J. N. BAXTER. fiv 3 .o r UBRftftf UNIVERSITY OF CALtFORMA RIVERSIDE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE OF LOKD CHANCELLOR ELDON, SELECTIONS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE. HER VAJ ONE OF HER TVIAJESTY's COUNSEL. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. i wXia-Tov anoviriv i Alexander III. He was a man of much learning, chiefly acquired in foreign coun- tries. He wrote a commentary upon Aristotle, printed at Venice in 1' several treatises upon natural philosophy, from which he appears to have I * NOTE BT THE PRBSIKT EARL OF ELDO5. These arms, borne by Lord Eldon and his family before his elevation to the peerage, are, argent, three lions heads, er gules; and for crest, a lion's head, erased, gules. f Dvuglat's Peerage of ScatUmd, Edin. 1813, vol. i. p. 245. * Douglas's Baronage of Scotland, Edin. 1798, p. 302. 20 LIFE OF LORD addicted to the abstruse studies of judicial astrology, alchymy, physiognomy and chiromancy. Hence he passed among his contemporaries for a skilful magician. "Lesly characterizes him as 'singtilarie philosophise, astronomies, ac mfdldnse laude prsEstans ; dicebatiir penitissimos magix reces&us indaguss>e.' Dante also mentions him as a renowned wizard: 'Quell' altro che ne' fianchi e cosi poco Michele Scotto fu, che veramente Delle magiche frode seppe il giuoco.' Inferno, canto xxmo. "The memory of Sir Michael Scott survives in many a legend; and, in the south of Scotland, any work of great labour and antiquity is ascribed either to the agency of Auld Michael, of Sir William Wallace, or of the devil."* Such are the elder traditions of Lord Eldon's race. A memoir of the more modern Scotts was found among his papers, in the hand- writing of his brother, Lord Stowell, from which the following is an extract : "It appears to have been an ancient practice for the people of the North to resort to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, then the great empo- ium of the northern parts of the island, for the purpose of making or improving a fortune by merchandise. Leland mentions! three fami- lies particularly, the Caiiisles, the Thorntons and the Scotts, as raised by fortunate adventurers of that description, being first, as he says, 'merchants and men of land.' Of the Scotts, particularly, he says, ' the beginning of these Scotts was by merchandise. The Black Freres were of the foundation of Sir Peter and Sir Nicholas Scotts. Asket Castle, near Felton, was these Scotts\ The lands of these Scotts came to Herons of Ford, to Dentons,' " &c. "The immediate founder of the present family (as considered by themselves) was William Scott, who rose, as others of the same name had done, by merchandise ; being a considerable merchant, who (by a successful application of his industry to various branches of commerce exercised in that place and neighbourhood) raised a competent fortune, with a reputation of unsullied integrity, and of a singular prudence and good sense both in the management of his commercial concerns and in the whole tenour of his general conduct." This was the father of Lord Stowell and of Lord Chancellor Eldon. By indentures, dated the 1st of September, 1716, describing him as William Scott, son of William Scott of Sandgate, yeoman, he was apprenticed for seven years to Thomas Brummel, hoastman, of New- castle-upon-Tyne ; an apprentice fee of <5 being paid by his father, whom family tradition describes as a clerk in a fitter's office, and a man of very good repute. The apprentice was afterwards assigned to a Mr. Joseph Colpitts, with whom he seems to have served out his time ; and having, by virtue of his apprenticeship, become enti- tled to the freedom of the town of Newcastle, he took it up on the 25th of August, 1724, and on the 7th of September, in the same * See Sir Walter Scott's note on his Lay of the Last Minstrel, canto ii. stanza xiii. t Leland's Itinerary, vol. vi. fol. 62. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 21 year, was admitted into the Hoastman's Company, which, as his sons used to observe, consisted of the first tradesmen in Newcastle.* His residence was at Newcastle, and his principal business was that of a coal-fitter. The coal-fitter is the factor who conducts the sales between the owner and the shipper, taking the shipper's order for the commodity, supplying the cargo to him, and receiving from him the price of it for the owner ; and this employment, as it involves considerable trust, is of proportionate respectability. Mr. William Scott, a complete table of whose descendants is given at the conclusion of this biography, was twice married. By his first wife, Isabella Noble, who died at Newcastle in January, 1734, and who had borne him three children, he had issue of three generations, all of whom are now extinct. He married, secondly, (August 18th, 1740, at Horton, Woodhorn, Northumberland,) Jane Atkinson, daughter of Henry Atkinson, Es- quire, of Newcastle. He lived to.be seventy-nine years of age, and she to be ninety-one. By her he had thirteen children, of whom John, the subject of this memoir, was the eighth. It will be seen from the pedigree, that those of the brothers and sisters who lived to be the companions of John, were only William, Barbara, Henry, and the last of the three Janes. The circumstances of Lord Stowell's birth were remarkable. There are two versions of them, the more commonly received being as fol- lows: On the 17th of September, 1745, the city of Edinburgh had sur- * NOTE BT THE PRESENT EAHL. We learn from Brand's History of Newcastle-on- Tyne, (1789, vol. ii. p. 269,) that a society of ostmen or hostmen had existed as a guild or fraternity in that town from time immemorial, previous to their incorporation by charter in 1600, by Queen Elizabeth. He adds, "the cause of their appointment seems to be contained in the subsequent statute, 5 Hen. 4. cap. 9. (A. D. 1404), Mar- chants aliens: 'And also it is ordained and established that in everie citie, town, and porte of the sea in England, where the saide merchants aliens or strangers be or shall be repairing, sufficient hoostes shall be assigned to the same marchants by the maior, sherifles, or bailiffes of the said cities, townes and portes of the sea; and that the said marchantes aliens and strangers shall dwell in none other plase, but with their said hoostes so to be assigned, and that the same hostes so to be assigned shall take for their travaile in the raaner as was accustomed in olde time.' Statutes by Barker, 1587, vol. i. p. 228." Brand further states that it appears, from the earliest entries in the books of this society of hoastmen, that the stranger arriving at the port of Tyne to bay coals, is called "the oaste;" and he gives an engraving of "The Seale of the Freternity of the Ostmen of the Towne of Newcasile-upon-Tine," representing the hoastman receiv- ing the stranger, and addressing him thus, "Welcome my Oste." He quotes also that "Cambden.in his llritannia, vol. ii. fol. 13 19, gives the following etymon: "'The word hostmen may not improperly be taken to be traders into the eastern parts of Europe, and may have their name from the Latin word oustmanni, f. e. the eastmen, as trading into those parts, as well as the oustmanni, i.e. the eastmen, who came from the seacoast of Germany into Ireland, where, under colour of trade and merchandise, being admitted into some of their cities, in a short time they began a very terrible war.' " The fraternity of hoastmen of Newcastle-on-Tyne, as Brand further informs us. ar also called fitters ; and he mentions that the following expressions from their o 1 books "will best explain the meaning of this appellation. 'Acts 20 Januane, IB 7th. None shall " fitt" any keell or keells of anie other brother without the consent o the owner thereof, &c.' ' Fitt Tyde' occurs ibid. . April 28, 1625, to fitt and load coles abord of the keeles, &c.' occurs." 22 LIFE OF LORD rendered to the Pretender's army, whose road to London lay directly through Newcastle. The town walls were planted with cannon, and every preparation was made for a siege. In this state of things, Mrs. Scott's family were anxious that, she should remove to a quieter and safer place. The narrow lanes, or, as they are called, chares of New- castle, resembling the wynds of Edinburgh, communicate from the upper part of the town to the quay side, and in one of these, named Love Lane, which is in the parish of All Saints, stood the residence of Mr. William Scott, conveniently situate for the shipping with which he was connected ; but the line of the town wall at that time ran along the quay between Love Lane and the River Tyne : and, the gates having been closed and fortified, egress in any ordinary way appeared almost impossible. This obstacle, however, was overcome by the courage of Mrs. Scott, who caused herself to be hoisted over the wall in a large basket, and descended safely on the water side, where a boat lay in readiness. It conveyed her to Heworth, a village distant only about four miles from Newcastle, but situate on the southern side of the Tyne, within the county palatine of Durham ; and at He- worth she gave birth to the twins William and Barbara. This is the more romantic of the two stories ; but the more accurate is probably that of Mrs. Forster, the granddaughter of Mrs. Scott, communicated in a letter to the present Lord Eldon, of which the fol- lowing is an extract: 14th Jan. 1840. "I was above twenty-six years of age when my grandmother died, and, during a constant intercourse with her, I have heard her repeat the circumstances attending my uncle and aunt's births hundreds of times; and I am the more anxious to send you this information, as of late years romantic accounts have got into various publi- cations, which are totally incorrect. "My grandmother Scott being with child in the year of the Rebellion, 1745, it was deemed more prudent for her to be confined at my grandfather's country house at He- worth than in the town of Newcastle. She was therefore attended at Heworth by a midwife who delivered her of a male infant (afterwards Lord Stowell); but some dif- ficulty arising in ihe birth of the second child, a man on horseback was despatched to Whickham for Dr. Askew, a medical practitioner of considerable eminence at that time. Dr. Askew not being at home, the man proceeded to Newcastle for Mr. Hal- lowel. When Mr. Hallovvel reached the town gate, it was, on account of the Re- bellion, closed for the night, and further delay becoming serious, instead of waiting until permission was procured from the mayor for his egress, he was let down from the top of the town wall, on the south side, and proceeded immediately to Heworth, where he delivered my grandmother." In addition to the entry of baptism at Heworth, there is, in the register at the church of All Saints, the parish where the family re- sided in Newcastle, a record in these words: "Baptized in October, 1745, 18, William and Barbara, twins of William Scott, Hoastman. Certifyd by the Rev. Mr. Leonard Rumney, Curate of Jarro and He- worth : occasioned by y e present rebellion." The danger being past, Mrs. Scott returned to her home in Love Lane, Newcastle ; and it was there that, on the 4th of June, 1751, she gave birth to John, afterwards the Lord Chancellor Eldon. The manuscript Anecdote Book, which Lord Eldon wrote in his latter years for his grandson's amusement and information, and of which the most material contents, according to the date of the re- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 23 spective subjects, will be found in the following pages, begins with this cautious record : " I was born, I believe, on the 4th of June, 1751.'" It appears from the register of the parish church of All Saints, Newcastle, that he was baptized on the 4th of the following July. The house in Love Lane, in which he was born, remained after- wards standing for many years. When it was pulled down, some small houses were built on a part of its site, and the remainder was bought by the corporation of Newcastle, who converted the ground to the widening of Forster Street. The house to which Mr. William Scott had removed, on leaving his before-mentioned residence, was also situated in Love Lane, and built by himself. It was sold by Lord Stowell after the death of his mother, but it is still standing, with a large warehouse added to it; and, having been the abode of Lord Eldon in his childhood, it has been mistaken for his birth- place. Such was the respect attaching to it on that account, that, there- being occasion to remove part of an oak beam from it, the piece was carefully preserved by one of his townsmen, Mr. Robert Gilchrist, who presented him, in 1829, with a box manufactured from that ancient relic. The lower extremity of any of these lanes or chares is called the chare foot ; and Lord Eldon is said to have one day stated in the Court of Chancery that he had been born in a chare foot.* * NOTE BY THE PRESENT EAHL. Several of the most remarkable events of Lord Eldon's life are found related in such of his letters to his family and friends as have been preserved by them ; and he has left a very few isolated memoranda. The only collected record which has come from his own pen is one which he wrote for me, when, during the summer vacation of 1824, I earnestly requested him to commit to writing the interesting anecdotes with which his conversation abounded. A few pages on detached sheets were the first-fruits of his ready and good-natured compliance. A volume was afterwards procured for the purpose; and on Saturday, December 18th, 1824, the Anecdote Book, as it was usually called (the Eldon Anec- dote Book, as it may now most properly be designated), was commenced. It begins by a brief enumeration of the principal events of Lord Eldon's life, and the dates at which they occurred: it then proceeds with a series of anecdotes, not written in any particular order, but put down in succession as Lord Eldon's own recollection, or my memoranda of the topics presented them to his attention. As the writer became more interested in it, he interspersed it with some fuller details of subjects which had occupied his professional and political thoughts, and which were beyond the scope of its original character. It still, however, is in no wise to be considered as a studied or laboured work ; it was written off hand, not transcribed from any rough copies, with, perhaps, the single exception of what Lord Eldon gives as "the Speech of the Duke of York on the Roman Catholic question, copied from a paper, in which I wrote it down, immediately after my return from the House of Lords, in 1825:" even the anecdotes which had been written detachedly in the summer of 1824 were not copied into it, but were written anew ; and there is scarcely a blot or erasure in the whole volume, which consists of about 160 pages, closely written, and of what is commonly called letter-paper size; while, nevertheless, there are but few clerical errors to be found in it. * There is a story, too, that at the Newcastle assizes, in a case where a witness swore that at a certain time he saw three men come out of the foot of a chare, the judge who tried the indictment recommended it to the jury to take no notice of this evidence, as being decidedly that of an insane person. The foreman of the jury, however, restored the credit of the witness, by explaining that the chare, from whose foot the three men had been seen to issue, was not an article of furniture but a narrow street. 24 LIFE OF LORD Lord Eldon's elder sister, Barbara, used to relate that, during one of their mother's confinements, "Master Jacky being in her room in a go-cart, the nurse quitted her for something that was wanted, leaving the door open ; away went Master Jacky after her, tumbling down a whole flight of steps, go-cart and all. Mrs. Scott got a great fright, being unable to get out of bed to stop him." But no other mischief seems to have ensued. When William Scott was old enough to begin his education, his father sent him to a mistress's school to be taught to read. He very soon, however, stoutly refused to go, and told his father he would go to a master, but he would not be taught by any old woman living. He was then about four years old. Mr. Scott was pleased with the boy's spirit, and sent him to Mr. Warden, an approved master of that day, and long remembered in Newcastle by the name of Dominie Warden. John afterwards received the rudiments of his education from the same instructor. His manner of teaching to read had this peculiarity, that instead of sounding each consonant with an auxiliary vowel, as B be, F ef, K ka, and so forth, he confined the expression of each consonant to its own almost mute sound, as B, F, or K. This mode of muffling the consonants is said to have been very successful with the learners. At suitable ages, the three young Scotts were sent to the Royal Grammar School, then called the Head School, and anciently the Hye School, founded by Thomas Horsley, mayor of Newcastle in the years 1525 and 1533* "to be free for any within or without that town." He left lands for its maintenance, and the corporation of the town, in whom he vested the patronage, added a stipend of four marks yearly for ever. Its first situation was in St. Nicholas's church- yard, in a building on the northeast side of the church. Afterwards, when it became a royal foundation, under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in the forty-second year of her reign, it was removed to the hospital of St. Mary, in the Westgate. The charter declares the queen's regard for the instruction of youth, from their tender years, in the rudiments of the true Christian religion, and in learning and good manners ; directs that the foundation be styled the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth ; and constitutes the master and scholars a body corporate. Bentley's celebrated antagonist Richard Dawes, the author of the Miscellanea Critica, had been head master of this school from 1738 to 1749, in the latter of which years he resigned, and was succeeded by the Rev. Hugh Moises, fellow of Peterhouse. Dawes's eccen- tricities had reduced the number of the scholars. The assailant of the formidable Bentley had, according to the Biographia Britannica, been much addicted to the amusement of bell-ringing, until he relinquished his employments and retired to He worth, the little village on the Tyne, before mentioned as the birth-place of the twins ; where, instead of ringing, he took to rowing. His successor, Mr. Moises, by the * See Brand's History of Newcastle, vol. i. p. 86. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 25 agreeable manners and decorous conduct which he combined with his very considerable learning, soon restored the school to its reputa- tion and popularity. He received no boarders, but was unremitting in his attention to his pupils ; and the school had in his time this further advantage, as a place of education, that the principles of mathematical science were then taught there by no less considerable a master than the afterwards celebrated Professor Hutton. With such facilities for instruction, the town of Newcastle, when distant journeys were more tedious and expensive than at present, recommended itself very generally to the northern country gentlemen who had boys to be educated. The custom that the masters of this school should teach there in their university-gowns gave additional dignity to the business of instruction. We learn, from the Memoirs of Mr. Moises, written by his pupil, the Rev. John Brewster, rector of Egglesclifie,* that when the Scotts were at the school, the arrangement of it was as follows: "Mr. Moises, as head-master, with the senior scholars, occupied the inner apart- ment or election room ; the second master's place was on a platform elevation of two steps at the upper end of the school-room ; and the third master's seat was near the lower end. The master, who first came into school in the morning, read a selection of prayers from the Liturgy, from the second master's seat ; and one of the senior boys read a chapter of the New Testament, from a pew or rostrum rising behind it. After this, the business of the day commenced. I do not imagine that the practice of the school differed essentially from that of the higher schools, so justly celebrated in this country. The boys were arranged in classes, according to their age and attainments; and, that all might come under the head-master's eye, every Friday was appointed as his day of hearing of the lower schools. Mr. Moises had a pleasing and familiar way of interpreting the Latin classics, particularly Horace and Terence. When the lesson came from Terence, the boys were delighted with the dramatic turn which the master gave to the interpretation. He read also the comedies of Plautus with the same effect. Mr. Moises was particularly distinguished by his knowledge of the Greek choruses, and, therefore, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes were read in the school. The senior boys also read the orations of Isocrates, the oration of ^Eschines in Clesiphontem, and of Demosthenes de Corona. He also required a translation of the whole of the Commentary of Longinus on the Sublime,- and expected a particular account of all their studies. Sometimes he lent them books, which were not in the course of school reading. Latin and English declamations, and the usual themes, were part of the exercises of the school; and when any boy did not write Latin verse with some taste for that mode of composi- tion, he was not compelled invita Minerva to attempt it, but he was required to finish his English essays with peculiar niceness. This led many of his pupils to the early practice of English prose composition; and to such as were intended for holy orders he recommended to compose their oum sermons. ' These,' he used to say, ' will not be such, perhaps, as you will approve of in maturer years, but they will give you such an habit of study and composition as will be of essential advantage. Having used them, burn them, and write others.' "Mr. Moises was particularly attentive to the instruction which he gave to young men just enteringnpon the study of divinity: and as his kclureson the New Testament, as I may truly call them, were delivered to the two or three upper classes every morn- ing as their first lesson, they became more or less the study of all. The chapter which was read at prayers was the text of the day; it was construed from the origi- nal into Latin by the scholars, and elucidated, verse by verse, by the master. This mode of viva voce interpretation had a great effect. " It is not easy to describe the easy and familiar manner with which Mr. Moises met his scholars. They appeared never to be absent from his mind. His heart, indeed, seemed to be absorbed in his profession; but not as a drudge intent on the mmuMa; of his office, but acting towards them with such an open liberality of sentiment on 1823. Private impression, printed by Walker, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. 26 LIFE OF LORD the subjects of his instruction, that his pupils, whilst they received the benefit of his parental observations, accepted them as the offer of one bent on their improvement; presented, as they were, with an urbanity always acceptable and conciliating." Brewster, pp. 2629. One of the first pages of Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book contains this affectionate reminiscence of his instructor : " The head-master was that eminent scholar and most excellent man, the Rev. Mr. Moises. I shall hold his memory in the utmost veneration whilst I continue to exist. There were also excellent ushers in that school whilst I continued in it. I gratefully mention the names of Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Hall, Mr. King, and Mr. Walters." William and John Scott were both of them diligent scholars, and great favourites with their master. John, though of a less joyous temperament than his elder brother, was generally beloved for his kind and gentle disposition. The distinction in the constitution of their minds at that early period is marked by a little circumstance related in a memoir of Lord Stowell :* " When asked to give an account of the Sunday sermon, their father's weekly custom, the eldest, William, would repeat a sort of digest of the general argument a condensed summary of what he had heard; John, on the other hand, would recapitu- late the minutiaB of the discourse, and reiterate the very phrase of the preacher. He showed a memory the most complete and exact; but failed in giving the whole scope and clear general view of the sermon embodied in half the number of words by the elder brother." It must be remembered, however, that between William's age and that of his younger brother, there was a difference of more than five years and a half. "Lord Eldon's school-boy days," says Mr. Brewster, in a letter to the present earl, dated January 1839, "are well worth remarking, as they bespeak the uniformity and steadiness of his future character. I knew he was a favourite with his venerable master, who often mentioned his abilities, and recommended him to the imitation of his scholars. His affable temper rendered him a favourite, too, with his schoolfellows ; of whom, I believe, the writer of this is among the last. "I was much interested in the venerable Lord Eldon's recollection of his own school, as mentioned by himself in one of the last judgments, which he delivered in the Court of Chancery. 'As the institution of these grammar-schools,' he said, 'was expressed by the legislature to be for the purpose, amongst others, of forwarding the progress of the Reformation, we find, in almost all of them, provisions made that there should be, to a considerable extent, prayer and attendance upon public worship, according to the reformed church. I remember, that when I had the benefit of an education at one of these grammar-schools the education was carried on, in what, I believe, was once a capella or sacellum: that the boys educated there were headed by their venerable master to church constantly upon Sundays; and that part of the duty of a master of a grammar-school was, in those days, as much attended to as teaching the scholars what else they ought there to acquire. Whether the practice is now continued in grammar-schools, I do not know, but. this I know, that it ought still to be attended to, as much as ever.' " The only serious disaster which happened to John Scott in his boyhood, was a fall backward, from a window seat, against a desk or bench so severe as to lay open his head and leave him insensible on the ground. His intellects and even his life were for some time despaired of: and to the end of his days there remained a deep indentation near the crown of the skull. * Law Magazine, No. xxxiii. art. 2. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 27 On another occasion, being curious to see what was within a hole or window beneath the stone steps of a gentleman's house, he passed his head between the iron rails, and was unable to draw it back again. From this pillory he was released by a female beggar passing by. In those days, the small town of Chester-le-Street, a little more than eight miles southward of Newcastle, on the London road, was celebrated for a kind of shortcake irresistible to the juvenile portion of society : and to that town, one fine afternoon, John and his brother Henry, who was about three years older, took a journey on foot. They loitered there so long that the evening set in : and a friend of their father's, finding them about to return at so uncomfortable an hour, dissuaded them from their intent, and gave them supper and bed at his own house. Meanwhile, through that night and the early part of the next morning, the family in Love Lane were distracted with apprehension. In vain the town of Newcastle was searched through all its streets and chares : in vain, when morning came, the crier pro- claimed at every corner the loss of the two little truants: until, safe and sound, though somewhat tired with their eight miles' walk, they presented themselves, in the forenoon, at their father's door. There, for their exploit, they instantly received the meed of a whipping, with which memento they were sent to school. But this was not the close of their troubles : for the schoolmaster, having learned from the pro- clamation of the crier, that the young gentlemen had been on their travels without furlough, thought it necessary to mark his opinion of their adventure by the administration of a second flogging. The following are some of Lord Eldon's own recollections of his school days, communicated by him late in life to his niece Mrs. For- ster, to Lady Eldon's nephew Mr. John Surtees, and to others of his connections: " I believe," said he to Mrs. Forster, " no boy was ever so much thrashed as I was. When we went to school we had to go by the Stock Bridge. In going to school we seldom had any time to spare, so Bill and Harry used to run as hard as they could, and poor Jacky's legs not being so long or so strong, he was left behind. Now you must know there was eternal war waged between the Head School lads, and all the boys of the other schools ; so the Stockbriggers seized the opportunity of poor Jacky being alone, to give him a good drubbing. Then, on our way home, Bill and Harry always thrashed them in return, and that was my revenge ; but then it was a revenge that did not cure my sore bones." " Mr. Surtees, when your father and I were boys, and that is now a long time ago, I remember our stealing down the Side, and along the Sandhill, and creeping into every shop, where we blew out the candles. We crept in along the counter, then pop't our heads up, out went the candles, and away went we. We escaped detection." " Mr. Moises had one day got hold of a book belonging to one of his boys, in which the urchin had written, ' Turn over this leaf and yon will see plain :' 20 LIFE OF LORD " ' Well,' said Mr. Moises, after reading that line aloud to the class, ' what is it that I shall see ?' He forthwith turned over the page, and reading the next line, set the whole school into roars of laughter, * Fools will be meddling, so turn back again !' " ' Oh you blockhead !' he said, and returned the book to the owner." " I was once," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " the seventeenth boy whom Moises flogged, and richly did we merit it. There was an elderly lady who lived in Westgate Street, whom we surrounded in the street, and would not allow her to go either backward or for- ward ; she complained to Mr. Moises and he flogged us all ; when he came to me, he exclaimed : ' What, Jack Scott, were you there too?' and I was obliged to say, 'Yes, sir.' 'I will not stop,' replied he, 'you shall all have it ;' but I think I came off' best, for his arm was rather tired with sixteen who went before me." " I have been very ill used, Mary, first by my father, and then by my brother Lord Stowell. My father promised me half a crown if I said my catechism well at church. I did say it, and I assure you I said it very well ; but my half crown I never received ; and though I tell my brother Will that it is as much a just debt of my father's as any other, and that therefore he, as executor, is bound to pay it, yet he always refuses. Very hard upon me, for I said my catechism very well indeed. Do they still catechise the boys at church, Mary ? We used not only to say our catechism, but every part was to be proved. ' How do you prove that 2d class ?' '2d Romans, 3d verse,' and so on: (laying a great stress on the Newcastle R.) Thus you see, by the time we left school we were very tolerable theologians : the practice ought not to be left off. But I was very ill used about that half crown." When chancellor, he gave the following piece of evidence against his own character, to Mr. Chisholme, his solicitor: "My father," said he " agreed with a master, who kept a writing-school, to teach me the art of penmanship there, for half a guinea a quarter. In the whole of the three months I attended that school but once. My father knew nothing of this, and at the quarter's end gave me a half guinea to pay the master. When I took it to the school, the master said he did not know how he could properly receive it, since he had given no- thing in exchange for it. I said that he really must take it : that I could not possibly carry it back to my father. ' Well,' replied he, ' if I am to take it, at all events I must give you something for it : so come here.' And, upon my going up to him, he took the money with one hand, and with the other gave me a box on the ear which sent me reeling against the wainscot ; and that was the way I first learned to write." After this, the writing-master seems to have been more vigilant. " I think," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " I write remarkably well considering how I played truant from the writing-school. I remember Harry and I, going home one evening, found my father in CHANCELLOR ELDON. 29 the dining-room. f Harry,' said he, ( were you at the writing-school to day?' 'Oh yes, papa,' answered Harry. 'And were you there, Jack ?' Now you know my elder brother had said yes, so what could I do but follow his example? so I said 'Yes, papa.' 'And were you there yesterday?'' 'Yes, sir.' 'And the day before?' 'Yes, sir.' 'And the day before that?' ' Yes, sir.' ' Walk out, Mr. Benson :' gand from behind the door out walked our writing-master, who had come down to complain that we had not been at his school the whole week. We were twice flogged for that, once by my father and once by Mr. Benson." " Between school hours we used to amuse ourselves with playing at what we called ' cock nibs ' that was riding on grave stones in St. John's churchyard, which, you know, was close to the school. Well, one day one of the lads came shouting ' Here comes Moises' that was what we always called him, Moises, so away we all ran as hard as we could, and I lost my hat. Now if you remember, there were four or five steps going down to the school, a sort of passage. Unfortunately a servant was coming along with a pudding for the bake-house, and in my hurry, when Moises was coming, I jumped down these steps and into the pudding. What was to be done? I borrowed another boy's great coat, and buttoned it on, over my own coat, waistcoat, pudding and all, and so we went into school. Now when I came out, I was in an unforeseen dilemma, for this great coat had stuck to my own ; another boy's coat sticking to me, and my own hat lost ! here was an unfortunate situation ! with great diffi- culty the coat was pulled off; but my father was very angry at my losing my hat, and he made me go without one till the usual time of taking my best into every day wear." Mrs. Forster adds, " Lord Eldon, on this occasion, went three months, Sundays excepted, with- out a hat." " I remember," said Lord Eldon, " my father coming to my bed- side to accuse Harry and me of having robbed an orchard : some one had come to complain. Now my coat was lying by my bed with its pockets full of apples, and I had hid some more under the bed- clothes, when I heard my father on the stairs : and I was at that mo- ment suffering intolerable torture from those I had eaten. Yet I had the audacity to deny the fact. We were twice flogged for it. I do not know how it was, but we always considered robbing an orchard as an honourable exploit. I remember once being carried before a magistrate for robbing an orchard ; ' boxing the fox,' as we called it. There were three of us, Hewit Johnson, another boy and myself. The magistrate acted upon what I think was rather curious law, for he fined our fathers each thirty shillings for our offence. We did not care for that but then they did : so my father flogged me and then sent a message to Moises, and Moises flogged me again. We wese very good boys, very good indeed : we never did any thing worse than a robbery." Mrs. Forster adds, " When any of his boys were not down stairs at the proper time in the morning, Mr. Scott used to ascend to their 30 LIFE OF LORD room with a pair of leather taws, which he laid across the delinquents' shoulders. Harry and Jack being rather fond of their beds, and apt to receive this chastisement pretty often, determined upon stealing the taws, an exploit they successfully achieved. From that lime Mr. Scott, who never replaced them, used to go to their room with his hand under his dressing-gown, as if ready to inflict the usual punish- ment, while the boys lay still until the last moment in secure enjoy- ment." " These taws, a piece of strong leather cut into several thongs, were produced every year at my grandfather's (Henry's) house, when my uncle (Lord Eldon) was with him, and they used to recount, with the greatest glee and triumph, this exploit of stealing them, and their amusement in seeing the old gentleman enter their room with his hand under his dressing-gown." " I believe," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " I have preached more sermons than any one who is not a clergyman. My father always had the church service read on Sunday evenings and a sermon after it. Harry and I used to take it in turns to read the prayers or to preach : we always had a shirt put on over our clothes to answer for a surplice." " I should have been a very good dancer, only they never could get this left arm to conduct itself gracefully : and yet I had eight dancing masters. I remember one of them complaining that I took no pains with that left arm. ' I do not know how it is,' said he ; ' Mr. Moises says you are a very good boy, but I do not find you so.' I had the impudence to look him up in the face and say ' but you are not Mr. Moises, sir.' ' Mrs. Forster. " But I remember, uncle, hearing of Master Jacky being celebrated for the hornpipes he danced at Christmas : there was an old keelman in the hospital at Newcastle who talked of your hornpipes." Lord Eldon. " Oh yes, I danced hornpipes: at Christmas, when my father gave a supper and a dance at Love Lane to all the keelmen in his employ, Harry and I always danced hornpipes." Mrs. Forster adds, "the supper which, about Christmas, Mr. Scott used to give his keelmen, was what was called a binding supper ; that was a supper when the terms on which they were to serve for the ensuing year were agreed upon. Patterson, the last surviving keel- man in Mr. Scott's employment, dined in our kitchen every Christ- mas day until his death, about ten years ago. He expatiated with great delight upon the splendid hornpipe that Master Jacky regularly danced for their amusement after these suppers." This veteran was not destitute in his old age ; and Lord Stowell made him an annual present to add to his comforts at Christmas. " I ielieve," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " no shoemaker ever helped to put on more ladies' shoes than I have done. At the danc- ing-school, the young ladies always brought their dancing shoes with them, and we deemed it a proper piece of etiquette to assist the pretty girls in putting them on. In those days, girls of the best families wore CHANCELLOR ELDON. 31 white stockings only on the Sundays, and one week day which was a sort of public day : on the other days, they wore blue Doncaster woollen stockings with white tags." " We used, when we were at the Head School, early on the Sun- day mornings, to steal flowers from the gardens in the neighbourhood of the Forth, and then we presented them to our sweethearts. Oh, those were happy days we were always in love then." 32 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER II. 17611771. Oxford. William Scott's Durham scholarship. Letters, characters, and anecdote of Mr. Scott, the father. William Scott's fellowship. John Scott's entrance at Oxford. Sat cito si sat bene. John Scott's fellowship: his pursuits and friendships: his Oxford anecdotes and jokes: his prize for the English essay: his earliest extant letter. Pranks. A SCHOLARSHIP for the diocese of Durham having become vacant at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Mr. Scott, senior, aware of his son William's extraordinary talents, resolved that the youth, who was then in his sixteenth year, should avail himself of his accidental birth within that diocese to become a candidate for the honour. William, therefore, proceeded to Oxford, and, on the 24th of February, 1761, passed the examination for the scholarship with high distinction : but a whimsical mistake on the part of Dr. Randolph, the head of the college, left his election, for a little while, in some danger. He had stated, in the course of his answers to the usual questions, that his father was a fitter : of which term an explanation has been given in the first chapter. When the candidates had retired, Dr. Randolph delivered his opinion to this effect: " I think, gentlemen, there can be no doubt that young Scott is by far the best scholar of them all ; but he has told us that his father is a fiddler, and I do not quite like to take the son of a fiddler into the college." The word fitter, thus warped into fiddler, was one which, though familiar enough in the coal districts of the north, had no currency among the classic groves of Oxford : and it was probably rendered still more unintelligible by that guttural rumbling, or burr, so general among Northumbrians, from which William Scott was by no means exempt. The objection, how- ever, (no very valid one even had it been applicable), vanished alto- gether upon explanation; and the deserving candidate was elected to the scholarship on the same day. On the 26th he was admitted to it, his age, as the college books record, " being fifteen years on or about the 28th day of October last past:" and on the 3d of March he was matriculated as " Gulielmus Scott, Gulielmi de Heworth civit.* Dulmelm. gen. fil." The extracts which follow, from three letters of the father, about the end of the same year, illustrate the manners of the time, and the character of the man. Mr. Scott (Hoastman') to his son William. (Extract.) "5 Dec. 1761. "Dear Son, "Since mine of the 17th past, I received yours of the 25th ditto, in which you wrote * Sic in orig., apparently a clerical error for " comit." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 33 the greater part of the small sum I sent you had been employed in paying some necessary bills, which bills you said you would send me, if I desired to see them. I have great confidence in your economy, yet after telling you I had a desire to 'see those bills, you'll doubtless send them by your next. "I was in some hurry when I wrote last to you, that I omitted telling you I was pleased with what you said relating your birth-day, and hope, as you increase in years, you'll also increase in goodness, and in all things that may recommend you to the favour of all good men, which God grant." **** Mr. Scott (Hoastman) to his son William. (Extract.) " 9 Jan. 1 762. # "My asking for your accounts was affectionately meant: and, now that I tell you so, you'll doubtless send, and it would be a satisfaction to me to receive the best accounts you can send me of the bills I send you ; and give me always ten or twelve days' notice of want of money, and you'll find me ready enough to supply you, so as you live comfortably." **#* Mr. Scott (Hoastman) to his son William. (Extract.) 11 Newcastle, 2Cth Feb. 17C2. * * "Write once a month; remember you laughed at Capt. Geo. Bell's letter to me, when he wrote from London thus : 'Sir: I arrived here well: Your humble servant, GEO. BELT..' Give us a letter once more; if you have nothing else to say from Oxford, say, 'I am well, question not: Your dutiful son, WM. SCOTT.' If I did not think you were well, I would not jest in this manner." The character of Mr. Scott the elder is favourably exhibited in the following occurrence. He was riding along a lonely part of the road between Newcastle and Shields, when a man, on foot and in disguise, stopped his horse, and, pointing a pistol/demanded money. Mr. Scott recognized him to be the son of a gentleman of that country: and, shocked by the discovery, and regardless of his own danger in avow- ing a knowledge of the robber's person, exclaimed " Good God, young man, what would your father do if he knew what you are about!" The unexpected appeal was successful. It went to the heart of the offender, who threw himself down before Mr. Scott, and earnestly entreated him to pardon and keep secret what had passed. It is hardly necessary to add that Mr. Scott complied with the re- quest. " When my father told me this incident," said Lord Eldon to his grandson, " he added, that, at the time of his telling it, the person he had reclaimed was living in that part of the country, in a highly respectable station." The Durham scholarship had been the first fruit reaped by William Scott from his mother's temporary retirement out of Northumberland into Durham. The same circumstance appears to have aided him in obtaining, at nineteen years of age, a University College fellowship, to which he was elected 14th Dec. 1764, on the vacancy occasioned by Mr. Wetherell's promotion to the mastership of that college. This fellowship was on the foundation of William of Durham, which VOL. i. 3 34 LIFE OF LORD is open, but with a preference, in cases of equal merit, to candidates born in the parts nearest to Durham. Although the state of the uni- versity, from the want of prizes and public examinations in those days, was very unfavourable to the display of talent, William Scott had acquired so high a reputation that, in 1765, before he had completed his twentieth year, he was appointed a college tutor: and that office he retained until the end of 1775. He took the degrees of B. A., Nov. 20, 1764; M. A., June 17, 1767 ; D. C. L., June 23, 1779. The successes of the elder brother at Oxford laid a foundation for the fortunes of the younger also. When John approached the com- pletion of his studies at the High School, his father, who had formed a design of qualifying him for his own business of a fitter, was making arrangements to that effect, with which he acquainted William, then at the university. In answer to this communication, William wrote to his father, dissuading him from his design. " Send Jack up to me," he said : " I can do better for him here." He was sent accord- ingly, and, on the 15th of May, 1766, was matriculated as a member of the University of Oxford, by Dr. Durell, the vice-chancellor, hav- ing, on the same day, been entered as a commoner of University College. " I was entered," he notes in his Anecdote Book, " under the tuition of Sir Robert Chambers and my brother Lord Stowell." In strictness of speaking, his entry was under his brother only, as the college books show: " 1766, Maii 15. Ego, Johannes Scott, films natu minimus Gulielmi Scott Generosi, De Novo Castro super Tinam in Com. Northum. lubens subscribe, sub tutamine Domini Scott, annos natus circiter quindecim." He then lacked several weeks of fifteen ; and his brother used afterwards to say, " I was quite ashamed of his appearance, he looked such a mere boy." " I have seen it remarked," says Lord Eldon in his Anecdote Book, " that something which in early youth captivates attention, influences future life in all stages. When I left school, in 1766, to go to Oxford, I came up from Newcastle to London in a coach then denominated, on account of its quick travelling as travelling was then estimated, a fly ; being, as well as I remember, nevertheless, three or four days and nights on the road : there was no such velocity as to endanger overturning or other mischief. On the panels of the car- riage were painted the words ' Sat cito, si sat bene :' words which made a most lasting impression on my mind, and have had their influence upon my conduct in all subsequent life. Their effect was heightened by circumstances during and immediately after the journey. Upon the journey a Quaker, who was a fellow-traveller, stopped the coach at the inn at Tuxford, desired the chambermaid to come to the coach-door, and gave her a sixpence, telling her that he forgot to give it her when he slept there two years before. I was a very saucy boy, and said to him, ' Friend, have you seen the motto on this coach ?' ' No.' ' Then look at it : for I think giving her only six- pence now is neither sat cito nor sat bene.' After I got to town, my brother, now Lord Stowell, met me at the White Horse in Fetter Lane, Holborn, then the great Oxford house, as I was told. He took CHANCELLOR ELDON. 35 me to see the play at Drury Lane. Love played Jobson in the farce, and Miss Pope played Nell. When we came out of the house, it rained hard. There were then few hackney-coaches, and we got both into one sedan-chair. Turning out of Fleet Street into Fetter Lane, there was a sort of contest between our chairman and some persons who were coming up Fleet Street, whether they should first pass Fleet Street, or we in our chair first get out of Fleet Street into Fetter Lane. In the struggle, the sedan-chair was overset with us in it. This, thought I, is more than sat cito, and it certainly is not sat bene. In short, in all that I have had to do in future life, professional and judicial, I have always felt the effect of this early admonition, on the panels of the vehicle which conveyed me from school, ' Sat 7o, si sat bene. 1 It was the impression of this which made me that deliberat- ive judge as some have said, too deliberative ; and reflection upon all that is past will not authorize me to deny that, whilst I have been thinking ' sat cito, si sat benej I may not have sufficiently recollected whether 'sat bene, si sat cito"* has had its due influence." . " My dignity, after I first went to Oxford," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, "received a sad pull-down: for, in the long vacation, my father sent me back again to the Newcastle school. Then, to make the matter worse, Mr. Moises used to talk as if the having been a few weeks at Oxford was to do wonders for my learning : so when the other boys had answered all his questions, ' Now,' he used to say, ' let us hear what the Oxonian will tell us:' and, when I had answered, he would add, ' That is what the Oxonian has to say, is it?' till I got quite the name of the Oxonian." He was then but just fifteen years of age. There is no truth in the story that Mr. Moises paid, or contributed to pay, his college expenses. His education was wholly at his father's cost, except as he himself assisted to defray it by the fellow- ship at University College, to which he was elected on the llth of July, 1767, on a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Rev. John Rotheram, A. M. This fellowship, which John Scott achieved when he had just completed his sixteenth year, was on the founda- tion of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, for persons born in the dioceses of Durham, Carlisle or York, with a preference in cases of equal merit, to natives of the county of Northumberland. In the Anecdote Book, Lord Eldoh, after adverting to the circum- stances of the rebellion which occasioned Mrs. Scott to leave New- castle for the adjoining county when about to give birth to William, says, " His birth in the county of Durham qualified him to be a candidate for the fellowship in Oxford, which he afterwards obtained. His influence in that station procured for me the fellowship in Oxford which I afterwards obtained. To both these fellowships were of great use in life, and in our future success in it. We owe much, therefore, to what it is to be wished nobody should profit by, viz., rebellion." It appears that, from his very boyhood, the favourite plaything of John Scott was a gun. In the Oxford vacations he was frequently at dO LIFE OF LORD Blagdon, the seat of Sir Matthew White Ridley, whose brothers, Nicholas and Henry, were among his college friends: and then the partridges found little respite. He was not fond of taking the field with a party, but would follow the sport alone, starting early and returning late. In after-life, his connection with the Ridleys became still closer. When chancellor, he had the gratification of appointing Nicholas a master in chancery, and of obtaining for Henry (who had married Miss Frances Surtees, Lady Eldon's sister, and taken the degree of doctor of divinity) a prebendal stall in the cathedral of Gloucester. The daughter of Sir Matthew became the wife of the chancellor's eldest son, and the mother of the present earl. The first matter of law ever learned by the future chancellor of England appears to have been the rule laid down by the legislature in the Statute of Frauds (29 Charles II. chap. 3. s. 4.), that no agreement is enforceable upon any contract or sale of lands, unless such agreement, or some memorandum or note thereof be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith or his authorized agent. Of this enactment the following story, told by Lord Eldon in his Anecdote Book, is a pleasant exemplification : " There was an attorney at Newcastle, when I was a boy at school, not of a very popular character for integrity. The leading and eminent physician of that day there was Dr. Askew. A gentleman in extreme bad health came into that country to sell an estate before he died. He sent for the attorney upon the business of selling the estate, first about advertising it for sale and adopting all other proper means for obtaining a reasonable price. The attorney, who, it was said, well knew the estate and its value, told the gentleman that he was willing to give him a sum he named, which he assured him was its full worth, and if he would take that sum he would give it him, and all further trouble might be saved. This was agreed to, and the attorney went to his office to prepare articles to be signed and sealed. The gentleman having thus taken care of his estate, turned his attention immediately to the care of his diseased body, by sending for Dr. Askew and desiring his immediate attendance. The doctor came quickly, and after asking a few questions as to the state of the gentleman's health, inquired what had brought him in such a state into that country. This led to the doctor's learning that he had come there to dispose of the estate, which was in Northumberland. The doctor said he should be very glad to buy the estate; but he was informed by the patient that it was sold to the attorney. Then said the doctor, ' Thou art probably cheated : I'll give without a word more, two thousand pounds beyond what the attorney has offered.' The gentleman was scrupulous about accepting the second offer, but he overcame his scruples. The doctor then took pen, ink and paper, and wrote himself a short but sufficient article of sale and purchase, and both signed it. Soon after the attorney entered the room with his intended written contract ; but finding himself too late, he began to abuse the doctor most un- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 37 mercifully for cheating him out of the benefit of his bargain. * Scold on,' says the doctor. ' Do you imagine that any body will think that I have done wrong, if I have cheated thee, a lawyer, who has cheated all the rest of mankind ?' ' In the middle of the last century, Oxford saw at least as much of hard drinking as of hard study. The Anecdote Book tells a story of a doctor of divinity, whom Mr. John Scott saw trying, under the influence of some inspiration much stronger than that of the Pierian stream, to make his way to Brazennose College through Radcliffe Square. He had reached the library, a rotunda then without rail- ings; and, unable to support himself except by keeping one hand upon the building, he continued walking round and round, until a friend, coming out of the college, espied the distress of the case, and rescued him from the orbit in which he had been so unsteadily revolving. In days when doctors of divinity were thus unguarded in their conviviality, under-graduates could hardly be expected to preserve a very strict temperance. Among the waggeries of the wine parties, Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book has preserved one which will put the reader in mind of Swift's English derivations for classical names. At Corpus Christi College there were drinking-cups, or glasses, which, from their shape, were called ox-eyes. Some friends of a young student, after seducing him to fill his ox-eye much fuller and oftener than consisted with his equilibrium, took pity at last on his helpless condition, and led or carried him to his rooms. He had just Latin enough left at command to thank them at the stair-head with, " Pol, me ox-eye-distis, amici."* When Christ Church meadow was overflowed and sufficiently frozen for skaiting, people used to ply on the ice with kegs of brandy and other cordials for the skaiters. John Scott, then an under- graduate, was skaiting over a part of the meadow where the ice, being infirm, broke in, and let him into a ditch, up to his neck in water. When he had scrambled out, and was dripping from the collar and oozing from the stockings, a brandy-vender shuffled to- wards him and recommended a glass of something warm: upon which Edward Norton, of University College, a son of Lord Grant- ley, sweeping past, cried out to the retailer : " None of your brandy for that wet young man : he never drinks but when he is dry." Lord Eldon used to relate of Mr. Windham, who was his fellow- student at University College, that he was observed by the master (Dr. Wetherell, the father of Sir Charles) to be making free use of pencil and paper, during one of the master's college lectures. " Sir," said the doctor, " it always gives me the greatest pleasure to perceive young men paying so much attention lo what is taught them, and taking notes with such care: pray hand me up you^ paper." Mr. Windham had some difficulty in excusing himself: Horat. Epist. lib. ii. Ep. 2. line 138. 38 LIFE OF LORD the truth being that the production of his pencil was not a sketch of the lecture, but of the doctor. The Anecdote Book says, "Mr. Windham, who was a great classical scholar, and hated a pun, good or bad, reading Demosthe- nes with great admiration, TtOryxs <&atrtrto$; (Is Philip dead?) 'Ov, /*a At" (No, by Jupiter),* was put into a great passion by a fellow- jstudent (apparently John Scott himself) saying, ' No, Windham, you see he is not dead ; the Greek words only say he ' may die.'' ' The Anecdote Book gives the origin of another pun, now very familiar to young students : " Old Dr. Leigh, of Baliol College, a great punster, when he was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, going out of the theatre, and being unpopular among the young men for some due and proper acts of discipline, was saluted with much sibilation. He turned round and said, 'Academici, laudamur ab Aw.' This pun produced an entire change, and the young men applauded him." The next is a better jest, which Lord Eldon, though he has omitted it in the Anecdote Book, was fond of telling among his Oxford stories. A clergyman had two churches, Newbury and Bibury ; and, instead of dividing the duties equally between them, chose always to perform the morning service at the former, and the evening service at the latter. Being asked his reason, he made answer: "I go to nubere in the morning, because that is the time to marry ; and I go to bibere in the evening, because that is the time to drink." " There was once," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " a gentle- man who had been one of the professors, and who came from York- shire to Oxford to consult Mr. Nurse, a surgeon of some celebrity, about a severe complaint under which he laboured. The case proved one which could not be cured, but might be mitigated, and Nurse was very anxious that he should be kept amused : so he insisted upon his changing his lodgings to a better situation, and he took for him a room commanding a view down High Street. When, how- ever, he was seated at the window, it was found that a tree, growing in All Saints' churchyard, stood in the way and intercepted the full view of that street. So Nurse kept mumble, mumbling to me and a few others, that it was a great pity that tree should be allowed to remain standing, till he inspired us with a wish to get rid of it ; for we were all much attached to the professor. So, one night, when the moon was under a cloud, we set the gentleman's servant to cut down this tree, whilst we stationed ourselves at different parts to watch. Well, he was very long about it, and the moon began to appear, and we were in a great fright, so got over the wall to see what he was about. He was a Yorkshire man, and he told us, ' the $eg winna wag;' and that, which meant, 'the saw will not move,' was all we could get from him. So we had to help him: down came the tree, and away we all scampered. The next day there * First Philippic, ch. v. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 39 were handbills and proclamations from the mayor and magistrates, offering a reward for the conviction of any of the offenders, who had the night before committed a dreadful crime in All Saints' church- yard. None of us peached, so we all escaped ; and Nurse said it was the most glorious crime that ever had been perpetrated in favour of a patient." Mr. John Scott took his Bachelor's degree, in Hilary term, on the 20th of February, 1770. " An examination for a degree at Oxford," he used to say, " was a farce in my time. I was examined in He- brew and in history. * What is the Hebrew for the place of a skull ?' I replied, 'Golgotha.' 'Who founded University College?' I stated (though, by the way, the point is sometimes doubted), ' that King Alfred founded it.' ' Very well, sir,' said the examiner, 'you are competent for your degree.' " In the year 1768, the Earl of Lichfield, Chancellor of the Uni- versity of Oxford, had instituted two annual prizes there, for the best compositions in English prose and Latin verse respectively : the prize for Latin verse being limited to members who had not exceeded four years from their matriculation : and that for English prose to members who had exceeded four years but not completed seven, and who had not taken the degree of Master of Arts, or of Bachelor of Civil Law. The subject, in 1771, was " The Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Travel ;" and, in the Trinity term of that year, the price, of the value of 20/., was adjudged to the essay bearing the motto of " Non alibi sis, sed alius." This essay was written by John Scott while yet under the age of 20 years. It has been published in Tal- boys's Collection of the. Oxford English Prize Essays, 1830. His brother William, who, as these prizes were not founded till after he took his degree of M. A., had had no opportunity to earn distinctions of this kind in his own person, was delighted at the attainment of them by his dear relative and pupil.* But no member of the young essayist's own family could be more gratified by his success than the master of the Head School at New- castle. Mr. Brewster, in his Memoirs of that worthy man, tells us he remembers Mr. Moises entering the school, with delight in his coun- tenance, and the prize essay in his hand, and saying to the senior lads, " See what John Scott has done ! " And for many a year after- wards, as another of the old man's scholars used to relate, Mr. Moises, when any of his boys did well, would give them this qualified praise, * NOTE BY THE PRESKNT EARL. " The excellence of the education at University College during the tutorship of Lord Stowell, which ranges from 1765 to 1775, may be inferred from the fact that out of the five first prizes adjudged for English prose, four were gained by members of University College, namely, in 1768 by G. Croft, in 1709 by George Strahan, in 1771 by John Scott, and in 1772 by his friend Philip Fisher. "Strahan and Fisher were intimate friends of John Scott, who, when lord c cellor, appointed Strahan to a prebendal stall at Rochester, and Fisher to one at Nor wich. The chancellor was mainly instrumental, too, in procuring the electic latter to the mastership of '.he Charter-House, which he held until his death, January 19th, 1842, in the ninety-second year of his age." 40 LIFE OF LORD " Well done, very well done ; but I have had lads that would have done better: the Scotts would have done better than that." A jocular epistle, addressed to his cousin, college-friend and fellow- townsman, Mr. Henry Utrick Reay, (who seems to have borne the name of Peters among his familiars), is believed by Lord Eldon's family to be the earliest piece of his correspondence now extant. Like too many of his letters, it is without date. It was apparently written in 1771, during the interval, between the Trinity term when Mr. John Scott received his prize for the essay, and the following November when the bridge at Newcastle, mentioned in the letter, was destroyed. It is a sort of grave jest, and seems to have been composed with a view to punish Reay, by way of bore, for some waggish description of " the distant region of Chester," which Reay himself had been perpetrating, probably in reference to Scott's lucu- brations upon travel: "My dear Peters, " I received your friendly epistle, the pleasure of perusing which I had almost been deprived of, by the friction it had suffered in so Ions; a conveyance. There is nothing, says an ancient sage, which conveys a more pleasing satisfaction to the mind of man than a new discovery; and it was upon this principle that we have the 'iv?r>xa. of a quondam philosopher handed down to us his posterity, in such ecstatic expression. Near akin to this sensation is that pleasing pain we feel in poring over descriptions of foreign climes: and the mind exults if it finds the accounts clothed in that richness .of language and elegance of diction which so conspicuously beautify and adorn your picture of the distant region of Chester. Like Mr. Moises' Nanny, you deal so well in the descriptive, that you point out the minutest circumstances with a propriety that makes trifles interesting; and hold forth to our view objects more difficult to paint, in that simplicity of speech, which proves to us, that, like other great men, you look upon perspicuity as the first beauty of composition. You have, indeed, attained such excellence in the art of describing places before you come to them, that, in this our day, Addison might blush to read his travels (so much are yours superior to them), and Maundrell wish to wrap up his Jerusalem artichokes in Lethcean oblivion. " With what modest diffidence then shall I enter upon the laborious task of describ- ing this place of my residence? a task which I should not undertake (so unequal are my shoulders to the weight) unless to oblige you, my friend, by giving you such a description of Newcastle, as may enable you to form a clear and distinct idea of this town, though you never saw it. "Say, Muse, where shall I begin? At the Bridge. This is an elegant structure, of thirteen arches. The battlements are beautified, with towers, houses &c., and what is a very extraordinary circumstance, it is built over a river. From hence you pro- ceed to the Sand-hill. Here you have presented to your view the Exchange, and Nelly's, Katy's, and Harrison's Coffee-Houses: from the windows of which you may view the operations of shaving, turnip and carrot selling, and the fishmarket if you turn your eyes that way. The quay is reckoned one of the best in England. The water makes the prospect very agreeable ; and there is no deficiency of wood, in the shape of planks, tar-barrels, and trees of that kind. At the east end of this, passing through a magnificent arch, you come to a street called Sandgate, which, whether you consider the elegance of the buildings, or the number of the inhabitants, or that strict regard they pay to decency, is equaled by none in the kingdom. From the before- mentioned quay are many lanes, most of which terminate in the butcher-bank, so called because it is a kind of hill, where are sold, daily, beef, mutton and veal." After a description, in the same vein, of Pilgrim Street, of Westgate, and of several churches, he brings the remaining localities into this sweeping conclusion: " Now as to the Groat-market, the Big-market, the Meal-market, the Jail, Gallowgate, the Leases, Northumberland Street, High and Low Friar Chare, Sir Walter's, the Croft, the Dog Bank, Pandon, the Close, the Castlegarth, Hanover Square, Bailey Gate, Pol- stern, Denton and Pudding Chares, the Manor Chare, the Spital, High and Low Bridge, Painter Heugh, the Burnt House Entry, Walk Knolls, Sally-Port-Gate, Pan- don Bank, Sil ver Street, Els wick Fields, Shieldfield, Infirmary, Hospitals, Almshouses, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 41 Rosemary Lane, Breakneck Sfairs, Turtle Stairs, and all other places which would make .you stare, are they not written in Bourne's Account of Newcastle? " Methinks I have now got sufficient revenge; and it is time to conclude myself, " Yours sincerely, J. S." Another letter to Mr. Reay, which appears from internal evidence to have been written 2d September, 1771, may be noticed here, as containing the earliest mention of Miss Elizabeth Surtees, afterwards his wife. He is speaking of the visit paid to Newcastle by Henry, Duke of Cumberland, brother of George the Third ; and he says to his friend, "The ladies are, as we supposed, half mad about the Duke of Cumberland. Miss Surtees and my dear Bell, it seems, were frightened out of their wits when he danced with them." The lady whom he calls his dear Bell was Miss Allgood, afterwards Mrs. Lambton Loraine. "At the assembly rooms at Newcastle," said he to Mrs. Forster, " there were two rooms, and a stair-head between them ; so we always danced down the large room across the stair-head, and into the other room. Then you know, Ellen, that was very convenient; for the small room was a snug one to flirt in. We always engaged our partners for the next ball, and from year to year. We were very constant." The Anecdote Book has the following story, of which Mr. Reay is the hero : " Reay, who was always in high spirits, dined with me at Mr. Smith's in Leeds, the father of Mr. Smith afterwards accountant-gene- ral of the Court of Chancery. Reay and I set out, after dinner, to go towards Newcastle-on-Tyne. At that time Mr. Lascelles had about finished his house at Harewood ; but, as we were told, was very un- willing to show it, or have it seen by almost any body. We stopped at the village of Harewood to have some tea. Reay asked the land- lady whether we could be permitted to see the house. She said, perhaps we might if we were persons of quality. Reay then said, * If that's so, there is no obstacle to our seeing it,' and said he was Lord Folkestone, and I was the Hon. Mr. Fortescue. She then told him that he must send a note, stating who we were, to a Mr. Poppleton or Popplewich, a steward of Mr. Lascelles's expressing our wish to see the house. Th,at gentleman sent a very civil answer, allowing us to see the house, regretting that he could not immediately wait upon us, especially as he had the honour of the acquaintance and the highest regard for the Earl of Radnor, Lord Folkestone's father. We went to the house, and, after seeing a part of it, the woman who was going through the house with us (an old lady in full dress), said that she had also a note from Mr. Poppleton or Popplewich, stating his anxiety to see Lord Folkestone, the son of his friend the Earl Radnor. Soon afterwards she looked out from the window, and said to Reay, ' Oh sir ! here is Mr. Poppleton or Popplewich coming to see your lord- ship.' ' Coming to see me?' said Reay; * then here am I going, that I may not see him.' We immediately went down stairs, got into our 42 LIFE OF LORD hackney chaise, and drove away, passing and taking our hats off to that gentleman, who had no suspicion that Lord Folkestone and the Hon. Mr. Fortescue were in a dirty Leeds hackney chaise. I think it was Sir Robert Chambers who told me that Mr. Lascelles had after- wards heard of this, and said that as such pranks could be played, it was as well that he should let his house be seen by every body ; and accordingly, it was opened once a week for the inspection of the curious at Harrowgate, and all others who wished to see it." The Anecdote Book gives the following account of a piece of boyish drollery practised by Reay, upon one of those aspirants who court immortality by writing their names and their nonsense upon the glass of inn windows : " Reay and I went up from Oxford to London together. We dined at March's, Maidenhead Bridge, and upon the window Reay observed that a person of Chipping Norton, whose name I now forget, had written that he dined there on a leg of mutton, upon a day arid year mentioned in what was written. When we got to the Somerset Coffee House, Reay sent him a letter, stating that as he had thought it im- portant to inform the public that he had dined at Maidenhead Bridge, and upon a leg of mutton, he must have expected that some of the public would inquire how the mutton had agreed with him ; and he therefore took the liberty of sending such an inquiry, from his friend Tom Comical. Next day he sent him a double letter, hoping that, as probably he had potatoes with his mutton, they had not disagreed with him. Two days afterwards he sent a treble letter, representing that as his friend Tom Comical had received no answer to his inquiry how the mutton and potatoes had agreed with him, he had probably made a mistake, and should have inquired how the mutton and French beans or some other vegetables had agreed with him, and assured him that he should repeat his kind and anxious inquiries every day till his answer came. We were soon afterwards obliged to return to college, and, stopping at March's, we found that the pane had been taken out of the window and a new one put in its place. Whilst we were looking at the window, old March came in, and, observing us, he said, 'Ay, ay, one of you must be the gentleman that sent the person who has been here from Chipping Norton so many letters. Poor man ! he* came all the way from Chipping Norton, twenty miles on the other side of Oxford, and insisted upon seeing the pane of glass, the leg of mutton and all the rest taken out of the window and a new pane put in before he would eat a morsel.' " CHANCELLOR ELDON. 43 CHAPTER III. 1772, 1773. Name and family of Surtees. Miss Elizabeth Surtees, afterwards Lady Eldon. Letter from John Scott in love. His college companions Anecdotes. Music, dancing, the opera. Lovers of Miss Surtees. Letter from (Sir) William Scott. Elopement. Reception of the news in Love Lane. Marriage in Scotland. Sojourn at Morpeth. Communications to and from Newcastle. Letter from John Scott explaining the reason of the elopement. Forgiveness, remarriage and settlements. Circumstances and prospects of the young couple. THE year 1772, the year of Mr. John Scott's majority, may be considered the most important of his life, as having been that of the marriage which gave the colour to all his after days. The lady of his choice, Miss Elizabeth Surtees, of whom the reader has had a glimpse at the Newcastle ball, as one of the partners of the Duke of Cumberland, was the daughter of Aubone Surtees, Esq., a banker of that city. " The name of Surtees," says the present Lord Eldon, "is derived from the river Tees. Dugdale observes, ' rivers have imposed names to some men, as they have to towns situated on them, as the old Baron Sur Teys, that is on the liver Teys.' The Surteeses of Newcastle are descended from Edward Suerties, of Broad Oak, Gent., who married Margaret Coulson, niece and heiress of Robert Suerties, in 1599 alderman of Durham. They are considered to be a younger branch of the family of Surtees of Dinsdale, in Dur- ham, on the banks of the Tees, who held the barony of Gosforth in the reign of Henry I., until, in the beginning of the 16th century, the heirs male of the whole blood became in the elder branch extinct, and Gosforth passed into the hands of the Brandlings, by marriage with an heiress of the Surtees family." Mr. John Surtees, Lady Eldon's brother, says, in a letter to a rela- tion, that, " in the time of Edward the Third, the family of Surtees represented the county of Northumberland, were sheriffs afterwards for Northumberland, and members for Newcastle." He adds, " My father's elder brother, my father, and my brother William, were all, in succession, receivers-general for Northumberland and Durham. Of my father's personal character, I cannot say too much good. Sir Walter Blackett and he were the two most beloved men I ever knew in Newcastle. Both died fathers of the corporation. Many years before his death my father was dangerously ill, and a clergyman then on a visit at Newcastle, told me, some years afterwards, that he had never seen any man receive such {okens of affection and respect as he did on that occasion, for. that the whole town appeared to have only one topic of conversation, one object of interest, his health." 44 LIFE OF LORD According to Lord Eldon's own account, it was at the church of Sedgcfield, in the county of Durham, that he first saw Miss Surtees. In or near that town, her father's sister, Miss Frances Surtees, was living, and the young lady may probably have been on a visit to this relative ; but what accident brought Lord Eldon, then Mr. John Scott, to Sedgefield, or how it happened that the young people, both natives of Newcastle, had never met in their own neighbourhood, is not now known. A considerable part of the year 1772 was passed by Miss Surtees with her uncle Mr. Stephenson, whose town residence was in Park Lane, and who rented, in the country, the rectory house of Taplow, near Maidenhead. During her visit in Park Lane, she was much no- ticed by the then Duchess of Northumberland, who would sometimes take her by the arm at Northumberland House, and present her to the guests as " my Newcastle beauty." Her naturally retired habits made her shrink a little from the observation thus brought upon her ; but she continued gratefully sensible, throughout her life, of the unvary- ing kindness evinced by the Northumberland family to herself and to Mr. Scott in every stage of their career. A letter of his from Oxford, undated, but apparently written 20th May, 1772, to Mr. Reay, then in London, indicates that Miss Surtees was now occupying a con- ftderable space in his thoughts. It is a characteristic specimen of his turn of mind in those early days. "Mon cher Ami, "After having suffered in a very high degree what the Latins call desiderium, and which, from the similarity of the feeling, though excited hy different causes, I presume to translate Gateshead-Fellianism, after being almost choked with dust, and suffering other inconveniences too numerous to be related, we at length arrived once more upon this classic ground. Sad exchange of Ranelagh for the High Street, of dominos for gowns and caps, of a stroll in Hyde Park, comitante Surtesiu, for a trot up the hill with the bussar.' For your satisfaction, however, give me leave to inform you, that we both enjoy health of body, though strangers to peace of mind, and wear clean shirts, though we have not a guinea ! As Fisher and I were reduced to a melancholy duet by the departure of Haverfield, we found no small pleasure in having an acces- sion to our party by the arrival of Ridley and Young. As the latter has not opened his mouth nor his eyes since he came, though to my certain knowledge the bell has rung thrice a day, we yet consider ourselves as but a trio. Harry, whom nature formed in a very philosophical mould, and endued with such a seeming indifference to place, that one should conclude she intended him for a citizen of the world, ex- presses but little regret upon the occasion, and accommodates himself with great facility to the collegiate plan. How happy would it be for those who are doomed to drag on a few more years here, if they could acquire this blessed versatility, and thus calmly acquiesce in what they cannot avoid ! "I was about to begin my lamentations upon the invisibility of a certain fair one, but I am determined to check my inclination. If I do not take the advice contained in that salutary aphorism, 'Obsta principiis,' the subject is so favourite an one, the theme so much my darling, that I generally forget that there is something impertinent in boring others upon topics indifferent to them, however interesting to yourself. If you have experienced this from me, I know you will make charitable allowances. I confess my weakness and will guard against it. "The Count of the Flaxen Empire intends visiting this seat of literature: I shall have the honour, I suppose, of escorting his mightiness around this place. His Burgundy must suffer for this in the long vacation. As to the dear little tygress of Taploe, I will not flatter myself with the hopes of seeing her, where a disappointment is so probable. "I had some thoughts of delivering your compliments to the Countess of the Hill CHANCELLOR ELDON. 45 en passant, but I was deterred by considerations of propriety, nor was I certain how far the awkwardness of a fellow of a college might have been detrimental to the interests of his friend with the lady. "Come in! 'tis the little barber; which puts me in mind that I left the gentleman of Tanfield Court without paying him. It was his own fault; however, pray inform him that after our next charity sermon, he shall have his share of the colleciion : i. e. when I come to town again I will pay him: or, if he is in any great hurry for the cash, if you will ask him what sum his honour will be satisfied with, I will send it him by the first opportunity. " Pray remember me to Bunney, Lane, &c.: and if invisibility become visible, then remember me, who am, with great sincerity, " Your affectionate friend, " J. SCOTT.* " Univ. Coll. Wednesday." Bunney, commemorated in this letter, took the name of Hartopp on his marriage, and was created a baronet in 1796. The motionless man appears to have been the Mr. William Young, who was after- wards a baronet and member for St. Mawes. Haverfield was long remembered in Lord Eldon's circle, as having executed a picture or drawing, which represented seven companions, including John Scott. It had the honour to hang in a room where they were in the habit of meeting ; but Lord Eldon used to observe, that it was a piece of art which did not stand high in public estimation: for, said he, "when the furniture of that room was brought to auction, the auctioneer, with all his eloquence, could induce no one to bid more than three- pence halfpenny : not very encouraging to any feelings of personal vanity we might have, being at the rate of one halfpenny for each of the seven." Ridley has already had a full introduction to the reader. Fisher was the companion of Scott, when, as the latter used to relate, the two young collegians, having come from Oxford to London for a day or two, paid a visit to the opera, arid both fell asleep. Scott, however, had this advantage, that he began his nap after his companion, and awoke before him. This enabled him to divert himself at the expense of the other, whom he rated for his want of musical taste, till, having indulged in the rally to his full content, he confessed with a laugh that he also had been guilty of the same barbarism. He then com- posed himself for another nap, begging that if he should be still asleep at the commencement of the dancing, Fisher would wake him. He used to admit very fairly, in his maturer years, that the opera afforded * NOTE BT THE PRESENT LoRT> Ei.Tiox. The Count of the Flaxen Empire may mean Mr. Aubone Surtees, whose hair was very light, and the reference may be to some intention of his to visit the south in order to take his daughter, Miss Surtees, home from Taplow to Newcastle; and Mr. John Scott's fear seems to be that he will not bring the lady with him to Oxford, but will come to that University before he goes to Mr. Stephenson's at Taplow for her. " The Countess of the Hill," refers to the Lady Mary O'Bryen, Countess of Orkney in her own right, who resided at her family seat, Taplow Court, Bucks, the house being situated on very high ground, and visible from the road which leads from Lon- don by Henley to Oxford. The countess was at this time the wife of her cou Murrough O'Bryen, afterwards first Marquess of Thomond; and the lady in whom Mr. Reay is jestingly supposed to have an interest, was the Lady Mary O Bryen, in the 17th year of her age, who afterwards succeeded her mother as Countess of Orkney. LIFE OF LORD him no amusement ; and told the present Lord Kenyon, that he found it indeed "opera atque labores." In the great case of the Opera House, which was depending for many years before him when chan- cellor, an application was made, for the determination of which it be- came necessary to inquire into the proper rate of remuneration to be allowed for certain principal singers, and especially for Madame Catalani : and, in pronouncing his order, he said jocularly and by the way, that for his own part he would not give five shillings to hear her sing for six months together. This dictum brought many jibes upon him from his lady friends, who showed him as little mercy as he had himself extended to Fisher. One day being hard pressed, he answered slyly, " Well, I don't deny having said so ; but which of you would listen, on any terms, to the best singer in the world, 'for six months together ? ' ' It was believed in Miss Surtees's family that the object of her parents, in sending her from Newcastle to her uncle Slephenson, was to put her out of Mr. John Scott's way: but it has been seen that the young lover, even when in London, contrived to keep up his interest with her, by occasionally joining her and the other ladies of Mr. Stephenson's family, during their walks in Hyde Park. " I suspect," says Mr. John Surtees, her brother, " that at home their flirtations had been chiefly on the Shields Road, where she used to ride attended only by a man-servant. The riding scheme, I think, began in this way. Sir Walter Blackett, popularly called the King of Newcastle, then, I suppose, seventy years of age, used to lend Lady Eldon a handsome pony, and to accompany her on horseback. He was called to London to attend Parliament, and died some time after. She, riding one of my father's horses, continued her rides as before, and Lord Eldon used, I believe, to meet her. Young as I then was, both from my own observation and what I learnt from others, I cannot doubt that Lady Eldon had made considerable impression on the mind of Sir Walter. She was handsome, silent and reserved; and per- haps her reserve, in his eyes, was one of her charms. He was a widower without an heir to inherit his large fortune, great part of which was entailed on Sir Thomas Wentworth (afterwards Blackett) whom he hated ; and it is probable that those circumstances, connected with his extreme attention, might, without other reason, have given rise to the report that he was about to pay his addresses to her. He stopped a long time at my father's house in his way to London, and whilst his carriage was waiting for him there, much gossip was going on, in my father's house and in the street, on the subject of Sir Walter and my sister. " I do not believe that he paid his addresses to her, nor do I be- lieve that she ever considered him in any other light than that of a benign old man, very kind to her. Had it been otherwise, my sister Fanny being in London, she would have made me her confidant on this as on other occasions. " Of this Sir Walter there is an anecdote, which I remember Sir Matthew Ridley told at Blagdon, and which, as he justly observed, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 47 proved the great strength of Sir Walter's constitution. On some occasion he gave a great dinner, probably before some election. Oceans of wine were drunk, and no man quitted his house ' either sorrowful or sober.' Sir Walter, from feverish heat occasioned by the wine he had drunk, could not rest in his bed. He soon quitted it, and walked as well as he could into his pleasure ground, and threw himself on a bench. There he lay till morning : when he found that his shirt was actually frozen to the bench on which he lay. He was without other dress than his shirt and nightcap. His health was un- injured. " Sir Matthew, on another occasion, mentioned that he called upon Sir Walter, then on his bed of death, and was quite shocked to see a man once so popular, in a state so forlorn and derelict, without a rela- tion or friend in the house to soothe his last moments, and apparently neglected by servants who had spent their lives in his service. "About this time, perhaps a little before it, a Mr. Spearman, a young man of signal talents, and like many other men of great imagi- nation, eccentric and flighty, proposed to my sister Elizabeth in a letter sent by his servant. The servant was detained a few minutes, and a negative was written and sent by him. He had a considerable landed property in the county of Durham, and was author of one of the best election papers I ever read. Spearman I never saw but once, and then he was strutting before my father's house in a black coat richly embroidered with silver lace." Mrs. Ridley, Lady Eldon's youngest sister, used to speak of a Mr. Errington, another gentleman of large fortune in Northumberland, who made a propasal to her father for Elizabeth, and was rejected by her for the sake, probably, of Mr. John Scott. The gentleman does not appear to have been inconsolable : for on hearing that the elder sister had declined the honour intended for her, he intimated to the father that, under these circumstances, he should not object to take the younger. The younger, however, was not to be thus summarily dis- posed of, and the negotiation was a total failure. Miss Surtees had no fortune of her own ; and Mr. John Scott had nothing to maintain her with except his industry and talents. In such circumstances, it was natural that the parents of both parties should disapprove the match ; but the following letter from William to his father indicates that Mr. Scott was willing to concede much for John's happiness. (Mr., afterwards Sir, William Scoll to his father.') "Oct. 23, 1772. " Dear Father, " I returned to college last night, a few days sooner than I intended, on Chambers * account, who labours under the same indisposition which confined him at Newcastle. ***** "In a letter from Jack, I find that you are now fully acquainted with the affair l>< tween Miss Surtees and himself, anil that you are kind enough to forgive an indis- cretion which a rigid prudence might, perhaps, condemn. I must own I am clearly of opinion that in consenting to his wishes you act with a true paternal regard happiness, which, as far as I can judge from my own experience, would not 1 promoted by a long continuance iu college. The business in which I am engaged i 48 LIFE OF LORD so extremely disagreeable in itself, and so destructive to health (if carried on with such success as can render it at all considerable in point of profit), that I do not won- der at his unwillingness to succeed me in it. The kindness of his friends, therefore, would be very judiciously employed in providing for him in some manner more agreeable to his own inclinations, and more consistent with his health. The pur- chase of a next presentation to a living is the most obvious way of giving him an early settlement. If you determine upon this method, the sooner we make the neces- sary inquiries the better. If you will give me leave, I will endeavour to procure what information I can." ********* Still, however, the courtship remained either uncommunicated to, or discountenanced by, the lady's parents, who seem to have been pressing her to some more ambitious match : and the young people soon came to a conclusion that it was necessary for them to take a course of their own. Miss Surtees, therefore, made up her mind to a decisive measure ; and, on the night of the 18th of November, 1772, descended by a ladder into the arms of her lover, from a window of her father's house in the Sandhill, Newcastle. The intelligence of their elopement came upon the different mem- bers of the family in Love Lane, through various channels arid with various effects. John had disclosed his intention to his sister Jane ; from whom the elder sister Barbara received the intelligence on the very night of the event. Mr. William Scott, their father, did not learn what had happened till the morning. The following is a minute made by Miss Forster, of her own dialogue upon these matters with her great aunt. Miss Scott (Barbara). The night that Jack ran away to Scotland, I knew nothing about it; but Jenny had scarcely got into bed before she took to sobbing and crying at such a rate ; I could not tell what was the matter. At last she said, " Oh Babby, Jack has run away with Bessy Surtees to Scotland to be married what will my father say ?" You may be sure there was no sleep for us that night. I was not over well pleased either, that Jack had told Jenny, and not told me : however, when he came back he said he wanted to tell me, but could not find an opportunity. We talked and we cried all that night. Miss Forster. Well, but aunt, what said my grandfather ? Miss S. Well, you may be sure we went down to breakfast all trembling : but we had bathed our eyes in cold water, and composed ourselves as we best could and when my father came in, there was a letter lying from Jack, which he read and put into his pocket, and said never a word about it : so we were left to guess what was to be done. By this time, however, the lovers were beyond pursuit. They had traveled all night; and now, on the morning of the 19th of Novem- ber, they reached a village called Blackshiels, which lies close to Fala in Scotland, and is the last posting stage on the road from Newcastle, by Morpeth and Coldstream, to Edinburgh. At Blackshiels they halted, and were married there by a minister of the Scottish church. The certificate of this marriage was found among Lord Eldon's papers after his death, and is in the following words: CHANCELLOR ELDON. 49 " John Scott, of the parish of All Saints, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gent., and Elizabeth Surtees, of St. Nicholas parish, in the same town, spinster, were married at Blackshiels, North Britain, according to the form of matrimony prescribed and used by the Church of England, on this nineteenth day of November, 1772, by " J. BUCHANAN, Minister. In the pre- ( James Fairbairn. sence of ( Thos. Fairbairn." The lady, who had only on the 23d of the preceding month com- pleted her eighteenth year, is said to have been extremely attractive, both in countenance and in figure. Her form was slender and her step light: and, even in advanced age, she retained much of her youthful symmetry, though she never showed the least inclination for personal display, continuing, throughout her life, to wear her hair pow- dered, and adhering, in most other particulars, to the style of dress which had been prevalent in her early days. The marriage having been solemnized, the young couple hastened back from Scotland ; but when, on their return, they arrived at Mor- peth late in the evening, the inn there, the Queen's Head, was full : and they obtained their wedding-night's lodging only by the especial civility of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, the landlord and landlady, who gave up their own room. The great anxiety of Mr. and Mrs. John Scott was now for an answer to the letter which he had addressed to his father; and they stayed a day or two, awaiting the result, at the Queen's Head. " The bride," says Miss Forster, " used to describe this period as the most miserable part of the whole business. Their funds were exhausted, they had not a home to go to, and they knew not what their friends would say. In this mournful dilemma, she sud- denly espied from the window a fine large wolf dog called Loup, walking along the street: a joyful sight, for she felt assured a friend was near : and, in a few minutes, my grandfather, Mr. Henry Scott, entered the room, bringing with him the forgiveness of his father Mr. Scott, and an invitation for the youthful bride and bridegroom to Love Lane, which was gladly accepted." The friends of both parties, however, were greatly chagrined by the match. " Jack Scott has run off with Bessy Surtees," exclaimed Mr. Moises, "and the poor lad is undone!" The father of the bride was so much displeased, that for some time he would not even speak to the bridegroom's father, with whom he had before been on friendly terms. The latter, who had an impression that Mr. Surtees was not really a man of so large a fortune as he wished to be thought, and that he was willing to part with but little of what he might really possess, went up to him one day on the Exchange, saying, " Mr. Surtees, why should this marriage make you so cool with me ? I was as little wish- ful for it as yourself; but, since what is done cannot be undone, for every hundred pounds you put down for your daughter, I will cover it with another for my son."" You are too forgiving, Mr. Scott, VOL. i. 4 50 LIFE OF LORD you are too forgiving," was the answer: " that would be rewarding disobedience." It has been said, upon highly respectable authority, that, at the anxious and critical period which immediately followed his marriage, Lord Eldon had a narrow escape from being a grocer. The particu- lars, as related in the Oxford Herald of 28th January, 1838, are, that a worthy and wealthy grocer of Newcastle, who had no children of his own, paid a friendly visit to Mr. Scott the elder, upon his son's marriage, and after expressing an apprehension that Mr. Surtees would never forgive either his daughter or John Scott, proposed to take John into partnership ; that Mr. Scott deferred his answer till he should have received a letter which he was expecting from William ; and that William's letter determined the answer in the negative. The letter, from which the following passages are extracted, was addressed, in the earlier part of December, by the young bridegroom to his friend Reay at Oxford. " My dear Reay, "It gives me some satisfaction to find that, amidst the censures of those whose frowns I despise, and the applause of others whose good opinion I am not very anx- ious to secure, a change of life on my part has not been attended with a change of sentiments on yours. Those who knew me not were at liberty to deal out their plaudits, or express their disapprobation in as strong terms as they pleased, and whilst I expected, from impertinent ignorance or morose old age, reflections upon, my honour and my prudence, I was contented that the latter should be suspected by those friends whose knowledge of me would lead them, without hesitation, (I flattered myself) to believe that I had acted with an unremitting attention to the former. Vir- tuit mea me involvo and I can, with the greatest confidence, retire from the harsh criticisms of a world which must ever remain ignorant of the justifyingcircumstanc.es, to a heart which will never reproach me. I hope I shall not be suspected of vanity, if I assert that no man who knew me thoroughly would condemn me as consulting only the gratification of a boyish passion." After pleading the long attachment of himself and his bride, he discusses the natural question, " Did not prudence suggest that this connection should be deferred?" and the observations which then follow tend to confirm the conclusion that there were, about this time, one or more other suitors for Miss Surtees's hand, who, in her opinion, could not easily be got rid of by any measure short of the step which was actually taken by her. He was reduced, he says, to the neces- sity of forming the connection at this time, or bidding farewell to the lady for ever. After a few other observations in support of the course thus taken, he proceeds : "You have long known me, Hal; you will not suspect me of dissimulation if, where there is so little occasion for any other arguments to disarm you of any suspicions with respect to the rectitude of my conduct, I farther assert, in general terms, that I have only acted tlit unavoidable part: I cannot honourably descend to such particulars as may prove the truth of the assertion. I should not have said so much, if I had not been writing to a person whose behaviour has endeared him to me so greatly, that I should be uneasy under his disapprobation. " Such are the motives upon which the scheme was undertaken ; it was executed with some wonderful escapes, and exhibits, in my conduct, some very remarkable generalship: I eluded the vigilance of three watchmen, stationed in the neighbourhood, without the assistance of a bribe; and contrived to be sixty miles from Newcastle before it was discovered that I had left the place. My wife is a perfect heroine, and behaved with a courage which astonished me. In truth, fortes Fortuna juvat: how CHANCELLOR ELDON. 51 else can I account for the first intimations about a scheme which I should not have dreamt would ever have been thought of, the success of a plan seemingly imprac- ticable, and the ready forgiveness of those whom I expected to have found unre- lenting? I have now, Reay, bid adieu to all ambitious projects, because my hi-hest ambition is gratified: though a husband, I am yet so much of a lover as to think the world well lost whilst I retain the affections of one woman, the esteem of a few friends and the good wishes of Reay. Some of the good folks here, as you surmised, had starved me out of pure pity: but though I shall not expire by a surfeit, I think I shall scarce die of hunger. ** "With respect to your being a candidate for my fellowship, the college will suffer no loss by my imprudence, if I have such a successor : I expect to hear from you again soon: in the mean time, believe me to be, dear Reay, "Your sincere friend, and " (Upon your mother's authority) "Your affectionate cousin, "J.Scott.* "Wednesday." In a little while Mr. Surtees began to relent, and a letter of for- giveness was despatched to the bride, through her brother John, who writes this account of its results : " I received the letter of peace from my father or mother, I forget which, and, I suppose, in answer to a supplicatory letter from the bride. She threw her arms about me in a transport of joy, and kissed me for a considerable time, without intermission. They immediately after quitted their father's house, took up their abode with my father, and stayed there till they removed to Oxford." On the 7th of January, 1773, Mr. Surtees and Mr. Scott entered into articles, to which the young couple were parties, and by which Mr. Surtees covenanted to pay to Mr. John Scott 1000J. as the por- tion of his daughter, with 5 per cent, until payment: and certain trusts were therein declared of a sum of 2000., for which Mr. Scott had given his bond to the trustees as the portion of his son. Some years afterwards, on the 17th of August, 1781, another instrument was executed, by which Mr. Surtees bound himself to pay a second portion of 1000Z. in addition to the like amount settled by him in the before-mentioned articles. Each of these two sums carried interest at 5 per cent. In order to give a higher sanction to the union of the young couple, it was arranged that a marriage should be solemnized between them in the parish church of St. Nicholas, Newcastle. It was accordingly celebrated there by license on the 19th of January, 1773, the cere- mony being performed by the Reverend Cuthbert Wilson, in the pre- sence of Mr. Surtees the elder, and of Henry Scott, the bridegroom's brother. The following is a copy of the register " John Scott and Elizabeth Surtees, a minor, with the consent of her father, Aubone Surtees, Esquire, and both of this parish, were married in this church by license, the nineteenth day of January, 1773, by me, " CUTH. WILSON, Curate. * The letter is endorsed, " Rec* at Oxon. Dec. 13, 1772." This brings the date to the 9th. 52 LIFE OF LORD "This marriage was solemnized between us, " JOHN SCOTT, ) In the presence of us, and AUBONE SURTEES. "ELIZABETH SURTEES, ) HENRY SCOTT." The ceremony being completed, Mr. and Mrs. John Scott stepped into the chaise which waited for them at the church door, and set off on their way to Oxford. " I remember," says Mr. John Surtees, in a communication trans- mitted to his niece, Miss Ridley, of Battersea, for the present work, " I remember, while they were living with us after their marriage, Lord Eldon gaily observing, that he had been very susceptible : that Miss Allgood, daughter of Sir Launcelot Allgood was his ' first flame,' but that she was scornful." Mr. Surtees adds, "She and your very dear mother (Mrs. Ridley) used to correspond, though she, Miss All- good, was a few years older than either of my sisters. Lady Eldon had no female friend : your mother had many. Lady Eldon, your mother, Matt, and I, the four youngest, formed a circle of our own, and I well remember Lady Eldon telling me that she would impart to me a great secret if she did not fear that her confidence might get me into a scrape. " I remember Lord Eldon taking me on his knee, a few days before he left my father's to reside in Oxford, and saying that he had two strings to his bow : that if a University-College-living fell vacant in the course of the year, he should accept it ; but that he would apply himself to the law as a last resource, if the church failed him. I remember also he wrote a letter to my brother Matt, then about to leave school, and go to Oxford with the intention of entering into the church. In that letter he stated that it had then become necessary that he should renounce 'his first mistress,' the church, and pursue a profession which had much less of his affection and respect ; but that if fraud might be effected by the agency of one man, it might be de- feated by the instrumentality of another. These sentiments were very feelingly and gracefully expressed, and I repeat this language feebly and clumsily. It is near 70 years since I read the letter." Mr. Matthew Surtees's widow records that " she heard her husband say he spent a five-guinea piece which his uncle and godfather had given him as a keepsake (all the money he could command), to buy some spoons, which he gave to Lord Eldon as his marriage gift." Such were the circumstances of a marriage, which eventually, by obliging Mr. Scott to vacate his fellowship, precluded him from any prospect of preferment in the church and determined him to the study of the law. "Having then," says Lord Eldon, in the Anecdote Book, "the world before us, and, as it proved, a most kind Providence my guide, I gave up the purpose of taking orders, and entered as a stu- dent in the Middle Temple, in January, 1773." His admission bears date the 28th of that month, and is in these words: " Die 28 Janua- rii, 1773, Ma r . Johannes Scott, films tertius Gulielmi Scott de Novo Castello super Tinum Armigeri, admissus est in Societatem Medii CHANCELLOR ELDON. 53 Terapli Londini specialiter.* Et dat pro fine 4Z." His relinquishment, however, of " the purpose of taking orders," was then but inchoate: for though the marriage placed him under a necessity of vacating the fellowship at the end of twelve months, yet, during that intermediate time, which is commonly called the year of grace, he still held the fellowship, with the option of accepting any college-living which might come to his turn within that period. The whole of that year was, however, assiduously devoted by him to his legal studies, with the view he had before expressed of having two strings to his bow. * Members admitted " specially" at a fine of 4/., were exempt from some inconve- nient observances. LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER IV. 1773_1775. Relinquishment of fellowship and the church for the study of the law Residence of Mr. and Mrs. John Scott at Oxford. His recollections of Dr. Johnson. Birth of a son. Letters of John Scott to his family. Lectures and anecdotes. His recollec- tions of Serjeant Hill. John Scott's income, labours and health. His first esta- blishment in London. Pupilage with Mr. Duane, the conveyancer. ON the 13th of February, in the year 1773, he took his degree as Master of Arts; and) happily for his fame and fortune, the twelve months of grace passed away, without the falling in of any benefice to tempt him back from the pursuit of the law. Neither his Scotch nor his English marriage appears in the records of University Col- lege ; but, on the 19th of November, 1773, the anniversary of the earlier ceremony, he gave up his fellowship, in which he was suc- ceeded by his friend Reay. His resolution to study the law is said to have been first adopted at the suggestion of his wife's father, who had a high opinion of his qualifications for the bar. For the greater part of the three years, which, by the regulations of the Middle Temple, were required to intervene between the admission of the student into the inn, and his call to the bar, Mr. and Mrs. John Scott continued to reside in or near Oxford, though, for the purpose of keeping his terms, he had to visit London four times a year. During one of these visits, he wrote the following cordial letter to the lady whom his brother Henry had just married : (Mr. John Scott to Mrs. Henry Scott.) " Madam, "I flatter myself it is unnecessary to tell you, that I experience a particular satis- faction in having an opportunity of addressing you as my sister. I cannot see, with- out great pleasure, an event take place, which has long engrossed all my brother's wishes, and which I have for some time considered as essential to his happiness. You will acquit me of any undue partiality, if I add that a thorough knowledge of my brother's disposition makes me confident that your felicity will be in some mea- sure augmented by an union with a person who will pay an unwearied attention to you : an attention cheerfully exerted by one party, and in every way due to the other. "I cannot but regret that it is so improbable that it will soon be in my power to assure you, in person, how happy 1 am to subscribe myself, " Your affectionate brother, " J. SCOTT. "London, 17th June, 1773." Mr. John Scott, shortly after his own marriage, had said, in a letter to Mr. Lane, a fellow-student of his at University College, who was then reading law in the Temple, " I have married rashly, and have neither house nor home to offer my wife ; but it is my deter- mination to work hard to provide for the woman I love, as soon as I CHANCELLOR ELDON. 55 can find the means of doing so." This led to a request from Mr. Lane that his friend would bring his bride to the house of Lane's father, at Millend, Henley on Thames, now the residence of Mrs. Hind. The invitation appears to have been accepted soon after the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. John Scott at Oxford. " The appearance of the lady," says Mrs. Hind, in a letter dated October, 1838, " was considered at Millend to be Mr. Scott's sufficient apology for the hasty step he had taken in marrying ; for she was extremely beauti- ful, and so very young as to give the impression of childhood, espe- cially as her dress corresponded with that idea, the white frock and sash being, in those days, the distinguishing marks of a child, as well as the flowing ringlets which hung around her shoulders." Afterwards, according to the Rev. Mr. Brewster, "Mr. and Mrs. John Scott for some time resided at New Inn Hall. Sir Robert Chambers (also a native of Newcastle) was principal of the Hall : he had been a fellow of University College, and was at that time Vinerian professor of law : about this period, he was appointed one of the first judges that were sent to India; and was then on the point of removal. At that period, New Inn Hall had no resident members except the principal, who had been permitted to hold his situation for a few years during his proposed absence. In consequence of this, Mr. and Mrs. Scott were accommodated with his apartments for a time ; and while I was resident at Lincoln College, I had the pleasure of paying them occasional visits." Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book has the following reminiscences of Dr. Johnson at Oxford: "I had a walk, in New Inn Hall Garden, with Dr. Johnson, Sir Robert Chambers and some other gentlemen. Sir Robert was gathering snails, and throwing them over the wall into his neighbour's garden. The doctor reproached him very roughly, and stated to him that this was unmannerly and unneigh- bourly. ' Sir,' said Sir Robert, ' my neighbour is a Dissenter.' * Oh !' said the doctor, ' if so, Chambers, toss away, toss away, as hard as you can.' ' "The doctor \vas frequently, apparently, very absent. I have seen him standing for a very long time, without moving, with a foot on each side of the kennel which was then in the middle of the High Street, Oxford, with his eyes fixed on the water running in it. " If put out of temper, he was not very moderate in the terms in which he expressed his displeasure. I remember that, in the com- mon room of University College, he was dilating upon some subject, and the then head of Lincoln College, Dr. Mortimer, was^ present. Whilst Johnson was stating what he proposed to communicate, the doctor occasionally interrupted him, saying, 'I deny that.' This was often repeated, and observed upon by Johnson, as it was re- peated, in terms expressive of increasing displeasure and anger. At length, upon the doctor's repeating the words I deny that,' >ir, sir,' said Johnson, 'you must have forgot that an author has said, ' Plus negabit unus asinus in unS hora, quam centum philosophi pro- baverint in centum annis.' " 56 LIFE OF LORD Mrs. John Scott used to speak of Dr. Johnson's having drunk tea with her and her husband at Oxford, and to relate that she had her- self helped him one evening to fifteen cups. It was during the residence of Mr. and Mrs. John Scott at New Inn Hall, that their eldest son John, the father of the present earl, was born, on the 8th of March, 1774. In an illness which hung about Mrs. Scott for a considerable time after her confinement, their medical friend, Mr. Nurse, lent them his house at Woodeaton ; and though reputed a man of rough manners, he yet continued, as she and Lord Eldon ever testified, to attend her with the kindest care, declining all remuneration. (Mr. William Scott to his brother Henry.') "May 17, 1774. "Jack's wife has had a melancholy time, but is now, thank God, in a fair way. Jack behaved to her with infinite tenderness, and she really deserves it, for she is an excellent wife, and makes him very happy under the inconveniences of a scanty income." ******** (Mr. John Scott to his brother Henry.) " New Inn Hall, May 28, 1774. " Dear Brother, "I am.jriuch indebted to you for your letters. Under the apprehensions of losing my wife.t^ey relieved my spirits, though it was out of the power of man to raise them. I consider myself as particularly obliged to you for taking so much notice of us, at a time when any attention seems singular; my father never writing more than three lines, and my sisters having forgot that we are yet in the land of the living. ******** "I hope once more to see you about this time two years, when I intend, if I can manage it, to come your circuit; and, in case of encouragement, I shall, some three years after that, perhaps settle in Newcastle." **** **** (Mr. John Scott to Mrs. Henry Scott.) "My dear Sister, "It is fortunate for me, perhaps, that the relation in which we stand to each other, by giving apologies an air of formality, should render them unnecessary; for in truth 1 am utterly at a loss for any which can atone for so long a silence. In one respect. I consider myself as laudably singular: I am unwilling to give way to the prevailing mode of treating our nearest friends with the greatest indifference. I have been, therefore, somewhat desirous to send you a letter better worth your acceptance than I fear you will find this ; but I shall be contented to be charged with dulness, if you acquit me of inattention. "Indeed, you cannot have so little candour as to expect any thing entertaining from so deep a retirement as this : and you will meet with very little which can repay you for calling off your attention from the active scenes at Newcastle, were I to give you a full and true account of all the transactions at our hermitage. As I find, by my brother's letter, that he frequently amuses himself with a gun, I take it for granted you are not troubled with those unreasonable apprehensions about his safety which some of your sex indulge ; and shall, therefore, unless you give me your orders to the contrary, contribute to his participation of another dangerous but favourite exercise, by sending him a pair of skates. But as I consider you as fully vested with a right to control his inclinations in all these matters, I shall pay a due deference to your wishes, if you are pleased to communicate them. Mrs. Scott's affectionate compli- ments wait upon you. Do me the justice to believe, that I feel a real happiness in being able to style myself, "Your affectionate brother, "JoHs SCOTT. "Woodeaton, Sept. 26. (probably 1774.)" CHANCELLOR ELDON. 57 The present Earl of Eldon gives the following particulars respect- ing the pursuits of his grandfather at this period of his life. " During the years 1774 and 1775, John Scott held the office of a tutor of University College, but the late Dr. Fisher, then his colleague, informed me, that, to the best of his belief, Mr. Scott never did more as a tutor than attend to some members of the college, as his law pupils, while he resided at Oxford. He had no share of the emolu- ments, Fisher receiving one-third, and William Scott, the senior tutor, receiving the other two-thirds, and doing double work." About this time, however, Mr. John Scott gave lectures on the law as deputy for Sir Robert Chambers, the Vinerian professor : and for this service he appears to have had 60/. a year. Talking to Mrs. Forster of these lectures, Lord Eldon said, " The most awkward thing that ever occurred to me was this : immediately after I was mar- ried, I was appointed deputy professor of law at Oxford, and the law professor sent me the first lecture, which I had to read immediately to the students, and which I began without knowing a single word that was in it. It was upon the statute of young men running away with maidens.* Fancy me reading, with about one hundred and forty boys and young men all giggling at the professor. Such a tittering audience no one ever had." " The first cause I ever decided was an apple-pie cause": I must tell you of it, Mary. I was, you know, a senior fellow at University College, and two of the under-graduates came to complain to me, that the cook had sent them an apple-pie that could not be eaten. So I said I would hear both sides. I summoned the cook to make his defence ; who said that he always paid the utmost attention to the provisions of the college, that he never had any thing unfit for the table, and that there was then a remarkably fine fillet of veal in the kitchen. Now here we were at fault ; for I could not understand what a fillet of veal in the kitchen had to do with an apple-pie in the hall. So, in order that I might come to a right understanding of the merits of the case, I ordered the pie itself to be brought before me. Then came an easy decision : for the messenger returned and informed me that the other under-graduates had taken advantage of the absence of the two complainants and had eaten the whole of the apple-pie : so you know it was impossible for me to decide that was not eatable which was actually eaten. I often wished, in after-life, that all the causes were apple-pie causes : fine easy work it would have been. " The first real cause I ever decided was at Doncaster. A matter had to,come on there before the recorder, in which he was personally concerned, and he asked me to try it for him. Thus I decided a cause before I was a judge." On the 13th of October, 1774, Mr. John Scott took up his freedom of the corporation of Newcastle. His brother William had done the like on the 8th of October, 1766. The terms at the Middle Temple, and other inns of court, are kept by the actual presence of the student at dinner, in the hall of thesoci- 4 & 5 Phil. & Ma. 8. ch. 5& LIFE OF LORD ety, for a certain number of days in each of twelve terms. Through the bans, thus published, the profession of the bar is espoused. In the years 1773, 1774 and 1775, when Mr. Scott was going through the requisite quarterly solemnities in London, the great leviathan of legal learning was Mr. Serjeant Hill, of whom the Anecdote Book has these characteristic notices : " Very shortly after I had entered Westminster Hall as a student, Serjeant Hill, who was a most learned lawyer, but a very singular man, stopped me in the hall and said, ' Pray, young gentleman, do you think herbage and pannage rateable to the poor's rate ?' I answered, ' Sir, I cannot presume to give any opinion, inexperienced and un- learned as I am, to a person of your great knowledge and high cha- racter in the profession.' 'Upon my word,' said the Serjeant, 'you are a pretty sensible young gentleman ; I don't often meet with such. If I had asked Mr. Burgess, a young man upon our circuit, the ques- tion, he would have told me I was an old fool. You are an extra- ordinary sensible young gentleman.' ' " Mr. Serjeant Hill began an argument in the King's Bench, in my hearing, thus : ' My Lord Mansfield and judges, I beg your pardon.' ' Why, brother Hill, do you ask our pardon ?' ' My lords,' said he, 'I have seventy-eight cases to cite.' 'Seventy-eight cases,' said Lord Mansfield, 'to cite ! you can never have our pardon, if you cite seventy-eight cases.' After the court had given its decision upon the case (which was against the Serjeant's client) Lord Mansfield said, ' Now, brother Hill, that the judgment is given, you can have no objec- tion on account of your client to tell us your real opinion, and whether you don't think we are right. You know how much we all value your opinion and judgment.' The serjeant said he very much wished to be excused, but he always thought it his duty to do what the court desired; ' and upon my word,' said he, ' I did not think that there were four men in the world who could have given such an ill-founded judgment as you four, my lords judges, have pronounced." " When Mr. Hotham was made a baron of the exchequer, who had never had any business at the bar, but who, by the effect of great natural good sense and discretion, made a good judge, he gave, as usual, a dinner at Serjeant's Inn, to the judges and the Serjeants. Serjeant Hill drank his health thus : ' Mr. Baron Botham, I drink your health.' Somebody gently whispered the serjeant, that the baron's name was not Botham but Hotham. 'Oh!' said the ser- jeant aloud, ' I beg your pardon, Mr. Baron Hotham, I beg your par- don for calling you Mr. Baron Botham but none of us ever heard your name in the profession before this day!' ' To the foregoing story, which the Anecdote Book gives in two places, Lord Eldon appends this observation : " The baron made an extremely good judge. He had not much legal learning, but he had an excel- lent understanding, great discretion, unwearied patience, and his manners were extremely engaging: and, these qualities insuring to him, in a very large measure, the assistance of the bar, he executed his duties of a judge with great sufficiency." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 59 It has been supposed that, at this period of Mr. John Scott's life he was indebted to his brother William for an income in the nature of an allowance. This is an error. He had loans from his brother, and probably presents ; and his correspondence shows, that to the very end of his life he considered himself under deep obligations for his brother's early and unvarying kindness ; but he told a familiar friend, not many years before his death, that he never had an allow- ance, except from his father. His health was at first unequal to the severe labour which he im- posed upon himself after his marriage : and his appearance soon be- tokened that he was studying "not wisely, but too well." He used to relate that, in 1774, when he and Mr. Cookson, another invalid, were returning to Oxford from Newcastle, where they had been to vote at the general election for Sir Walter Blackett and Sir Matthew White Ridley, the cook of the Hen and Chickens Inn at Birmingham, which they reached about eleven at night, insisted upon dressing something hot for them, saying she was sure they would neither of them live to see her again. A medical friend thought it necessary to remonstrate with Scott, and enforce the necessity of some abate- ment in his severe application. "It is no matter," answered he: " I must either do as I am now doing, or starve." Pursuing the advice of Lord Coke, he read "non multa, sed multum." He rose at the early hour of four in the morning: observed a careful abstinence at his meals: and, in order to prevent the invasion of drowsiness, studied at night with a wet towel round his head. He was wont, in his later life, to recur to those days as not unhappy,* though laborious; but the next letter shows that his spirits were sometimes a good deal depressed. ( Mr. John Scott to his brother Henry. ,) " Oxford, Jan. 2, 1775. " My dear Brother, "As I think it is not a very good quality in a social creature to communicate his griefs, I have been very unwilling to write to you, when illness preyed so much upon my spirits that I could not but foresee that a gloomy strain of melancholy would sully every page of my sheet. But as the state of my body and soul are both con- siderably amended, as my spirits have resumed their wonted fire, I now venture to attack you, and will be presumptuous enough to hope you will think my letter worth receiving, particularly as it finds its way to you in a frank. ******* "I suppose the din of politics is heard no more, and the brawls of drunken patriot- ism infest your streets no longer. * * " The scheme of voting according to the instructions of constituents appears to me, moreover, so fundamentally wrong, that if the rage of patriotism should continue another seven years, I believe I shall hazard a pamphlet among you: as I think it will be no difficult matter to prove that it has neither the authority of reason nor the sanction of law to support it." As the time now approached when he was to be called to the bar, it became necessary for him to provide himself with an abode m London. In his latter life, as he was one day passing through Cur- sitor Street with Mr. Pensam, his secretary of bankrupts, he pointed * Law Magazine, No. xli. 60 LIFE OF LORD to a house in that street, and said, " There was my first perch. Many a time have I run down from Cursitor Street to Fleet Market" (then occupying the site which is now called Farringdon Street) "to get sixpenny-worth of sprats for supper." From that earliest of his residences, the following letter is dated : (Mr. John Scott to his brother Henry.} "Cursitor Street, Dec. 5, 1775. " Dear Brother, " I am at length settled in the circle of lawyers, and begin to breathe a little, after the laborious task of removing a family, which is a work as difficult as that of re- moving a mountain. You know, probably, that this is only a step preparatory to a settlement among you, which I begin to think is a prospect that brightens upon me every day. I have been exceedingly fortunate in forming my previous connections, as the object which I had most at heart I have obtained. The great conveyancing of your country is done by Mr. Duane: it seemed to be, therefore, a most desirable thing to be connected with him, as his recommendation and instructions might probably operate much in my behalf hereafter. The great fear arose from his never having taken any person in the character of a pupil before, and the apprehension, that if he should now break through a general rule, it must be on terms with which I could not afford to comply; but he has offered me every assistance in his power, and is so ex- tremely ready to forward my schemes, as to declare himself contented with the satis- faction he will enjoy in contributing to the success of a person whom he is so uncommonly kind as even to honour. This conduct of his has taken a great load of uneasiness off my mind, as in fact our profession is so exceedingly expensive, that I almost sink under it. I have got a house barely sufficient to hold my small family, which (so great is the demand for them here) will in rent and taxes cost me annually sixty pounds. I thank God it will be only for two years at most. I have been buy- ing books, too, for the last ten years, and I have got the mortification to find, that be- fore I can settle that article of trade, for as such I consider it, will cost me near two hundred pounds: not to mention the price of a voluminous wig. ******* " I do not see your name among the addressers : surely the friends of government are more numerous among you. We addressed from Oxford; that is, I gave it nei- ther countenance nor opposition, for I do not care sixpence about the matter, though I think, in point of law, the Americans are wrong, and do not see any alternative but to conquer or separate entirely from them. This is only between you and me," &c. &c. A little more than a fortnight before his death he was speaking to Mr. Farrer, the master in Chancery, of this period of his life. " I was for six months," he said, " in the office of Mr. Duane the con- veyancer. He was a Roman Catholic, a most worthy and excellent man." Referring to Mr. Duane's liberality in taking him without a fee, Lord Eldon added, " That was a great kindness to me. The knowledge I acquired of conveyancing in his office was of infinite service to me during a long life in the Court of Chancery." In the same conversation, he told Mr. Farrer that he had never been in the office of any special pleader or equity draftsman. " How then," asked Mr. Farrer, "did you acquire your knowledge of plead- ing?" "Why," answered Lord Eldon, "I copied every thing I could lay my hand upon." Two large volumes of precedents, thus copied by him, he lost, and would often regret. He supposed he had lent them to some friend, but could not recollect to whom. Of such borrowers, he would sometimes say, " that though backward in accounting, they seemed to be practised in book-keeping." CHANCELLOR ELDON. CHAPTER V. 17761780. Call to the bar. Death of Mr. Scott, sen. His will. Old stories of Westminster Hall. Dr. Heberden. Northern circuit. John Lee. Anecdotes. Lord Mans- field's levee. Newspapers. Lord C. J. De Grey. Letters of William and John Scott. Riots. IT was in Hilary term, 1776, on the 9th of February, that Mr. John Scott was called to the bar by the honourable society of the Middle Temple. The society's books contain the following entries in the proceedings of their parliaments: "At a parliament holden the twenty-fourth day of November, 1775, Mr. Scott, J., proposed by Ma r . Gibbon is for their masterships' consideration, if they will be pleased to call him to the degree of the Utter Bar. " At a parliament holden the twenty-sixth day of January, 1776, the petition of Mr. Scott, J., a member of this society, being read, setting forth that at the .time of his be- coming a student of this society, he was of full standing for the degree of .Master of Arts in the University of Oxford, and was then regularly and without favour of con- vocation admitted to that degree; that he was admitted of this society on the 28th day of January, 1773, and might, by their masterships' permission, and the favour usually granted to Masters of Arts, be called to the bar on the 29th of January, 1776; but without some particular indulgence of their masterships, he could not be called to the bar in the beginning of the term; he therefore humbly prayed the favour of their masterships, that the usual day of calling to the bar might be adjourned from this day to Monday the 29th; or to grant him such other indulgence as their masterships should think fit. It is ordered that it be rejected. " At a parliament holden the ninth day of February, 1776, ordered that Mr. Scott, J. be called to the degree of the Utter Bar." " When I was called to the bar," said he to Mrs. Forster, "Bessy and I thought all our troubles were over : business was to pour in, and we were to be almost rich immediately. So I made a bargain with her, that, Muring the following year, all the money I should receive in the first eleven months should be mine, and whatever I should get in the twelfth month should be hers. What a stingy dog I must have been to make such a bargain ! I would not have done so afterwards. But, however, so it was; that was our agreement: and how do you think it Jurned out? In the twelfth month I received half a guinea; eighteen pence went for fees, and Bessy got nine shillings : in the other eleven months I got not one shilling." He used to relate that he had been called to the bar but a day or two, when, on coming out of the court one morning, he was accosted by a dapper-looking attorney's clerk, who handed him a motion-paper, in some matter, of course, which merely required to be authenticated by counsel's signature. He signed the brief, and the attorney's clerk, taking it back from him, said, " A fine hand yours, Mr. Scott, an exceedingly fine hand! It would be well for us, DZ LIFE OF LORD sir, if gentlemen at the bar would always take a little of your pains to insure legibility. A beautiful hand, sir ! " While he spoke thus, the eloquent clerk was fumbling, first in one pocket, then in the other; till, with a hurried air, he said, "A a a , I really beg your pardon, sir, but I have unfortunately left my purse on the table in the coffee-room opposite ; pray, do me the favour to remain here, and I will be back in one moment." So speaking, the clerk vanished with the rapidity of lightning: "and never," said Lord Eldon, in telling the story, " did I set eyes on that man again." Mr. Scott, his father, did not live even to see the future chancellor fairly launched into business. The year in which the son was called to the bar was that in which the father departed this life. He died on the 6th of November, 1776, and was buried at All Saints', Newcastle. A local act of Parliament prohibits the erection of monuments in that edifice; and William and Henry, the elder brothers of Lord Eldon, appear to have disliked any other situation for a memorial of their parent than the actual resting-place of his remains; but, after the death of both those brothers, Lord Eldon dedicated a tablet to his memory in the mother church of St. Nicholas, with the following unostentatious inscription : IN MEMORY OF MR. WILLIAM SCOTT, FREEMAN AND HOASTMAN OF THIS TOWN, WHO WAS BURIED AT ALL SAINTS' CHURCH, NOVEMBER, 1776. HE LEFT TO HIS FAMILY A RICH INHERITANCE, IN THE EXAMPLE OF A LIFE OF INDUSTRY UNREMITTING, OF PROBITY UNSULLIED, AND OF PIETY MOST PURE AND SINCERE. THIS TABLET IS PLACED HERE BY ONE OF HIS AFFECTIONATE SONS. After Lord Eldon's death, there was found in his handwriting the following memorandum of his father's circumstances and merits : "Malt; coals; ships; underwriting ships ; grindstones for foreign countries ; coal barges on the Tyne, 12, 13, 14, or 16 ; two men each, all the year through ; sole owner of a sugar house in Newcastle; owner of various houses and large gardens ; bought two estates in the county of Durham. Lord Stowell never would sell them after his father's death because they were his father's. At his death there were few persons in Newcastle town of substance equal. He provided liberally for his eldest son as such, and decent fortunes for his several younger children, sons and daughters. "The best inheritance the father could leave to all his children was, in remem- brance of his industry unremitting, his probity never interrupted, his piety most con- stant and pure, his exemplary life." By his will, dated 26th December, 1774, Mr. William Scott ap- pointed his eldest son William his sole executor, to whom he left his estate at Usworth, in the county of Durham, and various proper- ties in Newcastle, including his residence in Love Lane, which was given subject to a life interest for his widow. To her he gave also an annuity of 100J., to his son Henry 3000/., and to John 1000/., CHANCELLOR ELDON. 63 in addition to the 2000/. settled at his marriage ; to each of his two daughters, Barbara and Jane, 1500/., and to his granddaughter Ann Cramlington, 1200/. Shortly after Lord Stowell's death, Lord Eldon told the present earl that the property left to Lord Stowell by their father amounted in value to 24,000/. or 25,000/. Mr. John Scott took care to improve his professional knowledge, not only by conveyancing at the chambers of Mr. Duane, in which pursuit he seems to have persevered for some months after his call to the bar, but by careful observation in court of the manner in which business was done by the ablest and most experienced leaders. During this apprenticeship, he began to store up with his legal lore, the amusing gossip of Westminster Hall, and collected a great maga- zine of professional stones, which he related in after life with most agreeable humour, and of which many are preserved in the Anecdote Book. Among them, it is related that -Mr. Dunning, who was the most eminent of the counsel practising in the Court of King's Bench when Mr. Scott first entered the profession, "had, some years before, when solicitor-general, diverted himself by making an excursion, in vaca- tion time, to Prussia. From his title of solicitor-general, the king supposed him to be a general officer in the British army ; so he invited him to a great review of his troops, and mounted him, as an eminent military person, upon one of his finest chargers. The charger carried the solicitor-general through all the evolutions of the day, the " gene- ral" in every movement being in a most dreadful fright, and the horse's duty never allowing him to dismount. He was so terrified and distressed by this great compliment, that he said he never would go abroad again as a general of any sort." The Anecdote Book relates the following particulars of the conduct of a cause in which Mr. Scott was Mr. Dunning's junior : " I had, very early after I was called to the bar, a brief in business in the King's Bench, as junior to Mr. Dunning. He began the argu- ment, and appeared to me to be reasoning very powerfully against our client. Waiting till I was quite convinced that he had "mistaken for what party he was retained, I then touched his arm, and, upon his turning his head towards me, I whispered to him that he must have misunderstood for whom he was employed, as he was reasoning against our client. He gave me a very rough and rude reprimand for not having sooner set him right, and then proceeded to state, that what he had addressed to the court was all that could be stated against his client, and that he had put the case as unfavourably as possible against him, in order that the court might see how very satisfactorily the case against him could be answered ; and, accordingly, very powerfully answered what he had before stated." Mr. Scott did not long occupy his Cursitor Street "perch," but removed to a small house in Carey Street, which was adapted for the double purpose of a residence and of business-chambers. His labours were lightened by the constant companionship of his wife, who accustomed herself to his hours, and would sit up with him, 64 LIFE OF LORD silently watching his studies. But his application was still too intense for his health. It was scarcely three years after the ominous remarks of the cook at Birmingham, that Dr. Heberden despatched him to Bath, with notice, that if, in three or four weeks, the waters should bring on the gout, all was well ; but that if this result was not effected, he must prepare for the worst. What followed at this interview was narrated by him, late in life, to Mr. Farrer, in the following words: "I put my hand into my pocket, meaning to give Heberden his fee ; but he stopped me, saying, 'Are you the young gentleman who gained the prize for the essay at Oxford?' I said I was. 'I will take no fee from you. Go to Bath, and let me see you when you return.' I did go to Bath, and drank the waters, and had a fit of the gout. My health was much improved. I called to thank Heberden: I often consulted him; but he never would take a fee. He was a very kind man." In the second season of his professional career, his prospects began to improve a little, and only a little. The Duke of Northumberland, who, when quartered at Newcastle, had received some attentions from Mr. Surtees, evinced his sense of those civilities by retaining Mr. Scott in a proceeding before the House of Lords ; but on the northern circuit, which he had naturally selected, his early progress was not rapid. Mr. Surtees's interest had procured him a general retainer for the corporation of Newcastle ; but, during his first few circuits, he got little business, except that which is usually entrusted to mere beginners the defence of prisoners indicted for petty felonies. In Mr. Scott's time, a considerable number of these offences were capi- tal, and caused much anxiety to the defending counsel. It is true that, in nine cases out of ten, there could be then, as now, but little scope for an advocate's skill ; because, in at least that proportion of cases, the nature of the proof for the prosecution is so direct and positive, as to baffle all the arts of defence ; and the acquittals, occasionally pronounced, proceed, for the most part, from the absence of some material piece of evidence, or the mistake or wilfulness of some one or more of the witnesses or jurymen. Now and then, however, there will really be enough of doubt to give the prisoner a fair chance of acquittal, if his counsel do not commit him by an indiscreet question- ing of the witnesses : and the general vice of young and inexperienced advocates is a proneness to this imprudence. But Mr. Scott's discre- tion and caution Insigne mcestis presidium reis exempted him from the common error. He was wont to say jocu- larly, that he had been a most effective advocate for prisoners ; for that he had seldom put a question to a prosecutor. Mr. Lee, afterwards solicitor-general, who was familiarly known in the legal and professional circles of that time as Jack Lee, had a good deal of business on the northern circuit when Mr. Scott joined it, and treated the novice with distinction and kindness. The circuit, in those days, was usually performed on horseback, and at its close, CHANCELLOR ELDON. g5 Lee and Scott would ride homeward together. Lord Eldon's Anec- dote Book has the following recollections of these journeys: " When I first went the northern circuit, I employed my time, having no business of my own, in attending to the manner in which the lead- ing counsel did their business. I left Lancaster, at the end of a circuit with my friend Jack Lee, at that period a leader upon the circuit! We supped and slept at Kirkby Lonsdale or Kirkby Stephen. After supper I said to him, ' I have observed that throughout circuit, in all causes in which you were concerned, good, bad, indifferent, what- ever their nature was, you equally exerted yourself to the utmost to gain verdicts, stating evidence and quoting cases, as such statement and quotation should give you a chance of success, the evidence and the cases not being stated clearly, or quoted with a strict attention to accuracy and to fair and just representation. Can that,' said I 'Lee, be right? Can it be justified?'' Oh, yes,' he said, 'undoubt- edly. Dr. Johnson,' he stated, ' had said that counsel were at liberty to state, as the parties themselves would state, what it was most for their interest to state.' After some interval, and when he had had his evening bowl of milk-punch and two or three pipes of tobacco, he suddenly said, ' Come, Master Scott, let us go to bed. I have been thinking upon the questions that you asked me, and I am not quite so sure that the conduct you represented will brine: a man peace at the last.' "I have understood that Dr. Johnson's statement was to this effect : that as it was the duty of counsel to give information to the court, he ought to state facts accurately, to quote cases accurately, to misrepresent nothing with respect either to facts or cases, and having accurately stated facts and quoted cases, he was at liberty in conscience to reason upon them to the very best of his powers and abilities ; and as the law supposed the judge to be an abler man, and an abler lawyer than the counsel, the judge was to reason better upon the facts and the cases than the counsel; and, proceeding in this way, the counsel did nothing wrong in thus gaining the cause for his client. But it may be questioned whether even this can be supported. " Of John Lee I love to indulge in the remembrance. To me he was most kind in my younger days. He was a very powerful cross- examiner of a witness. I remember a witness remonstrating against the torture of his cross-examination. The man who was clothed in rags, said, ' Sir, you treat me very harshly, and I feel it the more because we are relations.' 'We relations, fellow!' said Lee: 'how do you make out that? ' Why,' said the man, ' my mother was such a person, and she was the daughter of such a man, and he was the son of a woman, who was the daughter of a person (naming him), who was your great grandfather, or great, great, great grandfather.' 'Well,' said Lee, 'you are right; he was so. And then, my good cousin, my good fourth or fifth cousin, speak a little truth, I beseech thee, for the honour of the family for not one word of truth, cousin, hast thou spoken yet.' " When Mr. Lee and I were returning from Lancaster assizes, he VOL. i. 5 66 LIFE OF LORD to Staindrop and I to Newcastle, we dined at Kirkby Lonsdale, and in the same room two other gentlemen dined, at the other end of it. In conversation, Mr. Lee said to me, ' Had we not better send a ser- vant forward to bespeak beds at Kirkby Stephen ?' I said, ' No : in such a country, all travellers should take their chance.' We finished our dinner before the other party concluded their repast, and we set out for Kirkby Stephen, where we were to sleep. In our way thither I heard a person coming with a very quick pace after us. When he approached us, I asked him where he was going. I observed that he was the servant of the party who had dined in the same room with us, and who had heard me so generously disclaim all unfair play about beds. He said he was going to Kirkby Stephen. ' What,' said I, ' to get beds for the gentlemen who dined in the same room with us?' He answered, 'Yes,' but he could not tell the sign of the house he was to go to. I told him I would set him right in that respect, and directed him to a sort of alehouse that was just on the entrance into the place. Lee and I rode on till we approached, and then passed him standing at the alehouse door, and went to the only decent and tolerably good inn in the place, where we slept. Next morning we met our dinner companions, one of whom said they had had a dreadful uncomfortable night, but added that he must own that they richly deserved it, and had no reason to complain of the trick we had played them." " Jack Lee," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. and Miss Forster, "belonged to Yorkshire ; but he went many years to York without receiving a single brief. One afternoon, after dinner, he declared that he found a prophet had no honour in his own country, and that as he never received a single guinea in York, he would shake the dust off his feet, and leave it the next morning, never to return again. Now Davenport, on hearing this determination, went to his own lodgings, and himself, with Wedderburn, drew up a brief." The sequel ap- pears more circumstantially in the Anecdote Book than in the con- versation with the ladies, and is as follows : " The brief purported to be ' in a matter entitled the King against the inhabitants of Hum town,' for not repairing a highway: setting forth the indictment and the names of the witnesses to be examined, and their testimony in a most skilful manner, and they sent it to Lee's lodging with a guinea as the fee. Lee came into the circuit room in the evening, and Wedderburn exclaimed, ' Bless me, Lee, I thought you were gone!' ' Well,' said Lee, ' it is very extraordinary: I was just going. I was shaking the dust off my feet in this place, as an abominable place that I never would see again, when, lo! a brief is brought to me, and I must stay.' ' Well,' said Davenport, ' in what cause might that be?' Lee said, l In an indictment, the King against the inhabitants of Hum town.' 'Oh! dear,' said Davenport, 'they brought me a brief in that case with a bad guinea, and I would not take it. I dare say they have given you the bad guinea.' 'I have it in my pocket,' said Lee : ' here it is.' Davenport looked at it and said, ' Yes, this is the same guinea,' and put it in his pocket. Wed- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 67 derburn and Davenport then told him the joke they had practised to have the benefit of his company a little longer at York. I think, upon memory, though he was a very good-tempered man, he never forgave this joke." When Lord Eldon told the story to Mrs. and Miss Forster, the lat- ter said, "But, uncle, he did not go the next morning?" "No," answered Lord Eldon, "he did not; and he afterwards led almost every cause at York; but that was his beginning." " In my time," says Lord Eldon, in the Anecdote Book, " we had upon the northern circuit two barristers of very different characters. Fairfax Fearnley, a Yorkshire-man, of good strong natural sense, im- proved, but not largely, by a knowledge of the law, had a good deal of humour, and was a great favourite of the bar and of his country- men in Yorkshire. He was senior to Mr. Davenport, whose temper gave, when they were counsel in the same cause, vast plague and trouble to Fearnley as the leading counsel, not assisted by his junior, but thwarted in all he said or proposed as leading counsel. Daven- port was the best-tempered man out of court, and the very worst- tempered man in court I ever knew. When he was made king's Serjeant and knighted, Fearnley led a cause at York on one side, and Sir Thomas Davenport on the other. ' Gentlemen,' said Fearnley, to a Yorkshire special jury of gentlemen, * I am to lead this cause for the plaintiff; the new knight, Sir Thomas, is to lead it for the defend- ant. What Sir Thomas may be to lead, I know not ; but you, gen- tlemen, and I know, from sad experience, that he was a terrible bad one to drive.'" The Anecdote Book has the following memorandum, a little am- plified here by Miss Forster's minutes. " In passing through Ches- terfield, where my revered master Mr. Moises had, after his taking orders, been curate, and which place he had left many years, I was led, by curiosity, to ask the landlord of the inn whether he remem- bered him. 'Yes,' answered he, swearing, 'I well remember him. I have had reason enough to remember him. It was the worst day this place ever saw that brought him here.' I was afraid of hearing something hard on the character of my good old master, and said, ' Mr. Moises was a most respectable man.' * That may be,' added the landlord, 'but he married me to the worst wife that ever man was plagued with.' 'Oh! is that all? that was your own fault; she was your own choice, not Mr. Moises's.' 'Yes,' concluded he; 'but I could not have been married if there had not been a parson to marry us.'" " From Ulverstone to Lancaster," says the Anecdote Book, "you may go by the shore, or by a road inland. The former is much the shorter ride, but very dangerous if the tide comes in. I asked the landlord of the inn at Ulverstone whether any persons were ever lost in going by the sea-shore to Lancaster, as our party wished to save time and go by the nearest way there. * No, no,' he answered, ' think nobody has ever been lost they have been all found at low water.' 68 LIFE OF LORD " When I was a very young man," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Fors- ter, " Lord Mansfield used to hold levees on the Sunday evenings, and, of course, all the young lawyers attended as soon as they had a gown to their backs. Well, I went, and it so happened, on that evening, I was the first, and the then Duke of Northumberland came second; he had just been at Bath, and he was expatiating upon the enjoyment he had had there. 'But,' added his grace, 'there is one comfort I could not have. I like to read the newspapers at breakfast, and at Bath the post does not come in till one o'clock : that was a drawback to my pleasure.' 'So,' said Lord Mansfield, 'your grace likes the comfort of reading the newspapers the comfort of reading the newspapers ! Mark my words. You and I shall not live to see it, but this young gentleman, Mr. Scott, may, or it may be a little later, but, a little sooner or later, those newspapers, if they go on as they now do, will most assuredly write the Dukes of Northumberland out of their titles and possessions, and the country out of its king. Mark my words, for this will happen.' ' : There was a time, undoubtedly, when the boding of Lord Mansfield seemed to approach its fulfilment ; but that danger has passed over : and, according to all present appearance, the newspapers, conducted as with few exceptions they are, and adapting themselves, as for the most part they do, to the general sentiments of the most respecta- ble classes of society, appear likely, instead of abetting an inroad upon property, to be among its most effective protectors. Indeed, its cause is their own. The machinery of a newspaper is a property as valuable as the machinery of a cotton mill. The sphere of a leading newspaper's circulation is a good-will as profitable as that of a great professional practice among clients or patients. Perhaps, here or there some dishonest editor may write up anarchy to lure buyers, so long as he feels assured that there is no danger of his beholding the evil spirit he invokes : but these are writers of very small circulation, and even these would be conservatives, were their types in jeopardy. One of the most considerable among the judges of that time was Lord Chief Justice De Grey. " He was the object," says Mr. Farrer, " of Lord Eldon's highest commendation. He spoke of him as a most accomplished lawyer, and of most extraordinary power of me- mory." "Lord Chief Justice De Grey," said Lord Eldon, "was a severe sufferer from gout. I have seen him come into court with both hands wrapped in flannel. He could not take a note, and had no one to do so for him. I have known him try a cause that lasted nine or ten hours, and then, from memory, sum up all the evidence with the greatest correctness. I have known counsel interrupt him in his sum- ming up, and represent that he had misstated evidence. ' I am right,' he would say, ' I am sure I am right ; refer to your short-hand writer's notes.' He invariably proved to be correct." (Mr., afterward* Sir William, Scott, to his brother Henry.) [No date: probably January, 1779.] "Business is very dull with poor Jack, very dull indeed; and of consequence, he is not very lively. I heartily wish that business may brisken a little, or he will be CHANCELLOR ELDON. 69 heartily sick of his profession. I do all I can to keep up his spirits, but he is very gloomy. But mum.' not a word of this to the wife of your bosom! * * * * * "I shall go down to Oxford either Lent term or Easter, to take a doctor of law's degree, to enable myself to practise in the admiralty courts. It is my wish and de- sign, if I can manage so as not to spend too much money before, to get myself a seat in Parliament at the next general election. It will be of the utmost consequence to me, and without it I shall never be able to do any thing to any great extent. So that every thing depends upon my affairs going well in the mean time. This, however, I say to you in perfect confidence. Mem. No curtain communications." Green v. Howard, 6th February, 1779 (Brown's Cha. C. p. 31), appears to be the first reported case in which Mr. Scott was engaged. On that occasion, he was counsel, with Mr. Ambler and Mr. Madocks, for a petitioner, seeking to extend the meaning of the word " rela- tions," in a will, beyond the scope of the Statute of Distributions. Their argument did not prevail. (Mr. John Scott to Mrs. Henry &o.) "Dec. 7, 1779. " Dear Sister, " If you blame me for a silence for which I am totally at a loss what excuse to plead, lean assure you I chastise myself, as much by the severity with which I re- flect upon my own indolence (for to no other cause can I attribute it), as your good- nature would make you wish to see me punished. I considered myself as a very great loser by the absence of the family during the little time I could stay at New- castle. I meet with nothing in my journey so satisfactory to me as a little chat over the old parlour fireside. * * * * "I took Bessy and Jack for a few weeks to Windsor, where we spent our time agreeably enough. The king and his family reside there in the summer, but without any sort of splendour, walking about the streets as plainly dressed and as familiarly as other folks. *** "Jack is very fond of his school, his mistress, and his book: though his uncle, Mr. W. Scott, takes no small pains to inform him how much it is beneath the dignity ol his sex to be under the tuition of a female. However, John does not see the reason- ableness of the objections which his uncle had to the good advice of Mrs. Bnggs m days of yore." The following story, related by Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, be- longs to the month of June, 1780:" During the period of one of the riots in London, when I was a lawyer, I had to take Bessy to the Temple for safety. I never suffered more in my life than as we went along, for we were exposed to all sorts of insults. They tore off my wife's hat, the handkerchief from her breast, and, when we arrivec at the Temple, every article of her dress was torn. We youngsters at the Temple determined that we would not remain inactive during such times ; so we embodied ourselves into a troop to assist the mill tary. We armed ourselves as well as we could, and the next mor ing we drew up in the court, ready to follow out a troop of soldie who were there on guard. When, however, the soldiers had pas; through the gate, it was suddenly shut in our faces, and locked; and the officer in command shouted from the oth ' Gentlemen, I am much obliged to you for your intended f but I do not choose to allow my soldiers to be shot, so I have Bordered you to be locked in,' and away he galloped. We looked very fc 70 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER VI. 17801782. Mr. John Scott's first successes, Ackroyd v. Smithson, Clitheroe committee, etc. Memorabilia of the northern circuit. Lord Thurlow's friendship. Benevolence of Mr. John Scott. Different usages of eminent lawyers in answering cases. AFTER a trial of three or four years, during which, with all his diligence, he was able to make very little progress in London, Mr. Scott recurred to an intention, early conceived by him, of settling as a provincial coun- sel in his native town. The fulfilment of this design was prevented by two unexpected opportunities, which were afforded to his talents by the appeal in the cause of Ackroyd v. Smithson, and by the Clitheroe Election Petition. The circumstances of his connection with these two cases are best related in the words in which they were told by Lord Eldon himself, little more than three weeks before his death. He was sitting in his arm-chair by his own fireside, with Mr. Farrer, who had been dining with him ; and upon Mr. Farrer's asking him whether the Court of Chancery had been his object when he was first called to the bar, he answered, " Certainly not. I first took my seat in the King's Bench ; but I soon perceived, or thought I perceived, a preference in Lord Mansfield (then the lord chief justice) for young lawyers who had been bred at Westminster School and Christ Church: and as I had belonged to neither Westminster nor Christ Church, I thought I should not have a fair chance with my fellows, and therefore I crossed over to the other side of the Hall.* Lord Mansfield, I do believe, was not conscious of the bias; he was a good man." " Might I ask you, Lord Eldon," said Mr. Farrer, " whe- ther Ackroyd v. Smithson was not the first cause in which you dis- tinguished yourself?" " Did I never tell you the history of that case? Come, help yourself to a glass of Newcastle port, and give me a little. You must know," he went on, " that the testator in that cause had directed his real estates to be sold, and, after paying his debts and funeral and testamentary expenses, the residue of the money to be divided into fifteen parts which he gave to fifteen persons whom he named in his will. One of those persons died in the testator's life- time. A bill was filed by the next of kin, claiming, amongst other things, the lapsed share. A brief was given me to consent for the heir-at-law, upon the hearing of the cause. I had nothing then to do * Before the new courts were built, the courts of King's Bench and Chancery were opposite to each other, at the two corners of the upper extremity of Westminster Hall, the King's Bench being on the eastern, and the Chancery on the western side. " The number of counsel, regularly practising at the Chancery bar when Mr. Scott joined it, is said (Law Mag., No. xliii.) to have been only twelve or fifteen." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 71 but to pore over this brief. I went through all the cases in the books, and satisfied myself that the lapsed share was to be considered as real estate, and belonged to my client (the heir-at-law). The cause came on at the Rolls, before Sir Thomas Sewell. I told the solicitor, who sent me the brief, that I should consent for the heir-at-law, so far as regarded the due execution of the will, but that I must support the title of the heir to the one-fifteenth, which had lapsed. Accordingly, I did argue it, and went through all the authorities. When Sir Thomas Sewell went out of court he asked the register, who that young man was ? The register told him it was Mr. Scott. ' He has argued very well,' said Sir Thomas Sewell, ' but I cannot agree with him.' This the register told me. He decreed against my client. The cause having been carried by appeal to the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, a guinea brief was again brought to me to consent. I told my client, if he meant by ' consent' to give up the claim of the heir to the lapsed share, he must take his brief elsewhere, for I would not hold it with- out arguing that point. He said something about young men being obstinate, but that I must do as I thought right." Lord Eldon, in telling the same story to his niece, Mrs. Forster, observed, " You see the lucky thing was, there being two other parties, and, the disappoin- ted one not being content, there was an appeal to Lord Thurlow. In the mean while, they had written to Mr. Johnson, Recorder of York, guardian to the young heir-at-law, and a clever man, but his answer was, ' Do not send good money after bad : let Mr. Scott have a guinea to give consent, and if he will argue, why let him do so, but give him no more.' So I went into court, and when Lord Thurlow asked who was to appear for the heir-at-law, I rose and said modestly, ' That I was, and as I could not but think (with much deference to the master of the rolls, for I might be wrong,) that my client had the right to the property, if his lordship would give me leave, I would argue it.' It was rather arduous for me to rise against all the eminent counsel. I do not say that their opinions were against me, but they were employed against me. However, I argued that the testator had ordered this fifteenth share of the property to be converted into personal property for the benefit of one particular individual, and that therefore he never contemplated its coming into possession of either the next of kin, or the residuary legatee ; but, being land at the death of the individual, it came to the heir-at-law. Well, Thurlow took three days to con- sider, and then delivered his judgment in accordance with my speech, and that speech is in print, and has decided all similar questions ever since." Lord Eldon's account to Mr. Farrer concludes thus: "As I left the Hall, a respectable solicitor, of the name of Forster, came up and touched me on the shoulder, and said, ' Young man, your bread and butter is cut for life,' or, * You have cut your bread and butter.' But the story of Ackroyd v. Smithson does not stop there. In the chancellor's court of Lancaster, where Dunning (Lord Ash- burton) was chancellor, a brief was given me in a cause in which the interest of my client would oblige me to support, by argument, the reverse of that which had been decided by the decree in Ackroyd v. 72 LIFE OF LORD Smithson. When I had stated to the court the point I was going to argue, Dunning said, ' Sit down, young man.' As I did not imme- diately comply, he repeated, ' Sit down, sir, I won't hear you.' I then sat down. Dunning said, 'I believe your name is Scott, sir.' I said it was. Upon which Dunning went on : ' Mr. Scott, did not you argue that case of Ackroyd v. Smithson ? ' I said that I did argue it. Dunning then said, l Mr. Scott, I have read your argument in that case of Ackroyd v. Smithson, and I defy you or any man in England to answer it. I won't hear you.' " The cause was originally heard before Sir T. Sewell, master of the rolls, on the 10th of July, 1778, and the appeal was argued before Lord Chancellor Thurlow on the 4th of March, 1780.* Although this was the first case in which he had acquired any public distinction, his value was beginning to be understood among his personal connections ; insomuch that, not long afterwards, an offer was made to him of the recordership of Newcastle. The salary, though not large, was considerable enough to carry great temptation for a man whose professional income in London was inadequate to support his family even in the most economical way of life ; and he calculated that the provincial business which he was likely to obtain would suffice, (when coupled with the stipend of recorder, and with the allowance received from his wife's friends and his own,) to supply the wants of himself and of those who relied on him. He therefore signified his acceptance of the office, and caused a residence to be engaged for him at Newcastle. The abandonment of this plan is thus accounted for by himself: "I did not go the circuit one year, Mary," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, "because I could not afford it; I had borrowed of my brother for several circuits, without getting adequate remuneration, and I had determined to quit London, because I could not afford to stay in it. You know a house was taken for me at Newcastle. Well, one morning, about 6 o'clock," (probably on the 14th of March, 1781, the committee having been struck on the 13th,) Mr. (after- wards Lord) Curzon and four or five gentlemen came to my door and woke me, and when I inquired what they wanted, they stated that the Clitheroe election case was to come on that morning at ten o'clock, before a committee of the House of Commons, that Mr. Cooper had written to say he was detained at Oxford by illness, and could not arrive to lead the cause, and that Mr. Hardinge, the next counsel, refused to do so, because he was not prepared. 'Well, gentlemen,' said I, ' what do you expect me to do, that you are here?' They answered, ( they did not know what to expect or to do, for the cause must come on at ten o'clock, and they were totally unpre- pared, and had been recommended to me as a young and promising counsel.' I answered, f I will tell you what I can do ; I can undertake to make a dry statement of facts, if that will content you, gentlemen, but more I cannot do, for I have no time to make myself acquainted * See Brown's Chancery Cases, vol. i. p. 505.; and Mr. Jarman's admirable analysis of the whole subject, 2 Jarman's Powell, 77, 78, et seq. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 73 with the law.' They said that must do ; so I begged they would go down stairs and let me get up as fast as I could. Well, I did state the facts, and the cause went on for fifteen days. It found me poor enough, but I began to be rich before it was done : they left me fifty guineas at the beginning ; then there were ten guineas every day, and five guineas every evening for a consultation more money then I could count. But, better still, the length of the cause gave me time to make myself " thoroughly acquainted with the law." The remainder of the story is more circumstantially related by Mr. Farrer, from Lord Eldon's own narrative to him, communicated in the course of the conversation before referred to. " On the morning on which the counsel for the petitioner was to reply, Hardinge came into the committee room, meaning to reply. saw the members of the committee put their heads together, and then one of them said, < Mr. Hardinge, Mr. Scott opened this case, and has attended it throughout, and the committee think, that, if he likes to reply, he ought to do so. Mr. Scott, would you like to reply ?' _ I answered ' that I would do my best.' I began my speech with a very bad joke. You must know that the leading counsel on the other side, Douglas, afterwards Lord Glenbervie, had made one of the longest speeches ever known before a committee, and had argued that the borough of Clitheroe was not a borough by prescription, for it had its origin within the memory of man. I began by saying, I will prove to the committee by the best evidence, that the borough o Clitheroe is a borough by prescription ; that it had its origin before the memory of man. My learned friend will admit the commencemen of this borough was before the commencement of his speech : but the commencement of his speech is beyond the memory of man : therefore the borough of Clitheroe must have commenced before 1 memory of man.' We were beaten in the committee by one vote. After this speech, Mansfield, afterwards Sir James Mansfield, came up to me in Westminster Hall, and said he heard that I was going to leave London, but strongly advised me to remain in London. told him that I could not, that I had taken a house in Newcastle, that I had an increasing family, in short, that I was compelled London. Afterwards Wilson came to me and pressed me same manner to remain in London, adding what was very kind, 'that he would insure me 400/. the next year.' 1 gave him t same answer as I had given Mansfield. However, I did remain i London, and lived to make Mansfield chief justice of the Commo Pleas d Wilson a puisne judge.*-'! can't understand, i Mr. Farrer to Lord Eldon, ' why Hardinge refused * P? f tion ; do you know ?' ' Because he had not read his bnef suppose, 8 V o y n 'the 7th of April, the elder brother William, afterwards NOTE BT ME. F A H RE B.-Lord Eldon latterly told this as it is here stated^ TJj fact is, that Wilson was made a puisne judge of the C f in g nu ; /ow , Lord in 1793. Lord Eldon, I have been informed, recommw Chancellor, and in that way contributed to his promotion, and pro brance of Wilson's kindness. 74 LIFE OF LORD Lord Stowell, was married to Anna Maria, daughter and co-heiress of John Bagnall, Esq., of Earley Court, in Berkshire. The two well-employed opportunities of Ackroyd v. Smithson and the Clitheroe petition had left the success of Mr. Scott a matter no longer doubtful. At the present day, from the great competition of very learned and very able practitioners, a few occasional opportuni- ties do little, however they be improved. Among the more influen- tial class of attorneys and solicitors, it has become usual to bring up a son or other near relation to the bar, who, if his industry and ability be such as can at all justify his friends in employing him, absorbs all the business which they and their connection can bestow : and the number of barristers, thus powerfully supported, is now so great, that few men lacking such an advantage can secure a hold upon business. But at the time when Mr. Scott began his pro- fessional life, the usage had not grown up of coming into the field with a "following" already secured. Education being less general, fewer competitors attempted the bar : and even among the educated classes, a large proportion of adventurous men devoted themselves to naval and military pursuits, which have now been deprived of their attraction by a peace of more than a quarter of a century. In those days, therefore, it might well happen, as with Mr. Scott it actually did, that a couple of good opportunities, ably used, would make the fortune of an assiduous barrister in London. The same causes which then rendered opportunity productive in the metropolis, had their operation also on the business of the circuits. The following story is current at the bar, of Mr. Scott's first success on the circuit in a civil action. The plaintiff was a Mrs. Fermor, who sought damages against the defendant, an elderly maiden lady, named Sanstern, for an assault committed at a whist-table. Mr. Scott was junior counsel for the plaintiff; and when the cause was called on, his leader was absent in the crown court, conducting a government prosecution. Mr. Scott requested that his cause might be postponed till his leader should be at liberty; but the judge refusing, there was no help, and Mr. Scott addressed the jury for Mrs. Fermor, and called his witnesses. It was proved that at the whist- table some angry words arose between the ladies, which at length kindled to such heat, that Mrs. Sanstern was impelled to throw her cards at the head of Mrs. Fermor, who (probably in dodging to avoid these missiles) fell or slipped from her chair to the ground. Upon this evidence, the defendant's counsel objected that the case had not been proved as alleged ; for that the declaration stated the defendant to have committed the assault with her hand, whereas the evidence proved it to have been committed with the cards. Mr. Scott, however, insisted that the facts were substantially proved according to the averment in the declaration, of an assault committed with the hand : for that in the common parlance of the card-table, the hand means the hand of cards; and thus that Miss Sanstern, having thrown her cards in Mrs. Fermor's face, had clearly assaulted Mrs. Fermor with her hand. The court laughed: the jury, much CHANCELLOR ELDON. 75 diverted, found the plaintiff's allegations sufficiently proved and the young counsel had the frolic and fame of a verdict in his favour It has been supposed that to this verdict he was indebted for the large practice which he soon afterwards obtained on the northern circuit but the three following instances show that no single exploit was the' cause of his extensive success. For the first of them, the writer of this memoir is indebted to the kindness of Mr. Spence, Q. C. who gives it in these words : I was about to join the northern circuit in 1815, when the late Mr. Bell took me to one of Lord Eldon's levees. On my first intro- duction, Lord Eldon accosted me thus : < So you are going to join my old circuit; you will, perhaps, be surprised to hear that I was first brought into notice on that circuit by breaking the Ten Command- ments.' I should have supposed him to mean that he had read his briefs on Sunday ; but there was that good-humoured gleam of the eye which every one who recollects him will understand, and which puz- zled me. He continued, < I'll tell you how it was. I was counsel in a cause, the fate of which depended on our being able to make out who was the founder of an ancient chapel in the neighbourhood. I went to view it. There was nothing to be observed which gave any indi- cation of its date or history : however, I observed that the Ten Com- mandments were written on some old plaster which, from its position, I conjectured might cover an arch. Acting on this, I bribed the clerk with five shillings to allow me to chip away a part of the plaster ; and after two or three attempts, I found the key-stone of an arch, on which were engraved the arms of an ancestor of one of the parties. This evidence decided the cause, and I ever afterwards had reason to remember, with some satisfaction, my having, on that occasion, broken the Commandments.' " Mr. Scott's first success at Durham was in the case of Adair v. Swinburne. The circumstances by which the lead of this cause was devolved upon him are recorded by Mr. Farrer from his own narra- tion, which commenced thus: "An issue had been directed out of the Court of Exchequer to be tried at Durham, upon a question of very great importance to coal owners. We had a consultation at Durham, at which were present most of the leaders of the northern circuit, Jack Lee, Tom Davenport, and others. After we had had a good deal of discussion, Lee said, ' Scott, you must lead this to-morrow' and, the other counsel assent- ing, I agreed to do so. ' But why, Lord Eldon, did they put you to lead?' ' Oh! you must know I had been counsel in all the proceed- ings in the Exchequer ; besides, perhaps, they thought that I had an advantage over them in having been born and bred in a coal country. Well, they insisted upon my leading, and I said I would do my best. Next morning we went into court. We had a special jury of gen- tlemen of the county, most intelligent men, well acquainted with coal and collieries. Buller, who was trying the issue, when I rose to reply after the defendant's case was closed, said to me, ' Mr. Scott, you are not going to waste the time of the court and of the jury by replying !' 76 LIFE OF LORD The sequel of the story is more fully detailed in Mrs. Forster's report of Lord Eldon's narrative to her. " Said Mr. Justice Buller, * You have not a leg to stand upon.' Now this was very awkward a young man, and the judge speaking so decidedly. However, I said, 1 My lord, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, I would sit down, upon hearing the judge so express himself; but so persuaded am I that I have the right on my side, that I must entreat your lordship to allow me to reply, and I must also express my expectation of gaining the verdict.' Well, I did reply, and the jury it was a special jury, Charles Brandling was foreman retired, and after consulting six or eight hours, they returned, and actually gave the verdict in my favour. " When I went to the ball that evening, I was received with open arms by every one. Oh ! my fame was established ; I really think I might have married half the pretty girls in the room that night. Never was man so courted. It certainly was very flattering to be so received ; but yet it was painful, too, to mark the contrast from the year before : it certainly was not my fault that I had no cause to lead the year before. " But I must not omit to tell you the conclusion. I went to Carlisle, and there Buller sent for me, and told me he had been thinking over that case on his way from Newcastle, and he had come to the conclu- sion that Ae was entirely wrong, and I was right : therefore he had sent for me to tell me this, and to express his regret for having stopped, or rather attempted to stop me in court. This was very handsome in him, but it certainly had been a very awkward predicament for a young man. This cause raised me aloft." The Anecdote Book gives the following account of his first intro- duction to business at Carlisle " I was at the assizes for Cumberland in seven successive years before I had a brief. It happened that my old friend Mr. Lee, commonly called Jack Lee, was absent in the criminal court, when a cause was called on in the civil court, and some attorney, being, by that absence, deprived of his retained counsel, was obliged to procure another, and he gave me a guinea, with a scrap of paper as a brief, to defend an old woman in an action for an assault brought against her by another old woman. The plaintiff had been reposing in an arm-chair, when, some words arising between her and my client, the latter took hold of the legs of the chair, and, in fact, threw the plaintiff head and heels over the top of the chair. This sort of assault, of course, admitted of easy proof, and a servant maid of the plaintiff's proved the case. I then offered in court that a chair should be brought in, and that my old female client should place herself in it, and that the lady (the plaintiff) should overset the chair and my old woman, as she had been upset herself. Upon the plaintiff's attorney refusing this compromise, the witness (the servant maid) said, that her mistress (the plaintiff) was always will- ing to make up the matter, but that her attorney would never allow her to do so, and that her mistress thought she must do as her attor- ney bid her do, and had no will of her own. ' So then,' observed I to the jury, knowing that her attorney's name was Hobson, l this good CHANCELLOR ELDON. 77 lady has had nothing for it but " Hobson's choice." And pray then gentlemen,' I added, < as the good woman wants no damages and the cause is Hobson's, give him but a penny at most if you please ' This penny the jury gave. When I record that in the same assizes I received seventy guineas for this joke, for briefs came in rapidly I record a fact which proves that a lawyer may begin to acquire wealth by a little pleasantry, who might long wait before professional know- ledge introduced him into notice and business." As he had been seven years on the circuit, this lucky cause may probably have been heard about the summer of 1782. To nearly the same period may be referred a practical joke, related in the Anecdote Book, as follows: " At an assizes at Lancaster, we found Dr. Johnson's friend, Jemmy Boswell, lying upon the pavement, inebriated. We subscribed at supper a guinea for him and half a crown for his clerk, and sent him, when he waked next morning, a brief with instructions to move, for what we denominated the writ of ' Quare adhsesit pavimento,' with observations, duly calculated to induce him to think that it required great learning to explain the necessity of granting it to the judge, be- fore whom he was to move. Boswell sent all round the town to a'ttor- neys for books, that might enable him to distinguish himself but in vain. He moved, however, for theVrit, making the best use he could of the observations in the brief. The judge was perfectly astonished and the audience amazed. The judge said, ' I never heard of such a writ what can it be that adheres pavimento ? Are any of you, gen- tlemen at the bar, able to explain this?' The bar laughed. At last one of them said, My lord, Mr. Boswell last night adhasit pavimento. There was no moving him for some time. At last he was carried to bed, and he has been dreaming about himself and the pavement.' " Lord Eldon, talking to Mrs. Forster in after life, about the memo- rabilia of the northern circuit, said, " We had an amusing case at York. Stakes for a race had been deposited in the hands of one party, to be paid to the owner of the horse that won ; but then there was a condition that each horse was to be ridden by a gentleman; and it was disputed whether the horse that did win had been ridden by a gentle- man, or not. This action was to ascertain this point. Now the holder of the stakes stated, that he was anxious to get the money paid, pro- vided he was sure that he would not be called upon to pay it over again. The judge told him he was quite right to be careful, and it must be ascertained whether the person was a gentleman or not. Well, we had a great deal of evidence, and then we came to the summing up of the judge, who addressed the jury in these words: ' Gentlemen of the jury, when I see you in that box, I call you gentlemen, for I know you are such : custom has authorized me : and, from your office there, you are entitled to be called gentlemen. But out of that box, I do not know what may be deemed the requisites that constitute a gentleman: therefore I can give you no direction.' (A laugh.) The jury returned a verdict that he was not a gentleman. Well, the next morning he challenged both Law and me, who were conducting the 78 LIFE OF LORD cause against him, for saying that he was no gentleman. We sent him this answer, that we could not think of fighting one who was pronounced, by a solemn verdict of twelve of his countrymen, to be no gentleman." Another northern circuit story of those days was told by Lord El- don to Mrs. Forster, about a party at the house of a certain lawyer Fawcett, who gave a dinner every year to the counsel. " On one occasion," related Lord Eldon, "I heard Lee say, 'I cannot leave Fawcett's wine : mind, Davenport, you will go home immediately after dinner, to read the brief in that cause that we have to conduct to-morrow.' 'Not I,' said Davenport; 'leave my dinner and my wine to read a brief! No, no, Lee that won't do.' ' Then,' said Lee, ' what is to be done ? who else is employed ?' Davenport: ' Oh, young Scott.' Lee : ' Oh ! he must go. Mr. Scott, you must go home immediately, and make yourself acquainted with that cause before our consultation this evening.' This was very hard upon me; but I did go, and there was an attorney from Cumberland, and one from North- umberland, and I do not know how many other persons. Pretty late, in came Jack Lee as drunk as he could be. ' I cannot consult to- night, I must go to bed,' he exclaimed, and away he went. Then came Sir Thomas Davenport : ' We cannot have a consultation to- night, Mr. Wordsworth,' (Wordsworth, I think, was the name; it was a Cumberland name,) shouted Davenport; ' don't you see how drunk Mr. Scott ist it is impossible to consult.' Poor me, who had scarce had any dinner, and lost all my wine / was so drunk that / could not consult ! Well, a verdict was given against us, and it was all owing to lawyer Fawcett's dinner. We moved for a new trial, and I must say, for the honour of the bar, that those two gentlemen, Jack Lee and Sir Thomas Davenport, paid all the expenses between them of the first trial. It is the only instance I ever knew: but they did. We moved for a new trial (on the ground, I suppose, of the counsel not being in their senses), and it was granted. When it came on, the following year, the judge rose and said, ' Gentlemen, did any of you dine with lawyer Fawcett yesterday? for, if you did, I will not hear this cause till next year.' There was great laughter. We gained the cause that time." The following memorandum in the Anecdote Book, touching a couple of roguish attorneys, may be referred to this part of Mr. Scott's life : " There were," says he, " when I was not much advanced in pro- fessional business, two attorneys, father and son, of the name of Prid- dle. In point of character, they stood low. Old Lord Mansfield used to say to the father, ' Don't read your affidavit, Mr. Priddle ; we give the same credit to what you say as we do to what you swear.' They had a cause, father against son. The father called to leave a retainer with me against the son, representing him as the most worthless of human beings. I declined to accept it in this family cause. Soon afterwards the son called to retain me against the father, representing the old gentleman as the most worthless of human beings. This retainer I also declined to accept. The elder of these persons had got CHANCELLOR ELDON. 7.9 possession of a house belonging to the crown. Macdonald, attorney- General, had great difficulty in dispossessing him by proceedings at law, but at last succeeded ; and when old Mr. Chamberlayne the treasury solicitor, went, with due authority, to demand possession Priddle said, If you will take the house, you shall take all that's in it. Poor Mrs. Priddle died a day or two ago ; she lies a corpse up stairs in bed, and there I shall leave her. If you will have the house you shall have her also.' The treasury solicitor took possession of the house and of her, and Priddle rejoiced in saving the expense of burying his departed spouse." The memorable argument in Ackroyd v. Smithson had fixed the attention of Lord Chancellor Thurlow upon Mr. Scott, whom he now treated with great distinction, in private as well as in public. It has been said, that, soon after that argument, Mr. Scott received, and de- clined, the offer of a mastership in Chancery: but when his grandson asked him about this in his latter years, he said he had no recollection of it ; nor is it likely that any man, not in the greatest business, would have rejected such an advancement. He was even anxious at that time to be made a commissioner of bankrupts. It has been supposed that he actually obtained such a nomination ; but this is a mistake, in- duced apparently by the fact that there was, in his early life, a com- missioner of bankrupts named John Scott, a member of Gray's Inn. Lord Eldon's account of the matter to Mrs. Forster was this : " Thur- low became my steady friend, but he showed it rather oddly in one circumstance. Sir Grey Cooper had written to him to ask him to give me a commissionership of bankrupts, and he promised he would. Now you know a hundred and sixty or seventy pounds a year would have been a great thing to us ; but he never did. In after life I re- minded him of his promise, and inquired why he had not fulfilled it ; and his answer was curious : ' It would have been your ruin. Young men are very apt to be content when they get something to live upon; so when I saw what you were made of, I determined to break my promise, to make you work ;' and I dare say he was right, for there is nothing does a young lawyer so much good as to be half starved : it has a fine effect. But it was rather a curious instance of Lord Thurlow's kindness." Mr. John Surtees, Lady Eldon's brother, relates, from Lord Eldon's own account to him, that Lord Eldon, early in his professional life, was retained in some case with Lord Alvanley (then Pepper Arden), who spoke with great fluency, but very lopsely and without due pre- paration. When Mr. Scott rose on the same side, Lord Thurlow, with his usual gravity of manner, said, " Mr. Scott, I am glad to find that you are engaged in this cause, for I now stand some chance to know something of the matter." As a set-off to these compliments, Lord Eldon used to relate of himself, that, on some occasion, at the close of his address, Lord Thur- low said to him, "I was with you, Mr. Scott till I heard your argu- ment." The following story, related in the Observer newspaper, of the 21st 80 LIFE OF LORD of January, 1838, a few days after Lord Eldon's death, belongs to this period of his biography. The authority for it is not cited, but it is circumstantially told, and corresponds with his known benevolence. " When the late Lord Eldon was plain Mr. Scott, but a rising mem- ber of the bar, the hair-dresser who attended him took an opportunity of mentioning to him, that an acquaintance of his was entitled to con- siderable property if he had his right. Mr. Scott listened to the state- ment, and felt interested in it. With a goodness of heart which did him honour, he told his informant to go to Mr. Giles Bleasdale, the predecessor of the highly respectable firm of Holme, Frampton and Loftus, and state the particulars to that gentleman. The worthy ton- sor did so; Mr. Bleasdale reduced the facts to writing; and, by the advice of Mr. Scott, proceedings were commenced to recover the property in question. Mr. Scott, however, told Mr. Bleasdale that, although he should not expect any fees during the progress of the cause, he wished an accurate account to be kept of the amount to which he would be entitled at the termination of the suit. Mr. Scott was ultimately successful for his client, and, on the winding up of the business, Mr. Bleasdale waited upon him with a well-filled purse or canvass bag, containing the whole of his fees in gold. Mr. Scott smiled with evident satisfaction, but, recollecting himself, he sent for the hair-dresser who had first introduced the subject to him. The hair-dresser, making his appearance, was congratulated on the suc- cess of his friend by Mr. Scott, who then added, l As you have your- self had a good deal of trouble in the affair, take that purse ;' and handed over to the astonished perruquier the whole sum brought by Mr. Bleasdale as his fees." The number of opinions given by Mr. Scott when at the bar, upon cases laid before him for advice, is known to have borne a small pro- portion to the extent of his other practice. The reasons of this are explained in the following extract from the Anecdote Book : " When I got into considerable business at the bar, I was much resorted to by professional persons, laying cases before me for my opinions. Lord Kenyon, when at the bar, made, one year (of which he showed me evidence), by opinions only, about three thousand pounds at that time, according to the rate of fees given to counsel, a very large sum. It was, however, his rule to consider himself as only required to read the case, as it was stated to him, and to give such opinion as his general knowledge enabled him to give upon reading it, without looking for further information as to matter of law, by looking into books. When he afterwards became a judge in equity, the rule by which he governed himself, as to the facts of any case, was to con- sider himself as not bound to seek for further information as to those facts than as the diligence of counsel had stated them ; and his judg- ment was usually given without assisting himself by more than his general knowledge of law enabled him to aid himself at the conclu- sion of the counsel's reply. It is due to the very great law-learning of Mr. Kenyon, afterwards Lord Kenyon, to record, that no lawyer, in my days, could, in this way of proceeding, do so much justice to CHANCELLOR ELDON. 81 parties consulting him, or before him for judgment, as he could My busmess as to giving opinions was of very short duration I could not so far trust my knowledge of law as to believe that I could nor confirm it or improve it by looking into books and authorities, after I had read the stated case. This led necessarily to delay, and sometimes o a correction of that opinion which I at first entertained, and which the solicitor consulting me wished to obtain perhaps. He then ceased as to such matters, to be a client of mine. But this sort of employ- ment forsook me in a greater degree, because, after my experience had taught me that cases upon which opinions had been given (and upon the encouragement contained in those opinions, suits had been instituted) differed materially and essentially in circumstances from what were proved to be the real cases when the causes in such suits were heard, and that experience convinced me that a great many attorneys, who had stated cases, could not but know that those were material and essential circumstances, which, being within their know- ledge, ought to have been, but which were not, stated in the cases, when laid before counsel, I got into a habit prejudicial to myself which I know, in some instances, to have been very useful to others^ of considering the probability or improbability of the correctness and sufficiency of the statement in cases laid before me, stating, in my opinions, the vast difference it would make in the judgment if a suit was instituted, if facts were either suppressed or matters stated which were not facts, or, if facts, so far as the statement went, were not the whole truth of the case ; and then pointing out in the opinion what I thought possible, or conjectured, to be matters, which might form part of the case though not at all stated, and circumstances which might qualify the effect of the facts, which might be only partially stated, leaving it to the party consulting me to make any representa- tion as to such things as he might think proper, or to act upon an opinion which had all such qualifications in the body of it. Among solicitors and attorneys there were many very worthy men ; there were others certainly not such ; as there are in all other classes of men, good and bad. One of the worthiest I have known said, they did not want opinions that had so many ' ifs' in them, that such would not do for them, that they spoilt business, and certainly they, aided by a disinclination which I had to be engaged in a branch of the pro- fession of so much responsibility, and with reference to which I thought so much care and trouble absolutely necessary, entirely spoilt my opinion business. No contemporary of Mr. Kenyon gave so many opinions as he did. The gentleman who appeared to stand next as to the number, was Mr. Dunning ; but many of his opinions were given by Mr. J. Wilson, afterwards Mr. Justice Wilson, though signed by Mr. Dunning. The handwriting of those two gentlemen was so much alike that they could hardly be distinguished ; and Mr. Wil- son's opinions were very valuable." The year 1782 was that of Lord Rodney's great victory over the French fleet : an achievement in which Sir Samuel (afterwards Vis- count) Hood had an important share. Lord Eldon, who, at a later VOL. i.-MJ 82 LIFE OF LORD period, became acquainted with Lord Hood, records, among his anec- dotes, a testimonial from this commander which is important to Lord Rodney's fame. " Lord Rodney, though he achieved mighty things, was not consi- dered by the country as having done as much as he ought in his vic- tory over the French, I think, in his last engagement. It was in the engagement in which old Lord Hood was either second or very high in command. I mentioned to him that the country thought of that business as above stated. His answer was, ' I think more might have been done, but if I had commanded, I don't think that I should have ventured to have attempted more.' " CHANCELLOR ELDON. 83 CHAPTER VII. 1783. Coalition ministry. Anecdote of Thurlow. Silk gown. Mr. John Scott's vindication of his seniority. Anecdote of Lord Collingwood. Canvass of Weobly: speech: Lord Surry: Miss Bridge: election of Mr. John Scott. Dangerous illness of, and letters from, his brother William. Encouraging letter from Mr. Lee to Mr. John Scott. Commencement of parliamentary session. Anecdote of Lord North. Mr. John Scott's maiden speech. His speech on Mr. Fox's India bill. Fall of the coalition ministry. New administration under Mr. Pitt. THE administration of Lord Shelburne, which had succeeded that of Lord Rockingham, gave way, in the spring of 1783, to the coalition ministry of Lord North and Mr. Fox, the nominal head of which was the Duke of Portland. Among the members of the cabinet who then retired, was Lord Thurlow, of whose conduct, on that occasion, the following particulars were related by Lord Eldon to his brother-in- law, Mr. John Surtees : " Mr. Fox, much to Lord Thurlow's surprise, called at his house, and was shown into his drawing-room. Lord Thurlow, immediately that Mr. Fox's visit was announced, determined to receive him, (ob- serving, when he narrated the matter, that he did not wish that Mr. Fox should suppose him afraid to meet any one,) and an interview took place. Lord Thurlo\v, on being informed by Mr. Fox that he and his party wished the co-operation of his lordship as chancellor in the administration they wished to form, said, 'Mr. Fox, no man can deny that either you or Mr. Pitt are, beyond any two men that can be named, fit, from character and talents, to be at the head of any administration ; but, as Mr. Pitt is very acceptable to the king, and is, in an extraordinary degree, popular in the country, I have connected myself with him.' ' On Lord Thurlow's refusal, the great seal was put in commission. It was not long before the Lords commissioners (namely, Lord Loughborough, then chief justice of the Common Pleas, Mr. Justice Ashhurst, and Mr. Baron Hotham) were authorized, by the new government, to call within the bar a few of the most eminent among the junior counsel: and Mr. Scott received a message from the Duke of Portland, through the Lords commissioners, offering to include him in this promotion. Mr. Scott, with his habitual prudence, took time to deliberate ; and what followed has thus been related by himself in the Anecdote Book, and in his conversations with Mrs. Forster and Mr. Farrer: " After some hesitation, I communicated my intention of accepting the offer, answering that I should feel honoured and gratified in doing 84 LIFE OF LORD so. Now this was on the Wednesday : and on Thursday I found that Erskine and Pigott, both of them my juniors, were also to have silk gowns, and that they were to be sworn in on the Friday, whilst Saturday was appointed for me to be sworn in ; so I immediately wrote to say, that though I had felt highly honoured in being offered a silk gown, and gratefully accepted it, yet as I found Mr. Erskine and Mr. Pigott, my juniors at the bar, were to be put over me, by being - sworn in the day previous to myself, I must beg leave to retract my acceptance, as I could not consent to accept promotion accompanied by any waiver of my professional rank : and this letter I sent. I was called before the Lords commissioners, who took great pains to induce me to alter my purpose. One of them said Mr. Pigott was junior at the bar to Mr. Erskine, and yet he had consented to let Mr. Erskine take precedence of him. I answered, ' Mr. Pigott is the best judge for himself : I cannot consent to give way either to Mr. Erskine or Mr. Pigott.' Another said, 'Mr. Scott, you are too proud.'' 'My lord, with all respect I state it is not pride : I cannot accept the gown upon these terms.' After much difficulty, and particularly as the patents of Erskine and Pigott had passed the seal, the matter seems to have been arranged ; for, on the Saturday, I received a patent ap- pointing me to be next in rank to Peckham, and placing Erskine and Pigott below me, though, in fact, both of them had been sworn in the day before me; and that patent I have to this day." Lord Eldon, referring, in his Anecdote Book, to the course he took in the matter of this promotion, says, that the transaction made some noise at the time : and expresses his belief that it had a very consider- able effect and influence in producing the subsequent successes of his professional life. "Did you think," said Mr. Farrer to him, "that it was so important to insist upon retaining your rank?" "It was every thing," he replied, with great earnestness ; " I owed my future success to it." He does not exemplify this impression by any parti- cular incidents of his subsequent life ; but those who are acquainted with the profession of the bar, will be fully aware of the advantages accruing to a man of acknowledged abilities, from a character early established for independence and self-respect. Mr. Peckham, who received the offer of promotion at the same time with Mr. Scott, and who, like him, was senior both to Mr. Erskine and to Mr. Pigott, followed this manly example, and asserted his seniority with equal effect. The dates and priorities are as follows : Patents of precedence : Friday, May 16th, 1783, to the Hon. Thomas Erskine with rank next after the king's counsel then being. Wednesday, May 21st, to Arthur Pigott, with rank next after the king's counsel, and after the Hon. T. Erskine. But these two patents were virtually corrected by the patents of precedence to Mr. Peckham and Mr. Scott granted Friday, May 30th, to Harry Peckham, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 85 placing him next after the king's counsel, then being and before the Hon. T. Erskine. Wednesday, June 4th, to John Scott, next after the king's counsel then being, and after Harry Peckham. The 4th of June, 1783, the day on which Mr. Scott's patent of precedence bears date, was that on which he completed his 32d year; and on the 20th of the same month he was called to the bench of the Middle Temple. Lord Eldon's eminent school-fellow, Lord Collingwood, afterwards evinced a similar spirit on the subject of professional honours. Miss Forster was speaking to Lord Eldon of a naval officer, who, she said, had gained two steps from his superior officers being killed. Lord Eldon. The same thing happened to Lord Collingwood, not at Trafalgar, but at the battle on the first of June. Medals were given on that occasion but not to him. Miss F. How bitterly he felt the omission ! Lord Eldon. And how properly ! When the medal was sent to him for Cape St. Vincent, he returned it with a letter, saying that he felt conscious he had done his duty as well on the 1st of June as at Cape St. Vincent, and that if he did not merit the first medal, neither could he merit the second. He was quite right : he would have both or neither. Both were sent to him. Mr. Scott's increasing reputation now recommended him to the dis- pensers of parliamentary honours. On the death of Mr. John St. Leger Douglas, member for Weobly (a borough in Herefordshire, then in the patronage of Lord Weymouth, but now extinguished in the Reform act of 1832,) Mr. Scott received, through his friend Lord Thurlow, an offer from Lord Weymouth of the vacant seat ; of which negotiation Mr. John Surtees, Lady Eldon's brother, has made this memorandum : " When Lord Thurlow, at Lord Weymouth's request, offered Lord Eldon a seat in the Commons for Weobly, Lord Eldon told Lord Thurlow that he could only accept it on one condition, that his con- duct in Parliament should be entirely independent of Lord Wey- mouth's political opinions. Lord Thurlow's reply was, ' For this I stipulated ; and if there had been any difference between Lord Wey- mouth and me on this point, his lordship must have sought some other messenger.' ' The new writ was moved on the 6th of June 1783, and Mr. Scott went down to Weobly as candidate. The following particulars of his election which took place without opposition, are from the Anec- dote Book, with some additions from his communications to Mrs. Forster : " When I first came into Parliament I was elected for Weobly m Herefordshire. About that period there were many meetings in dif ferent parts of England for promoting what was called reform m Parliament. Lord Surrey, afterwards Duke of Norfolk, was at that time a great reformer ; notwithstanding which, he spared neither pains nor money to carry elections at various places, in order to form a 86 LIFE OF LORD great parliamentary interest : and he often condescended to do things very inconsistent with what ought to be the conduct of a man of high birth. He either stood at that time or took a strong part with some person who did stand as a candidate for Hereford, and condescended, when he was somewhat inebriated, to ride into that city upon a cider cask. He made a long speech in favour of parliamentary reform, and illustrated what he stated, by calling the attention of his audience to the fact that Mr. Scott, a Newcastle-upon-Tyne gentleman, a young barrister, totally unknown to the people of Weobly, was to be elected there by the influence of a nobleman." " When I got to Weobly, I inquired what was the usual mode of proceeding there, and I was told that I was to go first to the house that contained the prettiest girl in the place, and give her a kiss. This I thought was a very pleasant beginning. I did so, and then went to the different voters. When I presented myself on the hustings, a very old man addressed me, stating that I was, as he understood, a lawyer, and ought to be able to give them a speech, which was what they had not heard from the hustings for thirty years ; and he adverted to what Lord Surrey had said about me at Hereford. I accordingly got upon a heap of stones, and made them as good a speech upon politics in general as I could, and it had either the merit or demerit of being a long one. My audience liked it on account, among other things, of its length. I concluded by drawing their attention to Lord Surrey's speech. I admitted that I was unknown to them. I said that I had explained my public principles, and how I meant to act in Parliament ; that I should do all I had promised, and that though then unknown to them, I hoped I should entitle myself to more of their confidence and regard than I could have claimed, if, being the son of the first duke in England, I had held myself out as a reformer whilst riding, as the Earl of Surrey rode, into the first town of the county, drunk, upon a cider cask, and talking, in that state, of reform. My audience liked the speech, and I ended as I had begun, by kissing the prettiest girl in the place ; very pleasant, indeed. Lord Surrey had often been my client, even at that early period of my life. He had heard of, or read my speech ; and, when I met him afterwards in town, he good-humouredly said, ' I have had enough of meddling with you ; I shall trouble you no more.' ' Of this visit to Weobly the Anecdote Book further relates what follows : " I lodged at the vicar's, Mr. Bridge's. He had a daughter, a young child, and he said to me, ' Who knows but you may come to be chancellor? As my girl can probably marry nobody but a clergy- man, promise me you will give 'her husband a living when you have the seals.' I said, ' Mr. Bridge, my promise is not worth half a crown, but you may have my promise.' " It will be seen hereafter what came of this pledge. The election took place on the 16th of June. It passed without any further occurrence of note, and Mr. Scott went back to London member for Weobly. CHANCELLOR ELDON. *** ** ' *" ' Dear Harry, "I was elected on Monday; and the return bavin-* been broimht i Commons, I have, as lam told, the right to frank ^f venture onfof L fi r C ,? US , e f *ou must not mention it. If they go out, Parliament will be di^ved' ^ " Yours affectionately, " Lincoln's Inn, Tuesday night (17th June, 1783.)" " J H!r SCOTT - In the vacation of this year (1783), William Scott, who appears to have been then on a tour in South Wales, was seized at Neath with an illness which put his life in danger. Under this apprehension he wrote some papers to be transmitted to his brother John of which a few extracts are subjoined. ****. "My great comfort is to write on to my dearest Jack, and about my wife. Act for me. Wife, child. She knows I recommend you to her case. Object of my life to make sisters easy. "Save * * * from ruin if we can. " Give my love to Mrs. Scott and John. 'Protect my memory by your kindness. Life ebbs very fast with me; my dyinjj thoughts are all kindness and fraternal love about you." "While sensation remains, I think on my dearest brother, with whom I have spent my life. I die with the same sentiments. As the hand of death approaches, it is a isolation to think of him. Oh, cherish my wife .' If you loved me, be a brother to You will have trouble about my affairs, you will not grudge it. Oh, take care I leave you that duty. It is the last relief of my failing mind. Cherish my lory. Keep * * from ruin if you can by any application of any part of my child's fortune that is reasonable. "Once mo re fare well. God bless you." A favourable change, however, presently occurred, which removed any necessity for the transmission of these papers to Mr. John Scott as matter of business, though the letters just quoted appear to have been afterwards sent in testimony of the warmth and earnestness of the writer's feelings. In a few days the invalid was able to write to his brother as follows : "Ship and Castle Inn, Nealli, Glamorgan. Friday, Sept. 5. " Dear Brother John, " I desired my wife to write you an account of the wretched situation I am in. It has pleased God to visit me with a violent bilious fever. You, who know what a wretched constitution I possess, will easily guess the effect of such a disorder upon me.* The violence of the fever has in some degree remitted; but it has reduced me to such a state of weakness and langour that I have reason to be prepared for the * NOTE BT THE PRESENT EARL. These homely effusions prove the unreserved sincerity of his fraternal affection. The reader will, perhaps, be led to reflect how- little the issues of life and death are in our own hands, when he remembers that although the sufferer had not at this time completed his thirty-eighth year, yet the beloved relative whom he addressed was not doomed to see him descend into the grave until an advanced period of the ensuing century, and in the nineiy-first year of his age, crowned with distinction and honours bnt little inferior to those which the younger brother himself had by that time achieved. 88 LIFE OF LORD worst consequences. God alone knows whether I shall be able to leave the inn where I am lying; but I have lived a full week longer than I expected, and therefore am willing to entertain some hope that God may be willing to spare me a little longer. I am reduced to a most frightful degree, so that I believe you would hardly know me, my legs being so wasted that I am unable to walk across the room. Last night, for the first lime, I got a little disturbed sleep without laudanum. My poor wife is my nurse. I have no servant with me, and have to depend upon the poor attendance that is to be met with in a Welsh inn. A Scotch physician visits me, and has kept me hitherto from the grave by Madeira, which the kindness of the neighbouring gen- tlemen furnishes me. I have settled my affairs as well as my miserable condition would allow me to do it. You and my wife are executors; I have made some pro- vision for the comfort of my mother and sisters, and done as much as I thought just to save * * *from ruin. It has been the greatest consolation of my most melancholy hours, while I thought death was advancing hastily upon me, to write a number of papers to you, which will be directed to you in case it pleases God to take me hence. They will show you how much you have been in my thoughts to the very last. Pray M'rite to me when you come to town; it will be a great cordial if I am alive; call at our house and inquire after my child, and acquaint my family with my condition. My love to my sister and nephew. " Your most affectionate brother, W.SCOTT." This letter is addressed, John Scott, Esq., M. P., Powis Place, London ; which indicates that Mr. John Scott's progress at the bar had already been sufficient to give him the means of leaving Carey Street, for the more agreeable neighbourhood of Queen Square, and of fields then green and uncolonized. His early and unusual success, however, seems not to have exempted him from those misgivings about the permanence of professional fortune which are apt to over- cast an anxious mind, especially during the intervals when employ- ment slackens ; for all who have practised at the bar well know that the proverbial uncertainty of the law is not confined to the suitors. The approach of November term, 1783, seems to have found him in some such desponding mood, apparently aggravated by a fit of ill-health ; for, among his papers of that period, there is a letter from his friend, John Lee (who, within three weeks afterwards, became attorney-general) affectionately rallying the spirits of his junior as follows : " Grantham, Nov. 1, 1783. " Dear Scott, " Your letter, which I received this minute, was a very cheering one to me. But keep up your spirits, and let it not be said that a good understanding and an irre- proachable life, and uncommon success, and every virtuous expectation, are insuffi- cient to support tranquillity and composure of mind. If you are cast down, who is to hold up? In a few days I hope to meet you in good health and good heart, and in the mean time I remain, " Your faithful and affectionate " J. LEE." The succeeding particulars, which further illustrate the state of Mr. Scott's mind at that time, are from the accurate pen of the pre- sent earl. " Nearly ten years had now elapsed since the birth of his eldest son, which had been followed by a long illness of the mother. In the interval. that had now elapsed, their family had had no increase; but at the close of October 1783, Mr. Scott had found himself com- pelled to return to London for the commencement of the law term, CHANCELLOR ELDON. go leaving Mrs. Scott in daily expectation of her confinement, under the hospitable roof of his brother Henry Scott at Newcastle " " His anxiety was soon relieved ; for, on the first of November the same day on which his friend John Lee had addressed to him' the foregoing letter from Grantham, Mrs. Scott gave birth to her second child, who received after her mother, the name of Elizabeth This is the present Lady Elizabeth Repton." The llth of November was the first day of that memorable session, in which George III. overset the coalition ministry. Adverse how- ever as was the disposition of the sovereign, the government of Lord North and Mr. Fox had the eager good wishes of the young Prince of Wales, who had now attained his majority. With Mr. Fox he had been cultivating a personal friendship ; and some good will subsisted between H. R. H. and Lord North. Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book relates, that " On some occasion Lord North had made himself a party, at the prince's desire, to reconcile the king and the prince relative to some matter which had caused some uneasy feelings between them. Lord North succeeded, and called upon the prince to inform him of that, and addressed him to this effect : ' Now let me beseech your royal highness in future to conduct yourself differently. Do so on all ac- counts do so for your own sake do so for your excellent father's sake do so for the sake of that good-natured man Lord North, and don't oblige him again to tell the king, your good father, so many lies as he has been obliged to tell him this morning.'" The address, in answer to the opening speech from the throne, was agreed to in both Houses ; but, in the House of Commons, on the 20th of the same month, when Mr. Fox's India bill had been read the first time, and a motion was made to appoint that day se'nnight for the second reading, the two great parties of Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt began avowedly to marshal themselves in the array which they continued to exhibit under those respective leaders for almost a quar- ter of a century. The debate, though not carried to the issue of a division, was signalized by the maiden speeches both of Mr. Scott and Mr. Erskine. Mr. Scott expressed an apprehension that the tendency of the bill was dangerous; but said, that he desired to defer his final opinion until further light should have been thrown upon the subject: after which, as he was attached to no particular party, he would vote as justice should seem to him to direct. He thought the time allowed for the examination of the subject was inconveniently short. The speech from the throne had called on the House to consider and deliberate; but the evident object of the mimster was, that instead of considering, they should conclude, and, without delibera- tion, decide. (23 Parl. Hist. 1239.) Mr. Fox himself replied to Mr. Scott; and, according to the parliamentary history (p. 1241), "expressed a high opinion of his abilities and his goodness. Though he had not had the pleasure of hearing him speak before in that House, yet he was not a stranger to his eloquence, and did not doubt of hearing it employed at all times on the side of equity. He could not, however, forbear taking notice of one thing that had fallen from the hon. gentleman's mouth. He had observed that, before one could decide it was necessary to deliberate: but how had he acted in the instant business? Not, surely, consistently with the maxim he had laid down; for, without any oppor- tunity of deliberating, he had ventured to give his decision; and, he thought, with a good deal of positiveness." (23 Parl. Hist. 1239. &c.) 90 LIFE OF LORD This imputation, it is obvious, was merely a rhetorical one : as the only " decision" which Mr. Scott " had ventured to give" was against deciding too precipitately. He had simply been applying his favourite apophthegm " sat cito si sat bene." His next speech in the House of Commons, which was on the 8th of December 1783, against the third reading of the India bill, appears from the report of it in the parliamentary history, to have been vastly more ambitious than successful. It contained some ingenious argu- ment, but was overrun with quotations and far-fetched allusions, neither suited to the taste of his auditors, nor congenial with the dry nature of the subject. He began by deprecating the notion that he was a lawyer ready to advocate in that assembly any cause which he was paid to support; and declared that such a prac- tice would be repugnant to his nature. He assured the House that it was not his intention to trouble them except upon what he might deem to be occasions of very great importance, but the present occasion he considered to be of such a kind; and he therefore thought it his duty to deliver his sentiments upon it the solemn senti- ments of his heart and conscience. After this exordium, he proceeded to argue against the bill upon several grounds, the chief of which were, that there existed no necessity for so strong a measure, and that it would increase, beyond all bounds, the influence of the government. He would not say that there were no circumstances in which Parliament might infringe upon a charter; the safety of the country might require such a proceeding in some cases; and the territorial property and imperial power of the East India Company established a very essential difference between them and any other chartered body; but, in the present case, no necessity had been made out. He spoke in respectful terms of Lord North, and more highly still of Mr. Fox; but even to Mr. Fox it was not fitting that so vast an influence should be in- trusted. As Brutus said of Cassar " he would be crown'd ! How that might change his nature, there's the question." It was an aggravation of the affliction he felt, that the cause of it should originate with one to whom the nation had so long looked up ; a wound from him was doubly painful. Like Joab, he gave the shake of friendship, but the other hand held a dag- ger, with which he despatched the constitution. Here, Mr. Scott, after an apology for alluding to Sacred Writ, read, from the Book of Revelations, some verses which he regarded as typical of the intended innovations in the affairs of the English East India Company: "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns. And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast; and they wor- shipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking: great things; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." " Here," said Mr. Scott, " I believe there is a mistake of six months the proposed duration of the bill being four years, or forty-eight months." " And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads." " Here places, pensions and peerages are clearly marked out." " And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, " Babylon the Great" " plainly the East India Company" "is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Mr. Scott observed that these invasions by ministers upon the rights of the com- pany were worse than those general warrants, which were happily got the better of some years ago; for those warrants alleged a cause of violence; but the bill against the company alleged not any special act of delinquency. He said that illegal acts of power had been borne in this country, and might probably be borne again ; but that illegal acts, under colour of law, were what the country would never bear: and he referred to a passage in Thucydides (Book I. ch. 79), where the Athenian ambassa- dors observe to the Lacedaemonian magistrates, that men are much more provoked by injustice than by violence, inasmuch as injustice, coming as from an equal, has the appearance of dishonesty ; while mere violence, proceeding from one stronger, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 91 seems but the effect of inevitable necessity. He reflected on those parliaments of former times, which had attempted violent and unconstitutional acts, and showed the mischiefs which had arisen from those attempts. He vindicated the conduct of the East India directors, contending that their instructions to their servants had been ex- cellent, and that not they, but their servants had been in fault; and recommending that the powers of the directors, if not sufficient to give them the control which was necessary, should be enlarged. The effect of the new constitution was a doubtful one. The new directors now proposed might be, in their turn, pronounced inade- quate to the government of so remote a country, and then, " de te Fabula narratur," not even " mutato nomine." The alleged bankruptcy of the Company had not been proved, and time ought to be given for inquiring into the fact. They cried out for some respite they pleaded, like Desdemona, " Kill me to-morrow let me live to-night But half an hour!" When that prayer was rejected, a deed was done which was repented too late. It had been observed that the crown had, in reality, enjoyed the power of directing India affairs, through the medium of the proprietors. If so, why should not the ministers of the crown take a share of the blame for the misconduct of those affairs'? It was a new thing to see the persons who had objected to the act of 1773, as a precedent for encroaching on the rights of chartered companies, now quoting that very act as a reason for supporting the bill under consideration. It was thus that one precedent begat another; and that the beginning of evil was as the letting out of water. The great plea for taking the power out of the hands of both the proprietors and the direc- tors was, that they clashed with one another. But would it be said that, when co- operating powers interfered, there was no remedy but to destroy them both, and to establish a new one on their ruins 1* " To this singular display of pedantic pleasantry," (says the Law Magazine, No. xli.) "the House listened in mute amazement; and Sheridan retorted with such point and wit on the absurd jumble of Scripture and Shakspeare in the mouth of a lawyer, that he never ven- tured on a repetition of similar topics." His vocation, undoubtedly, was not for rhetorical embellishment ; and he evinced his judgment in forthwith desisting from this flighty style, (into which he had probably been seduced by the successful and dazzling example of Mr. Sheridan himself,) and placing his reliance thenceforward on those more sub- stantial faculties in which no man was his superior. He seems, however, to have been a good deal mortified, for the moment, at the flat reception of his elaborate attempt ; for, Mr. Fox having observed, not unkindly, that ministers " had placed a learned and eloquent member in the front of the battle, who had certainly acquitted himself ably," Mr. Scott is found asking, rather pettishly, by what authority Mr. Fox assumed to regulate him as to the period of the debate at which he was to speak? Mr. Erskine, in return, desired to know in what passage of Mr. Fox's speech there was any attempt to usurp such a control ? Mr. Fox's bill was carried that night in the House of Commons, by a majority of more than two to one, under the altered title of "A b'ill for the better management of the territories, revenues, and com- merce of this kingdom in the East Indies;" but it was lost m the House of Lords, on Wednesday, the 17th of December: and witi See 24 Parl. Hist. 3337. 92 LIFE OF LORD fell the coalition ministry. At twelve o'clock of the following night, Thursday, " a messenger conveyed to the two secretaries of state" (Lord North and Mr. Fox) "his majesty's orders that they should deliver up the seals of their offices, and send them by the under- secretaries, Mr. Frazer and Mr. Nepean, as a personal interview on the occasion would be disagreeable to his majesty."* A new administration was formed under Mr. Pitt, who took the offices of first lord of the treasury and chancellor of the exchequer. The great seal was committed again to Lord Thurlow, and Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Pepper Arden became attorney and solicitor-ge- neral. Mr., afterwards Lord, Grenville was appointed to be joint paymaster of the forces with Lord Mulgrave ; and Mr. Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, to be treasurer of the navy. * 24 Parl. Hist. 236327, note. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 93 CHAPTER VIII. 17831788. Opposition to Mr. Pitt's government. Suspension of supplies and of mutiny bill. Party imputations. Secretary of the treasury. Dissolution of Parliament. Mr. Scott re-elected for Weobly. The seven kings. Anecdotes of juries. A smug- gler's daughter. Dr. Johnson's death-bed advice. Westminster scrutiny. Irish commercial propositions. Rohilla war. Stories of the northern circuit. Mr. Scott chancellor of Durham. Permits for claret. East India declaratory bill. Mr. Francis's invective against Mr. Scott and the lawyers. THE dawn of Mr. Pitt's power was beset with storms. But he stood high above them in the unbroken sunshine of royal favour, and in no long time saw the clouds roll off beneath his feet. Although the new ministers, in the House of Commons, were under the necessity of vacating their seats on their appointments, and although the near approach of Christmas, concurring with that neces- sity, gave good ground for an adjournment, the House of Commons, of which the majority was strongly opposed to the new administration, did not think fit to separate for the recess until the Christmas eve, having first carried, on the 22d of December 1783, an address to the crown, deprecating a dissolution of Parliament, and, on the 24th, a resolution that the lords of the treasury ought not to consent to the acceptance of bills from India except under certain specified circum- stances. In the debate on this resolution, some of the friends of the new government contended that it was unconstitutional for the House to fetter the lords of the treasury in the exercise of a discretion com- mitted to them by an act of the entire legislature ; but Mr. Scott, though considering the resolution not to be necessary, admitted that if it had been so, it would not have been unconstitutional ; since it was the unquestionable right of the House to advise any executive department of the administration, whatever the authority by which the powers of that department might be constituted. Having affected the rejection of Mr. Fox's bill for the government of India by seven commissioners, (which, if enacted, was to have been followed by another, providing for various matters, chiefly of detail, but hardly of inferior importance), the new minister, on the reassembling of Parliament in January 1784, gave notice of a measure of his own for the regulation of Indian affairs, which, in the same week, he introduced. The partisans of Mr. Fox and Lord North, forming, as they did, a large majority of the House of Commons, now opposed themselves systematically to the progress of public affairs under Mr. Pitt's administration. They passed various votes, offen- sive as well as defensive, prohibiting the payment, toward any service 94 LIFE OF LORD already voted, of any money not appropriated by act of Parliament : deferring, to the end of February, the second reading of the Mutiny bill, rejecting the India bill of Mr. Pitt, expressed, by way of reso- lution, their dislike to the continuance of the ministry, and directing that this last resolution should be humbly laid before the king. A counter address was voted by the Lords, on the 4th of February, assuring the crown of their support in the just exercise of its preroga- tives: and on the 10th, Mr. Fox, in the House of Commons, proposed that until it should be known what answer the king would give, or whether any at all, the supplies should be suspended. The subject of supply was accordingly postponed till the 18th, when, upon Mr. Pitt's communicating that the king had not thought proper to dismiss his ministers, Mr. Fox moved a further postponement, which was carried. Mr. Scott, on this occasion, spoke shortly in favour of the ministers ; observing that they had the people on their side, many of whom, in their addresses to the throne, held a very different language from that of their representatives in that house. On the 20th, an address was carried, by a majority of twenty-one, for a united and efficient administration: and on the 1st of March another was voted, by a reduced majority of twelve, for the removal of the ministry then ex- isting. To each of these addresses the king sent a temperate, but unyielding answer. On the 5th of March, Mr. Fox moved a still further postponement of the annual Mutiny bill, the act then in exist- ence being to expire on the 25th ; but he carried this postponement by a majority of only nine : and on the 8th, when he moved a repre- sentation to the king on the state of public affairs, the majority against ministers was found to have dwindled to one. As usually happens when parties are nearly balanced, each side charged corruption upon the adversary. Mr. Scott writes thus to his relations in the north : ******** "No dissolution to day life promised by Pitt till Monday, and no longer promised; but whether to be enjoyed, doubtful. Both our Newcastle members voted against us last night; but the majority, you see, crumbles; and if it was not for North's myrmi- dons which he bought with the treasury money, we should have a complete triumph. I told the chancellor to-day that he ought to resign, or dissolve us. But what will be done, or what will become of the country, God knows. " Believe me with love, &c. &c. "Yours, " JOHN SCOTT. "Saturday, Lincoln's Inn. " I have had the offer of two other seats in Parliament gratis but I shall keep my old one." This letter gives us the imputation made by the Tories: the Anecdote Book records the counterblast of the Whigs : " During the debates on the India bill, at which period John Robinson was secretary to the treasury, Sheridan, on one evening when Fox's majorities were decreasing, said, ' Mr. Speaker, this is not at all to be wondered at, when a member is employed to corrupt every body in order to obtain votes.' Upon this there was a great outcry made by almost every body in the House. ' Who is it ? CHANCELLOR ELDON. Name him! name him!' 'Sir,' said Sheridan to the speaker 'I shaH not name the person It is an unpleasant and invidious thing to do so and therefore I shall not name him. But don't suppose sir that I abstain because there is any difficulty in naming him- I :ould do that, sir, as soon as you could say Jack Robinson ' " On the 24th of March the king prorogued the Parliament, which he dissolved on the following day. The measure was attended with complete success. The coalition had been very distasteful to the people: they were glad to show their loyalty at the expense of an obnoxious House of Commons; and they answered the appeal of their sovereign by returning a large majority in aid of his administration. ine Anecdote Book records a somewhat curious opinion of the oreat leader of the opposition, respecting one of the causes of his party's unpopularity : " Fox said, that Sayers's caricatures had done him more mischief than the debates in Parliament or the works of the press. The prints of Carlo Khan, Fox running away with the India House, Fox and Burke quitting paradise when turned out of office, and many other of these publications, had certainly a vast effect upon the public mind." At this general election, Mr. Scott was again returned for the borough of Weobly. For the purpose of presenting himself in person, he was obliged, as the election took place during the circuit, to make a long journey across the country; by which, however, he not only paid the due homage to his constituents for his own election, but, as it fell out, was instrumental in saving another seat from a candi- date of the opposite party. This incident he relates in the following terms : :< When I was a second time elected for Weobly I was obliged to leave Lancaster assizes, and to do what I could then ill afford to leave my briefs and fees. I stopped at a town (the last stage before I should come to Weobly I think Ludlow) to change my clothes, and have my hair dressed before I should enter Weobly. This was very soon after Fox's India bill had raised such a ferment in the kingdom ; and, that bill having proposed that seven persons should have the whole direction of the East India Company's affairs, they got, in the debates, the appellation of Fox's seven kings. Whilst the hair-dresser was preparing my head for my entrance into Weobly, he said, ' Sir, we understand that you were in the last Parliament. There is a Sir Gilbert Elliot, a candidate here ; some say he was one of the seven kings, some say he was not ; but we are all agreed, that if he was one of the seven kings, we would have nothing to say to him ; and as we are desirous to be sure about it, and as you must know, sir, will you be so good as to excuse my freedom in asking whether he really was one of the seven kings?' I told the hair-dresser that he certainly was one of the seven kings. ' Why, then,' said he, ' if I might only tell the people that you assured me he was, he has no chance. May I tell them?' ' Yes,' said I; ' truth is truth, and I see no objection to this truth being told as coming from me.' He 96 LIFE OF LORD made proclamation of this upon leaving me, and Sir Gilbert was thereupon entirely defeated." The new Parliament assembled on the 18th of May 1784: and the principal legislative business of its first session was the enactment of bills for the government of India and for the regulation of various other matters connected with the affairs of the East. In these mea- sures Mr. Scott took no active part, nor did he enter into the discus- sions of that session upon the Westminster scrutiny. The professional rank conferred on him in the preceding year, had secured him in the lead of his circuit; and to its recollections, both grave and gay, he always delighted in recurring. "I got," said he, to Mrs. Forster, "into a dilemma with one cause at Lancaster. The plaintiff was a farmer, of some substance (amaz- ingly fond those people are of going to law), and the other party was son of a farmer, of some substance also, who had run off with the daughter of the plaintiff, and it was for damages for loss of her services this action was brought. Well, the instructions the farmer gave me were these : ' Mind, Lawyer Scott, you are to say that the man who runs away with another man's daughter is a rascal and a villain, and deserves to be hanged.' 'No, no, I cannot say that.' 'And why not ? why can't you say that ?' ' Because I did it myself; but I will tell you what I will say and I will say it from my heart I will say, that the man who begins domestic life, by a breach of domestic duty, is doubly bound to do every thing in his power to render both the lady and her family happy in future life ; that I will say, for I feel it.' Well, he was obliged to give up that point : and the jury, after a deliberation of nine hours, gave a verdict for SOOZ. damages." The circumstances which induced this large verdict are thus minuted in the Anecdote Book: " The plaintiff knew that the defendant's father wished the young folks to come together ; but, if possible, that their union should take place, without his giving to his son, the defendant, any fortune ; and that if we could only satisfy the jury that such was the case, and get considerable damages, considerable in their rank of life, the defend- ant's father would not let him go to gaol ; and there, probably, would be a marriage satisfactory to all. I was leading counsel for the plain- tiff. The daughter appeared as a witness : she was extremely beau- tiful, and so conducted herself as to interest all present in her favour. I managed to let the jury know what good might be done if good damages were given. It was difficult to do this ; and that excellent man, my friend Mr. Justice Wilson, frequently interrupted me with expressions of disapprobation upon the nature of my opening speech. After he had stated to them the evidence and the law, the jury re- tired ; they were out for many hours, and at length came into court and said, they found for the plaintiff with 8001. damages ; considerable damages against a farmer's son. When I was walking from court out of the castle at Lancaster, a man tapped me on the shoulder and said, ' Lawyer, with your law I beat the judge and the other eleven jurymen.' ' My friend,' said I, 'how was that managed?' He said CHANCELLOR ELDON. 97 he was not to have been on the jury; he had leave from the judge, as the assizes were nearly at an end, the evening before, to go home ; but that he had come into court to bid good-bye to some other jury- man ; that he had bought a bottle of rum to take home with him, which he had in his pocket, and coming into court, they got him sworn on the jury in the cause. That, when they retired, eleven were for the judge's law, and he was for Lawyer Scott's law. That they had long debated. That he occasionally sipped a drop of his rum ; and when he found they would not agree with him, he- told them he would live upon the rum as long as he could, and that they should not have one drop of it, and he would see who would last out longest. l After several hours,' he said, 'they agreed with me and you, lawyer, against the judge, and I hope the young folks will get married.' They were almost immediately married, and the young man, the defendant's father, paid as much of the 800/. as he could." There are other and more ludicrous instances which Lord Eldon was wont to relate of obstinacy, stupidity and even corruption in jurymen. " I remember," says he, in the Anecdote Book, " Mr. Justice Gould trying a cause at York ; and when he had proceeded for about two hours, he observed, ' Here are only eleven jurymen in the box: where is the twelfth?' 'Please you, my lord,' said one of the eleven, ' he is gone away about some business, but he has left his verdict with me.' ' " At the assizes at Carlisle, the plaintiff having brought an action for slander against the defendant my client, his counsel proved that my client had called the plaintiff a thief, and stated that as the plain- tiff did not want great damages, but only to vindicate his character, he would be content with 101. damages, which was certainly as much as he was entitled to. Upon my cross-examining the plaintiff's wit- ness, it came out that the plaintiff himself had said the defendant was a highwayman and a robber. I submitted, therefore, to the jury, that if legal justice required that my client should pay IOL for calling the plaintiff a thief, moral justice required that the plaintiff should pay one sum of 101. for calling my client a highwayman, and another 10/. for calling him a robber, and that, therefore, they should not find a verdict with 10J. damages for the plaintiff, but a verdict with 10/. damages for the defendant. However morally just this obviously was, the judge, Mr. Justice Heath, was excessively angry with me, and told the jury that it was (as it certainly was) clearly against law. The jury, however, gave a verdict for the defendant with 10/. damages ; the judge again and again remonstrating with them ; but no other verdict would they find. As the verdict was good for no- thing, I advised with my client to close with a proposal that the plam^ tiff should drop his action, each party paying his own costs, and close the matter." , , " The greatest objection to the trial by jury appears to be lou upon the fact that men of low condition serve as jurymen, f can have gone a circuit without seeing twelve men upon a jury who, if they did not implicitly follow the directions of the judge, would VOL. I. 7 U LIFE OF LORD quite incompetent to form an opinion upon any case at all complicated in the facts which constitute it. The lower orders of jurymen, too, are easily corrupted. I remember at an alehouse, where some of us dined upon a Sunday after seeing Corby, in Cumberland, a person whom Serjeant Bolton treated with a good deal of milk-punch, told the serjeant that he was upon the jury at Carlisle, and would give him verdicts wherever he could. Another juryman told me that he gave the same serjeant all the verdicts he could, because he loved to en- courage a countryman : he and the serjeant were Lancastrian born. " Coming down the steps from the Exchequer into Westminster, I followed two common jurymen, when I was a law officer of the crown, and I overheard one say to the other, ' I think we have given the crown verdicts enough; we may as well give them no more.' I touched them upon the shoulders, and told them they should have no more trouble, for I should challenge them in all causes that remained." " Once," said he, " I had a very handsome offer made to me. I was pleading for the rights of the inhabitants of the Isle of Man. Now I had been reading in Coke, and I found there that the people of the Isle of Man were no beggars ;* so in my speech I said, ' The people of the Isle of Man are no beggars ; I therefore do not beg their rights, I demand them.' This so pleased an old smuggler who was present that when the trial was over he called me aside and said, ' Young gentleman, I will tell you what : you shall have my daughter if you will marry her, and one hundred thousand pounds for her for- tune.' That was a very handsome offer: but I told him that I hap- pened to have a wife who had nothing for her fortune ; therefore I must stick to her." In the December of this year, 1784, Dr. Johnson died. " He was a good man," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster: "he sent me a mes- sage on his death-bed, to request that I would make a point of attend- ing public worship every Sunday, and that the place should be the Church of England." In the succeeding session, that of 1785, when the Westminster scrutiny was discussed again, and with all the heat of party, Mr. Scott stood forward to maintain the law, even against the adminis- tration with whom he was accustomed to act. At the general election, Lord Hood, Mr. Fox and Sir Cecil Wray had been the candidates. At the termination of a poll, which had lasted from the 1st of April to the 16th of May, 1784, Sir C. Wray stood low- est. At his requisition, the high bailiff, being the returning-officer, granted a scrutiny and made a special return of the facts to the she- riff. A resolution was moved in the House of Commons, on the 24th of the same month of May, that the high bailiff ought to have made his return of two members for Westminster ; but as this would have implied a censure on the high bailiff unheard, Sir Lloyd Ken- *Lord Coke's words are, "The inhabitants of this isle are religious, industrious and true people, without begging or stealing." Ithlnst. ch. 69, concluding paragraph. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 99 yon, the master of the rolls, recommended, and Mr. Pitt supported, a different course, in order that the high bailiff might have an oppor- tunity to attend at the bar, and defend his conduct. Mr. Scott concurred in this view. The high bailiff afterwards attended ac- cordingly ; and it was resolved that he should proceed in the scrutiny with all possible despatch. When the House reassembled for the session of 1785, the scrutiny was still unfinished ; and it appeared, from the examination of the high bailiff, that two years more would probably be insufficient to complete it, eight months having already been consumed upon two of the seven parishes of Westminster, and this without the completion of the inquiry even as far as those two were concerned. It was now, therefore, moved by the opposition, that the return should be made without delay ; upon which it was pro- posed from the other side, by way of amendment, to acquaint the high bailiff that the resolution of the preceding session did not preclude him from making his return when he should think himself justified in doing so, and that the House was not satisfied that all possible expe- dition had been used by the parties. This amendment, though sup- ported by ministers, was carried by a majority of only 29 : in less than a fortnight another motion was made for an immediate return, which was rejected by a majority of only 9, and in a few days after- wards renewed and carried: and, on the 9th of March, (the high bailiff having meanwhile made his return,) the House proceeded to discuss a motion of Mr. Fox, for expunging from the journals the former proceedings respecting the scrutiny. The ministers prevailed to negative this last motion ; but they had not the support of Mr. Scott, who, though he had voted in the preceding session against a course involving censure on the high bailiff unheard, had partici- pated in none of the subsequent resolutions for the continuance of the scrutiny ; and now, by a speech in favour of the motion for erasing them from the journal, gave a proof that with him the wishes of his party, and of the minister who headed it, were of less weight than the considerations of principle and of constitutional law. He esta- blished, by a conclusive argument upon the statutes for regulating elections, from the reign of Henry IV. to that of George III., the legal doctrine, "that the election must be finally closed before the return of the writ, and that the writ must be returned on or before the day specified in it." But he added, That notwithstanding his own persuasion as to the clearness of the law on this head, the recent proceedings demonstrated the necessity of some additional enactment which should put it out of the power of future candidates to harass each other, or o future ministers to keep counties or towns unrepresented under the colour of scruti- nies. This, however, might be a work of time: the expunging of the resolutions ought to be the work of that night, and should have his hearty support. Mr. Fox was not ungrateful for this assistance. After noticing the arguments of other lawyers in that debate, he said, One learned gentleman in particular (Mr. Scott) had entered into the case with a soundness of argument and a depth and a closeness of reasui haps had scarcely been equaled in the discussion of any topic within th turned at all on the statute and common law, on the analogy of writs, and i 100 LIFE OF LORD legal references that had been made in the course of the debate. So well and so ably, indeed, had that learned gentleman argued it, that nothing like an answer had been offered to any one of his appeals to his brethren of the long robe, or any one of his doctrines. In truth, he was convinced it was out of the power of ingenuity itself to overthrow the positions laid down by that learned gentleman. (25 Parl. Hist. p. 129.) As soon as the division was over, Mr. Fox pressed for some legislative measure to prevent the like mischief thereafter: and Mr. Pitt, probably not uninfluenced by Mr. Scott's declaration of its neces- ity, assured the House that a bill should be speedily introduced for that purpose, not, however, as a declaratory, but as an enacting law. The result was, the statute 25 G. 3. c. 84., "to limit the duration of polls and scrutinies," and to make other regulations touch- ing elections. In conversation with Lord Eldon toward the close of his life, Mr. Farrer said to him, " I have often wished to ask you, how you and Fox got on in the House of Commons. Was he violent against you ? " " No : on the contrary, Fox never said an uncivil w r ord to me during the whole time that I sat in the House of Commons; and I'll tell you to what I attribute that. When the legality of the con- duct of the high bailiff of Westminster was before the House, all the lawyers on the ministerial side defended his right to grant the scrutiny. I thought their law bad, and I told them so. I asked Kenyon how he could answer this, that every writ of commission must be returned on the day on which it is made returnable ? He could not answer it. I made a pretty long speech : I know that my law was right, and I believe that I made some impression upon some members of the House. Fox afterwards came to me, and said some- thing very civil and obliging." The legislation of the years 1780 and 1782 had established the com- mercial and political independence of Ireland : but it still remained to settle a code of regulations for the commerce between Ireland and Great Britain. For this purpose, a series of resolutions was moved by Mr. Pitt, in May 1785, against which a violent opposition was raised in both countries ; and then it appears to have been that the unhappy phrase "insult to Ireland," first suggested itself. The conditions required from the smaller country, for the advantages communicated by the larger, were angrily represented as affronts and degradations. It had been stipulated on the part of Great Britain, that so long as the proposed reciprocity should continue, the naviga- tion laws of the two kingdoms should be the same, Ireland adopting the code already enacted by Great Britain, and keeping pace with her in any future regulations. This proposal was impugned as an inroad on the independence of Ireland, and Mr. Fox lent the weight of his great reputation to the delusion. On the 24th of May, Mr. Scott defended the proposed arrangement, and showed that Ireland was no more degraded by a covenant to maintain her regulations on a level with those of Great Britain than Great Britain by a covenant to equalize the intercourse between her and Ireland. With the British Parliament, these even-handed and conciliatory arguments obtained a complete acceptance, and a bill was introduced CHANCELLOR ELDON. 101 for effectuating the resolutions. But the representatives of the sister kingdom were less easy to be reasoned with ; and a similar bill, presented to their Parliament, was carried in the Irish House of Commons by a majority of only 19. A victory so close, on a mea- sure so important, was regarded in those days as a defeat : and the government, after reading the bill a first time, declined to proceed with it. In 1786, the early part of the session produced no business wherein Mr. Scott took any particular interest. He went the circuit as usual. The affairs of India, and especially the administration of Mr. Hastings, were now become matters of considerable interest in the House of Commons. The proceedings of our Indian governments had been made the subject of inquiry in the session of 1782; but without practical effect. In 1785 the matter had been revived : and in 1786, accusations against Mr. Hastings were pressed upon the House by Mr. Burke, Mr. Fox and other leading members of oppo- sition, with a view to impeachment. In the debate of the 2d of June, 1786, on the conduct of the Rohilla war, an attempt was made to pass a general resolution against Mr. Hastings, without specifica- tion of the particular grounds of it. This Mr. Scott resisted, in a speech, which, though short, is deserving of notice, both for the principle enforced by it, and because the answer given to it by Mr. Fox attests the high estimation wilich Mr. Scott had already attained. After objecting to the expedient of consolidating allegations, individually insuffi- cient, into a general charge, for the purpose of carrying, in ihe aggregate, a censure of which, perhaps, no one item would have been supported by a majority of the House if it had been put to the vote singly, Mr. Scott took occasion to animadvert upon an intimation thrown out the day before by Mr. Fox, that he would always watch the members of the legal profession in iheir arguments. Mr. Fox replied by assuring the House and iMr. Scott, that he had meant nothing more than that lawyers were apt to infuse the peculiar style of reasoning to which they were habituated at the bar, into their arguments in the House of Commons. "None but a fool or a madman," he said, " would hold the learned profession in con- tempt. He had a very high respect for it ,and for the learned gentleman, in particular, whose great abilities and high character entitled him to the respect of every man." The Indian questions, particularly the charges against Mr. Hastings, continued to employ much of the attention of the House during the remainder of this and the following session : but Mr. Scott took little part in any of them. It was probably in the summer of 1786 or 1787 that Mr. Scott was opposed, in an important fishery cause on the circuit, to Mr. Bearcroft, a leader of considerable practice in London, specially re- tained for that trial. The Anecdote Book records the circumstances of it as follows : "Bearcroft came down to the assizes at Carlisle, with a special retainer of 300 guineas, in a salmon fishery cause. I led the cause on the other side ; and, at our consultation on the preceding evening, we agreed never to ask a witness a question except in the language and dialect of Cumberland, which Bearcroft could not unders Accordingly, when I began to cross-examine his first witness, wh< had said a great deal about the salmon, good and bad, which the 102 LIFE OF LORD fishery had produced in different seasons, I asked whether they were obliged to make ' ould souldiers' of any of them. These words 'ould souldiers,' to be made out of salmon, puzzled Bearcroft, and he applied to me to give him an explanation of them. I told him that a counsel from London-town, who had, as he had told us over night, amused and instructed himself by reading Home Tooke's V E?< ftttpoevta, could not surely be at a loss for the meaning of language * and that, at any rate, it was not my business to assist, in the leading of a cause, my adversary, whose abilities and knowledge, &c. &c. He then applied to the judge for an explanation, who told him he could give him none, because he could not conceive what the words meant. After a squabble between the judge and myself, I explained ; but throughout the whole cause there was hardly a question asked by us which did not produce a similar scene. The jury were asto- nished that neither judge nor Bearcroft had wisdom enough to un- derstand what they all so well understood : and they inferred, from Bearcroft's extreme ignorance of what they all so well knew, that he had a rotten cause. We got a verdict, and Bearcroft swore that no fee should ever tempt him to come among such a set of barbarians as the Cumberland men again. N. B. An ' ould souldier,' is made by hanging up, in a chimney, a salmon caught out of due season, when the fish is white, instead of red ; and it acquires, in the chimney, a colour like a soldier's old red coat half worn out." From this story of a soldier not militant, we pass to one which the Anecdote Book records of a pugnacious barber: " At Appleby assizes, I cross-examined a barber rather too severely. He got into a great passion. I desired him to moderate his anger r and said that I should employ him to shave me as I passed through Kendal to the Lancaster assizes. He said, with great indignation, ' I would not advise you, lawyer, to think of that, or risk it.' ' The two circuit stories which follow are also from the Anecdote Book: "My old fellow-student, Robert Sinclair, afterwards recorder of York, a very honest Irishman, was shown a tumulus by an antiqua- rian in Yorkshire, who proposed a bet that nobody could show a greater antiquity, any thing older, in the king's dominions. Sin- clair took the bet, and won it by pointing to the ground on w r hich the tumulus was raised ; which must have been there before the tumulus could be placed upon it." " Sir Thomas Davenport was a very dull speaker. Whilst making a very long dull speech to a jury, in Northumberland, a boy asleep on a window considerably high from the floor, fell, and was reported, though untruly, to be dead. I was at that time attorney-general of the northern circuit* : and, at the circuit court at Appleby, I indicted him for wilful murder, perpetrated by a long, dull instrument, viz., a speech. He was convicted and severely fined." " When I was on circuit," said Lord Eldon to his grandson, " and * The circuit-attorney-generalship is a jocular office. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 103 paid a visit to the late Lord Ravensworth, his gamekeeper, in speak- ing of him, said to me, ' I have lived with Lord Ravensworth sixty years, and have never had occasion to be angry with him but once the whole time.' " In 1787, the death of Mr. Justice Willes occasioned a vacancy in the chancellorship of the bishopric and county palatine of Durham : and Lord Thurlow's brother, who had just been translated to that see, bestowed the office on Mr. Scott. The patent is dated 1st March, 1787, but the confirmation by the dean and chapter appears to have been, by some accident, delayed, its date being in 1788, November 20. About the time of Bishop Thurlow's translation to Durham, there flourished in society a gentleman whom his familiars used to call Will Hay. " Will Hay," says the Anecdote Book, "was a commissioner of the customs, and a very jolly companion of Lord Thurlow. He was also very intimate with Thurlow, Bishop of Lincoln, afterwards removed to Durham, who was Dean of St. Paul's also, and lived in the deanery. Upon being made Bishop of Durham he took another house, and there being at that period some difficulty in removing wine without proper permits, so as to secure it against seizure, the bishop thought he could not do better than to consult Hay how to act in removing his claret, which he told Hay was very excellent. 1 Pray, my lord bishop,' says Hay, ' what quantity of this claret have you?' The bishop said he had about six dozen of it. 'If there is no more,' observed Hay, 'it is very easy to secure it against seizure: you have nothing more to do than to ask me to dine with you six times before you quit the deanery house.' ' (3/r. John Scott to his brother Henry.") "July 14, 1787, Lincoln's Inn. ** ******* "My wife being advised strongly to Tunbridge, I travel into the North, solus. After Lancaster, I shall return again to Durham to hold my chancery sittings. During the assizes, I shall leave it to you and Mr. Surtees to dispose of me in point of habitation as you shall agree; but, if I may be permitted to ask it, I confess I should think it most convenient for all parties, if you and he could find me a conveniently-situated lodging for the business and consultations, allowing me, in feeding hours, to divide myself between you; for I am conscious I must be a sad bore in a family, the greatest part of the day, with so many attorneys, &c., about me. You will, however, let me know beforehand what you determine. I shall not be at Durham assizes, as mj chancellorship makes it not quite proper for me to attend there." It is related that when Mr. Scott was chancellor of the county pala- tine, an application was made to him to direct an allowance at college to a minor, a ward of the court, who would be entitled, when of age, to an income of about 300J. a year. Knowing how dangerous it is to a young man to possess just as much as will exempt him from the wholesome necessity of labour, Mr. Scott, on granting the allowance, added this advice. " You will shortly become entitled to a small property, which may prove to you either a blessing or a curse, according as you use it. It was, perhaps, fortunate for me that I was not situated in my early 104 LIFE OF LORD life as you are now. I had not, like you, a small fortune to look to ; I had nothing to depend on but my own exertions ; and so far from considering this a misfortune, I now esteem it a blessing ; for if I had possessed the same means which you will enjoy, I should, in all pro- bability, not be where I now am. I would, therefore, caution you not to let this little property turn .your mind from more important objects, but rather let it stimulate you to cultivate your abilities, and to advance yourself in society." The trial of the impeachment against Mr. Hastings, at the bar of the House of Lords, began in February, 1788, and lasted till April, 1795, when it terminated in his complete acquittal. The preparation for it had occupied much of the time of the House of Commons in the ses- sions of 1787, and of 1787-8 : in the latter of which a considerable interest was excited also by some other Indian questions. By this time, the great increase of Mr. Scott's professional reputation had begun to add weight to the opinions expressed by him in Parliament: and this was remarkably indicated in the debate upon the East India Declaratory Bill, introduced on the 25th of February, 1788, by Mr. Pitt, under the following circumstances. In the preceding October, when some apprehensions were entertained of a rupture with France, a resolution had been taken by the British government of sending to the East Indies four regiments of the king's troops as a permanent force for the protection of those possessions : and this proposal had been received by the directors as a wise and satisfactory precaution. But as soon as the immediate danger had passed by, they began to be alarmed at the expense, and now sought to shift it from the company to the public. With this view, they alleged that the sixth section of the India bill, 24 Geo. 3. s. 2. c. 25, empowering the board of commissioners, for the affairs of India "from time to time to superin- tend, direct and control all acts, operations and concerns which in any wise relate to the civil or military government or revenues of the British territorial possessions in the East Indies," in the manner by that act directed, was not meant to give them the power of imposing upon the Indian revenues the expense of any troops which govern- ment might think fit to send out for the protection of those possessions, unless where such aids were applied for by the court of directors. Respecting this construction of the act, which was chiefly grounded on a reference to the seventeenth section of a former statute, the 21st Geo. 3. c. 65, the opinions of several eminent lawyers were taken, and among others, of Mr. Scott and Mr. Erskine : and in order to settle some doubts to which the differences of counsel might be thought to give countenance, Mr. Pitt, on Mr. Scott's advice,* now called upon Parliament to pass an act declaratory of the law. On the 3d of March, Mr. Erskine and Mr. Rous were heard at the bar of the Commons as counsel for the East India Company against the bill ; and a considerable part of Mr. Erskine's address consisted of an answer to the printed opinion of Mr. Scott. The subject being resumed on * See " Strictures on Eminent Lawyers," p. 21 1. (Anon. Kearsley, 1790.) CHANCELLOR ELDON. 105 the 5th, Mr. Scott, after pleading, as his apology for coming for- ward on a subject of so much magnitude, the special reference of counsel to his printed opinion, and after claiming credit for a con- scientious adherence to his own sense of duty in the course he was pursuing, proceeded to argue the question on its political, but still more fully on its legal, and on its constitutional grounds. Of the legal and political portions of his speech the interest has passed away with the occasion : but the constitutional passages of his argument, those which relate to the general principles of declaratory legislation, have a permanent value. Upon this branch of the subject, the main objections of his opponents were, "that, in the declaratory form of enactment, Parliament was exercising a judicial function ;" (a sort of duty which, it must be acknowledged, the House of Commons very seldom discharges with much credit or advantage :) "that if the bill had been expedient at all, it should have been a bill, not to declare, but to explain and amend : and that either an obvious ambiguity in language on the face of the act, or an actual clashing in the decisions of the courts upon its construction, was requisite to lay a sufficient ground for the introduction of a declaratory law." "Mr. Scott, in answering the objectors, admitted that Parliament, when it proceeded to pass a declaratory law, was acting in a judicial capacity : and he agreed that this capacity was one in which Parliament ought not to act, except where, as here, the necessity of the case was unquestionable, and the mischief large enough to justify extraordinary interposition. He admitted, too, that a mere difference of opinion among lawyers, upon the construction of an existing act of Parliament, was not an adequate reason for the enactment of a declaratory law; but he could not agree that an obvious ambiguity in language or a conflict of judicial decisions, though proper grounds for a declaratory enactment, were its only proper grounds. If it were neces- sary that Parliament should defer its interposition till two clashing decisions had actually taken place, these absurdities would follow: that a long, nay indefinite, delay might occur between the first decision and the second: and that even after both decisions should have been pronounced, one of the parties affected must sustain not only the unmerited loss of his cause and his costs, but the additional mortification of afterwards finding that the law had in reality been with him at the very time when he was turned round by the court's misconstruction of it." Some judgment of the weight which Mr. Scott's argument carried, and of the corroboration which government derived, upon the legal part of the subject, from the sanction of so eminent a lawyer as he had now become, may be formed from the pains which were taken to com- bat his printed opinion by the counsel for the company, and from the pointed manner in which his particular arguments were assailed by Mr. Sheridan, Colonel Barre and other members of opposition. In a further debate upon the same subject on the 14th of March, the speech of Mr. Scott was again made the subject of a long and formal attack, by Mr. (afterwards Sir Philip) Francis. It was not, he said, a legal, but a legislative question : and it was absurd for Par- liament to ask of lawyers what it meant by its own act and deed. * to be sure." continued Mr. Francis, " we have every assistance that learning an s Mr. John Scott m* . practice can afford. We have a learned person (Mr. John Scott) universally acknowledged to be the great luminary of the law whose oracles, to whose skill and authority all his own profession look up with and amazement. Well, sir, what information have we gained from Jha nent person? I will not attempt to follow or repeat so long, and, as I have I 106 LIFE OF LORD so ingenious an argument. Ingenuity, it seems, is the quality which is chiefly wanted and relied on, on the present occasion. But I well remember the course of it. The first half hour of his speech, at least, was dedicated to himself. He told us who he was ; he explained to us, very distinctly, the whole of his moral character, which I think was not immediately in question; and assured the House that his in- tegrity was the thing on which he valued himself most, and which we might, with perfect security, rely on. Of his learning, I confess he spoke with more than mode- ration, with excessive humility. He almost stultified himself, for the purpose of proving his integrity. For the sake of his morality, he abandoned his learning; and seemed to dread the conclusions that might be drawn from an overrated opinion of his excessive skill and cunning in his profession. In my mind, sir, there was no occasion for this extraordinary parade. The learned gentleman's reputation in pri- vate life, I believe, is unimpeached. What we wanted, what we expected of him, was his learning, not his character. At last, however, he proceeded to the subject of debate. Here we were all in profound silence: attention held us all mute. Did he answer your expectation? Did you perfectly understand him? Did he perfectly understand himself? I doubt it much. If he had understood, he could have explained himself to the meanest capacity. If you had distinctly understood him, you might distinctly remember what he said. Now, setting aside the adept, (I mean his own profession,) setting aside those who have been initiated in the mysteries, is there a man here who can remember and is able to state the learned gentleman's argument? I believe not. For my own part, though it is impossible for me to listen with more attention than I did, I confess I soon lost sight of him. At first, indeed, he trifled with the subject, in a manner that was intelligible at least, perhaps dexterous, though not conclusive. He argued some little collateral points with a good deal of artifice: he made many subtle argumentative distinctions; he tried, at least, to involve us in nice, logical difficulties, and to drive us ad absurdum by what he called unavoidable infer- ence, from false premises. In short, he attacked or defended some of the outposts of the question, with what I suppose is held to be great ability in Westminster Hall. He skirmished well at a proper distance from the main body of the subject. All this I acknowledge. But when he came at last to the grand point, at which we had waited for him so long, at which we had impatiently expected the predominant light of his superior learning, the decision of the oracle, did he resolve your doubts? Did he untie, or did he cut the Gordian knot? Did he prove to you in that frank, plain, Eopular way, in which he ought to have addressed this popular assembly, and which e would have done, if he had been sure of .his ground, did he demonstrate to you, that the act of 1784, clearly and evidently, or even by unavoidable construction, gave the power declared by the present bill ? Sir, he did no such thing. If he did, let us hear it once more. He who understands can remember. He who remembers can repeat I defy any man living, not a lawyer, to recite even the substance of that part of his argument The truth is, he left the main question exactly where he found it." There is more of this sour ebullition frothing out against the whole legal profession ; but the foregoing specimen of it will probably have satisfied the reader. Its acrimony, and the sort of success which is said to have greeted it among his party, show the soreness of the op- position at the effective reasoning of Mr. Scott, which their spokes- man for that occasion, the supposed author of Junius, being unable, whether from lack of law or of logic, to deal with it in the way of argument, was fain to evade by this effusion of spleen. It may not have been without some recollection of the incompetency for legal disquisition which Mr. Francis so ostentatiously exhibited in this debate, that Lord Eldon, being many years afterwards asked for his opinion about the authorship of Junius, answered, " I cannot tell you who the author is; but I can tell you what he is not, a lawyer." The declaratory statute was enacted, 28 Geo. 3, c. 8. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 1Q7 CHAPTER IX. 17881791. Mr. John Scott appointed solicitor-general, and knighted. Sir Pepper Arden, Mr, Pitt and Lord Thurlow. Progress of Sir William Scott. The king's illness: proceed- ings on the regency; solicitor-general's part in them: jeux-d'esprit. Lord Bel- grave's Greek quotation and parody on incantation in Macbeth. The kings recov- ery: his favour to the solicitor-general. Lord Thurlow and the regency. Specimen of Lord Thurlow's jocular conversation. Anecdotes of St. James's. Dinner hours of lawyers. Forensic style of solicitor-general. Pleasantries of George III. and of the solicitor-general. Government cases. Spelling of "Scott." Solicitor-gene- ral's interposition against oppression of an individual by the House of Commons. Dissolution of Parliament: impeachment not thereby abated. Mr. Fox's libel bill: solicitor-general's part therein. AN opportunity now afforded itself to Mr. Pitt of testifying the sense he entertained of Mr. Scott's ability and character. Lord Mansfield's resignation, early in June 1788, of the office of lord chief justice of the King's Bench, opened the way to that dignity for Sir Lloyd Kenyon, who was succeeded as master of the rolls by the attorney-general, Mr. Pepper Arden. The attorney-generalship devolved to the solicitor-general, Sir Archibald Macdonald: and the office of solicitor-general, thus vacant, was conferred upon Mr. Scott, who, on the 27th of June, underwent the ceremony of knight- hood. It is said* that he intimated to the king a modest wish of declining this last honour; but that George III. only answered, "Pooh, pooh, nonsense," and gave him the accolade without further parley.} * Morning Chronicle, January 7, 1838. f NOTE nr THE PRESENT EARL. During these years, Sir John Scott's elder brothrr William was also making a distinguished progress in the line he had adopted. He had received, in 1773, the appointment of Camden professor of history in the Univer- sity of Oxford, where his lectures in that capacity procured him the highest reputation: in this professorship he was succeeded by Thomas Warton in 1785. Having entered as a student at the Middle Temple, June 24, 1762, he was there called to the bar on the 1 1th of February, 1780. Pursuing the study of the civil law, he had been admitted as an advocate, Novem- ber 3, 1779, and appointed advocate-sieneral for the office of lord high admiral on the 21st of May, 1782. On the 30th of August, 1788, he became judge of the Consistory Court of London; and on September 24, 1788, vicar-general of the province of Can- terbury. His patent from King George HI., as king's advocate-general, bears the date of 28, 1788; but it seems to have met with an accidental delay, for it contains a clausi that the salary should begin from September 2. The appointment had been garc on September 3, 1788, on which day Sir W. Scott was knighted. 108 LIFE OF LORD (Sir John Scott to his brother Henry.") Not dated ; but written June, 1788. "Dear Harry, "I kissed the king's hand yesterday as solicitor-general. The king, in spite of my teeth, laid his sword upon my shoulder, and bid Sir John arise. At this last instance of his royal favour, I have been much disconcerted : but I cannot help myself, so I sing 'Oho, the delight To be a gallant knight!' "I was completely taken in, having no idea that the king had any such intention. My wife is persecuted with her new title, and we laugh at her from morning till evening. Be so good as with my best love to communicate this intelligence to my brother and sisters. Bessy joins in affection to your wife and Mary, and I am, "Yours faithfully, "J. SCOTT. " Henry Scott, Esq. " Newcastle-on-Tyne." At this day, when the knighting of the law officers has become matter of course, his coyness about the title may look like affecta- tion; but he was really taken by surprise: for Sir Archibald Mac- donald, who had preceded him as solicitor and was now to become attorney-general, was not knighted until the same day as himself, being that next preceding the date of the patents which placed them in their new offices. A new writ for Weobly was issued on the 27th of June, in conse- quence of his acceptance of office. His patent bears date on the day following : and on the 7th of July he was re-elected for Weobly. Mr. Surtees, Lady Eldon's brother, relates that "when Mr. Pitt proposed to Pepper Arden the office of master of the rolls, Pepper handsomely wished to decline it, saying that he was sure it would be disagreeable to Lord Thurlow. Pitt replied, ' Pepper, you shall be master of the rolls ; and as to Thurlow, I may just as well quar- rel on that as on any other subject with him.' Lord Thurlow, on hearing of the appointment, said that his time would be spent in reversing that fellow's decrees." He broke out in metaphor, too. An old book of precedents, which is now in possession of Mr. Col- ville of the registrar's office, and which belonged, in the latter part of the last century, to Mr. Green, another celebrated registrar, has a paper attached to it containing this passage in print : " The following description of the duty of a master of the rolls is given by a lord chancellor not a hundred years ago : ' I look upon my court and that 6f the rolls to be somewhat like a stage-coach, which, beside the skill of the coachman, requires the assistance of an able postillion to lead the horses and pick out the best part of the roads. Now if I have got an ignorant, furzebush -headed postillion, he may overset the coach and tumble us both into the ditch." It is usual for a barrister, advanced to the rank of a law officer of the crown, to quit his circuit and confine himself to the business of London, except when taken on special retainer to lead some particu- lar cause at the assizes. Mr. Scott, however, not having received his appointment of solicitor-general till near the time of the northern circuit, and being engaged in most of the important causes to be tried CHANCELLOR ELDON. 109 upon it, appears to have considered that his duty to the clients who had already retained him would require his attendance notwithstand- ing his promotion, and, consequently, as his fee-book shows, he went the summer circuit as usual, though for the last time. It was in the autumn of the year 1788 that King George III. was attacked with a malady which, about the month of October, assumed the distinct character of mental alienation ; and the House of Lords and Commons having met on the 20th of November, in pursuance of the last prorogation, and adjourned to the 4th of December, found themselves compelled on the latter of those days, in the unavoidable absence of the regular authority for opening the session, to enter upon a consideration of the means for supplying the exercise of the regal functions. In the debates on this subject, Mr. Fox and his partv, who, possessing the confidence of the Prince of Wales, looked for- ward to immediate office in the event of his royal highness's attain- ment of the kingly powers, insisted that, during any incapacity of the sovereign, the heir-apparent was entitled, constitutionally and of right, to the unlimited prerogatives of the crown, and that the pro- vince of the two Houses of Parliament was only to fix the point of time at which the possession and exercise of this right should begin. Mr. Pitt and his colleagues contended, on the other hand, that the two Houses of Parliament had in themselves the entire authority to select the individual who should exercise the regency, and to assign and limit his powers ; admitting, however, as a point of discretion and expediency, that the choice, in the present instance, ought to fall upon the Prince of Wales. The House of Commons appointed a committee to examine precedents. W T hen they had reported, Mr. Pitt moved three resolutions ; the first simply affirming that the per- sonal exercise of the royal authority was interrupted by his majesty's indisposition ; the second declaring it to be the right and duty of the Lords and Commons to provide the means for supplying this defect, as the exigency of the case might require ; and the third stating it to be necessary that the Lords and Commons should determine on the means whereby the royal assent might be given to bills respecting the powers to be exercised in the king's name and behalf during his illness. The first resolution was agreed to. Upon the second and third, a very important series of debates arose: the main subject of conten- tion being, whether it were fitter that commissions should issue, for opening Parliament and for giving the royal assent to a regency bill, by the great seal, or that the two Houses should at once address the heir-apparent to take upon himself the government during the king's indisposition. Lord North, Mr. Fox, and other leading opponents of the ministry, recommended the proceeding by address. They referred, by way of precedent, to the course pursued at the Revolution of 1688, when the Prince of Orange was solicited by address of the two Houses to assume the royal authority ; and many arguments were founded upon the superior simplicity and convenience of such a pro- ceeding, which would have the effect of rendering the legislature at 110 LIFE OF LORD once complete, as compared with the more dilatory process recom- mended by the ministry, of first opening Parliament by a commission, next working through both the Houses a bill for the constitution of a regency, and finally issuing another commission, to bestow on that bill an unreal assent in the king's name, but without any volition exercised by him. Mr. Pitt and Sir John Scott, the solicitor-gene- ral, were the principal speakers on the other part. The solicitor- general's speech, in the committee of the whole House upon the resolutions, was delivered late in the evening, and is very imperfectly recorded. But of his argument upon the report of those resolutions by the committee to the House, 22d December, the account is full and satisfactory. "He founded his dissent from the recommendations of the opposition mainly upon this important distinction, that whereas, when the Prince of Orange was solicited to assume the royal powers, the throne had become vacant; here, on the contrary, the throne remained 'full of the monarch.' His majesty's personal capacity was sus- pended, but his political capacity remained entire. It was on this principle that, during these very debates, the king's courts were administering justice. Would any man dare to say that George the Third was king no longer? But if he still continued king, the temporary powers to be exercised by his representative must be conferred by the same constitutional forms which the king would have employed had he been person- ally consenting to the delegation: otherwise, instead of recognizing the continuance of their sovereign's political capacity, the two Houses of Parliament would be pass- ing by and superseding it. In this view, the substance of the constitution would be found to depend not a little upon its forms. The argument 'that, if the assent of the crown, could by the proposed commission, be given to a regency bill, other bills might be passed in the same way,' was not a just one; for the right which necessity creates is limited by the same necessity."* These arguments of the solicitor-general appear to have received an extraordinary attention ; for almost every speaker of importance on the other side attempted some answer to Sir John Scott, either in the same or in one of the subsequent debates. Indeed, it was pretty well understood, that from him was derived the whole of the legal doctrine on which ministers proceeded in this important matter. Before the close of the month, these three resolutions had been agreed to by both Houses ; and Mr. Pitt then submitted, in five other resolutions, the outline of the restrictions by which he proposed to limit the powers of the regency. The first resolution of these five declared it expedient to invest the Prince of Wales with the regency; the second, third and fourth imposed limitations upon the regent's powers of creating peers, of granting offices, salaries and pensions, and of dealing with the real or personal estate of the crown ; and the fifth committed to the queen the care of the king's person, and the control of his household, with the advice and assistance of a council. The first four propositions, after a warm debate, were voted on the 16th of January, 1789. The fifth was deferred to the 19th, when the principal speakers in its favour were Mr. Pitt, Mr. Dundas and Sir John Scott, and against it, Mr. Grey, Lord North and Mr. Fox. A great part of Mr. Fox's speech was in answer to that of Sir John Scott. The fifth resolution, having been carried by a large majority * Part. Hist. vol. xxvii. p. 825. CHANCELLOR ELDON. HI in the House of Commons, was, with the other four, agreed to by the House of Lords ; and the prince, though not without some intimation of displeasure at the restrictions, consented to undertake the duties of the regency. In the debate of the 16th, Lord Belgrave, now Marquis of West- minster, had introduced into his speech a quotation from Demos- thenes, which brought upon him a good deal of banter, first from Mr. Sheridan, who immediately followed him, and afterwards from other witty Whigs, whose politics the noble lord was then opposing. Some waggeries were published on the occasion, in which it was pretended that his quotation had been Tbv 6 drfajimSo/tfvof rtpoaifyy rtoSaj iLxv$ 'A^iXXf v$* and that various members had furnished translations of it. This squib obtained great popularity. The translation ascribed to Sir John Scott was this couplet: "With metaphysic art his speech he plann'd, And said what nobody could understand."* As there had been no opening of the session by the royal person or authority, and as, consequently, there was no parliament constitu- tionally met, it now became necessary that some means should be provided for giving validity to the proceedings of the two Houses. This the ministers proposed to do, by opening Parliament under a royal commission, the course usually taken when the king does not perform that ceremony in person. At the outset of the debate on this subject in the House of Commons, Mr. Pitt explained that a second commission was intended to follow, for giving the royal assent to the proposed regency bill. Lord North, Mr. Burke and Mr. Sheridan protested against this mode of signifying the royal assent ; while the constitutional fitness of such a course was maintained by the master of the rolls and the attorney and solicitor-general. The solicitor- general's speech was full and conclusive, both upon principle and upon precedent. "His opponents," he said, "had ridiculed the fiction of treating the annexation of the great seal to a parchment as a constitutional signification of the royal assent. But the royal assent would not be better realized by the measure suggested on the other side of addressing the prince to assume the regency. What ministers proposed was, indeed, a fiction of law, but a wholesome fiction, because consistent with the substance as well as with the forms of the constitution. No doubt the king's per- sonal warrant ought properly to precede the annexation of the great seal to any commission: but any commission, to which the great seal had once been annexed, was thereby rendered absolutely unquestionable, although the warrant, or any other of the proper preliminaries, might have been wanting. The commissions issued under the great seal in the early part of the reign of Henry VI., while that king was an infant, must have been without the sign manual: yet some of the most salutary of our statutes had passed during that period, and their validity had never been disputed. The great seal, therefore, made the assent of the crown complete in law. Not so I mere agreement of the prince to accept the regency; which agreement could ^carry no assent of the crown, either by the letter or by the spirit of the constitution. * "Asylum for Fugitive Pieces," vol. iii. p. 87, in the King's Library, British Mu- seum: title, " PoetEe Anglici." 112 LIFE OF LORD These reasonings were satisfactory to a majority of the House; and the Lords having come to a similar decision, the Parliament was opened, on the 3d of February, by a commission under the great seal. The fiction of law, upon which this act proceeded, was designated by the opposition as the substitution of a phantom for the sovereign. This word " phantom," which survived, and " coldly furnished forth" the declamations of the Whigs on the Regency Bill of 1810, was a favourite metaphor of Mr. Burke and of many minor partisans ; and the idea conveyed by it was amplified in a jeu tfespril, of which the following is an extract : " I3f CAJTTAT1OX FOR HAISIXG A PHASTOM, IMITATE!) FHOM MACHETH, AND LATELY PEB- FOttMEI) BT HIS MAJESTIES SEUVASTS IX WESTMINSTER. Thunder: a Caldron burning. Enter three Wilcfics. 1st Witch. Thrice ihe doctors have been heard: 2rf Witch. Thrice the Houses have conferr'd : 3d Wilch. Thrice hath Sydney* cock'd his chin: Jenky j- cries, " Hegin, begin." 1st Witch. Round about the caldron go; In the fell ingredients throw: Still-born foetus, born and bred In a lawyer's puzzled head, Hatch'd by metaphysic Scott, Boil thou in th' enchanted pot."t On the 4th of February, 1789, the Regency Bill was read a first time in the House of Commons, where, on the 12th, it was passed. It was carried on the same day to the House of Lords, and was still in committee there, when, on the 19th, the lord chancellor, as soon as prayers were over, informed the House that for the last few days, and especially on that morning, the reports of his majesty's health had become decidedly favourable. The further consideration of the bill on that afternoon was therefore postponed ; and the recovery of the king now proceeded so rapidly that he was enabled to attend to public business before the 16th of March, on which day the Parlia- ment, the opening whereof had before been of necessity imperfect, was opened by a commission issued with all the due solemnities. " Lady Eldon told me," says her brother, Mr. John Surtees, " that George III., after his first malady, sent a message to Lord Eldon, then solicitor-general, to call upon him, I believe, at Windsor. The call was of course obeyed. The king told him that he had no other business with him than to thank him for the affectionate fidelity with which he adhered to him when so many had deserted him in his malady." No piece of political gossip has had greater currency than the scandal that, during the progress of the Regency Bill, the Lord Chancellor Thurlow, secretly from the rest of the king's friends, was carrying on a negotiation with the prince's party for the purpose of continuing himself in office under their expected ministry. Mr. * Lord Sydney, secretary for the Home Department, j- Lord Hawkesbury, first Earl of Liverpool. * " Asylum for Fugitive Pieces," vol. iii. p. 69, ubi suprtu CHANCELLOR ELDOX. H3 Fairer having happened, in a conversation with Lord Eldon, to express some curiosity about a story so improbable in itself, and yet so generally current, Lord Eldon's answer was, " I do not believe there was a word of truth in that report." He has intimated the same disbelief in his Anecdote Book, where he says, " I was, at the time of the regency, honoured with Lord Thurlow's intimacy. Scarcely a day passed in which there was not much interesting con- versation upon that subject between Lord Thurlow and the kind's friends, with which I was acquainted. I have no doubt that it was the opinion of many of the king's friends that it was very desirable, for the king's sake, that Lord Thurlow should continue chancellor, however the regency administration might be composed, if that could be so arranged. Considering the extreme heat and bitterness of parties in Parliament, after the king was recovered, it seems very extraordinary that, if Lord Thurlow's conduct had, during the debate's about the regency, been dishonourable, with respect to any object he had in view if the regency took place, no allusion should be made to it in debates, when he might have had an opportunity of explaining his views if his conduct required explanation.' 7 During the whole period of Sir John Scott's service as solicitor- general, he contined his habits of personal intimacy with Lord Thur- low, whose familiar manner the Anecdote Book thus exemplifies : " After dinner one day, when nobody was present but Lord Ken- yon and myself, Lord Thurlow said, ' Kenyon, I decided a cause this morning, and I thought, from the countenance of Scott, who was not counsel in it, that he doubted whether I was right.* Thurlow then stated what he represented as forming the circumstances of the case : Kenyon instantly said, ' Your decision was quite right.' 'What say you to that, Scott? 'said Thurlow. I said, I did not presume to form a judgment upon a case upon which they were agreed. But I added that I thought Lord Thurlow had not men- tioned to Kenyon a fact which might, perhaps, appear materially to affect the decision ; and I was about to state the fact, and my reasons for what I had said. Kenyon, however, broke in upon me, and with some warmth stated that I was always so obstinate that there was no dealing with me. f Nay, nay, Taffy,' said Thurlow, ' that's not quite fair surely nobody is more obstinate than you are. But there is a difference between you. You are very obstinate, but you never give any reasons for your obstinacy. He is very obstinate, but always gives his reasons ; and, to say the truth, they are generally very bad ones. " The next two stories were told by Lord Eldon to Miss Forster: " Lord Thurlow built a house in the neighbourhood of London.* Now he was first cheated by his architect, and then he cheated him- self; for the house cost more than he expected, so he never would go into it. Very foolish, but so it was. As he was coming out oi the queen's drawing-room, a lady whom I knew very well, stopped * At Knight's Hill, Norwood, Su VOL. I. 8 114 LIFE OF LORD him, and asked when he was going into his new house. ' Madam,' said he, l the queen has just asked that impudent question : and as I would not tell her, I will not tell you.' ' " I remember, as I was coming away from that very drawing-room, in my full dress as king's counsel,* (Lord Clarendon, then Mr. Vil- liers, was with me,) we came to the room where the milliners were collected to see the fashions. Said I, ' Why, Villiers, I think all the prettiest women are here.' One of the girls, and a most amazingly beautiful creature she was, stood up, and said to another, ' I am sure that gentleman is a judge." In those days, the lawyers dispatched dinner in time to begin their evening labour in chambers between six and seven. " Dinner hours," says Lord Eldon, in the Anecdote Book, " are much altered within a few years. I remember the Duchess of Gordon asking Mr. Pitt to dine with her at eight o'clock. He excused himself by saying that at that hour he was to sup with Dr. Prettyman." Of late years there has been a growing tendency towards the duchess's distribution of the evening, and the lawyers, of course, have conformed to the customs of their clients. Some leading barristers, especially those practising in courts of equity, have desisted, in ordinary, from cham- ber attendance at night, employing themselves upon their papers at home, secure from interruption; and a great proportion of the con- sultations, formerly held from six to ten, are now taken from three to five in the afternoon, or in the morning before the sitting of the courts. The courts themselves meet later in the forenoon ; and the evening sittings at the rolls are now entirely discontinued. On the 2d of January, 1789, the chair of the House of Commons had become vacant by the death of Mr. Speaker Cornwall ; who was succeeded on the 5th by the Right Honourable William Wyndham Grenville. Mr. Grenville's acceptance of the office of secretary of state in the following June occasioned a necessity for another elec- tion of speaker; and on the 8th of that month, Mr. Addington, the late Viscount Sidmouth, was chosen in his stead. A work which was published in 1790, bearing the title of " Stric- tures on Eminent Lawyers," professes to describe the forensic speak- ing of Sir John Scott in those days; and the description may be deemed a just one, provided that the word " correct," as it occurs in the first sentence, be referred to the style of his argument, and not of his diction. "His speaking is of that subtle, correct and deliberate kind, that has more the appearance of written than of oral eloquence. He branches forth his arguments into different heads and divisions, and pursues the respective parts through all their various ramifications with such methodical accuracy, that argument seems to rise out of argument, and conclusion from conclusion, in the most regular and natural progression, so that those who are not acquainted with his practice would suspect that he had studied and prepared his speeches with the most diligent attention; while others, who are better acquainted with the business of the courts, feel their admira- tion and surprise increased, from the knowledge that a man of his extensive business, * The full-bottomed wig which the king's counsel wear is the same with that worn by the judges. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 115 so far from studying what he shall say, can scarce find time to glance his eye over the numerous papers that come before him. He is also particularly distinguished for his aptitude and ingenuity of reply. His systematic mind seems to methodize, with inconceivable rapidity, the arguments of his opponents. In the short space of time between the pleadings of his adversary and his reply, every thing seems digested and disposed, and his mode of replication seems planned in the nicest order. He will frequently take up the concluding argument of his opponent, or at other times seize upon some observation which has fallen in the middle of the .adverse speech. Here he will begin his attack, and proceed by his usual clear and deliberate method, pur- suing one regular chain of reasoning, till he has confuted, or at least replied to, every proposition against him." " Soon after I became solicitor-general," says Lord Eldon in the Anecdote Book, "his majesty, George III., at Weymouth, with the kindness which he uniformly manifested to me, said, ' Well, I hope your promotion has been beneficial to you ?' I asked his majesty if he meant in professional income? lie said, 'Yes, in that and. in other respects.' I. told him what was strictly true, that in annual receipt I thought I must lose about two thousand pounds a year. He seemed surprised, and asked how that could be accounted for? I stated to him that the attention of his law officers was called to matters of international law, public law, and the laws of revenue and other matters, with which, not having been previously familiar, they were obliged to devote to them a vast deal of time, and to withdraw it from those other common matters of business which were very pro- fitable ; and I concluded by stating what was then the habit of the solicitors of the public offices, to give the solicitor-general only three guineas with his majesty's (the government's) cases, which required more time and attention fully to consider and satisfactorily to answer than the cases of private individuals, with which their attorneys fre- quently left fees of ten, fifteen, twenty or twenty-five guineas. ' Oh !' said the king, ' then, for the first time, I comprehend what I never could before understand, why it has been always so difficult to get any opinions from my law officers!' ' A pleasantry of the solicitor-general himself, arising out of one of the government cases, is thus related in his Anecdote Book : "Attending a cause in the Court of Exchequer, a part of the ceil- ing fell down, and alarmed the judges, counsel, &c. Mr. Gryffid Price, an honest and excellent but warm Welchman, turned to me, and said in his familiar way, ' My dear Jack, what an escape ! Who could have expected that we should all have been delivered ?' He hated a pun, and particularly a bad one ; and I thought nothing could have restrained my Welsh friend's wrath when I said, ' My dear Price, you make more than enough of this. Ought not you, as an experi- enced lawyer, to have been aware that sealing (ceiling) and delivery always go together?' " There was a dialogue which he used to relate as having taken pla about the same time, and which bears oddly upon his family name. A party in some cause had occasion to give in evidence an msti to which the subscribing witness was one John Scott. Apphcati was made to the solicitor-general, in the hope that he might t to be the witness; but he answered that the signature was not 116 LIFE OF LORD Some time afterwards he found himself seated at dinner near a gentle- man who claimed to be his namesake, though he spelt his surname with but a single t. In the course of conversation the solicitor-gene- ral mentioned the attested instrument and the ineffectual search which had been made for the subscribing witness. "Oh," said the gentle- man, " I was that witness." " Well, but," said the solicitor-general, " that witness's name was spelt with two 's Scott, whereas yours, you have been saying, is spelt with only one t Scot." " Very true," said the other, but it is since I witnessed that paper that I have changed the spelling of my name by dropping one of the fs. I allow you," added he, in a strong northern accent, "that Scott with two tf's may sound rounder in the mouth ; but Scot with one t has more of quality in it!" The occasions on which the solicitor-general took part in the debates in the House of Commons were chiefly where some legal or constitutional principle was in question. He w r as ever opposed to the exercise of parliamentary privileges or powers for the oppres- sion of individuals. Upon this ground, among others, he resisted, on the evenings of the 15th and 29th of March, 1790, the proposal of Mr. Francis for a committee to inquire into the circumstances attending the execution of the Rajah Mustapha Cawn, beheaded by order of Captain Williams, in consequence of directions from his commanding officer Colonel Hannay, at whose conduct, in this and other cases of alleged criminality, Mr. Hastings was accused of hav- ing connived. The real aim of the motion seemed to be to assail Mr. Hastings through the sides of Captain Williams, who had acted but ministerially. "The solicitor-general represented that to appoint a committee for the purpose of getting up a case, and then, perhaps, to institute a proceeding against Captain Wil- liams for murder, with all the weight and authority of the House of Commons in sup- port of the prosecution, was a course subjecting the subordinate officer to disadvan- tages against which it was almost impossible for a private person to bear up. In cases of treason, and in cases of misdemeanour, necessity had founded precedents for the institution of proceedings by the House; but upon felonies, the intermediate class of offences, there was seldom any urgency of state that could require the inter- position of Parliament to set the courts of law in motion; and upon cases of felony, therefore, it was best, unless where some very extraordinary case should present itself, to abstain from interference with the regular tribunals. Where a private per- son prosecutes, the defendant, on his acquittal, may recover damages against his pro- secutor, if it be practicable to show malice and want of probable cause in the prose- cution; but a defendant prosecuted by the House has no such remedy against his pursuer. In all this, the solicitor-general desired to be understood as the advocate, not of Captain Williams, but of the constitutional security of the subject; a consi- deration infinitely more important than any thing personal to any single individual." Mr. Francis's motion was negatived. The prorogation of Parliament, w T hich took place on the 10th of June, 1790, was followed by a dissolution : and Sir John Scott was again returned for Weobly. His brother, Sir William Scott, entered Parliament at the same general election, as member for the borough of Downton ; for which, in 1784, he had been unseated on a scrutiny. Parliament reassembled on the 20th of November: and on the 17th of the following month, a question having arisen w r h ether the impeach- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 117 ment of Mr. Hastings had abated by the dissolution, Mr. Burke moved a resolution that it was still depending. Sir John Scott, with the attorney-general, the master of the rolls and Mr. Erskine, contended that, by the dissolution, the impeachment had abated : Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke were of a contrary opinion. After three nights of discussion, Mr. Burke's motion was carried by a large majority: and it is now the established law of Parliament that an impeachment does not abate by a dissolution. (Sir John Scott to his brother Henry.} Not dated; but written in Dec. 1790. " Oh ! the dignity of the cloth shoo! How hard it is upon me that I, the youngest and most temperate and abstemious of the three should, the first of all the brothers, arrive to this dignity! I hope most heartily you may escape, because, between the pain felt and the pain of being laughed at, the complaint is quite intolerable. Into the bargain I lost half of my long vacation, and I found myself, before I came out of town, quite knocked up with the fatigue of the term and of the attendance in Par- liament, for which I was ill prepared by my sufferings. I stole out of London, there- fore, to see whether I could get about again by retirement, by air and exercise; and I think myself essentially better. "You would see by the papers how unmercifully we poor lawyers have been treated in the House of Commons. But the black squadron, as we are called, are an obsti- nate little handful, and in the long run, in a right cause, we shall at least fall glo- riously. As to newspaper slander, all which to my knowledge is paid for, I hold that cheap and in spite of it, I shall have, at our next meeting, another tumble down with Charles Fox and William Pitt, who, for once at least, agree in a business in which they are both wrong."* Until the year 1791, the deliberation of a jury on a prosecution for libel was confined to the two inquiries, whether the defendant had published the matter complained of, and whether that matter bore the sense imputed: the third, and generally principal question, whe- ther the matter complained of were or were not a libel, having been repeatedly held by the King's Bench, though not without a good deal of controversy, to be a pure point of law determinable only by the court itself. In May, 1791, Mr. Fox introduced a declaratory bill, affirming the right of the jury to find a general verdict on the whole matter in issue, including the question of "libel or not." Although nothing more was meant by this bill than to place the trial of libel on the same ground with the trial of every other offence pro- secuted before a jury, upon which it is not only the right but the duty of the judge to give his direction, yet, as the enactment was originally worded, persons unacquainted with law might perhaps have imagined that the legislature had intended the question of " libel or not" to be transferred to the jury exclusively of the judge. To prevent such misapprehension, the solicitor-general, in the committee on the bill, proposed that the preamble should be modified; but after a little conversation with Mr. Fox, who objected to the introduction of the amending words into the preamble, it was agreed that they should be inserted in the enacting part of the bill by way of proviso, which was accordingly done. Lord Thurlow and other law-lords in the Upper House postponed the measure till the following year, when the legis- This refers to the question respecting the abatement of the impeachment. 118 LIFE OF LORD lature passed the act of the 32d of Geo. 3. c. 60, entitled a An act to remove doubts respecting the functions of juries in cases of libel:" its 2d section being the useful proviso of Sir John Scott, expressed in the following words : " Provided always, that on every such trial, the court or judge, before whom such information or indictment shall be tried, shall, according to their or his discretion, give their or his opinion and directions to the jury on the matter in issue between the king and the defendant or defendants, in like manner as in other criminal cases," CHANCELLOR ELDON. H9 CHAPTER X. 17911793. Increase of Sir John Scott's business and family. Correspondence of Sir John and Lady Scott, and of Sir William Scott, with their brother Henry and his wife. Anec- dotes of Lord Thurlow's removal from office, and of his rivalry with Lord Lou^h- borough. Sir John Scott's purchase of the Eldon estate. Mr. Burke's dagger. Challenge to Sir John Scott. THE increased practice of the solicitor-general having made it neces- sary that he should enlarge his establishment for business, he took, in the summer of 1791, a set of chambers at No. 11 Serle's Court, com- monly called the New Square, Lincoln's Inn, under a lease to him dated the 1st of September in that year. It has already been observed that nearly ten years intervened be- tween the birth of John, who was the first issue of his marriage, and the birth of Elizabeth, who was the second. After the latter event, nearly eight years more elapsed before the arrival of the third child, Edward William (who took the former of those names from its god- father, Lord Chancellor Thurlow.) This child, who died under the age of seven months, was succeeded by three others, all born in less than seven years after him. The following letter from Sir John Scott to his brother Henry is in preparation for Lady Scott's then approaching confinement : "23th June, 1791. " Dear Harry, " I received your affectionate letter, and my wife received her sister's equally affec- tionate letters, some days ago. I confess to you I have been in some degree of un- happiness upon the subject of them. On one hand I feel very painfully the idea of giving what it is utterly impossible not to be perfectly convinced is, in a great and really serious degree, trouble so substantial to you and my sister, as the accepting the benefit of your affection must occasion : on the other, though my wife had fought off the idea of dissatisfaction in having strange doctors and nurses with much fortitude till very lately, (so much that I had not listened to a similar invitation which her bro- ther Surtees had been kind enough to send her,) as her indisposition approaches, her mind gives way, and an uneasiness grows upon her, which, as the preservation of her is of the last importance to me, gives me an alarm and a misery which reconcile me to the idea of once more receiving from you and my sister a favour in your care of her, which I do assure you I have been most sincerely reluctant to accept, upon prin- ciples which must insure to you my gratitude, if it is accepted, in any way in which I can express it. With unceasing and with extreme reluctance, and I hope with gratitude proportionable to both, after thinking some days very anxiously upon hardly any thing else, I have determined to avail myself of your goodness. "The season for her indisposition will be about the middle of August, and i medical advice is that she should leave this place in about ten days, and be aboi or seven upon her journey. If, therefore, you hear nothing to the contrary, you and my sister will be good enough to expect her. Bessy will come with her." 120 LIFE OF LORD (Sir John Scott to Mrs. Henry Scott.') " London, 4th October, 1791. " Dear Sister, " I persuade myself you will do me the justice to believe that I should have been happier than I am, if one cause or other had not prevented me so long from thanking you for all your goodness to me and mine whilst I was with you, and since I have left you. If I do not say much more upon the subject of that goodness, it is because I know that the disposition which is inclined to do others so much service, will not be unwilling to believe that those who receive it will gratefully think of it and remem- ber it. I do not know how I should have supported myself from the Wednesday to the Saturday morning, when I could first hear from you, if I had been deprived of the comfort of recollecting that my poor invalid was sure of the tenderest and most anxious care. I observe the trouble you must have had, in several instances of kind attention, which your letters, for which I most sincerely thank you, in describing Lady S.'s situation from time to time, necessarily introduce to my knowledge. I sincerely hope that your own health will not suffer in consequence of your care of another person's." ******** (Sir John Scott to his brother Henry.) "7th October, 1791. ******** " We have no news except what you will see in the papers. Lord Cornwallis, as you would see when you were picking your bone, talks of difficulties; but I rather suspect that is to make the victory he suspects himself to be pretty sure of, more illustrious." (From Lady Scott, afterwards Lady Eldon, to Mrs. Henry Scott.) No date: probably written in October or November, 1791. ******** "I must say I have one of the best husbands in the world, for I have received four- and-twenty letters since I left Newcastle; every stage I come to, I am presented with two, three or four. In one I received yesterday, he says that whatever business come in the way that may, 'a hint from you, that you wish me to come to you, will bring me immediately.' My dear girl joins me in love to my dear sister, brother and dear Mary. " I remain your affectionate sister, " ELIZ. SCOTT." (Sir John Scott to his brother Henry .) " London, 22N, 125 CHAPTER XL 17931794. Sir John Scott appointed attorney-general. State of the country. Traitorous corre- spondence bill. Prosecution of Frost: principle for the discretion of a law odicer. Stockbridge disfranchisement bill. Convictions of Messrs. Muir and Palmer for sedition in Scotland. Mr. Sheridan's motion against the solicitation of volun- tary supplies: "previous question.-" its meaning and use: answer of the attorney- general: story told by Mr. Fox Lord Thurlow's sarcasm on the attorney-general. Duke of Sussex's first marriage. The attorney-general's pleasantry upon Lord Thurlow. EARLY in 1793, the promotion of the attorney-general, Sir Archi- bald Macdonald, to the office of lord chief baron of the exchequer, made room for the solicitor-general, who, by patent dated February 13th, 1793, became attorney-general. His seat being thus again vacated, a new writ was issued on that day, and he was re-elected for Weobly on the 20th. Sir John Mitford, afterwards Lord Redesdale, succeeded him as solicitor-general. It was in a season of no common difficulty and anxiety that Sir John Scott entered upon his new office. In the beginning of the year, the King of France had been put to death by his subjects, and the French minister at the court of St. James's had been directed by the British government to quit this country; and, in February, a message to the two Houses of Parliament had acquainted them with his majesty's declaration of war against France. The worst principles of the revo- lutionary agitators had been studiously propagated on this side of the Channel: and the republican clubs of Paris were in immediate com- munication with various societies in England and Scotland. At such a crisis, it was of the utmost importance that the government not only should possess firmness to exercise the constitutional powers of the crown, but should enjoy so fully the confidence of Parliament as to be capable of calling with effect for any legislative assistance which might be necessary to cut off treasonable intercourse and suppress domestic sedition. The knowledge, the courage and the judgment, required in such circumstances from the law officers of the crown, were never more eminently combined than in the newly-appointed attorney-general. Among the most mischievous dealings between England and France was obviously the supply of arms, stores, provisions, clothing, bul- lion and other sinews of war, to the revolutionary leaders at Paris. In the reigns of William and Mary,* and of Anne, f the legislature had 3 W. &M. ch. 13. f 3 & 4 Anne, ch. 13. in the common editions, ch. 14. 126 LIFE OF LORD specially interfered for the temporary prevention of traffic in the mili- tary and naval stores, by the penalties of high treason; and, upon the principle of the acts so passed, the British government now sought to establish, during the existing war, a penal measure of the same kind, remitting, however, the incidence of forfeiture and corruption of blood. Again, among the principal means on which the French relied for defraying the cost of their hostilities, was the disposal of the confis- cated estates ; and thus the prevention of any British investment in purchases or mortgages of French lands, became an object of two- fold importance, as it would abridge the enemy's means of hostility, and as it would withhold British subjects from becoming interested in the enemy's territory. The British government, therefore, proposed to render every investment in the lands or public funds of the enemy an act of high treason. On the same principle of preventing a British interest in hostile property, the marine insurance of ships or goods belonging to the enemy was treated by the government of England as inconsistent with good policy ; and still more the insurance of warlike stores and provisions on their voyage to the enemy's dominions, who- soever might be the owner. These transactions it was proposed to prohibit under pain of imprisonment ; and the same kind of penalty was held out against the transit of British subjects to or from the do- minions of France, except under special license from the crown. But as it was at first thought expedient, with respect to the treasons con- stituted by this act, that they should not involve forfeiture or corrup- tion of blood, so, on the other hand, it was originally intended that the defendant should not enjoy the peculiar protections allowed (in treasons involving those extreme penalties) by the statutes of 7 Wm. 3. chap. 3, and 7 Anne, chap. 21, which require the offence to be proved by the oath of two witnesses, and entitle the defendant to full defence by counsel, to a copy of his indictment and to other advan- tages. The preparation of a bill for the effectuation of these several ob- jects was devolved upon the attorney-general, who, accordingly, on the 15th of March, 1793, introduced to the House of Commons the measure generally known by the name of the Traitorous Correspond- ence Bill. It was met by Mr. Fox and his party in both Houses of Parlia- ment with the most vehement resistance. They represented it as brought forward for no other purpose than to spread a false alarm. The attorney-general, they said, had not ventured to prosecute a single individual for any offence against the allegiance of a British subject; and yet the country was defamed as being in a state to require an aggravation of the treason laws. The attempt at prevent- ing the supply of arms and stores would be a futile one ; because prohibitions upon any trade were always found unavailing against a large profit. The particular prohibition suggested in this bill was more especially injurious, in that it denounced the penalties of high treason, not only against the actual supply of contraband stores, but even against the bare agreement for supplying them ; and it was con- CHANCELLOR ELDON. trary to the true principles of criminal jurisprudence thus to place inchoate and complete crimes in the same degree. The statute of frauds forbids any suit upon a verbal agreement for a sale of more than 101. value: and yet this bill would, upon such mere agreement, deprive a man of his life : and this, too, on the evidence of a single witness, since the ordinary protections, requiring two witnesses in trials for high treason, were not intended to attach. The prohibition to lay out money in French lands or funds was a violation of that right to dispose of property, which in every free country, is consi- dered as deserving the highest protection of the law. As far as the French funds were concerned, there were these two peculiar objec- tions to the prohibition ; first, that it would be retaliated by France, so as to drive all French capital out of the funds of England ; and secondly, that the French government would be gainers, and not losers, by any measure which should have the effect of forcing French- men to employ their capital in their own funds. If new treason laws were now to be enacted, they ought, at all events, to be accompanied w r ith the same protections which were given in other cases of treason, by the statutes of 7 W. 3. ch. 3. and 7 Anne, ch. 21. The non-in- fliction of forfeiture and of corruption of blood, under the present bill, was no valid reason for withholding those protections : for in other cases of treason, although the penalties of forfeiture and corruption of blood were no longer to exist after the death of the Pretender's last surviving issue, the Cardinal of York, the protections were to continue permanent. And it was material to consider, that the words by \vhich this bill proposed that it should be treason in any of the king's sub- jects to do the acts thereby forbidden, included the king's subjects in Ireland, upon whom the British Parliament had no right to exercise its legislation. The prohibition against an Englishman's returning to his own country was pre-eminently monstrous ; it was to give the king a power of banishing, for the whole continuance of the war, any British subject in France. The prohibition of insurance was less important, but it was impolitic ; because the clear profit of the under- writer, which was the excess of the premium beyond the actual value of the risk, was just so much gained to the country granting the in- surance. To these arguments it was answered by the attorney-general and other members of the government, that the original precedent of this bill, the statute of 3 W. & M., was made in the most constitutional days of British history, and would be the safest guide in this perilous time. A certain degree of constraint might be necessary for the pre- servation of liberty itself, as men besieged would sometimes volun- tarily cut off all external communication, and actually imprison them- selves for their own safety. The acts proposed to be prohibited were to be measured, not by their moral turpitude, but by their present tendency to injure the community. There was no valid analogy in reasoning from civil actions to criminal prosecutions. The clause prohibiting the purchase of lands was a new one, but it was called for by the peculiarity of the conjuncture. The confiscated estates of 128 LIFE OF LORD proprietors driven into exile were now the main fund of the French government ; the terms on which the land was offered were the most advantageous, and yet there were no purchasers in France ; so that to foreign capital alone could the revolutionary leaders look for means of carrying on the war. And with reference to the soil and to the funded securities of France, as well as to the maritime insurance of her property, it was desirable, at such a juncture, to prevent British subjects from becoming in any way mixed up with her interests. The exemption from forfeiture and corruption of blood appearing to several members an insufficient ground for excluding the protec- tions provided for defendants in high treason by the statutes 7 W. 3. ch. 3. and 7 Anne, ch. 21., the exemption was struck out, and the bill made to include all the penalties, and carry with it all the pro- tections which are incident to high treason in general. The objec- tion as to Ireland was met by confining the operation of the measure to offenders in Great Britain; and the clause which made it an offence, punishable w r ith imprisonment, for an Englishman to return to his own country without license, was given up, although in the statute 3 W. & M. such a return had been subjected to the penalty of imprisonment, and in the statute of 3 & 4 Anne to the penalties of high treason. With these modifications, the bill passed into a law, under the title of "An act more effectually to prevent, during the present war between Great Britain and France, all traitorous correspondence with, or aid or assistance being given to his majesty's enemies:" 33 Geo. 3, ch. 27. It expired, like each of the acts on which it was founded, with the war, to which it was made applicable; but the attorney-general's immediate connection with it, and the importance which attaches to the whole series of these temporary acts as a class of precedents in war, have been considered to require this digest of its character, chief contents and history. Some degree of public excitement had been occasioned by the prosecution which the preceding attorney-general, Sir Archibald Mac- donald, had instituted against Thomas Paine, at the close of 1792, for his notorious work, The Rights of Man. In the beginning of 1793, a grand jury of the county of Middlesex found a bill of in- dictment for seditious words against another politician of the same sort, an attorney named John Frost. As Sir Archibald Macdonald, by whom this indictment likewise was originally preferred, had been raised to the bench before it came on for trial, the discretion of con- tinuing or discontinuing the prosecution devolved on his successor, Sir John Scott : and he resolved to persevere. Of this case, which was tried on the 27th of May, 1793, the circumstances were shortly that, on the evening of the 6th of the November preceding, Frost, who had been dining with a party at the Percy Coffee House, came into the public coffee-room, and that, being there asked by an ac- quaintance who knew that he had lately returned from France, how matters went on in that country, Frost answered, " I expect soon to go there again : I am for equality : I can see no reason why any man CHANCELLOR ELDON. 129 should not be upon a footing with another : it is every man's birth- right." That he was asked what he meant by equality: to which he answered, "Why, I mean no king. The constitution of this country is a bad one." That there was then a strong expression of displea- sure from the persons present; upon which a gentleman got him to the door, and induced him to go out. It was intimated by Mr. Erskine for the defence, that the evidence was given in breach of the confidence of private life, and that Sir John Scott was persisting in the prosecution, not because it had his own approbation, but be- cause it had been devolved upon him by his predecessor. " I pro- test," said Sir John Scott, in his reply, "I protest against that doctrine, that the attorney-general of England is bound to prosecute, because some other set of men choose to recommend it to him to prose- cute, he disapproving of that prosecution. He has it in his power to choose whether he will or not, and he will act according to his sense of duty. Do not understand me to be using a language so impertinent as to say, that the opinions of sober-minded persons in any station in life, as to the necessity that calls for a prosecution, ought not deeply to affect his judgment. But I say it is his duty to regulate his judgment by a conscientious pursuance of that which is recommended to him to do; and if any thing is recommended to him which is thought by other persons to be for the good of the country, but which he thinks is not for the good of the country, no man ought to be in the oliice who would hesitate to say, My conscience must direct me, your judgment *hall not direct me.' And I know I caa do this: I can retire into a situa- tion in which I shall enjoy what, under the blessings of that constitution thus reviled, is, perhaps, the best proof of its being a valuable constitution I mean the fair fruits of a humble industry, anxiously and conscientiously exercised in the fair and honour- able pursuits of life. I state, therefore, to my learned friend that I cannot accept that compliment which he paid me, when he supposed it was not my act to bring this prosecution before you, because it was not vehat I myself could approve. Certainly this prosecution was not instituted by me; but it was instituted by a person whose conduct, in the humane exercise of his duty, is well known, and I speak in the pre- sence of many who have been long and often witnesses to it: and when it devolved upon me to examine the merits of this prosecution, it was my bounden duty to ex- amine, and it was my bounden duty to see if this was a breach of the sweet con- fidences of private life. If this was a story brought from behind this gentleman's chair by his servants, I can hardly figure to myself the case in which the public necessity and expediency of a prosecution should be so strong as to break in upon the relations of private life. But is this prosecution to be so represented? When a man goes into a coffee-room, who is, from his profession, certainly not ignorant of the respect which the laws of his country require from him as much as from any other man, and when he in that public coffee-house (provided it was an advised speaking), uses a language, which I admit it is clear, upon the evidence given you to day, provoked the indignation (if you please so to call it) of all who heard it when persons, one, two, three or more, come to ask him what he meant by it when he gives them the explanation, and when he makes the offensive words still more offen- sive by the explanation that he repeatedly gives will any man tell me, that if he goes into a public coffee-house, whether he comes into it from up stairs, or whether he poes into it from the street, that he is entitled to the protection that belongs to the con- fidences of private life, or that it is a breach of the duties that result out of the con- fidences of private life to punish him!"* The jury pronounced the defendant guilty. The 27th of May produced a debate in the House of Commons, upon the bill for preventing bribery and corruption in the elections at Stockbridge. This was one of a series of attempts at throwing open the right of voting in particular boroughs to more numerous constitu- * 22 Howcll's Slate Trials, pp. 510, 51 1. VOL. I. 9 130 LIFE OF LORD encics, on the ground of abuses committed by considerable numbers of the existing electors. To this bill, as well as to the other attempts of a like nature, which were made from time to time till the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, the great lawyer, who is the subject of these memoirs, was steadfastly adverse. The ground-work, he observed, was the report of an election committee, before which tribunal the individual voters implicated had no opportunity of defending themselves. Such a bill was, moreover, a bill of pains and penalties, an ex pout facto law; and he was not willing to punish any man's offence by a law which did not exist when that offence was committed. If such bills were favoured merely as steps to parliamentary reform, it would be more manly and more consonant with the gene- ral principles of justice to bring in at once a direct measure for reforming the repre- sentation, than to attempt that object by means repugnant to the laws of England and to every idea of sound jurisprudence. On a division, the Stockbridge Bill was thrown out. The revolutionary poison, distributed by the French republicans, had now begun to operate extensively among that ever-irritable class of the public, whom idleness, ignorance, a violent temper, and a shallow understanding, predispose to receive, with willing ears, the " leprous distilment." A time, therefore, was considered by the government to have arrived, when the safety of the state required prosecutions which should involve heavier consequences than those attaching under the English law to mere sedition. The first experi- ments were made in Scotland, the courts of law in that part of the kingdom having then unrestricted power (since reduced by 6 Geo. 4. ch. 47,) to visit sedition with the penalty of transportation. Accord- ingly, Mr. Muir, of Hunter's Hill, and the Rev. Thomas Fysshe Palmer, being severally convicted of this offence, (the former before the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh, in the month of August, 1793, and the latter in the September of the same year, before the Circuit Court of Justiciary at Perth,) were sentenced to transportation, Mr. Muir for fourteen years, and Mr. Palmer for seven. These judgments, which, though they may not have exceeded the necessity of the case, were startling to those acquainted only with the mild tenour of the English law, produced much animadversion in both Houses of Parliament. After several motions, on all of which the government had been up- held by large majorities, Mr. Adam, on the 25th of March, 1794, moved for a committee to revise the law of Scotland, and the powers and process of her courts in matters of this nature ; but was strongly opposed by the attorney-general, who relied on the compact of the union, and vindicated the principle of discretionary punishment ; and the proposed committee was refused. The question was finally set at rest by a resolution, which the Lord Chancellor Loughborough moved and carried in the House of Lords, " that there is no ground for inter- fering in the practice of the established courts of criminal justice, as administered under the constitution, and by which the rights, liberties and properties of all ranks of subjects are protected." Another constitutional question was mooted in the House of Com- mons on the 28th of March, when the attorney-general resisted a resolution, moved by Mr. Sheridan, " That it is a dangerous and un- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 131 constitutional measure for the executive government to solicit money from the people, as a private aid, loan, benevolence, or subscription, for public purposes, without the consent of Parliament." Mr. Sheridan complained, that application had been made through the secretary of state to the lords-lieutenants of counties, to promote a subscription among the people, not within the control or cognizance of Parliament, and this, even while Parliament was sitting. Such a levy, he contended, was contrary to the principles of a repre- sentative constitution, inconsistent with good and ancient usages, and in itself unfit as a source of revenue. The attorney-general met this motion by what is called " the pre- vious question," This does not mean, as is very commonly supposed, that question which, on the list of notices or orders of the day, may happen to stand immediately previous to the motion thus resisted ; but means simply the question, whether it be the pleasure of the House that the resisted motion be put to the- vote at all. It is chiefly where the resisted motion goes to affirm some proposition, which, though true, it may not be seasonable to assert, or upon which, from its ab- stract nature, the expression of a parliamentary opinion may be im- prudent or superfluous, that the previous question, viz., whether such resisted motion shall be put to the vote at all, is found a useful form of procedure. The House is then protected by it from committing itself to indiscreet generalities ; while the individual members who vote that the resisted motion shall not be put, are understood as not concluding themselves with respect to its merits, or to the determi- nation they might have given upon it if it had been suffered to go to a direct division. In proposing, on this occasion, to substitute the previous question for the abstract resolution moved by Mr. Sheridan, the attorney-general demonstrated, from legal and from historical authorities, ancient as well as modern, that voluntary aids are strictly consonant both with the principles and with the practice of the British constitution; and pointed out, that although Mr. Fox's friends, the Lords Camden and Ashburton, had, in 1778, when opposed to the government, been adverse to the opening of a sub- scription for the American war, yet, in 1782, the cabinet of Mr. Fox and Lord Shel- burne, of which the two noblemen before-mentioned were members, had issued cir- cular letters, in which subscriptions were recommended for the augmentation of the means of national defence. Mr. Fox replied, that, having collected from Mr. Pitt's intimations on a former night some intention on the part of ministers to charge him with inconsistency, he had been curious to learn by whom the charge was to be brought. The chancellor of the exchequer, himself obnoxious to such imputations, was not likely to undertake the service. "I was pretty certain, therefore," continued Mr. Fox, "that this charge of inconsistency must come from some young member: as a young member would be the least liable to have the charge of inconsistency retorted upon him. The contest, for some time, upon whom this duty should fall, seemed to lie between ayoung mem- ber (Mr. Jenkinson) and the learned gentleman who made the motion, and who, though not a young member, is young in respect of the transactions of which he has taken upon himself to spealc. It would have been an objecc of amusement to have had a view of the divan, when consulting who was fittest person to discharge this important duty. It puts me in mind of a ridiculous story, which I shall take the liberty to relate: An Englishman, in a French lodging, being imperfectly acquainted with the language of the people, and having occasion for the assistance of the maid, could discover no other way of expressing his ideas but by calling for la pucelle. The women in the house were in a dreadful dilemma, on hearing this demand repeatedly enforced; and at length a girl of seven years of age was presented to the traveller, as best answering the description of the person he required. In conformity to this 132 LIFE OF LORD rule, the virgin purity of the learned attorney-general was pitched upon by the minis- ter, to expose political prostitution and inconsistency."* The vote being taken upon the previous question, the House decided, by a large majority, that Mr. Sheridan's motion should not be put; and a similar fate attended a similar motion, made on the same evening, by the Earl of Lauderdale, in the House of Lords. As Sir John Scott's reputation increased, the Prince of Wales became curious to learn the real merits of a lawyer so highly esti- mated by his party and by the public. "I should like to hear your opinion of him," said the prince to Lord Thurlow. "Sir," said Lord Thurlow, " I know him to be a very sound lawyer, and a very honest man." In after times, when it devolved upon Lord Eldon, as the chancellor of George the Third, to take part in proceedings distasteful to the prince, his royal highness said tauntingly to Lord Thurlow, " What think you now, my lord, of your old friend Scott, whom you puffed to me as a sound lawyer, and an honest man?"- "Indeed, sir," answered Thurlow, whose advanced age had abated neither his convenient courtliness nor his jocular coarseness, " I think he has lost the little law he once had, and is become a very great scoundrel." In the next story, the triumph is with Sir John Scott. The Anec- dote Book relates it thus : "After the Duke of Sussex had married Lady Augusta Murray, which marriage was in law void because the king had not consented to it, the whole transaction was examined into before the privy-coun- cil. The lady's mother was much questioned by Lord Thurlow, with a view of proving that, her daughter being much older than the duke, the young man had been taken in. She could not, however, recollect what her daughter's age was. It seemed singular that banns should be published, where one of the parties was of the royal family, and that the clergyman publishing the banns should not be struck upon the reading of the name ; it appeared, however, that in the parish there were many of the name (I think Augustus Frederick) by which he was called in the publication. Then, great blame was imputed to the rector for publishing the banns without inquiry as to the residence of the parties in the parish : so it was proposed to call upon the clergy of the church, St. George's, Hanover Square, to account for the marriage having taken place by banns without the proper residence of the party in the parish, and without their knowing the parties. The rector first appeared: he said he had two most respectable curates, and he had always most solemnly enjoined them not to marry parties without having first inquired about their residence. The curates were th n examined, and they said theirs was a most respectable parish clerk, who wore a gown, and they had always most solemnly given a like injunction to him. The clerk was then called, and he declared that no man in the parish had a more excellent, care- ful wife than he had, and that he daily gave her most solemnly a like * 31 Parl. Hist. pp. 112, 113. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 133 injunction. She then made her appearance, and said that she must sometimes be about her own, and not about parish business ; but that she had two female servants, as discreet as any in the parish, and she had always given them a like solemn injunction, when any body brought a paper about publication of banns in her and her husband's absence, to make proper inquiries about the parties' residence. All this put Lord Thuiiow out of humour, and he then said to me angrily, 1 Sir, why have you not prosecuted, under the act of Parliament, all the parties concerned in this abominable marriage?' To which I answered, ' That it was a very difficult business to prosecute that the act, it was understood, had been drawn by Lord Mansfield, and Mr. Attorney- General Thiirlow, and Mr. Solicitor-General Wedder- burne, and unluckily they had made all parties present at the marriage guilty of felony ; and as nobody could prove the marriage except a person who had been present at it, there could be no prosecution, because nobody present could be compelled to be a witness.' This put an end to the matter. Afterwards there was a suit in the Com- mons, and the marriage was there declared void." 134 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XII. 1794. Revolutionary societies. Message to Parliament. Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. Prosecutions of Hardy and others for high treason: indictment: counsel. Trial of Hardy. Outline of facts. Speeches of the attorney-general, Mr. Er- skine, Mr. Gibbs and the solicitor-general : summing up of Lord Chief Justice Eyre. State of public feeling and danger of the attorney-general: verdict of acquittal. Trial and acquittal of the Rev. J. Home Tooke. Temper and conduct of the attor- ney-general and Mr. Erskine: humour of Mr. Tooke. Trial and acquittal of Thel- wall. Discontinuance of the remaining prosecutions. Lord Eldon's vindication of his own course. THE convictions of Mr. Muir and Mr. Palmer had been followed by the separate trials and convictions of three other Scotch agitators, Mr. Skirving and Mr. Margaret in January, 1794, and Mr. Gerald in March of the same year, who were all sentenced to fourteen years' transportation. But these examples in Scotland, though useful in that country, were quite ineffectual to repress seditious movement in the southern part of Great Britain, where the maximum of punish- ment was so much lower. Political societies were assembling in formidable numbers throughout England, ostensibly for the object of working a reform in the parliamentary representation of the people, but really with a view, on the part of their most active leaders, to the substitution of a republican for a monarchical policy. The first prin- ciples of government had not been made the subjects of popular excitement since that great conflict between royalist and democratic opinions, which terminated in the restoration of Charles the Second : and the theories of revolution were now revived with a zeal and activity proportioned to the length of time during which they had been dormant. The principal seats of the new associations were the commercial and manufacturing towns, where large bodies could be congregated at short notices and on frequent occasions. The people so confederated were chiefly of the lower ranks, men dissatisfied with the existing distribution of the world's goods, the orators and other leaders among them persuading themselves that their talents merited a wider and more lucrative sphere of action, and the hearers and followers in general hoping to catch, by a scramble, what they had not patience to earn by regular industry. The higher classes endea- voured to stem the mischief by a counter- association against republi- cans and levellers ; but this had little influence : and the government now decided to institute in England measures corresponding, as nearly as the difference of laws and circumstances would permit, with the policy pursued in Scotland. Accordingly, on the 12th of May, 1794, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 135 a royal message was brought to the House of Commons by Mr. Dun- das, then secretary of state for the home department, acquainting the House that his majesty had received information of seditious prac-^ tices carried on by corresponding societies, directed to the assem- blage of a general convention, and tending to the mischiefs already prevalent in France ; that the books and papers of those societies in London had consequently been seized ; that his majesty's directions had been given to lay them before the House: and that his majesty recommended it to Parliament to consider them and take the necessary measures of precaution and defence. On the following day the books and papers were presented, and referred to a secret committee of twenty-one members, who made their first report on the 16th. The circumstances detailed in that paper were considered by ministers to be of a nature requiring the immediate suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act: and on the same evening, therefore, a bill to that effect was proposed by Mr. Pitt, in a motion wherein he gave an outline of the leading facts contained in the report : A plan, he said, had been concocted, having for its object a convention of the peo- ple, which was to supersede the representative capacity of that House, and arrogate the whole legislative power to itself. Reform had been made the pretext of the soci- eties conducting this design, but was far from being their true object. Their sys- tem, which had been for two years in preparation, was founded on the modern and monstrous doctrine of the Rights of .Man that doctrine which had wrought the destruction of France and the confusion of all Europe. The societies in England had sent delegates to the National Convention in Paris; had continued to act with the Jacobin faction, and to follow its forms and proceedings, even after its declaration of hostilities against this country; and had pursued a settled design to disseminate its pernicious principles: for which purpose, as the report would show, a list had been, prepared by them, of towns containing large, ignorant and restless multitudes, likely to concur in the proposed designs, and_ to spread them by branch societies. In par- ticular, the agitators had corresponded with the British Convention at Edinburgh, had taken up the cause of its legally convicted members, and had expressly made the condemnation of those guilty persons the signal for coming to the issue, whether they should yield to the law or oppose it by insurrection. Still stronger was that part of the case which related to a society in London, mean in talent and education, yet formidable in proportion to that very meanness a society already containing, in the metropolis, no fewer than thirty divisions of several hundred persons each, corre- sponding with other associations among the discontented population of the manufac- turing tosvns; and assuming a power to prescribe limits, beyond which, if Parliament presumed to pass, the termination of its very existence was threatened. Meanwhile arms had been procured and extensively distributed. Now although, in his judgment, the designs of the conspirators were not likely to have succeeded, they were mis- chievous enough to require instant precaution: and the resource he would propose at present was a bill for the temporary suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, as to persons suspected of conspiracy against the crown. Mr. Fox, Mr. Grey, Mr. Sheridan and other Whig members resisted this proposal, which was supported by Mr. Burke and the attorney- general. The bill was brought in and carried in the same sitting, after repeated divisions, through all its stages except the third reading, which was adjourned to the following afternoon, that of Saturday the 17th. The debate and divisions upon, and arising out of, the third reading, occupied the house till three o'clock on the Sunday morning, when the bill passed. On the Monday it was read a first time in the House of Lords, and on Thursday the 22d, it was carried through its remaining stages there, against a vehement though not numerous 136 LIFE OF LORD body of opponents. Its title was, "An act to empower his majesty to secure and detain such persons as his majesty shall suspect are conspiring against his person and government:" and it provided that parties apprehended on such suspicion, under warrant from the privy- council, might be detained in custody until the 1st of February, 1795.* So extensive was the combination against which the government had now resolved to direct the powers of the law, that the whole of the summer was required in preparing the cases selected for prosecu- tion, and in marshaling the process against the various confederates. On the 10th of September, the special commission was issued for the trials of these offenders. It was opened on the 2d of October, and on the 6th a true bill for high treason was returned by the grand jury against twelve men : Thomas Hardy, shoemaker; John Home Tooke, clerk; Steward Kyd, Esq.; John Augustus Bonney, Jeremiah Joyce, Thomas Wardle, Thomas Holcroft, John Richter, Matthew Moore and John Thelwall, gentlemen ; Richard Hodgson, hatter ; and John Baxter, labourer. A thirteenth, John Lovett, was indicted; but against him the bill was ignored. The crime with which Hardy and his fellow-prisoners stood charged in the indictment was that of high treason in compassing the death of the king. This compassing of the king's death w r as alleged as the substantive treason ; and the overt acts of this compassing, that is, the acts done in prosecution of the design, were, as charged in the indictment, nine in number ; the first four relating to the assembling of a convention for the subversion of the government and deposition of the king ; the fifth, seventh and eighth relating to a conspiracy for subverting the government and deposing the king without any allega- tion respecting a convention ; and the sixth and ninth relating to a conspiracy to levy war against the king within the realm. These overt acts may be individually abstracted thus: 1. Consenting and conspiring to procure a convention for traitorously subverting the legislature and government and for deposing the king. 2. Writing and publishing books and papers which contained incitements to the king's subjects to send delegates to such traitorous convention. 3. Consulting upon the assembling of such traitorous convention, and the manner, time and place of holding it, and the means of inducing the king's subjects to send delegates thereto. 4. Agreeing that Home Tpoke and others of the prisoners (of whom Hardy was not one), with three other persons (not included in the indictment), should meet, confer and co-operate for assembling such traitorous convention. 5. Causing, and agreeing to, a provision of arms, for forcibly opposing the king in the execution of the laws of the realm, and for forcibly and trai- torously subverting the legislature and government, and for aiding to depose the king. 6. Meeting, conspiring and consulting to levy war against the king within the realm. 7. Meeting, conspiring and consulting traitorously to subvert the legislature and government, and to depose the king. 8. Preparing, composing, publishing and dispensing books * 34 Geo. 3. ch. 54. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 137 and papers which contained incitements to the king's subjects to assist in such traitorous subversion and deposition, and instructions to them, how, where and on what occasions the traitorous purposes last aforesaid might be effected. 9. and last, Providing, and agreeing to provide, arms, to levy war, insurrection and rebellion against the king within his kingdom. o On the 25th of October, the prisoners having been arraigned and having pleaded not guilty, the attorney-general announced that, as their counsel desired they might be separately tried, he would pro- ceed first on the trial of Hardy; which was then, at the request of his counsel, adjourned to Tuesday the 28th. On that day, at the Sessions House in the Old Bailey, the trial began. The counsel for the crown, with Sir John Scott, then attorney- general, were Sir John Mitford, then solicitor-general, Serjeant Adair, Mr. Bearcroft, Mr. Bower, Mr. Law, Mr. Garrow and Mr. Wood. Hardy was defended by Mr. Erskine and Mr. Gibbs, with whom, as assistant counsel, were Mr. Dampier, Mr. Felix Vaughan, and Mr. Gurney.* The signal importance of the case, the extraordinary length of time which it occupied, and the great responsibility which it imposed on the attorney-general, seem to require that, in any biographical account of him, some outline should be attempted of the main question of fact and of law, wlych were raised by the trial. His opening speech occupied nine hours ; and, that the reader may the better understand its grounds, the order of the actual proceeding has, in the following pages, been so far inverted, that the summary of the principal facts established by the evidence is here presented before the abstract of the opening speech. The prisoner, Hardy, was secretary of an association called the London Corresponding Society, which, in the spring of 1792, received its constitution from Mr. Home Tooke. Its professed object was parliamentary reform: which was declared, (in one of its fundamental resolutions, signed by Hardy, and distributed gratis,) to be impracti- cable until the abolition of all partial privileges. The spirit of that resolution will be sufficiently understood from the nature of the defi- nitions which it laid down: for instance: " Subject: Can only with propriety be applied to a member of a state whose government has been instituted by foreign conquest, or the prevalence of a domestic faction. Republican: One who wishes to promote the general welfare of his country," &c. &,c. On the 13th of July, Hardy and five other members recommended by the society for that purpose, were admitted as associated members of another similar body, calling itself the Society for Constitutional Information. These societies held correspondence and connection, or, * Mr. Law, afterwards Lord Ellenborough.Lord Chief Justice of England: Mr. Gar- row and Mr. Wood, afterwards barons of the Exchequer: Mr. Erskine, afterwards Lord Erskine and Lord Chancellor: Mr. Gibbs, afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas: Mr. Dampier, afterwards a judge of the King's Bench: and Mr. Uurney, now a baron of the Exchequer. 138 LIFE OF LORD according to the phrase of those days, were affiliated, with others of a like character, at Sheffield, Norwich, Derby, Stockport and else- where. The London Societies, and the associations connected with them, were wont to quote, and hold up for public admiration, the great agi- tator of republicanism, Thomas Paine, who, one fortnight after Hardy's admission into the Constitutional Society, was addressed by it in a letter, applauding " the eminent services rendered to the public" by Mr. Paine's "invaluable writings." Those writings were disseminated in cheap editions by some, if not all, of the associations ; and the Corresponding Society, in a list of healths, drunk at one of its anni- versary dinners, and published in the newspapers, inserted this toast and sentiment, " Citizen Thomas Paine: may his virtue rise superior to calumny and suspicion, and his name still be dear to Britons /" Among the papers seized in Hardy's house, were two printed books, one entitled, "Letter by Thomas Paine to the People of France, pub- lished and distributed gratis by the London Corresponding Society," (of which it will be remembered that Hardy was the secretary,) and the other a copy of Paine's " Rights of Man" in the cheap edition. The following passages are a portion of the extracts read to the jury from the "Rights of Man," as evidence of the intentions of the soci- eties by whom that work and its author were adopted. Speaking of " government by hereditary succession," the author says, "As the exercise of government requires talents and abilities, and as talents and abilities cannot have hereditarydescent.it is evident that hereditary succession re- quires a belief from man, to which his reason cannot subscribe, and which can only be established upon his ignorance : and the more ignorant any country is, the better it is filled for this species of government. A general revolution in the principle and con- struction of governments is necessary. Though by force or contrivance it (govern- ment) has been usurped into an inheritance, the usurpatum cannot alter the right of things. Sovereignty, as a matter of right, appertains to the nation only, and not to any individual. The romantic and barbarous distinction of men into kings and subjects, though it may suit the condition of courtiers, cannot that of citizens. Every citizen is a member of the sovereignty, and, as such, can acknowledge no personal subjectum: and his obedience can be only to the laws. All hereditary government is, in its nature, tyranny. By continuing this absurdity, man is perpetually in contradiction with him- self: he accepts for a king or a chief magistrate or a legislator, a person whom he would not elect for a constable." The Letter to the People of France was in much the same strain. Mr. Paine there said, " When the bagatelles of monarchy, royalty, regency and hereditary succession shall be exposed, with all their absurdities, a new ray of light will be thrown over the world, and the revolution will derive new strength by being universally understood. It is now the cause of all nations against all courts." Several addresses from republican societies in France to the Lon- don Constitutional Society were seized in the house of Daniel Adams, the secretary of that body. One of them contained this appeal of the French to the English republicans : " Can ye any longer groan under the yoke of a government that has nothing of liberty but the name ? No, brethren and friends, no ! you will soon lift yourselves up against that perfidious government of St. James's, whose infernal policy, like to that which found its tomb in the Thuilleries, has made so many victims CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 139 in our two nations." Another of these addresses entered into a justi- fication of " the necessary day of the 10th of August, 1792." The events of this 10th of August must be borne in mind, in order duly to estimate the character of the subsequent proceedings of the London Societies. On that day the palace of the Thuilleries, from which the king and the royal family had been obliged to fly for their lives to the national assembly, was attacked by a large body of insurgents, who massacred the guards and domestics. The national assembly gave way to the rebels ; a national convention was summoned to settle the future government ; the king was provisionally suspended from his royal functions, and committed to close custody ; and the executive pow r er was vested in a new council. In the October next following these events, the London Corre- sponding Society, declaring themselves "called upon to countenance the struggle of the French nation against despotism and aristocracy," resolved upon addressing the French National Convention: and, among their announcements of this resolution, was a letter from them to a society at Stockport, saying, " Without entering into the probabh effects of such a measure, which your Society will not fail to discover, we invite you to join us." The draft of such an address was communicated by the London Corresponding Society to the other associations. The draft transmitted to the Constitutional Society (in a letter dated the llth of October, 1792, and signed by Margarot as chairman and Hardy as secretary) contained these, among other violent passages : " If you succeed, as we ardently wish, the triple alliance, not of crowns, but of the people of America, France and Britain, will give freedom to Europe and peace to the whole world." "How well purchased will be, though at the expense of much blood, the glorious, the unprecedented advantage of saying, Mankind is free ! Tyrants and tyranny are no wore/" The Constitutional Society prepared an address of the same sort, and sent it to the French Convention, with a donation of a thousand pairs of shoes, and a promise of more, for " the soldiers of liberty." The address began thus : " Servants of a sovereign people and benefactors of mankind, we re- joice that your Revolution has arrived at that point of perfection which will permit us to address you by this title." It went on, " From bo- soms burning with ardour in your cause, we tender you our warmest wishes for the full extent of its progress and success." " The splen- dour of the French Revolution burst forth upon the nations in the full fervour of a meridian sun, and displayed, in the midst of the European world, the practical result of principles, which philosophy had sought in the shade of speculation, and which experience must everywhere confirm." The delegates employed by the. Society to present this address at the bar of the French Convention, were Joel Barlow and John Frost. The former of these envoys had just published and transmitted, both to the Corresponding and to the Constitutional Societies, a letter addressed to the French Convention, in which he spoke of 140 LIFE OF LORD "the cheat of royally" and appealed to the experience of the French as proving "that kings can do no good." This letter was communi- cated by Hardy to his own division of the Corresponding Society, and read there in his presence, with loud plaudits : and the Consti- tutional Society, also in Hardy's presence, resolved to prepare an answer to Barlow, "expressing how much pride this society feel at having elected him a member." It will be remembered that Frost, the other envoy, had shortly before been convicted of sedition, in declaring, before several persons, that he was for equality and "no king." Barlow and Frost, in executing their commission at the bar of the French Convention in November 1792, concluded their speech with these words: "It would not be strange, if, in a period far short of what we should venture to predict, addresses of felicitation should cross the seas to a National Convention in England." The president's answer, which was found entered in the books of the Con- stitutional Society ', contained these phrases : " You have addressed us with something more than good wishes " (the supply of shoes for the soldiers,) " since the condition of our warriors has excited your solicitude. The defenders of our liberty will one day be the supporters of your own" "The moment cannot be distant when the people of France will offer their congratulations to a National Convention in England." " Generous Republicans, your appearance in this place will form an epoch in the history of mankind." A society at Norwich having written to Hardy on the llth of No- vember, 1792, to know whether "the generality of the societies mean to rest satisfied with the Duke of Richmond's plan only," (that of uni- versal suffrage and annual election,) " or whether it is their private design to rip up monarchy by the roots, and place democracy in its stead" Hardy, who had, on the 1st of the preceding October, been appointed, by division No. 2 of the Corresponding Society, to be its delegate to the standing committee of the several divisions, reported this Nor- wich letter to his own division ; but " they suspected that this was to draw them into some unguarded expressions, and declined answer- ing." An answer, however, was written by Margarot, of w r hich a draft or copy was found in Hardy's house. It stated, that the com- mittee of the Corresponding Society "mean to disseminate political knowledge, and thereby engage the judicious part of the nation to demand a restoration of their rights in annual parliaments," to be elected by universal suffrage: that the committee "look upon the trifling" (the word little struck out and the word trifling substituted) "differences that may have arisen between the several societies to be of very little consequence, and think they will subside without any ways injuring the cause :" and presently follows a recommendation "to leave monarchy, democracy, and even religion, entirely aside." The framers of this answer, however, notwithstanding the before- mentioned suspicion of an attempt to entrap, make no disclaimer in it of the " private design to rip up monarchy by the roots," nor express any horror or indignation at being supposed capable of such an inten- tion; but wind up their epistle by declaring themselves " friends to CHANCELLOR ELDON. 141 peace, not anarchy, and well-wishers to the rights of man ; yet not so sanguine as to imagine those rights will be restored by the spon- taneous consent of those who have so long deprived mankind of them." On the 10th of January, 1793, at a meeting of the Corresponding Society's delegates, some remarks were made upon a letter from a society called the Friends of the People, which contained a caution to the Corresponding Society. "In consequence of these remarks," a delegate named Bell made this observation to the meeting: " Our addresses to the Convention of France prove, that we mean their laws here." Mr. Margarot said, " No doubt." It passed (said a witness who had been present,) with the "silent assent of the rest of the company." Seventeen delegates were there, of whom Hardy was one. A witness named Lynam, himself a member, had kept notes of the proceedings at many of these meetings, and he said, " I do not remember Hardy being absent one night." At a subse- quent meeting, said this witness, "there was a good deal of conver- sation, that the Society of the Friends of the People did not go so far in their idea as the London Corresponding Society and the Constitu- tional Society did ; for all along it was held as an invariable idea, that eventually it must come to a struggle." At the meeting of delegates on the 7th of February, Hardy being present, a proposal was made for making up a deficiency in the rent of the room used by Baxter's division, No. 16. Upon this, Margarot said, "We must preserve the divisions No. 25 and No. 16 : being poor, they will be of great ser- vice if we go to war, he made use," added the witness, " of the term ' war :' and it was mentioned by several of the delegates that it was eventually expected that there would certainly be a rising in the country." While these discussions were going on in London, the National Convention of France, on the 21st of January, 1793, brought their king to the scaffold. Even this fearful exemplification of the practical working of a convention had no effect upon the leaders of the revo- lutionary party in London : who, on the 15th of the next March, at a meeting of the Constitutional Society, voted a resolution of thanks to Barlow and Frost " for their conduct in the presentation of the address to the National Convention," with an order for publishing that resolution in the newspapers. Nay, before the expiration of the very week in which the French king was beheaded, the same society resolved, "that citizen Barrcre, a member of the National Conven- tion of France, being considered by us as one of tJie most judicious and enlightened friends of human liberty, be admitted an associated honorary member:" and seven days after this resolution, they passed another, that Barrure's speech, as reported in the Moniteurs of the 6th and 7th of January, should be inserted in their books. The speech so adopted was that in which he urged the destruction of the king, and in which he uttered the following sentences : "The people of Paris, by making a holy insurrection against him on the Wthof August, deprived him of his character of inviolability. The people of the other depart- 142 LIFE OF LORD ments applauded this insurrection, and adopted the result of it." "Louis was invested by the tacit consent of the people, with a constitutional inviolability : their writ consent has deprived him of the same, and is therefore as lawful as the grant of it." " The people is the sovereign. A convention is a representation of the sovereignty. The con- vention being assembled, is itself that sovereign will which ought to prevail." "Invested, from your origin, with the most unlimited confidence by your fellow-citi- zens, you hesitate in the first step. Am I then no longer in the midst of that National Convention whose honourable mission it was to destroy kings and royalty?" Such was the description given by one of its own members of the objects and duties of that French convention, whose principles the leaders of the London Society were so forward to applaud, and whose constitution they were so impatient to obtain. In the course of the year 1793, steps were taken by Hardy and others to arm the societies, both with pikes and with guns : and some divisions of the London Corresponding Society were proved to have drilled at late hours, in private rooms, and under circumstances of concealment. Most of the parties so arming either professed loyal objects, or alleged that the threats of the aristocratical party obliged them to keep arms for their own defence ; but as against some of them conversations were proved establishing a decided intention of using their weapons, in order, as a witness, named Saunderson, expressed it, "to obtain a parliamentary reform at the point of the bayonet." The evidence, however, though positive as far as it reached, yet certainly did not show that these armaments had extended to any alarming number of malcontents. On the 24th of October, 1793, Mr. Margaret and Mr. Gerrald were delegated by the London Corresponding Society, as its repre- sentatives, at a convention in Edinburgh, for " a thorough reform in the parliamentary representation of Great Britain." This delegation was a measure concerted between Hardy and William Skirving, the secretary of the Edinburgh Convention, Hardy requesting that his own share in that contrivance might be kept secret by Skirving. Before the end of the year, however, the two delegates and the secre- tary Skirving were apprehended for their conduct in the Scotch con- vention. They were speedily brought to trial, convicted of sedition, and sentenced to fourteen years' transportation, under the law then ex- isting in Scotland for the punishment of such misdemeanours. Their behaviour throughout was approved by the London Corresponding Society, and Hardy, its secretary, addressed, on the llth of January, 1794, a letter upon the subject of it to Adams, the secretary of tiie Society for Constitutional Information, saying, "Now is the time for us to do something worthy of men. The brave defenders of liberty south of the English Channel," (the armies of the French regicides,) " are performing wonders, driving their enemies before them like chaff before the whirlwind." On the 20Hi of January, 1794, a general meeting of the London Corresponding Society agreed upon an address to the people, and upon certain resolutions. Both the address and the resolutions were printed by Hardy's order. The Concluding paragraph of the address ran thus: "You may ask, perhaps, by what means shall we seek CHANCELLOR ELDON. 143 redress ? We answer, that men, in a state of civilized society, are bound to seek redress of their grievances from the laws, as long as any redress can be obtained by the laws. But our common master, whom we serve, whose law is a law of liberty, and whose service is perfect freedom, has taught us not to expect to gather grapes from thorns, nor figs from thistles. We must have redress from our own laws, and not from the laws of our plunderers, enemies and oppressors. There is no redress for a nation, circumstanced as we are, but in a fair, free and full representation of the people." Then followed the first resolution, which explained the nature of the representation thus required. After directing the general committee of the society to meet daily for the purpose of watching the proceedings of the Parliament and government, this resolution provided "that, upon the first intro- duction of any bill or motion inimical to the liberties of the people, such as for landing foreign troops in Great Britain or Ireland, for suspending the Habeas Corpus Act, for proclaiming martial law, or for preventing the people from meeting in societies for constitutional information, or any other innovation of a similar nature," the com- mittee should issue summonses " forthwith to call a general convention of the people, for the, purpose of ta/cing such measures into their con- sideration." At a meeting of the Corresponding Society on the 30th of January, 1794, Hardy being present, a motion was made by Thelwall, and carried, "that there should be a permanent secret committee of dele- gates, who were to consider what measures were necessary from time to time, according to the measures which might be taken in the House of Commons, and to have a discretionary power of convok- ing the general committee of delegates." At the next weekly meet- ing, Hardy being present, the secret committee reported " that, being a secret committee, they had found out that it was dangerous ; therefore they applied to the committee of delegates to dissolve them, and give them power to choose another committee in their place, and that they might not be compelled to name the names of those persons that were to form the new committee." This extraordinary proposal appears to have been carried without opposition. On the 27th of March, 1794, when the address and resolutions of the 20th of January preceding, whereof there had been printed about 8000, had been a couple of months in circulation, the London Cor- responding Society wrote, through Hardy, to the Constitutional So- ciety, inquiring whether the latter society concurred with them " in seeing the necessity of a speedy convention for the purpose," continued they, "of obtaining, in a constitutional and legal method, a redress of those grievances under which we at present labour,' and which can only be effectually removed by a full and fair representation of the people of Great Britain." They subjoined some resolutions, one of which was, " That it is the decided opinion of this society, that, to secure ourselves from future illegal and scandalous prosecutions, to prevent a repetition of wicked and unjust sentences, and to recall those wise and wholesome laws that have been wrested from us, and 144 LIFE OF LORD of which scarcely a vestige remains, there ought to be immediately a convention of the people, by delegates deputed for that purpose from, the different societies of the friends of freedom." The Constitutional Society expressed their concurrence, and appointed a committee to confer with a committee of the Corresponding Society: and, on the recommendation of these two delegated bodies, a joint committee of co-operation was formed, of which the prisoners Moore, Thelwall, Baxter, Hodgson, Bonney, Tooke, Wardle and Joyce were members, Joyce acting as secretary. On the 28th of March, an address to the persons convicted of sedi- tion in the matter of the Scotch convention, was voted by the Con- stitutional Society, containing this paragraph: "A full and fair repre- sentation of the people of Great Britain \ve seek with all the ardour of men and Britons ; for the sake of which we are not only ready to act with vigour and unanimity, but, we trust, prepared also to suffer with constancy ." This resource of a convention was one which the societies declared themselves driven to adopt in consequence of the utter hopelessness of obtaining any redress from Parliament ; yet in almost all these declarations, while expressly disclaiming the only remedy which the law and the constitution allow, and directly recom- mending the unlawful measure of a convention to overrule the legisla- ture, they persisted in the irreconcilable profession of limiting them- selves to legal and constitutional methods. The 14th of April, 1794, was a remarkable day in the history of the Corresponding Society. On that day, a very large assembly of its members met in'the open air, at Chalk Farm, in the neighbourhood of London, and, among other proceedings, passed some resolutions, of which the following are extracts: " That the w r hole proceedings of the late British convention of the people at Edinburgh are such as claim our approbation and applause." " That any attempt to violate those yet remaining laws (which were intended for the security of Englishmen against the tyranny of courts and ministers, and the cor- ruption of dependent judges) by vesting in such judge a legislative or arbitrary power, such as has lately been exercised by the Court of Jus- ticiary in Scotland, ought to be considered as dissolving entirely the social compact between the English nation and their governors, and driving them to an immediate appeal to that incontrovertible maxim of eternal justice, that the safety of the people is the supreme, and, in cases of necessity, the only law." "That the committee of corre- spondence be directed to convey the approbation of this society to Archibald Hamilton Rowan, prisoner in the Newgate of the city of Dublin," (convicted of a seditious libel,) and " to the Society of United Irishmen in Dublin, and to exhort them to persevere in their exertions to obtain justice for the people of Ireland." While Richter, one of the prisoners, was reading some of these resolutions to the meeting, he stopped to make some observations of his own. Hardy, who stood below, looked up to him and said, " Read, sir, without comment." On the 2d of May there was a dinner at the Crown and Anchor, of the Constitutional Society, with certain invited members of the Cor- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 145 responding Society. One Groves, a witness on the trial, received his ticket, gratis, from Hardy, who, as well as Thelwall, Richter, Mr. Home Tooke and other active partisans, attended the dinner. The airs played there were, " Ca Ira," the " Marseillois March," and other tunes then popular with the Parisian revolutionists; which excited an universal "din of approbation." On the 12th of the same month of May, the career of the societies was stopped by the apprehension of Hardy and several of his asso- ciates on a charge of high treason. Evidence was given of many other acts, papers and declarations, of a treasonable character, done or put forth by fellow-prisoners of Hardy, and by other members associated in the general design, some of them more violent, perhaps, than any yet stated. For example, a conversation was proved between the prisoner Baxter and a witness named Gosling, in the course of which, arming and drilling were strongly recommended by Baxter; and an opinion being thereupon expressed by the witness, that a reform in Parliament might be had without blows, Baxter asked, Was there any man in the society who believed a parliamentary reform was all they wanted ? For his own part, he did not wish the king or any of his family to lose their lives, but he thought they might goto Hanover. He said that the committee of correspondence and co-operation were preparing an address to the army, with some strong resolutions : that one Moore had been particu- larly active and successful in getting over the army : that they had suc- ceeded best with the old soldiers in Westminster; and that if one-third of the army were got over, the other two-thirds would not act with spirit against them. This Baxter was not always even thus moderate. He was the cir- culator of a paper in the style of a play-bill, announcing, " for the benefit of John Bull," a farce called " La Guillotine^ or George's Head in a Basket," with dramatis personae and other additions, in the same taste. Another paper, drafted by a delegate of the Corresponding Society, named Martin, who acted with Hardy and Thelwall in the preparation of the proceedings for the Chalk Farm meeting, concluded with this sentence: " Resolved, that it is the right and the bounden duty of the people to punish all traitors against the nation ; and that the following words are not now a part of the oath of allegiance, to wit, ' I declare that it is not lawful, upon any pretence, to take arms against the king.' " One evening, toward the end of 1793, at a meeting of division No. 29, of the Corresponding Society, in Shire Lane, near Temple Bar, Mr. Redhead Yorke, one of the members, addressed the persons pre- sent, acquainting them that he was going abroad, and hoped to return to London at the head of a French force, by Christmas or the begin- ning of January. He expressed his hope that he should see them all ready to join him without shrinking, since it was impossible to do any thing without some bloodshed ; and that Mr. Pitt's and the Icing's heads would be upon Temple Bar. This speech had a reception " quite VOL. I. 10 146 LIFE OF LORD unanimous :" all rose and shook hands with him when he got up and left the room. On the evening of the 14th of April, 1794, the day of the great meeting at Chalk Farm, Thehvall was in the chair at a supper of one of the divisions ; and, blowing off the head of a pot of porter , said, " This is the way I would have all Icings served." The attorney-general, in opening these various circumstances to the jury, as evidence to prove the treason of compassing the king's death, stated that the proofs, which it would be his duty to adduce, would sufficiently establish the fact of a con- spiracy to depose the king, which, in point of law, is an overt act of compassing his death; and he argued that it could not be less an overt act of compassing the king's death for being included in the still wider design of subverting the entire monarchy and substituting a commonwealth, which was the real object aimed at under colour of "a full and fair representation of the people." If a conspiracy to depose the king is an overt act of compassing his death where the conspirators intend to supersede him by another king, it is equally so where they intend to supersede him by a republic. The convention, contemplated by these conspirators, was intended to claim all civil and political authority; which authority it was to exercise, by altering the government independently of the legislature and of the statutes by which the king is sworn to govern. The conspiracy to assemble such a convention was a conspiracy to depose the king from his sovereign power: and the insufficiency of the force by which the object might be attempted could make no difference in the character of the object itself, which must be equally treasonable whether successful or unsuccessful. Nor would it make any difference whether the first assembly to be convoked was to be itself a convention assuming all civil and political authority, or was only to devise the means of forming such a convention. Neither would the conspiracy be the less a treasonable one, for purposing to continue the name and office of king in the person of George the Third, if that continuance was intended to be coupled with a proviso that he should govern with a new kind of legislature to be constituted by the convention. A king who should consent so to govern would no longer be the lawful king: he would have been deposed from his character of king as established bylaw. U\A be could not so consent; for solo govern would be to violate his coronation oath: therefore, he must refuse, must resist, and, in conse- quence of resisting, his life must be in danger. In either case he would have been deposed: for the meeting of a convention, assuming all authority, must in itself have been, at least pro tempore, a deposition of every other power. But in this case the evidence went beyond that kind of incidental deposition of the king: it proved that his actual deposition was the direct and express object of appointing a committee to constitute this convention. Beside the overt act of conspiring to depose the king by means of a convention, there were other overt acts of conspiracy to depose the king by other means: by endeavouring to introduce into this country, through the agency of affiliated societies, the same principles which had been set at work in France, and to follow them out to the same end. The doctrine put forward by the societies was that of " equal active citizenship," on which they sought to found a representative government. That was the principle upon which was formed the French constitution of 1791; a constitution preserving the office of king and setting up a sort of royal democracy. But in Au- gust, 1792, that constitution was destroyed: and the transactions of the English socie- ties, in and after the October succeeding that date, proved that, if not earlier, yet at least from October 1792, they meant to destroy the kingly office in England. They sought to advance this object by stimulating their members to arm: and various divisions did arm and clandestinely practise the manual exercise. The witnesses on behalf of the prosecution were then called, who proved, amidst a vast collection of other less material circumstances, the facts already stated. The evidence for the prosecution did not close until the 1st of No- vember, the fifth morning of the trial. Mr. Erskine then opened the defence to the jury by an address, of which Mr. Tooke, in a manu- script note upon his own copy of Hardy's trial, says, " This speech will live for ever." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 147 Mr. Erskine deprecated all speculation upon the consequences which might happen to follow from a prisoner's acts, and desired that, in a criminal procedure, his inten- tions alone should be considered: the allegation of the indictment being, that the acts charged were done with intent to depose the king. Moreover, the charge was not simply of taking steps to depose the king, but of taking steps " with the intention to bring him to death." The conspiracy to depose the king might be adduced as evi- dence of the intention to destroy his life, but never, as a "proposition of law, could constitute the intention itself." He would maintain, firstly, that no overt act can amount to the treason of compassing the king's death, unless charged and proved to have been committed in fulfilment of a traitorous intention to destroy the king's natural life; secondly, that a conspiracy to levy war, or a conspiracy against the king's regal character or capacity, though admissible evidence of compassing the king's death, is no good overt act of such compassing, without proof of some force against the king's person exerted or contemplated; and that even such exertion or con- templation of force, however clearly proved, is not itself the substantive treason of compassing the. king's death, but only an overt act or piece of evidence from which a conclusion is to be dra\vn whether that substantive treason of compassing have been committed or not. Thirdly, that the charge of compassing the king's death, as laid! in an indictment for treason, is not a conclusion of law necessarily following from the proof of the overt act, but is an averment of fact, on which the jury are to draw the aifirmattve or negative conclusion for themselves. He said, that in the present case, as the treason of compassing was a merely constructive one, by the assimilation of a supposed intention of attacking the king's authority, to an intention of attacking his natural life, so the overt act of deposing was likewise a merely constructive one, by the assimilation of a plan for undermining monarchy, through changes that might be wrought in public opinion to a plan for deposing the monarch by force. In times prior to the statute of treasons, (25 Edw. III.,) to compass the life of any man was a felony: and under that state of the law, what amounted to compassing had been fully settled. "That rule," says Mr. Justice Foster, " has been laid aside as too rigorous in the case of common persons; but in the case of the king, queen and prince, the statute of treasons has, with great propriety, retained it in its full extent and vigour, and, in describing the offence, has likewise retained the ancient mode of expression." "AH the words descriptive of the offence," observes the same writer, "are plainly borrowed from the common law, and, therefore, must bear the same con- struction they did at common law." "It follows," argued Mr. Erskine, " that nothing can be a compassing of the death of the king, which would not, in ancient times, have been a felony in the case of a subject." The design, then, to be treasonable as a compassing of the king's death, must be against the king's person : no design against his government alone, no mere plan for deposing his authority in particular points of it, would amount to this treason, nor yet to an overt act from which this treason could be inferred. Unless when a jury should find that the attempt to depose was with an intent against the king's natural existence, it could be no overt act of this kind of treason ; of which such an intent is the very essence. There might be cir- cumstances, certainly, under which a conspiracy to depose the king and annihilate his regal capacity would amount to satisfactory evidence of an intention to destro}' his natural life; but this intention would not be a necessary consequence of law from the fact of such a conspiracy, but would be a matter for a jury to find or to negative, according to their own judgment upon the whole case before them : and, in order to find him guilty of that intent, it is not enough that they believe him so: they must have improved: he must be guilty "provably." Nor is it enough, on a penal statute, that the act charged be brought within the reason and mischief of the law: it must be brought unequivocally within the very letter. Treason is not to be made out by con- struction, by cumulation or by analogy. He then cited various legal authorities, as fortifying the argument, that in order to constitute this treason, an intent against the king's natural existence must be proved. He next proceeded to argue upon the facts in evidence, that no such intent had been entertained by the prisoner Hardy, whose objects, doctrines and declarations, he contended, had not gone beyond those of the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Burke, and other writers of confessedly constitutional cha- racter. If unjustifiable steps had been taken by the Scotch convention, or by any other parties who were connected with the prisoner, but were not by him authorized to take such steps, he ought not to be made criminally responsible for their excess of the authority committed to them. The convention, which the prisoner was here charged with an overt act of treason in attempting to assemble, was not the Scotch convention, but a convention intended to have been convened in England: and there 148 LIFE OF LORD was nothin* to show any treasonable object in this intended English convention. He Suled the evdence respecting arms: attacked the credit of some of the witnesses: and concluded with a splendid appeal to the justice of the jury and the spmt of the British constitution. Many witnesses were then called for the prisoner. Those of them who were members of the Corresponding Society declared that they had not concurred in any plan of obtaining, by any other than consti- tutional means, a reform in Parliament, and that they did not believe in the existence of any ulterior design. Several other witnesses gave the prisoner the character of a steady, peaceable and well-meaning man. The evidence for the defence being finished on the 3d of No- vember, Mr. Gibbs (on the same day), addressed the jury for the prisoner, adopting the main argument used by Mr. Erskine, that, to constitute the treason alleged, there must be an intent against the natural life of the king. This prisoner entertained no such intent; but, finding that Parliament would not attend to the petitions of those who desired its reform, had endeavoured to bring public opinion to act upon the legis- lature, through the medium of an intended convention of delegates. The few arms about which some evidence had been given, were surely requisite for the bona fide purpose of self-defence, when Dr. Priestley's house at Birmingham, and the house: of others at Manchester and at Nottingham had been attacked by mobs. 1 ridiculous to talk of a plot for overturning a government with three dozen of pikes, sixty muskets and three or four French knives. Moreover, the principal witnesses upon this part of the case were unworthy of credit. The delegates to the Scotch convention, with which the crown officers had sought to connect this prisoner, were guilty of a misdemeanour only, and not of treason : indeed it was only for a misde- meanour that they were prosecuted. The intended convention in England had no treasonable objects: the prisoner had used no concealment respecting them. His intention was, like that of the Duke of Richmond, to operate upon the legislature through the declared sense of the people. The solicitor- general replied on the 3d and 4th of November: He declared his opinion that the bulk of the persons mixed up in these transac- tions had been the mere dupes of leaders who professed lawful objects, but pursued unlawful ones. If the designs of these leaders had been lawful, the prisoner, who was one of them, would have called, as his witnesses, the acting men of the society, who knew its real objects, instead of producing people who had been entrusted with none of its business. The necessity of self-defence, here set up as an excuse for arming, was a mere fraudulent pretext. If the society's views had been justifiable, there would have been no need for their secret committee, at the constitution of which the prisoner was present himself certainly no dupe, since he regulated the whole correspondence of the association. The solicitor-general proceeded to state his view of the law of treason; contending that, as an attempt against the kingly power has the natural consequence of endangering the life of the king, the man who designs such an attempt is guilty of compassing the king's death. The king being the sole representative of the state, an attack upon the sovereign power of the state is necessarily an attack upon the person of the king. The law does not require, in order to convict a man of committing a criminal act in fulfilment of an intention, that the intention to commit that very act should have been preconceived specifically: if he does what leads as a general consequence to that criminal act, he is guilty in. law of the intention to commit it: as where a man shoots at A, intending to kill him, but the shot misses A and kills B, whom the person shooting had no intent to kill, yet he is guilty of killing B with malice aforethought. In confirmation of this view, the solicitor-general cited various authorities, dwelling particularly on the trial of Blunt and Davis for high treason (1 Howell's State Trials); and controverted the construc- tion put by Mr. Erskine on the quotation from Mr. Justice Foster. That the case of treason must be made out provably he would not deny; but that rule was not pecu- liar to an overt act of high treason: between the evidence of this and of any other crime, there was no difference, except that in treason there must be at least two wit- nesses, either one to one overt act and another to another, of the same treason, or CHANCELLOR ELDON. 149 both to one overt act. He then entered upon the consideration of the general charac- ter which must belong to a convention of the people, and argued the incompatibility of such a convention with monarchy. Any design to alter the constitution, other- wise than by the legislature acting freely, was a design to depose the king from his royal authority, and a compassing of the king's death: and, that design being mani- fested by any act in pursuance of it, the parties to such design were guilty of high treason. A convention would have been an alteration of the constitution, an assump- tion of the sovereign power of the state. That the prisoners so intended it, was plain from their references to the proceedings of the convention in France, and from many express passages in the proceedings and publications of the societies: and the mode in which they prosecuted that intention was by pamphlets and other papers and speeches, vilifying the constitution of England and inciting the people to throw it off. Lord Chief Justice Eyre, after summing up the evidence on the 4th of November, told the jury in his direction to them on the 5th, That it was not necessary in point of Jaw to prove a compassing of the king's death, as a conniption existing in the prisoner's mind prior to the conception of depos- ing the king. "The conspiracy to depose the king," he said, "is evidence of compas- sing and imagining the death of the king conclusive in its nature: so conclusive, that it is become a presumption of law, which is in truth nothing more than a neces- sary and violent presumption of fact, admitting of no contradiction. Who can doubt that the natural person of the king is immediately attacked and attempted by him who attempts to depose him 1 Many, many hours were spent at the bar in this discussion; but, on the part of the prisoner, it was manifest that, after the discussion, the argument broke down under the case, and it became impossible for either of the gentlemen to set himself distinctly to maintain this proposition, that an honest man could fairly doubt whether he who conspires to depose the king has compassed or imagined his death." Having thus stated the law, the lord chief justice pointed the attention of the jury to the particular facts, from which they would have to draw their inference respecting the objects of the prisoner, and shortly noticed some of the prin- cipal arguments of counsel upon the details. The interest excited in all parts of the country, and especially in the metropolis, by this trial, which had now lasted nine days, was intense and almost universal. Among the higher and better informed classes there were various opinions; some being persuaded that the safety of the crown, and of the whole fabric whereof the crown is the keystone, depended on a conviction : others maintaining that the pri- soners had only sought constitutional ends by justifiable means; while a third party, who questioned the ends and condemned the means, were yet disquieted by an apprehension lest the law of treason should be dangerously extended by construction. Among the less educated orders there was less variety of sentiment. With them an affair of this kind is one of feeling rather than of argument : they, in general, desire the acquittal of any prisoner, except where his offence has been attended with some cruel or disgusting circumstance : and it was natural, therefore, that where, in addition to the usual prejudice in favour of persons accused, there was a very strong political inflam- mation, the populace of London should be highly excited. " Every evening," says Lord Eldon, in his Anecdote Book, "upon my leaving the court, a signal was given that I was coming out, for a general hissing and hooting of the attorney-general. This went through the street in which the court sat (the Old Bailey), from one end of it to the other, and was continued all the way down to Lud- gate Hill and by Fleet Market." He related to Mrs. Forster, and the Law Magazine of August, 150 LIFE OF LORD 1838, gives the story a little more circumstantially, that at the close of one of the days of this long trial, as he was about to leave the court, Mr. Garrow said to him, "Mr. Attorney, do not pass that tall man at the end of the table." The man had a suspicious appear- ance, and had stationed himself for some time at the door with his hat pulled over his brows. "Why not pass him?" asked Mr. Law. "He has been here," replied Mr. Garrow, "during the whole trial, with his eyes constantly fixed on the attorney-general." "I will pass him," said Mr. Law. "And so will I," said Sir John Scott. This was opposed by the counsel and others round about, who added, that there was a mob collecting, and that they did not think the attorney-general's life would be safe. He answered, " I tell you, gentlemen, I will not stay here ; for, happen what may, the king's attorney-general must not show a white feather." \Nihat followed was thus related by him to Mrs. Forster. " I went and left them, but I will not say that I did not give a lit- tle look over my shoulder, at the man with a slouched hat, as I passed him ; however, he did me no harm, and I proceeded for some time unmolested. The mob kept thickening around me, till I came to Fleet Street, one of the worst parts of London that I had to pass through, and the cries began to be rather threatening, ' Down with him,' 'Now is the time, lads,' 'Do for him,' and various others, horrible enough. So I stood up, and spoke as loud as I could ' You may do for me if you like, but remember there will be another attorney-general before eight o'clock to-morrow morning; the king will not allow the trials to be stopped.' Upon this, one man shouted out, ' Say you so ? you are right to tell us. Let's give him three cheers, lads.' And they actually cheered me, and I got safe to my own door. When I was waiting to be let in, I felt a little queer- ish at seeing close to me the identical man with the slouched hat ; and I believe I gave him one or two rather suspicious looks, for he came forward and said, ' Sir John, you need not be afraid of me ; every night since these trials commenced, I have seen you safe home before I went to my own home, and I will continue to do so until they are over; good evening, sir.' I had never seen the man before. I afterwards found out who he was, (I had some trouble in doing so, for he did not make himself known,) and I took care he should feel my gratitude." This stranger's interest in Sir John Scott's safety is accounted for in the Law Magazine of August, 1838, where it appears that Sir John Scott had once done an act of great kindness to the man's father. "Erskine," says the Anecdote Book, "who was counsel for the defendants, was of course extremely popular. He was received with universal plaudits; and there was nothing to disturb his enjoyment of this contrast or to soften my mortification, until, on one evening, (the evening of the verdict,) the multitude which had thought proper to take his horses from his carriage, that they might draw him home, conceived among them such a fancy for a patriot's horses as not to return them, but to keep them for their own use and benefit." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 151 Mr. Erskine behaved generously and gallantly throughout this excitement. When the people, with whom he was then the first fevourite, were about to stop Sir John Scott, Mr. Erskine called out to them, " I will not go on without the attorney-general." Lord Eldon, in relating to Mrs. Forster the violence of the mob, did not forget to mention his rival's good feeling. " Erskine," said he, " caused his carriage to go slowly, till he saw me out of danger." The first trial was now in its concluding stage. The witnesses, for the most part, had established the facts they were called to prove ; but the extreme length and complication of the circumstances, and the fiercely disputed premises of law upon which the indictments were founded, left the whole question a difficult one, and rendered the result a matter of the utmost uncertainty and of the deepest interest. The jury had, from the commencement of the trial, been kept each night under the watch of four officers, apart from all other persons, even from their own families ; and it was, therefore, hardly possible to conjecture what impressions all, or any, of those upon whose de- rision this great issue was depending, had received, either from the evidence or from the addresses of counsel. In this state of suspense, the public mind had now remained for a period of nine days and eight nights ; from the morning of Tuesday the 28th of October to the after- noon of Wednesday the 5th of November. Thus, when the jury, on the conclusion of the judge's address at half-past twelve of the last- mentioned day, retired to consider their verdict and during the whole time of their deliberation, which lasted for more than three hours the most intense anxiety pervaded the place of trial and spread itself throughout the metropolis. The following account of the result, ex- tracted from the Law Magazine of August, 1838, is there reported to have been given by Sir John Scott himself: " The jury retired to deliberate : upon their return their names were called over. I never shall forget that awful moment. ' Gentlemen of the jury,' said the clerk of arraigns, ' are you agreed in your ver- dict ? What say you ? Is Thomas Hardy guilty of the high treason of which he stands indicted, or is he not guilty ? ' ' Not guilty,' in an audible tone, was the answer. It was received in court silently and without noise all was still but the shout of the people was heard down the whole street. The door of the jury-box was opened for the jurymen to retire : the crowd separated for them as the saviours of their country." This failure of the prosecution against the person first brought to trial much aggravated the difficulties of the law officers with respect to the prisoners who remained. It was an anxious question which then presented itself, whether they should regard the verdict of this first jury as a conclusive sample of the opinion entertained by the generality of respectable persons in their rank of life, and desist, on this hint, from any further proceeding, or whether they should refer the acquittal of Hardy to some accidental feeling, prejudice or mis- apprehension in the breasts of those particular jurymen, or some of them, and take the sense of another jury upon the case of one or more 152 LIFE OF LORD of the remaining prisoners. The latter course was resolved on. It was not, perhaps, a very hopeful, but it seems to have been a necessary decision. If the government themselves, and particularly the law officers, were still satisfied, after hearing all that could be urged for the first-tried defendant, that he and those combined with him were guilty of high treason, his fortune in escaping -ought not to leave the country in danger from his confederates, so long as there appeared a reasonable ground to believe that a second jury would take a stricter view of their designs. Accordingly, on Monday, the 17th of November, the Rev. John Home Tooke was placed at the bar of the Old Bailey on his trial for high treason. The counsel, on both sides, were the same as on the trial of Hardy; with the addition, on the crown's behalf, of the Hon. Spencer Perceval, afterwards first minister of the crown. This trial lasted six days : the evidence given and the topics urged on both sides were, in general, of the same character as in Hardy's case ; and, on the Saturday evening, the jury, after an absence of only about eight minutes, returned a verdict of " not guilty." The violent temper of those times made it extremely difficult to fulfil the duty of conducting political prosecutions with the requisite combination of vigour and mildness. These qualities, however, Sir John Scott evinced in remarkable conjunction through the whole of the trials : although, as is well observed in the Law Magazine, " it required all his tact and firmness to restrain the counsel for the prison- ers, Mr. Erskine, then rioting in the exuberance of success and animal spirits, from overleaping all the barriers of sober form." The very few and momentary altercations which occurred between them are worthy of record, as specimens of the manner and character of two high-spirited and naturally courteous gentlemen, of whom the one, under the excitingly perilous circumstances of his client, was fairly pardonable for a little " brave disorder" while the other, recollecting always the dignity of his office and charge, and the national import- ance of the issue raised by him, earned the difficult praise of repressing irregularity without raising irritation. Mr. Erskine, in cross-examining a witness, named Alexander, assumed him to have stated more than he had really said. The at- torney-general, on the repetition of this irregularity, interposed for the protection of the witness, explained the particular in which Mr. Erskine had overstated the evidence, and added I say that is not only not correct, but it is very far from correctness. Mr. Erskine. I am exceedingly glad to be corrected, and I shall esteem it no interruption whenever you do, because I am so used to this work that nothing can put me out. Lord Chief Justice Eyre having here interposed a couple of ques- tions, Mr. Erskine said, I am entitled to have the benefit of this gentleman's deportment: if your lordship will just indulge me for one moment, Lord Chief Justice Eyre,. Give him fair play. Mr. Erskine. He has certainly had fair play I wish we had as fair play; but that is not addressed to the court. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 153 Mr. Attorney-General. But whom do you mean 7 Mr. Erskine. I say the prisoner has a right to fair play. Mr. Garrow. But you said it was not said to the court. Mr. Erskine. But I am not to be called to order by the bar. The attorney-general, who perceived that the momentary warmth of his opponent was already subsiding, forbore from any rejoinder ; and Mr. Erskine then proceeded with his examination, avoiding the irregularity which had occasioned the attorney-general's interruption. A couple of hours afterwards, the attorney-general was obliged to vindicate the prosecution a little more seriously. Mr. Garrow was examining a witness about the before-mentioned play-bill, called "La Guillotine, or George's Head in a Basket ;" when, upon an observa- tion made by the lord chief justice, Mr. Erskine exclaimed: The paper was fabricated by the spies who support the prosecution. Mr. Attorney-General. You shall not say that till you prove it. Mr. Erskine. I shall prove it. Mr. Attorney-General. Till you prove that, you ought not to say it; it is a charge that ought not to be made. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. If there is any point between you which should be heard, the appeal, to be sure, must be made to the court. Mr. Garrow. I wish it was; we should save much time and trouble. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. A little indulgence, on both sides, would save much time and trouble. Mr. Attorney-General. When a paper is produced which your lordships hold to be legal evidence to be read, it must not and shall not be stated in this court, unless it is proved, that the paper is fabricated by the spies who carry on the prosecution. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. I hope nothing of that kind has been said, for it was an, improper thing to be said ; and if it dropt from any body, it was an inadvertent thing. In a few minutes more there was another departure from the regular line of examination ; and then, for the only time, the attorney-general allowed a severe expression to escape him, for which, however, he immediately apologized. A witness having given some evidence respecting the sentiments originally entertained on the subject of reform by Mr. Pitt and the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Erskine said, I wish it to be understood I am no advocate for the conscience of the Duke of Richmond nor Mr. Pitt. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. It is certainly true ; but this is rather too grave an occa- sion for such an observation. Mr. Attorney-General. It is not a proper occasion for this frippery. Mr. Erskine. I say that is not a proper expression. Mr. Attorney-General. I will repeat it. Mr. Erskine. You will not repeat it anywhere else. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. The gentlemen, I hope, will recollect that they are upoa a solemn trial. Mr. Erskine. I think it is really hard upon me, upon this solemn trial, that I should be eternally assailed by these gentlemen, when I have the arduous task of extracting the truth from these witnesses. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. If any person were disposed (which I dare say no one is) to give you any interruption, it would be my duty to preserve order, and take care you should be permitted to go on in your business without interruption; but it is impos- sible thfc cause can go on, unless the gentlemen at the bar will a little understand one another, and by mutual forbearance assist one another; you are a little too apt to break out, and I think there has been a little inclination sometimes to observe more upon that than the occasion calls for. Mr. Attorney-General. As far as came from me, I am sorry for it. Again, however, on the same day, Mr. Erskine overstepped the 154 LIFE OF LORD limit of regular examination, by addressing a witness named Sander- son with the question, What date have you taken, good Mr. Spy? Witness. I do not think upon such an occasion being a spy is any disgrace. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. These observations are more proper when you come to address the jury. Mr. Attorney-General. Really that is not a proper way to examine witnesses. Lord Holt held strong language to such a sort of address from a counsel to a witness who avowed himself a spy. Mr. Erskine. I am sure I shall always pay that attention to the court which is due from me; but I am not to be told by the attorney-general how I am to examine a witness. Mr. Attorney-General. I thought you had not heard his lordship. Mr. Ersldne. I am much obliged to his lordship for the admonition he gave me. I heard his lordship, and I heard you, which I should not have heard. The attorney-general, though clearly in the right, yet, as Mr. Er- skine had intimated his intention to desist, was content to let the heat thus evaporate. After this, there was no other conflict between these leaders. The only approach to a dispute was on the next day but one, when, on an objection made by the attorney-general to a question put for the pri- soner, Mr. Erskine said, Are you afraid of the question ? Mr. Attorney- General. I will not have the question put in that form ; I am afraid of questions that ought not to be put. Mr. Erskine. Afraid of the question being put? Mr. Attorney-General. I am afraid of no question that ought to be put, but of questions that ought not to be put. Mr. Erskine. I don't understand you. Mr. Attorney-General. I think you would not have made the observation if you did. Mr. Erskine. I still less understand you now, and am surprised I own. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. What is the question that you think there is any doubt about ? Let us know what the question is, and the court will give their assistance towards mediating. The discussion was kept up no further. The same command of temper was visible in the conduct of the prosecution against Mr. Tooke ; although this prisoner, who took a good deal of his defence into his own hands, managing it with a great air of unconcern, and passing his snuff-box about the court, was some- times disposed to be sarcastic upon the law officers of the crown and upon the bench itself. In reference to an attempt which had formerly been made to exclude him from his degree of Master of Arts at Cam- bridge, he asked the Bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Beadon, whom he called as a witness for the defence : Does your lordship recollect ever any other person's degree being opposed? I do not at present recollect any other. Is not the degree of Master of Arts such a one as would be given to any creature that could answer to rational questions? Lord Chief Justice Eyre. For the honour of the university you will not pursue that, Mr. Tooke. Mr. Tooke. I beg your lordship's pardon : it is of some consequence to me, and does not affect the honour of the university; if it did, I am too faithful a son of the university to put such a question; for I mean no joke upon that university. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. It is not put in terms that are quite so measured as you would, upon consideration, put it in. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 155 The attorney-general, in the cross-examination of the bishop, began thus : Mr. Attorney-General. Do you know any thing of the proceedings of the Consti- tutional or the London Corresponding Societies for the last three years? Nothing at all. Mr. Tooke. Is not that question almost as bad as my speaking of the master's degree? And now we are even: because it must be as great a degree of insult to ask the Bishop of Gloucester about the Constitutional Society and Corresponding Society, as my speaking lightly of the qualification for a master's degree. Mr. Attorney-General. I will not let this pass: without rebuke from your lord- ship, if I am wrong and without informing this court, that it is not to part, upon this occasion, with a laugh. Lord Chief Justice Eyre. It is impossible for me to say that the question was irregular; and there was nothing in the terms of it that conveyed that kind of objec- tion which I felt to the other question ; at the same time, undoubtedly, it is very evident that the Bishop of Gloucester could not possibly know any thing of these societies. Mr. Attorney-General. In a court of justice, I cannot take it upon my notions of what the Bishop of Gloucester does or does not know. What is evidence must come from the Bishop of Gloucester as well as from any other man. In commencing his general reply upon the whole case, the attorney- general made some allusion to his own feelings and his own responsi- bility : " I here declare,'' said he, " that not one step would I take in this prosecution repug- nant to the dictates of my own judgment, exercised according to what my conscience prescribes to that judgment, not for all which this world has to give me. Gentlemen, why should I? You will allow me to say, after all that has passed, that I have no desire with respect to myself in this cause, but that my name should go down to pos- terity with credit. I cannot but remember this is an interest most dear to me. Upon no other account my name will be transmitted to posterity: with these proceedings it must be transmitted. That name, gentlemen, cannot go do down to that posterity without its being understood by posterity what have been my actions in this case. And when I am laid in my grave, after the interval of life that yet remains for me, my children, I hope and trust, will be able to say of their father, that he endea- voured to leave them an inheritance, by attempting to give them an example of public probity, dearer to them than any acquisition or any honour that this country could have given the living father to transmit to them." "At this period," says the Law Magazine,* "Sir John Scott shed tears; and to the surprise of the court, Mr. Solicitor-General was seen to weep in sympathy with the emotion of his friend. 'Just look at Mit- ford,' was the remark of a neighbour to Home Tooke; ' what on earth is he crying for?' 'At the thought of the little inheritance,' retorted Tooke, 'that poor Scott is likely to leave his children.' Encouraged by the success of this sally and the scarcely suppressed merriment of those within hearing, the accused soon contrived to fasten a public interruption on his accuser." This happened as follows: The attorney-general, speaking of the design to compel the king to govern against his coronation oath, said, " He ought to lose his life, and, I trust, would be willing to lose his life rather than to govern contrary to that coronation oath." Mr. Tooke. What ! is the attorney-general talking treason ? I should be unhappy to mistake you: did you say the king ought to lose his life if he took any other Par- liament? Mr. Attorney-General. It is really difficult to decide for one's self, whether the interruption is, or is not proper. * No. XLI. pp. 78, 79. 156 LIFE OF LORD Mr. Tooke. I ask pardon of the learned gentleman, and I promise I will not .in- terrupt him again during the whole of his reply. I only wished to know whether, in. prosecuting me for high treason, the attorney-general intentionally said something far worse than any thing he has imputed to me. Mr. Attorney-General. I am very much obliged to the gentleman. I say this : that the King of Great Britain is bound by his coronation oath, to govern according to the laws established in Parliament, and the customs of the same; that he is bound by that coronation oath to resist every power that seeks to compel him to govern other- wise than according to those laws ; that it must, therefore, be understood, that the King of Great Britain would resist such a power as that, because he would be acting only in the exercise of his sworn duty: and in resisting such a power as that he must inevitably lose his life. Mr. Tooke, however, was not insensible to the fairness of the spirit in which the prosecution against him was conducted. The attor- ney-general having mentioned certain dates as proved, Mr. Tooke said, What the attorney-general states to be proved, I am sure he thinks is proved ; bu l it is possible that he may err, and I think he does now, or else I do greatly. Mr. Attorney-General. I desire to say, and I hope 1 do not do wrong when I tell you, once for all, that when I state that I have proved any thing, I mean to say no more than that I have offered evidence, the effect of which is for the consideration of the jury. Mr. Tooke. I hope I have not hinted or insinuated the smallest idea, when I think you have misstated any thing, but that it is the effect of error and nothing else. Mr. Attorney-General. I am always obliged to you when you correct me. The Morning Post of the 15th of January, 1838, relates, that a few weeks afterwards, " Lord Eldon met, in Westminster Hall, Mr. Home Tooke, who walked up to him and said, ' Let me avail my- self of this opportunity to express my sense of your humane and con- siderate conduct during the late trials.' " The acquittal of Mr. Tooke, thus immediately following that of Hardy, made it manifest that the juries of England were not prepared to convict other prisoners of high treason upon evidence merely simi- lar to that adduced in the prosecutions already tried ; and as the proofs against Messrs. Bonney, Joyce, Holcroft and Stewart Kyd would have carried the case no farther than the point at which it had twice failed, the law officers thought proper to open an acquittal as to those four prisoners. In the instance of Thelwall, against whom there existed other evidence, the prosecution proceeded; but after a trial which lasted four days, the jury acquitted him. The prosecutions against the remaining prisoners were then discontinued. The discretion of the law officers of the crown, in charging the offence of these prisoners as high treason rather than as a seditious misdemeanour, has been often questioned. The responsibility of the decision rests undoubtedly on the attorney-general of that day ; and never shrank from it. The following is his vindication of himself, as recorded in his Anecdote Book : " The trials in 1794, of Hardy, Tooke, &c., for high treason, at the Old Bailey, were the most important proceedings in which I was ever professionally engaged. As I was blamed by some, perhaps by many, for indicting them for high treason, instead of indicting for misde- meanour and sedition only, I record here the reasons which led me to take the course I adopted, and to produce that great mass of evi- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 157 dence before the jury, which many thought perplexed them so much, that they were unable to draw the true inferences. When the socie- ties, of which these individuals were members, were broken up by order of government, and many of the members (among others the individuals indicted and tried) were, together with all their papers, and particularly those respecting the proceedings of the different affiliated societies, seized, by warrants, on suspicion of high treason, such of the judges as were privy councillors, and were present at the many and long examinations of the parties apprehended, at the reading of the papers seized, and at the examination of the witnesses, being called upon for their opinions, stated that, in their judgment, the parties were guilty of high treason. The warrants of commitment for trial treated them as parties committed on account of high treason. The cases, as treasonable cases, were the subject of communications to, and debates in Parliament. As attorney-general and public prose- cutor, I did not think myself at liberty in the indictments to let down the character of the offence. The mass of evidence, in my judgment, was such as ought to go to the jury for their opinion, whether they were guilty or not guilty of TREASON. Unless the w r hole evidence was laid before the jury, it would have been impossible that the coun- try could ever have been made fully acquainted with the danger to which it was exposed, if these persons and the societies to which they belonged, had actually met in that national convention which the papers seized proved that they were about to hold, and which was to have superseded Parliament itself; and it appeared to me to be more essential to securing the public safety that the whole of their trans- actions should be published, than that any of these individuals should be convicted. They, too, who were lawyers and judges, having stated their opinion that these were cases of high treason, I could not but be aware what blame would have been thrown upon the law officers of the crown, if they had been indicted for misdemeanour and the evi- dence had proved a case of high treason, which, proved, would have entitled them to an acquittal for the misdemeanour ; and then the coun- try would not have tolerated, and ought not to have tolerated, that, after such an acquittal, their lives should have been put in jeopardy by another indictment for high treason. It was true that a charge for misdemeanour might have been so conducted, as not to risk the dan- ger of acquittal on the ground of guilt of a higher nature, viz., by giving no more of the evidence than just enough to sustain the charge of misdemeanour ; but then the great object of satisfying the kingdom as to the real nature of the case could not possibly have been attained. Fault was imputed in another way, viz., that the evidence might have been less largely given in support of the indictments for high treason, and so the probabilities of conviction have been rendered greater. But to this I had two objections. 1st. That by so proceeding, the great object of satisfying the country and making them aware of their danger could not have been attained : 2dly, (and this second reason I stated in the strongest terms, at consultations with those who assist- ed me upon this great occasion, as deciding me entirely, when they 158 LIFE OF LORD pressed for a short case, as giving the best chance for conviction,) that it was a principle of mine, upon which I had ever acted, and ever would act, when, as attorney-general, I was prosecuting for the public, and more especially in cases that affected life, that the jury impanneled to decide the question between the country and the pri- soner should know every fact and circumstance that I knew, and that I never could sleep again if they convicted a man upon evidence before them, where I was left in a state of doubt whether they would have convicted if they had known what other evidence I could have laid before them. I therefore opened the case, and the evidence at large, in a speech of nine hours. The trial of Hardy, which came on first, lasted many days. It was said that it would have been better management if I had tried Home Tooke first ; but I had convinced myself that that would have been unfair. The judge who summed up the evidence, after hearing both sides, had more doubt whether the case of high treason was made out than he had when he attended the privy council. Erskine and Gibbs, the prisoner's counsel, ably took advantage, particularly the latter, of the prejudices against what is called constructive treason: the jury were fatigued and puzzled; and in the state in which they were, it cannot be surprising that they acquitted the accused. When a little time had enabled the public to judge coolly about the proceeding, the public mind seemed satisfied with the result with the great information they derived from the evidence as to matters which so intimately affected their security (information which led to the suppression of imminent danger), and with the moderation and temper in which the trials had been con- ducted." From this account of his own opinions and motives, it will be seen that there is no foundation for the report which represents him as having advised and contended that the prosecution should be for the minor offence of sedition. " I have heard him say," observes Mr. Farrer, " that the attorney-general takes an oath of office which com- pels him to act independently of the cabinet, and that it is his duty to resign rather than be a party to proceedings which he does not ap- prove." The attorney-general thus appears to have taken the same view of the trials as the minister himself, who, on the 16th of Novem- ber, 1795, in defending the Treasonable Practices' Bill, took occasion to observe, that he was sure the trials, and the evidence produced upon them, had had a strong effect upon the public, and that the exposition of that immense mass of matter, and the development of the real designs entertained by the societies, had served to open the eyes of the unwary, to check the incautious, and to deter the timid. That such results were likely to be the ultimate fruit of these trials was hardly considered at the time a sufficient compensation for their failure. The course pursued had, as Lord Eldon admits, been con- trary to the opinion of many, whose judgment was, from the beginning, that the crown should prosecute, not for high treason where failure was probable, but for seditious misdemeanour where conviction would have been certain. They considered that a failure on a trial for trea- CHANCELLOR ELDOIS". 159 son would, by giving a temporary triumph to the disaffected, produce, for a while at least, the ill effect of weakening those very interests of monarchical government which it was the whole purpose of the prose- cutions to confirm. And it must be admitted to them that if the charge had, in accordance with their view, been framed as for a seditious misdemeanour only, and the evidence confined, as Lord Eldon himself intimates that it might have been, within such limits as to have secured a conviction for that minor offence, there would still have been nothing to preclude a subsequent publication of that part of the evidence which had been spared at the trials : by which course the government would equally have conveyed all the material information to the public mind, would have had credit for forbearance in not aiming at the lives of the accused, and would have finally stood in the position of suc- cessful vindicators of the law and constitution. Such are the arguments on both sides of this grave question ': and if, at this day, th preponderance appear to be against the policy then pursued, we must remember that we are now looking at the subject after the event, and that the judgments which decided in favour of that policy were those of Mr. Pitt and of Lord Eldon. 160 LIFE OF LORD . CHAPTER XIII. 17951797. Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act continued : attorney-general's speech. State of public feeling at the meeting of Parliament in October, 1795. Attempt on the king's life. Treasonable Attempts and Seditious Meetings Bills, prepared by the attorney-general: his speech on the former: both enacted. Prosecution of Mr. Reeves. Stories of smugglers. Serjeant Hill Lord Thurlow. A seditious boy. Lord Nelson. James Boswell. PARLIAMENT assembled for the dispatch of business on the 30th of December: and, on the 15th of January, in the new year 1795, the attorney-general moved for leave to bring in a bill, continuing for a further term the act of the preceding session, by which the Habeas Corpus had, as to certain cases, been suspended. This continuance of the suspension was strongly condemned by the opposition, as un- necessary and unconstitutional. The attorney-general, on the 23d of January, in following Mr. Lambton's opening speech upon the second reading, justified the measure at considerable length. He contended that the result of the late trials by no means proved the bill now in question to be unnecessary. The juries, who acquitted the individual prisoners, might not perhaps differ from Parliament in their view of the general conspiracy; and, at all events, this was a subject on which Parliament was competent to decide for itself, independently of the sentiments of any jury. After vindicating the law officers who had judged those cases proper to be submitted for trial, and the grand jury who had found the bills, he proceeded to observe, that a legal acquittal was not necessa- rily a moral one. He would put a case upon this subject. Suppose, upon a charge of treason, any gentleman of unblemished honour were to give evidence of an overt act, to the satisfaction of every man who heard him, still, if there was no other evi- dence, the prisoner must be acquitted ; because the law says, there must be two wit- nesses. Here would be a case of a verdict of not guilty, in which every person must be satisfied of the real guilt of the person acquitted. There were cases even, in which the confession of guilt by the party accused could not legally be received against him in evidence. In such cases, though a jury might be bound by law to acquit the pri- soner, could any man think that the verdict of not guilty was a proof of moral inno- cence 1 He would state to the House a most extraordinary fact, in corroboration of the argument he had just been maintaining. While he and his learned friend (Mr. Erskine) were contending at the trials about the meaning of a publication of one of the societies, that very society published another paper, avowing that their meaning in the former publication was exactly that which he had put upon it; but he could not, in point of law, produce the second paper to prove the meaning of the first, be- cause the latter paper was written after the prisoner had been taken into custody. Here was a case in which no human being could doubt the meaning of the paper; but yet he was prevented by technical rules from proving it. "Let us then," con- tinued the attorney-general, "preserve the constitution in all its branches let us pre- serve it in Parliament let us preserve it before juries. Let us preserve it, not by sacrificing: the one branch to the other, but by giving to each its due portion of re- spect." He then observed, that societies whose object was to introduce the French system of government, were wholly irreconcilable with the government of England. These societies had never addressed the French convention till after the deposition of the King of France ; but when the king had been deposed, then the French conven- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 161 tion was deemed worthy of a correspondence with the English societies, who, from that time, made numerous communications to it. He read a variety of extracts from this correspondence, evincing identity of object on both'sides of the Channel. He animadverted upon the mischievous writings of some authors then very popular with the revolutionary party, and censured the language of those members of the opposi- tion, who applied the light and inadequate epitaphs of " idle and foolish" to the con- duct of those who had adopted their scandalous doctrines, and had expressed a desire for a National Convention in England. While such opinions were in motion, was it not absolutely necessary that government should be armed with extraordinary powers to resist them? The month of November, 1792, in which was voted the address from the London Constitutional Society to the National Convention, was also the month in which that convention passed it's famous decree, offering to assist the subjects of every country against their governors. After giving a general history of the pro- ceedings of the revolutionary societies in England from that month of November, 1792, to the meeting at Chalk Farm, in 1794, he dwelt upon the extensive prepara- tions of arms, manufactured all alike in so many parts of the kingdom at the same time, and observed that they could not be supposed to have come to such a resem- blance by mere accident. On these grounds he must maintain the indispensable necessity of this bill : which bill, nevertheless, he should be so unwilling to continue for one hour beyond such necessity, that he would readily agree to a clause enabling Parliament to repeal it even in the present session, if the exigency should so soon, have ceased. With reference to what had fallen from Mr. Lambton, he said that as often as he saw a man of extensive property professing the sentiments which had been uttered by the last speaker, his thoughts recurred to the following passage in a letter from the editors of the Sheffield Patriot to the Constitutional Society: " Whenever you find a man apprehensive that an attempt at reform may produce confusion and the destruction of property, ask him if he knows such a gentleman, (naming one of great fortune and character in the neighbourhood, who is an advo- cate for reform.) He will say yes. You may then ask him, whether he supposes that such a man would support a measure which had a tendency to destroy all pro- perty, and consequently to ruin him, and so forth." By this sort of sophism, gen- tlemen who really were anxious for the good of the country, were cited as examples to seduce uninformed men into all the wild and dangerous schemes of pretended reforms. To this day there are men of " great fortune and character" who patronise such movements as those of 1794: and to this day the fallacy, thus condemned by Sir John Scott, continues to be advanced by mischievous persons, and accepted by thoughtless ones. Yet the decoy is a palpable one. Let the " man of great fortune and cha- racter," who favours the deprecated movement, be one of the most honest and well-meaning of mankind, and what does his adhesion prove ? Surely not that the movement involves no danger ; but only that he is not aware of its involving any. And then, because some such well-meaning persons are aware of no danger, it is to be taken as proved that no danger can exist ! But there is another class, also possessing "great fortune," and even a certain "character," who lend their countenance to revolutionary projects, with a thorough perception that if those projects should succeed, their own property and position would be destroyed : are these men more entitled to the confidence of their country ? Less still : since they mislead humbler men, with a thorough knowledge that they are misleading them. All ; indeed, may not have quite the same motives for the delusion. Some lend themselves to it from the mere lack of courage to leave their party : continuing to countenance evils which they fully compre- hend, rather than break with a club, or incur a taunt in Parliament or the press. These are the weaker folk : the wickeder are those who VOL. i. 11 162 LIFE OF LORD encourage mischievous movement, not with any expectation of its success,but, on the contrary, in full reliance that by the time it shall have served their personal ambition, it will have been put down by truer and braver men. They take the benefit of a double game: flourishing upon the popularity of their own professions, while they hug themselves in the safety of other men's principles. Such is the worth of the warranty which property gets from the presence of a few of its owners, honest or dishonest, in the ranks of revolution. Repeated divisions were taken on this and on the subsequent stages of the bill, in the House of Commons. After some resistance in the House of Lords, where a provision was added for limiting its duration to the 1st of July, 1795, it became law as the 35th of Geo. 3. c. 3. This act answered its purpose while it lasted ; but it had no sooner expired than the dealers in agitation renewed their endeavours to excite discontent among the common people. The war against the French, into which the majority of the English nation had rushed with all imaginable eagerness, had disappointed the expectations of the sanguine ; and on that disappointment the seditious societies were incessantly working. Vast meetings were held in the open air, at which several active members of the Corresponding Society at- tempted to distinguish themselves by the violence of their harangues. Others mingled in private with the lower classes, and profited by the ignorance of the working people to fill them with the most injurious notions of the government and its objects. Among those disturbers there appear to have been some who, though British-born subjects, were in the actual employ of the French republic. Their machina- tions were much facilitated by a scarcity from which the poor endured severe suffering. Such was the state of circumstances and feelings among the lower orders, when Parliament assembled on the 29th of October, 1795. The king, who went in person to the House of Lords for the purpose of opening the session, was assailed, both in going and in returning, with loud expressions of displeasure from the unusually numerous crowd collected in St. James's Park, through which his road lay. Some stones were thrown at the state-coach ; and one of the windows was perforated, apparently by a bullet from an air-gun. On this occasion, says Lord Eldon in his Anecdote Book, the attendant, who was "one of the great officers of state, started at the shot striking the window of the state-coach, and passing through it. ' Sit still, sir,' said the king: ' let us not betray any fear of what may happen. '- In those times I have heard him say, that he might, perhaps, be the last king of England. He was certainly a person of great courage. When Hatfield shot at him at the play-house, and when Margaret Nicholson tried to assassinate him, he betrayed no fear. When, in the riots of 1780, his privy councillors hesitated what advice to give him, he said he should act without their advice, and would order his horse to the door, that he might go at the head of the troops in per- son, and give them orders to disperse the rioters by force." The attack upon the person of the sovereign, at the opening of CHANCELLOR ELDON. 163 the session, suggested the necessity of some special enactments for the better protection of the monarchy and the monarch. The govern- ment instructed the attorney-general to prepare the necessary bills for that purpose. He performed this duty with so great dispatch, that the Treasonable Attempts Bill, whereof the first section, defining certain treasons, is now a permanent law, was read a first time in the House of Lords on the 6th of November: and on the 10th the Se- ditious Meetings Bill, now long since expired, was originated in the House of Commons. The Treasonable Attempts Bill, after reciting the outrages offered to the king's person at the opening of the session, and the daily multitude of seditious pamphlets and speeches, went in substance to provide, that if any should compass the king's death or destruction, or any bodily harm tending to his death or destruction or tending to maim or wound him or imprison or restrain his person, or should compass to deprive or depose him from the crown of this or any other of his dominions, or to levy war against him within this realm for the purpose of compelling a change in his councils or constraining or intimidating either House of Parliament or should compass to move a foreign invasion of this or any other of his dominions, and should express such compassings by publishing any printing or wri- ting, or by any overt act : every such offender legally convicted should be deemed guilty of high treason. These enactments were to be in force until the end of the next session after a demise of the crown ; but before that event occurred, the 57 Geo. 3. c. 6. rendered them perpetual. The Treasonable Attempts Bill then went on to make tem- porary provisions against seditious words, spoken, written or printed, the utterers or publishers whereof were subjected by it, on a first con- viction, to the punishment of a high misdemeanour : and, on a second conviction, either to the same punishment, or to that of banishment or of transportation, at the discretion of the court. The Seditious Meetings Bill, now expired, forbade, except in cer- tain specified cases, the assembling of more than fifty persons for the purpose or on the pretext of petitioning or deliberating upon griev- ances, unless under certain safeguards thereby prescribed. It gave powers to magistrates for dispersing unlawful assemblies : it provided severe penalties against offenders, and it suppressed unlicensed places for political discussions or discourses where money was charged for admission. The announcement of these two measures brought out a burst of dissatisfaction among those adverse to the principles of the govern- ment: the unpopularity of any such restraint, among the dangerous classes of the public, being always pretty nearly in proportion to the necessity for it. The discussions in the House of Commons, upon the Treasonable Attempts Bill which had originated in the Upper House, gave opportunities to the opposition of making fresh animad- versions upon the attorney-general, for his exercise of the discretion constitutionally vested in his office. In the debate of the 15th of No- vember, he vindicated himself with his usual firmness and moderation, 164 LIFE OF LORD and showed the necessity of the proposed enactment, from the great multiplication of libels, published and circulated by the seditious societies. On the 30th, in answer to the speech of Mr. Erskine, who opposed the motion for going into committee on this bill, The attorney-general entered at large into the consideration of its enactments. He considered it as not extending the Jaw of treason beyond the true intent of the sta- tute of Edward III., but only as defining and explaining that statute, which had itself provided that in all cases of doubt upon its construction, recourse should be had to Parliament for a more definite exposition. Lord Hale had said that this statute included an imagination to depose the king; whereas Mr. Erskine had argued, that to levy war against the king was not treason, unless coupled with an intention to com- pass his death. From this opinion he himself, as a lawyer, must dissent ; but at least there was the sort of doubt which the statute of Edward had prescribed that the legislature should solve. Persuaded, as he was, by the unprecedented assemblages and libels of the time, that a design existed to subvert the government and constitu- tion, he would not incur any merited charge of supineness. In addressing himself, not only to the possessors of land and wealth, but to those also who felt that their liber- ties were a valuable property, he would remind them that a revolution could never enrich the poorer classes, but would make the whole country " poor indeed." He believed that the provisions now proposed as to treason were no more than conso- nant with the old law of the land; but independently of any prior law, and of any connection with the societies, he would ask whether the recent attack on the sove- reign did not call upon the legislature for some clear enactment regarding this class of crimes ? Proceeding to that part of the bill which dealt with seditious misde- meanour, he must remark that it was no innovation to treat some kinds of misde- meanour as highly punishable. A great person, Lord Thurlow, whom he was bound to revere, and whose protection of him demanded, and should ever have, his grati- tude and esteem, had, when attorney-general, prosecuted Mr. HorneTooke for a libel, and had moved the court that he should be pilloried: though the libel upon the record was not, like the modern publications, a libel on the government and constitution of the country, degrading to the most sacred and honourable characters, but merely a libel concerning the administration of the kingdom. The present bill, in subjecting certain misdemeanours to certain punishments, gave this advantage to the defendant, that it required, as in case of treason, two witnesses to convict him. And if it prescribed a heavier punishment on a second conviction, was there not good reason to mark a wilful and malicious repetition with a more signal penalty? He had done his utmost to repress the evil by the already existing laws: for, in the last two years, there had been more prosecutions for libels than in any twenty years before. But the offence 1 now swelled to a magnitude with which the existing laws were no longer ade- quate to cope : and unless some further aid were given by Parliament for its suppres- remed W Uld t0 late Ieret that they had not encountered il b y a timej y The bill was read a third time on the 10th of December, when the attorney-general again reverted to several of the topics of his former speeches. After two divisions, the bill passed on the same night: and it stands on the Statute Book as the 36th Geo. 3. c. 7. The Seditious Meetings Bill was opposed with a temper not less acrimonious : but in those discussions the attorney-general appears to have taken no active part. It became a temporary law, as the 36th Geo. 3. c. 8. The measures thus adopted by the government for the suppression political disturbers, begot, among the friends of the movement party, a keen desire of retaliation : and an occasion speedily presented itseJl in the instance of a pamphlet entitled Thoughts on the English government, the work of John Reeves, Esq., a magistrate of Middle- sex, and an active partisan of the government, who was especially obnoxious to the seditious societies, as having been the principal CHANCELLOR ELDON. 165 organizer of the association against republicans and levellers. In this pamphlet Mr. Reeves argued that, "with the exception of the advice and consent of the two Houses of Parliament and the interposition of juries," the government of England is wholly monarchical: that "the monarch is the stock from which have sprung those goodly branches of the legislature, the Lords and Commons" but that " they are still only branches, which may be lopped off, and the tree is a tree still : shorn indeed of its honours, but not, like them, cast into the fire. The kingly government may go on, in all its functions, without Lords or Commons : it has heretofore done so for years together, and in our times it does so during every recess of Parliament ; but, without the king, his Parliament is no more." The opposition, who had been unable to discern any danger to the constitution in the publications of the seditious societies, were horror-stricken by the theory of despotism which they descried in these assertions of Mr. Reeves. The minis- ters, with the exception of Mr. Windham, acquiesced in a motion of Mr. Sheridan, made on the 23d and amended on the 26th of Novem- ber, 1795, which affirmed that the pamphlet was a scandalous and seditious libel, and a high breach of privilege. The attorney-general, however, observed, that juries sometimes differed in opinion from the House, and acquitted persons whose prosecution the House had directed. He declined to give his opinion whether this work were a libel or not. He said that it was for the House to decide that question, and that, if ordered to prosecute, he would discharge his duty faithfully. Mr. Sheridan's motion having been carried, with only two dissent- ing voices, a committee was appointed to ascertain the author: and it reported that the author was Mr. Reeves. Mr. Sheridan then pro- posed, that instead of directing Mr. Reeves to be prosecuted, the House should order the pamphlet to be burnt by the common hang- man : which proposal he intimated his intention of following up, by a motion for an address to the crown, praying that Mr. Reeves might be removed from any place of trust. Instead, however, of adopting the suggestions of Mr. Sheridan, the House directed the attorney-general to prosecute. These debates extended through several evenings in the latter part of November and the first half of December. On the 20th of the following May, Mr. Reeves was brought to trial, and ac- quitted : the jury, however, expressing their opinion that the publica- tion was a very improper one, though the motives of the author were not of the criminal nature laid in the indictment. This animadver- sion appears, from a note, 26 State Trials, p. 594, to have been forced by one of the jurymen upon the other eleven, as the price of his con- currence in the acquittal. On the 19th of May, the day preceding this trial, Parliament had been dissolved. The attorney-general's connection with Weobly now ceased, and he was returned to Parliament for Boroughb ridge, in Yorkshire, with Sir Francis Burdett for his colleague. The years 1796 and 1797, though fertile in government prosecu- tions, had not called forth any great parliamentary exertion on the part of the attorney-general. But the Anecdote Book contains some 166 LIFE OF LORD amusing recollections which belong to the period of his official service. " When I was solicitor or attorney-general," says he, " we had this ino-enious case of smuggling proved. A person at Dover smuggled 3000 pairs of French gloves. He sent all the right-hand gloves to London. They were seized and sold. Nobody would buy right- hand gloves, who had not the left-hand gloves. The smuggler there- - fore bought them for a mere trifle. Having purchased the right-hand Cloves, he then sent the 3000 left-hand gloves to London. They were also seized, sold, and of course bought by him for a price next to nothing. Thus he became possessed of them, though contraband, according to law, and, as a smuggler would say, in an honest way." " I prosecuted a ship at Bristol to condemnation for having on board smuggled goods to a great amount. George Rous, who was a good-natured, friendly man, but violent in court, and particularly as counsel for smugglers, raved in this case and swore that I had con- trived to have these goods put on board, in order to condemn the ship, whilst the captain had gone ashore to see a wife whom he ten- derly loved and his children whom he was extremely fond of, at the end of a very long voyage in which he had been absent from them. This was all coinage : but it was put a stop to by a sailor in court starting up and exclaiming, ' Well, that's a good one ! that's a good fetch ! Why my mistress and her children were aboard ship with our captain during the whole of the voyage!" " After Serjeant Hill ceased to attend the courts of justice as a pleading barrister, he answered cases, and many were laid before him for his opinion. His habit was to write his opinion and illustrate it by mentioning all the cases upon which it was founded, with a great deal of reasoning upon each case. With such a fund of information, others, as well as myself, who attended in oourts, frequently were enabled to argue cases most ably and powerfully, the merit, however, being the Serjeant's. Upon thus being consulted, he looked for what he certainly ought to have had, a good fee. A case being laid before him for information, with a fee of one guinea, the opinion he wrote, which I saw, was, I think, in these words, (keeping the guinea,) ' I don't answer such a case as this for one guinea. Geo. Hill, Lin. Inn,' adding year and day. The serjeant always conversed with me very freely. I met him upon our staircase after the long vacation, and he addressed me thus: ' My dear friend, you will be shocked to hear what a loss I have sustained since I saw you.' I expressed great concern that any thing should have happened which he had so much cause to lament. Oh, he said, he had never had so much cause of grief, or suffered such a calamity. Before I could express another word, he said, 'I have lost poor dear Mrs. Hill.' And, then pausing for some time, during which I felt greatly and painfully on his account, he at last broke silence, saying, ' I don't know, though, that the loss was so great ; for she had all her property, Mr. Attorney, to her separate use.' }! " Lord Thurlow, when chancellor, called me into his room at Lin- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 167 coin's Inn Hall, and, among other things, asked me if I did not think that a wooden machine might be invented to draw bills and answers in chancery. I told him that I should be glad if such a machine could be invented, as my stationer's copy of my pleadings generally cost me more than the fees paid me by the solicitors. Many years after this, and when he had ceased to be chancellor, and I was attor- ney-general, a bill w r as filed against his friend Mr. Macnamara, the conveyancer, and Lord Thurlow advised him to have the answer sent to me to be perused and settled. The solicitor brought me the answer. I read it. It was so wretchedly ill composed and drawn, that I told him that not a word of it would do : that I had not time to draw an answer from beginning to end : that he must get some gentleman to draw the answer from beginning to end who understood pleading, and then bring it to me to peruse. I went down to the House of Lords the same day to plead a cause at the bar there. Lord Thurlow was in the House and came to the bar to me, and said, ' So I understand you think my friend Mac's answer won't do.' 'Do!' said I: 'my lord, it won't do at all: it must have been drawn by that wooden machine which you formerly told me might be invented to draw bills and answers.' ' That's very unlucky,' says Thurlow, ' and impudent, too, if you had known the fact, that I drew the answer myself.' ' " In the troublesome times of sedition, between 1793 and 1797, among the various persons who were brought before the secretary of state or the privy council to be examined, was a boy, I should think about twelve or thirteen years of age, who, though so young, had his head full of politics, sedition, reform and revolution, and was very lavish in the statement of all his opinions ; and, in the course of such statement, laid on Mr. Pitt most unsparingly, who was present, though the boy did not know that fact. Mr. Pitt said to him, * Pray, my boy, did you ever see Mr. Pitt?' 'See him! see him!' said the boy ; ' no, no, I would not have these eyes sullied by looking at such a fellow!'" " When Lord Nelson first appeared at the levee at St. James's after losing his arm, his majesty, acknowledging his great services, added, 'But your country has a claim for a bit more of you." "Jemmy Boswell called upon me at my chambers in Lincoln's Inn, desiring to know what would be my definition of Taste. I told him I must decline informing him how I should define it ; because I knew he would publish what I said would be my definition of it, and I did not choose to subject my notion of it to public criticism. He continued, however, his importunities in frequent calls, and, in one, complained much that I would not give him my definition of taste, as he had that morning got Henry Dundas's (afterwards Lord Melville), Sir Archibald Macdonald's, and John Anstruther's defini- tions of taste. ' Well, then,' I said, ' Boswell, we must have an end of this. Taste, according to my definition, is the judgment which Dundas, Macdonald, Anstruther and you manifested when you deter- mined to quit Scotland, and to come into the south. You may pub- lish this if you please.' " 168 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XIV. 17981799. Treasurership of Middle Temple. Measures against disaffection. Prosecution of O'Coigley and others. Punishments for political offences. Attorney-general's illness. Prosecution of Gilbert Wakefield. Awkward squad. Treasonable and Seditious Practices Bill. Services of Sir John Scott in the House of Commons; his demeanour toward Mr. Pitt. Vacancy in the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas. Sir J. Scott's emoluments at the bar. Anecdotes of lawyers. Lord North- ington. T. Cowper. Lord Mansfield. Sir Fletcher Norton. Serjt. Davy. Lord C. B. Macdonald and Baron Graham. Judge Willes. Mr. Dunning. Lord Nor- bury, &c. &c. FROM the latter part of Michaelmas term, 1797, to the corresponding period in 1798, Sir John Scott served the office of treasurer, that is, principal of the Society of the Middle Temple. The devolution of this annual honour is determined by election, which usually falls upon each master of the bench in the order of his seniority there. During his year, the treasurer has a potential voice in directing the financial and other affairs of the society, and filling up any vacancies that may happen in its patronage. On the 4th of April, 1798, the attorney-general introduced the bill for preventing the publication of newspapers "by persons not known." After two discussions, which were neither very interesting nor very keen, it passed into law, as the statute of the 38th Geo. 3, c. 78. A message from the crown was delivered, on the 20th of April, to both Houses of Parliament, informing them of the preparations which the enemy were making for the invasion of England, and recom- mending the consideration of measures for defeating the machinations of disaffected persons in this country. Upon these grounds another bill was passed for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus till the 1st day of the following February. It was in the spring of 1798 that a prosecution for high treason was instituted against the Rev. James O'Coigley, Mr. Arthur O'Con- nor, John Binns and others, which was tried at Maidstone on the 21st and 22d days of May. Mr. Gurney, who defended Binns, made it one of his topics with the jury, that the attorney-general had always failed in his prosecutions for high treason. "The attorney-general," said he, "in his opening, told you, with a seriousness and soJemnjty well becoming the occasion, that he should make out such a case against the prisoners at the bar, that he thought it was not within the compass of possibility for them to give such an answer to it as to entitle them to a verdict of acquittal. Gentlemen, that language may be somewhat new to you, but it is not new to me. I have heard the same kind of language from the same" learned gentleman, delivered in CHANCELLOR ELDON. 169 the same solemn manner, more than once, or twice, or thrice, or even four times ; but I never yet knew that jury, in a case of high treason, who, at the conclusion of the cause, coincided with him in judgment." In point of fact there had been five prior prosecutions for high treason by Sir John Scott, all of which had failed. The first, second, and third, were those against Hardy, Tooke and Thelwall : the fourth was against William Stone: and the fifth against Robert Thomas Crossfield. However, on the present, which was the sixth occasion, one of the prisoners, O'Coigley, was convicted, the rest, among whom was Mr. Gurney's client, escaped. In the report of this case, 27 Howell's State Trials, 120, there occurs another example of Sir John Scott's good temper and forbear- ance. Mr. Fergusson, then a very young man, who was counsel for one of the prisoners, interrupted the attorney-general's reply with the uncivil expression, "This is a gross misstatement of this letter." The attorney-general's only notice of this impropriety was, " I excuse Mr. Fergusson ; because, when I had the good fortune to be as young as he is, I was as impatient." Soon after the meeting of Parliament in the following November, a bill was introduced for still further continuing the suspension of the Habeas Corpus till May 1799. The few members who, at that time, constituted the actual opposition, (for Mr. Fox and his immediate adherents had systematically discontinued, or as they termed it, se- ceded from, all attendance in the House of Commons,) objected to the second reading of this bill, and complained of the hardships now inflicted on persons imprisoned for political offences. The attorney-general, in supporting the measure, acquainted the House, that in consequence of some complaints which had been put forth on another occasion respecting the severity of the punishments inflicted for libel, and which seriously reflected on the Court of King's Bench, he had been led to trace the history of its proceedings upon this subject; and it would be found, he said, from a comparison of the sentences passed by that court during the last six years, with those of any other period since the Revolution, that the present judges, without neglecting their duty, had considerably softened the character of punishment in general, and particularly of punishment for libel. Formerly, the course had been for the attorney-general to prescribe the punishments of persons brought up for judgment; but he himself had followed the practice of a distinguished lawyer whom he revered and loved; he meant Lord Thurlow, the first attorney-general who disused the immemorial practice of directing the sentence: and if that disuse had not been the sole cause of the modern mitigation in the punishment of libel, much lenity had undoubtedly followed upon the change. Sir John Scott then observed upon the increased efforts which, in late times, had been made to propagate sedition and bring into contempt the religious, political and moral institutions of the country, and every individual who held a conspicuous position in the administration of the law or of the government. He concluded by adverting to the particular cases in which severity had been imputed, and showed the exaggeration and even falsehood of the complaints, and the malignity and pertinacious repetition of the offences. The discussion on the Suspension Bill was renewed on the motion for going into committee : the attorney-general again disproved the imputed oppression and cruelty : and after a speech and protest in the House of Lords from Lord Holland, who seems to have been the only active opponent of the measure among the Peers, it was passed through the legislature in the beginning of the new year. 170 LIFE OF LORD Mr. Pensam used to relate an incident, which, though unimportant in itself, deserves to be mentioned as illustrating the kindness of Sir John Scott's disposition. He was summoned as attorney-general to attend a council held in 1798 at Weymouth, where George the Third was passing the autumn. The then clerk of the council was Mr. Fawkener. The attorney-general came down in a chaise with Mr. James Holdship, his clerk : who was not, as barrister's clerk often is, a mere servant, but a superior and confidential person : and Mr. Fawkener travelled in another chaise with his servant, who had been a soldier under his command in the guards. Fawkener proposed to change partners, by joining Sir John Scott in one chaise, and putting his own servant with Holdship in the other. The attorney- general hesitated. Fawkener apologized for having made a proposal which he feared was not agreeable. " Why, Fawkener," said the attorney- general, " I will tell you. There is not a gentleman in England whose society would give me more gratification than your's. But Holdship has been with me eight and twenty years : I have the greatest regard for him : he knows all my business and books, and I can hardly tell how I should go on if any thing happened to him. If I were to put him in a chaise with a servant, he might think it a slight : and that I would not inflict upon him, even for the pleasure of travelling with you." Fawkener again apologized, and admitted the force and kind- ness of the reason assigned. However, it turned out at last that Mr. Holdship, on hearing of the proposal, was well pleased with it: per- haps as not disliking to travel with a servant who might pass for his own. So next morning the two chaises started according to the sug- gested arrangement, the attorney- general and Mr. Fawkener tra- velling in one, and Holdship, with Mr. Fawkener's servant, in the other. It appears, from a few lines of Sir John Scott's writing, in a memo- randum book, containing some items of his property, that about the beginning of the year 1799 he laboured under some severe indis- position. "9th January 1799. I have set down these particulars. This little book may be of use to my family, before another year com- mences. The complaint in my breast it may please God to make the occasion of previously removing me. His holy will be done!" This year was a fruitful one in political prosecutions. The most remarkable of them was the charge against the Rev. Gilbert Wake- field, who was tried in the Court of King's Bench on the 21st of February, for a seditious pamphlet containing a farrago of monstrous calumnies against the government and institutions of the country. The following are samples of this libel : "The established conduct of these ministers constitutes an indubitable proof of their ill faith," &c. "They have occasioned a devastation of the human species, infi- nitely tremendous, beyond the most merciless tyrants of ancient or modern times : the death of a fellow-creature is no more to them than the fall of an autumnal leaf in the pathless desert: land and sea are covered with the carcasses of their slain : they have engendered sham plots, false alarms and visionary assassinations, for the pur- poses of deluding the unwary, and to establish their own power by a military despot- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 171 ism, in due time over England, like that which now tramples bleeding Ireland to the earth," &c. &c. " When I see religion employed as a state engine of despotism and murder, by a set of mea who are worse than heathens and infidels in their lives, when I observe these and other enormities, which the time would fail me to enumerate, committed without scruple and without remorse, to maintain, forsooth, a degenerate constitution of ideal excellence and political depravity, I revolt at such an audacious imposition, and pity an understanding that can be duped by such despi- cable artifice." Mr. Wakefield, who had acquired some celebrity as a classical scholar, seemed on his trial to be under the dominion of a political frenzy which nothing could check. He conducted his own defence in a strain of unmeasured abuse against the attorney-general and others, interlarding his invective with classical and theological allu- sions, very much more copious than apposite. He declared that "the very appointment of attorney-general has been esteemed essentially destructive of all honour and integrity, by those who have observed the uniform conduct of those law-officers in succession." "Be my notions innocent," pursued he "or be they dangerous, they are but the visions of a peaceful and retired scholar, revealed to enlightened and speculative men. In short (which is my real crime) I look on Mr. Fox as the angel of redemption, and on Mr. Pitt as the demon of destruction." "Aristotle, in his book on politics, makes no secret of a predilection for republican government in competition with monarchical: not apprehensive that Alexander, like the unbookish bigots who are molesting me, would take offence at the speculations of his preceptor: nor have I read in the monuments of Attic genius, that the Mace- donian attorney-general filed an information of scurrility and lies against the philoso- pher of Stagira." The attorney-general's reply consisted only of a few words. Ac- knowledging the right of every man to canvass the conduct of minis- ters, he could not admit Mr. Wakefteld's title to h4d them up us murderers and robbers, or to shower abuse upon the monarchy, the nobility, the church and the House of Commons. "If, gentlemen," concluded he, "yon see the question in the light in which I see it, as I believe you do, I should think that I degraded myself and insulted you by offer- ing to make any reply to what has fallen from the defendant: and if you do not see it in this light, you must say that Mr. Gilbert Wakefield lives in this country under one law, and all the rest of his majesty's subjects under another." Lord Kenyon, who tried the case, said, in summing up, "I shall leave to him" (the defendant) "in the moment of calm reflection, if ever that moment arrive, whether any thing that has passed has been of such a nature as to call for that torrent of abuse with which he has overwhelmed the attorney- general." The learned judge then pronounced a vindication and high eulogy of Sir John Scott: and, byway, perhaps, of counterpoise to the reve- rend defendant's show of learning, concluded thus: ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores," is an expression which has often been used ; but the experience of this case has shown that it is not always correct. The defendant was found guilty, and sentenced to two years' im- prisonment. Not content with serving the crown in his civil capacity, Sir John Scott had thought proper to evince his loyalty in a military character 172 LIFE OF LORD also ; but, according to his own account, the sword became him by no means so well as the gown. He records his deficiency in the follow- ing passage of his Anecdote Book : " During the long war I became one of the Lincoln's Inn Volun- teers, Lord Ellenborough at the same time being one of that corps. It happened, unfortunately for the military character of both of us, that we were turned out of the awkward squadron for awkwardness. I think Ellenborough was more awkward than I was, but others thought that it was difficult to determine which of us was the worst." He told Mrs. Forster that his brother William did better, and actually commanded a corps. A report from a committee of secrecy, appointed by the House of Commons to inquire into the proceedings of persons and societies engaged in treasonable conspiracy, was presented in March 1799 by Mr. Secretary Dundas, and formed the basis of a motion, made by Mr. Pitt on the 19th of April, for leave to introduce two bills, one of which was to be a temporary act for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus till March 1800, and the other a permanent one for the more effectual suppression of treasonable and seditious societies and prac- tices. Mr. Tierney opposed both measures : he regarded the existing laws as fully ade- quate to the objects professed: and he argued that the true way of quieting the dis- contented would be to concede a reform in Parliament. Sir John Scott assured him, that those men, however they might dislike the princi- ples of the law officers, would have just as little respect for any of Mr. Tierney's own theories that should stop short of universal representation, and the other extreme points of their political, creed. They would consider the honourable gentleman as doing nothing, unless he would agree to the annihilation of monarchy, the subversion of aristocracy and the confusion of property. Unless he would agree to a scheme which would make every rich man poor, and no poor man rich, he was doing nothing. It was true, as had been observed, that in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the mere suspension of the Habeas Corpus had been found sufficient. But in those times the contention was which of two rival families should possess the throne of these realms : the contention in the present day was to put the throne upon a wholly new founda- tion, and reduce the other branches of the legislature to nothing. He possessed, as attorney-general, a mass of papers, which he should be ashamed for his country if he were obliged to exhibit as the produce of its press. When the Constitutional Society assumed a new character, and incorporated with itself (he Corresponding Society, whose affiliated branches had debauched half the great towns in the kingdom, the proceedings of these bodies had been such as had warranted indictments for trea- son. But the bodies implicated in the evidence now possessed by the House, were so numerous and so widely spread, that proceedings under the present law, which could only be by way of still further indictments for treason, would be practically out of the question. The better course, therefore, was to dissolve the societies by a new enactment, and thus prevent the necessity of extreme rigour. The second of the two bills would effect that object, at the same time that it would leave free all meetings for constitutional purposes. Another ground for the proposed legislation was, that the existing law was baffled by the secrecy of the illegal meetings, and by the oath which bound the members to withhold all evidence against each other. It was not denied that the object of these societies was to extend the influence of French princi- ples : and the great desideratum, therefore, was the total dissolution of them. The bill for the suppression of treasonable and seditious societies and practices became a permanent law as the 39th Geo. 3. c. 79. The bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus was passed, and further renewed in subsequent sessions. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 173 It appears to have been in the debate of the 31st of May, 1799, respecting the claims of Mr. Palmer upon the post-office, that Sir John Scott made his last speech in the House of Commons. He opposed those claims. The next month completed his sixteenth year of parliamentary ser- vice. During almost eleven sessions of that period, he had been a law officer of the crown. His speaking had been chiefly upon legal subjects: but from the quickness with which he gathered information upon business of every description, and the facility with which he delivered himself, his aid had been sometimes put in requisition upon matters not belonging to his immediate province. In one of his latest conversations, he told Mr. Farrer, " Mr. Pitt has sent for me on the morning of a day on which a debate was to come on, and said to me, ' attorney-general, you must speak on such a one's motion to- night.' Upon my representing that I was utterly ignorant upon the subject, and could not possibly be prepared to speak, he would say, ' Sit down, and I will soon give you sufficient information.' Accord- ingly, in half an hour, he would give me almost all that was worth knowing, in a clear, concise statement : and would conclude by say- ing, ' There, now, you are quite as equal to debate on the subject as I am. You must follow Mr. So-and-so in the debate." Mr. Wilberforce has left behind him a gratifying testimonial to the independence of character evinced by Sir John Scott during his pro- gress through the House of Commons. "Sir John Scott used to be a great deal at my house. I saw much of him then, and it is no more than his due to say, that, when he was solicitor and attorney-gene- ral under Pitt, he never fawned and flattered as some did, but always assumed the tone and station of a man who was conscious that he must show he respects himself, if he wishes to be respected by others." Life of Wilberforce, vol. v. p. 214. The policy pursued by him, as attorney-general, in the prosecution of libel and sedition, has been censured by some as too stern and sweeping ; but the circumstances of those times required, and there- fore justified, a strictness, which, in a calmer season, would have been blameable, because unnecessary. It is more easy than fair, when the danger has been surmounted, to say that a different con- duct would have effected the same deliverance. His lady's brother had been married in the preceding March. The passages subjoined refer to this event: Sir John Scott to the Rev. Matthew Surtees. (Extract.) " Westminster Hall, Thursday, (6th June, 1799.) " Dear Mat " I have at present an interval of time between two causes, which I am devoting to the purpose of expressing the warmest and most affectionate wishes (for myself and on behalf of your sister), that Mrs. S. and you may enjoy all the ' fausta et felicia* of life. Nobody more sincerely and anxiously feels those wishes than we do. Pray Jet us hear from you occasionally, and I hope time will bring us acquainted with our sister, of whom I hear what I like to hear, from those whom we lawyers should speak of as witnesses rather more disinterested than the gentleman to whom I address myself can be. I have great pleasure in telling you lhat we are all very well: better than all of us have been, for some years, at the same time. We had a most glorious exhibition here on the king's birthday in the review of the volunteer corps, which furnished much the most magnificent spectacle I have ever seen. As a non-effective 174 LIFE OF LORD in an awkward squadron, I had the modesty not to show myself in arms, though I have military character enough to attend the drill occasionally in a more private scene. Your friend Major Sir W. Scott's corps, not having yet been bold enough to attempt the strong measure of firing, were also absent. I am likely to remain some time longer in the miseries of my office, unless I am turned out, all my superiors being in deplorably good health. We have very good news from the Austrians and Suwarrow, in an extraordinary Gazette this morning. When are we to have peace a^ain? You divines, I doubt, can't solve all the difficulties which the horrid state of events permitted through the world, presents to a thinking mind. Wiih kindest regards to Mrs. S., believe me, " Dear Mat. " Affectionately yours, "J. SCOTT." When this letter was written, there appeared no glimpse of promo- tion; but in the very next month, the chief justiceship of the Com- mon Pleas became vacant. Sir James Eyre, by whose death on the 8th of July this opening was made, had been successively recorder of London, a puisne baron of the exchequer, chief baron of the same court, and chief justice of the Common Pleas. "He told me," says Lord Eldon, in his Anecdote Book, " that he once asked Wilkes why he so unmercifully and so constantly abused him in all his speeches to the livery of London, where Eyre was recorder, saying, at the same time, that in private he always spoke of him as if he had a regard for him. ' So I have,' said Wilkes, ' and it is for that rea- son I abuse you in public : I wish to have you promoted to a judge- ship.'" The emoluments of Sir John Scott at the bar have been overrated. His early fee-books are not extant ; but those of later date remain, from the beginning of 1785 to 1799, when he quitted the bar for the bench. In the fee-book of 1785, his total receipts, after the deduc- tion of some fees returned, are set down at 5766 guineas. He ap- pears to have usually gone only a part of the spring circuit, of which this is the entry in 1785 : 20 March to 4 April, circuit, 141 guineas, 148/. Is. The summer circuit is less accurately noted, thus, " Circuit, (say about, for 'tis conjecture) 420/." In the account of 1786, the sum received on the spring circuit from the 23d of March to the 12th of April is set down at 173 guineas, be- side two or three fees not then paid, of which the amount is not stated. The sum received on the summer circuit, from the 6th of August, is entered as 480 guineas: and the total receipt of the year, after deduc- tion of returned fees, is summed up at 68331. Is.: which 7s. should probably be 8s., making 6508 guineas. In the account of 1787, his absence from London for the spring circuit is noted as having been from the 24th of March to the 9th of April : and his receipts are set down at 145 guineas, exclusive of something not then paid. The absence for the summer circuit begins on the 27th of July : and the entry of fees stands thus : Newcastle - 58 guineas, 60/. 18s. Carlisle - 99 103/. 19s. Appleby - 10 10/. 10s. CHANCELLOR ELDOJT. 175 Lancaster - 184 guineas, 193/. 4s. Durham Chancellor's fee 1001. Fees 21/. The total for the year 1787 is set down, after deduction of fees returned, at 16001. 7s.: which Is. probably ought to be 19s., making 7239 guineas. Such variances between the computations by pounds and by guineas are frequent in these books, owing probably to mis- castings of the shillings in so great a number of pages as are con- tained in the day-book of each year. In 1788, his absence from London for the spring circuit is entered as from the 16th of March to the 5th of April: and his receipts as 179 guineas, exclusive of his salary and fees as Chancellor of Durham, which were 100Z. and 17/. The summer circuit of the same year, from the 17th of July, is noted thus : Guineas. s. Newcastle - 57 59 7 (should probably be 17s.) Carlisle - 109 114 9 Appleby - 30 31 10 Lancaster - 159 166 19 Durham - 130 The total of the year, after deduction of returned fees, is summed up at 84 19/. 14s. This summer circuit was his last: for in the June immediately preceding it, he had been made solicitor-general, after which the usage of the profession would not have permitted him to go his cir- cuit, except, as he did, for a single time, that he might fulfil his retainers. For several years, however, he continued, in the summer and sometimes in the spring also, to discharge his duties and receive his fees as Chancellor of Durham. The total receipt of the year 1789 (the fees of solicitor-general being included) is summed up at 9559/. 10s., clear of some deductions for returned fees.* The respective incomes of the succeeding years, after a deduction in each year except 1794, for fees returned, were as follows: For 1790, 9684/. 15s.: for 1791, 10,213/. 13s. 6d.: for 1792, 9080/. 9s.: in 1793, when he had become attorney-general, the amount was 10,330/. Is. 4d.: in 1794, it was 11,592/.: in 1795, it was 11,149/. 15s. 4d.: in 1796, the most productive year of all, it was 12,140^. 15s. 8d.: in 1797, it was 10,861/. 5s. 6d.: and in 1798, the last entire year of his practice at the bar, it was 10,557/. 17s. The following professional reminiscences and traditions had been stored up by Sir John Scott, during the long practice which he was now to quit: and, as they are not connected with his personal history, nor assignable to any particular subjects or dates, they may, perhaps, be most conveniently inserted here, at the conclusion of that period of his life during which they were collected. All of these, except * These fignres show that he underrated his probable receipts, when, shortly after his appointment in 1788, he told the king that his income would be diminished by it. Chap. IX. 176 LIF E OF LORD the two at the end of the present chapter, are from the Anecdote Book: " When Sir Robert Henley was keeper of the great seal, and pre- sided in the House of Lords as lord keeper, he could not enter into debate as a chancellor (being a peer) does, and, therefore, when there was an appeal from his judgments in the Court of Chancery, and the law lords then in the House moved to reverse his judgments, which professional tradition represents them to have done frequently, when professional opinions of lawyers, not members of the House, were confidently stated as approving those judgments, the lord keeper could not state the grounds of his opinions given in judgment, and support his decisions. He was frequently much out of temper with the pro- ceedings in which his opinions were reversed, when he thought it impossible to maintain that they were wrong. In the famous case of Drury and Drury, the bar of the time when his judgment was given, and all subsequent times, held his judgment to be perfectly right, and that it was impossible for sound lawyers to impeach it. The law lords, however, prevailed upon the House to reverse it. The keeper was very angry: and tradition tells us, that in going up St. Martin's Lane, in his way home, his coach stopped, and in some anger he said to the coachman, ' Why don't you drive on ? ' The coachman replied, ' My lord, I can't yet if I do I shall kill an old woman.' 'Drive on,' said the keeper, ' if you do kill her, she has nothing to do but to ap- peal to the House of Lords.' After he became chancellor and Lord Northington, this system of reversal came to an end. The lords who so reversed his judgments, when lord keeper, were Lord Hardwicke and Lord Mansfield, I think." " I have been assured that when Lord Northington quitted the chancellorship, and was placed in another office, I think that of lord president, the Archbishop of Canterbury of that day congratulated him upon his removal from his office of eternal and unceasing labour and fatigue to a situation of so much ease and quiet. There was a great difference between the emoluments of the two offices. The party congratulated was much out of humour upon receiving these congratu- lations. Answering the archbishop, he said very sulkily, ' I suppose, now, you would think I was extremely civil and kind, if I was to congratulate your grace upon a translation from Canterbury to Llan- daff! ' " Tom Cowper, barrister and king's counsel, argued a case in the Court of King's Bench, upon the right of the parson of a parish to tithes in kind in the parish of Rebus, in Hampshire. The court was against him, and he then said, * I see your lordships are of opinion that ' Est modus in Rebus*,' and therefore I shall give your lordships no further trouble.' Lord Mansfield, who did not like trouble, and did like a joke, though it was a mere pun, much approved this." " Taylor, the oculist, dining with the barristers upon the Oxford circuit, having related many wonderful things which he represented Horat. Sat. Lib. I. Sat. 1. line 106. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 177 himself to have performed, was asked by Bearcroft, a little out of humour with his self-conceit, ' Pray, chevalier, as you have told us of a great many things which you have done and can do, will you be so good as to try to tell us any thing which you cannot do?' 'No- thing so easy,' replied Taylor: ' I cannot pay my share of the dinner bill, and that, sir, I must beg of you to do.' ' "A Jew, coming to bail a person in the King's Bench, was superbly dressed, in order that he might pass the better as sufficient in sub- stance. He had on, particularly, a most rich gold embroidered waist- coat. The plaintiff's counsel was pressing him about his property, when old Lord Mansfield, who sometimes sacrificed a little to his love of a joke, said, ' Don't waste your time by objecting to a gentleman with such a waistcoat: he would burn for more than the debt.' " " When Macklin, the actor, was very old, an attempt was made to drive him from the stage by certain persons whom he afterwards prosecuted for the conspiracy. He succeeded, or would have suc- ceeded, in his prosecution ; but, standing upon the floor in the King's Bench, he said he had no resentment against those who had so ill- treated him ; he wished only for an apology. That was made : upon which Lord Mansfield said, Mr. Macklin, ' You have acted well all your life ; but you have acted to-day more to your honour and credit than you ever acted before.' ' " Upon the trial of a horse-cause before Lord Mansfield, a witness was examined, who stated that the horse was returned to his master, after the gentleman, who had bought it, had kept it nearly three months. 'What!' said Lord Mansfield, 'was your master willing, at the end of three months, to take it back again ? How could he be such a fool? W T ho advised him to do that?' 'My lord,' said the witness, * I advised him to take the horse again.' ' How could you be such a fool? ' said the chief justice. ' What was your reason for giving that advice ? ' ' Please you, my lord,' said the witness, ' I told my master, what all the world knows, that your lordship was always against a horse-dealer, right or wrong, and therefore he had better take it back.'" " When the Dog Act had passed, which was brought into the House by Sir Thomas C , and by the enactments of which, the person convicted before a justice of peace of stealing a dog, was to be forth- with whipped, but, nevertheless, was to have the benefit of an appeal to the quarter sessions which should be held next after, the judge who was upon the northern circuit (I think Baron Perrott was the judge), in giving his charge to the grand jury at Durham, stated that it was his habit to give the grand jury the most useful information he could respecting the cases in the calendar, and to explain the several acts which had passed in the preceding session of Parliament relative to offences. He then went through several, with observations, and concluded by adverting to the Dog Act. This, he said, he and his eleven brethren the judges, had endeavoured to understand, but they were unable to comprehend it a thing he should have much lamented, if he did not perceive that the gentleman who brought the bill into VOL. I. 12 178 LIFE OF LORD Parliament was their foreman, and who could, of course, inform them what was the value of an appeal against being whipped, after the whipping had been inflicted." " Many absurdities have been noticed in Irish acts of Parliament ; perhaps none greater than what, I think, may be found in an English act of Parliament. There was an act for rebuilding Chelmsford gaol. By one section, the new gaol was to be built from the materials of the old gaol ; by another, the prisoners were to be kept in the old gaol till the new gaol w r as finished." " Serjeant Sayerwent the circuit for some judge who was indisposed in health. He was afterwards imprudent enough to move, as counsel, to have a new trial of a cause heard before himself, for a misdirection by the judge. Lord Mansfield said, ' Brother Sayer, there is an act of Parliament which, in such a matter as was before you, gave you discretion to act as you thought right.' ' No, my lord,' said the ser- jeant, ' I had no discretion.' ' You may be right, brother,' said Lord Mansfield, ' for I am afraid even an act of Parliament could not give you discretion.' ' " Sir Fletcher Norton, at Durham, examined a sailor as a witness, who vexed Sir Fletcher by the manner and matter of his answers. ' Oh,' says Sir Fletcher, ' you affect to be a very clever fellow, quite a wit.' ' To be sure I do,' says the sailor; ' I am a well-educated one.' ' You well educated! why, where ?' said Sir Fletcher; ' where were you educated ?' 'At the university,' said the sailor. ' University !' replied Sir Fletcher; 'at what university could you be educated?' ' Why,' said the sailor, ' at the university from which you were ex- pelled for your impudence Billingsgate.' " " Sir Fletcher had the reputation of not adhering strictly to truth. It was imputed to him that he said, ' My dear lady is the most unfor- tunate player at cards that ever was known. She has played at w r hist for twenty years, and never had a trump.' ' Nay,' said somebody, 1 how can that be ? she must have had a trump when she dealt. ' Oh, as to that,' said he, ' she lost every deal during the whole tw r enty years.' " "Serjeant Davy learnt what he knew, I always understood, in the King's Bench prison. He was a tradesman (a grocer, I think) in Exeter, where he became a bankrupt. By force of a strong natural understanding, he became eminent at Nisi Prius, which such a man may be without knowing much law. On one occasion, when upon the western circuit, he had grossly abused a gentleman in his speech in a cause. The gentleman, greatly offended, sought an opportunity, at Winchester, where the offence was given, and afterwards at Salis- bury, to challenge him; but the serjeant evaded all his attempts. The other followed him to Dorchester, and knocking at a very early hour at the door of the house where the lawyer lodged, upon it being opened, he walked into the house, and walked from room to room till he found himself in the room where the lawyer was in bed. He drew open the curtains, and said that the lawyer must well know what his errand was : that he came to demand satisfaction : that he too well knew that the person upon whom that demand was made was unwill- CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 179 ing to comply with it; but that satisfaction he must have and would The serjeant began to apologize. The gentleman said he was ) be appeased by apologies or words : his honour had been tar- nished, and the satisfaction which a gentleman owed to a gentleman 7 he had calumniated, he came to demand and to insist upon. WelJ, said the serjeant, 'surely you don't mean to fall upon a naked unarmed man in bed ?' < Oh no, sir,' said the gentleman ; ' you can't but know in what way this sort of business is conducted between gentleman and gentleman.' ' Very right, then,' says the serjeant. ' If you give me your honour that you don't mean to fall upon me naked and unarmed m bed, I give you mine that I will not get out of bed 11 you are gone out of town, and I am in no danger of seeing vou again.' ' & J " Serjeant Davy had a very large brief, with a fee of two guineas only on the back of it. His client asked him if he had read his brief He pointed with his finger to the fee, and said, 'As far as that I have read, and for the life of me I can read no farther.' " _"At the Old Bailey, after a case had been gone through against a prisoner, and was strongly made out against him, Judge Gould asked who was concerned for the prisoner. Davy said, ' My lord, I am con- cerned for him, and very much concerned, after what'l have heard.' " Serjeant Davy being told in Westminster Hall, by a solicitor who lived at Henley-upon-Thames, that he had quitted business^ beckoned to his brother Serjeant N., who was an Oxford circuiteer' and, on his coming up to them, said to him, ' Brother, you are very uncivil not to notice this gentleman, an eminent solicitor upon your own circuit.' N., who, as it is said, was all civility to such persons, made a thousand apologies for his apparent neglect, and en^ao-ed the solicitor to dine with him on the following day. The solicitor then leaving the two Serjeants, Davy said, ' Brother N., this is a bite. The man has just told me he has entirely quitted business; so your dinner goes for nothing.' ' " Serjeant Davy agreed with Serjeant Whittaker to purchase two pipes of .Madeira, which were to go to the East Indies and be paid for upon their arrival in the Thames. Davy, hearing that the wine was remarkably fine, and knowing that his brother did not like payincr his money for nothing, whilst they were talking together in Westminster Hall, took occasion to say, ' Brother Whittaker, how unfortunate we have been in not insuring those two pipes of Madeira ! The vessel on board of which they were, is lost, and our Madeira is at the bottom of the sea, and now you and I have to pay our money for nothino- ' 'Our Madeira!' said Whittaker, 'I don't know what you mean. I have nothing to do with any Madeira.' 'What,' said Davy, 'you surely don't mean to deny that we were to be joint purchasers of two pipes, which, for improvement, were to go to the East Indies and back, and now to get off paying your half of what we jointly pur- Whittaker positively denied that he had ever entered into any such joint engagement. ' Well, then,' said Davy, ' I am glad of ft is the finest Madeira that ever came into the Thames. The ship and the wine are safe, and the wine is all my own.' " 180 LIFE F LORD " At the head of a court in Westminster Hall (the Exchequer,) sat one very worthy and excellent person (Lord Chief Baron Macdonald,) who never ceased taking snuff: the junior judge (Mr. Baron Graham,) who was also a very worthy and excellent person, when he first came upon the bench, was too much addicted to talking. His majesty, George III. said, ' That court has a snuff-box at one end, and a chatter-box at the other.' " "Mr. Justice Willes, the son of Chief Justice Willes, had many good qualities, but he was much too volatile, and inattentive to rea- sonably grave behaviour upon the bench. He was, however, very anxious to do right. He condemned a boy, I think, at Lancaster, and with the hope of reforming him by frightening him, he ordered him for execution next morning. The judge awoke in the middle of the night, and was so affected by the notion that he might himself die in the course of the night, and the boy be hanged, though he did not mean that he should suffer, that he got out of his bed, and went to the lodg- ings of the high sheriff, and left a reprieve for the boy ; and then, returning to his bed, spent the rest of the night comfortably." " Mr. Dunning, when at the bar, being in very great business, was asked how he contrived to get through it all. He said, ' I do one- third of it another third does itself and the remaining third con- tinues undone.' " "An attorney in Dublin having died exceedingly poor, a shilling subscription was set on foot to pay the expenses of his funeral. Most of the attorneys and barristers having subscribed, one of them applied to Toler, afterwards Lord Chief Justice Norbury, expressing his hope that he would also subscribe his shilling. ' Only a shilling,' said Toler, ' only a shilling to bury an attorney ? Here is a guinea : go and bury one-and-twenty of them.' " Lord Eldon used to tell a story of a Mr. Bicknell, a master in chan- cery, which seems to have been the original of Peter Pindar's well- known tale. Mr. Bicknell, in passing through Sheffield, bought some razors at a very low price ; but finding them worthless, called, in his way back, upon the man of whom he had bought them, and repre- sented the impossibility of shaving with them. ' Shave,' replied the man, 'did you want them to shave with?' 'Why, for what other purpose could I want them?' was the answer. 'Why, sir, I thought you wanted them to sell them again.' ' Well,' said Mr. Bicknell, ' but the person who might buy them of me, if I had meant to sell them, would have wished to shave with them.' ' True, sir,' answered the vendor, 'but what's that to you or me ?' " Lord Eldon told his grandson, the present earl, that Lord Thurlow, upon the point of giving a clergyman a living, stated to him that he must desire he would continue the same curate who had been there in the time of his predecessor, and whom he believed to be a deserv- ing man. The clergyman represented that his intended arrangements were such that he could not do so. "Very well," replied Lord Thurlow, "if you will not take him for your curate, /will make him the rector" And he did so. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 181 CHAPTER XV. 17991801. Sir J. Scott appointed Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas: title of Eldon: degree of serjeant: patent of peerage: letters to his family. Lines on his advancement. Ar- morial bearings. Parallel progress of Sir William Scott. The king's pleasure respecting Lord Eldon's wig. Death of Henry Scott. Lord Eldon's first speeches in the House of Lords: Habeas Corpus: prevention of adultery. Merits of Lord Eldon as a common law judge. Death of Judge Buller: use and province of equity jurisdiction. Death of Lord Eldon's mother. His letter on the proposal of a county representation for his eldest son. Stories of Mr. Jekyll and the Western circuit. Remarkable trials. Letter of Sir John Mitford to Lord Kenyon on state prosecutions. Lord Eldon's speech on right of search: Resignation of Mr. Pitt: Catholic question. LORD ELDON has left, in his Anecdote Book, his own account of the circumstances under which he obtained the chief justiceship, vacated by the death of Sir James Eyre. " After I had served the offices of solicitor-general and attorney- general from 1788 to 1799, the chief justiceship to the Common Pleas becoming vacant, and feeling myself worn down with labour and fatigue, I made a point of succeeding to that office. My pretensions were very much opposed by the chancellor Lord Loughborough, and by Mr. Pitt, then minister. Both wished to give the office to Sir R. P. Arden, then master of the rolls. They represented to me that it was, on my part, bad judgment to change my situation, as it certainly was in a pecuniary point of view, but I thought my health and com- fort required my retirement from the laborious office of attorney-gene- ral. Mr. Pitt was pleased also to express, repeatedly, regret that I should quit the House of Commons. The difficulties were at length overcome, Mr. Pitt agreeing, if with the chief justiceship I would, as Lord Camden did, go into the House of Lords as a peer; and the king consented, provided that I would promise not to refuse the great seal when he might call upon me to accept it. This condition, prescribed by his majesty, I thought I could not refuse to accede to." When it became known that the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas was to be filled by Sir John Scott, Lord Kenyon, who was then Lord Chief Justice of England, took an opportunity, from the bench, of expressing his congratulations to the profession, particularly to those who practised in the Common Pleas, on the appointment of one who, he said, would probably be found "the most consummate judge that ever sat in judgment." Some question now arose about the choice of a title for the proposed peerage. 182 LIFE OF LORD (Sir John Scott to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) No date ; but written July, 1799. "There seems to be, as suggested by Mitforcl, a difficulty about Allondale. The whole dale belonging to Mr. Beaumont, and I having no connection with it, it's thought it may give offence to trespass upon it. If the chancellor thinks so and you, I must resort to something else; there's hardly any that don't open to some such objection, and I may be driven to Eldon at last. " ' Sit sine labe decus' is the best motto by far that I have heard of, and John told me he had it from you. " As the ring is to be a compliment to the king, I have thought of Virgil's descrip- tion of the hive when the king is secure, as applicable to the unanimity of the country in the present security of its monarchy. Eege incolumi, mens omnibus una. "Pray, my dear brother, send me a line when you receive this. I am going to spend my last day in the Court of Chancery, and then I am to dine with the chan- cellor, so that I fear I cannot get to the Commons; and, the moment I come out of court, I could only come under strong emotions of spirits. I can find nobody that can think that Scott will do, except Lord R., and I won't have it unless you bid me; and I understand myself to have been in possession of your ideas before. "God bless you ; " Yours, " J. SCOTT." Those members of the bar who are selected for judicial office in any of the three superior courts of common law, if not already ser- jeants, are always, by ancient custom, admitted to that degree before they take their seats on the bench, and are therefore styled judges of the degree of the coif. This rank, at the period when Sir John Scott was about to receive his promotion, could be taken only in term time ; and, therefore, the long vacation having begun, Parliament was pleased, before the sealing of his patent, to pass an act, 39 Geo. 3. c. 113, whereby such persons as the crown might thenceforward appoint to be judges were enabled to take upon themselves the degree of ser- jeant in vacation. The king's writ, commanding Sir John Scott to take upon him this degree, bears date the 16th of July, 1799, on which day he took the oaths of serjeant. The rings which, according to the usage, he gave to the Serjeants and others upon his entering into their brotherhood, bore the motto from Virgil, upon which he had consulted his brother in the foregoing letter. On the 17th of July, he was sworn of the privy council. His patent of peerage is dated on the 18th, by which King George III. creates "our trusty and well-beloved Sir John Scott, knight," a peer, as "Baron Eldon of Eldon, in our county palatine of Durham," and grants that "name, state, degree, style, dignity, title and honour," " unto him the said Sir John Scott, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten and to be begotten." And by patent, dated the 19th, his majesty appoints "our right trusty and well-beloved coun- cillor, John Lord Eldon," " our chief justice of the Common Pleas." (Lord Eldon to his Mother.) 'Lincoln's Inn, 19lh July. 1799. " My dear Mother, " I cannot act under any other feeling than that you should be the first to whom I write after changing my name. My brother Harry will have informed you, I hope, * 4 Georg. 212. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 183 that the king has been pleased to make me chief justice of the Common Pleas and a peer. I feel that, under the blessing of Providence, I owe this, I hope I may say I owe this, to a life spent in conformity to those principles of virtue, which the kind- ness of my father and mother early inculcated, and which the affectionate attention of my brother, Sir William, improved in me. I hope God's grace will enable me to do my duty in the station to which I am called. I write in some agitation of spirits, but I am anxious to express my love and duty to my mother, and affection to my sisters, when I first subscribe myself, "Your loving and affectionate son, ( Lord Eldon to his brother Henry.') * My dear Harry, "I would write you a longer letter, but I am really so oppressed with the attention and kindness of my friends, that I can't preserve a dry eye. God bless you and my sister; remember me affectionately to Mr. and Mrs. Forster. You shall hear from me again. With the same heartfelt affection with which I have so often subscribed the name of J. SCOTT, I write that of your affectionate brother, " ELDOX. "Lincoln's Inn, 20ih July, 1799." (Lord Eldon la the Rev. Matthew Surtees.") " July 22d, 1799. " My dear Mat., "I am unable to express the feelings which your kind letter occasioned. In truth, such expressions of regard and good opinion, as upon this occasion I have received, whilst they administer a consolation which is invaluable with reference to what is past, I am afraid, at the same time, must oppress me with the apprehension that a greater demand is made upon me with respect to the future than I shall ever be able to satisfy. But experience has proved, in my own case, that so much indulgence is given to men acting with upright intentions, that I occasionally indulge a hope that I may be able to execute satisfactorily the important duties of that great and import- ant station which an English judge holds. I have quitted a station of great anxiety (such as I hope is unlikely to attend the office of attorney-general in after times) and of great emolument, for a situation of dignity and ease, and of infinitely less pecuniary advantage. I am sorry to add that I am not aware that it furnishes me with any new powers of attending to the advantage of others effectually. I have some reason to believe that it may not eventually render more uncertain than it was, the prospect of attaining the highest situation in the law. If the king's pleasure should ever call me out of the quiet and retirement in which it has now placed me, may I hope you will give me credit when I assure you, that as strong a motive for change as I can act upon will be found in the reflection, that the sacrifice of my own ease and comfort may enable me to gratify some anxiety about you? This change, however, is too un- certain to be much relied upon. As a symptom that I wish for connection, may I hope that you will gratify the' first request of the kind which, as a peer, I have made, viz., that you will wear my scarf as my first-named chaplain, under the statute of Hen. 8.7 Your sister, who has been considerably agitated by this change, requests the love of you, and her sister whom she does not yet know. John is gone into Wales. The rest of my family are all well. God bless you, dear Mat., and believe me, alterum sed eun- de/n, and, with mutato nomine only, " Your faithful and affectionate "EtDOX." Lord Eldon preserved, among his papers, the following hexameters upon his peerage. The author's name is not annexed : he had pro- bably no very intimate acquaintance with the family of Scott, as he mistakes the Durham estate of Eldon, whence the title is taken, for those Eldon or Eildon hills in Roxburghshire, which are associated, in poetical records, with the name of Thomas of Erceldoune, " the Rhymer." 184 LIFE OF LORD ON SEEING IS LAST NIGHT'S NEWSPAPER THE INTENDED PROMOTION AND TITLE OF SIB JOHN SCOTT. Monies, baud Musis incognita nomina, montes Claustrum olim regnorum atque alta repagula belli, Vos quando, arma minata armisque echicta, colebat Libertas raontana sibi, (dum fata vetabant Imperil pacem, atque uni submittere sceptro), Marti olim sedes, et jam celebrata Minervse! Montibus hisce novum decus addidit ipse, coronam Hinc Themidi intexens: titulos virtute paratos Hinc dedit: et patriac puros gratatur honores.* Lord Eldon's elevation to the peerage having entitled him to add supporters to his arms, this opportunity was taken of introducing into his escutcheon some honourable augmentations, commemorating the high position now attained both by him and his brother, in different branches of the law.f * Which may be thus rendered: Hills, not unnamed in song, hills, once the bound Of kingdoms, and high barrier of their wars, While Mountain Liberty, menaced with arms And arming, till'd you, (fate forbidding yet An Empire's peace, a single sceptre's sway,) Seats once of Mars ! Minerva decks you now With a new grace, from you, a coronet weaves For Themis gives, from you, the title won By merit and upon these honours pure Congratulates the land ! t NOTE BY THE PRESENT EARL. The grant of the garter king of arms bears date the 10th of October, 1799: and, after reciting his majesty's letters patent which bestow upon Lord Eldon the honour of the peerage, and the earl marshal's warrant author- izing Sir Isaac Heard, garter principal king of arms, " to grant to the said John Baron Eldon such supporters as may be proper to be borne by him, and by those to whom the said honour shall descend, in virtue of his majesty's said letters patent of creation, and also to grant, confirm and exemplify, in the same patent, the arms borne by his family, with such variation as may be necessary, to be borne by his lordship, and his descendants, and by those of his late father, William Scott, deceased:" the instrument proceeds thus: "I, the said garter, with the consent of the said earl marshal, and by virtue of my office, do by these presents grant, confirm and exemplify, to the said John Baron Eldon, the arms following, that is to say : Argent, an anchor erect, sable, between three lion's heads, erased, gules; on a chief wave azure, a portcullis Or; and for crest, on a wreath of the colours, a lion's head, erased, gules, gorged with a chain, a portcullis therefrom pendant, Or, (a mullet for difference,) to be borne by him, and his descendants, and by those of his said late father, William Scott, deceased. And I do also, by these presents, grant unto the said John Baron Eldon the supporters following: viz., On each side, a lion guardant proper, gorged with a double chain, a portcullis attached thereto, gold, from which is suspended a shield argent, charged with a civic wreath, vert ; as the same are in the margin hereof more plainly depicted, to be borne and used for ever hereafter by him the said John Baron Eldon, and by those to whom the said honour shall descend, in virtue of his majesty's said letters patent of creation : in witness," &c. At the commencement of this work, it was mentioned that Lord Eldon and his family, before his elevation to the peerage, bore the coat of arms and the crest of the Scotts of Bal weary. A seal, that belonged to his eldest son, engraved with the crest, and a shield on a panel in the hall of University College, Oxford, charged with the arms of his brother William Scott, are instances still remaining of the family having so worn them. The addition made in October, 1799, of the chain and portcullis on the crest, and of the portcullis on a chief in the shield, were granted in record of Lord Eldon having become chief justice of the Common Pleas, and as such, wearing, on state occasions, over his robe, the collar decorated with that badge of the sovereign from whom his CHANCELLOR ELDON. 185 Lord Eldon took his seat in the House of Lords on the 24th of September, 1799, introduced by Lord Grenville, then the leader of administration in that House, and Lord Walsingham, then chairman of the committees. On the 6th of November, which was then the first day of Michael- mas term, Lord Eldon was admitted a member of the Society of Ser- jeants. He was succeeded in the office of attorney-general by the then so- licitor-general, Sir John Mitford.* Lady Eldon, in all her anticipations of her lord's judicial promo- tion, had been much fretted by the consideration that he would have to assume the ordinary head-dress of the common law judges, a powdered bush-wig. She had, therefore, induced him to sit for his portrait while he was yet but attorney-general, so as to make sure of preserving a record of his features undisguised by the obnoxious peruke: and the portrait which was painted by Sir Thomas, then Mr. Lawrence, (and which remained in Lord Eldon's possession to authority was derived. The anchor, together with the azure colour and wavy border of the chief, on which ordinary of the shield the portcullis is placed, are commemorat- ive of the elevation of his brother, William Scott, to the bench as judge of (he High Court of Admiralty. The supporters appropriated to the title of Eldon again present the chain and portcullis; and the shield with the civic wreath attached to them, forms another emblem of the high civil distinctions which the brothers had attained. Heraldry is generally understood to admit of an arbitrary assumption of mottos ; nor is it customary to embody them in the wording of an heraldic grant; but in the margin of this grant to Lord Eldon, where the whole is depicted as usual, the Latin words "Sit sine labe decus," signifying " let honour be without stain," are adopted as the motto, being those suggested at the time by Lord Stowell, and which do not appear to have ever been used before, either by the Scotts, or by any other family. We find the same motto again used afterwards by Lord Stowell himself in the margin of the grant of supporters, which, when he had been created a peer, July 17, 1821, it became necessary to make to him, and which grant bears date December 7th of that year. From Lord Eldon's supporters, those of Lord Stowell differed in this respect only, that instead of the shield argent being "charged with a civic wreath vert," it is " charged with an anchor erect sable," as more peculiarly appropriate to the office of judge of the admiralty, which, at that time, he had already held for twenty-three years. When Lord Eldon took his seat as a baron, he delivered his pedigree, according to the usual course at that time. This pedigree has been lost, like most others, as I have learnt from Mr. Leary, the librarian of the House of Lords, who has collected and caused to be bound for the library of the House such pedigrees of peers as he was able to find undestroyed. It is now no longer the course of the House of Lords to require pedigrees to be delivered on similar occasions; which Mr. Leary told me was principally owing to Lord Eldon, who thought such a practice opened a channel which might, in some cases, be applied to fraudulent purposes. * NOTK ii v THK PRESKXT EARL. When the appointment of Sir John Scott to the office of solicitor-general, in 1783, was staled to the reader, the parallel progress of his brother, -Sir William Scott, to the office of king's advocate-general, and to other appointments, was mentioned. Since that year, Sir William Scott had received the appointment of master of the faculties, on the 3d of April, 1790 ; he had been elected to the bench of the Middle Temple, July 5, 1794, where he held the office of treasurer for the year 1807-8; and in the year previous to the one in which Lord Eldon was elevated from the office of attorney-general to the judgment seat, Sir William Scott became judge of the High Court of Admiraliy of England, by letters patent of King George III., which bear date October 26, 1798, and he was sworn of his majesty's most honourable privy council, on the 31st of the same mouth. 186 LIFE OF LORD his death,) is dressed in exact accordance with the toilette which he practised till his elevation to the bench. "In compliance with Lady Eldon's feeling," says the present earl, " Lord Eldon applied, as he has told me often, to King George III. to allow him to dispense with his wig at times when he was not engaged in performing official functions. He pressed on the king the fact, that in former days, under the reigns of some of his majesty's predecessors (referring, I think, particularly to James I. and Charles I.), wigs were not worn by the judges. 'True,' replied the king, 'good-humouredly, 'I admit the correctness of your statement, and am willing, if you like it, that you should do as they did : for though they certainly had no wigs, yet they wore their beards.' ' Lord Eldon, shortly before his death, relating to Mrs. Forster this story of his application to the king, mentioned also the reasons assigned by him to his majesty. "I suffered at that time from headaches; besides, I told him my wife did not like me in a wig. ' No, no,' said the king, 'I will have no innovations in my time.' ' When he became chancellor, the wig of private life was discontinued. The days of his chief justiceship, though they lasted only from July, 1799, to April, 1801, contributed greatly to his fame. On the bench of a common law court, no scope was allowed to his only judicial imperfection, the tendency to hesitate. A common law judge, when he has to try causes at Nisi Prius, or indictments in a crown court, must sum up and state his opinion to the jury on the instant ; and when he sits in bank with his brethren to decide ques- tions of law, must keep pace with them in coming to his conclusions. Thus compelled to decide without postponement, Lord Eldon at once established the highest judicial reputation: a reputation, indeed, which afterwards wrought somewhat disadvantageously against him- self when lord chancellor, by showing how little ground there was for his diffidence, and consequently how little necessity for his doubts and delays. The close of the year 1799 was saddened by the death of Henry Scott, to whom both of his brothers were much attached. On the death of this beloved relation, who is said to have been endowed with faculties not inferior to those of either William or John, the latter writes thus to his sister Barbara : " Dear Bab, "After it has pleased God to take from us one of the family, I feel most strongly pressed by my heart to send you, my mother, and sister Burden, as parts of it which yet remain, rny anxious good wishes and the expression of cordial hope for the hap- piness of all of you. I have felt very acutely upon this event, and my mind has been running back through scenes of infancy, youth and manhood, which I spent with poor Harry, till my firmness has occasionally quite failed me and my spirits have been depressed excessively. I shall be very happy to have a few lines, to hear how my poor mother and you and Jane, and all her family are, and I beg lo be most affectionately and kindly remembered to all of them. I write this where I can neither find any such paper or other matters as I ought at present to make use of; but I am sure you will receive in any form the affections of myself and all the family, and I remain, dear Bab, "Truly and cordially yours, "London, December, 1799." CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 187 The first speech of Lord Eldon in the House of Lords, of which there is any report, was made on the third reading of the bill passed in 1800 for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. Lord Hol- land having argued against the suspension, on the ground that there had been no conviction for high treason except in the single case of O'Coigley, Lore! Eldon said* that the person so convicted was proved to have been planning, with disaffected bodies of men in this country, the destruction of the British interest in Ireland; and surely the noble lord need not be told that a person attempting to sever the crown of Ireland from that of England was guilty of an overt act of trea- son. The noble lord had argued that none should be apprehended but such as could be brought to trial ; but he should know that cases might occur, in which, for want of two witnesses, persons could not be legally convicted, though no doubt remained of their guilt. But would the noble lord say that therefore no danger existed ? Would the noble lord argue that, because sufficient legal proof could only be brought against one of the men who were put upon their trial at Maidstone.the legislature should not have endeavoured to prevent the mischief] He would venture to say, that to the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act was owing the preservation of the crown in the House of Hanover; and that, by it, late and former conspiracies had been broken to pieces. The union with Ireland was completed by the legislature in the spring of 1800; but in the debates on this important measure, Lord Eldon took no part. He interested himself warmly in favour of Lord Auckland's bill for the prevention of adultery, which was discussed in the same ses- sion. The most material clause was one which prohibited the mar- riage of the adulterers after the divorce. Lord Eldon supported the principle of this clause, not because he thought it would be sufficient to prevent the enormous crime, for so he regarded it, of adultery, but because he thought it would have a tendency to such prevention. It was true that the contract of a seducer to marry his victim was invalid in law; but a simple and silly woman might be likely enough to act on the opinion that it would be fulfilled, anil that might be one of the terms on which she surrendered her virtue. Let her, there- fore, be told by this bill that she would be effectually prevented from marrying her paramour.f The first bill having been found defective, Lord Auckland, in the month of May, introduced another, having the same general objects, and proposing to punish adultery as a misdemeanour. This bill being opposed by Lord Moira, Lord Eldon deprecated the rejection of it, because he was certain that nine out of every ten cases of adultery that came into the courts below, or to that bar, were founded in the most infamous collusion, and that, as the law stood, it was a farce and a mockery, most of the cases being previously settled in some room in the city; and that juries were called to give exemplary damages, which damages were never paid to, nor expected by, the injured husband.t On the third reading, Lord Eldon again spoke in favour of the bill. It passed the House of Lords, but was thrown out in the House of Commons. In the summer of 1800 the bench of the Gommon Pleas was de- prived of a most able and efficient judge, by the sudden death of Mr. Justice Buller. His talents and his legal acquirements have been Par). Hist. 1800, Feb. 27. f Parl. Hist. 1 800, April 4. * Parl. Hist. 1800, May 16. Parl. Hist. 1800, May 23. ]88 LIFE OF LORD universally appreciated : and Lord Eldon has left a testimonial to his candour also. "I must do Mr. Justice Buller," says he, in the Anecdote Book, " the credit of recording, that in my opinion he had more candour as a judge than the profession in general thought he possessed. He went into the Court of King's Bench utterly unacquainted with the doctrines of equity. Lord Mansfield had said in that court, that ' he never liked law so well as when it was like equity.' Buller was per- suaded that this was right. The truth seems to be, that Lord Mans- field had not retained a very accurate memory of cases in equity. In order, however, to introduce and establish this likeness between law and equity, doctrines were held, new in courts of law. When Lord Kenyon succeeded Lord Mansfield, this was set right, and suitors for equity were sent to the courts of equity. When I sat with Mr. Jus- tice Buller in the Court of Common Pleas, and had some temperate talk with him upon these subjects, I think he so far departed from the opinion of Lord Mansfield, 'that law was never so right, as when it was like equity,' as to be not much indisposed to agree with Lord Chief Justice de Grey, who, in the same week in which Lord Mans- field had declared that ' he never liked law so well as when it was like equity,' took occasion publicly to state from the bench, that ' he never liked equity so well, as when it was like law.' With all de- ference to these great men, law and equity ought to be considered as distinct systems ; and that they are so considered and kept apart, in England, is, perhaps, one of the best provisions in our constitution." In another passage of the Anecdote Book he pursues the subject further : " Lord Kenyon, when chief justice, was very apt, if, upon a trial, he found that a plaintiff could not succeed, who, in his judgment, ought to succeed according to equity, but could not be relieved at law, to advise the party to apply to a court of equity. No man hated iniquity more than he detested it, and therefore he was always dis- posed to put a deserving party in the right way, who had begun his suit for justice in a wrong way. But he had the habit of advising parties to apply to a court of equity, in terms which affected, by the weight of his authority, the credit of such a court. The advice was generally given thus : This party can't succeed at law, though in conscience he is right: I must, therefore, say to him, JIM in malam rem: and then construed the words thus: Go into the Court of Chan- cery. Lord Thurlow once said to him, * Taffy, when did you first think the Court of Chancery was such a mala res'? I remember that you made a very good thing of it. And when did attornies and so- licitors become so very odious as you, now and then, at present repre- sent them to be ? I don't remember that when we were in the Court of Chancery they were thought by you to be such very bad fellows.' I have heard dozens of common lawyers flippantly abusing courts of equity, upon the authority of this piece of Latin of Lord Kenyon's ; and it is very much to be lamented, perhaps, that the authority of so great a lawyer, (who so thoroughly well knew how defective and in- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 189 sufficient the common law would be to answer the exigencies of com- plete justice, and how absolutely necessary the jurisdiction exercised in the Court of Chancery is,) can be resorted to in support of that abuse of such a court by those who may know the practice of courts of law, but who are certainly most astonishingly ignorant of the nature and principles of the jurisprudence of this country taken altogether, and of the necessity of that separation of courts of law and equity which so mainly contributes to the complete and effectual administration of jus- tice in this country, and secures to the people an administration of justice to an extent and in a degree such as are unknown and must be ever unknown where that separation is not effectually made and observed." The opinions, here censured by Lord Eldon for their flippancy, seem to be much modified since his time. At this day, hardly any one will be found to deny that in many branches of equitable juris- diction, the machinery of a court of law would be unsuitable, and indeed wholly inadequate. This is practically proved by what occurs every week in cases where the jurisdictions of law and of equity are concurrent : as in matters of account, and in suits for contribution, where the party seeking his remedy may have it in either court, but yet is almost always found to prefer a court of equity, because its instruments for administering that remedy are so much more complete than those which a court of law affords. It would be no good reason- ing to say, that if courts of equity were abolished, these instruments and machinery might be transferred to the courts of law; because that would not be to blend the two separate systems into one, but only to commit the two systems, still separate, to the administration of one judicature. Such was actually the constitution of the court of ex- chequer until it was remodeled, in 1841, when its equitable judica- ture was transferred to the Court of Chancery ; which very transfer arose from a general feeling that the two systems of law and equity are not conveniently administered in the same court. The only de- scriptions of cases in which any experienced person would now think of investing a court of law with the jurisdiction exercised in equity (and even in these cases the change would be by no means free from practical objections), are, where the question turns upon one demand, mooted by one plaintiff or one set of plaintiffs, all having one and the same relation to the subject, against one defendant, or one set of de- fendants, also having all of them one and the same relation to the subject: as where several sue or are sued in a class. The matter may, perhaps, be fairly stated thus : If the demands are numerous, as where an estate is to be administered for creditors ; or if there be more parties than one, who do not, among themselves, hold the same rela- tion to the matter, as in many cases of joint-stock and other mercan- tile transactions, the objects sought are usually too various, and the facts too much complicated with considerations of law, to be properly dealt with otherwise than by that sort of manifold inquiry which is best conducted by a master, and best solved by his report. On the other hand, where there is a complete unity of interest on each side, 190 LIF E OF LORD arid that interest turns upon the decision of one matter, as where a plaintiff applies for an injunction against the piracy of copyright or patent right, and is content to waive the account of copies or articles piralically sold or where he seeks simply an injunction against waste, or a foreclosure upon an ordinary mortgage, or even the specific per- formance of a contract, in these and other cases of the like charac- ter,* there is reasonable ground to argue that the jurisdiction upon affidavit, which is exercised in many matters by a court of law, might be as effectually applied as the jurisdiction upon bill and answer which is exercised by a court of equity. Even, however, as to this last class of cases, it is by no means clear that the cognizance of them could be removed to the courts of law, without inducing much of that inconvenience and anomaly w r hich Lord Eldon apprehended : as, for instance, in the application of the common law machinery to the ex- traction of a defendant's answer on oath. And if it be surmised that Lord Eldon's studies had given him a bias toward equitable jurisdic- tion, it must be remembered that, great as was his knowledge of equity, he had as great a knowledge of common law to balance it. A chief justice, less competent to his functions than Lord Eldon, might have been much embarrassed by the loss of such a coadjutor as Mr. Justice Buller; but Lord Eldon, without the slightest arro- gance toward any of his colleagues, was too much master of his whole duty to be dependent on their aid : and he continued to discharge his high office with a daily increase of reputation. But a heavier loss befell him in this year. It was the death of Mrs. Scott, his mother, who paid her long-deferred debt to nature on the 16th of July, 1800, at the age of ninety-one. Mr. John Surtees says, in a private letter, " I remember old Mrs. Scott dining at my father's, and my being much gratified to hear my father and her talk of old times: she seemed a sensible observing old woman." She had the good fortune of living, in the full possession of her faculties, to be- hold her eldest son placed in the judgment seat of the Court of Ad- miralty, and her youngest, and, as it has been supposed, her favourite, dignified with a chief justiceship, and with a peerage. " To think," exclaimed the old lady, when the latter was ennobled, " to think that I, in this out of the way corner of the world, should live to be the mother of ajord ! " A few months more of life would have brought her to see her son on the topmost round of legal ambition, invested with the honours of the great seal. The mother of Lord Lyndhurst, and the mother of Lord Brougham, had each the happiness of witness- ing such a consummation. The following letter has no date, but appears, from internal evi- dence, to have been written in the year 1800, with reference to some suggestion that Lord Eldon's son should offer himself at the next election for the county of Durham : * See, for instance, Legh v. Legh, 1 Bosanq. and Pul. 447, and Payne r. Rogers, Doug!. Rep. 407. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 191 (Lord Eldun to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) Not dated, but probably written in 1300. "Dear Brother, "I have had a letter from Burdon. He assigns no reason but a love of retirement. He adds only, what surprises me, but what is, in effect, this : that his support of the' treason and sedition bills, and the stronger measures of government, have created him bitter, fierce and unrelenting enemies, in a county in which he seems to say and to think all good men are inconceivably timid. Sir H. Vane Tempest, I understand, has offered himself, and bids defiance to competitors. Mowbray, the great land agent of the county, has called upon me ; he says he is sure the thing would do. Sander- son, of Sunderland, has written to me to say that three-fourths of the Sunderland freeholders are divided; but to this there is an objection, like poor Edmund Burke's to modern revolutions: the working begins with the lowest instead of the highest. One great objection to the proposition must be of this sort, from the nature or things : I am necessarily a new man in the count}', because I am so everywhere the pro- perty nothing official reputation worth nothing in the eye of a country squire or a county lord. The weight of great men, therefore, must be on the other side. But if it was otherwise, I do not descry any thing prudent in engaging in such a business. Sir John Eden, with a better fortune in his family than I have, has been taught by experience that, with only such a fortune, a man has more reason to rejoice when he can slip away from the representation of a county, than when he is placed in it. Here we must begin with a contest; and, if not, there is no security against it in future, and no retreating from it when it comes. An immediate expenditure of 15,000/. or 16,0007. would, in my opinion, be a gross injury to John. It would break up all that I have been projecting to render peerage to him a tolerable evil. Besides this, a man ought to have a certainly continuous income, very large, indeed, who can have a son in his lifetime living as the member of a county. I don't know what allow- ance would be equal to such a station in modern times. I pay now, to and for John about 1000/. a year, that is, 800/. to himself, 80/. as his income tax, and the rest for his chambers in Lincoln's Inn. Attending to the purposes which this seems to answer, four times that sum would not do; and I could do nothing so unjust to him, as to engage at all events for a system of expense, the whole weight of which, in justice to the rest of my family, must eventually fall upon him. And for what is the present expense of a contest, and the expense of such a system, to be incurred? That any younger son of mine should ever have such a seat is out of all probability. I have no right to reckon upon seven years' existence. Is it to be incurred for a seat ior those few years ? Suppose Providence continues me here longer, what security is there against a second contest 1 ? or rather is there not a certainty of it? The thin^ will never do. I hope to hear no more of it. But I hope, more anxiously, that nobody will suggest it to John. Don't imagine by this that I imagine you would, in a grave matter of this sort, unless you and I were agreed upon it previously. But there are foolish and meddling people who are too apt to talk upon interesting subjects. I can't wish you better than by wishing that God may preserve you to see your son twenty-six, and that in the mean time he should give you no more uneasiness than John has given me. But, if we both live to that period, I will ask you whether nine- tenths of the little uneasiness you will have had have not proceeded from the tattle which strangers to you and your circumstances hold to him who ought to know nothing of them but from yourself. You see I am writing in affectionate confidence. I am growing grave, however, and that's not right towards you at Southampton. I close this part of the letter, therefore, by saying, that I am sorry to say that John has been again plagued with his asthmatic complaint, but he is better, thank God. " In confidence, my opinion is that we are as likely to have invasion as peace." Lord Eldon had some amusing stories referable to this period of his life. The Anecdote Book records a comic defence before him of a rioter, by Mr. Jekyll, who, for half a century, was the foremost wit of the bar : ' This gentleman, in his practice as a common lawyer, was very successful, as many others have been, in diverting the attention of jurymen at county assizes, from thinking seriously in serious proceed- ings, by introducing observations and jokes, tending to turn all that 192 LIFE OF LORD was passing into the ridiculous. I went his circuit as a judge, when I was chief justice of the Common Pleas. There was a trial before me, I think in Somersetshire, of a prisoner for a riot. There were several questions asked by Jekyll and the counsel for the prosecution (Jekyll being counsel for the prisoner) as to the number of persons that composed the body of rioters. This species of questioning ap- pearing to me to go to unnecessary length, I interposed, by saying, ' Mr. Jekyll, is it not sufficiently proved that there were more than three persons? Now, do not three constitute enough in number as to matters of riot ? ' 'I beg your lordship's pardon,' said Jekyll ; ' the case has not been fairly, candidly and fully opened to your lordship and the jury. They have not told you and the jury that the rioters were all tailors ; and I therefore confidently submit to the jury, that in this particular case they must prove that there were present at least nine times three, at least twenty-seven, though three men, not tailors, might be enough.' This tickled the fancy of the jurymen, made them laugh heartily, and though the case grew serious-, they did not grow serious, and acquitted the prisoner. Serjeant Davy, who went for many years the western circuit, used to express no very high opinion of the talents of the men of that portion of the kingdom ; observing that it was most true that the wise men came from the east." Lord Eldon used to tell another story of Jekyll, who was con- sidered, even by his political friends, to be more of a wit than of a lawyer. His tendencies being rather democratical, he had visited Paris more than once during the early days of the French Revolution, and had lived a good deal with some of its leaders, of whom, and particu- larly of Mirabeau, he had many amusing anecdotes. " One day at dinner," said Lord Eldon, " I happened to set next to Wilkes, and we were talking of one of the forms of government which the French had successively taken up. I spoke of it with disapprobation. Said Wilkes, ' they had it from my friend Jekyll, who told them it was the English constitution. ,' " On the western circuit, Lord Eldon and his brother-judge, in passing through Devonshire, accepted an invitation to the seat of a country gentleman on the banks of the Tamar. The scenery of that river being very beautiful, their host, after dinner, persuaded them, instead of continuing their journey that night, to remain at his house till the following morning, and then proceed in his pleasure boat along the Tamar, to a point at which they could meet their carriages and resume the ordinary road. This being arranged, the two judges, on the following morning, pursued their journey by water, until luncheon time, when they landed on a pretty piece of meadow ground, and spreading their table-cloth on the grass, addressed themselves to the contents of their host's provision basket. Meanwhile the boatmen, left to themselves, made their way into an adjoining orchard, and began to pluck the fruit. This trespass brought out the owner, who chased the intruders to the scene of the luncheon ; and angrily ac- costing Lord Eldon and his colleague, threatened vehemently to have the whole party before the judges. This outpouring of wrath lasted CHANCELLOR ELDON. 193 for some time before it was possible to get in a word of defence or excuse ; but at last their lordships were permitted to explain, and the scrape ended with a handsome apology, and still better, a handsome present from the judges, and a good deal of stammering and confu- sion on the part of the injured but abashed yeoman. It was the good fortune of Lord Eldon, and deeply felt by him to be so, that during the term of his chief justiceship, he seldom had occasion to leave a prisoner for execution. " One female," said he to Mrs. Forster, " was remarkably kind to me. She was to be tried for murder; and she made her escape from gaol just before the assizes commenced, and was not taken till they were concluded, so she had to remain in confinement till the following year, when she was convicted. Thus, by that lady's well-timed flight, I escaped the pain of having to pass sentence of death." Among the stories which he used to tell of causes tried before him at common law, there is a pleasant one, preserved both by Mr. Farrer and by Mrs. Forster, of a trial to ascertain the property in a dog. At the time of this trial Lord Eldon was living at No. 42 in Gower Street, whither he had removed from Powis Place. In Gower Street he resided about thirteen years, and he used to say that his house there was the pleasantest he ever occupied : he could look over the fields, then open, as far as Hampstead, Highgate and Islington, and had a garden with excellent vegetables, and even peaches. Adjoining was a waste piece of ground; and "the men in London," said he to Mrs. Forster, "used to bring dogs to fight there. When I was chief justice of the Common Pleas (I did like that court!) a cause was brought before me for the recovery of a dog which the defendant had stolen in that ground, and detained from the plaintiff, its owner. We had a great deal of evidence, and the dog was brought into court, and placed on the table between the judge and witnesses. It was a very fine dog, very large, and very fierce, so much so, that I ordered a muzzle to be put on it. Well, we could come to no decision ; when a woman, all in rags, came forward, and said if I would allow her to get into the witness-box, she thought she could say something that would decide the cause. Well, she was sworn just as she was, all in rags, and leant forward towards the animal, and said, ' Come, Billy, come and kiss me.' The savage-looking dog instantly raised itself on its hind legs, put its immense paws around her neck, and saluted her: she had brought it up from a puppy. Those words, 'Come, Billy, come and kiss me,' decided the cause. But when I was sum- ming up, the defendant incautiously said in my hearing, ' the damages cannot be great, and them I will pay ; but the dog I am determined they shall not have.' I observed upon this to the jury, and told them, that if they were satisfied the dog belonged to the plaintiff, they might give any amount of damages they pleased, after what they had heard from the defendant. Upon this the defendant got frightened, and consented to give up the dog." Mrs. Forster. "Then what was the verdict, uncle?" Lord Eldon. 11 Oh, that threat intimidated him, and he gave up VOL. I. 13 194 LIFE OF LORD the dog; the verdict was two hundred pounds, to be levied should he again become possessed of the animal." " I recollect," says Lord Eldon, in his Anecdote Book, " a great many actions brought at a particular period against clergymen many of them very exemplary in their conduct and in the discharge of their duties as parish priests, but who, though resident within their cures, yet did not reside in the parsonage houses. This evil of prosecuting such clergymen was remedied, as to many depending actions, by act of Parliament, which made provision also as to the future, by giving the bishop a power to allow incumbents to reside, in proper cases, out of the parsonage houses. Where the parsonage houses were good, it was fit the clergymen should reside in them ; but the law was very harsh where it was applied to clergymen who did not reside in houses, which, with their families, they could not reside in, but who, never- theless, discharged all their clerical duties in a most exemplary man- ner. During the short time in which I was chief justice of the Com- mon Pleas, I tried two cases at Guildhall : one, an action against a clergyman, who, after reading himself in as incumbent of a church in the city, had never been in his church or his parish for many years ; the other, an action against the incumbent of Bow Church, whose parsonage house could not be dwelt in by him and his family, it being a small house next the church, in which the business of a very small pocket-book seller was carried on ; which incumbent was one of the most exemplary clergymen in London, performing personally every parochial duty in every day of the week. But, as the law stood, this excellent person was subject to the same penalties as the other most negligent, blameable incumbent. The valuable incumbent was Van Mildert, afterwards Bishop of Llandaffand Dean of St. Paul's," and finally Bishop of Durham. In relating this story to Mrs. Forster, Lord Eldon said : " Now I have pleasure in telling this anecdote, for it reflects credit on the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Moore, that the moment he heard of it, he sent and paid the penalties and costs ; and I like also to tell it, because it has sometimes been imperfectly told from motives of maliciousness to a most honourable, upright man, Van Mildert." The following case, recorded in Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book, is still harder on the clergyman : L C T 1 1 remember a case in the Exchequer, upon a motion for a new trial, I think. A clergyman, with a small or no family, lived in a large roomy parsonage house. An attorney in the parish, who had a large family, lived in a house so small as to be inconvenient for that family. The attorney proposed to the clergyman to change houses, and the attorney to pay the clergyman a yearly rent of several pounds in consideration of his residence in the larger and more valuable house. The year expired, and the attorney not offering to pay the rent, the clergyman applied to him for it : upon which the attorney insisted that this was a most unreasonable demand, as he had brought an action against the clergyman for eleven penalties, I think, of ten CHANCELLOR ELDON. 195 pounds each, for non-residence in the parsonage house, the law then not deeming a clergyman's residence, though in the parish, legal residence, if he did not lire in the parsonage house. I remember Baron Eyre said it was the most abominable and impudent transac- tion he ever remembered, but that the clergyman could have no relief." The eighteenth Parliament from the union with Scotland, held its last separate session at the close of the year 1800, and passed another bill for the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. Lord Eldon, as in the preceding year, supported this measure.* A letter on the subject of state prosecutions, addressed to Lord Kenyon in the early part of 1801, by Sir John Mitford, who had suc- ceeded Lord Eldon as attorney-general, illustrates the principles upon which Lord Eldon, when attorney-general, directed his own conduct in this important class of cases, and which he transmitted to his suc- cessors in the law offices of the crown. (Sir John Milford, attorney-general, to Lord Cldef Justice Kenyan.} (Extract.) " Lincoln's Inn, 5th Feb. 1801. "The newspapers which your lordship has sent me I shall take the liberty of show- ing to the solicitor-general. In these cases I have generally followed the rule which Lord Eldon adopted for his conduct, to notice, as much as possible, those cases only which did not personally involve his majesty's ministers; conceiving that there was a much greater chance of success in prosecuting for libels aimed personally at his majesty, or against the constitution in church or state, than where ministers were directly the objects of the libel. The many cases, in which juries have shown an indisposition to notice personal attacks on ministers, have induced Lord Eldon and me to think that this forbearance was, on the whole, prudent. We have had, during the last seven years, many a painful moment in the consideration of these subjects; many more, not only than the world will give us credit for, but than even your lord- ship can, from any view of the cases which have come under your eye, conceive. I think the press, on the whole, is become more decent; and I flatter myself that the very temperate exercise of the office of attorney-general, whilst Lord Eldon held it, and since it has been in one who has carefully followed his steps, has had an effect in producing a general persuasion that the powers of that officer have never been used, but where the case manifestly demanded that they should be put in force. "I have ventured to trouble your lordship so long on this subject, and to throw my sentiments so openly before you, because every man must feel that many, many very abominable libels have passed without animadversion. "I have the honour to be, my lord, "Your lordship's very obedient, humble servant, "J. MlTFOnD." The session of the imperial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland was opened on the 2d of February by the king in person ; and on that day, an amendment having been moved in the House of Lords, to the address which was proposed in answer to his majesty's speech, Lord Eldon spoke in favour of the address. The principal topic of his speech was the right of belligerents to search the vessels of neutrals, a right which, though then disputed by the northern states of Europe, had its origin in the law of nature and was interwoven with the very principle of self-defence. He insisted on the import- ance of maintaining that right, as the foundation of our commerce, our wealth, and our naval glory. From the commencement of his chief justiceship until the spring of 1801, Lord Eldon had had no other connection with politics than as * Pad. Hist. 1900, Dec. 19. 196 LIFE OF LORD an individual member of the House of Peers. But he was now to renew his relations with political life in a higher and more responsible station than ever. Among all the measures of Mr. Pitt's administration, none was more important than the union with Ireland. It had been attended with innumerable difficulties, arising from personal interests as well as from national feelings ; but a great body of the Irish people had been reconciled to it, by the expectation that a union between their country and Great Britain w r ould render it practicable, consistently with the safety of the Protestant church in Ireland, to remove the disabilities of the Roman Catholics. So long as the tw r o kingdoms had distinct legislatures, it was obvious that to open Parliament and office to the Roman Catholics in Ireland, where they w r ere three- fourths of the constituent body, must be to make the Irish legislature essentially Roman Catholic, and eventually to substitute the Romish for the Protestant church ; and for such a consummation, no British statesman was prepared. But it was thought that when one common legislature should have been established for both countries, and the Irish nation have become interfused and identified with the British, a new state of things would arise, in which the aggregate majority of the whole empire, being Protestant, would be able effectually to pro- tect the church and the state against any undue encroachments of the total Roman Catholic minority ; and that, in such a position of affairs, the laws of exclusion, always invidious, and only to be justified by necessity, might safely be exchanged for a more generous and com- prehensive policy. These were the opinions of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Wind- ham, Lord Grenville, and some of the ablest among their younger partisans ; and the Roman Catholics of Ireland clung closely to the hope which such authority held out. But the king, who regarded the proposed change as likely to injure the Protestant church, and as therefore irreconcilable with his coronation oath, met all the instances of Mr. Pitt with a fixed resistance. It was in vain that Mr. Pitt sug- gested the introduction of securities. The king was inflexible. The correspondence of George III. with Mr. Pitt on that occasion, pub- lished in 1827, by Dr. Philpotts, now Bishop of Exeter, from Lord Kenyon's papers, distinctly and curiously explains the respective views of the king and of the minister. " I had very considerable doubt," says Lord Eldon, in his Anec- dote Book, " whether the correspondence between King George III. and Mr. Pitt, relative to the Catholic question, before Mr. Pitt quitted office, should have been published by Dr. P., at the instance or with the consent of Lord Kenyon, in 1827, from copies of it, which I un- derstood that his father, the chief justice, had received from the late king; and I discouraged the intention to publish it, because of that doubt. As, however, others thought it right that it should be pub- lished, I think it was, with respect to myself, so far useful, as the matter of that correspondence seems to me to have fully justified what I had so often publicly declared, that Mr. Pitt did not mean to grant what the Roman Catholics wished to obtain, without what he CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 197 should deem sufficient securities for the Protestants. I had repeatedly publicly stated, that his language to me was, that if their claims were granted, there must be such securities, but that I never could learn what were to be proposed as such securities. The published corre- spondence has stated what are therein mentioned as such securities. They appear to me, though mentioned by that great man, as altoge- ther inadequate. Another proof that the concessions were never to be made without sufficient securities, is, that, in all the bills, which, during many years, were brought into Parliament for granting the Roman Catholics' claims, provisions were proposed to be enacted as such securities : totally inadequate as securities; but the proposal to enact them is satisfactorily to prove, that securities were thought neces- sary: at first % so thought long after, and for many years so thought and it seems never to have been contended that securities were not necessary, till it was proved that none would be sufficient ; and then the advocates for the measure had the hardihood to propose it, with- out any securities, as reasonable. It is not immaterial, or without its being useful, to compare the securities proposed in Mr. Pitt's corre- spondence with those proposed in the various bills: and such compa- rison may satisfy many that the advocates of the measure never agreed what would or would not be satisfactory securities." The immovable determination of the king made it necessary, in the judgment of Mr. Pitt, to entreat that his majesty would permit him to withdraw from the government. The king, in a letter of the 1st of February, 1801, one of those published by Dr. Philpotts, remonstrates against such a retirement. "Though I do not pretend," says the king, "to have the power of changing Mr. Pitt's opinion, when thus unfortunately fixed, yet I shall hope his sense of duty will prevent his retiring from his present situation, to the end of my life; for I can with great truth assert, that I shall, from public and private considerations, feel great regret, if I shall ever find myself obliged, at any time, from a sense of religious and political duty, to yield to his entreaties of retiring from his seat at the board of treasury." Mr. Pitt, however, thought it due to his country and his character, that he should persevere in pressing his resignation ; and, on the 10th of March, it was announced in both Houses that his ministry was at an end. Such was the first great stir of that momentous contest which now, for more than forty years, in one or other of its forms, or of its conse- quences has divided and disturbed the British empire. To no one individual, so eminently as to Lord Eldon, was owing the long and successful resistance maintained against the Roman Catholic claims. In his deliberate and solemn judgment, the conces- sion of them was fraught with danger to the state and to the church. In the no less conscientious belief of other far-sighted statesmen, the only danger was in the postponement of that concession. The mea- sure of relief, the emancipation, has undoubtedly disappointed the hopes of its advocates, and furnished, in the " still vex't" condition of the Irish, a melancholy triumph to its opponents. But those who reason from the event seem not to have sufficiently remembered, that 198 LIFE OF LORD the very point most enforced by the advocates of the relief, was the peril of a concession that might come too late. Evils have undoubtedly followed, to the full extent of the gravest apprehension; but while one party asserts them to have resulted from precipitate surrender, the other regards them as the consequences of over-protracted resistance. And it must not be forgotten by those who appeal to events, that the conceded franchises were calculated for the old parliamentary state of these kingdoms as they still remained in 1829, and not for the new and unexpected constitution imposed by the Reform Act of 1832. If, instead of being accepted as peace-offerings, those franchises have been grasped as weapons of annoyance, an effect so perverse may, perhaps, be explained by the undue parliamentary importance which the near balance of the conservative and democratic forces in the newly-modeled House of Commons, and the resulting weakness of the executive government, enabled a small body of Roman Catholics to assume. And thus, perhaps, in calmer times, the judgment of the country will pronounce that not the Relief Act, butthe Reform Act, has been the real inlet of danger to the Protestant church, and the legis- lative union of these realms. To both these experiments Lord Eldon was alike opposed. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 199 CHAPTER XVI. 1801. Lord Loughborough's resignation of the great seal. Anecdotes of Lord Chief Jus- tices De Grey and Willes. Letter of Lord Thurlow to Lord Eldon. Lord Eldon receives the great seal. The king's behaviour, and Lord Eldon's motives for relinquishing the Common Pleas. Relinquishment delayed by the king's illness. Composition of Mr. Addington's ministry. Letter of the lord chancellor to Mr. Swire. Letters of the king to the lord chancellor, and of the lord chancellor to the king. The king's malady: Letters of Drs. John and Thomas Willis, the chancellor, the Princess Elizabeth and the king. The chancellor's speeches on a divorce bill, on Habeas Corpus Indemnity Bill, and on Holy Orders Bill. The king's visit to CufTnells: letter from Mr. Rose. Patronage: letters of Lord Eldon to Mr. Reay and Mr. Jones, and of Lord Nelson to Lord Eldon. National defence : letter from Mr. Windham. Preliminaries of peace with France. IT had been understood, for several weeks before the announcement of Mr. Pitt's resignation, that Lord Loughborough was about to relin- quish the great seal, and that Lord Eldon was likely to become chan- cellor in his stead. The letter, of which a copy follows, appears to be an answer to some message or inquiry on this subject, from his old friend Lord Kenyon, then Lord Chief Justice of England. Endorsed " 14ih February, 1S01. Common Pleas. "Dear Lord Kenyon, "I Teel a good deal of uneasiness to protect myself against the possibility of your lordship's thinking that I am wanting in the respect and duty which I owe to you, and which I can truly say has ever been accompanied with the most grateful and affec- tionate regard. May I therefore be allowed to assure you that, whatever other per- sons may have thought it becoming to mention in conversation respecting themselves or me, nothing has passed yet with respect to me, that would warrant me, consistently with propriety, in making that communication to you, which it would be my duty to make, as I wish to make it to you, whenever the matter is settled the one way or the other. I can say no more than that there is a probability that I may be compelled to quit this little court, in which I should have wished to end my days. " Your obliged and faithful friend and servant, u ELDON." There was nothing unreasonable in this caution. Strange instances had occurred of disappointments, where the expectant had appeared quite secure of his judicial promotion ; and these were probably present to the mind of Lord Eldon; for, among the stories in his Anecdote Book, he has recorded Ihe following illustration of the uncertainties that hover between the cup and the lip of the candidate for the seals : " Lord Walsingham, the son of Lord Chief Justice de Grey, and chairman of the committees of the House of Lords, told me, that his father, the chief justice, gave a dinner to his family and friends, on 200 LIFE OF LORD account of his being to have the great seal as chancellor next morning ; but that, in the interim between the dinner and the next morning, Mr. Justice Bathurst, it was determined, should be chancellor, and received the seal." Lord Eldon used to tell a somewhat similar story of the offer of the great seal to Lord Chief Justice Willes, who declined to accept it without a pension and a peerage, expecting that he should bring the ministers to his terms.* Lord Eldon, before his appointment to the chancellorship was complete, received the following letter from his early friend, Lord Thurlow : " My dear Lord, "Though I don't know the circumstances which induced you to give up the Com- mon Pleas, I have no doubt your decision upon them was guided, as upon all occa- sions, by wisdom and honour; and I rejoice sincerely in the event. This, you may remember, was my sentiment in the conversation you allude to.f "But I congratulate still more with the House and the country. Their judgments will be no less illustrated by sound principles and clear deductions than supported by authority; not let down by unsatisfactory attempts to argue, or shaded by sur- mises of mean partialities and prejudices. "If I can shake off this painful disorder, my first exertion will be an endeavour to see you. There is not enough remaining of me to be useful ; but I shall take great satisfaction in finding arranged the fundamental principles of that conduct, which is to extricate the present difficulties incurred by the mere want of suchTprinciples. "This is the second time, since I came to London, that a fox has scrambled out of the well upon the horns of the same silly goat. In the Seven Years' War, it stood leaping-block to Frederick of Prussia; in this, to Francis of Austria.* Quousque tandem ? "I am ever, my dear lord, "Your very faithful and affectionate friend, "Wednesday, 18th Feb., 1801. On the 23d of March, 1801, Sir William Scott was elected member for the University of Oxford, in the room of Mr. Page, who had relinquished his seat from age and increasing infirmities. Mr. Pitt had resigned the government on the 10th of the same month : but Lord Loughborough continued to hold the great seal till the 14th of April: on which day, (Mr. Addington having meanwhile been installed as first minister,) Lord Eldon, by the king's delivery to him of the great seal, became lord high chancellor. He one day said to Mr. Farrer, " I was the king's lord chancellor, not the f The late Lord Henley, in his life of his grandfather, Lord Keeper Henley, after- wards Lord Chancellor Northington, relates the circumstances thus : "Immediately after Willes had refused the seals, Henley, (then attorney-general,) called upon him at his villa, and found him walking in his garden, highly indignant at the affront which he considered that he had received, in an offer so inadequate to his pretensions. After entering into some details of his grievances, he concluded by asking whether any man of spirit could, under such circumstances, have taken the seals; adding, ' Would you, Mr. Attorney, have done so 7' Henley, thus appealed to, gravely told him that it was too late to enter into such a discussion, as he was then waiting upon his lordship to inform him that he had actually accepted them." pp. > I . ')). f See Chap.X. * This seems to allude to the treaty of Luneville, by which the Emperor Francis had concluded a separate peace with the French Republic, and which bears date on the 9th of February, 1801, only nine days before Lord Thurlow's note. CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 201 minister's. When I was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the king insisted upon my giving him my promise, that whenever he called upon me to fulfil the office of chancellor, I would do so. He did call upon me when Addington succeeded Pitt, and I could not do otherwise than fulfil my promise." So likewise he told Mrs. Forster, "I was very fond of the Court of Common Pleas, and never would have quitted it for the chancellor- ship, but my promise was given." In his Anecdote Book, he thus expresses himself on the same point : " Upon the duty of a subject to obey the commands of the king as to accepting office, I have some notions that I believe are much out of fashion. In the year 1801 I became chancellor, upon the forma- tion of Mr. Addington's administration. I have mentioned the fact as to my undertaking to his majesty, in 1799, with respect to the chancellorship,* that it may be known to my family, that I was in- debted for that office to the king himself, and not, as some supposed, to Mr. Addington, and as some of Mr. Addington's friends supposed; although it is but justice to him to add, that he so conducted him- self, in forming his administration, with respect to me, that my feel- ings towards him were the same as if he had been the instrument by whom the king was prevailed upon to promote me to the office." More than thirty years afterwards, he said to Mrs. Forster, " I do not know what made George III. so fond of me ; but he was fond of me. Did I ever tell you the manner in which he gave me the seals? When I went to him, he had his coat buttoned thus, (one or two buttons fastened at the lower part,) and putting his right hand within, he drew them out from the left side, saying, 'I give them to you from my heart.'' ' It seems probable that the unusual demonstration with w r hich the king accompanied the transfer of the great seal to Lord Eldon, may have been partly occasioned by the then unsettled state of the royal mind : for his majesty immediately afterwards became so seriously indisposed, as to be altogether incompetent to his public duties. This incapacity having become manifest before Lord Eldon had actually vacated the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas, his resignation of that office was, for some time, suspended. The sus- pension is thus explained by him in his Anecdote Book : "His majesty not being able to hold^a council, and his recovery being doubtful, it was riot judged fit the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas should be resigned, the offices of chancellor and chief justice being, by law, capable of being held together, and in case his majesty did not recover, it being thought certain that the great seal would be taken from my custody, and that I should not be restored to the chief justiceship if I had resigned it. During all the period, therefore, in which his majesty's indisposition continued, I remained in the very singular situation of a person both lord chan- See Chap. XV. 202 LIFE OF LORD cellor and Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, exercising pub- licly the duties of both offices." Lord Hardwicke, in like manner, had continued, for several months after he received the great seal, to hold with it the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench.* And so, in our own time, when the Melbourne administration was displaced by King William the Fourth, and a provisional government appointed for transacting the public business, from the beginning of November 1834 until Sir Robert Peel should return from the continent to arrange the final distribution of the offices of state, Lord Lyndhurst, then Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, was entrusted with the great seal, and continued to hold it conjointly with the Exchequer, until, on Sir Robert Peel's arrival, he was confirmed as lord chancellor, when he vacated the chief barony. The principal colleagues of Lord Eldon, during the administra- tion of which he had now become a leading member, were Mr. Ad- dington, first lord of the treasury, the Duke of Portland, president of the council, the Earl of Westmoreland, lord privy seal, the Earl St. Vincent, first lord of the admiralty, the Earl of Chat- ham, master-general of the ordinance, Lord Hawkesbury, afterwards Earl of Liverpool, secretary for foreign affairs, the Lords Pelham and Hobart, secretaries for the home and colonial departments, and Mr. Yorke, secretary at war, who subsequently became home secretary in the room of Lord Pelham. Lord Castlereagh, who, at the accession of his ministry, held the office of chief secretary for Ireland, soon afterwards entered the cabinet as president of the board of control. The official announcement, in the Gazette, of Lord Eldon's eleva- tion to the seals, w r as received by his fellow-townsmen at Newcastle with general rejoicings. The bells of the churches in that town, and in Gateshead, continued ringing from the arrival of the mail till late in the evening, and numerous parties of the chancellor's relatives and friends were formed in various parts of the neighbourhood to cele- brate the event, f ^ The franked address of the following letter to the Rev. Samuel Swire, formerly of University College, bears date on the day next following Lord Eldon's accession to his new dignity. "London, April 15th, 1801. Eldon. Rev. S. Swire, Rector of Melsonby, Richmond, Yorkshire. My dear Swire, "Yesterday, and not before yesterday, I received the great seal. Though very, very sensible of your kindness to me, I thought it premature sooner to answer your etter. Whether this be for good, is in the counsels of Providence. I state myself with a seriousness so real, and with feelings which form such a weight upon my mind, that I trust at least I am prepared for a conscientious and most anxious dis- charge of my duty, whether it shall please God that I am called upon to discharge it * 1 Burr. Sess. Ca. 105. f Sykes's Local Records, (Newcastle, 1833,) vol. ii. p. 6. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 203 for a longer or a shorter period. I hope in God I do not deceive myself when I con- fide in the review of my past life, that it affords nothing to tarnish a situation which, though the highest attainable in my profession, is a base one when not attained by such means as are consistent with the principles of honour, morality and religion. "God bless you ; I am hurried aud nervous. I am sure you will find me in this, and in every situation of life, "Yours, cordially and affectionately, " ELDOJT. " My compliments to Miss S. and Mrs. H. I do assure the latter I am at this mo- ment as grave as she could wish me lo be." On the day of the date of this letter, the 15th of April, 1801, Lord Eldon took his seat in the Court of Chancery, and held the first gene- ral seal before Easter term. During the whole of that term he still continued to discharge the duties both of lord chancellor and of Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. It was not until the Easter vacation, on the 21st of May, that he resigned this latter office. He was succeeded in it by Sir Richard Pepper Arden, who was thereupon raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Alvanley. The chancellor had held the seals but a day or two before he glad- dened the heart of his old preceptor, Mr. Moises, by appointing him to be one of his chaplains. One of the first letters received by Lord Eldon from the king evinces the kind feeling which his majesty bore to him: (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) "Kew, April 29th, 1801. past One, r. M. "On returning from walking, the king has found his lord chancellor's letter, and desires the commission, for passing the bills now ready for his assent, may, if pos- sible, be sent this evening to the Duke of Portland's office, from whence it will be forwarded early to-morrow morning. His majesty is pleased at finding the bill against seditious meetings got through the House of Lords yesterday with so little trouble. The king would by no means have wished that his lord chancellor should have omitted sitting in the Court of Chancery to-morrow, for the mere matter of form of bringing himself the commission, as his majesty is so fully convinced of the satis- faction the suitors must feel at that court being presided by a person of real integrity, talents, legal knowledge and good temper. He cannot but add having felt some plea- sure at hearing that the lord chancellor sat the other clay on the woolsack between Rosslyn* and Thurlow, who ever used to require an intermediate power to keep them from quarreling. How soon will the shins of Pepper permit him to take the coif? " GEOHGE R." George III., in the course of this spring, gave a fresh proof of his personal esteem for Lord Eldon, by appointing him one of the trustees of certain property belonging to his majesty. This honour was thus acknowledged : (Lord Eldon to King George III.) "May 5th, 1801. 9A.M. " The lord chancellor, tendering to your majesty his most humble duty, offers, also, Lord Kenyon's, Sir John Mitford's and his own most grateful acknowledgments, for the testimony of regard, which they learn, from the communication transmitted through Mr. Strong, it is your majesty's gracious purpose to bestow, by appointing them trustees of part of your majesty's property. They all hope that your majesty will find, in a conscientious discharge of their duty, as such, a proof of their earnest anxiety to manifest their gratitude. * Lord Loughborough had been created Earl of Rosslyn a few days before the date of this letter. 204 LIFE OF LORD " Your majesty's chancellor presumes to add, that, highly as he should have thought himself honoured, under any circumstances, by such a testimony of your majesty's regard, he cannot but feel particular satisfaction in being associated in this trust with persons whose advice and assistance he knows to be highly valuable: with one, from whom, in the course of his professional life, he has received marks of kindness almost parental, and with another, with whom he has long lived in habits of brotherly regard, and of both of whom he can most truly represent to your majesty, that, in private life, as well as in public, their conduct has been uniformly and strongly marked by a dutiful, anxious, affectionate and loyal attachment to your majesty." It was about this time that a conversation occurred, which, in the lately published Memoirs of Mr. Wilberforce, is thus recorded from the diary kept by the latter :* "Saw Lord Eldon, and had a long talk with him on the best mode of study and discipline, for the young Grants to be lawyers. The chancellor's reply was not encouraging: ' I know no rule to give them, but that they must make up their minds to live like a hermit and work like a horse.' Eldon had just received the great seal, and I expressed my fears that they were bringing the king into public too soon after his late indisposiiion. 'You shall judge for yourself/ he answered, ' from what passed between us when I kissed hands on my appointment. The king had been conversing with me, and when I was about to retire, he said, ' Give my remembrance to Lady Eldon.' I acknowledged his condescension, and intimated that I was ignorant of Lady Eldon's claim to such a notice. ' Yes, yes,' he answered, 'I knovv^iow much I owe to Lady Eldon; I know that you would have made yourself a country curate, and that she has made you my lord chancellor.'" The king's indisposition, though now sufficiently abated to leave him competent to his ordinary functions, was not so effectually re- moved but that, in a short time afterwards, it became the subject of renewed anxiety to the ministers. Among the principal causes of his excitement were the distressing differences in progress between the Prince and Princess of Wales, which then related chiefly to the cus- tody and education of their daughter, the Princess Charlotte. The following letters and extracts of letters to the chancellor have some interest, as showing, authentically and at the moment, the working of the king's mind and the embarrassments occasioned by his malady to the royal family, and to the government. The first is from Dr. John Willis, one of the physicians then at- tendant on his majesty: " May IGth. 1801. " My Lord, " We have not seen the king better than this morning. Your lordship's conversa- tions with his majesty have not hitherto produced all the effect we wish. He seems rather to select and turn any part to his purpose than to his good. The council, he tells us, you propose to be in London. Of course, we wish much that your lordship should see the king again soon that every means possible should be used to recon- cile his majesty to the present control. For, till a consciousness of the necessity of temperance arises in his own mind, it is absolutely necessary to have resort to arti- ficial prudence. I have the honour to be, "Your lordship's "Obedient humble servant, " J. WILLIS." (Mr. Addington to Lord Eldon.) " Downing Street, 21st May, 1801. " My dear Lord, "I came so late from Kew, and was so hurried afterwards till half past twelve, when I went to bed, that it was not possible for me yesterday to write to you, as I * Life of Wilberforce, vol. iii. p. 9. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 205 wished and intended. During a. quiet conversation of an hour and a half, there was not a sentiment, a word, a look or a gesture, that I could have wished different from what it was; and yet my apprehensions, I must own to you, predominate. The wheel is likely to turn with an increasing velocity, (as I cannot help fearing,) and if so, it will very soon become unmanageable. God grant that I may be mistaken I _ We have, however, done our best. The council, as your lordship has probably been apprised by Mr. Fawkener, is to be held at the queen's house at one. " Ever sincerely yours, The next letter isjfrom the Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis, a clergyman of the same family with the physicians of that name : " Kew House, May 23th. 1S01. " My Lord, "Dr. John (Willis) is riding with the king, but we conferred together before he set out, and he desired that I would write the letter, which your lordship had requested to have this morning. "The general impression yesterday, from the king's composure and quietness, was that he was very well. There was an exception to this in the Duke of Clarence, who dined here. ' He pitied the family, for he saw something in the king that convinced him that he must soon be confined again.' " This morning I walked with his majesty, who was in a perfectly composed and quiet state. He told me, with great seeming satisfaction, that he "had had a most charming night, 'but one sleep from eleven to half after four;' when, alas ! he had but three hours' sleep in the night, which, upon the whole, was passed in restlessness, in getting out of bed, opening the shutters, in praying at times violently, and in mak- ing such remarks as betray a consciousness in him of his own situation, but which are evidently made for the purpose of concealing it from the queen. He frequently called out, ' I am now perfectly well, and my queen, my queen has saved me.' Whilst I state these particulars to your lordship, I must beg to remind you how much afraid the queen is lest he should be committed to him; for the king has sworn he will never forgive her if she relates any thing that passes in the night. "The only thing that he has repeated of your lordship's conversation is, that you told him to keep himself quiet. He certainly intends going to Windsor to-morrow morning early, for the day. Had not your lordship, therefore, better write to his majesty, that you had proposed, agreeably to his permission, to have paid your duty to him to-morrow, but that you understand he is going to Windsor, where you may endeavour to fix your audience for Wednesday 7 " It is too evident, my lord, that it cannot be proper, since it cannot be safe, for the king to go to Weymouth so soon as he intends. Your lordship will, therefore, no doubt, think it requisite to take steps to prevent it as soon as possible. I have the honour to be, " Your lordship's "Most obedient servant, "Taos. WILLIS." It seems to have been in consequence of this letter, that the lord chancellor wrote to the king as follows : ( Latter part of May, 1801.) "The lord chancellor, offering his most humble duty to your majesty, presumes to submit to your majesty's most gracious consideration, that it appears to him that great difficulties may arise in matters of public concern, if your majesty should be pleased, during the time of the sitting of Parliament, which he conceives cannot now be long, to remove to any considerable distance from Parliament. It cannot but happen that before Parliament can be closed, some intelligence should be received from abroad, upon which it may be absolutely necessary to learn promptly, and per- haps instantly, your majesty's pleasure, and to learn it by communications more ample than your majesty could possibly allow to your servants, if they were not per- sonally attending, in the discharge of their duty, upon your majesty. Communica- tions, in the form of messages to Parliament not admitting of delay, may also become necessary. Impressed at this moment with a deep sense that it is extremely import- ant on all accounts to your majesty's welfare, that your majesty should be graciously pleased to secure to your servants the means of personally communicating with 206 LIFE OF LORD your majesty, at least daring the short interval which must elapse before Parlia- ment separates, at the close of which they may, in obedience to your majesty's com- mands, attend your majesty anywhere, the lord chancellor ventures to hope that your majesty will not think ii inconsistent with his duty, that he should have most humbly, but most earnestly, submitted to your majesty the expression of his conscientious conviction upon this subject. "The lord chancellor also requests your majesty's gracious permission to intro- duce to your majesty, the master of the rolls and the solicitor-general, previous to your majesty's birth-day. As Tuesday is the seal-day in your majesty's Court of Chancery, your majesty may probably have the goodness to give that permission on Wednesday." From this letter it will be perceived that the king, though still under occasional excitement, was not considered by his servants to be unfit for his ordinary public duties. On the 31st of May, he answers the lord chancellor's representation, with his own hand, in these terms : (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) "Kew, May 31st, 1801. "The king cannot allow any difficulty to stand in the way of his doing what may be most useful to the public service. He will, therefore, postpone his journey to Weymouth, till the close of the session of Parliament, relying that the lord chan- cellor and Mr. Addington will bring it as soon as possible to a conclusion. He will not, therefore, change any arrangement for removing the things necessary to be sent to Weymouth, but he and his family will remain at hand till that period. His majesty will be glad to receive, at the queen's palace, the master of the rolls and solicitor- general on Wednesday, any time after one, that may best suit the lord chancellor; when he hopes to hear who may be most eligible to be appointed solicitor-general to the queen. " GEOIIRE R." The state of the king's health, as well as the confidence placed by the royal family in Lord Eldon, will be still further understood from a few extracts of letters, written by the late Landgravine of Hesse Homberg, then Princess Elizabeth, and addressed, it should seem, to the Rev. Dr. Willis, by whom they appear to have been forwarded to the chancellor. After the lapse of forty years and the death of almost all the parties interested, there is very little, in this correspondence, which may not fitly enter into general history. That little, though of a character which does high honour to the feelings of the illustrious lady who wrote it, is withheld, as relating to points of private confi- dence. (The Princess Elizabeth to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis.) (Extract.) "June 6th, 1801. "After receiving one note you will be surprised at this: but second thoughts are sometimes best: besides which, I am commanded by the queen to inform "you by letter how much this subject of the princess is still in the king's mind, to a degree that is distressing, from the unfortunate situation of the family' ; and mamma is of opinion that the lord chancellor should be informed of it, as he has mentioned the subject to Mr. Dundas, to-day. The queen commands me to add, that if you could see her heart, you would see that she is guided by every principle of justice, and with a most fervent wish that the dear king may do nothing to form a breach between him and the prince, for she really lives in dread of it; for, from the moment my brother comes into the room till the instant he quits it, there is nothing that is not kind that the king does not do by him. This is so different to his manner when well, and his ideas concerning ihe child so extraordinary, that, to own to you the truth, I am not astonished at mamma's uneasiness. She took courage and told the king, that now my brother was quiet, he had better leave him so, as he never had forbid the princess seeing the child when she pleased; to which he answered, ' that does not CHANCELLOR ELDON. 207 signify, the princess shall have her child, and I will speak to Mr. Wyatt about the building of the wing to her present house.' You know full well how speedily every thing is now ordered and done. In short, what mamma wishes is, that you would in- form the lord chancellor that his assistance is much wanted in preventing the king doing any thing that shall hurt him. The princess spoke to me on the conversation the king had had with her, expressed her distress, and I told her how right she was in not answering, as I feared the king's intentions, though most kindly meant, might serve to hurt and injure her in the world. I hope I was not wrong, but I am always afraid when she speaks to me on such unfortunate subjects. I think the king heated and fatigued, which I am not surprised at, not having been one minute quiet the whole day. I assure you it is a very' great trial the anxiety we must go through; but we trust in God, therefore, we hope for the best. "Your friend, 14 ELIZABETH." (The Princess Elizabeth, probably to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis.') f Extract.) "June 9th, 1801. "I am but just come into my room, where I found your very comfortable letter, which I return you many thanks for. I had promised mamma to tell you, &c. * * * "She commands me to say to you that she wishes the lord chancellor would show Mr. Addington, that, as the king is contented with it, that he had better not hurry our going, as he is so much better, that there is hope that in gaining strength, it will en- sure us from having a relapse, which you may easily believe is her earnest and daily prayer. He has been very quiet, very heavy, and very sleepy, all the evening, and has said two or three times, yesterday was too much for him. God grant that his eyes may soon open, and that he may see his real and true friends in their true co- lours. How it grieves one to see so fine a character clouded by complaint! but He who inflicted it may dispel it, so I hope all will soon be well. "Your friend, "ELIZABETH." ( The Princess Elizabeth, probably to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis.) "June 12th, 1801. "I have the pleasure of saying yesterday was a very good day, though the sleepi- ness continues to a great degree. I am told the night has been tolerable, but he has got up in his usual way, which is very vexatious. I am commanded by the queen to desire you will say every thing from her to the lord chancellor, and thank him in the strongest terms for the interest he has taken in her distress. She so entirely builds her faith on him, that she doubts not his succeeding in every thing with his majesty, who, to say true, greatly wants the advice of so good a friend and so good ahead. How providential is it that he is, thank God, placed where one can know his worth ! I have just seen Brown, who is very well satisfied: this morning, there- fore, I trust all is going on well, though I feel that there is still fear. " Your friend, " ELIZABETH. "I assure you we are not a little thankful to you for all the trouble you take for us." ( The Rev. Dr. Thomas Willis to the Lord Chancellor.') " Kew Green, June 16th, 1801. Eight o'clock, p. M. " My Lord, " Dear John, who has not seen the king, will bring this to town. I have nothing to say that is, in truth, very favourable. His majesty rode out this morning at ten o'clock, and did not return till four: he paid a visit in the course of the day to Mr. Dundas. His attendants thought him much hurried, and so think his pages. He has a great thirst upon him, and his family are in great fear. His majesty still talks much of his prudence, but he shows none. His body, mind and tongue are all upon the stretch every minute ; and the manner in which he is now expending money in various ways, which is so unlike him when well, all evince that he is not so right as he should be. "My lord, "Your lordship's most obedient servant, " THOMAS WILLIS." The disorder, however, took so favourable a turn, that, in very few 208 LIFE OF LORD days more, the king's recovery was pronounced to be complete. The lord chancellor, anxious, on every account, to guard against its recur- rence, then ventured to address his majesty in a letter recommending that the attendance of Dr. Robert Willis should still be continued. This eminent physician, as well as his relatives, Drs. John and Tho- mas Willis, had bestowed particular attention upon disorders of the mind ; and the care and skill of them all had been united to effect the recovery of the king. But his majesty retained an unconquerable dis- like to their presence ; partly, no doubt, from painful associations, and partly, perhaps, from a feeling, that so long as he should be attended by any medical man peculiarly practised in cases of mental alienation, he would be tacitly acknowledging the continuance of some unsound- ness in his intellect. His answer to the lord chancellor, however, is altogether free from any morbid taint : ( King George HI. to the Lord Chancellor.) "Kew, June 21st, 1801. "The king would not do justice to the feelings of his heart, if he an instant delayed expressing his conviction of the attachment the lord chancellor bears him, of which the letter now before him is a fresh proof; but, at the same time, he cannot but in the strongest manner decline the idea of having Dr. Robert Willis about him. The line of practice followed with great credit by that gentleman renders it incompatible with the king's feelings that he should, now by the goodness of Divine Providence restored to reason, consult a person of that description. His majesty is perfectly satisfied with the zeal and attention of Dr. Gisborne, in whose absence he will consult Sir Francis Millman; but he cannot bear the idea of consulting any of the Willis family, though he shall ever respect the character and conduct of Dr. Robert Willis. No person that ever has had a nervous fever can bear to continue the physician employed on the occasion; and this holds much more so, in the calamitous one that has so long confined the king, but of which he is now completely recovered. "GtOKOE R." Again, two days afterwards : "Kew, June 23d, 1801. "The king is much pleased with the whole contents of the lord chancellor's letters, and returns the commission, having signed it, for passing the bills now ready for the royal assent. He cannot avoid adding, as he knows it will give pleasure to the per- son to whom it is addressed, that appetite and good sleep is perfectly, by the goodness of Divine Providence, restored; and that no degree of attention shall be wanting to keep those necessary assistants of perfect health." " GEORGE R." The first speech made by Lord Eldon in the House of Lords as chancellor, of which any report has been published,* was on the occa- sion of a divorce bill, applied for by a wife against her husband : Lord Thurlow insisted, that the very special nature of the circumstances in this case would warrant the House in departing from their usual rule, which is, that a divorce a vlnculo mafrimonii. shall not be granted on the application of the wife. The lord chancellor said, he had at first been for adhering to that rule, but was induced, by Lord Thurlow's argument, to agree that this particular case might be properly exempted from it. At the same time, he must retain his opinion, that, in general, the application of a wife fora divorce, on the ground of her husband's adul- tery, ought, for the sake of securing the morals of the public, to be resisted and refused. It was to be considered that adultery committed by a wife and adultery committed by her husband were widely different in their consequences. The adultery of a wife might impose a spurious issue upon the husband, which he might be called upon to dedicate a part of his fortune to educate and provide for; whereas, no such injustice *Parl. Hist. 1801, May 20th. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 209 could result to his wife from the adultery of a married man; and in many cases, not only a reconciliation might be brought about, but it became the especial duty of a wife to forgive her husband's misconduct, from motives of tenderness and concern to the interests of his innocent children. In this month of May, a bill was introduced into Parliament, and enacted as the 41st of Geo. 3. c. 66, having for its object to in- demnify those who had acted in the detention of persons suspected of treasonable practices during the several suspensions of the Habeas Corpus Act. The necessity of this bill was expressed in its preamble by a recital that the detaining parties would have no defence against actions by the parties detained, without a disclosure of the means by which the traitorous designs of the latter had been discovered, which means it was necessary to keep secret, for the further prevention of similar practices. On the order for the second reading in the House of Lords,* The lord chancellor, in supporting the measure, said it was one of his earliest maxims in politics, that political liberty could not be durable, unless the system of its administration permitted it to be occasionally parted with, in order to secure it for ever. When it was otherwise, liberty contained the seeds of its own destruction. n ith respect to the consideration of necessity, he was aware that it was often the plea of tyrants; yet it was that consideration on which the most moderaie men, when they took prudence for their guide, must sometimes act. In all periods of our history, icir lordships would find that the benefits of the Habeas Corpus Act were occasion- ally relinquished; but the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act did not take awav the responsibility of ministers. There were cases in which, if a minister did not act, he would deserve to lose his head. Such, for instance, and he stated no hypothetical case, was the occasion of ambassadors passing from Ireland through England to France, and vice versa, for purposes of a treasonable nature. In such a case, where the information was such as could not be doubted, if a minister refused to act, what would he not deserve 1 And yet such person could not be indemnified for his conduct without such a bill as that before their lordships. The next subject on which Lord Eldon appears, from the parlia- mentary history, to have addressed the House of Lords in this first session of his chancellorship, was that of the bill declaring persons in holy orders disqualified to sit in the House of Commons. The entrance of the Rev. John Home Tooke into that assembly had been the proximate cause of the bill, which the lord chancellor now sup- ported on the ground that holy orders are indelible. In support of this principle he adduced much learning and authority.f The session closed on the 2d of July, the king's speech being delivered by the lord chancellor. The royal excursion to Weymouth, of which the king had spoken in his letter of the 31st of May, took place at the close of June; and their majesties, in travelling through Hampshire, paid a visit at CuflT- nells, the seat of the Right Honourable George Rose. From Cuffhells the king writes to the chancellor on the 1st of July, announcing the continued improvement of his health. On the same day, Mr. Rose sends to Lord Eldon his own account of the king's bodily state, an account which shows that the honour of the royal visit had no small alloy of uneasiness for the host : * Parl. Hist. 1801, June 19. t Parl. Hist. 1801, June 15. Stat. 41 Geo. 3. c. 63. VOL. I. 14 210 LIFE OF LORD "Cuffnells, (Wednesday.) July 1st, 1801. "My dear Lord, "His majesty came clown here, most perfectly well, on Monday, about three o'clock, without the slightest appearance of fatigue from his journey, walked about a little in the afternoon, and rested extremely well at night. Yesterday he rode to Walhampton to dine with Sir Harry Neale (a visit settled some weeks ago), and passed through Lymington. Unfortunately, a heavy shower fell while his majesty was on the road, about a mile and a half short of this place. No entreaties could prevail with him to put on a great coat, and he was wet through before he reached the town hall, where he remained about three quarters of an hour, speaking to the mayor and several gentlemen. He then went on to Sir Harry Neal's, and dined without changing his clothes; then rode back here, and was again wet, but changed his dress as soon as he got in. There is no describing the uneasiness I felt at his majesty keeping on his wet clothes, because I recollect Mr. Pitt telling me that his first illness, in 1788, was supposed to be brought on by the same thing; but there was no possible means of preventing it. The exercise, too, must have been, I fear, too much after the disuse of riding for some time. His majesty intends going to Southampton (ten miles) on horseback to-day, and returning to dinner. I mention these circumstances to your lordship, deriving some relief to my own mind from it, without a hope of your being able to take any immediate step in concert with Mr. Addington or others of his majes- ty's servants, but trusting that it may induce your lordship to make as early a visit to Weymouth as possible. " His majesty had taken a determination to go by sea from Lymington to Wey- mouth, if it should be found practicable; the first of which places is considerably within the Needles, and their majesties and the royal family would have had four miles to go, in a boat, from the town to where the yachts are ; nor could it be known, till they got there, whether the wind would be such as to ensure their making a quiet passage to Weymouth. I therefore have ventured to suggest their majesties break- fasting at my cottage, near Christ Church, on Friday morning. If, when they get there, the wind is fair, and the weather fine, they can embark easily, as the yachts will be within half a mile of the cottage. If the wind shall not be fair, horses will be ready at Christ Church (which is entirely in the road), and at the other stages, to carry their majesties and the royal family to Weymouth. Sir Harry Neal and Cap- tain Gray think that, beyond all comparison, a better place than the embarkation from Lymington. The run from Christ Church to Weymouth, with a fair wind, is not more than four, five or six hours. " Your lordship will, I am sure, forgive me for troubling you with all these particu- lars, and will attribute my doing so to the true motive. "I can add nothing to the entreaties I have already used, that you will come here, if you can, when you come westward. "Ever, my dear lord, " Most truly yours, " GEORGE ROSE. " We are returned from Southampton. All remarkably well with the king: he has not suffered, in the smallest degree, from yesterday's business. His majesty was de- lighted with his reception at Southampton." In the course of this summer, Lord Eldon had the opportunity of offering some substantial preferment in the church to his old master, and to his old master's son. Mr. Moises, in a letter dated 6th July, 1801, accepts very gratefully this kindness for his son, but says as to himself, " I must be permitted to think that I shall be better entitled to your favourable opin- ion shall certainly act in a manner more becoming my great age to decline any distinctions of increased wealth or consequence. * * *** I live in a constant expectation of my discharge." Another example of Lord Eldon's abiding attachment to his early friends will be found in the following extracts from a letter of his to Mr. Reay: CHANCELLOR ELDON. 211 "London, September 8th, 1801. " Before I say a word about other matters, let me heave one sigh over James Wil- kinson ! It was but yesterday that we three were engaged in the follies of childhood, and the sports of youth. The period which has since past, seems short, how short in all probability, must that appear, then, which is yet to pass before we shall be gathered together again. "And now, as I know you take an interest in what concerns me, and in what I think about what concerns me, allow me to say, I left the Common Pleas with inex- pressible regret. I there sat in an honourable, independent and reasonably profitable situation for life, with employment for life, probably neither too much nor too little. J{ polidcs I had had more than enough before I got there. No man, therefore, ever said " Nolo episcopari" with more sincerity than I did, when I was called upon to ac- cept an office, which plunged me again into politics, into a state of dependence, and overwhelming me with business at this moment, exposes me, at the next mome'nt, for the remainder of my life, to be turned into a situation of useless and listless inactivity. I did not, however, think myself at liberty, and I could not think myself at liberty to disobey the king's personal commands: but I assure you, that I have not increased my comfort or my happiness. I must, however, do the best I can. Among others of the little unpleasantnesses, one is, that I bid fair to be confined in town for the whole summer. I went to Weymouth, meaning to make a little stay, but was called back again in three days. " And now as to the learned clerks whom you mention to me. I looked to it, cer- tainly, as one great comfort that I might gratify those I love, by doing some good to those that they esteem. But I have greatly overrated ihis matter. In the first place, I have been very unlucky; for the gentlemen who labour to consign others to immor- tality, seem to cling themselves most amazingly to this mortal world, and the rarity with which I have had vacancies of livings is really remarkable : certainly not in the proportion of one to a dozen, I believe, throughout all Lord Rosslyn's time. In a word, with the exceptions of a trifling thing, which I gave to Charles Stoddart, whom you may remember, and the living I have given to Moises. I have yet presented to none really given by myself. From persons great and small, I have, nevertheless, had, I think I may almost say, thousands of applications, most of them impudently frame'd, in effect, upon some such notion as that I cannot myself have in the world a clergy- man that I can have any personal wishes in favour of, or a friend who has in any cler- gyman a friend in whose welfare he takes an interest. Many of these applications, however, come from persons whose weight throws much difficulty in my way, and more than I can easily remove. Besides this, in confidence be it spoken, the different branches of the royal family communicate their wishes, which are commands that supersede even promises to others; and, upon the whole, I do assure you I have little elbow room. I will not say a word more to you than that I wish well to all to whom you wish well. I have solemnly vowed that I will make no promise to any body, or use expressions tantamount to it. The case of Mr. A , and others in the sa'me situation, have driven me to this. A chancellor, the creature of a day, makes promises: he does not remain chancellor till he can execute them. If his successor pays any attention to them, he can give nothing to any body to whom he is himself attached: if he does not, he is racked by the reflections he has upon the hardships in which those who received such promises are accidentally involved. I have felt myself so much about this, that I have determined my successor shall never feel as I have felt. I can only say, therefore, that your good wishes must have weight with me. Don't take it ill that I say no more. I am acting upon a general principle, and I am sure I only do myself justice, when I call upon you to assure yourself that it is not incon- sistent with the most cordial and unabated friendship towards you." (Lord Chancellor Eldon to William Jones, Esq.) W( Without date, but written, probably, about 1S01.) * * "The anxiety with which you express yonrself in the promotion of Lady Orkney's wishes, is very far from being unacceptable to me. I take leave, however, to repre- sent to you that, if Taplow becomes vacant, it will not be possible for me to gratify her ladyship's wishes. I regret it upon other accounts ; but I never have admitted any pretension founded upon the proprietorship of the parish; for that, besides other mischiefs attending it, is in fact making the crown a mere trustee of its advowsons for every considerable family in the kingdom." 212 LIFE OF LORD Patronage, the main topic of the last two letters, seems to have been the subject also of a little correspondence with Lord Nelson, in whose handwriting the following brief but cordial note has been found among Lord Eldon's papers : ( Lord Nelson to Lord Eldon.") "Amazon, Sept. 17th, 1801. " My Lord, "I feel very much obliged by your open and very handsome answer to my request, which so exactly accords with what my friend Davison told me of your lordship's character; and allow me to consider myself, in every respect, " ifour most obliged, "NELSON ASD BRONTE." This letter seems to have been written from the Downs, whither Lord Nelson had returned after his attacks upon Boulogne. Our southern coast was at that time threatened with immediate invasion from France ; but the danger was disregarded by the generality of the English people, whose confidence in their naval defenders induced them to make very light of all such menaces. To men of better in- formation, the grounds of alarm appeared more serious : as will be seen from the following letter, addressed to Lord Eldon by Mr. Windham, who, though he had quitted the government with Mr. Pitt, was at no time disposed to withhold any aid he could contribute to the defence or service of his country. " Pall Mall, No. 167. Sunday evening, 20th (Sept. 1801.) "My dear Lord, "My two visits to-day to your house, which might seem to imply somewhat import- ant, had no other object (nor need they indeed to have more, had I any thing material to say upon the subject,) than to talk of the prospect, which I understand you now generally suppose to exist, of an immediate invasion of these kingdoms. At Wey- mouth you might have observed, we did not much trouble ourselves with these appre- hensions; and in fact, the country in general seems to enjoy the most enviable state of tranquillity upon this head. It would be cruel to interrupt this dream of security, if it were not to be feared that this dream of security might chance to terminate, if left to its own course, in such a reality of danger as the country might never recover from. I have no difficulty in saying, that if the attempt at invasion is made, and that we do not look sharp, and employ, to the very utmost advantage, the miserable scanty means which we possess, the country may be lost before we well know where we are. It really drives one wild to see the senseless, unmeaning, unreflecting confidence which now and at other times has been felt upon this subject, and the neglect, in con- sequence, of the means which are necessary to give us even an equal chance of escaping. I cannot allow myself to begin upon this subject, which would carry me infinitely too far; but I do conjure you, my dear lord, not to give into this fatal confi- dence, so contrary to the opinions of all those who are best qualified to judge; nor to think, that if this invasion is actually coming, one moment is to be lost in providing every means that skill, prudence, energy, vigilance, foresight can permit, to guard against its effects. I include in this description many more things than I am sure have been done or are doing. With all that can be done, unless chance very much befriends us, the event may be such as no man can contemplate without horror. There are some few inconsiderable things, which have occurred to me as capable of being done immediately, and that might be useful; but it is unnecessary to state them, as I have already mentioned them in conversation with Lord Pelham. " With all my dread of invasion, I hope you do not suppose me to consider the dan- gers of invasion as by any means equal to those of peace. A man may escape a pistol, however near his head, but not a dose of poison. If I am not mistaken, you do not very materially differ from me in this opinion. " Yours ever, my dear lord, " With great truth, "W. WlXDHAM." CHANCELLOR ELDON. The necessity, however, for the precautions here recommended, was shortly afterwards dispelled by the very event which Mr. Wind- ham was most earnestly deprecating, a peace between England and France. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.') (Extract.) " October 2d, 1 SOI. "The preliminaries of peace with France were signed last night. The terms, I understand, I am not at liberty to mention. With my head and heart so full as they have been, for ten days past, I have felt, most deeply, the want of such a friend as you here. I am, perhaps, at this moment, one of the most anxious of mankind. I think, upon the whole, the peace, as to its terms, not objectionable, if we could forget the damnable principles upon which France has acted and may continue to act. You would excuse a great deal upon all subjects, if you knew the state of mind I am in. "Ever yours, affectionately, On this measure the opinions of the most eminent statesmen were by no means unanimous. Some members, even of the cabinet, among whom Lord Eldon may be included, appear to have considered it rather as an unavoidable, than as a desirable adjustment. He de- fended it in the House of Lords, both in the debate of the 3d Novem- ber, 1801, on the preliminaries, and in the debate of the 13th of the following May on the definitive treaty. 214 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XVII. 18011803. Lord Eldon appointed steward of the University of Oxford. Letter of George III. Recorder's report. Speeches on peace of Amiens and convention with Russia. Letter on patronage from the first Lord Melville. George the Third's view of a speaker's duty. Death of Lord Kenyon. Letters of George III. Labours of the chancellor. Letter of the first Lord Liverpool on the treatment of aliens. More letters of George III. Termination of peace with France. ON the 24th of July, 1801, a vacancy occurred in the high steward- ship of the University of Oxford, by the death of William, Earl of Dartmouth. The present Earl of Eldon says: " The appointment, unlike the case of Cambridge, where the senate elect this officer, is vested in the Chancellor of Oxford, subject to the approval of convocation ; and, accordingly, on the 18th of September, the Duke of Portland conferred this office on Lord Eldon ; who, on the 15th of October, received from the convocation the diploma of doctor in civil law." Lord Eldon appears to have expressed to the Duke of Portland some anxiety to know whether his thanks to the university must be returned in Latin, and to have prepared himself for that task with the assistance of Sir William Scott, who had a remarkable felicity in Latin composition. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) "Monday, (19th October, 1801.) " Dear Brother, "On Saturday night I received a diploma from the chancellor, masters and scholars of Oxford, conferring the degree of Doctor of Laws. I understood that a bit of Latin answer must be sent; and I humbly pray two sentences from your pen. I will call to-morrow morning. " The thing I have received is short. It states my being exalted to the most grave office of seneschal : that I am ' vir egregius,' and one of whom they make much, 'magnifacimus,' as having consecrated my youth among them to literis, virtuti, pie- tali; 1 and afterwards, betaking myself to the study of the law, they said I had gained the 'primariam laudem' of 'diligentiae,probitatis,et judicii,-' and that, having always favoured them and their interests, they hold me ' in deliciis,' and therefore they give me this, their highest honour. This is the sum total. Pray, pray, give me two sen- tences, thanking them and assuring them, that to the best of ttial judgment (the talent they are pleased to allow me) I wish to dedicate my old age, with diligenfia, and more of it than adorned my adolescentia, to < literis, virtuti, probitati, et pietati,' and their interests." The Duke of Portland, however, being of opinion that no Latin was necessary on this occasion, wrote to Lord Eldon the following letter, which has some political as well as academical and personal interest, the duke then filling the high office of president of the council, and confidentially addressing the lord chancellor as his colleague: CHANCELLOR ELDON. 215 " Bulstrode, Wednesday, October 21st, 1801. " My dear Lord, "I strongly incline to be of opinion that no expectation has ever been conceived by the university, of receiving your thanks in a Latin epistle ; and I cannot help in- ferring, from the vice-chancellor's desiring that I will let him know that I had com- plied with the wishes of the university in delivering you the diploma, that a letter from you to me, acknowledging the receipt of it, which may be communicated to the convocation, is all that is looked for or desired. However, if your lordship chooses to express your sentiments to the university in the Latin language, either by letter or a speech when you are admitted to the office of steward, or in both ways, there cannot be any impropriety in it; and as I very sincerely trust that I shall never again, exercise my privilege of appointing a steward of the university, if you have any wish to write or speak Latin, I do not feel sufficiently interested about your successor to trouble myself much about the embarrassment this precedent may occasion him. " There is another subject, which I must beg to mention to you in confidence, about which, you will allow me to say, I feel considerably more concerned than respecting that which I have just quitted. I mean the indifference, or, to speak more properly, the indisposition, at least, of Lord Rosslyn, to approve the terms of peace and to attend the meeting of Parliament, with regard to both which I know he has said that he knew nothing but what he had read in the newspapers or Gazette, and that he had had but too much time to reflect in solitude upon the unpleasant events of the present period. To you, my dear lord, who, I believe, as well as myself, do not entertain, much more sanguine or comfortable prospects than Lord Rosslyn of the actual state of things, but feel that every exertion must be made to prevent as much as possible the evils which cannot but be apprehended from them, it will appear no less desirable than it does to me, that the most perfect means should be taken to put an end to the sort of language which is held by Lord Rosslyn, and to remove from him all cause of complaint upon the ground of want of attention or shyness on the part of those who compose the administration. It is my intention to suggest to Lord Pelham, to whom I suppose, it is left to do that part of the House of Lords' business, and perhaps to Lord Hawkesbury, to write privately upon these subjects to Lord Rosslyu ; and I hope you will excuse my taking the liberty of submitting to you the good effects which I conceive may arise from your writing to him also. With permission, I cannot help thinking that the station you hold gives you a peculiar title to communicate and con- sult with him, and I am persuaded that he would be much gratified by it. Was he in town I certainly would, and if he comes I will most assuredly not fail to converse with him again and again upon these subjects; but, considering my present situa- tion, I do not feel that I can do it in writing to any good purpose; and excuse me for adding, that I am very anxious that the suggestion I have ventured to throw out respecting Lord Rosslyn may be approved and adopted by you. " I am ever, my dear lord, "Most sincerely yours, " PORTLAND." In accordance with the commencement of the foregoing letter, Lord Eldon's answer to the university, which duly expressed his thanks and his sense of the honour conferred upon him, was written in English. It bears date on the 22d of October, 1801, and is re- O * corded on the register of the convocation. To the office of high steward is attached an annual stipend of 5/. Every four years, when this amounted to 20/., Lord Eldon presented the accumulation to the RadclifFe Infirmary, under the designation of "An Unknown Benefactor." George III. seldom lost an occasion of countenancing those politi- cal principles which he regarded as the best security of his throne, and those public men by whom such principles were honestly upheld. In the election of a lord mayor he took sufficient interest, to accom- pany his ratification of it with a special letter to the chancellor : 216 LIFE OF LORD (King George HI. to Lord Eldon.} " Windsor, October 23lh, 1801. " The king has only this morning received the lord chancellor's note of the 23d, on his being, in the course of this week, to receive a deputation from the city of London, to introduce Sir James Earner as the proposed lord mayor for the ensuing year. "The king certainly can, with great propriety, authorize the lord chancellor to give an approbation to this choice; that alderman having uniformly conducted himself as a loyal subject and diligent magistrate. Such men are peculiarly suited for the pre- sent year, when, by the embarrassed situation from the trial of peace with a turbulent and revolutionary republic, every attention of the police must be exerted to avoid the dangers and difficulties that may otherwise ensue; but the king trusts, if a most re- spectable peace establishment be kept up, and the act against seditious meetings and the Alien Bill be continued, that the experiment may not be attended with all the evils that some persons might expect. "GKOllGE R." One of the heaviest responsibilities of the chancellor, in Lord Eldon's time, was to examine the recorder's report of the sentences passed on criminals convicted at the Old Bailey. " I was exceedingly shocked," said Lord Eldon to Mrs. Forster, " the first time I attended to hear the recorder's report, at the careless manner in which, as it appeared to me, it was conducted. We were called upon to decide on sentences, affecting no less than the lives of men, and yet there was nothing laid before us, to enable us to judge whether there had or had not been any extenuating circumstances ; it was merely a reca- pitulation of the judge's opinion, and the sentence. I resolved that I never would attend another report, without having read and duly considered the whole of the evidence of each case, and I never did. It was a considerable labour in addition to my other duties, but it is now a comfort to reflect that I did do so, and that, in consequence, I saved the lives of several individuals." " They used formerly to hang for street robberies. That was a time when hanging was more in fashion than it is now. In one of the recorder's reports, there was one man condemned for a robbery in Bed- ford Square. The king, George III., consulted his council whether this man's sentence should be executed, and all the ministers except one advised that it should. I observe,' said the king, ' that Lord Eldon has not yet spoken ; what says he ?' I answered, ' I will tell your majesty my opinion: It has been the custom to hang for street robberies, and a very bad crime it is ; but I think a distinction might fairly be made between those cases which are attended by personal violence, and those which are not ; therefore, as this man did not use any violence, I differ from the other lords, and think he is not an improper object for your majesty's clemency.' * Well, well,' said the king, since the learned judge who lives in Bedford Square, does not think there is any great harm in robberies there, the poor fellow shall not be hanged.' " His majesty opened the session in person on the 29th of October; and on the 3d of November, a debate arising in the House of Lords, on the preliminaries of the peace with France, The lord chancellor, in answer to Lord Grenville, who had expressed his disappro- val of the proposed terms, declared his own persuasion that the war had been, carried CHANCELLOR ELDON. on until any farther proceeding in it had become hopeless. But it had accomplished the direct object for which it was undertaken, that of repressing the principles and prac- tices of those who had combined for the overthrow of the British constitution. There were some who thought it behoved us to persevere until the ancient monarchy of France should be restored; but, without inquiring how far that was a desirable object, he would ask how far, and by what means, it was a practicable one. It could be attempted only through a great coalition of the European powers; and such a coali- tion, when it had existed, had been able to do nothing. He dealt in detail with many of the intended stipulations; and expressed his opinion that there was now a better chance for a peace which should be permanent than in 1797 when the late ministers negotiated with France. The convention with Russia gave rise in the House of Lords to another debate, in which the lord chancellor took part, answering, at considerable length, the attack of Lord Grenville upon that measure. The chancellor's speech, as reported in the Parliamentary History, 13th of November, 1801, contains some important reasonings upon the right of belligerents to search the vessels of neutrals. He sums up the result of the convention by stating, That the nation had gained the great objects for which they contended, viz., that free bottoms did not make free goods ; that ships of war had the right of search ; that the blockade of ports should be recognized as legitimate; that the exercise of these rights should be regulated upon clear, intelligible and liberal rules; and, which was of more consequence than all, that any casual violation of them should not be a cause of quarrel, but should be the subject of amicable adjustment. A great deal of the lord chancellor's correspondence turns neces- sarily upon matters of patronage. The succeeding extracts, from a letter written to him by the first Lord Melville, contain some sugges- tions which all governments may usefully bear in mind : "Edinburgh, Dec. llth, 1810. " My dear Lord, "When we parted in London, I promised to write to you on the subject of the Scotch judge. "In consequence of communications with your predecessor, founded on the opin- ions of the then lord advocate and lord president, it was pretty much understood that, till Mr. Blair should signify his acquiescence of going to the bench, the persons next to be looked at were Mr. Alexander Frazer Tytler, Mr. William Robertson and Mr. David Hume. I have mentioned them according to their seniority at the bar. They are all respectable men and what is never to be forgot in this part of the kingdom, they have been uniformly pure in their political principles, during the last eventful ten years in which we have lived. I particularly mention this last circumstance, because it has been lately rumoured to me, that some very violent spirits, professing themselves converts, have lately been attempting to bring themselves forward with a view to judicial situations. I trust no such attempts will be successful ; for if they are, the country will justly be disgusted and the general strength of the king's govern- ment much impaired. " Your obedient and faithful servant, "HEXRT DUNDAS." In February, 1802, Sir John Mitford, who had succeeded Lord Eldon as attorney-general, and had afterwards, on Mr. Addington's succession to the head of the government, been elected to the chair of the House of Commons, was appointed lord chancellor of Ireland, and raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Redesdale. At the levee, at which he was presented on the occasion of this promotion, Lord Eldon expressed his strong sense of Lord Redesdale's merits, saying to Mr. Henry Legge, " That is the greatest boon that has been 218 LIFE OF LORD conferred on Ireland." Sir John Mitford was succeeded as speaker by Mr. Abbot, afterwards Lord Colchester, of whose election the king expressed his approval in a characteristic note to Lord Eldon : (King George HI. to Lord Eldon.} " Queen's Palace, Feb. llth, 1802. " The king returns to the lord chancellor the commission for assenting to the choice the House of Commons has made of Mr. Abbott as their speaker, which he has just signed; and trusts that this gentleman will feel the propriety of following the line of conduct his two predecessors have chalked out, and not attempt novelties, which sel- dom succeed in the transaction of public business, and ought to be reprobated unless the old mode has been proved faulty. "GEORGE R." In the month of April died Lord Kenyon, the Lord Chief Justice of England, one of the oldest friends of Lord Eldon, who, speaking to the present Lord Kenyon, said, "If I had to write your father's epitaph, I should describe him 'justissimus unus, et servantissimus (Rqui." 1 " Lord Eldon's regard for the father was continued to the son ; who, at the end of a note communicating to the writer of this memoir the tribute thus paid by Lord Eldon to the character of the lord chief justice, adds, "You may estimate his kind feelings towards me when I tell you, that on the morning of my quitting Encombe with my daughter, and asking him how he was that day, he said, ' Pretty well, ' Quanquam digressu veteris confusus amici.' " Lord Chief Justice Kenyon was a great lawyer and a man of vigor- ous understanding. The bar, however, who are " nothing if not criti- cal," would jeer at his Latin quotations ; and the Anecdote Book says, " They were often such as are to be found in our law books, rather law Latin than classical 'Amo stare supra antiquas vias' was often uttered. When I was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, George III., on my kissing hands, said to me, " If you talk Latin when on the bench, let it be more classical than Kenyon's. You had better speak English only than Kenyon's Latin.' Upon my carrying to his majesty, upon some judge's appointment, the ring, which, previous to his appointment as a judge, (upon being made serjeant,) he gives the chancellor to be tendered to his majesty, the king, upon reading the inscription upon the ring, said, ' This judge may talk Latin. I see he reads Horace.' " The chief justiceship, made vacant by Lord Kenyon's death, was conferred on the attorney-general, Sir Edward Law, who was created Lord Ellenborough ; and the attorney-generalship passed to the soli- citor-general, the Honourable Spencer Perceval. The king, after subscribing the warrants for the two official appointments, returned them to the lord chancellor, with these notes : (King George HI. to Lord Eldon.) "Windsor, April llth. 1S02. "The king, at the same time that he returns to the lord chancellor the two war- rants which he has signed, appointing Sir Edward Law a serjeant and Chief Justice of the King's Bench, whose appointment he trusts will be the most eligible, cannot refrain from expressing much sorrow at the loss of so excellent a judge as the late Lord Kenyon, and knows the lord chancellor concurs in the same sentiment. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 219 "The king hopes the lord chancellor is now getting rid of the gout, and that by the close of the holidays his health will be perfectly restored. " GEORGE R." (King George III. to Lord Eldon.} " Windsor, April 14th, 1802. "The king returns the warrant he has signed, directing the warrant for the promo- tion of the solicitor-general to the office of attorney-general. He should have thought it highly advantageous to the said gentleman if he could have remained in his former situation a few years ; but, on the present vacancy, it would have been highly im- proper to have placed any one, though a senior at the bar, over his head. " GEORGE R." The following day again brought a note from the king to the chan- cellor, who, through gout and fatigue, was labouring under consider- able indisposition. This note, and another written a few days after- wards, are inserted as indicative of the interest which the sovereign continued to feel and express in the welfare of his distinguished ad- viser. (King George III. to Lord Eldon.} "Windsor, April loth, 1802. " The king returns the commission for passing the bills this day to the lord chan- cellor, having signed it. He at the same time expresses a most sincere wish that the recess may be crowned with the restoration of the lord chancellor's health, and strongly recommends that he will not, at first coming out, be quite so assiduous as he was in business before his confinement, to which he rather attributes the duration of the fit of the gout. " GEORGE R." (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) "Queen's Palace, April 30th, 1802. "The king returns to the lord chancellor the commission, which he has signed, for giving his assent to the bills now prepared for that purpose. At the same time the king avails himself of the opportunity to express the satisfaction he receives from the assurance of the lord chancellor's gout having entirely subsided. That a degree of lameness and weakness still remains is the natural effect of the disorder, but will daily diminish; and the king, therefore, strongly recommends to the lord chancellor the not coming next Wednesday to St. James's, but the coming here on Thursday for the recorder's report, which will avoid the necessity of going up stairs ; and Wednesday is the first day of term, which must in itself be a day of some fatigue. " GEORGE R." On the 4th of May, 1802, Lord Eldon was appointed a governor of the Charter House, in the room of Lord Kenyon, by an instrument under the seal of the Charter House, and the hands and seals of six governors. The definitive treaty of peace with France was discussed in the House of Lords on the 13th of May, when Lord Eldon again spoke in its defence. He said that he did not mean to represent this peace as a glorious one for Eng- land ; but he trusted that, candidly viewed, it would be found to be as good a peace as was attainable in reference to all the circumstances of it. He then discussed and combated the objections made by preceding speakers to the details of the treaty. This must have been the speech to which Lord Eldon was refer- ring, when he said to Mrs. Forster a year or two before his death, "After all, Mary, I think I am wonderful, considering how much I have gone through; for mine has been no easy life. I will tell you 220 LIFE OF LORD what once happened to me. I was ill w T ith the gout ; it was in my feet, so I was carried into my carriage, and from it I was carried into my court. There I remained all the day, and delivered an arduous judgment. In the evening I was carried straight from my court to the House of Lords : there I sat until two o'clock in the morning, when some of the lords came and whispered to me that I was ex- pected to speak. I told them I really could not, I was ill, and I could not stand ; but they still urged, and at last I hobbled, in some way or other, with their assistance, to the place from which I usually addressed the House. It was an important question, the peace of Amiens: I forgot my gout, and spoke for two hours. Well, the House broke up, I was carried home, and at six in the morning I prepared to go to bed. My poor left leg had just got in, when I recol- lected I had important papers to look over, and that I had not had time to examine them ; so I pulled my poor left leg out of bed, put on my clothes, and went to my study. I did examine the papers ; they related to the recorder's report, which had to be heard that day ; I was again carried into court, where I had to deliver another arduous judgment, again went to the House of Lords, and it was not till the middle of the second night that I got into bed. These are hard trials to a man's constitution." This little narrative still further and more strongly, although but incidentally, evinces the anxious vigilance of Lord Eldon respecting capital convictions. Political affairs wore now a serene aspect, and, except the discus- sions on the treaty of peace, there was no public matter of any con- siderable interest. On the 28th of June, the session was closed by a speech from his majesty in person, and on the following day the first Parliament of the United Kingdom was dissolved. The valuable living of Foston, which is in the gift of the great seal, becoming vacant about this time, was offered by the chancellor to his old friend Mr. Swire. Nothing can better prove how well he deserved such a preferment than the reasons he gave for declining it. (Mr. Swire to Lord Eldm.*) (Extract.) "Melsonby, Aug. 3d, 1802. "My Lord, "I am wholly at a loss for words to express the obligation I feel myself under, for your abundant kindness and goodness to me. The very gracious and flattering man- ner in which you have made me the offer of a very valuable living has almost over- powered me. I was not surprised that you should think of an old friend, but I could hardly expect (hat you should be so attentive to him as you have been. What return can I make for this mark of your esteem for me 1 none, but saying from my heart that I sincerely thank you. Till I was favoured with your lordship's letter, I did not know there was such a place as Foston upon earth: I was equally ignorant about Kirkby-Underdale: nor do I know the names of any livings in your patronage as chancellor, except Middleton-Tvas and Barningham : so little self-interest had I in so anxiously wishing to see you promoted to the high and honourable office you now hold. I have looked into Bacon's ' Liber Regis,' and Jefferys's map of this county, and, by their united help, I have found out Foston; and I think I have discovered that its distance from Melsonby is more than is allowed by law, and but just so. However, I am so desirous of preserving my peace of mind, that I will make no undue stretch ; and, therefore, I must, on that score, refuse your gracious offer. Indeed, had it been within the permitted distance, I should have wished to have declined the CHANCELLOR ELDON. 221 acceptance of your favour, unless it had been considerably nearer to this place than it is: for I could not have been happy to possess a living, where I could not frequently have performed some of the important duties of a priest. I can truly say with Dr. Johnson, that I cannot think of shearing the sheep which 1 cannot feed." A note from George III. addressed to the chancellor, who this year extended his sittings in Lincoln's Inn Hall to the latter part of August, attests the constant zeal of his majesty for the Protestant church : (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) " Wey mouth, August 14th, 1802. " Yesterday the king received the lord chancellor's letter. He trusts that the fatigue of sitting in this warm weather in Lincoln's Inn Hall has not proved so inconvenient as might have been expected. The king is much pleased at Dr. Ridley's being placed in the Isle of Wight. His being of the family of so celebrated a man as the bishop that bore that name, in addition to his connection with the lord chancellor, very pro- perly entitles him to that situation. " GEORGE R." The condition and legal rights of foreigners residing in England, with reference particularly to the consular government then recently established in France, had become, in this year, a matter of some embarrassment to ministers. The following letter to Lord Eldon from the first Earl of Liverpool, the father of the nobleman who was so long first minister of the crown, throw's some useful light upon the general and often recurring question of the country's rights and duties as to aliens : " Addiscombe Place, August 24th, 1802. " My dear Lord, " By a paper I received yesterday from my son, I find it is the opinion of his majesty's servants, that the Alien Act will not authorize them to send the French emi- grants, or any foreigners, out of this country, unless they are supposed to be danger- ous, from their conduct or political principles, to the internal tranquillity of this king dom. I do not mean to contend against so high authority, with respect to the con- struction that is to be given to this law. I was not present at any of the meetings or in Parliament, when it was under contemplation; and it is possible that the motive for passing it was principally that before stated; and yet, if such is the true interpre- tation of this law, I do not see by what legal authority you can oblige these emigrants to leave the kingdom, or even to reside in any particular part of it, with a view of preventing any intercourse they may carry on, which may give just offence to neigh- bouring governments. If you had a right of sending them out of the kingdom, you might certainly require, as a condition for permission to remain in it, that they should confine their residence to some particular county or district. I am sensible that several of them receive pensions ; and that you may annex as a condition on which alone they shall continue to receive these pensions, that they shall reside where you please to direct. But I confess I feel that this sort of compulsion has something un- generous in it: and I should not like to rest my power and influence over these unhappy men singly on this circumstance. Besides, a great number of them do not receive pensions ; and these are of the most dangerous description ; they live by their wits, that is, by inventing and propagating reports offensive to that government which has driven them out of their country; and it is to these that we must ascribe the unpleasant discussion, in which we are at present engaged with the French government. I observe, however, that it is the intention of his majesty's ministers to exercise some sort of police over these French emigrants, and yet I cannot con- ceive on what legal authority such exercise can be founded or justified; so that the determination taken by his majesty's ministers appears to me, in its different parts, to be contradictory and inconsistent with itself. If I had been able to come to town and return again the same day, I would have waited on your lordship to talk to you on this important subject, for I am certain the business now under consideration will not end without some serious consequences, 222 LIFE OF LORD and that it will ultimately be an object of discussion in the two Houses of Parlia- ment. It behoves us, therefore, to found our measures, and every step that we may take,'on principles that we can fully justify to the people of this country and to the rest of mankind. It appears to me that the first consul is really mad, and that the French emigrants are, on the other hand, foolish. They are the true parties in this business; but this country will suffer and never beat rest till the contest is at an end. "I have the pleasure to tell you that my general health is tolerably good. True it is I am weak, but my trunk does not appear as yet to have any mortal disease, though my arms and legs, that is, my branches, are withered. "I hope your lordship will excuse the trouble which I now give you; but as the principal point of this letter relates to the exercise of legal authority, on which your lordship is the best judge, I could not deny myself the satisfaction of writing it to you. " I am, with the sincerest regard, " My dear lord, " Your faithful humble servant, " LIVERPOOL." The two following notes from the king to Lord Eldon furnish further illustrations of his majesty's anxious and minute attention to those matters of public business which had to pass through his hands : (King George III to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) " Windsor, Nov. 13th, J802. "The king returns the commission for opening the Parliament, which he has signed. Having had the curiosity of reading the commission, have found a mistake, the insertion of George, Earl of Leicester, instead of William, Earl of Dartmouth, as lord steward of the household, which can easily be corrected by the lord chancellor ordering this change of names, though the king has signed the commission. (King George HL to Lord Eldon.) (Extract.) "Windsor, Dec. 29th, 1802. "The king returns the commission, having signed it. He trusts the bill of inquiry into the civil departments of the navy is materially amended by the alterations effected by the lord chancellor, and that the evils are obviated which might have easily arisen from so delicate a business being framed by gentlemen of the navy, instead of those conversant, from education as well as practice, in the nature of the laws of this kingdom. " GEORGE R." The newly-elected Parliament, which had been opened by the king in person on the 23d of November, continued its sitting till Christ- mas. On the 15th of December, in a debate on the malt tax, the Earl of Suffolk, while he praised the existing government, imputed much blame to the antecedent ministry for their whole conduct of the war, and particularly for having confined, during long periods, persons whom they suspected of treasonable practices, but whom they never brought to trial. Upon this the lord chancellor, with great warmth, declared that He would sooner suffer death upon the spot than hear the conduct of the late ad- ministration aspersed, in this respect, without confutation. If they were criminal in this, he was as criminal as they: and the only reason why a different policy now pre- vailed was, that the circumstances of the country were now different. He vindicated the conduct of the war and the arrangement of the peace. When Parliament re- assembled after the vacation, the ministers proposed and carried a continuance of the act of 1797, by which the Bank of England had been restricted from paying its notes in specie. On that subject Lord Eldon received this letter from the king: CHANCELLOR ELDON. 223 (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) " Windsor, Feb. 2~th, 1803. "The king has, with great satisfaction, signed the commission for passing the bill to restrain the Bank of England from paying cash, as he is convinced of the utility of the measure, and ardently hopes it may be prolonged the next year; or, if the situ- ation of public affairs should at that time prove more favourable, that the bank will at least be restrained from paying cash above a certain proportion of each payment it may have to issue. " GEORGE R." The ministers now found themselves perplexed by an extensive military preparation in the ports of France and Holland, ostensibly directed to colonial objects, but obviously suggesting the necessity of practicable measures for the defence of the British empire. A message from the crown on this important subject was delivered to both Houses of Parliament on the 8th of March: and on the 16th of May, another message announced the termination of all pacific relations between England and France and the mutual recall of their ambassadors. These events having been foreseen for several months, the ministry, who seem to have been conscious that they were not of a constitution for warlike undertakings, made overtures to obtain the assistance of Mr. Pitt ; but he, though not unwilling to lend his aid for the con- struction of such a government as would be, in his judgment, a really efficient one, showed no disposition to resume office as a mere prop to the existing ministry. The negotiation, therefore, terminated ab- ruptly, and without practical results ; and Mr. Addington was still first minister when the session of Parliament terminated on he 12th of August, 1803. 224 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XVIII. 18031804. Disturbances in Ireland. Volunteers. Relapse of George III.: Inquiries in the House of Lords: Personal communications of the chancellor with the king: Extracts from the chancellor's private minutes of the examinations of the king's physicians: Treatment of the king: His conduct during his illness. Debates on volunteer force: Courteous retort upon Lord Spencer. Lord Eldon's defence of law officers : Of Lord Chancellor Redesdale. Offers of service from Irish militia. Letters from Lord Chancellor Redesdale on the state and government of Ireland. MEANWHILE, in Ireland, occurrences had taken place which evinced but too plainly that the temper of that country had been either addi- tionally heated, or, at least, not effectually cooled, by the union with Great Britain. In the counties of Limerick, Tipperary and Water- ford, disturbances of more than ordinary violence had broken out, which, however, being mostly of an agrarian rather than of a political character, had been put down in the January of this year, by a special commission for the instant trial of the insurgents. But as the differ- ences between England and France became wider, the French began to avail themselves of the unquiet spirit of the Irish people, with the purpose of inveigling them into a movement for the forcible severance of the union. Animated by the hope of French assistance, a young gentleman, named Robert Emmett, made an attempt, on the 23d of July, 1803, at the head of an undisciplined force, to seize the city and castle of Dublin. The outbreak was speedily suppressed by two small parties of the 21st regiment; but not till after Lord Kilwarden, the Chief Justice of Ireland, had been dragged from his carriage and murdered in the street. On the 28th, a message from his majesty was brought down to both Houses, notifying that a spirit of insur rection had manifested itself in Ireland, and recommending to Parlia- ment the adoption of measures for its suppression. On the same evening, two bills were introduced into the House of Commons, one for enabling the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to try by martial law any prisoners who should be taken there in rebellion ; and the other for suspending the Habeas Corpus act in that kingdom. Both bills passed through all their stages in the Lower House before ten o'clock, and were taken at once to the House of Lords, where they were carried through all their stages before eleven, the lord chan- cellor and Lord Rosslyn agreeing that the standing orders, which require distinct days for certain steps of every bill, might be pro- perly suspended, as they had been in former cases of emergency. The king prorogued Parliament from the throne on the 12th of Au- gust. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 225 On the 22d of November, 1803, when his majesty in person opened the next session, the Irish insurrection formed one of the topics of the royal speech: and, early in December, fresh bills were introduced for continuing the enactments of the preceding July. The new bills having passed the House of Commons, and been once read in the House of Lords, the second reading of them there, on the 12th of December, gave rise to a discussion, in which the lord chancellor took a prominent part, enforcing these measures on account of the necessity of the case and the uncertainty of the extent to which the- mischief might have secretly reached. Both bills were passed. The threat of invasion had very generally roused the country, and volunteers were now enrolled to the number of 300,000 men. Talk- ing of them to Mrs. Forster, in his after life, Lord Eldon said: " We had a meeting of the ministers, at the time of the French threat of invasion, to consider the propriety of allowing volunteer regiments : and the ministers avowed that they were afraid of incur- ring such an expense. When I had to give my opinion, I said, 'Do as you please, but if these men do not volunteer for you, they will against you.' The volunteers saved the country: Buonaparte ac- knowledged it. I think the finest sight I ever beheld was the great review in Hyde Park before the king, George the Third. The king, in passing, addressed Tom Erskine, who was colonel, asking him the name of his corps. He answered, ' The Devil's Own.' The Lin- coln's Inn Volunteers always went by the name of the Devil's In- vincibles." Parliament having re-assembled after the Christmas recess, a bill was introduced by government in the beginning of February, 1804, for consolidating and amending the various laws relating to the corps of volunteers. While this bill was pending in the House of Commons, the public became aware that the king's mind was again in a disturbed state. On the 27th of February, the order of the day being moved for the second reading of the bill, some discussion arose about his majesty's competency to discharge the public business. The inqui- ries of the opposition were answered by a guarded assurance from Mr. Addington, that " there was not, at that time, any necessary sus- pension of such royal functions as it might be necessary for his majesty then to discharge."' On the 1st of March, the same subject was mooted in the Upper House by Lord King, and met by Lord Hawkes- bury with a like assurance. The fact appears to have been, that the king at that time was in an excited and hurried state, but was not so far disordered as to be unfit for transacting formal business, which was all that public occasions just then required him to go through. Lord King having intimated that a full explanation was especially to be expected from the lord chancellor, by reason of the peculiar respon- sibility arising from his position and official relation to the sove- reign, Lord Eldon assured the House that he had considered, and deeply, his duty at this trying crisis. He was aware that while he w as bound, on the one hand, to keep con- stantly in view what was due from him in point of delicacy to his sovereign, on the VOL. I. 15 226 LIFE OF LORD other he ought never to forget that he had a duty to perform to the legislature and the public. Anxious that there should be no misapprehension, he declared that at that moment thc-re was no suspension of the royal functions. On the 9th of March, the royal assent being about to be given by commission to several bills, the inquiries as to his majesty's state of health were renewed by Lord Fitzwilliam, who observed that the reports of the physicians did not appear to hold out hopes of a speedy recovery, and added that his doubts were such as induced him to call upon the lord chancellor for further information. Lord Eldon stated, that in this momentous matter he had proceeded not only with deliberation and caution, but even with fear and trembling; that not satisfied with the reports and assurances of the medical attendants, he had thought it right to obtain a personal interview with the sovereign; and that at that interview, due discussion had taken place as to the bills offered for the royal assent, which had thereupon been, fully expressed. "I would sooner," said he, "suffer my right hand to be severed from my body than act in such an instance upon light or superficial grounds; and I have no hesitation to aver, that the result of all which took place on the occasion amply justifies me in announcing his majesty's assent to the bills specified in the royal commission. I know and feel with gratitude my obligations to the best of sove- reigns, and to his person I bear the warmest affection. But I can most conscien- tiously say, that no considerations whatever, not even those to which I have alluded, shall ever induce me to break that sacred covenant which I have made with myself, not to suffer that any thing shall warp my judgment, or bear me from the rule of strict duty and rectitude. I am fully aware of the high responsibility under which I stand, and with reference to which I act on this occasion." The interview with the king, which is referred to in this explana- tion, had taken place on the morning of the same day. Lord Eldon has left this record of it, in his Anecdote Book : " During one of his majesty's indispositions, and when there was a doubt whether he was sufficiently recovered to make it fit to take his royal sign manual to a commission for passing acts of Parliament, the time approached, when, if the mutiny bills were not renewed and passed, the establishments of the army and navy, in the midst of war, must have broken up. It became, therefore, absolutely necessary to have his royal sign manual to acts for continuing those establishments. The chancellor is the minister responsible for that. I waited upon his majesty, and carried with me the commission, and a brief abstract of the several intended acts, but in much more of detail than the previous statements made upon such occasions. I began reading that abstract, a caution not usual when the king was well ; and he said, 'My lord, you are cautious.' I entreated his majesty to allow that, under the then circumstances. 'Oh!' he said, 'you are certainly right in that, but you should be correct as well as cautious.' I said I was not conscious that I was not correct. ' No,' said he, 'you are not ; for if you will look into the commission which you have brought me to sign, you will see that I there state that I have fully considered the bills proposed to receive my sign manual ; to be correct, there- fore, I should have the bills to peruse and consider.' I stated to him that he never had had the bills whilst I had been chancellor, and that I did not know that he had ever had the bills. He said, during a part of his reign he had always had them until Lord Thurlow had ceased to bring them ; and the expression his majesty used was, that CHANCELLOR ELDON. 227 Lord Thurlow had said it was nonsense, his giving himself the trouble to read them. I said his majesty had satisfied me that I had used caution enough, took the sign manual, and went to the House of Lords; and, when about passing the commission, Lord Fitzwilliam rose and said, ' I wish to ask whether the chancellor declares his majesty is%equal to the act of signing the commission with full know- ledge upon the subject,'^ to that effect. I answered, 'Your lord- ship will see the commission executed immediately.' " I have committed this to paper, having been much abused on ac- count of this transaction, and for the purpose of stating that it was my determination, if I thought his majesty sufficiently well as an indivi- dual to give his assent, to take the royal sign manual to the commis- sion, and execute it without making any observation; if, on the other hand, I did not think him so well as an individual, inasmuch as the competency of the king, as king, was what the law authorized me to consider as belonging to him, notwithstanding his indisposition, I de- termined to take the royal sign manual to the commission, and, after executing it, to state to the House in what condition of his majesty I had taken this step, and to throw myself on Parliament's consideration of my case, and my having so acted, in order, in a most perilous pe- riod, to prevent the establishments, necessary for the defence and, indeed, the existence of the country, from going to pieces. "Many thought I acted too boldly in this proceeding; but I could not bring myself to think that I ought to countenance the notion that the king's state of mind, considering him as an individual, was such as I, in my conscience, did not believe it to be ; and I did think that it was my duty to expose myself to all that might happen, rather than give a false impression of the actual state of my sovereign and royal master to his people. " God grant that no future chancellor may go through the same dis- tressing scenes, or be exposed to the dangerous responsibility which I went through and was exposed to during the indispositions of my sovereign ! My own attachment to him supported me through those scenes. Such and so cordial was the love and affection his people bore to him, that a servant, meaning well and placed amidst great difficulties, would have been pardoned for much, if he had had occa- sion for indemnity. " When I went to take the king's sign manual, some other minis- ters wanted it in their department. They sent the papers to me in- stead of coming themselves to support me by their arts. I refused to tender any of them to the king." The cabinet, of course, had, from lime to time, continued their examinations of the physicians. The extracts which follow are from private minutes, in Lord Eldon's own handwriting, of the examina- tions of 27th February and 5th March, 1804. 07th February, 1804. The chancellor having intimated that he should not think it his duty to take the king's sign manual without ascertaining that his majesty understood the effect of the instrument to which his sign manual was required: 228 LIFE F LORD Q. Are his majesty's physicians of opinion that he is cimpetent to do an act, with respect to which ft would be necessary for the chancellor, previous to his majesty's doing the act, to receive such satisfaction? A. We think him perfectly competent to do an act so explained and understood. Q. Are you prepared to express an opinion of the probable duration of the king's illness] A. by Sir Lucas Pepys. My opinion is that it will not be of long duration. t, * * * * * ' * By Dr. Simmons. I think there is every reason to believe it will be of short dura- tion, particularly if his majesty is not too soon hurried with company and business. I think him perfectly competent to business as before described, at present. Q. In qualifying your opinion as to the nature of the business which his majesty might be called upon to execute, did you mean to express a doubt of his majesty's capacity to exercise his judgment, at this time, upon such points as might be submitted lo him, or your opinion of the expediency of resorting to him to perform any acts except such as have been described in the former question! A. I think his majesty is perfectly competent; but if the point led to long argument or fatiguing discussion, I think the experiment would be imprudent. All the physicians entirely concur with Dr. S. ******* 5th March, 1804. Q. His majesty having transacted business with his Parliament since his illness by commission and message, do his majesty's physicians continue to think that his majesty is able to transact business with his Parliament, in like manner, by commis- sion and message, in the exercise of a sufficient and unrestrained judgment? A. The physicians are of opinion that his majesty is fully competent to transact business with his Parliament by commission and message. The next two extracts are from Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book : " In one of his majesty George III.'s illnesses" (1804) "when he was at Buckingham House, it was conceived to be my duty as chan- cellor to call at that house every day. This was constantly done, to the interruption of the business of my court to a great extent, for which the public opinion made no allowance. Upon one day when I went to make my call of duty, Dr. Simmons, the medical attendant con- stantly there, represented to me the embarrassment he was exposed to, being persuaded that if his majesty could have a walk frequently round the garden behind the house, it would be of the most essential benefit to him ; that, if he took his walk with the doctor, or any of his attendants, he was overlooked from the windows of Grosvenor Place, and reports were circulated very contrary to the truth respecting his majesty's mental health; that, on the other hand, his majesty's family . were afraid of accompanying him ; and that he, the doctor, did not know how to act, as the walk was of vast importance to his majesty's recovery. It was to me plain that he wished that I should offer to attend his majesty, and walk with him in the garden. I offered to do so if he thought it likely to be useful to the king. He then went into the next room, where the king was, and I heard him say, c Sir, the chancellor is come to take a walk with your majesty, if your ma- jesty pleases to allow it.' < With all my heart,' I overheard the king say, and he called for his hat and cane. We walked two or three times round Buckingham House gardens. There was at first a mo- mentary hurry and incoherence in his majesty's talk, but this did not endure two minutes ; during the rest of the walk there was not the slightest aberration in his majesty's conversation, and he gave me the CHANCELLOR ELDON. 229 history of every administration in his reign. When we returned into the house, his majesty, laying down his hat and cane, placed his head upon my shoulder, and burst into tears ; and, after recovering himself, bowed me out of the room in his usual manner. Dr. Simmons told me afterwards that this had been of infinite use towards his recovery. It is a curious circumstance that, walking down St. James's Park after I left Buckingham House, I found that it had been asserted, that in that very morning his majesty had been seen walking round the Buck- ingham House gardens, and that he was so very furious that the at- tendants employed by Dr. Simmons had been obliged by violence to carry him into the house. This was one of the falsehoods which, for political purposes, were constantly fabricated about the poor king. Simmons assured me that there was not the semblance of truth in it." " When he was recovering, but not entirely recovered, upon my visiting him, as I did every morning, he took out a watch from a drawer, and said he had worn it for twenty years, and desired me to accept it and wear it for his sake. I declined to accept it. At first he was extremely angry, and asked with much earnestness why I did not obey him. I said that it was impossible for me to be of any use to his majesty, if, under the then circumstances, I accepted any thing from him. He wept." In relating this circumstance to Mrs. Forster, Lord Eldon added, " I told him that there were people who envied me every mark of my sovereign's favour, and who would give an unfavourable construction to my receiving any thing from him at that time ; and, therefore, greatly as I valued his gifts, I thought, under present circumstances, it was best to return the watch with its chain and seal. The king took them and said nothing. " Some time afterwards, nine or ten months afterwards, I was sit- ting in the Chancery Court, when a red box and key to it were deli- vered to me. I opened it, and found the identical watch and seal, and a letter from the king." This letter, after mentioning some other matters, proceeds thus : " Windsor Caotle, January 21st, 1S03. "The king takes this opportunity of forwarding to the lord chancellor the watch he mentioned the last spring; it has undergone a thorough cleaning, and been left with the maker many months, that the accurateness of its going might be ascertained. Facing 10 minutes there is a spring, if pressed with the nail, will open the glass for setting the watch; or, turning the watch, pressing the back edge facing 50 minutes, the case opens for winding up. u GEORGE R." The Anecdote Book says, " The seal is a curious one. It contains a figure of religion looking up to heaven, and a figure of justice with no bandage over the eyes, his majesty stating that justice should be bold enough to look the world in the face. The motto was, ' His Dirige Te.' It happened that I sent a letter to my old excellent friend, Dr. Swire, of Melsonby, sealed with this seal. He showed it to his friend and neighbour Dr. Zouch, who had refused a bishopric. Dr. Zouch preached an assize sermon soon afterwards in Durham cathedral, which had a passage in it representing justice without a 230 LIFE OF LORD bandage over the eyes. The sermon was published, and several reviews of the time stated that they had hunted all authors, Grecian and Roman to discover where Dr. Zouch had borrowed the hint so to describe justice, but in vain; and complimented him much upon a thought so new and so beautiful."* Lord Eldon acknowledged the king's goodness in these terms : "Lord Eldon cannot delay till he sees your majesty, offering his most humble and grateful acknowledgments for the great favour which he has received from your majesty. Whilst he lives he shall carry about with him the valuable token your majesty has been pleased to present to him as a mark of your majesty's gracious acceptance of his most humble services to his king and master; and he trusts that as long as Providence shall permit him to have any descendants, they will never fail to cherish and value, as he does, this proof of your majesty's great kindness to your subject and servant. His humble wish is, that he, and those descendants, may be enabled to direct their conduct, in all time to come, as your majesty has now been pleased to prescribe, by the dictates of religion, and by the rules of that justice which, not being afraid to throw the bandages from its eyes, will never hesitate to execute its righteous purposes at the hazard of all the consequences which may be within its view." The king, during one of his illnesses, complained to Lord Eldon, who related the story to Mr. Farrer, that a man in the employ of some of his physicians, had knocked him down. " When I got up again," added the king, " I said my foot had slipped, and ascribed my fall to that; it would not do for me to admit that the king had been knocked down by any one." Lord Eldon related to Lord Encombe, ttyat the king used to say he had had one advantage from his mental afflic- tions; namely, the means of knowing his real from his pretended friends. Both Houses were now occupied with the Volunteers' Consolida- tion Bill. Lord Carnarvon having questioned, in the debate of the 27th of March 1804, the king's prerogative to array all classes of his subjects in arms at seasons of danger, independently of consultation with his Parliament, Lord Ellenborough proved, from various authorities, and particularly from the ancient commissions of array, (one whereof was passed in the fifth year of Henry IV., and is set out in the third volume of the Parliament rolls, and recognized as law by Lord Coke,) that it is a prerogative inherent in the crown, to require, in critical cases, such as invasion or even the apprehension of invasion, the services of all subjects capable of bearing arms. This prerogative, however, would not involve a power of throwing all classes indiscriminately into the ranks: men must be employed accord- ing to their states, their habits of life and the modes in which they might be most useful. Lord Grenville argued that, in the present age, this prerogative must be exercised, not by the sovereign acting personally, but by the sovereign acting under the sanction of Parliament. The lord chancellor, in admitting the superiority of a strong regular army as com- pared with a volunteer force, reminded the House that such a body of regulars as * NOTK BY THE PRESENT E*ni.. It is, perhaps, worthy of notice, that although the watch which King George III. gave to Lord Eldon had the additional value of having been worn for many years by the king himself, yet the device of the seal seems to bear some internal evidence that the royal donor had had this engraved especially for his chancellor, since the judgment seat is clearly a representation of the woolsack, and the scroll, with its Latin motto, signifying, " Direct thyself by these," namely, by religion and justice, might, with peculiar propriety, be addressed to the firbt judge in the land. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 231 would have been at all equal, in its efficiency, to the existing force of volunteers, could not have been raised with the ease or rapidity with which that existing force had been, organized. Against the restrictions with which Lord Grenville had sought to qualify the prerogative, he entered his most solemn protest; and argued the validity of the prerogative, not only upon legal authorities, but upon the necessity of the cases to which it was applicable, and the paramount consideration of the people's safety. Should the country be invaded, and a landing effected when Parliament was not sitting or not in being, what would be the practical consequences of the doctrine that the prerogative was available only through the instrumentality of the entire legis- lature 1 In committee on this bill, 5th April, He took occasion to condemn the practice of imputing to the negligence or incapa- city of the law officers of the crown all the confusion and inconsistency that appeared in the various acts of Parliament passed from time to time. The fact, he said, fre- quently was, that a bill, originally prepared with the greatest care, underwent so many modifications in its progress through both the Houses, and received so many amend- ments from what was called (how properly he would not take upon himself to say) the conjunctive wisdom of Parliament, that it became at last in a great degree inex- plicable. The committee on the bill was resumed on the following day, when Earl Spencer, upon one of the clauses on which the chancellor had been arguing, made some observations characterizing that argument as a subterfuge, to lake "away the volunteers' exemptions by legal distinctions and subtleties. If the clause passed, he should look upon himself as having been tricked into kidnapping men by false offers : his personal pledge would be destroyed, and the faith of Parliament violated." The chancellor met this attack with the best possible temper and taste. He would inform the noble earl, that he had as high a regard to the honour of Par- liament, and to his own honour, as the noble earl; and he meant by that to express his feelings of the injustice done him, since he could not wish for a higher character, as a public or as a private man, than that which the noble earl possessed.* Earl Spencer's anger was disarmed, and coming up to the wool- sack, he shook hands with the chancellor.! The spirit which had led him to defend the law officers of the crown from unmerited imputation, was still more earnestly excited when a personal friend of his own was assailed. The circumstances of the time having induced several regiments of Irish militia to make voluntary offers of service in Great Britain, a bill was introduced into Parliament for enabling his majesty to accept those offers. Lord Boringdon, in opposing it on the 19th of April, made some hostile comments upon certain letters, which the Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Redesdale, in placing Lord Fingal, an Irish Roman Catholic peer, upon the commission of the peace, had addressed to that nobleman, concerning the imputed disaffection of the low T er classes of the Irish Roman Catholics and the dangerous influence of their priests. The lord chancellor said, it was impossible for him to remain silent after the charges unjustly cast upon a noble person, who had long been his dearest and most intimate friend, and against whom uncommon pains had lately been taken to excite a most unfounded prejudice. That noble person had been accused of entertaining sentiments inimical to a large body of the Irish people. This was wholly untrue; and, indeed, on many occasions, Lord Redesdale had been the best friend of the Parl. HisL April 6, 1801. f Law Mag., xlii. 232 LIFE OF LORD Roman Catholics of Ireland, and their most strenuous advocate. Thus much he thought it proper to say in behalf of one whose excellent qualities he had long known and 'continued lo hold in the highest estimation, and whose friendship he hoped to preserve as long as life continued within him. It had been objected, that this mea- sure would convert the militia regiments of Ireland into deliberative bodies. In that objection he could perceive no force; he could see nothing like deliberation in their expressing a willingness to serve in any particular place out of their o\vn country. Suppose that a body of troops had agreed to serve only in a particular county of England, and that a necessity should occur for their assistance in the county adjoin- ing, from which they might be separated, perhaps, only by a river; if they should offer to cross the bridge, which they were not compellable to cross, would it be dan- gerous to accept such assistance! Would that be to recognize a dangerous delibe- rative power in military men 1 He did not apprehend that at the present moment this force was absolutely necessary to Great Britain; but such an accession to the means of domestic defence would still be highly useful, as enabling the government to con- vert a large portion of its ordinary force to other important purposes. Lord Redesdale's correspondence with Lord Eldon, which is very voluminous, while it indicates an honest and incessant zeal for fair dealing toward the Roman Catholic people and for the suppression of the jobbery so rampant in Ireland before the union, yet maintains a strong tone both of opposition to the claim for " emancipation," and of caution against the ulterior but not then avowed objects of the Roman Catholic agitators. The following extracts from these letters, written by an Irish to an English chancellor half a century ago and embrac- ing not a few of the points which agitate the whole empire to this day will probably retain their interest, as well for curious and specu- lative readers, as for practical politicians. The earlier of these ex- tracts belong in point of date to the years 1802, 1803, but seem to find their place most conveniently here, in connection with the cor- respondence of 1804. (Lord Redesdakto Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) "Ely Place, Dublin, May 4th, 1802. "Patronage is here much looked to from habit; and every man's consequence depends, in some degree, on his patronage; and patronage is sought in various ways. This makes it much more difficult to find a man who is wholly disinterested on any subject, or who thinks himself not interested, though, in fact, he can scarcely be deemed to have an interest. In truth, we have not yet quite got rid of the old habits produced by the old system. "I have been principally engaged hitherto in eating and drinking. To-morrow I sit for the first time. ****#** "I have found Lord Avonmore a much pleasanter man than I expected to find him from report. Lord Kilwarden is a sensible man, but I think not strong. Lord Nor- bury, as you know. The attorney-general I like, though he is not high as a lawyer. The solicitor has more character, and I like him too. Mr. O'Grady is a pleasant young man. Mr. Saurin sensible, but I think discontented. The rest are not of much importance. " My dear lord, "Faithfully yours, " REDESDALE." (Lord Redesdale lo Lord Eldon.) (Extract.) "Ely Place, Dublin, May 29th, 1802. ******* " I see most clearly, that time alone can produce that change which is necessary to enable those who are in situations of power or authority of any description in this country, to act as persons in ihe same situations ought to act in England; and that whoever looks to Ireland with English eyes only, add thinks of Ireland with English CHANCELLOR ELDON. 233 opinions only, will fall into many errors. I have been startled at some acts of author- ity, which I have been called upon to do as mailers of course. But I find they must be done as they have been done ; and that although I should think them improper in England, they are unquestionably necessary here." (Lard Redesdale to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) "Ely Place, Dublin, July 19th, 1802. ***** "You have truly said that if Irish job is permitted to get into English councils, the union will ruin England. You never made a more just or more important obser- vation. We are gone, if the spirit of Irish job is not completely put out of counte- nance. **** "Lord Cornwallis and Lord Castlereagh are both pledged, as they say, to the Catholics; and I feel that the former struggle has only produced delay, and that the measure will be carried in a worse way than that in which it was originally proposed. Since I have been here, I have, I think, gained at least so much knowledge of the country as to be able to form some opinion on the subject; and I think it clear that Lord Cornwallis was very ill informed, and judged very ill in a variety of instances. Lord Castlereagh was very young, very ill supported, and alarmed at the failure of the first proposal of union. His family are considered as a sort of head of the dis- senters; ,and he has a strong bias, from education and habits, towards that body of men, who are to the full as hosiile to the Established Church as the Catholics, though alarm for themselves made them take a sudden turn during the rebellion. The church is sinking every day, and no exertion is made to save it. Without strong aid it cannot stand ; and if it should fall, as I think it must, if the Catholic question should be carried as proposed, I fear English influence, English connection, and the union will go with it. It is idle to talk of giving the Catholic priests salaries, which must be given by Parliament, and saying that you do not give the Catholic religion an establishment. But this is not all. Depend upon it, the salaries will come out of the income of the Established Church. Be assured that that is the plan, (whatever A. may fancy to the contrary,) and that the diminution of the income of the church is as much the object with some as the permanent establishment of the Catholic priests is the object with others. I hear it said that the Popish bishops, &c. are adverse to the measure: I doubt their sincerity; but if they are sincere, it is because they think their own craft in danger. Jacobinism is at the bottom of the whole, and will over- turn every thing at last, if not powerfully resisted and counteracted; and when the rebound shall happen, for it will happen as it has happened in France, the Catholic will be the only religion which will recover on the rebound; for the rebound will be the effect of physical force, which is not with the Established Church, but with the Catholics. Excuse this long declaration against measures which I dread, and which I have no doubt will soon be proposed, and fear will be carried. " Adieu, my dear lord chancellor, "And believe me ever " Faithfully yours, "RfiUESDALE." (Lord Redesdale to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) " hly Place, Dublin, Nov. 2d, 1303. " My dear Lord, "Knowing the state of things in England as well as in this country, and observing how few there are whose minds are above the bias of little interests or passions, and how much fewer there are who are sufficiently informed to judge sanely, especially of this country, how many there are, at the same time, high in rank, in talents, in ac- quirements, ready to indulge personal resentments at the expense of every more worthy consideration, it is impossible not to be most anxious for the event of the succeed- ing months; for, as to years, they may almost be thrown out of the measure of time, months, short months, produce such wonderful changes. The fate of this country depends, in my opinion, wholly on the English here and in Great Britain; on their viewing the subject coolly and firmly, and acting with becoming resolution and spirit. The spirit of the Roman Catholics in this country calls itself 7mA, separates itself equally from Great Britain and from English or Britons, and calls, by the appellation i>f Enffiiehmen or Saxnns, not only the inhabitants of Great Britain, but all the Pro- testants in Ireland. The struggle at this moment is, in truth, whether the Protestants shall remain in their possessions, or the Roman Catholics shall become the sole pos- 234 LIFE OF LORD sessors of Ireland. By Protestants, I would not be understood to mean all who pro- less themselves such, because I know there are many apparent Protestants, who are considered by the Roman Catholics as of their body, and who would become Roman Catholics without scruple to save their lands. The common opinions in England on this subject are formed with little consideration of it, and in great ignorance of facts and circumstances. It seems to me absolutely necessary that the public mind should by some means be informed, that it may judge more sanely than it has lately done. ******* They say, it was unjust to reform the Christian religion in Ireland as it was reformed in England; it was unjust to punish the Irish Roman Catholics for opposing this reform; it was unjust to give the ecclesiastical revenues to those of the clergy who submitted to the reform established by the legislature, that is, who conformed to the law of the land; it was unjust to forfeit the lands of the adherents of the Earl of Desmond, &c. of the adherents of James II. in Ireland; therefore, you ought to give back, as they term it, all that has been thus taken ; I wonder they do not propose to give back to the Saxon families all they were deprived of by the Norman con- quest. ******* Wilberforce openly says, he thinks you ought to give to the Roman Catholic priests the tithes of Roman Catholics; that is, you ought to abolish the Protestant Church, for that would be the effect. * * * * * * * ' But let them attend a little to the justice of all this, with respect to property, inde- pendent of other considerations. Since the time of Queen Elizabeth, the Protestant religion has been always the religion established by law in Ireland. A possession of between two and three centuries has followed: interrupted, indeed ; but, by the law of the land, the only lawful possession. Who are the present proprietors? Descendants, in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth generation, perhaps, from the original acquirers, purchasers of all descriptions, relying on the faith of the law. ***** * * (Lord Redesdale to Lord Eldon.*) (Extract.) " Ardrin, alias Kilmand, March 23d, 1804. ******* "I believe I have more than once told you that I think the Protestants, if not be- trayed by their government, are the strongest, though certainly not the most numerous. But if they shall apprehend treachery in their government, each man will be endea- vouring to outrun his neighbour in submission to the ruling powers. Such is the character of the Irish." ******* (Lord Redesdale to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) "Ardrin, I/Iarch 26th, 1804. ******* "The forfeitures in this country are the true source of all its misery. They have produced that uncertainty of title, and still more of possession, which has rendered the people so savage. I believe there has been much injustice in many of the forfeit- ures, and more in the manner in which they have been enforced. But this injustice is magnified, in the minds of the suffering families, to a pitch of extravagance; and when many, very many, are labouring for hire in the fields of their ancestors, and repeating to each other at every stroke of their work, 'Those who pay us ought to be the labourers and we the masters,' can it be surprising that discontent lurks perpetu- ally in their minds? But is this a discontent springing from religion? No; its ori- gin is worldly, and religion is only used to work it into action, for the sake of those who hope to gain by it. Would the making every concession which has been asked on the score of religion, even the dividing the tithes with their pastors, remove this discontent? It would not touch it. It would only give additional power to those who nourish the discontent. Nothing but restoration of the forfeited lands would do this." **** (Lord Redesdak to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) "Ardrin, May I8ih, 1804. ***** "The English government is particularly weak and precarious, because the Roman. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 235 Catholic Church is not only the avowed rival of the Established Church, but pretends a more ancient and superior title to the establishment, the present possessors of which it treats as usurpers. When the Stuart family had interest and consequence, every one felt danger from the Pretender. It would have been thought an extraordinary measure to have suffered the old Pretender to have lived in London, attended with all his adherents, paying him all the obedience and all the honours of a kin?, obey- ing his laws, and refusing obedience to those sanctioned by George the First or George the Second. Could the Pretender have so maintained himself in London from 1715 to 1745, what would have been the danger in 1745] Yet such is precisely the state of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. ******* "The whole body of Roman Catholics, ranged under the priests of their respective parishes, and these again subordinate to their archdeacons, deans and chapters, bishops and archbishops, compose a formidable army, ready at all moments to seize on what they deem their rights, in which the laity include the forfeited lands, the titles to which they have preserved, or affect to have preserved clear and regular. Had the Pretender had an army so arranged in England, residing himself in England, with a regular staff, colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains, subalterns and privates, all regularly and constantly disciplined to arms, used to know and obey their superior officers, and connected as completely as the regular army of the state, surely the government would, in 1745, have been in the utmost danger." 236 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XIX. 1804. Combination of parties against Mr. Addington. Negotiation through Lord Eldon with Mr. Pitt. Letter from the queen. Letters of the king and Mr. Pitt, and per- sonal communications between Mr. Pitt and Lord Eldon about the formation of a new ministry. Lord Eldon's explanations of his own share in these transactions. Letter from the king on the completion of the ministry. Political character of Mr. Addington. THE situation of ministers was now most perplexing. The thickening difficulties of Irish affairs and of the new war, and the talents and activity of the many-headed opposition in both Houses of Parliament, gave plain warning that the king's government must be strengthened without delay. But this was matter of no easy accomplishment. The parties, of which Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville were respectively at the head, entertained opinions too decidedly at variance with the views of the ministers to leave any reasonable hope of co-operation from either of those quarters ; and Mr. Pitt, who had been favourable to the government of Mr. Addington in its outset, had by degrees become first indifferent to it, then disinclined, and at last almost as adverse as Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville themselves. The forces of these three leaders now acted in formidable union against the ministry; and the public were wrought into the expectation that a government would soon be formed, on a broad basis, comprehending all the abili- ties of the various political sections. Mr. Addington, feeling the inadequacy of his own strength to cope with these powers, and the indisposition of the country to support him in such a struggle, would willingly have made way for a more efficient ministry if such a minis- try could have been constructed ; but, in addition to the difficulty produced by the discordant nature of the materials, there was this further obstacle, that the state of the king's mind, though not suffi- ciently disordered to incapacitate him from the transaction of common business, was yet much too unsettled to admit the deliberation neces- sary for effecting a change in the councils of the country. Mean- while, however, as is indicated by the following note, some overtures appear to have been made to Mr. Pitt bv or through the lord chan- IT cellor. (Afr. Pitt to Lord Eldon.') "York Place, Tuesday night, March 20th, (1804.) " My dear Lord, " Mr. Scott* was so good as to give me your note this evening in the House of Com- mons; I am very glad to accept your invitation for Saturday, as, whatever may be the * The present earl's father, then member for Boroughbridge. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 237 result of our conversation, I think the sooner we hold it the better. The state of pub- lic affairs makes it impossible that the present suspense should last very long, and nothing can give me more satisfaction than to put you confidently in full possession of all the sentiments and opinions by which my conduct will be regulated. Believe me, my dear lord, " Yours, very sincerely, " W. PITT." A confidential note from the queen, in the following month, seems to indicate some embarrassment arising from the state of the kinp-'s j mind : " My Lord, "Something having occurred last night which I wish to communicate to you. I lake advantage of your promise, to apply to you when under any difficulty, and beg to see you for a moment in case you call at the queen's house this morning before you go in to the king. "CHARLOTTE. "Q.H.April 14lh,1804." Whether from an unfavourable change in the king's health, or from some other cause not distinctly apparent, the negotiation with Mr. Pitt seems to have been for some time interrupted. On the 22d of April, however, he writes thus to the chancellor: (Mr. Pitt to Lord Eldon.) "York Place, Sunday, April 20d, 1804. " My dear Lord, "Under the present peculiar circumstances, I trust your lordship will forgive my taking the liberty of requesting you to take charge of the enclosed letter to the king. Its object is to convey to his majesty, as a mark of respect, a previous intimation of the sentiments which I may find it necessary to avow in Parliament, and at the same time an assurance, with respect to my own personal intentions, which I might, per- haps, not be justified in offering uncalled for, under any other circumstances, but which you will see my motive for not withholding at present. I certainly feel very anxious that this letter should be put into his majesty's hands, if it can with propriety, before the discussion of to-morrow;* but having no means of forming myself any sufficient judgment on that point, my wish is to refer it entirely to your lordship's discretion, being fully persuaded that you will feel the importance of making the com- munication with as little delay as the nature of the case will admit. 1 shall enclose my letter unsealed for your inspection, knowing that you will allow me, in doing so, to request that you will not communicate its contents to any one but the king him- self. I am the more anxious that you should see what I have written, because I can- not think of asking you to undertake to be the bearer of a letter expressing sentiments so adverse to the government with which you are acting, without giving you the pre- vious opportunity of knowing in what manner those sentiments are stated. "Believe me, with great truth and regard, " My dear lord, "Faithfully and sincerely yours, " W. PITT." (Mr. Pill to Lard Eldon.') "York Place, Sunday night, April 22d, 1804. " My dear Lord, "I have no hesitation in availing myself of your permission to return into your hands my letter to the king. My wish is to leave it entirely to your discretion, whether it can with propriety be delivered before the debate to morrow. If not, I anxiously wish that it should be known to his majesty in due time, that it was de- posited with you in order that it should be so delivered, if you should judge that it could with propriety. I am, my dear lord, "Faithfully and sincerely yours, W. PITT." On Mr. Fox's announced motion respecting the defence of the country. 238 LIFE OF LORD On Monday, April 23d, the king was, in the judgment of his ministers, sufficiently recovered to preside at a council; and the attempt to remodel the government seems to have been immediately resumed, through the agency of the lord chancellor, on whom alone, in a matter where the personal intervention of Mr. Addington was necessarily out of the question, the king inclined to reply. From the following note, addressed by Mr. Pitt to the chancellor, it appears that before the end of the month the negotiations were in fair train : "York Place, Sunday, April 29th, 1804. " My dear Lord, "I am very much obliged to you for your letter, and must feel great satisfaction in learning the manner in which the assurances contained in my letter were received. I shall be at home till half past two to-day, and afterwards from five to six, and any time before two to-morrow, if you should find occasion to call here. Or, if you should prefer seeing me at any other hour or at your house, you will have the goodness to let roe know, and I shall be at your commands. "I am, my dear lord, " Sincerely and faithfully yours, " W. PITT." On the 30th of April, when the order of the day was read in the House of Lords, for the Marquis of Stafford's motion respecting the defence of the country, Lord Hawkesbury, then secretary for foreign affairs and leader of the government in that House, requested the mover to postpone the subject, for reasons which he said were of the highest importance, but of so delicate and peculiar a nature that he could not, consistently with his duty, explain them then. But he could assure their lordships, on the pledge of his own personal cha- racter, both as a minister and as a lord of Parliament, that they were of such a kind as he was certain would induce the noble marquis, if they were made known, to acquiesce in the request for postponement, a request which, under similar circumstances, had never been re- fused. Lord Stafford intimated his assent; but some discussion arose, in the course of which the lord chancellor expressed his opinion in favour of the proposed postponement, and his own feelings upon the matters connected with it, saying emphatically, "I am determined to fulfil, as long as I have a drop of blood in my veins, my duty to his majesty and the country, for these terms, my lords, mean the same thing; to do my duly to his majesty is to do my duty to the country, and to perform my duty to the country is to perform my duty to my sovereign. Upon my most awful sense of what I think my duty to both, my conduct has been, is and ever shall be, regulated; and this paramount consideration now induces me to join in recommending the noble marquis, as far as the opinion of an humble individual may be deserving of attention, to postpone his motion." After some warm debate, the motion was adjourned. On the same evening, this adjournment having become known in the House of Commons and alluded to by Mr. Fox, the Chancellor of the Exche- quer, Mr. Addington, declared that the same considerations which had rendered it expedient to postpone the motion in the other House applied also to several matters which were pending in this ; and those matters were postponed accordingly. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 239 (Mr. Pitt to Lord Eldon.~) " York Place, Wednesday, May 2d, 1804, three quarters past 1 p. M. " My dear Lord, " I enclose a letter addressed to you, which I shall be much obliged to you if you will lay before his majesty. I am sorry not to have been able to make it shorter, or to send it you sooner. As I think it may probably find you at the Court of Chancery, I will, at the same time that I send it, ride down to Mr. Rose's, at Palace Yard, in order that I may be easily within your reach, if any thing should arise on which you may wish to see me before you go to the queen's house. If you should not be at the Court of Chancery, I shall order my letter to be carried to your house, unless my servant should learn where it can be delivered to you sooner. "Ever, my dear lord, " Yours, very sincerely, " W. PITT. "Lord Chancellor." Mr. Pitt's return to power was far from being personally desired by his majesty, who seems to have submitted to it only as matter of necessity. The royal ear, for some time accustomed to the mild and deferential key of Mr. Addington, was somewhat painfully startled by the loftier tone of Mr. Pitt ; and under the irritation of an illness not yet completely dissipated, this comparative dissatisfaction was more than usually excited. A note from the king, animadverting upon the enclosure in Mr. Pitt's letter to the chancellor of 2d May, will show how unwillingly his majesty contemplated the reinstatement of its author. (King George III. to Lord Eldon.*) " Queen's Palace, May 5th, 1804, 19 minutes past 6 p. M. "The king is much pleased with his excellent chancellor's note: he doubts much whether Mr. Pitt will, after weighing the contents of the paper delivered this day to him by Lord Eldon, choose to have a personal interview with his majesty; but whether he will not rather prepare another essay, containing as many empty words and little information as the one he had before transmitted. "His majesty will, with great pleasure, receive the lord chancellor to-morrow be- tween ten and eleven, the time he himself has proposed. " GEORGE R." Although the force of circumstances prevailed to effect the king's acceptance of Mr. Pitt himself, it was in vain that Mr. Pitt attempted to open the way for Mr. Fox as his colleague. Against the admission of the latter statesman into his councils, the king was immovably resolute ; and Lord Grenville and his friends, whose co-operation Mr. Pitt was authorized to invite, declined to form part of a government thus constructed upon what Lord Grenville termed "a principle of exclusion." Meanwhile, the lord chancellor, actuated at once by his attachment to the king, whose personal feelings were deeply inte- rested in these changes, and by a sense of the public inconveniences which, in the peculiar state of the king's mind, would follow from any hasty or forced composition of a new ministry, had been success- fully employing his influence in the House of Peers, to gain, on behalf of his majesty, the time required for due deliberation and arrange- ment. The negotiations being still incomplete on the 7th of May, which was the day appointed for the postponed motion of Lord Staf- ford, the lord chancellor then requested a still further postponement, saying, 240 LIFE OF LORD "It is within my own knowledge that circumstances have now passed which make the discussion of the noble marquis's motion more unseasonable and more inexpe- dient, at the present time, than at any former period proposed for its consideration." To this suggestion Lord Stafford arid the House acceded without debate : it being by that time generally understood that the arrange- ments for the ministry were in an advanced state. Mr. Pitt, who was now in personal communication with the king, was accustomed, after any interview with his majesty, to inform the chancellor of the general result. The notes next subjoined bring down the negotiations to their successful close : " York Place, Tuesday, May 8th, 1804. "My dear Lord, "I shall be much obliged to you if you can send me a single line to let me know what accounts you have from the queen's house this morning. I shall be very desi- rous of seeing you in the course of the day, and will endeavour either to find you near the House of Lords between four and five, or will call on you in the evening. It will, probably, be desirable that I should see the king again to-morrow. "Ever, my dear lord, "Sincerely yours, " W. P." "York Place, Wednesday night, May 9th, 1804. " My dear Lord, "I have had another interview to-day, not quite, I am sorry to say, so satisfactory as that of Monday. I do not think there was any thing positively wrong, but there was a hurry of spirits and an excessive love of talking which showed that either the airing of this morning or the seeing so many persons and conversing so much during these three days, has rather tended to disturb. The only inference I draw from this observation is, that too much caution cannot be used in still keeping exertion of all sorts, and particularly conversation, within reasonable limits. If that caution can be sufficiently adhered to, I have no doubt that every thing will go well; there is cer- tainly nothing in what I have observed that would, in the smallest degree, justify postponing any of the steps that are in progress towards arrangement. I am, there- fore, to attend again at two to-morrow, for the purpose of receiving the seals, which Mr. A. will have received notice from his majesty to bring. If I should not meet you there, I will endeavour to see you afterwards at the House of Lords. " I am, my dear lord, "Ever sincerely yours, " W. PITT." In accordance with the expectation expressed in the last note, the seals of office were delivered to Mr. Pitt on the following morning, the 10th of May, 1804. His administration, when completed, was found to involve much less of change than had been generally ex- pected ; the only members of the cabinet who retired with Mr. Ad- dington, being Mr. Yorke, Earl St. Vincent and Lord Hobart; and the members who came in with Mr. Pitt being Lord Harrowby, Lord Melville and Lord Camden, with the addition of Lord Mulgrave, whose predecessor, in the duchy of Lancaster, had not held a seat in /he cabinet. Of Lord Eldon's share in this arrangement, and of the circumstances under which he was induced to retain the chancellorship, he has him- self, in his Anecdote Book, left this memorandum : " When Mr. Addington went out of office, and Mr. Pitt succeeded him, the king was just recovered from mental indisposition. He ordered me to go to Mr. Pitt with his commands for Mr. Pitt to attend him. I went to him, to Baker Street or York Place, to deliver those CHANCELLOR ELDON. 241 commands. I found him at breakfast. After some little conversa- tion he said, as the king was pleased to command his attendance with a view to forming a new administration, he hoped I had not given any turn to the king's mind which could affect any proposition he might have to make to his majesty upon that subject.* I was ex- tremely hurt by this. I assured him I had not ; that I considered myself as a gentleman bringing to a gentleman a message from a king ; and that I should have acted more unworthily than I believed myself capable of acting, if I had given any opinion upon what might be right to his majesty. Mr. Pitt went with me in my carriage to Buck- ingham House, and, when we arrived there, he asked me if I was sure his majesty was well enough to see him. I asked him whether he thought that I should have brought him such a message if I had any doubt upon that, and observed that it was fortunately much about the hour when the physicians called; and, it turning out that they were in the house, I said he might see them in an adjoining room. He asked me to go with him into that room. After what had passed, I said I should not do so, and that it was fit that he should judge for himself, and that I should be absent. He then left me, and, after being with the physicians a considerable time, he returned, and said he was quite satisfied with their report, and expressed his astonish- ment at what he had heard from them ; that he had learnt, he thought from unquestionable authority, only the day before, that I never had seen the king but in the presence of the doctors or doctor who at- tended him on account of his mental health. He intimated that this was intelligence which had come from C n House, and which he had now learned was utterly devoid of truth. f " He was soon after introduced to the king, and he remained with his majesty a considerable time. Upon his return he said he found the king perfectly well, that he had expressed his full consent to Lord Grenville's being a part of the new administration, but that all his endeavours to prevail upon his majesty to consent to Mr. Fox also being a member of it had been urged in vain in the course of a long nterview and conversation. It is well known that Mr. Pitt was obliged to form an administration without either. After Mr. Pitt had formed the rest of his administration, he conversed with me as to remaining chancellor. I told him that I must first know w*hether he had any reason to believe that it had been necessary to ask me whe- ther I had given any turn to the king's mind that could affect any * This inquiry seems to have suggested itself in consequence of an opinion strongly expressed by Lord Eldon to Mr. I'm, against the association of Mr. Fox in the minis- try which Mr. Pitt was about to receive the king's commands for constructing. See the letter of Lord Eldon to Lord Melville, of January, 1807. {This Carlton House report about the presence of the physicians was disproved by Lord Eldon's ample and distinct explanation of the whole matter to the House of Lords, on the 28th of January, 1811, when the physicians were living, who could have been examined to contradict him had contradiction been possible. Lord Brougham, being doubtless unaware of that direct refutation, has taken the sup- posed circumstances of the chancellor's communication with the king, as a text for some constitutional strictures, in the second series of his "Historical Sketches of Statesmen," 1839, pages 55 to 57. VOL. I. 16 242 LIFE OF LORD proposition he had to make to the king. He, said, that when he left his majesty he was convinced that nothing had passed between his majesty and me relative to the formation of an administration, as to any person who should or should not form a part of it ; and that, if I desired it, he would give me a written declaration, in any terms which would be satisfactory, that he had no reason to think that I had in any way influenced his majesty's mind. I told him that what he had said was enough." The following additional particulars are from a letter of Lord Eldon to Mr. Perceval, of which the draft is extant in Lord Eldon's hand- writing. It is undated ; but was obviously written on the occasion of the difficulties which arose in 1810 and 1811, out of the king's re- lapse : and it recapitulated some of the circumstances which occurred during the malady of 1804, in these words: Mr. Pitt was introduced to his majesty, they had a long conversation, he came out, and ihe. physicians remember it, not only satisfied, but much surprised with the king's ability, he said he had never so baffled him in any conversation he had had with him in his life. He then went to Lord Grenville,! believe, and, as I understood him, the king did not object to Lord Grenville, but did object to Mr. Fox. Lord Gren- ville, I understood, therefore declined; and I recollect Mr. Pitt saying, with some in- dignation, he would teach that proud man, that, in the service and with the confidence of the king, he could do without him, though he thought his health such, that it might cost him his life. No objection was made* to coming in, on account of the kind's health that was quite unobjectionable, if the objection to Mr. Fox could be got over. I recollect Mr. Pitt saying he never saw the king, when he would more willingly have taken his opinion about the most important of all subjects, peace or war. The succeeding letter from the king is a striking testimony to Lord Eldon's upright and loyal conduct throughout these difficult negotia- tions : (King George III. to Lord Eldon.) ' Queen's Palace, May 18ih, 1S04. 5 m. pt. 10 A. M. "The king having signed the commission for giving his royal assent, returns it to his excellent lord chancellor, whose conduct he most thoroughly approves. His ma- jesty feels the difficulties he has had, both political and personally to the king; but the uprightness of Lord Eldon's mind and his attachment to the king have borne him with credit and honour, and (what the king knows will not be without its due weight) with the approbation of his sovereign, through an unpleasant labyrinth. " The king saw Mr. Addington yesterday. *.** * * Mr. Addington spoke with his former warmth of friendship for the lord chancellor; he seems to require quiet, as his mind is perplexed between returning affection for Mr. Pitt, and great soreness at the contemptuous treatment he met with the end of the last session from one he had ever looked upon as his private friend. This makes the king resolved to keep them for some time asunder. " GEOHGE R." Mr. Addington, who, for one and twenty years before his death in the month of February, 1844, had been withdrawn from the more active duties of political life, has left the reputation rather of a sensi- ble and amiable man than of an able statesman. His faculties were hardly those which are expected in a minister directing the govern- ment and leading the House of Commons. He wanted grasp of mind for great occasions and great positions : nor did he possess those pow- * By Lord Grenville, on that occasion. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 243 ers of debate by which the defect of more essential endowments has sometimes been supplied or concealed. He headed no party among the people ; and his chief strength lay in the personal favour of George III., who liked him for his respectful demeanour and gentle disposi- tion, and placed him at the head of the section of the House of Com- mons then known under the denomination of "The king's friends." Their adhesion was not to his majesty's government, but to his ma- jesty's person : whenever the king changed his ministers, or differed from them, that flying squadron took up a corresponding position : Mr. Pitt, when he returned to office, soon found it necessary to conciliate the king by renewing his alliance with Mr. Addington, who, in Janu- ary, 1805, was created Viscount Sidmouth and appointed president of the council. It was probably at the king's desire, that on the for- mation of the Whig ministry, in 1806, he took office with men whose sentiments were so little in unison with his own ; and he afterwards rejoined his old allies, with whom, as secretary of state for the home department, he continued to be associated until his final retirement from political business. In his administration of that office, which he held from 1812 to 1822, during times of great excitement and even disturbance, he displayed courage and firmness, well tempered by a humane and equable mind ; and showed that his merits, if not suited for the loftiest station in cabinet or debate, were such as to fit him for useful and important duties, and to ensure him an honourable place in the respect and regard of his colleagues. His private fortune being moderate, he accepted, and for some time retained, a pension for his services in the state ; but, when placed in affluence by the addition of a large income which accrued to his lady upon the death of her father, Lord Stowell, he relinquished, with a becoming liberality, the provi- sion which, in other circumstances, he had very fairly considered himself entitled to enjoy. 244 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XX. 1804. King's indisposition : letters of the Duke of York and Mr. Pitt : recovery of, and letter from the king. Application in verse for a living. Aylesbury Constituency Bill. Letters from the king. Lord chancellor's speeches on slave trade abolition and Insolvent Debtors' Bills. Overtures of the Prince of Wales for a reconciliation with the king: letters of the prince, queen and king: lord chancellor's interview with the prince. Marriage of Lord Eldon's eldest son with Miss Ridley : letter of Lord Eldon to Lady Ridley. Miss Bridge, of Weobly. Letter of Mr. Moises to Lord Eldon, and of Lord Eldon to Miss F. L. Farrer. MR. PITT was very soon to struggle with some of the same per- plexities which had disquieted his predecessor, on the subject of the Idng's mental health. The two following letters show the painfully uncertain state of it about the end of May, and the confidence placed in Lord Eldon both by the royal family and by the first minister. (The Duke of York to Lord Eldon.) " Horse Guarda, May 25th, 180-1. " My dear Lord, "Having missed the pleasure of seeing your lordship to-day as I had intended, I trust that you will excuse my troubling you with this letter, to put you in mind of the necessity of speaking as early as possible to his majesty upon the propriety of the queen's keeping his birthday at St. James's; as, if it is not announced in the Gazette to-morrow night, persons who mean to appear at the drawing-room will not have time to prepare their dresses. I am afraid, from what I have heard, that things were not comfortable at the queen's house this morning, and wish that you would inquire of Sir Francis Millman and Dr. Simmonds before you go in to the king, as he seems to dwell much upon the illegality of his confinement, and is not aware of the dreadful consequences which may attend him if any unfortunate circumstance can be brought forward in Parliament. "Believe me ever, " My dear lord, " Yours most sincerely, " FREDERICK." " Bromley Hall, Saturday evening, May 26th, 1804. " My dear Lord, "As I was leaving town this evening I learned (in a way on which I can entirely depend) some circumstances of a conversation in one of the audiences on Thursday, which seem very alarming. The topics treated of were such as did not at all arise out of any view (right or wrong) of the actual state of things, but referred to plans of foreign politics, that could only be creatures of an imagination heated and disordered. This part of the discourse, however, though commenced with great eagerness, was not long dwelt on, and in the remainder there was nothing in substance wrong. This information has been given me, as you may imagine, in strict confidence; but I desired and received permission to communicate it to you, and to mention it to Dr. 8 . I will tell you the name of my informant when I see you, and you will pro- bably not find it diSicult to guess him in the mean time. There is nothing very material to be known as to the particulars (as far as it strikes me) except that they related to plans, political and mil'tary, about the Netherlands. I mention thus much now, because it may enable you to learn from Dr. S. whether any thing has before CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 245 passed on this point. I would have endeavoured to see you in town to-morrow- morning, but I understand you will be setting out early to Windsor. On your return, either that evening or .Monday morning, I shall be very anxious to see you at any hour that suits you best, and will beg you to send to Downing Street to let me know. "Ever, my dear lord, " Sincerely yours, " W. PITT." The apprehensions thus expressed were, however, speedily allayed by the returning tranquillity of the king. His next-inserted letter, written within a fortnight of the foregoing note, evinces, once more, an entire self-possession, and exemplifies, strikingly, that conscientious attachment of George III. to the religious and civil institutions of his country, which has left his memory in high and almost enthusiastic esteem among the worthiest classes of the British people. (King George HI. to Lord Eldon.} " Queen's Palace, June 8th, 1804. "The king, on returning from his walk in the garden, has found the lord chan- cellor's note, accompanied by the titles of the three bills wherein the property of the crown is affected. "His majesty fully authorizes his most excellent Lord Eldon to give his consent to the House of Lords proceeding with these bills, and in particular approves of the one for laying open Westminster Abbey to Palace Yard. Whatever makes the people more accustomed to view cathedrals must raise their veneration for the Established Church. The king will, with equal pleasure, consent, when it is proposed, to the purchasing and pulling down the west side of Bridge Street and the houses fronting Westminster Hall; as it will be opening to the traveller that ancient pile, which is the seat of administration of the best laws, and the most uprightly administered ; and if the people really valued the religion and laws of this blessed country, we should stand on a rock that no time could destroy. " GEORGE R." It may now amuse the reader to turn for a moment from affairs of state, and glance at the chancellor in more private pursuits. About the latter part of May, he received a paper, of which the following is a copy : EXTEMPORE ADDRESS TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD CHANCELLOR. Written by an hungry tine cure Parsn, from his humble apartment, No. 2 Charlotte Street, Pimlico, on the evening of Whit-Sunday, 20th May, 1304. Hear, generous lawyer! hear my prayer, Nor let my freedom make you stare, In hailing you, Jack Scott! Tho' now upon the woolsack placed, With wealth, with power, with title graced, Once nearer was our lot. Say, by what name the hapless bard May best attract your kind regard, Plain Jack? Sir John? or Eldon? Give, from your ample store of giving, A starving priest some little living, The world will cry out, " Well done!" In vain, without a patron's aid, I've pray'd and preach'd, and preach'd and pray'd, Applauded, but ill-fed. Such vain eclat let others share; Alas. I cannot feed on air, I ask not praise, but bread. 246 LIFE OF LORD You'll sure allow 'tis most provoking To see roast, boil'd, and dainties smoking, Fools, knaves and jugglers carving; While learning, almost proved a curse, With hungry throat and empty purse, On Hebrew roots is starving. 'Twere better, sure, if many a father Would make his son a cobbler rather Than needy learning give; Since all the learning gain'd at college Cannot impart that needful knowledge, The knowledge "how to live." For me, unless hard fate's obduracy, Relenting, grant me some snug curacy, No more my gown I'll use : The care of human souls declining, Prebend's, for cobbler's, stall resigning, I'll mend the soles of shoes. Yet, scarcely forty winters past, 'Twere hard to see me at my lout, An awful warning giving ! Such sad reverse, good Lord! forbid it; Save me, and let me " say you did it," On whom depends my living. L. H. H. From whom this petition proceeded, the chancellor was at a loss even to conjecture; but, as it was his frequent custom, after the day's business in court, to refresh himself with a walk, he turned his steps, on the first day when he happened to have leisure, toward the place from which the verses were dated, with a view to discover the author. He found in Charlotte Street, Pimlico, three houses numbered 2 ; but at none of them was any clergyman resident. Miss Ridley, Lady Eldon's niece, who relates the story, adds, in a letter to the present earl, " I am sure his kind heart was disappointed not to find an object to relieve." After all, however, this piece of poetry turned out to be a merejm d'esprit, thrown off by Mr. Scott, his eldest son, "in consequence," adds Miss Ridley, " of a conversation which had taken place at Lord Eldon's dinner-table, on the difficulty of swearing to hand-writing, which, from the same person, often varied materially. Lord Eldon said (and I am pretty sure I said the same), that he would never be mistaken in your father's writing ; upon which your father said, that Lord Eldon might some day or other see it without recog- nizing it. A short time afterwards the two-penny post conveyed to Bedford Square those lines, with which your grandfather was highly delighted. Your father confessed to me, and, I believe, to his father, that he had in this manner made the experiment of disguising his hand- writing, to confirm his observation that it might be seen without detection." The month of June ushered a bill into the House of Lords, which had passed the Commons in spite of the opposition of such men as Sir W. Grant, Mr. Fox, Mr. Windham and Mr. Perceval, for recon- structing the constituency of the borough of Aylesbury. Some of the electors having been guilty of bribery, it was proposed by this bill to swamp the whole franchise, and let in all the forty-shilling freeholders CHANCELLOR ELDON. 247 of the three hundreds of Aylesbury to vote in the future elections of members for that borough. Lord Eldon was a strenuous opponent of such legislation : He said, that if the principle of the bill had been justifiable, the change ought not to have been confined to a single borough; but even had it been general, he should have opposed it, as contrary to ihe best views of the constitution, and founded on idle and theoretical notion."; of reform. For an evil like that alleged to exist at Aylesbury, the common law provided a sufficient remedy. He was no enemy to real reform; but he would ever oppose that which, under the semblance of reform, committed injustice. The effect of this measure would be, not only lo diminish the value of the franchise by multiplying its possessors, but to confound the innocent with the guilty. These arguments, urged in the debates of the 6th and 15th of June, were unavailing, however, to defeat the bill, which passed into law, and became the 60th chapter of 44 George III. The 29th of June is the date of a kind note from the king, who, in congratulating the chancellor on the then approaching marriage of his eldest son, falls into the error (and it is one of a nature very unusual with his majesty) of misstating a proper name. (King George HI. to Lord Eldon. ) 11 Kew, June 29lh, 1804, 50 m. past 7 A. M. "The king has this morning received the lord chancellor's note, with the list of bills now ready for the royal assent, as also the commission for passing them ; which having signed, he returns them, with many congratulations on the near approach of Mr. Eldon's nuptials if the lawyers are willing to finish the writings, but decision and dispatch seem not to be qualities much known in that dangerous science when practised, though noble one in theory. " GEOHGE R." (King George HI. to Lord Eldon. ,) "Kew, June 30ih, 1804, m past A M. "The king easily conceives, that, unless the House of Commons can be taught the utility of having more forecast, and consequently bringing in bills earlier in the course of the sessions, the present evil of occasioning much hurry and too little decent deliberation in the House of Lords.* But, in truth, part of this must inevitably be laid, this year, to the door of the king's long, tedious, and never-ending confinement, which has thrown much perplexity in every quarter, but which he is resolved, with the protection of Divine Providence, carefully to avoid in future. His majesty saw, yesterday afternoon, Mr. Pitt, and was much pleased with the appearance of his health, and his good spirits at the great success in the House of Lords, and total dereliction of the motley opposition. Mr. Pitt brings in his proposals for exonerating Che civil list, and the provision for the king's five daughters; of which the king gave them information last night, and saw, with the highest satisfaction, their affectionate gratitude. " GEORGE R." The Slave-trade Abolition Bill which, at the end of June, had passed the House of Commons and been read a first time in the House of Lords, stood for a second reading in their Lordships' House on the 3d of July, when Lord Hawkesbury moved, on account of the then advanced period of the session, that it should be read a second time on that day three months. The lord chancellor said he did not recollect to have ever given a vote on this sub- ject. But he thought it fair to those whose property would be ruinously affected by the bill, to take time for deliberation, and asked of their lordships to exercise their humanity and justice, not on partial, but upon comprehensive principles. * Sic in orig. 248 LIFE OF LORD Lord Hawkesbury's motion was carried, and the bill was conse- quently lost for that session. On the subject of an insolvent debtors' bill, of which the commit- ment was moved on the 24th of July, The chancellor reprobated the false humanity and real injustice which these measures so often involved. They were made effectual instruments of chicanery and swindling, until creditors were reduced by them to the situation of debtors, and com- pelled to seek the refuge of such legislation for themselves. The king, on the 31st, prorogued Parliament in person. The differences between his majesty and the Prince of Wales, which had long been a source of much unhappiness in the royal family, were beginning to occupy a good deal of the time of the lord chancellor. He enjoyed the unlimited confidence, personal as well as political, of the king and queen, and upon his strong sense and kindly manners, the queen seems to have built a hope of reconcilia- tion between the father and his son, for some time wholly estranged from one another. The way had been opened by the following let- ter: {The Prince of Wales to Queen Charlotte.) "Carlion House, July 4th, 1S04. "My dearest Mother, 68 LIFE OF LORD where he received the tidings of this great battle, and of the para- lyzing convention which followed it; and the intelligence of these astounding events gave an irreparable blow to his drooping constitu- tion. His declining state was a source of great grief and anxiety to Lord Eldon, as well from personal regard as in reference to the general condition of the country's affairs, and to those peculiar pre- judices of the king which were likely to embarrass the formation of a o-overnment under any other minister. But Lord Eldon was now about to be visited with an affliction still nearer and deeper, the loss of his eldest son. On the 10th of December, the family circle had received a joyful addition in the birth of the present earl : on the 24th, the young heir became an orphan. The following particulars of the death of his father are from the earl himself: "My father's last illness was of but brief duration. On the 9th of December, 1805, the evening preceding the day of my birth, he had retired to bed very early with a bad cold, being liable to suffer from asthma, but in cheerful spirits, as appears from his having then amused himself in composing a poetical quiz on an exaggerated account of a friend's shooting exploits. Anxiety for my mother's well-doing de- cidedly aggravated his illness, though there was, on this occasion, no particular reason for alarm. Among other letters written by him consequent on my birth, were three to his mother-in-law, Lady Rid- ley, on the 10th, llth and 12th. In none of them is apprehension of danger intimated respecting the health of any of the parties. The letter of the 12th, being the last he ever wrote, concludes with these words : ' We are much easier to-day, and I have nothing to think of that is not comfortable upon the subject of my two. 'My poor mother, who was here on Sunday, is confined for the present with a vio- lent cold, and I am effectually in the same situation here (but that I do not regret, I am almost glad of it,) from the same cause. I am not very likely to quit my ground, you may depend upon it, having no pleasure to pursue out of this house while Hen- rietta is in it. 'Yours, as ever, j. s: " On Saturday, the 21st, the illness assumed a more serious aspect than before, and my father suffered acutely from violent spasmodic affections, until his decease on Tuesday the 24th." The succeeding letters show how heavily this visitation was felt by Lord Eldon and his family. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.') " Eight o'clock, Tuesday morning. (Dec. 24.) "John has had an extreme bad night, and is this morning very ill. My poor daughter-in-law is of course informed as favourably as possible, her own situation requiring it. 4 o'clock. The report of the physicians is, that John is worse to-day than yesterday. They still say they will not pronounce there is danger. His pain great, his spirits sinking. May God, in mercy, give him some relief, for the continu- ance of this cannot be long as it is. With all affection, " E." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 269 (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (December 24th.) "My ever dear Brother, "With a broken heart I inform you that, before I had written the last paragraph of the letter I sent by this day's post, my poor, dear, dear John was no more. I am so dis- tressed, and all around me is such a scene of distraction and misery, that I know not what to do. May God Almighty preserve you and yours from what we suffer! His mother is living in my arms out of one hysteric into another ; and his poor widow is in a state which can neither be conceived nor described. For myself, I am your ever ever affectionate, but ever ever unhappy brother, " ELDOX." (Lord Eldon to Lady Ridley.) (Extract.) "2oih Dec. "What I write I cannot read again, and I am wholly unfit to write; but to you, as connected with my dear, dear departed son, and with those who will ever be most dear to me, I owe the attempt to try, with what fortitude I can, to relieve as far as may be, your mind about poor dear, dear Henrietta. That she suffers much, very much, is not to be wondered at; but, thank God ! her own health was so much restored, that I hope she has strength to meet her sufferings ; and, having been twice with her alone, last night and this morning, I find her mind stored with principles of resignation, vir- tue and religion, which lead me to hope that affection and attention will bear her through this almost unexampled calamity. I am to sit with her again this evening. ***** " I bless God I have got thus far in this letter. Nature, and a deeply afflicted, very deeply afflicted father's feelings, so unman me, that I must stop here till to- morrow. " Affection to Sir Matthew and the family from all here. "Your most heart-broken "ELnox." A few days later, Sir William Scott writes to his daughter, "Dear Mary Anne, "I grow more uncertain when I shall get down, for things grow worse in Bedford Square instead of better. Her (Lady Eldon's) grief is still as wild and passionate as ever, without the least abatement. She takes hardly any sustenance and is falling away in such a degree, that I should not be surprised at any consequences that were to follow from the decay of her strength. It is impossible to describe the degree in which my brother is worn down by the constant attentions he is obliged to pay to her. She will hardly suffer him to be out of the room, and, during the whole time he is there, he is a witness to the indulgence of such sorrow as it is quite impossible for any man to stand. He is much affected in his health. She won't hear as yet of going out of town, which is the only thing that can save her. My brother wishes to take her, as soon as possible, to Mr. Smith's house, near Harrow, but as she has not yet consented to move out of the room into any other room in the house, I can't guess when she will consent to remove into the country. The poor widow behaves with most ex- emplary resignation ; I think her conduct is as proper as can possibly be : her father and mother are not arrived, nor am I certain when they come. I still remain in the desire of coming down on Thursday, if I can do so consistently with my duty. As to turning my back upon my brother the very morning the funeral is over (in his present condition !) I am incapable of it." " On Tuesday, December 31st," writes the present earl, " the funeral took place at Cheshunt, according to my father's desire ; on the day of his marriage he had gone to Woodgreen, near that place, and had resided there for several months : it appears that, during this period, when attending the church at Cheshunt, he had indicated a spot in the churchyard where he wished to be buried, wherever he should die, to a friend and relative, Mr. William Villiers Surtees, and that, on his death-bed, he reminded him of this, his desire. Lord Eldon was chief mourner." 270 LIFE F LORD (Lord El Jon to Sir William Scoff.') (Not, dated, but written soon after the funeral.) "Dear Sir William. "Struggling between grief and gratitude, I cannot tell how to thank you. I beseech you, think of nothing but your health. Wherever I look round me I look in vain for comfort. But constant assurances of your health will comfort me under any circum- stances in which I shall be placed. My poor wife is just as when you last saw her. I will endeavour to execute all the duties I have upon me as well as I can, and I trust a just and merciful God will aid and direct me and those whose state must in a degree influence me. Affection of all to all. "Yours, while on earth, " EJLDOX. "They found this morning a paper dated February, 1805, in these words,'! par- ticularly much wish to be deposited in Cheshunt churchyard, Herts, and a blue box with me. J. S.' "Thank God, brother, this was all done ; but oh ! mark the date. " Yours everlastingly, here and hereafter, " ELD ON." The epitaph of Mr. Scott was composed by his uncle, Sir William. It is as follows : "To the memory of the Honourable John Scott, (Eldest son of John, Baron Eldon,) Who, at the age of thirty-one years, was removed by death From the hopes and affections of his family and friends, To all of whom he was eminently endeared, By the purity of his moral and religious principles, By the integrity of his public conduct, By the graces of a highly cultivated understanding, And By a peculiar sweetness of disposition and manners, This last painful testimony of regard is dedicated By his disconsolate Father And By his afflicted Widow, (Henrietta Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Matthew White Ridley, Baronet,) With whom he had been happily united for the space of little more than one year, And By whom he has left an only son, Born about three weeks before his own decease, Which took place on the 24th of December, 1805." The abilities of Mr. Scott, naturally good, had been well cultivated, and were guided by a sound judgment, a correct taste and a regard for the feelings of others. He was sensitive, and among strangers, a little shy ; and these tendencies, concurring with, and perhaps partly arising from a somewhat delicate constitution, unfitted him for the struggles of busy life.* At one time he was desirous of some perma- nent occupation ; but to this wish his father's answer, kindly and considerately given, was only, "John, there must be some idle men in the world." To his father, mother and wife, he was devotedly affectionate ; and in the little circle of his friends he had an open and cordial demeanour, with an easy gentle address. His religious prin- ciples being sound, deep and practical, begot in him a strict and pure morality, and a cheerfulness often playful. He was prepossess- ing in his appearance, the want of personal height being more than * He served, however, in two Parliaments, succeeding his father as member for Boroughbridge, which he represented until his death. CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 271 compensated by a well-proportioned form, an intelligent eye, and a benevolent expression of countenance. The illness under which Mr. Pitt was sinking, did not prevent the expression of his sympathy : (Mr. Pitt to Sir William Scott.") " Bath, Dec. 27th, 1803. " My clear Sir, " It is with great regret I break in upon you in the moment of a calamity in which you so nearly participate ; but I feel too deeply for the loss which the chancellor and all his family have sustained, not to be anxious to inquire how he and they support themselves under this heavy affliction. I know how vain every topic, of consolation must be in the first impression of so much just sorrow, but I trust he will gradually find the relief which even the sympathy and affection of his friends cannot adminis- ter, in the resignation and fortitude of his own mind. You will, I am sure, pardon my giving you this trouble, and will oblige me much by any account you can give me. I much wish he may be induced to try for a time the benefit of change of scene, and of a place of quiet. "Believe me, my dear sir, " With great truth and regard, " Most faithfully and sincerely yonrs, " W. PITT." (Mr. Wilberforce to Lord Eldon.) " Rothley Temple, near Leicester, Dec. 30th, 1805. " I hope I am not taking an improper liberty in breaking in upon your lordship for one moment, for the purpose of assuring you how sincerely I sympathize with your lordship on the melancholy and unexpected event (if in such an uncertain world any thing can be unexpected) of which I have very recently heard. Being myself a father, and knowing the warmth of your lordship's domestic feelings, I am aware how deeply you must suffer. May that Almighty Being, who has inflicted the stroke, support your lordship under it ! " Excuse this testimony of regard from one who will ever take an interest in what concerns you; and believe me to be, with real respect and attachment, "Your lordship's obliged and faithful servant, " W. WILBERFORCE. " P. S. Of course I expect no answer." (Sir Herbert Taylor to Sir William Scott.} " Windsor Castle, Dec. 31st, 1805. " Sir, " I have had the honour of submitting to the king your letter of yesterday, convey- ing, by desire of the chancellor, for his majesty's information, the melancholy intel- ligence of the severe affliction with which he has been visited in the death of his eldest son ; and I have been honoured with his majesty's commands, to request you will have the goodness to assure the chancellor that it was not without feelings of very deep concern and regret that the king learnt this distressing event, and that he sincerely participates in the chancellor's feelings upon the melancholy occasion. "His majesty commands me to add, that he had, when first apprised of it, intended writing himself to the chancellor, and that he had solely been withheld, from the im- pression that it would be more kind towards him not to disturb him in the first moments of his just grief; that he would have been very sorry if the chancellor had distressed his feelings under the immediate pressure of so severe a calamity, by personally making this communication; and that his majesty is truly sensible of his attention in requesting you to convey it to him. "I have the honour to be, " With great regard, "Sir, " Your most obedient and very humble servant, H. TAYLOR. " The Right Hon. Sir William Scott, &c. &c." 272 LIFE OF LORD (Lord Elknborough to Lord Chancellor Eldon.) " My dear Lord, "I have not allowed myself to intrude upon the earlier and most sacred moments of your affliction by a single line of vain condolence. It would have been, in my judgment, to have trifled with grief such as yours, and" to underrate the severity of such a loss as you have sustained, to conceive them capable of mitigation by the language and topics usually applied to soothe lesser sorrows. I offer you none of them; they do not apply to a case like yours. I have waited with anxiety for that moment when the irresistible demands of public and private duty might force you back upon the business of the world, and withdraw your mind from an incessant contemplation of one most melancholy and painful subject, and which no mind, be its general firmness what it may, can so dwell upon with impunity. I hope, my dear lord, I am not deceived in thinking that I see, through all the sadness of your most affecting letter, a fixed determination to address yourself to the discharge of the many and important duties which surround you, with all the composure and firmness which a satisfactory discharge of those duties requires. Your strength of mind will grow with the use of it: and you will soon, from amended spirits and increased firmness, be able to lend comfort and support to those deeply suffering relatives, partners in the same common calamity, to whom you would most anxiously be disposed to afford it. God bless you, my dear friend, and may His merciful providence speedily enable you to sustain, unbroken, the heavy load of affliction which, for wise but inscrutable purposes, it has cast upon you, and make (if it be possible) this apparent evil the means of greater good to you, both here and hereafter, is the sincere prayer of your truly sympathizing and sincerely affectionate friend, " ELLEKBOHOUGH. "Bloomsbury Square, Jan. 16, 180G." The session of Parliament opened on the 21st of January; and on the 23d, Mr. Pitt, who had returned a few days before from Bath to his own house at Putney, breathed his last. The loss of such a man, in such a state of public affairs, appeared irreparable. Except his father, no minister of that already long reign had occupied so large a space in the sight of the nation. He had come, in very early life, to the aid of the sovereign, at a crisis when no other champion could be found to make head against a coalition, as powerful in Parliament as it was odious both to king and people ; and the lofty vigour of that rescue fixed him in the confidence of the country, as well as of the court. With the same energy and eleva- tion of spirit, he bore the state through the trying emergencies of the regency and of the revolutionary propagandism ; and the lucid majesty and volume of his eloquence, a far more potential influence in his day than in ours, threw round him a glory which, as all the efforts of his great cotemporaries could not eclipse it, so the long lapse of succeeding years has been unable to quench or to cloud. On the 24th of January, a motion was to have been made in the Upper House by Lord Hawkesbury, who conducted the business of government there, for a vote of thanks to Lord Collingwood and the naval force which, under his command, had secured the fruits of Lord Nelson's victory at Trafalgar ; but, on the day appointed, a postpone- ment of the motion was requested by Lord Walsingham on behalf of Lord Hawkesbury. The Duke of Norfolk, a zealous opponent of Mr. Pitt's government, said he saw no possible reason for the delay, and wished that some ground should be assigned for it. The lord chancellor answered him in a few words, conveying an assurance that Lord Hawkesbury would be able to assign adequate reasons. The motion was then postponed. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 273 Lord Hawkesbury had been himself invited by the king to suc- ceed Mr. Pitt, but, after due consideration of the difficulties sur- rounding him, had declined to undertake so grave a responsibility. Thus the king, compelled by the state of parties to entrust Lord Grenville with the formation of a ministry, had now no alternative but to accept Mr. Fox as one of its leading members ; and his ma- jesty is understood to have submitted to the unwelcome necessity with the best possible grace. Lord Grenville became first lord of the treasury, and Mr. Fox secretary of state for foreign affairs ; Lord Erskine, lord chancellor; Lord Fitz-William, president of the coun- cil ; Lord Sidmouth, lord privy seal ; Lord Moira, master-general of the ordnance ; Mr. Grey, first lord of the admiralty ; Lord Spencer, home secretary ; Mr. Windham, secretary for war and colonies ; and Lord Henry Petty, Chancellor of the Exchequer; \vhile Lord Ellen- borough took a seat in the cabinet, though continuing to fill the office of Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Such was the composi- tion of the showy cabinet, designated boastfully among its friends, and derisively among its foes, by the appellation of All the Talents. Each change of administration since 1801, had been unpleasing to the king, but upon further acquaintance, his prejudice against Mr. Fox became much abated. Some time after the dissolution of the Whig ministry, the king said it was but just to acknowledge, that Mr. Fox, though certainly forced upon him, had never presumed upon that circumstance to treat his sovereign like a person in his power, but had always conducted himself frankly and yet respect- fully, as it became a subject to behave. " His manner," the king was wont to say, " contrasted remarkably with that of another of the Whig ministers, w r ho, when he came into office, walked up to me in the way I should have expected from Buonaparte after the battle of Austerlitz." Lord Eldon, on the 3d of February, announced that he should take leave of the Court of Chancery on the following day ; and on the 4th, in rising to quit the chair which he had occupied with so great a reputation, he made the following address to the bar: "Before I take leave of this court, I wish to address a few words to yon, gentle- men, expressive of the feelings I entertain for the respectful attention I have, on all occasions, experienced from you. I had doubted whether the more dignified manner of parting would not be simply to make my bow to you and retire; but observing that I have been represented, yesterday and the day before, to have addressed you on the subject, I shall not resist the impulse I feel to say a few words. I quit the office I hold without one painful reflection. Called to it by authority of those whom it was my duty to obey, I have executed it, not well, but to the extent of my humble abilities, and the time which I have been able to devote to it; and I enjoy the grateful feeling that there is no suitor of this court who can say I have not executed it conscientiously. There is yet, however, one painful emotion by which I am assailed it is the taking leave of you. In retiring into private life, I am upheld by the hope that I shall carry with me the continued esteem of a profession for which I feel an attachment that will descend with me to the grave. For the great attention, respect and kindness I have always received from you, accept, gentlemen, my sincerest thanks, accompanied by my best wishes for your long-continued health and happiness, and uninterrupted prosperity." VOL. I. 18 274 LIFE F LORD Mr. Pigot, the new attorney-general, made a short but feeling answer in the name of the bar. On this occasion Lord Eldon writes to his daughter as follows : " Dear Bessy, "I took my leave of the Court of Chancery this morning: I don't mean to go to the woolsack in the House of Lords to-morrow, or any more. I am to resign the seal at two o'clock on Friday." "I cannot describe my own situation in point of health and feeling otherwise than as excellent as that which a man has a right to possess who, having done his duty to God, his king and to every individual upon earth, according to the best of his judgment, has a right to support himself under heavy afflictions by the consciousness of proud and dignified integrity." It remained that he should wait upon the sovereign for the pur- pose of delivering up the great seal. His account of that audience, which took place on Friday, the 7th of February, is thus preserved by Mrs. Forster : " The king appeared for a few minutes to occupy himself with other things ; looking up suddenly, he exclaimed, ' Lay them down on the sofa, for I cannot , and I will not take them from you.' In the Anecdote Book, Lord Eldon records the same circumstance, with this further observation of the king : ' Yet I admit you can't stay when all the rest have run away.' When, in 1807, I returned into office, he gave me the seal again in the same kind manner ; and he again observed, ' I could not expect you to stay when the others ran away." On the resignation of the great seal, Lord Eldon became entitled to a pension of 4000/. a-year, granted to him by royal letters patent of 24th of April, 1801, in pursuance of the powers given to his ma- jesty by the act of 39 Geo. 3. c. 110. This pension, by the form of its limitation, ceased on his resumption of the seals, and revived on his second retirement. He enjoyed it, therefore, from the 7th of Feb- ruary, 1806, to the 31st of March, 1807 ; and from the 30th of April, 1827, till his death. On the accession of the reform ministry, who abolished some of the patronage of the great seal, the retiring pension for chancellors was raised from 4000/. a-year to 5000J., but as the provision was not retrospective, Lord Eldon did not benefit by it. There have been found eleven MS. books in Lord Eldon's hand- writing, which contain notes made by him on the bench. Several of them have in the first leaf, the words, " Thou shalt do no unright- eousness in judgment:"* as if he were desirous to keep himself per- petually in mind of his first duty. The book dated " December, 1805 December, 1807" has, on its last leaf, the following memorandum, concluding .with some lines from a chorus in one of the tragedies ascribed to Senecaf: " On Friday, 7th February, 1806, I resigned the great seal to his majesty at the queen's house. When I took the office of Chief Jus- tice of the Common Pleas, his majesty required from me a promise that I would not refuse the great seal when he should call upon me to take it. When his majesty took the seal from my hands, his ma- * "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment." Leviticus, xix. 15. 35. f Thyestes, line 391. Act II. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 275 jesty's demeanour and assurances were in all respects satisfactory to me." "Stet, quicunque volet, potens Aulse culmine lubrico: Me dulcis saturet quies. Obscuro positus loco, Leni perfruar otio. Nullis nota Quiritibus .^Etas per taciturn fluat : Sic, cum transierint mei Nullo cum strepitu dies, Plebeius moriar senex. Illi mors gravis incubat Qui, notus nimis omnibus, Ignotus moritur sibi."* * NOTE BY THE PRESENT EARL To do justice in the English language to this pass- age is hardly possible : the following translation, however, is almost literal : Let him, who shall desire it, stand in power On the slippery height of the mansion : Me let sweet quiet satisfy. Placed in an obscure situation May I fully enjoy mild leisure. Noted by none of the Romans Through silence may my age flow on: Thus, when my days shall have passed Without noise, May I die a plebeian old man. On him death presses heavily Who, too well known to the world, Dies to himself unknown. 276 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXIII. 1806, 1807. Cabinet seat of Lord Ellenborough, chief justice. Witnesses' Indemnity Bill. Letter of Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire. Insolvent Debtors' Bill. Acquittal of Lord Melville, Death of Mr. Moises: his epitaph by Sir William Scott. Death and anecdotes o ; Lord Thurlow. Dissolution of Parliament. Letters from Lord Eldon to Sir Wil- liam Scott: from the Duke of Portland to Lord Eldon. Debate on negotiations for peace with France. Correspondence of Lord Eldon with Lord Melville on thy prospects and principles of parties. Slave trade. Investigation into conduct 01 the Princess of Wales: her letters to Lord Eldon and re-acceptance at court. IN the construction of the new ministry, there was one arrangement which gave umbrage to many constitutional lawyers, boih in and out of Parliament. This was the allotment of a seat in the cabinet to Lord Ellenborough, the Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. It had been stipulated by Lord Sidmouth, on acceding to the cabinet, that some one of his own friends should be placed with him there: and of those friends Lord Ellenborough was deemed, from his ability and per- sonal character, to be the fittest auxiliary. But, with the exception of Lord Mansfield, no chief justice had, since the Revolution, been a mem- ber of the cabinet ; and the exception in Lord Mansfield's case had not been sufficiently approved to constitute a legitimate precedent. The subject was brought by the Earl of Bristol under the consideration of the House of Lords on the 3d of March, when Lord Eldon, in a speech tempered with the most courteous and respectful consideration for the learned lord who was the subject of the motion, assigned the reasons which rendered it in his opinion unadvisable that the lord chief jus- tice should ever be a member of the cabinet. That such an arrangement was not illegal, he admitted : and he would not say that it was unconstitutional : but he thought it inexpedient, because it tended to excite a suspicion of political partiality in the administration of justice. It was observable that Lord Mansfield, whose case formed the solitary precedent, had become extremely unpopular after his entrance into the councils of the government; and the jealousy which then arose in the minds of the people, however ill-founded, had been sufficient to weaken the confidence which ought ever to be reposed in a judge. Lord Eldon. declared himself persuaded that the tenure of a seat in the cabinet would not in the slightest degree affect the purity of Lord Ellenborough's judicial administration ; but he thought, that for the satisfaction of the country at large, it was undesirable to have the lord chief justice in such a position: and he trusted that, on reflection, the learned lord himself would not wish to retain it. It would not be proper that the same indi- vidual should act, first as minister to institute prosecutions for treason and sedition, and afterwards as the judge to preside at the trials. A lord chief justice, it was true, might, in such cases, absent himself from the council, or delegate the trial at law to some other judge; but in either of these cases he abandoned some duty appertaining to one of his two appointments. There might occur prosecutions, not for offences affect- ing the general foundations of government, but for mere libels on the party in office; and the person accused, in any such case, would never be satisfied of the fairness of liability, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 277 his trial, if the presiding judge were a member of the cabinet directing the prosecu- tion. Lord Eldon added, that he had himself been connected with LordEllenborough, for nearly thirty years, by the sincerest friendship: and even if he could suppose that this personal regard could be at all weakened by any thing which he had then said, still he felt himself so strongly impelled, by a sense of duty, that he could not refrain from expressing his opinion. He concluded by a suggestion that the best way of Disposing of the matter would be to leave it to the consideration of Lord Ellenborough imself; and he was convinced that his noble friend would arrive at that result which rould be satisfactory to the feelings of the public as well as to his own. Lord Bristol's motion was negatived without a division, and Lord ^llenborough continued in the cabinet till its dissolution in the follow- ing March. The House of Lords having, in 1805, on Lord Eldon's advice,* excluded from the bill for indemnifying the witnesses on the im- neachment of Lord Melville, that part of the measure which went to a bounty upon their evidence by protecting them against civil an attempt was now made in the House of Commons to accomplish this object by a separate enactment. When the new bill arrived in the House of Lords, Lord Eldon opposed it, as in the pre- ceding year, on the ground that no witness could legally decline to give an answer by reason merely of its exposing him to a civil action : and that, consequently, the indemnity now proposed was not requisite for getting at his evidence. The opinions of the judges having been desired respecting the witness's right to withhold the answer, and four of them having declared for the right to withhold, while the other eight, concurring with Lord Eldon and the lord chancellor, were of opinion that the answer could not be withheld, it was deemed expedient, for the removal of all doubt on so important a practical question, to bring in a bill, which passed into law as the 46 Geo. 3. c. 37, and which declares that a witness cannot refuse an answer on the sole ground that it may tend to establish that he owes a debt " or is otherwise subject to a civil suit." The bill for indemnifying the particular wit- nesses on the impeachment of Lord Melville became thus unnecessary, and was accordingly withdrawn. f How heavily the loss of his son still continued to bear upon Lord Eldon's spirits will be seen from the manner in which, at the end of March, he pours out his feelings to his friend Dr. Swire : Extract. Not dated : but endorsed March 31st, IS06. " Dear Swire, "I have very frequently taken up my pen to write to you. I have as often laid it down, unable to bear up against the intrusion of those melancholy ideas which always present themselves when I see, hear or think of any one at once the friend of my departed, and of myself. ***** " At the end of thirty busy years, I have nothing to do, I mean with this world, but the great work of preparing myself for another; and I am afraid that that is much to do, when a man has been immersed in this world's business, and such part of its busi- ness as I have been engaged in for so many years. May it not be a blessing, that at the beginning of that period which I am to employ better, I am awakened to a sense of See Chap. XXI. f See the parliamentary debates of 1806, vol. vi. pp.360. 401. 421. 483.502. 950. as to the declaratory bill; and pp. 166. 169. 179. 222. 244. 342. and 362. as to the bill of indemnity. 278 LIFE OF LORD duty, by a judgment as awful as that which, in my loss, has been poured out upon me!" The Whigs, fresh in government, and strong in the confidence and support of a considerable body of the people, whose long-excited expectations, rational or irrational, there had not yet been time to dis- appoint, could scarcely, for the present, be opposed in Parliament with any advantage. Lord Eldon, therefore, was not called upon to come forward in debate upon any party question. The only discussion of importance in which he took part before the close of the session, was that of the 14th of May, on the bill for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors ; when He said that experience had now convinced him of the evil attendant on these occasional measures, and of the necessity of some permanent enactment for vesting the property of insolvent debtors in the hands of assignees who should have full power to deal for the creditors. The principle thus propounded has been adopted by the legislature, and forms the basis of the existing law upon this subject. The proceedings on the impeachment of Lord Melville, which were begun on the 29th of April, came to a close on the 12th of June, when the defendant was wholly acquitted. The majority in his favour upon different charges varied from 27 to 128 : on one, the 4th, the favour- able verdict was unanimous. Lord Eldon, on every one of the arti- cles, declared him not guilty. The 23d of July, 1806, concluded this session of Parliament. On the 5th of the same month, died Lord Eldon's early instructor, the Rev. Hugh Moises, in his eighty-fifth year. Mr. Brewster's me- moir of him, quoted in the first chapter of this work, describes his monument erected in St. Nicholas Church, Newcastle, and gives from the tablet the following inscription by his distinguished pupil, Sir William Scott: Juxta Requiescit REVEHEX nus HUGO MOISES, A. M. Collegii Divi Petri apud Cantabrigienses Olitn socius, Postea, per longam annorum seriem, Ludi Literarii, in hoc oppido fundati, Prsefectus ; Atque ibidem, in Ecclesia Omnium Sanctorum, Verbi divini Prselector. Vir erat ingeno eleganti et exculto, Literis humanioribus apprime ornatus, Et in his impertiendis Indefessus ac felix : , In regendis puerorum animis Leni usus imperio, sed constanti: Moribus facillimis nee inficetis, Sed ad vitse et officii sui sanctimoniam Rite compositis : Omnium, quorum studiis dirigendis Invigilaverat, Commodis in omni genere promovendis, Amicissimfc semper, ssepe utiliter, intentus: Religionis, patriae institutis stabilitae, Cultor observantissimus, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 279 Et in concionibus sacris Explicator diligens, doctus, disertus. Hoc monumento raemoriara nominis Consecrari voluit Permultorura discipulorum Amor et veneratio : Favente, et pecunia collata juvante, Novacastrensium Municipio, Viri de suis omnibus optime meriti Grate memori. Obiit Anno Salutis MDCCCVI, ^Etatis Suss LXXXV, Filiis Hugone et Gulielmo superstitibus.* The subscription list is headed by the Corporation of Newcastle. Of the other subscribers, all of whom had been the pupils of Mr. JVIoises, Lord Eldon, Sir William Scott and Lord Collingwood, stood first, second and third. On the 12th of September, 1806, Lord Thurlow died. In his de- cline, he gave a remarkable proof of his confidence in Lord Eldon, who thus speaks of it to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Scott, in a letter without date : * Near this spot rests THE REVEREND HUGH Moiszs, M. A. Formerly fellow Of St. Peter's College, Cambridge, Afterwards, for a long series of years, Master Of the Foundation Grammar School in this town, And lecturer on the Divine word In the church of All Saints, there. He was a man of elegant and cultivated mind; Highly accomplished in polite letters, And indefatigable and felicitous In imparting them; Exercising a mild, but firm authority In directing the minds of youth : Of manners most easy, and not without pleasantry, But duly chastened To the sanctity of his life and office : Anxious, ever most kindly, and often successfully, To forward in every way the interests Of all those, the course of whose studies He had superintended: Of the religion, established by his country's institutions, A most devout observer, And,ia his sacred discourses, A diligent, learned and elegant expounder. The affectionate veneration Of a numerous body of his pupils Hath caused the memory of his name To be consecrated by this monument, With the countenance and auxiliary contribution Of the Corporation of Newcastle, Who remember with gratitude How highly he deserved of all connected with him. He died in the year of Grace 1806, And in the 85th of his age, Leaving two sons, Hugh and William. 280 LIFE OF LORD "My dearest Henrietta, "I have been much surprised to find that rny old friend and benefactor, Lord Thur- low, for such he once was notwithstanding politics had led him to conduct himself sadly to me, has, with marks of great personal regard and confidence, made me one of his executors. This has affected me much." The Anecdote Book contains some strong illustrations of Lord Thurlow's character : " Mr. Fox, or Mr. Burke, said of him, that he looked wiser than any man ever was. Burke, I think, speaking of his unbending man- ners in Parliament, and his courteous behaviour when in presence of the king, said, ' Thurlow was a sturdy oak at Westminster and a willow at St. James's.'" "Lord Thurlow was asked how he got through all his business as chancellor: his answer was, 'Just as a pickpocket gets through a horse-pond: he must get through." "At Buxton, Lord Thurlow lodged with a surgeon and apothecary, opposite to whose house there was a butcher's shop. Lord Thurlow asked his landlord ' whether he or his opposite neighbour killed the most?'" "Lord Thurlow had no mercy, and he ought not to have had any, on a roguish attorney. He had made a certain attorney pay all the costs of an infant's suit, in which he was solicitor, on account of the extremely improper manner in which the cause had been carried on. In another suit, upon the death of a tenant for life who had been enti- tled to the interest of a sum of money in court, this attorney applied to have the fund out of court, on the behalf of an individual become entitled to the principal: Thurlow said, 'How, sir, do I know that the tenant for life is dead ?' The attorney said, ' I can assure your lordship that he is dead.' ' I shall not,' says Thurlow, ' take your assurance as worth any thing. Make an affidavit.' The attorney made an affidavit, swearing that the person named in it was dead. 'Well,' says Thurlow, ' and what do you expect from such an affidavit? How do I know that the man named in the affidavit and the man who received the interest was the same person ?' The attorney said, ' Then I suppose that I must make an affidavit of that, also; but surely I am treated with a degree of suspicion and harshness that I do not deserve. I'll make the affidavit but your lordship will allow me to say that any other judge would not have required it. I know, I must know, the man is dead: I was at his funeral.' 'So you might be,' says Thurlow ; ' but how does that prove that the man who received the interest, and the man whose funeral you attended, was the same person ?' ' My lord, hear me the man who received the interest, and whose funeral I attended, was my client.' 'Why, sir,' said Thurlow, 'did you not mention that at first? A great deal of time and trouble might have been, saved. That he was your client is some evidence that he may be dead ; nothing was so likely to kill him." Although the ministers had hitherto met with no formidable hin- drance in the conduct of their parliamentary business, they were not insensible to the consideration, that a House of Commons, elected CHANCELLOR ELDON. 281 during the administration of their predecessors, was very likely to desert them on the appearance of any serious difficulties at court or elsewhere. This apprehension may probably have derived additional force from the loss sustained by their cabinet in the person of Mr. Fox, who died on the 13th of September, 1806. Under all circum- stances, therefore, they resolved to convene a new Parliament ; and the dissolution, which was proclaimed on the 24th of October, was followed by the election of a large majority in the House of Commons devoted to their interests. The prospects of Lord Eldon and the other survivors of Mr. Pitt's cabinet, were now overcast by a gloom, through which a favourable change, though really at no great distance, was scarcely to be descried by any human foresight ; and, as is common in an unprosperous cause, the losing parties were much inclined to charge the blame upon one another. Thus it happened that Mr. Canning, whose disposition to " advance with the times" was uncongenial to the more cautious temper of several of his political allies, became unfortunately an ob- ject of some suspicion and dislike with Lord Eldon ; and this feeling, though never pushed to any downright personal quarrel, appears to have afterwards become a mutual and a lasting one. The following letter, in which Mr. Canning and Lord Grenville are designated only by their initials, has no date of year or month, but appears from its contents to have been written very shortly after the dissolution had been proclaimed. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.") "Monday. "I am not the least surprised at what you say about C. I have for sometime thought that much less than a dissolution would serve him as a cause of separation, and I suspect that Lord G. has known him so well, as, by flattering his vanity on the one hand, by making him the person of consequence to be talked with, and alarming that vanity on the other by disclaiming intercourse through any body, with the Pitt- ites as a body, to make him the instrument of shaking, among the Pittites, that mutual confidence, which was essential to give them weight, and thus to keep them in the state of a rope of sand till a dissolution, when he won't care one fig for them all put together. The king's conduct does not astonish me, though I think it has destroyed him. His language to me led me to hope better things; and, in cha- rity, [ would suppose from it, that his heart does not go with his act. But his years, his w;mt of sight, the domestic falsehood and treachery which surround him, and some feeling (just enough, I think), of resentment at our bavins deserted him on Mr. Pitt's death, and, as to myself particularly, the uneasiness, which in his mind, the presence of a person who attended him in two fits of insanity excites, have conspired to make him do an act unjust to himself. I consider it as a fatal and final blow to the hopes of many who have every good wish of mine. As to myself personally, looking at matters on all sides, I think the chancellorship would never revert to me, even if things had taken another turn, and it is not on my own account I lament the turn they have taken. As to any other office, I could have no motive, on my own account, to wish for any, and, with a disposition to co-operate for the good of others who have public objects, I have only to pray God to continue to me, if it be his plea- sure, the other sources of happiness of a private kind. I have had a letter from Lord Redesdale, also very dismal, and, in its contents about the prince, like yours. The Duke of Cumberland sent me a military express to inform me of the dissolution. " Ever yours, affectionately, "ELDOX." Meanwhile the king, though certainly not very cordially disposed 282 LIFE OF LORD to his ministers, appears to have abstained, with perfect fairness, from any political intercourse with their opponents. (The. Duke of Portland to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) " Bulstrode, Nov. 24th, 1806. "I will add little to the length of this letter, except to contradict the rumours you have heard of any intimation having been made to me, either directly or indirectly," of H. M.'s sentiments upon any political subject whatever. H. M. was pleased to come to this place on the Saturday before the dissolution of Parliament, accompanied only by the queen and princesses, and the Dukes of York and Cambridge; but not a syllable, or even allusion to the present state of things or to the event then impend- ing, (with which, however, I have some reason to think, he was at that time unac- quainted), except, if it can bear such an interpretation, his repeatedly, for three or four times, expressing his regret at having a good memory, and lamenting it as a serious misfortune. Believe me, my dearest lord, nothing can relieve my mind so much as unburthening it to you in the present crisis. The friendship I have for so many years experienced for you, teaches me to believe that I cannot use any argu- ment so likely to induce you to gratify my wishes. I, therefore, conclude, with the most cordial assurances of regard and attachment, "Your lordship's most faithfully ever, " PORTLAND." The session of Parliament opened on the 15th of December, and such was the state of public affairs, especially in reference to the failure of the negotiation for peace with France, and to the progress of the war, that it was not thought expedient to adjourn for the usual recess at Christmas. In the beginning of the new year, 1807, the whole question of the negotiation and of the war was brought by ministers before both Houses of Parliament, on motions for addresses to the crown. The address of the Lords was moved by Lord Gren- ville on the 2d of January ; and of the debate on this motion, a lively description remains, in a letter written the following day by Lord Eldon to his brother, Sir William : "Jan. 3d, 1307. " Dear Brother, "I learnt in the debate last night, that the treaty with America was signed and, as rumour represented the matter, that we had, in some colourable way, given up the question about neutrals carrying colonial produce. Alas, poor Britain! times were when we should have said, 'If your Non-Importation Act is to exist as a threat, nego- tiation cannot, consistently with our honour, go on whilst it exists; repeal it before we treat;' but we have submitted, with that rod over our heads, it seems, to give up what we have manibus pedibusque maintained for so many years, and at so great a price. " Our proceedings of last night, and relative to last night, were curious indeed. At Castle reagh's, last Monday, Canning and Perceval and myself dined, to talk over the negotiation papers. Hawkesbury sent an excuse, and mentioned in it that he should attend the Lords to state his ideas upon peace and war. The Duke of Portland came to town and attended yesterday, as he said he thought no man ought to be absent when countenance was to be given to the prosecution of the war. He showed me a letter from Lord Camden, in which he said that Hawkesbury had stated to him that there would be a thin attendance, that it had better be so; and Camden added, that, for that reason, and because there was no plan, he was gone out of town; so was Chatham, Westmoreland, &c. &c.: and when we got to the Lords, the attendance was thin, sure enough, on both sides. On ours, nobody but Cumberland, Portland, self, Hawkesbury, Dynevor, Redesdale and one or two more; the throne crowded with mem- bers of Commons to hear the debate. Grenville began it : after him Hawkesbury got up and made a speech upon peace and war ; dropped a few slurs upon the negotiation , and sat down; then eo instanti, jogging me to speak, which I declined. Sidmouth got up then: and, among other topics, insisted that no man could have an understanding CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 283 so perverse as not to agree that it appeared from the papers, that the offer of the uti possidetis originated the negotiation. ******** "Perceval, on the throne, communicated to me the* and discountenance, with which they must begin in the Commons on .Monday, if, with only Hawkesbury's speech, which had hardly any thing to do with the subject, and these high-flying asser- tions of Sidmouth's in the Lords, they were to take the matter up in the Commons. The Lords' House was half full of the Commons at this moment. Out of regard to him, and really stung with the bold effrontery of Sidinouth, I got up asserted the duty of every man to concur in a vigorous prosecution of the war ; that I was sorry any thing had been said about the papers proving that the uti possidttis had been offered to us; that, in the proposed address, there was nothing that pledged us on that ; that I could have wished, if we could not agree on that, the subject had been as it well might have been, reserved for separate consideration on a separate motion some other night; but that it was impossible, after the bold assertions that had been thrown out, and considering the nature of a king's declaration, not to go the length of say- ing that one deeply lamented that the king's declaration contained an assertion about the uti pussidetus which not only was not proved by the papers, but was disproved by the papers; and that u was inexcusable to assert this, without establishing, by rea- soning on the papers, the truth of the assertion. I then went through them. As the argument consisted of what they were pleased to call ' twisting all the papers,' there can be no report of it representing it intelligibly. I am sure I proved my point. Grenville, I observed, would not let any body attempt the answer but himself, and he answered it by saying, (or that was the amount of it,) that Lord Yarmouth, if he had not in the papers asserted plainly, now asserted plainly, and ought to be believed. Perceval and Castlereagh departed well content, and ready for the House on Monday; I am sure a great deal might have been made of the folly displayed, in this negotia- tion ; bat neither of this nor any thing else will any thing be made, as men act at present. " Yours ever, E." The result of the general election had naturally dispirited the oppo- sition. Some of them went so far as to profess their opinion that the dissolution of Parliament had put an end to all hope of better days. There had been, however, a good deal of dissatisfaction among the people, at the coalition of the Grenville party with the Whigs ; and Lord Eldon, who had a rooted dislike of such conjunctions, was anxious that his political allies should make a rally on that popular ground. He felt that his own exertions were marred by their despond- ency ; and seems to have disclosed his dissatisfaction to the Marchi- oness of Abercorn, in a conversation which, having been reported by her ladyship in her correspondence with Lord Melville, led to the interchange of the following letters between him and Lord Eldon. (Lard Eldon to Lord Melville.} (Extracts.) "January, 1807. "My dear Lord, "Sir William Grant, with your permission, put into my hands a copy of your letter to your son, Mr. Dundas, and I have had a communication with Lady A., who, I find, had named me in her correspondence with your lordship. In what terms Lady A. represented to you the tenour of my conversation with her, I don't know; but, to the best of my recollection, that conversation, on my part, was not expressive of any complaint'(for circumstances would not justify me in making complaint,) but express- ive of concern. The weight, which I know, from long experience, is due to your opinions, made me feel certainly most strongly what would be, and must be, the effect of your sentiments (of which I had occasionally heard) as to the consequences of the dissolution." Lord Eldon then intimates his own opinion, that the dissolution * The next words are torn away with the seal. 284 LIFE OF LORD was not likely to have such effects as would justify the despondency then prevalent, and proceeds thus : " I had also, for twelve months past, observed, not without grief, that all my exhort- ations to plan, to union, to system, had been thrown away upon every body here. If they had not, I think I should at this moment have seen a very different state of things. ******* " I certainly did express strongly, at the Priory, my fears that the opinion expressed by your lordship (to which so much respect would be paid because it was due to it), upon this measure, would greatly augment the panic that existed, whilst it did not ap- pear to me that it could do any good. ******* "Upon the matter of fact (what this dissolution does prove as to the mind or inten- tion of any body* concerned in if), we may live to converse together; but whatever my belief of the actual mind and intention of any person concerned in it may be, though you know I am no politician, I should be deservedly thought an idiot, if I did not feel with what universality it will be deemed to import that mind and intention which you think it imports, and how impossible it is to give weight generally to any grounds of belief to the contrary, unless they are furnished by acts or declarations, for which it cannot be reasonable to look. That mischief, great mischief, has been done, let the truth of the case be what it may be, cannot be doubted. My poor opin- ion is, that it will be augmented, and unnecessarily, if we act upon the supposition that it will not bear dispute what the truth of the case is. " You have known me since the year of 1783, fighting by the side of that illustrious man, Mr. Pitt, now no more, in every moment of the years which have since glided away save in that period in which I may, I think, say that, with his permission and at his request, I took the seals. According to my humble powers I fought by his side, because I sincerely wished well to his principles. There was one act in which, if he ever did me the honour to name me in his conversation with your lordship, you know I could not go along with him. I mean his proposition, when he last came into office, to call into the king's councils Mr. Fox. I told him at that time that, if that measure took effect, I should support him, Mr. Pitt, as a private individual, but not in office, that I thought it my duty to him to give him a proof, by retiring from office, of the sincerity of my opinion that this measure could not be advisable; because, if abstract reasoning could be found to prove it to be so, I was convinced that, in fact, the mea- sure would destroy the utility of his character, the most precious possession of this country ; and that I should live to see the day when it would be more than difficult to blame the effect of connections against him, if he was living, or against his memory, if he was dead, and more than difficult to blame them effectually, because it would be urged that he had wished and offered to form similar connections. Personal animosity against Mr. Fox I had none, nor against any other man; and though I have had the honour of having credit given me for intrigue, now my political life is probably over, I cannot plead guilty to the charge of having been a political intriguer, unless I have been such because I uniformly gave that illustrious man the advice which a pure and disinterested regard for him made it my duty to give him. I told him at that day, in effect, that much as I loved him, I had rather see Mr. Fox sole minister than Mr. Pitt the minister with him, unless he could find the means of persuading the world, which no man ever yet found in such circumstances, that he had not changed his principles. I have lived, my, lord, to the day to which I then look forward; and I do believe that much, very much, of what I see at this day reprehensible, grossly reprehensible as it is, stands unreprehended from a pious fear that the transactions of those days to which I have been alluding should be cited to justify much of what we see, and, when the grave shuts up all power of explanation, may be cited to the prejudice of the memory of that illustrious character, which is, indeed, a sacred deposit, which Jus country is bound to cherish, and his chosen surviving friends to protect." After stating that he had thought it his duty to be at his post throughout the preceding session, in the hope that others might also attend, consult and co-operate, which they, however, had failed to do, he adds, * In allusion to the king. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 285 "Notwithstanding my lectures were so utterly disregarded last session upon this head, I thought I perceived somewhat of a disposition to believe now that general understanding was advisable, and that the necessity of it could be better enforced by a little conversation than by a great deal of correspondence." He concludes this long letter thus, "If a determination should be soon taken to come to some communication upon the important points to which we have been alluding, that communication can alone enable me to judge, as it seems to me, whether so much of practical good, (acting upon the principles which have governed my former life) can be attained, as makes it a duty to co-operate with those who are seeking to attain it. If it be a duty, all that I can contribute to the attainment of it, I shall cheerfully contribute. If, unhappily, there should be any irreconcilable difference of opinion, I can retire; but some in- telligible proceeding must be had, and soon. For more particular discussion I shall reserve myself till I see you. My compliments attend Lady M. " Believe me, my dear lord, very truly yours, " ELUOX." As a composition, this letter, no doubt, is very defective ; but the diffuseness and intricacy of its style are amply compensated by the good sense and manliness of its spirit, a spirit justified, too, as it speedily was, by the return of that better fortune which, in politics as in war, is apt to favour the brave. Lord Melville answers thus : (Lord Melville to Lord Eldon.} " Duneira, January 29ih, 1807. " My dear Lord, " I yesterday received your letter, and of course the material parts of it are much better subjects for personal discussion than a letter. And as I had occasion within these few days to write an account of my general sentiments, and of my intended motions southwards, to Mr. Perceval, it is the less necessary to trouble your lordship with a repetition of them. I take it for granted your lordship is in confidential com- munication with him, and he has probably shown to you what I have recently written to him. You allude to one topic in which I am afraid I can scarcely agree with you. There were two periods when Mr. Pitt wished to have broke down the great phalanx of opposition which was forming, and afterwards formed, to storm the closet of the king. The first was when Mr. Aldington was at the head of government, and when all that Mr. Pitt stipulated as the conditions of his return to power was the liberty of proposing his two former colleagues, Lords Spencer and Grenville, to the king, to return to office. You know how that broke off. The other period was when he came last to the head of the government. When he made up his mind to that proposition, I was in Scotland, where he wrote to me fully, and in detailed explanation of his motives for it. He thought the times (especially on the continent) were critical beyond expression; and that it would be impossible to accomplish anything with effect, unless it was possible for two or three years to respite all faction and opposition at home. Recollecting the effects such a coalition had upon the character of Lord North, and sincerely anxious at all times for the purity of Mr. Pitt's fame, I at first shuddered at the proposition; but I own the strength of his reasoning got the better of my sentiments, and often as I have since thought of it, I have always considered it as a proof both of his wisdom and magnanimity. Personal resent- ments he never entertained against any person ; all his antipathies, when they at any time existed, were of a public nature. When I saw Mr. Pitt at Bath, a short time before his death, he informed me of the advice, to the same effect, he had given to the king at Weymouth, and then told me that one of the reasons which induced him to urge his majesty on the subject, was his own declining health, which he men- tioned to the king; but the king's reply was of a nature which put an end to farther discussion. I was well aware of the state of his health, more, perhaps,than any other individual; for, more than two years before he died, and in the last interview I ever had with him, the day before he left Bath, and when from circumstances I am posi- tive he was aware of his own situation, he emphatically said, that he wished the king might not live to repent, and sooner than he thought, the rejection of the advice he had pressed upon him at Weymouth. Such is the short history of those attempts he made to annihilate (at least for a while) any strong faction in the country. I know 286 LIFE OF LORD it has been often stated what you hint at, that Mr. Fox, &c. were thereby whitewashed. That is really a misstatement of the case. If his attempts had been successful at any of the times to which I allude, both Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox would have been under (he control of Mr. Pitt, as the head of government ; and if, at any time, either the one or other had attempted any thing wrong, he, possessing the complete confidence of the king, and disposed at all times to protect him, could, without difficulty, have got rid of them, and always, while he lived, modeled the government as he pleased, and to act upon his own principles. Compare that state of the king and the country with the state of both now, and then judge of the wisdom and rectitude of Mr. Pitt's views. But perhaps I have entered too much into a discussion of a situation and of times now gone by. "Till I am in London and know, as far as possible, the state of the king's disposi- tions in the first place, and of some considerable individuals in the second, it is impossible for me to form even a conjecture how far any practical remedy can be applied to the existing evils. I will not detain you longer than to assure you that I remain, my dear Lord Eldon, with the most perfect regard, " Yours, truly and sincerely, " MELVILLE." The bill for the abolition of the slave trade was among the most important measures of this session. It was originated in the House of Lords, where Lord Grenville introduced it on the 2d of January, 1807. On that occasion Lord Eldon had intimated his opinion, that even on the coast of Africa, to which the operation of this bill was confined, the slave trade could not be abolished, unless other powers should concur in the measures which the British government might adopt. On the 4th of February a further discussion arose, respecting the question whether the counsel who had been heard for the mer- chants of Liverpool against the bill, should be permitted to examine witnesses at the bar of the House of Lords before the second reading. Lord Eldon gave it as his opinion, that the examination of witnesses was not necessary for the present ; but desired not to be precluded from voting for the admis- sion of evidence in a future stage. He feared that the measure now proposed, while it would utterly destroy the British interests involved in the trade, would not diminish the transport of negroes or effect the preservation of one single individual. But if a change of national policy on this subject should be resolved on, he hoped that due compensation would be assigned. The extent of the interests to be then compen- sated could be ascertained only by the examination of witnesses. The circumspection and caution of Lord Eldon upon this subject were represented by his political opponents as betokening a disposi- tion adverse to freedom as well as to reform. But the ground of his resistance, as he distinctly declared, was no reluctance to redress any opposition or grievance, but a persuasion that the cause of justice and humanity would gain nothing by the abolition as then proposed. The results have but too amply fulfilled his forebodings. For want of the requisite concurrence on the part of foreign states, the total of suffering endured by the African race, instead of having been dimi- nished, has been frightfully augmented. Manifold are the difficulties which start up, and infinite is the caution which must be employed, in attempting the cure of any abuse wherein trading interests are extensively involved. It may have been fitting that, even at all hazards of exposing the Africans to increased suffering from the more merciless cupidity of foreign adventurers, England should relieve herself from the crime of continuing the slave trade ; but justice should be done to the practical humanity of those who desired only, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 287 before they ventured upon extensive changes, to make sure that the old mischief would not be reproduced in a new and more virulent shape. During the summer of the preceding year, the ministers had been much occupied with an investigation into the behaviour of Caroline, Princess of Wales. Certain charges against her had been laid by her consort before his majesty, who appointed four members of the cabi- net, Lord Chancellor Erskine, Earl Spencer and the Lords Grenville and Ellenborough, commissioners for inquiring into the matters al- leged. As these noblemen belonged to the party called " The prince's friends," the accused princess not unnaturally threw herself upon the advice of their political opponents, among whom Lord Eldon and Mr. Perceval were her chief counsellors. Her royal highness's letters to Lord Eldon on this subject succeed each other rapidly from June, 1806, to the end of that year. A few of them only have sufficient interest for insertion here. (The Princess of Wales to Lord Eldon.') (Extract.) " Blackheath, June 24th, 1806. " My dear Sir,* 'I must mention to your lordship that the two letters from Lady Douglas to Mrs. Fitz Gerald, which your lordship saw on the occasion, never to enter again to my house, (which would have been very great proofs against Lady Douglas, and show her true character,) have been taken out of my drawers, in which all the papers were, and upon each was written what were the contents of each different parcel. Yester- day, to my greatest astonishment, I missed that parcel. Every search in the world has been made, in case my bad memory had led me to put it in some other place; but I have not succeeded to find them, and am led to believe, that the same person, who was able to take a hundred pound from Carlton House, could easily take this parcel, which was so great a proof against Lady Douglas's character. No step has been taken by me to find out if he is the guilty one. In case you wish to see me, I shall be very happy to receive you to-morrow, or on Thursday morning, at any hour, and I beg and entreat of your lordship, to take it well into consideration, that it is quite impossible for me to remain any longer silent upon this subject, in which my honour is so much implicated, and which is so much the talk of the public at this moment, that I hope your lordship will take it in the most serious light, and to take some step which will lead to any conclusion, whatever it may be. My health, as well as my spirits, suffer too much to be left any longer in suspense; and you, who have always shown yourself as a sincere friend of me, will feel as I do upon this subject I remain for ever, with the truest sentiments of high regard, esteem and friendship, " Your lordship's sincere friend." (No name subscribed.) The commissioners made a report, fully acquitting the princess on the main charge, which was that of having given birth to a child in 1802, but adding, "that evidence had been laid before them of other particulars respecting the conduct of her royal highness, such as must, especially considering her exalted rank and station, necessarily give occasion to very unfavourable interpretations. This report was dated the 14th of July, 1806. The unhappy lady, who was the sub- ject of it, seems not to have been regularly apprised of its contents until the llth of August, when a copy of it was sent to her by Lord Erskine. Meanwhile, on the 25th of July, she wrote as follows to Lord Eldon : * Sic in orig. 288 LIFE OF LORD " Blackheath, July 23lh, 1SOS. "The Princess of Wales entreats and desires Lord Eldon to go as to-morrow to Windsor, and to ask an audience of his majesty, and to deliver to his majesty the enclosed letter.* The princess is under very great apprehension, that the report made from the examination, to his majesty, has not been fairly and literally delivered to his majesty. She wishes for that reason that Lord Eldon should verbally explain and open his eyes on the unjust and unloyal proceedings of his ministers. The princess cannot help thinking that his majesty has been led into error, otherwise he would have by this time shown his usual generosity and justice by declaring the princess's innocence. The princess is quite resigned to her cruel fate, from the period that her honour was in the hands of a pack of ruffians, and who are only devoted, and slaves to her most inveterate enemy. The princess hopes that on Sunday Lord Eldon will be able to give her a satisfactory account of the reception he received of his majesty, and the princess has been now for seven weeks in the most dreadful and tormenting suspense. The princess will be very much obliged if Lord Eldon will do her the favour of losing no time for setting off for Windsor and of seeing the king. The princess sends to his lordship the letter to the king for his perusal. If he should wish to alter any part in the letter, the princess desires that Lord Eldon would mark it down and send it back; the princess would, in less than an hour, send it to him again. "The princess remains, with the highest esteem and regard, his lordship's most " Sincere friend, " C. P." Having obtained a copy of the report on the llth of August, the princess addressed, on the 12th, a letter to the king, solemnly pro- testing her innocence of the levities which the report imputed to her, and praying to be re-admitted into his majesty's presence. Again in the same month, and yet again in the beginning of October, she renewed her representations to the king by letter ; but so far without success: though in the course of that autumn she received, from several members of the royal family, some civilities which warrant the belief that whatever might be the opinion of the ministers, the king was disposed to take a favourable view of her case. ( The Princess of Wales to Lord Eldon.) "Blackheath, Oct. 13th, ISOC. "The Princess of Wales, with the most grateful sense, is most sincerely obliged to Lord Eldon for his kind inquiry through Lady Sheffield. " Her body as well as her mind have naturally much suffered from the last melan- choly catastrophe, having lost in so short a time, and so unexpectedly, a most kind and affectionate brother and a sincere friend. The afflictions which Providence has sent so recently to her are very severe trials of patience and resignation, and nothing than strong feelings of religion and piety could with any sort of fortitude carry the princess's dejected mind. through this. She puts her only trust in Providence, which has so kindly protected her in various ways since she is in this kingdom. "The princess also has the pleasure to inform his lordship that the queen has twice made inquiry, by Lady Ilchester, through Lady Sheffield, about the princess's bodily and mental state. The Duchess of York, through her lady to Lady Sheffield, and the Duke of Cambridge in the same way, made their inquiries. The Duke of Kent wrote himself to the princess, which of course she answered herself. The Duke of Cumberland, who has twice been with the princess after the melancholy event took place, desired her to announce herself to his majesty the unexpected event of the death of the prince hereditary of Brunswick. She followed his advice, and the letter was sent through Lady Sheffield to Colonel Taylor. The answer was kind from his majesty, and full of feeling of interest for the severe loss she sustained in her brother. Lady Sheffield's health did not allow her to stay longer with the princess. Mrs. Vernon, one of her ladies, is now at Montague House, in case his lordship wished to write by her to the princess. "The princess trusts that soon she will have comfortable and pleasing tidings to relate to Lord Eldon. She has, till that moment, nothing further to inform him of, * Probably an application for a speedy decision. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 289 than to repeat her sentiments of high regard, esteem and gratitude, with which she remains for ever, " His lordship's most sincere friend, C. P." ( The Princess of Wales to Lord Eldon.} "Blackheath, Nov. 16th, IS06. "The Princess of Wales makes her apology to Lord Eldon for her unfortunate mistake. The letter which was intended for his lordship is gone to Altona to the Duke of Brunswick. The contents of the letter consisted in desiring his lordship to agree to the request of the princess to discharge the three traducers and slanderers of her honour from her household, of which some are even yet under the princess's own roof at this present moment. The princess, by not having yet discharged them, is liable to receive great affronts from them, which Mr. Bidgood* has tried in all means by hurting the princess's feelings. The pew at church, which is only appropriated for the princess's servants, is close to her own at Greenwich, where she constantly goes, if not illness prevents her. Mr. Bidgood shows himself there every lime, ajid even had not the proper attention of appearing lately in mourning, which all the servants of the princess are accustomed to be as long as their royal mistress is in deep mourning. "The princess begs Lord Eldon to take all these matters into consideration. Mr. Perceval, who is also informed on the same subject, is, perhaps, more able to explain the whole circumstance to his lordship than the princess can. The princess flatters herself that his lordship will do her the honour and pleasure to come on Tuesday at six o'clock to dinner to meet Sir William Scott." It is obvious, from the idiom of these letters, that they are not of English authorship ; and there seems no reason to doubt that they are the unassisted compositions of the princess herself. Though they disclose no new facts of importance, they have a certain interest, as reflecting the earlier feelings of one whose sufferings and whose faults came afterwards to engross so large a space in the eyes of the British people. She made another remonstrance to the king in De- cember, intimating that unless she were relieved from further suspense, her case must be laid before the public. This hint, coupled, probably, with an inclination on the king's part to comply with her request, had its effect upon the ministers ; and toward the end of January, 1807, a message from the king was transmitted to her by Lord Chancellor Erskine, acquainting her that his majesty was advised it was no longer necessary for him to decline receiving her into the royal presence. The Prince of Wales, however, interposed to suspend this restoration ; and the princess then, by a letter to the king, announced, that the publication of the proceedings on the inquiry would not be delayed beyond a specified day. But before that day arrived, a change took place in his majesty's councils : the king, on the advice of the new ministers, re-admitted her into his presence ; and this direct recogni- tion of her innocence having superseded the necessity of an appeal to general opinion, Lord Eldon and Mr. Perceval, who had always felt that the publication of matter so objectionable in its nature could have been justified only by extreme exigency, concurred in counsel- ling its suppression, to the great disappointment of the vulgar appe- tite for scandal, which revenged itself by the imputation that their advocacy of the princess's cause had been a mere hollow manoeuvre of party. * One of her upper servants, who had made statements to her prejudice before the commissioners. VOL. i. 19 290 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXIV. 1807. Dismissal of the Whig ministry: Letters from Lord Eidon to Sir William Scott and Dr. Ridley. Transfer of great seal from Lord Erskine to Lord Eldon. Letter from Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire. Composition of the new ministry. Lord Eldon charged as the king's secret adviser in the change of ministers: His refutation of that charge. Dissolution of Parliament: king's speech. THE month of March, 1807, had scarcely begun, when those extraor- dinary circumstances arose which suddenly removed the Whigs from office, and operated to continue their exclusion for almost a quarter of a century. A misunderstanding having arisen between the king and the ministers, with respect to certain relaxations in favour of Roman Catholic officers of the army and navy, inserted in a bill which had been introduced into the House of Commons on the 5th of March, the ministers, to quiet the uneasiness of his majesty, offered to withdraw the bill altogether for the present, without prejudice to their right of openly avowing their own opinions, and of thereafter submitting to him, from time to time, for his decision, such measures on this subject as they might think advisable. But the king had now taken the alarm ; and in order to protect himself against the possible recurrence of this difficulty, he required a written declaration, that ministers would propose no further concessions to the Roman Catholics. They thought it inconsistent with their duty to give such a pledge; and, on their refusal, the king communicated to them, as Lord Howick* expressed it, "his intention to look out for other ministers." That intention his majesty forthwith executed ; and the Tories were recalled to the government, w r ith the Duke of Portland as their nominal head. The following letter gives some insight into the movements which attended the formation of the new ministry : (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) "March 31st, 1807. " Dear Brother, "Let me first mention, after saying how happy I am by the better accounts we have of poor Bab,fthat I left, as I told you I would, some time ago, an order at Child's, to pay any drafts of yours for money, not exceeding 100/. in one year, that you might not have the trouble of speaking or writing to me when you had a wish of making a remittance to her. I have no doubt they have not forgot that order, but I shall renew it again to-day, and then you may have the money when you please. "I am most sincerely hurt that Lord Sidmouth is not among us. My earnest wish and entreaty has been, that he should and many others have wished it but it has been urged by some, that, at this moment, it cannot be; that not an individual con- * Mr. Grey had become Lord Howick, his father having been advanced to an earldom, f Their sister Barbara. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 291 nected with Lord Melville would join or support, if it was so; that a large part of Mr. Pitt's friends would secede ; that among Lord Grenville's majority there are per- sons not adverse, and likely enough to be friendly, who are so desperately angry at Lord S., that, with him in administration, they would be against it to a man; that Canning declines office if Lord S. was to have office now, but would not object a few months hence; and all the Pittites, who talk to me, hold themselves bound, by their view of past transactions, not to desert Canning in a question between him and Lord S. Note, the language which those two have held respecting each other has done infinite mischief. And finally, to make bad worse, (with a determination formed, as I understood, to offer a continuance of their situations to Bragge, Bond, &c. &c. of Addington's friends, as laying the foundation of their future junction with himself,) about the very moment that it was formed, they sent resignations a step which has had a very bad effect. In short, it's a sickening scene that's passing; but I can pre- sent it to you more conveniently in conversation than correspondence. When do you return to town 1 I have written to Sir W. Wynne. I take the great seal again to- morrow, if it pleases God. The 1st of April is an ominous day. It will not be in my possession a month, if there is not a dissolution. On my own personal account, I have no wish about it much less than 1 thought I should have had. Pray let me know when you come to town, as I shall be very anxious to see you as soon as you do come. Give me, therefore, a little previous notice, that I may be ready for you. "Yours affectionately, " ELD ox." (Lord Eldon to the Rev. Dr. Ridley.} " March 31st, 1807. " Dear Ridley, " I thank you for your kind and affectionate letter. The occurrence of again taking the great seal, Harry, gives me but one sentiment of comfort, that it is possible I may be of use to others. The death of my friend Mr. Pitt, the loss of my poor dear John, the anguish of mind in which I have been, and ever must be, when that loss occurs to me, these have extinguished all ambition, and almost every wish of every kind in my breast. I had become inured to, and fond of, retirement. My mind had been busied in the contemplation of my best interests, those which are connected with nothing here. ******* "To me, therefore, the change is no joy: I write that from my heart. But I cannot disobey my old and gracious master, struggling for the established religion of my country; and I hope all good men will join in our efforts, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem. But all good men must join in his support, or he and our establishments will fall together. "Pray, give the love of us all to Fanny and my niece, and believe me, "Faithfully yours, "I am to receive the great seal to-morrow. Whether party will allow me to keep it a fortnight, I know not. On my own account I care not." ******* It appears from these letters, that the 1st of April was the day fixed for the re-transfer of the great seal to Lord Eldon. Lord Howick had stated in the House of Commons, on the 26th of March, that the preceding day, the 25lh, was that on which the ministers in general had delivered up the seals of office. The reason why the great seal was not given back to the king at the same time with Ihe other seals, was, that there were some cases heard by Lord Erskine in chancery, on which it was thought desirable that he should com- plete and deliver his judgment ; and, in order that he might be able to do this in regular form, and with binding effect, he was requested by the king to retain the great seal till the end of the month. The writer of this memoir has heard Lord Erskine relate, with his characteristic spirit and pleasantry, the circumstances of the surrender 292 LIFE OF LORD by his colleagues on the 25th of March. "I was last," said he. " When I received the king's command to retain the seals a few days longer, the others had left the presence, and were waiting in an ante- chamber for their carriages, and when I walked out among them with the seals still in my hand, you can't imagine the astonishment that showed itself in their faces, to see me come forth unhurt, like Daniel from the lion's den!" Lord Erskine completed his duties in the Court of Chancery on the 1st of April; and on the same day the great seal was delivered to Lord Eldon, who took his seat that afternoon on the woolsack. There are but few materials for estimating the judicial merits of Lord Erskine. In truth, his celebrity does not so naturally connect itself with the equity bench as with the common law bar. When he came to the Court of Chancery, he had not been very conversant with those particular departments of jurisprudence through which the science of equity is most easily approached ; and he remained not Jong enough in that court to become familiar with all its principles. His decisions, therefore, are, perhaps, of less authority than those of some judges, much his inferiors both in strength of understanding and in reach of thought, but more versed in the doctrine and practice of equitable jurisprudence. His fame, however, may well afford to waive any claim upon the short annals of his chancellorship. For more than a quarter of a century he had been the foremost advocate in those courts which hold supreme jurisdiction of liberty and life ; and the record which his corrected speeches have preserved of him, such as then he was, will best enable his successors and his country to appre- ciate, however hopeless it may be to equal, his earnest and brilliant eloquence, his logical reasoning, his exquisite tact, his instinctive quickness, his attaching courtesy, and his indomitable courage. ( Lord Eldon to the Rev. Samuel Swire, D. D.) (Not dated; but endorsed, April 3d, 1807.) ;< My dear Swire, " Whilst dreaming of a visit to you, I have awaked with the great seal in my hand, to my utter astonishment. But this attack upon the establishment has brought for- ward on the part of the king, governed by his own determinations and without any assurance of support, a firmness which,! confess, astonishes me. The world should not have induced me to take the seal again, if his commands had been of such a nature as to leave me any choice; or the circumstances, which must inevitably lead to difficulties in Parliament, probably insuperable, and appeals to the people, perhaps without sufficient effect, had not shamed me into decision, that this great and excellent man, for great as well as excellent he has now shown, himself, shall not want the aid of every effort I can exert. " He considers the struggle as for his throne ; and he told me but yesterday, when I took the seal, that he did so consider it; that he must be the Protestant king of a Protestant country, or no king. He is remarkably well firm as a lion placid and quiet, beyond example in any moment of his life. I am happy to add that, on this occasion, his son, the prince, has appeared to behave very dutifully to him. Two or three great goods have been accomplished if his new ministers can stand their ground. First, the old ones are satisfied that the king, whose state of mind they were always doubting, has more sense and understanding than all his ministers put together: they leave him with a full conviction of that fact. Secondly, the nation has seen the inefficiency of ' all the talents,' and may, perhaps, therefore, not injure us much by comparison. When he delivered the seal to me yesterday, he told me he wished and hoped I should keep it till he died. If we get over a few months we may support CHANCELLOR ELDON. 293 him. Lady Eldon, who is sadly hurt at this relapse into business, sends affectionate regards, \vith myself, to you, Mrs. Swire, and Mr. and Mrs. Hobson. Fanny's love. " Ever yours (in haste) affectionately, " ELDOJT ." The new administrafion, when complete in the month of April, stood as follows : the Duke of Portland became successor to Lord Grenville, as first lord of the treasury ; Lord Eldon to Lord Erskine, as lord chancellor; Earl Camden to Viscount Sidmouth, as president of the council ; the Earl of Westmoreland to Lord Holland, as privy seal ; Lord Mulgrave to Mr. T. Grenville, as first lord of the admi- ralty ; the Earl of Chatham to the Earl of Moira, as master-general of the ordnance ; Lord Hawkesbury to Earl Spencer, as home secretary of state ; Mr. Canning to Lord Howick, as foreign secretary ; and Lord Castlereagh to Windham, as secretary for war and colonies : Mr. Per- ceval, who became chancellor of the Exchequer in the room of Lord Henry Petty, w r as invested with the leadership of the House of Com- mons ; Earl Bathurst had a seat in the cabinet as president of the board of trade ; Mr. Huskisson became one of the secretaries of the treasury ; and the Duke of Wellington, then Sir Arthur Wellesley, made his entrance into political life as chief secretary for Ireland. The Whigs, who possessed a strong force in the House of Commons, and had still a considerable influence with a large constitutional body of the country, were by no means disposed to yield without a rally. It was determined, therefore, that the state of parties should be brought to the test by Mr. Brande in the House of Commons, and by the Mar- quis of Stafford in the House of Lords. Mr. Brande's motion, which was brought forward on the 9th of April, propounded a resolution, asserting it to be a breach of duty in a British ministry to pledge them- selves, either expressly or by implication, against offering such advice to the crown as the course of circumstances might render necessary. The seconder was Lord Melbourne, then the Honourable William Lamb. He had moved the address at the opening of the preceding session, and already gave large earnest of the qualities which after- wards placed him at the head of the Whig administrations of King William IV. and of Queen Victoria. Mr. Brande's motion was met by an amendment for proceeding to the other orders of the day; which amendment, however, was carried only by a majority of 258 against 226. In the course of the debate, Lord Howick had been pleased to say, "Agreeing with his hon. friends, that there could constitutionally be no act of the crown without a responsible adviser, he also concurred in the opinion that there had, on the recent occasion, been secret advisers, and much pains taken to poison the royal mind. Indeed, he did happen to know that advice had been given ; and this was a time in which he felt it to be his duty to speak out plainly. On the Saturday before the pledge was required, Lord Eldon had an audience of his majesty. What passed at that interview, he did not pretend to state; that he would leave the House to con- jecture. He must also observe, that before he had liberty to state that a new adminis- tration was forming, Lord Eldon and Lord Hawkesbury had been sent for to Windsor. Lord Eldon and Lord Hawkesbury were then the responsible persons."* This speech was answered by Mr. Secretary Canning, whose defence * 9 Parl. Deb. 339. 294 LIFE OF LORD of Lord Eldon undoubtedly evinced no want of cordiality to his col- league. He said : "The noble lord has chosen to insinuate that the king had in fact some secret ad- viser, and that the communication between his majesty and those who are now in his councils, began much earlier than we are willing to avow ; and he instances Lord Eldon's visit to Windsor (I think on the Saturday se'nnight preceding the change) as a proof of this secret communication. I would not accuse the noble lord of wilful misrepresentation; but I must, ask him plainly, in the face of the House, does he not know what was the cause of Lord Eldon's visit to Windsor? Does he, or does he not know, that previous to his going to Windsor, Lord Eldon waited on Lord Gren- ville, and communicated to him distinctly the subject of his intended interview with the king, adding, at the same time, a solemn assurance that he would mention no other subject to his majesty? The noble lord may insinuate that Lord Eldon did not keep his word. I believe he did ; and at least I may safely leave it to the House to determine whether the conduct of Lord Eldon, such as I have described it, affords fair grounds for a presumption of insincerity and falsehood ? And I will add, sir, that nothing but the extreme delicacy of the subject itself, upon which alone Lord Eldon went, and upon which the noble lord must know he went, to communicate with his majesty, prevents me from satisfying the House, by a distinct disclosure of it, how very far removed it was from any thing of a political nature." Sir Samuel Romilly in his Diary* reports Lord Grey to have told him, that in the spring of 1813, the chancellor, speaking on the sub- ject of the Princess of Wales to Lord Grey, who was sitting by him on the woolsack in the House of Lords, said, " I do assure you, you may believe it or not as you think proper, but I do assure you, that when I had the conference with the king, in 1807, which I requested, it was solely for the purpose of representing to him what mischief might follow, if Perceval was not prevented from publishing the book which he was then bent on publishing." Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book bears the following testimony to the laudable reserve which the king maintained on the subject of the in- tended change, until he had signified his resolution to the then minis- ters! themselves : " In order to disarm political jealousy I communicated to Lord Grenville, then minister, that I was going to Windsor, and the nature of the business which led to my visiting his majesty. It happened, unfortunately, about this time, that the administration meditated a bill in Parliament which was favourable to the Roman Catholics, and that there was that misunderstanding in consequence of it which led to the king's dismissing his administration in 1807. When that event happened, which it did shortly after I had been at Windsor, many of the adherents of that administration most virulently abused me, insinu- ating that I had, when at Windsor, advised his majesty to change his ministers; and some even expressed an hope, that on some future day when another change might take place, I should be impeached. The fact and the truth is, that, notwithstanding what was then passing between the king and his ministers, I was entirely ignorant of it before I went: I heard not a syllable respecting it whilst I was with the king ; nor had I any information respecting it till I was afterwards com- manded to attend his majesty with Lord Liverpool, when he was * "Memoirs," vol. iii. p. 104. f See the Duke of Portland's letter to Lord Eldon, November 24th, 1806. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 295 pleased to inform us that he had changed his administration, and stated to us the reasons upon which he had acted ; and I well remember his saying, that to me it must be matter of great surprise, having seen me so lately, and not a word having then passed respecting it ; which was the fact." The Marquis of Stafford's motion, made in the House of Lords, on the 13th of the same April, differed from Mr. Brande's in this par- ticular, that it prefaced its denunciation of restrictive pledges by an expression of the " deepest regret at the change which had lately taken place in his majesty's councils," " a regret greatly increased by the causes to which the change had been ascribed." In the course of the debate, a good deal was said about the responsibility of those who had either advised the king beforehand to dismiss his late minis- ters, or subsequently adopted that dismissal by taking their places. The lord chancellor (who spoke last but one) insisted that the discussion had been wholly new, irregular and unparliamentary. The insinuations, personally thrown out against himself, of having secretly advised his majesty to dismiss his late minis- ters, he should treat only with the contempt they deserved. He had slated to Lord Grenville the circumstances of the audience which he had had of his majesty, and that noble lord, he trusted, was perfectly satisfied of his sincerity. His return to office had been accompanied with no pledge, except the uniform tenourof his public life; and no other had been asked by his majesty. The House divided, not upon the original motion, but upon a motion made by Lord Boringdon (at that time a supporter of ministers) for an adjournment of the House, which was carried by a majority of 171 against 90. Before the expiration of the month, Lord Eldon, in pursuance of a contract of purchase made in the preceding October with Mr. William Morton Pitt, became the possessor of the Encombe estate, in Dorset- shire, from which he afterwards took his title as Viscount. The property, comprising the manor and_ mansion of Encombe and about 2000 acres of land, was conveyed to him on the 25th of April, 1807, and the amount of the purchase-money was between 52,OOOZ. and 53,000^. This estate lies on the sea-shore, at the south-eastern ex- tremity of the county, in the district commonly called the Isle of Purbeck, which, however, is in reality only a peninsula.* "Encombe is situated in a very deep vale, that opens to the British Channel on the south, and is about a mile and a half south-west from Kingston. It seems to take its name from its situation on the extremity of this part of the island, quasi, End Comb, or from its situation in a comb or vale, g. d. In Comb. It is one of the best farms in the island, consisting of arable and pasture for sheep. The hilly part, as well as the vale, yields a greater plenty of grass and more beautiful verdure than is usually seen in the island; and, from its fertility, has been distinguished by the name of the Golden Bowl. It does not occur in Domesday Book, being probably surveyed in Kingston, of which it is a member."f According to Hutchins, Encombe, which had for nearly two centu- ries been the residence of the Culliford family, was purchased, about the year 1734, by Mrs. Lora Pitt, who then gave it to her second son, John Pitt, Esq. He soon pulled down the house, which was much Hutchins's "History of Dorset," (1796,) vol. i. p. 274. f Id. vol. i. p. 292. 296 LIFE OF LOUD in decay, and on the same site erected the present mansion, of Purbeck stone. The succeeding particulars are from the present earl: " It is curious that, in this purchase, was included a portion of high ground already bearing the name of its new possessor's title, and called, long before that title was created, by the designation of Eldori Hill. "I have often been asked how Lord Eldon happened to purchase an estate and residence at a place which he was so little likely to have seen or heard of. It had been named to him by Mr. Farrer, (father of J. W. Farrer, Esq., of Ingleborough,) with whom Lord Eldon was early intimate, and to whose health its climate had proved highly beneficial, when he had been there in the time of Mr. Morton Pitt's possessing it. Lord Eldon used to tell me that its size and character suited well what he wanted, on ceasing to hold the great seal after his first chancellorship." " I have heard my grandfather and grandmother say that, when they came to see Encombe for the first time, they thought, as they passed over some of the dreary and hilly roads which led to it, they had acted upon a very unwise recommendation in travelling thither; but that when the fine sea view, which presents itself at the entrance of the valley, burst upon them, they ceased to entertain that opinion. This point of the quarry wood is, perhaps, the most striking feature of Encombe. The chancellor would quote at this spot: ' in reducta valle mugientium Prospectat errantes greges.'* " The farm of Renscombe, which included the promontory called St. Aldhelm's, or more commonly St. Alban's, Head, was not added to .the Encombe estate, of which it now forms a part, until about 1811. On the headland stands an ancient chapel, built and vaulted with stone. It is dedicated to St *Aldhelm, first Bishop of Sherborne, and appears to have been a chantry, wherein masses were said for mariners wrecked on that dangerous shore. The cliff, at this place, is said to rise 440 feet perpendicular from the sea. In January, 1811, when Renscombe farm was for sale, Lord Eldon offered a price which the vendor declined : it was then advertised as a charming residence near the sea : and this notice of it shortly caught the eye of Mr. Jen- kins, a respectable and well-known London dancing-master of that time. He bought it at once, without ever seeing it ; but when he and his family came in a postchaise to visit their new acquisition early in the summer, they found the place inaccessible to any such vehicle, save at the risk of their necks ; and they were but too happy in being able to hand over to Lord Eldon their singularly unsuitable posses- sion ; which, however, they only did on receiving from him a larger sum than their purchase had cost them. So bleak is this farm, that stone walls, instead of hedge-rows, form its fences throughout. On its whole extent there are but some half dozen trees, and these few exist but by the shelter of a neighbouring plantation. Lord Eldon * Horace; Epod. ii. lines 13, 14. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 297 used to say that the clause, which the lease of this farm contained, in common with his other leases, restraining his tenant from cutting tim- ber, was in this case a very superfluous precaution." The dissolution of Parliament, which Lord Eldon, in his letter to his brother, of the 31st of March, had stated to be indispensable for the stability of the new government, was speedily resolved on by the ministers ; for which purpose, on the 27th of April, the session was closed by commission. The royal speech, delivered on this occasion by the lord chancellor in his majesty's name, put the dissolution, most distinctly, on the ground of the attempt made by the Whigs in behalf of the Roman Catholics. The language of the speech was this : "His majesty is anxious to recur to the sense of his people, while the events which have recently taken place are yet fresh in their recollection. His majesty feels that in resorting to this measure, under the present circumstances, he at once demonstrates, in the most unequivocal manner, his own conscientious persuasion of the rectitude of those motives upon which he has acted, and affords to his people the best opportu- nity of testifying their determination to support him in every exercise of the preroga- tives of his crown, which is conformable to the sacred obligations under which they are held, and conducive to the welfare of his kingdom, and to the security of the con- stitution. His majesty directs us to express his entire conviction, that after so long a reign, marked by a series of indulgences to his Roman Catholic subjects, they, in common with every other class of his people, must feel assured of his attachment to the principles of a just and enlightened toleration, and of his anxious desire to pro- tect equally, and promote impartially, the happiness of all descriptions of his sub- jects. " My lords and gentlemen, his majesty has directed us most earnestly to recom- mend to you that you should cultivate, by all means in your power, a spirit of union, harmony and good will, amongst all classes and descriptions of his people. His majesty trusts that the divisions naturally and unavoidably excited by the late unfortu- nate and uncalled-for agitation of a question so interesting to the feelings and opin- ions of his people, will speedily pass away; and that the prevailing sense and deter- mination of all his subjects to exert their united efforts in the cause of their country will enable his majesty to conduct, to an honourable and secure termination, the great contest in which he is engaged." 298 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXV. 1807. King's speech on the opening of the new Parliament. Debates on the dissolution: responsibility of new ministers for the dismissal of their predecessors. National education. Letter from Lord Eldon to Mr. Farreron a course of study for the bar. Appointment of accountant-general. THE new parliament was convoked without delay ; and on 26th of June, the session was opened, by commission, in a speech delivered by the lord chancellor and beginning in these words : " We have it in command from his majesty to state to you, that having deemed it expedient to recur to the sense of his people, his majesty, in conformity to his declared intention, has lost no time in causing the present parliament to be assembled. His majesty has great satisfaction in acquainting you, that, since the events which led to the dissolution of the last parliament, his majesty has received, in numerous ad- dresses from his subjects, the warmest assurances of their affectionate attachment to his person and government and of their firm resolution to support him in maintain- ing the just rights of his crown and the true principles of the constitution; and he commands us to express his entire confidence that he shall experience, in all your deliberations, a determination to afford him an equally loyal, zealous and affectionate support, under all the arduous circumstances of the present time." The Earl of Mansfield having moved an address adopting the lan- guage of the speech, An amendment was proposed by Earl Fortescue, complaining of "the manifest misconduct of ministers, in having advised the dissolution of the late parliament, in its first session, and within a few months after it had been assembled." The amend- ment proceeded to deplore several of the results of the dissolution, and then sub- mitted, that all these mischiefs were "greatly aggravated by the groundless and injurious pretences on which his majesty's ministers have publicly rested their evil advices, pretences affording no justification for the measure, but calculated only to excite the most dangerous animosities among his majesty's faithful subjects, at a period when their united efforts were more than ever necessary for the security of the empire, and when to promote the utmost harmony and co-operation amongst them, would have been the first object of faithful and provident ministers." The lord chancellor, who rose after a speech from Lord Grenville, observed, That whereas, the communication from the throne implied no censure on the late ministry, the amendment went to stigmatize, in strong terms, the ministry now in office. The late ministry had resorted to a dissolution without assigning any reason in vindication of it; although in that case some special ground was the more requi- site, because that dissolution took place after a proclamation had actually gone forth, requiring Parliament to meet, on a particular day, " for the dispatch of business." With respect to this last appeal to the people, he only asked of the noble baron to treat it as he had treated the like measure in 1784, on Mr. Pitt's return to the govern- ment. It seemed to have been presumed, that because the present ministers had accepted office, they must have advised the dismissal of their predecessors. If that conclu- sion had been a legitimate one, no doubt the present ministers were responsible for the entire change ; but it was a conclusion which he could not admit. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 299 The original address was carried by a large majority. In 1835, when King William's dismissal of his Whig ministers was made the subject of attack upon their successors, Sir Robert Peel, as the head of the new administration, declared, that though he had not at all partaken in advising that dismissal, (having, indeed, been at a great distance from England when it was projected and executed,) yet he did conceive himself, by accepting office, to have become responsible for the king's act ; and he added that he was willing and prepared to meet that responsibility. Perhaps, however, there will be found no real discrepancy between Sir Robert Peel's and Lord Eldon's views of an in-coming ministry's constitutional responsibility for the dismissal of their predecessors. The chancellor does not go the length of affirming that this responsibility can attach upon the new government only when the dismissal has been actually advised by themselves : and, indeed, it is by no means difficult to conceive cases, where, without any participation in, or even privity to, the king's dismissal of the preceding ministers, the new administration might couple its acceptance of office with such farther steps (for in- stance, penal or vindictive proceedings against the discarded par- ties) as would amount, by relation backwards, to a clear adoption of the king's uncounselled act. On the other hand, Sir Robert Peel does not seem to have intended it as a universal proposition, that the acceptance of office has relation back to all acts done by the sove- reign in and consequent upon his dismissal of his last servants ; for such a doctrine, should it prevail, would deter the best and wisest men from lending their aid to the crown, in the very circumstances where such aid would be the most urgently needed, that is, where the sovereign, by some false step, taken without any recognized adviser, might have brought his crown and his people into an em- barrassment reparable only by ready and judicious counsellors in- vested with regular official powers. It, therefore, seems most reason- able to conclude, that both the chancellor and Sir Robert Peel spoke, not with any view of laying down abstract universal propositions, but simply with reference to the particular changes of administration which each respectively was discussing. The truth may be probably this, that the chancellor's disclaimer was founded on a generous reluctance to take from the king, under the name of ministerial re- sponsibility, the popular credit which attached to the expulsion of the Whigs in 1807 ; and that Sir Robert Peel, in no less manly a spirit, adopted the converse of the same course at the beginning of 1835, when, perceiving some sort of dissatisfaction to be connected with the dismissal of the Melbourne ministry, or at least with the unusual and abrupt manner of it, he, in order to relieve the sovereign from all shadow of imputation, took the whole responsibility upon himself. An act for the regulation of trade with America had expired be- tween the dissolution of the old and the meeting of the new parlia- ment. A bill for continuing it could not have been passed without a delay of the dissolution ; and the new ministry therefore had taken 300 LIFE OF LORD upon themselves to keep its provisions in force by an order in coun- cil, for which exercise of authority beyond the law, they now applied to Parliament to give them an indemnity. Earl Bathurst having, on the 13th of July, moved the second reading of a bill framed for this purpose, Lord Grenville took occasion to renew his censure upon that dissolution, out of which the necessity for an indemnity bill arose, and entered somewhat at large into the question of the policy avowed by the new administration with respect to the claims of the Irish Roman Catholics. Lord Hawkesbury, who answered this speech, was followed by Earl Spencer and Lord Erskine ; and the lord chancellor then ad- dressed the House in vindication of the conduct of ministers. He said that the question under consideration was, not the fitness of the dissolu- tion, but the fitness of the order in council; and if the fitness of the order in council were established, the government which had passed it was justly entitled to an in- demnity, whether the dissolution had been fitting or not. He did not shrink, however, from a discussion of their conduct in the matter of the dissolution. Lord Erskine had condemned it as an unconstitutional act, done simply "to accommodate a change in administration." That it was not an act done unconformably to precedent, would appear by a reference to the dissolution which had taken place under the late admi- nistration in the very last year. At the moment when that dissolution was resolved on, no circumstances had occurred to embarrass the ministers, no vote had passed in either House to indicate a wish of impeding them. However, he rested his own. opinion of the necessity for the dissolution which had just now taken place, not on the precedent of the last year, but on that course which, without any precedent at all, the late administration had adopted, in making his majesty's conduct, respecting the Roman Catholics, a subject of inquiry in both Houses of Parliament. That inquiry he considered as the most unconstitutional proceeding in which their lordships had ever been engaged; and nothing could be fitter than to submit the whole matter to the sense of the country, while the circumstances were fresh in the recollection of the people. He had no hesitation in avowing, that with a view to render the new administration as firm and as vigorous as possible, he had been a strenuous ad- viser, probably one of the most strenuous advisers, of this measure of dissolution. He looked to the Protestant people, whose regard and veneration, once lost to the government, would at best be but imperfectly replaced by the conciliation of the Roman Catholics. But such a conciliation was not, in his opinion, at all likely to be effected. The measure in which the late ministers had been defeated was one in which they aimed only at the promotion of naval and military officers. Why had they stopped with those classes 1 Why had they not extended their policy also to the pro- fession of the law, and to all the departments of civil government? A measure thus partial had no chance of producing the unanimity which was alleged as its object." The second reading was carried without a division. On the following day, the 14th, a bill was read a second time, for the renewal of the provisions in the expired act respecting American trade. Lord Lauderdale took this opportunity to repeat the attack upon ministers. He accused them of having professed a readiness to support the late government, which yet they had employed every illiberal, underhand, unmanly means to subvert. The lord chancellor said, that there never was an administration which had less occasion than the last to complain of a factious or harassing opposition. There had, in fact, been nothing like a systematic plan for opposing their measures, among any of those with whom he had the honour to act. "All the talents," as they were called, had been absolutely without any opponents in that House, or, he believed, anywhere else, until they began to oppose tfiemselves. The bill was then read a second time. A measure for the erection of parochial schools having passed the House of Commons and been read a first time in the House of Lords, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 301 the second reading of it was moved by Lord Holland on the llth of August. The lord chancellor said, he must oppose the bill in its present shape, though by no means unfriendly to the principle of diffusing instruction as generally as possible. He was fully sensible of the benefits derived from the system of education in Scot- land, a system to \vhich he, as a borderer on that kingdom, had been indebted for his own education; but he could not approve the present bill, which was wholly deficient in the means of accomplishing its object. Besides, it departed from the great principle of education in this country, by taking the business of instruction in a great degree, out of the superintendence and control of the clergy. Moreover, it placed the option of erecting, or declining to erect the school, in the mere numerical majority of the inhabitants of each parish a constitution to which he could never agree. It would give rise to all the mischiefs of an election, and to litigation without end. He objected, also, to the proposal of giving to the Court of Chancery the dis- posal of the money applicable to these institutions when it should amount to a certain sum. It should be recollected how moneys so entrusted were " sweated" in that court; and how, in the end, when the oyster came to be divided, the parties entitled got nothing but the shells. The bill was thrown out. On the 14th of August the session was closed by commission, in a speech delivered by the lord chancellor. He still found time to attend to the welfare of his personal friends, as will be seen from the succeeding letter to Mr. Farrer, on the im- portant subject of the course of study to be pursued by himself and his brother in their preparation for the bar: (Lord Eldon to James William Farrer, Esq.") Written at Encombe, and franked "Corfe Castle, October 14th, 1807. "Dear Sir, " I thank you for your letter ; and the concern and interest which I cannot but take in all that affects the welfare of those who are so nearly connected with some of my oldest friends, as you and Oliver are, lead me to trouble you with an immediate an- swer to it. If you and Oliver can arrange that matter to your mutual satisfaction, I think you do right in looking to different courts. I approve altogether the idea that such of you as look to the Court of Equity should go, and for a good many years, the northern circuit, as well as he who makes the profession of the common law his peculiar study; and I fully approve also the plan that the equity barrister should go to Mr. Abbott for twelve months. I know from long personal observation and experi- ence, that the great defect of the chancery bar is its ignorance of common law and common law practice ; and, strange as it should seem, yet almost without exception it is, that gentlemen go to a bar where they are to modify, qualify and soften the rigour of the common law, with very little notion of its doctrines or practice. Whilst you are with Abbott, find time to read Coke on Littleton again and again. If it be toil and labour to you, and it will be so, think as I do when I am climbing up toSwyer or to Westhill,* that the world will be before you when the toil is over; for so the law world will be, if you make yourself complete master of that book. At present lawyers are made good cheap, by learning law from Blackstone and less elegant compilers; depend upon it, men so bred will never be lawyers (though they may be barristers,) whatever they call themselves. I read Coke on Littleton through when I was the other day out of office, and when I was a student I abridged it. To a chancery man, the knowledge to be obtained from it is peculiarly useful in matter of titles. If you promise me to read this, and tell me when you have begun upon it, I shall venture to hope that, at my recommendation, you will attack about half a dozen other very crabbed books, which our Westminster Hall lawyers never look at. Westminster Hall has its loungers as well as Bond Street. Before you allow your- self to think that you have learnt equity pleading with your chancery pleader, re- member to make yourself a good conveyancer, in theory and practice. I venture to assure you, without qualification upon the positiveness.with which I so assure you, that if you are such, you will feel yourself in the Court of Chancery vastly above your fellows. This I know, from my own personal experience, that being, by the High grounds at Encombe, commanding extensive views. 302 LIFE OF LORD accidents of life, thrown into a conveyancer's office, I have never known, in a long life in chancery, how sufficiently to value the advantages that circumstance has given me. When you are learning to draw equity pleadings, you may be learning this also in your father's office. But you must labour at it till you can speak and dictate conveyances of every species, and this can only be learnt by going through the drudgery of copying. I wrote some folio books of conveyances, and I strongly advise you to do the same. The conveyancing precedents have been formed and modeled so as to make all their provisions square with the rules of law, as modified by decisions in equity; and, unless I deceive myself, after you have enabled yourself to dictate the different species of conveyances, and by that time have thought that it was a mere work of dull labour, with nothing of theory or science to recommend it to serious attention, you will find that from and after that moment, you will read no chancery case, nor hear any chancery decision, which will not appear to illustrate and open the meaning of all the phraseology, dull and technical as it may seem, of the conveyancer's language. This is a point I am very strenuous about. After all, when tolerably well furnished, you have begun your chancery practice, go, spring and summer, for some years, the circuit. That practice will keep alive your common law knowledge, and that will enable you to improve in your knowledge of equity. But it hath besides many mighty advantages, both for the time, and in future life. On the recommendation of great men now no more, I followed it, till it became in- justice to my equity clients. " Yours, my dear sir, truly, "Ei.nox. "'Oliver's going to Holroyd is quite right. Both he and Abbott are very able men. It is, however, fittest that the chancery pleader should go to Abbott, and the common law northern circuiteer to Holroyd."* The following extract is from a letter, without date, but written in answer to one from John Surtees, Esq., dated iSth January, 1808, in which Mr. Surtees had spoken of the obligation conferred by Lord Eldon on Mr. Smith, in the appointment of him to be accountant- general of the Court of Chancery : " Is he obliged to me? In my judgment, very far from it. Lord Loughborough made him a master, and I am not sure that I did him any good in prevailing upon him to take the office of accountant-general. But if I did, what is that compared to the weight of obligation I owe, and Lady Eldon owes to him. for the kindness shown to us and the assistance given us, in an early part of our lives'? Next to Sir Wil- liam, I look to him as our greatest benefactor now in existence." The present earl relates that his grandfather's friendship with Mr. Smith began at Oxford, and continued till the death of the latter, at the age of sixty-seven. Mr. and Mrs. Scott, during the early years of their marriage, were a good deal with Mr. Smith in Yorkshire, where he then lived ; and she sometimes made his house her home while Mr. Scott was on the circuit. Mr. Smith had afterwards a house at Stanmore, where Lord and Lady Eldon usually passed the Christ- mas, Easter and Whitsuntide vacations. He was appointed account- ant-general by Lord Eldon in 1801, and died in 1819. * Both the instructors here recommended were afterwards judges of the King's Bench : of which court Mr. Justice Abbott, after serving for some years as a puisne judge, became lord chief justice, at first without a peerage, afterwards with the barony and title of Tenterden. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 303 CHAPTER XXVI. 1808. Orders in council : Lord Eldun's speech in defence of them. Seizure of the Danish fleet: letters of Lord Eldon to his lady: his speech in defence of the seizure : anec- dote of George III. Detention of Danish merchant-ships. Note from the Princess of Wales. Letter of Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire on revealed religion. Duke of Cumberland's visit to Encombe. Sportsmen trespassing there. Letter of Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott, advising refusal of ecclesiastical judgeship. THE session of Parliament in 1808 was opened by commission on the 21st of January, the royal speech being read by the lord chancellor; of which the most prominent topics, in reference to the conduct of government, were the orders in council and the seizure of the Danish fleet at Copenhagen. The celebrated anti-commercial decrees of Buonaparte had been passed in the November and December of 1806. They declared the whole of the British dominions to be in a state of blockade : they pro- hibited all trading in the merchandize of England ; and they ordained that every article of her manufacture, or belonging to her, or coming from her colonies, should be lawful prize, and that no ship should be admitted into any port under the control of France without a certifi- cate of origin, showing that no part of her cargo was English. These decrees had been met on the part of this country, by an order in coun- cil, which was passed under the Whig administration in January, 1807, and which forbade the trade of any vessel between any two ports, being in the possession of France or her allies, or being " so far under their control as that British vessels might not freely trade thereat." It was hoped that this counter ordinance would rouse the neutral states to resist the original decrees ; but experience having shown that the neutrals were not inclined to oppose the assumptions of France, and that the countries under her control were actually giving effect to her mandates, the new administration resorted to orders in council of a more stringent character, dated November, 1807, which provided that, with certain exceptions, not only the ports and places of France and of her allies, and of any other country at war with his majesty, but likewise all ports and places in Europe from which the British flag was excluded, and all ports or places in the colonies of the king's enemies, should be subject to the same restrictions in point of trade and navigation as if they were under actual blockade ; further declar- ing, that all trade in the produce or manufactures of the said countries or colonies should be deemed unlawful, and that every vessel trading from or to them, and its cargo, and every article of the produce or manufactures aforesaid, should be prize to the captors. 304 LIFE OF LORD The legality, as well as the policy of the new orders, in exceeding the limit of the order of January, 1807, was vehemently contested by the opposition, whose w r rath was long exercised upon them in both Houses of Parliament. The first debate upon these new orders, in the House of Lords, was on the 15th of February, when Lord Auck- land moved for a committee to take them into consideration. The lord chancellor defended their legality, both in an international and in a muni- cipal point of view. The decrees of Buonaparte, he said, went to prevent all trade whatever in British commodities ; which attempt was a flagrant violation of the rights of neutrals, since it amounted to a notification, that whoever traded with Great Bri- tain would be considered an enemy by France. It had been contended that our orders in council of November, transcended the rule of the war of 1756, which would have authorized us only in interrupting the coasting trade of France. But the excess upon the rule of 1756 was introduced, not by this new order in council, but by the order made in January, 1807, which not only interrupted the coasting trade of France, but included in its prohibition the trade of those of other nations, over which France had suffi- cient control to compel their exclusion of British ships. Now ihe exclusion of Bri- tish ships was undoubtedly a measure which any nation had a right to adopt for her- self; but the order of January, 1807, had proceeded, and very justly, upon the fact, that the exclusion of our ships in this war by the nations in question, was not an act of their own, but an act imposed upon them by France. They might suffer some inconvenience from the kind of retaliation now introduced, which placed them be- tween confiscation for obeying the French decrees and confiscation for obeying the British order in council; but a neutral nation, which by her acquiescence in an inva- sion of her rights, lent herself to one belligerent for the purpose of favouring his trade at the expense of the other, could have very little title to complain, if the other belligerent protected himself by the necessary measures for rendering such a com- bination ineffectual. Those measures were aimed not at the neutral, but at the adverse belligerent : the damage to the neutral was only incidental. It might be an evil, but it was not an injury. To prove this proposition, he cited a variety of author- ities derived from the law of nations, on the subjects of blockade, embargo and other modes of interference. In relation to the municipal law, he defended the orders by a reference to decisions of the British Court of Admiralty, and to the constitution of the royal prerogative. The expediency of the orders had been questioned princi- pally in relation to our trade with America. But it was necessary to consider not merely the advantages which America might bring to us by her trade, but the disad- vantages which she might inflict on us by her acquiescence in the decrees of Buona- parte. He was on every account desirous to avoid a rupture with America; but he added, with earnestness, that he believed the greatest danger of such an event to be from those who argued this question as involving that result. He trusted that Ame- rica, perceiving the acts of France to be the real cause of the evil, would yet dis- cern the policy of joining with England in opposition to the wild and extravagant pretensions of a power whose object was, that England and America should both be crushed. The motion was negatived by a considerable majority. But the subject was, on the 8th of March, brought again under consideration by Lord Erskine, who moved a series of resolutions condemnatory of the latter orders in council. Upon these resolutions the lord chancel- lor moved and carried " the previous question." The grounds of his speech were mainly the same with those which have been already set forth. The seizure of the Danish fleet was a matter not less eagerly can- vassed in Parliament than the orders in council. It had not escaped the watchfulness of the new government, that Buonaparte, to whose yoke the state of Denmark, neutral as she professed to be, had im- plicitly submitted, was preparing to press her naval force at Copen- hagen into the service of his own designs against England. They CHANCELLOR ELDON. 305 therefore determined to anticipate his movements by laying up that force in a British harbour. For this purpose they fitted out a power- ful armament both naval and military, which proceeded to the waters in the neighbourhood of Copenhagen. Meanwhile, Mr. Jackson, as British envoy f was instructed to request from the court of Denmark, a peaceable transfer of the Danish fleet to the British admiral, under a solemn stipulation, that, if so transferred, it should be restored to Denmark at the conclusion of the war between Great Britain and France. The Danish court endeavoured to amuse Mr. Jackson by a show of negotiation, for the purpose of gaining time ; but it being at length beyond doubt that no direct answer was intended, the British commanders, in execution of their instructions, invested Copenhagen both by sea and land. A few days of brisk siege produced a capitu- lation, which was signed on the 8th of September: and the Danish vessels of war were taken from the basons where they lay in ordinary, and carried, with the equipments found in the neighbouring arsenal and storehouses, to England, \vhere they arrived about the end of Oc- tober, 1807. In a letter to Lady Eldon, written on the 18th of Sep- tember in that year, the chancellor says : "Friday morning. " After a very long cabinet indeed, yesterday, at which I flatter myself my presence was of some use to my country, I dined at Lord Castlereagh's, where, besides most of the cabinet, I met Lord Lake, the general from India, two of the officers from Copenhagen, and two of the officers from Buenos Ayres, so that we had a complete hash of all the good news and all the bad news from all parts of the world. The day was rendered entertaining enough by their different accounts of the transactions in the respective countries from which they came. ******** " We have an account that the Danes had taken a plank or a piece of a plank out of every ship, and replaced it with a thin deal so pitched and painted as to make it look like the rest of the ship, which the first heavy wave would have stove in and sent all our gallant tars to the bottom in every one of them, but luckily our people discovered it." In another letter to Lady Eldon, written the day following, he says: " Yesterday, as I said I should, I dined at the admiralty, and I met there Sir Richard itrachan, Sir Sidney Smith, Sir George Collier, Captain Bazeley, and half a dozen other captains and admirals, most of them just returned from Copenhagen, and we had a full, curious and interesting detail of the particulars of the transactions there. The state of the inhabitants in Copenhagen and their distresses must have been ter- rible and tremendous. In one street our mortars destroyed five hundred persons, principally poor helpless women and children. It seems weak pride and false honour that actuated the Danish commander. From the first he meant to surrender, and yet wished to have the credit of a battle before he did so; and to this point of military etiquette he sacrificed one-fourth of the buildings of the town and devoted to destruc- tion property and lives to a terrible amount. It made my heart ache and my blood run cold, to hear the accounts these gentleman gave." This exploit did not fail to provoke the vituperation of the Whigs, who made it a subject of charge in both Houses of Parliament, but without success. After these direct failures, Lord Sidmouth, on the 18th of February, revived the question by a side-wind, in a motion, "that no measures should be taken with respect to the ships, which might preclude the eventual restitution of them to Denmark, agree- VOL. i. 20 306 LIFE OF LORD ably to the spirit of the proclamation issued by the commanders." In the course of the debate, Lord Ellenborough commented severely on the expedition, as dishonourable to England: and denied the applicability of some precedents which had been cited. That England and Denmark had, since the seizure of the ships, been engaged in open war, made, in his opinion, no difference. Denmark would equally be entitled to a restoration of the ships; and it was, therefore, the interest of England to keep them in such a state, that they might be restored with the smallest possible cost, and that at least a penurious justice might be effected. The lord chancellor answered this speech : He contended for the analogy of the precedents, and declared that, so far from feel- ing himself dishonoured as an Englishman by the measure adopted, he should have felt himself dishonoured if, under all the circunivStances, he had hesitated to concur in advising it. The sort of justice recommended by his noble and learned friend was truly a penurious one ; for if the expedition was, indeed, unjust and dishonour- able, then, instead of keeping the ships in any particular way and at any given ex- pense, this country ought immediately to restore them, with ample amends. But, as the case stood, the Danish government had not even a pretence for demanding a restitution, which had been offered only on the condition of a peaceable surrender. The motion was negatived. In reference to this memorable transaction, Lord Eldon, many years afterwards, related to Mrs. Forster a characteristic trait of George III. : " Do you recollect when we took the Danish fleet during the war, Mrs. Forster? We had no right whatever to do so, but we were obliged, or it would have fallen into the hands of Buonaparte. We deemed it a matter of necessity. Well, we sent an ambassador, I think it was Mr. Jackson, to demand the ships from the prince royal; and when the ambassador waited on George III. on his return, the king abruptly asked him, ' Was the prince royal up stairs or down when he received you?' 'He was on the ground-floor, please your majesty.' * I am glad of it, I am glad of it, for your sake,' rejoined the king ; ' for if he had half the spirit of George III. he would in- fallibly have kicked you down stairs.' " This story was related to Lord Eldon by the king himself. Another question was raised by Lord Sidmouth on the 17th of May, as to the detention of the Danish merchant ships, which happened to be in the ports of Great Britain at the commencement of hostilities, having been seized there, or brought thither, as enemies' property. Lord Sidmouth proposed a series of resolutions for the restitution of them, subject to a due compensation for the amount of British in- terests which might have been sequestrated by the government of Denmark. The lord chancellor opposed this motion, on the ground of the general law and practice of nations. He admitted that the application of those rules might often operate with hardship upon individuals ; but he thought it would be difficult to main- tain that a commercial peace could co-exist with a political war; and he apprehended that the attempt to establish such a theory, and to set up a rule of compensation for private losses, would lead only to ruinous speculations on the part of individuals. He therefore moved the previous question, which was carried. The retired habits of Lady Eldon prevented the chancellor from receiving much female society at his own table. When he did so, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 307 however, he acquitted himself with a very good grace, as will be col- lected from a note addressed to him by the Princess of Wales : " Thursday, June 9th, 1808. "The Princess of Wales desires of the lord chancellor to express to Lady Eldon how much she was mortified at not having had the pleasure of meeting her at the chancellor's agreeable dinner; and trusts that, whenever another opportunity shall offer itself, she may have the gratification of assuring the lord chancellor as well as Lady Eldon, that the princess will ever be happy of personally assuring them of her highest regard at their house." The session was closed by commission, on the 4th of July. By this time, the outrages of Buonaparte upon the independence of Spain had begun to rouse the indignation of her people, and England had cordially answered their solicitations for aid. These circumstances formed the most important topic of the royal speech, which was read, as usual, by the lord chancellor. Neither civil business nor foreign war, neither the cares of the world nor its contests, estranged Lord Eldon from that one great interest which is paramount to all others. The present earl says, " Dr. Swire and Dr. Zouch having edited a short tract on the doctrine of the Trinity, written by Mr. Sampson George, an eminent solicitor, who resided at Middleton-Tyas, sent a copy to Lord Eldon, from whom it produced a letter to Dr. Swire," of which the following is an extract: (Sunday, August 7th, 1308.) " I have not ceased to delight in the studies to which my life was originally intended to be dedicated. I confess I am not quite so anxious as others, better informed, perhaps may be, to find the doctrines of natural and revealed religion altogether in- telligible. In the former there are many which are above my reason, and yet they must be true. That a divine being does exist, the author and preserver of all created beings, himself uncreated and existing from eternity, is a truth of which I have no doubt, and I never could bring myself to think that any reasonable being had a doubt of it. and. yet how much of how this should be, (undoubted as it is that it must be so,) is above the comprehension of him who ' seeth through a glass darkly.' So, as to this doctrine of the Trinity I don't object to it if it be represented as a per- fect mystery. Compelled to believe in the doctrines of natural religion, though many of them are above my reason, why I should withhold my assent to such of the doc- trines of revealed religion as are so, I know not. Upon this I say, ' If ye believe in, God, believe in me also.' I go a short way to work in this great matter. If the mat- ters, communicated in the sacred books, are communicated by the God of Truth, they must be true. I have asked myself, therefore, 1st, Has this communication been made by the God of Truth? If it has, 2dly, What doth the communication contain? I have not been so far led astray from the great purpose of human life, of this state of trial and probation, as not to have often and often endeavoured to enable myself 'to give a reason to him that asketh, of the hope that is in me.' I have looked, therefore, into the evidence of these things, and I have no doubt of the divine origin of the sacred volumes. If so, what is therein contained? If the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity is not therein contained, I can only ask him who can prevail upon himself so to say, How readest thou ?' Assuredly not as I read for unless (coming to the con- sideration of this important matter a believer in natural religion, with all its diificul- ties about it,) I am to twist every thing I find in revelation till I can represent it to myself not as it is, but as I think it should be. in the foolish purpose to bring it down to the level of my reason, I must read and understand as it is written. If this doctrine is nut there revealed, I know none respecting the being of God that is there revealed. Indeed, the whole Bible scheme of man's redemption, the whole Bible scheme of this world and that which is to come, appears to me very mainly to depend upon it: and when the man of reason tells me he understands the Godhead better, if he believes as an Unitarian, than I do who believe the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, I am con- tent that he should think as meanly as he pleases of my understanding; but on the 308 LIFE OF LORD other hand, I humbly pray to God to forgive his presumption. When the question vvas asked, ' Can these dry bones live T I think the answer was, ' O Lord God, thou knovvest:' When the question is asked, 'Can these Three be One 1 ?' my answer is, 'The Lord God knoweth.' He has said it, if there be truth in Scripture. " Though I write in this style, and have been very unwell, and stiil am not as I should be, and however grave you may think me, don't think me ' a saint;' I mean a 'modern saint.' The more I see of that character, the less I like it. But I am very serious on these points." On Saturday, October 1st, 1808, the Duke of Cumberland came to spend two days at Encombe with Lord Eldon, who thus describes the visit : (Lord Eldon to the Hon. Mrs. Scott.') " Oct. 5ih, 1803. " My dearest Henrietta, "Our royal visiter arrived here on Saturday morning between twelve and one. The day happened to be tolerably good not such a day as Encombe should be seen in, but Encombe was thought very, very beautiful Sunday was, unluckily, a very wet day, so that we could not get to church; .... our non-appearance there was a great disappointment, as, had the weather permitted all that was intended by the natives in point of attendance, Mr. Colson must have preached in the churchyard, as all the families in the island meant to be there. The day held up a little, and we j)lodged,&s we say in the north, through the wet grass to Chapman's Pool. The place, however, from gleams of sunshine, and from Swyer's being occasionally cloud-clapt, was really very beautiful. Our evenings were of course spent in such conversation as becomes princes and statesmen! But, speaking more seriously, . . '. . he was very good-humoured and condescending, and we all behaved well .... dear mam- ma, very well after the flutter, which you know so rare a scene would occasion .... Bessy was all in alt William Henry very contemplative Fanny much smitten William Surtees very arguefying with his royal highness on politics. On Monday he breakfasted walked about fell in love with mamma's quarry,* and then moved off, we walking with him to the bottom of Kingston Hill, where Fanny got an embrace, and we have had some difficulty to get her to allow her face to be washed since, lest she should lose the impression. The duke seemed, on his part, pleased with his visit. .... I am myself wonderfully better. If they don't drag me to town, I shall still be strong enough to do some good or some mischief. . . . " Believe me to be affectionately yours, " ELDOX." It may probably have been in or about this year, that Lord Eldon had that whimsical encounter with a couple of strangers at Encombe, which several of his friends will remember him to have been in the habit of narrating with some glee. Taking a walk by himself, and seeing two persons on his land with dogs and guns, he accosted them with a gentle intimation that they were transgressing the law and trespassing upon Lord Eldon's property. "Oh, no," said one of them, "we are not trespassing; we are only following some birds that we put up on another gentleman's land. If you go home and ask your master, he knows the law better than to tell you that what we are doing is contrary to it." " Indeed, gentlemen," replied Lord Eldon, " that will hardly be his opinion for he is the person w T ho now ad- dresses you. However, as you do not seem to like my law, you shall pursue your amusement for to-day, without any further interrup- tion from me." Sir William Wynne having determined to retire from the offices of Dean of the Arches and Judge of the Prerogative Court, Sir William * The quarry whence the fine view is seen at the entrance of the valley of En- combe. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 309 Scott, then Judge of the Admiralty, to whom these situations were offered, had some difficulty in deciding whether he should accept or reject them. The acceptance would remove him from the Admiralty Court, which, as being better both in its profits and in the importance of its business, he was desirous to keep; but then the deanery of the Arches was of higher professional rank, and Sir William Scott felt some apprehension lest he should be deemed to degrade, if he allowed a junior to overstep him. In this perplexity he consulted Lord Eldon, whose opinion was given in the following letter : (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) (No date ; written about the end of 1808.) "After tumbling the matter over and over in my head, I can make little more of it, than to consider it as that sort of matter in which you must, in a great measure, en- tirely I think, decide for yourself. The considerations you state, as to accepting and holding both offices, appear to me to be weighty and just. It does not occur to me that the circumstance of your retaining your present office (in the discharge of the duties of which you have so much distinguished yourself, and from the nature of the duties of which you must continue so much more before the country and the world, than you would do in Sir W. Wynne's present offices) could affect any thing in prospect, upon the mere ground that in rank at the Commons you would not stand first. Your present office ranks you infinitely foremost as a public man; and nobody can succeed Sir W. Wynne, who in this view of the subject could state, for years to come, preten- sions equal to his. As to the matter of feeling, that you will judge of yourself. I felt nothing when I was Chief Justice of C. P. on the ground that the master of the rolls had precedence of me; and I rather think I could have had my choice between the offices. I suspect that Nicholl will not take these offices of Sir William Wynne's. But this is mere guess-work. I can't think that the retaining your present situation, merely because a junior will have professional rank beyond the judge of the admi- ralty, can affect any other object. It is in that character you have so strong a claim upon the country, and that claim admits of daily manifestation by a judge of the admiralty in these times, in a degree and with a lustre, which cannot, in the nature of things, belong to the pretensions in these times of the Dean of the Arches and Judge of the Prerogative." Sir William took his brother's counsel ; and Sir W. Wynne, who resigned on the 20th of the following January, was succeeded in both offices by Sir John Nicholl. 310 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXVII. 1809. Colonel Wardle's charges against the Duke of York : letter from the first Lord Mel- ville. Lord Byron's introduction into the House of Lords. Lord Erskine's hill against cruelty to animals : anecdote of him. Scotch judicature : story told by Lord Eldon. Letter from Lord Castlereagh. PARLIAMENT was opened by commission on the 19th of January, 1809, the king's speech being read by the chancellor. In the course of the session, there were several party discussions in which he was a prominent partaker ; but the interest of them has long since passed away. The attention of the House of Commons, during the greater part of the months of February and March, was engrossed by an inquiry into a charge, advanced by Colonel Wardle, a member of that House, against the Duke of York as commander-in-chief of the forces, and intended to implicate his royal highness in certain corrupt practices of a Mrs. Clarke, his mistress, who had been in the habit of taking bribes from officers to procure their advancement in the army. In this investigation the chancellor, who was sincerely attached to his royal highness, took an anxious, though, of course, not a public interest. The subject occupied a good deal of the attention of minis- ters and of their immediate friends ; and Lord Eldon was the channel of some useful suggestions from his former colleague, Lord Melville, with respect to the course to be taken by the defenders of the royal duke. It appears that Mr. Perceval, in adopting the substance, had yet deviated from the form of Lord Melville's recommendations ; and Lord Melville questions the expediency of this departure in a letter, which remarkably exhibits the skill of that experienced politician, and furnishes some valuable hints upon parliamentary tactics and constitutional principles. " Wimbledon, March llth, 1809. " My dear Lord, " I observe by the newspapers the line taken by Mr. Perceval in the House of Com- mons, in the business of the Duke of York. You seem to have adopted the sub- stance, but have varied the form, of the suggestions I offered to your consideration about a fortnight ago. I am well aware how incompetent any person must be to criticise upon the result of deliberations to which he was no party, and it is without any affected diffidence I state, under such circumstances, the doubts I entertain how far you have improved my suggestion by varying the form of it. If the whole pro- position had been contained in an address, it would have simplified the business much, and limited the mode of discussion. After Mr. Wardle had moved his ad- dress, Mr. Perceval would then have moved an amendment, by leaving out the whole of Mr. Wardle's motion after the words 'that an humble address,' and substituting-his own in the place of it. By this means the debate must in the first place have turned on the comparative merits of the two addresses; and if Mr. Perceval's had been CHANCELLOR ELDON. 311 carried, any attempts to make any amendments upon it, or to have proposed any totally new resolutions, would have been combated with much advantage. But by separating his resolutions from his address, the door is left open to new resolu- tions and amendments without end ; and in the mean time the members of the House, being left so perfectly loose, have the opportunity of forming themselves into cabals, and thereby compromising and concerting their different resolutions. I feel it the more idle to offer these observations to you now, not only because I am ignorant of the reasons which induced you to adopt the line you have done, but because, even if you think me right in my criticism, it is probably too late to act upon it. "In all the various propositions afloat for conveying an opinion to the king for re- moving the Duke of York from the command of the army, I own myself completely bewildered. The Duke of York is in possession of various military commissions from the king, but I don't know any one in particular to which the patronage of the army is attached, which is the only object the House of Commons, after all their investigations, can pretend to have in their contemplation. They will not avow an intention to address the king to take from the Duke of York any military commis- sion which he holds, and that without a court martial or any other constitutional mode, by which the lowest officer, bearing a commission in the army, is removed. But if they were even to mean to take from the duke every commission he holds, they would have done nothing to their object, if they mean that the king was never to be guided by the opinion or wishes of the Duke of York in the disposal of any military commission. By the constitution, the king is commander of his own army, and may, without consulting any body, or consulting whom he pleases, (his valet de chambre if he pleasesj dispose of any military commissions or promotions, as suits his inclination or judgment. If there is any body constitutionally responsible for any military commission that is granted, it can only be the secretary of state, who coun- tersigns the commission. Perhaps you may be able to clear up my doubts and diffi- culties on this subject. I confess myself unable to find a clue to unravel them. With a view to any practical purposes, perhaps it may be as well at present to leave them as they stand, and to allow these various motion-makers to find them out after it is too late. If the question was to be agitated in the House of Lords, I don't think it would be a difficult matter to argue, that these various propositions went a considerable length to encroach on the king's acknowledged prerogative with regard to the com- mand of the military force of the kingdom. I am to be in town to-morrow forenoon. I promised, if the Duke of York was in town, to call upon him between one and two. If I knew where you would be between three and five, I would take the opportunity of seeing you, and making myself more intelligible in case you do not fully under- stand the drift of my observations. "I remain, my dear lord, " Yours truly, " MELVILLE." On the 17th of March, the House of Commons came to a resolu- tion, which was carried by a majority of 278 against 196, that the imputation on his royal highness, of corruption, or even of connivance, was wholly without foundation : and the duke, upon this complete acquittal, voluntarily resigned his office. (LordEldm to the Hon. Miss Scott.} (Extract) (Not dated; but written Sunday, March 19th, 1809.) "We met yesterday (I write this on Sunday) to consider what was advisable in all circumstances: and whilst we wise heads were sitting together, a messenger arrived from Windsor with one of the most atTecting letters from the king to his servants, inclosing another of the most affecting letters of the Duke of York to his father, that I ever read, the former* offering the duke's resignation, the latter* accepting it. He has, therefore, voluntarily, and without any advice, upon his own judgment, resigned. People, in general, as far as I have seen any body, seem affected and softened in conse- quence of this step; but whether the bloodhounds of St. Stephen's, on Bragge Bathurst's motion to-morrow, will or will not continue to hunt him down in his retirement,! cannot say; but I have seen so much of injustice, that I shall not he surprised to see a good deal of hard-heartedness; and the duke's measure having disappointed some political * Sic in orig. 312 LIFE OF LORD manoeuvres, the vengeance of politicians may still follow him, when men with hearts would forgive and relent. " It is not possible to represent to you how handsomely and in how dignified a way, both the king and the duke have expressed themselves to the king's servants on this distressing occasion. * * * * # " Ever affectionately yours, " EI.DON." The duke's resignation being stated next day to the House of Commons, the motion of Mr. Bathurst, which conveyed a general censure on the duke, was negatived without a division. And, in 1811, the duke resumed his office with a popularity far more general than the temporary odium to which he had yielded. When a member of the House of Lords takes his seat there, the formal usage is for the lord chancellor, as it is for the Speaker of the Commons on the like occasion, to shake hands with the new comer. Lord Byron, who made his first entrance into the House of Lords on the 13th of March, 1809, was rather peculiarly circumstanced. He was disinclined to Tory politics ; the Whig party had affronted him, through their great literary and political organ, the " Edinburgh Re- view," by a contemptuous criticism on his early poems called "Hours of Idleness:" and his retaliatory satire, entitled "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," was on the eve of publication. " There was not a single member of the senate to which he belonged," says Mr. Dallas, in his "Recollections," "to whom he could or would apply to introduce him in. a manner becoming his birth." "I accompanied Lord Byron to the House. He was received in one of the ante-chambers by some of the officers in attendance." " One of them went to apprize the lord chancellor of his being there, and soon returned to him. There were very few persons in the House. Lord Eldon was going through some ordinary business. When Lord Byron entered, I thought he looked still paler than before, and he certainly wore a countenance in which mortification was mingled with, but subdued by, indignation. He passed the woolsack without looking round, and advanced to the table, where the proper officer was attending to administer the oaths. When he had gone through them, the chancellor quitted his seat and went towards him with a smile, putting out his hand warmly to welcome him; and, though I did not catch his words, I saw that he paid him some compliment. This was all thrown away upon Lord Byron, who made a stiff bow, and put the tips of his fingers into a hand, the amiable offer of which demanded the whole of his. I was sorry to see this, for Lord Eldon's character is great for virtue as well as talent." " The chancellor did not press a welcome so received, but resumed his seat, while Lord Byron carelessly seated himself for a few minutes on one of the empty benches to the left of the throne, usually occupied by the lords in opposition. When, on his joining me, I expressed what I had felt, he said, ' If I had shaken hands heartily, he would have set me down for one of his party; but I will have nothing to do with any of them on either side. I have taken my seat, and now I will go abroad." Pp. 51 to 54. This was an unnecessary and rather captious reserve : and what followed, as given in Mr. Moore's "Life of Lord Byron"* on Lord Byron's own authority, had more flippancy than wit. The admirable writer of that biography says : "I am enabled to add, from his own report in one of his note books, the particulars of the short conversation which he held with the lord chancellor on the occasion. ' When I came of age, some delays on account of some birth and marriage certifi- cates from Cornwall, occasioned me not to take my seat for several weeks. When these were over, and I had taken the oaths, the chancellor apologized to me for the * Chap. VIII. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 313 delay, observing that these forms were a part of his duty. I begged him to make no apology, and added, as he certainly had shown no violent hurry, 'Your lordship was exactly like Tom Thumb (which was then being acted), 'You did your duty, and you did no more.'" Lord Erskine, \vhoe kindly nature could not brook any wanton infliction of pain, whether on his fellow-creatures or on the inferior race, moved, on the 15th of May, the second reading of a bill intro- duced by himself for the prevention of cruelty to animals. The chancellor expressed his concurrence in its principle, and promised that, in committee, he would do his best to give it practical effect. The bill did not proceed ; and another, which Lord Erskine intro- duced in the following year, was equally unsuccessful. He continued, however, to take a strong interest in the subject, and sometimes was only restrained from personal interference with brutal fellows who ill-treated their cattle in the streets, b^ the probability that his media- tion would be revenged in an aggravation of inhumanity to the objects of his care. On one occasion, however, in the neighbourhood of his own residence on Hampstead Heath, where a ruffianly driver was pummeling a miserable bareboned pack-horse, Lord Erskine's sym- pathy so far overcame his discretion, as to provoke him to a smart remonstrance. "Why," said the fellow, "it's my own; mayn't I use it as I please?" And as he spoke he discharged a fresh shower of blows on the raw back of his beast. Lord Erskine, excessively irritated at this new movement, laid his walking-stick with two or three sharp strokes over the shoulders of the cowardly offender, who crouching and grumbling, asked him what business he had to touch him with his stick? "Why," replied Lord Erskine, to whom the opportunity of a joke was irresistible, "it's my own; mayn't I use it as I please ?" The administration of justice in Scotland had for some time occu- pied the attention of the Peers, and particularly of the lord chancellor and Lord Grenville, the latter of whom, on the 6th of June, after the third reading of the Scotch judicature bill, moved the first reading of a separate measure for the relief of suitors in the Court of Session. The lord chancellor consented to the first reading; but, referring to the difficulty of change among a people so inveterate in their habits, expressed his belief that the in- troduction into Scotland of trial by jury, in civil cases, would not answer the expec- tation of those who promoted it. Two very learned persons in the north had lately been discussing its expediency. The first disapproved it, and asked the second by what machinery he would introduce such a change 1 ! "Why," answered the latter, "what can be more easy! You have only to pass an act of Parliament for its introduction." "My friend," replied the first, in a broad Caledonian accent, "an act of Parliament might be passed to make us two speak English; but I suspect we should be very apt to go on speaking Scotch notwithstanding!" Parliament was prorogued on the 21st of June, after a royal speech delivered by the lord chancellor ; who, when he had finished his sittings in Lincoln's Inn, repaired as usual to Encombe. (Lord Casllereagh to Lord Eldun.) " Stanmore, August 23d, 1809. "My dear Lord, " 1 have been unwilling to trouble you with any business since you left town ; in- 314 LIFE OF LORD deed, I have had nothing of importance to submit to you, to justify me in breaking in upon the repose you so much required, and have so well earned; but as I think a little military gossip may not be unacceptable with reference to late events, and at all events cannot spoil your morning's ramble by the sea-side, I am induced to send you some private letters from my brother, which may amuse an idle hour, if such a period is ever known in the life of a lord chancellor. "The king has been very gracious to his army in Spain and its commander he raises Wellesley to the peerage, with the title of Viscount Wellington, and gives the red ribbon to Sherbrooke. "You may imagine I am not a little anxious to learn the result of this severe strug- gle on the general state of the campaign. I can give you no assistance in speculating upon our farther efforts in the Scheldt. As far as diversion is an object, (which, connected with the state of affairs in Austria, it certainly may be one of the utmost moment), it is likely to answer, for we find they are assembling troops from all quar- ters to oppose us bringing them even from the fortresses in the remotest parts of Prussia, which for this object they are content to evacuate and to restore. An effort so serious may disappoint our ultimate hopes. We shall, I hope, however, have done something for ourselves, if we can contrive to hold the island of Walcheren, and much for the continent, if the struggle is not over there. The mode in which the island and fortress of Flushing have been taken is also creditable to our arms. My companion, Lady C., desires to be remembered to your lordship ; and as you would not come to see her here, as a punishment, she desires me to put your lordship in mind of Lady Buckinghamshire's friend, Mr. Flavell, to whom you were so good as to hold out ex- pectation of some small church preferment. Seriously, if you can gratify my mother- in-law, who is always very kind to me, it will gratify me more than I can express. " Believe me, my dear lord, " Most sincerely and faithfully yours, " CASTLEHEAKII." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 315 CHAPTER XXVIII. 1809. Declining health of the Duke of Portland, then first minister: letter from Mr. Perceval to Lord Eldon. Mr. Canning's requisition for the withdrawal of the war-depart- ment from Lord Castlereagh : letters from the Duke of Portland to Lord Eldon. Duel between Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Canning; disruption of the cabinet; the chancellor's letters to Lady Eldon and Sir William Scott during the progress of the attempts to reconstruct the ministry: claims of Mr. Canning to the premiership. Death of Sir William Scott's lady. Letters from the chancellor to Lady Eldon and Sir William Scott, relating the subsequent attempts at a ministerial settlement. Death of the Duke of Portland. Ultimate composition of Mr. Perceval's govern- ment. THE bodily strength of the Duke of Portland was now visibly declin- ing: and his colleagues, as well as their royal master, were aware of the decay, and anxious about its probable effects on the composition of the government, whereof the duke was the ostensible head. Mr. Perceval, in August, wrote thus to the chancellor, who had left town for the summer vacation : "Downing Street, Wednesday, August 16th, 1809. "My dear Lord, "I conclude that nothing very important passed in your conversation at Windsor, on the subject on which we had conferred before you left town, or I should have heard from you upon the road. But as I had nothing particular which called me into the closet to-day, I thought it would appear as if I put myself rather intrusively in the way of his majesty if I went into him, and therefore I did not. I was the more induced to this, because I found, from Lord Liverpool and Lord Camden, that the king spoke to them both of the situation of the Duke of Portland; that he expressed himself as thinking that he could not remain long where he is; and that therefore it was necessary that we should be looking about us. Lord Liverpool told me, that the king rather expected that upon the duke's return to town he might renew his offer to retire, and that though there were great difficulties in the way of any arrangement, yet that it might possibly diminish the difficulties of the other subject.* I could not iforbear thinking, from the suggestion, that he had been talking to you upon the sub- ject I congratulate you upon Wellesley's victory. There is nothing yet from Wal- cheren that is satisfactory. " Yours very truly, " SPENCER PERCEVAL. "I have seen both Lord Titchfield and Lord William Bentinck to-day. They repre- sent the duke as quite recovered from his last attack; but he continues as unwell as he was before." In addition to the ministerial difficulties threatened by the Duke of Portland's failing health, there had sprung up a new and still more disquieting perplexity. In the beginning of April, Mr. Canning, then secretary for foreign affairs, had addressed to the Duke of Portland, as first minister of the crown, a requisition that Lord Castlereagh's * Mr. Canning's requisition respecting Lord Castlereagh : see the following pages. 316 LIFE OF LORD official position should be varied by some arrangement, which, with- out necessarily removing him from the situation of secretary of state, still less from cabinet office, would have the effect of withdrawing from him the conduct of the war- department. Mr. Canning accom- panied his suggestions with an announcement, that in the alternative of their rejection, he must himself resign. The duke's answer was a request, that Mr. Canning would suspend his resolution until there should have been an opportunity for consulting some other members of the government. Before the end of the same month, the duke en- tered into the subject very fully with Earl Camden, a near connection and intimate friend of Lord Castlereagh; and Earl Camden, w r ho was then president of the council, acceded to the propriety of a change in Lord Castlereagh' s official duties, " provided it could be effected honourably for, and reconciled to the feelings of, Lord Castlereagh himself." Of this conversation with Lord Camden the duke apprised Mr. Canning, who, of course, \vas entitled to conclude that Earl Camden would, as from the duke, make the proper communication to Lord Castlereagh. Toward the close of May, the lord chancellor, who had already been apprised of these particulars by the king, but under strict injunctions of secrecy, received the following communi- cation from the first minister : (The Duke of Portland to the Lord Chancellor.} " Burlington House, Friday, May 26ih, 1809. " My dear Lord, "I send herewith, for your private eye, the communication which I stated to you, last Wednesday, to have been made to me by Canning at Easter. "I am sorry to add that I had a communication with him yesterday, in which he appeared to be more determined to persist in his determination to withdraw himself from administration than I have ever yet found him, and to announce that intention to his majesty next week. If it cannot be prevented, I see nothing but ruin to the country and to Europe, and so I told him most plainly and distinctly. "Ever, my dear lord, " Most faithfully yours, &c., " PORTLAND." On the 31st of May, Canning, apprehensive that the matter might not have been fully explained to the king, repeated to his majesty the representations he had before made to the Duke of Portland, and tendered his resignation ; upon which the royal command was laid upon him that he should retain his office until his majesty should have considered the whole subject. (The Duke of Portland to the Lord Chancellor.') "Burlington House, Wednesday, June 7th, 1809. My dear Lord, " I had a very long conversation with his majesty last Monday, by which it appeared that his majesty was fully aware of the fatal consequences of Canning's persisting in his intention of quitting his majesty's service, and that his majesty had occupied himself in considering difierent means of preventing it and reconciling Canning to his situation. These he opened to me at great length, and assured me that he would do so to you to-day. My principal object, therefore, in sending you this note is, to beg that nothing may prevent your attending his majesty early, and giving him time to open his ideas upon the subject to you. I told Canning yesterday that I had seen the king, and acquainted him with the outline of his majesty's ideas: upon which he abstained from making any observation, but could not but feel highly flattered by his CHANCELLOR ELDON. 317 majesty's attention, and the opinion which his majesty had expressed of him in all respects. The great object, and, indeed, the sine qua non with Canning, is to take from Lord Castlereagh the conduct of the war; and, perhaps, Canning may go so far as to wish that he may not keep the seals, but have some other cabinet office. But if Lord Castlereagh gives up the war-department, I think Canning would be satisfied, for the present at least. But I wish you to impress upon his majesty, that if this storm is laid, it must be his act: it must be his authority alone that can keep every thing quiet: and let me beg you to implore him to dispose of my situation in any way that can best promote his service, and assure him that, whether in or out of office, (for at my time of life, and with my infirmities and capacities, it cannot become me, if I quit my present, to take any other office,) I never shall or can have any other object but the advancement of his glory and his happiness. "Ever, my dear lord, "Most faithfully yours, &c., " PORTLAND." These letters show the high value which not only the first minister, but the sovereign himself, had the discernment to set upon Mr. Can- ning, at a period when the public in general had not yet paid their tardy tribute of admiration to his great qualities. From time to time during May and the following month, the Duke of Portland had been in communication with Mr. Canning on this subject; yet it icas not until the latter part of June that Mr. Canning was allowed to learn, or even suspect, that a matter which so nearly concerned Lord Castlereagh had all along been withheld from Mm by Lord Camden. Lord Camden afterwards pleaded that he had been " absolutely restricted" from making the communication to Lord Cas- tlereagh : and, in fact, though without Mr. Canning's knowledge, such a restriction had been laid upon Lord Camden by the Duke of Port- land until (but not after) the 28th of June. On the 21st of June, the day of the prorogation, the Duke of Port- land acquainted Mr. Canning, that a new distribution of the business of the war-department was to take effect, according to an arrangement proposed by the duke himself, and that his majesty had desired that Lord Camden would communicate this decision to Lord Castlereagh. Finding, on the 27th, that there had been no such communication, Mr. Canning wrote a strong remonstrance to the duke against the concealment and delay : and, on the 28th, again tendered his resig- nation to the king ; but, on the same evening, the duke signified to Mr. Canning the king's pleasure that Lord Camden should communi- cate the intended arrangement to Lord Castlereagh, and that the communication should be made as soon as the expedition to the Scheldt should have sailed, of which Lord Castlereagh had the management, and which was expected to depart in less than a fortnight. Before that time had elapsed, the duke apprised Mr. Canning, that if, as was hoped, Lord Camden should make a vacancy in the government by resigning his office, Lord Wellesley was intended to be Lord Castle- reagh's successor: and the fortnight having expired, Mr. Canning repeated his urgent desire that the communication might be made and the arrangement completed forthwith, or that his own resignation might be accepted. The duke represented that this would dissolve the mmistry : and pressed Mr. Canning, as others of Lord Castle- reagh'' s friends in the cabinet continued to do, from the 13th to the 318 LIFE OF LORD 20th of July, that the new arrangement of official duties might stand over till the termination of the expedition, adding, that if this interval were given to the friends of Lord Castlereagh, to prepare him for, and reconcile him to the change, every public object might be an- swered without injury to individual feeling. To these arguments Mr. Canning yielded, not, as his enemies imputed, with a view to prolong a disparaging reserve toward his colleague, during the period which must intervene before the result of the expedition could be known and which eventually extended to somewhat more than six weeks, but with the expectation founded on the assurance of Lord Castlereagh's friends, that, " in the interval, and without loss of time," they would open the subject to him in such a manner as would be likely to settle it amicably and with due consideration for the public service. The result of the expedition was known on the 2d of Sep- tember; and on the 3d, Mr. Canning wrote to the duke, then at Bulstrode, to remind him that the fixed period was come. To Mr. Canning's surprise, the duke informed him on the 6th, that no steps had been taken toward a new arrangement; that there were other difficulties, of which Mr. Canning had not been before apprised ; and that the duke himself had resolved to retire. Mr. Canning instantly requested that his own resignation might be laid before the king, and desisted from any further attendance in cabinet, although he continued to execute the departmental duties of his office until arrangements could be made for filling it up. The foregoing dates and facts, which are necessary to a full under- standing of the succeeding letters from the chancellor to Lady Eldon and Sir William Scott, are extracted from the published correspond- ence ; which will be found in the Annual Register for 1809.* The resignations were of course succeeded by that disclosure which Lord Castlereagh's friends had so unwarrantably postponed. Lord Castlereagh, on the 8th, craved his majesty's permission to retire from the ministry; and on the 19th, having meanwhile informed himself of the details of Mr. Canning's conduct in this affair, he addressed a letter to him demanding personal amends. A meeting took place between them early in the morning of the 21st on Wimbledon Common, where a ball from Lord Castlereagh's pistol disabled his adversary, by a wound in the thigh. Lord Castlereagh, in his letter of challenge, took several points: that Mr. Canning, after receiving a promise that the war-department should be withdrawn from Lord Castlereagh, had continued with apparent confidence to act as his colleague, and had allowed him, when thus virtually superseded, to originate the Walcheren enterprise ; that Mr. Canning knew Lord Castlereagh was deceived, nay, more, had himself felt and stated the unfairness of such a deception, and yet had acquiesced in it ; and that the concurrence of Lord Castle- reagh's own friends in the endeavour to continue the concealment, was no excuse to Mr. Canning for having left Lord Castiereagh in a * Appendix to Chronicle, pp. 562. 574. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 319 situation so derogatory to his honour, as that of a minister retaining office under a virtual supersession. In all this the high feelings of Lord Castlereagh may, perhaps, have a little outrun his usual habits of forbearance and dispassionate reasoning. The cotemporary press, however, seconded his view of the subject, and threw an unmerited odium of bad faith on Mr. Canning. But at this distance of time, when the prejudices and partialities which then obscured the subject have passed away, its real merits may be found to be pretty nearly these : In the first place, with respect to what Lord Castlereagh says of the dishonour thrown upon himself, it is difficult to conceive how his continuance in office could possibly discredit him, so long as he was kept in ignorance of this virtual supersession. Then he treats the concealment itself as an affront from Mr. Canning: but until the 21st of June it is plain that Mr. Canning could have no suspicion of the reserve that had been practised toward Lord Castlereagh. After the Duke of Portland's report of the conversation in April with Lord Castlereagh's near friend Lord Camden, and of Lord Camden's stipu- lation that the change should be reconciled to Lord Castlereagh's feelings, Mr. Canning could never imagine that all parties had resolved to leave Lord Castlereagh wholly in the dark : and Lord Camden himself seems to have thought it must have been so obviously expected of him, under such circumstances, to communicate with Lord Castlereagh, that he found it necessary to publish a statement in the newspapers, pleading as an apology for himself, that he had been " absolutely restricted" from imparting the matter to him. However Lord Castlereagh may have been kept in ignorance, the facts show him to have been mistaken in his allegation that Mr. Canning knew him to have been thus hoodwinked. Mr. Canning, as soon as he knew of the concealment, which he did not until the latter part of June, re- monstrated strongly against it, accompanying that remonstrance with an actual tender of resignation ; but then came the Duke of Portland's assurance, that Lord Camden had received the king's commands to break the matter to Lord Castlereagh when the expedition should have sailed, which it was expected to do in a few days from that time ; and it was only when those few days had expired without the requisite explanation, that Mr. Canning became properly entitled to insist on a disclosure. Thus, what Lord Castlereagh denominates acquiescence, cannot justly be said to have begun until after the sailing of the expedition in the middle of July. But did it then follow that, in the middle of that July, at all hazards both to the public service and to the personal feelings of Lord Castlereagh, whose character was then staked upon the expedition, Mr. Canning, after so long a delay, attributable solely to others, should now insist on an abrupt and instant disclosure to his colleague, when that colleague's own friends were anxiously pressing for a little farther respite, and engaging that they would employ the interval in endeavouring to adjust the whole matter on satisfactory and amicable terms? Mr. Canning could have nothing to gain by the delay, except the advan- tage of doing the duty he had undertaken in the manner least painful -320 LIFE OF LORD to his colleague. The facts fairly considered, seem to prove only a want of due decision on the part of the Duke of Portland. His grace, as the head of the administration, was the party with whom the duty of immediate and direct arrangement most naturally rested ; but his health was declining, his spirits were unequal to the emergency, and his nervous apprehension of public inconvenience induced him to pursue, and to make a point that others should pursue, the very course by which that inconvenience was surest to be brought on. Lord Eldon, in a letter of the 4th of October, hereafter inserted, very candidly takes blame to himself for his part in the suppression. He had a strong dislike of Mr. Canning, whose movements throughout this matter he will presently be found opposing and severely denounc- ing, in reference to questions of public duty ; but he disdained to slur his antagonist with the undeserved imputation of private treach- ery ; he chose rather to accuse himself, small as his share in the blame had been, than to warp his own sense of personal justice and truth by lending his countenance to a convenient calumny. Still more important is the testimony of the Duke of Portland, through whom the whole negotiation had passed. He assured Mr. Canning,* " that he should be at all times ready to avow that the concealment had originated with himself, that he had enjoined it to all those with whom he had communicated, from motives which he was at all times ready to justify, and that he was desirous of taking whatever blame might have been, or might at any time be incurred by it upon himself." Mr. Canning's resignation on the 6th of September, followed on the 8th by that of Lord Castlereagh, had thrown the cabinet into the utmost confusion. The chancellor w r ho had left London for his vaca- tion, was summoned from his retreat at Encombe to give his advice and assistance to the king ; and the passing details of the attempt to reconstruct the ministry were communicated by him to his lady, in daily letters from London to the number of twenty. These, and eight others, two of which have been quoted in Chap. XXVI., are the only letters extant from Lord to Lady Eldon. The twenty, of September, 1809, have escaped destruction but by the accident of their having been placed in a bureau, of which the key was afterwards lost. They not only exhibit his exceeding affection for his wife, but prove his respect for her understanding and his confidence in her discretion. The following extracts from them comprehend every thing which now retains any public interest. (Lord Eldon to Ms Lady.} (Extract.) (Not dated ; but written Monday, Sept. llih.) "My dearest Bessy, " We are here in a most singular state. "As soon as the account came that the expedition could not be pursued, Canning renewedf his insistings that Lord Castlereagh should deliver up his situation to Lord Wellesley. The latter* magnanimously, hut I think most foolishly, said, he considered C g' s services in the House of Commons of so much consequence that he would * See "Annual Register" for 1809, Appendix to Chronicle, pp. 586, 587. f By his letter to the Duke of Portland, Sept. 3. * Sic in orig. : Lord Castlereagh is obviously meant. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 301 asi ts s a eiter sa return to you without the seals in my hand, wh ich think very probable.-or , it that is not so, that before Christmas they will not be in those hands SS. We? Si r f 6 ' r , Sh0rtly ' th r se 'T Wi " com """,in which wS"av ssing, fear no interruption of our happiness by any future even temnorarv separation between us. Thu I write all to yourself 7 In a letter to Lady Elclon, not dated, but franked September 13th, he speaks with some spleen of the two out-going ministers, Mr. Can- ning and the Duke of Portland, who had been the cause of the dis- turbance. VOL. I. 21 322 LIFE OF LORD "I think the individual who has occasioned all this mischief is vanity in a human form. Nothing will serve him but being what he will never be permitted to be; and I believe now, such is the imbecility of man, that the old D., who had resigned, is try- ing, in vain, to get back again." Increased as the chancellor's habitual disinclination to Mr. Can- ning had been by the feeling, that the break-up of the cabinet was the consequence of his movements, it was not unnatural that these adverse sentiments should be still further aggravated by the particu- lar suspicion (imparted to Lady Eldon in the letter of the llth of September), that Mr. Canning had been the author of the suggestion for taking the great seal out of his hands. In sitting down to corre- spond with his lady he would of course have all these annoyances pressing on his mind, with the yet additional irritation, that Mr. Canning was the cause of his being, at that very moment, withdrawn from her society and from his needful recreation at Encombe : and, under these combined vexations, it will scarce be wondered at that the motives of his colleague were harshly characterized in these let- ters. Those who are old enough to remember that time will very well recollect how generally this angry tone was taken by the high Tories, who treated it as an absolute offence " that Mr. Canning should be setting up for himself." But however disagreeable it is to most men, to find the strength which they have long commanded, out-growing their control and vindicating its own independence, they have surely no right to treat such a claim as an injury. The Tory party had been quite as much indebted to Mr. Canning as Mr. Can- ning to them : and throughout these proceedings, while he asserted himself, he committed no injustice to others. He sought the removal of Lord Castlereagh from the war-department, not that he might him- self succeed to it, but that it might be committed to Lord Welles- ley, whom he deemed, on public grounds, the fittest person to con- duct it. "When the Duke of Portland's resignation and his own had been announced, and a negotiation was begun for constructing afresh cabinet, he was legitimately entitled to take his stand, and to decline a renewal of his aid except upon the reasonable condition that he should thenceforth hold a station of which the power should be com- mensurate with the responsibility. Then suppose him (which seems probable enough, though there is no other evidence of it than general presumption), to have been really the originator of that which was of course, to the chancellor, the great annoyance of all, the suggestion for placing the great seal in other hands, yet there was nothing repre- hensible in the demand of one public "man for the exclusion of another from a particular office in a new administration, unless they had been on some terms of friendship or personal co-operation. And although there is probably no man, who, looking back upon that great chan- cellorship of a quarter of a century, would be of opinion, at this day, that Lord Eldon could, with eventual advantage to the public, have been removed from the great seal to make way for Mr. Perceval, yet, in 1809, when these discussions were going on, Lord Eldon's reputation in the Court of Chancery was but of a few years' growth : CHANCELLOR ELDON. 323 and Mr. Canning, who would naturally estimate a chancellor rather by a political than by a judicial standard, may very well be pardoned if a political prejudice, certainly mutual, misled him to underrate Lord Eldon, as Lord Eldon underrated him. (Lord Eldon to his Lady.") (Extract.) "Thursday, (Sept. 14th.) "My ever dear Life, "One after another, all of us saw the king yesterday: he is more to be pitied than any man in his dominions: and one ambitious man is the cause of all he now suffers. Mr. C. thinks proper that his determination not to act under a third person, or to do any thing else but be himself minister, should remain unshaken; and his resignation (is) certain. I am just going to a meeting of such of us as have hearts feeling for the king, to see what can possibly be done, as all attempts to bring matters to rights again have finally failed. I cannot, for one, see a ray of hope that any thing can be arranged, which can have any endurance, if, indeed, any arrangement whatever can be made; and yet the poor K., in language that makes one's heart bleed for him, urges that we should not run away from him. My head and heart are perplexed and grieved for my old master's sake; upon my own account I do not care a fig about it. "Friday morning (Sept. 13th.) "After a great many hours spent in consultations yesterday, to be succeeded by more to-day, among those in whom the king thinks he can still have confidence, we have formed, or shall form opinions, which are to be offered to his consideration, and which he will adopt or reject, as he thinks fit. I still think that it cannot end in my remaining in office. I use the expression, in whom the king thinks he can have confidence, because I am sure there is scarce a man living, of whom he can say that he knows he may have confidence in him. I wish to God the thing was settled one way or the other! If I knew that I was to go out, I would come to you instantly, and stay over Christmas ; if I knew I was to stay in I could then know when and how I was to see you. Some of the plans proposed are what I do most greatly abhor, and I think they won't succeed. I have offered my office to the king, and told him, for I write constantly when I don't see him, my likings and dislikings. 'For God's sake,' he says, 'don't you run away from me: don't reduce me to the state in which you formerly left me. You are my sheet anchor!' I fear the effects of his agitation and agony and I do pray God to protect him in this his hour of distress. ** " May God's best and kindest providence watch over her who has the whole heart of her (Lord Eldon to his Lady.} (Extract.) (Not dated ; but written on Monday, Sept. 18ih.) "I proceed to tell you, with much feeling, that the train of settlement we seem to have got into is all undone. Shocked as I am to say it, George Rose has declared his attachment to Canning, Huskisson has done the same, Charles Long won't abide by us, Sturges Bourne has declared for Canning. As these are the four men of business, it appeared to us last night that, without junction, the king must be sacri- ficed; with it, I do not know how he is to be saved in any degree of comfort. We are to take the resolution as to what is to be communicated to him at a meeting to- day at one o'clock. I cannot help thinking but that it must, that it necessarily must, lead to my being restored to a life of privacy." On the 4th of this month of September, 1809, the family of Sir William Scott had been visited by the unexpected calamity of his lady's death, which happened while Sir William was on a tour in Scotland. On this occasion, Lord Eldon, from amidst the sea of troubles in which he was struggling, wrote thus to Sir William's daughter, Mrs. Townsend, afterwards Lady Sidmouth : 324 LIFE OF LORD (Extract.) "I learnt this morning where you are, and I take the first moment I can so employ, for the purpose of assuring you, in this hourof affliction, of my warm regard and affec- tion for you. I know, my dear Marianne, this is offering but little; but sad and pain- ful experience has taught me that, in the hours of affliction, nothing better can be offered, in aid of the relief which submission and resignation to the will of Heaven may afford, than the sympathy of others and their assurances that they grieve with those who grieve. In one word, my dear, may God bless you and yours ! ******* "My poor brother! I learn by a letter from him, received by me yesterday, that he was on Thursday last, at the Duke of Atholl's, meaning to go to Lord Melville's, altogether ignorant of this calamity. I shall feel it to be my duty to attend on Saturday with those who are there to join in the last sad offices of respect to the departed. "I trust you have heard from Bessy, from Encombe, that they cordially condole with you. "Believe me to be, my dear niece, " Yours ever affectionately, " Should you see my brother before I see him, offer him my heart's best affections. "Tuesday, Bedford Square" (Sept. 12ih, 1809). When Sir William Scott returned to his family, after this affliction, Lord Eldon wrote to him in terms of the most affectionate condolence and consolation ; and afterwards endeavoured to divert his grief by almost daily communications of the movements that were going on for the reconstruction of the ministry. (Lard Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) (Not dated; probably written Sept. 18th, 1809.) "Every thing is as uncomfortable as possible. George Rose and Huskisson have made their option to follow the fate of Canning, Sturges Bourne the same. Long says things won't do, and he proposes to separate. He thinks Lord Lonsdale will. Perceval has reason to believe the Dundases (Melvillites) also will. It is clear, therefore, this administration is gone. The prevailing opinion is, that the king can retain none of us, as able to form an administration of ourselves, and must either throw himself into the hands of Grey and Grenville, mixing a few of us or without any such mixture or must try such an administration as Canning can form. " Lord Chatham is come home declines coming to cabinet. As an officer, com- ing from an expedition with his conduct not formally expressed to have been ap- proved, he cannot. In truth, considering the disturbed state of cabinet, he cannot but feel very uncomfortably as to what may be the issue of this business to himself. "I have no other news." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Not dated ; written probably Sept. 19th.) " Dear Brother, " After sitting together till one o'clock this morning, we got the length of drawing out an opinion to be offered to the king (if Mulgrave could be got out of bed) this morning. It goes to coalitions in the way I told you I thought it would. I could see nothing else that could be thought of, and was obliged to submit. If it is accepted, of course I consider myself as gone. I think it will not be accepted : the effect as to me is the same, for then every body must be turned out that is now in. "George Rose begins to be in a quandary. His wife, son and daughter are upon his back. In reasoning with Bathurst, he stated his own resignation, if it takes place, to be of little consequence. He illustrates that, as Bathurst tells us, by assurances that, though it was generally thought Mr. Pitt could not have gone on without him, yet he vows he thinks that he might! His family ring in his ears 'deserting the king.' I dare say that by some foolish talk with C. he has got into a vast scrape. "Long is off! "Adieu for to-day. No news no comfort. "Ever, dear brother, " Yours faithfully, " ElBOW." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 325 (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott,') (Not dated ; but written Sept. 20th, 1809.) " Dear Brother, "I write this merely to say, that things look like junction with the persons I men- tioned to you,* as far as proposing it tends to it. Perceval was with the king yester- day upon it. He would not give his consent: he took time to consider of it. I think he will finally consent to the proposition being made. I think the arrangement it will lead to, h will not consent to. He impatiently, and with great zeal, insisted upon my being retained, as I learn from a letter of P. to Liverpool; but all that won't do. I shall write you to-morrow what passes between him and me to-day.f " God bless you, " Yours, " ELDON." (Lord Eldon to his Lady.) (Extract.) (Not dated ; written Thursday, Sept. 21st.) "My ever loved Eliza, " After I finished my letter yesterday, I went to the levee, and I had an audience of the king for a full hour. His agitation and uneasiness were such as have left me perfectly agitated and uneasy ever since I left him, though, I thank God, I am quite well. I dare not commit to paper what passed, for fear accident should not bring that paper to the hands of my Eliza, and though I promised her a letter of particulars, the particulars that passed are really so very special in their kind, that I cannot com- municate them even to her except in conversation and would I could have that con- versation ! He would not decide what he would do, but said he should compose a paper at Windsor last night, and require from us written answers to several questions he should put in that paper, and order us to be convened to-day, to consider the ques- tions and give the answers ; and accordingly we are summoned to meet at one o'clock at Perceval's; and I think it not unlikely, from what I know, that we may sit there till one in the morning. By we I mean such of us as have not resigned or tendered our resignations." (Lord Eldon to his Lady.} (Extract.) (Not dated ; but franked, Sept. 22d, Friday.) " My ever dearest, " I had hoped when I wrote yesterday, that I should have been a great deal wiser to-day than I am. We waited at our meeting to a late hour, but no paper came from the king. I infer from this that he is in a most unhappy state of difficulty, and knows not what to do; and I greatly fear that something of the very worst sort may follow upon the agitation. If it pleases God to avert this greatest of all evils, we shall,! hope, have his paper to-day, and proceed in the consideration of it. But if he has taken. so much time to consider it, I fear I must look to those before whom it is to be laid taking some before they can make up their minds what answer they shall give to his questions and observations; and thus things train on from day to day, through a period of time which is very long, and seems longer and longer as it is protracted. This dreadful business of the duel between Castlereagh and Canning, whilst it is to be lamented on every ground, adds difficulty to difficulty, and I have no doubt will create a great deal indeed of additional uneasiness in the king's mind." (Lord Eldon to kit Lady.} (Extract.) (Not daied ; but written Saturday, Sept. 23d.) " After I wrote to you yesterday, I went to the meeting, and I there found that Per- ceval had received the king's paper, which is one of the finest compositions and the most affecting I ever saw or heard in my life. After discussing the strength which any administration could have that did not include G. and G., he acknowledges that there would be a weakness in it, which a sense of duty to his people calls upon him, by every personal sacrifice not affecting his honour and conscience, to endeavour to avoid: he therefore permits his present servants to converse with them upon a more extended administration than his present servants could themselves make, but de- clares previously and solemnly that, if any arrangement is offered to him which does * Probably the Lords Grey and Grenville. | No such letter has been found. 326 LIFE OF LORD not include such a share of his present servants as shall effectually protect him against the renewal of measures which his conscience cannot assent to, that he will go on with his present servants at all hazards, throwing himself upon his people and his God, his people, whose rights, he says, he never knowingly injured, and his God, to whose presence he is determined, whenever he is called hence, to go with a pure conscience. He predicts, however, that though he, in duty to his people, submits to this mortifying step, they (G. and G.) will not allow any effect to it; and then ad- dresses himself in the most pathetic strains to all his present servants, calling forth all their courage, their resources, and the discharge of their duty to him. Perceval and Liverpool, therefore, will talk with the two Gs.; and it will either end in a junc- tion, with a good many of the present servants left, or we shall live for about a fort- night after Parliament meets. They cannot begin their conferences till about the middle of the week; and I should suppose, if they begin conferences, they will con- clude them in the week. I shall not, however, be surprised if these gentlemen, the Gs., refuse to confer at all with Perceval and Liverpool, and I think they will refuse, especially if they have any understanding with Canning. The king has also written a most dignified paper upon the fact of two persons, yet having the seals of secreta- ries of state in their hands, fighting a duel. I doubt much whether he will permit either of them to make their formal resignations in his presence." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.} (No date; but written probably about Sept. 23d.) " Dear Brother, "The immediate occasion of the duel was not what I know how to call a direct efficient cause. " Canning's concealing from Castlereagh that he had got a promise that Castlereagh should go out after the expedition was terminated, and acting with him in the mean time as in full confidence, in matters of infinite delicacy, was the alleged cause of the demand of satisfaction. "The letter, in which it was demanded, seemed to admit that this concealment was only acquiesced in by Canning, and not observed at his instance,- but the letter con- tended that he, Canning, had no right to acquiesce in such a concealment, that it was dishonourable between colleagues, and dishonouring him, Castlereagh, as a colleague and a gentleman ; that, though several others knew and concealed, they had done so under the hope of, and struggling to prevent, by amicable means, the removal of Castlereagh; that Canning, on the other hand, though concealing it at the instance of others, was throughout all that concealment determined to insist upon (and, according to that determination, held throughout the concealment, finally did insist upon) the removal; that others concealed from mistaken regard to Castle- reagh that Canning acquiesced in concealment from other feelings; and thaf, though he had a right to say he would not serve with Castlereagh, he had no right to make Castlereagh believe he was acting cordially with him throughout the expedi- tion, and then insist upon his being dishonoured at the end of it. " I have been three times at the Duke of Portland's door, but have not seen him. I have not been able to see him since I came to town. " I have no reason to believe that Perceval wishes to make Sidmouth premier. He would, I fancy, rather join him than any other body, and in principles the junction is more natural. But, on counting noses, and allowing for the dislikes and deter- minations of many of those he is now associated with, he and Sidmouth, without them, (they) carrying away with them all Melvillites, Lonsdalites, &c. &c., would be weaker than he, P., is at this moment alone. What is precisely meant about Melville cannot well be stated at this moment. Robert Dundas, who is here, thinks junction with Gs. necessary, but how much Melvillites are to contribute he does not say. Did I mention that Long had come back to us ? Both Rose and Long have surely acted unwisely.* " Love to Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. " Yours ever affectionately, " ELDOJT." * In a letter to his lady, of 20th September, Lord Eldon had said, " has repented, and leaves Canning." George Rose CHANCELLOR ELDON. 327 (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Not dated ; wriiten probably about Sept. Oolh, 1S09.) " Dear Brother, " Your note, which I received to-day, contains sentiments very much the same as my own. Rose and Long have done great mischief. Their secession and their repre- sentations have been very mischievous. This offer, which never will be accepted, is called a signal of weakness; but in truth, after Canning's movement, weakness is so visible and so apparent as to want no pointing out. To this moment, as I hear, George Rose will have it that the administration could not have gone on (even) if Canning had remained: and such men as Lord Lonsdale, with his host of members, will try what can be done if junction is refused, but will give no assistance if it is not offered. If it takes place, there is something horribly offensive, shockingly degrading in it and feeling that most bitterly it was, that I asked you whether F was right in doing as the king might wish. For in truth, a sense of duty, even to him, will not bear me quite up in a state which I feel so disgusted at. Do you continue of opinion that that should be my line? Tierney, I hear, says they will not think of accepting; and ail the world says they will never hear of me. Would to Heaven I was out and done with it! Robert Dundas is here; he approves of the course taken. What does that mean as to Melville ? Yours, " ELDOJ? ." (Lord Eldon to his Lady.) (Extract.) (Not dated; but franked, Sept. 28th, Thursday.) "I cannot bring my mind to think any thing so proper or so good for me as to have done with office now, and to spend the rest of my days in some degree of quiet and retirement; but I am afraid, and indeed sure, that unless he is so driven to the wall as to be able to do nothing whatever that he wishes to do, he will make it a most difficult thing for me to quit his service. Yet I shall beg very hard, for in truth the labour of my office is too much for me in the time of business, and what recompense can I have for what, I speak from my present sufferings for what I undergo, in having my time of vacation ruined as this is?" The Lords Grey and Grenville, as had been anticipated by Lord Eldon, declined the proffered junction. (Lord Eldon to his Lady) (Not dated ; written on Monday, Oct. 2U.) " My ever dearest and most beloved, " I told you in a little note, on Saturday, that I was obliged to go to Windsor: I was compelled to do it, and therefore I could not help myself. I was called up in the night, so as to set off exactly at three o'clock in the morning: and I was with the king from seven till a little after eight, engaged with him in a conversation the most interesting, and affecting.and important, that I have ever had with man in my life. I shall soon.^I thank God, I shall soon be able to state the particulars of it in my dearest Elizabeth's hearing, and these particulars I really dare not commit to paper. The general result is, that we stay in, making such arrangements, without junction, as we can, standing of course till Parliament meets, and then standing or falling as that body will please to deal with us. I think we had better have resigned, but that the king would not hear of for a moment. I think going on, with a certainty of being turned out, would be better than junction: at least tome it is more acceptable; and if we are turned out, as we shall be, I shall have the satisfaction of remembering that I declined being a nego- tiator for junction, and have stood, throughout, the servant of no man or men but the kin-, and determined to abide by him and him only, to his last breath, or to my last breath, as far as I have any thing to do with politics. After I left him, the Duke of Cumberland's Encombe servant I found waiting, to tell me that the duke had jusi heard that I was there, and had got breakfast for me; and I was shown up to his apartments; and I received a great proof of his good nature and attention, as 1 thought it, and as he certainly meant it; for he had sent off for and got up William Henry from Mrs. Middleton's,* and he breakfasted with us at the castle. This was a very pleasing incident. I had very little time to stay, and after sitting awhile a shaking hands with William Henry, who is very well, I returned here upon my bi ness. Perceval will be first lord of the treasury in the room of the Duke of 1 ortland. * Eton School. 328 LIFE OF LORD That is at. present the only appointment settled. Lord Melville is behaving well ; so is Lord Sidmouth. But what is most unexpected, the prince has really conducted himself towards his father upon this occasion with exemplary propriety. The king showed me yesterday the prince's letter to him and his answer; and I'll tell you all about them when I see you. ******* "At the end of my conversation with him (the king) I asked his leave to return to Encombe. He said I should not go till after his levee on Wednesday, for he must see me there; that I might then put myself in my chaise, come to you without stopping, and stay with you to the end of the month. This was our bargain at parting; and I hope, therefore, to dine with you on Thursday. And of God I have no blessing to ask or pray for with so much of anxiety and importunity, as that nothing may interrupt this. I think nothing will or can. O that I was with you ! For ever, and ever, and ever, " Yours, your own, " ELDON." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.') (Post-mark, Oct. 4th, 1809.) " Dear Brother, "If you recollect at what vast distances men to be talked with are, you'll not be surprised that I have not filled up vacant offices in my correspondence. Melville must either be in office or be satisfied with being out of it. Now a letter to him, and an answer from him, and a reply to his answer, occupies thirteen days and a half. There's a hope that Lord Wellesley will take the foreign secretaryship. He is in Spain. I think Bathurst will have it ad interim. One infinite difficulty about Sidmouth is, that every person connected with him must have office found for him : Bragge, Vansittart, Hiley, Hobhouse, &c. &c. Sidmouth's army are all officers and no soldiers. I sus- pect George Rose wants to be Chancellor of the Exchequer. As to calling Parliament soon, that will never do. Bets here go twenty guineas to one that we never face it. But odds are sometimes lost. I think we shall now have no parliament on this side of Christmas. " The silence of such of Cas.'s colleagues who knew of the matter cannot be well vindicated. With respect to myself, I feel uneasy; though the period at which I heard it, the personage (the K.) who told it me, and the injunction with which he accom- panied a communication, which I must needs say he ought not to have made under such an injunction, give me a good deal to say for myself. But, in some degree, all who knew it have been more or less blameable, but blameable. "Nothing can be worse than the Walcheren business. But that business itself will grow worse and worse. The island must be evacuated, and I think you'll soon hear the army accusing the navy and the navy accusing the army, as the cause of the failure. There will be warm blood in the two services. Harrowby, I think, will go to the board of trade, if he continues to exist: he is very ill. If you don't hear from me on Friday, I shall have gone to Encombe to bring ray family home, with such leave of absence as the king to-day shall offer me. I shall not ask any; but I have had a hint that he means to press a short absence on me. In. fact I have got to the full extent of all the good I can do here. Kind regards to Mr. and Mrs. Townsend. Yours, " ELDCW." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.") (Notdated; but written at Encombe, Oct. 7th, 1809.) " Dear Brother, "As I intimated it was likely,! set out after the levee, about eight at night on Wed- nesday, for this place, and I got here late on Thursday, though I did not stop on the road. I lay so long in bed on Friday that I lost the post, and this I write on Satur- day evening for to-morrow's post, Saturday not being post day here. I shall have all things packed up here, that we may all return on a moment's notice to me to come back. After the full explanation I have given of all I have to &ay on the present business I do not know why I should be called up, but I take it for granted I shall, and therefore shall have my household as well as myself in a complete packed-up state. The Duke of P. gave me a fair opportunity enough, for he took occasion to tell me, that, let what would happen, I must not leave the king: he would not endure it, that is, he the king, would not. I replied, that I thought if there was a junction, the new- ones would not endure me, and that I was hurt to find that, among the old ones, those CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 329 whose confidence I thought I had, had been represented to be ready enonh to su- grest my separation from office and therefore from the king, without even the mention of it to me. He was apparently embarrassed, said nothing and looked foolish. I should have pressed him to the quick, but a man labouring under the torment of the stone at the moment was an object of pity. Of my fact I am sure : there are so many witnesses to it, that there can be no mistake. Of a variety of propositions as to filling offices I suppose none had come to a conclusion yesterday, as I have no letter to-day. "All here desire love to you, and Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and I am ever affection- ately yours, "EU)03T. "Saturday." (Extract of a letter from Mr. Perceval} " Downing Street, Oct. 14th, 1809. " My dear Lord, " I enclose you Lord Melville's answer to me ; you must be so good as to return it. Vansittart, I think, is hopeless. I propose making one other attempt at a chancellor of the Exchequer, and if that should fail, I must proceed to fill up the treasury com- mission upon another principle. I mean to apply to young Milnes, the member for Pomfret. He will not be of the same use to me as Vansittart, but he will be of great service, if we can secure him actively with us." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.} "Dear Brother, " By a letter from Perceval to-day, 1 find you guess better than I do. Lord Mel- ville seems determined to knock us all on the head. I cannot reconcile his conduct to itself, nor his letter to his letters. He has now written to Robert Dundas to dissuade him from keeping the secretaryship he has accepted: in his former letters intimating no unwillingness that he should have it. The world is turned topsy-turvy. "Yours, "EtDO*. " Wednesday night" (Oct 18th.) In the beginning of October, Mr. Perceval had succeeded to the station of first lord of the treasury, retaining with it his former office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. At the end of the same month the Duke of Portland died. Although this nobleman had occupied the place of first lord of the treasury, he had been but nominally the head of the administration, of which the chief directors had been Mr. Per- ceval, Mr. Canning, Lord Castlereagh and the chancellor. The ar- rangements for its reconstruction were therefore little, or not at all, impeded by his death. The Marquis Wellesley, to whom an over- ture had been made on the refusal of the Lords Grey and Grenville to lend their assistance, succeeded Mr. Canning as secretary of state for foreign affairs, the home office being committed to Mr. Ryder, in the room of Lord Liverpool, who took the department of war and colo- nies vacated by Lord Castlereagh. 330 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXIX. 1809. Vacancy in the chancellorship of Oxford. Lord Eldon a candidate against Lord Grenville and the Duke of Beaufort. Letters of Lord Eldon to several members of his family. Lord Grenville elected. Letters of Lord Eldon to his family, and of the king to Lord Eldon, and extract from the Anecdote Book respecting the contest. WHILE the arrangements for the reconstruction of the cabinet were still in progress, a new subject of interest for Lord Eldon had arisen, out of the vacancy which the death of the Duke of Portland, on the 30th of October, occasioned in the chancellorship of the University of Oxford. When it was first suggested to Lord Eldon to offer himself for that honour, his own inclination was to disclaim all pretensions to it; and he so expressed himself to his usual confidant, Sir William Scott, in a letter of which some extracts follow, relating to this and other topics. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) " As to the prosecution of the ' Morning Chronicle,' and as to your friend Cobbett, I know what I should have done as to those publications long ago, if I had been at- torney-general; but it seems to me that ever since my time it has been thought right to leave the government's character, and individual character, without the protection of the law enforced, because I had proved its efficacy when it was called into exertion. I am very sore upon this subject ; I have growled and grumbled about it till I am weary. As to Cobbett, I am quite out of patience about those who will take in his paper ; but I observe that all my friends, in short every body one knows, abuses him, but enjoy his abuse, till he taps at their own door, and then they don't like the noise he makes not a bit of it. "As to the chancellorship of the university, brother, it really seems impossible to be decisive about it. If it is necessary that I should be so to others, or to you at least, I have no possible alternative, if I am ever so wrong in that view of it, but to say positively No" A few days, however, brought a direct proposal from a powerful party in the university; and Lord Eldon, believing it ascertained that the Duke of Beaufort, who had been much spoken of as a candidate, had resolved to decline the contest, now permitted himself to be put in nomination, and entered warmly into the spirit of the election, as against Lord Grenville, whom he expected to find his only competitor. (Lord Eldon to the Honourable Mrs. Scott, (the widow of his eldest son.) (Extract.) (Not dated ; written probably Nov. 1809.) "After what passed between you and me about honours, you will be surprised to hear that I am involved in a contest about a very great honour. But I think it my duty myself to let you know that, to my own great surprise, I am so involved I have been, as I thought, compelled to accede to the request of a considerable and respect- able body of Oxonians, expressed to me in the most pressing terms, and urged upon the grounds of great public principles, to allow them to name me as a candidate for CHANCELLOR ELDON. 331 the chancellorship of Oxford. The attainment of this honour, or disappointment of their endeavours to succeed for me in this matter, as they have involved me in it, cannot but be deeply interesting to all who, in any way, wish to add to the respect and regard in which I, or those who may come after me, may be held in this country, and it is therefore fit you should have a communication from myself upon it. Lord Grenville is the other candidate. If principles of such importance as those upon. which the request to me has been put, are really at issue, I wish the request had been made to some person of higher character and consequence in the state; and though I should never have thought of offering myself to a contest, in which disappointment must affect my family as long as my name shall be remembered, I could not possibly avoid compliance with that request which has been addressed to me. And lest dis- appointment of the views of those who make the request should be the result, I am anxious to assure you that I am no volunteer in the business. There is a canvass on the other side, carried on in a way that I cannot reconcile to my old ideas of Oxford delicacy. I cannot follow the example of those who are so canvassing, but I shall leave the matter to the decision of those who may think proper to support me upon public grounds, or who, having any personal attachment to me, or any who may be considered as belonging to me, may think it right to aid the endeavours of those who have brought forward my name. I am surprised at the extent of support which I hear is already offered me. "With love to John and you, "Yours truly, It was not long before the prospects of the election began to be overcast. (Lord Eldon to the Rev. Matthew Surtees.*) (Extract.) (Not dated; probably written Dec. 1809 ) "After it was fully understood that the Duke of Beaufort had refused to be a candi- date, and some of his nearest connections had canvassed for me, he has become a candidate. This makes confusion more confused; but I shall stand it out, as I have consented to stand for I cannot be made a fool of with my own consent; and there- fore, if both the D. of B. and I go to the wall, and Grenville succeeds, my consolation is, that I am not to blame. " Yours, " ELDOW." At the time when this contest was in progress, the tenure of the ministry seemed by no means secure, and the apparent probability that, at a time not far distant, Lord Grenville might become the leader of a government whose chancellor would not be Lord Eldon, had a strong operation upon the " independent," or trimming class of Ox- ford voters. The Whigs conducted the struggle with their accus- tomed zeal and activity. Christ Church, Lord Grenville's own col- lege, made a powerful muster in his behalf: and Dr. Hodgson, the principal of Brasennose, which is the body next in influence to Christ Church, is reported to have declared that for some weeks preceding the contest, he never quitted the precincts of his college, but occupied himself on the spot, without remission, in writing to canvass absent voters and managing the necessary preparations for the election.* With all these efforts, however, the Whig party would have made a very inglorious conclusion, had not the interest of their opponents been divided. * Law Magazine, No. xliv. 332 LIFE OF LORD (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.") (Extract.) (Not dated.) " The king to-day said it would be hard if Cambridge had a Unitarian chancellor,* and Oxford a Popish one." On Wednesday, the 13th of December, the polling began. It lasted through that day and night, and part of the next day, and terminated about ten o'clock on the night of the 14th : the result was, that the Duke of Beaufort obtained 238 votes, Lord Eldon 393, and Lord Grenville 406. To lose so important an election, and by so small a number of votes as thirteen, was matter of considerable annoyance, especially in a case where it was quite clear that the Beaufort party, whose pertina- city prevented Lord Eldon's success, had no probable chance for their own candidate. (Lard Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Not dated ; probably Dec. 1809.) "My dearest Sir William, " You desired me to write soon. I do so to say that I am as stout as you could pos- sibly wish me to be. I have had words, and, dignifiedly, angry words, with those who have given no support, and from whom I had a right, as I think, to demand the most effectual support. I have written to the king, to know whether any part of my conduct could justify the Oxford reports, that I had not his support, or that he was hurt that I did not give way to Beaufort. From him I have had a satisfactory letter. I still think that I can't remain (with the public opinion that I have not been sup- ported) where I am; and I persuade myself that if I feel compelled to retire from my great office, because I don't choose to sacrifice the pretensions of a man long labour- ing for the public, to a fox-hunting duke, I shall not fail to have your approbation. I have received a letter from the Duke of Richmond, in answer to a complaint of mine, that he had no reason to believe I had the support of government! ! ! "As to what I am to do about the high stewardship, I am willing to pause: but, upon looking into the statutes, and my oath of office, I may be called upon to do what I never will do. "The short resuh seems to me to be, and perhaps the best result, that a few weeks will send me to dear Encombe as a resting-place between vexation and the grave. "Yours ever affectionately, The king's letter, referred to in the foregoing note, was this : "Windsor Castle, Dec. 16th, 1809. "The king has received the chancellor's letter, and sincerely concurs with him in lamenting the issue of the contest at Oxford, both on public grounds and from motives personal to the chancellor. His majesty desires the chancellor will feel assured that he has approved his conduct throughout the whole course of this business, as well by allowing himself to be named a candidate, and as continuing so to the close of the poll : his majesty being very sensible that he could not, with honour or with advan- tage to the general cause, retire, after his friends had been engaged to support his well-founded pretensions. " GEORGE R." (Lrird Eldon to the Honourable Mrs. &o.) (Extract.) (Written in a fit of the gout, probably Dec. 1809.) " Although, as far as my observation goes upon what is passing in human life, fail- ure always in some degree affects character, I have all, in the circumstances of this business, which can alleviate feeling upon that account. I have been supported by * The third Duke of Grafton, then chancellor of Cambridge, was a Unitarian ; Lord Grenville, then candidate for the chancellorship of Oxford, was the leading supporter of the Roman Catholics. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 333 a vast number of most excellent, learned and worthy men, upon public principle. Without effort of my own, against the unprecedented efforts of others, efforts which have reduced Oxford to the state of the worst borough as to election practices, I had the actual majority, and should have succeeded, if the return made to me for the handsome manner in which, at the beginning of the business, I conducted myself to the Duke of Beaufort, had not been, that, to disappoint me,his friends, as I am assured, at the close of it, voted for Grenville, whilst his committee refused to permit any of them to vote for me. Aristocratic combination beat me, and without combination it could not have hurt me. Of private ingratitude I have seen much, that gives more pain than the gout. Ingratitude bites hard. It gives me great comfort that you have reconciled yourself to the event, and I know you would not have done so, if you did not think that I ought to reconcile myself to it. I beg to thank your brothers for their votes: and I am not the less obliged because the event was unsuccessful. I hear the vice-chancellor's communication of the event has given offence to the person to whom it was addressed : as given to me it was made in this dry form, ' My lord, it is my duty to inform your lordship that you are elected chancellor of this university. I have the honour to be your most obedient servant.' The king is very angry. He has sent me a very handsome letter, approving of my conduct from the beginning to the end of the business. Some about him behaved sadly in misleading themselves and the Duke of Beaufort." (Lard Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) (Not dated ; probably about the end of 1809). " If I doubted the king's good faith, I should not hesitate one moment ; but consider- ing what we were pledged to, with reference to him, before this unfortunate business was engaged in, to stand by him on his account, and on that only, if he has kept good faith, I doubt whether I can contribute to the immediate destruction of the ad- ministration by my resignation, and whether then I shall not be told that I have ruined the K., as I have ruined the D. of B., more especially as the question of its existence, if I remain, is probably a question of a week or a fortnight. Independent of this, all my own reasoning, and every fact you state to me, make resignation the step I ought to take ; and this I must discuss with you when I see you. "Yours, " ELDOX." These letters evince that the chancellor felt more pain from his defeat than he chose to acknowledge to others, or perhaps even to himself. Many years afterwards, when the vexation had been as- suaged by time, he wrote a calmer record of the whole matter in the Anecdote Book, thus : " Upon the death of the Duke of Portland, the heads of Baliol, Worcester, and Oriel colleges, Dr. Parsons, afterwards Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Landon and Dr. Eveleigh, proposed to me to be a candidate for the chancellorship of Oxford. I had reason to believe that the king, George III., was anxious that the Duke of Beaufort should be chosen. I waited upon his majesty, informed him of what had passed, mentioned that I had collected, from what his majesty had occasionally dropped in conversation, that I conjectured that his majesty wished that the Duke of Beaufort should succeed the Duke of Portland; and that I should feel it to be my duty to promote the gra- tification of his majesty's wishes to the utmost of my power. His- majesty was pleased to express much satisfaction at having received this mark of attention, and, having avowed a strong feeling in favour of the Duke of Beaufort,! declined to be a candidate. In the course of two or three days the king sent for me, and told me that as I be- haved so handsomely to him with respect to this matter, he thought it incumbent upon him to be himself the person to inform me that the 334 LIFE OF LORD Duke of Beaufort would not be a candidate, and that therefore it was now his personal command that I should be a candidate. The contest then began between Lord Grenville and myself; but many days had not passed before the Duke of Beaufort either offered himself, or allowed himself to be proposed, as a candidate. His majesty again sent for me, and upon being admitted to his presence, he insisted upon my continuing a candidate ; he said he was too anxious about my honour to allow me, in these circumstances, to give way to the duke, and that he had too much respect for the members of the univer- sity to permit them to be thus trifled with. The contest proceeded. The Duke of Beaufort's voters were few in comparison with the num- ber of those who voted for me, and with those who voted for Lord Grenville. On the evening before the final close of the poll, as my friends informed me, my success was certain. But on the morning on which it closed, as they also informed me, Lord Grenville received from the Duke of Beaufort's committee such a number to vote for him, instead of voting for the duke, as gave Lord Grenville a very small majority. I have mentioned these circumstances, as account- ing for my presuming to be a candidate for this high office in con- formity purely with the wishes of others, and as accounting for the disappointment of their wishes." CHANCELLOR ELDOX. 335 CHAPTER XXX. 1810. Opening of session. Reversion Bill. Lord Collingwood. Letter from Prince of Wales to Lord Eldon. Capital offences: certainty of the punishment. Catholic question. Commitments for contempts. Attempts to strengthen the ministry: letters of Mr. Perceval and Lord Castlereagh. Letter of Sir Vicary Gibbs on the Canadian constitution. THE session began on the 23d of January, 1810, and was opened by commission. The king's speech was, as usual, read by the lord chancellor, who, being oppressed by illness, withdrew from the House soon after the beginning of the debate. The chief topics of the speech were the events of the war, and the necessity of vigorous persever- ance against the enemy. During the earlier months of the session, the conduct of naval and military affairs, particularly with reference to the failure of the Wal- cheren expedition, to the services of Lord Gambier, and to the still more important achievements of Lord Wellington, were the most interesting subjects discussed in the House of Lords; but in the de- bates on these matters the chancellor took little part. The second reading of a bill for preventing grants of offices in re- version, was moved on the 26th of February, by Earl Grosvenor. The lord chancellor opposed the measure. He did not deny that some good might be effected by judicious regulation, by the curtailment of emoluments in some cases and by their total abolition in others. Without inquiry, however, it would not become their lordships to legislate upon the subject: and no inquiry, he believed, would war- rant the House in going to the length proposed in this bill. Whatever the censure which he might incur for his dislike to innovation, he never could consent to legislate in the dark: but he protested against being considered as the enemy of all reform, merely because he was averse to reform which he could not understand. He had himself procured reversions for members of his own family, as former chancellors had done; and certainly without the smallest conception that he was doing any thing of an objectionable nature. Having done this, he now desired to avow it; though certainly the value of the offices so bestowed by himself, altogether, was not sufficient to make the validity or invalidity of the gifts, a matter of any great uneasiness to the expectants. The bill being rejected, a fresh one was introduced, differing in some particulars from the former, but aiming at the same general ob- ject. In taking away from the crown the power to grant reversions of its own authority, the new bill provided that they should be granta- ble on address from either House of Parliament. To this provision the lord chancellor, on the second reading, 17th May, especially objected, and said that by these means the patronage of the king would be transferred to the Lords and Commons. In an economical view he could see little advantage from such a transfer, and in a constitutional view still less. *-' 336 LIFE OF LORD The second reading was negatived without a division. Lord Eldon told Mrs. Forster he was present at the funeral of his school-fellow Lord Collingwood, who died on the 7th of March in this year, 1810. " It was very affecting," said Lord Eldon, "his sailors crowded so around, all anxious to see the last of their commander. One sailor seized me by the arm, and entreated I would take him in with me, that he might be there to the end. I told him to stick fast to me, and I did take him in : but when it came to throwing some earth on the coffin, (you know the part of the service, ' dust to dust,') he burst past me and threw himself into the vault: it was very affecting. Collingwood at school was a mild boy ; he was in the same class as my brother Harry : but he did not then give promise of being the great man he afterwards became : he did not show any remarkable talents then." " Lord Collingwood and I," (said Lord Eldon to the Hon. Henry Legge soon after the battle of Trafalgar,) " are memorable instances of the blessings to be derived from the country of our birth and the constitution under which we live. He and I were class-fellows at Newcastle. We were placed at that school, because neither his father nor mine could afford to place us elsewhere; and now if he returns to this country to take his seat in the House of Lords, it will be my duty to express to him, sitting in his place, the thanks of that House (to which neither of us could expect to be elevated) for his eminent services to his country." In the Anecdote Book Lord Eldon writes : " I heard Lord St. Vincent say, that Collingwood's conduct after the battle of Trafalgar in destroying, under difficult circumstances, the defeated fleet, was above all praise. The late king (George III.), who had finally the highest opinion of Collingwood, expressed to me his surprise, how a naval officer could write so excellent a dispatch as that which con- tained Collingwood's account of the battle of Trafalgar ; ' but,' added the king, ' I find he was educated by Moises.' " In the month of May, another letter was addressed to the lord chan- cellor by the Prince of Wales on the subject of the Princess Charlotte's education. Its tone evinces that by this time the uniform fairness and discretion of the chancellor had much softened the acrimony of the prince. His royal highness, after signifying his concurrence in the king's choice of Mr. Archdeacon Short as sub-preceptor to the Princess Charlotte, proceeds: " I cannot conclude this letter without expressing to yonr lordship the sincere grati- fication with which I have received, through your lordship, his majesty's sentiments respecting this most interesting subject: and I trust to the very particular attention which has marked your lordship's proceedings through the whole of this business, to take the most suitable course of conveying to the king, with the most profound respect and duty on my part, the feelings with which I am impressed on this occasion by his majesty's most gracious and condescending attention to me. "I am, my lord, very sincerely yours, "GEORGE P. " Carlton House, May 8ih, 1810." The subject of capital punishment, which had now begun to occupy CHANCELLOR ELDON. 337 public attention, was brought under the consideration of the House of Lords on the 30th of May, by the motion for the second reading of a bill to abolish the punishment of death in cases of privately stealing to the amount of five shillings in a shop.* This was a bill proposed and carried by Sir Samuel Romilly in the House of Commons : but the arguments which prevailed there were at that time regarded by the Upper House as too speculative to be safe. Lord Ellenborough led the opposition to the bill, by moving that it should be read a second time on that day three months. The lord chancellor took the same side. "I feel great doubt," he said, " whether I can accede to the principle that the law should apply a fixed punishment to every case within a certain definition, excluding all consideration of the particular circumstances; or whether it may not be more ad- visable to leave the law on its present principle, which trusts to the discretion of the judge to distinguish between the different shades of the same offence. The necessity for this discretion very often exists, and I think the judge should not be divested of it. Without it, great violence might be done to justice and humanity. "In the court in which I once had the honour of presiding as judge, I remem- ber a whole family of persons were indicted for stealing a single sheep. It was a case of peculiar hardship. These poor people were driven to the commission of a capital crime by the pressing calls of famine exhausted nature, no longer able to bear the restraint of human laws, threw aside every consideration of honesty, and these unhappy wretches committed an offence which subjected them to a capital punishment. Now, my lords, no man living could say that this was a case where the judge should have no discretion. There is no man living who could go through such a trial without feeling that he should commit a greater crime than the unhappy wretches themselves, if he permitted the law to take its course. " I shall now mention a case where the principle is applicable the other way. During the short time I had the honour to be Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, this remarkable case occurred before me. A man was indicted for stealing a horse, of the small value of seven shillings and sixpence, and which he had sold for lhat sum. to a horse-butcher. The jury found him guilty, and you will be surprised, perhaps, to learn, that for so trifling an offence I suffered the law to take its course. The punish- ment of death, for this offence only, might appear extremely harsh; but, my lords, in this instance I was guided by the nature of the evidence in the course of the trial, the detail of which I have now fresh upon my memory. It appeared, I think, that on the prisoner were found skeleton keys of all the turnpike-gates within twenty miles of London, which he had manifestly procured for the purpose of carrying on the regular business of a horse-stealer.f "Now these are the difficulties which would constantly arise in the administration of a law, prescribing a punishment incapable of being modified. On the one hand, you would be leaving heavy offences inadequately punished ; on the other you would be visiting light ones with unjustifiable severity. "For the purpose of preventing crime, the certainty of the punishment, it is said, and not the severity of it, is the efficacious principle. It may be so; but no man will say, upon the question of terror, that the threat of that extreme punishment has not a great effect, an effect not alone upon the offender himself, but upon the rest of man- kind. And when we talk of the severity of the punishment, the objection to the law is much diminished by the practice of it; for it is severe only by its frequent execu- tion, whereas, in practice, its execution is extremely rare. It is needless for us to dif- fer about theories, if the practice reconciles the difference." The bill was thrown out by a majority of 31 against 11. The anecdote of the starving family, and the argument founded on it, so far as they respect the mere policy of capital punishment, are See 10 & 11 W. 3. c. 23. f It was, perhaps, an unjustifiable law which annexed such a penalty to horse-steal- ing under any circumstances; but lhat was not the received opinion forty years ago: and if such a law was ever to operate at all, this was the sort of case to which it seemed most applicable. VOL. I. 22 338 LIFE OF LORD open to the answer, that if this punishment had been abolished in all cases of sheep-stealing, which is what its opponents were prepared to recommend, there would have been no room for the inhurnanity apprehended by Lord Eldon in that particular instance. But the case of this starving family had a very important bearing upon the general proposition, maintained in Lord Eldon's speech, that punishment may more safely be left in the discretion of the judge on each particular set of facts, than be assigned, without remission, to all offences of a given denomination, whatever the shades of difference in the circum- stances. For, however low the law might fix the penalty, for instance, of sheep-stealing, (and a general penalty for so grave an offence could hardly be fixed at a lower point than imprisonment for a year,) even that lowest general penalty would be too severe for a family betrayed into such a theft by the dreadful extremity of starvation, and yet would then be incapable of mitigation except through a correspondence with the home department in each particular case : while it is equally ob- vious that the same average penalty would be vastly too light for a systematic depredator on the flocks of his neighbours. Upon such a felon, or upon the horse-stealer mentioned in the succeeding passage of the same speech, almost any amount of secondary punishment would be fitly inflicted. With regard to the argument that the prevention of crime depends rather on the certainty of the punishment than on its severity, it may be observed that punishment unduly severe is little likely to be inflicted in the temper of the present times ; and that the sort of certainty, required to deter offenders, is not a certainty of the precise degree of punishment annexed to each act of criminality, but a certainty that every criminal will be overtaken by such a punishment as (though it shall not exceed apre-enacted maximum) shall bear some proportion to his moral guilt. Indeed, the opposite argument would go to the extent of excluding the royal prerogative of mercy in all cases, except where the conviction should be found to have been unwarranted by the evidence. The 6th of June brought under the notice of the House of Lords certain petitions from the Irish Roman Catholics, which the Earl of Donoughmore, on that day, moved to refer to a committee of the whole House. The lord chancellor, in opposing this motion, desired to know what its supporters proposed to do, in the committee they were about to vote for] He was too sensible of the blessings of the civil and religious liberty enjoyed in this country, to risk them on a speculation of which the grounds were not distinctly laid. From the expression of these opinions he was not to be deterred, and he would continue his support to the Protestant Church as by law established, although that adherence might bring down upon him, from some quarters, the appellation of a bigot. He did not mean to say that propositions might not be brought forward by the Roman Catholics which would deserve the most earnest attention. But when the Hfluse was asked to remove the bul- warks and safeguards of the constitution established in 1688, by that Revolution which seated a Protestant sovereign on the throne, which declared that all his successors should be Protestants, and which established a Protestant government, civil and reli- gious, he did think it but reasonable to inquire, before they went into committee, what was to be substituted in the room of that which it was thus proposed to remove. At present the House did not know, but that what was proposed by one might meet the disapprobation of another; nay, they knew not what the petitioners themselves might CHANCELLOR ELDON. 339 be pleased to accept ; and were they, in these circumstances, to go into a committee, to consider what offer they should make to persons by whom all practicable proposals might be rejected! For himself, in or out of a committee, he could never consent to grant the extent of privileges demanded in the prayer of these petitions. The principle of the veto, or royal negative, on the appointment of the Roman Catholic prelates, had been strongly pressed upon the Roman Catholic body by Lord Grenville in his letter to Lord Fingal. That letter amounted to an assertion that security ought to be taken against the danger to which the proposed innovation might lead. It likewise showed an opinion to have been theretofore entertained by the supporters of the Roman Catho- lics, that the veto would be conceded when the desired privileges should be offered on that condition. It was a concession which, in his opinion, amounted to absolutely nothing ; but what would have been the consequence if the House had gone into a com- mittee under the impression that it was a substantial and attainable security? Why, the consequence would have been, that their lordships, coming out of the committee, would have offered to the Catholics an arrangement which the Catholics, as it turned out, neither would nor could accept. Consistently with the conscientious discharge of what they regarded as their religious duty, they could not accept those terms; and if they did. they would be worse subjects than if they refused them, inasmuch as be- coming dishonest men, they could not be good subjects. He begged to be understood as not holding the notion that any man ought to be incapacitated from civil rights by reason of religious opinions; the enactments against the Catholics were meant to guard, not against the abstract opinions of their religion, but against the political dangers of a faith which acknowledged a foreign supremacy. The change now pro- posed was in direct contradiction to what their ancestors had supposed to be the con- stitution : whether they were right or not in that supposition was a matter which he would not take upon him to decide. It was a change which would not only affect the Roman Catholic claims, but alter every religious institution in the country, the situ- aiion of the Church of England as much as the situation of the Roman Catholic Church. He would not go darkly into a committee, where, for aught he knew, propo- sitions might be made, which, if effected, might in a few months bring the Protestants, instead of the Catholics, to be the objects of the noble mover's pity. The majority against the motion was 154 to 68. Earl Grey's motion, on the 13th of the same month of June, for an address to the crown on the state of the nation, having been met by Lord Stanhope with an amendment, in which the commitment of Sir Francis Burdett by the House of Commons, for a contempt, was brought forward as a prominent subject of censure. The chancellor, in answer to Lord Erskine, who had concurred in this view, shortly vindicated the right of either House of Parliament to commit for contempts, by ana- logy to attachments for contempts against the courts of ordinary jurisdiction a description of process, which, he said, was as much a part of the law of the land as the trial by jury itself. The amendment was negatived without a division, and the original motion rejected by a majority of 134 against 72. The session closed on the 21st of June, with a speech delivered by the lord chancellor in his majesty's name. The debates in both Houses of Parliament had been frequent and stormy: the ministry felt that they possessed but little of the public confidence, and, indeed, they were retained in office mainly by the country's experimental distrust of the Whigs. Some efforts were made, therefore, in the au- tumn, to strengthen the cabinet, particularly in the House of Commons: and for this purpose Mr. Perceval addressed proposals to Lord Cas- tlereagh, and several other persons of consideration, which, however, produced no immediate accession of strength. Lord Castlereagh's answer was communicated by Mr. Perceval to the chancellor as fol- lows : 340 LIFE OF LORD " My dear Lord, "The following is a copy of what I received this day from Castlereagh: "'My dear Sir, " 'Having protracted my journey longer than I had intended, I did not receive your letter of the 22d ult., till yesterday on my landing. "'Desiring to express, in suitable terms, to you and your colleagues, my sense of the sentiments you are pleased to express towards me personally, I am not less sen- sible of your attention in relieving me, by the mode of your communication, from the necessity of declining, in any more formal mariner, a proposition which it is con- ceived might contribute to the advantage of his majesty's service. "'It is unnecessary for me to trouble you with the considerations, in detail, which suggest themselves to me upon the reasoning which you have taken the trouble so fully and candidly to open. It is enough that I should express my own firm persua- sion that an arrangement of the nature you propose (even were all the obstacles to the cordial consolidation of the arrangement itself successfully surmounted) could not command the public confidence, or inspire the nation at the present moment with an impression, that the administration, intrusted with the management of affairs, was really united within itself. "'Under these impressions, (I trust not inconsiderately formed, or resulting from any unbecoming feelings of a personal nature,) I A need hardly add, that were the offer in question made to me, it would be impossible for me to hesitate in soliciting his majesty's gracious permission dutifully to decline it. " ' Believe me, my dear sir, "'Very faithfully yours, &c. " ' (Signed) CASTLEREAGH.' "I must confess the above is much what I expected it to be and so ends our nego- tiation and the consequence, I trust, will be, that we shall all be determined to do the best we can to stand firmly and unitedly by ourselves, when we find we cannot mend matters. " Yours most truly, "Sp. PERCEYAL. "Downing Street, Sept. 8th, 1810." Among Lord Eldon's papers is a letter addressed to him in Sep- tember, 1810, by Sir Vicary Gibbs, then attorney-general. The fol- lowing extract from it is remarkable, with reference to the justification which recent events in the Canadas have given to the opinions it expresses : " I was prevented, by a mistake, from meeting you at your consultation upon the perplexing state of affairs in Lower Canada. We may drive it off to a session after the next, but at last it will lead to a very troublesome discussion. I have read an account of the progress of the bill which gave them that constitution, in the Annual Register for 1791, and it contains a curious detail of the history and motives of the opposition to it. At present it seems to operate practically in support of a French interest, and of the Roman Catholic religion, and I see no possibility of giving it in its present form a different direction. To restore the constitution of 1774 would not, I think, be borne. To re-unite the two provinces would be difficult; and, without a great alteration in the proportion of representatives, would hardly be effectual if it were carried. Their legislature now bears the form of a British Parliament, with a French House of Commons than which nothing can be worse." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 341 CHAPTER XXXI. 18101811. Permanent illness of George III.: meeting of Parliament: letter of the queen to LordEldon: deliberations of Parliament on the mode of supplying the executive powers: struggle of parties : ministerial plan for investing the Prince of Wales with a restricted regency: remonstrance of the royal dukes: letter of the Duke of Cumberland to Lord Eldon: fiscal difficulty in default of sign manual. Admissi- bility of proxies in committees of the House of Lords. Offer of regency accepted by the prince. Commission for the regular opening of the session. Proposal for committing the control of the royal household to the queen : attack of Lord Grey upon Lord Eldon : Lord Eldon's vindication of himself and of that proposal : debate on period for cessation of restrictions : further discussions on lord chan- cellor's conduct: royal assent, by commission, to the Regency Bill. Letters of Lord Eldon to Mr. Perceval and to Sir William Scott. THE clouds which had so often cast a temporary shade upon the intellect of the sovereign were now gathering into deep and settled darkness. The immediate cause of distress to his mind was the pro- tracted suffering of his youngest daughter, the Princess Amelia, whose death took place on the 2d of November, 1810. It had been notified that the meeting of the Parliament, appointed by prorogation for the 1st day of that month, would be postponed to the 29th by the usual commission under the great seal ; but before the 1st of November had arrived, the king had become so much disordered that his ministers did not think themselves warranted in taking his signature to such a commission. On the 1st of November, therefore, both Houses assembled. As soon as the Lords were met, the lord chancellor addressed them. He stated the circumstances under which they then attended, and informed them, with expressions of deep regret, that, in consequence of his majesty's personal indisposition, the commission had not re- ceived the royal signature. There might be a question, he said, whether the commission would not have been legal if issued under the great seal without the authority of the sign manual ; but into that subject he would not enter. It would be for the House to determine its own course of proceeding. The House, approving the lord chancellor's forbearance to affix the great seal to a commission under such circumstances, and participating in the hope which, in that early stage of the indisposition, was gene- rally entertained by the king's medical and other attendants, of a speedy recovery, adjourned till the 15th; and the same course was taken by the House of Commons. The natural good feeling and discretion of Lord Eldon had enabled 342 LIFE OF LORD him, in each recurring instance of his majesty's illness, to conduct the business connected with it in such a manner as not only to pro- tect the political and public interests in his care, but to give the most perfect satisfaction, in all intervals and returns of reason, to the illus- trious sufferer himself, and throughout, to his royal consort. The acknowledgments of Queen Charlotte, under this renewal of affliction, were thus conveyed to him, and through him to two of his colleagues, on the day after the meeting of Parliament : ( Queen Charlotte to Lord Eldon.) " Windsor, Nov. 2d. 1810. "The queen feels, more than she has words to express, the attention shown her by the lord chancellor and his colleagues, in making an excuse for not calling upon her yesterday. She is perfectly sensible that the subject it related to would have been equally painful to both parties; and is highly sensible of the delicacy of the conduct of the lord chancellor, Marquis of Wellesley and Mr. Ryder, to whom she begs her compliments. "Our domestic misfortunes are truly severe, but I trust Providence will carry us through. " CHAHLOTTE." On the 15th, the lord chancellor began the business of the House of Lords, by repeating what he had stated on the 1st of the month; and added, that the physicians now considered the king's health to be progressively improving. He proposed to their lordships, there- fore, a further adjournment of fourteen days; to which, after some discussion upon the question of precedent, the House agreed. When they met again on the 29th, a report from the privy council was laid on the table, containing the examinations of the king's physicians : and Lord Liverpool, relying on the continued appearances of con- valescence, and on the expectation which the physicians held out of a speedy recovery, moved an adjournment for yet another fortnight. Earl Spencer thereupon proposed a select committee, to examine the physicians and report to the House ; which amendment was supported by Lords Holland and Grenville, with a declared view to some speedy arrangement for supplying the deficiency of the executive powers. The lord chancellor opposed the amendment, on the ground that, while there remained a prospect of the king's early recovery, it was not desirable to alter the constitution of the kingdom, by transferring the royal functions to any other hands. Their lordships would bear in mind that the monarchy of these realms was a heredi- tary one; that the king was king not only in vigorous manhood and health, but in infancy, in old age and in sickness; and that to remove the kingly power into other hands, was to make such an inroad on its character and very essence as could never be warranted nor excused but by a clear and permanent necessity. His majesty, when recovered, would doubtless be competent, should it be his pleasure, to concur in a legislative act for establishing a lieutenant, or a restricted regent, or any other officer whose appointment might meet any future emergency. This was no time for treat- ing the monarchical principle with disrespect. Heaven forbid that he should repre- sent the privy council as possessing the right or the power to adjudicate upon the capability of the king; their report (which had just been laid on the table,) undoubt- edly would not give information which ought to be conclusive upon the House, but it would give the House a ground on which to found its own proceedings. The sole consideration, for the present, was whether the House would pause for a little while, or go at once into the important duty proposed to it. For himself, he thought it right to do no more than the evil of the day required. It was only the necessity of the case which gave 10 the House any right of interposing at all ; and it was of the very CHANCELLOR ELDON. 343 essence of that necessity that the time chosen for so interposing should be the proper and correct one. A majority of 88 against 56 decided for an adjournment to the 13th of December. When the House reassembled on that day, the state of the king's health was not sufficiently improved to justify, in the opinion of his ministers, any further adjournment. Lord Liverpool, therefore, moved for a committee to examine his majesty's physicians, the report of which committee was presented on the 20th. The contest, which now began respecting the devolution of the royal functions, was animated by the same spirit of party which had marked the proceedings respecting the regency in 1788. The Whig opposition, on both occasions, placed a confident hope in the favour- able disposition of the Prince of Wales toward their views, political and personal ; and on both occasions, therefore, they keenly con- tended for investing him, at the earliest moment, with the most ex- tensive powers. The ministry, on the other hand, no less under Mr. Perceval than under Mr. Pitt, had a strong interest to delay as long as possible the appointment of a regent who would probably dispos- sess them of office, and to confine his authority within the narrowest limits. Mr. Perceval, however, enjoyed an advantage which Mr. Pitt had not the advantage of the very precedent which Mr. Pitt's struggle had established ; and certainly there can be no circumstances in which a constitutional precedent has more value than when it thus steps in to fix what has been suddenly thrown loose, and impose some definite law upon parties who would otherwise be squaring their morality by their passions. There were, moreover, among Mr. Per- ceval's opponents, some men of considerable weight, who, like Lord Grenville, had, by their personal co-operation with Mr. Pitt in the measures of 1788, precluded themselves from condemning the like measures in 1810. All these advantages Mr. Perceval perceived and profited by. He shaped his course almost exactly by that of his pre- decessor, beginning with three resolutions in nearly the same form of words which Parliament had adopted in 1788. The first affirmed the simple fact that the personal exercise of the royal authority was suspended by his majesty's indisposition. The second declared it to be the right and duty of the Lords and Commons to provide the means for supplying this defect as the exigency of the case might require : and the third stated it to be necessary that the Lords and Commons should determine on the means whereby the royal assent might be given to bills, respecting the powers to be exercised in the king's name and behalf during his illness. These three resolutions having been carried in the House of Com- mons, were transmitted to the House of Lords, where they stood for consideration on the 27th of December. On that day, before they were discussed, Lord Carlisle adverted to the testimony of the physi- cians, as contained in the report of the Lords' committee, contending that it was not evidence warranting the bulletins issued on several days of the preceding month ; but, as he made no specific motion, 344 LIFE OF LORD the House proceeded, on the recommendation of Lord Liverpool, to consider the resolutions. The first two were affirmed without divi- sion and without much discussion. On the third, it was moved by Lord Holland as an amendment, that the Prince of Wales should be requested, by address, to take upon him the powers of the crown in the king's name, during the king's present indisposition, and no longer ; such address to be accompanied with an intimation that the exercises of any powers not called into action by the immediate exi- gences of the state, should be forborne, until a bill or bills should have passed for the settlement of the whole matter. The lord chancellor, observing that, in 1788-9, as now, all parties in Parliament were agreed upon the fitness of conferring a sole regency on the Prince of Wai*, declared his adherence to the opinion which he had then expressed, that a bill to con- fer that power upon the prince was a fitter course than an address to the prince to "take upon himself that power. He used the word parliament, because, notwithstand- ing all which had been said by those who denominated the two Houses,-under their present circumstances, a mere convention of the estates, it was his decided opinion that they were properly a parliament. They had been prorogued under that title by his majesty, who had directed them to reassemble on a certain day ; and on that day, and under that title, they had reassembled in obedience to his command. It had been objected that to proceed by way of legislation involved a fiction, the assent of the crown ; but if legal fictions were not to be endured, the whole course of judicial ad- ministration must be suspended, and the private property of every man who heard him might be placed in jeopardy. The courts, however, continued to discharge their functions, and properly so, because the law could look only at the political capacity of the crown : any natural or temporary incapacity was matter of which the law could not take cognizance. He relied on several historical analogies which he speci- fied, and above all on the precedent established in 1788-9. The precedent of the Revo- lution in 1688 did not apply, because there the royal office was to be declared vacant, while here that office remained full, and the only business was to provide a person who should supply the temporary interruption of its authority. The ministers had been accused of arrogant usurpation, because they continued to execute the duties of their offices. Was it meant that during the delay which the adjournment had sanc- tioned, the functions of the government were to be stopped? He hoped that the country would give credit to the ministry for having, in a most difficult crisis, con- ducted themselves with the best intentions. God help the man who had an eye to the situation of any one of them. They were told that they possessed no talent, no judg- ment, no qualifications entitling them to be entrusted with the affairs of the nation. But before such a censure were passed upon them by the House, he hoped their lord- ships would look back to the precedents set by statesmen well entitled to confidence and admiration. For himself he would say, that as the great seal had been entrusted to him by his sovereign, he would not give it up till he knew that some one was legally appointed to take it from his hands. The amendment was negatived by a majority of 100 to 74, and the original question carried without a further division. The resolutions having been adopted by both Houses, and agreed to in a conference between them, it became necessary to define the powers with which the regent was to be entrusted : and, in the further resolutions pre- pared for that purpose, the outline of the former precedent was again pursued by ministers, but with some variation of the details. The first of these resolutions declared the sense of the committee, that the Prince of Wales should be empowered to exercise the royal authority in the king's name and under the title of regent, subject to such limitations and restrictions as should be provided : that his power should not extend to the grant of any peerage, except for some naval or military achievement : that it should not extend to the grant of any CHANCELLOR ELDON. 345 office, in reversion, or otherwise than during pleasure, except such as are by law required to be granted for life or during good behaviour: that the royal property, not already vested in trustees, should be vested in trustees for his majesty's benefit: that the care of the king's person should be committed to the queen, who should have power of nomi- nating to and removing from the several offices of the household : and that a council should be appointed to advise and assist her, with authority, from time to time, to examine his majesty's physicians and other attendants. The last proposition, it will presently be seen, received important alterations in its progress. These restrictions, of which the plan had been communicated to the prince, were exceedingly unpalatable to his royal highness. He endeavoured to relieve himself from them by every means within his reach, and particularly by a most remarkable remonstrance from the male branches of the royal family. This document, (of which a copy was found among Lord Eldon's papers, enclosed in an envelope with a few lines from the Duke of Cumberland, the present King of Hano- ver,) appears obviously, though it bears no address, to have been a communication to Mr. Perceval. (Copy.) " Carlton House, 19ih Dec. 1810, 12 o'clock, p. M. "Sir, "The Prince of Wales having assembled the whole of the male branches of the royal family, and having communicated to us the plan intended to be proposed by his majesty's confidential servants to the Lords and Commons for the establishment of a restricted regency, should the continuance of his majesty's ever-to-be-lamented illness render it necessary; we feel it a duty we owe to his majesty, our country and our- selves, to enter our solemn protest against measures that we consider as perfectly unconstitutional as they are contrary to, and subversive of, the principles that seated our family upon the throne of these realms. "FREDERICK (Duke of York). " WILLIAM ( Clarence). ' EDWARD ( Kent). 'ERNEST ( Cumberland). AUGUSTUS FREDERICK ( Sussex). 'ADOLPHUS FREDERICK ( Cambridge). ' WILLIAM FREDERICK" ( Gloucester). The very kind and gracious note from the Duke of Cumberland to Lord Eldon, which contained the foregoing enclosure, was in these words : " Thursday, (Dec. 20th.) " My dear Lord, "I cannot, without feeling the greatest regret, enclose to you a paper signed, as you will see, by ALL of us: not from its contents being contrary to the bearings of my mind, which has, God knows, been occupied for some time upon this unfortunate calamity, but from there appearing a difference of opinion between yourself and myself; and I believe you cannot doubt, if ever one man is sincerely attached to another from hay- ing the highest veneration, esteem, and, I may add, a sort of filial love, that man is myself, and it is, therefore, a most painful task for me to differ on this occasion; but I hope and trust that this will be the only time. For the hurry and bad writing of this note excuse me, but I am anxious you should receive this as early as possible. " Believe me, "Yours very sincerely, " ERNEST." When the resolutions were opened by Lord Liverpool in the 346 LIFE OF LORD House of Lords on the 4th of January, 1811, the Marquis of Lans- downe moved an amendment, whereof the object was to expunge the words "subject to such limitations and restrictions as shall be pro- vided." This amendment was combated by the lord chancellor, who enumerated the regen- cies constituted since the Revolution, each of which he showed to have been limited by restrictions: and he adverted to an opinion once expressed by Lord Thurlow from the woolsack, that the office of regent was one with which the common law of this realm was unacquainted, and which had its existence only as a creation by statute. Since a regent, therefore, by the very constitution of his office must owe his appoint- ment to the two Houses, it was obvious that the two Houses had the power to measure and limit the authority thus emanating solely from themselves. He felt, too, that, as the subject of a monarch, who himself was limited in his authority by the law, he was entitled, and bound, by his seat in that House, to discuss the propriety of limiting any temporary trust of the executive power. He was sure that not a man among their lordships, that not an English heart in the country, would fail to appreciate the diffi- culties of this moment, or to sympathize in the melancholy cause of them: and all must be anxious so to regulate the authority about to be delegated, that the circum- stances, which the sovereign would find existing at the period of his recovery, should be such as might not infringe the united obligations of public principle and of private feeling. Now what would have been the result, if, in 1789, iheir lordships had acted in the manner now recommended on the other side, and had surrendered to a regent the unfettered exercise of all the royal prerogatives ? What would have been the effect on his majesty's mind, at his coming to the knowledge of his position 1 If the two Houses had then so alienated the appropriate functions of the crown, he was bold enough to say that the effect must have been to impede the resumption of the royal authority. Until the occurrence of the present question, the complaint on the other side had been, that the powers of the crown were too great, and that its influence had become too extensive; but now, on a sudden, the doctrine was that the royal autho- rity could not be left too large. He could not deem it fitting that a principle should at this day be set up subversive of that which was established in 1788-9, especially as a speedy restoration appeared now a much more probable event than when the for- mer regency bill was under the consideration of the House. If the king's health had been now in the state in which it was in 1789, would not their lordships have much less sanguine hope than at present of its early re-establishment? And yet, even in. 1789, the Parliament having been opened on the 20th of February under the autho- rity of the great seal, the two Houses, on the 10th of March, were apprised of his ma- jesty's happy recovery. Lord Lansdowne's amendment was carried against ministers in the committee, by a majority of 105 against 102: but on the report, this resolution was restored to its original form. The fifth resolution, however, was passed and eventually reported by both Houses in a shape materially differing from that in which ministers had proposed it. Instead of enabling the queen to nominate to, and remove from, the several offices of the household, it limited her authority in that department to "the sole direction of such portion of his majesty's household as should be deemed requisite and suitable for the due attendance on his majesty's sacred person and the maintenance of his royal dignity." This last amendment was an intelligible indication that the two Houses of Parliament were preparing to favour the wishes and views of the Prince of Wales : and the policy of the ministers, therefore, was obviously to gain time, and take the longest possible chance for the king's recovery, to which the physicians were still looking with con- siderable confidence. Meanwhile there arose a practical impediment of an unexpected CHANCELLOR ELDON. 347 kind. Certain sums had been appropriated by Parliament to naval and military services; but the Exchequer Act required that the issue of public money for them should be under the privy seal, or under the great seal, or under an act of Parliament. An act of Parliament was prevented by the circumstances of the time : the great seal had never been used to authorize an issue except for civil purposes : and the clerk of the privy seal was of opinion that his oath of office precluded him from passing the necessary letters of privy seal, (the document to which the privy seal is affixed by the lord keeper there- of,) without the usual docket, certifying a previous warrant under the king's sign manual. The lords of the treasury having issued a warrant of their own to Lord Grenville, the auditor of the exchequer, requiring him to draw an order for payment of the money, he declined to comply with it for want of the authority prescribed by the Exche- quer Act : and suggested that the only power constitutionally compe- tent to relieve the difficulty, was that of the two Houses of Parliament, who had declared that it was their right and duty " to provide the means of supplying the defect of the personal exercise of the royal authority," according to the exigency of the case. Mr. Perceval, in this difficulty, applied for and obtained, after some debate, a resolution of the House of Commons, authorizing the audi- tor and officers of the exchequer to pay such sums as the treasury warrants might, from time to time, direct. Lord Liverpool, on the following day, the 5th of January, moved for the concurrence of the Upper House in this resolution : to which Lord Grenville, asserting the uprightness of his motives, consented, on the principle of obviat- ing any impediment to the public service ; but declared his opinion that the conduct of ministers had been most injurious to the country, and that, but for that conduct, there might have been an executive government so established that this difficulty could not have arisen. The lord chancellor expressed himself ready to do justice to Lord Grenville's motives. He admitted that officers in such situations as that of auditor of the exche- quer were to be guided by different considerations from (hose which, under special circumstances, must regulate the conduct of ministers of state. The present ques- tion was merely whether the House should direct an issue of money, for which a necessity had been declared to exist. How that necessity had arisen was a distinct question, which would be fully open to discussion, when the time should arrive for a general review of the conduct of ministers in these transactions. It had appeared to him that for such services as those for which this money was required, the issue ought not to be under the great seal. The privy seal, in his opinion, might have been employed, and the lord keeper of it, he believed, would not have refused; but then arose the difficulty with the clerks; and thus the application to the two Houses had become indispensable. The resolution passed, though not without a protest from a num- ber of peers, including all the royal dukes, on the ground that the principle of such a resolution went to justify the assumption of all the executive powers of the crown by the two Houses, during any sus- pension of the personal exercise of the royal authority. During the before-mentioned discussions in the House of Lords respecting the resolution for the regulation of the household, and 348 LIFE OF LORD before the appointment of the regent, a question, touching the extent of the right of proxy, had given rise to some keen debate. Although, in committees of the House of Lords, no votes are taken but of peers actually present, yet in the proceedings on the report, which is a re- vision by the House of what has been done in committee, the general rule obtains, and the proxies are admitted as on other occasions. But in this particular case it was contended that proxies were inadmissible, on the ground that the Peers were now assembled, not as a House of Parliament, but as one of the estates of the realm. The lord chan- cellor was strongly opposed to this doctrine ; arid in order to the set- tlement of the question, he brought it before the House on the 23d of January, 1811, in a series of resolutions, purporting that on any ques- tion finally* put upon any business in the House of Lords when assem- bled under the king's commission, whether the Parliament should have been opened or not, proxies should be counted, unless where there should be a standing order to the contrary, or unless where the House should have determined otherwise on a motion made antecedently to the vote on the main question : and that proxies should be counted in any such antecedent motion for excluding proxies, and in any vote upon the previous question whether the motion for excluding proxies should be put or not. In support of these resolutions, the lord chancellor expressed his anxiety to pre- vent the establishment of a precedent, by which the Peers of England might be divided into two bodies, those personally present, and those personally absent, in con- tradiction to the constitutional usage by which all the lords personally absent had the right of being present by their proxies. In whatever way the usage of voting by proxy might be considered, it ought to be upheld: if as a privilege, there was no reason why their lordships should surrender it; if as a duty, they ought not to betray it. He entered into some historical details to show the uniform usage of voting by proxy, and particularly instanced the period of 1660, when proxies were entered, before the causes for the meeting of Parliament had been declared by the king in person or by commission, in other words, before the Parliament had been opened. He protested against the doctrine that the House, when it met on the first of the pre- ceding November, was assembled in any other character than that of a House of Parliament. It assembled, under a regular prorogation of Parliament to that day, and, assembling as a House of Parliament, possessed all the privileges which be- longed to it as such, and, among the rest, the right of proxy. Lord Moira opposed the resolutions, and moved an adjournment : which, after a debate terminating with a short reply from the lord chancellor, was carried by a majority of two. In the course of this discussion, Lord Stanhope had assailed the lord chancellor and Lord Redesdale, with a levity not suitable to the character of the dignified assembly he addressed. The chancellor, in his reply, requested the House to consider carefully whether the very speech of the noble earl against proxies did not indicate that, with reference to their lordships' dignity and the decorum of their proceedings, it might sometimes be even more eligible to take the v sense of the House by proxy than in person. In the following week the addresses of both Houses were presented to the Prince of Wales, who signified his intention to accept the * In Hansard's Debates, the word is "finally:" in the Journals, "fully." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 349 regency, when it should be conferred upon him, even with the re- strictions ; after which, in pursuance of a resolution of both Houses, the great seal was affixed by the lord chancellor to a commission for opening the Parliament, and under it the Parliament was opened on the 15th of January. The Regency Bill was on the same day intro- duced into the House of Commons, whence it was sent up, on the 23d of January, to the Lords. Here, on the 25th, in the committee, a great struggle took place on the clause relating to the household. The bill, as passed by the Commons, had reverted to the principle of the fifth of the preliminary resolutions, as originally proposed on the part of ministers, by placing in the hands of the queen the appoint- ment and control of the chief household officers ; which alteration may probably have been owing to an opinion then prevalent that the king's health was rapidly improving. On this clause, when discussed in committee of the House of Lords, the Marquis of Lansdowne moved an amendment, proposing to defer the arrangements respecting the household until after the regency should have been constituted. Lord Liverpool opposed that amendment, and was followed by Lord Grey, who directed his animadversions in an especial manner against the lord chancellor. The effect (said Lord Grey) of the enactment, in its present shape, would be, to give the queen about forty-seven appointments, and the regent only two. This was not the fair interpretation of the preliminary resolution, which had limited the queen's authority to such portion of the household "as should be deemed requisite and suita- ble for the due attendance on his majesty's sacred person and the maintenance of his royal dignity." The noble and learned lord, he believed, was actuated by conscien- tious feelings ; the frequency of his appeal to those feelings was evidence of their sincerity, and he besought him, therefore, to indulge the same honourable sentiment in the discharge of his political, as he was proverbially accustomed to do in his legal and judicial functions. Suppose the case (and he put it directly to the noble and learned lord, who had high judicial duties to perform in another place), of a person deceased, by whose will a portion of the estate was directed to be applied to the sup- port of the aged widow, while the remainder was to devolve to the eldest son, for the general purposes of maintaining himself and the members of the family in the rank and station to which they belonged. Would the noble and learned lord interpret the intention of the testator to be, that forty-seven shares (for that was the proportion of the household to be given to the queen) should belong to the widow, and two to the heirl With respect to that part of the bill which provided for the resumption of the royal authority upon his majesty's recovery, he would say that no one, not even any of the noble lords on the other side of the House, would more sincerely rejoice at the arrival of that period than himself; but he must have other authority for the fact of such recovery than the mere putting of the great seal to a commission in his ma- jesty's name. Considering what had taken place on two former occasions, when it was notorious that the great seal had been employed, as if by his majesty's command, at a time when he was under the care and actual restraint of a physician, for a malady similar to that by which he was now afflicted, the noble and learned lord must excuse him for saying there must be better authority produced than his declara- tion for his majesty's recovery. Nothing short of an examination of the physicians by their lordships could afford that proof of it which would satisfy his mind. He would vote for the amendment proposed by his noble friend. The lord chancellor now rose with evident emotion. The allusions of the noble earl (he said) were so marked, that he could not suppress the feeling they had excited, nor omit to take the earliest opportunity of answering them: and he trusted, therefore, that the committee would pardon him for trespassing on their attention. If he had occasionally referred to the rule of his own conscience, it was because that was the rule by which, from the outset of his public 350 LIFE OF LORD life to the present hour, he had endeavoured to regulate his conduct. Confident in the probity of his intentions, and assured of the integrity with which he had laboured to perform his official duties both to the sovereign and the public, he would now repeat that he not only did not decline, but distinctly challenged, the strictest inquiry into his conduct. Nor would he scruple to declare, that no fear, no influence of any kind, should deter him from doing again what he had already done, if he conceived it necessary to the interests of the king his master, or of the country at large. Of his majesty he never could speak without gratitude for the favours, the obligations, the king had heaped upon him ; nor think, without the acutest sensibility, of that unhappy malady by which his sovereign was oppressed. Reports of physicians should not operate, nor threats within or without the doors of that House, to prevent him from exercising his own judgment in whatever regarded the interests of his royal master. Rather than desert his allegiance by shrinking from any step pointed out to him by his duty and his office, he would bear to perish ignominiously on the scaffold. In. every case which might arise, he would act upon his official responsibility, and con- tent himself with leaving the consequences to Heaven. In what he had done upon the occasion alluded to by the noble earl, he had pursued, under the solemn obligation of an oath, the course which his judgment prescribed to him. He felt himself, there- fore, superior to the uncalled-for imputation of the noble earl; and until his country should tell him he had done wrong, he should rest satisfied with his own conduct in. that matter. No man was entitled to charge him with a criminal act. He had long and faithfully served a most gracious master, at the most critical moment this country had ever known; he had received, in the measures he had taken to suppress the societies framed for the subversion of the government, the full co-operation of some noble lords opposite, while other noble lords now sitting side by side with them were decrying, obstructing and ridiculing those measures; which, strong as they were, would yet, he believed, had they stood alone, have failed to produce the good effects which followed from them, it being his conscientious persuasion that, at that mo- mentous period, nothing could have saved the monarchy but the value of the sove- reign's personal character, and the almost universal love and reverence of the people for the possessor of the throne. Into the transactions of 1801 and 1804, he would again say that he challenged the strictest inquiry. The opinions of physicians, though entitled to great attention, were not to bind him absolutely; he must act, and he had always acted, on his oath and to the best of his own judgment: charges, therefore, and menaces were indifferent to him. "Let them come, (continued he); I am ready to encounter them; impavidum ferient. To the daily scandal poured out against me, I will not condescend to reply; nor will I ask of the noble lord to trust me. I have been attacked and reviled, but 1 disregard it. Actions which I have never done have been imputed to me, and actions which I have done have been swollen and distorted by misrepresentation and calumny. In the newspapers, I may read to-morrow, as I have often read before, sentiments and expressions attributed to me of which I am totally unconscious; but all this lean view without pain. I never refer to those diurnal publications, without discovering errors and misrepresentations as to myself; but the consciousness of rectitude and integrity is sufficient to sustain my equanimity. I have been significantly asked, whether I would supersede a commission of lunacy against the opinion of physicians. I have often done so. Perhaps I may have been wrong in so doing, but again, I repeat, I have acted on my conscience. "With respect to the clause now tinder consideration, I will say, using an expres- sion which I borrow from one well skilled in the science of human nature, that I know not how 'to disquantity* the train' of my royal master. I am asked what I would do in the Court of Chancery if the present clause came before me, in connection with the resolution on which it is founded 1 I answer, that the resolution is not of such certainty that a court could deal with it at all. But I will ask a question in my turn, and it is this: Are there any two of the noble lords on the other side of the House, who are agreed in their own view of what the resolution prescribes] I have heard of several plans, four or five at the least all of which are at variance. If I am asked my own view, I say that I deem the whole of the household to be ' requisite and suitable for the due attendance on his majesty's sacred person, and the maintenance of his royal dignity:' those are the words of the resolution, and therefore, according to the principle of that resolution, the whole of the household ought, in my sincere opinion, to be in the gift of her majesty. In saying this, I speak with the same tender regard to conscience as if I were acting in a judicial capacity. I will tell this House, * King Lear, Act I. Scene 4. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 351 I will tell every man who hears me, I will tell all his majesty's subjects, that the last thing I would do, in the court in which I sit, would be to remove from any man, labouring under an affliction such as has unhappily befallen his majesty, the comforts which become his condition and to which he has been accustomed. For myself, let me but see my sovereign well, and then let me depart in peace. I cannot take my heart out of my breast, and forget that my most gracious master is a man. Let those who can do so, do it. I am not made of such impenetrable stuff; I have neither the nerve nor the apathy requisite for such stern and unrelenting duty. Until his ma- jesty shall vacate his throne by descending into his grave, to no other person shall I acknowledge myself a subject. " Before I sit down, I must make my solemn protest against the principle upon which the proposed distribution of the household patronage is argued; as if the government of this country could not be carried on, except upon a system the most unconstitutional, the most degrading, and I will even say the most Jacobinical, that was ever suggested by the most inveterate enemies of the constitution. What? Are your lordships to be told that no master of the horse, no groom to the stole, no lord steward of the household, has the least consideration for the country, but that their votes in this House will be controlled and directed by those, to whom they owe their respective appointments! If this be the case, I have got, at the end of my life, into such company as I never was placed in at the beginning of it. But I cannot believe that the noble persons about me, the descendants of those whose virtues and talents adorn the history of this great country, can be influenced by the unworthy motives thus ascribed to them. "As to the amendment proposed by the noble marquis, I do entirely disapprove it. So much so, indeed, that if every one of your lordships were to go below the bar to vote for it, I should feel it the proudest act of my life to stand alone, and record my loyalty to my sovereign by voting against it. And I put it to you as men, whether you can consent to an arrangement so humiliating to your sovereign, as that which must be the result of such an amendment. "The regent, to be sure, will be subject to restrictions; but the king himself, in this country, is a limited monarch. His majesty, whatever his mental state, must be king until he descends into the grave. I can never discharge it from my recollection that the committee has two objects to accomplish: it has to provide for the stability and security of the government; but it has also to provide for the safe and efiectual resumption of the royal functions on the part of his majesty, whenever his recovery shall be fully ascertained. I feel the importance of the former consideration; but I feel, also, that, in taking care for his majesty's restoration to his government, we are providing in the most effectual manner for the true interests and for the ultimate security of the state. Your lordships, therefore, should not diminish the splendour that surrounds his majesty, but preserve it in all its plenitude. I remember, and with a satisfaction which will terminate only with my life, the part which I took in the dis- cussions of 1789: I will act on the same principles now. My conduct on that occa- sion obtained for me the approbation of my gracious master, as I trust will my con- duct in the present crisis. I have no reason to change the opinion which I gave in a former debate respecting the probabilities of his recovery. Far from it: for, in ad- dition to what I then said, I have now the satisfaction of acquainting the House, that his actual state gives increased expectations of that happy result." Lord Eldon concluded this speech, which he delivered throughout with peculiar solemnity, by declaring that at such a period as the present, he was incapable of en- tertaining any interested views, and by repeating his regard and veneration for the king, and his intention to oppose the amendment. The amendment, however, was carried by 107 against 98. When the report of the committee was brought up on the 28th of January, 1811, a discussion arose on the clause for terminating the restrictions on the 1st of February, 1812. Lord Grenville proposed as an amendment, that they should cease on the 1st of August, 1811. The lord chancellor thought it an irresistible reason against the cessation of the restrictions in August, that Parliament would not then be assembled. It was of the greatest importance that both Houses should be sitting when the bill now under con- sideration should expire. He took this opportunity to repeat his denial of the charge with which he had been assailed on a former evening. There were many noble lords 352 LIFE OF LORD now present, who well knew how complete a justification he possessed against all the accusations aimed at him. Nay, some of those who had formed part of an adminis- tration with him, and who had acted with him then sat now on the bench with his accusers, and were, and must be, convinced that all he said in his own vindication was strictly true. " What I did," continued Lord Eldon, "I did with the concurrence and with the approbation of all my colleagues, but I would have done it, even had I differed from every man among them. Nay, I say that acting conscientiously, so help me God, I could not have done otherwise than I did. Whilst I have the approbation of my own conscience, I am ready to incur every risk, and submit to all the respon- sibility to which I am exposed by the faithful discharge of my duty. But what, I will ask, is the nature of the crime imputed to me? Why, that on the occasions in ques- tion, I acted in obedience to his majesty's commands. What would the noble earl (Lord Grey) have thought of my conduct, if I had refused compliance] What kind of crime would the noble lord have held me guilty of, if I had dared to disobey the positive commands of the sovereign] I acted then upon my conscience, and to the best of my judgment: my rule of conduct is the same on this occasion. I will act on my oath, in despite of the opposition of the whole world. It is my opinion, so help me God, that there is a most material amendment in his majesty. It is little more than forty-eight hours since I had an opportunity of ascertaining this improvement; and I trust in God that my gracious master will live many years, to be, as he has always been, the benefactor of his subjects." Earl Grey, in answering this speech, made the following observa- tions on the statement and conduct of the lord chancellor. In performing what I conceive to be my duty to your lordships and to my country, lam bound to arraign the noble lord for an offence little short of high treason. In bringing this accusation against the noble and learned lord, I will not conceal that it is my intention to deal as severely with him as I possibly can; but, at the same time, as justly as the importance of the question and the solemnity of the case require. The rigid and impartial line of public duty I shall strictly observe towards the noble lord, determined that neither his agitation nor his fears shall deter me from arraign- ing him, if I shall find that he has been guilty of what I cannot but consider all but treason. The noble and learned lord asks, What is the designation of that crime which a public servant would commit in refusing to obey the just commands of his sovereign 1 I acknowledge that would be treason to the sovereign; but with my an- swer to that appeal, I beg leave to couple another question : What, I ask, would be the character, what the appropriate punishment of his offence, who, knowing his sovereign to be actually at the time incompetent, who, in the full conviction of his notorious and avowed incapacity, and whilst he was under medical care and personal restraint, should come here and declare that there was no necessary suspension of the royal functions; who, under such circumstances, should, in his majesty's name, and under the pretext of his majesty's commands, put the royal seal to acts which could not be legal without his majesty's full and complete acquiescence 1 What, I ask, would be the crime of that man who should venture to take such a course? I do not hesitate to pronounce his offence to be treason against the constitution and the country. With respect to the conduct of the noble and learned lord on those former occa- sions to which I before alluded, it is now in evidence before your lordships, that, as well in the year 1801 as 1804, the king's name had been used to public acts, and the royal authority exercised, at a time when, according to the evidence, his majesty was personally incapable of exercising his royal functions. His majesty's malady began about the 12th of February, 1801, and continued without remission till the beginning of March. Your lordships will recollect that councils had been held, and members sworn in, during that interval. The foreign relations of the country, too, had under- gone a material change in that period. Sweden, which had been our ally, assumed a hostile aspect, and acceded to the northern confederacy ; and even considerable expeditions were equipped and sent out. Subsequent to that date, too, about the 17th of March, another council was held and members sworn of it. Here I must beg the attention of your lordships to the circumstance, that about the 14th or 15th of June following, even after he had been declared to be fully recovered, his majesty had a relapse, which, though it did not last long, required the aid of attendance. All this took place in 1801. In 1804 I was a member of the other House, and, from the anxiety felt by the public upon the subject, considered it my duty to put a question to CHANCELLOR ELDON. 353 the noble viscount on the cross bench (Sidmouth,) then a member of the other House, respecting the state of his majesty's health; and though my noble friend at first en- deavoured to shift and evade the question, upon being pressed, he ended with saying, that there was no necessary suspension of the royal functions. To a similar question put in this House, the nobie lord upon the woolsack returned a similar declaration. Certainly the noble lord opposite (Lord Liverpool) had made such a declaration, and that was afterwards confirmed by the noble lord on the woolsack, in this House. Now, by referring to the evidence of Dr. Heberden, your lordships will find, that at that very period his majesty had been ill, and continued in that state from the 12th of February, 1804, to the 23d of April following, when, I believe, he presided at a coun- cil a circumstance which most probably was considered as sufficient proof that his majesty was well enough to resume his royal authority. Within that interval, viz., on the 9th of March, a commission was issued under his majesty's great seal, for giving the royal assent to fifteen different bills which had passed the two Houses. But still more the noble and learned lord had, on the 5th of March, an interview with his majesty, in consequence of which he felt himself warranted in declaring to your lordships, that his majesty's intellects were sound and unimpaired. But will this House consider a hasty opinion, formed during such an interview, which may have taken place at a lucid interval, sufficient to outweigh the evidence, upon oath, of physicians regularly and constantly in attendance 1 Will you not, on the contrary, be convinced that it would be a direct breach of the constitution, for the highest officer in his majesty's service to venture, under such circumstances, even during a lucid interval, to take his majesty's pleasure upon high matters of state ? I will put it even to the noble and learned lord himself, whether, in the case of a private indi- vidual, who should have continued, from the 12th of February to the 23d of April, in a state of lunacy, and might, within that period, have been induced by an attorney to make a will, that noble lord would consider such a will valid? If the transaction should subsequently be submitted to the Court of Chancery, what would be the feel- ings of the court ? what its just reprobation of the conduct of the attorney 1 The charge, therefore, which I have to make upon the noble lords before your lord- ships, and in the face of the country, is this, that they have culpably made use of the king's name without the king's sanction, and criminally exercised the royal func- tions, when the sovereign was labouring under a moral incapacity to authorize such a proceeding; and with such a transaction in your view, I will ask your lordships whether you will suffer this bill to pass without making effectual provision to prevent the recurrence of similar circumstances, whether, if you should omit to make such provision, you will perform your duty to the public, whose interests you are Jxiund solemnly to secure and to protect! In the evidence of Dr. Reynolds it appears, that when the king removed to Kew, in 1804, he had himself ceased to attend him, and for this reason, that it would have a better appearance to the public. It was also apparent from the evidence, that his majesty was then, and till October continued to be, in such a state as to require medical attendance. I am prepared also to assert, and challenge the noble lord to deny the fact, that Dr. Simmons and his attendant; had not only been in attendance, but exercised control over his majesty, until the 10th of June. For my own part, I shall never consent to suffer a lord chancellor, a lord keeper, or any man, or set of men, however great or distinguished, to possess himself or themselves of the royal authority under such circumstances, and exercise the functions of the sovereign. After several other peers had been heard, Lord Sidmouth made a plain statement to the House, in which he declared, for himself and his colleagues in 1804, that they were prepared to justify their con- duct in every point; that he was ready to answer for them all, and more particularly for the noble and learned lord. The Duke of Gloucester spoke shortly for the amendment ; and then Lord Moira, at some length, but with less asperity than Lord Grey, renewed the charges against the lord chancellor; who, thus again attacked, said, He coald not forbear to observe how unfair it was to select him individually from the ministers of 1801 and 1804, and make him the constant object of atla should have done him the justice to state that the course then adopts opinion, not of himself individually, but of the administration generally; upon VOL. i. 23 354 LIFE OF LORD unanimous opinion, he was proud to say, of many great and honourable men with whom he then acted. He thought he could satisfy any candid man of the propriety of his conduct both in 1801 and in 1804. In 1801 he had not been a member of the government till the 14th of April, when he had accepted the seals in circumstances wherein he could have no motive for it but the commands of his majesty; and after the 14th of April, he knew of no act done which would fall within the objection ad- vanced on the other side. "In 1804," continued Lord Eldon, "several distinguished noblemen, now present among your lordships, were members of the cabinet : one of them was a noble lord opposite (Earl St. Vincent), who was then first lord of the admiralty, and who, after being present at the examination of the physicians, con- curred with the rest of the cabinet in the conduct then pursued. The physicians having all been agreed that on the 9th of March, his majesty was fully competent to do the act which they had advised him to perform, the question now is, whether, under that medical authority, I was right in doing what I did for the transaction of most important business, or whether I ought to have left the country to shift for itself. If I had entertained the smallest doubt of his majesty's competency to direct a com- mission for giving the royal assent to the bills which then awaited that sanction, I should have done one of two things: either I should have taken upon myself to affix the great seal to that commission and have applied to Parliament for an indemnity, or I should have come to the House and made the same declaration as on the 1st of November, 1810. And, even if the evidence of the physicians had been less decided than it was, I assert it to be most important to the sovereign, that a chancellor be not wholly determined by medical opinions, so as to suspend the royal authority where he himself thinks the king fully competent to exercise it. It does not follow, because the physicians all concurred in the acts then done, that I am guilty of any inconsist- ency in saying now, that, whatever might be the report of the king's physicians, I would not consent, on that mere report, to dethrone his majesty, while I myself, in my judgment and conscience, believed the king adequate to the discharge of the royal functions. I must be permitted to state that the great man who was then at the head of the administration (Mr. Pitt) afterwards expressed some surprise, when he found that it had been my fixed resolution never to see his majesty, at any time when he could be considered under the control of others or in presence of any persons who might be considered as exercising any control over him. My interviews with, his majesty at that time were always in the absence of such persons,- and it was my firm conviction that I was warranted in the course that was then adopted. I knew the dangers of this pro- ceeding, but I knew my duty, too, and had determined to see my sovereign and judge of his complaint, when he was as free from restraint as any of his subjects whom it has been my painful duty to examine under similar circumstances. This was very hazardous to myself; but I did my duty without being deterred by fear of conse- quences. His majesty, on the 9th of March, understood the duty which I had to perform better than I did myself; this I believe I can prove.* If I had acted wrong, it was with the best intentions, and those would acquit me in the sight of God, if not in the opinion of my country." Earl Grey rejoined, that the constitution of this country always selects for respon- sibility the individual minister who does any particular act; and it was upon this ground that he had singled out the lord chancellor from the rest of his colleagues upon a question of affixing the great seal. For this he was individually responsible. The constitution knew nothing of the committee called a cabinet. Every individual minister was responsible for his own conduct. If ever the time should come when it might be thought necessary to call the serious attention of the House to the con- duct of the noble and learned lord, the House must determine simply on the propriety of his conduct, and not upon the purity of his intentions, or the coincidence of other people with his opinions. As to the statement of the noble and learned lord about his never visiting his majesty in the presence of persons under whose control he might be supposed to be, he should only observe that it was not the removal of the persons appointed to control his majesty from the room in which he saw his chan- cellor it was not their removal from an ante-chamber that would justify a minister in acting as the noble and learned lord had done. The absence of all idea of control from his mind was necessary, before the chancellor could have, in his name, exer- cised the royal authority, and adopted a line of conduct which, in this case, he could * See above, March 9th, 1804, extract from the Anecdote Book, Chap. XVIII., and Lord Eldon's account of his explanations with Mr. Pitt, respecting the real circum- stances of the communication between the king and himself, Chap. XIX. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 355 consider as nothing less than usurpation. It appeared from the evidence, that from the 12th of February up to the 23d of April, and even so late as the 10th of June, in that year, his majesty had been attended by Dr. Simmons and his servants, who did exercise a control over the mind of his majesty. He did not mean to say that this control was constantly exerted, or that those persons were present when the sove- reign was visited by the noble and learned lord; but there was a knowledge in the king's mind that those persons were in attendance, and could be brought forward lo control him whenever it might be judged necessary. If such had been the circum- stances in a former case, he should now call upon their lordships, as peers of the realm, as hereditary guardians of the constitution and of the liberties of the people, not to suffer this usurpation to pass, without taking effectual measures to prevent the recurrence of such conduct in future. On the 7th of May, 1804, at the time his majesty was thus under control, the union of the two great political rivals (Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt) had been in contemplation, but had been prevented. This, too, was a subject for serious consideration. The lord chancellor again rose, and strongly denied this last alle- gation also.* Lord Grenville's amendment was negatived by 139 against 122, and the clause, as originally framed by ministers, was carried by 139 against 124. On the clause appointing the queen's council, Lord King moved the omission of Lord Eldon's name. This proposal he grounded on the evidence given by the king's physicians, that in 1804, his majesty's illness had continued from the 12th of February to the 23d of April, in which interval the great seal was affixed to two commissions, one dated the 9th and one the 23d of March: and that the lord chancellor had also signified the royal assent to the Duke of York's Estate Bill, being a public bill affecting the interests of the crown. He said that the noble and learned lord, having thus, in consequence of his own erroneous view and strong bias, been instrumental to deceive the House and the country, in 1804, was an improper person to be placed on the queen's council, because, if appointed to a seat in it, he, from his high station and legal character, would be the party to decide on the competence of the sovereign. Lord King then desired that there should be read the commissions of the 9th and 23d of March, and the evidence of Dr. Heberden before the Lords' committee. The Earls of Buckinghamshire and Westmoreland contended for the retention of Lord Eldon's name in the list of the council, and took to themselves their share in the responsibility of the government of 1804, of which they both had been members. Lord Redesdale spoke on the same side ; and after a few words from Earl Grey and Lord Lauderdale, the motion of Lord King was negatived by a majority of 139 against 54. A protest was entered by Earl Grey and several other peers against the rejection of Lord King's motion. f Some amendments, made in the bill by the Lords, were agreed to by the Commons, who brought it back to the Upper House on the 1st of February. Lord Liverpool moved on the 2d, that a commission should issue under the great seal for giving the royal assent to the Regency Bill. This resolution having, after some discussion in each of the two Houses, been carried in both, the royal assent was accord- ingly given to the bill by the lord chancellor and other commissioners on the 5th of February. The following are extracts from a letter addressed to Mr. Perceval, of which the draft was found in Lord Eldon's hand-writing: A reference by himself to this denial will be found in a later page of this chap- ter, at the conclusion of some extracts from a letter of his to Mr. Perceval, f Lords' Journals, Jan. 28th, 1811. 356 LIFE OF LORD "The members of Mr. Addington's administration, who retired, found the sove- reign, in personal interviews, quite capable of acting, and Mr. Pitt and those who came in with him, in his majesty's presence, accepted their offices. "It is not here immaterial to mention, that Mr. Pitt was minister in 1789, and he knew the king's state intimately in 1801 ; he saw it in 1804. He knew, therefore, in what manner, and under what circumstances, and under what care and provident management the king continued to exercise his functions in both those periods, 1789 and 1801. In fact, who did not know it] He drew his notions of the principle upon which he ought to act, from Lord Thurlow and Lord Camden in 1789; and, if the king's acting under medical management was wrong, they were wrong in the first instance. Lord Thurlow's notion was, (which it is both difficult to maintain and to deny.) that an individual of the highest powers, reduced to be an individual of very weak intellects by the effect of bodily or mental indisposition, if barely compos mentis, has a right to the management of his own affairs. Mr. Pitt, so reduced to the powers or weakness of a child of 14, might have managed personal property, by disposition, of *the most enormous value. A king is never in law non compos: in his cradle in the delirium of fever in the struggle in which soul and body are parting the law acknowledges no weakness in him. This is the view of him, which allegiance and the obligation of oath compel his servant and subject to take. If his actual state negatives all theory, reason seems to justify another view of him but, that reason should present such other view, the law does not presuppose. The very principle \ipon which this proceeds, at least requires that great caution should be used, before individual judgment should be considered as let loose from the obligations of oath and allegiance. In 1789, when Lord Thurlow came to Parliament, he came, as I did on the 1st of November, because the king did not understand and could not comprehend, at the time he was taking his pleasure, upon what he meant to take his pleasure: if the case had been otherwise, I have personal reason, as well as reason arising out of fact, to believe that that great man would not have come to Parliament, upon any notion that either his own or the physicians' judgment might make it likely that some delusions might occur in an hour and a half, after one hour and a half's perfect and sound conversation, uninfluenced in the matter and nature of it by ante- cedent delusions. In the case of the king, he did not think the law, in such circum- stances, authorized him to apply the principles which regulated either the granting or superseding commissions of lunacy (and I do not hesitate to say that I think I never could have induced myself to seal the commission for the Regency Bill in such precise circumstances') and accordingly he and all those with whom he acted, 2Wr. Pitt, Lord Camden, &c., tided on, if I may so express it, through many a difficult scene. Perhaps it would not be going too far to say, that, "months after the king was at St. Paul's, he was not so well as he is at this day. But there is a difference between a declared incapacity and resuming, and undeclared incapacity and a de- throning." The letter, after describing in the words already given near the end of Chapter XIX. the circumstances under which Mr. Pitt communi- cated with the king in 1804, proceeds : "I here digress, to notice that both Lord Grey and Lord Grenville were pleased more than to insinuate that I had taken advantage of the king's weakness to prejudice him against Mr. Fox. I aver this to be a direct falsehood." In his Anecdote Book, he many years afterwards records his denial thus: "Lord Grenville and Lord Grey, in debate in the House of Lords, took an opportunity to do more than insinuate, that I had pre- vented Mr. Fox's being part of the administration ; upon which I stated that there was no language of contradiction to what they repre- sented, which a gentleman could use in a company of gentlemen, which could be more strong than that in which I desired the House to understand me as contradicting those lords."* This denial must not be extended beyond the charge it w r as meant * Parl. Deb. January 28th, 181 1. See also Lord Eldon's account of his interviews with Mr. Pitt in the spring of 1804 ; Chap. XIX. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 357 to meet, of having taken advantage of the king's weak state to excite a prejudice against Mr. Fox in the royal mind; for Lord Eldon, though he spurned the accusation of having tampered with the king, had avowedly employed all legitimate means for preventing Mr. Fox's accession to the ministry, and in particular was wont to claim credit for the earnestness with which he had counselled Mr. Pitt against such a coalition.* Among the embarrassments of the administration was the course pursued by the royal dukes, who, acting throughout these proceed- ings in the spirit of their original remonstrance,! threw their whole weight into the scale of the heir-apparent, and had well nigh turned the balance against the government and the queen. (Lord Eldon to Sir W. Scott.') (Extract.) (No date; but probably end of Jan. 1811.) "I hope you are net angry with me for not seeking to see you. The fact is, that my present duties are, or are thought by me to be, so arduous and difficult, and wflhal so perilous, that I do not wish to ask anybody's advice, or to involve those I love in the consequences of my conduct. I am hardly in my right mind upon what is passing and, when I am attacked day by day, and every man who was with me in adminis- tration in 1804 is obstinately holding silence, and the whole royal family, whose pro- testations of gratitude my boxes teem with, are among my enemies; God help me, if I had not the means of proving that I have nothing to fear. I know I should be asking advice if I were with you, and I have determined rather to look for consolation to those whom I affectionately love, after I have acted for myself, than to pursue any other course of proceeding. " I saw the king on Saturday! for much more than an hour. He is not well, and I fear he requires time. In the midst of this state it is impossible to conceive how right, how pious, how religious, how every thing that he should be, he is, with the distressing aberrations I allude to. "Yours affectionately, "Etnoir." See Lord Eldon's letter to Lord Melville, of January, 1807: Chap XXIII. f See above, Chap. XXXI. t The 26th of January. See Lord Eldon's speech in the House of Lords on the 28th, referring to the interview with the king a little more than forty-eight hours before. 358 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXXII. 1811. Mr. Perceval's administration continued by the regent. Letters from the queen. Ex-officio informations: Judicial arrears in Chancery and in the House of Lords: Mr. M. A. Taylor's attempts at Chancery reform : anecdotes of him. Debates in House of Lords on the Irish convention: On the dissenting ministers' bill: On the abolition of certain capital punishments. Letters of Lord Ellenborough and the Duke of York. House of Lords, Catholic question, Court of Admiralty. Letter of Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire. Currency. Letters from Mr. Perceval on the govern- ment of Ireland, and on the approaching termination of the regency restrictions. Letter from Lord Ellenborough. Verses by Lord Eldon to his lady. Sir William Scott's property saved by Lord Eldon. Unfavourable state of the king's health. THE difficulties of Lord Eldon and his colleagues were now relieved in a very unexpected manner. The Regency Bill having finally passed both Houses, and being about to obtain the sanction of the great seal by commission issued under the resolutions of the Lords and Com- mons, the prince addressed a letter to Mr. Perceval, in which he declared that, actuated solely by filial duty and affection, and dread- ing lest any act of his might, in the smallest degree, interfere with the progress of his father's recovery, he felt it " incumbent upon him, at this precise juncture, to communicate to Mr. Perceval his intention not to remove from their stations those whom he found there, as his majesty's official servants." In this decision he, of course, was not uninfluenced by the consideration that, as the king's recovery appeared to be approaching, no change then made would have much likelihood of permanence. The devotion which, in all the transactions and discussions on the regency, had been evinced by Lord Eldon to the king, was highly appreciated by the queen, whose acknowledgments were thus expressed : ( Queen Charlotte to Lard Eldon.) "Windsor, Feb. Gth, 1811. "The queen cannot refrain returning thanks to the lord chancellor for the pleasing account which his note conveyed to her of his majesty's improvement since Friday last, and she feels happy to add that the account, this morning received from Dr. Baillie, continues to increase our hopes still stronger for a complete recovery. The queen had a visit from the Prince of Wales soon after the lord chancellor had left Windsor. He brought a copy of the letter addressed to Mr. Perceval, containing his intention of retaining his majesty's present ministers a step which, independent of the credit it is to the prince, gave the most heartfelt pleasure to herself. She cannot help lamenting that, upon such a melancholy business, which is now finished, and in which the lord chancellor has given such strong proofs of zeal and aifection for his sove- reign and country, his feelings should have been put to such severe trials; but his own conscience and the king's good opinion must be his chief support. As to her- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 359 self, she must always remember, with gratitude, the lord chancellor's attention shown her upon this melancholy occasion. " CHARLOTTE." The king's health still appeared to be improving ; nor was he kept in ignorance of the measures taken by Parliament with respect to his own condition. (Report from the king's physicians to the lord chancellor.} (Extract.) "We have the honour to report to your lordship that his majesty appears to be going on in the most favourable manner. It is right to mention, and we do not think it an unfavourable circumstance, that he has occasionally adverted to the subject of his former delusion, but in so slight a manner as to increase our confidence in its gradual subsidence from his majesty's mind. " We have it in command from his majesty to express his personal regard for your lordship, and the particular satisfaction he has felt from the circumstance of your lordship being made one of her majesty's council, not by your office as the lord chan- cellor, but as Lord Eldon." ( Queen Charlotte to Lord Eldon.) "Windsor, Feb. 22d, 1811. "The queen is anxious to state to the lord chancellor her anxiety that some one or other of her council should come to Windsor at least once a week, to see his majesty's physicians, to receive their report personally. Before the Regency Bill was passed, his majesty's ministers severally came to receive this information; and it is evident that such a personal inquiry would appear as a duty to the king and a respectful attention in her towards H. M. The queen is particularly desirous of this, as the king is constantly asking if not one of the council is coming to do so, and seems to feel that putting it off procrastinates his recovery, as his majesty (she is sorry to say) thinks himself too near that period: and therefore the queen is of opinion, that when his majesty is informed of what passes at those private inquiries, it will prove a check to his expectations. The queen is perfectly sensible that neither the lord chancellor nor the other law lords can be included in this request, but hopes the lord chancellor will consider it, and settle it with the rest of the council. " CHAKLOTTE." The prince regent's opening speech to Parliament was read by the lord chancellor on the 12th of March. The only discussion of any considerable importance in which he took part during the three or four months which succeeded the debates on the regency, was that which arose on the 4th of March, out of a motion made by Lord Holland for an account of all informations ex-officio, filed within the preceding ten years in cases of libel. This motion was made, not upon any specific allegation of abuse, but as the ground of a general argument for relaxing the legal restraints upon seditious publications. The lord chancellor opposed this attempt and vindicated the power of filing ex-officio informations, as essential to the defence of public order. He believed that no attorney-general had prosecuted more libels than it had fallen to his lot to proceed upon. He had acted on the persuasion that libel was one of the most formi- dable weapons then wielded against the constitution and government of this country. After vindicating the proceedings of the then attorney-general, (Sir Vicary Gibbs,) he adverted to, and admitted, the general unpopularity of ex-officio informations. He had known many young men who, when first called to the bar, were most eloquent in their condemnation of these proceedings; but some how or other it had happened, that when those same men reached sufficient eminence to be retained by government and called into consultations, the odiousness of the practice wholly vanished from their sight. As to the complaints of some noble lords in this debate about the rigour of the act of 48 Geo. 3. c. 58, which had invested the attorney-general with the power to require bail on ex-officio informations, the best answer was the fact, that under that 360 LIFE OF LORD statute only one person had been held to bail, and that was in the case of a man who, after having been prosecuted for a libel had the hardihood to republish it forthwith. Lord Eldon added, that the same sort of contumacy had been practised when he was attorney-general, and in a remarkable way. The libellous matter mustbe stated on the record; and the contrivance was, to publish the record containing such matter. It was an amusing piece of ingenuity, but it carried a mischief requiring remedy. The present motion was one which he felt it incumbent on him to oppose, because an acquiescence in such a motion would, in some degree, sanction a suspicion that there was something in the administration of justice which the House considered so far improper as to need some interference. The substantial interests of the public re- quired the primu facie presumption that persons who filled offices of trust, particularly those relating to the administration of the laws, discharge them with fidelity and in- tegrity and no clamours against their conduct should be raised or encouraged, except in. cases of clear and gross misconduct. Lord Holland's motion was negatived by a majority of 24 to 12. The arrears in the Court of Chancery and before the appellate tribunal of the House of Lords, were now so largely increasing, as to overmatch even the chancellor's great powers of intellect and labour. He found it necessary, therefore, on the 5th of March, to move the appointment of a select committee for considering the best way to expedite the appellate business in the House of Lords. A select committee was accordingly appointed, which, on the 30th of May, reported that there were depending 296 appeals and 42 writs of error; that in order to the reduction of this arrear it would be expedient for the House to sit at least three days a week during the session ; and that, for the purpose of securing the lord chancellor's attendance in the House of Lords, and of supplying sufficient means to carry on the business of the Court of Chancery, an additional chancery judge ought to be constituted. On the 7th of March (the next day but one after this committee of the Lords had been appointed, and of course before it could have made any material progress in its inquiries), Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor, who had, in the preceding session, directed the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the subject, and had received from him in answer an assurance that something should be done for the redress of the evil, moved that a committee of the House of Com- mons should be appointed to ascertain and report the number of appeals pending before the House of Lords. The appointment of the committee in the House of Lords having superseded all present necessity for this motion, Mr. Perceval moved the previous question, to which the House agreed. In this debate, the subject being then unmingled with any considerations of party, the parliamentary advo- cates of the suitors in chancery threw out no imputations against Lord Eldon. Mr. Taylor, in the speech with which he introduced his motion, declared, That he meant no imputation upon Lord Eldon, whose attention to his duties he fully acknowledged; but that the business of the court had increased so much beyond what it had been in Lord Hardwicke's time, that it was impossible for any man to dispose of it, however eminent his abilities or sedulous his attention. Mr. Adam said it was certainly true that dilatoriness had arisen to a great height, but wifhmit blame to any one officer of the court. He agreed with his hon. friend, that the noble lord evinced great anxiety to do justice to all parties. Sir Samuel Rorailly said the motion would not convey, either directly or indirectly, any CHANCELLOR ELDON. 361 mark of censure upon the noble and learned lord,- and he did assure the House that nothing could give him greater concern than to be thought to give his consent to any motion which could in any way be construed into a desire to reflect upon the conduct of that noble and learned lord. No man had experienced more uniform acts of kind- ness than himself from the noble and learned lord. Indeed, his general attention to the bar, his conciliatory demeanour, and his strict love of justice, had endeared him to all the gentlemen who practised in that court. A man more eminently qualified, in point of talents and learning, for all parts of his profession, he knew not ; and he most firmly believed that he never had his equal in point of anxiety to do justice to the suitors of the court. If he had any defect, it was an over anxiety in that respect. These were the opinions of the lawyers, even of the reforming lawyers, about Lord Eldon's efficiency, until it occurred to the Whigs to assail the government through the sides of its chancellor. Mr. M. A. Taylor, who will be found returning to the charge in the latter part of the session, and who continued to be the Coryphaeus of chancery reform until the exigences of party transferred the lead to greater performers, was a well-meaning little man, with an import- ant manner and a sonorous voice. Mr. Pitt once said that, to hear him deliver his first sentence in a debate, you would suppose, if you did not know him, that he was about to make a great speech. He had been called to the bar, and bore himself as one learned in its lore, who, if his private fortune had not led him to quit the profes- sion in early life, could hardly have escaped the responsibility of the seals. Uniting much good humour with his pomposity, he was naturally a favourite mark for a sort of friendly quizzing. Lord Eldon, with whom he had gone the northern circuit, used to relate divers stories of him, two or three of which are preserved in the Anecdote Book. On some point of law which arose in the House of Commons, Mr. Taylor had answered Mr. Bearcroft ; but not without an apology that he himself, who was then but a young practitioner, and, as4ie phrased it, "a chicken in the law," should take the liberty of contradicting so eminent an authority. Upon this the Anecdote Book says : " He never lost the name of chicken. But what made him very angry was, that he and Campbell and I, going the northern circuit together, and Taylor, without any cause for hurry, insisting upon making a long day's journey, Campbell and I resisted it and refused to go any farther than to the Cock at Eaton, on the North road : insisting upon the ' Chicken's' sleeping at a relation's house." " In the seditious times," continues Lord Eldon in the Anecdote Book, " I, as attorney-general, filed an information against a pub- lisher of a libel. When it came on for trial, Felix Vaughan, who was much employed for such persons, made an objection in point of law, which I was obliged to admit was good ; though the pleading was drawn by George (afterwards Baron) Wood. The Chief Justice Kenyon stated that the objection was incapable of being answered and was clearly fatal, and the defendant was acquitted. Michael Angelo Taylor, at a sessions in Yorkshire, was chairman ; and there, in one of my prosecutions, a man was tried before him on an indict- ment, to which the very same objection applied, and was urged by the same counsel, Felix Vaughan. Taylor, the chairman, said, ' Mr. 362 LIFE OF LORD Vaughan, that objection might probably do very well if there was not a lawyer in the chair; / overrule it.' Vaughan said, 'Sir, I really thought, and do think, that no answer can be given to the objection. The attorney-general, a few days ago, at Guildhall, admitted it to be unanswerable, and Lord Chief Justice Kenyon declared it to be so.' ' Oh, Mr. Vaughan,' said Taylor, ' they did not understand the matter; they could not have understood the matter.' I think the man was convicted, imprisoned and pardoned" Such was the person who, with great perseverance and a strong desire to do a little conspicuous good, but with a knowledge of his subject pretty nearly inverse as its importance, continued for many years, during some weeks of each spring, to increase, by his pertina- cious pressure of impracticable remedies, the difficulty of supplying an undeniable defect. A representative assembly had been projected by the Irish malcon- tents, which was to have held its sittings in Dublin, and taken the general management of the affairs of the Roman Catholics, under colour of petitioning Parliament and seeking redress of grievances. The Irish government suppressed this project by a circular letter to the magistrates, instructing them that all persons concerned in the attempt to elect or appoint such a body were to be arrested, in pursuance of the Irish Act of 33 Geo. 3. c. 29., commonly called the Convention Act. In a debate of the House of Lords respecting this instruction, on the 4th of April, 1811, The lord chancellor justified the general tenour of the circular. The Convention Act had not the Catholics particularly in its view; it contemplated the assembling of any description of persons, who met together for the purpose of electing others who were to interfere in matters of church and state. It was the nature and intention of such meetings that made them legal or illegal. It mattered not under what denomi- nation they were known whether delegates, managers or any other : they would take their character from their mode of proceeding. If the assembly which these dele- gates or managers proposed to elect was an unlawful assembly, so would the assem- bly be which should elect them. The elected or appointed, according to the nature of the object for which they should have been chosen, communicated the legality or illegality of their meeting to the body electing them. Such was the interpretation of the statute upon which the letter proceeded. A bill had been introduced by Lord Sidmouth on the 9th of May, for preventing improper persons from assuming the character and privileges of dissenting ministers. The dissenters violently opposed this measure as an infraction of the Toleration Act : and the govern- ment discouraged it. On the motion for the second reading, May 21, The lord chancellor admitted that there were considerable doubts as to the con- struction of the law then in being, and particularly as to the class of persons enti- tled to exemptions from the militia. The laxity of interpretation which prevailed at one time was shown by the fact, that in his younger days, when he was liable to be drawn for the militia, he had been advised to get himself exempted by paying six- pence for a license to preach. Among those who now applied for licenses, there were some who could neither write nor read, and who absolutely, when the names of others were written down, took them away as their own. He believed this bill to be well intended and capable of doing good ; but in the present circumstances he would re- commend that it should not be pressed. The bill was rejected. On the 24th, Lord Holland moved the second reading of a bill car- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 363 ried by Sir S. Romilly through the House of Commons which went to remit the capital part of the penalty for privately stealing to the amount of 40s. in a dwelling-house. Lord Ellenborough, as he had done in the instance of the last year's measure relative to shop-lifting, moved, as an amendment, the second reading of the present bill at a distant day, or in other words, the rejection of it. The lord chan- cellor concurred in this opposition on the same grounds which he had taken in the preceding year : and the bill was rejected. A committee appointed by the House of Lords to inquire of delays in chancery had made its report on the 30th of May. On the 5th of June, a committee for inquiring into the same subject was appointed by the House of Commons, on a motion of Mr. M. A. Taylor, which had been adjourned from the 17th of May, and which was now car- ried by the casting vote of the speaker. This last committee met and took evidence respecting arrears, which is annexed to their printed report, dated 18th June, 1811 : but it is stated, in the same report, that they found the probable remainder of time in that session insufficient for the objects of their appointment. Thus the matter stood over till the 26th of February, 1812. The arrival of spring produced no mitigation of the king's malady. The state of his mind is authentically described in the two following letters. (Lord Ellenborough to Lord Eldon.) (Extract) " My dear Lord, "I have had some conversation this evening with the two archbishops on the sub- ject of the questions which we ought to put to the physicians. I own I am very much inclined to doubt the propriety of any opinion I may have formed, if it differs from yours; but agreeing, as I fully do, that our declaration to the privy council need only contain a brief, true and distinct statement of the king's health, encumbered with as little further circumstance as possible, still I think that for our own information, and for our justification with the world, if it should be hereafter inquired of us what information we had in fact obtained at the time when our statement was made, that we should distinctly know, by precise questions put and answered, what the kings ailment actually is, and by what symptoms and circumstances of conversation and conduct it is now manifested, and, also, what is the description and character which we ought properly to ascribe to the delusions (as we call them) and what to the irregularities and extravagances of plans and projects of which we hear daily. "This information, when obtained, is for ourselves and to ourselves only, unless Par- liament shall require it of us and if they do, I own I should be sorry to own that we were possessed of no fuller and more distinct information than we are at present enabled to lay before them on this subject. I should be sorry that we should, in the judgment of any, appear to have inertly and insufficiently exercised a function of inquiry so important as that is which is delegated to us. " St. James's Square, Wed. evening, April 3d, 1811." (The Duke of York to Lord Eldon.) (Extract.) "Stable Yard, May 23th. 1811. " My dear Lord, "At the desire of my brother, the prince regent, I trouble your lordship with this letter, to acquaint you with what has passed during these last two days at Windsor, from whence I am only returned this afternoon. Upon my arrival there yesterday morning, I found his majesty in the queen's room. He appeared at first very much affected at seeing me, and expressed himself in the kindest and most affectionate manner upon my re-appointment to the chief command of the army; but soon flew off from that subject, and then ran on, in perfect good humour, but with the greatest rapidity and with little or no connection, upon the most trifling topics, at limes hint- 364 LIFE OF LORD ing at some of the subjects of his delusion, in spite of all our endeavours to change the conversation. This continued the same during his ride and the whole of the queen's visit in the afternoon; and though this morning his majesty was quieter and less rapid in the change of his ideas, yet the topics of his conversation were equally frivolous. " I was so much shocked at what I had observed both on Wednesday and during the different visits of yesterday, that I took an opportunity, when I left his majesty yesterday evening, to have a conversation with Dr. Robert Willis, who very candidly stated to me his opinion, that his majesty had lost ground this week, and that though he thought very seriously of the state of his bodily health, he was much more alarmed at the apparent frivolity or rather imbecility of his mind. He added that something ought to be done; but that, in the present state of his majesty's mind, it was in vain to hope that any conversation with him would be attended with any good effect. ******* "I am ever, my dear lord, "Yours most sincerely, " FREDERICK." The 18th of June, 1811, brought on, in the House of Lords, a dis- cussion of certain petitions from the Roman Catholics, which Lord Donoughmore moved to refer to a committee of the whole House. The Bishop of Norwich argued in support of the motion, quoting Fenelon and Arch- bishop Wake, and appealing to the opinions of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, Mr. Burke and Mr. Windham. Lord Grenville, who spcke later in the debate, insisted that Mr. Pitt's resignation in 1801 had been produced by his sense of the indispensable necessity of coupling, with the Irish union, Roman Catholic equalization. The lord chancellor followed. "The noble lord who has just sat down," said he, "has spoken of the opinions held by Mr. Pitt at the time of the union. I was not myself, at that particular time, officially connected with Mr. Pitt, to whose name and memory I believe I have shown as much attachment as ever was evinced by the noble lord, or by any other of Mr. Pitt's friends; but some time afterwards I did enjoy his confidence as one of his colleagues, and I can say that in many, many conversations with him on this particular subject, I took the opportunity of trying to learn from him what was the nature of the securi- ties and safeguards he intended for the Protestant Establishment, and of stating that until it were declared in what these were to consist, I could not shift my foot from the solid ground of the constitution. I aver, upon my honour, with all due respect for that great man, that he never could tell me what were the securities and safeguards he himself contemplated as likely to afford the necessary protection. A late publica- tion of the noble baron who spoke last has dealt with this subject of safeguards.* It has proposed the check called the veto, without which it appears he will not agree to these claims, but which the Catholics as positively declare they will not concede. Of no other security have I heard. God forbid I should refuse to any class of my fel- low-subjects any privileges which it would be safe to allow them ; but I am not pre- pared, when specific propositions have been unsuccessfully brought forward, to go upon general grounds into a committee, there to raise unfounded hopes, or excite groundless fears. I must know first wherein the safeguards are to consist, and then I shall understand better what I am going to do. "When I look into the books which lay down the principles of our laws and consti- tution in church and state, the books of civil law, the books of canon law, nay, the Book of Common Prayer, which last, I think, ought to have its weight, and a conclusive weight, with a reverend prelate of our churcht, I cannot, especially as a lawyer, accept the opinion of Mr. Fox, for whose name I have much respect, nor those of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Burke, and Mr. Windham, as decisive on this subject. We are now told that the king's supremacy means nothing4 I hardly can tell where I am I could hardly think myself in a British House of Lords, when I heard some of the things * Lord Grenville's Letter to Lord Fingall on the Veto. | In reference to the speech of the Bishop of Norwich. $ This seems to refer to a part of Lord Donoughmore's opening speech. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 365 uttered this night. I have read something of Archbishop Wake, having myself, in early life, been intended for the church, and I can quote him, page by page, with other noble lords; and I could quote Fenelon, too, on some of these subjecls. Am I too rash in standing upon the constitution of England and the principles of the revolution, which United and knitted together a Protestant state and constitution, and a Protestant Church establishment, for the express purpose of handing them down together, with all their benefits, to our remotest posterity 1 Will your lordships concur to alter the settlement of 1688, by consenting to a motion which can create only uneasiness and disappointment 1 There is no security to be heard of but the rejected veto. I may be called a bigot, ay, very likely, a monk; but in answer to such epithets I have still to say, Give me your distinct propositions explain to me your safeguards and your securities and then I will most anxiously consider and examine them on their own grounds, and see what can be done; but I will not consent to go into a committee on any general statement of a petition." The motion was rejected by a majority of 121 against 62. On the following Friday, the 21st of June, a bill being before the House for the regulation of army prize-money, Lord Suffolk spoke at length upon a variety of topics which he conceived to be more or less connected with this subject. Among other matters of complaint he alleged great delays and abuses in the admiralty prize courts, and unrolled upon the floor a proctor's bill of twenty feet in length. The lord chancellor said it would be an inexcusable waste of their lordships' time, to consume it in answering even that very little of the noble earl's speech which had any reference at all to the measure before them. He thought it his duty, however, to vindicate the principal officers of the Court of Admiralty;* and to express his regret that a member of the high assembly he was then addressing should have introduced a piece of mummery never before witnessed wiihin those walls, and altogether unbe- coming the dignity and gravity of that branch of the legislature. (Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire.) (Extract.) (Endorsed, June 26th, 1811.) "My dear Swire, " I am in health very well ; I think better than usual. I need not tell you that I have been sorely goaded, and vexed, and tormented this session ; but I defy all my foes, and a man cannot have had the duties to execute in life which I have had to discharge, without having many and bitter foes. Of my poor old master I don't despair, though I do not confidently hope about him. When I give up the seal, you may look upon that as an act of despair; for though the regent has certainly conducted himself to me, personally, in every respect as well as I could desire, I serve only that my master may find me at my post, if he returns to his; and when I give up the hope of that, I have done. I cannot quit the expectation of a ride with you yet to Eldon, and nobody can say how soon that may be." ******* On the 6th of July, 1811, a marriage took place between James William Farrer, Esquire (then at the bar, now a master in chancery), and the Honourable Mrs. Scott, the widow of the chancellor's eldest son, and mother of the present earl, who writes of it in these terms : " My grandfather objected to this marriage, not on personal grounds, but stating himself to be averse to ' vota iterata,' to second marriages ; curiously, perhaps, for he himself was the offspring of a second mar- riage. After the event, however, the lapse of time and the unex- ceptionable conduct of the parties, gradually obliterated these impres- sions." Lord Stanhope, on the 27th of June, had introduced a bill into the House of Lords, having for its main object to maintain the value of Of which Sir William Scott was the judge. 366 bank notes in relation to coin. The chancellor supported the princi- ple of the bill both on this first occasion, and on the motion for the third reading, which was made on the 8th of July.* The 24th of July concluded the session of Parliament, which was prorogued by commission, after the reading by the lord chancellor of a speech from the throne. Ireland had now become a subject of almost unceasing uneasiness to the government. Although the intended convention had been frus- trated by their vigilance, the means of repressing such movements for the future was matter of abiding anxiety. The succeeding letter has an especial interest at the present day : (Mr. Perceval to Lord Eldon.} " My dear Lord, " I have forwarded the papers from Ryder to the cabinet room. I have, however, as I conceived you wished, kept back your note to me. I enter into all the difficulties which you anticipate as likely to arise upon the main question concerned in the pro- ceedings of the Irish R. Catholics; but I differ a little as to the practical consequence of those difficulties on the present question. I think, upon the point of preventing a R. Catholic Representative Assembly from silting in Dublin, we shall have no differences in the cabinet, and very little even in Parliament ; and that consideration leads me to this conclusion upon the subject of the legal question, viz., I should be prepared to advise a prosecution against such an illegal assembly, even if I had more doubts as to its illegality, because I feel assured that if the Irish government is to be upheld at all, such an assembly nosing it in its metropolis cannot be endured, and that the prose- cution will bring the question to its fair issue, /or if the law is not at present strong enough to prevent it, it must be made so, at least it must be submitted to Parliament to make it so. And I have no doubt, if we take our measures wisely, (that is, upon full proof that the assembly is truly representative, however its title may be disguised,) that Parliament will see the absolute necessity of putting it down. "I certainly agree with you, that it will be necessary for the government of the country to take a decided line upon the question itself, independent of the temporary objection to it upon the ground of the king's feelings ; but I have a sanguine belief that when the time comes for taking that decided line, that most of those who now concur with us in opposing the claims upon mere temporary reasons, will see the necessity of resisting them upon general principles; and that this very measure of bringing their R. C. bishops into the Representative Assembly, will go a great way to opening people's eyes upon this subject. We shall meet at four. " I am, my dear lord, yours most truly, "SPENCER PERCEVAL. " Downing Street, July 25th, 1811." Informations were accordingly filed against several persons. One of them, a Mr. Kirwan, was convicted ; and the government, having established their construction of the law, and being in hopes to con- ciliate by lenity, were content that a nominal fine should be imposed on Mr. Kirwan, and directed the discontinuance of the remaining prosecutions. (Mr. Perceval to Lord Eldon.") (Extract.) (Not dated ; written probably August, 1811.) " My dear Lord, " I am much vexed at thinking I shall be out of the way when you come next to Windsor, as I should have been particularly glad to have seen you. I must, however, content myself with opening the subject by letter, on which I should have had to com- municate with you in person if we were to meet. It respects no less a matter than, the meeting of Parliament. It must meet and sit, you know, for six weeks before the restrictions of the Regency Bill can expire. The day pointed out in the act for * See statutes 51 Geo. 3. c. 127 and 54 Geo. 3. c. 52. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 367 their expiration is the 1st of February. If Parliament does not meet before Christ- mas, of course the restrictions must be prolonged from the 1st of February for six weeks from the date of its meeting. Under these circumstances, I think we can hardly pass over the next prorogation without knowing the prince's pleasure, whether he thinks it so material that the regency restrictions shall expire on the 1st of February as to make it necessary that Parliament should meet before Christmas. This is a point so very much of feeling for H. R. H. himself, and in which he is so directly and personally interested, that I cannot but think myself he ought to have it submitted to his most free decision with as little opinion and advice from his servants upon the point as can be. But if he should determine, as he naturally may and probably will, that Parliament shall so meet as that the restrictions shall expire on the day men- tioned, it is a pretty material consideration, on which we should form an opinion, whether it should not meet so long before Christmas as to enable us to arrange, before the Christmas vacation, the household and any other questions which Parliament may have to provide for. I conclude, till I hear the contrary suggested, that our opinions will be, that the household arrangement, &c., should be concluded before the present restrictions expire ; and, if so, it will not be desirable, I think, to adjourn at Christmas, with that work commenced but left imperfect. * ***** * "To conclude upon these questions, and such as may be connected with them, I think it will be essentially necessary that we should have our cabinet friends meet in force, either in the last week in September or the first week of October; and they ought to know what the business is, and that it is probabale they may be detained for a few days. I should like, therefore, to know from you what time, which would answer these purposes, would best suit you to be fixed for the assembling our cabinet friends. "I am, my dear lord, yours most truly, " S. PEHCETAL." A meeting of the queen's council at Windsor, for the ascertainment of his majesty's state of health, took place in the latter part of August ; but the symptoms were not of such a nature as to afford hopes of any speedy recovery. The lord chief justice, who was detained from the meeting by the business of his circuit, writes thus : (Lord Ellenborough to Lord Eldon.) (Extract.) "I shall be anxious also to learn the result of your deliberations on the important question which was to be considered by you on Saturday last. My maxim is always on such subjects, ' Salus Regis, suprema lex,' and to which, or the probable chance of promoting which, every lesser consideration of favour, or the fear of giving offence to himself or others, ought, in my opinion, to give way. " I remain, with great regard, my dear lord, " Very faithfully yours, "ELIENBOBOUGH. "WaMershare, near Dover, August 23th, 1811." Lord Eldon's genius, unquestionably, was not of a poetical turn ; but the following stanzas, from a little poem addressed by him to Lady Eldon, at the close of 1811, after a union of almost forty years, have the merit of flowing from a higher fountain than that of the Muses. "November 18th, 1811. " Can it, my lovely Bessy, be, That when near forty years are past, I still my lovely Bessy see Dearer and dearer at the last T " Nor time, nor years, nor age, nor care, Believe me, lovely Bessy, will- Much as his frame they daily wear Affect the heart, that's Bessy's still. 368 LIFE OF LORD "In Scotland's climes I gave it thee, . In Scotland's climes I thine obtain'd, Oh, to each other let them be True, till an heaven we have gain'd. " ELDON." About this time Sir William Scott had contracted to buy the Stowell estate in Gloucestershire, on account of which he was to make a pay- ment, early in 1812, of about sixty-five thousand pounds; and he had prepared himself, at the end of December, 1811, with this sum, which he was going to place to his own account with his bankers, intending it to remain there till a certain early day, which had been fixed for the execution of the conveyances. In his way to the city for this pur- pose, he had occasion to call on the chancellor, to whom he men- tioned the sum he was about to deposit. Lord Eldon, observing upon the magnitude of the amount, recommended that, instead of leaving it with any banker, he should keep it, for the few days which would intervene before the conveyance, in his own house. Sir W. Scott followed this advice ; and on the 2d of January his bankers, stopped payment. It has been surmised that Lord Eldon had learned the probability of this failure through some private channel, or been led to suspect it, from some circumstance which had come before him judicially; but there is no apparent ground for this conjecture ; and his advice seems to have proceeded solely from his habitual caution, which led him to apprehend that 65,000/. was too large a sum for the owner to leave, without security or some special reason in the possession of any body else. The particular physicians who had succeeded in the treatment of his majesty's disorder in the years 1801 and 1804, had not been called in upon this last attack, the queen, it should seem, being apprehensive that there were certain associations connected in his majesty's mind with their presence of a nature likely to increase his excitement. But when the spring, the summer and the autumn had passed away without any decisive improvement in his health, it ap- peared to Lord Eldon and some others of the council, to be indispen- sable that some trial should be made of those attendants whose treat- ment, in the two former instances, had been followed with speedy success. Lord Eldon offered this advice to the queen, who dissented from it. He then thought it his duty to prepare and submit to her majesty a formal representation in writing. It appears to have been received by the queen with the consideration due to so careful and loyal a remonstrance ; for, on the 9th of the same month of October, both Dr. Simmons and Dr. John Willis were permitted to see the king, upon whose state they, together with the other physicians, were exa- mined in January by a committee of the House of Lords. The result of this examination, however, gave little encouragement to the hope of his majesty's recovery. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 369 CHAPTER XXXIII. 18111812. Confirmation of the ministry: letters of Mr. Perceval to Lord Eldon and of Lord Eldon to Mr. Perceval. Debates: on frame breaking: on the constitution of the ministry. State of parties. Catholic question : Lord Eldon's speech. Letter of Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire: removal of the prince's prejudices against Lord Eldon. Mr. M. A.Taylor's chancery motions and committees : Sir S. Romilly's Diary: Letter of Lord Eldon to Mr. Perceval. Assassination of Mr. Perceval: narrow escape of Lord Eldon : letters of Princess Elizabeth and of Lord Eldon : Mr. Per- ceval's merits: tribute to them from Mr. Canning. If would have been necessary, as Mr. Perceval reminded Lord Eldon in his letter of August, 1811, that Parliament should meet six weeks before the 1st of February, 1812, if the restrictions were intended to determine on that day. The prince regent, however, had too much of delicacy, or at least of good taste, to assemble the legislature for such a purpose at an unusual season ; and accordingly its meeting for the dispatch of business did not take place till January, 1812. On the 7th of that month, the session was opened by commission, in a speech delivered by the lord chancellor on behalf of the regent ; and as the restrictions were to cease in six weeks from that date, and no symptoms of improvement were discoverable in the sovereign's mental health, it became apparent that the prince regent would shortly have to consider of some definitive arrangement for the future conduct of public affairs. By this time, Mr. Perceval, who, as the head of the government, was naturally and necessarily the minister in most fre- quent communication with the regent, had acquired much of his royal highness's confidence ; but this had not yet extended itself to the lord chancellor, who was still an object of considerable suspicion to the prince and his immediate courtiers. Mr. Perceval, however, did not the less on that account continue to behave with his characteristic frankness to the chancellor, as will be seen from the postscript of the note which follows : " My dear Lord, "I think it may possibly be convenient, that you and Liverpool and myself should meet, for a few minutes, before we assemble at Carlton House to-morrow: if you agree, perhaps you will call here at about half past one, " I am, my dear lord, " Yours most truly, " SP. PERCEVAL. " Downing Street, Jan. 18th, 1812. " I have had a hint this evening, that it was very material I should hear what you have to state to me with great prudence" The first practical proceeding of the regent, towards a re-arrange- VOL. i. 24 LIFE OF LORD ment of his ministry, was a letter addressed by him, on the 13th of February, to the Duke of York, in which the regent, after stating that his sense of filial duty had originally been his sole motive for retaining his father's ministers, adverted to the recent successes of the great contest in the Peninsula, and declared his resolve to persevere in the present system. " I cannot withhold," continued his royal highness, "my approbation from those who have honourably distinguished themselves in support of it. I have no predilections to indulge, no resentments to gratify, no objects to attain but such as are common to the whole empire." " Having made this communication of my senti- ments in this new and extraordinary crisis of our affairs, I cannot conclude without expressing the gratification I should feel if some of those persons, with whom the early habits of my public life were formed, would strengthen my hands and constitute a part of my government." These sentiments he, in the same letter, authorized the Duke of York to communicate to Lord Grey, with liberty to the latter to make them known to Lord Grenville. A postscript was added, in these words: "I shall send a copy of this letter imme- diately to Mr. Perceval." As soon as this project became known to Lord Eldon, and before he had any means of learning in what way it would be received by Lords Grey and Grenville, he addressed to Mr. Perceval the follow- ing letter, which eminently deserves the attention of all speculators in coalitions between parties of opposite principles : " Saturday, (probably Feb. 15.) " Dear Perceval, "As it may not be absolutely impossible that, in the course of this day, during my absence at Windsor, something may pass, tending to proposal to associate me in a talk with Lords G. and G. upon junction, permit me to state, in a few words, that my determination to take no part in that talk is founded upon the following reasons, and, if necessity requires it, you may so state to the regent : "That I think it not consistent with my honour to take part in a negotiation for a junction, in which junction I can take no part. I can take no part in it. " Because, having been twenty-nine years in Parliament without deviating, as far as I can recollect, from my principles with respect to the constitution of the country and the means of supporting its monarchy, there appears to have been, in that long course of years, no agreement in those principles between Lord Grey and myself. " Because there was no such agreement between Lord Grey and Lord Grenville between 1783 and 1801. " Because there has been no such agreement between them and myself since 1801. " Because my decided opinion is, that all attempts at making strong administra- tions upon broad bottoms, must be known to those who are practised politicians, to be frauds upon the country originally, and frauds which, whether such politicians know that or not, can no longer be effectually practised upon the country. The great mass of the people, through many ranks of which I have passed, I know, hold the thing, and the men that are engaged in it, in utter detestation, producing absolute weakness in government, and of course deeply affecting the interest of the crown. "Because the difference with respect to Catholic question, American affairs, Span- ish affairs and bullion, are, in my opinion, too deep to be skirfned over. " Because, if that were not so, differences upon most essential points of govern- ment, avowed for thirty years, clearly establish that Lords G., G. and Lord Eldon ' non bene conveniunt.'* "Because my situation is peculiar. Lord G y said in debate, and Lord G y, * nee in una sede morantur. Ov. Metam., lib. ii. 1. 846. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 371 ntJ^H^ th -T',i, Wh0> ii f they C ^ me int administration, must come intoadmi- stration along with them, have said, in their protest upon the journals, what I can give no countenance to by coming into their assembly * "Allow me to add, that you know how much my heart has been wrung with the difficulties of holding office, when I have been obliged, but I hope justified! in taking ihf nainrnl *^o r-f T V.n n L_.J *_ *. _ *.t .*-* I J M " ll1 -, :, with regard to the " Yours, my dear Perceval, "ELDON." Some of the same considerations which actuated Lord Eldon ope- rated also on the two leaders of opposition. On the 15th they re- turned an answer to the Duke of York, in which they declared that their differences of opinion with the existing ministers were too many and too important to admit of the proposed union ; especially their differences on the subject of the Roman Catholic disabilities the repeal of which they would feel it their first duty to advise. The result of their refusal was thus made known to Lord Eldon : "M d 1H (No date; must have been written Feb. 1312.) " The answer was a refusal on public grounds to have any thing to do with us The prince sent to me immediately, to show the answer and to authorize me to say that I was to be continued his minister. " Yours, most truly, "Sp. PERCEVAL" The only material change which now took place in the administra- tion was the retirement of Marquis Wellesley, who was succeeded as secretary for foreign affairs by Lord Castlereagh. A bill had been introduced into the House of Lords for the preven- tion of the offence of frame-breaking, which had of late become alarmingly frequent, particularly in the county of Nottingham. There appeared to be an extensive conspiracy against the use of machinery, which this bill proposed to defeat, by rendering the offence of frame- breaking punishable with death, and compelling the parties in whose houses the frames should be broken to furnish information to the magistrates. It was against the second reading of this bill, on the 27th of February, 1812, that Lord Byron made his first address to the House of Lords a sarcastic discourse, adapted rather to the taste of a popu- lar meeting than to the business of a legislative assembly. The lord chancellor defended the measure, and explained the error of the notion that the general interests of the labouring classes had been injured by the introduction of machinery. The second reading was carried, and the bill-proceeded.! The 19th of March was an important day in the House of Lords; for the communication made by the prince regent, through the Duke' of York, to Lords Grey and Grenville, was then brought under the consideration of that branch of the legislature, by a motion of Lord Boringdon to address the prince regent for an administration which should unite, as far as possible, the confidence and good will of all classes. Some heat was exhibited very early in the debate, and some * See Parl. Deb., Jan. 28tb, 1811, and Protest in Lords' Journals, same date, t 52 Geo. 3. c. 16. 372 LIFE OF LORD speeches to order, themselves disorderly, were made by several peers. Of these trespassers it must be confessed that the lord chancellor was one ; his indignation having been excited by some animadversions on the conduct of the prince regent, whom he deemed entitled, as the representative of the king, to the same respectful forbearance in de- bate which was constitutionally required as to the king himself. It was in the vindication of this principle that Lord Eldon slipped into the irregularity of alluding to a former evening's discussion, in the course of which a peer had inquired whether a certain article, in a newspaper then produced by him to the House, was a letter from the prince regent. That inquiry, the chancellor warmly declared, was in his judgment so highly improper, that if any confidential servant of his royal highness had given an answer to it, he would never again have entered the same room with that person for the purpose of con- fidential advice. Lord Grimston, who had been addressing the House when this irregular discussion arose, now finished his speech with an amendment, expressive of gratitude to the prince regent, and of con- fidence in his endeavours to promote the honour and welfare of the country. The debate which followed turned principally on the claims of the Roman Catholics, as being the subject of difference which chiefly prevented a union -of parties. " The lord chancellor said, that before he could change his opinions on that ques- tion, he must be convinced that the principles of the Revolution were erroneous. At present he saw nothing but danger in concession. That was the ground of his resist- ance to an extension of privileges and power to the Catholics; and he would confess that whoever resisted it on any other grounds deserved to be an object of detesta- tion. This motion sought to unite the leading men of opposite parties; and yet the mover himself admitted the total impossibility of their co-operation. How, then, was the prince regent to form the extended administration which the motion pro- posed 1 As to the present ministry, he believed that the people of this good-natured country were weak and foolish enough to sanction it by their confidence. Good-na- tured people, he supposed, were always weak; but let the cause be what it might, it did so happen in point of fact that the ministry was in possession of the people's confidence, and this was no very great reason for addressing the prince regent to change it. If there was any power which could be regarded as inherent in the crown, it was the power of choosing the crown's own servants. What he had said in 1807 he would now repeat, and that was, that he did not understand what advisers the sovereign could be supposed constitutionally to have, in the act of choosing his ad- ministration. After the administration was chosen, then, indeed, there existed respon- sible advisers; but until that had been done, he did not know where to look for them. How this reasoning applied to one of the letters, he would leave it to noble lords to judge a letter which, notwithstanding all he had heard to the contrary, he could not but consider it disorderly to have brought into discussion. It had been urged that there was no standing order against the mention of such a document. Neither was there any standing order pronouncing it unparliamentary to use the king's name for the purpose of influencing debate; and yet who was there that would deny such a proceeding to be unparliamentary! If the proposed address should be adopted, Par- liament would be trenching on one of the clearest prerogatives of the crown; it would be attempting nothing less than that it should itself appoint the ministers; and such an attempt by Parliament would here be the more glaringly unconstitutional, because no one act of the ministers now in office had been marked with its disap- probation. It was said that the ministers now in office were averse from the consi- deration of the Roman Catholic petitions : but to that he could only answer, as he had often done before, that the basis of his opinions was the principle of the Revo- lution. That principle was civil freedom, engrafted on religious freedom, on liberal and extensive toleration; but still with a connected view to the maintenance of the Protestant national church and of the Protestant succession. Every thing was at CHANCELLOR ELDON. 373 that time done in entire consistency with these objects; and now we were asked to depart from the establishments then so wisely and so liberally formed, and to depart from them without the provision of any counterpoise to the probable danger. After repeating what he had said about securities in his speech of 18th June, 1811, he proceeded to defend the policy of ministers towards the United States, and concluded by observing upon the impossibility of obtaining a government which should answer the description given by the address, in the sense of its mover." The motion was negatived by a majority of 165 to 72. The refusal of the Whig leaders to concur in the formation of a checkered ministry was one which undoubtedly did them honour; but the tone taken afterwards in debate by Earl Grey and his parti- sans, and particularly their broad insinuations that court influences and intrigues had warped the mind of the prince regent, were of a nature to give great offence to his royal highness, who, from this time, be- gan to look very coldly upon his old acquaintances, and was pre- sently made the subject of the bitterest invectives by their followers, both in society and in the public press. His disavowal of "predilec- tions" was vastly unsatisfactory to those who had been expecting the monopoly of his favour; and his disclaimer of resentments was deeply distasteful to certain fierce spirits, less eager even for office itself than for the destruction of those who had so long excluded them from it. Lord Eldon gives this sketch of the temper of divers parties : (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Extract.) (Post-mark, March 30th, 1812.) "Dear Brother, "Little or no news. The 1'Orient Squadron ^ave got into Cherbourg. The game of the Princess of Wales is to be the grand sport of the remainder of the session. Her husband is furious, indeed, with indignation against the ' early friends.' And it is now, as we used to suppose it heretofore, that is, that he knows every word that is uttered al Blackheath or Kensington. Sidmouth is all but president of the council, and I suppose will be so before the meeting of Parliament. Some of the dissenters are writing against the Papishes, and publishing dissuasives against making cause with them. The London clergy petition, and some few addresses, very few, come from different parts in favour of the poor old church." The annual motions in the two Houses of Parliament, for commit- tees on the Roman Catholic claims, derived, in 1812, a more especial and personal interest from the prominence which had been given to this subject among the reasons assigned by the Whig leaders for their refusal to join the ministry. The motion in the House of Lords was made on the 21st of April, by the Earl of Donoughmore. Lord Grenville, having spoken at some length in support of it, was answer- ed by the lord chancellor. He prefaced his speech by observing that the petition of the University of Oxford against the Roman Catholic claims, and his own connection with that numerous and respectable body of petitioners, rendered it incumbent on him to meet the present proposal with more than a silent vote. This pelition, he affirmed, was not, as had been imputed, the result of illiberally or bigotry or intolerance, but of full and fair deliberation, of the well-grounded and loyal attachment which had ever been evinced by that learned body towards the constitution of their country.and of a just reference to the principles upon which that constitution was founded in 1688. " On my own part, too," said he, "I deny that I have ever dealt with this subject upon any principle of intolerance. I never did, nor never will I, give any vote agains* extending the religious or the civil liberties of any class of his majesty's subjects, when I think I can vote for the extension consistently with the security of our own establishments ; 374 LIFE OF LORD but I shall always be guided, in my decisions on such subjects, by what I conceive necessary to maintain the constitution as by law established for the happiness and security of the great whole. * * * * * * "Will your lordships give me leave to call your attention to what the motion now before you is 1 It is that you will go into a committee on the laws which exclude Ro- man Catholics from place and power in the state, with a view to devise the means of abrogating these laws ; and it is warmly asserted that the Protestants of Ireland are equally desirous of this change with the Roman Catholics. But, my lords, if you have any regard to the Protestant church of Ireland, which exists now not as a sepa- rate establishment, but as one united for ever by the act of Irish union with the Pro- testant Church of England, I ask how can you go into such a committee and with such views, without affecting the Protestant establishment in both countries] And I shall be glad also to know how you can exclude from such a consideration his ma- jesty's Roman Catholic subjects in Scotland! Their numbers may be smaller, but the principle is the same; and the question, therefore, must affect not only the Esta- blished Church of England and Ireland, but also that of Scotland, where it must tend to do away the Test Acts, settled for that country by compact made at the time of our union with her. Easy as it may seem to the noble lord to dispense with the laws of England and Ireland upon this subject, I believe he will not find it so easy to deal with the Test of the law of Scotland." He proceeded to argue, that the disturbance of the laws which were regarded as established for the safety of the church ought not to be permitted unless clearly shown to be necessary for the tranquillity of the Catholics and the safety of the Protestants; and that if such a necessity were shown, the House ought not to interpose the delay of a committee, but to legislate at once. The object of the Revolution had been to protect our Protestant religion, as well as our civil liberty. This he argued from the language of the Bill of Rights, and from the authority of Somers and Hardwicke. Lord Hardwicke had designated Protestantism as the very keystone of the constitu- tion; and it was now proposed to take away that keystone, and bring down the ruin of the whole fabric. It had been said that the union with Ireland had removed the danger, because the Catholics who might vote in the Imperial Parliament would be but a small proportion of the aggregate legislature ; yet the argument now urged was the danger to Ireland from the large proportion of the Catholics to the Protestants in that kingdom. He then addressed himself to the proposal of the veto, commenting upon the rejection of it by the Roman Catholic authorities, and upon Lord Grenville's lan- guage in his speech of that night and in his letter to Lord Fingal. He called for some definite security before he could consent to an arrangement, which he held to be so totally inconsistent with the principles of the Revolution, as that of a Protest- ant prince on the throne with Roman Catholics sitting in Parliament. He gave them full credit when they disavowed the sentiments by some imputed to them, on the sub- ject of keeping faith with heretics; but he was bound to consider the difficulties of admitting them into Parliament or into places of trust and authority in the state. In Parliament they would have to legislate for the government of a Protestant church; in the councils of the crown they would have to advise upon the disposal of Protest- ant bishoprics they who, in the matter of their own bishoprics, would allow to the crown no control whatsoever. The principle of the constitution from the days of the Revolution downward had been, and still was, that the king should be the head of the church ; but the proposal of the present motion was to surround him with advisers who denied his supremacy. The motion was negatived by a majority of 174 against 102. (Lord Eldm to the Rev. Dr. Swire.) (Extract.) (Endorsed April 24th, 1812.) "And now, my dear Swire, allow me to discuss with yon my present situation, and the strange, the unaccountable occurrences which have taken place in the last eighteen months. When my dear old master under the severe dispensations of Providence, but such as I humbly must suppose to be right, because they are the dispensations of Providence, could no longer personally execute his great functions, I thought thatf should have been as able, as, most sincerely speaking, I was willing, to quit the labours, which no man can endure unless the same Providence shall sus- tain him with the blessings of health and composure of mind and temper, which are, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 375 indeed, but rarely to be looked for at any period of life, and at mine, very, very rarely indeed to be looked for. "The medical men thought his majesty's speedy recovery highly probable : the prince, therefore, thought that, in duty to his father, he could not dismiss his father's servants. How was it possible that, whilst he acted under such a feeling of duty to his lather, his father's servants could refuse to act under him as the representative of his father? With wishes as anxious as ever man formed, I could not reconcile to myself the notion, that whilst the father's son so conducted himself, the father's most grateful servant could refuse to take his share in a state of things, which, for the father's sake, the son determined should remain undisturbed by him. So matters went on through the year of restricted regency. Before the close of it, the prince had totally altered his opinion of the men whom he had hated and I have his own authority for believ- ing that the kingdom produced no man whom he more hated than your friend, the writer of this letter. Though the prospect of his father's recover}' had grown more gloomy, and though I fear it will never brighten,! must do him the justice to say, that he has always declared to me that he will never despair till his father ceases to live : and my own real opinion is, that whatever motives his friends or foes may, in their conjectures, ascribe his late conduct to, he has been principally governed by a feel- ing that, if his father should recover, he would never forgive himself if he suffered him to awake to a scene in which the father should see his servants discarded by his son. The same sentiment appears to me to have governed him with respect to the Catholic question, with regard to which, I believe that, after his father's death, he will act with a due regard to the established religion. But, with the possibility before him, though the utter improbability, of his father's recover}', I believe the world would not induce him, as far as he is concerned, to countenance any measure that would shock his father's feelings, if, contrary to all expectation, he should recover. With such deter- minations on his part, with" reference to his father, daily and constantly proved to be most sincerely adopted by him in his intercourse with me, how could I possibly refuse to consent to what his entreaty pressed upon me, to remain in the service of a son so conducting himself towards the father to whom I owe so much? or how could I break up an administration which must be succeeded by another which would over- turn all that I think right? God knows that we live in times when public office, if it is not vanity, is literally and truly labour and vexation of spirit, and how I get through my share of it I know not: but God is very kind to me. I have given you the outline of what has governed me in my conduct, and though I care not at all as to the opinion of the world in general, I should be deeply hurt if YOU could not ap- prove it. Interest, or ambition, or even private wishes, have had nothing to do with it. I have believed myself to have been acting right, and I hope in God that I have been so acting. To this subject I confine this letter I shall write you another un more trifling subjects. To this I add only the very sincere and affectionate regards of Lady E., Bessy, &c., to you and Mrs. S., with those of my dear Swire, "Yours ever most truly, "EtDOX." In his Anecdote-Book, and in conversation with Mrs. Forster, he thus explained the favourable change in the regent's opinion of him: "His majesty, George IV., has frequently told me, that there was no person in the whole world that he hated so much as, for years, he hated me. He had been persuaded that I endeavoured to keep him at a distance from his father; but when he came into possession of his father's private papers, he completely changed his opinion of me, in consequence of the part which, from my letters, he found I had always taken with reference to himself. He was then convinced that I had always endeavoured to do the direct contrary of what was imputed to me. He told me so himself, and from that time he treated me with uniform friendliness." Mr. M. A. Taylor's committee, of 1811, which had been re- pointed by the House of Commons on the 26th of February, 1 sat several days in March and April, and reported on the 1 8th of the latter month, appending the new. evidence. Sir S. Romilly thus 376 LIFE OF LORD explains, in his Diary, the reason why this committee, of which he was a member, did not enter into the examination of the causes of delay. "April 15. It was suggested that the only course we could take was to call before us the principal persons who practice in the Court of Chancery, and to inquire of them ivhat, in their opinion and from their observations, were the causes of the delay. This was very strenuously opposed by many members of the committee, by the solicitor- general, who had never attended it before, by the attorney-general, by Master Simeon, Master Morris, Leicester, Giffin Wilson, and Kenrick. They said that so to proceed was to prefer a charge against the chancellor; that it was putting the counsel who would be examined in a very invidious situation; that it was destroying the respect which ought to be preserved towards a magistrate at the head of the judicature of the country; and that it was not difficult in any court to find some person who, thinking his talents had not met with all the encouragement from the court which, in his own opinion, they seemed to deserve, entertained and would deliver a judgment unfavour- able to the judge. To this it was answered, that it was very true .that counsel and attorneys, who practised in the court, would be put in a very unpleasant situation, in being examined as to what might tend to censure the judge of the court in which they practised; but that there did not appear to be any other authentic source of information which could be recurred to, and therefore lhat this must be submitted to; that it was singular that the friends of the chancellor should take for granted, that an inquiry from the persons best qualified to give information would necessarily crimi- nate him : it would criminate him only if he were really to blame, and if he were, it was the duty of the committee to ascertain the fact that the objections now made were in truth objections to the appointment of any committee, and the committee being appointed, it was too late to make them; that it was very true, that some one or two persons might, perhaps, be found in a court of justice, who, from pique and disappoint- ment, might be desirous to calumniate and injure the judge; but for one such person, it was probable that there would be found twenty who were eager to palliate the defects, to exaggerate the merits, and to seek the countenance and favour of the judge in whose court they practised. To bring the matter to a decision, I moved that Mr. Richards, as being the senior counsel attending the court, who is not in Parliament, should be summoned to attend and give evidence. The seven persons I have already named voted against this resolution; those who voted for it were only six in number, Martin, Homer, Brougham, Abercromby, Bankes and myself. Taylor, the chairman, had a right to vote, and then to give the casting vote, and by this means the question would have been carried ; but Taylor did not know this, and did not vote, in conse- quence of which the question was lost. This puts an end to the committee for any useful purpose."* It does not very clearly appear by what accident Sir S. Romilly and the rest of the six neglected to apprise poor Mr. Taylor of the right which he thus suffered to slip from his hands. Be that as it may, Taylor, when he found out the blunder which he had made, and which his good-natured friends no doubt were very ready to tell him of, when the information came too late to help him, was very uneasy till he could get a chance for retrieving himself. Within a few days, therefore, he was again in motion. (Mr. M. A. Taylor to Mr. Perceval.) " Whitehall, April 27th, 1812. "Dear Sir, "As I have not heard from you that any alteration has taken place with respect to the continuance of the bankruptcy jurisdiction with the office of lord chancellor, I am desirous of mentioning that, early in the ensuing week, I shall call the attention of the House to the late decision of the committee, the substance of which I communi- cated to you. " You are in possession of my general opinion on the subject, and I understood that you were to have some conversation with Lord Eldon and Lord Liverpool on the arrangement I proposed. I have the pleasure to remain, with great esteem, "Yours most faithfully, " M. A. TATLOH. "Right Hon. Spencer Perceval." * Memoirs of Romilly's Life, vol. iii.pp. 30, 31. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 377 Mr. Perceval's communication of this note to the chancellor drew from the latter a response, which evinced and even confessed a degree of irritability rather unusual with him, and vastly over-proportioned to the importance of the assailant. (April, or beginning of May, 1812.) " Dear Perceval, "I return you the enclosed letter. I feel very unwilling to say any thing myself upon it. By the appointment of the Commons' committee, (which I know to have been the effect of surprise, and the revival of which I believe to have been unavoid- able, neither of those circumstances being, however, in any degree intelligible either to friends or foes in the profession in Westminster Hall,) and by the fact that that committee has been formed, not to inquire whether the business of the House of Lords, (such as it now is and never before has been,) together with that of the Court of Chancery, (whether it is increased or not,) requires more judicial assistance, but to inquire into .the causes of the delays of the Court of Chancery, thereby assuming that there hath been something blameable, as there may have been ; by those circumstances, I have now sat in my court for above twelve months, an accused culprit, tried by the hostile part of my own bar, upon testimony wrung from my officers and without the common civility of even one question put by the committee to myself, in such mode of communication as might have been in courtesy adopted. When I say that I know that I am, and that my officers, and that my successors will be, degraded by all this, I say what I think I do know. If this occasion surprise in others, they will at least see that my mind is too sore and too distempered to make it fit that I should decide upon Taylor's question. Does he mean to ask me whether I am to prefer a plan of his, in preference to that, which, putting my own judgment out of the case, has been sanc- tioned by the unanimous opinion of a numerous committee in the Lords, with such professional assistance as that committee had 1 I wish you to consult Redesdale and Grant, and any other you think it right to consult. " Bankruptcy is too important to be taken altogether from the chancellor. It is not business enough for a judge, if he have no other. There is no reason why there should be an appeal from an assistant judge, in such petitions in bankruptcy as come before him either by the choice of the parties or by the direction of the chancellor. "Though I think a man a fool who affects to think chancery business not increased, yet, for the sake of argument, suppose it to be that it is not increased. I presume nobody will deny that the House of Lords' business is, unless he can persuade him- self that 25 and 300 are equal numbers: and I cannot but think, that if an assistant judge does not take a share of the suits in chancery, as well as the bankrupt petitions, the Lords' appeals will not be the least relieved. Six weeks would do for the bank- ruptcies of a year. But I beg that others may decide. Taylor is a great man, and was long ago such a wise one, that I suppose he must be known to be somehow related to Jeremy Taylor, the Ductor dubitantium, when he overrules, with his mighty vult et jubet, all his doubting brethren of the profession of which he was such an ornament. Yours, Mr. Taylor brought the subject before the House on the 6th of May, by moving that it should be a special instruction to the committee to examine barristers and solicitors practising in the Court of Chancery, touching the causes of delay in that court. That instruction was objected to, a's tending to cast upon the chancellor the blame of a delay, which had been proved to have arisen from the great increase of the business, and the motion was negatived by a majority of 84 to 20. The government, so recently fixed by the regent's acceptance of his father's ministers, now received a sudden and appalling blow in the person of Mr. Perceval, who, on the llth of May, as he was entering the lobby of the House of Commons, was shot by one Bellingham, and expired on the instant. It appears that the motive of the assassin was merely the desire of revenging himself upon any one, it mattered LIFE OF LORD not which of the members of administration, on account of an imputed neglect of the British minister at St. Petersburg to procure him redress for certain commercial losses which he had sustained in Rus- sia. In the earlier part of the afternoon, his object seems to have been the chancellor: who, in his Anecdote Book, thus records the circum- stances relating to himself, chiefly on information from his officers : " I have reason to believe that I had a most providential escape, when Bellingham shot poor Perceval. I sat in the Court of Chancery at Westminster: during a part of that morning Bellingham was in the Court of Chancery. When I left the court and went into my private room which is behind the court, finding that I had time to take a walk before it was necessary to go to the House of Lords, I undressed and borrowed a great coat of one of my attendants, and a hat, and then left my room, and went up the stairs that lead into the passages to the Houses of Parliament. Bellingham was standing upon those stairs. I passed him thus habited, and in consequence of the change of dress, he probably did not know me to be the chancellor whom he had seen in court. A very short interval took place between the moment at which this happened and his assassinating Perceval. At his exami- nation before the council in the evening, he stated that he had no particular design against Mr. Perceval that he was determined to destroy one minister, and Mr. Perceval was his unfortunate victim. I was present at the council when he was examined. My attendants, about three weeks after the assassination, mentioned to me the other circumstances here related, as taking place before and after I had changed my dress." Bellingham, when standing at the door of the Court of Chancery, had also been observed, as Lord Eldon told Mrs. Forster, to have his hand within the breast of his coat, as if ready to pull something out from it. The shock of this event was felt through all classes of the com- munity : and the general regret was very sincerely participated by the royal family. (Princess Elizabeth to the Hon. Miss Scott.) (Extract.) "My dear Madam, "The queen has commanded me to write you a few lines, which ought to have been written this morning, to inquire after the chancellor: for, well knowing how deeply he feels, she greatly dreads that the shock of yesterday may have injured his health. It is impossible not to shrink with horror when one thinks of an Englishmen commit- ting murder, and doubly striking when one must ever mourn for the loss of so excel- lent a man as Mr. Perceval. We live in most awful times: for the loss, both public and private, must be equally felt. We really are so horror-struck, that it is impossi- ble for me to describe our feelings. Your own good heart will better judge, than my pen relate, the agony and misery that was occasioned by my brother Adolphus's ar- rival last night. This family have lost one who has ever proved real affection and attachment, and my beloved father,has lost a most upright and conscientious minis- ter. Our only comfort, in the midst of our own trial is, that my father is spared this affliction : for I verily believe, had it pleased the Almighty to have allowed of its being told him, it would have totally overset him. "The ways of Providence are dark and intricate, and we too blind to understand. It is our duty to submit and trust in God's mercy. That He may mercifully watch over this country will be my fervent prayer. " My mother commands me to add she would herself have written to the lord chan- cellor, but bhe thought it better to make me write, well knowing his time is precious, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 379 and that it was cruel to add to his troubles by desiring an answer. She begs you to explain this, and I trust you will forgive the length of this letter, which I am ashamed nothini else 8 ** 16 nCrVeS ^ "* must P lead m y eicuse ' for literally I can think of * " Yours very sincerely, "Windsor Castle, May 12th, 1812." " ELIZABETH - (Lord Chancellor Eldon to Queen Charlotte.} "The lord chancellor, offering his most humble duty to your majesty, whilst he acknowledges with infinite gratitude your majesty's gracious condescension and goodness in directing inquiries to be made respecting the chancellor's health, amidst the afflicting circumstances in which he has been lately placed, takes leave to beseech your majesty to be persuaded that nothing but the distress of his mind could 'have ong prevented him from returning your majesty his heartfelt acknowledgments h? inesT honoured with, that your majesty takes some interest in his "By the death of Mr. Perceval, the lord chancellor has lost a friend whom he valued, esteemed and loved. His majesty's people have lost a great and able fellow- subject and statesman, and the lord chancellor trusts that his majesty will do him the justice to believe him when he adds, that his majesty and his august and illustrious nily have lost a servant, whose attachment to them the lord chancellor knows to ; been the ruling principle in his heart, and whose attachment was rendered im- portant because his virtues were universally known. The chancellor, as himself a servant of his majesty, anxious for the honour and welfare of all his majesty's family, fcnds it difficult, very difficult, to prescribe bounds to that grief which daily overwhelms "Bedford Square, May ISth, 1812." Mr. Perceval was inestimable to his party as a parliamentary leader; but he was not very generally regarded as meriting that character of " a great statesman," which is thus claimed for him by the friend- ship of Lord Eldon. He did, indeed, possess many efficient talents and high faculties, and particularly and eminently, one which is now justly esteemed among a statesman's most essential endowments, the firmness necessary to check the march of self-entitled liberalism with its train of noisy, lawless camp-followers. But in politics, the values of certain qualities vary with the times; and in Mr. Perceval's day, when the best informed classes of society, who now feel it need- ful to make a stand against progressive movement, were favourable at least to such an amount of change as might adjust the old institu- tions of the country to its modern exigences, the unyielding resolution of the minister found but little sympathy among persons unconnected with his party. So far from being accounted to him for a virtue, it was set down as his chief defect. With somewhat more of justice, he was reputed to be deficient in extent and comprehensiveness of view. The course of his earlier life had not left him sufficient leisure for studying the general philosophy of politics, and the safe limits of the antagonist forces which mingle in the constitution of a free community. Belonging, by birth and connection, to 'a party whose great maxim was to keep things as they were, he had taken it for granted that their prescriptive opinions must be right. Of those opinions he was suddenly called from his profession to become the ministerial champion ; and whatever tended to shake or even qualify them, he regarded as prejudicial to the monarchy and to the church, 380 LIFE OF LORD to both of which he was sincerely attached. He, therefore, with the dauntless courage of his nature, directed the whole force of a strong and ready, though near-sighted mind, against innovation in general, without sufficiently distinguishing in favour of demonstrated improve- ment. But his opposition, however zealous, was generous and frank ; and though, from the want of early training for that kind of conflict, he was under some disadvantage in his first struggles with the prac- tised politicians of the Whig opposition, yet he took up, and employed with so much quickness, judgment and spirit, the materials furnished to him by his colleagues and subalterns, that, possessing also the gift of a correct and perspicuous style, he soon became, by the confession of all parties, one of the most powerful debaters of his time. He had personal qualities, too, which contributed materially to his acceptation in debate. His domestic virtues, his fidelity to his friends, his ardent and almost flagrant zeal, his sincerity, his disinterestedness, his unaf- fected piety, his extensive benevolence and charity, all told upon his parliamentary position, and fortified him as a minister, by the regard which they won for him as a man. No kindlier tribute was ever be- stowed upon the memory of a rival than the graceful allusion to his death in Mr. Canning's celebrated speech of the 22d of the following June, on the Roman Catholic question : "When I first gave notice of this motion, (early in the month of May,) I expected that my most formidable antagonist upon it would be my late lamented friend; and I should have argued the question with him in no other spirit and with no other feelings than ' If a brother should a brother dare' to the proof aud exercise of arms. I know not who is to buckle on his armour against me this day. Would to God that he were here to wield his weapons with his own hand that the cause had the advantage of his abilities, so we had the benefit of his presence, 'Tuque tuis armis, nos te poteremur, Achilla !' " CHANCELLOR ELDON. 381 CHAPTER XXXIV. 1812. Reconstruction of ministry : minutes of cabinet: unsuccessful negotiations with Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning: address of the House of Commons for an efficient administration : unsuccessful negotiations of Lord Wellesley and of Lord Moira, with Lords Grey and Grenville: re-establishment of the pre-existing cabinet, under Lord Liverpool. Strictures of Sir S. Romilly on the negotiations. Catholic ques- tion: speech of Lord Eldon. Arrears of judicial business. Letters from the queen to Lord Eldon, and from Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire. Dissolution of Parlia- ment, and grounds of it: letter from Lord Liverpool. Fire at Encombe: letters of Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott. THE prince regent, thus deprived of his principal adviser, had now to repair or reconstruct his government. How the first steps were taken for this purpose will be seen from the following extracts of me- moranda found among the chancellor's papers. They are chiefly in his own handwriting. The chancellor, understanding himself to be authorized by the prince regent, to learn the sentiments of the cabinet, whether they would consider it to be their duty, if called upon by his royal highness, to carry on the administration of the government under any member of the present cabinet whom his royal highness might think proper to select as the head of it, requests that the cabinet will be pleased to express their sentiments upon this point, that he may be enabled to lay them before his royal high- ness. Answer. The cabinet would feel it to be their duty, if called upon by the prince regent, to carry on the administration of the government under any member of the present cabinet whom his royal highness might think proper to select as the head of it. They consider it to be at the same time incumbent upon them most humbly to submit to his royal highness, that, under all the present circumstances of the country, the result of their endeavour to carry on the government must, in their judgment, be very doubtfuL It does not, however, appear to them to be hopeless, if the administra- tion is known to possess the entire confidence of the prince regent. Then follow these rough notes of the opinions given by different members of the cabinet respecting the materials out of which the ministry was to be reconstructed : Are you of opinion that G. and G. out (Grey and Grenville) and W. and C. out, (Wellesley and Canning,) you can carry on the government? Mulgrave. No. Lord Sid. Doubtful. Harrowby. Not. Bathurst. Dangerous to P. (prince) and country. Bucking. Doubtful. Westmoreland. Yes. Camden. Very doubtful, not desperate. Melville. Very improbable. Liverpool. Doubtful, not desperate. Castlereagh. Doubtful, to say the least, without a proposition.* * A proposition for junction. 382 LIFE OF LORD Ryder. Extremely difficult. Eldon. It might. 1. Nobody, with Lord W. (Wellesley) at the head. 2. If the P. puts at the head any member of the present administration will the rest support him! Yes. If that member thinks of talking with W. and C., will you allow him to do so? Those of the answers to this last question, which can be deciphered, are very various; some "aye," some "no;" one for "leaving it to the individual;" Lord Castlereagh's answer is, "Decline being an obstacle, but reserve my own determination." There seems, however, to have been a general concurrence in the opinion (which, on the first question, was given by Lord Castlereagh), that at all events the existing ministers would have less chance of public support for a government of their own, if office should not previously have been offered either to Lords Grey and Grenville or to Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning. A negotiation was presently opened with the two latter by the Earl of Liverpool, which forms a subject of speculation in the following letter. (Not dated; probably May 18th, 1512.) "Dearest Brother, "The funeral,* attendance on the prince and cabinet, on Saturday, employed me till several hours after the post hour. I should have lamented this the more, if I had had any thing to communicate. Nothing is in any degree settled. The particulars of what has been passing I cannot commit to paper. If I am a political coward, as I may very justly be thought, it is, as it appears to me, a very melancholy truth, that I can find nobody among those whom Perceval has left, with respect to whom, upon comparison, I have not a most extraordinary degree of political fortitude. In general, I believe I may say, that attempts are making, with the concurrence of all, to bring Wellesley and Canning into office. If they come, Liverpool will be at the head of the administration, and Castlereagh to he, among the House of Commons' members of administration, at the head of them. Most think that W. and C. will not come upon those terms they will be accepted upon no other. My opinion is, that both are so sick of being out, that they will come upon such terms. If they don't, we shall try what we can do without them. Upon this there are three opinions, two among us.- that is, /think that that may and will go on all the rest think that it must be tried, but that it cannot go on, and that things will fall into the hands of G. and G. nearly forthwith. A third opinion comes from gentlemen in the H. of Commons, who think it will go on and who are not inclined to support at all, if W. and C. do ctjme in. Upon this last opinion, however, it is too late to act, if they bite. Lord Sid. has behaved very well, certainly; so has the regent. "I'll write to-morrow perhaps again to-day, if any further material occurs. " Ever yours affectionately, " ELDOS-." Lord Eldon was mistaken, however, in his judgment of Mr. Can- ning and Lord Wellesley, who both declined to join any government that should proceed on the principle of resistance to all consideration of the Roman Catholic claims. Lord Wellesley's answer to Lord Liverpool, dated May 18, concluded with these suggestions, " that a cabinet might be formed, on an intermediary principle respecting the Roman Catholic claims, exempt from the dangers of instant unquali- fied concession, and from those of inconsiderate peremptory exclusion," and that " the entire resources of the empire might be applied to the great objects of the war." * Of Mr. Perceval. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 383 On the failure of this negotiation, of which the terms were at that time regarded as inadmissible, the regent appears to have thought that his safest course would be to continue his old ministry, without fur- ther attempt at any material change in its composition. But this view was disturbed on the 21st of May, by an address which Mr. Stuart Wortley, the present Lord Wharncliffe, moved in the House of Com- mons, and carried, though by a majority of only four, praying the prince regent to take measures for forming a strong and efficient ad- ministration. The regent's answer to this address was, that he would take it into his serious and immediate consideration. He forthwith commanded Lord Wellesley to attempt the formation of a govern- ment ; who, thus empowered, requested of Mr. Canning to inquire of Lord Liverpool whether the existing ministers, or any of them, would entertain a proposal for entering into arrangements with him. They all declined the proposal of an administration to be formed by Lord Wellesley, that is, of which Lord Wellesley should be the head ; and on the 23d a negotiation was opened by him with the Lords Grey and Grenville. This also failed ; but in one of the papers connected with it, (an enclosure, dated 28th May, and signed by Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning,) there occurs a passage which, to this day, remains im- portant, as a declaration of those eminent statesmen against any ex- tension of the Pro-Catholic principle to the injury or discouragement of the Protestants. "A conciliatory adjustment of the claims of the Irish Catholics is the object which ' Lord Wellesley and Mr. Canning have equally at heart; and it enters equally into both their views, that to be conciliatory, that adjustment must be so framed as to em- brace the interests and opinions of the English Catholics also, and to obtnin the en- lightened and deliberate consent of the Protestant sof both countries. THET WOCLII THI.NK AST ADJUSTMENT VERY IMPERFECT WUICH, INSTEAD OF EXTIN OUISUI XCJ DISCONTENT, OXLT TRANSFERRED IT FROM THE CATHOLIC TO THE PROTESTANT." A commission was now given lo Lord Moira to consult directly with the Lords Grey and Grenville on the composition of a new ministry, of which Lord Wellesley should be a principal member, but not the actual constructor, and which should include men of all par- ties. The following is Lord Eldon's note of this project: (Memorandum of Proposition.) That Lord Wellesley should be first lord of the treasury, and Lords Moira and Erskine and Mr. Canning should be of the cabinet. That, if the cabinet was twelve, Lords Grenville and Grey should name four; if thirteen, they might name five. That the rest should be named by Lord Wellesley, either out of the prince's present servants, N. B. they had all refused to act with Lord We\lesley forming the adminis- tration, or any other persons whomsoever. Lord Wellesley to name to all offices. The basis, the consideration of the Catholic claims, and the vigorous prosecution of the war in Spain. This attempt was equally unsuccessful with the two former. It went off upon a difference between Lord Moira and the Whig lead- ers, as to the liberty of changing the appointments to the great offices of the household a liberty which Lord Moira thought "on pub- lic grounds peculiarly objectionable," but which the Whig leaders deemed indispensable, for the purpose "of giving to a new govern- LIFE OF LORD merit that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the. constitutional support of the crown, which were required to enable it to act usefully for the public service." Every effort having thus been made in vain, the prince regent had now no resource but to fall back upon his existing cabinet; whom he therefore retained, with only the little of addition and modification which the loss of his first minister had rendered necessary. Before Mr. Perceval's death, Lord Sidmouth had become president of the council in the place of Lord Camden, who continued in the cabinet without political office ; and Lord Buckinghamshire and the present Lord Melville had entered the cabinet, the former as president of the India Board, in the room of the latter who had succeeded Mr. Yorke as the head of the admiralty. After the death of Mr. Perceval, Lord Liverpool, fr6m being secretary for war and colonies, became first lord of the treasury, with Mr. Vansittart, afterwards Lord Bexley, for his Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and Lord Harrowby was made pre- sident of the council in the room of Lord Sidmouth, who succeeded Mr. Ryder as secretary of state for the home department ; Lord Bathurst, from being president of the board of trade, became secretary for war and colonies, and Sir Robert, then Mr. Peel, secretary for Ireland : Lord Eldon continued to be chancellor, Lord Westmoreland to be lord privy seal, Lord Mulgrave to be master-general of the ordnance, and Lord Castlereagh to be secretary for foreign affairs, taking also the lead of the government in the House of Commons. This was the composition into which, after all the struggles both of Whigs and neutrals for extensive change, the cabinet finally settled down ; and in this state, though it was then supposed incapable of weathering even the current session, it subsisted till the death of Lord Liverpool, fifteen years afterwards, without any material change of policy except the recognition of the Roman Catholic question as an open one, and without any important additions of individual strength, except the return of Mr. Canning to office in 1816, and the en- trance into the cabinet of the Duke of Wellington as master-general of the ordnance in 1818, and of Sir Robert Peel, as secretary for the home department in 1822. Sir Samuel Romilly, a harsh exponent of the motives of his poli- tical antagonists, has thus questioned, in his Diary, the good faith of the prince and his advisers, particularly the lord chancellor, in the arrangements of 1812. "June 11. The whole of the negotiations for a new ministry have been conducted unquestionably, with a previous determination on the part of the prince and of those who enjoy his confidence, that they should not end in Lord Grey and Lord Grenville and their friends being in power. The lord chancellor has never, from the moment of the address of the House of Commons being carried, shown the least symptom of apprehension that he was to resign his office. During these three weeks that the ministers have been represented by themselves as holding their offices only till their successors should be named, he has given judgment in none of the numerous causes, petitions and motions which have been long waiting his decision ; though there never before was an instance of a chancellor about to resign the great seal, who did not hasten to clear away all the arrears of his court. Instead of this, Lord Eldon has been every day closeted with the Duke of Cumberland ; and, during several days in the term, the court has been entirely shut up, while his lordship was employed in some CHANCELLOR ELDON. 385 way never known to the suitors of his court, or to the public. We have even had the Duke of Cumberland coming down to Westminster Hall, and sending for the chan- cellor out of court. The whole matter has ended pretty much as I expected. It might have been much worse, if Lords Grey and Grenville had not been deterred from taking office by the obstacles which were purposely thrown in their way. They would have been suffered to remain in the ministry but a very short time ; some pretext would have been anxiously watched for, and eagerly seized, to turn them out with the loss of character; or a new cry against Popery would have been raised, and they would probably have been the victims of it."* The imputation which begins the foregoing paragraph seems wholly gratuitous. The House of Commons having intimated a wish lor the reconstruction of the ministry, and the Whigs being the only remaining party through whose aid such a reconstruction could be effected, the prince made an offer to their leaders. He may have had little hope, nay, little wish, that the offer should be accepted; but if he gave them a fair option to accept or decline it, neither he nor his advisers can justly be charged with "a previous determina- tion that the negotiations should not end in Lord Grey and Lord Grenville and their friends being in power." Those negotiations, repeatedly renewed by the prince, were finally broken off by the Whig leaders themselves, upon the question of the household ap- pointments. Let it be assumed, for the argument, that the Lords Grey and Grenville were well entitled to insist upon the reconstruc- tion of the household, still there is nothing in the prince's conduct respecting that point which indicates a predetermination to strangle the treaty. However fairly and naturally the Whig noblemen may be deemed to have acted in pressing their view of the subject, the prince and his advisers may surely claim credit for having as fairly and as naturally adhered to their own. Each party may have hon- estly considered itself in the right. Lord Moira had signified to Lords Grey and Grenville, as was declared on the llth of June by Mr. Stuart Wortley, the mover of the address for a strong adminis- tration, " that all the great and leading questions of policy would be laid at their feet, to be managed at their will." Lord Moira's minute of their conversation with him on the 6th June, 1812, records, that satisfactory explanations had taken place respecting such measures as appeared to be of the greatest urgency, more especially the Roman Catholic and the American questions: that "LordlVIoira had received this commission without any restriction of limitation what- ever being laid by the prince on their considering any points which they judged useful for his service:" and that the Lords Grey and Grenville " expressed their satisfaction with the fairness of this pro- posal, and their readiness to enter into such discussion as must pre- cede the details of any new arrangement." Then came their demand for the reconstruction of the household, a demand, said the Whig nobleman, which arose only "from the necessity of giving to a new government that character of efficiency and stability, and those marks of the constitutional support of the crown, which were required to enable it to act usefully for the public service." Lord Moira, in the * Memoirs of Romilly's Life, voL iii. pp. 42, 43. VOL. i. 25 LIFE OF LORD same conference, informed them, "that the prince had laid no restric- tion upon them in that respect, and had never pointed, in the most dis- tant manner, at the protection of those officers from removal: that it would be impossible for him, Lord Moira, however, to concur in making the exercise of this power positive and indispensable in the formation of an administration, because he should deem it, on public grounds, peculiarly objectionable." A decided difference of opinion as to this point, says Lord Moira, having been expressed on both sides, "the conversation ended here with mutual declarations of re- gret."* In such a state of facts, it seems not very easy to conjecture on what grounds Sir Samuel Romilly can have thought himself warranted to impute, that the negotiation had "been conducted unquestionably with a previous determination on the part of the prince and of those who enjoyed his confidence, that they should not end in Lord Grey and Lord Grenville and their friends being in power." Sir Samuel Rornilly's imputation is still further rebutted, by ano- ther circumstance which must have come to his knowlege within a few hours after he wrote the strictures above quoted, though it has not led him to expunge or qualify them. On the llth of June, the very day on which this entry in his Diary is dated, Lord Yarmouth, afterwards Marquis of Hertford, who held the office of vice-chamber- lain, and was known to be especially in the confidence of the prince regent, acquainted the House of Commons that he, and the officers of the household in general, had formed and declared their intention to resign their situations as soon as it should be settled that the Lords Grey and Grenville were to take the seals of office ; the wish of the household officers being, as they had expressly stated to his royal highness and in various other quarters, that they might have the op- portunity of retiring voluntarily, instead of being turned out by the new administration. Lord Yarmouth added, that he had, himself, communicated this intention to Mr. Sheridan, with a view to its reaching the Lords Grey and Grenville. Mr. Sheridan, it appears, did not communicate it, as he had been expected to do ; and he has been severely censured for that omission by his biographer, Mr. Moore ; but the fact of his having been thus apprized of the intention by the most confidential of the prince's friends, and for the very pur- pose of conveying it to the Whig leaders, is a tolerably strong pre- sumption, that, at all events, the court party had no plot for making the household a stumbling-block in the negotiation ; and that, as far as the prince regent and his counsellors were concerned, it was open to the Whig leaders to take quiet possession of the government. Little time was suffered to elapse, before the subject of the Roman Catholic claims was pressed again on the attention of the House of Lords, in a motion made on the 1st of July by the Marquis W T elles- ley, for taking into consideration, early in the then next session, the state of the laws affecting the Roman Catholics, with a view to such * 23 Hans. Parl. Deb., App. xli. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 387 an adjustment as might " be conducive to the peace and strength of the United Kingdom, to the stability of the Protestant establishment, and to the general satisfaction and concord of all classes of his majes- ty's subjects." The lord chancellor was among the peers who spoke in opposition to this resolution. He declared that no wish was nearer to his heart than to be convinced that he was wrong. The noble marquis (said he) has justly stated that there can be no difference of opinion as to the desirable nature of the objects which the resolution professes to accomplish. Oh that they could be accomplished ! Oh that your lordships could come to some determination on them, " to the general satisfaction of all classes of his majesty's subjects!" After urging a variety of topics, which, referring chiefly to temporary circum- stances, have now lost much of their interest, Lord Eldon proceeded thus: The noble marquis has asked us to show him the danger. But are we, in this Protestant country, to be put to show the danger of subverting the Protestant establishment? Everywhere in our statute books, you will find the security of the Protestant religion provided for, not merely with reference to religion; not because we quarrel with the religion of the Catholics; but because their religious opinions operate on their poli- tical principles in such a way as to render it necessary to adopt some defence against them. It has been said that the regulations, of which the Catholics now complain, were called for only by a particular and temporary occasion ; but the ancestor of a noble lord emphatically cautioned his countrymen, that if they permitted their reli- gious establishment to be broken in upon, the effect would be injurious to their civil rights. That was the general principle upon which our ancestors proceeded. It is urged, that Catholics regard their oaths. I am not denying that they do so ; but there is no oath which would meet the case, or afford an adequate security. As to the dis- tinction drawn in their favour between spiritual and temporal jurisdiction, it is a distinction in itself obscure, and liable to great confusion; and one thing we may depend upon in looking at this subject, that a great deal of that which we should call temporal, they would call spiritual power. The authority of Blackstone, which is quoted so frequently in favour of unqualified concession, would, if quoted impar- tially, go, indeed, to a modification of the provisions against the Roman Catholics ; but, so long as they acknowledged a foreign sovereign, on spiritual or on temporal matters, it would go no further than to a modification. We have proceeded, from month to month, and from day to day, in concessions, consistent with the spirit of our con- stitution, and guarded by that cautious poficy which ought to regulate such proceed- ings. If the present motion be carried. I mean not merely consideration, but, if concession be carried, the noble marquis and I may shake hands ; but, as I hope for God's mercy, I do not think I shall be living under the same constitution as hitherto. Feeling the weight of all these objections strongly pressing on my mind, it is my intention to conclude with a motion, upon which I would divide the House, even if I were to stand alone. The noble marquis and myself agreed, on a former occasion, that, under the circumstances then existing, we could not vote for concession ; and now, under similar circumstances, I cannot vote for the noble marquis's motion. I conclude by moving the previous question. At a later period of the debate, in reference to some strictures of Lord Holland, The lord chancellor explained his reason for moving the previous question, rather than voting a direct negative, to be, that he did not wish at once and for ever to shut the door of conciliation against the Roman Catholics, though he was anxious, at the same time, not to disguise from their body bis own objections, on constitutional grounds, to their claims. Though Lord Eldon had resisted the crude changes proposed in the House of Commons by way of remedy for the arrear of legal business, yet (as he had proved in the preceding year by the appoint- ment of a" committee for the examination of the subject), he was by no means insensible to the growing magnitude of the mischief, espe- LIFE OF LORD cially in the House of Lords, where the appeals had accumulated to a point which made it indispensable that some assistance should be supplied for the disposal of them. In order, therefore, that he might be enabled to bestow a greater portion of his time upon these appeals, he gave his best support to a bill, founded on the labours of the Lords' committee and introduced by his friend Lord Redesdale, for constituting a vice-chancellor who might relieve the holder of the great seal from a portion of the business of the Court of Chancery. On the 13th of July, when Lord Redesdale moved the consideration of the report of this bill, Lord Eldon expressed his conviction, that when he should be dead and gone, the subjects of this country would feel the salutary and satisfactory operation of a mea- sure which tended to the speedy decision of their appeals to that House and of their suits in the Court of Chancery. After allusion to some of the details of chancery practice in illustration of the existing necessity, he reminded the House that the visible occupations of the chancellor were not the only matter to be here regarded. A chancellor must give his days and his nights to the consideration of his duiies. He must pursue them even in the retirement of his house and in the privacy of his closet, if he meant to do justice. And it was to be recollected that a conscientious attention to the cases of those capital malefactors whose fate was to be decided by the crown with reference to a merciful administration of justice, not a little enhanced the anxious labours of his office. The report was agreed to ; but the year was now too far advanced to allow the passing of the bill in that session ; and, on the 30th of July, the Parliament was prorogued by commission, in a speech de- livered by the lord chancellor on the prince regent's behalf. The gayest event of the summer seems to have been that which is indicated in the following invitation : (Queen Charlotte to Lord Eldon.') " Windsor, August 10th, 1812. " What will the lord chancellor say, when a lady's note intrudes itself into his learned court? and yet the writer of it can assure him, that the case proposed will not be of a difficult decision. The question is neither more nor less, than whether he will lay aside, for half a day, the more serious business of right and wrong, for a party in honour of the prince regent's birthday, at Frogmore, for which the queen invites him on Wednesday the 12th at 5 o'clock, where he will meet all the members of the royal family that can be assembled, and be, if not learnedly employed, at least legally in the lawful occupation of dining. " CHARLOTTE." (Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire.") "Encombe, Sept. 22J, 1812. " My dear Swire, " It is long, certainly very long, since I have written to you : my warmest and most affectionate regards, nevertheless, have ever attended you, and I can only assure you that my attention has been utterly distracted by the events of a year which, in their extraordinary nature, so far as they respect myself, have surpassed all the extraor- dinary circumstances which even my checkered life has produced. I had no doubt that I should have had the happiness to have seen Melsonby this season, save what depended upon the fact that existence itself is not certain; for though, this place having a residence and Eldon not having any, this must have been my residence, yet I had determined that no year should pass without my seeing Eldon, at least as Jong as God should please to permit us both to live. I could not doubt that at the close of the regency year, the 18th February, I should have had my dismissal: so sure was I of that, that when the prince sent for me on the 17th, his commands reached me sitting for my picture in my robes. When I went he expressed his sur- prise that I appeared in a morning in a laced shirt : I told him what I had been about : CHANCELLOR ELDON. 389 he then expressed surprise that I could find any time for such a business : my answer was that the fact proved that that was difficult;" that the picture had been asked nearly two years for the Guildhall at Newcastle, and that my countrymen wishing it should be in the chancellor's robes, I could not delay beyond that day in which I might for the last time be entitled to wear them. He smiled, and next day satisfied me that I needed not to have been in such a hurry. This was curious enough, but is literally a fact. N. B. The picture is said to be an extremely good one, and, as it is engrav- ing, I'll send you one of the best prints of it. Well, after this, poor Perceval was assassinated. By the way, I had a pretty narrow escape. It is said, ' Mors sola fatetur Quantula sint hominum corpuscula;' but I have learnt facts of poor Perceval's life which I never should have learnt but in consequence of his death, and which prove him to have been a most extraordinarily excellent person. Here again, however, I thought I should sing, ' Nunc dimittis.' I appointed and attended a recorder's report, which I thought it unmanly to leave to a successor, on a Monday, as I was morally certain that I should not be chancellor on the usual day, the Wednesday. But whether Grenville and Grey did not wish to be ministers, or whether they would not be ministers unless they could bind kings in chains, I don't know. The Tuesday put my wig and gown once more fast upon my head and back, and I am now just as uncertain when I shall see the blessings of final retirement as I was before the king's illness. What a life of anxiety (about myself certainly in no degree such), I led during these scenes, must be reserved, if it is to be described, till some happy hour of conversation between us shall be vouch- safed me by Providence. I concluded my stay in town by the prince regent's dining in Bedford Square with a man whom he had hated more than any other in his father's dominions, according to his unreserved confession. " As to the proceedings of the session, it is to me abundantly clear, that unless the country will express its sentiments on the Roman Catholic claims, (if it has any sen- timents respecting them, which I doubt,) and that tolerably strongly, between Dissent- ers, Methodists and Papists, the church is gone. I fought the battle again this win- ter, and I shall fight it whilst I have stumps to stand upon ; but I cannot fight it successfully alone with a country sunk in apathy. " And now, dear Sam, I come to a close. Retained in office, with no wish to remain in it, I am praying for some fair opportunity, some honourable reason for quitting. I grow old; business increases; my ability to discharge it does not improve. These, so help me God, are the reflections which have occupied my anxious thoughts during the last winter, and yet, in this malignant world, whilst the regent knows my wishes perfectly, I am supposed to be clinging to office, and intriguing for others, who are anxious for it, God forgive them ! My Bessy, both my Bessys, send love to you and your Bessy, and " I am ever affectionately yours, " ELDOS." The annual register of this year records the general surprise with which the country received the proclamation of the 29th of September, for the dissolution of Parliament, a step for which the writer observes that, as no public reason had been given, conjecture was left to ima- gine the most probable. What the real motives were, the following letter from Lord Liverpool to the chancellor distinctly discloses : (Extract.) "Fife House, Sept. l&h, 1812. " My dear Lord, "'I am sorry to be under the necessity of disturbing you; but it has been detei mined that Parliament shall be dissolved. Indeed, considering the success of our military operations, the abundance of the harvest in every part of the United King- dom, the increasing tranquillity of the disturbed districts in this country, and ] profound quiet in every part of Ireland, we should hardly be justified in not availu ourselves of all these favourable circumstances, by adjourning the diss some future period, when, from causes unavoidable, such a measure might b only inconvenient, but even hazardous. If the event is to take place, it is, of coi desirable that it should not, at this season of the year.be delayed; and the prince 390 LIFE OF LORD proposes, therefore, to hold a council for the purpose, on Monday, the 28th instant, or Tuesday the 29th, as may best suit your convenience." The succeeding extract is from a letter of Lord Eldon to Sir Wil- liam Scott, which was probably written about the end of September, 1812, shortly after a fire at Encombe, by which a wing of the house was burnt, on the night between the 18th and 19th of that month. " We are tranquillized as to the effects of our accident on our spirits. It will detain me here some few days longer than I intended, to order repairs, &c.; but our escape has been marvellous, and the mischief actually done is in no sense considerable. If it had happened an hour sooner, or if we had not had, belonging to the house, a fire engine, or if the fire had reached some wood work within a foot of the place to which it reached, and which it would infallibly have done, if I had not had the pre- sence of mind to direct the forcible destruction of the connection between the house and the small wing, the whole house must have been utterly destroyed." Toward the close of his life, when his niece, Mrs. Forster, was on a visit to him at Encombe, he said to her: " We had a fire here once, in the wing, which destroyed two bedrooms. It really was a very pretty sight; for all the maids turned out of their beds, and they formed a line from the water to the fire-engine, handing their buckets ; they looked very pretty, all in their shifts. My first care was the great seal; so byway of securing it during the confusion, I buried it. The next morning when I came to reflect, I could not remember the spot where I had put it: you never saw anything so ridiculous, as seeing the whole family down that walk, probing and digging till we found it." The soreness with which Lord Eldon felt the neglect of the govern- ment in leaving him undefended upon the question of his judicial arrear, will be perceived from the following extracts of a letter to Sir W. Scott, written during the general election. (Lord Eldon to Sir W. Scott.) (Extract.) (Post-mark, Oct. 9th, 1812.) "Friday. "Dear Brother, "I return you the enclosed according to your request, which I received last night, as I was writhing up stairs in the gout, about seven o'clock, to bed. Really, as to the government, I don't care one farthing about it. I am mistaken, if they do not mainly owe their existence, as such, to me ; and yet I have been, in my judicial capacity, the object of the House of Commons' persecution for two years, without a lawyer there to say a word of truth for me; and though I have pressed, for years past, the import- ance of being supported there by some individuals in my own department of the profession, not the slightest notice of this has been taken in their arrangements; I have been left unprotected as before, and so unprotected I cannot and will not remain. "The prince vows annihilation to the government if I go ; and I suppose would resort to Canning and Wellesley. But I cannot feel the obligation I am under of being hunted in the House of Commons without more of protection than I have had of bearing that the business of the Court of Chancery should be tumbled out at the end of the session, as it was, without communication with me. I am concluding a vacation of uneasiness by struggling with pain. " Yours, " ELDON." CHANCELLOR ELDON. 391 CHAPTER XXXV. 1812, 1813. New parliament. Address respecting disputes with United States: Lord Eldon's speech. Attempt of Princess of Wales to open correspondence with prince regent. Letter of Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott. Action against Sir William Scott by Beaurain: advice of Lord Ellenborough and of Lord Eldon against payment of money to avert attacks on character. Trial of Lord Sligo's case before Sir William Scott: marriage of Sir William Scott with dowager Lady Sligo: its circumstances: anecdote. Vice chancellor's bill debated and passed : appointment of Sir T. Plumer: strictures of Sir S. Romilly and claims of Mr. Richards. Letter from Lord Eldon on the education of his grandson. Partial Relief Bill to Roman Catholics. Letter of Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire. THE first session of the new parliament, which contained a large ma- jority of members generally favourable to the views of the administra- tion, was opened on the 30th of November with a speech from the prince regent in person. An address was moved on the 18th of February by Lord Bathurst, engaging the House of Lords to the sup- port of the crown, in the war declared against England by the United States. In the course of his speech, Lord Bathurst exposed the claim which the Americans had set up, that any subject of any state who should possess himself of letters of naturalization or a certificate of citizenship from the American authorities, should be exempt from the reclamation of the country to which he owed his natural allegiance. This was, in truth, to claim the power of cancelling the allegiance of the subjects of other states; and on this principle the Americans had required, as a preliminary to any negotiation, that Great Britain should suspend her right of impressing British seamen found on board American vessels. The chancellor said, that the right of the British nation, the surrender of which, at least for a time, had been made the sine qua non of negotiation by the American go- vernment, was necessary to the very existence of this country, and especially at that moment. If the claim of naturalization by a residence of five years were allowed to America, why not to all other countries 1 If a residence of five years established the right, why should not a residence of one month 1 It would thus be easy, by the offer of impunity and by the temptation of greater pay, to seduce our seamen into the ser- vice of foreign states. Unless America should think proper to alter her tone, he did not see how the national differences could be settled : surely never, if the condition of conciliation was to be the concession of that claim which was the life of our navy, and, through that, the life and protection of the country. As an adviser of the crown, he would never consent to an armistice on the condition of appearing to hesitate about a right so vitally affecting the nation that her ruin might ensue in a month from its concession. As the Princess Charlotte advanced toward riper years, it was thought fit by the prince regent to impose additional restrictions on her intercourse with her mother, the Princess of Wales : who, galled by this limitation, and by a sense of former ill-usage, attempted a re- monstrance in a letter to the prince regent. Her letter, according to 392 LIFE OF LORD a statement made by Mr. Whitbread, in the House of Commons, on the 5th of March, was thrice returned unopened. This, however, appears to have been the result, not of any design to exclude her from a hearing, but merely of the prince's unmitigated repugnance to any thing like personal correspondence with her. The following letter, addressed to her royal highness by Lord Liverpool, on his own and the chancellor's behalf, sets this matter in a clear light : "Lord Liverpool begs leave to inform her royal highness, the Princess of Wales, that he communicated to the lord chancellor, according to her royal highness's desire, the letter which he received from the princess on Sunday night. He has likewise thought it his duty to lay that letter before his royal highness the prince regent. "The lord chancellor and Lord Liverpool have never declined to be the channel of any communications which the Princess of Wales might be pleased to inform them that her royal highness was desirous of making to the prince regent through his con- fidential servants; and they would have been ready to have submitted to his royal highness any points in the copy of the letter transmitted by the princess to Lord Liverpool, which it might have been their duty to have brought under his royal high- ness's consideration, if the princess had signified to them her intention that the com- munication to his royal highness should have been made in this manner. But it must be for the prince regent himself to determine, whether he will receive, in the manner proposed, any direct communication by letter from the Princess of Wales, or enter into any correspondence with her royal highness. " The prince regent has commanded Lord Liverpool to state, that he adheres to the resolution which he has already expressed in this respect, and he has directed Lord Liverpool, therefore, to return her royal highness's letter. "Fife House, Jan. 19th, 1S13." The affair was taken up as a party matter by the opponents of the government, and stirred among the livery of London and other popu- lar bodies ; but the interest excited by it gradually died away, and the differences of the royal personages were for a time forgotten by the public. Meanwhile the manly conduct of Lord Eldon, in refusing all compliances which he thought inconsistent with his duty, appeared to be endangering him with the regent. The following letter, which appears to have been written about this time, exhibits, in a strong point of view, the annoyances and perplexities of that season : (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott. (Extract.) (Not dated : probably 1813.) " Dear Brother, " It is absolutely impossible, and I am very sorry for it, that I can avail myself of this occasion to do what you wish. Some one of my own secretaries must have the cursitorship they have a right to it the commissionerships are pledged ten deep, and as to the private secretaryship, that I must dispose of without reference to any body but myself, if I am to continue chancellor. I doubt whether I am : the prince having applied for all and I having refused him all. As to the private secretaryship, it distresses me so much that it is vacant, that I sincerely wish to put an end to my own office. Excuse the haste which I write with from the bench, and excuse any thing improper, for I mean nothing to be so; but my soul is heavy. " I am too low, and too ill, to mix with the world, and I therefore absented myself yesterday and shall do so to-day. " The P. has been treating me with so much unkindness, because I won't do as to his wife and daughter as he wishes in a way, that one more such interview as I have had, if it occurs, will save me the trouble of appointing to the secretaryship, or any thing else, where the officer goes out of oifice with the chancellor. " Yours, " ELD ON." When the one irritating subject was absent from the regent's mind, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 393 his behaviour to the chancellor was thoroughly cordial ; and he would then address him in such notes as that which next follows : " C. H. $ pt. 7 p. M. Feb. lOih, 1813. " My dear friend, " Pray give me a call in your way home, when your cabinet breaks up, as an idea has struck me which I wish to talk over with you for five minutes, in order that you may turn it over in your mind before to-morrow morning. Just send me a line, to mention about what hour I may be likely to see you, in order that I may be in the way and not keep you waiting. Ever sincerely yours, " GEORGE P. R." A cause was tried in the Court of King's Bench on Saturday, the 6th of March, in which an attorney, named Beaurain, was the plaintiff, and Sir William Scott the defendant. The object of the action was to recover damages against Sir William, for having, as judge of the consistorial court of the Bishop of London, excommunicated Mr. Beaurain for causes which the latter alleged to be insufficient. The excommunication had been sustained by Sir John Nicholl, on appeal to the Court of Arches ; and the plaintiff's counsel in this action, Mr. James Allan Park, disclaimed all imputation of malicious motive ; but Sir William Scott had given the plaintiff 150/., and this was now contended to be proof that Sir William was conscious of having acted illegally. Solicitor-General Sir William Garrow, who conducted the defence, declared that the action had been a source of great pain to his client, a distinguished judge, now at an advanced period of a blameless life, assailed for a sentence, which he was bound to pass, and which neither he nor Sir John Nicholl ever passed without an anxious wish to be saved from such a necessity. The money had been given from no consciousness of misconduct, but from pure benevolence to a man who was represented to Sir William as having been ruined by the effect of the sentence ; but the only fruit of the defendant's kindness had been a series of attempts at extortion. A gentleman named Espinasse, being examined as a witness for the defence, said, that he had seen the plaintiff in prison, who complained of his miserable condition, ascribed it to his excommunication, and spoke of bringing an action. The witness told him that notice should first be given to Sir W. Scott; and on the plaintiff's assenting to this, Mr. Espinasse himself called on Sir William, explained the man's wretched situation, and represented him as a fit object of pity. Sir William said the judgment was the proper one ; but authorized Mr. Espinasse to communicate with the plaintiff, and promised to adopt whatever arrangement they might make ; Mr. Espinasse procured for the plaintiff 150/. from Sir William, who said he hoped it would put an end to all applications from the man, and added that he would try to get him some small place about the customs or in Somerset House. The plaintiff expressed himself, by letter, most grateful to Sir William, but afterwards demanded the great office of marshal of the admiralty; and when Mr. Espinasse scouted that pretension, observed, that he knew of a place that could be had for 2000/., and that he expected Sir William would buy it for him. Upon this Mr. Espinasse indig- nantly broke off all communication with the plaintiff, and Sir William 394 LIFE OF LORD Scott being resolved to resist all further demands on his purse, this action was brought. Lord Ellenborough, the lord chief justice, who tried the cause, told the jury that he did not agree with the counsel on either side as to the motive of the gift. He did not think the money had been given either from a consciousness of wrong or from a mere impulse of charity. No: it was an infirmity, in a great man, who was reluctant to have his character and conduct questioned and his name bandied about in the public papers; and who, being aware how obnoxious was the mode of proceeding by way of excommunication, (unfortunately the only mode of enforcing the sentences of the ecclesiastical court,) apprehended that if, by relieving a distressed sufferer, he could put the complaint at rest, that would be a fair way to get rid of it. This action was a lesson for all men to stand boldly forward to stand on their characters and not, by compromising a present difficulty, to accumulate imputations on their honour. He explained to the jury the law of the case, and told them there appeared no ground to impugn the sentence passed by the defendant. The jury, after half an hour's deliberation, gave a verdict for the plaintiff; damages, 40s. ; the foreman at the same time reading from a paper the following words : " The jury beg leave to assure the lord chief justice that by this their verdict they do not mean to attach the slightest impeachment on the most respectable character of Sir Wil- liam Scott." Advice, in the same spirit as that of Lord Ellenborough, was given by Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott, when consulted by him upon the best means of stopping certain libellous publications with which Sir William and his family were threatened. (Lard Eldon to Sir 'William Scotl.} (Extract.) "There is no jurisdiction in this country that can prevent the publication of this paper by restraint or injunction, if he choose to publish it, nor in any other mode, if it was ever so clear that the law could punish the publication. It follows, of course, therefore, as it seems to me, that there is no way of preventing publication but by inducing the forbearance of it by money. So to prevent it, or rather to attempt to prevent it, is certainly what I cannot and I think no man can advise. If the person who receives the money abides, in a sense, by the bargain, and does not publish the identical paper he is bribed not to publish, (and the odds are that a scoundrel would publish it,) there can be little doubt that the obtaining of money will be an object continually pursued publication after publication will be threatened, that it may be bought off and if, at last, publication is defied and made, the fact that money had before been given will come out, and what nobody would have believed a word of before, will be believed by many, because money had been given. "Did you ever see a book called * * * *, in which there is, I understand, an infa- mous false publication about me 1 ? Prior to that publication an effort was made to induce me to find or furnish the means of preventing that publication; I had no fancy that the publication should be made, far from it; but I could not disguise from my- self that I could only prevent the publication by money, and that so preventing it would lead to consequences which no money would be sufficient to buy off. I there- fore sent my answer, viz., that I never had promoted any publication in favour of myself, and that I never would; and that I never had prevented and never would prevent any publication against myself; if the law, after publication, would not pun- ish the thing, it might take its course. It was published to say that I liked that it should be published would not be true but what would have been the consequence if I had bought it off! " In libel and caricature, how infamously have I and some of my family been treated ! But there is only one Avay of avoiding this, and that no fortune can stand, even if the application of a fortune could successfully be used to ward off the attacks of these villains, or reputation be effectually preserved by the adoption of such means to pre- serve it. "If so much of the paper as relates to you related to me I should give myself not a minute's uneasiness about it. What is slated is false, grossly false, and nobody would CHANCELLOR ELDON. 395 believe it, even if it could not be, as it may be, most satisfactorily contradicted, if there could be any necessity for that." In another letter to his brother, having no date of year or month, he writes thus : "I can only say for myself, pelted, abused and calumniated as I have been, both on account of my public and private life, or rather of what has been falsely supposed about them on account of both most unjustly and wickedly in publications those publications, too, producing almost every day, private letters of abuse, and threats against character and against life itself, I have long been of opinion, and upon that I have acted, that the best thing to be done is to take no manner of notice of such things, to let them work their worst; and incases in which lam conscious that what is imputed respecting me is falsely imputed, to leave the imputation to do its worst, and to draw the venom and the poison out of such publications by applying to the wound inflicted the medicine which consciousness and the good opinion of those whose good opinion alone is worth having will supply. Contradiction from myself, and contradiction from those whose friendly zeal leads them unasked, and with the kindest intentions, to contradict such calumnies, only makes matters worse, by pro- ducing re-assertion more virulent and more inflamed. My rule, therefore, is to let these wretches and scoundrels do their worst, and I should not trouble myself one moment, if there was to be this self-same publication about me, as false." The discomfort which Sir William had experienced in March, 1813, from the action of Mr. Beaurain was banished in a few weeks after- wards by no less interesting an event than his own second marriage. The circumstances which led to this occurrence were not such as usually terminate in matrimony. The Marquis of Sligo, then a very young man, had been tried before Sir William Scott at the admiralty session in December, 1812, for enticing the king's seamen to desert, which he had done for the purpose of procuring the best hands to man a private vessel of his own. His mother, Louisa Catherine, widow of the preceding marquis, had watched the legal proceedings with the utmost solicitude. This had led to some communications between her ladyship and Sir W. Scott, in the course of which she is said to have intimated to him, that the paternal tone and manner of his admonition to the young offender from the bench had suggested to her the reflection how happy it would be for her son if such counsel and guardianship could be continued to him through the rest of his youth. "Upon this hint," Sir William " spake ;" and the 10th of April, 1813, saw him wedded to the dowager. As he was then in his 68th year, his acquaintance would sometimes make themselves merry on the subject of this match : the more, because it was suspected that the lady was inclined to preserve, in her wedlock, a good deal of the independence of her widowhood. On the door of their house in Grafton Street, which had been her abode before the marriage, was a brass plate bearing her name, and beneath it Sir William placed ano- ther bearing his own. " Why, Sir William !" said Mr. Jekyll, who had left his cards of congratulation on the wedding, " I am sorry to see you knock under." Sir William made no answer at that time, but transposed the plates. " Now, Jekyll," said he, when next they met, "you see I no longer knock under." " No, Sir William," said the unrelenting wit, " you knock up now." On the 1st of December, 1812, Lord Redesdale had introduced into 396 LIFE OF LORD the House of Lords the bill for the appointment of a vice-chancellor. On the 7th, when it was about to be committed, Lord Redesdale said that the arrear of appeals and writs of error in the House of Lords then amounted to more than 376 cases, which, according to the past rate of dispatch, would require from twelve to thirteen years for the disposal of them to say nothing of the new arrear which would accumulate in that interval. For the alleviation of these evils, it was proposed by this bill, that a vice-chancellor should be appointed who should attend to the business of the Court of Chancery, while the lord chancellor should sit three days a week, from ten. to four, for the determination, of the cases pending in the House of Lords. " Lord Holland said, he had very serious objections against the bill. He begged to be plainly understood, that he meant them not to apply to the then lord chancellor, of whom no one could entertain a higher opinion. He wished, too, that the salary of the lord chancellor's office should continue commensurate with its importance and utili- ty ; though he would rather see it made up from some other source than from the business of bankruptcy. But he more especially disapproved the new division of the office; the danger was, that, in future times, the vice-chancellor would be the only arbiter of the law, and the lord chancellor become a mere politician. Lord Redesdale replied, that as every lord chancellor would continually be occupied with the decision of the most important and intricate questions in the House of Lords, a minister would hardly venture to place the great seal in the hands of any one not fitted for its functions by great legal learning. The separation of the bankruptcy business would not be expedient; for in that department there arose more cases of consequence to the commerce of the country than in all the courts below put together. The salary of the vice-chancellor might properly be paid from the suitors' fund. The bill went through the House of Lords, and on the llth of Fe- bruary, 1813, arrived at its second reading in the House of Commons, where it was warmly debated : its opponents being chiefly of that party who were wont to complain the loudest of the evil to be reme- died by it. Some of them recommended, as an alternative, the sepa- ration of the bankruptcy business, and some the separation of the speakership of the House of Lords. The only member who then propounded any other practical remedy, in substitution for the ap- pointment of a vice-chancellor, was Mr. William Courtenay, now Earl of Devon. He suggested that a great permanent cause of arrear would be cut off, if the Scotch appeals were limited, like the English ones, to questions of law, four-fifths of the whole arrear of the House of Lords consisting of Scotch appeals upon questions of fact. On the 15th, the bill being about to go into committee, another debate arose, when Mr. Leach argued that the spare time of the master of the rolls, as his office was then constituted, would be quite sufficient to dispose of the arrear in chancery, if he were withdrawn from the attendance on the judicial business of the privy council, which did not properly constitute any part of his duty. The bill was again debated on the 22d of February, when Sir Samuel Romilly mentioned, as a resource of which government had taken no notice, the appointment of some other law lord than the chancellor to preside on the hearing of appeals in the Upper House. That suggestion, however, induced no change in the bill. A new discussion took place on the llth of March, when Mr. Taylor proposed, as a substitute for this measure, the removal of the bankruptcy jurisdiction from the great seal. His motion was very unsuccessful, being opposed not only by the government, but by Mr. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 397 Leach and Sir S. Romilly : and the vice-chancellor's bill was then read a third time and passed. It is the 53d of Geo. 3. c. 24. The first appointment under it was conferred on Sir Thomas Plumer, the then attorney-general, who was invested with the office in the fol- lowing April. Sir S. Romilly speaks with no small asperity of the promotion itself, and of the motives to which he ascribes it : M A worse appointment," says he, " than that of Plumer to be vice-chancellor could hardly have been made. He knows nothing of the law of real property, nothing of the law of bankruptcy, and nothing of the doctrines peculiar to courts of equity. His appointment to this office is the more extraordinary, as the chancellor is fully aware of his incapacity to discharge the duties of it; and as Richards, who is certainly the best qualified for it of any one now in the profession, and whose politics could raise no objection to his promotion, has been always considered as the chancellor's most intimate private friend. The regent certainly cannot have made it a point to have Plumer promoted, since he is one of the avowed authors of the Princess of Wales's defence, which abounds with the most injurious insinuations against the prince. The only explanation of all this is, that, with the rest of the ministry, Plumer has a very strong interest; that they have earnestly pressed his appointment, and have repre- sented that it would be a great slight upon him if he were to be passed by; and that the chancellor has not on this, as he never has on any former occasion, suffered his sense of duty towards the public, or his private friendship, to prevail over his party politics."* Now, unless where some overruling consideration of public advan- tage or disadvantage interposes, it is usual, in arranging promotions to the bench, to give a preference to the law officers for the time being: and as to the higher appointments, the chancellor's voice, though to a certain extent influential, is by no means absolute. Nor is it probable that the qualifications of Sir T. Plumer, for dealing with those branches of law which as vice-chancellor he would have to administer, were regarded by Lord Eldon in the same unfavourable light as by Sir Samuel Romilly. In point of fact, the attorney-general turned out to be, if not a great judge, yet certainly, in the opinion of the legal profession, a competent one. It is true, however, that Lord Eldon did not exert his influence so resolutely as under all the cir- cumstances of the case he ought to have exerted it, for securing a still better selection. He allowed himself to be, in some measure, swayed by a compassionate consideration for Sir T. Plumer's state of health ; and he afterwards took no small blame to himself in the mat- ter, as appears from the testimony of a venerable and excellent mem- ber of the bar, Mr. Wyatt, now the oldest practitioner in the Court of Chancery, who has furnished the following memorandum, with permission to publish it here : "After Sir Thomas Plumer was appointed vice-chancellor, I went to a consultation with Mr. Richards (with whom I was well acquaint- ed) at his chambers in Lincoln's Inn. There were other counsel com- ing ; I was there first. I said to Mr. Richards, ' Instead of coming to consultation, I thought I should have come to argue before you as vice-chancellor.' He replied, ' I thought so too, Wyatt, as I had much conversation with the chancellor about Plumer; we both agreed that he was very unfit : and I certainly thought from the manner and language of the chancellor, that I was to be appointed. Upon my * Memoirs of Bomilly's Life, vol. iii. pp. 102, 103. 398 LIFE OF LORD going into court at Lincoln's Inn afterwards, when, perhaps, the cold- ness and reserve of my manner might attract his lordship's notice, he sent for me, at the rising of the court, into his private room, and began to talk about Plumer's appointment. I said, your lordship certainly never promised me, but every thing short of a promise you made me. I am the same man I was then ; I am not altered; I have not behaved ill. But, with very strong language he said, "Richards, I have" Other counsel then came in, and our conversation ended." Mr. Richards, however, was not long neglected. In 1814, the chancellor made him a puisne baron, and, in 1816, he was appointed Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. The chancellor's grandson and heir, the present earl, having more than completed his seventh year, it became a question of anxiety w r ith his mother, Mrs. Farrer, who had been appointed by Lord Chancellor Erskine to be his guardian jointly with Lord Eldon, on what system her son's education should be conducted ; and Lord Eldon, to whose advice she referred herself on this important point gave his opinion in a letter of which the following is an extract : " May 13th, 1813. "I can have no doubt that he must go to a public school, and I offer it as my judg- ment, formed upon the observation which a long and active life has given me the opportunity of making, that no considerable man can be formed in a private one: at least this is so generally true, that instances to the contrary are rather cases of excep- tion than instances which affect its general truth. I do not mean to propose that he should go at first to one of our great public schools ; on the other hand, if a school is so limited in number of boys as to carry on the modern system of private educa- tion of a very few boys together, all experience, I think, proves the choice of such a school injudicious." The session of 1813 is not so remarkable for any debate wherein Lord Eldon took a part, as for the passing of a bill in relief of the Irish Roman Catholics, which it was not thought necessary, in his judgment or in that of any of the leading exclusionists, to debate at all, and to which Lord Liverpool, then first minister, gave his express approval. It provided that Roman Catholics holding any civil or military office granted to them in Ireland under the Irish act of 33 Geo. 3. c. 21, who should have taken the oaths by that Irish act prescribed, should not be liable, in England, in the navy, or in Jersey or Guernsey, to any of the penalties of 25 Car. 2. c. 2, or to any penalties for not taking tests ; and that any Roman Catholic having taking those oaths, and having received in Ireland a commission in the army, should not, on receiving a higher commission in Great Britain, be liable to any of the said penalties. This measure, which originated in the House of Lords, was introduced by the Duke of Norfolk, and passed into law as the 53 Geo. 3. c. 128. The prince regent came himself to the House of Lords on the 22d of July, and prorogued the Parliament, which he re-opened in per- son on the 4th of the following November. A few days afterwards, Lord Eldon gives this account of his own position in the good graces of the royal personage : CHANCELLOR ELDON. 399 (Lord Eldon to Dr. Swire.') (Extract.) (No date; endorsed London, Nor. 13th, 1813.) "Dear Swire, "As a piece of church news, I mention to you that Dr. Parsons, the Jate vice-chan- cellor, is the new Bishop of Peterborough. He is a stout fellow, and right, I believe, upon points of modern controversy, the Catholic question particularly ; and my young master, who is as eager as his father was upon that, and of the same way of thinking, seems tome to be looking out very sincerely for those who are able and willing to support church and state as we have had them in times past. I suppose this and Rowley's promotion will mortify our gentlemen at Exeter and Brasenose colleges the respective heads of which, we hear, being unwilling to illuminate for our late glorious successes, have had their lodgings, as far as windows go, most com- pletely demolished. What a blessing to himself and to the country it has been, that the prince did not succeed to government, upon the king's demise, but under circum- stances which have given him an opportunity of learning what he would otherwise never have known, or, as the queen puts it, of enabling her son George to learn that his poor father knew better who were his son's best friends than that son himself did! He is conducting himself extremely well. His father, he says, often told him not to part with the chancellor ; but he owns to me that he hated me more than he detested any other man in the kingdom. At present, many, I believe, think he is too much attached to me, and I am sure that it is impossible for a human being to treat ano- ther with more confidence and regard than he does me. The horrible falsehoods with which wicked politicians had filled his mind, he has now been able, by doc- uments of transactions to which they relate, to detect fully. Heavens ! what a talk you and I might have together on this subject if we could but meet! I still look for- ward to seeing you in Yorkshire, and, in despite of your resolves, to seeing you and Mrs. S. in my paradise in Dorset." '400 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXXVI. 1814. Adjournment of Parliament for the settlement of European affairs under the general pacification. Strictures of Sir S. Romilly upon Lord Eldon's conduct with respect to Sir W. Garrow. Project for a marriage of the Princess Charlotte with the Prince of Orange: letter from Lord Liverpool to the chancellor. Prince regent and Emperor of Russia. Freedom of merchant tailors. The Duke of Wellington's seat in the House of Lords first taken. Princess Charlotte : her flight from Warwick House: Lord Eldon's account of the circumstances of her return: question and motion of the Duke of Sussex in the House of Lords. Offices in Reversion Bill. Debtors' Freehold Estates Bill. Dr. Swire's present to Lord Eldon of a Bible: Lord Eldon's letter to him. THE extraordinary successes of the continental powers, who had now rescued their dominions from the usurpation of Napoleon and carried their reprisals into the territory of France herself, excited, throughout the British empire, a very general hope, that by a vigorous prosecu- tion of hostilities the struggle would now be shortly ended and ac- complished, and a safe and lasting peace achieved. It was necessary, for this purpose, to provide new funds and to negotiate new treaties of alliance ; and in order to afford the interval requisite for these arrange- ments, the two Houses of Parliament adjourned on the 20th of Decem- ber to the first day of the succeeding March. When that day arrived, a message was delivered to both Houses from the prince regent desiring their further adjournment to March the 21st; and both assemblies, after some discussion, complied. In the House of Lords an appre- hension was expressed that considerable evil would be occasioned by the interruption of the appeals. The lord chancellor answered that as the adjournment for the proposed three weeks would enable him to give to the Court of Chancery a number of days which he must otherwise have devoted to the appeals, he should think himself war- ranted in appropriating to the appeals, when the House should re-as- semble, an equal portion of time from the Court of Chancery. Sir James Mansfield, whose early kindness to Lord Eldon, at the time of the Clitheroe petition, in 1781, has before been mentioned, and who, in 1804, had been raised, by Lord Eldon's grateful influence, to the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas, resigned that office in the vacation between Hilary and Easter terms, 1814. Shortly before this resignation, Sir S. Romilly writes in his Diary as follows : "Sir Vicary Gibbs, it seems agreed on all hands, is to succeed him (Mansfield), but who is to succeed Gibbs, as chief baron, seems not a little doubtful. For some time it was considered as quite settled that it was to be the attorney-general (Garrow) ; and he has himself talked very confidently about it, has made inquiries respecting the probable state of business upon the different circuits, and has observed that it CHANCELLOR ELDON. 401 would be an affectation in him to be silent upon what every body else was speaking of. How well qualified he is to preside in a court in which all questions respecting the rights of the crown in mailers of property are decided may be conjectured from what passed last summer in the House of Lords. On the cl'aim to the earldom of Airlie, the question was whether a Scotch entailed title of honour was forfeited by its devolving on an attainted person, subsequent to his attainder; or whether (as I had to contend) it was merely suspended during his life, and on his death came to the next heir entail. Garro w, as attorney-general, on behalf of the crown, had to answer Adam's and my argument. Perceiving, from his observations to me while the claim was de- pending, how little he knew of the matter, I was curious to see how, when it came to him to speak, he would extricate himself from his difficulty. He did extricate him- self, but in a way for which I certainly was not prepared. He appeared at the bar of the House of Lords with a written argument, the whole of which he very deliberately read, without venturing to add a single observation or expression of his own. In ihe Stafford peerage, which stood for the same day, he did exactly the same thing. He merely read an argument which somebody had composed for him; and none of the lords were malicious enough to interrupt him, or to put any questions to him on any of the doctrines which he had to maintain. I have since been informed, that both these arguments were written by Hobhouse, one of the solicitors of the treasury. A very new sort of exhibition this by an attorney-general ! Two days afterwards, in the Court of Chancery, on a question whether a manager of a theatre could dis- charge the duties of his office without personal attendance, I who had to argue that he could not, said that it would be as difficult as for a counsel to do his duty in that court by writing arguments, and sending them to some person to read them for him. The lord chancellor interrupted me by saying, 'In this court or in any other?' And after the court rose, he said to me, ' You knew, I suppose, what I alluded to 7 It was Garrow's written argument in the House of Lords.' So little respect has his lordship for an attorney-general whom he himself appointed because he was agreeable to the prince."* On this it is observable that the minister, and not the chancellor, appoints the attorney-general. It may be quite true that the chancel- lor would usually be consulted in such an appointment: but it is one thing to bestow a promotion, another not to take the strong and in- vidious course of putting a veto upon it. The chancellor, having neither practised nor presided in the courts where Sir William Garrow was an advocate, knew but little of him beyond his general celebrity at Nisi Prius ; and it was probably from the same unfrequency of in- tercourse with him that Sir Samuel himself appears to have been una- ware of his incompetency for certain kinds of legal argument, until it became apparent from the observations he made to Sir Samuel upon this very peerage some time before the hearing. Sir W. Garrow did not obtain the appointment of chief baron. It was given to Sir Alexander Thomson, one of the puisne barons, who was succeeded by Mr. Richards. Sir W. Garrow was never promoted beyond the rank of a puisne baron, which he accepted in 1817. In April the treaties were signed, by which the continental war was brought to a conclusion, the Bourbons replaced on the throne of France, and the sovereignty of Napoleon circumscribed by the shores of the island of Elba. The friendly relations, which the circumstances of Europe had established between Great Britain and Holland, now suggested the Prince of Orange as a suitable consort for the regent's only daughter, the Princess Charlotte of Wales, who was presumptive heiress to the British crown, and then in her eighteenth year. On the prospect of * Memoirs of Romilly's Life, vol. iii. pp. 127, 128. VOL. i. 26 402 LIFE OF LORD this union (which was never matured) the following letter was ad- dressed by Lord Liverpool to the chancellor : "Fife House, April 27th, 1814. " My dear Lord, " I am very much pressed by Mr. Fagel for the project of the convention we pro- mised him. "Upon the principle, I conceive there is no difficulty. One point is indispensable, that the sovereignty of Great Britain and Holland shall never be in the same person. "Another is desirable, but not indispensable, that the succession to the two sove- reignties shall, if possible, go to the descendants in different lines, so that their re- spective pretensions may not afterwards clash. " With respect to the hereditary Prince of Orange, we cannot call upon him to give up his rights, as future sovereign of the Netherlands. But he will never be king of this country, nor be any thing in the country, when he resides here, but a subject. His eldest son, if he lives, will be King of Great Britain. There is no difficulty, therefore, about excluding him specifically from the sovereignty of Holland. His second son, it is proposed, should succeed to the sovereignty of Holland. If, by the death of his brother, he succeeded to the sovereignty of Great Britain, he of course must give up the sovereignty of Holland. But the question of doubt is, whether, if he succeeded to be heir apparent or heir presumptive to the sovereignty of Great Britain, he should thereby forfeit the sovereignty of Holland. "Is not this a Dutch question, and might it not be left to the Dutch legislature to determine 1 All we are bound to provide is, that the two sovereignties shall not be in the same person ; and we have no objection to stipulate that the first-born son of the marriage shall not succeed to the sovereignty of Holland. "Surely there can be no difficulty in providing that all other contingencies as to the sovereignty of Holland shall depend upon the laws of Holland, provided always that the two sovereignties never are vested in one person. " This can involve us in no difficulty, because it is not proposed to make any altera- tion in the succession to the throne of Great Britain. "I wish you would try to draw up a short stipulation in this sense and to this effect ; and I am anxious, for reasons that will occur to you, that it should be done soon. " Believe me to be, my dear lord, " Very sincerely yours, " LIVERPOOL." In the month of June, 1814, the allied sovereigns paid a visit to this country. The Anecdote Book has this little story of the Emperor of Russia: " When the Emperor of Russia was in England, (as to whom ru- mour represented that there was not much of a better agreement be- tween him and his wife than between our prince regent and his spouse,) the emperor and the prince regent being together in a car- riage in the streets of London, one of the mob put his head into the carriage nearly, and said, 'Where's your wife? Where's your wife?' The prince regent is reported to have said, ' Emperor, that's for you !' ' On the first of this same month of June, the Court of Assistants of the Merchant Tailors Company had passed a series of resolutions, vot- ing the freedom of their Company to Lord Eldon, and panegyrizing, in the highest terms, his ability and learning, his loyalty to his sovereign and his attachment to the constitution of his country in church and state. Lord Eldon fails not to commemorate in his Anecdote Book the compliment thus paid to him. " The very respectable Company of Merchant Tailors, in London, did me the honour to confer upon me the freedom of that Company. Their motto is ' Concordid parvee CHANCELLOR ELDON. 403 res crescuntS That wicked wag, John Wilkes, construed these words thus: 'Nine tailors make a man.' ' During the 9th, 10th and llth of June there were rejoicings in London, for the successful termination of the war with France. The metropolis was illuminated on each of these nights ; and Lord Eldon's house in Bedford Square displayed, in letters formed of lamps, the words, " THANKS TO GOD." The 28th was the day on which the Duke of Wellington took his seat in the House of Lords. Lord Eldon's Anecdote Book has the following observations upon the peculiarity of the circumstances in which the duke entered that assembly : "It happened to be my duty, when I was chancellor, upon the Duke of Wellington's first coming into the House of Lords, to return him the thanks of that House for his great services to his country. I am not aware of any other instance in the peerage of an individual being, at his first entrance into the House, a baron, a viscount, an earl, a marquis and a duke, having had from time to time each title conferred upon him for distinct services to his country. I made that singular fact a distinct and leading topic in my address to him. In- dividuals of the royal family may have been introduced, having by patent all the dignities at one moment conferred upon them by royal favour. But this nobleman rose, from time to time, from one dignity to another, until he had attained every dignity, each conferred by distinct grants* made upon different occasions for different services, and all those services rendered to the country before he could return to it to take his seat after the grant of the dignities. What I stated is printed in the Journals of the House." Some public sensation was excited in the course of this month of July, 1814, by a sudden movement of the Princess Charlotte. She was resident at Warwick House, when, on the 12th, the prince re- gent, accompanied by the Bishop of Salisbury, who had the superin- tendence of her royal highness's education, unexpectedly visited her, and, pronouncing the dismission of her attendants, declared his inten- tion of taking her with him to Carlton House. The whole proceeding, and the conversation which accompanied it, appear to have been very painful and startling to her royal highness, who, requesting leave to retire, escaped by the back staircase into the street, hurried into a hackney coach, and drove to Connaught House, the then residence of her mother. As soon as the place of the young princess's retreat was ascertained, the Duke of York, the lord chancellor, and some other person, proceeded thither, with instructions from the regent to bring her back. The sequel was thus briefly related by Lord Eldon to Mrs. Fors- ter : " When we arrived I informed her a carriage was at the door and we would attend her home. But home she would not go. She kicked and bounced ; but would not go. Well, to do my office as gently as * The dignities of baron and viscount appear to have been by one grant. 404 LIFE OF LORD I could, I told her I was sorry for it, for until she did go, she would be obliged to entertain us, as we would not leave her. At last she a ' accompanied us." She remained at Carlton House during a part of the summer, and then removed to Cranborne Lodge in Windsor Forest. Her change of abode from Warwick House to Carlton House was made the sub- ject of some inquiries in the House of Lords, addressed to Lord Liver- pool by the Duke of Sussex, one of which was, whether her royal highness, since her removal to Carlton House, had the same liberty of communication with her friends and connections as at Warwick House? Lord Liverpool declined to answer a question which inter- fered with the paternal rights of the prince regent acting for his majesty: upon which the royal duke disclaimed the least idea of any thing disrespectful toward the prince regent. The lord chancellor said he could not give a silent vote. He was persuaded that the royal duke had no intention disrespectful toward the great person alluded to, but he must take the liberty of saying, that if his noble friend had answered those ques- tions, he would have been guilty of a breach of his duty; he would have betrayed his duty to his sovereign: and if he had answered the question respecting the prin- cess's communication with her friends and connections (it might as well have been said of her enemies) he himself would never again have conversed with him. Could such a question be said to convey no imputation] But if it were only upon the ministers of the crown that the animadversion was intended to attach, if it were made but in reference to the advice which it might be supposed that they had oft'ered, he must say that the subject was one upon which the constitution had given to no man a right of interposing lightly. The great person alluded to had the exclusive title to direct the education of his child; at least a very strong ground, indeed, must be laid to warrant the interposition of Parliament with respect to advice so given and followed. And he had the satisfaction of being able to state, in the face of the country, that the whole conduct of that great person toward his illustrious daughter had been, such as to merit the applause, and not the censure, of the country. A motion on the same subject, of which the Duke of Sussex gave notice for the 27th, was on the 25th withdrawn by his royal highness. The lord chancellor expressed his opinion that it was withdrawn very properly, but added his desire to have it distinctly understood, that nothing which had passed in that House had influenced the advisers of the prince regent on this subject. He had never meant to contend that there might not be cases touching the royal family, in which it might be the duty of Parliament to interfere; but he maintained that no ground whatever had been laid for such interference in the present instance. The month of July produced several discussions, in which the lord chancellor bore a part. One of them was on a bill sent up up from the Commons, to suspend, until the next session, the granting of offices in reversion. A similar suspension act having been passed in the session preceding, Lord Grosvenor, in moving the second reading of the present bill, on the 8th of July, 1814, founded himself on the chancellor's acquiescence in the previous one, which acquiescence, however, he intimated, might have been owing to an expression of popular opinion so strong that the learned lord had not chosen to oppose it. If this measure should be rejected by their lordships, the other House, as the session was too far advanced for the introduction of another bill, would probably think fit to address the crown upon the subject. The lord chancellor said he could not consent to these repetitions of suspension, bills. The noble earl had chosen to ascribe his former acquiescence to his sensibility to popular opinion. He would tell the noble earl that if the popular opinion appeared to him to be just, he was always happy to concur in it; if unjust, he wished to go on, CHANCELLOR ELDON. 405 as he had done during his life, without being influenced by it; and he was convinced that Parliament would have heard much less of the measures of reform to which the le ear! alluded, had other people acted on the same principle. The noble earl talked of the wisdom of the other House of Parliament. It was a wonderfully wise way of legislating, truly, after their lordships had six times (five times on the second reading and once on the third) rejected a permanent bill on this subject, to send them up annually a bill of suspension, with the evident view eventually to force the whole measure If they were to go on, year after year, agreeing to such bills, the statute- book would be filled with temporary and mischievous expedients merely Was it consistent with their lordships' dignity, that that which they had so repeatedly refused do should be attempted by these yearly and gradual attacks ! With respect to the argument derived by the noble earl from the course that would probably be adopted by the other House of Parliament in the event of the rejection of the present mea- sure, he would not condescend to answer it. If their lordships were to be induced to modify their proceedings by any such suppositions or circumstances, they had better shut their doors at once. In objecting to this bill, he simply maintained the respect which was due to that House. The bill was thrown out. The chancellor, on the 18th of July, opposed also a bill, sent up from the Commons, for rendering the freehold estates, of persons dyino- indebted, liable to their simple contract debts. It was always (said he) in the creditor's power to stipulate for a bond, and then he would have his remedy against the land of the debtor. This bill, while it went to remove the guards with which the policy of the law had fenced landed property, afforded in fact but little benefit to the creditor; and it was better that he should be left to use his own caution and discretion than that he should sit down in apathy, under the notion that the legislature would take care of his interests. The bill was rejected without a division. On the 30th, that ses- sion of Parliament was closed, with a speech from the prince regent in person ; and the following session was opened, in like form, on the 8th of November in the same year. On the 4th of December, Lord Eldon writes thus to his confiden- tial correspondent, Dr. Swire, thanking him for a present of a Bible: " Sunday. " Dear Swire, "Last night brought me yonr invaluable present; and I beg you to believe that I receive it with the most grateful feelings towards him who has thought of my best interests when he sent it to me. I shall not rest till I can come personally to thank you for it. It is a consolation to me, which I cannot duly estimate, that, in a life which from its nature has compelled me to sacrifice almost every hour (in this state of probation) of adult periods to worldly concerns, the impressions which I received in infancy and in very early youth, respecting the doctrines contained in this volume, have continued so lively and so strong, that I have seldom engaged in any important act, without recollecting in what manner I have been herein taught that I shall be accountable for it at the throne of justice and mercy. Through that mercy, I humbly hope that that justice will pardon what I must otherwise think of with despair. I had thought that ere this time I should have been disengaged from the fatigue and oppression (for it begins to be oppressive at my years) of my office. But I have found it more difficult to persuade others than to persuade myself, that it is time for me to go. Providence and the country have bestowed upon me so much more than I could hope or deserve, that I ought, perhaps, to be some what ashamed of quitting my post, when those who are entrusted to judge think that I may still be useful; but the struggle between inclination to resign and reluctance to be thought too willing to consult my own ease, cannot last much longer, because it must soon become a ques- tion about existence. I note all other parts of your letter, and shall give all due attention to them. Lady Eldon joins me in affectionate regards to you and Mrs. Swire. "Ever, dear Swire, " Yours faithfully, "ELDOH." 406 LIFE OF LORD The Bible referred to in this letter was in Lord Eldon's possession at the time of his death. It has the following words in his hand- writing : "This book was given to me by the Reverend Samuel Swire, D.D., rector of Mel- sonby, in the county of York, and formerly Fellow of University College, Oxford. I presented him to the rectory of Barningham, nearly contiguous to Melsonby, after he had refused preferments at a distance from Melsonby, declining to shear the flock which he could not feed. ELDON." After this come the following words, likewise in Lord Eldon's hand- writing, but apparently written at another time : "The Scriptures have God for their author, salvation for their object s and, as to the matter they contain, God being their author, it is truth without mixture of error."* A small volume, containing the latter portion of the New Testament, in Greek, was also in Lord Eldon's possession at the time of his death. It has the following words in his hand- writing: "This little book my revered schoolmaster, Hugh Mouses, generally had in his pocket nearly always in his walks. Eldon. I desire this to be preserved in my family as long as possible." * " Let him study the Holy Scripture, especially the New Testament. Therein are contained the words of eternal life: it has God for its author; salvation for its end ; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter." Locke's Works, (1812,) vol. x. p. 306: Letter to the Rev. Richard King, August 25th, 1703. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 407 CHAPTER XXXVII. 1815. Scotch Jury Bill. Corn-Law riots: attack on Lord Eldon's house: his narrative of particulars: letter from Queen Charlotte to the Hon. Miss Scott. Reply of Lord Eldon in the House of Lords to the Duke of Gloucester. Second bill respecting freehold estates of debtors. Mr. Jekyll's appointment to a mastership in chancery: anecdotes connected with it. Marriage of the Duke of Cumberland. Detention of Napoleon at St. Helena: letters of Lord Eldon and Lord Liverpool upon the principle of it. A BILL for enabling the Scotch courts to extend the trial by jury to civil causes, (the 55th of Geo. 3. c. 42,) was introduced into the House of Lords by the chancellor on the 16th of February, 1815, when he withdrew a former and less perfect bill, presented before Christmas. The measure was more fully explained by him on the 23d of February, when he moved the second reading. He represented it to be a very material improvement on the then existing law; and though it did not effect all which might be thought desirable, he thought that to do even thus much was far better than to do nothing, and that this step would lead to the accomplishment, at no distant period, of further improvements, in which the feel- ings of the Scotch people would concur. He had great satisfaction in stating that what was now proposed was likely to be agreeable to them ; and certainly, consider- ing how long the then existing system had been established, he wished that any changes attempted should be with their full concurrence. When the bill was in committee, on the 28th, some conversation arose about the expediency of requiring unanimity in the verdicts ; and the chancellor, being requested to declare his opinion, said, He did not mean to decline delivering his opinion, which was fixed and clear from long practice, experience and observation. He was most decidedly convinced that the principle of agreement by the jury in their verdict was essential to that mode of administering justice. Lord Redesdale, Lord Erskine and other peers expressed the same opinion ; and on the motion of the chancellor, a clause for giving effect to it was inserted when the bill was reported.* In the beginning of March, Lord Eldon had a narrow escape from a considerable peril. The bill, then in its progress through Parlia- ment, for imposing a duty on the importation of foreign corn, was extremely obnoxious to the lower classes of the metropolitan popula- tion ; and on the 6th of March, before the hour when the business of the two Houses usually begins, a discontented crowd began to collect in the lobbies and avenues that lead to them. Being obliged by the constables in attendance to retire, the angry multitude took post about the environs of Westminster Hall, where they obstructed the access * Sect. 34. LIFE OF LORD of members, and continued to conduct themselves in so riotous a manner that it was found necessary to call out the troops. Lord Eldon's residence was then at No. 6 in Bedford Square ; and thither, about ten o'clock at night, a body of the mob proceeded. They broke all the windows ; and tearing up some of the iron railings before the area, they employed these as crow-bars to wrench an entrance. The outer door giving way beneath this violence, they rushed in and instantly filled the hall and a room opening into it ; and then, finding the interior barred against them, they betook them- selves to the work of destruction where they were. The back pre- mises fortunately communicated with the gardens of the British Museum, and there Lord Eldon's family took refuge. They gave the alarm to the soldiers of the Museum guard, who, hastening across to the back of the dwelling-house, soon entered it and drove out all the intruders, except two who were taken into custody on the spot ; but this clearance was only effected after the total demolition of the furniture in the hall and adjoining room. It was not till after eleven, on the arrival of a party of the Horse Guards, that the mob retreated wholly from Bedford Square. They soon collected again, in the neighbourhood of Great Russell Street, where they did further mis- chief. The riot continued in various parts of the town during the 7th, 8th and 9th of March. By this time, however, the houses of the lord chancellor, and of many other leading members of the ministry and of the legislature, were garrisoned with soldiers ; and London being finally surrounded by troops on every hand, the disturbances ended. Lord Eldon afterwards found leisure to write in his Anecdote Book some details of this affair, which are as follows: " When my house in Bedford Square was attacked by a mob, sup- posing that I had supported in Parliament the Corn Bill,* upon which I had never uttered a word, or indeed had ever been called upon to form, and therefore never had expressed an opinion upon it, the fury of the mob was very great. The front windows and door of the house were demolished, some furniture destroyed, and many papers, including some judgments, thrown out of doors. The alarm in the house was excessive. I was obliged to remove my wife and children into the British Museum, and with some difficulty got a corporal and four soldiers through the Museum garden into the house while the mob were in it. I proposed to the corporal that we should proceed out of my study into the great room which adjoins it, and from that into the dining-room ; and, the mob being in the hall and a little ad- joining room, we should be able to surprise and secure them. He was a Scotchman, and said, ' We are not strong enough to keep them in, but with good management we may drive them out. I won't let my men put powder and ball into their muskets, but they shall fix their bayonets, and if you will go with me, and, when we get out of this study into the hall, will give me your orders to charge them with * He had said a few words in 1814, June 4th, in deprecation of the general cla- mour on the subject of the Corn Laws. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 409 the bayonets, I will, and my men shall obey these orders ; but we must make the best appearance we can, and, as there are only four soldiers, they must follow one by one, and we must so manage the matter, that the mob may suppose that there will be no end of them who are coming.' Accordingly we so advanced, and the corporal, calling out to his soldiers to come, in language tending to make it believed that they were numerous, the mob fled with great precipita- tion. The front doors being demolished, two soldiers guarded the entrance, crossing their muskets. The mob held a consultation at the top of Keppel Street, whether they should attack the house again ; but, conceiving the military corps inside to be strong, they gave it up. I brought into the house by their collars two of the mob, and told them that they would be hanged.* One of them bid me look to my- self, and told me that the people were much more likely to hang me than I was to procure any of them to be hanged. They were sent before a justice of peace, but the soldiers said they would do their duty as soldiers, but they would not be witnesses. The government sent us some soldiers, and increased their number till they were about fifty, and a very considerable part of that number remained about three weeks in the house, persons in the front of the house from time to time using menacing language and threats, whenever, from the streets, they saw any persons in the house. During all that time I could only leave the house by going through the Museum gar- dens, and into the streets from the Museum, attended to Westminster on foot by Townsend of the police, through all the obscure streets and alleys in which we could find a passage. I thank God we got my wife and children safe from their retreat in the Museum." " Townsend spent all his nights in the house reading my books, and when I came down, one morning, he said he had been delighted in reading those great creatures Hale and Holt ; but he had been more surprised than he could describe by the talk of the corporal. 'I told him,' said Townsend, 'that Sir Joseph Banks's house had been attacked by the mob, and what do you think,' says he, 'the corporal said to me? Your lordship has had a fine education, and therefore it would not have been surprising if you had said what he said. Indeed, though I have not been blessed,' he added, 'with as good an education as your lordship has had, yet, in the late years I have been amongst the best of company, and therefore / might have said what he said to me, but that he, a poor Scotch corporal who * The " Law Magazine," No. xliv., gives the story more racily. " Lord Eldon col- lared one of the intruders, and said, ' If you don't mind what you are about, my man. you'll be hanged.' The visitor replied, ' Perhaps so, old chap, but I think it looks noiwasif you would be hanged first.' 'And,' added the old peer, with somewhat more archness than usual in his sweet and intelligent smile, I had my misgivings that he was in the right.' On another occasion," continues the same record, " when the House of Lords was surrounded by a multitude incensed to fury against the C Laws, and the lord chancellor was, amongst others, marked out for insult, the people, on finding, when his carriage drove up to take him away, that his wife, who had in the habit of coming to meet him, was in it, and had not been deterred through le of their violence, at once changed their intention, and, giving a cheer t< ady, allowed both of them to depart in peace." 410 LIFE OF LORD knew nothing of good company, and had seen nothing but what he observed in going through the "Ninsula," should pick up such fine language, was really surprising.' 'What was it,' said I, 'Town- send?' 'Well,' said he, 'my lord, would you believe it, he ex- claimed, "Have they hurt the phoenix of Botany?'"* My poor excellent corporal and commander was shot at Waterloo." The queen took the occasion of the lord chancellor's danger and escape, to express, in a letter to his eldest daughter, that kind interest and friendly feeling with which the royal family delighted to honour him. ( Queen Charlotte to the Hon. Miss Scott.") "Windsor, March 8th, 1815. " Madam, " Though I am willing to give credit to the newspapers, that the lord chancellor is quite well after the disturbances of Monday last, I am yet anxious to have this plea- sing circumstance confirmed by you, and desire to be informed that neither the lord chancellor nor Lady Eldon have seriously suffered from it. I cannot help being anxious about the lord chancellor, for whose personal character I entertain so high an esteem, and I feel that were it different I should with truth be deemed ungrateful. " CHARLOTTE." On the 17th, in the House of Lords, Lord Eldon, with some warmth, opposed a motion, made by Lord Grenville, for allowing the city of London to be heard by counsel against the Corn Bill. Lord Eldon grounded his opposition on the general rule, that petitioners are not to be heard by counsel upon a bill in which they have no special interest ; and that there was no reason for showing any peculiar favour to the city of London. Being irregularly interrupted by the Duke of Gloucester, he paused to rebuke that royal person, with as much firm- ness as if the impropriety had been committed by any undistinguished member of the peerage. "I tell him," said the lord chancellor, "that as I think all petitioners equal, I know all peers to be so." The bill sent up by the House of Commons, in 1813, for making freehold estates liable to the debts of a deceased owner, having been rejected by the Lords, another bill for the same object was sent up by the Commons this year, and came on to be discussed by the Lords on the 29th of June. The lord chancellor (in addition to the arguments on this subject, of which an abstract is contained in the last chapter)f observed that all men who gave credit to a land-owner well knew they had no remedy against his land after his death. The law had always held real property more sacred than personal, and had provided that no transfer of it should be made without certain solemnities. The change now pro- posed would mislead creditors by inducing them to give credit to persons, walking over thousands of acres, but having in those acres only life interests. It did not go to make copyholds available : it did not go to require that entails should be barred for the benefit of creditors; and all these were inconsistencies. The bill was rejected without a division. The session gave rise to no other debate which requires to be noticed here ; and it terminated on the 12th of July, with a speech delivered by the regent himself. During the spring of this year the prince regent had been unre- mittingly urgent to obtain from Lord Eldon, for Mr. Jekyll, a master- * Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, f Pad. Deb., July 18th, 1814. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 411 ship in chancery then vacant. The history of Mr. Jekyll's appoint- ment, made at last in June 1815, is as follows, the first part of it being given from the Anecdote Book : " When Mr. Jekyll was made by me a master in chancery, great offence was given by that appointment to the gentlemen at the chan- cery bar ; and I afterwards found great inconvenience from an appointment of a gentleman who never had been out of a common law court, no future vacancy of a mastership having ever taken place without applications from the common lawyers to be made masters, applications before that time very unusual, and which I was obliged to resist. The fact was, that Jekyll was a great favourite with every- body ; he was the descendant of an eminent lawyer, Sir Joseph Jekyll, who had been master of the rolls ; everybody wished him to be well provided for, in a proper mode. Nobody wished that more than I wished it ; but I hesitated for weeks and months before I made the appointment. His most anxious and most powerful well-wisher was the prince regent, who was very much attached to him, and with whom Jekyll had spent many convivial hours. He was a person of great humour and wit, and indulged himself in manifesting his wit and humour to a great extent, and, I believe, without having ever said an ill-natured, provoking, or rude thing, of or to any man, whilst he was so indulging himself. The prince regent, after having applied to me repeatedly at Carlton House to appoint Mr. Jekyll the master, without effect, and having often observed that a man of his sense and abilities would soon be able to learn his business, (which might be very true, but the appointment would nevertheless introduce a most inconvenient host of candidates from the common law bar for chancery offices), at length, in furtherance of his purpose, took the following step : He came alone to my door in Bedford Square. Upon the servants going to the door, the prince regent observed that, as the chancellor had the gout, he knew he must be at home, and he therefore desired he might be shown up to the room where the chancellor was." What followed is very circumstantially related by Mrs. Forster, from Lord Eldon's own mouth : " My servants told the prince I was much too ill to be seen. He, however, pressed to be admitted ; and they very properly and respect- fully informed him that they had positive orders to show him no one. Upon which he suddenly asked them to show him the staircase, which you know they could not refuse to do. They attended him to it and he immediately ascended, and pointed first to one door, then to another, asking, ' Is that your master's room?' they answering, ' No,' until he came to the right one ; upon which he opened the door and seated himself by my bed-side. Well, I was rather surprised to see his royal highness, and inquired his pleasure. He stated he had come to request tKat I would appoint Jekyll to the vacant mastership in chancery. I respectfully answered that I deeply regretted his royal highness should ask that, for I could not comply. He inquired why I could not, and I told him, simply because, in my opinion, Mr. Jekyll was totally unqualified to discharge the duties of that office. 412 LIFE OF LORD He, however, repeated his request, and urged very strongly. I again refused ; and for a great length of time he continued to urge, and I continued to refuse, saying Mr. Jekyll was unfit for the office, and I would never agree. "His highness suddenly threw himself back in his chair, exclaim- ing, ' How I do pity Lady Eldon !' ' Good God,' I said, ' what is the matter?' ' Oh, nothing,' answered the prince, l except that she never will see you again: for here I remain until you promise to make Jekyll a master in chancery.' Well, I was obliged at length to give in, I could not help it. Others ought really to be very delicate in blaming appointments made by persons in authority, for there often are very many circumstances totally unknown to the public. However," added Lord Eldon, "Jekyll got on capitally. It was an unexpected result. One of my friends met him after he was appointed, and asked him how in the world he came to be picked out for that office ; and he answered that he supposed it was because he was the most unfit man in the country. Now you see this very consciousness of his own want of ability led him, in all difficult cases, to consult two or three other masters in chancery ; and, being guided by tw r o or three ex- perienced heads, he never got wrong. " Thus," says the Anecdote Book, {C he executed his office very reasonably well. I was, however, as I expected, tormented with future applications for the office of master by the common lawyers. To those I did not yield. He continued in office for a considerable time, till indisposition and age obliged him to retire upon the usual pension. I met him in the street the day after his retirement; when, according to his usual manner, he addressed me in a joke : ' Yesterday, lord chancellor, I was your master: to-day I am my own master.' ' The Duke of Cumberland, who, in the May of this year, had been married at New Strelitz to the Princess Frederica, dowager of the Prince of Solms Braunfels, was re-married to her at Carlton House on the 29th of August. The ceremony was so far a private one, that it was attended only by a few guests specially invited, in addition to the chancellor and other ministers and officers of state. This was a year of great political events, consequent upon Napo- leon's movement from Elba, the reign of the hundred days, the battle of Waterloo, the second restoration of the French royal family, the final pacification of Europe. All these are matters of general history, and require no special review in this biography. But the disposal of Napoleon's person, after his surrender to the British go- vernment, was an affair in which, as involving an important question of international law, the chancellor of necessity took a principal and peculiar part ; and the interesting and important letters subjoined, written after Napoleon's departure for St. Helena, explain the princi- ples on which, after much anxiety and doubt, Lorfi Eldon gave his sanction to the deportation and permanent detention of the captive. (Lard Eldon to Sir William Scott.') (Extract.) (Postmark, Sept. 16lh, 1815 ) "Dear Brother, " The view you take of Bonaparte's business had before occurred to me, and I de- CHANCELLOR ELDON. 413 clare that I am unable to dispose of the difficulties attending it. I have hitherto felt them so strongly, as not finally to put the seal to the treaty the sovereigns have en- tered into at Pans : which doth not please some people. But I suppose that a bill of indemnity must be had for the whole, or nearly the whole, that has been finally done by others. Let me hear of you and God grant me the comfort of your sendin- good intelligence, relating to yourself, to " Yours ever affectionately, (Lord Liverpool to Lord Eldon.) (Extract.) ,.-.,, T "Fife House, Oct. 1st, 1815. " My dear Lord, "I have read and considered your argument respecting the situation of Bonaparte, and think there is great weight in it. I own I was inclined to think the master of the rolls view of the question correct, that you had your choice of considering him (Bo- naparte) either as a French subject, or as a captain of freebooters or banditti and consequently out of the pale of protection of nations. Before he quitted Elba, he en- joyed only a limited and conditional sovereignty, which ceased when the condition on which he held it was violated. In which character, then, did he make war on the King of France, our ally ? Not as an independent sovereign, for he had no such character: not as a pretender to the crown of France in any admissible sense, for he had abso- lutely and entirely renounced all claim of this description. He must then revert ?ither to his original character, of a French subject, or he has no character at all, and headed his expedition as an outlaw and an outcast; ' Hostis humani generis.' I am quite clear that in whatever way the subject is viewed, it will be desirable to have an act of Parliament* to settle any doubts which may arise on such a question; bull trust we have one good ground to found it upon, if not two." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.} (Extract.) "October 4th, 1813. "Your letter of last night I was glad to receive, because my mind is pondering upon these things. The result, however, seems to me to be that, in your judgment, B. is a French subject, and ought to have been so treated, by being delivered up to his sovereign, Louis XVIII., and this includes the idea of giving St. Helena to his sove- reign. Now the misfortune is, that I apprehend that (the state of things in France considered) no one of the allies would have listened for a moment to his being deli- vered up (to continue in life) to that sovereign, either to remain in France, or, in his custody, in any other part of the world. It is a wretched case, therefore, that the thing did not admit of the only treatment that,m this way of putting it, could be recon- ciled to the law of nations. Whether those sovereigns should have so determined I know not, but those who act upon politics and the main chance would never have consented to B.'s being retained in life in French custody anywhere. And I presume, from all that has happened, that, in that custody he never, as to life, would have met the fate of a traitor. Now here certainly is a most questionable matter of fact; but supposing the fact to be that he is a French subject, and that the safety of nations re- quired that he should not be delivered up to his own sovereign, but that he should be continued in imprisonment whilst that safety did so require, is it not a strange thing that the law of nations does not admit a case of exception, but that you are to apply to such a case a rule which, in the application, can be of no manner of use ? Whether this is imprisonment for life, if justified by necessity, or for a shorter term in which necessity would justify it, makes no difference; for the imprisonment itself, and of course its duration, could only be justified by the continuance of the necessity; and I suppose the imprisonment which shall be agreed upon, if any, will not, upon the face of things at least, be imprisonment for life. I take it to be a clear fact, that all the allies could never have been brought to agree to any thing which, leaving B. in exist- ence, left his existence under the custody of France; and I believe it to be as clear a fact, that no question could have been usefully stirred about him, as things turned up, but where and how he should exist. Lord Liverpool informs me by letter yesterday, that the master of the rolls' view of the subject is, that ' you had a right of considering B. either as a French subject, or as a captain of freebooters or banditti, and consequently out of the pale of the protection of nations.' I believe it will turn out, that if you can't * Acts were passed accordingly in the next session of Parliament: 56 Geo. 3. c. 22, 23. 414 LIFE OF LORD make this a casus cxcepfionis or omissus in the law of nations, founded upon necessity, you will not really know what to say upon it. Salus Reipublicae suprema lex, as to one state: Salus omnium Rpubl must be the suprema lex as to this case. Party I don't mind much; posterity not a great deal; for, of this transaction, in all its particulars, it will be as little informed in matter of fact as it is in most others; but, to do the thing that is right, is really matter of most anxious concern with me. "Yours, " ELDOH." (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.} (Extract.) " Oct. 14th, 1815. "Dear Brother, "I dare say what the master of the rolls said was only in some loose conversation ; and, by the way, when men of his eminence talk, and sometimes judge, so quickly, their conduct imposes great hardship upon such a dull, slow, plodding, deliberating dog as I am." The succeeding extract is part of a letter to Sir William Scott, of which the remainder is lost. Large allowances must of course be made for involution and carelessness in a composition not meant to meet the public eye ; but the reader, once lifting himself above the haze of the phraseology, will find the argument singularly luminous. (Lord Eldon to Sir William Scott.) (Fragment.) (No date.) "Dear Brother, "The view which Lord Ellenborough takes of B.'s business seems to be this, as he himself indeed expresses it: ' B. has been in a state of war with MS, jointly waged by himself and others, and severally, also, if we choose so to consider it: war being, as I conceive, the act of the aggregate body of the state and of all the individuals com- posing it. From the consequences of that state of war, he cannot be redeemed, but by the terms of such treaty of peace, as we may make with him individually, or with others either with him or for him. We may either include him in the aggregate of the French nation, and by so doing allow him the benefit of such terms as we allow gene- rally to them, or we may specially exclude him, in which case the state of war will still subsist as to him and so far only as a specific treaty with him shall qualify that state of war. Being once an enemy, he can only be at peace with us by our act and consent, and of course upon such terms only as we shall mutually agree upon.' He observes that he finds nothing in Vattel, &c., upon this sort of case. He adds, ' The question is now in specie, and can only be properly decided by considering, what rights result upon principle from a state of war, as against all the individuals of the belligerent nation. Those rights are seldom, if ever, enforced against individuals; because individuals hardly ever make war but as part of an aggregate mass. But I think the case of B. is sufficiently distinguished from all other cases to warrant the application of a more rigorous principle, if the principle be in itself a correct and just one.' "This reasoning treats B. as an individual of the French nation, at war with us that individual an enemy to us (in common with the nation,) whom we may, upon general principle, exclude from the benefit of a treaty of peace when we make it with the nation, continuing him, as far as we think fit so to do, an individual enemy : and that individual to be considered also as in a more especial manner at war with us than individuals of belligerent nations usually are. This seems the result of what he says. "In your letter, * * * * after stating (what I take not to be quite correct,) that we accepted his (Bonaparte's) surrender, not telling him that we did not accept it on his own terms (because I take the fact to be that he was ex- pressly told, that, though he was received on board, he must be disposed of in any way this government thought proper, and if so the question will then be whether this government can properly think that it will imprisdn him for life,) you proceed to say that we had a right to give him up to his own government, (I suppose by that you mean France,) if he was made to understand so before his surrender. If it be true that he was expressly told before his surrender that he was to be disposed of as this government thought proper, I apprehend in that case he must be considered as having been told, that if this government thought proper to deliver him up to France as his CHANCELLOR ELDON. 415 own government, he might be so delivered up because the reserved right of dispos- ing of him as thin government thought Jit includes a right of so disposing of him. " I am aware there is controversy about the fact, what he was told, but I go upon the official report of our officer. "You then ask, if we reserved this right, have we exercised it? Can we, under that reservation, shut him up for life? Are we capacitated so to do, to whom he is no subject to whom he is amenable only as & prisoner of war, if he is in fact accepted as such? To us, you observe, he can be no more. His being a rebel to his native sove- reign can give us no positive or active right over him. His breach of treaties can't be alleged against him, if we contend that he is a subject of France for that he is an- swerable to France only. His sovereign, and not himself, is answerable to foreign governments, you say, for breaches of treaties committed by a subject. "You then state what you understand Lord E.'s notion to be. I have given it you in his own words. And you then ask, has our government done, what he (Lord Ellenborough) supposes may be done, by any declaration to that effect ? Can it do it otherwise than by public and formal notice? If it could, this must be by the internal constitution of this kingdom, as you conceive, taking it to be the clear general rule of the law of nations, that peace with the sovereign of a state is peace with all its sub- jects. Subjects cannot be at war, you say, and the sovereign at peace; they may be in rebellion, you add, and an ally may assist in subduing them, but they are not in legitimate foreign war. "I repeat all that Lord E. and you have said, because otherwise I have no chance of making observations intelligible. I add, there can be no doubt that bills of indem- nity, though they may protect us, can't settle this question of national justice, and that imprisoning B. for life by act of Parliament is not like so imprisoning a subject of our own: you, as well as Lord E., treat him as a sultfect of France, or at least you state your doctrine, with respect to him, to be such as you state it, if he is to be considered, or if we contend him to be, a subject of France, or a rebel to his sovereign as such. And indeed all that has been said about a king by treaty, and a pan of his subjects, being at peace, and others of them, or some individuals of them, being excluded the benefit of that treaty about peace with the sovereign being peace with all its subjects by the law of nations about the doctrine that subjects can't be at war, if the sovereign is at peace that the subject may be in rebellion but not in foreign legitimate war does not apply to the case of Bonaparte, or at least does not surround that case, unless Bonaparte is a subject of France and we are at war with France, or Bonaparte is a sub- ject of France, a French rebel, against whom we are assisting his sovereign as his allies. And quaere, whether these views of the case surround the whole circumstances of it? "We either are at war with France, or we are not at war with France. If we are at war with France, it rather strikes me, that, as yet, we have done nothing of a dubious character, if my notions as to matter of fact be accurate, taking B. to be a subject of France. If we are not at war with France, and B. is a subject of France and a rebel, and we are assisting F.rance as her ally against the rebel, I think, rather think, that nothing has yet been d'one of a dubious character, if my notions of matter of fact are accurate. " Parliament has passed acts, in which it has already recognized that we are at war; but I should rather say at war with Bonaparte and his adherents than with France. In what character at war with him and his adherents, whether with him as a subject of France, and especially as he was himself a sovereign de facto when that war, so acknowledged by Parliament, begun, Parliament has left in a very doubtful and am- biguous state. But that war (whatever be its character as to B.,) which Parliament has declared to exist, has been yet put an end to by no treat// whatever. No question, therefore, seems to me to arise out of any fact which has yet taken place, as to the right to exclude him from a state of peace by any treaty with his sovereign or his government, supposing him to be a subject or a rebel : and if he is neither, still no treaty, restoring him to a state of peace, is made. Upon the present state of circum- stances, then, is not the present questioh this, Whether, if we have a right to treat him as a prisoner of war, as we have to treat any person taken at Waterloo or sur- rendering there as a prisoner of war, it can possibly be inconsistent with justice or the law of nations, that, till some peace is made by treaty with some person considered as his sovereign, or till some peace is made with him, we keep him imprisoned in some part of our king's dominions? I presume, if we can keep him as a prisoner of war for a moment, we can keep him until some peace is made with him, or includin him. None is made with him, if any is to be made with him. If he has a sovereign and belongs to a government, to France and the King of France, we have been 416 LIFE OF LORD assisting France as her ally, in that view of the case, against a rebel, and France is in a state continuing to receive that assistance from us. The law officers, king's advocate, attorney and solicitor, have considered him as a prisoner of war, on what grounds I know not, but the ground of fact which I proceed upon is, that the official report of the officer to whom he surrendered, though the fact will be loudly and bit- terly disputed, is the document to prove the terms upon which he surrendered, and taking that to be so, he surrendered to be disposed of as this government should think proper to deal with him to be disposed of, therefore, as this government should think proper, if it thought proper to treat him as a prisoner of war until a peace was made with him or including him, and, as it seems to me, if it thought proper to determine, that until such time, he should be continued a prisoner of war, unless by the joint compact of all the allies he should be sooner released, it had a right so to determine. "It is certainly a different question, if a peace shall be made with any sovereign whose subject he can be said to be, whether by compact, notified or not notified, he can be excluded from the benefit of that peace. If we have been at war with France and he is a subject of France, whether he can be excluded if we make peace with France ? If we have not been at war with France, (and have we been at war with France? I doubt it), then whether we, by treaty with France, can maintain that WE can consistently with the law of nations treat him, when France can no longer crave our aid against him as a rebel, considered by her as her subject, confine him for life ? we and the allies can confine him so? for it's right to notice that the question is not whether France, (supposing the king's government in France unsafe, unless this fel- low is in imprisonment,) shall take upon itself to punish and imprison him but whether we and the allies shall take upon ourselves and them so to imprison him? " But is there not a further question in this case, viz., whether adverting to the real nature of this case, Bonaparte is to be considered, with reference to this great point of his imprisonment after peace as a subject of France, an enemy during war, suppos- ing we have been at war with France, or as a subject of France, a rebel, supposing we have not been at war with France, but have been assisting France as an ally and whether, in fact and in truth, there does not result some particular and especial consideration to be attended to, from the fact that the war has been against Bonaparte and his adherents, and not against France generally, by G. B.; and the allies carefully avoiding to pledge themselves as allies to the Bourbons, but professing, whatever their wishes might be, to leave France to choose its own government, though deter- mined to destroy the attempts of Bonaparte (who had abdicated the government of France, and become emperor of another dominion) to resume by force that of France 1 Has there been war with France as FRANCE! I think not. We have, moreover, never professed to be the allies of the Bourbons in this war. We have carefully avoided that. We have not been interposing to assist France as an ally against a rebel. But what we have been doing, ex professo, be it right or wrong, has been (and Parliament has sanctioned it over and over again) has been by force to compel France, whatever government she might think proper to choose, not to have Bonaparte's government. Not denying the general right of France to choose her own governors, we have acted upon the notion that such has been the conduct of Bonaparte, that we are justified by the law of nations in using force to prevent his being the governor of France that, to defeat his attempt to become such, we have made war upon him and his adherents not as French enemies not as French rebels but as enemies to us and the allies when France was no enemy to us that in this war with him, he has become a prisoner of war, with whom we can make no peace, because we can have no safety but in his imprison- ment no peace with him, or which includes him. Is he a subject of France? When, in 1814, he, by formal treaty, abdicated the government of France and became Empe- ror of Elba, as Emperor of Elba to receive from France a large annual sum by treaty, to which France became, in a sense, a party, did he thenceforth remain a subject of France? did he thenceforth own any allegiance to Louis XVIII.? I incline to think he did not. We have heard a great deal about delivering him up to his king, to the government of which he was a subject, to* be tried. But is it not matter of well- founded doubt whether he could be tried as a rebel? He made no treaty with France as its subject: the treaty he made, and the treaty accepted from him, was a treaty made by him, and accepted from him, as an abdicating sovereign of France. Did his abdication of the sovereignty, by the treaty or treaties he made, restore or remit him to his character of subject to France, when the very same treaty clothes him with the character of Emperor of Elba, with imperial dignity and imperial revenues? Have the allies ever, in any document since his attempt to gain the sovereignty of France, treated him as a subject of France, or as a rebel to France, or done any act of the CHANCELLOR ELDON. 417 character of an act of an ally of Louis XVIII. struggling against a rebel 1 They have indeed considered him as out of the pale of the law of nations, as the Hostis humanl generis, as an outlaw (without knowing very well what they mean by that word,) as a robber and freebooter, who might be put out of the world ; but they have never formally pledged themselves even to support Louis XVIII. as king of France, or as Bonaparte's king. Vattel certainly has passages (here* I can't refer to them) in which he considers, very much in the same way as the allies did, a fellow whom no treaty could bind, and who respects none that he enters into. If Bonaparte can be separated from France, and can be considered neither as a subject of France nor a French rebel, then he has been subdued in legitimate war against him and if so, I presume that we have a right to consider him as and to treat him as a prisoner of war (if we have not dealt with him on other terms) as long as we please, if we do not please so to consider him (after we have subdued him) longer than necessity (contemplating the dangers of letting him loose) will justify. " But, if he is a subject of France and a rebel to the French king, and we are assisting the French king against that rebel, and admitting the general rules of the law of nations to be such as you state, is there no exception in the nature of things'? This exception, to be sure, must not be founded upon pretence false pretence, or light pretence but upon such a view (of things as they actually exist) as is just, conformable to right." The sequel is wanting. The loss of it is, however, the less to be regretted, because the argument for the detention of the prisoner of war as an independent belligerent seems quite conclusive upon gene- ral principle, without recurring to the extreme resource, indicated in the last paragraph, of a special exception. There can be no more remarkable evidence of Lord Eldon's extraordinary powers, than that he should have been able, out of a mass of perplexities which had baffled such men as Lord Ellenborough, Sir William Grant, and Sir William Scott, thus to deduce a solid, comprehensive and conclusive judgment of his own reconciling the multifarious and wide-spread difficulties of the law of nations, and setting the sanction of justice to the tranquillity of the world. * Probably written from Encombe. VOL. i. 27 418 LIFE OF LORD CHAPTER XXXVIII. 1816. Debate on detention of Bonaparte. Letter from the Queen. Debates: revision of statute-law: Alien Bill: Catholic question. Royal marriages: anecdote of Lord Ellenborough: forms observed on marriages of princesses of blood-royal. Letter from Lord Ellenborough to Lord Eldon. Letter of Lord Eldon on the essentials of education for his grandson. THE parliamentary session of 1816 was opened on the 1st of Febru- ary, when, in consequence of the regent's indisposition, his speech was read by the lord chancellor. On the 8th of April a debate arose upon the bill (56 Geo. 3. c. 22) for the detention of Bonaparte. Lord Holland proposed to ask the opinion of the judges upon several points rela- ting to the character in which that person stood and the right of detaining him as a prisoner. Lord Lauderdale supported the proposal, ridiculing the notion which he imputed to the ministers, that " there was something preternatural in the influence of this man," and making light of the danger to be apprehended from him. (There appears to have been some reference in the debate to the principles of the Whig ministry, by whom the country was governed in the year 1806.) The lord chancellor said he would not argue about the mischief to be apprehended from Bonaparte, or the wisdom of the year 1806, though he might perhaps think that that year had been nearly as mischievous to this country as Bonaparte himself; but he would say that there was no good reason for consulting the judges, because, what- ever were their answers, he should equally regard this bill as necessary. The confidence of her majesty in the chancellor continued unabated. (Queen Charlotte to Lord Eldon.} "Queen's House, May 21st, 1816. "The queen is very sorry that her visit to Windsor prevented her acknowledging the receipt of the lord chancellor's letter until this morning. The queen agrees with the lord chancellor, that Mr. Serjeant Vaughan should succeed Mr. Hardinge as her attorney-general, and leaves the filling up the office of solicitor-general to the choice of the lord chancellor, who has at all times been so obliging as to settle it for her: and on this, as well as on many other occasions she has experienced, she has ever found it both a pleasure and a satisfaction to abide by his decision. " Whenever the lord chancellor has settled it to his mind, the Lord Morton shall have the queen's orders to present both gentlemen. " CHARLOTTE." Lord Stanhope, on the 3d of May, had moved that the House of Lords should resolve itself into committee, for the purpose of con- sidering the best means of arranging the statute law. The lord chancellor, though he did not anticipate from such a revision all the bene- fits -which Lord Stanhope thought it might lead to, yet was of opinion that some good CHANCELLOR ELDON. 419 might be done, and moved, as an amendment, that the matter should be referred to a select committee. It is hence apparent, that Lord Eldon, with all his caution on the subject of legal reform, was friendly to the great principle of consoli- dation, at least as far as the statute law was concerned. He after- wards caused that principle to be practically applied in the instance of the statutes relating to bankruptcy, which, under his auspices, were consolidated by the Honourable R. H. Eden, afterwards Lord Henley, into one act, the 6th Geo. 4. chap. 16. The Alien Bill (56 Geo. 3. c. 86) provoked some debate on the llth and 18th of June. On both occasions, The chancellor justified the measure, deeming it his duty, he said, to state his de- cided opinion, that the crown had, at common law, the prerogative of sending aliens out of the country, and that this bill was only necessary in order to give the proper facilities for the exercise of that prerogative. The Catholic question was brought before the House of Lords on the 21st, by a motion of Lord Donoughmore, that their lordships would pass a resolution to take the disabling statutes into their con- sideration early in the next session. Lord Eldon expressed his opinion, that it would be dangerous and inexpedient to give any pledge upon a subject so important, especially as every thing that was necessary could be done without any pledge at all. He would not then enter into the general merits of the question, but he was at a loss to understand how it happened, year after year, that this great subject was never brought forward till near the close of the session, when, according to the very advocates of the relief, it was too late to take any steps in the matter. On a division, the resolution was negatived by only 73 against 69. The session was closed on the 2d of July, by the prince regent in person. Before the prorogation, the government had obtained an invaluable reinforcement, in the return of Mr. Canning to the cabinet. He joined their councils in the month of June, succeeding Lord Buckinghamshire as President of the Board of Control. The lord chancellor was present with the other members of the cabinet at the celebration of the Princess Charlotte's marriage with Prince Leopold, on the 2d of May. The ceremony was performed at Carlton House, between nine and ten in the evening. Another royal wedding, attended by the chancellor, that of the Princess Mary with the Duke of Gloucester, which took place on the evening of the 22d of July, is noted in the Anecdote Book, with the following circumstances : "Whilst the ceremony was proceeding, some persons in the room, which was extremely crowded, holding conversation together, which was so loud as to be disturbing, Lord Ellenborough, chief justice, perhaps also forgetting, as well as those noisy talkers, where he was, rather disturbed the ceremony, by stating very audibly, ' Do not make a noise in that corner of the room, if you do, you shall be married yourselves!"' Lord Eldon gives further particulars of this wedding, in a letter t< his daughter Frances :- " Mamma (Lady Eldon) went through her part of the wedding ceremony capitally 420 LIFE OF LORD well; but dear Princess Mary's behaviour was so interesting and affecting, that every body was affected. Even the tears trickled down my cheeks ; and, as to mamma, she cried all night, and nine-tenth parts of the next day, so that, do you see, your wedding is a mighty merry affair. ******* " After I left court yesterday, mamma and I called upon the queen, upon the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Princess Sophia of Gloucester. True politeness is our own !"* Lord Eldon used to relate, that Queen Charlotte accused him of "flirting with her daughter Mary;" but that he assured her majesty, that she need not be alarmed, that he was neither a king, nor a prince, nor an emperor; and, moreover, that he had a wife already. The wish of retirement, which the chancellor had for some time cherished, appears to have been increased by an illness which befell him at Encombe, in the latter part of September. It was an attack of spasms in the stomach, threatening inflammation, and giving great alarm to his family. He was treated, however, with skill and suc- cess by the late Mr. Staines of Wareham, and in little more than three weeks, was completely restored to health. While his recovery was in progress, his growing disposition to secede was thus combated by Lord Ellenborough : (Lord Ellenborough to Lord Eldon.} (Extract.) " Roehampton, Oct. 12th, 181 G. " My dear Lord, " I eagerly seize the hope of your lordship's early convalescence, which was excited in my mind by your lordship's letter received yesterday; though you express yourself less sanguinely on the subject than I could have wished. The languor of retiring dis- ease is often as painfully distressing as the malady itself, in its utmost violence, had been. Allow yourself, my dear lord, to think at present of nothing but the business of recovery and only of any other business, when that is accomplished. I only venture, with great earnestness and sincerity, but with great humility also, to deprecate any resolutions you may be disposed to form at the present moment. When you shall have recovered the tone of your nerves and spirits (which I hope to God you soon will), then look round you, and, having weighed all circumstances, both as they respect the public and yourself, decide upon the measure which it may be most wise and expedient to adopt. We all owe our utmost usefulness to our country : your lordship has means of usefulness, which no other person possesses in an equal degree. It might look like flattery if I went into particulars on this subject; but, in a word, the law and the state peremptorily forbid you to retire (and most especially the latter), at the present moment. This is not, I assure your lordship, the language of a mere partial friend, but it is the sentiment, I believe, of all Westminster Hall (which can afford to endure no more losses than it has within a short period sustained) it is the language and feeling of your colleagues in government, and would be that of the * Among Lord Eldon's papers is the following memorandum of the Forms usually observed on the marriage of any of the princesses of the blood-royal, since the passing of the Marriage Act. 1. Letter from the intended bridegroom soliciting the sovereign's consent. 2. The answer of approval thereto from the sovereign. 3. Draft of commission, authorizing the persons therein named to treat of and con- cerning the marriage contract, or settlements. 4. Order in council, approving of the said draft, and giving directions to one of H. M. secretaries of state to prepare the same for passing the great seal. 5. Warrant for affixing the great seal to the commission. 6. Instrument of royal consent to the marriage. 7. Warrant for affixing the great seal thereto. 8. Declaration in council of the royal consent. 9. Order in council to enter the same in the books of the privy council. CHANCELLOR ELDON. 421 best informed and disposed members of the community at large, if they were con- sulted upon the subject. I am afraid your lordship will think I have trespassed upon you too long on this topic but it is too painfully near my heart. Si tu deseris, nos periimus."* The young heir of Lord Eldon's honours was now eleven years old, and his education became a subject of increasing interest with his grandfather. The following letter to Mrs. Farrer shows the chan- cellor's habitual preference of the solid to the showy, and of moral excellence to mere intellectual distinction: (Lord Eldon to Mrs. Ferrer.) (Extract.) (Not dated ; but written 18th or 19th of Jan. 1817.) ..." I have, and can have, no object with respect to dear John, save to have him educated with all the feelings which, if he was my son, I should wish him to be actu- ated by, as, unquestionably, on the other hand, I regard him with all the affection of a father. With a just anxiety for his advancement in learning, as to which, indeed, my estimate of his talents, founded upon attentive observation, leaves me little reason to think will be other than very considerable, I feel an extreme anxiety that his heart should be as well cultivated as his mind, and that he should be, as I have also great reason to hope that he will be, distinguished by all those qualities which constitute a good and excellent man. " E." * " Si deseris tu, periimus." TIB. Adelph. act. 3, sc. 5, 1. 12. END VOL. I. THE WORKS OF LORD BACON. WITH A MEMOIR AND TRANSLATION OF HIS LATIN WRITINGS, BY BASIL MONTAGU, ESQ. In three vols. 8vo. NOTICE OF LORD BACON BY LORD BROUGHAM. As in a great army there are some whose office it is to construct bridges, to cut paths along moun- tains, and to remove various impediments, so Lord Bacon may be said to have cleared the way to knowledge; to have marked out the road to truth; and to have left future travellers little else to do than to follow his instructions: he was the miner and sapper of philosophy, the pioneer of nature; and he eminently promoted the dominion of man over the material world. He was the priest of na- ture's mysteries ; and he taught men in what manner they might discover her profound eel secrets, and interpret those laws which nature has received from the great Author of all. As the returning light appears more glorious after the sun has been eclipsed, and the order and beauty of nature would look doubly striking to an eye that had seen that chaos from which she first arose, when all was without form and void so, if we glance, but fora moment, at that darkness which so long oversha- dowed the human mind, and gave birth to so many phantoms and prodigies, under the name of sci- ence, this retrospect will serve to ahow more clearly the merits of a philosopher, who may be regarded as the morning star of that illustrious day which has since broken out upon mankind ; and in the spirit of whose method even the immortal Newton himself explored the heavens; by the aid of a sub- lime geometry, as with the rod of an enchanter, dashed in pieces all the cycles, epicycles, and crys- tal orb of a visionary antiquity, and established the true Copernican doctrine of astronomy on the solid basis of a most rigid and infallible demonstration. It was reserved for Francis Bacon, Lord Veru- lam, to break the spell of the mighty enchanter of Stagira, and to give a final blow to the scholastic philosophy; to make one grand attempt to deliver men's minds from the bondage of two thousand years; to assert the right of that reason with which the beneficent Creator has endowed man, as above all authority merely human; and to sketch the outline of one grand and comprehensive plan, that should include in it the endless varieties of our knowledge, and guide our inquiries in every branch. His qualifications for this bold attempt to clear the barren wastes of science, and to sow the seeds of a new creation of useful knowledge, will be best seen by studying his doctrines. The study of Bacon's Philosophical Works in general, and especially of the Nowm Organum, cannot fail to be beneficial to all persons who are entering on scientific pursuits, and to all who are engaged in inquiries after truth of whatever kind. Their general tendency will be, if we do not greatly err, to inspire a habit of close and patient thinking an intellectual independence which re- sists all that is merely of the nature of hypothesis, while it bows with implicit deference to the autho- rity of fact and experience. The nature of the different kinds of evidence; the different subjects to which they are properly applicable; the degree of that sort of evidence that is called moral which it is reasonable to expect in any given case; the proper limits both of doubt and of belief; the whole order of circumstances of whatever kind that may have any bearing on the impression which evi- dence may make, or may fail to make, on the mind ; these very interesting topics of inquiry, as well as every other subject relating to moral and intellectual philosophy, are not less properly and strictly within the sphere of the operation of the Baconian method, than the more tangible properties of mat- ter itself, and the laws of the material universe in general. The spirit of the inductive philosophy is in perfect unison with man's intellectual nature; it offers a true corroborative to hi* faculties in his pursuit of truth; and the more completely this spirit is imbibed, the more shall we be guarded from the extremes of credulity on the one hand, and incredulity on the other. We may safely affirm, that, by giving the Inductive Philosophy to the world, Lord Bacon has proved one of its most signal benefactors; and has largely done his part towards promoting the final triumph of all truth, whether natural, or moral and intellectual, over all error; and towards bringing on that glorious crisis, destined, we doubt not, one day to arrive, when, according to the allegorical representation of that great poet, who was not only the admirer of Bacon, but in some roped kindred genius-TRUTH, though " hewn like the mangled body of Oilris, into a thousand piecw, and scattered to the four winds, shall be gathered limb to limb, and moulded, with e*err joint and mem- ber, into an immortal feature of loveliness and perfection." Stephens's Nisi Prius, Complete for Fifteen Dollars. CAREY AND HART, PHILADELPHIA, HAVE JUST PUBLISHED A TREATISE ON THE LAW OF NISI PRIUS, EVIDENCE IN CIVIL ACTIONS, AND ARBITRATIONS AND AWARDS. BY A. J. STEPHENS, ESQ., BARRISTER AT LAW. With Notes and References to American Decisions, BY GEORGE SHARSWOOD, ONE OF THE VICE PROVOSTS OF THE LAW ACADEMY OF PHILADELPHIA. It is believed that this will be found a far more complete and com- prehensive work on the subject than any in existence. The follow- ing is the preface. The object of these pages is to supply the legal profession with a Practical Treatise, not only upon the Law of Nisi Prius, but also upon the subjects of Evidence in Civil actions, and Arbitration and Awards. A desire having been expressed by several members of the profes- sion in Ireland, that the Irish Common Law Reports should be cited. Alcock, and Napier; Armstrong and Macartney; Batty; Cook and Alcock; Crawford and Dix ; Fox and Smith; Hayes; Hayes and Jones; Hudson and Brooke; Jebb and Bourke; Jebb and Symes Jones; Jones and Carey; Longfield and Townsend; Ridgway, Lapp and Schoales; Smith and Batty; Smythe, and Fernon, and Scriven, as well as Circuit Reports, have been consulted, and the decisions occurring in those authorities, which seemed illustrative of Nisi Prius Law, have been embodied in the work. Chancellor Kent, in a letter to the publishers, remarks " I have run over the principal articles in the two volumes, and I think the work is ably, judiciously, and, indeed, admirably digested and executed. I do not know of any work on Nisi Prius Law equal to it, and I am sure it must meet with the universal use and patron- age of the profession. It is printed in fine style, both as to paper and type, and does credit to your enterprise and taste." Cambridge, Jan. 24, 1844. "I have freely used the edition of Mr. Stevens's book ever since its publication, and think that for clearness of arrangement, complete- ness and fulness of learning, and accuracy in the statement of legal doctrine, it is not surpassed and hardly equaled by any other work of the kind. I trust that the patronage of the Bar will not fail to re- ward the publishers for the expense of reprinting the work in this country. S. GREENLEAF." DATE DUE c APR 1 a 1988 R JAN 1 51SSTH GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S. a. A 000 627 049 o TY.OF C . RIVERSIDE UBRARV I fill ill 3 1210 00651 2337