As to the House of Commons, it is almost entirely a question of local expediency as to the best chance of satisfying Messieurs les intéressés; for you and I, who are not parliamentary reformers (and, thank God, never were), do not hold very high the superior virtue of a man chosen by one mode of election rather than by another. I am, however, entirely satisfied that the plan of a resident committee at Dublin was impracticable; and even if it had not been so, the universal prejudice was so strong against it here, on the part of everybody of every description who was talked to on the subject, that it put the execution of such a plan totally out of the question. The strongest, and with me quite decisive, argument against it was the introduction into our Constitution of a principle so perfectly novel and anomalous; the merit of the Scotch Union having been, and that of the Irish being intended to be, its simplicity, and the precision with which everything new is accommodated to the existing state of our Constitution and Government. In the Scotch Union, the Peerage was the only exception; and in the present case we are, as you see, labouring to bring even that point nearer to the actual practice.
Ever most affectionately yours,
G.
Lord Cornwallis had been avowedly selected for Ireland on account of his military talents. But his Administration did not satisfy the Cabinet. Lord Grenville, who confesses to the feeling of disappointment with which he reflects upon the results of the appointment, makes allowances for the failure on the ground that Lord Cornwallis undertook the office unwillingly, and from a sense of public duty alone, and that he had experienced nothing but disgusts and mortifications. In this case, however, as in all former cases, the difficulty was to find a successor. There was, also, another consideration which Lord Grenville points out—the evils that always attended a change of Government in Ireland, even from worse to better.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Dropmore, Jan. 28th, 1799.
My dearest Brother,
I am much more mortified than surprised at the event of the House of Commons debate on the Union; for though Lord Castlereagh wrote (as he talked) with confidence, yet one saw very clearly the elements of ratting. I rejoice to hear that you think the question recoverable, because I am more than ever of opinion that it must be tried again and again, till it succeeds. With respect to the person in whose hands it has failed, I may say to you (in our confidence) that my opinion does not very much differ from yours, if indeed it does at all. Since he has been in Ireland I have seen no one trait of that character which I thought he had displayed in former situations of great difficulty, and for which I still gave him credit, though a nearer view of his mind had certainly diminished the impressions which I once entertained on the subject. Sorry I am to confess that I concurred heartily and eagerly in his appointment, a measure, my share in which I shall deplore to the hour of my death, though I certainly have nothing to reproach myself with on that account, having done conscientiously what I then thought the best, though I did not, even then, think it so good as others did.
The question of his removal is, however, a very difficult one indeed—one of the most embarrassing circumstances attending the present state of Ireland being, that in that office, above all others, the effect of change, even from worse to better, is frequently, if not always, more mischievous than the continuance of the evil. A violent and precipitate removal just now would, I think, totally unhinge the Government, and it would, above all, throw the whole absolutists at the feet of those who perhaps (I think, certainly) need not have been made enemies, but who being such, must be guarded against as such. Lord Cornwallis never did like the situation; he accepted it unwillingly, and, to do him justice, I believe solely from a sense of public duty. Since he has held it he has experienced nothing but disgusts of every kind, and mortification in every shape, arising no doubt in a very great degree from his own misconduct, but not on that account the less galling to his mind. He can therefore certainly have no desire to stay, and, I should think, would very probably desire to quit at the close of this session, if the dread of foreign invasion is at that time not very urgent.
But if it is, what officer have we to oppose to the domestic and external enemies whom we should in such case have to meet? In a situation requiring above all others the mixture of civil and military talents, to a degree that the Duke of Marlborough scarce possessed them, and for which we must provide by sending some old woman in a red riband that has not a grain of either.
You see it is easy enough to start difficulties, but I do not think myself quite so ready at expedients as I wish I was. This is, I believe, a case where nothing is to be done just now, but to remain quite steady, announcing an unalterable purpose of carrying this great measure, and a fixed persuasion that we must succeed in it. And as to all the rest, if Paddy will set fire to his own house, we must try to put it out if we can, and if we cannot, we must keep the engine ready to play upon our own.
I rejoice that you took the determination, both of not speaking or attending this question in the Irish House of Lords, and of giving your proxy to the Chancellor, which was at once showing him a mark of attention and confidence, which he well deserves, and manifesting your own sentiments in the only way at all consistent with your situation. A little more than two months will now close your pilgrimage, from which you will return with the satisfaction of having done a great deal of good, though not quite all that you might have done if others had done their part.