Chapter VII: Front Matter (7)

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,