Chapter XV: Front Matter (15)

The business of Williams is arranged to your wishes. I shall be
anxious to hear of your son after his arrival at Dublin, for I did
not think the account of his leg at all comfortable. If the Irish
news continues good, you will not, I think, have any other Militia
regiments besides those now there. We expect Lord Camden to-day.
Lord Darnley made a useful speech last night, in which he told us,
amongst other things, that he had never witnessed so much
satisfaction from any event at Dublin, as from the destruction of
Lord Moira's town. Lord M. was not there, and kept the Prince of
Wales away.

Ever most affectionately yours,
G.

Lord Buckingham arrived in Dublin towards the end of June, to the infinite satisfaction of Lord Cornwallis, who found himself surrounded by the usual perplexities of Irish Government, considerably increased by the excited condition of the country.

The general opinion entertained in England of the change that had recently taken place in the character of the Irish insurrection, may be gathered from a passage in a letter addressed to Lord Buckingham by Mr. Thomas Grenville, on the 5th of July.

As far as I can judge from the public accounts in the newspapers,
the rebellion seems rather to have changed its shape than to have
abandoned its object, and it may be a question whether much
advantage is gained in its becoming a Maroon war of plunderers and
banditti, rather than continuing to be a formal array regularly
opposed to the regular army in the country; because though it may
be true that the danger of a large army of rebels may be a danger
of greater magnitude, as well as more immediate, yet it furnishes
at least the opportunity of meeting that danger, and of grappling
with it; whereas this plundering, robbing, and burning war,
carried on by an infinite number of small parties, associated
together and hiding together like the thieves in the cave of Gil
Blas, puts the peace and the security of the country in greater
danger, keeps up a more constant alarm, is more difficult to
resist, because it is more difficult to find and to prepare
against, and, what is not the least consideration, it utterly ruins
and destroys the hopes of these men, after indulging long in such
habits, returning again either to labour or even to subordination.

To me, therefore, I own it seems to be more necessary than ever to
make the most active exertions in order to counteract this new
shape of evil; and I do hope and trust that, however ungracious and
mortifying it may be to military habits and military education to
be opposed to what may be deemed petty bands of robbers and
incendiaries, Lord Cornwallis will feel the necessity of applying
his best military talents in a service where no military glory can
be obtained, except as it may be applied to the restoration of the
security and tranquillity of the country.

The forbearance of Lord Cornwallis is alluded to in a subsequent letter from Lord Grenville. It was felt that his lenity in treating with the rebels was misplaced, and that the Government ought to have adopted a more decided course in extinguishing the dying embers of the insurrection.

I do not know how to trust my own judgment upon the very small
lights which (_entre nous_) Lord C. gives us as to what he is doing
in Ireland. But as far as I can judge, he is proceeding very fast
indeed, particularly when he allows rebels to stipulate for the
point of honour of not naming their confederates, and thereby
accepts a fresh act of misprision of treason, as a satisfaction for
former acts of treason. But this of course is only to you. The
great point I wish to be assured of, _if I could_, is that he has
not suffered a nearer view of difficulties to discourage him from
the pursuit of the only measure which can make it signify one
farthing what he does in the present moment. Let him carry that,
and I will willingly compromise for all the rest.

On the 22nd of August the long-threatened French invasion took place in a shape that covered the expedition with universal ridicule. A handful of men, to the number of eight hundred, landed at Killala, and were joined by the rebels; and when they were attacked by General Lake a few days afterwards, the whole force surrendered at discretion. This incident formed a striking contrast to the progress of the French in other directions, for at the very time when they were suffering this humiliation in Ireland, their victorious arms were completing the subjugation of Switzerland.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, August 27th, 1798.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am much obliged to you for your letter, which I got last night,
with the other accounts of the landing at Killala. I hope we are
not too sanguine in thinking that the French are much too late for
their object, and that the result of this expedition will give us
fresh security. The interval is however unavoidably one of some
anxiety, and I confess I regret now Lord Cornwallis's security in
declining to receive any further reinforcements, though it is
seldom that a General fails _on that side_. All this can only be
with a view to the possibility of a general insurrection; for
without that their twelve hundred men are not worth a second
thought, and their arms are merely thrown away.

I see in their full force all the difficulties that might arise in
the contingency of Lord Cornwallis's death. But I trust that danger
is as remote as the death of any man can reasonably be said to be.
There would be much inconvenience in its being suspected or known
that he had a provisional successor named and resident on the spot,
because Irish speculation would extend the contingency thus
provided for, from the case of his death to that of his
resignation. The subject shall however be considered, and your name
shall certainly not be brought forward unless I see that the thing
would be wished; the only footing on which it is possible to place
so liberal and generous an offer.

God bless you.

No more news of Buonaparte or Nelson. I terribly fear that the
latter will do something _too_ desperate.

Austria and Russia are evidently, _at last_, preparing for war. But
we are now in the end of August, and with a very little more
hesitation and delay the possibility of acting this year is gone,
and then France _must_ use the _winter_ to divide us all by
separate negotiations.

In a subsequent letter, Lord Grenville again refers to the policy acted upon by Lord Cornwallis in reference to the rebels.

With respect to the political system I had my doubts, and expressed
them to you, at the time that your opinions, formed I am sure every
way on much better means of judging than I have, was more
favourable to what was doing. But the experience is now, I am sorry
to say it, wholly on my side, and I am every hour more and more
persuaded that the old rules are best, and that Government has not
gained, but lose extremely, by allowing traitors to treat with them
in a body, and to stipulate for the right to commit a fresh and
distinct act of misprision of treason, for which they are at this
time indictable, till this new offence is protected with the old
ones by a Bill of pardon.

The situation of the Secretary, who is afraid to act on his opinion
in a great parliamentary question, is neither respectable nor
useful; but I protest that I am not more a stranger to Buonaparte's
government of Egypt than I am to that of Ireland. It cannot
continue in this state; but unfortunately, in these times it is not
enough to see that a thing is wrong, but one must be sure that in
endeavouring to correct it we do not produce some fresh and greater
mischief. It is a bad subject, and _fait faire du mauvais sang_.

My flock is more docile, and my Emperors are going to war like good
boys, but they have been a long while bringing themselves to it.

The excellent effect produced by the presence of the English Militia in Ireland, led Lord Grenville to desire the extension of a service which, in many points of view, was admirably calculated to check the insubordinate temper of the people. The English character offered an example of steadiness and discipline which could hardly fail to make some impression on the disordered masses of the population; while the independence of all local interests and sectarian prejudices displayed by those troops might be reasonably hoped to exercise a beneficial influence on the minds of dispassionate people. Lord Cornwallis, however, held a different opinion; but he was so chary in his communications to the Cabinet, that we find Lord Grenville constantly complaining of not receiving any intelligence from the Castle, either as to the views of the Government or the events that were passing in the country. "You will easily imagine," he observes in a letter to Lord Buckingham, "I still feel some anxiety for further information, when I tell you that neither from Lord-Lieutenant nor Secretary have we, by this messenger, one word more than you will see in the 'Gazette' published this day. This system must have its end." The zeal of the English Militia was not likely to be much encouraged by the plan of close councils and sudden resolves thus pursued by Lord Cornwallis, and which, excellent, perhaps, in reference to regular troops, was calculated to produce resentments and discontents amongst voluntary and temporary levies. An unfortunate misunderstanding which occurred at this time between Lord Cornwallis and Lord Buckingham developed the state of feeling existing between the Irish Government and the English Militia, and brought it to a very unexpected crisis.

A detachment of the Bucks had been ordered by the Lord-Lieutenant into the field, and Lord Buckingham, as colonel of the regiment, conceived that he had a right to take the command; but Lord Cornwallis, who looked at these matters with the formality and decision of a martinet, exercised his own discretion in giving the command to another officer. The grounds of Lord Buckingham's exception to the Lord-Lieutenant's dictum on this point were, that the detachment taken from his regiment for this particular service was numerically greater than the remainder of the regiment left behind, and that being also of greater force than a detachment from another regiment with which it was to act, he was entitled to take the command of both. Lord Cornwallis, however, overruled his wishes, as tending to produce inconvenience to the service in the matter of rank, and in other respects. To Lord Buckingham's remonstrance on the subject, Lord Cornwallis transmitted a reply which induced Lord Buckingham to request his Lordship's permission to lay the whole correspondence before the King. It was to be expected under these feelings of irritation that Lord Buckingham should have been desirous of returning to England. But the expression of such a desire was liable to misconstruction. Lord Grenville felt that it was possible it might be interpreted into an appearance of declining service.

Now, my dear brother, as to the question of sending the Bucks back,
I really scarce know what to do about it. I have no communications
(for none of us have any) which can enable one to form the least
guess of Lord Cornwallis's intentions, much less any previous
knowledge of his measures. Nothing could be more unexpected to me
than to hear that he had ordered back any part of the Militia
force, which can alone enable him to accomplish his object, or to
protect Ireland during the winter. If any part is to go back, it
certainly seems reasonable that those who went first should be
first relieved; but I am totally at a loss how to take any steps
for this purpose which shall not be liable to interpretations the
most repugnant to your feelings and to the spirit with which you
set the example of a measure by which alone Ireland was to be
preserved to this country.

In a state of unreserved communication, such as ought to prevail
between a Lord-Lieutenant and his employers, or with a Secretary to
whom one might speak openly, and put such a point on its true
bearing, there would be no difficulty; but you know how far we are
from such a situation. Nor can I honestly advise the taking any
steps towards the removal of any part of the British Militia from
Ireland; though if any is to come away contrary to my opinion, I
feel and acknowledge the justice of your claim, and should, for
every personal reason to yourself, be most anxious to contribute
towards relieving you from such a scene. But even then, how to make
the application, and urge the claim without putting it into his
power to say that there is an appearance of declining service, I
know not, and yet I much wish to manage it. I have made an indirect
suggestion, in the hope that it may be conveyed to him, of the
propriety of considering (if any come away) how the choice should
be made; but I cannot answer for it that this will be stated to
him, and still less that he will pay any attention to it; and I am
restrained by the very forcible consideration I have already
mentioned, from taking more direct and active steps.

Lord Castlereagh was now appointed to the Secretaryship in Ireland, and the question of the Union, which had been for some time under the consideration of Government, began to shape itself into a practical form. We have here the first rough outline of the views of Ministers upon that measure.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Nov. 5th, 1798.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am extremely obliged to you for your constant and kind letters,
which supply the vacancy of all other information. You will
perhaps know before you receive this, that after having employed
Pitt, and through him, me, and also General Ross, separately, to
press Tom to accept the thankless office of his Secretary, Lord
Cornwallis has, without one word of communication to him, written
to say that, Pelham declining, he desires to have Lord Castlereagh.
It is of a piece with all the rest! Pelham _has_ declined, and so
the whole thing will go on exactly as it does now. Yet, lamenting
this most sincerely on public grounds, I cannot but rejoice that
Tom is not to be embarked _dans cette maudite galere_. For what
satisfaction or honour could he receive from it? If he had gone at
first, he might have acquired and exercised some influence over his
principal, and God knows that could not but have turned to good.
But now the _pli_ is taken, the system is set up, and what can
alter it I know not. With respect to Lord Castlereagh, I have
always heard him spoken of as a man of parts and character; but he
cannot have, with Lord Cornwallis, or with the public, the weight
which his peculiar situation requires.

You will easily do me justice enough to believe that I am not blind
to the difficulties which all this heaps on the object (already
sufficiently difficult) which we have in view. I have had no
opportunity (and I am vexed at it) to discuss this subject in
private with Lord Clare. He was to have come here in his way to
Ireland, but he now writes me word that his letters from Ireland
are so pressing for his immediate return that he cannot lose a day.
I can well enough understand that his absence dissolves the little
government that did exist; but I fear, from what Pitt tells me, he
has not spoken out to him, nor would probably to me, as to the real
state of affairs there. I am assured that he talks not only
decisively of the necessity, but also _very sanguinely_ of the
success of our measure, provided always that no attempt is made to
change, as a part of the Union, the existing laws about the
Catholics. And in this last point I am very much disposed to agree
with him now, though before the rebellion I should have thought
differently. For, the doing this thing as a part of the present
measure, would be to hold out an encouragement to rebellion,
instead of showing that every endeavour to disunite Great Britain
and Ireland only makes them "cling close and closer" to each other.

I send you the sketch of our ideas--beyond that, I am sorry to say
we have not yet proceeded, though time presses so much. Many points
of detail will obviously arise from the discussion of these general
ideas, but who is to discuss them if the Lord-Lieutenant is afraid
to communicate with anybody? Forster has been written to twice, to
come over here; he holds back, but will I suppose now come, and
means will easily be found of having _that_ said to him which may
be necessary, whatever it may be.

One great doubt in my mind has been the mode of bringing the thing
into regular shape. In the case of two really independent kingdoms,
like England and Scotland, an union was as much matter of treaty as
an alliance between either of them and Austria and Prussia, but
here the kingdoms are inseparably annexed to each other, and the
legislatures only are independent. The King cannot, therefore, by
commission or full powers, authorize two sets of his subjects to
treat with each other concerning the mode in which he shall
hereafter govern his two kingdoms.

The manner in which _the Irish propositions_, as they were called,
were brought forward in 1785, was in my mind the most objectionable
part of that whole measure, and that which most contributed to its
failure. The scheme which has occurred to me in the present
instance is that the King should, by Order in Council in each
kingdom, refer it to a Committee of Council in each, to consider of
the means of an union, referring to them at the same time some
general sketch like that which I now enclose to you, or possibly a
little more detailed. Towards the conclusion of the business, it
might perhaps be necessary that the King should order a part of his
Irish Committee of Council to come over to confer with the British
Committee on any points of difficulty; and if at last the two
Committees can be brought to agree on one plan, _that_ might by the
King be submitted to the consideration of Parliament in both
kingdoms, and then passed all together, in one Bill, as in the case
of the Scotch Union.

You will observe in this plan which I now send, the particular care
taken not to alter the present rights of election, nor to give into
any theory of uniting small boroughs into sets, and leaving cities
as at present, in order to equalize, as it is called, the
representation of Ireland. This I consider as the corner-stone of
the whole building. If once we touch this, Parliamentary Reform
rushes in upon us here and in Ireland; and, as my friend Condorcet
said, "from thence to the establishment of a complete republic, the
transition will be short indeed."

In better times, if we lived in them, I could certainly arrange
this matter more according to my own fancy; and there is nobody who
could not make to himself some theory on this subject, the very
framing of which is an amusing occupation of the mind, and for
which it then acquires a parental fondness. But now, if ever, and
here if in any matter, _stare super vias antiguas_ is the only
salvation to this country.

The idea of the French tariff I consider as very luminous and
happy. It was suggested by Cooke, but possibly he may not like that
it should be known, either to his principal or to the public, that
he is in the course of offering such suggestions.

You will not complain at least of the shortness of _this_ letter. I
sent you no bulletin about transports in Alexandria, because, I am
sorry to say, I do not believe one word of the report, but am
persuaded that it will turn out to be nothing more than the
destroying a gun-boat or two, the account of which we received and
published long ago. I am, however, totally without letters from
Eden by the last mail, from which I conclude that he has, _for
expedition's sake_, sent a messenger with his letters, who will
some time or another arrive. But there are many occasions of
sending a messenger besides this news. It does seem likely that
Malta will itself drive out the French. What a wonderful change in
twelve months!

God bless you.

The affairs of the continent, which had undergone latterly some considerable alterations, appearing to open a favourable opportunity for laying the foundation of a new confederation against France, Mr. Thomas Grenville was charged with a mission to undertake negotiations for that purpose. His destination was Vienna and Berlin, with a roving commission subject to circumstances. The rash and impolitic ambition of France had awakened an angry resistance on the part of Austria, who had recently entered into an alliance with the Court of St. Petersburg; and England, desiring to avail herself of these events, employed Mr. Grenville to ascertain the views of Prussia and Austria with reference to the formation of a general combination against the common enemy. "He will have, if I mistake not," observes Lord Grenville, "very much the glory of signing the overthrow of Jacobin France."

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Charles Street, Nov. 16th, 1798.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I had yesterday a long conversation with Lord G., who assured me
that his friend here had continued to the present moment to
express the same wish with respect to my destination, as he had at
first conveyed in the month of June last; but that a strong wish
being expressed on your side of the water for the present shape,
the great man here had thought it necessary to give way to the
great man there. Be this, however, as it may, he continued to state
so strongly the conviction of his own mind, and that of his
colleagues, to be that I could do a service in foreign mission
highly important to do, and with greater probability of success
than any other man, he appealed so directly to that sense of duty
which I had always announced as governing my conduct against even
the course of my own inclinations, that I told him, much as I
thought I had reason to complain, I would still be faithful to the
sense of duty to which he appealed; and upon his assurances, that
his colleagues felt as strongly as himself the importance of my
giving way to their wishes, I agreed to do whatever came within the
description of real or important service.

The general view of that service I cannot better describe to you in
large, than by saying that my local situation must be governed by
the circumstances of the time; but wherever I may be, my business
will be to arrange a better understanding among the powers of the
continent than has hitherto been found in them. It is again upon
this subject that I have more than ever to regret our separation,
because you will easily see how much of a subject like the present
I should anxiously wish to talk confidentially over with you, that
it would yet be impossible for me to put upon paper in the shape of
a letter; but in this short description you will see at once the
importance of the subject, and your readiness in all business will
easily suggest to you the numberless difficulties which are likely
to attach upon this. To those difficulties I am not blind; but it
is because they are felt to be such, that I think it my duty to
engage in them, and in that sentiment I am sure to have your
concurrence.

With respect to Mr. Fisher, you will easily see that for such a
situation I shall want the assistance which I have understood from
you he is well qualified and well disposed to give; I dare say,
therefore, that you will advise and recommend to me, to make this
proposal to him; and yet, till I have again seen Lord Grenville, to
know upon what footing of expense this stands, I do not know what I
can afford to offer to him, nor how far the situation of Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary will, in point of pay,
furnish what Mr. Fisher ought to have; I will write again as soon
as I am better informed, for I apprehend that there will not be
much time to lose.

I think with you, that Tone's business has been awkwardly bothered.
I met Lord G. and Mr. P. this morning in the park; and was glad to
show them your letter, to give them the information, with your own
comments upon this strange jumble so unnecessarily produced. Do not
make any proposal to Fisher till you hear again from me. Can he
cypher? Does he understand German, &c.? I suppose, by your
recommending him, he does. My chief doubt is the insufficiency of
pay, and the impossibility of holding out future expectation
whatever. My route will probably be Berlin in about a fortnight;
but nothing can be more uncertain than my stay.

God bless you, dearest brother.

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Charles Street, November 19th, 1798.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have been anxious, as you will naturally suppose, to lose no time
in making such arrangements as may in any shape assist a situation
so little to my taste, and so repeatedly refused by me, till it was
put in such a shape of duty, as neither my opinions nor yours could
allow me to put by. I have therefore pressed for information on the
subject of Mr. Fisher, and wish to take the earliest opportunity of
stating to you how that matter stands. My mission will be a special
mission to Berlin and Vienna, and William is desirous of putting it
upon the footing and establishment of Ambassador in Ordinary,
though with the rank only of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary, and with that of Privy Councillor; for I
understood that this last high honour will facilitate the means of
increasing the establishment of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to that of Ambassador in Ordinary. If this meets
with no difficulty, he hopes likewise, upon inquiry, to find
himself justified in allowing me a private secretary, at something
less than that of a Secretary of Legation, which is a guinea per
day. With this general description, therefore, I immediately
acquaint you, and hope you will think its outline tempting enough
to Mr. Fisher to engage him to come immediately, although I cannot
yet name the specific sum to be allowed to him. I must, however,
add that William has urged me in the strongest manner to hold out
to Mr. Fisher no expectation of farther remuneration or promotion
in consequence of this employment; not only because officially he
never admits any such claim of a private secretary, but also
because, by the many foreign appointments lost in the present state
of Europe, he is overloaded with claims of promotion, so as to
leave him no such means whatever. I think it fair to state this as
strongly as it was told me; but, as in your former letter you had
expressed Mr. Fisher's readiness to come to me _without any
expectation of farther remuneration_, I am still inclined to think
that I may depend upon this arrangement as made, and trust to you
for obtaining immediate leave of absence for him in Ireland; I say
_immediate_, because I apprehend that my stay in England cannot
possibly exceed a fortnight from to-day, though I cannot well be
prepared much under that time.

Of course, you will suppose me to be very impatient for Mr.
Fisher's arrival; and I trust he will lose no time, but will let me
see him in London as soon after you receive this letter as he
conveniently can. I cannot describe the probable duration of my
absence, it may be three months, or twelve, or more or less; but it
is too uncertain to leave me any fixed opinion even in my own mind.
Lord Elgin goes to Constantinople, where he will find Sir Sydney,
Koehler, &c. &c.

There is no foreign news whatever by the last mail; but many
accounts are come in of great loss on both sides, both insurgents
and the republican troops in Flanders; and the country is in such a
state, that the six last mails from France have not yet reached
Rotterdam.

A strong report prevails of Guadaloupe having given itself to the
English. It is believed in the city, on the credit of a Danish
ship, arrived from St. Thomas at Portsmouth; and I think they are
disposed to believe it at the Admiralty, though they have no
official account of it.

Our idea in London is, that all Irish courts-martial proceeding on
martial law will be suspended till this question is decided; my own
opinion is, that if the courts of law can safely sit, the courts of
martial law cannot exist at the same time. These latter seem to me
to grow only out of such a disturbed state of things as will not
allow of the due administration of justice by the regular course of
law, and therefore that for a time military government must for the
common safety stand in lieu of the courts of law; but to allow the
courts of law to resume their functions, is, in itself, as it
strikes me, a notice of the cessation of martial law; they cannot
go on together _inter arma silent leges_.

It is expected that Fox and his friends will continue to secede;
and Tierney support the Address, abuse O'Connor, and attack
Government only on this last event in Ireland. Pray write to me by
return of post. I presume I may depend on Mr. Fisher, and therefore
that I am secure in waiting for him.

No news yet of the 'Melpomene.'

God bless you, my dearest brother.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Row, Dec. 11th, 1798.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have this morning received your letter; and to the first
paragraph of it I will only say that I am too much accustomed to
your kindness to be surprised at this fresh instance of it. Be
assured that I feel it as I ought.

Tom will, I think, set out to-morrow, though it is in truth useless
for him to leave town while this east wind blows in the teeth of
all our projects. He will have a more difficult task to accomplish
than I once thought, particularly on account of a new intrigue that
has just sprung up at Berlin, as if on purpose to cross or thwart
our plans. Still, however, I persuade myself that all will
ultimately go right, and I am confident that he will do whatever
can be done.

If no more solid arguments are opposed to the Union than those of
Mr. Wild, we shall have at least the victory in disputation, though
in point of violence and inflammation he will, to be sure, not be
easily surpassed. The part which you say the Catholics are disposed
to take is undoubtedly very important; but does this mean only
their leaders, who do _not_ lead them, or has this opinion been
spread among the parish priests and lower orders? Certainly, if
they knew their interest, those descriptions ought to be peculiarly
favourable to it, for they will come under the especial protection
of the mildest and most equitable government upon the earth. But do
they see and feel this, and are any pains taken to impress them
with it? Forster's language continues to be very hostile, and I
imagine he thinks the Government will be frightened out of the
measure. The appointment of Commissioners seems, on the whole, to
be unavoidable, and the Acts for that purpose should, I think, be
proposed on the same day to both Parliaments.

Much objection seems to be taken to any Committee or other body of
that sort resident in Ireland; and perhaps the novelty in our
Constitution of Members of Parliament who cannot attend Parliament
is a solid objection to it. Would it not be easier to make the
representation consist of thirty county members, eight or ten city
members chosen from Dublin, Cork, &c., and the remainder elected by
alternate choice from classes of four boroughs each? What I mean is
not that the four in each class should choose altogether by
delegates, &c., but that the choice should be in one of them for
each Parliament, and this rotation settled at first by lot, and
then to continue unalterable. If this will not do, we must then
class them and choose by delegates, as in the Scotch precedent. But
who shall regulate this classing? and how conciliate the jarring
interests of great men?

By the way, you got me into something of a scrape by giving Cooke a
copy of the queries in the margin of the paper I sent you. I
omitted to give you any caution on this subject, because I thought
it was quite safe that you would not communicate it, and you
probably thought that the communication was very unimportant and
indifferent. It happened otherwise, but do not say anything to
Cooke about it.

You see the French papers confirm our hopes of Minorca. The
Russians and Turks have begun their operations against the
_department of the Egean Sea_, and have taken Cephalonia, I
believe Zante. I expect to hear very soon of the attack of
Alexandria by the Turks.

Ever yours,
G.

Dec. 12.

By a mistake this was omitted to be sent to you yesterday. No mails
in to-day, nor anything new of any kind. By the newspaper accounts,
Canning seems to have made an admirable speech yesterday.

1799.

ENGLAND ENTERS INTO A TREATY WITH RUSSIA AGAINST FRANCE--MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE'S MISSION TO THE CONTINENT--THE UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--SUSPENSE RESPECTING THE FATE OF MR. GRENVILLE--PROGRESS OF EVENTS ON THE CONTINENT--AUSTRIA JOINS THE COALITION--VACILLATIONS AND INACTIVITY OF PRUSSIA--EXPEDITION TO HOLLAND--FURTHER AUGMENTATION OF THE MILITIA--PROJECTS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR.

About the middle of December, 1798, a provisional treaty had been entered into between Russia and England, by which the Emperor bound himself, on condition of a monthly subsidy from Great Britain, to have a contingent of forty-five thousand men ready for the field, whenever the common cause should require their services. The original object of this treaty was to induce Prussia to join the confederacy of European powers which England was now endeavouring to form against France, with a view to bring the war to a conclusion by an overwhelming military combination; but Prussia, guarded and timid, declined to embark in the coalition; and, failing that result, Russia accepted the alternative of a subsidy proposed and guaranteed by the treaty. The value of her co-operation was not limited merely to the force she brought to bear against the enemy. England hoped that the influence of her example would stimulate the other Powers to concur in a general movement to repel the aggressions of the French, who were rapidly extending the scene of hostilities, and who, in the course of this year, carried their arms over the whole surface of Italy, swept the banks of the Rhine, penetrated Holland, and ravaged the valleys of Switzerland.

When Mr. Thomas Grenville set out upon his mission to the Courts of Vienna and Berlin, intelligence had arrived of the disasters that had recently befallen the King of Naples, who, alarmed at the approach of the French, had taken the field with twenty thousand men, and was driven back by Championet with a much inferior force, and compelled to act upon the defensive. The last news was that Naples had surrendered to the French after a gallant resistance, chiefly sustained by the Lazzaroni, who have an insuperable aversion to all changes in their government.

The first incident that befell Mr. Grenville on his departure from England was inauspicious and discouraging. The weather was unusually severe. On the night of Christmas Eve, the thermometer was 14 deg. below freezing point; and for many weeks afterwards the snow lay so thickly on the ground that the service of the ordinary coaches was arrested, and the mails were forwarded on horseback. This delay and suspension of communication occasioned serious anxiety at a time when every item of intelligence was of importance to the country. The effect of the inclement state of the season was to force Mr. Grenville back to England. He embarked on his destination as had been arranged, but the sea was frozen up, and, unable to effect a landing, he was compelled to return and wait for a more favourable opportunity.

The Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland, which Ministers were now preparing, was recommended to the consideration of Parliament in a message from the King on the 22nd of January. The Rebellion had given a decisive impulse to the project by effectually demonstrating the want of power, energy, and influence of the local Parliament to control the insubordinate spirit of the country, or to provide adequate remedies for existing and acknowledged evils. It was considerably accelerated also by the despair of the Protestants and the landed proprietors generally, who, exhausted by the long and wasting struggles of faction, looked to England, across the ashes of a desolating insurrection, for the last hope of relief from anarchy and spoliation. In the letters that immediately follow, the views of Ministers in reference to the proposed plan are incidentally elucidated; and it appears, from Lord Grenville's allusions to the subject, that it was originally suggested to make the representation of the Irish Peerage in the Imperial Legislature elective under every new Parliament, like that of the Scotch Peerage; a mode of representation to which Lord Grenville objected, although, in other respects, he approved of the adoption of the Scotch Union as a model for imitation. He foresaw clearly the confusion and jealousies likely to be engendered in such a country as Ireland by repeated elections amongst a body whose title to the right of election rested on hereditary grounds, and he felt that the frequent recurrence to such contests would re-open old grievances and party feuds, and, instead of satisfying the expectations of the Peers, would only create a new element of discontent. The elective principle was the single feature in the Scotch Union which Lord Grenville seems to have considered injudicious and impolitic. We gather from many passages in his letters that he regarded harmony in the structure of the legislative body to be as essential to its effective action as unity in the executive; and that the nearer the House of Lords approached to permanency in the foundation of all its parts, the more completely would it realize, as a whole, the constitutional theory of an hereditary estate.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Row, Jan. 4th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I have been so occupied this last week as really not to have had a
moment to write to you. We have indeed nothing to write; this frost
locks up all our communications; it has sent poor Tom back to us
after nine days' sea-sickness, and when I hoped he was already at
Berlin; and we are now told that less than a fortnight's thaw will
not open the intercourse again. In that time how many things may be
done, and what is worse, how many may not be done! Naples and
Sardinia, with all that belongs to them, you will have seen in the
French papers as fully as we, and we know no more.

In this interval the Union engrosses all my thoughts. I worked hard
when Lord Castlereagh was here to assist in expediting his return,
for I clearly see that without communication the thing will not do,
and that there can be none but through him. I was better satisfied
than I had expected with his manner of doing business, which I
found both ready and clear; and he seems to me to have the success
of this measure most thoroughly at heart. Your letters teach me
still to indulge hopes of success, but the prospect is certainly
less favourable than it was, and the difficulties of Government
with its supporters will be proportionably increased.

Before you receive this you will have learnt that Parnell has been
brought to a positive explanation of his sentiments. What the final
issue has been I do not yet know, but I conclude it will be
hostile, and in that case I think his removal will operate very
favourably, particularly in dissipating the foolish idea you
mention.

Lord Castlereagh brought over here a plan for the election of the
Commons which was approved, and indeed I am satisfied it is the
most reasonable. As it admits only nine or ten single members from
cities, &c., and classes all the other boroughs _by twos_ it seems
to me free from most of the objections you mention; all we cannot
hope to obviate, but must on the whole choose between contending
inconveniences on both sides. It is a very great merit of this plan
in my eyes that it so closely follows the model of the Scotch
Union.

Yet from that model I am tempted to think we ought to depart in the
election for the House of Lords, by choosing for life, and letting
the _electors_ sit in the House of Commons. When Lord Castlereagh
was here I drew a scheme for that purpose, which he has taken over
with him, in order to see which of the two plans is likely to be
most palatable to the Irish peerage--this, or the mode followed in
the Scotch Union. I own I think that the re-election of so large a
number as near fifty Peers in every Parliament would tend almost to
destroy the very principle of a House of Lords in our Constitution;
nor do I think a body of Peers excluded from Parliament (like the
Scotch) by any means a good elective body from Parliament to
Parliament. With one vacancy at a time, arising from death, they
may more safely be trusted.

You gave me hopes some time since of receiving from you some ideas
about provision for Catholic and Dissenting Clergy. I am very
anxious for them.

Adieu, I have exhausted my paper and my light.

God bless you.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cleveland Row, Jan. 10th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

* * * It is for you to send news, and not to receive it, for
nothing is interesting just now but what relates to Ireland and the
Union. Twelve days bring us to the prologue, to this swelling
scene, as Shakspeare calls it. How long it will be before the
_denouement_, and what that _denouement_ will be, and what the
piece, who shall say?

Your chief Governor, you know, is not given to be very
communicative, either to his employers or to any one else; but I
collect from the statement in the newspapers that he has resolved
to adopt, without further reference here, the suggestions which
Lord Castlereagh carried over as to the members of the two Houses
in the United Parliament. I am very glad of it as to the House of
Lords, not only from parental fondness, but because on solid
grounds, as I think, I very much feared the effect of a septennial
election of fifty Peers not chosen by the very best possible bodies
of electors.

As to the House of Commons, it is almost entirely a question of
local expediency as to the best chance of satisfying _Messieurs les
interesses_; for you and I, who are not parliamentary reformers
(and, thank God, never were), do not hold very high the superior
virtue of a man chosen by one mode of election rather than by
another. I am, however, entirely satisfied that the plan of a
resident committee at Dublin was impracticable; and even if it had
not been so, the universal prejudice was so strong against it here,
on the part of everybody of every description who was talked to on
the subject, that it put the execution of such a plan totally out
of the question. The strongest, and with me quite decisive,
argument against it was the introduction into our Constitution of a
principle so perfectly novel and anomalous; the merit of the Scotch
Union having been, and that of the Irish being intended to be, its
simplicity, and the precision with which everything new is
accommodated to the existing state of our Constitution and
Government. In the Scotch Union, the Peerage was the only
exception; and in the present case we are, as you see, labouring to
bring even that point nearer to the actual practice.

Ever most affectionately yours,
G.

Lord Cornwallis had been avowedly selected for Ireland on account of his military talents. But his Administration did not satisfy the Cabinet. Lord Grenville, who confesses to the feeling of disappointment with which he reflects upon the results of the appointment, makes allowances for the failure on the ground that Lord Cornwallis undertook the office unwillingly, and from a sense of public duty alone, and that he had experienced nothing but disgusts and mortifications. In this case, however, as in all former cases, the difficulty was to find a successor. There was, also, another consideration which Lord Grenville points out--the evils that always attended a change of Government in Ireland, even from worse to better.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Dropmore, Jan. 28th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,

I am much more mortified than surprised at the event of the House
of Commons debate on the Union; for though Lord Castlereagh wrote
(as he talked) with confidence, yet one saw very clearly the
elements of ratting. I rejoice to hear that you think the question
recoverable, because I am more than ever of opinion that it must be
tried again and again, till it succeeds. With respect to the person
in whose hands it has failed, I may say to you (in _our_
confidence) that my opinion does not very much differ from yours,
if indeed it does at all. Since he has been in Ireland I have seen
no one trait of that character which I thought he had displayed in
former situations of great difficulty, and for which I still gave
him credit, though a nearer view of his mind had certainly
diminished the impressions which I once entertained on the subject.
Sorry I am to confess that I concurred heartily and eagerly in his
appointment, a measure, my share in which I shall deplore to the
hour of my death, though I certainly have nothing to reproach
myself with on that account, having done conscientiously what I
then thought the best, though I did not, even then, think it so
good as others did.

The question of his removal is, however, a very difficult one
indeed--one of the most embarrassing circumstances attending the
present state of Ireland being, that in that office, above all
others, the effect of change, even from worse to better, is
frequently, if not always, more mischievous than the continuance of
the evil. A violent and precipitate removal just now would, I
think, totally unhinge the Government, and it would, above all,
throw the whole absolutists at the feet of those who _perhaps_ (I
think, _certainly_) need not have been made enemies, but who being
such, must be guarded against as such. Lord Cornwallis never did
like the situation; he accepted it unwillingly, and, to do him
justice, I believe solely from a sense of public duty. Since he has
held it he has experienced nothing but disgusts of every kind, and
mortification in every shape, arising no doubt in a very great
degree from his own misconduct, but not on that account the less
galling to his mind. He can therefore certainly have no desire to
stay, and, I should think, would very probably desire to quit at
the close of this session, if the dread of foreign invasion is at
that time not very urgent.

But if it is, what officer have we to oppose to the domestic and
external enemies whom we should in such case have to meet? In a
situation requiring above all others the mixture of civil and
military talents, to a degree that the Duke of Marlborough scarce
possessed them, and for which we must provide by sending some old
woman in a red riband that has not a grain of either.

You see it is easy enough to start difficulties, but I do not think
myself quite so ready at expedients as I wish I was. This is, I
believe, a case where nothing is to be done just now, but to remain
quite steady, announcing an unalterable purpose of carrying this
great measure, and a fixed persuasion that we must succeed in it.
And as to all the rest, if Paddy will set fire to his own house, we
must try to put it out if we can, and if we cannot, we must keep
the engine ready to play upon our own.

I rejoice that you took the determination, both of not speaking or
attending this question in the Irish House of Lords, and of giving
your proxy to the Chancellor, which was at once showing him a mark
of attention and confidence, which he well deserves, and
manifesting your own sentiments in the only way at all consistent
with your situation. A little more than two months will now close
your pilgrimage, from which you will return with the satisfaction
of having done a great deal of good, though not quite all that you
might have done if others had done their part.

God bless you.

You will see in to-day's papers the fate of the poor King of
Naples. The infatuation of the Emperor is like nothing but that of
an Irish Orangeman.

Towards the end of January, Mr. Thomas Grenville again left England on his mission; but his second departure proved even more unfortunate and disastrous than the first. The vessel in which he had sailed was supposed to have made the Elbe, and to have been lost in the ice. The distressing tidings, or rather the terrible apprehensions caused by the absence of any authentic or reliable intelligence, were immediately forwarded to Lord Buckingham. For several days this state of dreadful suspense continued. Every fragment of news that afforded the slightest ground of hope was eagerly seized upon; and, in the anxious solicitude of that affection which appears so touchingly all throughout these letters, Lord Grenville communicated to Lord Buckingham all he could learn from day to day. At last came the joyful intelligence that he was safe! This happy news was rapidly followed by letters from Mr. Grenville himself, and from his Secretary, Mr. Fisher, announcing his landing at Cuxhaven, and his subsequent arrival at Berlin.

MR. FISHER TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cuxhaven, Thursday, Feb. 7th, 1799.
MY DEAR LORD,

I cannot think of leaving this place without first acquainting you
of our safe arrival here, after experiencing a thousand dangers and
difficulties in consequence of our ship having run aground on the
Newerk bank, at the entrance of the Elbe.

Mr. Grenville, I am delighted to be able to assure you, is in good
health, notwithstanding the extreme fatigue he has undergone since
Thursday last. The few hours he stays here being entirely occupied
with writing letters of business, he fears he shall not have time
to write to you from hence. The same reasons, my dear Lord, will
deprive me of the honour of giving you, at the present moment, the
details of our misfortunes. The officers and crew are all saved
with the exception of thirteen seamen, and one woman and child, who
were frozen to death in attempting to gain Newerk from the wreck.
We are without a change of any one article of dress, and we fear
there is little probability of saving any part of our baggage. We,
however, proceed on our journey in a few hours to Berlin, from
whence it shall be my first care to write to you the particulars of
the melancholy events of the last week. Mr. Wynne is quite well,
and has on every occasion of danger and difficulty shown the
greatest fortitude and discretion.

I beg to be recalled to the remembrance of Lady Buckingham. Believe
me, my dear Lord, to be ever, with the most grateful attachment,
your Lordship's most obliged and most devoted servant,

EDWARD FISHER.

MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Cuxhaven, Feb. 7th, 1799.
MY DEAREST BROTHER,