Chapter C: J. Fox (7)

This seemed to strike him. He mentioned his having sent
yesterday again to Tom Pitt, to endeavour to persuade him to
stand forward, and his having declined it. He then went a good
deal into T. Pitt's character, speaking very highly of his good
sense and integrity, but expressing his doubts whether his
health would ever allow him to take any active part; that,
however, he had received this satisfaction from his conversation
with him, that he had the pleasure of seeing that he approved of
the conduct which he had held. He mentioned his having shown him
the material letters which had passed, and then took them out of
a drawer, and gave them me to read, consisting of four. One from
the Duke of Portland, desiring to see the King. The King's note
to Lord North, desiring to see the arrangement; and Lord North's
answer, enclosing a letter to him from the Duke of Portland,
both declining to give in the list.

While I was reading these letters he went over with me a great
variety of topics, chiefly the same as in the two former
conversations, and very particularly upon the characters of Lord
North and Fox, whom I think he described very justly, though
certainly not in the most flattering colours. The first, he
said, was a man composed entirely of negative qualities, and
actuated, in every instance, by a desire of present ease at the
risk of any future difficulty. This he instanced in the American
war, and in the riots of 1780, of which he gave me a very long
detail. As to Fox, he allowed that he was a man of parts,
quickness, and great eloquence; but that he wanted application,
and consequently the fundamental knowledge necessary for
business, and above all, was totally destitute of discretion and
sound judgment. He paid many compliments to William Pitt, to
Jemmy, to the Major-General, to myself, and above all, to you,
which language, I know, he has within these few days held most
universally, which has probably given rise to the second report
of your being sent for.

In more than one instance, he made use of expressions which, if
they did not absolutely declare his resolution at all hazards
not to send again for the Duke of Portland, at least, have very
strongly impressed me with that idea. In this I may be mistaken,
but I own I so understood him; although I am utterly at a loss
to form any conjecture of what he is looking forward to.

After he had gone through a very long detail of this sort, he
dismissed me, saying, that he would certainly write to you,
through me, in a day or two; and, in the meantime, desiring that
you would understand how much he had been satisfied with you,
and how happy he should have been if you could have helped him.

You see this does not amount to an offer; and the reason is, I
think, sufficiently plain why the offer was not made: namely,
that he had been staggered at what, I fear, is an insurmountable
difficulty, with respect to the lead of the House of Commons. W.
Pitt would certainly not hear of it, after his second peremptory
refusal of the Treasury; T. Pitt as certainly not, after his
refusal, for the second time, together with the comment afforded
by a very long conversation which I had with him yesterday
morning upon the subject; Jemmy has not health, and still less
spirits, for so very arduous an undertaking; and as for myself,
even if equal in other respects, which I very unaffectedly know
I am not, still I am much too young, and too little versed in
the navigation of that tempestuous sea, to venture out in such a
hurricane as this. Indeed, upon the whole, I think the King
seemed more to wish that you should know he had entertained, and
been inclined to the idea, than to desire to press it upon you,
at a moment when it appears so very impracticable.

I said nothing in my last letter upon the subject which you
mentioned to me respecting yourself, as I had no opportunity of
dropping any hint of it to the King, when I saw him to deliver
your letter. To-night, I certainly had that opportunity, and
would as certainly have made use of it, but that I was never
certain, till the last moment of the conversation, whether it
would have ended by desiring me to state the offer to you as one
now actually made, or as one wished to have been so if
circumstances had allowed it. If it had been the former, a much
better field would have been opened for the application: as it
is, I will certainly throw out the idea, if I can find any
opportunity of doing it when he delivers me his answer to you.

I shall be impatient to hear your observations upon this
interesting conversation. I certainly did not mean to take upon
me to answer on your behalf in the negative, nor do I think I
was so understood; but the objection which I started, in order
that I might learn if any solution could be found, appeared to
him, having no such solution to offer, as it does to me, seeing
none such which can be offered, totally and absolutely
insurmountable.

In the meantime, the idea of his resolution not to give way, has
most seriously alarmed me. I wish I may prove a false prophet,
but I solemnly protest to God that I am afraid of the most fatal
consequences. In a week's time, there will not be in the
Treasury a farthing of money to defray the ordinary and current
expenses of the Government! Judge how this will operate upon the
seamen and soldiers, who are daily expecting to be paid off, and
who, God knows, do not seem to want so strong an inducement to
mutiny as must be afforded them by the total want of money. The
licentiousness of the people, already arrived at a pitch never
known in this country, is daily inflamed by newspapers and
pamphlets, while there is no Government whatever to restrain its
effects. These considerations hold out little encouragement to
any man; but they afford an inducement to every good citizen to
risk much, not only of personal ease and personal safety, but
also of personal situation and character, in the hopes of
averting the calamities which seem to threaten us. But if the
attempt should be unsuccessful (and who shall say it will be
otherwise?), it would plunge the Government into greater
difficulties, by cutting off from the King his only resource and
refuge.

Two or three days must, by their events, and by the King's
letter to you, enable you to judge decisively upon the situation
of the country, present and to come. The prospect is truly
gloomy, and the combination of calamitous circumstances such as
to leave very little reason in my apprehension to hope that this
situation will be such as we must all wish--that of a settled
Government, even in hands which we dislike, if it can be settled
in no other. In the meantime, I do not think you called upon to
transmit to the King any answer to this conversation; especially
as, I suppose, you must naturally send one to his letter,
whenever it arrives.

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

P.S.--The Treasury have written to Hamilton to give assurances
of the repayment of the money advanced to Lord Rawdon's
regiment, and to desire a state of that money. The natural way
would have been, to have given you credit for the whole money
due from them to the regiment; but as it is, I hope you will not
any longer think it necessary to stop the subsistence, as it has
so harsh an appearance.

Having traced the history of the coalition up to this point, we now come to His Majesty's answer to Lord Temple, referring to these transactions. It was transmitted in the following letter from Mr. Grenville.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 1st, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have this evening seen the King, and received from him, with
every expression both towards you and myself, the enclosed
letter to transmit to you. I take it for granted that it will
sufficiently inform you of the determination which he has at
length taken, but not avowed, of acquiescing in the Duke of
Portland's Cabinet for the present; and of his wishes, that
those who act with us should hold themselves apart from such a
Government, in order that he may have something else to look to
whenever circumstances shall allow of it.

At all events, if there is anything in his conversation with me
which is not implied in his letter, I shall so soon have an
opportunity of detailing it to you at length, that I do not
think it worth while to trouble you with what must for the most
part be a repetition of what he has written to you. Our ground I
think clear--honourable to ourselves, consistent with our
principles and professions, and holding out to us the fairest
prospects of honest ambition. If those prospects fail us, we
shall have nothing to reproach ourselves with; if they succeed,
we shall stand firmly and honourably upon the ruins of weakness
and disgrace.

The King talks of their kissing hands in two or three days. I
shall wait till their inferior arrangements are settled, because
the difficulty about the peerages still remains. They are said
to be pledged by absolute promises; on the other hand, the King
neither can, will, nor I think ought, to give way on that head.
Should they be so weak as to resign on that ground, their
support would certainly fail them, and the road would be opened
for us. As soon as this point is understood to be settled, I
will go back to you; as, notwithstanding our voluminous
correspondence, I wait with the utmost impatience for the moment
when I may state to you in person much which I have necessarily
left unsaid, and, above all, the sincere and heartfelt affection
with which I am

Ever most truly yours,
W. W. G.

You will observe that part of the King's ground is a resistance
to _advancements_ as well as _creations_. This seemed naturally
to throw so much difficulty upon your object, that I thought
there would be an indelicacy in pressing it at the time that you
are lamenting the unavoidable difficulties under which he
already labours. The delay, I firmly believe, will be very short
indeed.

While I am making up this, I receive yours of the 28th of March.
It is supposed that the King, when he wrote the note negativing
the coalition, either depended on Pitt, or meant by that means
to force him. I have, as far as possible, observed towards Pitt
the line you state, and I think with success.

I have heard nothing till this moment of the pretty negotiation
of which you speak; but do not suppose any man, or set of men,
would authorize the sale of a judicial office.

Here follows the letter from the King, enclosed in the above. The historical interest of this confidential communication cannot be overrated.

THE KING TO LORD TEMPLE.

Queen's House, April 1st, 1783.

My Lord,

I had the pleasure, on the 26th of last month, to receive from
your truly amiable and right-headed brother and secretary, your
very able letter of the 23rd on the state of Ireland, couched in
terms that also conveyed the warmest attachment to my person and
Government, which makes me not deem among the least of public
misfortunes, that the want of resolution in some, and of public
zeal in others, will oblige you to quit a station which you fill
so much to the satisfaction of all honest men as well as to
mine.

Since the conversation I had with Mr. William Grenville on the
16th of last month, I have continued every possible means of
forming an Administration; an experience of now above twenty-two
years convinces me that it is impossible to erect a stable one
within the narrow bounds of any faction, for none deserve the
appellation of party; and that in an age when disobedience to
law and authority is as prevalent as a thirst after changes in
the best of all political Constitutions, it requires temper and
sagacity to stem these evils, which can alone be expected from a
collection of the best and most calm heads and hearts the
kingdom possesses.

Judge, therefore, of the uneasiness of my mind, at having been
thwarted in every attempt to keep the administration of public
affairs out of the hands of the most unprincipled coalition the
annals of this or any other nation can equal. I have withstood
it till not a single man is willing to come to my assistance,
and till the House of Commons has taken every step, but
insisting on this faction being by name elected Ministers.

To end a conflict which stops every wheel of Government, and
which would affect public credit if it continued much longer, I
intend this night to acquaint that _grateful_ Lord North, that
the seven Cabinet Counsellors the coalition has named shall kiss
hands to-morrow, and then form their arrangements, as the former
negotiation they did not condescend to open to many of their
intentions.[1]

A Ministry which I have avowedly attempted to avoid, by calling
on every other description of men, cannot be supposed to have
either my favour or confidence; and as such, I shall most
certainly refuse any honours they may ask for. I trust the eyes
of the nation will soon be opened, as my sorrow may prove fatal
to my health if I remain long in this thraldom. I trust you will
be steady in your attachment to me, and ready to join other
honest men in watching the conduct of this unnatural
combination, and I hope many months will not elapse before the
Grenvilles, the Pitts, and other men of abilities and character
will relieve me from a situation that nothing could have
compelled me to submit to, but the supposition that no other
means remained of preventing the public finances from being
materially affected.

It shall be one of my first cares to acquaint these men that you
decline remaining in Ireland.

George R.

[Footnote 1: This passage is printed accurately from the original. Its obscurity may be removed by a slight alteration: "as _in_ the former negotiation they did not condescend to open _too_ many of their intentions."]

A Ministry forced in this way upon a Sovereign who, during the twenty-two years referred to in the above letter, had struggled successfully to resist the dictation of Parliament, and to break down the ascendancy of powerful families and party combinations, contained within itself the seeds of early dissolution. The King accepted them, but never gave them his confidence. He resolved from the first to treat them as men who had violently broken into the Cabinet; and he called upon his friends to withhold their support from them, and to sustain him in his resistance to their policy. The ingratitude of Lord North touched him deeply; and in proportion as he shrank from all personal intercourse that could be avoided with the new allies of his former favourite, he turned for succour to men like Lord Temple, who preserved their honour unsullied, however their political views, on some subjects, might have differed from his own. If it cannot be said of His Majesty in this crisis, that "royalty conspired to remove" these Ministers, the language of His Majesty's letter (in itself an excellent specimen of his pure English style and practical good sense) plainly and unreservedly declares his resolution to get rid of them as soon as possible by all the means the Constitution placed in his hands. Lord Temple's answer frankly indicates the course he was prepared to take during the existence of what the writer designates as the "unprincipled coalition." It will be seen in the sequel how fully he justified the confidence reposed in him by the King.

LORD TEMPLE TO THE KING.

Dublin Castle,

April 6th, 1783, Thirty minutes past Eleven, P.M.

Sire,

This moment has brought to me your Majesty's letter. Every
anxiety which I felt, and which my letter so faintly expressed,
is relieved by that condescension with which your Majesty has
deigned to accept the state of Ireland, and of my situation.
Permit me to express my thanks, with every assurance of that
attachment which has your Majesty's service as my only object,
and of that heartfelt concern which presses upon me at the
detail of the situation of your Majesty's health and feelings,
as well as of the kingdom. May Providence long secure to us that
health and life; a resource upon which our all depends. To
yourself, Sire, and to posterity, you stand acquitted for every
consequence, which nothing but the frenzy of the moment could
have forced upon you. The interval is truly painful, but a short
time must rescue your Government from the fetters thrown round
it. My respectful, and (suffer me to say) cordial attachment to
your person, and to that best of political Constitutions which
is hourly threatened, will ever lead me to sacrifice every
private feeling to your service. I must, however, say, and say
truly, that every feeling of ambition is deadened by these times
and circumstances; and that a public situation has none of those
charms for me which have brought forward this unprincipled
coalition. But I have, and ever must retain those feelings of
duty and affection which will urge me to obey your Majesty's
commands in exerting every faculty for your satisfaction and the
public service. The scene before you is indeed unparalleled in
the annals of history. May those who, by timidity and weakness
for some years past, have driven your kingdoms to the verge of
destruction, and those, who, by a dangerous and unprincipled
attack upon every part of the Constitution, are now enabled to
avail themselves of our distress, deeply answer it. My opinions
(uninteresting as they are to your Majesty) have never varied
upon that great jewel of constitutional supremacy over all the
parts of the empire, now torn from your Crown; nor upon the
system of our Government founded on law and practice of ages,
which draws the line between the Constitution of Great Britain
and all other establishments. These principles, from my earliest
infancy, I have imbibed; and if I could reconcile a deviation
from them to my political or moral duties, I will confess that
no hopes of ambition have power to tempt me. Under these
impressions I embarked in an undertaking under which nothing but
your Majesty's protection, and a confidence in my own
intentions, could have supported me. And with these impressions
I retire, with every feeling amply gratified by your favour and
approbation.

May no circumstances delay the hour of your Majesty's
deliverance from that thraldom which bears so heavily upon you,
and may you find in those cool heads and hearts, to whom your
Majesty would entrust your service, that resource to which you
are so well entitled. In such an arrangement, no consideration
will direct your Majesty's thoughts for one moment towards me,
except the conviction (which I will beg to urge to your Majesty,
and which it will be my pride to cultivate,) of the gratitude,
duty, and affection, with which I have the honour to subscribe
myself,

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

Lord Temple had decided upon his resignation early in March; and one of the first persons to whom he confided his determination, was his friend Lord Bulkeley. The letter conveying this intelligence is so honourable to his character, and contains so intimate a revelation of the high principles and paramount sense of duty by which his conduct was governed, that it will inspire even a deeper interest than the more elaborate statement of his motives and opinions which he laid before the King.

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD BULKELEY.

Dublin Castle, March 20th, 1783

The strange scene, my dearest Bulkeley, of the last month, has
left me little time (even if my public duty would have allowed
me) to have communicated with you upon the subject of your last
letter, and of my present or future situation. The constant
intelligence which I have had from England, has enabled me to
form a very adequate judgment upon the state of your politics,
the complexion of them altered every moment; and I have been
obliged to preserve a most cautious and scrupulous silence upon
the variety of subjects which the last anxious month has
presented. My line has been for several days past decisively
taken; but I have not till this day thought myself at liberty to
avow to any one that I have requested from the King that he will
release me from a situation in which I can no longer be useful;
for no consideration shall tempt me to hold this Government,
where I do not see my way in the English Cabinet, whose
formation must ever revolt and disgust me. I have much to say
upon this point, more than I can include in a letter, which from
my want of time must be short; but my brother William, who will
deliver you this letter open, will tell you in detail what I
feel upon the subject. I do not say that I am indifferent to
what I sacrifice; Ireland holds out a career the most brilliant
to my honest fame; but there are feelings which I would not
exchange in the present moment for all that the two kingdoms
could bestow: to those feelings, whenever you are in public
office, I recommend you; and trust me that they will amply repay
you for any change which a resignation may make in your
situation. To those scenes of domestic happiness which have
hitherto blessed me, I shall with pleasure return; and in those
scenes I shall look for your friendship with the same warm
feelings with which I first embraced it; for in all situations I
shall, and must, be to you the same George Grenville, and no
longer to any one

Sancho Pança, the Governor.

Mr. Townshend, who had filled the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department under Lord Shelburne, and had been just elevated to the peerage (March 6th, 1783) as Baron Sydney of Chiselhurst, was the only member of the Administration who had cordially concurred with Mr. Grenville in his efforts to forward the unfortunate Irish Bill in which Lord Temple was so deeply interested. Previously to his retirement from office, Lord Temple, reminded of his neglect by Mr. Grenville in not having earlier forwarded his congratulations, addressed the following letter to Lord Sydney. A closer acquaintance afterwards sprang up between them, and was ripened into an intimate friendship before the close of the year. "I cannot conclude," observes Lord Sydney, at the close of a letter dated October 27th, 1783, "without expressing, in the strongest manner, how sensible my family, as well as myself, are of the civilities we received at Stowe during the agreeable time which we spent there. We drink your health every day, and desire, _en corps_, to be remembered to your Lordship and Lady Temple, and to the rest of the party at Stowe, in the kindest manner."

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD SYDNEY.

Dublin Castle, April 2nd, 1783.

My dear Lord,

I have been waiting for some days (now almost weeks) for my
delivery; but finding the situation of Government so uncertain,
I will not delay to the period when our correspondence would
naturally have closed, my cordial acknowledgments for the very
steady, honourable, and let me call it affectionate support
which you have given me in the complicated scene of the four
winter months, and in the whole detail of our communications. I
shall ever think of it with gratitude; but if I were vain enough
to think my presence in Ireland necessary, you have effectually
prevented my continuance by a candour and sincerity, which I
could little expect in your successor. Upon these grounds of
good-will to those with whom I acted, and of detestation of that
coalition to which you have given way, I have, without
communication with any one, sent to you my letter of
resignation. I am not insensible to the sacrifice; for arduous
as the station most truly is, I had hopes at this early period
of my life to have built my honest fame upon the event of my
Administration. Those prospects are vanished, but I have that
satisfaction in reflecting upon the scene of these last six
months, which amply contents me. As to future events, let those
who have played this desperate game, deeply answer it; and upon
that subject (as far as it relates to this kingdom) I will say
nothing, as you will, from my despatches, have collected all
that can occur to me. God knows whether this may still find you
Secretary; if it should, I wish you to write to me an ostensible
letter, in the strongest terms, upon the conduct of the
Portuguese, with respect to our trade at Lisbon. If you had all
remained in office I should have seriously proposed reprisals on
their effects in our ports, as the only means to bring them to a
sense of what is due to Ireland; as it is, I wish for many
reasons to leave to Ireland a proof of the pains which you know
I have taken upon that subject.

Adieu, my dear Townshend; excuse the name, it has dropped from
my pen, and reminds me that I have not assured you of the
cordial interest I take in your creation; but till I am more
familiarized to Sydney, the former name more easily recalls
those feelings of regard, with which I am ever,

Your very faithful and affectionate servant,
(Signed) Nugent Temple.

Many thanks for your exertions on Lord Rawdon's business: it has
been shamefully delayed, and I thought the stoppage of
subsistence the likely means to bring it forward; but you will
easily believe that I have taken care, though it is nominally
stopped, yet that the men are paid.

Rt. Hon. Lord Sydney.

By this time the arrangements were completed, and the new Ministers had kissed hands.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 2nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I enclose a paper containing the new arrangement, who kissed
hands to-day. The King sent last night to Lord North, to bid him
tell them that they were to come to the levée to-day to kiss
hands.

You will, as I understand, have the supreme felicity of
receiving from the Right Honourable Frederick Lord North, a
notification of his appointment; though I hear to-day that Fox
is to take Ireland as part of the _Foreign_ Department.

I hear nothing of your successor. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

On the day on which this letter was written, the Duke of Portland was publicly announced as First Lord of the Treasury, Fox and Lord North as joint Secretaries of State (an arrangement which explains Mr. Grenville's allusion to Ireland as part of the _Foreign_ Department), Lord John Cavendish as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Keppel, First Lord of the Admiralty, Viscount Stormont, President of the Council, and the Earl of Carlisle, Privy Seal. The King had endeavoured in vain to retain the services of Lord Thurlow. Upon this point, which had been ceded very reluctantly by the Shelburne Cabinet, the coalition Ministers were inexorable. They insisted upon putting the Seal into commission, with Lord Loughborough as First Commissioner; and, as they were in a position to dictate their own terms, His Majesty at last gave up this point, to which he had clung with more tenacity than all the rest.

His Majesty's attachment to Lord Thurlow may possibly have been founded on the conviction that he could securely calculate on the allegiance of a man who was ready to avail himself of every opportunity to promote his own interests, and who might therefore be expected, on all occasions, to pay a deferential attention to the wishes of the King. His Lordship's subsequent conduct during the Regency discussions in 1788 afforded a conspicuous proof of his unscrupulousness: when, upon hearing one night, at Carlton House, from one of the King's physicians, of the approaching convalescence of His Majesty, he went down at once to the House, and, to the utter astonishment of everybody, undertook a defence of the King's rights against the Prince and the Whigs, with whom, up to that moment, he had been engaged actively intriguing on the other side. The same implicit devotion to the ascendant authority might no doubt have been looked for from Lord Loughborough, who was a thorough party-man. But there was a certain sturdiness in Thurlow, that rendered him a more valuable adherent, and a more formidable antagonist. He seems to have regarded all mankind with distrust. On the Bench, his disposition vented itself in judgments remarkable for their brevity and the irascible tone in which they were delivered. His utterance was sonorous, with the mysterious pomp and grandiloquence of an oracle, kindling up at times into solemn denunciation. His "make up" must have been perfect in its way, from the awful air of preparation for which his speeches are said to have been so remarkable. Thurlow acted with Pitt and the Whigs, and was pronounced equally impracticable by both. Pitt complained of him that he was always raising difficulties, and strangely irresolute of purpose on public measures, for a man who was so decided on the Bench. The Whigs had the same complaint against him, and were always embarrassed by him, and at a loss to know how he would act on particular emergencies. Throughout these letters, numerous traces will be found of the continual doubts and apprehensions with which he inspired them.

Lord Loughborough's career was no less remarkable for violence, and the unconscientious pursuit of professional promotion, to which he made all other objects subservient. He and Thurlow had been Solicitor and Attorney-General under Lord North's Administration, and were amongst its most strenuous supporters; although the former had entered Parliament in uncompromising hostility to Lord North's Cabinet, and distinguished himself for some years as one of its bitterest assailants. Having thus opposed Ministers in the early period of their Government, when their measures were most deserving of support, he joined them on the eve of the American war, when their measures were most open to objection; and carried his partizanship to such a height, that even the judicial function did not restrain his zeal. While he was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, he made war upon Pitt's Administration in the Upper House, where he headed the Foxite Opposition, and became one of the boldest and, consequently, one of the most dangerous of the Prince's advisers on the Regency question.

The coalition, which placed the Seals in the hands of Lord Loughborough, is so vigorously and minutely pourtrayed in this Correspondence, that it need not here be further alluded to. Its origin, progress and fate present one of those instructive episodes in political history which all statesmen may consult with advantage, and which they will find amply detailed in these letters. The disgrace of the junction certainly lay more heavily on the Whigs than on Lord North. Fox had spent his whole life in assailing the person and policy of Lord North, whose principles were utterly opposed to his own; yet he entered into a Cabinet compact with this very Minister, because Lord Shelburne and Mr. Pitt had endeavoured to repair the errors of his Government--the very errors Mr. Fox had all along condemned--by negotiating a peace which, upon the whole, was more favourable than could have been reasonably expected. Three years before, Lord North made an overture to the Rockingham party for a coalition, but it was rejected; and that which Lord Rockingham considered to be a violation of consistency and an abandonment of principle was, on this memorable occasion, not only adopted by Fox, but negotiated under circumstances which for several weeks placed the interests of the empire in jeopardy. We shall probably never learn with whom the movement originated in the first instance; but that it was pursued with equal earnestness on both sides, admits of no doubt. The only point upon which the contracting parties appear to have differed was the distribution of offices!

One of Lord North's first steps in office, was to address a conciliatory and complimentary letter to Lord Temple; but it was too late--no temptations could have induced his Lordship to retract.

LORD NORTH TO LORD TEMPLE.

Secretary of State's Office, Whitehall,

April 5th, 1783.

My Lord,

I must beg your Excellency's permission to accompany the
despatches which are going to Ireland, by a few lines in a
private letter, to express my great concern to find, upon my
entrance into this office, that your Excellency has taken a
resolution to quit your Government. The important station which
you now fill never, I believe, required more discretion and more
firmness than at the present moment; and there was, perhaps,
never more difficulty in finding any person capable and willing
to succeed to an office of such consequence, and to give to His
Majesty and to the people of Ireland the satisfaction which your
Excellency has done.

If, in the situation in which His Majesty has been pleased to
place me, I can be of any service to your Excellency, I hope
that you will command me without scruple; and be assured that I
shall rejoice in every opportunity of showing the respect with
which I have the honour to be,

My Lord,
Your Excellency's most faithful, humble servant,
North.

The Administration had hardly entered upon its functions, when its overthrow became an object of speculation. Everybody saw that it could not stand. It began in a false position, and had not the power to recover itself. General Cuninghame writes to Lord Temple, on the 9th of April: "Lord North will not be called to the House of Peers till the question on Representation has been discussed in the Commons, then that House will be left entirely to Mr. Fox, and from that moment many wise men already begin to date his downfall. I do not meet with any who think the present arrangement looks permanent. Nobody now pretends to guess who will go to Ireland. The Duke of Devonshire has put himself entirely out of the question, and Lord Fitzwilliam still declines it." This intelligence is corroborated by Mr. Grenville.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

April 9th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I waited till this morning to deliver the Badge, &c., in hopes
of receiving your answer to the letter of the 1st instant; but
receiving last night, by messenger, yours of the 4th, and
perceiving that you had not then received it, I thought I could
not any longer delay it.

As it was late before I could get in, I had very little
conversation. I think it, however, right to mention to you, that
he asked me whether I had heard anything of their having written
a letter to you, pressing you to stay; and that when I said that
I knew nothing of it except from common report, but had heard
that His Majesty's name had been made use of to induce you to
stay, he answered that it might be so, but if it had, it was
without his consent, or even knowledge.

I send this to you by express, because I cannot help giving
credit to the report, and the rather, because I hear nothing of
any successor being appointed. The Duke of Devonshire has
positively refused; _so has Lord Derby_; and Lord Fitzwilliam
(the properest man they have to send) has declined it on account
of Lady Fitzwilliam's health, which makes it absolutely
impossible for her to undertake such a journey. My opinion,
however--and, I confess, my hope--is, that he will at last be
prevailed upon. I have as yet had no sort of communication with
our new Secretary, having sent your despatch to Lord Sydney, to
whom it was addressed.

Nothing is yet done on the Irish Bill. It has waited till now
for the appointment of a Government; and that being at last so
happily settled, I applied to Lord Sydney to proceed with it. He
told me he wished first to ask the Duke of Portland what his
intentions were on the subject, in order to give him an
opportunity of taking it up if he chose it. This coincided
perfectly with what has always been my idea on the subject, that
it ought to proceed from Government; and accordingly we went (in
the House of Lords) to the Duke of Portland, who seemed not a
little embarrassed, but, however, said he would take it up, and
would move for the second reading for Thursday or Friday
next--which he has _not_ done.

I mean to-morrow to ask him about it; and if he shuffles, shall
press Lord Sydney to go on with it. I do not think it impossible
that Ponsonby either has or will desire him to amend it. If this
should be the case, it must be returned into the House of
Commons, where I will certainly attend it, and speak my opinion
very freely and plainly upon it. Mornington tells us that
Yelverton is dissatisfied with it, as not recognising _the
original inherent right_ (you see the consistency of these
men!); but that Grattan defends it, and he himself approves.

Fitzpatrick, Secretary-at-War, selling his commission, but not
his rank; Conway being continued on the staff, in order to
prevent Fitzpatrick's issuing the military orders, to which
flattering solution Conway submits; Lord Hertford, Chamberlain;
Lord Dartmouth, Lord Steward; Duke of Manchester, Paris; Lord
Sandwich outrageous, and in violent opposition; Lord Townshend,
Ordnance; Sir W. Howe remains, at his brother's particular
request.

* Lord North ¯|
* Lord Stormont |
* Lord Carlisle |
Lord Hertford |
Lord Dartmouth |
Lord Townshend |
Lord Loughborough |
Lord Weymouth |
Charles Townshend } _Privy Council offices._
Eden |
Greville |
* Duke of Portland |
* Fox |
* Lord Keppel |
* Lord John Cavendish |
Burke |
Fitzpatrick _|

_Tibi Brachia contrahit ardens Scopiur, et c[oe]liæ plus justâ
parte reliquit._

Lord Mansfield, Speaker, House of Lords; Lord de Ferrars
resigns; Duke of Richmond, ditto, and violent.

April 11th.

So far, I wrote on Wednesday; but delayed sending it, in the
hopes of having something more to write to you on the Irish
Bill, and in the full confidence that their letter, even if it
has been sent, which I doubt, is not likely to make any very
great impression upon you.

To-day I attended the House of Lords, as it had been agreed that
the Irish Bill should come on. To my utter astonishment, the
Duke of Portland, so far from performing his promise, got up
when the order of the day was called for, and said, that as the
Bill was brought in before he came into office, he did not
consider himself as responsible for its contents. The Duke of
Richmond, on this, attacked him pretty warmly on the idea of a
Minister suffering a Bill of such magnitude to go on, without
having some settled opinion to declare upon it.

A little more conversation of this sort passed, of which you
will probably see the detail in the papers, better than I can
give it you. It ended by fixing the second reading for Monday,
for which day the Lords are summoned. The Chancellor paid you a
great many compliments, lamenting your departure, &c.; and
saying, at the same time, very justly, that if a new Government
was to take place in Ireland, they might possibly be to adopt a
system directly contrary to that to which the Bill is
calculated.

Lord Sydney is to move it on Monday; the Duke of Portland having
told him (in consequence of his having, at my desire, put the
question explicitly to him), that he meant to take no part in
it. Probably, however, this determination will last only till he
gets a fresh set of instructions from Fox.

The news of the day is, that they are quarrelling about having
Lord Loughborough of the Cabinet. I am going to the King to
deliver your letter, and if it be true, shall very likely hear
it.

12th.

Nothing material passed last night, as I was a very short time
with the King, and the conversation was quite general; so much
so, that I had no kind of opportunity to introduce what you
mentioned to me, and I am sure you agree with me, that it was
impossible for me to begin that sort of conversation.

I have delayed this letter till to-day, in order to send you the
papers containing the debate, which is very accurately stated in
them.

I have seen Lord Sydney to-day about this Bill, and I think we
have settled, at last, that on Monday he should move for the
second reading, stating a little the grounds of the Bill, and
should then proceed to say that the Bill was taken by us out of
Lord Beauchamp's hands, because we thought it proper that
whatever was done in a business of this nature should proceed
from Government; that, for the same reason, having brought it to
this stage, he would now resign it into the hands of the present
Government. It is a measure which cannot be indifferent: if it
accords with the new system to be pursued in Ireland, the
persons who are to carry on that system should adopt and forward
it. If their system is to be contrary to it, nothing can then be
so pernicious as a Bill upon the subject of Ireland passed in
opposition to the ideas of Government. The object of the Bill
certainly must be to conciliate the affections of the people of
Ireland to Government there, and in England. Would this object
be answered, if the Bill be passed without the express
concurrence and consent of that Government which now exists?
Will not the effect be the direct contrary, if they are to be
told--which was Yelverton's expression to Mornington--that the
Bill puts Ireland in a worse situation than before the Repeal?

The more I think all this over, the more I am convinced that we
ought not to commit ourselves to the event of a measure which is
already so much found fault with by the Duke of Portland's
people. If a Lord-Lieutenant of theirs is appointed, he will be
to condemn it, and to give fresh encouragement to another
ferment, which will be to be allayed by some new measure here.
Surely, all this is neither for the peace of Ireland, nor for
the dignity of Great Britain. Upon these grounds it is, that I
think Lord Sydney ought to leave the business to them.

The Duke of Dorset is turned out to make room for Lord
Cholmondely.

I hear not a word of your successor. Pray do not forget to
desire Fremantle to reform my household. Adieu, my dear brother.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Lord Northington and Lord Hillsborough, are most talked of for
Ireland.

The loan, said to be abominable, has been done for more than 6
per cent. profit. A large _private seal_.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 15th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I enclose you the papers of this morning, which will give you a
pretty exact idea of the conversation, rather than debate, which
took place upon the second reading of the Irish Bill. The
"Morning Post" comes nearest to the Duke of Portland's speech.
That in the "Morning Chronicle" was evidently inserted by some
of their people (to whom that paper is devoted), and contains
rather what he ought to have said, and, perhaps, what he was
instructed to say, than what he actually did say. None of the
papers have, however, given the following words, which I
remarked to Mornington the moment they were spoke, and took down
upon paper as soon as I came home, so that I can be positive as
to their having been exact.

"As to this Bill, I concur in it, because I think it was made
_necessary_ by what was done last year, and consider it as _a
necessary consequence_ of that."

After this, I hope we shall not have to hear Mr. Fox, in
England, or those whom he supposes his friends in Ireland, say,
what Mr. Fox said when the Bill was first moved for, that it was
_wholly unnecessary_.

I waited to send this off till I saw whether there would be any
alteration proposed, or any debate on the wording of the Bill in
the Committee. I went to the House, and there saw Lord Thurlow,
who told me that if the Bill had not come recommended by you, he
should have had a great deal to say upon it; but as it was, he
meant not to speak at all with respect to it, on your account.

I hear nothing of any successor to you, and begin to be a little
uneasy about it, for a reason which Jemmy desired me to press to
you, though, I confess, it appears stronger to him than it does
to me. What I mean is, that in the manner in which these people
are going on, throwing away the scabbard entirely both with the
King and the people, it is utterly impossible but that they must
overturn themselves almost immediately; and if a change should
happen while you are still in Ireland, you could have no excuse
for not remaining, which, after all that has passed, would be
most unpleasant.

Now for my own part, I own I do not expect quite so sudden a
dissolution of the present Government, because I am sure they
will not resign, and I do not think the King will be able to
turn them out till the session is over. Still, however, your
being here would be very material, standing in so high a
situation as you do; and in that idea I have a wish, if you
should not disapprove of it, to take an opportunity in the House
of Commons, immediately after the holidays (or at least as soon
as I can hear from you, supposing nobody appointed before), to
call the attention of the House to the situation of Ireland,
suffering at least as much from an interregnum as this country
did, and to say that the same motives which made it, in the
opinion of all the world, necessary for Lord Shelburne and Pitt
actually to quit their situations before a successor was
appointed, rather than hold responsible office without
responsibility, must also in the end actuate you, however
unwilling, &c., &c.

Lees is appointed Under Secretary to Lord North. The Duke of
Dorset forced out at the requisition of the Prince of Wales,
contrary, as it is said, to an express promise made to him by
the King. Fortescue (Lord Clermont's nephew) desired me to
remind you of a promise of the Linen Board next after two,
which, he says, is now the case.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Up to this time, no successor was found for Lord Temple. Mr. Grenville, writing on the 19th, says: "They are under real difficulties about your successor. They have offered the situation even to Lord Althorpe, who refused it two days ago. I rather think, putting together circumstances and appearances, that it will end in Lord Hillsborough." A successor, however, was at last found in the person of Lord Northington.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

April 25th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I believe I may at last congratulate you upon the appointment of
Lord Northington, and Wyndham of Norfolk, to succeed us in our
respective situations. It is not yet publicly notified, but I
have every reason to think that you may depend upon my
information. As soon as it is declared, I mean to see them, in
order to settle with the former the time which he wishes to have
for his preparations, &c., and with the latter the taking such
of my things as he may be disposed to. After that I think of
setting out for Ireland _tout de suite_. There is no public news
that I hear of. Things seem to remain pretty much in the same
situation as when I wrote last.

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

A short correspondence took place, at this juncture between the Duke of Portland and Lord Temple. It is impossible not to perceive, or to suspect, in the Duke of Portland's letter, a certain consciousness of the discredit attached to his position. He deprecates, in a tone of courtierly sensitiveness, all allusion to the political changes which have separated him from Lord Temple in public life, and, with the air of one who is not quite satisfied with himself, he seeks to turn his unconfessed distrust of the course he has adopted into a compliment to his correspondent. Lord Temple's reply is strongly marked with the true character of the writer--frank, bold, honest above all things, and straight to the purpose. The reproach contained in his closing words--that it severely pained him to think he had reason to complain of the personal conduct of a Ministry, chiefly composed of "those who had the advantage of being denominated the friends of the late Lord Rockingham"--terminates appropriately a correspondence which could not be maintained with much satisfaction on either side.

THE DUKE OF PORTLAND TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, Saturday, April 26th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

I am very much ashamed at having so long delayed my very sincere
thanks for the effectual attention your Excellency has given to
my wishes in favour of Mr. Coppinger and Mr. Doyle. My gratitude
for this mark of your friendship is not less sincere than that
which poor Doyle feels, and I certainly could not do more
justice to it than by expressing it in the same terms which he
has used upon this occasion, as they most emphatically describe
the feelings of his heart. I cannot say that this circumstance
has added to the concern with which I learnt your determination
to resign the Government of Ireland, because the measure of the
misfortune was full before this event, but it considerably
increases the regret with which I contemplate the difference of
opinion which now subsists between us, and almost inclines me to
doubt the degree of obedience which my ideas of duty to the
public make requisite. But this is a subject upon which my
silence hitherto must indicate my disinclination to enter. I
wish, at this moment, as little to defend as to arraign. Your
Excellency is as well satisfied with your conduct as I am with
mine. Time may do more than argument, and desirous as I am for
the concurrence of your opinion upon public questions, continue
me in the possession of your private friendship, and I will
accept that as an auspicious omen.

I am, with great truth and regard,
My dear Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient and obliged humble servant,
Portland.

LORD TEMPLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

Dublin Castle, May 1st, 1783.

My Lord,

I am honoured with your Grace's letter of the 26th instant, and
must return my best thanks for the expressions of regard with
which you have noted my appointment of Mr. Coppinger, and of Mr.
Doyle, to the situations which they now hold, at your Grace's
recommendation, to which I have truly given the earliest
attention in my power.

It is really a misfortune to me to find that our political ideas
have so materially differed. I perfectly agree with your Grace
in wishing not to defend nor arraign, and shall therefore waive
the subject, as far as it regards the change in His Majesty's
councils.