I mentioned to you in my other letter of this date, that it appeared to me most probable that the arrangement by which I was to succeed to Lord Sydney's office will not take place till some new opening is made. The fact is, that the plan, as it was originally formed, depended on Lord Mulgrave's taking Sir Charles Middleton's office, and thereby opening the whole Pay-Office for Lord Sydney. But this has been found impracticable, both from the difficulty of placing Sir C. Middleton at the Admiralty, and from the great improbability that Mulgrave could be induced in his present frame of mind to undertake the Comptrollership. It has, therefore, been determined that Lord Chatham should take the Admiralty for the present, with no other alteration in the Board except substituting Lord Hood instead of Brett. Leveson Gower and Middleton are on such bad terms, that it would have been impossible for them to have acted at the same Board; and considering Gower's conduct, his professional character, and his connections, it seemed equally impossible to drive him from it.
This being the case, there will no longer be any opening by which Lord Sydney could have an adequate provision made for him in case of his retiring. You know that I was never desirous, nor indeed should I choose, to press his being removed to make room for me unless it could be done in a manner perfectly satisfactory to himself, or at least satisfactory to Pitt's mind; and, even as things now stand, it seems impossible but that some such occasion must soon occur. Any vacancy of a sinecure office in England would immediately hold out a retreat for him; any such vacancy in Scotland might be given to Dundas, who would then vacate the Treasurership of the Navy; and any vacancy of one of the ordinary offices of Government might be given to Mulgrave, which would open the Pay-Office. I know that this arrangement would be considered by Pitt as the first object in the disposal of anything that may fall, and I think, therefore, that I am not very sanguine in believing that it is not postponed to any very distant period. Lord Marchmont, Stuart, McKenzie, and Barré, have all them been thought likely to make openings since this business has been in agitation, and there are a variety of other accidents that would answer the same purpose. The enumerating all these chances bears the appearance of more impatience on my part than I really feel, but I do it to satisfy that which I know you will feel on finding that the object is postponed after we thought it so nearly accomplished. For my own part, I repeat what I told you in a former letter, that the circumstances of my present situation, in almost every point of view, and particularly the confidence with which I am treated, leave me very little to look to, or to hope for, from any change that can arise; and for this reason, as long as I keep my rank and pretensions, and do not see others advanced before me, I am by no means anxious for pressing forward the proposed arrangement.
I have tired you long enough about myself, which I should not have done if I was writing to one less interested in that subject than I know you are. There are a few other things which I am glad to take this opportunity of mentioning to you. I do not know whether you will have heard anything of the strange conduct of the Chancellor. When the Rolls were vacated by Sir Thomas Sewell's death, the office lay between Kenyon and Eyre. The Chancellor felt that he could not avoid offering it to Kenyon, but was at the same time very desirous that he should decline it, in order that Eyre might be appointed. Pitt was, on the other hand, eager that he should take it, in order that Arden might have the Chief-Justiceship of Chester, and he succeeded in persuading Kenyon to accept. From that time, the Chancellor conceived a pique against Arden; and although there is no competition against him, either from Eyre, who is in a better situation, or from any other person that the Chancellor cares for, yet Thurlow has thrown every difficulty in the way of his appointment. Within this last ten days he has refused to take the necessary steps for giving it effect, and has held language which amounted almost to an intention of resigning rather than putting the Seal to Arden's patent. This conduct was the more intolerable, because some months ago, when Lord Mansfield's resignation was in question, he had expressly told Pitt that he felt that Arden must have the Rolls, and that though he disliked the appointment, he would not throw any obstacles in its way. I much doubt whether it has originated in any settled disgust, or desire of picking a quarrel, but rather attribute it to the strange temper of his mind, soured at this particular time by the plague of the trial, and by actual illness. It has, however, made it necessary for Pitt to come to an explanation with him, which, though not fully satisfactory to my feelings, has, however, removed any further obstacles to the particular point in question; which had indeed gone so far as to make it utterly impossible for Pitt to recede, whatever had been the consequences. I have given you this story at full length, because I thought you would certainly hear something of it from report, and that you would be desirous of knowing the real particulars of it.
Our cousin of Northumberland, has, I think, decidedly joined the independent party under the auspices of Lord Rawdon and Bastard, and in consequence of this has refused to re-elect Rose. You see this is a pretty strong declaration of hostilities, considering all the circumstances of Rose's situation in Government, and of his connection with the Duke himself before he became so great a man. It is peculiarly unhandsome after what has passed about the Riband, which, though it could not be given to him, was kept vacant till another fell. The immediate loss to us is very small in point of numbers, as the greatest part of his votes are already in opposition; and considering his character, it is perfectly plain that there was little chance of his giving any substantial assistance at a general election. I only lament, therefore, that he has got his Riband; and for the rest, "I trust we have about the Court, a thousand's good as he." And if we had not, we might have them, for offers of negotiation are coming in from all quarters. I believe Lord Beauchamp will be closed with, being only for a Marquisate for Lord Hertford, and the sole question now being the time of doing it. Upon the whole, I am far from thinking that we end the session at all weaker than we began it, notwithstanding some untoward circumstances which occurred. Our foreign politics are going on, in my apprehension, as successfully as possible. The French were beginning to cabal against us at Berlin, but the signature of the Treaty has completely overthrown them there. They were at the same time giving themselves some airs of importance at the Hague. They presented a memorial, complaining in strong terms of the 6th Article of our Treaty, which is unquestionably as offensive to them as it could be. This has not yet been answered, but it will be, and in terms at least as strong as those in which it is couched. Their Ambassador, M. de St. Priest, appears to have had orders to behave in the most offensive manner possible. By great good luck in the first squabble that has occurred in consequence of this, between one of his servants and the mob of the Hague, his man has put himself completely in the wrong; so that when he presented a memorial complaining of the insult offered to a person in his service, he received for answer a letter enclosing copies of the examinations taken before the Court of Justice, and trusting that as those papers evidently proved the violation of their territory by a person in his service, he would not fail to support the complaint which the States-General had already directed their Minister at Paris to make on this subject. I mention all this, not so much for the importance of the thing itself, which will end in a paper war, as for the sake of showing you how much the temper of our friends must be altered, from the time when no persuasion of ours could induce them to act with the smallest degree of vigour or firmness.
I have not seen any account from France since I last wrote to you, but there is a report that Calonne has had an account of further violences at Grenoble. There is no further news of the Imperialists. Fitzherbert seems to expect more from the Russians than I see any reason for. He is, however, unquestionably much better informed on that subject than I can pretend to be. I confess I am very curious to see the effect that will be produced by the Prussian alliance on the minds of the other European powers, but particularly of the French. In the present moment there seems great reason to believe that the two Imperial Courts and France, are each of them dissatisfied with the other two. To a certain degree, it will have a tendency to reunite them; but there are so many causes of jealousy, that I think one need not be very sanguine to disbelieve the probability of any permanent good understanding being established between them.
Nothing could be handsomer than the manner in which the King acceded to the proposal which Pitt made him, of bringing Lord Chatham and myself forward in the manner then intended. He has since spoken to me on the subject in the most flattering terms, and has shown an eagerness to facilitate the arrangement by proposing expedients for removing the only difficulty which delays it.
Adieu, my dear brother.
Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.
The King's personal interference in appointments and promotions had produced, on several occasions, remonstrances and complaints from Lord Buckingham, and the judicious zeal of Mr. Grenville was in constant requisition to prevent an open rupture between the Lord-Lieutenant and the Government. Calm and enduring as he was, Mr. Grenville frankly stated to his brother that, although he could never tire of the employment of serving him, his patience was almost exhausted by finding that one case was no sooner settled or compromised (for it generally ended in that way) than a fresh one came upon the tapis. At length, the tenacity of the King on these points wounded Lord Buckingham so keenly, that it very nearly led to the most serious consequences. Lord Buckingham wished to appoint his nephew, Colonel Nugent, to a vacant lieutenant-colonelcy within his own patronage, and through some friendly channel notified or expressed his desire to do so; but the King, without communicating his intentions, or waiting to go through the ordinary official forms, which usually founded such appointments on the recommendation of the Lord-Lieutenant, appointed another person to the vacancy—Colonel Gwynne.
Lord Buckingham felt the slight so acutely, that he threatened to resign; and was probably dissuaded from that step by the counsels of Mr. Grenville, whose wise and temperate letter on the occasion will be read with admiration. Mr. Pitt also interposed, offering to appease Lord Buckingham's feelings by any course of proceeding which, under the circumstances, could be resorted to for the purpose of relieving the transaction of the appearance of a personal or official indignity. The grounds upon which the royal excuse rested were, that Lord Buckingham's wishes were not known to his Majesty, and that military appointments were not expressly included in the Viceroy's patronage.