CHAPTER XV
Wellington's premiership was four days old when Lord Anglesey accepted the viceroyalty. The duke evidently selected his Waterloo comrade without taking the trouble to sound him upon the views he held, but George IV.—that fine champion of Protestantism!—immediately sent for the marquis, and in a touching interview implored him to keep the Catholics at bay, emphasizing his belief that the surrender of the Government to O'Connell would mean the dismemberment and destruction of the British Empire. Anglesey, who knew nothing whatever about anything except women and war, sought refuge in meaningless platitudes. He declared to the king that he intended to take no part in sectarian or political strife in Ireland; he would administer the law equally to all, and so forth, impressing George IV. with a sense of his extreme propriety and impartiality.
On January 29, 1828, Lord Anglesey became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. He was in his sixtieth year, and could look back with some pride on a long and busy life. He had fought with Moore at Corunna, and at Waterloo was Wellington's commander of cavalry. These were landmarks in his life, and even his unfortunate relations with the wife of his friend's brother did not create any ill-feeling between Anglesey and Wellington. The Iron Duke had a great affection for his relations, and he often expressed his gratification at the remarkable successes achieved by his brothers, the Marquis Wellesley and Lord Cowley. Politically the Wellesleys were always at enmity, and in addition they were handicapped by inheriting from their mother some of her severe manner and not a little of her pride. It is remarkable that the three brothers should each have had marital troubles. The Duke of Wellington's marriage, begun as a romance, ended as a tragi-comedy; Lord Wellesley's went the same way, and he was burdened for years by a wife with whom he could not live; while Lord Cowley was compelled to seek a divorce.
It was five years before Waterloo that society was startled by the news that Lord Cowley had presented a Bill to Parliament, praying to be divorced from his wife, a daughter of Lord Cadogan. The Marquis of Anglesey, then known as the Earl of Uxbridge, was cited as the co-respondent, and as Lord Uxbridge was a married man with eight children, and, of course, an intimate friend of the Wellesley family, London discussed nothing else. The affair was robbed of a great deal of publicity by the influence of the two families concerned, but Lady Uxbridge was not to be placated, and she divorced her husband. Then Lord Cowley was awarded damages to the extent of £24,000 against the earl, and the complicated affair was simplified by the Earl of Uxbridge marrying Lady Cowley.
The Duke of Wellington was too fond of a good soldier to permit a mere family matter to stand in the way of Lord Uxbridge's prospects. He took him to Waterloo, and if the earl lost a leg in that famous battle, he gained a marquisate, bestowed within less than three weeks of June 18, 1815. Promotion in the service followed, and owing to Wellington's influence it was rapid and remunerative.
The appointment to Ireland was his patron's greatest gift. It seemed only too obvious that a soldier at the head of affairs would be very necessary, for it was accepted as truth in ministerial circles that the entire Catholic priesthood of Ireland was engaged in a campaign for converting the Irish soldiers in the English army to the political principles of the Catholic Association.
The Clare election
When the Iron Duke formed a Government, the Catholic Association passed a resolution declaring that it would oppose the election of any Irish member who took office under the new premier. Undisturbed by this, the member for Clare, Mr. Fitzgerald, accepted the post of President of the Board of Trade, and then O'Connell announced that he would be the nominee of the Association, and would contest the seat. This created a veritable sensation. The eyes of the world were centred on Clare, and Lord Anglesey sent an army of occupation to take possession of it. On the polling days there were about five soldiers for every voter, and the Catholic Association received an advertisement that made the world understand the seriousness of its principles. No single election has ever had the effect produced by the election of Daniel O'Connell to represent Clare at Westminster. A month before the result Sir Robert Peel declared that he would die politically rather than give way: the returns from Clare were still being discussed when the same man started to draft the Bill he introduced into the House of Commons in February, 1829, a measure which completely emancipated the Roman Catholics. The posts of Regent, of Lord Chancellor, and of Irish Viceroy were the only ones Catholics could not hold. The Catholic Association had justified its existence.
Meanwhile Lord Anglesey's position was not without interest. He was very unpopular with the patriotic party, and the fact that George IV. was annoyed with him tended to increase further his popularity. Anglesey learned many things during his first six months in England, and he became an emancipationist while Peel was still defiant. The Duke of Wellington was exasperated when Anglesey nullified his advice to Catholics to substitute patience for agitation by advising them to agitate until they obtained their demands. The duke wrote curt letters, and Anglesey answered in a similar strain. He was not fond of Dublin or Dublin society, and Irish affairs began to bore him. The most interesting men were in his opinion the members of the Catholic Association, and he dare not be seen with them, while he knew, as every other viceroy had known, that to withhold complete emancipation was the worst service the English ministry could do the country. The Prime Minister, with the help of the king, compelled Anglesey to send in his resignation, and the vacancy was given at once to Hugh Percy, third Duke of Northumberland, Greville's 'prodigious bore,' and almost the wealthiest nobleman in England. He accepted with the proviso that he was not to hold the post for more than eighteen months, while he advised the Government to reduce the viceroy's salary by £10,000—it then stood at £20,000 a year. The latter piece of advice was not accepted, because the Government realized that there would be future viceroys without the wealth of the newer Percys.
The Tithe War