“—— Granby stands without a flaw;
At least, each fault he did possess
Rose from some virtue in excess.
Pierc’d by the piteous tale of grief,
When wretches sought of him relief,
His eyes large drops of pearl distilling,
He’d give—till left without a shilling!
What most his manly heart-strings tore,
Was, when he felt, and found no more.”
Poem by Major Henry Waller, in the Gentleman’s Magazine for September, 1784.
[110] John Calcraft.
[111] The King no doubt regarded his promise to a young courtier absolved by the latter becoming a politician, and entering into active opposition. It is extraordinary, too, that the Duke should not have been acquainted with the promise made to Conway. That promise the King certainly kept in the most honourable manner. In a letter to Lord North of the 1st of October, his Majesty says, “You will hear of applications for the royal regiment of Horse Guards on the death of Lord Granby. I therefore tell you that General Conway, when Secretary, and on his resignation, had a promise of them. I therefore shall immediately send to Lord Barrington to make out the notification.”—(King’s MS. Letters to Lord North.)—E.
[112] Lord Mansfield had recommended the King to take this course, which his Majesty declined to do, on the ground that it would be construed both by the Courts of Madrid and Versailles as indicative of a resolution to accommodate the dispute at all events.—(King’s Letter to Lord North, 9th November.)—E.
[113] This is confirmed by the King’s correspondence with Lord North.—E.
[114] He was feared by all the leading men in the House, even by Mr. Pitt, who frankly told the King, during the negotiations in 1765, which ended in the admission of the Rockingham party into office, that, without Mr. Grenville, he saw nothing in the Treasury either solid or substantial; (see also supra, vol. ii. p. 191). His knowledge, in revenue matters particularly, made him most formidable in Opposition; (Sir Gilbert Elliot’s MS. Journal.) Mr. Fox did not entertain an equally high opinion of him, and used, indeed, to speak slightingly, both of his knowledge and abilities; but Mr. Fox was a very young man when he knew Mr. Grenville, and they were not only, in all respects, very unlike, but the general turn of Mr. Fox’s mind would make him view Mr. Grenville’s defects in an exaggerated light, and many circumstances, not the least being the disagreement between Lord Holland and Mr. Grenville, combined to place them on far from a friendly footing.—E.
[115] Walpole’s suspicions of Lord Barrington’s motives are probably correct. The King (as the editor has reason to believe) always felt great unwillingness to trust the command of the army to any officer taking a prominent part in politics. His notion was that the army ought to be entirely in the hands of the Crown. This must have been the ground of his objection to the appointment of Conway. Lord Barrington’s declaration was certainly most injudicious, but it was provoked, not so much by his zeal to please the King, as by the taunts of Colonel Barré. The debate is reported by Cavendish, vol. ii. p. 37. The Government seem to have had the best of the argument.—E.
[116] See more of Brass Crosby infra. He rivalled Wilkes in civic popularity.—E.
[117] Cavendish’s Parliamentary Debates, vol. ii. p. 54.—E.