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MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF GEORGE IV.

1820-1830.

FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS.



BY

THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, K.G.



IN TWO VOLUMES.


VOL. I.



LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1859.

_The right of Translation is reserved._

LONDON:
SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, CHANDOS STREET,
COVENT GARDEN.




CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.


CHAPTER I.
[1820.]

Alarming Illness of the Heir-Apparent at the Death of George the
Third. Disturbed State of Public Opinion. Projected Assassination of
Ministers. Cato-street Conspiracy. Death of the Princess Elizabeth.
Rumoured Ministerial Changes and threatened Return of Queen Caroline.
Elements of Discord. Libels and Libellers. Order of the Garter
conferred on the Marquis of Buckingham                       pp. 3-25


CHAPTER II.
[1820.]

Arrival of Queen Caroline at St. Omer. Her Demands. Abortive
Negotiations. Interposition of Mr. Wilberforce to avert the
threatened Scandal. Queen Caroline in London. She refuses the
Concessions proposed by the Government and the Proposals of the
House of Commons. Unpopularity of Mr. Wilberforce. Policy of
the Queen's Advisers. Public Excitement. Mob round the Queen's
Residence. Dissatisfaction of the King                      pp. 27-61


CHAPTER III.
[1820.]

Evidence against Queen Caroline. Divided Opinions respecting her in
the House of Lords. Declaration of Lord Grenville. The Bill of Pains
and Penalties abandoned. The King dissatisfied with his Ministers.
Conversation of Lord Grenville with the King. Ministerial Management
of the Queen's Case. Her Conduct after the Conclusion of Proceedings
against her. Reaction in the Public Mind. The Queen loses ground in
Popular Estimation. Returning Popularity of the King       pp. 63-103


CHAPTER IV.
[1821.]

Letter from the King to Lord Eldon on Libellous Publications. Claims
of the Queen. Lord Castlereagh's Attack on Lord Erskine. Position of
the Government. Catholic Emancipation. Family Quarrels. Suggested
Junction of the Grenvilles with the Government. Marquis of Buckingham
proposed by the Duke of Wellington as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
Preparations for the Coronation. Negotiations. Influence of "the Lady".
Queen Caroline at the Coronation                          pp. 105-186


CHAPTER V.
[1821.]

Effect of Queen Caroline's Illness and Death on the King. His Narrow
Escape in the Royal Yacht. His Visit to Ireland. Entry into Dublin.
Position of the King's Ministers. George IV. on the Field of Waterloo.
The King's visit to his Hanoverian Dominions. Coalitions and Double
Negotiation. Political Gossip. A New Club. Dismissal of Sir Robert
Wilson from the Army. Public Subscription for him         pp. 187-219


CHAPTER VI.
[1821.]

The Government. Rumoured Changes. Proposals. Mr. Canning. Negotiations
commenced by the Duke of Wellington for the Junction of the Grenvilles
with the Ministry. Report of Conversation with Lord Liverpool on the
Subject. Proposal of the Government to raise Lord Buckingham to a Duke.
Marquis Wellesley as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. His Opinions on the
Catholic Question. Mr. W. C. Plunket on Irish Affairs. Lord Grenville
on the proposed Arrangements. Negotiations respecting the Catholic
Question. The Marquis of Hastings                         pp. 221-266


CHAPTER VII.
[1822.]

Changes in the Government. Lord Eldon's Dissatisfaction. Mr. Charles
Williams Wynn appointed President of the Board of Control. Other
Ministerial Arrangements. The King's Speech. Troubles in Ireland.
Threatened Attack in Parliament on Mr. Henry Williams Wynn. Lord
Grenville on the Finances of the Country. Dean Buckland. Discontent
of the Country Gentlemen. Threatened Dissolution of the Government.
Dismissal of Sir Benjamin Bloomfield                      pp. 267-300


CHAPTER VIII.
[1822.]

Sir William Knighton. Mr. Canning brings forward the Catholic
Question. Opinions respecting Catholic Relief. State of the King's
Health. Political Meeting to consider a new Catholic Measure. Marquis
Wellesley at the Phoenix Park. Complaints of his Inattention to his
Duties as Lord-Lieutenant. Speech of Dr. Phillimore on the Catholic
Question. Motion on the Appointment of Mr. Henry W. Wynn. Conduct of
Mr. Robert Peel. Libels. Anti-Catholicism in Wales. Ball for the Relief
of the Irish. Projected Visit of the King to Scotland     pp. 301-344


CHAPTER IX.
[1822.]

Sir William Knighton appointed Keeper of the King's Privy Purse.
His Sense of Duty sometimes opposed to the King's Instructions.
His important Services in lessening the Royal Expenditure.
Arrests in Ireland. Canning and Peel. Lamentable Death of the
Marquis of Londonderry. Estimate of this Distinguished Statesman.
Letter from the King on the Subject. The Royal Visit to Scotland.
Sir Walter Scott's Relic. Prospects of the Government. Their
Negotiations with Mr. Canning. His Speech at Liverpool. He succeeds
the Marquis of Londonderry as Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs                                                   pp. 345-376


CHAPTER X.
[1822.]

Mr. Canning again in the Cabinet. Rumoured Ministerial Arrangements.
Mr. Canning offers Mr. Williams Wynn the Speakership of the House
of Commons. A Political Ruse. The King at Windsor. The Speaker.
Foreign Affairs. Proceedings of the Congress of Verona respecting
Spain. Mr. Henry Williams Wynn's proposed Diplomatic Change. Mr.
Canning's Under-Secretary of State. Condition of Ireland. M.
Villele                                                   pp. 377-402


CHAPTER XI.
[1823.]

Continental Affairs. Diplomatic Posts. Proposed Ministerial Changes.
Mission of Lord Fitzroy Somerset to Spain. State of Ireland. Objects
of France. Appointment of Reginald Heber. Increasing Popularity of
Mr. Canning. The King's Speech. Trials in Ireland. Mr. Plunket.
The Beefsteak Club in Dublin. Objectionable Toast. The Duke of
Clarence. Imprudence of Lord Wellesley. The Lord-Lieutenant's
Explanation                                               pp. 403-436


CHAPTER XII.
[1823.]

New Appointments. Lord Wellesley's Representations respecting the
State of Ireland. The Government support the Lord-Lieutenant. Mr.
Plunket's Explanations. Illness of the King. The Duke of Wellington's
Suggestion. An Irish Question. Triumph of Mr. Plunket. Parliamentary
Debates. Quarrel between Mr. Charles W. Wynn and Mr. Peel. The Duke
of Wellington's Opinion of Mr. Canning. His Grace a Peace-maker.
Boastful Speech attributed to Mr. Pitt                    pp. 437-461


CHAPTER XIII.
[1823.]

Important Debates. Expenses of the Coronation. State of the Peninsula.
Mr. Plunket's Disappointment. Condition of Ireland. Despatch from
the Lord-Lieutenant. The King of Spain and the Cortes. Mr. Canning
in the House of Commons. Lord Nugent's Bill for Restoring the
Franchise. Festivities at Carlton House. The Marquis of Hastings.
The French in Spain. Lord Eldon. Canning. Peel and Robinson. The
Press in India. The King at "The Cottage". Irving and the Heavenly
Pavilion. Policy of Austria. The King in Council. Schisms in the
French Cabinet                                            pp. 463-480




MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF GEORGE THE FOURTH.




CHAPTER I.

[1820.]

ALARMING ILLNESS OF THE HEIR APPARENT AT THE DEATH OF GEORGE THE
THIRD. DISTURBED STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION. PROJECTED ASSASSINATION OF
MINISTERS. CATO STREET CONSPIRACY. DEATH OF THE PRINCESS ELIZABETH.
RUMOURED MINISTERIAL CHANGES, AND THREATENED RETURN OF QUEEN CAROLINE.
ELEMENTS OF DISCORD. LIBELS AND LIBELLERS. ORDER OF THE GARTER
CONFERRED ON THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.




CHAPTER I.


A little before the decease of George III., the heir apparent was in a
state of health that made his chance of succession problematical--of
long possession of the crown more doubtful still. He was attended by
Sir William Knighton, who was in his chamber when intelligence arrived
from Windsor of his venerable parent's demise; and we are assured that
"The fatal tidings were received by the Prince with a burst of grief
that was very affecting."[1] He was quite unable to be present at the
funeral, and the Duke of York acted as chief mourner.[2]

      [1] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 88. Edited by his Widow.

      [2] Alison's "History of Europe, from the Fall of Napoleon,"
      vol. ii. p. 421.

The skill and solicitude of George IV.'s confidential physician were
rewarded, and the new Sovereign recovered sufficiently to apply himself
to the business of government with his customary attention; but from
that time Sir William so completely fixed himself in the affections of
his patron, that the latter was uneasy if he remained away from the
Palace, and was sure to send pressing messages for his return. A letter
has been preserved,[3] which indicates that services were rendered by
him that were not strictly professional. Indeed, he was often employed
as an adviser in affairs of peculiar delicacy and importance, and his
judgment and tact in their arrangement were invariably acknowledged and
appreciated.

      [3] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 86.

This conclusion of the Regency, though for some time anticipated as a
mere matter of course, was accompanied by events of so startling a
nature as to cause considerable disquietude in the minds of many good
citizens and earnest politicians. A feverish excitement existed among
the lower classes, that continually threatened to break out in violent
manifestations against the Government; but though the Ministers of the
Crown were the principal objects of this ill feeling, it was directed
with equal animosity against all wealth and influence; and there can be
no doubt that, had the designs of their more enterprizing leaders been
realized, a complete revolution little less violent than that which had
swept over France more than thirty years before, would have overturned
law, property, and order through the length and breadth of the land.

"The expectation and the fear of change" kept the public mind in a
state of violent agitation; and a great political party was on the
alert to take advantage of any popular movement this effervescence
might create. It was well known to various influential partizans that
events of unusual gravity were "looming in the distance,"[4] by which
they hoped to be able to raise themselves to power. Rumours of a
sinister import were in constant circulation; the more alarmed looked
hourly for some mischievous demonstration, and the more reckless
displayed increasing confidence and audacity. That reports should be
circulated of an immediate change of Government, must have been only
natural under such circumstances; the wide-spread discontent of the
masses of the population, swelling and surging like a storm-driven sea,
had nothing else sufficiently prominent to direct itself against, but
the authorities who appeared to them responsible for the evils under
which they laboured; and those persons who feared, or pretended to
fear, the threatened storm, caught at the idea of removing the
unpopular Ministers as affording the only chance of re-establishing the
public tranquillity. Such, however, had long before been the tactics of
opposition, and such, we are afraid, they are likely to remain.

      [4] "The Government," writes a Cabinet Minister to the Lord
      Lieutenant of Ireland, "is in a very strange and, I must
      acknowledge, in a precarious state."--Lord Sidmouth to Earl
      Talbot, Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 310.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Feb. 15, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    As your Lordship desired me to write if there was any news of any
    description in circulation, I take up my pen merely to inform you
    that there is a report most generally disseminated both throughout
    the West-end of the town and the City, that the Ministers have
    resigned. Sir W. Scott [Lord Stowell] yesterday, in expressing his
    apprehension (to an acquaintance of mine) that such an event was in
    contemplation, said it would not be a partial change, "but a
    general sweep." Excuse haste.

    Ever your obliged and faithful servant,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

    P.S.--The Cabinet sat thirteen hours on Sunday.


The sweeping change so confidently anticipated did not take place; and
probably when it became evident to some of the most daring of the
political speculators of the time, that this was not so imminent as
they desired, they resolved to expedite it in a fashion that should
leave no necessity for a second experiment of the kind.

On the 23rd of February, the loyal citizens of the metropolis were
startled by the intelligence of the timely discovery of a plot to
assassinate his Majesty's Ministers while they were at dinner in the
house of the Earl of Harrowby, Grosvenor Square, and of a sanguinary
conflict of the police and military with the conspirators, when
attempting to seize the latter at their place of rendezvous, in an
obscure thoroughfare near Paddington, called Cato Street. The history
of the Thistlewood Conspiracy,[5] as related in the criminal annals of
the period, illustrates in a remarkable manner the diseased state of
political feeling then existing in England. It was a small copy of the
Irish rebellion,--marked by the same cut-throat policy,--having in view
a similar overwhelming revolution, with the same absurdly inadequate
means. Fortunately for the United Kingdom, the chief actors in both
succeeded only in bringing upon themselves the destruction with which
they had menaced a powerful Government.

      [5] A good account of it may be found in Pellew's "Life of Lord
      Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 312.

Thistlewood proposed to slaughter the entire Cabinet at once, when
assembled at Lord Harrowby's, which was assented to; "for," said he,
"as there has not been a dinner for so long, there will no doubt be
fourteen or sixteen there; and it will be a rare haul to murder them
all together."[6]

      [6] Thistlewood's Trial, p. 37. Alison's "Europe," vol. ii. p.
      425.

The next communication refers to the same incident, as well as to the
various rumours then in circulation:--


    MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Richmond, Tuesday, Feb. 29, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Not having received any commands from you, and having nothing to
    communicate beyond the rumours of the day, without any authentic
    information, I have not lately troubled your Lordship with any
    letter.

    It was unnecessary to state that the stories of my being summoned
    to the King, &c. &c., were all absolutely false. If I had received
    any such summons, your Lordship would have been fully acquainted
    with the whole transaction by express from me at the earliest
    moment.

    I believe an attempt was made to confirm the rumours by the
    circumstance of his Majesty's gracious kindness in answering my
    inquiries at the moment of his greatest danger, by expresses from
    Carlton House. My carriage also was in town one day in the highest
    paroxysm of the supposed squabble; but I happened not to be in it,
    being confined at home by a cold.

    I have not been in town, except to collect some account of the late
    horrible plot, on the day after the discovery (when I was in the
    House of Lords about half an hour), for a considerable time, the
    weather and a cold having concurred to keep me at home.

    I know nothing authentic of the quarrel, so much the subject of
    rumour and noise, nor do I know more of the present designs or
    future plans. I am at all times at your Lordship's orders, to wait
    on you whenever you please; the weather is now so much improved,
    that I can attend you in London any morning that may suit you; but
    I really have nothing yet to state beyond the contents of my former
    letters.

    Always, my dear Lord,

    Yours most sincerely,

    WELLESLEY.


In the spring of the year 1821, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and
Duchess of Clarence lost their only child, the infant Princess
Elizabeth. Of this long-forgotten branch of the Royal Family, one who
was present at her birth says:--"She is christened by the name of
Elizabeth Georgiana. I hope the bairn will live. It came a little too
early, and is a very small one at present, but the doctors seem to
think it will thrive; and to the ears of your humble servant it appears
to be noisy enough to show it has great strength."[7] Her loss affected
the King, between whom and the Duke the most lively affection existed;
and he wrote to his confidential attendant in the following terms:--

      [7] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 37.


    THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON.

    Brighton, March 4, 1821.

    MY DEAR FRIEND,

    For God's sake come down to me to-morrow morning. The melancholy
    tidings of the almost sudden death of my poor little niece have
    just reached me, and have overset me beyond all I can express to
    you. Poor William's[8] letter, which is all affection, and
    especially towards you, refers me to you for all the particulars;
    therefore pray come to me with as little delay as possible. I have
    not time to add a word more about myself. You will be a great
    consolation to me.

    Ever your most affectionate friend,

    G. R.[9]

      [8] The Duke of Clarence.

      [9] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 88.


The first report of the intention of Queen Caroline, as the Princess of
Wales was now styled, to return to England, appears to have taken both
the King and the Government by surprise; but the latter, in the
conviction that they had an overwhelming case against her, would not
believe that she was serious, and took no steps towards putting the
result of the Milan investigations into shape.[10]

      [10] "Every one," the Duke of Wellington acknowledged, "had his
      secret persuasion and his wish, that with such a case against her
      she would never come here."--R. Plumer Ward's "Diary," vol. ii.
      p. 65.

That everything did not run smoothly between his Majesty and his
Ministers, may be inferred from a memorandum made (April 26, 1820) by
one of the most influential of them:--

"Our Royal master seems to have got into temper again, as far as I
could judge from his conversation with me this morning. He has been
pretty well disposed to part with us all, because we would not make
additions to his revenue. This we thought conscientiously we could not
do in the present state of the country, and of the distresses of the
middle and lower orders of the people,--to which we might add, too,
that of the higher orders. My own individual opinion was such that I
could not bring myself to oppress the country at present by additional
taxation for that purpose, and I strictly and firmly acted upon that
opinion, when I had every reason to believe that, adhering to it, I
should no longer write the letter C. after the name Eldon. I think now
the speech, in which he will disavow wishing for any increase, will
make him popular, and if times mend, will give him a better chance of
fair increase of income than anything else could give him."[11]

      [11] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 3.

The Lord Chancellor, who has not been held in great estimation for
disinterestedness or patriotism, is here represented as very nearly
making himself a martyr to his sense of public duty; but the cause of
Lord Eldon's unusual dissatisfaction with his Sovereign may be gathered
from another cotemporary memorandum, dated the following day:--

"The Vice-Chancellor Leach has been trying to root out the Ministry; he
has been telling the King that his present Ministers are not standing
by him; that he ought to have a divorce. There is a flirtation between
Tierney and the King."[12]

      [12] "Wilberforce's Life," by his Sons, vol. v. p. 54.

The Opposition lost no time in endeavouring to take advantage of the
difficulty presented by the apprehended return of the Queen; and the
"flirtation" not proceeding favourably, their hostility became more
earnest. Public opinion, indeed, was showing itself in many curious
ways. "The town here is employed," writes the Lord Chancellor, "in
nothing but speculation whether her Majesty will or will not come.
Great bets are laid about it. Some people have taken fifty guineas,
undertaking in lieu of them to pay a guinea a-day till she comes, so
sure are these that she will come within fifty days; others, again, are
taking less than fifty guineas, undertaking to pay a guinea a-day till
she comes, so sure are they that she will not come; others assert that
they know she will come, and that she will find her way into
Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall on the Coronation, in spite of
all opposition. I retain my old opinion that she will not come, _unless
she is insane_."[13]

      [13] Twiss's "Life of Eldon," vol. ii. p. 5.

A change of Ministry, Lord Dudley[14] assures us, was talked about more
than usual; but, as the Opposition were obliged to confess that they
would find great difficulty in establishing a Government, the existing
Administration held a tolerably secure tenancy.

      [14] "Letters," p. 251. Alison states that attempts were made
      to form a new Ministry, with Lord Wellesley at the head--"History
      of Europe," vol. ii. p. 457. This, however, as has been shown
      (_ante_ p. 9), is incorrect.

An Order in Council was issued for omitting the Queen's name from the
Church Service, and other signs appeared, indicating a desire to
withhold from her her queenly title. This made a temper, never
remarkably tractable, not to be controlled by the dictates of prudence;
the old spirit manifested itself in its most spirited form; and she
lost no time in letting the world know that she was returning to
England to obtain justice for her wrongs. Those who thought they knew
her best, considered that vindictive feelings influenced her
resolution, and that, with a full knowledge of the inflammable state of
public opinion in the British Empire, she had determined on some great
work of mischief against the peace of the kingdom and the security of
its ruler.

At this period there were many elements of discord in the social
community that were acting upon a large and dangerous portion of it, to
the prejudice of the Government.[15] Besides the Thistlewood gang,
justice was about to dispose of Mr. Orator Hunt and his myrmidons, then
awaiting their trial. Sir Charles Wolseley, a baronet, and Joseph
Harrison, a preacher, were under prosecution for uttering seditious
speeches.[16] Sir Francis Burdett--a more popular tribune--was also at
variance with the laws for a scandalous attack on Ministers; in short,
every day seemed to bring to light some source of mischief which could
not fail to add to the uneasiness of the responsible servants of the
Crown. A general election stirred up other noxious ingredients, and
during the spring of the year everything seemed to betoken a coming
convulsion. At this time the following communication was written:--

      [15] Lord Sidmouth's intelligence led him to expect daily a
      revolutionary movement.--"Life," by Dean Pellew, vol. iii.
      p. 325.

      [16] The minister of religion exceeded the democratic baronet
      in the violence of his denunciations of the ruling powers,
      a fair example of which may be found in the following
      _morceau_:--"Kings, princes, dukes, lords, commons, parliaments,
      archbishops, bishops, prelates, rectors, high-constables,
      constables, sheriffs, deputy-constables and bailiffs, are all
      corrupt, and the time is near at hand when they will be upset.
      The people should rise _en masse_ to suppress such a tyrannical
      Government as the one of this country, and it will not be long,
      but very soon, that it shall be overturned, and many a bloody
      battle may be fought, and many a one incarcerated in prison,
      before it shall be accomplished."


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    March 29, 1820.

    Hunt's conviction is beyond my hope, though it would certainly have
    been no easy matter for any jury to acquit him, even under the
    charge such as it is. His motion for a new trial is, I imagine,
    nothing more than the sort of last resource at which defeated men,
    whether at elections or trials, always love to catch. It would have
    been a dreadful thing indeed if it had been established by the
    result of that trial that the Manchester meeting was, under all its
    circumstances, a legal assembly.


Alarming as might be considered the aspect of domestic affairs, the
Government, so far from betraying apprehension, carried on the business
of the country with untiring vigilance and decision. Hunt and five of
his associates, after a long trial, were on the 23rd of March, at York,
found guilty of unlawfully assembling and inciting to hatred of the
Government. On the same day, Sir Francis Burdett was found guilty of
uttering a seditious libel. On the 10th of April, Sir Charles Wolseley
and Mr. Joseph Harrison were also found guilty of sedition. The most
guilty of the Cato Street heroes made their last public appearance at
the Old Bailey on the 1st of May; the remainder were expatriated to New
South Wales. Thus the supremacy of the law was vindicated; but there
still existed in the more populous districts feelings inimical to the
authorities, that might be restrained by coercive demonstrations, but
which only waited a favourable season for bursting through all control:
and as, on the 20th of April, Mr. Denman and Mr. Brougham had been
acknowledged by the Lord Chancellor, from his seat in the Court of
Chancery, the Queen's Solicitor and Attorney-General, the discontented
took heart, and saw in this admission of the Queen's position, a
prognostication of the struggle that was to create for them the
opportunity for which they were waiting.

The Court of the Monarch did not appear more apprehensive than his
Ministers. A day was fixed for the Coronation; and among those who
would have to assist in the ceremonial, no one ventured to hint on the
possibility of the Queen having any position in it. On the 3rd of May,
the King received addresses at Carlton House; and on the 10th, his
Majesty held his first Levee since his accession to the throne, at
which nearly 1800 persons of distinction were present, who testified
their attachment to his person in a manner that must have left him
little to desire. It was known that his consort intended to agitate the
empire from end to end, and her arrival was looked for in a few weeks;
but the families of the great political party that formed and supported
the Government, betrayed no uneasiness--indeed, the most influential
regarded, or affected to regard, the coming struggle with a quiet
disdain, that evinced their confidence in the loyalty and good sense of
the nation. "His Majesty's Opposition," however, talked and looked very
differently;--the Democratic party were vehement in their denunciations
of the Queen's wrongs, and the leading Whigs began to come forward
prominently as champions of her rights. This is about the date of the
following communications:--


    RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, May 4, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I have but little news to tell you. The general arrangement of the
    Civil List, by replacing it as it stood in 1816, is so much better
    a bargain for the public than I had expected, that I for one am
    well contented with it; and if report be true, it was obtained by
    nothing but the most determined refusal of the Ministers to do
    more. Still, however, I understand that the Admiralty Droits are
    unpopular enough to threaten the Government with a good deal of
    embarrassment; for undoubtedly, if they have bargained with the
    King for the statement of 1816, when he had the Admiralty Droits,
    they cannot in equity deprive him of that part of his bargain.
    Brougham seems by his speech to have conceived the notion of giving
    the King _compensation_ for them; but it seems to me to be but
    a bad bargain for the public, to make them, under the present
    pressure, purchase out a remote contingent future revenue, which
    can arise only out of a war that no Power in Europe is rich enough
    to make, any more than ourselves.

    Nobody knows what Brougham's motion will be to-morrow, or what
    course the Opposition will take on Monday. I hope none of our
    friends will disturb an arrangement which I believe the Government
    had some merit and great difficulty in reducing to its present
    form.

    The Coronation, which Lord G. Seymour told me ten days ago was
    suspended, is now again in expectation, according to general
    belief; it has revived in common report, because I fancy the Earl
    Marshal has just been ordered to have an estimate made of the
    necessary expenses attending it in his department; but it does not
    follow from that estimate that the ceremony will take place, I
    think it more probable that it will be put off, because the King
    will not like it unless it be expensive, and Van knows not how to
    pay for it if it is. Clive told me yesterday, that three naval
    peers are about to be made--Sir W. Young, Warren, and Saumarez.
    This looks as if an Accession List was preparing; but I have heard
    of no others. It seems now understood that the whole Militia will
    be called out. Manchester, as Lady Grosvenor tells me, is quieter;
    as Harriet writes, is as bad as ever. Scotland is still only quiet
    from the military force there, but the temper is said to be as bad
    as ever.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, May 8, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    We had a heavy debate last night,--Tierney very able, and Huskisson
    good,--but an evident indisposition of the House to the subject;
    and the division on the part of Government very bad--only 99
    majority. They cannot get attendance, and the report of dissension
    on the part of the King and his Ministers is no doubt the cause of
    this; notwithstanding, however, I am quite sure there can be no
    change, and a very short time must commit the Opposition with the
    King on the subject of the Queen. Tierney last night touched upon
    it, and complained that she was not recognised by the Bill or Civil
    List, and yet acknowledged by the Lord Chancellor of England. You
    will see hardly any addition of names to the Opposition, or any
    increased numbers, but the _feature_ is the want of attendance
    of the Government friends. Everybody believes the report of Denison
    having stated to his nephew his determination to disinherit him if
    he accepts the new situation. We must see the result of this in a
    very short time, should it be the case.--The ladies are not to walk
    at the Coronation, and it is to be on the cheapest scale. No
    dinner. The estimate is called 150,000_l._ All your members
    were present yesterday, and if we had voted against the Government,
    only see how we would have diminished their numbers.--Mr. Chard is
    in a peck of troubles. He has not got the address, without which it
    is useless to go to the Levee.--I was glad of Brougham's mention of
    Lady Grenville's pension (it certainly was not an attack), because
    it produced an authorized declaration of its surrender, which was
    received with great applause.

    You have no conception with what attention Baring was heard in a
    full house last night, when for an hour or so he described the
    commercial state of England in the most lamentable terms. It had
    great effect--The King never shows himself. He has never been out
    of Carlton House.--Lady C----[17] goes to him of an evening, and he
    has had his usual dinners of Sir Carnaby Haggerston, Forester, and
    two or three of this description. His language is only about the
    Coronation and Lady C----: very little of the state of the country.

    I will keep this open, in case anything occurs.

    Ever, &c.,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--I have just seen Chard, who is in despair about the address;
    but he has determined, by my advice, to defer his presentation to
    Wednesday se'nnight, in case we hear nothing of the address
    to-morrow morning.

      [17] Lady Conyngham.


    RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, May 9, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    The Opposition, you see, continues to muster in their original
    force of 160 upon their great questions, and though they do not
    increase, it seems to me that there is either an indifference or a
    disinclination in many to give any active support to Government;
    for while the Ministers produce only their ordinary numbers, their
    antagonists always are able to command their full force,--and if
    that disproportion continues, it will not do, particularly under
    the alarmed, and restless, and fearful circumstances of the
    country. You see, by the loud cheering of Baring, how strongly the
    impression prevails in the House that the present evils demand
    great and vigorous remedies; and though, perhaps, I may be less
    sanguine in the application of these theories, I see plainly that
    the House and country are so alarmed as to call for great talents
    and great vigour in their Ministers--much greater than they are
    likely to find--for the only new feature of yesterday's debate on
    the part of the Administration was to show that, upon a commercial
    question, the head of the Board of Trade is in opinion with Baring,
    while that of his colleagues is against him. This is a wretched
    beginning on a topic of such overruling importance.--The Coronation
    stands for the 1st August I hear of no more new peers yet. I think
    the less you hear of the _man_ the better: you should only have to
    do with the _master_. Lord Arundel told me yesterday that they do
    not go yet, if at all. Sir Francis[18] at Lillies is really the _ne
    plus ultra_!!!

      [18] Sir Francis Burdett.


    RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, May 11, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I met my brother this morning, to take our new oaths at the Council
    Office, and showed him your letter. I was glad to see in it that
    you are gradually getting strength, and was surprised to see that
    the two old uncles had both written to you at the same time, on the
    same subject, without any previous communication had between us.

    Lord Harrowby told my brother that it was the intention in every
    respect to follow the same ceremonial at this Coronation that took
    place at the last, and this should be good authority; but, on the
    other hand, so general a rumour and expectation prevails of the
    banquet being curtailed, that one scarce knows what to believe. But
    my own, opinion is, that Lord H. is correct, and that it will be
    neither more nor less than the last. Public conversation supposes
    four Dukes--viz., my neighbour, yourself, Lord Hastings, and Lord
    Winchester. The only Commoner, I hear, is Sir ---- Liddell, who, I
    am well assured, says that it is promised to him. The other names,
    I presume, grow out of public talk only; at least, my neighbours
    told me they had heard nothing of it two or three days ago.


To give the reader an idea of the state of our public streets in the
metropolis at this period from turbulent mobs, we quote the following
anecdote:--"A very large family party happened to be assembled in the
house, and the garrison being thus strong, it sallied forth, headed by
Lord Exmouth, and attacked the assailants, who, disconcerted possibly
by this unusual system of tactics, instantly dispersed. One prisoner
was taken--a juvenile printer--who, by his insolence, which was
consummate, obtained for himself the glory of a night's imprisonment
instead of a lecture." The third attack occurred on a Wednesday
ensuing, while Lord Sidmouth was attending the Cabinet dinner. It was
feeble, and of brief duration; and as no further annoyance was
anticipated by the police officers, the narrator, who had been left in
charge, retired to his lodgings in the same street. Shortly afterwards
he heard the mob returning, and hastened back to his Lordship's door,
against which the watchman had placed himself. Before, however, they
could gain admittance, the Philistines were upon them, filling the
whole doorway, and hemming them up in the entrance. At this moment a
carriage dashed rapidly down the street, drew up at the door, and Lord
Sidmouth exclaimed from within it, "Let me out--I must get out!" But
another and a commanding voice replied, "You shall not alight--drive
on!" and instantly the carriage bounded forward and disappeared, but
not before the glass of the window nearest the speaker had been
shivered to atoms by a stick or stone. In a moment afterwards, at a
signal given, the mob dispersed, leaving the watchman and his companion
the only occupants of the street. In a few minutes the same carriage
returned, escorted by a small party of the Life Guards. It was that of
the Duke of Wellington, and contained his Grace, Lord Eldon, and Lord
Sidmouth.[19]

      [19] Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 328.

The next communication, from a member of the Royal Family, refers to a
much-valued distinction which was conferred on his Royal Highness's
correspondent. It shows also the kind feelings which this amiable
Prince entertained for him:--


    THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Gloucester House, Sunday Evening, May 28.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I hasten to return your Lordship my best thanks for your friendly
    attention in immediately notifying to me an event that, I trust,
    you are well assured must afford me the truest gratification. To
    the Garter you are so justly entitled that I have real satisfaction
    in seeing you receive that Order; but it is particularly gratifying
    to me to know that it comes _direct_ to you from the King, and that
    this distinction is conferred upon you unsolicited, the spontaneous
    act of his Majesty. Of my sentiments towards yourself I hope you
    are so well convinced that I need not add that I shall attend the
    Chapter to-morrow with the sincerest pleasure.

    In offering to you my warmest congratulations, I am happy to renew
    to you an assurance of the very great regard and high esteem with
    which

    I am always, my dear Lord,

    Very sincerely yours,

    WILLIAM FREDERICK.


The following refers to the same subject, and is equally creditable to
the writer:--


    THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Richmond, Monday, May 29, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I went to Carlton House to-day to attend a Chapter of the Garter,
    at which I understood that I should have had the satisfaction of
    seeing the King invest your Lordship with his own Garter, vacated
    by his accession to the Crown.

    Upon my arrival, I found that the Chapter had been postponed; and
    as the King goes to Windsor this evening for the Ascot races, I
    suppose some days will elapse before the Chapter can take place. I
    was informed, however, from good authority, that the King will
    offer the Garter to your Lordship.

    Sincerely hoping that you will not decline the offer, I shall be
    anxious to attend on the day of your investiture; and I should be
    much obliged to you if you would apprise me of it as soon as you
    know it. I shall, of course, receive the usual summons; but I
    should grieve to be out of the way when it might reach this place.

    Always, my dear Lord,

    Yours most sincerely,

    WELLESLEY.




CHAPTER II.

[1820.]

ARRIVAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE AT ST. OMER. HER DEMANDS. ABORTIVE
NEGOTIATIONS. INTERPOSITION OF MR. WILBERFORCE TO AVERT THE
THREATENED SCANDAL. QUEEN CAROLINE IN LONDON. SHE REFUSES THE
CONCESSIONS PROPOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PROPOSALS OF THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS. UNPOPULARITY OF MR. WILBERFORCE. POLICY OF THE
QUEEN'S ADVISERS. PUBLIC EXCITEMENT. MOB ROUND THE QUEEN'S RESIDENCE.
DISSATISFACTION OF THE KING.




CHAPTER II.


On the 1st of June, Caroline of Brunswick arrived at St. Omer,
intending to embark at Calais without delay for England. At once she
showed her disposition to carry matters with a high hand. She wrote an
imperious letter to the Earl of Liverpool, to prepare a palace in
London for her reception; another to Lord Melville, to send a yacht to
carry her across the Channel to Dover; and a third to the Duke of York,
repeating both demands, and complaining of the treatment she had
received. Two days later, Mr. Brougham, her chief legal adviser,
arrived, and at the same time Lord Hutchinson, with a proposition from
the King, offering her 50,000_l._ a year for life if she would remain
on the Continent, and surrender the title of Queen of England. She was
in no mood to listen to reason, and indignantly rejected the offer.

The rumour of the Queen's approach created extraordinary excitement
among all classes in every part of the kingdom. The Lord Chancellor
prophetically says, "If she can venture, she is the most courageous
lady I ever heard of. The mischief, if she does come, will be infinite.
At first, she will have extensive popularity with the multitude; in a
few short months or weeks, she will be ruined in the opinion of all the
world."[20] "One can't help admiring her spirit," observes the moral
Wilberforce, "though I fear she has been very profligate."[21] From
such a man there might have been expected a severer judgment on her
immorality, and a more subdued appreciation of her daring; but this
evidence of "spirit" was an appeal to the English people which many a
grave father of a family found it impossible to resist. Mr. Wilberforce,
however, much to his credit, was earnestly desirous of lessening the
threatened scandal, and diminishing the public commotion it was likely
to create. He writes in his Diary,--"When, therefore, Lord Castlereagh
had made a motion to refer the papers to the consideration of a Secret
Committee, I endeavoured to interpose a pause, during which the two
parties might have an opportunity of contemplating coolly the prospect
before them. Accordingly I sounded the House; my proposition was
immediately adopted, and a pause was made, with a declaration that its
purpose was to give opportunity for a private settlement."[22]

      [20] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 3.

      [21] "Wilberforce's Life," by his Sons, vol. v. p. 55.

      [22] Ibid.

As no Royal yacht was likely to be at her disposal, Queen Caroline lost
no time in embarking, crossed the sea safely, pursued her route to the
metropolis through Canterbury, and, passing through vociferous crowds,
on the 7th, in default of the palace she had ordered, took up her
residence with a City alderman, who had placed himself among the
foremost of her champions. From this time the agitation in the public
mind hourly increased, till it began to assume a most threatening
aspect. Nothing was left undone by the Queen to ingratiate herself with
the people; and, as a natural result, she never appeared publicly
without creating intense excitement. When in the streets, her horses
were taken from her carriage, and she was drawn in triumph, by scores
of shouting adherents, through a clamorous mob. Before the alderman's
house in South Audley Street stood hour after hour a shouting myriad,
excited to a pitch of frenzy to which no description can do justice, by
the appearance on the balcony of a stout lady, in a large hat
surmounted by a plume of feathers.

On the day of her arrival in town, the King sent a message to the
Houses of Lords and Commons, to the effect that the step taken by the
Queen had forced him to bring before the consideration of Parliament,
certain papers detailing her conduct since her departure from England.
The Queen, on the same day, sent a message by Mr. Brougham, in her
usual high tone, expressing a desire for an open investigation. The
friends of both parties were striving to spare the country the
threatened exposure; and on the 9th, the Queen so far complied with the
suggestions of her most sensible advisers as to write a moderate letter
to Lord Liverpool, expressing her inclination to consider any
proposition the Government were disposed to make in behalf of their
Sovereign. Communications were exchanged; the Ministers repeated their
liberal offer, and the Queen repeated her indignant refusal. How this
sad business was felt at the period may be gathered from the letters
that follow. But the first expresses a belief, then generally gaining
ground, of a change in the Government in favour of the Grenville party.
It would appear as if a proposal of the kind had been submitted to the
head of the family, but the sensible advice here given must at once
have put an end to such a negotiation:--


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, 12 at night, June 11.

    We have both talked this thing over as fully as our materials
    enabled us to do, and it is our decided opinion that the King has,
    and can have in the present moment, only the alternative of putting
    himself fairly and fully into the hands of one or other of the two
    great parties; and that it would be deceiving him, and trifling
    with a most awful state of things, if anybody undertook to be
    useful to him on any other footing, or even gave rise to the delay
    of an hour in deciding on that alternative by countenancing hopes
    of any third arrangement.

    The House of Commons is totally unmanageable in any such view. The
    whole weight of the Ministers there, combining their aid as they
    now do, is, as you see, hardly sufficient to carry on the ordinary
    public business from day to day. I very much question whether all
    the weight that the Opposition could unite for the same purpose, if
    the task were committed into their hands, would be much, if at all,
    more adequate to it. What hopes, then, could a third party
    entertain of doing this in opposition to both?

    I can easily see in what course your assistance and support might
    be very useful indeed to strengthen his Government, into whatever
    hands he may finally determine to commit it; and in the present
    state of things I should, as far as my own wishes went, be most
    anxious that, in whatever hands it shall be vested, it should
    possess whatever of strength and efficiency it can receive. But as
    for undertaking any principal or leading part in the formation of a
    new Government, to the exclusion of the most considerable persons
    in this, and of the whole of the other party (who will doubtless on
    this occasion act with perfect union and concurrence among
    themselves), I hold the success impossible, and the undertaking
    much too desperate to be reconciled to any just sense of prudence
    or duty. And if the fact be so, it is most important that he should
    be as speedily, and as distinctly as possible, apprized that so it
    is. And you and Charles would much injure your own reputation and
    weight by appearing to tamper with a case in which you cannot be of
    any real use.

    I do not wonder that he feels hurt at Canning's speech, such as it
    is reported; but this is not the first occasion, nor will it be the
    last, in which the Sovereign of this country must suppress such
    feelings, and bear with the faults of those who, on the whole,
    taking all things together, can serve him most usefully; and the
    manner in which the Opposition have of late years, most
    unfortunately for themselves and for the country, been drawn on to
    mix themselves up with projects of reform, and with the countenance
    and defence of reformers of the wildest description, seems to me, I
    regret to say it, to throw that balance at this time wholly on the
    side of their opponents.

    I do not know that I can add more. My brother returns to town early
    to-morrow morning; and you will not wonder, knowing my feelings,
    that all that is now passing is with me a decisive reason for not
    coming near it unless commanded so to do, and then it would only be
    for the purpose of expressing these opinions.


Paris at this period, it is evident, was scarcely in a less excitable
state than London:--


    HON. COLONEL STANHOPE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Hotel Meurice, June 11, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    Paris is in a strange state,--more resembling a town in a state of
    siege than the most gadding capital; but, as far as the exterior
    appearance can be the guide, I cannot see why the Government should
    have assembled nearly 25,000 troops round Paris, the riots having
    been confined to the students of the _écoles_ and the _gardes de
    corps_, the people, _proprement dit_, taking no part and showing no
    interest. The violence of the Chambers is sufficiently seen in the
    papers, and their whole time is occupied in hearing different
    members relate their own adventures on the preceding day. The
    ultra-Ultras have returned to their foolish language, which ruined
    them in '14 and '15, about having a general tax to reimburse them
    for their lost property. They might as well think of dividing
    France. The other party, of course, keep pace. Two days ago, some
    French ladies on the Boulevards were obliged, by a body of men
    looking like _le bourgeoisie_, to get out of their carriages and
    cry "_Vive l'egalité_." One of the worst circumstances is the
    distinction which has been made between _Le Roi et la Charte_,
    which last year was the watchword of the Royalists, and is now
    divided into the _mots de ralliement_ of the two parties; and when
    the one cries _A bas la Charte_, others have been found rash enough
    to answer _A bas les Bourbons_. The Royalists are universally
    anxious for the double electoral colleges; their opponents will not
    give up the direct election; and the amendment which was carried
    the other day is a sort of _mezzo termine_, as the 170 new members
    are to be elected by the double colleges, and the _remplacants_
    by the old law. There was a considerable riot on Friday night, in
    which Oudinot was rode over, and several people badly wounded; one
    only killed. The troops have shown the greatest steadiness, and
    evince rather an anxiety than an unwillingness to act. The Jacobins
    are, I am told, as much depressed by this as the Ultras are elated.
    Madame de Flahaut is here, acting the French Lady J----; and to you
    I need say no more.

    I am in a great fright about the Queen. What could make the
    Government employ Lord H----, who seems to have committed himself
    and employers most lamentably? She will, I fear, have a tremendous
    party of many well-disposed, good, moral men, as well as of all
    those who hate the King and the Government. If you have leisure, I
    should be very grateful for a word or two on this.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    J. W. STANHOPE.


The negotiation between the King's Ministers and the Queen's legal
advisers was not rendered fruitless by any fault of the former.
Wilberforce acknowledges that "The concessions made by the King's
servants, as Mr. Brougham afterwards declared in the House of Commons,
were various and great. The name and rights of a Queen were granted to
her Majesty without reserve--any recognition of which had formerly been
carefully avoided. A Royal yacht, a frigate, &c., were offered. It was
agreed that her name and rank should be notified at the Court either of
Rome or Milan, the capitals of the countries in which she had expressed
her intention to reside; and that an address should be presented to the
Queen, no less than another to the King, to thank her Majesty for
having acceded to the wish of the House of Commons."[23]

      [23] "Life," vol. v. p. 56.

Wilberforce was very earnest, sending his son with a letter to the
King, in which he entreated him to restore the Queen's name to the
Liturgy,[24] and venturing to prophesy something very like a civil war
should this concession be refused. On this point, however, his Majesty
was intractable, and the negotiator met with anything but cordial
co-operation from his own party, of whom he says: "Opposition seem all
disposed to take up the Queen's cause on party principles. Alas!"[25]
Subsequently he implies where he met with obstacles; "Tierney, &c.,
ill-natured, yet Castlereagh gave way."

      [24] The Queen perpetrated one of her characteristic jests when
      this question was being furiously debated: "The praying," she
      observed, "makes me very hungry, and when I am in the Liturgy I
      shall be famished."

      [25] Ibid. p. 58.

In a discussion on the subject in the House of Commons, he thus refers
to the principal speakers: "Burdett, violent and bitter, but very able;
Tierney, mischievous; Denman, strong and straightforward; Brougham,
able; Canning, clever, but not letting himself out."

A deputation, of which Wilberforce was the head, proceeded from the
House of Commons to the Queen, dressed in full Court costume; but her
Majesty's turbulent admirers did not appreciate their good intentions,
and they were roughly greeted by the mob. The reception they met with
from the Queen was not much more courteous. Her answer was a refusal.
"Her manner was extremely dignified," observes the principal
negotiator, "but very stern and haughty." In a letter which he wrote at
the time, he gives all the details of the question,[26] from which it is
clear that the members of Government had agreed to resign their offices
if the restoration of the Queen's name to the Liturgy was carried
against them in the House of Commons; and that, seeing the
improbability of obtaining this demand, the Queen would have accepted
an equivalent proposed by the Government, had not some sinister
influence been exercised which brought about her refusal. Mr.
Wilberforce shared the general fate of peace-makers in getting terribly
abused; but he evidently had the authority of the Queen's most able
counsellor for the steps he took. "She will accede to your address," he
wrote on the 22nd of June, "I pledge myself."[27]

      [26] Letter to Samuel Roberts, Esq., "Life," vol. v. p. 62.

      [27] Letter to Samuel Roberts, Esq., "Life," vol. v. p. 65.

Cobbett published a letter addressed to Mr. Wilberforce, made up of
declamation and invective, in the style that then took the public
taste. This composition is described as "very clever, but very
mischievous, and full of falsehoods." He was attacked so frequently,
and with such violence, by the Queen's partisans, that it forced him to
exclaim, "What a lesson it is to a man not to set his heart on low
popularity, when, after forty years' disinterested public service, I am
believed to be a perfect rascal!"[28]

      [28] "Wilberforce's Life," vol. v. p. 68.

He complained bitterly of the conduct of the leaders of Opposition.
Their language to the Queen, especially that of Lord Grey, Mr. Tierney,
and Sir Francis Burdett, was, "Oh! you may be sure you never can be
prosecuted,"--thereby, as he acknowledges, "taking away what must
doubtless have most powerfully enforced her consent. Then no sooner had
she refused, and the prosecution goes forward, than they say,
Government never should have admitted a compromise at all, but have
prosecuted without hesitation."[29]

      [29] Ibid. p. 69.

"She seems," writes Lord Dudley, "to have been advised by persons that
are resolved to play the deepest possible game, and care little to what
risk they expose her, provided they have a chance of turning out the
Government, or perhaps of over-throwing the monarchy. I do not think
that it is Brougham's doing."[30] "The people," confesses Cobbett, "as
far as related to the question of guilt or innocence, did not care a
straw."[31] Their leaders cared still less:

    "Careless of fate, they took their way,
    Scarce caring who might win the day;
    Their booty was secure."

      [30] "Letters," p. 255.

      [31] "Life of George IV.," p. 425.

"If her innocence were proved," observes a popular historian, "they
would gain a triumph over the King, force upon him a wife whom he could
not endure, overturn his Ministers, and perhaps shake the monarchy; if
her guilt, they would gain the best possible ground for declaiming on
the corruption which prevailed in high places, and the monstrous nature
of those institutions which gave persons of such character the lead in
society."[32]

      [32] Alison's "Europe," vol. ii. p. 549.

The excitement increased as the arrangements for the Queen's trial
became known. Lord John Russell published a letter addressed to Mr.
Wilberforce, on the subject, urging him again to attempt an
arrangement; but he had had enough of interfering in such a business,
and declined to take the post assigned him, though the writer expressed
his opinion that in his hands was perhaps the fate of the country. He
was as anxious as ever to do good, but did not see how it could be
done. His opinion of the Queen did not improve, in consequence of the
"spirit" she continued to display, which he now felt inclined to
describe in more appropriate language:--"I feel deeply the evil," he
writes in his Diary, "that so bad a woman as I fear she is, should
carry the victory by sheer impudence (if she is guilty), and assume the
part of a person deeply injured."[33]

      [33] "Life," vol. v. p. 77.

Other well-meaning persons were equally anxious for an interposition;
indeed, the King was obliged to send a message to one who desired an
audience, with this object in view, "that he never talked on political
subjects with any but his Ministers."[34]

      [34] Ibid. p. 78.

Another cotemporary Diarist goes to the root of the evil:--"Had some
conversation with Tierney, who looked serious and down. He said
everything was worse and worse out of doors, and he saw no remedy. I
observed, the only remedy, the only possibility of things returning to
their former state was a rebellion, and the troops standing by us, and
quelling it with a high hand. He replied, that was the disease. I said,
neither he nor I should live to see society where it had been and ought
to be; to which he assented. I have no doubt he is sincere, yet he and
his party are the real authors of the spirit we deplore."[35]

      [35] Phipps's "Memoirs of R. P. Ward," vol. ii. p. 61.

"Alas!" writes Wilberforce in his Diary, "surely we never were in such
a scrape. The bulk of the people, I grant, are run mad; but then it was
a species of insanity on which we might have reckoned, because we know
their prejudices against foreigners; their being easily led away by
appeals to their generous feelings; and then the doses with which they
are plied, are enough to intoxicate much stronger heads than most of
theirs."[36]

      [36] "Life," vol. v. p. 78.

"The middling as well as the higher orders," says another observer,
"are pretty well acquainted with her present Majesty's conduct in
foreign countries; but I am told that the common people are still in
the dark, and disposed to espouse her cause; more, however, out of
hatred to the King than out of regard for her."[37]

      [37] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p 242.

Attempts were made to gain over the military, which were not entirely
unsuccessful; one of the regiments of Foot Guards, quartered in the
Mews Barracks, Charing Cross, exhibited such decided symptoms of having
been tampered with, that the Duke of Wellington was sent for, and he at
once ordered them off to Portsmouth. "The night before the last
division marched," says a respectable authority, "a formidable mob
assembled round the barracks at Charing Cross, calling the soldiers
within to come out and join them."[38] They were only subsequently
dispersed by a troop of the 2nd Life Guards.

      [38] "Sidmouth's Life," by Pellew, vol. iii. p. 330. Alison's
      "Europe," vol. ii. p. 461.

Some of the more respectable leaders of Opposition, though, they
supported the Queen, had no heart in the cause.

"Lord ----" (we learn from another authority), "whom I always look upon
as a most honest man, said it was rather hard upon him to have to
present her petitions, but he could not refuse, being so intimate with
Brougham. But they were brought to him at a minute's notice, and he
knew nothing about, consequently could not support them. In the present
instance, he thought she was taken in, in pressing for trial within
four-and-twenty hours. She thought we would not take her at her word,
and might bully, as she had done before; that she was a bold, dangerous,
impudent woman, as full of revenge as careless of crime, and that if we
did not take care, might play the part of Catherine the Second, who, by
means of the Guards, murdered her husband and usurped the throne."[39]

      [39] Phipps's "Memoirs of Robert Plumer Ward," vol. ii. p. 56.

The nobleman whose opinions have here been preserved was most probably
Lord Dacre, who, in his place in the House of Lords, presented more
than one petition from the Queen. One also was presented by Lord
Auckland. Another of the Queen's partisans in the other House appears
to have entertained similar sentiments:--"Walked with Sir ---- ----. He
said he had no doubt that the Queen was guilty, but would never vote
for the Bill, as unconstitutional; at the same time, ready to admit
that Ministers had proved such a case as perfectly justified them in
bringing it forward."[40]

      [40] Phipps's "Memoirs of Robert Plumer Ward," vol. ii. p. 58.

A description of the sort of satellites that followed the Queen's
movements when she went abroad, or surrounded her dwelling while she
remained at home, is preserved in the postscript of a letter from Mr.
Wilberforce to Hannah More, repeating the observations of a friend who
had ventured to approach the Queen's residence. He describes her
retainers as "a most shabby assemblage of quite the lowest of the
people, about fifty in number, who every now and then kept calling out
'Queen, Queen!' and several times, once in about a quarter of an hour,
she came out of one window of a balcony and Alderman Wood at the other,
and she bowed to them; her obeisance, of course, being met by augmented
acclamations. My friend," adds Mr. Wilberforce, "entered into
conversation with a person present who argued for the natural equality
of man, and that any other of the people present had as good right to
be King as George the Fourth."[41]

      [41] "Life," vol. v. p. 72.

The Duke of Wellington at this period took an anxious share in the
proceedings against the Queen. "We fell upon the general situation of
things," relates a confidential friend of his Grace, "which the Duke
allowed was almost as bad as could be; nor could he see the remedy, if
the upper and middle ranks would not stir. But all," he continued, with
some sadness as well as indignation, "seem struck with panic--ourselves
and all; and if the country is lost, it will be through our own
cowardice. Everything," said he--"audacity and insolence on one side,
and tameness on ours. We go to the House seemingly on purpose to be
insulted; the Opposition know it, and act accordingly." I said, "I
feared it was particularly so in the House of Commons, where the
Ministerial bench, with the exception of Lord Castlereagh, seemed like
victims."[42]

      [42] Phipps's "Memoirs of Ward," vol. ii. p. 63.

The principal Ministers went in daily danger of their lives. Lord
Sidmouth never drove out without a case of loaded pistols on the seat
of the carriage, ready for instant use;[43] and when either of them was
recognised in the public streets, he was sure to be greeted by groans
and hisses, and sometimes with more formidable missiles.

      [43] "Life," by Dean Pellew, vol. iii. p. 330.

The attempt to induce the Queen to adopt a more rational course, is
here referred to:--


    SIR BENJAMIN BLOOMFIELD TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Carlton House, June 20, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    As yet there is no certain information of the precise course to be
    taken by Mr. Wilberforce. I, however, collect that he has no
    intention to weaken the position of the Government, nor the basis,
    on the part of the King, upon which the late negotiation has broken
    off. The object, therefore, is to maintain that basis which was
    considered as the only safeguard to the preservation of all that's
    dear to man. To attain this there seems, under the present state of
    the public mind, no alternative but investigation, with as much
    publicity as the House can be induced to give to the question.

    I need not reiterate to your Lordship the sense which is
    entertained of the affectionate attachment manifested by your
    Lordship in this most painful transaction.

    With great respect, I have the honour to be,

    My dear Lord,

    Your Lordship's obliged and obedient humble Servant,

    B. BLOOMFIELD.


But Caroline of Brunswick would not have been Caroline of Brunswick had
she suffered this well-meant intervention to influence her purpose. The
sad business, therefore, proceeded in the saddest possible way:--


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    June 27, 1820.

    All speculation is at fault in attempting to follow these daily
    changes of plans and operations.

    Certainly, it is far more convenient and more becoming to let this
    matter be first investigated in the House of Lords. But how this is
    to be reconciled to the present state of the business in the House
    of Commons, it seems difficult to imagine; but by this time that
    difficulty will have been solved in one way or another, and I need
    not trouble myself about it.

    As to popular impressions, the only way by which they can now be
    counteracted, is by bringing the matter as soon as possible into
    some regular form of proceeding.

    What is to result from all this, it is impossible to conjecture;
    but he must be sanguine indeed who can hope that it will turn to
    good.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, June 28, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    When I came here I found an entire concurrence of opinion as to the
    extreme folly of Ministers pressing on the Secret Committee in the
    House of Lords, after they had pledged themselves in the House of
    Commons to bring forward a charge upon their own responsibility; I
    was therefore much gratified to see in your letter, just received,
    that if there was a question upon that subject, you should vote
    against the Secret Committee, though if the Committee were
    appointed, you might in that case continue your name upon it. The
    proceeding is become so odious and unpopular, that the general
    prejudice against it is in itself great ground of objection to it;
    and as the Ministers have already taken the charge upon their own
    responsibility, it seems now likely to answer no other end than
    that of furnishing to their adversaries a fund of clamour and of
    invective, on a topic by which, while Ministers gain nothing, they
    must lose much. But by this time the question must be already
    decided, and therefore it is useless to pursue it If the Committee
    is appointed, and if you do attend it, I am sure you will in that
    case feel the absolute necessity of your declining any confidential
    communication, either on foot or on horseback, with any person not
    upon that Commission, in reference to the business of it. Even the
    conversation of the table, and the ears of those who sit at it with
    you, must on every account be most cautiously guarded upon this
    peculiar topic. You must not start at these suggestions; you know
    the affectionate motives that prompt them; and nothing but the
    extreme importance of the nicest attention to them, under your
    particular position, could have called for them both from Lord
    G---- and me.

    I would not unnecessarily prolong this letter, because you have
    enough to think of; but I feel confident that the more you reflect
    upon your own position, the more you must be confirmed in the
    persuasion that while, on the one hand, you have thought it
    necessary to withdraw from the Opposition, on the other hand, you
    will most effectually be enabled to support the constitutional
    principles of the Monarchy by maintaining an absolute independence,
    and by taking care not to put yourself within the reach of the
    imputation of favouritism, which, once established against you,
    will render your means of real and effectual assistance useless, by
    discrediting your station in the country, and by depriving it of
    its best recommendation, its absolute independence.


It will be seen from the foregoing communication how extremely anxious
were Lord Buckingham's uncles, at this crisis, that he should act with
the utmost circumspection on every possible contingency.


    THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Many thanks for your note by Lord Cassilis; I do not credit any of
    the rumours to which you refer. I believe that all is now quiet in
    those quarters. I understand that the Secret Committee is to meet
    in our House on Wednesday, and on its Report a Bill is to be
    introduced; in the Commons, a delay of ten days is to be proposed,
    for the purpose of waiting for our Bill. You have heard of the
    proceedings in our House to-night: a petition from the Queen,
    praying against a Secret Committee, and for a delay of any
    proceedings, in order to enable her to collect her witnesses;
    Brougham and Denman called in and heard in support of the petition,
    and the House adjourned until to-morrow, when Lord Grey is to make
    his motion for rescinding the order respecting the Secret
    Committee. When this motion is disposed of, Lord Liverpool will
    move that the Secret Committee shall meet on Wednesday. I cannot
    ascertain the temper of the House positively, but I perceive no
    alteration in it of any description.

    Yours, my dear Lord, sincerely,

    W.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, July 2, 1820.

    I am glad you are so near the end of your labours, though that end
    is to be the beginning of a fresh and very painful scene. I am
    clear, however, that in the state to which the matter is now
    brought, the course at last adopted was the only one which affords
    any hope of concluding it without the most alarming consequences.
    And if the House of Lords manifests, as I trust it will, a
    temperate and truly judicial spirit in the conduct of the trial, I
    am sanguine enough to believe that much lost ground may still be
    recovered.

    I am utterly at variance with Charles's notion, that such
    proceedings ought to commence in the House of Commons; and I am
    sure in this case it was of unspeakable importance that the matter
    should first undergo a judicial investigation, before it was
    brought any more under the cognizance of a body so liable to act on
    momentary impressions, in place of the settled rules and permanent
    principles of legal proceeding.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, July 5, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I cannot help writing a line to say how well satisfied I am with
    the result which this post has brought us, and how glad I am that
    no secondary matter has been tacked on to that which is of primary
    interest. We neither of us can as yet collect by what precise
    course the matter is to be so charged as to give the proper notice
    so as to enable the party concerned to provide a reply. I should,
    of course, suppose that by this time the whole march of all the
    proceedings is foreseen and determined upon, if there was not such
    frequent occasion to remark that foresight and decision are much
    more frequently to be desired than to be found.

    I should suppose that the Bill must contain specific charges, or
    that those charges must be communicated by a resolution of the
    House. What is most to be apprehended is that dexterous advocates
    may awaken new questions in so novel a proceeding, and may thereby
    prolong the discussion to a most inconvenient and dangerous length,
    by which this state of hazardous agitation of the public mind will
    be continued, and a feeling of commiseration will be excited by the
    length of the proceeding, although the prolongation of it will be
    owing more to the accused than to the accusers. You see every hour
    of every day that "the mountain" is dragging all that side of the
    house into an avowed party-protection, to be afforded before trial;
    that the answers to addresses are so many appeals made to the
    "soldiers and sailors;" and that the hypocritical lamentations over
    the ill-judged time of the Coronation, are indulged in for the
    obvious purpose of exciting the tumults which they affect to
    deprecate. All this is very disgusting, and not without real
    danger. I suppose your Committee, being now dissolved by its
    Report, you have nothing more to do in these odious abominations,
    which the Vice-Chancellor will probably have to manage.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, July 5, 1820.

    I see nothing _primá facie_ to object to in the Report, and I am
    very glad that the _doubt_ was decided negatively.

    I imagine, however, that there may still be some difficulty in the
    course of the proceeding, if she requires, as I suppose she will be
    advised to do, that the facts of both descriptions should be more
    precisely specified as to time and place, before she is called upon
    to answer them in any judicial form.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 19, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am passing through town in my way to E. Green, and find it not
    only greatly thinned, but those remaining in a much more melancholy
    mood than when I left it. The language even of the Government is
    most croaking, and you may be assured the Queen's party is far from
    diminishing. The City is completely with her,--not the Common
    Council, but the shopkeepers and merchants,--and I have great
    doubts if the troops are not infected. The press is paid for her
    abundantly, and there are some ale-houses open where the soldiers
    may go and drink and eat for nothing, provided they will drink
    "Prosperity and health to the Queen." The K---- grows daily more
    unpopular, and is the only individual in the kingdom insensible to
    it. He sees Lady C---- daily, and had a party of his family at
    dinner this week, she the only exception. You may think, perhaps,
    this letter gloomy; but I assure you I write much less desponding
    than the general language and feeling would authorize me.

    The peerages are eight, and hourly expected:--Lord Conyngham,
    Roden, Sir W. Scott, Forester, Cholmondeley, Liddel, W. Pole, Lord
    James Murray.

    I don't hear a word of the Dukedoms. The King reviews the Guards
    on Friday, and then goes to the cottage at Windsor, to meet the
    Conynghams. Boats are gone from Chatham and Staines for the
    Virginia Lake, where he is to have water-parties. Probably or
    possibly we shall participate in these. If so, you shall hear from
    me.--It is said the Lords meet the 17th; begin immediately the
    witnesses for the prosecutor: finish this in a fortnight; then the
    Queen asks for two months (at least) before she commences her
    defence, _if she makes any_. But there is a strong report she means
    to make none in the Lords, but reserve herself for the Commons; if
    so, it is no great compliment to us, who examine not on oath.
    These, however, are only the rumours of the day.--Lushington got a
    most handsome and proper dressing from Castlereagh, who, I am told,
    did it remarkably well.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, July 22, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    Lord G---- wrote to me last night, and tells me that he must,
    however reluctantly, attend on the 17th, the Chancellor being, as
    it is said, determined to go all lengths to enforce attendance. He
    is, in my mind, quite right in doing so. You will be much rejoiced
    to hear that on the 20th Lord G---- received a letter from Lord
    Liverpool, offering through him, in the K----'s name and in his,
    and in the most flattering terms from both, the situation of Regius
    Professor of Divinity at Oxford, with the Canonship of Christ
    Church, to Dr. Hodgson, as a thing proper in itself, and also as
    what was wished to be done on account of his connexion with Lord
    G----.

    Nothing could be more gratifying to Lord G----, who has always felt
    mortified at observing that hitherto his connexion with Hodgson had
    been rather prejudicial than serviceable to him.--I write this the
    rather because my brother adds that the post being in the moment of
    going, he has not time to write you word of it then.

    St. Paul's is given to Llandaff. The dandy Pelham is gone sulkily
    down to look at Bugden, and to see whether he will condescend to
    take that after his disappointment, at which there seems to be a
    very general feeling of satisfaction.

    Vague reports of negotiation with the Queen through Lady
    Cholmondeley; but I do not hear them from any sort of authority,
    and therefore I know not how to believe them. I hope you observe
    the _Morning Chronicle's_ congratulations on the Naples revolution
    without loss of life, "in consequence of its being achieved by the
    _soldiery_, since wherever they raise their voice, it is
    imperative." And this is the Whig and Opposition printer!!! The
    K---- was prevented by gout from attending the cavalry review.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, July 26, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    The little that I hear is not worth sending you, either in quality
    or in quantity. The rumours about the military increase daily and
    frightfully. How much of these rumours is true, and how much is
    invented, and how much is exaggerated, I have no means to judge;
    but the prevalence of that topic of conversation, while it shews
    the generality of the apprehension, is itself but too much
    calculated to bring on the evil of which it treats. Tierney
    yesterday told us he had heard Wood say the day before that the
    Q---- had irrevocably determined to come down every day to the
    trial in her "coach-and-six _in a high style;_" if so, she
    will very likely be attended by all the idle populace between
    Hammersmith and London, besides a host of radicals, who will not
    let go by such an auspicious opportunity. How the peace of the
    metropolis or the safety of the Parliament is to be secured under
    all these circumstances, might puzzle wiser heads than those whose
    business it will be to decide upon it. T---- admits himself to be
    considerably alarmed, and describes the appearance of the Ministers
    in these latter days as betraying more anxiety and apprehension
    than vigour or decision. He said that the Attorney-General, in his
    speech yesterday in the House of Commons, was almost in tears, and
    used the expression that "there was no doubt that a revolution was
    in contemplation." Whether it is prudent to use such an expression
    in order to excite sufficient means of resistance, or dangerous
    from awakening such a topic may be a question; but of the extent of
    alarm which he must have felt to have led him to that expression,
    there can be no doubt.

    One of the rumours is, that the D---- of W---- was earnest for
    disbanding one of the regiments of Guards, but that the D---- of
    Y---- would not consent; another is, that the D---- of G----,
    apprised some time back of the state of his regiment, forbid his
    Adjutant to communicate it to the D---- of Y----. But these are
    only rumours.

    Reports continue of doubts about the Household Troops; probably
    some mere inventions, and others exaggerated; but the mischief of
    these reports is incalculable, because they promote distrust and
    suspicion on the one side, and agitation and restlessness on the
    other; and if one wished to create the evil, there could be no
    readier way than by the unremitted discussions which prevail
    everywhere upon this subject.

    The 71st and 85th Light Infantry regiments, now under Sir J. Byng,
    are ordered up to Uxbridge and to the neighbourhood of London; I
    trust, therefore, and indeed I hear, that in Byng's district things
    are tolerably quiet; but if the Q---- goes to Manchester, as she
    threatens, the two regiments will perhaps have to march back again.

    What you hear about Canning is true. He attends no Cabinets, and is
    going to Italy.

    The Q---- is sending what she calls her _Commissioners_ to
    Milan. There are among them, as I hear, two respectable lawyers.

    The Attorney-General said two days ago that the prosecutor's case
    would take a month.

    I am glad to hear you have good accounts from every part of the
    Bucks Yeomanry. Everything looks too fearful to allow me the
    expression of anything but the most heartfelt regret, that on a
    question which in three weeks may decide upon the fate of the
    country, there should be a single Grenville found among those whom
    we may have to fear and (dreadful to think) to resist! I shall
    return with you to town, for if there is danger where my brother
    and you are, there will I be.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Malvern Wells, July 24, 1820.

    You will, perhaps, have heard from my brother, to whom I wrote the
    day I knew it, of the very handsome and kind manner in which the
    Divinity Professorship at Oxford has been offered to Hodgson
    through me, and I am sure it will have given you pleasure both on
    his account and mine.

    Lord Liverpool could hardly have found a more delicate or a more
    effectual way of gratifying me, and I must say he has done so very
    much indeed.

    The appointment is, in all other respects, one that must do him
    credit, and I trust it may lead to still further prospects for
    Hodgson. It has long been a matter of deep mortification to me to
    think how much Hodgson's universally acknowledged merits had been
    put by on the account of the part he had taken in my support, and I
    delight now in thinking that he will ultimately not be a loser by
    that circumstance.

    We shall, of course, meet on the 17th, if indeed that day is
    adhered to; but, after so many delays, one hardly knows how to
    reckon on any fixed time for this unpleasant business.

    The revolution at Naples was wholly unexpected. Had it been looked
    for, there was the ready resource of Austrian troops, which I still
    hope may be effective in preserving tranquillity in the rest of
    Italy.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, July 26, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I have to return your Lordship many thanks for the proxy, though,
    owing to my bad writing, it took such a circuit that it would have
    been too late here for any good purpose had proxies been called
    for, which they were not. Lord Ellenborough, to propitiate the
    Chancellor, materially altered the form of the Bill, which enabled
    that _wily_ adversary to throw it out altogether, which I doubt
    very much whether he could have done had the alterations made in it
    not given a fair pretext of want of more time to consider them. A
    great point was, however, gained by the discussion, for Lord
    Liverpool admitted that a considerable alteration must be made in
    the existing law, and guarded his vote by this statement. Ministers
    certainly appear low, and I have no doubt are under great alarm.
    Dr. Lushington has given Lord Liverpool formal notice that the
    Queen will attend all the discussions on the Bill in the House of
    Lords. It is said she is daily to come from Barnes in a
    coach-and-six. This must all be for stage effect, or rather for
    intimidation; and really it is impossible to look forward to the
    result without apprehension, especially knowing, as we do, that the
    Ministers delight in half measures, and never take any decided line
    if they can avoid it. In the House of Commons their authority is
    decidedly at a low ebb. Canning has not been in the House for some
    time. It is said he is going to join his family in Italy; and
    people now contrast his conduct with that of the Chancellor who
    co-operated with him in 1808 to whitewash the Queen, much to the
    disadvantage of the latter (_i.e._, the Chancellor).

    One idea very prevalent is, that the Queen will address the House
    of Lords in a speech at the opening of the proceedings against her.

    If any occurrence likely to interest you comes to my knowledge, you
    may depend upon hearing from me; but I am thinking of making my
    escape somewhere to the sea-side in the course of the next week,
    for a short time at least.

    Believe me, my dear Lord,

    Your Lordship's obliged and faithful,

    J. PHILLIMORE.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Barmouth, July 27, 1820.

    MY DEAR B----,

    During the interval which elapsed between the time of your leaving
    town and my setting off for Wales, not a single event took
    place--not even a fresh report was circulated--which might afford
    me the materials for a letter. My newspaper now speaks of a fresh
    attempt at a compromise, accompanied with a proposal for restoring
    the Queen's name to the Liturgy, which has been refused on her
    part. Surely, notwithstanding all the absurdity and mismanagement
    which we have seen, this must be impossible. The only way of
    accounting for it would be some panic of personal alarm; but even
    then, lowly as I think of his advisers, I cannot conceive that they
    could consent to a measure of such inevitable and wholly useless
    disgrace.

    The eagerness of popular feeling, even in this Tory tranquil part
    of the country--where there has not, since the extinction of
    Jacobitism, been an opinion ever expressed on general politics, but
    that all measures adopted by the King must be right--is
    inconceivable. I was stopped in this little village the first day
    of my arrival, by the master of a fishing-boat, to ask me whether I
    thought the House of Commons would take care that justice was done
    to the Queen. My wife, also, has met with two or three equally
    strong proofs of the interest taken in this question. Pray tell me
    what you hear of the disposition of the army. I have seen some
    allusions to fresh discontents among the Guards on the subject of
    some stoppage for breakfasts. The cause does not signify a pin, for
    if the spirit once exists, occasions for manifesting it will never
    be wanting.

    Henry writes me word that he heard of scarcely anything at Milan,
    or in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Como, but the Queen's
    conduct, of which everybody seemed ready to give evidence. The
    witnesses had all been placed on an allowance of thirty francs per
    diem, which seems as good a device to invalidate their evidence as
    could have been adopted, and many are supposed to have come forward
    only _per chiappar il denaro_. The most material are said to be
    some bricklayers, who must have peeped, he concludes, through the
    windows.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


In the manner indicated in the preceding portion of this
correspondence, the great contest was carried on. The Queen had
evidently not miscalculated her power of dangerously exciting public
opinion; she had moved from the Alderman's house to the residence of
one of the ladies of her suite, and from thence had gone to a more
Queen-like abode, at a convenient distance from town, known as
Brandenburg House, Hammersmith; but wherever she went, the popular
hopes and wishes went with her,--and knowing the excitement she
produced, she redoubled her efforts to increase it, and direct it to
the advancement of her interests. The moderation of the Government she
regarded with studied contempt, and every indication they put forth of
a desire to treat her with as much respect as was consistent with their
duty to their Royal master, produced a more violent display of her
resolve to ride down all opposition. There is little doubt that the
King was now as much alarmed as annoyed; was often dissatisfied with
his Ministers, and quite ready to accept the services of any set of men
capable of relieving him from this serious embarrassment; but the task
was full of danger, and prudent statesmen like Lord Grenville and his
brother were not to be tempted into accepting it. The Coronation was
postponed, and the Court participated in their Sovereign's fears and
anxieties.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    E. Green, Friday, August 11, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    The K---- has been in this neighbourhood for the last fortnight,
    living in the greatest retirement; his party consisting of very
    few--the principal object of course the Lady C----, who is here.
    They ride every day, or go on the water, or drive in a barouche;
    the K---- and her always together, separated from the rest, and in
    the evening sitting alone apart. I have heard of the Esterhazys
    (who called on a friend here, and said the evenings were _triste
    à mourir_), no cards, no books, no amusement or employment of
    any kind; Sir Benjamin and Lady Bloomfield, Lord C----, Nagle,
    Thornton, Keppel, and one or two more; I believe the Warwicks, for
    two days; the Duke of Dorset. The secrecy that is preserved as to
    their pursuits is beyond all idea; no servant is permitted to say
    who is there; no one of the party calls on anybody, or goes near
    Windsor; and when they ride, a groom is in advance, ordering
    everybody to retire, for "the K---- is coming." The private rides
    are of course avoided by the neighbours, so that in fact you know
    almost as much of what is going on as I do, excepting that the
    excess of his attentions and _enjouement_ is beyond belief.

    The public are full of nothing but a communication between the
    King and the Ministers, opened by a letter from her. I have not
    the least idea it can possibly lead to accommodation, though it
    is hoped so. I think Lord John Russell's letter most calculated
    indeed for mischief, and for nothing else, for the idea of the
    interference proposed is quite absurd; if it were to take place at
    all, it must be through Parliament. The prospect of the opening and
    of the result is tremendous, and enough to appal the stoutest
    heart; however, we have weathered many storms, and I hope we shall
    do so in this case. The Duchess of York wrote a very affecting
    letter to the Duke just previous to her death. His Majesty has not
    bestowed a _length_ of outward grief in the mourning. She is
    certainly to be buried at Weybridge.

    Ever, my dear Lord, most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.

    P.S.--Lord Bulkeley has excused himself for the trial; he has been
    very severely ill indeed, and I doubt much if he will have strength
    to rally, though he is gradually, but very slowly, mending. There
    are messengers going from and coming to the Cottage hourly almost
    for the last two days.




CHAPTER III.

[1820.]

EVIDENCE AGAINST QUEEN CAROLINE. DIVIDED OPINIONS RESPECTING HER IN THE
HOUSE OF LORDS. DECLARATION OF LORD GRENVILLE. THE BILL OF PAINS AND
PENALTIES ABANDONED. THE KING DISSATISFIED WITH HIS MINISTERS.
CONVERSATION OF LORD GRENVILLE WITH THE KING. MINISTERIAL MANAGEMENT
OF THE QUEEN'S CASE. HER CONDUCT AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF PROCEEDINGS
AGAINST HER. REACTION IN THE PUBLIC MIND. THE QUEEN LOSES GROUND IN
POPULAR ESTIMATION. RETURNING POPULARITY OF THE KING.




CHAPTER III.


It is unnecessary to follow minutely the proceedings that took place in
both Houses of the Legislature, then generally looked upon as the trial
of Caroline of Brunswick,--let it suffice to state, that despite the
disclosures which they furnished, the Queen did not lose any of her
popularity. It was enough for the multitude which had so
enthusiastically embraced her cause, that the witnesses against her
were foreigners; and their national prejudices thus enlisted in her
behalf, carried her triumphantly through an ordeal that would have been
destructive to a much better reputation.[44]

      [44] Whatever may be thought of the testimony of the Italian
      witnesses, that of the English officers examined was above
      suspicion. Their evidence, an impartial historian has
      acknowledged, proved her guilty of conduct that rendered her
      "unfit to be at the head of English society, and amply justified
      the measures taken to exclude her from it."--Alison's "Europe,"
      vol. ii. p. 466.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Putney Heath, Aug. 12, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    In spite of the rumours I hear on every side, I suppose the House
    of Lords will meet on the 17th to prove the preamble of the Bill of
    Pains and Penalties;--indeed, in the present state of things, I see
    not what other course can be adopted. Lord John Russell's plan
    really seems to me more pregnant with certain mischief than any
    which has yet been suggested; and we are now suffering enough from
    fluctuating and oscillating counsels to warn us against any
    recurrence to measures which savour of timidity and hesitation. My
    own idea is this, that in reality the Queen's partisans mainly rely
    on the effect they can produce by their daily statements and daily
    intimidation on the electors, hoping through their instrumentality
    to make the elected subservient to their plans; and it is, I fear,
    impossible as yet to calculate whether they may not be successful
    in this. At all events, the Government will have received a shock
    in the control of the House of Commons, which, constituted as they
    now are, they never can recover. Never, indeed, in my recollection,
    do I remember so general an idea that there must be a change of
    Ministry. I hear it from quarters which astonish me.

    Lushington, I hear, now very much presides over the councils of her
    Majesty; in many respects he is well calculated to please her, for
    he is good-natured and obliging in his demeanour, rash in his
    advice, and a lover to excess of popular applause. He is everywhere
    with her now: airs with her, assists her in receiving addresses,
    &c.

    The only counsel to be employed for the King, as I am informed, are
    the Attorney and Solicitor-General, Young, Parke, and two
    civilians,--viz., the King's Advocate and Dr. Adams. They must rely
    upon the Solicitor-General mainly, whose shoulders are quite equal
    to the burthen. They are very unfortunate in the choice of their
    civilians: the King's Advocate is clumsy and confused, and has no
    practice; Adams is injudicious and impracticable, and has no
    learning. I shall be exceedingly curious to see the outset of the
    business; but probably it will be difficult to get a place, even if
    the present heat continues.

    Canning left London for Italy a few days ago.

    Believe me ever, my dear Lord,

    Your obliged and faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

    P.S.--If there should be any idea of postponing the business (which
    I do not in the least expect), perhaps you will have the kindness
    to let me know as much.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Aug. 30, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    The discussions which have taken place, and the decision of
    yesterday, astound everybody here. The Chancellor and the Prime
    Minister differing and dividing on a question which the former
    argues as vital to the jurisprudence of the country, is what
    England, I believe, has never before witnessed; and these Ministers
    remaining in the same Cabinet, and continuing to act together. How
    can all this end? I was in town for a few hours on Monday, and it
    appeared to me that in the streets the cry was increased instead of
    diminished for the Queen. I saw several lawyers, dispassionate men,
    and intelligent, who all confirmed this, and assured me that their
    belief was, that be the evidence ever so strong, and the facts
    proved, the public--and included in this, the middling class, the
    shopkeepers--were determined to support her as an oppressed and
    injured woman, and as hating and despising the character of the
    witnesses. It also has not a little benefited her cause, that it
    appears how much the King personally has prepared the evidence by
    his emissaries abroad, and more particularly by his Hanoverian
    engines. I assure you I am quite low-spirited about it. One cannot
    calculate on anything less than subversion of all Government and
    authority, if this is to go on; and how it is to end, no one can
    foresee. I think, however (what I did not do when you told me so in
    town), that the Commons will never entertain the Bill. But, again,
    when will it ever come to the Commons? The mischief will be all
    done previously; and the Press now is completely open to treason,
    sedition, blasphemy, and falsehood with impunity. This alone, if it
    continues, must debauch the public mind. I want some volunteer
    establishments to be formed, or something to be done without a
    moment's delay, by the well-disposed and loyal who have influence,
    to check the torrent and to guard against the explosion which must
    inevitably take place. I don't know whether you see the _Cobbetts_,
    _Independent Whig_, and many other papers now circulating most
    extensively, and which are dangerous much beyond anything I can
    describe. I have an opportunity of seeing them, and can speak
    therefore from knowledge; and the Government taking no steps
    (knowing, perhaps, they cannot depend on a jury) to prosecute. What
    do you find in the language of Government since the division? Is
    the Chancellor submissive? and does he still cling to the Purse, or
    will he surrender it?

    The King here confines himself to the Cottage, has _hourly_
    messengers--that is, dragoons, who are posted on the road by
    dozens--and we hear is in a state of the greatest irritation; but
    he is very seldom seen, and this is only what one picks up.--You
    have no conception how thoroughly the public mind, even in this
    neighbourhood, is inflamed by this melancholy subject, and how the
    Queen is still supported.--Adieu, my dear Lord. I should be glad to
    know how you are, and what you think of the state of things since I
    saw you.

    Yours most faithfully,

    W. H. Fremantle.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Your prognostications of the present Bill standing over for the
    decision of the rising generation, seem to be now, I will not say
    verified, but far exceeded, as it must remain not for that which is
    rising, but for that which is yet unborn, _if_ it be proceeded
    in. You know the strong bias of my opinion was originally towards
    an impeachment for misdemeanour, if a simple Divorce Bill could not
    be carried; and really, as is usual on such occasions, everything
    which passes seems to supply me with a fresh argument in favour of
    that course. Certain, however, it is, that no course could possibly
    have been adopted which would not have been marred by the weakness
    and indecision of Ministers. The double cross-examination now
    authorized, seems to me in its effect infinitely more inconvenient
    than a communication of the list of witnesses, objectionable as I
    thought that measure would have been originally. That at least
    would have expedited the business, since it would have left no
    pretence for calling for extended delay to prepare her defence. As
    it is, under the most favourable circumstances to the Bill, I do
    not see how it is to reach the House of Commons till after
    Christmas, allowing an interval of six weeks or two months for
    preparing her defence, which I suppose must be given. If this be
    the case, how will it be possible for the House of Commons to
    proceed to effect with such an examination as this, and at the same
    time to go through the ordinary business of the session, increased
    as it will be beyond precedent by the arrears and omissions of the
    last?

    There are many whose object it will be studiously and declaredly to
    protract, in order that the business may necessarily drop to the
    ground; and from the general aversion to the whole proceeding, it
    seems to me that they must succeed.

    The evidence against the Queen seems already decisive, so far as to
    establish her criminality; but I understand that, in order to guard
    against a possibility of the contradiction of these facts, the
    whole crew of the _Vero Fidele_, &c. &c., are to be examined.

    Wilberforce's notion of a Committee to be established by Act of
    Parliament for the trial of this particular case, seems to me too
    absurd for even him to persist in, since the obvious consequence
    must be a declaration that the same course must be followed in all
    subsequent trials, the two Houses being by their own confession as
    unfit to act judicially as the House of Commons was on election
    cases; and if that be the case, really the sooner Henry Hunt comes
    with his long brush to sweep us all out, the better.


Thus had proceeded the months of June, July, and August; in September,
affairs looked worse. Libels against the Government abounded; the most
violent language was indulged in by the democratic leaders; formidable
riots became of frequent occurrence; in short, everything seemed to
denote a revolution.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Brighton, Sept. 27, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    From all I hear, and from general conversation, I have no doubt if
    the Bill proceeds in the Commons we shall have a riot, and I doubt
    extremely whether the Divorce Bill can be carried. I dined
    yesterday with the Duke of York, who is here alone. His
    conversation was violent against the Queen, and fair and candid
    with regard to the state of the country. He spoke, however, with
    great confidence on the state and disposition of the army; in fact,
    after all that is said and done, it must eventually depend upon the
    troops, for sure I am they will be called upon. I took the
    opportunity of holding the language you suggested, and indeed it is
    what I really feel. He said it was not intended in the first
    instance to have troops to guard the avenues of the Commons, but
    they would be in the way; the whole arrangements would continue;
    and if the House found it necessary to call for them, there they
    would be. There has been, as you heard from the K----, a general
    quarrel between the K----, Duke of York, Lord Liverpool, and the
    Duke of Gloucester, none of them now speaking to the latter. He has
    acted like an obstinate ----. What an abominable thing it is the
    King not going ashore, and not showing himself to any of his
    subjects! His conduct is an excitement to popular hatred. What can
    it mean? Lord King is here, and appears to me to chuckle quite at
    the thoughts of what is likely to happen. I fancy a great number of
    Peers, when it comes to the close, will avoid the vote.

    Perry, the editor, who is here, tells me the cry, instead of
    diminishing, increases in favour of the Queen; and he does not seem
    himself to favour her, or at least he does not speak in her praise.

    Lord Bathurst is here, and from his language, and that of the Duke
    of B----, I should say the Government is confoundedly frightened;
    the latter certainly implied the necessity of strengthening it, and
    lamented once or twice the want of energy, and the whole line which
    had been adopted. He leaves this for town to-morrow.

    Ever, &c.,

    W. H. F.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Six o'clock.

    You have no idea of the state of the town: it is all confusion. The
    King and his Ministers are at issue on the question, as it is said,
    of the Queen; and the latter have sent in their resignation, unless
    the propositions they make are complied with. Lord Castlereagh was
    deputed yesterday to notify this decision to him, and he had a
    conference of _four_ hours. The King, however, was not to be
    persuaded, and was again to have a decision of the Cabinet to-day.
    It is at this moment sitting at Carlton House. These are, as I am
    well informed, _facts_. The supposed cause is the Queen. The
    Council had prepared a Form of Prayer which the King positively
    refused to sign or sanction. The Funds fell to-day. As to the King
    forming a Government, after the resignation of all his present
    servants, with the avowed object of persecuting the Queen, it would
    be impossible; it would be making her the popular object, and
    throwing the country in a flame. However, be assured that the
    general belief is that the Government will be broken up. You may
    judge of this when I tell you that my authorities are Lord
    Conyngham, Lord Howden, and others in the interior of Carlton
    House. I hear you are at Dropmore, and send this to you. Be assured
    that the King on this subject is no less _than mad_ He has said
    he would rather die, or lose his crown, than submit to any
    compromise of any sort with the Queen.

    Adieu. You shall hear to-morrow.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


In the months of October and November it became evident that the frenzy
outside the Houses of Parliament was exerting an influence within its
walls. Notwithstanding Lord Grenville's manly declaration in his place
in the House of Lords, on the 6th of November, that the proceedings
before that assembly had furnished a mass of evidence that, in nine
hundred and ninety-nine cases out of a thousand, would have ensured a
conviction, several influential members of the Whig party as boldly
declared that nothing of the slightest importance had been brought
forward against the Queen.

The proceedings were drawing on, but the aspect of affairs looked
blacker every hour. "Matters here are in a critical state," writes Lord
Sidmouth to Mr. Bathurst, on the 27th of October. "Fear and faction are
actively and not unsuccessfully at work; and it is possible that we may
be in a minority, and that the fate of the Government may be decided in
a few days."[45] Plumer Ward, in his "Diary," has this entry under the
date of November 2nd:--

      [45] Dean Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii p. 333.

    "Called upon [Wellesley] Pole. He was at breakfast, and we had a
    long chat. He thought everything very bad--Ministers, Opposition,
    King, Queen, Country--and what was more, no prospect of getting
    right. All ties were loosened. Insolence and insubordination out of
    doors; weakness and wickedness within. The Whigs, he said, were
    already half Radicals, and would be entirely so if we did not give
    way. I said his brother, the Duke [of Wellington], felt this too,
    but would not give way, nevertheless. He replied that the issue
    would soon be tried, for the Queen's question must determine it;
    and asked how I calculated it would be. I said I could not hope for
    a majority of more than thirty--so many friends of Government were
    against us on the policy, though they had no doubt of the guilt."[46]

      [46] "Memoirs," by Phipps, vol. ii. p. 70.

Under these untoward circumstances, sanguine members of the neutral
party were, as usual, speculating on a change in the Government. His
Majesty, according to some accounts, was taking the matter very
pleasantly. "The King," said Wellesley Pole, "to use his expression,
was as merry as a grig. At first he had been annoyed, but was now
enjoying himself at Brighton. He wished he would show himself more."[47]

      [47] Ibid. p. 73.

The same authority affords many other peeps behind the political
curtain. We quote one:--

    "On leaving Pole, I met Hammond, my quondam colleague when we were
    Under Secretaries of State together. He told me it was certain Lord
    Grenville would support the Bill, and then asked me, with much
    concern, whether the report was true that, if it did not pass,
    Ministers had resolved to resign? I answered, that what they had
    resolved in their own minds no one could tell, but that I thought I
    could answer that no such resolution had been made a Cabinet
    measure. He said he was very glad. I related this to ----, who said
    with some vehemence, there was no reason on earth why they should
    resign. They had been right and straightforward from the beginning,
    and for one, he never would consent to it. ---- said, Hammond being
    the mouthpiece of Canning, he had no doubt this was set on foot by
    his party. I thought this was going too far; nevertheless, it is
    surprising what industry they are showing against the Bill."[48]

      [48] Phipps's "Memoirs of R. Plumer Ward," vol. ii. p. 73.

"Lord Grenville," adds the diarist, "voted for the second reading, and
spoke very ably, but so as to make us regret he had not spoken
earlier."[49]

      [49] Ibid. p. 77.

The second reading of the Bill was carried, and this, according to Lord
Grey, stamped the Queen with a verdict of guilty. Having done this,
Ministers prepared to get rid of the proceedings as soon as possible.

How the affair terminated is well described in Plumer Ward's "Diary,"
under the date November 10th. We can only afford space for a few
lines:--

    "The debate was now drawing to a close, and most of the peers who
    were speaking, whether for or against the third reading (the Duke
    of Northumberland very emphatically), were declaring their
    conviction that the Queen was guilty. At length the division was
    called, and Lord Gage enforced the standing order, that each peer
    should give his vote in his place, _seriatim_. The result was the
    small majority of 9; the numbers being 108 to 99. Lord Liverpool
    then got up and withdrew the Bill, resting it upon so small a
    majority _in the circumstances of the country_."[50]

      [50] "Memoirs," by Phipps, vol. ii. p. 91.

The Opposition were, of course, in raptures with this conclusion of the
contest; but Ministers were still more delighted, the Duke of
Wellington especially. "Well," said he, "we have done exceedingly well,
and have avoided all sort of mischief, I think, with safety and without
dishonour. The votes put the question of guilt or innocence out of
doubt; the withdrawing is grounded upon mere expediency, and has
nothing to do with the verdict; had we given up before the third
reading, it would have been different."[51]

      [51] Ibid. p. 93.

The metropolis was illuminated in consequence of the Government having
abandoned the prosecution.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Nov. 12, 1820.

    Upon the whole, my dear B----, with the very imperfect means of
    information which, at the distance of a hundred and eighty miles
    from the scene of action, I possess, I am inclined to think the
    conclusion to which this business has been brought, the best that
    circumstances admitted of, and such as will afford the least
    triumph to the Radicals. Still, though the least, it is far too
    great for the safety of the country; and after the saturnalia which
    the shameful supineness and cowardice of Ministers have allowed, I
    know not how popular commotion is to be avoided. I feel as strongly
    as you do the claim of duty which the country possesses upon every
    man in such a conjuncture; yet I should most deeply regret if
    circumstances should oblige us to connect ourselves with men from
    whose previous conduct we could expect nothing but the shipwreck of
    our own character, and the loss of those means, which we may
    possibly possess by that character, of being of service hereafter.

    After their inconsistency and vacillation upon so important a
    subject as the Divorce clause, and voting against their own
    declared opinion on a measure which they had themselves originated,
    what dependence could _we_, small as could be our power, place
    upon their support and co-operation in measures which we might
    think necessary, and which, on the faith of that support, we might
    pledge ourselves to?

    At all events, I am most anxious that we should, for the present,
    stand aloof, when there has been so much to disgust us in the
    conduct of both parties, till we see what effect is produced by
    what has happened. Something certainly might depend upon the nature
    of the split which might take place in the Administration; but I
    fear that there could scarcely be any one which would not ensure
    the retirement of the only man whom it would be important to
    retain--Lord Liverpool. Castlereagh might, perhaps, try as Premier;
    but surely you would not think those encouraging auspices to start
    under, insisting as you must do absolutely on the dismissal of the
    Doctor and his whole train.

    I had much rather myself if an opportunity offered of coming in
    with the Whigs, trust to the usual and never-failing effect of
    office in making them vehement anti-Radicals, in case we could make
    some conditions for immediate measures, or rather against immediate
    concessions; but I feel that this is, at the present moment, too
    visionary a speculation. On the whole, I should repeat that we must
    at present wait the course of events; and, above all, avoid
    courting any offer from either party. Place and power are not
    objects which you can be bound to seek, though it may be your duty
    to accept them at a moment so perilous.

    I expect company here, which would make it difficult for me to join
    you at Stowe for some time. Of course, there will be a prorogation
    on the 23rd; and it should seem most probable that, unless the next
    three or four days should produce a general resignation, they will
    endeavour to wait over the first ferment produced by the
    abandonment of the Bill before they attempt any new arrangement.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


That the King was dissatisfied with his Ministers, is very apparent
from the following communications:--


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Nov. 23, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Such a scene was never witnessed as that which took place in the
    House of Commons this afternoon. After a petition had been
    presented, and certain new members had been sworn, Denman got up to
    make a communication from the Queen. Sir Thomas Tyrrwhit instantly
    made his appearance; a clamour beyond all imagination arose; and
    the Speaker descended from the chair, amidst cries of "Shame!
    shame!" re-echoed through the House. The interpretation of this I
    understand to be, that Denman saw the Speaker yesterday, who
    advised him to change his form of proceeding from a Message from
    the Queen to a communication from her; and _told him_, if he would
    be in the House a quarter before two, he should have an opportunity
    of making it. The Speaker having left the House in this state of
    ferment and indignation, preparations were made to receive him on
    his return (to read, as he usually does, the King's Speech) with a
    sharp volley; but the Lords Commissioners, it seems, delivered no
    speech, and the Speaker, instead of returning to us, retired to his
    own home. It is but just to add, that I was not an eyewitness of
    all these proceedings, for I reached the House just as the Speaker
    was entering the House of Peers; but I heard the relation from
    every one, and the indignation expressed at the Speaker's conduct
    was not confined to the members of Opposition.

    I hear no account of changes, &c., on which I can at all rely. The
    Government, since the abandonment of their Bill, seem to have lost
    their senses. They have done, I think, everything they ought not.
    In my opinion, they are irretrievably gone. I have no idea that
    they can long stand against the storm they have been so
    instrumental in raising against themselves; and this is the
    persuasion among many of those who have hitherto supported them.

    Excuse haste. But believe me your Lordship's obliged and faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Sunday, Two o'clock P.M., Nov. 26, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    Lord Grenville has been employed this morning in making a note of a
    very long conversation which the King held with him yesterday,
    having sent for him to his Cottage. Lord G---- had intended to have
    added a few words to you upon this subject, but he has such a
    violent headache that he has been obliged to desire me to enclose
    to you his memorandum of what passed yesterday. He desires that you
    would return it by his servant as soon as you have read it, and
    strongly urges me to dwell upon the indispensable necessity of no
    part of that memorandum being _either copied or quoted by you_. You
    will see that he desired the K---- to mention to Lord L---- that
    such a conversation had taken place; and as it occupied five hours,
    it will probably be very generally known that Lord G---- was at the
    Cottage. The way in which Lord G---- means to speak of it when it
    is mentioned in his presence is, that "everybody knows his absolute
    determination not to embark in any official business, or in any
    possible Administration; but that the public danger appears to be
    so great, that it is very natural for the K---- to wish to converse
    with anybody on whose integrity and experience he places any
    reliance; and that, instead of being surprised that the K----
    should wish to discuss these dangers with Lord G----, it is only
    surprising that he does not extend the same discussion to many
    others whom he may believe equally attached with Lord G---- to the
    constitution of our limited monarchy."

    This general observation seems quite sufficient, and is, in truth,
    a very fair picture of all that is fit to be said in public on such
    a topic. My brother thought that the K---- looked thin and worn,
    but said that he spoke with feeling and good sense throughout the
    whole conversation.

    My own speculation is, that C---- means to oppose the Cabinet in
    their exclusion from the Liturgy, and that he will quit on that
    ground; but we shall see whether any middle course will be adopted.
    I think Lord G---- did all that became him in declining to advise
    between the two parties of Government and Opposition; and that he
    will have done some good if, at his suggestion, the K---- forces
    his Ministers to look into their situation and to ascertain it,
    instead of going a-shooting and revelling.

    Lady L---- has broken a bloodvessel. Lord Kirkwall is dead. Lord
    G----'s servant returns early to-morrow.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Nov. 23, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I found Lord Shaftesbury at Lord Verulam's, and I think I never saw
    anybody so sore or so depressed as he appeared to be. I found from
    him that there is a considerable difference between Lord Liverpool
    and the Chancellor; and the history of the protestors, I am quite
    sure, arises from a wish of the latter to wound the former. Lords
    Bridgewater and Verulam have been persuaded by Lord Shaftesbury
    into it, and fancy they are acting a very independent and manly
    part by so doing.--The King has been urging the Government to go on
    with the business _now_ without adjournment, and was most eager
    that the question of Income, Palace, and Liturgy should be
    immediately discussed; and in this he has again been advised by
    L----. He is very angry with his Ministers for not complying with
    his orders, and has abused both Lords Liverpool and Castlereagh.
    Notwithstanding all this, however, they are determined to try the
    game as they stand, and will meet Parliament without change. The
    Whigs and Radicals are both fearful of the Grenville party joining
    the Government; and Cobbett has been attacking you violently in his
    last number, which I do not think will lessen you in public
    opinion.--I did not go up to-day, for Lord Shaftesbury told me it
    was determined, if possible, to prevent any discussion.--I hope you
    continue to mend. You shall have whatever I pick up.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. Fremantle.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Nov. 26, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Of course, before you get this, you will have heard that the King
    sent for Lord Grenville. Bloomfield went on Friday to Dropmore, and
    yesterday Lord G---- came to the Cottage at eleven, and stayed till
    three.--It happened that I dined with the King afterwards, at the
    Princess Augusta's, at Frogmore, who called me aside to tell me of
    the conference, saying how much satisfied he had been with Lord
    Grenville.--Of course he said nothing further to me, excepting that
    he had told Lord G---- all that was intended to be done; by which I
    implied that the interview was more for the purpose of consulting
    and asking his advice, than for any object of change.--Previous to
    dinner, I thought his Majesty looked dreadfully dejected and
    thoughtful; but when he had dined (professing to have no appetite),
    and ate as much as would serve me for three days, of fish--but no
    meat--together with a bottle of strong punch, he was in much better
    spirits, and vastly agreeable. There were only six people, four of
    which were ladies. He did not sit a quarter of an hour after they
    left us; and excepting talking a little on the indecent behaviour
    of the _Mountain_ in the House of Commons, and telling an anecdote
    or two of the women who went up with addresses to the Queen, not a
    word was said of politics. He remained till twelve o'clock, and he
    and Princess Augusta and myself sang glees.--He leaves the Cottage
    to-morrow.--You may suppose how very anxious I am to learn
    generally what has been the object of the interview at the Cottage.
    If for a change, I am persuaded Lord G---- would recommend in the
    first place Lord Lansdowne; but if I were to judge of what the King
    said of Tierney's conduct on the day of the meeting, this would not
    suit his present feelings.--What a game has Lord Grenville now in
    his hands! and what an influence he might possess in the country,
    could he be tempted to take a lead, which I am sure he will
    not!--Pray let me hear from you, as I am dying to know something
    about it.--Possibly this may reach you at Dropmore, if it leads to
    negotiation.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--The King spoke kindly of you, and about Wootton.


The Queen immediately tried to make the most of her "triumph," as it
was called, and wrote to Lord Liverpool, demanding a palace. This was
refused, though a handsome allowance was offered. She then agitated for
a restoration of her name to the Liturgy, which was also firmly
opposed.

The result of the withdrawal of the Bill was remarkable. A delirium of
triumph appeared to have seized the entire country, and more
particularly the populations of the large cities; but singularly true
was Lord Castlereagh's prophecy, that in six months the King would be
the most popular person in his dominions. The madness of the multitude
necessarily brought about a reaction. "When the struggle was over and
the victory gained," observes an historian of these events, "the King
and his Ministers defeated, and the Queen secured in her rank and
fortune, they began to reflect on what they had done, and the qualities
of the exalted personage of whom they had proved themselves such
doughty champions. They called to mind the evidence in the case, which
they had little considered while the contest lasted; and they observed,
not without secret misgivings, the effect it produced on the different
classes of society. They saw that the experienced hesitated at it, the
serious shunned it, the licentious gloated over it. The reaction, so
usual in such cases when the struggle is over, ensued; and, satisfied
with having won the victory, they began to regret that it had not been
gained in a less questionable cause."[52]

      [52] Alison's "Europe," vol. ii. p. 467.

The last entry in Plumer Ward's "Diary" of this date is very
characteristic of the Duke of Wellington:--"Met the Duke just come to
town. He took me under the arm, and walked me to Lord Bathurst's. He
was in excellent humour, and asked what news--having, as he said, been
a country gentleman for two days. I said, I thought the heat a little,
and but a little, subsiding. He observed, he thought so too; and that
it would more after to-morrow--the prorogation. He was more convinced
than ever of the wisdom of that measure, and of withdrawing the
Bill."[53]

      [53] "Memoirs," by Phipps, vol. ii. p. 101.

As may be exemplified by a familiar hygrometer, this change of
atmosphere sent the lady out of notice, and brought the gentleman again
before the public gaze.

The Government have been much censured for their proceedings in the
Queen's case, but it was quite an exceptional one; and their treatment
of it, however open to objections it may be, is equally open to
justification. Their task, from the first, was an up-hill one, which
nothing but their devotion to their master's service made them
continue; but when a thousand unmistakeable signs foretold a rebellion
if they persevered, they had no alternative but to put an end to the
thing with all convenient despatch. The value of this movement soon
became apparent. It possessed advantages which a victory could not have
secured.

Notwithstanding the opinions expressed by the heads of the great Whig
families in favour of the Queen, they could scarcely have desired her
to be at the head of the female aristocracy of the kingdom--their
example, guardian, and liege mistress. The stout lady in the
magnificent hat and feathers was very well as a source of Ministerial
embarrassment; but much as some of them pretended to decry the evidence
against her that was elicited during her trial, they took especial care
not to allow her anything resembling an intimacy with their wives and
daughters.

Plumer Ward describes in his "Diary" one of the Opposition peers who
had been very active for the Queen during the discussion of the Bill,
though acknowledging that he entertained no doubt of her guilt. "I
suppose," observed Ward, "you mean to present Lady ---- at Brandenburg
House? He, with a sudden change to solemnity, and with great emphasis,
exclaimed, '_Never!_'"[54]

      [54] "Memoirs," by Phipps, vol. ii. p. 95.

The Queen soon began to discover that her victory was a sensible
defeat. "She is striving to keep the flame alive," we are told, "and
blow it to fury."[55] But the mob, having nothing to clamour about,
nothing to break windows for, ceased to shout and to throw stones. The
better educated became influenced quite as strongly from a different
source. The cause of the Queen had enjoyed every assistance which a
considerable portion of the press could afford it; and Thomas Moore and
George Cruikshank manufactured the most stinging satires and the most
ludicrous caricatures upon every person of distinction who opposed her;
but a writer had entered the field on the other side, whose caustic
humour told more damagingly on the popular idol and her chief
supporters than the pen of the poet or the pencil of the artist; and
Theodore Hook, in the columns of the _John Bull_, made the respectable
portion of the Queenites heartily ashamed of their cause.

      [55] "Wilberforce," vol. v. p. 81.

The Queen went in state to St. Paul's, to offer her thanks for the
signal advantage over her enemies Providence had afforded her,[56] and
omitted nothing likely to maintain her _prestige_; but the careful
observer might easily have seen that the tide was turning. Brandenburg
House was losing its attraction, while Carlton Palace again became the
main channel of loyal interest. Addresses from several of the most
influential communities in the kingdom were received by the Sovereign
in quick succession; and in one from the University of Oxford, the
deputation was headed by Lord Grenville, who was honoured with a most
gracious reception.

      [56] This exhibition the Bishop of Llandaff stigmatizes as "a
      mockery of religious solemnity, at which every serious Christian
      must shudder."--Pellew's "Life of Sidmouth," vol. iii p. 336.

    "I shall be very glad to hear of your loyal addresses coming up,"
    writes Sir William Scott. "We want to be reinforced in our spirits
    by friendly declarations from respectable bodies and individuals.
    The Whigs appear too much disposed to a coalition with the
    Radicals, in order to compel the King to dismiss the Ministers, and
    that coalition is of itself a sufficient reason for a firm
    resistance to their admission into power; for they will be
    compelled to make very unpleasant concessions to their new allies,
    at the expense of the constitution."[57]

      [57] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 36.

The following correspondence will further illustrate the transactions
of this period:--


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 17, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Since I wrote to you last, I have been manufacturing an address
    from this neighbourhood, which has been carried with great success,
    and has pleased, _particularly_ in the quarter where I was anxious
    it should. I received a communication from the King through
    Princess Augusta, who was commanded to deliver it to me, that he
    should make an exception for his neighbours, and receive it in
    person, and that he should afterwards invite the principal persons
    to dine with him, directing me to make a proper selection for him
    to invite. This has placed me in great awkwardness, for I dare not
    avow this permission for fear of offending all my neighbours, and
    it is difficult to make a selection where all are perfectly unfit.
    However, I have endeavoured to get rid of it, by recommending it to
    be confined to those only who have been presented, or to noblemen
    and men of rank. Though highly flattering all this, I think you
    will agree with me it is highly absurd and _infra dignitate_. My
    own opinion is, that he will not come to the neighbourhood this
    week, as he proposed; for you may rest assured he is extremely
    unwell--I _think_, seriously so. He has been bled twice or three
    times; the greatest pains are taken to keep this illness from the
    public; but my authority is _good_, and what I can depend upon. He
    looked very ill when I last saw him, and I think Lord Grenville
    must have found his appearance much altered. The impression of my
    mind is that the complaint is in the _head_. He has been agitated
    to a degree by the birth of this Clarence child, and by all the
    difficulties surrounding him; and not less from finding that he has
    no resource, but must submit to whatever his Ministers may decide
    as to the Queen. He still presses further resistance, and fancies
    the public will open their eyes to all the history which you know
    regarding the Princess Charlotte, which they will not believe one
    word about, but will only consider a further proof of conspiracy.
    On this point, however, he is uncontrollable, and nothing will
    convince him. What confirms me in his illness is, that Bloomfield
    was to have written to me two days ago to settle about our
    reception, &c. &c; he has not done so, and I am persuaded the King
    cannot leave town, and he don't like to acknowledge this.

    I heard a story--I don't vouch for the truth of it--that the Duke
    of Gloucester and Lord Craven had had some very high words at
    Coombe Abbey, where the former was on a visit. It began from strong
    opinions expressed by the former regarding the Queen, which the
    latter attacked; and it ended in the Royal personage going from his
    visit under great displeasure, and the visited declaring that he
    should never come to his house again. There may be no truth in
    this; but I rather believe it, because I _know_ Lord Craven
    informed the King that he was to have this visit; that he regretted
    it, but it was an old invitation, and he could not put it off;
    otherwise, the behaviour of the Duke of Gloucester regarding the
    Queen was such that he never should have invited him. The King is
    outrageous with the Duke of Gloucester for not attending the
    University Address. I take it for granted Lord G---- goes with his,
    which will mark the neglect still stronger.

    I hope you observed our personal allusions to the King's conduct in
    our Address; I doubt if he will receive such another from any part
    of the kingdom.

    If I hear anything further, you shall immediately know it; and I
    probably shall in a few days.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Dec. 19, 1820.

    I hear that Canning has given way to the continued omission of the
    Queen from the Liturgy, as conceiving it preferable to an omission
    in the payment of his salary, and will continue the same cordial
    support to Castlereagh which he has hitherto afforded.

    I suppose that the Opposition will be compelled to move an
    amendment to the Address, though they are fully aware how
    disadvantageous and injudicious a mode of attack that is.

    The next question, and that on which they will get the best
    division, will be the omission in the Liturgy. I have not yet heard
    what the sum to be proposed for her establishment is. I think that
    she is in equity, under her marriage settlement, entitled to
    £50,000, which has been, in a great degree, recognised by the vote
    of the House of Commons in 1814, though, on a _quantum meruit_,
    pence might be a fitter allowance than pounds. I hope, therefore,
    that that will be the sum proposed; and cannot conceive that she
    will have a dozen to vote for putting her on the same footing as
    the late Queen, agreeable to the notice which has been given. As
    far as I can judge, I believe the _reaction_ now going on in the
    public mind to be very strong against her, and that the parlour,
    and even the shop, are becoming nearly as unanimous that way, as
    the servants'-hall and alehouse the other.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


On the 20th December Mr. Canning resigned the Presidentship of the
Board of Control and his place in Council, as was alleged, in
consequence of dissatisfaction with the recent proceedings of the
Government in reference to the Queen.

It has been surmised that an instinct, of which he had already given
some examples, prompted him to desert what many considered a sinking
ship. The affair is thus described by one of his colleagues:--"The
interval since I last wrote to you has been an unpleasant one.
Liverpool went to Walmer in a very uneasy state of mind and spirits,
and during his absence I had some painful communications at C---- H----
[Carlton House]. C---- [Canning] followed him to Walmer, where he
stayed three or four days, and on Saturday he returned. On Tuesday,
C---- circulated a draft of a letter from himself to the King,
containing his resignation, and on Wednesday the letter was laid before
his Majesty. I was immediately sent for to C---- H----. The King,
however, I know, was taken by surprise. * * * It is a most unfortunate
circumstance, and involves us in very serious difficulties. He means to
go abroad. It appears to me to be very doubtful, from the irritability
of one great house, and the restlessness of a greater, whether the
Government will hold together."[58]

      [58] Dean Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 337.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 26, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Since I wrote to you last, I have dined with the K----, who was all
    gracious and civil; but nothing passed on the subject of politics.
    I thought him infinitely better in health and spirits for the few
    days' quiet he had enjoyed in this neighbourhood. The party did not
    break up till past twelve o'clock. The only persons besides the
    Princess's families were, besides Mrs. Fremantle and Miss Hervey,
    Lord and Lady Harcourt.--He eat a great quantity--but no meat--and
    sang the whole evening, and was in much more cheerful spirits.--He
    is gone to Brighton, where there is a little _snug_ party,
    consisting only of his own men, Lady Blomfield, and Lord and Lady
    Conyngham; and I have no doubt he will remain there as long as he
    can. He talked of coming here again, in which case I should
    probably see him.

    From all I learn, I am quite persuaded his Ministers have now made
    up their minds to try the experiment of fighting the question of
    the Liturgy. It is certainly right that he should know that the
    thing is not totally to be abandoned if they fail--for this was his
    impression, I am quite sure, when I last wrote to you. I have no
    doubt I shall, somehow or other, have the means of letting him know
    this, and your opinions; but it must depend on the accident of
    meeting him. A trip to Brighton is quite out of the question; it
    would create suspicion; and ten to one I should not see him.

    I doubt if Peel will be prevailed on to take office. They are
    trying hard; but I cannot see how it can answer to him, nor in
    truth do I think he would be any great gain to them. My own opinion
    is, that they will shuffle and cut and make some change of
    office--that is, by putting Wellesley Pole or B. Bathurst, or
    something of this sort, in the India Board, and bringing Huskisson
    or some minor character forward.

    I have great fears about your Bucks Address; I think it is better
    altogether to let _well alone_, for fear of raising a flame you
    cannot subdue. However, you must be the best judge; and if numbers
    are wanted for a meeting, I shall not fail to attend.

    You may depend on hearing from me if anything occurs.--The Duke of
    Gloucester is returned to Bagshot; I shall probably see him in a
    day or two. Nothing can _go_ on _so bad_ as this _ménage_. I doubt
    if it can last, with all the exertions which are making to make it
    worse. _She_ will not give up her family, and _he_ will not
    associate with them.--The Duke of Sussex is seriously ill. I don't
    know his complaint, but I hear something spinal.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dec. 26, 1820.

    I return you Fremantle's letter; it tells me no more than I had
    already collected from what is passing.

    I do believe that there is arising in the country enough of a
    Royalist spirit and feeling to have enabled such a man as Pitt,
    with his courage and abilities, and with some foundation of natural
    personal popularity, to avail himself of it, and by putting a
    speedy end, _quoquo modo_, to the discussions about the Queen's
    business, to make a good stand for the maintenance of Government.

    But it is needless to remark, that these people have neither
    decision of mind to view their situation in its true light, nor the
    means of acting upon it in such a course as could alone extricate
    their master and themselves from all their difficulties.

    On the other hand, it is no less evident that _he_ satisfies
    himself with talking about his situation, and does not feel
    reliance enough upon himself to act upon it in either of the two
    ways which are alone open to him--that of making himself the active
    partisan and supporter of his present system, and lending himself
    fully to every exertion of personal aid which he could still give
    them, by appearing in public, holding his levees, opening his
    house, &c. &c.; or, on the other hand, of opening immediate
    communication for a capitulation, the terms of which, irksome as
    they would now be, must daily become more and more so by the
    inevitable course of events, independently of those peculiar
    circumstances of personal temper which are unhappily so evident
    even in this moment, and will certainly not lose their force by the
    continuance of the contest.

    The Ministers have chosen for their field of battle precisely the
    very weakest post in their whole position; and though personally
    (if I took any personal part in these things) I should not have an
    instant's hesitation in voting against any party interference with
    the manner in which the K---- in Council, as head of the Church,
    has directed his family to be prayed for, yet I have hardly a
    doubt, from what I hear, that the majority of this House of Commons
    will think otherwise.

    As to Canning, I am certainly no admirer of any part of his
    conduct, past, present, or likely to come, on the subject of the
    Q----; but I must, after all, in fairness, say that the past having
    been such as it has, I do not see how he could at this time
    continue in office to advise, conduct, and answer for the K----'s
    measures against her.

    I know nothing of Peel, nor have any clue to guess his intentions;
    but I am clear that it would be little short of an act of direct
    insanity for any man not already involved in this mass of
    difficulty to go voluntarily and implicate himself in it.

    If I had no other ground for this opinion--and, unfortunately,
    there are a thousand good reasons for it--I should think it quite
    enough to look at the way in which, in such a moment, these
    Ministers are up, running about in every direction--the Duke of
    Wellington to Chester, Bathurst to Longleat and I know not where
    else, Harrowby to Dawlish, and letting the K---- himself go to
    Brighton, leaving everything at sixes and sevens, and trusting to
    live through the next month as they can, till the meeting of
    Parliament brings on the great crisis.

    Truly, if they can, or think they can, do anything to prop up their
    Government, they ought to be actively employed in the measures for
    that purpose; and if they cannot, they owe it to him to tell him so
    at once, and plainly.

    But as for any idea of their asking others to join them, in the
    very moment of their approaching, and, as they themselves seem to
    consider it, inevitable defeat, it does seem that they are not
    absurd enough to expect it; nor, if they did, could any reasonable
    man entertain the notion, without very different ideas of their
    personal fitness for taking their part in such a contest than the
    past can allow us to entertain.

    I am sure you know I say this from no personal indisposition to
    them. My early habits and predilections were with them. I have long
    since and totally forgotten whatever of personal controversy the
    events of political life interposed between us, and I have with
    great pleasure resumed with some of them the course of old
    friendships. Nor am I indisposed--but quite the contrary--to the
    cause which, unhappily for itself and for us all, is now committed
    into their hands.

    I wish it success; and as far as the conduct of an independent and
    disconnected man goes, I think you are bound to contribute to it if
    you can. But your worst enemy could wish you nothing worse than
    that you should mix yourself up with all the mischief which must, I
    fear, inevitably result from their unfitness to contend with such a
    storm, though in peace and in calm they might, as others far
    inferior to them in qualifications have done, navigate the vessel
    safely in a course already tracked and known.

    So, here ends my sermon.--God bless you.

    I have not read Grey's Durham speech--I have no pleasure in such
    reading, and abstain from it all I can. But it is only justice to
    say that Grey did in the House of Lords declare that his vote was
    given on the ground of _not guilty_--admitting and condemning what
    he thought great _improprieties_ in her conduct, but not thinking
    the case of _adultery_ sufficiently proved.

    I do not agree with him, as you know, in this opinion; but it is
    not fair to impute it to him now as an inconsistency.

    As for Bucks, I know not who your sheriff is, but I trust he is one
    who will refuse, as his Berkshire neighbour has done, to call a
    meeting; and if one is called by the four or five gentlemen of that
    party in this county, I should most strongly _dissuade_ your giving
    it so much countenance as to attend it and make it the scene of a
    contest. You would be much stronger in the shape of a
    counter-Address in that case.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 29, 1820.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Since I wrote to you last, we have had a great deal of discussion
    regarding our presenting the Address. Lord Sidmouth interfered, and
    said it would give offence to others if it were received as a body;
    and the King then deputed me to select six gentlemen, which was
    utterly impossible without giving offence; so that it has ended at
    last in its going to the Secretary of State. This negotiation,
    however, has brought me in contact with the King, who was
    graciously pleased to see me yesterday, and kept me nearly an hour.
    After the first two or three sentences about the Address, he
    entered upon politics and the Queen and, in short, as you may
    suppose, talking the whole time, there was hardly anything he did
    not touch upon. It was evident from his language that his Ministry
    was undecided up to the moment when he left town; for he said more
    than once, "If my Government remain, or if partial changes take
    place, which must be the case, it is necessary for them now to meet
    the questions manfully. The tide of public opinion has changed, and
    they must profit by it. If they surrender, they give up the
    monarchy--the constitution--all that we hold sacred; for Lord Grey,
    by his speech at Durham, has shown his connexion and his
    determination to unite with the Radicals. He has declared (contrary
    to his declaration in the Lords) that, if he had had to decide on
    the Queen, he should have said Not guilty. This was at once
    deciding against him, and against all that ought to be held sacred
    and moral." I only give this as a small specimen; but his invective
    against Lord Grey was stronger and more violent than I can possibly
    repeat. At the same time, I should imagine, though undoubtedly he
    did not say anything that approached it, that he was doubtful
    whether his Government meant to stand stout. The language of the
    Ministers' friends is, that they mean to try the question of the
    Liturgy; and if they are beat, then to resign in a body. I believe
    this to be the real truth, and I know they have been urged to this
    by several county members. It is impossible to describe how full
    the King was of the Oxford Address. Pray tell Lord Grenville this,
    if he is with you (which the papers state). He described over and
    over again all the enthusiasm of loyalty betrayed in the
    forgetfulness of all decorum after he had left the throne. He spoke
    of their clapping him on the back; of their great numbers; but,
    above all, of the dignified and proper manner in which the
    Chancellor read the Address, every word of which he praised in the
    highest terms. I thought he looked very ill--certainly worse than
    when I had before seen him, though a short time since; and
    conversing with Bloomfield he said the same thing; but he was
    greatly collected, his eyes animated, and full of the subjects he
    discussed--unfortunately still harping on all the idle and
    miserable intrigues about the Princess Charlotte. What, however,
    most struck me, and what I am most anxious to observe to you, was
    his increased hostility and indignation against the Opposition, and
    more personally against Lord Grey.

    I see they are trying hard to manufacture Addresses against the
    Government from different counties. Here in Berks they will get a
    flaming one; but I doubt their success in many others. I own I have
    great fears in your attempting a loyal one in Bucks; I have no
    doubt of the northern side, but I am sure you would find a strong
    opposition from the southern quarter; and as it must be held--the
    meeting--at Aylesbury, this would operate very much against it.
    _Any failure would be most unfortunate_--and they would move
    heaven and earth to beat you; any amendment, even, would have the
    effect of a victory. The Russells, Cavendishes,--everything that
    could be mustered would come forward; so that I own I should fear
    the attempt. Pray let me know if it should take place, as I would
    certainly attend; and should the Radicals attempt an Address on
    their part, then I think we should at once muster every strength,
    and fight them. I hope, in such a case, we should beat them.

    I cannot find out the full extent of Lord S----'s history. I
    believe it exaggerated; but I have no doubt, from what I have
    heard, that there has been a scene. He is not recalled; but I
    believe it is understood he is to come home. I rather expect that
    Sir Henry Wellesley, from Madrid, will succeed him, provided this
    Government stands.

    As to what is to become of the Board of Control, I have not a
    guess. I can't believe Peel will, at such a moment, plunge himself
    in such a troubled lake, nor can I see to what quarter they can
    look, in their present distracted and unsettled state, for a
    connexion; it is another thing supporting the measures that may be
    brought forward.

    I am invited to meet the King at dinner to-morrow; and if I hear
    anything worth relating, you shall have a letter.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    LORD CASSILIS TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Culzean Castle, Dec. --.

    I received your letter, my dear Lord Buckingham, when writhing
    under a fit of the gout, the legacy of the Bill of Pains and
    Penalties which you made me vote for. God help us! as the saying
    is; for what is to become of us, He only knows. There seems nothing
    but chaos and desolation whatever way a man turns himself: the
    middle classes of the people waging war upon the higher orders; the
    tenantry taking advantage of the times to conspire against their
    landlords; and the lower orders existing only from the circumstance
    of the produce of land being unmarketable: barley two shillings a
    bushel, oats nearly the same, and no sale for wheat at any price.
    The weavers are certainly all employed here, but cannot earn more
    than from six to eight shillings a week. Such is our state. The
    finance of the country is "opportunely" a little improved. Had it
    retrograded a little, the King was over with us; and there yet
    hangs out insurmountable evil. I think I hear you say, "_What a
    gloomy dog!_" _And so I am_, because I cannot see _daylight_ in any
    direction. I cannot agree about a reduction of our army: a soldier
    less, and we shall have revolution and civil war. Those people
    under whose protection we should be put if the army was reduced,
    would, as Rollo says, "cover and devour us." It's all really
    dreadful. I have not since I saw you heard a reasonable conjecture
    even about the Administration's fate or plans. I think that Canning
    will stick to Liverpool; Morley told me _he would positively_. I
    should not be displeased to see a separation between Liverpool and
    Castlereagh. I think it very probable that the Opposition will take
    the King by storm, backed as they are and will be by the people, as
    they are called. The Addresses to the King as yet are feeble and
    poor, nothing like _heart_ appearing. If the Opposition get in,
    they will let fly a set of measures calculated to secure popularity
    at starting, but which in the end will bring ruin, _absolute_, upon
    the country. It does not appear possible to me for the Government
    to get on, when Parliament meets, if the present fever in the
    public mind does not abate. I will not bore you any more with my
    lamentations. Pray do give me some consolation if you can, and at
    any rate be kind enough to let me know when anything political is
    stirring. What would I not have given to have been _behind the
    screen_ at Lord Grenville's audience!--The weather here is nearly
    as bad as the times.

    Ever, my dear Lord Buckingham,

    Your truly faithful

    CASSILIS.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Dec. 31, 1820.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I hear from Phillimore that the successor to Canning still remains
    undetermined. If Peel would accept it, or were rather to succeed
    Vansittart, my opinion of the probability of the present Government
    standing would be more strengthened than by any other event
    whatever. My estimate of Peel is, I am aware, higher than yours. I
    agree with you that he cannot supply the effect of one of Canning's
    glittering, eloquent speeches; still, he combines greater
    advantages at this moment than any other man in the House of
    Commons.

    Talent, independent fortune, official habits and reputation, and,
    above all, general character both in and out of Parliament, have, I
    am persuaded, disposed more men to follow and more to unite with
    him than any person whom you can name among us. I do not deny the
    objections arising from want of family and connexion, from the
    irritability he has shown of late, and from the drubbing which
    Brougham gave him last year; but still you must remember that you
    can name no one who has not greater difficulties to encounter, and
    fewer advantages to assist him. Phillimore tells me that he hears
    that he has refused to connect himself with the Administration,
    from disapprobation of their gross mismanagement during the late
    business. If this were true, I should have more hope of the
    possibility of forming a fresh Government, in the event of the
    present falling, than I have yet entertained. I think he is not
    ill-inclined to back out of the Catholic question, and that that
    was the meaning of his proposed going abroad for a twelvemonth
    after his marriage; but I have no personal acquaintance with him to
    make my opinion on this subject worth anything.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


"The King is improved in health and spirits," writes the Home Secretary
to Lord Exmouth, "and you may rest assured he will be firmly supported
by his Government, which, however, cannot serve him usefully unless
they are also firmly supported by Parliament. We have taken our
determination. The Queen will neither be harassed nor molested; but to
a palace, and to the insertion of her name in the Liturgy, we shall
never consent; and if Parliament should differ from us on these points,
the Government must fall. But the reports from our friends are
extremely satisfactory."[59]

      [59] Dean's Pellew's "Life of Lord Sidmouth," vol. iii. p. 340.




CHAPTER IV.

[1821.]

LETTER FROM THE KING TO LORD ELDON ON LIBELLOUS PUBLICATIONS. CLAIMS
OF THE QUEEN. LORD CASTLEREAGH'S ATTACK ON LORD ERSKINE. POSITION OF
THE GOVERNMENT. CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION. FAMILY QUARRELS. SUGGESTED
JUNCTION OF THE GRENVILLES WITH THE GOVERNMENT. MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM
PROPOSED BY THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON AS LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE CORONATION. NEGOTIATIONS. INFLUENCE OF "THE
LADY". QUEEN CAROLINE AT THE CORONATION.




CHAPTER IV.


During the late discussions respecting the Queen, the freedom of a
certain portion of the press had known no bounds. When the tide of
popular opinion began to turn, it was thought advisable that some
effort should be made to restrain it within the limits of decency, and
punish offenders; and one of the most eager to take advantage of the
change was the illustrious individual who had suffered most from the
abuse.


    THE KING TO LORD ELDON.

    Brighton, Jan. 9, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    As the Courts of Law will now open within a few days, I am desirous
    to know the decision that has been taken by the Attorney-General
    upon the mode in which all the vendors of treason, and libellers,
    such as Benbow, &c. &c., are to be prosecuted. This is a measure so
    vitally indispensable to my feelings, as well as to the country,
    that I must _insist_ that no _further_ loss of time should be
    suffered to elapse before proceedings be instituted. It is _clear_
    beyond dispute, from the improvement of the public mind, and the
    loyalty which the country is now everywhere displaying, _if
    properly cultivated and turned to the best advantage by Ministers_,
    that the Government will thereby be enabled to _repair_ to the
    _country_ and to _me_, those evils of the magnitude of which there
    can be but one opinion. This I write to you in your double capacity
    as a friend and a Minister; and I wish, under the _same_ feelings
    to Lord Sidmouth, that you would communicate my opinions and
    determination to him.

    Always, my dear Lord,

    Very sincerely yours,

    G. R.


The ferment that had so long agitated society was maintained with much
heat in political circles, and rumours of Ministerial changes were
rife, as had often previously been the case, just before the meeting of
Parliament. At this crisis, the intermediate party of the Grenvilles
were daily gaining importance in the eyes of both Whigs and Tories,
and, as will be shown, its policy became a question of absorbing
interest to its leaders. The Queen still managed to keep herself
prominently before the public, and was using her best exertions among
her supporters in the House of Commons to force the Government to allow
her advantages and privileges claimed by her as belonging to her
rank--her name in the Liturgy, and a palatial residence, with a
corresponding income, being the chief. On these points the
correspondence will be found to be peculiarly illustrative.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Doctors' Commons, Jan. 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am naturally desirous of ascertaining, by the only mode of
    communication which seems open to me, your general opinion and
    sentiments as to the outline of the course we ought to shape in the
    stormy debates we shall probably have so speedily to encounter. Our
    situation as a party appears to be more critical than it has ever
    been. The Ministers have conducted themselves with great imbecility
    and indecision, and the Opposition have distinguished themselves by
    their violence and intemperance; and under these circumstances we
    are looked upon as a rallying point between the two extremes, and
    our opinion is very anxiously looked for by many persons who wish,
    if they can, to make it the guide of their conduct. It seems to me,
    therefore, very desirable to consider, as much as we can
    before-hand, any of the questions on which we may be called upon to
    give an opinion. The two first points expected to be brought
    forward are the Liturgy and the Palace. With respect to the
    Liturgy, I am strongly inclined to think, upon an examination of
    the subject (for at first I had considerable doubt upon it), that
    the King has the right to do as he has done; and though I do not
    think his exercise of the right discreet or advisable under the
    circumstances, still if he had the right, I should not be disposed
    to hold that the Queen's name ought _now_ to be placed in the
    Liturgy. The general opinion of lawyers is, I think, unfavourable
    to the King's claim; but then, perhaps, that opinion is frequently
    given without any examination of the subject.

    On the Palace, I feel no difficulties. If we are to allow her--as I
    understand it is to be proposed that we shall--£50,000 per annum,
    she may well afford to pay rent for her habitation.

    Questions may be expected to be raised also as to the policy of
    Government in bringing forward any measure against the Queen, and
    as to their mode of conducting it when brought forward. On both of
    these points it appears to me that much blame is imputable to the
    Ministers; but these are questions which cannot be brought forward
    substantively for some days at least, and therefore I trust I shall
    have an opportunity of discussing them with you before any occasion
    can arise on which we may be called upon to give any opinion
    respecting them.

    The Address, I suppose, will be such as not necessarily to
    compromise those who vote for it to any opinion as to the wisdom of
    Ministers; but I think, however bad, in point of tactics in
    general, it may be to propose an amendment, that, under existing
    circumstances, an amendment must be moved. The query then is,
    whether we should explain our vote? and if we do, what should be
    the nature of that explanation?

    The Government people either are, or pretend to be, in better
    spirits than they were three weeks ago; but I have great doubts
    whether they will be able to withstand the storm;--at all events,
    if they do, they will be severely shattered; all will depend on
    whether they can get their friends to vote. They very much
    encourage the idea that we are to support them, and to take office
    at or about Easter; but this is a _ruse de guerre_ resorted to at
    the opening of every session.--I never witnessed more dismay than
    was excited by a rumour very much circulated last week, that
    Plunket was to take an active part against the Government.

    Another report set on foot is, that the King is very desirous that
    the Government may be beaten on the Address, as it will give him a
    good excuse to get rid of them.

    I fear there is little chance of Wynn's coming to London till the
    last moment; but I have not heard anything from him on this point.

    Believe me, my dear Lord,

    Your Lordship's obliged and faithful servant,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, Jan. 24, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I waited till now to write to you, to give you my opinion on the
    first appearance of things. The House of Commons is evidently
    determined to support the Ministers, and I see the Opposition think
    so, for they are not near so triumphant as I should have expected;
    and there are strong symptoms already of dissension between the
    Mountain and Whigs; the former are turbulent to a degree, and tried
    once or twice yesterday to stop debate by noise and clamour; and
    the few words I had with your brother[60] showed me _he_ was
    discontented. He said the Opposition were destroying their own
    game, and that there was no hope; that they were milk-and-water,
    and did not seize the advantages they possessed. From this it is
    clear their meeting at Burlington House was not quite satisfactory,
    and I am persuaded the violent ones wished for an amendment.--The
    Liturgy question is to be argued on the point of law, which is the
    best thing that could happen to Ministers; and the Opposition are
    to object to the sum of £50,000 (which is the proposed amount of
    the allowance), as not being enough. This will throw the odium of
    the burthen, and even of the proposition, on the Opposition, which
    is also advantageous to Government.--Never was anything, however,
    so low and wretched as the Treasury Bench. It is quite disgraceful
    and contemptible, and not even upheld by its adherents and
    followers. They all say it cannot go on; but, nevertheless, _I
    think_ it will, for there is a determination not to take the Whigs.
    This more and more confirms the propriety of our line of moderate
    but quiet support, and disconnecting ourselves with the
    responsibility of all their measures. I took an opportunity before
    I left the country of saying to _the sister_ fully all you wished.
    I had two hours' private communication with her.--I spent two
    days--Friday and Saturday last--at Dropmore. I found Lord G----
    thoroughly convinced these people could not stand, and that the
    Whigs must come in, but equally decided as to our not joining
    either. So far, he need be under no apprehension of the latter; for
    until necessity demands it, I don't think the application will be
    made. He fancies a Whig Government could not last six months,
    reasoning from the conduct of George III.; but in this I am
    persuaded he would find himself deceived, for the same decision and
    steadiness of mind does not belong to his successor. And should the
    change once take place, new attachments and habits would prevail,
    and obliterate all former anger.--The Government say their majority
    on Friday will be seventy. I think more, by the symptoms of
    yesterday.

    Nothing could be so wretched as the mover and seconder, or so tame
    as Tierney.--I shall finish this at the House.

    Half-past Five o'clock.

    Nothing material has occurred. Petitions are presenting by
    hundreds, and much violent language accompanying them; but
    Castlereagh keeping very cool, and refusing all discussion--the
    Opposition manifesting great impetuosity and violence, and, I
    think, hurting themselves. Lord Tavistock has given a notice for
    Monday se'nnight of a motion of general condemnation of the
    Ministers for their proceedings regarding the Queen. I cannot give
    you the exact words.

    W. H. F.

      [60] Lord Nugent.


As might have been expected, soon after the meeting of Parliament, two
or three of the Opposition members began an active agitation in favour
of the Queen; but the majority of the members were opposed to much
discussion on the subject, and it became evident that her cause was
daily losing ground in that assembly. On the 26th of January, during a
debate on a motion respecting the omission of the Queen's name in the
Liturgy, Lord Castlereagh made a forcible reply to the attacks upon his
colleagues, in which he vindicated the conduct of the Government, and
taunted the Opposition with their proceedings against the Queen on
former occasions. His argument was directed against Lord Erskine, who
had recently, in the House of Lords, while referring to the Queen,
expressed himself offensively towards Ministers; but Lord Grenville's
friends considered that he was attacked, and were warm in their
indignation. Lord Grenville and Mr. Thomas Grenville, however, were
more tolerant.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, Jan. 31, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    After I received your letter, I called at Lord Liverpool's, but
    could not gain admittance; since that, I have been considering more
    fully the subject, and think that any explanation now, after the
    lapse of so many days, and when the whole debate is gone by, could
    lead to no one advantage; and I fear also that Lord Grenville might
    fancy I improperly interfered on a question so personally
    concerning himself. I have no doubt Lord Liverpool would ask me if
    I were authorized by him to express his anger, or to call for an
    explanation; and he would probably write to Lord Grenville upon the
    subject. The offence was undoubtedly great, and such as you were
    justified in resenting; but I am thoroughly persuaded it was one of
    Lord Castlereagh's bothering Irish arguments which led him on, and
    that it was no premeditated attack on your friends. His object was
    to lay it on Lord Erskine; and in the conversations I have since
    had with his friends, they have told me he was extremely sorry that
    your friends should have felt hurt, that he never meant it, and
    that his only object was to expose the conduct of Lord Erskine. All
    this, you will say, may be very true, but is no excuse to you; but
    again I must say, what could you have done? Lord Liverpool could
    not give up Lord Castlereagh, and you could not resent it so as to
    vote with the Whigs. The Government are already apprized of your
    feeling and that of your friends on this subject, and I have no
    doubt--at least, I should think--it would put them more on their
    guard. I really think it might be considered by Lord Grenville as
    very officious in me to call on the Prime Minister to take up his
    battle without any previous communication or authority from him. I
    could undoubtedly say it was your feelings I was expressing; but
    the answer would naturally be, that Lord Grenville personally was
    concerned. However, the lapse of time is at present the additional
    objection, and no apology could answer to you or your friends but a
    public explanation from Castlereagh, which could not be made. I
    assure you I have been very much disturbed by your letter, being
    always anxious to obey your wishes and forward your objects, and in
    the first place called on Lord L---- for that purpose.

    The debate yesterday was much more violent and personal than the
    first--at least, previous to the Speaker's leaving the chair. I
    left the House after that, and know not what was done. The evident
    disposition of the House is to stifle all further proceedings
    regarding the Queen, but it is equally the intention of the
    Opposition to pursue it; but the latter must ultimately give way,
    for the House will not hear them. The saints--Butterworth,
    Wilberforce, &c. &c.--are favourable for her restoration to the
    Liturgy, and this question is to be brought forward again, but of
    course will be rejected by a still larger majority.

    I see that Charles Wynn and Phillimore are so decidedly disposed to
    the Opposition, that their minds are at all times on the alert to
    catch an opportunity of attacking the Government. I certainly do
    not support or think well of the Government, but I am _quite
    satisfied_ that nothing short of a total overthrow of everything
    would induce the Whigs to unite with you; and I am equally
    satisfied that the only and best prospect of office is to keep
    terms with the present Government, not with a view of joining them,
    but of keeping them unfettered and unexasperated for any future
    arrangements.

    That some change must soon take place cannot be doubted, and be
    assured that Parliament _will not_ have the Whigs. Canning, it is
    said, will not return to the Board of Control; and the Ministers'
    followers all hold the language of change after these questions are
    got over. I give you these opinions of my own, and what I hear, and
    be assured there is no being more eager or more watchful of your
    interests and objects than I am. I shall keep this open till I go
    down to the House, in case there should be anything new.--The Duke
    of Devonshire is come to town a thorough Reformist: this is a
    conversion; as also Lord Fitzwilliam. It is hardly possible to
    conceive that their anger should have led them to such a thorough
    departure from all their old feelings and principles.

    There is nothing new. Lushington was most violent last night; and
    nobody believes Admiral Wood's assertion that the Queen has no
    bills or debts.

    Ever most truly,

    W. H. F.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    We cannot argue the question of the expediency of the original
    omission, without consuming more paper and time than I can afford;
    but it still appears to me--1st. That at that time Ministers had
    not decided to bring the business forward, or to publish the
    Queen's infamy; 2ndly. That though I am myself perfectly satisfied
    of the King's prerogative, it was so far disputable as to render
    such an exercise of it very unwise; 3rdly. That there could have
    been no greater difficulty or impropriety in proceeding, if it
    should afterwards be rendered necessary by her coming to England,
    against "our gracious Queen Caroline," than against "the Princess
    of Wales," prayed for the preceding Sunday. As to the phrase of
    "gracious," it is a mere title of honour attached to the station,
    and far less objectionable than "most religious," which _Charles
    II._ was the first sovereign who assumed, and which produces little
    sensation even when used as an epithet to _some_ of his successors.
    Still, if they were mealy-mouthed, they might have inserted "Her
    Majesty Queen Caroline." I should also have wished to have sent
    a yacht, or suitable conveyance, to bring her over to her
    trial,--just as, if she had been found guilty on an impeachment,
    and sentenced to transportation, I would not have despatched her to
    Portsmouth in the caravan, or to Botany Bay in a transport. To
    neither of these, however, did I attach as much blame as to the not
    notifying the death of the Princess Charlotte, which I think the
    most brutal omission I ever remember, and one which would attach
    disgrace in private life, even in a case where a divorce was
    pending, or had actually taken place.

    My great objection is to the spirit of irritation and provocation
    which dictated the whole, as if they wished to goad her into the
    course she has since pursued, instead of endeavouring by all means
    in their power to avert what every other man in the kingdom felt to
    be a most hazardous and perilous crisis.

    I am much inclined to think that you are quite right as to the key
    which explains Peel's conduct. Still, I hear from all sides how
    _we_ are to come in after Easter. This may proceed either from
    a desire to strengthen themselves by really combining us with Peel
    in a new arrangement, or (which I think more probable) from a
    design of cajoling us into present support.

    An apology was transmitted to me from Castlereagh, through Lewis,
    for his attack on the Commission of 1806, professing it to have
    been quite _inadvertent_, and merely levelled at Erskine, without
    _recollecting_ that Lord Grenville was equally implicated.

    I certainly hear from many quarters that the country gentlemen are
    loud in their representations to Ministers of the necessity of
    their strengthening themselves, if they wish for a continuance of
    support. Probably this will be answered by Canning's return, and
    the accession of Peel.

    I have just heard, on the authority of a man who told me that he
    had seen Lady O----'s letter, that H---- A---- having eloped from
    Florence with her second daughter, she followed them, and when she
    found them, he had taken poison. Now, why they should take the
    trouble of eloping, and, still more, why he should take poison, is
    not easy to conceive.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Feb. 1, 1821.

    My brother has just shown me your letter, and I trust I need not
    assure you that I am, as always, most deeply sensible of your
    affectionate kindness; but I am perfectly _horrified_ at the
    notion which it has suggested to you, on an occasion which surely
    does not call for the smallest manifestation of any resentment or
    dissatisfaction whatever.

    If you support Government on these questions about the Queen, it is
    not at all from any particular attachment to Lord C----, or any of
    his colleagues, but from what you think due both to the King and to
    the country, to contribute, as far as you can, to resist the
    degradation which the Radicals and their allies would bring on the
    first, and the ruin which must, if they succeed in that attempt,
    ensue to the country.

    It would be most unjust to require Lord C----, in this warfare, to
    abstain from a natural and obvious ground of defence. I am not so
    unreasonable as to expect this, if I cared one farthing about
    anything that can be said of that inquiry, in which, if I cared at
    all, it was in being too easily satisfied. Nor am I so thin-skinned
    as to have any feeling on the subject; and the only thing that
    could have made it at all unpleasant to me would be the appearance
    (which such a step as you speak of must have) of my being angered
    on the occasion, and having used any influence I might have with
    you to the effect of inducing you to act contrary certainly to all
    my opinions and wishes, and, I believe, contrary to your own.

    Pray--pray, therefore, let all your friends, if they and you agree
    with me in thinking Lord Tavistock's motion fit to be negatived,
    cry "No!" as stoutly as I would if I had anything to say or do on
    the occasion.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Feb. 1, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    The two brothers here are quite astounded at the importance which
    you and Charles attach to Lord Castlereagh's attack upon the
    Government of 1806-7, and still more at the influence which both of
    you seem disposed to give to it in your conduct on the impending
    motions in Parliament. In the first place, it is to be observed
    that it is not fair dealing to expect Castlereagh to forbear from
    attacking Lord Grey, Lord Lansdowne, and Mr. Tierney, on their
    hostility to the Queen fourteen years ago, because he cannot do so
    without including Lord Grenville, as well as Lord Spencer and Lord
    Erskine, as members of that Government. I think Lord C---- fully
    entitled to reproach that inconsistency of conduct to Lord Grey and
    his colleagues--an inconsistency which in no degree applies to Lord
    Grenville; but even if it did, surely Lord C---- is not to be
    deprived of his legitimate warfare upon those to whom he is
    opposed, because Lord Grenville was in those days politically
    connected with them. But even supposing that you had reason in this
    respect to complain of Lord C---- (which I utterly deny), still it
    would be a most unjustifiable, and unbecoming, and culpable course,
    to suffer any such personal considerations to influence your
    conduct upon the great public questions which are impending. Those
    questions are to decide whether the Opposition is to be suffered,
    from its base alliance with the Radicals and with the Q----, to
    take violent possession of the Government, in order to overturn the
    whole system of our constitution; to bring in annual or triennial
    Parliaments; to do little short of introducing universal suffrage;
    to disband the army, which now holds the Radicals in check; and,
    very probably, to let loose Bonaparte, under pretence of mitigating
    his confinement. These are some of the first fruits of what is to
    be expected from Lord Tavistock's motion, if, by its success, it
    removes the present Government; and can you look at any part of
    this picture, and yet suffer any personal considerations to weigh
    for one moment in your mind, while such superior considerations are
    at stake? I could have added much upon the disgrace you would throw
    on Lord Grenville, if he could be suspected, as he would, of being
    a party to so much personal irritation in questions of the very
    vital existence of the constitution of the country. But he writes
    himself.


The next letter commences with a reference to the judgment passed by
Judge Bailey on that popular leader, Sir Francis Burdett. It was merely
a fine of £2000, and imprisonment for three months in the King's
Bench:--


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Feb. 10, 1821.

    I agree with you in considering the sentence on Burdett--a sentence
    so unexpected as to call for the plaudits of all the Radicals who
    surrounded the Court, and the congratulations of his friends--as
    most calamitous; and, unfortunately, it is not the first instance
    in which the Court of King's Bench, or rather the present judges
    who preside in it, have shown that they are not proof against
    popular clamour and the apprehension of personal danger. On the
    reduction of the army, I am by no means so sure that I agree with
    you. I have not the means of estimating the exact quantum of troops
    which may be requisite for preserving the internal tranquillity of
    the country, but am inclined to believe that the salutary operation
    of the Bills of 1819, and the increase which has taken place in the
    Yeomanry, do afford a reasonable expectation that a less number of
    regulars will now be sufficient than were before required--and
    unless I was quite satisfied to the contrary, I am not prepared to
    complain of any measure which tends to alleviate the financial
    pressure.

    It is quite true that there are symptoms of some understanding
    between Castlereagh and Peel, though the speech of the latter
    plainly stated his disapprobation on several points of the conduct
    of Government. The most decisive is his abandonment of Pitt's old
    Hill Fort, which he had occupied, and returning to his former
    position in the rear of the Treasury Bench.

    The debate last night was much more decidedly in favour of
    Government than either of the former--at least, so it appeared to
    me; but perhaps I may be prejudiced, from having taken a part in
    it. Wilberforce made a remarkably feeble, vacillating speech, and
    at last turning the scale in favour of the motion by the
    make-weight of popular opinion, which he allowed to be formed on
    false and mistaken principles. Lamb spoke most strongly against the
    motion, but concluded by voting in its favour, because the question
    had so much disturbed the country, that the true honour would
    belong to the party which first conceded it. Acland's was one of
    the most impressive and efficient speeches I ever heard. And on
    this state of the debate, Castlereagh most wisely, and to the great
    satisfaction of the House, allowed us to go to a division at a
    quarter before one, instead of keeping us till six or seven, which
    would have been the inevitable consequence of his speaking. To our
    great amusement, Creevey, Fergusson, Wilson, Lambton, and Sefton
    were shut out, and afterwards received the inquiries of their
    friends whether it was not from scruples of conscience, and being
    unable to make up their minds, that they had abstained from voting.
    The party is certainly unlucky; for on a preceding night, Lord
    Carhampton and Luke White paired off and went comfortably to bed,
    without finding out that they were on the same side. We now, I
    trust, are rid of the Queen's business, though I still fear we must
    have one night on the Milan Commission; but nobody has yet given
    notice of a motion on the subject.

    I was rather surprised on Monday night to find Ministers so weak as
    to be totally unable to risk a division on Davie Gilbert's proposal
    of throwing Grampound into the Hundreds, and that afterwards, when
    joined by us and by several members from the Opposition, they were
    beaten two to one; much, I think, owing to Ward's speech. I have
    now, I think, sent you gossip enough for one day.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.

    Have you heard that a match is declared between Lord Dartmouth and
    Lady Frances Talbot? To see them together will be somewhat like
    Lord Bulkeley and Lord Abingdon at the Encoenia.


One of the principal subjects of political interest was the Catholic
question, brought forward in the House of Commons on the 2nd of March
by Mr. Plunket, in a Committee of the whole House; and a Bill for the
Emancipation of the Catholics was introduced by him on the 7th of the
same month, the second reading of which was debated on the 16th, and
carried by a majority of 11.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Hanover Place, March 5, 1821.

    It is extremely difficult, I believe, even for those most
    intimately acquainted with the present composition of the House of
    Commons, to anticipate the final result of the Catholic question.
    Many things that one hears would lead one to be very sanguine in
    one's hopes; but then, the difficulties are so great of steering
    between groundless fears on one side and groundless jealousies on
    the other, and the means are so great which are possessed by the
    enemies of conciliation on both sides, that every step taken in the
    business is surrounded with danger of failure.

    Plunket talks of dividing the measure into two Bills, if he can get
    Castlereagh to consent to it--one of concession, the other of
    security; a most wise project, if it can be accomplished. His
    exertions have been beyond all praise, and the tone of moderation
    which he has given to the discussion must do great good, whatever
    be the result.

    I am sorry there was a necessity for giving so much time; but I
    trust, after the second reading, it will proceed, if at all, with
    better expedition.

    In the House of Lords, the Chancellor and the Bishops will
    certainly persevere in their resistance; but if there really is
    that change of course on this subject in higher quarters, which
    common prudence so loudly calls for, I should not at all fear their
    opposition.

    All will depend on that. But indeed I do not see why Liverpool
    himself should (on the grounds on which he has always argued the
    question) be debarred from taking the wiser resolution to acquiesce
    in such a measure if it comes up from the House of Commons, rather
    than to set the House of Lords singly to stand in the breach
    against the claims and wishes of five-sixths of the population of
    Ireland.

    Whether he will be clear-sighted enough to see this course, which I
    think lies plain before him, or whether he has stoutness enough to
    adopt it, I know not; but sure I am of what he _ought_ to do.

    The King must certainly, if he means to go to Ireland in May, mean
    to carry this boon with him; and if he does, his visit will be
    productive of more good than one could easily describe. If
    not,--then, for _good_, read _mischief_.

    I send you back your Neapolitan news. My only wish is that the
    matter was settled, and had been so long ago.


"Lord Lansdowne writes word to a correspondent here," says a
contemporary letter-writer, "that everything in England has fallen in
price, except the Grenvilles. They certainly have made an excellent
bargain, in proportion to their talents, reputation, and numerical
strength. Were Lord G---- still in the full vigour of life and
exertion, one should not be surprised at any sacrifice made to obtain
so powerful a support; but by his retirement from public affairs, one
would have thought that the value of the family was reduced near to
that of the half-dozen votes they can bring into a division."[61]

      [61] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p. 301.

The first of the next series refers to a private quarrel that at the
period excited a great deal of notoriety:--


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, March 13, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    Nobody can be more sensible to your kindness in what you have done
    respecting Henry, than Charles is; neither do I find in him more
    reluctance respecting his beginning a communication with Lord C----
    than is quite natural, and than I think you would yourself approve.
    The real truth is, that Charles's opinions certainly do not tend as
    decidedly and as professedly as yours have done to intercourse with
    the present Ministers, and least of all, perhaps, with Lord C----.
    It was very kind in you, therefore, to take upon yourself the
    communication by which you intended to do a service to Henry; and
    when you had so determined, I think you took the least objectionable
    course in applying yourself to _Lord L----_. By so doing, you
    effected the very amiable and kind purpose which you had in view,
    of assisting Henry's wishes without breaking in upon Charles's
    reluctance to pledge himself farther than he could conscientiously
    bring himself to do. Having, therefore, yourself taken the step of
    applying to _Lord L----_, whenever a renewed application becomes
    necessary by a new opening in the diplomatic line, or by the
    expectation of one, the easy and natural course of your kindness
    will be to renew that application yourself to _Lord L----_. If, on
    the other hand, Charles was to apply himself personally to _Lord
    C----_ in the present stage of the business, he will be as much and
    as entirely committed as if he himself had made the original
    application; and your kindness will not have spared him the
    embarrassment of becoming a suitor, and of incurring an obligation,
    where he wishes to stand free of any, except to you. In truth, as
    far as I understand the present position of the business, it does
    not seem to me that, after so recent a promise to you from Lord
    L---- and Lord C----, any renewed application from you or from any
    of Henry's friends is likely to produce anything except a renewal
    of the same favourable disposition, whenever occasion should arise.
    If any circumstances should produce, or even render probable, any
    new opening in the missions, then will be the natural moment, not
    for Charles's application to Lord C----, but for the renewal of
    yours to _Lord L----_. At the same time, I am sure Charles will not
    be unnecessarily reluctant or adverse to any communication with
    Lord C---- that may become necessary, or may naturally arise out of
    your request to Lord L----, and out of such circumstances as may
    require discussion; but though the present state of things seems to
    promise no advantage in any renewed application from you, whenever
    it does, I am sure you will find Charles heartily and sincerely
    grateful to you for your warm and disinterested kindness to his
    brother.--I should distrust, as you do, the result of the Catholic
    Bill, if every day did not furnish some new evidence which, if
    correct, seems to promise a more favourable result. Yesterday, I
    heard of Lord Fife having said that the K---- had told him he did
    not wish to influence his opinions; and to-day I hear from good
    authority that Bloomfield has written within these four days, that
    the K---- will go to Ireland with the certainty of greater and more
    general popularity than could _have been_ conceived.

    The language of the opponents, too, is colder and flatter than it
    has ever been; rumours--I know not how true--of the Duke of Rutland
    hesitating on the question, and daily talk of other unexpected
    votes. Perhaps these rumours are exaggerated; but still they add to
    the general tide and current of opinion as to the probable success,
    and that opinion may go far to procure the result that is so much
    to be wished.

    My own notions are, that there should be no exclusion in the Bill
    except that of the Lord-Lieutenant, who ought to be as much
    excluded there as the K---- is here. I would not exclude the
    Chancellor, because I think first it is a breach of the great
    principle of the measure; and secondly, because it will be an
    irritating bar to and exclusion of the whole legal profession in
    Ireland, who are the most influencing and formidable body in that
    whole country, in all times, and on all questions of public
    agitation. I would, therefore, leave the Seals open to them, and
    satisfy the Protestants, as to all ecclesiastical dangers, by
    special commissions and clauses for the objects of their
    apprehensions. But for all practical good, one must learn to be
    satisfied with what can be reached, when what we desire is out of
    our reach. Till this measure passes, neither England nor Ireland
    can be safe.

    Yours ever most affectionately,

    T. G.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, March 14, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I feel, indeed, much indebted to your Lordship for your letter of
    the 11th inst., and we are all grateful to you for your criticisms
    on the Bills; and this I should have told you before, but that I
    was entirely occupied by professional business throughout yesterday
    morning, and, besides, I wished to consult with Lord Grenville
    (with whom I was engaged to dine yesterday) as to the policy of
    some of the amendments you have suggested. Some are obviously
    improvements on the face of them. The difficulty, as I foresaw,
    arises as to the insertion of the additional words to express,
    "That no one shall exercise the function of a bishop who shall not
    have been approved by the King." We discussed this point fully last
    night, and Lord Grenville is decidedly of opinion (and this he
    desired me to mention to you, as from him) that if we venture upon
    it we shall _shipwreck_ the whole measure. By having the negative
    of the King to the nomination of any person whose loyalty and good
    conduct may be suspected, we surely have, in substance and effect,
    all the security which can be necessary for the protection of the
    Protestant establishment; and it would be a sad pity to hazard a
    measure which, to a certain extent, at least, is happily advanced,
    for the sake of expressions, preferable certainly, but not
    essential for our security. I have been with Plunket on the subject
    this morning, and his view coincides with Lord Grenville's
    entirely. He says it would be laid hold of immediately by the
    enemies to the measure amongst the Catholics, and made the source
    of much discontent and irritation, and that the rather because the
    Bill has been transmitted to them in its present shape, as the
    measure to be proposed on this branch of the subject. I should add,
    that Plunket expressed the greatest anxiety to concur in any
    suggestion which came from you.

    You suggest the exclusion of Roman Catholics from the office of
    Lord Chancellor of Ireland; but it does not seem to me--and, what
    is of more consequence, it does not seem to Lord Grenville--that
    the same reasons exist to exclude them from this office which may
    be urged against their filling the office of Lord High Chancellor.
    The Irish Chancellor has not, _virtute officii_, the disposal
    of Church patronage, nor is he called upon to advise the King in
    any way respecting it; and the same principle, therefore, which
    might be applied to exclude them from this function, might be put
    forward as a ground for their exclusion from the functions of any
    judge. To say the truth, Lord Grenville is so great an enemy to the
    principle of exclusion, that he suggested, instead of the clause as
    it now stands, that no Lord Chancellor should dispose of any Church
    preferment till he had subscribed the Thirty-nine Articles; but
    upon suggesting this alteration, we found it would raise such a
    storm from the Dissenters (who are already moving in all directions
    against the measure), that there was no option but to abandon it.
    It will be a satisfaction to you to know that Lord Grenville has
    been consulted throughout, and has himself revised and corrected
    the Bills. He appears exceedingly anxious for the success of them;
    and certainly, when we reflect how much his public life has been
    connected and mixed up, as it were, with the Catholic question, we
    cannot be surprised at the exultation he would naturally feel at
    witnessing the complete triumph of opinions he has so long and so
    uniformly held.

    The anti-Catholic country gentlemen complain of the apathy of the
    country; and the King has told Lord Fife he hopes he will vote
    according to his fancy on the question. These are favourable
    symptoms.

    Believe me, your faithful and obliged,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    March 15, 1821.

    I am most sensible, my dear B----, of the kindness of your
    continued and active interest for Henry, and, if I saw anything
    like an opening, should not hesitate to follow up the overture
    which you have made in his behalf; but unless some new circumstance
    had occurred since your letter to Lord Liverpool, which presented a
    mode of effecting its object, I really should think it too early to
    make a second application; besides which, I quite agree with my
    uncle, that, in the present situation of affairs, it is preferable
    that any application of this nature should, as you have yourself
    determined, proceed through Lord Liverpool rather than Lord
    Castlereagh; but if I can get an opportunity of reminding
    Castlereagh, I certainly will not neglect it.

    Everything I see and everything I hear contribute to make me more
    and more sanguine respecting the Catholic question. The tide
    clearly sets at present in its favour, and the King's good
    inclinations are every day more and more surmised. The principal
    defalcation of strength which we have to apprehend arises from the
    present disjointed and divided state of the Opposition, the members
    of which are outrageous against each other, and, according to
    Macdonald's report, may be expected by the next Session to split
    into three or more distinct parties. He did not specify either the
    persons likely to form these, or the points in dispute. At present
    one can only see the Mountain and their lukewarm coadjutors; but
    what the third is to be, remains to be shown. The amendments which
    you suggest to the Catholic Bills appear to me, in general,
    improvements, with the exception of the addition of the
    Chancellorship of Ireland to the excepted offices, and the
    requiring that the King should signify his _approbation_ to the
    Bishops before the exercise of episcopal functions. Both of these
    would have the effect of extremely diminishing the _effect_ of the
    measure in Ireland.

    Lord Grenville strongly objected to the exception even of the
    English Chancellor, as justifiable upon no principle, when the
    exercise of ecclesiastical patronage had been provided for in the
    other part of the Bill; and it is difficult to discover what
    principle can justify the exclusion of the Chancellor of Ireland,
    which would not also extend to every other judicial situation. We
    must recollect that the Irish Catholic barristers are just the body
    who have, after the priests, the greatest influence, and whom it is
    most desirable not to leave a perpetual badge of degradation and
    inferiority upon. With respect to the necessity of signifying the
    King's express approbation, it is one of the points which the Irish
    clergy most objected to, and the omission of which has most
    reconciled them to the measure; and if the efficient control is
    attained, it surely is desirable that we should not be nice as to
    the exact mode in which it shall be exerted. In my own view--and,
    what is far more important, in that of my uncle--the question of
    securities is, from the great alteration in the situation of Europe
    since 1813, become of comparatively small importance, and rather to
    be conceded to satisfy the scruples of others, and facilitate the
    final success of this great measure, than to be insisted upon by
    ourselves.

    Dawson's speech against the army estimates last night occasioned
    surprise, and looks as if the Catholic question had occasioned some
    hitch in his _beau-père_ Peel's negotiations.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Pall Mall, March 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am hurried to death by the time, and therefore must make my
    relation short I endeavoured to meet the Duke yesterday morning;
    but failing in this, I enclosed your note to me, saying I owed it
    to him not to withhold such information for his _private ear_,
    and desiring him to send me back your note. He sent it back in half
    an hour, with the enclosed note from himself. This morning he
    begged to see me; and being on a Committee, and not released till
    four o'clock, I have only at this moment come from him at his
    office.

    He entered into a very full discussion of the whole business; and,
    first and foremost, declared in most positive and unequivocal
    terms, that he was perfectly innocent of the charge imputed to him,
    and that, fortunately, he had been so guarded in his whole
    proceedings throughout this disagreeable quarrel between Lord W----
    and his wife, that he should be enabled most fully and clearly to
    rebut and destroy any charge ... that might be brought against him.
    But feeling this, however, very strongly, he had been to Lord C----
    this morning; had consulted with him upon it; and, for the sake of
    the family, he thought it most essential, and most highly
    desirable, if possible, to prevent Lord W---- from bringing the
    charge forward. He considered Lord W----'s object to be founded
    exclusively on a wish to blacken her character, and to enable him
    to come forward with more effect in his defence (which he must
    make) in the case in which he is involved with Mr. W----; that
    however much he might blacken her in the first instance, it would
    ultimately recoil on himself, and therefore it was a real object to
    stop the further proceedings, if possible; that he (the Duke) had
    done everything in his power to reconcile the differences
    throughout, and that such must appear if Lord W---- persisted.
    These were the grounds on which, as a gentleman (without adverting
    to a personal consideration), he thinks he ought to advise that a
    stop should be put to W----'s further prosecution of this charge
    against his wife. The _habeas corpus_ has been demanded, and must
    be discussed to-morrow, at _three_ o'clock, in the Chancellor's
    private chamber; but in this discussion, if Lord W---- persists,
    this business must be gone into. The great object, therefore, that
    the Duke would recommend is, that you should, if you think proper,
    before that time communicate by a special messenger to W----, or to
    the individual through whom you gained your information, and
    endeavour to persuade him (the Duke being so completely armed
    against such a charge, and so prepared to refute it ultimately),
    that it could only for a moment serve his purpose, but in the end
    would damage his case. Indeed, I am persuaded, from what he said,
    that if W---- abandoned this attack on his wife, there would be
    little doubt that Mr. W---- would ultimately give way, and not call
    him up for his defence. In the many communications which W---- has
    had with the Duke, he has, at various times, not only personally,
    but by letter, absolved the Duke from all suspicion on his part of
    criminality ... and the Duke, throughout all these transactions and
    communications which he has had with Lady W----, has uniformly and
    constantly consulted and advised with her brother, Lord C----, upon
    them.

    I have written to you, therefore, as I assured the Duke I would do,
    and at his desire, and have ventured to say that I was quite sure
    you would view the circumstance on the same liberal and gentlemanly
    grounds he had put it, and endeavour to use your influence (if you
    have any) to stay the further proceedings on this charge, by
    sending up a servant to the party or parties, as you might think
    most advisable, before three o'clock to-morrow--it is now nearly
    six.

    Ever yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The whole of the third volume of the "Notice des Manuscrits de la
    Bibliothèque du Roi" is occupied with an account of the MSS.
    relative to the proceedings against Joan of Arc. There is an
    account of one which appears to be a duplicate of yours, though I
    think the number of pages is less, and every page is mentioned to
    be verified by the signatures of the notaries, who are called
    Terrebone and Dionysius Comitis, and which is mentioned to be
    lettered "Processus Justificationis Joannæ d'Arc." Probably this
    with the date may be the best for your book. I take for granted you
    have the "Notice des Manuscrits" at Stowe; and as the account is a
    very detailed one, it will be very desirable to compare your MS.
    with it. Perhaps, however, this may be best done in town.

    We only go into the Committee to-day _pro formâ_, in order to
    reprint and then recommit for discussion on Wednesday. The oath is
    now to be a new one, embodying the explanation, which is thought
    better than adhering to the old one, for which I am rather sorry.
    Everything looks favourably. Walter Burrell, Sir Hussey Vivian,
    Curteis of Sussex, Fox Lane, have all declared their intentions of
    not voting in the Committee, and we hope others may follow the
    example; but it is a period of nervous suspense. The debate on
    Friday was one of great forbearance, and it is difficult to say
    whether Peel most spared Mackintosh--or Canning, Peel. Canning
    stated that there was as great a community of sentiment between
    Peel and himself as could well subsist between public men. His
    speech and Wilberforce's were both uncommonly good.

    I had some conversation with Plunket on Saturday about his views,
    and I am sorry to find him most disinclined--indeed, I might say
    almost resolved--against taking any office which would fix him in
    England, and looking only to the Attorney-Generalship and Great
    Seal of Ireland, but thinking that he could, while in the former
    office, give considerable attendance in the House of Commons.

    He appeared to feel that there was no longer any obstacle to his
    taking office under the present Government, as now constituted, and
    to be well disposed to accept the offer of the Attorney-Generalship
    of Ireland whenever they can make room for him, though he would
    much prefer coming in with us.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, March 20, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I have seen the Duke, who desired me to express to you his very
    sincere thanks for the trouble you have taken in the subject of
    this detestable quarrel of the W----s. He assured me he would never
    mention your name to any human being; and you may rest assured that
    no letter to me shall ever go out of my hands.

    With regard to leaving the whole matter in dispute to the
    arbitration of mutual friends, the Duke says there is no difficulty
    whatever in procuring Lady W----'s consent to it; she has repeatedly
    offered it, and is now ready to abide by such a reference. With
    regard to the child, this is a subject that must be decided by the
    Court, and cannot, and ought not, to form a part of the reference.
    If the father is entitled to take his child, he will, of course,
    have it; and there seems to be no doubt on this point. The real
    question of reference would be the litigation which is now carrying
    on between Lord W---- and Mr. W----, and the pecuniary arrangements
    and formal separation of the parties.

    The Duke says, that, with regard to the dispute between Lord W----
    and Mr. W----, it stands independent of all other subjects; and as
    Lord W---- is now compelled to put in his answer (the rule being
    made absolute), and as the case must ultimately be most injurious
    and disgraceful in all its bearings to Lord W---- (as it affects
    his conduct to Mr. W----), he thinks the best advice to be given to
    Lord W----, and the best course for him to follow, would be for him
    to write a letter to Mr. W----, saying that though he still
    condemns, and shall never cease to condemn, the injurious manner in
    which Mr. W----'s counsel had thought proper and been advised to
    treat him in his pleadings, yet he was sorry for the conduct he had
    adopted to Mr. W---- in consequence thereof, and was ready to offer
    his apology. This would satisfy W----, and stop his further
    proceedings, and thus end this part of the business. The second
    consideration--namely, the separation and allowance--this must now,
    of course, be decided, and under some strict and clear covenant;
    and which, undoubtedly, could best be done by arbitration of mutual
    friends. Lord C---- would guarantee any pledge or engagement on the
    part of his sister, and the same could be done on the part of Lord
    W----. Indeed, if she were disposed to make difficulties, her
    family would urge her to it. The Duke is quite satisfied that she
    would now most willingly do what she has repeatedly offered--namely,
    to decide the question by a reference to friends; and to show how
    far he has before effected this object, he put into my hands the
    enclosed, which was the terms agreed to in 1819 by both parties,
    and which the Duke is convinced, if they had been acted upon, Lord
    W---- would now have been in his wife's bed. Of course, that part
    which relates to their residence in the same house is now gone by,
    and it must be separation; but the great object is, if possible, to
    separate, by a distinct arrangement, the dispute with W----. This
    is the part that affects Lord W---- the most; and it is in order to
    lessen the heavy censure that would fall on him by the exposure of
    _all his conduct_ towards Mr. W----, that he now seeks to ... to
    mingle the Duke in the history. Lady W---- cannot proceed in this
    cause if W---- is satisfied, for she cannot plead or maintain his
    case for him.

    Nothing of importance occurred in Court on Saturday. The Lord
    Chancellor has got rid of it, and turned it over to Judge Dallas,
    who requires more time; so there is now time for friends to
    interfere, if it can be done with effect.

    You will understand the possession of the child. The Duke has
    nothing to do with it. Lord W---- has her now with him. A _habeas
    corpus_ has been moved, and the law must, of course, decide this.
    You will be so good as to return the Duke's letter, as he desired
    me to let him have it again. He really seems much obliged to you
    for the interest you have taken about it, and I think is much more
    at ease on the subject than he appeared to be on Friday. He knows
    for _certain_ that Lord N---- did advise Lord W---- on the question
    of Mr. W----.

    Believe me, ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


The Catholic Belief Bill continued to be warmly discussed in
Parliament, and for a time almost excluded all other subjects of
interest from public attention.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Four o'clock.

    I saw the Duke yesterday, who is truly thankful to you for the
    interest and concern you take in the business. He is fully sensible
    of the advantage on every ground to arbitrate in this matter,
    though he treats with indignation the attempt to fix a guilt on
    him. He states, in the most solemn manner, to me--and really in
    such a manner as I cannot for a moment disbelieve--that he is
    utterly innocent of the imputed charge; that it is a diabolical and
    infamous conspiracy, which any man may be liable to; and that if it
    proceeds, it will be necessary to expose and punish; that it is
    utterly impossible, without fraud and falsehood of the grossest
    kind, to bring home to him such a crime. Saying all this, he,
    however, admits with you the effect of such a charge on his
    character, until it is fully confuted and exposed.

    With regard to the first proposition coming from Lady W----, it
    would be impossible for him or any one to recommend her in the
    first instance to stay proceedings, or to recommend Mr. W---- to do
    so: it would be admitting her guilt, which no one could advise her
    to do. The Duke is satisfied that she is ready to leave the whole
    matter to reference, and I have no doubt I shall have a
    communication from Lord C---- to that effect to-morrow; and if a
    reference is made on the whole subject--namely, the separation, and
    the income to be allowed--such reference and arrangement would
    naturally have the ultimate effect of putting an end to all other
    proceedings. But it is impossible for her, in the first instance,
    to make this a preliminary engagement, or for him to recommend such
    a step; it would be admitting a ground for the charge, which he
    knows to be most foul and false as it concerns him; and it would be
    a confession on her part of her guilt. It strikes me in the same
    point of view; and on this ground, also, the Duke cannot be one of
    the referees. You would be the best person, and the one most
    desirable to all parties connected with her, on the part of Lord
    W----; and she would be to name one equally approved by you and
    Lord W----. As soon as I have seen Lord C----, who comes to town
    to-day, I will let you know his decision and authority.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.

    We are in the greatest anxiety about the division to-night. The
    best calculators say we shall gain it by four: this is too close.
    No fresh news from Naples. The repulse of the 7th, with great
    confusion, is fully believed. Canning certainly goes back to Paris
    after Lambton's motion; he gives this out everywhere. The rumour
    rather gains ground of your going to Ireland; but I don't know from
    any authority.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Four o'clock.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I got your letter this morning, and had previously received one
    yesterday evening from the Duke ... which I enclose you. It is
    unnecessary, therefore, for me to stir on the subject, or to make a
    further observation, till you have read the enclosed, and have
    given me your opinion upon it, and what is the determination of
    Lord W---- regarding the arbitration. I can only, however, add my
    opinion, that it will be utterly impossible to make a previous
    engagement to withdraw the proceedings now pending. They are, in
    fact, deferred; and the result of an arbitration amicably concluded
    would be the withdrawing of all questions now before the Courts of
    Law.

    Nothing can have been more successful than the whole proceedings on
    the Catholic Bill; and there is no doubt but that the Security Bill
    will also pass rapidly through the House. This will naturally bring
    you to town, to share in the support of it through the House of
    Lords.--I have just heard from Mr. Holmes (who said he knew the
    fact), that a counter-revolution had taken place at Naples: the mob
    had risen--disarmed the troops--spiked the guns--turned the
    Parliament out of doors--proclaimed the Regent, Viceroy--and called
    for the King's return. General Pepe had not been found, and most of
    his army had abandoned him. The person left in command of the
    troops at Naples was the first to turn tail. The cry was now, the
    old Constitution!

    I don't know anything further to tell you. The _old Court_ is
    terribly dismayed by the success of the Catholic Bill, and I
    believe put very little trust in the King's determination to resist
    it. The whole thing in the Lords depends on _his_ decision, and
    upon the conduct of Lord Liverpool; if he does not make a
    _Ministerial_ business of it, there are great hopes it will be
    carried.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, March 24.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Plunket received by yesterday's post intelligence that his wife was
    dying, and consequently set out immediately for Ireland. In spite
    of this great disadvantage, we got through the first clause of the
    Bill (that relative to the Oath of Supremacy), and gained three
    upon the division more than we had on the second reading, the
    numbers being 230 to 216. I think they will hardly make a fight
    about Transubstantiation; but they will push all their strength on
    the exclusion from Parliament, which Bankes will move on Monday. I
    think the Bill will pass the House of Commons. I believe Lord
    Duncannon and Mr. Holmes are agreed that we should have a majority
    of 38, if the whole House were to attend. The notion is that Lord
    Sidmouth, Vansittart, and B. Bathurst are to go out if the Bill is
    carried. Peel is clearly paving the way for a junction with
    Government, even though the Bill should pass; and Canning as
    clearly holding out that there can be no obstacle in the way of his
    sitting in the same Cabinet with Peel. Peel has not gained ground
    by his conduct in the business; I should say he has lost rather in
    the estimation of the House.

    I sent your Lordship a copy of the Bill on the day it was
    reprinted; the alteration was made because it appeared that
    doubtful persons were less dissatisfied with it than with the
    explanation.

    Believe me,

    Your Lordship's obliged and faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    MR. C. W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Saturday.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Notwithstanding the great loss which we sustained last night from
    the absence of poor Plunket, who set off for Ireland with little
    hope of finding his wife alive, we made a very good figure last
    night. Castlereagh spoke better than I ever heard him. You will see
    that your suggestion of adding some words to exclude all mental
    reservation is adopted--that is to say, both Phillimore and
    Castlereagh last night stated the willingness of the promoters of
    the Bill to admit them, if any person thought it desirable to move
    their insertion. Burrell, notwithstanding what he had said, came
    and voted against us; but Curteis and Fox Lane, instead of only
    staying away, voted with us. Davies Gilbert did not vote, but is so
    completely turned that I have strong hopes of his vote on Monday.
    We are also to have Denman, and I believe Abraham Moore, from the
    Circuits; W. Pole, who was ill; Dennis Browne, and Sir Gerard Noel,
    who were absent. Castlereagh has also promised to insist on
    checking the activity of Holmes, who has been quite indefatigable
    in the use of every means, fair and foul, to induce members to vote
    against us. Lord Fife has been dismissed from the Bedchamber, in
    consequence of his vote on the Malt Tax, and Lord Lovaine is to
    succeed him.

    What passed on that occasion is only a confirmation of the truth of
    the Duke of Wellington's view of the state of administration, and
    of the hollowness of their support on any question which is not
    vital. I suppose they now look to replace the Doctor and Van. by
    Peel and Canning, who are evidently extremely disposed to return
    together.

    I agree with you in thinking the Bill, as it originally stood, with
    the explanation of the oath, was preferable to its present form;
    but _on fait ce qu'on peut_ and _non ce qu'on veut_. The best way
    of all would be to make the oath now proposed general for
    Protestants and Catholics, but this, I fear, is impossible.

    I fear that we shall be all Monday on the question of admissibility
    to Parliament, and must reserve the Privy Council and the Judges
    for Tuesday.

    It is intended to add the second Bill in the shape of clauses to
    the first. I suppose we can hardly hope to carry it up to your
    House till Monday, the 2nd. As to the affairs of the South, my view
    very closely concurs with yours.

    I will make some inquiry about the office of Lord Chancellor of
    Ireland before I again write; but I do not myself feel any alarm at
    the exercise of visitatorial or any other power _in curia_ by a
    Catholic, and think, indeed, it might more safely be lodged in his
    hands than in those of an Unitarian or bigoted Presbyterian, who
    might both now hold it.

    Believe me, ever most truly yours,

    C. WILLIAMS WYNN.


More than one communication printed in this volume has indicated that
the Government were anxious to secure the services of the leading
members of the Grenville party. It will be seen that the former became
more and more conscious of the desirableness of such a junction.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, March 27, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    I have received your letter; and you may rely upon it, that there
    is no man more desirous than I am of strengthening the connexion
    between your family and the Government. I think that the services
    which you have, upon principle, rendered to them are of a nature to
    give you every claim to their consideration; and I am very much
    mistaken if this feeling is not common to all those at present
    forming the Administration.

    I shall be very happy in being instrumental in forwarding any wish
    of yours; and I will so conduct myself as not to involve you in
    anything.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Doctors' Commons, March 29, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I should have sent your Lordship yesterday the result of Tuesday's
    debate, but that I was shut up all the morning with Sir John
    Newport _and Co._, on the subject of the clauses relating to the
    securities. You will perceive that several inaccuracies are
    corrected; and amongst other amendments, I believe most of the
    alterations you suggested have been introduced--all, at least, that
    we considered, under existing circumstances, to be advisable.

    We got through all the clauses last night, upon the whole, very
    triumphantly; but Mr. Hutchinson opened a broadside upon us, which
    in the earlier stages of the Bill might have sunk the whole
    concern--inasmuch as he characterized the second Bill (now
    consolidated with the first) as a Bill of pains, penalties,
    degradation, &c., imposed on the Roman Catholic clergy. The attack,
    however, recoiled upon the promoter of it, and the discussion was
    so conducted as to assist the Bill. The debate is exceedingly ill
    given in all the papers I have seen, more especially as it omits
    the speeches of three Irish county members, who rose in succession,
    and said they had every reason to believe the measure was very
    agreeable to the Roman Catholics in the counties they
    represented--Butler, the member for the county of Kilkenny (which,
    I believe, is intensely Catholic), being one. None of the
    Opposition ultras would attend last night.

    The Report is to be brought up to-day, and the Bill to be read a
    third time on Monday. They have abandoned all idea of opposing the
    bringing up of the Report; but Croker, I understand, in spite of
    all that can be said to deter him, persists in his intention of
    moving that a provision shall be inserted in the Bill for the Roman
    Catholic clergy. A great exertion is to be made against us for the
    division on the third reading, but I think we shall succeed; we had
    seven votes shut out on the clause relating to Parliament, which
    was most unfortunate.

    I am now going to meet Sir John Newport, at Lord Castlereagh's, to
    consider of the propriety of some alterations which have been
    suggested as expedient to be made on bringing up the Report. Lord
    Castlereagh _now_ seems quite in earnest, and I think his having
    this meeting at his house is a proof of it; he was very pressing
    with me to attend it.

    The Bill will be reprinted; and as soon as it is distributed I will
    send a copy to Avington, where I shall presume you continue till I
    hear to the contrary.

    Believe me, my dear Lord,

    Your Lordship's obliged and faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, March 30, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    Fremantle has just come in to me, and has informed me that you
    understood that part of a late letter I had written to him,
    referred to you. I assure you that you are quite mistaken. It could
    not refer to you.

    I think I have reason to believe that Lord W---- himself does not
    believe in the truth of the charges he thinks proper to make
    against me. I may be mistaken; but that is my opinion, and that was
    the opinion which, as well as I recollect, I intended to convey,
    and no other; and even this opinion I intended to convey in terms
    as polite, guarded, and little offensive to anybody as possible.

    Pray don't think that I could mean to refer to you in any manner.

    And believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, March 30, 1821.

    You will see, by the enclosed, how totally you mistook the Duke's
    meaning in the last paragraph of his letter to me of the 27th. He
    was much surprised at it, and extremely distressed; and after
    having conversed for some time on the subject, and desired me to
    explain the matter to you, he ended in saying--"I think it would be
    more satisfactory to Lord B---- that I should write him a note,
    which I will do, and give to you to enclose to him." This he
    accordingly did. With regard to the mode of referring it, he is to
    see Lord C----, who will write to me, stating distinctly the
    grounds and extent to which arbitration shall go. I need say no
    more, therefore, on this subject, particularly as we shall meet so
    soon, and probably before I hear from Lord C----.

    A confirmation is arrived of the counter-revolution both at Naples
    and Turin. At the former, the Prince Regent, the army, and the
    people are united; they have dissolved the Parliament, pronounced a
    declaration in favour of the old Constitution, and sent a
    deputation with a submission to the King, and a supplication for
    his resumption of his dominion. At Turin, Prince Carignan has put
    himself at the head of some troops, has resigned the Regency, and
    marched to join a corps which had been assembled in favour of the
    King; and the cry at Turin and throughout Piedmont was for the
    return of the King, and the resumption of the old order of things.
    Thus ends, I hope, and as it is believed, the whole of these
    revolutionary attempts, which might have embroiled all Europe.

    The impression gains ground in favour of the Catholic question in
    the House of Lords. I asked the Duke of W---- what he thought would
    be the result; and he said, "We think it will be carried." I said
    it would depend much on the King; he replied, "We hear he is for
    it." I added, "Much also must depend on Lord Liverpool's conduct;
    if he acts as an individual, it will have little effect, compared
    to any canvass as a Minister." He answered, "The latter is
    impossible; our Cabinet could not allow such a thing; his
    influence, as a private [individual], considering his character,
    situation, &c., must have great weight, but no further; perhaps
    those who oppose it will not be heard, as in the House of Commons."
    I give you nearly word for word as he said it; and I should judge,
    from the tenor of his words and manner, that he really thinks it
    would be carried. By-the-bye, he added, "I hear Lady Conyngham
    supports it, which is a great thing."

    I am hurried for time, so I wont add more. We have no fear for the
    division on Monday; I will see you in the evening, in my way from
    the House.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, March 30, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    Since I wrote to you last, I have had some conversation with those
    likely to carry into execution the object you have in view; and I
    have found them exactly in the disposition in which I told you in
    my last I expected to find them. Of course, in the existing state
    of the measure in Parliament, and particularly as no design for
    carrying it into execution can yet be in discussion, or in the
    contemplation of more than a few, no decision can have been taken.
    But I am certain that the disposition to which I have above
    referred exists; and I think it might be desirable that you should
    let me know whether you have any, and what, views for your family,
    or any of the friends attached to you.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


    MR. C. W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Saturday.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Lord Donoughmore, participating in his brother's objections, has
    to-day declined the conduct of the Bill in the House of Lords, and
    recommended that an attempt should be made to prevail upon Lord
    Grenville to undertake to move the second reading. Anticipating
    this, I had, by Castlereagh's desire, yesterday sounded Lord G----,
    who, to my great satisfaction, said that, if applied to under these
    circumstances, he did not think himself at liberty to refuse. It is
    intended to fix the second reading for Tuesday se'nnight, the 10th.
    You will see that the resolutions of the Dublin clergy are
    extremely moderate, and I understand that their petition is still
    more so. In Limerick, the clergy have come to violent resolutions,
    and there has been an aggregate meeting to the same effect. There
    is a strong protest against them, very numerously and respectably
    signed by what Rice, the member for the city, describes to be the
    principal Catholics there. Altogether, it is supposed that the tide
    runs strongly in favour of the measure.

    I have been looking over the lists of the House of Lords, by which
    the majority against the Bill cannot be rated less than twelve; and
    when one looks at the names of which it consists, I fear that it
    displays such an array of bigotry and stupidity that one can
    scarcely hope to make material impression upon it. The only hope is
    that some of them may stay away. I trust that you will not now
    delay coming up.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, April 2, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    You are quite right respecting the subject of your taking office. I
    have suggested from myself the propriety and expediency of making
    you the offer of the Lord Lieutenancy in Ireland, in case the
    Catholic Bill should pass; and that suggestion was well received.
    It occurred to me that the arrangement, if occasion for it should
    offer, might be facilitated by my knowing your wishes, or whether
    you had any, respecting others, and for that reason I asked the
    question.

    It certainly referred only to the particular object in question, if
    occasion should offer--that is, if the Catholic Bill should
    pass--as you did not go farther with me. But if you feel disposed
    to talk with me upon your situation, and that of your friends, in
    relation to the Government in general, you will find me well
    disposed to enter into the subject, and to do anything in which you
    may think I can be of service to forward your views, in the same
    mode as I have upon the object first mentioned. I shall be at the
    office today till five o'clock, and to-morrow from two. I can go in
    to you at any hour; and I think I had better go to you, as your
    visit to me there might be observed.

    Ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


The Catholic Relief Bill was brought before the House of Lords on the
3rd of April, and a very animated debate on the question took place on
the 17th, when the Duke of York made an emphatic declaration in
opposition; and, although Lord Grenville delivered an able speech in
its support, the motion was negatived on a second reading.

The division on the second reading of the Bill was 159 against, 120
for, showing a majority of 39. On the measure being lost, Lord Eldon,
the most zealous of the anti-Catholics, thus writes:--"It was quite
clear in Lord Grenville's speech that, professing that the Bill must be
greatly amended in the Committee, he did most carefully abstain from
pointing out one single enactment that could be left untouched, or one
that he would introduce as one of his great amendments. He was very
dexterous in avoiding saying that he would have no securities; but I
think it is clear that is now his meaning. The Duke of York has done
more to quiet this matter than everything else put together. It has had
a great effect. I have nothing further to delay your drinking to the
thirty-nine who saved the Thirty-nine Articles--a very fashionable
toast."[62]

      [62] "Life," by Twiss, vol. ii. p. 40.

"As to Liverpool," writes the Lord Chancellor, "I do not know what he
means. To please Grenville, he makes a Regius Professor--friend to the
Catholics. To please Lansdowne, he makes a Bishop of Bristol and Regius
Professor--friend to the Catholics. He therefore, I dare say, will not
stir a step beyond pronouncing in words his speech. I am not quite
content with this, and yet I don't know what to do. But what he does or
does not do, I think, should not regulate me."[63]

      [63] "Life," by Twiss, vol. ii. p. 41.

The Court had recovered from the alarm the Queen had created. A
magnificent banqueting-room had been finished at the Brighton Pavilion,
60 feet long by 42 wide, and had been furnished with imperial
magnificence. This suggested anything but doubts of the Sovereign's
undisturbed rule. At Windsor, the current of affairs went merrily as a
marriage-bell, the Royal party enjoying "the contemplative man's
recreation" on the Virginia Water with a zeal that would have
gratified, if it did not edify, Izaak Walton; and now the Coronation
was boldly talked of--indeed, preparations were making for the
performance of this ceremony with the greatest possible splendour.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Strathfieldsaye. April 23, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    I have received your note in answer to that which I wrote to you on
    Wednesday; and I wish you would let me know whether you have any
    objection to my stating that I know those are your feelings, if
    there should be an opportunity.

    I shall be at Winchester on Wednesday, for the meeting of the
    Lieutenancy, but I am obliged to return here that night, as I have
    some people here; otherwise, I should take that opportunity of
    paying you a visit at Avington.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.

    I was last week at Woburn. I think the Opposition are much more
    annoyed at having failed in pledging a number of persons by a vote
    to go with a Committee on Reform, than they are at the loss of the
    Roman Catholic Bill.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, May 15, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I hear from London that the D---- of N---- has been so ill-advised
    as to have offered to the Q---- the Marshal's box at the
    Coronation, and that she has written to the K---- to know where and
    in what dress she should appear at that ceremony. I presume the
    answer will be, "In a white sheet, in the middle aisle of the
    Abbey." Perhaps _two_ white sheets might be more appropriate, if
    the report is founded of Bergami the Second, in the person of a
    certain strapping Scotch Baxter, seven foot by six. If the K----
    continues to drive Lord L---- to the wall on one side, and the
    commoner Lord L---- urges him with a Catholic measure on the other,
    I should not be surprised that he took that opportunity of
    withdrawing himself from the turmoil, and of leaving _champ libre_
    to the commoner Lord L----, who may feel more confidence than is
    reasonable, that he should find himself strong enough to take the
    whole Government upon his own shoulders--a speculation which,
    however flattering to his ambition, seems hardly within his reach
    to carry through, the general opinion being certainly much less
    favourable to him than to the present First Lord. Perhaps, however,
    the K---- is tired of his old Ministers, and is ready enough to
    take to their opposers, provided he can do so with at least the
    appearance of making it his own act, instead of his submitting to
    undisguised compulsion; but if he puts away his present servants,
    he places himself as unconditionally now at the discretion of
    Opposition, as he would have been if he had surrendered to them at
    the beginning of the session. Perhaps female influence may have
    contributed to this new view as a new measure; and undoubtedly it
    is a most marked demonstration, that the three _first_ subject
    dinners after the accession should be found in the three leading
    houses of Opposition. The probability, however, is that it is an
    over-refinement to give consistency or premeditation to that which
    may be only the unrestrained irritation of the moment.

    Yours most affectionately,

    T. G.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, May 16, 1821.

    Certainly, your description of the discussion for and against the
    proposed relief to the Catholics is not encouraging, any more than
    the prospect which the papers seem to hold out of the rejection of
    the Grampound Bill by the majority of the Cabinet, in contradiction
    to Lord Liverpool's support. The King's demonstrations of renewed
    intercourse with the great peers of opposition must also, in such a
    moment, be a source of weakness, as well as of personal vexation.

    In this state of things, I do not wonder that both parts of the
    Government should be unwilling to stir this Catholic question again
    in any shape; and I certainly see no such benefit likely to arise
    from doing so in the mode of partial relief, as to induce the
    friends of conciliation on a larger scale to embark in any such
    proposal as this limited measure holds out.

    If any other proof were wanted beyond what the general view of the
    subject affords, to convince any reasonable man that this mode of
    treating the most important of all our present public interests as
    no Government question, is the worst instead of the best that could
    be adopted, Lord Londonderry's[64] own situation in respect of this
    subject at this moment would be decisive against it. He has, I am
    persuaded, been restrained only by that pledge from taking the only
    course which becomes him on the subject, and which, if he had
    adopted it in consequence of the passing of the Bill in the House
    of Commons, would have been decisive in its favour in its
    subsequent stages. Having neglected to do this at that time, I
    myself think that his doing it now would be a step of much more
    doubtful result, and probably of much more dangerous consequences,
    and therefore, if I were his adviser, which I am very glad I am
    not, I do not see what I could suggest but now to leave the matter
    as it is. Shall we see you on Monday? As to the direct reference
    which Lord L----'s conversation seems to have had to yourself and
    your own conduct, in respect to making yourself, personally and
    officially, a party to this system of treating the greatest of all
    questions in our domestic policy as no Cabinet measure, what I have
    already said will sufficiently show you my opinion. It is a mode of
    getting rid of a present difficulty, but at the risk and almost
    certainty of the greatest possible embarrassments in future. And
    this deserves the greater consideration, inasmuch as the events of
    this session have again rendered this Roman Catholic question so
    very prominent a feature of all that can be looked to for some time
    to come.

      [64] Lord Castlereagh's father having recently died, he had
      succeeded to the title.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Sunday Night.

    I have just got your letter, and write these few lines to save the
    post, though I have, in truth, in what I wrote to Charles this
    morning, said all that occurs to me as material on the subject.

    It is of great importance that you should not appear, either to
    Plunket or to others, to stir a single step in the matter without
    his previous approbation.

    I most entirely agree in the utter impossibility of either yourself
    or Wellesley, or any other supporter of the Catholic Bill, bringing
    forward any such proposition as this, or even acquiescing in it,
    except under an express and positive declaration that you do so
    only as seeing in it an advance, _however small_, towards the final
    and total accomplishment of that which can alone satisfy your own
    duty and opinion on this subject.

    How can Lord Londonderry or any of his colleagues think that any of
    those who were turned out in 1807, precisely because they would not
    pledge themselves to any truce or cessation of this question short
    of its total and final accomplishment, would now lend themselves to
    such a measure for the sake of obtaining for the Catholics benefits
    so small that it is even doubtful (as I explained to Charles this
    morning, according to my view of the subject,) whether they or
    their opponents would gain most by thus varying the state of the
    question?

    I forget which bishop it was that was foolish enough to express his
    hope that the present rejection of the Bill would finally set the
    question at rest. But I well remember that I noticed this
    nonsensical expectation in the course of what I said, and assured
    him that it neither ought to have, _nor would have_, that effect.

    And indeed if I, and half or all the supporters of the Bill, had
    thought differently, and were inclined to lend ourselves to such a
    pledge, how could any or all of us answer for the Catholics
    themselves, or bind ourselves, if they stirred the question in
    opposition to our pledges, that we would then vote against our
    declared opinions?

    All this, in my judgment, only shows that Lord Londonderry is, as
    he may well be, most uneasy in his situation, as resulting from the
    present strange and most anomalous state of this business, which he
    ought to have foreseen, but did not, as at least a possible event,
    when he agreed to form a Government in which the one most important
    feature in the whole political interests of the country was not to
    be considered as a ministerial question.

    "You have what I advise;" but pray do not forget that, on this
    subject above all others, Plunket is entitled, not to _know_, but
    almost to _direct_ your course.

    GRENVILLE.


The Queen put in a formal claim to be crowned with the King, and Mr.
Brougham urged it, with all his forensic eloquence and skill, before
the Privy Council; but, as will be seen, all the principal precedents
were in opposition to his argument:--

"William the Conqueror's Queen was crowned two years after he was
crowned.

Henry I.'s Queen, ditto.

Stephen's Queen, ditto.

Richard I.'s Queen, crowned abroad.

John's Queen, not crowned with him, but crowned.

Henry III.'s Queen, not with him, but afterwards, alone.

Edward III.'s Queen, crowned alone.

Henry IV.'s Queen, crowned--not with him.

Henry V.'s Queen, ditto.

Henry VI.'s Queen, not crowned with him, but alone.

Henry VII.'s Queen, crowned long after him.

Henry VIII.--Some of his Queens crowned, some not.

Charles I.--His Queen not crowned at all.

Charles II.--His Queen not crowned at all.

George II.'s Queen, or George I.'s, I am not sure which, not crowned at
all."[65]

      [65] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 43.

On the 21st of May a feeble attempt was made in the House of Commons to
bring forward the pretensions of the Queen to share in the approaching
State ceremonial; but the firm language of Lord Londonderry, and the
apathy of the House on the subject, set the matter at rest.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, June 4, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    The coronation is fixed (_decidedly so_) by the Government to take
    place previous to his going to Ireland, and a fortnight after the
    close of the Session: two days afterwards he starts for Ireland,
    and embarks at Portsmouth; and on his return from Ireland, he goes
    to Hanover. This is all arranged at present, and the Ministers have
    agreed to it. With the exception of the coronation, all the rest
    may be subject to change; but I am quite sure the coronation is
    determined on. Prince Leopold was to have started for Germany on
    Friday, to see his mother; but has put it off, in consequence of
    this decision, as he could not be back in time.

    Canning leaves Paris this day for London. Parliament--that is, the
    House of Commons--is expected to be up on the 25th; and I think it
    may. There is no other news.

    Ever yours truly,

    W. H. F.

    There are to be two Parliamentary Commissioners--Frankland Lewis
    and Wallace--for this Irish examination, and three other
    Commissioners; salary, £1500 (to Parliamentary Commissioners) per
    annum. I don't think it would be a bad appointment (one of the
    others) for Tom Fremantle, if I could have a chance of getting it.
    I suppose their salary is much less.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, June 5, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    It is evident that something has for the moment interfered to
    prevent the immediate announcement of Lord Sidmouth's resignation,
    which on Saturday and Sunday was reported upon the best authority.
    Lord G---- told me that Lord S---- was suddenly sent for by the
    King on Saturday, and it seems probable that it was to tell him to
    delay his resignation; indeed, as the Session will end with this
    month, that period would be the natural one for change.

    Lady Liverpool was yesterday reported to be dead, but she still
    lives, though she is considered as being at death's door; and I
    believe the Ministers are much alarmed, from their doubting
    whether, in that case, Lord L---- will not retire altogether.

    The coronation is now again afloat, and is expected to take place
    before the journey to Ireland. The Court of Claims is resumed; and
    having a ticket to-day to see the preparations in the Hall and the
    Abbey, I am convinced from what I saw that they are now in earnest,
    and that there is nothing which may not be quite completed in six
    weeks, except the tower at the Great Gate of Westminster Hall. The
    Hall is beautiful and magnificent; but in the Abbey, the appearance
    of the great aisle is much hurt by the projecting galleries on each
    side for the spectators.

    Yours affectionately,

    T. G.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, June 10, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I only returned to town this morning, having gone on Sunday. I am
    very glad you were so satisfied with my last, but think you rather
    went beyond my meaning in your construction of its contents;
    however, I saw the Duke of Wellington this moment, and put your
    letter into his hands, which he read with great attention. We were
    on horseback, and many persons passing in the Park, and therefore
    he had little means of conversing upon it; however, his observation
    to me was--"I am glad he is satisfied with my explanation; I am
    quite sure he may depend on what I said. You have heard, no doubt,
    of the event of this morning" (meaning Lady Liverpool's death,
    which took place at six o'clock), "this for the moment, of course,
    stops all proceedings. Does Lord Buckingham remain in the country?
    I am glad he does; he would be more fidgetty here, with all the
    reports, but a few days probably will give him information." By
    this you will perceive, for I really think I have quoted every word
    he said (as we were interrupted by Mr. Singleton's presence), that
    the communication is beyond doubt intended, and I shall think it
    your own fault if you let the opportunity slip.

    Without meaning in any manner to embarrass any views which you may
    have, I think it fair to state my wish, which is to be placed at
    any one of the Boards of Treasury, Admiralty, or India. It was the
    situation which I was to have when Lord Grenville was to come in,
    and I should hope both my pretension of former office and my
    talents would entitle me to it, but be assured I mean not to
    interfere with your arrangements in any way.

    I send you a list which is made out at White's of the new Peers,
    and which is said to be correct; it is expected out immediately.

    Irish: Roden, Kingston, Conyngham, Longford, and Ormond.

    Scotch: Wemys and Lothian.

    English: Lord George Murray, Sir W. Scott, Pole, Cholmondeley,
    Forester, Sir T. Liddle, and Sir T. Heathcote.

    I have nothing further to say at present. You shall hear to-morrow
    if anything occurs. I had a letter from Cecil Jenkinson announcing
    her death, and saying Lord Liverpool was as well as could be
    expected. The Duke of Wellington told me they were urging the King
    to go to Ireland by Holyhead, but as yet he persists in going by
    long sea.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


The negotiation with the Grenvilles was again resumed; a full report
of which is here given, including some curious revelations of Court
and Ministerial life.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, June 11, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am perfectly aware of the difficulties you have in managing the
    _half-Whig_ principles and the _negative qualities_ which are
    acting against you on the subject of negotiations and connexion
    with the Government; and it was because I felt this, and knew the
    delicacy of the transaction, and because I had incurred so much
    blame from Lord G---- and others in former negotiations, that I
    acted as I did. The moment I got your first letter I determined to
    act upon it, _without consulting any one_. It was your wish that I
    should communicate with the Duke of Wellington (personally); I
    concurred in that opinion, and I therefore instantly went to him.
    _After_ I had so communicated with him, and had written the account
    of it to you, I sought Charles Williams [Wynn], to inform him of
    what I had done, and showed him the correspondence. I had a long
    conversation with him, and maintained those opinions and the views
    which you have suggested in your letter of this morning. Although
    he deprecated the overture to the Duke of Wellington, yet I am
    quite persuaded he is delighted at the prospect it has opened to
    his views. I know not whether he may or may not have opened the
    subject to his uncles, but it is impossible they can condemn a
    proceeding which was called for by the general and increasing
    rumours of the town; but even if they are so disposed, it is
    necessary for every man to judge for himself. They might think it
    right to remain quiet; you, on the contrary, think it right to
    communicate your views and opinions confidentially to the Duke of
    Wellington, with whom you had before conversed on the subject. I
    have always told you, and I repeat it, that Charles Williams,
    though most able and admirable as your chief in the House of
    Commons, is too full of difficulty and _splitting of hairs_. My
    opinion is, decidedly, that you should, under all the difficulties
    of the present moment, and with the retirement of your uncles, get
    into official station, and thereby official strength and power; and
    when once that is done, your influence, your necessity _to any
    future Government_, will be tenfold what it now is; but if you are
    now to hold off, and to be fighting for general objects, and for
    balance of Cabinet strength, and for questions and individuals, I
    have no hesitation in saying that I think you will do wrong. These
    will be the points, I perfectly well know, that will be uppermost
    in the mind of your uncles and Charles Williams; but it is for you
    to act for yourself, which I think you can manage without
    quarrelling with them. With all these impressions on my mind, and
    recurring to the blame I incurred for communicating with Harrison
    on a former occasion, I felt it impossible for me not to mention
    the transaction to Charles Williams, _after I had executed your
    wishes_; but I can assure [you] there is no other individual on
    earth to whom I have opened my lips on the subject; and you must be
    aware that, whether this conversation had been made known or not,
    you must have mentioned the subject to your uncles and Charles Wynn
    whenever the Government had sent to you, and on your arrival in
    town. I feel exceedingly sorry you should have thought that I
    wanted discretion by so doing; but, devoted as I am at all times to
    you, the case was one in which I felt obliged to take the step I
    did.

    I shall not communicate your letter of to-day to him; but shall
    continue to urge the same language you hold, and which, I assure
    you, I have already done to him; and I would recommend you to leave
    it now where it stands. Again I can't help expressing my opinion of
    the propriety of your conduct, and the necessity there was of
    coming to a full and distinct understanding as to your footing with
    the Government.

    I cannot yet give a good guess as to Lord Liverpool's conduct. If I
    were to give my opinion, it is that he will remain in office; but
    if Lord Londonderry thinks his situation, and power, and influence
    must be strengthened (which seemed to be the opinion of the Duke of
    Wellington), he may be better pleased with an arrangement which
    would give him the Treasury and Chancellorship of the Exchequer,
    and thereby he would possess the patronage and the authority over
    the Secretaries of the Treasury. It certainly is now a drawback to
    his Parliamentary means; at the same time, I own I cannot see
    strength in the retirement of Lord Liverpool. He has more footing
    and support in the country than any one of the Ministers; and even
    his promise of support would be a very different thing. Who is
    there to conduct the House of Lords?

    Lady Conyngham is certainly moving to introduce the Opposition. I
    was told last night (but I can't positively vouch for the fact)
    that Lord and Lady Grey and children are invited to the Carlton
    House ball this evening; if so, nothing can more strongly mark her
    influence; for you must remember the language the King held to me,
    not six months ago, about Lord Grey individually. There was no
    opprobrious or harsh epithet he did not use. He dines with the Duke
    of Devonshire to-morrow, and has a limited party to meet him in the
    evening--a ball. I have not heard who are the invitations--but of
    course Diplomacy and Opposition. The King has left out many of the
    Ministers' ladies and his old friends to-night--such as the Duchess
    of Rutland, Lady Bathurst; the only Minister's wife, Lady Melville,
    asked.

    I will keep this open, in case I have anything further to tell you.
    Adieu!

    Ever sincerely yours,

    W. H. F.

    House of Commons, Six o'clock.

    I have little more to say, excepting that Lord Londonderry is
    unwell, and no particular business will come on this evening. _Lord
    and Lady_ Grey are certainly invited to Carlton House to-night, and
    Tierney to the evening to-morrow, to meet the King at the Duke of
    Devonshire's. The strongest rumours are afloat, and increase with
    regard to _his leaning_ towards the Opposition; and certainly these
    invitations do not discourage them. What he can mean seems
    difficult to unravel.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, June 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I feel that I acted wrong in showing your letter marked
    "Confidential" to Charles Williams, and am sorry I did so,
    particularly as it has given you pain, but a variety of reasons
    prompted me at the time; the subject was so important, and the
    nature of the commission so delicate, that I did not sufficiently
    consider how it might embarrass you. I am quite aware of the many
    difficulties you have to contend with, and this made me feel (from
    past experience) the danger of moving without explanation; however,
    I can only say I am sorry I showed your letter, and it will be a
    lesson to me in future to act with more caution.

    The state of things is most critical and curious. Everybody now
    acknowledges, and seems to admit, that changes must take place and
    are pending, but what with the King's flirtation with the
    Opposition, the strange absence and conduct of Canning at the House
    of Commons, the illness of Londonderry, and the death of Lady
    Liverpool, it is all loose and wild conjecture; my version is
    this--I have no hesitation in saying, from what I gather, that Lord
    Liverpool will not resign (the King has written him a most kind and
    considerate letter); that the King only plays a game with the
    Opposition from vexation and anger about Mr. Sumner's appointment,
    and a wish at the same time of keeping down a party for the Queen,
    but that he has no idea of changing his Government. That as soon as
    Lady Liverpool is buried and the Session is closed, a communication
    will be made to you, and that the Government will be strengthened
    by your accession. How and in what manner this will be arranged, in
    accordance with your feelings and views, I cannot pretend to say;
    but whenever that proposition is made, if you are afterwards to
    waive the accedence to a junction till you are enabled to satisfy
    the theories and calculations of your uncles, I am quite sure you
    might as well remain at Stowe. I have no hesitation in saying to
    you, that I think you would do well to make a _sine quâ non_ of
    Charles Williams being of the Cabinet; but if beyond this he is to
    have all his difficulties of who shall fill the different offices,
    and how more or less the Government could be better classed, and if
    these difficulties are again to be weighed and reasoned on by your
    uncles, who sit in their libraries and fancy things and men are as
    they were twenty years ago, and forget we are under a new reign,
    _and such a reign_; and if above all, they fancy the Government is
    reduced to the state of giving you _carte blanche_, and that they
    cannot go on without your party, I am quite convinced they would
    not treat on these terms, and that _they are_ prepared to go on, if
    they find such to be your feelings and line of conduct; I tell you
    this as _my own opinion_, and which I think I am bound to give you,
    knowing the situation in which you stand, and weighing well all
    these difficulties you have to contend against, and as they affect
    what I know to be the prevailing object of your mind to conciliate
    the junction.

    The Opposition are whispering and cajoling about the King's conduct
    towards them, and I see are endeavouring to separate the Whigs from
    the Mountain; but they will be unable to do this while the Duke of
    Bedford, Lord Grey, Lord Lansdowne, &c. are at Carlton House, and
    Lords Tavistock, Fitzwilliam, Milton, Jersey, &c., are with the
    Queen on the same evening.

    Lady Conyngham is the great link upon which this hangs, and the
    Opposition ladies are courting her to a degree and with success.
    The King goes to-day (if he is well enough) to the Cottage, for the
    Ascot week, and is to have his party, Lady C----, &c.

    He is certainly very unwell, with a great degree of gout. He was in
    his bed on the day he dined with the Duke of Devonshire till he got
    up for the dinner, and went away at twelve. He sat nearly the whole
    evening on a couch with Lady C----, and the night before at Carlton
    House he did the same with her, attending very little to the
    children, and then dismissed his company at about eleven o'clock,
    to have a private supper with her. I cannot find that he spoke to
    Lord Grey on either of the evenings. Adieu.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, June 18, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I can have no idea that the Duke of Wellington speaks alone from
    his wishes, when he expressly told me that the _chiefs_ of the
    Cabinet thought exactly as he did on the subject, and meant to act
    upon it. If the Chancellor, Lord Melville, and others, have
    counteracted this intention by stopping the arrangement with
    Canning, I cannot but think it must end in their quarrelling, for I
    am sure Lord Londonderry wishes for further strength in the House
    of Commons, and he will not be deterred in procuring it by the
    Chancellor's meddling, who does not suffer from this part of the
    Government weakness. However, a short time must disclose it. Lady
    Liverpool's body leaves town to-morrow to be buried at Hawkesbury;
    Lord Liverpool attends it, and sleeps on Wednesday night at
    Badminton (Duke of Beaufort's), very near the place; when he
    returns, which he does to Combe, on Thursday or Friday, he will of
    course resume business and communication with his colleagues. Lord
    Londonderry is better; possibly may come to the House of Commons
    to-day. There has been the _devil to do_ with the Duke of
    Devonshire's dinner. The Spencers, indignant at not being asked,
    refused to go in the evening; she saying that she did presume to
    think that she was as much entitled to a _family_ association as
    Mr. and Mrs. G. Lambe or Captain Clifford, and one must say with no
    _little_ reason. He also wrote to Lady Jersey to beg her to _send
    him an excuse_, as he had reason to think her presence would be
    objectionable (this at the time he had invited Lady Tavistock, and
    who was actually there, having been with the Queen the night
    before); Lady Jersey is outrageous, but has written a most violent
    letter to the Duke; but is crying to everybody, saying she is
    abandoned by her friends and everybody; she was at Lady
    Londonderry's on Saturday, sobbing and bewailing to every soul,
    literally crying. Lady Conyngham carries it with the very highest
    hand. She met R. Smith (Lord Carrington's son) on the Friday
    morning, asked him if he was to be at the ball at Carlton House
    that evening. He answered, "No; he had not been honoured by an
    invitation;" to which she replied, "Oh, I'll take care of that;"
    and he received a card a few hours afterwards.

    Lady Londonderry sent her an invitation for one of her evening
    parties; she sent word that Lady Londonderry not having invited her
    to one party last winter, as she was not fit company in the year
    1820, she could not be better or more worthy in the year 1821. Lady
    Gwydyr is the great friend. I don't find the King spoke to one of
    the Opposition _men_ either at Carlton House or at Devonshire
    House; at the latter, a great mass of them, Tierney, Lord Grey,
    Mackintosh, &c. &c., were collected in the outer room to make their
    bow as he went out, but either by design or accident he came out by
    another room, and the thing missed fire.

    I perfectly agree with you in thinking the King's conduct towards
    them is more with a view to destroy a Queen's party, but at the
    same time it weakens most terribly his own. Canning looks like the
    D----; I never saw a man so cast down or so miserable. His late
    gasconade has done him great mischief; it is said that Charles
    Ellis disapproved it strongly before he wrote the letter. I shall
    keep this open till I go to the House. The King goes to-day to the
    Cottage for the week--Lady Conyngham, Esterhazys, &c. &c. The
    Agricultural Horse Tax is given up; it was surrendered in the
    Committee this morning. I met Lord L---- this moment, who told me
    he had just parted with Lord Sidmouth, who had seen Lord Liverpool
    this morning. He (Lord L----) asked Lord Sidmouth whether there was
    any disposition or feeling on the part of Lord Liverpool to resign;
    he answered him in the clearest negative, saying he had no such
    idea whatever; that he found him greatly subdued this morning, but
    that after a little conversation he recovered and began upon
    business. Adieu.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 2, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am quite persuaded there is no person more anxious on the subject
    than C---- W----; and however sulky he may have been, he was not
    the less delighted at the steps you took, by which the prospect
    appeared to be so much opened.

    I am quite at a loss now to account for the _non_-communication.
    Your conjecture is, most probably, that the party who do not feel
    the weight of the Government are too strong at present to enable
    the efficient members to accomplish their object: at the same time,
    it is quite clear something _must_ be done. If they get both
    Canning and Peel, they may do; but I don't look to this. The former
    claims too much, and there is a great portion of the Cabinet who
    hate him. He certainly was walking with Lord Lichfield for an hour
    previous to his making his speech; but his friends (I mean Lord
    Binning, who told me so) say it was to dissuade him from making it.
    He paired off himself on the question, which is a clear
    demonstration of his ill-humour. I will endeavour to throw myself
    in the Duke of Wellington's way, but I should think it unwise to
    call upon him; and, if I have an opportunity, will open the
    subject. After his declarations, if the business is off, he will
    and must feel very awkward; but at the same time, I think he must
    also feel called upon to give you some explanation. The truth is,
    that the Government is so extremely weak, and so dis-united in
    itself, and upon such terms with the King, that they don't know
    from day to day, or from hour to hour, what will be their next
    proceedings. I understood last night, the Council were to hear an
    argument on the claim set up by the Queen to be crowned. The
    Chancellor was to see the King upon it yesterday. This will add
    disgust and ill-will from the King, who cannot listen to common
    forms on her subject. Nobody can account for the Peerages not
    having appeared, as also the Brevet in Army and Navy. Lord Talbot
    was to return this week.

    Whenever I hear anything, or can procure information, you shall
    know immediately. I leave town on Saturday.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 4, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    You will receive with this another letter which I have written to
    you, but which I told the Duke of W---- I would not send without
    his first seeing, being upon a matter so important, and conveying
    his message. Nothing can be so thoroughly weak as the proceedings
    of the Government on this question: it is, as usual, holding off
    and endeavouring to tide on, trusting to accident, but knowing
    themselves to be incapable of continuing in their present form for
    another session.

    I had a conversation with the Duke, in which he evidently felt
    embarrassed, because he admitted the folly of suspending any
    measures, but was forced to admit, at the same time, he was
    compelled to it. He talked over and admitted the inefficiency of
    many members of the Cabinet, but then said there were reasons which
    made it difficult to remove them, particularly when adverting to
    Lord Sidmouth--said he knew how "silly a fellow he was," but that a
    great following of the country attended him, and he would bring
    more "_public_ opinion" to the Cabinet than any other member. It
    was to his change, however, they looked. That it was impossible the
    House of Commons could go on as it was; and the difficulty was, how
    best to strengthen it, when there was in all parts of the House
    _such a parity_ of abilities. I admitted this, but said the
    disparity was only displayed in the Government benches; that B.
    Bathurst, Vansittart, and others (I did not name Pole) were perfect
    cyphers. It is clear that the efficient members--viz., Liverpool,
    Londonderry, and the Duke of Wellington--have been thwarted in
    their endeavours by the minor members of the Cabinet, and this
    arising from the want of energy in Lord Liverpool. I said, "Do you
    think the present supporters of Government, and the members of the
    Cabinet whom you may remove, would or could oppose the new
    Cabinet?" "Certainly not," he answered; "but though they would
    support, yet it would be an unwilling and cold support, such as
    could not be relied on." I made him feel as much as I could the
    awkward situation in which he himself was placed, with the opinions
    he entertained of the weakness of Government; and he really had
    nothing to say to this, except that it could not last, but that a
    strengthening of the Cabinet _must_ take place before the opening.
    One thing, however, has [been] elicited--namely, that neither
    Canning nor Peel are thought of as in distinction to a more
    enlarged opening.

    I have seen Charles Wynn since, and showed him the letter I was to
    show the Duke, and which is here sent. Our conversation was short.
    His impression is in favour of your joining the Whigs; but this
    would be madness. First, that they would repel you; and next, it
    would not a bit lessen the power of the present Government; or
    could it lead, under any circumstances, to the formation of a
    stronger or more efficient Government; it would and must lead you
    into the stream of the Radicals, who completely govern the Whigs.
    My opinion is, that you should now hold yourself liberated from all
    connexion with the Government, and that whether they do or do not
    communicate with you, is now a matter not worth your notice; but
    that you shall give your support and influence to the formation of
    any Government that can rescue us from the danger of revolution,
    which is fast approaching, and which daily threatens us more and
    more, from the weakness and want of energy of the present members
    of the Cabinet. I will add a word or two to this after I have seen
    the Duke.

    You will see by the papers the death of Buonaparte. I met Lord
    Sidmouth, who told me the accounts had arrived. He died of a
    stomach attack of a cancerous nature, on the 5th April.

    Four o'clock.

    I am just come from the Duke, and I send you the letter as he has
    altered it.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 4, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I have seen the Duke of Wellington this morning, who sent to me to
    communicate the last decision of the Cabinet with regard to change.
    He desired me to tell you it was found impossible, for reasons into
    which he could not enter, to make the arrangements which had been
    in contemplation, and that it was thought best not to come to you
    with an offer in an arrangement which was not complete, and
    therefore to delay to communicate with you till the complete
    arrangement could be made. This must be made between this and the
    next session of Parliament; and the Duke told me that nothing of
    the kind could be done without communication with you; that if the
    arrangement in contemplation could have been made at present, an
    offer would have been made to you which the Duke thinks would have
    been agreeable to you; and he was quite certain nothing of the kind
    would be done in future without something of the same kind. I
    begged to understand from the Duke whether any partial change--such
    as the introduction of Mr. Canning or Mr. Peel--would be considered
    change? His answer was, that no change whatever would take place
    without your being consulted and a party to it; and that he made
    this communication to you with the knowledge and concurrence of
    Lord Liverpool.

    Believe me ever, my dear Lord,

    Most sincerely yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, July 5, 1821.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I yesterday met Fremantle, who told me of his conversation with the
    Duke of W----, which terminates that business just as I expected.
    The moment that the pressure of immediate difficulty is removed by
    the prorogation, they are content to go to sleep, just as they did
    in autumn, and depend upon what good fortune, chance, or the
    chapter of accidents may send them before next session, which will
    find them just as unfit, unprepared, and incapable as the present
    has left them. They all say that Lord Liverpool is in a state of
    such nervous irritation, from mental distress and the accumulation
    of business which has taken place in his absence, that it is
    impossible to get an answer from him upon anything. I spoke the
    other day to Lord Londonderry about Henry, and he held just the
    same language as before--hope of making an early communication, but
    had not yet been able to speak to Lord Liverpool.

    Report states the intended reduction to be four regiments of
    dragoons, three of infantry, and ten men per troop and company on
    the remainder. I doubt the dragoons, since that would be lower than
    the establishment of 1792.

    The Ordnance is also to be well pared.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 7, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am just come from the Duke of W----, who had shown your letter to
    Lord Liverpool. Of course he said little upon it, more than
    admitting the general terms and the necessity of forming a strong
    Government.

    I found him, however, I think, a great deal more irritable on the
    subject of the King, full of anger, and vexation, and complaint of
    the difficulties in which the Cabinet was placed; every hour
    increasing those difficulties from the conduct _he_ was pursuing,
    not only by his _flirtation_ with the Opposition, but by his
    strange whims and orders respecting the Coronation, and the
    impatience he already shows at any reductions, particularly when
    they touch the military. However, these are things that must be
    fought, and as I again repeated, the sooner the better. I found,
    however, from the Duke, that the great resistance was made to the
    re-introduction of Canning (and this is, I think, material for you
    to know). _He_ cannot forgive him, and the particular offence is
    the letter he wrote to B----, explaining the grounds of his conduct
    regarding the Queen, and in which he stated he "was no party to
    laying the green bag on the table of the House of Commons," which
    is a direct falsehood. By this you will observe where the _hitch_
    rests; and it is likewise gratifying, with your views of the
    subject, to feel that the Cabinet consider a strong Government can
    only be constituted by the admission of Canning; indeed, the Duke
    entered into this part with a great deal of reasoning on the state
    of the House of Commons.

    The more I hear and see of the matter, the more convinced I am that
    the whole thing hangs on a thread; that if the King dared turn them
    out he would, that is, he would submit to the influence of Lady
    C---- in so doing, but I don't know that if it were not but for
    this influence he would be so disposed. That the Cabinet knowing
    this are cautious not to give him any good ground, and not to
    exasperate him at the present moment. You cannot imagine the state
    of irritation in which the Duke was this morning, and I think not a
    little of it arose from the result of an interview which Lord
    Anglesea had with the King yesterday, for he said to me among other
    things--"You have no idea the mischief that is done to us by
    persons who have an opportunity of seeing and conversing with the
    King. Lord Anglesea saw him yesterday, and this has interfered
    already in our proposed military reductions." Afterwards he
    said--"There are not less than five Pagets named for situations at
    the Coronation." I give you all this to show the tone and temper.

    I told him when he was talking over the state of the House of
    Commons, that I thought if he could in the arrangement secure the
    most efficient of the present members of Government, together with
    your squadron, Canning, and Peel, such a Government might defy not
    only the Opposition, but all the folly, or indiscretion, or passion
    of the King; to which he said, "It is the only Government that
    ought to be formed." Nothing could exceed his indignation and
    abuse of Lady C----. He said the situation in which she was now
    placed, was one she had been seeking for twenty years; that her
    whole object was patronage and patronage alone; that she mingled in
    everything she could, and it was entirely owing to the necessary
    interference of the Government on one or two points, and the
    offence given by Lady Castlereagh in not inviting her, that her
    present animosity to the Government proceeded, and the consequent
    difficulties with the King.

    I have run on till the bell-man is actually passing; probably you
    will be in town before Sunday, when I shall see you, but I am
    compelled by business to go on that day. Adieu.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.

    P.S.--The Peerages are expected out to-night, nobody knows why Lord
    Rous is made an Earl.


    MR. C. W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Many thanks to you for your two letters. The account which
    Fremantle yesterday gave me of his second conversation with the
    Duke of W---- certainly bore a more decisive character than
    anything which had previously passed; still, even that is
    symptomatic of the general weakness and procrastination which marks
    the Administration in general and Lord Liverpool in particular. In
    general I concur most fully in the sentiments which you have
    expressed in your letter to Fremantle. Perhaps I do not so much
    wish as you do for Lord Liverpool's continuance in his present
    department; as, notwithstanding the weight which attaches to his
    character, I believe that the peculiar peril of the present day
    might be encountered with greater probability of success if Lord
    Londonderry were to unite that office with the lead of the House of
    Commons.

    I do not yet know exactly whether I can be with you on Wednesday or
    Thursday, but on one of them I certainly will. I find that there is
    a probability of the Oxford election being deferred till the 23rd,
    or possibly the 24th. I think Heber has a fair probability of
    success, if his friends exert themselves; but his committee wants
    very much the order and method of your arrangements in St. James's
    Square. I fear that of the new Peers there will be a considerable
    majority against the Catholics. I can only find William Pole, Lord
    Ormond, and perhaps Liddell, among the favourable, and all the
    remainder who had not previous votes as representative peers,
    hostile.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, July 10, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I think I shall determine to return to town on the 17th or 18th,
    because I do not see how the bustle of the coronation can reach me
    in Cleveland Square, if I carefully avoid all nearer approach to
    it; so that, according to my present projects, I think I shall
    certainly see you in London. My expectation is that, more or less
    immediately, the influence of the lady will effect the change that
    she is supposed to be working for, more especially as I believe her
    lover's vanity would rather be flattered by the ostentation of
    displaying her power and influence on this subject, in spite of the
    manifest impropriety of her appearing in public affairs, and the
    hazard which might attend such a manifestation in times like the
    present and with the jealousy which the public mind has already
    shown upon these topics.

    I perfectly agree with you also in the apprehensions which you
    express, of the weakness of the present ministers inviting and
    acquiescing in the transfer of the executive government from
    official responsibility to votes and resolutions and debates.

    If the Opposition shall succeed to office, I shall certainly think
    their success not a whit more creditable to them on this occasion,
    than was their disgraceful failure last year; but whenever that
    happens, a new state of things will arise, which will create
    perhaps a difficult question, and certainly a most important one,
    as to the more or less support which the public interests might
    demand for them. If they take the government diffident of their own
    strength, they may court popularity among the lower ranks by
    measures, under the specious name of reform, which might
    irrecoverably ruin the constitution of the country, before they
    could be displaced; if, on the other hand, they could promise
    themselves a fair and extensive parliamentary support in
    endeavouring to bring back to government its proper dignity,
    authority, and responsibility, that would be so great a public good
    that all possible means should be taken to support it, however
    objectionable their conduct out of office had been: the difficulty
    would be to decide that important question; we shall have time
    enough to think and talk it over.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    White's, July 14, 1821.

    It is impossible to describe to you half the lies or inventions
    that daily take place. To-day it is said, and confidently, that the
    King has nominated four extra Knights of the Thistle--Lauderdale,
    Cassilis, Melville, and Aboyne. The preparations for the Coronation
    are going on with infinite energy, but I should think with equal
    confusion. A grand quarrel between the Lord Great Chamberlain and
    the Earl Marshal, the latter engrossing all the Abbey, and the
    other all the Hall, and not allowing the smallest interference or
    even suggestion from each other. The King perfectly absorbed in all
    these petty arrangements of dress, seats, &c. A private box
    prepared in the Hall for the Great Chamberlain, in which Lady
    Conyngham is accommodated. Lord Conyngham said to-day, at White's,
    that he and family were to depart for Ireland immediately after the
    levee; not to wait for the ball which is to be given on Friday,
    27th, at Carlton House. It is generally believed that Lord Sidmouth
    forgot to sign his name to the letter to the Queen; but the
    extraordinary part is, that yesterday it was generally understood,
    even by the Government, that the Queen was to have a place at the
    Abbey, and this I fully believe; but that the King said he had a
    full and complete control over the Hall, and _there_ she should not
    come; and I believe this is the cause of the rejection altogether.

    You can have no idea what an impression it makes in the public, the
    conduct of the King towards his Government. The flirtation he holds
    with the Opposition, and his general estrangement from them; the
    appointments he makes, without the least communication with them. I
    dined yesterday at the Duchess of Rutland's, where there was a
    large party of Government people, and where nothing else was talked
    of. The arrangement for reduction is this at present--ten men
    reduced from every troop in every cavalry regiment, and twenty-five
    per cent. from all official situations, high and low; this is what
    I heard to-day.

    I go out of town early to-morrow. You will no doubt have much
    communication with the Duke of Wellington when you come, and, if he
    is as full as when I last saw him, you will hear much to astonish,
    and, I think, to alarm you.

    Lord Lansdowne's appointment is confirmed.

    Ever yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 11, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I waited till the last moment to see if I could pick up anything
    for you. Hume was cut off in the middle of his speech. The Queen
    certainly means to come to the Royal box at the Coronation, and it
    is now said the Cabinet have decided on providing her a seat.
    Whether this is true or not I cannot say; but they are mad if they
    leave her to fight the battle in the street, which she will
    certainly do. The peerages are delayed on account of the question
    of titles. Forester can't be Lord Forester or Wenlock, the latter
    claimed by Lawleys, the former possessed at present by Lord
    Verulam. Forester out of town, and expresses going to settle this.
    The list of Peers has given great offence to the friends of
    Government; and, to be sure, if England had been looked through for
    pretensions, there could hardly [have] been found a set of men who
    had so little claim. Lord Donoughmore (the Opposition say) is to
    take the title of Alexandria in honour of his brother, who was made
    a Peer for his conquests there. Old Foster is to be one of the new
    Peers; he was not before named. I do not hear any confirmation of
    Lord Lansdowne's appointment as High Constable of Ireland, and I
    therefore doubt it. Lady Conyngham dined a few days ago at Lord
    Gwydyr's; among the party was Brougham, who had pleaded in the
    morning before the Privy Council for the Queen. The report of the
    Queen's attending the Coronation has given such an impression of
    riot, that the seats have fallen to nothing, and, though they are
    preparing accommodation for thousands and thousands, the sale of
    tickets is very heavy indeed. I am frightened for the yeomanry, and
    hope Lord Temple will be able to get them well back without a row.
    I am sorry I shall not see you, for I must go on Saturday, and have
    a long appointment for Monday on public business in the country.
    You have no idea of the million of reports which are hourly
    propagating here on the subject of the Government and Lady
    Conyngham, and the Coronation, &c. &c. The town is absolutely in a
    ferment. You shall hear to-morrow from me.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


The day appointed for the imposing pageant, the Coronation, came at
last. The Queen had made several vain efforts to obtain a recognition
of her right to be crowned at the same time as the King; but the Privy
Council decided against her on the 10th of July. Nothing daunted, the
day following she wrote to Lord Sidmouth to inform his Lordship of her
intention to be present, and a few days later published a protest
against the decision of the Privy Council. On the 16th, Lord Hood, at
her desire, wrote to the Earl Marshal, informing the Duke (of Norfolk)
of her Majesty's intention to be present at the approaching ceremony on
the 19th, and desiring that persons should be in attendance to conduct
her to her seat on her arrival at the Abbey. The day arrived, and so
did the Queen; but though she tried, with Lord Hood's assistance, to
gain admission at more than one door, her entrance was opposed. She was
not only obliged to endure this repulse, but sounds assailed her ears
as soon as she was recognised by the spectators in the galleries, that
declared how completely she had fallen in public estimation. Mortified
and humiliated, she at last returned to her residence; and, though a
mob of disorderly boys broke the windows of mansions belonging to
noblemen known to be opposed to her, the intelligence failed to afford
her sufficient solace. Lord Eldon thus describes her Majesty's final
exhibition of spirit: "It is all over, quite safe and well. The Queen's
attempt to make mischief, failed. She sent a message to say that she
would be at the Abbey by eight o'clock. To take the persons there by
surprise, she came between six and seven. After trying every door of
the Abbey in vain, she came to the Hall; there she was also denied
entrance. A few of the mob called 'Queen for ever!' I am informed that,
on the other hand, there was great hissing, cries of 'Shame, shame! go
to Bergamo!' and a gentleman in the Hall told us that when her Majesty
got into the carriage again, she wept."[66]

      [66] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 48.

She felt the crushing nature of this disappointment, and though she
made an effort--a vain one, of course--to induce the Archbishop of
Canterbury to crown her a day or two later, she was so thoroughly
overwhelmed by this complete downfall of her hopes, that she became
seriously ill, and died on the 7th of August--a week after the King had
left Carlton House for Ireland. The suddenness of her death created to
some extent a reaction of public opinion in her favour, particularly
among the lower orders, and riots of a serious nature attended the
passage of her remains through the metropolis, on their way to
Brunswick; but the nine days' wonder had scarcely lived out its brief
reign, when the town was entertaining itself with accounts of the
King's amazing popularity in Ireland, in a manner that betrayed its
eagerness to get rid, as soon as possible, of a disagreeable subject.
Thus passed away Caroline of Brunswick--a character variously
represented by that very unsatisfactory photograph, Party; but, though
the likeness has often been idealized by those whose credit was likely
to suffer by too natural a resemblance, sufficient physiognomical
likeness has remained to show that she was far from being the sort of
woman a sensible man would court for a wife, or the kind of Princess
that would confer any distinction on the nation that would accept her
as a Queen.




CHAPTER V.

[1821.]

EFFECT OF QUEEN CAROLINE'S ILLNESS AND DEATH ON THE KING. HIS NARROW
ESCAPE IN THE ROYAL YACHT. HIS VISIT TO IRELAND. ENTRY INTO DUBLIN.
POSITION OF THE KING'S MINISTERS. GEORGE IV. ON THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.
THE KING'S VISIT TO HIS HANOVERIAN DOMINIONS. COALITIONS AND DOUBLE
NEGOTIATION. POLITICAL GOSSIP. A NEW CLUB. DISMISSAL OF SIR ROBERT
WILSON FROM THE ARMY. PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION FOR HIM.




CHAPTER V.


Intelligence of the serious character of Queen Caroline's malady
reached the King, as was stated in the last chapter, when his Majesty
was making a yachting excursion, and its effect upon his mind may be
gathered from the following extract of a letter written by the King
soon after the information had reached him:--

"On Tuesday, at noon, as I had heard nothing from my friend Lord
Sidmouth, who had passed over to the other coast some hours before, we
took up our anchorage here. We had reason to know he had heard the
report before he left Holyhead, and it was determined, as the best
medium line that could be adopted until I could hear from him, that I
should proceed for twelve hours to Lord Anglesea's. Accordingly, I
wrote to Lord Sidmouth and Bloomfield to acquaint them with the
communication I had received respecting the Queen, to account for the
delay in my not proceeding to Ireland, and desiring Lord Sidmouth's
advice as to what I had best do, and that he would make all the
arrangements which might be necessary under existing circumstances.

"I returned from Plas Newydd to my yacht here about four o'clock on the
next day (Wednesday), and found Lord Sidmouth just disembarked, and
ready to receive me. He stayed about two hours with me on board, and
then again took his passage in the steam-boat, having arranged with me
that if the accounts from London of the Queen the next day should
represent her to be in an improved state, that then we should set sail
as quickly as possible, and land at Dunleary, and make my public
_entrée_ at Dublin on that day (Friday), although he had already taken
measures for a private entry if matters should be worse, as it was
utterly impossible for me, under any circumstances, not to proceed now
to Ireland, where public notice would be given that I should observe
the strictest privacy for some days, until we were acquainted either
with the Queen's recovery or her demise, and till after the body should
be interred.

"Lord Londonderry fortunately arrived the next morning, after Lord
Sidmouth left me--that is to say, yesterday (Thursday), before seven
o'clock in the morning--and has remained with me, and will continue to
do so till I have set my foot on the Irish shore. He approved of all
the arrangements I had made with Lord Sidmouth as the best possible,
and with every view I had taken of the whole circumstance; and it is
now determined that, either in the course of the day, or as soon as
possible as the wind and weather will permit (but which at present does
not appear very encouraging), we are to set sail either in the yacht
alone, or by steam to Ireland; to make Howth (about five miles from
Dublin), and to proceed, without any sort of show or display, to the
Phoenix Park, without entering or passing through Dublin at all. My
arrival there will then be publicly announced, and that the strictest
privacy for a few days will be observed, as far as proper decency and
decorum may require; and that after that the day will be announced when
I shall make my public _entrée_, and when all public ceremonies and
rejoicings will commence."[67]

      [67] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 91.

This careful attention to decency and decorum disproves all the
reckless allegations that have been put forward of the King's
indifference, or, as some writers have asserted, exultation, when
intelligence reached him of the serious nature of the Queen's
indisposition. It proceeded further than is indicated in the extract
just quoted; for, when he put to sea with the intention of returning to
England, his Majesty and all the royal suite had a narrow escape from a
watery grave. The scene is thus graphically described by his Majesty's
hand:

"We sailed again yesterday morning between four and five o'clock, with
a most promising breeze in our favour, to make the Land's End. About
two or three in the evening the wind shifted immediately in our teeth,
a violent hurricane and tempest suddenly arose, the most dreadful
possible of nights and of scenes ensued, the sea breaking everywhere
over the ship. We lost the tiller, and the vessel was for some minutes
down on her beam-ends; and nothing, I believe, but the undaunted
presence of mind, perseverance, experience, and courage of Paget
preserved us from a watery grave. The oldest and most experienced of
our sailors were petrified and paralysed; you may judge somewhat, then,
of what was the state of most of the passengers; every one almost flew
up in their shirts upon deck in terrors that are not to be
described."[68]

      [68] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 94.

In this position the Royal yacht and her amateur sailors must have made
a study for a marine painter, than which nothing, we believe, more
striking has ever appeared on canvas. The King subsequently sailed on
his intended visit to the sister island, and arrived off the coast in
due course. On his Majesty's landing, the inhabitants of Dublin and of
the neighbourhood, says a chronicler of these events, "escorted him
with the most tumultuous acclamations to the vice-regal lodge, from the
steps of which he thus addressed them:--'This is one of the happiest
days of my life. I have long wished to visit you. My heart has always
been Irish; from the day it first beat I loved Ireland, and this day
has shown me that I am beloved by my Irish subjects. Rank, station,
honours, are nothing; but to feel that I live in the hearts of my Irish
subjects is to me exalted happiness.'"

"These felicitous expressions," we are told, "diffused universal
enchantment, and combined with the graceful condescension and dignified
affability of manner, which the Sovereign knew so well to exhibit when
inclined to do so, roused the loyalty of the people to a perfect
enthusiasm. For the week that he remained there, his life was a
continued triumph."[69]

      [69] Alison's "History of Europe," vol. ii. p. 486.

His stay in the island was marked by a series of loyal demonstrations
that could not fail of producing in the mind of his Majesty intense
gratification. On the 15th of August the King held a private levee at
the Lodge in Phoenix Park, Dublin, at which the principal members of
the Irish Government were presented. On the 17th was his public entry
into the metropolis, when his progress to the Castle was a scene of
devotion such as Dublin had never before exhibited. He re-embarked at
Kingston on the 5th of September, but did not quit the Irish shore till
three days later. After a stormy passage, he returned to English ground
at Milford Haven on the 13th, and arrived at Carlton House on the 15th
of the same month. Some particulars of this memorable visit hitherto
unknown may be found in the following letters.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Aug. 26, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Not knowing in what part of the world a letter would find you, I
    have not written. I don't know whether you have heard any of the
    details from Ireland, but the conduct of the Irish is beyond all
    conception of loyalty and adulation, and I fear will serve to
    strengthen those feelings of self-will and personal authority which
    are at all times uppermost in The Mind. The passage to Dublin was
    occupied in eating goose-pie and drinking whiskey, in which his
    Majesty partook most abundantly, singing many joyous songs, and
    being in a state, on his arrival, to double in sight even the
    numbers of his gracious subjects assembled on the pier to receive
    him. The fact was, that they were in the last stage of intoxication.
    However, they got him to the Park. Lady C---- has been almost
    constantly at the Phoenix Park, but has not appeared much in
    public. He was greatly satisfied at the time with the conduct of
    Lord Liverpool, &c., on the death of the Queen, and it had
    reconciled him to them. Whether these sentiments will remain is
    more than I can say. I think her death a great gain to the Whigs;
    it relieves them from great embarrassment. The officers of the
    Guards have sent in to the Duke of York a remonstrance against the
    conduct of Sir Robert Wilson[70] on the day of the funeral. He has
    been called upon to give in his answer, which I understand he has
    done. I have no doubt, on the King's return, he will be dismissed
    the army, which he ought to be. His conduct was most atrocious,
    leading and directing the mob.

    The King is determined to go to Hanover, and has engaged to be
    there on the 16th. If this holds good, which I have no doubt it
    will, nothing will take place till after his return from thence. He
    wrote to the Duchess of Gloucester from Dublin, full of joy and
    happiness and spirits. Not a soul in Ireland in mourning. The
    person most talked of to succeed Lord Hertford is Lord Wellesley.
    Lord Stewart does not return to Vienna.[71] Heber gains his
    election, which I am delighted at, for it was an attempt to shake
    the interest and strength of Lord Grenville in the University.

    Ever, my dear Lord, most faithfully yours,

    W. H. Fremantle.

    P.S.--I hear the Whigs at present disclaim the conduct of
    Lushington.

      [70] This officer took a prominent part in the disturbances
      created by the populace of London on the passage of the Queen's
      remains through the metropolis, to be embarked for the Continent.

      [71] This is incorrect. His lordship subsequently succeeded his
      brother as Marquis of Londonderry, when he threw up his
      appointment as ambassador at the Court of Austria rather than
      serve under Mr. Canning.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Bagshot Park, Sept. 5, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I send you a few lines from hence, where I have been staying a few
    days. The Duke of G---- is full of the idea of changes in the
    Government, but is fully convinced it will not be to take in the
    Whigs. He thinks Lord Liverpool is to go, and Lord Londonderry to
    be at the head of the Government; and the latter, you may be
    assured, from all I have heard, has replaced himself in the King's
    good opinion, and has equal influence to what he has ever had. The
    Irish journey has done this. The Duke has not the least idea of the
    real state of things; but I find from him the Whigs are aware of
    some change before the meeting. I cannot at all guess whether the
    steps which were proposed are intended previous to the King's
    departure for Hanover. He will be in town to-morrow if the wind
    permits, or perhaps he may be delayed a few days. He proposed to
    leave town for Hanover the 16th or 17th. He appoints Lords Justices
    (not a Regency), to consist of all his Ministers, together with the
    Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Steward and Master of the Horse,
    and the Lord Chamberlain. These are to do nothing but the common
    routine of business. Lord Londonderry accompanies the King abroad;
    and all correspondence is to be kept up through him, and no
    appointments of any sort to take place but such as absolutely
    demand immediate filling up. He goes to Vienna, and Paris, and
    Homburg, Munich, &c., &c.: such is his present intention. He cannot
    be back till the end of November or December, and I can hardly
    conceive it possible they will defer all changes till that time,
    when any new members of a Government must be so ignorant of
    measures just as the meeting of Parliament is about to take place.
    The Duke of Wellington will be back from Paris time enough to meet
    the King. _I do not believe_ one word of Lord Liverpool's going
    out. He certainly has not done the thing well as to the funeral;
    but the great blame is in that booby, Sir R. Baker. Lady C---- has
    been living with the King at the Phoenix Park, and he has never
    slept out but at Slane Castle. The Royal yacht went to Holyhead to
    take her over to Dublin; the Admiralty yacht took the Princess
    Augusta to Ostend. The latter does not go to Hanover; it is said
    the former does. Lord Grosvenor loses upwards of 80,000_l._ by his
    agent More's failure. He has two vacancies for Shaftesbury, and
    brings in Mr. Ralph Leicester, of Toft, in Cheshire, and offers the
    other seat to Lord Normanby. I see Canning is waiting in England
    (having intended to return to France), which looks very like an
    immediate arrangement. I suppose you heard that a Board of General
    Officers is examining into the conduct of Sir Robert Wilson on the
    14th. I think I told you this in my last.

    The story abroad is, that they are trying to cook up a match for
    the King with a Princess of Tour and Taxis (I believe a sister of
    the Duchess of Cumberland), and a sister of the Princess Esterhazy.
    Metternich is at the bottom of it. Query, whether Lady C---- will
    oppose or promote a match? If her lord would go, other objects
    might occur to her; indeed, it is hinted that she is trying to push
    her daughter for the prize. The Duchess of G---- had a long letter
    from the King a few days ago, full of the highest spirits.

    I think I have told you all I have picked up.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Sept. 9, 1821.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The enclosed letter came to-day from Wheatley. I send it you,
    though I certainly do not attach much credit to the virtuous
    refusal of the Whigs to come in under Lady Conyngham's auspices,
    forasmuch as I should rather believe that if the daughter of the
    Devil would engage to bring them in, they would even conform to the
    condition of admitting old Nicholas (not Vansittart) as their
    colleague and patron. The opinion of the breach between the King
    and his Ministers being past all mending, seems every day to gain
    ground, for I hear of it from different quarters. If the King goes
    to Hanover, it seems almost impossible that he should return in
    time to make any new arrangement before the meeting of Parliament.

    My uncle has, I find, returned from Bowood, strongly impressed in
    his own mind with the wish of Lord Lansdowne, to form an
    Administration in conjunction with us, if he can effect it.

    Certainly this is what I should individually prefer to any other
    arrangement, but it is impossible not to see the extreme difficulty
    which must arise in drawing a line between the less violent and
    more furious of the Opposition, since no man can say where that
    line should run, or who should be included in each division.

    It hardly can be desirable that we should select that moment for
    connecting ourselves with those whom we have so long opposed, when
    they are on the point of being kicked out, when they have lost both
    the favour of the Crown and the confidence of the House of Commons.
    Yet that is the present appearance, and I think you will agree that
    our union with them could not of itself be sufficient to save them,
    unless Canning were also included, and unless we could see some
    reasonable probability of an arrangement of the Catholic question,
    which I am inclined to fear the King's visit to Ireland, by raising
    the hopes and the tone of the Irish Catholics, will place at a
    greater distance than ever. If the King has really made up his mind
    to part with his present Ministers, it is not unlikely that instead
    of taking upon himself the responsibility of turning them out, he
    may only negative any minor change, and so either drive them to
    resign, or instigate the House of Commons to turn them out in the
    first month of the next Session. The miscarriage of all the Irish
    Peerages must of course manifest still more publicly than before
    the bad understanding between master and servants. Pray send me
    word what you have heard on that subject, as well as on the general
    posture of things. Your host is lucky that the dispute did not
    arise on the English instead of the Irish Peerages.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept. 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I went to town with the express object of seeing the Duke, but did
    not succeed; I called twice on him, but he was from home, and I did
    not think it was advisable to write to ask to see him, as it would
    have looked so very like impatience, and I am quite sure that until
    the King's arrival he would have been able to say nothing. I find
    the King arrived yesterday evening, but my full belief is, that
    nothing will be done till his return; I differ with you, however,
    completely in thinking that this fever of loyalty in Ireland will
    induce them to try to tide on; I am quite convinced the thing is
    impossible, the state of the public mind in this country is so
    agitated, the unpopularity of the King so great, the weakness of
    Government so apparent, and the general resistance to the
    reductions, both civil and military, so strongly demonstrated in
    the supporters of Government, that I am quite satisfied a change
    must take place, and I have quite altered my opinion with regard to
    his taking the Opposition. He may try Lord Lansdowne (which will
    fail), but my speculation is, that your friends and Canning will be
    and must be in office, previous to the opening of Parliament. You
    see by all the papers that Lord Talbot is to remain another year,
    and I think if it were not true, it would have been contradicted.
    The change I contemplate is--Canning, Home Secretary (Sidmouth
    retiring, who wants to do so), and you Admiralty, Melville the
    India Board, and B. Bathurst making way for Wynn. I consider the
    _boutique_ of Sidmouth as going altogether; how it will be arranged
    I won't pretend to say, but this is the quarter that is to make the
    opening.

    I never in my life heard of anything equal to the K----'s
    infatuation and conduct towards Lady C----. She lived exclusively
    with him during the whole time he was in Ireland at the Phoenix
    Park. When he went to Slane, she received him dressed out as for a
    drawing-room. He saluted her, and they then retired alone to her
    apartments. A yacht is left to bring her over, and she and the
    whole family go to Hanover. I hear the Irish are outrageously
    jealous of her, and though courting her to the greatest degree, are
    loud in their indignation at Lord C----. This is just like them. I
    agree in all you say about Ireland. As there is no chance of the
    boon being granted, no Lord Lieutenant could have a chance of
    ingratiating himself, or of fair justice done him, with the King's
    promises and flattery. I cannot see how he can be so long absent as
    his journey must necessarily make him. I have heard it thus
    calculated:--Supposing he sets off the 24th or 26th; a fortnight to
    Hanover, as he goes through the Low Countries and visits the King
    of the Netherlands; this would make it the 10th October. A month
    there, 10th November. A fortnight's journey and stay at Vienna,
    24th November. A fortnight more from Vienna to Hamburg, Wurtemberg,
    and to Paris, 10th December. Four days at Paris, about the 15th or
    16th December return. And all this with the present state of the
    country. I do not think it possible for him to be allowed to do it.
    I have not touched upon expense, for although it is said Hanover is
    to pay for his stay there, the presents and remainder of the
    journey must be paid by England.

    Whatever I hear, you shall have forwarded to you as quickly as I
    can. I shall direct always to Pall Mall. I think of going to
    Brighton for some warm baths next week.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--I hear Lord Lauderdale is _seriously_ ill.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept. 21, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    The arrangements for the foreign tour are all changed since the
    King's return from Ireland. Vienna, Hamburg, Wurtemberg, and Paris
    are given up, and he goes only to Hanover, sails from Ramsgate to
    Ostend, visits the King of the Netherlands, and passes on
    immediately. His promises are that he will return in six weeks; and
    there has been a great exertion to induce him to give up the
    foreign tour altogether, but this could not be carried.

    No appointments whatever have been made--not the Chamberlainship--and
    you see his name omitted in the Lords Justices. With regard to
    these appointments and changes, I am thoroughly convinced they will
    take place before the meeting, but I really think on every account
    it would be unwise, and too much beneath your dignity, and indeed
    injurious to your objects, was I to see the D---- of W----, to know
    more upon it at present. It would place him, perhaps, in a very
    awkward predicament, and after his solemn assurances and written
    communications to you personally and through me, he must write to
    you or send to me should the arrangements be relinquished.

    Be assured the state of the public mind is such that they cannot
    attempt to tide over another session. The King in his journey home
    overtook Lord and Lady Harcourt (now the bosom friends of Lady
    C----), stopped them, got out of his carriage, and sat with them
    for a quarter of an hour in the public road, recounting all his
    perilous adventures at sea and flattering reception in Ireland.
    Lady Harcourt told me his _pious acknowledgment_ for his great
    escape of being shipwrecked was quite edifying, and the very great
    change in his moral habits and religious feelings was quite
    astonishing, and all owing to Lady C----.

    The Duchess of Gloucester went to see him yesterday. He was in
    particular good health and spirits, but not so much enraptured with
    Ireland as she expected to see him. I believe he is a little
    alarmed at the advances and favour he has shown to the Catholics.
    Lord Londonderry is in the highest possible favour, which certainly
    don't look like the Whigs coming in, although many circumstances
    give reason to think Lord Liverpool will go, which, however, I
    shall never believe till I see. It was not intended to have named
    the Duke of York in the Lords Justices, but for some reason which I
    can't tell you, his name was inserted. They are to execute nothing
    but absolute necessary measures, and to fill up no appointments
    without communication with the King. Lord Londonderry accompanies
    him to Hanover--all the family of the C----s also, which the
    Duchess of Cambridge does not very much relish. I shall leave this
    place on Saturday; therefore, if you write to me, direct to
    Stanhope Street. I think of being at Brighton about Tuesday or
    Wednesday.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    The particulars, as I understand, of Sir Robert Wilson, are what is
    stated in the papers; but they have the additional proof of his
    having paid individuals for breaking up the road and intercepting
    the hearse; I believe he has not even a feather to stand upon, the
    facts are so strong against him. The King is to go to Waterloo, Sir
    Andrew Barnard, Lord Francis Conyngham, Sir William Knighton, and
    Sir B. Bloomfield are all that are at present appointed to
    accompany him.

    Adieu, my dear Lord,

    Ever sincerely yours,

    W. H. F.


The King quitted England to visit Hanover, embarking from Ramsgate, and
disembarking at Calais, whence the royal party proceeded by way of
Lisle to Brussels; then, attended by Prince Frederick of Holland, the
Duke of Wellington, and Lord Clancarty, he rode to the field of
Waterloo. It was a locality full of the deepest interest to the King,
increased by his Majesty having for his _cicerone_ the victor who had
made it so celebrated. The weather was bad, but it did not in the least
damp his Majesty's ardour, or make him abate his curiosity. He went
"into the little church of the village, examined all the tablets of
inscriptions upon the walls, then visited the willow-tree under which
was buried the shattered limb of Lord Anglesea, and seemed greatly
impressed with all around him." Nothing escaped him, he carefully
examined every position, and did not leave the field till he was master
of all the details of the battle.

The party then proceeded to Namur, thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, which
they reached on the 2nd of October, and entered the dominions of the
King of Prussia on the 4th; the royal suite consisting of forty horses,
besides the escort. Though the King's reception by the Prussians was
very satisfactory, no time was lost in getting into his own
territories, which he reached on the 6th, resting at the palace of
Osnabruck.

An incident occurred during the King's sojourn in his German dominions
which has thus been recorded. "Early in the morning a poor woman, with
a countenance apparently much worn with sorrow, on her knees presented
a paper to the King's Hanoverian Chamberlain, which was rejected. I saw
this from the saloon, from which I was looking down on the many
thousand persons assembled in the court-yard, and I observed the
expression of despair which followed. I hastened down, fearing to lose
sight of her, got her petition, and presented it to the King. It craved
his mercy for her husband, who was doomed to five years' hard labour in
a fortress. She was the mother of eight little children, and, it need
not be added, in great poverty and want. The crime was of a nature to
be pardoned, and this was done by the King, with his pen, instantly,
for here his authority is absolute. We had the poor woman in the
saloon, and you may imagine the rest."[72]

      [72] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 106.

The visit excited a great deal of Hanoverian enthusiasm, the whole
population of Osnabruck coming out to greet their King, and all the
streets through which the royal cavalcade passed were strewed with
flowers and evergreens. "Every village, too," adds the same authority,
"had triumphal arches erected, with appropriate inscriptions, all
bearing evident marks of real religion."[73] The pastor in his robes is
described as standing by the whole parish on either side, and the women
carrying their Bibles under their arms.

      [73] Ibid., p. 107.

The King's reception at Hanover was equally gratifying. His Majesty
made his entry on horseback, and the occasion produced a grand
spectacle. His Majesty held a levee and a drawing-room in the capital,
which was brilliantly attended; and everything was proceeding in the
most gratifying way, when a severe fit of the gout, brought on by
spraining his knee when getting on horseback, put a stop to all
festivities. This occurred about the middle of October, and he did not
commence his return till the end of the month, when the same
enthusiastic spirit accompanied his progress. "Every town and village
was crowded. The sacred emblem of the arch, with flowers and branches
of trees, with happy devices, prevailed everywhere. The peasantry all
well dressed." Subsequently, a curious incident occurred. "Some
hundreds of miners from the mountains came to serenade their king. They
are a particular race of Saxon origin, and for centuries have preserved
their customs, language, and manners. Their countenance is interesting;
I saw five or six in a room. They have a resigned silent melancholy,
arising, I believe, from being so much underground; they are very
religious. They sang with a band of music, two of the most beautiful
hymns I ever heard. These miners had walked thirty miles for the
purpose of paying their devotion to their sovereign."[74]

      [74] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 114.

A tournament was got up for his entertainment at Göttingen, which is
described as having been beautiful and magnificent. At this famous
university an address was presented by the authorities, that affected
the King to tears. He had felt warmly the loyal affection his
continental subjects had so earnestly displayed; and of the visits he
had paid to different portions of his dominions, he appears to have
enjoyed this the most thoroughly. His return journey was rendered
gratifying by the fine weather with which it was accompanied, and the
beautiful scenery through which he passed. Everything seemed to favour
him, and he reached England without being sensibly affected by the
fatigue, and with his general health very much improved.

The impression his Majesty made was not always favourable. "I cannot
help suspecting," observes an intelligent cotemporary "that his
Majesty's late journeys to see his kingdoms of Ireland and Hanover will
not on the whole redound much to his honour or advantage. His manners
no doubt are, when he pleases, very graceful and captivating. No man
knows better how to add to an obligation by the way of conferring it.
But on the whole he wants dignity, not only in the seclusion and
familiarity of his more private life, but on public occasions. The
secret of popularity in very high stations seems to consist in a
somewhat reserved and lofty, but courteous and uniform behaviour.
Drinking toasts, shaking people by the hand, and calling them Jack and
Tom, gets more applause at the moment, but fails entirely in the long
run. He seems to have behaved not like a sovereign coming in pomp and
state to visit a part of his dominions, but like a popular candidate
come down upon an electioneering trip. If the day before he left
Ireland he had stood for Dublin, he would, I dare say, have turned out
Shaw or Grattan. Henry IV. is a dangerous example for sovereigns that
are not, like him, splendid chevaliers and consummate captains. Louis
XIV., who was never seen but in a full-bottomed wig, even by his
valet-de-chambre, is a much safer model."[75]

      [75] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p. 295.

The rumours of changes in the Government had taken every possible
shape; but, like the long-talked of negotiation to include the
Grenvilles, though often imminent, had never been accomplished. The
probable reason of this may be traced to the King's varying
disposition--possibly to his insincerity. It appears that two
arrangements were going on at the same time, totally opposite in their
intentions; one, a coalition of the Marquis of Buckingham and his
friends, was negotiated by the Duke of Wellington, with the express
authority of the King; the other, the introduction of a Whig Ministry,
with the Marquis of Lansdowne at their head, was evidently brought
forward under less creditable auspices, but could scarcely have gone on
without the King's cognizance. We are much afraid that it was but a
repetition of the old "Comedy of Errors," performed during the Regency,
where the principal character trifled with both parties, till he had
made more advantageous terms with the servants in his employ. The
comedy, however, still proceeded, for the last act had yet to be played
out.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Oct. 4, 1821.

    I am very much obliged to you, my dear B----, for your letter. I
    scarcely know what to wish as the final result of the arrangement.
    If I had entirely my own way, I should desire that Lord Londonderry
    should unite the offices of First Lord of the Treasury and
    Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lord Liverpool take some other
    office; but this is not to be hoped for, and the question resolves
    itself into that whether the increased strength which the
    Government would derive from placing its chief in the House of
    Commons, would counterbalance the general loss of character and
    influence which would result from the retirement of Lord Liverpool.
    On the whole, I am disposed to think it would; added to which is
    the advantage which would result from the whole strength, if not
    the whole of the Cabinet, being unanimous on the Catholic question.
    You are perfectly right, in my opinion, in determining not to go to
    Ireland unless you can carry concession to the Catholics with you.
    It is true that the King's language to them is perfectly
    undecisive, and cannot be construed into anything like a pledge or
    assurance of support, but still the complexion of his general
    conduct has been such as to convey, not to them only, an impression
    of his favourable disposition, and unless he makes some marked
    demonstration the other way, I am convinced you will perceive the
    effect in the next divisions in both Houses. Many hold the language
    of disapprobation of concession, but at the same time express the
    opinion that it must be carried, and if so, the sooner the better.
    These will never support the measure, but will be well disposed to
    stay away.

    Lady C---- seems to hazard a good deal in letting her husband and
    two sons perform the parts of deputy guardian angels while she
    remains behind, especially if Lord Londonderry be in favour again,
    since he may contrive to bring some rival charmer in view.

    I quite agree with you that there is no difference of principle
    which opposes our union with Lord Londonderry. The whole resolves
    itself into a question of expediency. Is there a prospect of his
    being able to form with us an administration strong enough to carry
    on the public business advantageously and creditably? And this we
    have not the means of answering till we know more fully what the
    plan and what the further intentions are. If there appeared any
    reasonable chance of our carrying the Catholic question, I should
    myself feel that a paramount motive to accede to the Government,
    even if I were certain that the King's aversion to the individual
    Ministers joined to the general feebleness of the administration,
    were sure to break it up the next day after that object had been
    effected.

    Vansittart's retirement from the Exchequer is indispensable, and if
    Castlereagh does not himself take the office, Huskisson is the only
    candidate for it whom I should think likely. Canning would be
    objected to by Lord L----, and Robinson is wholly unequal.

    All this, however, is premature, and till we have more data to
    reason upon, a mere useless consumption of ink and paper.

    Meanwhile, the state of Ireland seems to show that the blessed
    conciliation effected by H. M.'s visit is confined to those
    districts which have been illuminated by his countenance, and
    doubts may be entertained whether the reduction of the army may not
    have proceeded somewhat too far. It is not likely that as the
    nights lengthen they will become more tranquil.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Welshpool, Oct. 12, 1821.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Henry's _beau frère_, Bob Smith, came down to Llanvorda last week
    with the story of a violent quarrel about the appointment of Lord
    Conyngham to be Master of the Horse, which the K----, when last in
    town, insisted on. That Ministers positively refused, and on the
    Sunday night tendered their resignations. That the K---- would not
    give a final answer, but postponed his decision till after his
    return, and so set out with Lord C---- in his carriage and his two
    sons in his suite. He also, I understand, told Henry that Canning
    had refused office unless we were included, which piece of
    intelligence makes me incredulous as to the rest, though most
    positively asserted, since from what you have told me, the persons
    in the latter story ought to be nearly reversed.

    The Opposition seem to think the result to be that the ball is at
    Lord Lansdowne's feet, which may be true, and yet he unable to take
    it up.

    There was a grand Whig dinner at Chester on Tuesday, and by calling
    in Wales, Lancashire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire, they mustered
    a hundred.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Brighton, Oct. 12, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Since I have been here I have seen a great deal of Sir Mathew
    Tierney, who accompanied the King to Ireland, and who is of course
    pompous of his station, and glad to communicate all he knows. I
    am quite astonished to hear the language he holds, so highly
    favourable to the Catholics, and he does not scruple to say that
    their demands _must_ be granted; that it is _injustice to the
    King_ that they should be withheld; that they are the most loyal
    and attached subjects he has; and the manner in which they behaved
    to the King, and he to them, rendered it necessary for the
    Government to bring forward the measure. Now, as I am convinced he
    would not hold this language if it were not the one he hears, I
    leave you to judge of what may be the result of it. I hear, also,
    from Lady Gwydyr, who is here, that this is the style of Lady
    Conyngham's language.

    The yachts are ordered to be off Calais the beginning of next
    month, and the King is under engagement to be back by the 9th. I am
    pretty sure this is true. He goes nowhere; but has written to his
    sisters, &c., to meet him at Hanover; and Mrs. Fremantle had a
    letter from the Landgravine of Hesse Homburg, saying she should be
    there as to-day.

    Ever, my dear Lord, most truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Oct. 24, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am just returned here after paying a visit for a day or two to
    Lord Arran, at Bognor. I did not answer your last because I had
    nothing to tell you; and now I have only to say, that Lady G. Monk,
    who is mother to Charles Paget's wife, told me he had orders to be
    at Calais to receive the King on board on the 4th, and up to this
    day he has received no counter order; so that, in my opinion, the
    King will not remain beyond the time he had promised to return. But
    I see by the papers he has got a touch of the gout: one can never
    say to what extent this may go, or whether it is really gout.

    While I was at Brighton, or rather the last day I was there, which
    was Saturday, I met Croker, with whom I had a good deal of
    conversation. He said the _thing_ could not go on as it is; "that
    all parties were agreed upon that;" and so soon as the King came
    back, it must be brought to a decision, either for him to
    strengthen his Government by the admission of your party and
    Canning, or to change his Government altogether. These were his
    words. He also said that Ireland was going to the devil, in
    consequence of Grant's indolence. I said, "Surely he is a Catholic,
    and that suits our views." His answer was, "Yes, that's true; but
    he thinks of nothing but devotion; he is a saint, and can and will
    do no business whatever. The government of Ireland must be changed,
    or the country will go to the devil." This, I think, corresponds
    something with Sir M. Tierney's language, but it shows, from such a
    man as Croker, that the Government is dissatisfied with the state
    of affairs there, and the suspension of all the Irish Peerage
    promotions confirms this. I believe every part of your history
    about the King's intention about the Mastership of the Horse. From
    a variety of causes I think it is correct; but I believe, at the
    same time, that a powerful interest is making abroad to lead him to
    encourage a wife. How far this will be successful must be seen; the
    attack of the gout is against it.

    Ever, my dear Lord, most truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, Oct. 26, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    My brother came up to town for a day of Exchequer business. He told
    me that he sees (by a letter of invitation to belong to a new club)
    that T---- is one of the committee.

    I have also received a similar letter of invitation, but neither of
    us has sent an answer. In conversing together yesterday upon this
    subject, it occurred to us that if you and your son took some lead
    in the forming such a new club, and endeavoured to get your friends
    to belong to it, it might be made, perhaps, a source of some
    advantage as well as convenience to you. It would not be at all
    necessary that any exclusive rule should be adopted in the election
    of the new members; all that would be desirable would be that the
    leading persons in it should not be those of Brooks's or of
    White's, and that it should be seen as a sort of neutral ground, in
    which the violent party leaders on both sides would not be found to
    predominate. If Lewis and Plunket, and Charles Williams and
    Fremantle, and some others, would belong to it; and if you and
    T----, upon consideration, should think the thing practicable and
    desirable, and would set about it in earnest, perhaps such a shape
    might be given to it as would appear to you to be worth your while
    to pursue. At all events, I thought it best to make the suggestion
    to you. I am too old to go much to clubs, and belong now only to
    the Literary Club; but if T---- and you think there is any
    advantage in having my name as belonging to it, pray tell T----
    that he is authorised, if he wishes it, to give in my name as a
    subscriber. Lord G---- told me he would write to you to offer his
    name likewise, if it strikes you that the object I allude to is
    worth pursuing, and if our names are likely to be of any use to you
    for the purposes above mentioned. Town is thin; few people, and
    less news; but an increasing report among Sidmouth's friends that
    he is in too bad health to continue, and that he must resign.

    The Radicals, as you see, are all trying to make out a mob case for
    Sir R. Wilson, but the army, I am told, is well pleased at his
    dismissal.

    Ireland is, from the account of a very intelligent friend of mine,
    in a worse state than ever; and unless vigorous measures are soon
    adopted there, no authority will remain in the country.

    Yours affectionately,

    T. G.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Oct. 29, 1821.

    My brother is not here, but I have sent him your letter. It is not
    easy to advise you on a matter so much depending on feelings into
    which you alone can thoroughly enter. But, as a mere question of
    interest and convenience, I should think, on your statement, that
    delay was advisable.

    I got, some time since, a circular notice of a new club, and a
    proposal to include my name amongst its members. I disregarded it,
    as I have long done all such offers, having as long ago as when I
    married, discontinued all attendance on clubs.

    But I had another letter some days since, by which I see that
    T----'s name is on the committee, and this has revived a notion
    which I had at first, of suggesting to you the very great political
    advantage which you and Charles might derive from the formation of
    some new establishment of this sort, which might relieve those who,
    with you, might hold a middle course, from the necessity of a
    society in either of the extremes of Brooks's or White's.

    I well remember the very great advantage that Pitt derived from
    Goosetree's, previously to the time when we took possession of
    White's. If you like any notion of that sort, and think you can
    make anything of it, or if it would in any way be at all gratifying
    to T----, I will most willingly send in my name; if not, I shall
    decline as before. Pray, therefore, let me know what you wish.


    RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, Nov. 3, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I received last night, with a letter from Dr. O'Connor, the
    "Mysterious Mother," and I have this morning ordered Coutts to
    transfer to your account there 5_l._, which is the price that you
    have been so good as to pay. There is a general stagnation of all
    news, though London begins to have a sprinkling of visitors. It is
    supposed that Lord Liverpool put a final stop to the Paris visit by
    declaring that no drafts could be answered except for the direct
    return home; if the 29th has been again changed for the departure,
    it is probable that it is occasioned only by gout.

    I agree with you that there is no possibility of preventing the
    Opposition from making motions about Sir R---- W---- (as they did
    in Lord Cobham's case); but the apprehension which I feel is, that
    Government will not answer as they ought by claiming and asserting
    the prerogative, but by _evidence_ of _facts_, &c. &c., and if they
    do they will, in my opinion, do an unconquerable evil. A very
    intelligent field-officer the other day said very truly, in
    speaking of the subscribers, "what are all these _brown_ coats
    about? if it is a grievance, it is a grievance to the _army_,
    and I verily believe that there is not a single officer in it
    who is disposed to make any other complaint than that the
    Commander-in-Chief ought to have dismissed him three years ago."
    The subscription has utterly failed, no names being procurable
    except the Opposition party names that you have seen.

    Yours most affectionately,

    T. G.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Nov. 5, 1821.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Another week will, I suppose, bring the King back, and with him
    intelligence of more interest. Lord Grey and his friends appear to
    be most kindly exerting themselves to the utmost to defeat Lord
    C----'s efforts in their favour. It looks as if there was a schism
    in Opposition on the subject of this subscription, and I am told
    that several of them hold strong language against it. Government
    have, I think, fallen into the same mistake which they did in the
    Manchester business, of keeping back their justification, while
    they allow their adversaries to preoccupy the ground in public
    opinion. I know enough of the folly and mischievous disposition of
    W----, to give them full credit for the sufficiency of their
    reasons; but in the present temper of the country, and in the
    absence of all confidence in the Administration, I do not conceive
    it wise to have acted on those reasons, unless they could be
    publicly and explicitly, though not perhaps officially, avowed. All
    that is known is that it has reference to the Queen's funeral, but
    whether it be for the improper language said to be addressed to the
    officer on duty, or for planning and organizing or encouraging the
    riot, we at a distance do not know. Among the names of the wise men
    who have subscribed on this occasion, I am most surprised to see
    that of my old friend the Duke of Somerset: first, because I
    thought he had computed too often the number of pence, half-pence,
    and farthings in a hundred pounds to give so much away on any
    occasion; and secondly, because, if a liberal fit did come across
    him, I thought he had more sense and moderation than to let his
    name appear on this. I am very glad not to see N----'s on the list.
    Have you yet heard the reason of the frost which blighted the Irish
    Peerages in their bud. Phillimore writes me word that Lord
    Grenville is very anxious that the Catholic question should be
    brought forward as early as possible in the next session. While
    Lord Liverpool and Lord Eldon retain their present offices, I feel
    convinced that nothing but the active influence of the King (which
    I think is not likely to be so exerted) can carry the Bill through
    the Lords, and unless some favourable circumstances should seem to
    open fresh hopes of their passing it, we shall, I am sure, have
    great difficulty in procuring the attendance of its friends in the
    Commons, many of whom feel that they support it at the imminent
    hazard of their seats, and will highly disapprove of its being so
    soon agitated again without an increased chance of final success.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Nov. 6, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    You may depend upon it there is no truth whatever in the supposed
    difference between the chief and his love. I know it has been said,
    but the attachment is as strong as ever, and the influence as
    great. He is expected in the course of a few days, and I have no
    doubt _still_ that the arrangement will take place soon, and that
    he will not have courage to change his Government. He is to come to
    the Cottage here for a few days, and it is said is then to go to
    Brighton. Lord St. Helens is now passing a few days with me, and
    his language is, the necessity of strengthening the Government, and
    the impossibility of changing it, and if one could believe him, the
    impossibility of the latter. I see, however, Lord Lansdowne is just
    arrived from Paris, and none of his friends or anything but the
    actual Mountains have subscribed to Wilson.

    What a horrid circumstance the death of Lady Elz. Stanhope: she was
    walking in the garden with Mrs. Arthur Stanhope, and dropped
    down--never spoke afterwards. They were going the next day to
    Fawsley.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.




CHAPTER VI.

[1821.]

THE GOVERNMENT. RUMOURED CHANGES. PROPOSALS. MR. CANNING. NEGOTIATIONS
COMMENCED BY THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON FOR THE JUNCTION OF THE GRENVILLES
WITH THE MINISTRY. REPORT OF CONVERSATION WITH LORD LIVERPOOL ON THE
SUBJECT. PROPOSAL OF THE GOVERNMENT TO RAISE LORD BUCKINGHAM TO A
DUKE. MARQUIS WELLESLEY AS LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND. HIS OPINIONS
ON THE CATHOLIC QUESTION. MR. W. C. PLUNKET ON IRISH AFFAIRS. LORD
GRENVILLE ON THE PROPOSED ARRANGEMENTS. NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING THE
CATHOLIC QUESTION. THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS.




CHAPTER VI.


The King returned from his Continental dominions about the middle of
November. On the 16th his Majesty held a Court at Carlton Palace, to
receive addresses from the Lord Mayor of London, the Court of
Aldermen, and the Common Council. With his return recommenced the
usual round of rumours affecting the stability of the Government; but,
although there is no doubt it might have claimed the merit of being
the best abused one in the world, the principal members of it, at
least, held a perfectly secure position. Their conduct, particularly
with respect to Sir Robert Wilson, excited Mr. Grenville's severe
animadversions.


    RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, Nov. 7, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    Your appropriation of the 5_l._ to the purchase of Strutt's
    "Engravers" was too late, as I had already paid the money to your
    account at Coutts's; moreover, that book can only be had by the
    chance of some sale, and I believe is worth about eight guineas
    when it is a tolerable good copy; mine, which is large paper, and
    therefore most commodious for illustrating, cost me sixteen
    guineas. I see you suppose me to carry my objections to the
    apologetic language of the _Courier_ to a greater extent than is
    in my contemplation. Undoubtedly, the abstract right of Parliament
    to call upon Ministers as responsible for their advice in the
    exercise of the Royal prerogative, cannot be denied; but the more
    or less apologetic tone taken by them upon such questions is often
    of the highest importance. Their wretched fears for
    themselves--their unworthy submission to insult and indignity of
    every kind put upon them by the highest as well as the
    lowest--their abandonment of all that is due to the dignity and
    authority of the Executive Government, provided they are allowed to
    continue in the offices of it; all these circumstances have so
    lowered and degraded the Executive power that it would be
    difficult, even for a new administration of the most vigorous
    character, to restore all that is lost; and instead of any present
    effort to recover it, every day is a day of some new disgrace and
    indignity, and every topic of debate where Ministers should hold a
    high tone, and challenge the responsibility of their situations as
    advisers of the Crown, exhibits them crouching under the feet of
    the Radicals, and shrinking from the eminence on which they are
    placed, in the mean endeavour of interposing the authority of
    Parliament to shelter them from dangers which it is incumbent upon
    them to meet manfully; and this question of Sir R. W----, if
    timidly and apologetically met by them as it will be, may prove to
    be of the most dangerous importance, if it shall teach the officers
    and the privates of the army to look up to Sir F. B---- and to Sir
    R. W----, instead of looking up to the military authorities by
    which the army of a limited monarchy must be governed.

    No news of the K---- had arrived yesterday of later date than the
    24th, and therefore all sort of reports were circulated of illness
    of every description, &c. &c.; but I have no reason to believe
    these reports have any foundation, as I have seen three or four
    persons who must, I think, have been informed if there had been any
    foundation for these strange rumours.


    MR. HENRY W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llanwnda, Nov. 11, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I take joy on the King's safe return, and I trust that he will now
    give himself time to settle something respecting his
    Administration. If report be true, he was not in the best of
    humours when he started from Hanover, and this is not likely to
    have been improved by German schwagers and roads, unless, indeed,
    he spent the whole of it on his cousin of Hesse Cassel. I fear that
    there was not time for his Majesty to find a German countess with
    more patient ears and sounder form than the Marchioness, and till
    then I cannot conceive that her influence is on the decline,
    particularly as no quarrel or coldness is likely to have taken
    place by letter. Her folly and rapacity will sooner or later have
    their effect.

    If Ministers are sincere in their professions to you, they cannot
    allow any further delay on the part of the King, and a fortnight
    will show what his determination is.

    Ever yours, most affectionately,

    H. W. W.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Nov. 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I must preach patience to you, and be assured it is no indisposition
    to you, or intentional affront or slight, that the thing rests at
    present as it is. I know that they cannot yet bring the King to any
    determination, and they are yet firmly resolved to adhere to their
    decision of resisting the nomination of Lord Conyngham, and of
    strengthening their Government. You must give them credit for doing
    the thing eventually, but they are obliged to judge the best
    manner. He will resist to the last moment, but I am fully persuaded
    he will and must ultimately give way. You have no right to feel
    indignant as long as you are not exclusively neglected; and my own
    opinion is, that Canning will not be recommended without you and
    your friends. I see he is in town, and sees Lord Liverpool
    constantly.

    The Verulams are here, and have been so some days. Her [Lady V----]
    language is, that Lord Liverpool will not remain in office if Lord
    Conyngham is appointed Chamberlain, or if his other arrangements
    are resisted; and she is loud in her abuse of the King's
    flirtations with the Opposition.

    He is come back disgusted with Germany; but the insults are all
    denied. He was bored to death at Hanover, and his pretended gout
    was a bore and a wish to get rid of his subjects. The Verulams are
    come from Lord Maryborough's, and their language is also his. Again
    I say that things look just the same towards you as they ever did,
    and you have the game in your hands. If the Government are foolish
    enough to try and tide through another session, I perfectly agree
    with you that your line should be to form a junction with Canning,
    who will no doubt then feel as indignant as you will do.

    The King has seen Lord Wellesley, and I have no doubt is trying to
    hatch up something through him, but it is quite impossible he can
    belong to the present Cabinet, and I therefore judge he is looking
    to a household employment; and there could be no objection to such
    an arrangement. But this is not the point; the point of the
    Government is the increase to their strength, and Lady Verulam told
    me (not knowing that I had heard the same thing from the Duke of
    W----) that Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord
    Londonderry were united and decided on this, and would not meet the
    Parliament without it. All this, you see, confirms our histories.
    If, after all, they surrender, one can only say what shabby fellows
    they are.

    As to the Opposition coming in, I don't believe the King will
    attempt it. Lord Lansdowne is gone out of town; Lord Londonderry is
    still in favour. The King does not come here, but goes to Brighton.
    I shall go to town for a day, and whatever I pick up you shall
    hear; but I earnestly recommend you not to push the thing, or to
    move one step, or to show your offence, but suffer the whole thing
    to proceed from themselves, and see the result. You will then stand
    on much better ground, and have the strongest complaint against the
    conduct of the Duke of Wellington.

    Believe me, ever yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Gorhambury, Nov. 21, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am just arrived here, and only write three lines to say that the
    Verulams and all in the House speak of the change of the situations
    of Ministers as a thing decided, though not yet distinctly known.
    Canning certainly goes to the Admiralty, as is said, and Melville
    and Sidmouth move--but how or when is differently stated. You are
    to be offered Ireland, and I take it for granted, C. Wynn your
    secretary. They are outrageous with Grant for keeping them in
    ignorance with regard to the state of Ireland. He has been all
    along saying he wanted no troops, and now he is calling for them at
    all risks. Lord Sidmouth has positively refused to let a battalion
    of Guards go, saying he cannot spare another man. For some reason,
    which I suppose refers to Liverpool politics, Canning's appointment
    is not instantly brought forward. My wife saw the Duchess of
    Gloucester yesterday, who told her she had seen the King, who was
    never in better spirits or health; that he told her he had had an
    explanation with his Ministers, that all was now arranged, and he
    was more happy and comfortable than he had been for some time. Lord
    Cholmondeley has resigned, and Lord Conyngham is Lord Steward; Lord
    Rocksavage to be called up to the House of Lords.

    I have only written the _on dit_ which I collect here. Lady
    Verulam saw her brother, Lord Liverpool, in town on Saturday last,
    who, she says, was in excellent spirits, and appeared to be much
    more at his ease and satisfied with the K---- than he had before
    been, I have no doubt but that the arrangements are settled, and I
    have none also that you will be sent to. I only hope you will not
    be fastidious. My principle is to take situation, and my advice
    would be, to accept Ireland if offered. Be assured it must lead to
    all you can desire.

    If you are not at the Admiralty, remember I would not wish to go
    there; nothing but acting with you would induce me;--otherwise,
    either the Treasury or India Board.

    W. H. F.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    I have postponed from day to day, my dear B----, thanking you for
    your letter, in the expectation of hearing from you again something
    more decisive. From this not being the case, I conclude that you
    have heard nothing more than common reports, and that the King and
    his Ministers have left town, again postponing any arrangement till
    January, just as at the opening of last session till Easter, at
    Easter till the recess, at the recess till the return from Ireland,
    and then till the return from Hanover. The feebleness and
    vacillation they continue to show is at least a consolation to
    those who have not been called upon to embark in the same boat with
    them. But how can it be possible for that boat, as at present
    manned, I will not say to weather any breeze, but to swim through
    the smoothest water? You have seen last year the indisposition of
    the House to support Vansittart even in the common business of his
    office, and it cannot be expected that this will be diminished
    after it is publicly known that they have failed in making any
    arrangement to strengthen themselves, owing to the want of the
    King's confidence and support. For myself, if they attempt to go on
    thus, I decidedly wish their fall, as I do not apprehend any
    calamity from a Whig administration equal to that of the House of
    Commons taking into its own hands the executive administration of
    the country. To this we are every day making rapid progress, and I
    fear that if we go much further, our return to the practice of the
    English Constitution will be impracticable, and convulsion
    ultimately the inevitable consequence. Till Ministers shall again
    guide, instead of following the House of Commons, I have no hope.

    The last report I hear is that the dispute about Canning is to be
    compromised by his being appointed to succeed Lord Hastings; and I
    feel little doubt that this would completely satisfy him, though it
    could only strengthen Ministers inasmuch as it delivers them from
    the dread of his turning against them. I should regret anything
    which takes him from the House of Commons, for though I have no
    respect for his character, yet he is of great use to check Burdett,
    Hobhouse, Lambton, &c. &c.

    If Ministers admit of Lord Conyngham's appointment to be Lord
    Steward, it seems as complete a victory to the King as if he were
    at once made Chamberlain, and will produce a lasting disgust in all
    the quiet and decent from one end of the country to the other, who
    have hitherto been the chief supports of Administration. Lord
    Cholmondeley's promise of the next blue ribbon is not worth much,
    since he is just as likely to drop as any one of your noble
    brotherhood.

    If one is to believe the newspapers, Lord Londonderry is to go into
    Norfolk on a shooting-party before Henry could reach town from
    Askrig. At all events, I have little hope that he will not put him
    off with the same sort of postponements as he has hitherto used. I
    quite agree with you that they at present consider us as
    hackney-coaches bound to remain on the stand whatever the weather
    may be, till they shall make up their minds to call us; and I hope
    that you will be disposed to reject any continuation of similar
    communication to that which they have already made to you, unless
    it is accompanied with a direct and intelligible proposal.

    As things are, I feel no temptation to quit the comforts of my own
    fireside. When we know the time and complexion of the meeting of
    Parliament, it may be advisable to discuss further what will then
    be to be done.

    Adieu.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


Several intimations have been given in Mr. Fremantle's letters, of a
negotiation on the part of the Ministers for an increase of strength;
the following letter brings this more tangibly before the reader, and
shows something like earnestness in the intention.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO MR. W. H. FREMANTLE.

    Teddesley, Nov. 21, 1821.

    MY DEAR FREMANTLE,

    The period is now arrived at which Lord Liverpool thinks he can
    make his arrangements for strengthening his Government, and
    according to what I stated to Lord Buckingham by his desire last
    summer, he is very desirous of communicating with him. I don't know
    where Lord Buckingham is at present; and I think that you had
    better come to town if not inconvenient to you, and see Lord
    Liverpool, who wishes to speak to you.

    I shall be in town myself on Tuesday evening.

    Ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


The long pending arrangement of the junction of Lord Buckingham and
his friends with Ministers, was now drawing to a close; a sense of its
necessity induced Lord Liverpool to renew the negociation, and Mr. W.
H. Fremantle was invited by the Premier to a discussion with him on the
subject. The result of the interview is given by him in the following
report, and the effect of the official arrangements proposed, will
appear in the correspondence which it precedes.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE'S REPORT OF CONVERSATION WITH LORD LIVERPOOL.

    He begun by saying, that the situation of the Government at the
    end of the last session was such that he did not know how far
    its stability could be depended upon; that a variety of untoward
    circumstances had arisen which made their situation precarious,
    and under these impressions he did not feel himself authorized or
    justified in proposing a connexion with the Government to any
    person or party at that time. The case was now altered, for he had
    to say that there was no doubt or question as to the continuance of
    the Government, and as to the complete confidence and support of
    the King, and therefore he wished to make known to me, for the
    information of Lord Buckingham and his friends, what steps the
    Government were enabled to take with a view of forming a connexion
    with them.

    The great and material point to which the Government looked was
    strength in the House of Commons, and therefore whatever changes
    would take place in the Cabinet were to be grounded on this
    consideration alone. The vacancies that would take place in the
    Cabinet arose from the retirement of Lord Sidmouth, and by the
    opening of the Presidentship of the Board of Control. It was
    intended, in the event of Lord Hastings' return from India, that
    Mr. Canning should succeed him, but not belong to the Cabinet
    previous thereto. That Mr. Peel should hold a very prominent
    situation (which I took for granted meant Lord Sidmouth's office),
    and that the Board of Control or the Secretaryship of War, with a
    seat in the Cabinet, could be offered to Mr. Charles Wynn; that
    knowing Lord Buckingham's and Lord Grenville's anxious wishes for
    Mr. Henry Wynn, the appointment to Switzerland was now open to him,
    and a seat at one of the principal Boards for any friend whom Lord
    Buckingham might recommend. That it was right to advert to the
    situation of Ireland, and I must be aware of the confidential
    communication he had had with Mr. Plunket when he was last in
    England; that since that time the King had satisfied himself that
    measures might be pursued which would keep the Catholic question in
    a state in which neither of the contending parties would
    preponderate, and that in this spirit of conciliation he had
    communicated lately with Mr. Plunket, and had reason to think he
    was satisfied with the views of Government on this subject, and
    would be disposed to accede to an arrangement which was now in
    progress for making him Attorney-General of Ireland, retaining his
    seat in Parliament, and taking an active part in the House of
    Commons. That in his communications with the King, knowing what had
    been the object of the late Marquis of Buckingham and of the
    present, and also the conditional engagement which had been made by
    the late King of a Dukedom in case any Duke were created, the King
    had authorized him to tell Lord Buckingham, that although he had
    not meant to grant that dignity, and did not now mean to create
    any other person, he was willing to grant the dignity to Lord
    Buckingham on the present occasion. These were the principal
    points and engagements held out by Lord Liverpool. In the course
    of stating them he added a variety of observations, which chiefly
    rested on the difficulties of an arrangement, but always adverting
    to his wish to meet the objects of Lord Grenville and Lord
    Buckingham by bringing forward Mr. Charles Wynn.

    Without entering into the state of the country, or of the
    Government, or the difficulties of the House of Commons, I said I
    feared such an arrangement would not be satisfactory to Lord
    Buckingham; that I knew his object was office; that whatever might
    be his feelings with regard to a Dukedom, I was quite satisfied he
    would not connect himself with a Government unless he formed a
    part of it; that his habits were those of active employment, and
    by accepting a Dukedom he was placed on the shelf; and therefore,
    though I should feel it my duty to convey the offer, I thought it
    right to tell Lord Liverpool what I considered would be the
    result--namely, that it would not lead to a connexion with the
    Grenville party. That I thought Lord Buckingham's talents were
    such as would essentially serve a Government in times like the
    present, even if his rank, and station, and influence, were out of
    the question; but without entering into a discussion on these
    points, I was only expressing my own opinion, but it would be for
    Lord Liverpool to receive from Lord Buckingham his answer. To
    these observations, which were short, Lord Liverpool only dwelt on
    his high opinion of Lord Buckingham, and in the course of further
    discussion I said that the Admiralty or Ireland were situations
    suitable to the dignity and to the pretensions of Lord Buckingham.
    He observed that Lord Talbot had nearly served his time in
    Ireland; he had been there near four years, but at the present
    moment there were insurmountable objections to removing him; by
    which observation it strikes me that he meant to imply that Lord
    Buckingham could succeed him, but this was never said. After a few
    more observations immaterial, he asked me when I should
    communicate with Lord Buckingham; I said I should go to Avington
    to-morrow, and as he said he was going next week to Bath, he
    should be happy to receive a communication from Lord Buckingham
    any day the end of this week, and that if Lord Buckingham would
    honour him by an interview, much more could be done, and more
    explained, than by letter, and he should be happy to see him.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Dec. 2, 1821.

    The two facts which your two letters have successively communicated
    have in the first instance highly delighted, and in the second
    proportionably dispirited me. Wellesley's appointment I verily
    believe to be the best that could be made. But what can I say of
    that of his secretary?--a man who may, for what I know, have
    virtues and talents of which it never fell in my way to hear a
    word, but who is known to the public here, and in Ireland, by
    nothing but the having made in the Catholic debates in the very
    last year, the most absurd speech and motion that could have come
    from the lips of Duigenan himself.

    If one could laugh on such a subject, and when such interests are
    at stake, what can exceed the ridicule of thus systematically
    coupling together a friend and an enemy to toleration, like fat
    and lean rabbits, or the man and his wife in a Dutch toy, or like
    fifty other absurdities made to be laughed at, but certainly never
    before introduced into politics as fixed and fundamental systems
    for the conduct of the most difficult and dangerous crisis of a
    country.

    What is to result from this disheartening folly? Is Wellesley a
    man likely to submit, like some of his predecessors, to be made a
    cypher in his Government? Is Plunket disposed to see the whole
    detail of daily business, and the whole character and temper of
    the Secretary's office fall back into the old channels; and that
    after the nomination of Grant, and his conduct since he went to
    Ireland, had both been among the principal inducements to him to
    look at a situation so far beneath his just pretensions? And what,
    I might ask, would be Wellesley's own situation between the
    Secretary at home from whom he receives orders, and the Secretary
    at Dublin to whom he is to give orders, if I did not believe that
    with all his failings he possesses a high and independent spirit,
    which will lead him to assert himself decisively in the very first
    moment of the counteraction, which is thus studiously and
    systematically provided to embarrass him in all his operations.

    But above all, what a picture does it present of the councils to
    which you are invited to unite yourself!

    I really had, after receiving your first letter, begun to accustom
    myself to look at the bright side of the question alone, and to
    indulge soothing visions of honour and happiness to you both in
    the new course which is opened to you. And I will endeavour, and
    for my own peace of mind I _must_ endeavour, still so to do.

    But the decision must rest, where it ought to rest, with yourself
    and with Charles; and I can have no other sentiment or feeling on
    the subject, but that which leads me to offer up the most earnest
    wishes and prayers that it may be such as shall be most honourable
    and happy to yourselves, and through you to the country.

    I have shown this to my brother, who desires me only to add on his
    part, that Wellesley's nomination had made the same impression on
    him, as offering a new and most important change in the _face_ of
    the Government, and _that_ (as Lord Londonderry would say) in one
    of its largest _features_; and that this feeling is with him, as
    with me, more than _neutralized_ by a measure to which, forming, as
    it will do, a part of the new proposed arrangements, you and yours
    are directly made parties.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO MR. W. H. FREMANTLE.

    London, Dec. 3, 1821.

    MY DEAR FREMANTLE,

    Since I saw you this morning I have learned that Lord Sidmouth is
    to remain in the Cabinet by the King's particular desire. I have
    not seen Lord Liverpool, but I conclude that he omitted to mention
    this from forgetfulness. Indeed, I had myself forgotten that the
    King had in the discussions of last summer, desired it.

    I beg you, however, to recollect that ours is not, nor never has
    been, a _controversial_ Cabinet upon any subject; and that a man
    more or less of any particular opinion will not have the slightest
    influence on the decision of any question.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


    THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Richmond, Dec. 3, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I received your kind note just as I was going to dinner. I will not
    detain your servant longer than to return you my sincere thanks. I
    will write more fully in the course of the evening, and will take
    care that you shall receive my letter early to-morrow. In the
    meantime I beg leave to inform you that I wrote to Lord Grenville
    as soon as I was authorized to write to any person, and I wrote to
    your Lordship at the same period of time. In my letter to Lord
    Grenville I requested an interview previous to my departure, for
    the purpose of receiving his inestimable advice; at that moment I
    had no idea of any other object. I could have attended Lord
    Grenville to-morrow, but I have received the King's commands to
    wait on him at Brighton, and I must depart early. On my return I
    shall be happy to pay my duty at Dropmore or in London, according
    to Lord Grenville's convenience.

    I was very insufficiently informed of the circumstances mentioned
    by you, and was not aware even of their general tenor until
    yesterday.

    I need not state what my ardent wishes are. The Duke of Wellington
    did not know of the commands which I had received from Brighton
    when he spoke of the possibility of my visiting Dropmore to-morrow.

    Ever, my dear Lord, yours most faithfully,

    WELLESLEY.


    THE MARQUIS WELLESLEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Richmond, Dec 3, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    In my short note this evening I stated to your Lordship generally
    the restraints which precluded my earlier communication with you
    and Lord Grenville; my desire, expressed to him, of receiving the
    great benefit of his advice previously to my departure for Ireland;
    and my earnest and anxious hope that Lord Grenville, your Lordship,
    and your friends, might concur in acting with the Government which
    had called me to the administration of the affairs of Ireland.

    I was informed a few days ago (but in no distinct statement) that
    it was probable that your Lordship and Lord Grenville might give
    your countenance to the Government, and that some of your friends
    might accept office; but it was not until yesterday that I
    understood the arrangements for that desirable object to be in any
    advanced state, and from what I then collected, I had hoped that
    all difficulties had been removed.

    My desire to see Lord Grenville rested entirely on my sense of the
    advantage of receiving his opinions, which I was satisfied he would
    impart to me with all the freedom and confidence of
    long-established friendship, and of mutual esteem and affection;
    but I should not have presumed, without his express injunction, to
    suggest any opinion respecting the conduct of his friends or his
    own in the present crisis. With regard to the settlement of the
    Roman Catholic grievances, my general opinions are unalterable; but
    the course to be pursued by the Executive Government in Ireland in
    the existing state of the law, and in the present condition of that
    country, must be regulated by practical considerations, in which
    persons may cordially concur whose sentiments may greatly differ on
    the great and final question. My view of the present state of
    affairs in Ireland would lead me to think that an impartial,
    equitable, and mild administration of the law (of which the
    alteration cannot be effected or attempted by a Lord Lieutenant),
    is the only safe course which can now be pursued, and the only
    channel through which we can ever reach a happy and permanent
    settlement.

    With this view I entertain no apprehension of interruption in my
    government from the influence mentioned by your Lordship, as the
    subject of alarm in some most respectable minds. I really do not
    believe that any person now in high office, or likely to be in high
    office in either country, would attempt to contravene the liberal
    and benevolent spirit of the King's gracious and conciliatory
    admonitions to Ireland; and I trust that, by general consent, the
    system of government is abolished by which the laws respecting the
    Catholics were administered in a spirit much more severe than their
    letter. This is a step towards more substantial improvement, and
    every step in this salutary career must advance us still more near
    the complete attainment of general union and harmony. This is my
    plan, from which I cannot deviate, and in the execution of which I
    apprehend no interruption.

    I understand from the Government here, and I most ardently hope,
    that our highly respectable and admirable friend Mr. Plunket is
    likely to hold a high official station in Ireland, where I shall
    place the most firm confidence in him, and receive the constant
    benefit of his council and assistance. This will be a great comfort
    and strength to me in a situation of great and arduous exertion;
    where, however, the course to be observed cannot be doubtful,
    whatever doubt the uncertainty of all human affairs must cast over
    the prospect of success.

    If your Lordship had desired my opinion, I should certainly have
    declared, that as your junction with the Government cannot fail to
    be of great advantage to the country, so it could not be injurious
    to the Catholic cause, which can prosper only by the regular and
    steady progress of a prudent and temperate system. On this point,
    however, I repeat that I would not venture to obtrude my weak
    judgment. I am obliged to attend the King to-morrow, otherwise I
    should have endeavoured to see your Lordship and Lord Grenville; on
    my return I hope for that advantage.

    Believe me always, my dear Lord,

    With true esteem and regard,

    Yours most faithfully,

    WELLESLEY.

    My brother Arthur has mentioned Lieut.-Col. Fremantle to me with
    great regard. I shall be very happy, if it should be in my power,
    to promote his wishes; but, in the very extended state of my old
    engagements, I cannot make any decision before my arrival in
    Ireland.


    MR. W. C. PLUNKET TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dublin, Dec. 3, 1821.

    MY LORD,

    The mails have arrived here after a continuance of eight or nine
    days of storm, and I have just received your Lordship's letter of
    the 30th. I hasten to acknowledge it, and to express the strong
    sense I entertain of your Lordship's kindness and confidence. When
    I was in town last March, I took the liberty of asking Lord
    Grenville's advice, with reference to an overture which had been
    made to me on the part of his Majesty's Ministers, and on which I
    had declined to act, until I should have the opportunity of
    learning his sentiments; finding that he had formed a decided
    (and I must say most unfortunate) resolution not to become a
    member of administration, but knowing, at the same time, how
    entirely his views and opinions on the state of public affairs
    coincided with those of the Government, I felt disposed to accede
    to the proposal which had been made, of resuming my former office
    of Attorney-General in Ireland. Your Lordship was not then in
    town, or I should certainly have availed myself of your confidence
    and friendly interest in my affairs, and have asked the benefit of
    your advice. Lord Grenville agreed with me that there was _no
    possible objection to the proposed arrangement_; at the same
    time he suggested the propriety of holding myself free as to the
    time and mode of dealing with the Roman Catholic question.

    The business has hung over from that time to the present, and
    though the measure was understood, nothing effectual has been done
    towards its accomplishment till within this few days. On the
    subject of the Roman Catholics, or as to the policy to be pursued
    respecting the bringing forward this question, I never have given,
    or indeed formed, any definite opinion, and with respect to it I
    hold myself just in the same situation as if I were to remain
    utterly unconnected with Administration. It appears to me that
    great advantages may be derived to that cause from the introduction
    of its known and steady friends to some share in his Majesty's
    counsels, and I own I should grieve if any circumstance was to
    withhold your Lordship's services, and those of some of your near
    friends, at this critical period.

    That the Roman Catholic question cannot, for any great length of
    time, be kept back, appears to me evident; but it seems equally
    clear that there is great occasion for caution, and much room for
    accommodation, as to the time of bringing it forward; nothing
    could be more injurious than the risking the loss of the vantage
    ground which we have taken possession of during the last session;
    and one cannot but apprehend that such might be the consequence of
    bringing the measure forward, without some better prospect of good
    sense and good temper on the part of the Roman Catholic clergy,
    than they displayed on the late occasion. Of some improvement in
    that quarter I am led to entertain hopes, as well as on the part
    of those of the laity who were least manageable. All these are
    arguments for delay; at the same time, this should be entirely
    kept open for discretion, and above all, should not be liable to
    be considered as the result of contract or stipulation, especially
    with any portion of the Government, which would unavoidably tend
    to throw the Roman Catholic body into dangerous hands. Under these
    circumstances, and reserving this perfect freedom, I am quite
    disposed to attend in Parliament, and render whatever services I
    can to the general measures of Administration.

    I write to your Lordship, as you desire it, fully, my opinions on
    a subject, when I should be much more disposed to ask yours, were
    I on the spot or the time admitted it. Will you have the goodness
    to communicate what I write to Mr. Wynn, and to him only. I trust
    I shall soon learn that the public cause has been strengthened by
    your Lordship's accession, and by his.

    We are in a state of extreme agitation and disturbance here; the
    accounts are much exaggerated, however, _as I believe_, for I have
    not had the honour of the slightest communication from any person
    connected with the Irish Government. The state of this country,
    whilst it furnishes the fullest proof of the necessity of disposing
    of the question to which I have adverted, does not, perhaps, afford
    strong encouragement for bringing it forward just at present; but
    on this and all other matters connected with it, I shall look with
    great anxiety to learn the opinion of Lord Grenville.

    I beg your Lordship to believe how sensible I am of the honour you
    do me by consulting me on the present occasion, and that I am with
    great truth and regard always my Lord,

    Your Lordship's much obliged

    And very faithful humble servant,

    W. C. PLUNKET.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Dec. 4, 1821.

    We have had a full talk with Charles, and have laid before him the
    good and the bad, as far as I can judge of it. His decision and
    yours (not ours) must ultimately regulate your conduct.

    I have strongly recommended to him to see Lord Liverpool and Lord
    Londonderry, and also Lord Wellesley, who has written to me in
    very kind terms to announce his appointment, and to whom I write
    to offer to go to Richmond to see him, if it is inconvenient to
    him to come here. I hope you and Charles will endeavour to learn
    from him the plain English of this metaphor about balances, and
    what it is that he understands himself to be sent to Ireland to
    do.

    It is a bad feature of this business, that every day presents some
    new difficulty not previously announced to you.

    The _Courier_ now informs us,--1, That Lord Sidmouth is to continue
    of the Cabinet; and 2, That Canning is _not_ to go to India; or, in
    other words, that Charles is to go alone into the Cabinet at the
    very moment that is studiously chosen for making it _more_ orange
    in its complexion _than it was before_; and secondly, that what is
    called _strengthening_ Government in the House of Commons consists
    in driving Canning into opposition, who was before the best speaker
    on the Government side, and having Peel in Government, who was
    before a speaker also on their side.

    I wish I could say _I_ approved all these things, because I see
    _you_ wish it; but I must speak the truth or hold my tongue, and my
    affection to you both makes me very reluctant to do the latter,
    though for your sake I have certainly expressed myself much less
    strongly to Charles on some of these points than I should otherwise
    have done.

    As for saying of each of these things separately, that there are
    personal objections to A---- and B---- and C----, and that they
    are each and all of them individuals of too little consequence for
    you to hang your decisions upon, of what does a discussion of this
    nature consist, except first, of measures, the explanation of the
    most important of which is now wrapped up in metaphorical
    ambiguity; and secondly, of the men who are to execute them; and
    if these really are severally as insignificant as you deem them,
    what better argument can be found against putting them or keeping
    them in the first ranks of a new arrangement, the professed object
    of which is to supply strength which was confessed to be wanting?

    But I have done, and have only as before most earnestly to wish
    that you may do what is best, whether I am able ultimately to
    think it so or not.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Dec. 5, 1821.

    I return you Wellesley's letter, with which I am much pleased. I
    wish I could say the same of the other parts of the business; but I
    am old-fashioned enough to be thoroughly scandalized at the want of
    the common forms of civility and respect so singularly shown in
    Lord L----'s sending up for Charles from Wales to receive a
    proposal of coming into the Cabinet, and in the interim taking
    himself off to Bath, and leaving behind him not even a letter, but
    a _message_ that he is not to be back till near the meeting of
    Parliament.

    Of the substance of the matters now depending, I have nothing more
    to add; but do not take it ill if an old man tells you plainly
    that if you do not on such an occasion so express and conduct
    yourself as to ensure the attention and respect which is due to
    you, it will be in vain to attempt to claim it afterwards, and
    that if you abandon it, you give up with it the hope of being
    really useful.

    I have known many such discussions, some ending well, others ill.
    But I never yet witnessed one in which such arrangements were (as
    in this case) presented _crudely_, to be accepted or refused,
    without any previous discussion as to the mode of shaping them, or
    any facility offered, or even intimated, for softening down such
    difficulties as such proposals are always more or less attended
    with.

    I must say there appears to be, with respect to both of you, a
    total misunderstanding of your real rank and station in the
    country, and in its public estimation.

    Do not think that I wish your acceptance or refusal to be
    influenced by feelings of temper or personal offence. Far from it.
    The question involves much higher considerations, both public and
    private; but what I do most earnestly wish is that you should
    maintain your own dignity against aggressions which are never
    neglected without leading to future inconvenience, but least of
    all in such cases as these.


The negotiation, like various others that had preceded it, had
obstacles to surmount. One of the most active members of the party
invited to strengthen the Government insisted upon an understanding on
certain great political questions, on which a perfect Ministerial
understanding had more than once before been extremely difficult to
establish. The letters sent and received will speak for themselves.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Dec. 13, 1821.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The post has brought me no letter from Lord Liverpool. Perhaps the
    reservation in writing of my right to originate any measure which
    may appear to me desirable for the amelioration of the state of
    Ireland, either in Parliament or in Council, and of declaring that
    as the hope of contributing to that object is my principal
    inducement to accept office, so I should not hesitate at any time
    to relinquish it, if that would more effectually assist the
    object; and also of stating that Goulburn's appointment could not
    have had my concurrence--which are the three points insisted on in
    my letter--may, though agreed to by Lord Londonderry most readily,
    be of more difficult digestion to the Earl, particularly if, as
    begins to be reported, there is at the same time some hitch on the
    part of Peel, and that the Earl may find himself somewhat
    embarrassed between conflicting reservations. Still, I do not
    myself think that it is possible for him now to go back, as he is
    too deeply committed. Henry in to be in town to-night, which I am
    glad of, for, as Lord Londonderry goes a-shooting into Norfolk on
    Saturday, to-morrow will be his only opportunity of seeing him. I
    wish much, if Liverpool's answer is affirmative, to press forward
    the appointment as much as I can, in order that I may have the
    more time to work quietly at learning the business of the Board
    before I am called up to town to attend the Councils before the
    meeting of Parliament.

    Upon sending to the Foreign Office, I find that Lord Londonderry
    is not expected there till to-morrow. Whatever Liverpool's answer
    is, it will be desirable that I should see Londonderry; and if it
    is in the affirmative, I should also wish to see Courtenay to
    learn the state of the office.

    One o'clock, P.M.

    Liverpool's answer has just arrived by a messenger, accepting all
    my scruples and reservations most amply. I enclose to you copies
    of both letters. I must see Henry to-night, and Lord Londonderry
    to-morrow, but will come down to you afterwards--if I can, in the
    evening; but I think that hardly can be done, and therefore I will
    say next morning, by the earliest coach, if you will send some
    conveyance to meet me. I think that there can be no reason for
    your delaying to send your letter to the King. I am inclined to
    think that both for the general interests of the Government and my
    own convenience, it would be far better that it should be at once
    distinctly understood that Plunket's appointment should take place
    before the meeting of Parliament, which you will find is eight
    weeks hence, so that his writ may be moved the first day, and his
    assistance secured at the earliest possible moment in Parliament;
    and that the other arrangements should not wait for his.

    Liverpool's letter is, I think, a weak one, particularly on the
    subject of the appointment of Goulburn. I will write a few lines
    of acknowledgment to him, informing him that I have transmitted
    his letter to you, and expressing satisfaction in his explanation.
    If you like to write a letter of acceptance before I come down, I
    think there can be no objection; but probably you will think that
    we had better talk over the other arrangements before you write to
    him upon them. I wish I could come down to-morrow; but I really
    feel anxiety to see both Londonderry and Courtenay before I leave
    town, as I think it probable they may both be absent next week.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    I have written a line to inform Wellesley of our acceptance, in
    the event of no difficulty arising on your part, and desiring to
    be allowed to see him, in order to communicate to him my letter to
    Liverpool.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL.

    Dropmore, Dec. 11, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Although I understood from Lord Londonderry that he had fully
    detailed to your Lordship the conversations which have passed
    between us, and stated the difficulties which pressed upon my mind
    respecting the flattering proposal conveyed to me through Lord
    Buckingham, I feel it due to your Lordship, both as the head of
    his Majesty's Government and also one of those members of it from
    whom I differ on the Catholic question, that before any final
    determination be taken I should explain without reserve the
    feelings and opinions by which my conduct must be actuated in the
    event of my acceding to the proposed arrangement.

    Regretting, as I do, the difference of sentiment to which I have
    already adverted, I must premise distinctly, and in terms which
    cannot be misunderstood, that it would be impossible for me to
    form a part of any Government without reserving to myself, in the
    most ample manner, the full liberty not only of supporting and
    advocating, but of originating, either in Parliament or in
    Council, any proposition which may appear to me desirable to
    promote the amelioration of the general state of Ireland; and it
    is scarcely necessary for me to add, that in my judgment
    concession to the Catholics is a primary step towards the
    accomplishment of this inestimable object. It would be moreover
    essential that I should not only posses, but also, at my own
    discretion, avow the perfect liberty of speaking and acting, which
    I retain on this subject; and it is probable that I might feel
    myself called upon to declare publicly that as the hope of
    contributing to the success of this measure had been my principal
    inducement to accept of office, so I should not hesitate one
    moment to relinquish it from the time of my being convinced that
    this purpose might be more effectually assisted by my resignation.
    The circumstance which mainly encouraged me to act upon this hope
    is the intended appointment of Lord Wellesley and Mr. Plunket.
    This appears to hold out to Ireland in general the fairest
    prospect of a firm, impartial, and conciliatory Administration,
    while their known sentiments with regard to the Catholics in
    particular will, I trust, excite in that great body of his
    Majesty's subjects, a confidence from which the most beneficial
    results may be expected. These nominations are, however,
    accompanied by that of another gentleman as Chief Secretary, whose
    opinions are known to be directly at variance with those of Lord
    Wellesley and Mr. Plunket on this most momentous subject. To Mr.
    Goulburn's merits and general character every man must do justice
    who has observed his conduct in the department which he has
    hitherto filled, but I am so deeply impressed with the
    inconvenience and irritation which may arise from the apprehension
    in the public mind of counteraction and opposition between the
    Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary at a period of so much
    disturbance as the present, that if this should be made the
    subject of Parliamentary discussion, I may, besides referring to
    my not having participated in his Majesty's councils when the
    appointment took place, find it necessary to declare that it is
    one in which I could not have concurred. Lord Londonderry has
    already, I have no doubt, fully stated to your Lordship the
    various discussions which have taken place on public measures in
    my conversations with him; but the points I have adverted to in
    this letter are of such paramount importance that I am sure you
    will agree with me in thinking them fit to be the subject of a
    direct and specific communication to your Lordship. Upon these
    points, therefore, as upon that of the confident expectation which
    I collected from Lord Londonderry of Lord Wellesley's and Mr.
    Plunket's appointments being both completed before the meeting of
    Parliament, I shall hope to hear from your Lordship as soon as is
    consistent with your convenience.

    I have the honour to be my dear Lord,

    Your Lordship's most faithful and obedient servant,

    C. W. WILLIAMS WYNN.


    THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL TO MR. CHARLES W. WYNN.

    Bath, Dec. 12, 1821.

    MY DEAR SIR,

    I was prepared by Lord Londonderry for the letter which I have
    received from you this morning, and he has, of course, communicated
    to me the substance of the conversations which he has had with the
    Marquis of Buckingham and yourself since my departure from London.

    Agreeing, as I have every reason to hope we now do, in all the
    other leading principles of Government, foreign and domestic, the
    difference of opinion which unfortunately exists between us on what
    is called the Roman Catholic question must be a matter of sincere
    regret to me.

    You will do me the justice, however, to believe that this
    difference can only be founded on an opinion that the beneficial
    consequences supposed by yourself and others to be likely to follow
    the proposed alteration of our laws on this subject, would not in
    fact result from it. But I think it material further to add, that
    whether I may or may not be mistaken, I am fully persuaded that in
    the state in which that question now is, and under all the
    circumstances of the country, fewer public evils are likely to
    arise from the adoption or rejection of the Catholic claims under a
    Government of a mixed character, than might occur under one which
    for brevity I designate as exclusively Protestant or exclusively
    Catholic.

    With a knowledge of the sentiments entertained by you and by those
    immediately connected with you on this question, I could never have
    ventured to have asked the King's permission to be the bearer of
    the proposition which has been made to you, unless I had been
    prepared to have it distinctly understood that you would be at full
    liberty to support, to advocate, and even to originate, if you
    should deem it necessary, any measure of which the removal of the
    disabilities of the Roman Catholics might form a part, or the
    whole; and you can certainly not be precluded from adopting
    hereafter any line of conduct which, in the discharge of your
    public duty, a consideration of what is due to this question,
    combined of course with what is due to other great national
    interests, may appear to you to require.

    I trust that the explanation will prove satisfactory to you, and I
    have only to say, with respect to the appointment of Mr. Goulburn,
    that upon the principle upon which the Government is acting I can
    never consider the opinion of any individual, whether in support or
    in opposition to the Roman Catholic claims, to be in itself a bar
    to his appointment to office in Ireland, provided he is in all
    other respects duly qualified, it being understood that the
    existing laws, whatever they may be, are to be equally administered
    with respect to all classes of his Majesty's subjects, and that the
    Roman Catholics are in any case to enjoy their fair share of the
    privileges and advantages to which they are by law entitled.

    With respect to the appointments of Lord Wellesley and Mr. Plunket,
    the appointment of the former has already taken place, and he will
    leave London for Ireland as soon as his private arrangements can be
    made.

    Lord Wellesley will have instructions to take measures for carrying
    into immediate effect the intentions respecting Mr. Plunket. In the
    mode of accomplishing this most necessary and important object,
    some consideration ought and must be had for the feelings of the
    gentleman now in office; but in order to obviate any eventual
    embarrassment on this head, I can have no objection to the other
    arrangements being suspended until Mr. Plunket's appointment is
    effectually secured.

    I cannot conclude without assuring you of the cordiality of my
    feelings towards you, and without expressing the sincere pleasure
    and satisfaction which I shall have in an official connexion with
    yourself and your friends.

    Believe me to be, with sincere regard,

    My dear Sir,

    Your very faithful humble servant,

    LIVERPOOL.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Dec. 13, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Since I had the pleasure of seeing your Lordship I have been
    assured, upon information on which I think I can rely, that I may
    perfectly well hold one of the Commissionerships of the Board of
    Control and continue the exercise of my profession; if this be so,
    and you see no objection, it really seems to me that if they refuse
    to turn out the King's Advocate, it would be most desirable that
    you should press my going with Wynn to the Board of Control, upon
    an understanding that, on the death of Lord Stowell, I should
    succeed him as Judge of the Admiralty. I will enclose a memorandum
    containing the statement. It is very natural that Wynn should take
    some person with him in the capacity of a Commissioner, and we know
    that Sturges Bourne has made a vacancy there; it must, however, be
    understood that I am not to be a Privy Councillor, as that would
    prevent me from arguing causes before the Privy Council.

    Wynn has as yet received no answer from his letter to Lord
    Liverpool, which is rather singular. The idea is very general that
    Canning will not go to India.

    Believe me,

    Yours gratefully and sincerely,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

    Since writing the above I have been summoned to a _Cabinet at
    next door_ on the arrival of Lord Liverpool's despatch, which,
    of course, you will receive by this post.


    _Memorandum for the Marquis of Buckingham._

    King's Advocate, if an arrangement can be made for the removal of
    the present King's Advocate, which, from his unfitness for his
    situation, would be a desirable arrangement for Government;

    Or,

    The promise of being Judge of the Admiralty, whenever Lord Stowell
    shall make a vacancy, and in the meantime to go with Wynn as one of
    the Commissioners (with a salary) to the Board of Control, if the
    duties of that office should not conflict (as I am assured they
    would not) with the exercise of my profession.


    THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Bath, Dec. 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I have this morning received the favour of your letter, and I
    derive sincere pleasure from the satisfactory conclusion of the
    communications that have passed between us. I can assure you that I
    look forward to the connexion which has now been formed, as one
    that is likely to be highly advantageous to the public service, as
    well as truly gratifying to my personal feelings.

    There can be no objection to your putting yourself in communication
    with the Secretary of State for the Home Department respecting your
    title, and the time is now come when you may properly write to the
    King to acknowledge his Majesty's gracious intentions.

    I feel with you all the importance of the whole arrangement taking
    place as nearly as possible at the same time, and if I wish for a
    short delay, it is because I am convinced that Lord Wellesley and
    Mr. Goulburn will find great facilities in carrying the point
    respecting Mr. Plunket, from being able to say that the general
    arrangement is suspended till it can be brought to a conclusion.

    Mr. Goulburn is now with me, and proceeds to Ireland to-morrow;
    Lord Wellesley will leave London, I understand, on Wednesday, and I
    am to see him here on his way. I will certainly recommend to the
    King to make Mr. Fremantle a Privy Councillor; I shall be most
    happy if it is in my power to open a seat at the Board of Treasury
    for him. I feel he would be of great personal use to me at that
    Board; but I cannot be confident as to my success in this respect
    until after my return to town.

    Believe me to be, with great truth,

    My dear Lord,

    Very faithfully yours,

    LIVERPOOL.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Strathfieldsaye, Dec. 16, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD BUCKINGHAM,

    I have received a letter from Lord Londonderry which gives me
    reason to hope that your discussions with the Government have been
    brought to a conclusion to your satisfaction. I cannot express to
    you the gratification which this circumstance affords me; and most
    particularly [when] I think that I have been, in some degree,
    instrumental in bringing about an arrangement which is, I trust, as
    agreeable to you as I am sure it is beneficial to the country. I
    could not avoid writing these few lines to congratulate you; and I
    beg you to believe me,

    Ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Dec. 20, 1821.

    I think you are certainly right in what you propose to do as to
    your own title. I am not herald enough to see any difficulty in
    your son's being _commonly called_ Earl Temple, as at present;
    and I should vehemently suspect that any difficulties arising on
    that head at the College, have nothing else in view than the
    payment of a third set of fees.

    If, however, you give way to them, I should incline to recommend
    your taking the Marquisate of _Temple_. I wish I were not in
    the way as to that of Grenville; and should you and he prefer that,
    most undoubtedly I could have no claim to object to it; but I could
    not recommend it, because he as well as I should then experience,
    to a much greater degree, the inconvenience which already results
    from the confusion of Granville and Grenville.

    I return Lord Liverpool's letter, which is very handsomely
    expressed.

    I know nothing of French politics, and care as little as possible.
    I am sick of reading two or three columns about them every day in
    our English papers. I cannot much praise the wisdom of letting the
    Ministerial papers here open a battery against the existing
    Ministry (be it what it may) in France.

    You must be aware of the case of the Earl of Euston, and others
    similar to it. After all, I see no reason against his being called
    Marquis of _Chandos_, if you find it necessary to take another
    Marquisate, though I know no instance of the son's being called by
    the _same title_ as that which his father has in a higher rank; but
    it does not occur to me why it should not be so.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 19, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I am much obliged to you for your communication about the Treasury.
    I should certainly prefer acting under Lord Liverpool, for whom I
    entertain the highest personal respect and the warmest feeling, to
    a seat in the Board of Control; and I feel, moreover, that I could
    be of more use in the one than in the other. I am also much
    gratified by the intention of recommending me for the Privy
    Council, but I would by no means wish for such a distinction unless
    I held one of the offices to which I have alluded, and which were
    distinctly named to me by Lord Liverpool as open to your
    nomination.

    I won't worry you on my concerns more, knowing how much discussion
    this whole subject has created.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 21, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I never for one moment doubted your kindness and friendship towards
    me, which I have always felt, and on this occasion I was sure you
    would keep Lord Liverpool to his engagement; but in looking at his
    letter you will see that it is very vague, though probably he did
    not mean it to be so, and I wished you to be aware of this in time.
    I am quite sensible to your particular attention to my extra object
    of Privy Council, which I was so anxious for you to press because
    it was not stipulated. I am quite sure it will all end right, and
    whether it is Treasury or Control I care little, but on the grounds
    which I think would be most advantageous to you.

    From what I hear, the blow is felt by Opposition. They are very
    sore at the connexion you have formed, and endeavour to hold out
    that the Government is not strengthened by it. There can be no
    doubt of its increased strength, provided the whole of Canning's
    party, with him at the head, do not form a junction with Lord
    Lansdowne; and this seems impossible, for some time to come at
    least. Indeed, those most connected with him still hold out that he
    is to go to India, though not immediately. I was not aware till a
    day or two ago that he was to have a Peerage previous to his
    return, but not on his assuming the Government.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    LORD GLASTONBURY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Conduit Street, Dec 21, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Nothing can be more honourable than the arrangements lately
    proposed to you by Lord Liverpool, or more dignified and consistent
    than your acceptance of them on your own part and on that of your
    friends', whether considered in a public or private point of view.
    I am most thankful to you for the communication of them, and I feel
    most sensibly the very flattering and affectionate terms in which
    you convey it. I share, believe me, most warmly in the pride and
    exultation which yourself and every part of your family must feel
    on your advancement to the highest rank in the Peerage. This was
    the object of your good father through the whole course of his life
    (who _justly_ considered it as the most _substantial_ proof of
    Royal favour which could be given), as it has been of yours; and
    you have now the gratification of obtaining it thus speedily, and
    (as it must be universally allowed) without any dereliction of
    principle or submission whatsoever. On the contrary, you have
    asserted your right to maintain all your old opinions, and to
    adhere to them in spite of all possible contingencies: nothing more
    could be required by you, and your satisfaction must be complete. I
    must likewise observe on your Dukedom (and I feel a pride in making
    the observation), that you are to be called to it without a
    companion, which adds considerably to the distinction. This great
    boon, therefore, is conferred on you with every circumstance which
    must make the acquisition complete, and, in any point of view, it
    is of higher value as it brings no responsible situation in the
    Cabinet or elsewhere with it. This would have appeared to me a sad
    drawback in times like the present, which I may say, without
    meaning to convey any censure on the Government, are truly
    alarming. But your mind may [be], and probably is, of a more ardent
    cast; and difficulties and dangers may be to you additional
    recommendations. However, my grey hairs do not dispose me to thrust
    my hand, like the old Roman, into a flaming fire; but better days
    may follow, and the sun may again shine upon us, when such
    situations may be more desirable, and will be attainable.

    The Catholic question is the only point on which you differ with
    any part of the King's Ministers, and on this point there has been
    always a difference among themselves. I sincerely wish that the new
    arrangements may bring this question to a happy conclusion, which
    seems now more indispensably necessary than ever to the public
    safety. But this is the only part of the change which I do not
    quite approve. The appointment of Lord Wellesley is excellent,
    provided he still retains sufficient bodily strength, and the
    energies of his mind are such as they were several years ago in
    India; but I think that I see a sort of _compromise in the
    appointment_ of the Lord Lieutenant and his Secretary, who are
    thought to come from different schools and to hold different
    doctrines. This compromise has been already fatal, and we are now
    tasting its fruits. The times will no longer bear such a line of
    conduct. I therefore sincerely hope that the public suspicions on
    this subject are unfounded.

    My brother desires to join me in every sentiment which I have
    expressed personal to yourself. We both desire to be personally
    remembered to Lady B----, and I remain, my dear Lord, with the
    sincerest esteem,

    Ever affectionately yours,

    GLASTONBURY.


    MR. HENRY W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    St. James's Square, March 28, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD B----,

    I saw Lord Castlereagh this morning, and am happy to say that his
    reception of me was as favourable as I could have wished. He began
    by a great deal of palaver about the obligation the Government were
    under to _my_ family, and that he conceived I had an undoubted
    claim upon them. At the same time he said that he was not enabled
    to make any communication to me, but that he trusted soon to have
    it in his power. When I told him that I was going abroad for six
    weeks, he desired me to call on him on my return, and that he did
    not doubt he should then be able to give me a decisive answer. I
    consider this as almost tantamount to a promise, and that I have
    very nearly obtained the object I have so long had in view. This I
    owe entirely to you, and the most difficult task I have now to
    perform is to express to you one half the obligation I feel for
    your kindness. You will, I am sure, consider yourself as repaid by
    the happiness you have procured to me and mine.

    Ever your affectionate and obliged,

    H. W. W.

    Watkin has just brought in from the House of Commons the account of
    the game being quite up with the Neapolitans.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangedwin, Christmas Day.

    MY DEAR B----,

    On Saturday I slept at Dropmore, in my way down here, and my visit
    was well timed, as I just met Lord Wellesley, and had a great deal
    of conversation with him. Ha was in high spirits, and very
    entertaining, narrating his past victories over Indian cabals, and
    anticipating his future ones over Irish. I cannot say that the
    King's Lieutenant (as he took care more than once in conversation
    to style himself) was received without that ceremony. On the
    contrary, Mr. Dodsworth was Lord Chamberlain for the occasion, to
    show him his room before dinner, and he found his own way into the
    gallery afterwards, and had nobody even to carry up his candlestick
    to bed.

    In and about his carriage were five servants, among whom were two
    young _gentlemen_ between eighteen and nineteen, who, by the
    housemaid's report, made his bed. (I should have thought one would
    have been sufficient to make or unmake it) Lady Grenville was cruel
    enough not to repeat this to me till he was gone, so that I had no
    sight of them.

    He told me that he understood Downes made no objection to retiring,
    and therefore he anticipated no difficulty or delay in Plunket's
    appointment, as Saurin would not have the power to stop it, and
    would only have to choose between promotion to the Chief-Justiceship
    and dismission from the Attorney-Generalship. The latter is
    reported to be troubled with scruples of conscience, not only from
    his want of experience in criminal law, but objections to passing
    sentence of _death_. Now, since as Attorney-General he must have
    swallowed these sufficiently to direct capital prosecutions, I have
    myself little apprehension of their choking him when he is to pass
    sentence, or even if his office required him to execute it. Lord
    Wellesley talked to me a good deal about Canning, and expressed his
    belief that he really wished to go to India. If that is the case,
    there can be no doubt, that whether he delays two or three months
    on account of Lord Hastings or not, that it will end in his going.
    He treated the reports of disturbance in Dublin as quite
    ridiculous, and told us that they rested only on the depositions of
    Patrick Maloney, a discharged serjeant, who tells of a meeting of
    1700 men at night under Carlton wall, who were seen by nobody else
    but Terence O'Tregan, who is to come forward hereafter, but at
    present is confined at home, having caught a _could_ in his head,
    and so keeping house.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 27, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Nothing can be more satisfactory or conclusive than Lord
    Liverpool's letter, which fully confirms your interpretation. I am
    perfectly satisfied, and shall wait with great patience and
    pleasure his convenience.

    I believe there is something in the change of Bloomfield. I have
    heard it from a variety of quarters, but I doubt its being put into
    execution, as there must be so much in the power of the individual,
    from long habits and confidences. At present it is clearly not so,
    for only yesterday I received a note from him, _under the King's
    authority_, requesting me to learn from Charles Wynn for a
    certainty whether he could place at the disposal of his Majesty a
    writership for the year 1821, for a young man whom he was anxious
    to send out to India. I have enclosed the note to Wynn. A pretty
    good and modest demand, even before he is in office, or knows what
    his patronage may be; and why it was to be conveyed through me, I
    know not.

    When this letter will reach you, I have not a guess. The floods
    have stopped up all communication with London. There are not less
    than twenty stages now at rest in Egham, and the water still
    rising. The sheep, oxen, &c., all removed, and no provision for
    this additional population. I see by the papers it is much the same
    in your Northamptonshire neighbourhood. When do you expect your
    patent will be ready?

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Dec. 30, 1821.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I heard yesterday the particulars regarding Canning, which I
    believe to be true, and accounts about the trouble of a letter,
    &c., which you had heard.

    About a year and a half since, Lord Hastings wrote to Sir John
    Doyle a private letter, in which he complained bitterly of the
    conduct of the Board of Directors, saying as he had lost their
    confidence, he should remain in India no longer. Doyle showed this
    letter, and had authority from the Directors to say that so far
    from Lord Hastings having lost their confidence, they entertained
    the highest opinion of him, and should be extremely sorry if he
    returned. In answer to this, Lord Hastings writes to Doyle to say
    he is glad to find the Directors are satisfied with his conduct,
    but that he should return to England, as he found his health and
    spirits give way, and he was anxious to return. Upon the strength
    of this letter the Ministers thought proper to act, and notified
    their intention of naming Canning for his successor, transmitting
    the letter of Lord Hastings to Sir John Doyle to the Court of
    Directors as their grounds for appointing him a successor. The
    Court return the letter, saying they could not receive a private
    letter to a private friend as a ground for such an appointment, and
    on this objection it was decided to write to Lord Hastings to know
    decidedly his wishes on the subject of return. This letter was
    prepared by the Court of Directors, and ended in leaving it
    entirely at his option to remain or come home; and being sent to
    the Board of Control for approbation, B. Bathurst scratched out the
    latter paragraph, and left it with the intention of naming him a
    successor, in compliance with the wish expressed by him to Sir John
    Doyle. This letter went the 15th of last month, so that no answer
    can be had for ten months to come; and I have no doubt Canning will
    wait till that time under an assurance of supporting Government,
    unless anything turns up in the meantime to make it worth his while
    to take another position.

    I hear from many hands the Opposition are violent with us; and
    there does not seem to be two opinions as to the liberal and
    handsome terms which have been made with you; indeed, I may fairly
    say to you that Wynn's appointment is considered much beyond his
    pretensions.--The King is living very retired; literally no one at
    the Pavilion but the Conynghams and two or three of the household.
    One of the grounds for believing in Bloomfield's disgrace is that
    Lady Bloomfield is not there, being the first time she has ever
    been absent from a party of this sort. I am very glad to hear the
    Christmas quarter in the Revenue has kept up very well, and I
    understand Vansittart talks of having a surplus of seven millions
    this year. Such a result would very much lighten our labours in the
    session. They are going to make a new Board for the preventive
    service against smuggling, Sir Henry Hotham to be the chief, and
    two other commissioners, Boyle and the officer now employed, whose
    name I believe is Shortland. This will necessarily create a new
    Board of Admiralty by the vacancy occasioned by Sir H. Hotham and
    Warrender, who wishes to retire. I heard the new navy lord, but I
    can't just now recollect who it was. I have never heard who comes
    in the room of Warrender.

    Ever sincerely yours,

    W. H. F.




CHAPTER VII.

[1822.]

CHANGES IN THE GOVERNMENT. LORD ELDON'S DISSATISFACTION. MR. CHARLES
WILLIAMS WYNN APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL. OTHER
MINISTERIAL ARRANGEMENTS. THE KING'S SPEECH. TROUBLES IN IRELAND.
THREATENED ATTACK IN PARLIAMENT ON MR. HENRY WILLIAMS WYNN. LORD
GRENVILLE ON THE FINANCES OF THE COUNTRY. DEAN BUCKLAND. DISCONTENT
OF THE COUNTRY GENTLEMEN. THREATENED DISSOLUTION OF THE GOVERNMENT.
DISMISSAL OF SIR BENJAMIN BLOOMFIELD.




CHAPTER VII.


The long negotiated arrangement of the Government for an accession of
political and official strength was made known to the public by an
announcement in the _Gazette_ of the 12th of January, that the King
had directed letters patent to be issued, granting to the Marquis of
Buckingham the titles of Marquis of Chandos and Duke of Buckingham
and Chandos. On the 17th the King held a Court at Carlton House, when
the Right Hon. Charles Williams Wynn kissed hands on receiving the
appointment of President of the Board of Control, and on the following
day he attended at a Cabinet Council. A little later Dr. Phillimore and
Mr. W. H. Fremantle were joined with him at the Board, and Mr. Henry
Williams Wynn received a diplomatic appointment to the Swiss Cantons.
The Cabinet was further strengthened by having the Right Hon. Robert
Peel in place of Lord Sidmouth, who resigned the post of Secretary of
State for the Home Department.

After recording these changes, a modern historian adds: "This coalition
gained Ministers a few votes in the House of Commons, but it was of
more importance as indicating--as changes in the Cabinet generally
do--the commencement of a change in the system of government. The
admission of even a single Whig into the Cabinet indicated the
increasing weight of that party in the country, and, as they were
favourable to the Catholic claims, it was an important change."[76]

      [76] Alison's "History of Europe," vol. ii. p. 489.

The biographer of Lord Eldon implies that this accession of strength
was regarded with much dissatisfaction by a certain portion of the
Government, of which the Lord Chancellor may be considered the
representative, and acknowledges they were of opinion that the honours
and advantages conferred on the new recruits would have been better
bestowed on themselves. An extract of a letter, dated January 14th,
from the learned Lord to Lady F. J. Bankes, supports his views: "This
coalition," he writes, "I think will have consequences very different
from those expected by the members of Administration who have brought
it about. I hate coalitions."[77] The Lord Chancellor was in truth very
much put out of temper by an arrangement in which he had not been
consulted, and revenged himself by circulating all the jokes (harmless
enough) he could hear or invent, at the expense of his new colleagues.

      [77] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 61.

There is no doubt that this junction firmly established the Government
in their position. If only a moiety of the rumours that had long been
circulated affecting their stability was true, they were in an
unenviable state. The King's dissatisfaction had been confidently
reported, and changes threatened of a very sweeping character; but,
though his Majesty had no doubt been greatly irritated by the result of
the Queen's trial, the unexpected removal of the cause of irritation,
and the agreeable impression created by his Irish and German tours,
caused a sensible reaction in favour of his long-tried servants, and he
only permitted the removal of one--replaced by a younger and more
active statesman, who had already acquired high political eminence. How
these changes affected the parties most interested in them, will be
found fully detailed in their correspondence.


    MR. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Bagshot Park, Jan. 11, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    Most sincerely and truly do I congratulate you on your creation,
    which, thank God, closes an event so many years looked for, and
    anxiously desired by your good father and yourself; I did not
    flatter myself with the hopes of living to see it take place, and
    more so, from the honour conferred upon you two years ago. The
    addition of the entail of the Earldom in the female line, is a mark
    of most singular and partial favour altogether. It is as much as
    any subject of the empire could acquire, and bestowed on one whose
    family and himself have been unconnected with the Government, and
    generally opposing it for the last fifteen years. We have been here
    for three or four days, and leave it to-morrow. The Duke was quite
    flattered and pleased with your letter. From all I learn, I am
    inclined to believe the Opposition are very low, and do not flatter
    themselves with a great stand this session. The revenue is a great
    aid to us. I have not heard a word since from Lord Liverpool, but
    take it for granted (which I shall lament) that he will not be able
    to succeed in vacating the Treasury; I am rather of opinion that he
    would wish it if he well could.

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Tuesday.

    MY DEAR B----,

    In consequence of Lord Liverpool's summons, desiring me to be in
    town two or three days before the 16th, and that he would meet me
    there any day I would appoint, I announced to him that I would come
    up Sunday evening, and call upon him any hour that he would fix on
    Monday. On my arrival on Sunday night I found an answer to this,
    stating, without one word of excuse or apology, that he was going
    down to Combe Wood, but would return on Tuesday and receive me at
    twelve o'clock on that day. This certainly is anything but civil,
    but I suppose it is the nature of the animal. I have been with him
    this morning, and he told me that there would be a Council on
    Thursday at Carlton House for the purpose of swearing me a Privy
    Councillor, and that he thought it would be as well that you should
    take the same opportunity of kissing hands for your Dukedom. Most
    heartily do I congratulate you upon its completion.

    I find that both Sturges Bourne[78] and Lord Binning[79] have
    desired to retire from the India Board; both, however, expressing
    their strong wish to support the Government, and that their retreat
    may be considered as unconnected with Canning's.

    Their successors are not yet fixed upon. It is proposed to Charles
    Grant to be one, which I am told he has not yet positively
    declined, but I can hardly believe that he will accept anything so
    much lower in the scale of office than what he has previously held.
    This is unlucky, as it will so much delay my own appointment and
    the commencement of my salary, which begins to be an object. I also
    find the finances of this Board in such a state of embarrassment
    that there is a debt of 2000_l._, and the charges next year likely
    to exceed the income 1600_l._ a-year, to meet which, a deduction of
    five per cent. on all our salaries is talked of as the only
    resource.

    Lord Liverpool professes readiness to appoint Phillimore to a seat
    at one of the Boards, but not to be held with his profession, which
    is a mere contrivance to negative it.

      [78] Right Hon. William Sturges Bourne, Secretary of State in
      1827.

      [79] Son of the Earl of Haddington. In 1833, he was appointed
      Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    St. James's Square, Jan. 17, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have not yet seen Sir Scrope, but I understood yesterday from
    Hobhouse that your patents were all in progress, and that it was
    determined that you should have a new Earldom of Temple, remainder
    to your own male issue, remainder to the male issue of Hester,
    Countess Temple, the original grantee, remainder to your
    granddaughter and her heirs male. I am going to-day to be sworn in
    and to kiss hands, and shall previously see Lord Liverpool, whom I
    find very impracticable about Phillimore.

    The difficulty about my office is, that the payment by the India
    Company being limited to 26,000_l._ a-year by Act of Parliament,
    Canning introduced a new scale of salary for the clerks, increasing
    according to the number of years' service, so much faster than
    seniors have dropped off, that there would in the coming year be an
    excess of 1600_l._, besides the past debt of 2000_l._ already
    contracted to the tradesmen. This Courtenay proposes to meet by a
    general deduction of five per cent. from every salary in the
    office, of which I cannot approve, unless some such system should
    pervade the public service. It appears to me that the fitter course
    is to pay the debt out of Bathurst's lapsed salary of last year and
    to oblige the clerks to revert to a fixed scale of salaries.

    I dined yesterday at the General's and met Lord Bathurst, who as I
    see most plainly, is very hostile and bitter against Lord
    Wellesley, quizzing his speeches, &c. &c. All seems to be going on
    well, but I am sorry to find that Joy is likely to be
    Solicitor-General.

    Goulburn has written to Grant that their only difference is upon a
    legislative measure, and that he has no inclination at all to
    depart from his official and executive system. The regular and
    constant manner of doing business is very much _pronée_ by the
    Orange party, contrasted with the indecision and idleness of Grant,
    though they allow that abstinence from wine is a new and dangerous
    feature in an Irish Secretary.

    I fear that the country gentlemen will make a desperate effort to
    diminish the taxation, and that the friends of the Government are
    disposed to take the front of the battle.

    There are considerable apprehensions in Ireland of distress from
    the utter failure of the potatoes, which are all rotten, and of the
    turves which they were prevented by the wet from cutting.

    As I was stepping into the carriage to go to Court, Sir Scrope put
    into my hand the copy of your letter, and I could only desire him
    to call to-morrow at eleven. Fremantle and I were duly sworn in,
    and I kissed hands as President of the Board. The K---- looked glum
    and out of humour, but as there was no opportunity for him to speak
    to us, we could not ascertain whether it belonged to us
    individually, or from a previous long Recorder's report, which I
    believe always makes him nervous and uncomfortable. Lord Liverpool
    seemed much more coming about Fremantle, but I fear there is little
    hope of my Board being completed so that the Commission shall issue
    before Wednesday next.

    Ever yours affectionately,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, Jan. 23, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have this morning seen Lord Liverpool, and received from him the
    offer of a seat at the India Board for Phillimore, which will be
    thankfully accepted. It is rather odd that they do not place him at
    the Admiralty, since they have an opportunity for it. Berkeley
    Paget accepts a place at the Audit Board, Fremantle will go to the
    Treasury, and Sir George Clerk come to the India Board from the
    Admiralty, where he is to be succeeded by Douglas (brother to Lord
    Queensberry). If B. Paget declines the Audit Office, Fremantle will
    come to the India Board, and Sir G. Clerk remain at the Admiralty.

    As yet we have had little talk of business. The general plan of
    business for the session will be opened to us the day after
    to-morrow, at Lord Liverpool's, where we all dine for that purpose.

    He concurred with me generally upon the principles you suggest, of,
    in the first instance, bringing forward as our own measure all that
    we think we could with any degree of propriety concede, instead of
    waiting till it is wrung from us. Upon corn I really think that the
    eyes of the public are beginning to open, and that a large
    proportion of the House of Commons will be ready to resist any
    proposition for again tampering with its price, notwithstanding the
    nonsense of Mr. Webb Hall and his petitioners.

    I find by the accounts from Paris there is rather more hope of
    co-operation between the Right and Centre parties than had at first
    appeared, but there are many symptoms of restlessness and cabal
    among the military, particularly the non-commissioned officers.

    My uncles are extremely alarmed at the threat of a question being
    brought forward on Henry's appointment to Switzerland, which, it is
    contended, ought to be left only to the care of a _chargé
    d'affaires_. At any other period than the present I should think
    nothing of it, and even now I do not think it can produce much
    effect, since Stratford Canning held the same appointment in 1820,
    or till the end of 1819, and as the difference between the expense
    of an envoy and _chargé d'affaires_ to the public is only 2400_l._,
    one-half of which is covered by the cessation of Henry's pension.

    Lord Liverpool told me that your Dukedom had produced many very
    urgent applications--Lord Hertford, &c., and Lord Waterford for an
    Irish Dukedom.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Jan. 20, 1822.

    I most heartily congratulate you on the attainment of an object
    which you had so much at heart. The additional provision respecting
    the Earldom is certainly a very considerable fresh mark of favour,
    but I hope a very unnecessary one. My newspapers have missed me for
    these two last days, but I conclude I am not premature in directing
    this to you by your new title.

    Plunket's appointment has actually been recommended from Ireland.
    Wellesley had indeed told me, when he was here, that he had full
    powers to carry that arrangement into effect, and in all
    contingencies; and he certainly has not taken much time to do so.
    Saurin refuses both the Chief Justiceship and the Irish Peerage,
    both which were offered to sweeten the pill. It is said--but I know
    not how to credit it--that although this thing had been directed
    from England ever since last spring, the first intimation which
    Saurin ever had of it was subsequent to Wellesley's arrival.

    Tho only uneasiness I now feel is lest the Irish Chancellor should
    feel his consequence so much superseded by this event, as to induce
    him to look to his retreat, which would of necessity remove Plunket
    from the station where his services are most wanted, to one of
    higher dignity but less ability.

    I feel the greatest anxiety about poor Hodson. It was not till this
    morning that I heard of his danger. Few things ever gratified me
    more than his appointment, and I had looked forward with infinite
    delight to the hope that you might be, as I am sure you wished to
    be, of much further use to him.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    G.


The principal political friends of the Duke of Buckingham that had for
some time past been acting as a distinct party, now either formed a
portion of, or were content to vote with, the Government; but this
coalition was something more than an addition of strength--it implied,
to a very important extent, a change of policy. That it was so
understood by the community at large will sufficiently appear in the
course of the correspondence.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    India Office, Jan. 28, 1822, Five P.M.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have this instant returned from the Cabinet, to which the first
    sketch of the King's Speech has been submitted. The principal parts
    of it are the expression of hope that peace may still be preserved
    between Russia and the Porte; pleasure at the manifestation of
    loyalty and attachment during his visit in Ireland; hope that it
    has produced beneficial effects, but regret at the spirit of
    outrage which has evinced itself by systematic violence, &c.;
    determination to exert every means in his power to protect the
    peaceable and loyal, and referring it to the consideration of
    Parliament whether further powers may be necessary--_i.e._,
    Insurrection Act; assurances of the determination to administer the
    law _equally and impartially_ to every description of subjects;
    great satisfaction at the increasing produce of the revenue, and
    the flourishing state of manufactures. The Speech concludes with
    the depression of the agricultural interest, and so commending the
    subject to the most serious attention of Parliament.

    I have no time to enter into a discussion of these points before
    the post goes out, as I only returned from Dropmore to the Cabinet,
    and have some other letters which cannot be delayed. I am anxious
    to hear how soon you come up, as subjects of this kind can be
    considered infinitely better by conversation than correspondence.

    Our accounts from Ireland are very bad. There has been a desperate
    engagement between the insurgents and a party of the King's troops
    near Bantry, in which the former fought with great resolution. One
    of the soldiers was killed, and twelve of the others. There has
    also been a search for arms in Kildare, which has produced 667
    fire-locks and a great number of other weapons. This, so near
    Dublin, is a more alarming circumstance than the former.

    The Commission for the new Board, consisting of Fremantle,
    Phillimore, and myself, is at length ordered, and will appear in
    to-morrow night's _Gazette_.

    If you have no particular objection, I wish that you would yourself
    propose to Lord Liverpool the arrangement for the change of
    Phillimore for Sir E. Carington at St. Mawe's, and the return of
    the former for a Government seat.

    I think that Lord Liverpool seems indisposed to Phillimore, and
    perhaps has not yet forgot his resentment on account of Phillimore
    voting for Lord Grenville immediately after he (Lord L.) had made
    him Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford. I have been obliged to
    urge him a good deal to obtain what I have, and I therefore should
    not like immediately to make a new request to him, apparently in
    favour of the same person, though really for Sir E. C----.

    There is a strong disposition in the Cabinet to relieve the
    agricultural interest, but whether this can be done most effectually
    by a sacrifice of taxation to the amount of 1,500,000_l._, or by an
    issue of Exchequer Bills, as has been done in former instances for
    the commercial interest, is not yet determined.

    The absurdity of supposing that the importation of corn three years
    ago, since which the ports have been shut, can govern the present
    markets, seems really too absurd for even a country gentleman to
    swallow.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    The reason of Fremantle not being appointed to the Treasury is that
    Lord Anglesea is, I believe, apprehensive of contest at Milborne
    Port, and therefore does not choose that Berkeley Paget should
    vacate his seat.

    Would it not be as well to recommend Sir E. C. to Lord Liverpool
    for a Treasury seat as [well as] Phillimore? I own I think it might
    embarrass the pressing the latter for the King's Advocateship, in
    the event of its becoming vacant. I am, however, most perfectly
    ready, if you prefer it, to mention the matter to Lord L.; but
    certainly had rather not, under the circumstances, so soon ask
    anything more for Phillimore.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Doctors' Commons, Jan. 29, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I have a letter from a friend in Dublin, which mentions that Lord
    Wellesley has said something in conversation which has been
    construed into meaning that he expects soon to be in Lord
    Liverpool's place; and as a confirmation of this, it is added, that
    he will not appoint to the situations in his household till after
    Parliament has met. Have the kindness not to cite me in the _most
    remote manner_ for this communication. The accounts from the South
    of Ireland are bad. The White Boys have treated some of Lord
    Bantry's people who have unhappily fallen into their hands as Owen
    Glendower's Welshmen treated the English in Henry IV.'s time--stuck
    their heads on poles, &c. &c.

    On my way here to-day I met Abercromby, who told me we should have
    warm work in Parliament, and that the Board of Control would be
    attacked, as Wynn's appointment had given so much umbrage to
    _several_ who thought he ought not to have been preferred to them.
    Of course Huskisson is one alluded to. Who the others are, I cannot
    guess. The Opposition certainly calculate on the bad humour of the
    _Canningites_, and the storm which is expected to blow from the
    country. They would wish to have it understood that on certain
    points connected with economy there is an understanding between the
    Boodle's _set_ and themselves; but this I disbelieve.

    Believe me,

    Your Grace's obliged and very faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, Jan. 30, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I came to town last night, and find from a civil letter I received
    last night from Lord Liverpool, that I am to go to the Board of
    Control, at which I am exceedingly sorry, and rather more so as I
    find I am to go to bed there with Phillimore. I own I thought I was
    entitled to a little better berth than he was--however, I am sure
    you did your _possible_. I think also it is not the most creditable
    thing for your party that we should all be huddled up in a nest
    together. In short, altogether I am sorry for it, and should have
    been much better pleased at the Treasury. I have been riding with
    Tierney, who professes to know nothing of the intention of
    Opposition, but evidently builds entirely on the diversions in
    Ireland, and the necessity of the Catholic question being now to be
    decided, if the Grenvilles, and Plunket, and Lord Wellesley have
    any regard for their character, or if they have any weight in the
    councils. An attack is to be made immediately on the appointment of
    Henry Wynn to Switzerland, as being unnecessarily called for at a
    moment of professed economy.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Jan. 30, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I omitted in my account of the King's speech a paragraph stating
    that the estimates have been framed with every possible attention
    to economy, and expressing satisfaction at the reduction which it
    had been found possible to make upon the general expenditure,
    particularly on the navy and military services. This amounts to
    1,500,000_l._; but there is 450,000_l._ of temporary charge to
    be added for the veteran battalions to Ireland. I am myself much
    inclined to agree with your view, and to think that with the
    present superabundance of capital in the market, the advance of
    five millions to the agricultural interest in Exchequer Bills at
    four per cent. interest can do little. It may have the effect of
    producing a general lowering of the interest on mortgages, and if
    this should succeed, it would indeed be a material advantage, and
    would also collaterally tend to raise the stocks and to enable us
    to save a million and a half by paying off the Five per cents.

    Still I am myself very anxious for a reduction of taxation, but it
    is true that it is very difficult to determine to what articles
    this should be preferably applied for the relief of the land.
    Windows would probably be the most direct, and yet that would apply
    more efficaciously to the towns than to the country. It has been
    already seen how very little relief was produced by the reduction
    of the malt duty.

    Every day's account from Ireland is worse and worse. There is more
    appearance of organization and connexion; nor have we as yet a clue
    to any of the directors of it.

    I know nothing about Bloomfield, or of what is going on at
    Brighton.

    You will be amused to hear that from secret and private sources we
    have reason to believe that Lord C---- has by this time made
    himself master of the military chest of the _army_, containing
    500,000 dollars, and has sailed to establish himself _independently_
    on the isthmus. Will not this make a good novel for some future
    Walter Scott?

    To-day the plan for issuing Exchequer Bills to the landed interest
    seems to be nearly dropped, and to be changed into a general
    proposition for increasing circulation by borrowing four millions
    from the Bank. Still I am convinced that we must come to the
    reduction of taxation as the only measure of relief which will be
    comprehensible.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


Parliament was opened on the 5th of February by the King in person;
but before the Parliamentary campaign was commenced, some anxiety
was felt by the friends of the newly-appointed envoy to Switzerland,
in consequence of a threatened opposition to his appointment from
the Whigs and Radicals. This portion of the House of Commons
affected to treat the recent coalition as a matter of very little
importance,--nevertheless, it was believed that they would gladly
seize upon any opening for an attack upon the Government and their
new friends; and it was imagined that the disappointment which had
followed from the expectations excited by the overtures of the Court
last year, would give an additional stimulus to their hostility.


    MR. HENRY WILLIAMS WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    St. James's Square, Feb. 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I am sorry to hear that you have such authentic accounts of the
    attack on _me_. I have still reason to believe that none will be
    made till the general one on the Civil List. Charles has had a
    conversation with Lord Londonderry, who says that he is perfectly
    ready to meet any attack, both as to the time the mission had been
    vacant, and as to the expediency of having a person there with my
    rank. With respect to the first, he says that as soon as Canning
    left Switzerland, he took the King's pleasure as to Lord
    Clanwilliam's appointment, which was approved, but that in
    consequence of Hamilton's illness, he was appointed, _ad interim_,
    Under Secretary of State, and that he liked the business so much,
    that he now wishes to hold the situation permanently. With respect
    to the expediency of appointing a Minister, he defends it on the
    plea of all the great powers having a representative there with
    that rank, and that in case of disturbances in Italy, it might be a
    very important post. In point of expense, I find that it will be
    more considerable than Munich, Stuttgard, or Frankfort. Lord
    Londonderry thanked Charles for my offer, but said that he did not
    see any necessity for accepting it, and that it would be of bad
    consequences, as showing weakness at the first start. Duncannon
    told Phillimore that they were not making any whip for the first
    days.

    Many thanks for your box, respecting which I have sent to inquire.
    I kiss hands on Monday, after which I will call in Pall Mall, in
    hopes of finding you arrived.

    Ever yours affectionately,

    H. WILLIAMS WYNN.


The references to the late Dean of Westminster, to be found in the two
following letters, are not without interest. The Duke of Buckingham was
anxious to engage him as a travelling companion in a tour he was about
to undertake, in which he proposed to avail himself of every opportunity
for adding to his knowledge of geology.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Feb. 17, 1822.

    My friend Buckland is so far from being a quiz in a buzz wig, that
    he is, I think, one of the men I should most choose for an
    _agreeable companion in a post-chaise_. Whether he is prepared
    to undertake so formidable an expedition as you speak of, I should
    have some doubt, and the rather because he has usually some project
    of his own for spending the long vacation abroad in the prosecution
    of his inquiries. I can, however, have no difficulty in asking him
    the question, and at all events I should be glad of the opportunity
    of making him known to you, because I am sure you cannot but like
    him.

    I have been reading Lord Londonderry's speech, which, as far as I
    understand his figures, seems to me more satisfactory than I had
    hoped. The great question is--will it satisfy the country
    gentlemen, without whom he cannot go on, and will they, on this
    ground, make a real and firm stand in his behalf? Of that of course
    I cannot pretend to judge, nor perhaps is it easy to say who can.

    Government have certainly, under all the circumstances, acted
    wisely in taking the present moment for reducing the Five per
    cents. quite down to Four, though it is obvious they might have
    made rather a better bargain by a little further delay. So far is
    well, and I think the Malt Tax is, on the whole, the best they
    could have chosen, though I am not sure whether the Window Tax
    would not have given more general relief. His million for next year
    (assuming Ireland to be tranquillized), I also fully understand and
    approve.

    But pray explain to me if you can (for from the newspaper I can
    make nothing of it), from what quarter his 500,000_l._ in each
    year, for the four preceding years, is to come? Observe he states
    it (if said _Courier_ be correct), as something independent of, and
    in addition to, the future reduction of Four per cents. down to
    Three.

    If by the conjuration of what is called _borrowing of the
    community_, in order to keep up the nominal Sinking Fund, he means
    to apply the five millions annual surplus at _simple_ interest, and
    not at _compound_, he ought in the first place to say so
    distinctly, for whether right or wrong (about which much might be
    said), it is, at least, a more complete departure than any yet made
    from the original principle of the Sinking Fund. I do not say it
    would be necessarily wrong because _new_, but it would be _so new_
    that it ought to be brought distinctly under view.

    But I suspect this cannot be his meaning, both from his relying so
    much on the necessity of keeping up Pitt's measure, and also from
    his expressly stating the larger amount of this sinking fund of
    five millions in proportion to debt when compared with Pitt's
    original million in proportion to the debt of 1786. The fallacy of
    such a comparison would be monstrous, if the one was a fund working
    at compound interest, and the other be meant to work only at simple
    interest. Besides, even if this were to be done, the annual
    interest set free by the 5,000,000_l._ annually applied would, at
    four per cent. be 200,000_l._, not 500,000_l._ So I am at a loss to
    make it out, and perhaps after all it is only the blunder of the
    newspaper reporter. If you can explain it to me pray do.

    Lord L---- takes no notice of the successive falling in of the army
    and navy half-pay and pensions, which, if the present amount be as
    he states it, 5,000,000_l._, cannot be put at less than from
    100,000_l._ to 150,000_l._ to put in in each year. I suppose he was
    afraid of the old joke against Sir George Yonge, who was said to
    have expressed a hope that the half-pay officers would die off
    fast, and be thus _provided for_.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    G.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Feb. 20, 1822.

    I enclose you Mr. Buckland's answer, which I think you may pretty
    nearly consider as an acceptance of your offer, and I really
    congratulate you upon it. He is full of information of all sorts,
    with lively spirits, and a most active mind and body, and will, I
    think, be as cheerful and amusing a companion as a man could have
    in such a tour. I trust you take a draughtsman with you, for
    without that your _cortége_ will be very incomplete.

    I do not think Monday's discussion argues at all favourably for the
    Government, and Huskisson's loss will be most severely felt on the
    corn cause, if he is really so weak as to be driven from it by a
    little pelting in pamphlets and speeches. To my taste his speech
    read as much the best that was made on the former day. But I cannot
    for the life of me see what good the four millions are to do; nor
    can I understand, on the other side, Ricardo's fears of the harm
    they are to do.

    The Bank have acted with the same ignorance as has characterized
    them throughout. If they do not lend their gold to Government, they
    must lend it to individuals by lowering their discounts, and if
    they incur loss by either operation, I do not see who but they will
    suffer by it.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    G.

    I see by the subsequent accounts in the _Courier_, that Government
    does plainly mean to apply the 5,000,000_l._ at simple, and not at
    compound interest, and I do not see why one should be sorry for it.
    But even so, I cannot work 200,000_l._ up to 500,000_l._ I suppose
    the rest is to come, and much more I am confident will come, from
    casual saving and increased revenue in each successive year.

    If I cared a farthing about my predictions, otherwise than as the
    facts are of public benefit, I should have great cause to be proud
    of all I have said from the first day of peace, as to the necessary
    rise of our revenue to follow from it, and that while all the world
    was croaking all round me on that subject.


The threatened attack did not come off for some time; nevertheless a
fair amount of political skirmishing took place in both Houses, and
every great question was a wager of battle in which the contending
parties exerted themselves to the utmost to overpower their adversaries.
Catholic Emancipation was expected to be a severe contest, but the
increasing disturbances in the sister kingdom caused the friends of
Ireland much anxiety, and rendered a coercive policy inevitable. At
this period the country gentlemen began to exhibit a diminution of
ministerial support, which created considerable embarrassment.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I yesterday met the Chancellor in Cabinet, who immediately came to
    me, and expressed in the strongest manner the pain which he had
    felt at seeing sentiments attributed to him by Fyshe Palmer, in his
    speech at the Bedford meeting, which he never entertained, and
    which if he had, he trusts he never should have been fool enough to
    have so expressed.

    The joke is a very bad one, and was repeated to me when I came to
    town in January as Mackintosh's, probably with just as little
    foundation as it is now attributed to the Chancellor.

    Lord John's coarse and ungentlemanlike attack appeared to me very
    much to miss fire, and my reply was well received and listened to;
    but it is curious to see what common cause the newspaper reports
    make in hostility against me--wilfully altering, and even inserting
    things for which there was not the least foundation in my speech.

    The _Times_ contained the only tolerable report, which was copied
    in the _Courier_, and even from that it would appear that, instead
    of being extremely clamorous and inattentive to Folkestone[80] (so
    much that he was obliged repeatedly to stop, in order to procure
    silence), and then listening to what I said very favourably, the
    House had adopted a conduct exactly the reverse.

    Lord Londonderry is to-day to open a plan of providing for the
    annual charge of five millions now paid in half-pay, pensions, &c.,
    by granting long annuities for forty-five years, by which means a
    saving of two millions annually is to be made, which is to repeal
    the salt tax and diminish the window-tax.

    Being myself no friend to the Sinking Fund, and anxious that the
    Government should have the credit of affording every practicable
    remission of taxation, I have no objection whatever to this; but I
    must say for those who support that system, it is somewhat
    ridiculous with one hand to expend five millions in relief of the
    burthens of posterity, and with the other to transpose a burthen
    from our own shoulders upon theirs.

    I am still myself sanguine in my hope of the continuance of peace,
    as I think it clear that both powers wish to avoid war, and that
    the Emperor Alexander is aware of the certainty that the flame once
    lighted must spread further.

      [80] Viscount Folkestone, the present Earl of Radnor.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Six P.M.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Lord Liverpool had not, at eleven this morning, returned from
    Brighton, and Londonderry was not out of bed, or at least not come
    down. I sent your two notes to the latter, but have not yet seen
    him, though the post is just going out.

    The visit to Brighton relates, I believe, wholly to the Civil List,
    on which the country gentlemen are to make their next serious
    attack. I do not agree with you in your wish that the Government
    should break up upon so very unpopular a question as that of the
    Admiralty. I myself look at the minority on the salt tax with more
    apprehension and concern than the majority on the Admiralty.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. THOS. GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    March 4, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The country gentlemen have so much deserted the Ministers in the
    Admiralty questions, that it is not a propitious moment to ask
    favours, while so much ill-humour mutually prevails. A great many
    of these country gentlemen being sulky and discontented because the
    price of corn will not sustain the rise they had made in their
    rents, vent their spleen by opposing and thwarting the Government;
    and some who were steady anti-reformers have suffered themselves to
    be gulled by Cobbett into attributing the pressure of their rents
    to an inadequate representation in Parliament, though it has no
    more to do with their rents than with those of the Cham of Tartary.
    Yet these blockheads all profess that they do not wish to change
    the Government, though they are doing all that they can to
    annihilate them. The danger is a pretty serious one, for, with the
    connexion that Opposition holds with the Radicals, and the daily
    pledges they give to the tenets of these people, it is probable
    that the extensive changes that would immediately take place, would
    have very much the effect of an entire revolution in the government
    of the country. At sixty-seven this is less interesting to me than
    it is to you and to your son, for whose sake I heartily wish I may
    see this with exaggerated alarm.

    Most affectionately yours,

    T. G.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, March 6, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Your letter of the 3rd followed me into Hampshire, from whence I
    returned this day; and I assure you that I am much flattered by
    your confidence.

    You are quite right; the country gentlemen treat the Government
    exceedingly ill. What I complain of is not the votes of individuals
    upon the salt tax or the Lords of the Admiralty, or upon any other
    question of reduction, as in the existing temper of the country,
    men may find themselves obliged to follow the torrent rather than
    stem it; but what I complain of is their acting in concert, and as
    a party independent of, and without consultation with, the
    Government, which they profess to support, but really oppose. In
    ordinary times, and under ordinary circumstances, this conduct
    could not be borne for a moment. The Government would necessarily
    be obliged to take the line which you suggest; and I think that
    under ordinary circumstances the result would be what you suppose.
    I think it also not impossible that we may find ourselves obliged
    to take this step before this session closes. But I confess that I
    shall take it myself, and see it taken by my colleagues with the
    greatest reluctance and pain, for reasons which in fact constitute
    the great difference between these times and others.

    It would not be difficult to form a Government to succeed to us out
    of our own party. But if we are unable to conduct the Government,
    they would be still more unequal to it; and they would want
    particularly our experience in tiding over the difficulties of the
    day. The Opposition are still more unable than ourselves or others
    to form and conduct a real Government. But they would be able, and
    not unwilling, to do a great deal of mischief--enough probably to
    prevent us or any others who should succeed to them from being able
    to conduct the Government again. They would soon find that they
    could not govern upon their new system; and they would not be
    supported by the country on that or any other; but they would just
    have the power to render the government of the country impossible
    to their successors.

    I have stated to you very shortly my view of this question, which I
    believe is the true one. I believe, then, that however painful it
    may be to us, and I declare most sincerely that it is so to me, it
    is our duty to remain where we are as long as we can; and at all
    events endeavour to overcome the difficulties of this most critical
    of all moments.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


The Government was for the hundredth time menaced with immediate
dissolution; but the familiar proverb that pronounces the longevity of
ordinary men when threatened, appeared to be equally applicable to
Cabinet Ministers. It will be seen from the following communications
that they were likely to lose the support of one of their most
influential friends at Court. Sir Benjamin Bloomfield, however, was not
so completely disgraced as the writer tries to make it appear, for, on
the 1st of April he was gazetted as a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath,
and lived to enjoy several other honours and advantages.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, March 10, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You can have no idea how much advantage we derive from the division
    of the other night, being of much greater importance to the
    Government than to us, and it is so felt by the Opposition. Nothing
    could be more absurd than Tierney's conduct, speaking entirely
    against Creevey, and by his vote identifying himself with the
    Opposition upon it. Lord N---- was really the height of folly, to
    call it by no other name, for the division was so miserable a one,
    and so completely confined to the Opposition, that there was no one
    reason why he should have come up for it.

    I am rather surprised at your saying that you think Ireland is
    looking worse; it is not thought so here. I asked both Peel and
    Plunket on Saturday, and their accounts from Ireland and their
    private opinion on the subject were much more favourable. Plunket
    told me he was satisfied that as yet nothing had emanated from
    Dublin, that whatever were the steps of insurrection either at
    Limerick or Cork, they proceeded without communication or
    combination with Dublin. I am quite persuaded the only thing for
    the Government to establish and confirm their strength would be to
    force Canning into the Cabinet. It is the height of madness to let
    him go abroad in the present state of the House of Commons.

    As to the conduct of the K----, it is inexplicable. He is praising
    Lord Liverpool on all occasions, but sending invitations to nothing
    but the Opposition. The communications on the subject of Bloomfield
    are now carried on by the Duke of Wellington. How this is to end no
    one guesses, as to the provision that is to be made for him. With
    regard to Ireland I am quite satisfied the great man is holding the
    most conciliating language to both parties; holding out success to
    the Catholics, and a determination to resist them to the
    Protestants.

    Ever yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, March 11, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You may depend upon it nothing can be more precarious than the
    situation of the Government at the present moment. My own opinion
    is that it will stand, but the difficulties are great, and we shall
    only be extricated from them by the fear of the country gentlemen
    bringing in the Opposition. The defence for the Post-office will be
    most arduous; it can only be taken on the ground of influence,
    which must be maintained. If it is lost, which seems to be
    apprehended, it cannot alone form a sufficient ground for the
    breaking-up the Government. It is undoubtedly (coupled with other
    measures which have taken place) a good ground for Government to
    hold a language of retirement, but they must rest such a step on
    some more important proof of want of confidence--I mean the loss of
    any taxes--as, indeed, a small division against the repeal of a
    tax, which would be almost as discreditable to them as the repeal
    itself. You will observe by the papers that notice has been given
    for the repeal of almost all--indeed, I may say all--the taxes
    which bear on agriculture. This therefore must be the touchstone,
    and upon this they must rest their determination. If I were to
    speculate on the question of the Postmaster-General, I should think
    it would not be carried; but such is not the general opinion, and
    if we are to believe the common report, Lord Normanby will carry
    his motion.

    I don't know whether you have heard the particulars of Bloomfield's
    dismissal. He received on Thursday last in town a notification from
    Brighton of what was intended, and he got at the same time a note
    from Lord Liverpool, desiring him to call upon him at ten o'clock
    the next morning. This he accordingly did, when the Minister
    formally announced the King's order of dismissal from all his
    employments and offices, together with the order to quit his
    residence at Carlton Palace and the Stud House (Lady Bloomfield
    retaining the Rangership of Hampton Court Park, which she holds for
    life); an offer was at the same time made to him to retain his
    salaries, which he rejected. No ground was given for the dismissal.
    Sir Benjamin claimed a Peerage which had been promised by the King
    under his hand within the last month. This was rejected on the part
    of Lord Liverpool, but the person who communicated this to me, and
    who had it from Bloomfield himself immediately on his leaving Lord
    Liverpool, told me that on this point Bloomfield said he should
    make his stand. No private secretary is to be appointed with the
    rank of Privy Councillor; Mr. Watson is to remain to arrange the
    King's papers, and to lay them before his Majesty. The Privy Purse
    not named. Thus far I tell you as knowing distinctly, and from the
    very best authority, the facts. On what ground the dismissal has
    taken place I cannot tell you more than common report, which varies
    and invents ten thousand different reasons--one that there was a
    large sum to be accounted for in the expenses of the Coronation,
    incurred for diamonds. The whole of these expenses were referred to
    an auditor, and Bloomfield was summoned to give an account of these
    diamonds; his answer was that they had been furnished by order of
    the King, and his directions were to place them on the Coronation
    account. Whether they were so applied he could not say, but took it
    for granted they were. It was not, however, so proved; and the
    King, considering such a disclosure, or rather explanation, on the
    part of Bloomfield as a breach of confidence, made it the ground of
    his dismissal. There may or may not be some truth in this report;
    but depend upon it, the measure has arisen from an intrigue in the
    party now governing at the Pavilion. For my own part, I think
    nothing can augur worse for the Government than this very bout. I
    am quite confident Bloomfield was devoted to this Government, and I
    am also sure that no new nomination of private secretary takes
    place, because in such an event the Ministers must have a voice,
    and no one could be appointed but under the sanction of Government.
    There is a large party of Opposition gone down to Brighton this
    week--Duke of Devonshire, Lord Lansdowne, &c. &c.

    I will endeavour to communicate with Parnell, but he evidently
    avoids me, and depend upon it he will not commit himself until he
    finds which party prevails. Plunket is arrived, and is actually at
    this moment in the next room with Wynn. We have not much fear in
    our quarter of the Board of Control on Thursday, which I suppose
    will end in an abusive speech from Creevey. Vansittart's
    Superannuation Bill will create a great deal of discussion, and
    which he will not mend by his explanations. I have nothing to add;
    you shall hear from me as things occur. The next ten days will
    decide upon the question. I had a note yesterday from Lord
    Grenville on other matters, but he adds a few sentences expressive
    of his apprehensions for the Government, which can only be
    maintained by a sudden alarm and consequent support from the
    independent part of the House of Commons.

    Ever, my dear Duke, sincerely yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, March 22, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Canning has at length swallowed his scruples and difficulties, and
    will next week be appointed Governor-General. I regret this
    extremely, for the reasons mentioned in my last, but it cannot I
    fear be prevented. I was mistaken in telling you that Newport went
    away, as he voted with us.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, March 30, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The King has been in town and went this morning back to Brighton. I
    hear from the _best_ accounts that he is ill, thinks ill of
    himself, and is low, but Wynn told me he thought he looked very
    well and was particularly civil to him, and inquired most kindly
    after you. Bloomfield is to have a pension of 1200_l._ per annum,
    Lady Bloomfield the Park at Hampton Court (not the Stud House); he
    is also to retain the Privy Purse, but to do no duty for it (how
    this is to be I know not). This is calculated altogether to afford
    an income of 2800_l._ per annum. He is to go to Brighton on Monday
    to be invested with the blue ribbon, and the second Irish Peerage
    is held out to him. All this you may rely upon, as it comes from
    the King's own lips. The only ground of complaint urged, is
    Bloomfield's temper, which was all of a sudden found to be so bad
    that he could not longer go on with him. He also said, "He had
    engaged not to renew the appointment of Private Secretary, but that
    he did not know how he could possibly go on without one." This
    looks as if he meant to fight the battle again, and the Ministers
    will be mad if they give way.

    You will see what occurred yesterday respecting the Catholic
    question; they will bully Plunket into moving it, which for one I
    shall be sorry for.

    I am just interrupted, therefore am compelled to finish this.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    India Board, March 30, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I had an audience on Thursday after the Council, and was very
    graciously received, with very particular and really kind inquiries
    about your health.

    You know that my bile is not easily stirred, nor am I, for a
    Welshman, particularly irritable on anything connected with
    politics; but really in the course of twenty-five years'
    parliamentary life, I do not believe I have ever felt so much as on
    Lord King's coarse and personal attack on Henry. If he chose to
    question the propriety of the Swiss mission, it was perhaps bad
    taste in him, but after all fair political game; but to speak of
    one so nearly connected with him, and whom he had affected always
    to maintain intimacy with, as a person wholly unknown, to rake into
    his diplomatic life, and by implication accuse him of overstating
    his losses in his claim for compensation fifteen years ago, shows
    such a total absence of all feeling that I cannot trust myself ever
    again to exchange a word with him.

    On public affairs I have little new to say. We tide on and shall do
    neither good nor evil without being compelled to it.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.




CHAPTER VIII.

[1822.]

SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON. MR. CANNING BRINGS FORWARD THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.
OPINIONS RESPECTING CATHOLIC RELIEF. STATE OF THE KING'S HEALTH.
POLITICAL MEETING TO CONSIDER A NEW CATHOLIC MEASURE. MARQUIS WELLESLEY
AT THE PHOENIX PARK. COMPLAINTS OF HIS INATTENTION TO HIS DUTIES AS
LORD-LIEUTENANT. SPEECH OF DR. PHILLIMORE ON THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.
MOTION ON THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. HENRY W. WYNN. CONDUCT OF MR. ROBERT
PEEL. LIBELS. ANTI-CATHOLICISM IN WALES. BALL FOR THE RELIEF OF THE
IRISH. PROJECTED VISIT OF THE KING TO SCOTLAND.




CHAPTER VIII.


The statement hazarded in the next letter, of Sir W. Knighton's
literary incapacity, is, we believe, unfounded. The memoir of this
gentleman, edited by his widow, affords ample evidence to the contrary,
and he enjoyed a large share of the King's confidence at this date, and
subsequently. Lord King's motion for a further reduction of the Civil
List, animadverted on in the same communication, was made on the 26th
of March, and Mr. Canning's notice of motion for the admission of the
Catholic Peers into the Imperial Legislature was given on the 29th; the
motion was brought forward on the following day, and carried by a
majority of five; on May the 10th, the second reading was carried by an
increased majority of fourteen. The interest taken by the Duke of
Buckingham in the question may be seen in some of the following
letters:--


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, April 1, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Depend upon it there must be some mistake or fumble about your
    application for the _entrée_. The fact is, there is no distinct
    person at present to whom the reference is had at Brighton, and I
    have heard that the King complains bitterly of the inability of
    Knighton, who is quite incapable of writing a letter; whether this
    is true or not I cannot absolutely say, but I believe it from the
    quarter it came; it seems impossible that the King should have
    received the letter, or it must have escaped his memory on Thursday
    when Wynn was with him, otherwise he would have made some
    observation to him upon it. But pray don't hurry any further step:
    I will desire Mrs. F. to mention the thing to the Duchess and see
    what is said upon it; I doubt if she is in correspondence with the
    King.

    I did not mention all the jobs for Bloomfield; he is to have a
    Governorship of Fort Charles, which Lord Stewart gives up to him,
    and the promise of a foreign mission, in addition to what I before
    enumerated to you. Lord King's conduct is worse than your
    brother's, who was not at the moment aware of "his honourable
    friend's" intention, and really does not know the details of your
    father's conduct as teller. I find from Charles W---- that Lord
    Grenville is equally outrageous with Lord King. It is evident that
    the Mountain are moving heaven and earth to lower you and your
    friends, but it will not do. I dread all the discussions arising
    from the Catholic question; Canning consulted no one, and I really
    believe not a soul was aware of his intention previous to his
    giving the notice. It will place Plunket in a very awkward
    predicament, for it must bring on the argument on the general
    question; you have no reason, however, as far as I can understand
    it, to complain of a want of communication, for it was Canning's
    _move_, and his alone. James Stanhope told me this morning he was
    coming into Parliament immediately; I think he said it was
    Houldsworth's seat, but am not quite sure. The Agricultural Report
    is to be made to-day, and Lord Londonderry gives notice for a
    motion upon it, I suppose to bring in a Bill after the holidays. We
    shall get through the Miscellaneous Estimates to-day, and shall
    have advanced altogether most extremely in Parliamentary business,
    much beyond the usual proceedings, so as to secure the House being
    up in time, provided no unforeseen events occur.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    April 3, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    If I felt that any one vote was likely to be lost to the general
    Catholic question in the event of the success of Canning's motion,
    I should be very much disposed to agree in your view of the
    impolicy of agitating it. But if there be a reasonable probability
    (as we have been told) that there are those who, adverse to a
    measure of general concession, would accede to this, I should
    anticipate a directly opposite result to what you expect. Supposing
    the Bill to be carried, or even to meet with an increased support
    in the House of Lords, upon neither of which points am I myself
    very sanguine, it could not fail to be a stepping-stone to further
    success. Independent of the immediate gain of six votes when they
    are most wanted, there are many who, having once voted for a motion
    of concession, though not intending to proceed further, would feel
    themselves drawn in, and perceive that they cannot maintain that if
    it be safe for a Roman Catholic to exercise the functions of the
    Peerage, he must necessarily overturn the Constitution if elected
    to the House of Commons or appointed a justice of the peace. Our
    adversaries are perfectly right when they say that no breach can be
    made in the present system without necessarily entailing the fall
    of the whole of it.

    I have, however, already told you that in my own opinion, this is
    so generally felt that there will be scarcely any difference in the
    division upon the particular and the general question. That it will
    be thought, as it is in fact, merely a new road to attain the same
    object. At the same time it is perfectly true, that by this means
    we get rid, or rather postpone, many of the difficult details which
    we have to encounter; and that the case of the Peers, who are
    deprived of a vested interest which they possessed without the
    slightest inconvenience to the public, long after the other
    Catholics were disabled from exercising their civil functions, is
    infinitely the strongest which exists.

    Altogether, though the motion is brought forward not only without
    consultation, but even without the previous knowledge of most of
    the friends of the Catholics, still, my impression of its justice
    is such that even if I had a much stronger opinion of its impolicy
    than I had, I would earnestly support it; and I cannot but feel the
    utmost anxiety that under the particular circumstances in which you
    stand, the line which Lord C---- has taken upon the subject, and
    the disposition which exists to represent your conduct in the most
    unfavourable light, that you would reconsider the matter before you
    resolve to separate yourself from the rest of those who have so
    long advocated this measure. Upon questions of _right_ and _wrong_
    every man must judge for himself, but on those of policy and
    expediency it seems to me that the opinion of the great body and
    the most eminent of those who contend for the same object ought to
    prevail.

    I have just heard that Plunket has returned, and is desirous to see
    me. If I can have any conversation with him before the post goes
    out I will write again, if not, to-morrow. I hear that he has no
    apprehension of any jealousy on the part of the Irish of the claims
    of the Peers being brought forward separately. He is extremely
    distressed between the strong wish of Lord Londonderry to keep
    back, and of the Opposition to force forward the question.

    My own opinion is, as I have already told you, that the
    conversation which passed on Friday in the House when reported in
    Ireland will produce so strong a feeling in favour of the latter
    course that he cannot resist it.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, April 4, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I dined yesterday at the Duke of Gloucester's, and, sitting by the
    Duchess, I had an opportunity of talking to her, and find she has
    no correspondence at all with the King, and is evidently not in
    communication with him but when he comes to town; and as I knew she
    tells every thing on earth to the Duke, and that he gossips again
    to his friends in Opposition, I thought it better not to say
    another word on the subject of your application to the King.

    I am quite satisfied of the proper way of recurring to the subject,
    which is that Wynn should mention it to Lord Liverpool as a private
    hint, and it would be immediately settled; for be assured the King
    does not object, but that it is owing to some mistake, or loss of
    letter, and requiring an explanation--through Wynn would be much
    the easiest mode, and not make it of too much importance; for I
    think you should consider the thing as a matter almost of course,
    and not place more importance upon it than that which of course
    belongs to the incivility of not answering your letter, and this
    really I cannot but think is unintentional.

    Lady J---- is come back from Paris, abusing the K---- most
    violently, and regretting she ever was such an idiot as to suffer
    her boys to go to the Coronation. In short, there is nothing she
    does not say against him--and what do you think for? Because he has
    conferred the Dukedom of Buckingham on you, when Lord J---- was the
    proper representative of the title. This is very good, but I am not
    sorry the King should find these Opposition ladies not quite so
    disposed towards him.

    Plunket still undecided as to his motion, which, for my own part, I
    hope he will not bring on, for be assured neither his nor Canning's
    has the chance of succeeding in the House of Lords, and the
    Lansdownes are only urging it because they see, or flatter
    themselves they see, the prospect of discussion thereby in the
    Cabinet.

    The Report, as was expected, from the Agricultural Committee, is a
    miserable performance, concocted by Bankes, and affording no one
    benefit of any sort or kind, saving this, which in my opinion is
    valuable--an acknowledgment that Parliament can do nothing for the
    relief of the farmer.

    I think Lord King looks foolish and awkward, as well he ought. His
    conduct is universally blamed.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--The King comes to town on the 18th to remain for some little
    time. Does not return to Brighton, but, on his leaving town, goes
    to the Cottage at Windsor.


The Catholic question as introduced this session by Mr. Canning,
created more than its customary amount of political excitement,
because, though one in which the Duke of Buckingham, his family and
friends, had long taken a consistent interest, it was pressed forward
by the Opposition to embarrass the recent coalition and the Government.
The reader will shortly see the result.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, April 4, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I called to-day upon Plunket, and found him still in great doubt as
    to the course which it might be expedient for him to pursue on the
    Catholic question during the present session.

    The bias of his own mind is evidently to defer the agitation of it
    till the next session, and he dwelt much on the disadvantage which
    might arise if Lord Londonderry, though supporting the measure,
    should cool in the active personal exertion to influence votes and
    to fix the wavering which he exhibited last session. Altogether, he
    considered the question as too important for him to decide upon
    singly, and therefore was disposed to request a meeting of its
    principal Parliamentary friends on Tuesday, the 16th, the day
    before the Houses re-assemble. In the interim he hoped to hear
    again from Ireland, and to see Lord Grenville. He would also be
    very anxious to communicate with you on the subject. It is obvious
    that if it is to be brought forward, it must be before Canning's,
    as it would be absurd to carry up the general measure after the
    Lords have rejected the more limited one.

    My uncle Tom is very favourably inclined to Canning's proposition,
    as he thinks that the admission of the general proposition is too
    great a change to expect at once from the House of Lords, while the
    proposition of the strongest of the detailed points, one by one,
    might be more likely to succeed. With this view, he told me that he
    had himself more than once suggested trying a personal Bill to
    enable the present Duke of Norfolk to sit and vote, and afterwards
    for the other peers, leaving the laws as they stand. This, I
    confess, I should not be so well inclined to. It will be an
    advantage, if we are to fight it in the proposed shape, that we are
    at once rid of all the details of oaths, securities, &c., for I
    conclude the consciences of the Roman Catholic Peers will, if the
    declaration be omitted, be disposed to swallow the Oath of
    Supremacy without a single wry face, which will be a most useful
    example to the other Catholics, and will of itself go far to bring
    the priests into order. Plunket does not apprehend any jealousy of
    the limited measure from Ireland, as he thinks that they will
    consider it as a stepping-stone, and will be much alive to the gain
    of six votes.

    Plunket mentioned confidentially the opinion of Lord Wellesley in
    favour of deferring the general Bill till next year, for which
    likewise Lord Londonderry and Lord Melville seemed very anxious.
    How far what has passed in Parliament, and the eagerness of the
    Opposition, may drive the Catholics in Ireland forward, he could
    not calculate, but otherwise conceived them to be content to
    acquiesce in its postponement. At all events, I am most desirous
    that, whether you entirely approve of the manner in which the
    question is brought forward or not, you would acquiesce in the
    course to be determined upon, which I am sure is of the greatest
    importance to the public character of us all.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, April 8, 1822.

    You know I have quite done with political speculations, and
    discussions of every kind. If Canning's motion succeeds (as I
    conclude it will) in the House of Commons, and comes up to the
    House of Lords, I can have no doubt of supporting it, as far as my
    vote, or more probably, my proxy, may extend, because it is one of
    the points that I have always most strongly urged, and particularly
    in my speech, even, of last year; and also because it really does
    seem to me that such a motion follows as a natural and undeniable
    consequence from any opinion entertained by the friends of the
    general measure, that next year would be more favourable than this
    for the discussion of the main question, in so far as it concerns
    the great body of the Irish Catholics.

    The conduct of that body has certainly been often such as to show
    the utmost blindness as to what was likely to advance or obstruct
    their cause. But I cannot think them so ignorant as not to see the
    infinite advantage which the success of such a motion would give
    their friends in any future discussion.

    My own opinion, indeed, is that it is in something of this
    piecemeal way that their object will ultimately be obtained; and I
    should not be without considerable hope of seeing Canning's measure
    carried, even in this year, if I felt quite sure that it would have
    fair play given it.

    As to the prudence of postponing or bringing forward the main
    question this year I have formed no opinion, and I mean to form
    none. I have done with such speculations; I have entire confidence
    in Plunket's judgment and uprightness; and my greatest fear is that
    of seeing the measure taken out of his hands, to fall into worse,
    and worse I am sure they will be into whatever hands other than his
    it can fall. He is coming here on Friday, and if you wish to say
    anything to him on the subject, you cannot do better than meet him.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, April 10, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The note you have enclosed me makes the thing more embarrassing,
    and I have been puzzling my brain how I can possibly promote the
    object; but I really know not in what way I could move. I could
    write a _private and confidential letter_ to Lord Conyngham (whom I
    know intimately), stating the case, and expressing your
    embarrassment about it; but I don't know whether you would approve
    of this, and I cannot think of any other means. Let me know by
    return of post, and I will act accordingly. Perhaps you would write
    yourself to him, quite as a private friend (if you know him well
    enough), but if you had rather I should, only say so. I am quite
    sure, from Bloomfield's letter, it is meant to be done; but the
    _chief_ is so strange and inconsistent, and I suppose so perfectly
    incapable of going through with his business, that unless he has a
    man at his elbow constantly to jog him on, he is not to be depended
    on for one moment.

    I shall remain here till the day before the meeting. I dread any
    confusion that may arise from the jumble of the Catholic question.
    Be assured, whatever one may think of this question, it is not one
    that the public will go with you upon, in any measure of hostility
    to the Government, much less of separation, and as to our carrying
    it, or preventing its being carried, the question rests so entirely
    on the House of Lords, that it is there and there only that it will
    be decided; and as long as we have the present Chancellor and Lord
    Liverpool, it is out of the question, unless the King were to take
    a part, which he certainly will not. Why, then, what would be the
    result? We should separate, the Government would go on, and we
    should have another sixteen years of opposition. I am arguing only
    on the idea of our taking a line different or more violent than the
    other best supporters of the measure. I mean Plunket, Londonderry,
    Canning, &c. &c. My idea is that the latter does not mean mischief
    so much as the regaining some little character and importance which
    he has so justly lost.--The King comes to the Cottage here as early
    as he possibly can after Easter. I believe him to be _decidedly_
    ill; his legs swell, and when they are reduced, he has violent
    attacks in his chest and head. His appetite is bad, and he is very
    low about himself.

    Faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--In looking at Bloomfield's letter again, I see he says _the
    King said he had given the necessary orders_. Surely this would
    justify you in writing to the Duke of Montrose to ask the question.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, April 12, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I yesterday communicated your sentiments on the proposed manner of
    bringing forward the Catholic question to Plunket, who expressed
    himself highly flattered by the confidence which you placed in his
    opinion. He has to-day gone down to Dropmore, and returns
    to-morrow. The outline of the plan which he is disposed to
    recommend to remedy the most pressing grievances on the subjects of
    the tithe, is to enable incumbents to agree for a composition for
    twenty-one years with the _landlords_, and the tithes then to
    be collected as county rates, and the receipts to be good in
    payment of rent. This is the outline; but the detail must be matter
    of great difficulty, since, though this may apply to future
    contracts, I fear that as the majority of the peasantry are for
    election purposes life tenants, it will not be easy to increase
    their rent to the landlords by the amount of what will be payable
    for tithes. As yet this has only been discussed by him with Lord
    Liverpool and Goulburn, so of course you will feel the necessity of
    not communicating upon it with any one.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, April 16, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The proposed meeting on the course which it might be expedient to
    adopt respecting the Catholic question, took place this morning. As
    the persons invited to it were only those members of the House of
    Commons who had last year been named to bring in the Bill, I
    advised Fremantle not to come, since it would only excite jealousy
    to see us endeavouring to secure a majority by introducing any one
    who had not on former occasions been called into council on the
    subject.

    The persons present were Tierney, Newport, Parnell, Canning, Grant,
    Phillimore, Plunket, and myself.

    Tierney expressed a very strong opinion as to the detriment the
    general question had received from not having been taken up
    immediately upon the meeting of Parliament, from Lord Londonderry's
    declaration on the first day against any discussion of it, and from
    Plunket's language on Canning's notice, but declined giving any
    advice as to the course to be pursued under existing circumstances
    at so late a period of the session, and after Canning's notice of
    the limited motion.

    Newport, though agreeing in regretting that earlier measures had
    not been taken, yet distinctly admitted that the question had so
    much varied by what had taken place, that it could not now be
    agitated with advantage.

    Grant thought that in the first instance the general motion had
    better have been brought forward, but that Lord Londonderry's
    declaration and Plunket's opinion, to which he was disposed
    implicitly to defer, were sufficient reasons for delaying it till
    next year. Altogether the result will be that Plunket will declare
    his decided intention of postponing it till next year.

    Canning is sanguine in his expectation of increased support or
    rather neutrality of former adversaries, but Tierney doubts whether
    members of the House of Commons will be as ready to come to town on
    the limited as the general measure. He admitted, however, that the
    call which has been ordered for the 24th may go far to remove this
    objection.

    I find the Orange party are loud in their abuse of Lord Wellesley
    for shutting himself up at the Phoenix Park, lying in bed all day,
    seeing nobody, and only communicating with Secretary Gregory by
    letter. Indeed, I believe that the latter is more than he often
    favours Secretaries Peel and Goulburn with.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    Your account of the King's health rather surprises me, as we all
    thought him, when last in town, to be looking decidedly better than
    he had been, for some time.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Five o'clock, April 18, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I should have sent your note to Canning, but I have just seen him
    and put it into his hands, saying that I had been prevented from
    attending the meeting of Mr. Plunket, or I should have taken that
    opportunity of explaining to him by your desire your views on his
    proposed question: that I could not do it better now than by
    putting into his hands a note which you had written to me on the
    subject, and which you had since desired me to show him. He
    immediately read your note, thanked me, and thus the matter ended.
    He was interrupted by persons coming to speak to him, and sitting
    behind him (which I did at the time), he could not well have
    entered into any discussion had he been so disposed, indeed there
    was not much to be said to me upon it.

    I came to town purposely at your desire to attend Plunket's
    meeting, and had no conception it was a select party till I got a
    note from Wynn, describing it as such to me.

    The King is come to town in bad humour at breaking up his Brighton
    party, and determined to stay as short a time, and to do as little
    in the way of public _appearances_, as possible, and which his
    Ministers are strongly urging him to do. I suppose you will come up
    for the Drawing-room if you don't for the Levee. We are in much
    better spirits, in general appearances and prospects in the House,
    and though Ireland will create much discussion, and also
    Londonderry's agriculture propositions, still there is no doubt we
    shall get the Session much sooner closed than usual. You shall hear
    from me, if anything occurs, from day to day, before you come up.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, April 25, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    It would give me the greatest pleasure to deliver your message to
    the King, if I could find the opportunity of any other business to
    desire an audience, but I think, upon consideration, you will think
    that it might more properly be made the subject of a letter from
    yourself to Sir Andrew Barnard, as Gentleman-in-Waiting, or
    directly to the King, than of a note from me.

    I am myself such a mere novice in matters of etiquette, that I
    should not place the least confidence in my own judgment on such a
    point, but should readily submit to yours, if I had not this
    morning consulted my uncle Tom, who gave the same opinion which I
    had previously formed. I have not yet had an opportunity of any
    conversation with C----, having only seen him last night while I
    was in labour of a speech, but I shall be very glad to see the
    paper which you mention.

    Grant's speech was excellent, better than I ever before heard from
    him, but I do not believe you or any other Lord-Lieutenant would
    like him as a secretary, as his warmest friends admit his
    inefficiency and idleness. His total neglect of his correspondence
    with this country, after repeated friendly admonition, was really
    inexcusable. We are nearly in the same state with respect to Lord
    Wellesley, which I trust is only owing to his illness. It is very
    well for a Lord-Lieutenant or Secretary to say that they act on
    their own responsibility, but during the sitting of Parliament
    those upon whom that responsibility really and efficiently falls,
    have a _right_ to expect to know their views of the situation
    of Ireland and of the course to be pursued. Upon none of the great
    points of Tithes, Magistracy, Police, &c., have we yet heard a
    syllable, nor any view of the state of the country, for the last
    month. Were Lord Wellesley well, I should certainly write to him
    myself to tell him confidentially the complaint which arises from
    his silence, but under the circumstances of his illness I had
    rather that even if you should write to him you should not advert
    to what I have mentioned. Adieu. I must go down for Reform in
    Parliament, which owing to Lord Londonderry's hoarseness, would
    rest on Peel and me, if Canning does not, as I expect, take the
    labouring oar, and be the grand reformer of the night.

    Ever yours affectionately,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, April 25, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I have been to the Drawing-room and brought back for a wonder such
    a headache that I cannot write to you as fully as I should wish.
    The King only asked me how I did, but did not give me an
    opportunity of making your excuses. He looks well, I think, but I
    certainly have heard reports of dropsy on the chest, which agree
    too much with yours. The debate last night was very interesting.
    Rice, Grant, and Plunket, full of information and excellent
    speeches, the rest very indifferent.

    Ellis's furious tirade against the Catholics laid him open to a
    severe drubbing from Plunket, yet to say the plain truth, I fear
    that he was but too correct, and that the distinctive feature of
    the present conspiracy is, that in every part of Ireland it is
    exclusively Catholic both in its objects and composition.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, April 25, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD,

    I take the liberty of forwarding to your Grace a copy of the speech
    I made on introducing my Bill to amend the Marriage Act, which I
    have published at the request of Lord Londonderry and others, who I
    presume think that the facts alluded to, and the cases cited, may
    essentially assist the Bill when it reaches the Upper House.

    We are, I think, upon the whole going on well in the House of
    Commons. I confess my mind has been much relieved since the
    discussion on Sir John Newport's motion on Monday. Plunket's speech
    was everything that could be wished, and set us quite right with
    the House as to Ireland; it had also had the effect of indirectly
    giving a lift to the general question respecting the Catholics.

    On my return to London last week I passed a day at Dropmore. I
    found Lord Grenville inclined to criticise most severely the Report
    of the Agricultural Committee, but exceedingly anxious on the
    subject of Canning's Bill. I must say I think the Agricultural
    Report bad in every sense, but as I apprehend Lord Londonderry does
    not mean to act in conformity with the spirit in which it is drawn
    up, I trust it will be harmless as to effect.

    I suppose Canning's Bill will pass our House--it will be a severe
    blow to the cause if it does not; it is reported that Lambton and
    Co. are anxious to vote against it, because Canning brings it in.
    In the House of Lords, perhaps, it will have more votes than the
    general question.

    I cannot conclude this party communication without expressing the
    very sincere regret I feel that your Grace should still be
    suffering from indisposition, but I trust that you now only want to
    recruit your strength.

    Believe me, your obliged and faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

    P.S.--The speech would have been out last week, but the proofs were
    unfortunately sent to a wrong address to me in the country, and I
    was some days before I could recover them.


Political partisanship at this time sometimes exerted a pernicious
influence over well-meaning men, hurrying them into the avowal of
sentiments which under other circumstances they would long have
hesitated to express. In this way a distinguished member of the peerage
committed himself by some remarks on the conduct of the Duke of
Buckingham, which the latter treated with characteristic spirit.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, April 29, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have just seen the Duke of Bedford's answer to your last letter,
    which leaves you no alternative but to come to town. The whole
    attack has been a premeditated one, and of the most unjust and
    illiberal nature. I think the manner you have taken it up is
    honourable to your character, and what every man who has a proper
    feeling must commend. The thing does not seem to have been
    whispered abroad.

    I will come to you the moment you come to town, if you will let me
    know. I shall be in the House of Commons upon Canning's motion. Sir
    W---- W---- has acted extremely well on the occasion, and really
    feels as your kindest and dearest friend ought; solely occupied in
    the whole proceeding by a regard to your honour, and character, and
    feeling. Nothing, I think, could have been better than the wording
    of both your letters.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, May 3, 1822.

    I need not tell you with how deep an interest I received my
    brother's letter and yours this morning. I think nothing can
    possibly have passed more properly, or more satisfactorily, and I
    derive the highest pleasure from it. It is no doubt a painful thing
    to be reduced to this course, but whatever be the objections to it,
    surely those are alone answerable for them whose wanton
    intemperance of abuse places men under the necessity of thus
    acting, in self-defence. The Duke of Bedford's disavowal, in the
    conclusion of the business, seems to have been manly and
    unequivocal, and the only real atonement he could make for the
    original most unprovoked insult.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, May 7, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I am sure it must give you pleasure, as it does me, to hear from
    all sides, and all sorts of persons, one uniform expression of
    approbation of your conduct. When one is forced to take a step
    which places one's character before the public tribunal, it is most
    gratifying to feel afterwards that the step has been approved and
    sanctioned; that this is the case, I have not the shadow of a
    doubt, and I would not say so to you, if I had not received the
    most unequivocal proofs of it. I hear that even at Brookes' the
    comparison is greatly in your favour. No one can deny that your
    adversary has retracted his words, though he has done so in the
    only manly and honourable manner he could do it. Yesterday Charles
    Long conversed with me a great deal upon it, and said you had not
    only done benefit to the general cause of Government, but that you
    had served to put down that personal and unjust mode of proceeding
    which was gaining ground every day. He attacked the conduct of the
    Duke of B----, as being most improper and unjust; he said he had
    had an opportunity of repeating the same language the day before to
    the Duke of York, who, although a great personal friend of the Duke
    of B----, could not but admit that you were compelled to act as you
    had done, and that you had done so in the most dignified and
    gallant manner.

    I wish I could speak as flatteringly of the general conduct of the
    Government, but I own every day lessens my confidence in them;
    there is such a complete want of steadiness, and of an open manly
    uniformity of conduct, that I see no hopes of its going on.

    Although I have sealed my letter, I write to tell you a thing I
    forgot--namely, that Talbot of Malahide came to me yesterday,
    saying he considered the question to be of a personal nature, and
    feeling the highest regard, affection, and gratitude to your
    family, he could not think of voting upon it. That his party making
    it a general question, he could not vote against it, but that he
    should go away, which he did. I thought this a very handsome
    conduct, and said I should certainly take care to communicate it to
    you.

    W. H. F.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, May 11, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD DUKE,

    Lest Wynn or Fremantle should not write to-day (for it has so
    happened that I have seen neither of them), I just send your Grace
    a few lines to say that the Catholic cause prospered last night,
    the numbers being for the second reading of the Bill, 235; Noes,
    223. Lord Duncannon told me that he had _never_ known a greater
    exertion made against any measure than against the second reading
    of this Bill. There were twenty-seven pairs in the House--_i.e._,
    of persons who appeared in the House. My own idea is that all
    further opposition to the measure in our House will be abandoned.
    It certainly is most satisfactory to find the House of Commons so
    steady on this point; but I must own I think the experiment has
    been a hazardous one; if the measure had failed, the general
    question must have been damaged. However, the result is most
    favourable, and I should not be very much astonished if this Bill
    was to pass your House. The most remarkable incident of last night
    was the declaration of Mr. Skeffington (Lord Oriel's son), that he
    had come to the conviction that the Catholic question must be
    carried sooner or later.

    I hear from all quarters that the Duke of York's canvass against
    the Bill has been most active. Peel certainly took a higher tone
    than he did last year. You will have heard from Wynn that the Swiss
    mission, the general question respecting missions, and the repeal
    of the Act which commuted offices for pensions, are to be made
    vital questions (as the phrase is). At this I exceeding rejoice.
    The post is going out.

    Believe me,

    Your Grace's most faithfully,

    J. PHILLIMORE.


The long threatened inquiry into the diplomatic appointment given to
Mr. Henry W. Wynn came on on the 14th of May, when Mr. Lennard in the
House of Commons moved for a Select Committee to inquire into the
diplomatic expenses of the Government. The result is thus described:--


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Friday.

    MY DEAR B----,

    It was yesterday determined that the motion respecting Henry's
    mission on Tuesday, and the foreign missions in general for the
    following day, should both be considered as vital questions,
    decisive of the existence of the Administration. The case on the
    former is very strong. Londonderry will state that at the Congress
    of Vienna it had been decided that each of the great Powers should
    keep Ministers of calibre (_quere_, great bores) there. The reason
    of this was principally with the design of preventing the Cantons
    from falling back into their former dependence on France, in
    compliance with which it will be seen that each of them has
    Ministers there of the same rank with Henry. The general diplomatic
    arrangement was then laid before Parliament by estimate, in 1815
    referred to a Committee, and acted upon. When Stratford Canning
    came away, the mission was first intended for Foster, then for
    Clanwilliam; and if Henry had declined, it would have been given to
    another person.

    With respect to the general question, it will be found that the
    expenditure is reduced 20,000_l._ below the estimate of 1815,
    and besides that, there will this year be the 10 per cent. upon all
    salaries. Lord Londonderry has to-day a meeting of all men in
    office to communicate this resolution to.

    It is singular enough that in each of the three first divisions,
    upon propositions the most adverse--viz., Webb Hall's, Ricardo, and
    Althorpe's--the minority should have been 24, 24, and 25, though
    composed of perfectly different persons.

    Peel shows, I think, more spirit and good judgment as to the course
    which we ought to pursue, than any man in the Cabinet.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, May 16, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You will probably have heard from others the success of our whip
    yesterday. Nothing could be better; and, though probably our
    numbers may not be so many to-day, yet I should hope the relative
    strength of the division may be equal. The debate was all on our
    side, as well as the feeling of the House. Lord Nugent told me he
    should not vote to-day, nor should Lord Ebrington. They show their
    good taste in this. I understand Neville is very likely to vote
    with us.

    We are in better spirits, though the money question still hangs a
    dead weight. The South Sea have refused the contract, and
    Lushington told me last night the Bank would take the contract. I
    fear this will commit the Government more and more with the Bank,
    which has too much power already.

    Ever yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, May 15, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I agree entirely with what you say in your letter to Phillimore as
    to the absurdity of the distinction of _vital_ and _indifferent_
    points. All ought to be vital.

    This is the course which Peel every day recommends. He has lately
    taken a much bolder and decided tone both in Parliament and
    Cabinet, and I have little doubt means to run for the lead of the
    House of Commons. It appears to me very probable that his object is
    to break up the Government, in the expectation that it will be
    impossible for the Opposition to substitute anything which can
    stand three months, and that he may then mould and form it at his
    pleasure. He has himself spoken to me of the advantage which would
    result from our retiring, and the certainty that we must return to
    power within three months. Does he think that that period would be
    sufficient for Opposition to pass the Catholic question?

    Wilberforce's disclaimer of any intention to reflect on me was _ex
    proprio motu_. It is curious that the _Morning Chronicle_, which
    not only inserted the misrepresentation, but made it the object of
    a leading paragraph, afterwards omitted the contradiction. This I
    was told, but on examination find it is not true.

    Report states that we are to have large divisions both to-day and
    to-morrow, and that all the loose fish come into our net.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    I have stated to Lord Londonderry and Peel, the impossibility of my
    supporting the Alien Bill, or interfering to persuade my friends to
    do it, but have assured them that I shall not dissuade them from
    it. I added that my wish would be to stay away, as I had done on
    the two last occasions of its renewal, but that I could not
    absolutely pledge myself to this, since I might be compelled to
    come down to answer comments on my absence.

    Pray tell me whether you have procured any clue which may enable us
    to _patronize_ a newspaper.


    DR. PHILLIMORE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Doctors' Commons, May 17, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD DUKE,

    The debate took a turn last night we had not at all anticipated.
    Warre never mentioned Henry Wynn but in terms of civility and
    courtesy, and not only disclaimed all personal attack against him,
    but also every imputation against the arrangements which had led to
    his appointment. Lord Londonderry followed Warre, and explained the
    case, &c., &c.; and the only other person who took any part in the
    debate was Lord Normanby, who distinctly also declared against all
    allusion to the individual who held the appointment; and he had
    scarcely proceeded thus far before the House became so impatient
    that he was all but coughed down. Under these circumstances there
    was no opening for any of us, which for some reasons I regret,
    though upon the whole nothing could be more satisfactory than the
    tone and temper of the debate. I think the abstinence from personal
    attack must have been the result of previous arrangement, probably
    the more sober ones refused to concur in the vote on any other
    terms. A weaker case was never made out. Newport stayed away.
    Calcraft went out just before the division. Talbot, member for the
    County of Dublin, sent a message to Wynn by Plunket, to say that he
    would not vote against his brother. Carew, member for the County of
    Wexford, made a similar communication to me. Neville, I believe,
    voted with us; and Ebrington stayed away. Holmes told me that
    twenty-four came to the door after it was closed, of whom nineteen
    belonged to us.

    The most serious business we have now to look forward to is the new
    financial arrangement; and I must own that I dread the difficulties
    in which Van may involve us.

    Believe me, your Grace's very faithful,

    JOSEPH PHILLIMORE.

    P.S.--The whole debate last night did not occupy two hours.

    The Catholic Peers' Bill stands for the third reading to-night; it
    is not to be opposed, at least not by those who have taken the lead
    against it. I hear that Lords Caledon and Gosford, Gosse and Wilton
    will vote for the Bill, the two first have hitherto always voted
    against the Catholics, the two latter have not voted on the
    question; an Irish bishop is also to vote with us. On the other
    hand, Lords Camden and Clancarty will not vote, and they have
    supported always the general measure. The Archbishop of York told
    me he thought several of the opposers of the general measure would
    stay away: this, I understand from other quarters, is the course he
    intends to adopt. Lord Grenville, I believe, will come to London
    for the debate in the House of Lords. I am afraid that the Bill
    will not be carried, but I am very sanguine in thinking that the
    majority in the Upper House will be very considerably diminished.

    Wilberforce made a point of staying to vote with us last night.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, May 17.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I am on the whole extremely well satisfied with the issue of the
    two last debates, as the Opposition have entirely failed in the
    establishment of any case whatever, and did not appear to produce
    any effect on the House. Talbot of Malahide went away, expressly on
    the ground of declining a question which affected any connexion of
    yours personally. Newport also was absent, as were Ebrington and
    George. Neville, Wilberforce, Banks, and most of the country
    gentlemen voted with us. The places of several of those who stayed
    away from the Opposition were supplied by the Ponsonby's and
    Fitzwilliam's connexions, who had been absent the preceding night
    on account of Lord Fitzwilliam's death.

    I have already told you how much embarrassment I feel about the
    Alien Bill. Read your own speech of the 18th of June, 1816, and
    mine of the 20th of May in the same year, and I think that you will
    agree that we are a good deal hampered.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    We read the Catholic Bill a third time to-day. I am told that the
    second reading in the Lords will be fixed for the 31st of May.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, May 20, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The Duke of Portland has undertaken the management of Canning's
    Bill in the House of Lords. I fear that so long a postponement of
    it as you suggest, will hardly be thought expedient for the
    interests of the Bill. It had been much wished that it should be
    brought forward this week, but on account of Epsom it has been
    deferred till the following Friday. I shall be very sorry if you
    are prevented from attending, under all the particular
    circumstances in which you stand, and should even think that it
    might be worth while for you to come up and return next day. Lord
    Clare, Lord Gosford, Lord Caledon, and Lord Gage are mentioned
    among the new votes expected, but I am told that there are ten of
    them. Lord Headfort's proxy has been forgotten, and as he is in
    Italy cannot now be obtained. Lord Camden and Lord Clancarty will
    not vote. Could not you get Lord Torrington's proxy? I think he
    used to give you charge of it. Bulkeley hangs undecided about
    coming or staying away. Old St. Vincent is to take his seat and
    make a proxy. Lord Buckinghamshire is not yet ascertained.

    You do not mention anything on the subject of the Alien Bill,
    which, as I told you, I feel considerable difficulty about from the
    part which we have both taken. With respect to the Finance plan, I
    feel convinced that it must end where it ought to have begun, in an
    appropriation of part of the Sinking Fund, and that this will be
    done with more or less disguise and humbug, but that no regard for
    consistency will be sufficient to prevent a measure so essentially
    necessary.

    I will try what I can do to obtain a postponement of the Catholic
    Bill for you, but have little hope of success.

    Ever affectionately your,

    C. W. W.


Thirty or forty years ago the public press was managed with much less
talent and principle than the respectable portion of it now possesses.
Personality and scurrility appear to have gone out of fashion, and such
attacks as that from which the Duke of Buckingham suffered in the
columns of a provincial paper, are of very rare occurrence.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, May 21, 1822.

    I learn from my brother that the Duke of Portland is to move the
    second reading of Canning's Bill, and that they talk of the 31st
    for it; that day being opportunely hitched in between the two
    important epochs of Ascot and Epsom. But these arrangements of days
    for Parliamentary business are always so uncertain, and so liable
    to be varied up to the last moment, that I have never found one got
    much previous communication of them; nor do I, to speak fairly,
    think that the want of it affords the smallest ground of offence.
    As to the yeomanry arrangements, it does not seem to me possible
    that the day of this motion could have been fixed in time to enable
    you to reconcile those two engagements.

    I shall be sorry if you are absent from the discussion of this
    Bill, for a thousand reasons that make one wish you present at it,
    and I still hope you will contrive to run up for that night only.
    But if that really cannot be, I will very willingly hold your
    proxy, supposing that I do not in the interval (and it is now
    little likely I should) receive some one that I cannot transfer. I
    now hold only Lord Carysfort's.

    On the other subject on which you write to me it is more difficult
    to advise. The least troublesome course no doubt is that which I
    have always pursued--to treat, and unaffectedly to consider, the
    whole tribe of newspaper libellers as unworthy of the smallest
    notice. And this was, on the first impression, the opinion which I
    expressed the other day to my brother, who wrote to me on this
    matter, in consequence of something your son had said to him. On
    reflection I do not feel as sure as at first, that I was right in
    this opinion, as applicable to your case and to the Aylesbury
    paper. To any idea of a complaint against him in the House of Lords
    I feel utterly averse. My recollection does not serve me to
    remember any instance since Lord Sandwich and Bishop Warburton in
    the beginning of the last reign, in which the House has interfered
    in case of general libel. I myself brought a printer before them
    for an attack on Bishop Watson, but then that, if I am not
    mistaken, was a case of attack for words _spoken in Parliament_,
    and not for general political conduct. If you prosecute, the right
    course is certainly that of _information_ in the King's Bench; for
    it would be most unseemly to allege that your character has really
    been _endamaged_ by such ribaldry.

    On the question itself, whether to prosecute or not, I really feel
    myself incompetent to advise. I have already said that my first
    impression was against it, but further consideration of the subject
    has so shaken that opinion, that I should be sorry now you laid the
    least stress upon it. Every man who goes into a court of law, and
    especially every man who attacks a newspaper there, does, under our
    blessed system of newspaper government, expose himself to a
    lottery, the chances of which no man can foresee, and out of which
    it would be much more desirable to keep himself. But, then, in this
    as in other cases, one may be driven to the wall, and obliged to do
    that which in itself one is far from wishing. That this is the case
    in this instance, certainly seems probable, and if it is, the
    decision is one which you alone can take for yourself; though if my
    own judgment were fully satisfied either way, I would certainly not
    hesitate to let you see it.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    G.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, May 23, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I left your letter at Lord Bulkeley's house, and afterwards meeting
    him, urged him as strongly as I could to give his proxy, which, as
    he is applying to me for a cadet-ship for a Welsh lad, I could
    press further than I otherwise should. I am sorry to say, however,
    that I could not boast much of my success. He talked of the
    violence and bigotry of Carnarvonshire, which I do not believe
    really weigh with him, as they were more violent and bigoted when
    he formerly voted for the Catholics; but I believe the real reason
    is some promise which he has made to his wife. I cannot learn where
    Lord Torrington is in town, as he has no regular town house, but,
    as I am told, takes his letters at the House of Lords; so I have
    there left it for him. I spoke to Lord Cassilis about your proxy,
    which he will willingly attend to hold if necessary, but had
    expected you rather to give his.

    The new votes mentioned besides Lord Caledon, Lord Gosport, and
    Lord Clare, are Lord Gage, Lord Lucan, Lord Glasgow, Lord Wilton,
    Lord Maryborough, Lord Ormond, and I think Lord Suffield (but I am
    not sure which way the late Lord voted).

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    Frankland Lewis had a bad fall yesterday in the park, and was a
    good deal bruised, but did not, I hope, suffer materially. Lord
    Lonsdale had a worse a short time after, and broke two ribs and his
    collar-bone.


    LORD BULKELEY TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, May 27, 1822.

    MY DEAR LORD DUKE,

    It is certainly most true that I promised your Grace to vote in
    favour of Mr. Canning's motion whenever it came into the House of
    Lords, and being conformable to my former votes and opinions, I
    should with pleasure have ranged myself under the standard of the
    party with which I had so long acted, had not a storm arisen in
    Wales on that question, in consequence of Sir Robert Williams's
    vote in the House of Commons, which I own to your Grace staggered
    my intention very much. It was plainly told me, that if I did not
    put water in my wine, all my popularity there would sink to the
    ground, and an opposition declared which would put me to great
    expense, and a very doubtful issue; and that it depended on my vote
    to allay the storm, especially as Sir Robert had raised it. At the
    head of these ultra anti-Catholics stand the Bishop of the diocese
    (Magendie), and all the parsons to a man, and Mr. Ashton Smith,
    Lord Kenyon, and Sir Robert Vaughan, and hundreds who look up to
    Lord Eldon and Mr. Peel, and who think that the King is hostile to
    the Catholics. I hope, therefore, I may be permitted to absent
    myself as I have few days to live, and those few I can pass with
    tolerable goodwill in my own _natale solum_, if I do not provoke
    their ardent feelings on a point which they have opinions like
    those of the University of Oxford. In my general support of
    Government under your standard, my Taffies are rejoiced, but upon
    the Catholic question they are raving mad.

    Hoping the Duchess is well, and your Grace, I am, my dear Lord
    Duke, with Lady B----'s joint best remembrances,

    Your ever faithful,

    W. B.


This is the last communication the writer addressed to his friend, as
he died suddenly, at the age of sixty-nine, at Englefield Green, on the
3rd of June.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, May 29, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    My uncle Tom writes to Lord Grenville: "My sister just tells me
    that she met Canning last night at Burlington House, who told her
    that he should write to you to-day to tell you that the Catholic
    question was put off in the House of Lords, in consequence of the
    death of Lord Grey's mother. I had heard from several people
    yesterday that it was not put off; and so much satisfaction was
    expressed at the day not being disturbed, that I am persuaded this
    new change will be extremely unpopular."

    No letter from Canning has arrived; but this probably proceeds from
    his directing to Maidenhead, which was the case with the last
    letter he wrote to Lord G----.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    What will my worthy colleagues in the Empire of the East do about
    this _fracas_ at Canton? Must they not shut up shop? On this head I
    have nothing to say to them. I am for sending out a detachment of
    capital convicts from the Old Bailey Sessions, since, provided they
    are allowed to hang a sufficient number, it is all the Chinese
    Government requires.


Lord Eldon had not recovered his good humour, nor reconciled himself to
the new servants his sovereign had called to his counsels, and when he
could not express his dissatisfaction orally, he rarely failed to do so
in writing to his confidential friends--now and then, however, with
characteristic caution, denying the authorship of the bad jokes he took
pains to circulate.[81] The proceedings of the Legislature he regarded
with real alarm whenever their object was to alter what the public
voice pronounced capable of amendment, or prune what was judged
superfluous. The vote of the House of Commons on the 1st of March, for
discontinuing the services of one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and
that given on the 2nd of May for getting rid of one of the
Postmasters-General, his Lordship called "stripping the Crown naked,"
and represents the King as suffering from severe illness, occasioned by
these attacks, as he considers them, on the Royal prerogative.[82] His
acknowledged talent as a lawyer, however, joined to his earnest
advocacy of the cause of which he was one of the stoutest champions,
ought to suggest allowances for such harmless exaggerations.

      [81] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 63.

      [82] Ibid., p. 64.

The Catholic question having been put off in the House of Lords till
the 21st of June, other questions of a more popular character,
including Parliamentary Reform, the Importation of Corn, the
amelioration of the Criminal Code, the continuation of the Alien Act,
the state of the Currency, and the Tithe system in Ireland, the
influence of the Crown, and the suppression of the Slave Trade, came
under consideration in this month.

The ball referred to in Mr. Fremantle's note, was given for the benefit
of the suffering poor of Ireland at the King's Theatre, London, on the
30th of May, and produced 3500_l._


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Five o'clock.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You can have no idea of the great impression which has been made on
    the public mind by these two last divisions. It has given courage
    and unity to our people at the same time, and I trust will enable
    us to stem the tide which has been setting against us for the
    latter weeks. The great question that still hangs upon us is the
    annuity transaction. The South Sea don't take it; the Bank are
    negotiating but disinclined; and from what I hear from good
    quarters, it will end in its being done by the Government, and
    though not actually from the Sinking Fund, still with the means of
    applying the Sinking Fund in case of failure. The whole project is
    of Vansittart, and therefore to be feared, but I hope ultimately we
    shall get over it, and satisfy the country gentlemen by taking off
    1,500,000_l._ or 1,600,000_l._ of taxes.

    There is nothing material more to say. There has been a fine
    tripotage among the higher females about this Irish ball. The
    Duchess of Richmond was first applied to to be at the head, and the
    Duke of York was patron. All the present ladies were of her list,
    and had agreed to be patronesses, when lo and behold! Lady
    Conyngham, not having been sent to by the Duchess of Richmond, took
    offence, and set up a new list, placing the King at the head, whom
    she commanded to go, and all these ladies turned tack directly,
    abandoned the Duchess, and are now of the new Government--a pretty
    semblance of what might occur in the male political tribe.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


The state of Ireland--between famine and revolution--became every day
more alarming, and the influence of the Marquis Wellesley for good,
appeared more problematical. At this time the Ministers were desirous
that the King should pay a visit to another portion of his dominions,
where a welcome awaited him not less genuine than that which had given
so great a zest to his visit to Ireland; but, as will presently be
seen, they had some difficulty in getting his Majesty to enter into
their views.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons' Committee Room, Thursday morning.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I explained to Sir Edward East the other day, how the case stood
    with respect to his claim to be admitted to the Privy Council.
    There have been two instances which have occurred of his
    predecessors being so appointed. Upon Sir John Anstruther's return
    during Lord Grenville's administration, you must, I am sure,
    remember that the greatest inconvenience had arisen from the
    secession of Sir William Grant, and I believe Sir William Scott,
    from the Privy Council, and that there were no lawyers to attend
    the hearing of appeals. To supply this want, and with no reference
    whatever to his having been Chief Justice of Calcutta, Anstruther
    was sworn in. Sir H. Russell returned in 1813, and three years
    afterwards was made a Privy Councillor for the same purpose. It
    therefore seems to me, that whether it be or be not thought
    desirable that East should hereafter receive the same mark of
    favour, when legal members may be wanted at that Board, it is at
    all events objectionable to give it at the present moment, which
    would establish an absolute _right_ for all future Chief Justices
    against whom there had been no particular charge, to claim it
    immediately on their return. With this explanation he appeared
    perfectly satisfied, and desired that it might be understood to be
    his wish that it should not be pressed if there was any objection
    to it.

    I send you the Irish Constables' Bill, the alterations in which
    have, I believe, satisfied almost all the Irishmen.

    Newport went out of town yesterday. I do not myself believe in the
    existence of any intrigue for keeping Canning in this country. If I
    knew of any, I should be much disposed to join in it _openly_.
    Why Westmoreland should not make room for Lord Melville, who might
    continue to hold the sceptre of Scotland, and so leave the
    Admiralty to Canning, I cannot conceive. I think as ill of the
    latter as the K---- or you can, but it seems to me to be so much
    his interest to do his best, and that the gulf between him and the
    Reformers is so impassable, that it would be far better to admit
    him, and to take the benefit of service in the House of Commons,
    which no other man can render.

    Having been bored till five this morning in the House, I can write
    no more. Richard Wellesley, who is upon the Committee, tells me
    that his accounts of Lord Wellesley are very good, and that he is
    _quite well_.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, July 5, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    You will perhaps be surprised at not having heard from me
    respecting the late arrests in Ireland, but the truth is, that his
    Excellency is too discreet to communicate by his despatches more
    intelligence than appears in the Dublin newspapers, except that the
    evidence against these persons is so strong, that he is confident
    of convicting several of them. In due time he promises to send us
    the examinations which have been taken, and on which the men were
    apprehended. This, I suppose, will not be till after he has tried
    them.

    We get on, as you will see, at a snail's pace; still I flatter
    myself I see many symptoms of the session drawing to a conclusion.
    After next week, we shall have no Irish members left, and most of
    the English will also have left town.

    The King now again proposes going to Scotland. The visits are to be
    to the Duke of Athol, Duke of Montrose, Lord Mansfield, and Lord
    Hopetoun; perhaps Lord Breadalbane, but not to Gordon Castle or
    Inverary--the first on account of distance, the latter of the
    Duke's absence.

    He has been extremely reasonable in agreeing to the postponement of
    a Bill enabling him to make a will, and to the alteration of one
    for regulating the Duchy of Cornwall, though he had got somewhat
    like a promise before Christmas that they should be passed in this
    session.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    July 8, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I had an audience to-day on some business of no importance, but was
    very graciously received. He talked to me some time about Canning,
    whom he abused extremely for falsehood and treachery, and expressed
    his opinion that he was now engaged in some intrigue or another.

    The expectation of the Chancellor's retiring seems to be very
    general, in consequence of the undisguised irritation which he has
    expressed on the decision of the Marriage Bill. There certainly
    never has been so strong an instance of revolt among those who for
    so many years were the humblest of slaves.

    Proxies, as you will see, were not called for. Yours was entered to
    Lord Wemyss, who expressed himself much flattered at holding it. I
    should have given it to Lord Cassilis, but that he was doubtful as
    to his power of attending.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, July 9, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The match that has been so long pending, after a very long
    attachment, between the Duke of M----'s daughter and Mr. G----, is
    declared off, as is said, by the lady, in consequence of the
    insanity _found now_ to prevail in the bridegroom's family. But as
    all the world has long known that G----'s father shot himself, and
    his uncle (W----) cut his throat, it seems quite incomprehensible
    that this should have escaped the lady's observation till now.

    A strange report was circulated of the eldest son of Lord Cassilis
    (Lord Kennedy) having shot at a boy in a tree and killed him. There
    was no boy, and no tree, and no shooting, and no possible account
    how such an entire fiction could have been circulated.

    I am going to see our bronze Achilles[83] mount this morning upon
    his pedestal in the park.

    Kind love to your dear wife, and God bless you!

    Yours affectionately,

    T. G.

      [83] The well known figure in Hyde Park, erected in honour of the
      Duke of Wellington.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, July 11, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    We have had a very severe fagging for the last ten days, but I
    think we have made great progress, and I have no doubt now that the
    House of Commons will be up at the end of this month. The King
    certainly does not go to Scotland, though the decision has been
    fluctuating for some time past. His Ministers wished him to go, and
    he wished not, and has been putting up his doctors to support him
    by ordering them to pronounce that he would suffer from the
    journey, fatigue, &c. I hear that, in consequence of all this, he
    is not quite in such good humour with them as he was. Lord Warwick,
    you see, has got the Lieutenancy of Warwickshire, which has
    offended Lord Hertford. Lord Liverpool has had a serious attack of
    inflammation in the sinew of his thigh (his old complaint); he was
    extremely bad for two days, but is now nearly recovered. There
    never was anything so strange and absurd as Lord W----'s match; it
    was evidently planned and forced by the S----s. After he was gone
    he wrote three letters, which have been seen by the person who told
    me--one to his mother, the Duchess of B----, saying how sorry he
    was to have offended her by this marriage, but he was sure she
    would forgive him if she could witness the happiness he then
    enjoyed; the second to Lord Fitzroy Somerset, saying he was the
    most miserable man breathing, that he had been entrapped to marry,
    and he should never feel a moment's happiness again; the third to
    Lord Alvanley, saying that he had been obliged to marry; that he
    begged he would let him know what was said upon it, particularly by
    the girls (he had been making love to Lady Caroline S----). Hoped
    they would not quiz him, for he was unhappy enough.

    Can you fancy such folly and such profligacy? The fact is, I really
    believe he has got ... or that she made him believe it, and
    therefore compelled him to marry her. There is nothing but this
    sort of gossip stirring in town. The debates are most tedious, and
    the Houses very thin. I believe the Opposition as weary of it as we
    are. Phillimore will have some plague with his Marriage Bill, but I
    have no doubt will carry it, though the Chancellor is outrageous,
    making a prodigious noise about it, and sets up the
    Attorney-General to oppose it.

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


The Lord Chancellor not only continued to set his face strongly against
the Grenville portion of the Government; but there exists evidence
that while doing so he began to look favourably upon Opposition. He
accepted an invitation to dine at Holland House, and there met, as he
acknowledges, Lords Holland, Grey, Lauderdale, and "several of the
Opposition."[84] A step like this from such a man, is extremely
suggestive, and rumours of sweeping changes in the Administration
followed, as a matter of course.

      [84] See his letter to Lady Bankes, Twiss, vol. ii. p. 71.




CHAPTER IX.

[1822.]

SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON APPOINTED KEEPER OF THE KING'S PRIVY PURSE.
HIS SENSE OF DUTY SOMETIMES OPPOSED TO THE KING'S INSTRUCTIONS.
HIS IMPORTANT SERVICES IN LESSENING THE ROYAL EXPENDITURE. ARRESTS
IN IRELAND. CANNING AND PEEL. LAMENTABLE DEATH OF THE MARQUIS OF
LONDONDERRY. ESTIMATE OF THIS DISTINGUISHED STATESMAN. LETTER FROM
THE KING ON THE SUBJECT. THE ROYAL VISIT TO SCOTLAND. SIR WALTER
SCOTT'S RELIC. PROSPECTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. THEIR NEGOTIATIONS WITH
MR. CANNING. HIS SPEECH AT LIVERPOOL. HE SUCCEEDS THE MARQUIS OF
LONDONDERRY AS SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS.




CHAPTER IX.


Sir William Knighton was appointed Keeper of the King's Privy Purse,
and was employed in the most arduous labour of endeavouring to arrange
the private accounts of his Majesty. While putting these affairs into
a satisfactory state, he was sometimes obliged to oppose the King's
inclinations--on one occasion so as to excite his displeasure. But
George the Fourth was not the less partial to his servant for
maintaining what was right and proper under such circumstances, despite
his master's disapproval; and after one unpleasant scene of this
nature, his Majesty wrote him the following note:


    THE KING TO SIR WILLIAM KNIGHTON.

    Carlton House, July 11, 1822,
    Wednesday morning, Eight o'clock.

    You may easily imagine, warm and sincere as my affections are
    towards you, I have had but little rest since we separated last
    night. The feeling that I may possibly and unfortunately, in a
    hurried moment, when my mind and my heart were torn in fifty
    different ways from fifty different causes, have let an unjust or
    hasty expression escape me to any one, but most especially to you,
    whom I so truly love, and who are so invaluable to me as my friend,
    is to me a sensation much too painful to be endured--therefore let
    me implore you to come to me, be it but for a moment, the very
    first thing you do this morning, for I shall hate myself until I
    have the opportunity of expressing personally to you those pure and
    genuine feelings of affection which will never cease to live in my
    heart so long as that heart itself continues to beat. I am much too
    unhappy to say more, but that I am

    Ever your affectionate friend,

    G. R.[85]

      [85] Knighton's "Memoirs," p. 118.


This communication proves that the writer was not so thoroughly selfish
and heartless as he has often been represented. His correspondence with
Sir William Knighton and other persons in his confidence is
characterized by the same tenderness and good feeling. His Majesty
sanctioned all the proceedings of his Privy Purse to put an end to
abuses in his private expenditure, that had long been a source of
embarrassment and vexation, and later in the year issued the following
document:--


    Royal Lodge, Oct. 26, 1822.

    I hereby authorize and direct Sir William Knighton, Bart., Keeper
    of my Privy Purse, to give notice to our several tradesmen that
    they are not to receive orders or to furnish any articles of
    furniture, &c. &c. &c., or to incur any expense whatsoever from
    their different trades, where such expense is to be provided for by
    my said Privy Purse, without receiving a specific order in writing
    for that purpose from the said Sir William Knighton Bart.; and I do
    also give my authority to the said Sir William Knighton, Bart., and
    order and direct him, during our will and pleasure, to undertake
    the entire management of my private affairs, with a view to the
    observance of the most strict and rigid economy, that we may have
    the opportunity of relieving ourselves from certain embarrassments
    which it is not necessary to mention further in detail. We do
    therefore rely with confidence on the said Sir William Knighton for
    the strict performance and fulfilment of all our wishes on this
    head.[86]

    GEORGE R.

      [86] "Memoirs of Sir William Knighton, Bart."


It is but justice to add that Sir William's management worked a reform,
the beneficial effects of which were acknowledged and appreciated. "I
see with pleasure," writes the Duke of Clarence, "and hear with equal
satisfaction how well the Privy Purse is carried on under your able
management."[87] The King was not only freed from large accumulations of
pecuniary liabilities, but was enabled considerably to increase his
donations to public and private charities.

      [87] Ibid.

The new members of the Board of Control were not quite pleased with
their position on their first taking office, and it is clear from their
representations of the unsatisfactory state of the Government, that
some of them at least were not indisposed to break the tie that
connected them with it. It becomes more and more evident that the
dissatisfaction of the President was leading him into a desire for
change, but it does not appear that the Duke of Buckingham encouraged
such speculations--indeed, the interest taken by the Duke in politics
had so greatly subsided, that he was sailing about the coast
preparatory to quitting the country for an absence of considerable
duration. He followed the advice given by Mr. Fremantle in a subsequent
letter.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    July 15, 1822.

    As far as I can judge from my conversations with Canning, he is
    perfectly _in earnest_ with respect to his intended voyage, and
    much as I regret it for the country, I think that considering the
    great personal disinclination both of the King and (I believe) the
    Duke of York towards him, the unstable nature of the Government,
    and the state of his own affairs, the course he pursues is far the
    best for his own interests. I think I told you that both Liverpool
    and Londonderry evidently considered the completion of this
    appointment as a great advantage gained, and were in high spirits
    on the occasion.

    It cannot be doubted that Peel and Lord Bathurst strongly
    participate in this feeling, and that the Chancellor carries it a
    good deal farther. Under these circumstances, the Duke of
    Wellington is the only man of any weight in the Cabinet, of whose
    co-operation in a plan for retaining Canning in this country there
    could be a hope, and without that, we could not hold out such a
    probability of success as alone could justify any communication to
    Canning, or expectation that he would listen to it. If it could be
    effected, I have no hesitation in saying that it would be a measure
    of great benefit to the country.

    I have lately heard much general rumour of disinclination on the
    part of certain members of the Cabinet who are not cordial towards
    as, and of Peel's having said that things would not go on well till
    they had got rid of the Grenvilles. This I do not believe, as he is
    much too cautious a man to commit himself by such a speech, but I
    cannot but admit that the coldness and reserve of his manner to me
    make me think that the opinion, though not uttered, is not unlikely
    to be entertained by him. He assures me that he still continues in
    the same complete ignorance as to the persons lately arrested in
    Ireland. The only depositions transmitted are those of persons who
    believe them to be engaged in a traitorous conspiracy for the
    overthrow of the Government; but what the facts against them are,
    whether any papers have been taken, whether any of them have given
    information, and even whether they have been examined before the
    Privy Council, the Lord Lieutenant has not judged it necessary to
    inform him. It is evident things cannot go on in this way, and I do
    not think it unlikely that Peel is lying back in order to make as
    strong a case as he can, before he attacks Lord W----, after which
    he would more easily overturn us.

    The last resolution was, I believe, in favour of the visit to
    Scotland, but not to stir beyond Edinburgh.

    I am very glad that you are satisfied with the alterations in the
    Irish Constables Bill. I think you quite right in your plan of
    writing a letter to Plunket to explain your general views with
    respect to Ireland. He must remember that he is Attorney-General,
    and from his character ought to be House of Commons Minister for
    that country, besides being representative of that shabby body
    called Trinity College. He cannot conceal from himself the
    resolution of the Irish members, and indeed of the House, to force
    the Tithe question, and that the only thing in his power to
    determine is, whether the Government will take the conduct and
    management of the business to themselves or leave it to the
    Opposition.

    I have entered in this letter more fully into our position than I
    otherwise should, as you mention that it will reach you in
    _safety_. I never know exactly how far the post is to be trusted,
    but the time which elapses between putting in the letters and their
    dispatch by the mail is so _very short_, that I think, unless under
    very particular circumstances indeed, there can be little chance of
    private correspondence being violated. I know that it _can_ be
    done, but believe it very seldom is.

    Arbuthnot spoke to Phillimore of the good disposition of Lord
    Liverpool and Londonderry towards us, as in contrast to some other
    members of the Cabinet, and Plunket has evidently taken the same
    opinion.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, July 20, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Before Plunket left town, I had a conversation with him on the
    subject of the Armagh arrest, mentioned in my last, and found him
    very much inclined to fear that it had taken place on insufficient
    evidence, particularly of one individual who represents himself as
    having become a Protestant three or four years ago, but to have
    continued an ostensible Papist for the purpose of penetrating and
    betraying the Catholic plots now carrying on. The arrest was made
    by a Colonel Blacker, one of the most furious Orange agents, and of
    course the trial must take place at Armagh, by a red-hot Orange
    jury, which it may be expected will convict, however slight the
    case may be, and which will not obtain credit for having done
    justice even if the evidence be sufficient.

    It is scarcely possible to make any complaint of Peel's manner, as
    though it is cold and reserved, I should be told that it is such to
    others, and that to notice it would only increase the evil. The
    reports which I mentioned of his conversation, are such as I do not
    myself believe to be true, though they may be founded upon what the
    inventors of them believe and hope to be his ulterior wishes.

    The King is to be attended in Scotland by Peel and Lord Melville,
    but not to pay any visits; he is to be quartered at Dalkeith, and
    his suite in Holyrood House. We are, in consideration of the
    reversal of the Scotch attainders, to signalize his visit, but this
    is all undecided as yet.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, July 23, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have delayed answering your letter for some days, because I
    wished to ascertain the ground, and see how the thing looked before
    you ventured to take any steps with regard to communicating with so
    slippery and uncertain a man as C----. The fact is, you may be
    assured that he has the best disposition to trip these people up,
    but I am persuaded he will not be able to do it; and they are fully
    aware of his designs. My own opinion is, that no overture or
    communication will be had with him--there is no part of the
    Government who wish for his connexion. They find the strength and
    power of Peel have completely answered their purpose, and with more
    popularity and feeling of the House than the other would have done;
    and above all, be assured there is a mortal antipathy against C----
    in the K----. All these circumstances combined would, in my
    judgment, not make it worth your while to attempt any movement
    through him, or to have any communication with him.

    I cannot but think that Wynn is gaining strength in the Cabinet,
    and the best support he has is, in my opinion, Lord Londonderry's,
    which would be totally destroyed by any underhand communication
    with C----; and your seeing him or corresponding with him would
    have that effect. I should, therefore, on the whole, strongly
    advise all abstainment from all connexion with him.

    Things look a great deal better than they did, though the K----, I
    should fear, is not quite in the good humour he was. He dislikes
    the journey to Scotland, and I have no idea why they plagued him to
    take it (which is said to have been the case). The intention is now
    only to stay in Scotland ten days, and visit no one. Peel and Lord
    Melville are the Ministers who attend him. He is to make a public
    entry into Edinburgh, but to live entirely at Dalkeith House.

    I don't know the names of all his retinue in the yacht, but Lord
    Fife is invited to be one of his companions, and goes accordingly.
    The Marchioness of C---- is going to Ireland, by Scotland,
    therefore I should not be surprised if _accident_ brings her to
    Edinburgh, about the same time.

    We shall not adjourn this House till Friday week. I shall get out
    of town on Tuesday, I hope. Everybody but Hume and Bennett are sick
    to death of it, and literally every other Opposition man gone out
    of town.

    I hope your sailing has done you a great deal of good, and that I
    shall have the pleasure of hearing you are quite re-established.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, July 26, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    It was yesterday determined that Lord Londonderry should attend the
    Congress at Vienna, upon which subject _strict secrecy_ was
    recommended; but it was observed that it had on Tuesday night been
    communicated by Lord Francis Conyngham to all the ladies at the
    opera-house.

    We have accounts of the Prince Royal of Portugal having been
    addressed to take on him the title of Perpetual Regent of Brazil,
    to which he graciously consents, provided it shall appear to be the
    will of the people. The probable consequence will be his exclusion
    from the throne of Portugal, which there has been already a strong
    disposition to pronounce.

    The Cortes of Spain, though in possession of full evidence of the
    King and French Minister's share in the late attempt of the Guards
    to effect a counter-revolution, and even of his having placed each
    of his Ministers in separate confinement during the whole of the
    night of the attack, seem to think the time not yet ripe to get rid
    of him, and therefore conceal everything. If they are obliged to
    dispose of him before the country will allow them to proclaim a
    republic, they are many of them disposed to propose a union of the
    Peninsula under the King of Portugal, as the most inefficient
    shadow of royalty that can be set up.

    Bobus Smith the other night proposed a caricature of a private
    conference between Hume and Vansittart as a dialogue of penny-wise
    and pound-foolish.

    I see no reason to doubt Canning's going to India. His writ will, I
    believe, be moved the last day of the session, and as the K---- is
    going for Scotland immediately afterwards, there will be no room
    left for intrigue to avert it. The Duke of Wellington is the only
    one who has appeared to me at all sensible of the loss we shall
    experience in him, and he speaks of him as being nearly useless out
    of the walls of the House.


The town was startled in the month of August by a terrible incident.
The Marquis of Londonderry, on the 12th of the month, terminated his
existence by his own hand, at one of his residences, North Cray Farm,
near Bexley, Kent, in the fifty-third year of his age. The elevated
position he had filled for many years in the Government of this great
empire, had made him a prominent mark for the malicious shafts of those
who had, or fancied they had, an interest in opposing his policy.
During his long and most honourable career, no statesman had
accomplished such a series of important services. The Legislative Union
of Great Britain and Ireland, had it been suffered to bear the fruit
which only came to perfection thirty years later, was a measure of such
vital importance to the State, that its successful settlement under the
extraordinary circumstances which attended its discussion, entitled him
to rank with the ablest ministers of his time; but eminently sagacious
and beneficial as was this measure, it was thrown into the shade by the
success of subsequent calculations of Lord Castlereagh, first as
Secretary-at-War, and then as Foreign Secretary, which effected the
overthrow of that brilliant genius by whom his country had so long been
menaced. These services appear to have called into existence hosts of
political enemies, imbued with the vindictive spirit that prevailed at
this period, from whose attacks he was rarely free. They included in
their ranks many of a younger generation of adventurers--quite as
depreciatory in their opinions, if not as malicious--who regarded his
downfall as affording an opening in the direction of place and power.
Nothing could exceed the manliness of his bearing in the unequal
conflict in which every session he found himself engaged, unless it is
to be looked for in the inexhaustible amiability that characterized his
relations with the most implacable of his foes. It is, however, evident
that as his health began to fail from the long course of exhausting
labours which his office imposed upon him, he became more sensitive to
such provocations, and though he carefully concealed it from outward
view, an increasing irritability affected his whole nervous system.

The melancholy result, though unfortunately too easily explained,
excited reports as ingenious as malevolent, to account for its
suddenness, but like the injustice to his memory he has received from
rivals or successors, who sought to raise a reputation by advocating an
adverse policy, they had but a brief existence. As a statesman, as a
gentleman, as a man, the Marquis of Londonderry was the Bayard of
political chivalry, _sans peur et sans reproche_, and it reflects
no slight disgrace on this monument-rearing age, that neither in the
land of his nativity nor in that of his adoption has any memorial been
raised worthy of his fame.

The characters of few public men have been so unfairly treated; his
political opponents, numbering among them many writers of great ability
and influence, have allowed their judgments to be warped by party
animosity, and have descended to misrepresentation to an extent truly
pitiable. Thus his countrymen have received impressions of his policy
and administrative capacity during his long and arduous career, totally
at variance with the truth.[88] One writer of eminence has, however,
recently stepped forward to uphold his fame with emphatic earnestness,
and we make no apology for inserting here his estimate of this
distinguished and much-maligned statesman:

      [88] His best advocate will be found in "The Castlereagh
      Despatches," in twelve volumes, edited by his brother, the late
      Marquis.

"His whole life was a continual struggle with the majority of his own
or foreign lands: he combated to subdue or to bless them. He began his
career by strenuous efforts to effect the Irish Union, and rescue his
native country from the incapable Legislature by which its energies had
so long been repressed. His mature strength was exerted in a long and
desperate conflict with the despotism of revolutionary France, which
his firmness as much as the arm of Wellington brought to a triumphant
issue; his latter days in a ceaseless conflict with the revolutionary
spirit in his own country, and an anxious effort to uphold the dignity
of Great Britain and the independence of lesser States abroad. The
uncompromising antagonist of Radicalism at home, he was at the same
time the resolute opponent of despotism abroad. If Poland retained
after the overthrow of Napoleon any remnant of nationality, it was
owing to his persevering and almost unaided efforts, and at the very
time when the savage wretches who raised a shout at his funeral were
rejoicing at his death, he had been preparing to assert at Verona, as
he had done to the Congresses of Laybach and Troppau, the independent
action of Great Britain, and her non-accordance in the policy of the
Continental sovereigns against the efforts of human freedom.

"His policy in domestic affairs was marked by the same far-seeing
wisdom, the same intrepid resistance to the blindness of present
clamour. He made the most strenuous efforts to uphold the Sinking
Fund--that noble monument of Mr. Pitt's patriotic foresight; had those
efforts been successful, the whole National Debt would have been paid
off by the year 1845, and the nation _for ever_ have been freed from
the payment of thirty millions a-year for its interest. He resisted
with a firm hand, and at the expense of present popularity with the
multitude, the efforts of faction during the seven trying years which
followed the close of the war, and bequeathed the constitution, after a
season of peculiar danger, unshaken to his successors. The firm friend
of freedom, he was on that very account the resolute opponent of
democracy, the insidious enemy which, under the guise of a friend, has
in every age blasted its progress and destroyed its substance.
Discerning the principal cause of the distress which had occasioned
these convulsions, his last act was one that bequeathed to his country
a currency adequate to its necessities, and which he alone of his
Cabinet had the honesty to admit was a departure from former error.
Elegant and courteous in his manners, with a noble figure and finely
chiselled countenance, he was beloved in his family circle and by all
his friends, not less than respected by the wide circle of sovereigns
and statesmen with whom he had so worthily upheld the honour and
dignity of England."[89]

      [89] Alison's "History of Europe," vol. ii. p. 526.

Lord Londonderry's colleagues entertained a similar opinion:--"Our own
country and Europe," writes one of the most sagacious of them, "have
suffered a loss, in my opinion irreparable. I had a great affection for
him, and he deserved it from me, for to me he showed an uniform
kindness, of which no other colleague's conduct furnished an
example."[90]

      [90] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 73.

The King had proceeded a few days before, on a visit to his Scottish
dominions, and the startling news reached him soon after the _Royal
George_ had dropped her anchor at the termination of the voyage. His
Majesty, fully impressed with the irreparable nature of his loss,
hastily wrote to the most influential members of the Cabinet, to
deprecate any hasty arrangement. We quote the following:--


    THE KING TO LORD ELDON.

    Royal George Yacht, Leith Roads,
    Aug. 15th, half-past eight P.M., 1822.

    MY DEAR FRIEND,

    I have this moment heard from Liverpool of the melancholy death of
    his and my dear friend, poor Londonderry. On Friday was the last
    time I saw him; my own mind was then filled with apprehensions
    respecting him, and they have, alas! been but too painfully
    verified. My great object, my good friend, in writing to you
    to-night, is to tell you that I have written to Liverpool, and I do
    implore you not _to lend yourself_ to any arrangement _whatever_,
    until my return to town. This, indeed, is Lord Liverpool's own
    proposal, and as you may suppose, I have joined _most cordially_ in
    the proposition. It will require the _most prudent foresight_ on my
    part, relative to the new arrangements that must now necessarily
    take place. You may easily judge of the state of my mind.

    Ever, believe me,

    Your sincere Friend,

    G. R.


The King's intention to visit the northern portion of his kingdom, made
there as great a stir as had been created by his previous one to
Ireland. Sir Walter Scott was at the time in Edinburgh, and took a
prominent part in the preparations that were making in the Scottish
capital to receive its Sovereign, and on the royal yacht coming to
anchor in Leith Roads, he was the first Scotsman to venture on board,
on a very rainy day (August 15th), to present his Majesty with a St.
Andrew's Cross in silver, from the ladies of "Auld Reekie." The King,
much gratified, invited the novelist to drink his health in a bumper of
whisky, which having done, the latter requested permission to keep the
glass as a relic to hand down to his posterity. This having graciously
been granted, he put it very carefully in his pocket, and took his
leave. On returning home, he found Crabbe the poet, who had just
arrived from his English home, to pay a long promised visit; and Sir
Walter was so earnest in welcoming his guest, that the precious relic
was forgotten, till sitting down suddenly he crushed it to atoms, not
without inflicting on himself a severe scratch from the sharp
fragments.[91]

      [91] Lockhart's "Life," vol. v. p. 195.

The King delighted his Scottish subjects by wearing the Highland garb,
in which he was very carefully dressed by the Laird of Garth, but the
pride of the Macgregors and Glengarries who thronged around the royal
person, suffered a serious blow when a London alderman entered the
circle clothed in a suit of the same tartan. The portly figure and
civic dignity of Sir William Curtis gave to the costume too much the
appearance of a burlesque to pass unnoticed either by the Sovereign or
his loyal admirers, and it was some time before they recovered their
gravity. On the 24th, the magistrates of "the gude town" entertained
the King with a banquet in the Parliament House, in the course of which
his Majesty gave as a toast, "The Chieftains and Clans of Scotland, and
prosperity to the Land of Cakes." The King did not quit his Scottish
dominions till the 29th, when he embarked from Lord Hopetoun's seat on
the Firth of Forth, previously directing a letter to be written to Sir
Walter Scott by Sir Robert Peel, expressing his warm personal
acknowledgments for the deep interest he had taken in every ceremony
and arrangement connected with his Majesty's visit.[92]

      [92] Lockhart's "Life," vol. v. p. 215.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Friday.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I have only time to write one hurried line to say that I am in
    town, but know nothing. Lord Liverpool very cast down, and
    depressed in the extreme. No arrangement or preparatory discussion
    to take place till after the King's return, and till we are
    collected from the different quarters in which we are at present
    scattered. The Duke of Wellington is expected back to-night or
    to-morrow, and is immediately to be dispatched with the
    instructions which had been prepared for Lord Londonderry, to
    Vienna.

    I think that though nothing can absolutely be determined in the
    absence of Peel, Lord Harrowby, and Lord Melville, there still must
    be something substantially understood before the Duke will turn his
    back on England, and this something _must_, I am convinced, be
    Canning. What other changes may take place cannot yet be foreseen,
    but from a word which Lord Liverpool dropped, I think he
    anticipates more than simply a new Secretary.

    The funeral takes place on Tuesday, by Lady Londonderry's
    particular desire, in the Abbey!!! I think it most unwise to run
    the chance of the insults of a London mob on such an occasion.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, Aug. 20, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I came to town last night for the funeral, and am returning this
    instant. I find Wynn has written to you, and I hope you will go to
    him at Broadstairs; he is _quite satisfied_ with the prospect,
    though of course nothing is or can be arranged till the King's
    return. I was at Dropmore; your uncles both think it would be worse
    than nothing to attempt a Government without Canning, and such
    seems to be the opinion of everybody, such was the language of
    _all_ the official men this morning. But after all, I fear we shall
    not, even with Canning and Peel, and even Grant in addition, be
    altogether so well off as with Londonderry. His rank, his long
    standing, the sort of authority and power he possessed, all
    contributed to his advantage and that of the Government.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Aug. 20, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The formal determination transmitted to the King is, that there
    shall be not only no arrangement but no discussion till his return.
    Tho real effect of which is only to enable Lord Liverpool to lock
    himself up, and decline talking to those whom he wishes to avoid,
    among whom I must reckon myself. I have, however, seen the Duke of
    Wellington and Frederick Robinson, and had much conversation with
    both of them, and the result of the whole is very satisfactory to
    me so far as it goes. Neither of them seems to anticipate the
    possibility of any other arrangement, but that of Canning
    succeeding to the lead of the House of Commons, and the Duke of
    Wellington expressed much anxiety that he should also succeed to
    the vacant seals.

    He showed me, however, the King's letter, which seems distantly to
    allude to objection to Canning for that particular department.
    This, however, he thinks, can be overcome, and I am therefore the
    more pleased that he remains till after the King's return, instead
    of proceeding immediately to Vienna. I should I believe myself, if
    Canning could be induced to accept the Exchequer (which at one time
    he certainly was ready to have done), with the lead of the House of
    Commons, like to transport Nic Van to India, send Lord Bathurst to
    the Foreign Department, Robinson to the Colonial, and Huskisson to
    the Board of Trade.

    The strongest proof to me of the universal impression of the
    necessity of consigning the lead of the House of Commons to
    Canning, and that the No Popery party will not venture to propose
    Peel, was, that I found Westmoreland, with whom I was associated in
    the funeral this morning, quite of that opinion. Now, if the
    Chancellor were intriguing for Peel, would he not have secured
    Westmoreland.

    I concur very much in your view of the impropriety of remaining in
    an Administration, _both_ the leaders of which are the most decided
    opponents of the Catholic question, and intimated as much to
    Robinson, who appeared to feel the similarity of his own situation.
    I have had much conversation also with an intimate personal friend
    of Peel's, whose opinion it was that Peel would be by no means
    desirous of undertaking the lead, as independent of other
    objections, his health was not sufficiently strong to admit of his
    assuming functions so laborious and incessant.

    The King has mentioned his intention of leaving Edinburgh as on
    Saturday next. Poor Liverpool's bridal ideas have been quite driven
    out of his head, and I do not yet hear of a fresh day for
    consummation being fixed. I am very sorry for the public effect of
    the visit to Bowood at this time, but it had been fixed I believe
    before Lord Londonderry's death, and Lord G---- does not feel any
    necessity of extending to Opposition any of that coyness he shows
    towards Government. Both my uncles are fully satisfied of the
    absolute necessity of Canning's leading the House of Commons, and
    probably the more so from his having lately paid a visit of two
    days to Dropmore.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, Aug. 21, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have received your letter, which, according to your permission, I
    have communicated to Lord Liverpool. When the deplorable event
    occurred which gave reason for your writing it, Lord Liverpool
    requested the King not to consider of the measures to be adopted to
    fill the situation in H. M.'s Councils which had been held by Lord
    Londonderry, till H. M. should return to London, and he assured the
    King that he likewise on his part would take no step whatever on
    the subject till he should have the honour of seeing his Majesty.
    This matter then stands exactly as it did on the day of the fatal
    catastrophe, and so will remain till the King's return.

    Lord Liverpool is very anxious that your Grace, and those who wish
    well to the Government, should take no step and make no declaration
    previously to his Majesty's return, which might embarrass the
    Government or themselves. He hopes that you will so far confide in
    him as to be certain that he will do what he ought upon this
    occasion, and you may rely upon his taking the earliest opportunity
    of making you acquainted with the steps which he will have taken.

    Believe me, my dear Duke,

    With the most sincere respect and affection,

    Ever yours most faithfully,

    WELLINGTON.


    THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, K.G., TO THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I beg that you will assure Lord Liverpool that nothing could be
    further from my intention or my wishes, than to hasten forward any
    discussion or precipitate any decision respecting the steps to be
    taken to complete and strengthen the Government under existing
    circumstances: on the contrary, no one is more convinced than I am
    of the absolute necessity of the Government having most mature
    deliberation on this very momentous question. For this very reason
    I thought it due to Lord Liverpool that he should at as early a
    moment as possible be put in possession of the sentiments and
    feelings of those connected with his Government, provided you
    thought mine of sufficient importance to be transmitted to him.

    Believe me always yours sincerely,

    B. C.


Of Canning at this period one of his intimate friends thus
speaks:--"Great as his talents for Parliament are, and great as is the
want of them on the Ministerial side of the House, it is not without
the utmost reluctance that the rest of the Cabinet will consent to
receive him as an associate. If they make him any proposal, it will be
only because they are forced to it by the opinion and wishes of their
own friends, and if they make him a _fair_ proposal, it will be a clear
proof that they think that the Government cannot go on without his
aid."[93]

      [93] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p. 351.

A little later we learn from the same authority: "The delay that has
taken place in filling up the very important station that was held by
Lord Londonderry is itself a pretty good proof of the embarrassment of
the King and his Ministers. Canning will be a bitter pill to them, and
yet I am more inclined than I was at first to think that they will
swallow it. I give Canning full credit for what he declared at
Liverpool, that he _knew nothing_; and yet without imputing to him any
Jesuitical reservation, I consider his speech to be that of a man who
thought that he was more likely to come in than not."[94]

      [94] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p. 356.

Canning knew well enough that he had only to wait, and the necessities
of the Government, notwithstanding the aversion of the majority, would
force him into the position his great rival had left vacant. Many
persons of influence shared in this conviction, and though far from
cordial in their admiration for this political leader, they were eager
to adopt him as their colleague or superior, seeing no other assistance
at hand so capable of advancing their particular policy.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Broadstairs, Aug. 24, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    My letter of yesterday will have sufficiently put you in possession
    of my opinion, that although I agreed in the principle of your
    letter, yet the addressing it under the present circumstances to
    the D---- of W----, and through him to Lord Liverpool, was
    premature. They seem to have thought the same, though I wish they
    had expressed it in a manner less unambiguous.

    It is difficult to make up one's mind whether it would, on the
    whole, be more desirable to see Canning at the Exchequer or in the
    Foreign Office. I rather believe that by Huskisson's assistance he
    would discharge the duties of the former office better than the
    latter, to which the disinclination of Carlton House and the very
    unconciliating style of correspondence in which he indulges himself
    (and of which the records of the Board of Control have shown me
    some specimens) are great objections. If, indeed, the arrangement
    which I chalked out in a former letter for the promotion of Lord
    Bathurst, Robinson, Huskisson, and either W. Lambe or C. Grant,
    could take place, I should have no doubt that it would be best to
    give Canning the Exchequer. But if the result should be, as many
    anticipate, to consign the Foreign Seals to your friend the D----
    of W----, it is not easy to decide whether the inconvenience of
    that appointment would not counterbalance the benefit of removing
    Van.

    From being in the first coach, I could see little of the behaviour
    of the mob at the funeral, but all that I saw or heard was
    perfectly proper till the moment of the removal of the _coffin_
    from the hearse to enter the Abbey, when a Radical yell was set up
    from St. Margaret's churchyard.

    Lady Londonderry's wish that he should be interred in Westminster
    Abbey, and with the pomp of a private funeral, seems to me
    extraordinary, and under the unfortunate circumstances of his
    death, very ill-judged. I had myself proposed, in order to obviate
    the possibility of any expression of hostile or disrespectful
    feeling, that the body should at once have been brought on the
    preceding night to the Jerusalem Chamber, instead of to his house
    in St. James's-square, and that the procession should be formed
    from thence on foot.

    Sunday, 25th.

    A letter from town this morning tells me that the King is not to
    leave Edinburgh till the 28th, which will of course extend my stay
    at this place. Everything leads me to believe that the discussion
    will rather turn on the particular official situation to be held by
    Canning, than on the vesting in him the lead of the House of
    Commons, the necessity of which seems to be so generally and
    strongly felt, that opposition to it must be ineffectual. At the
    same time nothing is yet known of Peel's sentiments, and there will
    not be wanting those among his friends who will urge him to refuse
    serving _under_ Canning.

    Have you any ground for mentioning Harrowby as a decided opponent
    of C----'s admission? I should have thought that agreement on the
    Catholic question would have reconciled him to it.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, Sept 3, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    My principal reason for doubting the expediency of your step was,
    that if, as I believed, the view which you yourself took was also
    entertained by those to whom you addressed it, the declaration
    which it contained might have been reserved, to be afterwards
    brought forward in support of them, when it might be better applied
    to the existing circumstances. My own inclination is to consider
    the offer of the lead to Canning as indispensable, and that no
    other proposition should be offered as an alternative. Yet, did he
    or any one else ever give a proof of worse judgment than his speech
    at Liverpool, in which he recommends a compromise, and that the
    question should be allowed to rest after "_perhaps_" one more
    general discussion? Admitting that the advice might be good if
    addressed to the Catholics, his bringing it into his Liverpool
    speech at the present moment is just the way to defeat his object,
    and to persuade the Catholics that he is ready to sacrifice them to
    his own objects of ambition.

    Matters are but little advanced, that is to say, that Lord L----
    has laid the proposition of an application to Canning before the
    K---- this morning, and desired him to take till Thursday to
    consider it, and to consult any others of his servants. This makes
    me feel strong hope that none of them have decidedly opposed it.
    Repugnance was expressed, but I see that L----[95] as well as
    W----[96] thinks that it will finally succeed. To-morrow we are to
    have a Cabinet, which, but for the delight of procrastinating
    everything, might just as well have been held yesterday or on
    Sunday.

    L---- distinctly stated to me, that he felt that the country could
    not be satisfied unless a proposal were made to Canning, but
    referred to the possibility of his insisting on unreasonable
    conditions. Should this be the case, I can only say _alors comme
    alors_, and that the course to be pursued must depend on the
    peculiar circumstances which one cannot anticipate.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [95] Lord Liverpool.

      [96] The Duke of Wellington.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept. 8, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Having had nothing to communicate I have not written to you; indeed
    now there seems nothing to discuss till you know the terms on which
    Canning is to come in; I have no doubt the offer is, the
    Chancellorship of the Exchequer and lead of the House of Commons,
    and Cabinet for Huskisson or any one other friend. Whether he will
    think this enough I doubt; I am rather confident from what I have
    heard, that he will not surrender the foreign seals to anybody but
    the Duke of Wellington. I have no doubt they are intended for Lord
    Bathurst. He must feel and know we cannot do without him, and
    having so good a thing in his present possession, he will of course
    not accept office but in such a way as shall fully meet his wishes.
    The King sent for the Duke of York, who, with the Chancellor, will,
    I am sure, throw every difficulty in the way, though they must know
    that nothing but his connexion can save and support the Government.
    The arrangement of getting rid of _Van_ would certainly be the most
    eligible and satisfactory to the public that could be adopted. The
    Duke of Wellington has been seriously ill, but is now better.
    Whether this will impede his expedition to Vienna I know not, but
    should not think it would. The King is most delighted with his
    expedition to Scotland, preferring it infinitely to his Irish
    jaunt; this will not please _Paddy_.

    I should be delighted to hear that Nugent got Ireland, but I am
    sure his rank is now too high, the station has been lowered to a
    _commanding_ officer only, and a full General's staff is not
    allowed. The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester are come to Bagshot;
    they seem to think the _Regnante_ is losing ground; I don't believe
    one word of it, indeed I am quite sure of the reverse.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Sept. 10, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    A communication to Canning was authorized on Sunday, and he may be
    expected in town I believe to-night. The proposal is to succeed
    Lord Londonderry in all respects, and there I fear it stops, and
    that there will be resistance to the stipulation which will
    probably be pressed for Huskisson's promotion.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept. 12, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I find the offer is made to Canning for the full succession to Lord
    Londonderry in his office, and leader of the House of Commons;
    this, as far as it goes, is a measure that will strengthen the
    Government, but I was in hopes it would be followed up by the
    resignation of _Van_; however, if it should not now happen, the
    thing must ere long--it is not likely that Canning will do his
    business in the House of Commons as Londonderry did, and even if he
    were so inclined, I should think that Van with a grain of spirit
    would not allow him to do so. It will be curious to see how the
    Chancellor reconciles himself to his quondam associate, after the
    last speech of Canning. I am told it has been the most bitter pill
    for the K---- to swallow, and nothing but necessity has induced
    him. I have no idea that Canning can refuse such a proposal; he can
    never have a greater situation, for in fact he becomes at once the
    chief of the Government. Surely Van could be tempted by India, he
    would make an excellent Governor-General, and Robinson or Grant a
    much better Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Canning is just sworn in. The language of Lord Liverpool and others
    is that the consideration of any other changes is postponed, and
    that it was particularly desirable that Canning's appointment
    should not be clogged by any other discussion. The Chancellor did
    not attend the Council to-day--indeed, we had only Liverpool, Van,
    Lord Bathurst, Westmoreland, Robinson, Canning, and myself, all the
    rest being out of town.

    Melville will have the offer of India if he wishes it, but he has
    before refused it when pressed, and if otherwise disposed at
    present, would hardly have started back for Scotland the moment
    Canning notified his acceptance. However, till he sends his answer,
    nothing further will be done, and by that time, if the Speaker
    wishes it, he will probably make it known.

    I do not, however, hear anything of the Chancellor's resignation,
    but everything points, I trust, to Van. Lord Redesdale is quite
    superannuated, and nothing would seem to me so impossible as his
    appointment.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, Sept. 14, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You will be anxious to learn the result of the discussions with Mr.
    Canning, and I have great pleasure in informing you that he has
    accepted the Foreign Office, and is to lead in the House of
    Commons.

    This was settled yesterday, but as I have been confined to my
    house, I did not hear it till it was too late to write to you by
    last night's post.

    I hope to be able to set out for Vienna on Monday.

    Believe me, my dear Duke,

    Ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


"The bitter pill" was at last swallowed by the King, and despite of
both open and concealed hostility from persons of influence very near
the Royal person, Mr. Canning filled the important position in the
Cabinet left vacant by the late Marquis of Londonderry. The reader will
presently see how soon he won powerful friends at Court; but superior
as he may have been in some things, his subsequent career shows--what
indeed his previous political life prominently indicates--that there
were other qualifications, less brilliant but more useful, possessed in
an eminent degree by his predecessor, in which he was singularly
deficient.




CHAPTER X.

[1822.]

MR. CANNING AGAIN IN THE CABINET. RUMOURED MINISTERIAL ARRANGEMENTS.
MR. CANNING OFFERS MR. WILLIAMS WYNN THE SPEAKERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS. A POLITICAL RUSE. THE KING AT WINDSOR. THE SPEAKER. FOREIGN
AFFAIRS. PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS OF VERONA RESPECTING SPAIN. MR.
HENRY WILLIAMS WYNN'S PROPOSED DIPLOMATIC CHANGE. MR. CANNING'S
UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE. CONDITION OF IRELAND. M. VILLELE.




CHAPTER X.


The addition of Mr. Canning to the Government was regarded with
different sentiments when looked at from different points of view. His
brilliant talents and great popularity were recognised advantages, but
then the necessity by which he might consider himself bound to put
forward an original policy, made reflecting politicians regard his
appointment with distrust. He appears to have exhibited a wish to serve
some members of the Grenville family, though not in the required
direction. Mr. Charles Williams Wynn was ambitious of filling the
distant but lucrative post to which the new Foreign Secretary had been
appointed before Lord Londonderry's death, but Mr. Canning suggested a
position scarcely less honourable at home. How these and other
negotiations proceeded, may be learnt from the following letters:--


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept 19, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Charles Wynn, I am told by my servant, called on me here yesterday,
    and was anxious to see me. Probably it was to communicate some
    change or probable change. I should be very happy to hear that he
    got India, if he wishes it; the situation to a younger brother with
    a family, is undoubtedly most valuable, and at his age would be a
    most flattering station. I doubt greatly, however, his success, for
    I am thoroughly aware that the Directors hated our appointment at
    the Board, and I see no reason to imagine that the President or the
    Board have made themselves more popular with them. I do not say the
    contrary, but there has been no opportunity, and the little
    discussions which have taken place have been rather of a
    controversial nature. Lord Maryborough wants it, but I think won't
    succeed: Lord Melville, I am _almost certain_, will not take it.
    Vansittart would be the best appointment (supposing Charles Wynn
    can't succeed), and by this means we should get rid of a great
    encumbrance to the Government. I understand Lord Liverpool will
    _not_ have Huskisson, and the King does not approve of his being
    in the Cabinet; but this, however, would be easily got over by
    making Robinson or Grant Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Huskisson
    Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy. The King comes to the
    Cottage on Saturday, and has at present determined to stay five
    weeks. The Regnante comes also.

    Ever faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.

    Lord Harrowby is the candidate for the Garter, which, if he don't
    get, I think will drive him from the Government. This would be the
    best opening for you, if the Admiralty or Ireland does not offer.
    Lord Hertford and the Duke of Portland are also talked of for the
    Garter.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Sept. 23.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I am, I think, at length perfectly _au fait_ of the arrangement
    which is desired, and the motive for proposing it. Canning is most
    anxious, by any means, to procure my resignation of my present
    appointment, in order that it may fall to Huskisson, who
    particularly desires it. Last night I received the enclosed from
    C----, together with the letter from Lord G----, which I also send
    to you,[97] and this morning met L---- and C---- accordingly. The
    former told us that he had, as he anticipated, received a decided
    refusal from Scotland, and we then entered on the discussion of the
    different candidates. C---- said that in his conversation with the
    Directors, when he informed them of his resignation, he found that
    their first preference would be for Lord Melville; 2ndly, very
    strongly in favour of Lord W. B----;[98] 3rdly, Lord Amherst; that
    if none of these were offered to them they would accept the
    Speaker, but that it was clear that no other candidate would go
    down without a considerable struggle. I expressed my own opinion of
    the insufficiency of the Speaker for a post of so much importance,
    and my fear that a man naturally indolent, would in so indolent a
    climate be wholly inefficient, and rather recommended Lord W.
    B----. C----, in reply, dwelt not on Sutton's fitness for India,
    but his unfitness for the Chair. Perceiving his drift, I suggested
    the possibility for replacing him there by William Courtenay, but
    C---- immediately said, that unless it would lead to my accepting
    the Chair, he did not think that there was any reason to make it
    worth while to remove S----. I adverted to some of the reasons,
    which we have already talked over, which indisposed me to the
    change, and they then desired me to take a week to consider the
    subject, and if I liked it to talk to Lord Grenville after his
    return from Elton.

    I hear from other quarters, that there is a strong party among the
    Directors disposed to object to me if I am proposed for India. It
    is, indeed, possible that if I held that out as the only condition
    upon which I would give up this office, Canning might, by the
    exertion of his personal influence among them, carry the question;
    but I doubt much whether, even supposing I was more anxious to
    obtain it than I am, it would be creditable to me or to any
    President of the Board of Control, to have his nomination the
    subject of a struggle, which, if it should succeed on the part of
    the Directors, and he should continue in office, must render all
    future intercourse acrimonious and unconciliating.

      [97] The enclosures have not been preserved.

      [98] Lord William Bentinck.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Sept. 26, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The communication you have made to me is not a matter of surprise,
    for I own I expected this would be the result. The proposition,
    however, being now made by one Cabinet Minister to Lord Grenville,
    and communicated by another to you, see how I should stand
    committed if I were to meddle with it by asking an interview with
    Lord Liverpool. In the former case Lord Liverpool opened the
    proposition to me, and it was my duty to lay it before you, even
    before I spoke to Lord Grenville; but in this case Wynn has
    informed you of it, and he would have a right to demand why I
    presumed to communicate at all with Lord Liverpool without his
    authority or permission, on a subject so deeply involving his
    interests and wishes. By his communication to you, he has entitled
    you to write to Lord Liverpool, as you have done to Canning,
    expressly stating your views and feelings on the subject; and I am
    witness that a station in the Government was undoubtedly one of the
    primary objects of your contemplation in the former negotiation. I
    have no doubt that if I were to see Lord Liverpool, even under your
    authority, he would treat it as a Cabinet question, and refuse to
    enter into any discussion with me upon it, but I am quite sure I
    could not discuss it without touching upon the views and objects of
    Charles Wynn in a way that might offend him; it is an object of
    such moment and importance to him, that I cannot be surprised that
    he receives it so favourably. I heard from him the moment he came
    to town, telling me he was quite sure the Directors would not
    nominate him, but he says nothing of the new proposal, and probably
    it had not then been made, or if so, he did not choose to confide
    it to me. With regard to the advantages the Government derived from
    his efforts as a speaker on the Treasury Bench during last session,
    it must be obvious to you as it was to him, that he failed
    altogether. The difference which you point out, as to the effect
    this change would have on the Catholic question, may to a certain
    degree be past, but still I think, _as a Speaker_, his influence
    would have much more weight than even if he remained in Cabinet.
    The question is also one which materially affects Lord Grenville's
    support of the Government; and Canning, Lord Liverpool, and Wynn
    are now evidently treating with a view of connecting your uncles
    more closely with them; also you must consider that Plunket, who is
    also the organ of your party, still commands this question.

    I know you will say, and feel naturally, that these considerations
    have nothing to do with your personal objects, and the claim which
    you have to Cabinet; but on the other hand the Government will feel
    that if they can more strongly and generally unite your family
    interests with theirs, it is the best course they can pursue. I
    cannot think that the public would view this transfer of Cabinet to
    the Chair as a sale of your support, originally contemplated, for
    this distinct object and your Dukedom; nobody could have calculated
    on anything occurring which would induce Manners Sutton to quit the
    Chair, and surely there is no trafficking on your part or that of
    your family for the object; the proposition comes to you, and is
    always to be so stated and avowed. I take it for granted the
    difficulty is opening a Cabinet office; Lord Wellesley could not be
    removed without disgracing him, unless he applies for recall, and I
    should presume Lord Harrowby has no disposition to retire.

    I see how very difficult your situation is, for in resisting this
    arrangement you bar the anxious wishes and hopes of Charles Wynn,
    and in giving way to it you for a time put by your claim, but at
    the same time it is but for a time, for it makes it stronger
    whenever the vacancy occurs. I cannot, however, concur in thinking
    the public would condemn you, or think it was an excess _of job_ if
    the proposition is acceded to, for it must always be Canning's
    _job_, and not yours. I trust you will give me credit for the
    motives which I have placed before you, as inclining me to hesitate
    in writing to Lord Liverpool; I really hope on reflection you will
    see them in the same point of view.

    Believe me ever, my dear Duke,

    With sincere attachment and affection,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Sept. 26, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Enclosed I send you a letter which I yesterday received from Lord
    G----, together with the draft of my answer,[99] in which I have
    expressed myself fully. You will see that I had anticipated a part
    of your feelings upon the proposed plan, though I speak of them as
    likely to arise hereafter instead of at present. What has most
    struck me in all that has passed, is the manner in which Canning
    has assumed to himself, even in the presence of Lord Liverpool, the
    tone and authority of Premier.

    You will see I mention in my letter to Lord G---- my opinion of the
    manner in which he has put off seeing me as a mark of
    disinclination. On Monday, the business was scarcely commenced when
    he expressed his wish to discuss foreign business with Lord L----
    before he left town, in order to get rid of me. Knowing that the
    latter was not to return to town during the week, I expressed my
    wish for further discussion with C----, and asked him when he could
    see me. He said Tuesday was foreign post day, Wednesday he had
    several appointments, and then named to-day. Yesterday I had a note
    from him that he wished to shut himself up to-day, and to-morrow to
    write to the Duke of Wellington, and naming Saturday. Now,
    considering that we have as yet had no discussion whatever on the
    general state of things, I think this is, to say the best,
    unconciliating conduct. Still, on Saturday I will endeavour either
    to lead or to force him upon different subjects, and particularly
    on the Catholic question, which will naturally arise out of your
    letter. His want of judgment is such, that I really think it is an
    even chance that in the first session he gets into some difficulty
    from which he cannot extricate himself, and in which his friends
    will delight to leave him. If he survives that, I expect him to
    govern the House with a rod of iron, and fix his power absolutely.
    He seems to me fully aware of the weakness of character he has to
    deal with, and that the assumption of power will probably confer
    it. I am to see the Chairman of the E.I.C. alone to-morrow, and
    probably shall from him learn more of the feelings of the Directors
    than C---- has communicated to me.

    Ever most truly yours,

    C. W. W.

      [99] Enclosures not preserved.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Sept 28, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I read part of your letter to C---- to-day, but did not show it to
    him, as there were parts of it which I thought referred rather too
    much to topics which are private to ourselves, and my uncle Tom had
    particularly entered his _veto_ against communicating the reference
    to his letter. I saw it discomposed him extremely, and he agreed
    that it would be necessary for me to see Lord Liverpool and talk
    the matter over with him before it goes any further. He told me
    that previous to making this proposal, he had ascertained that the
    Directors would not be disposed to send me to India, and that their
    motive to accept the Speaker would only be with the view of making
    room here for Huskisson. That he had originally determined before
    he came to town to have stipulated for the promotion of Huskisson
    before he made himself "the immense sacrifice he did in accepting
    office," but that the concurrent opinion of his friends had
    deterred him from this, and that he was most especially moved to it
    by your letter to Lord Morley, which had peculiar weight with him,
    and that now, standing as he did single in the Cabinet, he felt
    that he was entitled to have every facility afforded him for that
    purpose, or that it might still be necessary for him to retire.

    I have written to Lord L---- to offer to go down to Combe Wood
    to-morrow, as I am sure it is desirable to bring the matter to an
    upshot one way or the other. My uncle Tom comes up to town, and
    dines with me to-day. I must own it appears to me that C---- has
    completely _got round_ both him and Lord G----. They are astonished
    that I can think he shows disinclination to me personally, &c. &c.
    I must say that I think your view of the question is a fit one, and
    such as you are thoroughly entitled to take, and have only to beg
    earnestly that no consideration of my interests may induce you to
    depart from what you feel to be due to yourself and your own
    consistency.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, Oct. 3, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Having learnt from Charles that you have expressed to him some
    uneasiness at not hearing from me in reference to the discussions
    which have, as he tells me, been going on between you and the
    Government upon the proposal of his taking the Chair, I do not
    hesitate to assure you that no man living can take a more cordial
    and affectionate interest than I do in everything which regards
    your happiness and gratifications, public and private, and that
    whatever could be done, on my very limited scale, that could in the
    least degree contribute to any of those objects, I should do with
    all the kind and ready feelings of warm and sincere affection. From
    political discussions, however, I have, as you know, entirely
    withdrawn myself for a very long time past, and the very little
    share which I took in the discussion respecting yourself and
    Charles, at the beginning of last winter, convinced me how much
    pain to myself and how little advantage to you, must arise from my
    renewing them. In truth, I am much too antiquated to enter into the
    councils of a mind as ardent as yours, and much too little
    conversant with the politics of these times to be a useful or safe
    adviser. I have the more readily adopted this negative course from
    the persuasion that you, who are in the prime of life for business,
    with more than forty years over your head, with good talents, and
    with no little experience of men and manners, are a much more
    reasonable judge of what is fit for you to do or not to do, than
    any other man can be for you. Who is there that can sufficiently
    adopt the thoughts and feelings and taste of another, to decide for
    him what is best for his own happiness? Why should it be required
    that I, who have one foot in the grave, should see the objects of
    public life or the means of attaining them, in the same points of
    view with yourself, who are in the prime of active life, and
    ardently alive to all those pursuits which are flat and
    unprofitable to my antiquated eyes? It is perhaps not unreasonable
    in me, who see you one of the first men in the country, with a
    Dukedom and the Garter, and having already all that the Crown can
    give, to consider you as standing upon very elevated ground, and as
    being one who ought not easily to be persuaded by any Government to
    accept of any office from them. On the other hand, it is quite
    natural for you or any man who has the ambition to be decidedly the
    one first man in the country, to take the course which in your
    judgment leads most directly to the object of your wishes; but how
    can I advise in this, who do not start from the same post or look
    towards the same goal? I am prouder, it seems, for you than you are
    for yourself, and while you seem anxious to establish a claim for
    office in the present Government, I am too proud to see you as that
    claimant, or to agree that any consideration should induce you to
    take official share in this Government, unless it were for the
    single act of dispensing to Ireland the blessing of Catholic
    emancipation? This different view of your situation from that which
    you entertain, leaves therefore no possibility of my old-fashioned
    eyesight adopting what your younger and stronger eyes see with an
    ardour of which mine are no longer capable. As long as I see my
    dear Duke, I do not see upon earth anybody in whose prosperity and
    happiness I take a warmer and more sincerely cordial feeling than I
    do in yours--and that is better in an old, decaying uncle, than
    discussions that he is no longer fit for.


This sensible communication anticipates the result of the overtures of
Mr. Canning, who was already beginning to feel his strength, and did
not hesitate to show it. What his object was is expressed in the next
letter; it was foiled by the Duke of Buckingham placing it in a strong
light before the observation of the now nominal Premier, Lord
Liverpool.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Oct. 7, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I thank you for your communication, and am glad to find the whole
    business, as far as it was connected with your party, is
    terminated; I received a letter from Charles Wynn yesterday
    morning, informing me of the result of your communication with Lord
    Liverpool.

    No one can undoubtedly so well judge the question, as it may affect
    your honour and character, as yourself; the removal of Charles Wynn
    from the Cabinet, if done either by intrigue or force, was a
    measure which you could not submit to, and if you were satisfied
    that such was the intention, the steps you adopted were such as
    became you; I consider that it would have been impossible for any
    one of your party who had accepted office, to hold it one moment
    after you had come to the decision of separating yourself from all
    official connexion; nor do I think that under such a declaration
    Charles Wynn could doubt of the line which he so promptly and
    honourably adopted. Indeed, I must fully agree with you in
    applauding his feelings towards you and his friends. I am rejoiced
    that no new arrangements take place in your political relations
    with the Government, for I am persuaded the best, the most
    advantageous, and most popular state in which your interests can
    stand, for some time at least, is by remaining perfectly quiet, and
    suffering public discussion on men and parties and official
    situations to be diverted to other quarters. We had our full share
    last Session, and let Mr. Canning, if he chooses to commence his
    career by Cabinet intrigue, have the full benefit of it; no change
    would at this moment occur in your party without incurring (whether
    true or false) the charge of official rapacity on the one hand, or
    a want of common gratitude on the other.

    The King is arrived at the Cottage with his _usual_ party, and I
    understand remains about three weeks: he sees nobody as yet, but is
    reported to be very well and in good spirits; he was at chapel
    yesterday, and is driving in the Park every day.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Brighton, Nov. 5, 1822.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Charles Wynn wrote to me to say he wished to come and lay before
    the King Lord Amherst's appointment to sign, thinking it would be a
    good occasion of presenting himself for an audience, and I strongly
    recommended him to do so, though it was uncertain how he might take
    it; however, nothing could have been better received. The King has
    not appeared since he has been here, now ten days, and has confined
    himself to his room under a slight affection of gout, for which he
    is taking Wilson's medicine, but he received him most graciously,
    talked for an hour and a half, and Wynn came away delighted. I am
    quite happy that he came down for the purpose. I can't make out
    exactly how matters stand at the Pavilion. The Regnante has not yet
    arrived. He has been quite alone, literally, with Lord Conyngham
    and Sir W. Knighton, and not another person. It is said she has
    taken an aversion to this place, and I rather give credit to it,
    for Lord Conyngham told me he was going to fit up the Castle at
    Windsor, as the King had taken a fancy to it, and now seemed to
    prefer it to the Cottage. What this means I know not; I do not
    think, notwithstanding, that she is out of favour, or even to have
    lost ground, but that the strangeness of his conduct daily
    increases.

    Did you ever hear of anything half so absurd as the conduct of the
    Speaker? He first wrote to Lord Liverpool to ask his opinion about
    standing for the University, and having received a very cold
    answer, declaring his wishes to be in favour of Lord Hervey, he
    immediately declared himself with his _re_consideration
    advertisement; afterwards Charles Wynn hit the blot which bad been
    overlooked, or probably never looked for, in the case of Charles
    Dundas when proposed by Sheridan, and who was objected to by Mr.
    Pitt, as not being capable on account of not having previously
    taken the oath at the table before the Speaker, which by the act
    is necessary in every case but at the commencement of a new
    Parliament. When Charles Wynn mentioned this, it set them all
    aback, and after requiring a day to consider it, it ended by his
    giving up; the consequences of all this has been that the
    Solicitor-General has been driven from a certain success, and the
    Government interest being divided between R. Grant and Lord Hervey,
    it is not improbable that Scarlett may succeed.

    I should judge from the language of Tierney on general points, that
    he thinks the Government stronger and more likely to hold a firm
    and vigorous language and line of conduct by the introduction of
    Canning, than it was last year. I believe the latter is to name
    Frederick Lamb[100] his Under-Secretary, and Lord Clanwilliam to
    succeed Frederick Lamb.

    The appointment of Lord Amherst, taking all things into
    consideration, is, I believe, as good a nomination as could have
    taken place; and as far as it regards our Board, I should think the
    best, for he has no intrigue, and will act straightforward with us.
    Canning is gone down to Walmer, and you may rest assured that it
    will very soon end in his leading Lord Liverpool; if he can
    persuade him to get rid of Vansittart, it would be the best
    exercise he could make of such an influence.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most assuredly yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.

    Of course you know Sir Henry Wellesley is named to succeed Lord
    Londonderry; better accounts of the Duke of Wellington's health.

      [100] Afterwards, in 1839, created Lord Beauvale; he was for some
      years Envoy-Extraordinary and Minister-Plenipotentiary at Vienna.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Nov. 6, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I thought it right to take down the approbation of Lord Amherst's
    appointment to Brighton myself on Sunday, and was most graciously
    received.

    He [the King] complained much of flying gout, with which he had
    been extremely unwell during the last week, but was in excellent
    spirits, and kept me sitting with him more than an hour. He was
    lame, and moved with difficulty, and told me (at nine P.M.) that he
    had only been up for two hours. Not a soul in the palace but Lord
    Conyngham, Lord Francis, and Sir William K----n. His face was
    deeper sunk in the lines than I have yet seen it, but the colour
    was better than I expected--a dark brown, instead of the dead,
    tallowy colour which I have sometimes seen.

    The Speaker has made the most stupid and unpardonable mess at
    Cambridge ever made by man. He wrote to Lord Liverpool, who
    answered him that he thought his situation created much difficulty,
    and advised his consulting Lord Sidmouth and Lord Colchester, both
    of them having, when in the Chair, been intended candidates for
    Oxford. He asked neither, but talked to the Attorney and
    Solicitor-General and his own clerks, declared himself a candidate
    without ever communicating with a single Minister in the House of
    Commons. As soon as I found that he had declared, I was convinced
    of the impossibility of his being re-elected Speaker if he vacated
    his seat, after the decision of the House in 1801 in favour of
    Pitt's objection to C. Dundas, and therefore went to Canning, who
    begged me to write to Liverpool, who in return wished Canning to
    write to the Speaker about it. Canning begged me to go to Peel.
    There I met the Speaker, who had not in the least adverted to this
    difficulty, but allowed that it would be unreasonable to expect the
    Government to fight his battle against such an authority, and
    finally agreed to retire from the contest!

    Fremantle tells me that he is quite in the hands of a sister of
    Lady B----, with whom he passes all his time, so I suppose Miss
    H---- wears the willow.

    Some suspicion had been excited by the numerous stacks burnt in
    Ireland, some of them the property of persons by no means obnoxious
    to the Rockites. A search was therefore made in a small district,
    in which no less than thirty were found prepared for the flames,
    the wheat having been threshed out and the straw re-stacked for the
    convenience of charging the barony for the bonfire.

    You will see that Wellesley has, on the authority of the law
    officers, taken steps to prevent the dressing up Old Glorious on
    Monday at Dublin. I shall be curious to see the result, which I
    expect will be only some offensive speeches in the Quarterly
    Assembly, &c.

    Lloyd of Aston, after declaring himself a candidate for Shropshire,
    has again retired. The only candidates now are Childe and mad
    Cresset Pelham. I trust that the former will carry it, and that
    then B. Thompson will come in on Watkins's interest for Wenlock.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Nov. 12, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    There is little at present going on, as everything is reserved till
    the latter end of this week, when we are to have ten days of
    Cabinets to consider the various subjects for the next session.
    Among others we have the promise of a despatch from Lord Wellesley,
    on the subject of tithes, by the 15th. C---- is civil (which for
    him is a good deal), but I cannot say cordial. I seem not to find
    it out, and mean to allow time for the little irritation which has
    arisen from the failure of his plan, to subside. No allusion was
    made to the subject during my visit of last week, and indeed the
    conversation was chiefly on Stuart Papers, Horace Walpole, &c. &c.

    Notwithstanding the panic on the Stock Exchange, our news from
    Congress is still of a decidedly pacific tendency. The Spanish
    insurrection, we are told, gains strength, and the Greek loses; but
    on the latter head we have found our informants somewhat partial.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Nov. 22, 1822, half-past five P.M.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Your apprehensions relative to the issue of what is passing at
    Verona certainly would derive more support from our last accounts
    than from the previous ones, and the way which had been made with
    France by exciting her political apprehensions, and with Russia by
    a representation of the military difficulties, seems now to be very
    much _en retrograde_.

    Still, the language and assurances of Villele and the King of
    France are perfectly pacific; and Montmorenci, who has adopted the
    other line at Verona, still states the necessity of his returning
    himself to Paris before any communication even of the nature of a
    threat is held out to Spain. Meantime he wishes France should be
    allowed to manage the interference entirely herself, and protests
    against Russia having any share in it, or marching a single
    regiment through her territory.

    The only real object of Alexander is to ward off the present and
    pressing danger from his army, for whom he wants employment, and
    has proposed this Spanish campaign merely as a substitute for the
    Turkish.

    Wellesley's despatch has, as I told you, arrived, but is not yet
    circulated.

    We are about to recognise the S. American Republics and Brazil, and
    at the same time to adopt measures of reprisal against Porto Rico
    and Porto Cabildo, unless the Royalist Governors of those places
    will give up the Lord Collingwood, and cancel their orders for
    impeding our trade.

    I have just been at Council, and thought that the K---- looked
    worse than at Brighton, but still his colour was tolerably good.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


The proceedings of the French Government with relation to Spain, now
began to excite a good deal of attention in this country; appearances
being in favour of the supposition generally entertained, that the
labours of Wellington in the Peninsula were about to be rendered
nugatory by the presence there of a powerful French army, and the
consequent return of Spain to the position she held as a French
dependency before the war.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Tuesday evening.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I do not believe that the French Cabinet is mad enough to entertain
    any view of the conquest of Spain. Experience must have taught even
    to them more wisdom, but Monsieur and the Ultra-Royalist party
    dread the intercourse with a _Republic_ on their frontiers, and
    besides, have revived the old notions of the family connexion, and
    their duty to protect a Bourbon monarch. This is fed by their
    communications with Spain, where for the last ten months they have
    been active in exciting, both by money and other means, the
    Royalist or insurgent party, and these designs are equally
    instigated by the Ultra-Royalist and Ultra-Liberal party in both
    countries. The former, with the view of re-establishing the
    authority of the beloved Ferdinand; the latter, of raising by any
    means a war, which they calculate must end in the overthrow of both
    thrones.

    We have no wish ourselves to take Cuba, but are inclined to give
    her the fair option of either continuing Spanish, becoming
    independent, or uniting with Mexico, positively resisting, however,
    even if necessary with arms, her occupation by any third power,
    _i.e._, North America.

    I continue most completely separated from the rest of the Cabinet.
    Whether they live at all together I know not, but believe they do.
    However, we have all been in town now for more than a week, and I
    never have seen anything of any of them except in Cabinet. No one
    dinner have I been asked to since the conclusion of the Session,
    excepting one in the beginning of September at Robinson's. Now we
    all know that business can never be really settled in the meetings
    of so numerous a Cabinet, but that it must be _in fact_ arranged at
    more private meetings and dinners.

    Canning is certainly not cordial, though there is nothing I have a
    right to complain of. Still I see that he is disposed to discuss
    the business of his own office, &c., with Lord Bathurst, Peel, or
    Robinson, but not with me. Peel is reserved in his natural manner,
    but I rather get on with him. What is Canning's object I cannot at
    all discover. His obvious policy would be to unite us to himself,
    but I am clear that is not in his view. His language to me on the
    Catholic question was in such a tone as to lead me to doubt
    extremely whether he can be relied upon. He dwelt to much on the
    disposition of the Duke of York, if he succeeded to the throne, to
    stake his Crown entirely upon opposition to it, and talked so much
    on the advantages of a compromise, which should secure everything
    except Privy Council and Parliament; professing willingness
    himself, if that was conceded, to oppose any agitation of the
    question for a considerable time, that I am myself convinced that
    he is disposed to consider it as a millstone, to which he is not
    absolutely pledged, and which he will for his own interest shake
    from off his neck. We have begun on Wellesley's plan, but as yet
    made no progress. Indeed it is so defective, that though it
    professes to rest upon two or three plain principles to be adopted
    or rejected, there are double that number not adverted to which
    must be previously understood and determined.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Dec. 7th, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I had yesterday a conversation with Canning, when he offered me
    either Copenhagen or Stuttgard for Henry, as a remove from
    Switzerland. I obtained from him that the question should be kept
    open till I heard from him, though I cannot feel a doubt that he
    will gladly accept the former, as though the business is in truth
    as little or less than that of his present situation, it is in the
    public eye a decided promotion, the salary is 1000_l._ a year
    higher, and whenever anything more desirable may become vacant, any
    Secretary of State will be better disposed to promote him than from
    Switzerland, the mission to which can never be vacant without again
    raising a question upon its suppression. The residence is certainly
    less desirable as well as the climate, but these are inconveniences
    which any man who wishes to rise in his profession must be disposed
    to overlook. The offer is also valuable, as I think it shows good
    disposition.

    We have to-day the D---- of W----'s despatches from Verona of the
    26th. He proposes setting off on the 30th, and coming home through
    Paris. He sends copies of the despatches of Russia, Austria, and
    Prussia to their Ministers at Madrid, which are to be communicated
    to the Spanish Government _in extenso_. They are couched in very
    strong, indeed, offensive terms, announcing their intention to make
    common cause with France in the event of the violent death of the
    King or any of the Royal Family, of his dethronement, or any
    alteration in the succession, or of any aggression on the territory
    of France. The note of Russia goes through a kind of history of the
    revolutionary steps of Spain. Meanwhile, Villele continues the
    assurance of his determination, supported by the King, and _also
    by Monsieur_ (who I suppose now, as is his custom, has taken
    fright), to avoid a rupture, and expressing his hope of having the
    support of Sir C. S----[101] to resist Rozzo di Borgo. Metternich
    also, while he joins in the impulse which Russia has given to the
    Congress, begs the D---- of W---- that Sir William A'Court[102] may
    be instructed to mediate as far as possible with Spain, and to
    prevent her from resenting these extraordinary measures.

    Altogether, if A'Court can succeed in persuading Spain that it is
    her interest to wait till she is attacked, and only to resent these
    words with words, I think it is very probable peace may still be
    preserved, as Villele has extremely increased his strength in the
    Legislative Assembly, and the danger of again bringing a French
    army into action is felt by every one but the Emperor Alexander,
    who, as usual, acts from his own feelings only, and particularly
    from aversion to the example of a successful military mutiny, to
    which Prussia also is most sensible.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [101] Sir Charles Stuart, created in 1828 Lord Stuart de
      Rothesay.

      [102] In 1828 created Baron Heytesbury.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Dec. 30, 1822.

    MY DEAR B----,

    You will probably have heard from other quarters of the intended
    appointment of Lord Francis Conyngham to be Canning's
    Under-Secretary of State. I only know it from report, but am
    disposed to believe it; and it is added that the King on his late
    visit to Brighton leant on his shoulder and patted his head.

    I cannot conceive how Lord F. C---- can retain the Mastership of
    the Robes.

    The next report is that the newly-erected pillar of orthodoxy,
    young Bankes, has to encounter an action for crim. con. from Lord
    Buckinghamshire, and that Scarlet is retained for the plaintiff.

    Surely Wellesley is making too ridiculous a parade, even for the
    taste of Paddy, when he talks of the _horror_, the _awful moment_,
    &c.; and when we consider that the King and his father have both
    had to encounter bullets, it is but in proper subordination that
    the piece of a rattle and of a glass bottle should be directed
    against the occupant of "_the throne on which he has been placed by
    the favour of his Sovereign_."

    Still it may be of use towards the suppression of the Orange
    Lodges, which I have great hopes will result from it. It has been
    proposed to extend the English Act against Secret Societies, to
    Ireland, with a view to some of the cases of conspiracy which they
    have been unable to deal with; and upon mentioning to Peel that
    that was the Act upon which the House of Commons in general agreed
    in 1813 to consider the Orange Association as illegal, I had much
    pleasure to see that he looked upon this as a recommendation rather
    than an objection.

    The conduct of Villele is to me quite inexplicable, nor can I
    conceive his motive for resorting to so offensive and irritating a
    step as the publication of a despatch (in itself calculated to
    provoke a war) immediately after he had triumphed over the war
    party, and their expulsion from the Cabinet.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    C. WILLIAMS WYNN.




CHAPTER XI.

[1823.]

CONTINENTAL AFFAIRS. DIPLOMATIC POSTS. PROPOSED MINISTERIAL CHANGES.
MISSION OF LORD FITZROY SOMERSET TO SPAIN. STATE OF IRELAND. OBJECTS OF
FRANCE. APPOINTMENT OF REGINALD HEBER. INCREASING POPULARITY OF MR.
CANNING. THE KING'S SPEECH. TRIALS IN IRELAND. MR. PLUNKET. THE
BEEFSTEAK CLUB IN DUBLIN. OBJECTIONABLE TOAST. THE DUKE OF CLARENCE.
IMPRUDENCE OF LORD WELLESLEY. THE LORD-LIEUTENANT'S EXPLANATION.




CHAPTER XI.


Continental affairs were at this time attracting general attention
throughout the British Empire, principally in consequence of the
recently-published declaration from the Allied Sovereigns at the
Congress of Verona, threatening interposition in the affairs of Spain,
and the attitude of France with a view to the same object. To the new
Foreign Secretary an opportunity presented itself for directing the
policy of Great Britain in a manner worthy of the position she had
acquired by her prodigious exertions in the last European war; and
remembering the largeness of his professions when out of office, the
political world waited with much eagerness the measures of this
brilliant statesman to maintain the dignity of his country. Mr. Canning
appeared sensible of the gravity of the threatened complication, but
occupied himself much more in endeavouring to strengthen himself in the
Cabinet than in developing a policy likely to realize the expectations
of his admirers.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 3, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I am sorry to say that in consequence of William Hill altering his
    mind and declining the Under-Secretaryship, the intended promotion
    in the diplomatic line which was to have opened Copenhagen to Henry
    is stopped, and Canning now strongly presses his removal to
    Stuttgart with the same rank and salary, with a view to an
    arrangement by which the missions to Switzerland and Frankfort will
    be reduced to a Minister Plenipotentiary, with about half the
    present allowances.

    This I think, though by no means pleasant to Henry, he ought to
    accede to, both for the public benefit and the gratification of his
    immediate superior, it being clearly understood that he is to be
    considered as entitled to promotion on the first occasion.

    Canning is very gracious and confidential. He certainly wishes in
    no moderate degree to get his friend Huskisson into my particular
    office, but would be quite willing to give me any other I chose in
    exchange which he could obtain, but as I really prefer it to any
    other which could be given to me, except that of Secretary of
    State, or possibly the Admiralty, if there were no better claimant,
    I do not see any probability of his wishes being gratified _à
    l'aimable_.

    It is most vexatious that, in spite of all admonition, the
    _Courier_ persists in its warlike tone and justification of the
    interference of the Continental Powers in the internal affairs of
    Spain, in opposition to all the known views and declarations of the
    British Government.

    Of this I have given a hint, and desired that it may be noticed in
    the next.

    With respect to France, I can tell you hardly anything which you
    do not already know. They continue assurances of their pacific
    intentions to us, and it seems clear that Montmorenci resigned
    because his note was deemed too warlike; and yet one can scarcely
    conceive how it could have been more likely to create a rupture
    than that of Villele, particularly followed up as the latter has
    been by the very offensive step of giving it publicity in the
    _Moniteur_ within forty-eight hours after it had left Paris.

    It cannot be denied that this note so published is in itself a
    legitimate ground of war to Spain if she chooses to avail herself
    of it C---- believes that she is not yet sufficiently ready, and
    will prefer remaining at peace. Meantime she has made the greatest
    haste to grant all our demands which had been so long pending, and
    to promise immediate satisfaction on our different grounds of
    complaint.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    I agree with you in thinking that the Indian Juggler has
    disappointed expectation most lamentably, and I fear that we must
    say the same of _our_ own friend, who seems to me a _Diabolus
    Domini Vice Regis, tout comme un autre_.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 6, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Canning not having come up to town, I have not been able to speak
    to him on the subject of your letter, but after communicating with
    Lord Liverpool, I can, I believe, say with certainty, that though
    of course no part of the King's speech has yet been framed or
    considered, you may depend upon its containing such a
    recommendation of relief from taxation as will satisfy the
    principle upon which Lord C---- wishes for information.

    I have much pleasure in telling you that a change will, I trust,
    take place by the retirement of Bragge Bathurst, which will enable
    us to take the field with better auspices at the meeting of
    Parliament.

    It is proposed that Vansittart shall succeed to the Chancellorship
    of the Duchy, with a _Peerage_; Robinson to the Exchequer;
    Huskisson, Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy, without
    Cabinet; Arbuthnot, Woods and Forests; Herries, Secretary to the
    Treasury. As yet, this is completely a secret even to the Cabinet,
    but as the King has approved it, it probably cannot long so
    continue. One consequence I apprehend will be, that Peel and I must
    stand the pelting of the first fortnight of the Session by
    ourselves, which probably your kindness will admit as an additional
    reason for my wishing C---- to listen favourably to Canning's
    request.

    I really do not think that there is the least ground for your
    supposition of intentional neglect on the part of Government
    towards you. Nothing which I have seen looks at all like it. It is
    possible that you may think that you ought to have been written to
    oftener, but it has naturally been supposed, that as I was in
    constant communication with you, it was not necessary for anybody
    else.

    I have to-day heard from Dublin that the Grand Jury has thrown out
    Bills preferred against the rioters for a misdemeanour, very much
    in consequence of the feeling originally excited by the first
    design of proceeding against them capitally for a conspiracy to
    assassinate. Plunket has, I understand, immediately declared that
    he would file an _ex officio_ information against them. Whether
    this is wise or not depends, I think, wholly on the nature of his
    evidence; if he can produce sufficient to warrant a conviction it
    will be quite right, and expose the Orange spirit of Dublin; but if
    it is deficient, it will have a most mischievous effect to subject
    them to such a proceeding, after the Grand Jury has thrown out the
    Bill.

    I am very sorry that you differ with me about Henry, but it really
    seems to me that after Canning has intimated this opinion in favour
    of the reduction of the mission, he has only the choice of leaving
    it or of carrying into execution his original offer of taking it
    with his own rank, but a reduced salary. In the event of a
    repetition of last year's attack, it would be no trifling change if
    the Secretary of State were in his heart against us, and if,
    perhaps, his intimates knew that he had proposed an arrangement for
    averting it. I will also fairly state that, after thwarting
    Canning's favourite plans for Huskisson, I am the more anxious not
    to interpose unnecessary difficulty in the way of this.

    I have to-day heard from Lord Hastings, that he awaits his
    successor in India. The last _Guardian_ is not quite as good
    as that of the preceding week, but the letter to Lethbridge is
    excellent, and the general tone and conduct quite right.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Audley End, Jan. 14, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The mission of Lord F. Somerset[103] is not of a nature to give any
    jealousy to A'Court, being rather despatched by the Duke of
    Wellington to Alava, and some of his old friends in the Spanish
    army, than by Canning to the King of Spain; besides, he having been
    at Verona, can more correctly state to them the means by which they
    may enable us to avert the war with which they are menaced.

    Henry accepts Stuttgart, though extremely reluctantly. You have
    never made any observation on the changes which I announced to you
    before I left town, and which I thought would please you. An
    attempt was made to persuade me to take Robinson's succession, but
    I really was exactly of Mr. Huskisson's opinion, and thought
    2000_l._, or rather 1800_l._ a-year, worth more than a house,
    coal and candles; besides which, I did not like the idea of a
    second time undertaking a new department of the business, of which
    I knew nothing, just at the outset of the Session.

    I think Old Nick ought to be Viscount Van, for alliteration sake. I
    believe he trusts still to his own loins to perpetuate the peerage,
    and applies for no remainder. With this exception, I think the
    arrangement as far as it goes good. Indeed, I do not know why
    Arbuthnot should have the Woods and Forests, but that the
    diplomatic pension list is full. I wish Lushington would retire
    also, for I believe he does his work ill. I suppose you have had a
    due announcement of the marriage of M. F----. Poor man, with such a
    simpleton of a wife, and such a collection of radical
    brethren-in-law, I think he has a good thing of it. Lord Braybrooke
    has been ill, and was last week very largely bled; he is now
    better, but has not yet quite recovered.

    Lord Liverpool positively asserts that he has neither directly nor
    indirectly pensioned Cobbett. I really think the Duke of Wellington
    not a little indebted to him for forcing the Whigs to declare
    county meetings a farce.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [103] The late Lord Raglan.


    East India Office, Wednesday.

    Reginald Heber has, after much hesitation, to-day accepted the
    Bishopric of Calcutta; I grieve at losing him, but believe that the
    appointment will be most extensively beneficial. Our Brighton
    detachment reports the K---- to have been in excellent humour and
    spirits, and the general health good, but so lame as to occasion
    considerable doubt whether he may recover the use of his feet,
    which are much contracted.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 20, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I see the changes have at length got into the newspapers. I am only
    astonished that the secret has been preserved longer than any
    similar one which I recollect, as it has been in agitation ever
    since Canning came into office, and the hope of assisting it by
    inducing Van to take my office was one of the considerations most
    strongly urged upon me at the close of our discussion relative to
    the Speakership.

    For the best possible reason I cannot tell you our finance plans,
    but I trust that considerable reduction of taxes must form a part
    of them, agreeably to Liverpool's assurances. In the course of two
    or three days I shall know more.

    Robinson[104] will be a decided improvement on poor Van, both in
    manner and popularity with the House, but as to measures, Liverpool
    must of course give the orders, and he obey. Still he is a man of
    sense and judgment, though perhaps deficient in energy, and if (as
    I am told) Huskisson will draw well with him, it really is the best
    appointment, both ostensibly and in fact, that we have materials
    for.

    Lord F. Somerset's instructions are decidedly to act under
    A'Court's orders, and only to make those communications from the
    D---- of W---- to Alava and other individuals, which could not with
    any propriety be conveyed through the accredited Minister, and
    which would in truth excite all the clamour against interference in
    the internal affairs of Spain, which we most desire to avoid.

    With respect to the question of sugars, I am very far from having
    formed any definite opinion, and am disposed to go into the
    Committee which Van last year pledged himself to grant, with a most
    impartial spirit. The bias of my mind certainly is to believe that
    by no means in our power can the ruin of the old sugar islands be
    averted, and that the present plan only sacrifices the East Indies
    to the new ones, which in their turn will be obliged to give way to
    the S. American Continent.

    The state of India is now certainly most critical, as by the
    successful introduction of the British muslins you have completely
    destroyed that which till within a very short time has been their
    great staple export, and which now they have ceased to use
    themselves. I doubt, however, whether Robinson will even consider
    himself bound by Vansittart's pledge to go into the Committee, as I
    know he disapproved extremely of its being given, and thinks that
    the East Indies ought rather to look for relief from encouragement
    to the silk trade, and consequently to their growth of raw silk,
    than to any other source.

    The question, however, is one of which I am by no means master, and
    on which I am not in any way committed.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [104] Afterwards created Viscount Goderich and Earl of Ripon.


The presence of a popular Lord-Lieutenant, as the Marquis Wellesley was
considered on his first arrival in Ireland, did not eradicate that
feverish spirit of disaffection in a certain portion of the population
of the island, which had been the great difficulty of his predecessors.
Indeed, his Lordship had lately become an object of open hostility, and
an outrage had been perpetrated apparently against the vice-regal
dignity, that was now undergoing investigation before the proper
tribunal. This was only one indication of a mischievous spirit that had
defeated the wisest intentions; in other places, the chronic disorder
was so conspicuous as almost to make the friends of Ireland despair of
being able to effect any permanent good in this unfortunate country.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 23, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I have scarce a moment to write to you, as between general business
    and that belonging to the office, which presses particularly at
    this moment, I am hard pressed. The depositions in the Dublin riot
    seem to me completely to establish the fact of a preconcerted
    disturbance, but rather directed against the Lord Mayor than the
    Lord-Lieutenant; but there is nothing to support the idea of a
    capital charge, unless some subsequent declarations that they
    should not so miss him another time, and that they were ready to
    sacrifice their lives for the object, should be so thought. We are
    to-morrow to consider the steps to be adopted.

    On the first flush, the proceeding by information after an
    indictment has failed, certainly seems objectionable, but I believe
    it must certainly be legal, just as preferring a second indictment
    would. I am myself, however, most inclined to support this course,
    not because I approve it, but because after all that has happened,
    it would degrade both Wellesley and Plunket, and exalt the Orange
    faction in the public eye, to refuse our sanction to the measures
    which they have adopted.

    The great object of France, in all her twisted course, has been to
    have the question of War and Peace left in her hands by the rest of
    Europe, then by a dexterous application of this power to produce a
    restoration of some portion of the King of Spain's authority, and
    on that ground to regain her ancient influence in his Court. In
    this, at all events, she has completely failed. Spain now promises
    payment of all our just claims, some of which she admits, and is
    willing to refer the remainder to a mixed commission. She also
    sends over a specific request for our good offices, to avert from
    her the calamities of war. Canning, I think, expects that peace
    will be preserved, and reasons much as you do. Both the King of
    France and Villele profess to see how prejudicial to the interest
    of France war must be.

    I verily believe Lord Melville's conduct to you to be only the same
    by which he gives offence to everybody else. Hay, I believe, told
    Phillimore that Lord M---- had not answered one letter of all those
    which arrived during the time he was in Scotland. Canning retires
    from Liverpool, and succeeds to one of the seats for Harwich,
    vacated by B. Bathurst's retirement and Nick's peerage.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    There is some talk of Lord Maryborough quitting the Cabinet, and I
    believe that the Doctor only remains till he can appear to leave it
    without any reference to Canning's appointment.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 25, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    There is much reason to fear that Chateaubriand is still more
    favourably disposed towards the War party than his predecessor, and
    is run away with a true French notion that the _glory_ of success
    can only exist in connexion with the white cockade. Should he
    prevail, there is little doubt that Villele will retire, and _then_
    the Ultra-Royalists will drive to the Devil with a rapidity that
    nothing can check.

    This is the gloomy side; on the other, Villele has certainly great
    strength, and even the Royalists will think twice before they allow
    the million (English) of surplus which is about to be applied to
    indemnify them, to go towards the _frais_ of an armament, the
    recommendation of which is that it is to be levied without a loan
    and without an additional tax.

    I quite agree with you in the necessity of supporting Wellesley and
    Plunket, though we may _in private_ think they have acted absurdly.
    I am convinced that the Orange party will make a run against them
    with all the power they can, of which I already see symptoms which
    cannot be mistaken; but as far as I can judge, L---- will behave
    _honestly_.

    The depositions have all been sent over, and I am not surprised
    that the English lawyers are unable to find among them any ground
    to maintain the committal for the capital charge. As, however, this
    was abandoned, the practical battle will be upon the propriety of a
    prosecution by information, after an indictment preferred by the
    Attorney-General has been ignored. Of this there is no example in
    England. Whether there is or not in Ireland I do not know, but at
    all events Plunket must be supported in it, and allowed to proceed.
    The Irish Government now stand publicly committed to that course,
    and if they were compelled to abandon it, _must_ immediately
    resign, and afford a triumph to the Orange faction. It is no small
    misfortune that our law advisers should be so entirely in one
    interest, and under one influence, as to exercise no free agency of
    their own. I trust that we have put a stop to the practice of
    submitting Plunket's conduct and opinions to _their_ revision, by
    treating their communication as one of a nature strictly private,
    and as one which it would be impossible to make known to any one
    individual without giving the justest offence both to Wellesley,
    Plunket, and Bushe.

    The Speech will recommend considerable relief from taxation, and
    notice will be given of Robinson's intention to bring the subject
    forward as soon as he resumes his seat. It signifies little what we
    do. Lethbridge and the Squires will feel bound to go beyond us; but
    if we can extend the relief to 50 per cent. on houses and windows,
    carriages, horses, and servants, all reasonable men ought to be
    satisfied.

    I have spoken to Lord Liverpool about Sir George Nugent, and he
    vows and protests nothing could be further from his intention than
    the slightest disrespect to a person towards whom no one can feel
    anything but regard, &c. &c. &c. In short, he says all that a man
    in the unfortunate situation of having done an awkward absent thing
    can say, and I know not what can be done further.

    I believe my appointment of Reginald Heber is really the very best
    for India that the kingdom could have supplied. Henry is to be
    accredited to Baden and Carlsruhe, as well as to Stuttgart.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Jan. 27, 1623.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Of course Wynn has communicated with you upon the changes which
    have taken place; I was completely ignorant of them till the papers
    announced them, but think altogether it is a much improved
    administration; the weak point of Vansittart is strengthened, and
    though perhaps Robinson may not have been the fittest man for a
    Chancellor of the Exchequer, there is none other who would have
    done so well with Lord Liverpool, and he is a very popular man in
    the House of Commons. Wallace is most indignant at Huskisson being
    put over his head, and has resigned the Vice-Presidency of the
    Board of Trade; this has been offered to Vesey Fitzgerald,[105] who
    I have no doubt will take it, but should he not, I understand it is
    to be offered to Charles Grant;[106] and it is also said that Lord
    Maryborough goes out, and Wallace is to replace him at the Mint.

    The change at the Treasury would certainly make it easy for Canning
    to take a jump at any future opportunity by the resignation of Lord
    Liverpool, by becoming First Lord and Chancellor of the Exchequer,
    and giving the Foreign Seals to Robinson; how far this may be in
    his contemplation, you have better means of judging than I have,
    but it is not very foreign to his character to entertain such a
    view.

    Every human being seems to condemn in the strongest terms the
    conduct of Wellesley; there never was such an ass, and if he has
    hatched all this trumpery and made Plunket his dupe, the latter
    will never get over it; such is the belief, and it really looks
    like it. Plunket must of course come to the meeting, and we shall
    then see what he chooses to disclose to the public; for a
    justification he must make. The Opposition are not disposed to
    attack Lord Wellesley, and are of course in trammels on the
    question, but there are plenty of Orangeists who will not be
    wanting. The thing that I think looks most suspicious in all these
    measures, is the unmeasured applause which the Opposition papers
    give to Canning, and I hear that at Brookes's he is much the most
    popular man in the country; we know his avidity for popular
    applause, and I own I cannot but entertain some fears as to the
    abstainment on his part from all intrigue; the best security
    against this will be in the meeting of Parliament, when he will be
    soon brought in contact with those who are now upholding him. He
    does not come in for Liverpool, but for Harwich, as also Mr.
    Herries. Young Disbrowe comes in for Windsor, in the room of Sir
    Herbert Taylor, who resigns his seat. The Duke of York has been
    alarmingly ill, but is now much better; I understand you met him at
    the grand _chasse_ at Ashridge.

    Although it is very likely the French Government will be forced
    into a war, yet I am for my own part still disposed to think they
    will not, from all Lionel Hervey tells me on the subject; it is
    fraught with too much danger to France itself, and too certain a
    failure in the object for which the war is contemplated, to be
    persisted in, however they may bully and prepare for it. Canning
    has certainly recommended himself greatly to public opinion by the
    line he has adopted, and though _we are given to understand_ there
    has been considerable differences in the Cabinet upon it, he has
    never changed his tone for one moment, and has carried his views.

    Adieu, my dear Duke,

    Ever most unfeignedly yours,

    W. H. F.

      [105] Created Baron Fitzgerald in 1826.

      [106] Created Baron Glenelg in 1836.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Board, Jan. 31, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The die seems at length to be cast, and the throw cannot be
    altered, though the French continue to profess the same desire of
    avoiding war, and with as much sincerity as they have done
    throughout the discussion. They have taken the worst course, and in
    the worst possible way. I really am so much out of humour with the
    _gros cochon_, that I rather hope that his life may be prolonged,
    so as to taste a little of the evil which he is about to produce.
    Poor Liverpool is in a state of worry and dejection which exceeds
    anything I have yet seen, but I am assured by Lord Melville this is
    not for him extraordinary when hard-worked.

    The Speech states the King, faithful to his principles, &c., to
    have declined any measure which could lead to a foreign
    interference in the internal affairs of France; his endeavours to
    prevent hostilities, and his determination if they should take
    place, to use every effort to put an end to them, maintaining in
    the mean time the strictest and most exact neutrality; pleasure at
    the state of the Revenue, and that Parliament will be enabled
    thereby to relieve the burthens without any violation of public
    credit; condolence to the agriculture, congratulation to the
    commerce.

    We have plenty of business to bring forward: Irish tithes, Irish
    distillery, finance, &c. &c.

    I heard this morning from Plunket, desiring me to fix with Canning
    an early day for the Catholic question, which he will bring forward
    accordingly. I think of Thursday, the 20th, or Tuesday, the 25th.

    He waits for the trials, but hopes to be over, as I understand him,
    on the 10th. He is prepared for violent attacks from the lawyers on
    the filing of his information after indictment, but speaks
    confidently of his defence.

    Liverpool, Bathurst, Robinson, the Duke, Harrowby, and
    Westmoreland, are gone down to Brighton to read the Speech.

    I do not yet even know what Burdett's motion for to-morrow is to
    be, but I am told resolutions of moderate censure on the Sheriff;
    and still less do I know what the course of the Orange Party will
    be; and it is on the latter that ours must principally depend, as
    their only object will clearly be to inculpate Plunket either
    directly or impliedly.

    I go on with very little intercourse with my colleagues in the
    House of Commons, but must say that they seem not to have any more
    one with another.

    I must break off.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Feb. 1, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I have not myself the least idea that a wish for the admission of
    Lord Colchester into the Cabinet exists in any mind except his own,
    or that Lord Harrowby has any idea of retiring at present.

    It is perfectly true that France still continues to say that it
    must be six weeks before any blow can be struck or a shot fired,
    and to beg us to continue our good offices, though she cannot admit
    any mediator between Princes of the House of Bourbon and near
    neighbours, but she still urges the necessity not so much of any
    real or efficient change being made, as of its emanating directly
    from the authority of the King--in short, that because they had a
    charte, two chambers, and an amnesty, Spain shall have them all
    likewise.

    I have seen no symptom whatever of division among Ministers on this
    point.


The Lord Chancellor had viewed the introduction of Mr. Canning into the
Cabinet with more discontent even than he had bestowed upon the
admission of the Grenvilles; but an arrangement that brought him
another popular statesman as a colleague, he regarded with so much ill
feeling that it amounted to the expression of a desire to resign. "The
_Courier_ of last night," he writes, "announces Mr. Huskisson's
introduction into the Cabinet. Of the intention or the fact I have no
other communication. Whether Lord Sidmouth has or not, I don't know,
but really this is rather too much. Looking at the whole history of
this gentleman, I don't consider this introduction, without a word said
about the intention, as I should perhaps have done with respect to some
persons that have been or might be brought into Cabinet, but turning
out one man and introducing another in the way all this is done, is
telling the Chancellor that he should not give them the trouble of
disposing of him, but should (not treated as a Chancellor) cease to be
a Chancellor. What makes it worse is, that the great man of all has a
hundred times most solemnly declared that no connexions of a certain
person's should come in. There is no believing one word anybody says,
and what makes the matter still worse is, that everybody acquiesces
most quietly, and waits in all humility and patience till their [his]
own turn comes."[107]

      [107] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 76.

A recollection of Mr. Huskisson by another political cotemporary of
eminence, may here be put forward by way of contrast to the preceding.
"Besides possessing considerable abilities, and upon some subjects
extensive knowledge, he is cheerful, good-natured, and obliging--a man
of the world of the best sort. When you come to converse with him upon
other topics than those to which the purpose of your first interview
limited you, you will find that nothing can be more rational and
agreeable than his conversation."[108]

      [108] Lord Dudley's "Letters," p. 321.

Though an able man, his subsequent political career was short and
unsatisfactory. His known devotion to Mr. Canning, who had long
endeavoured to bring him forward, after the demise of that eminent
statesman, exercised a prejudicial influence over his fortunes, and the
first opportunity that presented itself was eagerly seized to get rid
of him.

About the end of January, Lord Grenville had a serious attack of
illness--a paralytic seizure--that caused considerable alarm among his
relatives and friends; but Sir Henry Halford having been summoned to
the assistance of the ordinary medical attendants at Dropmore, an
improvement shortly took place, and in a few days he was pronounced out
of danger.

The proceedings going on in Ireland, arising out of the alleged
conspiracy and rebellion, were regarded with as much interest in
England as the threatened invasion of Spain by France.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Four o'clock.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I am just come from the House, which was not made, owing to the
    horrid weather and fall of snow, therefore I cannot move the writ
    till to-morrow, when I shall certainly do so.

    I saw Spring Rice,[109] who had just received letters from Dublin,
    giving an account of the first day's trial. His letters were from
    Maurice Fitzgerald, Mr. Goold, and another whose name he did not
    mention, but he read them all to me, and they perfectly agreed in
    stating that nothing could have been more favourable to the proof
    of the conspiracy than the first day's trial. The Sheriff evidently
    attempted to secure a good jury; there were six trials, and he had
    only collected sixty individuals for the formation of the juries;
    the Court directed him to enlarge his numbers, which he was obliged
    to do, and the jury was considered tolerably good, though not a
    single Catholic upon it, only one individual who they knew to be a
    sworn and decided Orangeman. Nothing could exceed the eloquence,
    temper, and firmness of Plunket, exceeding his acknowledged powers.
    One witness only examined as yet, but all agreeing that if he
    [Plunket] only proves half that he has stated himself prepared to
    bring forward, a conviction must follow. In the course of his
    speech he stated that Lord Wellesley was supported in all the steps
    he had taken by the Government in England, and by the personal
    sanction and approbation of his Sovereign. He laid it very heavily
    on the Sheriff, Thorpe, and others of the Corporation. Altogether,
    from these letters (which of course must be taken with some
    abatement, from the character and opinions of the writers), it
    would appear that Plunket will not only come out most triumphantly,
    but that the Orangeists are fallen beyond all belief in their
    triumphant expectation.

    Fitzgerald's phrase is, "The case even exceeds the most sanguine
    statement which Lord Wellesley had made me the day before."

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    I merely add a few words, to say that our first day has been most
    favourable to the Government, and that we are all in tip-top
    spirits. No one can yet believe that France will be mad enough to
    march troops into the Peninsula. Brougham's certainly one of the
    most, if not the most eloquent speech he ever made, but most bitter
    and vindictive towards the allies and the magnanimous Alexander.
    Nothing can be better than the accounts from Dropmore.

    W. H. F.

    I forgot to say that Plunket has two Orange informers to produce as
    witnesses, who were parties to the conspiracy. There was no
    prevarication or difficulty with the only witness examined.

      [109] In 1839 created Baron Monteagle.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Five o'clock.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Nothing is talked of but Lord Wellesley's business; he really seems
    to have lost his head, though Plunket and Newport are come full
    primed and most loud in his defence; the Opposition, I have no
    doubt, will support him, and I have as little doubt that the
    Cabinet will do the same; but all the Orange part of the Government
    are trumpeting forth his misconduct, and folly, and madness. The
    real fact I believe to be, that he has been guilty of great
    imprudence, but that the Orange faction in Ireland were determined
    to drive him away, and Lord Manners was at the head of this
    faction. It is impossible that they can both now remain, and
    therefore I have not the least doubt that Lord Manners will be
    recalled. There is a story in town to-day, of a message having been
    sent by Lord Wellesley to Lord Manners, in which the former
    upbraids the latter with the most culpable, unfair, treacherous
    conduct towards him from the moment he set foot in Ireland, and
    letting him know if it were not for their public situations he
    should have resented it in another mode. I do not believe one word
    of this, though I give full credit for his indiscretion.

    I have just seen Newport, who says it is impossible. He is just
    come from Dropmore, and gives a good account of Lord G----. Lord
    Liverpool I hear is quite firm about Wellesley; how the Chancellor
    will act upon it remains to be seen; the question must now come to
    an issue.

    We expect much effect from Robinson's first essay on Friday.
    Canning has done remarkably well as yet, and gives great
    satisfaction. Nothing can prevent the mad war of the French.

    Ever most faithfully,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Feb. 10, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The Dublin jury were out for six hours, and then requested the
    judge to dismiss them, for they could not come to a decision. They
    were of course remanded, and ordered to be locked up till the next
    morning. We shall probably next hear of their fighting among
    themselves. Lady Rossman, in her evidence (ninety years of age),
    says it must have been an older woman than herself to be frightened
    by such a proceeding at the theatre.

    I heard to-day (_quite private_) that a demur arises as to
    Huskisson's appointment to the Board of Trade, he being agent to
    Ceylon, and in that capacity a continual suitor on the part of the
    island to the Board. The agency is 1200_l._, the Presidentship
    _nil_. He therefore of course will not hesitate, should it be found
    to be a vital objection. It makes no difference as to his election.

    Banks stands for Dorsetshire, _vice_ Portman, dead; it it not
    known yet if any other person stands. No further news.

    Ever, &c.,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Feb. 10, 1823.

    Nothing more decisive has, I believe, arrived from France; and the
    latest account from Ireland is, that at eight o'clock on Friday
    night the jury were considering their verdict.

    I shall not be surprised if the evening papers obtain the result,
    though it may not reach Peel till to-morrow.

    The war-whoop of Opposition may possibly have some effect towards
    frightening old Louis, and in that case it may be useful, but I
    trust there is little chance of its communicating its effects
    either in the Cabinet or Parliament on this side the water. Canning
    will, I believe, return in time to take his seat to-morrow.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Feb. 11, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The newspapers will tell you the result of the Dublin trials, but
    we have had no letters, and know nothing of Plunket's intentions.
    The report is that the Orangemen are quite triumphant and insolent.
    What line C----g intends to take I do not know, but I have observed
    that he never omits an opportunity of quizzing the Bottle Plot, and
    that all his friends ridicule Wellesley on every opportunity.

    Stocks are down to 73-1/2, but we have nothing new either from
    Paris or Madrid.

    Ever yours affectionately,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Feb. 13, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    We are, I believe, going to augment our estimates from 21,000 to
    25,000 seamen, which it is thought will be sufficient to protect
    our neutrality in the contest which now seems all but certain.

    I am glad to say that the increase of the number of judges is
    consented to, and the measures of a third assize, the alteration of
    the Welsh Judicature, and the appointment of a Committee of Lords,
    with certain judges as assessors, are to be consequent upon it.

    We are also to increase the efficiency of secondary punishments by
    sending convicts to different parts of our colonies, there to be
    employed in hard-labour; the worst to Sierra Leone; and to diminish
    the number of offences liable to capital punishment.

    I expect Plunket every hour. He sailed from Dublin on Monday night,
    and I should think ought at latest to have been in town to-day. The
    remarks mentioned in my last have been general enough to have
    produced much observation, and they are, I am told, attributed
    rather to disinclination to the _master_ than the man.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Feb. 15, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    No one who does not reside the greatest part of his time in London,
    can possess real influence in public affairs. Lord Chatham at
    Hayes, and Lord Grenville at Dropmore, neither of them half your
    distance, are instances of the loss of political consequence at a
    time when from the extreme multiplication of correspondence,
    Parliamentary inquiries, &c., every single department was not
    over-worked and over-occupied to the degree they now are. There
    really now is no time even for communication among the different
    members of the Government, each member of which manages his own
    department almost without interference from his colleagues, except
    when he thinks it necessary to call a Cabinet on any point of
    peculiar importance.

    Plunket arrived yesterday evening, and I have had a long
    conversation with him to-day. He is harassed and fatigued to a
    great degree by all he has lately been going through. The
    dismissals of Sir C. Vernon, St. George, and Stanhope, have taken
    place since he left Dublin, he having dissuaded Lord W----y
    strongly from the removal of the former before he went, and as he
    thought with success, he being just the good-natured, silly animal
    whom everybody would compassionate, and the women in particular.

    The particular offence is their presence at the Beef-steak Club,
    where the _Chancellor and Commander-in-Chief_ also dined, when the
    Lord-Lieutenant was drunk to the tune of "Now Phoebus sinketh in
    the west," with dead silence, and Lord Talbot with great applause;
    and afterwards the toast, which you will read in the _Courier_.

    Now really, as the Dublin paper observes, for poor Charley Vernon
    to have got up, and in the presence of the Chancellor and Lord
    Combermere to have objected to the toast which they joined in
    because the Lord-Lieutenant was clearly the person who wished to
    "_subvert the constitution_," would have been rather a strong
    measure; and it seems pitiful to resent conduct in the Chamberlain,
    because he was part of his household, which the Lord-Lieutenant
    dare not notice in the Chancellor.

    He [Plunket] has seen Liverpool, who, as is usual with him, dealt
    in generals, and avoided any particular conversation on the late
    events.

    It seems to me that the proposition for extending the Act against
    secret and affiliated societies to Ireland (which has not yet been
    decided upon by the Cabinet) will probably bring the matter to an
    upshot. If that is agreed to, it will be evident that the
    Government are determined to support Lord Wellesley, and if not,
    that they are willing to resign Ireland to the tyranny of the
    lodges.

    Plunket describes the flame in Dublin as beyond description, and
    regretted Wellesley being surrounded by a set of people totally
    incapable of assisting or advising him, and who merely carry
    rumours to irritate him.

    I have no time to write more.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


The Duke of Buckingham having accepted a proposal made to him to
preside at the anniversary meeting on St. Patrick's day, wrote to the
Duke of Clarence to obtain for the festival the advantage of his Royal
Highness's presence, who thus replied:--


    H.R.H. THE DUKE OF CLARENCE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Bushey House, Feb. 10, 1823.
    Late at night.

    DEAR DUKE,

    I have this instant received your Grace's letter of yesterday, and
    can only observe that in general I decline dinners of the kind
    mentioned in that epistle; however, my profession has carried me to
    Ireland more than once, and particularly when I was in the sister
    kingdom in the year 1787 I experienced those attentions which time
    cannot obliterate from my memory. I esteem and value Ireland, and
    wish her well from the bottom of my heart. I am confident the
    meeting on St. Patrick's day ought to be one of charity and good
    humour, and totally void of those politics which unfortunately
    distract that unhappy country; in your Grace's hands, I am sure the
    business will be ably conducted to the utter exclusion of topics
    which might produce discord, and I shall be happy, as Earl of
    Munster, to assist your Grace in supporting the object of charity,
    and in preserving harmony and unanimity on the 17th of next March;
    till then adieu, and

    Ever believe me, dear Duke,

    Yours sincerely,

    WILLIAM.


The imprudence of Lord Wellesley had become the subject of much comment
even among his Lordship's friends, and somewhat embarrassed his
colleagues in the English Cabinet. He excited in Dublin considerable
opposition, in which more than one person in authority, with whom he
ought to have cultivated the most friendly relations, made himself
conspicuous.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office Feb. 17, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I very much agree in the view which you take of the situation of
    Lord Wellesley, and what I intended to convey to you was a
    disapprobation of his having SWOOPED at such small birds, when the
    Chancellor and Commander-in-Chief crowed in his face. He had only
    to decide between the course of entirely overlooking the
    transaction, and that of requiring _their_ dismission.

    You will see the tone assumed by the _Courier_ to-night is
    obviously with the intention of forcing the Orange part of the
    Government into action. A Cabinet will be held to-morrow, when I
    think the matter cannot fail to be brought forward.

    Wellesley has played his cards wretchedly, particularly in not
    communicating with anybody. I really believe that by a contrary
    course he might have carried Peel with him. He has not even, I
    understand, written to the King, whom he ought to have treated as
    his sheet-anchor.

    The information which you give me of the ascendancy of the Orange
    faction in every department of Government, is strongly confirmed by
    Plunket. His view is, that if the Act against secret and affiliated
    societies is passed, it should be considered as the manifestation
    of the resolution of Government, and be followed up by a private
    communication that all persons in office who endeavour to evade it
    and continue members of Orange Lodges, should be dismissed.

    Canning appears engrossed in his own department, and certainly does
    not seem to place confidence in any of his colleagues but
    Liverpool. With Peel I have made much progress, and find him in
    general more fair, more manly, and more statesmanlike in his views
    than I had at all hoped.

    I think it clear that either Lord Wellesley or Lord Manners must be
    recalled. I still hope it will be the latter, but either way it
    must decide what the future character and bearing of the
    Administration is to be, and drive out one part of it.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. WILLIAMS WYNN.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Feb. 18, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    In consequence of the very agitated state of Ireland, and the
    certainty that the debate, instead of relating to the Catholic
    question, would have wholly turned upon the late proceedings in
    Dublin, it was generally thought at a meeting which this morning
    was held at Plunket's, that it would be advisable to postpone it
    till after Easter, and in consequence, Plunket, on the application
    of Newport and Canning, has just deferred it till Thursday, the
    17th of April.

    The paragraph in the _Courier_ is disclaimed by everybody, and
    will, I trust, lead to the breaking off of all connexion between
    that paper and Government.

    I have heard nothing more on the subject of Ireland, but have
    talked with some of my colleagues, who seem to feel as strongly as
    I do the necessity of the removal of the Chancellor. You shall hear
    when I know anything more.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, Feb. 19, Four o'clock.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    The difficulties of Ireland are complicated in every way, but I am
    quite sure the Government must stand firm to Lord Wellesley on the
    present occasion. The recalling him would be such a complete
    victory to Orangeism, that it would of necessity break up the
    Government; but I understand the Cabinet have no difference on this
    point, and in admitting "that in no instance has Lord Wellesley
    exceeded his instructions." Whether he has fulfilled them
    judiciously, is another question. Again, if Lord Manners is
    recalled, the difficulty of fulfilling the engagement to Plunket,
    of giving him the Seals, is almost insurmountable, for it would
    then be a complete victory to the Catholic; and if any other man
    were named, it would be a complete quarrel with Plunket; so that
    altogether it is a fine mash; and in my opinion will only be got
    over by leaving them both to reconcile their differences, and
    giving Plunket a good opportunity, which he will not fail to avail
    himself of, to make his statement of the whole of his proceedings
    to Parliament. I have little doubt that this will set up Lord
    Wellesley again. At present he is run down with the greatest
    activity by every hanger-on and agent of the Protestant part of the
    Government. I hear Peel behaves very well indeed, and is perfectly
    moderate and well-judging upon the whole question.

    We expect a desperate attack to-day, but I have no doubt we shall
    have a good division. Notwithstanding, _entre nous_, it appears to
    be an infernal job.

    Ever most faithfully,

    W. H. F.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Feb. 19, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    It gives me great pleasure to hear of your coming to town, but it
    is fair to say that when I wrote on Monday, I attached an
    importance to the article in the _Courier_ which I am since
    convinced it was not entitled to, and that it is equally
    disapproved by all the principal members of the Government.

    Still this will not be known in Ireland, and its effect there will
    be most mischievous. _I think_ the result will be the removal of
    the Chancellor; but Peel, with whom I have had most conversation,
    complains extremely of Wellesley's not having written to him a
    line, or I believe to any other person, on the state of Ireland or
    any of the late events. He says most truly, "The Lord-Lieutenant
    has a clear right to dismiss any of his household with or without a
    reason, but can we from that infer his feelings respecting the
    Chancellor, or can the Government take any steps on mere newspaper
    reports?" From Plunket's report I believe that the Lord-Lieutenant
    and Chancellor are on as bad terms as possible, and that it is
    notorious to all Dublin. The public good _demands_ that decisive
    measures should be taken, but it is really hard upon the English
    Ministers to expect them to originate them without a request or
    intimation from the person in whose department they are, and who is
    most directly responsible.

    If anything is now done, he [Lord Wellesley] will, you well know,
    make a merit of his not having complained against Lord Manners, and
    declare that he never wished his removal.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.


The Duke of Buckingham thought it necessary to write to Lord Wellesley
in a friendly spirit, on his recent proceedings, to which the
Lord-Lieutenant made the following reply:--


    THE LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Phoenix Park, Feb. 21, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I received with the utmost degree of gratitude and satisfaction
    your Grace's most kind and generous letter, which my long (but as
    you know) involuntary silence did not merit.

    Your Grace's reasoning is most just, and all your observations
    judicious and useful. In a few days I hope to be able (by a safe
    hand) to send a more full and explicit answer to your letter. In
    the meanwhile, I will shortly state that I hope the extension to
    Ireland of the provisions of the Act 38th George III. will not be
    delayed: that the removal of some officers of the household was
    absolutely necessary for the maintenance even of my _private_
    honour. V---- is an old offender, and had received menaces of
    dismission several times for disrespect to the King, Lord
    Cornwallis, Lord Whitworth, Lord Wellesley, &c.

    A great military commander made such explanations at a private
    audience granted to him at his request, that it would be impossible
    to complain of his conduct. He is not very quick of comprehension,
    and probably was not apprised of the intention to insult. A great
    law officer was with me, and _now_ declares that _he_ never
    arraigned the _legality_ of any of the late proceedings from
    October to the close of the trials, but did not approve the policy
    of those proceedings.

    It is not just now the moment for investigating his conduct. The
    first objects are a full discussion and judgment on the conduct of
    my Government during the time which has elapsed from 1st January,
    1822, to the present hour, and an extension of the 38th of the late
    King to Ireland.

    I am most happy to hear that our dear and inestimable friend Lord
    Grenville recovers so rapidly.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Yours with true affection,

    WELLESLEY.




CHAPTER XII.

[1823.]

NEW APPOINTMENTS. LORD WELLESLEY'S REPRESENTATIONS RESPECTING THE STATE
OF IRELAND. THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT THE LORD-LIEUTENANT. MR. PLUNKET'S
EXPLANATIONS. ILLNESS OF THE KING. THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SUGGESTION.
AN IRISH QUESTION. TRIUMPH OF MR. PLUNKET. PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES.
QUARREL BETWEEN MR. CHARLES W. WYNN AND MR. PEEL. THE DUKE OF
WELLINGTON'S OPINION OF MR. CANNING. HIS GRACE A PEACE-MAKER. BOASTFUL
SPEECH ATTRIBUTED TO MR. PITT.




CHAPTER XII.


The changes that had taken place in the Government this year comprised
the appointment of the Right Hon. Frederick John Robinson as Chancellor
and Under Treasurer of the Exchequer, the Right Hon. William Huskisson
as Treasurer of the Navy, and the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart as
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, he was also raised to the Peerage
by the title of Baron Bexley. Mr. Henry Watkin Williams Wynn had also
been gazetted Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the
King of Wurtemberg. The debates in the two Houses of the Legislature
did not indicate any pressing necessity for more important alterations,
the principal subject being the reduction of the National Debt, the
Tithe System in Ireland, and the Irish Volunteer Corps; the last two
giving occasion for attacks on the proceedings of the Government in
Ireland. On these points the President of the Board of Control will be
found sufficiently communicative.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, March 4, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Lord W----'s answer has at length just arrived, and is rather an
    extraordinary one. He professes himself still decidedly of opinion
    that the extension of the Act against secret societies is
    necessary, but indifferent as to the time of its being brought
    forward. He dwells, however, much on the importance and utility of
    Abercromby's motion, and urges a full Parliamentary inquiry into
    the condition of Ireland, the nature of the Orange societies, and
    of the impediments his Government has met with. In short, if
    instead of a private it were a public one, I should think that he
    was making a preparatory case of grievance prior to resignation, to
    be hereafter moved for in Parliament.

    Nothing was decided in the Cabinet yesterday, which in the hope of
    receiving this despatch was adjourned till to-morrow; but I flatter
    myself the result will be to announce that we are prepared to bring
    forward the proposed measure, though I fear this notice will be
    accompanied by explanations from P---- which will provoke a debate,
    and make it necessary for each of us to state his separate views. I
    regret the discussion on general grounds, but most on account of
    Plunket.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    I conclude, among so large a party as that at Strathfield-saye, you
    will have had little opportunity of conversation with your host.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, March 5, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Just returned from Cabinet, and going to the House. The
    determination, unanimous and quite satisfactory, to announce our
    own intention of bringing forward, immediately after Easter, a Bill
    to enforce the laws against secret societies, founded on the
    Lord-Lieutenant's despatches of November and January last, and
    fortified by what has since passed, and a general declaration of
    support to the Irish Government.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.

    The letter I mentioned yesterday recommended inquiry and public
    discussion, for the purpose of placing in the broadest light the
    condition of Ireland, the nature of secret societies, the whole
    conduct of the Government, and of those who have thwarted and
    opposed it!! The two brothers strongly condemn the conduct of the
    third.[110]

      [110] The Duke of Wellington, Lord Maryborough, and the Marquis
      Wellesley.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    March 6, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    My letter of yesterday will have prepared you for the debate, of
    which you will read the account in the papers. Undoubtedly the best
    course would have been to have given the notice of our intended
    Bill in the first instance, and so have precluded the debate, but
    P----[111] would not then have had the opportunity of making his
    explanation, to which he attached much importance.

    Part of his speech was good, but he showed too much anxiety to
    justify himself and prove his own consistency, and a sort of
    soreness which conveyed, I find, pretty generally, the idea that he
    was acting on compulsion, which the Purple (Orange is not an
    epithet strong enough) speech of his brother-in-law and
    Under-Secretary strongly confirmed.

    Canning expressed well and decidedly the concurrence and union of
    the Governments of England and Ireland. Altogether we have got
    through the business _so far_, more smoothly than I had
    anticipated. I remained silent, as you advised. When I spoke of
    unanimity yesterday, I should have excepted W. W. P----,[112] who
    was too apprehensive of the consequences of the measure in the
    north, to be swayed by paternal regard. Plunket continues to look
    wretchedly ill, and from his own account of constant headaches,
    &c., I cannot help feeling uneasy about him.

    We have not for some time had any discussion on foreign politics,
    but I quite concur in the view which my uncles, the Duke, and you
    all take of it, except that I could not _swallow_ any permanent
    occupation of Spain by France without great difficulty.

    Ever yours,

    C. W. W.

      [111] Mr. Plunket.

      [112] William Wellesley Pole, created in 1821 Baron Maryborough.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, March 7, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    It is true that there be many things which may arise between this
    and the end of the Session, but at present the one point upon which
    all the House of Commons seems to agree is, that we are the _best_
    and WISEST Ministers since the days of Lord Burleigh, and we only
    stand in need of fans to hide our blushes when our modesty is so
    severely put to the proof by the compliments of the opposite side.

    Seriously, the effect of the two last nights' debates, if properly
    taken advantage of by Wellesley, ought to place his Government for
    some time upon velvet, particularly when accompanied by the humble
    Palinodia of the Chancellor to the beef-steaks, which, I must
    confess, in despite of all regard for an old friend, seems somewhat
    contemptible. W---- has again the cards in his own hand if he knows
    how to play them, but the next _revoke_ will be fatal to him
    if it soon occurs.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, March 12, 1823.

    I have little now to tell you, my dear B----, but that on Monday a
    private letter was written to W---- by Peel, with the concurrence
    of the Cabinet, containing strong assurances of support, but
    stating at the same time an opinion that the evidence did not
    warrant the committal for an attempt to murder, or the language of
    the addresses or answers, and terminating with a recommendation of
    endeavours to secure the co-operation of persons of influence and
    consequence, whatever their persuasions or opinions might be.
    Altogether it had too much the tone of a lecture, but was so
    strongly supported by the brethren, that as there was no particular
    part I could say that I disapproved, after some modifications which
    I suggested, I acquiesced in it. The accounts which you give me of
    the D----'s language certainly seem to tally with his conduct, but
    yet I cannot conceive what possible arrangement he can look to to
    remove him; to recall him would really be a signal of civil war;
    and I do not see to what place he could be removed, but to the
    Cabinet or to Paris. For the latter, he would be particularly
    unfit, and it would not be easy to make room for him in the former
    but by removing Westmoreland, which I conclude the Lowthers, &c.,
    would resent in a manner which would be inconvenient.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


Although the current of politics seemed to be getting smoother, much
uneasiness existed at Court in consequence of the King's state of
health, which is thus described:--


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Brighton, April 4, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I came here for a few days during the Easter, fortunately after the
    Pavilion party had broken up, or probably I should not have found a
    room at the hotel. I merely write to give you the gossip of the
    King; the papers would make you believe he is quite well, but
    _tout au contraire_, he has appeared not more than twice or
    three times, and for the last three days has been in his bed. He
    held his Council yesterday in bed, and during this last visit of
    the Duke of York, he has never been out of his bed or bedroom. You
    may rely upon it he is most extremely unwell, and I take it to be a
    complete break up; he is low to a degree, and his expressions
    yesterday, while the Council were sitting in his bedroom, were most
    melancholy. The Council consisted of Lord Bathurst, Colchester,
    Conyngham, Becket, and Vice-Chancellor, who was here by accident. I
    suppose if they had wanted another they would have sent for me.
    There is no party at the Pavilion, and everything looks glum and
    melancholy.

    Ever, &c.,

    W. H. F.


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, April 10, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I imagine that Lord Liverpool's statement of Monday will scarcely
    be allowed to pass off without reply. Indeed it will afford a fine
    opportunity for dealing in general assertion and declamation. But
    if it should, I imagine that the Opposition will be the side to fix
    upon the time and nature of any ulterior proceeding. We don't
    propose to make any further proposition. Indeed, I doubt the
    expediency and propriety of doing what we are about to do without
    previous motion.

    I don't recollect Mr. Henry Murray. But that is not surprising,
    considering that there are so many in the same situation who apply
    to me.

    I hear that the King is now better. Could you not write to Sir W.
    Knighton, and recommend to his attention your course of regimen,
    &c.? He is not now the King's medical adviser; but he is not a
    person to mount his horse upon such a letter being written to him;
    and I am certain that such a letter from you will be received as an
    affectionate attention, even though it should not produce any other
    effect.

    Believe me, ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


The smoothness of the political current did not long continue; a
passage in one of Mr. Charles Wynn's numerous communications thus
describes its disturbance:--


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    April 10, 1823.

    It is a time when it is necessary to press for all the exertion to
    which Lord L---- can be spirited up to resist the motion of
    Brownlow on Tuesday next, which will receive a most formidable
    support from the Opposition, the Irish Orange members, and the
    irritated English Protestant country gentlemen.

    Macnaghten has already tendered his resignation (but now says he
    will wait to hear Pl----'s explanation), which, connected as he is
    with Lord Hertford, is somewhat ominous. O'Neill is expected to do
    the same.

    Opposition, notwithstanding a considerable schism among themselves,
    are, I hear, elated with the expectation of carrying the question.
    Lord Grey and the Mountain are most eager. Mackintosh, on the
    contrary, promises to attend and speak. Calcraft, Michael Angelo
    [Taylor], Grenfell, Ricardo, Newport, Rice, and some others, will
    support Plunket. Abercrombie is, I hear, undecided. But what is
    material is that it should be considered that all who vote with
    Brownlow are declaring direct hostility against the Government, and
    that a censure upon the Irish Administration is a censure upon the
    English, which supports and continues it.

    I think we shall certainly have a good deal of desultory debate on
    Monday, when the papers are produced, after Canning's detailed
    explanation and statement; but as Lord Althorpe's motion for the
    repeal of the Foreign Enlistment Bill stands for Wednesday, that
    will open a better vent for the comments upon the papers when they
    have been read. I feel little doubt, however, that the Opposition
    will originate some question in both Houses upon them, especially
    when they are accompanied with the news of passing the Bidassoa.

    The Duke of Norfolk is, I hear, very indignant at the intention of
    Opposition to vote against Plunket, and threatens to break with
    them.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


Mr. Fremantle wrote the next day as usual, _de omnibus rebus_.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office. April 11, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I find we are in a great fright about Plunket's motion on the 16th.
    The Opposition are fortunately split upon it, but our _country_
    support is very slack upon it, and if Plunket don't make a better
    case than he did before, we shall be in a scrape--in fact, it will
    come to the question of whether the Irish Government is to stand or
    fall, or whether the Catholic or Protestant is to have exclusive
    powers.

    You may be assured the K---- is breaking up. He may rally for a
    short time, but he has no stamina to resist attacks of the gout
    constantly prevailing in his habit. I have this from an authority I
    cannot doubt. He was in his bed the whole time I was at Brighton,
    from Wednesday to Monday, and I believe has not been out since. I
    am assured here that the markets are rising, and along the coast
    where I pursued my trip--I mean at Hastings, E. Bourne, &c.--the
    markets were improving greatly, and the corn rising. If you are not
    in town on Monday, I will let you know what passes in Canning's
    explanation.

    The Duc d'Angoulême is thought to have started well, as far as his
    orders go, but the impression in town is still that France cannot
    succeed. I have not seen or heard what Fitz Roy Somerset says upon
    it, but he gives the most lamentable account of the state of the
    Constitutional Spaniards' preparation. Never was anything so
    disorganized, so wanting altogether in preparation, concord, or
    means.

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--I cannot get you Canning's papers before Monday, for there is
    so much erasure, and change, and discussion in them, that you may
    depend upon it they will not be ready till the moment of their
    presentation.


To these extracts may be added the following communications:--


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, April 14, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    We continue to be most nervous about the result of to-morrow. There
    is a disinclination to attend among the friends of Government which
    is alarming. The resignations of Barry and Macnaghten, the latter
    in particular, who is supposed to be as fond of money as any man,
    are strong indications of the violence of Orange feeling.

    P---- has with great difficulty kept his _beau frère_, Dawson,
    from pursuing the same course. At the same time, he and Lord G.
    Beresford have done all the mischief they could by their
    conversation and language.

    Lord Grey has been particularly active to stimulate the Opposition
    to violent hostility and censure, but it was supposed yesterday,
    that in order to avoid the hazard of a permanent and acrimonious
    split, they would all unite in favour of inquiry as a _mezzo
    termino_. Should this be the case, it is almost certain we shall
    find ourselves in a decided minority; still, the infinite evil
    attendant upon an inquiry, the irritation which it would create in
    Ireland, are considerations so weighty that we all think it better
    to be beaten on such a question than to concede it.

    We are trying in secret to stimulate Wilberforce, Wortley, Acland,
    &c., to take the line of rising immediately after Plunket has
    concluded his defence, deprecating discussion as likely to
    exasperate and prolong the inflammation of both parties, and then
    proposing an adjournment. This I think is a course which the
    country gentlemen in general would be disposed to fall into, and
    which would be adopted by several of those who are equally disposed
    to avoid offending their Orange constituents and the Government.

    It is in itself far from desirable to meet a censure by anything
    but a direct negative, but I think that such an expedient is, on
    the whole, preferable to the chance of defeat either on censure or
    inquiry.

    The papers were not ready yesterday. We had some of the proofs at
    the Cabinet yesterday, but they were not then arranged or in any
    forwardness. I think it so likely that they may not be sent to the
    House of Commons till too late for the post, that I have desired
    Fremantle to go to Planta and beg that a copy may be sent down to
    you from the Foreign Office. I cannot conceive that any regular
    debate can take place to-night; some observations may be made, but
    it is obvious that they must wait till they have read the papers
    and compared them with Canning's speech, before they can really
    proceed to any discussion of the conduct of Government.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Wednesday.

    Nothing, my dear B----, could be more satisfactory than the result
    of last night. The triumph of Plunket was complete. He addressed a
    House evidently unfavourably disposed to him, and for the first
    hour we could scarcely raise a decent cheer to encourage him. It
    then became evident that he was making progress, and he proceeded
    till the applause fairly rung from every part of the House, and his
    adversaries, who had every reason to expect a majority, found it
    impossible even to venture on a division. On his account I wish
    more confidence had been placed in the effect of his speech, and
    that it had been determined to meet the motion with a direct
    negative, but the extreme reluctance of the majority of the friends
    of Government to pledge themselves beforehand to any course more
    decided than the orders of the day, would have made it too
    hazardous. In one respect the line adopted is fortunate, as it
    enables us the better to resist Burdett's motion for inquiry on
    Tuesday.

    Canning's speech on Monday would have been a very good one for an
    independent member who spoke his own sentiments only, but ill
    suited the character of a Minister for Foreign Affairs. Such a
    speech in the Chamber of Deputies from Chateaubriand with regard to
    England, would at some periods disable an English Administration
    from maintaining neutrality. I conclude that the discussion of the
    papers in the House of Lords, of which Lord Grey gave notice, will
    bring you to town.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, April 16, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I find you do not come till Thursday or Friday, I therefore send
    you a few lines to say how triumphantly the business went off
    yesterday. Brownlow made a very eloquent and able speech, but
    Plunket's explanation was perfectly satisfactory and convincing to
    the House, and the general feeling was decidedly in favour of
    crushing all further discussion upon it. The friends of Government
    had been summoned in the morning by Canning, and then a very calm
    and friendly communication took place, in which the violent
    Orangeists, I mean Sir George Hill, Dawson, &c. &c., all concurred
    in the propriety of preventing, if possible, any decision being
    pronounced upon the question, which could only go to the increase
    of the irritation and violence now existing, and could be of no
    advantage, but on the contrary the greatest disadvantage, to
    Ireland; and accordingly the motion of Courtenay's was suggested
    and unanimously approved; I must, however, do Peel the justice to
    say, that he distinctly stated that if the result of the debate was
    to be an opinion on Plunket's conduct, he should not hesitate one
    moment in giving his heartfelt and sincere opinion in favour of the
    proceeding he had adopted.

    In the House, Plunket laboured, I think, a good deal in bringing
    his precedents to bear on the subject, and showed infinite
    dexterity in all this part of his argument; but when he came to the
    whole of the proceedings of the Grand Jury and the High Sheriff, he
    carried the House along with him, and ended his speech with the
    unanimous feeling of the House in his favour; indeed, I am not sure
    but that we might have carried a decided negative; however,
    altogether it is better as it is, more particularly as Plunket is
    equally satisfied.

    The King comes to town to-day, and I understand has made up his
    mind to hold a drawing-room, and sit during the time; I doubt even
    his ability to do this, if he has not greatly mended since I left
    Brighton. We shall lose the Catholic question to-morrow, at least
    this is my opinion; the state of Ireland, and of parties in that
    country, has made a great alteration in opinions of those who were
    not very stout upon it before.

    The papers which have been presented to Parliament regarding the
    negotiations at Verona, and Paris, and Madrid, are considered so
    far satisfactory as to meet the feelings of the country in
    maintaining a neutrality--that is, in avoiding to commit England to
    any share in hostilities; but I should say that they have given an
    impression that we were duped by the French Government up to the
    moment of the King's Speech, and even afterwards, and that the tone
    maintained by England throughout the whole of the proceedings was
    not sufficiently high and commanding. There is also throughout the
    whole of the negotiations, a continued exertion on the part of
    England to induce the Spaniards to give way by some modification of
    their constitution, without a corresponding attempt to induce
    France to remove her army. The Opposition think that the papers
    altogether afford them a very good case; no notice is yet given in
    the House of Commons upon the subject, but probably there will
    to-day or to-morrow.

    Adieu, my dear Duke,

    Ever most truly yours,

    W. H. F.

    P.S.--I fear poor General Grenville cannot last many days, he is
    considerably worse.


General Grenville died a short time after the date of this letter. He
was the younger brother of Lord Glastonbury, and therefore the second
son of Mr. James Grenville.

The state of our foreign relations began to create some uneasiness in
the public mind; indeed, a grave complication was arising, that
demanded the exercise of the profoundest statesmanship to treat in a
manner worthy the reputation of this country.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, April 17, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    My letter of yesterday will show you that we do not disagree in
    principle as to the speech of Monday night. I cannot conceive a
    course more derogatory to the dignity or contrary to the interest
    of two great nations, than for the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to
    animadvert on the conduct of each other's Government, as those of
    England and France have done.

    Still, I am very far from viewing it in the light which it has on
    the first impression appeared to you, nor can I participate in your
    apprehensions of its leading to the withdrawal of the Minister of
    the Court of France, or that it will be considered tantamount to a
    declaration of war.

    Lord Grenville concurs in disapprobation of the speeches, but not
    to the degree which you seem to feel, and expresses his opinion
    that "the papers are, on the whole, satisfactory, and the last
    instructions _good_."

    You have not stated what your objections to them are, and therefore
    it is impossible for me to address myself to meet them.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    I fear that we have not a chance of success to-night.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, April 18, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    You will see by the papers the turbulent discussion we had last
    night. I was not in the House till afterwards, and therefore can
    only give you what I heard of the impression made, which was
    altogether favourable to Canning. His want of temper was condemned
    in the first instance, but at the same time it is thought that it
    will be most beneficial in stopping those strains of invective and
    abuse which are daily increasing, and likely still more to increase
    if not put down. The fact is, that the Opposition have been buoying
    themselves up with the hope and expectation of connexion and
    friendship with Canning--they now see this to be visionary, and are
    determined to try and drive a dissention in the Cabinet by
    violence; and in this they are encouraged by the language held, and
    general conduct of the Chancellor.

    Wynn made an indiscreet speech, as far as it regarded Peel, but I
    hope nothing will arise from it--indeed, there is no reason to fear
    there may, as the explanation was perfectly satisfactory. As to our
    Catholic question, it is gone to the d----l, and what is to be the
    result of this I have not a guess.

    With regard to the negotiations, I perfectly agree with you that
    nothing can display greater weakness than the papers do; but the
    feeling in the country is so strong in favour of neutrality and of
    the Spaniards, and also the feeling of Parliament, that you may
    rely on it the Government will come out of the discussion
    triumphantly. I do not entertain the smallest idea that France will
    carry her resentment so far against Canning's and Lord Liverpool's
    speeches as to recall her Minister, or to think of quarrelling with
    us. I can understand your feeling with regard to their declarations
    in favour of the revolutionary Spanish Government; but however you
    may feel, depend upon it no Minister, no Government, and no man is
    powerful enough in this country, either in political or personal
    character, to stand up to fight the battle of the Ultras. I should
    say that the King and the Duke of York would do so if they could
    find the means, but these are impossible, and the public odium
    which would follow such an attempt would be fatal to any man or set
    of men.

    There will certainly be a Levee on the 21st, and I suppose a
    Drawing-room. I take it for granted some notice will be given
    to-day in our House of a motion on the papers. As I shall see you
    so soon, I will add no more.

    Yours truly,

    W. H. F.


The relations between France and Spain continued to attract very great
attention, both in and out of Parliament, and not only were suggestive
questions asked of the Government as to this country being bound by
treaty to support the Bourbons in France, but the Earl of Liverpool in
the House of Lords, and Mr. Canning in the House of Commons, while
producing papers illustrating the late negotiations at Vienna, Paris,
and Madrid, gave an exposition of affairs that strongly reflected on
the conduct of the French Ministers. A still more important debate on
the same subject came on on the 24th of April, in which Lord Grenville
and the Duke of Buckingham spoke in favour of Ministers.

The question of the Catholic claims came on for discussion in the House
of Commons on the 17th of April, but Mr. Plunket went through the usual
arguments in favour of the Catholic claims with less than the ordinary
amount of success, and the last of these motions of adjournment was
carried by 333 to 111. In a subsequent debate, a misunderstanding
between Mr. Peel and Mr. Charles Williams Wynn, as to the system on
which each considered Ireland was to be governed, threatened serious
consequences, according to the following representations:--


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, Ten o'clock.

    I have been here from ten, and am going to the Aylesbury
    Commission, or should have called on you. I met the Duke of
    Wellington yesterday in the Park, who had been sent to by Lord
    Liverpool in the morning, to discuss the question regarding Wynn
    and Peel. He threw the whole blame on Lord Liverpool for not having
    originally shown the papers to Peel, but said that it could not
    lead to ultimate quarrels--that Lord Liverpool must interfere, and
    that he, the Duke, was to see Peel _this morning_. It appears to
    me, from the Duke's language, that the discussion and the
    settlement of the difference must now proceed from Lord Liverpool,
    as it is the complaint of Peel against him for not being apprised
    of the terms on which we came into the Government. The Duke
    appeared to entertain no doubt of settling it amicably, but my
    object, pressed upon him, was to take care it should be done
    speedily, and that no public appearance of difference should be
    manifested in the House of Commons. Probably you have seen the Duke
    of Wellington before you receive this. A good speech from you in
    the House of Lords to-night would be more likely to strengthen us
    and set us right than anything else.

    W. H. F.

    The Duke of Wellington had never seen the correspondence till
    yesterday, when shown to him by Lord Liverpool.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Stanhope Street, May 31, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I met the Duke of Wellington this morning, and had a great deal of
    conversation with him of a most confidential nature. He began it by
    asking if you had left town, saying he had received your letter,
    and had taken immediate steps for bringing matters right between
    C---- and W----.[113] That "I knew perfectly well how ticklish a
    gentleman the former was, and how difficult to manage, and with how
    little ground he was in the habit of taking exception; that in this
    case he knew he could have no ground, but on the contrary he
    (C----) ought and must know, that he owed W---- every attention and
    kindness for the manly and decided manner you had acted on the
    proposal of taking him into office after the death of Lord
    L----."[114] I found evidently that the Duke of W---- disliked C----,
    for he could not resist the pleasure of attacking and condemning
    him in many points of his conduct since he has held the Seals, and
    entered at large into it in a manner that I cannot well detail in a
    letter, going through his quarrel with the Chancellor, and what had
    since occurred in an attempt which the Duke had made to reconcile
    them, and in which he thought C---- had behaved with great want of
    judgment and temper; again, in his conduct about Spain, and on the
    questions regarding Ireland; but with all this (admitting of
    course), his value to the Government, and the necessity of keeping
    him in good humour if possible. It was most satisfactory to hear
    him say, that the whole of Wynn's conduct in the Cabinet since he
    had belonged to it had been uniformly conciliatory and temperate,
    and such as had universally given satisfaction, and that he could
    not understand why C---- had taken the exception.

    I see evidently from all this that the K---- still continues to
    feel indisposed to C----, for I am quite sure the language the Duke
    holds is the same held by his Royal Master; and there is another
    view which is not less satisfactory, namely, that he (C----) is not
    sufficiently strong with the Cabinet to carry everything his own
    way. All I should recommend to W----, and which I shall speak to
    him about, is to follow the Duke of W----'s advice in going on, not
    pretending to see the coolness, and leave C---- to amuse himself
    with his own ill-humour.

    I was delighted to hear from Wynn of his Majesty's gracious
    language about you, and at the manner in which he was received, and
    that you have judged quite wisely in writing to express your
    feelings upon it; at the same time I would recommend you not to
    press it further at present, but to see how matters go on, and
    whether anything occurs previous to the prorogation. I still think
    the Chancellor will go when this takes place, but not before, but I
    doubt of the manner in which the law arrangements are to be made.
    The Government are determined to get the Irish Tithes Bills through
    if they can, and Canning told me he thought nothing could be so
    dangerous or desperate as to leave them still hanging over.

    You shall hear from me whenever I hear anything further.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.

      [113] Canning and Wynn.

      [114] Lord Londonderry.


The Duke of Wellington, who undertook the office of peace-maker between
Mr. Canning and Mr. Wynn, refers in the course of the following
communication to the well-known verse--

    "I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,
    The reason why, I cannot tell,
    But this, in truth, I know full well,
    I do not like thee, Dr. Fell."


    THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    London, May 30, 1823.

    MY DEAR D----,

    I received your letter of the 28th, and took steps immediately to
    effect your object. Although not so important as the affair of the
    same description I settled before, it is not so easy, as the
    disposition and manners of the men are very different, and it will
    take more time. But I am at work upon it, and have communicated
    with Lord Liverpool, who agrees with me; and I recommend that
    Charles Wynn should act as usual, and take no notice either of the
    continuance of the contrary state of things, or of any change which
    we may produce. I know there is no reason for the conduct
    complained of, excepting it be the same that was given for the
    dislike of Dr. Fell.

    I will let you know anything that may pass upon this subject; and I
    beg you to

    Believe me,

    Ever yours most sincerely,

    WELLINGTON.


The state of our foreign relations elicited from Lord Grenville the
following characteristic communication, referring to a boastful speech
often attributed to Mr. Pitt.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Dropmore, Tuesday.

    I send the petition by the coach. I believe I mentioned to you my
    wish that nothing should be said upon it, except that you present
    it in my absence on account of illness.

    As I do not at all partake in the _virtuous_ enthusiasm for the
    cause of Jacobinism in Spain, I allow myself to hope that things
    there are going on well. I am entirely of opinion that the war is a
    most unadvised step on the part of France, and that nothing could
    be more impolitic, except our having the folly to mix ourselves in
    the squabble either way by word or deed.

    Some wiseacre in the House of Commons has said that Lord Chatham
    declared that not a gun should be fired in Europe _without his
    leave_. Lord C---- came into office when this country was
    involved in a war in which she had so much the worst of it, that
    all men despaired of the issue. He went out of office before the
    peace was made, and his merit was that he had by his successes in
    the war secured the means of making an advantageous peace.
    Secondly, in which part of his administration did any power of
    Europe take out a licence for shooting from him? Yet this is the
    sort of nonsense that passes current. Adieu.




CHAPTER XIII.

[1823.]

IMPORTANT DEBATES. EXPENSES OF THE CORONATION. STATE OF THE PENINSULA.
MR. PLUNKET'S DISAPPOINTMENT. CONDITION OF IRELAND. DESPATCH FROM THE
LORD-LIEUTENANT. THE KING OF SPAIN AND THE CORTES. MR. CANNING IN THE
HOUSE OF COMMONS. LORD NUGENT'S BILL FOR RESTORING THE FRANCHISE.
FESTIVITIES AT CARLTON HOUSE. THE MARQUIS OF HASTINGS. THE FRENCH IN
SPAIN. LORD ELDON. CANNING. PEEL AND ROBINSON. THE PRESS IN INDIA. THE
KING AT "THE COTTAGE". IRVING AND THE HEAVENLY PAVILION. POLICY OF
AUSTRIA. THE KING IN COUNCIL. SCHISMS IN THE FRENCH CABINET.




CHAPTER XIII.


Lord John Russell brought forward in the House of Commons his motion
for a reform of Parliament, on the 24th of April, which, after an
animated discussion, was negatived by a majority of 280 to 169; but a
more important debate was that which arose out of a motion made by Mr.
J. Macdonald, for an address to the Crown censuring the conduct of
Ministers in the late negotiations with foreign powers. It continued
for three days--28th, 29th, and 30th of the same month--and gave
occasion for the delivery of several effective speeches, particularly
those of Sir James Mackintosh and Mr. Brougham against the Government,
and of Mr. Peel and Mr. Canning in its defence. In the end, however,
the policy of Ministers was endorsed by Parliament, the division being
in their favour by a majority of 372 to 20. A few days later, the
attention of the House was taken up by a charge preferred by Mr.
Plunket against Mr. Thorpe, the High Sheriff of Dublin, for having
caused the bill of indictment against the rioters at the Dublin Theatre
to be ignored. Debate followed debate on this subject, till the House
adjourned about the middle of May. But the subject was resumed on the
23rd and on subsequent days, when a fierce attack was made by
Opposition members on the conduct of Orangemen and on the system they
supported. On the 26th, the motion was rejected in a small House by a
majority of 131 to 77, when Mr. Plunket voted in opposition to
Ministers.

We now resume the correspondence. The first paragraph refers to the
state of affairs in the Peninsula, a complication regarded in England
with increasing anxiety; but the writer, as will be seen, soon passes
to a subject that excited at the time a good deal of interest among the
economists--this was the expenses of the Coronation, some of which, it
is plain, were open to objection. Subsequently, Irish politics--that
had been rendered more interesting since the appointments of the
Marquis Wellesley and Mr. Plunket to two important offices in the
Government of Ireland--began to assume larger dimensions. From these
causes Mr. Canning's position had become anything but a bed of roses.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, June 11, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    All the accounts from Spain speak of the enormous expense to the
    French, and that the most effectual means resorted to to resist the
    invaders consist in the patriotic spirit with which their friends
    draw upon them. They are also distributing money very largely to
    the Portuguese insurgents.

    The spirit of reaction and the cry for the Absolute King, with the
    Inquisition, mean time greatly embarrass them. They have increased
    the columns detached to the south to 20,000 men. Scarcely anything
    is known of what is passing at Seville, and much apprehension is
    entertained for the King's life.

    Hume has given notice of a motion for a committee to examine into
    the Coronation expenses, which is most embarrassing. It must, I
    suppose, be resisted; but true it is that the crown, made up of
    hired jewels, was kept till within the last three weeks, so that
    there will be twenty-two months' hire to be paid, which might have
    been saved, amounting to 11,000_l._ The charge of 24,000_l._ for
    robes is also terrible!


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Whitehall, June 14, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The Duke of Devonshire's motion on the state of Ireland certainly
    comes on on Thursday, but what is to be its precise nature is not
    yet known, probably even to himself. Plunket went to Ireland on
    Thursday, much out of spirits, anticipating all evil from the
    irritation of the two factions, and I fear from the want of energy
    and vigour in him who ought to control them. You will see the
    violent proceedings of the Catholic meeting, and their talk about
    _physical strength_, &c. I am glad to find that Blake, the Catholic
    barrister, is appointed by Lord Wellesley, Deputy Remembrancer of
    the Exchequer, as I think he will be of use in Ireland, and will
    strengthen Plunket's influence.

    I do not wonder that in this weather you are averse to quit the
    country, but I think you are quite right in coming for such an
    occasion as the present, upon which an explanation of your views
    may be extremely useful.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    If you can, pray come on Wednesday. Brougham is on that day to move
    in the House of Commons on presenting the R.C. Petition, and in
    case I should wish to speak, I should particularly like to have
    talked the subject over with you previously, in order that we may
    chime in as far as may be.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, June 17, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    You must not wonder that Plunket did not stop to visit you in his
    way. He has now been four months absent from Ireland, suffering all
    the while from vexation and indifferent health, which have produced
    the effect of making him low and hypochondriac about himself. He
    was convinced nothing but the native breeze of the potatoes could
    revive him, and he was besides not a little uneasy as to the
    consequences of this absence upon his professional business, and
    very anxious again to see his family. Nothing else could, I will
    not say justify, but excuse his turning his back upon the Tithe
    Bill while in the Committee, which I must say it was his duty to
    have stayed if possible to have fought through; but he is
    thoroughly dejected, and often talks of the probability of his
    being obliged to retire.

    Lord Hastings, I apprehend, returns only to see whether he can get
    any better appointment than the mission to Naples, which, as he
    intended to go to Vienna, not a little disappoints him. I am going
    to Cabinet, and if I hear any news, will add it.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    Accounts from Paris mention that an agent has been dispatched from
    Madrid to Seville with arguments _to persuade_ the Cortes to join
    the Royal cause.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, June 25, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    We are getting on, though very slowly. It is thought the session
    will close in three weeks, which I think most probable, as
    everybody is going out of town, and they will not be able to make
    houses. Ireland still hangs upon us, and every day makes it more
    and more alarming. They can get no communication whatever from Lord
    Wellesley. He will not write, and this adds to the perplexity of
    the Government. I have not the least doubt whatever but that in a
    very short time you will see a decided rebellion. It can hardly be
    called less than a general insurrection now. Plunket is gone back
    very sore and very desponding.

    The King is quite re-established, and I hear in very cheerful
    spirits. He has put off the match between Lady Elizabeth Conyngham
    and Lord Aboyne. He does not go to the sea, as I understand, till
    the end of July, and has not yet decided what day he comes to town.

    Canning does nothing in the House, and I think suffers Peel to take
    completely the lead. The Spaniards must ultimately give way, and
    the greatest ridicule is thrown on this subscription and ball now
    going forward. It is exclusively with the Opposition, and will
    fail. It is curious now to observe how those who had not courage at
    the time to support your opinions against the revolutionary
    Government of Spain, are now coming forward and applauding your
    language and opinions. What Canning is doing about it I know not,
    but he is very busy with the diplomacy there. He is disposed to
    appoint Hervey to some other station, in order to get rid of the
    anomaly of a Secretary of Embassy to a Minister (not with the rank
    of Ambassador), but he has great difficulty, having neither pension
    fund nor vacancy at an ambassador's court; therefore, what he will
    do remains to be seen. He cannot remove him without provision, and
    Hervey is ready to return, if required. Lord Salisbury is succeeded
    by Lord Verulam in the Lieutenancy of Hertford. I don't know who
    comes in for Hertford. I cannot tell you how things are going on
    with Wynn, &c., not having had the opportunity lately of
    observing--but I should hope better. I think Canning loses ground
    greatly. He is anything but a leader of the House of Commons.

    The Lords have decided on appointing a Chairman to hear _Scotch
    appeals only_, with a salary--this Chairman to be some eminent
    Scotch judge. The question for the Commons to decide will be the
    _salary_, which the Lord Chancellor will not pay, but which I
    think the Commons will be disposed to fasten upon him.

    I have not heard from Freeling.[115] I take it for granted he will
    not stir a step with regard to the mail coach, without first
    apprizing me, or making some communication to the country.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. F.

    The Lords' Report on this Appeal Committee has been called for by
    Kennedy. I _believe_ Canning, when he heard of it, called a
    Cabinet to remonstrate, and whether he was outvoted, remains to be
    seen. I think they will not venture to move upon it this session.

    I hear Lord Bath gets the blue riband. This will be a severe blow
    to Lord Harrowby.

      [115] Mr. Francis Freeling, in 1828 created a Baronet--Secretary
      to the Post Office.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, June 26, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    We have at last a despatch to-day, assuring us that he[116] considers
    the alarm as groundless, and to the extent to which it at present
    prevails, perfectly absurd. He admits the general expectation of
    rising, but has not been able to ascertain any facts to justify it.
    He denies the increase of the guards of Dublin to any material
    degree, and expressly disclaims any wish for further legislative
    powers, or, as things now appear, for any additional military
    force. He laments the mutual exasperation between the two parties,
    and _complains_ that the leaders of each will not unite in a
    system of conciliation.

    More arrant fudge could scarcely be found if Dr. Burdock's copy of
    verses had been recorded by Miss Amelia Wilhelmina Skeggs in "The
    Vicar of Wakefield."

    I hope, however, he is right in his want of apprehension of danger,
    and may not be waked to it by such an affair as that in
    Thomas-street, of 1803. He speaks of the concurrence of Lord
    Combermere and of the Solicitor-General, which does not quite tally
    with what I have heard of their sentiments; but this is of little
    importance, heaven knows, either way.

    Your scandal is good indeed--I should have thought too much so to
    be true.

    Respecting the fate of the two Bills in the Lords, I apprehend the
    first half of George's (granting the elective franchise) will pass,
    the other miscarry. I can hardly think it possible that the Tithe
    Bill should, notwithstanding Liverpool's eagerness upon the
    subject.

    Out of eighty-four days which we had sat, up to Monday last,
    forty-nine have been occupied in Irish business! We now _begin_ to
    be heartily tired, and _therefore_ may, I hope, be expected to
    travel _au galop_.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [116] The Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, June 30, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    A'Court has, as you will have already learnt, very properly
    declined the invitation of the Regency to Cadiz. He is directed to
    proceed to Gibraltar, unless he shall find that the King, after
    being, as intended, restored to nominal liberty and sanity at
    Cadiz, shall press his going there as affording a certain degree of
    protection to his life.

    The removal to Cadiz I take to have been a mere act of desperation.
    Many members of the Cortes have slipped away, and it is a fact that
    the Regency could not get any individual to hold office _ad
    interim_ under them, or even a clerk to countersign their letter to
    A'Court. They may have in Cadiz, it is said, possibly from 10,000
    to 12,000 men.

    Harrowby's disappointment seems to sit easy upon him.

    I enclose a letter just received from P----.[117] I do not know what
    foundation he has of the report of dudgeon in the Home Office. It
    is perfectly true that his objection to reversal of attainders was
    supported by no one. Both he and his man complain much of being
    left to carry through the Tithe Bill unassisted by Plunket, and I
    think not without reason.

    It certainly is odd that a measure for getting rid of tithes should
    fall into the hands of the members for the Universities of Oxford
    and Dublin, and of a candidate for that of Cambridge.

    It is quite determined to carry it through in the present session.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [117] Not preserved.


    LORD GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Camelford House, July 3, 1823.

    I most heartily join with you in taking joy at what I consider as
    _the triumph of the cause of freedom_ in the Peninsula;--having
    read enough to know, and having seen enough to observe, that of all
    possible tyrannies--and I cordially hate them all--the most
    contemptible, corrupt, and cruel is the tyranny of absolute
    democracy, most especially when resting, as in Spain and Portugal,
    on that new instrument of freedom, a mutinous and self-governed
    army.

    Your friend Sir Robert[118] makes a pretty figure in this puppet-show!

      [118] Sir Robert Wilson.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, July 3, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The last judicial appointment which I made was about a twelvemonth
    ago, of Sir Edward West, to be Recorder of Bombay. As soon as the
    Bill for establishing a new judicature there shall receive the
    Royal assent, he will be nominated Chief Justice.

    The elder brother was also recommended to me, among other grounds,
    on the sacrifice which he had made in voting for Lord Grenville in
    1809, being then a Fellow of University College, which had been
    remembered to his disadvantage by the Chancellor on different
    occasions. I laid both their names, among others, before the Chief
    Baron, who is my ordinary legal adviser on these occasions. The
    result of his inquiries was very favourable to Edward West, but
    your friend Martin West, though described to be of excellent
    character, all the cardinal virtues, and _meilleur enfant du
    monde_, was allowed by his friends to be unfortunately indolent,
    which, for the climate of India, is the greatest fault that can be
    attributed to a public functionary.

    You have not returned to me Plunket's letter; pray send it
    forthwith, as I transmitted to you the very day I received it, and
    have not yet answered it. The passage you allude to refers to Peel.
    The question was the reversal of Scotch, not Irish attainders, but
    he so little pressed his objection, and was so little supported,
    that I do not think it likely to have been the ground of such
    serious complaint.

    Nugent's Bill for restoring the elective franchise will, I believe,
    pass the House of Lords; the other will, I conclude, be dropped in
    the Commons. I still hope we may adjourn to-morrow sevennight, but
    we must depend for that on the forbearance or fatigue of
    Opposition, since, if they choose to go on with the system of
    raising discussions every day, they may prevent us.

    Canning has sent out his cards for a Cabinet dinner on the 23rd, so
    I suppose he does not contemplate the prorogation till about that
    time. Lord Grenville is in town, looking much better than when I
    last saw him. He has had no offer for Camelford House, and seems to
    be making up his mind to retain it and live there, notwithstanding
    the faults of its situation.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Board of Control, July 9, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    We are now nearly closing the session, and certainly with more
    success altogether than one could have expected; but one thing has
    been manifested--namely, that we should have done just as well
    without Canning as a leader, as with him. He has taken upon himself
    no authority, either by putting down or assisting questions
    doubtful or difficult. Robinson and Peel have both risen much
    beyond him in estimation as general speakers and men of business.

    The accounts from Ireland are better, and at last they have got
    communications from Lord Wellesley. I think the House of Commons
    have not done well in whitewashing O'Grady, which I think they have
    done. The King came to town yesterday, and gives a great dinner
    to-morrow. They say he also gives a ball on Friday. I understand he
    remains about a fortnight in town, and then proceeds to the Yacht.

    Ever most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.

    P.S.--Lord Hastings is expected in town to-morrow or next day.


The next letter refers to a measure alluded to in a previous
communication, brought forward by Lord Nugent, for restoring the
elective franchise to places in which it had been forfeited. Mr. Wynn
expected that it would pass the House of Lords, but he found himself
mistaken.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    House of Commons, July 10, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The defeat of Nugent's Bill, though supported by the speeches of
    Liverpool, Westmoreland, Harrowby, and Melville, together with the
    votes of Bathurst and Bexley, by the Chancellor, Duke of York, and
    Shaftesbury, has produced much sensation. Brougham is now speaking
    upon the Scotch Appeal Commission Bill, and has been describing the
    Chancellor as Prime Minister, and constantly denominating Lord
    Liverpool "My noble coadjutor," "the noble Earl with whom I have
    the honour to act," &c. &c., with much humour. Sidmouth slunk away
    without voting. It is most vexatious that the Bill should have been
    lost, as with common exertion to enter proxies, it might have been
    carried. You will see the Chancellor denied the possibility of any
    man who refused the oath of supremacy being a loyal subject! The
    D---- of Y----, I regret to say, most conspicuously active.

    My wife and I are _at last_ going to a dress party to-night at
    Carlton House.

    Thank heaven, to-morrow the House of Commons adjourns, and we
    conclude with my E.I. Mutiny Bill, which Bobus Smith is to oppose
    violently.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    Lord Grenville sets out on Sunday on a tour to the Lakes.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, July 18, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    As I am to dine the Lion of the East, Commander of the Faithful,
    &c. &c., the most exalted Caliph Hastings, on this day sevennight,
    you will extremely oblige me by contributing towards the gorging of
    his royal jaws.

    I have asked sundry of my _confrères_ to meet him, but I do not
    think he appears graciously inclined towards us.

    We had a very grand party at Carlton House on Thursday last, and a
    gay ball for the children last Tuesday; so I suppose we are either
    in favour, or, which is more likely, that the people in attendance
    have found out the blunders and omissions which they made last
    year. I hear the absence of all Grenvilles, either in person or
    proxy, from the division on the Elective Franchise Bill, is much
    commented upon, and considered as a retaliation for the desertion
    of Plunket in the House of Commons.

    Much apprehension is entertained of the Cortes being driven into
    desperation by the violence of the Madrid Regency, and bringing the
    beloved Ferdinand to trial, for which proofs certainly are not
    wanting.

    The French profess the greatest disapprobation of the persecuting
    spirit of the Regency, but seem to take no steps to control it; and
    it seems to be encouraged by the other members of the Holy
    Alliance.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. WILLIAMS WYNN.

    The Prorogation will be on Saturday, notwithstanding a blunder
    about the Commission, by which we lose to-day in the House of
    Commons.

    Westmoreland is so extremely pleased with his own speech on
    Nugent's Bill, and so angry with the Chancellor for opposing it,
    that he only wants a little flattery to make him a good Papist.

    Sundry of my colleagues are also angry with said noble and learned
    Lord, for throwing out the Slave Trade Consolidation Bill, which
    had been approved and settled by Lord Bathurst, and for leaving out
    the disputed parts of the Silk Bill.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    East India Office, July 21, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I agree with you that my stairs are somewhat narrow for the whole
    full-blown dignity of the Caliph to ascend. If he would engage to
    remain in England till the autumn, I would receive him in a better
    house, and would provide a grander assortment of company to meet
    him; but, unfortunately, I have found all my colleagues engaged,
    and must make my table up with directors, military men, and such
    like _second chop_.

    The Chancellor's[119] language is exactly the same as he held in
    1808, and has continued to hold at the close of every Session
    since. He certainly has been obliged to swallow some pills _contre
    coeur_, but has his own way infinitely too far. I am not surprised
    that he is somewhat angry at the silence with which Brougham's
    attack upon him was received by the Treasury Bench in the House of
    Commons. Peel continues very glum and sulky.

    As to Spain, if one can judge from our accounts, the French are
    more embarrassed than ever. They are obliged to find money for
    everything, for not a single dollar can the Spaniards muster, and
    they find that they have less weight, notwithstanding, with the
    Regency than the Russian Minister, who encourages them in all their
    violent measures. The Regency have actually refused to treat with
    Cadiz, though there are many there who are much disposed to it. The
    force which occupies it is almost entirely militia, and, therefore,
    cannot be expected to hold out long when there shall be a naval
    force to co-operate.

    Duc d'Angoulême is completely sick, and the present plan is, that
    if they can get the King at liberty, he is to convene a general
    Cortes, and the French are to leave them and him to make a
    constitution, withdrawing all their troops ... except 25,000, who
    are to form an echellon of communication between Bayonne and
    Madrid. This seems to me _most infernal nonsense_, too absurd to be
    ever entertained by the French Cabinet, though they think it may
    pass upon us, and therefore hold this language to Stuart.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

    You have, of course, long heard of Lord Fitzwilliam's nuptials. I
    wonder how they have kept out of the newspaper.

    The appropriate remark is that "it is a very sensible marriage;" to
    which it is to be replied, "because the senses have nothing to do
    with it."

      [119] Lord Eldon.


On the 16th of July, during a debate in the House of Commons on the
subject of Scotch Appeals, Mr. Brougham afforded great amusement to
that assembly by drawing a vivid but somewhat sarcastic picture of the
state of the Government. "As to Lord Liverpool being Prime Minister,"
observed the learned gentleman, "he is no more Prime Minister than I
am. I reckon Lord Liverpool a sort of member of Opposition; and after
what has recently passed, if I were required I should designate him as
'a noble lord in another place with whom I have the honour to act.'
Lord Liverpool may have collateral influence, but Lord Eldon has all
the direct influence of the Prime Minister. He is Prime Minister to all
intents and purposes, and he stands alone in the full exercise of all
the influence of that high situation."[120]

      [120] Hansard.

In this strain the orator proceeded, claiming Lord Liverpool as a
coadjutor because both opposed the measures of the Lord Chancellor.
Lord Eldon did not at all relish the joke, perhaps because it was not
at the expense of the Grenvilles, and soon afterwards again expressed
his intention to resign. This had been repeated so often that it
elicited the following squib:--

    "The Chancellor vows he'll depart, as they say
    (So Derry sometimes, if his crew disobey),
    But when his resigning a minister mentions,
    We think how hell's paved with mankind's good intentions;
    For still being in, though so oft going out,
    We feel much inclined, like his lordship--to doubt."

Parliament was prorogued on the 19th of July, apparently equally to the
relief of the Government and the Opposition. A great variety of
subjects had been discussed, including the pretended claims of Olivia
Serres, self-styled Princess of Cumberland, but little practical good
had been effected, and the Ministers were not gaining the confidence of
the country or strengthening their own position. The King, too, was
losing the popularity he had gained since the Queen's death, by his
endeavours to remove himself as much as possible from the public gaze.
The Duke of Buckingham's correspondents kept him fully informed on
these and all other topics of interest.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, July 27, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I perfectly agree with you in thinking that Canning only waits the
    opportunity of tripping us up, and this is only to be resisted by a
    steady line of conduct on our parts, pursuing and maintaining the
    system as it is now carrying on towards Ireland, until we see the
    opportunity, by the accordance of other members of the Government,
    to meet him with the certainty of success. The complete ascendancy
    which both Robinson and Peel have acquired over him in the House of
    Commons, but more particularly the former, must weaken his means of
    playing us a trick, which I am satisfied he is fully disposed to do
    whenever he can find the opportunity.

    I don't agree with you at all about Lord Hastings; be assured there
    is not the most distant idea of sending him to Ireland. I am quite
    sure Canning distrusts and hates him too much to employ him if it
    be possible to keep him out, and I do not understand his reception
    at head quarters has been such as to satisfy him, or give him the
    hopes of employment. He is very low and disappointed, and is
    immediately going out of town. He has been profusely civil and
    attentive to Wynn, but is not come in the highest odour either with
    the Government or Court of Directors. His conduct about the Press
    in India has been flagrant, and since his departure Adams has sent
    home the editor of the Calcutta paper, who has been bullying them
    for the last five years, and whom Lord Hastings has never had the
    courage to resist, but, on the contrary, has frequently defended
    him against his own colleagues in council. This will make a very
    considerable and difficult discussion in Parliament next year, and
    I much fear that our Cabinet at home will not have courage to fight
    the battle manfully; I have no hesitation in thinking with Adams
    that the fate of India depends on the power of checking the press
    in that country.

    The King has had a party with him for the last two days at the
    Cottage here, and by all accounts is well in health, but most
    averse to going to sea; whether they will persuade him or not
    remains to be proved. Lady C---- is very anxious he should, in
    order to get some holidays, and I believe Knighton likewise presses
    it. In the meantime he is injuring himself greatly in public
    opinion by his seclusion; he professes to be so ill he cannot go to
    his Parliament or stir out in public in London, and then comes
    here, and sees forty or fifty people, and is driving all day in the
    park. The real fact is, they cannot manage him; his mind becomes
    daily more capricious, and his indisposition to public display or
    communication of any kind, increasing upon him to an extreme
    degree. The people at Windsor are outrageous; for he has shut up
    the terrace and all the public walks, and is doing everything to
    render himself unpopular with them.

    Lionel Harvey is going on a secret mission to Mexico. What is to be
    derived from it I have little guess; but there is every reason to
    believe that France has sent somebody there, and there is no doubt
    that America will endeavour, or has already got, the start of
    Europe upon it. Canning is very anxious not to lose the moment; and
    I suppose that this must be the prelude of our admitting the
    independence of South America; however, the mission is secret, but
    he is commissioned, and has the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary.
    It is a long and desolate prospect, but the scene will be new. He
    is not quite reconciled to it, but having no better prospect, I
    think he has done wise in accepting it; they give him two
    secretaries. I would not wish you to mention this appointment. I
    find Canning is by no means of opinion that France has or will
    succeed in her efforts in Spain; at least, this was the tone of his
    language to Lionel, who saw him yesterday. I hear from Wynn that
    the grand attack on Cadiz was expected to take place between the
    25th and 30th July.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


Mr. Thomas Grenville was one of the most liberal collectors of rare
books at a time when bibliomania was much more in fashion than it is
now. The following is a characteristic specimen of his powers of
observation when directed to his favourite pursuit:--


    THE RIGHT HON. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Cleveland Square, July 30, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I have just been collating two copies of the "Sacra Exequialia in
    Funere Jacobi II.--a Carolo de Aquino. Fol. Romæ 1702." Whether you
    have this book or not, you certainly have in your Granger the
    famous print (belonging to this book) of a head of the _Pretender_,
    by _Edelinck_, _ætatis suæ_ 12. In one of my copies (the
    presentation copy to the King of France or one of the French Royal
    Family) below the head, upon a _tablet_, is engraved "Cognoscunt
    mei me," and in the corner of the tablet "ætatis suæ 12;" and on
    each side of the tablet is a circular _medallion_, one of which is
    _a library_ with "Litteris Insignis" round it. The other
    _medallion_ is a _man firing at a wild boar_, with "Et Armis" round
    it. In the _centre of the large circle_ which surrounds the head,
    and just above the tablet, is a _large medallion_, with the sun
    behind a cloud, and round it "Et latet et lucet." In the other
    copy, the same print (with Edelinck's name and "ætatis suæ 12," in
    the corner of the tablet, like the other), has these variations.

    The _large medallion_ above the tablet has the "Arms of England
    with a crown."

    The _tablet_ has no inscription, but is left blank, except that it
    has in the corner "Ætatis suæ 12."

    The _two small medallions_ have, one of them, the Prince's plume,
    with _Ich dien_; the other, the Order of the Garter, with _Honi
    soit qui mal y pense_.

    These differences are remarkable, and as I have found no account of
    them, and understand the print is rare and dear, I send to you for
    information about them.

    In my "royal copy, with the French royal arms," the impression of
    the head seems much finer than the other, which has the English
    emblems in the medallions. Perhaps they were subsequently inserted;
    but why, then, was "Cognoscunt mei me," taken out and the tablet
    left blank? Was it intended perhaps to insert his royal titles, and
    if so, why were they omitted, when the English arms were
    substituted for the allegorical medallions? I know, when you are
    among your prints, these inquiries, however minute, are interesting
    to you.

    I know no news except the Spanish and Portuguese finale to their
    revolutions, which, inasmuch as they were both military and not
    civil revolutions, I could not wish success to, though I feel as
    adverse to the French dictation and invasion as any Spaniard could
    do. Love to your dear wife.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    T. G.

    Miss Poyntz has just refused Lord Apsley; who the deuce will she
    marry?


Mr. Canning had by this time made good his position at Court, by coming
to an understanding with the most influential channel of Court favour.
The Scottish preacher, Irving, the Spurgeon of his day, indicated her
presence among his fashionable audience by a very delicate piece of
flattery. "All the world here," writes the indignant Lord Chancellor,
"is running on Sundays to the Caledonian Chapel in Hatton Garden, where
they bear a Presbyterian orator from Scotland preaching, as some ladies
term it, _charming_ matter, though downright nonsense. To the shame of
the King's Ministers be it said, that many of them have gone to this
schism-shop with itching ears. Lauderdale told me that when Lady ----
is there, the preacher never speaks of an heavenly mansion, but an
heavenly _Pavilion_. For other ears mansion is sufficient."[121]

      [121] Twiss's "Life of Lord Eldon," vol. ii. p. 86.

"The appointment of Lord Albert Conyngham in the Foreign Office," we
are assured by the same writer, "has, by female influence, put Canning
beyond the reach of anything to affect him, and will naturally enable
him to turn those out whom he does not wish to remain in. The King is
in such thraldom that one has nobody to fall back upon."[122]

      [122] Ibid., p. 87.

The autumn did not bring any very important changes, as may be gathered
from the text of Mr. Williams Wynn's next letter. Towards the
conclusion the writer refers to communications from Count Nugent to the
Duke of Buckingham, and to a reply which the Duke had proposed sending,
evidently referring to Austrian policy, and written with the view of
being laid before the Emperor.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangodwin, Aug. 20, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    I certainly cannot conceive from what source the article in the
    _Courier_ so tallying with my language can proceed, unless it
    should be from Phillimore or Courtenay; for there are no other
    persons besides you and the Duke of Wellington and Lord Liverpool,
    with whom I have had any communication on the subject; and the two
    latter are much too well inclined to Lord Hastings, or to anybody
    whom they think the King feels any interest for, to have expressed
    those sentiments to any one who might transfer them to the
    _Courier_.

    I have had no politics since I have been here, and not one word
    even of news except a line from Robinson in answer to an inquiry
    respecting the last Cabinet, which he did not himself attend, but,
    as he tells me, was called at the instance of the D---- of W----,
    on the subject of the former one, held the day before I left town,
    on the Portuguese application for military assistance. However, no
    alteration was made in the determination.

    I fear that I cannot supply you with much intelligence as to
    Austrian policy. The general language which she holds, tallies very
    much with Nugent's letter--great desire to draw her ties closer
    with this country--implied rather than positive approbation of our
    course, but great unwillingness in any respect to commit herself, I
    will not say in opposition, but even to any different views from
    those of Russia.

    I am also quite unable to tell you whether Nugent be Prince or
    still only Count; I rather think the former.

    It is now above a month since I have seen any Austrian despatches,
    and I doubt whether at the time they were written she could be
    aware of the probable course of events in Spain, and the different
    objects of French and Russian influence in that country.

    I should not myself imagine that she can be favourably disposed to
    the extension of Russian influence in the Mediterranean, and
    therefore would be more likely to join in the views of France; but
    I have not the means of forming any opinion beyond mere
    speculation.

    Pray tell me whether you hear anything respecting the
    Buck-hounds,[123] and, which is more material, what Neville gets by
    Lord Cornwallis's death.

    Will it not be advisable that you should communicate Nugent's
    letter and your answer to it to be written to Liverpool?

    I certainly agree with Burke in the propriety of the old practice
    of communicating to the King's Government any intercourse which you
    may hold with a foreign sovereign, whether direct or indirect,
    which in any way refers to public subjects; and as there are
    obvious and numerous reasons for not making this to Canning, who
    would naturally be the proper channel, I think Liverpool would be
    the fittest. If you do not like to do this personally, I should, of
    course, be happy to do it for you.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [123] Lord Maryborough succeeded the Marquis Cornwallis.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Aug. 21, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    I am just come from Windsor, where I was summoned to attend a
    Council. Nothing occurred worth telling you excepting that Lord
    Maryborough, I learnt from himself, had got the Stag-hounds vacant
    by Lord Cornwallis's death. This was given in the most gracious
    manner by the King in a letter written with his own hand. I think
    _Wellesley Pole_ has been pretty well paid altogether. The Mint,
    the Cabinet, a Peerage, and now the Stag-hounds. Lord Liverpool,
    Canning, Peel, Lord Maryborough, Charles Long, and myself, formed
    the Council. His Majesty looked really remarkably well, and walked
    up and down the large state stairs without a stick, and about the
    apartments after the Council extremely well, much better than I had
    the least idea he could have done. You may judge how he shuts
    himself up when I tell you that this was the first time I had seen
    him since I have been here--now upwards of a month, indeed, six
    weeks. I should say from what I observed that the Cabinet were in
    high spirits, but nothing passed in private conversation to give me
    information.

    Canning was on his way to Liverpool, and Peel made it in his way
    from Dorsetshire to town, and he was to return in a few days.

    The state of Ireland improves greatly, and I suppose till the long
    nights commence, we shall not have the full state of alarm renewed.

    The Duke of Wellington is gone on his tour, and all business will
    be at a stand for the next six weeks.

    Ever, my dear Duke,

    Most faithfully yours,

    W. H. FREMANTLE.


    THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Englefield Green, Aug. 22, 1823.

    MY DEAR DUKE,

    Since my note of yesterday I find Lord Maryborough resigns the Mint
    and Cabinet, and takes the Stag-hounds as a retirement. I believe
    Wallace succeeds to the Mint, though some say Lord Granville; the
    former _I_ say, and either Lord Granville or Huskisson come into
    the Cabinet; I should suppose the latter. They are angry with
    A'Court for having gone to Gibraltar; he was afraid of the yellow
    fever. The consequence is that we have at present no British
    Minister with the King of Spain, and the difficulties arising from
    this in case of change or negotiation (which latter must be daily
    expected as actually proceeding) so obvious. They talk of Fitzroy
    Somerset going again, and Canning does not return from his
    excursion under three weeks.

    Ever truly yours,

    W. H. F.


The Grenville section of the Government had many reasons for wishing to
have the Duke of Buckingham a member of the Cabinet, and it will be
seen that Mr. Williams Wynn once more strove to induce the Duke to quit
his dignified retirement for the purpose of taking a share in
Ministerial responsibilities.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Llangodwin, Aug. 28, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    The recommendation which was contained in my last, of sending a
    copy of your letter to Lord Liverpool, arose from my concurring in
    the old principle that it is unfit for any British subject to hold
    communication with any foreign sovereign, particularly on any
    political question, without the knowledge and permission of the
    King's Government. You will see this adverted to, I think, in
    Burke's letter to the Duke of Portland. Assuming this to be
    correct, I do not think that there is any material difference
    whether your correspondence is directly with the Emperor of
    Austria, or with Count Nugent to be laid before him; and I should
    certainly have given you the same advice in the year 1816, when you
    were acting in hostility to Government, as strongly as I do now.

    With respect to the Cabinet, the frequent complaints which you have
    heard from me of the single and unconnected situation in which I
    find myself, these would show you how anxiously I must wish that
    you could effect your entry there, independent of every motive of
    personal regard, gratitude, and attachment.

    I doubt, however, whether consistently with your own dignity, you
    could avail yourself of any vacancy but those of the Presidency of
    the Council, Privy Seal, Admiralty, or Secretary of State. The Mint
    or Chancellorship of the Duchy would, in the public eye, be
    entirely below your rank and situation to accept.

    I think, therefore, that you should confine your application to the
    first-named offices, or (objectionable in principle as I always
    think it) to Cabinet without office. You may, I think, assume the
    probability of Sidmouth's retirement as a ground for pressing the
    latter; but at all events it will be desirable to state very
    clearly and distinctly the prospects which were held out to you by
    Lord Londonderry. At the present moment you may be assured that
    there will be much disinclination to admit your claim.

    The Protestant party is eager, the Catholic lukewarm and hollow.
    C----[124] knows not where to look for support, but is afraid that
    by joining himself with us, who seem his natural allies, he would
    increase the indisposition of the K---- and D---- of Y----, which
    he would make any sacrifice to deprecate. Besides this, he has no
    inclination to any who assume higher pretensions than those of
    being his followers; and after what took place a twelvemonth ago,
    he, like all other persons who have been in the wrong in a dispute
    and advanced unreasonable pretensions, will be personally
    disinclined to those who were in the right and resisted them, and
    this will of course be increased by the difference in your former
    politics. The only person to whom you can look is the D---- of
    W----. If he thinks you are likely to assist and strengthen him, I
    have no doubt he could open the door to you; but I freely
    acknowledge that I do not understand his views and objects. They
    begin, centre, and end, no doubt, in himself, and on that account
    he would like to cement an alliance with you; but then how will he
    manage it with the Protestants? I take it, both from what I
    recollect of the language of the Horse Guards during the whole of
    the Peninsular War, and from other circumstances, that there is no
    real cordiality between him and the D---- of Y----. The latter has,
    I believe, always been jealous of him. He looks, I apprehend, to
    Peel and the Chancellor, and to them only as the instruments of his
    bigotry to resist the Catholic claims.

    Robinson, I believe, confines himself to his own business, and
    Liverpool is indifferent to everything but present repose, and by
    any temporizing measure to delay the evil hour of rupture and
    collision. Still, when it comes to the point, you will find him on
    almost every subject make some excuse for siding with the
    Protestant party.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.

      [124] Canning.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Wynnstay, Sept. 9, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    When you mentioned that you had communicated your letter to Nugent
    to me in my _ministerial_ capacity, I certainly concluded that it
    conveyed a clear authority to have extended it to Lord L---- or
    C---- at my own discretion, but fortunately I had not exercised
    that power, and certainly shall not.

    I am not surprised that Mr. C---- should coax you, even if you had
    turned your head aside from his daughter, and passed on the other
    side like the Levite; for he is under a charge of illegally making
    a loan to the Rajah of Vizianagum, and of having derived therefrom
    exorbitant interest. Of the merits of the charge I can say little,
    but common report is by no means friendly to him.

    The proposed grant to Lord Hastings has been lost in consequence of
    an equality of votes, eight to eight, five present but refusing to
    vote, and three absent--two of the latter hostile. Objection was
    taken to praise of his integrity or disinterestedness by one of
    those who refused to vote, stating at the same time he would have
    supported it if moved on the ground of his poverty.

    Canning has shown me the last despatches, by which it appears that
    there is much schism in the French Cabinet, Villele supporting the
    Duc d'Angoulême, Chateaubriand the Allied Powers and the Spanish
    Regency. Magnanimity has instructed Pozzo de Borgo to consider all
    communications from the latter as if they emanated directly from
    himself. Metternich takes also strongly the same line, recommending
    an amnesty, excepting all those who were active in forcing the
    acceptance of the constitution on Ferdinand. I do not at present
    apprehend any dispute relative to the blockade, as the French are
    very scrupulous in keeping the law on their side, and have not yet
    done anything more than they were clearly entitled to.

    Ever affectionately yours,

    C. W. W.


    THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

    Wynnstay, Sept. 10, 1823.

    MY DEAR B----,

    Canning told me that he had insisted that Huskisson should at all
    events be taken into the Cabinet at the end of the last Session,
    whether any vacancy occurred or not, and that the persuasion of
    Lord Maryborough to make room for him was a subsequent
    consideration.

    Lord M---- is much out of humour at his change of office; which he
    may well be, as the Mint is 3000_l._ clear, and the Buck-hounds
    under 2000_l._; indeed, they are said not to exceed 1300_l._

    My own belief is that the only real and efficient Cabinet upon
    _all_ matters consists of Lords Liverpool and Bathurst, Duke of
    Wellington, and Canning, and that the others are only more or less
    consulted upon different businesses by these four. Huskisson will,
    I think, be equally in the confidence of Liverpool and Canning.

    Ever most affectionately yours,

    C. WILLIAMS WYNN.


END OF VOL. I.




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LODGE'S PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE.

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LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL CONTENTS.


Historical View of the Peerage.

Parliamentary Roll of the House of Lords.

English, Scotch, and Irish Peers, in their orders of Precedence.

Alphabetical List of Peers of Great Britain and the United Kingdom,
holding superior rank in the Scotch or Irish Peerage.

Alphabetical List of Scotch and Irish Peers, holding superior titles in
the Peerage of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

A Collective List of Peers, in their order of Precedence.

Table of Precedency among Men.

Table of Precedency among Women.

The Queen and Royal Family.

The House of Saxe Coburg-Gotha.

Peers of the Blood Royal.

The Peerage, alphabetically arranged.

Families of such Extinct Peers as have left Widows or Issue.

Alphabetical List of the Surnames of all the Peers.

Account of the Archbishops and Bishops of England, Ireland, and the
Colonies.

The Baronetage, alphabetically arranged.

Alphabetical List of Surnames assumed by members of Noble Families.

Alphabetical List of the Second Titles of Peers, usually borne by their
Eldest Sons.

Alphabetical Index to the Daughters of Dukes, Marquises, and Earls,
who, having married Commoners, retain the title of Lady before their
own Christian and their Husbands' Surnames.

Alphabetical Index to the Daughters of Viscounts and Barons, who,
having married Commoners, are styled Honourable Mrs.; and, in case of
the husband being a Baronet or Knight, Honourable Lady.

Mottoes alphabetically arranged and translated.

                        *    *    *    *    *

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