I shall be in town myself on Tuesday evening.
Ever yours most sincerely,
Wellington.
The long pending arrangement of the junction of Lord Buckingham and his friends with Ministers, was now drawing to a close; a sense of its necessity induced Lord Liverpool to renew the negociation, and Mr. W. H. Fremantle was invited by the Premier to a discussion with him on the subject. The result of the interview is given by him in the following report, and the effect of the official arrangements proposed, will appear in the correspondence which it precedes.
MR. W. H. FREMANTLE'S REPORT OF CONVERSATION WITH LORD LIVERPOOL.
He begun by saying, that the situation of the Government at the end of the last session was such that he did not know how far its stability could be depended upon; that a variety of untoward circumstances had arisen which made their situation precarious, and under these impressions he did not feel himself authorized or justified in proposing a connexion with the Government to any person or party at that time. The case was now altered, for he had to say that there was no doubt or question as to the continuance of the Government, and as to the complete confidence and support of the King, and therefore he wished to make known to me, for the information of Lord Buckingham and his friends, what steps the Government were enabled to take with a view of forming a connexion with them.
The great and material point to which the Government looked was strength in the House of Commons, and therefore whatever changes would take place in the Cabinet were to be grounded on this consideration alone. The vacancies that would take place in the Cabinet arose from the retirement of Lord Sidmouth, and by the opening of the Presidentship of the Board of Control. It was intended, in the event of Lord Hastings' return from India, that Mr. Canning should succeed him, but not belong to the Cabinet previous thereto. That Mr. Peel should hold a very prominent situation (which I took for granted meant Lord Sidmouth's office), and that the Board of Control or the Secretaryship of War, with a seat in the Cabinet, could be offered to Mr. Charles Wynn; that knowing Lord Buckingham's and Lord Grenville's anxious wishes for Mr. Henry Wynn, the appointment to Switzerland was now open to him, and a seat at one of the principal Boards for any friend whom Lord Buckingham might recommend. That it was right to advert to the situation of Ireland, and I must be aware of the confidential communication he had had with Mr. Plunket when he was last in England; that since that time the King had satisfied himself that measures might be pursued which would keep the Catholic question in a state in which neither of the contending parties would preponderate, and that in this spirit of conciliation he had communicated lately with Mr. Plunket, and had reason to think he was satisfied with the views of Government on this subject, and would be disposed to accede to an arrangement which was now in progress for making him Attorney-General of Ireland, retaining his seat in Parliament, and taking an active part in the House of Commons. That in his communications with the King, knowing what had been the object of the late Marquis of Buckingham and of the present, and also the conditional engagement which had been made by the late King of a Dukedom in case any Duke were created, the King had authorized him to tell Lord Buckingham, that although he had not meant to grant that dignity, and did not now mean to create any other person, he was willing to grant the dignity to Lord Buckingham on the present occasion. These were the principal points and engagements held out by Lord Liverpool. In the course of stating them he added a variety of observations, which chiefly rested on the difficulties of an arrangement, but always adverting to his wish to meet the objects of Lord Grenville and Lord Buckingham by bringing forward Mr. Charles Wynn.
Without entering into the state of the country, or of the Government, or the difficulties of the House of Commons, I said I feared such an arrangement would not be satisfactory to Lord Buckingham; that I knew his object was office; that whatever might be his feelings with regard to a Dukedom, I was quite satisfied he would not connect himself with a Government unless he formed a part of it; that his habits were those of active employment, and by accepting a Dukedom he was placed on the shelf; and therefore, though I should feel it my duty to convey the offer, I thought it right to tell Lord Liverpool what I considered would be the result—namely, that it would not lead to a connexion with the Grenville party. That I thought Lord Buckingham's talents were such as would essentially serve a Government in times like the present, even if his rank, and station, and influence, were out of the question; but without entering into a discussion on these points, I was only expressing my own opinion, but it would be for Lord Liverpool to receive from Lord Buckingham his answer. To these observations, which were short, Lord Liverpool only dwelt on his high opinion of Lord Buckingham, and in the course of further discussion I said that the Admiralty or Ireland were situations suitable to the dignity and to the pretensions of Lord Buckingham. He observed that Lord Talbot had nearly served his time in Ireland; he had been there near four years, but at the present moment there were insurmountable objections to removing him; by which observation it strikes me that he meant to imply that Lord Buckingham could succeed him, but this was never said. After a few more observations immaterial, he asked me when I should communicate with Lord Buckingham; I said I should go to Avington to-morrow, and as he said he was going next week to Bath, he should be happy to receive a communication from Lord Buckingham any day the end of this week, and that if Lord Buckingham would honour him by an interview, much more could be done, and more explained, than by letter, and he should be happy to see him.
LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Dropmore, Dec. 2, 1821.