Chapter C: J. Fox (6)

His answer was very much the kind of thing I expected,
expressing his great satisfaction that your ideas on the subject
of the late Opposition and new Government concurred with his,
and at the same time his concern and apprehensions on the
subject of the effect likely to be produced in Ireland by such
an event. I only added, that he would easily see that although
it was a thing which must in a few days be publicly known, still
it ought not to be talked of beforehand.

I have expressed to you in my letter of last night what I feel
upon your goodness to Bernard. To these I am now to add my
acknowledgments of your kind wishes in my behalf. I will not
pretend to say that I am indifferent on the subject, but I can
with the greatest truth and sincerity assure you that I feel
much more pleasure and satisfaction in the affection and love
towards me which produces those wishes, than I could in the
accomplishment of them to their utmost extent. And whilst I
continue to possess that affection, I shall look with much less
anxiety to other objects which are in my estimation of so much
less value.

In these sentiments believe me, my dearest brother,

Ever most affectionately yours,
W.W.G.

Upon reading this over, I find I have said not a word about a
Ministry. Lord North saw the King yesterday, and from him went
to the Duke of Portland; but at twelve o'clock to-day I know
from authority that the latter had not seen the King, and that
no name was fixed for any one department; which is, in a few
words, all that I know.

I enclose a letter from Tonson, with my answer.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Friday, March 14th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

We are now not a step forwarder than we were at this time two
days ago. The King commissioned Lord North to submit a plan of
Government, with the Duke of Portland at the Treasury. This has
not been done; nor has the King sent for the Duke of Portland,
who expected that step to have been taken.

What transpires about arrangements is as follows; Pitt not to
join them (_upon which you may depend_); Lord North to name a
colleague to Fox, who is to be Lord Stormont, _if he will
accept_; Lord Dartmouth to be of the Cabinet; Twitcher, Privy
Seal; G. North, Treasurer of the Navy; Grey Cooper, Jemmy's
successor (at which his noble spirit is offended); Lord J.
Cavendish, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Fitzpatrick, talked of
for Secretary-at-War; Lord Keppel to return. Query, whether he
is by this means to be in the Cabinet with Twitcher? I think he
should appoint St. Hugh a Junior Lord.

So good night to you.
_Amiciteæ sempitereæ inimicetræ placabiles._

These arrangements were dependant on the issue of negotiations that underwent fresh modifications from day to day. In the meantime Lord Temple had sent in his resignation. His Lordship's conduct on this occasion was as creditable to his integrity as it was illustrative of his temperament. He appears to have accompanied the official despatch tendering his resignation with a private letter to the King, which Mr. Grenville, acting on his own discretion, withheld. Lord Temple, devoted to the principles and the party of the late Marquis of Rockingham, and regarding the alliance of the Duke of Portland, Mr. Fox, and others of that party, with Lord North, as a gross dereliction of principle, did not hesitate to allude personally to them in the communication to His Majesty, under the impression that the coalition was then actually formed, and that in his public and onerous position he was bound to state the grounds upon which he felt himself imperatively called upon to resign. The coalition, however, was not yet concluded; although, on the 13th of March, General Cuninghame confidently announced to Lord Temple that a new Administration was to be declared the next day, and that that was the last letter he should have to write to him on such idle subjects; entering circumstantially, at the same time, into the disposal of the various offices, and assigning an equal division of the Cabinet to Fox and Lord North, with the moderate Duke of Portland at the head. Mr. Grenville, whose caution in reference to such transactions had been disciplined by experience, and who always brought the most temperate judgment to bear upon situations of delicacy and embarrassment, saw the imprudence of committing Lord Temple to expressions that supposed a state of things which did not actually exist, or which, if it should be brought about, would consign his letter to the "very worst hands into which it could fall." Lord Temple, in Dublin, harassed by delays, and surrounded by increasing difficulties in his Government, could not decide this point so clearly as Mr. Grenville in London; and the sequel, which furnished his Lordship with a legitimate opportunity of stating his views and feelings to the King, amply justified the course adopted.

In the following letter, Mr. Grenville details the substance of his interview with the King, arising out of Lord Temple's resignation. It possesses the highest historical value, taken in connection with the letters that follow, for the full and minute information it affords of the course of those secret negotiations which finally terminated in the establishment of the coalition.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 17th, 1733.

My dear Brother,

I received your packet of the 12th instant last night, and
immediately sent to Lord Sydney your despatch of resignation. He
forwarded it to the King, who immediately directed him to send
me to Buckingham House, where I was with him above two hours.

I felt myself under much difficulty about your letter. It was
evidently written on the supposition of a Government being
formed by the Duke of Portland and Fox, in conjunction with Lord
North; and to that point its whole reasoning was directed. Now
the present situation in which we are, seems to tend to some
different solution; and this idea was very much strengthened by
the King's note to Lord Sydney, desiring to see me, in order to
talk with me about your staying, _at least for the present_.
This being the case, I was apprehensive that some parts of your
letter might possibly pledge you further to him than you would
like in other contingencies which might turn up; and I also
thought that a letter of that sort would come with more force
from you in answer to what I should undoubtedly be commissioned
to say to you. To this was added a most serious apprehension,
which had struck both Jemmy and myself very forcibly, as to the
prudence of committing yourself to him by so very strong
language on the subject of the Duke of Portland and Fitzpatrick
by name, and under your hand-writing; which paper, even
supposing no ill use was ever to be made of it by the person to
whom it is addressed, might, in the space possibly even of a few
hours, by any sudden accident, fall into _other_ hands, perhaps
at this moment the very worst into which it could fall.

Under the pressure of these two ideas, and having very little
time for deliberation, I adopted that measure which I thought at
all events the safest; as, if the delivery of the letter at this
moment, and in the altered state of things, was wrong, it could
not ever be recalled; while, if you thought me wrong in
withholding it, the error could be productive only of a short
delay--certainly not wholly immaterial, but I should hope not
very important. At the same time I own that I felt much
difficulty in withholding it, as it appeared to me so admirably
drawn up, and so well calculated to produce the effect intended
by it, and so very unexceptionable in all its parts, except that
which I have stated before--the mention of individuals by name
(especially those with whom you are living on good terms), in a
manner which, however proper for conversation, is, I think,
infinitely hazardous when committed to paper.

Still, however, I hope that every effect intended by it may be
produced as well, and possibly better, by the letter which you
will of course send to him in answer to this conversation. I am
sensible that, in using this discretion, I have taken much upon
me; but I am sure I need not enlarge upon the motive; and I
cannot help flattering myself, that the step itself will meet
your approbation, especially as the conjecture from the words of
the King's letter was justified in great measure by what passed
during so long a conversation, in which, from the inconceivable
quickness with which the King ran on upon the different subjects
of it, I found it very difficult to put in even the little which
I thought it right to say.

When I first came in, he stated, with many very flattering
expressions to you, the concern which he had felt at the idea of
your resignation; that he had sent to me in order that he might
have an opportunity of letting you into all the circumstances of
the present situation, which he thought the most calamitous into
which any country had ever been brought; that the kingdom was
split into parties, not as had been formerly the case--two great
bodies of men acting under the different denominations of Whigs
and Tories, and upon different principles of conduct--but into
factions, which had avowedly no other view than that of forcing
themselves, at all hazards, into office; that before you took
any step, he wished you to be fully apprized of the
circumstances, which he would for that purpose detail to me, as
he hoped that your letter had been written in the idea of the
Government falling into the hands of persons of the description
stated above.

I answered, that I believed you had certainly had that event in
view, as one which the circumstances of the time rendered too
probable. He then went into a long detail (with a great number
of digressions upon the different political subjects of the day)
of what had passed since Monday's vote, particularly between him
and Lord North, of whom he spoke in terms of strong resentment
and disgust.

He stated, that when Lord Shelburne could no longer remain, he
had first endeavoured to persuade Pitt to suffer the Treasury to
devolve upon him, and that at one time he had entertained the
most flattering hopes of success; but being disappointed in
this, he had tried the Cabinet all round, but none had the
spirit to stand forth. He had then sent to Lord North (after
a week's delay to try other arrangements, particularly one in
which the H. C. and the seals of the Secretary of State had
been offered to and pressed upon Ths. Pitt), to know whether
he was open to negotiation, or prevented by this coalition; that
when, in consequence of this message, he saw him, he had at
first tried whether he would accept the Treasury; because, much
as he disliked them both, if he was to choose, he must certainly
prefer Lord North to Fox. When Lord North declined this, he
proposed that an arrangement should be made, leaving the
Treasury open to some person of neither party, to be named by
him afterwards; that Lord North left him with this proposal, but
the next day told him that Mr. Fox insisted upon the Treasury
for the Duke of Portland. After some time, he consented to this
point also, and then desired that Lord North would bring him a
written arrangement, that he might be enabled to see the whole,
and form his judgment upon all the dismissals and appointments
which were intended. After two days more, he had sent for Lord
North, who had told him that he had no such arrangement to bring
him, for that difficulties had arisen between them; that Fox
insisted upon removing the Chancellor, in order that the Seals
might be put into commission. To this the King objected very
strongly, as he had expressed his desire that the arrangement
might be made upon a broad basis; and that nothing could be more
different from such an idea than the dismissal of the
Chancellor, without having any person to substitute in his room.
Lord North then said that another difficulty had arisen. He had
named Lord Stormont for the Secretaryship of State; but this had
been objected to; and Lord Stormont had refused to accept of any
other situation. The King again asked him whether, this being
the case, he would undertake it separately. This was declined.

Yesterday evening, at five, Lord North was again at the Queen's
House, when the King told him that he desired it might be
understood that it was not he who broke off the arrangement upon
the idea of keeping the Lord Chancellor; that, on the contrary,
he desired it might be understood that he had expressed no
determination, nor would he express any, upon a particular part
of the proposed arrangement, till the whole was submitted to
him. Therefore, if they thought to obviate the difficulties
which they found in making it by laying the onus upon him, he
was not fairly dealt with.

This finished the detail. His observations upon it were nearly
what is implied in the last sentence: that he believed, when
they came to treat about the arrangement, they found infinite
difficulty in coming to any agreement, and had therefore
resolved to throw the burthen upon him; that, in the meantime,
he was using every endeavour to form a Government; that he hoped
your resignation was only to be considered as relative to the
event which you then thought likely to happen; that undoubtedly
_in some cases_ it would be impossible for you to stay there
with honour to yourself; that unless you met with full support
from hence, the Government in Ireland could not go on; but, in
the meantime, he desired I would write to you, to express his
wish that you would take no precipitate step till something was
finally settled.

This, I think, was the main jut of the conversation to this
point; though I have thrown it much more into form than it was
spoken--as it was interrupted by a great variety of digressions:
upon the coalition, in the reprobating of which I took care to
join with him most heartily; upon Fox, whom he loaded with every
expression of abhorrence; upon the Duke of Portland, against
whom he was little less violent; upon Lord North, to whose
conduct he imputed all the disasters of the country; upon
American Independence, which seems to have been a most bitter
pill indeed; upon associations and reforms, clubs,
gaming-houses, aristocratic cabals, &c., &c.; together with much
inquiry into the state of Ireland, and the characters and
conduct of people there; and a long detail about Lord Bellamont,
who he believed was crack-brained, and of whom he told two
curious stories of audiences which he had asked, and in which he
at last insisted that, unless the King would make him reparation
for the second disgrace he had suffered by the nomination of
Lord Arran, by suffering him to kiss hands, on or before St.
Patrick's Day, for an English Baronage or an Irish Marquisate,
given to him, or given to Lord Mountrath and entailed upon him,
he would come no more to Court; which curious condition, you may
believe, has not been complied with; and consequently, said the
King, I shall be delivered from the trouble of seeing him.

You will easily suppose that I have not been able to recollect
the precise words of a conversation so very diffuse, upon so
many different subjects, and which lasted from eleven at night
till past one this morning.

Upon the whole, what I collect from his conversation, and from
the sort of impression which the whole tenour of his language,
rather than from any one particular expression, is that in the
case which you supposed, and upon which you acted, nothing could
be more agreeable to him than your resignation; especially, as
he observed to me several times, that it was impossible he could
wish that such a Government should last; and mentioned a message
which he sent through Lord Ashburton to Lord Shelburne, that he
should consider him as a disgraced man if, after their conduct
towards him, he ever "_supported them in Government_, or joined
them in opposition;" (these were the precise words he used to
me.) I collect the same idea also from the expression of _some
cases_ in which you could not stay, and the eagerness with which
he joined in with me when I took occasion to observe to him that
the system of the Duke of Portland and Fox in Ireland had been
so different from yours, as to put you under an impossibility of
remaining under them. This point, therefore, I conceive to be
clear, that in such an event, your resignation would be as
acceptable to him as I think it would be honourable to yourself.

But from the request he has made you, and from the particular
pains he seems to take to throw the onus (as he called it) of
breaking off the negotiation with the Duke of Portland and Lord
North upon their shoulders, I think we must conclude that he
considers that as being entirely at an end, and that he has
something else in view; though what that something else can
possibly be, I am utterly at a loss to imagine.

At the same time, I think the opportunity of doing a handsome
thing is too fair to be neglected. If I were therefore to advise
you, it would be to write to the King, stating that nothing
could be further from your intention than the throwing any
embarrassment in his way at a moment when, on the contrary, you
would rather wish to do everything in your power, &c., &c. This
would lead naturally to the first part of your letter, about the
manner of your having accepted the Government of Ireland. You
might then say, that the letter of resignation was written on
the idea of the probability of those men being called to His
Majesty's counsels who had, &c., &c. That under such a
Government you could not have flattered yourself with the hopes
of being useful to His Majesty, for the reasons assigned, &c.,
&c., which I think it is impossible for you to detail better
than they are there stated, except in the single instance of the
mentioning of names, with no very flattering comment, which I
would (if I might be allowed to do it) deprecate in the
strongest manner, for reasons very sufficiently obvious. You
might then, I should think, go on to say, that in obedience to
His Majesty's gracious dispositions, you would continue to hold
your situation till something is settled; in the hopes, however,
if it ended in such a Government as you could not serve under
consistently with your character, or the system of your
Administration, you might then be permitted, &c., &c.

In this manner I should hope that you would lose nothing, except
a little time--not very important to you--by the non-delivery of
your letter.

The Duke of Portland had a meeting last night, to which were
summoned all Fox's people, and all the country gentlemen who had
formerly acted with them. The Duke stated to them what had
passed, and told them that the whole had broken off upon the
King's insisting upon the Chancellor and Lord Stormont. This is
pretty curious, at the moment that the King was stating to Lord
North that such a reason could not be assigned with truth. The
Duke said, however, that Lord North was then with the King, and
therefore hoped that nothing might be done till they heard the
result. This was applied to Lord Surrey, who had expressed an
intention of moving an address.

What passed between the King and Lord North, I have told you
above, as it was stated to me. It is not, therefore, wholly
impossible that the negotiation may be resumed, as the King's
object seems to be to set them quarelling between themselves
about the different parts of this arrangement. At all events, I
think your letter cannot but do good, and I will certainly
remain here to deliver it.

Acting strictly on this sound advice, Lord Temple addressed to His Majesty the following letter, in which he enters at length into the peculiar obstructions to which he had been exposed through the whole period of his Administration in Ireland, and unreservedly submits for His Majesty's consideration the reasons which led to his resignation.

LORD TEMPLE TO THE KING.

Dublin Castle,

March 23rd, 1783, Two o'clock, A.M.

Sire,

I have this moment received from Mr. Grenville the detail of the
conversation, with which your Majesty was pleased to honour him
on the 16th instant. I will not attempt to state the feelings of
gratitude and respect with which I have received the testimonies
of your approbation, and the signal proofs of that
condescension, with which you were graciously pleased to inform
me of the situation of the kingdom at this most alarming crisis.
Every feeling of duty and of inclination call upon me to offer
my situation and opinions to your Majesty's consideration; and,
as I have no official means of conveying them, I trust to your
goodness to excuse what must be a long detail, but truly
interesting to me, as your good opinion must ever be the object
of my eager wishes.

When your Majesty did me the honour to destine me to this high
office, I unaffectedly felt that diffidence, which my
inexperience and scale of talents naturally suggested to me. I
will not say that I was insensible to the hopes of building my
honest fame upon the event of my administration, but I solemnly
protest my principal object was to contribute my small share to
the support of your Majesty's Government, abandoned in a
situation, from various reasons the most critical, upon grounds
which appeared to me upon every principle, public and private,
wholly indefensible. To the natural difficulties of my
undertaking, I had the additional misfortune of not finding
myself peculiarly in those confidential habits with your
Majesty's servants, to which, in such a situation, I should
naturally look for support. My trust, under God, was in your
Majesty's goodness and protection; and I acknowledge, with pride
and gratitude, that I have been honoured with the most
unequivocal proofs of that goodness.

Judge then, Sire, the pain which I felt in that moment, when I
thought myself called upon by every principle of public duty to
solicit officially your Majesty's permission to retire from this
high station. I have not vanity enough to conceive that my
presence in Ireland is material to your service further than as
it will be always eligible to preserve, particularly in this
kingdom, some settled system of Government. And upon this
ground, I hold it my indispensable duty to lay at your Majesty's
feet the reasons which induced me to believe that my residence
in this kingdom can be no longer useful to that service, to
which I will beg your permission to say I have dedicated every
hour and every faculty since my arrival. And as those reasons
cannot be deposited in the office with safety to the interests
of both kingdoms, and as, for many reasons, it might not be
judged eligible that they should fall into the hands of every
description of gentlemen who aspire to high office, I have
ventured upon the unusual measure of depositing them in your
royal breast, still trusting to that indulgent goodness, which I
have experienced, for my excuse. And if any part of these
reasons shall appear to your Majesty to be painted too strongly,
I must apologize truly for them, though I solemnly declare that
the state of facts which I am about to draw, is the result of
cool deliberation; and I will venture to hope that your Majesty
will believe that I will not attempt to mislead your judgment
either upon facts, characters, or opinions.

From the first moment of my arrival in Ireland, I have struggled
with infinite difficulties. I was told in England, that the
situation of this kingdom held out every hope which could be
suggested by perfect confidence in English and Irish Government,
and by unanimity arising from the spirit of gratitude for the
liberal concessions made by England. And I was likewise told,
that I should find prepared to my hands such a mass of solid
strength, as would effectually secure the means of conducting
the ordinary purposes of Government not only with facility, but
even with _éclat_. Your Majesty will judge my mortification in
finding this kingdom engaged in a ferment on a constitutional
question more violent than that which had preceded Lord
Carlisle's departure, and that ferment much increased by the
injudicious arrangement of a measure, which might have been
truly useful if conducted with address--I mean that of the
provincial levies--but which, from circumstances infinitely too
long for the present detail, totally defeated the only essential
object which it ought to have accomplished, the division of the
Volunteers. To this spirit of dissatisfaction, arising from
these two essential objects, I had not the shadow of Government
to oppose. Those who composed it were respectable for their
integrity, and had been high in popular estimation; but many
circumstances concurred to weaken the advantages which were
proposed from their support: the want of knowledge and habits of
office, the thirst of popularity which pervaded them all, and
the fetters which they had forged for themselves by popular
questions during an opposition of fifteen years, by making them
timid and undecided, rendered them wholly unfit for the defence
of Government. The several characters respectable for their
services, their rank, their connections and their influence, had
been systematically and ostentatiously depressed, except in the
sole instance of Mr. Ponsonby, whose influence was unbounded,
and brought forward that spirit of discontented jealousy, of
which your Majesty well remembers instances in the last weeks of
the Irish Sessions. The variety of dismissals, some of which
were considered as peculiarly cruel, had weakened every
confidence in Government, and had spread an apprehension and
distrust through every Board and Department. And the natural
consequence of this was, that the interior business of the
kingdom was much at a stand, while the general expectation was
raised, by professions, to a pitch, which it would have been
found difficult to gratify in a country where the offices are
really insufficient to the purposes of Government. And at the
same time, the confidence which had been given to the
Volunteers, by the attention paid to them at every meeting, had
drawn them into the discussion of every speculative question
which could embarrass the public service.

In this situation, my first object was to restore that
confidence in the equity of Government, which I judged
indispensable for the quieting the alarms of the servants of the
Crown. Every attention was paid which could conciliate the
feelings of those friends who felt themselves proscribed. At the
same time, care was taken not to alarm the very jealous feelings
of those to whom the Duke of Portland had trusted the
Administration. Your Majesty will recollect, that one of my
earliest objects was that of taking the efficient Government
from those from whom I expected no permanent assistance, at the
moment, when by fighting their ground of the adequacy of the
simple repeal, which, from the beginning, I stated as very
hazardous, they pledged themselves to the public to a doctrine
which was truly unpopular, and has completely ruined them in the
opinions of those from whom they derived their consequence.
Lastly, I have never lost sight of that first essential object,
the depressing the Volunteers by every caution; but with the
determined purpose of endeavouring to restore the sword and
executive power to the hands in which the Constitution has so
wisely placed them.

Great part of these general opinions appear in my official
correspondence: other parts of this system are palpable with the
smallest clue, and the whole militates decisively against the
opinions of the Duke of Portland and Mr. Fox, whom I
particularize, as they continue to keep up a constant
correspondence with the popular leaders in this kingdom. Your
Majesty will, therefore, judge how perfectly impracticable it is
for me to hope to conduct your Government upon the plan which I
have stated to be necessary to its existence, and which is in
the very teeth of those ideas which have been adopted by the
persons whom, from the exigency of public affairs, your Majesty
has probably been obliged to call to your counsels.

To these circumstances, Sire, suffer me to add my feelings of
indignation at the formation of that coalition to which your
Government has given way, formed at such a time, in such a
manner, having necessarily for its basis the foul abandonment of
every principle, public and private, and holding but one
principle in common--and that principle avowed--of forcing
themselves into employments at all hazards to the kingdom, which
never was exposed to such calamities, and, I fear, never can
recover such a shock. I trust, then, that I do not break through
the bounds of that respect, which I so truly feel, when I say
that no consideration shall make me a friend to such a
coalition, or to the component parts of it. These opinions I
have not concealed, having (from a very particular circumstance)
been forced to explain them.

The whole of these considerations will, I hope, justify me to
your Majesty, for a step which I have taken with the utmost
reluctance; but which, in conscience and duty, was unavoidable.
And I trust that you will not for a moment believe that I could,
by such a step, mean to increase those difficulties, which I
would relieve with my life; but that my official letter was
written under the idea that the new Administration was formed
upon principles and characters which I could not approve. But in
all contingencies this Government has suffered so materially
from the uncertainty of the last eight weeks, and from the
necessary delay of several points which have been submitted, and
which I think most essential to Government (so much so, that I
have been truly importunate respecting them), that I very much
fear the general event, and my own personal credit, from
consequences which I foresee, but cannot now wholly prevent. But
whatever may be my fears, I will not press this consideration
till your Majesty's arrangements shall be made, in the hopes
that I may then be allowed to retire, particularly if my
confidence and good-will cannot (as is too probable) engage me
to the support of the new Ministry.

I need not add, that whenever your Majesty's goodness shall
relieve me from the situation, I shall quit it with that regret
which is the natural result of leaving a great and essential
work of Government incomplete, which I had vanity enough to
imagine I might, by your Majesty's goodness, be enabled to
restore. And with the same vanity I will add, that I had rather
that your Majesty should collect the present state of Ireland
from any one than from myself.

Suffer me then, Sire, to hope that my system and my conduct have
not been unacceptable to you. Suffer me likewise to hope that
your Majesty sees the reasons for this resignation, neither
founded in personal motives of indolence, disinclination, or
inattention to that service which is so truly flattering to me;
nor in others more disgraceful, because they would be more
prejudicial to your Government. And suffer me to hope that your
Majesty sees me yielding to a necessity which I cannot avert,
with a heart filled with the most lively emotions of gratitude,
respect, and affection. With these feelings, it is my fervent
prayer, that your Majesty's wisdom and firmness may save the
kingdom from the calamities which must be the consequences of
this unprincipled coalition--unprincipled, because they can be
bound to no political or moral principles in common. And with
these feelings, I shall retire with satisfaction to that
obscurity from which your Majesty's great goodness called me,
desirous, however, on all occasions to sacrifice every private
feeling, which would naturally lead me to indolence and
retirement, whenever your Majesty shall call upon me to give you
that assistance which every honest man owes to rescue the
Government from a system, which will either be disgraceful and
dangerous if it comprehends the whole of this faction, or weak
and inefficient if it is partial.

Once more, Sire, I entreat your Majesty's pardon for this long
detail; in which, however, many very important considerations,
which have been suggested by the present situation of Ireland,
are necessarily omitted. My reasons for wishing to quit Ireland
have been necessarily secret; and possibly your Majesty will not
think it for your service that they should be avowed. To your
wisdom, and to your justice I submit them; and must once more
urge to your Majesty those sentiments of gratitude, affection,
and respect, with which it is my pride to subscribe myself,

Sire,
Your Majesty's very faithful and devoted subject and servant,
N. T.

To this very able and lucid statement His Majesty returned an answer under his own hand; but it is desirable, before we lay that remarkable document before the reader, to trace, through the intervening correspondence, the "lets and hindrances" which in the interim marked the progress of the struggle between His Majesty and the high contracting parties on the other side.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Saturday Night, March 18th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have just heard that all is off. The King has insisted that
the Chancellor should continue, and that Lord Stormont should be
Secretary of State, which has been refused on the part of the
Duke of Portland and Lord North; and upon this the whole has
broke off.

I give you this only as the report of the day; but I believe the
negotiation is certainly off. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

I write short, as being almost too late for the post.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 20th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have this moment heard from indisputable authority, that the
following curious scene has passed. The King saw the Duke of
Portland yesterday, and ordered him to bring him an arrangement.
In consequence of this, a consultation was held between the
heads of the new allies. It was agreed that Fox and Lord North
should be the two secretaries, the latter going to the House of
Lords. It was also agreed that Lord Stormont should be
President, but with a stipulation on the part of Fox that he
should not be of the Cabinet. To this Lord North demurred; and
upon consulting Lord Stormont, the latter peremptorily refused,
telling him that he had explained it differently to him. This
Lord North could not deny, but offered Lord Stormont his own
terms, if he would agree to anything short of Cabinet. The
refusal was persisted in, and Lord North returned to his allies,
who were equally peremptory on their part, and so ended the
whole negotiation, Lord North refusing to treat any further. The
Duke of Portland went to the King and informed him of this, but
offered to undertake it separately. The King's answer was, that
such an arrangement would be liable to all the objections of
weakness, &c., as it would only include one party out of three.

And so ended the treaty of coalition and partition! Coke, of
Norfolk, gave notice two days ago, that if nothing was settled
by to-morrow he would move an Address. Of course, this will have
to be done. My opinion is, that a second offer will be made to
Pitt, and that he will accept. I will write again to-morrow if
there is anything worth writing. Adieu.

My dearest brother,
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE

Pall Mall, March 21st, 1783.

My dear Brother,

If you had not some little confidence in my veracity, you would
hardly think it possible that I was not imposing upon you when
you read my last letter, written at eleven last night, to assure
you that everything was quite afloat, and that the _virtuous_
band of men, in whom the country places all her hopes and all
her confidence, had made a _patriotic_ stand against Lord
Stormont's being of the Cabinet; and when you read this, written
only thirteen hours later, to inform you that, within the
half-hour, everything is settled between the high contracting
parties for the following Cabinet:

Duke of Portland _Treasury_.
Fox }
Lord North } _Secretaries_.
Lord Stormont _President_, and of the Cabinet.
Lord John Cavendish _Chancellor of the Exchequer_.
Lord Keppel _Admiralty_.
Lord Carlisle _Privy Seal_.

_All_ the efficient responsible offices having thus been
required, and insisted upon to be given to persons who are
looked upon to be Whigs; and it having thus been made a _sine
quâ non_ condition, that all the powers of Government should be
_solely vested_ in those who have the advantage of being
denominated the friends of the late Lord Rockingham, and this
_determination_ having been adhered to, I hope no
misrepresentation will be made to you of the basis or purport of
the late junction, to which it might perhaps be liable from any
_false_ accounts.

Seriously, however, you may depend upon this list having been
carried by the Duke of Portland to the King for his approbation.
What the answer has been, I know not; but hope it will be
acquiesced in, though I think it not quite certain, because you
observe that no mention is made in it of the Lord Chancellor,
and that consequently the dismissal of Thurlow, and the putting
the Seals in commission, are implied.

We shall, however, probably soon know; and when I do, I will
send off this, but not before, lest the weathercock should veer
once more from the North.

I am going down to the House, and am to dine with Pitt. If I
send this letter, adding nothing to it, you may depend upon it
that the arrangement is agreed to.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Six o'clock.

I send this by the post, as nothing further is known. Coke
postponed his motion till Monday; and W. Hill gave notice of an
amendment to it in the words of Lord Surrey's intended motion
last year.

Fox's friends have been holding out for these last four or five
days, as a great mark of sincerity, the _determination_ not to
act with the Chancellor or Lord Stormont. You see how the last
has ended; and as to the first, _nous verrons_.

I should be much obliged to you, if, as soon as your resignation
is made known in Ireland, you would speak immediately to
Fremantle, to desire him to make an economical reform in my
household, leaving only such servants as are absolutely
necessary for me. I hope to be over with you soon after the
receipt and delivery of your letter.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Saturday, March 22nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Next Monday will make exactly five weeks from the first
division, during which we have been without any Government in
the country; yet I think it very probable that nothing will be
settled by that day. The Duke of Portland saw the King
yesterday, to carry him the profligate list which I sent you
last night. Very contrary to his expectations, though I own not
to mine, he did not find that ready acquiescence which he
expected, but met with a very cool reception, and was told that
the King would consider it. I do not understand that anything
has passed to-day, and I cannot help thinking that the King
means that nothing should be fixed by Monday, in order that
Coke's motion may come on, and the coalition be abandoned to all
that resentment which has been raised by an arrangement directly
in the teeth of professions and promises not a week old. Yet
these are the men who accuse Lord Shelburne of duplicity,
without having produced one instance during a six months'
Ministry. Think what a situation you would have been in, if you
had been induced by the assurances in a certain letter, to have
given a favourable answer to the Volunteers, pledging yourself
to stay, and had then received a notification of such an
arrangement. I still believe that the King will press it upon
Pitt. On the turn which things have taken, I own I wish that he
would make up his mind for a short time--and the time need be
very short indeed--to the arrangement which is proposed to him;
but as it is, he certainly has gained a great point in receiving
from the Duke of Portland's hands a proposal to make Lord North
Secretary of State. I suppose he is to be Foreign Secretary, to
conclude the definitive treaty. Do you remember Fox's proposal,
when in opposition, to negotiate the peace for Lord North,
because he knew that no foreign State would trust those who had,
&c., &c. Adieu.

My dear brother,
Ever yours,
W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 24th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Since I wrote last, things have again taken a different turn;
though I am not sufficiently informed of the particulars of what
has passed to say any more than that the King has insisted upon
seeing the list of inferior arrangements, which having been
declined (obviously from a want of agreement upon the subject),
the King wrote a note to the Duke of Portland, which was very
decently handed about at Brookes's last night, to say that he
would trouble him no further on the subject.

To-day the prevalent report during the whole morning, was, that
Pitt had accepted; but when Coke put the question to Pitt in the
House of Commons, previous to making his motion, the latter said
that he knew of no Administration being formed.

Coke then made his motion, which I enclose to you, as nearly as
I can recollect it. Very little opposition was made to it, and
it passed without a division, though not without a good deal of
conversation on the part of Fox, Lord North, and Pitt. Nothing,
however, material passed beyond the old ground of coalition and
non-coalition. Pitt's speech was inimitable. McDonald made a
speech which was not very pleasant, supposing that Pitt should
join the Gowers, as it turned entirely upon an avowal of all his
old principles, which he charged Lord North with having
abandoned, &c., &c.

I am utterly at a loss as to forming any conjecture, but my
wishes are very strong that the King would suffer the new allies
to make their arrangements, and try their strength. Adieu.

My dear brother,
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

T. Pitt's daughter is either dying or actually dead, which
prevented his attendance. I pity them exceedingly, for no people
dote more on their children.

MR. COKE'S MOTION TO ADDRESS HIS MAJESTY.

"That His Majesty will be graciously pleased to take into his
serious consideration the distracted state of his kingdom after
a long and exhausting war, and will condescend to comply with
the wishes of this House, by forming a Government which may be
entitled to the confidence of the House, and may have a tendency
to put an end to the unhappy divisions of the country."

Two days after the date of this letter, Lord Shelburne, who still nominally held the Seals, formally resigned. The scene at the levée on this occasion, which may be described as _le commencement de la fin_, was not only curious in itself, but helped greatly to increase the perplexity in which these strange transactions plunged even those persons who had the best opportunity of observing them. "I am just come from the levée," says General Cuninghame, writing on the 26th of March: "the Duke of Portland was there, and scarcely spoke to. Lord Shelburne, Mr. Pitt, Lord Howe, and the rest of the Ministers present, were loaded with attention. After the levée, Lord Shelburne resigned in ample form. It is universally understood Mr. Pitt will not undertake. These circumstances put together, puzzle the world more than ever." It was a spectacle in perfect harmony with the unparalleled oscillations of the preceding six weeks to see the retiring Ministers overwhelmed by royal condescension, and the heads of the incoming Administration (for in the extremity to which His Majesty was now reduced there was literally no choice) treated with undisguised aversion.

On the 26th, Mr. Grenville saw the King, and placed in His Majesty's hands the letter Lord Temple had written on his suggestion. There is not a cranny of the negotiations--which still hung, and which now appeared even farther from a conclusion than at the beginning--left unexplored in this luminous Correspondence. It is quite evident that the King resisted the coalition to the utmost extremity, that he tried every available individual, and some even who were not in a position to bring any strength to the Government, before he submitted, and that in the end he submitted only under the compulsion of an overruling necessity.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March, 27th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I received your letter on Tuesday night so late, that I was not
able to take any steps towards delivering its enclosure till
yesterday, when Lord Sydney acquainted the King, at my request,
with my wish to see him. I went there in the evening. Lord
Ashburton was there before me, and had an audience of near two
hours. When I went in, I said that you had been highly flattered
with his gracious communication, and had been encouraged by it
to trouble His Majesty with a detail of your situation, and the
circumstances in which you stood. He received it very
graciously, saying, that he was infinitely obliged to you for
it; that he would take the first moment to look it over, and
would certainly answer it, which should pass through my hands,
as he had never been more satisfied, &c., &c.

He then entered into a detail of what had passed since I saw him
last. This, however, differs so very little, if at all, from
what I have before stated to you about the Cabinet which was
proposed, and the subordinate arrangement which was refused, and
upon which the whole negotiation broke off, and has never since
been resumed, that I will not trouble you with it over again.
One thing, however, is worth mentioning, of which I was not
before apprized, that the King complained of personal incivility
from the Duke of Portland.

Since the negotiation with the coalition broke off, the
Government has been repeatedly and most eagerly pressed upon
Pitt, who has, however, yesterday, once more firmly declined it.
What the present intention is, I have scarcely a guess. The King
seems as much disinclined as ever to open the negotiation again,
and yet I see no resource which he has. He complained much that
no one would step forth, and asked me whether I thought Tom Pitt
could be worked upon. To this I gave little answer, except my
ignorance, &c.; but I believed I might have answered decisively
in the negative, as he declined even with William Pitt.

He then entered into a conversation on the subject of Ireland,
stating your universal popularity there, and inquiring about
different people, particularly Scott. This brought us to the
precipitate appointment of the Duke of Portland, and to the
insult which had been offered by it to Lord Carlisle, and his
astonishment that immediately afterwards he could accept such an
office under him.

He mentioned Lord Ely's having applied to be invested in
England, and his having desired Lord Sydney to refer the letter
to you.

I do not recollect that anything else material passed, except
compliments, &c., &c.

I cannot help mentioning to you that you have never written to
Lord Sydney, either on his peerage, or your resignation, and
that I cannot help thinking that he feels it.

The Irish Bill sleeps in the House of Lords. The Chancellor
desired to put it off till something was settled. Lord Abingdon
has given notice, in a most ridiculous speech, of his intention
to oppose it. I spoke to Townshend yesterday about it, and he
promised to appoint some day to-morrow for its being read a
second time. They talk here of the Duke of Devonshire for
Ireland. He is a respectable man, undoubtedly, and if you except
the scale of his talents, which I think inferior to the
situation, I know only one objection to the appointment, and
that is a capital one.

Pray communicate a little with Mornington about your
resignation, &c. It will flatter him; and he is beyond measure
disposed to you both in Ireland and _here_, to which he looks in
a short time; but you must not let him know I have told you
that.

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

T. Pitt's child is recovering very fast.

The allusion to Lord Mornington (afterwards Marquis Wellesley) is not quite clear. We are left in some doubt as to whether his Lordship looked at this time to office in England, or to the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland. His ambition and his genius, however, had ample scope subsequently in India and in Ireland, the Government of which latter country was twice confided to him.

In the next letter Mr. Grenville reports another interview with the King, in which His Majesty expressed his regret at the absence of Lord Temple, to whom, even at the cost of still further delay, and some risk of confusion in Irish affairs, he would still have applied, but for the impediments which the distracted and unnatural state of parties threw in the way of the formation of an honest and independent Administration. Mr. Grenville saw that the attempt to form a Cabinet in the face of such adverse circumstances would be attended with no credit to Lord Temple, or permanent advantage to the King, and judiciously discouraged it. He appears all throughout, from the dawn of the alliance between Fox and Lord North, to have desired that they should be allowed to make the experiment, in which he was confident they would fail.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 28th, 1783.

Half-past Seven, P.M.

My dear Brother,

I am just returned from the Queen's House, where the King sent
for me about two hours ago. When I came into the room, he began
the conversation by saying, that although his time was so much
occupied in the present hour, he had wished to see me, in order
to express how much he had felt upon reading your letter to him;
that he had never been more pleased than he had been by that; so
much matter in so little space--the whole state of our present
situation so justly seen, and so accurately described--in short,
he was at a loss to say which appeared to him in the strongest
light, the affection which had dictated that letter, or the
ability with which it was drawn up.

He expatiated a good deal more on this, and then went on to say,
that he was fully convinced that your not having been here at
this moment was a very unfortunate circumstance, for that you
would have stood forth to assist him. I said I was certain that
nothing would have made you so happy as the possibility of being
of any service to His Majesty in the present crisis. He answered
that he fully believed it, and that the idea had occurred to him
this morning of sending for me, to know what I thought of it in
the present moment, as there was not time for a communication
with you. I told him that there was one very considerable
difficulty which struck me upon it--"the distance--besides that,
Sire, the finding any person for the House of Commons, where it
is most likely that the great push will be made."