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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George
+the Third, Volume 2 (of 2), by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, Volume 2 (of 2)
+       From the Original Family Documents
+
+Author: The Duke of Buckingham
+        Chandos
+
+Release Date: January 5, 2009 [EBook #27704]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE THE THIRD, VOL 2 OF 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Paul Murray, Louise Pattison and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+          THE COURT AND CABINETS
+
+                    OF
+
+             GEORGE THE THIRD.
+
+
+                 VOL. II.
+
+
+              [Illustration]
+
+
+                  MEMOIRS
+
+                  OF THE
+
+             COURT AND CABINETS
+
+                    OF
+
+             GEORGE THE THIRD.
+
+      FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS.
+
+
+                    BY
+
+     THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS,
+                   K.G.
+
+
+              IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+                 VOL. II.
+
+
+                 LONDON:
+      HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
+       SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
+      13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
+                   1853.
+
+
+                 LONDON:
+Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE SECOND VOLUME.
+
+
+1788.
+
+(CONTINUED.)
+
+THE KING'S ILLNESS--CONDUCT OF THURLOW--PLANS OF MINISTERS--DISCUSSIONS
+IN PARLIAMENT--IRISH VIEW OF THE REGENCY QUESTION--PROCEEDINGS
+OF THE PRINCE'S PARTY--THE RATS IN BOTH HOUSES                      1-83
+
+
+1789.
+
+DEATH OF THE SPEAKER--MR. GRENVILLE ELECTED IN HIS PLACE--COMMITTEE
+ON THE REGENCY--THE HOUSEHOLD BILL--CONDUCT OF THE
+PRINCES--ADDRESS TO THE PRINCE OF WALES FROM THE IRISH PARLIAMENT--RECOVERY
+OF THE KING--DECISIVE MEASURES OF LORD BUCKINGHAM--IRISH
+PROMOTIONS AND CREATIONS--DISSENSIONS IN THE ROYAL
+FAMILY--MR. GRENVILLE APPOINTED SECRETARY OF STATE--MR. ADDINGTON
+ELECTED SPEAKER--LORD BUCKINGHAM RESIGNS THE GOVERNMENT OF
+IRELAND                                                           84-175
+
+
+1790.
+
+MR. GRENVILLE'S ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE                         176-181
+
+
+1791.
+
+THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS--RESIGNATION OF THE DUKE OF LEEDS--FLIGHT
+OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE--PROSPERITY OF ENGLAND
+AT THIS PERIOD                                                   182-198
+
+
+1792.
+
+MR. PITT'S BUDGET--THE STATE OF IRELAND--THE KING DISMISSES LORD
+THURLOW--DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND--FRENCH EMIGRANTS--RETREAT
+OF THE DUKE OF BRUNSWICK--MEASURES OF INTERNAL DEFENCE--THE
+FRENCH CONVENTION DECLARES WAR AGAINST ENGLAND AND HOLLAND       199-233
+
+
+1793.
+
+CAUSES AND OBJECTS OF THE WAR--SECESSIONS FROM THE OPPOSITION--REVERSES
+IN HOLLAND--DISASTERS OF THE ALLIES--STATE OF FRANCE
+AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR                                         235-249
+
+
+1794.
+
+PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR--INACTIVITY
+OF THE AUSTRIANS--LORD SPENCER AND MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE SENT ON
+A MISSION TO VIENNA--HOSTILE RESOLUTIONS OF THE OPPOSITION--SEVERAL
+OF THE LEADING WHIGS JOIN THE ADMINISTRATION--LORD CORNWALLIS
+APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND ON THE CONTINENT--PROGRESS OF
+THE NEGOTIATIONS--LORD FITZWILLIAM NOMINATED TO THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY
+OF IRELAND--HIS CONDUCT ON THAT OCCASION                         250-323
+
+
+1795.
+
+LORD FITZWILLIAM'S ADMINISTRATION IN IRELAND                     324-338
+
+
+1796.
+
+THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR SUSTAINED BY REPEATED MAJORITIES IN
+PARLIAMENT--MR. BURKE'S SCHOOL FOR THE EDUCATION OF EMIGRANT
+CHILDREN--BUONAPARTE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND IN ITALY--LORD
+MALMESBURY'S MISSION TO PARIS                                    339-360
+
+
+1797.
+
+DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND--THE BREST SQUADRON--MOTION ON THE STATE
+OF IRELAND--AFFAIRS OF THE CONTINENT--LORD MALMESBURY'S MISSION
+TO LISLE                                                         361-383
+
+
+1798.
+
+CONDITION OF ENGLAND--PLANS FOR THE NATIONAL DEFENCES--THE
+AUGMENTATION OF THE MILITIA--VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS--A REBELLION
+BREAKS OUT IN IRELAND--LORD CORNWALLIS SUCCEEDS LORD
+CAMDEN AS LORD-LIEUTENANT--LORD BUCKINGHAM VOLUNTEERS FOR
+IRELAND--DIFFERENCES WITH LORD CORNWALLIS--MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE
+IS APPOINTED ON A MISSION TO VIENNA AND BERLIN.                  384-421
+
+
+1799.
+
+ENGLAND ENTERS INTO A TREATY WITH RUSSIA AGAINST FRANCE--MR.
+THOMAS GRENVILLE'S MISSION TO THE CONTINENT--THE UNION BETWEEN
+GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND--SUSPENSE RESPECTING THE FATE OF
+MR. GRENVILLE--PROGRESS OF EVENTS ON THE CONTINENT--AUSTRIA
+JOINS THE COALITION--VACILLATIONS AND INACTIVITY OF PRUSSIA--EXPEDITION
+TO HOLLAND--FURTHER AUGMENTATION OF THE MILITIA--PROJECTS
+FOR THE ENSUING YEAR                                             422-452
+
+
+
+
+COURT AND CABINETS
+
+OF
+
+GEORGE III.
+
+
+
+
+1788.
+
+(CONTINUED.)
+
+THE KING'S ILLNESS--CONDUCT OF THURLOW--PLANS OF MINISTERS--DISCUSSIONS
+IN PARLIAMENT--IRISH VIEW OF THE REGENCY QUESTION--PROCEEDINGS OF THE
+PRINCE'S PARTY--THE RATS IN BOTH HOUSES.
+
+
+The fluctuations of the daily accounts from Windsor, and afterwards from
+Kew, to which place the King was ultimately removed at the instance of
+the Prince of Wales, and the effect they produced upon the public and
+the Opposition, greatly increased the difficulties of the Government in
+this unprecedented emergency. So long as there was the faintest hope of
+His Majesty's recovery, Mr. Pitt was enabled to avert extremities
+between the Administration and the Prince of Wales, by repeated
+adjournments of Parliament. The interest, therefore, which attached to
+the slightest items of intelligence contained in these letters may be
+easily understood. All other subjects were of inferior consideration.
+Even the serious inconvenience occasioned to the public service by the
+suspension of business in Parliament was forgotten in the one absorbing
+topic.
+
+The uncertainty that hung over the issue, the responsibility that
+attended the treatment of the case, and the extreme caution observed by
+the physicians in the opinions they were called upon to pronounce, kept
+all classes of the people in a state of constant agitation. The Prince
+and his supporters availed themselves of these circumstances to
+strengthen their party in Parliament and out of doors. The passions of
+the inexperienced, and the hopes of the discontented, are always on the
+side of youth and excitement; and every vicissitude in the condition of
+the King that diminished the prospect of his recovery, augmented the
+ranks of the Opposition, which now became familiarly known as "the
+Prince of Wales's Opposition." Mr. Pitt acted throughout with the utmost
+reserve. Deeply impressed by the complicated hazards of the situation,
+he carefully avoided all allusions to his ulterior intentions in his
+intercourse with the Prince of Wales, which was strictly formal and
+official, and confined to such communications as were unavoidable in his
+position.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 15th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I enclose you the note, which I received from Pitt last night on
+     his return from Windsor. I have seen him this morning; and
+     understand that Warren said one thing which is still more
+     favourable. He told him that a more rapid amendment would, in his
+     opinion, have been a less pleasing symptom; and I find, from Pitt,
+     that on conversing both with Sir G. Baker and Reynolds, he found
+     them rather more sanguine, upon the whole, than Warren, but
+     agreeing with him in his general account. What I have learnt this
+     morning seems to confirm the pleasing hope which I cannot help
+     indulging, from all these circumstances, though, God knows, it is
+     still exposed to much doubt and hazard. The public account, which
+     has been uniformly less flattering than the private letters from
+     Windsor, states that he has had six hours' sleep, and that he is a
+     little better this morning. All the other accounts say that he is
+     certainly getting better.
+
+     Pitt saw the Prince of Wales yesterday, for the purpose of
+     notifying to him the step which the Council had taken, of ordering
+     prayers, and of acquainting him that he had written circular
+     letters to _all_ the Members of the House of Commons, stating the
+     probability of Parliament having to meet on Thursday; and that he
+     meant then to propose to adjourn.
+
+     Prince of Wales received the communication with civility, and told
+     him he was persuaded no opposition could be made to this. It is, I
+     think, plain, from Pitt's account of his general behaviour, and
+     from what one hears, that my conjecture is right, and that he will
+     dismiss Pitt without hesitation.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 17th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The accounts for the last two days have been, I think, rather less
+     favourable than that of Saturday, which I sent you. You can,
+     however, hardly conceive the difficulty which we have, even at this
+     small distance, to procure such information as can be in any degree
+     depended on. All the private accounts are so strongly tinctured by
+     the wishes of those who send them, that no reliance can be placed
+     upon them; and the private letters of the physicians are frequently
+     inconsistent with each other, and even with the public account
+     which they send to St. James's. In general, that account has been
+     uniformly found to be the least favourable; and seems as if it was
+     drawn for the purpose of discouraging the hopes which their own
+     letters and conversation excite. The letters which they read to
+     Pitt, though frequently varying in their general tenor from the
+     public account, are not at all more detailed than that is, and take
+     no sort of notice of the most material circumstances. I imagine all
+     this is to be imputed to a difference of opinion which is supposed
+     to prevail amongst them, it being believed that Warren is strongly
+     inclined to think the disorder permanent, and that Reynolds is
+     sanguine in the contrary opinion. Pitt is gone down again to
+     Windsor to-day; but will hardly be back again time enough for me to
+     insert his account in this letter. The public account of to-day
+     says, I understand, that the King has had much quiet and composed
+     sleep, but is nearly the same as before. The sleep, I am told, is
+     generally considered as a favourable symptom.
+
+     Under these circumstances, there can, I think, be no doubt that the
+     two Houses will adjourn on Thursday, without opposition.
+
+     Everything remains as before. I think you clearly have done right
+     in stopping Corry, it being so much our interest to prevent, and
+     not to promote, negotiation. I think, on more reflexion, that the
+     idea of refusing the power of dissolving is impracticable, and may
+     be turned against us in the end; the other limitations will, I
+     believe, be proposed; and that alone will be sufficient to put all
+     negotiation out of the question.
+
+     Fox is expected in three or four days; but it seems impossible that
+     he should be here so soon.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 18th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I do not find from Pitt that he learnt anything very particular
+     yesterday in addition to what you already know. The King continues
+     much quieter, but still deranged in his intellects and
+     conversation. The fever has not yet entirely left him. The
+     physicians seem very unwilling to say anything with respect to his
+     situation, and declare that it must still be eight or ten days
+     before they can pronounce at all decisively as to the nature of his
+     disorder.
+
+     You seem, in your letter, to conceive the point of his recovery to
+     be much more desperate than I understand it to be thought even
+     after a derangement of months, or even years. There hardly passes a
+     day in which one does not hear of cases of that sort, and we are
+     now told that a disorder of this sort has appeared in several
+     instances in Devonshire in the course of this autumn, where the
+     patient has been in this way for six weeks together, and has then
+     entirely recovered.
+
+     I have no other news.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 20th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I went down yesterday to Windsor, as a matter of form, to inquire
+     after the King's health. Having nothing very material to write to
+     you in the morning, I thought it best to take the chance of being
+     back early enough to write before the post went out. This, however,
+     I found impossible, on account of the different people whom I met at
+     Windsor, and with whom I was naturally anxious to converse.
+
+     The account, as far as relates to the King's actual situation for
+     these two or three last days, is much less favourable than it has
+     been. The disorder of his intellects has continued almost, if not
+     entirely, without intermission for the whole of that time. He talks
+     incessantly for many hours together, and without any appearance of
+     sense or reason, sometimes knowing the persons who are about him, at
+     other times mistaking them, or fancying himself employed in
+     different occupations, such as taking notes on books, or giving
+     different orders. He has appeared several times to have that sort of
+     consciousness of his situation which lunatics are observed to
+     possess, and to use the same sort of methods for concealing it. All
+     this constitutes the gloomy side of the picture; and Warren is so
+     much impressed with this, that he told Pitt there was now every
+     reason to believe that the disorder was no other than direct lunacy.
+
+     On the other hand, I understand that he, as well as the other
+     physicians, are now agreed as to the cause of the disorder. You may
+     remember that, at the beginning of this unhappy situation, I
+     mentioned to you that an idea had been entertained of its proceeding
+     from some local cause, such as water on the brain, or some change in
+     the texture of the brain itself, by induration or ossification.
+     Warren has decidedly said, that he is satisfied this is entirely out
+     of the question; this he told Pitt in express terms. The cause to
+     which they all agree to ascribe it, is the force of a humour which
+     was beginning to show itself in the legs, when the King's imprudence
+     drove it from thence into the bowels; and the medicines which they
+     were then obliged to use for the preservation of his life, have
+     repelled it upon the brain. The consequence of this opinion is so
+     plain, that there certainly requires no professional skill to know
+     that his recovery must depend upon this single circumstance, whether
+     there is, or is not strength enough in his constitution to throw off
+     this humour by any other channel. The physicians are now
+     endeavouring, by warm baths, and by great warmth of covering, to
+     bring it down again into the legs, which nature had originally
+     pointed out as the best mode of discharge.
+
+     I was mentioning these circumstances yesterday to a person who lives
+     in intimacy with John Hunter, the anatomist. He told me that they
+     had been all stated to him three days ago, by Hunter, who had
+     collected them from the different inquiries he had made. Hunter
+     added, that we must still expect for some days, and perhaps even
+     weeks, to hear of no decisive alteration, but possibly of some
+     occasional variation from day to day; that at the end of this it
+     would probably come to some sort of crisis, by which it would appear
+     whether there was strength enough in the constitution to prevail
+     over the disease; that all he had heard of the manner of the King's
+     life, did unquestionably make him an unfavourable subject for such a
+     struggle, but that if it was the case of any common man, he should
+     have no hesitation in pronouncing even now that it would be very bad
+     luck indeed if he did not recover, and that the chances were nine to
+     one in his favour. You will easily suppose that this was said under
+     the seal of confidence, and that a professional man would not choose
+     to have his name quoted in a case of so much importance in which he
+     is not employed, and in which his opinions may be either founded at
+     present on false information, or may be defeated by the mode of
+     treatment adopted by those who are called in. I have, therefore,
+     mentioned this only to you, though possibly you may hear it from
+     other channels. On such authority, one certainly may be allowed to
+     indulge some degree of hope. I am, however, far from letting this
+     expectation take possession of my mind, but, on the contrary, have
+     prepared myself for the worst, and can with truth say that I have
+     made up my mind to meet it with cheerfulness, and to accommodate
+     myself as a reasonable man ought to do to my situation.
+
+     You will particularly see that this consideration had no effect on
+     my judgment, and that I feel as you do. On the question of a
+     coalition, no offers have as yet been made. The language of
+     Opposition inclines one to think that their idea is _to that_, but
+     the conduct of the Prince of Wales marks a desire of avoiding Pitt.
+     I believe he has had no communication with the Duke of Portland, or
+     with any of them, except Sheridan and Lord Loughborough; the latter
+     is supposed to be much in his confidence. Pitt has opened his plan
+     of Regency to Thurlow and Lord Weymouth, and they both approved it;
+     he is to lay it before the Prince of Wales in a few days, and will
+     then make it public.
+
+     Whatever is done, I have no conception that it can be brought to a
+     point so as to enable you to form any decisive judgment with respect
+     to your situation so early as the beginning of next month. We are
+     now at the 19th. Pitt means to-day to move an adjournment to this
+     day sevennight, and a call of the House for this day fortnight. It
+     is doubtful whether the business will even then be brought on, and
+     the intervening adjournment is made with the view of enabling Pitt
+     to put off the call to a more distant day if the King's situation
+     should be thought to render that a proper step.
+
+     Bernard is now out of town, but I understood from him that your
+     house in Pall Mall was let to the Duke of Gordon for another year,
+     to commence from Christmas.
+
+     I am just returned from the House, where Pitt moved the adjournment
+     for the whole fortnight (in consequence of an opinion of the
+     Chancellor's), and a call at the end of that term. Not a word was
+     said by any other person, and he himself barely stated that the
+     continuance of the King's illness had prevented the prorogation, and
+     that the same circumstance made it desirable to have the public
+     attendance when the House met again.
+
+     The public account of to-day is that he has passed a less disturbed
+     night, but that the fever continues.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 20th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The accounts which Pitt received last night are more favourable
+     than any which have yet been sent. They stated particularly, that
+     during the whole course of yesterday the King was more composed,
+     and with less incoherency in his conversation, than he has been at
+     any period during the last fortnight. The opinion which I mentioned
+     to you yesterday prevents my being very sanguine with respect to
+     the _uniform_ continuance of these symptoms; but it is certainly no
+     light confirmation of that opinion to observe this sort of
+     fluctuation; and it is a pleasant circumstance to find that this
+     abatement of his disorder has followed so immediately on the
+     application of fomentations to the legs.
+
+     Since I wrote the above, the accounts of this morning have been
+     received. I enclose the public note, which admits that there is
+     some remission of the fever, by which word they describe the
+     delirium. The letter sent to Pitt only states that the King is less
+     well than he was during most part of yesterday. I do not learn that
+     there is yet any appearance of swelling or eruption on the legs. On
+     the whole, though the account of this morning is certainly less
+     encouraging, I think the two taken together by no means diminish
+     the hopes which I trust there is reason to entertain.
+
+     It is become very difficult to get at the real truth; for since
+     there has been an appearance of amendment, Opposition have been
+     taking inconceivable pains to spread the idea that his disorder is
+     incurable. Nothing can exceed Warren's indiscretion on this
+     subject.
+
+     You will probably have heard from other quarters how favourable the
+     appearance of yesterday, and the reception of Pitt's speech, were.
+     There seems to be just such a spirit and zeal gone forth among his
+     friends as one would most desire; and whatever is now the event of
+     this anxious moment, I am persuaded you will see him increase from
+     it in point of character, and lose little in point of strength.
+     What passed yesterday, and the tone of our friends, are much beyond
+     the expectations which I had formed.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 22nd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I went this morning to Nepean, to speak about sending you the
+     official accounts of the King's health. He assured me that he had
+     regularly done so for the last week, and that he would continue it.
+     He sends a messenger to-morrow, so that this letter will be very
+     short.
+
+     You will receive the St. James's account of this day from Nepean. I
+     have not yet seen it, but am assured that all the private accounts
+     are favourable. So are, as far as I can learn, the declared
+     opinions of every medical man except those who are employed: and of
+     those, Warren only speaks unfavourably. The rest say nothing.
+
+     The indecency of any language held on your side of the water cannot
+     exceed that of the universal tone of Opposition within these last
+     four or five days. So long as they considered the case as
+     desperate, they were affecting a prodigious concern and reverence
+     for the King's unhappy situation. Now that people entertain hopes
+     of his recovery, they are using the utmost industry to combat this
+     idea--circulating all the particulars of everything which he does
+     or says under his present circumstances, and adding the most
+     outrageous falsehoods.
+
+     I think I can say with confidence, that no enmity against an
+     individual, much less against a person in such a rank as his, could
+     induce me to retail the different acts of frenzy which he may
+     commit in a state of delirium or insanity.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     Don't use your new cypher, for I doubt whether mine is not rendered
+     useless. I will write to you about it to-morrow.
+
+     P.S.--The cypher will be better set by the _last_ letter of the
+     word _en clair_, immediately preceding the cyphered part of the
+     letter. I will use it in that manner when I write.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 23rd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     _I_[A] write this by Lord Sydney's messenger, but with such an
+     aching head that it is impossible for me to enter into much detail.
+     Pitt was at Windsor yesterday, and by his account, which he
+     collected from the persons who immediately attend the King's
+     person, there can be no doubt of the King's being much better, and
+     more composed than he has been since his illness began. At the same
+     time, the accounts of the physicians are gloomy, and with less hope
+     than they have before expressed. It is very difficult to reconcile
+     these contradictions. Rennel Hawkins, the surgeon who has attended
+     him during the whole illness, and sits up with him every other
+     night, has written a letter to Sir Clifton Wintringham, which the
+     latter has shown about London, in which the King's recovery is
+     mentioned as a thing certain, and likely to take place, sooner than
+     people in general expect. On these data you can judge as well as
+     we can here. I confess myself to be sanguine in my hopes of his
+     recovery. In the meantime, no pains are spared to circulate all
+     sorts of lies, in order to depress people's spirits on this
+     subject; and the support which is given to these gloomy ideas by
+     the language and conduct of the physicians does certainly produce a
+     considerable effect.
+
+     Think of the Prince of Wales introducing Lord Lothian into the
+     King's room when it was darkened, in order that he might hear his
+     ravings at the time that they were at the worst. Do not let this
+     fact come from you; it begins to be pretty well known here, and no
+     doubt will find its way to Ireland; but it is important that we
+     should not seem to spread the knowledge of anything which can
+     injure His Royal Highness's character in public opinion.
+
+     I think the best thing that can be done in Ireland is to let your
+     Parliament meet at its prorogation; and that you should then
+     communicate to them the King's situation, and the measures taken in
+     England. A similar proceeding might then be adopted in Ireland, and
+     your commission then revoked in the usual form by the Regent, which
+     I should think far preferable to any contrivances of Justices, &c.
+     Long before all this can be necessary, things will have begun to
+     take some more decided turn than in the present moment, when hopes
+     and fears make the opinions of people fluctuate from day to day.
+
+     Unless we are clearly satisfied (which is far from being the case
+     now), that the King is not mending fast, we shall certainly propose
+     another adjournment on the 4th. This will perhaps be opposed, but
+     if it is, we shall clearly have the opinion of people in general
+     with us on that point.
+
+     It is quite impossible for me to enter into the other discussions
+     in your letter, important as they are, for it is with difficulty
+     that I write this desultory stuff.
+
+     There seems to be a notion among Lord North's friends that he is
+     preparing to take a more moderate line, and more inclining to the
+     King than Fox's people. I suppose he has a mind to make a parade of
+     gratitude. He has not five votes in this Parliament, and yet any
+     appearance of difference of opinion might assist us.
+
+     If I am better to-morrow, I think of going to Stanlake for a few
+     days. I shall have the Windsor news as soon there as in town, and
+     will write to you from thence.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     Your cypher is, as I feared, spoilt by the unequal extension of the
+     paper in pasting. In future, in using the old cypher, I will use
+     _ou_ instead of _out_, and _er, es_, and _or_, in the three places
+     that are now occupied by _word, blank_, and _ends_. The cypher may
+     be set by the first letter, which is written _en clair_, as _I_ in
+     this letter.
+
+[Footnote A: The letter thus written in _italics_ is the key to a new
+cypher in which these communications were carried on.]
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 24th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The same contradiction still prevails between all the private
+     accounts, even those of the physicians themselves, and the public
+     information which they give either to Ministers or to the country.
+     At the same time, the medical people seem so confident in their
+     declarations of his not being better, that it cannot but shake the
+     trust which one should otherwise place in the accounts of his
+     improvement.
+
+     My head is by no means better to-day, so that you must excuse the
+     shortness of this.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Baronhill, Nov. 25th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     When I left London last Saturday, the accounts were not arrived of
+     the state of the King's health. He was much better on the Friday
+     morning, but relapsed in the evening. I am afraid it is a very
+     hopeless case, though much time ought to elapse before anybody
+     ventured to pronounce for a certainty; and the physicians, who have
+     been so warped by party, or by an anxiety to pay their court to the
+     Prince, as to venture to do so, certainly deserve the severest
+     reprehension. The meeting of Parliament was much the fullest, in
+     both Houses, I ever saw; and in the House of Peers, the greatest
+     decency I ever witnessed, considering the hopes and fears of each
+     party. There were but seven Bishops (among whom Chester was one)
+     present, which is a proof that crows soon smell powder. I took the
+     opportunity of coming down here to settle my private affairs, which
+     my sudden departure had left unsettled, your brother William having
+     promised to send for me in case there is no appearance of the
+     King's recovering before the 4th of December, in which case another
+     adjournment would certainly take place, or in case Government
+     should not contest the Prince's becoming Regent without a Council.
+     It will be with great unwillingness I shall return, as I wish to
+     remain here till the beginning of February; but if I find we are
+     all expected to stand to our guns, and that our generals are ready
+     to fight a battle without a compromise, I shall leave my dear
+     Baronhill, and all my comforts, for all pleasures of war's alarms:
+     marching and countermarching in the House of Lords, drums beating,
+     and colours flying, &c. I supped at White's the night before I left
+     town, where Pitt was in high spirits, and Selwyn uncommonly
+     ridiculous; in general, our friends seem to await the approaching
+     storm with the greatest _sang-froid_ and philosophy: the longest
+     faces I saw were Lord Hawkesbury's, Lord Sydney's, and Sir George
+     Yonge's. I heard for certain that the Chancellor, who was suspected
+     of being _rattically_ inclined, was firm as a rock, and that the
+     whole Cabinet were determined to _die_ together. Fox was either not
+     found, or averse to returning, although the Opposition were looking
+     out for him as the Jews look out for their Messiah. _Je crois qu'il
+     boude un peu._ Sheridan and Lord Loughborough are those who more
+     immediately correspond with the Prince, with which, I believe, the
+     old Rockinghams were much dissatisfied; in short, there is every
+     reason to think there is a division among them, which, however, a
+     sense of common interest and common danger may rectify before the
+     day of trial. Your sister Williams, and Sir Watkin, were in town
+     both crying up the affection, humanity, filial piety, feeling, &c.,
+     of the Prince, and lamenting the little chance of the King's
+     recovery, &c. The Nevilles were to leave town last Sunday, and by
+     being in the neighbourhood of Windsor, can inform you, if they
+     choose it, of the real state of the late and present behaviour and
+     conduct of _some persons_ in that quarter who are so puffed by the
+     papers and by the Opposition. In the changes and chances of this
+     mortal life, our Barony of Braybroke appears to have been secured
+     at a lucky moment. I left Parry in town, and I set Rose and Steele
+     to coax him a little, for the old grievance sticks by him, and he
+     wants much persuasion to efface the memory of it. Sir Hugh is here,
+     and complains much of never having had one letter answered since
+     Pitt has been in power; notwithstanding which, I shall take him up
+     if the battle is to be fought before Christmas. I am afraid more
+     rats will run, on account of Pitt's inattention to these trifles,
+     than on any other account whatsoever; indeed I heard as much in
+     town. Rose and Steele may laugh at such details, but they are
+     necessary; and the constituent will not believe the member's
+     assiduity unless he sees a real or ostensible answer. I gave my
+     L100 to the Westminster election, in consequence of a letter from
+     Rose; I could ill spare it, but finding others were dosed in the
+     same manner, I gulped the grievance.
+
+     I am, my dear Lord's sincere friend,
+     B.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, Nov. 25th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     However, at a crisis of such national concern as the present, my
+     mind is impressed with its importance, and would communicate to you
+     the vicissitudes and opinions thereon of each hour, as leading in
+     the minutest variation to new consequences, and of the first
+     moment; yet I confess myself at a loss how to arrange these
+     _parvula quidam ex queis magun exoriuntur_, and give them their due
+     weight, by stating the deductions thereon as they appear to me,
+     within any compass of letter.
+
+     As to the fact on which our fears and speculations are to build,
+     the change of mere words in stating the malady, as daily announced
+     at St. James's, may be proper enough to keep alive the hopes of the
+     public, who will argue on mere words, in reality, within this
+     fortnight the King hath remained from day to day without any
+     variation in symptoms: so this very morning Dr. Gisborne told me,
+     as his opinion, resulting from conversation with his brother
+     physicians in immediate attendance. My friend Dr. Milman seems to
+     be of the like opinion. That _possibly_ His Majesty may recover the
+     perfect use of his understanding is not less believed than hoped
+     for: cases have been stated, more desperate than the present,
+     wherein the recovery hath been perfect. Yet much mischief is
+     already done, or rather the basis of mischief is already and
+     irremoveably laid. In future times, designing, ambitious and
+     profligate men may start the idea that what has been may be, and
+     in the desperate effort of factious opposition, even venture to
+     arraign the temper and health of mind, though it shows its perfect
+     state, and the wise measures of Government should put such daring
+     insult at defiance.
+
+     If the King remains a length of time in the same state, I would, on
+     such too probable circumstance, join my speculations to your
+     Lordship's, could I imagine any resting-place, or outlet, in the
+     labyrinth of cases and deductions which the subject affords. I had
+     best, therefore, confine my correspondence, and take up the
+     immediate matter and language of the mere day, unless I meant a
+     book rather than a letter.
+
+     The language touches on the hopes and views of partymen, and on the
+     interests of the country as complicated with the present
+     Administration remaining in power. My business calling me often
+     into the city, I speak as an eye-witness to the temper of men at
+     the Royal Exchange, and Lloyd's Coffee-rooms, never did
+     Administration stand so high in opinion of the moneyed and
+     commercial world: throughout the city, the fears of losing Pitt
+     from the finance make as much of the regrets of anticipation, as
+     the fears of losing the King from the throne. Should the change of
+     Ministry (too much apprehended) take place, it is thought that
+     Fox's party--to temporize with the public opinion, too strong
+     directly to meet in the teeth--will propose a coalescence of some
+     sort; but so narrowed, and in regard to Mr. Pitt, moreover, placing
+     him in such jar of official situation, that it cannot be in any
+     manner listened to. The refusal of the insidious offer is then to
+     be noised throughout the country, and a trial to be made to engage
+     the people "to join with those who proffered a sacrifice of
+     enmities to Pitt for the public good." _My opinion_ is, that the
+     trial will be abortive, and the present Administration retire (if
+     so necessitated), merely to return to power on the shoulders of the
+     nation. The Opposition, I understand, foresee their difficulties,
+     and are exceedingly embarrassed, even supposing the Regent, or
+     Regency, to venture on the change of Ministry.
+
+     I presume to hazard an opinion that such Regent, or Regency, cannot
+     and will not risk a change of Ministry with so precipitate
+     declaration in favour of our opponents, as some expect, at such
+     eventful crisis as the present. It is natural for men's hopes, or
+     fears, to colour too strongly the contingency on which their
+     relative interests depend. Some hope too much, and some fear too
+     much. If the Prince of Wales is made and continues at the head of
+     Regency a twelvemonth, then indeed a revolution in Ministry, or in
+     everything, may be worked out of the occasions ingenuity and
+     ambition may have to take hold of; but here I am running into a
+     book, and to avoid it close my letter. From time to time I shall
+     write, almost from day to day, if aught occurs deserving your
+     perusal. Meantime, and ever, my dear Lord, in truest affection and
+     attachment,
+
+     Your faithfully devoted friend and servant,
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 25th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I am very sorry to be obliged to say that the account from the
+     physicians to-day, confirmed by the most accurate testimony from
+     private quarters, state the King's situation in the most
+     unfavourable manner, his disorder having returned with great
+     violence. I do not understand that there is any return of bodily
+     complaint, so that nothing can be worse than this intelligence.
+     From what I now understand, it should seem that some considerable
+     time must elapse, even after the two Houses meet, before any
+     decisive step can be proposed, as it seems now to be thought
+     necessary that some mode of satisfaction should be given to the
+     Houses themselves, by means of Secret Committees, or otherwise,
+     respecting the King's situation, and that after that precedents
+     must be searched.
+
+     Fox arrived yesterday morning early, having come in little more
+     than nine days from Bologna. He expected, it is said, from the
+     accounts which he had received, to find the King dead.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 26th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I sit down to write a few words, because I know it is a
+     satisfaction to you to hear from me in such a moment as this,
+     although I have nothing particular to say.
+
+     The situation of the King continues to be such as I described it
+     yesterday; and Warren told Pitt yesterday, that the physicians
+     could now have no hesitation in pronouncing that the actual
+     disorder was that of lunacy; that no man could pretend to say, that
+     this was, or was not incurable; that he saw no immediate symptoms
+     of recovery; that the King might never recover; or, on the other
+     hand, that he might recover at any one moment. With this sort of
+     information we shall probably have to meet Parliament. I much hope
+     that the previous examination by the Privy Council may be judged
+     sufficient, without any further inquiry into the particulars of a
+     subject which one so little wishes to have discussed.
+
+     I have no other news of any sort.
+
+     I do not know, whether I mentioned to you in my last letter, that I
+     tried, but to no purpose, to make out that part of yours which was
+     written in the new cypher; my cypher, which you sent over to me,
+     being wholly spoilt in the pasting. I must, therefore, beg you to
+     write in the old cypher, with the alterations I suggested.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 27th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The accounts of the King's situation continue to be so much the
+     same as for the last two or three days, that it now appears
+     perfectly plain that we shall be under the necessity of bringing
+     forward some measure for an intermediate Government immediately
+     after the 4th; and that there can be no further adjournment.
+
+     The Prince of Wales has sent a letter to the Chancellor, desiring
+     that all the members of the Cabinet may attend at Windsor to-day;
+     but this I imagine (and, indeed, his letter conveys it), has no
+     relation to any other subject, but to an idea of moving the King to
+     Kew, where he can take the air without being overlooked, as is the
+     case at Windsor. I have nothing new to write to you on other
+     subjects, though I believe I shall have in a day or two; probably
+     by Sunday's messenger.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 28th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The Ministers were all sent for to Windsor yesterday by the Prince,
+     in order to give their advice with respect to moving the King. They
+     were detained so late, that Pitt went to Salt Hill to sleep there;
+     and is not yet returned, at least not to his own house, so that I
+     have not seen him.
+
+     I had a note from him yesterday evening, to say that they had not
+     seen the Prince, he having sent a written message to them by the
+     Duke of York. It related to the removal. He says, that the opinion
+     of the physicians, particularly of Addington, who had been desired
+     to come over that day from Reading, was favourable as to a
+     possibility, and even a prospect of recovery, and clear for
+     removing him as soon as possible.
+
+     We are still in the dark, as to the Prince of Wales's intentions;
+     though what passed yesterday confirms my opinion. The general
+     language leans to negotiation.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 29th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I received your letter of the 23rd, by the messenger only this
+     morning, and have sent the enclosed, which, as you will have seen,
+     exactly tallies with the ideas which I have stated to you in some
+     of my letters. I shall write to you to-morrow, being Sunday, when a
+     messenger would of course be sent with the official bulletin, and
+     as you may very probably receive that letter as soon as this, I
+     think it unnecessary to fatigue either you or myself with figures,
+     especially as I have nothing very material to say, except a
+     confirmation, from my subsequent conversation with Pitt, of the
+     ideas which I mentioned to you yesterday, particularly with respect
+     to Addington's opinion, which seems to have encouraged the rest to
+     speak out. Addington told Pitt that he had himself kept a house for
+     the reception of these unhappy people for seven years. That during
+     that period, he had hardly ever had fewer than ten or twelve with
+     him, and that of all those one only was not cured, he having died
+     in the house of bursting a blood-vessel. He said that the symptoms,
+     as they at present appeared, were those of a morbid humour, flying
+     about and irritating the nerves. The physicians desired Pitt to
+     see the King yesterday, which he did, and found him, though
+     certainly in a state of derangement, yet far better than he had
+     expected from the accounts. It is not yet settled whether he shall
+     be removed, as he has expressed some reluctance to it, and the
+     physicians are extremely averse to any force.
+
+     We are still under some uncertainty whether or not to propose a
+     further adjournment; in the meanwhile we have thought it absolutely
+     necessary to summon all our friends, as without their attendance,
+     we should not even have the decision of that question in our own
+     hands.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 30th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     There is no particular account of the King this morning, He was
+     yesterday evening removed to Kew. There was considerable difficulty
+     in persuading him to agree to this removal, but it was at last
+     accomplished without violence. Pitt saw him again at Windsor before
+     his removal, and thought him rather less well in his manner than on
+     the preceding day. Addington's conversation is still such as to
+     show that he thinks the probabilities greatly in favour of his
+     recovery. He mentioned particularly to Pitt, that he had in his
+     house one person whose case appeared to him exactly to resemble the
+     King's, and that this person had been cured.
+
+     We are still much undetermined about the time of bringing forward
+     the decisive measures. The general leaning of people's minds
+     appears to be for delay, and there is not anything that can perhaps
+     absolutely be said to require that immediate steps should be taken.
+     There are, however, several points of foreign business which seem
+     to press considerably, and there seems little reason to hope that
+     this situation will be at all altered within such a time as it
+     would be possible to wait. I am rather inclined towards bringing
+     the business forward on Thursday; and yet I am very apprehensive of
+     the effect which might be produced by any appearance or imputation
+     of precipitancy.
+
+     When the Cabinet went down to Windsor two days ago, in consequence
+     of the Prince of Wales's letter, he did not see them, but sent them
+     a written message by the Duke of York, respecting the King's
+     removal. This message, whether accidentally or not, was couched in
+     terms that were thought a little royal. Some caution was thought
+     necessary in wording the answer to avoid the style of giving His
+     Royal Highness advice, or of acknowledging any authority in him.
+
+     You will have heard, in all probability, much on the subject of the
+     Chancellor. His situation is a singular one. It is unquestionably
+     true that he has seen _Fox_, and I believe he has also seen
+     Sheridan repeatedly, and certainly the Prince of Wales. And of all
+     these conversations he has never communicated one word to any other
+     member of the Cabinet. Yet I am persuaded that he has as yet made
+     no terms with them, and that whenever they come to that point they
+     will differ. With this clue, however, you will be at no loss to
+     guess where the Prince acquires his knowledge of the plans of
+     Regency which are to be proposed, because, even supposing the
+     Chancellor not to have directly betrayed the individual opinions of
+     his colleagues, yet still his conversation upon these points, in
+     all of which he has explicitly agreed with the opinions of Pitt,
+     must lead to the communication of the plans in agitation. I am,
+     however, rather inclined to believe that Cuninghame's correspondent
+     has taken by guess one out of a variety of reports circulated, and
+     that he has been right by accident. The general belief of the
+     Opposition certainly is, as you may by their papers, that measures
+     of much more violence are intended.
+
+     Pitt has been induced, from his regard to the King, to dissemble
+     his knowledge of Thurlow's conduct, and to suppress the resentment
+     which it so naturally excites. There is no reason, but the
+     contrary, for believing that any of those who have acted with him
+     are at all disposed to follow his example. It is universally
+     reprobated, and explicitly by them. I think you will do well, if it
+     comes in question, to do as I do, which is to avoid saying anything
+     on the subject as long as I can; and when pressed, to profess
+     ignorance.
+
+     There is no great inconvenience arising, in reality, from the
+     communication of these intentions to the Prince. His intentions are
+     sufficiently decided, and he has no means of traversing our
+     schemes.
+
+     We do not yet know with certainty whether he has any idea of
+     negotiation; but if he has, it is unquestionably only as a cloak,
+     and meaning that it should be rejected. But the prospect of
+     detaching the Chancellor may make this less probable, although he
+     may perhaps insist on something of the sort being done to provide
+     for his _delicacy_. The general language is universal and immediate
+     dismission. If I am not mistaken, a storm is rising that they
+     little expect, and the sense of the country, instead of being
+     nearly as strong as in 1784, will be much stronger. But the party
+     in general are so hungry and impatient, that I think they will act
+     upon the better judgment of their leaders, and prevent them from
+     doing anything which may allow a moment's delay.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+     It was beginning to be suspected that Thurlow was about to _rat_.
+     His conduct justified the worst doubts. Sir William Young confirms
+     the intelligence about his increasing and suspicious intimacy with
+     the Prince of Wales.
+
+
+     SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, Nov. 30th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     Since my last, all the intelligence to be given consists merely of
+     rumours and of opinions respecting the probable changes in the
+     Administration, on accession of the Prince to the executive
+     authority. The Prince, it is said, is wonderfully of late attached
+     to Thurlow. His Royal Highness hath not been equally gracious to
+     Mr. Pitt; and from the authority of a person who dined with him, I
+     am assured that his melancholy derived from the malady of his
+     father and King, is not of that deep and rooted sort for which "no
+     physic of the mind" can be found. Drinking and singing were
+     specifics on the day stated to me.
+
+     As to opinions alluded to above, they appear to me, who am not in
+     the secret, mere sermons to Shakspeare's text of "Harry, thy wish
+     was father to the thought." If aught is settled, your Lordship is
+     undoubtedly apprised of it; if things yet remain for arrangement,
+     your grounds for mere fabrics of speculation must ere this be
+     better laid than mine; and so, in either case, I'd better e'en
+     refrain from the subject, until Thursday begins the course of
+     authentic matter for my letters.
+
+     Meantime, a word in regard to myself. I write under the greatest
+     embarrassment of mind, between pressing necessity of not moving
+     from London and a justness of sentiment which would particularly at
+     this moment urge my repairing to you at the Castle. When your kind
+     friendship conferred what, at that moment, was a most essential aid
+     to my family subsistence, your goodness added that I need not visit
+     Ireland oftener than the convenience of my family allowed. Of this
+     goodness I by no means thought to avail myself, and proposed this
+     winter proceeding with my wife and son to the Castle, and returning
+     to accomplish the passing of my "Poor Laws," in February or March.
+
+     The loss of my father hath placed me in a situation wherein, from
+     the magnitude and delicacy of the concern, every hour may afford an
+     important crisis; and in which a single omission, a momentary
+     absence, may entail consequences irretrievable, in matters wherein
+     the result to me and mine is to be conjoined reputation and
+     affluence, or disgrace and penury. I cannot, under impression of
+     such alternatives, delegate an iota of conduct to a second person.
+     I have laid down a systematic plan of conduct for myself, which in
+     executing I am sure of honour and credit, have a certainty of
+     competence, and a prospect of considerable wealth. The more I
+     reflect, the more I am confirmed in the propriety of the grounds of
+     procedure which I have adopted, and I feel myself equal to the
+     accomplishment, as far as it depends on steady pursuit of a
+     well-weighed purpose. Obstacles, however, may arise, and
+     difficulties occur, such as I have _daily_ to obviate or to
+     surmount, in shape of impatient creditors, who, if they were not
+     led to just understanding of circumstances, would not wait two
+     years for a final liquidation of private claims, with an inventory
+     before them in the Commons of property to the amount of L200,000,
+     but would jump forward to their own and my loss. One of the two
+     years I have now securely in hand; the crop of 1789 being shipped
+     from Christmas to March, of produce all grown, and partly
+     manufactured. If Government leaves me the year 1790, at the close
+     of it there will not be a private debt, nor an article alienated of
+     security for public claims; and my gain of the income of 1788-9-90
+     is actually the amount of L45,000 clear gain, above the result of
+     immediate sale of the estates, which in ordinary course, or other
+     line than I have chalked out, would be the direct legal recurrence
+     for general liquidation of first public and then private claims.
+     _One year_ of this gain to _my residue_ I have already secured, the
+     second I have no doubt of, the third I have great hopes of, and at
+     the period thereof, the gross total of the Crown demand, without a
+     deduction or charge per centage, would scarcely necessitate any
+     sale, or but a partial one, should I wish quickly to clear all
+     away.
+
+     Having no reserve for you, my best friend, I have, in accounting
+     for my "fixing myself on the watch" in England this winter run into
+     these details; and further (which will explain them fully) enclose
+     a rough copy of my instructions to my attorneys in St. Vincent's,
+     which, when read, you will consign to the flames.
+
+     I have that grateful attachment to you, that I should yet scarcely
+     hesitate in hazarding a month's absence from home, did not I
+     anticipate that your friendship would rather chide than approve the
+     sacrifice. I am ever at your command, being, my dear Lord, in
+     truest affection,
+
+     Your devoted and obliged friend, &c.,
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+
+The plans of Ministers are further developed in the next letter from Mr.
+Grenville.
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Tuesday, Dec. 2nd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have nothing of any importance to add to my letter of Sunday,
+     everything remaining here precisely in the same state. It is
+     determined to proceed, after Thursday, without any further
+     adjournment. A Privy Council is summoned for to-morrow, to which
+     _all_ the Privy Councillors are summoned; those of the Royal Family
+     by letters from the Lord President. The physicians are ordered to
+     attend, and questions will be put to them, to which they will be
+     to give their answers on Wednesday. It is then meant, that on
+     Friday, the Lord President in the House of Lords, and Pitt in the
+     House of Commons, should communicate these questions and answers,
+     but not as a message, from the Privy Council. We hope that
+     Parliament will be disposed to proceed, without any inquiry, by
+     themselves; but on the ground of the examination of the Privy
+     Council, a Committee is then to be appointed to search precedents,
+     so that it will be more than a week from this day before the
+     propositions can formally be made. They will, I believe, be nearly,
+     if not exactly, the same as I have already stated them to you. The
+     point, on the prudence of which you had doubts, is of such absolute
+     necessity, that I am sure, by a very little conversation, I could
+     satisfy you in a moment that it must be taken care of. It is
+     intended to say of the whole plan, that it is merely temporary,
+     adapted to the present circumstances, when we are obliged to act
+     after the King has been ill a very short time, and when there is
+     much uncertainty with respect to the nature of his complaint, and
+     an absolute ignorance as to its probable duration; that if, under
+     different circumstances, and after a longer and more defined
+     illness, Parliament shall think it necessary to make other
+     arrangements, that power must rest with them, which cannot, indeed,
+     be taken from them. This would, I think, cure your difficulty.
+
+     Pray tell Bernard that the sooner he returns the better, and that I
+     will engage to find him full employment.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     I hope Bernard is not necessary to you in Ireland, because I think
+     he is already seriously wanted here. He will tell you for what.
+
+
+THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM TO LORD BULKELEY.
+
+     Dublin Castle, Dec. 2nd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BULKELEY,
+
+     Many thanks for your very interesting and affectionate
+     correspondence, which I have not neglected from inattention, but
+     from anxiety, and from business, which you can easily figure to
+     yourself, and as easily excuse. Much of your Windsor anecdotes had
+     reached me from other quarters; but I could not, without very
+     accurate information, have given credit to details so very
+     unpleasant as some of those which I have heard. The messenger, who
+     will deliver this to you, is going to London; but I was anxious
+     that he should leave this at Baronhill, as I think it may be
+     doubtful whether you know that the new system of government is to
+     be proposed at the next meeting of Parliament; and that unless the
+     King's health should vary materially after the 28th (my last date),
+     there was no idea of a further adjournment. My brother will
+     probably have written to you, to press your attendance, and, in
+     that case, this will find you in London, as I shall order the
+     messenger not to leave it at Baronhill; but, if it should reach you
+     in the country, let me implore you not to lose this (perhaps last)
+     occasion of paying a debt to our master, which every principle of
+     private honour and public duty must make sacred to us. The only
+     object to which I look is, not to private power or ambition, but to
+     the means of waking our unhappy King, at some future period, to the
+     use, not only of his reason, but of his power. How this is to be
+     secured I cannot, in my uninformed situation, pretend to say; but I
+     have the fullest confidence on this head in Mr. Pitt, and if I
+     could imagine that he could suffer a consideration of private
+     situation to interfere on such a question, I should despise him as
+     much as I now love him. I can have no doubt, that as soon as His
+     Royal Highness is possessed of the power of dismissing us, we
+     shall feel the full weight of it, and to that you will believe me
+     most indifferent; but the subsequent scene must, in all events, be
+     so interesting, that I must wish every assistance to Mr. Pitt that
+     friends and countenance can give him. If this should be realized, I
+     shall not be long absent from you; and perhaps our Christmas pies
+     may be too hot for the new Government, if their folly and
+     intemperance should urge them to the steps which those immaculate
+     Whigs, Lord Loughborough and Sheridan, may suggest. Adieu. I am
+     almost too late.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     N.B.
+
+     Robert and I have made our peace. Pray carry Sir Hugh with you.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 3rd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     It is now past four o'clock, and I am but just returned from the
+     Privy Council. The whole number that attended was above fifty,
+     including Lord North, Lord Stormont, Lord Loughborough, &c., &c.
+     Fox was not there, being confined with a flux, which he has got by
+     the rapidity of his journey. None of the Royal Family attended. The
+     physicians who were examined, were Warren, Baker, Pepys, Reynolds,
+     and Addington. The general questions that were proposed to them
+     were three:
+
+     1. Whether the King is now incapable of attending to business?
+
+     2. What hopes do you entertain of his recovery?
+
+     3. What do you conjecture may be the probable duration of his
+     complaint?
+
+     These are not the precise words, but the substance. They all
+     answered the first question decisively, that he is now incapable,
+     &c.
+
+     To the second, Warren gave an ambiguous answer; but said that the
+     majority of persons afflicted with _all the different species_ of
+     this disorder, recovered. An explanatory question was put to him,
+     which it took about an hour and a half to settle; whether, as far
+     as experience enabled him to judge, he thought it more probable
+     that the King would or would not recover. To this he said that he
+     had not, and he believed no one else had, sufficient data to answer
+     that question.
+
+     All the rest stated, though in terms more or less strong, that the
+     probability is in favour of recovery.
+
+     The time, they all declared themselves unable to speak to.
+
+     A question was put to them, to show the degree of experience each
+     had had in these cases. That of the three first appeared not to be
+     great; that of Reynolds more; and Addington stated the particulars,
+     which you already know, about his house at Reading.
+
+     On the whole, I think the impression of the examination was
+     universally more favourable than was expected.
+
+     After the Council was formally broke up, Pitt proposed, in
+     consequence of some things which had been thrown out by Lord
+     Stormont and Lord Loughborough, that it should be understood, that
+     any proposal for further examination in Parliament should be
+     resisted. After some conversation, this was acceded to; and Monday
+     settled as the day when these papers are to be taken into
+     consideration. A Committee is then to be moved to search
+     precedents, so that the motion itself cannot come on till Friday,
+     or more probably Monday se'nnight.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 4th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Lord Sydney sends off this messenger with the proceedings of
+     yesterday's Council. I write a few lines by him, because I know you
+     would wish to hear from me, although I have, in fact, nothing to
+     say.
+
+     Our situation continues exactly as it was. The prevailing idea
+     seems to be that of a general dismission, and of an immediate
+     dissolution of Parliament. How far the examinations of yesterday
+     may operate with respect to this, it is impossible to say; but I
+     thought the Opposition people seemed evidently struck and
+     disappointed with them. If they do dissolve Parliament in such a
+     moment as this, when the physicians concur in declaring the King's
+     recovery probable, I am persuaded the cry will be as strong as it
+     was in 1784.
+
+     There is a report, that before the Duke of Portland would consent
+     to have any communication with the Prince of Wales, he insisted on
+     an apology being made to him, for some very rough treatment which
+     he received at the time of the question of the debts; and that this
+     apology has been made. This, however, I give you only as a report,
+     for the truth of which I do not vouch.
+
+     I enclose you a pamphlet, which you may perhaps think worth
+     reprinting in Ireland.
+
+     I hear as yet of no rats, but I suppose a few days will bring some
+     to light; though I cannot help thinking that the examinations of
+     yesterday _donneront a penser a Messieurs les Rats_.
+
+     I have not heard from you for almost a fortnight, and am impatient
+     to know that you receive my accounts; and to hear your opinions
+     upon them as they arise.
+
+     Pray send Bernard back as soon as you can. I cannot guess what his
+     motive was, for persisting so strongly in wishing to undertake two
+     such journeys at this season of the year; but he assured me, that
+     he had no wish to stay any time in Dublin.
+
+     The list, which you will see in the "Morning Post," of the Council
+     is accurate. It makes a curious medley.
+
+     James is come to town, looking very sturdy. He is now with me; and
+     has no other message to send, except to wish you all safe home
+     again.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, Dec. 5th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     When I came home yesterday afternoon from the House, I wrote the
+     enclosed minute of proceedings--a practice I shall continue to
+     pursue until we meet, for your satisfactory information.
+
+     As to news, it consists in the rumour of a general change in
+     Administration. I confess that so hasty a step as is generally
+     talked of and believed, comes not within the scope of credit which
+     my mind is framed to. Political wisdom suggests a multiplicity of
+     reasons why the Prince of Wales should not act precipitately--nay,
+     why Mr. Fox, &c., should not act precipitately; unless, indeed, to
+     embroil the times, and seek occasions of profit and power from
+     their turbulency and vicissitudes, may be the plot of some
+     desperate men of the party. Of authorities for intentions of
+     change, my best is Colonel Stanhope, who, coming from the Duke of
+     Portland's the day before yesterday, mentioned that the arrangement
+     of the new Administration was finally settled in everything; but,
+     "that they had not yet succeeded in persuading the Duke of
+     Devonshire to go to Ireland."
+
+     _A-propos_ of Ireland. Accustomed to speculate on historical
+     points, the _precedent_ seems to me eventful, indeed, on that side
+     of the water. The times, indeed, are perilous, and must be met
+     everywhere with wisdom and firmness. At all times, I am ever, my
+     dear Lord, in truest affection of friendship, your devoted and
+     obliged friend, &c.,
+
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 6th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have great pleasure in being able to tell you that, in addition
+     to what you will have seen in the examination taken before the
+     Privy Council, a Dr. Willis, whose name you will probably have
+     heard, saw the King yesterday, and that his opinion is still more
+     favourable as to the prospect of recovery. I have but just seen
+     Pitt, who has been at Kew this morning, and saw Willis there. This
+     general information is all that he had then to mention; but if
+     there should be any particulars of any importance, I will let you
+     know them. I am much mortified by receiving half a dozen Irish
+     papers together this morning without a word from you, as the
+     speculations on your side of the water are by no means indifferent,
+     or uninteresting here.
+
+     The papers will have told you what passed in the two Houses. It was
+     too late for me to write; nor, indeed, was Viner's nonsense worth
+     sending. Fox looked ill, and spoke worse than I ever have heard
+     him. His object was to beat about, and feel the pulse of the House
+     with respect to further examination. I do not think he received
+     much encouragement; but they are so anxious to mend this part of
+     their case by cross-examining the physicians, that I am inclined to
+     think they will try it. This opinion of Willis's is some temptation
+     to us to allow it; but, on the whole, I think it better resisted.
+     I should be quite clear about it, if it was not from a fear that
+     some individuals may be caught by the notion of parliamentary
+     dignity, and that our first division may thereby be less favourable
+     than if it was taken on any direct question of party.
+
+     I send you a note which Wilberforce put into my hands. If the thing
+     cannot be done, pray send a separate and very civil letter about
+     it; because this Sir J. Coghill is one of his chief friends in
+     Yorkshire, and he particularly desires to be able to send him a
+     civil answer.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+The next day, immediately after this favourable report from a physician
+whose experience in this particular branch of practice gave great weight
+to his opinions, Thurlow began to veer round again to the Ministry.
+"Whatever object he might at one time have had in view," says Mr.
+Grenville, "he has now taken his determination of abiding by the present
+Government." Thurlow, in short, was exactly the man the King believed
+him to be, and always kept in the sun.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 7th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     There is nothing particularly worth mentioning to you with respect
+     to Willis, more than what I told you in my last letter. He
+     expressed himself very strongly to Pitt as to his hopes of the
+     King's recovery, and said that there was no symptom which he saw in
+     him, or could learn from the other physicians, which he had not
+     seen much stronger in other people who have recovered. He has, I
+     understand, already acquired a complete ascendancy over him, which
+     is the point for which he is particularly famous. He had the
+     boldness yesterday to suffer the King to shave himself in his
+     presence. The King was much more composed than he has ever been,
+     slept uncommonly well the night before last; said in the morning
+     that he found himself much better, for that Dr. Willis had settled
+     his mind; and was remarkably quiet the whole of yesterday. The
+     account this morning is also, I understand, very favourable. I have
+     just seen a man who saw a note of Willis's dated late last night,
+     in which he says that he is confident the King would do very well.
+     He is to continue entirely with him, and to have the complete
+     management of him. The other physicians are, however, to see him,
+     in order to keep him in bodily health.
+
+     It is quite ridiculous to see how angry the Opposition are at the
+     report of the physicians, and particularly at what Warren said,
+     which, I understand, was very different from what they had
+     expected. They go so far as to say, that if Fox had been present he
+     would not have dared to give such an evidence. They hope to mend it
+     by a subsequent examination before a Committee of the House: the
+     object of Willis being examined is so great, that I think we shall
+     consent to something of this sort. Not only his opinion will have
+     great weight, but it will also make the others very cautious what
+     they say in opposition to it.
+
+     The behaviour of the two Princes is such as to shock every man's
+     feelings. What do you think of the Duke of York's having a meeting
+     of the Opposition at his house on Thursday, before the House of
+     Lords met, and then going down there to hear the examinations read?
+     After that, they closed the day, by both going in the evening to
+     Brooks's. The truth is, that the Duke is entirely in his brother's
+     hands, and that the latter is taking inconceivable pains to keep
+     him so, in order that he may not see what a line is open to him if
+     he had judgment to follow it.
+
+     The assurances of support which Pitt receives from all quarters are
+     much beyond the expectations which we had formed. It is also clear
+     that, whatever object Thurlow might at one time have had in view,
+     he has now taken his determination of abiding by the present
+     Government, and supporting their measures with respect to the
+     Regency. I imagine that Lord Stafford and Lord Weymouth have
+     chiefly influenced his resolution--their line having been clear and
+     decided from the beginning.
+
+     On the other hand, there seems great reason to believe that the
+     Prince of Wales is inclined to go to all the lengths to which that
+     party are pushing him. They have for several days been spreading a
+     report that he has expressed a determination not to accept of the
+     Regency under any restrictions or in any manner at all short of
+     regal power; and that the Duke of York was commissioned by him to
+     have declared this on Thursday, if anything had been said that
+     could at all have led to it. The story of to-day is, that the three
+     Royal Dukes have assured him of their resolution to refuse it if
+     tendered to them on similar terms, and that they have authorized
+     Fox to say this in the House of Commons. There is no knowing what
+     sort of effect this may produce with respect to the measures of the
+     present moment: that must depend entirely on the sort of turn that
+     the people in general may take upon it at first. But it is very
+     evident that by such a step the Prince will do himself a permanent
+     mischief which he will never be able to repair, and which we shall
+     probably all of us have much reason to regret. It is quite clear
+     that, having once proposed these restrictions, as thinking them
+     necessary for the interest of the King (and on that ground only
+     could we propose them), no other motive whatever can be a
+     justification for abandoning them, as long as there can be found
+     one individual or set of individuals who will undertake to carry on
+     the Government, and as long as Parliament continues to think the
+     proposal right and equitable. What all this may produce, God only
+     knows. Our reliance can only be on the discharge of what we owe to
+     the King in gratitude and duty, and in the decided manner in which
+     we have put all considerations out of the question which can
+     personally affect our own interests.
+
+     In the midst of all this confusion, and while his sons and brothers
+     are struggling to gain entire possession of his authority, the King
+     may recover his reason. What a scene will present itself to him!
+     and how devoutly must he pray, if he is wise, to lose again all
+     power of recollection or reflection.
+
+The struggle was now beginning in earnest between the Ministers and the
+Prince of Wales. The point at issue apparently narrowed itself to the
+restrictions; but there lay beneath this question of royal expediency a
+great constitutional principle, which was gradually developed in the
+progress of the subsequent debates. It was not alone that Mr. Fox and
+his party demanded the Regency without any limitations whatever, but
+that they demanded it as a right; setting up the doctrine that when the
+Sovereign, from any cause, became incapacitated, the Heir Apparent had
+an indisputable claim to the executive authority during the continuance
+of the incapacity, just as he would have on the demise of the Crown. It
+was strange enough that this doctrine, which Mr. Pitt denounced as
+"treason against the Constitution," should have been maintained by the
+avowed champions of popular liberty; and that it should have been
+reserved for the Ministers of the King to defend the interests of the
+people against the encroachments of royalty. Mr. Pitt asserted that the
+right of providing a remedy for the suspension of the regular powers of
+Government rested solely with the people, "from whom," he added, "all
+the powers of Government originate." The language he held upon this
+occasion is remarkable not only from its constitutional soundness, but
+for the perspicuity with which it states the actual question in contest,
+stripped of all disguises and evasions. "To assert an inherent right in
+the Prince of Wales to assume the Government, is virtually to revive
+those exploded ideas of the divine and indefeasible authority of
+Princes, which have so justly sunk into contempt and almost oblivion.
+Kings and Princes derive their power from the people; and to the people
+alone, through the organ of their representatives, does it appertain to
+decide in cases for which the Constitution has made no specific or
+positive provision." It will be seen that in the end the Prince of Wales
+was obliged to abandon his claim of right, and that the steadfastness of
+Pitt finally secured the recognition of the principle which placed in
+the hands of Parliament the settlement of the conditions under which His
+Royal Highness was to enter upon the Regency.
+
+This glance at the subject is a little in advance of the correspondence;
+but it will be useful as a key to the points of discussion thrown up in
+its progress. The fulness and freshness of the letters, written daily,
+and containing the most minute history of those proceedings that has yet
+appeared in print, requires such slight elucidation as to render it
+undesirable to interrupt their continuity by commentaries, except where
+it may become necessary to direct attention to some special matter.
+
+Both parties were now gathering their allies around them, and preparing
+for a contest which was not very creditable to the political character
+of the Opposition. In the meanwhile a third party was forming, which,
+trying to reconcile hopeless antagonisms, ran its head against a
+crotchet, resisting the restrictions on the one hand, and supporting Mr.
+Pitt, as Minister, on the other, for the sake of his popularity and
+transcendant abilities. This line of conduct is justly described by Mr.
+Grenville as "absolute nonsense."
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 9th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The messenger who carries this is sent for the purpose of
+     collecting proxies. It is, you know, necessary that they should be
+     renewed every session; for which reason I have desired that a blank
+     proxy should be directed to you, which I suppose you will fill up,
+     as before, with Fortescue's name. He is quite eager (especially for
+     him), and came up to town for the first day. I think there is every
+     reason to hope that we shall not stand in need of this sort of
+     canvass, either for the House of Commons or the House of Lords; but
+     you will certainly agree with me, that no pains are superfluous
+     when such points are in question.
+
+     I do not learn that there is any foundation for the report which I
+     mentioned to you of the round-robin entered into by their Royal
+     Highnesses. The partizans of Opposition are, however, still
+     circulating, with great industry, the idea that the Prince of Wales
+     has positively declared his resolution not to accept the Regency
+     under any restrictions whatever. I take this, however, to be
+     nothing more than a bully, intended to influence votes in the House
+     of Commons. If, however, he should be so desperate, I should hope
+     there would be every reason to believe that the Queen would be
+     induced to take the Regency, in order to prevent the King's hands
+     from being fettered for the remainder of his life. Nothing has yet
+     passed with respect to this subject. Pitt has seen her once; but
+     the conversation was nothing more than general, although with the
+     greatest civility, and even kindness, on her part towards him.
+
+     We receive every day new professions of attachment; and I do not
+     yet hear of any one individual of any consequence whom we shall
+     lose, except, probably, the Duke of Queensbury. The Duke of Grafton
+     has declared himself explicitly. There is no longer any doubt of
+     Thurlow; and there never has been any of Lord Stafford, Lord
+     Weymouth, &c. Lord Lonsdale is still uncertain, and so is, I
+     believe, the Duke of Northumberland--though this will have been
+     brought to a point by this time. The general idea is, that he has
+     connected himself with the Independents, of which there was some
+     appearance last session. It is said that they mean to support Pitt
+     as the Minister, but to oppose any restrictions on the Regent. This
+     is not the less likely to be their conduct, on account of its being
+     absolute nonsense.
+
+     With respect to individuals in the House of Commons, there are
+     several who have long been wavering, and who have sent the most
+     positive assurances of support.
+
+     There is every reason to believe that the country will continue
+     entirely with us, and that addresses will be presented from all
+     parts to the Regent, to continue the Government. I am afraid that,
+     in point of time, nothing can be done of that sort in Ireland,
+     without exposing you to much embarrassment.
+
+     I conceive that our Regent will probably be appointed, the Bill
+     passed, &c., &c., by about the 10th or 12th of January, and that we
+     shall then immediately be dismissed. You certainly must remain till
+     your Parliament has met and appointed the Regent for Ireland,
+     because there is no one else who can vacate your commission; and I
+     think the contrivances which you once mentioned for avoiding it,
+     are liable to great objections. Now, you will observe, that the
+     addresses from Ireland could not be presented to the Prince of
+     Wales till he was Irish Regent, and that it would be a very awkward
+     thing to have the people there addressing him to continue you in
+     Ireland, after you had declared your own resolution to quit it in
+     consequence of the removal of your friends here. I wish you would
+     consider all this attentively, because, if these difficulties could
+     be removed, it would certainly be very desirable that it should
+     appear as far as possible to be the united sense of all the three
+     kingdoms, as well as of both Houses of Parliament, and of the King,
+     that the present Government should remain; and that these Whigs
+     should recommend the dismission in the teeth of all these.
+
+     Willis sent last night a note to Pitt about his attendance at the
+     Committee to-day. In a postscript, he tells him that he thinks the
+     King better and more composed than he has been since he has
+     attended him.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+A new question and a new embarrassment now arose, as to what was to be
+done about the Regency in Ireland. It was natural enough that the Prince
+of Wales should be popular in Ireland as a _pis aller_, on account of
+the known antipathy of the King to the Catholic claims; and it was
+apprehended that the Irish Parliament, acting independently of English
+precedent, would declare itself in favour of an unlimited Regency. The
+anxiety to which Lord Buckingham was exposed by this disturbing prospect
+(some people went so far as to cast the horoscope of an Irish
+revolution), and by the delays in the receipt of intelligence, owing to
+the imperfect and irregular means of communication existing between the
+two countries, betrayed him into some expressions of impatience, against
+which Mr. Grenville remonstrated with his habitual temperance and good
+sense, throwing out at the same time some sound suggestions as to the
+course it was desirable the Lord-Lieutenant should pursue. There are no
+qualities in these letters, wherever reference is made to the conduct of
+public men in great crises, more worthy of unmixed admiration than their
+practical sagacity and complete self-control.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 10th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Your messenger having been, as he says, four or five days at sea,
+     has just brought me your letter of the 2nd. I cannot avoid
+     expressing to you the mortification I felt, on finding it filled
+     with complaints of want of communication. It is now more than a
+     month that I have written to you constantly seven days in the week,
+     with the exception, I believe, of not four days in the whole time.
+     I do this, not only without reluctance, but with pleasure, because
+     I think it contributes to your satisfaction, and because it is a
+     real relief to my mind to converse with you in this manner on the
+     subjects which are, in the present moment, so interesting to us
+     both. But I do it often under circumstances of so much other
+     business, as makes it impossible for me to keep any copies or
+     memoranda of what I write. I cannot, therefore, distinctly call
+     back to my mind the thread of that correspondence; but, as far as
+     my memory serves, I solemnly protest I know of no one fact,
+     opinion, or conjecture, that could be of the least use to you, or
+     could even satisfy your curiosity, that I have not regularly
+     communicated to you as it arose.
+
+     You seem to have mistaken some expression in one of my letters, and
+     to have understood that the proposition itself relating to the
+     Regency was to have been brought forward on Thursday last. You will
+     since have seen, that the preliminary steps require so much time,
+     that it must still be Monday, or more probably Wednesday next,
+     before anything can be moved. But you say that you have received no
+     communication of the extent or wording of that plan, so as to
+     consider its legal or political effect towards Ireland. On this, I
+     can only say, that long before the outlines of that plan were
+     finally settled, even, I believe, in Mr. Pitt's mind, certainly
+     long before they were at all agreed upon by the Cabinet, I
+     communicated them to you distinctly, and at length. There has since
+     been no variation in these. With respect to the precise wording of
+     the plan, I do not know that this is yet decided upon; nor do I
+     suppose it can be so, till within a few hours of its being moved.
+     But as to any legal effect which it can have upon Ireland, I have
+     certainly failed in what I intended to do, if I have not stated to
+     you a clear opinion, that no measure taken in Parliament here can
+     possibly affect Ireland any otherwise than as a precedent, which
+     every Irishman must think himself bound to follow, who does not
+     wish to separate the two countries. It surely could not be your
+     wish, nor would it be desirable, to attempt to pledge any Irishman
+     one step beyond that general proposition, that whatever is done by
+     the authority of the British Parliament as to England, must be done
+     in Ireland by the authority of the Irish Parliament; but that the
+     latter will grossly betray the interests of their own country, if
+     they do not adopt the English measure, whatever that may ultimately
+     be. I trust that we shall be able to carry the measure here, such
+     as I stated to you long ago, some time before your Parliament
+     meets; but if it should fail, and any different form be
+     established, I hope we should be the last men in the two countries
+     to wish to disunite them on this ground.
+
+     I cannot but repeat, that the expressions and style of your letter
+     have hurt me sensibly. I do not believe, that if you were living in
+     Pall Mall, you could be more distinctly or regularly informed of
+     what passes. You will, of course, hear in Dublin, as you would in
+     Pall Mall, an infinite variety of foolish reports, as is naturally
+     the case when every man has his own speculation. You cannot, I am
+     sure, think it possible that I can even enumerate, much less argue
+     upon, or contradict all these; but I cannot, at this time, after
+     some reflection, call to my mind any point of the smallest
+     consequence in our present situation with which I am myself
+     acquainted, and which I have omitted to state.
+
+     With respect to your own particular situation, I conceive that it
+     is not possible that things can be brought to the point of
+     affecting that for several weeks to come. The measure which is to
+     be brought forward here will, of course, meet with violent
+     opposition; and cannot, according to my calculation, be completed,
+     so as to put the Prince of Wales in possession of the Regency, till
+     the first or second week in January. I think as soon as you receive
+     the notification that this measure has passed in England, it would
+     be right for you to write a very short letter to the Secretary of
+     State, mentioning in a very few words the opinions of lawyers
+     there, that your patent can be vacated only by a Regent appointed
+     by the Irish Parliament, suggesting the expedient of Lords
+     Justices; and then desiring to know His Royal Highness's pleasure,
+     whether he chooses that under those circumstances you should meet
+     the Parliament, for the purpose of laying before them the
+     circumstances of the present situation, or whether you should name
+     Lords Justices, and who they should be. You see, I put this on the
+     supposition that you are not _immediately_ removed, which, for many
+     reasons, I think unlikely. You know my opinion has always been
+     that the Prince would not negotiate, and I am every day more
+     confirmed in it. But I think it may be a question, whether he may
+     not choose to look about him a little. Perhaps, however, in order
+     to anticipate any sudden step, you would do well to send a letter
+     such as I mention, so as to reach England a few days before the
+     measure can pass, and to be here ready to be laid before him when
+     he does accept. In a point of such importance, it seems to me that
+     it would be proper that you should have, for your own
+     justification, the written opinions of your lawyers on the point I
+     mention, but not to send them over here. I mention this as a
+     general idea; but wish you to consider it, because I am sure, in
+     general, the less you write on this subject the better, in order
+     that you may not give ground of misquoting, or misrepresenting what
+     you say.
+
+     As to the idea of vesting the Government in Lords Justices, or
+     taking any step for throwing up the Government in the interval,
+     except with the consent and by the direction of the Prince of
+     Wales, I should most earnestly deprecate it for a thousand reasons;
+     but, above all, for the impression which it would give here of
+     abandoning the interests of this country in Ireland, for the sake
+     of adding to the confusion, and creating factious difficulties. I
+     think your line clear, and that you have nothing to do but to sit
+     still saying or doing nothing till our measure passes. You then ask
+     the Prince of Wales whether he chooses that you or any Lords
+     Justices should meet Parliament; and if he directs you to stay, you
+     have nothing to do but to express to anybody that asks you, your
+     wish that the English measure should be precisely followed.
+     Whatever, under such circumstances, is the conduct of the Irish
+     Parliament, you cannot be responsible for it, unless you make
+     yourself so.
+
+     There is another urgent reason against your taking any step for
+     breaking up your Government: the King is daily getting better, and
+     has been continuing so to do ever since Sunday. Willis's
+     examination before the Committee yesterday, was all but decisive as
+     to the certainty of his recovery in a short time. I will send it to
+     you in the course of to-morrow, or the next day; but these are the
+     material parts. He is asked what hopes he entertains of the King's
+     recovery? He says he entertains great hopes; that if it was the
+     case of a common man, he should have no doubt of his recovery; but
+     in the King's situation, his own reflections on his situation, when
+     he begins to recover his reason, may retard the cure. (A good
+     lesson, by the bye, to the Prince of Wales, &c.) He says he cannot
+     yet affirm that there are signs of convalescence, but that there is
+     everything leading to it; particularly that the irritation has
+     almost entirely subsided, which must precede convalescence, or any
+     appearance of it. He is asked with respect to his own experience,
+     &c.? He says, that of ten patients brought to him within three
+     months of their being attacked, nine have recovered. That the
+     smallest time he remembers, is six weeks or two months from their
+     being brought to him; the longest, a year and a half; the average,
+     about five months.
+
+     With this account, it is not very sanguine to hope that the King's
+     actual recovery may take place before the measure can pass here;
+     or, at least, such a prospect of it as may make it absolutely
+     _impossible_ for the Prince, whatever his disposition may be, to
+     change the Government. If the amendment continues, it may even be a
+     question whether further adjournment may not be thought right,
+     though the inconveniences of this, particularly with respect to
+     foreign affairs, are so great that it must not be done but upon
+     very strong grounds indeed.
+
+     The nonsense about dissolution has been talked in England as well
+     as in Ireland; but I cannot persuade myself that it really comes
+     from Lord Loughborough. It has not made its fortune much here.
+     Anybody who had the smallest knowledge of the general turn and bent
+     of the public mind, both in and out of Parliament, would not have
+     broached so foolish an idea.
+
+     I told you, in one of my former letters, that I was utterly at a
+     loss to guess what Bernard's motive was for going to Ireland in the
+     moment which he chose. I stated my wishes against it; but I saw
+     that there was some mystery behind, which he did not wish to
+     explain, and therefore I pressed him no more about it.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother. I hate writing anything to you, which can
+     bear even the appearance of complaint. I feel for the
+     disagreeableness of your situation at this moment: being at a
+     distance from the scene of events which interest you so much, and
+     from any conversation with those in whom you most confide. But I am
+     sure you will, on reflection, acquit me of any want of attention to
+     you on the head of communication.
+
+     I am much obliged to you for your anxiety about myself. I had a
+     slight attack of fever for a day or two; but it is now entirely
+     gone.
+
+
+     Five o'clock.
+
+     I am just returned from the Committee, who have finished the
+     examination of the physicians. The examinations of to-day are not
+     very material; but as far as they go, they confirm our favourable
+     hopes. Another account is just come from Kew, that the King has
+     continued better ever since the account of this morning, which is
+     the public one.
+
+     Pitt is to move to-day for the Committee of Precedents. Fox told us
+     he meant to say a few words against it, as unnecessary, but not to
+     divide; so I shall not go down again.
+
+     The notion of the Prince of Wales not accepting, seems to lose
+     ground; and all these favourable accounts of the King are evidently
+     strong grounds of argument for our measures.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, Thursday, Dec. 11th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     I did not receive your kind letter of Dec. 2nd, until my arrival
+     last night from the House of Commons, when it was too late to
+     write, and the conversation which then arose was of so important a
+     nature, that it was not practicable or proper to steal a moment
+     from the debate, or to send a line respecting it ere it was closed,
+     and the subject took a decisive turn, which was after the post
+     hour.
+
+     To a friendship so dear and honourable to me as yours, and shown me
+     by so many instances of goodness, the best answer I can make is,
+     through life, by a return of grateful attachment, honour, and
+     disinterestedness; and in these, if I aught know myself, I shall
+     never fail.
+
+     Of the momentous business opened last night, I can only say that
+     _our_ astonishment is only to be equalled by the spirits we are in,
+     on viewing the grounds Mr. Fox hath abandoned to us and left _our
+     own_. Lord Radnor, who breakfasted with me this morning, told me he
+     understands that Fox's doctrine, "that the Prince of Wales was
+     Regent, invested with full regal authority immediately and _de
+     jure_ on the incapacity, however temporary, of the King, and that
+     the two Houses of Parliament had no right to debate thereon even,"
+     came from _that constitutional lawyer_, Lord Loughborough. Radnor's
+     further remark, that Fox, having on a former occasion sought to
+     trespass on the royal just prerogative, had now completed his
+     attack on the Constitution, in denying the rights of Lords and
+     Commons, is worthy observation. Talbot, who made one of my
+     morning's levee, told me that at White's last night, all was hurra!
+     and triumph. Charles Sturt and other youngsters took part at the
+     bar, to echo the "Hear, hear," from Fitzpatrick and Burke, of
+     Fox's doctrine; yet the "Hear, hear," was but little caught or
+     repeated, though given loudly. Looking back to the history of this
+     "Man of the People," and to his present conduct, in despite of his
+     talents of logical discrimination, I begin almost to doubt whether
+     his weakness or profligacy is transcendant. Pitt's language was
+     most masterly and decisive; and has been done but little justice to
+     in the papers of this day. The general tenor of subject they will
+     give you, but what I have seen does not touch on the overthrow of
+     Fox's resort to the doctrine that Parliament was of "Kings, Lords,
+     and Commons; that no two branches thereof could make _a law_," by
+     the just and constitutional distinction between the two Houses
+     making a law, and the providing or giving efficiency to the third
+     executive branch of Legislature in cases of defect, whatever it may
+     be. The report of the physicians being ordered to be printed, will
+     be out to-morrow, when I will send it, with a few remarks. Our
+     great days are to be Monday and Tuesday.
+
+     It will scarcely escape your Lordship's penetration, that when Fox
+     said recognition of the Prince's claim _de jure_ to be the sole
+     right and province of Parliament, implied an act of the House to
+     debate, and, if to debate, to decide upon. So idle is genius! I see
+     through the motive power: if Parliament has a right to confer
+     power, it has a right to say what sort of power. So far Fox's
+     penetration reached, and so he boldly denied the major of the
+     proposition; and then, in a puzzle for consistency of popular
+     attachment to good old rights of the Lords and Commons, and his
+     subscription to the pillar at Runnymede, run into the contradiction
+     of admitting the major in shape of _recognitions_. It is impossible
+     yet to foresee what tergiversation will take place, or how many
+     will sacrifice their principles to the rising sun; forgetting that
+     apostacy to honest principles requires that there should be a
+     transcendancy of merit of another sort--namely, of great ability to
+     be useful to make that apostacy acceptable or the object of
+     remuneration. Hating the traitor and loving the treason, is a
+     state maxim to be remembered by those whose treason is scarcely
+     ever to be regarded while themselves are the objects of civil
+     contempt. Yet some hold a language of _doubt_. One or two, whom I
+     will not yet name, I told if they had not made up an opinion, they
+     had better ask their constituents for one. It seems to me, that the
+     business must close in a resort to the sense of the nation. In what
+     shape such resort may _possibly_, I think not _probably_, be made,
+     is serious indeed. But the violence of the faction of Fox portends
+     every evil. Perhaps, however, and most likely, the resort to a new
+     election, may give us time to grow cool, and close matters there.
+     Adieu, for the day.
+
+     Ever, my dear Lord, in truth and affection,
+     Your devoted friend and servant,
+     WM. YOUNG.
+
+
+LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stanhope Street, Dec. 11th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The scene here is a very busy one, and I never was so interested in
+     any public measures in my life as in the support of Mr. Pitt and
+     the King at this moment, looking upon it as my duty to do all in my
+     power to stem the torrent of profligacy which the Opposition and
+     _their King_ seem determined to hazard with the good sense,
+     decency, and character of the country. I really do see such things,
+     and hear of such doings, that my tolerant spirit cannot forgive,
+     and if you had not very good information of them, I should think
+     myself bound to treat you with them. The Nevilles, Fortescues,
+     Jemmy, and the General, being in town, we make a very strong corps
+     together; and we are sent to White's every night to gain
+     intelligence for our ladies, who are not a little animated in
+     favour of the good cause. Charles Fox and Pitt were at issue
+     yesterday in the House, when the former advanced the most
+     extraordinary doctrines, considering his former opinions in the
+     Whig Club and in Parliament on constitutional points. I hope the
+     nation will see what lengths he is capable of going when it answers
+     his purposes. I do not hear of many rats running as yet, except the
+     Duke of Queensbury, Lord Brudenell, and W. Gerrard, Hamilton, and
+     Sir Robert Smyth, but probably some more dirty dogs will follow
+     them. The Chancellor seems very sour and crusty, and certainly does
+     not like Pitt, but I cannot believe he will do otherwise than right
+     on this momentous occasion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     We sat yesterday till eight, in the Lords, and thought Lord Camden
+     imprudent in touching upon what had passed in the Commons the day
+     before, as it gave the Opposition an excuse for being violent; it,
+     however, had one good effect, that the Chancellor opened enough of
+     his sentiments to show that he means to stand by his colleagues.
+     His speech was not long, but one of the finest I ever heard, and
+     made so strong an impression, that we gave him a merry "Hear,
+     hear," which you know is not very frequent in the House of Lords. I
+     think we shall carry the question of restrictions very powerfully
+     in the Lords, as I hear of no rats but the Duke of Queensbury, the
+     Duke of St. Albans, and Lord Rodney. In the Commons, a great deal
+     will depend on the state of the King's health at the time the
+     question comes on, and on the previous activity of Pitt and his two
+     secretaries, in talking a little to dubious friends, which they
+     have not time nor inclination to do, notwithstanding so much
+     depends upon it.
+
+     Adieu, my dear Lord. Our joint and kindest love and remembrance
+     attend you both.
+
+     Yours ever, &c.
+
+     Pray order your secretary to send me word of the number and income
+     of the tide-waiters' offices which you can spare me, as I have
+     dependants enough if they are as highly paid in Ireland as in
+     England. In the meantime I give you the name of John Thomas, for
+     one of them. Did you ever promote one Alexander Gammach,
+     tide-waiter at Belfast? Pray do before you quit Ireland.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 11th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     You will, no doubt, be as much surprised as I was, to find that the
+     notion of the Prince of Wales's _right_ was brought forward
+     yesterday by Fox in the House of Commons. It was a matter of no
+     less astonishment to many of his own friends, who were by no means
+     prepared for the assertion of such a doctrine. One should lose
+     oneself in conjecture, by attempting to find out what motive can
+     have induced him to take exactly the most unpopular ground on which
+     their side of the question can be rested. I was not in the House;
+     but I find there was an impression on our friends, that in his
+     second speech he had rather seemed desirous of stating the
+     proposition less strongly.
+
+     Our present idea is, that it will be right, in consequence of this
+     debate, that nothing should be moved on the first day (which, I
+     think, cannot be till Wednesday) beyond the abstract proposition,
+     as maintained by Pitt; namely, that in every case of suspension or
+     interruption of the personal exercise of the royal authority,
+     otherwise than by death, the care of making provision for the
+     emergency rests with the two Houses of Parliament. These are not
+     the words, but the substance. A stronger question we cannot desire.
+
+     12th.--I intended to have sent this off to you yesterday; but was
+     kept in the House of Lords till it was too late. You will see by
+     the papers, better than I can pretend to retail it, what passed
+     there. The doctrine, as stated by Lord Loughborough, was not quite
+     so strong as Fox's; but is sufficiently so, to be reprobated by
+     every lawyer in the country. Even Erskine says openly, that he
+     cannot go this length.
+
+     The idea is, and some words which Fox dropped yesterday in the
+     House of Lords seem to confirm it, that whenever the report of our
+     Committee of Precedents is made, which will probably be to-day, or,
+     at latest, to-morrow, he intends to explain away his assertion,
+     into the mere statement, that the Prince has such pretensions to a
+     Regency as Parliament cannot overlook. Be this as it may, we are
+     determined to state the right distinctly, by a resolution of the
+     House, before we proceed to any other measures.
+
+     Fortescue has this instant been with me, to say that he has heard a
+     report, said to come from a considerable Oppositionist, that they
+     have resolved, in consequence of the examinations and particularly
+     Willis's, to accede to the proposed restrictions, for a short time,
+     reserving to themselves the right of contending for more, should
+     the continuance of the King's illness appear to give grounds to
+     expect that it will be permanent. I do not think this by any means
+     impossible, because the question will clearly go against them in
+     the present moment; and this appearance of moderation may give them
+     grounds at a more distant period. It is difficult, however, to
+     conceive that they can make up their minds to wait so long without
+     a greater struggle.
+
+     Only think of Fox's want of judgment, to bring himself and them
+     into such a scrape as he has done, by maintaining a doctrine of
+     higher Tory principle than could have been found anywhere, since
+     Sir Robert Sawyer's speeches.
+
+     I enclose the examination of the physicians before our Committee. I
+     am sorry to say, that the examination before the Lords is
+     infinitely less decent and respectful, and goes into a variety of
+     particulars, which, I am sure it will shock you to read, as it did
+     me to hear them.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+I do not know in what manner what Thurlow said about Ireland will be
+represented in the papers, not having seen them. It was so enveloped,
+that I, who heard it, could form no notion what his opinion is. In the
+debate in the House of Commons, I mean, for your sake, to state my
+principles on that subject distinctly.
+
+Sir William Young, in the next letter, reports what was done on Pitt's
+motion for the Committee.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     House of Commons, Friday, Half-past Five, Dec, 12th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     Fox got up, on Mr. Pitt's having moved for a Committee to inquire
+     into the state of the nation on Tuesday. Fox explained away much of
+     the harshness of the doctrine of _right_ in the Prince of Wales to
+     assume the royal authority during the temporary incapacity of the
+     King; but left all the substance of the doctrine. He then spoke his
+     sentiments of what ought to be done, whatever the manner; namely,
+     to recognize, _or confer_, as others might say, _full regal
+     authority_ on the Prince, for the time of the King's incapacity. He
+     then called on Pitt to relieve the nation from doubt, and give an
+     opening of his plan.
+
+     Pitt, in reply, stated the point of law and the Constitution yet to
+     be at issue, the _substance_ of difference yet remaining, and that
+     such great question could not be slurred over. It must be decided
+     by Parliament, and should be the first subject of debate and
+     decision; namely, for Tuesday. It was a question for themselves and
+     for posterity. He then said, that the outline of his plan was, as
+     _matter of discretion_ and conveniency, to appoint the Prince of
+     Wales sole Regent, with no permanent council, with power to remove
+     and make his Ministry at pleasure, and with all other regal powers
+     necessary for giving force, dignity, and vigour to his
+     Administration; but with no powers that might be needless,
+     intrench on the Crown, and cause embarrassment on the King's
+     recovery, &c.
+
+     Our business for Tuesday, therefore, is the _question of right_.
+
+     Pitt stands higher and higher in general estimation. As I passed
+     the gallery to write this, Marquis of Townsend caught my arm, and
+     said: "A glorious fellow, by G----, Young! His speech is that of an
+     angel."
+
+     Post bell rings.
+
+     Yours ever,
+     W. Y.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 13th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I must refer you to the papers for an account of our triumphant day
+     in the House of Commons yesterday. You will see by that, that I was
+     not mistaken in my opinion that the doctrine of the Prince's right
+     was not likely to be a very popular one. Fox found that by what he
+     said before he had offended so many people, that he was obliged to
+     take the very first moment of explaining it away; still, however,
+     he has left it in such a shape that we cannot fail of debating it
+     with great advantage. He intends, as you will see by his speech, to
+     move the previous question on Pitt's proposition, which he is
+     afraid to attempt to negative. After this recantation was over, the
+     day was closed by such a blunder of Sheridan's, as I never knew any
+     man of the meanest talents guilty of before. During the whole time
+     that I have sat in Parliament, in pretty warm times, I never
+     remember such an uproar as was raised by his threatening us with
+     _the danger of provoking the Prince to assert his right_, which
+     were the exact words he used.
+
+     You may conceive what advantage all this gives us, especially when
+     coupled with the strong hopes entertained of the King's recovery.
+     The account, as given at St. James's, is rather less favourable
+     this morning. I do not well know how to account for this
+     circumstance, as the letters from persons immediately about the
+     Queen continue as favourable as ever. I rather guess it to be
+     Warren's malice against Willis, who was yesterday put into
+     possession of many points which they had disputed with him,
+     particularly the right of signing the reports. I imagine he was
+     unwilling the first day of this to contest with Warren about the
+     precise words.
+
+     There is a report, which I heard yesterday before I went to the
+     House, and which Fox's speech appeared to countenance, of their
+     intending to acquiesce in the limitations, provided they are
+     established only for a short time.
+
+     The precise mode of carrying our propositions into effect is not
+     yet settled. Our general idea is, that the two Houses should
+     authorize the Chancellor to put the great seal to a Commission,
+     empowering the Prince to open the session. And that then the
+     propositions should then be brought forward in the shape of a Bill,
+     to which the Prince may, by a similar Commission, be authorized to
+     give the royal assent. We shall, however, in the course of two or
+     three days have reduced this to form, and I will then send it over
+     to you.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+The report alluded to above turned out to be true, which could be said
+of few of the reports that were so industriously circulated during the
+King's illness. The Prince's party, finding it impossible to get rid of
+the restrictions, were ready to enter into a compromise, and to agree to
+them, provided their duration was limited to a certain period. A Bill to
+that effect was afterwards introduced. But Ministers were not inclined
+to accept compromises when they had the power in their own hands to
+dictate conditions; and so the limited Regency scheme came to nothing.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, Dec. 13th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The account at St. James's this morning is, that the King had a
+     quiet night; but that, on awaking, His Majesty was more unquiet
+     than yesterday. Unless something very particular is noted in these
+     official returns of the King's health, shall not in future transmit
+     accounts so inconclusive to such a distance. The disorder in its
+     nature is subject to intervals, and to variations which even a
+     medical inquirer could not build upon, without being a witness to
+     such vicissitudes of malady or having a recital of each minute
+     symptom, and that with comments. Each authentic account, more in
+     detail, as it comes to me you shall have; and then, too, the St.
+     James's note as a corollary.
+
+     After my note from the House of Commons--which, if your Lordship
+     can read, I do not think I now could, such was the haste of
+     scribble--Sheridan threw out the menace which the papers state,
+     with Pitt's answer; the comment on which is, in the mouth of
+     Opposition: "Pray, for God's sake, don't put a question, and urge
+     it to a division, which will ruin our pretensions as Whigs if we
+     do, as we must do, divide against it."
+
+     On walking out this morning, the first thing that struck me, was a
+     long row of handbills, stuck from one end to the other of the wall
+     of Devonshire House; in which a few words of _Fox for the Prince's
+     prerogative_, and of Pitt, in reply for privilege of Parliament and
+     liberties of the nation, were not badly selected.
+
+     We are likely to have a conversation in Parliament, I am pretty
+     authentically informed, of even a more delicate nature than the
+     last; John Rolle intending to bring forward his old subject of Mrs.
+     Fitzherbert.
+
+     Rolle and Sheridan had a whispering conference under the gallery
+     for some minutes; the result of which, Sir J. Scott,
+     Solicitor-General, with whom I dined, said he understood to be
+     firmness on the part of Rolle, in his intention at a proper time to
+     come forward.
+
+     To our question of right, on Tuesday the previous question is
+     expected from Opposition; and that they will be stronger on that
+     point than any other, from having the timidity of some, co-operate
+     with the interestedness of others. The list on that day will be
+     worth marking. I trust we shall yet have a great majority of
+     Parliament who will not submit to be dragooned out of their
+     privileges and freedom by an Irish Brigade.
+
+     Grattan is every day under the gallery, not admiring, I hope, the
+     Captains Sheridan and Burke. I know not which side he leans to.
+
+     Adieu, my dear Lord. My wife desires to forward her kindest wishes
+     and best respects to the Marchioness, with your most affectionate
+     and devoted friend's,
+
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 14th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I received this morning your letter of the 8th, and am very sorry
+     that I am so hurried to-day as to make it absolutely impossible for
+     me to enter into the subject which you discuss, in the manner which
+     I should wish. You will collect from a former letter my general
+     notions upon it, but I doubt whether those may not be considerably
+     varied by the consideration which you suggest of being able to
+     carry more for the King by remaining, than otherwise.
+
+     I have had a good deal of conversation with Pitt on the subject. He
+     promises me that he will, immediately after Tuesday, discuss it
+     thoroughly with me, and enable me to send you his decided opinion
+     how you ought to act. I find, from what he says, that he apprehends
+     Lord Thurlow's opinion to be contrary to ours. This, however,
+     seems immaterial, except with a view to future support, and,
+     probably, cannot easily be brought to a point, as no Cabinet
+     measure or instructions can be grounded upon it. The idea still
+     continues of proceeding by Bill; and as we preface that with an
+     assertion of the right in both Houses, it must still be a
+     considerable time before any measure can come in question with
+     respect to Ireland.
+
+     I believe we shall word the proposition in a less abstract form,
+     and apply it more particularly to this individual case, still,
+     however, asserting the right.
+
+     The account is less favourable to-day, notwithstanding that of
+     yesterday. I saw a letter from Willis to Pitt, in which he said
+     that the King "had passed the day calmly, and was, in other
+     respects, much the same as yesterday."
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 15th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I had yesterday some conversation with Pitt on the subject of your
+     letter, which I had received in the morning.
+
+     On the best consideration, we agreed that the line I before
+     mentioned to you is the best which you ought to follow; that you
+     should write a letter, to be delivered immediately upon the Prince
+     of Wales being Regent, to state the doubts, to suggest the solution
+     of Lords Justices, to desire His Royal Highness's commands upon the
+     danger of giving offence here, by the appearing to raise
+     difficulties in Ireland. This was agreed to be more proper, even to
+     the King, than leaving them to open the Parliament. Pitt has
+     received a very haughty letter from the Prince of Wales to Thurlow,
+     complaining of his general behaviour to him, and of his not having
+     had Pitt's plan communicated to him, and ordering Thurlow to
+     require him to send it to him in writing. Pitt has sent a
+     respectful answer, disclaiming any disrespect to him; but saying
+     that he does not think it proper to do this until the question of
+     right has been discussed.
+
+     It is reported that the four Princes of the blood met yesterday,
+     and agreed to refuse the Regency under any limitations, and this is
+     to be declared in the House of Commons to-morrow. I have reason to
+     believe this to be true. Pitt saw the Queen yesterday; I do not
+     know what passed, though I think he is satisfied.
+
+     I enclose a letter from Camplin, upon which you must decide. I have
+     not yet seen Captain Nugent, who has sent me a letter from you, but
+     his business is wholly out of our cognizance.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     When Pitt was at Kew he saw Willis, who told him that he did not
+     think the difference in the King's state within these last two
+     days, of the smallest importance. That this sort of fluctuation was
+     naturally to be expected, and did not in any degree diminish his
+     hopes, which are as sanguine as ever.
+
+
+MR W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 17th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have nothing to add to what I said in my last letter, on the
+     interesting subject of your situation and conduct in the events
+     that may most reasonably be expected to arise. It appears, however,
+     to me, to be of the utmost importance that you should not neglect
+     for a moment taking the opinion of the law servants of the Crown in
+     Ireland, with respect to the operation of a new patent granted by a
+     Parliamentary Regent here, under the English Great Seal, previous
+     to any proceeding having been held in Ireland. I have a real
+     confidence in Fitzgibbon's honour; but I think this a point of much
+     too great importance to yourself, to be vested on verbal opinions.
+     You may, and I think ought, both to keep these written opinions
+     secret, and to require them to do so; but as soon as you have
+     received them, you should, I think, transmit them to Lord Sydney,
+     to remain in his office. You will observe that the ground is now in
+     some measure cleared for you by the declaration of right, which we
+     came to last night, and which will certainly be agreed to by the
+     House of Lords. I expected to have been able to send you an exact
+     copy of the resolutions, but am disappointed. You will, however,
+     probably see them in the "Morning Chronicle," if that comes out
+     early enough for the post. The first states the fact of the King's
+     present inability to attend to business, "and that the _personal
+     exercise_ of the royal authority by His Majesty is thereby for the
+     present interrupted."
+
+     The second: "That it is the right and duty of the Lords and Commons
+     (describing them as in the preamble to the Bill of Rights) to
+     provide the means of supplying the defect in the personal exercise,
+     &c., in such manner as the exigency of the case may appear to them
+     to require."
+
+     The third: "That for the above purpose, and for maintaining entire
+     the constitutional authority of His Majesty, it is necessary that
+     the said Lords and Commons should determine on the means by which
+     the royal assent may be given in Parliament to such Bill as may be
+     passed by the two Houses, respecting the exercise of the royal
+     power, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty, during the
+     continuance of His Majesty's indisposition."
+
+     I believe I have given you very nearly the words, which I ought to
+     remember, having employed very near the whole of two days in
+     settling them with Pitt and our lawyers.
+
+     Our principle is, that the King's authority remains entire. That no
+     legislative act can be done but with the formal sanction of his
+     assent. That no person can take upon him to give that assent,
+     except by the direction and authority of the two Houses, who have
+     the right, in the present emergency, to act for the King; but must,
+     even in doing that, adhere as nearly as possible to the forms of
+     the Constitution.
+
+     Fox opposed these resolutions, in one of the best speeches I ever
+     heard from him; but I think indiscreetly supporting and enforcing
+     all his old ground of the Prince of Wales's right. Towards the end,
+     he made a violent personal attack on Pitt, intimating that he was
+     desirous, through envy, to weaken the hands of those _who were to
+     be his successors_. This opening was not neglected by Pitt, but
+     laid hold of in a manner which enabled him to speak of his own
+     conduct towards the King and the Prince, and towards the country in
+     the present moment, and to contrast it with that of his opponents.
+     I never heard a finer burst of eloquence, nor witnessed such an
+     impression as it produced. But you will know all this better from
+     the papers.
+
+     The division exceeded our expectations. All the neutrals, and many
+     of the wavering people, and some of the most timid of our friends,
+     were against us, on the ground of the inexpediency of agitating
+     this question. You will also naturally see that something is to be
+     allowed for the impression of two Princes of the blood speaking;
+     one of them to assure the country that the Prince of Wales would
+     not urge this claim, and both beseeching, as a sort of personal
+     point, that it might not be made necessary to come to a division
+     upon the question. Still, however, the impression which the claim
+     itself had made on the country, was such that it was a point of
+     real duty to quiet people's minds upon it. But it cannot be
+     surprising, that under all these circumstances, and under the fear
+     of some unexplained danger, many people should be caught by a
+     previous question. I was a little mortified at finding our friend
+     Sir P. P. among these. I had no previous intimation of this till I
+     saw him in the division, nor have I had any opportunity of
+     conversing with him since. I am not sure that he did not think he
+     ought to have been a Lord of the Admiralty instead of Lord Hood. It
+     is either that, or his intercourse with some of the Independents.
+     On the whole, I think it better to leave him to himself, as I do
+     not think I have sufficient influence over him to do any good, and
+     the attempt might do harm. You know best how you stand in that
+     respect. We have certainly no claim upon him beyond friendship and
+     opinion.
+
+     Lord Lonsdale's people were against us, in consequence of a letter,
+     written by the Prince of Wales himself, soliciting it as a personal
+     favour. This, which I know _from authority_, may serve to give you
+     an idea of the pains they had taken. They were so confident, that,
+     on Sunday night, Fox assured the whole party, at a general meeting
+     at Burlington House, that he had no doubt of beating us. I imagine
+     that we are now sure of carrying our restrictions, and probably by
+     a larger majority.
+
+     Lord Loraine has separated himself from the Duke of N.; in
+     consequence of which, Rainsforth has vacated. We do not know who
+     comes in, but Lord Loraine says it is a friend.
+
+     Gerard Hamilton is among the rats, which is no small amusement to
+     me, who have frequently been abused by Pitt for my bad opinion of
+     him, at the time that he was swallowing toads _a toute outrance_.
+     There are one or two more individual members in the House of
+     Commons, but nobody of any consequence but the Duke of Queensbury,
+     which, though everybody expected it, is nevertheless a thing that
+     raises my indignation in no small degree.
+
+     The popular opinion shows itself every day more and more, and I
+     have no doubt you will hear of addresses, &c. Fox's declaration of
+     the Prince of Wales's right has been of no small service to us. Is
+     it not wonderful that such great talents should be conducted with
+     so little judgment?
+
+     Our mode of proceeding will now be to communicate these
+     resolutions to the Lords; and when they have concurred in them,
+     then to bring forward the plan; and lastly, to authorize the Lord
+     Chancellor to put the Great Seal to a commission to His Royal
+     Highness, to empower him to open the Parliament, and afterwards to
+     another (at least, _I_ think they should be separate), authorizing
+     him to give the royal assent to the Bill appointing him Regent.
+
+     You will easily see, that all this will be no very short
+     proceeding. In the meantime, the prospect of the King's recovery is
+     daily growing more favourable. Willis and Addington have both said,
+     _separately_, that his emotion at seeing the Queen for the first
+     time, and his subsequent agitation, instead of being discouraging,
+     were symptoms highly favourable. He is now quite calm; and at three
+     o'clock yesterday, the account which came from Willis was, that he
+     was better than at any time since his illness.
+
+     It will be ridiculous if he should recover just in time to give the
+     royal _dissent_ to the Regency Bill--which is not impossible. The
+     more probable supposition is, that they will just have time to
+     parcel out the spoils, to dismiss us, and to hold their offices
+     about a month; and so will end (if this should happen) the third
+     reign of King Charles III.
+
+     So little was said about Ireland, that it would have been an
+     affectation in me to have talked about it; besides this, I had no
+     opportunity of speaking that pleased me.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     What I mentioned in my last about the four Princes, I now _know_
+     not to be true with respect to the Duke of Gloucester, who has held
+     aloof from all cabal with them, and even declared in the House of
+     Lords that he had done so.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 19th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I am very sorry that this letter must necessarily be so short, as I
+     should have great pleasure if there was time to state to you the
+     particulars of our triumph, and of the effect which it has
+     produced, and which is indeed little less than miraculous. It
+     certainly exceeded my expectations; but it was so infinitely beyond
+     what our opponents had thought possible, that they are beat down by
+     it beyond all description. I hope you will hear all this more
+     particularly from others. I write now only for the purpose of
+     sending you the following paragraph from a letter of Willis's to
+     Pitt last night, which he showed me. W. is speaking of the effect
+     of the blisters. He says: "From this, and from several other little
+     occurrences in the course of these last three days, I am more than
+     ever confirmed in my opinion that there can be no doubt of the
+     King's entire recovery."
+
+     I know the pleasure which this will give you, and therefore send
+     it, though in great haste.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 21st, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have delayed writing for these two or three last days, in hopes
+     of being able to give you an account of the event of our second
+     division, which has, as you will have seen, been deferred from day
+     to day, and now is finally fixed for to-morrow. The adjournment on
+     Friday was necessary, on account of Pitt's health. He had entirely
+     lost the use of his voice by a cold, so that he could not have
+     spoken five sentences together, and he was in other respects much
+     exhausted. Our friends were a little chagrined at the delay; but it
+     was unavoidable, and will not, I hope, be productive of any
+     inconvenience.
+
+     Our next question is not a pleasant one. It turns on an abstruse
+     maxim of law, which makes it necessary for us to take a very
+     circuitous mode of doing a very plain thing. The necessity of it is
+     forced upon us by our lawyers, whom we could not otherwise have
+     satisfied, with regard to the second proposition which we have
+     voted. I am indeed convinced, that, in strict law, they are right,
+     and that the mode now proposed is the regular and proper mode of
+     doing what is required to be done. At the same time, it would have
+     been more agreeable to have had a more familiar and obvious measure
+     to defend in such an assembly as the House of Commons.
+
+     We shall probably lose some individuals, both on this question, and
+     on the subsequent question of restrictions; but we have some new
+     recruits, who were absent by sickness, or other accidents; so that,
+     on the whole, I hope the difference will not be considerable,
+     though nothing can exceed their industry in canvassing, except the
+     open manner in which they offer every sort of bribe.
+
+     We have some idea of making the restrictions temporary, by which
+     means they will certainly be much more palatable. You will observe
+     that almost all the physicians seem to point out the probability of
+     his recovering within a year or a year and a half, if at all. This
+     seems to afford a real ground of expediency, besides giving a
+     strong topic of argument for imposing the restrictions only for a
+     similar time. This point is, however, not yet determined.
+
+     The accounts from Windsor for the last week, though they have
+     varied, are yet, on the whole, less favourable than before. Willis
+     ascribes this entirely to the effect of the blisters, which give
+     him great pain; and Willis says _that_ is, on the whole, by no
+     means an unfavourable symptom. The effect, however, which these
+     accounts produce here, is injurious to us, and must be the same in
+     Ireland. Our solid ground of hope does not appear to be in the
+     smallest degree weakened.
+
+     You will see in the Opposition papers that they are beginning to
+     abuse the Queen in the most open and scandalous manner. I collect
+     from this that they have some information, on which they can
+     depend, with respect to her sentiments, and I conjecture that they
+     are such as we could wish.
+
+     If we were together, I could tell you some particulars of the
+     Prince of Wales's behaviour towards the King and her, within these
+     few days, that would make your blood run cold; but I dare not
+     commit them to paper, because of my informant.
+
+
+The demands of the Opposition appear to have risen and fallen with the
+bulletins; and according as the King was better or worse, the resistance
+to the limitations was faint or violent. The conduct pursued by the
+Prince's party to obtain votes and strengthen their parliamentary
+influence, is not shown in a very favourable light.
+
+
+     SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street,
+     Monday, Dec. 22nd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     I should scarcely venture to anticipate a subject, the event of
+     which within twenty-four hours may belie any pretensions of
+     political sagacity, might not the difference of one day's post from
+     London eventually delay your receiving a letter for a week, should
+     wind and sea prove perverse, as when I passed my Christmas at
+     Holyhead. This, and the anxiety for intelligence, which must
+     necessarily arise from the suggestion in my note of Saturday,
+     induces me to pursue the matter I then opened, and the more
+     especially as the circumstance, I foresaw, is now more than likely
+     to occur. As I purpose closing this letter at the House of Commons,
+     and the last moment which the post may allow me, I shall have to
+     transmit fact in lieu of probability; at present, I state briefly
+     my grounds for the latter--namely, that the specific great
+     question, whether the Prince shall be Regent without any
+     limitations, and invested with the full prerogatives of royalty,
+     will be agitated and decided upon this Monday night. The turn of
+     debate and temper of the House on Friday, which induced me to
+     suppose such question might be pressed upon us, have induced others
+     to press it. This morning a printed paper hath been sent to certain
+     members, containing a motion for addressing, and an address at
+     length to the Prince, corroborating what Mr. Steele told me
+     yesterday, that _Fox's_ party had some design in view for Monday.
+     Letters having been sent in Fox's name to several members,
+     requesting attendance and _an answer_; and that Mr. Pitt had
+     written in like manner to such as he apprehended might be
+     withdrawing for the Christmas holidays, with the same unusual
+     request _of answer_. Two of these letters (pretty long), to Sir H.
+     Hoghton and to Mr. Pye, I afterwards had the perusal of.
+
+     The true friendly language, and which I openly hold, is that we
+     shall be stronger on the division than before; such language is
+     proper, because ordinary men consider numbers as a shelter for
+     their opinions and conduct, and some even consider it as the test
+     of truth. But this language hath not its origin in my judgment and
+     feelings. There are circumstances which impress great doubt on my
+     mind, whether the division can be so favourable to our wishes, as
+     was the last. Taking the data of the examination of the physicians,
+     the King's recovery therein presumed, gives a vantage-ground in
+     argument for limitations. But I am sorry to say this ground is now
+     shaken: the public is no longer sanguine in hopes, medical
+     gentlemen have generally conspired to render the object of
+     recovery much more doubtful at least, and the physicians about the
+     King have had dissensions and disputes amongst themselves. It is
+     now rumoured that Dr. Warren wishes to be re-examined. All this is
+     indeed not before the House of Commons, and the report of the
+     physicians is; I think, therefore, that though not so decisive, we
+     yet shall have a considerable majority on the premises; but even
+     for this dependant on other considerations--namely, how far
+     apprehensions of the King's actual demise may operate from, I
+     believe, the faithful report of the day, that a fever is come on,
+     and that for a day or two past the King has had a constant sweating
+     of the head, to which he was at no time before accustomed.
+     According to wishes or fears, men construe this crisis to portend
+     health or decease; the political effect in the alternative, being
+     in the first case uncertain, in the second case certain. The bent
+     of this is against us, as few narrow motives and personal
+     considerations may extend and favour the active spirit of
+     subornation which stalks in open day, with each hand full of
+     patents of honour and purses of money. Offers have been so prodigal
+     that not fifty years of patronage could accomplish the performance.
+     Those gentlemen who have rejected these kind tenders of service
+     speak openly, and no notice is taken. In these moments of public
+     curiosity, it may not be so well to trust names to a letter. I
+     could give you several.
+
+     The bearing of this letter is thus unfavourable to this night's
+     debate terminating _fully_ as we could wish, though yet I think
+     _for us_. Having thus far written, I shall pocket my paper for the
+     purpose of adding what I can at the House of Commons.
+
+     House of Commons,
+     Half-past Five, Monday, Dec. 22nd, 1788.
+
+     I dined at three, at a coffee-house, with my cousin, old William
+     Lawrence, who called on me; Smith, member for Sudbury, leader of
+     the Dissenters, joined us on the walk, and was of our dinner
+     party. Lawrence said he wished a compromise, a _limited regency for
+     a year_, and then to take up the business anew, if the King was not
+     recovered, on the other ground, and _he_ is a leading country
+     gentleman of their party, Smith is in an unqualified manner with
+     us; and Thornton, whose place in the House is next to me, being
+     equally staunch, I augur that we have all the Dissenters' interest
+     with us. Indeed, generally speaking, the House looks better for us
+     than I expected, and I doubt not our majority, yet thinking it will
+     not be great; indeed the House is not nearly so full as it was on
+     the late question, and the apprehensions I set out with of
+     temporizers and shirkers, as we called them at Eton, seem
+     confirmed.
+
+     Edmund Burke arose a little after four, and is speaking yet. He has
+     been wilder than ever, and laid himself and party open more than
+     ever speaker did. He is Folly personified, but shaking his cap and
+     bells under the laurel of genius; among other things, he said Mr.
+     Pitt's proposals could not be adopted, as gentlemen, as
+     _cavaliers_: the word will not be forgot.
+
+     Fox is present, but looks very ill. Pitt looks recovered. Your
+     brother in high glee at Burke. Burke stated the Chancellor to be
+     like to the God Priapus, and Pitt the carpenter. He run his idea to
+     a charming extravagance, and finished by declaring that "he could
+     not be a votary to Priapus, the false God! _vid._ Horace, &c."
+
+     The question is an amendment of Dempster's, to follow; the Lords
+     and Commons, &c., determine "to address the Prince of Wales, to
+     take on him the Regency, &c."
+
+     Adieu, my dear Lord. Your Marchioness in health, and a boy, and
+     yourself in all good that Providence can dispense, is the prayer of
+     your most faithfully affectionate and devoted friend, &c.
+
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+     Six o'clock.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Tuesday, Dec. 23rd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     Never did any debate of nice discussion go off better in our eye
+     than that of last night: never was I more agreeably surprised than
+     by the result--having gained nine on our former majority. The House
+     was thinner by forty at twelve at night, than the debate before at
+     three in the morning. The shirkers I alluded to may now come in,
+     and we may augur our future divisions to be yet stronger and more
+     decisive: our rats having all shown their tails on last night's
+     motion to address the Prince.
+
+     Sir John Aubrey, rat-major, receiving his emoluments of the
+     Treasury for five years, and declaring himself unconnected with
+     any, afforded a subject of general laugh. Master Popham, Sir Samuel
+     Hurmery, James Macpherson, W.G. Hamilton, &c., &c., followed the
+     illustrious Aubrey. Fox, after Pitt's reply, and his own rejoinder,
+     paired off with Stevens of the Admiralty. The Marquis of
+     Lansdowne's friends, Barre, &c., were with us. Masham, voting for
+     the Address, declared himself not precluded thereby from voting for
+     limitations. Drake, on the same head, not to preclude himself, left
+     the House. We shall, therefore, have those _two_. Sir John Scott
+     spoke with such learning, truth, and uncommon energy of reasoning
+     and language, that he carried the House with him, and extorted from
+     Lord North, in particular, the highest compliments ever paid to a
+     lawyer in the House of Commons. I never heard Fox speak so
+     temperately, or better, in point of argument. Pitt, in reply, was
+     equally great. He stated, to conviction, "the fiction of the law,
+     which admitted the application of the royal political authority,
+     when the personal was disabled, as implicated in the very
+     principles of hereditary succession, which otherwise would suffer
+     interruption from nonage, infirmity, dotage, and every contingency
+     in the state of man." Sheridan spoke very ill: very hot,
+     injudicious, and _ill-heard_. Rolle, whilst adverting to Sheridan's
+     speech, made use of a remarkable expression, and which seems to
+     hint some future acting up to the rumours of his purpose. He said
+     that in proper time, "He should heartily vote for the Prince's
+     being Regent, _if_ the Prince had done no act by which he had
+     forfeited pretensions to executive government in this country."
+
+     Our resolutions being carried to the Lords, in conference this day,
+     on Friday next the Lords will debate thereon. Lords Townshend,
+     Romney, Radnor, and many other occasional opponents, I understand
+     to be decidedly with us on the second Whig resolution.
+
+     In speaking of our debate, I had forgot Burke, who, after I
+     finished my last night's letter, finished his wild speech in a
+     manner next to madness. He let out two of the new
+     titles--Fitzwilliam to be Marquis of Rockingham, and Lord G.
+     Cavendish, jun. His party pulled him, and our friends calling
+     "Hear, hear," we lost the rest of the twenty-five new Peers, who
+     would all have come out.
+
+     For the King's health, the world is yet in expectation of some
+     crisis. The St. James's notes of last night "quiet," or "unquiet,"
+     are disregarded, as too general, or as of course; and accounts from
+     ladies about the Queen, and from the physicians themselves, pass in
+     the greater circles, still mentioning violent intermitting fevers,
+     and profuse occasional perspirations. Having generally, in my last,
+     stated that the faculty had conspired to render the public less
+     sanguine, I mention to _your Lordship only_ what T. Warner, above
+     seventy years of age, and forty years first surgeon of Guy's and
+     St. Thomas's Hospitals, told me, "Being at the head of these city
+     hospitals, he has been often called in to meet the physicians of
+     Bethlem, where a surgeon for scalping, &c., was required, and that
+     a madness after fifty, without a clear assignable cause--and that
+     cause to be reached by surgery or medicine--did not admit a
+     perfect recovery above one time in an hundred." The opinions of
+     many others of the faculty are bandied about; but, as matter of
+     conversation for your private ear, I give this particular one as
+     authentically coming to my own knowledge.
+
+     You'll observe in this day's papers, a meeting advertised of the
+     bankers. It is understood to be for the purpose of tendering W.
+     Pitt, on his going out of office, a transfer of L3000 per annum,
+     Bank Stock, or a principal of L50,000, in the name of the
+     commercial world.
+
+     Adieu, my dear Lord. Health and prosperity be yours, and be assured
+     that you have no one more devotedly attached than your most
+     affectionate and obliged friend and servant,
+
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 23rd, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I received this morning your letter of the 18th; but am so much
+     engaged to-day that it is impossible for me to enter into it, which
+     I will, if possible, do to-morrow. I write now only to press again,
+     in the strongest manner, that you will get Fitzgibbon and Wolfe to
+     state all the particulars of the case, particularly as to the form
+     of the enrolment of your patent under the Irish Great Seal, and to
+     give you their opinions and arguments upon it. I will then take
+     care to know Kenyon's sentiments on that paper, and if I can, the
+     Chancellor's; but you are not ignorant of the bias of his mind,
+     which is, on all occasions, to consider the relative situation of
+     the two kingdoms, not such as it is, but such as it was, and as he
+     thought it should have remained. My idea of your tie by no means
+     went to your pledging yourself to do any act so contrary to your
+     duty and feelings, as the recommending from the throne, in
+     Ireland, a form of Regency varying one iota from that adopted here.
+     On the contrary, I think you should give it explicitly to be
+     understood, that everything in your power will be done to preserve
+     entire this link of connection. And under this explanation only, do
+     I think you ought to offer the proposed alternative.
+
+     I say nothing of our triumph last night. You will hear it from
+     other quarters; and you will probably be able to judge of its
+     extent, by knowing the confidence with which the enemy looked to
+     gaining upon us on this occasion. It is, I think, now quite certain
+     that we shall carry our restrictions.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+Another letter upon the Irish difficulty, into which Mr. Grenville
+enters in elaborate detail:
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 25th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I am extremely anxious that you should lose no time in transmitting
+     over to England an exact statement of the case respecting your
+     commission, and of the points and arguments on which your lawyers
+     ground their opinions, in order that they may be well considered
+     here by those who are interested in your situation and character,
+     as deeply and as warmly as Pitt and myself. You mention in your
+     last, that it has occurred to you, that it would be right _if you
+     are_ intemperately removed to desire the opinion of our judges on
+     the point. But you do not seem to consider that, whenever that case
+     occurs, you may have to decide _on the moment_, either to quit your
+     Government, and to swear in the new Lord-Lieutenant, or to hold it
+     against him, in contradiction to the orders of English Government.
+     Suppose he should himself be the messenger of his own appointment,
+     as was the case with the Duke of Portland. The same reason exactly
+     exists for it now as before, namely, the fear of suffering the
+     dismissed Lord-Lieutenant to meet the Parliament, especially in a
+     moment when their conduct is so important. The best and, indeed,
+     almost only security that you could have in such a case for the
+     justification of your own conduct, whatever it might be, would be
+     the having given a full previous intimation to the English
+     Government of the difficulties and dangers of the case.
+
+     You say that I should feel myself at liberty to act for you on the
+     pressure of any unforeseen case. I certainly should; and my
+     confidence in your affection, and in your persuasion of my desire
+     to do the best for you, would encourage me to take, if it were
+     absolutely necessary, steps even of considerable delicacy and
+     difficulty. But I cannot but be infinitely anxious, as far as
+     possible, to be previously in possession of your ideas on every
+     case that can be foreseen. Besides this, I am at present unable to
+     do the precise thing which I think would be the most desirable,
+     because I am not myself in possession of the particular forms of
+     your commission's passing in England and in Ireland, so as to be
+     able to state them to others. And yet this is the point on which,
+     in one view of the case, the whole question turns. I confess that,
+     in my own individual opinion, there is another point distinct from
+     that of forms, on which I should be disposed to maintain the
+     incompetence of any English revocation of your commission. It is
+     this:
+
+     _We_ (that is Pitt and his friends) hold and have persuaded
+     Parliament to declare that, in such a case as the present, the
+     right of providing for the emergency rests in the two Houses, not
+     as branches of the Legislature, but as a full and free
+     representative of all the orders and classes of the people of Great
+     Britain. Now the moment that we admit this, we do it on the ground
+     of this being a case unprovided for. If it is so in England, it is
+     unquestionably equally unprovided for in Ireland; and the right of
+     making such provision must of necessity rest in the same manner in
+     the Lords and Commons of England. There is this difference, that
+     here the Parliament could not be legally opened, unless the Lord
+     Chancellor had taken upon himself to put the Great Seal to a
+     commission for that purpose, whereas your commission enables you
+     (as I understand) generally to open and hold Parliament. But even
+     in your case, it seems to me to be a doubt whether you can
+     regularly do this without having received the King's pleasure for
+     it, and whether your opening the Parliament in such circumstances
+     is not an act very much of the same nature as the Chancellor's
+     would have been if he had sealed such a commission.
+
+     In the same view of the subject, I should most earnestly deprecate
+     your taking upon yourself to issue a further prorogation. Surely,
+     under such circumstances as the present, the two Houses should
+     themselves decide, and not any individual for them, whether it is
+     expedient or not to proceed to any business. My clear and decided
+     opinion on that subject is, that you should go down on the day of
+     meeting, and state the circumstances of the case, saying that you
+     have ordered the several examinations of the physicians before
+     Council and before the two Houses here, to be laid before the two
+     Houses. Your Ministers should then, upon that, propose to adjourn
+     to a further day, on the ground of its not being known (as it
+     cannot then be known) what form will be adopted here, and of its
+     being, at all events, desirable that they should be in possession
+     of that fact before they deliberate, especially as the Government
+     may go on in the interval without inconvenience.
+
+     If you see no objection to this, it is, I think, high time that you
+     should write an official letter, stating all the circumstances of
+     the situation, and that your intention is, unless you should be
+     informed that it appears to His Majesty's servants to be improper,
+     &c., to meet the Parliament on the 20th, for the purpose which I
+     have stated.
+
+     It is excessively important that you should, at the same time,
+     transmit, either publicly or privately, such a case as I have
+     mentioned, considering the subject in the two points of view:
+     first, with respect to the particular forms; and secondly, to the
+     question, how far any difference in point of form can preclude the
+     Parliament of Ireland from the exercise of the same substantive
+     right as that which we have declared to vest in us under the
+     existing circumstances.
+
+     I have great doubts of the propriety of what you mention of an
+     address of the two Houses to empower you to give the royal assent
+     to any Bills, because that would prematurely, as it seems to me,
+     bring into discussion the great question of all--namely, how far
+     the Lords and Commons of Ireland have the right, either of
+     commanding the use of the _English Great Seal_, or of superseding
+     its use, in an instance in which _that_, and the concurrence of the
+     _English Council_, are fundamental points of the present
+     constitution of Ireland. I am quite sure that the safest of all
+     things will be the adjournment; and I think it very improbable that
+     such a proposal can be opposed, as it must extremely fall in with
+     the wishes of the party who are looking to the Government
+     immediately after the passing the English Bill. I have no means of
+     knowing or guessing at General Pitt's intentions, but should think
+     they can be no other than _royal_.
+
+     You could surely find no difficulty in pledging the servants of
+     Government in Ireland to the adjournment; because it can so clearly
+     be argued not to preclude any future opinion on the subject, and
+     still less to pledge anybody to the adoption of the English system;
+     but only shows the opinion of the Irish Parliament, that a
+     knowledge of the system adopted here, is a point which they wish
+     should enter into their deliberations respecting Ireland.
+
+     I am much amused with the circumstance of Lord Sh. and Lord T.
+     having sent their proxies, as it has answered no other purpose but
+     that of pledging them; for it now seems to be agreed, that no use
+     can be made of proxies in a case where the Parliament does not
+     legally meet, but is rather to be considered as an extraordinary
+     assembly of the same persons who constitute the two Houses of
+     Parliament. It is something more than a Convention, and something
+     less than a Parliament.
+
+     Our triumph here is very great. The indignation of the two Princes
+     is, by what I hear, beyond all measure or bounds. The steadiness of
+     the House of Commons on this occasion is no bad lesson to them, and
+     I believe they will long remember it.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+In the House of Peers, Ministers did not come off so triumphantly. Lord
+Bulkeley communicates the result, and enumerates the _rats_.
+
+
+LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dec. 27th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     We divided last night at half-past twelve; our majority was 33, the
+     members being 99 to 66, which in the House of Peers was certainly a
+     large minority. The rat Peers were Duke of Queensbury, Marquis of
+     Lothian, Bishop Watson, Lord Malmesbury, Earl of Abergavenny, Lord
+     Chedworth, Lord Audley, Lord Eglinton; and all of the armed
+     neutrality, who are: Duke of Northumberland, Lord Rawdon, Lord
+     Selkirk, Lord Breadalbane, Lord Hawke, Lord Kinnaird, Lord
+     Shaftesbury, Lord Huntingdon; Lord Lonsdale absent; Lord Lansdowne
+     with us, and spoke better than I ever heard him in my life, fewer
+     flourishes, and less rhodomontade. The Chancellor spoke
+     incomparably; and did give it Lord Loughborough and Lord Rawdon
+     most completely, particularly the former, who felt it. We are in
+     good spirits, for we fall with _eclat_, and high in public
+     estimation. I have no time to add more; but that I am yours
+     affectionately,
+
+     B.
+
+     The Opposition are in great hopes of a _riot_ in the Irish
+     Parliament.
+
+
+MR W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 28th, 1788.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The messenger carries with him, as usual, the account received
+     to-day from Kew. I do not know that I have anything material to
+     write in addition to my former letters. I stated to you on Friday,
+     at length, the strong objections which both Pitt and myself feel
+     against your idea of proroguing the Parliament. If any accident
+     should detain that letter till after you receive this, I hope you
+     will take no step of that sort till you have received that letter,
+     and seriously considered the nature of our objections, which seem
+     to me to be of the utmost importance.
+
+     The belief that the Prince of Wales will certainly accept seems to
+     gain ground. It is most probable that we shall be enabled to speak
+     with more certainty on this subject in the course of to-morrow, as
+     a letter is to be written to him to-day by the Ministers, stating
+     the outlines of their plan. It will not materially differ from what
+     I originally stated to you. Peerages, grants for life (with the
+     necessary exceptions), and reversions, are to be restricted for a
+     certain time, which will be about a year and a half. This time is
+     fixed in consequence of what you will observe in the evidence both
+     of Willis and Addington, who both state the recovery as infinitely,
+     and beyond all calculation, less probable if it does not take place
+     within that time. Some line is to be drawn with respect to the
+     King's household, but what that shall be is the subject of this
+     morning's deliberation. It is a point of delicacy and difficulty.
+     The entire custody, management, and government of the King's
+     person; the appointment, &c., of his physicians, and the regulation
+     of his actual family, &c., is to be vested in the Queen, with the
+     advice of a Council, to be named and removable by her. The idea of
+     a Council of Regency to assist the Prince, but to be removable by
+     him, seems to be given up.
+
+     Our division in the House of Lords, though sufficiently decisive,
+     was less than it would have been, owing to a variety of accidental
+     circumstances. There is every reason to believe that we shall
+     divide stronger on Monday. I have no apprehension whatever as to
+     the carrying our restrictions in the House of Commons. Accidental
+     circumstances may vary our majority from 50 to 80; but there can be
+     no doubt of success. There seems very little reason to believe that
+     they will venture to dissolve Parliament till March or April, if
+     they do it then, which I doubt.
+
+     There certainly never was in this country, at any period, such a
+     situation as Mr. Pitt's. It is no small addition to the
+     satisfaction which we derive from all these events, to observe that
+     every man of all parties seems to feel how well the game has been
+     played on our side, and how ridiculously it has been mismanaged by
+     our opponents. Add to this, that they are all quarrelling amongst
+     themselves, and that we were never so united as at this moment.
+     With all these reflections you will own that _the prospect before
+     us_ is not an unpleasing one. The opinion of Willis continues as
+     sanguine as ever.
+
+     Believe me, my dear brother,
+     Most sincerely and affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+Lord Bulkeley announces, with exultation, the division in the Commons,
+and returns to his enumeration of _rats_.
+
+
+LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stanhope Street, Dec. 29th, 1788.
+     MY DEAREST LORD,
+
+     We are in high spirits here at the first majority of 64, and at the
+     last of 73, which, considering the open and undisguised canvass of
+     the Prince and the Duke of York, and the very liberal distribution
+     of promises from both, does the House of Commons a great deal of
+     honour. Parry fell down in a fit about two hours before the
+     division of the first day, and was carried home in a chair
+     speechless, where he remained confined till Monday, when I polled
+     him by means of a pair with Sir Robert Clayton, which T. Steele
+     arranged for him. A _certain lady_ in St. James's Square has been
+     tampering with Parry, and he certainly vented all his grievances
+     into the compassionate bosom of that active and politic fair one,
+     who has likewise infused such a political ardour into the mind of
+     her dear Sir Poddy, that on the first division he was seen to take
+     down the names of the different speeches and the members, besides
+     _other occasional notes_. I have not been in St. James's Square
+     since I have been in town, the manner with which they affect to
+     treat me being such that _an old English Baron_ cannot put up with;
+     besides _we are_ not in the best of humours at present, Sir Poddy
+     being unwell, and unable to attend the last division and _we find_
+     it difficult to sing the praises of the Prince and the Duke of York
+     on the usual themes of filial piety, virtue, &c., in the face of a
+     majority of 73 in favour of a falling Minister.
+
+     Sir George Warren was one of the rats, which Lady B. was much
+     affected at. He and Lady W. dined with us the day before the first
+     division, and both sung the praises of Mr. Pitt, and expressed the
+     warmest anxiety for the King's recovery. I was not all surprised,
+     well knowing his rattish dispositions. Glynne Wynne, whom I have
+     been working for three years to detach Lord Uxbridge from, has,
+     with the utmost effrontery, cast his benefactor off, and set him at
+     defiance, to which he has been led by promises at Carlton House. I
+     trust we shall be able to do his business on a dissolution, and he
+     well deserves it, being one of the first of scoundrels.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     I subjoin a list of those members who usually have voted with Mr.
+     Pitt, who have quitted him in the late divisions, _i.e._ _rats_.
+
+     Yours sincerely,
+     B.
+
+     Sir Peter Parker.
+     Sir George Warren.
+     Sir J. Aubrey.
+     Sir S. Hannay.
+     Sir Charles Gould.
+     James Macpherson.
+     ---- Clevland.
+     Glynne Wynne.
+     Gerrard Hamilton.
+     ---- Fraser.
+     ---- Osbaldiston.
+
+     The Lonsdales voted against Pitt in the first division, and staid
+     away the second. The Lansdownes voted with Pitt in the first, and,
+     I believe, in the second, or staid away.
+
+
+
+
+1789.
+
+DEATH OF THE SPEAKER--MR. GRENVILLE ELECTED IN HIS PLACE--COMMITTEE ON
+THE REGENCY--THE HOUSEHOLD BILL--CONDUCT OF THE PRINCES--ADDRESS TO THE
+PRINCE OF WALES FROM THE IRISH PARLIAMENT--RECOVERY OF THE
+KING--DECISIVE MEASURES OF LORD BUCKINGHAM--IRISH PROMOTIONS AND
+CREATIONS--DISSENSIONS IN THE ROYAL FAMILY--MR. GRENVILLE APPOINTED
+SECRETARY OF STATE--MR. ADDINGTON ELECTED SPEAKER--LORD BUCKINGHAM
+RESIGNS THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND.
+
+
+The one absorbing subject which for the last few weeks had engrossed the
+public mind, almost to the exclusion of every other consideration, kept
+the Parliament sitting close up to Christmas-day, in the year just
+expired. On the 23rd of December, a resolution, vigorously opposed by
+Lord North as instituting a fiction in lieu of the royal authority, was
+adopted, empowering the Chancellor to affix the Great Seal to such Bill
+of Limitations as might be necessary to restrict the power of the future
+Regent; but Ministers had no sooner succeeded in carrying their object
+to this important stage, than a new impediment presented itself. On the
+2nd of January, 1789, Mr. Cornwall, Speaker of the House of Commons,
+died. It was immediately decided that Mr. Grenville should be proposed
+to succeed him. On all accounts, it was indispensable to hasten this
+arrangement, as the functions of the Commons were unavoidably suspended
+in the interim. A serious obstacle arose from the informality of the
+proceeding, the sanction of the royal approbation being necessary,
+according to custom, upon the nomination of a new Speaker. The elastic
+character of the Constitution, however, although not providing direct
+remedies for such special cases, admits of adaptation to the most
+unforeseen exigencies; and so urgent was the pressure of affairs at this
+agitating juncture, that the irregularity was passed over by the tacit
+consent of all parties.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 2nd, 1788.[B]
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     You will probably not be a little surprised at the contents of this
+     letter. The Speaker died this morning at about nine o'clock, and
+     after some consideration, it has been determined that I should be
+     proposed to the House to succeed him. I am not quite sure whether
+     the choice will come on to-morrow or Monday. The situation is a new
+     one, it having always been held, that the King's commands are
+     necessary for the election of a Speaker, and his approbation for
+     confirming him in his situation. But this cannot be had under the
+     present circumstances; nor can the House take any steps to supply
+     the deficiency till they have a Speaker. At the Restoration and
+     Revolution, the House, in both instances, chose a Speaker, who was
+     acknowledged as such, and was never afterwards confirmed by the
+     King.
+
+     With respect to myself, the time for deliberation has not been
+     long. But upon the whole, I think the decision which I have made is
+     clearly right. If the King recovers before Parliament is dissolved,
+     it is clearly understood that my acceptance of this situation is
+     not to prejudice my other views; and in the public opinion, the
+     having filled this office, though but for a short time, will rather
+     forward them. If the Regent goes on without dissolving, I am then
+     in a situation which, though perhaps not perfectly pleasant, is
+     nevertheless respectable, and will give me occupation. If they
+     dissolve, and carry the Chair against me in the new Parliament, I
+     do not see how I stand worse, in any respect, for having held this
+     office. Such is my reasoning, and I think you will approve it. As
+     far as I can judge, there is no doubt of my carrying it _now_. I
+     have not yet heard whether they start any opponent, but I think
+     they have none whose personal connexions can materially vary the
+     proportion between the two parties: it is very sufficiently
+     decisive.
+
+     I have not heard the account of to-day at St. James's. Nothing can
+     be better than all the accounts, both public and private, for the
+     last three or four days. It is certainly not sanguine to entertain
+     the very best hopes; and the progress has even been more rapid than
+     Willis expected; so that I think we may look with some confidence
+     to March or April at latest.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+[Footnote B: This is the date in the original, but it is evidently a
+mistake. Mr. Grenville forgot that he was in a new year.]
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 4th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The plan for the Regency was sent to the Prince of Wales in a
+     letter from Pitt, three days ago, with an expression of his
+     readiness to give any explanation, either in person or in any
+     other manner that he might intimate. Yesterday his answer was
+     received, directed _to the Cabinet_. It is long, and with much
+     affectation of good writing, and is in parts of it well expressed,
+     in other parts confused and timid. It ends, however, with saying
+     that if these restrictions are adopted by Parliament he will
+     _accept_.
+
+     I have no doubt of carrying the Chair to-morrow, but not a little
+     doubt whether I ought to have accepted it. The die is, however, now
+     cast. The restrictions will, I think, pass without much difficulty.
+
+     I still adhere strongly to my opinion about the prorogation,
+     because I think there is a wide difference between exercising
+     during the King's health a power which he commits to your
+     discretion, but which he might if he pleased regulate by
+     instruction at any moment, and exercising the same power now when
+     you are to state that the King is prevented by infirmity from
+     attending at all to the administration of his Government. I am sure
+     that your acting in the manner you speak of is liable to, and will
+     probably bear, the very worst construction in the minds of the
+     public here; and I cannot for the life of me conceive what fear
+     there can be that the two Houses will not adjourn, considering that
+     the great point which they all wish, is that they may not be
+     obliged to pledge themselves. The extraordinary anxiety in those
+     whom you see, to get you to prorogue, is, in my opinion, a very
+     strong proof of their being actuated by that sort of wish.
+
+     I have not time to write any more, except to express my anxiety to
+     hear how Lady B. and your child go on.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+There was no doubt about the issue of the election to the Speakership.
+"Your brother William will certainly be Speaker," writes Lord Bulkeley
+on the 3rd, "and has already stood the hoax at White's, where it was
+debated last night whether he should wear a wig or his own hair." The
+election went off to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Grenville, who,
+reporting the event, says that "the majority, though quite large enough,
+would have been larger if they had divided half an hour later, as nearly
+forty of my friends were locked out below, and about eleven of theirs."
+With his customary philosophy, he made the best of everything; but he
+does not disguise from Lord Buckingham that he had strong doubts in his
+mind whether he ought to have accepted the Chair. The Opposition might,
+probably, have been stronger against his election, but for the belief
+that prevailed that the King was getting rapidly better. "The progress
+of the King," observes Mr. Grenville on the 7th, "is such, _according to
+our accounts_, that it is by no means impossible, nor even a very
+improbable case, that before the Irish Bill can pass, he may re-assume
+his Government."
+
+Another contingency that weighed with the floating mass of undecided
+politicians was the rumour which now began to be circulated that the
+Regent would not dismiss the existing Ministers till the end of the
+session.
+
+
+LORD MORNINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Jan. 6th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     As I understood that Sir W. Young and Bernard wrote you an account
+     of the division last night, which placed Grenville so honourably in
+     the Chair of the House of Commons, I did not trouble you with any
+     letter by the post of yesterday; but I cannot deny myself the
+     pleasure of acquainting you, that nothing could be more perfectly
+     satisfactory to all our friends than the conduct of the new Speaker
+     on an occasion naturally distressing; his speech of excuse, and his
+     speech from the steps of the Chair, were universally admired, they
+     were both so composed and delivered as to render a scene, which I
+     have always understood to be very ridiculous, really interesting
+     and affecting. It is deemed a misfortune amongst our friends, that
+     the practice of printing the Speaker's speeches on this occasion in
+     the journals is now disused. Grenville's speeches would have done
+     him the highest credit, as well as afforded an excellent precedent
+     to future Speakers. I have prevailed with Mr. Speaker to mount his
+     wig, and the whole apparatus to-day: he must consider this as a
+     young lawyer does his first appearance at the bar, and the sooner
+     the laugh is over the better for the dignity of the Chair. Whatever
+     may be Grenville's future fortunes, it can be no discredit to his
+     character to have been placed in the Chair by such a majority, in
+     such times and circumstances, and at his age.
+
+     I write no accounts of what we are doing, you hear that much more
+     correctly from Grenville. I am anxious to know what will be the
+     temper of Ireland at the meeting. Grattan is as much a creature of
+     Fox and his party, as the meanest libeller in the "Morning Herald;"
+     he lives entirely with them. I hear Pelham is to take his father on
+     his back to the Government of Ireland. Grattan will stand, in my
+     opinion, on most unpopular ground, if he either attempts to assert
+     the hereditary right of the Prince, or to give him larger powers in
+     Ireland, than the Parliament of this country entrust to him for the
+     administration of the British Government. The hereditary right, I
+     suppose Grattan will not venture to touch; and the latter
+     proposition, I think, might be argued exactly as he argued the
+     Perpetual Mutiny Bill, and other questions, where the danger of
+     larger powers in Ireland than were held in England by the same
+     hands, were considered with a view to the Constitutions of _both_
+     countries. This argument is, in my opinion, clear, if the rights of
+     the King on the throne are admitted to be the rights of the people
+     at large, and if they are not, I know not why they exist. I have
+     not much fear that the Irish Parliament will listen to such
+     proposals. As to reversions and offices for life, a Regent, who has
+     not the power of granting them here, and attempts to obtain it in
+     Ireland, can mean nothing else than to indemnify his disappointed
+     friends in England at the expense of Ireland; I do not think this
+     can go down. On the whole, I think your argument in Ireland
+     stronger in every view than ours here, and that is saying a great
+     deal.
+
+     Arthur informs me that my Trimmers wish to have a company of foot
+     quartered on them. I am sure I have no objection to your giving
+     _free quarters_ to the whole army on the worthy inhabitants of that
+     ancient and loyal town.
+
+     I sincerely wish you joy of your son, and hope the bad weather does
+     not affect either him or Lady Buckingham.
+
+     Ever, my dear Lord,
+     Yours most affectionately,
+     MORNINGTON.
+
+     What think of Sir John Aubrey, rat?
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 10th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I send you a letter of Camplin's, about an exchange which had been
+     proposed. We have no news here--everything remaining in precisely
+     the same state. The Committee, will, I think, most probably not
+     make their report to-day, though we meet for the chance of it. In
+     this manner, it will be impossible that the restrictions can be
+     opened before Tuesday or Wednesday. The debates of the Committee
+     have been conducted with great heat and violence on both sides, and
+     much indecency towards the King, particularly from Fox and Burke.
+     They are now endeavouring to turn it into a personal attack upon
+     the Queen, for having wished to make one of the reports of the
+     physicians more favourable, and for having dismissed Baker from her
+     service, on the ground of the great inattention towards the King
+     and his family, which appears on the face of his former
+     examination: he having perceived symptoms of this disorder so early
+     as the 22nd of October, and having, subsequent to that time,
+     entirely left the King.
+
+     The examination of Baker and Warren state the probability of
+     recovery as being nearly the same as when they were before
+     examined, but rather less. Willis and Pepys state it as much
+     greater; particularly the former of these two, who speaks in the
+     most sanguine terms. The answers of Reynolds and Gisborne are also,
+     as I believe, favourable.
+
+     These delays put all idea of dissolution out of the question, till
+     the end of the present session, at soonest; and that cannot take
+     place, according to my calculation, till the end of June. People
+     begin to speak doubtfully about the Regent's making any immediate
+     change, and I know that some of their friends affect to hold that
+     language; but I am inclined to think that, however difficult it may
+     be for them to undertake the Government under the existing
+     circumstances, it is absolutely impossible for them to satisfy the
+     Regent, or to quiet their own dependants, without running that
+     risk.
+
+     Fox is apparently recovering, but slowly.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 12th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I understand from different conversations, as well as from the
+     general report here, that there is an intention of moving for an
+     Address to the Prince, such as was proposed here, immediately on
+     the first meeting of the Irish Parliament. Grattan, &c., &c., are
+     all going over, so as to be in Dublin by the 20th. He is understood
+     to have entered completely into all the views of the party here,
+     and to be ready to pledge himself to all their doctrines,
+     maintained, or retracted, or both. I thought it right to give you
+     this intelligence, although you will probably hear it from many
+     other quarters, and though I have very little apprehension, indeed,
+     from the effect of such a manoeuvre. If anything could more
+     completely ruin them here than they are ruined already, it would be
+     such a measure. As to its effect in Ireland, I cannot persuade
+     myself that there can be any difficulty in getting people to pledge
+     themselves not to run before this country; and to appoint a Regent,
+     without conditions, in Ireland, before it is even known what
+     conditions are to be proposed, much less whether they will be
+     adopted by the British Parliament. At all events, however, the
+     battle must be fought; for it would be the most disgraceful thing
+     in the world to appear to give it up, or rather not to appear to
+     dispute it inch by inch.
+
+     Lord Glendon and Lord Fairford are both going over to assist you.
+     They both complain (particularly the former) of want of attention
+     from you; but I am so accustomed to such complaints, without
+     foundation, that I am not disposed to give much credit to them in
+     this instance. I understand that Lord Hillsborough has expressed
+     himself on the subject in a more decided manner than you seem at
+     all disposed to give him credit for.
+
+     Our report cannot probably be made to-day; but when it does appear,
+     I am told that the impression of it will be favourable to the idea
+     of the King's recovery. Surely, when this circumstance is taken
+     into consideration by your Irish speculators, in addition to the
+     many other considerations which make everybody here allow that
+     Pitt's side has the best of the day, they will not be induced to
+     hazard so decisive a step as you must give them to understand their
+     agreeing to this Address will be considered.
+
+     It was mentioned to me, that considerable offers had been made to
+     Corry. I mention this to you, but you will probably be able to
+     ascertain the truth of the report more accurately than I can.
+
+     It is worth observing, that the appointment of a Regent in Ireland
+     by Address goes directly to dissolve the Union of the two kingdoms,
+     because a Regent so appointed could not command the use of the
+     English Great Seal.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 19th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I was so knocked up on Saturday, that I found it impossible to
+     write to you; though there is one circumstance, which, if I had
+     been acquainted with, would have prevailed over all fatigue--I mean
+     that of Captain Nugent's having voted against us upon the second
+     division. The question has not been distinctly stated in any of the
+     papers, as far as I have seen. It was a proposal of Fox's, that
+     the restrictions, particularly that of peerage, should continue
+     only for a limited time; by which means, we should have been placed
+     in this sort of situation, that if, at the expiration of that term,
+     the King should be so far recovered, as to afford hopes even of an
+     almost immediate recovery, the Regent would be able, by a sudden
+     creation of Peers, to make it impossible for him to resume his
+     authority.
+
+     Nugent had voted with us upon the first question; but was, I
+     suppose, led away by some part of Fox's speech, which had the
+     effect of carrying over Bankes and about six or seven more of our
+     _conscientious_ friends. I think it right to mention this
+     circumstance to you, though not with any view of suggesting what
+     you may think it right to do. I shall, I own, be much mortified if
+     he should vote against us on Monday; but nothing that you can do
+     will be in time enough to prevent that. I do not feel that I can
+     take any measures on the subject, although I certainly have no
+     doubt what your wishes would have been if you were on the spot.
+
+     I find, from general report, that some of our friends are staggered
+     about the household resolution, which is to be proposed on Monday.
+     It is, therefore, probable, that we shall not carry this by so
+     triumphant a majority as we have the other questions. I think,
+     however, there is little doubt that we shall carry it; and that is
+     the point of real importance.
+
+     I shall be anxious to hear the event of your meeting. You will have
+     observed that, by Lord Sydney's despatch, a latitude is given you
+     of proroguing, in stating the opinion of the King's servants on the
+     different points. I thought, when the despatch was shown to me,
+     that this was a favourable circumstance, as, from your letters, it
+     seemed to me at that time very doubtful whether you would not have
+     adopted that measure; and, in that case, I felt that you would
+     certainly have been glad to have this sort of sanction.
+
+     Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     The Duke of Leinster has, as I suppose you know, written to the
+     Prince of Wales, to offer himself to him. The consequence has been,
+     that Lord Charles Fitzgerald has declared, that he does not
+     consider himself in a situation to be turned over from party to
+     party every half-year; and that he has hoisted an Orange cape. He
+     will, as I understand, not go over to Ireland at the meeting; and I
+     take it for granted, that in case of a dissolution the Duke will
+     not re-elect him.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 19th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Since I wrote my other letter of this date, I have received yours
+     of the 15th, stating your alarm at the lies spread in Ireland about
+     the proceedings of the Committee of the House of Commons. You will,
+     long before this, have received the report itself from me, and by
+     reading it, will have found how much more favourable the account of
+     the King's situation appears from that examination, and how much
+     you are in the wrong to suffer your noble spirit to be cast down by
+     such weak inventions of the enemy; and above all, how monstrous the
+     idea is that Fox is to gain with the public by a transaction which
+     only shows their inveterate malice against the King and Queen, and
+     its utter impotence. Your expressions of duper and duped, you will
+     see are equally inapplicable to our representations of the King's
+     situation, which I think you will still believe to be as authentic
+     and as credible as the lies which Grattan and Forbes retail from
+     the porter's lodge at Carlton or Burlington House. Seriously
+     speaking, I am vexed to see the importance which you attach to all
+     these reports, because I know that it must work and agitate your
+     mind. A whole life would not suffice, on my part, to answer every
+     lie in circulation: but I beg you to believe that although,
+     perhaps, naturally a little sanguine in my temper, yet that if
+     there was any really unfavourable circumstance which arose here, I
+     would not conceal it from you. The King is better ever since that
+     examination; and this I speak on no partial authority, but on the
+     information of Warren himself, who gave yesterday to the person who
+     repeated it to me a much more favourable account.
+
+     I have not time to answer the rest of your letter to-day. Our Bill
+     is not prepared yet, nor can be till the resolutions have been
+     agreed to by both Houses; but it will be short, and nearly in the
+     same words with the resolutions, adding only the oath of office
+     from the Regency Bill of 1765, and a few other particulars.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     I suppose you know that Lord Spencer certainly goes to Ireland.
+
+
+The notion that the Regent would continue Mr. Pitt and his friends in
+office was rapidly dissipated during the progress of these discussions.
+The Household Bill, alluded to in one of Mr. Grenville's letters, gave
+deep offence to His Royal Highness; and from the moment that part of the
+plan was disclosed, there was no longer any disguise about the fact that
+the Prince had not only made up his mind to dismiss the Ministers, but
+that the list of the incoming Administration was actually settled, and
+ready for use. The object of the Household Bill was to confide to the
+Queen the care of the King's person, and the disposition of the royal
+household, which would have the effect of placing at Her Majesty's
+control the patronage of four hundred places; while the Regent was to
+possess no power whatever over any office, reversion, or pension. This
+appeared to the Prince and his allies a monstrous proposition,
+calculated to introduce "weakness, disorder, and insincerity into every
+branch of political business;" to "separate the Court from the State;"
+to "disconnect the authority to command service from the power of
+animating it by reward;" and to impose on the Regent "all the invidious
+duties of the kingly station, without the means of softening them to the
+public by any one act of grace, favour, or benignity."
+
+In these poised and melodious sentences (said to have been written by
+Burke) may be recognized the policy of the master spirit that raised the
+storm which was to overwhelm Ministers. When the moment came, however,
+at which it should have burst--Pitt's motion for the Address--Fox was
+absent. "Fox is gone to Bath," says Mr. Grenville. "Whether he is very
+ill, as some say, or wants to shirk the discussion about Mrs.
+Fitzherbert, as others assert, I know not."
+
+This business of Mrs. Fitzherbert, of which we hear something in these
+letters, was suspended like a sword over the heads of the royal
+Opposition; and whenever it threatened to descend, they endeavoured to
+escape from it by avoiding the discussion, or to avert it by abating
+their violence. The rumour, however, which ascribed Fox's absence on
+this occasion to that cause was certainly unfounded. On the 19th of
+January, he made his motion for limiting the continuance of the
+restrictions; and on the 26th he was ill at Bath, where he remained for
+some weeks in a precarious state of health. His loss was severely felt
+by his party. Ministers were triumphant in both Houses. The incidental
+shocks they experienced from the vibrations of that class of persons
+designated by Mr. Grenville as "_conscientious_ friends," and from the
+defection of the _rats_, had been completely recovered in the final
+majorities of Lords and Commons; and although Fox may not have thought
+it prudent on some occasions to enhance the inevitable defeat of the
+Prince's followers by assisting at their discomfiture, it is unlikely
+that even the dread of a debate on Mrs. Fitzherbert would have kept him
+away at this critical juncture.
+
+While these discussions were going on, always ending in fluctuating
+majorities for Pitt, the Prince of Wales and his brother,
+notwithstanding the dissipation in which they indulged, were
+indefatigable in their efforts to cultivate popularity. Thus writes Lord
+Bulkeley:
+
+     The Princes go on in their usual style, both keeping open houses,
+     and employing every means in their power to gain proselytes,
+     attending the Beefsteak Clubs, Freemason meetings, &c., and will
+     probably very soon attend the parochial meetings of Lord John
+     Townshend's Committee in Westminster. Notwithstanding all this, the
+     Parliament still continues steadily to Mr. Pitt, which, considering
+     the looseness of morals and of the times, does the members great
+     credit. * * * The Duke of York never misses a night at Brookes's,
+     where the hawks pluck his feathers unmercifully, and have reduced
+     him to the vowels I. O. U. The Prince likewise attends very often,
+     and has taken kindly to play.
+
+General Cuninghame appears to have disappointed the expectations of his
+friends at this period, and, although present in the House on the 19th,
+did not vote. It was the next thing to ratting, and seems to have been
+regarded in that light by Lord Bulkeley.
+
+     General Cuninghame has been blowing hot and cold in his language
+     here, but has not voted, not even last night, when he appeared for
+     the first time in the House. I have had a letter from the Duke of
+     Dorset, complaining of his conduct in not resigning his seat, _as
+     his conscience troubled him_.
+
+No man had so keen a scent for _rats_ as Lord Bulkeley, and he was
+generally in advance of his party in detecting them.
+
+Thurlow and Loughborough were both ill at this time ("which," says Sir
+William Young, with a touch of sarcastic humour, "will much shorten the
+progress of the Regency Bill in the Lords"); and on the 2nd of February,
+when Mr. Grenville, in his capacity of Speaker, attended at the bar of
+the House of Peers to hear the Commission under the Great Seal read,
+Thurlow was unable to attend, and Lord Bathurst officiated for him. The
+night before, Thurlow declared, as reported by his physician, that "if
+he were ten times worse, he'd go, by G--;" his physician, however,
+overruled him; and the obstruction of his presence being thus
+fortunately removed, it was anticipated that the progress of the Bill
+through the Lords would be so rapid as to place the Regent on the throne
+in a fortnight. Active preparations were, consequently, set on foot for
+settling the new Administration. Amongst the other great situations,
+Ireland was offered to the Duke of Northumberland, who declined it, and
+then to Lord Spencer, who accepted it, with Pelham for his secretary.
+
+Ireland was a considerable item in the calculations of the Opposition.
+"The Prince and the Opposition," writes Lord Bulkeley, "have great hopes
+of a riot in their favour in the Parliament of Ireland." Some such
+result was to be apprehended from the temper of the people, and the
+adverse views they took of the Regency question; although a true sense
+of their own independence ought to have shown them that there were
+national objections against allowing the Prince to indemnify himself by
+the use of the royal prerogatives in Ireland for the restraints which
+were put upon him in England. The object to which, under these difficult
+circumstances, Lord Buckingham and Mr. Grenville directed their
+attention, was to assimilate, as nearly as possible, the Regency Bills
+in both countries, so as to prevent the occurrence of so great an
+anomaly as that of having a Regent whose powers should be strictly
+limited in the one kingdom, and who should, at the same time, be
+invested with unrestricted powers in the other. The Parliament of
+Ireland possessed the unquestionable right of deciding the Regency in
+their own way, leaving the legal validity of the act for subsequent
+consideration; and as it was understood that the Opposition intended to
+move an Address to the Prince, which there was reason to believe they
+would be able to carry, calling upon His Royal Highness to assume the
+Government of Ireland unconditionally during the term of His Majesty's
+illness, the position of Lord Buckingham had become peculiarly
+embarrassing. What course should be taken in the event of such an
+Address being carried? This question is anxiously discussed in numerous
+communications between Lord Buckingham and Mr. Grenville and other
+members of the Government. The predicament was so strange, and involved
+constitutional considerations of such importance, as to give the most
+serious disquietude to the Administration. The first expedient thought
+of was to delay the proceedings of the Irish Parliament, by adjournment,
+or any other available means, till after the Regent had been appointed
+in England, provided the motion for the Address could be successfully
+resisted in the first instance. But as it was almost certain the
+Administration would be beaten on that motion, it remained to be
+determined whether Lord Buckingham, in that event, should refuse to
+transmit the Address to His Royal Highness. Upon the propriety of so
+extreme a measure Mr. Grenville entertained some doubts in the
+beginning. By refusing to transmit the Address, the Lord-Lieutenant
+would clearly put himself in the way as an obstacle to that mode of
+providing for the emergency which the two Houses of Parliament were
+determined to adopt; or, on the other hand, by sending it he would make
+himself, in some degree, a party to a request by which His Royal
+Highness was asked to do an act which he, Lord Buckingham, held His
+Royal Highness to be precluded by law from doing. Such was the dilemma
+as it presented itself to the mind of Mr. Grenville. One escape from it
+was, to forward the Address, accompanied by a representation from Lord
+Buckingham of his own views of its illegality. Another was, to resign.
+
+In the meanwhile, the projects of the Opposition in England were checked
+by the gratifying accounts from Kew. The King was visibly improving, and
+hopes began to be entertained that there might be no necessity for a
+Regency after all. The letters of Mr. Grenville, reverting to the
+opening of the Parliament, trace the progress of these circumstances in
+detail.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 2nd, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Our Parliament has this day been opened by Lord Bathurst, the
+     Chancellor being so ill as to make it absolutely impossible for him
+     to come down. The Commission was first read, and then Lord Bathurst
+     said, in a few words, that the Lords Commissioners being empowered
+     by the said Commission to declare the causes of calling the
+     Parliament, thought it their duty to call the attention of the two
+     Houses to the melancholy circumstance of His Majesty's illness, and
+     to recommend to them to provide for the care of His Majesty's royal
+     person, and the administration of the royal authority during His
+     Majesty's illness, in such manner as the exigency of the case
+     requires.
+
+     I think that my former calculation is rather too sanguine, and that
+     the 18th is the soonest that the Bill can pass, allowing for the
+     debate, of which notice has been given in both Houses, on the
+     Committee for the royal assent. The idea is, that the letters of
+     dismission are ready written, and will be sent that day.
+
+     I cannot yet learn, with certainty, who is to be the Home Secretary
+     of State. It is supposed to lie between Lord Stormont and Lord
+     Rawdon; and there is a report that they are quarrelling about that
+     as about everything else, and that the Duke of York espouses Lord
+     Rawdon's cause very warmly.
+
+     The accounts of Fox are that he is not at all better, and that he
+     has not been able yet to drink the waters. His death would throw
+     them into complete confusion, though the Prince is so far pledged,
+     that even in that case he must attempt to form a new Government.
+
+     We mean (but this _inter nos_ only) to move an Amendment upon the
+     Address, expressive of our satisfaction at the flourishing state in
+     which the public affairs are delivered into His Royal Highness's
+     hands, and of our hope that the same principles and measures will
+     continue to be pursued. I have no doubt of our carrying this, in
+     their teeth.
+
+     Everybody seems to think a dissolution certain. I imagine it cannot
+     by possibility take place till May or June, though some people
+     expect it in March.
+
+     I believe I mentioned to you in my last the great improvement which
+     these last few days have made in the King's situation, and the
+     strong hope which we derive from it.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 7th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I do not know of anything that has happened here since I wrote
+     last, which is worth mentioning to you. Our Bill is to be in the
+     Committee to-day, and Monday, so that I guess we shall not get it
+     into the House of Lords till Wednesday or Thursday. This will put
+     off the passing a little beyond my calculation, and I imagine the
+     Regent will not now be in full possession of his office till about
+     the 19th or 20th. I wait with much impatience to hear what has
+     passed on Thursday in the Irish Parliament. I find that people
+     here, those at least with whom I converse, are indifferent about
+     the success of the measure in Ireland, but are much exasperated at
+     the madness and folly of the people who are endeavouring to stir
+     fresh questions of separation between the two countries.
+
+     The accounts of the King still continue to be very favourable, but
+     I have not heard what degree of hope Willis grounds on this long
+     period of tranquillity. I should think that the breaking out in the
+     neck must be a favourable circumstance, but I begin to think the
+     time long if he still continues without real amendment of the
+     complaint itself. This, however, arises more from one's natural
+     impatience than from any reasonable ground which there is to think
+     worse of the case from this circumstance.
+
+     One hears of nothing now but of the intended arrangements. Among
+     these, the military is not the least curious part. His Royal
+     Highness the Duke of York is to be Commander-in-chief; Fitzpatrick,
+     Secretary at War; and there are to be four Field-Marshals;
+     consisting of the Regent himself, of the Dukes of York and
+     Gloucester, and General Conway. These Field-Marshals--of whom three
+     never saw a shot fired, and the fourth of whom has not served for
+     six-and-twenty years, except in the very peaceful situation of
+     Commander-in-chief in England for a few months at the end of the
+     war--make a pretty curious promotion. Faucitt is to continue,
+     notwithstanding a positive promise of the Duke of Portland's to
+     General Vaughan, for the sake of securing his vote and his
+     brother's. They are to make all the Colonels Major-Generals, down
+     to Lord Rawdon. The list of the Prince's aides-de-camp you will
+     have seen in the papers.
+
+     Lord Spencer is declared for Ireland.
+
+     The accounts from Bath say that Fox is better, and will recover.
+
+     The town and neighbourhood of Buckingham have voted an unanimous
+     Address to Pitt, without any of us knowing a word about it. It is
+     signed by near two hundred persons, as Jemmy tells me, for I have
+     not seen it.
+
+     I am living in hourly fear of having a meeting called in the
+     county, which would be a troublesome and useless thing, though, I
+     understand, the sense of the yeomanry is entirely with us. I hear
+     nothing of their intentions in case of a dissolution, but much
+     doubt, from what I hear, whether they will think of doing more than
+     ousting Aubrey, which they may do very peaceably; for by what I
+     hear, he would not have ten votes.
+
+     I have, at length, decided not to think of the Bolton Street house,
+     at least for the present year, as the repairs necessary to make it
+     habitable amount to so large a sum. Perhaps, if I was to be
+     re-elected after a dissolution it might be worth my while; but that
+     is, as you will easily suppose, a very doubtful contingency. Is it
+     not a singular thing that it should be doubtful at all, and that
+     there should be any chance of beating them in the new Parliament on
+     such a question as that?
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     I open this letter again, to let you know that I have just received
+     an account of Sir Thomas Halifax's death, which happened this
+     morning. This circumstance is not a little perplexing to me,
+     especially in Bernard's absence. I have sent an express to Chaplin
+     to desire him to come to town to-morrow, and I shall then hear what
+     he says. The thing to be wished is, that we could secure Bernard's
+     election, now and hereafter, without much increase of expense; but
+     on that whole subject I am very much at sea, and there cannot be
+     time to hear from you and him upon it. Perhaps Chaplin may think it
+     better that we should now propose some other person, who might be
+     supported by Lord Chesterfield's interest, and not appear so
+     decidedly connected with us as Bernard is. We had a scheme for a
+     candidate of that sort at the general election, and Lord C. was
+     inclined to give into it. At all events, I think it is absolutely
+     necessary that Bernard should come over instantly, as his presence
+     is equally necessary, either as a candidate or in order to get a
+     repetition of the promises which this intervening election might
+     otherwise be construed to annul.
+
+     I have heard, since I wrote the preceding part of this letter, that
+     the Chancellor has been at Pitt's to-day, with an account that he
+     had seen Warren this morning, who had spoken to him in a very
+     favourable manner of the King's present state, and had even said
+     that he thought the amendment so material, that he had felt it his
+     duty, immediately on coming to town, to wait upon His Royal
+     Highness with the account. So there is a little bane for your rats.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 14th, 1739.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Although I have nothing else to write to you, yet I could not
+     refuse myself the pleasure of letting you know that I have been at
+     Kew to-day with Pitt, and that the account which he received from
+     Willis is such as to confirm and strengthen all our hopes. The
+     public account is, as you will see, that the King continues in a
+     state of gradual amendment; and every circumstance which we can
+     learn, affords us room to entertain the most sanguine hopes. What
+     has already passed in the public, on the subject of Willis, and the
+     violent attacks of Opposition against him, have made him more
+     cautious and reserved in what he says, and he particularly desires
+     that his name may not be quoted. But I could not find in my heart
+     to conceal from you the favourable manner in which he speaks of
+     the present situation.
+
+     His account is confirmed by that of the other physicians, who all
+     speak the same language. Sir G. Baker told him to-day, that if it
+     was the case of a common patient whom he was attending, he should
+     not think it necessary to give him any more medicines. The most
+     favourable circumstance of all is, the great abatement of the
+     pulse, which, till now, has always been much too high.
+
+     You will easily imagine how much speculation all this makes, and a
+     more curious scene, I think, I never saw. The prevailing opinion
+     is, that we are not to be turned out. There is a report, which is
+     very confidently circulated (but I do not vouch for the truth of
+     it), that the Duke of Portland has positively told His Royal
+     Highness that, under these circumstances, it is impossible for him
+     to take any share in a new arrangement. It is also said that they
+     have quarrelled about the Prince's debts, but these are points of
+     which I know nothing but from report.
+
+     The account which Lord Chesterfield had yesterday from his friends
+     at Aylesbury tallies with Chaplin's, as to the possibility of
+     Bernard's success, though it is not quite so sanguine as to
+     numbers. If he succeeds at all, this last point may be no
+     misfortune to him, as it will diminish the claims upon him.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+The Irish Parliament had met in the interim, and were debating with
+extraordinary vigour and asperity the Address by which the Prince of
+Wales, before he had been appointed Regent in England, was to be invited
+to assume at once the functions and privileges of the Crown in Ireland.
+Many of the usual supporters of the Government, including even some
+persons in high employments, had joined the ranks of the Opposition; and
+Lord Buckingham in his letters to Lord Sydney declares that his powers
+had been annihilated by that lapse of the sovereign authority which led
+to this result, and that it would be no longer proper for him to
+interfere any further, except only in reference to the "usual business
+of the kingdom." Acting on the pressure of these circumstances, he felt
+it due to his own credit, and to the service in which he was engaged, to
+tender his resignation, as appears by the following letter from Mr.
+Grenville:
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 13th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     We have no news here, except of the favourable accounts of the
+     King's situation, which are every hour more and more confirmed. All
+     our present anxiety is, to keep down the too sanguine expectations
+     of our friends, in order to prevent their being too much damped by
+     any check, which Willis considers as an event by no means unlikely,
+     and not such as in any degree to diminish his confidence in the
+     King's recovery. From the general turn of people's conversation
+     here, it seems by no means certain that the Prince will take any
+     step for dismissing the present Government, if the King continues
+     to mend. It would, indeed, be a measure so grossly indecent to turn
+     out the King's servants at the eve of his recovery, that it would
+     be too strong even for those counsels by which His Royal Highness
+     has hitherto been actuated. But there is another consideration
+     which will possibly have still more weight, namely, that the
+     acceptance of office under such circumstances would put his friends
+     to considerable inconvenience and expense, such as to be by no
+     means worth incurring, if they are to hold them for so very short
+     a period as the King's present situation appears to indicate. This
+     mode of reasoning is of itself sufficiently obvious, and I
+     understand that the Prince has held a language which corresponds
+     with it, since so great an alteration has taken place.
+
+     Under these circumstances, you must see that the letter which you
+     sent me is clearly inapplicable to the present situation. If,
+     contrary to our present expectation, the Prince should dismiss us
+     all immediately, I will lose no time in sending that letter; but if
+     not, it seems to be the wish of all your friends that you should
+     remain where you are for some little time, in order that you may
+     not have the appearance of being driven away either by the event
+     which has happened, or by the violence of the abuse thrown out
+     against you. I see and acknowledge the difficulties of such a
+     situation, and lament that you should in any case be subject to
+     them, but you must, on the other hand, consider that these
+     difficulties do not of themselves, unaccompanied by other
+     circumstances, afford a reason for withdrawing yourself from them.
+     I am far from being desirous, for many, very many reasons, that
+     your stay should be prolonged to the usual period of a
+     Lord-Lieutenant's reign; but I cannot help most earnestly wishing
+     that you could, in some mode or other, struggle through the present
+     session, in order to cover your retreat, which will otherwise by
+     your enemies be represented as a flight.
+
+     You see that all this refers to an event which may possibly not
+     happen; but I felt it indispensably due to you that I should beg
+     you to consider this case very seriously, and that with a view not
+     to present difficulties only, but taking into the account your
+     future situation. I have told you what I believe is the unanimous
+     wish of your friends on such lights as we possess here. It is
+     possible that circumstances with which we are unacquainted might
+     alter our opinion, but they must be very strong before they could
+     produce that effect.
+
+     I know no other point which is worth writing to you about:
+     certainly none which is worth your bestowing a moment, thought
+     upon, in comparison with that which I have mentioned. I enclose my
+     last account from Aylesbury. I need not say how much I feel for the
+     unpleasant circumstances of your present situation. But I know that
+     you have the best resource against them, in the sense of your own
+     conduct, and in the consciousness of the sincere and invariable
+     affection of those whose friendship you value.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+Two days afterwards, the report of the King's health was so encouraging
+that his recovery was considered by the Cabinet as little less than
+absolutely certain. Under these circumstances, it became a matter of
+speculation whether the Prince would dismiss the Ministers, or, if he
+did not, whether he would treat them in such a manner as to make it
+impossible for them to stay in office. In any case, whether they were
+dismissed or driven to resign, Mr. Grenville judged it prudent to
+withhold Lord Buckingham's letter of resignation, till the solution,
+either way, should have been ascertained. The conflicting difficulties
+of the situation, looking at it from all sides, are ably stated in a
+letter of the 15th of February.
+
+     You cannot come away, without appearing to desert your trust, while
+     the King's servants here abide by theirs; nor without giving the
+     Regent an opportunity to object to the nomination of any person who
+     may be proposed to him by Pitt to succeed you. You cannot remain
+     without the means of carrying on some appearance, at least, of
+     government in the House of Commons. You cannot employ those who
+     have now deserted you; nor can we expect that the Prince will
+     allow you to dismiss those whom he considers as having stood by
+     him. On the whole, I cannot imagine a more puzzling or distressing
+     case.
+
+Nothing short of the implicit confidence and cordial support of the
+Ministers, seconded by the highest courage and firmness on his own part,
+could have enabled Lord Buckingham to sustain his authority in this
+trying emergency. That he possessed the confidence and support of
+Government to the fullest extent, is attested by the following letter
+from Mr. Pitt; and that he displayed the qualities of resolution and
+self-reliance demanded by the occasion, is sufficiently shown in the
+sequel.
+
+
+MR. PITT TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     (Private.) Downing Street, Feb. 15th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The account received this morning of the step which the Irish House
+     of Commons have taken, has not surprised me; as it seemed before
+     evident that the torrent was too strong to be stemmed by any
+     exertion. Those who at the moment felt it as a triumph, perhaps
+     already begin to repent of it, and will probably have more and more
+     reason to do so every day. It will be abundant satisfaction to you
+     and your friends that you have done everything which depended on
+     you; and in the midst of so much profligacy, that you have
+     experienced such a support as that of Fitzgibbon and a few others,
+     which is in the highest degree honourable and manly.
+
+     I am fully aware how delicate your ground has been in all the
+     progress of the business, of which we have hitherto learnt the
+     result; and that it is not less so in what remained relative to the
+     transmission of this strange Address. Whatever you may have
+     decided on the spot will, I dare say, under all the circumstances,
+     have been right; and in either of the alternatives, you will not
+     want here the most cordial and decided support, whenever the
+     measure comes into discussion. All that I am now writing is, I
+     hope, superfluous; but I could not let the messenger go, without
+     expressing in part the sentiments for which I trust you would at
+     any rate have given me credit.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Believe me, my dear Lord,
+     Sincerely and affectionately yours,
+     W. PITT.
+
+
+Lord Buckingham, acting on the discretion thus confided to him, resolved
+to decline accepting or transmitting the Address. This determination,
+which threw the whole responsibility of the measure upon those with whom
+it originated, afforded the highest satisfaction in England. Letters
+from Lord Mornington, Lord Sydney, and others, abound in admiration of
+the firmness of Lord Buckingham's conduct.
+
+As had been anticipated, the Address was voted in both Houses of
+Parliament, and laid before Lord Buckingham for transmission to His
+Royal Highness. His Lordship at once declined to receive it; and in a
+short and explicit answer, rested his refusal on the obligations imposed
+upon him by his duty and his oath, adding that he did not feel warranted
+in forwarding to His Royal Highness an Address, purporting to invest him
+with powers to take upon him the government of the realm before he
+should be enabled by law to do so. This answer, which had received the
+full approbation of Mr. Pitt, by whom it had been communicated to the
+Cabinet, was, as might have been expected, deeply resented by the
+Opposition, whose hostility to the Government had been all along
+assuming that shape of combination in which it now appeared without
+disguise.
+
+Frustrated in their desire of transmitting this Address through the
+channel of the Lord-Lieutenant, they passed a resolution appointing
+ambassadors of their own to lay it before His Royal Highness. The
+persons nominated to undertake this extraordinary commission were, the
+Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Charlemont, Mr. Conolly, Mr. O'Neill, Mr.
+Ponsonby, and Mr. Stewart. Nor did they stop here. It was necessary to
+avenge the indignity that had been put upon them; and a resolution,
+declaring the conduct of Lord Buckingham unwarrantable and
+unconstitutional, was accordingly moved by Mr. Grattan, and carried.
+That a resolution still stronger than this, going to the preposterous
+length of declaring the commission of the Lord-Lieutenant actually void
+by the will of the Irish Parliament, was at one moment contemplated,
+would appear from a passage in a letter of Mr. Grenville's, dated the
+18th of February.
+
+     I am a little alarmed by one part of your letter, in which you talk
+     of a resolution of the two Houses being passed for avoiding your
+     commission, and of your resigning the Government in consequence of
+     it to Lords Justices appointed under the Act of last year. I trust,
+     however, that these favourable accounts [of the King's health] will
+     have put this idea out of the question. But if not, for God's sake
+     consider whether there is any one principle in which you deny the
+     right of the two Houses to appoint a Regent by address, which does
+     not apply equally to prove that they cannot either appoint or
+     remove a Lord-Lieutenant by resolution. I am persuaded, the more I
+     think of it, that it is impossible for you to quit the Government
+     in any other manner, than in consequence of a recal from hence, or
+     a resignation grounded on the removal of the Ministers here, or on
+     the Regent's acceptance of the office, under what you consider an
+     illegal appointment.
+
+Mr. Pitt entirely concurred in these views, and it was resolved that
+Lord Buckingham should remain in Ireland till he had overcome the
+confederacy by which the security of the British power in that kingdom
+was so seriously perilled. In a subsequent letter, Mr. Grenville conveys
+the assurances of Mr. Pitt's determination to support Lord Buckingham in
+any measures he should think necessary to the maintenance of the
+supremacy of the Crown, and the vindication of his conduct in these
+transactions. One of the measures which was considered indispensable, as
+marking the sense and upholding the authority of the Government, was the
+immediate dismissal of all those persons who, holding offices and
+emoluments under the Crown, had joined in a factious resistance to the
+policy of Ministers.
+
+     I had, yesterday evening, a long conversation with Pitt on the
+     subject of your letter of the 25th. I have already told you that
+     his ideas agree entirely with yours as to the proposition of your
+     remaining in your present situation long enough to complete your
+     victory over this combination, and to establish a Government
+     founded on a better system. We both consider it as a point of
+     absolute necessity and of indispensable duty, that we should resist
+     this profligate conspiracy against the Government of both kingdoms,
+     by every means, and to the last extremity; and we agree in thinking
+     that this battle ought, both for your own credit and for ours, to
+     be fought by you, preferably to any other person. He desires me to
+     say that there cannot be the least hesitation here in adopting any
+     proposal which you may think it right to make on the subject of
+     dismissals, and that his opinion inclines to the immediate removal
+     of all the people whom you have named, on the ground not of their
+     former votes, but of the combination which is now avowed.
+
+The King was now so much better that he was permitted, at his own
+request, to see the Chancellor, who, however, was prohibited by the
+medical attendants from talking to His Majesty on business. Even this
+prohibition was removed in a few days; and Willis considered him so
+completely recovered that he recommended, as a preliminary experiment to
+test the state of his mind, that the Chancellor should be authorized to
+communicate to His Majesty the public events which had occurred during
+his illness. Of all men that could have been selected for so delicate an
+affair, Thurlow was, perhaps, the worst qualified; but his relation to
+the Crown as Chancellor left Ministers no alternative.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 19th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The account which you will receive by this post of the King, is as
+     favourable as any of the others. This is now the thirteenth day
+     since Warren thought him so much--
+
+     I am agreeably interrupted in my reasoning by the arrival of Pitt,
+     who has seen Willis this morning. His account is, that as far as he
+     is enabled to judge, the King is _now actually well_. That he is
+     not sufficiently acquainted with the sort of effect which the
+     peculiar duties of the King's situation produce upon his mind, to
+     be able to pronounce as decidedly with respect to him as he would
+     in other cases; but that in the instance of any common individual,
+     he should not feel the smallest difficulty in pronouncing the cure
+     complete, and the patient as capable of attending to his own
+     affairs as he had been before his illness. He added that the
+     keeping back from the King the present situation of public business
+     and the measures which have been taken by Parliament, did him now
+     more harm than good, because it created a degree of anxiety and
+     uneasiness in his mind. He therefore recommended that the
+     Chancellor, whom the King has already seen, and whom he has
+     expressed a wish to see again, might go to him, for the purpose of
+     explaining to him all that has passed. You will easily imagine that
+     this will be an anxious trial for us, because if anything can bring
+     back the agitation of his mind, it must be such a recital as
+     Thurlow must have to make. It must, however, be made, and we can do
+     no more than follow the opinion of the physicians, and of Willis in
+     particular, as to the time of making it.
+
+     If the experiment succeeds, you need not be told that we shall not
+     feel ourselves disposed, nor indeed at liberty, to give up the
+     King's authority (he being well) into the hands of His Royal
+     Highness the Prince of Wales; and the less so, because we now
+     _know_ that he and his _friends_, as he calls them, have taken the
+     resolution of making the change at all events, and of taking all
+     the offices of the country into their own hands, even (as they
+     express themselves) if they are to hold them only twelve hours.
+
+     Certainly, if we looked only to the objects of party, and had
+     nothing more important to attend to than the exposing in their true
+     colours this profligate and unfeeling set of men, we could desire
+     no fairer opportunity of doing it than by showing how much their
+     ambition, or revenge, overbear any other sentiment, when it leads
+     them to overturn the whole Government of their country, and to
+     bring on the confusion which must attend a double change of
+     Government in the space of a few weeks, merely in order to set the
+     Prince of Wales and Pitt more at variance; for that can be their
+     only object, unless indeed they look to that of drawing the line of
+     separation between His Royal Highness and his father stronger than
+     it was before.
+
+     We must not, however, be guided by these considerations. It is
+     impossible not to know and feel how much mischief such a change
+     would produce; and it is our duty to prevent it, both for the sake
+     of the King and of the country. Besides which, there are other
+     reasons which make it impossible that the present measure should go
+     on. We cannot suffer a Bill to proceed which asserts the King's
+     incapacity, at a time when his physicians pronounce him to be
+     capable. He cannot pass such a Bill himself, because the mere act
+     of passing it contradicts the averment of the Bill, and shows its
+     provisions to be improper. Still less can the Chancellor, who has
+     had an opportunity of being personally acquainted with the King's
+     actual restoration to perfect health, receive the orders of any
+     other man, or body of men, as to the use of the Great Seal for the
+     purpose of expressing the King's pleasure.
+
+     Our idea, in the present situation, is that the House of Lords
+     should adjourn till Monday, in consequence of the Chancellor's
+     communicating to them that the state of His Majesty's health is
+     such as to make it improper for them to proceed. If nothing
+     unfavourable should have occurred by that day, a motion will then
+     be made for an examination of the physicians; and that would be
+     followed by an Address from both Houses, congratulating the King on
+     his recovery. The King would then pass a Commission for
+     _proroguing_ the Parliament, and another for opening it again, and
+     the business will proceed in the usual form.
+
+     I think that your object will be to use every possible endeavour,
+     by all means in your power, debating every question, dividing upon
+     every question, moving adjournment upon adjournment, and every
+     other mode that can be suggested to gain time. I do not know that
+     we can send you any communication from hence of which _you_ can
+     take formal notice by speech or message, till the examinations of
+     the physicians are sent to you, which they shall be instantly on
+     their being made.
+
+     But your Ministers, in both Houses, may certainly communicate to
+     them what it has been thought right for the Chancellor to say
+     to-day, and may make similar motions for adjournments; unless,
+     indeed, which I hardly imagine, the whole business is concluded in
+     Ireland before you receive the account of this happy event.
+
+     I have great pleasure in thinking upon the disappointment and
+     mortification of those who have deserted you on this occasion. I
+     hope in God that you will make up your mind to the remaining where
+     you now are long enough to make them feel what they have done, and
+     to show that you are not driven away. After this, we shall probably
+     agree in thinking that the future Government of Ireland may be
+     carried on to more advantage in other hands, because it may
+     possibly become of absolute necessity to receive back some of these
+     rats into favour, and that is not an occupation in which I should
+     like to see you engaged.
+
+     Unless I understand from Fremantle that he has any business of
+     yours to do here, I shall desire him to return to you on Tuesday
+     with the examination of the physicians, which will, I hope, be
+     presented on that day, or perhaps I may keep him till the Addresses
+     are carried.
+
+     I make you no congratulations on this great event; but it has made
+     a deep impression in my heart, and so I am sure it will in yours.
+
+     God bless you, and believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+
+     W. W. G.
+
+     Do not say more of the King's situation than Lord Sydney's despatch
+     authorizes, because Willis's name should not be committed after
+     what has passed.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 20th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The House of Commons met to-day and adjourned to Tuesday, without a
+     word being said, except from Viner, who desired to hear from Pitt
+     an account of the King's real situation. No answer was given, and
+     the House adjourned.
+
+     Pitt has seen the Chancellor since his return from Kew to-day. _He,
+     Thurlow_, was with the King to-day for two hours. He did not enter
+     into particulars of what had been done, but only in general terms.
+     He says that he never saw, at any period, the King more composed,
+     collected, or distinct, and that there was not the least trace or
+     appearance of disorder.
+
+     Willis, however, does not allow the cure to be yet quite complete,
+     although he thinks it as nearly so as possible. All the other
+     medical people seem to think him quite well; but Willis's means of
+     information and his experience are so much greater, that we cannot
+     but give entire credit to what he says.
+
+     The Chancellor is to be at Kew again on Sunday. I think our present
+     idea is to adjourn the two Houses again from Tuesday to Thursday or
+     Saturday. If that is the case, I shall send Fremantle back to you,
+     as he tells me he has nothing to detain him here, and it is very
+     desirable that Bernard should be on the spot soon, to make his bow
+     at Aylesbury.
+
+     You must not expect to hear from me on any other subject than the
+     King's recovery; for nobody here writes, talks, thinks or dreams of
+     anything else.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 21st, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have little to add to Lord Sydney's letter. Your refusal to
+     transmit the Address is generally approved here; and I have the
+     pleasure of seeing daily proofs that the Opposition in this country
+     are ashamed of what they and their friends have done in Ireland.
+     Your answer, I think, much improved by the transposition,
+     especially as it avoids the necessity of your submitting any advice
+     to His Royal Highness, which might have been said to be an
+     officious interference, as you are not in any situation which calls
+     upon you to advise _him_.
+
+     You will hear with as much pleasure as I write it, that the King
+     was not at all agitated by his interview with the Chancellor, and
+     was perfectly composed and collected all yesterday evening. The
+     accounts this morning are as good as can be.
+
+     Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Duke of York have
+     been once or twice at Kew, to desire to be admitted _to_ see him,
+     which you will naturally suppose was not permitted. This morning
+     they thought proper to make a formal demand that they should be
+     allowed to see him; or if not, insisting that the physicians should
+     give in writing the reasons for their refusal. In consequence of
+     this, Warren and Gisborne, who were there this morning, sent Willis
+     in to the King, to acquaint him that the two Princes wished to see
+     him. Willis returned with a message to them from the King, thanking
+     them for their inquiries, but wishing to put off the seeing them
+     till he had seen Thurlow again, which he is to do to-morrow. This
+     was reduced to writing, and sent to them; how it will be received I
+     know not, but it has completely defeated the avowed object of the
+     visit, which was to prejudice his mind against the measures which
+     have been taken.
+
+     There seems now every reason to hope that by the 6th or 7th of
+     March he will be sufficiently recovered, or rather will have been
+     recovered a sufficient time to make it proper to take his commands
+     for opening the Parliament. If not, you will see by the despatch
+     the nature of the measures which we have in contemplation; and I
+     can have no doubt of your agreeing, that no principle which we have
+     ever maintained would require or even justify us in putting the
+     Prince of Wales in such a situation as to enable him to overturn
+     the whole system of the King's Government, the King being all the
+     while perfectly well, conscious of what is going forward, and
+     restrained from acting himself only by the apprehension of a
+     relapse.
+
+     You will already have seen and considered what I have said to you
+     on the subject of remaining. You cannot form to yourself an idea
+     how universally it is the wish of all who wish for your own
+     personal credit, and of all who are interested for the credit of
+     the party, that you should remain in Ireland so long as to make it
+     appear that you have thoroughly weathered the storm. Your session
+     need be but very short indeed. The uncertain state of everything
+     since November last, is an ample apology for not being prepared
+     with other business, and for deferring it till another year. But
+     the leaving it in the middle, would convey the impression that all
+     this difficulty had been personal to yourself, and that you were
+     the only obstacle to the success of English Government in Ireland.
+     Directly the reverse of this proposition is, I am convinced, the
+     truth; but it is a truth which it is of the utmost importance to
+     yourself to establish in the general and public opinion in this
+     country. You have great advantages for this, from the general
+     disposition which is prevalent here to feel the strongest
+     indignation at the conduct which your opponents have held. I must
+     own it would be a severe mortification to me to see you forego this
+     opportunity.
+
+     You know the only motive which I can have for pressing this so
+     much, and how much violence I do to my own feelings when I urge
+     anything which may delay my seeing you again.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+Lord Bulkeley, in a letter dated the 24th, describes one of these
+interviews of the Princes with His Majesty. The general impressions
+which prevailed respecting the conduct and dispositions of their Royal
+Highnesses in this crisis, may be gathered from these unreserved
+revelations.
+
+     The accounts from Kew this morning are as good as possible (but I
+     have not got the precise words); notwithstanding, the Princes were
+     with him half an hour yesterday, which is a proof that his
+     miraculous recovery is not to be shaken. Lord Winchelsea, who was
+     at Kew the whole time, told me that the Prince and Duke of York,
+     though appointed at one, did not arrive till half-past three; and
+     that when they came out, they told Colonel Digby that they were
+     delighted with the King's being so well, and remarked that two
+     things in the half-hour's conference which they had with him had
+     struck them very forcibly: that he had observed to them how much
+     better he played at picquet than Mr. Charles Hawkins, and that
+     since he had been ill he had rubbed up all his Latin; and these
+     facts, which are facts, I expect to hear magnified by the Carlton
+     House runners into instances of insanity.
+
+     The Princes entered the King's apartment without any emotion, and
+     came out of it with none visible in their countenances. The Queen
+     only was present, and the conference lasted half an hour. I have
+     not heard as yet; but conclude they were both rioting, ----, and
+     drunk last night at the masquerade, as they were at one a week ago;
+     the truth is, that they are quite desperate, and endeavour to
+     drown their cares, disappointments, and internal chagrin in wine
+     and dissipation.
+
+     The Duke of York plays much at tennis, and has a score with all the
+     blacklegs; and in the public court tells them they shall all be
+     paid as soon as his father can settle with him some Osnaburg money
+     which he owes him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     The Princes give out, that as soon as they have an opportunity of
+     explaining their conduct to the King, they are sure he will approve
+     of it as much as he will reprobate that of Mr. Pitt's.
+
+"It is now almost certain," says Mr. Grenville on the 23rd, "that we
+shall not pass the Regency Bill, and consequently that the Government
+will not be changed." In the same letter he refers to a suggestion of
+Lord Buckingham's, that the answer declining to transmit the Irish
+Address should be laid before His Royal Highness.
+
+     On conversing with Pitt, we were both clearly of opinion, that no
+     communication ought to be made to H.R.H. of what has passed in
+     Ireland, as we have uniformly considered him as not entitled, under
+     the present circumstances, to any communication of any part of the
+     business of Government. Nothing has accordingly been ever laid
+     before him, except the measures which Pitt intended to _bring
+     forward_ respecting him personally; but that principle certainly
+     does not extend to such a communication as had been proposed in
+     your separate letter, which I have for that reason not sent to Lord
+     Sydney.
+
+In so absurd a light, indeed, did the whole proceedings of the Irish
+Parliament appear to Ministers, that Mr. Grenville thought it highly
+improbable that the Irish Ambassadors, as they were called, would
+venture to present the Address in the improved state of the King's
+health, or that His Royal Highness would be advised to accept it. They
+_did_ present it notwithstanding, and their reception is thus reported
+by Mr. Grenville:
+
+     Your Ambassadors are arrived; and presented their Address yesterday
+     evening to the Prince. The answer which, as I understand, he gave
+     them, was, that he was highly gratified with the expressions of
+     _loyalty to the King_, which the Address contained; but that with
+     respect to the rest he could not give them an answer before
+     Tuesday, on which day he desired to see them again. I take it for
+     granted, he will then say, that the King being recovered, all
+     consideration of a Regency is out of the question.
+
+     People in general here do not seem disposed to consider this
+     transaction in any other than a ludicrous manner, and as the most
+     absurd and ridiculous farce. It is impossible to describe how much
+     and how universally their Excellencies are laughed at. One of them
+     came into an assembly last night, and was received with a general
+     roar of laughter. I did not think they would have been so foolish
+     as to present it. The Prince and his friends must have been a good
+     deal embarrassed what answer to give them; and I do not think they
+     have succeeded remarkably well, if the account of the answer, such
+     as I have stated it, is true.
+
+It was on the day after the Princes' interview that Mr. Pitt had his
+first audience of the King since his illness; no Minister, except the
+Chancellor, having hitherto been admitted to see His Majesty, on account
+of the jealousies with which every step they took throughout this
+painful interval was watched and turned to account.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Feb. 24th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Pitt has just shown me a letter which he received last night from
+     the King, written in His Majesty's own hand, couched in the warmest
+     terms, thanking him for his unshaken attachment to his interests,
+     and desiring to see him this morning. He went accordingly to Kew,
+     and was with the King above an hour. He says that there was not the
+     smallest trace or appearance of any disorder; that the King's
+     manner was unusually composed and dignified, but that there was no
+     other difference whatever from what he had been used to see. The
+     King spoke of his disorder as of a thing past, and which had left
+     no other impression on his mind than that of gratitude for his
+     recovery, and a sense of what he owed to those who had stood by
+     him. He spoke of these in such a manner as brought tears into his
+     eyes; but even with that degree of affection of mind, there was not
+     the least appearance of disorder.
+
+     After Pitt had left His Majesty, he conversed with Willis, who told
+     him that he now thought the King quite well; that he could not
+     perceive the least trace remaining of his disorder. Under these
+     circumstances, the more I consider our actual situation and what
+     seems due to the King's feelings, the more I am persuaded of that
+     opinion, to which I think our friends begin in general to lean,
+     that the King's resumption of his authority must be done purely by
+     his own act, and that it is impossible to hear of any examination
+     of physicians.
+
+     The two Princes were at Kew yesterday, and saw the King, in the
+     Queen's apartment. She was present the whole time, a precaution for
+     which, God knows, there was but too much reason. They kept him
+     waiting a considerable time before they arrived; and after they
+     left him, drove immediately to Mrs. Armstead's, in Park Street, in
+     hopes of finding Fox there, to give him an account of what had
+     passed. He not being in town, they amused themselves yesterday
+     evening with spreading about a report that the King was still out
+     of his mind, and in quoting phrases of his to which they gave that
+     turn. It is certainly a decent and becoming thing, that when all
+     the King's physicians, all his attendants, and his two principal
+     Ministers, agree in pronouncing him well, his two sons should deny
+     it. And the reflection that the Prince of Wales was to have had the
+     Government and the Duke of York the command of the army during his
+     illness, makes this representation of his actual state, when coming
+     from them, more peculiarly proper and edifying. I bless God it is
+     yet some time before these _matured and ripened virtues_ will be
+     _visited upon us_ in the form of a Government.
+
+     Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+Acting on the _carte blanche_ which he had asked, and which had been
+freely accorded to him, respecting dismissals, appointments, and
+creations, Lord Buckingham proceeded at once to redress the balance of
+power in Ireland, by dismissing from their offices the persons who had
+recently opposed the conduct of the Government on the Regency question.
+A similar course had been pursued in England on His Majesty's recovery.
+Mr. Grenville mentions specially "the justice which had been executed on
+Lord Lothian" in this way, the King taking his troop from him, and
+sending him to join another in Ireland. "The joke current here," says
+Mr. Grenville, "is, that the Irish Ambassadors came over here to
+Lothian's hotel, and that the King sends Lothian to return the visit."
+In Ireland the disaffection had been more dangerous and extensive, and
+demanded more severe measures.
+
+The moment it was known that the King was recovered, a negotiation was
+opened with the Government through Mr. Fitzgibbon, then
+Attorney-General, by the principal members of the Lords and Commons who
+had supported the Address, tendering their submission, and asking for an
+amnesty. It has been stated in some publications referring to these
+proceedings, that the negotiations were opened by Government; but Lord
+Buckingham's official despatch, dated the 23rd of March, not only shows
+that statement to be erroneous, but establishes the fact that Lord
+Buckingham peremptorily refused to entertain the negotiation until he
+should have received a positive assurance that a certain defensive and
+hostile agreement, into which those gentlemen had entered, was to be
+considered as abandoned. This agreement, or association, was called the
+Round Robin (although not really a round robin, being merely a
+declaration, followed in the usual way by the signatures of the
+subscribers), pledging those who attached their names to it to "stand by
+each other" (to use the phrase by which Mr. Beresford described it) in
+the event of their offices or pensions being taken from them, and to
+oppose any Administration that should resort to such a proceeding.
+
+Finding Lord Buckingham immoveable upon the condition he stipulated for,
+Lords Shannon, Loftus, Clifden, and many others, authorized the
+Attorney-General to declare the association at an end, adding that they
+desired to be represented to His Majesty as anxious to support his
+Government, and to endeavour to remove by their future conduct all
+unfavourable impressions from his mind. In the wise exercise of the
+discretion reposed in him, Lord Buckingham accepted this voluntary
+tender of allegiance, and permitted the gentlemen who had made it to
+retain their offices. The Duke of Leinster, who had been only recently
+appointed to the Rolls, and Mr. Ponsonby, who held the situation of
+Postmaster-General, refusing to give the required undertaking,
+aggravated, in the case of the latter, by a declaration that he would
+not enter into any communication with Lord Buckingham, were at once
+dismissed from their offices. This dismissal was followed by that of a
+few others of less note.
+
+These energetic measures were founded, not only on the dangerous
+resistance these gentlemen had carried to extremity, at a period of
+anxious suspense and universal excitement, against the Government, but
+upon a knowledge of the existence of an organized combination they had
+embarked in with the English Opposition to supersede the authority of
+the Sovereign in the person of the Regent. In order the more effectually
+to accomplish their objects, they had seized upon every act of the
+Administration, and held it up to obloquy. A pension which had been
+granted to Mr. Orde, and the reversion of Lord Clanbrassil's office
+which had been conferred on Mr. Grenville, afforded them a pretext for
+charging the Government with corruption and profligacy. They opened
+their impeachment at the very beginning of the session, in February,
+defeated the motion for adjournment, carried their Address at the
+sacrifice of their own dignity and independence, and were only arrested
+at last in their headlong career by those vigorous measures which broke
+up the combination, and once more gave a legitimate preponderance in the
+Senate to the saving influence of the Administration. The effect of the
+_coup d'etat_--for as such these dismissals may be considered--was
+decisive. The hostile majority was broken down; and when Mr. Grattan,
+still confident in his resources, brought forward his Pension Bill, to
+disable persons who held pensions during pleasure, or offices that had
+been created after a certain time, from sitting in Parliament, he was
+defeated by a majority of 9. This was justly claimed as a conclusive
+victory by a Government that had only just before been denounced in a
+vote of censure in the same assembly by a majority of 32.
+
+There is no doubt that the happy and unexpected recovery of His Majesty
+averted a struggle that might have gone near to dissolve the connection
+of the Executive authority between the two kingdoms; for, had His
+Majesty's illness continued much longer, there is too much reason to
+believe that His Royal Highness would have been advised to accept the
+invitation of the Irish Parliament, by which he would have been created
+Regent of Ireland, with full powers, before an Act of Parliament had
+passed in England under the Great Seal empowering him to assume the
+functions of Sovereignty. The confusion that would have ensued upon such
+a state of affairs, and the disastrous issues to which it would have
+inevitably led, cannot be contemplated, even at this distance of time,
+without an expression of astonishment that men were to be found capable
+of entertaining such a proposition. The heroic endurance of Lord
+Buckingham, upon whom the whole weight of contending against the madness
+in which this scene of folly and violence originated, enabled him,
+happily for the repose of both countries, to live down the dangers and
+the odium which his steadfast discharge of his duties, and his firm
+adherence to the policy of the English Cabinet, had drawn upon him
+during this season of political delirium. His own impressions of the
+scene around him, and the strength of the resolution he brought to bear
+upon it, will be shown in an extract from a hasty note written to Lord
+Bulkeley, in the midst of the clamour of the Parliament, on the 14th of
+March.
+
+     I have not shrunk from my duty in the worst times, and I will not
+     trifle with it in those which look more prosperous. Much must be
+     done to save the British Government from an infamous and daring
+     combination, which might have been yielded to by a more
+     pusillanimous minister; but could only be met by one confident in
+     his character and conduct. Do not think this the language of
+     vanity; the times have been, and still are much too serious for
+     such a boyish passion: I feel that the dearest interests of both
+     kingdoms are at stake, and nothing but firmness can save it. I have
+     been insulted, I may be beat, but I will not be disgraced.
+
+When the victory was finally achieved, he writes again to Lord Bulkeley
+in a strain of justifiable exultation, announcing his complete triumph
+over the Opposition. The letter is dated the 4th May, and the passage
+extracted from it contains an animated picture of the strife through
+which the writer had just passed.
+
+     I told you, two months ago, that my friends would not blush for
+     me--that I might be beaten, but that I would not be disgraced. I
+     write to you now in the moment, and with the transports of the
+     warmest exultation and of honest pride, to tell you, that on
+     Saturday night I closed the session in the House of Commons, having
+     thrown out every measure brought forward by Opposition. They would
+     not divide after their second defeat, where, though our majority
+     was the same, yet, as fewer members voted, it was more in
+     proportion than before; and the illness of Lord Clanbrassil and of
+     Lord Lifford lost us three votes. The House of Lords still sits for
+     a cause which they are hearing, and for some private Bills. The
+     House of Commons adjourned to Friday, and on that day both Houses
+     adjourn to the 25th, when I shall pass the Bills, and shall finally
+     prorogue them.
+
+     In the space then of six weeks, I have secured to the Crown a
+     decided and steady majority, created in the teeth of the Duke of
+     Leinster, Lord Shannon, Lord Granard, Ponsonby, Conolly, O'Neil,
+     united to all the republicanism, the faction, and the discontents
+     of the House of Commons; and having thrown this aristocracy at the
+     feet of the King, I have taught to the British and Irish Government
+     a lesson which ought never to be forgotten; and I have the pride to
+     recollect that the whole of it is fairly to be ascribed to the
+     steady decision with which the storm was met, and to the zeal,
+     vigour, and industry of some of the steadiest friends that ever man
+     was blessed with.
+
+While these anxious events were passing in Ireland, the old passion of
+the King for interfering with military promotions, as if he were
+resolved, as Mr. Grenville remarks, to absorb that branch of patronage,
+involved Lord Buckingham and the Cabinet in another series of protocols
+similar to those which passed concerning Colonel Gwynne's appointment.
+Another lieutenant-colonelcy had fallen vacant, and Lord Buckingham
+desired that it should be bestowed on his nephew, Colonel Nugent, who
+had been disappointed of a similar favour on the former occasion; but
+His Majesty directed that it should be given to Colonel Taylor. Even Mr.
+Grenville, who exercised a philosophical patience in these matters, was
+so hurt at the manner in which Lord Buckingham's wishes were passed
+over, at a time when he was rendering such signal services to the Crown,
+that he could not restrain the expression of his dissatisfaction.
+Writing to Lord Buckingham, he says:
+
+     I feel that I would be unworthy, not only of your confidence and
+     affection, but of the name and character of a gentleman, if I did
+     not warmly partake of your just resentment at this gross and
+     unmerited offence, offered at a moment when your conduct had
+     entitled you to so very different a line of treatment.
+
+Lord Buckingham was again on the point of resigning, and Mr. Grenville
+participated so strongly in his feelings that he indicated his
+determination of following his example. After stating in a subsequent
+letter that he thought he saw in the King's mind "a strong wish to take
+into his own hands this piece of military patronage _whenever it
+falls_," he proceeds to observe upon the consequences.
+
+     The whole transaction gives me the greatest uneasiness, because I
+     am not afraid to say to you, fairly and openly, that the measures
+     to which, I fear, you may ultimately be driven in consequence of it
+     are of a nature which I fear extremely; and _that_, I trust, for
+     better reasons than any consideration of their effect on my views.
+     It is on every account a most critical and embarrassing moment for
+     you; and the sense which I entertain of the injustice of those who
+     have brought you into this situation, does not remove or diminish
+     my apprehensions of the consequences to which it leads. It is no
+     affectation or parade of disinterestedness, but the necessary
+     consequence of the first principles of justice and honour, when I
+     assure you that I am resolved to follow your decision upon it, and
+     that I consider your honour as inseparably connected with my own.
+
+Fortunately, however, this solution of the difficulty was rendered
+unnecessary. A compromise, as usual, afforded a convenient escape to all
+parties, without disappointing any; and by an ingenious re-distribution
+of three or four regiments (devised by His Majesty himself), Taylor was
+provided for elsewhere, and Nugent obtained his lieutenant-colonelcy.
+There was great difficulty, nevertheless, in bringing His Majesty to
+this point. He had made up his mind to give the vacant regiment to
+Taylor, and would hear of no one else. "I am truly sorry to say,"
+observes Mr. Pitt, in the course of the negotiations, "that he seems
+thoroughly determined not to yield, and I am sure no consideration will
+induce him to agree to any other arrangement." Had it depended solely on
+the disposition of the King, the difference would never have been
+adjusted, and Lord Buckingham, stung by these repeated indignities,
+might have thrown up his Government at a conjuncture when his retirement
+must have plunged the country into anarchy. How seriously this step was
+contemplated by him and Mr. Grenville will appear from the following
+correspondence:
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, April 7th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have just received your letter of the 3rd, and though I have
+     nothing new to say to you upon the point of Captain Taylor, he not
+     having yet sent his answer, I cannot help writing a few lines, lest
+     you think the subject is out of my mind. With respect to the
+     promotions of peerage, the fault, if there is any, is mine; because
+     I felt, and still continue to feel, that under the present
+     circumstances, and till this business of Taylor is settled, the
+     other _ought_ to be postponed; nor can I imagine any real
+     inconvenience to arise from it. I am, however, by no means sanguine
+     in my expectations of the event of this business. I have already
+     expressed to you my sense of the King's treatment of you in this
+     instance, and my determination to abide by any measures that you
+     may think it right to take in this situation. I cannot, however, in
+     justice to you or to myself, avoid saying, that I most sincerely
+     wish you to consider well the step which you are about to take; and
+     that not only with a reference to your _present_ situation or to
+     your _immediate_ feelings, but with a view to the interpretation
+     which the public will put upon it, and with a view to any future
+     political object of ours. With respect to the latter, I am
+     persuaded you must see that it is impossible for you to resign the
+     Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland at this time, and on this ground,
+     without making up your mind at the same moment finally to renounce
+     all ideas of our taking any part hereafter as public men in this
+     country. If you will consider what our situation would be, after
+     such a step, with the King, with the Prince, with Pitt's friends,
+     and with Fox, and lastly with the public at large, you will, I am
+     sure, think that the consequence which I state is not overstrained.
+
+     I can, without affectation, assure you, that though I am not
+     indifferent either to the recollection of what we have already
+     done, or to the prospects which are now before us; yet that I could
+     perfectly well make up my mind to a different line of life, and
+     that I am confident I possess sufficient resources within myself to
+     reconcile myself to such a step, provided it were taken for an
+     object which I felt to be _tanti_. And such I certainly do consider
+     the object of marking to you, and to the world, and of discharging,
+     in a manner satisfactory to my own feelings, my gratitude and
+     affectionate attachment to you, in an instance where I entirely
+     agree with you in thinking you ill-treated, at a time when you had
+     deserved best.
+
+     It remains, therefore, for _you_ to consider what step it may be
+     best for you to take under all the present circumstances. Even if
+     your mind should ultimately lean to the idea of resigning, I should
+     certainly strongly press you not to carry this idea into effect
+     till you have closed your session in Ireland; and in this advice,
+     at least, I am certainly disinterested, because my situation would,
+     in the interim, be more disagreeable and embarrassing than it could
+     be under _any_ other circumstances. But I am _sure_ that if you
+     were to quit _immediately_, as you now talk of doing, you never
+     could induce any one to believe that this step was not taken with a
+     view to escape from present difficulties, instead of being intended
+     to mark your sense of personal ill-treatment; and that when the
+     impression of the present moment upon your feelings was over, you
+     never would forgive yourself for having concluded the transactions
+     of this winter by such a termination.
+
+     I have only to add that I am not indifferent, and that I am
+     persuaded you are not, to the public consequences of our conduct.
+     It is one of the circumstances which are necessarily attendant
+     upon a public situation and a public line of life, that a person
+     who is engaged in it cannot act even in those points which most
+     nearly concern himself without producing consequences which are
+     often of great public importance. It will certainly not be a
+     pleasant reflection to me to have materially contributed to the
+     overthrow of that system of public men and public measures which I
+     believe to be of the utmost importance to the welfare and
+     prosperity of my country. On the best reflection which I can give
+     to the subject, weighing what I owe to you and to myself, and what
+     I owe to others, I shall feel myself _justified_, whatever may be
+     the consequences; but certainly my feelings upon them will be such
+     as to prevent my ever again putting myself into a similar
+     situation, even if the circumstances to which I have alluded in the
+     beginning of this letter did not, as they probably will, render
+     such an event absolutely impossible.
+
+     When I speak of contributing to the overthrow of the present system
+     you certainly understand me to refer to the probable consequences
+     of our withdrawing ourselves from it, and not to any idea of your
+     being led, which I am persuaded is impossible, to contribute
+     actively to the triumph of a most wicked and profligate faction. I
+     should feel that I gave you just cause of offence, if I thought it
+     necessary to say, that this is a point to which no consideration
+     could lead me.
+
+     You will excuse me if I have said so much in this letter upon my
+     own subject, in treating of a point which relates to your conduct
+     and to your situation. I feel that the two subjects are too
+     intimately connected for me to speak of them separately, and I felt
+     that you could not but be desirous, in the moment of deciding a
+     step so interesting to us both, that I should open my heart to you
+     in as free and unrestrained a manner as I have now done.
+
+     One thing more I must recommend to your serious consideration.
+     Nothing is clearer to my mind than the propriety of the step you
+     have taken in dismissing Ponsonby, of the intimation which you have
+     given to Lord Shannon of the necessary consequences of his present
+     conduct, and of the measures you have adopted for securing to
+     yourself efficient assistance by the removal of Fitzherbert, and by
+     the nomination of Hobart on the persuasion which you entertain of
+     his ability to serve you. But I must entreat you to reflect that
+     this line of conduct is only to be justified on the supposition of
+     your being to remain in Ireland; while, on the other hand,
+     entertaining as you now do the idea of quitting your situation, it
+     is surely a duty which you owe to yourself, as well as to the
+     public, to leave to your successor his decision as free and open as
+     your own is now, on points which may be of such infinite importance
+     to his Government. To have failed in this instance would, I am
+     sure, much add to the many grounds of regret which will press
+     themselves upon your mind.
+
+     I will say no more on all these points. I have now written you a
+     dissertation, instead of a few lines, as I had intended, but my
+     anxiety on the subject has drawn me on. The groundwork of all this
+     difficulty may, after all, be removed by Taylor's refusal, or by
+     Pitt's exertions; but I again repeat that I am not sanguine on that
+     head, and it is certainly more reasonable that we should prepare
+     our minds for a contrary event.
+
+     Believe me ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     Why should you feel yourself offended because particular marks of
+     favour have been shown to Burrard and Lenox, two most steady, warm,
+     and deserving friends of ours at all times, and in all
+     circumstances?
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     April 10th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have just received your letter of the 7th, and feel myself bound
+     to answer the question which you put to me as directly and as
+     explicitly as I am able to do. The business remains hitherto in the
+     same situation as when I wrote last to you. A further answer has
+     been received from Major Taylor, in which he still persists in his
+     former refusal; but by some confusion about dates, it is not
+     perfectly clear whether this is his final answer to the
+     notification which had been made to him, that he must renounce his
+     further expectations from the King if he refuses this. We were
+     desirous to delay any communication with the King upon the subject,
+     till it was perfectly clear that the plea of his engagement to
+     Taylor was removed by the refusal of the latter, because we thought
+     that, under those circumstances, the representation of what was due
+     to you would come with greater force. I am, however, obliged to say
+     that there is a further difficulty, even supposing this of Taylor
+     to be removed by his refusal. The King has destined _his_ Majority
+     of Dragoons to Garth, one of his equerries, and has had the folly
+     and precipitation to communicate this intention to Garth. Under
+     these circumstances, it appears doubtful whether even a final
+     refusal from Taylor would remove the plea of actual engagement, and
+     whether Nugent's appointment would not still meet with the same
+     difficulty on account of its not opening a Majority of Dragoons for
+     Garth. You will observe that I speak only from a general idea of
+     the King's feelings and habits of thinking and acting on these
+     subjects, when I state these probable difficulties, but that I have
+     no further information as to his disposition in this particular
+     instance, than I had when I wrote to you last.
+
+     This will, however, now be brought in some measure to a point, as
+     Pitt and myself have agreed that there should be no further delay;
+     but that he should now write to the King to state Taylor's last
+     answer of refusal, and to express his hope, that in consequence of
+     this, His Majesty will, under all the circumstances of the case, be
+     disposed to comply with your recommendation of Colonel Nugent.
+
+     It has occurred to us, that even if the King should obstinately
+     persist in a refusal on this occasion, there is another solution
+     which you might possibly deem satisfactory. You will recollect that
+     the business of Colonel Gwynne closed last year, by the King's
+     consenting that Nugent should have the office of Adjutant-General,
+     provided any arrangement could be made by you for Faucitt. Neither
+     Pitt nor myself ever knew from you on what point your negotiation
+     with Faucitt broke off. But if that could be renewed, Pitt
+     authorizes me to say that he could find the means of opening a ten
+     Sh. Government for him in England immediately, and that he has no
+     doubt of the King's consent to the arrangement, even preceding the
+     signing Taylor's commission.
+
+     You, however, will best know how far this mode of arranging the
+     business would be satisfactory to you, and what probability there
+     would be of bringing it to bear, with the assistance which I state.
+     If you feel this to be impossible, there will then remain nothing
+     but to press the King on the other point as far as possible, and at
+     last, if it is found absolutely necessary, to give him to
+     understand that his option must be made between his Major Taylor
+     and his Major Garth on the one hand, and his Lord-Lieutenant of
+     Ireland on the other. You do justice to the manner in which I have
+     felt and written to you on this occasion, and it is extremely
+     satisfactory to me to know that you are not insensible to the
+     warmth and sincerity of my affection and gratitude towards you. Let
+     me therefore, upon that ground, presume so far only as to beg that
+     you will not send your resignation, or notify formally (or indeed
+     in any other manner) your intention so to do, till you learn from
+     me that I am convinced all other steps will be ineffectual. I
+     persuade myself that this is a trust which you will not believe me
+     capable of abusing, however unwilling I must be, on so many
+     accounts, to see you driven to the necessity of taking this last
+     and decisive step.
+
+     I mentioned also to you, in my last letter, the reasons which I
+     feel for wishing that, in all events, the actual execution of this
+     measure may be delayed till the conclusion of the session. I press
+     this for reasons personal to you, and which I feel very strongly,
+     although the interval will unquestionably be very embarrassing to
+     you, and perhaps even more distressing to myself. But I am desirous
+     of knowing how far you feel the force of those reasons, and what
+     your determination would be in that case, because I think it might
+     make some difference in the manner of stating your intention to the
+     King, if this should be rendered necessary.
+
+     I feel it needless to repeat to you what I have already said of my
+     intentions respecting my own conduct; and I hope you do me the
+     justice to believe, that however deeply I am involved in the result
+     of this business, my first anxiety is that it may terminate in a
+     manner consistent with your honour, character, and happiness.
+
+     Believe me, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+     MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Holwood, April 12th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     As I understand that Mr. Pitt writes to you by this messenger, in
+     order to state to you the nature of the King's answer to his
+     letter, and to explain the arrangement which is proposed to you as
+     a solution of this unpleasant business, I feel that I can have
+     nothing to add. I have already mentioned to you, in the most full
+     and unreserved manner, the whole of my feelings on this occasion,
+     and I see nothing in the present state of it which can at all vary
+     them. I still continue very desirous that this business may not
+     proceed to those extremities which you have mentioned, because I
+     think such a step, independent of its public consequences, would
+     close our political prospects in this country, and would, besides,
+     be liable to a construction which we should most wish to avoid. But
+     I also continue in the full determination to abide by your decision
+     upon it, and that your conduct shall regulate mine; because I feel
+     this as no less due to myself than to you, on an occasion in which
+     I certainly think the King has been much wanting to you.
+
+     If I were to write volumes to you, I could only enlarge upon these
+     points, on which I have already fully written to you, and with the
+     same freedom and sincerity as if I were thinking aloud. I always
+     feel some embarrassment and difficulty in writing upon points in
+     which I am myself so much interested; although I have not, on this
+     occasion, suffered that consideration to weigh with me, so as
+     either to say what I should not otherwise have said, or to leave
+     unsaid anything which I felt I ought to say. I have now, therefore,
+     only to conclude, with my sincere assurances of the uniform and
+     warm affection with which I am,
+
+     My dear brother, most truly yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, April 16th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I came to town yesterday with Mr. Pitt, and found your letter of
+     the 11th, and this morning I received yours of the 12th. I was much
+     mortified that I was not able to write to you yesterday evening,
+     as I had intended to do, first by the post, and afterwards by a
+     messenger. But different circumstances arose, which made it
+     impossible. I could have wished to have answered your letter at
+     length, in order to state to you everything that occurs to me upon
+     it; but I cannot now do this without unnecessarily delaying the
+     messenger, and I wish to lose no time in letting you know the exact
+     state of the business, as it now stands. Taylor has accepted, which
+     considerably increases the difficulty of making a point with the
+     King to undo what he has done for him. But another solution has now
+     offered itself, on which I cannot help feeling rather sanguine. We
+     have just heard of the death of General Mackay: Pitt is now writing
+     to the King, to represent the propriety of making any arrangement,
+     which this event may give rise to, subservient to the purpose of
+     removing this difficulty, and to desire to see the King, in order
+     to converse with him upon that point. The King will probably
+     appoint to-morrow; but as Pitt may not be back till late, I thought
+     it better to send off this messenger, as my letter is now a day
+     later than I meant to have written, and I can easily judge of your
+     impatience to hear from me on this subject.
+
+     Lodge Morres will be instantly dismissed, with such a letter as you
+     mention.
+
+     You shall hear from me again to-morrow, or Saturday, at latest. I
+     hope you have not taken any step on the receipt of our letters of
+     Sunday; but if any letter of formal resignation comes from you, I
+     should feel myself justified, under these circumstances, to stop
+     it.
+
+     In answer to your questions about Pitt, I beg you to believe that,
+     however warm and sincere my friendship is for him, yet that it
+     would not stand one moment in the way, if I thought him acting
+     dishonourably or unfairly by you. I may, to-morrow, have time to
+     write more at large on that subject; but, in the meantime, let me
+     assure you that I am the grossest dupe in the world if that is the
+     case. I am impatient to hear the result of Monday.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, April 17th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have the greatest pleasure in being able to acquaint you that
+     this unpleasant business of the lieutenant-colonelcy is now in a
+     way of being settled, so as, I hope, may be perfectly satisfactory
+     to you. I have just seen Mr. Pitt, and received from him the
+     agreeable information that he found the King entirely disposed to
+     do whatever might conduce to this object, and even _desirous_ of
+     explaining that the former difficulties had arisen only from his
+     actual engagements. It is not yet precisely settled in what mode
+     this should be done; because, Mr. Pitt finding the King in so
+     favourable a disposition on the subject, thought it better, on
+     every account, to avoid pressing him further than appeared
+     necessary. Two modes were, however, suggested in conversation
+     between them: the one, that General Ainslie should have Mackay's
+     regiment, by which means his lieutenant-colonelcy should be given
+     to Taylor, and so Nugent be appointed to Gwynne's; the other, that
+     the regiment should be given to Sir James Stewart Denham, which
+     would vacate his lieutenant-colonelcy for Nugent. A third was also
+     mentioned by the King, namely, the inducing Taylor, by the offer of
+     the Lieutenant-Governorship of Cowes, to exchange with Nugent. Any
+     one of these would, I flatter myself, answer your purpose; because
+     they would show the King's disposition to attend to your
+     recommendation, and that having been hampered by an actual
+     engagement to Taylor, he is now ready to accommodate his own
+     patronage in such a way as may, at the same time, provide for
+     Nugent. But what I think even better than all this, is the account
+     which Pitt gave me of the King's apparent manner of feeling on this
+     subject. I had, I confess, very much apprehended that, however
+     necessary it might be, in order to keep up your situation and
+     apparent weight with the King, to insist upon some such solution
+     for this business, yet that the doing this would leave a lasting
+     and most unfavourable impression on his mind, which might lead to a
+     renewal of this sort of contest on some future occasion. This
+     appears to be by no means the case, at present; and I am sure that
+     you will agree with me in thinking that although it might, in some
+     points of view, have been desirable that the whole arrangement
+     could have been concluded to-day, so as to put an end to all
+     appearance of suspense, yet that it would have been unwise, in this
+     state of things, to have pressed the King to this sort of
+     peremptory decision as to the mode of doing it, which he seemed
+     desirous of having an opportunity of revolving in his own mind.
+
+     It will now probably not be very long before whatever official
+     business you will have in this country, will pass through a medium
+     rather better disposed, and more attentive to you, than that of
+     your present correspondent; and if I do not grossly flatter myself,
+     a little attention on my part, to soothe the King's mind--which has
+     evidently been irritated on these points--will make all this sort
+     of business go smoothly, and to your satisfaction.
+
+     I am sorry not to have complied with your wish about the
+     promotions; but, on very mature reflection, I was persuaded that it
+     was risking too much, with regard to the principal and important
+     point, to mix with it any other business on which it was always
+     possible that some difficulty might arise in the King's mind. In
+     the course of the next week, I hope to be able to write to you on
+     that subject; but I trust you will not be unwilling to rely a
+     little on me with regard to the exact time, which I assure you I
+     will not delay, except I think I see very material reasons for it.
+     You must also make some allowance for the very great additional
+     delay which is created in all this sort of business, by the King's
+     residing wholly at Windsor, which gives Pitt fewer opportunities of
+     seeing him, and for a shorter time.
+
+     I mentioned to you, in my last letter, that Lodge Morres would be
+     immediately removed. I have desired that the letter notifying this,
+     may contain some such expressions as you mention; but I cannot
+     answer for this, because I cannot, as things now stand, interfere
+     in the wording of those letters, except by a very circuitous mode.
+
+     I also answered your question about Pitt, but I did it shortly; nor
+     indeed could any expressions that I could have used do justice to
+     the warm and anxious feeling which he has shown on this occasion. I
+     am inclined to impute this termination of the business, so much
+     more favourable than I had expected, almost entirely to his
+     judgment and address.
+
+     I have had the pleasure this morning of seeing Lady B. and your
+     children. You will have heard that she has had a feverish cold, but
+     I hope it has now quite left her. Your children are all well.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother. I cannot express to you what a weight is
+     removed from my mind by the success of Pitt's journey.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+The promotions and creations glanced at in these letters were
+recommended by Lord Buckingham as proper marks of His Majesty's sense of
+the services rendered to the Government during the late crisis in
+Ireland by some influential men in both Houses of Parliament. As those
+who had abandoned the Administration were dismissed, it was no less an
+act of justice that those who had supported it should receive some
+testimony of the King's approbation, and the Lord-Lieutenant's _carte
+blanche_ embraced this dispensing power on both sides. Some alarm was
+felt by the Cabinet at the list of promotions and creations (nineteen in
+number) forwarded on this occasion for the royal sanction. The increase
+of the peerage was, perhaps, the only point on which Mr. Pitt's
+Government was vulnerable, for, although he exercised the greatest
+caution in his selections, and introduced them by degrees, instead of
+making them in batches, as the peculiar circumstances of Ireland at this
+moment demanded, it was felt to be the objection which, of all others,
+operated most injuriously against the character and popularity of his
+Administration. His Majesty's engagements, too, enhanced the
+embarrassment. Whenever any proposition for honours or appointments,
+naval, military, or civil, was submitted to him, it was certain to be
+obstructed by some obligation he had previously laid himself under by
+promise to different persons. In the present instance a difficulty of
+this kind interposed. Two peerages were already engaged in advance, and
+the arrangement of the Irish list depended entirely on the nature of the
+pledges to which His Majesty had committed himself in these cases. Mr.
+Grenville writes that Mr. Pitt was to see His Majesty on the subject in
+two or three days. "He will then endeavour to find out whether the
+King's engagements were so positive and absolute as to Lords A. and C.
+as to lay him under the absolute necessity of conferring this honour on
+four persons in order to be able to reward the services of two." It may
+be presumed that these engagements were not absolute, or, at all
+events, that they were not suffered to interfere with Lord Buckingham's
+list, as all the persons he named, with the exception of two or three,
+who were excluded on special grounds, received the honours to which he
+recommended them.
+
+Amongst these was Mr. Fitzgibbon, Poor old Lord Lifford, who had kept
+his seat, and exerted himself indefatigably to the last, died on the
+28th of April. The labours of that terrible session proved too much for
+his declining powers, and he finally sank under them. The opportunity to
+which Mr. Fitzgibbon had been so long looking forward was now thrown
+open to him. Lord Buckingham pressed his claims earnestly on the
+Government, recounting the signal obligations he had laid them under on
+the Regency question, tracing his career, and depicting his character in
+terms of the highest eulogy. The appointment rested with Thurlow, whose
+humours required to be waited upon, and who was suspected, moreover, to
+be unfavourable to Fitzgibbon. Much delay and suspense consequently
+ensued, and it was not until June that the patent was made out.
+Fitzgibbon was immediately created a Baron. From that point his
+promotion in the peerage advanced rapidly. In 1793, he was created
+Viscount Fitzgibbon; and in 1795, Earl of Clare.
+
+The King's recovery now enabled Ministers to resume those measures which
+the late unhappy suspension of public affairs had so grievously
+interrupted. One of the first subjects that called for consideration was
+the abolition of the Slave Trade. Mr. Wilberforce had succeeded in
+raising such an excitement throughout the country about his forthcoming
+motion, that the West India interest took alarm, and desired to know
+whether it was the intention of Government to adopt the measure. But Mr.
+Pitt, who had not yet pledged the Administration to any step beyond that
+of inquiry, maintained a reserve on this point, which the enthusiasm of
+Mr. Wilberforce may be said to have forced upon him. A letter from Sir
+William Young touches on this matter; and alludes, also, to some
+unseemly conduct on the part of the Princes, which is spoken of in a
+similar spirit of deprecation in other letters. The circumstances that
+rendered their proceedings on this occasion the more conspicuous and
+objectionable were, that the ball at White's Club, referred to, was
+given in honour of His Majesty's birthday, and happy restoration; and
+that the Queen had signified her intention of being present.
+
+
+SIR WILLIAM YOUNG TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stratton Street, April 22nd, 1789.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The week passed hath not afforded an item of information worthy the
+     sending you. I have now a circumstance or two to mention in the
+     political line, and a little scandal to garnish it with, of a sort
+     "_quod predetendici potuisse, et non potuisse refelli_." Of
+     business in the first place. Steele told me yesterday, that on Mr.
+     Fox's motion this day to repeal the Hop-tax, it was meant to give
+     it up with the best grace possible. The next piece of Parliamentary
+     intelligence is respecting the Slave Trade; a committee from the
+     planters and merchants of the West Indies waited the other day on
+     Mr. Pitt, to put the short question, whether Government supported
+     Mr. Wilberforce in his motion for the _Abolition_ of the Slave
+     Trade? Mr. Pitt answered, that "He must decline committing his own
+     opinion thus early, and that the Cabinet had not yet sat in
+     discussion of that question." The gentlemen of this committee speak
+     of Lord Hawkesbury as against the _extent_ of Mr. Wilberforce's
+     proposition, and that Administration are generally (Camden and
+     others) with Lord Hawkesbury. _Je ne m'en mele pas._
+
+     I know of no other business to engage the attention of Parliament
+     after Easter but my poor Bill, which is much amended and enlarged
+     from last year. It seems to have general support. I have thought it
+     more candid to read it a first time and print it, deferring the
+     second reading to the first week of meeting after Easter, when I am
+     engaged to the House to open fully the principle of my undertaking,
+     in what your Lordship terms _memoires raisonnees_. If I succeed in
+     this Bill, as I _expect_ to do, relating to the able poor, I shall,
+     next sessions, proceed to accomplish the rest of my plan, by
+     amending and giving force to (where necessary) the Bastard, Vagrant
+     Laws, and generally those of police respecting the poor. The plan
+     is extensive, but I have much considered it. I think I have it
+     clear in comprehension, and can pursue it through each effect on
+     the industry and manners of our people. I cannot be idle, _ainsi je
+     veux quelque part me faire ministre_.
+
+     For the dish of scandal I promised, it is of marked importance as
+     to the character of those whose character must have leading
+     consequences in this country; and, in fact, it is no scandal, it is
+     a shameful truth; otherwise, tales of this sort, are not such as I
+     like blotting my paper with. In the first place, on the ball given
+     by White's Club, at the Pantheon, the Prince of Wales sent round to
+     canvass _non_-attendance by every one of his party; yet both
+     himself and the Duke of York took the tickets sent, and then the
+     Duke of York sent them all to be sold, at Hookham's, to any one
+     that would buy them. The fact was intimated at White's, when the
+     stewards adopted a regulation to preclude the mischief of improper
+     company, by directing that the person subscribing, or to whom the
+     tickets were sent, should put his name. The Duke thereon _put his
+     name_, and the tickets were sold, with the prostitution of the
+     title of "_York_." To close this disgraceful detail, a ball, the
+     same night, of ----, was given at the Horse Guards, expressly for
+     the Duke of York. I have not authentically heard whether the Prince
+     of Wales was of the party. The day will come when Englishmen will
+     bring these Princes to their senses.
+
+     Adieu, my dear Lord; health and prosperity, and success in all you
+     undertake, be yours; and to me, the happiness whilst I have life,
+     of signing, your affectionately devoted and obliged friend and
+     servant,
+
+     W. YOUNG.
+
+The lamentable divisions that existed in the royal family formed a topic
+of common conversation, and deeply disturbed the tranquillity of His
+Majesty's mind. The Prince of Wales and the Duke of York took
+industrious advantage of all available means to cultivate popularity out
+of doors; and when it was thought advisable by Ministers, that the King
+should make a procession to St. Paul's to offer up thanks for his
+recovery, their Royal Highnesses seem to have entered into a sort of
+rivalry with the King for the applause of the spectators. Indeed, there
+was so little disguise about their personal conduct to His Majesty, that
+the newspapers did not hesitate to charge them with it, and the Dukes of
+York, Gloucester and Cumberland, felt it necessary to protect themselves
+against the animadversions of the Press, by prosecuting the publisher of
+the "Times," for accusing them of "insincerity" in their professions of
+joy at the King's recovery. Some fears were entertained as to the
+bearing of His Majesty on the occasion of the procession; but he passed
+through it with a composure and self-control that inspired his friends
+with the utmost confidence in the future. Mr. Bernard, writing to Lord
+Buckingham on the 23rd of April, gives the following account of the
+proceedings:
+
+
+MR. BERNARD TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     London, April 23rd, 1789, Five o'clock, P.M.
+     MY LORD,
+
+     The ceremony of this day has been gone through exceedingly well.
+     The procession from the House of Commons began at eight o'clock,
+     and the King reached St. Paul's between eleven and twelve. The
+     arrangement of the cathedral, particularly the dome, presented a
+     beautiful sight. The King seems much reduced by his late
+     illness--was remarkably composed during the service, and attentive
+     to the music. His Majesty, as well as the Queen, seemed much
+     affected with the solemnity of their first entrance, as were many
+     of the persons present. Lady Uxbridge was near fainting away.
+
+     As the King went out of the church, he seemed to be in good
+     spirits, and talked much to the persons about him; but he stared
+     and laughed less than ever I knew him on a public occasion. He
+     returned to the Queen's House between three and four o'clock. Mr.
+     Fox and most of his party were there. He and Colonel Fitzpatrick
+     were stationed in front of the altar, and directly opposite the
+     King, being the part of the cathedral for Privy Councillors and
+     Peers' sons. Mr. Pitt sat near them, but not in the first ranks. I
+     saw Lord Temple in a very good place, in that part of the church. I
+     did not see Mr. Burke there, and therefore suppose he continues
+     ill. The trial was deferred yesterday on account of his illness,
+     which people say was occasioned by his working himself into too
+     great a passion the day before.
+
+     I have the honour to be ever, my Lord,
+     Your Excellency's most faithful and affectionate servant,
+     S. BERNARD.
+
+The same subject is followed up in a letter from Lord Bulkeley.
+
+
+LORD BULKELEY TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Stanhope Street, April 27th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The pilgrimage to St. Paul's, which funck'd us all very much, has
+     turned out exceedingly well, for the King conducted himself
+     throughout the whole of that very arduous trial in such a manner as
+     to convince all, except those who will not see nor hear, that he is
+     in perfect possession of his faculties. The Princes of Wales, York,
+     Cumberland, and, I am sorry to say, Gloucester, talked to each
+     other the whole time of the service, and behaved in such an
+     indecent manner that was quite shocking. The King in Pall Mall was
+     received without applause, and the Prince with a good deal; but
+     from Cockspur Street to St. Paul's he had the warmest acclamations
+     possible, particularly in the city of London, where all ranks of
+     people were unanimous, which the King perceived, and since has much
+     praised. In parts of the Strand the Prince's dependants were posted
+     to give him an huzza as he passed, which flattered him most
+     exceedingly; but he lost his temper in the City, and he never
+     recovered it afterwards, for at St. Paul's he was in the worst
+     humour possible, and did everything he could do to expose himself
+     in the face of an amazing concourse of persons, and of all the
+     foreign Ministers.
+
+     On the return of the procession the Prince and Duke of York put on
+     their uniforms at Carlton House, and headed the whole brigade of
+     Grenadiers, and fired a _feu de joie_ before Buckingham House, the
+     King and Queen and the Princesses standing in one of the windows.
+     The Prince, before the King got into his carriage, which the whole
+     line waited for before they filed off, went off on a sudden with
+     one hundred of the common people, with Mr. Wattie in the middle of
+     them, huzzaing him, and was done evidently to lead, if possible, a
+     greater number, and to make it penetrate into Buckingham House.
+
+     The breach is so very wide between the King and Prince, that it
+     seems to me to be a great weakness to allow him any communication
+     with him whatsoever; for under the mask of attention to their
+     father and mother, the Prince and Duke of York commit every
+     possible outrage, and show every insult they can devise to them.
+     The report of the journey to Hanover prevails to an alarming
+     degree, and the King talks of it right hand and left; but it is to
+     be hoped the Ministers will be able to divert his attention from it
+     at this particular moment, for in the present unhinged state of
+     things it might be pregnant with very disagreeable consequences. I
+     believe the King's mind is torn to pieces by his sons, and that he
+     expects to relieve himself by a new scene, and by getting out of
+     the way of hearing of and seeing the Prince of Wales, with the
+     hopes of being able to detach the Duke of York, whom he fondly and
+     dotingly loves, and of prevailing on him to marry on the continent,
+     of which there is no chance, for in my opinion he is just as bad as
+     the Prince, and gives no hopes of any change or amendment
+     whatsoever in thought, word, or deed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     P.S.--It is said that the King abuses Dundas to those about him
+     very much, in a language that is very much copied by those whom we
+     all know by the term of "King's friends;" and there are some who
+     pretend to say that his loss of ground at Buckingham House has been
+     owing to the part he took against Hastings, in which he has the
+     reputation of having engaged Pitt to concur. I have made every
+     inquiry whether the King ever expresses himself to his people about
+     him in favour of Hastings, and I am told he is very guarded and
+     reserved on his subject, but that some _females_ in his house talk
+     loud and warmly in his favour, which occasions the attributing the
+     same opinions to him.
+
+     On one of the adjourned questions on Hastings's trial in the House
+     of Lords, Lord Maitland, standing next to Dundas, asked him what he
+     thought would be the result of the inquiry, to which he replied in
+     these words: "I don't care what is done with him, for you and your
+     friends in Opposition have done our business, by keeping him out of
+     the Board of Control." Lord Maitland on this called up Colonel
+     Fitzpatrick and Dudley Long, in whose presence Dundas actually
+     repeated his words, and they, of course, trumpeted them all over
+     town, and they have occasioned much conversation and much abuse of
+     Dundas, in addition to their former abuse on the part of Hastings's
+     friends. The folly of such language, especially to three violent
+     Oppositionists, was very absurd, weak, and ill-judged, but the fact
+     is certain.
+
+     I hear many complaints of Pitt and his Secretaries' personal
+     inattentions to Members _of_ Parliament, but they will think twenty
+     times before they go into Opposition; and it is most probable that
+     these complaints are not made till _impossible jobs_ have been
+     refused; I therefore only mention them as certainly existing, and
+     most probably as to any consequences, _vox et praeterea nihil_, at
+     least till the last sessions.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     Just as I was sealing my letter a person called on me, who tells
+     me that divisions in the Cabinet, or rather among the Cabinet
+     Ministers, certainly do exist, to a great degree, about Mr. Dundas,
+     and has confirmed to me what I have before told you, that every
+     corner of Buckingham House resounds with abuse, and opprobrious
+     epithets against him.
+
+A passage in a letter of Mr. Grenville's, dated the 2nd of May,
+indicates an approaching event, to which many circumstances, but chiefly
+the increasing weight the writer had latterly acquired in the councils
+of Mr. Pitt, had for some time been obviously tending.
+
+     I wish to mention to you that Lord S. has taken great offence, from
+     the circumstance of having at last found out that your despatches
+     to him come over enclosed to me. I could wish, therefore, that for
+     the _very short time_ that your correspondence with him is likely
+     to continue you would alter this, as nothing material is likely to
+     arise that can render it necessary, and I am desirous just at this
+     particular moment to avoid any altercation with him. This jealousy
+     on his part, and a just sense on mine of his conduct towards you,
+     has entirely broke off all communication between us with respect to
+     Irish, or indeed any other, business. Some delay and awkwardness
+     necessarily arises from this; but it is unavoidable, and I repeat
+     that it will probably be of _very_ short duration.
+
+The nomination of Mr. Grenville to the Home Office had been delayed only
+till the arrangements consequent upon the necessary changes it involved
+could be satisfactorily carried out. The means of effecting it were now
+within Mr. Pitt's reach; and at the moment this letter was written, Mr.
+Grenville's appointment was on the eve of being ratified.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, May 15th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Just as I was sitting down to write to you, I received a note from
+     Hobart, informing me of his arrival. I have seen him, and had a
+     long conversation on the different points which he is charged with.
+     My appointment is, I think I may now _decisively_ say, fixed for
+     Friday next, and I hope that you will soon feel the effects of your
+     new correspondent, in the expedition of the various matters which
+     are now lying on hand. You must, I am sure, be sensible that under
+     the circumstances of these last three weeks, it has been _quite
+     impossible_ for me, however ardently I wished it for your sake, to
+     bring forward these different points of business; but on Monday
+     sev'nnight, at latest, I hope to write to you upon them all, though
+     the length of Hobart's memorandum-paper has a little frightened me.
+     I do not complain of it as thinking your bill a large one,
+     considering the value received, but only I think the impression of
+     my _debut_ in the closet may be a little awkward. I must, however,
+     meet this as well as I can; and although this ten days' more delay
+     must, I know, be very unpleasant to you, I trust you will see it is
+     unavoidable.
+
+     If you find it necessary, for reconciling any of your principal
+     people to the delay, to assign the intended change in the
+     Secretary's office as a reason, there can now be no objection to
+     it, as we have agreed that it would be right that, by the time you
+     can receive this letter, we should begin to buzz it about, as a
+     thing not improbable to happen.
+
+     With respect, however, to your peerages, I have, as I promised you,
+     got Pitt to state them to the King, who has consented to them,
+     Marquisates and all. You may now, therefore, recommend them as soon
+     as you please, and _I_ will take care there shall be no further
+     unnecessary delay.
+
+     There are, however, still two points with respect to this business.
+     I understand from Hobart that Lord Glerawley wants his promotion to
+     be limited to his brother. This had not been stated in your
+     letters, and I was therefore unable to mention it to Pitt. It is
+     therefore still possible that the King may make some objection to
+     this, as you know it is against one of his rules (though by no
+     means an invariable one) to give a step and a limitation at the
+     same time.
+
+     The other is essential, and can, I hope, make no difficulty with
+     you. He is willing to _engage_ that these should _all_ be done
+     without delay, but he seems much to wish that the promotions and
+     creations should be separated, in order that they may not, by
+     coming together, appear to fill too large a column in the
+     "Gazette." There must, therefore, be an interval of a fortnight or
+     three weeks. You will judge whether the promotions or creations
+     should come first.
+
+     The only remaining point is that of the Seals. I beg you to believe
+     me sincere when I assure you that, independent of your wishes upon
+     the subject, my own opinion is quite as much made up as yours is on
+     the subject of Fitzgibbon's appointment. But, in the same
+     sincerity, I assure you that it is by no means advantageous towards
+     the attainment of this object, that it should be pressed forward in
+     the present moment. Hobart has asked me whether Fitzgibbon's coming
+     over would not be of use to him? I am strongly inclined to be of
+     opinion that it would; but before I gave him a decisive answer, I
+     wish to consult Pitt, and he is not to write to Fitzgibbon till
+     after that. With respect to the difficulty of your Chancery causes,
+     I can conceive no earthly reason why Carleton, especially as he is
+     to receive so great a favour, should not have to go on with them,
+     just as Lord Loughborough did here when the Seals were in
+     commission for a year. Depend upon it that I do not deceive you,
+     when I say that it is much better to wait for the favourable
+     moment, than to hurry it on to a decision now. That favourable
+     moment may arise sooner or later, but I am confident that
+     ultimately _le bon tems viendra_. Your information about the
+     Chancellor's _resolution_ is very curious, because I have reason to
+     _know_ that McNa. is exactly the very person who has most strongly
+     urged Thurlow on the propriety of an English appointment, and who
+     has suggested this curious notion of F.'s unpopularity. But I
+     mention this, relying upon your honour that you will not repeat it
+     to _any one_, but particularly not to Fitzgibbon.
+
+     I am most sincerely sorry that the consideration of your health
+     should enter at all into the question of your going or remaining.
+     Pray let me entreat you, whether you take the one resolution or the
+     other ultimately, not to delay nor put off one day a fixed
+     resolution to use constant and sufficient exercise. I am sure any
+     delay on that head is of a hundred times more consequence than all
+     those which we have been lamenting. Nothing in the world could make
+     up to you for the consequences which your omission in this respect
+     (which I am grieved to learn from Hobart still continues) may bring
+     upon you. You cannot conceive how earnestly I feel on this subject,
+     because I am every day feeling the good effects of a contrary
+     practice, which enables me to go through all the business I have,
+     without hurting my health or spirits.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother,
+     Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+The duel between Colonel Lenox and the Duke of York took place on the
+26th of May. The town gossiped about it, but regarded it with
+indifference; and neither party got much credit in the end. Mr. Hobart,
+on the 30th, communicates another _on dit_ concerning the behaviour of
+the Princes.
+
+     The Queen and Princesses were last night at the _fete_ given by the
+     French Ambassador. The Prince of Wales, Dukes of York and Clarence,
+     were also there; but would not dance, or stay supper, lest they
+     should have the appearance of paying the smallest attention to Her
+     Majesty. The officers of the Duke of York's regiment met yesterday,
+     at the request of Charles Lenox; they did not come to a decision
+     till about an hour ago. I hear it is that Lenox acted with courage,
+     but not with judgment.
+
+There was some difficulty in finding a successor for Mr. Grenville in
+the House of Commons. The choice at last fell on Mr. Addington. The
+selection was not altogether unexceptionable; but, upon the whole, he
+was the best person that could be found.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, June 1st, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have this morning received your two letters, of the 26th and 28th
+     together, which was a great relief to me from the uneasiness which
+     I should have felt from your first letter, if I had received it
+     separately. I most sincerely hope that you will feel no further bad
+     effects from this accident. Lady B. has been some days on her road
+     to Dublin, and is probably with you before this time. I cannot
+     express to you how much I am concerned that any parts of my letter
+     on the subject of the promotions should have appeared to you in the
+     smallest degree wanting in that kindness and warmth of affection
+     which I so sincerely feel, and always wish and mean to express. I
+     have no copy of that letter, nor have I any recollection of the
+     particular turn or expression of it which can at all serve me to
+     remember what part of it can have impressed your mind with this
+     sensation. I can therefore only say that, whatever it was, it has
+     been most remote from my intention, and that as to any expression
+     which can bear such an interpretation--_totum hoc indictum volo_.
+
+     With respect to the King's health, on which you ask me so
+     particularly, I can only repeat to you what I said in my last
+     letter--which I have from what I believe to be the very best
+     authority--that he continues perfectly well, both in mind and body,
+     and, with respect to the latter, is growing stronger every day. I
+     beg you to believe, that though I should write you any contrary
+     account with much pain and mortification, yet that I feel too much
+     the importance of your being well and accurately informed on the
+     subject, to have a moment's hesitation in stating anything of that
+     sort to you as soon as I heard it myself. But, in truth, I believe
+     that all these reports originate in nothing else than the anxiety
+     of the King's friends for the preservation of his health, and the
+     impatience which his enemies feel for the only event which can give
+     them any prospect of seeing their wishes accomplished.
+
+     Addington is the person intended for my successor. He wants only a
+     little more age, and being a little more known, to make his
+     nomination unexceptionable; but I certainly cannot but confess that
+     he does want both these. It is, however, the best appointment that
+     we can make to a situation to which so few people are willing to
+     look, and for which so much fewer are at all qualified. I have no
+     doubt of his acquitting himself well in it, and of his becoming, in
+     a little time, extremely popular in the House. We shall certainly
+     lose our Abolition question. The cry against us upon it is growing
+     every day stronger, without anybody being willing to give
+     themselves the trouble of entering, in the smallest degree, into
+     the examination of the grounds upon which our arguments rest.
+
+     We have no foreign news, except the continuance of the disputes and
+     difficulties in France. But these you have as fully in the
+     newspapers as I could detail them to you. The accounts from Vienna
+     seem to agree that there is not much probability of the Emperor's
+     finally recovering these repeated attacks, though he may linger out
+     a considerable time.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother,
+     And believe me ever most sincerely and affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+Lord Buckingham's health had suffered so much from the toils and
+anxieties to which he had been exposed during the last few months, that
+his physicians urged upon him the necessity of trying the waters at
+Bath. So long as the exigencies of the public service made an imperative
+demand on his energies, he bore his labours with unshrinking resolution;
+but now that the contest was over, and the security and influence of the
+Government were restored, he felt the recoil severely. It was natural
+that there should be mixed with this hope of recruiting his strength by
+change of scene, a strong desire for repose. The stormy times he had
+fallen upon in Ireland rendered his position there onerous and
+oppressive. He had ridden the storm in safety, and had the satisfaction
+of feeling that, whenever he retired from the Government, he would leave
+to his successor, untrammelled by the associations and recollections of
+the past, a comparatively easy task.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     (Private.)        Whitehall, June 13th, 1789.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     You will receive with this the official notification of
+     Fitzgibbon's appointment to the Seals, which I send with the more
+     pleasure at this particular moment, because I know that it will
+     relieve your mind from one of the points on which you have felt a
+     peculiar degree of anxiety. The decision on this point gives me
+     great satisfaction, on many accounts, as an act of justice towards
+     him, and as an example both to our friends and our enemies; but the
+     interest which you took in it makes the event infinitely more
+     agreeable to me than it would otherwise have been, however much I
+     am convinced that it was right and necessary.
+
+     The particular occasion, however, of my writing this letter, was
+     not so much the conclusion of this business, as something which
+     relates to another, more nearly concerning yourself. In consequence
+     of your letter, and of the alarm which I have since had on your
+     account, I thought it very material that the idea of your going to
+     Bath should be opened to the King, in order to ascertain how far it
+     was practicable for you to avail yourself of this, which I am
+     persuaded will be the best of all remedies for you, without, at the
+     same time, giving up the idea of returning to Ireland, if you
+     should feel yourself desirous of it. I accordingly took to-day the
+     first opportunity which I have had, of mentioning this to the King,
+     and I have great pleasure in saying, that he not only acquiesced in
+     the idea, but that he lent himself to it with the greatest
+     readiness, and seemed desirous that you should not omit this if it
+     could be useful to you. If, therefore, on consultation with Austin,
+     you should find that a journey to Bath will be of service to you,
+     there remains nothing for you to do, but to write an official
+     letter "requesting the King's permission to be absent from Ireland
+     for a limited time, in order that you may go to Bath for the
+     recovery of your health," and I shall be able to return you an
+     answer, signifying the King's consent, before your preparations for
+     your journey can be made. If, after some residence at Bath, you
+     should find your health and spirits not equal to the returning, you
+     will be better enabled then to decide upon that point, and it will
+     be perfectly easy for you then to state this, and to resign on the
+     ground of the injury which the King's service would sustain from
+     any longer absence. But I am sure I need not mention to you, who
+     are so well acquainted with that country, the absolute and
+     indispensable _necessity_ of your doing everything (in the event of
+     your going to Bath) which may give the _strongest impression_ of
+     your _determination_ to return. If this is not done, you must feel
+     that the Government will be thrown loose, and that the mischief of
+     such an interval may be such as to be irretrievable. If, on the
+     contrary, this persuasion prevails, I see no fear of inconvenience
+     from your absence on this account.
+
+     I enclose to you, under a flying seal, a letter of congratulation
+     and compliment to Fitzgibbon, which expresses no more than I really
+     feel on that subject. Adieu, my dear brother.
+
+     Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     P.S.--You will, of course, immediately recommend Fitzgibbon for a
+     Barony; but if you can dissuade him from it, pray do not let him
+     take the title of Limerick, actually possessed by Lord Clanbrassil.
+     The instance of Earl of Buckingham_shire_ (so created) and Marquis
+     of B. by no means applies, and it would look invidious.
+
+Lord Buckingham's resolution to relinquish the Government of Ireland was
+now finally taken. He communicated his intentions, in the first
+instance, in a private letter to Mr. Grenville, to which the following
+is the reply.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Wimbledon, Sept. 14th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I received your letter of the 6th respecting your resignation, and
+     your subsequent letters of the 10th and 11th. You are too much
+     aware of the extreme difficulty of finding persons willing and
+     qualified to undertake the office which you are quitting, not to
+     expect some little delay before we can say anything to you
+     respecting the choice itself, or the mode or exact period of your
+     resignation; though I certainly agree with you, that, if you have
+     entirely abandoned the idea of returning, the formal notification
+     of that intention ought not to be long delayed. It certainly would
+     have been a satisfaction to me, both on public and private grounds,
+     if the state of your health would have admitted of your completing
+     your triumph even more decidedly than you have already done, though
+     I trust that is sufficient.
+
+     The finding a proper person to replace you is, indeed, no easy
+     task; because, although I am entirely of your opinion, that by
+     proper management, the situation of English Government in Ireland
+     is secure; yet, on the other hand, I cannot but feel how very
+     little mismanagement would throw us back again, and how much more
+     the crisis seems to demand, than is, I fear, to be found in any of
+     the persons who may probably be to look to that situation. It will
+     certainly be my wish on many accounts, that the change of the
+     Lord-Lieutenant should not affect Hobart's situation.
+
+     I have not yet seen him, as I have not been in town for this last
+     week; but if he is come, I suppose I shall either to-day or
+     to-morrow.
+
+     The question about Lord Loftus can, I think, end no otherwise than
+     as Hobart proposes. I shall, however, not say or write anything on
+     the subject to the King till I have seen Hobart. I have no
+     difficulty in conversing with him quite freely about his own
+     situation, as when I saw him in town last, I told him very fairly
+     what my wishes would be in the event of your quitting the
+     Government; but, at the same time, told him as fairly, that nothing
+     could be decisively fixed on that subject till your successor was
+     appointed, and his wishes consulted.
+
+     I enclose you a letter from Lord Clonmel, which was transmitted to
+     me with one which I also send you a copy of. I shall merely write
+     an answer acknowledging the receipt, and saying, that agreeably to
+     his desire, I have transmitted it to you.
+
+     I heartily wish, that the distance of Teignmouth was not such as to
+     put all idea of our meeting there entirely out of the question;
+     especially as Nepean's being ill makes it still more impossible for
+     me to leave this neighbourhood.
+
+     We have no sort of news. The French Assembly is going on with
+     endless disputes about their Constitution; but one ought to be much
+     more interested than I feel myself in the event of these disputes,
+     not to be heartily tired of hearing of them. The main point appears
+     quite secure, that they will not for many years be in a situation
+     to molest the invaluable peace which we now enjoy.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     P.S.--I had almost forgot to mention, that on hearing of the
+     contest for Cornwall, and being informed that no time was to be
+     lost, I took upon me to desire Camplin to write to Dale to exert
+     himself in favour of Gregor, our candidate, having every reason to
+     believe that you would have no other wish on the subject, than that
+     of helping to keep out an enemy.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Holwood, Sept. 25th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have not yet sent to the King your letter of resignation. Pitt
+     has, however, explained to him that you have notified to us the
+     impossibility of your returning, and that you have only delayed the
+     formal resignation till His Majesty shall have considered of the
+     arrangement to be made for that Government. This point is not yet
+     decided. It is indeed one of most extreme difficulty.
+
+     In consequence of Cooke's letter to Hobart, which the latter showed
+     me, I mentioned to the King your intended recommendation of Lord
+     L., explaining to him at the same time that you clearly understood
+     yourself not to have made any such engagement, but that as a
+     contrary interpretation was put upon it by Lord C., through whom
+     the transaction passed, it seemed for the benefit of His Majesty's
+     service that this step should be recommended. I also stated that
+     this would necessarily bring with it _the two others_ and perhaps a
+     third, which I named to him at Hobart's desire. He acquiesced in
+     the whole of this without difficulty.
+
+     Adieu, my dearest brother.
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+     There has been an action off the coast of Finland, between what are
+     called the Swedish and Russian _army fleets_. The Russians appear
+     to have had the victory decisively, but to be so disabled by it as
+     to be quite unable to do anything more with that fleet this year.
+     Nothing new from France.
+
+On the 30th of September, Lord Buckingham formally resigned. His
+successor, however, was not yet decided upon, and the subject occasioned
+much perplexity in the Cabinet. The Lieutenancy was offered to the Duke
+of Beaufort, who declined. The next person thought of was the Earl of
+Westmoreland, who accepted. "There are several points," observes Mr.
+Grenville, "in which Westmoreland would do perfectly: there are those in
+which he fails; but God knows the list to choose out of is not long."
+
+The letter containing this intelligence announced also the death of the
+Duke of Chandos, who held the office of Lord Steward, with an
+intimation that it was probable the new Lord Steward would be the Duke
+of Dorset. Upon receipt of this information, Lord Buckingham wrote to
+Mr. Grenville, expressing his desire to be appointed to the vacancy, and
+urging also his claims upon promotion in the peerage. He felt strongly
+upon this point. The personal obloquy and factious resistance he had
+encountered and triumphed over in his Government, appeared to him to
+demand some distinct and special mark of His Majesty's favour and
+approbation; and as this was the mode most likely to make that
+impression upon the public mind in Ireland which the dignity of the
+Crown, and his own justification in the policy he had pursued,
+emphatically called for, the feelings that were awakened throughout the
+course of the following painful correspondence may be readily conceived.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Holwood, Oct. 5th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Your messenger brought me here, yesterday evening, your letter of
+     the 3rd instant; but I have deferred answering it till this
+     morning, because I wished for a little time to turn the subject of
+     it over in my own mind, and particularly to consider whether I
+     should communicate it to Pitt. After some deliberation with myself,
+     I have resolved not to make this communication, because I consider
+     the Lord Steward's staff as being, in fact, disposed of; and I
+     feel, on that account, an unwillingness to state, even to Pitt,
+     that you had entertained a wish to succeed to that office. I am
+     sure I need not say, that if this idea had ever come across my
+     mind, I should have given you the earliest intelligence in my power
+     of the death of the Duke of Chandos; and should have endeavoured to
+     prevent any steps being taken for filling up his office, till I
+     had heard from you. As it is, you will already have heard from me,
+     that our intention was to offer it to the Duke of Dorset; there not
+     being the smallest ground to imagine that the Duke of Leeds wishes
+     to quit his present situation. This offer was accordingly made two
+     days ago; and the Duke of Dorset has all but accepted it, desiring
+     only to have five minutes previous conversation with Pitt. He is to
+     come here for that purpose this morning; and I have no doubt, from
+     the turn of his letter, that he intends to accept. Under these
+     circumstances, you will, I am sure, approve of my saying nothing to
+     Pitt on that part of your letter; nor do I feel it necessary to
+     state to you all that would otherwise occur to me upon it as matter
+     for your consideration. * * *
+
+     Ever most sincerely and affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Oct. 6th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The D. of D. has, as I imagined he would, accepted without
+     hesitation. His wish to see Mr. Pitt appears to have been only for
+     the purpose of stating his situation and feelings with regard to
+     the French Embassy. The D. of B. has refused. We shall have W.'s
+     answer to-morrow.
+
+     I send you no French news, for in fact we get none that is not more
+     fully detailed in the papers.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 2nd, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I saw Mr. Pitt on Saturday evening, and explained your wishes to
+     him. He has undertaken to mention the subject to the King on
+     _Thursday_ (as he does not return to town till Wednesday evening),
+     and to second it with all the eloquence of which he is possessed.
+     He expressed himself with real friendship and zeal upon the
+     subject; though, I am sorry to say, he appears to entertain the
+     same apprehensions with myself as to the result. I am, however,
+     persuaded that this opinion will not lessen his exertions for a
+     more favourable answer, if it can be obtained. He thought it better
+     to mention to the King, at the same time, the idea respecting the
+     Duke of Grafton; though he seems to think it doubtful whether the
+     Post-office will afford the means of that arrangement.
+
+     We have no news from France; the express, which generally comes on
+     Sunday, not being yet arrived.
+
+     The insurrection has broke out in Austrian Flanders; but in a
+     manner which seems little likely to be successful. Our accounts
+     from thence are, however, very imperfect.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 6th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The drawing-room was so very late yesterday, that it was impossible
+     for Pitt to go into the closet afterwards, as it was not over till
+     past five, and the King had to go back to Windsor. This being the
+     case, we have agreed that, in order to prevent any further delay,
+     Pitt shall write to the King upon the subject, stating all the
+     arguments upon it, and at the same time reserving a ground for
+     speaking to the King upon it at the next levee, if it should be
+     necessary. I own I am by no means sorry that the circumstance of
+     the lateness of the drawing-room, has given a plea for having
+     recourse to this mode, as I have always observed it to succeed best
+     with the King. There are many things which can be much more
+     strongly put in a letter than in conversation with him, especially
+     on any subject on which he is unwilling to converse; and all the
+     points of this particular business may be more forcibly urged by
+     being collected and stated with a reference to each other, in a
+     manner which the King's desultory way of speaking makes almost
+     impossible. I am persuaded, therefore, that whatever the chance is
+     of success in this business, it is greater in this mode; especially
+     as Pitt will still have to mention it to him on Wednesday, if his
+     written answer is not favourable.
+
+     I would write to you oftener, or desire Bernard to do it when I
+     cannot, on the French and Flemish news, but that I really find the
+     papers are every morning just as good intelligencers as I could be.
+     They will even tell you all that I can about the Duke of Orleans'
+     mission, which is evidently only a pretence for leaving Paris, as
+     he has not even affected to talk to the King, or his Ministers,
+     about any business, except to ask, in general terms, what is
+     thought of the state of the Low Countries? to which you may suppose
+     the answer would be quite as general, even supposing that we had
+     anything more particular to say, which we have not.
+
+     What the motive was for his leaving Paris, I know no more than by
+     the general report which circulates there as well as here, of his
+     having been detected in plans against the small remains of the
+     King's authority.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 7th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I am persuaded it is unnecessary for me to say how sincerely sorry
+     I am to be obliged to acquaint you that the King's answer to Pitt's
+     letter of yesterday is such as to give, I am afraid, very little
+     hope indeed of success in the business to which it relates. The
+     King says, however, in it, that in compliance with Pitt's request
+     he defers giving a final answer till he sees him on Wednesday, so
+     that we cannot consider the subject as closed till then; but I
+     fairly own to you that I think there is now very little ground for
+     expecting a favourable result. The King does not enter into the
+     subject at all in his answer, but only refers to what has formerly
+     passed upon it.
+
+     I heartily wish that I was the channel of more pleasing
+     intelligence, and this the more, because though I certainly do not
+     see this point exactly in the light in which you seemed to consider
+     it when we conversed upon it, yet the success of it would have
+     afforded me real satisfaction, independent even of the
+     gratification of your wishes.
+
+     Believe me ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 9th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I received this morning your letter, acquainting me with your
+     determination, in the event of the King's answer on Wednesday being
+     such as there is certainly every reason to believe it will be. You
+     announce this as a determination in some measure taken in your own
+     mind, and on which you do not appear to wish for my advice; and
+     there are perhaps too many circumstances which must make such a
+     step painful to me, to allow me to be a competent adviser on such a
+     subject. I must therefore confine myself to expressing my very
+     great and sincere concern both in the cause and the effect.
+
+     Your letter does not express whether any and what part of it should
+     be communicated to Pitt. Perhaps you will think it right that he
+     should have some previous knowledge of your resolution, if such it
+     is, before he sees the King, but this is a point of infinitely too
+     much delicacy for me to take upon myself to decide; and I also
+     confess that the task of communicating it would be to my feelings
+     so extremely painful, that I should be particularly desirous to
+     avoid it.
+
+     I have only to add my strong sense of the kindness of your
+     expressions and wishes towards me. I hope I have deserved your
+     affection, I am sure I have endeavoured to do so; and this
+     business, unhappy as it is, would be a thousand times more so to
+     me, if I could think it possible. I trust in God that it is not so,
+     that any event of it could produce the smallest diminution of that
+     mutual affection and confidence which has now so long subsisted
+     between us, and to which I have felt, and shall ever feel, that I
+     owe more than to any other circumstance of my life. In these
+     sentiments,
+
+     Believe me ever, my dear brother,
+     Most truly and affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 12th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     As I understand from Pitt that he means to write to you to-day in
+     answer to your letter, I have nothing to add to the account which
+     he will give you of the unfavourable result of his conversation of
+     yesterday. He mentioned to me an idea which he had of contriving to
+     see you if possible before you took the step of resigning the
+     Lieutenancy of the county. Perhaps if he comes down to Stowe for
+     that purpose, it would be more agreeable to you that I should
+     accompany him, and in that case I would certainly contrive to do
+     so. Otherwise, I feel that you are already so fully in possession
+     of all that I think and feel on this painful subject, that I could
+     not wish to give you the labour of a journey to Missenden for the
+     purpose of a conversation, which could only be a repetition of what
+     I have already said and written. I have turned the whole question
+     over and over again in my mind, and the result is the same with
+     what I have already stated to you, and is founded on the same
+     feeling: that though the object is a natural one for you to have
+     looked to, I cannot think that the King's refusal does, in any
+     manner, call upon you for that line of conduct which you can be
+     disposed to adopt only in the belief that you _are_ called upon so
+     to do. It is unnecessary for me to enlarge again on the grounds of
+     this opinion; but in stating it, I give you my sincere and honest
+     sentiments, freed, as far as I can free them, from the bias which
+     they are necessarily liable to, on account of the painful
+     impression which is made on my mind by the idea of the smallest
+     difference in our political line.
+
+     I cannot conclude this letter without again expressing to you the
+     heartfelt satisfaction which I derive, under these circumstances,
+     from the sense which you entertain and express of my sincere and
+     zealous affection.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 28th, 1789.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have just received your letter. Things remain hitherto on the
+     same footing, with every appearance of doing well. All depends,
+     however, on the ultimate arrangement of the point referred. I own I
+     am inclined to hope better things than you seem to do. Real
+     friendship and connection is, I agree with you, not to be hoped
+     for; but if public appearances are preserved, and public support
+     effectually, even though not cordially, given, all is obtained that
+     is in any degree necessary for public objects; and the present
+     disposition does, as far as I can judge, go the whole length of
+     what I have now stated. It is by no means a difficult or new
+     situation for people to act together in public business without the
+     bond of private connection and friendship. It is indeed very rare,
+     I believe; and what I consider as a most singular and peculiar
+     happiness, that the contrary should exist to the degree to which it
+     does, and it would, I am afraid, be much too sanguine to entertain
+     hopes that this should be extended to the case now in question. I
+     will not fail to let you know as soon as anything occurs on the
+     main point.
+
+     There is every appearance that the Flemish revolution is complete.
+     Trautsmansdorf and the patriots are running a race for Luxemburg,
+     where the former means to wait for succours. There are not fifteen
+     thousand troops in the provinces, and there are above forty
+     thousand of the patriots already armed, and the whole country with
+     them. They collect the revenues of the country, on which they
+     maintain their army. They flatter themselves that, allowing for the
+     necessary requisitions for passage, &c., no effectual force can be
+     brought to act against them till the spring; and the style of the
+     Emperor's concessions, as well as the mode of making them, looks as
+     if he was of the same opinion.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+It was some compensation to Mr. Grenville that, in his official capacity
+as Secretary of State, he had the satisfaction of conveying to Lord
+Buckingham His Majesty's entire approval of the line of conduct his
+Lordship had pursued in Ireland. After expressing His Majesty's concern
+at the state of Lord Buckingham's health, which rendered him unable any
+longer to serve His Majesty in the situation of Lord-Lieutenant, the
+letter signifies the royal approbation of his Lordship's attachment and
+zeal in the discharge of the important duties of his station; adding,
+"and, particularly, I have His Majesty's express direction to acquaint
+your Lordship with the satisfaction which His Majesty has felt from
+your attention to maintain the honour and dignity of his Crown, and to
+preserve the constitutional connection between his two kingdoms of Great
+Britain and Ireland, under the interesting circumstances which were
+occasioned by His Majesty's late indisposition."
+
+Feeling the delicacy of the position in which he was placed by his
+relationship to Lord Buckingham, in having to convey this gracious
+message, Mr. Grenville submitted a draught of the letter to His Majesty
+for his approval, before it was forwarded. Upon this draught His Majesty
+made the subjoined minute:
+
+     Windsor, October 17th, 1789. Eighteen minutes past Ten o'clock.
+
+     The draught of an answer to the Marquis of Buckingham's letter of
+     resignation meets entirely with my sentiments. If I thought any
+     alteration necessary, it would be by more explicitly stating the
+     allusion to his very commendable conduct, during my late calamitous
+     illness, which would render the approbation in effect more marked.
+
+     G. R.
+
+A retirement thus graced and dignified by the special approbation of the
+Sovereign, left nothing for Lord Buckingham to regret in the scene of
+party conflict he had quitted. It was an exchange from turmoil to peace,
+rendered still more acceptable to him by the expressions of regard and
+attachment it drew from some of the most distinguished men of his time.
+Well might Lord Fife congratulate him, in one of the numerous letters
+addressed to him at this period, on the difference he would find between
+Stowe and the Castle of Dublin.
+
+
+
+
+1790.
+
+MR. GRENVILLE'S ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE.
+
+
+The events of this year on the continent of Europe offer a striking
+contrast to the repose of England. While the wise and steadfast policy
+of Mr. Pitt had secured to this country the blessings of peace, now
+rapidly expanding into a condition of almost unexampled prosperity,
+France was undergoing the throes of that desolating Revolution which
+brought the Sovereign to the scaffold, and laid the train of those
+disasters which finally expelled the Bourbons from the throne. There are
+few traces of those disturbing circumstances in the correspondence of
+Lord Buckingham and his brother, which, in consequence of the frequent
+opportunities they now enjoyed of personal intercourse, had become
+scanty, and, so far as public affairs were concerned, unimportant.
+Slight scraps of intelligence, the last rumour from abroad, or matters
+of purely personal or domestic interest, form the staple of the letters
+that passed between them at this period.
+
+It was in this year that Edmund Burke, to the infinite surprise of his
+old allies, published his famous pamphlet on the French Revolution. The
+impression it made in England may be accepted as an evidence of the
+soundness of the national judgment, and the devotion of the people to
+the established institutions of the country. This healthy condition of
+the public mind was attributable, in a greater degree than we can
+venture now to estimate, to the spirit of patriotism and union awakened
+in the kingdom by the firm Administration of Mr. Pitt and his friends.
+They had restored the general confidence in the justice and stability of
+the Government, which the weakness and divided councils of former
+Cabinets had dissipated; they had struck the happy mean between the
+prerogatives of the Crown and the encroachments of the Legislature; and,
+above all, in the recent conflicts on the Regency question, they had
+successfully asserted the doctrine, that the rights of the Sovereign and
+the rights of the people were founded on a common basis; and, by showing
+that their interests were identical, they had reconciled those extreme
+elements in the Constitution which a powerful party had laboured, with
+great eloquence and considerable effect, to separate on the grounds of a
+natural antagonism. Their popularity was unbounded, and saved the
+country. Paine's "Age of Reason" fell innocuous upon the people; the
+tidings of the Revolution, and of the massacres that tracked its daily
+steps in blood, excited wonder and horror, but produced no frenzy of
+imitation such as they inspired elsewhere; and while Europe was
+convulsed with alarms, England, strong in her liberties and
+self-reliance, was united and unmoved.
+
+In Ireland, the departure of Lord Buckingham was followed by a revival
+of the factious intemperance his energy had for a season suppressed. The
+Parliament opened in disorder, and carried on its debates in a tone of
+vindictive hostility to the British connection. The opponents of
+Government had strengthened their hands by the accession of new orators,
+and by the occasional lapses into their old violence of others who had
+given in their submissions to the late Viceroy, and who, now that he was
+gone, affected an independence of their obligations. The Lord Chancellor
+Fitzgibbon was growing into increasing disfavour with the Opposition,
+and becoming, by the force of resistance, more English and less popular
+than before. The invectives in which the wild passions of party found a
+congenial vent, descended to the fiercest recriminations, and led to the
+severance of friendships, and personal rencontres. Fitzgibbon and the
+Ponsonbys, who had hitherto preserved unimpaired, amidst the contentions
+of the Senate, their intimate relations in private life, were now cast
+asunder by an explosion of animosity that tempted the Chancellor to
+declare "that he would never speak to them again;" even the close bonds
+that united the Ponsonbys and the Beresfords were imperceptibly relaxed;
+and Mr. Hobart, to use his own expression, was "obliged to fight Mr.
+Curran," for which he excuses himself to Lord Buckingham by saying that
+"in any other country in Europe he would not have met him." In no other
+country, undoubtedly, from a cause so absurd and unwarrantable, could
+the necessity for such a meeting have arisen. Numerous letters from
+Ireland conveyed fragments of news of this kind to Lord Buckingham in
+his retirement, the old supporters of Administration still seeming to
+look up to him for encouragement and advice. But these letters are not
+now of sufficient interest to justify their publication.
+
+Such, indeed, is the general character of the correspondence of the
+year. One letter, however, announces an incident which cannot be so
+satisfactorily recorded as in the language of the writer. Mr. Grenville
+was about to receive that recognition of his great talents and important
+services which few men had earned so worthily or were destined to wear
+more honourably and usefully. The absence of all exultation at his
+approaching elevation to the peerage, and his near assumption of the
+title by which he is best known in the history of the country, is a
+characteristic of that nobility of mind which conferred dignity upon,
+rather than derived it from, the station to which he was advanced.
+
+
+MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 22nd, 1790.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I send this by a messenger, in order to lose no time in informing
+     you that Pitt wrote yesterday to the King, to propose the measure
+     of my going to the House of Lords, and that he has received His
+     Majesty's acquiescence, in terms very satisfactory to me. The delay
+     has been occasioned by a sort of negotiation which has been pending
+     with the Chancellor for some time past, and which there seemed a
+     prospect of bringing to a point before the meeting. As the
+     determination respecting my peerage might possibly have been
+     affected, one way or the other, by this negotiation, we were
+     unwilling to decide that question finally till the last moment; but
+     as that last moment is now arrived, it seemed, after much
+     deliberation, better to take the step in the present situation of
+     things, rather than to wait the issue of a business, one event of
+     which could much have increased the difficulties of the measure
+     itself.
+
+     Pitt is gone to-day to Windsor, to lay before the King the whole of
+     the transaction, and to explain more fully the motives which have
+     induced us to wish for my being removed to the House of Lords.
+     There is no probability that this conversation will alter the full
+     consent which the King expressed yesterday by letter. If it does
+     not, it will be necessary that I should kiss hands on Wednesday, in
+     order to give time, which even that will barely do, for passing my
+     patent, &c., so as to enable me to take my seat on Friday, which is
+     the day on which the King makes his speech, and on which the
+     general Address will be moved in the House of Lords. We mean to fix
+     a separate day for considering the Convention, and to have a
+     particular Address upon it. The precise day for this is of course
+     not yet settled.
+
+     This arrangement will necessarily occasion a delay of two or three
+     days before the writ can be moved in the House of Commons, who do
+     not proceed to business till the Monday, on account of swearing the
+     Members; but this does not seem to me to be at all material, and I
+     am persuaded that you will feel with me that it is unavoidable. The
+     writ once moved, the election may come on upon the tenth, or at
+     latest, the eleventh day from the Monday, so that the whole notice
+     will not exceed a fortnight.
+
+     I reserve, till I see you, the particulars of the negotiation of
+     which I have spoken, and of our present situation with a view to
+     that important point. I am sorry for the delay in making the other
+     arrangements, but you must allow something for the difficulties
+     which always occur in bringing points of this nature to bear, and
+     for the various loads which press at such a moment as this on
+     Pitt's time, by whose personal negotiations alone all this must be
+     done. Pray let me know, by the return of my messenger, when I may
+     expect you in town.
+
+     I am sorry to hear of so long a sick list. Adieu, my dear brother,
+     and believe me
+
+     Ever most truly and affectionately yours,
+     W. W. G.
+
+
+
+
+1791.
+
+THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS--RESIGNATION OF THE DUKE OF LEEDS--FLIGHT OF
+THE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE--PROSPERITY OF ENGLAND AT THIS PERIOD.
+
+
+The first object to which the attention of Ministers was addressed at
+the opening of Parliament in 1791, was a measure for the further relief
+of the Roman Catholics. The only objection urged against it by the
+Opposition was that it did not go far enough. Mr. Pitt himself held the
+same opinion, but did not consider it expedient to act upon it.
+
+The interest which Lord Buckingham never ceased to feel in Ireland,
+where this question of Catholic disabilities was a spring of constant
+agitation, led him to regard the subject in relation to that country
+with much solicitude. Agreeing in principle with Mr. Pitt, he held that
+the Roman Catholics should be placed on the same footing in both
+kingdoms; and that whatever privileges were bestowed upon them in
+England should also, and at the same time, be granted to them in
+Ireland. Mr. Hobart, who had been his Lordship's secretary during his
+last Administration, and who was continued in that appointment by his
+successor, Lord Westmoreland, corresponded with him frequently on this
+topic; and it may be gathered from his letters that the views of the new
+Lord-Lieutenant were unfavourable to the demands of the Roman Catholics.
+In the early part of the correspondence, Mr. Hobart expresses
+considerable doubt about the policy of placing power in their hands,
+especially with reference to their admission to the bar, which had been
+conceded to them in England. His observations on that particular point
+are curious. In Ireland, he remarks, the sentiments of the lawyers have
+considerable weight in the discussion of political subjects, which,
+"whether it arises from the confident and pertinacious loquacity of
+gentlemen of that profession, or from the deference which is shown and
+felt for those in whose hands are entrusted the most interesting
+concerns of every family in the kingdom, and from their frequent
+intercourse with all parts of it, is matter of no consequence." The
+influence which the lawyers were thus supposed to possess, weighed
+strongly with Mr. Hobart as an argument against the admission of the
+Roman Catholics to the bar. Such a measure might be adopted with
+comparative safety in England, but it was likely in Ireland to be
+productive of increased agitation and social disorder. The perplexities
+of the question were evidently taking a very distinct shape at this
+time, and occupying no inconsiderable share of the attention of
+Government. In endeavouring to sift them, and to extricate something
+like a practical line of policy from them, Mr. Hobart was not a little
+embarrassed by the example of England, which he could not quite make up
+his mind either to follow or renounce.
+
+     The English Bill has put us under no small degree of difficulty.
+     The circumstances of the two countries, with respect to Roman
+     Catholics, are so different, that what may be extremely advisable
+     in the one, may be just the reverse in the other; and, therefore,
+     for us precisely to follow your Bill, would be to adopt a principle
+     which in its consequences might be productive of the greatest
+     mischief. Nevertheless, if we do not go so far, the Roman Catholics
+     of Ireland will be highly discontented; and if we go further, we
+     shall throw too much power into their hands.
+
+That Lord Buckingham removed Mr. Hobart's objections as to the wisdom of
+conformity in legislating for the Roman Catholics in both countries, is
+indicated in a subsequent letter; but that Mr. Hobart differed from his
+Lordship as to the prudence of maintaining a Government opposition
+between the two sects is no less apparent. Lord Buckingham's influence
+in moderating Mr. Hobart's opinions on other points is frankly admitted.
+Mr. Hobart gave up his objections to admitting the Catholics to the bar,
+or even to the army or navy, if England should think fit to set the
+example; but civil offices, or the elective franchise, he still
+considered highly dangerous.
+
+     My opinion, I speak with great deference, does not concur with
+     yours, as to the little importance of supporting the Protestants
+     against the Catholics; it is, in my mind, the link which binds the
+     two countries: break that, and you endanger the connection. Every
+     means should be exerted to prevent the struggle taking place; and,
+     therefore, every indulgence that with any degree of safety can be
+     given to the Roman Catholics, and more particularly at this time,
+     ought to be extended to them. Notwithstanding a variety of
+     objections, I cannot help thinking that the safest principle for
+     the Parliament of Ireland to adopt, is, that of following England
+     upon all questions relative to Roman Catholics; but it is of the
+     utmost consequence, that the Government of England should accede to
+     no measure upon that subject, without a due consideration of its
+     effect in Ireland, and fairly weigh the benefits to be attained in
+     the one country, against the disadvantages that may arise in the
+     other.
+
+     The example of England, if adopted as a principle, may be extremely
+     useful as a means of resisting inconvenient pretensions urged here;
+     for, whether avowedly adopted or not, it will always be made use of
+     by the Roman Catholics when they have anything to gain by it; and
+     ultimately they must be successful upon that ground. I would
+     therefore admit them to the bar; and if England opens the army and
+     navy to them, it should follow of course here; but admission to
+     civil offices, or anything that led to voting for Members of
+     Parliament, or sitting in either House, would, I conceive, be
+     highly dangerous in this country; because I am a friend to the
+     Protestant ascendancy, and that can be maintained only through the
+     medium of a Protestant Parliament, aided by a profitable
+     encouragement to those who profess that faith.
+
+     The times are growing so enlightened, or so depraved, that a man
+     need not live very long, to have a chance of seeing all religious
+     distinctions abolished; but so long as things remain in their
+     present state, I am strongly impressed with the idea, that the
+     connection between England and Ireland in a great degree depends
+     upon the maintenance of the Protestant ascendancy. It is the
+     principle which attaches the Parliament of Ireland to Great
+     Britain; it is the security for the property of those whose
+     influence gives them power in this country; it is the strength of
+     English government in Ireland. If ever the Roman Catholics should
+     acquire power enough to render the prospect of regaining their
+     properties sufficiently promising for the attempt, they must begin
+     by the destruction of English government. I do therefore consider
+     it indispensably necessary to give every degree of influence to the
+     Protestant interest; but that would be as a drop of water to the
+     sea, unless that interest was supported by the power of England.
+     But as I do not believe John Bull would much like to expend his
+     money in a struggle between the Protestants and Roman Catholics of
+     Ireland, merely on a crusade principle, I would not have him called
+     upon in a case wherein the ground to be maintained was not similar
+     to that which had been sanctioned by the British Parliament, and
+     might therefore, in a certain degree, be considered as the cause of
+     the empire.
+
+     You desire me to turn my thoughts to a permanent system. The only
+     permanent, practicable system that I can discover, is, that there
+     should at all times be a perfect understanding and concurrence
+     between the Governments of the two countries upon this subject;
+     that no step affecting the Catholics should be taken in England
+     without a minute attention to Ireland; and that the people of that
+     persuasion should be on the same footing in the two countries.
+
+The entire passage may be accepted as an epitome of the principle on
+which Lord Westmoreland's Administration in Ireland was conducted; and
+this authentic exposition of it is invested with some claim to
+historical importance.
+
+A letter from Lord Grenville in the beginning of the session refers to
+certain new arrangements which were in progress in the Cabinet, but
+which did not materially affect its constitution.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Feb. 4th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I should have written to you before on the subject of the
+     arrangements, if I had been able to say anything satisfactory or
+     decisive to you about them. But I think it right to mention to you
+     the state of the business, in order that you may know exactly how
+     it stands. An unexpected difficulty has arisen where we least
+     looked for it, on the part of Lord Hawkesbury, who has declined
+     exchanging the Duchy for the Mint, although he has been distinctly
+     told that the Cabinet is to be given him with the latter, and not
+     with the former. Whether he is playing any game in this we are
+     unable to discover, but such is the answer which he has given,
+     after having taken time to consider of it. This, as you see, at
+     once stops the whole business _in limine_, unless some solution can
+     be found for the difficulty; and I must confess I do not now see
+     what solution there is for it. It was not till two days ago that
+     this great man gave his answer, and therefore it is still, I think,
+     by no means impossible that his stomach may come down when he sees
+     Pitt determined to abide by this as a condition of the other, which
+     there is indeed no temptation to grant him without it. On the whole
+     it may be only a piece of magnificence, in order to give to his
+     admission to the Cabinet the appearance of a favour done by him,
+     instead of one received. But of all this you are as well able to
+     judge as ourselves, and none of us have anything to go upon but
+     conjecture. A few days may probably enable us to form a better
+     judgment, and for that we must wait.
+
+     It is, I am sure, unnecessary for me to say how much this
+     unexpected difficulty has hurt both Pitt and myself. I am racking
+     my brains to find a remedy for it, and shall be truly happy if any
+     such should occur either to you or to us.
+
+     The accounts of our dear Catherine are now such as I hope to put
+     all idea of present danger out of the question; but it has been a
+     most alarming attack, and I fear is only the earnest of much
+     suffering and frequent illness from the same cause, the existence
+     of which seems now to be but too clearly ascertained.
+
+     Everybody in London has been ill. I have not escaped my usual cold,
+     but am now getting well. I rejoice in the satisfactory account
+     which the Bulkeleys give of you.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     They have suddenly stirred in Ireland a question about spirits,
+     beer, &c., which they seem to understand no more of than I do, who
+     have had no opportunity of learning anything about it. Lord W., in
+     one of his private letters, mentions some plan of yours about hops,
+     and I think I recollect something passing between us on the
+     subject, but have no trace what it was. I have a clerkship vacant
+     in my office: can it be made useful to any object of yours?
+
+     You probably know also that Selwyn's death gives me the disposal of
+     his office in Barbadoes, of between L100 and L500 per annum, but it
+     can be held only by a resident. I feel myself bound, in the first
+     instance, to offer to Nepean, who is killing himself by his labour
+     here, to give it to any proper person who will vacate anything for
+     it here. If that fails, you know I have no other idea of patronage
+     than that of consulting your wishes, or serving our joint objects.
+
+A little stray light is thrown upon this question of spirits and beer in
+Ireland by Mr. Hobart in a letter to Lord Buckingham. The great evil
+which demoralized the Irish, including, it appears, even the country
+gentlemen, was whiskey-drinking; and with a view to diminish it, if
+possible, the Irish Government brought in a Bill, putting a heavy duty
+on spirits, and liberating beer, hoping that the measure would act as a
+prohibition in the one case, and as an encouragement in the other.
+
+     Sobering the people of Ireland, I look upon to be an impracticable
+     undertaking; but the abominable use of whiskey, rendered it
+     necessary that Government should endeavour to do something which
+     might tend in some degree to check the evil. Meeting and
+     reconciling all the difficulties you have adverted to, I cannot
+     flatter myself has been accomplished; but we have struggled against
+     them as well as we could, and by not attempting too much, _perhaps_
+     we shall effect something. I enclose a paper, showing what will be
+     the state of the duties when the Bill passes; in addition to which,
+     we take all restrictions off the brewery, leaving the brewers at
+     liberty to sell at their own price, and to brew as they please. We
+     have also some hopes from regulations, to which we are encouraged
+     by the general outcry against whiskey, and assurances that country
+     gentlemen will _violate their natures_, and assist in carrying the
+     laws into execution. I must acknowledge that I am not very sanguine
+     upon the subject; but the magnitude of the grievance called for the
+     interposition of the legislature--_et librari animum meum_.
+
+The subject of the following letter, although, from its nature,
+cautiously expressed, may be inferred from the allusion it contains to
+the Duke of Leeds, who held the office of Secretary of State. His Grace
+was on the eve of relinquishing the Seals, but, for reasons of his own,
+or, perhaps, to avoid embarrassing the Ministry, he desired his
+intentions to be kept secret. Having imposed this obligation on others,
+he seems to have violated it himself, and thus his approaching
+retirement became known to Lord Buckingham before his Lordship received
+any intimation of it from Lord Grenville. The silence of his habitual
+and confidential correspondent on a point of so much interest disturbed
+Lord Buckingham's sensibility; but it will be felt that Lord Grenville's
+vindication is conclusive.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Holwood, April 26th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I should certainly be much to blame if I were insensible to the
+     kindness of your last letter, though written under an impression,
+     in the justice of which I should be very sorry indeed to acquiesce.
+     I have little time for justifications on that subject, but my
+     anxiety to remove such an impression makes me say that I am not
+     conscious to myself of any want of that confidence towards you,
+     which our friendship demands, and which I wish to be reciprocal.
+     But that I neither ask of you, nor can think that you require from
+     me, the breach of actual or even of implied engagements to others,
+     not to divulge points in which they are concerned. A strict
+     observance of such engagements is surely the condition of all
+     honourable intercourse in society, and a duty from which no degree
+     of confidence, friendship, or affection towards a third person, can
+     absolve one. With respect to this particular case of the Duke of
+     L., I am sure your own reflections will not suffer you to impute
+     blame to me, if after having required from those with whom he was
+     acting an engagement of secrecy, which he had a right to demand
+     from them, his own levity, or any other reason, induced him to
+     divulge his own secret. Ask yourself, and I will leave the subject
+     there, whether you had rather have known this event, as has been
+     now the case, a day or two later than you might otherwise have
+     done, or have been the occasion of my doing an act which my own
+     mind would have reproached me with as dishonourable in itself, and
+     in this particular instance a breach of a positive promise which I
+     had given.
+
+     Surely if I am deserving of your confidence, or any man's, it can
+     only be so long as I feel the nature of such confidence, and fulfil
+     the obligations which it imposes upon me, even where the violation
+     of them might be of real advantage to you, much more where it could
+     have answered no one purpose of utility, or even of gratification.
+     All I can add is, that if I see this subject in too serious a
+     light, or entertain ideas too strict with respect to it, my
+     impressions upon it are at least those of serious reflection; and
+     that they are the same which direct my conduct towards the few
+     other persons who have a right, and none has so much right as
+     yourself, to affection and confidence from me.
+
+     I have anticipated your advice, and taken refuge here. I feel
+     already the advantage of air, and of rather more exercise than I
+     have been able lately to allow myself. I am sorry if my former
+     letter bore the appearance of depression, but you know that my mind
+     has not been at ease on other subjects, and will therefore allow
+     for the effect of the weight of fresh labour and anxiety suddenly
+     thrown upon me.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most truly and affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+The Duke of Leeds resigned on the 8th of June, and was succeeded by Mr.
+Dundas.
+
+At this moment, not England alone, but all Europe, was engrossed by the
+strange drama that was going forward in Paris. The first piece of
+intelligence that arrived was an announcement that the King and the
+royal family had effected their escape at night from the Tuileries by a
+subterranean passage leading to the Seine; and, as it afterwards
+appeared, that His Majesty had left behind him a paper formally
+revoking, on the grounds of compulsion, the oaths and declarations to
+which he had been forced to subscribe. Lord Grenville conveyed the
+startling news, just as it had reached him, in a hasty note to Lord
+Buckingham.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 25th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The enclosed, which I received this morning from Lord Gower, will
+     inform you of the very unexpected event which has happened at
+     Paris. As the messenger came through Calais, he heard a report,
+     which was circulated with much confidence, that the King, &c., had
+     been stopped at a place which he calls Quinault, and which I guess
+     to be Quenoy in the Cambresis, if, indeed, there is any foundation
+     at all for the story. Montmorin is to write to Lucerne, to make a
+     communication here from the National Assembly, of _their_ intention
+     to maintain peace with other countries. We have, of course, not had
+     time to consider what answer to give, or what steps to take.
+
+     One of the French papers contains an account of a party of
+     travellers passing through Senlis about four or five in the same
+     morning, which evidently appears to have been the King and his
+     suite. This account was read at the Assembly; and confirms the idea
+     of their having taken the route of the Netherlands.
+
+     You will have the goodness to communicate this letter and its
+     enclosure, to Lord Camelford.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     Tell me what Lord Camelford and you think we ought to do; as it is
+     very possible we may not have taken our determination before I can
+     receive your answer.
+
+The story was, of course, doubted at first. But it turned out to be true
+in every particular except the name of the place, which was Varennes.
+The royal fugitives were seized on the 22nd of June, and carried back to
+Paris to be confronted with the Provisional Executive Council that had
+been established as soon as their flight was known.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 26th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The King and Queen of France were stopped at Varennes, a small town
+     between St. Menchond and Luxemburg. The post-master at St.
+     Menchond, suspected them to be aristocrats making their escape, and
+     followed the carriage. Seeing it strike out from the great road, to
+     Verdun, he got before them by another road, to Varennes, and gave
+     the alarm. When they arrived, the National Guard was already drawn
+     out; and they were forced to stop, and go into the inn. There they
+     were known by a man of the town. They were prevailed upon, without
+     much resistance, as it appears, on their part, to turn their
+     horses' heads, and to go back to Chalons, where they slept that
+     night. They were to sleep at Epernay the Thursday night; and were
+     expected in Paris, Friday, or more probably, Saturday.
+     Commissioners have been named by the Assembly, at the head of whom
+     is Barnave, to _protect their return_ to Paris. The proclamation,
+     or manifesto, left behind him, by the King is curious, and in some
+     parts well drawn. I hope to be able to send it you by to-morrow's
+     post. Paris had remained pretty quiet; but there was some
+     disposition in the Poissardes and Faubourg St. Antoine to assemble,
+     in order to manifest their joy. Bouille appears to have been in the
+     plot, and is suspended from his command by the Assembly, who have
+     also given orders to arrest him; but I suppose he is too wise to
+     suffer himself to fall into their hands.
+
+     Monsieur and Madame are safely arrived at Mons; so that if the King
+     had taken that route, he might probably have escaped. I feel
+     sincerely for him; and still more for the Queen, who, I imagine,
+     must expect to suffer much.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 29th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Lord Gower's courier arrived this morning, with an account of the
+     King and Queen being brought back to Paris. Everything passed with
+     a black and sullen silence; no mark of respect whatever was allowed
+     to be shown them. Biron and Lafayette were in the carriage with
+     them. The mob followed the carriage into the garden of Tuileries;
+     and on alighting, these wretched captives heard every species of
+     abuse and insult, that even a Paris mob is capable of.
+
+     They talk of sending the Queen to the Convent of Val de Grace for
+     the present; and the report is, they mean to try her. The King is
+     to undergo an interrogatory on Tuesday; and on the result of that,
+     it is supposed he is to be deposed, and the Dauphin declared King,
+     with a Council of Regency. These, as you will see, are all reports;
+     but the melancholy certainty is, that neither in Paris, nor in any
+     part of the country which we have heard of, does there seem the
+     least disposition to pity, and much less to assist them.
+
+     We have the bad news, that the Austrian Plenipotentiaries have
+     left Sistovo; but, as they express it, without breaking up the
+     Congress. The armistice is not renewed; but it seems as if it would
+     be continued by a sort of tacit consent. You will have seen in the
+     papers the further demands made by the Emperor, on which the
+     business has stopped.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+     The Queen's behaviour is said to have been admirable.
+
+Early in this year, Ministers had moved and carried an Address from His
+Majesty, reporting the failure of his negotiations to bring about a
+peace between Russia and Turkey, and desiring to augment his naval
+forces for the sake of giving more weight to his interposition. This
+Address was vehemently, but unsuccessfully, opposed in both Houses, on
+the ground that such a course was calculated to lead to hostilities, and
+plunge the nation into an unnecessary expenditure. Advantage was taken
+of the occasion to make it appear that Mr. Pitt wanted to involve the
+country in the war, and that his policy was essentially injurious to the
+industry and material welfare of the people. The following interesting
+passage from a letter of Lord Grenville's, dated the 17th of August, not
+only disproves the imputation, but shows how anxious Ministers were to
+secure peace, how much they were relieved and gratified by its
+accomplishment, and to what a height of prosperity they had succeeded in
+bringing the commerce and revenue of the kingdom.
+
+     We received this morning the account that the negotiations at
+     Sistovo are at last satisfactorily concluded. A definitive treaty
+     of peace, on the grounds of the _status quo_ strict, was to be
+     signed on the 4th of this month, under the mediation of the Allies;
+     and at the same time a separate Act, by which the Austrians and
+     Turks treat as powers between whom peace is already concluded (and
+     consequently without mediation) for some such arrangements of
+     frontier, and the settlement of a dispute about Old Orsova, which
+     town is to remain in the hands of Austria. You may suppose this
+     event gives me no small satisfaction; and I hope I shall now begin
+     to breathe a little, which I have hardly done since April last. You
+     can hardly form to yourself an idea of the labour I have gone
+     through; but I am repaid by the maintenance of peace, which is all
+     this country has to desire. We shall now, I hope, for a very long
+     period indeed enjoy this blessing, and cultivate a situation of
+     prosperity unexampled in our history. The state of our commerce,
+     our revenue, and, above all, that of our public funds, is such as
+     to hold out ideas which but a few years ago would indeed have
+     appeared visionary, and which there is now every hope of realizing.
+
+The next letter refers to a matter of personal interest. A Rangership
+had fallen vacant by the death of Lord Orford, and it appeared desirable
+to Lord Grenville to effect an exchange between that office and the
+reversion he held of the Chief Remembrancership in Ireland. Upon all
+questions of this nature, as indeed on all questions that directly
+affected himself and his own objects, Lord Grenville was always
+reluctant to decide until he had first consulted Lord Buckingham, in
+whose judgment and affection he reposed unbounded confidence.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Dec. 7th, 1791.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I mentioned to you last week, that there was a subject I wished to
+     talk with you about; but as my getting down to Stowe seems to grow
+     every day more and more uncertain, and as the subject in question
+     is now brought to a point, I am obliged to write to you upon it;
+     though I cannot so easily say all I wish upon it in this manner. It
+     is, shortly, to ask your advice whether, in consequence of Lord
+     Orford's death, I should not exchange my reversion of Lord Cl.'s
+     office, for the immediate appointment to the Rangership, which I
+     apprehend it is clearly in the King's power to grant for life. The
+     different reasons, _pro_ and _con_, will as readily suggest
+     themselves to you as to me. The great points to be gained by the
+     exchange are, first, the certainty of some provision, instead of an
+     expectancy, which I may never live to enjoy; and what is still more
+     than that, the great advantage of having that provision in this
+     country, instead of looking for it in Ireland, subject to the
+     chance of what injustice party may be able to do in Ireland, which
+     they could not do here, and subject, also, to the general chance of
+     troubles in that country, which I fear are too probable. Against
+     this, is to be set some difference (as I believe) in the value of
+     the two offices, though I have not yet been able to ascertain it;
+     and the degree of invidiousness and clamour which my receiving any
+     new favour (for such this would undoubtedly be considered) would be
+     subject to, especially at a moment when Government are rather under
+     difficulties, and when I must expect so many competitors, for a
+     thing in many respects so desirable.
+
+     The impression of my own mind is, I confess, very strongly for
+     taking the step. Pitt is entirely ready to acquiesce in what I
+     judge best, though I can see he is, to a certain degree, alarmed at
+     the impression it may make. The thing has been generally opened to
+     the King as a possible arrangement, in order to prevent his
+     entering into any other engagements. I cannot describe the real
+     kindness of manner and expression with which he assured me of his
+     readiness to do in it whatever I wished. It rests, therefore, with
+     myself to decide; and although I have, as you see, a strong bias in
+     favour of the step, I do not feel confident enough of my own
+     opinion not to be very desirous of knowing yours. I fairly own to
+     you, that if I was _in the same situation_ as I was a year and a
+     half ago, I should be inclined to let this go by me, and to run my
+     chance for some better opportunity. But I certainly feel that after
+     the conduct which Lord C. has observed towards me on the subject of
+     money, I am (even as with respect to him) hardly as much at liberty
+     as I was to consult my own feelings, supposing that it were
+     possible for me to put out of the question another consideration a
+     good deal more interesting to me.
+
+     If the thing is to be done, "then 'twere well it were done
+     quickly," in order to prevent applications from different people,
+     every one of whom might feel, to a degree, offended by the
+     preference, if his wishes were known. You will conceive, therefore,
+     for this reason, and from the anxiety of the suspense, how glad I
+     shall be to hear from you soon, as your affection is the only
+     quarter to which I can look for advice, founded on a view and
+     knowledge of my real situation. I hinted the thing generally to Tom
+     before he left town, but the unfortunate difference of politics
+     makes it impossible for me to talk over with him freely and fully
+     that part of the subject, which is a material one. He is getting
+     well very rapidly.
+
+     I have heard from Lord C. from Rome. He gives a very good account
+     of the health of the whole party. He had received letters from his
+     son and Mudge, which he tells me are all he could wish. He desires
+     to be remembered to you.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother,
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+
+
+1792.
+
+MR. PITT'S BUDGET--THE STATE OF IRELAND--THE KING DISMISSES LORD
+THURLOW--DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND--FRENCH EMIGRANTS--RETREAT OF THE DUKE
+OF BRUNSWICK--MEASURES OF INTERNAL DEFENCE--THE FRENCH CONVENTION
+DECLARES WAR AGAINST ENGLAND AND HOLLAND.
+
+
+Notwithstanding the vast expenditure to which the country had been
+recently exposed, the Budget, at the opening of Parliament in 1792, more
+than realized the anticipations of Lord Grenville. The statement laid
+before the House of Commons by Mr. Pitt was a complete answer to the
+apprehensions of the timid, and the taunts of the Opposition. There was
+a clear surplus of L900,000 in the month of January, after paying the
+interest of the National Debt, the annual million devoted to its
+extinction, the Civil List, the naval and military establishments, and
+all other items of current outlay. Upon this basis of unexampled
+prosperity the Minister proposed to remit a large amount of taxation,
+and to apply a further sum towards the extinction of the National Debt.
+He did not regard this surplus as a temporary or transient incident,
+but as the genuine and natural result of regular and permanent causes.
+In the existing state of the continent, it was impossible to calculate
+with certainty upon the future, and Mr. Pitt, even in this solid
+condition of the national finances, was careful not to indulge in hopes
+of too sanguine a character, which a sudden turn of events, beyond the
+control of English influence, might frustrate and disappoint. His
+language was explicit as to his confidence in the present, but guarded
+as to his views of the future. "On the continuance of our present
+prosperity," he observed, "it is indeed impossible to count with
+certainty; but unquestionably, there never was a time when, from the
+situation of Europe, we might more reasonably expect a durable peace
+than at the present moment." The subsequent course of European politics,
+unfortunately, did not bear out this expectation; but at the moment when
+it was uttered, the lull that had set in on the continent, and the
+flourishing state of our own trade and commerce, abundantly justified
+the statement of the Minister. Some additional reliance on the stability
+of our prospects might also have been drawn from the fact that the
+destinies of England were never in abler hands than those to whom they
+were confided in 1792, with Mr. Pitt at the Treasury and Lord Grenville
+at the Foreign Office.
+
+Parliament met on the 31st of January. The Speech from the Throne
+announced the conclusion of the treaty between Austria and the Ottoman
+Porte, and the agreement to preliminaries between the latter and Russia.
+The maintenance of peace was regarded, under the circumstances, as so
+certain that His Majesty was induced to recommend for the consideration
+of Parliament an immediate reduction of the naval and military
+establishments. The following letters, written before the opening of
+Parliament, touch slightly on these affairs.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Jan. 6th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     My present idea on the subject of your last letter entirely agrees
+     with yours, and I wait only till the great bear returns to this
+     hemisphere to put it in execution roundly, and without reserve. The
+     only thing that restrains me is the extreme importance that I feel
+     it is of to my honour not to involve any other persons, and still
+     less a whole system of Government, in a personal contest, which I
+     am obliged to maintain (being embarked in it) for a personal
+     object. The mode of doing this is not without much difficulty, and
+     it is the only difficulty I feel on the subject.
+
+     Before I do anything decisive, I will certainly contrive in some
+     manner to talk it over with you, but till I know the precise time
+     of his return my motions are of course suspended. The moment I am
+     able I will write to you again.
+
+     The solution of the French enigma which you state is, that it is a
+     war of bullying on both sides, the two parties being equally afraid
+     of each other. In the meantime there certainly are some in France
+     who wish the war, but very many more who fear it, and the ruin of
+     their finances is approaching with very rapid strides indeed. What
+     a contrast we shall make with them, when I come to state to you the
+     particulars, about which I am now little less sanguine than I was
+     at Weymouth.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Jan. 17th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Nothing more has passed _on the subject_, but a day or two will now
+     probably bring it to a point, as Dundas is to see _him_, and put
+     the question to him, yes or no, either to-morrow or Thursday. This
+     is not to be done with any message from me, a point which I have
+     thought it indispensably necessary to stipulate, in order that I
+     might not have to reproach myself with anything like personal
+     solicitation to _him_ on such a point. I feel this so material,
+     that I have made a pretext of going to take possession of my castle
+     on Thursday, in order to be completely out of the way of all
+     negotiation upon the subject. Pitt comes to me on Saturday, and
+     brings me the answer on which my future conduct must depend. I
+     shall remain there, if possible, till the Friday or Saturday
+     following. It would be very little out of your way to make it your
+     run on Tuesday, when you would certainly find me there, and I need
+     not say that I should, in any case, be extremely glad to see you
+     there; but more particularly if any further step is to be taken
+     about this business, in which I do not well see my way, because I
+     hardly see how I can take that line which my own situation
+     personally seems so loudly to demand, without involving more than I
+     should like to do of public consequences. If I alone were
+     concerned, my line would be very soon taken.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     Everything looks like peace on the side of France.
+
+A letter from Mr. Hobart gives a sketch of the state of Ireland at this
+time. The English Bill of toleration had produced a ferment in the
+country, and the war of religious animosity was assuming a more violent
+aspect every day.
+
+
+MR. HOBART TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dublin Castle, Jan. 30th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     The multiplicity of business, both public and _private_, in which I
+     have been engaged since I left Stowe, must plead my excuse for
+     having so long postponed writing to your Lordship. I cannot,
+     however, delay thanking you for the communication you have made
+     through Mornington on the subject of my marriage--a subject I
+     should not have been silent upon when I had the pleasure of seeing
+     you, had I not predetermined the case, and therefore was not open
+     to advice. I flatter myself you will be happy to hear that I have
+     received a most friendly and liberal letter from the Earl of Bucks
+     upon the occasion, and have experienced every attention and
+     kindness from all my friends, and a marked civility from all
+     persons here on both sides of the question.
+
+     You can have little idea of the ferment that has been raised on the
+     subject of Catholics. When I saw you, I talked of existing
+     prejudices, which would ever render it no easy task to carry the
+     English concessions. I little thought that the minds of the
+     Protestants could be so inflamed, as a variety of circumstances
+     (but principally the industry of Mr. R. Burke) has inflamed them.
+     He has endeavoured, and with too much success, to persuade the
+     Catholics that British Government were determined to compel the
+     Irish Administration, and through them the Parliament of Ireland,
+     to open the franchise to the Catholics; that therefore, if they
+     persevered in the assertion of their claims, they could not fail of
+     carrying their point. The alarm and indignation that this created
+     amongst the Protestants was such as I will not venture to describe;
+     but you may be assured that any Irish Government that countenanced
+     such a measure could not stand twenty-four hours afterwards, if the
+     Parliament was sitting. So far from the Protestants being likely to
+     be terrified into compliance, they instantly became desperate at
+     the very idea of it. The cry was, "Let us bring it at once to an
+     issue. If England will not protect us, the sooner we know it the
+     better: anything is preferable to the horrid state of suspense we
+     are now reduced to; at all events, we must resist every concession.
+     Let us not make the Catholics stronger, the better to enable them
+     to annihilate us at a future day. The Protestants must unite for
+     their own protection; and although Mr. Pitt's Government will not
+     defend us, possibly the weight of all the Parliamentary power of
+     Ireland thrown into the scale of English Opposition may force them
+     into office, and they may be more disposed to favour us than the
+     present Administration."
+
+     These ideas were rankling in every man's mind when the Parliament
+     met, and it is with the utmost difficulty that we have been able to
+     remove them. I cannot paint more strongly to you the real situation
+     of the feelings of the House of Commons, than by telling you, that
+     a declaration from me upon my legs, "that it was the determination
+     of the Government of _both_ countries to maintain the Protestant
+     establishment, and to resist any attempts by force or intimidation
+     that might be made to subvert it," afforded a degree of consolation
+     which, not having witnessed, you can hardly credit, so great was
+     the apprehension upon the subject.
+
+     The newspapers will have informed you of our proceedings upon that
+     day; I shall, therefore, only add that I am still doubtful of the
+     event of the Bill, but am inclined to believe we shall carry it. I
+     hear that, if the Ponsonbys are satisfied that there will be a
+     majority in favour of it, they will concur; if they think they can
+     throw it out, they will oppose. Should we carry the Bill, the
+     gentlemen of the Roman Catholics will be highly gratified, and the
+     rabble bullied--both circumstances which will tend very much to the
+     future quiet of the country.
+
+     I am informed that Mr. R. Burke and his employers have quarrelled,
+     and that Ireland may soon hope to be relieved from his gracious
+     superintendence. I am sure I heartily wish it, for he has
+     contrived, by his impudence, folly, and misrepresentations, to
+     awake animosities between the Protestants and Catholics that had
+     slept for fifty years, and that a reasonable man might have hoped
+     would have slept for ever. I see no ground to apprehend tumult of
+     any kind. The Catholics, I think, dare not stir; and the United
+     Irishmen, with Napper Tandy at their head, are sinking into
+     nothing. Napper, and indeed his friend Grattan, have totally lost
+     their influence in the Corporation.
+
+     The Duke of Leinster had committed himself very far indeed upon the
+     subject of franchise, and is now retreating through his Corporation
+     of Athy, who have addressed their representatives, Colonel Arthur
+     Ormsby and Mr. Falkiner, to support the Protestant ascendancy.
+
+     I am told that the northern people do not much object to our Bill.
+     Any one step further would have been totally impracticable, and
+     would have produced a confusion that no man could have foreseen the
+     consequence of.
+
+     My best compliments to Lady Buckingham.
+
+     Believe me ever, my dear Lord, with every respect and gratitude,
+     affectionately yours,
+
+     R. HOBART.
+
+Amidst the arrivals of foreign news, which every day created new
+excitements in the political circles, a movement was beginning to be
+felt in the Cabinet which was shortly to produce an important change in
+the Administration. The eccentricities of the Chancellor had on several
+occasions given much uneasiness to Ministers. He seemed to move in an
+orbit of his own, independently of his colleagues; while the influence
+he exercised over the King's mind, and his repulsive bearing, made all
+approaches to him difficult and hazardous. The first consideration, when
+an unexpected question sprung up, was to ascertain what view Thurlow was
+likely to take of it; and it was sometimes as necessary to conciliate
+him and to wait upon his moods, as if he had been a powerful, but
+doubtful supporter, instead of a member of the Government. "We may do
+with, but cannot do without him," appears to have been the general
+feeling in reference to him; and it was only by the most skilful
+management that Mr. Pitt averted those dissensions in the Cabinet which
+his strange line of conduct had so palpable a tendency to provoke. At
+last the Chancellor committed himself openly to a hostile vote upon a
+vital measure, and left it no longer possible for the Minister to
+palliate their differences by private negotiations. The character and
+dignity of the Administration was at stake, and there was but one
+alternative left. The extremity to which matters were thus reduced is
+glanced at hesitatingly by Lord Grenville. The commentary which he did
+not think it right to make at such a moment may now, however, be
+supplied. The vote of Lord Thurlow placed the Cabinet in this position,
+that it remained for the King to choose between them. Mr. Pitt was
+prepared to resign, if the decisive advice he tendered to His Majesty
+was not immediately acted upon.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, May 15th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have the happiness of being able to send you an account of the
+     capture of Seringapatam. The news is brought by a letter from a Dr.
+     Abercromby, who was sent with Lord Cornwallis's despatches, in the
+     'Vestal.' He put this letter on board another vessel in the
+     Channel, and it comes by express from Bristol.
+
+     A decisive action took place about the 6th of January, at a village
+     near Seringapatam. Tippoo's army was entirely routed, and a few
+     days after the place surrendered. Tippoo is said to have been
+     wounded in the action, and carried to the hill-fort: this is all we
+     know. If the "Gazette" is out in time, Goddard will send it you.
+
+     The Duke of P. and his friends have declined being at the Council.
+     We mean, nevertheless, to take the step, and to propose Addresses
+     in both Houses of Parliament. It seems impossible for them not to
+     support us there, but it is at least right to bring it to a point.
+     When the day is fixed for the motion in the House of Lords I will
+     let you know it, as I think you will wish to be present, and
+     probably may be desirous of expressing your opinion. I consider the
+     Duke of P.'s refusal as an additional proof of the decisive
+     influence Fox possesses over their minds when he chooses to exert
+     it.
+
+     You will have seen that the Chancellor opposed the National Debt
+     Bill yesterday _by surprise_, and had nearly beat us. What this may
+     lead to, I do not yet know; but as at present advised, I think the
+     consequences must be decisive on his situation or ours. But it
+     requires some reflection, and some management in the quarter that
+     you know.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+The "quarter" alluded to had the courage to decide not only wisely but
+promptly, and Thurlow was peremptorily called upon to resign.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, May 18th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The King has charged Dundas with a message to the Chancellor,
+     stating the necessity he was under of making his option, and
+     therefore requiring him to give up the Seals, leaving the time to
+     his choice. The Chancellor is to see the King to-day, and after
+     that the thing will, I imagine, be immediately announced, though I
+     hardly think it can take place till the end of the session. Our
+     present idea is to put the Seals in Commission, with Eyre at the
+     head, which (with the vacation) will give time for future
+     arrangements. It is impossible as yet to guess at the success of
+     those arrangements, but I imagine they would unquestionably be much
+     facilitated by the sacrifice you so generously offer. I have not,
+     however, thought myself at liberty to make any use of what you say
+     on that subject, nor will I, as I think that if you make up your
+     mind to so very handsome an offer, you ought at least to have the
+     merit with Pitt of announcing it to him, instead of its having the
+     appearance of passing in any manner through me.
+
+     We shall, I believe, issue the proclamation to-day or to-morrow at
+     latest, and Friday is, I think, the most likely day for the Address
+     in the House of Lords; but you shall hear further from me. I say
+     nothing of that part of the Indian news which _is_ true, as you
+     will already have seen it in all the papers.
+
+     The King has conducted himself towards Pitt in this unpleasant
+     situation in a manner the most handsome possible, and such as must
+     leave a lasting impression in our minds. I do not look without
+     some uneasiness at the increase of personal labour of all sorts
+     which this will bring upon me; _mais le vin est tire_.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 13th, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I know you share the happiness I feel, in learning that _my
+     travellers_ were to be at Brussels in the course of last week, and
+     did not purpose making more than four or five days' stay there, so
+     that I may reasonably expect them here from day to day. I am
+     rejoiced that my holidays have begun before they are arrived. We
+     prorogue on Friday, and have finished all our business to-day,
+     which is a great load off my shoulders. The Chancellor is to give
+     up the Seals immediately, and they will be put into Commission with
+     Eyre, Buller, and Wilson, as I imagine, though the names are not
+     yet quite settled. We shall have the summer to look about us; and I
+     feel no great uneasiness even at the thoughts of meeting them again
+     precisely as we are, if that should be the case.
+
+     There is no news of any sort, except the continuance of the French
+     follies, which you read day by day in their papers, as fully, and
+     indeed often much more so, than I could detail them. There have
+     been some great failures at Bordeaux, and some at Paris, which
+     makes those few of our merchants who are concerned with them look
+     about them a little.
+
+     Our Addresses are going on swimmingly, and it will, I think, soon
+     be time for the loyal county of B. to show itself. They expect a
+     dust in Surrey, which my good Lord Onslow does not seem to have
+     quite wit enough to lay.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+Two days after the date of this letter, Parliament was prorogued, and
+the Chancellor sent in his resignation.
+
+The events that were taking place in France had recently awakened in
+England a spirit of sympathy amongst the lower classes, which it was
+apprehended might lead to disastrous consequences, if strong measures
+were not adopted for its suppression. Several associations were
+established in London and elsewhere to give practical effect to the
+democratic and revolutionary doctrines of the day, under such titles as
+the Corresponding Society, the Revolution Society, and the Society for
+Constitutional Information; and some of them carried their views so far
+as to transmit congratulatory addresses to the National Assembly. The
+Government, seeing the peril that was impending over the country, took
+immediate measures for the suppression of seditious correspondence
+abroad, and revolutionary publications at home. A proclamation embodying
+these objects was laid before Parliament towards the end of May, and
+carried without a division, notwithstanding a violent opposition from
+Mr. Grey and others, who had formed themselves into a Society called
+"The Friends of the People," for the ostensible purpose of appeasing the
+discontents, by obtaining a reform in the representation.
+
+Immediately after the prorogation of Parliament, meetings were held all
+over the country, to testify to the King the loyalty and gratitude of
+the population, and to return thanks to His Majesty for the activity and
+decision with which the dangers of the crisis had been met. In the
+course of two or three months, the number of addresses that were voted
+at these meetings and presented to the King amounted to three hundred
+and forty-one.
+
+It is to these circumstances Lord Grenville alludes in the closing
+paragraph of the last letter. In the next communication he urges Lord
+Buckingham to move the Address in his own county; and in the letters
+that follow he touches upon the progress of the sanguinary drama that
+was then enacting in Paris. The domestic allusions refer to his
+approaching marriage.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 21st, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Although I have as yet no tidings of my travellers, I feel so
+     confident of their being here before the day fixed for the Address,
+     that I think I run no risk in promising to be there _at all
+     events_. I have, however, no idea that the noble Marquis will give
+     us the meeting; though I will own to you, there are few things
+     which I should like better. I think the Address perfectly
+     unexceptionable as it now stands; but I should wish to add a
+     sentence somewhere, expressing the satisfaction and concurrence of
+     the county in the sentiments expressed _by Parliament_ on this
+     subject, because I think it may not be indifferent to future
+     debates, to have to quote expressions of this sort, in order to
+     show that, on a great occasion like this, the sense of the people
+     was immediately and completely expressed by Parliament. I enclose
+     you the Devonshire Address, which Fortescue sent me. It was drawn
+     by him; and I think singularly well put together.
+
+     It appears to me, that you ought certainly to move the Address
+     yourself; this not being a case where the common objections apply,
+     but rather the contrary. In that case, perhaps, some person of
+     higher rank ought to second than Drake, Duke of Portland, or Lord
+     Chesterfield, or Lord Inchiquin, or Lord Hampden. If, however, you
+     have actually applied to him, it must be managed as well as it can.
+
+     Do you advertize the meeting in the London papers? I think you
+     ought to write to Lord Chesterfield. When you return me the
+     Address, I will put it into Tom's hands for the Duke of Portland. I
+     think this meeting ought by no means to supersede the idea of the
+     Grand Jury presentment. If you still think that right, I will
+     contrive that Lord Loughborough, who goes your circuit, shall have
+     a hint to prepare the way for it by his charge. You will, of
+     course, be very civil to him. Whether it will come to anything I
+     have not; but there is reason enough to be civil to him, as I will
+     explain when we meet.
+
+     The Berlin news is nothing more than the common story of a squabble
+     between Mistress and Favourite, in which, contrary to custom,
+     Favourite has this time got the better of Mistress. As far as it
+     goes, it is unfavourable to the Jacobins; for the whole project of
+     French interference is Bishopwerder's; and the crime imputed to the
+     other, is a leaning towards the democrats.
+
+     I need not tell you how much I feel the kindness of what you say
+     about my domestic concerns, and the near approach of my prospects.
+     I am sure you do me the justice to think that I am not insensible
+     of all your affection to me on that subject, as, indeed, on every
+     other. Till they arrive, I can form no guess of their plans, nor,
+     consequently, of my own; but, as I shall certainly see you so soon,
+     either here or at Aylesbury, we shall be able to talk about it;
+     and, till then, I think you had better not write to Lord C. on the
+     subject of Stowe, for a reason which you perhaps guess.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, June 25th, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Having been out of town Saturday and Sunday, I did not get the East
+     India news time enough to write to you. The newspapers contain all
+     we know or have received. There is no doubt of the authenticity of
+     the "Bombay Gazette," the original of which is received. But it
+     seems very odd how the news should first reach Bombay through the
+     Nizam's Durbar. On the whole, however, I see no sufficient ground
+     to disbelieve it; and, if true, it is as good as the most sanguine
+     wishes could have desired.
+
+     Lord Camelford is landed at Deal, and will be in town to-morrow
+     night. I shall, therefore, certainly keep my engagement for Friday.
+     I shall see Tom this morning, and will put the Address into his
+     hands, to be communicated to the Duke of Portland, and will also
+     talk to him about the Grand Jury. The new French Ministry is wholly
+     Fayette's, and by his letter he seems to think himself strong
+     enough to take the whole into his own hands and keep it. I have,
+     however, no opinion of his judgment. I am persuaded his plan is to
+     negotiate with the two Courts, and he will find a ready ear to all
+     he can say there. The Princes are wholly excluded, and
+     systematically so, from all that is doing, and will scarce be
+     allowed the honour of fighting should it come to blows. And the
+     King will be too happy to yield to any compromise that he may think
+     will insure his personal safety. And so far for prophecies, in
+     which you know I do not deal much.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     P.S.--The enclosed is for Lord Buckingham. Pray let it be put among
+     the portraits of other heroes. It is original, and Liston says
+     very like. The whipping-post, knife, and pistol, are also
+     portraits.
+
+     I open my letter again to tell you, that by way of anniversary of
+     the 20th, there was a procession of the two faubourgs with pikes,
+     &c., to the National Assembly. From thence they went to the
+     Tuileries, to present what they called a petition to the King. He
+     ordered them to be let in, and they entered, notwithstanding the
+     National Guard, who were there in force, but made no resistance,
+     though it is said they were disposed to it if they had been
+     encouraged. They remained three hours in the King's room, loading
+     him with insults, and demanding the recal of the Jacobin Ministers,
+     and the sanction for the two decrees. They put the red cap upon his
+     head, upon the Queen's, and upon the Dauphin. They were at length
+     persuaded to disperse by Petion telling them that they had
+     sufficiently manifested their patriotism. The King is said to have
+     behaved with uncommon firmness and apparent indifference. The whole
+     was expected, and had been announced for a week, and you see how it
+     was met. The Jacobins feel it a complete triumph, and talk of
+     sending La Fayette to Orleans.
+
+     Luckner has taken possession of Menin, Ypres, and Courtrai, the
+     latter after some resistance, in which the Austrians lost about one
+     hundred men. An action was expected every hour.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     July 2nd, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have a whole budget of news for you, but I must begin with what
+     interests myself most, which is, the thanking you again for your
+     kindness to your _future sister_. I have told her of it, and she
+     feels it as she ought to do. You know I do not deal much in long
+     speeches, nor do you much delight in hearing or reading them; but I
+     am sure that you do me the justice to believe me not the less
+     sensible of all your affection to me, which I have experienced in
+     every stage of my life, and most of all on the most interesting
+     occasion of it. I feel that it is to you I owe my happiness.
+
+     When you give your directions to Froggatt, will you be so good as
+     to bid him put in Lord Camelford's name as the trustee.
+
+     Now for news. The "Gazette," which Goddard sends you, will tell you
+     of Lord Cornwallis's victory. We have this morning a letter from
+     Brooke at St. Helena, enclosing a "Madras Courier," with the
+     account of a second victory, followed by a peace, in which Tippoo
+     stipulates to cede _half his dominions_ to the allies, and to pay
+     them L3,500,000 for the expenses of the war, and to give his two
+     sons for hostages. Nothing can appear more complete; but I wait
+     with impatience for Lord Cornwallis's despatches, as the above
+     expression relative to the cessions is so very loose.
+
+     Lafayette has left his army to go to Paris, and has made a speech
+     to the Assembly, threatening them in pretty plain, though guarded
+     terms, with the resentment of his army, if they do not punish the
+     outrages of the 21st, and demolish the Jacobins. His friends moved
+     to refer his address to the _commission des douze_, which was
+     carried on the _appel nominal_ by 110 majority. He was afterwards
+     carried in triumph to the Tuileries by the National Guards. But the
+     Jacobins are not stunned, and much disturbance was expected in
+     Paris.
+
+     I take it for granted you have told my own news to Lady B., and
+     therefore do not trouble her with a letter. Will you be so good as
+     to say everything that is most kind to her, both from Anne and
+     myself.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+Crowds of emigrants that were driven out of France by the massacres
+that were going on there, night and day, swarmed into the streets of
+London, where they wandered about in great distress. The majority of
+these people were priests; and it was computed that the number of French
+refugees that landed in England, between the 30th of August and the 1st
+of October, amounted to nearly four thousand. Large subscriptions were
+raised for their relief; but as it was essential that the protection
+extended to them should not be abused, Lord Grenville turned his
+attention to the necessity of providing some measure for regulating the
+assistance they received, and guarding against any sinister advantage
+the disaffected amongst them might be disposed to take of the asylum
+which the free institutions of this country threw open to them. Here we
+have the first suggestion of the Alien Bill, which, three months
+afterwards, Lord Grenville introduced into Parliament.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Sept. 20th, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     We returned here from our expedition the day before yesterday,
+     having passed through Weymouth in our way. We left Lord Camelford
+     far from well, and in the intention of coming immediately to town,
+     in order to set out again for the continent. It is a melancholy
+     reflection to think that he should again so soon be obliged to
+     leave us.
+
+     My sudden expedition from Castlehill has delayed my return here so
+     much later than I expected, that I fear it cuts off all hope of my
+     making you a visit in the autumn at Stowe. Pitt goes to-day to take
+     possession of his castle. I suppose you will have heard that Paine
+     had a very narrow escape at Dover. I send you the enclosed, because
+     you may, perhaps, not have seen it, and I am sure it will please
+     you. Pray read Necker's last work.
+
+     We have no news from the armies, except that the siege of
+     Thionville was turned into a blockade, and a general action hourly
+     expected. The Duke of Brunswick's progress does not keep pace with
+     the impatience of our wishes, but I doubt whether it was reasonable
+     to expect more. The detail of the late events at Paris is so
+     horrible, that I do not like to let my mind dwell upon them; and
+     yet I fear that scene of shocking and savage barbarity is very far
+     from its close. I deliver this day to the Imperial and Neapolitan
+     Ministers a note, with the formal assurance that in case of the
+     murder of the King or Queen, the persons guilty of that crime shall
+     not be allowed any asylum in the King's dominions. Opinions are a
+     little doubtful about the best means of giving effect to this
+     promise, should the case arise. Our lawyers seem clear, and
+     Blackstone expressly asserts, that the King may prevent any alien
+     from coming into the kingdom, or remaining there. But this power
+     has so rarely been used, that it may, perhaps, be better to have a
+     special Act of Parliament applying to this case. This, however,
+     relates only to the mode. I imagine everybody will think the thing
+     itself right, and some people seem to hope it may prevent the
+     commission of the crime in question. In this hope I am not very
+     sanguine.
+
+     We have no account of Spain having declared war, except what comes
+     through France.
+
+     God bless you, and believe me
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+The retreat of the combined army, under the Duke of Brunswick, cast a
+gloom over the hopes of the struggling royalists. The soldiers had
+suffered severe sickness from eating the unripe grapes of Champagne,
+and, contrary to the expectations in which they had been led to indulge,
+the peasantry everywhere opposed them by attacking detachments, and
+breaking up the roads.
+
+Whilst these events were spreading consternation over the continent, the
+proceedings of the Irish Roman Catholics were of a nature to awaken
+serious uneasiness in England. The whole country was convulsed on the
+subject of concessions, the debates in Parliament exhibited unexampled
+intemperance, and it was said that subscriptions to the extent of nearly
+three millions had been entered into with the intention of purchasing
+lands in America, should the demands of the Roman Catholics be refused.
+
+Whatever opinion Lord Grenville and Mr. Pitt might have previously
+entertained as to the justice or policy of granting further relief, was
+much shaken by the attitude which the Irish assumed at this alarming
+juncture. It was no longer possible to deal with the question on the
+grounds on which it originally rested; and the Imperial Government could
+not compromise its influence and authority by yielding to menace those
+claims which it was willing to accept as a legitimate subject for
+deliberate legislation. Out of these unfortunate checks, hindrances, and
+distrusts on both sides, arose that calamitous condition of Ireland
+which broke out a few years afterwards into open rebellion; but, looking
+back dispassionately on these events at this distance of time, it is
+difficult to see how that disastrous issue could have been prevented.
+The hazard lay between going too far and not going far enough, with the
+certainty that whatever was done must have fallen short of satisfying
+one party, and in an equal degree must have dissatisfied another. It was
+also a matter of continual perplexity with the Government to find the
+right moment for initiating the policy of conciliation. There were
+always moments when, in certain shapes, it would have suited one party
+or the other; but the moment when it would have suited both never came.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Oct. 11th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     We go to Dropmore to-morrow, to fix ourselves for the remainder of
+     the autumn--if any autumn remain. I shall be very much obliged to
+     you for your cargo, whenever Mr. Woodward's prudence allows him to
+     send it.
+
+     We are all much disappointed with the result of the great
+     expectations that had been formed from the Duke of Brunswick's
+     campaign. According to the best accounts I can get, of a business
+     involved in almost inextricable mystery, the flux--which had got
+     into his camp--was the true cause of his retreat. Whatever be the
+     cause, the effect is equally to be regretted. The plan seems now to
+     be, to hold Verdun and Longwy; and to employ the interval before
+     the spring allows them to march forwards again, in besieging the
+     different frontier towns in the neighbourhood. But the example of
+     Thionville will prevent the success of intimidation, or of _coups
+     de main_; and the opening trenches is impossible, at least, till
+     the post comes. Clairfayt's corps of about twenty thousand men is
+     to march towards the Low Countries, to prevent them from being
+     insulted.
+
+     I have thought much of the Irish business. I am very much inclined
+     to think that the alarms stated by the people there are much
+     exaggerated, partly with the view of producing an effect here, and
+     partly, because you know such is the genius of that people to carry
+     everything to extremes. Allowing, however, for this, there is
+     certainly much real cause for alarm. It is, I think, clearly
+     impossible not to resist the demands of the Catholics, in the
+     manner and circumstances in which they are now made. How far it was
+     prudent to have gone last year, in voluntary and gratuitous
+     concession, I know not, and really feel that it requires more local
+     knowledge than I possess to decide. My leaning was certainly in
+     favour of going as far as could be gone with safety, but no person
+     is authorized to state even that leaning; and the subsequent
+     conduct of the Catholics does, in my opinion, go far to shake any
+     opinion which might then have been entertained in favour of further
+     concession.
+
+     My idea, therefore is, that the Irish Parliament must be enabled to
+     meet the struggle, if struggle there is to be, by having the means
+     put into their hands of calling forth all the resources of that
+     country; which, if called forth, I believe to be very great indeed.
+     That this may not ultimately lead to some drain upon the purse and
+     force of this country, is more certain than any man would affirm,
+     who sees what has passed in France. But the probability is, I
+     think, against it. I am inclined to believe, that the voting an
+     increase of the army may be a wise measure of intimidation, and as
+     such, it will be stated to that Government for consideration; but,
+     on the other hand, any increase of expense, which is to lead to
+     increase of taxes, is certainly objectionable. My own persuasion
+     is, that with a very little firmness, the Convention of 1793 will
+     vanish like that of 1783; but this is no reason for neglecting
+     reasonable measures of precaution.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+In these letters occur the first allusions to Dropmore, Lord Grenville's
+seat in Buckinghamshire, which he had recently purchased, and upon the
+embellishment of which he bestowed all the spare hours he could rescue
+from the fatigues of public business. The trees, acknowledged in the
+following letter as having been just received from Stowe, were destined
+to convert a common into pleasure-grounds, under the direction of his
+accomplished taste, which "made the wilderness smile," and transformed a
+remote country nook into a scene of singular and matchless beauty.
+
+The state of Europe, and the views of the writer in reference to it, are
+treated at large in this letter, which is of great historical value as
+an exposition of the firm and judicious course pursued by Lord Grenville
+through a period of universal panic and confusion. To have kept England
+in tranquillity aloof from the perils that were devastating the
+continent, and to have sustained her in such prosperous circumstances as
+to justify the hope that in the next year the Government might be
+enabled to announce a further remission of taxes, furnishes a triumphant
+answer to the charge so frequently brought against Mr. Pitt's
+Administration, of wantonly encouraging a policy that plunged the
+country into a profligate war expenditure.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 7th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The trees arrived safe at Dropmore yesterday, and we were at their
+     unpacking in the middle of such a fog as I never saw before. They
+     will answer admirably well for my purpose, and will make a great
+     figure on my hill in the course of a century or so, provided always
+     that the municipality of Burnham does not cut them down sooner.
+
+     I cannot deny that you have some reason to complain of my silence
+     for the last month, but you have the kindness to assign the true
+     cause; unless, indeed, I was to add another almost equally
+     strong--I mean the absolute want of anything to say. This sounds
+     strange, but it is not the less true. The _events_ you read in the
+     newspapers, often before I get them, and they have been such as it
+     could give me little pleasure to detail. The causes have been hid,
+     _caliginosa nocta_, in a fog almost as thick as that of yesterday,
+     and I have been among the guessers only, and not always among those
+     who were luckiest in their guesses. I bless God, that we had the
+     wit to keep ourselves out of the glorious enterprize of the
+     combined armies, and that we were not tempted by the hope of
+     sharing the spoils in the division of France, nor by the prospect
+     of crushing all democratical principles all over the world at one
+     blow. But having so sturdily resisted all solicitation to join in
+     these plans, we have been punished for our obstinacy by having been
+     kept in profound ignorance of the details by which they were to be
+     executed, and even of the course of events, as far as that could be
+     done, which occurred during the progress of the enterprize. Now
+     that it has failed, we must expect these deep politicians to return
+     to the charge, and to beg us to help them out of the pit into which
+     they wanted to help us. But they have as yet been in no hurry to
+     begin this pleasant communication, and most assuredly we are in no
+     disposition to urge them on faster. You have here, therefore, the
+     explanation of the total impossibility in which I find myself to
+     explain all the inexplicable events of the last two months
+     otherwise than by conjecture. It is but lately that I have thought
+     I had even grounds enough to guess by. But you shall hear my guess.
+     The Austrians and Prussians thought they were marching to certain
+     victory. The emigrants, who had given them this idea, confirmed
+     them in it till the facts undeceived them. The Duke of Brunswick,
+     who joins to great personal valour great indecision of mind, and
+     great soreness for his reputation, hesitated to take the only means
+     that could have insured success--a sudden and hazarded attack. The
+     more he delayed, the more difficult his position grew. He then
+     attempted to buy a man, who, under other circumstances, would have
+     been very purchasable; failed in this; lost time; excited distrust
+     and jealousy among his allies; dispirited his own troops; and ended
+     his enterprize by a disgraceful retreat, which coffee-house
+     politicians are, as usual, willing to attribute to all sorts of
+     causes except the natural and obvious one. The subsequent successes
+     of the French are natural. An army that expected to be in Paris in
+     October, had naturally taken little precaution to prevent the
+     French from attacking Germany in the same month. The French
+     officers, who could have no authority over their armies in defeat
+     and disgrace, have naturally acquired it in success; and the
+     business will begin again in the spring, being about twice as
+     difficult as it was when it began this autumn.
+
+     I have little doubt that this is the project of both parties. The
+     Austrians may perhaps put themselves a little more forward than the
+     Prussians; and from what I have heard of the conduct of the latter,
+     the enterprize may not fare the worse for this difference. The
+     Emperor must feel that he has now got an enemy whom he must devour,
+     or be devoured by it. And the governing party at Paris have very
+     many very obvious reasons for continuing the war. The rest of the
+     empire will give their contingent, unless they have been lucky
+     enough to be forced to sign a capitulation of neutrality. The King
+     of Sardinia and Italy will defend themselves as they can, which
+     will probably be very ill. What Spain will do, she does not know,
+     and therefore certainly we do not. Portugal and Holland will do
+     what we please. We shall do nothing. Sweden and Denmark can do
+     nothing, and Russia has enough else to do, and has neither the will
+     nor the means of doing much against France. And there is the
+     tableau of Europe for next year, according to my almanac.
+
+     You will not complain that this time I have not given you
+     speculation and prophecy enough--more than any man ought to make
+     who has profited, as I have done, by the experience of all these
+     events, to learn that human wisdom and foresight are somewhat more
+     shortsighted personages than the most shortsighted of us two,
+     whichever that is.
+
+     All my ambition is that I may at some time hereafter, when I am
+     freed from all active concern in such a scene as this is, have the
+     inexpressible satisfaction of being able to look back upon it, and
+     to tell myself that I have contributed to keep my own country at
+     least a little longer from sharing in all the evils of every sort
+     that surround us. I am more and more convinced that this can only
+     be done by keeping wholly and entirely aloof, and by watching much
+     at home, but doing very little indeed; endeavouring to nurse up in
+     the country a real determination to stand by the Constitution when
+     it is attacked, as it most infallibly will be if these things go
+     on; and, above all, trying to make the situation of the lower
+     orders among us as good as it can be made. In this view, I have
+     seen with the greatest satisfaction the steps taken in different
+     parts of the country for increasing wages, which I hold to be a
+     point of absolute necessity, and of a hundred times more importance
+     than all that the most _doing_ Government could do in twenty years
+     towards keeping the country quiet. I trust we may again be enabled
+     to contribute to the same object by the repeal of taxes, but of
+     that we cannot yet be sure. Sure I am, at least I think myself so,
+     that these are the best means in our power to delay what perhaps
+     nothing can ultimately avert, if it is decreed that we are again to
+     be plunged into barbarism.
+
+     I find that I am growing too serious, even for you, upon a subject
+     on which I know you are serious enough, and it is high time to
+     release you. God bless you, and thank you once more in my name, and
+     my little woman's, for your trees. May we long continue to love one
+     another as we do, and we shall both, I trust, have a comfort in our
+     long affection and friendship, which the study or practice of the
+     art of governing men seems very little likely to afford in our
+     time.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+The disasters of the Duke of Brunswick reanimated the factious spirit
+which the vigorous measures of the Government had previously succeeded
+in subduing. The prosecutions instituted under the proclamation against
+seditious publications had been followed by the most decisive results;
+and Thomas Paine, who was the chief offender, foreseeing the inevitable
+issue of his impending trial, although Mr. Erskine was engaged to defend
+him, had absconded to France, where he was admitted to a citizenship
+more congenial to his principles, and enjoyed the doubtful honour of
+being returned by two constituencies as a member of the National
+Assembly.
+
+The flight of Paine broke down the courage of his disciples; and the
+circulation of seditious libels was effectually arrested, until the
+misfortunes of the Allies once more revived the hopes of the
+disaffected. Fresh measures of prevention and defence were now rendered
+necessary to preserve the peace of the country. The Militia was to be
+augmented by volunteer companies, and the law officers of the Crown were
+to exercise with vigilance the powers entrusted to them for bringing
+malcontents to justice. But it was not by such means alone the
+Administration proposed to meet the evil. It appealed to the good sense
+and loyalty of the people. Upon these elements it depended for the
+ultimate success of its efforts. The language of patriotism never found
+more felicitous or energetic utterance than in these words of Lord
+Grenville's: "The hands of Government must be strengthened if the
+country is to be saved; but, above all, the work must not be left to the
+hands of Government, but every man must put his shoulder to it,
+according to his rank and situation in life, or it will not be done."
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 14th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The events in Flanders have brought so much hurry of things to be
+     done and thought of upon me, that I really have been unable to
+     answer your letter, which I have been some days intending to do.
+     With respect to what you mention about prosecutions, you do not
+     advert to the forms of our laws, by which no step of that nature
+     can be taken by the Attorney-General, except in term time, when
+     alone his informations can be filed. No seditious publication has
+     ever come to my knowledge, without my referring it to the
+     Attorney-General for prosecution; and out of the five which you
+     mention, viz., Jockey Club, Paine, Cooper, Walker and Cartwright,
+     the three first have been so referred, the two last I have never
+     seen. In truth, without assistance from the magistrates and
+     gentlemen of the country, who give none except Addresses, it is
+     very vain for Government to attempt to see and know, at Whitehall,
+     every libel which may be dispersed in the country.
+
+     But the real fact is, that these people were completely quelled,
+     and their spirit destroyed, till the Duke of Brunswick's retreat.
+     Since that they have begun to show themselves again, and nothing
+     that I know of has been neglected that could tend to put the law in
+     force against them. Steps are now taking by Government to send
+     persons into the counties to purchase these libels, with a view to
+     indictments at the Christmas Quarter Sessions; but this is a thing
+     that can be done but once, and could not be continued without an
+     expense equal to that of the old French police. Our laws suppose
+     magistrates and Grand Juries to do this duty, and if they do it
+     not, I have little faith in its being done by a Government such as
+     the Constitution has made ours. If you look back to the last time
+     in our history that these sort of things bore the same serious
+     aspect that they now do--I mean the beginning of the Hanover
+     reigns--you will find that the Protestant succession was
+     established, not by the interference of a Secretary of State or
+     Attorney-General, in every individual instance, but by the
+     exertions of every magistrate and officer, civil or military,
+     throughout the country.
+
+     I wish this was more felt and understood, because it is a little
+     hard to be forced to run the hazards of doing much more than one's
+     duty, and then to be charged with doing less.
+
+     As to what you mention of overt acts, those things are all much
+     exaggerated, where they are not wholly groundless. The report of
+     what is called "Cooper's Ass-Feast" (Walker's I never heard of),
+     and of the Scotch Greys being concerned in it, reached me _by
+     accident_, for of all the King's good subjects, who are exclaiming
+     against its not being noticed, not one thought it worth his while
+     to apprise the Secretary of State of it. I took immediate steps for
+     inquiring into it, and am satisfied that the whole story has no
+     other foundation than Mr. Cooper having invited two officers to
+     dine with him in a small company, and having given them, by way of
+     curiosity, as a new dish, a piece of a young ass roasted. I
+     inquired, in the same manner, about the riot stated to have
+     happened at Sheffield; and learn from Lord Loughborough, who lives
+     in the county, and is enough on the _qui vive_ on the subject, that
+     there was nothing which, even in the most peaceable times, could
+     deserve the name of a riot. That supposed at Perth I never heard of
+     yet, though Dundas has been within a short distance of that place.
+
+     It is not unnatural, nor is it an unfavourable symptom, that people
+     who are thoroughly frightened, as the body of landed gentlemen in
+     this country are, should exaggerate these stories as they pass from
+     one mouth to the other; but you, who know the course of this sort
+     of reports, ought not too hastily to give credit to them.
+
+     It is, however, not the less true that the danger exists, and
+     perhaps not the less from its not breaking out in the manner
+     stated. The conquest of Flanders has, as I believe, brought the
+     business to a much nearer issue here than any reasonable man could
+     believe a month ago. The hands of Government must be strengthened
+     if the country is to be saved; but, above all, the work must not be
+     left to the hands of Government, but every man must put his
+     shoulder to it, according to his rank and situation in life, or it
+     will not be done. I could write much more of the same sort, but I
+     have already people waiting for me.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 25th, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Our hopes of anything really useful from Opposition, are, I am
+     sorry to say, nearly vanished. In the meantime the storm thickens.
+     Lord Loughborough has declined, and Fox seems to govern the rest
+     just in the old way.
+
+     We are called upon on all sides for counter associations, and
+     indeed it seems too clear that the peace of the country cannot
+     otherwise be preserved. The army, though I trust still steady, is
+     too small to be depended on. We must look to individual exertions,
+     and to the Militia. I forgot to beg you to state to me the grounds
+     you had to think parts of that body infected. It is material to
+     know the truth on that subject. Our plan is to enable the King to
+     authorize the Lord-Lieutenants to commission volunteer companies to
+     be added to the Militia on the first appearance of tumult. This
+     seems to add the advantage of subordination to regular power to
+     that of association.
+
+     In the meantime, we are preparing an association in London, which
+     is to be declared in the course of next week. I enclose you the
+     plan of their declaration, in which you see the great object is to
+     confine it within the limits of the regular Government, and not to
+     go beyond that point. A few persons of rank cannot be kept out of
+     it, but we mean it chiefly to consist of merchants and lawyers, as
+     a London society, and that the example should then be followed by
+     each county or district--including there as many farmers and yeomen
+     as possible. In this _we_ shall of course have no difficulty.
+     Probably we need hardly appear much before the Quarter Sessions. It
+     seems desirable that at the different Quarter Sessions the
+     magistrates should name an adjourned day for receiving the reports
+     of their different constables, &c., &c., relative to the state of
+     their districts in this respect, and taking the necessary measures
+     thereupon.
+
+     I throw out these ideas to you for your consideration, as it is now
+     clear I cannot see you before Saturday, if then. If I cannot leave
+     town I will let you know in time.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+     I really have not time to extract for you a state of the Austrian
+     and Prussian armies. Both Courts are making the utmost possible
+     exertions to march down fresh troops. But then, I apprehend, the
+     amazing superiority of numbers must keep them on the defensive,
+     unless they can cut off Custine, of which I have little hope.
+
+     I am delighted with the spirit and feeling of your son's letter,
+     which are, I hope of the best augury, with a view to a game in
+     which he will probably be called upon to play his part pretty soon.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Nov. 29th, 1792.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     As we have, I think, nearly determined that, in consequence of the
+     situation of affairs, both at home and abroad, we cannot discharge
+     our duty to the country, nor even answer for its security, without
+     calling the whole or a considerable part of the Militia
+     immediately, I lose not a moment in apprizing you of it, both that
+     you may be enabled to hold yourself in readiness to take your
+     measures, and also to beg you to suggest to me any particular of
+     importance that may occur to you respecting the mode of doing the
+     thing.
+
+     Parliament must, as you know, by law be assembled within fourteen
+     days; and it will, I think, be so within twelve days of the
+     proclamation, which I expect to issue on Friday. But the precise
+     day is not yet determined, because we are desirous, before the
+     thing is known, to have troops enough round London to prevent the
+     possibility of anything happening in the interval, which they would
+     of course try if they saw an opening.
+
+     You must not, from this measure, think the alarm greater than it
+     is. The step is principally founded on the total inadequacy of our
+     military force to the necessary exertions.
+
+     At the time that the order is sent, directions will be given to
+     the Lord-Lieutenant immediately to assemble the serjeants, &c., and
+     to place the arms under proper guard. I am, as you will easily
+     believe, too much hurried to be able to go into more details.
+
+     We have nothing new from abroad.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     I am afraid all visits to Dropmore are quite out of the question.
+
+     I do not understand what you say in one of your letters about
+     quarters instead of lodging.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Saturday, Dec. 1st, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     The King's orders are this day given to embody the two-thirds of
+     all the Militias of the counties on the east coast from Scotland to
+     London, which, together with Cumberland, Westmoreland and Kent,
+     give us a strength of about five thousand one hundred men.
+
+     Parliament will meet on Thursday sev'nnight. Before that time, I
+     conclude I shall see you here. I am really so occupied, as not to
+     have a moment to spare.
+
+     Dumourier is advancing towards Liege; and I think if some blow is
+     not already struck by their small force from Ostend against
+     Flushing, the season secures Holland for some months, during which
+     much must happen of all sorts.
+
+     We have, I trust, secured the Tower and the City, and have now
+     reason to believe that they are alarmed, and have put off their
+     intended visit; but we are prepared for the worst.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Dec. 5th, 1792.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     We determined last night to call out, in addition to the regiments
+     already ordered, the Militias of the maritime counties from Kent to
+     Cornwall, inclusive, and those of Berks, Bucks, Herts, and Surrey.
+     You will, in consequence, receive by this messenger the warrant and
+     letter for that purpose. The reason of the addition is partly the
+     increasing prospect of hostilities with France, and partly the
+     motives stated in your letter. Our object at first was to limit the
+     number, in order not to give too great an alarm. The spirit of the
+     people is evidently rising, and I trust that we shall have energy
+     enough in the country to enable the Government to assert its true
+     situation in Europe, and to maintain its dignity.
+
+     We shall certainly proceed to business on Thursday; but how long we
+     shall sit, it is impossible as yet to decide. I think the present
+     idea is to bring forward the bills immediately which are necessary
+     for strengthening the hands of Government. Hitherto, we have every
+     reason to be satisfied with the impression our measure has made.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+Parliament stood prorogued to the 3rd of January; but it was convened by
+proclamation on the 3rd of December, in consequence of the urgent
+necessity that existed for adopting immediate measures of internal
+defence. On the 17th, Lord Grenville introduced his Alien Bill; and two
+other measures were rapidly passed for interdicting the circulation of
+French assignats, and preventing the exportation of naval stores and
+ammunition.
+
+The signs of the future were now darkening the horizon. The French
+Republic sent over an ambassador extraordinary, under the title of
+Minister Plenipotentiary, to demand of England whether France was to
+consider her as a neutral or a hostile power. Lord Grenville refused to
+negotiate with him in a character which England could not acknowledge;
+but intimated that if France was desirous of maintaining peace with
+Great Britain, she must renounce her views of aggression and
+aggrandizement, and confine herself to her own territory, without
+insulting other Governments, without disturbing their tranquillity,
+without violating their rights.
+
+The sequel need not be detailed. The King of France was brought to
+trial, sentenced to death, and beheaded. This terrible catastrophe
+terminated the mission of the French Ambassador, who was informed by
+Lord Grenville that he could no longer remain in this kingdom in a
+public character, and ordered to retire within eight days. In a week
+from that time, the Convention passed a decree declaring the Republic of
+France at war with the King of England and the Stadtholder of Holland.
+
+
+
+
+1793.
+
+CAUSES AND OBJECTS OF THE WAR--SECESSIONS FROM THE OPPOSITION--REVERSES
+IN HOLLAND--DISASTERS OF THE ALLIES--STATE OF FRANCE AT THE CLOSE OF THE
+YEAR.
+
+
+The policy of England in reference to the proceedings in France had
+hitherto been that of a conservative neutrality. The letter of Lord
+Grenville to the Marquis of Buckingham, dated 7th November, 1792, to
+which attention has been specially directed, clearly and unequivocally
+establishes that fact. Had the motive commonly imputed to Ministers, of
+having entered into the war for the vindication of the monarchical
+principle and the restoration of the Bourbons, been really the actuating
+object, it would have appeared in these confidential communications. Not
+only, however, is there no such motive avowed or contemplated, but, on
+the contrary, Lord Grenville declares that the greatest source of pride
+and satisfaction he finds on reviewing the line of conduct he had acted
+upon throughout that reign of anarchy, is in the reflection that he had
+kept England out of it. Up to the last moment, so long as France
+confined her public acts and the dissemination of her new doctrines to
+her own territory, the English Government remained merely a spectator of
+events in which she took no part, and evinced no concern. The case was
+altered when France invaded Holland, and passed a decree fraternizing
+with the people of other countries, and offering them assistance to
+procure their liberties. These were the measures of oppression and
+aggrandizement referred to by Lord Grenville in his communications with
+the French Envoy; and upon these grounds, and these grounds alone,
+England accepted and prosecuted the war.
+
+Immediately after the declaration of hostilities by the Convention, the
+King sent a message to Parliament explicitly declaring the causes of the
+war, which were, the occupation by the French of the Scheldt, the
+exclusive navigation of which had been guaranteed by treaty to the
+Dutch; the fraternizing decree which invited the people of other
+countries to revolutionize their Governments; and the danger with which
+Europe was threatened by the progress of the French arms. In one aspect
+this was a war of principles; in another, it was a war of self-defence.
+In both, it was just and inevitable. Even the Opposition admitted the
+validity of the grounds on which it proceeded, although they could not
+resist the temptation of assailing the Minister, while they adopted his
+measures. The resolutions founded on the message were carried with
+scarcely a shadow of objection in either House of Parliament. The people
+of all classes were wholly with Mr. Pitt. Amongst the last to be
+convinced was Mr. Wilberforce, who had a moral aversion to all wars,
+but who ultimately expressed himself converted to the necessity of war
+on this occasion.
+
+The effect of the message from the King was remarkable. Numbers of the
+most influential men, who had previously voted with the Opposition,
+passed over to the Ministerial benches, including Burke and Wyndham, and
+the Lords Portland, Spencer, Fitzwilliam, Loughborough, and many other
+peers and commoners. Lord Loughborough, who had so often run in couples
+with Thurlow, was now appointed to succeed him on the Woolsack; and
+Ministers, acquiring augmented strength from all quarters, addressed
+themselves vigorously to the task of preparation.
+
+The letters of this year are scanty, but not unimportant, in their
+references to passing events. Taken in connection with the history of
+the period, which is too familiar to require any further elucidation,
+they will be found to throw a new light upon some points of contemporary
+interest.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, Jan. 19th, 1793.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     It is at length settled that Lord Loughborough shall take the Seals
+     on Wednesday. He has written a long letter to the Duke of Portland,
+     which has not been answered. It is as yet very difficult to say
+     what proportion of the _ci-devant_ Opposition will follow Lord
+     Loughborough's example, and join Government avowedly, but I am
+     inclined to hope a pretty large one. The Prince of Wales has also
+     written to the Duke of Portland, and sent a message to us,
+     declaring his intention to join Government. I have not seen the
+     letter, but _my informant_, to whom it was shown yesterday morning
+     by the Duke of York, told me it was proper and explicit.
+
+     424 against the referring the judgment to the Assemblees Primaires,
+     283 for it.
+
+     The first question, of guilty, decided almost unanimously; the
+     third, that punishment should be inflicted, was deferred to the
+     10th.
+
+     Brissot's report, which you will see in the French papers, seems
+     well enough calculated for our purpose. The thing must now come to
+     its point in a few days; and we shall, I trust, have appeared to
+     the public here to have put the French completely _dans leur tort_.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Whitehall, June 12th, 1793.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     In consequence of what you requested in the conversation we had at
+     Dropmore, I write to mention to you that the vacant Ribands are
+     to-day to be given to Lord Salisbury, Lord Westmoreland, and Lord
+     Carlisle. I did not learn this yesterday till it was too late to
+     write to you. With respect to what you mentioned to me of your own
+     intentions, you know too well what my opinion is, and how anxiously
+     I am impressed with that opinion, to make me feel it right to urge
+     you with what could only be a repetition of all I have already
+     stated. But I wish to make it my earnest request to you that you
+     will not take any actual step till you have seen Pitt. I have not
+     told him anything of your idea of taking any measure on this
+     occasion but I have stated to him in general terms the uneasiness
+     you still seemed to feel on the subject of the former request, and
+     the possibility that this impression might be strengthened,
+     supposing Lord Camden's death to produce that sort of arrangement
+     to which you had so handsomely consented, but which might,
+     nevertheless, bring the other idea more forward in your mind.
+
+     His plan was (if he had not been hindered by the gout) to have run
+     down to Somersetshire for a week, at the close of the business in
+     the House of Commons, and to have been back before he could almost
+     be known to be gone. He had then intended to take Winchester in his
+     way. I have not seen him for several days, and cannot therefore say
+     whether this idea still holds, but at all events there could be no
+     difficulty in your coming to town for a day or two for that
+     purpose.
+
+     I urge this because I know you may fully rely upon his friendship,
+     and that even if he should not be able to alter the thing itself,
+     which I am sure I know not how he can, it is still, in my opinion,
+     very desirable that you should not take so marked a step without
+     hearing the advice of those who love you best, supposing even that
+     after all you should not be influenced by their reasoning upon it.
+
+     I say nothing about myself in all this, because I am sure you
+     believe me truly sensible of your constant and unvaried affection
+     to me, and unwilling to intrude upon you repetitions which I must
+     fear would be useless. But you will not attribute it to
+     indifference or unconcern about the thing itself, which, God knows,
+     are sentiments the reverse of what I feel upon it.
+
+     We have no news of any material event at the army. The siege was to
+     be opened on Monday, and they seem to entertain very sanguine ideas
+     indeed as to its speedy success. I have some doubt whether the
+     report from Paris, respecting Marat's new revolution, is to be
+     credited, though all the late accounts from thence seemed to
+     indicate an approaching crisis. I have a confused account from the
+     Hague, of the Duke of Brunswick having gained a decisive advantage
+     over the army that was Custine's. But it is not distinct enough to
+     place much reliance upon it.
+
+     Mudge is returned by the way of China with despatches from
+     Vancouver. I have not yet seen them, but I understand, generally,
+     that some difficulty arose about the restitution of Northa. It is
+     not, however, of a nature to create any real embarrassment. He has
+     brought a letter for poor Lady Camelford from her son, whom he
+     tells me he left in great health and spirits. We have not opened
+     it, but wait till Lord C. comes, which I hope will be about the end
+     of this month at latest. From what he says, Vancouver's expedition
+     is likely to continue so much longer, that I think of proposing to
+     Lady C. that her son should return by the first opportunity, in
+     order to go into some larger ship, which at his age now will
+     clearly be desirable. He will have served his time before he can
+     hear from Europe. Juan de Fuca's inlet is explored, and found to be
+     closed with high lands.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Sept. 11th, 1793.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I am sorry to acquaint you that we have unpleasant accounts from
+     the army, and the more unpleasant from their uncertainty. All that
+     seems to be certain is, that the Duke of York thought himself
+     obliged to raise the siege of Dunkirk, at least for the present, in
+     consequence of an attack which I imagine to have taken place on the
+     evening of the 7th; and which must, of course, have been bloody,
+     and the event unfavourable to us. We have no direct account from
+     the army, but the report is that of an officer of the navy, who
+     comes, I understand, from Nieuport, and states that he had
+     prevented any other letters from coming over, in order to prevent
+     the spreading an alarm till the official accounts arrive.
+
+     There is also a letter from Watson, the Commissary-General, which
+     seems to confirm the intended retreat, and says that he has
+     provisions, &c., enough in the rear of the army; but he mentions no
+     particulars of what has happened, except that he says the spirit of
+     the troops is good--that they have suffered, but have not been
+     beaten. His letter is from Furnes, on the 8th.
+
+     I am sorry for the suspense in which this must leave you, as it
+     does us. If we hear more before the post goes out, I will add a
+     line to this letter.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     I should have added, that the same officer brings the account that
+     they had got at Ostend of the capture of Quesnoy, which I credit,
+     because my last letters from the Austrian army state the fall of
+     that place as certain within a very few days. This is the more
+     important, as P. Cob. would then be at liberty to march towards
+     Flanders, if necessary.
+
+     Since I wrote the above, I have seen the narrative of the officer
+     in question--Lieutenant Popham. It is long, and full of little
+     details; but the result of the whole is, that he was going, by
+     Macbride's orders, to communicate with the Duke of York, and turned
+     back on account of the news he heard; that he met on the road
+     parties of our cavalry _evacuating Furnes_ on the 8th, and many
+     wounded soldiers going to Ostend; but he does not appear to have
+     collected accounts of what had happened, and indeed it is most
+     probable that individuals could not give any general information.
+     It does not appear whether they were going from Furnes by orders or
+     not.
+
+     Five, P.M.
+
+     I have just got the enclosed letter to Bruges from a young man I
+     sent as Secretary to Sir James Murray; and as it is very doubtful
+     whether I shall get the particulars time enough to send you
+     anything further, I would not omit letting you have this, which
+     will at least put you at ease for individuals. You will observe it
+     is dated from Furnes, on the 9th. It is brought by an officer
+     charged with the despatches.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Sept. 15th, 1793. At Night.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     You will receive with this letter, which will be sent you from
+     London, the good and the bad accounts together. For the Flanders
+     war, I fear the latter overbalance the former; there is, however,
+     in my opinion, very little reason to be discouraged at these
+     checks, which must be expected whenever the French took the
+     resolution to leave the sieges on the side of Hainault to their
+     fate, in order to break in upon the line of communication. This
+     must have happened equally if the combined armies had remained
+     together, and undertaken a joint operation; and the proposed plan
+     had the advantage of being the only one whose success would have
+     remedied this inconvenience, resulting from the nature of an attack
+     from an open country against such a barrier.
+
+     It must be left to military decision what is precisely the best
+     point of attack, combined or separate, which now remains; but the
+     loss of Menin as a post of communication does not tend to lessen
+     the difficulties of any plan, and I am decidedly averse to anything
+     that shall hazard the delaying the West India expedition, for
+     which, when you consider how much is to be done there, you will not
+     think a whole season too much.
+
+     After all, a few towns more or less in Flanders are certainly not
+     unimportant; but I am much mistaken in my speculation, if the
+     business at Toulon is not decisive of the war. Only let your own
+     mind follow up all the consequences of that event, and you will, I
+     believe, agree with me that the expression I have used is not too
+     sanguine. We have news that the people of Lyons have defeated
+     Dubois Cranee, with a loss to the latter, as it is said, of four
+     thousand men. Allow this to be exaggerated, as I suppose it is, but
+     take the fact to be true that he has been defeated, and it is
+     everything to us. The next month or six weeks will be an anxious
+     period, and big with events.
+
+     You asked me some time ago about Parliament, and that with a view
+     to your own motions. Nothing can, of course, be absolutely fixed on
+     that subject; but I think it highly improbable that Parliament
+     should meet before January. I heartily wish that we may arrange it
+     so as to meet, though in the present moment I should be afraid even
+     of such a distance as Stowe. At all events, when your camp breaks
+     up, I trust you will take Dropmore in your way, as indeed I believe
+     it will lay directly in your road, if you come by town, and not far
+     out of it, if you go straight to Stowe.
+
+     My dear wife desires best love to you and Lady B. Lady Camelford
+     is, I think, better than we could have hoped.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     16th.
+
+     This ought to have gone to-day, and I am sorry to find it this
+     evening in one of my boxes here. We have nothing new to-day, except
+     the account of the murder of the King of Poland, which is believed.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Walmer Castle, Oct. 1st, 1793.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     Your letter of the 27th followed me here yesterday, and I have just
+     received that of the 29th. With respect to the first, I can only
+     say that I have by this post sent your letters to Pitt, and am very
+     sure that if it depends on him, what you wish will be done.
+
+     Lord Amherst's answer of the reduced state of the regiments at home
+     is, however, surely not quite so much out of the way as you state
+     it. It is a great pity that your _protege_ is in Canada, where no
+     promotion can be going forward, and from whence, I conclude, he
+     cannot be brought into regiments upon actual service. Sir C. Grey
+     conveyed to me the other day a wish to know whether there was any
+     officer in his army that I felt interested about; but I know of
+     none that I should think it worth laying myself under an obligation
+     for. If Talbot had happened to be in one of the regiments in Nova
+     Scotia, he would probably have been in this predicament; but I
+     suppose the force in Canada is little likely to be weakened, in the
+     present state of America.
+
+     I am delighted to find that you are so well pleased with the
+     manifesto. I have hardly had time yet to consider your observations
+     on the particular passages you have marked, but I will do so, and
+     am much obliged to you for the trouble.
+
+     The Duke of Richmond will, I am persuaded, not resign in the
+     present moment, though he has been talking and doing foolishly. As
+     far as I can learn, there is no sort of ground for the accusation
+     of delay on his part relative to Dunkirk. When I see you, I can
+     _say_ on that subject what for many reasons I do not choose to
+     write. _Au reste_, the Duke of Richmond's campaign seems completely
+     to have annihilated the little popularity he ever had; and though I
+     am satisfied he will not resign till after the meeting of
+     Parliament, and perhaps till after the session is over, I am
+     equally persuaded he will not continue another year in the Cabinet.
+
+     We are sending Hessians to Toulon, and shall soon have there a
+     really respectable force; the interval is the only thing to be
+     feared; but Mulgrave's being there is a great comfort to me; as
+     great, indeed, _entre nous_, as if I knew the new Governor was
+     actually arrived there. We have nothing like force enough for all
+     the objects that present themselves, and you know my settled
+     aversion to undertaking little points of detail; some of which
+     might succeed, but the result of the whole must be to cut to pieces
+     the small force we have, without adequate success. Besides this,
+     the reliance on the dispositions of the country, with the single
+     exception of Toulon, pressed as it was by famine at one door, and
+     the guillotine at the other, has always failed us.
+
+     I believe it is true, that almost in every part of France they
+     detest the Convention, but that they are quite incapable of giving
+     any solid footing in the country.
+
+     Ever yours most affectionately,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM
+
+     Walmer Castle, Oct. 11th, 1793.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I was just going to write to you when I received your letter. My
+     present plans are to return to town about Tuesday next, and to get
+     to Dropmore by dinner on Friday, if possible; but I would not wish
+     you to let _your_ dinner depend on that. I conclude, from what you
+     say of your having been reviewed, that you will be able to get away
+     soon, and it will be a great gratification to us both to see you,
+     especially if, as I hope, Lady Buckingham comes with you. Lady
+     Camelford writes to Anne that she much wishes to see you, and if
+     she knows of the time of your coming will endeavour to contrive to
+     be with us. I return you Freemantle's letter, for fear of
+     accidents. You have, perhaps, guessed that it anticipates part of
+     what I had to say to you, but I hope you have also felt the
+     singularly embarrassing situation in which the King's Ministers are
+     placed in this respect, with the cause of Royalty to defend, and
+     with the great obligations they owe to the extreme liberality and
+     honour of the King's conduct towards them. They are obliged,
+     therefore, to say nothing, and to let nothing be said: and indeed I
+     hardly know what I should wish to be said, so great is the
+     difficulty in all respects. I know I may reckon upon your
+     discretion, not only in saying nothing from me, but also in saying
+     as little as possible from yourself, which would not fail to be
+     repeated, and to be ascribed to me. We will talk this over fully
+     when I see you, and I really much wish to know what you think ought
+     ultimately to be done on the subject. You will have seen that it is
+     not the camp of Mauberge, but the advanced posts that had been
+     unsuccessfully attacked. The attack of the camp itself was to take
+     place somewhere about this time, and yesterday the British troops
+     marched to Cysoing, where they thought it not improbable they might
+     be engaged with the French, who are collecting at Bouchain and
+     Cambray.
+
+     George Nugent had written to me twice on the subject of his
+     proposal, and I sent him Lord Amherst's answer, which is negative,
+     at least for the present. He seems to have an invincible aversion
+     to new corps, I fancy, from all the badgering he got upon that
+     subject last war. He now states only the plea of seniority, that
+     the number intended to be raised is filled up by older
+     Lieutenant-Colonels. I fancy Nugent had not received my letter when
+     he wrote to you.
+
+     The language of the Convention looks as if some serious attack
+     might be expected here; serious at least as they intend it, but
+     ridiculous, I trust, it will prove. An attempt in force requires
+     preparations they have not, and a superiority in naval force which
+     they certainly have not. Buccaneering expeditions I take to be
+     practicable, with only the certainty of much greater loss to
+     themselves than to us. They would be unpleasant in their effect
+     here, but what help.
+
+     I have profited of your advice about the manifesto, and now send
+     you the English translation which I have prepared, with the
+     transpositions you recommended. I do not think it reads as well in
+     English as in French, which I am sorry for, as it must be read in
+     English by John Bull, whose approbation of my writings I should
+     like to retain. I hardly know how to ask you to correct, as it must
+     be a translation, and a literal one. But mark what you dislike, and
+     I will try if, retaining the translation, it can be altered. I have
+     kept _guerre defensive_ and that _pour cause_: which indeed you may
+     guess, when you see in the papers that His Prussian Majesty is
+     returned to Berlin, and when I tell you that we had no previous
+     notice of his journey.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Nov. 21st, 1793.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I had already spoken to Pitt upon the idea of G. Nugent's being
+     appointed one of the aides-de-camp, if the promotion mentioned by
+     him should take place. I have reason to be sure, that for the
+     present no idea exists of that promotion. If it had, I should
+     certainly have pressed his declining the offer of the corps;
+     because, though that is no absolute bar according to any rule, yet
+     it may, certainly, in the King's mind, stand in his way; and such
+     exceptions as Lord Chenton and Lord Rawdon do not prove much. I am
+     very confident, that, as it is, whatever can be done by Pitt will
+     be done, if the promotion should hereafter take place; but I am
+     sure you know that the King's Ministers do not name his
+     aides-de-camp; and that the pressing such a request, beyond a
+     certain point, makes difficulties in his mind, instead of removing
+     them. Besides his wish to oblige you, Pitt is personally
+     well-disposed towards Nugent, and I have reason to think that Lord
+     Amherst is so too.
+
+     Sir James Murray will, I think, not continue in his present
+     situation; and the mode of removing him, will probably be by
+     putting him at the head of some corps; but this is not yet
+     mentioned to him, and, therefore, I rely on your not speaking of it
+     to any one else. I do not know whether, in that case, the King will
+     fill up his place as aide-de-camp, or not; but one vacancy cannot
+     be expected to make room for Nugent, who is at the end of his year;
+     besides, the natural claim which Manners has on the King. It is,
+     therefore, I think, better on the whole, that Nugent should go on
+     with his corps.
+
+     With respect to your lesser army jobs, I say nothing about them,
+     because I really do not understand them, and am unable to judge of
+     the facility or difficulty of Lord Amherst's complying with them.
+     It is useless for me to talk about Pitt's share in all this, though
+     I certainly do not think it very fair that he should bear on his
+     shoulders all the grievances of cornetcies and lieutenancies, which
+     Lord Amherst or any other Commander-in-chief is sure to create.
+
+     I have spoken about the _precis_, and you will certainly have them
+     whenever there is news to send. The army is safe, and I hope quiet,
+     in its winter quarters. Lord Moira sets out to-morrow morning, and
+     will find everything ready for him at Portsmouth. You see how right
+     you was about the impossibility of keeping secret at Portsmouth the
+     new destination of this force. Luckily, it is so ready, that the
+     thing itself will take place even now as soon as the news can reach
+     Paris.
+
+     Lord Malmesbury is going to Berlin, to bring our good ally to a
+     point--ay or no. I think it will end in no.
+
+     I certainly will not forget my engagement; and I still hope we
+     shall find a Saturday and Sunday for Stowe.
+
+     God bless you, my dear brother, and believe me
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Dec. 12th, 1793.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     At your request, I certainly will do a thing extremely disagreeable
+     to myself, by putting into Mr. Pitt's hands the letter you desire
+     me to show him. In any case where _you_ or _yours_ could have the
+     smallest interest, I should never consider whether a compliance
+     with your wishes is or is not pleasant to me; but I freely own,
+     that I hardly think you would be repaid, by Mr. Pigott's getting
+     his company, for the uneasiness I feel in being made (unprofitably,
+     too, as I think, even to the object) the channel of such a
+     communication between two persons whom I have so much reason to
+     love and value.
+
+     The accounts of the Duke of Brunswick's victory, though they have
+     not come to us from any channel that we can consider as strictly
+     official, are such as to leave no doubt of the fact. There appears
+     to have been different actions for three days, from the 29th of
+     November to the 1st of December; and on the last of these days the
+     victory was obtained, which persons, pretty well informed, seem to
+     consider as decisive of the fate of Landan. The great object of the
+     French was to relieve that place, and surround Wurmser; and in both
+     they have failed, having been repulsed in a last attack they made
+     on the latter the 1st instant. It appears likely now that little
+     more will be done on that frontier till Landan is obliged to
+     surrender; nor anything after that.
+
+     All our expectations are turned towards Brittany; but the news from
+     that quarter is by no means favourable, as far as it goes. The
+     Royalist army appears unable to make any siege, or even to continue
+     twenty-four hours in the same place; and this for want of
+     provisions. There is, besides, among them much disunion, and a
+     total want of discipline; and they seemed to have formed the
+     resolution of retiring inwards into France. Whether they will be
+     deterred from this by the communications since made to them, and by
+     the knowledge of our force being actually at their doors, remains
+     to be seen.
+
+     I did not send you the account of the failure of all our hopes,
+     from Lord Howe. I was not in town; and if I had been, I do not know
+     whether I was not too much vexed to write. He is still off Ushant;
+     so that the idea of sending out the second fleet is, for the
+     moment, at least, out of the question. Some of those ships are, as
+     you know, destined for other services; and the whole, without Lord
+     Howe, would not be strong enough to meet the Brest fleet; and with
+     him, would be much too strong.
+
+     The business of St. Domingo is highly important. The possession of
+     the Mole, though not beyond what we had looked to, is much beyond
+     my hopes. Dansey's letter to Williamson expresses much confidence
+     of maintaining himself there, with such a force, as I trust, by
+     this time, and long before, he actually has there.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+At the close of the year France was stronger than at the commencement.
+The destruction of her navy at Toulon was the principal reverse she
+suffered. On the other side the allies had encountered defeat at almost
+every point; the Prussians compelled to retreat to Mentz, the
+Imperialists driven beyond the Rhine, and the English forced to raise
+the siege of Dunkirk. The enthusiasm of the masses, sustained by these
+successes, and acted upon by the popular appeals of the Jacobins, placed
+at the disposal of the Republic an enormous physical force, which the
+whole winter was occupied in augmenting and organizing for the campaigns
+of the ensuing year.
+
+
+
+
+1794.
+
+PREPARATIONS IN ENGLAND FOR THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR--INACTIVITY OF
+THE AUSTRIANS--LORD SPENCER AND MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE SENT ON A MISSION
+TO VIENNA--HOSTILE RESOLUTIONS OF THE OPPOSITION--SEVERAL OF THE LEADING
+WHIGS JOIN THE ADMINISTRATION--LORD CORNWALLIS APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND
+ON THE CONTINENT--PROGRESS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS--LORD FITZWILLIAM
+NOMINATED TO THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY OF IRELAND--HIS CONDUCT ON THAT
+OCCASION.
+
+
+Parliament was convened on the 21st of January, 1794; and the Speech
+from the Throne expressed a sanguine hope on the part of His Majesty
+that the resources of France would be speedily exhausted. There was
+certainly little in the operations of the last year upon which the
+country could be congratulated; and the only remaining encouragement
+that could be held out was in reference to the future. The prodigious
+exertions of the Republic undoubtedly justified the expectation, that
+she could not long continue to meet the increasing demands which the
+extension of the war was making upon her means and energies; but it was
+difficult, in the heat and excitement of the conflict, to form an
+adequate estimate of the devotion with which the French were prepared
+to follow up their successes. A series of fortunate incidents and some
+brilliant achievements had inflamed the national vanity to such a height
+of exultation as to produce a perfect military mania in all parts of the
+country; and when Mr. Pitt, in the course of the opening debate,
+declared that "France had been converted into an armed nation,"--an
+expression that elicited much criticism at the time--he described
+accurately the exact state of the people, and the lengths they were
+prepared to go in the assertion of the principles they had baptized in
+the blood of the Sovereign.
+
+There were not wanting persons in England who sympathized with the
+republicans of France, and regarded their martial spirit with something
+of the admiration which the impassioned and the thoughtless bestow upon
+gallantry and heroism. But the bulk of the nation entertained a
+different opinion, and viewed with alarm and detestation the sanguinary
+excesses by which the war was initiated and sustained. While the former
+class, few in number, and confined chiefly to the lowest dregs of the
+population, continued to give occupation to the Government at home, the
+latter were ready to make any sacrifices the exigency of circumstances
+required to support the policy of the Government abroad.
+
+Parliament unanimously voted an augmentation of eighty-five thousand men
+to the navy, and sixty thousand to the army. Ample preparations in other
+respects were made for the approaching operations; and, amongst the
+extraordinary measures resorted to, arrangements were made for
+augmenting the Militia, and raising voluntary subscriptions for the
+maintenance of the war. The spirit of the country was awakened to the
+defence of those constitutional principles which presented the surest
+safeguard for the public liberties; and the delusions which at first had
+seized upon the factious and discontented rapidly vanished as the war
+advanced. Success alone was wanted to confirm the confidence of the
+people; but as yet the genius and headlong valour of France was in the
+ascendant, and the solid endurance of England was doomed to a long and
+harassing term of fluctuating fortunes.
+
+The Correspondence traces some of the principal events of the year; and
+maps out in advance the plans and difficulties of Ministers, by which we
+are admitted, so to speak, to the deliberations of the Cabinet upon
+nearly every fresh exigency that arose in the course of the campaigns.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, Jan. 1st, 1794.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I had no sooner received your letter, than I communicated it to
+     Lord Grenville; and desired him to write to you as soon as he
+     could. It gives me great pain to see, by the language of it, how
+     very much your mind is oppressed and disturbed in the impression
+     under which you write. Of the proposition which you suggest, it
+     certainly does not in any shape become me to offer any opinion; I
+     am precluded from doing so, both by the magnitude of the question,
+     and by its being of a nature upon which I cannot have either the
+     pretence or the means of exercising any judgment; and I so
+     expressed myself to Lord Grenville, when I read your letter to
+     him; all that, on my part, can be for me to do is, what I am sure
+     you will believe is the honest feeling of my mind, to express to
+     you the anxious and earnest wish of my heart, that all disquietude
+     and uneasiness may vanish from your mind; and that you may heartily
+     and happily continue to co-operate with Lord Grenville and Pitt, at
+     a time when the greatest interests which this country ever knew
+     seem to me to be at stake. For myself, you know that I am but a
+     private man, and have no other concern in these great public
+     questions, than that sense of common danger and common interest,
+     which ought, I think, to produce but one common voice in the
+     country. Mr. Wilberforce, you see, thinks otherwise, but does not
+     change my opinion by having changed his.
+
+     I am much obliged to you for the naval letter, which the post of
+     to-day brings me from Stowe; I will make the use of it which you
+     allow me to do, and will then return it to you. I hope Dr. Pegge
+     will find Lady B. better. I take for granted we shall soon meet
+     here.
+
+     I hear no news.
+
+God bless you, my dear brother.
+
+     P.S.--As soon as I heard from you to-day (which was very late, as I
+     had gone out before the post came in), I sent to Lord G., to tell
+     him that if he wrote to-day, he must direct to Stowe.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Jan. 30th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I believe Pitt's budget is finished, as it is to be opened on
+     Wednesday. I have, however, sent him your project; though I do not
+     conceive favourably of it, as the object appears so small, and
+     such a nest of hornets to be brought upon one by it.
+
+     The French seem certainly disposed to try their scheme of invasion.
+     This leads to the necessity of some augmentation of interior force,
+     and possibly some of our last year's plans will be resorted to. Our
+     best defence is unquestionably our water-guard, which is very
+     strong, and will, I trust, every day get stronger. In the meantime,
+     Lord Moira's force stationed at Cowes, and with its transports
+     ready to put to sea at the shortest notice, is no inconsiderable
+     check upon them.
+
+     I have no faith in their attacking Flanders; but rather believe
+     they will wait our attack. But two Dutch, and as many Flanders
+     mails are due.
+
+     Mack returns to the army to the great joy of every one. We expect
+     him over here every day.
+
+     Ever my dear brother's
+     Most affectionately,
+     G.
+
+The Budget was brought forward by Mr. Pitt on the 2nd of February. It
+estimated the total supply for the year at twenty millions; and proposed
+for the ways and means a loan of eleven millions, and the imposition of
+some new taxes.
+
+Here was the first great pressure of the war on the industry of the
+people. It was a trying moment with Government; but the demands of the
+Minister were, nevertheless, heartily responded to. The interior force
+of the kingdom at this time amounted to one hundred and forty thousand
+men; and the foreign troops in British pay to forty thousand more. The
+augmentation of the Militia, which was not carried into effect till the
+following month, was now occupying the consideration of Government.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Feb. 1st, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The idea of augmentation which I think most practicable, is that of
+     militia cavalry, to be raised by volunteers, in the same manner as
+     the additional companies in the last war, but to a much larger
+     extent than you mention in your letter. Dundas told me two days
+     since that he had been looking for your plan of last year, but had
+     mislaid it. Have you a copy? It does not seem advisable to broach
+     this idea much in conversation or discussion with Lord-Lieutenants
+     and Colonels till it is to a degree matured; for the St. Albans'
+     meeting, though very good for supporting a measure resolved upon,
+     or even for arranging particular details of a plan, of which the
+     outlines are already fixed, is but a bad place to prepare the plan
+     itself. As far as I am capable of judging, I think that the natural
+     defence of this country against an enemy once landed, is by the
+     immense irregular cavalry that might be collected, and formed round
+     small bodies of disciplined horse. This, of course, does not
+     exclude the necessity of some infantry to oppose the enemy in
+     front, while the cavalry harass his flanks and rear, and while your
+     naval force, even supposing it unable to have prevented the
+     landing, cuts off all possibility of supplies from France. We are
+     preparing, partly with the latter view, and partly as a means of
+     defence where frigates cannot act, a formidable force of gun-boats.
+
+     You say that all this is superfluous, and that the attempt will not
+     be made. I think its being made or not depends wholly on the other
+     employment which we can find for their force, and this depends on
+     points which we cannot command; viz.: internal commotion, and the
+     exertions of the German Powers on the side of the Rhine.
+
+     That they are making preparations with a view to having the thing
+     in their power is unquestionable, and we should be very deficient
+     in our duty if we did not put the country in a state to be prepared
+     for all events.
+
+     The employment of Lord Moira's force, and its future destination,
+     depend on plans of continental operations, but in the meantime its
+     effect is almost beyond calculation in its present position,
+     menacing everything from Dunkirk to Brest, and defending everything
+     from Yarmouth to the Land's End. You will see this in a minute, if
+     you compare the facility of moving that force, either by land or
+     sea, with the efforts of the same sort that the enemy can make,
+     either offensively or defensively.
+
+     We cannot have too much force anywhere, but if I am not very
+     sanguine, Sir C. Grey has already a force beyond what the service
+     requires; and it is likely that he will still be reinforced without
+     breaking up Lord Moira's army, which I consider as the most
+     usefully employed, and telling the most effectually against the
+     enemy of any troops now in our service.
+
+     I will send your artillery plan to Dundas.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, July 9th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I am sincerely sorry to see that you do not entertain the same
+     hopes as I do of good from the new arrangements. I confess I think
+     it so great an object to have annihilated all distinction of
+     parties in this country among those who are attached to the present
+     order of things; and I feel that the late events abroad have given
+     so much more importance to this point, with a view to the internal
+     situation of this country, than it had before, that I cannot help
+     feeling very sanguine as to the consequences of the steps now taken
+     with that view. God only knows which of us is right, and time only
+     can show. In the meantime, _jacta est alea_, and we must abide by
+     it.
+
+     On the subject of war and peace, you state very truly, that nothing
+     is less probable than that peace should now be in our option. The
+     retreat to Antwerp has been decided, not by opinions here, nor even
+     by those of the Duke of York and Lord Cornwallis, but by the
+     necessity consequent upon the Austrian movements. Whether those
+     movements were right, I am not enough of a soldier, nor enough
+     informed as a statesman, to pretend to form an opinion. The
+     immediate effect of them is not necessarily the abandoning the
+     towns taken last year, which are in a state to maintain themselves
+     long, and to impede many of the operations of the enemy. Nor, as
+     long as the Austrians maintain their line from Louvain to Namur, is
+     the possibility of succouring them considered as desperate. What I
+     most fear in the present moment is the effect of despondency here
+     and abroad, without which I should see no reason why we should not,
+     as you suggest, fight the country over and over again, inch by
+     inch, with means and resources for carrying on the war, such as are
+     out of all comparison superior to those of the enemy. It would have
+     been a flattering and glorious thing, and a brilliant success, to
+     have terminated the war by the favourable result of a plan of
+     offensive operation in Flanders. If that has failed, I am very far
+     from thinking this a reason for abandoning a cause in the issue of
+     which I consider our existence as implicated. If we listen to the
+     ideas of peace in the present moment (even supposing it were
+     offered), it can be only because we confess ourselves unable to
+     carry on the war. Such a confession affords but a bad security
+     against the events which must follow, in Flanders, in Holland, and
+     (by a very rapid succession) in this island.
+
+     I do not know from whence the papers have got the idea of Lord
+     Camelford's return. He is not come, nor any officer or despatch,
+     from Vancouver, but I understand the ship has been heard of in
+     October last, all well. Many thanks for the offer of Paddington,
+     which we may probably be glad to avail ourselves of.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     We have nothing new from Lord Hood; and I am told that officers who
+     know the coast do not speak favourably of the chance of doing
+     anything against the French fleet in their present situation.
+
+The failure of the Imperialists had thrown a serious damp on the spirits
+of the allies. It appears to have been thought the Austrians had not
+shown sufficient energy and determination; and it was resolved to send
+over Lord Spencer and Mr. Thomas Grenville to Vienna, in the hope of
+inducing them to make more vigorous exertions. A subsequent letter from
+Mr. Thomas Grenville to the Duke of Portland contains an admirable
+report of the progress of the mission.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, July 19th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Tom has, I know, mentioned to you the Commission which he has
+     undertaken--jointly with Lord Spencer--to endeavour to encourage
+     our Austrian allies to a little more exertion and energy, which,
+     after all the late events, I continue persuaded is _the only_
+     thing wanting to ensure success, instead of such a series of
+     retreats as the last month has shown. God knows whether they will
+     succeed; but it is an infinite satisfaction to me to see his
+     talents employed in the public service, and to be corresponding
+     with him on subjects of this nature. The rest of our public events
+     are just such as you see them in the papers.
+
+     Lord Cornwallis is returned, speaking highly of the Duke of York,
+     and far otherwise of the Austrian Generals, to whom he, and all
+     mankind in Flanders, impute all that has happened. It is a
+     whimsical circumstance, and hardly to have been foreseen, that in a
+     war which we carry on conjointly with Austria, the great want which
+     we experience should be that of Austrian Generals, of capacity
+     sufficient to command the excellent troops which are acting in the
+     Netherlands.
+
+     My American negotiation is, I think, going on promisingly. I have
+     nothing else to tell you; and am, indeed, so completely knocked up
+     by this last week's fagging, as hardly to be able to write at all.
+     This evening I am going to Dropmore, for a little respite.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.
+
+     (Private.)       Vienna, August 24th, 1794.
+     DEAR DUKE OF PORTLAND,
+
+     It had been very much my intention to have written to you by our
+     messenger of the 16th instant, because, although our despatches
+     have been very much detailed, and have not, therefore, left much to
+     be said in private letters, it is upon these occasions, I know,
+     some satisfaction to hear that nothing remains behind, which is
+     material to the subject; but having been hitherto prevented, by the
+     very entire occupation of our time here, I take the opportunity of
+     writing to you, a little at large, by the messenger who is going to
+     England to-night.
+
+     You know that upon the slight view which the shortness of the time
+     allowed me to take of the business in question here, I was
+     persuaded that we probably might, in some degree, succeed in our
+     expedition; because, if the course of things here could not be
+     improved by our journey, yet I should consider the being able to
+     ascertain what that state was, as an object very useful to pursue,
+     and one which, if pursued with attention, we might probably succeed
+     in possessing ourselves of. How far we have already obtained this
+     information you will have seen by the communications which we have
+     made; and I much fear that our journey will not produce any
+     advantage of a more solid and substantial description. To say that
+     it might not be possible to procure from the Government here a
+     formal consent to such an arrangement as we have to propose, is
+     more than I would assert: although, the condition which they
+     positively insist upon of being paid for it by loan and subsidy, as
+     well as all the difficulties which they throw upon the subject of
+     the proposed barrier, and upon that of acting in the Netherlands,
+     might well seem to justify the opinion of its being improbable that
+     anything like the proposed arrangement would be consented to. But
+     the misfortune is, that--in my judgment, at least--the evil lies
+     much deeper, and is such as would leave me little hope of seeing
+     any effectual purpose served, even by the signature of a Convention
+     between the two Courts.
+
+     I do not know of any good ground for believing the common report of
+     treachery, either in the civil or military government of the
+     country; but I know, that if the principle upon which our
+     Government act in the prosecution of the war is not cordially felt
+     here--if the greatness of those interests, which we think now at
+     stake, is not to the same degree here considered as being of the
+     very essence and existence of all regulated government, a
+     Convention will not give them a livelier perception of this common
+     danger, or teach them to see in it a crisis such as demands greater
+     energy and exertions, than any other state of things could call
+     for. But this common principle is not all that is wanting in the
+     present case: we think, in England, that the preservation of the
+     Austrian Netherlands is an object important to us as providing a
+     defence for Holland, and important to the Court of Vienna as
+     forming a rich and considerable possession to the House of Austria,
+     and, therefore, making an object of common interest, though
+     touching Austria still more sensibly than England. If this obvious
+     view of the interests of both countries prevailed in the
+     Governments of both--as one might rationally expect that it
+     would--it would naturally furnish, by common consent, a very
+     leading and governing motive, as well to the operations of the war,
+     as to the ultimate issue of it. This, however, is not the view
+     which is entertained here, or which I can persuade myself is really
+     acted upon by those whose influence is decisive here.
+
+     M. de Thugut, the efficient Minister of this Court, is personally
+     very much disposed (and long has been so) to the old project of an
+     exchange of the Netherlands; and though that project appears to be
+     laid aside for the purpose of conciliating Great Britain and
+     Holland, yet it is evident that M. de Thugut's opinions are such as
+     lead him to set but little value upon the possession of the
+     Netherlands, and, therefore, that every circumstance, either of
+     expense or of military enterprise, which looks towards the
+     acquisition and defence of those provinces, is as much discouraged
+     by him as he can venture to do, without openly declaring the whole
+     bias of his mind: and it is very remarkable that, much as we have
+     made it our business to press this to him in all our conversations,
+     we have never yet been able to draw from him even a cold assent to
+     the idea of the Low Countries being of any real value in themselves
+     to the Emperor; though he sometimes feebly admits that, with a
+     considerable addition to them, they might be made so.
+
+     It may be said, that a Convention might engage them on this point,
+     whatever their inclinations may be; but the answer is, first, that
+     in point of fact they do object to bind themselves to the employing
+     one hundred thousand men _in the Netherlands_, though they have not
+     finally refused it; and secondly, that be there what agreement
+     there may, the only substantial security for a hearty co-operation
+     in fighting for that country, or for any manly system to be adopted
+     hereafter for the preservation of it, must arise from a sense--in
+     the owners--of the value of its possession, and not from the words
+     employed in any treaty respecting it. I am aware that part of the
+     indifference which I so much remark in M. de Thugut may be
+     affected, for the purpose of throwing the whole weight of the
+     defence of the Low Countries upon the Maritime Powers; but if that
+     is his policy, he must mean to support it by abstaining from any
+     vigorous exertions in behalf of it, and in the end, whether his
+     coolness and inactivity shall have been produced by a real or
+     disguised opinion, the result will equally have been fatal to that
+     earnest and animated concert, which is so much to be wished for on
+     this occasion.
+
+     You see that I have so far considered the Convention, as taking
+     place upon the terms proposed by us; but you will have known, long
+     before you receive this letter, that they have persisted from the
+     first in asking, as indispensable conditions, that their loan must
+     be completely satisfied in England to enable them to answer the
+     demands of this year, and that they must receive from England a
+     considerable subsidy for next campaign, if it is expected that they
+     should act vigorously in the prosecution of the war, which they
+     assert themselves to be utterly unable to do without pecuniary
+     assistance from England. We have urged them very ineffectually on
+     this point: they declare that they have good hopes of M. de Merey's
+     succeeding in obtaining these demands at London, and the
+     negotiation actually hangs upon the report which they hourly expect
+     from him on this subject; though we have repeatedly told them that
+     their expectation was hopeless, and that, meanwhile, the delay
+     occasioned by it might be fatal to those exertions which required
+     immediate action and enterprise.
+
+     What decision the Cabinet will make upon this heavy demand of
+     subsidy, is doubtless a very important question, of which they will
+     be the fit and competent judges; but if that question simply turned
+     upon the supposed probability of our being able to purchase, even
+     at that dear rate, a proportionate degree of energy and activity in
+     the war from this Government, I confess I do not hesitate to say
+     that, from what I see here, I should not believe, if the experiment
+     is tried, it will well answer their expectations. There is no soul
+     in the bodies of these men--none, at least, which is alive to the
+     magnitude of all the objects now at stake, or which leads them to
+     share with you, as it ought the great points of common danger and
+     common interest; and while these mainsprings are wanting, it is in
+     vain to look for such movements and effects as cannot be produced
+     without them. If this radical defect did not exist; if the
+     Government here was as earnest as it ought to be in its
+     contemplation of this war, but really was without the means of
+     prosecuting it; if it acknowledged and took its proper interest in
+     the possession of the Netherlands, and asked your assistance to
+     that object, only because they had exhausted all their own
+     resources, there might be great inducements to hope that, in
+     furnishing to them the supply which they wish, you might on your
+     side expect all the active effects which ought to be produced by
+     it; but I know not how to hope that a subsidy will give vigour to
+     their councils or enterprise to their armies; still less can I hope
+     that a subsidy, given for the preservation of the Netherlands, will
+     teach them to put a proper value upon those possessions on their
+     own account, though it certainly would teach them how highly you
+     value their retaining them on your account.
+
+     All M. de Thugut's conversation, even upon the idea of the subsidy
+     taking place, is evidently adverse to the prosecuting of the war in
+     the Netherlands; and even when the danger of Holland is urged as a
+     powerful argument for this course, he very coldly answers that,
+     supposing the French to succeed in Holland for a time, they would
+     be glad enough to relinquish it if the arms of the allies were
+     successful in the interior of France. How, then, can one easily
+     hope that the payment of a subsidy will reconcile views so
+     remote--as I apprehend these are--from the wishes of the English
+     Cabinet, or prevent much of thwarting and contradiction in the
+     operations of the campaign? I confess that I suspect this
+     disinclination to the defence of the Netherlands to arise, not only
+     from a habit of undervaluing them, but partly, too, from a
+     persuasion that the Maritime Powers must and will, at their own
+     expense, protect them; and partly, also, from a narrow and timid
+     view of collecting the whole Austrian force on the German frontier,
+     so as to be more immediately ready for the defence of the imperial
+     dominions, as well as to have less reason to fear in their jealousy
+     of the intentions of the King of Prussia.
+
+     Upon this latter point the difficulties are, perhaps, much more
+     likely to be increased than to be relieved, by transferring the
+     Prussian subsidy to the army of Austria, because the Court of
+     Berlin will doubtless express great dissatisfaction at that
+     measure; and everything which excites their apprehension here, will
+     naturally more or less interfere with the energy of their
+     operations against France. I do not mean that these arguments would
+     be stated as reasons against their acting up to the conditions of
+     the subsidy; but I fear they would nevertheless be found to have
+     too much influence and effect in practice.
+
+     The objections which have seemed to me to arise against a large
+     subsidy to Austria--from the little hope which I should have of its
+     producing from hence that exertion of force, and that course of
+     military operations which, with a view to Holland, we should think
+     ourselves fully entitled to--are of course much increased by my
+     apprehension of the bad and dangerous consequences which would
+     affect our Government at home, from a second disappointment of so
+     costly an experiment, which I must hope need not be considered as
+     necessary to the prosecution of the war.
+
+     If it is true--as it may, perhaps, be found--that much of the
+     languor and apathy of this Court arises out of a confidence in the
+     greatness of our exertions, which may allow them to be sparing of
+     their own, if (as there is reason to believe) they have still the
+     fair means of recruiting their armies and maintaining their present
+     military force, is it not to be hoped that the necessity of the
+     case will rouse them to the use of those means, when they see no
+     other prospect of safety open to them? They sometimes talk stoutly
+     of all that they would do by arming the empire, and other vigorous
+     measures, in case the French succeeded in forcing their way to
+     menace Germany. But why are these exertions to be reserved for any
+     other situation of things? and why are we to pay them a million and
+     a half, rather than put them to the full extent of all their own
+     exertions and resources? Nor is it, perhaps, to be overlooked, in
+     this view of the subject, that the crooked policy of Prussia would
+     perhaps acquiesce in the loss of his own subsidy much more readily,
+     if he does not see it given to Austria, but has the satisfaction of
+     seeing Austria fight her own battles with her own men and money.
+     They always insist here, too, that they are sure the King of
+     Prussia, even if his bargain should not be renewed with England,
+     will not withdraw entirely from the war, and still less will take a
+     part hostile to the combined Powers. And whether this speculation
+     of theirs is true or not, while they believe it, they are more at
+     liberty to act solely against France, without fearing any attack
+     from the quarter of Berlin.
+
+     The great danger, perhaps, of trying another campaign without
+     subsidizing either Prussia or Austria, might first be found with
+     respect to Holland (at least, if the Government here act as they
+     threaten in the case of being unsubsidized), by their withdrawing
+     of the Austrian army from the neighbourhood of Maestricht, and
+     contracting their defence to the limits of their German frontier.
+     But even if they did so--which may be much doubted--might not
+     England and Holland, at a smaller expense than that paid to the
+     King of Prussia, subsidize an army of auxiliary troops to act for
+     the defence of Holland, and for carrying on the war in the
+     Netherlands, and have that army really and effectually at their own
+     disposal, and doing the service which they were paid for. How far
+     this may be practicable, I do not pretend to judge. If it is so,
+     nobody could doubt that it would be an expense more grateful to the
+     public of our own country than that of paying for a force which we
+     cannot bring as we ought into action, and which we must consider as
+     compelled by their own interests to continue the war, whether we
+     pay them or not for doing so. By subsidizing Austria, we acquire no
+     greater force than that of the last campaign, and we put the
+     justification of that enormous expense upon the unpromising chance
+     of a vigour and energy on their part such as they appear to be
+     altogether incapable of exerting, unless under the pressure of such
+     a danger as would force them to act without hiring them to do so.
+
+     The length of this letter is such as I am really ashamed to add to.
+
+     Lord Spencer writes to Lord Grenville by the same opportunity.
+     Neither he nor I see much prospect of making ourselves useful in
+     the shape and with the views proposed, and we are therefore
+     naturally anxious to see the ordinary course resumed in some other
+     person, and any such arrangements taken as may admit of our return
+     as soon as without inconvenience might be. We speak the more
+     directly on this matter, from the entire and perfect agreement of
+     our view of it, and our opinions concerning it; at the same time,
+     if, in your determinations at home, it should seem to you that Lord
+     Spencer can and ought to stay longer, with any fair prospect of
+     such advantages to this great subject as his peculiar situation
+     alone could promise, I do not doubt but that he would consent to
+     protract his stay a little longer; and while he does, I certainly
+     will not ask to desert him, _bien entendu_, that I cannot think of
+     staying one hour after him.
+
+     Ever, my dear Duke,
+     Very truly and faithfully yours.
+
+The session had been protracted to the beginning of July, not merely by
+the interest of passing occurrences, but by the efforts of the
+Opposition to damage the character and embarrass the action of
+Ministers. The most remarkable of these movements was a string of
+resolutions moved in the Upper House by the Duke of Bedford, and in the
+Lower by Mr. Fox, and urged upon the consideration of both Houses with
+an amount of ability that could not have failed of its object, had that
+object been a sound one, or sustained by the public opinion of the
+country. The main purpose was to obtain from Parliament a protest
+against the war, and to compel the Government to enter into proposals
+for a peace with France. After setting forth that the policy of the
+Administration had been that of strict neutrality before the
+commencement of hostilities, and that, after the declaration of war,
+Ministers adopted the policy of resistance to the ambition and
+aggrandisement of France, the resolutions went on to state, that at the
+beginning of the war it was considered a matter of general concern in
+which His Majesty was to have the cordial co-operation of the powers
+united with him by the ties of interest and alliance; that His Majesty
+had not received that co-operation; that Russia had not contributed in
+any shape to the common cause; that Denmark and Sweden had coalesced to
+defend themselves against any attempt to force them into it; that Venice
+and Switzerland remained neuter; that Sardinia was subsidized merely to
+act on the defensive; and that Great Britain was loaded with a subsidy
+which ought properly to be borne by Prussia; and, finally, that the time
+was now come when peace might be secured on a permanent basis, and that
+it was the duty of His Majesty's Ministers to avail themselves of the
+opportunity.
+
+There was some truth in these statements, although the general deduction
+was erroneous, and the colouring throughout false. The allies had not
+given that cordial co-operation to Great Britain which they were bound
+to do, and Prussia had evaded the onus of the coalition. Mr. Thomas
+Grenville's letter to the Duke of Portland discovers a great deal more
+than was known to the Duke of Bedford or Mr. Fox in illustration of
+these facts; and the correspondence that follows, which is of the
+highest importance from the confidential character of its details,
+confirms them. But the attempt to cast the responsibility of these
+circumstances upon the English Cabinet was equally ungenerous and
+unjust. The policy of Ministers had undergone no change, except that
+which was contingent upon the altered situation of affairs. To preserve
+a strict neutrality in the face of a declaration of war, was clearly
+impossible; and to abandon the war, from an abstract desire for peace,
+at a time when the common enemy had gained enormous advantages, and were
+menacing the tranquillity and liberties of other nations, and
+threatening an invasion of England, would have precipitated results the
+very reverse of those contemplated by the Opposition. To have made
+proposals to France on what the resolutions termed "equitable and
+moderate conditions of reconciliation," would have involved two serious
+difficulties--the negotiation, in the first place, with a Government of
+anarchy which England had justifiably refused to treat with from the
+outset; and, in the second place, the admission of the power of France
+to dictate terms which England could not accept without degradation, or
+refuse without aggravating the existing grounds of hostility.
+Circumstances might arise--such as a change in the Government--to
+obviate the former difficulty; but the latter was insuperable. It would
+have been inconsistent with the principles upon which the war was
+undertaken to have proposed or submitted to any conditions which France,
+exulting over her recent successes, could have been expected to approve;
+and the result of such a negotiation at such a moment must have been, in
+any event, fruitless and inglorious. The decision of Parliament was
+unequivocal and decisive. The Duke of Bedford's motion was lost on the
+question of adjournment, and Mr. Fox's thrown out by a majority of 210
+against 57 votes. The influence of the Opposition was overthrown. The
+country was against them, and their ranks were daily weakened by
+secessions. So strongly and unanimously had the Parliament pronounced
+its judgment in favour of the maintenance of the war, that His Majesty
+at the close of the session was enabled to urge both Houses "to
+persevere with increased vigour and exertion in the present arduous
+contest against a power irreconcilably hostile in its principles and
+spirit to all regular and established government."
+
+Immediately after the close of the session, some changes took place in
+the _materiel_ of the Administration, arising out of the accession of
+power the Ministry had obtained by the adhesion of some of the leading
+Whigs. The Duke of Portland (to whom Mr. Thomas Grenville addressed his
+first letters from Vienna) was appointed Third Secretary of State; Earl
+Fitzwilliam, Lord President of the Council; Earl Spencer, Privy Seal;
+and Mr. Wyndham, Secretary at War. Further changes took place before the
+close of the year, when Lord Fitzwilliam accepted the Government of
+Ireland, and was succeeded as President of the Council by Earl
+Mansfield. Lord Spencer, at the same time, was placed at the head of the
+Admiralty; and Lord Chatham, the brother of the Premier, who had for
+some years occupied that department, was made Lord Privy Seal.
+
+The junction with the Whigs was, as far as it went, a new coalition;
+but, under the circumstances which led to it, a coalition of a very
+different character from that which had been entered into by Mr. Fox and
+Lord North. The old elements of the Cabinet still held the ascendancy;
+and although some sincere friends of Mr. Pitt doubted the prudence of
+admitting the Whigs to office, no actual disturbance of the existing
+system was apprehended from it. All agreed upon the question of the
+war--the one great question upon which agreement was essential to the
+repose and security of the country. In forming this alliance, however,
+another question had been overlooked, which was now daily rising into
+importance, and upon which the Whigs differed widely from Mr. Pitt, not
+so much in principles, as in the time and mode of their application.
+That question, the clog and difficulty of every Administration, was
+Ireland. But the moment had not yet arrived when the dangers of this
+question became manifest.
+
+The following series of letters trace the whole course of the
+negotiations going forward on the continent, and exhibit in minute
+detail the actual position in which England stood in her relation to the
+rest of the allies, and the incessant energy she exerted in vain to
+awaken them to a just sense of their obligations.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.)      St. James's Square, Aug. 26th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have to acknowledge your private letters, which I do not attempt
+     to answer by this conveyance for obvious reasons, and only write
+     that you may not receive my public despatch without a line to tell
+     you that your private letters have reached me, and that I will
+     state to you, by a safer opportunity, what occurs to me upon them.
+     I am a little out of humour with you for not telling me how you
+     bore your journey, and how you are, but I am willing to hope it has
+     not renewed any symptoms of your former complaint. There never was
+     such a succession of cross-incidents as seem to have accompanied
+     every part of poor Merey's mission, and I fear his loss is a
+     serious one to us all. What do you think of Robespierre's death? I
+     look upon it as a very favourable event, not from any opinion that
+     I ever entertained of his personal talents, but because those who
+     succeed him are evidently under the necessity of lowering the
+     despotism of the Revolutionary Government, and of giving up thereby
+     the great instrument with which they worked. A strong proof of
+     this, and a circumstance very favourable in itself, is, that
+     instead of a Committee of six or eight efficient persons who
+     conducted the Government in all its branches, and with absolute
+     power, they have already been obliged to institute twelve
+     Committees, who are to be chosen with a sort of rotation, those who
+     go out not being re-eligible. This is, in fact, a substitution of
+     the weakest possible form of Executive Government in lieu of the
+     strongest.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother, and believe me
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     We have received this morning accounts from Italy, mentioning the
+     reduction of Calvi. You will probably have heard it by this time.
+
+It was in the beginning of this month of August, that the Duke of York,
+at that time stationed at Breda, retreated before the French towards
+Bois-le-Duc; and afterwards, upon the advance of General Pichegru,
+crossed the Maese, and took up a fresh position near Grave. Seeing the
+necessity of placing the conduct of the campaign in more experienced
+hands, Ministers now proposed to give the command in chief to Lord
+Cornwallis; but before this step could be finally resolved upon, it was
+necessary to consult the feelings of His Majesty on the subject. Mr.
+Pitt therefore submitted a statement to the King, assigning the reasons
+which induced him to urge the appointment of Lord Cornwallis upon His
+Majesty's consideration; and suggesting that Mr. Wyndham should be sent
+on a mission to the army. The following was His Majesty's answer:
+
+     Weymouth, August 27th, 1704. Thirty-five minutes past One, P.M.
+
+     I have this instant received Mr. Pitt's letter accompanying the
+     Paper of Considerations, which I undoubtedly should wish to keep;
+     but not knowing whether Mr. Pitt has a fair copy of it, I have
+     thought it safest to return.
+
+     Whatever can give vigour to the remains of the campaign, I shall
+     certainly as a duty think it right not to withhold my consent; but
+     I own, in my son's place, I should beg my being allowed to return
+     home, if the command is given to Lord Cornwallis, though I should
+     not object to the command being entrusted to General Clairfayt.
+     From feeling this, I certainly will not write, but approve of Mr.
+     Wyndham's going to the army, and shall be happy if my son views
+     this in a different light than I should.
+
+     I will not delay the messenger, as I think no time ought to be lost
+     in forming some fixed plan, and that the measure of sending Mr.
+     Wyndham is every way advantageous.
+
+     GEORGE R.
+
+It is hardly necessary to observe that Mr. Wyndham was sent upon his
+mission; and that the Duke of York, having met some further reverses,
+which almost incapacitated the troops from acting even on the defensive,
+shortly afterwards returned to England.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.) St. James's Square, Aug. 29th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The despatch which you will receive by this messenger, and the
+     letter which Wyndham has promised to write to you from the British
+     head-quarters, will explain to you the whole of the system which we
+     have adopted, as affording the only hope of vigorous or successful
+     exertion. The Austrian Government is already prepared for your
+     proposal, respecting the giving to Lord Cornwallis the command of
+     the whole combined force, as Count Starhemberg is apprized of it,
+     having, indeed, himself in a great degree suggested the measure, on
+     some general hints which I threw out to him, in order to try the
+     ground. For the moment, the great point seems to be to bring them
+     to acquiesce in the virtual command which his rank of Field-Marshal
+     will give him over Clairfayt, and to send positive orders to the
+     latter to that effect; and if there should be any difficulty in
+     Clairfayt's submitting to this, then to let Clairfayt absent
+     himself for the moment, and leave the Austrian troops under the
+     command of some officer whose standing will occasion no difficulty
+     in this respect. You will observe that, by virtual command, we mean
+     precisely the same deference as the Duke of York has shown to the
+     Prince of Coburg, not extending to any of the points of military
+     etiquette by which command is usually rendered ostensible, but
+     going to the effect of complying with his suggestions respecting
+     the mode of executing the operations agreed upon in concert, when
+     the instructions of his Court do not interfere with such
+     suggestions. Before you receive this letter, Lord Cornwallis will
+     probably be on the spot; and it is therefore urgent, to prevent the
+     first beginnings of dissension, that no time should be lost in
+     making the Austrians give their orders to Clairfayt. Knowing the
+     delay of that Government, and the difficulty of getting them to
+     adopt any decided line of conduct, we have thought it best to do
+     the thing first, and afterwards to try to obtain their consent to
+     it. If you succeed, or, indeed, in any case, it will be useful that
+     you should write directly to Lord C. upon the subject, as that may
+     save a week, at a time when a week's delay might be of the utmost
+     importance.
+
+     With respect to the Duke of York, Wyndham will probably tell you in
+     confidence how he succeeds in his negotiation. It certainly is a
+     pretty strong instance of zeal and desire to facilitate whatever
+     can promote the cause, when he undertakes a task of no less
+     difficulty than the reconciling the mind of a young Prince to a
+     supercession in his military command, and that too at the precise
+     moment of moving forwards, after so mortifying a retreat. I am,
+     however, not without hopes of his success; and, at all events, the
+     moment was too critical to suffer any consideration to interfere
+     with the only means of salvation that appeared practicable.
+
+     With respect to the languor of the Austrian Government, and the
+     doubt whether even money will obtain from them decisive efforts, we
+     have strongly felt the force of all that you have stated on that
+     head. But we are inclined to flatter ourselves, that if we once
+     obtain so large a force as is mentioned in my despatch, and can put
+     that force, in addition to our own, under the absolute and supreme
+     direction of such a man as Lord Cornwallis, we shall at least be
+     able to say to ourselves, whatever be the result, that we have done
+     everything that it was possible to do; and without trying this
+     measure, I confess for one that I should not have that sentiment in
+     my mind. I lament that we have thought ourselves obliged to bring
+     forward the discussion of a precise barrier, and yet I do not see
+     how it could be avoided. But the impression may be very bad on
+     their minds, if we appear to be narrowing the benefits which they
+     are to derive from exertion, instead of animating them by the hope
+     of increased advantage. I have not dwelt on this point in my
+     despatch, as you mention that you intended to write further upon
+     it.
+
+     When the idea of transferring the subsidy was opened to me by
+     Starhemberg, from Merey's instructions it was expressly stated, as
+     a part of the plan, that the empire could be made to subsidize the
+     Prussian troops; and this agrees with every information we receive
+     on the subject, all which concur in stating the efforts of the
+     empire, particularly in money, as being very far below what they
+     could be brought to make by the joint exertions of Austria and
+     Prussia. But on my pressing Starhemberg for further detail on this
+     point, he has always avoided it, assuring me, whether truly or not,
+     that he found no particulars respecting it among Merey's papers.
+     You will see that in the despatch we make the whole dependent on a
+     complete and _bona fide_ execution of this point, and my language
+     to him has always been of the same nature. But I confess that it is
+     on this point that I feel the strongest apprehensions, and I much
+     fear that Austria will both be disposed to evade it, and, in truth,
+     unable to accomplish it. Should this be the case, the whole plan
+     must be abandoned; and we should, I believe, in that event, be
+     disposed to turn our subsidy to the object of raising other force,
+     of whatever nature, so as, if possible, to form a separate British
+     and Dutch army, destined to act under Lord Cornwallis, without the
+     pretence or show of concert with either of the German Powers.
+
+     With respect to your remaining at Vienna, you will easily conceive,
+     that having a project of this nature to propose, none of us thought
+     we should give it its fair chance if we put it into other hands
+     than those in which the business now is. We allow for your natural
+     desire of quitting a scene which, God knows, must be mortifying
+     enough to men who feel how much of the safety of Europe depends on
+     the conduct of the Austrian Government, and who see how unfit that
+     Government is to be trusted with the interests of the smallest
+     corporation. But we are confident that as long as there may remain
+     the hope of doing so much good as would, we trust, be done by the
+     complete success of the present plan, you will not be unwilling to
+     give your assistance to it.
+
+     With respect to what you mention about yourself, you know my wishes
+     on the subject, but I certainly will not urge them beyond what you
+     are disposed to do. The proposal Lord Fitzwilliam makes to you is,
+     I fairly own, in my apprehension, one less eligible than that of
+     Vienna; but I fear a nearer view of that Court has rather
+     strengthened than diminished your indisposition to that situation.
+     You know, as well as I do, all the _desagremens_ belonging to the
+     post of Irish Secretary; but it is certainly an important and
+     honourable one, and such as to afford you ample room for showing
+     yourself such as you are: more, perhaps, than many others which
+     commonly rank higher in public estimation. My objection to it is
+     the banishment, which obtains as much as in the foreign missions,
+     and certainly to the most disagreeable of all countries. I do not
+     know well how to make myself quite a disinterested adviser; but if
+     I was to give you fairly the result of my thoughts upon it, I
+     should still beg you to look at the foreign line, and if that must
+     not be, I should then say _yes_ to the question of Ireland.
+
+     Supposing that _yes_ were decided, let me ask you whether your
+     remaining some time longer at Vienna, so as finally to conclude,
+     not the leading points only, but all the details of the arrangement
+     now in question, and of the preparations for the active scene of
+     next year, is wholly out of the question? It seems very clear that
+     no arrangement will happen before that time which can change the
+     Irish Government, and in the meanwhile you would be honourably and
+     _most usefully_ employed. I have, however, not hinted this idea to
+     any individual, nor will I. If all this is wholly out of the
+     question, I conclude that my reply to your answer to these
+     despatches, will bring to Lord Spencer and you the King's
+     permission to return to England.
+
+     It would be very satisfactory to you to see how well things are
+     going on here, and how completely our hopes have been realized on
+     the subject which employed so much of our time and thoughts this
+     summer.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+At this time, the new changes in the Administration, already alluded to,
+were under discussion in the Cabinet; and, amongst the rest, it was
+proposed that the government of Ireland should be offered to Lord
+Fitzwilliam. As soon as this appointment was suggested, his Lordship
+wrote to Mr. Thomas Grenville to offer him the office of Secretary.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO EARL FITZWILLIAM.
+
+     (Private.)      Vienna, Aug. 30th, 1794,
+     DEAR LORD FITZWILLIAM,
+
+     You will already have heard enough of our proceedings here to give
+     you no considerable expectations of any great good to be done here;
+     and if you happen to have been in London, and to have read a very
+     tedious and long letter which I wrote on the 24th to the Duke of
+     Portland, you will have seen there, more at large than it is
+     necessary to repeat, the general view and impression of our minds
+     as to the business with which we are charged; and the little ground
+     which there appears to us for hoping that even by satisfying their
+     pecuniary demands, we could depend upon such exertions being made
+     in consequence, as the country would expect in return for expense
+     of so great and heavy a scale. It is very true, to be sure, that in
+     this as well as in many other cases, the difficulties present
+     themselves something more readily than the remedies to them, yet
+     upon the question of the subsidy, if we are right in our
+     conception that it would not probably produce, either in degree or
+     in shape, that energy and cordial co-operation which we are looking
+     for, perhaps no difficulty could be much more serious than that of
+     engaging ourselves at home in an expense, the disappointment of
+     which might produce in the minds of the public an effect, both with
+     respect to the war itself and with respect to the Government which
+     supports it, of the most perilous description. It is very true that
+     great objects must sometimes be pursued at great hazards, and
+     nobody is more ready than I to acknowledge that a greater object
+     cannot be found than the successful prosecution of this war; but
+     the peculiar question of subsidy seems to me to apply chiefly to
+     the mode of carrying on the war, and, I would hope, not to the
+     entire decision of pursuing or abandoning it.
+
+     I will not again go over the same detail which I pursued in my
+     letter to the Duke of Portland, but satisfy myself with recalling
+     to your observation, that the Government here, in speaking of the
+     exertions which they should be driven to the necessity of making,
+     if the French should threaten the German empire, plainly admitted
+     that they do still possess resources capable of being applied to
+     such critical exigencies, and in this confession show pretty
+     plainly that nothing but the necessity of the case will drive them
+     to the use of those means. Is it not then probable that a much
+     greater exertion may be made by that necessity existing in our
+     refusal of subsidy, than will be made by such pecuniary assistance
+     being given, as may relieve them from the necessity of making any
+     exertion of their own?
+
+     If the immediate alarm on the side of Holland seems to be a
+     considerable inducement to the grant of the subsidy, in order to
+     interest Austria in that very important defence of which the
+     Netherlands make so essential a part, it should not, on the other
+     hand, escape notice, that all our observation on their language and
+     views would lead us very much to doubt how far they would
+     cordially concur in the defence of the Netherlands, even though
+     they might consent to do so in the words of their contract;
+     whatever value they may or may not themselves put upon the
+     possession of the Low Countries, they always argue and act under
+     the manifest persuasion, that the Maritime Powers are alone
+     interested enough in this point to secure its being ultimately
+     carried, and they give it pretty plainly to be understood, that
+     they mean to depend upon us for that object. Under this view, they
+     seem to me always disposed to consider the operations of the
+     Austrian army in another campaign as likely to be concentered for
+     efforts from the German frontier, by which means they will have a
+     more collected force more immediately applying to the Imperial
+     dominions, and better suited to the jealousies which they entertain
+     of the King of Prussia, but certainly not best adapted to the
+     defence of Holland, and the recovery of Brabant.
+
+     Perhaps I may be considered as carrying these suspicions too far,
+     but I own I cannot help fearing too, that the suggestion made by
+     them of mortgaging the Low Countries to us, is not as security for
+     the money in question in this and the next campaign, is not a _bona
+     fide_ offer of their best security, but is considered by them as a
+     fresh motive for interesting us in their possession of those
+     territories, and as contributing the more to make that object our
+     business, by either taking upon ourselves the whole defence of
+     them, or, what they rather look to, by our purchasing the cession
+     of them at the peace, by some of the acquisitions which Great
+     Britain has made in the war: a measure which they may have the more
+     hope for our concurrence in, if we have two millions lent out upon
+     the security only of the Austrians regaining those territories at
+     the peace.
+
+     Do not believe that these impressions are taken from any starving
+     principle of economy, or from a too timid apprehension of the
+     unpopularity of a subsidy in England; but be assured, that even if
+     there should be no difficulty at home as to this demand being
+     acquiesced in, I should retain the same doubts as to any
+     expectation of proportionate advantages resulting from it, and
+     should be inclined to believe that even if the whole amount of the
+     subsidy was to be expended, it might be more advantageously used in
+     the purchase of Hessians, Swiss, or any other such troops
+     absolutely at our disposal, in addition to the Austrians, than in
+     the proposed purchase of increased vigour and activity in the
+     government and army of this country: you cannot buy what they have
+     not to sell.
+
+     Sept. 14th, 1791.
+
+     The former part of this letter had already been written before I
+     received yours of the 11th of August, which did not reach me till
+     the 2nd instant. I am very sincerely rejoiced to find by it that
+     you have made your decision for Ireland, because I believe that
+     much good may be done there, by your taking that heavy load upon
+     your shoulders; and although you are wanted enough both in London
+     and Yorkshire, I am persuaded that for public objects you are still
+     most wanted at Dublin. I am not enough acquainted with the interior
+     there, to judge how far the means (as Government now stands) are
+     competent to the end, or to what degree you may be able to supply
+     all those links of connection between the two countries, which have
+     latterly appeared to be very much worn away and broken through. I
+     presume that it will be found easy enough to continue the same
+     negative course of administration, and that it will be a work of
+     great difficulty and delicacy for you to do all that you will think
+     should be done; I am, therefore, from a strong persuasion of the
+     arduousness of the task, well pleased to know that it is in such
+     good hands.
+
+     With respect to my undertaking the office of Secretary, I am very
+     far from being confident that I should be able to make myself, in
+     that situation, as useful to you as it undoubtedly should be made.
+     You know it is not the first moment in which I have expressed my
+     doubts as to that employment, since it is twelve years ago that the
+     same objections presented themselves to me; and if I still feel the
+     weight of them, it is not from any disinclination to pull at my oar
+     in the galley, or from any reluctance to take part in public
+     measures at a time when I think, as you do, that everything is at
+     stake; on the contrary, I confess that, all other considerations
+     put apart, I shall be gratified in making myself actively one of a
+     system with which the prosperity of the country will, I am
+     persuaded, be to stand or fall; and I shall be best gratified by
+     doing this in whatever shape it could be hoped that I should be
+     serviceable. To foreign mission, I own I know not how to reconcile
+     myself; and for Ireland, besides my own disinclination to it, I
+     should have thought Pelham better suited, as I have often told you.
+     But my own opinion upon this, as upon all other subjects, gives way
+     to the better judgment of my friends; and if the Duke of Portland
+     and you think, that in the present state of things, I should do
+     best to go to Ireland, I cannot say that I will not try it; sure I
+     am that your going there gives to the situation every advantage
+     which I can receive in it, and that if my engaging in it could
+     succeed, it is on every account as promising and gratifying to me
+     with you, as the situation itself can be made. Thus, therefore, it
+     stands, that my own inclination, if no difficulties stood in the
+     way, would rather lead me to any such employment at home as I might
+     be fit for, when any such offered itself; but no such destination
+     being easily found, if the Duke of Portland and you think it any
+     way desirable that I should go to Ireland, I will certainly
+     undertake it, and do the best I can in it; trusting always, that if
+     hereafter, when you are settled on your Irish throne, the chance of
+     events should make any home-situation of business practicable for
+     me, you would not object to any such arrangement if it could be
+     found.
+
+     The long delay which has prevented my sending a messenger when I
+     wrote the first sheet of this letter, has now so altered the events
+     of the negotiation that it is hardly worth sending to you, except
+     as a proof that want of opportunity, and not want of punctuality,
+     has prevented my letter reaching you at an earlier period.
+
+     The loss of the fortresses, at a moment when they had been
+     reluctantly induced here to make an effort to save them, is
+     vexatious in the extreme. They threaten the vengeance of a
+     court-martial on the officers who surrendered Valenciennes; but
+     what will that avail towards recovering these great objects, which
+     were equally material, both to the regaining of the Netherlands,
+     and to their security when reconquered?
+
+     The hopeless inactivity of this Court is too long a theme to write
+     upon, and will continue, I fear, to be a fertile source of
+     uneasiness. It is shocking to foresee that their assistance may be
+     as much wanted to save Holland as it was to save Valenciennes, and
+     may likewise be retarded till it is equally ineffectual.
+
+     I expect to be in England towards the 12th or 15th of November.
+
+     Ever very faithfully and affectionately yours,
+     T. G.
+
+
+THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM TO MR. T. GRENVILLE.
+
+     Camp, Weymouth, Aug. 31st, 1794.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     I have just received your letter of the 16th from Vienna, and am
+     glad to find from it that you are as well as I wish you to be, and
+     as sanguine as any one could wish who is less desponding than
+     myself. I fear that very much of your difficulty is insuperable,
+     for I have no idea that it is possible to induce the Imperial
+     Government to exert themselves more for the _recovery_ of Brabant
+     than they did for the _preservation_ of it. Various circumstances
+     (some of which you have stated) co-operated to the scandalous
+     dereliction of a country, which all former history proves to us
+     might have been defended (even for a losing campaign) with one half
+     of the allied force; and it is no part of my creed that the zeal or
+     activity of the Austrian Ministry (even if they act with good
+     faith) can replace us by the end of November where we were last
+     year. But if it is to be proposed to us to add Austria to the list
+     of powers subsidized, and to call upon Great Britain, the _ally_ of
+     the war, to consider herself as the only principal in it, I fear
+     that the proposition will meet with every difficulty, and (if
+     acceded to) with as little success as the subsidy paid to Prussia.
+     You will then ask me for my solution of this difficulty; and I will
+     fairly own that I see none, but in endeavouring to stimulate
+     Austria, by showing them clearly that we will not take the whole
+     upon our back; and that we can better keep the wolf out of our
+     house, than they can out of theirs, if the war is to be defensive.
+
+     As to the military operations of the Prince of Saxe Coburg, I make
+     no doubt that he has done very ill; indeed, it seems difficult to
+     conceive that his groom could have done worse. But I fear that the
+     ignorance or treachery of the German Generals goes much deeper than
+     you imagine, for I do not recollect one instance in the course of
+     this campaign--and perhaps not one in the last--in which they
+     answered the expectation formed of them. Again, if we imagined that
+     by protracting the war we might exhaust the enemy, though I might
+     not agree as to the prospect of success, I could understand it as a
+     system; but in that case, the war would have been defensive, and
+     co-operation settled to that object, instead of abandoning the Duke
+     of York to certain ruin, if the winds and the circumstances of this
+     country had not permitted Lord Moira's army to arrive just (and
+     only just) in time to cover their retreat, and communication. These
+     points are all mysterious to us lookers-on, and perhaps not much
+     more clear to you at Vienna. The only point clear and indisputable
+     is, that we begun the campaign offensively in the south-west point
+     without securing West Flanders; that we undertook by defensive
+     positions to cover it; and notwithstanding the very slow progress
+     of the French, which gave us full and ample time, it was lost for
+     want of sufficient force on the western flank of our combined
+     force, and for want of co-operation, either of defensive retreat,
+     or of mutual support in a systematic evacuation of a country so
+     very tenable. Now, if all this is proposed to be cured by changing
+     the Commander, and by taking the Austrians into British pay, I fear
+     that I shall be one of the first to cry out against such a measure,
+     which cannot in the least tend to remove those difficulties, and
+     will superinduce many others on the continent, and others more
+     serious at home, to which you cannot be a stranger. If the object
+     be to add to our force, we do not accomplish it by changing the
+     Paymaster or Commander of the troops; but we may obtain a very
+     considerable force under our immediate and actual command, by
+     adding to the levies of French troops; or, in plain terms, by
+     raising an immense French army in British pay, who would not be
+     liable to be called off _a la Prussienne_ to schemes of plunder, or
+     possibly of home defence, in the moment in which they are the most
+     wanted by us. I have taken some pains to get information on this
+     subject; and I verily believe, that if we take the small remnant of
+     the Prince of Conde's army into our pay, with him at the head of it
+     as a foundation, we may in a very short time increase it to
+     twenty-five, or perhaps thirty thousand men, which, added to our
+     British, Hessian and Hanoverian army, would effectually support the
+     Dutch in covering Holland, and would enable us to make a very
+     serious diversion either in Normandy or in Poitou.
+
+     I have written upon this subject more at large than I at first
+     intended, but it is very difficult to compress it; and having found
+     it difficult to reconcile the conduct of Ministry in the
+     management of this campaign to my own feelings, or the plan (so far
+     as I understand it from common report) of reconquering Brabant for
+     the Emperor by an Austrian army in British pay, or of assisting
+     Holland by a force of the same nature on which the experience of
+     two campaigns shows how little we can depend, I have not thought it
+     fair to withhold these opinions from you, having stated them to my
+     other brother as soon as I heard of your mission (and from public
+     report of the objects of it) to Vienna. But be assured, my dear
+     brother, that I do not feel the less warmly for your credit, and
+     for the success of your negotiation (whatever it may be) as far as
+     the question is personal to yourself. I have always seen, with very
+     sincere regret, your talents useless to the public; and I am happy,
+     on every account, that you have found an opportunity of showing
+     them in co-operation with my brother William, who seemed so happy
+     in this proof of your confidence and affection.
+
+     I feel, as I ought, your anxiety about the yeomanry. I have the
+     satisfaction of hearing that they go on very well, but of course
+     meeting very seldom, because of the harvest. Their numbers,
+     however, increase; and are, as near as can be, as follows:
+
+            Captains.    Lieutenants. 2nd ditto. Qr. Masters. Numbers.
+     Lt.-Col. Grenville  Fremantle    Grubb      ----         47
+              Praed      Mansell      Higgins    Cooch        60
+       Sir J. Dashwood   W. Hicks     T. Mason   Clarke       43
+              Drake      K. Mason     Clerk      ----         37
+          Sir W. Young   Ch. Clowes   L. Way     Quanne       29
+
+     Most of them have got their swords, and have returned their
+     pistols, which were most scandalously bad; they have got their
+     appointments, and (except Young's troop) they come on very well. I
+     am, however, tied by the leg to Weymouth, while the King is here,
+     and cannot stir. He is in wonderful health; but very unruly as to
+     the common precautions which ought to be taken, and which keep me
+     in constant hot water, notwithstanding our incessant rains. Lord
+     Howe passed Portland yesterday with thirty-three sail of the line,
+     and three Portuguese ships; of which one ran foul of the
+     'Barfleur,' and stove in her bows so as to force her to return to
+     Portsmouth. All the sea prisoners lately taken, say, that Barrere
+     is determined to force the Brest fleet of thirty-five sail to sea.
+     Sir J. B. Warren's last prisoners say, that they were brought from
+     the interior to Brest, and embarked _handcuffed_; another account
+     states, that sixteen thousand men have been sent to Brest _en
+     requisition_, since Lord Howe's action. Our line of battle is
+     thirty-seven sail, including what is to join at Plymouth; from
+     which deduct two ships not ready, and the 'Barfleur,' his number
+     will be thirty-four. He will probably fall in with your friend,
+     Lord Macartney, who is coming back with "_the Emperor's copy of
+     verses_," and left St. Helena on the 6th of July with nineteen East
+     India ships.
+
+     Adieu, my dear brother,
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     N. B.
+
+     Sept. 5th, 1794.
+
+     P.S.--This letter was begun five days ago, but I have been for the
+     last four days confined, and very ill from an epidemic, which is
+     running all over England. It is not confined to the army, and it
+     has not been fatal, but very painful. I have got clear of it, but I
+     have above forty men ill of it at this moment. Adieu.
+
+The difficulties of the negotiation in which Lord Spencer and Mr. Thomas
+Grenville were engaged, are very clearly stated in the following letter.
+It is perfectly evident from these curious revelations, that Austria and
+Prussia were pursuing a crooked and evasive policy in their diplomacy
+with England, that the vacillations and infirmity of purpose they
+betrayed left them open to the suspicion of insincerity, and that the
+affairs of both Courts were conducted by Ministers utterly deficient in
+all qualities of firmness and judgment, which the occasion imperatively
+demanded.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.)      Vienna, Sept. 1st, 1794.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     If M. de Thugut is waiting with impatience the result of M. de
+     Merey's negotiation, you will easily believe that we have no less
+     impatience to know your decisions upon that subject, though you
+     will have seen that Lord Spencer and I have not been able to teach
+     ourselves to wish that the pecuniary demands may, or ought to be,
+     gratified by us. If they had confined themselves to asking only
+     such a temporary assistance as might have given a more immediate
+     spring to the vigorous movement which we are urging them to make, I
+     should have been as little disposed as anybody could to withhold
+     any practicable facilities of that description; but to the extent
+     to which they steadily continue to point, I own I feel myself too
+     little satisfied as to the equity of their claim upon us, and as to
+     the probability of their acting fairly and manfully up to the great
+     exertions which they ask from us, to entertain much disposition
+     towards those demands.
+
+     They dwell certainly upon the difference which they state between
+     loan and subsidy, and wish to prove to us that their offer of
+     security upon the revenues of the Low Countries should, at least by
+     us (who always insist on those territories remaining in the House
+     of Austria), be accepted as a good and ample mortgage for the
+     repayment of the sums which they want for this year and the next;
+     but if it is true that they do not feel interested at heart in
+     these possessions, or if they think us so earnest in our wishes on
+     this subject, that they may safely throw the whole weight of it
+     upon us, their offer of a _hypotheque_ on those possessions takes a
+     much more suspicious character; nor is it, perhaps, an unreasonable
+     jealousy on my part to apprehend that they may wish you to have a
+     mortgage of two millions on the Netherlands, as an inducement to
+     you hereafter to give up some of your French acquisitions in the
+     West Indies, in order to recover for them a country, in which you
+     will have a larger pecuniary stake, added to the ordinary course of
+     political observations.
+
+     Much at least of Thugut's conversation would seem to tally with
+     this view of the matter. It is observable that he perpetually
+     recurs to its being a settled point, that _de facon ou d'autre_ the
+     Netherlands will be secured to Austria at the peace, and yet he
+     never seems (in his view of the military operations to be pursued)
+     to consider them as a main object of defence, and is so little
+     disposed to make them so, that he expresses much reluctance at the
+     idea proposed, of engaging Austria to furnish so large an army, _to
+     act in that country_, which he thinks might be better employed
+     elsewhere. Add to this, his remarking that England might be
+     satisfied by the irrecoverable detriment done to the navy and
+     commerce of France, and his contrasting the difference in point of
+     acquisitions made by Great Britain, with the total failure on the
+     side of Austria; and it is no great refinement to suspect the whole
+     of this to lead to an expectation that we may better buy back the
+     Netherlands for them, than put them to the expense of defending
+     them or regaining them; and that we should have an additional
+     motive for sacrificing some of our conquests to this object, if we
+     have two millions of money mortgaged upon it.
+
+     Of the advantage which may be expected at home from adopting this
+     shape of lending upon security, rather than of furnishing a direct
+     subsidy, I do not well know how to judge; but unless the security
+     could be shown to be in itself substantial, and of a nature to be
+     easily got at by those to whom it was due, I should doubt whether
+     the public at home would be better reconciled to it than to a
+     direct and acknowledged subsidy. The very small proportion of
+     effect produced by the large payments this year to the King of
+     Prussia, will create much indisposition to the incurring of a
+     similar expense again, unless it can be shown to promise, upon good
+     probable grounds, a much better return than we have had; and,
+     generally speaking, I cannot but fear that the mere difference in
+     point of exertion which we can hope from this country, may not turn
+     out to be worth the purchase-money in the estimation of the country
+     at large, though I should hope they might easily acquiesce in a
+     very considerable exertion, if a great manifest exertion of
+     strength, fairly disposable to the course of the war, could be
+     procured by pecuniary aids. What inducement there may be to this
+     measure, from any apprehension of the Emperor's withdrawing from
+     the war, is another part of the question, upon which I can form no
+     more correct judgment than belongs to the observation of a very
+     short residence here.
+
+     Lord Malmesbury hints to me a suspicion of a proposed concert
+     between the Emperor and the King of Prussia, to compel the Maritime
+     Powers to make peace, though he appears to give no great credit to
+     it. Certain it is, that in the month which we have past here, one
+     of the most striking features of the conversation, both of
+     Ministers and individuals, has been a hatred and aversion to
+     Prussia, by Thugut, too, particularly marked towards Lucchesini, of
+     whom he never scruples to speak to us in terms of the most
+     unqualified dislike; so that as far as can be collected from what
+     we hear, there ought to be no ground to suspect any plan of
+     intimate concert between his Court and Berlin.
+
+     It is possible, to be sure, that independently of any such concert,
+     the Government here, if unassisted by money from us, might
+     endeavour to withdraw from the prosecution of the war; but, as we
+     have had no reason to expect any ultimate success to the
+     propositions which _we_ brought here, we have endeavoured, as much
+     as possible, to learn what their conduct would be in failure of the
+     proposed Convention, and to consider them in all that we have said
+     as equally bound to continue in their co-operations with us
+     according to the existing agreement, whether any new arrangement
+     should succeed or not. To this view they have not only acceded
+     always in distinct terms, when urged by us, but they have
+     frequently stated this of their own accord, confining themselves
+     only to the observation, that their means are limited, and will no
+     longer allow of the exertions which they wish; but solemnly
+     protesting against any present idea of peace, and always expressing
+     their belief that Prussia is now desirous of peace being made,
+     because, in the present situation of things, it might probably be
+     made to the disadvantage of Austria. Unless, therefore, their
+     opinions should be disguised to a degree which I cannot well
+     believe, or should undergo an entire change, I do not see what
+     ground there is to suspect in them any intention of abandoning the
+     war, though I can entertain no great hopes of such a vigorous
+     prosecution of it as we might wish and expect from them.
+
+     There is but one opinion as to the Emperor's inclinations on this
+     subject, and if his personal character had steadiness enough to
+     influence the Government, his disposition to the true principles of
+     the war would be a great security to us; at present, however, it is
+     of little or no avail; and it is much to be lamented in times like
+     the present, that though there is no dislike entertained to him,
+     there is not either the respect or consideration which ought to be
+     attached to his situation, to make it tell with any of the effects
+     one wishes to derive from it. With respect to his Ministers, you
+     have seen too much of our remarks upon the striking features of
+     their conduct, to make it necessary for me in every letter to
+     repeat them. Thugut is certainly the only efficient Minister here:
+     very diligent and laborious in his office, he seems to have
+     acquired an influence here by being the only man of business about
+     the Court; and with this recommendation has reached a situation
+     which the nobility of the country are mortified to see him hold,
+     because he has no pretensions to hereditary rank, and because they
+     have been used to see that office for many years filled by Prince
+     Kavnitz. What _we_, however, miss in him is, either the disposition
+     or capacity to see the present great crisis of Europe upon the
+     large scale on which it should be looked at by the leading Minister
+     of this empire; instead of which, we see in all our discussions a
+     cold, narrow, and contracted view of this subject, infinitely too
+     languid and little for the object, and made peculiarly unfavourable
+     to our propositions, by the disinclination which he certainly feels
+     to concur heartily with us in the great interests attached to the
+     Austrian possession of the Low Countries. We have, it is true,
+     obtained from him assurances of concerting an immediate plan for
+     the relief of Valenciennes; but even this has not been obtained
+     without many discouraging tokens of that total want of manly energy
+     and direct dealing, without which all co-operation must necessarily
+     be languid and feeble: always taking merit for having sent the most
+     distinct orders to try the relief of Valenciennes, yet never taking
+     the obvious mode of satisfying us by communicating those orders to
+     us; maintaining as an argument for the loan, that without it the
+     army cannot move, yet at the same time resisting our objections of
+     the delay of waiting for answers from M. de Merey, by stating this
+     movement as being actually in great forwardness, and not depending
+     upon the loan for its execution; acquiescing in the change of
+     command urged by us, and yet ever since that event reminding us
+     that in his opinion this very change may defeat the operation which
+     we wished to assist by it; gratifying our impatience at one time by
+     counting up the days to the probable time of the desired movement,
+     and then again stating that Clairfayt's army may be weakened too
+     much to attempt it by his detaching, perhaps considerably, towards
+     the side of Treves; complaining that the Austrians had been
+     prevented from sending Blankenstein's corps towards Flanders, as
+     they wished, by the Prussians having engaged it in their line of
+     defence, and yet refusing to us a corps much more inconsiderable,
+     and not involved in the objection--I mean the corps of Conde--a
+     corps, too, which, as I have before observed, from their own
+     statement of their want of money, they should have been glad to
+     have seen transferred to the pay of another country.
+
+     These, and many other such traits of inconsistency, I advert to
+     only as being descriptive of the very unsatisfactory manner in
+     which our business is discussed, always providing on their side
+     apologies for future failures, instead of means of success, and
+     projects of vigour and enterprize. Yet though the shortness of our
+     possible residence here makes this inanimate character of the
+     Government a bar to that immediate spirit and alacrity which, for
+     the purposes of the present crisis, it was highly desirable to
+     create here, so as to act upon instantaneously; much, I should
+     suppose, may be done after our return, by any person of steadiness
+     and activity, in the course of an established residence here, there
+     being certainly fair grounds for the most intimate union between
+     the two countries, and appearances enough of general inclination
+     towards it, though traversed for the present by their hopes of
+     fighting at our cost, and by the unfavourable turn of M. Thugut's
+     mind upon the subject of the Netherlands. For this purpose, the
+     sooner a regular Minister is appointed here the better; because
+     though the opening of the subsequent campaign is at present distant
+     enough, the dilatory habits of this Government make every moment
+     more precious than it should be; and the points, both of the
+     barrier and the Dutch indemnity, may be found longer in discussion
+     than they were expected to be when I left London, particularly upon
+     the former of those two subjects, on which the future possession
+     of Dunkirk and Givet must, perhaps, be distinctly explained.
+
+     We have heard of Lord Malmesbury's intention to quit Frankfort on
+     the 10th of September, and we have read the formal acceptance,
+     signed by him, of the military concert of the 26th July; you will
+     already have seen, in our despatch No. 5, our apprehensions of the
+     inconvenience of placing Clairfayt's army in any state of
+     dependance upon the Prussian line, as we are always afraid that the
+     Prussians may, by a nominal concert upon this subject, become a
+     real hindrance, and throw difficulties in the way of the proposed
+     enterprise for the relief of Valenciennes. In this view, therefore,
+     we had certainly rather have seen Lord Malmesbury remaining at
+     least till the movement in question had actually been carried into
+     effect; and the more so, as we have always kept their fears a
+     little quiet here, by promising that Lord Malmesbury, at Frankfort,
+     should look to and strictly watch the operations of Marshal
+     Mollendorff's army. I take for granted, however, that you will
+     provide as well as you can against the inconveniences which in this
+     shape may arise, and we shall likewise mention it to Lord M.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     T. G.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.)      Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     You will receive enclosed with this a letter, which I had already
+     written before the arrival of your last despatches, and which can
+     only be useful by showing you all that occurred to me upon the
+     former view of the subject. The conditions which are now attached
+     to the two questions of loan and subsidy, appear certainly to be
+     the best which could have been imagined for promising a fair use of
+     the troops for which we are desired to pay, and would probably
+     appear to the country to be so, besides really furnishing all the
+     means which can be supplied to this great stake which we are
+     compelled to play for. What has passed upon these propositions, you
+     will have seen pretty amply in the public despatch, which is
+     written so much at length as to require no great additional
+     comment. It is manifest, that instead of complying with all the
+     conditions proposed, they could not easily be brought to consent to
+     any one of them. Upon the subject of command, there is a soreness
+     which would be an insuperable bar to the idea of a large combined
+     force (chiefly Austrian) acting under any English General; and yet
+     there is so little hope of their acting vigorously under any other,
+     that the choice lies between two extreme difficulties.
+
+     Under the pressure of your letter, which led us to imagine that
+     Lord Cornwallis is actually gone to Flanders, we have done and said
+     all that was in any shape likely to assist his situation there; at
+     the same time, from Wyndham's letter, and from the fall of
+     Valenciennes, it is possible that his journey may still have been
+     delayed. Instead, therefore, of writing to him in Flanders, as you
+     suggested, we have given a letter for him to Colonel Ross, who will
+     find him either on this or the other side of the water, and will be
+     best able to communicate to him whatever intelligence from hence it
+     is material for him to know.
+
+     They do not talk heartily here of Clairfayt's co-operating, though
+     they do not plainly refuse it; and I fear it is but too likely that
+     they will satisfy their dignity by keeping their army entirely
+     distinct from ours, a determination which may perhaps but too much
+     assist the views of the French, if they really make a vigorous
+     attack upon Holland. All that we could do by threats, entreaties,
+     and remonstrances, on this very important point we have done, and
+     will continue to repeat while we stay here.
+
+     Upon the subject of transferring the subsidy, I believe they are in
+     earnest when they say it is out of their power to engage for any
+     considerable subsidy from the empire to the King of Prussia; and if
+     it is true that they are now under the necessity of ascertaining
+     what are their means for the next campaign, it may be true that
+     they cannot act upon the uncertain speculation of receiving so much
+     from us as they could promise for the King of Prussia. I know not
+     whether I am right, but I have thought once or twice that Thugut
+     has spoken with some marks of dislike to-day to Comte Stahremberg,
+     whom he appears to suspect of having broached this proposition at
+     London; to prevent any confirmation of this suspicion, we have not
+     in any manner quoted Comte Stahremberg in our conferences; and as I
+     believe you are satisfied with him, I hope I misinterpret the word
+     or two which Thugut dropped upon this matter.
+
+     We are come back again (upon the failure of our overtures) to the
+     hearing of a reduced scale of military operations, an idea more
+     like a haberdasher of small wares than the Minister of a great
+     empire. What the supposed plan of this _contracted_ war is to be, I
+     never have been able to learn; and, indeed, it requires all the
+     good temper one can muster to make so discouraging an inquiry.
+
+     Meanwhile, orders are said to be already issued for raising sixty
+     thousand new recruits in the hereditary states of Austria, but no
+     hopes are given of assistance from Hungary, where the harvest has
+     been, in many places, uncommonly deficient.
+
+     We have done what we could to urge them to be active in Sardinia,
+     now the French appear to be retiring; and though an invincible
+     prejudice to that quarter prevents Thugut from doing all he might,
+     yet he expresses a readiness to concur in an attack upon Nice, if
+     the English fleet would co-operate, as soon as the equinoctial
+     snows have fallen to guard the mountains of the Milanes.
+
+     There are, however, bad reports of Kosciusko declaring war against
+     Austria, which will be both a reason and a pretext for suspending
+     enterprise, if any would otherwise be undertaken. The Duc de Guiche
+     has a project of collecting the Gardes du Corps, of which he says
+     he thinks he could soon muster twelve hundred. He and the French
+     here are grown very anxious about Comte d'Artois' journey to
+     Rotterdam. We expect impatiently to hear from you of our return.
+
+     With respect to Vienna, Lord Spencer having considered this
+     business as now come to a point, which requires some new shape and
+     fresh regular negotiation, writes to request leave to return home,
+     and only waits for it to set out immediately. In that request
+     (after all the consideration which I can give to it) I feel that I
+     must likewise beg to be included, so as to return with him at the
+     same time. The line of foreign mission is one to which I own I
+     cannot reconcile myself; it leads certainly to a claim for future
+     competency, but it seems to me little likely to assist those views
+     of honest ambition, which are certainly, though I hope to no
+     improper degree, still more forward in my mind than those of
+     emolument. In this view it was, that upon a former occasion of
+     arrangement, I had declined the Hague, which certainly is the first
+     of all the situations in that line, but which still has the
+     objection of banishing from all connections, social as well as
+     political, and of cutting across all other expectations except
+     those of an invalid upon half-pay.
+
+     I believe I need not tell you, that upon the proposition which you
+     suggest of my staying here only to make the detail of the new
+     arrangements for next year, I certainly would not have refused it,
+     if I had thought that I could more usefully transact that point for
+     you; but I am really firmly persuaded, that the only chance of any
+     good being done here, is by some active and intelligent man
+     _taking root here_, and acquiring over these Ministers by the
+     vigour and perseverance of his own mind, influence enough to supply
+     the total want of it in theirs; but as this must be a work of some
+     time, so it seems highly important that it should immediately be
+     undertaken in that regular established shape in which alone it is
+     likely to succeed, and to which I could very little contribute by
+     protracting my departure two or three months beyond that of Lord
+     Spencer; besides, too, that if Ireland is to be looked at, I have
+     not much time to lose with a view to that subject. Certainly no man
+     can be more sensible than I am to the _desagremens_ of the Irish
+     Secretaryship; and if the political arrangements which have taken
+     place, had admitted of my occupying any situation of business at
+     home, there is scarce any which I should not prefer to it. I am,
+     however, very ready to confess, that at the present moment I do not
+     see any such opening likely to be easily made; and, therefore, the
+     question is as with respect to myself, whether, even with all my
+     dislike to the situation, it may not be right that I should take
+     it, and trust to the course of events to supply hereafter some
+     other situation more eligible. What much inclines me to this is,
+     that I shall be able to preserve a much nearer and closer
+     connection with my family and friends, whom I shall at times have
+     an opportunity of seeing, and that the business itself may become
+     in one light highly interesting to me, if I see in it the means of
+     making myself essentially useful upon a subject certainly not
+     unimportant.
+
+     I am not without considerable apprehensions, as you know, with
+     respect to the practicability of all that in theory one wishes to
+     be done in that country; but of those difficulties, it is useless
+     now to speak. Upon the whole, therefore, I have thought it best to
+     accept of Lord Fitzwilliam's offer, and have accordingly written to
+     say so.
+
+     I will not unnecessarily add to this letter, as I expect to see you
+     so soon: we calculate that in about twenty-six days we shall
+     receive from you our answer, with permission to return; and that we
+     shall be enabled to set out between the 15th and 20th of October at
+     latest. Happy, indeed, I am to find, by the conclusion of your
+     letter, that everything is going on at home upon as good a footing
+     as we could wish. Every day's experience confirms me in the
+     conviction, that with the present arrangement of Government, the
+     peace and prosperity of the country must stand and fall; and
+     however threatening may be the prospect from without, as long as
+     everything keeps so right within, I shall continue to be of good
+     heart.
+
+     I am ashamed of having written so much about myself, or rather I
+     should be so if I was not writing to you; but I have confidence in
+     your kindness and affection.
+
+     God bless you, my dear brother.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND.
+
+     (Private.)      Vienna, Sept. 15th, 1794.
+     DEAR DUKE OF PORTLAND,
+
+     The impatience which we know that you must all have in England to
+     hear the result of your last determinations, leaves me no time to
+     add to what is contained in our despatches; but having had occasion
+     to write to Lord Fitzwilliam upon his having offered to me and
+     pressed upon me the Secretaryship in Ireland, I cannot let the
+     messenger go without a few words likewise to you upon that subject,
+     to tell you that I have left that to your decision and to his;
+     having only added such expressions of my own views and inclinations
+     as I know your friendship for me will lead you to view in their
+     proper light. My objections to the situation of Secretary in
+     Ireland you very well know, because even all my desire of making
+     myself useful to you could not, twelve years ago, overcome those
+     objections. I am, however, so persuaded that, in this moment, it is
+     every man's duty to take his task without consulting his
+     inclination, that if, all things considered, you agree with Lord
+     Fitzwilliam in thinking that I had best go to Ireland, I will
+     certainly try it.
+
+     You will, I am sure, forgive me for adding that, if the future
+     course of political arrangements (according as facilities may
+     occur) should admit of my being usefully employed at home, my wish
+     and preference to any such arrangement will not, I am sure, be
+     overlooked by my friends in England.
+
+     Ever, my dear Duke,
+     Most sincerely yours,
+     T. G.
+
+That some inconvenience had already arisen, and that more was yet likely
+to arise, from the nomination of Lord Fitzwilliam to the government of
+Ireland, will be seen from a letter addressed by Lord Grenville to his
+brother at Vienna. It had been clearly understood all along, that Lord
+Fitzwilliam's appointment could not be confirmed until some suitable
+provision should have been made for Lord Westmoreland, who had accepted
+the office of Lord-Lieutenant on that express condition; yet the friends
+of Lord Fitzwilliam, in their eagerness to make known the accession of
+their party to power amongst their allies in Ireland, committed the
+indiscretion of talking publicly about the approaching change, before
+any arrangements had been concluded, or could be concluded, respecting
+Lord Westmoreland. The immediate effect of these premature announcements
+was to embarrass the Cabinet, and irritate the feelings and compromise
+the position of the Lord-Lieutenant. Worse effects followed soon
+afterwards.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     Sept. 15th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I am so late, that I have hardly time to write this private letter
+     to you, nor, indeed, have I much to add to my despatches.
+
+     There is, however, one point which it is material that you should
+     know for your own satisfaction. The despatches, as now drawn, bear
+     very much the appearance of contracted operations in Flanders,
+     without any very distinct statement of an intention to extend our
+     plans elsewhere. The reason is, that we doubt whether we ought to
+     trust the Government at Vienna with our secret in this respect. The
+     failure of our expected operations in Flanders, where we had hoped
+     to engage the principal attention of the enemy for the next month,
+     makes it impossible to try, with the small force of which we now
+     have the disposal, any operations of consequence in the Vendee; and
+     a weak and ineffectual effort there would both betray and dispirit
+     those whom we wish to support. We have therefore, for the present,
+     renounced the idea of doing more than barely trying to throw in
+     arms and supplies; and we reserve our attack for the spring, when,
+     if our present expectations do not deceive us, we shall have the
+     means of disposing of a very large force, independent of _emigres_,
+     &c.
+
+     In this way, the two parts of the war will operate as a diversion
+     one to the other, and we shall be able to push that, whichever it
+     may be, when we shall appear at the time most likely to succeed.
+     That will probably be the quarter where we act alone, and have
+     neither to depend on Prussian faith nor Austrian energy.
+
+     It is in the meantime discouraging to see how fair an opportunity
+     is lost by our not being able to profit of the present state of
+     things in France. God knows what may happen between this and the
+     spring. It does not appear to me that there is any foundation for
+     the report of the young King's death. If it was true, it would
+     solve at once the question of the acknowledgment of the Regent,
+     which Spain has formally proposed to us.
+
+     You will have received my letter on the point on which you asked my
+     opinion. If the decision is likely to go in favour of Ireland, I
+     heartily wish you were here, as I am afraid that there is less
+     discretion on that subject than there should be. The intended
+     successor to Lord W. is talked of more openly than I think useful,
+     at a time when there is yet no arrangement made for his quitting
+     his station. But what is worse than that, ideas are going about,
+     and are much encouraged in Dublin, of _new systems_ there, and of
+     changes of men and measures. Whatever it may be prudent to _do_ in
+     that respect, I know that you will agree with me that, till the
+     time comes when that question is to be considered, with a view to
+     acting upon it immediately, the less is _said_ about it the better,
+     in every point of view. When I see you, we can talk this over more
+     easily than by letters between Vienna and London; and yet I have
+     heard so much of it lately, that I almost wish it were possible for
+     you, even at that distance, to write something that might suggest
+     the necessity of caution; and that something you might even ground
+     upon the paragraphs in the papers, which, as you may have seen,
+     have been full of speculations upon it, particularly since
+     Ponsonby's journey here.
+
+     The notion of seeing your personal quiet and happiness committed in
+     this business, makes me feel more anxious about it than I otherwise
+     should, though it is otherwise sufficiently important, and that in
+     more than one point of view.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother, and believe me
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     St. James's Square, Sept. 17th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have forwarded your letter to Tom, who will, I think, probably
+     set out from Vienna soon after the receipt of it. I should have
+     been very glad if I could have engaged him to stay there, but that,
+     I think, seems out of the question. I am not more sanguine in his
+     success than he is himself; and if my conjecture is right, at least
+     you will have the satisfaction of knowing that a subsidy is not
+     given to Austria. I own myself that if the situation of affairs
+     there had been such that one could, with propriety, have been
+     given, with a reasonable hope of adequate exertion in return, I
+     should never have signed any other instrument with as much pleasure
+     as the warrant for ratifying that agreement, whatever had been the
+     consequences of it. I have no other view of the contest in which we
+     are engaged, nor ever have had, than that the existence of the two
+     systems of Government is fairly at stake, and in the words of St.
+     Just, whose curious speech I hope you have seen, that it is perfect
+     blindness not to see that in the establishment of the French
+     Republic is included the overthrow of all the other Governments of
+     Europe. If this view of the subject is just, there can be worse
+     economy than that which spares the expense of present exertion, and
+     incurs the probability of increased risk, and the necessity of
+     protracted efforts. I believe, however, that all this reasoning
+     applies, in this instance at least, to a case which will not exist.
+
+     Our letters from Holland yesterday announced the execution of
+     Barrere and Co.; but so many false reports have come from thence,
+     that I do not give much faith to this, except from the probability
+     of the thing itself. The weakness which this state of things at
+     Paris occasions, in their efforts in the Low Countries, is very
+     encouraging, and would be much more so, if we were but in a
+     situation to profit of it.
+
+     Mulgrave's expedition has, I believe, completely performed its
+     object, and averted all danger for the present from that quarter.
+     The corps will now be broken up. In that event, Nugent has been
+     thought of to go to the West Indies with the command of a brigade,
+     and the local rank of Brigadier-General. I have taken it for
+     granted that this will be a thing agreeable to him, and have
+     therefore promoted it as far as I could, because it gives him the
+     opportunities of showing himself both in service and in command. If
+     you see it in the same light, perhaps, you would prefer throwing
+     out the idea to him before it is formally proposed to him, as he
+     might have difficulty in declining any proposal of service, even if
+     for any reason that I do not foresee this destination was not
+     agreeable to him.
+
+     I rejoice to think that your King's guard is almost over, which I
+     imagine must have been a troublesome business enough.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+The straw was now beginning to move in the direction of Ireland. Mr.
+Ponsonby and his friends made no concealment of the expectations they
+founded upon the advent of Lord Fitzwilliam; and reports were creeping
+out, that with the change of men would come an entire change of
+measures.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Sept. 27th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I received your letter here yesterday, and write this because what
+     you say on two material points of the public situation of affairs,
+     impels me to it, though I well know how impossible it is within the
+     compass of a letter to discuss such questions, or even to state the
+     mere grounds of the considerations on which they depend. I see so
+     much all around us of the gloomiest colour, that I am on that
+     account, perhaps, more sensible to the manner in which you seem to
+     view our situation. I cannot, however, be much surprised at the
+     confidence which you seem to feel as to the possibility of our
+     seeing the storm break all round us, and remaining untouched by it,
+     because such appears to be the prevailing sentiment here, as well
+     as in every other part of Europe: every country, and almost every
+     individual, seeming to reason and to act in the hope of such an
+     exception being made in their favour during the general ruin which
+     they see impending over others. I am, however, not the less
+     convinced of the truth of my own opinion, which is unhappily
+     already confirmed by too many instances of the effects which this
+     delusive security, as I think it, has produced, and is daily
+     producing. I can see no grounds, in the state of this country, to
+     hope for such an exception in our favour, and I do verily believe
+     that we must prepare to meet the storm here, and that we must not
+     count upon the continuance of a state of domestic tranquillity
+     which has already lasted so much beyond the period usually allotted
+     to it in the course of human events. I trust that we shall at least
+     meet it with more firmness than our neighbours, but even in order
+     to do this, we ought not to blind ourselves at the moment of its
+     approach. It seems too probable that it is decreed by Providence
+     that a stop should be put (for reasons probably inscrutable to us)
+     to the progress of arts and civilization among us. It is a
+     melancholy reflection to be born to the commencement of such a
+     scene, and to be called to bear a principal share in it, but I
+     trust we may hope that our strength may be proportioned to our
+     trial.
+
+     With respect to what you say of Ireland, I am not ignorant of the
+     reports upon the subject, though perhaps a little mortified at the
+     facility with which you seem to have given credit to them. I know
+     of no such measure as you say we _have adopted_. I have never
+     varied in my opinion as to the impolicy of the conduct held in
+     Ireland during the time of Lord Rockingham's Administration, nor
+     do I believe that any one is disposed to repeat that conduct now.
+     On the other hand, I must say that I think we, least of all people,
+     and yourself less than any man existing, have reason to feel any
+     particular interest in a system which experience has always shown,
+     at least in our time, to be neither able nor disposed to carry any
+     support to English Government whenever England can think such
+     support material. It has long appeared to me, and I believe to you
+     also, that to make the connexion with Ireland permanently useful to
+     Great Britain, that connexion must be strengthened by a systematic
+     plan of measures, well considered and steadily pursued. Whether the
+     present moment, or any other moment that is in near prospect, would
+     be favourable to such a plan, is another and a more difficult
+     question; but I am sure that every year that is lost increases the
+     hazard of our situation as with respect to Ireland. These points I
+     feel as those which are truly important to England, are not
+     questions of power or advantage to Lord Shannon, or Mr. Ponsonby,
+     or any other individual, or set of individuals there. And with this
+     impression, I certainly have not for one consented, as you express
+     it, to surrender Ireland to the Duke of P. and Lord F. under the
+     government of Mr. Ponsonby; but neither can I conceive what other
+     interest you or I have, or ought to have, on that subject, except
+     that Ireland should be so managed, if possible, as not to be an
+     additional difficulty in our way, when so many others are likely to
+     occur.
+
+     I have not often as much leisure as I have found to-day to put
+     these ideas on paper. Do not think me dispirited by what has
+     happened. I see the extent of our danger, and think that danger
+     much greater than it is commonly apprehended; but the effect of
+     that opinion on my mind is no other than that of increasing the
+     conviction with which I was before impressed, of the necessity of
+     perseverance and exertion. France and Spain and the Netherlands,
+     and Geneva, most of all (small as it is), show us that this danger
+     is not to be lessened by giving way to it, but that courage and
+     resolution are in this instance, as in most others, the surest
+     roads to self-preservation.
+
+     I have written this with more than usual seriousness, because such
+     is the state of my mind, which I am accustomed to open to you
+     without reserve, and such as it is at the moment of my writing or
+     conversing with you.
+
+     When are we likely to meet? I suppose that your campaign will not
+     last much beyond the King's journey. You will not, I hope, forget
+     that this place is your best inn, whether you go to Stowe or to
+     town; but you must give me a few days' notice, that I may be sure
+     to be here. God bless you.
+
+The progress of the negotiations on the continent, and the weakness of
+Austria and Prussia, mixed up with no inconsiderable amount of
+indecision and duplicity, are freely commented upon in letters from Mr.
+Grenville and Lord Malmesbury. Want of power, and want of will--fear,
+hesitation, and imbecility--were so conspicuous in the conduct of these
+Courts, as to destroy all confidence in their professions. The character
+drawn by Lord Malmesbury of the King of Prussia--which the reader will
+find confirmed in the subsequent communications of Mr. Grenville--shows
+how little reliance, under any circumstances, could be placed on His
+Majesty's co-operation.
+
+
+MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE TO LORD GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.)      Vienna, Sept. 22nd, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The course of this last week has been employed--as you will have
+     seen from our despatch--in very long, but fruitless arguments on
+     our parts. The proposal which we send to you, has no other
+     recommendation than that of its having been strenuously resisted
+     by us, and steadily persisted in by them. If the fact really was,
+     as they are disposed to consider it, that England--at no risk and
+     no expense--could, in the shape of this guarantee, furnish means to
+     Austria, without which they must consider themselves as beat, and
+     act too under that impression, to their own certain ruin, and to
+     the great probable danger of Holland; if, I say, all this mischief
+     could be prevented without any real expense to England, the
+     question would seem to me very different from what it now is. But,
+     I confess, that I have not been able to make out of their
+     conversation on this subject any of that security on these points
+     which they must insist upon. They say, provision can be made by
+     which the interest of this money can be punctually secured, to be
+     paid strictly when due to the commissaries of the English army, or
+     any other persons appointed to receive it; yet what those
+     provisions are which provide for that security, I do not make out,
+     nor do they seem able to describe. I state to them that Mr. Pitt
+     must find ways and means for the payment of the interest of this
+     loan, which must increase the first shape of our annual expenses,
+     whether they are afterwards honestly repaid or not; but they
+     maintain that M. Desardroui can settle this somehow or other,
+     though how they have not by any means explained; perhaps M.
+     Desardroui has been more fortunate with Mr. Pitt.
+
+     One considerable difficulty in regard to this proposition seems to
+     be the influence which this loan might have upon their wish to
+     regain the Low Countries--a wish which we already think too weak in
+     their minds, and which would probably become weaker from the
+     reflection that the income of those revenues was already mortgaged
+     for a considerable sum. It was with a view to this that I dropped
+     to them the notion of their giving a larger security, and asking a
+     smaller loan, as well as complying with the requisitions of
+     augmented force and British command. The general security you see
+     they do consent to give; but, until I hear some more distinct
+     explanation, I shall still fear that they mean to throw the whole
+     security upon the Netherlands. They are still quarrelling more
+     every day with everything that is Prussian: they have stopped a
+     large magazine of blue cloth from Prussia to Switzerland, which
+     they say they know is destined to France; and the King of Prussia
+     threatens, in consequence, to stop some of their supplies in their
+     passage to their armies. Thugut said of the King of Prussia to-day,
+     with some truth and some humour, that all he wanted was to save the
+     whole of his army, to conquer Poland without the loss of a man, and
+     in reward to receive from us a pension of a million and a half per
+     annum. If half that sum would purchase from him thirty thousand
+     troops absolutely at our disposal, to make with British, Hessian
+     and Dutch an army under English orders of one hundred thousand men,
+     for the side of Holland; and that the other half--viz.:
+     L700,000--given in the way of subsidy to Austria, could give it
+     good heart to make a vigorous offensive campaign, I know not
+     whether my inclinations would not lead me to the experiment; but
+     their wants here are so great, and their resources, or at least
+     their spirit and exertions, so reduced, that the prospect is
+     certainly very discouraging. They seem full of new fears about the
+     Turks, and express much expectation that our Minister at
+     Constantinople will make great efforts to keep all quiet there.
+
+     I believe I told you there were apprehensions of the Poles, under
+     Kosciusko, breaking with the Austrians. A small affair had taken
+     place, but it is said to be amicably settled, and to be, for the
+     present, safe on that side. We are anxiously expecting our
+     permission to return; and I depend now upon seeing you so soon,
+     that I will not unnecessarily protract this letter.
+
+     I know not who you are sending here; but we have taken great pains
+     to keep alive in them here the most favourable dispositions that we
+     could; and as far as appearances can be depended on--if the
+     pecuniary demands were out of the question--nothing can be more
+     promising than their general language and professions are, of
+     earnestly desiring to establish the most intimate union between the
+     two Courts.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+
+LORD MALMESBURY TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     Frankfort, Oct. 2nd, 1794.
+     DEAR GRENVILLE,
+
+     I have written to Lord Spencer all I have to write officially. I
+     fear I have mixed up a little bile with my intelligence; but the
+     times are bilious, and it is beyond the compass of my patience to
+     see the great stake we are playing for lost by imbecility,
+     treachery, and neglect, without betraying a few symptoms of
+     discontent. It is really deplorable that we should be the only
+     nation in Europe who are up to the danger of the moment, and that
+     the minds of all the other Cabinets are either so tainted with
+     false principles, or are so benumbed, that it is impossible to work
+     upon them. It is manifest, from the most undoubted information,
+     that the interior of France is in a state of the greatest disorder
+     and confusion; that the successes of the armies are the only cause
+     of this confusion not breaking out in the shape of a civil war; and
+     that if we could at this moment obtain any one brilliant success,
+     that the whole fabric would fall to pieces.
+
+     It is said that H. P. M. will come here, and that when he does
+     come, things will take another turn. I doubt one and the other. Any
+     means will be employed at Berlin to keep him there, and if these
+     should not succeed, any means will be employed here to persuade him
+     to approve all that has been done, and to follow up the same line
+     of conduct. I know from experience the weakness of his character,
+     and the facility with which he gives way to the last advice. I know
+     also by experience that his assurances cannot be depended on, and
+     that his conduct does not always correspond with his promises. It
+     is from your mission and from your Court that I expect any good. I
+     am free to confess (still under the influence of that vile thing
+     called experience) that my hopes are not very sanguine.
+
+     Lord Howe is returned to Torbay. This is all I hear from England.
+     Nobody writes to me, since everybody supposes me on the road. Mr.
+     Braddye gave me your letter an hour ago, I will do all I can to
+     make Frankfort pleasant to him, but this is almost as impossible as
+     to make the Prussians act.
+
+     I probably shall be here still a fortnight. I will write again
+     soon.
+
+     Ever yours most truly and sincerely,
+     MALMESBURY.
+
+The curious revelations that are made in the next letter respecting
+Ireland are of infinite value in enabling us to estimate correctly the
+events that afterwards took place in that country under Lord
+Fitzwilliam's government, and the circumstances which led to its abrupt
+termination. Two important facts are authenticated in this
+communication: the first, that Lord Fitzwilliam, before he assumed the
+government, and even before his appointment to it was advanced so far as
+the removal of his predecessor, had not only determined upon the
+introduction of a new system, involving extensive changes of policy and
+persons, but that he had made known his determination to the heads of
+that party in Ireland who had obstructed Lord Buckingham on the Regency
+question; and the second, that this determination was formed without any
+previous concert with Mr. Pitt and the Cabinet, and to a great extent in
+opposition to their known and avowed principles.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     (Private.) Dover Street, Oct. 15th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I think it probable that you may receive with this letter, others
+     mentioning to you the unhappy misunderstanding which has clouded
+     all our prospects, and which seems to threaten the worst
+     consequences to that system, from the permanence of which I had
+     looked, as you did, for the safety of this country, under all the
+     difficulties of our present situation. Everything has continued up
+     to this hour to go on in the most satisfactory manner, with the
+     single exception of this unfortunate subject of Ireland, which now
+     is brought to that sort of point which must, as I fear, unavoidably
+     produce the immediate dissolution of the union, which we were both
+     so anxious to maintain and perpetuate.
+
+     It would be difficult for me to give you an exact account how this
+     mischief has originated, because I am of course ignorant of the
+     manner in which the Duke of P. and Lord F. received the
+     impressions, on which they appear to have acted. About the time I
+     wrote my last letter to you, or rather earlier, reports came round
+     to Pitt and myself that the party who had acted in opposition in
+     Ireland, and particularly Ponsonby and Grattan, had held the
+     strongest language respecting assurances received by them from the
+     Duke of P. and Lord F., that the latter was immediately to be
+     declared Lord-Lieutenant, that Mr. Pitt had given Ireland over
+     entirely to them, and that a new system of measures and men was to
+     be adopted. In these reports particular persons were mentioned as
+     being to be dismissed, and amongst these the Chancellor. The only
+     impression which these produced on my mind was, that Lord F. had
+     talked too soon of his intended appointment, as it had been
+     uniformly explained that he could not be named till some provision
+     was found for Lord W., the fact being that when the latter went to
+     Ireland he accepted that situation, on an express engagement that
+     he should return to one not less advantageous than the Post-Office,
+     which he then quitted. I imagined also that in his communications
+     with persons, whose support to a new Government in Ireland we all
+     wished to secure, he had been less guarded than he might have been,
+     and had given in his conversation more way to ideas stated by them
+     than it could be prudent to do. And in this impression I wrote to
+     you, thinking all the rest to proceed only from the usual
+     exaggeration of reports of this nature, particularly in Ireland;
+     and feeling confident that before any measure was really determined
+     upon, we should have an opportunity of discussing it fully, and of
+     weighing the proposed advantages of it against the very great
+     objections which naturally and at first sight occur.
+
+     Soon after this we heard that Lord F. had actually taken such steps
+     in Ireland as marked his persuasion of his being immediately to be
+     appointed, and as gave on that account great offence to Lord W., to
+     whom no communication of that nature had yet been made on our part,
+     because we saw no such opening as it would have been necessary to
+     hold out to him when such communication was made.
+
+     While we were doubting what step it might be best to take on this
+     subject, to avoid giving any ground of uneasiness or
+     dissatisfaction, the Duke of P. wrote to Pitt to urge the immediate
+     appointment of Lord F. as a thing already determined upon, and
+     without taking any notice of the necessity of the previous
+     arrangement for Lord W. This led to intercourse upon the subject,
+     and it is only since that time that we have found ourselves
+     apprized of all the difficulties of the subject, and of the extent
+     of the misunderstanding which prevails respecting it.
+
+     It appears that Lord F. has (on whatever grounds) announced to his
+     friends in Ireland his immediate destination for that country, in
+     such a manner as makes him now think that his appointment cannot
+     even be postponed without discredit to himself, and that he cannot
+     any longer continue in the King's service in any other situation
+     than that of Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
+
+     If this difficulty stood alone, it would be sufficiently great. The
+     principle on which Pitt had always acted in forming this junction,
+     and the justification which he has used to those of his friends who
+     disapproved or doubted about the measure, was, that he sacrificed
+     to it the situation of none of the former Government, or its
+     supporters; but that he used such openings as presented themselves,
+     and such as he could create without removals, for the purpose of
+     bringing into the public service a large and respectable
+     description of persons, actuated by the same view as himself of the
+     present state and circumstances of the country. Yet it hardly seems
+     possible that, without breaking in upon this principle, Lord F.
+     could now be appointed. I am, however, persuaded that if this had
+     been the only difficulty, some expedient would have been found to
+     remove it, though it is not easy to say what that expedient could
+     have been. But certainly for such an object as the maintenance of a
+     system on which the fate of the country seems so much to rest,
+     great sacrifices would and ought to have been made.
+
+     But it now appears that the reports which had reached us were in a
+     very great degree, if not indeed wholly, founded in the real truth
+     of what had happened. There is, I fear, no reason to doubt that
+     some of the very expressions I have mentioned have actually been
+     used, and that Lord F. has pledged himself too far to recede, with
+     respect to a total new system, both of men and measures. The first
+     point of this system goes to no less than the dismission of the
+     Chancellor, who was, as I understand, to be replaced by Adair. On
+     this subject, Pitt and myself cannot but feel that the only ground
+     on which the Ponsonbys can desire the Chancellor's removal, is the
+     conduct he held during the Regency in support of Lord Buckingham's
+     Government, and that our consent to such a step must therefore be
+     utterly dishonourable and degrading to us. But independent of this
+     consideration, it is my sincere opinion that there cannot be
+     adopted any measure more certainly destructive of the peace and
+     tranquillity of that country. The system of introducing English
+     party into Ireland, the principle of connecting changes of
+     Government here with the removal of persons high in office there,
+     and particularly the marking that system in the instance of a
+     person of Fitzgibbon's situation, weight, and character, are all so
+     utterly irreconcilable with every view that I have of the state of
+     that country, that I should really be inexcusable if I could make
+     myself a party to such a measure; and in this opinion Pitt entirely
+     concurs.
+
+     On every principle, therefore, of duty and character, we are
+     obliged to say that we cannot consent to this step, and we can only
+     regret that, if it was originally intended, so capital a feature in
+     the new arrangement was not brought forward earlier. The same
+     observation applies to the whole idea of holding out a new system
+     of men and measures in Ireland. If that was meant before the
+     junction was made, it ought surely to have been stated then, in
+     order that we might judge whether it did not oppose an
+     insurmountable bar to the whole scheme. If it has only been
+     conceived since that period, it ought certainly to have been
+     communicated and concerted here, before any pledge or assurance was
+     given to individuals who might be concerned in it there.
+
+     When I say this, you must not suppose that there enters into our
+     minds anything like warmth or resentment on the subject. The manner
+     in which everything else has been conducted since we acted
+     together, convinces me that the evil has arisen from precipitation
+     and indiscretion, and not from any concerted plan of committing us,
+     without our knowledge, to measures which we could not be supposed
+     willing to adopt. And if it were still possible that the thing
+     could be settled without discredit to either party, not only my
+     sense of the public interest, but my personal feeling towards them,
+     would make me think that no means ought to be left untried for that
+     purpose. I am, however, obliged to confess to myself that I see no
+     possibility of this. The publicity which has been given to the
+     whole business seems to render it utterly impracticable. The
+     assurances which have been given are well known, and the breach or
+     performance of them must be discreditable to one of the _two_
+     parties, for such, unfortunately, they now are again.
+
+     I never can enough regret your absence from this country while this
+     has been going on. I am sure if you had been here the whole thing
+     would have been avoided. As it is, what determination you will take
+     respecting your own line I know not, and I feel myself too deeply
+     interested in it to think myself a fair or competent adviser.
+
+     Nothing can be more unfortunate to the public interest than this
+     incident; but the sense of it would certainly be very much
+     aggravated to me if it were to lead, which I still hope it may not,
+     to the placing us two again on different lines, and in opposite
+     systems. Whatever you decide in that respect, I cannot help
+     flattering myself that you will do justice to our conduct; and
+     without calling upon you to condemn others, I cannot help
+     entertaining the belief that you will think no part of this great
+     misfortune imputable to us. With respect to my own personal
+     opinions of the importance of forming and maintaining the union,
+     you were, I am sure, enough a witness to them to make it very
+     unnecessary for me, in writing to you, to dwell much on that point.
+
+     I have written this to you, though the thing has not yet taken its
+     final turn, because any delay might possibly prevent your receiving
+     it before your arrival here, for which I now look with increased
+     impatience and anxiety.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+The weak point of the Government was its combination of opposite
+parties; and the consideration which finally determined the course of
+Ministers, was the necessity of preventing their differences from coming
+to an open rupture--a result that would have jeopardized the very
+existence of the Administration. With that paramount object in view,
+Lord Grenville, writing again to his brother, analyses the difficulties
+of the situation, and points out the only paths that could be opened to
+an honourable and creditable accommodation.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO MR. THOMAS GRENVILLE.
+
+     Dover Street, Oct. 24th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Since I wrote my last letter I have received yours, written the day
+     of your leaving Vienna, and I calculate that this will probably
+     find you at the Hague. Our situation, with respect to the point on
+     which I wrote to you so much at large, has been a little, and but a
+     little, improved by a conversation between the Duke of P. and Pitt.
+     Nothing having since passed, we conclude that there is a desire to
+     wait for the benefit of your opinion and Lord Spencer's upon this
+     difficult and distressing subject--a desire in which I need not say
+     we most heartily concur.
+
+     As far as anything can be concluded from a conversation which did
+     not lead to any decisive issue, I hope that we have been too easily
+     alarmed by Irish reports on the subject of a _new system_, and
+     that, probably in the imagination of those who have first given
+     rise to those reports, some loose and general expressions have been
+     construed into pointed and specific assurances. Be this however as
+     it may, it is certain that infinite mischief has already been done
+     by the prevalence of those reports, and both the settlement of the
+     points in discussion here, and the subsequent task of the future
+     Governor of Ireland, whoever he may be, have been rendered much
+     more difficult than they would have been if more reserve and
+     caution had been used. It is, however, useless to regret what is
+     past, and all our endeavours ought to be applied to remedy the
+     present evil. I most anxiously wait for the moment of talking over
+     with you the means of doing this, which I am confident every one
+     concerned joins in wishing, though all are obliged to confess the
+     difficulty of it.
+
+     Three points are to be considered--Has Lord F. still kept himself
+     sufficiently open with respect to his engagements with Grattan and
+     the Ponsonbys, as to be able to undertake the Irish Government with
+     honour and satisfaction to himself, without displacing the old
+     tenants of Government to make room for their opponents, and without
+     giving to the Ponsonbys in particular more influence and power than
+     belongs to their situation as one among several of the great
+     connexions in that country? If not, there seems no hope of any
+     permanent agreement on this subject, even if it were so patched up
+     for the present as that he could go to Ireland. The next is whether
+     it is possible for him to undertake the Government without
+     insisting on the removal of Fitzgibbon? If this cannot be done, the
+     thing must come to an immediate stop, as we are more and more
+     convinced that we cannot in honour or duty accede to that measure.
+     And lastly, supposing any or all of these considerations to oppose
+     an insurmountable obstacle in the way of his going, ought that to
+     prevent his continuing to hold his present situation? and can the
+     Duke of P., Lord F., and _others_, be justified in bringing on the
+     country the infinite mischiefs of the dissolution of the present
+     united Government, on no stronger ground than because alterations,
+     however desirable in their opinion, in the system of governing
+     Ireland cannot be adopted.
+
+     I have said nothing in all this of the question about Lord
+     Westmoreland's removal. I should readily agree with what you say in
+     your last letter on that subject, that he ought to wait for a
+     provision, if I did not see that even this is rendered more
+     difficult by the _eclat_ of what has happened. Still I should think
+     he ought to forego his claim; but if he thinks otherwise, he has a
+     positive promise, which of course cannot be broken. But I always
+     feel a confidence that this point would in some manner be arranged,
+     because I am sure that we should all be willing to make almost any
+     sacrifice rather than let it be said by the enemy, that after
+     having professed to unite on public principle, we had separated on
+     a mere squabble about the distribution of places.
+
+     The other points are those from which I fear the most. It is,
+     however, a satisfaction to me to think that I see on both sides (I
+     know it exists on one) a very sincere and earnest desire to prevent
+     the fatal consequences which a division amongst us, at such a
+     moment as the present, must infallibly produce. And I can truly add
+     that, on our part, this desire is increased by the manner in which
+     everything else had gone on before this unhappy subject was
+     started.
+
+     You are coming from a bad scene and to a bad scene; but we must
+     hope the best, both at home and abroad, and at least we ought all
+     to be quite sure that we can tell ourselves we have each done our
+     best to prevent the misfortunes which seem to hang over us.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dover Street, Oct. 30th, 1794.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I received your letter the day before yesterday at Dropmore. Mr.
+     Pitt, who had left me that morning, had shown me your letter to
+     him, with respect to which I say nothing, as I understood he meant
+     to write to you upon the subject. The whole business to which it
+     relates is in a situation, the final issue of which is extremely
+     doubtful. With my impression of the advantage, and even necessity,
+     of uniting at this time in the public service the great bulk of the
+     landed property of the country, and doing away all distinctions of
+     party between those who wish the maintenance of order and
+     tranquillity here, I shall very deeply regret, as a great public
+     misfortune, any event that leads to the dissolution of a system so
+     lately formed. But, on the other hand, I have certainly no
+     intention of making myself a party to any system of government in
+     Ireland that is incompatible with my views of the interest of this
+     country there. And in any case, I certainly neither have, nor can
+     take, as far as relates to myself, any step upon the subject which
+     has its origin in any other motive than a sense of public duty
+     under circumstances of much difficulty.
+
+     I considered the subject of my brother's acceptance of the
+     situation offered to him in Ireland as being, as in fact he appears
+     to have stated it to you, very undecided, even if any arrangement
+     were made for Lord Fitzwilliam's going there. I could have no
+     motive to keep it back from you, but felt it due to him to leave it
+     to him to do what I was sure he would be anxious to do. The whole
+     subject appears now in some degree suspended till his arrival. When
+     I see him I should of course state to him, as far as I am able to
+     do it, your ideas respecting it.
+
+     I am still of opinion that it will turn out that the alarm created
+     in Ireland, and the impression given here has originated in very
+     loose reports, magnified, as usual, by persons repeating them
+     according to their interest and wishes; but I state this as matter
+     of opinion only.
+
+     I expect my brother here every day. They left Vienna in the
+     beginning of this month, without having concluded any treaty,
+     though they seem to have established a juster sense of the present
+     crisis than prevailed before.
+
+     Our Prussian ally has had his payments stopped, and is withdrawing
+     his troops. In the meantime, the Empress of Russia has done his
+     business, or rather her own, in Poland, the Polish army being
+     completely defeated, and Kosciusko, who was the soul of the
+     enterprise, taken prisoner.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+     Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+The conduct of Lord Fitzwilliam had been reprehensible from the
+beginning. The suggestion of the Lord-Lieutenancy had scarcely taken a
+definite shape, when he opened a communication, as appeared afterwards,
+with the heads of the Irish party, and announced the system on which he
+intended to govern the country. In any case, such a proceeding would
+have been inexpedient and indefensible, its inevitable effect being to
+commit the policy of the Administration beforehand, to deprive it at
+once of all dignity and independence, and to revive those heart-burnings
+and dissensions which had already so nearly endangered the connection of
+the two kingdoms.
+
+But, composed as the Cabinet was of men who were known to entertain
+different opinions in reference to Ireland, the premature and
+unwarrantable publicity given by Lord Fitzwilliam to his own views was
+calculated to precipitate still more injurious results. So far back as
+the 23rd of August, he had written to Mr. Grattan, who was then
+personally unknown to him, apprising him of his approaching appointment;
+and, in plain terms, calling in that gentleman and his party to his
+future councils. From the very first paragraph of his letter, it is
+evident that at the time when this ill-judged communication was made,
+the arrangements respecting the Lord-Lieutenancy had not advanced
+sufficiently far to justify him in taking any ostensible step whatever
+in reference to Ireland. His own language was abundantly explicit on
+this point: "Though I have not as yet the honour of an appointment to
+succeed Lord Westmoreland, there certainly is great probability of that
+event taking place very soon." Yet in this early stage of the
+ministerial negotiations, he did not hesitate to inform Mr. Grattan that
+he intended to look to "the system of the Duke of Portland, as the
+model," by which he should regulate his conduct; and that, in order to
+enable him to render that system effective, it was necessary he should
+be supported by Mr. Grattan and his friends. "It is, Sir, to you," he
+observes, "and your friends, the Ponsonbys, that I look for assistance
+in bringing it to bear," adding, "it is that assistance which I am
+therefore now soliciting." The letter concludes by inviting Mr. Grattan
+to form an "intimate, direct, and avowed connection" with the Castle,
+which he had never hitherto "approached in confidence and avowed
+friendship;" and in the postscript he gives Mr. Grattan this significant
+caution: "It may seem a little inconsistent, and that this letter is
+written rather prematurely, when I beg not to be quoted as having
+announced myself in the character of a Lord-Lieutenant elect; my
+nomination not having yet been mentioned to the King, on account of his
+absence at Weymouth."[C]
+
+This indiscreet and unjustifiable line of proceeding placed the
+Ministry in a dilemma, from which the escape, either way, was surrounded
+by dangers. They selected that alternative which appeared, under all
+circumstances, to be the least hazardous; and on the 10th of December,
+Lord Fitzwilliam attended the levee to kiss hands on his appointment.
+
+Mr. Thomas Grenville, however, declined the office of Secretary, which
+was conferred on Lord Milton.
+
+[Footnote C: This letter is published in full in the Life of Mr.
+Grattan.]
+
+
+
+
+1795.
+
+LORD FITZWILLIAM'S ADMINISTRATION IN IRELAND.
+
+
+The line of policy Lord Fitzwilliam intended to adopt was intimated at
+the opening of the Parliament in January. Mr. Grattan moved the Address
+in answer to the Speech; a little later Mr. Conolly withdrew his
+opposition to the prorogation in deference to the wishes of Government;
+and the old supporters of the Administration were displaced by the
+Ponsonbys and their connections. Remembering how all these men had acted
+in the Regency business, the obstructions they had thrown in the way of
+the public service, and the vindictive opposition they had given to his
+measures, Lord Buckingham was deeply wounded by the apparent sanction
+extended to this complete change of system, which he regarded as a
+disavowal of the course he had pursued in Ireland, and, in some sort, as
+a personal indignity. In his communications with Lord Grenville he
+stated his feelings on this subject without reserve. He considered that
+in assenting to the appointment of Lord Fitzwilliam, after the damaging
+disclosures that had taken place, the Cabinet had abandoned him to the
+obloquy of that party against whose inveterate hostility he had
+successfully preserved the executive union of the two kingdoms; and this
+consideration was embittered by the reflection that Lord Grenville, from
+his position in the Ministry, had contributed influentially to place him
+in that humiliating light before the public. Lord Buckingham, with his
+acute sense of what was due to his own honour, looked at the question
+from that point alone; but Lord Grenville, in the discharge of his
+responsibilities as a Cabinet Minister, was compelled to take a more
+comprehensive view of it. Whether he decided rightly or wrongly, there
+can be no doubt that he decided conscientiously, and that it was
+impossible he could resolve upon any conclusion likely to be painful to
+Lord Buckingham which his affection for him would not render equally
+painful to himself. But he felt at the same time that his duty demanded
+at his hands the sacrifice of his private feelings, and that this was a
+case in which any hesitation upon such grounds would be attended by the
+gravest consequences to the Administration. It may be seen, also, from
+the following letter, that he did not put the same construction upon
+these transactions as that which was so sensitively urged by Lord
+Buckingham. His more practical mind discerned in the irresistible
+necessity of the position a sufficient answer to all individual
+scruples; and maintaining, as he had stated in a former letter, that the
+security and repose of Ireland depended, not upon this or that set of
+men, which his observation of the character of the people and their
+politics had led him to regard with comparative indifference, but upon
+the soundness of the measures applied to her condition, he could not
+admit that the decision which had been come to with respect to Lord
+Fitzwilliam implied, even remotely, a disavowal of the line of conduct
+Lord Buckingham had so successfully pursued under totally different
+circumstances.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dover Street, Jan. 5th, 1795.
+     MY DEAR BROTHER,
+
+     As I keep no copies of my letters to you, and have neither time
+     enough, nor a mind sufficiently disengaged, to measure my
+     expressions, nor have ever accustomed myself to do so in writing to
+     you, all I can say on the subject of my last letter is, that if it
+     conveyed to you any impression different from that of the sincere
+     friendship and affection which dictated it, it very ill expressed
+     my feelings.
+
+     With respect to the rest, I can only say that, to the best of my
+     understanding, I have neither disavowed nor abandoned you, but
+     given a _very strong_ proof of my determination to do neither; that
+     I cannot believe that any such impression exists anywhere; that not
+     knowing the proofs of its existence, to which you refer, I can only
+     guess at them, and I therefore forbear to make upon them the
+     remarks to which, if my conjecture is right, they are so obviously
+     liable. But that I am at a loss even to guess at the meaning of
+     that part of your letter, which speaks of proofs laying before you
+     of some compact made on this subject above twelve months since, not
+     having, in my own mind, the smallest idea of the fact to which this
+     can refer.
+
+     Having never had any intention to disavow you, or to consent to any
+     system or measure to which I thought you could wish to object, it
+     was impossible for me to make to you any previous communication of
+     such intention.
+
+     The detail of all that passed respecting Lord Fitzwilliam's
+     appointment would be too long to go into now; and I have reason to
+     believe that you are not unacquainted with many of the
+     circumstances which would prove how very little idea there was of
+     concealment or mystery on my part respecting that subject. From the
+     first moment that you stated to me that you considered the idea of
+     giving to the Ponsonbys a share of office in Ireland as a measure
+     injurious to you, I explained to you my reasons for viewing it in a
+     different light. But I anxiously reconsidered the object in my own
+     mind, and I then acted, as I was bound to do, on my deliberate and
+     fixed opinion respecting a point which, in either view of it, was
+     of much too great public importance to make it possible for me to
+     decide it merely on the desire I must ever feel to consult your
+     wishes in preference to my own. Which of us is right in our view of
+     this question, it is not for me to say. The motives and grounds of
+     my opinion remain the same; and I see with regret that they do not
+     make on your mind the impression they have made on mine.
+
+     It would be a painful and invidious task to discuss the question
+     further; but I cannot receive from you a letter in which you tell
+     me that you feel you have lost my affection, without repeating to
+     you the assurance, which I still hope is not indifferent to you,
+     that this is not, in the smallest degree, the case. I have intended
+     to do nothing towards you but what should be the _most_ kind and
+     affectionate. I think I have so acted; but I am sure that I have so
+     meant to act. If any contrary impression produces in your mind any
+     feelings different from those which have made so great a part of my
+     happiness throughout life, I shall deeply regret what seems to be
+     annexed as a curse inseparable from the pursuit of a public life;
+     but I will once more beg you to be assured that neither those
+     feelings on your part, nor anything which they can produce, will
+     vary my sincere and heartfelt affection towards you, and that
+     whether my judgment has been right, as I still think it has, or
+     wrong, as you think it, my heart is, and shall be, uniformly and
+     invariably the same towards you.
+
+     It is with these sentiments that I shall ever be, my dearest
+     brother,
+
+     Most sincerely and affectionately yours,
+     GRENVILLE.
+
+Lord Fitzwilliam had scarcely arrived in Ireland when he collected about
+him the party with whom he had been in previous communication, and
+commenced his new system by a series of dismissals of the former
+supporters of Mr. Pitt's Government. Announcing his conviction that the
+immediate concession of the Catholic claims was indispensable to the
+tranquillity and security of the country, he followed up his objects
+with a vigour and expedition that created considerable alarm in England.
+The Attorney-General was to be displaced, to make way for Mr. George
+Ponsonby; the Solicitor-General was also to be removed, and Mr.
+Beresford, who was Purse-bearer to the Chancellor, and Mr. Cooke,
+Secretary at War, were to be dismissed. The dismissal of Mr. Beresford
+was regarded as a measure of such extreme violence that it brought
+matters to an issue between Lord Fitzwilliam and the Cabinet. Some
+letters at this time from Mr. Cooke to Lord Buckingham present a
+striking _coup d'oeil_ of these affairs, as they appeared to one who was
+deeply interested in their progress. Lord Fitzwilliam, it should be
+observed, arrived in Ireland on the 5th of January, and the rapidity of
+his official movements may be inferred from the date of the first of the
+following letters, which was written only ten days afterwards.
+
+
+MR. COOKE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dublin Castle, Jan. 15th, 1795.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     As it was through your Lordship's kind and affectionate partiality
+     that I was placed in the War Office, I think it my duty to give you
+     the earliest information of my removal.
+
+     Since Lord Fitzwilliam's arrival, I have merely seen his Excellency
+     at levee. With his chief secretary, Lord Milton, I have daily
+     transacted official business, without a syllable passing of a
+     nature in any degree confidential. The removal of Mr. Beresford, of
+     the Attorney and Solicitor-General, had created alarms; but there
+     were assurances from an English quarter that Mr. Hamilton and I
+     were not to be meddled with.
+
+     The reverse has taken place. About four o'clock to-day, Lord Milton
+     conveyed to Mr. Hamilton his Excellency's pleasure that he should
+     retire from office, with a desire that Mr. Hamilton should state
+     his situation after removal, as it was his Excellency's intention
+     to make him a provision.
+
+     About half an hour after, Lord Milton sent for me, and delivered a
+     similar message; stating, upon conversation, that his Excellency
+     did not in any degree mean to reflect upon my conduct, but that my
+     retirement was necessary for his arrangements, and that he was
+     disposed to make me a fair provision; at the same time, upon
+     conversation, his Lordship intimated that it was possible his
+     Excellency might differ as to the provision which I might expect
+     and he might think reasonable.
+
+     I have thought it my duty to submit these particulars to your
+     Lordship. From your Lordship I received my office; the Government
+     with which you have been connected I have supported to my utmost;
+     and I have the happiness to feel assured that I shall ever retain
+     your Lordship's kindness and regards till I cease to deserve it.
+
+     Believe me, my dear Lord, with the utmost respect,
+     Ever your most devoted and humble servant,
+     E. COOKE.
+
+     The Most Noble the Marquis of Buckingham, &c. &c.
+
+
+
+MR. COOKE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     (Most Private.)       Dublin, Sackville Street, Feb. 7th, 1795.
+     MY LORD,
+
+     I am to thank your Lordship for your most friendly and flattering
+     letter; and as you seem curious to know the feelings of myself and
+     colleagues on our removals, as well as the nature of our
+     compensations, I will endeavour to detail them as well as I can.
+
+     With respect to Mr. Wolf, the first act was to claim the reversion
+     recommended for him by Lord Westmoreland, and promised above a year
+     ago by Mr. Pitt, and which the King had actually signed, as a
+     measure for negotiation. Wolf _in vain_ argued that the reversion
+     was not a subject for negotiation. They offered him a Peerage for
+     his wife, and a Chief Judge's place. Wolf, in addition, asked
+     precedency at the Bar. After some days, the precedency was refused,
+     and the promise of a Chief Judge's place was retracted. Wolf
+     insisted on the promise. He was threatened that if he insisted, he
+     should be superseded. He did insist, and the promise was at length
+     renewed, in case a vacancy should happen.
+
+     Mr. Wolf gains nothing but the Peerage for his wife, for the
+     reversion was actually his own, and had been signed by the King;
+     the promise of a Chief Justiceship is very precarious, and he is
+     degraded in his profession.
+
+     Mr. Toler, having in his pocket the promise of succeeding to the
+     Attorney-Generalship, is to be superseded for Mr. Curran. He has
+     asked for a Peerage to his wife, and for the succession to Lord
+     Carleton. Upon his first demand, nothing has been said to him; upon
+     his second, it has been intimated that he may _look_ for any seat
+     on the Bench short of Chief Justiceship. Your Lordship must guess
+     that Mr. Toler feels himself _gratified_, especially when he
+     recollects that, after having boldly and manfully, at the risk of
+     his person, set himself against all the seditious and levellers in
+     and out of the House, he is sacrificed to make way for Mr. Curran,
+     who has been the most seditious incendiary in Ireland ever since he
+     became a public character.
+
+     Mr. Beresford your Lordship may have probably seen. He, it seems,
+     was dismissed because he was king of Ireland, as Bowes Daly
+     authoritatively informed him in his Excellency's name. The object
+     with respect to him was to publicly degrade him, give him a
+     provision during pleasure, then attack him, and have a pretext to
+     ruin him, if he should defend himself with spirit. He has been
+     acquainted that, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of
+     Commons, he is to have his salary of L2000 a-year on Excise
+     Incidents--not for his services, but his long and laborious
+     _attendance_. The attempt has been to stigmatize him, to degrade
+     him, and to make him dependent. I hope the last will not be the
+     case--the two former cannot.
+
+     Mr. Hamilton had merely fifty years of the most laborious and
+     faithful service to plead, under all Administrations, whether
+     adverse to each other or combined. He loses L1200 a-year by
+     removal; he loses the comforts of settlement, he loses the prospect
+     of providing for his sons; he is, however, informed that something
+     will be done for one of them!
+
+     I am equally removed from a station of much advantage and
+     opportunity. If I do not resort to my bargain with Thornton, I lose
+     L1800 a-year; if I do, I lose L1300 a-year. I am told that I am not
+     to expect compensation for my losses, but that his Excellency, on
+     review of my situation, will make compensation for my services.
+     As, however, Lord Milton was pleased to state to me that his
+     Excellency did not mean to cast in any degree any imputation on my
+     conduct, and that he removed me merely on the principle of
+     _accommodation_, and to make room for arrangements which he thought
+     necessary for his Government, I thought it my duty to claim
+     compensation, not for my services, but for my losses, and to throw
+     myself upon his Excellency's justice and honour.
+
+     I have heard that my having ventured not to appear satisfied in my
+     dismissal, has given offence; and it has been intimated, though not
+     from authority, that there is not an intention to compensate me at
+     all, but merely to indemnify Thornton for what, by agreement, he is
+     in honour obliged to pay me.
+
+     When Lord Fitzwilliam seized upon the Provostship and the
+     Secretaryship of State, the patronage of which absolutely belonged
+     to Lord Westmoreland, his Lordship was obliged to forced measures,
+     in order to extricate himself from specific promises; he therefore,
+     on this principle, included Lord Glentworth in Sir L. O'Brien's
+     patent of Clerk of the Hanaper. Sir L. lately died. Lord Glentworth
+     felt the luckiest of men; in a few days, Lord Fitzwilliam sent for
+     him, and acquainted him that he could not suffer him to remain in
+     that office; that, however, he had a high respect for him; that he
+     had been particularly recommended to him by Mr. Pitt, and that he
+     should hope to do something for him. The Duke of Leinster, being
+     very hungry, has swallowed the office.
+
+     With regard to coalition here, or the slightest appearances of it,
+     there are none. Parnell is the only old servant of the Crown who is
+     at all consulted, and he only so far as concerns his situation. The
+     whole is very strange. The Ponsonbys are all-powerful, and appear
+     to direct everything. I know not at all what measures are intended,
+     or whether an opposition will start up; but the giving up all the
+     powers of the State to one family does not please.
+
+     The idea of removing all the remaining restraints from the
+     Catholics is not relished; the worst is, that an appeal has been
+     made to the Catholic democracy, and I know they are not to be
+     depended upon; they look to the abolition of tythes and a reform of
+     Parliament on numerical principles. Ever since the first movements
+     of the Roman Catholic Committee, the lower classes have been in a
+     state of fermentation, and they continue their disorders and
+     insurrections.
+
+     I write this _confidentially_, and beg your Lordship to accept my
+     best acknowledgments for your kind sentiments.
+
+     Ever most respectfully, your Lordship's most faithful and obedient
+     servant,
+
+     E. COOKE.
+
+The result of Lord Fitzwilliam's vigorous attempts to force upon the
+Cabinet a line of policy which reason and justice alike rejected, is
+well known. A Cabinet Council was called on the 19th of March, for the
+purpose of taking the whole subject into consideration, when it was
+unanimously resolved to recal Lord Fitzwilliam "as a measure necessary
+for the preservation of the empire." The most remarkable incident
+connected with this proceeding was the fact that the Duke of Portland,
+upon whose "system" Lord Fitzwilliam had based his operations, and who
+was supposed, all throughout, to have supported him in them, was present
+at this meeting of the Cabinet, and concurred in its decision.
+
+But Lord Fitzwilliam had not done with Ireland yet. On his return to
+England, he brought the subject before the House of Lords and demanded
+an inquiry, which was refused. On this occasion some letters which had
+been addressed by him to Lord Carlisle were published, and in one of
+them "imputed malversations" were attributed to Mr. Beresford. In
+consequence of this statement, Mr. Beresford addressed the following
+letter to his Lordship:
+
+
+MR. BERESFORD TO THE EARL FITZWILLIAM.
+
+     No. 11, Beaumont Street, June 22nd, 1795.
+     MY LORD,
+
+     Your Lordship must have seen two letters to the Earl of Carlisle,
+     which have been published in your name, and in general circulation.
+     I have for a long time hoped, that they would be disavowed or
+     explained by your Lordship; I was unwilling to suppose that such a
+     publication had ever been sanctioned by you; I could not bring
+     myself to believe, that your Lordship, possessing the feelings of a
+     man, and the honour of a gentleman, could avail yourself of the
+     power and the trust which had been committed to you by His Majesty,
+     wantonly to traduce a private character, by insinuations expressed
+     in terms so vague and unqualified, as to make it impossible
+     publicly to refute them. From the rank which you hold in society, I
+     must presume, if you thought it your duty to impeach my conduct as
+     a servant of the Crown, you would have adopted the fair and manly
+     course of advancing direct and specific charges against me, which
+     must have led to my conviction, if they had been founded. Direct
+     and specific charges I could fairly have met and refuted; but
+     crooked and undefined insinuations against private character,
+     through the pretext of official discussion, your Lordship must
+     allow are the weapons of a libeller.
+
+     The publication in question, states that you recommended my removal
+     from office, "because I was a person under universal heavy
+     suspicions, subject to the opprobrium and unpopularity attendant on
+     maladministration and much imputed malversation." The aspersions
+     contained in this paragraph, are so utterly ungrounded, so
+     unprovoked, unmanly, illiberal, and false, that I could not believe
+     your Lordship could have meant to apply them to a gentleman, by
+     birth your equal, and I will tell you, of reputation as unsullied
+     as your own at any period of your life; there is no charge, however
+     monstrous, of which the idea is not here conveyed; and yet there is
+     none to which the paragraph points directly, so as to afford an
+     opportunity for vindication.
+
+     Your Lordship will, I trust, feel the justness of the warmth with
+     which I express myself on those aspersions of my character; and
+     that when I give the lie to such aspersions, I give it upon
+     reasonings as essential to your honour, as they are to mine; and if
+     anything were wanting to induce me to believe that your Lordship
+     will concur with me in this opinion, I should be satisfied of it,
+     from the communications which were made to me by persons authorized
+     to convey your Lordship's sentiments upon my projected removal from
+     the Board of Revenue, and from the official communication made to
+     me by Lord Milton on the same subject.
+
+     Considerations of domestic calamity might sufficiently explain the
+     silence I have hitherto observed; but in other respects I should
+     have been unwilling perhaps to have addressed you sooner. I would
+     not appear to avoid any inquiry into my conduct, which insinuations
+     originating from such high authority might be expected to provoke;
+     it became me, therefore, to await with patience the result of the
+     discussions respecting Irish affairs which were taking place in
+     both Parliaments, and even until the close of the session had shown
+     that it was not your Lordship's intention, nor that of either
+     House, to take any further step in the business. I cannot now
+     repent of my own forbearance, as it served, at least, to bring
+     forward testimonies most highly honourable to me, from many
+     individuals of the first weight and character in the age in which
+     we live; these testimonies having been so repeatedly and so
+     publicly urged in your Lordship's presence, and without
+     contradiction on your part, cannot but have convinced you, that you
+     had formed a wrong judgment respecting me, or that you had been
+     deceived by others; in either case, I am entitled to hope and to
+     presume that you will render to me, and to my character, that
+     justice which one man of honour has a right to expect from another.
+
+     I have the honour to be,
+     Your most obedient and humble servant,
+     BERESFORD.
+
+     Earl Fitzwilliam.
+
+
+To this letter Lord Fitzwilliam transmitted the following reply:
+
+
+EARL FITZWILLIAM TO MR. BERESFORD.
+
+     Milton, June 23rd, 1795.
+     SIR,
+
+     I had the honour of receiving your letter of the 22nd this morning.
+     The letters you allude to, were written by me to Lord Carlisle; and
+     those printed, though not printed by my direction, at my desire, or
+     with my privity, I believe to be substantially copies of the
+     letters I sent to Lord Carlisle; and certainly are so with respect
+     to the quotation in your letter to me, which, therefore, I cannot
+     permit any person whatever to charge with falsity.
+
+     It is difficult for me to leave this place abruptly (domestic
+     considerations require a little management); but I will be in
+     London in the course of a few days, where I trust I may rely upon
+     your remaining for the present.
+
+     I have the honour to be, Sir,
+     Your most obedient and very humble servant,
+     WENTWORTH FITZWILLIAM.
+
+     Rt. Hon. John Beresford.
+
+
+In consequence of this letter Mr. Beresford sent his friend Mr.
+Montgomery to Lord Fitzwilliam, who refused to enter into any
+explanation. The usual arrangements were then made for a hostile
+meeting, Lord Townshend acting as the second of Mr. Beresford, and Lord
+Moira attending Lord Fitzwilliam. When the parties met upon the ground,
+however, at Kensington, the duel was prevented by the interference of a
+peace officer.
+
+The correspondence of Lord Grenville with Lord Buckingham appears to
+have been suspended during the greater part of the year, but it was
+resumed towards its close. By this time the allies were gradually
+retrieving their losses.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Pall Mall, Nov. 12th, 1795.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     You will receive by this post the "Gazette," with the account of
+     the late successes of the Austrians. These accounts came in
+     yesterday at so many detached periods, and that circumstance, with
+     others, occupied every moment so completely, as to make it really
+     impossible for me to send you any detail of them by the post. I
+     enclose for your better understanding the "Gazette," a Prussian map
+     of the siege of Mentz, when the French occupied it. The position of
+     the French in this business has been very nearly the same with that
+     of the allies, as marked in this plan.
+
+     Craufurd's account of the successes is certainly understated, but
+     particularly in what relates to the loss of the French; because,
+     besides the killed and wounded--the number of which all the private
+     accounts state to have been exceedingly great (as it must be in
+     that precipitate retreat)--the enemy have lost very great numbers
+     by desertion.
+
+     No doubt is entertained of our having Manheim very soon. I am not
+     sanguine enough to hope that Pichegru will stay to be surrounded by
+     Clerfage, who is marching up the left bank of the Rhine, or that he
+     will suffer the latter to force him to a battle, which he may so
+     easily avoid by retreating towards his own frontier, now covered by
+     Landau, Luxembourg and Tours, &c., &c. The disappointment of the
+     French projects, and the destruction of so great a part of the army
+     which had been employed in them, are therefore, I fear, the chief
+     advantages we shall reap from these successes, except in what
+     relates to the impression produced here and on the continent, the
+     effect of which is almost beyond calculation.
+
+     Our Bills are going triumphantly through the two Houses. The
+     general impression of the House of Commons was, I understand, as
+     favourable as it could possibly be, and you need not be told what
+     the feelings of the House of Lords are on this subject. We shall
+     not have Pitt's Bill up till after the call. If you should not then
+     be in town, I should much wish you to send your proxy; and if you
+     have no objection to do so, and had rather put it in my hands than
+     any other, I will disengage myself in the interim from one of those
+     I now hold.
+
+     What have you done about our meeting? Shall I attend it or not? Let
+     me know which you wish, and I will do accordingly.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     I should be much obliged to you to return my map when you have done
+     with it, as I keep all these _historical_ maps that fall in my way.
+
+
+
+
+1796.
+
+THE PROSECUTION OF THE WAR SUSTAINED BY REPEATED MAJORITIES IN
+PARLIAMENT--MR. BURKE'S SCHOOL FOR THE EDUCATION OF EMIGRANT
+CHILDREN--BUONAPARTE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND IN ITALY--LORD
+MALMESBURY'S MISSION TO PARIS.
+
+
+The motion for negotiations with France had been again brought forward
+towards the close of the last session of Parliament, and was again
+negatived. Mr. Pitt still insisted upon the impossibility of France
+being enabled to prosecute the war, with her finances in a state of
+ruin, and seven hundred and twenty millions of assignats in circulation.
+Great changes had undoubtedly taken place. The National Assembly had
+been dissolved, and a regular form of Government established in its
+place; and although at that time Mr. Pitt rejected the idea of proposing
+any terms of peace to the Republic, he admitted without hesitation that
+if the new Government were put into activity with the acquiescence of
+the nation, so as that the voice of the people could be heard through
+their representatives, all obstacles and objections to negotiation would
+be removed. Thus the question stood at the close of the year 1795.
+
+The subject was renewed at the opening of the session in 1796, with the
+same result. Mr. Pitt resolved it at once into a question of confidence
+in Ministers. If the House thought that confidence could not be safely
+vested in them, the proper course was to address His Majesty to remove
+them. He still maintained that the French had exhausted their means of
+carrying on the war; and that, with respect to negotiations for peace,
+the point to be considered was the probability of obtaining just and
+honourable terms, which, it was evident from their public declarations,
+the French were not disposed to admit. The confidence of Parliament in
+the wisdom and discretion of Ministers was unequivocally testified in
+the large majority by which the motion was rejected.
+
+Failing to attain their object in this direct form, the Opposition
+resorted to other means of harassing the Administration. In a motion on
+the state of the nation, Mr. Grey entered into an examination of the
+financial condition of the country, exposing the enormous expenditure
+and heavy taxation entailed by the war, at a time when a more discreet
+patriotism would have avoided such details. He showed that during the
+three preceding years seventy-seven millions had been added to the
+funded debt, and that, in addition to the parliamentary grants, upwards
+of thirty-one millions had been expended without the consent of
+Parliament. Notwithstanding these disclosures, however, Mr. Pitt
+proposed a second loan of seven millions and a half for the prosecution
+of the war, which the House immediately acceded to.
+
+In both Houses, the efforts of the Opposition to overthrow the
+Administration were followed up with indefatigable activity in the shape
+of condemnatory resolutions and motions of addresses to the Throne; and
+in all instances they were defeated by overwhelming majorities. The
+session terminated in the middle of May, when Parliament was dissolved
+by proclamation, His Majesty thanking both Houses emphatically for the
+uniform wisdom, temper, and firmness by which their proceedings had been
+characterised.
+
+The destitute condition of the French emigrants who sought an asylum in
+England on the breaking out of the Revolution, and whose numbers were
+continually increasing, excited universal commiseration. The attention
+of Government was earnestly directed to the means of providing for them,
+and measures were adopted for giving the utmost efficacy to the public
+sympathy. Amongst the persons who interested themselves actively on
+their behalf were the Marquis of Buckingham and Mr. Burke. The object to
+which they mainly addressed their exertions was the education of
+emigrant children whose fathers had perished in the convulsions of their
+country, or who were unable to obtain instruction for them. The forlorn
+situation of these friendless children, in a country with whose language
+they were unacquainted, had attracted the notice of Mr. Burke, with whom
+the project originated, and who applied to Government in the first
+instance for assistance to enable him to carry out his charitable
+design. The appeal was liberally responded to. A house was taken and
+fitted up for the purpose in Buckinghamshire, at Penn, near
+Beaconsfield, the residence of Mr. Burke; and, by an order of the
+Treasury, the Duke of Portland, the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of
+Buckingham, Mr. Burke, and others were appointed trustees for the
+management of the school, which had been established in the first
+instance by Mr. Burke at his own expense. The following interesting
+letter from Mr. Burke contains some particulars concerning this
+institution, which had just been opened. The "clean and not unpleasing"
+costume spoken of by the writer consisted of a blue uniform which he had
+assigned to the boys, with a white cockade bearing the inscription of
+"Vive le Roi." Those boys who had lost their fathers were distinguished
+by a bloody label, and the loss of uncles was marked in a similar manner
+by a black one. At this time Mr. Burke had the sole management of the
+school, and watched over its progress with unabated solicitude to the
+end of his life. The Commission nominated by the Government had not, it
+appears, been communicated to him, and he justly complains to his
+correspondent of the embarrassing position in which the oversight, or
+neglect, had placed him. The Marquis of Buckingham took a warm interest
+in the education and welfare of the boys, and, as a means of fostering a
+martial and loyal spirit amongst them, made them a present of a pair of
+colours and a brass cannon, which were exhibited with great pride and
+exultation on all public occasions.
+
+
+MR. BURKE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     May 24th, 1796.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     Having received no answer to my last letter, I persuade myself
+     there was nothing in it to displease you; otherwise your general
+     politeness and your kind partiality to me would have led you to
+     give me such instructions as might prevent me from falling into
+     errors in the delicate business in which, under your countenance
+     and with your approbation, I have engaged myself.
+
+     We look forward with a pleasure, mixed with some degree of
+     impatience, to the visit which your Lordship and Lady Buckingham
+     have flattered us with the hope of, though I am afraid the heat of
+     the general election will be over before we can enjoy that
+     satisfaction.
+
+     I think, however unfortunate I may find myself in all my attempts
+     to please the Bishop of Leon, that your Lordship and Lady
+     Buckingham will feel the same pleasing and affecting interest in
+     what is done here, that all have been touched with who see what is
+     going on. You will be pleased with the celerity, if not with the
+     perfection, of our work. Five-and-forty beds are ready; the rest
+     will be so in a very few days. An old bad stable is converted into
+     an excellent school-room. The chapel is decent, in place and in
+     furniture. The eating-room is reasonably good. Twenty-five boys are
+     received, clad in a cleanly and not unpleasing manner, and they are
+     fed in an orderly way, with a wholesome and abundant diet. The
+     masters are pleased with their pupils; the pupils are pleased with
+     their preceptors; and I am sure I have reason to be pleased with
+     them all. I see them almost every day, and at almost all hours; as
+     well at their play as at their studies and exercise. I have never
+     seen finer boys, or more fit for the plan of education I mean to
+     follow for them, as long as it pleases the Government to continue
+     that charge in my hands. I am responsible, that if they are left to
+     me for six months, a set of finer lads, for their age and standing,
+     will not be seen in Europe.
+
+     The only unfortunate part of the business is, that some of them
+     speak not a word of English, and they who are the most forward in
+     it are very imperfect. There is but one of the masters who can be
+     said to know anything of it, and he is far indeed from the ability
+     to teach it. There must be a person who, besides going with them
+     through all their Latin readings and construing them into English,
+     will daily converse with them, and ground them in the principles
+     and the utterance of that tongue which belongs to the nation which
+     alone promises them an asylum upon earth. For many reasons, I
+     should prefer a clergyman of their own persuasion, and of our
+     country. But though I have always known that their number was
+     small, I did not conceive it to be so inconsiderable as I now find
+     it. But some English subject must be found to be about these boys
+     at all hours. It would be a terrible thing to condemn these poor
+     creatures to an universal exile, and to be perpetual vagrants,
+     without a possibility of being in a state of effectual
+     communication with the natives of any country or incorporating
+     themselves with any people. God forbid that, under the pretext of a
+     benefit, I should be the cause of their utter ruin.
+
+     The Bishop of Leon has written me a letter which, in my present
+     state of health (by no means the best), gives me a good deal of
+     uneasiness. Hitherto, I have received the boys without any inquiry,
+     as they were successively sent to me by the worthy prelate;
+     considering them as the objects of his selection amongst the
+     candidates for this situation. To my astonishment, in a letter
+     which I received from him last Saturday he tells me that all the
+     vacancies are filled: but that he has had nothing in the world to
+     do with the matter, and that he is no more than a simple clerk.
+     Your Lordship will see by the letters that I have the honour to
+     enclose for your perusal, that after filling up all the places, the
+     pleasure of rejecting the rest of the candidates is reserved for
+     me. He has contrived matters so, that others have all the grace of
+     obliging, and all the pleasure of being useful; and that all which
+     is harsh and odious is thrown upon me, as a reward for all the
+     trouble and expense I have been at in this business. On this I
+     shall make no further remark.
+
+     By the letters, your Lordship will see that the Bishop of Leon
+     tells the applicants, that the selection is to be made by certain
+     Lords Commissioners. I never have been apprised by the Bishop of
+     the existence of any Commission, or of any Commissioners for the
+     purpose of a choice. If such a thing at all exists, I should have
+     flattered myself that I should have been apprised of it; of their
+     rules, of its proceedings, and of the times of its sitting. I
+     believe I am the very first person who, having had the honour of
+     proposing a plan to Government, and being permitted to have the
+     management of it, have been kept wholly out of the secret of the
+     appointment of its objects. The name of every boy sent to me was
+     unknown to me to the moment of his arrival; the names of those who
+     are to come are equally unknown. Not one circumstance relative to
+     any of them is come to my knowledge. The poorest country
+     schoolmaster would have been favoured with some better account of
+     his pupils.
+
+     I must beg leave to remark to your Lordship, that the account given
+     by the Bishop of Leon to the applicants is wholly different from
+     that which he gives to me. In his two last letters to me (one, and
+     the most explicit, of which I received just now) he tells me that
+     the selection and nomination is not in any Commissioners, but
+     solely in your Lordship, and that he is no more than a clerk. If I
+     had not received it from so good an authority, I could hardly have
+     believed that your Lordship, upon a mere abstract of petitions,
+     without further examination, or any consultation, even with the
+     Bishop of Leon, should have decided upon sixty out of perhaps
+     fourscore applications. But, as I am sure you always act with
+     equity and discretion, I am perfectly satisfied in your having
+     assumed this very delicate and critical of all trusts. I only wish
+     that I had been apprised of your Lordship's having taken on you
+     that office, as, though I should not have ventured to recommend a
+     single person, I really think I might, with all humility, have made
+     some useful suggestions, which your desire of all matters being
+     before you, that might guide you to a sure decision, would make you
+     willing to receive, even from a person so very inconsiderable as I
+     am in every point of view.
+
+     I am sure your Lordship wishes that, in the very reprehensible
+     situation in which I stand, I may be able to give some sort of
+     account of my trust; and when I have engaged with Government for
+     the education of sixty boys, I ought to know at whose hands, on
+     what authority, and on whose recommendation I receive them.
+     Certainly they are not recommended or chosen by me; and when I go
+     to the Treasury, and tell the Minister who issues the money to me
+     (whenever it shall be issued) that I have employed it in the
+     maintenance and the education of those whom I do not myself know,
+     nor can tell in any regular and authorised manner from whom I
+     received them, I should make a very despicable, not to say a
+     criminal figure. I cannot take your Lordship's pleasure from the
+     Bishop of Leon; though he tells me he is (not your Lordship's
+     friend and adviser) but your clerk, as you have never informed me
+     of this his relation to you. I therefore, for my voucher and
+     justification, request that you will be pleased (the Committee and
+     the Bishop absolutely disclaiming all choice) to send me a list of
+     the names, circumstances and description of the boys whom you send
+     to me, or have sent, together with a certificate, that having duly
+     examined into the several claims and pretensions of the candidates,
+     you have found these the best entitled.
+
+     When I have received this attestation as my authority and voucher,
+     far from cavilling at either the person naming, or the names, I
+     shall receive them most cheerfully; happy that your Lordship
+     having generously and nobly taken to yourself the election, these
+     objects have obtained security for a powerful protection, to place
+     them, as successively they shall be qualified, in some way useful
+     to themselves and to the public. I shall take care that they do no
+     dishonour to your patronage; at least to the moment in which
+     (having received them from your hands) I deliver them back into the
+     same benevolent and protecting safeguard.
+
+     My dear Lord, have the goodness to excuse the length of this
+     letter, on account of the weight of my responsibility and the very
+     difficult situation in which I stand.
+
+     Mrs. Burke begs leave to join me in the most truly respectful
+     compliments to Lady Buckingham, and if we may be permitted, on very
+     little acquaintance, to Lord and Lady Temple. No persons can more
+     sincerely wish, than we do, all kind of honour and happiness to you
+     and all that belong to you.
+
+     I have the honour to be, with the most perfect respect and
+     affection,
+
+     My dear Lord,
+     Your Lordship's most obedient and faithful humble servant,
+     EDM. BURKE.
+
+The name of Buonaparte appears for the first time in this Correspondence
+in the month of August. Supported by the patronage of Barras, whose
+confidence in his talents and activity were so conspicuously justified
+by the results, he had recently been appointed to the command of the
+army of Italy, now augmented by large reinforcements. He was at this
+period only twenty-six years of age, and had never seen a regular
+engagement; but his genius inspired the highest hopes, and his
+extraordinary success gave a completely new aspect to the war.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Aug. 14th, 1796.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I was extremely sorry to hear so indifferent an account of your
+     health, but I hope the worst of the attack is now over. I return
+     you the letter from this unfortunate King, whose restoration to the
+     throne of his ancestors is now, at least, as remote as that of
+     Charles II. ever was--I fear, indeed, a great deal more so. I have
+     heard no more particulars of the attempt to assassinate him, than
+     the account which the Duke de Harcourt showed me, and which was the
+     same which they afterwards put into the newspapers.
+
+     The Prince of Hohenlohe's language has always had a leaning to the
+     side of Austria and England; but long experience has satisfied me
+     that, from a Prussian General, language of this sort means no more
+     than to describe to which party in the Berlin politics he may
+     happen to be inclined. We have, however, now made a last effort to
+     ascertain this point, but with very little expectation of success.
+
+     I do not wonder that the Navy should wish for a Spanish war, nor
+     that they should be the only set of men in England who do so. I
+     trust it may still be avoided, though the result is certainly very
+     doubtful when treating with such a Court. The distribution of our
+     limited number of sailors, into ships of the line and frigate
+     force, is a very nice and delicate question; but as far as I can
+     flatter myself that I understand it--which is not very much--I have
+     always inclined more to the latter, and I think the experience of
+     this war is in favour of that opinion. The same circumstances would
+     surely operate still more strongly in the case of a war with Spain,
+     whose commerce offers more _prise_ than that of France, and whose
+     line-of-battle force, even separately--and still more if united
+     with French ships--can never be put in competition with ours, ship
+     for ship, or anything approaching to it.
+
+     There is an account of a successful _sortie_ from Mantua, in which
+     the French have lost fifteen hundred men; but I do not yet know the
+     particulars, the despatches being gone to Weymouth. The Archduke is
+     at Donawert, or at least looking to that position, which is a
+     strong one, if his army was not dispirited. The reinforcement sent
+     to Italy has hitherto operated very fatally upon the campaign. It
+     remains to be seen what effect it will produce against Buonaparte's
+     army. But it is evidently too late to prevent the plunder of
+     Italy--the great object of that expedition.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most truly and affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     Pray let me remind you of the sheep; though just now my pastures
+     look rather brown, and will, I fear, give them a bad impression of
+     the fare which they will have.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Sept. 24th, 1796.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     We have again a report, which seems worthy of credit, of an action
+     at Montauban, on the 14th, previous to Jourdan's crossing the
+     Rhine, at Neuwied, in which he was totally defeated, and lost all
+     his cannon, &c. This seems to accord so well with dates and places,
+     that I have little doubt of the truth. It therefore only remains to
+     see what will become of Moreau. If he is dispatched, and that
+     quickly, there will be time and means to make Buonaparte suffer
+     severely for his late advanced move.
+
+     On the whole, the situation is, to be sure, very much improved
+     within these few weeks, but there is still enough for serious
+     alarm. The Directory has sent us the most insolent answer that can
+     be conceived; but as the substance of it is in some degree
+     ambiguous with respect to the main question of granting or refusing
+     the passport, it has been thought better not to leave a loop-hole
+     or pretence to them, or their adherents here, to lay upon us the
+     breaking the business off. Another note is therefore to be sent
+     to-day, by a flag of truce from Dover, in which the demand of the
+     passport is renewed in such terms as seem most likely to bring that
+     point to a distinct issue, ay or no. In other times, this last step
+     would have been not only superfluous, but humiliating; in the
+     present moment, the object of unanimity here in the great body of
+     the country, with respect to the large sacrifices they will be
+     called upon to make, is paramount to every other consideration.
+
+     I am extremely anxious to find that the plan in question may appear
+     practicable. The advantages of it would be infinite.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+The nature of the efforts which were making in England to sustain the
+war may be partially inferred from the following letter. Lord Grenville,
+it will be seen, notes with a mark of admiration a subscription of
+L100,000 from the Duke of Bedford. The circumstance was singular and
+significant, the Duke of Bedford having all along taken a leading part
+in the House of Lords in opposition to hostilities, and in calling for
+votes of censure and opprobrium upon the Ministry. He had been the chief
+mover of all those resolutions that protested against the expenditure to
+which the country had been put for the maintenance of the war, and now
+he was one of the largest of the voluntary subscribers to a fund for its
+continuance.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Dec. 2nd, 1796.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have been followed here to-night by a letter, to mention that
+     above twelve millions are already subscribed to the loan, and that
+     it may very probably be full to-morrow, so that I had no time to
+     lose in doing what of course the public will expect from me. I have
+     therefore desired that L10,000 may be subscribed to-morrow in my
+     name; and I imagine that by getting Coutts to advance the two first
+     payments, and transferring the stock, at whatever loss, the moment
+     it is transferable, I shall be able _me tirer d'affaire_, better
+     than I had hoped. It was my intention to have written to you
+     to-morrow, to let you know what other persons in your sort of
+     situation and class had done; but what I have now heard, makes me
+     think that I ought to send to you without delay, in order that you
+     may know how the thing stands, and of course afterwards judge for
+     yourself whether to do anything, and what.
+
+     The only names that have been mentioned to me, except among my
+     colleagues, are the Duke of Bridgewater and the Duke of Bedford!
+     each L100,000, and Lord Romney and Lord Carrington each L40,000,
+     besides L100,000, which the house of Smith and Co. subscribe as
+     bankers.
+
+     Lord Spencer, Lord Liverpool, Pitt and Dundas, subscribe L10,000,
+     as I have done; the two last will, I believe, have still more
+     difficulty in finding it than I shall.
+
+     You will, of course, not imagine that by sending to you in this
+     manner, I have the least idea of saying or suggesting to you to do
+     anything but what may have occurred to yourself, but I thought you
+     would naturally expect to hear these particulars from me.
+
+     Other news I have none. There was a report yesterday that Kehl was
+     surprised by the Austrians, but I could not trace it to any certain
+     source.
+
+     God bless you, my dear brother.
+
+The time had now arrived when the English Cabinet believed that an
+attempt might be made to negotiate for peace, without compromising its
+honour. In the preceding March, the ambassador to the Helvetic States
+had been authorized to inquire of the Government of France, through the
+medium of their representative, whether they were disposed to entertain
+such a negotiation. The answer was so unsatisfactory, laying down as a
+peremptory condition the retention of all those conquests which, during
+the course of the war, had been annexed to the republic, that nothing
+more was then done in the matter. The subject was resumed in September,
+and, the Directory having signified their readiness to grant passports
+to any persons who should be furnished with full powers and official
+papers, Lord Malmesbury was appointed as plenipotentiary on the part of
+His Britannic Majesty to treat for peace with the French Republic. On
+the 22nd of October his Lordship announced to M. de la Croix, the
+Minister for Foreign Affairs, his arrival in Paris in that capacity. The
+negotiations occupied nearly two months, and the main point of
+difficulty turned upon the Netherlands, Lord Malmesbury, who acted
+strictly on his instructions, making the restoration of the Netherlands
+a _sine qua non_, and M. de la Croix repeatedly stating that this
+difficulty was one which could not be overcome. The negotiations had
+arrived at that stage which made this insuperable difficulty perfectly
+clear and unmistakeable on both sides, when Mr. Talbot, a gentleman
+connected with Lord Malmesbury's embassy, addressed the following letter
+to Lord Buckingham. No allusion will be found in it to the pending
+negotiations, which were of too delicate and important a nature to be
+touched upon in a private letter; but it is very curious and
+interesting, as presenting a picture of the state of France at that
+period.
+
+
+MR. TALBOT TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Paris, Dec. 18th, 1796.
+     MY LORD,
+
+     Your Lordship, I trust, is aware of my motives for not having
+     written to you since I left England; I shall, therefore, make no
+     apologies for my neglect; but I must beg leave to assure your
+     Lordship that I am, notwithstanding the urgency of my reasons, so
+     much ashamed of the omission, that I now feel much embarrassed in
+     taking up my pen.
+
+     The only letters I have hitherto sent to England have been to Lord
+     Grenville, in answer to those he has done me the honour to write;
+     and to Mr. B. Taylor, his secretary, for some articles which I
+     stood in need of.
+
+     Your Lordship has without doubt received much better accounts of
+     the appearance and state of things in this country than it is in my
+     power to communicate; however, I will attempt a description of what
+     has struck me as worthy of notice, and rely upon your kind
+     indulgence for my errors.
+
+     Our first entrance into France was certainly not attended with the
+     reception which might have been expected, under the particular
+     circumstances in which we came. It is true a good many people of
+     all sorts were upon the quay at Calais when we arrived, but they
+     showed no signs of joy or any other feeling more than the arrival
+     of an indifferent vessel would have occasioned; and very shortly
+     after we had landed, and gone to the inn, the crowd was dispersed,
+     and everything seemed as silent as if nothing had happened. Indeed,
+     all those we conversed with expressed their happiness at seeing us,
+     and wished success to the negotiation; and all the principal
+     officers of the Government stationed there waited upon Lord
+     Malmesbury with the utmost civility; but the bulk of the
+     inhabitants--whether they were ignorant of the arrival of an envoy
+     to propose peace, or whether they were afraid to express their
+     satisfaction in any public manner, I cannot say--manifested not the
+     least sign of rejoicing.
+
+     Nothing very material occurred between this place and Paris. The
+     aubergistes and post-masters were almost the only persons with whom
+     we had any conversation, and their language uniformly was that
+     France was most anxiously desirous for the restoration of peace;
+     that their sufferings had been more than they could describe, but
+     that latterly their situation was much mended by the diminution in
+     the price of provisions. But I was not inclined to give much credit
+     to them, imagining that this language was intended to flatter us,
+     and coming from those who had suffered more than any of their
+     description in France, from the intercourse between the two
+     countries being stopped. It must, however, be allowed that a
+     general gloom seemed to prevail; and very little of that gaiety for
+     which this nation was formerly remarkable was to be observed. At
+     Amiens, I remember, the people of the inn where we supped entered
+     more fully and with less reserve into the detail of their
+     calamities. There had been a considerable manufacture of woollen
+     cloths in this town, in which at this time no more than two hundred
+     people were employed.
+
+     I profited of the opportunity which the changing horses afforded me
+     to see the Chateau of Chantilly. I found it totally stripped of its
+     furniture, and every decoration that bore the smallest reference to
+     armorial bearings was defaced; but otherwise the building has not
+     suffered much injury. The statue of the great Conde on the
+     principal staircase remains, but the head is cut off. The
+     barbarians were not content with beheading the statues of men, but
+     they have likewise done so to all the busts of stags placed over
+     the stalls in the stables. The chateau was used as a prison in the
+     time of Robespierre, and almost all the apartments continue still
+     divided into small spaces for that purpose. The gardens are totally
+     destroyed, but the park has met with no injury further than the
+     almost total destruction of the game. There is a keeper appointed
+     by the nation for the protection of the wood. The timber on the
+     opposite side of the river is chiefly cut down, the land having
+     been sold.
+
+     The adjacent chateau of the Duc d'Angouleme, his son, as far as the
+     walls, remains perfect; I had not time to see the inside of it. The
+     care of the chateau has lately been given in charge to one of the
+     former servants of the Prince de Conde.
+
+     The roads were in general in excellent condition, and the
+     post-horses tolerably good; but we were in several places kept some
+     time waiting for them. This is not to be wondered at, if we
+     consider how little they have been accustomed to travellers for
+     some years past.
+
+     A great number of the best houses by the roadside and in the towns
+     were shut up, and seemed to be abandoned. Very few of the churches
+     appeared to be open, many of them were pulled down, and none that
+     were not considerably damaged; but the country was throughout in a
+     state of high cultivation, although there was apparently a scarcity
+     of men at work. This is to be accounted for by the encouragement
+     which the late dearness of bread has given to the farmers, who are
+     become, by a variety of circumstances, extremely wealthy. They are
+     one of the very few descriptions of people who have profited by the
+     Revolution. Very many of them have purchased lands, and this they
+     were enabled to do almost for nothing by the depreciation of
+     assignats, for an enormous nominal value of which they sold the
+     produce of their farms; and this paper was received from them for
+     the sum it represented, in payment for the estates of the
+     _ci-devant_ seigneurs and other confiscated property. I am told
+     there have been repeated instances of the basest ingratitude on
+     their part, in denouncing their landlords; and, on the contrary,
+     that many of them have given proofs of the strongest attachment to
+     them.
+
+     Provisions are in abundance, and at a very moderate price. Common
+     bread is little more than two sous, and butchers' meat from five to
+     eight sous the pound.
+
+     I have not observed any want of specie in circulation; never yet
+     have I found any difficulty in getting change upon the purchase of
+     any article, nor any such thing as paper money produced in such
+     transactions. The exhausted state and the degree of distress which
+     I could discover in this country, I must confess, fell short of the
+     expectation which the various species of plunder, exaction, and
+     cruelty, which it has for several years submitted to, had impressed
+     upon my mind.
+
+     Between Calais and Paris, scarcely any troops were to be met with.
+
+     The scene being so perfectly new to me, and having little or no
+     intercourse with any one here, except our own society, I was some
+     time in Paris before I could form any opinion of the state of
+     affairs, and the sentiments of the people. The streets seemed
+     crowded, the shops tolerably well supplied, the theatres well
+     attended, some private and a great number of public carriages to be
+     met with; all this brought to my reflection how very difficult a
+     matter it must be to destroy a great country, considering that all
+     the pains which have been taken to ruin this have left so much
+     undone. But the first fortnight we lived in the most populous part
+     of the town, near the Palais Royal, and therefore the last place
+     where distress would be evident.
+
+     There are few parts of Paris I have not since been in, and I find
+     in many of them, the outlets particularly, the greatest
+     wretchedness to prevail, and to be very thin of inhabitants. A
+     great part of the Faubourg St. Germain, near the Boulevards, is in
+     a great measure deserted; but this quarter was formerly inhabited
+     principally by the noblesse. There is scarcely a street in Paris
+     where there are not several houses written upon, _Propriete
+     nationale a vendre_, and sometimes in addition, _ou a louer_; and
+     in many places a great part of the street is in the same manner
+     advertised for sale.
+
+     The names of many of the streets are, as your Lordship must know,
+     entirely changed; but where they are not, and began with _Saint_,
+     that word is invariably defaced, and the remainder of the name is
+     left untouched. But, notwithstanding that, most places are commonly
+     called as formerly; and this practice is becoming more general
+     every day.
+
+     The hotels of many of the _ci-devant_ noblesse are inhabited by the
+     Ministers and other members of the Government. Many of them are
+     converted into public offices and others of them into _hotels
+     garnis_, &c.; besides, a prodigious number of them remain
+     unoccupied, and offered for sale by the nation.
+
+     The Luxembourg is divided into five separate habitations for the
+     Directory, besides the apartments that are used for their sittings,
+     audiences, and other public business.
+
+     The Council of Ancients hold their sittings in the Palace of the
+     Tuileries, and the Council of Five Hundred meet in what was
+     formerly the riding-house of the King; but this is considered as
+     merely a temporary chamber for this last body, until the Palais
+     Bourbon, which is now undergoing great alterations and additions,
+     is ready for their reception. This building is in the Faubourg St.
+     Germain, in front of the new bridge called Pont de la Revolution. I
+     shall take an opportunity hereafter of giving your Lordship a
+     description of the interior of these several places.
+
+     The scene of any great revolutionary event continues still
+     decorated with the national flag and other emblems of their
+     _glorious_ Revolution, accompanied with an inscription; that where
+     the Bastille stood is, _14 Juillet 1789, la Bastille detruite, et
+     elle ne se relevera jamais_; and that in the Place du Carrousel,
+     opposite the Tuileries, is, _10 Aout 1792, La Royaute francaise est
+     abolie, et elle ne se relevera jamais_. There are several marks of
+     cannon-balls, but they have made but little impression on this
+     front of the Tuileries; and under each of them is written, _10 Aout
+     1792_.
+
+     The garden of the Tuileries is, I am told, kept as well as ever it
+     was; some of the largest trees in it, however, have been cut down
+     since our arrival, but they were chiefly decayed. Of the Bastille
+     nothing remains, except a very small part of the foundations; and
+     near it is a newly-erected powder magazine, and much of the
+     remainder of the space is a depot for firewood.
+
+     The churches are many of them open, and have Divine service
+     performed in them without restraint; but a great many more of them
+     are shut, and some used as _casernes_, storehouses, &c.; but they
+     have all been stripped of every internal decoration, and nothing
+     suffered to remain but the bare walls. Sometimes, indeed--and it
+     appears to be by an oversight--a piece of painting, or perhaps a
+     little image, may have escaped injury; but such a thing is a
+     curiosity, and to be found in a situation not readily to be
+     observed, or difficult to be reached. The favourite mode of
+     mutilating a statue seems to have been to break off the head. In
+     the church of St. Sulpice there is a tolerably good statue of a
+     Virgin and Child remaining, but of this the Child's head is taken
+     off, and that of the Virgin seems to have met with the same fate,
+     but to have been restored. It is wonderful the industry that has
+     been used in the destruction of everything in the way of
+     inscription, of sculpture, or coats of arms, which could possibly
+     remind the people of the _ancien regime_; and I cannot help being
+     much surprised that all this was done with so much care as to
+     remove merely these particular objects of their enmity, without in
+     the least damaging the adjacent parts. In defacing armorial
+     bearings and things of this sort, the reformers have been at the
+     trouble of cutting them away, so as to leave the shield quite
+     plain, although they were carved in stone. I should have supposed
+     that mischief done in the moment of frenzy would not have been so
+     methodical.
+
+     Upon all the public buildings, the public offices, and many others,
+     is written in large characters--_Unite indivisibilite de la
+     republique, liberte, egalite, fraternite, ou la mort_; but in
+     general the last word is rubbed out. The nation took it into their
+     heads not to like death upon the downfall of Robespierre. Upon many
+     of the churches is this inscription--_Le peuple francais reconnait
+     l'etre supreme et l'immortalite de l'ame._ This was a decree of the
+     Convention for the people at large, and your Lordship will allow
+     that this must have a ridiculous effect upon the walls of a church
+     entirely in ruins, as is often the case. Another modern inscription
+     is--_Citoyens, respectez le bien d'autrui, c'est le fruit de son
+     travail et de son industrie_; and perhaps close by it you may read
+     _propriete nationale a vendre_, in direct violation of the other,
+     offering to sell property of which some unfortunate person has been
+     robbed by the very preachers of this doctrine.
+
+     I am obliged to break off suddenly, for reasons which will be very
+     soon known to your Lordship.
+
+     I have the honour to be your Lordship's most obedient, faithful,
+     humble servant,
+
+     JAMES TALBOT.
+
+The last line of this letter is written in an agitated hand, which the
+circumstance that compelled Mr. Talbot to break off so abruptly
+sufficiently accounts for. At that moment a note had arrived at the
+embassy from M. de la Croix, giving Lord Malmesbury notice to depart
+from Paris in eight-and-forty hours, adding that if the British Cabinet
+were desirous of peace, the Executive Directory were ready to carry on
+the negotiations, on the basis they had already laid down, by the
+reciprocal channel of couriers.
+
+
+
+
+1797.
+
+DISCONTENTS IN ENGLAND--THE BREST SQUADRON--MOTION ON THE STATE OF
+IRELAND--AFFAIRS OF THE CONTINENT--LORD MALMESBURY'S MISSION TO LISLE.
+
+
+The result of Lord Malmesbury's mission was communicated to Parliament
+as soon as it became known in London, by a message from the King, and
+addresses were moved approving of the conduct of Ministers. Amendments,
+condemning their policy, and demanding an investigation, were proposed
+in both Houses, and rejected by large majorities. In the House of
+Commons, notwithstanding an appeal of extraordinary eloquence and power
+from Mr. Fox, the address was carried by a majority of 212 to 37. Mr.
+Pitt's position, perhaps, was never stronger than at this moment,
+although the affairs of the Bank of England, in consequence of repeated
+loans to Government, were reduced to the most desperate condition, and
+the lower classes of the population, feeling heavily the burthens of the
+war, began to clamour against its prosecution. But the national spirit
+sustained the Government. Possessing the implicit confidence of the
+King, the two Houses of Parliament, the heads of the Church, the landed
+interest, and the monied and commercial classes, Mr. Pitt persevered.
+The greatest efforts were made out of doors to induce His Majesty to
+remove his Ministers. Public meetings were held in several places to get
+up petitions on the subject; and the energies of the Opposition were
+incessantly employed in spreading alarm and discontent through the
+country. Several unfortunate circumstances concurred to give effect to
+these movements. The war had reached its most disastrous point. England
+was left alone in the field to contend against the power of France, now
+grown haughty and formidable by a long course of successes. The credit
+of the country, under this pressure of events, was seriously affected.
+The Bank had stopped payment. Two mutinies had broken out in the fleet,
+one at Spithead, and another at the Nore. An organization of malcontents
+had been formed in Ireland under the name of "the United Irishmen," and
+had carried their insurrectionary views so far as to send deputies to
+treat with the French for assistance to enable them to throw off the
+English yoke. The year opened with the most gloomy prospects on all
+sides; but the firmness of Ministers triumphed over all difficulties,
+and conducted them to its close with the happiest results.
+
+The first incident of the year to which allusion is made in these
+letters, is the appearance in British waters of a French squadron. It
+consisted of two frigates and two sloops, and its insignificance,
+compared with the demonstration that was anticipated from the loud
+threats of invasion by which it was heralded, excited ridicule rather
+than alarm.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Wednesday, Jan. 4th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     A little after eleven this morning came an account of Elphinston's
+     being arrived with the 'Monarch' (I believe at Spithead). He had
+     letters from General Dalrymple of the 31st, by which it seems
+     probable that the French fleet is, if not entirely, certainly in
+     great part, broken to pieces. Two French seventy-fours and a
+     frigate had put into Bantry Bay, one without a bowsprit, and all of
+     them damaged, and were lying within mortar reach of Bantry when
+     Dalrymple wrote: other vessels were seen also trying to get into
+     Bantry Bay. The 'Impatiente,' a very fine frigate of forty-four
+     guns, just reached Cuxhaven, and foundered there, the whole crew
+     going down with her except a pilot and four men, who were saved. By
+     their report twelve thousand men only were on board, and provisions
+     so scarce from the first, that they were put upon short allowance
+     the day that they left Brest. Another French frigate was seen
+     driving up St. George's Channel, and is said to have gone to pieces
+     upon the Welsh coast. A Barbadoes ship saw a large ship, supposed
+     to be one of the flutes, struggle some time, and then founder;
+     another of the flutes was seen to founder off the Lizard; and great
+     traces of wreck are thrown upon the Irish coast.
+
+     Lord Bridport sailed very early yesterday morning, and met
+     Elphinston, who gave him all this intelligence. I presume that he
+     will probably detach part of his squadron towards Ireland, and part
+     towards Brest; besides which, I believe he has power to take with
+     him whatever he meets.
+
+     Kingsnill was indefatigable in collecting his frigates, which, with
+     his two sixty-fours, will count heavily upon this shattered and
+     disabled force of the enemy. Meantime, the greatest part of the
+     Oporto fleet is come in, and very good accounts are received from
+     the West Indies, where a strong naval force is gone down to the
+     protection of Jamaica. One of the frigates, too, upon that station
+     has taken a rich Spanish prize. Of the four ships out belonging to
+     Colpoys' fleet, all are come in except the 'Powerful,' which is
+     thought to have made Ireland. Upon the whole, therefore, you will
+     admit that I send you to-day a very prosperous naval budget. In
+     truth, I do think that, if the ruin of this French expedition be as
+     complete as it promises to be from these circumstances, the
+     security of Ireland, and of England too, has been more promoted by
+     it than by any event which has happened during the war; and much as
+     I applaud your manly and forward zeal in your military offer, I
+     doubt whether the occasion for it will again be renewed. I ought to
+     have mentioned to you that the four men saved from the 'Impatiente'
+     describe the troops on board as having been from the first highly
+     dissatisfied and discontented with the expedition, and that twelve
+     thousand, instead of twenty thousand, sailed, because it was found
+     difficult to persuade the troops in general to embark in the
+     enterprise. The result will therefore add to the ill-temper upon
+     this subject, and Irish invasion will for a long time be no popular
+     measure in the harbour of Brest. Stay then at Stowe, my dear
+     brother, and enjoy the satisfaction which you will feel in the
+     prompt and handsome service which you were ready to have done.
+     _Laudo momentem_--not so (_between ourselves_)--do I say to
+     Elphinston. I do not know what is his pretence for coming away with
+     the 'Monarch' in such a moment, but I shrewdly suspect his Cape
+     treasure to have been on board and to have influenced his decision;
+     if that is the case, of which I know nothing, I do think it will be
+     disgraceful beyond all measure, but I am speaking my own
+     conjectures only, for I have not had time yet to ask more. God
+     bless you.
+
+The sequel of the expedition was sufficiently ludicrous. Having
+effected a landing of some fifteen hundred men on the shore of the Bay
+of Cardigan on the 23rd of February, the militia, fencibles, and
+peasantry of the neighbourhood immediately collected; but the invaders
+saved them the trouble of an engagement, by laying down their arms, and
+surrendering themselves prisoners of war. The frigates were captured on
+their return to Brest; and thus terminated an enterprize, which was so
+inadequately planned, as to create universal astonishment that it was
+ever undertaken.
+
+The state of Ireland offered a favourable opportunity to the Opposition
+for an attack upon Ministers; and Lord Fitzwilliam, having failed in his
+attempts to bring them into discredit in reference to his own case, now
+extended the grounds of accusation to the general discontents of the
+country. Lord Moira, who undertook to bring forward the motion, appears
+to have had no other object in view than to trace all these disorders to
+the recal of Lord Fitzwilliam.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, March 14th, 1797
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Lord Moira (having given to Government, through the Lord
+     Chancellor, a sort of intimation that he was what he called _going_
+     into Opposition) has this day given notice of a motion for Tuesday
+     next, to address the King on the internal state of Ireland, which
+     motion he is understood to have concerted with Lord Fitzwilliam.
+
+     You know I never think of pressing you to attend on any of the
+     common points of attack and defence between the Government and
+     Opposition. But on this occasion I should certainly most ardently
+     wish that you should be present, and I think you yourself would not
+     wish to be absent. At all events, I thought it right not to omit a
+     moment giving you notice of it, that if you meant to attend you
+     might arrange other matters accordingly. It is, however, not quite
+     certain that he will make the motion that day, the Chancellor being
+     too ill to come out; but he seems resolved, even if Lord
+     Loughborough's illness continues, not to defer it for more than two
+     or three days longer.
+
+     We have nothing new to-day. The Archduke is got back to the army in
+     Italy, and will, I hope, at least be able to prevent any further
+     progress of the French on that side. Mack is to be sent to the
+     Rhine.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, March 20th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Lord Moira persists obstinately in bringing on his motion
+     to-morrow. I suppose they attach some political importance to the
+     having had the discussion with us before it comes on in the House
+     of Commons, for I can conceive no other reason for this
+     pertinaciousness. The Chancellor will not be there, so that I shall
+     have the whole battle, or nearly so, upon my shoulders. It is not,
+     however, the first time that this has happened to me, and most
+     probably it will not be the last; and I have no uneasiness as to
+     the result in point of effect or impression, even though the Prince
+     of Wales should (as is said) be persuaded that this is an occasion
+     in which it befits his station and prospects to put himself
+     forward.
+
+     There is no news nor much appearance of any, as both armies and in
+     both quarters seem to want much time to repair the effects of the
+     last campaign. It is some satisfaction to see that Buonaparte is in
+     no situation to push his advantages further as yet; and before he
+     is, I hope and trust the Emperor will have collected an army,
+     _better generalled_ and able to resist the French, who are,
+     however, drawing all their strength to that side.
+
+     The elections are going on quietly in France. What the result will
+     be, I believe nobody knows, and it is therefore in vain to guess.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     Pray accept our kindest remembrance to Lady B. and yourself, on the
+     celebration of to-morrow, and convey them to Lord and Lady T.
+
+The motion was brought forward the next day, and negatived by a majority
+of nearly four to one. A similar motion brought forward by Mr. Fox two
+days afterwards in the House of Common, met with a similar reception.
+
+About this time Lord Mornington was appointed Governor of Madras, in the
+room of Mr. Hobart, now Lord Hobart, upon whom that office had been
+conferred in the year 1794. The following letters refer to that
+appointment, and are explanatory of the circumstances under which it was
+made.
+
+
+LORD MORNINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Hertford Street, April 20th, 1797.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     I received your very kind and affectionate letter last night at
+     Dropmore, where I had been for a few days. When you were last in
+     town, the projects of arrangement for India remained so nearly in
+     the state in which our last conversation had left them, that I
+     thought it unnecessary to trouble you at that time on the subject.
+     Since that time, the matter has certainly taken a more distinct
+     shape, although it is not true, as the newspaper has stated, that
+     my appointment has actually taken place, or that I am to embark
+     within a few days for India. Had you continued in town, I would
+     have communicated to you, step by step, every stage of the
+     transaction, and especially whatever concerned Hobart; but the
+     distance of your situation rendered such a detailed communication
+     difficult, and I was besides unwilling to intrude upon your time in
+     a moment of so much domestic anxiety, in which, I assure you, I
+     took the deepest concern. I also had an expectation that Mr.
+     Sullivan, with whom I had constant intercourse, might have had the
+     opportunity of seeing you in Buckinghamshire (if Lord Temple's
+     health should allow you to see anybody), and that he would have
+     apprised you of every circumstance which could affect Hobart's
+     interest or reputation; to both of which objects, it is my sincere
+     opinion that the utmost regard has been shown by all parties in
+     this affair: I say by _all_ parties, because common justice compels
+     me to declare that Mr. Dundas, instead of having impeded or
+     frustrated the arrangement proposed for Hobart, or of having
+     sacrificed him to any intrigue at the India House, has to my
+     certain knowledge asserted Hobart's cause with the warmest zeal,
+     used every means of representing it to the Company in the most
+     advantageous light, and even entered into personal engagements for
+     the benefit of Hobart far exceeding any demand which could justly
+     or reasonably have been made upon him by Hobart or by his friends.
+     A short statement of facts will, I think, satisfy you of the truth
+     of my opinion.
+
+     After a very full consideration of all the despatches both from
+     Bengal and Madras, relating to the affairs of the latter
+     Government, Mr. Dundas wrote a letter to the Directors, of which he
+     sent me a copy, expressing his sense of Lord Hobart's services in
+     these words: "To his zeal and promptitude in the execution of his
+     orders, after the unfortunate rupture with Holland, I in a very
+     great degree attribute the very proud and advantageous situation in
+     which our Indian empire is now placed." The letter concludes with
+     the following recommendation to the Court to make a provision for
+     Lord Hobart: "If the Court of Directors concur with me in thinking
+     that Lord Hobart has performed very meritorious services, but that
+     there are at the same time very forcible grounds of expediency why
+     he should not proceed to the higher situation originally destined
+     for him, I can have no doubt, from the known justice and liberality
+     of the East India Company, that they will concur with me in
+     thinking that he ought not to return to his own country without a
+     substantial mark of the approbation and favour of the East India
+     Company."
+
+     The grounds of expediency for Lord Hobart's recal, Mr. Dundas
+     stated in these terms: "I am, after the most mature consideration
+     of the subject, thoroughly satisfied that, after the unfortunate
+     misunderstandings which have prevailed between Lord Hobart and the
+     Government-General, and the equally unfortunate differences which
+     exist between his Lordship and the Nabob and the Rajah of Tanjore,
+     it would be inexpedient to re-appoint him to the
+     Government-General; and still more so, that he should remain longer
+     at Madras."
+
+     Upon this letter, my dear Lord, I am persuaded that your own
+     justice and candour will anticipate my observations; but the very
+     strong expressions contained in your letter render it my duty to
+     observe, that in this application to the Court of Directors, Mr.
+     Dundas has chosen the very same topics, on which to urge the claims
+     of Lord Hobart to the gratitude of the Company, which you concurred
+     with me in selecting as the most favourable grounds to found a
+     public motion in the Court of Proprietors, with a view to
+     obtaining a pension for Lord Hobart; and Mr. Dundas has stated the
+     expediency of removing Lord Hobart on no other grounds than those
+     which in conversation you and I have repeatedly agreed to be of the
+     greatest force, and at the same time perfectly consistent with Lord
+     Hobart's fair reputation and unsullied honour. It cannot,
+     therefore, be denied that Mr. Dundas has dealt fairly by Lord
+     Hobart's character and interests, both in the reasons assigned for
+     his recal, and in those urged in favour of his services.
+
+     To this letter the Chairman of the Court of Directors returned an
+     answer, concurring in Mr. Dundas's opinion of the necessity of
+     recalling Lord Hobart, admitting the extent of his services, and
+     expressing the inclination of the Court to propose a provision for
+     him to the consideration of the proprietors; but postponing the
+     moment for making that proposal to a period which appeared to me
+     rather too distant, and not sufficiently defined.
+
+     In this state of the matter, Mr. Dundas proposed to me the
+     reversion of the Government-General after Lord Cornwallis, having
+     previously furnished me with a copy of the correspondence, to which
+     I have already referred. I expressed my doubts whether the
+     provision for Lord Hobart was yet sufficiently secure to admit of
+     my accepting the offer made to me consistently with my good wishes
+     for him. Mr. Dundas then informed me, that he knew the intention of
+     the Directors was to propose the pension to the Court of
+     Proprietors in May; and he added, that if at that time the pension
+     should fail in either court, he would himself move it in
+     Parliament, and charge it upon the revenues of Ceylon, or take some
+     other effectual means of securing it. He also said, that there
+     would be no objection to calling Lord Hobart to the House of Peers
+     within a very short time, probably even before Lord Cornwallis's
+     departure.
+
+     Here again I must observe, that Mr. Dundas offers a personal
+     pledge in favour of Lord Hobart, which neither you nor I, nor any
+     of Lord Hobart's friends ever had required, and which we could not
+     on any fair grounds have demanded. When Mr. Dundas had thus stated
+     to me the situation of Lord Hobart in terms so perfectly
+     satisfactory, and affording such undeniable proofs of his sincere
+     wish to serve him under all possible contingencies, I entered into
+     a variety of points relating to my own views (which I will state to
+     you when we meet); and the conversation ended without my final
+     acceptance of the proposal made to me. In a day or two afterwards I
+     saw Mr. Sullivan, and communicated to him what had passed between
+     me and Mr. Dundas relative to Lord Hobart. I had then the
+     satisfaction to learn from Mr. Sullivan, that he also had seen Mr.
+     Dundas, from whom he had received the very same assurances, which
+     Mr. Dundas had given to me in relation to Lord Hobart's pension and
+     peerage; and Mr. Sullivan further stated, that Mr. Dundas had
+     desired that those assurances might be communicated to Lord
+     Guilford. I then asked Mr. Sullivan whether, under all the
+     circumstances of the case, he thought that my acceptance of the
+     Government of Madras, with the reversion of the Government-General
+     after Lord Cornwallis, could be in any degree injurious to Lord
+     Hobart's interest or honour? Mr. Sullivan answered, certainly it
+     could not; and added, that he and Lord Guilford were now perfectly
+     satisfied with the footing on which Mr. Dundas had placed the
+     credit and welfare of Lord Hobart.
+
+     Having seen Lord Cornwallis, and at length made up my mind to
+     undertake this most arduous charge, I communicated to Mr. Dundas
+     about a week ago my final acceptance of the Government of Madras,
+     with the provisional succession to Bengal after Lord Cornwallis. My
+     appointment not having yet been formally made by the Court of
+     Directors, I cannot yet acknowledge my destination to India; you
+     will, therefore, be so good as to speak of the whole matter merely
+     as a vague report until you hear further from me.
+
+     Thus, my dear Lord, you will perceive that whatever has been done
+     relating to Hobart in the conclusion of this arrangement for India,
+     has received the sanction of his nearest relations, of persons
+     whose affectionate friendship for Hobart, and just discernment of
+     his interests, will readily be acknowledged by you. In a situation
+     of peculiar delicacy and embarrassment, it has been a great
+     satisfaction to me to have been able to submit every step which I
+     have taken in this affair to the judgment of such a man as Mr.
+     Sullivan.
+
+     The various delays which have retarded the conclusion of this
+     arrangement, have rendered it impossible for me to embark with Lord
+     Cornwallis. However, I am in constant habits of the most
+     confidential intercourse with him from day to day; and I mean to
+     pass six weeks or two months with him in Bengal before his
+     resignation of the government. My departure will probably not take
+     place sooner than July or August.
+
+     Finding that the office of Private Civil Secretary at Bengal would
+     be well worth my brother Henry's acceptance, I mean to take him
+     with me. After a very accurate inquiry from Lord Cornwallis, I am
+     concerned to find that it would not be in my power to be of any
+     assistance to Mr. Fisher in India. My intention is to take no other
+     person, besides my servants, excepting my brother Henry, and to
+     avoid all engagements universally in Europe, in order to secure
+     myself against any temptation to an irregular distribution of
+     patronage. In this resolution, which I formed very early, on
+     principles which a long attention to the affairs of India has
+     enabled me to fix with some degree of confidence, I have been
+     strongly confirmed by Lord Cornwallis, and I am persuaded that you
+     will approve of my determination.
+
+     Pray accept my cordial thanks for the kindness and friendship
+     which appear in every part of your letter, and believe me, my dear
+     Lord, ever yours most faithfully and affectionately,
+
+     MORNINGTON.
+
+     I have been interrupted in this long detail, and have not been able
+     to send my letter until this evening, the 21st. I am happy to learn
+     in Pall Mall that Lord Temple is so much better. Nothing new to-day
+     from Portsmouth; I mean, nothing authentic. Private letters say
+     that the mutiny is likely to subside for the present, in
+     consequence of the propositions made yesterday by the Admiralty.
+     How discipline and subordination are ever again to be restored on
+     any permanent basis surpasses my understanding to conceive.
+
+
+LORD MORNINGTON TO MR. SULLIVAN.
+
+     Hertford Street, July 3rd, 1797.
+     SIR,
+
+     The Court of Directors have appointed me Governor of Madras, with
+     the provisional succession to Bengal. The arrangement has been made
+     by them, and accepted by me, with this understanding: that I am to
+     undertake the Government of Madras only in the event of Lord
+     Cornwallis's acceptance of the Government of Bengal. If his
+     Lordship should not go to Bengal, I am to proceed directly to the
+     Supreme Government. The nature of this arrangement does not appear
+     upon the face of it: I state it to you in _strict confidence_, as
+     it has been explained to me; and I believe you are already
+     sufficiently acquainted with my sentiments to know my willingness
+     to hold the Government of Madras under Lord Cornwallis, as well as
+     my resolution not to hold it under any other person.
+
+     Mr. Dundas authorizes me to say that he retains the same intentions
+     with regard to a provision for Lord Hobart which he stated to you
+     and to me, and you have been already apprized by me of the footing
+     on which the proposed peerage stands. You may rely on my constant
+     and unremitting attention to both objects; but I must declare, in
+     justice both to Mr. Pitt and to Mr. Dundas, my conviction that
+     neither will delay the performance of their respective engagements
+     one instant beyond that in which it shall be possible to execute
+     them.
+
+     I find that Mr. Dundas considers himself to have given sufficient
+     intimation to Lord Hobart of the intended arrangements, as far as
+     they could affect his Lordship, by having enclosed to him, in a
+     despatch forwarded overland some months ago, a copy of the letter
+     addressed by Mr. Dundas to the Chairman of the Court of Directors
+     on the subject of Lord Hobart's pretensions to a mark of the
+     respect of the Company in the event of a change in the Government
+     of India.
+
+     To whatever situation I may be destined, whether to Madras or
+     Bengal, the maintenance of Lord Hobart's credit and reputation will
+     always be a leading object of my wishes; and I trust, before I
+     leave England, that I shall have the satisfaction of receiving your
+     advice with respect to the most effectual mode of combining the
+     accomplishment of that object with ideas, in some degree different
+     from those which have governed the policy of Lord Hobart's
+     administration at Madras in more than one material branch of the
+     public service.
+
+     I am, Sir, with great respect and esteem,
+     Your most faithful and humble servant,
+     MORNINGTON.
+
+
+LORD MORNINGTON TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Hertford Street, July 19th, 1797.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     I assure you that I felt no difficulty or delicacy whatever in
+     communicating your letter to Mr. Pitt as soon as I received it, and
+     I flatter myself that throughout the whole of the arrangement
+     relative to India I have never been found deficient in any mark of
+     regard for my old friend Hobart's interest or honour. Mr. Pitt
+     authorized me to inform you that he would very soon write both to
+     you and to Lord Hobart; and to that letter, whenever you receive
+     it, I must refer you for the detail of facts on which Mr. Pitt is
+     more competent to afford explanation than I. I must however
+     declare, in justice both to Pitt and Dundas, that I see nothing in
+     the conduct of either to justify the least suspicion of any other
+     than the most cordial sentiments of good-will towards Hobart. I
+     have said the same thing to Mr. Sullivan, whom you will probably
+     see, and stated the grounds of my opinion at large. Mr. Pitt does
+     not appear to admit that Lord Hobart's interests ever have been or
+     can be made matter of negotiation. He says he has acted in the
+     whole transaction, and will continue to act, conformably to his
+     sense of public duty, and his unaltered feelings of friendship for
+     Lord Hobart, to whom he will not fail to give a full statement of
+     all his conduct. I believe Mr. Dundas's view of the subject to be
+     nearly the same; but not being at liberty to communicate your
+     letter to him, I have not been enabled to enter so fully with him
+     into the discussion of its contents. However, I can inform you that
+     his favourable intentions towards Lord Hobart remain precisely the
+     same.
+
+     Mr. Sullivan will immediately communicate in person with Mr. Dundas
+     on all the points of this business, and you will learn the result
+     from him.
+
+     Nothing but the continual hurry and interruptions to which I am at
+     present exposed could justify my having delayed so long the
+     acknowledgment of your kind letter. Pray, my dear Lord, accept my
+     cordial thanks for the many marks of friendship which it contains.
+     I do not expect to sail before September, and you may be assured
+     that I will make it my business to see you before my departure.
+
+     Ever, my dear Lord,
+     Yours most sincerely and affectionately,
+     MORNINGTON.
+
+The remaining letters of the year refer at intervals to the events in
+progress on the continent; events which occupy so large and prominent a
+space in history, as to render any detailed allusion to them
+unnecessary.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, April 28th, 1797
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have this day seen Dutheil, and to-morrow I am to see the other;
+     but there has been a blunder about it, or I should long since have
+     seen him. I hardly know how to credit all I hear on that subject,
+     and yet I must say I hear it from all quarters, agreeing in the
+     essentials, though varying a little as to sub-divisions, according
+     to the dispositions of the informants.
+
+     I hardly know how to tell myself, under these circumstances, what I
+     wish about Hammond's mission, because the panic here is so
+     disgraceful, that the country will not allow us to do them justice.
+     If I thought others _would_ do them that justice, my resolution
+     would soon be taken; but I have not nerves to plunge my country
+     into the horrors of a Jacobin Government to save myself the
+     unpleasant task of being compelled to do worse for them than I am
+     sure I could if they would but be quiet and suffer themselves to be
+     saved. It is a curious speculation in history to see how often the
+     good people of England have played this game over and over again,
+     and how incorrigible they are in it. To desire war without
+     reflection, to be unreasonably elated with success, to be still
+     more unreasonably depressed by difficulties, and to call out for
+     peace with an impatience which makes suitable terms unattainable,
+     are the established maxims and the regular progress of the popular
+     mind in this country. Yet, such as it is, it is worth all the other
+     countries of the world put together, so we must not too much
+     complain of it.
+
+     I am grieved to hear that your dear son has had another relapse,
+     and should be extremely obliged to you if, whenever you can send me
+     a better account, as I trust you will be able to do, you would let
+     me have a line.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, May 3rd, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The Paris papers arrived this morning seem to confirm, beyond a
+     doubt, the signature of peace with the Emperor. We know nothing
+     more of it than you will find in those papers. The last accounts
+     from Vienna which I have received were of the 17th, and they looked
+     more like war than peace; but not enough so to give me any reason
+     to doubt the fact.
+
+     The task which is now left to us, is no doubt arduous and
+     difficult. It would not be in the least so with a country united,
+     and feeling its own strength: but to contend against dejection,
+     cowardice and disaffection at home, aiding a powerful enemy from
+     without, is not a light or easy matter. It must, however, be tried;
+     for I have no conception that any other use can be made of this
+     event by the Directory, than that of exacting from us concessions,
+     which I trust neither the country nor Parliament will bring
+     themselves to listen to.
+
+     I hope you are all going on well at Stowe, and that your invalid is
+     recovering. Have you seen my Prince? He is sensible, and well
+     informed; though not exactly the picture of a young lover.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, May 5th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The messenger is arrived this morning, and has brought us the
+     confirmation of the Paris reports. The preliminaries were signed on
+     the 18th; but we are still uninformed of the particulars of the
+     conditions, except that they contain a stipulation for a Congress
+     at Berne, to which the allies of the two parties are to be invited.
+     I believe, from what I can collect from the very defective
+     information which has yet reached us, that the articles have been
+     drawn in so much haste and confusion, and by persons so little used
+     to transact points of this nature, that they are unintelligible,
+     and require explanation before they can be made public, or even
+     communicated to other Courts. Thugut has resigned--this step having
+     been taken in contradiction to his opinion--and a Count Cobenzl,
+     now Austrian Minister at Petersburg, is supposed to be destined to
+     succeed him. This is, in the whole of it, a great event, and big
+     with the greatest consequences, whether good or bad--_caliginosa
+     nocte premit Deus_.
+
+     You cannot see the state of Ireland more gloomily than I do.
+     Possibly, if we have peace, that may leave us more at liberty to
+     act in that quarter; but even then, what force have we? and to what
+     objects are we to direct it, when the gentlemen are all flying from
+     their duty, and either joining the adverse standard, or at best
+     deserting their posts?
+
+     I rejoice to hear so good an account of your son, and I trust the
+     attack is now over, though the recovery of strength must naturally
+     be very slow.
+
+     Ever, my dear brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     Wells's ship's crew being harangued by him refused to cheer with
+     the other ships, till the 'Glory' loaded her guns to fire upon her.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, May 9th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I cannot express to you my disappointment in the Portsmouth news,
+     which I found upon my return to town yesterday evening. By the post
+     of Saturday, the letters from the fleet were better than they had
+     ever been; and the officers themselves seemed in much better heart
+     and spirits. On Sunday, however, it broke out afresh:
+     representations were handed about, complaining that the speeches of
+     Lord Howe, Lord Spencer and the Duke of Clarence, were meant to
+     disappoint the seamen of what had been promised them, and it was
+     suggested that the 'Marlborough' was to be kept back, and made an
+     example of when the fleet had sailed. Upon these pretences, the
+     delegates began going round to each ship: Colpoys told his crew he
+     would not admit them; they mutinied, and he ordered his marines to
+     fire, who did so, and badly wounded four mutineers; but the fire
+     was returned by the crew, who overpowered the officers and the
+     marines, confined Colpoys, and threatened to hang Lieutenant Bover.
+     To save him, Colpoys asserted that Bover had been ordered so to act
+     by him, and that he had an order for this discipline from the
+     Admiralty, which order he gave to the delegates. The order was a
+     very proper order from the Admiralty to every captain, requiring
+     him to give no cause of complaint to the men on the subject of
+     provisions, requiring him to keep up a proper discipline, and to
+     exert a proper spirit in resisting any appearance of mutiny. This
+     order, we since hear, is stated as an act of treachery in the
+     Admiralty as against the seamen.
+
+     Upon this tumult in the 'London,' the crews of the other ships
+     took possession of the arms, and many confined their officers to
+     their cabins. The post of to-day brings no new or different state
+     of things, except an account that three of the mutineers are dead
+     in Haslar Hospital of their wounds; and that Campbell, Nichols,
+     Talbot, one or two other captains, and many lieutenants, have been
+     put on shore at St. Helen's.
+
+     A messenger was dispatched last night with the news of the vote of
+     the House of Commons having passed unanimously, but it is doubtful
+     whether in this high wind he could get to the fleet; and all these
+     circumstances show so little colour or pretence of real complaint,
+     that I cannot help fearing the evil is more deeply rooted in the
+     influence of Jacobin emissaries and the Corresponding Society, and
+     to their machinations the vote of yesterday will afford no answer.
+     Upon the whole, this is the worst state of things which I have
+     seen. The ground of the mischief is not known to the officers, and
+     as far as I can see, they have no heart or nerves to meet this
+     formidable calamity. With this wind they might have sailed; but
+     with what has happened in the 'London,' and with so many officers
+     put on shore, one can hardly now wish the fleet to sail.
+
+     The last accounts from Brest announce about twenty sail, but not in
+     a very forward state of readiness; but this state of our fleet
+     cannot be news to them, and they will doubtless profit of an
+     opportunity which perhaps they have themselves created.
+
+     At half-past one no news was come. If I hear more before the post
+     goes out, I will add it.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, May 11th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Great anxiety again prevailed here by an account which arrived at
+     midnight, that the delegates were on board the 'London,' and it
+     was feared they were urging for the execution of Colpoys and his
+     captain; but a few hours afterwards, news arrived that Colpoys'
+     crew had resisted the delegates; that even the most mutinous ships,
+     viz. the 'Duke' and 'Mars,' were returned to their duty, and that
+     most of the ships had desired their officers to join them again. I
+     have also read a letter from Payne, who writes in high spirits, and
+     says that there is now a complete hostility on the part of the
+     well-affected as against the mutineers, and that he has just spoke
+     a cutter from the 'Queen Charlotte' with twenty or thirty
+     well-affected men on board, who were going to every ship in the
+     fleet, to insist upon everything being quiet, and upon their going
+     instantly to sail in quest of the French. Lord Howe would arrive
+     about nine this morning, with a warrant under the King's
+     sign-manual, for making such final arrangement as might be
+     necessary for the sailing of the fleet, if he should find it so
+     disposed to sail. Not a word from Lord Bridport, except to
+     acknowledge the communication of the Act of Parliament!
+
+     Under these circumstances, there is every reason to suppose that
+     one may hope the immediate storm is a little blown over, and that
+     no new resource need be looked for such as you suggest; but the
+     apprehension of my mind is still extremely great, because I am more
+     and more convinced that Jacobin management and influence is at the
+     bottom of this evil; and till that influence is traced and rooted
+     out, there is, in my view, no chance of safety. The tampering with
+     the soldiers by conversation and handbills is another unanswerable
+     proof of the system by which all this mischief moves forward; and
+     the activity of Brest in the last accounts, seems to confirm, as
+     far as such preparation can, their knowledge of, if not their
+     participation in, this mischief.
+
+     Orde has written from Plymouth, that he hopes to get the ships
+     there to sea before any communication is had of this new mutiny.
+
+     Things look badly, as I believe, in Ireland; but those of
+     Government, whom I ever see, are so entirely occupied, that I write
+     to you more from my own guess than from their communication.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother.
+
+     I know no foreign news of any sort, nor have I seen William these
+     three or four last days.
+
+A third effort to effect a pacification with France had been entered
+upon by Lord Grenville in the month of June. On this occasion his
+Lordship addressed a direct application to M. de la Croix, expressing
+his readiness without delay to open a discussion of the views and
+pretensions of both parties. To this communication M. de la Croix
+replied by accepting the proposal; and the town of Lisle was appointed
+for the meeting of the ambassadors.
+
+Lord Malmesbury was again appointed on the part of England; and it
+became evident at once that his re-appearance in that capacity was not
+very satisfactory to the French Government, M. de la Croix coldly
+signifying the consent of the Directory to negotiate with Lord
+Malmesbury, but adding that another choice would have augured more
+favourably for the speedy conclusion of peace.
+
+The conference at Lisle seems to have taken its colour all throughout
+from this preliminary distrust of the English envoy. It lasted up to the
+17th of September; and ended as it began, in a fruitless debate about
+Lord Malmesbury's powers to treat in full. In the meanwhile, the event
+known by the name of the Revolution of Fructidor took place in Paris,
+the meeting was broken up, and Lord Malmesbury left Lisle on the 18th of
+September.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Sept. 20th, 1797.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Late last night we got a messenger from Lord Malmesbury, with an
+     account that he was ordered away from Lisle, and was on his way to
+     London, where he arrived this morning. It is not easy to say
+     beforehand what effects it will produce here, where people's
+     spirits are so susceptible of alarm and depression; but I really
+     think, in the manner of doing the thing, the Directory have done
+     everything they could to play our game.
+
+     The dissatisfaction will be great in France, but they seem, for the
+     moment, completely masters there. Ireland is our weakest point, and
+     to that our attention must be most directed; for anything else I
+     have very little apprehension.
+
+     I think it probable that the consequences of this new state of
+     things will be to detain me in and about town, and to put an end to
+     my hopes of a journey to Stowe or Wotton; but I am not yet quite
+     sure as to this. I hope we shall not be in a hurry to meet
+     Parliament, as I understand that it will not be necessary, in point
+     of finance, till about the middle of November. Between this and
+     that time many things may still happen to raise people's spirits,
+     which I should fear would in the present moment be much depressed,
+     whatever pains we took to raise them.
+
+     Ever, my dearest brother, most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+
+
+1798.
+
+CONDITION OF ENGLAND--PLANS FOR THE NATIONAL DEFENCES--THE AUGMENTATION
+OF THE MILITIA--VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS--A REBELLION BREAKS OUT IN
+IRELAND--LORD CORNWALLIS SUCCEEDS LORD CAMDEN AS LORD-LIEUTENANT--LORD
+BUCKINGHAM VOLUNTEERS FOR IRELAND--DIFFERENCES WITH LORD CORNWALLIS--MR.
+THOMAS GRENVILLE IS APPOINTED ON A MISSION TO VIENNA AND BERLIN.
+
+
+A rebellion in Ireland, and a threat of invasion from France, for which
+active preparations were making on the coast and in the Channel, almost
+exclusively absorbed the attention of Government at the beginning of the
+year 1798, and demanded all the resources which the devotion of the
+people could contribute to the protection of the country. The extremity
+of the public danger had the effect of uniting all classes in a combined
+effort for self-preservation; and the national enthusiasm was pronounced
+so strongly and unanimously on this point, that the heads of the
+Opposition, shattered and enfeebled, retired from the fruitless contest
+they had been so long waging against the Administration, and left Mr.
+Pitt and his colleagues in almost undisturbed possession of both Houses
+of Parliament.
+
+But security was not to be purchased without great sacrifices. The
+expenditure of the past year had amounted to the enormous sum of
+twenty-five millions and a half; and Mr. Pitt found it necessary, in
+order to provide a supply equal to the emergencies of the future, to
+introduce an entirely new system of finance. He proposed to triple the
+amount of the existing assessed taxes, with a limitation, restraining
+the maximum of taxation to the tenth of each person's income; and to
+borrow the remainder of what was required without creating any
+additional debt, by appropriating the produce of the sinking fund.
+
+There was a violent resistance in both Houses to this plan; Mr. Fox, Mr.
+Sheridan, and others, who had previously seceded, re-appearing in their
+places for the express purpose of opposing it; but it was carried,
+nevertheless, by large majorities. Several other measures, to provide
+means for carrying on the war, and strengthening the national defences,
+were also introduced; and at no period, since the commencement of
+hostilities, was public opinion declared so energetically in favour of
+the ministerial policy. Numerous circumstances contributed to feed the
+popular ardour as the year advanced. Splendid naval victories inspired
+the highest confidence in the ultimate issues of the war; commerce once
+more resumed its former activity; the harvest was unusually abundant;
+and all branches of trade and industry reached a height of prosperity
+that completely relieved the depression under which they had suffered
+during the preceding year.
+
+The most active measures were set on foot to promote the common object
+of protecting the empire against foreign invasion and domestic treason.
+The most prominent of them was a plan for augmenting the Militia,
+afterwards matured and introduced by Mr. Dundas; and the collection of
+subscriptions towards the formation of a national defence fund. No
+greater proof could be given of the zeal of the people, at a period when
+their burthens were already so excessive, than the munificence and
+promptitude of their contributions on this occasion. At a meeting of
+bankers and merchants held in the open square of the Royal Exchange,
+upwards of forty-six thousand pounds were collected on the spot; the
+King subscribed L20,000; the Queen L5,000; numerous mercantile firms and
+private individuals contributed large sums, varying from L3,000 to
+L10,000; and the Bank of England, the noble tribute of L200,000. That
+this urgent necessity should have pressed heavily upon those public men
+whose position made a heavy demand upon their patriotism, was to be
+expected, and in some instances, sacrifices were made to an extent which
+rendered unavoidable the reduction of their domestic establishments; but
+no considerations of personal inconvenience were suffered to interfere
+with the paramount claims of duty. The subjoined letters throw
+considerable light on these transactions, and are of especial interest
+from the minute details they present respecting the measures that were
+adopted in this great emergency for augmenting and organizing the
+Militia force of the kingdom.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Feb. 2nd, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I saw yesterday in Pitt's hands your letter to him. The sacrifice
+     you make is certainly very great, and such as I could not have
+     thought myself at liberty to advise, though I am glad on the whole
+     that your determination is such as it is; not that I am very much
+     attached (but quite the contrary) to the idea of raising public
+     supplies by voluntary contributions, and still less by
+     contributions _soi-disant_ voluntary, but in reality extorted by
+     popular clamour and prejudice. But after that business has been
+     carried as far as it has, it would have been too invidious for you
+     to have put yourself in a breach which I think ought never to have
+     been made. I am much concerned at what you say in your letter to
+     Pitt respecting the personal inconvenience to which this step will
+     subject you, and particularly as to the idea of your doing anything
+     that can look like an avowed intention of suspending your residence
+     at Stowe. It seems to me that nothing is more natural than that
+     this state of things should lead to reduction of your
+     establishments; and I believe in so doing you will only follow a
+     very general example, though I appear to be selected as a much more
+     striking instance of it than I have yet been able, with my best
+     endeavours, to make myself. It will also be very easy for you,
+     quartered in Essex, to be as much or as little as you please at
+     Stowe in the course of the year; but any avowal of quitting that
+     residence would, I think, do you a needless injury.
+
+     You will receive in a day or two the circular letter for calling
+     out the supplementary Militia, with the explanation of the manner
+     in which this is intended to be executed, so as to make it a
+     _muster_ of the whole, but an embodying only of a part.
+
+     War with America and Portugal seems quite determined on at Paris;
+     nor do I see how Denmark can keep herself out of the scrape,
+     though she will most certainly do her best. The general opinion is
+     that Mulin has established his superiority over Barras and
+     Buonaparte. There can be no doubt of the intention to invade us
+     here or in Ireland, or both.
+
+     The capture of the packet leaves us still without official or
+     direct accounts from the West Indies, but all the accounts we get
+     are favourable.
+
+     I enclose you, in confidence, a paper, which I think will be
+     interesting to you. You will be so good as _not to have seen_ it,
+     and to return it to me. It is of course to be kept under lock and
+     key. It is unpublished, and meant to remain so.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, April 27th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     It is only from your letter to William that I have learnt what is
+     the actual state of the discussion which you had begun upon the
+     subject of the flank companies of the Militia, and very sorry I am
+     to find that it is likely to take any shape which can be unpleasant
+     or disagreeable to you. The measure itself is one which I have
+     understood to be one of the few measures upon which, in point of
+     necessary military preparation, all our officers are agreed, and
+     which, if I recollect right, you yourself are as strongly inclined
+     to as anybody, though not precisely in the mode recommended by the
+     Commander-in-chief; if the objections which you felt on the point
+     of _Militia_ establishment had been equally felt and adopted by the
+     generality of the commanding officers of Militia, some way or other
+     must, I suppose, have been found to accommodate the difficulties of
+     such a representation; but in the present instance (as far as I
+     could collect from Fortescue, who was at a pretty numerous meeting
+     of all the Militia commanders who were in town), there was not any
+     one of those who did not express their readiness to adopt this
+     plan, and their approbation of it; so that, in fact, this matter,
+     so far from being taken up by the generality of commanding officers
+     in the same light in which you had objected to it, has really the
+     sanction of every commanding officer, except, as I am told, Lord
+     Berkeley, Lord Carnarvon and yourself.
+
+     Under these circumstances, much as I regret that any arrangement
+     could be proposed and could be likely to be carried, which is so
+     disagreeable to you, you will, however, I am sure, agree with me
+     that it stands upon very different ground, when it stands upon the
+     ground of individual opinions, from what it would have done if it
+     had been taken up by the whole or the majority or a large part of
+     the Militia. My best hopes are that some mode may yet be found
+     which may place your own regiment in the shape that you had wished;
+     and William has, I know, taken all the pains he can to urge the
+     adoption of all or of any of the modifications of this order, which
+     may make it less objectionable to you; and I cannot therefore but
+     hope that his zeal and anxiety in this will carry it to a better
+     shape for you as far as you are immediately interested. But we live
+     in times of such pressing public duty, and the military post to
+     which you are called and in which you are placed, is one so forward
+     both in danger and in honourable distinction to you, that I should
+     not do my duty by you if I did not (however uncalled upon for that
+     opinion) add that, in my poor judgment, no state of military
+     arrangements or orders can for a moment admit of the possibility of
+     your giving up your command in an hour of danger, as immediate as
+     that in which I write. I know you will give me credit for the
+     honesty of this opinion, as well as for the affection which calls
+     it forth from me.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     T. G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, April 27th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     On receiving your letter to Pitt, I sent it to him, and have since
+     seen him and Dundas. I understand from them that you have been
+     misinformed about the idea of their intending to bring in any new
+     Bill on the subject of forming the flank companies of Militia into
+     light infantry battalions, as the opinion both of the Attorney and
+     Solicitor-General is quite clear on the interpretation of the
+     present law. With respect to the measure itself, I must say that as
+     far as I understand it, my opinion is and always has been clearly
+     for it. But what is much more important is, that the Duke of York,
+     all the Generals of districts and Lord Cornwallis, the only
+     military Cabinet Minister, all put the salvation of the country
+     upon it. In this situation I do not think that Pitt, or Dundas, or
+     any of us, could take upon ourselves the responsibility of omitting
+     a measure, stated to be clearly within the law, and in which so
+     large a proportion of the Militia officers are disposed to
+     acquiesce with cordiality and cheerfulness.
+
+     Nothing certainly can be further from their wishes, even as public
+     men only, than to place you in any unpleasant or difficult
+     situation; but you will not think this a moment when points of real
+     importance can be given up to personal considerations of regard and
+     good-will.
+
+     It has occurred, that adopting the measure generally, the
+     application of it to your particular regiment might be avoided, by
+     permitting you to form a separate light infantry battalion, under
+     the command of Fremantle, he being an army officer, and one whom
+     the Duke of York himself allows to be as fit for that purpose as
+     any he could select; and that this permission may, under certain
+     circumstances and conditions, be extended to other colonels
+     desirous of taking that mode preferably to the other.
+
+     But this is not without its difficulty, nor is it possible for any
+     man, beforehand, to engage for the Duke of York's consent to a
+     measure, on which he has so much right not only to have _voix au
+     chapitre_ but to have a voice nearly decisive, so long as his
+     regulations do not interfere with the law. All, therefore, that I
+     can say is, that I am persuaded Dundas will do whatever he can to
+     promote this arrangement, the only solution that I see to
+     difficulties, one side of which, in the alternative stated by you,
+     present consequences to which I am very sure, whatever else
+     happens, you will never bring yourself to look. If I had the least
+     doubt upon that point, I certainly could and should say much of the
+     time, of the situation of the country, of the local position of
+     your regiment in its present quarters, and of the possibility of
+     any man, under such circumstances, resigning a command because he
+     disapproves in his own judgment, even supposing him right in that
+     judgment, of a military order which the Commander-in-chief has
+     clearly a right to give, and for the omission, as well as the
+     giving of which, he and the Government are exclusively responsible.
+
+     I know nothing more of the supplementary Militia than that they are
+     to be immediately called out.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, May 1st, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I got your letter here last night. I should not have gone out of
+     town even for one day, if I had not understood from Dundas that the
+     Duke of York, though quite determined against adopting the
+     substitution you propose, seemed to think that in order to avoid
+     putting you under difficulties of any sort, he could forbear to
+     make the demand on your regiment.
+
+     I do not say that I like this expedient, but I see no other without
+     his abandoning a measure which, for one, I should be very sorry to
+     see abandoned, believing, as I do, that things of much more
+     importance than the matter of any legal question of a Militia Act,
+     depend upon it. I really believe that you are not accurately
+     informed when you speak of the wishes of the Militia in general
+     being against this measure. But on this point you have certainly
+     better means of knowing individual opinions than I can have. On the
+     legal point, the opinion of the King's law servants must of course
+     be the only guide for a Commander-in-chief, even if he were not a
+     Prince of the blood, but much more when he is so, and consequently
+     not supposed to enter into discussions of that sort, or to be
+     responsible for them.
+
+     I grieve that in these times you should set the example of raising
+     these questions; but I am confident you would not do so if you did
+     not think it right. I own I should have thought that any idea of
+     _disobeying, as a Militia officer_, a command of the
+     Commander-in-chief, was out of the question in the present moment,
+     and that if the case (I had almost said) which you yourself put,
+     had occurred, that of being ordered to embark on board Lord
+     Bridport's fleet, you would have done so, with a protest of _ne
+     trahatur in exemplum_.
+
+     Dundas will, as I understand from him, explain to you what he
+     considers to be the case about your letter, which he states to me
+     to have been an official letter addressed, I think, to P. W. Howe
+     or his Adjutant-General, and which therefore he did not consider in
+     any other light than as an accurate statement of the doubt given in
+     officially and meant to be so considered. But all this is of very
+     little consequence in comparison of that of the light in which the
+     thing itself places you, if it were possible that you could adopt
+     the resolution you speak of.
+
+     I take it for granted that Dundas's Bill is meant only to extend to
+     British subjects, or may easily be so limited. As such, it is
+     surely highly advantageous in the present moment to have the
+     services of the men who, of all British officers, have seen the
+     most real service.
+
+     I do not think that the Vienna news at all lessens the expediency
+     of calling out the remaining third of the Militia. It is highly
+     probable that the French, seeing that they cannot hope to contend
+     again with England and Austria joined together, may determine to
+     accelerate their attack on us, and put the whole on that one
+     desperate issue.
+
+     Ever, my dearest brother,
+     Most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+The insurrection in Ireland was now approaching the moment which had
+been arranged by the rebels for the final move upon the capital. The
+whole plan of the rising, which was to have taken place on the 23rd of
+May, appeared in the details of a paper found upon the person of Lord
+Edward Fitzgerald, whose capture on the 19th frustrated the designs of
+the infatuated conspirators. Measures of the most careful precaution had
+been previously taken by the Government. Sir Ralph Abercromby, who had
+been in command of the army, and expressed a wish to retire, was
+replaced by General Lake, whose knowledge of the country afforded the
+strongest assurance of success in the vigorous proceedings it became
+necessary to adopt.
+
+The presence of the military in the disturbed districts, and the
+numerous seizures of arms and arrests of members of the provincial
+committees that were organized over the country, had considerably
+deranged the plans and weakened the resources of the confederacy
+previously to the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, which effectually
+crushed the hopes of the rebels, although for some months afterwards
+they carried on a sort of flying campaign, with a desperation and
+ferocity that constantly baffled the operations of the regular troops.
+Lord Edward Fitzgerald died on the 3rd of June from the effects of the
+wounds he received in the frantic resistance he offered to the persons
+who arrested him.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, May 25th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Accounts of a very satisfactory nature have been received here this
+     morning from Dublin. They were upon the very brink of an
+     insurrection, which was to have taken place on the 22nd. They had
+     intelligence of it, and by the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and
+     the two Sheares's, who were at the head of the plot, they have not
+     only disconcerted this plan, but have procured indisputable
+     evidence for proceeding against these traitors, and have now, I
+     trust, the certainty of convicting them. A special Commission is
+     preparing for the purpose of bringing them to trial as speedily as
+     possible, but it will require about a month before all the forms
+     can be got through. We are sending back O'Connor to them, and it is
+     probable that his trial may be included in the same Commission.
+
+     They write on the 21st, in the best possible spirits, from the
+     Castle. The attack was intended against Chapelizod, the magazine in
+     the Phoenix, and the Castle, at the same time; and in order to
+     increase the confusion, the houses of some of the leading people
+     were also to have been attacked, and the individuals, at the head
+     of whom of course was the Chancellor, were to be put to death. The
+     camp near Dublin was also to be assaulted.
+
+     In the desk of one of the Sheares's was found the proclamation
+     ready drawn, which was to be issued for the establishment of the
+     Republican Government.
+
+     A letter was written on the 21st, to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, by
+     Lord Castlereagh, to acquaint him with this design, and to order
+     him to make search for arms, &c., and a message was to be sent to
+     Parliament the 21st or 22nd. They are not quite sure that the idea
+     of the insurrection was abandoned, even after this blow-up; but
+     they were so completely on their guard, that there was nothing to
+     be apprehended.
+
+     You will have seen that Lord E. F. made a desperate resistance when
+     he was taken. It is, however, supposed that Ryan will recover,
+     though stabbed in the belly. They had already taken about two
+     thousand pikes in Dublin alone, and great numbers in the adjacent
+     counties. On the whole, I trust that with vigorous measures, such
+     as every one will feel this crisis requires, the seeds of the
+     rebellion will be crushed.
+
+     I think there are full grounds to proceed against Lord Thanet and
+     Co. for a conspiracy to rescue, as well as for the riot. O'Connor's
+     acquittal is imputed to Miller's charge, and _that_ to his being
+     completely exhausted, so as to omit some of the most material
+     points in the evidence.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, June 1st, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I did not answer your letter earlier, because I waited to know the
+     opinion of others on the subject of the proposal which you mention.
+     I find that there is a very strong apprehension of creating by it
+     dissatisfaction among the Militia, and of impeding the future
+     raising and augmentation of that force. For it is reasoned thus:
+     although in the present moment the public spirit is so high that it
+     is probable a very large part would readily concur in a similar
+     proposition, yet there would certainly be many individuals, and
+     perhaps some bodies among them, who would be reluctant to alter
+     their original terms of service. These persons would hardly be
+     placed in a fair situation, because although the option would still
+     nominally be left to them; yet that would be attended with so much
+     odium, and would so much carry the appearance of backwardness, that
+     any persons in such a time as this, and particularly persons
+     engaged in military service, would naturally be very unwilling to
+     expose themselves to it. By this means, all security and confidence
+     in the original terms of enlistment would be lost, and both
+     officers and men, deliberating about entering into the Militia,
+     would do it with the idea that they might continually be called
+     upon to serve out of the kingdom, which would destroy the whole
+     Militia system.
+
+     Besides this, another objection strikes me, which I think perhaps
+     even stronger than the preceding. It is that of the loss of
+     security to this country, both in point of fact and opinion, from
+     rendering that force applicable otherwise than to the immediate
+     protection of Great Britain. I hope that in all cases we should
+     have done our best, according to such judgment as we could form at
+     the time: but I will fairly own to you that I do not myself believe
+     that England would have been now as secure as I trust it is, if we
+     had possessed the power of disposing of the Militia regiments for
+     Channel or Irish service, and much less if that power had also been
+     extended to the continent in general.
+
+     A third argument I think of little weight, but I know from what I
+     have heard in general conversation on the subject, that it would
+     make considerable impression among a particular class of men. The
+     Militia is now raised by a sort of direct burthen on the landed
+     interest, who are reconciled to it from the apparent and visible
+     protection which their property derives from it. Whereas, if it was
+     applied to purposes of more general, though possibly greater,
+     public advantage, that would be called _unfair_ upon the counties,
+     as the term now is, and we should infallibly have proposals for
+     throwing the whole burthen, in all its various shapes, more equally
+     on the general mass of property within the kingdom.
+
+     For all these reasons, tempting as it would be in the present state
+     of the war, to avail ourselves of the service of that which
+     constitutes the greatest part of our regular force for the purpose
+     of those operations, with the necessity of which we are thoroughly
+     impressed, yet I really do not think, nor is it thought by others,
+     that we can prudently attempt it.
+
+     A more limited idea has occurred to me, in which I think your zeal
+     might be useful in the way of example. It is this. In any case of
+     invasion (which is by no means to be put out of the question,
+     however the public love to flatter themselves about it) I think it
+     is evident that there might, and probably would be, much boat
+     service. It is by no means impossible that, even in the very act of
+     landing, they might have to be opposed by gun-boats, _et id genus
+     omne_, and that troops would be wanted for that service. If landed,
+     and having taken Dumourier's "_position on the coast_" to wait for
+     reinforcements and provisions, perhaps the General who commands our
+     force in that quarter may wish to attack them from the sea, without
+     waiting for the certain arm of starvation which would be hanging
+     over them. The same principle applies to the defence of our tide
+     rivers, harbours, &c. Now, for all this, I should think it would be
+     highly useful that our troops should in some degree be trained to
+     this boat work, and though perhaps an inland regiment of Militia
+     might not be thought the best to begin with, yet by suggesting this
+     idea to Sir W. Howe, and expressing your readiness and that of your
+     regiment to lend yourselves to it, an example might be set to
+     others and a very useful practice introduced.
+
+     I wrote this early in the morning and before the arrival of the
+     post, so that I do not know whether there will be any accounts from
+     Dublin. If there are, I will add them before I close this letter.
+     Those of yesterday were, as I understood from the Duke of P. and
+     King, perfectly good, but I did not see them. The only thing that
+     appears at all distressing is that the communication with the south
+     was still interrupted, and although this may arise from the
+     disturbed state of any one point through which the roads pass, yet
+     it is productive of uneasiness, and may afford opportunities for
+     spreading alarms in the south, the consequences of which might be
+     very serious. No disturbance had shown itself in the north.
+
+     Buonaparte is gone to Toulon instead of Rastadt, and it is now
+     publicly declared at Paris that his object is Cadiz, Portugal, or
+     Ireland. If we are not more than commonly unfortunate, _il trouvera
+     a qui parler en chemin_.
+
+     I do not think Pitt could avoid answering Fremy's call, and as it
+     has turned out it is certainly better as it is. One shudders to
+     think what might have happened.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+     I do not enclose the "Gazette," because I conclude you have it.
+     There was nothing else of any importance from Ireland last night,
+     and nothing at all this morning.
+
+In the month of June, Lord Cornwallis, upon whose military talents the
+Cabinet placed great reliance, was appointed to succeed Lord Camden in
+the government of Ireland; and the Irish Secretaryship was again offered
+to Mr. Thomas Grenville, and declined.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Aylesbury, June 11th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     By a letter from Cleveland Row which I have this moment received, I
+     find the Irish storm, which I told you I had seen gathering, is
+     likely to fall as I had expected it. It is settled that Lord
+     Cornwallis is to go Lord-Lieutenant, and in case of Pelham's
+     declining on account of his health, I see I shall be urged in the
+     strongest manner possible to fill his situation there. I have
+     already talked this matter so much over with you, and you know so
+     entirely, both my utter aversion to it, and my reluctance to
+     decline any personal risk or inconvenience in these critical times,
+     that I cannot on either side add anything upon this subject; but
+     upon a matter of so much anxiety and importance to me, a matter too
+     of which you are in every respect qualified to give me so good an
+     opinion, you will not be surprised at the solicitude which I
+     express to know all that you may think about it. Perhaps it may not
+     come in question, if Pelham is strong again and in health, but if
+     it does, as very possibly it may, I cannot enough say how desirous
+     I shall be to discuss the whole matter with you; and as time may
+     press in the instant of its being proposed, I know that you will
+     readily turn this in your mind in the present moment. I shall be in
+     town on Thursday, which being a fair day here, ends our eight days'
+     exercise; it has passed very prosperously, they do extremely well,
+     and have been from seventy to eighty out, and working every day
+     seven or eight hours. We go on to beat the rebels in Ireland, but
+     we beat them into soldiers.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, June 13th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I do not hear of any Irish news this morning; if there is any, I
+     will add it before I close this letter. I entirely agree with you
+     in thinking the situation of Irish Secretary to be in rank and
+     estimation much below Tom's calibre. In point of real utility and
+     scope for displaying the powers of his mind, God knows it is
+     difficult, extensive, and important enough for the talents of the
+     greatest man this country ever saw. It is, however, as you will
+     have learnt by my note of yesterday, out of the question; and
+     Pelham's rank is too much on a level with his, to admit of the idea
+     of interposing Tom or Lord D. between Lord C. and him.
+
+     When I wrote yesterday, I had not seen Nugent's letter, nor indeed
+     heard much of the particulars, as you will have seen from my
+     letter. I think nothing can be better than Nugent's conduct seems
+     to have been, and his letter is extremely manly, distinct and
+     judicious. But what a picture does it offer of our officers! I
+     believe I do not know _this_ Lumley; but I do not, as far as I
+     _have_ known them, think that there is one of the race fit to be
+     trusted with the command of a patrole of watchmen, from Lord
+     Scarborough downwards. Walpole I had long known, and certainly I
+     should have said the same of him. What a calamity it is, that our
+     army has not yet been taught that the command of troops in moments
+     of difficulty and danger requires skill and knowledge, and is not a
+     faculty bought with a commission at the regulated price.
+
+     _Je vois tres en noir_ about this Irish business; but with me that
+     feeling never has, I trust, operated otherwise than as an
+     incitement to greater exertion, "to bate no jot of heart, or hope,
+     but still bear up, and steer right onward." We have gone through
+     such scenes as this country has never before known; where we have
+     been wanting in firmness, we have suffered for it; where we have
+     shown courage adequate to the danger, God has borne us through it;
+     and so I trust He will do. At all events, our lives, and honour,
+     and the existence of our country, are staked upon the issue, and
+     nothing but resolution can save us.
+
+     I saw with the greatest pleasure the address of your regiment. I am
+     happy it has taken that shape, because I think it the least
+     exceptionable, and still am inclined to the measure. If it
+     depended on my choice alone, I do not think many hours would pass
+     over before you would be in march.
+
+     It really looks as if Buonaparte was after all in sober truth going
+     to Egypt: and Dundas seems to think the scheme of attacking India
+     from thence not so impracticable as it may appear. I am still
+     incredulous as to the latter point, though as to the former I am
+     shaken. But as Buonaparte on the 23rd was still off Toulon, and as
+     Lord St. Vincent must have detached on the 21st at latest, there is
+     much reason to hope that Nelson may destroy all these visions, be
+     they what they may. From the coasts of Normandy and Brittany the
+     troops are in great part withdrawn--they do the Germans too much
+     honour!
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+One of the plans of Ministers (which appears to have originated with
+Lord Buckingham) for inspiring confidence in Ireland, was to send over a
+few regiments of English Militia, during the continuance of the
+disturbances. Lord Buckingham was the first colonel of an English
+Militia regiment that volunteered upon that service, and, remembering
+the position he had on two former occasions occupied in Ireland, his
+example in taking the lead on such an occasion was productive of the
+happiest effects in awakening the zeal of others.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, June 28th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I this morning received your letter from Liverpool. I rejoice to
+     think that the Wexford news will probably make your stay at Dublin
+     of no long continuance, and much as I regret the present
+     inconvenience to yourself, yet I will own that it is gratifying to
+     me that this news did not arrive time enough to stop your
+     embarkation. I consider it as very important on many accounts that
+     some of the British Militia regiments should actually arrive in
+     Ireland, and I would not willingly forego the pride of knowing that
+     your regiment was the first of them. We have no news here of any
+     kind; indeed Ireland has engaged the whole attention of everybody
+     here, and left us no leisure to think of anything else except to
+     cast now and then a longing wish to the Mediterranean. We have, as
+     you will have heard from my brother, accounts of Nelson's being
+     actually in the Mediterranean, and such particulars as seem to
+     leave no doubt of his having been joined by the ten of the line and
+     the fifty under Trowbridge. I am more and more convinced that
+     Buonaparte's intention was only to proceed to Corsica and to wait
+     there the event of the negotiations, hanging upon the rear of
+     Naples and Tuscany, but without any other _present_ object, and
+     then to be determined by circumstances as to the future destination
+     of his fleet, for Portugal, Great Britain, Ireland, or the West
+     Indies. If we have tolerable luck, Nelson will disappoint all these
+     plans.
+
+     When you see Lord Clare, pray tell him that in consequence of his
+     having been spoken of by the Duke of Bedford and Lord Holland last
+     night in a manner extremely galling to my feelings, I took the
+     opportunity to express the sentiments which I believe he knows I
+     entertain of his character and conduct. This passed with the doors
+     of the House shut, so that he will not see any account of it in the
+     papers. He will not suppose that I claim any thanks for a bare act
+     of duty and justice, nor should I have wished it to be mentioned to
+     him from me, if I had not thought it just possible that he might
+     hear of the attack, in which case I should have felt much concern
+     if he had not at the same time known that it had been treated with
+     as much indignation and scorn as it merited.
+
+     The business of Williams is arranged to your wishes. I shall be
+     anxious to hear of your son after his arrival at Dublin, for I did
+     not think the account of his leg at all comfortable. If the Irish
+     news continues good, you will not, I think, have any other Militia
+     regiments besides those now there. We expect Lord Camden to-day.
+     Lord Darnley made a useful speech last night, in which he told us,
+     amongst other things, that he had never witnessed so much
+     satisfaction from any event at Dublin, as from the destruction of
+     Lord Moira's town. Lord M. was not there, and kept the Prince of
+     Wales away.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+Lord Buckingham arrived in Dublin towards the end of June, to the
+infinite satisfaction of Lord Cornwallis, who found himself surrounded
+by the usual perplexities of Irish Government, considerably increased by
+the excited condition of the country.
+
+The general opinion entertained in England of the change that had
+recently taken place in the character of the Irish insurrection, may be
+gathered from a passage in a letter addressed to Lord Buckingham by Mr.
+Thomas Grenville, on the 5th of July.
+
+     As far as I can judge from the public accounts in the newspapers,
+     the rebellion seems rather to have changed its shape than to have
+     abandoned its object, and it may be a question whether much
+     advantage is gained in its becoming a Maroon war of plunderers and
+     banditti, rather than continuing to be a formal array regularly
+     opposed to the regular army in the country; because though it may
+     be true that the danger of a large army of rebels may be a danger
+     of greater magnitude, as well as more immediate, yet it furnishes
+     at least the opportunity of meeting that danger, and of grappling
+     with it; whereas this plundering, robbing, and burning war,
+     carried on by an infinite number of small parties, associated
+     together and hiding together like the thieves in the cave of Gil
+     Blas, puts the peace and the security of the country in greater
+     danger, keeps up a more constant alarm, is more difficult to
+     resist, because it is more difficult to find and to prepare
+     against, and, what is not the least consideration, it utterly ruins
+     and destroys the hopes of these men, after indulging long in such
+     habits, returning again either to labour or even to subordination.
+
+     To me, therefore, I own it seems to be more necessary than ever to
+     make the most active exertions in order to counteract this new
+     shape of evil; and I do hope and trust that, however ungracious and
+     mortifying it may be to military habits and military education to
+     be opposed to what may be deemed petty bands of robbers and
+     incendiaries, Lord Cornwallis will feel the necessity of applying
+     his best military talents in a service where no military glory can
+     be obtained, except as it may be applied to the restoration of the
+     security and tranquillity of the country.
+
+The forbearance of Lord Cornwallis is alluded to in a subsequent letter
+from Lord Grenville. It was felt that his lenity in treating with the
+rebels was misplaced, and that the Government ought to have adopted a
+more decided course in extinguishing the dying embers of the
+insurrection.
+
+     I do not know how to trust my own judgment upon the very small
+     lights which (_entre nous_) Lord C. gives us as to what he is doing
+     in Ireland. But as far as I can judge, he is proceeding very fast
+     indeed, particularly when he allows rebels to stipulate for the
+     point of honour of not naming their confederates, and thereby
+     accepts a fresh act of misprision of treason, as a satisfaction for
+     former acts of treason. But this of course is only to you. The
+     great point I wish to be assured of, _if I could_, is that he has
+     not suffered a nearer view of difficulties to discourage him from
+     the pursuit of the only measure which can make it signify one
+     farthing what he does in the present moment. Let him carry that,
+     and I will willingly compromise for all the rest.
+
+On the 22nd of August the long-threatened French invasion took place in
+a shape that covered the expedition with universal ridicule. A handful
+of men, to the number of eight hundred, landed at Killala, and were
+joined by the rebels; and when they were attacked by General Lake a few
+days afterwards, the whole force surrendered at discretion. This
+incident formed a striking contrast to the progress of the French in
+other directions, for at the very time when they were suffering this
+humiliation in Ireland, their victorious arms were completing the
+subjugation of Switzerland.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, August 27th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I am much obliged to you for your letter, which I got last night,
+     with the other accounts of the landing at Killala. I hope we are
+     not too sanguine in thinking that the French are much too late for
+     their object, and that the result of this expedition will give us
+     fresh security. The interval is however unavoidably one of some
+     anxiety, and I confess I regret now Lord Cornwallis's security in
+     declining to receive any further reinforcements, though it is
+     seldom that a General fails _on that side_. All this can only be
+     with a view to the possibility of a general insurrection; for
+     without that their twelve hundred men are not worth a second
+     thought, and their arms are merely thrown away.
+
+     I see in their full force all the difficulties that might arise in
+     the contingency of Lord Cornwallis's death. But I trust that danger
+     is as remote as the death of any man can reasonably be said to be.
+     There would be much inconvenience in its being suspected or known
+     that he had a provisional successor named and resident on the spot,
+     because Irish speculation would extend the contingency thus
+     provided for, from the case of his death to that of his
+     resignation. The subject shall however be considered, and your name
+     shall certainly not be brought forward unless I see that the thing
+     would be wished; the only footing on which it is possible to place
+     so liberal and generous an offer.
+
+     God bless you.
+
+     No more news of Buonaparte or Nelson. I terribly fear that the
+     latter will do something _too_ desperate.
+
+     Austria and Russia are evidently, _at last_, preparing for war. But
+     we are now in the end of August, and with a very little more
+     hesitation and delay the possibility of acting this year is gone,
+     and then France _must_ use the _winter_ to divide us all by
+     separate negotiations.
+
+In a subsequent letter, Lord Grenville again refers to the policy acted
+upon by Lord Cornwallis in reference to the rebels.
+
+     With respect to the political system I had my doubts, and expressed
+     them to you, at the time that your opinions, formed I am sure every
+     way on much better means of judging than I have, was more
+     favourable to what was doing. But the experience is now, I am sorry
+     to say it, wholly on my side, and I am every hour more and more
+     persuaded that the old rules are best, and that Government has not
+     gained, but lose extremely, by allowing traitors to treat with them
+     in a body, and to stipulate for the right to commit a fresh and
+     distinct act of misprision of treason, for which they are at this
+     time indictable, till this new offence is protected with the old
+     ones by a Bill of pardon.
+
+     The situation of the Secretary, who is afraid to act on his opinion
+     in a great parliamentary question, is neither respectable nor
+     useful; but I protest that I am not more a stranger to Buonaparte's
+     government of Egypt than I am to that of Ireland. It cannot
+     continue in this state; but unfortunately, in these times it is not
+     enough to see that a thing is wrong, but one must be sure that in
+     endeavouring to correct it we do not produce some fresh and greater
+     mischief. It is a bad subject, and _fait faire du mauvais sang_.
+
+     My flock is more docile, and my Emperors are going to war like good
+     boys, but they have been a long while bringing themselves to it.
+
+The excellent effect produced by the presence of the English Militia in
+Ireland, led Lord Grenville to desire the extension of a service which,
+in many points of view, was admirably calculated to check the
+insubordinate temper of the people. The English character offered an
+example of steadiness and discipline which could hardly fail to make
+some impression on the disordered masses of the population; while the
+independence of all local interests and sectarian prejudices displayed
+by those troops might be reasonably hoped to exercise a beneficial
+influence on the minds of dispassionate people. Lord Cornwallis,
+however, held a different opinion; but he was so chary in his
+communications to the Cabinet, that we find Lord Grenville constantly
+complaining of not receiving any intelligence from the Castle, either as
+to the views of the Government or the events that were passing in the
+country. "You will easily imagine," he observes in a letter to Lord
+Buckingham, "I still feel some anxiety for further information, when I
+tell you that neither from Lord-Lieutenant nor Secretary have we, by
+this messenger, one word more than you will see in the 'Gazette'
+published this day. This system must have its end." The zeal of the
+English Militia was not likely to be much encouraged by the plan of
+close councils and sudden resolves thus pursued by Lord Cornwallis, and
+which, excellent, perhaps, in reference to regular troops, was
+calculated to produce resentments and discontents amongst voluntary and
+temporary levies. An unfortunate misunderstanding which occurred at this
+time between Lord Cornwallis and Lord Buckingham developed the state of
+feeling existing between the Irish Government and the English Militia,
+and brought it to a very unexpected crisis.
+
+A detachment of the Bucks had been ordered by the Lord-Lieutenant into
+the field, and Lord Buckingham, as colonel of the regiment, conceived
+that he had a right to take the command; but Lord Cornwallis, who looked
+at these matters with the formality and decision of a martinet,
+exercised his own discretion in giving the command to another officer.
+The grounds of Lord Buckingham's exception to the Lord-Lieutenant's
+dictum on this point were, that the detachment taken from his regiment
+for this particular service was numerically greater than the remainder
+of the regiment left behind, and that being also of greater force than a
+detachment from another regiment with which it was to act, he was
+entitled to take the command of both. Lord Cornwallis, however,
+overruled his wishes, as tending to produce inconvenience to the service
+in the matter of rank, and in other respects. To Lord Buckingham's
+remonstrance on the subject, Lord Cornwallis transmitted a reply which
+induced Lord Buckingham to request his Lordship's permission to lay the
+whole correspondence before the King. It was to be expected under these
+feelings of irritation that Lord Buckingham should have been desirous of
+returning to England. But the expression of such a desire was liable to
+misconstruction. Lord Grenville felt that it was possible it might be
+interpreted into an appearance of declining service.
+
+     Now, my dear brother, as to the question of sending the Bucks back,
+     I really scarce know what to do about it. I have no communications
+     (for none of us have any) which can enable one to form the least
+     guess of Lord Cornwallis's intentions, much less any previous
+     knowledge of his measures. Nothing could be more unexpected to me
+     than to hear that he had ordered back any part of the Militia
+     force, which can alone enable him to accomplish his object, or to
+     protect Ireland during the winter. If any part is to go back, it
+     certainly seems reasonable that those who went first should be
+     first relieved; but I am totally at a loss how to take any steps
+     for this purpose which shall not be liable to interpretations the
+     most repugnant to your feelings and to the spirit with which you
+     set the example of a measure by which alone Ireland was to be
+     preserved to this country.
+
+     In a state of unreserved communication, such as ought to prevail
+     between a Lord-Lieutenant and his employers, or with a Secretary to
+     whom one might speak openly, and put such a point on its true
+     bearing, there would be no difficulty; but you know how far we are
+     from such a situation. Nor can I honestly advise the taking any
+     steps towards the removal of any part of the British Militia from
+     Ireland; though if any is to come away contrary to my opinion, I
+     feel and acknowledge the justice of your claim, and should, for
+     every personal reason to yourself, be most anxious to contribute
+     towards relieving you from such a scene. But even then, how to make
+     the application, and urge the claim without putting it into his
+     power to say that there is an appearance of declining service, I
+     know not, and yet I much wish to manage it. I have made an indirect
+     suggestion, in the hope that it may be conveyed to him, of the
+     propriety of considering (if any come away) how the choice should
+     be made; but I cannot answer for it that this will be stated to
+     him, and still less that he will pay any attention to it; and I am
+     restrained by the very forcible consideration I have already
+     mentioned, from taking more direct and active steps.
+
+Lord Castlereagh was now appointed to the Secretaryship in Ireland, and
+the question of the Union, which had been for some time under the
+consideration of Government, began to shape itself into a practical
+form. We have here the first rough outline of the views of Ministers
+upon that measure.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Nov. 5th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I am extremely obliged to you for your constant and kind letters,
+     which supply the vacancy of all other information. You will
+     perhaps know before you receive this, that after having employed
+     Pitt, and through him, me, and also General Ross, separately, to
+     press Tom to accept the thankless office of his Secretary, Lord
+     Cornwallis has, without one word of communication to him, written
+     to say that, Pelham declining, he desires to have Lord Castlereagh.
+     It is of a piece with all the rest! Pelham _has_ declined, and so
+     the whole thing will go on exactly as it does now. Yet, lamenting
+     this most sincerely on public grounds, I cannot but rejoice that
+     Tom is not to be embarked _dans cette maudite galere_. For what
+     satisfaction or honour could he receive from it? If he had gone at
+     first, he might have acquired and exercised some influence over his
+     principal, and God knows that could not but have turned to good.
+     But now the _pli_ is taken, the system is set up, and what can
+     alter it I know not. With respect to Lord Castlereagh, I have
+     always heard him spoken of as a man of parts and character; but he
+     cannot have, with Lord Cornwallis, or with the public, the weight
+     which his peculiar situation requires.
+
+     You will easily do me justice enough to believe that I am not blind
+     to the difficulties which all this heaps on the object (already
+     sufficiently difficult) which we have in view. I have had no
+     opportunity (and I am vexed at it) to discuss this subject in
+     private with Lord Clare. He was to have come here in his way to
+     Ireland, but he now writes me word that his letters from Ireland
+     are so pressing for his immediate return that he cannot lose a day.
+     I can well enough understand that his absence dissolves the little
+     government that did exist; but I fear, from what Pitt tells me, he
+     has not spoken out to him, nor would probably to me, as to the real
+     state of affairs there. I am assured that he talks not only
+     decisively of the necessity, but also _very sanguinely_ of the
+     success of our measure, provided always that no attempt is made to
+     change, as a part of the Union, the existing laws about the
+     Catholics. And in this last point I am very much disposed to agree
+     with him now, though before the rebellion I should have thought
+     differently. For, the doing this thing as a part of the present
+     measure, would be to hold out an encouragement to rebellion,
+     instead of showing that every endeavour to disunite Great Britain
+     and Ireland only makes them "cling close and closer" to each other.
+
+     I send you the sketch of our ideas--beyond that, I am sorry to say
+     we have not yet proceeded, though time presses so much. Many points
+     of detail will obviously arise from the discussion of these general
+     ideas, but who is to discuss them if the Lord-Lieutenant is afraid
+     to communicate with anybody? Forster has been written to twice, to
+     come over here; he holds back, but will I suppose now come, and
+     means will easily be found of having _that_ said to him which may
+     be necessary, whatever it may be.
+
+     One great doubt in my mind has been the mode of bringing the thing
+     into regular shape. In the case of two really independent kingdoms,
+     like England and Scotland, an union was as much matter of treaty as
+     an alliance between either of them and Austria and Prussia, but
+     here the kingdoms are inseparably annexed to each other, and the
+     legislatures only are independent. The King cannot, therefore, by
+     commission or full powers, authorize two sets of his subjects to
+     treat with each other concerning the mode in which he shall
+     hereafter govern his two kingdoms.
+
+     The manner in which _the Irish propositions_, as they were called,
+     were brought forward in 1785, was in my mind the most objectionable
+     part of that whole measure, and that which most contributed to its
+     failure. The scheme which has occurred to me in the present
+     instance is that the King should, by Order in Council in each
+     kingdom, refer it to a Committee of Council in each, to consider of
+     the means of an union, referring to them at the same time some
+     general sketch like that which I now enclose to you, or possibly a
+     little more detailed. Towards the conclusion of the business, it
+     might perhaps be necessary that the King should order a part of his
+     Irish Committee of Council to come over to confer with the British
+     Committee on any points of difficulty; and if at last the two
+     Committees can be brought to agree on one plan, _that_ might by the
+     King be submitted to the consideration of Parliament in both
+     kingdoms, and then passed all together, in one Bill, as in the case
+     of the Scotch Union.
+
+     You will observe in this plan which I now send, the particular care
+     taken not to alter the present rights of election, nor to give into
+     any theory of uniting small boroughs into sets, and leaving cities
+     as at present, in order to equalize, as it is called, the
+     representation of Ireland. This I consider as the corner-stone of
+     the whole building. If once we touch this, Parliamentary Reform
+     rushes in upon us here and in Ireland; and, as my friend Condorcet
+     said, "from thence to the establishment of a complete republic, the
+     transition will be short indeed."
+
+     In better times, if we lived in them, I could certainly arrange
+     this matter more according to my own fancy; and there is nobody who
+     could not make to himself some theory on this subject, the very
+     framing of which is an amusing occupation of the mind, and for
+     which it then acquires a parental fondness. But now, if ever, and
+     here if in any matter, _stare super vias antiguas_ is the only
+     salvation to this country.
+
+     The idea of the French tariff I consider as very luminous and
+     happy. It was suggested by Cooke, but possibly he may not like that
+     it should be known, either to his principal or to the public, that
+     he is in the course of offering such suggestions.
+
+     You will not complain at least of the shortness of _this_ letter. I
+     sent you no bulletin about transports in Alexandria, because, I am
+     sorry to say, I do not believe one word of the report, but am
+     persuaded that it will turn out to be nothing more than the
+     destroying a gun-boat or two, the account of which we received and
+     published long ago. I am, however, totally without letters from
+     Eden by the last mail, from which I conclude that he has, _for
+     expedition's sake_, sent a messenger with his letters, who will
+     some time or another arrive. But there are many occasions of
+     sending a messenger besides this news. It does seem likely that
+     Malta will itself drive out the French. What a wonderful change in
+     twelve months!
+
+     God bless you.
+
+The affairs of the continent, which had undergone latterly some
+considerable alterations, appearing to open a favourable opportunity for
+laying the foundation of a new confederation against France, Mr. Thomas
+Grenville was charged with a mission to undertake negotiations for that
+purpose. His destination was Vienna and Berlin, with a roving commission
+subject to circumstances. The rash and impolitic ambition of France had
+awakened an angry resistance on the part of Austria, who had recently
+entered into an alliance with the Court of St. Petersburg; and England,
+desiring to avail herself of these events, employed Mr. Grenville to
+ascertain the views of Prussia and Austria with reference to the
+formation of a general combination against the common enemy. "He will
+have, if I mistake not," observes Lord Grenville, "very much the glory
+of signing the overthrow of Jacobin France."
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, Nov. 16th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I had yesterday a long conversation with Lord G., who assured me
+     that his friend here had continued to the present moment to
+     express the same wish with respect to my destination, as he had at
+     first conveyed in the month of June last; but that a strong wish
+     being expressed on your side of the water for the present shape,
+     the great man here had thought it necessary to give way to the
+     great man there. Be this, however, as it may, he continued to state
+     so strongly the conviction of his own mind, and that of his
+     colleagues, to be that I could do a service in foreign mission
+     highly important to do, and with greater probability of success
+     than any other man, he appealed so directly to that sense of duty
+     which I had always announced as governing my conduct against even
+     the course of my own inclinations, that I told him, much as I
+     thought I had reason to complain, I would still be faithful to the
+     sense of duty to which he appealed; and upon his assurances, that
+     his colleagues felt as strongly as himself the importance of my
+     giving way to their wishes, I agreed to do whatever came within the
+     description of real or important service.
+
+     The general view of that service I cannot better describe to you in
+     large, than by saying that my local situation must be governed by
+     the circumstances of the time; but wherever I may be, my business
+     will be to arrange a better understanding among the powers of the
+     continent than has hitherto been found in them. It is again upon
+     this subject that I have more than ever to regret our separation,
+     because you will easily see how much of a subject like the present
+     I should anxiously wish to talk confidentially over with you, that
+     it would yet be impossible for me to put upon paper in the shape of
+     a letter; but in this short description you will see at once the
+     importance of the subject, and your readiness in all business will
+     easily suggest to you the numberless difficulties which are likely
+     to attach upon this. To those difficulties I am not blind; but it
+     is because they are felt to be such, that I think it my duty to
+     engage in them, and in that sentiment I am sure to have your
+     concurrence.
+
+     With respect to Mr. Fisher, you will easily see that for such a
+     situation I shall want the assistance which I have understood from
+     you he is well qualified and well disposed to give; I dare say,
+     therefore, that you will advise and recommend to me, to make this
+     proposal to him; and yet, till I have again seen Lord Grenville, to
+     know upon what footing of expense this stands, I do not know what I
+     can afford to offer to him, nor how far the situation of Envoy
+     Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary will, in point of pay,
+     furnish what Mr. Fisher ought to have; I will write again as soon
+     as I am better informed, for I apprehend that there will not be
+     much time to lose.
+
+     I think with you, that Tone's business has been awkwardly bothered.
+     I met Lord G. and Mr. P. this morning in the park; and was glad to
+     show them your letter, to give them the information, with your own
+     comments upon this strange jumble so unnecessarily produced. Do not
+     make any proposal to Fisher till you hear again from me. Can he
+     cypher? Does he understand German, &c.? I suppose, by your
+     recommending him, he does. My chief doubt is the insufficiency of
+     pay, and the impossibility of holding out future expectation
+     whatever. My route will probably be Berlin in about a fortnight;
+     but nothing can be more uncertain than my stay.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Charles Street, November 19th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have been anxious, as you will naturally suppose, to lose no time
+     in making such arrangements as may in any shape assist a situation
+     so little to my taste, and so repeatedly refused by me, till it was
+     put in such a shape of duty, as neither my opinions nor yours could
+     allow me to put by. I have therefore pressed for information on the
+     subject of Mr. Fisher, and wish to take the earliest opportunity of
+     stating to you how that matter stands. My mission will be a special
+     mission to Berlin and Vienna, and William is desirous of putting it
+     upon the footing and establishment of Ambassador in Ordinary,
+     though with the rank only of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
+     Plenipotentiary, and with that of Privy Councillor; for I
+     understood that this last high honour will facilitate the means of
+     increasing the establishment of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
+     Plenipotentiary to that of Ambassador in Ordinary. If this meets
+     with no difficulty, he hopes likewise, upon inquiry, to find
+     himself justified in allowing me a private secretary, at something
+     less than that of a Secretary of Legation, which is a guinea per
+     day. With this general description, therefore, I immediately
+     acquaint you, and hope you will think its outline tempting enough
+     to Mr. Fisher to engage him to come immediately, although I cannot
+     yet name the specific sum to be allowed to him. I must, however,
+     add that William has urged me in the strongest manner to hold out
+     to Mr. Fisher no expectation of farther remuneration or promotion
+     in consequence of this employment; not only because officially he
+     never admits any such claim of a private secretary, but also
+     because, by the many foreign appointments lost in the present state
+     of Europe, he is overloaded with claims of promotion, so as to
+     leave him no such means whatever. I think it fair to state this as
+     strongly as it was told me; but, as in your former letter you had
+     expressed Mr. Fisher's readiness to come to me _without any
+     expectation of farther remuneration_, I am still inclined to think
+     that I may depend upon this arrangement as made, and trust to you
+     for obtaining immediate leave of absence for him in Ireland; I say
+     _immediate_, because I apprehend that my stay in England cannot
+     possibly exceed a fortnight from to-day, though I cannot well be
+     prepared much under that time.
+
+     Of course, you will suppose me to be very impatient for Mr.
+     Fisher's arrival; and I trust he will lose no time, but will let me
+     see him in London as soon after you receive this letter as he
+     conveniently can. I cannot describe the probable duration of my
+     absence, it may be three months, or twelve, or more or less; but it
+     is too uncertain to leave me any fixed opinion even in my own mind.
+     Lord Elgin goes to Constantinople, where he will find Sir Sydney,
+     Koehler, &c. &c.
+
+     There is no foreign news whatever by the last mail; but many
+     accounts are come in of great loss on both sides, both insurgents
+     and the republican troops in Flanders; and the country is in such a
+     state, that the six last mails from France have not yet reached
+     Rotterdam.
+
+     A strong report prevails of Guadaloupe having given itself to the
+     English. It is believed in the city, on the credit of a Danish
+     ship, arrived from St. Thomas at Portsmouth; and I think they are
+     disposed to believe it at the Admiralty, though they have no
+     official account of it.
+
+     Our idea in London is, that all Irish courts-martial proceeding on
+     martial law will be suspended till this question is decided; my own
+     opinion is, that if the courts of law can safely sit, the courts of
+     martial law cannot exist at the same time. These latter seem to me
+     to grow only out of such a disturbed state of things as will not
+     allow of the due administration of justice by the regular course of
+     law, and therefore that for a time military government must for the
+     common safety stand in lieu of the courts of law; but to allow the
+     courts of law to resume their functions, is, in itself, as it
+     strikes me, a notice of the cessation of martial law; they cannot
+     go on together _inter arma silent leges_.
+
+     It is expected that Fox and his friends will continue to secede;
+     and Tierney support the Address, abuse O'Connor, and attack
+     Government only on this last event in Ireland. Pray write to me by
+     return of post. I presume I may depend on Mr. Fisher, and therefore
+     that I am secure in waiting for him.
+
+     No news yet of the 'Melpomene.'
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Dec. 11th, 1798.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have this morning received your letter; and to the first
+     paragraph of it I will only say that I am too much accustomed to
+     your kindness to be surprised at this fresh instance of it. Be
+     assured that I feel it as I ought.
+
+     Tom will, I think, set out to-morrow, though it is in truth useless
+     for him to leave town while this east wind blows in the teeth of
+     all our projects. He will have a more difficult task to accomplish
+     than I once thought, particularly on account of a new intrigue that
+     has just sprung up at Berlin, as if on purpose to cross or thwart
+     our plans. Still, however, I persuade myself that all will
+     ultimately go right, and I am confident that he will do whatever
+     can be done.
+
+     If no more solid arguments are opposed to the Union than those of
+     Mr. Wild, we shall have at least the victory in disputation, though
+     in point of violence and inflammation he will, to be sure, not be
+     easily surpassed. The part which you say the Catholics are disposed
+     to take is undoubtedly very important; but does this mean only
+     their leaders, who do _not_ lead them, or has this opinion been
+     spread among the parish priests and lower orders? Certainly, if
+     they knew their interest, those descriptions ought to be peculiarly
+     favourable to it, for they will come under the especial protection
+     of the mildest and most equitable government upon the earth. But do
+     they see and feel this, and are any pains taken to impress them
+     with it? Forster's language continues to be very hostile, and I
+     imagine he thinks the Government will be frightened out of the
+     measure. The appointment of Commissioners seems, on the whole, to
+     be unavoidable, and the Acts for that purpose should, I think, be
+     proposed on the same day to both Parliaments.
+
+     Much objection seems to be taken to any Committee or other body of
+     that sort resident in Ireland; and perhaps the novelty in our
+     Constitution of Members of Parliament who cannot attend Parliament
+     is a solid objection to it. Would it not be easier to make the
+     representation consist of thirty county members, eight or ten city
+     members chosen from Dublin, Cork, &c., and the remainder elected by
+     alternate choice from classes of four boroughs each? What I mean is
+     not that the four in each class should choose altogether by
+     delegates, &c., but that the choice should be in one of them for
+     each Parliament, and this rotation settled at first by lot, and
+     then to continue unalterable. If this will not do, we must then
+     class them and choose by delegates, as in the Scotch precedent. But
+     who shall regulate this classing? and how conciliate the jarring
+     interests of great men?
+
+     By the way, you got me into something of a scrape by giving Cooke a
+     copy of the queries in the margin of the paper I sent you. I
+     omitted to give you any caution on this subject, because I thought
+     it was quite safe that you would not communicate it, and you
+     probably thought that the communication was very unimportant and
+     indifferent. It happened otherwise, but do not say anything to
+     Cooke about it.
+
+     You see the French papers confirm our hopes of Minorca. The
+     Russians and Turks have begun their operations against the
+     _department of the Egean Sea_, and have taken Cephalonia, I
+     believe Zante. I expect to hear very soon of the attack of
+     Alexandria by the Turks.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+     Dec. 12.
+
+     By a mistake this was omitted to be sent to you yesterday. No mails
+     in to-day, nor anything new of any kind. By the newspaper accounts,
+     Canning seems to have made an admirable speech yesterday.
+
+
+
+
+1799.
+
+ENGLAND ENTERS INTO A TREATY WITH RUSSIA AGAINST FRANCE--MR. THOMAS
+GRENVILLE'S MISSION TO THE CONTINENT--THE UNION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN
+AND IRELAND--SUSPENSE RESPECTING THE FATE OF MR. GRENVILLE--PROGRESS OF
+EVENTS ON THE CONTINENT--AUSTRIA JOINS THE COALITION--VACILLATIONS AND
+INACTIVITY OF PRUSSIA--EXPEDITION TO HOLLAND--FURTHER AUGMENTATION OF
+THE MILITIA--PROJECTS FOR THE ENSUING YEAR.
+
+
+About the middle of December, 1798, a provisional treaty had been
+entered into between Russia and England, by which the Emperor bound
+himself, on condition of a monthly subsidy from Great Britain, to have a
+contingent of forty-five thousand men ready for the field, whenever the
+common cause should require their services. The original object of this
+treaty was to induce Prussia to join the confederacy of European powers
+which England was now endeavouring to form against France, with a view
+to bring the war to a conclusion by an overwhelming military
+combination; but Prussia, guarded and timid, declined to embark in the
+coalition; and, failing that result, Russia accepted the alternative of
+a subsidy proposed and guaranteed by the treaty. The value of her
+co-operation was not limited merely to the force she brought to bear
+against the enemy. England hoped that the influence of her example would
+stimulate the other Powers to concur in a general movement to repel the
+aggressions of the French, who were rapidly extending the scene of
+hostilities, and who, in the course of this year, carried their arms
+over the whole surface of Italy, swept the banks of the Rhine,
+penetrated Holland, and ravaged the valleys of Switzerland.
+
+When Mr. Thomas Grenville set out upon his mission to the Courts of
+Vienna and Berlin, intelligence had arrived of the disasters that had
+recently befallen the King of Naples, who, alarmed at the approach of
+the French, had taken the field with twenty thousand men, and was driven
+back by Championet with a much inferior force, and compelled to act upon
+the defensive. The last news was that Naples had surrendered to the
+French after a gallant resistance, chiefly sustained by the Lazzaroni,
+who have an insuperable aversion to all changes in their government.
+
+The first incident that befell Mr. Grenville on his departure from
+England was inauspicious and discouraging. The weather was unusually
+severe. On the night of Christmas Eve, the thermometer was 14 deg. below
+freezing point; and for many weeks afterwards the snow lay so thickly on
+the ground that the service of the ordinary coaches was arrested, and
+the mails were forwarded on horseback. This delay and suspension of
+communication occasioned serious anxiety at a time when every item of
+intelligence was of importance to the country. The effect of the
+inclement state of the season was to force Mr. Grenville back to
+England. He embarked on his destination as had been arranged, but the
+sea was frozen up, and, unable to effect a landing, he was compelled to
+return and wait for a more favourable opportunity.
+
+The Legislative Union between Great Britain and Ireland, which Ministers
+were now preparing, was recommended to the consideration of Parliament
+in a message from the King on the 22nd of January. The Rebellion had
+given a decisive impulse to the project by effectually demonstrating the
+want of power, energy, and influence of the local Parliament to control
+the insubordinate spirit of the country, or to provide adequate remedies
+for existing and acknowledged evils. It was considerably accelerated
+also by the despair of the Protestants and the landed proprietors
+generally, who, exhausted by the long and wasting struggles of faction,
+looked to England, across the ashes of a desolating insurrection, for
+the last hope of relief from anarchy and spoliation. In the letters that
+immediately follow, the views of Ministers in reference to the proposed
+plan are incidentally elucidated; and it appears, from Lord Grenville's
+allusions to the subject, that it was originally suggested to make the
+representation of the Irish Peerage in the Imperial Legislature elective
+under every new Parliament, like that of the Scotch Peerage; a mode of
+representation to which Lord Grenville objected, although, in other
+respects, he approved of the adoption of the Scotch Union as a model for
+imitation. He foresaw clearly the confusion and jealousies likely to be
+engendered in such a country as Ireland by repeated elections amongst a
+body whose title to the right of election rested on hereditary grounds,
+and he felt that the frequent recurrence to such contests would re-open
+old grievances and party feuds, and, instead of satisfying the
+expectations of the Peers, would only create a new element of
+discontent. The elective principle was the single feature in the Scotch
+Union which Lord Grenville seems to have considered injudicious and
+impolitic. We gather from many passages in his letters that he regarded
+harmony in the structure of the legislative body to be as essential to
+its effective action as unity in the executive; and that the nearer the
+House of Lords approached to permanency in the foundation of all its
+parts, the more completely would it realize, as a whole, the
+constitutional theory of an hereditary estate.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Jan. 4th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have been so occupied this last week as really not to have had a
+     moment to write to you. We have indeed nothing to write; this frost
+     locks up all our communications; it has sent poor Tom back to us
+     after nine days' sea-sickness, and when I hoped he was already at
+     Berlin; and we are now told that less than a fortnight's thaw will
+     not open the intercourse again. In that time how many things may be
+     done, and what is worse, how many may not be done! Naples and
+     Sardinia, with all that belongs to them, you will have seen in the
+     French papers as fully as we, and we know no more.
+
+     In this interval the Union engrosses all my thoughts. I worked hard
+     when Lord Castlereagh was here to assist in expediting his return,
+     for I clearly see that without communication the thing will not do,
+     and that there can be none but through him. I was better satisfied
+     than I had expected with his manner of doing business, which I
+     found both ready and clear; and he seems to me to have the success
+     of this measure most thoroughly at heart. Your letters teach me
+     still to indulge hopes of success, but the prospect is certainly
+     less favourable than it was, and the difficulties of Government
+     with its supporters will be proportionably increased.
+
+     Before you receive this you will have learnt that Parnell has been
+     brought to a positive explanation of his sentiments. What the final
+     issue has been I do not yet know, but I conclude it will be
+     hostile, and in that case I think his removal will operate very
+     favourably, particularly in dissipating the foolish idea you
+     mention.
+
+     Lord Castlereagh brought over here a plan for the election of the
+     Commons which was approved, and indeed I am satisfied it is the
+     most reasonable. As it admits only nine or ten single members from
+     cities, &c., and classes all the other boroughs _by twos_ it seems
+     to me free from most of the objections you mention; all we cannot
+     hope to obviate, but must on the whole choose between contending
+     inconveniences on both sides. It is a very great merit of this plan
+     in my eyes that it so closely follows the model of the Scotch
+     Union.
+
+     Yet from that model I am tempted to think we ought to depart in the
+     election for the House of Lords, by choosing for life, and letting
+     the _electors_ sit in the House of Commons. When Lord Castlereagh
+     was here I drew a scheme for that purpose, which he has taken over
+     with him, in order to see which of the two plans is likely to be
+     most palatable to the Irish peerage--this, or the mode followed in
+     the Scotch Union. I own I think that the re-election of so large a
+     number as near fifty Peers in every Parliament would tend almost to
+     destroy the very principle of a House of Lords in our Constitution;
+     nor do I think a body of Peers excluded from Parliament (like the
+     Scotch) by any means a good elective body from Parliament to
+     Parliament. With one vacancy at a time, arising from death, they
+     may more safely be trusted.
+
+     You gave me hopes some time since of receiving from you some ideas
+     about provision for Catholic and Dissenting Clergy. I am very
+     anxious for them.
+
+     Adieu, I have exhausted my paper and my light.
+
+     God bless you.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Jan. 10th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     * * * It is for you to send news, and not to receive it, for
+     nothing is interesting just now but what relates to Ireland and the
+     Union. Twelve days bring us to the prologue, to this swelling
+     scene, as Shakspeare calls it. How long it will be before the
+     _denouement_, and what that _denouement_ will be, and what the
+     piece, who shall say?
+
+     Your chief Governor, you know, is not given to be very
+     communicative, either to his employers or to any one else; but I
+     collect from the statement in the newspapers that he has resolved
+     to adopt, without further reference here, the suggestions which
+     Lord Castlereagh carried over as to the members of the two Houses
+     in the United Parliament. I am very glad of it as to the House of
+     Lords, not only from parental fondness, but because on solid
+     grounds, as I think, I very much feared the effect of a septennial
+     election of fifty Peers not chosen by the very best possible bodies
+     of electors.
+
+     As to the House of Commons, it is almost entirely a question of
+     local expediency as to the best chance of satisfying _Messieurs les
+     interesses_; 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.
+
+     God bless you.
+
+     You will see in to-day's papers the fate of the poor King of
+     Naples. The infatuation of the Emperor is like nothing but that of
+     an Irish Orangeman.
+
+Towards the end of January, Mr. Thomas Grenville again left England on
+his mission; but his second departure proved even more unfortunate and
+disastrous than the first. The vessel in which he had sailed was
+supposed to have made the Elbe, and to have been lost in the ice. The
+distressing tidings, or rather the terrible apprehensions caused by the
+absence of any authentic or reliable intelligence, were immediately
+forwarded to Lord Buckingham. For several days this state of dreadful
+suspense continued. Every fragment of news that afforded the slightest
+ground of hope was eagerly seized upon; and, in the anxious solicitude
+of that affection which appears so touchingly all throughout these
+letters, Lord Grenville communicated to Lord Buckingham all he could
+learn from day to day. At last came the joyful intelligence that he was
+safe! This happy news was rapidly followed by letters from Mr. Grenville
+himself, and from his Secretary, Mr. Fisher, announcing his landing at
+Cuxhaven, and his subsequent arrival at Berlin.
+
+
+MR. FISHER TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cuxhaven, Thursday, Feb. 7th, 1799.
+     MY DEAR LORD,
+
+     I cannot think of leaving this place without first acquainting you
+     of our safe arrival here, after experiencing a thousand dangers and
+     difficulties in consequence of our ship having run aground on the
+     Newerk bank, at the entrance of the Elbe.
+
+     Mr. Grenville, I am delighted to be able to assure you, is in good
+     health, notwithstanding the extreme fatigue he has undergone since
+     Thursday last. The few hours he stays here being entirely occupied
+     with writing letters of business, he fears he shall not have time
+     to write to you from hence. The same reasons, my dear Lord, will
+     deprive me of the honour of giving you, at the present moment, the
+     details of our misfortunes. The officers and crew are all saved
+     with the exception of thirteen seamen, and one woman and child, who
+     were frozen to death in attempting to gain Newerk from the wreck.
+     We are without a change of any one article of dress, and we fear
+     there is little probability of saving any part of our baggage. We,
+     however, proceed on our journey in a few hours to Berlin, from
+     whence it shall be my first care to write to you the particulars of
+     the melancholy events of the last week. Mr. Wynne is quite well,
+     and has on every occasion of danger and difficulty shown the
+     greatest fortitude and discretion.
+
+     I beg to be recalled to the remembrance of Lady Buckingham. Believe
+     me, my dear Lord, to be ever, with the most grateful attachment,
+     your Lordship's most obliged and most devoted servant,
+
+     EDWARD FISHER.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cuxhaven, Feb. 7th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The fatigue which I have undergone, added to the necessity of my
+     writing several letters upon my arrival here, makes it impossible
+     for me to say more to you than that I am alive and well, after a
+     miraculous escape from the 'Proserpine,' which ran ashore off
+     Searhorn, and a second danger, scarcely less, yesterday morning, in
+     a long walk to gain this place, during which we were overtaken by
+     the tide and forced to wade for an hour, in the hardest frost I
+     ever felt, against a strong current of tide, which was sometimes up
+     to, and sometimes above our middle. We are all, however, well
+     to-day, and I proceed this evening towards Berlin, as well as my
+     fatigues will allow me. I cannot say enough to you of Mr. Fisher's
+     behaviour in these trials of danger; his resources, his attachment,
+     and his kind attentions in assisting our poor Henry, and lessening,
+     where he could, the inconvenience of my situation, have entitled
+     him and ensured to him the sincerest and warmest regard. Henry,
+     likewise, has been a stout mariner, and has shown a fortitude much
+     beyond his years.
+
+     I find no Italian news except a report of the French having
+     possession of Naples. They have, likewise, Ehrenbreitstein. When
+     will they have Berlin? We have not a shirt in company. My loss,
+     about L700.
+
+     God Almighty bless and preserve you.
+
+Having arrived safely at Berlin, Mr. Grenville gives a sketch of his
+first impressions of the King of Prussia and his Court.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Berlin, Feb. 28th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     The journal which Mr. Fisher has shown to me, and which he proposes
+     to send to you by this messenger, will give you a much more
+     accurate account of our voyage than I could pretend to do if I had
+     time to undertake it; but that is unfortunately so far from being
+     the case, that I can with difficulty catch a short time by this
+     opportunity to write even a few words to you.
+
+     We arrived here on the 17th, and I have scarcely yet got through
+     the endless presentations and the weary first suppers of the
+     Princes, which engross the whole evening from six in the evening
+     till one in the morning. I have seen the King hitherto very little,
+     but I am going to dine with him to-day; he is thought to be
+     well-disposed in his general intentions, perfectly aware of all he
+     has to fear from the great nation whom he detests and abhors; but
+     having no original opinions of his own, nor habits of forming his
+     own judgment, he falls unfortunately too much into the hands of the
+     military officers, particularly the aides-de-camp with whom he
+     lives, and their influence is, in consequence, powerful enough to
+     weigh sometimes against the opinions of the Ministers whom he
+     employs.
+
+     The general idea here is, that the person who has most weight with
+     him is an aide-de-camp named Kochentz, of whose honesty there is no
+     suspicion, but whose talents and capacity are of a very inferior
+     description, and who is therefore open to the artifices of bad and
+     designing men, who work powerfully through him upon the King.
+
+     Haugwiz is believed to be sincere in his apprehensions of the
+     general danger of French republicanism, and is considered as
+     struggling against the more immediate followers of the King, who
+     surround him daily, and haunt him with the dreadful consequences of
+     war to Prussia, and the old jealousies and distrusts of Austria.
+
+     If the Court of Vienna should at last act, as I am almost disposed
+     to think they will rather than send back the Russian troops at the
+     requisition of France, the beginning of hostilities from that Court
+     cannot fail of producing a good effect here; the great danger is,
+     that while each is waiting for the other to begin, the time for
+     useful and effective exertion will pass by.
+
+     I have seen Sieyes at Court with his scarf and cockade. What
+     Lavater would say of his features I know not, but I have seldom
+     seen a countenance of so bad impression. His manners, conduct and
+     appearance here have produced nothing but disgust in all that are
+     not of the lower ranks of life, but it is to those that his mission
+     is considered as being chiefly addressed, and he is said to have
+     both means and agents enough to work through upon the lower classes
+     of men here.
+
+     I have heard nothing from England or Ireland since I left Yarmouth,
+     nothing of Union, and nothing of you; but how can I till the
+     summer, if the last ten days of soft weather will not unlock the
+     inhospitable ice of the Elbe at Cuxhaven? We are all well. God send
+     that you and yours are so. Love to Lord B. and George and Mary. The
+     Major is, I trust, soon expecting you in England.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother. You will be glad to hear great part
+     of my baggage is saved.
+
+The negotiations which the French had been carrying on at Rastadt
+relative to the German boundaries, were broken off in consequence of the
+Emperor having permitted the Russian troops to enter his dominions; and
+on the 1st of March, the Directory having declared war against him,
+Jourdan, at the head of forty thousand men, crossed the Rhine at Kehl
+and Basle. Austria was now fairly committed to the war, and,
+strengthened by the Russians, who entered into it with enthusiasm,
+achieved a succession of important movements. On the 5th of March, the
+Arch-Duke Charles crossed the Leck; and on the 25th, defeated Jourdan at
+the battle of Stockach, and, leaving ten thousand men dead or expiring
+on the field, compelled the French to retire towards the Rhine. This
+triumph was followed up vigorously by the battle of Magnan, on the 5th
+of April, in which the Austrians, under Kray, joined by the vanguard of
+the Russians, effected so signal a victory, that Scherer, beaten for the
+third time in the course of the campaign, fled in precipitation across
+the Nincio. The effect of these encouraging successes was utterly lost
+on the Court of Prussia, where the policy, or no-policy, of doing
+nothing still prevailed over the counsels of friends, and the menaces of
+enemies. The picture Mr. Grenville gives of the weakness and incapacity
+of the Government suggests the only intelligible explanation of the
+conduct they pursued at this juncture.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Berlin, April 17th, 1799.
+
+     If I am behind-hand, my dearest brother, in thanking you for your
+     two letters of the 11th and 24th of March, I am less so than those
+     dates would lead you to imagine, for the messengers did not bring
+     me the first of them till a week ago, and the last arrived here
+     only the day before yesterday. The amities of the 'Proserpine' are
+     out of date with me, and would long ago have been forgotten, if
+     they were not daily recalled to me by new and continued proofs of
+     the affectionate interest which has been taken in them. To know
+     what you would feel in a state of anxiety and suspense which I
+     could not relieve, was a distress greater to me than the fatigue
+     and danger which accompanied my escape. It has ended well, and I
+     trust it will not be long before we shall laugh over it together.
+
+     I presume that you will have heard from William how exactly the
+     politics of Berlin have continued to remain in _statu quo_; how
+     much more occupied they are in enumerating the follies and
+     disgraces of Austria, than in adapting their own conduct to any
+     wise system or any liberal principles, and how little applicable
+     are the measures which they take, either to the danger which they
+     fear, or to the hopes which they entertain. Their fear of France
+     is, however, not dissembled by them, and certainly is not affected
+     by them; it engrosses all their attention, and furnishes to them
+     great and constant disquietude in the present, and serious
+     apprehension for the future. But as there is no man of leading and
+     commanding talents enough to show them the greatness of their
+     danger, and to provoke from the public the adequate means of
+     resisting it, there is nothing done by the Government, and they are
+     living on from day to day, conscious of all they have to fear, but
+     destitute of energy and activity, and submitting to a state of
+     things which could only be produced by the most extreme weakness
+     and incapacity; for you will certainly have remarked that the
+     little influence which Prussia exercises, either from her hopes or
+     fears, in Europe, is not owing to the defeat of any great and
+     ambitious projects, is not to be attributed to the disappointment
+     of any great plans, civil or military, but to a total absence of
+     any leading and governing talents in those who direct the measures
+     which prevail here.
+
+     It has been the fashion, I know, to consider the influencing men
+     here as having views and principles of a bad description, and as
+     being engaged in a systematic course of conduct pursued by them
+     with great address and dissimulation. It is perhaps presumptuous in
+     a stranger, as I am, to trust to any opinion formed upon so short a
+     residence amongst them, but if I am sure of anything, I tell myself
+     I may be sure that the miserable policy which is seen here is very
+     much more weak than wicked, and the wretched state of Government
+     much more to be attributed to the absence of great talents than the
+     influence of deep and dangerous designs. Whatever be the cause, the
+     effect is the same; and although it seems to be a pretty universal
+     opinion that Prussia must and will at length be driven into war,
+     they are content rather to let their enemy choose that moment for
+     the commencement of hostilities, than make common cause and fight
+     one common battle, which in my conscience I believe would be
+     successful. Indeed, the Austrian successes in driving the French to
+     the Rhine, if they are followed by similar success in Switzerland,
+     will almost justify one's hope that, even without Prussia, the
+     French may in this campaign be pushed back upon their own country;
+     and the continued state of insurrection in the Low Countries, where
+     the republican troops can scarcely restrain the inhabitants, give
+     good hopes on that side as soon as any solid force could be made to
+     bear in that quarter. The zeal and enthusiasm of the Court of
+     Petersburg increases every hour, and they will become very
+     immediately principals in the war against France, both by word and
+     deed.
+
+     In this immediate state of the negotiation, I am remaining here
+     more because there is an inclination in London to think I can do
+     good, than from any great good that is likely to be done. I am
+     very much obliged to you for your offer of a loan, which, however,
+     I hope will be unnecessary by the shortness of my stay. If that
+     should unexpectedly be prolonged, I will then have recourse to you
+     to assist by an advance the tardy payment of His Majesty's Envoys
+     Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary, who are always left in
+     arrears seven quarters for the better credit of the Court that
+     employs them. I hope my loss by the 'Proserpine' will turn out not
+     to exceed L600, as many things have been saved.
+
+     I trust you are now happy and well at Stowe. God bless you, dearest
+     brother.
+
+By this time, Lord Buckingham had returned to England, and the next
+despatch from Berlin is addressed to Stowe. The account of the
+vacillation of the Court, and the sketch Mr. Grenville gives of the
+King, are full of interest. Since he had last written, Suwaroff had
+taken the command of the Austro-Russian armies in Italy, and in a short
+time had expelled the French from the principal towns of the North,
+which forced Macdonald to evacuate Naples, and cross the Apennines.
+
+
+MR. T. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Berlin, May 25th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     My last letters from Cleveland Row have, thank God, brought you
+     back safe and sound to your own fireside and to the many who share
+     the comforts of it with you; it cannot, I presume, be very long
+     before I may reckon myself of that number, although as I do not
+     like to do anything by halves, I consider myself as liable to duty
+     as long there is any fair demand to be made upon me. You will have
+     heard from William all that was to be heard of our hopes and of our
+     disappointments, and you will know likewise from him that our stock
+     of those articles is not yet exhausted, although the briskness of
+     the market is a little affected by the absence of the King. The
+     Berlin reviews being over, he has begun a military progress, which
+     will carry him through Brunswick, Minden and Wesel to Cassel and to
+     Anspach, and after various reviews in those places he will return
+     to Potsdam in the first week of July.
+
+     Whether in the first of these places, or in the last, or in any of
+     them, he will have determined to take his part with us, remains to
+     be decided, and it will be less hazardous to abide the event than
+     to pretend to foretel it. It is certain that the inclination to war
+     has grown very much of late among all the thinking men in the
+     country, and the regular Ministers have agreed in recommending it
+     very strongly to the King; the disinclination to it is chiefly
+     found in the confidential aides-de-camp and the subordinate
+     characters, whose familiar habits with the King enable them to
+     exercise a very governing influence upon him.
+
+     The King himself is, I believe, of a very well-disposed and honest
+     character; his inclinations are English, and his personal respect
+     for the King of England is very striking; his suspicion and dislike
+     of the French is also beyond all question, and there are so many
+     ingredients in his situation and character that should lead him to
+     an open declaration against France, that it is not easy to account
+     for the different line which he pursues; it must, however, be
+     attributed to the influence of the very weak persons who are in
+     familiar confidence with him, and to his being too diffident in
+     himself to decide upon the important measure of engaging Prussia in
+     war. I am, however, inclined to believe that such will at last be
+     his decision, though there is too much hesitation in his own mind
+     to give us any solid ground of reliance until he shall be
+     completely embarked.
+
+     Meantime, all is going on prosperously under the active exertions
+     of Suwaroff, who is daily hemming in and menacing Turin, and who
+     has now advanced to Chivasso, and has detached Kaim with a
+     considerable force to the Valais. The general opinion here is that
+     the French will evacuate Switzerland whenever their line at
+     Luceinsteig and Coire is forced, and some accounts to-day seem to
+     announce that event as having happened.
+
+     Moreau, with seventeen thousand men, is at Alexandria, and I
+     suppose the Naples army will try to join him, although Macdonald
+     will find that junction rather difficult to accomplish.
+
+     We are all still waiting in anxious expectation for news of the
+     fleet. The Ministers here think the Mediterranean is the object,
+     and to me it seems not unlikely that they may pursue that object,
+     and at the same time detach to Ireland.
+
+     God bless you, dearest brother.
+
+The occupation which was given by the Austrians and Russians to the
+French troops in Italy and Germany, appearing to offer a favourable
+opportunity to rescue Holland from the hands of the republicans, an
+expedition, under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby, set sail from
+England on the 13th of August, and disembarked off the Helder. On the
+30th, the Dutch fleet surrendered, and hoisted the Orange flag. In
+order, probably, to give more weight and effect to a mission which had
+for its object the restoration of the Stadtholder, it was proposed that
+Lord Grenville should undertake an embassy to Holland, and that Mr.
+Thomas Grenville (who had in the interim returned home) should proceed
+to St. Petersburg.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Sept. 5th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I was much obliged to you for your kindness to us in writing on the
+     subject of Lady B. We earnestly hope that all cause of uneasiness
+     to you on her account has ceased, and that both fever and cold are
+     gone. If you would let anybody write us a line to say so, you would
+     much oblige us.
+
+     You will have seen that, in spite of wind, we have succeeded at the
+     Texel. The Lieutenant says that the Dutch fleet had cut the buoys,
+     and run up into the Zuyder Zee. Lord D. was preparing to lay the
+     buoys down again, and to follow them, but it was not expected that
+     Storey would make any further resistance, more than half his fleet
+     being Stadtholderians.
+
+     The wind is now changed to the N.E., as if to bring our Russians.
+     The Dutch reported that they were to have had nine thousand French
+     at the Helder by the Wednesday night, but that is doubted. I have
+     not learnt what their actual force is, but it appears that there
+     were some Trench there. We have now about seventeen thousand men
+     there, and when the transports return, we can, if necessary, send
+     ten thousand more, besides our eighteen thousand Russians. I trust,
+     therefore, I am not very sanguine in thinking the business as
+     nearly certain as one can allow oneself to call anything in these
+     times.
+
+     But for the plans which we have in view, supposing this to
+     terminate well, and soon, we want full twenty thousand more British
+     force. Do you think it is possible to get them from the Militia?
+     and how? Dundas is revolving in his mind projects for the purpose,
+     but I should much wish to know from you whether you think the thing
+     practicable for a great object, and in what manner.
+
+     An idea has been proposed to me, which I think I shall not be at
+     liberty to decline, if, when the time comes, I should myself be
+     satisfied that I could be of more use than other people: it is to
+     go to Holland as Ambassador Extraordinary, carrying myself and my
+     office there for about a month or six weeks, to help to fix Old
+     Stadt a little more firmly in his chair. You know I had destined
+     Tom to this service, and if he should go, I still think my going
+     would be quite superfluous. He had agreed to undertake the service
+     as a temporary one only; but I have been since urged to press him
+     to go to Petersburg, to establish a further concert there, and I
+     trust he will not refuse the earnest entreaties we have made him on
+     that subject. You may suppose that I do not look to this as a very
+     pleasant interlude to my other business, but I cannot deny that it
+     is at least possible I may be of use there, and if so, I must
+     practise as I preach.
+
+     God bless you, my dearest brother.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Sept. 5th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     Your letter, which I received yesterday, though a little more
+     satisfactory than your former account, still leaves room for so
+     much uneasiness, that Lady G. and I are extremely anxious to hear
+     again from you, and I trust in God the answer will be such as to
+     set us quite at our ease; but the complaints of which you speak are
+     of so ugly a nature, that one cannot feel satisfied while any trace
+     of them remains.
+
+     I have not yet my answer from Tom; but by an intermediate letter,
+     I guess that he will be very little disposed to undertake this
+     jaunt to Petersburg. Even if he should not, but should go to
+     Holland, I am not quite sure that I must not go, for as short a
+     time as I speak of, to assist him in Holland; not that personally
+     I have the vanity to think that I could do any part of the
+     business better, or as well as he, but my red boxes and my seals
+     would have a great effect in enabling me to expedite, and even in
+     some degree to _brusque_ a business which, if left to Dutch
+     arrangement only, or with nothing more than the usual aid of an
+     English Ambassador, would take not six months, as you say, but
+     six years, and not be done at last.
+
+     I fully understand the nature of your offer, and should not
+     certainly have suspected even, if you had not explained it, that
+     you were canvassing for the delectable amusement of leaving Stowe
+     and England, to figure at the Hague or Petersburg. But the best
+     negotiation you can carry on for us just now would be one with the
+     Militia for giving us twenty thousand more men. I hardly dare say,
+     or let myself think, what we could do, or rather what we could not
+     do, with such a reinforcement, supposing Holland to go on quick,
+     and our troops not to suffer much from sickness; for of their
+     suffering in battle there, I am not much afraid.
+
+     If any fresh parliamentary authority is necessary, we can now call
+     Parliament together in a fortnight. I will write to Dundas, as you
+     desire. If I had known of his coming to town to review his East
+     India regiment, I would have proposed precisely the Dropmore plan
+     you speak of; but I fear you could hardly have looked at it at that
+     moment, and I presume he is gone back to Walmer; I shall, however,
+     expect his answer.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Dropmore, Sept. 9th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I hope, from your account, that the worst is over, and that Lady B.
+     will continue to mend, but we shall be very anxious to hear that it
+     is so. If nothing new arise, and if we shall not be troublesome to
+     you, we think of being with you on Wednesday in next week; but pray
+     let us know if you would wish us to delay our visit.
+
+     If the project holds respecting Holland, it is likely, I think,
+     that I shall not be much longer before I am called upon to begin my
+     preparations. I have as yet no answer from Tom, but I shall have
+     one to-day or to-morrow; for we know that the wind changed to the
+     eastward on the other side the water on Friday, and we have three
+     mails due.
+
+     Our first division of Russians, five thousand two hundred men, are
+     arrived, and are under sailing orders for the Texel. Popham left
+     the second division at Elsineur on Sunday last; and calculates that
+     both this and the rear division, amounting together to above eleven
+     thousand men, will be here by Tuesday or Wednesday next. Our own
+     transports were also beginning to arrive, so that we shall have to
+     send them in the course of a week or ten days a reinforcement of
+     twenty-six thousand men, besides cavalry. I have no doubt that this
+     is more than sufficient, with tolerable activity and enterprise, to
+     do our work completely, and in a very few weeks--I might almost say
+     days--for we have the command of the Zuyder Zee, by which we can
+     turn the enemy on their right, and of the North Sea, which equally
+     turns their left; and they have, I am confident, no means of
+     assembling an army of half the force of ours, to oppose it in
+     front. All this, however, is a question of time; for if that is
+     allowed them, one can answer for nothing.
+
+     We have not heard of Abercromby (nor indeed could we) since the
+     31st. He was then preparing to march forward to Alkmaar. Have you
+     got Wiebeking's map of Holland and Utrecht? If not, let anybody
+     write for it for you from Hamburgh. You will see, indeed, in any
+     map, a little promontory that runs forward opposite to Amsterdam,
+     on the north bank of the Y., between Buyksloot and Newdam. The
+     opinion of persons of the country is, that if we can make ourselves
+     masters of that point, Amsterdam is open to be bombarded, and must
+     capitulate on the first summons. All the other advantages of the
+     country we have to act in, upon our line of march, are obvious by
+     looking at the map. The disadvantages are, the facility of
+     retarding our march by defending the dykes and narrow causeways
+     along which we must pass; but a great superiority of force will
+     enable us to surmount many of these. The French papers talk of
+     having marched against us the garrisons of the Generality. So much
+     the better if it is so, for then we shall not find them there, and
+     the fact itself proves (if even our intelligence were defective)
+     how little other force they have in the country.
+
+     I am greatly obliged to you for what you have written on the
+     subject of the Militia. It seems to me that allowing the Militia to
+     volunteer by companies for a fixed time is the best suggestion I
+     have yet heard. But it would be necessary to consider, on a
+     statement of numbers, how many could be so procured from all the
+     Militias--English, Scotch, and Irish--though, with respect to these
+     last, there is, I fear, an insurmountable difficulty, from the
+     necessity of assembling Parliament, which could not be done in
+     Ireland without broaching the question of Union before we are
+     prepared for it.
+
+     Less than twenty thousand men would not, on the most sanguine
+     calculations, answer our object, and the issue of the war so much
+     depends upon it that we should be unpardonable to omit any possible
+     effort that we could make for it. What we want is to be able to
+     garrison Holland with twenty thousand men so as to have as soon as
+     possible after the conquest of it the means of disposing of our
+     whole army now there. It is a very doubtful question, I think,
+     whether our Militia volunteering would be more or less promoted if
+     we confined our proposal to that particular service, and sent our
+     Militia battalions into the Dutch garrisons, employing the army now
+     there in the active service, or if we took the offer generally for
+     foreign service, and made such distribution between the two as
+     might best suit our convenience.
+
+     There would be no difficulty as to Parliament; we can call them
+     together at a fortnight's notice. We would do so for this object
+     alone. The King would speak of nothing else, and ask no supply; and
+     we could easily, in a moment of triumph like the present, exclude
+     all other discussions, so that the execution, were the plan once
+     arranged to the satisfaction of the Militia officers, would take up
+     not more than ten days or a fortnight at most.
+
+     If anything new occurs to you upon it, let me hear it. If not, we
+     will talk it over when we meet; but as that is always precarious,
+     write if you have anything to suggest upon it.
+
+     Ever yours,
+     G.
+
+A year, memorable in the annals of the war for the European confederacy
+which was formed by the energies of England to resist the aggressions of
+France, and for the successes by which it was crowned, was now drawing
+to a close. How much of that vast machinery of diplomacy, of that
+activity in council and promptitude in action, by which the happy
+results were obtained, may be justly attributed to the genius and
+firmness of the distinguished statesmen whose correspondence forms the
+substance of these volumes, need scarcely be pointed out; nor would it
+be becoming in this work to pronounce the eulogy which their virtues and
+patriotism deserve. That grateful duty may be securely left to history.
+
+The last letter of the year appropriately terminates the record of its
+events, by a general outline of the projects that were contemplated and
+in preparation for the arduous and important period that marked the
+opening of the nineteenth century.
+
+
+LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
+
+     Cleveland Row, Nov. 6th, 1799.
+     MY DEAREST BROTHER,
+
+     I have just received your letter. My business seems to increase
+     upon me so much that I fear I must abandon all hope of my Stowe
+     project. I heartily wish that I could see the means of executing
+     the idea you mention, but our force is not as yet sufficient for
+     the purpose, especially considering that the possession of the
+     country would give the enemy such incalculable advantage over an
+     army whose communication would be maintained in that season across
+     the Channel. We cannot well put the army brought back from Holland
+     at more than thirty thousand effective men, including Russians.
+     Twenty or twenty-five thousand Militia volunteers, English and
+     Irish, may be added to this during the winter if our last measure
+     succeeds, and other additions will also be gradually coming
+     forward; but I doubt whether even then we shall have enough to
+     encounter the mass of force which the enemy could bring against us
+     in his own country, if not occupied by some serious attack on the
+     other side.
+
+     Our system must therefore, I think, of necessity be this, viz.: to
+     complete the winter in negotiating on the continent, in furnishing
+     supplies to the royalists, who have, however, shown themselves much
+     too soon, both for their own interest and ours; and in nursing up
+     our own force to make it as considerable and as fit for action as
+     we can.
+
+     In the spring its employment must be regulated by the state of the
+     other two points. If Austria has made her peace (which, though
+     certainly not improbable, I do not however consider as the most
+     likely event), and if the royalists are crushed, our force can then
+     only be used in desultory expeditions to annoy the enemy, and
+     weaken his means of acting against us; for to make a serious
+     impression on France with sixty, or even eighty thousand men,
+     unsupported by any diversion, is impossible, and the attempt can
+     only lead to disaster, and to the loss of the only army we ever can
+     have during this war. This was our situation in 1798. We fought
+     manfully through it under much greater disadvantages than we should
+     now have to meet. The enemy was stronger and more abundant in
+     resources. We were weaker in force, and the extent of our means was
+     unknown even to ourselves.
+
+     If, on the contrary, the French are materially occupied either by
+     Austria, or by royalists, or still better if by both, we may then
+     choose our own point of attack; our fleet will threaten the whole
+     coast from Cadiz to the Texel and Delfzuyl, and nothing but a
+     course of ill luck, equal to that of this year, can deprive us of
+     the benefit of a fortnight or three weeks' start in whatever point
+     we really attack.
+
+     I should be sorry that any degree even of private blame in people's
+     minds should attach on the Duke of York, who has, I really believe,
+     had no other fault on this occasion than that of following, perhaps
+     too implicitly, the advice of those whose advice he was desired to
+     follow. In many things he has certainly done extremely well.
+
+     The business of the Union is going on well, and I trust rapidly
+     approaching to a conclusion. Even if it were possible that we
+     should again fail next year, still I should regard the ultimate
+     success of the measure as certain.
+
+     I have been ruminating on some ecclesiastical projects, but I do
+     not know whether I shall be able to bring them to bear, nor do I
+     yet possess all the knowledge of the actual state of things which
+     is necessary in order to enable me to fix my own judgment. They
+     relate to the two points of episcopal jurisdiction and
+     superintendence, and residence of parochial clergy.
+
+     My notion is to strengthen, if necessary, the legal powers of the
+     bishops, so as to give them effective means, both of suspension and
+     deprivation, in all cases, both of improper life and manners, and
+     of remissness in the execution of certain _stated duties_ which
+     they are to be required to exact from all their parochial clergy.
+     To enable them, from the chapters in their dioceses, at their own
+     choice, to augment the number of their archdeacons or _visitants_,
+     under whatever name may best suit the old constitutional forms of
+     our Church. To require them, or in their absence, the archdeacon,
+     or other proper person, to hold fixed and invariable annual
+     visitations; at which, calling, if necessary, to their assistance a
+     certain number of their beneficed or dignified clergy, they should
+     receive the reports of their archdeacons and other visitants, and
+     should _at such visitation_, or at furthest at the next visitation,
+     proceed by sentence either of suspension or deprivation against all
+     persons who should appear on such reports to be of scandalous life
+     or conversation, or to have published irreligious, immoral, or
+     seditious books, or to have been remiss in the performance of such
+     _stated duties_ as above. Lastly, to compel the bishops to return
+     these reports, and their proceedings thereon at their visitations,
+     to their metropolitans, by whom they should be annually laid before
+     the King, with their observations thereon.
+
+     As to parochial residence, the idea would be to require that no
+     person shall on any pretence be non-resident on his living, without
+     appointing a curate to be there _constantly_ resident in his room.
+     And to charge on the consolidated fund a sum sufficient to make up
+     every living throughout the kingdom to the amount of L70 per annum,
+     with the single exception of such parishes as, being adjacent to
+     each other, it might be fit to _conjoin_ for this purpose, by the
+     act of proper commissioners to act with the bishop, &c.
+
+     When, therefore, the living fell short of L70, the parson would
+     receive the difference from the public, but would be compelled to
+     personal and constant residence, (and some provision might be made
+     for the residence and maintenance of his curate in the single case
+     of absence with the bishop's licence, from _extreme necessity_ of
+     sickness). When the living amounted to L70 or upwards, he would
+     have the choice, as at present, of residing, or finding some legal
+     excuse for non-residence; but in the latter case he would be
+     obliged to provide a curate _constantly_ resident. And in both
+     cases proper certificates of residence would be required to be
+     produced to the _visitants_.
+
+     The hardship, whatever it was, which this regulation would bring on
+     the body of the clergy at large (I do not speak of particular
+     cases), would be amply compensated by the addition which the
+     Legislature would thus make to the smaller livings; and the expense
+     of this last measure would be much more than compensated to the
+     public, by the benefit which must arise from the constant residence
+     of a clergyman in every parish throughout the kingdom.
+
+     By what I have called _stated duties_ above, I mean, that from
+     these resident clergymen, who would no longer have the plea of
+     other duty to perform, I would certainly exact, by enumeration,
+     many points of their duty (evening service, catechism, visitation
+     of sick, and other points), which are now growing, or grown into
+     disuse.
+
+     You would much oblige me by your ideas on these points. On the
+     first I have been told that it is no more, or little more, than the
+     law as it now exists. All I can say is, that I am sure it is not
+     the practice as it now exists; and that this is not the only case
+     where it has been found to be highly useful to re-enact, with small
+     variation, the existing law, in order to call the attention and
+     excite the zeal, both of those who are to execute the law, and of
+     those who are to obey it.
+
+     You are not, I am very certain, one of those extremely profound
+     politicians who have, among other happy discoveries of this age,
+     found out that the religion of the people has no influence on its
+     morals, or its morals on the prosperity and good government of the
+     State. You will not, therefore, think that an attention to this
+     subject is either unbecoming Government and Parliament, or is ill
+     suited to such a moment as the present.
+
+     God bless you, my dear brother.
+
+     Ever most affectionately yours,
+     G.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+LONDON:
+Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
+COLBURN AND CO.'S LIST
+#Of Interesting New Works.#
+
+
+FIFTH AND CHEAPER EDITION, REVISED.
+
+In One Vol., Post 8vo. 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+LORD GEORGE BENTINCK,
+A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY.
+
+BY THE RT. HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P.
+
+FROM BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.--"This biography cannot fail to attract the
+deep attention of the public. We are bound to say, that as a political
+biography we have rarely, if ever, met with a book more dexterously
+handled, or more replete with interest. The exertions of Lord George
+Bentinck in behalf of every assailed or depressed branch of British and
+Colonial industry--the vast pains which he took in procuring authentic
+information--and the enormous amount of private labour he underwent in
+the preparation of those materials which have thrown a novel light upon
+disputed doctrines of economy--are faithfully chronicled in this most
+interesting volume. The history of the famous session of 1846, as
+written by Disraeli in that brilliant and pointed style of which he is
+so consummate a master, is deeply interesting. He has traced this
+memorable struggle with a vivacity and power unequalled as yet in any
+narrative of Parliamentary proceedings."
+
+FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.--"A political biography of Lord
+George Bentinck by Mr. Disraeli must needs be a work of interest and
+importance. Either the subject or the writer would be sufficient to
+invest it with both--the combination surrounds it with peculiar
+attractions. In this most interesting volume Mr. Disraeli has produced a
+memoir of his friend in which he has combined the warmest enthusiasm of
+affectionate attachment with the calmness of the critic, and in which he
+has not only added to his reputation, but we verily believe must
+increase his influence even as a politician."
+
+FROM THE MORNING HERALD--"Mr. Disraeli's tribute to the memory of his
+departed friend is as graceful and as touching as it is accurate and
+impartial. No one of Lord George Bentinck's colleagues could have been
+selected, who, from his high literary attainments, his personal
+intimacy, and party associations, would have done such complete justice
+to the memory of a friend and Parliamentary associate. Mr. Disraeli has
+here presented us with the very type and embodiment of what history
+should be. His sketch of the condition of parties is seasoned with some
+of those piquant personal episodes of party manoeuvres and private
+intrigues, in the author's happiest and most captivating vein, which
+convert the dry details of politics into a sparkling and agreeable
+narrative. But the portrait which will stamp the book as one of the most
+extraordinary productions of the time is that of Sir Robert Peel. It is
+written with wonderful force and extraordinary impartiality."
+
+
+THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS,
+QUEEN OF FRANCE,
+CONSORT OF HENRY IV., AND REGENT UNDER LOUIS XIII.
+
+BY MISS PARDOE.
+Author of "Louis XIV. and the Court of France in the 17th Century," &c.
+
+In 3 large vols. 8vo., with Fine Portraits, 42s. bound.
+
+"A fascinating book. The history of such a woman as the beautiful,
+impulsive earnest, and affectionate Marie de Medicis could only be done
+justice to by a female pen, impelled by all the sympathies of womanhood,
+but strengthened by an erudition by which it is not in every case
+accompanied. In Miss Pardoe the unfortunate Queen has found both these
+requisites, and the result has been a biography combining the
+attractiveness of romance with the reliableness of history, and which,
+taking a place midway between the 'frescoed galleries' of Thierry, and
+the 'philosophic watch-tower of Guizot,' has all the pictorial
+brilliancy of the one, with much of the reflective speculation of the
+other."--_Daily News._
+
+"A valuable, well-written, and elaborate biography, displaying an
+unusual amount of industry and research."--_Morning Chronicle._
+
+"A careful and elaborate historical composition, rich in personal
+anecdote. Nowhere can a more intimate acquaintance be obtained with the
+principal events and leading personages of the first half of the 17th
+century."--_Morning Post._
+
+"A work of high literary and historical merit. Rarely have the strange
+vicissitudes of romance been more intimately blended with the facts of
+real history than in the life of Marie de Medicis; nor has the difficult
+problem of combining with the fidelity of biography the graphic power of
+dramatic delineation been often more successfully solved than by the
+talented author of the volumes before us. As a personal narrative, Miss
+Pardoe's admirable biography possesses the most absorbing and constantly
+sustained interest; as a historical record of the events of which it
+treats, its merit is of no ordinary description."--_John Bull._
+
+"A life more dramatic than that of Marie de Medicis has seldom been
+written; one more imperially tragic, never. The period of French history
+chosen by Miss Pardoe is rich in all manner of associations, and brings
+together the loftiest names and most interesting events of a stirring
+and dazzling epoch. She has been, moreover, exceedingly fortunate in her
+materials. A manuscript of the Commandeur de Rambure, Gentleman of the
+Bedchamber under the Kings Henry IV., Louis XIII., and Louis XIV.,
+consisting of the memoirs of the writer, with all the most memorable
+events which took place during the reigns of those three Majesties, from
+the year 1594 to that of 1660, was placed at her disposal by M. de la
+Plane, Member of the Institut Royal de la France. This valuable record
+is very voluminous, and throws a flood of light on every transaction. Of
+this important document ample use has been judiciously made by Miss
+Pardoe; and her narrative, accordingly, has a fulness and particularity
+possessed by none other, and which adds to the dramatic interest of the
+subject. The work is very elegantly written, and will be read with
+delight. It forms another monument to the worthiness of female intellect
+in the age we live in."--_Illustrated News._
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF THE
+BARONESS D'OBERKIRCH,
+
+ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE SECRET HISTORY OF
+THE COURTS OF FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND GERMANY.
+
+WRITTEN BY HERSELF,
+And Edited by Her Grandson, the COUNT DE MONTBRISON.
+
+3 Vols. Post 8vo., 31s. 6d. bound.
+
+The Baroness d'Oberkirch, being the intimate friend of the Empress of
+Russia, wife of Paul I., and the confidential companion of the Duchess
+of Bourbon, her facilities for obtaining information respecting the most
+private affairs of the principal Courts of Europe, render her Memoirs
+unrivalled as a book of interesting anecdotes of the royal, noble, and
+other celebrated individuals who flourished on the continent during the
+latter part of the last century. Among the royal personages introduced
+to the reader in this work, are Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, Philip
+Egalite, and all the Princes of France then living--Peter the Great, the
+Empress Catherine, the Emperor Paul, and his sons Constantine and
+Alexander, of Russia--Frederick the Great and Prince Henry of
+Prussia--The Emperor Joseph II. of Austria--Gustavus III. of
+Sweden--Princess Christina of Saxony--Sobieski, and Czartoriski of
+Poland--and the Princes of Brunswick and Wurtemberg. Among the
+remarkable persons are the Princes and Princesses de Lamballe, de Ligne
+and Galitzin--the Dukes and Duchesses de Choiseul, de Mazarin, de
+Boufflers, de la Valliere, de Guiche, de Penthievre, and de
+Polignac--Cardinal de Rohan, Marshals Biron and d'Harcourt, Count de
+Staremberg, Baroness de Krudener, Madame Geoffrin, Talleyrand, Mirabeau,
+and Necker--with Count Cagliostro, Mesmer, Vestris, and Madame Mara; and
+the work also includes such literary celebrities as Voltaire, Condorcet,
+de la Harpe, de Beaumarchais, Rousseau, Lavater, Bernouilli, Raynal, de
+l'Epee, Huber, Goethe, Wieland, Malesherbes, Marmontel, de Stael and de
+Genlis; with some singular disclosures respecting those celebrated
+Englishwomen, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, and Lady Craven,
+Margravine of Anspach.
+
+"The Baroness d'Oberkirch, whose remarkable Memoirs are here given to
+the public, saw much of courts and courtiers, and her Memoirs are filled
+with a variety of anecdotes, not alone of lords and ladies, but of
+emperors and empresses, kings and queens, and reigning princes and
+princesses. As a picture of society anterior to the French Revolution,
+the book is the latest and most perfect production of its sort extant;
+and as such, besides its minor value as a book of amusement, it
+possesses a major value as a work of information, which in the interest
+of historical truth, is, without exaggeration, almost
+incalculable."--_Observer._
+
+"Thoroughly genuine and unaffected, these Memoirs display the whole mind
+of a woman who was well worth knowing, and relate a large part of her
+experience among people with whose names and characters the world will
+be at all times busy. A keen observer, and by position thrown in the
+high places of the world, the Baroness d'Oberkirch was the very woman to
+write Memoirs that would interest future generations. We commend these
+volumes most heartily to every reader. They are a perfect magazine of
+pleasant anecdotes and interesting characteristic things. We lay down
+these charming volumes with regret. They will entertain the most
+fastidious readers, and instruct the most informed."--_Examiner._
+
+"An intensely interesting autobiography."--_Morning Chronicle._
+
+"A valuable addition to the personal history of an important period. The
+volumes deserve general popularity."--_Daily News._
+
+"One of the most interesting pieces of contemporary history, and one of
+the richest collections of remarkable anecdotes and valuable
+reminiscences ever produced."--_John Bull._
+
+
+THE MARVELS OF SCIENCE,
+AND THEIR TESTIMONY TO HOLY WRIT;
+A POPULAR MANUAL OF THE SCIENCES.
+
+BY S. W. FULLOM, ESQ.
+
+DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE KING OF HANOVER.
+
+Second Edition, Revised. 1 vol. Post 8vo.
+
+"This work treats of the whole origin of nature in an intelligent style;
+it puts into the hands of every man the means of information on facts
+the most sublime, and converts into interesting and eloquent description
+problems which once perplexed the whole genius of mankind. We
+congratulate the author on his research, his information, and his
+graceful and happy language."--_Britannia._
+
+"The skill displayed in the treatment of the sciences is not the least
+marvel in the volume. The reasonings of the author are forcible,
+fluently expressed, and calculated to make a deep impression. Genuine
+service has been done to the cause of Revelation by the issue of such a
+book, which is more than a mere literary triumph. It is a good
+action."--_Globe._
+
+"Its tone is grave, grand, and argumentative, and rises to the majesty
+of poetry. As a commentary upon the stupendous facts which exist in the
+universe, it is truly a work which merits our admiration, and we
+unhesitatingly refer our readers to its fascinating pages."--_Dispatch._
+
+"Without parading the elaborate nature of his personal investigations,
+the author has laid hold of the discoveries in every department of
+natural science in a manner to be apprehended by the meanest
+understanding, but which will at the same time command the attention of
+the scholar."--_Messenger._
+
+"A grand tour of the sciences. Mr. Fullom starts from the Sun, runs
+round by the Planets, noticing Comets as he goes, and puts up for a rest
+at the Central Sun. He gets into the Milky Way, which brings him to the
+Fixed Stars and Nebulae. He munches the crust of the Earth, and looks
+over Fossil Animals and Plants. This is followed by a disquisition on
+the science of the Scriptures. He then comes back to the origin of the
+Earth, visits the Magnetic Poles, gets among Thunder and Lightning,
+makes the acquaintance of Magnetism and Electricity, dips into Rivers,
+draws science from Springs, goes into Volcanoes, through which he is
+drawn into a knot of Earthquakes, comes to the surface with Gaseous
+Emanations, and sliding down a Landslip, renews his journey on a ray of
+Light, goes through a Prism, sees a Mirage, meets with the Flying
+Dutchman, observes an Optical Illusion, steps over the Rainbow, enjoys a
+dance with the Northern Aurora, takes a little Polarized Light, boils
+some Water, sets a Steam-Engine in motion, witnesses the expansion of
+Metals, looks at the Thermometer, and refreshes himself with Ice. Soon
+he is at Sea, examining the Tides, tumbling on the Waves, swimming,
+diving, and ascertaining the pressure of Fluids. We meet him next in the
+Air, running through all its properties. Having remarked on the
+propagation of Sounds, he pauses for a bit of Music, and goes off into
+the Vegetable Kingdom, then travels through the Animal Kingdom, and
+having visited the various races of the human family, winds up with a
+demonstration of the Anatomy of Man."--_Examiner._
+
+
+THE LITERATURE AND ROMANCE
+OF NORTHERN EUROPE.
+
+CONSTITUTING A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE LITERATURE OF SWEDEN, DENMARK,
+NORWAY, AND ICELAND, WITH COPIOUS SPECIMENS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED
+HISTORIES, ROMANCES, POPULAR LEGENDS AND TALES, OLD CHIVALROUS BALLADS,
+TRAGIC AND COMIC DRAMAS, NATIONAL SONGS, NOVELS, AND SCENES FROM THE
+LIFE OF THE PRESENT DAY.
+
+BY WILLIAM AND MARY HOWITT.
+
+2 v. post 8vo. 21s. bound.
+
+"English readers have long been indebted to Mr. and Mrs. Howitt. They
+have now increased our obligations by presenting us with this most
+charming and valuable work, by means of which the great majority of the
+reading public will be, for the first time, made acquainted with the
+rich stores of intellectual wealth long garnered in the literature and
+beautiful romance of Northern Europe. From the famous Edda, whose origin
+is lost in antiquity, down to the novels of Miss Bremer and Baroness
+Knorring, the prose and poetic writings of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and
+Iceland are here introduced to us in a manner at once singularly
+comprehensive and concise. It is no dry enumeration of names, but the
+very marrow and spirit of the various works displayed before us. We have
+old ballads and fairy tales, always fascinating; we have scenes from
+plays, and selections from the poets, with most attractive biographies
+of these and other great men. The songs and ballads are translated with
+exquisite poetic beauty."--_Sun._
+
+"We have most cordially to thank Mary and William Howitt for their
+valuable contribution to our knowledge of the literature of Northern
+Europe. They have effected a public good. They have offered to all
+classes of readers a work abounding in original and entrancing interest,
+overflowing with varied matter--of criticism, biography, anecdotes,
+sketches, and quotations, all tending to exhibit new treasures for the
+gratification and enlightenment of a vast circle of minds. Our authors
+have described to us in copious and entertaining detail the romance and
+the poetry, the writings and the imaginations, of the Scandinavian
+races, interspersed with abundant and well-selected specimens of the
+historical, romantic, legendary, chivalric, ballad, dramatic, song, and
+critical literature of Northern Europe. They have brought to light the
+treasures of the illustrious poets, historians and bards of Scandinavia,
+in a work of astonishing interest."--_Sunday Times._
+
+"This work teems with information of the rarest and most curious
+character, and is replete with interest to the scholar, the philosopher,
+the antiquarian, and the general reader. The subject has the charming
+freshness of novelty. There is not any other book in the English
+language, which presents so vivid, so interesting, and so accurate a
+picture of the manners, customs, opinions, and superstitions of our
+Scandinavian forefathers."--_Morning Post._
+
+"A standard work on the whole subject."--_Globe._
+
+"A valuable addition to our literature."--_Daily News._
+
+"A book full of information--and as such, a welcome addition to our
+literature. The translations--especially of some of the ballads and
+other poems--are executed with spirit and taste."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+JUDGE HALIBURTON'S NEW HISTORICAL WORK.
+
+In 2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. bound.
+
+RULE AND MISRULE OF
+THE ENGLISH IN AMERICA.
+
+By the Author of
+"SAM SLICK," "THE OLD JUDGE," &c.
+
+"A most attractive work."--_Standard._
+
+"The cleverest volumes Judge Haliburton has ever
+produced."--_Messenger._
+
+"We conceive this work to be by far the most valuable and important
+Judge Haliburton has ever written. The exhaustless fund of
+humour--quiet, yet rich and racy, and at the same time overflowing with
+the milk of human kindness--which his writings display on one hand, and
+the wonderful knowledge of man's character, in all its countless
+varieties, which they exhibit on the other, have insured for them a
+high, and honourable, and enduring station in English literature. It
+would be difficult, if not impossible, to arise from the perusal of any
+of Mr. Haliburton's performances without having become both wiser and
+better. His 'English in America' is, however, a production of a yet more
+exalted order. While teeming with interest, moral and historical, to the
+general reader, it may be regarded as equally constituting a
+philosophical study for the politician and the statesman. It will be
+found to dissipate many popular errors, and to let in a flood of light
+upon the actual origin, formation, and progress of the republic of the
+United States."--_Naval and Military Gazette._
+
+"Those who wish for an accurate history of the rise of republicanism in
+America to its grand development in the United States revolution, will
+here find a narrative that is invaluable for its accuracy, its
+impartiality, its admirable order in arrangement, and that true
+philosophy of statesmanship which can attach to each incident a fitting
+moral, from which every honest politician can derive instruction. The
+work is one equally useful in the double aspect in which it may be
+regarded--first, an insight into the causes of past transactions;
+second, as a warning to guide mankind amid the many perplexing political
+questions of the day. The spirit of impartiality animates every page of
+this work. It is deserving of a place in every historical
+library."--_Morning Herald._
+
+"We believed the author of this work to possess a power of humour and
+sarcasm second only to that of Rabelais and Sidney Smith, and a genuine
+pathos worthy of Henry Fielding or Charles Dickens. In his particular
+line of literature we believed him to be unrivalled. In the volumes
+before us he breaks upon a new, and--according to his method of breaking
+the subject--untrodden ground. We hail this book with pleasure; we
+consider it an honour to Judge Haliburton, as by it he has proved
+himself to be a Christian, a scholar, a gentleman, and, in the true
+sense of a mis-used word, a patriot. Mr. Haliburton places before us,
+fairly and impartially, the history of English rule in America. The book
+is not only a boon to the historic student, it is also filled with
+reflections such as may well engage the attention of the legislating
+statesman. Mr. Haliburton also shows us the true position of the
+Canadas, explains the evils of our colonial system, points out the
+remedies by which these evils may be counteracted, that thus the rule of
+the 'English in America' may be something better than a history of the
+blunders, the follies, and the ignorant temerity of colonial
+secretaries."--_Irish Quarterly Review._
+
+
+SAM SLICK'S NEW COMIC WORK.
+
+In 3 vols. post 8vo. 31s. 6d. bound.
+
+TRAITS OF AMERICAN HUMOUR.
+
+Edited
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "SAM SLICK," &C.
+
+"We have seldom met with a work more rich in fun or more generally
+delightful."--_Standard._
+
+"Those who have relished the racy humour of the 'Clockmaker,' will find
+a dish of equally ludicrous and amusing Transatlantic wit in the volumes
+before us."--_Herald._
+
+"A new book, by the author of 'Sam Slick' causes some stir among the
+laughter-loving portion of the community; and its appearance at the
+present festive season is appropriate. We hold that it would be quite
+contrary to the fitness of things for any other hand than that of our
+old acquaintance, the facetious Judge Haliburton, to present to us a
+Christmas dish, and call it 'Traits of American Humour.' But even
+without the recollection of 'Sam Slick' to evoke the spirit of fun
+within us, we should have been forced to yield to the racy humour of
+these American 'Traits.' Dip where you will into this lottery of fun,
+you are sure to draw out a prize."--_Morning Post._
+
+"The untravelled European who has not made the acquaintance of Sam
+Slick, can have but little knowledge of the manners, customs, humours,
+eccentricities and lingos of the countless varieties of inhabitants of
+North America who we are accustomed to conglomerate under the general
+name of Yankees. Assisted, however, by Sam Slick's graphic descriptions,
+literal reports, and racy pen-and-ink sketches, gentlemen who sit at
+home at ease, are able to realize with tolerable accuracy the more
+remarkable species of this lively family, to comprehend their amusing
+jargon, to take an interest in their peculiarities of person and speech,
+and to enter into the spirit of their very characteristic humours. No
+man has done more than the facetious Judge Haliburton through the mouth
+of the inimitable 'Sam,' to make the old parent country recognise and
+appreciate her queer transatlantic progeny; and in the volumes before us
+he seeks to render the acquaintance more minute and complete. His
+present collection of comic stories and laughable traits is a budget of
+fun full of rich specimens of American humour."--_Globe._
+
+"The reader will find this work deeply interesting. Yankeeism
+pourtrayed, in its raciest aspect, constitutes the contents of these
+superlatively entertaining volumes, for which we are indebted to our
+facetious old friend, 'Sam Slick.' The work embraces the most varied
+topics,--political parties, religious eccentricities, the flights of
+literature, and the absurdities of pretenders to learning, all come in
+for their share of satire; while in other papers we have specimens of
+genuine American exaggerations, or graphic pictures of social and
+domestic life as it is more especially in the ruder districts and in the
+back settlements, or again sallies of broad humour, exhibiting those
+characteristics which form in the country itself the subject of mutual
+persiflage between the citizens of different States. The work will have
+a wide circulation."--_John Bull._
+
+
+CAPTAIN SPENCER'S NEW WORK.
+
+In 2 vols, 8vo. with Illustrations, and a valuable Map of European
+Turkey, from the most recent Charts in the possession of the Austrian
+and Turkish Governments, revised by the Author, 28s. bound.
+
+TRAVELS IN EUROPEAN TURKEY
+IN 1850:
+
+THROUGH BOSNIA, SERVIA, BULGARIA, MACEDONIA, ROUMELIA, ALBANIA, AND
+EPIRUS; WITH A VISIT TO GREECE AND THE IONIAN ISLES, AND A HOMEWARD TOUR
+THROUGH HUNGARY AND THE SCLAVONIAN PROVINCES OF AUSTRIA ON THE LOWER
+DANUBE.
+
+BY EDMUND SPENCER, ESQ.
+
+Author of "TRAVELS IN CIRCASSIA," &c.
+
+"These important volumes appear at an opportune moment, as they describe
+some of those countries to which public attention is now more
+particularly directed: Turkey, Greece, Hungary, and Austria. The author
+has given us a most interesting picture of the Turkish Empire, its
+weaknesses, and the embarrassments from which it is now suffering, its
+financial difficulties, the discontent of its Christian, and the
+turbulence of a great portion of its Mohammedan subjects. We are also
+introduced for the first time to the warlike mountaineers of Bosnia,
+Albania, Upper Moesia, and the almost inaccessible districts of the
+Pindus and the Balkan. The different nationalities of that Babel-like
+country, Turkey in Europe, inhabited by Sclavonians, Greeks, Albanians,
+Macedonians, the Romani and Osmanli--their various characteristics,
+religions, superstitions, together with their singular customs and
+manners, their ancient and contemporary history are vividly described.
+The Ionian Islands, Greece, Hungary, and the Sclavonian Provinces of
+Austria on the Lower Danube, are all delineated in the author's happiest
+manner.
+
+"We cordially recommend Mr. Spencer's valuable and interesting volumes
+to the attention of the reader. They are replete with information upon
+countries of which we know but little; they will be interesting to the
+military man for the details they give of the strength and defensive
+positions of the various countries through which the author travelled;
+to the merchant for the insight given into the state of trade; and to
+the man of the world as they place before his view the present political
+and social state of an empire, whose welfare it is the interest of
+England to promote. The work must be considered a standard production,
+enriched, as it is, by an excellent map derived from the most authentic
+modern charts, added to, and improved by the observations of the author
+during his travels."--_United Service Magazine._
+
+"A work of great merit, and of paramount present interest."--_Standard._
+
+"This interesting work contains by far the most complete, the most
+enlightened, and the most reliable amount of what has been hitherto
+almost the terra incognita of European Turkey, and supplies the reader
+with abundance of entertainment as well as instruction."--_John Bull._
+
+"An excellent and admirable work. Mr. Spencer is a very able writer, a
+shrewd, experienced and philosophical observer, an eminently thinking
+and yet practical man. His work forms the most valuable addition that
+our literature has lately received. He sets forth to inquire and learn:
+he returns to inform and suggest; and information most valuable and
+interesting has he here bestowed upon us."--_Tait's Magazine._
+
+
+REVELATIONS OF SIBERIA.
+
+BY A BANISHED LADY.
+
+2 vols. Post 8vo., 21s. bound.
+
+"The authoress of these volumes was a lady of quality, who, having
+incurred the displeasure of the Russian Government for a political
+offence, was exiled to Siberia. The place of her exile was Berezov, the
+most northern part of this northern penal settlement; and in it she
+spent about two years, not unprofitably, as the reader will find by her
+interesting work, containing a lively and graphic picture of the
+country, the people, their manners and customs, &c. The book gives a
+most important and valuable insight into the economy of what has been
+hitherto the terra incognita of Russian despotism."--_Daily News._
+
+"Since the publication of the famous romance the 'Exiles of Siberia,' of
+Madame Cottin, we have had no account of these desolate lands more
+attractive than the present work, from the pen of the Lady Eve Felinska,
+which, in its unpretending style and truthful simplicity, will win its
+way to the reader's heart, and compel him to sympathise with the fair
+sufferer. The series of hardships endured in traversing these frozen
+solitudes is affectingly told: and once settled down at one of the most
+northern points of the convict territory, Berezov, six hundred miles
+beyond Tobolsk, the Author exhibits an observant eye for the natural
+phenomena of those latitudes, as well as the habits of the
+semi-barbarous aborigines. This portion of the book will be found by the
+naturalist as well as ethnologist full of valuable
+information."--_Globe._
+
+"These 'Revelations' give us a novel and interesting sketch of Siberian
+life--the habits, morals, manners, religious tenets, rites, and
+festivals of the inhabitants. The details of the author's painful
+journey will be perused with feelings of indignation and deep sympathy.
+The record of her residence of nearly three years at Berezov, which
+constitutes the most valuable part of her 'Revelations,' does credit to
+her heart and her understanding. Her extraordinary powers of
+observation, and the graceful facility with which she describes
+everything worthy of remark, render her 'Revelations' as attractive and
+fascinating as they are original and instructive."--_Britannia._
+
+
+AUSTRALIA AS IT IS:
+ITS SETTLEMENTS, FARMS, AND GOLD FIELDS.
+
+BY F. LANCELOTT, ESQ.,
+MINERALOGICAL SURVEYOR IN THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.
+
+2 Vols. Post 8vo., 21s. bound.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS.
+
+SECOND SERIES.
+
+BY WILLIAM GRATTAN, ESQ.,
+LATE LIEUTENANT CONNAUGHT RANGERS. 2 vols. Post 8vo., 21s. bound.
+
+
+EIGHT YEARS
+IN PALESTINE, SYRIA, AND ASIA MINOR.
+
+BY F. A. NEALE, ESQ.,
+LATE ATTACHED TO THE CONSULAR SERVICE IN SYRIA.
+
+Second Edition, in 2 Vols., with Illustrations, 21s. bound.
+
+"One of the best accounts of the country and people that has been
+published of late years."--_Spectator._
+
+"A very agreeable book. Mr. Neale is evidently quite familiar with the
+East, and writes in a lively, shrewd, and good-humoured manner. A great
+deal of information is to be found in his pages."--_Athenaeum._
+
+"We have derived unmingled pleasure from the perusal of these
+interesting volumes. Very rarely have we found a narrative of Eastern
+travel so truthful and just. There is no guide-book we would so strongly
+recommend to the traveller about to enter on a Turkish or Syrian tour as
+this before us. The information it affords is especially valuable, since
+it is brought up almost to the last moment. The narrative, too, is full
+of incident, and abounds in vivid pictures of Turkish and Levantine life
+interspersed with well-told tales. The author commences his narrative at
+Gaza; visits Askalon, Jaffa and Jerusalem, Caipha and Mount Carmel,
+Acre, Sidon and Tyre, Beyrout, Tripoli, Antioch, Aleppo, Alexandretta,
+Adana, and Cyprus. Of several of these famous localities we know no more
+compact and clearer account than that given in these volumes. We have to
+thank Mr. Neale for one of the best books of travels that we have met
+with for a very long time."--_Literary Gazette._
+
+
+KHARTOUM AND THE NILES.
+
+By GEORGE MELLY, ESQ.
+
+Second Edition. 2 v. post 8vo., with Map and Illustrations, 21s. bound.
+
+"Independently of the amusement and information which may be derived
+from Mr. Melly's interesting work, the references to the relations which
+exist at this time between the Sublime Porte and Egypt are worthy of
+every consideration which statesmen and public men can bestow upon
+them."--_Messenger._
+
+"We cannot feel otherwise than grateful to the author of these valuable
+and useful volumes for having kept so faithful a journal, and for giving
+the public the benefit of his adventures and experience. The manners and
+customs of the natives, as well as the natural curiosities, and the
+relics of antiquity which the travellers visited, in turns engage the
+reader's attention; and, altogether, the book is a most entertaining and
+instructive _vade-mecum_ to the interesting portion of the East of which
+it treats."--_John Bull._
+
+
+SCENES FROM SCRIPTURE.
+
+BY THE REV. G. CROLY, LL.D.
+
+Author of "SALATHIEL," &c., 1 v., 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+"Eminent in every mode of literature, Dr. Croly stands, in our judgment,
+first among the living poets of Great Britain--the only man of our day
+entitled by his power to venture within the sacred circle of religious
+poets."--_Standard._
+
+"An admirable addition to the library of religious families."--_John
+Bull._
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF
+FIVE YEARS' RESIDENCE AT NEPAUL.
+
+BY CAPTAIN THOMAS SMITH,
+
+Late ASSISTANT POLITICAL-RESIDENT AT NEPAUL. 2 v. post 8vo. 21s. bound.
+
+"No man could be better qualified to describe Nepaul than Captain Smith;
+and his concise, but clear and graphic account of its history, its
+natural productions, its laws and customs, and the character of its
+warlike inhabitants, is very agreeable and instructive reading. A
+separate chapter, not the least entertaining in the book, is devoted to
+anecdotes of the Nepaulese mission, of whom, and of their visit to
+Europe, many remarkable stories are told."--_Post._
+
+"No one need go elsewhere for information about Nepaul. He will find it
+all arranged in this intelligent and interesting work with perspicuity
+and completeness. It will henceforth be the standard work on Nepaul.
+Captain Smith's narrative of his personal adventures is most
+exciting."--_United Service Gazette._
+
+
+CANADA AS IT WAS, IS, AND MAY BE.
+
+BY THE LATE LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SIR R. BONNYCASTLE.
+
+With an Account of Recent Transactions,
+
+BY SIR JAMES E. ALEXANDER, K.L.S., &c.
+
+2 v., post 8vo., with Maps, &c. 21s. bound.
+
+"These volumes offer to the British public a clear and trustworthy
+statement of the affairs of Canada; a narrative of the late troubles,
+their causes and consequences; an account of the policy pursued in the
+colony, and the effects of the immense public works in progress and
+completed; with sketches of localities and scenery, amusing anecdotes of
+personal observation, and generally every information which may be of
+use to the traveller or settler, and the military and political reader.
+The information rendered is to be thoroughly relied on as veracious,
+full, and conclusive."--_Messenger._
+
+"This is the best work on Canada for every class of readers--the most
+complete, the most important, and the most interesting."--_Sunday
+Times._
+
+
+SPAIN AS IT IS.
+
+By G. A. HOSKINS, ESQ.
+
+2 v., with Illustrations, 21s. bound.
+
+"To the tourist this work will prove invaluable. It is the most complete
+and interesting portraiture of Spain that has ever come under our
+notice."--_John Bull._
+
+
+COLONEL LANDMANN'S ADVENTURES
+AND RECOLLECTIONS.
+
+2 vols. post 8vo. 21s. bound.
+
+"Among the anecdotes in this work will be found notices of King George
+III., the Dukes of Kent, Cumberland, Cambridge, Clarence, and Richmond,
+the Princess Augusta, General Garth, Sir Harry Mildmay, Lord Charles
+Somerset, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Lord Heathfield, Captain Grose, &c.
+The volumes abound in interesting matter. The anecdotes are one and all
+amusing."--_Observer._
+
+"Colonel Landmann's work is written in an unaffected spirit, and
+contains matter of agreeable and lively interest."--_Literary Gazette._
+
+"These 'Adventures and Recollections' are those of a gentleman whose
+birth and profession gave him facilities of access to distinguished
+society; and the interest of the volumes will be found to consist in
+anecdotes and recollections relating to individual members of that
+society. Colonel Landmann writes so agreeably that we have little doubt
+that his volumes will be acceptable. They partake, to some extent, both
+of the good and bad qualities of Horace Walpole and of
+Wraxall."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+THE ROMANCE OF THE FORUM;
+OR, NARRATIVES, SCENES, AND ANECDOTES FROM
+COURTS OF JUSTICE.
+
+BY PETER BURKE, ESQ., BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 2 v. 21s.
+
+"These attractive volumes will be perused with much interest. They
+contain a great variety of singular and highly romantic stories."--_John
+Bull._
+
+"Few who once take up these volumes will lay them down
+unread."--_Examiner._
+
+"Nothing can be more deeply interesting or affecting than many of these
+narratives."--_Observer._
+
+
+DARIEN;
+OR, THE MERCHANT PRINCE.
+
+BY ELIOT WARBURTON.
+Author of "THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS," &c.,
+
+SECOND EDITION. 3 V.
+
+"The scheme for the colonization of Darien by Scotchmen, and the opening
+of a communication between the East and West across the Isthmus of
+Panama, furnishes the foundation of this story, which is in all respects
+worthy of the high reputation which the author of the 'Crescent and the
+Cross' had already made for himself. The early history of the Merchant
+Prince introduces the reader to the condition of Spain under the
+Inquisition; the portraitures of Scottish life which occupy a prominent
+place in the narrative, are full of spirit; the scenes in America
+exhibit the state of the natives of the new world at that period; the
+daring deeds of the Buccaneers supply a most romantic element in the
+story; and an additional interest is infused into it by the introduction
+of various celebrated characters of the period, such as Law, the French
+financier, and Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. All these
+varied ingredients are treated with that brilliancy of style and
+powerful descriptive talent, by which the pen of Eliot Warburton was so
+eminently distinguished."--_John Bull._
+
+
+LORD PALMERSTON'S OPINIONS
+AND POLICY;
+AS MINISTER, DIPLOMATIST, AND STATESMAN,
+DURING MORE THAN FORTY YEARS OF PUBLIC LIFE.
+
+1 v. 8vo., with Portrait, 12s. bound.
+
+"This work ought to have a place in every political library. It gives a
+complete view of the sentiments and opinions by which the policy of Lord
+Palmerston has been dictated as a diplomatist and
+statesman."--_Chronicle._
+
+"This is a remarkable and seasonable publication; but it is something
+more--it is a valuable addition to the historical treasures of our
+country during more than forty of the most memorable years of our
+annals. We earnestly recommend the volume to general
+perusal."--_Standard._
+
+
+FIVE YEARS IN THE WEST INDIES.
+
+BY CHARLES W. DAY, ESQ.
+
+2 v., with Illustrations, 21s. bound.
+
+"These interesting volumes possess considerable merit as regards
+information on that important subject, the state of the West Indies as
+they are at present."--_Sun._
+
+"It would be unjust to deny the vigour, brilliancy, and varied interest
+of this work, the abundant stores of anecdote and interest, and the
+copious detail of local habits and peculiarities in each island visited
+in succession."--_Globe._
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE
+BRITISH CONQUESTS IN INDIA.
+
+BY HORACE ST. JOHN.
+
+2 v. 21s. bound.
+
+"A work of great and permanent historical value and interest."--_Post._
+
+"A fair and accurate narrative of the political history of British
+India, evidently written after careful study and laborious
+research."--_Literary Gazette._
+
+"The style is graphic and spirited. The facts are well related and
+artistically grouped. The narrative is always readable and
+interesting."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+HISTORY OF CORFU;
+AND OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS.
+
+BY LIEUT. H. J. W. JERVIS, Royal Artillery.
+
+1 v., with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+"A work of great value, from the importance of Corfu in case of an
+European war."--_Literary Gazette._
+
+"Written with great care and research, and including probably all the
+particulars of any moment in the history of Corfu. The principal
+interest will attach to the military details and the concluding account
+of the present state of the island."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+ATLANTIC & TRANSATLANTIC SKETCHES.
+
+BY CAPTAIN MACKINNON, R.N.
+
+2 v. 21s. bound.
+
+"Captain Mackinnon's sketches of America are of a striking character and
+permanent value. His volumes convey a just impression of the United
+States, a fair and candid view of their society and institutions, so
+well written and so entertaining that the effect of their perusal on the
+public here must be considerable. They are light, animated, and lively,
+full of racy sketches, pictures of life, anecdotes of society, visits to
+remarkable men and famous places, sporting episodes, &c., very original
+and interesting."--_Sunday Times._
+
+"Captain Mackinnon's sketches of America are perhaps the best that have
+appeared since the work of Captain Marryat, and they are far more candid
+and impartial. The volumes are crowded with valuable and important
+statements. The work will find its way rapidly into wide and general
+circulation, such is its justice, candour, and accuracy of
+information."--_Observer._
+
+
+NAVAL ARCHITECTURE:
+A TREATISE ON SHIP-BUILDING, AND THE RIG OF CLIPPERS,
+WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR A NEW METHOD OF LAYING DOWN VESSELS.
+
+BY LORD ROBERT MONTAGU, A.M.
+
+Second Edition, with 54 Diagrams, 6s. bound.
+
+"In this able work, Lord Robert Montagu has treated an important subject
+in the most comprehensive and masterly manner. The publication will be
+equally valuable to the ship-builder and the ship-owner--to the mariner
+and the commanders of yachts. The whole science of ship-building is made
+plain to the humblest understanding, while the most valuable suggestions
+are given for its improvement in the rig, structure, and laying down of
+vessels."--_U. S. Mag._
+
+
+ARCTIC MISCELLANIES,
+A SOUVENIR OF THE LATE POLAR SEARCH.
+
+BY THE OFFICERS AND SEAMEN OF THE EXPEDITION.
+
+DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY.
+
+Second Edition, 1 vol. with numerous Illustrations, 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+FROM THE "TIMES."--This volume is not the least interesting or
+instructive among the records of the late expedition in search of Sir
+John Franklin, commanded by Captain Austin. The most valuable portions
+of the book are those which relate to the scientific and practical
+observations made in the course of the expedition, and the descriptions
+of scenery and incidents of arctic travel. Many of the latter possess
+considerable literary merit, and all are impressed with the vividness of
+fresh observation. From the variety of the materials, and the novelty of
+the scenes and incidents to which they refer, no less than the interest
+which attaches to all that relates to the probable safety of Sir John
+Franklin and his companions, the Arctic Miscellanies forms a very
+readable book, and one that redounds to the honour of the national
+character.
+
+
+
+
+#New Works of Fiction, by Distinguished Writers.#
+
+
+CASTLE AVON.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "EMILIA WYNDHAM," "RAVENSCLIFFE," &C. 3 vols.
+
+
+UNCLE WALTER, BY MRS. TROLLOPE.
+
+AUTHOR OF "FATHER EUSTACE," "THE BARNABYS," &C. 3 vols.
+
+"'Uncle Walter' is Mrs. Trollope's best novel since 'Widow
+Barnaby.'"--_Morning Chronicle._
+
+"'Uncle Walter' is an exceedingly entertaining novel. It assures Mrs.
+Trollope more than ever in her position as one of the ablest fiction
+writers of the day."--_Morning Post._
+
+"'Uncle Walter' is filled throughout with Mrs. Trollope's broad
+satirical dashes at human nature."--_Daily News._
+
+"A very clever and entertaining book; equal to Mrs. Trollope's most
+successful efforts."--_John Bull._
+
+
+ADAM GRAEME OF MOSSGRAY.
+A STORY OF SCOTTISH LIFE.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "MARGARET MAITLAND," &C. 3 vols.
+
+"A story awakening genuine emotions of interest and delight by its
+admirable pictures of Scottish life and scenery."--_Post._
+
+"'Adam Graeme' is full of eloquent writing and description. It is an
+uncommon work, not only in the power of the style, in the eloquence of
+the digressions, in the interest of the narrative, and in the
+delineation of character, but in the lessons it teaches."--_Sun._
+
+
+ANNETTE. A Tale.
+
+BY W. F. DEACON.
+
+With a Memoir of the Author, by the Hon. Sir T. N. TALFOURD, D.C.L. 3 v.
+
+"'Annette' is a stirring tale, and has enough in it of life and interest
+to keep it for some years to come in request. The prefatory memoir by
+Sir Thomas Talfourd would be at all times interesting, nor the less so
+for containing two long letters from Sir Walter Scott to Mr. Deacon,
+full of gentle far-thinking wisdom."--_Examiner._
+
+
+MARY SEAHAM.
+
+BY MRS. GREY,
+
+Author of "The Gambler's Wife," &c. 3 v.
+
+"Equal to any former novel by its author."--_Athenaeum._
+
+"A very interesting story."--_Observer._
+
+"An admirable work--a powerfully conceived novel, founded on a plot of
+high moral and dramatic interest."--_John Bull._
+
+
+CONFESSIONS OF AN ETONIAN.
+
+BY CHARLES ROWCROFT, ESQ,
+
+Author of "Tales of the Colonies." &c. 3 v.
+
+"The life of an Etonian--his pranks, his follies, his loves, his
+fortunes, and misfortunes--is here amusingly drawn and happily coloured
+by an accomplished artist. The work is full of anecdote and lively
+painting of men and manners."--_Globe._
+
+
+THE BELLE OF THE VILLAGE.
+
+By the Author of "The Old English Gentleman." 3 v.
+
+"An admirable story, quite out of the common order in its conception,
+and highly original in its execution. 'The Belle of the Village' may
+take its place by the side of 'The Old English Gentleman.'"--_John
+Bull._
+
+
+
+
+POPULAR WORKS OF FICTION.
+
+
+THE KINNEARS.
+
+A SCOTTISH STORY. 3 v.
+
+
+HELEN TALBOT.
+
+BY MISS PENNEFATHER. 3 v.
+
+"Miss Pennefather has in this work evinced much literary ability. The
+fashionable circle in which the principal personage of the novel moves
+is drawn with a bold and graphic pencil. We have no doubt that in Lord
+Montagu, Sir Reginald Talbot, Lord Ravensdale, and others, those
+conversant with fashionable life will recognise living
+acquaintances."--_Globe._
+
+
+RAVENSCLIFFE.
+
+By the Author of "Emilia Wyndham," &c. 3 v.
+
+"'Ravenscliffe' contains scenes not surpassed in power and beauty by
+those in 'The Admiral's Daughter.' No reader can bear the heroine
+company without feeling the same sense of powerlessness to cope with the
+fascinations of a dark destiny which is conveyed by the stories of
+Richardson's 'Clarissa,' and Scott's 'Lucy Ashton.' This is praise
+enough--yet not too much."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+FANNY DENNISON.
+
+3 v.
+
+"A story of absorbing interest."--_Globe._
+
+"A novel of more than ordinary merit. An exciting story, crowded with
+romantic incidents."--_Morning Post._
+
+
+JACOB BENDIXEN.
+
+BY MARY HOWITT. 3 v.
+
+"This tale has the fascination and the value of a glimpse into a most
+strange world. We heartily commend the novel."--_Athenaeum._
+
+MRS. MATHEWS;
+OR, FAMILY MYSTERIES.
+
+BY MRS. TROLLOPE. 3 v.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF A BEAUTY.
+
+BY MRS. CROWE.
+
+Author of "Susan Hopley," &c. 3 v.
+
+
+HEARTS AND ALTARS.
+
+BY ROBERT BELL, ESQ.
+
+Author of "The Ladder of Gold," &c. 3 v.
+
+BROOMHILL;
+OR, THE COUNTY BEAUTIES.
+
+3 v.
+
+
+AMY PAUL.
+A TALE. 2 v.
+
+"The execution of this tale is very remarkable."--_Spectator._
+
+"There is a family likeness to 'Eugene Aram' in this powerfully written
+romance. The moral is well worked out. The situations are well imagined,
+and pourtrayed with highly dramatic effect."--_John Bull._
+
+
+CALEB FIELD.
+
+By the Author of "Margaret Maitland," &c. 1 v. 6s.
+
+"This beautiful production is every way worthy of its author's
+reputation in the very first rank of contemporary writers."--_Stand._
+
+"'Caleb Field' is a story of moving interest, full of novelty, and
+abounding in scenes of graphic beauty."--_Sunday Times._
+
+
+The LOST INHERITANCE.
+
+3 v.
+
+"This interesting story will afford both profit and amusement to a large
+circle of readers."--_Herald._
+
+"A charming tale of fashionable life and tender passions. It is
+extremely interesting as a highly-romantic history of the affections,
+and an exceedingly brilliant series of fashionable scenes."--_Globe._
+
+
+CECILE;
+OR, THE PERVERT.
+
+By the Author of "Rockingham." 1 v.
+
+
+The LADY and the PRIEST.
+
+BY MRS. MABERLY. 3 v.
+
+
+The PERILS of FASHION.
+
+3 v.
+
+"The world of fashion is here painted by an artist who has studied it
+closely, and traces its lineaments with a masterly hand."--_Morning
+Post._
+
+
+THE LIVINGSTONES.
+
+A STORY OF REAL LIFE. 3 v.
+
+"This work has a real interest. The pictures of the Scottish homes, in
+which the heroine's youth is past, are excellent."--_Examiner._
+
+
+
+
+INTERESTING WORKS
+
+PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN
+BY HIS SUCCESSORS, HURST AND BLACKETT,
+13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
+
+
+NEW EDITION OF THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS.
+
+_Now complete, in Eight Octavo Volumes (comprising from 600 to 700
+pages), price 4l. 4s., elegantly bound_,
+
+LIVES
+OF THE
+QUEENS OF ENGLAND.
+
+BY AGNES STRICKLAND.
+
+A New, Revised, and Cheaper Edition,
+EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OF EVERY QUEEN.
+
+BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES.
+
+*** This Edition is also now in course of Monthly Issue, at 10s. 6d.
+each volume.
+
+In announcing the publication of the new, revised, and greatly augmented
+Edition of this important and interesting work, which has been
+considered unique in biographical literature, the publishers beg to
+direct attention to the following extract from the author's preface:--"A
+revised edition of the 'Lives of the Queens of England,' embodying the
+important collections which have been brought to light since the
+appearance of earlier impressions, is now offered to the world,
+embellished with Portraits of every Queen, from authentic and properly
+verified sources. The series, commencing with the consort of William the
+Conqueror, occupies that most interesting and important period of our
+national chronology, from the death of the last monarch of the
+Anglo-Saxon line, Edward the Confessor, to the demise of the last
+sovereign of the royal house of Stuart, Queen Anne, and comprises
+therein thirty queens who have worn the crown-matrimonial, and four the
+regal diadem of this realm. We have related the parentage of every
+queen, described her education, traced the influence of family
+connexions and national habits on her conduct, both public and private,
+and given a concise outline of the domestic, as well as the general
+history of her times, and its effects on her character, and we have done
+so with singleness of heart, unbiassed by selfish interests or narrow
+views. Such as they were in life we have endeavoured to portray them,
+both in good and ill, without regard to any other considerations than
+the development of the _facts_. Their sayings, their doings, their
+manners, their costume, will be found faithfully chronicled in this
+work, which also includes the most interesting of their letters. The
+hope that the 'Lives of the Queens of England' might be regarded as a
+national work, honourable to the female character, and generally useful
+to society, has encouraged us to the completion of the task."
+
+OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
+
+"These volumes have the fascination of romance united to the integrity
+of history. The work is written by a lady of considerable learning,
+indefatigable industry, and careful judgment. All these qualifications
+for a biographer and an historian she has brought to bear upon the
+subject of her volumes, and from them has resulted a narrative
+interesting to all, and more particularly interesting to that portion of
+the community to whom the more refined researches of literature afford
+pleasure and instruction. The whole work should be read, and no doubt
+will be read, by all who are anxious for information. It is a lucid
+arrangement of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a
+combination of industry, learning, judgment, and impartiality, not often
+met with in biographers of crowned heads."--_Times._
+
+"A remarkable and truly great historical work. In this series of
+biographies, in which the severe truth of history takes almost the
+wildness of romance, it is the singular merit of Miss Strickland that
+her research has enabled her to throw new light on many doubtful
+passages, to bring forth fresh facts, and to render every portion of our
+annals which she has described an interesting and valuable study. She
+has given a most valuable contribution to the history of England, and we
+have no hesitation in affirming that no one can be said to possess an
+accurate knowledge of the history of the country who has not studied
+this truly national work, which, in this new edition, has received all
+the aids that further research on the part of the author, and of
+embellishment on the part of the publishers, could tend to make it still
+more valuable, and still more attractive, than it had been in its
+original form."--_Morning Herald._
+
+"A most valuable and entertaining work. There is certainly no lady of
+our day who has devoted her pen to so beneficial a purpose as Miss
+Strickland. Nor is there any other whose works possess a deeper or more
+enduring interest. Miss Strickland is to our mind the first literary
+lady of the age."--_Morning Chronicle._
+
+"We must pronounce Miss Strickland beyond all comparison the most
+entertaining historian in the English language. She is certainly a woman
+of powerful and active mind, as well as of scrupulous justice and
+honesty of purpose."--_Morning Post._
+
+"Miss Strickland has made a very judicious use of many authentic MS.
+authorities not previously collected, and the result is a most
+interesting addition to our biographical library."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+"A valuable contribution to historical knowledge. It contains a mass of
+every kind of historical matter of interest, which industry and research
+could collect. We have derived much entertainment and instruction from
+the work."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+BURKE'S PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE,
+
+FOR 1853.--IN THE PRESS.
+
+NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED THROUGHOUT
+FROM THE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF
+THE NOBILITY, &c.
+
+With the ARMS (1500 in number) accurately engraved, and incorporated
+with the Text.
+
+In 1 vol. (comprising as much matter as twenty ordinary volumes), 38s.
+bound.
+
+The following is a List of the Principal Contents of this Standard
+Work.--
+
+I. A full and interesting history of each order of the English Nobility,
+showing its origin, rise, titles, immunities, privileges, &c.
+
+II. A complete Memoir of the Queen and Royal Family, forming a brief
+genealogical History of the Sovereign of this country, and deducing the
+descent of the Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, and Guelphs, through their
+various ramifications. To this section is appended a list of those Peers
+who inherit the distinguished honour of Quartering the Royal Arms of
+Plantagenet.
+
+III. An Authentic table of Precedence.
+
+IV. A perfect HISTORY OF ALL THE PEERS AND BARONETS, with the fullest
+details of their ancestors and descendants, and particulars respecting
+every collateral member of each family, and all intermarriages, &c.
+
+V. The Spiritual Lords.
+
+VI. Foreign Noblemen, subjects by birth of the British Crown.
+
+VII. Peerages claimed.
+
+VIII. Surnames of Peers and Peeresses, with Heirs Apparent and
+Presumptive.
+
+IX. Courtesy titles of Eldest Sons.
+
+X. Peerages of the Three Kingdoms in order of Precedence.
+
+XI. Baronets in order of Precedence.
+
+XII. Privy Councillors of England and Ireland.
+
+XIII. Daughters of Peers married to Commoners.
+
+XIV. ALL THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD, with every Knight and all the Knights
+Bachelors.
+
+XV. Mottoes translated, with poetical illustrations.
+
+"The most complete, the most convenient, and the cheapest work of the
+kind ever given to the public."--_Sun._
+
+"The best genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the Peerage and
+Baronetage, and the first authority on all questions affecting the
+aristocracy."--_Globe._
+
+"For the amazing quantity of personal and family history, admirable
+arrangement of details, and accuracy of information, this genealogical
+and heraldic dictionary is without a rival. It is now the standard and
+acknowledged book of reference upon all questions touching pedigree, and
+direct or collateral affinity with the titled aristocracy. The lineage
+of each distinguished house is deduced through all the various
+ramifications. Every collateral branch, however remotely connected, is
+introduced; and the alliances are so carefully inserted, as to show, in
+all instances, the connexion which so intimately exists between the
+titled and untitled aristocracy. We have also much most entertaining
+historical matter, and many very curious and interesting family
+traditions. The work is, in fact, a complete cyclopaedia of the whole
+titled classes of the empire, supplying all the information that can
+possibly be desired on the subject."--_Morning Post._
+
+"The 'Peerage' and the 'Landed Gentry' of Mr. Burke are two works of
+public utility--constantly referred to by all classes of society, and
+rarely opened without being found to supply the information sought. They
+are accessions of value to our books of reference, and few who write or
+talk much about English Peers and English Landed Gentry, can well be
+looked on as safe authorities without a knowledge of the contents of Mr.
+Burke's careful compilations."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+BURKE'S HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY
+
+#A Genealogical Dictionary#
+
+OF THE WHOLE OF THE UNTITLED ARISTOCRACY OF
+ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND:
+
+Comprising Particulars of 100,000 Individuals connected with them.
+
+In 2 volumes, royal 8vo, including the Supplement, beautifully printed
+in double columns, comprising more matter than 30 ordinary volumes,
+price only 2l. 2s., elegantly bound,
+
+WITH A SEPARATE INDEX, GRATIS.
+
+CONTAINING REFERENCES TO THE NAMES OF EVERY PERSON MENTIONED.
+
+The Landed Gentry of England are so closely connected with the stirring
+records of its eventful history, that some acquaintance with them is a
+matter of necessity with the legislator, the lawyer, the historical
+student, the speculator in politics, and the curious in topographical
+and antiquarian lore; and even the very spirit of ordinary curiosity
+will prompt to a desire to trace the origin and progress of those
+families whose influence pervades the towns and villages of our land.
+This work furnishes such a mass of authentic information in regard to
+all the principal families in the kingdom as has never before been
+attempted to be brought together. It relates to the untitled families of
+rank, as the "Peerage and Baronetage" does to the titled, and forms, in
+fact, a peerage of the untitled aristocracy. It embraces the whole of
+the landed interest, and is indispensable to the library of every
+gentleman. The great cost attending the production of this National
+Work, the first of its kind, induces the publisher to hope that the
+heads of all families recorded in its pages will supply themselves with
+copies.
+
+"A work of this kind is of a national value. Its utility is not merely
+temporary, but it will exist and be acknowledged as long as the families
+whose names and genealogies are recorded in it continue to form an
+integral portion of the English constitution. As a correct record of
+descent, no family should be without it. The untitled aristocracy have
+in this great work as perfect a dictionary of their genealogical
+history, family connexions, and heraldic rights, as the peerage and
+baronetage. It will be an enduring and trustworthy record."--_Morning
+Post._
+
+"A work in which every gentleman will find a domestic interest, as it
+contains the fullest account of every known family in the United
+Kingdom. It is a dictionary of all names, families, and their
+origin,--of every man's neighbour and friend, if not of his own
+relatives and immediate connexions. It cannot fail to be of the greatest
+utility to professional men in their researches respecting the members
+of different families, heirs to property, &c. Indeed, it will become as
+necessary as a Directory in every office."--_Bell's Messenger._
+
+
+DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE
+OF
+JOHN EVELYN, F.R.S.,
+
+Author of "Sylva," &c.
+
+A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED,
+WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL LETTERS NOW FIRST
+PUBLISHED.
+
+UNIFORM WITH THE NEW EDITION OF PEPYS' DIARY.
+
+In 4 vols., post 8vo, price 10s. 6d. each.
+
+N.B.--Vols. III. and IV., containing "The Correspondence," may be had
+separately, to complete sets.
+
+The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn has long been regarded as an
+invaluable record of opinions and events, as well as the most
+interesting exposition we possess of the manners, taste, learning, and
+religion of this country, during the latter half of the seventeenth
+century. The Diary comprises observations on the politics, literature,
+and science of his age, during his travels in France and Italy; his
+residence in England towards the latter part of the Protectorate, and
+his connexion with the Courts of Charles II and the two subsequent
+reigns, interspersed with a vast number of original anecdotes of the
+most celebrated persons of that period. To the Diary is subjoined the
+Correspondence of Evelyn with many of his distinguished contemporaries;
+also Original Letters from Sir Edward Nicholas, private secretary to
+King Charles I., during some important periods of that reign, with the
+King's answers; and numerous letters from Sir Edward Hyde (Lord
+Clarendon) to Sir Edward Nicholas, and to Sir Richard Brown, Ambassador
+to France, during the exile of the British Court.
+
+A New Edition of this interesting work having been long demanded, the
+greatest pains have been taken to render it as complete as possible, by
+a careful re-examination of the original Manuscript, and by illustrating
+it with such annotations as will make the reader more conversant with
+the numerous subjects referred to by the Diarist.
+
+"It has been justly observed that as long as Virtue and Science hold
+their abode in this island, the memory of Evelyn will be held in the
+utmost veneration. Indeed, no change of fashion, no alteration of taste,
+no revolution of science, have impaired, or can impair, his celebrity.
+The youth who looks forward to an inheritance which he is under no
+temptation to increase, will do well to bear the example of Evelyn in
+his mind, as containing nothing but what is imitable, and nothing but
+what is good. All persons, indeed, may find in his character something
+for imitation, but for an English gentleman he is the perfect
+model."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+
+LIVES OF THE PRINCESSES OF ENGLAND.
+
+By MRS EVERETT GREEN,
+EDITOR OF THE "LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES."
+
+4 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. each, bound.
+
+OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
+
+"A most agreeable book. The authoress, already favourably known to the
+learned world by her excellent collection of 'Letters of Royal and
+Illustrious Ladies,' has executed her task with great skill and
+fidelity. Every page displays careful research and accuracy. There is a
+graceful combination of sound, historical erudition, with an air of
+romance and adventure that is highly pleasing, and renders the work at
+once an agreeable companion of the boudoir, and a valuable addition to
+the historical library. Mrs. Green has entered upon an untrodden path,
+and gives to her biographies an air of freshness and novelty very
+alluring. The first two volumes (including the Lives of twenty-five
+Princesses) carry us from the daughters of the Conqueror to the family
+of Edward I.--a highly interesting period, replete with curious
+illustrations of the genius and manners of the Middle Ages. Such works,
+from the truthfulness of their spirit, furnish a more lively picture of
+the times than even the graphic, though delusive, pencil of Scott and
+James."--_Britannia._
+
+"The vast utility of the task undertaken by the gifted author of this
+interesting book can only be equalled by the skill, ingenuity, and
+research displayed in its accomplishment. The field Mrs. Green has
+selected is an untrodden one. Mrs. Green, on giving to the world a work
+which will enable us to arrive at a correct idea of the private
+histories and personal characters of the royal ladies of England, has
+done sufficient to entitle her to the respect and gratitude of the
+country. The labour of her task was exceedingly great, involving
+researches, not only into English records and chronicles, but into those
+of almost every civilised country in Europe. The style of Mrs. Green is
+admirable. She has a fine perception of character and manners, a
+penetrating spirit of observation, and singular exactness of judgment.
+The memoirs are richly fraught with the spirit of romantic
+adventure."--_Morning Post._
+
+"This work is a worthy companion to Miss Strickland's admirable 'Queens
+of England.' In one respect the subject-matter of these volumes is more
+interesting, because it is more diversified than that of the 'Queens of
+England.' That celebrated work, although its heroines were, for the most
+part, foreign Princesses, related almost entirely to the history of this
+country. The Princesses of England, on the contrary, are themselves
+English, but their lives are nearly all connected with foreign nations.
+Their biographies, consequently, afford us a glimpse of the manners and
+customs of the chief European kingdoms, a circumstance which not only
+gives to the work the charm of variety, but which is likely to render it
+peculiarly useful to the general reader, as it links together by
+association the contemporaneous history of various nations. The
+histories are related with an earnest simplicity and copious
+explicitness. The reader is informed without being wearied, and
+alternately enlivened by some spirited description, or touched by some
+pathetic or tender episode. We cordially commend Mrs. Everett Green's
+production to general attention; it is (necessarily) as useful as
+history, and fully as entertaining as romance."--_Sun._
+
+
+THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES I.
+
+By I. DISRAELI.
+
+A NEW EDITION. REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, AND EDITED BY HIS SON, THE RT.
+HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P.
+
+2 vols., 8vo, uniform with the "Curiosities of Literature," 28s. bound.
+
+"By far the most important work on the important age of Charles I. that
+modern times have produced."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF HORACE WALPOLE
+AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES,
+
+INCLUDING NUMEROUS ORIGINAL LETTERS, FROM STRAWBERRY HILL.
+
+EDITED BY
+ELIOT WARBURTON.
+
+2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, 16s. bound.
+
+Perhaps no name of modern times is productive of so many pleasant
+associations as that of "Horace Walpole," and certainly no name was ever
+more intimately connected with so many different subjects of importance
+in connexion with Literature, Art, Fashion, and Politics. The position
+of various members of his family connecting Horace Walpole with the
+Cabinet, the Court, and the Legislature--his own intercourse with those
+characters who became remarkable for brilliant social and intellectual
+qualities--and his reputation as a Wit, a Scholar, and a Virtuoso,
+cannot fail to render his Memoirs equally amusing and instructive. They
+nearly complete the chain of mixed personal, political, and literary
+history, commencing with "Evelyn" and "Pepys," carried forward by
+"Swift's Journal and Correspondence," and ending almost in our own day
+with the histories of Mr. Macaulay and Lord Mahon.
+
+"These Memoirs form a necessary addition to the library of every English
+gentleman. Besides its historical value, which is very considerable, the
+work cannot be estimated too highly as a book of mere
+amusement."--_Standard._
+
+
+MADAME PULSZKY'S MEMOIRS.
+
+Comprising Full and Interesting Details of
+THE LATE EVENTS IN HUNGARY.
+
+With an Historical Introduction by FRANCIS PULSZKY, late Under-Secretary
+of State to Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. 2 vols.,
+post 8vo, 21s bound.
+
+
+THE DIARIES AND CORRESPONDENCE OF THE
+EARLS OF CLARENDON AND ROCHESTER;
+
+Comprising important Particulars of the Revolution, &c.
+
+Published from the Original MSS. With Notes. 2 vols., with fine
+Portraits and Plates, bound, 1_l._ 11s. 6d.
+
+
+BURKE'S DICTIONARY OF THE
+EXTINCT, DORMANT, & ABEYANT PEERAGES
+OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND.
+
+Beautifully printed, in 1 vol. 8vo, containing 800 double-column pages,
+21s. bound.
+
+This work, formed on a plan precisely similar to that of Mr. Burke's
+popular Dictionary of the present Peerage and Baronetage, comprises
+those peerages which have been suspended or extinguished since the
+Conquest, particularising the members of each family in each generation,
+and bringing the lineage, in all possible cases, through either
+collaterals or females, down to existing houses. It connects, in many
+instances, the new with the old nobility, and it will in all cases show
+the cause which has influenced the revival of an extinct dignity in a
+new creation. It should be particularly noticed, that this new work
+appertains nearly as much to extant as to extinct persons of
+distinction; for though dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that whole
+families do.
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+1. Peerages of England extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c.,
+alphabetically, according to Surnames.
+
+2. Baronies by Writ--England--in abeyance, and still vested probably in
+existing heirs.
+
+3. Extinct and Abeyant Peerages of England, according to titles.
+
+4. Charters of Freedom--Magna Charta--Charter of Forests.
+
+5. Roll of Battel Abbey.
+
+6. Peerages of Ireland, extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c.,
+alphabetically, according to Surnames.
+
+7. Baronies by Writ--Ireland--in abeyance.
+
+8. Peerages of Ireland, extinct and abeyant, alphabetically, according
+to Titles.
+
+9. Peerages of Scotland, extinct by failure of issue, attainder, &c.,
+alphabetically, according to Surnames.
+
+10. Extinct Peerages of Scotland, alphabetically, according to Titles.
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF SCIPIO DE RICCI,
+LATE BISHOP OF PISTOIA AND PRATO;
+REFORMER OF CATHOLICISM IN TUSCANY.
+
+Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, 12s. bound.
+
+The leading feature of this important work is its application to the
+great question now at issue between our Protestant and Catholic
+fellow-subjects. It contains a complete _expose_ of the Romish Church
+Establishment during the eighteenth century, and of the abuses of the
+Jesuits throughout the greater part of Europe. Many particulars of the
+most thrilling kind are brought to light.
+
+
+MADAME CAMPAN'S MEMOIRS
+OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE.
+
+Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, price only 12s.--The same
+in French, 7s.
+
+"We have seldom perused so entertaining a work. It is as a mirror of the
+most splendid Court in Europe, at a time when the monarchy had not been
+shorn of any of its beams, that it is particularly worthy of
+attention."--_Chronicle._
+
+
+LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN LOCKE.
+
+By LORD KING. 2 vols. 16s.
+
+
+HISTORIC SCENES.
+
+By AGNES STRICKLAND.
+
+Author of "Lives of the Queens of England," &c. 1 vol., post 8vo,
+elegantly bound, with Portrait of the Author, 10s. 6d.
+
+"This attractive volume is replete with interest. Like Miss Strickland's
+former works, it will be found, we doubt not, in the hands of youthful
+branches of a family, as well as in those of their parents, to all and
+each of whom it cannot fail to be alike amusing and
+instructive."--_Britannia._
+
+
+LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES
+OF GREAT BRITAIN
+
+Now first published from the Originals, with Historical Notices.
+
+By MRS. EVERETT GREEN,
+Author of "Lives of the Princesses of England."
+
+Cheaper Edition, 3 vols., with Facsimile Autographs, &c., 15s. bound.
+
+
+GENERAL PEPE'S NARRATIVE
+OF THE WAR IN ITALY,
+FROM 1847 to 1850; INCLUDING THE SIEGE OF VENICE.
+
+Now first published from the original Italian Manuscript.
+
+Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound.
+
+"We predict that posterity will accept General Pepe as the historian of
+the great Italian movement of the nineteenth century. His work is worthy
+of all commendation."--_Standard._
+
+
+THE REV. R. MILMAN'S LIFE OF TASSO.
+
+Cheaper Edition in 2 vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound.
+
+"Mr. Milman's book has considerable merit. He has evidently, in his
+interesting biography of Tasso, undertaken a labour of love. His
+diligence has been great, his materials are copious and well-arranged,
+and his sketches of the poet's contemporaries form agreeable episodes in
+the narrative of Tasso's works and woes."--_Edinburgh Review._
+
+
+MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF
+SIR ROBERT MURRAY KEITH, K.B.,
+
+_Minister Plenipotentiary at the Courts of Dresden, Copenhagen, and
+Vienna, from 1769 to 1793; with Biographical Memoirs of_
+
+QUEEN CAROLINE MATILDA, SISTER OF GEORGE III.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, with Portraits, 21s. bound.
+
+"A large portion of this important and highly interesting work consists
+of letters, that we venture to say will bear a comparison for sterling
+wit, lively humour, entertaining gossip, piquant personal anecdotes, and
+brilliant pictures of social life, in its highest phases, both at home
+and abroad, with those of Horace Walpole himself."--_Court Journal._
+
+
+CAPTAIN CRAWFORD'S REMINISCENCES
+OF ADMIRALS SIR E. OWEN, SIR B. HALLOWELL CAREW,
+AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED COMMANDERS.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, with Portraits, 12s. bound.
+
+"A work which cannot fail of being popular in every portion of our
+sea-girt isle, and of being read with delight by all who feel interested
+in the right hand of our country--its Navy."--_Plymouth Herald._
+
+
+REVELATIONS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND.
+
+By M. COLMACHE,
+
+THE PRINCE'S PRIVATE SECRETARY.
+
+Second Edition, 1 volume, post 8vo, with Portrait, 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+"We have perused this work with extreme interest. It is a portrait of
+Talleyrand drawn by his own hand."--_Morning Post._
+
+"A more interesting work has not issued from the press for many years.
+It is in truth a complete Boswell sketch of the greatest diplomatist of
+the age."--_Sunday Times._
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE WAR IN GERMANY AND
+FRANCE IN 1813 & 1814.
+
+By Lieut.-Gen. the MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY, G.C.B., &c. &c., 21s.
+
+
+Now ready, VOLUME XI., price 5s., of
+
+M. A. THIERS' HISTORY OF FRANCE,
+FROM THE PERIOD OF THE CONSULATE IN 1800,
+TO THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.
+
+A SEQUEL TO HIS HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
+
+Having filled at different times the high offices of Minister of the
+Interior, of Finance, of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Council,
+M. Thiers has enjoyed facilities beyond the reach of every other
+biographer of Napoleon for procuring, from exclusive and authentic
+sources, the choicest materials for his present work. As guardian to the
+archives of the state, he had access to diplomatic papers and other
+documents of the highest importance, hitherto known only to a privileged
+few, and the publication of which cannot fail to produce a great
+sensation. From private sources, M. Thiers, it appears, has also derived
+much valuable information. Many interesting memoirs, diaries, and
+letters, all hitherto unpublished, and most of them destined for
+political reasons to remain so, have been placed at his disposal; while
+all the leading characters of the empire, who were alive when the author
+undertook the present history, have supplied him with a mass of
+incidents and anecdotes which have never before appeared in print, and
+the accuracy and value of which may be inferred from the fact of these
+parties having been themselves eye-witnesses of, or actors in, the great
+events of the period.
+
+*** To prevent disappointment, the public are requested to be particular
+in giving their orders for "COLBURN'S AUTHORISED TRANSLATION."
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS;
+
+FROM THE CONVENTION PARLIAMENT OF 1688-9, TO THE PASSING OF
+THE REFORM BILL IN 1832.
+
+By WM. CHARLES TOWNSEND, ESQ., M.A. 2 vols. 8vo, 12s. bound.
+
+"We have here a collection of biographical notices of all the Speakers
+who have presided during the hundred and forty-four years above defined,
+and of several Members of Parliament the most distinguished in that
+period. Much useful and curious information is scattered throughout the
+volumes."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+
+DIARY AND MEMOIRS OF SOPHIA DOROTHEA,
+CONSORT OF GEORGE I.
+
+Now first published from the Originals. Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., 8vo,
+with Portrait, 12s. bound.
+
+"A book of marvellous revelations, establishing beyond all doubt the
+perfect innocence of the beautiful, highly-gifted, and inhumanly-treated
+Sophia Dorothea."--_Naval and Military Gazette._
+
+
+LETTERS OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.
+
+Illustrative of Her Personal History.
+Edited, with an Historical Introduction and Notes,
+
+By AGNES STRICKLAND.
+
+Cheaper Edition, with numerous Additions, uniform with Miss Strickland's
+"Lives of the Queens of England." 2 vols., post 8vo, with Portrait, &c.,
+12s. bound.
+
+"The best collection of authentic memorials relative to the Queen of
+Scots that has ever appeared."--_Morning Chronicle._
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF MADEMOISELLE DE MONTPENSIER.
+
+Written by HERSELF. 3 vols., post 8vo, with Portrait.
+
+"One of the most delightful and deeply-interesting works we have read
+for a long time."--_Weekly Chronicle._
+
+
+LADY BLESSINGTON'S JOURNAL
+OF
+HER CONVERSATIONS WITH LORD BYRON.
+
+Cheaper Edition, in 8vo, embellished with Portraits of Lady Blessington
+and Lord Byron, price only 7s. bound.
+
+"The best thing that has been written on Lord Byron."--_Spectator._
+
+"Universally acknowledged to be delightful."--_Athenaeum._
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER,
+
+Being the Memoirs of EDWARD COSTELLO, of the Rifle Brigade, late Captain
+in the British Legion;
+
+Comprising Narratives of the Campaigns in the Peninsula under the Duke
+of Wellington, and the Civil War in Spain.
+
+New and Cheaper Edition, with Portrait of the Author, 3s. 6d. bound.
+
+
+ANECDOTES OF THE ARISTOCRACY,
+AND
+EPISODES IN ANCESTRAL STORY.
+
+By J. BERNARD BURKE, Esq.,
+
+Author of "The History of the Landed Gentry," "The Peerage and
+Baronetage," &c.
+
+SECOND AND CHEAPER EDITION, 2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound.
+
+"Mr. Burke has here given us the most curious incidents, the most
+stirring tales, and the most remarkable circumstances connected with the
+histories, public and private, of our noble houses and aristocratic
+families, and has put them into a shape which will preserve them in the
+library, and render them the favourite study of those who are interested
+in the romance of real life. These stories, with all the reality of
+established fact, read with as much spirit as the tales of Boccacio, and
+are as full of strange matter for reflection and
+amazement."--_Britannia._
+
+"We cannot estimate too highly the interest of Mr. Burke's entertaining
+and instructive work. For the curious nature of the details, the
+extraordinary anecdotes related, the strange scenes described, it would
+be difficult to find a parallel for it. It will be read by every
+one."--_Sunday Times._
+
+
+ROMANTIC RECORDS OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILIES.
+
+BEING THE SECOND SERIES OF "ANECDOTES OF THE ARISTOCRACY."
+
+By J. B. BURKE, Esq.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound.
+
+"From the copious materials afforded by the history of the English
+Aristocracy, Mr. Burke has made another and a most happy selection,
+adding a second wing to his interesting picture-gallery. Some of the
+most striking incidents on record in the annals of high and noble
+families are here presented to view."--_John Bull._
+
+
+MR. DISRAELI'S CONINGSBY.
+
+CHEAP STANDARD EDITION, WITH A NEW PREFACE.
+
+In 1 vol., with Portrait, 6s. bound.
+
+"We are glad to see that the finest work of Disraeli has been sent out
+in the same shape as those of Dickens, Bulwer, and other of our best
+novelists, at such a price as to place them within the reach of the most
+moderate means. 'Coningsby' has passed from the popularity of a season
+to an enduring reputation as a standard work. It is a valuable
+contribution to popular literature."--_Weekly Chronicle._
+
+
+WORKS OF LADY MORGAN.
+
+1. WOMAN AND HER MASTER. A History of the Female Sex from the earliest
+Period. 2 vols., 12s.
+
+2. THE BOOK OF THE BOUDOIR. 2 vols., 10s.
+
+3. LIFE AND TIMES OF SALVATOR ROSA. 2 vols., 12s.
+
+4. THE O'BRIENS AND THE O'FLAHERTYS. 4 vols., 14s.
+
+
+JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE,
+
+Comprising the Narrative of
+A THREE YEARS' CAPTIVITY IN JAPAN;
+
+With an Account of British Commercial Intercourse with that Country.
+
+By CAPTAIN GOLOWNIN.
+
+NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION. 2 vols. post 8vo, 10s. bound.
+
+"No European has been able, from personal observation and experience, to
+communicate a tenth part of the intelligence furnished by this
+writer."--_British Review._
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF THE
+TEN YEARS' VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY ROUND THE WORLD
+
+of H.M.S. "ADVENTURE" and "BEAGLE," under the command of Captains KING
+and FITZROY.
+
+Cheaper Edition. 2 large vols., 8vo, with Maps, Charts, and upwards of
+Sixty Illustrations, by Landseer, and other eminent Artists, bound,
+1_l_. 11s. 6d.
+
+
+ADVENTURES IN GEORGIA, CIRCASSIA, & RUSSIA.
+
+By Lieutenant-Colonel G. POULETT CAMERON, C.B., K.T.S., &c.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, bound, 12s.
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF A TWO YEARS' RESIDENCE AT NINEVEH;
+AND TRAVELS IN MESOPOTAMIA, ASSYRIA, AND SYRIA,
+
+With Remarks on the Chaldeans, Nestorians, Yezidees, &c.
+
+By the Rev. J. P. FLETCHER. Two vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound.
+
+
+TRAVELS IN ALGERIA.
+
+By VISCOUNT FEILDING and CAPTAIN KENNEDY.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, bound, 12s.
+
+
+NARRATIVE OF A VISIT TO THE
+COURTS OF VIENNA, CONSTANTINOPLE, ATHENS, NAPLES, &c. &c.
+
+By the MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY.
+
+8vo, with Portrait, bound, 10s. 6d.
+
+
+PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF TRAVELS IN
+BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, MEDIA, AND SCYTHIA.
+
+By the Hon. COLONEL KEPPEL (now Lord Albemarle).
+
+Third Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, with Portrait and Plates, 12s.
+
+
+TRAVELS IN KASHMERE, &c.
+
+By G. T. VIGNE, Esq., F.G.S. Cheaper Edition. 2 vols., 8vo, with a
+valuable Map, and 22 Illustrations, bound, 1_l_. 1s.
+
+
+GERMANY;
+
+ITS COURTS AND PEOPLE.
+
+BY THE AUTHOR OF "MILDRED VERNON."
+
+Second and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols. 8vo, 21s. bound.
+
+"An important, yet most amusing work, throwing much and richly-coloured
+light on matters with which every one desires to be informed. All the
+courts and people of Germany are passed in vivid review before us. The
+account of the Austrians, Magyars, and Croats, will be found especially
+interesting. In many of its lighter passages the work may bear a
+comparison with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's Letters."--_Morning
+Chronicle._
+
+
+LORD LINDSAY'S LETTERS ON THE HOLY LAND.
+
+FOURTH EDITION, Revised and Corrected, 1 vol., post 8vo, 6s. bound.
+
+"Lord Lindsay has felt and recorded what he saw with the wisdom of a
+philosopher, and the faith of an enlightened Christian."--_Quarterly
+Review._
+
+
+THE SPIRIT OF THE EAST.
+
+By D. URQUHART, Esq., M.P. 2 vols., 16s.
+
+
+SIR HENRY WARD'S ACCOUNT OF MEXICO,
+THE MINING COMPANIES, &c.
+
+2 vols., with Plates and Maps, 21s.
+
+
+THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS;
+
+OR,
+
+ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL.
+
+By ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq.
+
+NINTH AND CHEAPER EDITION, 1 vol., with numerous Illustrations, 10s. 6d.
+bound.
+
+
+HOCHELAGA;
+
+OR,
+
+ENGLAND IN THE NEW WORLD.
+
+Edited by ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq.,
+
+Author of "The Crescent and the Cross."
+
+FOURTH AND CHEAPER EDITION, 2 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 10s.
+6d. bound.
+
+"We recommend 'Hochelaga' most heartily, in case any of our readers may
+as yet be unacquainted with it."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+
+LIGHTS AND SHADES OF MILITARY LIFE.
+
+Edited by Lieut.-Gen. Sir CHARLES NAPIER, G.C.B., Commander-in-Chief in
+India, &c. 1 vol., 8vo, 10s. 6d. bound.
+
+"A narrative of stirring interest, which should be in the hands of every
+officer in her Majesty's service."--_Globe._
+
+
+SIR JAMES ALEXANDER'S ACADIE;
+
+OR, SEVEN YEARS' EXPLORATION IN CANADA, &c.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, 12s. bound.
+
+"Replete with valuable information on Canada for the English settler,
+the English soldier, and the English Government; with various charms of
+adventure and description for the desultory reader."--_Morning
+Chronicle._
+
+"No other writer on Canada can compare with the gallant author of the
+present volumes in the variety and interest of his narrative."--_John
+Bull._
+
+
+STORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR.
+
+A COMPANION VOLUME TO MR. GLEIG'S
+"STORY OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO."
+
+With six Portraits and Map, 5s. bound.
+
+"Every page of this work is fraught with undying interest. We needed
+such a book as this; one that could give to the rising generation of
+soldiers a clear notion of the events which led to the expulsion of the
+French from the Peninsular."--_United Service Gazette._
+
+
+LADY LISTER KAYE'S BRITISH HOMES
+AND FOREIGN WANDERINGS.
+
+2 vols., post 8vo, 10s. bound.
+
+"Unrivalled as these volumes are, considered as portfolios of
+aristocratic sketches, they are not less interesting on account of the
+romantic history with which the sketches are interwoven."--_John Bull._
+
+
+THE NEMESIS IN CHINA;
+
+COMPRISING A COMPLETE
+HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COUNTRY;
+
+From Notes of Captain W. H. HALL, R.N.
+
+1 vol., Plates, 6s. bound.
+
+"Capt. Hall's narrative of the services of the _Nemesis_ is full of
+interest, and will, we are sure, be valuable hereafter, as affording
+most curious materials for the history of steam navigation."--_Quarterly
+Review._
+
+"A work which will take its place beside that of Captain Cook."--_Weekly
+Chronicle._
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF A LADY DURING HER TRAVELS IN AFRICA.
+
+2 vols., 10s.
+
+
+POETICAL WORKS OF BARRY CORNWALL,
+
+Cheaper Edition, 6s.
+
+
+ZOOLOGICAL RECREATIONS.
+
+By W. J. BRODERIP, Esq., F.R.S.
+
+CHEAPER EDITION, 1 vol., post 8vo, 6s. bound.
+
+"We believe we do not exaggerate in saying that, since the publication
+of White's 'Natural History of Selborne,' and of the 'Introduction to
+Entomology,' by Kirby and Spence, no work in our language is better
+calculated than the 'Zoological Recreations' to fulfil the avowed aim of
+its author--to furnish a hand-book which may cherish or awaken a love
+for natural history."--_Quarterly Review._
+
+
+THE WANDERER IN ITALY, SWITZERLAND,
+FRANCE, AND SPAIN.
+
+By T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE, Esq. 1 vol., 6s. bound.
+
+
+ADVENTURES OF A GREEK LADY,
+The Adopted Daughter of the late Queen Caroline.
+
+WRITTEN BY HERSELF,
+
+2 volumes, post 8vo, price 12s. bound.
+
+
+
+
+POPULAR WORKS OF FICTION.
+
+
+MERKLAND. By the Author of "MARGARET MAITLAND." 3 v., 31s. 6d.
+
+PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF MRS. MARGARET MAITLAND, OF SUNNYSIDE. Written by
+HERSELF. New and Cheaper Edition. 1 v., 10s. 6d.
+
+MR. WARBURTON'S REGINALD HASTINGS. Third and Cheaper Edition. 1 v., 10s.
+6d.
+
+NATHALIE. By JULIA KAVANAGH, Author of "Woman in France," 3 v., 15s.
+
+FALKLAND. By Sir E. BULWER LYTTON. 1 v., 5s.
+
+VIOLET; OR, THE DANSEUSE. 2 v., 10s.
+
+ANNE DYSART; OR, THE SCOTCH MINISTER'S DAUGHTER. 3 v., 15s.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes.
+
+'_' is used to denote italicised text. '#' is used to denote text in
+black letter font.
+
+Punctuation, hyphenation, capitalisation and accenting of common words
+has been corrected without note here.
+
+Variant spelling of some proper names has not been corrected, e.g.
+Staremberg, Stahremburg, Starhemburg.
+
+The following typographical errors in the main text have been corrected:
+
+Page Corrected text (error in original)
+
+vi   250-323 (350-323)
+25   sermons to Shakspeare's text of (Skakspeare's)
+47   whether further adjournment may not be thought right, (adjourment)
+48   finished the examination of the physicians (physicans)
+84   2nd of January, 1789, Mr. Cornwall, (1799)
+104  Prince's aides-de-camp you will have seen (aides-de-camps)
+214  LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM. July 2nd, 1792. (1798)
+290  intimate concert between his Court (betweent)
+311  impossible as to make the Prussians act. (Prusians)
+346  give some sort of account (some some)
+369  expediency for Lord Hobart's recal, (Hobart'a)
+387  selected as a much more striking instance (strking)
+407  indictable, till this new offence (ndictable)
+419  more difficult task to accomplish (acccomplish)
+
+Typographical errors in the advertising section have been corrected
+without note.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of
+George the Third, Volume 2 (of 2), by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
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