Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third / From the Original Family Documents, Volume 1

by Duke of Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville Buckingham and Chandos

The Renunciation Bill—The Fall of the Shelburne Administration—The Cabinet Interregnum—The Coalition Ministry—Resignation of Lord Temple.

The impediments and delays Mr. Grenville had to encounter in his negotiations with Ministers, are sufficiently detailed in the preceding correspondence. They appear to have originated chiefly with Lord Shelburne, who, in the line of conduct he pursued on this occasion, betrayed either a singular indifference to the state of Ireland, or an inexcusable ignorance of it. For the latter, indeed, he had no reasonable excuse, since the suspense of the public mind, and the growing discontents of the people, were constantly pressed upon his attention by Lord Temple and Mr. Grenville. There certainly was no shadow of pretence for not thoroughly understanding the whole merits of the question at issue between the two kingdoms, and still less for not setting it at rest at once, as the Ministry did at last, and must have intended to do in some shape all throughout. Yet it was not until the beginning of January, 1783, after nearly six weeks of incessant representations and harassing interviews with Lord Shelburne, Pitt and Townshend, that the mission of the Irish Secretary assumed a definite shape, and that something like a distinct hope was held out of its being brought, at last, to a satisfactory conclusion.

Lord Shelburne appears to have been desirous of postponing the Irish difficulty until after he should have succeeded in securing the peace, for which he was then treating with France. He thought that a measure, however just and indispensable in itself, emanating from a strong Government, would be received as a graceful concession, while the same measure, granted by a Government which had been described early in the preceding December by Lord Mornington (afterwards Marquis of Wellesley) as subsisting solely on the divisions of its enemies, might seem to be wrung from the embarrassments of the Administration. This shuffling policy, and want of magnanimity in the Minister—this coquetting with extremities, in the forlorn hope of extracting from them some advantage for a sinking Government, pervaded the councils of the Cabinet, and led finally to its downfall.

In the meanwhile, agitation was rising into open manifestations of distrust and resentment in Ireland. The Volunteers, whose nationality had been appeased by the recent Repeal of the Declaratory Law, renewed their demands for a specific measure, by which the legislative and judicial independence of the country, guaranteed by that Repeal, should be unconditionally recognized, and placed beyond doubt or cavil. Their suspicions were excited by the hesitation of the Imperial Government, and their indignation was roused by the fact that, in contravention of the settlement by Act of Parliament of the rights of Ireland, an Irish case had been heard in an English court of law, and decided by Lord Mansfield. The circumstances were irritating, and peculiarly calculated to shake the confidence of so sensitive a race in the sincerity of their rulers. Nor were there wanting persons who were ready to avail themselves, for factious purposes, of every fresh symptom of national disquietude to inflame the passions of the people. At the head of these disturbing patriots were Lord Beauchamp and Mr. Flood; fortunately, on the other side, was Mr. Grattan, whose pure patriotism, confiding in the honour and justice of the Imperial Legislature, resisted all violent demands, until a fair opportunity had been afforded to England to vindicate the integrity of a settlement, the principle of which was clear, and admitted on all hands. His language on this point, in reply to an Address from the Volunteers, was explicit: "I know of no circumstance, except one, which has really happened to alarm you: the entertaining and deciding by the Court of King's Bench, in England, an Irish cause, is, no doubt, a very great infringement. You do not imagine that I mean to rest under it; but I shall never suppose such a measure to be the act of England, unless her Parliament shall hesitate to do it away in a manner the most clear, comprehensive and satisfactory." Mr. Grattan's firmness stayed the impetuous course of the Volunteers; but it was at the cost of his immediate popularity, and, as it afterwards proved, at the imminent risk of his personal safety.

It was while these events were taking place in Ireland, that Lord Temple and Mr. Grenville were urging upon the Administration the imperative necessity of bringing forward a measure that should satisfy the apprehensions of the Irish people. With that view a Bill, known by the title of the Bill of Renunciation, was prepared by Lord Temple and forwarded to Mr. Grenville. Upon the structure, and not upon the substance, of this Bill, innumerable quibbles were raised. The difficulty with Lord Shelburne was, not the renunciation itself, for that was nothing more than a confirmation of the repeal, but the technical form in which it was to be expressed. Nobody dreamt of disturbing or evading the principle of the measure which this Bill simply declared anew and fortified by a more distinct enunciation; but Ministers could not agree upon the words—for into a discussion about words the whole negotiation finally degenerated. And thus, the fear of compromising the dignity of England by some unguarded expression, or of failing from over caution to satisfy the demands of Ireland, had the effect of protracting the passage of a measure, upon the substantive justice and urgent necessity of which all parties were unanimous.

At length Mr. Grenville was enabled to announce to his brother that these petty discussions were brought to a satisfactory close. But the issue, as will be subsequently seen, was not quite so near as he supposed. The Administration had wasted so much time in verbal criticisms, that, although they had the merit of ultimately introducing the Bill into Parliament, they were obliged to bequeath the satisfaction of earning it to their successors.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE

Pall Mall, Jan. 2nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

After the many changes and delays which have occurred in the course of this business, I think I may at last congratulate you, and what is infinitely more, the two kingdoms, on its being brought to such an issue as you desire.

I told you in my last despatch that Townshend seemed to me much alarmed lest he should have gone too far in his letter to you, and that at the same time I had assured him that you would not think he went far enough, as the whole question turned upon the point of recognition, which was very distantly alluded to in his letter. When I saw him yesterday, his alarms appeared to be increased. This morning, however, he told me that he had been with Conway, who understood his authority to be quite sufficient for what he had done, and with Lord Shelburne, who said that it was a damned thing, and that he wished Lord Temple would have stood it, but that it could not be helped, and that he (Townshend) must therefore think over with the Crown lawyers such a preamble as should recognize in future, without any retrospect whatever. To this point Townshend said he thought your Bill went; and therefore he told me he was to send it down in that shape in which you sent it (excepting the omission of the words of right in the two places where they occur) to Lord Camden for his opinion. I then mentioned what I had hinted to him before in the way of resolutions, which might, I thought, be so drawn as to preclude the idea of retrospect. He wished to see the form I had adopted; upon which I gave him, as coming from myself only, the enclosed paper, which you will see differs a little from that which I sent you before. Both these he sent to Lord Camden, with a letter, desiring that he and myself might see him to-morrow morning for his ideas on the subject. You will observe that he is from principle warm for Irish claims; and therefore I think it not a bad quarter to begin with.

I flatter myself you will approve of my reason for withholding your despatch No. 16, as the word courts, without of law, which we have scratched out, certainly includes the Peers; and nothing would have been so agreeable to Lords T. and S. as a point of form which they need not have mentioned till towards the conclusion of the business, and so might completely have gained their darling object—time.

Still, however, I thought much of that letter—too important to be lost—and therefore threw it together into the enclosed paper, which I sent to Townshend the night before last, together with a copy of such parts of his despatches as authorized you to pledge the faith of Government, he having asked me for them, not for himself.

While I was still in a state of suspense, your letter and despatch of the 29th reached me. I thought it best to keep the latter till this morning, when, I need hardly say, I did not deliver it, though I thought proper to read it to Townshend, in order, as I told him, that he might be perfectly acquainted with your feelings on the occasion, and might see I had not exaggerated them. You will remember that your next despatch is numbered 16. If it comes before you receive this, I will alter it. To-morrow you shall know the result of Lord Camden's conversation, upon which much I think depends; though after what has now passed, I have no idea of the possibility of their drawing back again, even if they were so inclined.

Brooke's business, Jemmy tells me, passed the Treasury yesterday.

You will have had an answer, such as it is, about the Duke of L. and Hussey Burgh.

With regard to Perry, I have written to you already fully on the subject.

I have talked once or twice about Portugal; but they want exceedingly to be quickened, là-dessus.

Townshend desires to make you an apology through me, and will do it himself when he writes, for the delay. From him no apology whatever is necessary. Adieu.

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

When I pressed Lord Shelburne about Hussey Burgh, he said he thought there would be no objection to promising him that he should be made as soon as any one. I stated this to Townshend this morning, who is to speak to the King about it again to-morrow.

About this time another subject was engaging the earnest attention of Lord Temple—the foundation (already alluded to) of an Order of Knighthood in Ireland. Several letters relating to the details of the institution, and the claims of different noblemen to be admitted into it, passed between Mr. Grenville and his brother. The following is selected as a specimen:—

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 7th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Although I think there is every reason to hope that I shall be able to send you by a messenger, either to-night or to-morrow morning at furthest, the result of the Cabinet, which, after having been postponed ever since Sunday, is at last to be held this evening; yet, as I know by experience, that it may be again deferred, I would not omit writing to you by post express upon a subject which you will perhaps think trifling in itself. I went this morning to Townshend, with your despatches of the 2nd instant, upon which we had very little conversation, except his assurances of bringing the business to an end this evening. After that I turned the conversation to your Order, and read him the names. To my utter astonishment, he started a doubt whether my Lord Courtown would take it. To which I answered, that the first names in the list having signified their consent, undoubtedly it was not a thing to be offered where there was the least chance of a refusal. He then said that he would take upon him to sound Lord Courtown; and that, as he was his brother-in-law, he would throw out to him that a thing of the sort was in agitation; and that if Lord Courtown should like it, he believed that he, Townshend, would have interest enough to procure it for him. It was impossible for me to tell Townshend, or even to give him to understand what nevertheless certainly ought to have occurred to him, that it would but ill answer your purpose, whatever it was, in recommending Lord Courtown, that the merit of it should be ascribed to him.

I had nothing, therefore, left but to drop the conversation, and to write to you, as I now do, immediately on my return home, to suggest to you whether it would not be worth your while, without affecting to know anything of this, to write to Lord Courtown to offer it, and perhaps to Townshend, to make a great merit with him of the recommendation of his brother-in-law, as the only non-resident Knight. The sooner you send in the list and plan, &c., &c., undoubtedly the better.

Your names appear to me all unexceptionable, except possibly Lord Bechoe, who you know will give some trouble to the heralds to make out whether his father, who was a grazier, ever had a father of his own. But he is a man of great fortune, and a steady friend of Government, and I should think might pass. Lord Nugent's refusal leaves a vacancy. I own I should be inclined to Lord Mountgarret as the senior Viscount, which would show that it was not to be exclusively confined to Earls, at the same time that no other person could pretend the same claims with so old a peer, the senior Viscount, and the first man in rank of so great a family. Besides, this might detach Butler, of the county Kilkenny, from Flood; and it is surely a great object to cut him off from all hopes of the county, as that would give him an appearance of popularity, &c., &c. Unless you do something of this sort, shall you not apprehend affronting the lower orders of the peerage? If Lord Kinsale was not what he is, I should wish for him on the same account, but that is impossible. Pray consider the other well, for it strikes me as important.

I return you the Derry Papers. Townshend is to search his office for their intercepted correspondence here, which I will send you.

Bulkeley wrote me the enclosed, to which I returned an ostensible answer, referring to you, but at the same time distinguishing between a pension, and provision out of the revenue for a revenue officer's widow.

Townshend sends you McLaughlin's petition and case. What does Lord Beauchamp mean by his letter to the "Vol." about the King's speech?

Pray desire Lady Temple not to forget Lord Nugent's velvet, or he will be outrageous.

Believe me, ever yours,
W. W. G.

One good result had been attained by the perseverance with which Mr. Grenville pursued his object with Ministers in reference to the Renunciation Bill, and the consistency he observed in maintaining the policy which he and Lord Temple knew to be essential to the security of the British power in Ireland. If that policy was not carried out, Lord Temple was relieved from all responsibility, and was prepared to relinquish into other hands the confusion and disorder which he could not obtain the means of ameliorating. As Mr. Grenville observes in the following letter, he was "completely master of his own ground;" he had clearly stated, and constantly urged his views of the only course that could be followed with safety or credit; and if he failed in carrying them into effect, the onus would rest with the Administration. Happily he did not fail. The Bill was shaped and passed; but the obstacles which impeded it, and which are detailed in subsequent letters, rendered its ultimate success doubtful up to the last moment.

Looking back, at this distance of time, upon the curious struggle which took place in the Cabinet on this question, we cannot fail to be struck by the immense disproportion between cause and effect exhibited in this strange episode in the history of the Shelburne Administration. The full recognition of the rights of Ireland had received the concurrent sanction of the Legislatures of both kingdoms only a short time before. No doubt whatever existed as to the intention of the repeal of the Declaratory Law. The Volunteers, to whose energetic demonstrations that healing measure was mainly attributable, were thoroughly satisfied, and, instead of displaying their nationality in angry and defiant resolutions, they adopted the language of congratulation and enthusiastic allegiance to the Government. This felicitous state of things was suddenly interrupted by one of those incidents which no foresight could have anticipated, and which, absolutely trivial in itself, was magnified at once, by the jealous spirit of patriotism, into a violation of the solemn compact that had just been ratified on both sides of the Channel. An Irish cause was brought into an English court of justice, was heard in the ordinary way, like any other cause, without reference to the competency of the tribunal before which it was tried, and decided, as a matter of course, by Lord Mansfield. The remedy for this contravention of the notorious settlement of the judicial independence of Ireland was plain. The decision was waste paper: it could not be carried into effect. The Irish might have rested satisfied with the power which they possessed of nullifying and rejecting the authority of the English Judge. But the delays of the Cabinet awakened their suspicions, and they apprehended, not, perhaps, very unnaturally, that if they suffered this single case of illegal interference to pass without some decisive declaration on the part of the English Legislature, it would be wrested into a precedent for further and still more dangerous innovations. Mr. Grattan held this opinion also, but trusted implicitly to the honour of the English Parliament for a measure that should fully set at rest all uneasiness on the subject; while Lord Temple was so impressed with the propriety of adopting such a measure that he drew up the Bill of Renunciation, which, after much superfluous discussion, ultimately passed into a law.

The case itself, however, lay in the narrowest compass, and admitted of the simplest solution. The Irish cause which had occasioned all this trouble, and menaced so seriously the tranquillity of the country, had been entered for hearing before the operation of the Repeal, but delayed by some accident until a subsequent term. The reason why it was not dismissed when it came before the court was, that the time had elapsed for pleading against the competency of the court, pleadings having already begun upon the matter of the suit. The parties could not plead to the writ—to use the legal phraseology—because they had already pleaded in chief. The only time when, according to the practice of the court, the competency of the court could be objected to was when the cause was entered; but at that time the objection did not exist, and when the cause came on for hearing it was too late. Lord Mansfield took the cause without any reference to the special circumstances attending it, which he was not judicially called upon to notice. He acted strictly on the practice of the court; and, although it was held by some of the statesmen of the day that he ought to have taken a more enlarged view of so peculiar a case, it was the opinion of Mr. Fox that he could not have acted otherwise than he did. At all events, the case could never have been drawn into a precedent. The real point for consideration, upon which Mr. Fox—who had himself framed the Act of Repeal—entertained some doubts, was whether the Repeal was sufficiently minute and comprehensive in its scope, to extinguish the right of appeal in Irish cases, by writs of error, to the King's Bench of Great Britain. But this point was not raised, on its special merits, by Lord Mansfield's decision, which involved nothing more than a technical question arising out of the practice of the court. It was wise to allay the feverish anxiety of the people, by removing any obscurity that hung over the settlement of the separate judicature of Ireland; but, such being clearly the intention of the Imperial Legislature, it is difficult to understand why it should have entailed so much clamour and misunderstanding.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 8th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

This morning I received your letter and despatch of the 3rd and 4th instant, and soon after, the enclosed note from Townshend. The general idea is, that they have received the exceedingly bad news of their negotiation being totally at an end; and the style of this letter seems, I must own, to confirm it. Before I close this letter, which shall not be till to-night, I shall most probably know with certainty. If it should be so, I see nothing in Lord Shelburne's conduct throughout this business, which can prevent me from being convinced that he has foreseen this conclusion, that the acquiescence is to be ascribed to that foresight, and to an intention of pledging you to some very strong measure to be immediately proposed to Ireland—of men, money, or some other support; and that his language about peace was calculated for no other purpose than that of making to himself a merit which he had not, and inducing me to pledge you with less difficulty to something of this sort, in the improbable event of a continuation of the war. If that should have been his aim, I have at least the consolation to reflect that I made none but a very general answer to that part of his conversation to which I allude, and which I stated to you at length in a former letter.

At the same time, I must freely own that I have been duped upon the subject of peace; not so much by their assurances, strong as those have been, and often as they have been repeated, as by the opinion which I then held, and which I have not much altered now, that a peace was absolutely necessary to their system of government. However, be all this as it may, I think you are in a situation to voir venir, and to rest upon your oars in full confidence that you are now completely master of your own ground, whether you are to be left to carry on the Government of Ireland upon those principles on which you have begun it, and on which alone we know it can be carried on with success, or whether the system is to be altered, and committed, of course, to other hands; in which there is no doubt but that the ill-success and confusion that must follow will justify your predictions to such a degree, and place your character in such a light, as would almost make it an event to be wished for by you, if it was not so fatal to the interests of both countries.

And this brings me to another point, in which I am very happy to feel myself justified and confirmed by your instructions in that line of conduct which I had fully resolved to adopt. I mean the holding out the most peremptory refusal to making either you or myself at all a party to postponing the business beyond the 21st, except in the single instance of their having some proposition to bring forward then, about their negotiations, of such a nature as to make the reason obvious to the mind of every man in Ireland, as well as in England. In such a case I will acquiesce, because I think I cannot in decency avoid it, under the delay of one day only. In every other case which can be supposed, I will claim a right to state to the House that the delay is neither consented to by you, nor arises from you; but is in your idea most pernicious. Surely, my own character and honour, as well as your's, demand this from me.

I am sick to death of this scene. Since I wrote the first part of my letter I have been to the levée, where I saw Townshend, and learnt from him that Lord Camden had taken upon himself to draw up a new preamble, which was to soften on both sides.—(What the meaning of this curious expression is, I will not pretend to say.) I then said, that at least I hoped it would contain an explicit recognition; because the measure would only be useful, in proportion as it was explicit. He agreed with me, as he had always done, and wished that I had seen Lord Camden. I asked if he was in town; he said he was to go back to-day to Chiselhurst, and had desired him to hold the council, in his absence, on Friday. I immediately went home, and wrote to Lord Camden, desiring to be allowed to wait upon him; but he was gone. I have just sent your despatch of the 4th, with the enclosed note to Townshend, which I hope will find him before dinner. How little does all this agree with Lord Shelburne's idea of doing what would be most satisfactory, and with all my fine reasoning at the beginning of my letter!

I will certainly write to you more when I come back from dinner; and, if I can make him, Townshend shall write too, because they cannot, upon paper, assign any good reason for the delay, and a bad one will give you advantages. Upon the whole, what a scene it is!

The news at Court was, that the negotiations are not broke off, only delayed; and this I take to be the real case, as no letter has been written to the Lord Mayor. If that be so, I shall of course hear no more of it to-day.

Elliott is to have a Red Ribband.

Jan. 10.

I have delayed finishing this letter till this morning, in the vain hope of being able to get something specific to propose to you. After dinner, on the 8th, Townshend produced Lord Camden's preamble. I send you a copy of it, and need not, I am sure, observe to you how unsatisfactory it is to Ireland, and how humiliating to Great Britain; and how perfect an ignorance it shows, after all that has passed, of that business which is referred to him for a decision. Neither Lord Shelburne, Townshend, nor Pitt, who were present, attempted to defend it against the observations I made upon it.

Some conversation passed upon it, after which Townshend went away. The conversation then turned more particularly upon what was to be done, in which the only very settled idea that I could find was, that your preamble was not to be adopted.

Pitt then threw out the idea of declaring the intention of the Act of Repeal, and making the new enacting clause a consequence of the principles then adopted. We talked this over a little. I pressed for something being settled to send over to you. The answer Lord Shelburne gave me was, that the Cabinet lawyers were all dispersed, and without them nothing could be finally settled. Pitt then went away. I continued the conversation, and asked Lord Shelburne if it would not be right, as he had approved of Pitt's idea, that I should see Pitt, and endeavour to put something upon paper upon it. In this he agreed.

When I went home, I sent the enclosed note to Pitt, and in consequence of it saw him yesterday morning. I was near two hours with him, drawing up something of a form. At last, the Bill No. 1. was settled: more, I believe, because we were both tired out with weighing words, than for any great merit that I see in it. However, at the time I thought it might do; but in the course of the day, thinking it over, I disliked it, and sent the form No. 2. to Pitt, who desired to see me again. When I went to him, he proposed, after some conversation, the Bill No. 3., which I took to consider.

But, in the meantime, I am au dernier point at a loss what to do in it; because, after an absence of six weeks, I know no more of the present ideas of people in Ireland, and of the squabbles and distinctions of words on which the whole turns, than the Ministers here do; and less, God knows, I cannot know! If you wait till something is formally sent you, I shall certainly be reduced to the necessity either of putting the business off, or of doing something in a hurry, without knowing whether it be right or wrong. For you may depend upon it, that neither will any of the unlearned Ministers pledge themselves to a specific form, nor will the learned come from their rural retreats one hour before the 17th.

In this situation I feel myself obliged to lay upon my oars, and to entreat you to return the messenger as soon as possible, to say whether any and which of the forms will do, or what kind of thing I am to press for; for I am thrown quite wide. Your old preamble they will not adopt except compelled to it. What their objection is I cannot find; but most likely it is the dear delight of alteration that operates upon them. If you think that nothing short of saying "They have now the right" will do, for God's sake say so explicitly in a despatch. I have never quite lost my patience in this cursed business till this moment, and I confess now I cannot quite preserve it. After having carried the great point against their will and inclination, we shall now be ruined by their delay and their damned country-houses.

If you don't like any of these forms I send you, and yet will not propose any other, for God's sake send one over to me that I may propose it, or bring their's as near as possible to it. Pray return your messenger as soon as you can, for this disappointment and anxiety works me more than I can express to you. Adieu.

Believe me, my dearest brother,
Most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

You will observe that these cursed delays have driven us so near the mark, that it will be impossible for me to hear from you again before the 21st. You will, therefore, send me your full determination on every point, and in every case that you can foresee. Nobody can feel more than I do the painful necessity of being obliged to act upon my own judgment upon the general contents of your letters, instead of acting up to any specific idea. What increases my difficulty is the whole matter having arisen since I left Ireland, and my consequent ignorance of the language of individuals on every other part of the subject, except the preamble you sent over, to which they were pledged. Would to God that they would adhere to that!

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Pray return Lord Camden's preamble.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 19th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I received last night your letters of the 15th, and this morning went to Townshend with them. We proceeded together to the Premier's, who expressed great dissatisfaction at the contents of your despatch. We had a good deal of conversation about it, which ended in Townshend's proposing that he should on Tuesday move for leave to bring in the Bill, and that in the meantime your opinion might be taken on the preamble proposed by Lord Ashburton. I thought it worth while to fall in with this idea, provided, as I expressed myself, that the motion was made on Tuesday, and in such words as should be pledges to Ireland of satisfaction.

My reason for this, was my wish that you should have an opportunity of seeing the enclosed preamble, which Townshend is to send you formally to-night, and judging upon it. You see it is directly adverse to the principle of recognition; still, as it is so very strong as to the future, and the doubts being capable of being referred to Lord Mansfield's decision, I cannot help hoping that it may do. On the other hand, it will certainly pass the two Houses better; because Lord Mansfield, the Chancellor, Lord Loughborough and Lord Ashburton, will, in the case of a recognition, protest against the repeal being at all conclusive or satisfactory. This would be strong for us to meet, and therefore I think you may fairly take the new ground; express your adherence to your old opinion, that the Bill does not contradict it, but that it was an object to carry it with as little opposition and to make it as generally satisfactory as possible.

I am to apologize to you in the strongest manner for not adhering to your positive instructions. But in such a case, and at this distance, one must act much on one's own judgment; and I cannot help thinking that if you had been on the spot, you would have done the same, considering how far they are pledged by Townshend's motion, and that there will be little appearance of delay.

Jemmy agrees in opinion with me. I write this in great hurry, and need not exhort you to return an answer as early as possible. I have not at all pledged you to approve of Lord Ashburton's preamble, which, au contraire, I have combatted here, but have said: "I am incapable of judging," &c., &c.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

You must not be angry with Townshend for sending Lord Ashburton's Bill for your consideration, as I have taken that upon myself to him.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 22nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I sit down to give you a mere outline of what passed to-day. Townshend said that, in pursuance of the notice given before the holidays, he rose to submit to the House a proposition on the subject of Ireland; that he did not intend to go into the subject, but only to move for leave to bring in a Bill. He then read the motion; disclaimed every idea of impeaching the settlement of last year; stated that Lord Mansfield could not do otherwise; but that this had had the effect of increasing the doubts that had arisen in Ireland; that it was the intention of Government to leave no possibility of cavil upon the exclusive rights of judicature and legislation.

I seconded the motion, and said, That as the motion which was made went only to the bringing in a Bill, it was not my intention to trouble the House with much upon the subject; but that in the situation in which I stood I could not, consistently with those feelings which pressed so strongly upon me, and with my sense of the duty I owed to both kingdoms, refrain from expressing the sincere and heartfelt pleasure I received from seeing the business brought forward by Government in the earliest moment, and the eager and earnest wish of my heart that the Bill to be brought in in consequence of this motion might obtain the end proposed by it, and set those questions for ever at rest which it was hoped that the transaction of the last year had fully and finally quieted; that here I must disavow in the strongest manner all intention of casting any reflection, or of acquiescing in any reflection, which might be cast on the honour and integrity of the transaction of last year as conducted by the Government of this country, and by the gentlemen who treated with Government on the part of Ireland; that those gentlemen had acted as true and sincere friends to their country, and to the harmony of the empire; that the right honourable gentleman who then moved the business in that House had declared at that time, and had repeated the declaration a few days ago, that those gentlemen treated with him upon the expressed and avowed principle of putting an end to every idea of legislation and jurisdiction on the part of Great Britain over Ireland; that as such I considered it; that the right honourable gentleman had also stated the reasons which operated, and I thought operated wisely, against the adoption of other ideas which had then occurred; that the dignity and honour of Ireland was too nearly connected with, and too inseparable from, the dignity and honour of Great Britain, to make them desire that Great Britain should humble herself by an acknowledgment that the right which she had so long exercised had been usurped; that, on the other hand, it would have been absurd to have asserted the right at the very moment that it was to be abandoned for ever: such an assertion could answer no good end, and could only serve to wound the feelings of a nation whom it was intended by that transaction to bind by the strongest ties of affection, as they were already bound by the strongest ties of interest, with Great Britain. These were the reasons why it had been brought forward in the manner in which it had; and every friend to both countries, or to either, must certainly wish that it had proved satisfactory. But it could not be concealed that doubts had arisen upon the operation and effect of the transaction, and that if such doubts had prevailed—if from reasons, possibly ill-founded, they had been adopted by many well-intentioned men, and if those doubts had been strengthened by the late decision of the Court of King's Bench, however necessary that decision might be, from the circumstance of the cause having been set down for hearing before anything had passed in the House on the subject of Ireland, and if that decision induced a necessity—as it certainly did—of passing a Bill for preventing any writ of error from being received, it was surely an act of policy and magnanimity in Great Britain, it was consistent with the honour and dignity of the House to set that question for ever at rest by an authentic and solemn avowal of that which was avowed by all the parties to the transaction, and to place upon the records of Parliament a lasting monument of the good faith and justice of Great Britain.

It was with this view that I gave my most hearty consent and support to this motion; with this view that I hoped it would meet, not only with the general support, but, if I might be allowed to hope so much, with the unanimous concurrence of the House; because I wished very much to show to Ireland that it was the unanimous determination of the House to abide by those principles which had been unanimously adopted in the last session, which had at the opening of the present session received His Majesty's approbation, and had met again with the unanimous approbation of both Houses in their Addresses to the Throne; and because I wished also to demonstrate that nothing which had happened since last year—that no change which had taken place in the Government, either here or in Ireland; no alteration of the circumstances of this country, either with regard to Ireland or to the rest of the world; and particularly nothing of that which I hoped I, an uninformed man, might be allowed to call the near hope and prospect of peace—had made any difference whatever in those sentiments of justice, of liberality and of affection to Ireland which had actuated and, I trusted, ever would actuate, the conduct of the Parliament of Great Britain.

After this there was a long conversation rather than debate.

Eden said that he did not mean to oppose the motion; but that when he proposed the repeal last year, he had given his opinion that it would be and ought to be satisfactory. In the first opinion he was confirmed by the following paragraph in the Addresses: "Gratified in this, we const:" &c., &c.; that he thought the other was equally evident from the transaction itself, &c.; but that from the moment he found that the contrary idea was taken up by Mr. Walsh's precision, by Mr. Flood's prodigious ability, and by the Recorder's integrity, he knew it would prevail. He then said that there were still matters which required adjustment; and instanced several acts made Irish by Yelverton's Bill, which would expire in this country in the case of peace, and the re-enacting of which would not prevent their dropping in Ireland; but I own I doubt this on the construction of Yelverton's Bill.

Fitzpatrick said he did not mean to oppose this Bill; but at the same time he was exceedingly sorry that the motion went beyond the mere case of judicature which called for the interference of Parliament; that it professed to remove jealousies and discontents; that this was impossible; that there would always be found men to start grounds of jealousies, &c.—men whose consequence arose only from ferment; that the body of the country was satisfied; spoke a good deal at different times about the Duke of Portland's friends and their honourable support.

Lord Beauchamp said, that as far as he understood the intentions of Government, he approved of them—understanding them to go to a complete derilection of the right in terms so as not to be undone again. He entered at large into the arguments against simple repeal; and, in answer to Fitzpatrick, who had dwelt much on the resolution of the Houses of Parliament as speaking the sense of the nation, in contradiction to the Volunteer resolutions, said that he wondered to hear such an argument from him, who took the sense of the people of England in taverns and at clubs, &c., &c.

Fitzpatrick replied to him: went over much the same ground; defended the simple repeal; then retorted upon Lord Beauchamp; and took his pamphlet out of his pocket, and reading his last sentence, that his lips should be closed for ever upon the subject, observed that he, in his turn, was a little surprised, after this, to hear the noble Lord's lips opened to run a race with Government, &c., &c.

I then desired to explain, that so far from saying that the Bill was to be grounded on the insufficiency of the repeal, I had said the direct contrary, and had stated a few days ago in the House, my full opinion that the faith of Great Britain had thereby been pledged to Ireland upon the avowed principle of putting an end to every idea of legislation and jurisdiction over that kingdom, and that nothing was implied by the present motion which went to impeach that.

Fox then spoke. He went over the ground of simple repeal; defended Grattan and his friends very warmly; and seemed to imply pretty strongly, though he did not quite express it, that you was to abandon—to desert those men of high integrity and honour, whose great abilities were the smallest part of their merit, &c. It is impossible to go over the whole of what he said; but it chiefly turned upon these heads: he said that no Bill would do if there was not confidence; that such a system should be adopted as to ensure this confidence, not to humiliate the Parliament of Great Britain by bringing propositions founded on supposed discontents, &c.; that the judicature was given up, as far as related to appeals, by the repeal of the Declaratory Act; that writs of error were prohibited by the Irish Act; however, a Bill might be necessary to prevent here the exercise of a nugatory jurisdiction; but that if the preamble of that Bill was, as had been stated by Fitzpatrick and Lord Beauchamp, as a case to be approved of, to declare the intention, he did not conceive how it would alter the question at all, for if the repeal was ineffectual, it would not make it less so, &c.

I again got up to desire that it might be understood that I had not said anything which could in any way be construed into an idea of abandoning, of deserting, &c., &c., men of whom I entertained the highest opinion—men in whose integrity I knew Government might confide with safety, and whose abilities were, as he had said, great as they were, the least part of their merit.

Mr. Percival said something about a law to try persons for crimes committed in Ireland in England, and desired we would attend to that, and give it up. I mean to do so. MacDonald asked if it was meant that all idea of legislation and jurisdiction should be given up. Townshend said, undoubtedly.

Pitt then closed the business with great ability. He said that he was happy to find that, although much conversation rather than debate had taken place, much of which he thought superfluous, still, as to the motion and the main object of it, the avowing in direct terms, &c., &c., that had been unanimously agreed to on all sides of the House. He added, in answer to Fox, that he trusted it would be found that the Government was placed, both in England and in Ireland, in the hands of persons who would not less merit the confidence, would adopt measures not less calculated to promote the peace, happiness and prosperity of Ireland, at the same time, with an attention not less scrupulous to the dignity of the English Parliament, than any other man or set of men whatever.

Thus ended this business, without any division or opposition, every man having prefaced his speech with a declaration of his intention not to oppose the motion. I cannot help thinking that, considering all circumstances, and particularly considering my own very delicate and awkward situation, the whole has not gone off ill. I am impatient to receive your approbation of Dunning's Bill. You see what Fox would say of a preamble.

You must not think of printing this debate, whatever you may do with my speech; because it would not be common justice to other people, whose speeches I have stated so very loosely and shortly, and it would be known for a Government publication. I think, even for mine, you had better wait till you get the English papers, from which it would naturally be copied in Ireland, and then insert mine instead. Adieu.

Ever yours.

I enclose Mornington's account to Grattan.

In my reply to Fox I said, that so far from any desertion, &c., &c., of the Duke of Portland's friends, all that was intended was, in the expressive words of one of those gentlemen: that as it was now necessary that Great Britain should speak again upon the Irish subject, she should speak clearly and openly.

Those are not exactly his words; but they are in his letter to the "Trala Vol." Pray find them; for I think they describe the transaction well.

Rumours of resignations and changes, short as the term of the Administration had been up to this time, were beginning to be bruited abroad. As yet there was nothing certain: Pitt was firm, and Shelburne mysterious as usual; but it could no longer be concealed that the Cabinet, in addition to the dangers which threatened it from without, was suffering in its influence from internal dissensions.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 25th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

The enclosed memorial of Captain Mingay describes so very hard a case, that I could not resist sending it to you; although the answer which I gave to the Lord Advocate, who put it into my hands, was that it must come through the Commander-in-Chief.

Sir Charles Thompson called upon me with the memorandum upon Sir J. Irvine. He had been ordered by the King to make it out for Lord Shelburne, who referred him through me to you. Upon the last paragraph, I observed that the effects were already sold before the balance due to Government was known. He then proposed the expedient of a temporary pension till a Government should fall, with a provision for applying such proportion of the income of the Government as should be thought fit, in discharge of the debt to the public account.

Bulkeley spoke to me yesterday from Lord Northington, about Lady Ligonier. I desired him to advise Lord Northington, as from himself, to write to you about it. If you should then think you can do anything in it, which I cannot help hoping, the obligation will lay upon Lord Northington and not upon Bulkeley.

Lord Clermont called upon me yesterday. He put in his claim to the Order, to which I gave the answer of non-residence. He said that he was always over in the Parliamentary winter, and had a house and establishment both in Dublin and in the country. I promised to write to you upon it, but gave him little encouragement, nor indeed did he press it much. Townshend tells me the King makes no difficulty about the cordon bleu, which of course you will magnify as infinitely more honourable, &c., &c.

The Post-Office here have been making a strange jumble, and have drawn up a most extravagant Act, God knows why, which they sent to Lord Clermont; I enclose it to you, with my answer to him. We shall be devilishly pressed in the House of Commons about our settlement, as the argument of war is at an end; and yet I doubt whether the people here have either leisure or knowledge sufficient even to talk about it yet. The latter I am sure I have not; and even if I had, I should not think it wise to set the head of every Irish projector here and with you, perfectly afloat. In the meantime it will be matter of some difficulty to parry it.

Did I state to you in my account of the debate, Percival's question about the Act of Henry VIII., under which offences committed in the King's dominions beyond seas are triable in England? I rather think the answer will be, both to that and to what I think Lord Beauchamp will probably move, namely, a repeal of all English Acts, as far as they affect Ireland; that they fall to the ground themselves, except where confirmed by Irish Acts; but that if they were repealed, a question might arise how far even those would continue in force, according to Yelverton's Bill.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

P.S.—Yesterday, after making eighteen post-captains the day before, and after having attended the Cabinet in which the preliminaries were signed, Lord Keppel resigned the Admiralty. There are two ideas upon this; one is that he had always intended it as soon as peace was concluded, the other that he disapproved the articles. I think they are very consistent, and that if he had the first intention, he would take care to lay a groundwork for future opposition by refusing his concurrence to the peace; besides which, he probably feels little disposed to any mode of bringing about an event by which he loses so much consequence, and what is no less dear to him, so much patronage. I hear nothing said from any authority about his successor; the Duke of Grafton and Lord Howe seem to be the persons most talked of. Things are going on much too well in Ireland for them to think of, or I think for you to wish, especially at this moment, a different arrangement from either of those two.

It is very much reported, and I believe with certainty, that the Duke of Richmond has retired from the Cabinet, and means at the same time to keep the Ordnance. What other people mean about that, is, I think, not quite so clear; though the Duke of Richmond's bitterest enemy could not, I should think, wish to see him in a more degrading situation—such a situation, indeed, as it seems impossible should last for any length of time, or a moment longer than till a proper successor is found.

Minorca goes to France, and not to Spain, as Tom told you. That, I think, is tant pis.

I have just received your despatches of the 22nd, and found, to my great disappointment, that you had not then received mine of the 19th. It is upon the conviction of bonne foi that I act.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

I hope if the Admiralty should be offered you, you deliberate very maturely, particularly on the prospect in the House of Commons here.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 27th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Although Townshend has probably informed you, yet I could not help writing a line by this messenger to congratulate you upon the capture of a French seventy-four and frigate, with which the war ends. They were taken near Barbadoes, by Hughes's squadron, after a short action with the 'Ruby,' the headmost ship.

I have already written by the post. The Duke of Richmond's resignation is not certain; and Townshend, Conway and Pitt certainly approve and stay in.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Some particulars concerning the arrangements for the new Order of Knighthood will be read with curiosity. The pretensions of particular individuals to the Ribband of St. Patrick do not properly form materials for political history, and a few letters, in which such claims are freely canvassed, have been excluded from our selection. But the following, which touches upon the small preliminaries to which statesmen are forced to condescend on these ceremonial occasions, possesses more general interest of an illustrative kind.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Jan. 31st, 1783.

My dear Brother,

While you are persecuted by Lords Arran, Aldborough, Altamnt, and omne quod incipit in A, I have had daily application from Lord Clermont, which I have promised to submit formally to you.

His family and connexions in Ireland and their weight is the first thing he states. To this I gave the answer of non-residence. He says that he always resides during the Parliament winter; that he has a house and establishment both in Dublin and in the country; and that he is more a resident than Lord Clanricarde or Lord Courtown. I then stated the impossibility of increasing the number, which had been a particular object with the King. His solution to that was, that when the King named sixteen, he certainly did not mean to include himself; and that the Thistle is twelve without the Sovereign. He proposes therefore that, as he has always been one of those talked of for it, and as his friends make it a point with him to apply, you should make it sixteen without the King, by adding his name.

You will therefore be so good as either to send him from yourself, or to commission me to write to him, a formal answer, tel qu'il vous plaira.

In general, the list is approved; but they object to the insertion of Lord Bechoe's name, and to the omission of Lord Meath's.

Fox and his people are very industrious in turning it into ridicule, by which I should think they would not increase their Irish popularity. And what is ridiculous, is that at the same time the Duke of Portland is taking pains to persuade all Irishmen that he meant to have done the same if he had staid long enough.

I have seen Edmonson, who has this day given me in a proposal, which you will not think much more moderate than you did his bill for the escutcheons (which, by the bye, he says you have never paid).

I should think the twenty guineas per Knight for the superintendence might very well be reduced to giving him pro tempore, and for this installation only, one of the heralds' places, in lieu of all travelling expenses and allowances. The Painters' Bill, as they call it, is fixed for the Bath, and might, I should think, reasonably be given to him at the same rate.

He is making out copies of the drawings; one or two alterations he has suggested which strike me. The first is the knots in the Collar. If they are gold, and the harp likewise, the whole will look, I think, too like a Lord Mayor's gold chain, and will make no show; nothing being more dull to the eye than plain gold. He wants to have them enamelled, so as to be like the strings and tassels of the mantle.

He will also send a drawing of the Badge, with the wreath of trefoil drawn in single leaves, instead of the full wreath, which looks, as he says truly, like a civic crown or oak garland. But this you will see in the drawing, and which looks best.

I wish that there was a statute to fix the plates of the Knights to remain in the stall in which they were first installed. In the chapel at Windsor they are obliged now to put them up loose, in order to their being removed; the consequence is, that they are frequently lost. Besides, the plates of the first sixteen might then be fixed in the centre of each stall as a mark of distinction for the founders.

In the Garter there are no plates in the Sovereign's stall. I should think that the Grand Master at each installation might be allowed to put up his, as the banner must of course always be the Sovereign's.

Edmonson proposes that he should have one of each article of the Painters' Bill made here, to carry with him as a pattern. If you see no objection, he might do Mornington's for this purpose. An advantage might be given to Edmonson by authorizing him to publish an account of the ceremony, with the arms and pedigrees of the Knights, &c., &c., to which they would of course subscribe.

Is the jewellery—I mean collars and badges—to be done in Ireland? I believe there is no workmanship at all of that sort there.

Townshend will, I believe, send the approbation to-night. It has waited upon an idea of the Prince of Wales, who gave it out to everybody that he had sent in to the King to ask for it.[1] This was the day after the King had given his approbation to the list, and named Prince Edward. I thought it right to wait a day or two, to know if the King would speak to him about it. He never has; and Townshend is to mention the Order again to-day, and send the approbation to night or to-morrow. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

[1] The Premier did ask for it, but was refused.

The "Coalition Administration" was now beginning to "loom" dimly in the distance. Various changes were whispered, and from day to day new reports got abroad of negotiations with Lord North's party. The first step towards the consummation of an alliance may be said to have been already taken when Townshend, abandoning the traditions of his party, told Mr. Grenville that he saw no reason for proscribing all Lord North's people from office, although he objected to giving them any share in the Government. The meaning of this ingenious distinction is clear. The Administration was tottering, and the only chance they saw of strengthening their position was to buy off the opposition of the followers of the late Cabinet. To swamp their opponents and at the same time keep the actual power in their own hands, was a piece of strategy which might be expected from the general character of Lord Shelburne's tactics. But it failed, and failed conspicuously. Mr. Grenville discerned clearly the danger of this clever plan, from which he could anticipate no other result than that of sapping the foundations of the existing Government. In the letters that follow we have a close running commentary on the state of parties, and the rumours that hourly agitated the public mind during this interval of intestine struggle. Mr. Grenville considered the circumstances of the Ministry hopeless, as, we gather from his previous communications, he appears to have done all throughout. Their conduct upon the Irish Bill, which was still destined to entail division and uneasiness, revealed to him the fatal want of unity, earnestness and activity in their councils; and even if they had had no perils to guard against from without, he saw sources of weakness enough within the Cabinet itself to destroy all confidence in their stability. There were only two parties from whose ranks the Ministry could be recruited, and these two had hitherto acted in public life with the fiercest animosity towards each other. The attempts that were made to win over some of Lord North's adherents having failed, the only alternative left was to apply to Fox. That this application was actually made, and made in person by Pitt, who, with a thorough knowledge of the character of Fox, believed that the most direct mode of ascertaining his sentiments was not only the most honourable to both, but the most likely to attain its end, either by a candid refusal or immediate acceptance, is here authoritatively stated by Mr. Grenville. Fox's answer is conclusive as to the real obstacle which impeded all negotiation. While Lord Shelburne was in office nothing could be done: no party would consent to coalesce with him. The humiliating condition to which he had lowered the Administration, is shown in the straits to which it was now reduced—seeking support alternately from opposite parties, and finding its offers rejected in turn by both.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 6th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Townshend's messenger is nowhere, waiting for this letter; and as, by a mistake, I was not till now informed of his going to-night, I have only time to write a few lines, just to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, and to say a very little upon the singular situation of things here.

To-day, when I delivered your despatches to Townshend, I entered into a conversation with him on this subject, saying that you trusted to him for information, &c., &c. He perfectly agreed with me in thinking that it could not go on without some new arrangement of some sort or other. At the same time, he said that he knew of no negotiation going on with Lord North. That there was no truth in the reports which have circulated so much that Jenkinson was to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, Pitt Secretary, and himself Paymaster. That he had good reason to believe that there had been a negotiation between Lord North and Fox, but that it was now off. That, for his own part, he saw no reason for proscribing all Lord North's people from office, but he should not like to see them in Government.

Upon this text it is not very easy to reason. The prevailing idea certainly is that Lord Shelburne is making overtures to Lord North. Whether those are to go to Cabinet arrangement, or only to provision for Lord North's family and offices of emolument, &c., for George North, &c., &c., I do not know; if the former, it is clear that he keeps it from the knowledge both of Townshend and Pitt; the latter, I have very good reason to believe, would object to it.

In the meantime a storm is brewing, and will probably burst when the preliminaries come to be considered, unless some event takes place before that time. Lord Keppel and the Duke of Richmond both assign the badness of the peace for their reason for resigning. Lord Carlisle does the same, but I understand his great objection goes to the Loyalists, to whom he considered his personal honour engaged. The report of the day is, that the Duke of Grafton has followed their example. Of this Townshend said not one word to me, nor did I hear it till after I had seen him. This rather makes me disinclined to believe it, though his Grace has certainly had a kind of flirtation with Fox for some days past.

Upon the whole, the only thing which I can at all venture to pronounce with certainty, is that it cannot do as it is; and that if Fox's people continue, as I believe they will, to stand aloof, they must either all resign, or fill up the vacancies as fast as they occur, day after day, with Lord North's people. En quo discordia cives prodaxit miseros.

In the case of an immediate resignation, Lord North's people will come in by storm (Fox not having the least chance): in that of gradual admission, they will sap the Government by degrees. In either case, there is too much reason to fear the return of the old system of corruption on one side, and faction on the other.

With regard to the peace, I own I cannot think it so bad, all things considered. If one measures it by an uti possidetis, it is surely advantageous; and I see no reason for being at all confident that another campaign would have put us in a better situation to negotiate. In this line, I had intended to have stated my ideas on the day of debate in the House of Commons; but I am deterred by reading your opinions, and by a fear, I believe too well grounded, that you will take an active part the other way; and I cannot reconcile myself to the appearance of a Scotch family. If it had not been for this, I think it would have had a handsome appearance in the hour of their distress, and would not have had a bad effect in Ireland; if, indeed, we are any longer interested there, which I begin to doubt. Adieu, my dearest brother.

Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 8th, 1783, Nine, P.M.

My dear Brother,

I wrote to you this morning an account, which you will receive at the same time with this letter, of a conversation with Lord Bellamont. I little thought, at that time, that I should now have one of so different a nature to detail to you, which I had, just before dinner, with Percy. He said, that although he might be thought officious in coming to speak to me upon a subject, upon which it had not been thought proper to make him any communication, yet he could not help saying that he thought it inconsistent with his duty to you, &c., &c., not to state to me that he had last night procured from the House of Commons a copy of the Bill proposed; and that he was fully convinced that, so far from answering the purpose intended by it, the country would be thrown by it into a much greater flame than ever. I asked him to state his objections; he said they would be best seen by the form which he had drawn up, and would leave with me for my consideration.

I did not detail to him the many objections which occur to me upon his Bill, and particularly that most insuperable difficulty of its asserting what the right now is, in contradiction to the declared opinion of almost every lawyer in this country. But I said, in general terms, that the Bill in question had been drawn up with great consideration; and that it was a matter of infinite delicacy, on account of the great variety of prejudices to be encountered on both sides of the water. He asked if this was the form which had been sent to you, and if you had consulted people there upon it. To this I could not but answer that I understood you had, though you do not say a word to me upon that subject, and it is a question which will most certainly be asked in the House of Commons.

This unexpected difficulty has made me determine to postpone the second reading of the Bill till I have an answer to this letter, unless I should in the meantime receive one from you perfectly approving, and stating the opinions of people in Ireland as agreeing with yours upon it.

It is certainly to be observed, that the whole of this difficulty has arisen from want of communication from Ministry to you. Because, if you had known that they were determined to admit no recognition of the existing right, it would have been well worth considering whether anything short of that would not be worse than as it was before. Instead of that, they receive your resolutions and your Bill, and then pledge themselves, and suffer me to pledge both them and you to a Bill; after which, they first say that they will allow of nothing which admits the original right, and when beat from that ground, that they will not have anything asserting the present right. It then only remained, as we were pledged to a Bill, to consider whether this was not the best form of a Bill to be drawn on such principles.

Whatever your answer has been to Townshend's despatch, I hope at least that it has been coolly and temperately expressed, as he told me he meant to represent to you that an advantage had been taken against you from the warmth of your late despatches.

Another advantage which will arise from deferring the second reading will be, that by that time this strange, unsettled situation of things must have taken some form; and I do not believe that this form will be such as you will choose to act under in Ireland. In that case, it certainly will not be worth our while to engage our characters to a measure which the folly of your successor may render pernicious; which must at all events be precarious; and which England will most certainly repent whenever the hour of her insolence shall return. We took the business out of the hands of Lord Beauchamp, because it ought to be conducted by Government; and that will be the best reason for resigning it into other hands whenever we shall cease to stand in that character; which whenever must, I think, arrive in the course of a very few days.

Jemmy is to dine at Lord Shelburne's on Monday, when he will probably be able to tell you more. I go to Townshend to-morrow, and mean to try what I can get from him.

At least we have the satisfaction to reflect, that if your reign has been short, it has not been dishonourable to you; and that having taken the Government at a most difficult and inauspicious moment, you will quit it with more real and more deserved popularity than the Duke of Portland, notwithstanding the uncommon advantages which threw themselves in his way.

Of myself I say nothing, except that wherever and whatever I am, I shall always consider myself as deriving honour, consequence and happiness from your character and success.

In these sentiments believe me,
My dearest brother,
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

I am able to tell you nothing with any certainty as to the state of parties; but I think that neither Lord Shelburne nor Fox are strong enough to keep the Government without a coalition with Lord North's people, and that the latter are too strong to sell themselves unless they be admitted to form part of the Government. Fox's people no longer deny his negotiating with Lord North.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 8th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Lord Nugent tells me that when he saw the Primate, he observed to him that, by the list of officers of the Order, there was no mention made of any prelate, although in other respects the Garter was implicitly followed; and he says he thought, by the Primate's manner, that he himself wanted to be that prelate; as that officer is, you know, superior in rank to the Chancellor of the Order.

If this be the case, I can see no reason why the offer should not be made to him, which might still be done by your writing to say that that office had been omitted, from the impossibility of giving it to any other person but himself, and a doubt how far he might like the trouble; but that you had daily expected him in Ireland, and meant to ask him the question; but the time now drawing near, &c., &c.

Nothing else has passed on the subject, except a third application from Lord Clermont, through General Cuninghame, to whom I stated the total impossibility, &c. I expected Lord Bellamont to have asked it to-day; but he did not drop a word upon the subject.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Feb. 11th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Things are drawing near to their crisis. Lord Shelburne's weakness is every day more apparent. Nothing is clearer than that he cannot stand a week without some addition. The strongest proof of this is what Pitt told me to-day: that it being thought necessary to make some attempt at a junction with Fox, he had seen him to-day, when he asked one question, viz., whether there were any terms on which he would come in. The answer was, None, while Lord Shelburne remained; and so it ended.

Upon this, I think one may observe, that the one must be very desperate, the other very confident, before such a question could be so put and so answered.

I told him I was glad the attempt was made, though I was not at all surprised at the event. He said that he thought they would now be justified in seeking for additional strength elsewhere. I said I thought so too, but that I could not help trusting that this expression did not go to include the idea of bringing back any of the old people to Cabinet offices; that I thought the line was clear that it was the duty of every man to do his utmost to keep the Government in such hands as were fit and able to hold it (under which description I could not include any of that set); but that when it was so placed, it was idle to say that support was not to be looked for where it could be had. He said that, without making professions, he could with truth say, that this had always been his idea. And so our conversation ended—at least, this was the only material part of it.

There is no doubt but that they have been making proposals to Jenkinson, and these must have failed before the other offer could be made. On the other hand, I know for certain that negotiations, through more than one channel, have been entamé between Fox and Lord North. This must be bien en train, if one may judge by what I tell you in this letter.

In that case, as well as in that which I put to ——, I take it for granted that I know your line; and whatever the effect of that line must be with respect to my own fortunes, I have infinitely too great a concern for your honour and my own, not to desire and wish it most eagerly. The only thing which pains me is the consideration of Bernard. If the interval should afford you an opportunity for that, I should depart in peace. Adieu.

Believe me,
Most sincerely and affectionately yours,
————

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 15th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have this day received your letter of the 9th, and have the greatest satisfaction at that which you express respecting this long-agitated Bill. Since you wrote that, but before this time, you will have received a letter from me, enclosing a Bill proposed by Percy. I confess his dissent alarmed me a good deal at the time, ignorant as I was whether you might not see it in the same light. I am convinced now that it proceeds only from his resentment at not being consulted previous to its being fixed upon. The second reading stands now for Wednesday; but I doubt whether it can come on, as I understand the call previously fixed for that day is to be insisted upon. Before that time, I shall probably have received your letter, informing me whom you have consulted, as that is very material, particularly with regard to my being able to urge Grattan and Yelverton's authority against Fox and Fitzpatrick. At all events, however, I mean now to proceed in it on that day if I can, if not as early as possible, and to bring you the account of the third reading in the House of Commons.

All this proceeds upon the idea that nothing of a different nature happens before; which I still think there is every reason to imagine. I cannot learn whether Fox and Lord North have settled their coalition so as to act together on Monday. Jenkinson is, I believe, secured to us; but at what price, and with what following, I am utterly ignorant; and on that the whole undoubtedly depends. As soon as I know anything, you shall hear it in the most expeditious manner; but I do not give you my conjectures when they are merely such, because I know people at a distance are apt to give them more weight than they deserve, and I should be sorry to mislead you.

The Duke of Rutland is Lord Steward, and it is said he is called to the Cabinet. This, to my mind, argues great weakness indeed. In the House of Lords, Lord Pembroke moves the Address; in the House of Commons, T. Pitt. This, I think, does not show very great strength. The seconders I know not.

You have several times mentioned the Pension List; and I have as often forgot to tell you, that I inquired in the first instance without speaking to Pitt, and found that, whatever reform is to be made, rests wholly with Lord Shelburne, who appears to act in it on no system, but to add or to take away at his pleasure. Jackson and Jemmy Grenville remonstrated some days ago at the Treasury against signing any more till they saw that the act was to be complied with.

Upon the subject of the Fisheries, I have had a conversation with Hunter Blair, the member for Edinburgh. There has been a meeting of the Scotch members to support a Bill in Parliament to extend the bounty now given in England for the Scotch coast, to fish caught on the Irish coast, and to give the fishermen a power of landing and drying on the Irish, as on the Scotch coast. They went to Lord Shelburne, who referred them to me. I desired Blair to send me a copy of the memorial, and an abstract of the several British and Irish Acts on the subject.

The Irish are very ill done, as the two most material, in 1764 and 1776, are omitted. I do not find by any Irish Act whether the Irish fishermen have the power of landing and drying; if they have, I should think it does extend to all the King's subjects; as the Act of 1782, restraining the bounty to Irish ships, does not touch the power of fishing. If they have it not, no English Act now to be made can give it them; but if they have it, we may extend the bounty as we please.

The reason they assign for wishing it is, that the herrings shift yearly from one part to another of the narrow seas, and that as the Irish have, by an English Act, the privilege of fishing on the Scotch coast, it is but just that the English and Scotch should fish on the Irish when the fish are there, as has been the case these two last years. The consideration presses, as the seamen now to be discharged will, of course, many of them return to Scotland to find employment, and the fishing cannot, as they state, be carried on at all, but by such indulgence as they apply for.

Lord Glandon was with me to-day, to ask whether Coppinger is one of the new Judges, and, in that case, who he should bring in for his borough. He told me that he had sold the other seat to Sir W. Gleadowe. I did not dare ask whether he was engaged for the next Parliament, because it would have given too much of a hint of the dissolution. I therefore only said, that I did not believe the names were fixed for the three Judges.

Lord Bellamont is outrageous about the Order, and has been with Townshend about it; but not with me. I have sent your paper about Irvine to Lord Shelburne, but have had no answer. I enclose you a letter from Lord Clanricarde, with my answer. Lord Nugent has seen him, and says he is beyond measure flattered, and well-disposed towards you.

I shall go to Lord Shelburne on Tuesday or Wednesday, and press him about the peerages, &c., &c. As to applying to Townshend, it is useless; for he has all the disposition in the world, but not a jot more.

I own I think the 18th of March will be rather too soon after the installation, and will look too like a trick, and too much in the style of the St. Bartholemi: and yet, if you wait much longer, you will fall among their cursed assizes; besides which, new grounds for tests will spring up, whereas there are now none, absolutely none.

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

I think our distant projects for the Government of Ireland, are something like Horace Walpole's "Butterfly and Rose."

Hester is as well as possible.

Pray be on your guard, as I have great reason to believe that your conduct is watched, and your language and conversation reported to Fox, by a man about the Castle, who keeps up a constant correspondence in that quarter. I need not name him to you.

On the 17th of February, the terms of the peace were brought under the consideration of both Houses of Parliament. To do Lord Shelburne justice, he defended them with considerable ability, as being the best the country had a right to expect, or, probably, could obtain. In the Lords, the Address was carried by an insignificant majority: in the Commons, Ministers were defeated. As it was upon the negotiation and settlement of the peace that Lord Shelburne had solely relied all along for the preservation of his Government, the effect of this defeat was decisive. It was the doom of the Ministry; and the bolt was launched by that strange combination which had been growing up in secret for several weeks, which was now openly avowed for the first time, and which was too powerful to be resisted. The coalition had, in fact, already been determined upon. Fox frankly stated it, and supported the Amendment, conjointly with Lord North, in a speech of considerable force and vehemence. However the House might have been prepared by the rumours of the day for this result, it excited universal surprise, and not a little virtuous indignation. Mr. Powis observed that, it was "an age of strange confederations; a monstrous coalition had taken place between a noble Lord and an illustrious commoner—the lofty asserter of the prerogative had joined in an alliance with the worshippers of the majesty of the people." Such words had more purpose and meaning in those days than they would have in our own, and the startling antithesis rang through a debate as remarkable for invective on the one side, as for the confession of weakness on the other. Mr. Grenville and Lord Bulkeley communicated the issue to Lord Temple, in the following hasty notes.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Feb. 18th, 1783, Ten, A.M.

My dear Brother,

I write these few lines by a messenger, to let you know that this morning, at seven o'clock, after a debate of fifteen hours, the House of Commons divided: 209 for the original Address upon the peace, and 224 for the Amendment.

The Address was very cautiously worded, and by no means conveyed any strong approbation. The Amendment was merely to assure His Majesty that we will consider the preliminaries, and in the meantime we consider ourselves bound strictly to adhere to the articles to which, by the ratification, the national faith is pledged; with something about the loyalists.

The Address was moved and seconded by T. Pitt and Wilberforce; the Amendment, by Lord John Cavendish and St. Andrew St. John. Lord North spoke next to them, in approbation of it. Fox avowed the coalition with Lord North, and was a good deal attacked upon it, particularly by Powis. Tom, to my infinite joy, did not speak. Jemmy spoke. Rigby spoke and voted with us.

In the House of Lords, the Amendment was a strong censure: this was rejected, 69 to 55.

Where this is to end, God knows! Je n'en scai rien. I am too much fatigued to be able to give you any particulars of the debate. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

LORD BULKELEY TO LORD TEMPLE.

Berkeley Square,

Tuesday Night, Feb. 18th, 1783.

My dear Lord Temple,

I conclude your brother William, and Jemmy Grenville, have given you exact accounts of the strange politics of the present moment. By a junction formed between Lord North and Fox, on Sunday evening last, the Address in our House was not carried; but the Amendment was, 224 to 208. The landed property was mostly with Government, and for the Address. There were, however, many country gentlemen for the Amendment; and among the rest, Sir William Williams. My good father-in-law voted in the majority, as a small return for my bringing him into Parliament, and he is patted on the back by George Byng, Plummer, &c., for the noble, disinterested part he takes, while I am looked upon as a black sheep; of which I console myself, and have reason to console myself, when I see the views and motives of some great political characters to be so profligate and abandoned. Lord North and Charles Fox acting together in public life, is a new and extraordinary scene! Many people say it was only for last night; but I believe the arrangement has completely taken place, and the overthrow of the present Ministry is consequently certain. The Amendment in the Lords was very strong, and full of censure, and was negatived only by 14; the numbers being, 69 to 55.

I cannot conceive it possible the Ministry can stand three days longer; I must therefore hope, whatever line you adopt, it may be upon the maturest reflection and deliberation, and not in a hurry. The new Ministry, if they can agree, will be very powerful in Parliament. At the same time, there are great numbers of members who are outrageous at the junction of Fox with Lord North, who, it is said, is to have all his friends provided for, to advance to the House of Peers, and to leave the Government to Charles Fox, Duke of Portland, &c.

Sincerely yours,
Bulkeley.

The Primate proposed the prelateship to me. I will therefore call there to offer it in your name.

The next letter, written on the 19th, is very important. Mr. Grenville here collects the actual circumstances affecting the state of parties from the most authentic sources, and places them before Lord Temple for his consideration, in reference to the course he might deem it due to his own honour to take. We learn, from this statement, that the coalition was not yet finally arranged, although it had been carried into effective execution, as against the Ministry. It had been sufficiently cemented for the purpose of overthrowing one Government, but was not yet sufficiently consolidated for the establishment of another. It was one thing for Lord North and Fox to agree in their opposition to Lord Shelburne, and another to unite upon the distribution of offices and a distinct line of policy. There were yet many old wounds to be healed, many differences of opinion to be reconciled, and much personal asperity to be soothed, before Fox and Lord North could satisfy the claims and resentments of their adherents, and combine in the formation of a Government. We learn also from this letter, that the King was strenuous in his support of Lord Shelburne (which had been obvious enough all throughout), and that he had now prevailed upon him, as he had before done with Lord North, to persevere in the face of the desperate phalanx that was arrayed against him. Government trusted to the divisions which were understood to be agitating the new Opposition, and which it was hoped would ultimately lead to its dissolution.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 19th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I wrote to you yesterday morning by a messenger, in order that you might receive the earliest information of the event of our decision. I was then infinitely too much harassed by the fatigue and want of sleep to attempt entering into the detail of the debate, being indeed scarcely able to hold my pen at all. You will since have seen it at length in the papers. I therefore say nothing upon that subject.

I have since at several different times sat down to write to you fully upon the situation of things here, and upon your letter of the 11th, which I received last night. But I find it so difficult to offer any reasonable conjecture upon the probable event, and things have taken so different a turn from that which you supposed, and on which you argue, that I have thought it better to confine myself to the following facts (being all I know) on the authenticity of which you may depend. From them you will yourself collect the different circumstances which may occur, upon which you will be [enabled] to form a decision very material to your future character, honour, and happiness. If any of these should take place before I hear from you again, you may depend on the earliest notice which I can give you.

In the first place, Lord Shelburne never has made any offer whatever to Lord North.

Secondly, the coalition between Lord North and Fox is very far from being formed; so far indeed, that I know they have differed, not only on loaves and fishes, but on the subject of high and responsible office, and particularly about the Treasury itself, which was not settled this morning.

Thirdly, the King is decidedly with Lord Shelburne. His opinion of Fox I apprehend not to be altered, nor his former resentment against Lord North much softened by their present conduct. Rigby and Jenkinson both voted with us: the latter avowedly excluded from the proposed arrangement.

Fourthly, it is the intention of Ministry to wait the event of another question in the House of Commons. The subject is to be resumed on Friday, when this question will probably occur. And this they do in compliance with the ——'s wishes. The Duke of Grafton totters, but has not actually resigned.

The division was very respectable on our side. Almost all the country gentlemen voted with us. Many of them are outrageous with Fox upon the idea of his coalition. Lord North's share of the 224 is computed from 160 to 170.

Our Bill was read a second time to-day, but so early, that I was not down. Percival asked some question about his idea; you have never said anything to me upon it. It is committed for this day sev'nnight; before that time, chaos will probably have taken some form; in the meantime I cannot but fear the most serious and alarming consequences from the impression which this division must make in France, Spain, and above all, in Holland.

Pray write as soon as you can, and believe me
Most sincerely and affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

P.S. I shall see the Speaker to-morrow.

I have delayed writing this so long, that I find it is too late to send it by the post, and it is not I think worth an express. I will therefore keep it for your tailor, who goes to-morrow, and tells me he rides post. If so, you will get it sooner; and if anything should occur before to-morrow evening, I shall be able to state it.

20th.

I hear nothing new to-day. Lord J. Cavendish moves tomorrow, and is supposed to intend censure. If so, we shall very probably see the new alliance divided, especially if their differences continue, which I know not. I have not seen Percy, but shall to-morrow; I called to-day, but he was out.

Lord Beauchamp says he will not oppose our Bill; nor, I imagine, in this state of things, will Fox. I need not say that at this moment no business goes on, and consequently it is in vain to talk to them about the different points in your despatches.

"Non ipsa si velit Salus
Servare prorsus hanc potest Rempublicam!"

Adieu, my dear brother, you shall hear from me again on Saturday morning; but in the meantime pray let me hear from you as soon as you can.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

I just hear that the Duke of Grafton has resigned.

The King, who was not expected in town till the 19th, came up suddenly on the 18th, immediately on the receipt of the intelligence of the Ministerial defeat. On the 20th, General Cuninghame, writing to Lord Temple, informs him that the Duke of Grafton had resigned the day before, having intimated his intention to do so on the preceding Monday; that he had just learned that Mr. Fox and Lord North had adjusted their differences; and that the outline of an Administration had been actually agreed upon—the Devonshires to have the Treasury, probably in the person of the Duke of Portland, and Fox, Chancellor of the Exchequer. "The political world," adds General Cuninghame, "is in a ferment, and a few days must decide the complexion of a new Administration. Every one hopes and believes it will be on a broad bottom; and your Excellency will probably be at liberty to choose your situation." On the next day, the same correspondent announces that Lord Shelburne "is determined to stand the thunder of the House of Commons," on a resolution which was to be brought forward that night, to show that the peace was inadequate. He goes on to state that the issue of the debate was doubtful, and that Lord Shelburne was by no means disposed to give up without a struggle. "If the Opposition should be beat from there not being sufficient evidence before them, an inquiry will be instituted. No man at this hour pretends to say how the question will be decided. One may get a beat [bet?] of hundreds at either side. So many difficulties arise in arranging a new Administration, that I now understand Lord Shelburne will not easily yield his pretensions." In the few hours that elapsed since he had written the former letter, General Cuninghame had reason to doubt the correctness of his information respecting the validity of the agreement amongst the opponents of Government. "I now doubt," he observes, "very much of the possibility of arranging Mr. Fox's and Lord North's friends in such a manner as to make their system carry the appearance of permanency." The inconstancy of the reports in circulation reflected faithfully the uncertainty that hung over the action of all parties; and in that uncertainty lay the principal, perhaps the only, ground of hope that was left to Lord Shelburne.

That the negotiations in the meanwhile for a coalition had advanced to something like an intelligible point, and that the Duke of Portland looked with some confidence to the Treasury, is placed beyond all doubt by the following confidential communication, in which His Grace, in anticipation of the establishment of the new Ministry, proposes to Lord Temple his continuance in office as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. It would have been so utterly inconsistent with the high character of Lord Temple to have accepted this office under circumstances which he held to be injurious to the moral influence of the party leaders, and out of which no solid or durable system of administration could be rationally expected, that it will not excite much surprise to find his Lordship declining the flattering offer of the Duke of Portland.

It should be remembered, in reference to Lord Temple's reply to His Grace's "secret and confidential" communication, that the Duke of Portland had held the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland under the second Rockingham Administration, and was, therefore, qualified to appreciate the inconveniences arising from frequent changes in the Government. It is to that circumstance Lord Temple alludes, when he recalls to his Grace's recollection the "jealousy which had been felt in so many parts of Ireland at his resignation."

THE DUKE OF PORTLAND TO LORD TEMPLE.

(Most Secret and Confidential.)

London, Saturday Evening,

Feb. 22nd, 1783.

My dear Lord,

The events of Monday and last night must have been communicated to you, and their consequences must be too obvious to render it necessary for me to point them out. What effect they may have upon my situation and that of my friends, it is impossible to say; but the supposition of a probability that they may tend to our being intrusted with the Administration will not suffer me to conceal the wish I should in that case most anxiously entertain for your Excellency's continuance in the Government of Ireland. As Mr. Townshend's friendship induced him to communicate to you my sentiments upon your appointment, you cannot be surprised at my presumption in the hope I now take the liberty of expressing to you; nor will it, I trust, be thought unjustifiable or unreasonable, notwithstanding the endeavours which it appeared to be my duty to exert for the removal of Lord Shelburne from any confidential employment in the King's service. I shall not trouble your Excellency with the reasons for my conduct, as a reference to the mode of Lord Shelburne's appointment is sufficient to explain them, even without the comment which his conduct affords; but as it is not unlikely that the means which have been represented to you to have been taken in the course of this short but successful attempt may in some degree prejudice us in your opinion, I am desirous of trespassing upon your patience for a few moments to assure you that no deviation from the principles upon which I have acted throughout my whole political life has been or is to be the price of the assistance we have had in attaining that object. If, therefore, it should be the King's pleasure to place the Government in our hands, the powers of carrying it on must be given to those who are looked upon to be Whigs, and were considered to be such by our late most excellent friend, Lord Rockingham. All the responsible efficient offices will be required and insisted upon to be given to persons of that description; and though Lord North or others of the old Administration may make a part of such a new arrangement, it will be made a sine quâ non condition that the powers of Government shall be solely vested in those who have the advantage of being denominated the friends of the late Lord Rockingham. I have thought it necessary to state this outline of our determinations to your Excellency, to counteract any misrepresentation that may be made of the basis or purport of our junction with Lord North (to which I conceive it may be liable, from the very false and groundless accounts which are reported to have been transmitted to Ireland of Mr. Fox's speech on Mr. Townshend's motion for the Bill respecting the Irish Judicature, which I myself heard, and with which I was so satisfied, upon account of those whom it was intended to support, of him whom it was intended to reprobate, and whom I consider as the arch-enemy of Ireland—I mean Mr. H. Flood—that I should have been happy to have spoken it verbatim et literatim), and to inform you of the terms upon which I aspire to so much of your confidence as to flatter myself that you will be kind enough to give me the most convincing proof of it that a public station is capable of affording, which is that of remaining in the Lieutenancy of Ireland. This request is certainly premature, and very possibly may be useless, as I may never be authorized to make it; but as it is not less a testimony of my regard for the public than of my esteem and respect for your Excellency, I do not hesitate at depositing it in your custody, and have great satisfaction in the idea of leaving with you such a pledge of my zeal for the welfare of both kingdoms.

I am,
Most sincerely,
Your Excellency's most faithful and obedient servant,
Portland.
His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant, &c., &c., &c.

(ANSWER.)

LORD TEMPLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

Dublin Castle, March 2nd, 1783.

My dear Lord,

A course of westerly winds having for the last anxious week cut off our communication with England, six mails crowded upon me yesterday such a load of public business, that I was forced to delay till this morning the acknowledgments which are so much due for your Grace's secret and confidential letter. I need not say how truly I feel the extent of the partiality which I have so often experienced, and which has certainly influenced you against your better judgment in the offer which you are so good as to make to me. Removed as I am from the immediate scene of English politics, I am but little able to decide upon those minutiæ, which are often the principal springs which move the machine; and under this want of information, I must confess myself much distressed by the means employed to obtain an object, in which, for obvious reasons, I should probably not have engaged, but which in all contingencies I should hardly have ventured to pursue in the mode which has succeeded. Both kingdoms stand in need of a solid and substantial Government; and in that spirit of candour which I am sure will entitle me to your Grace's good-will, I must acknowledge that such an arrangement as is proposed does not hold out to me any reasonable expectation of a duration, even as long as that of the Ministry which it supersedes; and consequently, that the removal of Lord Shelburne (even if that could be an object with me) would not compensate in my mind for the real and solid mischief which these frequent and rapid changes, which have already taken place, and which in a few months will again happen, must always bring upon the Government of both kingdoms; and I need not give your Grace a more convincing argument than by recalling to your mind the jealousy which was felt in so many parts of Ireland at your resignation, and the ferment which the unsettled form of Government brought forward.

I have stated these few observations from an impulse which I cannot suppress. If I really was vain enough to think my continuance in this or any official situation was important to the public, I would sacrifice much to endeavour to reconcile my feelings to it; but as I am certain that your Grace's friendship alone could have suggested to you the option which you have given to me, I shall truly consult that, in which I shall always take the strongest interest, your Grace's advantage, honour and reputation, by enabling you to send to this very difficult situation some other person, who may have equal advantages with myself in possessing your good-will, and whose abilities might enable him to return that debt, by giving solid and material strength to your Administration. But be assured, my dear Lord, that I am truly sensible of the value of the offer, and that this is a real gratification to me. And with these sentiments,

I am, my dear Lord,
Your very obliged and obedient servant,
Nugent Temple.

His Grace the Duke of Portland.

Lord Shelburne tendered his resignation on the 24th. "Whether," says Mr. Grenville, "that resignation was to be accepted immediately, and was or was not to be followed by the others, I do not know." It appears, however, from a letter of General Cuninghame's, that the colleagues of the Ministers were waiting in the ante-chamber, prepared to follow him into retirement.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 24th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I don't write to you by a messenger, because I have nothing decisive to tell you. Lord Shelburne went in to-day to resign. Whether that resignation was to be accepted immediately, and was or was not to be followed by the others, I do not yet know. Nobody has yet been sent to. The report of Lord Gower, or some other substitution, is very prevalent.

Before you receive this, you will probably have heard from me by the messenger; if not, you may depend on it that nothing is settled. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, Feb. 24th, 1783, Two o'clock, P.M.

My Lord,

Lord Shelburne is now in the closet, resigning, and most of his colleagues in the outward room, to follow his example. The Chancellor's resignation is doubtful. General Conway has been ill since Friday; this morning St. Anthony's fire broke out in his legs. Mr. Townshend will move the Commons to adjourn. The whole political system is now in such confusion, that speculation would only tend to mislead.

I heartily wish your Excellency whatever you wish yourself, and am, with the most perfect respect and attachment,

My Lord,
Your Excellency's most faithful and obedient humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

His Grace the Lord Temple, &c., &c.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Tuesday Night, Feb. 24th, 1783.

I expected before this to have dispatched you a messenger, with an account of the new arrangement; but I write by the post, as I can only tell you, that neither the Duke of Portland nor Lord North have yet been sent for, and that the prevailing report in the House of Commons to-day was Lord Shelburne's resignation, and a system, to be composed of the remains of his Administration, joined with Lord Gower.

The House has adjourned till Friday. Before that, I shall probably be able to write to you more at length. Nothing can be a stronger confirmation than this, of the truth of your idea of reluctance and disinclination, &c., &c.

There is no other news here, nothing else having been talked of for the last week but arrangements. The hungry mouths are gaping very wide, and have fixed their eyes on morsels which may possibly never drop into them. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 26th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I do not yet write to you by the messenger, as I cannot tell you what is (nothing being yet settled), but only what is not. The offer has been made to Pitt of the Treasury, with carte blanche; which, after two days' deliberation, he has this day refused. No other person has yet been sent for. Lord Gower was with the King on Monday, but I believe no offer made to him.

Whether the King has any resource left, or whether he will (as I rather think) acquiesce, God knows. Voilà tout que je sais; and so, good night.

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, Wednesday Night,

Feb. 25th, 1783.

My Lord,

I have this instant heard Lord North say, he believed that Mr. Pitt was First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer; and I know a variety of circumstances to confirm it. The same army will be fought under another general, in the expectation of its being strengthened by deserters before the next action.

I have the honour to be, with great respect,

My Lord,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, Thursday Night,

Feb. 26th, 1783.

My Lord,

There seems now no doubt of Mr. Pitt's having been offered, and having refused, being First Lord of the Treasury. What may or may not happen to-morrow, nobody can conjecture, The House of Commons will probably adjourn till Monday.

I have the honour to be, with true respect,

My Lord,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

The refusal of Pitt, who was sagaciously waiting his opportunity—foreseeing what would come of these desperate efforts to patch up an Administration—and the King's personal aversion to Fox, and dissatisfaction with Lord North for his union with him, rendered it necessary to look for help elsewhere. In this extremity Lord Temple was thought of, as one of the few men whose courage and integrity might be confidently relied upon.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Feb. 28th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have been, for these last five days, in the most anxious expectation of being able to write to you something certain about the situation of things here. Still, however, they remain in the same unsettled state. The invincible repugnance continues to operate in the strongest manner; it is avowed, and was certainly the cause of the late offer, which has been declined; notwithstanding the promises of support from many of those who have voted with Lord North till now, and who are disgusted either at his union with Fox, or his conduct to the King.

To-day, the prevalent report was that you had been sent for. This I know to be otherwise, in present, though I think it not unlikely to happen; as I know the King's wish—at all events to exclude Fox and North, and particularly the first. If it should be so, lights will undoubtedly be given you which I cannot furnish, to which will of course be added every light which it is in my power to procure. At present I rather believe, and from no bad authority, that the idea is, Lord Gower at the Treasury, Jenkinson, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Townshend to manage the House of Commons, Pitt resigning. But the whole, even from the best information, is but a scene of conjecture. In the meantime, the situation of the country cannot be described. The Government is broke up just at the moment when a Government was most wanted. Our internal regulations, our loan, our commerce, our army, everything is at a stand, while the candidates for office are arranging their pretensions: in the meantime, we have no money, and our troops and seamen are in mutiny.

One thing, however, is worth your attention: a Bill is to be brought in on Monday to open our ports to American ships, putting them, in all respects, on the footing of natural-born subjects; which regulation is to continue, till it is known that they refuse to do the like by us. How can this be done in Ireland without a Parliament?

I cannot apply, for I have nobody to apply to, about your Peerages. Adieu, my dear brother. One thing is worse than bad Government, viz.: the having no Government at all.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

I still retain my wish of bringing over the third reading, as I can be of no use in the House of Lords; although I believe with you, that the disposition to oppose does exist.

All parties were desirous of strengthening themselves by an alliance with Lord Temple. The coalition sought to engage him even before they were themselves in a position to treat; and there seems to be no doubt that, at this juncture, when every succeeding hour brought new incidents and unforeseen difficulties, a movement was going on for placing him at the head of the Government. Mr. Astle, writing to his Lordship on the 1st of March, says: "It is the opinion of men of different parties that a majority in Parliament would act with your Lordship if you was at the head of the Treasury. From what I have collected in the course of this day, I agree entirely in this opinion. Some who have voted with Lord North would draw with you." How far this contemplated escape from the embarrassments that impeded the coalition might have been matured into a practical shape had Lord Temple been in London, we can only infer from the general confidence which was reposed in his ability, high character and personal weight; but his distance from the scene of action precluded the possibility of carrying the project into effect, even had he been disposed to accept the position, which may be reasonably doubted. Events pressed impatiently for a solution, and the activity of the hybrid Opposition admitted of no delay. At the very moment when Mr. Astle was hastily writing off to Lord Temple to apprize him that there existed this desire to invite him to undertake the construction of a Cabinet, General Cuninghame was dispatching another letter, to inform him that a new Administration was actually in course of formation, of which he could then give him no further particulars, than that Lord Rawdon was to be called to the Upper House, and Townshend to be created a peer. In the evening of the same day this piece of intelligence takes a more definite and authentic form.

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, March 1st, Eight o'clock, P.M.

My Lord,

Lord North is now with the King. The Duke of Portland, or Mr. Fox, will be sent for to-morrow.

I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

Mr. Fox, however, was not sent for. The King's reluctance to negotiate with him could not be overcome: upon that point His Majesty was inflexible; and interview after interview followed, ending in the same unsatisfactory way, the country continuing to be kept in a state of uncertainty and alarm, and, as Mr. Grenville describes it, "wholly without any Government whatsoever."

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, March 4th, 1783.

My Lord,

In these uncertain times, it is difficult to relate events with precision; but I believe there is no doubt of Lord North's having been near three hours last night with the King, and that they parted without agreeing to any Administration. It is said, His Majesty offered to consent to any arrangement that excluded Mr. Fox and his associates, and that Lord North thought it was impossible to make up any Administration, to have the appearance of permanency, without them. What is to happen next, God alone knows! All is confusion; and the gentlemen of landed property are seriously alarmed. I have the honour to be, with the most perfect respect,

My Lord,
Your Excellency's most faithful and obedient humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

His Excellency the Earl Temple, &c., &c., &c.

GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, March 5th, 1783.

My Lord,

I continue to write in these curious times, though I am confident you must have better intelligence from a variety of other authorities. Lord North's interview, last night, with the King did not last above ten minutes. His Majesty again asked him if they (meaning Mr. Fox and his associates) would be satisfied with a neutral person being at the head of the Treasury: his Lordship replied, they would only be satisfied with the Duke of Portland. His Majesty then asked Lord North if he would accept of the Treasury, which he declined; and so they parted. This, the Duke of Portland told me himself, last night, at Brookes's. Mr. Fox said something to the same effect; but it was too late before Lord North left the King, to write by last night's post. His Majesty looked very firm; but what course he is to steer is not yet known.

I am happy to find, from all sorts of people who may be supposed to know something of ideal arrangements, that there is no intention anywhere of your Excellency not having the option of remaining in Ireland; and that it is the universal wish you may continue there, for the sake of this as well as of that country. If you happened to be here now, you would have the Treasury laid at your feet.

I have the honour to be, with perfect respect,

My Lord,
Your Excellency's most faithful, obedient, humble servant,
Robert Cuninghame.

His Excellency the Earl Temple, &c., &c., &c.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Thursday, March 6th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

You will very naturally have expected, long before this, to have heard of the establishment of some new system of Government, upon the ruins of that which is now avowedly broke up in every part of it. Still, however, the country remains, at this urgent and critical moment, wholly without any Government whatsoever.

When all hopes were over of forming an Administration from the remains of Lord Shelburne's, acting under some other head, the King sent, as I imagined he would, for Lord North; having previously had some communication with him through Lord Guilford, whom he saw on Sunday. Lord North has been twice with the King, and has both times been pressed to form some system to the exclusion of the Duke of Portland and Fox, which he has peremptorily refused; alleging the necessity of strength, and the impossibility of supporting Government in Parliament, except on the basis of their coalition. The last time, the conference is said to have ended with his being told, that if he was determined, he would find that the person who talked to him could be so likewise. In the meantime, Parliament is kept sitting, and must be so; because Fox declares his resolution not to suffer the Mutiny Bill to pass till a Government is formed.

In this state of things, it is difficult to do any business whatever; because those who hold their situations only for the moment, are of course disinclined to take any step beyond the mere routine of office. I have, however, prevailed upon Townshend to speak to the King about the Peers to be created previous to the ——. I enclose my note to him upon the subject, and his answer.

The Irish Bill stood for yesterday, and as it had been so often put off, I thought it better not to delay it any longer. Accordingly, I moved to go into the Committee. (Neville in the Chair, Lord Nugent peremptorily refusing, and Jemmy not being well.)

Before we went into the Committee, Percival desired to say, that as he understood his idea had not been approved of by the House in general, and that every one seemed to wish that this Bill might pass without any division or difference of opinion, he should not now insist upon it, though he was not convinced that the motion was improper.

Mr. Eden said, that the principle of the Bill met his hearty concurrence; though he wished to observe that the clause about the judicature seemed to him so worded, as to declare that England never had the right of appellant judicature, which was not the case.

Lord Newhaven said, he saw no reason for not inserting the clause, and he should, therefore, move an instruction to the Committee, to receive a clause to prevent any treason, or mis-prision of treason, committed in Ireland, from being inquired of or tried in Great Britain.

Lord Lucan seconded him.

Lord Nugent objected to this. He said that, originally, when attempts had been made in the House of Commons in favour of Ireland, no man had been a more eager or strenuous supporter of them than himself. But now, ever since he had seen the disposition of this country favourable to Ireland, and that it was the sincere wish of all Englishmen to adopt the most liberal principles on that subject, he had thought that it became more proper for persons connected with Ireland to remain silent, and to leave the measures in favour of that country to be carried through by Englishmen. In the present instance, he wished that the clause in question had not been proposed, because it was attended with more difficulty than the noble Lord seemed to be aware of. The Act of Henry VIII., which had been referred to, had been adopted and confirmed as an Irish Act by the Parliament of that country. This being the case, the repeal of the English Act could have no effect whatever, because the Irish statute would still remain un-repealed, and could only be removed by the Parliament of Ireland; whilst, on the other hand, we should be to take away a law which had been so much approved by Ireland as to be by them adopted.

Mr. Herbert read the Irish statute alluded to, and said that the disposition towards Ireland which appeared in every part of the House, could not but inspire that country with every sentiment of affection to Great Britain.

I then said, that if the motion made by the noble Lord was persisted in, I should most undoubtedly not oppose it, because it was impossible for me to give opposition to any measure which had even the appearance of adding strength to the exclusive rights of Ireland; that I was of opinion myself that the jurisdiction in question was not, by any means whatever, conveyed by the Act referred to; that the statute of Henry VIII. was not intended to affect any part of the King's dominions was clear to a demonstration, from the subsequent statute of the same King in explanation of it—the preamble of which, referring to the former Act, does expressly speak of treasons committed out of this realm, and other the King's dominions; and that the circumstance of the adoption of the former Act by the Irish Parliament was a clear proof that it was not considered as an Act which could bind Ireland; and I could not help wishing that the noble Lord would withdraw his motion, for the reason stated by the noble Lord (Lord Nugent), that we could not repeal an Irish Act; and that without so doing, the repeal of the English statute (even if it did give any jurisdiction) would be nugatory. Besides this, there was another reason. The framers of this Bill had certainly never supposed that it could go to remove at once every difficulty which might arise, and to settle at once every point which might require to be settled when, as in the present case, a great stream was turned into a new channel. Our idea went to the unequivocal and permanent establishment of those points which were in the contemplation of Government last year, to those things to which Parliament then intended to pledge, and to which I had ever been of opinion they had inviolably pledged the faith of the nation. That by so doing, we conceived we should establish a foundation of confidence, upon which all less important points might be adjusted with mutual temper, harmony and affection; that Ireland could certainly entertain no doubt that the same principles which had guided us in the great and extensive considerations would continue to actuate our conduct in those of less concern and more confined regulation; (that in the present case, if the English Act was a grievance to Ireland, so also would the Irish be to England.)[1] At the same time, however, I begged that it might be clearly understood that this clause was not objected to on the ground of its being a new claim on the part of Ireland. Ireland had last year, in the Addresses of her Parliament, claimed to be a distinct and independent kingdom. If, therefore, this Act affected her independence—and in that light it was objected to—so far it certainly was not in any respect a new claim. To supreme legislation and supreme judicature, all criminal jurisdiction was certainly annexed and inseparable.

Lord Newhaven then withdrew his motion.

Percival said, that the exercise of this jurisdiction had been antecedent to the Act of Henry VIII.

In the Committee, Lord Beauchamp objected to the word established, which he wished to alter to the word recognized; but that, unless it was agreed to, he would not press it.

I said that, as every word of the Bill had undergone the most serious discussion, and the most attentive consideration, on both sides of the water, and that as the present form had been approved of, I wished the Bill might receive no alteration, in order that it might pass, without any possible difference of opinion, in any part of the House.

He then proposed to put for ever instead of for the future; to which I agreed.

To the last clause, to prevent the receiving writs of error, &c., I moved an addition, which was drawn by the Attorney-General in consequence of the enclosed papers from Mr. Travers. I enclose also a letter to him, which I wish you would let Bernard or Cooke copy, and send to him, with a copy of the clause in question.

Upon the whole, the business has gone off better than I expected; though I take it for granted that we shall hear again, both of the criminal judicature and of the recognition. Pitt offered to state the objections at large to the latter; but I thought it better not.

Lord Bellamont has written a letter in the newspapers about the criminal judicature, which I suppose you have seen. I saw him in the House, and told him the part I meant to take. He said he wished it had been inserted in the Bill, but hoped at least that I would guard against the idea of its being called a new claim. To this you will see that part of my speech was directed; and for that reason, as well as on account of the miserable statement of it in the papers of to-day, I wish that you would revise and publish it in the Irish newspapers.

After this business was over, Eden wished that Ireland might be inserted in the American Intercourse Bill. I was gone; but the Solicitor-General said that he thought it pretty extraordinary that, on the very day that the House had declared that they had no right to legislate for Ireland, that honourable gentlemen should wish to make trade laws for her.

I hope to be with you now in the course of a week; but wait for your answer to my letters, having heard nothing from you since yours of the 16th of February. Adieu.

Believe me ever,
My dear brother,
Most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

[1] Query the inserting this, which I omitted in my speech.

The letter to Mr. Townshend respecting the Irish peerages contained the expression of a desire on the part of Lord Temple to take His Majesty's pleasure on the subject of an increase of the Irish peerage. Before Lord Temple had entered on the Government of Ireland, His Majesty had communicated to him his disinclination to increase the Irish peerage at that time; but as a dissolution of Parliament was now proposed, which would involve in troublesome and expensive contests many gentlemen upon whom it was supposed His Majesty might be inclined to confer that mark of the royal favour, and who had been recommended for it by former Lord-Lieutenants, Lord Temple thought the opportunity favourable for such a creation. Mr. Townshend's answer, conveying the substance of a note he had received from the King in reply, is curiously characteristic of the imperative interest taken by His Majesty in all matters of a personal nature. After expressing His Majesty's confidence that "Lord Temple will be as sparing as possible in his list of peers," Mr. Townshend adds, "Mr. Pennington must be included in the promotions. If advances are proposed, the Dowager Lady Longford must be a Countess; and if any peer of a junior date to Lord Dartrey is advanced, he must be promoted in the same degree."

Under the circumstances in which Lord Temple was placed by the resignation of Lord Shelburne, and the delays that followed in the settlement of a new Cabinet, Lord Temple resolved to resign his Government of Ireland. Unwillingness to embarrass His Majesty unnecessarily had hitherto restrained him from carrying this resolution formally into effect; but it appears from the following letters that he transmitted his final resolution to his brother, who communicated it to Pitt. The sound judgment of Mr. Grenville is shown with remarkable clearness in his observations on Lord Temple's answer to the Duke of Portland, which was not marked with the decision demanded by the occasion; and his prudence and discretion are equally apparent in the advice he tenders to Lord Temple, upon the necessity of resigning his office into the hands of his successor, instead of throwing it up with an "appearance of fretfulness and intemperance." The contrast between the temperaments of these distinguished men is frequently felt throughout this Correspondence, in the traits of calm, practical wisdom which will be found on the one side, affectionately checking and controlling the tendency to hasty constructions and impatient action that existed on the other.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 6th, 1783.

My dearest Brother,

I have just received your letter of the 1st instant, and need not, I am sure, attempt, what I could not do—the expressing the happiness and exultation of my mind, and the joy which I receive from a determination which, however repugnant it may be to my interests, is perfectly and entirely consonant to every feeling, to every opinion, and to every wish of my heart, public and private. With respect, however, to one part of your letter, I must own to you—and I take the first moment to do it—that after a very serious and deliberate consideration, I should feel great repugnance to the idea of Lincoln's Inn, and that for reasons which I hope soon to detail to you in person; though I will certainly not leave London till something is settled.

Nothing has happened since my letter of this day's date, which you will probably receive with or before this. The general idea is that the King is determined to hold out against the Duke of Portland and Fox. How this can be done, I protest I do not see, except by Pitt's accepting the offer which was made to him. Lord Gower and the Chancellor were the only two people with the King yesterday.

Your letter has confirmed Jemmy in the idea, which was originally his, and not mine, of the disgrace of being transferred with the Standishes, &c., &c. Adieu.

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 12th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Before you receive this, which is intended to go by the post, you will most probably have received a messenger from me with the particulars of the new arrangement which is going on. Lest any delay should arise, I just write by this conveyance to let you know that the King has this day again seen Lord North, and acquainted him that he was content to waive his objection to the Duke of Portland's being at the head of the Treasury and that he desired that a scheme of a Ministry might be submitted to him on that idea. From him Lord North went to the Duke of Portland; what has been the result I know not.

I am sure you will excuse me if I own to you that I do not quite like your letter to the Duke of Portland, a copy of which I received from you last night. My objection to it is, that it seems to court too much, what I understand it will produce, a second application upon the subject. I subscribe much too heartily to your reasons to imagine, and still less to wish, that this application may be successful; on the contrary, I own I should have desired that room had not been given for it, which I think is rather too much the case. In other respects I like the letter perfectly.

I cannot close this without expressing to you what I feel upon the reception this night of a letter from Bernard, informing me of your goodness to him, and full of gratitude and acknowledgments to you upon the subject; it has most truly relieved my mind from what has been a burthen upon it.

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 13th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have just received yours of the 7th, and am utterly at a loss to imagine what Mornington can have stated to you which has given you apprehensions about the Irish Bill. It has passed the House of Commons without a single dissentient voice in any one stage of it, and I know of no considerable opposition likely to be made to it in the House of Lords, except possibly from the Chancellor or Lord Loughborough.

In all events, I should hope you would very seriously reconsider the two ideas which you throw out. That of a precipitate departure, before the arrival of your successor, would bear so very strongly the appearance of fretfulnesss and intemperance, and would be liable to so many ill consequences in Ireland that might arise, and would all be imputed to you, that I own I should deprecate it in the most eager manner, especially as I should think you would most fully acquit yourself, both to your own character and to the peace of the two kingdoms, by protesting against such a measure, and by declaring your intention of remaining only till you could deliver over the Sword of State to some person authorized to receive it.

With respect to the other, it brings back very strongly to my mind what I felt and still feel on the subject of Eden's conduct last year. I cannot think that we are either of us justifiable in withholding from persons in the King's Government any information upon the situation of Ireland; but that, on the contrary, the best mode of enforcing acquiescence in your wishes as to the Bill, would be by a communication of opinions on the subject. Such a communication must of course be made with prudence and caution, always bearing in mind the essential difference between committing ourselves to a friend and to a foe. But still, as to facts and leading outlines, I think we have no choice.

As your letter does not imply any wish of a particular secresy on the subject (although it is certainly not a thing to be wantonly proclaimed), I thought it would be a sort of return for confidential communications which I have transmitted to you, and a step liable to no objections, to state your intention to Pitt. Jemmy's opinion agreeing with mine, I took an opportunity in a few words to say that an intimation had been made to you of a wish that you should continue, in case the arrangement under the Duke of Portland should take place, and that you had thought yourself bound to decline it. (I did not think myself at liberty to mention the Duke of Portland's letter specifically, as it is marked secret, although the thing itself is well known and talked of.)

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

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

In these sentiments believe me, my dearest brother,

Ever most affectionately yours,
W.W.G.

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

I enclose a letter from Tonson, with my answer.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Friday, March 14th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

So good night to you.
Amiciteæ sempitereæ inimicetræ placabiles.

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 17th, 1733.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LORD TEMPLE TO THE KING.

Dublin Castle,

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

Sire,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Saturday Night, March 18th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 20th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE

Pall Mall, March 21st, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

Duke of Portland Treasury.
Fox }
Lord North } Secretaries.
Lord Stormont President, and of the Cabinet.
Lord John Cavendish Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Lord Keppel Admiralty.
Lord Carlisle Privy Seal.

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

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

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

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

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

Six o'clock.

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, Saturday, March 22nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 24th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

MR. COKE'S MOTION TO ADDRESS HIS MAJESTY.

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March, 27th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

T. Pitt's child is recovering very fast.

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 28th, 1783.

Half-past Seven, P.M.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 1st, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

Ever most truly yours,
W. W. G.

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

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

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

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

THE KING TO LORD TEMPLE.

Queen's House, April 1st, 1783.

My Lord,

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

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

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

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

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

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

George R.

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

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

LORD TEMPLE TO THE KING.

Dublin Castle,

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

Sire,

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

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

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

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

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD BULKELEY.

Dublin Castle, March 20th, 1783

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

Sancho Pança, the Governor.

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

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD SYDNEY.

Dublin Castle, April 2nd, 1783.

My dear Lord,

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

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

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

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

Rt. Hon. Lord Sydney.

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 2nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

I hear nothing of your successor. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

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

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

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

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

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

LORD NORTH TO LORD TEMPLE.

Secretary of State's Office, Whitehall,

April 5th, 1783.

My Lord,

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

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

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

April 9th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

* Lord North
* Lord Stormont
* Lord Carlisle
Lord Hertford
Lord Dartmouth Lord Townshend
Lord Loughborough
Lord Weymouth
Charles Townshend
Eden
Greville
* Duke of Portland
* Fox
* Lord Keppel
* Lord John Cavendish
Burke
Fitzpatrick

Tibi Brachia contrahit ardens Scopiur, et cœliæ plus justâ parte reliquit.

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

April 11th.

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

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

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

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

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

12th.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

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

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 15th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

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

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

April 25th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

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

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

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

THE DUKE OF PORTLAND TO LORD TEMPLE.

London, Saturday, April 26th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

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

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

LORD TEMPLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.

Dublin Castle, May 1st, 1783.

My Lord,

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

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

But I cannot help complaining in private, as I have uniformly in public, that I have been singularly unfortunate in the treatment which I have met with. I resigned on the 12th of March, and that resignation was notorious to every one conversant in public business, and the intention communicated to your Grace on the 2nd of March. Notwithstanding this, I understand that no person was recommended for this situation in the formation of the new Ministry; nor from the date of their acceptance did I receive any notification of the King's acceptance of my office, nor any apology for the delay, nor any request to remain till the new appointment or arrival of my successor, nor any communication upon the very extensive business of this kingdom, for which I have declined any responsibility; but, on the contrary, I have been, under these circumstances, detained in a situation without responsibility, which was actually objected as a charge against Mr. Pitt, while I have been labouring to disengage myself; and, ultimately, I have received Lord Northington's appointment, dated on the 24th (two days after it had been communicated by every one connected with Government to their friends), without one line of the King's approbation of my conduct, in circumstances and moments very critical, unless I am to interpret Lord North's opinion on that subject, as the official notification of His Majesty's satisfaction.

These circumstances, my Lord, have much galled me, because they are personal; and because they are not necessarily connected with the change of Government, and have laid me under the necessity of resenting it by expressions very decisive, in my despatch of the 24th; and your Grace will easily believe that the period for my relief, fixed by Lord North for six weeks hence, after a resignation on the 12th of March, has not much soothed me. I shall regret any injury to the public service, but I have my private feelings, and they will not suffer me to remain in such a situation for such a time, even if the state of this kingdom justified such an addition to the absolute interregnum which has existed now since the second week in February: but at the moment in which I write I remain totally uninformed upon any of the voluminous details which I have submitted, and particularly upon the subject the most delicate from every consideration which depends upon it, I mean the Parliament, which stands for next Tuesday. These facts, which I have shortly detailed, press strongly on my mind. I have wished to show every attention to your Grace, from whom I have experienced great kindness, and to reconcile my private sensations to a treatment which I must think unjustifiable, and which I totally separate from the great political considerations which have guided our respective lives, and with which I doubt not we are both equally satisfied. These considerations never would for a moment have broken in upon private friendship and regard, but it severely pains me to think that I have reason to complain of the personal conduct of a Ministry in which your Grace has taken so distinguished a part, and in which I must conclude, from your letter to me, that the powers of Government are solely invested in those who had the advantage of being denominated the friends of the late Lord Rockingham.

I am to apologize to your Grace for the length of this letter, but I cannot conclude it without thanking you for the assurances of your regard and good-will.

I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Grace's obedient humble servant,
N. T.

The despatch alluded to, dated 24th, officially addressed to Lord North, stated in detail, and with equal earnestness and decision, the just grounds of complaint here repeated to the Duke of Portland. Mr. Grenville, having no option in a matter of so much moment, and which admitted of no pause or remedy, forwarded the despatch to Lord North; although he would gladly have withheld it, under an apprehension that it might expose Lord Temple to injurious imputations, not only on the score of impatience, but as desiring to throw obstacles in the way of his successor. In the hope of averting the latter supposition, Mr. Grenville visited Lord Northington, to express on his part, and on that of Lord Temple, the desire of placing the Government in his hands with every possible advantage to his personal convenience and the public service. This interview was attended with the best result, so far as Lord Northington was concerned.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 28th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Yesterday and this evening, I received your letters of the 21st and 24th instant.

With respect to the first, there is, I think, no need of saying anything as to its contents, except that it appears to me most clearly that the Bill passed as a measure of the new Government, especially from the Duke of Portland's words, which I took down and sent to you. In all events, however, it had passed before I received your despatch relating to it; so that the delivery of that could have been of no use either in influencing their conduct in present, or affording room for comments upon it in future.

The despatches contained in your packet of the 24th, I have this night sent to Lord North, conceiving, from the expressions of your note, that I had no option whatever with respect to them. If I had felt myself at liberty, I must own that I think I should have hesitated about it; as Lord Northington is formally announced, and consequently your main object, that of a speedy release from your situation, will soon be accomplished by the natural impatience he will feel to take, what you, on the other hand, are so desirous to give him. All other objects, that of marking to the King and to them your sense of the personal incivility they have shown you, and that of pointing out their scandalous inattention to the business of Ireland, might have been attained by twenty other ways; while I cannot but fear that this will be liable to the imputation which they are so studiously endeavouring to fix upon you, and which, of all others, I should think you would wish to avoid—that of throwing additional difficulties in the way of your successor. I am convinced nothing is farther from your intention: his situation will already be much less easy than every Englishman—and particularly every man who looks forward, and probably at no very distant period, to a share in the Government of the empire—must wish it. And even the appearance of contributing to his difficulties will, I think, hurt you here; at the same time, that it will give him an opportunity of throwing upon your shoulders any want of success which he may experience.

Upon these considerations, which I am sure you feel, and which I trust you will excuse my stating, I think of leaving my name with him to-morrow, and of expressing either to him or to Wyndham, with civility, but at the same time with a proper reserve (so as not to commit you or myself), my readiness to give any information in my power which they may wish to receive. If I see either of them to-morrow, I shall most likely in a very few days be able to inform you, in person, of the probable day of your release. I look forward with much impatience to our meeting. In the meantime,

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

Upon reading this over, I find I have said nothing of the House of Commons. Jemmy is not in town, and I own I think the saying anything on the subject now (after Lord North's appointment), would be so strong, that I am afraid to venture upon it without his advice.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, April 29th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I have this day seen Lord Northington. He entered a good deal into your complaint with respect to their personal usage of yourself, and said that as soon as the new Government were appointed, they had written to express to you those wishes, which every one felt, for your remaining; that your answer to that had not been received till a few days before his acceptance; and that they had written to notify to you the day of his being to be declared, which had been postponed till to-morrow, merely out of attention to you, in order that it might not take place till you was apprized of it.

To this I answered, that I did not understand you had received any other communication than the mere official notification of Lord North's appointment; but that, be that as it might, I was sure it would not alter (as it was a matter only between Lord North and the other Ministers, and you) your wishes to place the Government in your successor's hands with every possible advantage.

We had a little more conversation, which turned entirely on generals, with many expressions of personal civility on his part; and that he intended to write to-morrow, immediately after his being declared, to state to you the time which he desired for his preparations, &c., &c.

Pitt spoke to Lord Bulkeley the other day, to express how much he admired your conduct and character, particularly in remaining so long; and that you were the person to whom the country looked for the first situations.

Adieu, my dear brother.
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.

Tom asked me to-day, whether you had mentioned anything to me of your having received a letter from him.

This interview was followed by an immediate communication from Lord Northington.

LORD NORTHINGTON TO LORD TEMPLE.

St. James's Place, April 30th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

It is with much concern I find that your Excellency has not been prevailed upon to continue in the execution of a Government which all accounts agree, and universal opinion confirms, your Excellency to have conducted with so much credit to yourself and satisfaction to the country over which you have the honour to preside. I could have hoped, that the many honourable testimonies of regard given to you might have produced other sentiments, and that the general wishes of the country might have effected what the Administration here might have attempted in vain. This, however, not having been the case, I have it to notify to your Excellency, that the pressing instances of my friends have been able to overcome my own apprehensions, and I have consented to accept the arduous situation of becoming your Excellency's successor.

I have had the honour of being declared this day, by His Majesty in Council, as the person to relieve your Excellency, which, as I understand your wishes to be, that it should be as soon as can be, with any tolerable convenience to the affairs at home, and the settlement of my establishment in Ireland, I shall forward as much as possible. I hope, therefore, to be able to set off from here in a month from the day of my declaration, at furthest, by a week after, which I understand will be about the time you find necessary for the arrangement of your affairs, and the soonest you would have been able to have gone from hence.

I had the pleasure of a conversation the other day with Mr. Grenville, who very politely acquainted me with your Lordship's sentiments, and readiness to give every communication which might be of service to a successor. These assurances I was happy to receive, although I could entertain little doubt that a man of your Lordship's honour and liberality of mind would feel a pleasure and satisfaction in doing that which others, not with the same liberality of sentiment, might consider only as a duty upon them. I shall think myself much obliged, and shall derive no small assistance from a communication of your Lordship's active exertions and inquiries since you have been in Ireland; and I make no doubt I shall find many plans which it will be much for the interest of Ireland for me to adopt and carry into execution.

I have the honour to be, with great truth,

My dear Lord,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Northington.

Amongst the papers in Lord Temple's hand-writing, is the rough draft of a letter to Lord North, dated May 2nd, complaining that he had received no answer to his despatch of April 24th, although a messenger had just arrived, bearing His Majesty's commands on the subject of the Parliament. The terms of this letter show how deeply he felt the neglect of the Administration, in reference to the public interests involved in his resignation.

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD NORTH.

Dublin Castle, May 2nd, 1783.

My Lord,

The messenger who is this moment arrived with His Majesty's commands upon the subject of the Parliament, has not brought me one syllable in answer to my despatch of the 24th, so interesting to my feelings. Your Lordship, I am certain, does not propose to delay receiving His Majesty's commands upon the many matters contained in it, and yet your total silence upon it, and the very distant day to which the Parliament is prorogued (for which measure the King's servants alone are responsible), do not hold out to me that prospect of release, which I still conceive, from every principle of public duty to this kingdom, and from every personal consideration to me, will not be delayed many days longer. I have sufficiently pressed upon your Lordship's attention these reasons of my conduct. I have only to add, that I have well considered the alternative to which I may be driven, and must again remind your Lordship, that in no contingency do I consider myself responsible for any one of the consequences which may be the result of the public inattention to this Government, under which this high and important office has been left unfilled from the formation of the new Government till the 24th ult., and under which the same interregnum is, in your Lordship's despatch of that date, held out for six weeks longer.

And I am the more particularly anxious for this answer, from the heartfelt concern with which I wait for the notification of His Majesty's sense of those assurances of attachment and dutiful respect, which makes me solicitous that no part of my conduct may be liable to misconstruction: to his wisdom I submit those considerations, which touch so nearly the interests of this kingdom, and to his justice, with all humility, those which are personal to myself.

I have the honour to be,
N. T.

While this letter was on its way to London, it was crossed by Lord North's answer to the despatch of the 24th, containing, in detail, the defence of the Government on the numerous points pressed upon their attention by the Lord-Lieutenant.

LORD NORTH TO LORD TEMPLE.

Whitehall, May 5th, 1733.

My Lord,

The anxiety which your Excellency felt in writing your letter of the 24th of last month, cannot, I will venture to affirm, possibly exceed my surprise at receiving it. Having, during the very little time that I have been in office, made it my object to return the most speedy answers to all your Excellency's letters, and having had the good fortune in every instance to convey the most favourable return all to your Excellency's wishes and commands, you may well suppose that I must have been much struck at reading your complaints of ill-treatment, indelicacy, or something (whatever it may be) that deserves a harsher name. If, in the course of my life, it had not been frequently my lot to see very great offence taken upon very slight causes, the terms of your Excellency's letter would have given me more uneasiness. But, upon a calm and dispassionate review of your complaints, and of the conduct of His Majesty's servants, I can, by no means, either in their name, or in my own, plead guilty to the neglects and other misbehaviour which your Excellency thinks proper to lay to our charge.

Your Excellency is of opinion, that His Majesty's servants should have employed themselves in endeavouring to find a successor to your Excellency from the receipt of your letter of the 12th of March. If your Excellency will give yourself the trouble to recollect the transactions of that period, you will, I am sure, concur with me in opinion, that it would have been the extreme of folly and presumption for any of His Majesty's present servants to have treated upon this subject with any person breathing before the 2nd of April, when they had the honour of kissing His Majesty's hand. Long after the day of the receipt of your Excellency's letter, it was perfectly uncertain here, to whose hands His Majesty would commit the management of his affairs; nay, your Excellency cannot be ignorant, that, since that time, the expectations (and I doubt not the hopes) of the public were fixed upon seeing your Excellency at the head of the Administration.

The 2nd of April was, therefore, the first moment that any of His Majesty's present servants could take any step towards the nomination of a new Chief Governor of Ireland. From that time measures for that purpose have been constantly pursued, till the affair was finally settled, on the 24th of last month. The various impediments which have arisen I need not mention to your Excellency, but the fact is exactly as I have stated; and, as the delay is not unprecedented, nor even very long, I think it is not trespassing too much upon your Excellency's candour to expect that you will believe my assertion.

In your last letter, your Excellency seems hurt, that the London newspapers should have announced in Dublin the appointment of the Earl of Northington two days before you received my letter. Whatever might have been the information or the conjectures of the news-writers, I assure your Excellency that I wrote within an hour after I received authentic information of that appointment.

As to the total and absolute neglect of Irish considerations, on which your Excellency expresses yourself so strongly, you certainly cannot mean to allude to the ordinary and current business (which has been regularly attended to, and has met with the most speedy decision that each case would admit of), but to some great commercial points, upon which your Excellency had written at different times to the late Administration, and which had not, as I collect from your Excellency's letter, been considered, when they quitted His Majesty's service.

I well remember, that Lord Carlisle very fully and clearly stated, very earnestly and repeatedly pressed, the demands of Ireland, with respect to the refusal of Portugal to admit their woollen goods. Lord Hillsborough, then Secretary of State, urged the claim of Ireland with much zeal and perseverance in his despatches to the Court of Portugal, and in his conferences with the Portuguese Minister in London. What was done in that business by the late Administration I know not: nothing of that sort has yet come to my knowledge; but, during the few days that we have been in office, the Secretary of State for the Foreign Department has renewed this negotiation with Monsieur de Pinto, and I doubt not but it will be pursued with all the attention that so important a question deserves. But it is singular, that His Majesty's present servants should be criminated for not having finished in the first busy three weeks of a new Administration what has been depending during the two last Ministries, and, notwithstanding the efforts of one of them at least, is by no means so far advanced as to promise an immediate conclusion.

That the interests of Ireland should not be separated from those of Great Britain in any commercial treaty with France and Spain, and that they should be considered in every arrangement with the United States of America, are important truths, upon which your Excellency, with much propriety, lays a great stress. They cannot be urged too often or too strongly; but whether your Excellency has any particular measures to suggest on these heads, or whether the late Administration, when they signed the provisional articles, and projected the commercial treaties with the House of Bourbon, had formed any detailed and digested plan upon these principles, I am not informed; but this is certain, that it would have been very hasty and rash, for His Majesty's servants in the first hurry of a new arrangement, before any commercial treaty is formed with America, or the definitive treaties signed with France and Spain, to think themselves capable of proposing a well-formed system of commerce, adapted to the new situation of Great Britain with her late and present dependencies.

Your Excellency will consider, that we came to the situations we now possess, in the midst of a session of Parliament, with almost all the material business of that session unfinished, indeed, hardly begun, and that, besides Parliamentary affairs, there never was a time in which the Executive Power was occupied with a greater variety of complicated and important questions.

Many of the matters to which your Excellency alludes, must necessarily employ the attention of His Majesty's Ministers for a long space of time. Your Excellency will, therefore, I hope, judge of our exertions according to the capacities of ordinary men, and not according to the rapidity of your Excellency's conceptions, and the eagerness of your zeal for the prosperity of Ireland.

I beg pardon for detaining your Excellency so long, but I trust that what I have written may serve to justify me to your Excellency, when I confess, that the heavy and severe censures in your Excellency's letter have produced no other emotions in my mind than those of astonishment.

I have the honour to be, with the greatest truth and respect, My Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
North.

Earl Temple, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland

Perhaps "astonishment," after all, was the most convenient refuge for Lord North, under the circumstances. But it is clear, throughout the whole correspondence, that, let the responsibility rest where it might, a delay—fraught with the worst consequences to the repose of the kingdom—had been suffered to take place, greatly detrimental to the public service, and personally compromising to Lord Temple. Lord North himself acknowledges that from the 2nd to the 24th of April was consumed in the pursuit of measures which ought to have been carried into operation without delay. The new Ministry confess that they were three weeks looking for a successor to Lord Temple, instead of having come into office prepared to fill that important vacancy at once. They could not plead ignorance of Lord Temple's determination to retire; for he had apprised the Duke of Portland that his mind was made up before the coalition was formed. There was no excuse for the protracted inconvenience—public and private—to which Lord Temple was exposed, except the fact that the Ministry, too eager in the chase of office, had accepted the reins of Government before they were ready to undertake its functions; and that it was not until the situation of Lord-Lieutenant had been offered to one nobleman after another, they at last found a peer who was willing to incur the hazard of serving under them in so responsible a post. That Lord Temple should have expressed his feelings strongly on this occasion, that he should have complained warmly of the personal slight with which he was treated, and that he should have represented with earnestness the injury inflicted on the public service throughout this harassing interregnum, was due equally to his own character, and to the duty he owed to the King. Instead of being enabled to relinquish office to his successor with ease and satisfaction to both, the affair was so hurried, that in the correspondence which ensued between Lord Temple and Lord Northington, a tone of asperity insensibly displaces the amicable dispositions with which it opens, and shows that the political discord which had been sown by the "unprincipled coalition," was not without a damaging influence upon the private relations of public men. Lord Temple, after sacrificing much of his own personal feelings to adapt his withdrawal to the convenience of Lord Northington, at last expressed his resolution—at any risk of consequences—not to be in Dublin on the 4th of June, the anniversary of the King's birthday. To this point the correspondence, interspersed with one or two letters from Lord North, is finally drawn.

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD NORTHINGTON.

Dublin Castle, May 6th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

My former letter will have sufficiently stated to you my full determination that my private feelings should not prevent me from showing to you every personal regard, which is so much your due. My line was long since adopted; and standing upon public grounds, I could not yield to the honourable testimonies which I have received, much less to any solicitations from the King's servants, if any such had been made. But for particular reasons I desire to assure you that, neither directly or indirectly, have I received, since the hour of their appointment, any such intimation, or any solicitation to continue in this Government till after your appointment. For that attention I should thank them, as I should not have conceived that they could entertain any real wish that I should act with people with whom I did not agree in general principles. But my complaint is, that the kingdom has materially suffered by this delay; that it still suffers; and that this consideration will not permit me to remain, independently of the considerations of a personal nature, which I strongly feel.

Under these circumstances, I must strongly press upon your convenience. I feel it, and, with truth, I regret it, as a real misfortune; for, from private friendship, I would do everything which could mark my regard; but you will see, upon your arrival, that I have not exaggerated the difficulties of the country under such an interregnum. I accept your expressions of esteem, as I should, with every wish to return them by real services. I think that I have the means of assisting you by information, and you may command me; but I must be relieved before the 25th of May, for reasons which involve my public character and credit; and when I fix that period, I assure you, my dear Lord, that I sacrifice much of my private feelings to a desire of accommodating you. In truth, I wish to you every success in your undertaking; and I feel a most unpleasant difficulty in the present moment, from my private sensations with respect to you, and the other principles, public and private, which make me appear to fail in attention to you. This is my only uneasiness. But at all events, let me continue to stand well in your regards. As to every article of domestic accommodation, much time might be spared if you would commission our friend Baugh, or send your steward to Ireland. In all this, do as you will; but be assured that

I am, my dear Lord,
Your very faithful and obedient servant,
(Signed) Nugent Temple.

P.S.—When I fix the 25th of May, I allow one month from the day of the notification of your acceptance—a time, I confess, short; but, in truth, I was prepared within that period. At all events, though I mean to urge that day in my despatches to Government, all that I am anxious about is to be relieved before the 4th of June, as you will see particular reasons of delicacy for my not holding that Court. And when you recollect that from the 17th of February the Government of Ireland has been nearly at a stand, you will see the necessity of it in a public point of view; and be assured, that personal impatience or want of regard to you has no share in the resolution which I have taken not to be in Ireland upon that day.

Your Lordship will derive little advantage from the communication of my ideas on the subject of Parliament, as the Cabinet, by their prorogation, have decided that arduous question; but be assured, that I have every inclination to show to you every attention of that nature; although I must think that the conduct of the Cabinet has acquitted me of every duty of communication.

I have added this postscript, having kept my letter one day, expecting Mr. Grenville. I must now close it, with every expression of regard and esteem.

N. T.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, May 7th, 1783.

By Lord Northington's Messenger.

My dear Brother,

I understand from Lord Northington, whom I saw to-day, that both he and Lord North write to you this evening on the subject of his departure, which I understand to be fixed for the beginning of June.

I had some conversation with him on the subject, in which I enlarged upon the ideas of your letter, your personal good-will and wishes for his success, the mischief of the delay, and the difficulties of your situation; and particularly stated the circumstances of Ireland with respect to its army, to the Fencibles, and to the different points of commerce which call for the immediate interposition of Government, and which we meant to have settled by having a Parliament sitting at this time, if things had gone on as they were. His observations on all this you will, I suppose, receive to-night.

I am in some doubt what to do about coming over to you, as, on account of the Prince's death, there is no levée to-day, nor, I fear, on Friday. If there is, I will set out that evening. It is the more unfortunate, as I wished to know the King's ideas as to your coming away. Your provocation is certainly very great; yet I cannot help fearing that such a step will hurt you here. I still wish to see the King, and will try it, if I can.

Pitt's motion comes on to-day; but nobody knows it, though it is imagined to go only to fifty or one hundred Knights, and to some enlargement of boroughs, to take place only on proof of delinquency, as in the case of Cricklade and Shoreham.

No news of any Dutch peace, nor can I guess why we are arming, as is said to be the case; but query. Adieu.

Ever yours,
W. W. G.

LORD NORTHINGTON TO LORD TEMPLE.

St. James's Place, May 7th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

Your despatch of the 29th of April, afforded me no small degree of pleasure, as it conveyed to me such flattering assurances of your Lordship's esteem and regard; sentiments perfectly similar to which, I beg to assure your Lordship I entertain for you, with the utmost sincerity and attachment. I feel likewise, with much satisfaction and gratitude, those kind and liberal offers of information and communication upon all points which may tend to give me an early knowledge of the state and situation of that country, and shall hope from such assistance to be the better enabled to encounter the many difficulties and embarrassments which I already foresee against my Administration. I sincerely wish it was in my power to answer that part of your Lordship's letter upon the subject of my speedy departure, as you wish; but although on many accounts, both of a public and private nature, some delay is unavoidable, it is my wish and my intention, as far as concerns myself, that a delay of a moment shall not be created, that is not of absolute necessity for my own indispensable convenience. Some attention is likewise necessary to His Majesty's servants, whose time is now so much employed in the parliamentary discussion of many subjects of great importance. The many objects which claim much consideration, as stated in your Excellency's despatches, and which have been pressed so frequently, and urged so forcibly by your Lordship on His Majesty's late servants, and which appeared to them so weighty in themselves, and of such moment as to require so long a time for deliberation, cannot be suddenly and easily resolved upon by Ministers of so short a date in office, and with such a pressure of public affairs upon them, occasioned by a discontinuance of any active or responsible Government for such a period, for which they cannot be in the least responsible.

I could, therefore, much wish your Lordship to believe, that if, in the desire you have to be relieved, your wishes are not met by me to the utmost, that you will not attribute it to any want of a due exertion to remove the difficulties which obstruct my compliance therewith, or the desire of staying here myself a week longer; but that if I am enabled to overcome them sooner, and His Majesty's Ministers are ready to give me their final opinions earlier than I have expected they will be able to do, that I shall embrace with pleasure an opportunity to relieve your Lordship from a situation you feel so unpleasant and irksome to you.

I have the honour to be, my dear Lord,
Your very faithful and obedient servant,
Northington.

LORD NORTH TO LORD TEMPLE.

Whitehall, May 9th, 1783.

My Lord,

Your Excellency may be assured that it is not the wish of His Majesty's servants on this side of the water to detain your Excellency in Ireland a moment longer than the time that will be necessary for your Excellency's successor so to arrange his business here, as to be able to relieve your Excellency in your Government.

Since the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 29th of last month, I have shown to the Earl of Northington all your letters respecting your earnest desire of quitting your present situation without delay, and received yesterday from his Lordship the letter which accompanies this packet. I have reason to believe that his Lordship is endeavouring to get himself ready for his departure, with all possible diligence. His letter will best explain to your Excellency when he expects to set out for Dublin.

Your Excellency, in one part of your letter, seems hurt, that mine of the 24th of last month did not convey, in terms sufficiently explicit, a communication of His Majesty's gracious acceptance and approbation of your Excellency's services. Your Excellency certainly may infer, not only from that letter, but from the whole tenor of my correspondence, that your Administration of Ireland is approved by His Majesty; and having substantially conveyed the royal sentiments on that subject, I hope that I shall stand excused by your Excellency, if I should not have used any particular form of words, though it might have been more proper on the occasion, and more agreeable to your Excellency's wishes.

I have the honour to be, with the greatest truth and respect, My Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
North.

Earl Temple, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.

LORD NORTHINGTON TO LORD TEMPLE.

St. James's Place, May 16th, 1783.

My Lord,

The last letter which I had the honour of receiving from your Lordship has very sufficiently stated the determinations you are come to with regard to your stay, and that your resolution is fixed, at all events, not to be in Dublin on the 4th of June. I must confess myself perfectly at a loss to conceive what those particular reasons of delicacy may be, which appear to have made such weighty impression on your Lordship's mind, so as to have produced this resolution; but as the consequence will be the placing the Government of the country in other hands, and is a measure which does not seem to meet with the approbation of His Majesty, I shall think it my duty (however greatly my convenience must be the sacrifice) to attend, to the utmost of my power, to His Majesty's wishes, that such an event may not take place.

It is my purpose, therefore, to relieve your Excellency from your Government, as you desire, before the 4th of June, and to be in Dublin on that day, under circumstances the most unpleasant and mortifying, an half-formed household, and the impossibility of being able to pay that respect and reverence which is due to the happy event of that day. It is my intention to quit London on the 28th or 29th instant, and to make it a point to be at Holyhead early on the 1st of June, so that if the wind is fair and the tide should serve, I may be in Dublin that night.

I cannot too frequently return my thanks to your Lordship for the very kind and friendly intentions you have of affording me every communication in your power, and of allowing me to derive every assistance I can from your Lordship's great knowledge of the country, its interests, and the view of its parties and leading men. It will be with the greatest pleasure I shall ever receive any instance of your Lordship's regard, and I am sure none can be more agreeable, or of more importance to me, than this will be.

With regard to the articles of domestic accommodation, I shall reserve the discussion of them to Sir Willoughby Acton and Mr. Fremantle. Sir Willoughby proposes to set out for Dublin on Monday next, and is so obliging as to undertake this trouble for me. He will have the honour of paying his respects to your Excellency, if you will give him leave.

I have the honour to be, my dear Lord,
Your most obedient and faithful humble servant,
Northington.

LORD NORTH TO LORD TEMPLE.

Whitehall, May 17th, 1783.

My Lord,

Upon the receipt of your Excellency's letters of the 9th and 10th of this month, I took immediately every step in my power that might forward your Excellency's wishes, and have now the satisfaction of informing your Excellency that Lord Northington will not fail to be at Holyhead on the 1st day of next month; and I am commanded by His Majesty to express to your Excellency his wish, that you will not quit the Government of Ireland before the arrival of Lord Northington. Although your Excellency will, according to this arrangement, be detained a few days longer than the 25th of the present month, yet I hope that the time fixed by Lord Northington is not so remote as to cause any public or private inconvenience.

By my letter of the 9th instant, I flatter myself that I have removed the uneasiness which your Excellency has expressed more than once, because His Majesty's approbation of your Excellency's Government has not been notified in a manner the most agreeable to your Excellency. I am sure that when you read that letter, your Excellency was convinced that your former complaint was ill-founded; that His Majesty's gracious approbation of your Excellency's conduct has been substantially conveyed to your Excellency; and that there is nothing in the whole tenor of my letters which can justify your Excellency's opinion, that a total change of system is to be adopted both with regard to the Chief Governor, and the measures of Government in Ireland.

I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, My Lord,
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
North.

P.S.—The messenger carries three letters from Lord Northington—one to your Excellency, one to Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, and another to General Baugh.

His Excellency the Earl Temple, &c., &c., &c.

LORD NORTHINGTON TO LORD TEMPLE.

St. James's Place, May 25th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

Your Excellency has not been able to remove those unpleasant and mortifying ideas I entertain at the thoughts of being obliged to pay either no attention to a day, to which all honour and respect is due, or to do it in a manner unbecoming, and not suitable to the occasion. Indeed, my information by numerous Irish gentlemen now here, tells me that, although it may not be expected that I should give (what your Lordship says) a dinner on the occasion, it will be expected I shall hold a Court, and that I shall give a ball. Then I understand likewise, from your letters, as you declare your positive and fixed resolution not to hold a Court on that day in the despatch, the last but one which I had the honour to receive, and that from strong reasons of delicacy, both public and private, which, as your Excellency does not explain, at this distance and in my state of ignorance at present I am at a loss to conceive.

I have the honour to be, my dear Lord,
Your faithful and obedient humble servant,
Northington.

Lord Temple's administration was too brief to enable him to develop the plans he had laid down for the benefit of Ireland; but the most conclusive testimony that can be adduced in favour of his policy is the assurance he received from Lord North, that no intention of deviating from it was entertained by the new Ministers. Although, however, Lord Northington did not openly deviate from the main points of his policy, he followed it up with a luke-warmness and insincerity that rendered it to a great extent inoperative. His Lordship appears to have betrayed, not only in his measures, but in the spirit and tone in which they were brought forward, an unworthy desire to discredit the influence and reputation of his predecessor, who pursued a line of conduct after he left Ireland which—putting aside all obligations to the public—entitled him at least to protection against such sinister attempts to undermine the confidence his zealous services had acquired. Having resigned the Government into the hands of Lord Northington, to whom he frankly offered all the assistance and information his experience enabled him to bestow, he strictly avoided all interference in Irish affairs that might be likely—even remotely—to embarrass his successor. Numerous applications were made to him on a variety of subjects; individuals and parties sought his advice and interposition; but he made the same answer to all—referring them at once to the established authority, and declining to use any influence, upon the most trifling occasions, which in his position he might have legitimately exercised. His magnanimity was thrown away upon a thankless soil. The situation he had filled with so much honour and advantage, was now occupied by a nobleman who could neither appreciate nor imitate his lofty example.

The principal objects to which Lord Temple had directed his attention were the Bill of Renunciation, and a wise economy in the public expenditure. The former he carried; the latter it was impossible to consolidate in the short term of six months. In his indefatigable labours for the good of Ireland he never stooped to conciliate faction at the cost of duty, or the sacrifice of principle. He administered his high office to promote the interests, and not to pander to the passions of the people. The Bill of Renunciation was said to have been a scheme of Mr. Flood's; but by taking charge of it himself, Lord Temple deprived it of the mischievous prestige it might have acquired under such dangerous auspices. The Bill, however, was not Mr. Flood's. Whatever merit, or demerit attaches to it, belongs exclusively to Lord Temple. Lord Northington, overlooking the fact that this Bill was simply a confirmation of the settlement of 1782, and that it really granted nothing new, endeavoured to make it a fulcrum for working further changes and more extensive concessions—not, it may be presumed, without an indirect view to the improvement of his own popularity. The mode in which he thus proposed to carry out Lord Temple's policy provoked the Government, at last, to remonstrate with him. Even Mr. Fox, who could not be suspected of any disinclination to give a patient hearing to Irish demands, seeing the part he had already taken on such questions, felt it necessary to check his exuberant zeal on behalf of the particular party, whose views and opinions he had so injudiciously adopted. On the 8th of November, he wrote to Lord Northington an admonishing letter upon a variety of points connected with Irish affairs, towards the conclusion of which he observed:

I hope, my dear Northington, you will not consider this long letter as meant to blame your conduct; but I think I owe it as much to my friendship for you as to the public, to give you fairly my opinion and advice in your most arduous situation; and I will fairly own there is one principle which seems to run through your different despatches, which a little alarms me: it is this—you seem to think as if it were absolutely necessary at the outset of your Government, to do something that may appear to be obtaining boons, however trifling, to Ireland; and what I confess I like still less, is to see that this is, in some degree, grounded upon the ampleness of former concessions. Now I see this in quite a different light, and reason that, because these concessions were so ample, no further ones are necessary. If, because the Duke of Portland gave much, are you to give something? Consider how this reasoning will apply to your successor. I repeat it again, the account must be considered as closed in 1782.[1]

[1] Extracted from a letter published in the Life of Mr. Grattan.

It may be observed, en parenthèse, that the assertion that the Duke of Portland gave much, is a gratuitous assumption. When his Grace came into office, he found the Renunciation Bill passing through its last stages, and he suffered it to pass; but, as Mr. Fox states in this very letter, with the utmost reluctance. The Duke of Portland, in fact, gave nothing. He submitted to the measure of his predecessors because he could not avoid it, and he would have retreated from it if he could.

No useful result would be gained by a comparison between the intelligible principles and consistency evinced by Lord Temple in his government of Ireland, and the small views and tremulous policy of his successor; but it is something to the purpose of history to note that, while Lord Northington affected to adopt the economical system of Lord Temple, he secretly desired to stultify it, and that so far from being actuated by any sentiment of respect for the government of his predecessor, he suffered the motions of thanks which both Houses of Parliament voted to Lord Temple, when they met in the following October, to pass without a solitary expression of approval on the part of any member of the Administration. These facts are somewhat indignantly stated in a letter addressed to Lord Temple, by Lord Mornington, on the 18th of October, 1783. Respecting the vote of thanks, his Lordship observes:

Government had not the spirit to take a part against the motions of thanks in either House, but I have every reason to think that they would have done it, if there had been the smallest prospect of success in the attempt. You must observe that the vote of the House of Commons is much weaker than that of the Lords; Gardiner was obliged, by the interference of Government's friends, to omit several expressions which, if they had been retained, would have rendered the vote more just to your Lordship's Administration, but would have occasioned debate. The fact is, that no compliment to the Act of Renunciation, or even to the framer of it, can be borne with patience by certain supporters of the present Castle.

And in the report of his own speech on this occasion, which accompanies the letter, Lord Mornington plainly charges the Government with duplicity in reference to Lord Temple's system of economy. Referring to a passage in the Lord-Lieutenant's speech, where his Excellency, in recommending the establishment of the Genevans, reminded Parliament of their duty to "avoid unnecessary expense," his Lordship expresses a hope that in "other cases, where all profusion would be dangerous, and where the public safety demanded the most rigid economy, in the establishments of Government, his Excellency would think it his duty to avoid all unnecessary expense;" and then, comparing the recommendation respecting the Genevans with another passage where his Excellency applied for a supply, and in which "his Excellency's economy made no appearance," Lord Mornington goes on to say:

Comparing the two passages of the speech, he [Lord Mornington] was apt to imagine that the expression, "unnecessary expense," was dictated by another spirit, and with other views, than of saving to the public: he suspected that it was meant to insinuate by so special, and seemingly superfluous a recommendation of economy in the further progress of the establishment of the Genevans, that there had been some neglect of economy in the original foundation of the scheme; if that was meant, he called upon the confidential servants of the Castle to avow it; if not, he insisted that they should do justice to the personage who had originally framed this plan, and disclaim his construction of this ambiguous phrase. He knew what had been the language of the Castle on this subject; he knew how this scheme had been decried; and what a damp had been cast upon the proposers of it—such a damp, as he had reason to believe, that the settlement had not advanced one step since the departure of Lord Temple; and he would add, in justice both to the late and present Ministry, that he, in his conscience, believed, if the public were put to any unnecessary expense by the settlement, it must be attributed solely and entirely to the delays and impediments which had been thrown in its way by the present Castle.

On a subsequent day, moving the thanks of the House to Lord Temple, Lord Mornington delivered an eloquent panegyric upon his Government. He spoke of the Act of Renunciation as having produced an "instantaneous calm in Ireland," and, adverting to other matters, observed:

These were the great public acts of Lord Temple's Government, the nation at large had felt their effects, the Lord-Lieutenant had from the throne applauded them; the House itself had applauded them in detail, and therefore would not object to doing so in the gross, which he now called upon the House to do. With regard to the general attention of Lord Temple to the common duties of his office, and his management of the interior system of government here, he would deliver no opinion of his own; he would appeal to those whose high stations and confidential offices gave them constant access to the person and councils of Lord Temple, to testify his ability and assiduity in business, the extent of his researches, the vigilance with which he penetrated into the secrets of departments where the most gross rapine and peculation had been practised for ages with impunity, and particularly the firm integrity with which he resisted all jobs, however speciously concealed, or powerfully recommended.

Nothing need be added to this unimpeachable eulogium on the character of Lord Temple's administration of the Government of Ireland. It comes from an authority above suspicion, and its statements will guide the decisions of history.

In the midst of these political anxieties there was a private grief, arising out of the sundering of attachments consequent upon the unnatural state of parties, that preyed severely on the sensitive mind of Lord Temple. This painful matter forms the subject of a letter from Lord Temple to his brother, Mr. Thomas Grenville, which has not been inserted in its chronological place, as it would have interrupted the sequence of the preceding correspondence. The tender and affectionate feelings hitherto subsisting unimpaired between the brothers, who, in addition to the rest of their noble qualities, were distinguished beyond most men by their domestic virtues, had been interrupted by one of those fatal divisions in public life, which, during this memorable crisis, separated the closest friends.

The particular occasion which now for the first time produced disunion between Lord Temple and his brother, is not expressly stated in the letter; but it may be surmised from the correspondence which took place early in the preceding year between Mr. Thomas Grenville and Mr. Fox, when the former was employed upon the American negotiation in Paris. Mr. Thomas Grenville, devoting himself to the interests of Mr. Fox, still preserved his allegiance to him under the arrangements of the Coalition Administration; and, from certain expressions in this letter, it would appear that he had ventured to make some overture to Lord Temple, with a view to induce him to reconsider the line of action he had resolved upon, if indeed it did not amount to the distinct proposal of an office under the new Ministry. The exact nature of that offer is veiled under the language of a poignant and bitter regret, which seeks to avoid details the writer was most unwilling to enter into; but it is sufficiently explicit as to the "new connection" Mr. Thomas Grenville had formed, in an opposite direction to that which Lord Temple's devotion to the principles they held in common had led him to embrace. The sensibility manifested by Lord Temple in reference to this unhappy affair, shows that his heart was as impressionable as his judgment was clear and firm.

LORD TEMPLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.

Phœnix Lodge, May 9th, 1783.

Dear Brother,

Your letter, which mentions one written some time since, came yesterday to my hands; and upon the same day came a monthly account from Coutts, by which I see that, by Welles's neglect, and by the delay of my stewards, I had unknowingly drawn for the expenses of my departure beyond my state; but as it is proper that your wants should be supplied, I have writ to Frogatt, to order him to let you have some £500 from some money of mine in his hands; and I will let you have more as soon as I can.

The remainder of your letter gives me, indeed, the most sensible concern, for it shows me that line broken, which I was still in hopes was only strained; for this is the only interpretation which I can put upon that offer, which (from the most honourable motives) you have made to me; and the only wish which I can now form, is that you may never reflect for whom, and for what, you have sacrificed that political and intimate connexion, which nature had pointed out, and which till this moment I had not despaired of. One opportunity presented itself in which you could have done me essential service: I never can regret the eagerness with which I entreated from you that proof of affection, because I still feel how much I would have sacrificed, to have preserved our bond inviolate; that, with many other prospects, is now gone, and I am to feel that I have lost that confidence, that good-will and attachment which you have given to a friendship, which, for obvious reasons, I must ever regret. I do not speak this in resentment and reproach, my feelings are far above them, but in sober and earnest grief of mind. I must remind you that no personal friendship, no party or political consideration, could have guided the steps which I took in June last; to which, in terms the most decisive, you marked your line of separation. The same public principles (for with no one person in England have I correspondence) have decided me in the present moment, and in neither path have we met; and parting upon such a question as that of the present system (upon which I feel everything as a public man, and as a private man have the sensations which naturally result from personal insult), I fear that we have (at least for some time) little chance of seeing those affections vibrate in unison which I feel so strongly strained. Once more let me entreat you (for I am not ashamed to entreat) to reconsider this well. If your new connexion replaces to you that affectionate interest which from my childhood I have borne to you; if your line holds out to you that honourable satisfaction, which I trust you would not have lost by a cordial union of objects and dispositions with me, I fear that I speak in vain; but if you give that play to your reason, to your affection, and to every feeling which Providence has given, as the cement of the tenderest and most intimate connexions, remember that in offering to you my heart, I mean to offer to you everything which the truest love can give you, but what must and can depend only on the closest union. Weigh this well, and may every good angel guide your decision. Adieu.

Lord Temple must have been the more distressed by the course his brother had taken on this occasion, from the evidences he received of the sanction of other friends, who were governed in their own conduct by his example. These proofs of attachment and approval, while they afforded the most gratifying testimony to the rectitude of his views, touched him deeply in contrast with the alienation of his brother.

Only a few days before he wrote this letter to Mr. Thomas Grenville, we find Lord Bulkeley addressing him in the following terms, alluding to the communication in which Lord Temple had informed him of his determination to resign. "I had great pleasure," observes the writer, "in receiving your last very kind letter, and in learning from yourself the line you meant to take at a critical conjuncture like the present, when the candidates for honour and principle are so reduced in number, that those who forego great situations to bring them forward again, have every title to confidence and support, and deserve every honest and independent encouragement. You may naturally suppose I have not been without solicitations from the Coalition Government; I have given but one answer, which was that I shall certainly act with you, and more especially as your conduct in resigning gave me, if possible, a greater opinion of and veneration for your character than I could by any means express."

Such testimonies were consolatory in the difficult position in which Lord Temple was placed; but, instead of alleviating the pain he felt at his separation from his brother in public life, they embittered it by the conviction that one whom he loved so sincerely should have adopted a line of action which he in his conscience believed to be erroneous.

It will be observed that in writing to Mr. Thomas Grenville, Lord Temple alludes to a former letter, which evidently had not reached its destination. The circumstance would be unimportant in itself, were there not reason to believe that it formed part of a regular system of espionnage to which the whole of Lord Temple's correspondence was subjected. The establishment of such an inquisition into the letters of so high a functionary as the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland seems incredible, and nothing short of the most decisive proofs of the fact could justify even a suspicion of its existence. But there are passages in these letters which leave no doubt whatever that Lord Temple's correspondence, both private and public, was inspected in London while he yet held office in Ireland, and that the same course continued to be carried on after he returned to England. Nor was the espionnage limited to mere perusal, frequent allusions to miscarriages leading to the inference that his letters were sometimes suppressed altogether.

There are no means of determining with whom this system originated. All that appears to be certain is, that it was practised during the period of the Shelburne Cabinet, and followed up under the Coalition; and that after it had been detected, no secret was made about it, either by Lord Temple or his intimate correspondents.

Writing to Colonel Dundas, Lord Temple says, apparently under the apprehension that his letter would be read by others, "Obvious circumstances will prevent my going into the discussion of details in a post letter." And to a friend in Ireland, he speaks still more explicitly: "As almost every letter," he observes, "received or written by me is opened, it is possible that this may undergo that operation in London; and if so, they will learn the real regard I bear to you." Mr. Cuff, writing to Lord Temple, from Dublin, in the November of this year, declares that he expects nothing less than that his letter will be opened and read. The passage is too remarkable to be omitted.

I should not now trouble your Lordship with a letter, but that I find to a certainty, that letters to and from your Lordship are not only opened and read, but many of them are stopped. If this should happen to get into your Lordship's hands, you will see, by what I have written on the outside of it, that I am willing to compromise with those honourable gentlemen who open and read your letters, and that I have no objections to their opening and reading, provided they will afterwards forward them to you.

Your Lordship mentions a letter you wrote to me about three or four weeks since, relative to the Genevois and their houses. I have never received a letter from your Lordship since you left Ireland, except one dated the 20th of July, and your last of the 23rd of October. I had the honour to write to your Lordship about the 20th or 25th of September, thanking you for your letter of the 20th of July, and telling you (what I can say with truth) that I prize it more than all my other possessions upon earth. I did not know, when I wrote that letter, that it would be opened and read, else I should have declared my sentiments more freely; but as I am almost certain that this one will be opened, I shall be more full.

Know all men, therefore, by these presents, openers of letters, and others, that I am more attached to your Lordship than to all the rest of the world; not because you gave me a place of £400 a year at the Barrack Board, but because I think you have more sense, honour, and firmness, than all the Viceroys I have ever seen in Ireland put together.

A month elapsed before Lord Temple answered this letter, unwilling to trust his reply to the post, and waiting all that time for an opportunity to send it by a "safe hand." His explanation of the delay furnishes additional proof of the inquisition to which his correspondence was exposed.

I should long since (he observes) have acknowledged your very kind letter to me, if I had not delayed it partly with the inclination of sending you an answer by a safe hand, and partly from the exceeding anxious state of public business, which has wholly engrossed my attention. It appears from your state[ment] of the letters which you have received, that one, written about the beginning of October, never reached you.

That Lord Temple's letters should have been secretly inspected by a hostile Administration is intelligible, if we can admit such a proceeding to be consistent with the honour of public men or reconcilable with the obligations of the public service; but it is impossible to comprehend upon what ground of expediency or from what motives of jealousy or distrust, so flagrant a breach of confidence was committed towards him by the subordinates (for it is difficult to believe it could have been officially sanctioned by Ministers themselves) of a Cabinet under which he held so responsible a situation as that of the Vice-royalty of Ireland. The fact, nevertheless, admits of no doubt, and throws a strong light on the sinister means which were adopted in those days for the "management" of the executive.

The share which Lord Temple took in public affairs after his return from Ireland, and during the existence of the Coalition, naturally enough made him a special object of suspicion and resentment to the Cabinet. We find him, in his letter to Mr. Cuff, stating that his attention has been wholly engrossed by the anxious state of public business, and the memoirs of the period show in the results how powerfully he contributed to the overthrow of that ministerial combination, which he had denounced as unnatural and infamous. But the details of his services to the King throughout this harassing crisis have never found their way into history; nor is it now possible, from their secret and confidential nature, to trace them in full. The disclosures, however, which may be gleaned from the few letters that passed to and from Lord Temple at this period, sufficiently prove that the King trusted all along to his counsel and support, and acted altogether on his advice. There was so much hazard in committing opinions and suggestions to so unsafe a medium as that of correspondence, that we can look but for scanty revelations in the papers which have been preserved. It appears that Lord Temple conducted his proceedings in reference to the struggle between the King and his Ministers chiefly by means of personal interviews and detached memoranda of his views, intended only to assist the memory in conversation, and torn up as soon as used. Lord Thurlow was sometimes employed by his Majesty as an agent on these occasions, and through him, probably to avert suspicion from the real quarter on which his Majesty relied, the intercourse with Lord Temple and his friends was occasionally carried on.

From the commencement to the close of the brief tenure of the Coalition, his Majesty held aloof from his Ministers; and it was not till the opening of the Session, on the 11th of November, that an opportunity was presented for acting effectively upon his determination to get rid of them as soon as he could. During the interval that had elapsed since the prorogation of Parliament in the preceding July, they prepared their measures; but, from the want of co-operation and confidence on the part of the Sovereign, the precise character of their policy was a matter of speculation outside the Cabinet. His Majesty either did not, or would not, know the course they intended to pursue; and it is evident, from subsequent circumstances, that the plan of operations for relieving him of their presence was kept in suspense, waiting upon events, up to the moment when they brought forward their famous India Bill. The following letter, written a few days before the opening of Parliament, shows how little was known at that moment of the views of Ministers, and enables us to perceive that, although Lord Temple was in frequent communication with the King, he had not yet decided upon the line of conduct to be adopted. The state of affairs implied in the letter is curious enough; exhibiting the Sovereign, on the one side, taking secret counsel of the Opposition, and the Ministry, on the other, coming down to Parliament with measures which they were well aware His Majesty was eagerly watching for a constitutional excuse to thwart and defeat.

LORD TEMPLE TO LORD MORNINGTON.

Stowe, Nov. 6th, 1783.

My dear Lord,

As Stephen Fremantle will deliver this to you, I have not the same difficulties which attend the writing a post letter. I go to town to-morrow, in order to settle our winter arrangements. My first principle will be to throw Ireland out of the book of opposition, unless I am attacked upon it, which I sincerely hope may be the case; although I have but little hopes that by any management in either House, Ministry will be brought to acknowledge the language which their agents uniformly hold upon my subject. Their politics are, I own, inexplicable upon Ireland; they speak the language of high crimination of me, for the concession (which I call no concession) made in the last sessions; they affect to talk loudly and strongly upon all subsequent claims or popular subjects, and to have no fear upon the event of any of those questions; and yet I know that Lord Northington is frightened, and has uniformly proposed concession on every point to the fullest extent; this communication I know directly from the King's mouth, though not to me, but to another person; consequently, it is for your private ear. It is possible that Wyndham, the professed friend to Parliamentary Reform, may have taken his resolution to resign upon that measure being negatived, which we understand certainly to have been decided here. But in all modes of turning it, how is it possible to reconcile a heap of contradictions? I shall see the King upon particular business (no idea of a change) on Friday; and if with propriety I can state anything further upon this, you shall know it. The Portugal business is really all afloat; nor do Ministry see daylight; and I know, from undoubted authority, that France, Spain, and Portugal mean to offer their trade to Ireland upon lower terms, if you will dispense with the Alien Duty, or, in so many words, with the Navigation Act, which, entre nous, I fear is no longer binding upon you, as we have partially repealed it in favour of America, and therefore, under Yelverton's Bill, it is now void. This idea, I know, has been proposed to some of your Irish factors, and I have reason to believe that Government know nothing about it. The information which I gave you upon the subject of the Treaties is likewise authentic; it is certain that the commercial system with any of the contracting parties is not advanced nor advancing: so much then for your commercial code. As to the ideas of protecting duties, East India trade, and such, &c., as Ministry affect, and I hope with truth, to hold them cheap; as to the Absentee Tax, I do not hear what they propose; but from many circumstances I should not wonder if they gave way; and if they do, the mortal blow is struck to your landed interest. I wish you would be so good as to inquire privately what became of the prosecutions I had ordered against the Kilkenny Rangers for their riot with Talbot's Fencibles, and against a Mr. Hetherington, Lieutenant of the Lowtherstown Volunteers near Inniskillen, for firing with his corps upon a party of the 105th, who came to seize his stills; for I very much suspect that Yelverton (who was very much averse to them) has smuggled them all. I rather think that you must see Grattan in opposition, as I do not see how he can fight under Scott or Fitzgibbon, who have clearly undertaken the House of Commons. If so, the restoration of Lord Carlisle's Administration is singularly perfect in all its parts, except Sheridan, vice Lees, which you will agree with me is not quite enough to constitute an essential difference. If the Post-Office gives only one Post-Master you will see Lord Northington completely puzzled, as I have reason to think that the Duke of Leinster and old Mr. Ponsonby have both asked for it. What do you suppose is in contemplation about your Chancellor? I cannot think that Lord Lifford will continue, and yet his terms (to which the Duke of Portland had acceded in July, 1782,) are immoderately high, viz., £2,000 per annum for three lives. When you will recollect that our late Chancellors, though going to the Woolsack from high offices and emoluments, received—Lord Camden £1,500 a year Irish, till a Tellership fell; Lord Bathurst nothing; Lord Thurlow a reversion of a tellership at £3,000 per annum. Compare the pretensions and the rewards!

In this kingdom you will see that there is de quoi s'amuser in Parliament: the Funds lower than in war; £30,000,000 still unfunded, consequently £1,500,000, at the least, to be raised of annual taxes, and at least £500,000 or £600,000 additional taxes to make up the deficiencies. Nothing done in Reform, except the creation of new offices, and the whole attention of ministers exclusively turned to the book of Numbers. My brother's fears were that the Opposition might be petulant. With this bill of fare, and that which the foreign questions will furnish, I do not think that we run great risk. Do not answer the detail of this letter, for it is unsafe; but I wished to take every opportunity to give you good information, and to assure you of the affectionate regard with which I am,

My dear Lord,
Ever yours,
N. T.

The East India Bills were introduced by Mr. Fox, on the 18th of November. The extreme and almost unprecedented principle laid down in these Bills, afforded His Majesty and his private advisers the opportunity of resistance they desired. Had the Opposition themselves framed a measure for Ministers, with the express purpose of widening the distance between the Cabinet and the Sovereign, they could not have devised one better adapted to the purpose. The main object of the East India Bills was to withdraw from the Company the entire administration of the civil and commercial affairs of India, and to vest it in a board of commissioners, who should be nominated by Parliament, and rendered perfectly independent of the Crown. This scheme is said to have been devised by Mr. Burke; but even the paternity of Mr. Burke could not mitigate the odium that was heaped upon it by the Pitt and Grenville party. Mr. Pitt described it as a piece of tyranny that broke through every principle of equity and justice, that took away the security of every company in the kingdom, the Bank, the national creditor and the public corporations, and that left unsafe the great Charter itself, the foundation of all our liberties. It was not merely, however, because it struck at the principle of security so far as public companies and chartered rights were concerned, that it incurred the strenuous opposition of the King's friends. A more immediate objection was discovered in the blow it aimed at the royal prerogative. The establishment of a commission for the administration of the affairs of India, without concert with the Crown, and whose members were irremovable by the Sovereign, except upon an address from either House of Parliament, was a bold attempt to reduce and narrow the King's influence, which, in the menacing relations then subsisting between the Ministers and the King, could only be regarded as a declaration of open hostility. Upon this ill-considered measure the royal opposition took its stand. But great difficulties were to be encountered before the favourable opportunity thus afforded by the rashness of Ministers could be turned to account.

The Bills passed triumphantly through the Commons, the second reading being carried by a majority of 217 to 103; and on the 9th of December Mr. Fox, attended by a numerous train of members, presented them at the bar of the House of Lords. Here, then, the final battle was to be fought. Lord Temple protested against the measure as "infamous," and as seizing upon "the most inestimable part of the Constitution—our chartered rights;" and was energetically supported by Thurlow, Richmond, and Camden. But as something more than the ordinary parliamentary resistance was necessary to effect the rejection at once of the plan and its authors, Lord Temple obtained permission to make known the sentiments of His Majesty on the subject, in order to give additional weight and authority to the movements of the Opposition. The proverb which has come down to us from Shakspeare, that the King's name is a tower of strength, was never, perhaps, more effectively illustrated.

According to the version which is given in the accounts hitherto published of these transactions, it was not till the 11th of December, two days after the Bills had been read a first time in the Lords, that His Majesty was apprised of the real character of the measure as it affected his prerogative; and it was then, and not till then, His Majesty determined to resist it. This statement goes to the effect—that on the 11th of December, between the first and second reading, Earl Temple had a conference with the King, in the course of which he fully explained to His Majesty the nature and tendency of a measure which His Majesty had up to that time approved; that he showed His Majesty that he had been "duped" and "deceived," and that His Majesty's indignation at this discovery was excited to such a height as to induce him to authorise the Earl Temple to oppose the Bills in his name. In order to leave no doubt on this point, and to give it all possible force and authenticity, a card was written, setting forth, "That His Majesty allowed Earl Temple to say, that whoever voted for the India Bill was not only not his friend, but would be considered by him as an enemy; and if these words were not strong enough, Earl Temple might use whatever words he might deem stronger and more to the purpose."

This unusual and rather undignified proceeding admits of no other justification than the urgency and exigency of the occasion; and the best thing that can be said of it is, that it answered the end for which it was designed, although the notoriety which was given to it (and without which it would have been of no avail) produced a fierce resolution in the Commons, carried by an immense majority, declaring that it was a high crime and misdemeanour to report any opinion or pretended opinion of the King upon any proceeding depending in either House of Parliament, with a view to influence the votes of members. It did influence the votes of members very extensively, nevertheless, several proxies which had been entrusted to Ministers having been withdrawn in consequence of the royal interference.

It would appear from this statement, that up to the 11th of December, His Majesty had approved of the India Bills; and that on that day, for the first time, Lord Temple drew His Majesty's attention to the tendency of the measure. Upon the face of the proceedings themselves, such a version of the transaction is so incredible as to excite surprise at its adoption by contemporary historians. A very little reflection must have discovered the impossibility of His Majesty remaining in ignorance of the spirit, aim, and purport of a scheme which had been under discussion for three weeks in the Commons, and had been sifted, explored, and denounced by Pitt, Jenkinson, the Lord Advocate, Mr. Grenville, and others. Nor is it to be believed that, with so strong a motive operating in the minds of His Majesty's personal friends as that which was furnished by the well-known desire of His Majesty to seize upon the first opportunity to make a breach with the Cabinet, Lord Temple and those who acted with him would have suffered His Majesty to continue in the ignorance ascribed to him—assuming, which it is unreasonable to assume, that His Majesty really was ignorant of the scope and design of a ministerial proposal which had called up remonstrances and protests from all parts of the kingdom.

It is scarcely necessary to say that Lord Temple did not wait until the Bills had reached the House of Lords, to submit to the King his opinion of them; and that he had all throughout earnestly impressed upon His Majesty the objectionable spirit of those clauses that infringed the royal prerogative. This was, indeed, the only vulnerable point upon which His Majesty's direct interference could be properly invoked. The difficulty that had hitherto stood in the way was as to the manner in which the interposition of the King's authority could be brought to bear constitutionally on the measure, during its progress through Parliament. Ministers had an ascertained and decisive majority in the Commons, and Lord Temple seems to have felt that it would have been unwise in His Majesty to have interfered at that stage of the proceedings, when his interference was likely to have failed of the desired effect. The last resource was in the Peers. To have implicated the King's name in the opposition to the measure, while it yet was in the hands of the Commons, would have fatally compromised His Majesty's position; and for that excellent reason, Lord Temple reserved the declaration of His Majesty's opinion for that arena where it was most likely to exercise a practical influence. The moment chosen was just before the debate on the principle of the Bills. Had His Majesty been advised to preserve his neutrality pending the discussion in the Lords, the probability was, that the measure would have passed that House, and that he would have been ultimately reduced to the necessity of refusing his assent to it; an extremity from which he was delivered by the prompt and novel course recommended by Lord Temple.

Amongst the Grenville papers there is the rough draught of a memorandum, which reveals to us not only the suggestions upon which the King acted in this emergency, but the no less important fact that the line of action was submitted to His Majesty eight days before the Bills had passed the Commons. It is evident from the tone of this memorandum, that the subject matter of it had previously occupied much anxious consideration, that the determination to resist the Bills in some shape was already adopted, and that nothing remained to be settled but the modus operandi. It will be seen, that in this memorandum the difficulties attending the royal interference at different stages of the measure are fully designated, and that the mode of proceeding finally adopted by His Majesty is distinctly pointed out. The opening line, and the note at the foot, are in the hand-writing of Lord Temple; the body of the memorandum is in a different and not very legible hand.

Dec. 1st, 1783.

To begin with stating to His Majesty our sentiments upon the extent of the Bill, viz.:

We profess to wish to know whether this Bill appear to His Majesty in this light: a plan to take more than half the royal power, and by that means disable [the King] for the rest of the reign. There is nothing else in it which ought to call for this interposition.

Whether any means can be thought of, short of changing his Ministers, to avoid this evil.

The refusing the Bill, if it passes the Houses, is a violent means. The changing his Ministers after the last vote of the Commons, in a less degree might be liable to the same sort of construction.

An easier way of changing his Government would be by taking some opportunity of doing it, when, in the progress of it, it shall have received more discountenance than hitherto.

This must be expected to happen in the Lords in a greater degree than can be hoped for in the Commons.

But a sufficient degree of it may not occur in the Lords if those whose duty to His Majesty would excite them to appear are not acquainted with his wishes, and that in a manner which would make it impossible to pretend a doubt of it, in case they were so disposed.

By these means the discountenance might be hoped to raise difficulties so high as to throw it [out], and leave His Majesty at perfect liberty to choose whether he will change them or not.

This is the situation which it is wished His Majesty should find himself in.

Delivered by Lord Thurlow, Dec. 1st, 1783.
Nugent Temple.

The sequel is matter of history. On the 17th of December, the India Bills were rejected, in the House of Peers, by a majority of 95 to 76. On the 18th, at midnight, a message was transmitted from the King to Lord North and Mr. Fox, commanding them to deliver up their seals of office; and, in order to mark emphatically the royal displeasure, they were desired to send in their seals by the Under-Secretaries, as a personal interview with them would be "disagreeable" to His Majesty. The next day the rest of the Ministry were dismissed, and the letters conveying their dismissal were signed by Lord Temple.

The circumstances under which this sudden change in the councils of the Sovereign took place, produced considerable alarm in the Commons, by whose support alone—in opposition to the feelings of the King, and the voice of the public—the late Ministry had been sustained in office. An apprehension prevailed amongst the members that the new Cabinet would advise a dissolution, and an Address to the King was accordingly passed on the 22nd, praying His Majesty not to adopt that measure; but Mr. Pitt, to whom the responsibility of constructing an Administration had been confided in the meanwhile, entertained no such project, having resolved to trust in the first instance to his strength out of doors; and His Majesty's answer to the address explicitly assured the Commons, accordingly, that he had no intention of exercising his prerogative either to prorogue or dissolve Parliament.

For three days Lord Temple held the Seals, to facilitate Mr. Pitt's negotiations; and shortly afterwards the new Government was announced, with Mr. Pitt at its head, Lord Howe at the Admiralty, Lord Thurlow as Lord Chancellor, and the Marquis of Carmarthen and Lord Sydney in the Foreign and Home Departments. The Duke of Rutland, who for a short time held the office of Lord Privy Seal (in which he was succeeded by Lord Gower), was sent to Ireland to succeed Lord Northington early in the ensuing year.

Up to this time, notwithstanding the signal services he had rendered to the Sovereign throughout a period marked by the most extraordinary contest in our annals between the Crown and a dominant party in the Commons, Lord Temple had waited in vain for that acknowledgment of his conduct in Ireland to which he felt himself entitled. The position of the King during the conflict that had been forced upon him with his Ministers was, doubtless, no less embarrassing than painful; but now that Mr. Pitt had succeeded to office, Lord Temple expected full justice would be done to him. That he did not receive it, however, and that his proud and sensitive temper resented the neglect, will be evident from the following letter, which closes the correspondence for the year.

LORD TEMPLE TO MR. PITT.

Stowe, Dec. 29th, Half-past One.

Dear Sir,

I am sorry that you should have had the trouble of acknowledging at so late a period a letter which was indeed very interesting to me, but to which I have not even expected any answer for the last eight weeks; and I perfectly agree with you, "that it would be of little use to enter in[to] particulars" respecting the considerations so immediately affecting my credit, a[nd?] honour, which we certainly view so differently. If any communication had been wished for from me upon these points, upon which it was known by Mr. Grenville and by you that I was not indifferent, I should have thought it my duty of friendship to have stated my reasons for being confident that the new Irish arrangements cannot be useful, upon the same principles as have been thought (by you) sufficient to bury former distinctions of party in this country: I have already stated to you my reasons for considering the recal of Mr. Ponsonby and of his friends to power and confidence in Ireland as a most dangerous measure, and as a departure from a system to which His Majesty's Government was pledged, not only with your approbation, but with your strong and decided opinion. I have likewise stated the reasons why I consider such a measure, unaccompanied with any mark to me of the King's approbation of my conduct, as the strongest disavowal of my Government in Ireland, and (not to use harsh expressions) as the most personal offence to me. In that point of view I know that it has been almost universally considered in Ireland; because the natural intemperance of those to whom I feel myself sacrificed has not been controlled by any proof of the interest which it had been supposed you would have felt naturally in whatever so nearly concerned me. And with these impressions, I felt strongly the kindness of my brother, Mr. Grenville, who endeavoured to calm those feelings, and to suggest various marks of favour (if you should approve them) which did not appear to him precluded by any difficulties of which he was aware.

And by that kindness I was induced to acquiesce in his wish to be permitted to open to you an idea which I find that Mr. Grenville and you consider (in part of it) as strongly objectionable, as hazardous to Government, and as unwise on my part. As I cannot think of accepting the peerage for my second son under such circumstances, I have only to express my regrets that the idea ever has been opened to you. I was never very particularly attached to it, and certainly feel the full force of your arguments against it; but I likewise feel as fully that the arrangements which you have taken, with your eyes open to the consequences (as far as I am concerned in the question), leave me without alternative. I need not add that the consequences of this must be most painful to me from reflections embittered by the warm affection I bore to those who view all this so differently from me.

I have, from attention to you, sent back your messenger immediately. I have, therefore, hardly had time to consider the expressions of this letter. I shall, therefore, thank you if (notwithstanding your press of business) you will, from recollection of former habits, be kind enough to give me one line, to tell me whether I have made myself understood or not; and you will likewise think it necessary to give me some answer respecting your engagement to Mr. Gamon, in August last, to include him in the first list of Baronets. If you wish for a copy of your letter on that subject, you shall have it, but an immediate explanation to him from you, as well as me, is absolutely necessary.

I am, with very sincere regrets, and with the deepest sensations of pain for what has passed, and for what is yet to come,

Dear Sir,
Your very obedient and humble servant,
N. T.

[1784.]