence already published is the following extract of a letter written soon after the formation of the Chatham ministry. THE EARL OF BUTE TO THE EARL OF HARDWICKE. " London, July 26th, 1766. " I KNOW as little, save from newspapers, of the pre- sent busy scene, as I do of transactions in Persia, and yet am destined for ever to be a double uneasiness, that of incapacity to serve those I love, and yet to be continually censured for every public transaction, though totally retired from courts and public business. In this private station, however, I cease not to be with the greatest regard, " Your Lordship's most humble obedient servant, "Bute." Without offering any opinion of my own either on the belief of the last or the present century, I will content myself with calling the attention of the reader 176(5.] INTERFERENCE IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. 361 to the following extract from the Duke of Richmond's Journal, and that which will occur a few pages further on under date of the 12th of July. " 1766, Monday, July 7th. " I WAS told that Lord Bute went this day about noon to his own house at Kew. He did not go to the common road over the bridge, but came by the river side in his coach; from his own garden he crossed alone to that of the Princess of Wales's at Kew. The Kiner also about the same time went to the Princess of Wales's at Kew, and stayed there two hours. 'Tis remarkable, that 'tis said that the Princess was not herself then at Kew, so that this was not accidental, but evidently a meeting of the King's with Lord Bute, settled so before-hand. The Duke of York, who had been the preceding evening for two hours with Mr. Stone, was this day at Richmond with the King." On this same day likewise Walpole records that "His Majesty, with the most frank indifference, and without even thanking them (the Ministers) for their services, and for having undertaken the administra- tion at his own earnest solicitation, acquainted them severally that he had sent for Mr. Pitt."* Under date of Tuesday the 8th of July, the Duke of Richmond writes : "No material occurrence;" but on the same day he says in a letter to Lord Rockingham : — * Walpole's George the Third, ii. 337. 362 DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. [l7GG. " I have intelligence that Pitt has been sent to. It comes to me in a very extraordinary way, and from one I should give no credit to, if he had not told all that the Chancellor had said to the King, and almost in the same words His Majesty used to me, and this on Sunday evening. As he is so right in one instance, 'tis possible he may be so in the other, and he speaks to it with equal certainty. " If this is so, is it not possible that the Duke of York in his late journey to Bath and Bristol, and Lord Egmont in his into Somersetshire, may have had some interview with Mr. Pitt? *' I confess I think my information to be true, but think you had better not communicate to any one but Mr. Conway, for if it is known, and that Mr. Con- way's sentiments get among our friends, it will be a race among them who shall go first to Mr. Pitt." THE DUKE or KICHMOND'S JOURNAL. " 1766. Wednesday, July 9. " The Duke of Newcastle, Lord Rockingham, General Conway, and I, met at Richmond House. " Thursday, July 10. " We were all at the drawing-room. The King and the Queen were both exceedingly civil, even affectedly so." In a letter of the same date, Horace Walpole in- forms George Montague that the outlines of a new 1766.] LORD HARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 303 administration are formed, and thus prophetically speaks of Lord Eockingham's successor and his government. " The plan will probably be to pick and cull from all quarters, and break all parties as much as possible. From this moment I date the wane of Mr. Pitt's glory : he will want the thorough bass of drums and trumpets and is not made for peace. The dismission of a most popular administration, a leaven of Bute, whom too he can never trust, and the numbers he will discontent will be considerable objects against him." THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. " July 11, 1766. " I HAVE learned from the various resolutions of these times nil admirm-i ; but I cannot say I expected this blow-up quite so soon. It is indifferent to me whether Lord Chancellor acted in his representation to the King entirely from himself or as an instrument for others, but I am sure his Lordship's very wrong understand- ing and perverse temper are one main weakness of the Administration. My poor opinion. If the King has sent for Mr. Pitt it is to put his affairs for the present entirely in his hands — as he must be sensible that the Great Commoner always expects implicit acquiescence in his hands. He will save everybody the trou])le of thinking, which is a great convenience, and I shall have my full share of it. *' I suppose you know by this time whence the source of this sudden resolution to send for Mr. Pitt has arisen. I presume from that quarter, which has and 364 DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. [1766. will have the real interior influence and weight which hurried out the last Ministers, and will the present, let the outward instruments and actors change ever so often. " P.S. I presume the Lord Chancellor was resolved to shake off this Ministry when he showed so much ill humour at his own house." THE DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. "1766, Friday, July 11. " The report at the levee was that Mr. Pitt had been an hour with the King in the morning, but that was not so. He did not come to town till near one o'clock, and had come that morning from Maidenhead or Slough. The King continued exceedingly civil in the closet. " In the evening Mr. Pitt went to the Chancellor, and was several hours with him." THE EARL OF HARDWICKE TO THE HON. C. YORKE. " Dear Brother, " Wrest, July the loth, i766. " I received a letter this morning by express from Lord Kockingham, with an account of what has lately passed in the closet, and the King's having sent for Mr. Pitt, desiring me at the same time to come immediately to town. I presume Lord Chancellor has taken his part in concert with Leicester House " I have professed to Lord Rockingham my willingness to come up when matters are ripe ; but as his Lordship seems to think we should wait a little, I do not see the 176G.] LORD IIARDWICKE TO HON. C. YORKE. 365 necessity of setting out immediately^ but will be ready to move at the next summons from him or you. " The King surely intends to put himself entirely into Mr. Pitt's hands, and he as surely means to break up the present Administration. If he makes a better, I for one shall not be sorry for it. . . . " Let me have a line by the return of the messenger, and keep me from being sent for, unless it is absolutely necessary. " I am very willing to make my bow, and to be eased the trouble of thinking by the Great Commoner, but will certainly bark at him, and show my teeth, if he means to use you ill. "P.S. — I presume Lord Chancellor had taken his resolution at our first meeting, and the report is only a pretence." FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME. " Dear Brother, " Wrest, July the loth, i766. " I shall postpone my resolution of coming up to town till I receive Lord Rockingham's answer and yours to my letters of this morning, and the rather as I find you agree with me in opinion, that there is no occasion to be in such a hurry. Indeed, the afiliir will soon be over, if the Great Commoner has carte blanche^ and we shall none of us have any counsel to take but Avhat we may give ourselves, without stirring out of our elbow chairs. If the affair draws into negociation, I shall be in time by coming up on Monday or Tuesday, and I 3GG LORD HARDWICKE TO HON. C. YORKE. [l760. would willingly have you at leisure to consult with, and not called off by the aliena negotia. " I am such a bit of a Minister, as to have no stake worth contending for in the game ; but I shall interest myself for ray friends, as if it was propria causa. At all events, I shall beg to be excused from sitting at council again with the Noble Lord who has brought this charge against his colleagues, and who would not say a word when it was 7'es Integra on the Duke of Grafton's resignation. That the bottom wants widen- ing and strengthening is certain, and I have told Lord Rockingham so from the beginning, as well as that I thought the King had no personal confidence in his Ministers. I wish he does not make it impracticable for anybody to serve him: court intrigue will throw the ablest Minister off his bias and embarrass his operations, when he thinks himself the most secure. " I am, dear Brother, yours sincerely, &c., *' Hardwicke. " P.S. The Ministers may certainly find out how far Leicester House is at the bottom of this. Lord Bute resides as little at Luton, and is always hovering be- tween town and country. He was not at his Terre on Monday last, but expected soon. Lord Egmont has behaved very civilly at our meetings ; but do you re- member what I wrote you word of his discourse to me at Court?" In a letter of the same date Lord Hardwicke says to Lord Rockingham : — 17(JG.] LORD HARDWICKE TO LORD ROCKINGHAM. 3C7 " I could have wislicd His Majesty had been a little pressed upon the reasons which determined him to send for Mr. Pitt just now, after letting slip so many much more proper occasions, particularly that of the Duke of Grafton's resignation; and declaring so often, that he thought such a step would be personally disgraceful to himself, and that he had twice before acted below his dignity, in seeing Mr. Pitt without knowing what he would propose. "I am surprised your Lordship has not more Court intelligence about the motions and intrigues of Carlton House, and the constant undermining practices of the Scotch Thane, who resides as little in the country this summer as he has done for the two last, and continues to divide his time between Luton and South Audley Street. "Whoever His Majesty thinks proper to employ, it is highly necessary he should give them his confidence and his authority too, or they will never be able to serve him effectually. If they are unworthy of the one or abuse the other, the sooner he parts with them the better. We have been told that annual parliaments would make annual ministries ; but we see the latter can be brought about, though we have not the inconvenience of the former.'^ Walpole writes also on the same day to Sir Horace Mann : — " The late Ministers — I talk of those who were in office three days ago — stuck to their text; that is, 868 DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. [l7CG. would not bow the knee to the idol that lurks behind the veil of the sanctuary. On Sunday last without any communication to the Ministers, the Chancellor, who began to smell a storm, and has probably bargained for beginning it, told the King that he would resign." THE DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. " 1766, Saturday, July 1 2th. " Mr. Pitt went at eleven from Captain Hood's in Harley Street* to Richmond; he arrived at noon and stayed till twenty minutes past four. The King at about eleven went to the Princess at Kew, although she was not there. At about one, Lord Bute was seen coming from Ealing by a by-road, so that 'tis probable he had again been to meet His Majesty at Kew. Lord Bute had been at Luton between the Monday and the Saturday ; and Martin, who came to London from thence on Thursday or Friday, knew nothing of Mr. Pitt's being sent for ; but that proves only, that Lord Bute did not tell it him; it seems clear, though, that he knew it by these two meetings with the King, and doubtless he advised it." * MR. PITT TO LADY CHATHAM. "July 12, 1766. " I WRITE this hasty line to my dearest life from the house of the Hoods, where I am perfectly well lodged. I 'm, upon honour, much better to-day ; have been at Richmond, and returned to a five o'clock chicken, which, had you been with me, would have been a happy banquet." — Chatham Correspondence, ii. 439. 1760.] DUKE OF RICHMOND'S JOURNAL. 369 The following paragrapii is lipou a detached slip of paper: it is not written by the Duke, and is ap- parently in the hand-writing of an uneducated person. " Saturday, July 1 2th. " General Carpenter came at half-past seven o'clock to ride with His Majesty. A little before eight a person came on horseback in great haste, which I took to be some servant out of livery, and since believe to be one of Mr. Pitt's servants. A little after eight His Majesty rode out, and returned about nine. About eleven His Majesty went to Kew ; I followed ; he re- turned at twelve; two gentlemen came (one an officer) to represent to His Majesty the suffering of persons in North America, with a plan of an instrument which they make use of to torment them when in prison. At one o'clock Mr. Pitt came, and returned at twenty minutes past four. At six their Majesties went out in an open chaise to take the air, and returned at half-past eight. This morning waited till nine o'clock, when the light horseman came. Nothing material." " Sunday, July lath. " The King was very civil to everybody at his draw- ing-room. The Queen was not there. I went afterwards into the closet to ask when Monsieur Durand* might have an audience to deliver letters from the French Queen, in answer to His Majesty when he recalled me from the French Embassy. The King appointed the * The French Ambassador. VOL. I. B B 370 DISMISSAL OF THE ROCKINGHAM MINISTRY. [1760. Wednesday following, and then entered into a long con- versation with me on several indifferent points." A few days after the last entry in the Duke of Richmond's journal, the Eockingham Ministry had ceased to exist, and I cannot resist inserting Burke's masterly summary of their conduct during their short tenure of office. " They treated their Sovereign with decency, with reverence. They discountenanced, and it is hoped for ever abolished, the dangerous and unconstitutional practice of removing military officers for their votes in Parliament. They firmly adhered to those friends of liberty, who had run all hazards in its cause, and provided for them in preference to every other claim. " With the Earl of Bute they had no personal con- nexion, no correspondence of councils. They neither courted him nor persecuted him. They practised no corruption, nor were they even suspected of it. They sold no offices. They obtained no reversions or pen- sions, either coming in or going out, for themselves, their families, or their dependents. " In the prosecution of their measures they were traversed by an opposition of a new and singular character; an opposition of placemen and pensioners. They were supported by the confidence of the nation. And having held their offices under many difficulties and discouragements, they left them at the express command, as they had accepted them at the earnest request of their lloyal master." FIELD MAllSHAL HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY. Since this Work went to the press, I have been favoured by a friend with some copious extracts from a manuscript collection of Letters addressed by Marshal Conway to Horace Walpole, originally made with a view to publication in a Memoir of the Marshal, then in contemplation, but which was subsequently abandoned. As a distinguished contemporary, and a friend of Lord Rockingham, Conway is entitled to a more full notice than I had been able to bestow in my text ; and my silence was only caused by the scarcity of the mate- rials respecting his private life, that are to be found either in contemporary works, or in the manuscript repositories to which I had access. I am glad therefore to supply this deficiency, especially as the letters are not without value, illustrating, as they do, the manners of the period at which they were written. May, 1740. " We went yesterday into mourning for his Majesty the King of Prussia. The present King has written a letter to M. Algarotti to this effect: ' Venez, mon cher Algarotti : mon sort est change. Je puis a present jouer de mes amis — me ne foit long temps perdre ce plaisir. .Pai de Timportance a vous revoir — Frederick Roi."" All this is mighty pretty B B 2 372 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l740. and romantic, and one would thinly that they had been friends from the cradle, for Kings do not condescend to these fami- liarities with subjects but upon extraordinary occasions ; but behold all this friendship is the growth of one week that Algarotti staid with him on his road to Petersburg with Lord Baltimore. " I must send you Admiral ' Hosier's Ghost,' though it should stand you in half-a-crown, because all the world is cry- ing out about it in some way or other. The patriots cry it up, and the courtiers cry it down, and the hawkers cry it up and down till they make one deaf. For my part I had rather hear your opinion about it than tell my own ; but I have not the patience to wait ; so must tell you that I like it extremely, and think it nn'ghty solemn and mighty poetical. Several men of sense that I have seen are of the same opinion ; judges, but not party-mad. Now, as I take you for a very indifferent politician (you understand me, I mean, indifferent in party matters), and think you far from an indifferent judge, I hope you will join with us. You know the history of his lying a long time before Porto Bello and losing almost all his crew." Walpole acknowledges this in a letter of 9th of July, 1740. " Dear Horry, " Thursday, Aug. 6, 1740. " You cannot imagine how happy you make me with that charming old stock of friendship that you say you have kept in lavender for me. It is a treasure that I value more than I can express, and without any unreasonable doubts of your grati- tude or constancy, I would have given the world to have insured it when we parted ; but aftection would be no longer affection, if it was not attended with some anxiety — if it ceased to be that res solliciti plena tivioris. How did I know but that in these cursed piratical times I might have been robbed of it .^ and what redress could I have had ? To think of making 1740.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 373 new ones instead of it, would be like that old Roman logger- head whom Velleius makes honourable mention of, who threat- ened the people, if they lost the old Coi-inthian statues, that they should find new ones in their stead. Indeed, I must have recourse to better times than these, if I would find another friendship worthy to succeed it. I won't make you any com- pliments : it is none, God knows, to tell you that I love you, if possible, more than ever, and can forgive you anything but doubting of it. So you see, my dear Horry, I am ready for your coming. You shall find your old apartment in my heart in the best order in the world to receive you. It has no need of dusting or brushing up, I assure you ; I hope you meant no such thing by saying you wrote your last only to an- nounce yourself! But you require a history of the present times of me ; indeed, you apply to the very worst person in the world. I know nothing of politics, imprimis, which is a great article in modern history. As to scandal and common news, to be sure I hear it as others do now and then, but then I am plenus rimarum ; it comes in at one ear literally, and out at the other. I have no sort of retention, and but very moderate intelligence of late, for I see nobody. Would you believe it, Horry, I have been hithei'to in this dreary city all this live-long summer ? But I can't bear summer people, and so I live a good deal alone. I now and then go to Chelsea, as you may suppose, once a week or so ; then I have a meta- morphosed quondam country sister whom you have heard of; this, with two or three dropping-in acquaintance, makes my world. So if you have a mind to hear the history of that, I can give it you, but for the great one I know nothing of it. As to myself I have a thousand idle hours, which, with some small study and a thousand idle amusements, pass as fast at least as I wish them to do. And*, dear Horry, I have 374 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1740. at last begun to draw ; you will not be sorry to hear that I shall confine myself chiefly or rather entirely to perspective, views of buildings, landscapes, &c. I feel as if I should take to it mightily, and only regret having begun so late. I have a notion Lens is dead, so I have taken a good old German, who was recommended to me by my master of mathematics (for you must know I am in the midst of that and fortifications). He seems to be good at that kind of drawing, and has done some views of parts of London, which I really think pretty. It must be owned he smells a good deal of tobacco, but time will get the better of that I hope. He diverts me by talking like my Lord Grantham, and is as solemn as he can be for his life. I almost wish I had staid for your advice, but now the affair is done I hope for your approbation. As to my performances, which are as yet only two small land- scapes, if you will take my opinion, they are moderate for the first, neither very bad nor good, but nothing tending towards a genius ; so I must depend upon time and my old German's instructions, and yours when you come over, which I beg you will do instantly. What should you do there ? You hate France, and England loves you. As for your loving it, I want to know how that stands, but I am sure it will divert you when you come, it is a pleasant animal ; one may laugh at it as much as one will, but if one grows grave there is no living here. " Your ballad is extremely pretty, and I think you have done it great injury to put it up in that halfpenny form, with such a title and a frontispiece that I could have done myself. But it is hard to plague you with so tedious a letter, and not relieve you with one paragraph of news. Here is a paper just come in, I shall read it, and if I can find anything for you, yon shall have it. Nothing but foreign news. Letters from the Hague and- Paris a la main, but they say that you 1740.] FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. 375 French are going to declare war against us immediately, and are marching your troops towards our Electoral dominion. It does not signify ; 1 am sure the war must be general. The Body Politic of Europe is in strange disorder, and a great deal of bad blood must be let out before it can possibly come to itself again, so the sooner the better. " There has been an earthquake at Naples, and a storm of hail at Geneva, according to custom ; and the Turkish Ambassador at Petersburgh made a good figure on horseback, though he is but a short, slender man, about sixty years of age. This, with the marriage of a great silk-dyer to Miss , a young lady of great beauty, merit, and fortune, and the death of an eminent distiller in Cornhill, is all that I find worth your notice. Upon Lord Augustus's death there has been a sort of negociatio]! about my coming in for Thetford, but I don't know what will come of it. I am very easy about the event of it, thanks to Jupiter, and can leave it to him without the least pain. Adieu, dear Horry. Service to Gray." " Monday, Oct. 26, 1740. " Look here, Horry, here is just such a bit of paper as you wrote to me upon, and if I can help it I won't write a word more upon it. I have just written to Selwyn, and told him that I had received your note and would answer it soon ; but it is now come into my head to do it this minute, that I may scold you for the shortness of your last, before my resentment is cooled, for you know I am soon appeased. Indeed, Horry, if one did not love you better than anybody, and you did not write better than other people, one could never forgive you ; but I forgot, those are the very reasons why I should be the most angry with you. So, know that nothing but a vehement long letter can ever make it up betwixt us. I must tell you, too, that you must write it soon, for we have fixed our journey 376 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l740. for this day fortnight, and T feel as if I should like to meet upon the best terms imaginable with you. For, to say the truth, (don't tell Horry Walpole of it) I long to see you ; indeed, I heartily wish I had been at the unpacking of your virlii, for I love to see pretty things, though I don"'t understand them ; and for your Tiberius, Vespasian, and Octavia, I honour them ; and most obsequiously kiss their hands, if they have any. What closet have you fitted up ? Are you in your old apart- ment ; or is it the other charming green closet ? Pray tell Mrs. Le Neve I like her bouts rimes much, and should be glad to hear from her the true history of 'Quoties, Domine ?'' Have you heard anything of the duel between Winnington and Augustus Townshend ? It is charming ! but don't say anything of it from me if you have not done so, because Selvvyn told me of it, and bid me not to let it go out of the family, of which family I reckon you are. " 1 hear his Majesty is come over full of his Highnesses treaty, and that he expects great applause for it from the Parliament. It is whispered too that he is like to be disap- pointed. Have you seen Lord Boiingbroke's pamphlet ? What do you think of it ? You are or ought to be a politi- cian ; but for me I trouble myself with no such thing. Have you seen or heard anything about the Opera ^ I believe it is too late for you to subscribe now, but I hope you intend to go there very often. You must know I am a Director. A Director ! well, I give you leave to make what reflexions you please upon me ; but don't say a word, for I am now trying to get my name out. Was there ever such an oaf in the world .? Do scold me, I beseech you, Horry, for that will be really some punishment to me. I may be ruined too, for what I know, and forced to elope some fair evening. You will hear nothing of me till you see my name in the paper for a bankrupt, and a description of my person. What 1741.J FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. 377 do you tliluk we do with ourselves here ? We breakfast to- gether, then part commonly and remain in our respective ' apartments till dinner, unless the day serves for walking ; but of those we have very few, and those few we make fewer by our little inclination to walk ; the country is so dirty and so dismal. At four we dine, and after dinner read some stupid book till supper, for we have a tolerably learned library here, but the worst for entertainment that ever was. All this is melancholy enough ; but we shall see you in a fort- night, my dear Horry, and that makes everything sup])ort- able. Adieu ! my compliments to all your house. So you cannot bear Mrs. Woffington ; yet all the town is in love with her. To say the truth, I am glad to find somebody to keep me in countenance, for I think she is an impudent, Irish- faced girl. " Jan. 19th, 1741. " Shall we never see you, dear Horry ? Sure Florence must have some strange enchanting power, some hidden charms that we are not acquainted with ! Are you in love there, or what is it ? If 1 don't hear you are removed before this gets to you, I shall despair of seeing you. If our spring cannot invite you here, and your flaming summer drive you from Italy, 1 shall give you over. But now is the time that young Englishmen come like herrings in shoals from all parts of the world. A new. scene is opening, where everybody will crowd either as actors or spectators. ^V'hat swarms to see the new play ! or rather the old farce acted by a new set of players. Whichever I am, it would not be worth my while to come five miles I'or it ; I shall be so indifFerent a spectator, or, if you will, so indifierent an actor, or rather no actor at all. I shall, in all probability, play no other part than that of a mute, and only help to crowd the stage, and keep those warm who play greater roles. I want much to know what you 378 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1741. think of all this, and if you feel a fear, or how ? I own I feel as if I had rather be out of the scrape, and yet it is my own fault if I am in it. But I am like those people who run into a quarrel out of curiosity, and often get a black eye or a broken head for their pains. Poor Sir Robert is to lose his head immediately as they say, about which he seems to trou- ble his head very little ; but I must tell you a good thing of Lady Thanefs before I go any further. Lord Bateman told her at the Bath that he had Sir Robert's head in his pocket. ' Are you sure of it ? '' says she. — ' Nothing surer.' — ' Why, then,' says she, ' you cannot possibly do so well as to put it on your shoulders.' On Wednesday I think they bring on a motion to remove him into the House of Lords ; then there comes the Place Bill, and God knows what besides, that will quite ruin him. This is the whole extent of my politics. I have no more time, or else I should talk to you a little more. Service to Gray. The Conwayhood salute you." '■'■ Dear Horry, " London, Feb. 16, 1741. " It is with great pleasure, you will believe, that I fulfil my promise of letting you know if there were the least sign of amendment in poor Selwyn,* of whom I gave you so melan- choly an account last post. I wish I could make this more sa- tisfactory to you and myself, by telling you he was quite out of danger, but as his distemper seemed to be at such a crisis that I believe nobody thought he would live four-and-twentv hours, the least change for the better gives us room to hope. He has had some rest : they have given him the bark, and yesterday, they tell me, he was pretty free from his delirium. These are good signs, but yet I am not so sanguine as to flatter myself that he is by any means free from danger. You are so much his friend and so much mine, that I am * .Fohii Sclwvii, cldeT l)rotlKT of George Selwyu. Hi' died in 1750. 17 U.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 379 sure you will be glad of this account, and will add some to the numberless wishes that are sent up every day for his recovery, which nobody can fail to form that knows him or knows his merit. I designed to have contented myself with giving you this account, but when I am conversing with you I am tempted, nescio qua dulcecUne, always to exceed the bounds, which, for your sake, I prescribe myself at setting- out. But I should really be to blame, if I did not give you sonic account of your father's victory on Friday in both Houses, that seemed to resemble Cimon's triumphs over land and wave. They made a motion to address his Majesty, desiring that he would be graciously pleased to remove the Right Hon. Sir Robert Walpole from his Council ; but after scheming the whole winter, holding Council upon Council, and junto upon junto, rallying the debris of last winter*'s seces- sion, and raking together the whole hotch-potch — that mingled mass of Jacobites, Tories, Whigs, Republicans, &c., men of all jninciples and of no principles — in order to give a total overthrow before next winter, calling out of their graves a dozen or two of veteres, victi, veternosi series^ who have been bui-ied for ages in the country, drowned all party feuds in October and tobacco, and even forget there was such a thing as politics ; — after all this you may well imagine they were no wiser than ever, and nothing less than Sir Roberfs head (which you know Lord Bathurst has kept in his pocket some time) was to pay for it. Nay, they had calculated to a man by how many votes he was to lose it. What would you think was Sir Robert's majority after this.'* Two hundred and ninety to one hundred and six in the House of Commons, and I think ninety odd to forty odd amongst the Peers! The first who opposed the motion in the House of Commons was Lord Cornbury ; then Mr. Southwell and JNIr. Harley. Above seventy of their sure men left the house before the question ; 380 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. COiNWAY. [1741. in short, you never saw people so totally discomfited. But observe the conduct of their leader : he sits still, waiting till Sir Robert should make his speech and withdraw, that he might attack him when he was gone with a new charge. But the whole House called upon him by name, and made him get up, which he did at last in a furious passion, and spoke very ill they say ; for Mr. Pulteney attacked him almost en- tirely upon a thing which, unluckily, was transacted during the seven years that Sir Robert was out of all employment, relating to the army debentures ; but Sir Robert declared to me the day after that his "Bpeech,) which was of an hour and a half.) was entirely made in answer to what Pulteney said, and that he did not make the least use of any notes which he had taken, or of the plan he had laid down before. I did not hear the debate, but am told they never were driven to such shifts. Some said it was sufficient reason that he had been Minister almost twenty years.* " Num tamen inveniet tarn longa potentia finem ? " This was their chief complaint, and indeed they are to be pitied, not because he has been in power so long, but because they have been out. Poor Lord Carteret was dragged into it head and shoulders ; he has been distracted between shame on one side, and fear on the other this great while. His enmity to the Duke of Argyle drives him one way, and his hatred of Sir Robert another. Two minutes after he had made the motion he rubbed his periwig off, and has not ceased biting his nails and scratching his head ever since. If you want to know their situation at present, read Milton's description of Satan and his crew of fallen Angels ; some are threatening, some silent and gloomy, some reasoning apart, but all overwhelmed with flames and disappointment ; and all in the dark as to everything but their own unhappiness. * For iiii interesting account ol' tliis debate, sec Walpole, vol. i. ()4L 17U.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 381 " So much for politics. If I go on any farther you '11 think I have caught the contagion, and am grown as politically mad as any of my countrymen ; but you must know for all this that nobody is so indifferent in party matters. I seldom think about them ; and when I do, I sometimes think one in the wrong, and sometimes the other, but commonly both. When I am angry at either side I rail, and for that moment am courtier or patriot, just as it happens ; but in the generality of my conversation I am a perfect Atticus — I converse with people on both sides, and as I don't love to trouble my head about affiiirs that I have nothing to do in, politics are the last subject I choose to talk of. " I hear we are to see you soon, and so I have heard this great while, and yet one does not see you ; but you have sent away your clothes, and so cannot stay; probation est. Be- sides, here will be a seat in Parliament warmed by some fat Courtier, that will grow cold before you come. Be sure, do not play the Lot, nor the Orpheus, nor the fool so much as to cast a look back on Florence when you are set out ; nor once think of your gallery, or the Arno, or your beauties de ce pays-Id, nor any such thing ; for if you do, you are gone — you relapse infallibly for two or three years at least. Shut your eyes all the way through Germany, and proceed straight hither, without turning either to the right or to the left. You cannot imagine how I long to give you a dish of tea in my snug lodgings, and to talk to you of a thousand things. Adieu ! " Since I began this, I hear that the doctors think Selwyn much better, and that there are great hopes of him. How often do I mutter, ' When shall we three meet again ? ' Pray come soon, that I may enjoy that wish, and then depart in peace upon my third pilgrimage to that unholy land, that land of bulls. Besides, I may be drowned, you know, in 382 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1742. going ; and then there is such fighting and such warring over the face of the earth, that one cannot call one's life one's own. What a madman peaceable people would think me, for bartering such an inestimable property for the value of 200/. per annum and the ridiculous title of Captain of Dra- goons ! Good bye ! captain or no captain, alive or dead, I shall always be sincerely yours. Service to Gray, and to my Persian friend and likeness. The family make their com- pliments.'''' Colonel Conway left England in the sjDring of 1742 to join the army. " We crept over the sea," he says, "in four tedious days, and from thence stepped immediately into a bilander ; which bilander is a certain vast fresh-water machine, an- swering one's idea of the Ark, and filled with just such a motley complement — Dutch, English, German, Flemish, civil, military, male, female, dogs, cats, &c., but all, in appearance, of the unclean kind. In this agreeable conveyance we were dragged by two lean Flanders mares up a narrow canal, and then a melancholy flat, to Bruges, a clean old-fashioned town, that has nothing to be said either for or against it but the neatness of the streets, and puts me in mind of a cleanly old woman, smug and insipid. Here we saw nothing that I care to remember, but Sir Harry Englefield's sister in a convent of English nuns. She is vastly handsome, and we were all that day violently in love with her. The next, we changed our amphibious vehicle for its counterpart upon wheels, very improperly called a ' Diligence,' which brought us five or six leagues in twice as many hours, to Ghent, where we arrived p/w* ennuyes que fatigues, and tired of nothing so much as the great tranquillity and ease of our journey." C'olonel Conway had anticipated much pleasure from enter- 171.2.] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 383 ing on the active tlutics of bis profession. To a young officer tired of balls and masquerades, and with a bead full of Vau- ban and Folard, nothing could be so delightful in prospect as Flanders and a campaign. Instead of this, be found himself confined to bead-quarters in Ghent, a dull town, where the presence of an army wholly inactive was equally unproduc- tive of instruction or interest. The society of his brother officers aftorded him no compensation for this disappoint- ment. " When I shall be reduced," he writes, " to do as they do here, which is, in the most literal sense of the word, doing nothing, is a thing that 1 have no imagination of. You won't believe me when I tell you, that they saunter about the streets, or lounge at a coffee-house or tavern all the day long." He certainly employed himself less discreditably " in sitting at home in his dimity night-gown, reading, both morn- ing and evening ; " though a more fitting occupation might have suggested itself to a Field Officer, now for the first time on service ; and still more censurable was Lord Stair, in suf- fering such raw and inexperienced troops to lose so favourable an opportunity of improving themselves in military discipline. It is not surprising that, as we read in a contemporary his- torian, " the men were idle, unemployed, and quarrelling with the inhabitants.*"* It was no slight relief to Colonel Conway, who had soon become heartily tired of this new mode of life, to accompany his friends, Lord and Lady Ancram, in an excursion to Brussels and Antwerp ; and his spirits were so far raised by * Walpole says, in liis lively style, "our troops are as peaceable there (Flanders) as on Hounslow Heath, exeept some bickerings and blows about beef with butchers, and about sacraments with ftiars. You know the English can eat no meat, and be civil to no god, but their own." — Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 20th Aug. 1742. Collected Letters, vol. i, 221. 384 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1742. it, that he addressed, on his return, a lively letter to Walpole, which is inserted here from its reference to one of the very few love-passages in Walpole's life. " Dear Horry, " Ghent, Sept. 26, 1742. " delight in your disowning your amourette twelve miles out of London. Do you forget all that passed in Chelsea summer-house on that head, and in Chelsea parlour too ? hut if you do I am sure Mrs. Le Neve does not, uor Lady Mary neither, who were both as tired of the subject as you were delighted with it. Yes, twelve miles out of London, Horry ; and yet you are in the right to commend London too. I know your beauty was little out of it at that time, gone to shine and do mischief in some country village : but its satellites accompanied it too, for I remember you made frequent excursions about that time, spite of all the dust and heat in the world. I am not simple ; I know that people like London, as Dr. Bentley said of aj^ple-pie, but nobody loves London for London's sake, but green girls and quadrille matrons. So don"'t think to get off by a vile quibble about residency and inheritance like a vile election witness. You have in short an amourette in the forms, and a sighing, and a walking in the Park, and a galloping about in chaises. All tliis I am sure of, and you have a great deal of confi- dence to deny it. Have you not made songs and read romances ^ Can you deny this too ? HoM^ever, to show my generosity, I '11 tell you how far I '11 go. Of constancy I will acquit you, and that is the last word with you. " I like your gross refusal of Dick Hammond's* party, as you call it. Had he really the face to ask you to go a-shoot- ing with him .'' — 1 believe you would hardl}^ go a shooting * Mr. Hammond was Walpole's first cousin, being the son of Sir Robert's sister, Mrs. Hammond. 1742.] FIELD MARSHAL 11. S. CONWAY. 385 with our twelve mile friend ! 'Tis as if Sir Thomas Rohin- son* had asked me to go to Barbadoes with him. You sur- prise me with what you say about winter. I have certainly made some strange blunder in my letter, for I never dreamt of wintering here. I should have hanged myself if I had long ago. I suppose I call this winter, because of tlie bad- ness of the weather, or if I reckon by the length of time I have passed here, Christmas would have come long ago. " Majesty swears he will come over and make us encamp and use us to fatigue. Then Prague-f- is not taken, and they say it grows more and more uncertain whether it will or not. The French say it will not, and thereupon little Bossu grows as pert as a pearmonger, and pretends to demand categorical answers to his foolish questions. The Haguers are asleep still, though Lord Stair is come over to jog them again ; yet they dream something of campaigns and preparations, and stretch a little, as if they might wake some time or other ; there's the conversation of this place and the everything of it, for we really have no other news here. " I like your idea of St. Austin and his paradise, and I have a notion that Ghent would make a very good paradise, for if four gates and four rivers make a place delightful, a plus forte raisoH, twenty-four gates and twenty-four rivers, which this place has at least. " I am just where I was when I wrote last, same life, same ennuis ; I have formed no sort of alliance or connexion. I don't know how it is, some people are made so that they form friendships in a moment, and stick like burrs to the * Sir Tliomas Robinson liad lieen recently apjiointed Governor of Bar- badoes. He was tlie elder brother of Primate Robinson. t Marshal Belleisle was at this time besieged in Prague by Prince Charles of Lorraine. VOL. I. C C 386 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. GONWAY. [l742. first person they meet, and I believe they are the happiest, for they never feel for the loss or absence of friends. Theirs o-row Uke hydra's heads. They have a continual supply : John ov Thomas is the same thing to them, and nature has excused them from the constant desiderium of absent friends, or the worst sufferings from bad ones. Adieu, dear Horry ! Je inen tiens a mes anci'eiis, and never was more sincerely or with greater affection, " Yours, "^ Compliments." " H. C. The inactivity to which the British were condemned must have been rendered more distasteful to them, by the contrast it presented to the brilliant success of the Austrians. Count Kevenhaller defeated the French and Bavarians united, at Lintz, and forced a large body of the former to capitulate. Encouraged by this victory the Count entered Bavaria, and forced his way to Munich, which surrendered without a struggle. At the same time, Prince Charles Lorraine, after maintaining a gallant fight against the King of Prussia in Silesia, turned suddenly on the French, and drove them into Prague, where the capture of Marshal Belleisle, and a corps of 25,000 men seemed likely to reward his enterprise. Lord Carteret passed over to the Hague in September, and in vain urged the States to allow their troops to march with the British towards the Rhine, before the enemy had recovered from the consternation caused by these reverses. Their High Mighti- nesses were as deaf to his representations as they had been to those of Lord Stair in the spring. It was, therefore, deter- mined that the troops should remain in garrison tillTVIarch, and an intimation was given to all officers who were Members of Parliament, that, if they asked leave to go home on their l)rivate affairs, and return, not all together, they would be 17*3.] FIFXD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 387 very well received. Conway was one of tliose who profited by this indulgence. The Session opened early in November. The first day of its proceedings was of so warlike a complexion, as to remove all doubt of the policy of the Government. Carteret and his colleagues embraced the cause of Maria Theresa with chivalrous zeal. Conway had the satisfaction of forming one of a large majority against a motion for disbanding the army in Flanders, and what was equally important to his prospects as a soldier, the army was placed on a footing equal to offensive operations by a liberal grant of money, as well as the accession of an auxiliary corps in British pay, of 16,000 Hanoverians. Ches- terfield in the Lords, and Pitt in the Commons, eloquently protested against measures so dishonourable to the Ministerial leaders, whose main topic in opposition had been the evils of a German war ; but the tide had now turned irresistibly in that direction. At the end of January came the welcome news of the co-operation of the Dutch, and in February, Lord Stair marched with the Anglo-German army towards the Rhine. The early operations of the British did not betoken any con- siderable alacrity in their commander. It was said, with some show of reason, that Lord Stair had run into Berg and Juliers to seek battles where he was sure of not finding them. Months were consumed in fruitless marches and countermarches, so tiiat Conway, whom the early prorogation of Parliament had released on the S-ith of April, found the army at the end of ]May lingering in the neighbourhood of Frankfort, without having even seen the enemy. On the Otli of June he writes to Walpole :— " I am glad to get a moment to write to you, for we are now upon that violent military footing, and so much in earnest, that they never let me rest. The night before last, between c c 2 388 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l743. ten and eleven o'clock, we received orders to strike our tents at midnight, and march at break of day, which accordingly we did ; and after marching backward and forward all day, came to take possession of the ground where we now are with the three battalions of Guards, and two regiments of foot. It is an advantageous post, situated upon a hill, and surrounded by woods. The French had their head-quarters at Darmstadt last night, which is about three leagues from us. Twenty battalions, which had repassed the Rhine, are now come over again, and are marching towards us. Our Generals imagine they will attack us immediately, and are in a great fluster. The troops are moving up here, both English and Hano- verian — some are already encamped. We have abundance of parties posted in the woods and about : our piquet guard lies out upon the ground, and, in short, we are as much on the qui Vive as can be. I know you are ignorant what a piquet- guard is, so I'll tell you; because in these warhke days, it is necessary to know a little of terms, in order to read ' Ga- zettes ' and correspond with one's friends. The piquet- guard is a certain number of men in every regiment who lie all night under arms, — in short, are always ready, in case of a sudden alarm, but commonly in their tents. " The spirit of our men is surprising : they desire nothing so much as to fight, and never appear so elated as when they think they are going to it. Yesterday morning, as we were drawn up to march, I saw a man of my company, who has been ill a great while, looking like all the ghosts and skeletons you can imagine. He said he was ill the day before, but the news of this march had cured him, and given him new spirits. You niust know the suddenness of this movement and the circumstances of break-of-day and drums beating, made all us young soldiers fancy we were to fight immediately. By this time, I suppose, I have heartily surfeited you with mih- 1743.] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 389 tary nonsense. I must add, however, that the Prince of Conti has certainly been beat in Bavaria with the loss of two thousand men. The progress of Prince Charles of Lor- raine in that country is prodigious. He was polite enough to send the Prince of Conti his own baggage, which had been taken. They look upon their affairs as very desperate, and that is what drives them to the thoughts of attacking us. We have been told, that they have positive orders for it, and that the whole army has taken the sacrament thereupon. This is the creed at present amongst our great people ; but for m}; self I am infidel enough to think they are in no such hurry, and that our armies may meet and look at one another without offence. " You cannot think how sorry I am for poor Moustache and for Dolly and Neddy Townshend. The first not on my own account, but on yours and poor Pafs ; and the others for their own. I agree with you entirely in everything about Lord Cornbury : in everything but the similitude that your partiality for me has traced between our characters. Indeed, Horry, I am as sensible of the amiableness of his as I am ashamed of the nothingness of my own : however, I am not less happy in your partiality than I should be vain of your judgment in my favour, if I thought it unbiassed. You bid me in your last to think of the comfort of knowing there are those who will hear my complaints and pity them. To think that I am remembered by my friends with some sympathy for all my ennuis and my cares, and perhaps with some little regret for my absence, is, indeed, the only thing that can make it supportable, and by most the greatest happiness I am capable of in my present situation. Adieu, dear Horry, you cannot think how sensible I am of all your kindness, and what comfort I shall always have in hearing from you. T won't begin to pity you till T know you are at Houghton, 300 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1743. and then only because I know you expect it. However, I think myself obhged in gratitude to answer any sum of com- passion you shall draw for ; my demands are large upon you. " Compliments to Lord Orford and Lady Mary. Oh ! and Mrs. Le Neve, &c." The conflict between the two armies, which from Conway's letter seems to have been considered imminent, did not take place. Marshal de Noailles understood the advantages better. He contented himself with harassing the British, and cutting off their supplies, until Lord Stair and the Due d'Arenberg out-manoeuvred at every point, and unable to move without encountering a very superior force, were driven to quit a dis- trict where they could no longer find the means of subsistence. An army of near forty thousand men, with the King, the Duke of Cumberland, who, with Lord Carteret, and the members of the Royal Household, had arrived on the 19th, seemed, to use the words of Lord Mahon, almost within the enemy's grasp. Their destruction seemed inevitable, but it was averted by the victory which the rashness of the young Due de Graniuiont threw into their hands at Dettingen, on the 27th, a day long celebrated in England with enthu- siasm, because the King had shared its dangers, and was supposed to have contributed to its issue. Colonel Conway was present in the engagement, but to his deep mortification the brigade of Guards, in which he served, were hindered by Baron Ilton, the Hanoverian General, from coming into the fire, a precaution for which the Baron was afterwards much blamed.* The troops efi^ected their retreat to Hanau without moles- tation ; and this was the only fruit of the victory. For a time the King cherished dreams of an invasion of France in * Walpole's Collectctl Letters, vol. i. 2.03. 174.3.J FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 391 concert with the Austrian g-enerals. The latter had come to Hanaii to discuss the scheme of operations ; but the discus- sions proved very unsatisfactory, and ended in the resignation of Lord Stair, the Duke of Marlborough, and many other English officers, vi'ho complained of the King'^s confidence being given exclusively to the Hanoverians. Conway re- turned to England in the autumn to attend Parliament. The following letters, addressed by him to Walpole subsequently to the battle, refer to these transactions : — "Dear Horry, "Camp at Haimu, July 27, N.S. 1743. " 1 am ashamed to-day I am now to thank you for two letters; yet the first, of the 25th of June, I did not receive till about three days ago. It was vastly kind, and deserves a thousand thanks ; but if you would not be angry I would tell you it was horrid to be so congratulated for one's escape from dangers one had not been in. I see by your last you won''t let one feel anything of the kind, so I shall say no more upon that subject, and even repent of what I said in my last, you will think me such a fool ! But, dear Horry, by-the-by, how can you try to spoil one so ? I am vastly inclined to think well of myself already, but that I meet with so many rubs every day, so many mementos of my own pauvretc, and if you don't abate a little of your goodness for me you will really make me as vain as I am foolish. To say I am too good for a soldier ! I remember a man, Horry, who was born a footman, and to whom nature had given extraordinary talents for that station. He might even have made a tolerable valet-de-chambre^ but that his friends persuaded him he had parts suited to the stage. He applied to Mr. Rich, obtained a diadem for his first appearance : had the misfortune not to please, fell down all the ranks of the theatre from a king to a snufl-candle, and — starved. 392 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l743. " I should never have done if I told you all the sights I have seen to-day. Prince Charles, Kevenhaller, a Croat, a Pandour, &c. The first is about thirty years old, of good soldier- like appearance, and in the countenance not unlike Lord James Cavendish ; neither short nor tall, and fattish. Kevenhaller is a little, ordinary-looking man, with a sharp face, and something of Justice Deveil upon the whole. A Pandour is something like a Houssard; but a Croat the like- ness of no earthly creature ; savage beyond all description, and then a perfect magazine of all sorts of implements, mili- tary and civil ; so they are both ; guns, and swords, and dag- gers, and pistols, and arrows, and knives and forks, and spoons, and belts, and pouches, and cartridges, to the end of the chapter. They came the day before yesterday, and go away to-morrow. What they have concerted, or whether anything, I know not. I begin to grow impatient to know, whether we shall have anything more to do or not : tell me what you think in England. I am for forcing the French to excellent terms ; but, then, dear Horry, how I long to be with you, and how I despair of it for ages. I would even now with this prospect of peace compound for three months. I cannot bear to think of it ! " JNIake my compliments to all your family. I would write to assure Lord Orford of my duty, but that I could not hope to give him any amusement, and am afraid of being trouble- some. Adieu.*" " Dear Horry, " Oct. 25, 1743, N.S. " You will wonder how I can be arrived at the Hague without having let you hear a word of my journey, and com- municating to you the vast joy I feel upon my escape, and the great part you bear in it. But the hurry of my journey, to- gether with the hurry of my spirits, was so prodigious that 174J.J FIELD iMARSIIAL H. S. CONWAY. 393 either I have forgot or neglecteel half the things necessary to be done upon the occasion. I am now at the Hague as I told you, where I am under promise to stay some days with Lord Holdernesse, by whose means I obtained my conge. Lord Iloldernesse, they say, is going to be married here : for me, remember I say nothing of it. The lady's name is Doublet. I saw her all day yesterday. Dinner at Mr. Tre- vorX and cards and supper at Lord Stair's ; and I assure you I think her both pretty and agreeable to a degree. Lord Stair has not yet taken his leave here, but does not interfere with any sort of business or politics whatever : he talks of going the beginning of next week. He entertains, too, with his usual magnificence, and, in short, may very probably be prevailed upon by his amusements and his indolence to stay something longer than he intends. I mention this, because if he holds his resolution, I think it just possible I may come over with him. I hear he stays in London this winter, but on peril of his regiment, and Government is not to make any stir in the political world, but play at whist, tout de bon, all winter long. " I hear the Duke of Argyle is succeeded in his honours and estate by his worthy brother, from whom they fall to Jack Campbell, when he shall have fuddled away his days amongst toads, spiders, and projectors. " The Hague looks like a capital, and is very pretty; but the society savours more of a large country-town ; consisting of one general circle, where all know one another, from whence the communication of news is so regular, that you have not made water five minutes before the whole town is acquainted with it. With this incessant eating, driidcing, and cards, and a French comedy, voild la Hague ! You M'ill say I form my opinion very soon, and so I do, but in short this 394 FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. [l7U. is my opinion, and whether it is right or wrong, signifies not three halfpence either to you or me. " We fell down the Rhine from Mentz to Cologne, which took up almost three days, during which time we were amused with many of the finest prospects, but particularly the most rude and romantic, the most Salvator Rosa that ever you saw, even passing the Grande Chartreuse by Cham- berri and the Savoy Mountains. Such noble horrors of rocks and woods, and ancient castles perched upon the summits of pointed rocks, with all the fury of the Rhine finding its way, or rather forcing a passage through a ridge of mountains ! I longed to loll over an Ariosto, or be buried in some end- less romance of your acquaintance, Clelia, or Cleopatra, or Amadis de Gaul. " Adieu, dear Horry, I hope I shall find you in town. I hope so for your sake and my own, and it is really an inde- cent time to be starting on those bleak plains. I am very sorry to hear Lord Orford has had a fall, but ho[)e it has had no consequence. Pray give my duty to him, and my best compliments to Lady Mary, Mrs. Le Neve, and all friends. "Adieu, " H. C." Whilst Conway was attending Parliament his merit or in- tei-est procured him the appointment of aide-de-camp to Mar- shal Wade, who had succeeded Lord Stair in the command of the British army in Germany. This promotion necessarily brought with it increased opportunities of future advance- ment, and Conway at first rejoiced warmly in his good fortune. He joined the Marshal at Ghent towards the end of May, 1744. A very short time sufficed to show him the va- nity of his hopes. Listead of gaining victories, the only object of the Marshal seemed to be to avert defeats. He was an 1744.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 395 elderly man, whose reputation had been gained in subordinate commands, particularly as a disciplinarian. The overwhelm- ing force with which the French overran Flanders, and perhaps the great name of Marshal Saxe, alarmed him for the safety of his army, and he remained an inactive spectator of the surrender of Courtray, Menin, and Ypres. His caution or timidity found a striking contrast in the rashness of the Due d'Aremberg, the commander of the Austrian counterpart, and their disputes not only created parties in the camj), but divided public opinion in England. Under such circum- stances, the campaign of 1744 reflected no lustre on the British arms. Conway returned home, disheartened and disgusted, in the autumn. The following letters were written by him during the campaign. " Dear Horry, " Lessines, May 21, N.S. 1744. " I THANK you for your kind little letter, which, indeed, had so much goodness in it that it easily covered all the fault of its extreme conciseness ; the only fault that yours can ever have with me. As to your joy upon the occasion, I should be ungrateful to find fault with that after you have told me I had some share in it ; and I assure you, you do me too much honour to think me so stiff a patriot as not to be sensible to such feelings. I felt them here in the safety of some that are with us, and I own I find myself capable of carrying them so far, that I am afraid I could see the balance of Europe shake with tolerable philosophy if the quiet possessions of ray friends and attachments were secured to me. I wish all the world happy with all my heart, but they will give me leave to wish myself so too. I would even sacrifice a great deal to make them really so, but not to nourish the pride of any system or any foction, great or little, in the universe. I am not even ashamed to say to a friend, in the midst of a camp, that I 396 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1741. look upon peace as the summum honum. I only wish them all of one mind in politics and religion, and I believe the world would be much happier and much better if they were all good Mussulmen, or good Frenchmen, than in this collision of systems and religions, kingdoms, republics, states, parties, sects, and factions. " I hear your prediction about our friend and, as you call her, my disciple, is accomplished ; and that things are almost to her present satisfaction, only he is to undergo the ordeal trial of one campaign before he can approve himself worthy. But this I dare say is of his own seeking, and I will do her the justice to think she would take him as he is, without any such chimerical probation. As to the Earl, I fancy he will wear his willow with a Christian resignation, for he seems to have been growing cool for some time as fast as the other grew hot. However it be, I really wish her very happy, and should be glad to hear he was like to make her so. I don't know him at all. "As to our military affairs, I shall not trouble you much with them. By all accounts the actual loss of the enemy in the late engagement was greater than ours, and for further conso- lation we hear the French, and even their King himself, extol the English bravery to the skies. We are promised recruits immediately, and are by no means dispirited by our disap- pointment. Tournai has capitulated, and eight days are given to the Governor to consider whether he will give up the citadel. I hear you have been at Houghton ; what could tempt you to such an extravagance ? Give my compliments to all friends, particularly Mrs. Townshend, if you see her. Does she talk of retiring ? Adieu. " Yours, dear Horry, sincerely, "H C." 1744.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 897 "Dear Horry, " Lessines, June 21, N.S. 1744. " I would fain foncy I deserve all the compliments you make me ; but notwithstanding my opinion of your excellent judgment and great love of truth, I cannot find in myself all those good qualities that you attribute to me, especially that unreasonable reasonableness that you are so good as to give me. I own I feel myself so divested of it, that I have no idea what I have done or said to impose upon you so grossly. If you knew all the ridiculous weaknesses I feel, even you would allow me to be unreasonable enough o"* conscience; nay, I dare not confess them all to you, for fear you should think me too much so. I know you are no great friend to reason, so am the less vain of your compliment ; yet in return for it I am willing to give up my reason to merit your good opinion, and fairly disclaim all title to it; only just keep so much of it as is sufficient to show me the insignificancy of it, and to make me wish for less, unless it be the reason of stoics that teaches us to be indifferent to everything. This world is not made for reason, and a man who follows it strictly is sure to be disappointed; whereas, he that forsakes it, has perhaps not above ten or twenty to one against him. For me, I am very unreasonable I own, and very whimsical in ray desires, and therefore I think it is barely possible I may be happy one time or other ; but if I am not to be so in the way I desire, I assure you neither honour, nor interest, nor regiments, nor generalships, nor kingdoms can give it me. You told me before 1 was unreasonably reasonable, now tell me if I don't appear reasonably unreasonable. In the first place, I heartily wish the campaign over; and yet, when it is, may possibly be as far from my happiness as I am at present ; if so, why I shall wish it begun again. Such uncertain creatures are we ; almost every season and every circumstance of our life makes 398 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1744. a new man of us ; so I fancy others ai*e because so I feel my- self. Hapjjy to-day, because I flatter myself with some pro- spect of success — as unhappy to-morrow, because some trivial accident has damped those hopes, and both perhaps with equal or with the least reason imaginable. All mankind, without they are very reasonable or stoical indeed, have some point in view, some wish, to the accomplishment of which all their views and all their endeavours tend. Whatever you offer them that is foreign to that, may perhaps console them a little, but cannot satisfy them. " That cruel something, unpossest, Corrodes and levens all the rest. " I won't enter too far into this discussion ; but from this I fancy many men draw a great deal of merit they have little or no real title to. It is with our passions as with our siglit, fix it firmly upon one object and you will find you hardly perceive any other. It is not that one wants sensibility, but one wants attention to them. Thus much for myself: I don't insist upon your understanding nor believing me, if you have not a mind ; it will serve as a matter of s])eculation at least, and so serves very well for the purpose of correspondence. However, I am glad to hear our friend Artemisia wants neither sensi- bility nor attention : of the first I should never suspect her ; and for the other, provided she chooses her time well, it is no great matter, you '11 say. Attentions to the absent are like those to the dead, mere pageant and ceremony, and more becoming a Mogul lady than an European Princess. I was very vain of the cutting of the hair, but that bleeding party I own is very grand and quite puts my vanity out of counte- nance ; notwithstanding which, I assure you, my rival and I are very well together. I hear he knows all about me, and in return I assure you, whatever I hear about him will not now give me a moment's uneasiness. I sincerely wish her 1744..] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 399 well and happy, and only hope we may be no mora so sepa- i*ately than we could have been together. As for the other person you mention, if I know who it is, 1 am not ashamed to say I love her very sincerely, but in such a way as to wish her very happy, while I am in Flanders, I assure you. So pray make my compliments, if you see her ; tell her I am vastly obliged to her for thinking of me sometimes; that it cannot be oftener than I think of her, and that by this time all schemes of retirement are quite laid aside. " I am afraid the citadel of Tournai is taken, or upon the point of being so. What changes this will cause with us, I don't yet know. " Adieu, dear Horry, yours affectionately, "H. C. " Compliments to Lady Mary and Mrs. Le Neve. " P.S. Since I wrote this the citadel of Tournai is given up, on condition that the garrison shall not serve anywhere till the 1st of January, 1747.^' " My dear Horry, " Elsighcm, Aug. 5, 1744. " I am quite at a loss where to begin or how to thank you for all the vast goodness and friendship of your last ; I know it is out of my power to do even that as I ought. Judge, then, how unhappy I must be in seeing it so impossible for me to do anything, that can deserve the name of the smallest return for such an abundance of kindness. I know the little value set u})on words on such occasions, and therefore shall endeavour to trouble you with as few as possible. I know they are common to art and honesty, yet I flatter myself there is a simplicity in the genuine overflowings of a heart full of real gratitude that is not to be counterfeited. If there is, that I am sure will speak for me on this occasion ; besides, I know amongst all your goodness to me you have had some opinion 400 FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. [174.4 of my sincerity, and if you have the least opinion of the good- ness of my heart you cannot doubt of my feeling everything that gratitude and friendship can make one feel for a real obligation. Nor is my joy inferior to either — a joy, my dear Horry, not arising from any thought of advantage that I intend to draw from it, but from the knowledge of having such a friend, and seeing a proof of such goodness as I thought had no longer existence, but in romances — a mere creature of the brain, and that had long been banished from the hearts of men. • I have no alloy to my satisfaction on this occasion, but the difficulty I have in refusing an offer pressed in so kind a manner, and from one whom I know not only sincere in his intention, but from an excess of goodness even desirous of putting himself to inconvenience on my account. But, dear Horry, how ver}' unworthy should I think myself of that goodness, if I were capable of accepting it ? I see the art you use to lessen the value of the obligation, by saying you have no use for it, and setting in a ridiculous light the manner in which you dispose of it ; but, as to the first, I know your income is by no means such a one as can bear an incumbrance of that kind. True, it is vastly more than is necessary for your sustenance; so is mine, and so is Tom Barry's, but the inconvenience is, retrenching ; leaving the routine in which one sets out, or living below one's rank, and the expenses of the company one lives with. If you or I had been born a ditcher, we should have thought it no sort of hardship to live upon bread and cheese, and bacon, and a plum pudding once a week ; but as it is, our ideas, our appetites, and our train of life are otherwise formed, and what would be luxury in one station is penance in another. But as to the other article, my dear Horry, look round the world. See of what kind the expenses of others are, and then see if yours deserve the name you give them. Half the money in Eng- land is sacrificed to the vices of the first owners, and the 1744.] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 401 encouragement of it in otliers, to French vintners, French cooks, and French whores, without enumerating all the train of follies that almost absorbed the other ; while yours is dis- posed of in a manner equally useful to society and honourable to yourself, by encouraging in your sphere those arts that hu- manize mankind, or by supporting those with your charity who are real objects of compassion. "I am too sensible of my own incapacity to make half so good a use of it, and I should both rob them of the effects of your generosity, and you of the pleasure of exercising it. I could use many other arguments. May not you think one time or other of changing your situation ? may not you have a family to provide for ? As to my own part, the thought of dependence is, I assure you, by much the lightest argument with me against it ; because I know you well enough to know you would take care I should forget it. Besides, my mind begins to be formed a little to dependence. I find it is my lot, and I must endeavour to bear it with as little reluctance as possible ; and as this would be only a change of dependence, I could certainly place it nowhere so well, as upon one whom I even feel a pleasure In being obliged to, as I would be bound to him by all possible ties. I hope, then, my dear Horry, you will forgive me I'efusing you now, perhaps, the only request I shall refuse you in my life ; and as I know the steadiness of your desire to serve me, I cannot help making it mine to you — that you will not think of pressing me any more on this head, as my resolution Is absolutely fixed, and as that is the only sort of acknowledgment I cannot make on this occasion. " As to the other affair about which I wrote to you, I thank you a thousand times for the Interest you take in it ; but am sorry to find any consideration should make you think It necessary to use the least reserve on that subject which, as my situation at present is not such as makes It necessary, I beg VOL. L D D 402 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY, [1744. you will avoid for the future. As to engagements, I really have none with her, but such as may be construed to arise from the circumstances you mention ; and as her honour is by no means hurt by our intercourse, 1 don"'t look upon mine as absolutely bound, especially considering the light in which sve stand at present, the difficulties that oppose themselves to our marriage, and the inconvenience arising to her from it at best ; and as to the matches refused, it must be owned that they were such as indeed were advantageous in regard to fortune, but such as in every other light she ought in prudence to refuse. Thus much on this side of the question ; on the other, an acquaintance carried on like our own, with a knowledge of each other's inclinations, may strictly be looked upon as a sort of agreement. " I find you have no great opinion of my resolution ; and, indeed, my behaviour on some occasions relating to this affair, (which I fancy you may have known something of,) has not been such as would give you a very great one. But at present with regard to that I really think, at least at present, that I am capable of keeping one, if I thought it absolutely necessary; and as to bearing what may be said, I do assure you, my dear Horry, it is impossible for you to say anything upon it that I should either imagine proceeded from any motive but that of serving (I have too good proofs of your love!) or remember afterwards to the prejudice of our friendship in any degree. What you mention, our happiness afterwards, is certainly the grand point, and as it is one of such infinite consequence, I expect from your friendship that you will say everything to me that you think or know may relate to it without conceal- ing the least tittle that you think it better for me to hear. You know, I believe, the doubts I have formerly had on that head, and though I cannot accuse her of anything lately that could revive them, you know it is easier to revive them. 1741..] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 403 than to form such ; and it is impossible to promise oneself that they would not grow again, and even more strongly in another situation. I shall say no more : you see I speak very freely to you, and beg, above all things, you will use no sort of reserve to me. By what you said, I should imagine she was concerned in the afifair that passed lately between you and — which I assure you is the first I have heard of it ; if it was so. We have at length passed the Scheld, which is looked upon as our Rubicon, and are now advanced within about three leagues of the enemy's camp. To-morrow's march will bring us pretty near them, but with the Lys between us, so that I fancy no consequences will immediately follow from it. Adieu ! another time I will write to you more fully of these things. "H. C." " Dear Horry, « Chateau d'Anstam, Sept. 2, 1744. " Nothing is so true as what you prophesy about us ; I did not quite think so when I received yours, but I assure you I am now almost convinced that we neither can nor shall do anything. Thanks to the King of Prussia, Prince Charles has repassed the Rhine, the French are coming back again, and we shall shortly be just where we were some months ago. I am in such a rage at that anointed highwayman, that filthy King of Prussia, that I could tear him to pieces. I want to have him poisoned, massacred, racked ; nothing could satisfy me about him — don't you feel just the same ? Is there any bearing it ? I hate politics of all things — they are now upon that abominable footing — to see all the affairs of Europe take a new face just as the phlegm o-r gall of one foolish fellow is uppermost. It sets the world in so ridiculous a light, and so depreciates the dignity of human nature, that there is no see- ing it with patience. And yet I think it ought to give one D D 2 404 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1744- l^atience too, for it teaches one that there is nothing in this great world that deserves a moment's care, or a moment's dependence. Kings, empires, states, ministries, and armies, all appear to me now in the light of fine raree-shows, that one may divert oneself a little with, provided one has no interest in them; but from the moment you have that, the scene changes and they become a group of tyrants, fools, pickpockets, and butchers. Yet through this crowd of villany one must be content to bustle, and the best way to get through it is to think as little as possible. " I speak now of the great world, I mean the public, for my ideas of private life are very different. I think it is impossible to make the first a foundation for one solid satisfaction, and I think the other, well managed, affords a thousand. And a propos to that, — I thank you a thousand times for all your goodness in your last ; but you shock me when you talk of determining to live so as to have it in your power to do things for me which your goodness inclines to do, but which I have already told you I could never think of accepting. No, my dear Horry, don t think of it, I beseech you ; and as the benefit is intended for me, oblige me more by resolving to live in all respects in the way that is most agreeable to yourself; for I do assure you I never should be easy a moment, if I thought you changed the least tittle in your way or your schemes of life on my account. My fortune is certainly small — is nothing at all, so is that of a thousand people that I see every day of equal rank with myself; and I shall make it my business to adapt my views and my desires to it. As to one certain point, you know that was not the only diffi- culty I had upon it ; and in the end who knows but I may be as happy as I am, as if things had taken quite another turn. You know I was always a sort of philosopher, for which you laugh at me, but it really has its use, and I really hope to be 1745.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 405 one time or other the better for it. By this time you are at Houo-hton. I Avant to know how you amuse yourself there ; do you think it possible one should wish to be with you there .'* I assure you T do extremely. I wish it for itself very much, and for your company, and I wish it too by way of not being here, — this is really dreadful ! For diversion — would you think it — we do no earthly thing but play at whist with the M quite en famille every evening ! He is vastly good, but you feel what that is. "Adieu, dear Horry; we can do nothing, I doubt, and Heaven knows how I long to have this farce over. " My compliments to Lord Orford and Lady Mary, to Mrs. Le Neve, &c." The 3'ear 1745 opened with improved prospects to Conway. Marshal Wade, whose want of enterprise, if not of military talent, had made him impopular at home, was replaced in the command of the army by the young Duke of Cumberland, then in high reputation from the spirit he had shown at Det- tingen. His Royal Highness immediately appointed Colonel Yorke, afterwards Lord Dover, a son of the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, and Colonel Conway as his aides-de-camp. The British army in Flanders had, during the winter, been placed on an efficient footing. It took the field early in April. Colonel Conway had hurried from London to join it as soon as he could be spared from Parliament. To his extreme mortification he found, on reaching Dover, that the wind had changed the very day of his arrival, and after continuing two months successively in the west had veered to the east, where most of the sailors predicted it was likely to continue for the next fortnight or three weeks. To at- tempt the passage would be useless, and yet the idea was dreadful that there might be a battle in his absence, an oc- 406 FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. [1745. currence far from improbable, since he had been informed that the Duke was marching to the relief of Mons, which had been for sonie time invested by the enemy. As it was, he joined the Duke just in time to take part in the battle of Fontenoy. " Dear Horry, " Dover, April 18, 1745. " I don't know whether you will thank me for writing from this cursed place, where 1 find no earthly thing to tell you, and can write nothing but complaints ; but if I have nothing to say on one hand I have so little to do on the other, that I don't know how I could answer passing so many idle hours without letting my friends hear something of me ; and if I have no hopes of amusing you, I know you will excuse my trying to amuse myself by writing to you, though it be a little at your expense. I was so fortunate as to arrive here the very day that the wind changed to the east, after con- tinuing in the west for two months successively, and have the comfort of hearing from most of the sailors here, that it is likely to continue in this quarter a fortnight or three weeks. To add to the agreeableness of this situation, the army is now actually in the field, and in all probability marched to the relief of Mons, which they say has been some time invested by the French, and consequently it is not very unlikely that there may be some action before we get up to it. I am not fonder of broken bones than my neighbours, but yet really am very uneasy in this situation, and wish a thousand times I had never heard of Mr. Pelham, the Parliament, and the no business that kept me so long in London ; though I must have the gratitude to own, I was as much obliged to them then as I am angry at them now, and at myself for being so. Don't you pity me excessively, with all my distresses and ennuis about me, and no sort of amuse- ment or occupation to divert me from them ? I have been 17*5.) FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 407 vastly obliged to your Abelard, and with that melancholy companion have visited all the cliffs n^ion the coast, till I was ready to take a lover's leap from some of them in errant despair. Bnt they are rather too high, and without one could be taken up by some kind shepherdess at the bottom and recovered, there would be no joke in it. Besides, it would be shameful, just at the opening of a campaign, to have so very little patience as not to live, at least, till one crossed the water, that it might be said one died abroad. That sounds tolerably even in these unheroic days ; but I don't think we have any taste for the romantic, and I fancy I should make just the same figure in a newspaper as some poor love-sick house-maid that drowns herself in Rosamond's Pond. And you. Lord how you despise one ! I really believe, instead of lamenting your cousin, you would laugh at me for being such a fool; for it is a long time since you were romantic. I remember you buried in romances and novels ; I really believe you could have said all the " Grand Cyrus's," the "Cleopatra's," and " Amadis's" in the world by heart, nay, you carried your taste for it so far that not a Fairy Tale escaped you. Quantum mutatus ! But one thing I comfort myself with ; you have laid up a vast stock of romance, and one day or other, when you fall in love, it will all break out ; and then, Lord have mercy upon you ! I would not have you come within ten miles of Dover. " I desire you will write to me and tell me all the news you know, that I may have something to say to you if I am destined to stay here. We hear of great news from Bavaria, but only by the papers, so that is not to be depended upon. Tell Lady Mary I hope she has received the books for our library : 1 left them with Mr. Smith, and a book of plays that 1 borrowed of you. " Do you know Mr. Hardenberg ? I live with him and 408 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1745. Lord Charles Hay ; tliey are very civil and good-natured, and if we don't amuse one another much, I attribute it quite to the dulness of the place and the uneasiness of our situa- tion. Adieu ! "Yours ever, H. C." " Dear Horry, " Ash, May 14, N.S. 1745, " After all my delays and distresses at Dovei*, I was cer- tainly in the greatest luck imaginable to come up time enough for the battle. I don't doubt, too, but you will think that of escaping from it, and escaping without the least accident, was at least equal to it ; and to say the truth, notwithstanding all the dignity of distress that you talk of, and the ambition of making a romantic corpse, it is a piece of fortune I am far from despising. To another, now, I should strike up imme- diately, and relate in a high, historical style, all the exploits of the day, but as I know you as unheroical as you own your- self unsentimental, I shall content myself with very few words on that head. We marched out of our camp at day-break, and began to form on the plain, which was the field of battle, before five o'clock ; from which time their cannon began play- ing upon us, and did not cease till half an hour after one, though we were engaged several hours with small arms. This plain rose gradually towards a fortified village* of the enemy, in the centre of it, and had a wood on the right, from both which their chief batteries played. Some of our battalions advanced beyond the village, and over the top of the rising, but were so miserably galled by the cannon, at the same time that they were engaged with their line, that our troops, after rallying several times, were forced to retire ; but they not caring to pursue us, we lost not a single man in our retreat, and that night brought oifall our baggage. As to the behaviour of * Tlic village of Fontciioy, which gave its name to the battle. 1745.] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 409 the Duke, of which I was witness the whole time, I can say I never saw more coolness, nor greater intrepidity than he showed throughout the whole, exposing himself wherever the fire was hottest, and flying wherever he saw our troops fail, to lead them himself, and encourage them by his example. His horse received three wounds, and he one spent-hall on his arm, which only made a slight bruise, but did him no hurt. Of us, poor Ancram and Lord Cathcart are both wounded, but they are in a very good way. For myself the balls had the same complaisance for me as for the Duke: one only hit my leg after all its force was gone ; and my horse, which I rid all day, received only a slight wound in the leg. Lieut. -General Campbell and General Ponsonbyare killed; and in general we have a vast number of officers of the company that came over with me, too. Colonel Douglas and young Ross were killed. Lord George Sackville* and Lord Charles Hay wounded, but both, I hope, are in a good way. There — I did not think I should have said so much, and I am sure you are vastly tired of it. Our loss in the right wing amounts, I think, to 5822 killed and wounded, and in the left, who, I doubt, did not do quite so well, between 1500 and 2000. Poor Berkeley is killed ; whom I lament excessively. Colonel Montague, too, is killed, and was very lucky in it, for his thigh was first broke, and the moment they took him up to carry him off, a cannon-ball took off his head. The Major, too, is wounded. " The Duke has just sent for me, so I must conclude, '■'■ Your"'s, dear Horry, most sincerely, " What poor Para pan !" The progress of the Rebellion in Scotland having thrown the country into consternation, and raised a general cry for * Lord George Sackville was wounded severely, fighting with great cou- rage at the head of his grenadiers. His laurels withered at Minden. 410 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l743. more vigorous military operations, the Duke of Cumberland was removed from Flanders, to the command of the troops, and to the North Conway accompanied His Royal Highness, and continued his correspondence with Walpole as usual. " Dear Horry, « Lichfield, Nov. 30th, 1745. " I have hardly had a moment to write yet, and only pretend now to tell you in three words that we are hitherto safe and sound. Our troops are almost all come up ; one battalion of guards came in here this morning, another is expected to-day, and the last to-morrow. The rebels are come to Warrington, which is about forty-four or five miles, I think, from this place; yet I hardly think they will venture an engagement, because they seem to have lost time and been irresolute in their motions. As soon as we are assembled, I fancy to-morrow or next day, we shall advance. If they should do the same, the affair will soon be decided betwixt us, and I hope entirely determined. If not, we are in some hopes ISIarshal Wade may be able to oppose their retreat, which they seem to think of; if the accounts are true that we have heard of their having left one hundred men in the Castle of Carlisle, and since sent twenty waggons of cheese and biscuit thither under a guard. We had some idea they might think of trying to slip us and march towards London, through Derby- shire, but they are now quite out of that road. They can't think of Chester, while we are so near. I cannot think them mad enough to go into Wales, where both the armies must block them up, and therefore they must, in my opinion, either engage us or retire immediately. All this makes me happy in a prospect of seeing the affair soon ended, which, of all things I most wish, having very little apprehension of their success. " We lay a night at Lord Strafford's on the road, and past 1745.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 411 almost a whole clay there. They were vastly polite, and would have us come though we had sent an excuse at night, because it was so late. In answer to it he sent us his coach, and said he should stay supper, so there was no refusing, though it was twelve o'clock before we got there. There was Lady Lucy, a Miss Cockburn, and Mr. Vernon, who set out early the next morning for town. It is a bad house, and I think a disagreeable place. Make my compliments to Lady Mary and Mrs. Le Neve ; let me hear from you, and believe me, " Ever yours, H. C. " Direct to me at the Duke's quarters at Lichfield, or elsewhere." " Dear Hobry, " Wigan, Dec. 13, 1745. " I am extremely obliged to you for the anxiety you express in your last on our account, and think I cannot at present make a better return for it than by taking the first opportunity to let you know that your friends are all well, and for some time at least 1 think out of the way of danger. It is true we are at present in pursuit of the rebels, with a strong body of cavalry of both armies, and some infantry ; but they are got so much a-head of us, that it is very doubtful whether we shall be able to overtake them. However, I think the step we have taken is very right, and though we should not be able to attack them, it seems incumbent upon us to wait on them out of the kingdom, and at least make their re- treat as little commodious to them as possible. They marched from Preston this morning, and are at Lancaster to-night. This place is about ten miles from the former, and our ad- vanced parties, I fancy, will be to-night beyond Preston. I have a strong idea that as soon as we appear, it will put them in a good deal of consternation, and perhaps occasion a deser- 412 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1745. tion amongst them ; for they are in great apprehensions of our cavah-y, and are besides low in spirits, and mucli harassed. They talk of halting at Carlisle to receive their reinforce- ments from the North ; but I believe our march will puzzle them excessively, and very likely make them stagger in that resolution; as it will be impossible, I should imagine, for those reinforcements to join them before we reach Carlisle, and, of course, have it in our power to intercept them. Marshal Wade is marched back with the main body of his army ; and if they stay at Carlisle will join us there. Our men are in very good healtlT and spirits, and horses in excellent order, so that if they should stand before us, I should have no doubt of success, as they cannot defend themselves against the force of our cavalry. I thank you for your reproof about my reflexion on the slowness of the JSIarshaFs proceeding ; and though I don't re- member what, or to whom it was, I must own it could not be right, as the fact on which it was grounded was not true — at least in the light I put it, which, however, was as we had been informed, and so far, I think, my reflexion was excus- able. The horse who had been advanced did halt at or near Richmond about the time I mentioned, while the foot were continuing their route. I must still say very deliberately, towards Ferry Bridge, where they halted three entire days. I must own I think there is a great fault in their proceedings, and I am the readier to say it, because I know that the fault is far from being all or even the chief part of it in the Marshal. I know that he is obstructed and hampered in every step he takes by a dead weight of Dutch troops and their generals, whom he must drag after him, and therefore he cannot act with that expedition and spirit that he ought, and that the times and our present circumstances require. " As to what regards the reflexion coming from me, I 1746.] FIELD MARSHAL II. S. CONWAY. 413 have really a great esteem for the Marshal, and am far from forgetting that he behaved with great civility to me while I was under him ; hut yet I canuot think those obligations of a nature to prevent my giving my opinion to my friends ujjon his conduct in an affair so interesting as that of his present command; and I assure you, I should do the same of any per- son in the world in that situation ; I mean with that decency that is due from one of my rank to his ; and in confidence to my friends only, where one accustoms oneself to speak with freedom one's sentiments upon most things without imagining they are ever to be called in question ; and as for opening of letters, I don''t suspect that in the number tTiat pass through the offices mine are like to make any impression, or even to incite a curiosity of knowing to whom they belong. How- ever, dear Horry, I take your reproof as I am sure it was meant : it is a liberty I love my friends should use with me. I think it is a proof of friendship, and therefore could not dislike it from any, but least of all from one of whose good- ness I have had so many marks. " We march again to-morrow morning, and I fancy shall hardly make a halt till we come up with them, or see them at least to our we plus ultra. Adieu ; give my best compliments to Lady Mary, Mrs. Le Neve, and all friends. Ned Cornwallis has just joined us with his, and is of our expedition. " Yours, sincerely, " H. C." •' Dear Horky, " Aberdeen, Wednesday, March 19, 174G. " I hear of nothing but gaieties and gallantries amongst you, which is shocking, considering that I have now for some time given up all hopes of seeing you for ages, indeed I doubt not till next winter ; for, if I get the regiment I know it 414 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l74«. will be here, and consequently I am fixed here till that time at least, and perhaps longer, at least so my fears tell me. And I am so imprudent as to have been uttering those fears in all my letters till my brother has actually chid me, and I must own he is in the right, for it may have a bad construction put upon it, as if I was indifferent to the service and not sufficiently sensible of the obliga- tion I have to the Duke on that account ; but perhaps the thing may not be so near as we thought. I imagined it was actually done, and that blowing over perhaps it may now be some time before it is determined ; so I shall in the mean time suspend both my joys and my fears on that head. But, exclusive of that, I doubt our stay is likely to be long here, considering the obstinacy of the rebels and the resolution of the Duke to see the rebellion entirely finished, which, with all the disagremens that attend it, I cannot help entirely applauding, and I am in hopes that the motions we shall soon make, will contribute greatly towards it. Our van-guard is now advanced within twelve miles of the Spey where they are, and as soon as the wind, which is more obstinate than the rebels, will let our supplies come up, we shall all move on there. The party that I told you I had been upon was to take a post called Strathbogie, where there had lain for some days past a body of the rebels, that called themselves 1500 or 2000, but were, I believe, about 800. General Bland, who commands the van-guard, consisting at present of four battalions of foot, two of cavalry, and the Campbells, marched on Monday morning early thither, in hopes to have surprised that post, and had like to have succeeded, for the rebels did not know of our approach, nor begin to move out of the town till our advanced party was within sight. They had been out in the morning attempting to surprise a post of ours, and were returned in about an hour, when they saw us 1746.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 415 advancing, and then marched oft* with great precipitation ; so we got the post very cheap at least, which is an important one, thongh we acquired no great honour. We pursued them about two miles beyond the town with some of King- ston's light horse, a few dragoons, and some of the Camp- bells ; but General Bland, fearing we should engage too far in a country we did not know, especially as night was coming on, and our troops were fatigued with a long march, ordered us to return. One of Kingston's thought he wounded Roy Stewart by a shot in his arm, and a fellow who came to Strathbogie since, says he is dead of the wound, which at least seems to confirm a little the belief of his being wounded. He staid in the rear, I believe, chiefly to reconnoitre our party. This is all the mischief we pretend to have done. However, the men found a good hot dinner in most of the ^quarters, which the rebels were just sitting down to, and perhaps were very well contented to get without fighting for it. Adieu ! dear Horry, I have no more news to tell you. Is Mrs. Le Neve with you ? my service to her. " Yours affectionately, H. C." " Dear Horry, " Aberdeen, Sunday, Marcli 20, 1746. " You are very good to pity us, and an for as pity can go in cases so desperate as ours, I can give your good patron the satisfaction of knowing it does console us ; but as you say, to combat so many demons under all the various forms of Hio^h and Low landers, friends and enemies, to combat at the same time with all that climate, country, and air can afford of disagreeable, and with it the worst of all devils, a thorough ennui and inquietude, in twenty different shapes of regret, mortification, and desire, is more than I believe my patience is well able to sustain. However, one must make the best of it, and having little or no matter for it, we here draw all our 416 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1746 consolation from the charity and good nature of our friends, who, I hope, too can afford us a thought now and then with- out interrupting too much the scene of gaiety, that I hear flourishes so in London, and which I assure you I am far from envying you, though I can't help regretting it. I assure you I hear even with pleasure how your divisions go on, and that you have sent all your discontentment and fear to Scot- land, the proper seat of them. This I would have, and pro- vided you think of us sometimes, it is all we expect. Poor Lady Chapman. I am sorry to hear her gaiety has had so unfortunate a catastrophe ; and poor Sir John, I pity him more, for I hear he is like to have his impotence made as puhlic as his wife's lewdness has long been. How could he be such a fool as to meddle with her ! I hear M. Vane Hope. Queer. Is it possible ? But indeed I am convinced there is nothing a girl won't run away with : it is the great joy they have. I hear there have been fifty quarrels between Lady T — d and Lady Car. : between the lattter and his grace a dismal one, and an irreparable breach between Lady T — d and Mr. W. These things are all very diverting, and I am vastly glad to hear the town has so much spirit. Plays, operas, and mas- querades, and balls are vulgar diversions ; but quarrels, scandal, and gallantries, charming — don't you think so ? As for us, we grow duller and duller ; the rebels have crossed the Firth of Cromarty in boats, favoured by a fog, in consequence of which Lord Loudon's fine army is, I doubt, entirely dispersed. The last accounts from Fort William look as if they were giving over their design upon that place, and everything looks as if they were going north towards Sutherland, &c., where it will be happy if we can pen them up. Adieu ! dear Horry, You see how stupid I am, how little I have to tell you. " Yours ever, H. C. " You don't say a word of Lady Mary. Pray give my 1746.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 417 compliments; ami to Churchill, I iutended to have written and wished him joy, hut I think it is too late now." " Dear Horry, " Aberdeen, Saturday, April G, 174G. " I do not know what you mean by glory and triumph. I am conscious of no title to anything of the kind, not even as they are often bestowed, without being acquired ; and I assure you, I have less taste for them since I have been sent here to hunt after them, where we have little chance to find them, and where, I must own between friends, I doubt the fjiirest sprig of laurel would hardly have tempted me to come, upon condition of remaining in this exile so long as I have done, and, much less, so long as I am afraid I am condemned to stay. " I hear now of another regiment vacant, yet my fate in regard to that still remains in suspense. I do not know whether my friends, and even I myself (for which I have had some reason too), have not been too sanguine in our expecta- tions. You know I have a sort of jumble of hopes and fears on that head, which are all at their full height at present, and so will continue until the affair is decided ; and, I must own, neither my love of money, nor desire of being recorded by the Parson of Ragley, nor hardly by yourself, have weight enough to overbalance my desire of seeing and living a little with my friends. " Pray, since when have you set yourself the task of becoming our historiographer ? I am mighty glad to hear it, 'because in less able or less partial hands I could not hope to make any figure at all. As to my picture at Echardt's (and which I suppose is now to be copied, en taille douce, for my frontispiece), I can say now, Avhat I never could before, that I wish ten times more than you can, to sit again and have it finished. However, for the print it may do very well as it is, VOL. L E E 418 FIELD MARSHAL H. S- CONWAY. [l746. the armour being much more to the purpose than the face of the hero, and it being a pretty inclitferent thing to posterity, whether my eyebrow is more or less arched, the hollow over my eye more or less conspicuous : and a propos to posterity, &c. To talk in the style of my now country, if I find that I am to live here long, I assure you I shall die very soon ; so you may be preparing your history for the press. Besides, I should be curious to see it before I die, and should be glad to know what shape it is to appear in ; whether memoirs, con- taining the adventures of my private life, or a grand history of my public one only; or whether military, civil, or both ; because on all these heads I could give you many useful hints, being acquainted with sundry curious particulars of my own story, that nobody in the world knows but myself, nor ever would, but for the fair opportunity you promise me of seeing them make a figure in the world. And indeed, I believe the principal part of my achievements are of this kind, so that it is absolutely necessary I should be consulted, especially as the ' Gazettes ** will furnish you but very sparingly ; so great is the negligence and inattention of those people. " As to a certain lady (whose connexion with my history I do not insist upon your inserting, unless you have a mind to do it for the instruction of your children, by an episode, as the ' Island of Calypso,' for instance, or rather, I should say, the 'Story of Antiope") — as to her, I do not know how it will sound if you mention it in my history, but nothing was ever greater than my tranquillity^ on hearing what you tell me confirmed : and as I really wish her well, I should be glad she is married, but I think I have seen better prospects of harmony and happiness. " Adieu, dear Horry ! We march to-morrow, that is something ; but as it is yet a long way to John o' Groat's House, I do not know when we shall turn our faces to mo.] FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 41.9 Lontlon ; so continue to pity me as much as you please, and I know of course you will try to comfort me. Yours. Ned is here. " Pray tell Mrs. Townshend I am vastly glad to hear of her recovery, and advise her against that quantity of scream- ing relations, for fear of a relapse. " P.S. Since I wrote, the ' Sheerness ' has come in with the ' Hazard ' sloop, formerly in our service, and now a pri- vateer in the French. He chased her a vast while, and at last drove her on the northern shore, after a sort of running fight of three or four hours. The crew and troops aboard all landed — in all near two hundred, with four or five-and-tweuty officers, French and Spanish, — but meeting about seventy of Lord Loudorfs regiment, mider the Captains Sir Harry Monro and Macery, with twenty militia, they were attacked by them, and after losing six, I think killed, the rest were taken, and are now brought here by the ' Sheerness.' They had at least 8000/. in specie with them, which they had landed, and was taken by Lord Loudon's men, who were so vastly rich by it they did not know what to do with it ; but they made a division, and sent five hundred as a present to the captain of the ' Sheerness,' and gave some more to some volunteers that were with them ; but on arriving here they offered to lend it to the Duke, for the use of the army, who has accepted it. It was by the oddest accident in the world that all this happened, for this party were some of Major Mackenzie's, who surrendered himself at Dornoch, on the rebels passing over the Firth, but having then made their escape, they tried to join Lord Loudon, who was marched for the Isle of Skye but found themselves intercepted, and were saving themselves by marching northward when they met with these people ; so that by the same accident they got so 420 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l746. much money and honour, and secured themselves by going aboard the man-of-war. " Besides this, the ' Sheerness ' took another small armed vessel with military stores, at the Orkneys, in her way round. This capture will distress the rebels greatly, as they are in prodigious want of money. " We have at last accounts that they have raised the siege of Blair, upon the approach of the Hessians, and that many of the Athol men have left them thereupon. I hear of no damage done on either side at this siege, but one man, I think, killed ; for the rebels kept at due distance, only firing their cannon against the walls, which are immensely thick. I write this on Monday, our march being deferred to-day, but to-morrow I fancy we shall move. "Dear Horry, « Inverness, April 18, 1746. " You accuse me of not telling you news : I am going to make up my omissions by such news as I hope will content you. We have beat the rebels — beat them in a set battle, and, I assure you, de la' bonne maniere, losing very few of our own and destroying a good number of those vermin. You have heard how they ran away from us at the Spey ; they did the same at Nairn, the place we encamped at before our last march : we were almost out of breath with running after them, and had lost all hopes of meeting with them. The truth was their people were not come in ; the young Pretender still lay at this place waiting for the junction of the Clans, who were dispersed all over the country. At Nairn we halted one day to refresh our troops as well as to inform ourselves of the posture and countenance of those gentlemen, and heard that they were assembled, had marched out of this place, and drawn themselves up in order of battle in a moor on our side of Inverness, expecting we should march that 1716.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 421 day; from all which it was pretty clear they intended to give us battle. The night before we marched they sent a strong detachment to surprise our camp, who marched back without attempting anything. On the 16th we marched and found, by deserters and other intelligence on the march, that they were posted on a great moor near Lord President's house, called Culloden House, and on our left as we marched to Inverness. This moor lies in a high mountainous country, and we imagined their design was to come down and attack our flank on the march, whereupon we bore up upon the hills to the left, and our advanced guard soon discovering them drawn up in order of battle, our march was ordered so as to come just upon their front, which was so well executed that we came up exactly over against them in the best order imaginable. They began the cannonading, but were so well answered by our artillery, which was divided between the intervals of the front line, that in about ten minutes we saw that their centre began to be in some confusion. At the same time we perceived that the Highlanders, who were drawn up very deep on each flank, began to move forward in columns to attack us, and on our left they actually made some im- pression on Barrel's regiment, attacking them sword in hand, and mixing with them. But that regiment, as well as Monro's, plying them well with their bayonets, and the second line keeping its order and advancing to sustain them, they were soon repidsed with great loss. At the same time a party of the Campbells with our cavalry on the left coming up almost unperceived upon their flank, put their right in entire confusion and made vast slautj^hter. On our rijjht, perceiving that the Clans were coming down in columns, the Duke ordered Pulteney's regiment and Kingston's horse up from the reserve to strengthen that flank; whereupon, seeing that we rather out-flanked them, and that our men kept up 422 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [1746. their fire, tliey never ventured to come amongst but sheered off", and soon joined in the deroute that was begun on the left and in the centre, and which now became quite general. From this time it was nothing but pursuit. They left all their cannon, and our cavalry did their duty very well in the pursuit, sparing very few that came in their reach. I believe they have lost between two and three thousand men, of which the major part are left on the field. All the French piquets surrendered prisoners, and some of the horse are come in since. Lord Kilmarnock and Lord Lewis Drummond with some more of their chiefs are taken, and I believe a good many killed. Brigadier Stapleton is wounded and taken. On our side the loss is very inconsiderable, not amounting to above two hundred killed and wounded ; amongst whom are very few officers, and nobody of distinction but Lord Robert Kerr killed, and Colonel Rich wounded. Bury will be with you perhaps before this reaches you, and tell you all these things much better than I can. Adieu ! Dear Horry, in vast haste. " Yours ever, " H. C. " Ned and all friends are well.'"' " Dear Horry, " Inverness, Wednesday, May 7th, 1746. " I wish I was at London, and you at Inverness, that I might find something to say to you, but in such places and such a life as ours, what can one have to talk of but swords and firelocks, marches and dispositions ; and is not it better to say nothing ? When we have a battle, or the smallest skir- mish to treat you with, you are sure to have it ; but I know you too well, and have too much consideration for you, to torment you with all the fiddle-faddle stuff that makes the body of our news and conversation. Li short, it is unreason- 1746.] FIELD MARSHAL IL S. CONWAY. 423 able of yon, most unreasonable, indeed, to complain of a soldier, in the heart of a dismal northern campaign, for not writing news or being entertaining. It is a mercy we can write at all, and if we don't tell you bad news, I think you ' ought to be mighty well contented. However, to stop your mouth for some little time at least, I wrote you not only an account of our victory, but I assure you a much longer account than I wrote anybody ; and if I continue in the same style, I have a notion should soon tire you out of your com- plaints, and make you own that it is in writing as in other things, // vaut mieux rien ecrire quecrire des Hens; unless one had Madanae Sevigue''s, your favourite, or your own turn to say them agreeably ; besides they must be an agreeable kind of nothings that are capable of such a turn ; but to think of the dry transactions of our camp turned by such a clumsy hand as mine! — it would really make you sick, and I say again I have too much consideration for you. Yet the history of our female captives I know would have flourished in your hands, and made a very good romance, serious or comic, as you happened to be disposed. Lady Macintosh, as they call her, because she is wife to the Laird of that name, is very young, and they say very handsome. I have not seen her yet. She left her husband, who is in Lord Loudon^s regiment, and led out her men, or rather his. I believe she was in the battle. Since her being taken, she has suffered no farther confinement than that of being obliged to live with her Laird, which, I believe, with the addition of two lovers that visit her constantly, the poor woman finds grievous enough — these are the old President whom you remember at your father's, and is now as old again, and Colonel Cockayne, M'hom jierhaps you have seen, both seriously enamoured. She was said to be the first in the good graces of the Young Gentleman, but I believe had only the 424 FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. [l746. uame of it ; for he is generally reckoned quite indifterent to women, and I believe a true Italian in all respects. Her favoured lover seems to have been one Macgillivray, whom she laments much (he was killed at the battle), and asks if he did not make a fine corpse ? Lady Ogilvie, I believe I told you of, is very young, too, and rather handsome, but so foolish and so insensible of her condition, that my pity for her was soon Morn out ; yet she really is much of a heroine, and might make a very fine figure in romance. Amidst all her misfortunes, and such as one would think should affect a woman most, as the loss of a young husband, not dead, but in great danger at least, and the fears of imprisonment or death, she seems to feel only for the loss of the battle and the ruin of their cause ; though she has told me in confidence that she was yet sure the Prince would come to the throne. In short, she has been so very indiscreet, and talked treason to everybody so outrageously, that the Duke now lets her see nobody which she took so to heart, that yesterday I was told she was fallen very ill. " Lady Kinloch and Lady Gordon are at liberty, and in their room we hear that Sir James, husband to the first, is taken, as is Lord Tullibardine ; I think he surrendered him- self. The young Pretender is gone towards the west coast, where he landed, and yesterday we had an account of two French men-of-war going into Loch Moidart, we suppose in order to take him off. A twenty gun ship, and I think a small sloop or two, followed them in, and engaged them some time, but finding them too strong for them, were obliged to stand out again. Orders are sent to larger ships to sail imme- diately, and endeavour to intercept them. One they say is a good deal disabled, and even our small ones intend to lie by and wait for their coming out. We have another piece of ship news, which, if it proves true, is very great, and the 1746.J FIELD MARSHAL H. S. CONWAY. 425 authority is very good, too, for the ship that brings the account from the West Indies to the Duke of Newcastle, spoke to one of ours oft* the Orkneys; who sent the report to the Commodore here. It is, that a twenty gun ship of ours, in company with a privateer, has taken the fourth galleon, the richest of them all, and worth a million in bullion. We hear of no rebels together anywhere, so that I fancy our remaining work will be pretty easy. The day before yesterday one hun- dred M'Phersons, I have a notion they were, surrendered themselves with their arms, and were brought in here by the Grants. We are preparing for our march, which I fancy will be in a few days. A shocking journey into the heart of the Highlands ; but it is all one. I mind much more the time than the conditions of my pilgrimage, and nothing shocks me now, but that I am not to see you till November, that is the term I set myself, and it is a dreadful one — adieu ! Compli- ments to Lady Mary, to Churchill, ^Irs. Le Neve, &c. " Yours ever. '5 "H. C. " P. S. I am glad the Duchess of Q.'s windows were broken with all my heart, and think she deserved more for her foolish obstinacy. I am only sorry a certain house in Lincoln's Inn Fields* did not sufter as I hear it deserved. " I had forgot Mr. Mann, nothing but the D's desiring it shall make me employ any other, but as I think he em- ploys him himself, there is no likelihood of that." * The Duke of Newcastle's. END OP THE FIRST VOLUME. F F LONDON'. Printed by Samuel Bentlet and Co. Bangor House, Shoe Lane. ■^P' DA 5-/2 RC A3 U.I STACK COLLECTION THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. lOm 6,'62(C9724s4)476D 1 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAI I IBR^RY FACILITY AA 000 238 630 b vn <'l ,!:(■ I i!;j ■'ii i; m III! I I ).ll ''It ill' »lii !■! i