MR. BERNARD TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

London, April 23rd, 1789, Five o'clock, P.M. MY LORD,

The ceremony of this day has been gone through exceedingly well. The procession from the House of Commons began at eight o'clock, and the King reached St. Paul's between eleven and twelve. The arrangement of the cathedral, particularly the dome, presented a beautiful sight. The King seems much reduced by his late illness—was remarkably composed during the service, and attentive to the music. His Majesty, as well as the Queen, seemed much affected with the solemnity of their first entrance, as were many of the persons present. Lady Uxbridge was near fainting away.

As the King went out of the church, he seemed to be in good spirits, and talked much to the persons about him; but he stared and laughed less than ever I knew him on a public occasion. He returned to the Queen's House between three and four o'clock. Mr. Fox and most of his party were there. He and Colonel Fitzpatrick were stationed in front of the altar, and directly opposite the King, being the part of the cathedral for Privy Councillors and Peers' sons. Mr. Pitt sat near them, but not in the first ranks. I saw Lord Temple in a very good place, in that part of the church. I did not see Mr. Burke there, and therefore suppose he continues ill. The trial was deferred yesterday on account of his illness, which people say was occasioned by his working himself into too great a passion the day before.

I have the honour to be ever, my Lord, Your Excellency's most faithful and affectionate servant, S. BERNARD.

The same subject is followed up in a letter from Lord Bulkeley.

LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Stanhope Street, April 27th, 1789. MY DEAR LORD,

The pilgrimage to St. Paul's, which funck'd us all very much, has turned out exceedingly well, for the King conducted himself throughout the whole of that very arduous trial in such a manner as to convince all, except those who will not see nor hear, that he is in perfect possession of his faculties. The Princes of Wales, York, Cumberland, and, I am sorry to say, Gloucester, talked to each other the whole time of the service, and behaved in such an indecent manner that was quite shocking. The King in Pall Mall was received without applause, and the Prince with a good deal; but from Cockspur Street to St. Paul's he had the warmest acclamations possible, particularly in the city of London, where all ranks of people were unanimous, which the King perceived, and since has much praised. In parts of the Strand the Prince's dependants were posted to give him an huzza as he passed, which flattered him most exceedingly; but he lost his temper in the City, and he never recovered it afterwards, for at St. Paul's he was in the worst humour possible, and did everything he could do to expose himself in the face of an amazing concourse of persons, and of all the foreign Ministers.

On the return of the procession the Prince and Duke of York put on their uniforms at Carlton House, and headed the whole brigade of Grenadiers, and fired a feu de joie before Buckingham House, the King and Queen and the Princesses standing in one of the windows. The Prince, before the King got into his carriage, which the whole line waited for before they filed off, went off on a sudden with one hundred of the common people, with Mr. Wattie in the middle of them, huzzaing him, and was done evidently to lead, if possible, a greater number, and to make it penetrate into Buckingham House.

The breach is so very wide between the King and Prince, that it seems to me to be a great weakness to allow him any communication with him whatsoever; for under the mask of attention to their father and mother, the Prince and Duke of York commit every possible outrage, and show every insult they can devise to them. The report of the journey to Hanover prevails to an alarming degree, and the King talks of it right hand and left; but it is to be hoped the Ministers will be able to divert his attention from it at this particular moment, for in the present unhinged state of things it might be pregnant with very disagreeable consequences. I believe the King's mind is torn to pieces by his sons, and that he expects to relieve himself by a new scene, and by getting out of the way of hearing of and seeing the Prince of Wales, with the hopes of being able to detach the Duke of York, whom he fondly and dotingly loves, and of prevailing on him to marry on the continent, of which there is no chance, for in my opinion he is just as bad as the Prince, and gives no hopes of any change or amendment whatsoever in thought, word, or deed.

* * * * *

P.S.—It is said that the King abuses Dundas to those about him very much, in a language that is very much copied by those whom we all know by the term of "King's friends;" and there are some who pretend to say that his loss of ground at Buckingham House has been owing to the part he took against Hastings, in which he has the reputation of having engaged Pitt to concur. I have made every inquiry whether the King ever expresses himself to his people about him in favour of Hastings, and I am told he is very guarded and reserved on his subject, but that some females in his house talk loud and warmly in his favour, which occasions the attributing the same opinions to him.

On one of the adjourned questions on Hastings's trial in the House of Lords, Lord Maitland, standing next to Dundas, asked him what he thought would be the result of the inquiry, to which he replied in these words: "I don't care what is done with him, for you and your friends in Opposition have done our business, by keeping him out of the Board of Control." Lord Maitland on this called up Colonel Fitzpatrick and Dudley Long, in whose presence Dundas actually repeated his words, and they, of course, trumpeted them all over town, and they have occasioned much conversation and much abuse of Dundas, in addition to their former abuse on the part of Hastings's friends. The folly of such language, especially to three violent Oppositionists, was very absurd, weak, and ill-judged, but the fact is certain.

I hear many complaints of Pitt and his Secretaries' personal inattentions to Members of Parliament, but they will think twenty times before they go into Opposition; and it is most probable that these complaints are not made till impossible jobs have been refused; I therefore only mention them as certainly existing, and most probably as to any consequences, vox et praeterea nihil, at least till the last sessions.

* * * * *

Just as I was sealing my letter a person called on me, who tells me that divisions in the Cabinet, or rather among the Cabinet Ministers, certainly do exist, to a great degree, about Mr. Dundas, and has confirmed to me what I have before told you, that every corner of Buckingham House resounds with abuse, and opprobrious epithets against him.

A passage in a letter of Mr. Grenville's, dated the 2nd of May, indicates an approaching event, to which many circumstances, but chiefly the increasing weight the writer had latterly acquired in the councils of Mr. Pitt, had for some time been obviously tending.

I wish to mention to you that Lord S. has taken great offence, from the circumstance of having at last found out that your despatches to him come over enclosed to me. I could wish, therefore, that for the very short time that your correspondence with him is likely to continue you would alter this, as nothing material is likely to arise that can render it necessary, and I am desirous just at this particular moment to avoid any altercation with him. This jealousy on his part, and a just sense on mine of his conduct towards you, has entirely broke off all communication between us with respect to Irish, or indeed any other, business. Some delay and awkwardness necessarily arises from this; but it is unavoidable, and I repeat that it will probably be of very short duration.

The nomination of Mr. Grenville to the Home Office had been delayed only till the arrangements consequent upon the necessary changes it involved could be satisfactorily carried out. The means of effecting it were now within Mr. Pitt's reach; and at the moment this letter was written, Mr. Grenville's appointment was on the eve of being ratified.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, May 15th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

Just as I was sitting down to write to you, I received a note from Hobart, informing me of his arrival. I have seen him, and had a long conversation on the different points which he is charged with. My appointment is, I think I may now decisively say, fixed for Friday next, and I hope that you will soon feel the effects of your new correspondent, in the expedition of the various matters which are now lying on hand. You must, I am sure, be sensible that under the circumstances of these last three weeks, it has been quite impossible for me, however ardently I wished it for your sake, to bring forward these different points of business; but on Monday sev'nnight, at latest, I hope to write to you upon them all, though the length of Hobart's memorandum-paper has a little frightened me. I do not complain of it as thinking your bill a large one, considering the value received, but only I think the impression of my debut in the closet may be a little awkward. I must, however, meet this as well as I can; and although this ten days' more delay must, I know, be very unpleasant to you, I trust you will see it is unavoidable.

If you find it necessary, for reconciling any of your principal people to the delay, to assign the intended change in the Secretary's office as a reason, there can now be no objection to it, as we have agreed that it would be right that, by the time you can receive this letter, we should begin to buzz it about, as a thing not improbable to happen.

With respect, however, to your peerages, I have, as I promised you, got Pitt to state them to the King, who has consented to them, Marquisates and all. You may now, therefore, recommend them as soon as you please, and I will take care there shall be no further unnecessary delay.

There are, however, still two points with respect to this business. I understand from Hobart that Lord Glerawley wants his promotion to be limited to his brother. This had not been stated in your letters, and I was therefore unable to mention it to Pitt. It is therefore still possible that the King may make some objection to this, as you know it is against one of his rules (though by no means an invariable one) to give a step and a limitation at the same time.

The other is essential, and can, I hope, make no difficulty with you. He is willing to engage that these should all be done without delay, but he seems much to wish that the promotions and creations should be separated, in order that they may not, by coming together, appear to fill too large a column in the "Gazette." There must, therefore, be an interval of a fortnight or three weeks. You will judge whether the promotions or creations should come first.

The only remaining point is that of the Seals. I beg you to believe me sincere when I assure you that, independent of your wishes upon the subject, my own opinion is quite as much made up as yours is on the subject of Fitzgibbon's appointment. But, in the same sincerity, I assure you that it is by no means advantageous towards the attainment of this object, that it should be pressed forward in the present moment. Hobart has asked me whether Fitzgibbon's coming over would not be of use to him? I am strongly inclined to be of opinion that it would; but before I gave him a decisive answer, I wish to consult Pitt, and he is not to write to Fitzgibbon till after that. With respect to the difficulty of your Chancery causes, I can conceive no earthly reason why Carleton, especially as he is to receive so great a favour, should not have to go on with them, just as Lord Loughborough did here when the Seals were in commission for a year. Depend upon it that I do not deceive you, when I say that it is much better to wait for the favourable moment, than to hurry it on to a decision now. That favourable moment may arise sooner or later, but I am confident that ultimately le bon tems viendra. Your information about the Chancellor's resolution is very curious, because I have reason to know that McNa. is exactly the very person who has most strongly urged Thurlow on the propriety of an English appointment, and who has suggested this curious notion of F.'s unpopularity. But I mention this, relying upon your honour that you will not repeat it to any one, but particularly not to Fitzgibbon.

I am most sincerely sorry that the consideration of your health should enter at all into the question of your going or remaining. Pray let me entreat you, whether you take the one resolution or the other ultimately, not to delay nor put off one day a fixed resolution to use constant and sufficient exercise. I am sure any delay on that head is of a hundred times more consequence than all those which we have been lamenting. Nothing in the world could make up to you for the consequences which your omission in this respect (which I am grieved to learn from Hobart still continues) may bring upon you. You cannot conceive how earnestly I feel on this subject, because I am every day feeling the good effects of a contrary practice, which enables me to go through all the business I have, without hurting my health or spirits.

Adieu, my dear brother, Believe me ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

The duel between Colonel Lenox and the Duke of York took place on the 26th of May. The town gossiped about it, but regarded it with indifference; and neither party got much credit in the end. Mr. Hobart, on the 30th, communicates another on dit concerning the behaviour of the Princes.

The Queen and Princesses were last night at the fete given by the French Ambassador. The Prince of Wales, Dukes of York and Clarence, were also there; but would not dance, or stay supper, lest they should have the appearance of paying the smallest attention to Her Majesty. The officers of the Duke of York's regiment met yesterday, at the request of Charles Lenox; they did not come to a decision till about an hour ago. I hear it is that Lenox acted with courage, but not with judgment.

There was some difficulty in finding a successor for Mr. Grenville in the House of Commons. The choice at last fell on Mr. Addington. The selection was not altogether unexceptionable; but, upon the whole, he was the best person that could be found.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, June 1st, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I have this morning received your two letters, of the 26th and 28th together, which was a great relief to me from the uneasiness which I should have felt from your first letter, if I had received it separately. I most sincerely hope that you will feel no further bad effects from this accident. Lady B. has been some days on her road to Dublin, and is probably with you before this time. I cannot express to you how much I am concerned that any parts of my letter on the subject of the promotions should have appeared to you in the smallest degree wanting in that kindness and warmth of affection which I so sincerely feel, and always wish and mean to express. I have no copy of that letter, nor have I any recollection of the particular turn or expression of it which can at all serve me to remember what part of it can have impressed your mind with this sensation. I can therefore only say that, whatever it was, it has been most remote from my intention, and that as to any expression which can bear such an interpretation—totum hoc indictum volo.

With respect to the King's health, on which you ask me so particularly, I can only repeat to you what I said in my last letter—which I have from what I believe to be the very best authority—that he continues perfectly well, both in mind and body, and, with respect to the latter, is growing stronger every day. I beg you to believe, that though I should write you any contrary account with much pain and mortification, yet that I feel too much the importance of your being well and accurately informed on the subject, to have a moment's hesitation in stating anything of that sort to you as soon as I heard it myself. But, in truth, I believe that all these reports originate in nothing else than the anxiety of the King's friends for the preservation of his health, and the impatience which his enemies feel for the only event which can give them any prospect of seeing their wishes accomplished.

Addington is the person intended for my successor. He wants only a little more age, and being a little more known, to make his nomination unexceptionable; but I certainly cannot but confess that he does want both these. It is, however, the best appointment that we can make to a situation to which so few people are willing to look, and for which so much fewer are at all qualified. I have no doubt of his acquitting himself well in it, and of his becoming, in a little time, extremely popular in the House. We shall certainly lose our Abolition question. The cry against us upon it is growing every day stronger, without anybody being willing to give themselves the trouble of entering, in the smallest degree, into the examination of the grounds upon which our arguments rest.

We have no foreign news, except the continuance of the disputes and difficulties in France. But these you have as fully in the newspapers as I could detail them to you. The accounts from Vienna seem to agree that there is not much probability of the Emperor's finally recovering these repeated attacks, though he may linger out a considerable time.

Adieu, my dear brother, And believe me ever most sincerely and affectionately yours, W. W. G.

Lord Buckingham's health had suffered so much from the toils and anxieties to which he had been exposed during the last few months, that his physicians urged upon him the necessity of trying the waters at Bath. So long as the exigencies of the public service made an imperative demand on his energies, he bore his labours with unshrinking resolution; but now that the contest was over, and the security and influence of the Government were restored, he felt the recoil severely. It was natural that there should be mixed with this hope of recruiting his strength by change of scene, a strong desire for repose. The stormy times he had fallen upon in Ireland rendered his position there onerous and oppressive. He had ridden the storm in safety, and had the satisfaction of feeling that, whenever he retired from the Government, he would leave to his successor, untrammelled by the associations and recollections of the past, a comparatively easy task.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

(Private.) Whitehall, June 13th, 1789. MY DEAREST BROTHER,

You will receive with this the official notification of Fitzgibbon's appointment to the Seals, which I send with the more pleasure at this particular moment, because I know that it will relieve your mind from one of the points on which you have felt a peculiar degree of anxiety. The decision on this point gives me great satisfaction, on many accounts, as an act of justice towards him, and as an example both to our friends and our enemies; but the interest which you took in it makes the event infinitely more agreeable to me than it would otherwise have been, however much I am convinced that it was right and necessary.

The particular occasion, however, of my writing this letter, was not so much the conclusion of this business, as something which relates to another, more nearly concerning yourself. In consequence of your letter, and of the alarm which I have since had on your account, I thought it very material that the idea of your going to Bath should be opened to the King, in order to ascertain how far it was practicable for you to avail yourself of this, which I am persuaded will be the best of all remedies for you, without, at the same time, giving up the idea of returning to Ireland, if you should feel yourself desirous of it. I accordingly took to-day the first opportunity which I have had, of mentioning this to the King, and I have great pleasure in saying, that he not only acquiesced in the idea, but that he lent himself to it with the greatest readiness, and seemed desirous that you should not omit this if it could be useful to you. If, therefore, on consultation with Austin, you should find that a journey to Bath will be of service to you, there remains nothing for you to do, but to write an official letter "requesting the King's permission to be absent from Ireland for a limited time, in order that you may go to Bath for the recovery of your health," and I shall be able to return you an answer, signifying the King's consent, before your preparations for your journey can be made. If, after some residence at Bath, you should find your health and spirits not equal to the returning, you will be better enabled then to decide upon that point, and it will be perfectly easy for you then to state this, and to resign on the ground of the injury which the King's service would sustain from any longer absence. But I am sure I need not mention to you, who are so well acquainted with that country, the absolute and indispensable necessity of your doing everything (in the event of your going to Bath) which may give the strongest impression of your determination to return. If this is not done, you must feel that the Government will be thrown loose, and that the mischief of such an interval may be such as to be irretrievable. If, on the contrary, this persuasion prevails, I see no fear of inconvenience from your absence on this account.

I enclose to you, under a flying seal, a letter of congratulation and compliment to Fitzgibbon, which expresses no more than I really feel on that subject. Adieu, my dear brother.

Believe me ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

P.S.—You will, of course, immediately recommend Fitzgibbon for a Barony; but if you can dissuade him from it, pray do not let him take the title of Limerick, actually possessed by Lord Clanbrassil. The instance of Earl of Buckinghamshire (so created) and Marquis of B. by no means applies, and it would look invidious.

Lord Buckingham's resolution to relinquish the Government of Ireland was now finally taken. He communicated his intentions, in the first instance, in a private letter to Mr. Grenville, to which the following is the reply.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Wimbledon, Sept. 14th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I received your letter of the 6th respecting your resignation, and your subsequent letters of the 10th and 11th. You are too much aware of the extreme difficulty of finding persons willing and qualified to undertake the office which you are quitting, not to expect some little delay before we can say anything to you respecting the choice itself, or the mode or exact period of your resignation; though I certainly agree with you, that, if you have entirely abandoned the idea of returning, the formal notification of that intention ought not to be long delayed. It certainly would have been a satisfaction to me, both on public and private grounds, if the state of your health would have admitted of your completing your triumph even more decidedly than you have already done, though I trust that is sufficient.

The finding a proper person to replace you is, indeed, no easy task; because, although I am entirely of your opinion, that by proper management, the situation of English Government in Ireland is secure; yet, on the other hand, I cannot but feel how very little mismanagement would throw us back again, and how much more the crisis seems to demand, than is, I fear, to be found in any of the persons who may probably be to look to that situation. It will certainly be my wish on many accounts, that the change of the Lord-Lieutenant should not affect Hobart's situation.

I have not yet seen him, as I have not been in town for this last week; but if he is come, I suppose I shall either to-day or to-morrow.

The question about Lord Loftus can, I think, end no otherwise than as Hobart proposes. I shall, however, not say or write anything on the subject to the King till I have seen Hobart. I have no difficulty in conversing with him quite freely about his own situation, as when I saw him in town last, I told him very fairly what my wishes would be in the event of your quitting the Government; but, at the same time, told him as fairly, that nothing could be decisively fixed on that subject till your successor was appointed, and his wishes consulted.

I enclose you a letter from Lord Clonmel, which was transmitted to me with one which I also send you a copy of. I shall merely write an answer acknowledging the receipt, and saying, that agreeably to his desire, I have transmitted it to you.

I heartily wish, that the distance of Teignmouth was not such as to put all idea of our meeting there entirely out of the question; especially as Nepean's being ill makes it still more impossible for me to leave this neighbourhood.

We have no sort of news. The French Assembly is going on with endless disputes about their Constitution; but one ought to be much more interested than I feel myself in the event of these disputes, not to be heartily tired of hearing of them. The main point appears quite secure, that they will not for many years be in a situation to molest the invaluable peace which we now enjoy.

Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

P.S.—I had almost forgot to mention, that on hearing of the contest for Cornwall, and being informed that no time was to be lost, I took upon me to desire Camplin to write to Dale to exert himself in favour of Gregor, our candidate, having every reason to believe that you would have no other wish on the subject, than that of helping to keep out an enemy.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Holwood, Sept. 25th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I have not yet sent to the King your letter of resignation. Pitt has, however, explained to him that you have notified to us the impossibility of your returning, and that you have only delayed the formal resignation till His Majesty shall have considered of the arrangement to be made for that Government. This point is not yet decided. It is indeed one of most extreme difficulty.

In consequence of Cooke's letter to Hobart, which the latter showed me, I mentioned to the King your intended recommendation of Lord L., explaining to him at the same time that you clearly understood yourself not to have made any such engagement, but that as a contrary interpretation was put upon it by Lord C., through whom the transaction passed, it seemed for the benefit of His Majesty's service that this step should be recommended. I also stated that this would necessarily bring with it the two others and perhaps a third, which I named to him at Hobart's desire. He acquiesced in the whole of this without difficulty.

Adieu, my dearest brother. Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

There has been an action off the coast of Finland, between what are called the Swedish and Russian army fleets. The Russians appear to have had the victory decisively, but to be so disabled by it as to be quite unable to do anything more with that fleet this year. Nothing new from France.

On the 30th of September, Lord Buckingham formally resigned. His successor, however, was not yet decided upon, and the subject occasioned much perplexity in the Cabinet. The Lieutenancy was offered to the Duke of Beaufort, who declined. The next person thought of was the Earl of Westmoreland, who accepted. "There are several points," observes Mr. Grenville, "in which Westmoreland would do perfectly: there are those in which he fails; but God knows the list to choose out of is not long."

The letter containing this intelligence announced also the death of the Duke of Chandos, who held the office of Lord Steward, with an intimation that it was probable the new Lord Steward would be the Duke of Dorset. Upon receipt of this information, Lord Buckingham wrote to Mr. Grenville, expressing his desire to be appointed to the vacancy, and urging also his claims upon promotion in the peerage. He felt strongly upon this point. The personal obloquy and factious resistance he had encountered and triumphed over in his Government, appeared to him to demand some distinct and special mark of His Majesty's favour and approbation; and as this was the mode most likely to make that impression upon the public mind in Ireland which the dignity of the Crown, and his own justification in the policy he had pursued, emphatically called for, the feelings that were awakened throughout the course of the following painful correspondence may be readily conceived.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Holwood, Oct. 5th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

Your messenger brought me here, yesterday evening, your letter of the 3rd instant; but I have deferred answering it till this morning, because I wished for a little time to turn the subject of it over in my own mind, and particularly to consider whether I should communicate it to Pitt. After some deliberation with myself, I have resolved not to make this communication, because I consider the Lord Steward's staff as being, in fact, disposed of; and I feel, on that account, an unwillingness to state, even to Pitt, that you had entertained a wish to succeed to that office. I am sure I need not say, that if this idea had ever come across my mind, I should have given you the earliest intelligence in my power of the death of the Duke of Chandos; and should have endeavoured to prevent any steps being taken for filling up his office, till I had heard from you. As it is, you will already have heard from me, that our intention was to offer it to the Duke of Dorset; there not being the smallest ground to imagine that the Duke of Leeds wishes to quit his present situation. This offer was accordingly made two days ago; and the Duke of Dorset has all but accepted it, desiring only to have five minutes previous conversation with Pitt. He is to come here for that purpose this morning; and I have no doubt, from the turn of his letter, that he intends to accept. Under these circumstances, you will, I am sure, approve of my saying nothing to Pitt on that part of your letter; nor do I feel it necessary to state to you all that would otherwise occur to me upon it as matter for your consideration. * * *

Ever most sincerely and affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, Oct. 6th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

The D. of D. has, as I imagined he would, accepted without hesitation. His wish to see Mr. Pitt appears to have been only for the purpose of stating his situation and feelings with regard to the French Embassy. The D. of B. has refused. We shall have W.'s answer to-morrow.

I send you no French news, for in fact we get none that is not more fully detailed in the papers.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, Nov. 2nd, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I saw Mr. Pitt on Saturday evening, and explained your wishes to him. He has undertaken to mention the subject to the King on Thursday (as he does not return to town till Wednesday evening), and to second it with all the eloquence of which he is possessed. He expressed himself with real friendship and zeal upon the subject; though, I am sorry to say, he appears to entertain the same apprehensions with myself as to the result. I am, however, persuaded that this opinion will not lessen his exertions for a more favourable answer, if it can be obtained. He thought it better to mention to the King, at the same time, the idea respecting the Duke of Grafton; though he seems to think it doubtful whether the Post-office will afford the means of that arrangement.

We have no news from France; the express, which generally comes on Sunday, not being yet arrived.

The insurrection has broke out in Austrian Flanders; but in a manner which seems little likely to be successful. Our accounts from thence are, however, very imperfect.

Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 6th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

The drawing-room was so very late yesterday, that it was impossible for Pitt to go into the closet afterwards, as it was not over till past five, and the King had to go back to Windsor. This being the case, we have agreed that, in order to prevent any further delay, Pitt shall write to the King upon the subject, stating all the arguments upon it, and at the same time reserving a ground for speaking to the King upon it at the next levee, if it should be necessary. I own I am by no means sorry that the circumstance of the lateness of the drawing-room, has given a plea for having recourse to this mode, as I have always observed it to succeed best with the King. There are many things which can be much more strongly put in a letter than in conversation with him, especially on any subject on which he is unwilling to converse; and all the points of this particular business may be more forcibly urged by being collected and stated with a reference to each other, in a manner which the King's desultory way of speaking makes almost impossible. I am persuaded, therefore, that whatever the chance is of success in this business, it is greater in this mode; especially as Pitt will still have to mention it to him on Wednesday, if his written answer is not favourable.

I would write to you oftener, or desire Bernard to do it when I cannot, on the French and Flemish news, but that I really find the papers are every morning just as good intelligencers as I could be. They will even tell you all that I can about the Duke of Orleans' mission, which is evidently only a pretence for leaving Paris, as he has not even affected to talk to the King, or his Ministers, about any business, except to ask, in general terms, what is thought of the state of the Low Countries? to which you may suppose the answer would be quite as general, even supposing that we had anything more particular to say, which we have not.

What the motive was for his leaving Paris, I know no more than by the general report which circulates there as well as here, of his having been detected in plans against the small remains of the King's authority.

Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 7th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I am persuaded it is unnecessary for me to say how sincerely sorry I am to be obliged to acquaint you that the King's answer to Pitt's letter of yesterday is such as to give, I am afraid, very little hope indeed of success in the business to which it relates. The King says, however, in it, that in compliance with Pitt's request he defers giving a final answer till he sees him on Wednesday, so that we cannot consider the subject as closed till then; but I fairly own to you that I think there is now very little ground for expecting a favourable result. The King does not enter into the subject at all in his answer, but only refers to what has formerly passed upon it.

I heartily wish that I was the channel of more pleasing intelligence, and this the more, because though I certainly do not see this point exactly in the light in which you seemed to consider it when we conversed upon it, yet the success of it would have afforded me real satisfaction, independent even of the gratification of your wishes.

Believe me ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 9th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I received this morning your letter, acquainting me with your determination, in the event of the King's answer on Wednesday being such as there is certainly every reason to believe it will be. You announce this as a determination in some measure taken in your own mind, and on which you do not appear to wish for my advice; and there are perhaps too many circumstances which must make such a step painful to me, to allow me to be a competent adviser on such a subject. I must therefore confine myself to expressing my very great and sincere concern both in the cause and the effect.

Your letter does not express whether any and what part of it should be communicated to Pitt. Perhaps you will think it right that he should have some previous knowledge of your resolution, if such it is, before he sees the King, but this is a point of infinitely too much delicacy for me to take upon myself to decide; and I also confess that the task of communicating it would be to my feelings so extremely painful, that I should be particularly desirous to avoid it.

I have only to add my strong sense of the kindness of your expressions and wishes towards me. I hope I have deserved your affection, I am sure I have endeavoured to do so; and this business, unhappy as it is, would be a thousand times more so to me, if I could think it possible. I trust in God that it is not so, that any event of it could produce the smallest diminution of that mutual affection and confidence which has now so long subsisted between us, and to which I have felt, and shall ever feel, that I owe more than to any other circumstance of my life. In these sentiments,

Believe me ever, my dear brother, Most truly and affectionately yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 12th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

As I understand from Pitt that he means to write to you to-day in answer to your letter, I have nothing to add to the account which he will give you of the unfavourable result of his conversation of yesterday. He mentioned to me an idea which he had of contriving to see you if possible before you took the step of resigning the Lieutenancy of the county. Perhaps if he comes down to Stowe for that purpose, it would be more agreeable to you that I should accompany him, and in that case I would certainly contrive to do so. Otherwise, I feel that you are already so fully in possession of all that I think and feel on this painful subject, that I could not wish to give you the labour of a journey to Missenden for the purpose of a conversation, which could only be a repetition of what I have already said and written. I have turned the whole question over and over again in my mind, and the result is the same with what I have already stated to you, and is founded on the same feeling: that though the object is a natural one for you to have looked to, I cannot think that the King's refusal does, in any manner, call upon you for that line of conduct which you can be disposed to adopt only in the belief that you are called upon so to do. It is unnecessary for me to enlarge again on the grounds of this opinion; but in stating it, I give you my sincere and honest sentiments, freed, as far as I can free them, from the bias which they are necessarily liable to, on account of the painful impression which is made on my mind by the idea of the smallest difference in our political line.

I cannot conclude this letter without again expressing to you the heartfelt satisfaction which I derive, under these circumstances, from the sense which you entertain and express of my sincere and zealous affection.

Ever yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 28th, 1789. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I have just received your letter. Things remain hitherto on the same footing, with every appearance of doing well. All depends, however, on the ultimate arrangement of the point referred. I own I am inclined to hope better things than you seem to do. Real friendship and connection is, I agree with you, not to be hoped for; but if public appearances are preserved, and public support effectually, even though not cordially, given, all is obtained that is in any degree necessary for public objects; and the present disposition does, as far as I can judge, go the whole length of what I have now stated. It is by no means a difficult or new situation for people to act together in public business without the bond of private connection and friendship. It is indeed very rare, I believe; and what I consider as a most singular and peculiar happiness, that the contrary should exist to the degree to which it does, and it would, I am afraid, be much too sanguine to entertain hopes that this should be extended to the case now in question. I will not fail to let you know as soon as anything occurs on the main point.

There is every appearance that the Flemish revolution is complete. Trautsmansdorf and the patriots are running a race for Luxemburg, where the former means to wait for succours. There are not fifteen thousand troops in the provinces, and there are above forty thousand of the patriots already armed, and the whole country with them. They collect the revenues of the country, on which they maintain their army. They flatter themselves that, allowing for the necessary requisitions for passage, &c., no effectual force can be brought to act against them till the spring; and the style of the Emperor's concessions, as well as the mode of making them, looks as if he was of the same opinion.

Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

It was some compensation to Mr. Grenville that, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, he had the satisfaction of conveying to Lord Buckingham His Majesty's entire approval of the line of conduct his Lordship had pursued in Ireland. After expressing His Majesty's concern at the state of Lord Buckingham's health, which rendered him unable any longer to serve His Majesty in the situation of Lord-Lieutenant, the letter signifies the royal approbation of his Lordship's attachment and zeal in the discharge of the important duties of his station; adding, "and, particularly, I have His Majesty's express direction to acquaint your Lordship with the satisfaction which His Majesty has felt from your attention to maintain the honour and dignity of his Crown, and to preserve the constitutional connection between his two kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, under the interesting circumstances which were occasioned by His Majesty's late indisposition."

Feeling the delicacy of the position in which he was placed by his relationship to Lord Buckingham, in having to convey this gracious message, Mr. Grenville submitted a draught of the letter to His Majesty for his approval, before it was forwarded. Upon this draught His Majesty made the subjoined minute:

Windsor, October 17th, 1789. Eighteen minutes past Ten o'clock.

The draught of an answer to the Marquis of Buckingham's letter of resignation meets entirely with my sentiments. If I thought any alteration necessary, it would be by more explicitly stating the allusion to his very commendable conduct, during my late calamitous illness, which would render the approbation in effect more marked.

G. R.

A retirement thus graced and dignified by the special approbation of the Sovereign, left nothing for Lord Buckingham to regret in the scene of party conflict he had quitted. It was an exchange from turmoil to peace, rendered still more acceptable to him by the expressions of regard and attachment it drew from some of the most distinguished men of his time. Well might Lord Fife congratulate him, in one of the numerous letters addressed to him at this period, on the difference he would find between Stowe and the Castle of Dublin.



1790.

MR. GRENVILLE'S ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE.

The events of this year on the continent of Europe offer a striking contrast to the repose of England. While the wise and steadfast policy of Mr. Pitt had secured to this country the blessings of peace, now rapidly expanding into a condition of almost unexampled prosperity, France was undergoing the throes of that desolating Revolution which brought the Sovereign to the scaffold, and laid the train of those disasters which finally expelled the Bourbons from the throne. There are few traces of those disturbing circumstances in the correspondence of Lord Buckingham and his brother, which, in consequence of the frequent opportunities they now enjoyed of personal intercourse, had become scanty, and, so far as public affairs were concerned, unimportant. Slight scraps of intelligence, the last rumour from abroad, or matters of purely personal or domestic interest, form the staple of the letters that passed between them at this period.

It was in this year that Edmund Burke, to the infinite surprise of his old allies, published his famous pamphlet on the French Revolution. The impression it made in England may be accepted as an evidence of the soundness of the national judgment, and the devotion of the people to the established institutions of the country. This healthy condition of the public mind was attributable, in a greater degree than we can venture now to estimate, to the spirit of patriotism and union awakened in the kingdom by the firm Administration of Mr. Pitt and his friends. They had restored the general confidence in the justice and stability of the Government, which the weakness and divided councils of former Cabinets had dissipated; they had struck the happy mean between the prerogatives of the Crown and the encroachments of the Legislature; and, above all, in the recent conflicts on the Regency question, they had successfully asserted the doctrine, that the rights of the Sovereign and the rights of the people were founded on a common basis; and, by showing that their interests were identical, they had reconciled those extreme elements in the Constitution which a powerful party had laboured, with great eloquence and considerable effect, to separate on the grounds of a natural antagonism. Their popularity was unbounded, and saved the country. Paine's "Age of Reason" fell innocuous upon the people; the tidings of the Revolution, and of the massacres that tracked its daily steps in blood, excited wonder and horror, but produced no frenzy of imitation such as they inspired elsewhere; and while Europe was convulsed with alarms, England, strong in her liberties and self-reliance, was united and unmoved.

In Ireland, the departure of Lord Buckingham was followed by a revival of the factious intemperance his energy had for a season suppressed. The Parliament opened in disorder, and carried on its debates in a tone of vindictive hostility to the British connection. The opponents of Government had strengthened their hands by the accession of new orators, and by the occasional lapses into their old violence of others who had given in their submissions to the late Viceroy, and who, now that he was gone, affected an independence of their obligations. The Lord Chancellor Fitzgibbon was growing into increasing disfavour with the Opposition, and becoming, by the force of resistance, more English and less popular than before. The invectives in which the wild passions of party found a congenial vent, descended to the fiercest recriminations, and led to the severance of friendships, and personal rencontres. Fitzgibbon and the Ponsonbys, who had hitherto preserved unimpaired, amidst the contentions of the Senate, their intimate relations in private life, were now cast asunder by an explosion of animosity that tempted the Chancellor to declare "that he would never speak to them again;" even the close bonds that united the Ponsonbys and the Beresfords were imperceptibly relaxed; and Mr. Hobart, to use his own expression, was "obliged to fight Mr. Curran," for which he excuses himself to Lord Buckingham by saying that "in any other country in Europe he would not have met him." In no other country, undoubtedly, from a cause so absurd and unwarrantable, could the necessity for such a meeting have arisen. Numerous letters from Ireland conveyed fragments of news of this kind to Lord Buckingham in his retirement, the old supporters of Administration still seeming to look up to him for encouragement and advice. But these letters are not now of sufficient interest to justify their publication.

Such, indeed, is the general character of the correspondence of the year. One letter, however, announces an incident which cannot be so satisfactorily recorded as in the language of the writer. Mr. Grenville was about to receive that recognition of his great talents and important services which few men had earned so worthily or were destined to wear more honourably and usefully. The absence of all exultation at his approaching elevation to the peerage, and his near assumption of the title by which he is best known in the history of the country, is a characteristic of that nobility of mind which conferred dignity upon, rather than derived it from, the station to which he was advanced.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 22nd, 1790. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I send this by a messenger, in order to lose no time in informing you that Pitt wrote yesterday to the King, to propose the measure of my going to the House of Lords, and that he has received His Majesty's acquiescence, in terms very satisfactory to me. The delay has been occasioned by a sort of negotiation which has been pending with the Chancellor for some time past, and which there seemed a prospect of bringing to a point before the meeting. As the determination respecting my peerage might possibly have been affected, one way or the other, by this negotiation, we were unwilling to decide that question finally till the last moment; but as that last moment is now arrived, it seemed, after much deliberation, better to take the step in the present situation of things, rather than to wait the issue of a business, one event of which could much have increased the difficulties of the measure itself.

Pitt is gone to-day to Windsor, to lay before the King the whole of the transaction, and to explain more fully the motives which have induced us to wish for my being removed to the House of Lords. There is no probability that this conversation will alter the full consent which the King expressed yesterday by letter. If it does not, it will be necessary that I should kiss hands on Wednesday, in order to give time, which even that will barely do, for passing my patent, &c., so as to enable me to take my seat on Friday, which is the day on which the King makes his speech, and on which the general Address will be moved in the House of Lords. We mean to fix a separate day for considering the Convention, and to have a particular Address upon it. The precise day for this is of course not yet settled.

This arrangement will necessarily occasion a delay of two or three days before the writ can be moved in the House of Commons, who do not proceed to business till the Monday, on account of swearing the Members; but this does not seem to me to be at all material, and I am persuaded that you will feel with me that it is unavoidable. The writ once moved, the election may come on upon the tenth, or at latest, the eleventh day from the Monday, so that the whole notice will not exceed a fortnight.

I reserve, till I see you, the particulars of the negotiation of which I have spoken, and of our present situation with a view to that important point. I am sorry for the delay in making the other arrangements, but you must allow something for the difficulties which always occur in bringing points of this nature to bear, and for the various loads which press at such a moment as this on Pitt's time, by whose personal negotiations alone all this must be done. Pray let me know, by the return of my messenger, when I may expect you in town.

I am sorry to hear of so long a sick list. Adieu, my dear brother, and believe me

Ever most truly and affectionately yours, W. W. G.



1791.

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS—RESIGNATION OF THE DUKE OF LEEDS—FLIGHT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE—PROSPERITY OF ENGLAND AT THIS PERIOD.

The first object to which the attention of Ministers was addressed at the opening of Parliament in 1791, was a measure for the further relief of the Roman Catholics. The only objection urged against it by the Opposition was that it did not go far enough. Mr. Pitt himself held the same opinion, but did not consider it expedient to act upon it.

The interest which Lord Buckingham never ceased to feel in Ireland, where this question of Catholic disabilities was a spring of constant agitation, led him to regard the subject in relation to that country with much solicitude. Agreeing in principle with Mr. Pitt, he held that the Roman Catholics should be placed on the same footing in both kingdoms; and that whatever privileges were bestowed upon them in England should also, and at the same time, be granted to them in Ireland. Mr. Hobart, who had been his Lordship's secretary during his last Administration, and who was continued in that appointment by his successor, Lord Westmoreland, corresponded with him frequently on this topic; and it may be gathered from his letters that the views of the new Lord-Lieutenant were unfavourable to the demands of the Roman Catholics. In the early part of the correspondence, Mr. Hobart expresses considerable doubt about the policy of placing power in their hands, especially with reference to their admission to the bar, which had been conceded to them in England. His observations on that particular point are curious. In Ireland, he remarks, the sentiments of the lawyers have considerable weight in the discussion of political subjects, which, "whether it arises from the confident and pertinacious loquacity of gentlemen of that profession, or from the deference which is shown and felt for those in whose hands are entrusted the most interesting concerns of every family in the kingdom, and from their frequent intercourse with all parts of it, is matter of no consequence." The influence which the lawyers were thus supposed to possess, weighed strongly with Mr. Hobart as an argument against the admission of the Roman Catholics to the bar. Such a measure might be adopted with comparative safety in England, but it was likely in Ireland to be productive of increased agitation and social disorder. The perplexities of the question were evidently taking a very distinct shape at this time, and occupying no inconsiderable share of the attention of Government. In endeavouring to sift them, and to extricate something like a practical line of policy from them, Mr. Hobart was not a little embarrassed by the example of England, which he could not quite make up his mind either to follow or renounce.

The English Bill has put us under no small degree of difficulty. The circumstances of the two countries, with respect to Roman Catholics, are so different, that what may be extremely advisable in the one, may be just the reverse in the other; and, therefore, for us precisely to follow your Bill, would be to adopt a principle which in its consequences might be productive of the greatest mischief. Nevertheless, if we do not go so far, the Roman Catholics of Ireland will be highly discontented; and if we go further, we shall throw too much power into their hands.

That Lord Buckingham removed Mr. Hobart's objections as to the wisdom of conformity in legislating for the Roman Catholics in both countries, is indicated in a subsequent letter; but that Mr. Hobart differed from his Lordship as to the prudence of maintaining a Government opposition between the two sects is no less apparent. Lord Buckingham's influence in moderating Mr. Hobart's opinions on other points is frankly admitted. Mr. Hobart gave up his objections to admitting the Catholics to the bar, or even to the army or navy, if England should think fit to set the example; but civil offices, or the elective franchise, he still considered highly dangerous.

My opinion, I speak with great deference, does not concur with yours, as to the little importance of supporting the Protestants against the Catholics; it is, in my mind, the link which binds the two countries: break that, and you endanger the connection. Every means should be exerted to prevent the struggle taking place; and, therefore, every indulgence that with any degree of safety can be given to the Roman Catholics, and more particularly at this time, ought to be extended to them. Notwithstanding a variety of objections, I cannot help thinking that the safest principle for the Parliament of Ireland to adopt, is, that of following England upon all questions relative to Roman Catholics; but it is of the utmost consequence, that the Government of England should accede to no measure upon that subject, without a due consideration of its effect in Ireland, and fairly weigh the benefits to be attained in the one country, against the disadvantages that may arise in the other.

The example of England, if adopted as a principle, may be extremely useful as a means of resisting inconvenient pretensions urged here; for, whether avowedly adopted or not, it will always be made use of by the Roman Catholics when they have anything to gain by it; and ultimately they must be successful upon that ground. I would therefore admit them to the bar; and if England opens the army and navy to them, it should follow of course here; but admission to civil offices, or anything that led to voting for Members of Parliament, or sitting in either House, would, I conceive, be highly dangerous in this country; because I am a friend to the Protestant ascendancy, and that can be maintained only through the medium of a Protestant Parliament, aided by a profitable encouragement to those who profess that faith.

The times are growing so enlightened, or so depraved, that a man need not live very long, to have a chance of seeing all religious distinctions abolished; but so long as things remain in their present state, I am strongly impressed with the idea, that the connection between England and Ireland in a great degree depends upon the maintenance of the Protestant ascendancy. It is the principle which attaches the Parliament of Ireland to Great Britain; it is the security for the property of those whose influence gives them power in this country; it is the strength of English government in Ireland. If ever the Roman Catholics should acquire power enough to render the prospect of regaining their properties sufficiently promising for the attempt, they must begin by the destruction of English government. I do therefore consider it indispensably necessary to give every degree of influence to the Protestant interest; but that would be as a drop of water to the sea, unless that interest was supported by the power of England. But as I do not believe John Bull would much like to expend his money in a struggle between the Protestants and Roman Catholics of Ireland, merely on a crusade principle, I would not have him called upon in a case wherein the ground to be maintained was not similar to that which had been sanctioned by the British Parliament, and might therefore, in a certain degree, be considered as the cause of the empire.

You desire me to turn my thoughts to a permanent system. The only permanent, practicable system that I can discover, is, that there should at all times be a perfect understanding and concurrence between the Governments of the two countries upon this subject; that no step affecting the Catholics should be taken in England without a minute attention to Ireland; and that the people of that persuasion should be on the same footing in the two countries.

The entire passage may be accepted as an epitome of the principle on which Lord Westmoreland's Administration in Ireland was conducted; and this authentic exposition of it is invested with some claim to historical importance.

A letter from Lord Grenville in the beginning of the session refers to certain new arrangements which were in progress in the Cabinet, but which did not materially affect its constitution.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Feb. 4th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I should have written to you before on the subject of the arrangements, if I had been able to say anything satisfactory or decisive to you about them. But I think it right to mention to you the state of the business, in order that you may know exactly how it stands. An unexpected difficulty has arisen where we least looked for it, on the part of Lord Hawkesbury, who has declined exchanging the Duchy for the Mint, although he has been distinctly told that the Cabinet is to be given him with the latter, and not with the former. Whether he is playing any game in this we are unable to discover, but such is the answer which he has given, after having taken time to consider of it. This, as you see, at once stops the whole business in limine, unless some solution can be found for the difficulty; and I must confess I do not now see what solution there is for it. It was not till two days ago that this great man gave his answer, and therefore it is still, I think, by no means impossible that his stomach may come down when he sees Pitt determined to abide by this as a condition of the other, which there is indeed no temptation to grant him without it. On the whole it may be only a piece of magnificence, in order to give to his admission to the Cabinet the appearance of a favour done by him, instead of one received. But of all this you are as well able to judge as ourselves, and none of us have anything to go upon but conjecture. A few days may probably enable us to form a better judgment, and for that we must wait.

It is, I am sure, unnecessary for me to say how much this unexpected difficulty has hurt both Pitt and myself. I am racking my brains to find a remedy for it, and shall be truly happy if any such should occur either to you or to us.

The accounts of our dear Catherine are now such as I hope to put all idea of present danger out of the question; but it has been a most alarming attack, and I fear is only the earnest of much suffering and frequent illness from the same cause, the existence of which seems now to be but too clearly ascertained.

Everybody in London has been ill. I have not escaped my usual cold, but am now getting well. I rejoice in the satisfactory account which the Bulkeleys give of you.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, G.

They have suddenly stirred in Ireland a question about spirits, beer, &c., which they seem to understand no more of than I do, who have had no opportunity of learning anything about it. Lord W., in one of his private letters, mentions some plan of yours about hops, and I think I recollect something passing between us on the subject, but have no trace what it was. I have a clerkship vacant in my office: can it be made useful to any object of yours?

You probably know also that Selwyn's death gives me the disposal of his office in Barbadoes, of between L100 and L500 per annum, but it can be held only by a resident. I feel myself bound, in the first instance, to offer to Nepean, who is killing himself by his labour here, to give it to any proper person who will vacate anything for it here. If that fails, you know I have no other idea of patronage than that of consulting your wishes, or serving our joint objects.

A little stray light is thrown upon this question of spirits and beer in Ireland by Mr. Hobart in a letter to Lord Buckingham. The great evil which demoralized the Irish, including, it appears, even the country gentlemen, was whiskey-drinking; and with a view to diminish it, if possible, the Irish Government brought in a Bill, putting a heavy duty on spirits, and liberating beer, hoping that the measure would act as a prohibition in the one case, and as an encouragement in the other.

Sobering the people of Ireland, I look upon to be an impracticable undertaking; but the abominable use of whiskey, rendered it necessary that Government should endeavour to do something which might tend in some degree to check the evil. Meeting and reconciling all the difficulties you have adverted to, I cannot flatter myself has been accomplished; but we have struggled against them as well as we could, and by not attempting too much, perhaps we shall effect something. I enclose a paper, showing what will be the state of the duties when the Bill passes; in addition to which, we take all restrictions off the brewery, leaving the brewers at liberty to sell at their own price, and to brew as they please. We have also some hopes from regulations, to which we are encouraged by the general outcry against whiskey, and assurances that country gentlemen will violate their natures, and assist in carrying the laws into execution. I must acknowledge that I am not very sanguine upon the subject; but the magnitude of the grievance called for the interposition of the legislature—et librari animum meum.

The subject of the following letter, although, from its nature, cautiously expressed, may be inferred from the allusion it contains to the Duke of Leeds, who held the office of Secretary of State. His Grace was on the eve of relinquishing the Seals, but, for reasons of his own, or, perhaps, to avoid embarrassing the Ministry, he desired his intentions to be kept secret. Having imposed this obligation on others, he seems to have violated it himself, and thus his approaching retirement became known to Lord Buckingham before his Lordship received any intimation of it from Lord Grenville. The silence of his habitual and confidential correspondent on a point of so much interest disturbed Lord Buckingham's sensibility; but it will be felt that Lord Grenville's vindication is conclusive.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Holwood, April 26th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I should certainly be much to blame if I were insensible to the kindness of your last letter, though written under an impression, in the justice of which I should be very sorry indeed to acquiesce. I have little time for justifications on that subject, but my anxiety to remove such an impression makes me say that I am not conscious to myself of any want of that confidence towards you, which our friendship demands, and which I wish to be reciprocal. But that I neither ask of you, nor can think that you require from me, the breach of actual or even of implied engagements to others, not to divulge points in which they are concerned. A strict observance of such engagements is surely the condition of all honourable intercourse in society, and a duty from which no degree of confidence, friendship, or affection towards a third person, can absolve one. With respect to this particular case of the Duke of L., I am sure your own reflections will not suffer you to impute blame to me, if after having required from those with whom he was acting an engagement of secrecy, which he had a right to demand from them, his own levity, or any other reason, induced him to divulge his own secret. Ask yourself, and I will leave the subject there, whether you had rather have known this event, as has been now the case, a day or two later than you might otherwise have done, or have been the occasion of my doing an act which my own mind would have reproached me with as dishonourable in itself, and in this particular instance a breach of a positive promise which I had given.

Surely if I am deserving of your confidence, or any man's, it can only be so long as I feel the nature of such confidence, and fulfil the obligations which it imposes upon me, even where the violation of them might be of real advantage to you, much more where it could have answered no one purpose of utility, or even of gratification. All I can add is, that if I see this subject in too serious a light, or entertain ideas too strict with respect to it, my impressions upon it are at least those of serious reflection; and that they are the same which direct my conduct towards the few other persons who have a right, and none has so much right as yourself, to affection and confidence from me.

I have anticipated your advice, and taken refuge here. I feel already the advantage of air, and of rather more exercise than I have been able lately to allow myself. I am sorry if my former letter bore the appearance of depression, but you know that my mind has not been at ease on other subjects, and will therefore allow for the effect of the weight of fresh labour and anxiety suddenly thrown upon me.

Ever, my dear brother, Most truly and affectionately yours, G.

The Duke of Leeds resigned on the 8th of June, and was succeeded by Mr. Dundas.

At this moment, not England alone, but all Europe, was engrossed by the strange drama that was going forward in Paris. The first piece of intelligence that arrived was an announcement that the King and the royal family had effected their escape at night from the Tuileries by a subterranean passage leading to the Seine; and, as it afterwards appeared, that His Majesty had left behind him a paper formally revoking, on the grounds of compulsion, the oaths and declarations to which he had been forced to subscribe. Lord Grenville conveyed the startling news, just as it had reached him, in a hasty note to Lord Buckingham.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, June 25th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

The enclosed, which I received this morning from Lord Gower, will inform you of the very unexpected event which has happened at Paris. As the messenger came through Calais, he heard a report, which was circulated with much confidence, that the King, &c., had been stopped at a place which he calls Quinault, and which I guess to be Quenoy in the Cambresis, if, indeed, there is any foundation at all for the story. Montmorin is to write to Lucerne, to make a communication here from the National Assembly, of their intention to maintain peace with other countries. We have, of course, not had time to consider what answer to give, or what steps to take.

One of the French papers contains an account of a party of travellers passing through Senlis about four or five in the same morning, which evidently appears to have been the King and his suite. This account was read at the Assembly; and confirms the idea of their having taken the route of the Netherlands.

You will have the goodness to communicate this letter and its enclosure, to Lord Camelford.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

Tell me what Lord Camelford and you think we ought to do; as it is very possible we may not have taken our determination before I can receive your answer.

The story was, of course, doubted at first. But it turned out to be true in every particular except the name of the place, which was Varennes. The royal fugitives were seized on the 22nd of June, and carried back to Paris to be confronted with the Provisional Executive Council that had been established as soon as their flight was known.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, June 26th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

The King and Queen of France were stopped at Varennes, a small town between St. Menchond and Luxemburg. The post-master at St. Menchond, suspected them to be aristocrats making their escape, and followed the carriage. Seeing it strike out from the great road, to Verdun, he got before them by another road, to Varennes, and gave the alarm. When they arrived, the National Guard was already drawn out; and they were forced to stop, and go into the inn. There they were known by a man of the town. They were prevailed upon, without much resistance, as it appears, on their part, to turn their horses' heads, and to go back to Chalons, where they slept that night. They were to sleep at Epernay the Thursday night; and were expected in Paris, Friday, or more probably, Saturday. Commissioners have been named by the Assembly, at the head of whom is Barnave, to protect their return to Paris. The proclamation, or manifesto, left behind him, by the King is curious, and in some parts well drawn. I hope to be able to send it you by to-morrow's post. Paris had remained pretty quiet; but there was some disposition in the Poissardes and Faubourg St. Antoine to assemble, in order to manifest their joy. Bouille appears to have been in the plot, and is suspended from his command by the Assembly, who have also given orders to arrest him; but I suppose he is too wise to suffer himself to fall into their hands.

Monsieur and Madame are safely arrived at Mons; so that if the King had taken that route, he might probably have escaped. I feel sincerely for him; and still more for the Queen, who, I imagine, must expect to suffer much.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, June 29th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

Lord Gower's courier arrived this morning, with an account of the King and Queen being brought back to Paris. Everything passed with a black and sullen silence; no mark of respect whatever was allowed to be shown them. Biron and Lafayette were in the carriage with them. The mob followed the carriage into the garden of Tuileries; and on alighting, these wretched captives heard every species of abuse and insult, that even a Paris mob is capable of.

They talk of sending the Queen to the Convent of Val de Grace for the present; and the report is, they mean to try her. The King is to undergo an interrogatory on Tuesday; and on the result of that, it is supposed he is to be deposed, and the Dauphin declared King, with a Council of Regency. These, as you will see, are all reports; but the melancholy certainty is, that neither in Paris, nor in any part of the country which we have heard of, does there seem the least disposition to pity, and much less to assist them.

We have the bad news, that the Austrian Plenipotentiaries have left Sistovo; but, as they express it, without breaking up the Congress. The armistice is not renewed; but it seems as if it would be continued by a sort of tacit consent. You will have seen in the papers the further demands made by the Emperor, on which the business has stopped.

Ever yours, G.

The Queen's behaviour is said to have been admirable.

Early in this year, Ministers had moved and carried an Address from His Majesty, reporting the failure of his negotiations to bring about a peace between Russia and Turkey, and desiring to augment his naval forces for the sake of giving more weight to his interposition. This Address was vehemently, but unsuccessfully, opposed in both Houses, on the ground that such a course was calculated to lead to hostilities, and plunge the nation into an unnecessary expenditure. Advantage was taken of the occasion to make it appear that Mr. Pitt wanted to involve the country in the war, and that his policy was essentially injurious to the industry and material welfare of the people. The following interesting passage from a letter of Lord Grenville's, dated the 17th of August, not only disproves the imputation, but shows how anxious Ministers were to secure peace, how much they were relieved and gratified by its accomplishment, and to what a height of prosperity they had succeeded in bringing the commerce and revenue of the kingdom.

We received this morning the account that the negotiations at Sistovo are at last satisfactorily concluded. A definitive treaty of peace, on the grounds of the status quo strict, was to be signed on the 4th of this month, under the mediation of the Allies; and at the same time a separate Act, by which the Austrians and Turks treat as powers between whom peace is already concluded (and consequently without mediation) for some such arrangements of frontier, and the settlement of a dispute about Old Orsova, which town is to remain in the hands of Austria. You may suppose this event gives me no small satisfaction; and I hope I shall now begin to breathe a little, which I have hardly done since April last. You can hardly form to yourself an idea of the labour I have gone through; but I am repaid by the maintenance of peace, which is all this country has to desire. We shall now, I hope, for a very long period indeed enjoy this blessing, and cultivate a situation of prosperity unexampled in our history. The state of our commerce, our revenue, and, above all, that of our public funds, is such as to hold out ideas which but a few years ago would indeed have appeared visionary, and which there is now every hope of realizing.

The next letter refers to a matter of personal interest. A Rangership had fallen vacant by the death of Lord Orford, and it appeared desirable to Lord Grenville to effect an exchange between that office and the reversion he held of the Chief Remembrancership in Ireland. Upon all questions of this nature, as indeed on all questions that directly affected himself and his own objects, Lord Grenville was always reluctant to decide until he had first consulted Lord Buckingham, in whose judgment and affection he reposed unbounded confidence.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Dec. 7th, 1791. MY DEAR BROTHER,

I mentioned to you last week, that there was a subject I wished to talk with you about; but as my getting down to Stowe seems to grow every day more and more uncertain, and as the subject in question is now brought to a point, I am obliged to write to you upon it; though I cannot so easily say all I wish upon it in this manner. It is, shortly, to ask your advice whether, in consequence of Lord Orford's death, I should not exchange my reversion of Lord Cl.'s office, for the immediate appointment to the Rangership, which I apprehend it is clearly in the King's power to grant for life. The different reasons, pro and con, will as readily suggest themselves to you as to me. The great points to be gained by the exchange are, first, the certainty of some provision, instead of an expectancy, which I may never live to enjoy; and what is still more than that, the great advantage of having that provision in this country, instead of looking for it in Ireland, subject to the chance of what injustice party may be able to do in Ireland, which they could not do here, and subject, also, to the general chance of troubles in that country, which I fear are too probable. Against this, is to be set some difference (as I believe) in the value of the two offices, though I have not yet been able to ascertain it; and the degree of invidiousness and clamour which my receiving any new favour (for such this would undoubtedly be considered) would be subject to, especially at a moment when Government are rather under difficulties, and when I must expect so many competitors, for a thing in many respects so desirable.

The impression of my own mind is, I confess, very strongly for taking the step. Pitt is entirely ready to acquiesce in what I judge best, though I can see he is, to a certain degree, alarmed at the impression it may make. The thing has been generally opened to the King as a possible arrangement, in order to prevent his entering into any other engagements. I cannot describe the real kindness of manner and expression with which he assured me of his readiness to do in it whatever I wished. It rests, therefore, with myself to decide; and although I have, as you see, a strong bias in favour of the step, I do not feel confident enough of my own opinion not to be very desirous of knowing yours. I fairly own to you, that if I was in the same situation as I was a year and a half ago, I should be inclined to let this go by me, and to run my chance for some better opportunity. But I certainly feel that after the conduct which Lord C. has observed towards me on the subject of money, I am (even as with respect to him) hardly as much at liberty as I was to consult my own feelings, supposing that it were possible for me to put out of the question another consideration a good deal more interesting to me.

If the thing is to be done, "then 'twere well it were done quickly," in order to prevent applications from different people, every one of whom might feel, to a degree, offended by the preference, if his wishes were known. You will conceive, therefore, for this reason, and from the anxiety of the suspense, how glad I shall be to hear from you soon, as your affection is the only quarter to which I can look for advice, founded on a view and knowledge of my real situation. I hinted the thing generally to Tom before he left town, but the unfortunate difference of politics makes it impossible for me to talk over with him freely and fully that part of the subject, which is a material one. He is getting well very rapidly.

I have heard from Lord C. from Rome. He gives a very good account of the health of the whole party. He had received letters from his son and Mudge, which he tells me are all he could wish. He desires to be remembered to you.

Adieu, my dear brother, Ever most affectionately yours, G.



1792.

MR. PITT'S BUDGET—THE STATE OF IRELAND—THE KING DISMISSES LORD THURLOW—DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND—FRENCH EMIGRANTS—RETREAT OF THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK—MEASURES OF INTERNAL DEFENCE—THE FRENCH CONVENTION DECLARES WAR AGAINST ENGLAND AND HOLLAND.

Notwithstanding the vast expenditure to which the country had been recently exposed, the Budget, at the opening of Parliament in 1792, more than realized the anticipations of Lord Grenville. The statement laid before the House of Commons by Mr. Pitt was a complete answer to the apprehensions of the timid, and the taunts of the Opposition. There was a clear surplus of L900,000 in the month of January, after paying the interest of the National Debt, the annual million devoted to its extinction, the Civil List, the naval and military establishments, and all other items of current outlay. Upon this basis of unexampled prosperity the Minister proposed to remit a large amount of taxation, and to apply a further sum towards the extinction of the National Debt. He did not regard this surplus as a temporary or transient incident, but as the genuine and natural result of regular and permanent causes. In the existing state of the continent, it was impossible to calculate with certainty upon the future, and Mr. Pitt, even in this solid condition of the national finances, was careful not to indulge in hopes of too sanguine a character, which a sudden turn of events, beyond the control of English influence, might frustrate and disappoint. His language was explicit as to his confidence in the present, but guarded as to his views of the future. "On the continuance of our present prosperity," he observed, "it is indeed impossible to count with certainty; but unquestionably, there never was a time when, from the situation of Europe, we might more reasonably expect a durable peace than at the present moment." The subsequent course of European politics, unfortunately, did not bear out this expectation; but at the moment when it was uttered, the lull that had set in on the continent, and the flourishing state of our own trade and commerce, abundantly justified the statement of the Minister. Some additional reliance on the stability of our prospects might also have been drawn from the fact that the destinies of England were never in abler hands than those to whom they were confided in 1792, with Mr. Pitt at the Treasury and Lord Grenville at the Foreign Office.

Parliament met on the 31st of January. The Speech from the Throne announced the conclusion of the treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Porte, and the agreement to preliminaries between the latter and Russia. The maintenance of peace was regarded, under the circumstances, as so certain that His Majesty was induced to recommend for the consideration of Parliament an immediate reduction of the naval and military establishments. The following letters, written before the opening of Parliament, touch slightly on these affairs.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Jan. 6th, 1792. MY DEAR BROTHER,

My present idea on the subject of your last letter entirely agrees with yours, and I wait only till the great bear returns to this hemisphere to put it in execution roundly, and without reserve. The only thing that restrains me is the extreme importance that I feel it is of to my honour not to involve any other persons, and still less a whole system of Government, in a personal contest, which I am obliged to maintain (being embarked in it) for a personal object. The mode of doing this is not without much difficulty, and it is the only difficulty I feel on the subject.

Before I do anything decisive, I will certainly contrive in some manner to talk it over with you, but till I know the precise time of his return my motions are of course suspended. The moment I am able I will write to you again.

The solution of the French enigma which you state is, that it is a war of bullying on both sides, the two parties being equally afraid of each other. In the meantime there certainly are some in France who wish the war, but very many more who fear it, and the ruin of their finances is approaching with very rapid strides indeed. What a contrast we shall make with them, when I come to state to you the particulars, about which I am now little less sanguine than I was at Weymouth.

Ever most affectionately yours, G.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Jan. 17th, 1792. MY DEAR BROTHER,

Nothing more has passed on the subject, but a day or two will now probably bring it to a point, as Dundas is to see him, and put the question to him, yes or no, either to-morrow or Thursday. This is not to be done with any message from me, a point which I have thought it indispensably necessary to stipulate, in order that I might not have to reproach myself with anything like personal solicitation to him on such a point. I feel this so material, that I have made a pretext of going to take possession of my castle on Thursday, in order to be completely out of the way of all negotiation upon the subject. Pitt comes to me on Saturday, and brings me the answer on which my future conduct must depend. I shall remain there, if possible, till the Friday or Saturday following. It would be very little out of your way to make it your run on Tuesday, when you would certainly find me there, and I need not say that I should, in any case, be extremely glad to see you there; but more particularly if any further step is to be taken about this business, in which I do not well see my way, because I hardly see how I can take that line which my own situation personally seems so loudly to demand, without involving more than I should like to do of public consequences. If I alone were concerned, my line would be very soon taken.

Ever, my dear brother, Most affectionately yours, G.

Everything looks like peace on the side of France.

A letter from Mr. Hobart gives a sketch of the state of Ireland at this time. The English Bill of toleration had produced a ferment in the country, and the war of religious animosity was assuming a more violent aspect every day.

MR. HOBART TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dublin Castle, Jan. 30th, 1792. MY DEAR LORD,

The multiplicity of business, both public and private, in which I have been engaged since I left Stowe, must plead my excuse for having so long postponed writing to your Lordship. I cannot, however, delay thanking you for the communication you have made through Mornington on the subject of my marriage—a subject I should not have been silent upon when I had the pleasure of seeing you, had I not predetermined the case, and therefore was not open to advice. I flatter myself you will be happy to hear that I have received a most friendly and liberal letter from the Earl of Bucks upon the occasion, and have experienced every attention and kindness from all my friends, and a marked civility from all persons here on both sides of the question.

You can have little idea of the ferment that has been raised on the subject of Catholics. When I saw you, I talked of existing prejudices, which would ever render it no easy task to carry the English concessions. I little thought that the minds of the Protestants could be so inflamed, as a variety of circumstances (but principally the industry of Mr. R. Burke) has inflamed them. He has endeavoured, and with too much success, to persuade the Catholics that British Government were determined to compel the Irish Administration, and through them the Parliament of Ireland, to open the franchise to the Catholics; that therefore, if they persevered in the assertion of their claims, they could not fail of carrying their point. The alarm and indignation that this created amongst the Protestants was such as I will not venture to describe; but you may be assured that any Irish Government that countenanced such a measure could not stand twenty-four hours afterwards, if the Parliament was sitting. So far from the Protestants being likely to be terrified into compliance, they instantly became desperate at the very idea of it. The cry was, "Let us bring it at once to an issue. If England will not protect us, the sooner we know it the better: anything is preferable to the horrid state of suspense we are now reduced to; at all events, we must resist every concession. Let us not make the Catholics stronger, the better to enable them to annihilate us at a future day. The Protestants must unite for their own protection; and although Mr. Pitt's Government will not defend us, possibly the weight of all the Parliamentary power of Ireland thrown into the scale of English Opposition may force them into office, and they may be more disposed to favour us than the present Administration."