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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Bought with the income
of the
ALFRED E. PERKINS FUND

WRAXALL'S

HISTORICAL AND POSTHUMOUS

MEMOIRS.

VOL. II.

BALl-ANTYNE. hA-NSON AND CO.
EDINBURGH AND LONDON

CZj^r^^^^J:^.

THE

HISTORICAL AND THE POSTHUMOUS

emoir0

OF

^tr ^atljantel William Wraj:aU
1 772-1 784

EDITED, WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS
FROM THE A UTHOR'S UNPUBLISHED MS.

HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.
WITH NUMEROUS PORTRAITS
IN FIVE VOLUMES
VOL. II.

LONDON
BICe-ERS & SON, LEICESTER SQUARE
1884

LIST OF PORTRAITS IN VOL. II.

MRS. THRALE

DR. JOHNSON

EDWARD GIBBON

Frontispiece
. page 237

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m\m^,^mm^m^

u

S

i^^^j^^^m

^^^^

HISTORICAL MEMOIRS

OF

MY OWN TIME.

PJIRT THE SECOND.
(Continued.)
FTER having surveyed the members of
the Cabinet and the principal parlia
mentary characters on the Ministerial side
of the House of Commons, it is natural
to proceed to the great individuals who
composed the Opposition in that assembly. Mr.
Fox,^ from the union of birth, connections, talents,
and eloquence which met in his person, had become,
in the beginning of 1781, confessedly without any
competitor their leader. Having attained his thirty-
second year, he united all the ardour of youth to
^ Charles Fox was third son of Henry Fox, first Lord Holland, and
of Lady Georgiana Lennox, eldest daughter of the second Duke of
Richmond. He was born in 1749 and died 13th September 1806. — D.
VOL. IL fv. A, A

2 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the experience acquired in maturer life. It was
impossible to contemplate the lineaments of his
countenance without instantly perceiving the marks
of genius. His features, in themselves dark, harsh,
and saturnine, like those of Charles 1 1., from whoni
he descended in the maternal line, derived a sort of
majesty from the addition of two black and shaggy
eyebrows, which sometimes concealed, but more fre
quently developed, the workings of his mind. Even
these features, however, did not readily assume the
expression of anger or of enmity. They frequently
and naturally relaxed into a smile, the effect of
which became irresistible, because it appeared to be
the index of a benevolent and complacent disposi
tion. His figure, broad, heavy, and inclined to cor
pulency, appeared destitute of elegance or grace,
except the portion conferred on it by the emanations
of intellect, which at times diffused over his whole
person, when he was speaking, the most impassioned
animation. In his dress, which had constituted an
object of his attention earlier in life, he had then
become negligent to a degree not altogether excus
able in a man whose very errors or defects produced
admirers and imitators. At five-and-twenty I have
seen him apparelled en petit mattre, with a hat and
feather, even in the House of Commons;^ but in
1 78 1 he constantly, or at least usually, wore in that
assembly a blue frock-coat and a buff waistcoat,
neither of which seemed in general new, and some
times appeared to be threadbare. Nor ought it to
be forgotten that these colours, like the white rose
formerly worn by the adherents of the family of
Stuart, or the Corsican violet of more modern
times, then constituted the distinguishing badge or
^ He and Lord Carlisle wore les talons rouges (or shoes with red
heels), the distinguishing mark of the privileged orders at Versailles.
— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 3
uniform of Washington and the American insur
gents.^ In this dress he took his seat, not upon the
front Opposition bench, but on the third row be
hind, close to a pillar supporting the gallery, and
near to the Speaker's chair. It was not till 1782,
or rather till the beginning of 1783, that, with Lord
North by his side, he began to sit on the Opposi
tion bench, technically so denominated in ordinary
language. I am sensible that these minute par
ticulars are in themselves unimportant, but they
nevertheless approximate and identify the object ;
and that object is Mr. Fox.
His paternal descent was not illustrious, nor was
the elevation of his family sufficiently ancient to
shed over it that genealogical respect to be derived
from the lapse of time. Collins, indeed, very equi
vocally observes in his " Peerage," when treating of
the barony of Holland, that " there were Foxes in
England before the Norman conquest." But I have
always understood that his grandfather, who rose
by his abilities to very considerable eminence, and
was knighted by the name of Sir Stephen Fox,^ as
well as raised to the dignity of a Privy Councillor,
had been a chorister boy in the Cathedral of Salis-
^ The colours are still seen on the cover of the "Edinburgh Review."
— D.
^ Mr. Stephen Fox, Paymaster of the Forces, is spoken of by Pepys
in 1660 as a fine gentleman. Pepys knew his wife " when she was a
maid, Mrs. Whittle," and gave her "a gilt tankard" after she became
Mrs. Fox. Her husband was knighted in 1665. Pepys speaks of the
pleasant mystery by which Sir Stephen contrived to make a consider
able income by King and army at a time when the officers were four
years in arrear. Sir Stephen, too, could give warrants for the delivery
of bucks out of Hampton Court, as he did to Pepys when the latter
was about to give a dinner. If Pepys valued the knight's friendship,
he did not care for his anger on matters of business. Evelyn's Diary
may also be consulted for notices of Sir Stephen. Of the latter
he says, when Chelsea Hospital was about being established, " Sir
Stephen had not only the whole managing of this, but was, as I per
ceived, himself to be a grand benefactor, as well it became him, who
had gotten so vast an estate by the soldiers." He was not the last
of the family who thus coined wealth. — D.

4 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
bury when, in 165 1, he accompanied Lord Wu-
mot to France after the defeat of Charles IL at
the battle of Worcester. I have heard it asserted
that their names were originally Palafox, that they
formed a branch of that noble Aragonese family
so distinguished in the present age by the glorious
defence of Saragossa, and that they first came into
this country in 1588, when one of the Spanish
Armada being stranded on our coast, the survivors,
among whom was a Palafox, settled in England.
I have, however, always regarded this story as a
mere fable. Sir Stephen Fox, towards the end of
a long life, during which he made great advances to
honours and dignities, having married, became at
seventy-five years of age the father of two sons
born at the same birth. These twins were both in
process of time elevated to the peerage, a fact which
had antecedently been realised to a certain degree
in the Cecil, as well as in the Herbert family, under
James I. Charles I. again exhibited it in the house
of Rich, and we have since seen it exemplified in
the families of Walpole, of Percy, of Hood, of
Wellesley, and various others.
While the elder son of Sir Stephen Fox was
created Earl of Ilchester by George II., the
youngest, Henry, acquired a barony in the begin
ning of the present reign by the title of Lord
Holland.^ He was a man of eminent attainments,
possessing a classic mind, cultivated by study,'
adorned by travel, and illuminated by a taste for
poetry, as well as all the elegant arts. But he is
better known in the political history of the late
reign, where he performed a principal part in the
Ministerial ranks no less than in the parliamentary
* Henry Fox was created Baron Holland (of Foxley, co. Wilts)'
in 1763, his wife having been previously created Ladv Holland (of ¦
Holland, CO. Lincoln). He died 1st July 1774. — Ed. ' !

OF MY OWN TIME. 5
annals, till he sunk under the superior ascendant sus
tained by the irresistible eloquence of the first Earl
of Chatham, as Antony's genius is said to have been
rebuked under that of Augustus. Of immeasurable
ambition and equally insatiable of wealth. Lord Hol
land was enabled, by possessing the lucrative post
of Paymaster of the Forces, which he held during
several years in time of war, and subsequent to the
peace of Fontainbleau down to. 1765, to accumulate
an immense fortune. It was not, however, attained
without great unpopularity and obloquy, which ac
companied him to the grave, and exposed him to
much, perhaps to unmerited, abuse or accusation.
His moral character did not indeed stand as high
in the national estimation, either in a public or in a
private point of view, as did his abilities ; but he
cemented the greatness of his family by allying
himself in marriage with the ducal house of Lennox.
Of his three sons, Lord Holland early perceived
the extraordinary talents which nature had con
ferred on the second ; ^ and, in anticipation of that
son's political elevation, exhausted on his education
every effort which might expand or mature his
capacity. But he adopted a vicious principle in
ordering that the boy should neither be contra
dicted nor punished for almost any acts in his
power to commit of puerile misconduct or indis
cretion. " Let nothing be done to break his spirit,"
said Lord Holland ; " the world will effect that
business soon enough." When he made the tour
of France and Italy, he was accompanied by a
gentleman of eminent parts, Mr. George Macart
ney, who afterwards, towards the close of a life
passed in the public service, attained himself in his
own person to the peerage.^ We may see in the
'^ Third. Stephen, Henry, Charles James, and Henry Edward were
the sons (in order of birth) of the first Lord Holland. The second
son, however, died young. — D.
2 Afterwards Earl Macartney. See ante, vol. i. p. 404.- Ed.

6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
letters of Madame du Deffand to Horace Walpole the
species of impression which Mr. Fox's endowments
and the sallies of his juvenile impetuosity made on
the minds of the Parisians. They seem to have
considered him as a sort of phenomenon, which
dazzled and astonished more than it pleased or
delighted them. Before he attained the age at
which he could constitutionally vote, though he
might speak in Parliament, his father procured
him a seat in the House of Commons ;^ and his
talents, aided by his connections, placed him, to
wards the close of 1772, on the Ministerial bench
as a member of the Board of Treasury. He occu
pied the situation about two years.
This early association to Lord North's Admini-^-
stration might nevertheless be considered as an
unfortunate circumstance in its results, since it
involved him in the unpopularity attached to
various measures then adopted by the Govern
ment, which led to a rupture with America. That
even previous to his attainment of office he was
regarded by the enemies of Administration as a
partisan of Ministry in training for future desperate
service is evident from the manner in which
"Junius" speaks of him. Writing to the Duke of
Grafton in June 1771, he says, "In vain would he
(the King) have looked round him for another
character so consummate as yours. Lord Mans
field shrinks from his principles. His ideas of
gdvernment perhaps go farther than your own,
but his heart disgraces the theory of his under
standing. Charles Fox is yet in blossom; and as
for Mr. Wedderburn, there is something about him
which even treachery cannot trust." These Mini
sterial fetters did not, however, long detain him in
parliamentary bondage. The sarcastic mode of
1 Elected for Midhurst, Surrey, 22d March 1768.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 7
expression chosen by Lord North to communicate
Mr. Fox's dismission from the Treasury Board is
well known. " His Majesty," observed the First
Minister to some persons near him, "has named
new Commissioners of the Treasury, among whom
I do not see the name of the Hon. Charles James
Fox."^ From that period, having enlisted under
the banners of Opposition, and being aided by the
errors or misfortunes of the American war, he
attained, in the course of about six years, to the
highest eminence among the formidable body of
men who then opposed the measures of the Crown.
Pleasures of every description, to which his con
stitution or inclinations impelled him, divided with
political pursuits the early portion of his life, some of
which, if fame reported truly, might have furnished
matter for a new " Atalantis." ^ It may be curious,
nevertheless, for those persons who only remember
him either as a leading member of the minority or in
office as Minister to contemplate Mr. Fox when at
the head of the ton, who were then denominated
"Macaronis." The author of the "Heroic Epistle to
Sir William Chambers," published, I believe, early
in 1773, describes or produces Fox under that cha
racter. After enumerating the Asiatic diversions
supposed to be exhibited for the amusement of the
British sovereign, he thus concludes — I cite from
memory : —
" But hark ! the shouts of battle sound from far !
The Jews and Macaronis are at war.
The Jews prevail, and thund'ring from the stocks.
The seize, they bind, they circumcise Charles Fox.
Fair Schwellenbergen smiles the sport to see.
And all the maids of honour cry 'Te-he.'"

' It was nearly in these words that Lord North communicated to
Fox himself his dismission. — Ed.
2 Mrs. De la Riviere Manley's satirical work, directed against the
Whigs in the reign of William III., and entitled "The New Ata
lantis."— Ed.

8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Neither the pleasures of refined nor of licentious
love, nor the social conviviality of the table, although
he might occasionally indulge in each of those grati
fications, constituted, however, his predominant pas
sion. All his inclinations from a very early age,
seemed to be concentrated in a more fatal attach
ment to play. In the prosecution of that propen
sity he had squandered prodigious sums before his
father's decease, with which Lord Holland's pater
nal fondness furnished him. To the same pursuit,
or rather rage, he subsequently sacrificed a sinecure
place of ;^20oo a year for life, the Clerkship of the
Pells in Ireland, of which he came into possession
by the demise of his elder brother, Stephen, the
second Lord Holland, in December 1774. After
holding it scarcely ten months, he sold it to Mr.
Charles Jenkinson, since better known as Earl of
Liverpool. He disposed in a similar manner of a
fine estate and a magnificent house ^ situated at
Kingsgate in the Isle of Thanet, which Lord Hol
land had embellished with classic taste, at an ex
pense that could only have been furnished by a
Paymaster of the Forces. On a bleak promontory,
the North Foreland, projecting into the German
Ocean, destitute of a single tree, and perpetually
swept by violent east winds, but rendered memor
able in British history as the spot where Hengist
and Horsa landed, that nobleman constructed a
splendid villa worthy of LucuUus. A colonnade,
^ The house still exists. Gray wrote an impromptu poem in 1766
on this place, which commences with these severe lines : —
" Old and abandoned by each venal friend,
Here Holland formed the pious resolution
To snuggle a few years, and strive to mend
A broken character and constitution.
" On this congenial spot he fixed his choice ;
Earl Goodwin trembled for his neighbouring sand ;
Here seagulls scream and cormorants rejoice,
And mariners, though shipwrecked, dread to land."
—Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 9
such as Ictinus might have raised by order of
Pericles, extended in front of the edifice, which has
since been demolished. This superb retreat, be
queathed him by his father, in consequence of Fox's
infatuation to the gaming-table, speedily passed into
the possession of Powell, who had been cashier in the
Pay master- General's office under Lord Holland, and
who subsequently finished so tragically his career.^
We must confess that these scandalous irregularities
of conduct, or rather vices of character, remind us
more of Timon and of Alcibiades than of Pericles
or Demosthenes.
Fox was not one of those dupes who never un
derstand the principles of any game. He played ad
mirably both at whist and at picquet, with such skill
indeed, that by the general admission of Brookes's
Club he might have made ;^4ooo a year, as they
calculated, at those games, if he would have confined
himself to them. But his misfortune arose from
playing at games of chance, particularly at faro.
After eating and drinking plentifully, he sat down
to the faro-table, and inevitably rose a loser. Only
once he won about ^8000 in the course of a single
evening. Part of the money he paid away to his
creditors, and the remainder he lost again almost
immediately in the same manner. The late Mr.
Boothby, so well known during many years in the
first walks of fashion and dissipation, himself an
irreclaimable gamester and an intimate friend of
Fox, yet appreciated him with much severity though
with equal truth. " Charles," observed he, " is un
questionably a man of first-rate talents, but so
deficient in judgment as never to have succeeded in

1 Powell was dismissed in 1782 by Colonel Barrd for a deficiency in
his accounts of £'jo,ooo. Burke on coming into office restored him,
but was called to account for his action in the House of Commons. A
few days after Burke had made an explanation, Powell committed
suicide. — Ed.

IO HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
any object during his whole life. _He loved only
three things, women, play, and politics. Yet at no
period did he ever form a creditable connection
with a woman.' He lost his whole fortune at the
gaming-table; and with the exception of about
eleven months of his life, he has remained always m
Opposition." It is difficult to dispute the justice of
this portrait. Perhaps we might add to Boothby s
picture, that towards the close of his career Fox
emulated the distinction of an historian, in the pur
suit of which object he exerted laborious efforts,
and with a view to facilitate or to attain it, he
appears principally to have undertaken his journey
to Paris in 1802. Whether he succeeded better
than in the former attempts, posterity will deter
mine, but he would certainly have attained a more
elevated place in the temple of history by imitating
the line of Xenophon or of Sallust, who commemo
rated the transactions of their own times, than by
taking for his subject the reign of James II.
The first Loird Holland died when his son Charles
was about twenty-four, and before he attained his
thirtieth year he had completely dissipated every
shilling that he could either command or could pro
cure by the most ruinous expedients. He had
even undergone at times many of the severest pri
vations annexed to the vicissitudes that mark a
gamester's progress, frequently wanting money to
defray his common diurnal wants of the most press^
ing nature. Topham Beauclerk,^ a man of high
> He preferred Mrs. (now Lady) Crewe to all women living, but
Lady Crewe never lost an atom of character — I mean female honour.
She loved high play and dissipation, but was no sensualist. — P.
A contemporary annotating this passage writes : " I dined in early
life in company with a natural son of Mr. Fox, who was deaf and
dumb. He bore the strongest possible resemblance to his father, and
was extremely lively and quick of apprehension. He was under the
care of a gentleman (I think) at Hackney, who taught persons thus
unfortunate. Young Fox died shortly after." — Ed.
* Topham Beauclerk, only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk, third son

OF MY OWN TIME. ii
birth, of pleasure, and of letters, who lived much in
Fox's society at that period of his life, used to affirm
that no person could form an idea of the extremities
to which he had been driven in order to raise money
after losing his last guinea at the faro-table. He
has been reduced for successive days to such dis
tress as to be under the necessity of having recourse
to the waiters at Brookes's Club to lend him assis
tance. The very chairmen whom he was unable to
pay used to dun him for their arrears. All dignity
of character and independence of mind must have
been lost amidst these scenes of ruinous dissipation.
In 1 78 1 he might be considered as an extinct
volcano,' for the pecuniary aliment that fed the
flame was long consumed. He never indeed affected
or attempted to conceal the state of poverty into
which his passion for play had plunged him. Even
on his legs in the House of Commons I have heard
him frequently allude to it. When Lord Holland,
his father's accounts as Paymaster of the Forces
were brought in some measure before the view of
Parliament during the session of 1781, Fox ob
served that, as one of the executors of that deceased
nobleman, he lamented the inability under which
his nephew lay to make any transfer of property
while those accounts remained unsettled. " Per-
haps,'' added he, " I have not myself any more estates
to sell, but I nevertheless feel for the persons who
have purchased of me the landed property be
queathed me under my father's will, the titles to
of Charles, first Duke of St. Alban's, and therefore great-grandson of
Charles II., was born December 1739. He married Lady Diana
Spencer, the divorced wife of Frederick, second Viscount Boling
broke, in 1768, and died nth March 1780. He will be best known
to general readers from his appearance in " Boswell " as the friend of
Dr. Johnson. — Ed.
^ A gentleman inquired of Wilkes how it was that he was so silent
during all the violent discussion at the commencement of the French
Revolution. He replied, " I am a volcano burnt out." This reminds
one of Lord Beaconsfield's brilliant description of the extinct volcanoes
on the Treasurv bench. — Ed.

12 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
which must always remain in a certain degree pre
carious while his executors have not obtained a
quietus from the Exchequer."
Only a few days later in the same session, on the
1 2th of June 1781, Lord George Germain having
asserted in the course of his speech that " Ministers
had some property to lose as well as the gentlemen
on the other side of the House, and in ruining their
country, as they were accused of doing, they must
involve themselves personally in destruction," Fox
answered, " // is well known that I have no stake to
lose, but that circumstance will not abate my zeal
for the public welfare." Rigby, who probably began
already to foresee the termination of Lord North's
Administration as rapidly approaching, if not im
minent, paid Fox many compliments on the occa
sion. " The honourable gentleman," said Rigby,
" represents himself as an insignificant person, pos
sessing no property and having no stake in the
country. No man, in my opinion, possesses a more
important stake. His talents, his connections, and
his prospects constitute a far more valuable posses
sion than a rent-roll of many thousands. He is an
honour to his country, which feels a corresponding
public interest in him." These flattering expres
sions, though received by Fox with urbanity, he did
not the less disclaim in his reply. At the time of
which I speak Fox occupied a house or lodgings
in St. James's Street, close to the club at Brookes's,
where he passed almost every hour which was not
devoted to the House of Commons, and during
Lord North's Administration Parliament usually
remained sitting, with short adjournments, from
November till July. That club might then be con
sidered as the rallying-point and rendezvous of the
Opposition, where, while faro, whist, and suppers
prolonged the night, the principal members of the
minority in both Houses met in order to compare

OF MY OWN TIME. 13
their information or to concert and mature their
parliamentary measures.
It must not, however, be imagined that either
Fox or the club that he frequented could altogether
escape some severe animadversions on the part of
men who contemplated both the one and the other
as objects of moral reprobation. I recollect that
during the session of 1781, Mansfield,' then Solici
tor-General, having brought a bill into the House of
Commons for the prevention of certain abuses prac
tised on the Sunday, Martin, member for Tewkes
bury,^ one of the most conscientious and honest men
who ever sat in Parliament, while he highly com
mended it, expressed his concern that "the gaming
houses which were open every Sunday in the imme
diate vicinity of St. James's Palace had not attracted
the notice of the learned framer of the bill. I am
astonished," added he, " how men who pass their
whole time in a continued round of offence to mora
lity can reconcile it to their consciences to come down
to this assembly and here make laws for the suppres
sion of similar or even smaller violations of decency
among their inferiors in rank and fortune." No
notice whatever being taken of these remarks,
Martin, in a subsequent stage of the bill, spoke out
in still bolder language when Fox was present. He
called on the Solicitor-General to answer why those
abominable nurseries of gambling in St. James's
Street were not suppressed. " They are," con
tinued he, "the bane of our young men of rank,
who, becoming first necessitous, lie open to the
seductions of a Minister whose pernicious measures
can only be sustained by corruption." Then desig
nating Fox in colours too accurate to be mistaken,
he admitted that there might be some shining excep-
^ James Mansfield. See ante, vol. i. p. 425. — Ed.
2 James Martin. — Ed.

14 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tions to this depravity. " But," added he, " even if
there are any individuals of pre-eminent abilities in
this House who might be the scourge and the terror
of any bad Administration, I trust that^ the learned
gentleman, who is himself a representative of one of
the two Universities, will not the less exert his best
endeavours to extinguish so crying and so destruc
tive an evil."
These sentiments were re-echoed, though in less
pointed terms, from other parts of the House. In
answer, the Solicitor- General observed, that "no
country in Europe could boast of better laws against
gaming than were to be found in our statute books,
but that if men of rank and distinction were deter
mined to commit crimes, which from their nature
must be perpetrated in private, no law could thor
oughly reach the evil." Fox not making any reply,
though the allusions to himself were palpable, Sheri
dan rose, and with great address turned aside the
weapon of which he could not altogether blunt the
point. Unwilling to offend Martin, who generally
voted with Opposition, Sheridan directed his attack
against the Administration. " I trust," said he, " that
the learned gentleman who presents himsdlf to
the House on this day in the double capacity of
a Cato and a Petronius, at once the censor morum
and the arbiter elegantiarum of the age, will turn
his attention towards the suppression of a species of
gaming more destructive to morals than any other,
and which is nevertheless patronised by the Legis
lature. I mean lotteries, which, by suspending all
the pursuits of industry, introduce among the lower
orders of people every species of depravity. This
would constitute indeed an object worthy of his
exertion." Mansfield was in his turn silent, and the
debate took a new turn. Unquestionably the club
at White's, as well as at Brookes's, was designated

OF MY OWN TIME. 15
by Martin when he denounced the evil itself, as he
spoke in the plural number. But no member of the
Cabinet being accused of a passion for the gaming
table, though more than one among them frequented
White's, the blow fell heavily on Fox, Fitzpatrick,
Burgoyne, and their associates, while it scarcely
glanced on Ministers.
Nature, besides the extraordinary endowments of
mind which she conferred on Fox, had given him
likewise a constitution originally capable of pro
digious exertion. But he had already impaired his
bodily powers by every variety of excess, added to
the most violent mental agitations. These acts of
imprudence had produced their inevitable conse
quences, though for some time counteracted by
youth or obviated by medical aid. As early as
1 781 Mr. Fox was already attacked with frequent
complaints of the stomach and bowels, attended by
acute pain, to moderate the symptoms of which he
usually had recourse to laudanum. The strongest
frame must indeed have sunk under such physical
and moral exhaustion if he had allowed himself no
interval of relaxation or repose. But, happily, his
passion for some of the amusements and sports of
the country almost rivalled his attachment to the
gaming-table. No sooner had the shooting season
cornmenced than he constantly repaired to Norfolk.
Lord Robert Spencer ' generally accompanied him,
and after visiting various friends they sometimes
hired a small house in the town of Thetford, rose at
an early hour, and passed the whole day with a
fowling-piece in their hands, among coveys of par
tridges and pheasants, for successive weeks during
the autumn.^ The salutary occupation never failed
1 Son of Charles, fifth Earl of Sunderland and third Duke of Marl
borough, and brother of Lady Di. Beauclerc. He died in 1831. — Ed.
^ On one occasion he is said to have met with a serious accident
from the bursting of his fowling-piece. — Ed.

1 6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of restoring the health that he had lost in St. James s
Street and in the House of Commons.
Nor did the rage for play ever engross his whole
mind or wholly absorb his faculties. Nature had
implanted in his bosom many elevated inclinations,
which, though overpowered and oppressed for a
time, yet as he advanced in life continually acquired
strength. If ambition formed the first, the love of
letters constituted the second of these passions.
When he contemplated the extent of his own par
liamentary talents, and compared them with those
of Lord North, or of every other individual in either
House, it was impossible for him not to perceive the
moral certainty of his attaining by perseverance, in
the course of a few years, almost any public situa^
tion to which he might aspire. In the possession^
and enjoyment of power he necessarily anticipated
the recovery of that independence which he had
sacrificed at the gaming-table, as well as the means
of recompensing the zealous friendship or devotion
of his numerous adherents.
No man in public life ever possessed more de
termined friends or exercised over them a more
unbounded influence, though he was by no means
as tractable and amenable to reason or to entreatyj
on many occasions as the apparent suavity of his^
disposition seemed to indicate. Even interest could
not always bend him to a compliance with the dic
tates of his judgment, nor expostulation induce him
to pay the most ordinary attention to persons who
had materially served him. In 1784, at the elec
tion of a member for Westminster, which was very
obstinately contested, Horace Walpole, afterwards
Earl of Orford, whose age and delicate health pre
vented him from almost ever leaving his own house,
yet submitted to be carried in a sedan-chair from
Berkeley Square to the hustings in Covent Garden

OF MY OWN TIME. 17
to vote for him. But no remonstrances could pre
vail on Fox to leave his name at Mr. Walpole's
door, though he passed it continually in his morn
ing walks. Hare himself, who was one of his most
favoured associates, vainly exerted every effort to
make him say a few civil words to a lady of quality,
the late Mrs. Hobart, afterwards Albinia, Countess
of Buckinghamshire, by whom he was seated at
supper in a great public company met at Mrs.
Crewe's expressly to celebrate the success of his
election. That lady, as he knew, had contributed
by every means in her power to his success, and as
her reward only aspired to attract his notice or
attention for a few minutes. He turned his back
on her and would not utter a syllable. Hurt at
Fox's neglect. Hare,' who sat nearly opposite to
him, and who was accustomed to treat him with the
utmost freedom, took out a pencil, wrote three lines,
and pushed the paper across the table to his friend.
The lines I shall not transcribe, as they were too
energetic, or rather coarse, to allow of their inser
tion ; but they abjured Fox (in language as strong
as Maecenas used to Ausfustus when he wrote to
the Emperor, " Siste tandem, Carnifex ! ") to turn
himself round towards the lady in question. He
calmly perused the billet, and then, having torn it in
small pieces, which he placed on the table, without
appearing to pay any attention to Hare, he turned his
back, if'possible, still more decidedly on the person in
whose behalf the expostulation was written. These
facts were related to me by a great nobleman, a
friend of Fox, who was present on the occasion.
1 James Hare, son of an apothecary at Winchester, and grandson of
Bishop Hare. At Eton he was a contemporary of Fox, with whom
he remained in close intimacy through life. He was famous for wit
in a brilliant circle, and his company was so much courted that the
Duchess of Gordon described him and his associates as the " Hare
and many friends." He died at Bath on the 17th March 1804. — Ed.
VOL. II. P

i8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
If ever an individuaLexisted in this country who
from his natural bias would have inclined to maintain
in their fullest extent all the just prerogatives of
the Crown, and who would have restrained within
due limits every attempt on the part of the people
to diminish its constitutional influence, we may assert
that Fox was the man. The principles of his early edlir
cation, the example and exhortations of his father —
for whom he always preserved an affectionate rever
ence which constituted a most pleasing feature of
his character — his first political connections, all led
him to the foot of the throne. He had tasted the
comforts of office under Lord North, and his very
wants rendered indispensable to him a return tOj
power. Nor, whatever moral disapprobation hisj
private irregularities unquestionably excited in the;
breast of a sovereign whose whole life was exempt
from any breach of decency or decorum, could thosej
defects of conduct have formed any insurmountable!
impediment to his attainment of the highest employ-i
ments. In point of fact, neither the Duke of Graftonj|
whom "Junius" stigmatises as a "libertine by pro-l
fession," nor the Earls of Rochford and Sandwich,
nor Lord Weymouth, nor Lord Barrington, nor
Lord Thurlow had been distinguished by sanctity
of manners, though they had all occupied the firstJ
situations in the state. Sir Francis Dashwood, who|
afterwards became premier baron of England under
the title of Lord Le Despenser,' and whom Lord Butej
made Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1 762, for his;i
skill, as Wilkes asserted, in casting up tavern bills,
far exceeded in licentiousness of conduct any model
exhibited since Charles II. He had founded a
club or society, towards the end of George I I.'s
reign, denominated, from his own name, " The
^ Sir Francis Dashwood obtained a confirmation of the barony of
Despenser in 1763. He died in 1781. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 19
Franciscans," who, to the number of twelve, met at
Medmenham Abbey, near Marlow in Bucks, on the
banks of the Thames.' Wilkes was a member of
this unholy fraternity, of which he makes mention
in his letter to Earl Temple, written from Bagshot
in September 1 762. Rites of a nature so subversive
of all decency, and calculated by an imitation of the
ceremonies and mysteries of the Roman Catholic
Church to render religion itself an object of con
tumely, were there celebrated, as cannot be re
flected on without astonishment and reprobation.
Sir Francis himself sometimes officiated as high
priest, habited in the dress of a Franciscan monk,
engaged in pouring a libation from a communion-
cup to the mysterious object of their homage.
Churchill, in his poem of " The Candidate," ^ has
drawn him under this character at Medmenham.
Immorality, or even profligacy, abstractly con
sidered, formed, therefore, it is evident, no insur
mountable bar to employment under George III.
Fox's error arose, if not wholly, yet principally,
from a different source. In the ardour of political
opposition, stimulated perhaps by domestic wants of
many kinds, finding himself so long excluded from
office, and conscious that he was become personally
obnoxious to the sovereign, not so much from his
irregularities, as by embracing the cause and the
defence of the King's revolted subjects beyond the
; Atlantic, Fox did not always confine himself within
a constitutional and temperate resistance to the
measures of the Crown. Mingling the spirit of fac-
i
1 The best account of these horrors, and the least gffensive, is in
" Chrysal ; or. The Adventures of a Guinea," written by Smollett.— P.
.Mrs. Piozzi is mistaken as to the authorship of "Chrysal," which work
Iwas written, not by Smollett, but by Charles Johnston. — Ed.
2 Written in 1764 on the contest between the Earls of Hardwicke
land Sandwich for the High Stewardship of the University of Cam-
' bridge, vacant by the death of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.— Ed.

20 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tion with the principles of party, while he appeareid
only to attack the Minister, he levelled many of his
severest insinuations or accusations at the Kingi
He consequently obstructed the attainment of the
object which lay within his grasp. As the American
war drew towards its termination, he observe(|
scarcely any measure in the condemnation which he
expressed for the authors of the contest.
When the new Parliament met on the first day of
November 1780, and it was proposed in the address
to the throne that the House of Commons should
acknowledge "the sole objects of the King's royal
care and concern were to promote the happiness of
his people," — words merely complimentary, — Fox,
rising in his place, exclaimed, " We are called on
to recognise the blessings of his Majesty's reign.
I cannot concur in such a vote, for I am not ac
quainted with those blessings. The present reigii
offers one uninterrupted series of disgrace, mis
fortune, and calamity." Only a few weeks after
wards, in January 1781, when the debate on the
Dutch war took place, "The reign of Charles II."
observed Mr. Fox, " who twice engaged in hostilities
with Holland, has been denominated an infamous
reign ; but the evils inflicted on this country by the
Stuarts were happily retrieved by the revolution,^
while the ills of the present reign admit of no
redress." He even proceeded to. draw a sort of
parallel, or rather contrast of the most invidioiis
description, between Catherine II. and George II|i
two sovereigns who, having ascended the thrones, of
Russia and of Great Britain nearly about the safi^
time, had exhibited an opposite line of conduct, t|
former empire rising under Catherine into eminent
while England, governed by George, sank into cd^
tempt. I recollect that towards the close of tfie
same session of Parliament, in June 1781, during

OF MY OWN TIME. 21
the progress of a debate which arose relative to the
payment into the Exchequer of the balances in the
hands of public accountants. Fox, who was well
aware of the obloquy under which his father's
memory lay as "the defaulter of unaccounted
millions," entered largely and warmly into his de
fence. The evil, he said, resulted from that most
unfortunate circumstance of his father's life, his ever
having been connected with Administration in the
commencement of the present reign. " Such," con
tinued Fox, " has uniformly been the impenetrable
mystery and the intricacy of Government throughout
this unfortunate reign, such has been the dark, per
plexed, and ambiguous system pursued by Minis
ters, that no person who contemplates it can pervade
the obscurity or pierce the clouds that invest their
measures. It is become impossible to distinguish
the real from the ostensible Minister. Hence the
guilty author of nefarious or ruinous measures
escapes without censure, while the detestation and
the disgrace fall upon the innocent." The House
was at no loss to guess at whom these reflections
were pointed.
In November 1779, he exceeded in severity of
language even the foregoing remarks, when he did
not hesitate to compare Henry VI. with George
III., and to assimilate their characters, qualities,
and the disgraces of their respective reigns as
affording the most complete resemblance. " Both,"
he observed, " owed the crown to revolutions, botli
were pious princes, and both lost the acquisitions of
their predecessor." The speeches of Fox breathed
a revolutionary spirit throughout the whole progress
of the American war. Smarting under such re
flections, the King began to consider the principles
and the doctrines of Fox as inseparably implicated
with rebellion. From that instant the splendour of

2 2 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
his talents only enhanced the magnitude of his
offence. His uncle, the Duke of Richmond, who
seemed to emulate the same distinction, and who
indulged himself in remarks equally severe on the
supposed interference of the Crown in perpetuating
the struggle, might find pardon in the mediocrity
of his abilities, but Fox's fault necessarily inspired
deeper feelings of resentment, and may be said
to have eminently contributed to the misfortunes of
his political life.
Amidst the wildest excesses of youth, even while^
he was the perpetual victim of his passion for play,'
his elegant mind eagerly cultivated at intervals a
taste for letters. His education had made him
early acquainted with the writers of Greece and
Rome, historical as well as philosophical and poeti
cal. Beautiful passages from Virgil, Horace, Taci
tus, Juvenal, and Cicero seemed always to present
themselves to his memory without an effort. When
speaking in Parliament, he knew how to avail him
self of their assistance or to convert them to his
purpose with a promptitude and facility that it is
difficult to imagine. Burke himself was not his
superior on this point. So well had he been!
grounded in classic knowledge, that he could readij
the Greek no less than the Roman historians, as
well as poets, in the original ; and however extra- i
ordinary the fact may appear, he found resource in
the perusal of their works under the most severe
depressions occasioned by ill success at the gaming
table. Topham Beauclerk, whom I have already
had occasion to mention, and who always main
tained habits of great intimacy with Fox, quitted'!
him one morning at six o'clock, after having
passed the whole preceding night together at
faro. Fortune had been unfavourable to FoxJ
whom his friend left in a frame of mind ap-

OF MY OWN TIME. 23
proaching to desperation. Beauclerk's anxiety
respecting the consequences which might ensue
from such a state of agitation impelled him to
be early at Fox's lodgings, and on arriving he
inquired, not without apprehension, whether he
was risen. The servant replying that Mr. Fox was
in the drawing-room, he walked upstairs, and cau
tiously opening the door, where he expected to
behold a frantic gamester stretched on the floor be
wailing his misfortunes or plunged in silent despair,
to his equal astonishment and satisfaction Beauclerk
discovered him intently engaged in reading a Greek
Herodotus. " What would you have me do ? " said
he ; "I have lost my last shilling ! " Such was the
elasticity, suavity, and equality of disposition that
characterised him, and with so little effort did he
pass from profligate dissipation to researches of
taste or literature.' After staking and losing all
that he could raise at faro, instead of exclaiming
against fortune or manifesting the agitation natural
under such circumstances, he has been known to lay
his head on the table, and, retaining his place, but
extenuated by fatigue of mind and body, almost
immediately to fall into a profound sleep.
Mr. Fox was not only conversant with the works
of antiquity; modern history, polite letters, and
poetry were equally familiar to him. Few indivi
duals were better instructed in the annals of their
own country. Having travelled when young over
France and Italy, he had studied the finest pro
ductions of those countries, so fertile in works of
genius, at the fountain-head. Davila and Guicciar-
dini he read in the original. Dante, Ariosto, and
1 I have heard this story before, and believe it is true. Topham
Beauclerk, wicked and profligate as he wished to be accounted, was
yet a man of very strict veracity. O Lord ! how I did hate that
horrid Beauclerk ! — P.

24 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Tasso constituted the frequent companions of his
lesure hours, whom he perused with delight, and
the striking parts of which authors, as he pro
ceeded, he constantly marked with his own hand.
For the "Orlando Furioso," one of the most eccen
tric but wonderful productions of human genius, I
know that he expressed great partiality, preferring
it to the " Gierusalemme Liberata." Nor was he
devoid himself of some portion of poetic talent, as
many compositions of his pen which remain suffi
ciently attest, though for ease, delicacy, and playful
satire he could not stand a competition in that
branch of accomplishment with his friend and com
panion Colonel Fitzpatrick.' The verses or epi
gram written on Gibbon's accepting the employment
of a Lord of Trade in 1779, beginning —
" King George, in a fright
Lest Gibbon should write !|
The hist'ry of England's disgrace,
Thought no way so sure
His pen to secure
As to give the historian a place," —
I have always understood to be from Fox's pen,
though it is disowned by Lord Holland as "cer
tainly not his uncle's composition." I know, how-1
ever, that some years afterwards, when his effects
in St. James's Street were seized for debt, and his
books were sold, a set of Gibbon's " Decline and ;
Fall. of. the Roman Empire," in the first leaf of
which work Fox had with his own hand inserted
the stanzas in question, produced a very consider
able sum, under the belief or conviction that he was
their author.
1 The Hon. Richard Fitzpatrick, son of John, first Earl of Upper
Ossory, was born 30th January 1747. In 1782 he was appointedJ
secretary to the Duke of Portland, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
and in the following year he became Secretary at War. He was a
General in the army, and Colonel of the 47th Regiment of Foot. He
died 25th April 1813. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 25
Fox conversed in French nearly with the same
purity and facility as he did in English, writing in
that language not less correctly, nor with less ele
gance.' A man of his high birth and connections,
possessing qualifications so rare, independent of his
parliamentary abilities, seemed to be pointed out
by nature for the superintendence of the Foreign
Department of State. Those persons who anti
cipated the fall of Lord North's Administration
already imagined that they beheld Mr. Fox in that
situation, for which talents and education had evi
dently designed him. Yet, after contemplating the
portrait which I have here sketched, and which
1 imagine even his greatest admirers, if they are
candid, will admit to do him no injustice, it is for
impartial posterity to determine whether, on full
examination of his merits and defects, George III.
may be considered as most deserving of approbation
or of blame in never having at any period of his
reign voluntarily called Mr. Fox to his counsels.
If energy of mind, enlargement of views, firmness
of character, amenity of manners, acquaintance with
foreign courts and languages, facility in conducting
business, and prodigious intellectual powers, com
bining eloquence, application, as well as discernment
— if these endowments are considered as forming
an incontestable claim to public employment, unsus-
tained by correct moral deportment or by property,
we must condemn the sentence of exclusion passed
upon him. Those persons, on the other hand, who
consider all talent, however eminent, as radically
defective unless sustained by decorum and a regard
for opinion, as well as all who prefer sobriety of
conduct, regularity of manners, and the virtues of
1 Mons. Simond ("Tour in England") says that he was sur
prised to find Fox's French not very good in his correspondence with
Talleyrand.— Ed.

26 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
private life above any ability which nature can
bestow on man ; lastly, all who regard judgment
under the control of strict principle as the most
indispensable requisite of a Minister to whom the
public honour and felicity are in some measure
necessarily intrusted — such persons will probably
hesitate before they decide too hastily on the
degree of censure or of commendation which the
King's conduct towards Fox ought to excite in our
minds. If Fox occupied the first place in the ranks of
Opposition, Burke' might be pronounced the second
person in that powerful body. His endowments of
mind superseded every defect of birth, fortune, con
nections, or country, and placed him on an eminence
to which no subject in my time, unassisted by those
advantages, with the single exception of Sheridan, has
ever attained in the public estimation. For it may
be justly questioned whether the splendid talents
of the first Mr. Pitt would have forced his way
into the Cabinet unaided and unsustained by his
alliance with the family of GrenviUe, though his
own paternal descent was most honourable. Of
years much more advanced than Fox, Burke had
already attained to the acme of his fame as an
orator, and could not well augment the reputation
which he had acquired in that capacity. Perhaps if
we were to point out the period of his life when he
stood on the highest ground as a public man in the
estimation of all parties, we should name the year
1 781. His recent exertions in bringing forward the
bill for the reform of the Civil List, which had
engaged such general attention in the last session
' Edmund Burke, the son of a Dublin attorney, was born in 1730. He
entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1746, quitted it three years later,
and in 1753 he became a member of the Middle Temple, maintaining
himself by literary labour. He was returned for Bristol in 1774. He
died at Beaconsfield, Bucks, in 1797.— D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 27
of the preceding Parliament, continued still fresh in
recollection. Whatever opinion might be enter
tained respecting the necessity or the eligibility
of those proposed regulations in the royal house
hold, only one sentiment pervaded the House and
the nation on the unexampled combination of elo
quence, labour, and perseverance which had
been displayed by their enlightened author. They
covered with astonishment and admiration even
those who from principle or from party appeared
most strenuous in opposing the progress of the
bill itself through every stage. The very rejection
which had attended many clauses of it, and the
address with which others were finally evaded
or eluded, had conduced to raise him in the national
opinion. While, however, I do this justice to his talents
and intentions, it is impossible not to consider with
very different feelings the splendid eulogium which
he made on that occasion of which Necker formed
the subject. Burke, in sublime and animated lan
guage, described the system of public credit adopted
by Louis XVI. under the guidance of his Genevese
financial Minister, which he depictured as the con
summation of human ability, economy, and judicious
calculation. Neither Sully nor Colbert, he said,
could compete with Necker; while the sovereign of
France, unlike his predecessors on the throne, who
had recourse when in distress to the bold frauds or
plunges of bankrupt despotism for raising pecuniary
supplies, built all his plans on the firm basis of
national confidence, sustained by pecuniary regula
tions calculated to pay the interest of the debt thus
incurred. Such were the assertions by which George
III., Lord North, and the American war became
objects of reprobation! If Burke really believed
the facts that he laid down, what are we to think

28 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of his judgment ! ' The intoxication insensibly dis
persed after 1789, and before 1792 he beheld Louis
XVI., Necker, and their pernicious measures through
a just medium. He then endeavoured to coun
teract the effect of his own orations. In 1 781 the
delusion subsisted in all its force. The unqualified
condemnation which he had always bestowed on
the American war from the period of its commence
ment seemed to be at least justified by the result
of the contest, and in that sentiment he was then
supported by a majority of the British people.
When to the operation of these combined causes
we add the acknowledged mediocrity of his fortune,
which left him in a sort of dependence on the
Marquis of Rockingham, together with his long
exclusion from ofiice and his unimpeached moral
character, contrasted with the irregularities of Fox's
conduct, we shall not wonder at the high place
which he occupied within no less than without the
walls of the House of Commons.
All those persons to whom his memory is dear
may like to contemplate him at this point of time,
when he appears most resplendent, as well as free
from many of the weaknesses, inconsistencies, and
infirmities to which our nature is subject, and from
which he was by no means exempt. His admirers
will recollect with concern the querulous lamenta
tions and unseemly reluctance with which in 1782
^ Burke troubled himself but little to think on what he said ; he spoke
for present and immediate effect, rarely if ever raising his aim, because,
like Dr. Johnson, he always spoke his best, whether on great or small
occasions. One evening at Sir Joshua Reynolds', it was his humour to
harangue in praise of the then ceded islands, and in their praise he said
so much, that Mrs. Horneck, a widow with two beautiful daughters,
resolved to lose no time in purchasing where such advantages would
infallibly arise. She did so, and lost a large portion of her slender
income. " Dear sir," said I when we met next, " how fatal has your
eloquence proved to poor Mrs. Horneck ! " " How fatal her own
folly," replied he. " Od's my life ! must one swear to the truth of a
song?"— P.

OF MY OWN TIME. 29
and 1 783 he each time quitted the Pay-Offlce on the
change of Administration. They will remember the
acts of imprudence and indiscretion which charac
terised his tenure of office during the existence of
the Coalition Ministry, to defend or to palliate
which demanded the utmost efforts of Fox's par
liamentary abilities. They will probably admit and
lament his too ardent prosecution of Hastings for
asserted political errors or trespasses, which, even
though they had existed in their utmost extent,
ought to have found their apology in the difficulties
of his situation, beset as he was with domestic and
foreign enemies, in charge of a vast empire, and
necessitated to find resources on the spot against
internal commotions no less than against external
hostility. They will reprobate with severity his
intemperate and indecorous conduct as a member
of Parliament in 1788, on an occasion when the
country at large felt the deepest sympathy and dis
tress for the intellectual illness of the sovereign.
And, finally, though they will exult in the meri
torious line of action which he embraced on the
commencement of the French Revolution, as equally
honourable to himself and beneficial to the cause
of order and government throughout the civilised
world, yet they cannot forget that he received from
Pitt soon afterwards two, pensions for three lives of
;^i8oo a year each as his reward;' and they will
perhaps incline to admit that, on impartial survey,
Mr. Burke appears greater and more elevated in
1 78 1 than at any subsequent period of his political life.
He was then more than fifty years of age, of
which he had passed fifteen in the House of Com
mons. I believe he owed his first seat in that
1 Burke's pensions were— ^i.) £\2oa a year out of the Civil List for
his own and Mrs. Burke's life ; (2.) £i^QO a year, payable out of the
West India 4^ per cents. — Ed.

30 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
assembly, not to the Marquis of Rockingham, but
to the late Earl Verney, with whom he had formed
some connections of a pecuniary nature, during the
continuance of which both that nobleman and Mr.
Burke became purchasers to a considerable amount
of East India stock. The latter, as it was asserted,
sold out in time, after clearing so large a sum by the
transaction as with it to have purchased the estate
or house at Gregories, near Beaconsfield in Bucks,
where he always resided when not in London.'
Lord Verney, less fortunate or less prudent, though
possessed of a vast landed property, was almost
ruined by his East India purchases, and Richard
Burke, Edmund's brother, who was then a practi
tioner at the bar, being likewise involved in the
same losing concern, was said to have been unable to
fulfil his stock engagements, or, in the languageof
Change Alley, to have waddled. Hence, in allusion
to this circumstance, his enemies, instead of Dick
Burke, commonly called him Duck Burke. Ed
mund in 1 78 1 rented a house in the Broad Sanc
tuary, Westminster, conveniently situated for his
attendance in Parliament, but entertained very
little company ; and his pecuniary obligations to the
Marquis of Rockingham, which were known to be
great, sufficiently indicated the limited nature of his
private fortune.
Nature had bestowed on him a boundless ima
gination, aided by a memory of equal strength and
tenacity. His fancy was so vivid that it seemed to
light up by its own powers, and to burn without con
suming the aliment on which it fed ; sometimes
bearing him away into ideal scenes created by his
own exuberant mind, but from which he sooner or
* The history of this purchase is by no means clear, but it has been
generally asserted that he bought the estate with money borrowed
Irom Lord Verney on his bond. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 31
later returned to the subject of debate, descending
from his most aerial flights by a gentle and imper
ceptible gradation till he again touched the ground.
Learning waited on him like a handmaid, present
ing to his choice all that antiquity had culled or in
vented most elucidatory of the topic under discus
sion. He always seemed to be oppressed under
the load and variety of his intellectual treasures, of
which he frequently scattered portions with a lavish
hand to inattentive, impatient, ignorant, hungry, and
sleepy auditors, undeserving of such presents.' Nor
did he desist, though warned by the clamorous
vociferation of the House to restrain or to abbreviate
his speeches. Every power of oratory was wielded
by him in turn, for he could be during the same
evening, often within the space of a few minutes,
pathetic and humorous, acrimonious and concili
ating, now giving loose to his indignation or
severity, and then, almost in the same breath, call
ing to his assistance wit and ridicule. It would
be endless to cite instances of this versatility of
disposition, and of the rapidity of his transitions
"from grave to gay, from lively to severe," that
I have myself witnessed. I will only mention as
a proof of his wit an occurrence of the session of
1 78 1, not many months after I first came into Par
liament. The Secretary at War (Jenkinson) having
laid on the table of the House an account of the
extracrdinaries of the army, where the sums re
mitted to America during the. preceding year
exceeded _;^2, 700,000 ; Mr. Harley,^ through whose
hands the greater part of the money had passed,
rose in order to give some account of its applica-
1 "And thought of convincing whilst they thought of dining." —
Goldsmith's Retaliation. — Ed.
'^ Thomas Harley, Lord Mayor, 1767-68, M.P. for the county of
Hereford. He had previously sat for the City of London. — Ed.

32 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tion. For that purpose the Alderman, who was no
orator, and who very rarely obtruded himself on the
Speaker's attention, read from a paper which he held
in his hand a few gross sums or items which consti
tuted the greater part of the enormous expenditure
under examination. His recital scarcely took up five
minutes. Burke instantly rising exclaimed, " This
account is, I believe, the most laconic that ever
was given of so great a sum of money expended
in the public service. Considering the magnitude
of the sums that the right honourable gentleman
has swallowed, he really merits admiration for the
promptitude with which he has either digested or
disgorged them. His charge and his discharge are
equally expeditious. He is a species of canal
through which the profusion of the Government
passes. I imagine, however, it does not flow off
altogether without contributing something to his
nourishment. No doubt such remittances, like the
mud of the Nile, have in them a fattening quality,
or, to use a vulgar phrase, they stick to the ribs.
Oh, how I long for an inspection of this Hcirleian\
Miscellany I" ¦..'.
Alderman Harley, the subject of these metaphors,^
listened to them with great composure, and did not
even attempt to make any reply; but no ordinary
muscles could resist their effect. I remember on
another occasion where Burke had covered Lord*
North with ridicule (I think it was upon the report
made by the Commissioners of Accounts in 1781),
that nobleman answered all his arguments at con
siderable length. "And now, Mr. Speaker," said,
he, " I believe I have replied to everything which]
has fallen from the honourable gentleman, except;
his wit. That, I readily acknowledge, is unanswer
able, he being greatly my superior in that respect."
Notwithstanding, indeed, the acrimonious personal

OF MY OWN TIME. -
virulence with which Burke frequently treated Lord
North, no man in the House of Commons ap
peared to enjoy his sallies of wit more than the
First Minister. He laughed immoderately when
Burke compared the sympathy or mutual depen
dence of Administration and the American war
to the porter's breech and Taliacotius's nose in
" Hudibras." " They will both," said he, " expire
together : —

•'to^

' When life of parent Nock is out.
Off drops the sympathetic snout.'
So, with the termination of the present war will
their places be extinguished." Yet, with such an
assemblage of endowments, whicli would have
sufficed to form many orators, though Burke in
structed, delighted, and astonished, he frequently
fatigued because his faculties were not controlled by
a severe judgment.
In his dress and exterior he was not less negligent
than Fox; but the spirit of party did not blend
with the colour of his apparel, and he rarely or
never came to the House in blue and buff, though
I heard him eulogise Laurens, the American ex-
President, while a prisoner in the Tower, in terms
such as Pope uses when speaking of Atterbury
under the same circumstances.' On that occasion
he did not scruple to read as part of his speech a
letter addressed to him by Dr. Franklin from Paris,
in answer to his own application on the subject of
1 Henry Laurens, born at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1723. In
1777 he was chosen President of the Continental Congress, but re
signed his office in 1778, and was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary
from the United States to Holland. On his way there he was taken
prisoner by the English and committed to the Tower. After his
release he went to Paris, and with Franklin, Adams, and Jay he
signed the preliminaries of peace in 1783. He died in South Carolina,
Sth December 1792. A portion of his correspondence was printed by
Frank Moore at New York in 1861. — Ed.
VOL. II. C

34 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
effecting or facilitating General Burgoyne's release
by his exchange against Laurens. I haye always
considered Burke's conduct in thus opening a cor
respondence with the representative of a revolted
body of men, who was then residing at the court of
France, with which nation we were at war, as one
of the greatest insults on the Government, on Par
liament, on the laws, and on the majesty of the
sovereign which has been committed in our time
by any subject with impunity. It was only exceeded
by Fox's sending a delegate from himself, as head
of the Opposition, to Petersburg in 1791,' an act
for which, it seemed to me, he might justly have
been impeached. Hastings and Lord Melville^
were both sent to take their trial at the bar of the;
peers under the present reign, while Fox and BurkeJ
escaped prosecution. When the latter ventured to
boast in the House of Commons of his intercourse_
with Franklin, he relied on the passive endurance_
of an unpopular Cabinet, divided among themselves,
and sinking under the contest with a combination of
European powers leagued against us for the eman
cipation of America. There were not wanting, how
ever, individuals, even at that moment of British
humiliation and embarrassment, who rose and ex
pressed their indignation at Burke's temerity. "Good
God ! " exclaimed Lord Newhaven,^ " do not my
senses deceive me ? Can a member of this assembly
not only avow his correspondence with a rebel, but
dare to read it to us .-* " George Onslow, member

1 Robert Adair, travelled in Russia in the years 1788-89, and was
graciously received by the Empress, who was then preparing for war
with England. He was called the " Opposition Ambassador." — ED.^
2 Hastings was acquitted of extortion and cruelty, and Melville,
charged with criminal acts in his capacity of Treasurer of the Navy,
was pronounced guiltless by the House of Lords, who tried him on
the impeachment of the Commons'in 1805. — D.
^ William, Lord Newhaven, an Irish peer, sat for Gatton. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 35
for Guildford, seemed disposed to adopt measures of
censure against Burke, but the Speaker interposing,
stopt him as disorderly, there being no motion before
the House. Neither Lord North nor Lord George
Germain, who were both present and spoke on the
question, alluded to Burke's correspondence, and he
treated Lord Newhaven's animadversions with con
temptuous levity. Burke constantly wore spectacles.
His enunciation was vehement, rapid, and nev^r
checked by any embarrassment ; for his ideas out
ran his powers of utterance, and he drew from an
exhaustless source. But his Irish accent, which was
as strong as if he had never quitted the banks of
the Shannon, diminished to the ear the enchanting
effect of his eloquence on the mind.' Dundas, who
laboured under a similar impediment, yet turned it
to account, if I may so express myself, some of his
expressions or allusions, by the variation in pro
nouncing a single letter or pressing too hard upon
a vowel, frequently producing such an equivocal
sound, conveying at the same time so strange an
impression on the ears of his audience, as put to
flight all gravity and convulsed the House with
laughter. In brilliancy of wit Lord North alone
could compete with Burke, for Sheridan had not
then appeared. Burke extracted all his images
from classic authorities ; a fact of which he dis
played a beautiful exemplification when he said of
Wilkes, borne along in triumph by the mob, that he
resembled Pindar elevated on the wings of poetical
inspiration —  " Numerisque fertur
Lege solutis," —
a pun of admirable delicacy and the closest applica
tion. His personal qualities of temper and disposition
1 Very true. — P.

36 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
by no means corresponded with his intellectual en
dowments. Throughout his general manner and
deportment in Parliament there was a mixture of
petulance, impatience, and at times of intractability,
which obscured the lustre of his talents. His fea
tures and the undulating motions of his head while
under the influence of anger or passion were elo
quently expressive of this irritability, which on
some occasions seemed to approach towards aliena
tion of mind. Even his friends could not always
induce him to listen to reason and remonstrance,
though they sometimes held him down in his seat
by the skirts of his coat in order to prevent the
ebullitions of his violence or indignation. Gentle,
mild, and amenable to argument in private society,'
of which he formed the delight and the ornament,
he was often intemperate and reprehensibly per
sonal in Parliament. Fox, however irritated, never
forgot that he was a chief Burke, in his most
sublime flights, was only a partisan. The counten
ance of the latter, full of intellect but destitute of
softness, which rarely relaxed into a smile, did not
invite approach or conciliation. His enmities and
prejudices, though they originated in principle as
well as in conviction, yet became tinged with the|
virulent spirit of party, and were eventually in many
instances inveterate, unjust, and insurmountable. \
Infinitely more respectable than Fox, he was never-!
theless far less amiable.^ Exempt from his defects
and irregularities, Burke wanted the suavity of
Fox's manner, his amenity, and his placability.
The one procured admirers, the other possessed!
friends. Though acting together to a common
point as members of the House of Commons, and
1 Not very. — P.
2 Mrs. Piozzi proposed_to replace the word "amiable" by "re-'
spected." — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. ^^-j
embarked in the same cause, their intimacy seemed
always to commence and to cease at the entrance
of the lobby. Burke retired from the discharge of
his parliamentary functions exhausted, chagrined,
and often irritated, to repair immediately to his
family or to the duties and avocations of political
and domestic life. Fox, never more alert than
after a long debate, on quitting the House always
drove to Brookes's. Even in their nearest approxi
mations there existed essential and striking dis
tinctions between the two Opposition leaders. In
genius, in learning, in eloquence, in politics, they
were assimilated ; but in their occupations, amuse
ments, society, companions, and modes of life never
were two men more discordant. They continued,
nevertheless, to act together through succeeding
Parliaments, in prosperous and in adverse fortune,
till the French Revolution finally dissevered them.
The obvious defect of Burke was want of temper
and self-command. Fox's latent blemish lay in his
dissolute habits and ruined fortune, which enabled
his enemies to compare him with Catiline. Both
wanted judgment to perceive that even under the
free constitution of Great Britain the Cabinet,
though it may be taken by storm, cannot be long
held except by favour. Mr. Fox in 1806, when,
unfortunately, at the end of his career, appears to
have thoroughly come up with this great truth, of
which, in 1781, he was either regardless or igno
rant. In surveying the Opposition side of the House
of Commons at this period, the idea of Barre'
^ Isaac Barrd was born about the year 1726. He served at Quebec
under Wolfe, and was made Adjutant-General and Governor of
Stirling Castle for his services in America. He was deprived of
these offices for voting against Government in Parliament, where he
owed his seat to Lord Shelburne. The Rockingham Administration
pensioned him, but when Pitt appointed him to the Clerkship of the

o

8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS

naturally and unavoidably suggests itself after that
of Burke. Both were natives of the same country,
Ireland, and both had attained to vast celebrity in
their adopted country, England. But no sort of
comparison could be made between their talents,
acquirements, or claim to general admiration, in all
which Burke possessed an infinite superiority. Of
an athletic frame and mould, and endowed with
extraordinary powers of voice, Barr6, as a speaker,
roughly enforced rather than solicited or attracted'
attention. Severe and sometimes coarse in his cen
sures or accusations, he nevertheless sustained his
charges against Ministers with considerable force
of argument and language. He, too, as well as
Burke, lavished his encomiums on the banker of
Copet, the financier of France, whose example for
enlightened economy and impartial pecuniary retri
bution Barre recommended to Lord North's imita
tion. But he was more measured in his panegyrics
than Burke, and did not elevate Necker above|
Sully and Colbert. Slow, measured, and dictaTi
torial in his manner of enunciation, he was never
carried away by those beautiful digressions of
genius or fancy with which Burke captivated
and entertained his audience. Master, neverthe-'
less, of his subject, and more attentive than Burke^
not to fatigue the patience of the House when he
saw it eager to rise, he frequently obtained a more
indulgent hearing. Deprived already of one eye,
and menaced with a privation of both, advanced in
years, grey-headed, and of a savage aspect, he re
minded the beholders when he rose of Belisarius
rather than of Tully. Yet possessing a cultivated
Pells, he gave up his pension— ;^32oo a year. He filled various
offices, was a powerful but coarse speaker, and violently opposed to
the American war. He died, after some years of blindness, in 1792.-

OF MY OWN TIME. 39
understanding, conversant with the works of anti
quity, and able on occasion to press them into his
service, he sometimes displayed a great diversity of
information. Near him, on the same bench, in the front ranks
of the minority, usually sat his friend and colleague,
Dunning. Never perhaps did nature enclose a more
illuminated mind in a body of meaner and more
abject appearance. It is difficult to do justice to the
peculiar species of ugliness which characterised his
person and figure, although he did not labour under
any absolute deformity of shape or limb.' A degree
of infirmity, and almost of debility or decay in his
organs, augmented the effect of his other bodily
misfortunes. Even his voice was so husky and
choked with phlegm that it refused utterance to
the sentiments which were dictated by his superior
intelligence. In consequence of this physical im-^
pediment, he lay always under a necessity of
involuntarily announcing his intention to address
the House some time before he actually rose by
the repeated attempts which he made to clear his
throat. But all these imperfections and defects of
configuration were obliterated by the ability which
he displayed. In spite of the monotony of his tones
and his total want of animation as well as grace, yet
so powerful was reason when flowing from his lips,
that every murmur became hushed and every ear
attentive. It seemed, nevertheless, to be the acute
sophistry of a lawyer rather than the speech of a
man of the world or the eloquence of a man of
letters and education. Every sentence, though ad
mirable in itself, yet resembled more the pleading
1 Sir Joshua alone could give a good portrait of Dunning. His
picture of Lord Shelburne, Lord Ashburton, and Colonel Barrd has
surely no superior. The characters so admirable, the likenesses so
strong.— P.

40 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of the bar than the oratory of the senate. So dififi-
cult is it for the most expanded or enlightened intel
lect to throw off the habits of a profession. Dunning
rather subdued his hearers by his powers of argu
mentative ratiocination, which have rarely been
exceeded, than he could be said to delight his
audience. His legal talents soon afterwards raised
him to the peerage,' just in time to attain that ele
vation, as his constitution speedily sunk under accu
mulated disorders, which hurried him prematurely
to the grave. This distinguished man, who was
not exempt from great infirmity of mind, felt or
perceived so little his corporeal deficiencies as to
consider his person with extraordinary predilection.
Fond of viewing his face in the glass, he passed
no time more to his satisfaction than in decorating
himself for his appearance in the world. He and
Barre, who were fellow-labourers in the same vine
yard,^ represented likewise the same borough, Calne,
and belonged, or at least looked up to, the same
political chief, Lord Shelburne. They consequently
were animated by no common principle of union or
of action with Fox and Burke except one, that of
overturning the Administration. On all other points
a secret jealousy and rivalry subsisted between the
adherents of the Shelburne and the Rockingham
parties. Admiral KeppeP might likewise be accounted
among the principal members of Opposition in

1 He was created Lord Ashburton. — Ed.
^ Dunning named his son, who succeeded him as second Lord
Ashburton, Richard Barrd — Ed.
3 He was the second son of the second Earl of Albemarle, William
Anne Keppel. He was born in 1725, and had performed many dis
tinguished services before the affair of Ushant in 1778, when the
French fleet escaped him. He was appointed First Lord of the
Admiralty, and created Viscount Keppel in 1782. He died in 1786.
-D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 41
the House of Commons at this period, though
his oratorical talents were not more conspicuously
exerted in debate than his naval skill as a com
mander had been displayed on the quarter-deck
during the memorable action of the 27th of July
1778. But the persecution which, as it was pre
tended, he had undergone for his conduct on that
day, the accusation brought against him by Palliser,
and the ministerial as well as royal enmity which he
had incurred — these political merits, when added to
his connection with the Duke of Bedford, whom the
Opposition had already marked as their own, though
he was not quite sixteen years of age at this time,
elevated him to a consideration which he could not
otherwise have attained. Excluded from represent
ing the borough of Windsor at the recent general
election in 1780, the popular effervescence of the
moment, inflamed at his rejection, where it was
supposed that the influence and personal exertions
of the sovereign among the tradesmen of the town
had considerably operated to his prejudice, brought
him in for Surrey, a county in which he possessed
no property nor any hereditary interest. There
appeared neither dignity in his person nor intelli
gence in his countenance, the features of which were
of the most ordinary cast, and his nose, which, in
consequence of an accident that befell him in the
course of his professional life, had been almost laid
flat, gave him an equally vulgar and unpleasant air.
His abilities were indeed of a very limited descrip
tion, altogether unfit for such a theatre as Parlia
ment ; but the minority having already destined
him to succeed and to supplant Lord Sandwich as
soon as they could gain possession of power, it
became indispensable to sustain him on every occa
sion with all their efforts.
Another distinguished naval commander, Lord

42 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Howe,' who then filled a seat in the House, might
likewise be numbered among the determined oppon
ents of Government. Since his return from America
he had not enjoyed the smiles of the court, but
his professional character supported him with the
public. His steady, cool, and phlegmatic courage,
sustained by great nautical experience and skill, -
when added to the wholesome severity of his dis
cipline while on service, deservedly placed him high
in the estimation of all parties. Among the sailors
he was known from his dark complexion by the
epithet of " Black Dick." If no genius could be
discovered in the lines of his face, there was in them
an expression of serene and passive fortitude which
could not be mistaken. His profile bore, indeed, a
very strong resemblance to the portraits of George
I., from whom by his mother he descended. She
was the natural daughter of that prince by his
mistress, Madame von Platen, whom he created
Countess of Darlington some years after his acces
sion to the crown of Great Britain. In Parliament
as an orator, Lord Howe made, if possible, a worse
figure than Keppel, who, when he addressed the
House, was at least intelligible, though he might not
greatly illuminate the subject. Lord Howe's ideas
were commonly either so ill conceived by himself,
or so darkly and ambiguously expressed, that it was
by no means easy to comprehend his precise mean
ing. This oracular and confused mode of delivery,
rendered still more obscure by the part of the
House where he usually sat, which was on a back
row at a distance from the Speaker's chair, increased,
however, the effect of his oratory, and seemed to
1 Richard, third son of the second Viscount Howe, was born in
1722. Like Keppel, he served under Anson. He was cool, cour
ageous, liberal, and void of envy. He was created Earl in 1797. The
last public act of his life was at the suppression of the mutiny at
Spithead. He died in 1799. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 43
exemplify Burke's assertion that " Obscurity is a
source of the sublime."
Sir George Saville,' who represented the county
of York, attracted from his descent and alliances
great consideration. His known integrity and dis
interestedness joined to his extensive landed pro
perty elevated him in the public opinion more than
any endowments of intellect or parliamentary ability.
He possessed, nevertheless, plain manly sense, and a
facility of utterance which, even independent of his
high character and ample fortune, always secured
him attention.
Lord John Cavendish ^ was listened to whenever
he rose with similar deference or predilection, nor
was he altogether destitute of some pretension to
eloquence. His near alliance to the Duke of
Devonshire, the head of the Whig interest, his very
name connected with the revolution of 1688, which
secured the liberties of Great Britain, his un
blemished reputation, and his talents, though in
themselves very moderate — all these qualities com
bined to impress with esteem even those who dif
fered most from him in political opinion. Homely
in his figure, of manners simple, unassuming, and
destitute of all elegance or dignity, he presented
the appearance of a yeoman or a mechanic rather
than of a man of high quality. Nature had in the
most legible characters stamped honesty on the
features of his countenance, but she had not accom
panied it with any ornamental present. The Oppo-
1 Saville was born in 1721 and died in 1784. He was the intro
ducer of the bill in favour of Roman Catholics which caused the
riots of London. Burke called him "a true genius." He was wealthy
and munificent. On one occasion, when serving as a juror on a trial
at which the plaintiff claimed ;£i5oo, he reluctantly acquiesced in a
verdict for the defendants, and then drew a cheque for the plaintiff to
the full amount. — D.
' Brother of William, fourth Duke of Devonshire. He was born in
1732 and died in 1796. — Ed.

44 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
sition already considered him as future Chancellor
of the Exchequer, in defiance of his inaptitude for
the employment.
General Conway,' brother of the Earl of Hertford,
though by no means a man of eminent capacity or a
superior speaker, yet surpassed in these respects
either of the two last-mentioned individuals. His
military experience, acquired in Germany during the
Seven Years' War ; his birth and illustrious descent,
together with the recollection of his having already
occupied one of the most eminent situations under
a former Administration, as he filled the post of
Secretary of State for the Home Department dur
ing the short period of ten months, when Lord
Rockingham presided at the Treasury in 1 765, and
the following year ; so many pretensions authorised
him to expect a place no less conspicuous in any
future Ministerial arrangement. He had already
passed his sixtieth year, yet his figure and deport
ment were exceedingly distinguished ; nor did he
want abilities ; but his enunciation, embarrassed and
often involved, generally did injustice to his con
ceptions. Mr. Thomas Townshend, commonly denomi
nated " Tommy Townshend," and commemorated
under that name in Goldsmith's celebrated poem of
" Retaliation," where he describes Burke —
" Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat
To induce Tommy Townshend to lend him a vote,"
looked confidently forward, no less than General
Conway, to a high post in some future Ministry
1 Henry Seymour Conway was the brother of Francis, Earl and
subsequently Marquis of Hertford. The General was born in 1720 and
died in 1795. His daughter, born in 1748, was the celebrated Mrs.
Damer, who died in 1828, the widow of Mr. Darner, son of the first
Earl of Dorchester, who shot himself. The General was the friend of
Horace Walpole, who bequeathed Strawberry Hill to Mrs. Damer. He
was emphatically a " lovable " man. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 45
when Lord North should be driven from power.
Nor were his expectations eventually disappointed.
Having held the lucrative post of Joint Paymaster
of the Forces at an early period of his Majesty's
reign during about six months, he was already a
member of the Privy Council. He possessed, like
wise, a very independent fortune and considerable
parliamentary interest, present as well as prospec
tive — two circumstances which greatly contributed
to his personal no less than to his political elevation ;
for his abilities, though respectable, scarcely rose
above mediocrity. Yet, as he always spoke with
facility, sometimes with energy, and was never
embarrassed by any degree of timidity, he main
tained a conspicuous place in the front ranks of
Opposition. General Burgoyne ' would scarcely deserve any
mention in this list if respect were had only to his
parliamentary talents ; but his sufferings in the
cause of Opposition, which elevated him to the rank
of a martyr, like Keppel ; Fox's attachment towards
him, and his connection by marriage with Lord
Derby, one of the minority chiefs,'' these merits
supplied every deficiency. In his person he rose
above ordinary height, and when young must have
possessed a distinguished figure ; but years had
enfeebled him though he was cast in an athletic
mould. His military services in the field had never
been resplendent. He seemed more fitted for the
drawing-room or for the closet than for the camp,
for pleasing in society than for commanding armies.
1 The General was the natural son of Lord Bingley (an ancestor
of the Yorkshire family Lane Fox). He married Lady Charlotte
Stanley against the will of her father. Earl of Derby. He served with
distinction in Spain and Portugal, but was unfortunate in America,
where his turgid proclamations obtained for him the name of Chro-
nonhotonthologos. He died in London 1792. — D.
' He who married Miss Farren the actress. — Ed,

46 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
No man possessed more polished manners. His
manifestoes were more admired for their composition
while he was at the head of the British forces in
America than his tactics or his manceuvres. Of
his dramatic talents the comedy of the " Heiress "
forms an eminent proof;' and I believe he con
tributed his aid to the celebrated " Probationary
Odes." ""
It was difficult to contemplate him without recol
lecting the disgraceful colours under which "Junius"
has designated him, as "taking his stand at a gaming
table, and watching with the soberest attention for
a fair opportunity of engaging a drunken young
nobleman at picquet," as "drawing a regular and
splendid subsistence from play," and as " sitting
down for the remainder of his life, infamous and
contented, with the money received from the Duke
of Grafton for the sale of a patent place in the
customs." These cruel aspersions, which never
received any public answer, did not prevent his
occupying a distinguished place in Fox's regard,
who exhibited a strong proof of it when he became
Burgoyne's nominee on the committee appointed
to try the contested election for the borough of
Preston, which he represented in the spring of
1 78 1. Supported by such ability, the General kept
his seat. I have been assured that when he re
turned on his parole from America in May 1778,
the Opposition, apprehensive of his taking part with
Administration, and fearful that he might accuse the
adherents of Congress in this country with having
contributed by their language in Parliament, if not
by other modes of encouragement, to the resistance
1 Another of his popular pieces was " The Maid of the Oaks."
—Ed.
2 Better known as " The Rolliad."— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 47
that produced the disaster of Saratoga,' determined
if possible to gain him. For that purpose Fox
went down privately to Hounslow in a hired post-
chaise, where he met Burgoyne soon after he had
landed, on his way from Plymouth to London. In
the course of a long and confidential interview. Fox
convinced him so thoroughly that the Ministers
would not support him, that Lord George Germain
must accuse him in order to exculpate himself, that
the King had imbibed very strong prejudices against
him, and that the Administration could not last a
twelvemonth, as to induce the General to transfer
his charges of misconduct from the Opposition to
the Treasury bench. Present protection and future
employment whenever they should attain to power
followed of course. I have no doubt of the accuracy
of this fact, as I received it from high living autho
rity. Burgoyne always affected to consider the whole
Administration as leagued against him in order to
retard or to impede his exchange. Towards Lord
George Germain, who presided over the American
Department, he of course felt, and frequently ex
pressed, great personal alienation, or rather asperity.
I remember hearing him declar^ in his place as a
member of Parliament, towards the close of Lord
North's Ministry, in December 1781, that he would
rather submit to be recalled to America by Congress,
and be committed to a dungeon, there to perish,
than condescend to solicit a favour from men who
had oppressed him in a manner the most severe,
who had refused him a court-martial, who had
calumniated his private character, and had treated
him with every sort of indignity. How far these
1 Saratoga (New York State). Here General Burgoyne surren
dered the whole of his army to the American General Gates, 17th
October 1777.— Ed.

48 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
charges were founded in either truth or justice, I
cannot venture to say ; but it appeared, both on
Lord George Germain's and on Lord Norths
testimony, that endeavours had been exerted by our
Government to obtain his exchange from Congress,
which were only frustrated by an evasion on the
part of the American executive power in not rati
fying a capitulation where a number of their troops
had fallen into our hands. Burgoyne himself ad
mitted the justice of our claim over those captured
soldiers, who had been proffered to Congress as an
equivalent for him ; but he maintained that when
they were rejected, other prisoners should have
been tendered in their place. Regulus was not,
however, the character among the unfortunate com
manders of antiquity whom he had proposed for
his own model.
Wilkes' could not properly be considered as a
member of the minority, because, though he always
sat on that side of the House and usually voted
with them, yet he neither depended on Lord Rock
ingham nor on Lord Shelburne ; but his predilec
tions leaned towards the latter nobleman. Repre
senting, as he did, the county of Middlesex, he
spoke from a great parliamentary eminence. He
was an incomparable comedian in all he said or did,
and he seemed to consider human life itself as a
mere comedy. In the House of Commons he was
not less an actor than at the Mansion House or at
Guildhall. His speeches were full of wit, plea
santry, and point, yet nervous, spirited, and not at
all defective in argument. They were all prepared
1 Wilkes was born in 1727. In 1781 he wjas Chamberlain of the
City, and, as he said himself, " an extinct volcano." He died 1797.
During the time that his portrait formed the sign of a vast number
of taverns, he heard an old lady remark that " the rascal swung from
every post except the one he most deserved." — D.

OF MY OWN TIME.

49

before they w&re delivered ; and Wilkes made no
secret of declaring that, in order to secure their ac
curate transmission to the public, he always sent a
<:opy of them to William Woodfall before he pro
nounced them. In private society, paTticularly at
table, he was pre-eminently agreeable, abounding
in anecdote, ever gay and convivial, converting his
very defects of person, manner, or enunciation to
purposes of merriment or of entertainment, If any
man ever was pleasing who squinted, who had lost
his teeth, and lisped, Wilkes might be so esteemed.
His powers of conversation survived his other
bodily faculties. I have dined in company with him
not long before his decease, when he was extenuated
and enfeebled to a great degree, but his tongu^
retained all its former activity, and seemed to have
outlived his other organs. Even in corporeal ruin,
and obviously approaching the termination of hi§
career, he formed the charm of the assembly. His
celebrity, his courage, his imprisonment, his out
lawry, his duels, his intrepid resistance to minir
sterial and royal persecution, his writings, his
adventures, lastly, his triumph and serene evening
of life, passed in tranquillity amidst all the enjoy
ments of which his decaying frame was susceptible,
for to the last hour of his existence he continued a
votary to pleasure, — these circumstances combined
in his person rendered him the most interesting
individual of the age in which he lived. Since the
death of Henry St. John, Lord Bolingbroke, who
died in 1751, and whose life bore some analogy to
Wilkes's in various of its features, no man had oc
cupied so distinguished a place in the public con
sideration. His name will live as long as the
records of history transmit to future times the reign
of George III.
Notwithstanding the personal collision which
VOL. IL D

50 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
may be said to have taken place between the King
and him during the early portion of his Majesty's
reign, Wilkes, like Burke, nourished in his bosom
a strong sentiment of constitutional loyalty. He
gave indelible proofs of it during the riots of June
1 780, when Bull,' one of the members for London,,
with whom he had long been intimately connected, ;
crouched under Lord George Gordon's mob, while
' Kennett, the Lord Mayor, exhibited equal inca- ¦
pacity and pusillanimity. And though Wilkes lent
his aid to overturn Lord North's Administration,
yet he never yoked himself to Fox's car. On the :
contrary, no sooner had the " Coalition" unmasked,'
their battery of the " East India Bill " than Wilkes,
rallying to the Crown as the only protection against \
¦ Fox's ambition, took the warmest part against that ¦
' measure, acting In 1784 nearly the same part which
Burke did eight years later, in 1792, after the
French Revolution, when he sought shelter behind' ,
the throne against the horrors of anarchy, regicide,
; and insurrection, — horrors which Fox never could
or never would perceive, and for which he eveb
apologised In no slight degree.
Such was the general aspect which the House of '
Commons then presented. Pitt and Sheridan, who
have since in different ways occupied so great a share
of public attention, had not either of them as yet
come forward to public notice and admiration. The
' latter had Indeed risen in his place as early as the
preceding month of November, within three weeks
after the meeting of Parliament, in order to complain
of the facility and impunity with which petitions
were presented, complaining of bribery and corrup
tion on the part of members returned to serve in
Parliament, which petitions often proved eventually
1 Alderman Frederick Bull, a tea-dealer in Leadenhall Street, Lord ;
Mayor 1773-74.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 51
frivolous or vexatious. He stood himself in that
very situation, Mr. Richard Whitworth, one of the
representatives for the town of Stafford in the pre
ceding Parliament, having just petitioned the House
against the return of Mr. Sheridan and his colleague,
the Honourable Edward Monckton, for the same
borough. Rigby, on the occasion to which I allude,
with the coarse, contemptuous, and insulting ridicule
familiar to him when addressing the House, had
treated Sheridan's complaints as meriting no atten
tion. Fox instantly rose to justify and to protect
his friend ; but the Speaker interposing, terminated
the conversation. Even while pronouncing the few
sentences which he then uttered, the fame of the
author of the " Duenna," the " School for Scandal,"
and the " Critic" was already so well established as
to procure him the greatest attention.
Probably at no period of George 1 1 I.'s long
reign, which already exceeds that of Henry III.
in duration, have the walls of the House of Com
mons enclosed so great an assemblage of first-rate
talents on the Opposition benches as were there
concentrated at the beginning of the year 1781.
Their exertions were at once sharpened and pro
pelled by the critical nature of the time and
of the contest, which obviously tended to some
vast catastrophe, unless a speedy amelioration of
our affairs beyond the Atlantic should take place.
The Treasury Bench, though Lord North, Lord
George Germain, and Mr. Dundas still were
seated on it, had sustained no ordinary diminution
of its lustre by the removal of Thurlow and of Wed
derburn to the Upper House, but on the oppo
site side was beheld a constellation of men of
genius. In the front stood Fox and Burke, sus
tained by Dunning and Barre ; while Pitt and
Sheridan, two of the most resplendent luminaries

52 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
produced during the course of the eighteenth cen
tury, were preparing to unfold their powers. I have
endeavoured to present before the reader of 1818
an imperfect picture of the assembly then sitting
at Westminster, and to place him, if I may so
express myself, under the gallery of the House
as a spectator. In order, however, to form a
more complete estimate of the principal individuals
who at that time attracted general notice, either as
supporters of Administration, or as candidates for
ofiice whenever the Opposition should come into
power, it is still requisite to throw a glance over the
House of Peers.
The great Earl of Mansfield,' though he had
already advanced beyond that period of life at
which the faculties of the human mind usually
begin to diminish in vigour, did not appear to
have lost any of the acuteness or strength of his
intellect. In the Court of King's Bench, no less
than in Parliament, where he constantly attended
in his place, his transcendent abilities still excited
equal respect and admiration. The friend of
Pope, of Bolingbroke, and of Sir William Wynd
ham, during his youth, he united the finest accom
plishments of science to the most profound know
ledge of the laws. In the recent riots of 1780, the
populace, whether considering him as inclined to
support measures of an arbitrary nature, or sup
posing him a friend to principles of religious tolera
tion repugnant to their feelings, selected him for
the object of their violence. His house and his
papers were consumed; but he had happily escaped
any personal effects of their rage, and though not
* Lord Mansfield was now seventy-seven years of age. ItwastohiBi '
•on expressing an intention to preside in the Court of King's Bench on
•Good Friday, that Sergeant Davy remarked — " Then your Lordship
will be the first judge who did business on a Good Friday since!
Pontius Pilate." He died, "the Cicero of the age," in 1793. — D. * j

OF MY OWN TIME. 53
individually a member of Administration, might be
considered as disposed on all occasions to extend
his warmest assistance to the Government. Yet
did the constitutional and characteristic timidity
which distinguished him in his political capacity
prevent his ever standing forward in moments of
crisis or danger, like Thurlow and Wedderburn, as
the avowed champion of Ministerial measures.
But in his judicial character he made ample amends,
and manifested a devotion to the wishes of the court
scarcely exceeded by any example to be adduced
even under the Stuart reigns. The accusations
brought against Lord Mansfield by Wilkes, in his
letter from Paris of "the 22d of October 1764,"
addressed to the electors of Aylesbury, are of so
grave a description, that, if founded in truth,
a Turkish Cadi might blush to own them. He
positively asserts that on the evening preceding
the two trials in the Court of King's Bench, insti
tuted against himself, as the author of the North
Briton, No. 45, and of the "Essay on Woman," ^
Lord Mansfield sent for his (Wilkes's) solicitor to
his own house, and desired him to consent to such
alterations in the records, as would ensure the cer
tainty of Wilkes's conviction. " The Chief Justice,"
continues he, "sunk into the crafty attorney and
made himself a party against the person accused
before him as judge, when he ought to have pre
sumed me innocent. My solicitor refused, and
against his consent the records were there materially
altered by his Lordship's express orders, so that I
was tried on two new charges, very different from
those I had answered. This is, I believe, the most
daring violation of the rights of Englishmen, which
^ An obscene poem said to have been written by a son of Potter,
Archbishop of Canterbury, about the existence of which there has
been much controversy. — Ed.

54 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
has been committed by any judge since the time of
Jefferies. Yet this arbitrary Scottish Chief Justice
still remains unimpeached, except in the hearts of
the whole nation." When we read these facts, — for
such they must be esteemed since they remained
wholly uncontradicted, we might fancy the trans-'
actions to have taken place at Saragossa or at
Seville, rather than in Westminster Hall. Scarcely
could a Spanish grand inquisitor have outdone the
English Chief Justice. Wilkes continuing his nar
rative, says, "Several of the jury were by counter
notices, signed Summoning Officer, prevented fromj
attending on the day appointed for the trial, while-
others had not only private notice given them of
the real day, but likewise instructions for thelr^
behaviour. To crown the whole, Lord Mansfield
in his charge tortured both the law and the fact so
grossly, that the audience were shocked no less at
the indecency than at the partiality of his conduct.!
I was during all this time very dangerously ill,
with my daughter, at Paris, absolutely incapable of
making any personal defence, and indeed totally
ignorant of the two new questions on which I was
to be tried." It is not without some difficulty that
we can conceive these violations of all justice or
equity to have taken place in London under the
reign of George III. We might rather suppose
them to have been performed under Charles II, or
James II.
Nor was Wilkes the only champion who stood
forward as^ Lord Mansfield's accuser at the bar
of the English people. With the single exception
of the Duke of Grafton, no man high in office had
been so severely treated by the pen of "Junius,"
and though time had skinned over the wound, the
cicatrice still remained. That able writer, after
pursuing the Lord Chief Justice with inconceivable

OF MY OWN TIME. 55
pertinacity through all the sinuosities of legal con
cealment or evasion, under which he attempted to
shelter himself, — after comparing him to the most
prostitute judges of the most arbitrary reigns,
to Tresillian under Richard II., and to Jefferies
under James 1 1., exclaims — "Who attacks the
liberty of the press ? Lord Mansfield. Who
invades the constitutional power of juries ? Lord
Mansfield. What judge ever challenged a jury
man but Lord Mansfield ? Who was that judge
who, to save the King's brother, affirmed that a
man of the first rank and quality, who obtains
.a verdict in a suit for criminal conversation, is
¦entitled to no greater damages than the meanest
mechanic? Lord Mansfield."' These it must be
owned are charges of no common magnitude, and
conveyed in no ordinary language. At him "Junius"
levelled his last blows, before he finally disap
peared as apolitical writer.. In his parting letter,
addressed to Lord Camden, written towards the end
•of January 1772, exciting and invoking that noble
man to come forward as the accuser of the Lord
Chief Justice of the King's Bench at the bar of the
House of Peers, " considering," says he, " the situa
tion and abilities of Lord Mansfield, I do not scruple
to affirm, with the most solemn appeal to God for
.my sincerity, that in my judgment he is the very
worst and most dangerous man in the kingdom.
Thus far I have done my duty in endeavouring to
bring him to punishment. But mine is an inferior
Ministerial office in the temple of justice. I have
¦bound the victim and dragged him to the altar."
Severe and perhaps unmerited as these accusations
may appear, yet Lord Mansfield's warmest admirers
jiever attempted to deny that at every period of
J^ Earl of Grosvenor v. Duke of Cumberland, for criminal con-
iversation in 1770. The Earl recovered ^10,000 damages.— Ed.

56 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
time while he presided in the Court of King's Bench,
his opinions and his decrees, if not systematically
adverse to the liberty of the press and to the free
dom of the subject, uniformly leaned towards the
Crown. His enemies, not without some reason,
asserted that he was better calculated to fill the
office of a praetor under Justinian than to preside as-
chief criminal judge of this kingdom in the reign
of George III.
Lord Loughborough,' who owed to Lord North
his recent elevation to the peerage, constituted one
of his ablest advocates and most zealous supporters
in that House. Wedderburn had risen through the
gradations of the law amidst the discussions of Par
liament side by side with Thurlow. More tem
perate, pliant, artful, and accommodating in his-
manners than the Chancellor, he equalled that
nobleman in eloquence if he did not even surpass
him. Churchill in one of his satires has thought
proper to describe Wedderburn in colours of the
deepest and most malignant dye, heightened by the
charm of verse. I believe it appeared in 1 762 : —
" To mischief trained, e'en from his mother's womb.
Grown old in fraud, though yet in manhood's bloom.
Adopting arts by which gay villains rise,
; And reach the heights which honest men despise ;
Mute at the bar, and in the senate loud,
Dull 'mongst the dullest, proudest of the proud,
A pert prim prater of the northern race.
Guilt in his heart, and famine in his face,
Stept forth."

' Alexander Wedderburn, born February 13, 1733, was gazetted as>
Solicitor-General in 1771, and Attorney-General in 1778. In 1780 he
was appointed Chief justice of the Common Pleas and created Lord-
Loughborough. In 1793 he became Lord Chancellor and was subse
quently created Earl ot Rosslyn. He continually changed sides, and.
was sometimes Tory and sometimes Whig. Charles Butler writes in»
his " Reminiscences," i. 42, " The Earl of Rosslyn seldom had justice^
done to his heart or his talents. We have mentioned.his dereliction of-
the Whigs, to whom he first attached himself in politics, and its having.

OF MY OWN TIME. 57
Nor was Fox much more favourable to Wedder
burn previous to the " Coalition " in 1 783, which
obliterated all preceding errors on both sides. In
November 1781, on the day when Parliament met.
Fox, while loading with execrations the American
war and its authors or abettors, selected Wedder
burn as an object of his strongest reprobation.
Alluding to the language which that eminent lawyer
had formerly held, when he designated the contest
with America " to be the opposition of Hancock and
his crew, not a war with the people at large ;" Fox
observed that " for these sentiments, and not for
any other merit that he could discover, except the
abusing our fellow-subjects beyond the Atlantic, the
learned gentleman had been raised to the dignity of
a peer." Notwithstanding these denunciations of
party violence, poetic and political, no man in public
life possessed more versatility of talents, or abilities
better adapted to every situation. He proved him
self as refined a courtier at St. James's as he was
an able lawyer at Westminster. His defence of
Lord Clive when under accusation before the
House of Commons at an earlier period of his
Majesty's reign augmented Wedderburn's legal as
well as parliamentary reputation. It had been per
petually progressive since that time, and rendered
him, whether as a member of the Lower or of the
Upper House, one of the most distinguished orna
ments of the longf robe.
raised against him a prejudice from which he never recovered. . . .
His judicial oratory was exquisite. The greatest detractors from his
merits acknowledged the perspicuity, the luminous order and chaste
elegance of his arguments."— Ed.
Wedderburn was particularly happy when speaking of Franklin,
who (he said) the Ministers had wantonly and foolishly made their
enemy. An enemy so inveterate, said he, so merciless, and so impla
cable, that he resembles Zanga the Moor in Young's tragedy of the
" Revenge," who at length ends the hellish plot by saying, " I forged
the letter and disposed the picture ; I hated, I despised, and I de
stroy." The quotation struck every one. — P.

58 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Nor did the -Opposition at this time want men of
distinguished capacity, professional and political, in
the n'ouse of Lords, though the Marquis of Rock
ingham' was not to be accounted among the nuni-
ber. His rank, his integrity, and his vast patri
monial property rather than any intellectual endow
ments had placed him at the head of his party.
During the short period of time when he formerly
filled the post of First Lord of the Treasury, he had
displayed more rectitude of intention than either
vigour or ability. Even his constitution and frame
of body appeared inadequate to the fatigues of an
official situation demanding energy and application.
Lord Camden, on the contrary, though much more
advanced in years,^ had retained all the powers of
his mind, combined with personal activity. In
debate he might be esteemed equal to Lord Mans
field himself ; and his exertions at every period of
his life in defence of the constitutional liberties of
the subject, which gave him a sort of individual
superiority to that nobleman, greatly endeared him
to the nation. While Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas, he had approved himself a firm
and intrepid guardian of the rights of the English
people. On the 30th of April 1 763, when Wilkes
was illegally arrested under a general warrant
issued by the two Secretaries of State, the Earls
of Egremont and Halifax, Sir Charles Pratt, on
application being made to him in his judicial
'^ Charles Watson Wentworth, Marquis of Rockingham, was born
in 1730. He was at first a follower of Lord Bute's. He became First
Lord of the Treasury in 1765, and resigned the following year. In
March 1782, he again was at the head of a Ministry, but he sud
denly died in the July of that year. He was one of the first peers
who sanctioned the principle of a reform in Parliament. — D.
^ In his old age, having exhausted all the < English, French, and
Italian romances, he studied Spanish, that he might read the novels in
that language. For this he was absurdly called " the Spanish Cato,"
Cato having commenced the study of Greek when an octogenarian.
— D. '

OF MY OWN TIME. 59
capacity, instantly ordered the Habeas Corpus to
issue, though the Ministers thought proper to evade
and to violate it. His name, almost always united
with the great Earl of Chatham ever since the
accession of George III., seemed inseparable from
the idea of freedom.
If indefatigable and laborious pertinacity could
recommend to office or qualify for public employ
ment, few members of the Upper House possessed
a better title to that praise than the Duke of
Richmond.' However limited might be the range
of his ideas, he supplied in some measure by ap
plication the deficiency of original talent. His
person, manners, and address were all full of
dignity, and the personal beauty which distin
guished Mademoiselle de la Querouaille, mistress
of Charles II., his great -grandmother, was not
become extinct in him. She is known to have
retained her charms down to a very late period of
her life; and the fables related of Ninon de
I'Enclos, which Voltaire has exposed, were in some
measure verified in the Duchess of Portsmouth.
The late George Selwyn,^ who had seen her at
Richmond House in the year 1733, — for she sur
vived Charles II. near fifty years, — assured me that
she was even then possessed of many attractions,
though verging towards fourscore. Like his nephew,
Mr. Fox, the Duke did not spare the King when
addressing the House of Lords, and he was con
sidered as peculiarly obnoxious at St. James's.^
1 The brother of Lady Sarah Lennox, whose beauty touched
George III. He was born in 1735, ^"^ died in 1806. He is famous
as the advocate of annual Parliaments and universal suffrage. He
built Goodwood, near Chichester. — Ed.
^ George Augustus Selwyn, born nth August 1719. He sat for
nearly fifty years in the House of Commons, and died 25th January
1 79 1. — Ed.
"He never forgave the preference given by the King's immediate
advisers when there was question of a consort to the English throne,

6o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Accused by his enemies of wanting personal
courage, he manifested at least no defect of poli
tical resolution. At the East India House, in his
quality of a proprietor no less than as a peer of
Parliament at Westminster, he was ever active,
vigilant in detecting and exposing abuses, real or
imaginary, perpetually harassing every department
with inquiries, and attacking in turn the army, the
Admiralty, and the Treasury.
But no individual in the Upper House attracted
so much national attention from his accomplish
ments, talents, and extensive information on all sub
jects of foreign or domestic policy as the Earl of
Shelburne.' In the prime of life, and in the full
vigour of his faculties, he displayed, whenever he
rose to speak, so intimate a knowledge of the Euro
pean courts as proved him eminently qualified to
fill the highest official situation. At an early
period of his Majesty's reign he had occupied
with great and general approbation the post of
Secretary of State for the Home Department dur
ing more than two years, between 1766 and 1768.
He might therefore justly look forward, on any
change of Ministers, to be again employed in a
similar or even in a higher place of trust and
power. His acquaintance with the Continent was
minute and accurate, the result of ocular inspection
on many points, corrected by reflection and im
proved by correspondence or communications with
foreigners of eminence, whom he assiduously culti
vated and protected. Mr. Fox himself was far
where he hoped to see his beautiful sister (Lady Sarah) seated,— in
vain. Lord Bute was too quick in providing a much safer partner.
1 William Pettj'. He was born in 1737, served in the army,
senate, and ministry, and when the younger Pitt became Premier,
retired from public life with the title of Marquis of Lansdowne. He
died in 1805.— D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 6i
inferior to Lord Shelburne in these branches of
information. Nor was that nobleman less versed
in all the principles of finance and of revenue than
in the other objects of political study that form a
statesman. His house, or more properly to speak,
his palace in Berkeley Square, which had formerly
been erected by the Earl of Bute, formed at once
the centre of a considerable party, as well aS the
asylum of literary taste and science.
It is a fact that during the latter years of Lord
North's Administration, Lord Shelburne retained
three or four clerks in constant pay and employ
ment under his own roof, who were solely occupied
in copying state papers or accounts. Every
measure of finance adopted by the First Minister
passed. If I may so express myself, through the
political alembic of Shelburne House, where it
was examined and severely discussed. There,
while Dunninsf and Barre met to settle their
plan of action as leading members of the Op
position in the House of Commons, Jackson,'
who likewise sat in the same assembly for New
Romney, and the variety of whose information
had acquired him the name of " Omniscient Jack
son," furnished every species of legal or general
knowledge. Dr. Price, aided by Mr. Baring, pro
duced financial plans, or made arithmetical calcula
tions, intended to controvert and overturn, or to
expose those of the First Lord of the Treasury ;
while Dr. Priestley, who lived under the Earl of
Shelburne's personal protection (as the celebrated
Hobbes had done at Chatsworth, under the patron
age of the Earls of Devonshire, in the preceding
century), prosecuted in the midst of London his
philosophical and chemical researches. Nor ought
1 Richard Jackson, M.P. for N6w Romney, one of the Cinque
Ports.— Ed.

62 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
I to omit in this list of extraordinary men the dis
tinguished names of Jervis' and of Jekyll,^ one of
whom has risen to such naval honours and dignities,
while the other has attained to an equal eminence
at the bar as he enjoys from the charms of his con
versation in private society.
In his person, manners, and address, the Earl of
Shelburne wanted no external quality requisite _ to
captivate or conciliate mankind. Affable, polite,
communicative, and courting popularity, he drew
round him a number of followers or adherents.
His personal courage was indisputable. Splendid
and hospitable at his table, he equally delighted his
guests by the charms of his conversation and society.
In his magnificent library, one of the finest of its
kind in England, he could appear as a philo
sopher and a man of letters. With such various
endowments of mind, sustained by rank and for
tune, he necessarily excited universal consideration,
and seemed to be pointed out by nature for the first
employments.^ But the confidence which his moral
character inspired did not equal the reputation of his
abilities. His adversaries accused him of syste
matic duplicity and insincerity. They even asserted
that unless all the rules of physiognomy were set
1 John Jervis, born igth January 1734, and entered the navy at the
early age of nine years. He was created Earl St. Vincent in 1797, in
consequence of his splendid victory over the Spanish fleet off Cape
St. Vincent. — D.
2 Jekyll was more celebrated for his bon-mots than for his legal
knowledge. He was born in 1750, and was at this period at the height
of his fame. He was a consistent Whig. In 1805 he was appointed
Solicitor-General to the Prince of Wales. The Prince Regent went
alone to Bedford Square to Lord Chancellor Eldon, who was laid up
with the gout, in order to obtain the vacant office of Master in
Chancery for Jekyll. On Eldon's refusing, the Prince threw himself
down in his chair, and exclaimed, " How I pity Lady Eldon ! " " Good
heavens!" said Lord Eldon, " what is the matter ? " " Oh, nothing,"
answered the Prince, " except that she will never see you again, for here
I remain till you promise to make Jekyll a Master in Chancery." — ED. :
^ Fox is said to have complained of his caprice ; at one time all that
is here said of him, at another time proud, austere, and distant. — Ed. |

OF MY OWN TIME. 63
at defiance, his very countenance and features elo
quently indicated falsehood. In order to fix upon
him so injurious an imputation, they gave him the
epithet of Malagrida, from the name of a Portuguese
Jesuit well known in the modern history of that
kingdom. And these insinuations, though not per
haps accompanied with proofs, were nevertheless,
either from the credulity or from the malignity of
mankind, widely circulated, as well as very gene
rally believed throughout the nation.
[2312^ — 3i.y/ yanuary 1781.] If any crisis ever
demanded a First Minister of energy, firmness, and
resources of character, it was assuredly the por
tion of the present reign on which we are about
to enter, including the last fourteen months of
Lord North's Administration. There may since
that time have been moments of greater alarm
under Mr. Pitt, Mr. Addington, or Mr. Perceval,
but none of such Ministerial and national de
pression. Even when Bonaparte seemed to be
stride the Continent from west to east, while his
flotilla menaced us with monthly invasion — when
the southern coast was covered with Martello
towers from Beachy Head to Romney Marsh,
and the Corsican Emperor, having vanquished
Europe, seemed only to reserve England, as Poly-
pheme does Ulysses, for his last sacrifice ; yet even
then, though we felt apprehension, the spirit and
the confidence of the country were fully commen
surate to the impending or apparent danger. The
sovereign was an object of affection and of universal
respect. It was a combat of morals and of patriot
ism against the principle of rapine, disorganisation,
and ferocious military despotism, while the Con
tinental governments and people, however subjected
they themselves might be, put up secret prayers for
our escape and success. But In 1 781 Lord North had

64 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
neither internal nor foreign auxiliaries. Whichever
way he directed his view, it was met by calamity, or
defeat, or accumulating difficulties. Under such cir
cumstances it may rather excite surprise that he
resisted so long, than that he should ultimately have
sunk beneath the pressure. No sooner had Parlia
ment reassembled after the adjournment, than the
reclamations or complaints which had been repressed
during the recess burst out with a vehemence pro
portioned to their preceding delay. While General
Smith called the attention of the Minister and the
House to the alarming condition of the Provinces
of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, where the newly
instituted Court of Judicature had commenced a
sort of civil war against the Supreme Government,
the Island of Barbadoes, desolated by the hurricane
of which I have already made mention, through its
agent, a member of the House, in terms calculated )
to awaken commiseration in every bosom, besought
Administration to extend some immediate relief to
their almost indescribable wants.
Great as were these misfortunes, and deeply
affecting the British Empire at its two extremities, \
a more serious subject of contemplation, because It
was one much nearer home, engrossed universal I
attention. I mean the manifesto presented by Lord
North, at the same time that he delivered a message
from his Majesty announcing the commencement of
hostilities against Holland. Never, probably, in the
history of modern nations, was any state paper drawn
up with more temper, moderation, and even a spirit
of conciliation. The King lamented in every line
the painful necessity imposed on him to resent the in
fractions of treaty committed by his ancient allies, the
Dutch. But the source of the evil lay in the depres"- ;
sion of Great Britain, already surrounded by enemies,
and apparently unequal to protracting the strugglal

OF MY OWN TIME. 65
In the course of a long debate that ensued upon the
address proposed to be presented to the sovereign,
which was opposed on factious rather than on solid
grounds of argument, Lord North, In reply to
Burke, observed that "our national difficulties were
unquestionably great, but, he trusted, by no means
insuperable." " I am neither disposed," added he,
" to conceal their magnitude, nor afraid to encounter
them ; because I am fully convinced that the means
possessed by this country, when vigorously exerted,
constitute the only mode of obtaining a just and
an honourable peace," These magnanimous senti
ments, which might have become the first Mr. Pitt
in 1758, or his son in 1805, both which were periods
of universal dejection, received from Fox, from
Townshend, from Lord John Cavendish, and from
Dunning every injurious or contumelious epithet,
accompanied by reproaches for having, as they
falsely asserted, driven Holland into the arms of
the House of Bourbon. The Minister did not, how
ever, want defenders on that evening, among whom,
though the most inconsiderable in every sense, I
might name myself. Nor did the division deceive
his hopes, as he carried the proposed address by a
majority of seventy-nine. I was among the number
of those members who went up with it to St.
James's, where it met from his Majesty the most
gracious reception.
\\st February 1781.] I wish it were in my power
to convey an adequate idea of the debate that took
place when Fox moved a censure on the Adminis
tration for having advised his Majesty to confer on
Palliser the government of Greenwich Hospital.
All the first orators who graced the Opposition
benches came forward in succession. Palliser and
Keppel faced each other, the former Admiral
seated near the Minister, the latter opposite to
VOL. II. E

66 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
him, sustained by his numerous, zealous, and elo
quent partisans. The events of the 27th of July
1778,' a day marked by so many painful recollec
tions, were once more retraced, discussed, and
agitated with all the violence of mutual animosity.
Fox opened the subject in a masterly manner,
mingling in his mode of managing it not less art
than eloquence or argument. Nor did he spare
in certain parts of his discourse the King himself,
though in compliance with the forms of Parliament
he abstained from expressly naming the sovereigns.
Keppel had been recently rejected as member for
Windsor, which borough thought proper to return, as
one of their representatives, Mr. Powney,^ a gentle^;>
man of independent fortune in the vicinity. To this
circumstance, as having been produced by royal
interference, Fox alluded. " And what," exclaimed
he exultingly, " is the consequence ? The county of
'Surrey, which portion of England beheld with indig
nation the oppression practised in his person, who
saw the enormous influence of the Crown opposed to
virtue, popularity, and reputation, opened their arms
to receive him, and invited him to become their re
presentative. Thus oppression produced its op
posite effect ; and my honourable relation, expelled
from a place which he had represented in successive
Parliaments, is returned to this assembly for a great
and opulent county." '
1 On which Keppel encountered the French fleet off Ushant, but
did not bring any of them with him to England. — D.
2 Pen Portlock Powney was named Ranger of Windsor Park, but
the King had no great measure of regard for him, although his- Majesty
was said to have canvassed a silk-mercer in Windsor to vote for " httle •
Powney," by saying, "The Queen wants a gown, — wants a gown ;—
No Keppel !— No Keppel ! " The Admiral, at the close of the election,
said of this report : " It cannot be true. It OUGHT not to be believed !
It MUST not be believed." The Duke of Sussex was locked up in the
nursery at Windsor for wearing the Keppel colours, and when the
Prince of Wales and Prince Frederick heard of the return of Keppel
for Surrey, they expressed to the Admiral himself their extreme satis
faction. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 6j
Lord North, in his reply, did not omit to give
the most pointed denial to the assertion that Kep
pel had been driven from Windsor by the means
to which alliision was made, adding that " Fox well
knew the fact not to be true, and only threw out
the imputation merely with a view to inflame the
passions of his audience." Disdaining, on an occa
sion so grave, to avail himself of his customary
weapons, ridicule and pleasantry, the First Lord of
the Treasury, In a speech replete with strong reason
ing, combated Fox's propositions, and reminded him
of the frenzy which had agitated London during
three nights, when a lawless and unrestrained mob
compelled the inhabitants to illuminate for a victory
which had never been gained, finally attributing, not
to conviction, but to intimidation the vote of thanks
to Keppel carried in the last House of Commons
under those circumstances. Yet on one point Lord
North indulged for a few moments that vein of
playful wit which so eminently characterised him.
Fox having asserted roundly that " Palliser's resig
nation of his places and employments formed a tacit
admission of his criminality," Lord North classically
exclaimed —
" Quam temere nosmet legem sancimus iniquam ! "
"Some men," continued he, "resign their places
for the sake of the public quiet. Others resign from
shrewd arithmetical calculations that it may be more
judicious to give up a place of small value now, in
order to get a better some time hence. Others
again act thus from political foresight ; they dis
cover an approaching storm, they ' snuff it gathering
in the sky ; ' they perceive that an Administration
totters, and they quit the falling fabric, in expecta
tion of coming into high office by joining the oppo
site party. For my part, I believe the Vice-Admiral

68 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
resigned from a most laudable motive, — in order to
restore the public tranquillity, which had been over
turned by the madness of the times."
Commodore Johnstone,' a man with whom I was
much acquainted, and who attained a considerable
degree of importance during this portion of the
reign of George III., rising for the first time since
the meeting of the present Parliament, took no
ordinary part in the debate. Nature had cast his
person in a coarse but vigorous mould, and had
¦endowed him with corresponding or analogous
faculties of mind. Irascible, intemperate, violent,
he was a warm and zealous friend, but an impla
cable enemy. He possessed a species of ardent,
impetuous, half-savage eloquence, restrained by no '
delicacy of language, yet capable of powerfully |
affecting his hearers by the display of information, I
by his energetic appeals to their passions, and even
by his gesticulations, which came in aid of his
oratory. As a naval officer of rank and experience,
when addressing the House on a naval question he
might justly lay claim to attention. He had proved
himself, nevertheless, more of a sagacious politician
than an able commander, and looked rather to par
liamentary talents than to maritime services for
elevating him in life, as well as for enabling him to
acquire the honours or emoluments of his profes
sion. Johnstone, while he admitted that Keppel
was individually a brave, gallant, and meritorious
officer, inveighed in terms the most severe against
the general dispositions which he had made previous
to engaging the fleet of France on the memorable
27th of July. Johnstone described that action as
the most unfortunate which Great Britain had ever j
witnessed, "in consequence of which the French
1 Commodore Johnstone is the same man as Governor Johnstone.
'See ante, vol. i. p. 382. — Ed,

OF MY OWN TIME. 69
became convinced by their own experience that on
a summer day they could engage an English fleet
superior in every point of view, and yet get safe back
to their own harbours." He treated with indlenant
ridicule the expression used by Keppel in his official
dispatch, that he allowed D'Orvilllers to retire un
molested, under a supposition that he "would fight
it out fairly next morning," instead of renewing the
engagement on the same evening ; adding that he
entertained no doubt the honourable Admiral him
self, if he were to fight the battle over again, would
conduct it in a very different manner. Then advert
ing to the disgraceful tumults, and still more dis
graceful illuminations on occasion of the pretended
advantage gained over France, " O God ! " said he,
raising his eyes and covering with both hands his
face, " London illuminated during three successive
nights on account of the national glory acquired on
the 27th of July! no man of common sense could
credit it." Towards the conclusion of his speech,
after vindicating Lord Sandwich in his official char
acter from the imputations of various kinds thrown
out against his naval administration, Johnstone
expressed his concern and surprise at seeing so
respectable a name as that of Admiral Keppel sub
scribed to a list of factious resolutions adopted by
a Surrey Committee declaring the American war to
be an unjust enterprise.
Impelled by the violence of his temper, which,
like that of Burke, was by no means always under
the control of reason, Johnstone next arraigned the
opinions delivered from the Opposition benches
during the course of the late debate on the declara
tion of war against Holland, opinions which he
denounced as dangerous to the national welfare.
He even accused Fox, though not by name, yet by
unavoidable implication, as well as his adherents

70 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
who sat near him, with the criminality of advocates
employed by the enemies of England to traduce, to
degrade, and to subvert her greatness. Apprehen
sive of the effect which such a denunciation of his
friends might produce on the public mind, Town
shend, starting up, called the Commodore to order.
Rigby instantly interposed to justify the observa
tions made as arising out of the discussion, con
sequently conformable to the rules of debate ; but
Johnstone, whose understanding had been allowed
a few moments of pause, aware how delicate was
the subject, wisely declined to add another word.
The House in vain encouraged him to proceed
by cries of "Go on! Go on!" He sat down, and
Keppel availed himself of the interruption. In a
speech of considerable length he endeavoured to
throw the blame of the failure of the 27th of July
on Palliser, though he was necessitated to admit
the personal efforts to break the French line made
by that gallant naval officer. He owned that he
deprecated the mention of the unfortunate day itself,
while he affected at the same time to rejoice in the
present occasion of justifying himself to the House
of Commons and to his country.
Palliser now rose, directing his discourse to Fox
rather than to Keppel. After reproaching Fox
with want of candour, if not of veracity, in the state
ment which he made of the motives that had pro
duced the resignation of his own employments. Sir
Hugh assured him that it did not proceed either'
from apprehension or from any sense of misconduct. ¦
" Fear," continued he, " is the tax which conscience
pays to guilt. Let those experience it who calum
niate the characters of others, and afterwards object
to hear the injured party in his exculpation! I
was indeed once afraid, I confess. I was afraid
of a frantic, deluded, furious populace, who forced;]

OF MY OWN TIME. 71
their way into my house, destroyed my property,
and would have torn me in pieces If the arrival
of a detachment of the Guards sent to my relief
had not critically rescued me from their ferocity.
I was necessitated to abscond, and from the place
of my concealment I wrote my letter of resig
nation. In so acting, I imitated the precedent set
me by one of the most celebrated naval commanders
known in modern history. I mean the famous
Dutch Admiral, Van Tromp. He, under the opera
tion of popular prejudice and outrage, laid down his
commission in order to pacify the public ; but he
subsequently resumed it under more auspicious cir
cumstances, and rendered the highest services to
his native country." Having modestly, but dis
tinctly stated the share that he took in the engage
ment of the 27th of July, where, by the universal
confession of every officer present, he had manifested
uncommon intrepidity, and had received in his ship,
the " Formidable," the exclusive fire of the whole
French line, he concluded, leaving on my mind, and
I believe on that of every unprejudiced hearer, the
strongest conviction of his merits, no less than of
the persecution that he had endured.
Burke may be said to have terminated this very
interesting discussion, rising as soon as Palliser sat
down, no doubt with the design of obliterating the
recent impression made on the House. If eloquence
•could have effaced that impression, he must have
succeeded ; for never were more brilliant, various,
and captivating powers of intellect exhibited than
by Burke on that evening. Against Palliser he
directed the shafts of his argumentative severity,
.ao-ainst Lord North the keener arrows of ridicule
.and irony, nor did he by any means omit Johnstone,
who attracted his full proportion of both those
weapons of attack. The finest specimen of ludi-

72 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
crous and metaphorical description ever perhaps
exhibited even by Burke himself within the walls of
the House of Commons he pointed against the First
Minister. That nobleman found himself obliged
to call in the assistance of Mansfield, the Solicitor-
General, in order to enable him to shape his pro
posed amendments to Fox's motion for declaring
" the appointment of Palliser to be Governor of
Greenwich Hospital, a measure totally subversive
of the discipline and derogatory to the honour of
the navy." Some minutes having elapsed while the
precise words proper to be adopted were under con
sideration, Burke observed that "the noble Lord
had been employed in knotting and splicing the
motion, and in fishing its mast," at the same time
remarking (in allusion to his consultation with the
Solicitor- General), that " he need not have fired
a gun to leeward as a signal of distress, it being
obvious that his mizzen topmasts were all shot away."
These metaphors, drawn from the technical terms
of the very service respecting which the House had
been so long engaged in debate, operated with
inconceivable effect on the muscles of the assembly,
and on none more forcibly than on those of the First
Minister, against whom they were specially directed.
He found himself for once overwhelmed by the very
artillery which he commonly employed against his
opponents, and in the use of which he so much
excelled. The motion was at length negatived,
though only by a majority of sixty-five, the Opposi
tion dividing .149, while Administration had 214
votes, and Palliser continued to retain the govern
ment of Greenwich Hospital down to the period
of his decease in 1 796.
\26th February 1781.] Among the circumstances
which will render the session of 1781 peculiarly
interesting to posterity must be accounted the ap-

OF MY OWN TIME. 75
pearance of Pitt and Sheridan on the floor of the
House of Commons. They both commenced their
brilliant parliamentary career within a few days
of each other. Both spoke on the side of Op
position, and both were received with marked
approbation by every part of their audience. I
was present when each of them first rose. Pitt led
the way on the second reading of Burke's bill for
" the reform of the King's household," which,
though rejected in the last session of the preceding
Parliament, its author did not the less bring for
ward anew at this time. He reiterated, on moving
for leave to bring in the bill, the same encomiums
upon the salutary retrenchments made by Necker
with which he had entertained the House in 1 780 ;
extolled the discernment of Louis XVI. in making
choice of such a Minister for superintendent of the
finances ; and asserted that the selection would pro
duce more substantial benefit, as well as more solid
glory to his reign, than had resulted from all the
heroic deeds of Henry IV. " We want," said he,
" some such great and enlightened statesman, who
will strike out new and untried paths, adapted to
the pressure of the times. Here no measures are
adopted except on a narrow fraudulent scale, pro
ducing temporary supplies by retails of misfortune.
Tcedet harum formarum I These are only delusive
phantoms. Give me substance and reality ; corpus
solidum, et sued plenum I When the financial re
sources of the French monarchy were believed to
be exhausted, and when every ordinary channel of
revenue was known to be dried up, Mr. Necker
opened a mine of national wealth; dug down into
it, reached the fountain-head of productive receipt,
and by demolishing the dams that impeded the cur
rent of wealth, he immediately brought into the
Exchequer, the value of nearly six hundred useless

74 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
places." Such were the eulogiums pronounced upon
the banker of Copet, whose ill-combined and illusive
plans, calculated only to acquire popularity at the
•expense of his unfortunate master, plunged France
into irretrievable embarrassments, and led ultimately
to the subversion of the monarchy ! The mea
sures, moreover, adopted by an arbitrary prince for
maintaining a war in which (contrary to every
maxim of wise policy no less than by the infraction
of all treaties) he had engaged with us, did not
appear, in the opinion of impartial men, to form a
proper model for our imitation. After a debate of
considerable length, the bill was rejected only by a
majority of forty-three votes in a very full House,
where 423 members were present. Great expecta
tions having been formed of Pitt, an anxious impa
tience for his coming forward pervaded the assem
bly, which was strongly impressed with a belief of
his hereditary talents and eloquence. He unques
tionably commenced under most auspicious circum
stances ; his birth and his very name, by resuscitating
as it were the first Earl of Chatham, whose memory
awakened such animating recollections, preparing
every ear to be attentive, and thus removing all
the impediments that present themselves in the way
of ordinary men when attempting to address Par
liament. But sanguine as might be the opinions
entertained of his ability, he far exceeded them ;
seeming to attain at his outset that object which
other candidates for public fame or favour slowly
and laboriously effect by length of time and regular
gradations. It was in reply to Lord Nugent that Pitt first
broke silence from under the gallery on the Opposi
tion side of the House. The same composure, self-
possession, and imposing dignity of manner which
..afterwards so eminently characterised him when

OF MY OWN TIME. 75
seated on the Treasury Bench distinguished him in
this first essay of his powers, though he then wanted
three months to have completed his twenty-second
year. The same nervous, correct, and polished dic
tion, free from any inaccuracy of language or embar
rassment of deportment, which, as First Minister, he
subsequently displayed, were equally manifested by
him on this occasion. Formed for a popular assem
bly, he seemed made to guide its deliberations from
the first moment that he addressed the members
composing it. The debate of that evening, which
introduced so distingfuished an individual to the
knowledge of his countrymen as a candidate for
office, stands so much apart from the ordinary dis
cussions of Parliament, and the particulars of it will
unquestionably excite so warm a curiosity, that I
shall endeavour to retrace some of its features ;
and I can do it with the greater facility, as well
as accuracy, having not only been in my place
on that night as a member of the House, but
having taken an active part in it. I spoke at
considerable length against the bill, replied to
Burke's encomiums on Necker, and treated the
plans of that Genevese financier nearly in the same
manner as I have since written respecting them.
These observations I venture to make in order to
show that in all I may state I am not composing
from books, but relating such facts as remain im
pressed on my memory and have survived the lapse
of six-and-thirty-years. I shall, therefore, proceed
without heeding the malevolent comments that may
be made on my vanity and egotism for the mention
of myself as in any manner connected with Mr.
Pitt's entrance on public life.
Lord Nugent, while he professed himself a
friend to economy, strongly opposed Burke's bill
as destroying the independence of the sovereign,

76 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
while it would injure the frame of the British con
stitution by subverting the nice equipoise on which
depended its permanence and stability. He after
wards treated the projected reform in the royal
household as not less visionary or impracticable
than the " Commonwealth " of Plato in antiquity or
than Sir Thomas More's " Utopia," adding, that
however much he mlsfht desire to introduce all be-
coming reductions of expense about the King's
court and person, he never would vote for setting
him down to an ordinary, or render him a more
dependent man than any of his subjects. Against
these opinions or arguments Mr. Pitt directed all
the force of his eloquence. The Ministers, he said,
and they only, were culpable in not having come
forward spontaneously to propose a diminution of
the Civil List. If, however, instead of performing
their duty to a burdened and impoverished country,
they interposed to prevent the benignity of the
monarch, to check the free exercise of his natural
bounty, to stop the tide of royal sympathy, and to
close up his paternal emotions, there could exist no
good reason why because Administration neglected
or abused its trust the representatives of the people
should imitate so pernicious and criminal an ex
ample. It might be asserted that the proposed
measure would place the Crown in a state of tute
lage, but the guardianship of a British House of
Commons could not surely be disgraceful to a
constitutional prince. Were magnificence and re
trenchment, he demanded, incompatible ? or was
;^20o,ooo a year, which the bill proposed to take
from useless state and to pour into the public purse,
so inconsiderable a saving as to be unworthy of
parliamentary attention ? Towards the conclusion
of his speech, which, I think, did not exceed In
duration fifteen minutes, he enlarged on the nature

OF MY OWN TIME. -jy
of the Civil List itself, which, he said, was originally
granted not for the personal pleasures or gratifica
tions of his Majesty, but for public purposes. Those
objects, embracing the splendour of the throne, he
detailed, terminating by an expression of the ex
treme reluctance with which, in the awful state of
the Empire, convulsed and bleeding on every side,
his faithful Commons, who had voted him the re
venue that he enjoyed, now applied to him to part
with a portion of it as a sacrifice to their necessities.
Such, as far as I am able to recall it, was the pur
port of Mr. Pitt's opening address to Parliament'
It impressed more from the judgment, the diction,
and the solemnity that pervaded and characterised it,
than from the brilliancy or superiority of the matter.
While he ardently supported the proposed measure
he rather soothed and flattered than wounded the
feelings of the King, against whom it was, in a
certain degree, directed. He seemed to possess
himself as much as though he had pronounced the
speech in his own closet ; but there was no display
of studied or classic images in any part of it ; nothing
gaudy, superfluous, or unnecessary. The statesman,
not the student, or the advocate, or the candidate
for popular applause, characterised it. Lord John
Townshend^ (then Mr. John Townshend), who
spoke in an early stage of the debate before Mr.
Pitt rose, manifested more talent and drew his
allusions from more cultivated sources of informa
tion than were exhibited by Pitt, but he by no
means made a similar Impression on the audience.
As if the evening of the 26th of February was
destined for the opening display of parliamentary
ability by men who have since occupied so high a
1 Lord North said it was the best first speech he had ever heard.
—Ed.
2 Second son of Viscount Townshend. — Ed.

78 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
place in the public consideration, the present Earl
of Lauderdale,' then Viscount Maitland, commenced
his very useful and distinguished career only about
an hour later than Pitt. Like him. Lord Maitland,
then a very young man, brought his powerful re
sources of mind to the aid of Opposition. In a
speech full of animation, indignant at the fallen
state to which Ministers, as he asserted, had reduced
their sovereign and their country, he traced the
whole calamity up to the prosecution of a war that
he stigmatised with the epithets of mad and ruinous.
Nor did he spare the House more than the Admini
stration, declaring his conviction that the majority
supported measures which only corruption could
induce them to approve. He tempered, neverthe
less, these ebullitions of patriotic rage by professions
of the warmest attachment to the person, the vir
tues, and the glory of the reigning monarch, and
unquestionably gave, in his first attempt to address
Parliament, an earnest of those endowments which,
during near forty years, have been exerted in various
ways for the public benefit either In the House of
Commons or in the House of Peers.
To return to Pitt. All men beheld in him at
once a future Minister, and the members of the
Opposition, overjoyed at such an accession of
strength, vied with each other in their encomiums
as well as in their predictions of his certain political
elevation. Burke exclaimed that " he was not
merely a chip of the old ' block,' but the old block
itself."^ Nor did Fox do less justice to the talents
of this new competitor for power, popularity, and
1 This nobleman, born in 1759, was throughout the most of his hfe
.nn impetuous advocate of popular opinions. He was the friend of
Brissot, the dupe of Bonaparte, and, finally, died the opponent of
Lord Grey's Reform Government ! — D. ,
2 Not quite. The old block's head was beautiful, and blue eyes in
it brilliant with intelligence. — P.

OF MY OWN TIME. yg.
employment. Having carried him to Brookes's
Club a few days afterwards, Pitt was elected a
member of that society, which then comprehended
almost all the men of rank and great talents who
were engaged in parliamentary opposition to Minis
ters. It is a fact that Pitt remained durino- several
years a member of Brookes's, but he rarely, if ever,
appeared there after he came into office. So nice
was his tact, so deep his penetration, and in so
different a mould was he cast from Fox, that even
on his first reception in St. James's Street, though
it was of the most flattering description, he was not
dazzled nor won by it. On the contrary, he held
back, and never coalesced with that party beyond
external appearances. Fox himself soon perceived
the coldness of his new ally, for whom play had no
attractions and who beheld a faro table without
emotion, though neither he nor Burke were pro
bably aware of the profound and regulated, but
soaring, ambition which animated him to aspire,
without passing through any intermediate stage, to
occupy the first employments of the state. Still
less could they foresee that he would form during
the greater part of their future lives the principal
and insurmountable bar to their own attainment
or permanent enjoyment of office.
Mr. Pitt, when he thus rose for the first time,
represented the borough of Appleby in Westmore
land, and was indebted for his seat in the House
to Sir James Lowther, whose property and parlia
mentary influence, which, in the counties of Cumber
land and Westmoreland were immense, enabled him
to bring seven or eight members into that assembly.
Sir James was rewarded by Mr. Pitt for this and
for other services with an English earldom little
more than three years afterwards. But he eagerly
embraced the first occasion which presented itself

So HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
to obtain a more independent seat in Parliament,
and to emancipate himself from any dependence
on, or personal connection with, the Lowther family.
The matrimonial alliance of Sir James with Lord
Bute, one of whose daughters he had married, the
name of Lowther, which had been rendered unpopu
lar, if not odious, by the memorable contest with the
Duke of Portland in the beginning of the present
reign, and even the character of Sir James Lowther
himself, tyrannical, overbearing, violent, and fre
quently under no restraint of temper or of reason,
all these combined motives impelled Mr. Pitt to
seek elsewhere a more independent title to call
himself one of the representatives of the people,
particularly after his elevation to the head of the
Treasury. He was, nevertheless, compelled to wait
for such an occasion till the dissolution of Parlia-
liament in March 1 784, during all which period he
sat for Appleby, even when Chancellor of the Ex
chequer under Lord Shelburne's Administration and
afterwards when First Lord of the Treasury. At
length, in the spring of 1784, his Ministerial weight,
or, as " Junius " denominates it, " the spirit of distri- '
buting prebends and bishoprics," rather than his
individual qualities and interest, enabled him to
turn out Lord John Townshend (then Mr. John
Townshend) and to place himself at the head of
the poll for the University of Cambridge, an elec
tion and a seat in every sense gratifying to his
feelings. It was not, indeed, to the personal friendship of
Sir James Lowther that he originally owed his
entrance into the House of Commons. He was
indebted for that advantage, which conducted him
with such rapidity to the highest offices of state,
principally, if not solely, to the late Duke of Rutland,\^
1 Charles, the fourth Duke, who was for some time Lord-Lieutenant

OF MY OWN TIME. Si
a nobleman of nearly the same age as Mr. Pitt.
The early intimacy which subsisted between them
at the University of Cambridge was cemented by
the political ties that had formerly united their
fathers, the Marquis of Granby and the Earl of
Chatham, during the reign of George II. As every
circumstance connected with the public life and
career of such a man as Pitt becomes interesting,
I shall relate from my own personal knowledge
some facts not undeserving of commemoration upon
this subject.
Among the persons who were admitted to the
familiarity of the late Duke of Rutland, and who
had access to him at almost all hours about this
time, was a man of the name of Kirkpatrick, then
well known on the turf at Newmarket. Possessing
a small property at Penrith, in the county of Cum
berland, within a few miles of Lowther Hall, he was
much protected by Sir James Lowther, with whom
he maintained a constant and habitual intercourse.
The Duke and Sir James both treated him as a sort
of buffoon who diverted them by his eccentricities,
and he was frequently employed between them on
private errands or messages. During the autumn
of the year 1780, the Duke dispatched Kirkpatrick
from his house in Arlington Street to Sir James
Lowther, who resided in Charles Street, Berkeley
Square, with a verbal request that " Sir James would
do him the favour, if possible, to reserve a seat
among his boroughs for a friend of the Duke's, Mr.
William Pitt, a younger son of the Earl of Chatham."
Kirkpatrick has often related to me the particulars
of his interview and conversation with Sir James
Lowther, whom he found in the act of shaving
himself. "Well, Kirk," — for so he was always de-
of Ireland. He was born in 1754 and died in 1787. Pitt was a
Cambridge friend of the Duke's.— Ed.
VOL. II. F

82 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
nominated, — said Sir James, " what may be your
business?" "I am come from Arlington Street,"
answered he, " with a message to you from the
Duke." "What are his commands.-*" replied Sir
James. " He requests that you will oblige him
by reserving a seat for a friend of his, Mr. Pitt,,
Lord Chatham's brother, a young gentleman of
vast abilities, whom the Duke wishes to bring
into Parliament." " I wish he had sent sooner to
me," returned Lowther. " Is he very anxious about
it, Kirk ? " " Exceedingly so, you may be assured."
" Then go back to the Duke," was his reply, " and
tell him that I will see him in the course of this
day, and we will talk the matter over together."
Kirkpatrick carried back the answer. Sir James
Lowther and the Duke of Rutland having met, the
eventual consequence of their Interview was that
Mr. Pitt came in for Appleby ; not, however, at
the general election which took place in September
1780. Mr. WilHam Lowther, the present Earl of
Lonsdale, having succeeded in making his election
for Carlisle as well as for Appleby, vacated his seat
for the latter place after the meeting of Parliament,
and Mr. Pitt was then returned for that borough.
This event did not happen before the beginning of
1 781, towards the close of January, when he took
the oaths and his seat. He remained silent about
four weeks before he rose and pronounced his first
speech.' Having been brought up, as is universally known,
to the profession of the law, he went the western
circuit as a barrister In the spring of the year 1 780.
But he unquestionably meditated very early in life
a shorter and more brilliant mode of attaining to
personal and political power. He could not be
ignorant of the prodigious parliamentary talentsj
1 Pitt was M.P. for Appleby from 1781 to 1784.— Ed.

0.F MY OWN TIME. 83
bestowed on him by nature, which had been culti
vated with the utmost care by his father. A son
of the great Earl of Chatham, so gifted by Provi
dence, however narrow might be his fortune, yet
would probably experience no great difficulty in pro
curing entrance into the House of Commons ; and
never was any juncture more propitious for his sur
mounting all the ordinary impediments to high
employment. In 1781, Lord North palpably and
evidently verged towards his extinction as First
Minister. With him, it was obvious, all his col
leagues in the Cabinet must pass away, and a new
order of things would arise. America having nearly
effected her emancipation from British supremacy,
peace, it was almost certain, would follow that event,
after no long period of time. The King was in a
very high degree unpopular, while Fox had become
an object of general attachment throughout the"^
country (in defiance of his excesses), principally by
the steady opposition which he had given to the
American war ; but those circumstances rendered
him odious to his Majesty, who disliked his political
principles, and reprobated his personal Irregularities.
Lord Rockingham and the Duke of Portland,
though mild, virtuous, and respectable individuals,
were only great names and heads of a party. It
was impossible for the sovereign, even if he had
wished it, to call the Duke of Grafton back to
office ; Lord Bute himself would have been less
obnoxious to the country. No individual in either
House of Parliament, except Lord Shelburne, re
mained, therefore, who could rationally aspire to
succeed Lord North, unless by violence and against
the King's inclination.
Mr. Pitt's youth might indeed seem at first sight
an insurmountable impediment to his being placed
in a Cabinet office, without first passing through the

84 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS

intermediate stages. But common rules and pre
cedents did not apply to him, whose hereditary
claims to national regard, as the living representa
tive of that great Minister who had humbled the
House of Bourbon, disposed all men to consider him
with predilection. Mr. Fox derived no such moral
inheritance from his father, whose memory, far
from being embalmed in the veneration of the Eng
lish people, laboured, on the contrary, under imputa
tions of peculation the most generally diffused.
There existed, therefore, no solid obstacle to Pitt's
speedy attainment, even of the greatest Ministerial
situations, in the course of a very short time. And
when we contemplate the range of his mind, the
very limited fortune that he possessed, the coldness
of his constitution, the dominion which he exercised
over his passions, the expansion of his intellect, the
splendour of his eloquence, and the immeasurable .
ambition or thirst of power which impelled him, we
may give him credit for having, almost as soon as
he came into Parliament, foreseen, anticipated, and
confidently calculated on, his soon reaching the ob
ject of his exertions.
[March 1 78 1 ]. Sheridan, on the contrary, notwith
standing the extent and variety of his endowments',
which many persons may perhaps consider to have
been even superior to those of Pitt himself, did not
instantly take possession 'of the House in the same
commanding manner. The reason was obvious.
Though Sheridan manifested, from the first time
that he presented himself to public notice as a
speaker, the greatest talents for debate, yet he
found many impediments, prejudices, and obstacles
to surmount in his progress. His theatrical con
nections as manager of Drury Lane exposed him
to attacks which a man of less wit, suavity of dis
position, and ascertained spirit could not have

OF MY O WN TIME. 85
parried. Many persons thought, perhaps very
illiberally, that a member of the Legislature should
not be the conductor of a public theatre. At this
vulnerable part malevolence or satire directed its
blows before Sheridan was scarcely seated in the
House. I remember an instance of it which took
place during the debate of the 26th of February,
when Pitt first presented himself to public notice.
Courtenay,' one of the two members for Tamworth,
who was then secretary to the Master-General of the
Ordnance (Lord Townshend), possessed a very un
common and eccentric species of humour, original,
classic, even Attic, allied to and sustained by learning,
inexhaustible and. often irresistible in Its effect on the
muscles, but always coarse, frequently licentious, or
at least indecorous, and rarely under a becoming
restraint. His wit seemed Indeed more adapted to
a tavern or to a convivial board than to the grave
deliberations of such an assembly as the House
of Commons. Scarcely will the fact obtain belief,
yet it is not the less true that Courtenay ven
tured to cite in the course of one of his speeches
some of the most exceptionable lines in Prior's
" Paulo Purganti " without being called to order.
Ridicule constituted his never-failing arm, which he
wielded with inconceivable facility, though without
grace or elegance.^ Having directed this engine
aofainst Burke's bill for the reduction of the Civil
List, and held up the measure to contempt or derision
under many ingenious points of view, as being
equally nugatory, fallacious, and unbecoming a great
nation to adopt, Sheridan reprehended him for thus
introducing a style of debate altogether unbecoming
the gravity of a legislative body convened to deli-
1 John Courtenay, appointed Surveyor-General of the Ordnance in
1783.— Ed.
2 Walpole calls him " the new court wit." Old George Cavendish
styled him "deputy-buffoon to Lord North."— D.

86 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
berate on great national objects or interests. No
sooner had he sat down than Courtenay, who was
not easily disconcerted, rising in his place, observed
that " the honourable gentleman seemed to be ini
mical to mirth and to wit in any house except his
own'.' This allusion, which did not admit of being
misunderstood, and which touched upon Sheridan's
histrionic or dramatic occupations, would probably,
in defiance of his characteristic equality of mind,
have provoked some reply, perhaps a severe or
acrimonious retort, if the Speaker, apprehensive of
the consequence, had not interposed his authority
and interdicted the further prosecution of such per
sonalities. Pitt afterwards attempted, with even
worse success than Courtenay, to renew a similar
mode of annoyance, for it could deserve no other
epithet. Sheridan, however, not only repelled but
repulsed his antagonist, though then seated on
the Treasury Bench in the plenitude of Ministerial
power. While we are contemplating the outset in Parlia
ment of these two celebrated men, it would be
unfair not to recollect that Pitt, when he rose for
the first time, spoke in reply. Sheridan, though he
had previously risen twice or thrice in the House,
and pronounced a few words, may be said to have
commenced his public career on the 5th of March,
by introducing three motions respecting " the inter
ference of an armed force in suppressing the riots
of June 1780." He must naturally, therefore, have
arranged his ideas with more order and precision
than it was possible to do in answer to a preceding
speech. In fact, he won his way by superior talent,
good-humour, and argument, which enabled him to
triumph over every difficulty. Pitt might be said
to descend as from an eminence on the House.
Sheridan laboured uphill with slow but uniform

OF MY OWN Tliin-. Sy
pace, sustained altogether by his own prodigious
abilities, admirable wit, and insuperable command
of temper, all which were powerfully seconded by
Fox's steady friendship. His own father, though a
man of genius, could lend him no assistance. Old
Sheridan was, on the contrary, in such contracted
¦circumstances as to have been compelled for his
support, some years after the period of which I am
now speaking, to give lectures, at a very low price,
on dramatic elocution or declamation at a public
room in Gerrard Street, Soho.' Henderson, the
celebrated actor, was, I believe, his coadjutor in this
species of exhibition.
No individual in my time, Burke himself not
excepted, owed less to fortune, or was more indebted
to nature for his vast reputation and success, than
Sheridan. He did not, however, succeed In the
object of his speech, which evidently meant to throw
a severe, though an indirect censure on the sove
reign as well as on the Administration for Issuing
those orders which had rescued London from the
last effects of violence and outrage. With great
severity he inveighed against the miserable police
of Westminster, as altogether inadequate to the
protection of its inhabitants, and he attempted to
criminate the Ministers for not having come down
1 Thomas Sheridan, author, actor, and lexicographer, born 1721,
died 1788.— Ed.
Quere. — He delivered lectures certainly, but previous to 1781. — P.
His orthographical dictionary of the English language appeared in
1788, the year in which he died. He was a Government pensioner to
the amount of .p^20o per annum. Churchill said of his voice —
" His voice no touch of harmony admits ;
Irregularly deep and shrill by fits,
The two extremes appear like man and wife
Coupled together for the sake of strife. " — D.
I have seen him on the stage in former days acting Horatio in
Rowe's "Fair Penitent" to Garrick's Lothario ; but of his powers as
a lecturer Mr. Murphy gave the most ludicrous account, taking him
off with incomparable powers of mimicry — quite unequalled. — P.

38 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
to the House and demanded a bill of _ indemnity
for their conduct in calling to their assistance the
military force. Throughout his whole address to
Parliament on this occasion he was temperate,
measured, argumentative, and impressive, but, un
like his general style of declamation, he neither
had recourse to wit, to ridicule, or to satire as
auxiliaries. Lord North did justice to the ability,
as Fox did, in animated language, to the energy
and elegance of Sheridan's speech. It was seconded
by Colonel Fitzpatrick, who treated the mobs of
June 1 780 as a contemptible assemblage of unarmed
and undisciplined rabble, only rendered formidable
by the pusillanimous or criminal inactivity of the civil
magistrates. The riots themselves, which he had
been personally called on to quell, he denominated
a " guerre des pots de chambre," in which a soldier
could only find subject of mortification; adding, that
to suppose the military power capable of overturning
the constitution at the order of the sovereign was a
libel on the profession. The First Minister in his
reply observed that while protecting the persons
and securing the property of his Majesty's subjects,
attacked by a lawless, fanatical, or infuriated popu
lace, he felt no dread of a prosecution. Whenever
any such legal attack should be made on him for
having authorised the troops to act against the
rioters, it would be time enough to apply to Par
liament on the business. Meanwhile he disdained
either to demand or to accept indemnity for an act
which he was conscious merited the highest com
mendation. The House rejected by a majority of
seventy-seven votes the only one of Sheridan's
three motions that he ventured to submit to a
division. It may indeed justly excite some astonish^
ment that any body of men should attempt to call
into question the rectitude and propriety of a measure

OF MY OWN TIME. 89
only applied at the last extremity in order to rescue
the capital from inevitable conflagration and public
credit from total subversion. But never were the
powers of Government fallen into such debility as
towards the close of the American war ; nor ever
did Opposition venture to treat Pitt, or even Ad
dington, or Perceval, with the contumelious person
ality which Fox and Burke used toward Lord North
on a variety of occasions.
That Minister, though supported by a Parliament
newly elected, yet was by no means master of its
deliberations. He retained, indeed, a majority which
might be esteemed considerable; but it was never- \
theless fluctuating, precarious, and destitute of con
fidence In their leader. The minority, on the
contrary, who augmented every month in numbers
and animation, considered the termination of the
American war as the term of the existence of the
Administration; and they already predicted, as well
as anticipated with certainty, the ill success of Lord
Cornwallis's expedition against the southern pro
vinces. Notwithstanding, indeed, some faint gleams
of hope and of success which appeared In the spring
of 1 78 1, few except the most sanguine continued
to expect the reduction of America to obedience by
the British arms. Emboldened by the disastrous
state of foreign affairs, and availing themselves of
the unpopularity of the Ministry, the Opposition
attacked in the severest terms Lord North's finan
cial measures. The loan which he had recently
negotiated, having risen suddenly to a prodigious
premium, became a subject of bitter invective, as
profuse, improvident, and constituting a systematic
engine of parliamentary corruption. And though it
was maintained by a majority of more than fifty
votes, yet the impression ultimately produced by
Opposition, both in and out of the House, an-

•90 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
nounced an approaching crisis, however it might
still be suspended or protracted by a variety of
events. \_yth — 13^?/^ March 1781.J During more than six
teen months that I sat In Parliament under Lord
North's Administration, I recollect indeed no attack
so personally painful and invidious made on him as
the inquiry instituted relative to the loan of twelve
millions which he borrowed at this time. All the
other charges or accusations brought forward re
garded the Minister. The present discussion was
levelled at the individual. Fox maintained, not
only that the terms of the loan were in themselves
•culpably extravagant on the part of the First Lord
of the Treasury, but he roundly asserted many
times, while addressing the House, that some hun
dred thousand pounds arising from the profit on the
sum borrowed were distributed in that assembly.
It was by such corrupt means, he added, that a
majority was obtained upon every question, and
from such sources that the recent expenses incurred
by gentlemen at the late general election were to
be defrayed. George Byng, member for Middlesex,
a man of very honourable character and upright in
tentions, but of an ardent temper, very limited
talents, and devoted to the Rockingham party, re
iterated Fox's allegations in still more pointed lan
guage. _ " I believe from my soul," exclaimed he,
" that six hundred thousand pounds have been dis
tributed among the members of this assembly— I
mean to those who uniformly support all the Minis
terial measures ! " Another leading individual on
the Opposition bench. Sir Philip Jennings Clerke, as-
.sured the House that he was credibly informed Mr.
Atkinson, a contractor well known beyond Temple
Bar,_ partner in the commercial house of Muir, had
a-eceived for his own share no less than three mil-

OF MY OWN TIME. 91
lions, three hundred thousand pounds of the loan.
Hussey,' member for Salisbury, who though a dull
debater, destitute of all the graces of elocution,
tedious, and labouring under impediments of enun
ciation, yet thoroughly understood all financial ques
tions, and never attempted to speak upon any other
subjects — Hussey, by a long, laboured calculation,
endeavoured arithmetically to demonstrate that the
principles on which the bargain had been concluded
were radically vicious as well as ruinous to the
public. Sir George Savile, whose high character
and large property secured him always a favourable
hearing, called on the House not to sanction or to
ratify so censurable a measure of finance.
Burke, after repeating the vague assertions made
by Fox and Byng of the sums swallowed up among
members of Parliament, who, he said, were gorged
with places, pensions, and pecuniary gratifications,
proceeded to draw another eloquent comparison
between Lord North and Necker. " The former
Minister," continued he, "has, in fact, augmented
the capital debt of the country at this time by
twenty-one millions of stock, while Mr. Necker has
only added about five millions sterling by his late
loan to the public debt of France. The noble Lord
lays on new taxes to pay the interest of his loan.
Not so the French financier. He contrives by
reductions and economy to find the interest without
imposing new burdens on the people. Necker bor
rows on lives ; our Minister on perpetuities. Louis
XVI.'s superintendent of the finances has, moreover,
ten millions sterling in reserve for the exigencies of
the approaching year ; but where are our resources
for future years ? " Then, abruptly interrupting
the thread of- his own comparison, " Oh, happy
France!" exclaimed he, "blest in her Minister!
1 William Hussey. — Ed.

92 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS

Unfortunate England in her financier! The dif
ference between the two countries arises solely from
the corruption of Parliament." Mixing, neverthe
less, as he usually did, raillery and humour with
severity, he convulsed the House and shook Lord
North's sides with laughter by comparing the thin,
lean member of Parliament, on his first coming Into
the House, to the Vulpecula, or weasel of ^sop,
who afterwards becomes so large and sleek as to
be unable to effect his retreat. Then, stroking his
own stomach, he contrasted it with Lord North's
" Fair round belly, with good capon lined,"
to the inexpressible entertainment of his audience,
though, perhaps it may be thought, at the expense
of their senatorial character and dignity. Mr. Byng,
who throughout this whole inquiry performed an
active part, and, by his indefatigable exertions to
discover the real holders of the new loan, rendered
himself not only conspicuous but important, con
cluded a very impassioned and criminating speech
by making three motions. The first, that a list of
all the subscribers to the new loan should be laid
before the House. The second, for a correct list
of all the individuals who had offered to subscribe
but were rejected. The last (of a nature probably
without precedent in the journals of Parliament),
demanded copies of all the letters, notes, and other
applications which had been addressed not only to
the First Lord of the Treasury, but to any of the
Lords Commissioners of that Board, to the secre
taries, or to any other person by whom applications ,
for a part of the loan had been transmitted to Lord
North. With these evidences before him, Mr.
Byng undertook to prove the Minister's guilt. In
order. to enforce compliance with so extraordinary a
demand, he joined menaces that the people of Eng-

OF MY OWN TIME. 93
land, worn out by oppression, would bear no more
burdens, and that the day of retribution which im
pended would infallibly take place sooner than was
expected. The First Minister, thus assailed from so many
quarters and by such powerful opponents, did not
on that account abandon himself. Calm, collected,
conscious of his own rectitude, though surrounded
by difficulties that accumulated from day to day, he
made a masterly defence of the loan that he had
just negotiated. While he admitted and regretted
that the terms on which it was concluded might
have been more advantageous to the public,
leaving still a moderate profit to the contractors, he
denied that the slightest partiality had been used in
apportioning the sums respectively allotted to each
bidder. He disproved the pretended story of At
kinson's receiving so monstrous a portion of the
loan, and justified the admission of members of
Parliament who were men of property to become,
like other opulent individuals, subscribers to it. In
conclusion, he made no objection to producing the
list of subscribers demanded by Opposition, but to
the second and third motions he gave a decided
negative. " The member for Middlesex," said he,
" after accusing me of partiality, makes rather a
singular requisition : ' Deliver up to me the keys
of your scrutoire ; allow me to empty all your
drawers, to inspect your most secret papers, and to
peruse every letter that I can find. When this is
done, and I am become possessed of all the infor
mation that they furnish, then I will proceed to
examine whether or not I can produce any charge
against you.' So extraordinary a proposition, I
cannot doubt, will never receive the sanction of
this assembly." These arguments, however strong
and convincing they may perhaps appear to us.

94 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
produced no impression on the minority of that
day. From a variety of quarters Lord North was
overwhelmed with reproaches, threats, and recla
mations. Byng denied his right to withhold the
keys of his bureau, which, as he asserted, be
longed to the public, the First Lord of the Trea
sury being a great national accountant. Fox loaded
him with charges of corrupting Parliament while
he withheld the only effectual means of proving
his culpability and demonstrating his guilt. On
the members who supported so criminal a Minister,
Charles was, if possible, even more severe. " They
begin," said he, " by taking the money out of the
pockets of the people in order to put it into their
own, and they finish by making bad loans for the
public to the end that they may arrange good terms
for themselves."
When the list of subscribers to the loan was pro
duced, though the greater number of the names of
members of the House who were holders of scrip
still remained in concealment, their respective shares
being ostensibly vested in other hands, yet many
appeared in the catalogue. Even two British peers,
one of whom was a Lord of the Bedchamber and
an Earl, were down for ^10,000 each ; but no indi
vidual possessing a seat in the House of Commons
whose name was there registered ventured to justify
it on his legs in a manly manner except Courtenay,'
who stood on the list for the sum of ^ 10,000. George
Byng having asserted, in the course of his speech,
that " those members of Parliament who avowedly
appeared on the list were infinitely more honest and
upright than the men who skulked in the dark,"
Courtenay took notice of this observation. "As I
have the honour, Mr. Speaker," said he, " to come
from a country where weak nerves and a false
^ John Courtenay, M.P. for Tamworth. — Ed.

OF MY O WN TIME. 95
modesty are not characteristic maladies, my name
stands conspicuous on the roll. And I can assure
the honourable gentleman that the only concern I
feel on the occasion is on account of the small sum
against which my name is placed." There were
individual members of the Lower House, not
bankers by profession, who stood separately on the
list for ^50,000, seven for ^70,000 each, and one
instance appeared of ^100,000.
Mr. Thomas Townshend expended his patriotic
rage on Atkinson, whom he termed a universal con
tractor, fit for every service, and who would probably
soon be seated by the noble Lord's side on the
Treasury bench, among his firmest coadjutors. This
circumstance did, in fact, take place, under another
Administration, about three years afterwards, in
1784, when Pitt was become First Minister and
Mr. Townshend (raised to the peerage by the title
of Lord Sidney) filled the post of Secretary of
State. Atkinson was then beheld almost daily on
the Treasury Bench. So little can politicians fore
see the changes produced by time, ambition, and
the mutability of human affairs ! After a stormy
debate, protracted to a late hour, Byng's second
motion was only negatived by a slender majority
of thirty-one votes. On so precarious a basis
did Lord North's power repose even in the first
session of a new Parliament ! The attendance was
not, however, very numerous upon either side. Op
position mustering only 106 on that night, while
Government found 137 supporters.
\\4th — 26th March 1 781.] The list of subscribers
to the new loan having been laid on the table of the
House, Opposition, emboldened by their last divi
sion, made another desperate attack on the Minis
terial trenches, hoping that even if they could not
carry them by storm, they might succeed In vilify-

96 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ing and degrading the First Minister himself per
sonally in the estimation of Parliament and of the
country. It proved indeed one of the most humili
ating and painful days to Lord North that took.
place during the course of his long Administration.
Sir George Savile, selected for the occasion, though
labouring under evident indisposition and just
risen from a sick-bed, opened the discussion in the
invidious character of an accuser. His speech con
cluded by a motion " to appoint a select committee
for inquiring into the facts connected with the late
loan, and to report on them to the House." But
though the distinction of thus commencing the
debate was delegated to Sir George, the task of
proving his assertions, and embodying as well as
identifying his accusations, rested with Byng, who
performed on that evening the part of an inquisitor
of state. Holding the list of subscribers in his
hand, he undertook to demonstrate that the paper
itself was altogether a piece of Ministerial deception,
calculated under fictitious names to conceal the
members of both Houses, who did not dare to avo.w
the share respectively allotted to them in this most
iniquitous loan. With considerable ability, pro
digious labour, and minute investigation, he endea
voured to lay open to general view, and to expose
to general condemnation the secret machinery by
which Robinson and Brummell' moved the orreat
state machine denominated Parliament, and the
puppets, as he termed them, commonly called re
presentatives. He even ventured to appeal across
the House to Mr. Henry Drummond, one of the
most eminent bankers of that period, for the accu
racy of the names of clerks employed in his service, ¦
who ostensibly held subscriptions to the amount of
1 William Brummell, father of Beau Brummell, was private secre
tary to Lord North, and holder of several offices under Government, ,
1770-82.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME.

97

near ^440,000 in the loan. Drummond, who sat
behind the First Lord of the Treasury, nodded
assent as Byng severally recapitulated them, while
Lord North, compelled to remain a passive wit
ness and spectator of this disclosure before a crowded
House of Commons, did not exhibit the dignified
aspect or attitude befitting his high station. I never
saw him apparently less at his ease ; not even in
the session of 1782, after the intelligence of Lord
Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, or during the
last days that he remained in office.
Not that he wanted defenders of consummate
ability, who undertook to justify the transaction, at
the head of whom must be placed the Lord Advo
cate. Aware that the occasion demanded all his
talents, and ever ready to throw himself into the
front ranks when the emergency called for it, Dundas
seemed to collect his powers of mind on that day.
Divested of those fastidious scruples to which men
of more susceptible organisation are liable, he boldly
avowed or admitted the selection made by the
First Minister, which required, he said, no apology
whatever, either to the House or to the country.
After pointing out the integrity and incorruptibility
of his noble friend as a fact universally conceded,
he demanded on what principle members of either
House of Parliament were to be excluded from sub
scribing on the present occasion ; or why, cceteris
paribus, friends should not be preferred to enemies .''
The concealment of their names, he observed, proved
only the weakness of their nerves, not the impro
priety of the act itself. Referring to the established
precedents of past periods of time, he maintained
that such had been the invariable usage under all
Administrations ; and concluded a bold, able, unem
barrassed harangue, delivered in a tone calculated
to give it the fullest effect, by deprecating all inter-
VOL. II. G

98 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ference of the House as equally unwise and perni
cious in its operation. Fox rising as Dundas sat
down, displayed on that evening the vast extent of
his talents, while he dissected with admirable per
spicuity the loan under discussion, which he endea
voured to demonstrate was at once profuse, corrupt,
and ruinous to the nation. He denied the insinua
tion (as it might be termed, rather than the asser
tion) of the Lord Advocate, in maintaining that
former Ministers had manifested a similar partiality,
or had negotiated loans on similar principles ; mak
ing only one exception, namely, that of Lord Bute
in 1762, which financial measure he loaded with the
severest epithets. On Lord North he exhausted
his invectives as "a Minister highly criminal for
grossly deceiving and fraudulently imposing on
Parliament, whose baseness in concealing the real
terms on which he had just borrowed twelve mil
lions could only be surpassed by his guilt in con
cluding them."
The First Minister repelled these accusations
with temper, explained every part of the proceed
ings which had attended his negotiation with the
contractors for the loan, denied that either profusion
or corruption could be attributed to him, and finally
threw himself on the candour, good sense, and
honour of the House to maintain inviolate the
bargain. Towards one o'clock in the morning a
division took place. The attendance was full,.
above 370 members being present, of which num
ber Opposition counted 163, while Government was
supported by 209. It was, nevertheless, a triumph
dearly won, because the minority carried with them.
public opinion, which was generally adverse to the
terms of the loan. Yet we have witnessed under
Mr. Pitt's Administration during the course of the
revolutionary war in 1795, as well as in other years,

OF MY OWN TIME.

99

loans where the premium has risen to nine, and
even to ten per cent., immediately after the conclu
sion of the bargain, without any imputations of
improvidence or of corruption being thrown upon
the First Minister on that account. But the mis
fortunes and the unpopularity of the American war
had reached such a point in 1 78 1 as to incapacitate
Lord North from prosecuting it without having
recourse to expedients, from the necessity of adopt
ing which Mr. Pitt was exempted. Pitt carried the
great majority of the nation with him when succes
sively contending against Robespierre and Bona
parte. Lord North's only support lay in the Crown.
No prince, indeed, of a less firm and tenacious
character than George III. could have sustained
him in office during the last four years that he
occupied the post of First Lord of the Treasury,
amidst accumulating difficulties, humiliations, and
disasters, from 1778 down to 1782. His predeces
sor yielded to far inferior symptoms of public dis
satisfaction and to far inferior national calamities,
when, in 1757, he reluctantly called to his councils
a man distasteful to him, but forced into power by
the universal voice of the country. If Fox had
stood as high in general estimation as the first Mr.
Pitt, he would have been carried into the closet on
the shoulders of the people ; but his personal irre
gularities and excesses balanced his parliamentary
talents and prolonged Lord North's Administration.
While the Opposition endeavoured to degrade,
if they could not overturn, the First Minister by
criminating his financial measures, two simultaneous
efforts were made with a view to weaken his strength
and to diminish his numbers within the walls of the
House. Sir Philip Jennings Clerke,' a man of un
questionable integrity, but not endowed with superior
1 Sir Philip Jennings Clerk, Bart, M.P. for Totnes.— Ed.

loo HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
parts, introduced a bill for the exclusion of con
tractors from sitting in Parliament, while on the
same day Mr. Crewe, then representative for the
county of Chester (since raised to the peerage by
Fox in 1806'), moved the second reading of abill
to restrain revenue officers from voting at elections
of members to serve in that House. Both motions
were negatived, but not by similar majorities. The
first failed of success only by twenty votes, the num
bers being 100 and 120 respectively, after a debate
of considerable length, but the attempt to deprive
revenue officers of their elective franchise was re
jected by forty-seven without giving rise to any long
or animated discussion. Ministers divided 133 on
the question; Mr. Crewe had only 86 votes. Sir
Philip Clerke's blow was levelled at the elected;
Mr. Crewe directed his aim at the electors. In
the ensuing session, when the Marquis of Rocking
ham had attained to the head of the Treasury, the
two experiments were renewed with very different
results. I cannot too often repeat, while dwelling on this
period of our history, that no private virtues of the
sovereign, however eminent, and no ability of Ad
ministration, however recognised, could stem the
unpopularity of the American war. With the two
exceptions of Johnson and of Gibbon, the former of
whom defended in print ^ the measures of Govern
ment in the beginning of the contest, and the latter,
after drawing up the manifesto issued against Spain
in 1779, voted, as a member of the House of Com
mons, in support of Lord North throughout the
1 John Crewe, born in 1742, sat for the county of Chester frora 1768 "
to 1806, when he was created Baron Crewe of Crewe, in Cheshire.;^
He married, in 1776, Frances Anne, daughter of Fulke Greville. He
died 28th April 1829.— Ed.
^ Dr. Johnson's work was " Thoughts on the Late Transactions
respecting the Falkl.ind Islands. London, 177 1." — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. loi
whole progress of hostilities, all the eminent or shin
ing talents of the country, led on by Burke, were
marshalled in support of the colonies. The magic
of poetry alone seemed wanting to complete the
delusion, or at least the impression. The admired
author of the " Heroic Epistle to Sir William Cham
bers," after describing in verses of admirable beauty
the corruption of the House of Commons under
Lord North's Administration, declares that it will
augment in enormity and profligacy —
" Till, mocked and jaded with the puppet play,
Old England's genius turns with scorn away ;
Ascends his sacred bark, the sails unfurled.
And steers his state to the wide Western world.
High on the helm majestic Freedom stands,
In act of cold contempt she waves her hands ;
Take, slaves, the realms that I disown.
Renounce your birthright, and destroy my throne ! "
Who, on reading these lines, would not think them
composed for James II. and his Lord Chancellor
Jefferies rather than for George III. and Lord
North ! Just at this time the marriage of Lord
Althorpe (the present Earl Spencer) with Miss
Lavinia Bingham, took place,' an event which I only
mention incidentally, as it gave birth to one of the
most beautiful lyric productions in the English lan
guage. Mr. Jones, better known afterwards as Sir
William Jones, emulating at once the fame of Milton
and of Gray in " The Muse Recalled," reminded us
of some of the most touching passages of " Lyci-
das" and of " The Bard." He too lent his powerful
assistance to the cause of rebellion. Like Gold
smith, who ten years earlier erroneously assumed in
his " Deserted Village," as the basis of his poem,
1 George John Viscount Althorp, afterwards second Earl Spencer,
married, Sth March 1781, Lavinia Bingham, daughter of Baron Lucan,
afterwards Earl of Lucan. — Ed.

I02 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
that population and rural happiness were abandoning
England, Jones carried his assumption in our dis
favour to a still greater length. Juvenal, though
he wrote under Domitian, only asserts that female
modesty and justice withdrew from earth to heaven
after the extinction of Saturn's reign —
" Paulatim deinde ad superos Astrsa recessit,
Hac comite, atque duse pariter fugere sorores."
But Jones, after lamenting that " Freedom and Con
cord repudiate the sons of Albion," carries off all
the virtues from this degenerate island —
" Truth, Justice, Reason, Valour with them fly.
To seek a purer soil, a more congenial sky."
And to what country did they direct their flight i*
Impelled by the prejudice which then prevailed, and
borne on the wings of poetic fiction as well as of
party violence, he transports these virtues to the
Chesapeake and the Delaware —
" Beyond the vast Atlantic deep
A dome by viewless genii shall be raised,
The walls of adamant, compact and steep.
The portals with sky-tinctured gems emblazed.
" There on a lofty throne shall Virtue stand :
To her the youth of Delaware shall kneel ;
And when her smiles rain plenty g'er the land.
Bow, tyrants, bow beneath th' avenging steel ! "
Here, in a fine frenzy of inspiration, he seems to be
hold as in a vision the modern city of Washington, and
the Congress assembled after successfully throwing
off all subjection to Great Britain. George III. is
pretty clearly designated in the last line apostrophising
tyrants. It was not, however, civil liberty, but inde
pendence of the mother country — it was not freedom,
but emancipation from the parent stock that Ame
rica principally emulated to attain by arms. She

OF MY OWN TIME. 103
¦might have been admitted to participate in the
privileges of our free constitution, but she must
then have paid her pecuniary debts to British stib-
jects^ all which became liquidated in the crucible
of insurrection. Burke, within ten years after the
conclusion of the American war, found out his error
when he beheld the French Revolution spring from
the ashes of Hancock and Adams. He then endea
voured, as he said, " to trim the boat at the other
end." Mr. Fox never could discover anything
wrong either in the one or in the other revolution.^
We have lived to behold the American Government,
within thirty years from the period of their eman
cipation, voluntarily become the accomplices and
allies of the most sanguinary, ambitious, and ob
durate despot who ever appeared among men. We
have seen this virtuous people yoke themselves to
his car when he was setting- out for Moscow in
181 2, in opposition to the united struggles of all
Europe for deliverance, thus endeavouring, as far
.as their power extended, to cement by our de
struction his detestable empire. Madison, unlike
Thrasybulus or Brutus, only aspired to uphold and
perpetuate the dominion of his Corsican master.
It will demand ages to wipe out the stain of such
national turpitude from the American annals. But
under Lord North's Administration the insurgents
ibeyond the Atlantic were generally seen through
the most partial and favourable mediuni, while
Philip II., in his attempt to extinguish all the rights
¦of human nature among his subjects in the Nether-
1 True.— P.
''¦ About this time Fox wrote to the Marquis of Rockingham, " I am
¦sanguine enough to think that with perseverance and activity we may
in time make a strong Whig party in the country, and if we cannot,
I am sure there is nothing to do but to give the thing fairly up, and
¦to see who can make his court best at St. James's.^' — Memoirs of the
Marquis of Rockingham, vol. ii. p. 435. — D.

I04 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
lands, was hardly stigmatised with severer epithets
than the Opposition applied to the King of Great
Britain. The consideration of East India affairs, which
formed one of the most important objects of the
session, engrossed universal attention. As early as
February a select committee having been appointed,,
ostensibly for the exclusive purpose of reporting
on the state and abuses of the Supreme Court of
Judicature in Bengal, General Richard Smith was
placed at their head as chairman. His local know
ledge of India seemed to qualify him in some mea
sure for the situation. He had acquired a large
fortune while in that part of the world, which he
was supposed to have squandered at play since his
return. Though destitute of the advantages of
education and of very obscure origin, he did not by
any means want parts, and he displayed some talent
in addressing the House. Burke constituted the
real head of the committee, and directed all Its
operations, either in person or through his disciple
Sir Gilbert Elliot. But as the members allowed
themselves to become subservient to the purposes-
of party, and particularly to be made the instrument
of Burke's personal enmities or resentments, they
soon degenerated Into an engine of private attack
and of individual persecution.
The Opposition, seemingly exhausted by the in
effectual and reiterated efforts made in the Lower
House of Parliament during the month of March
with the hope of overturning the Administration,
allowed the First Minister to enjoy a degree of
comparative repose throughout the greater pai^t of
April. But intelligence of Hyder Ally's invasion
of the Carnatic,' followed by the defeat of the British
1 In 1780 Hyder Ali, in conjunction with the Mahrattas and the-
Nizam, invaded the Carnatic to overthrow the Nabob and expel the-

OF MY OWN TIME. 105
forces under Fletcher and Baillie, which reached
London at this time, spread universal consternation.
In order fully to appreciate the extent of the cala
mity and its operation on the public mind, we must
recollect the state of the British Empire at the period
under our review. The fabric seemed to be every
where collapsing by its own weight or yielding to
external attack. In the western hemisphere, Ame
rica might be considered as already lost. Many of
the Windward and Leeward Islands were reduced
to the obedience of France ; and the remainder it
was thought must speedily fall. The possession of
Jamaica itself appeared insecure. At home, the
public funds experienced a progressive depression,^
while Ireland, taking up arms, demanded political
and commercial freedom sword in hand. Cadiz.
and Brest had been crowded with our captured
merchantmen, to whom the English navy no longer
afforded its accustomed protection. Under these
circumstances the eyes and hopes of all men were
turned towards the East, as the only quarter from
which we might expect relief. But there a com
bination of European and Asiatic enemies, aided by
internal rebellion, and fomented by discord among
the members of the supreme government, threat
ened the subversion of our power on the Ganges
no less than on the coast of Coromandel. Hastings,
quitting Calcutta, had repaired to Benares in order
to arrest the progress of Cheyt Sing's revolt. At
Madras, the government of Rumbold was become
English. He had above 100,000 men and 100 guns, and therewith the
advice of the French commander, Lally. Fletcher and Baillie's small
detachments were overwhelmed through the negligence of Munroe,
the commander-in-chief, to render them assistance. Of four hundred
heroes who survived to reluctantly surrender to Hyder, half were
butchered, and the other half were compelled to endure horrors worse
than death. The temporary triumph of Hyder was followed by the
fall of Arcot.— D.
2 The price of consols for the year averaged about £62- — Ed.

io6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
odious for rapacity and despicable from its incapa
city or pusillanimity. Nor must it be forgotten that
we then neither possessed the Cape of Good Hope,
nor Ceylon, nor Guzerat, nor the Island of Mauri
tius, nor Java, nor the Moluccas. Even the Car
natic belonged not to us, but to our confederate
Mahomed Ally, the Nabob of Arcot. With the
Mahratta Empire we were at war. The rich coun
tries of Mysore and of Bidnoor, occupying a central
portion of the peninsula of Hindostan, extending
through several degrees of latitude along the Mala
bar coast, and intersecting all communication by
land between the two Presidencies of Madras and
of Bombay ; these territories, so calculated to annoy
us, were then subjected to a martial, enterprising,
and active prince, animated by determined hostility
to the English, assisted by French engineers, and
himself habituated to the European system of
tactics. His cavalry, bursting in through the de
files of the mountains of the Ghauts, overran the
fertile plains of the Carnatic and of Tanjore, bear
ing down all resistance. Madras itself, invested by
the enemy, was scarcely preserved from falling into
Hyder's possession ; and it must be confessed that
the British dominions in Hindostan shook to their
foundation. \loth April 1 781.] Such was the impression pro
duced by this unexpected event, which seemed im
peratively to call for measures of energy, that it gave
rise to the appointment of a secret committee by
ballot in the House of Commons, moved for by the
First Minister himself. The Lord Advocate of
Scotland, Mr. Dundas, being constituted their
chairman, they were specially charged to inquire
into the causes of the war existing in the Carnatic.
Notwithstanding the severe animadversions levelled
by the Opposition on the majority of the names

OF MY OWN TIME. 107
chosen, several of the members were men of equal
ability and integrity, whose luminous, as well as
laborious reports distinctly pointed out the origin
and indicated the remedy for those abuses or acts
of maladministration which had produced such
complicated distress on the coast of Coromandel.
Nor did even the committee of scrutineers ap
pointed to examine the result of the ballot escape
some acrimonious remarks on its composition. Lord
North formed one of its members, and I was like
wise among the number. Mr. Thomas Townshend
observed, when speaking of it immediately after
their report to the House, that " the noble Lord
in the blue ribband was uncommonly vociferous in
naming his own friends, and was, likewise, himself
nominated a scrutineer, a circumstance very extra
ordinary, if not without parallel, the committee of
scrutiny being, he believed, the first in the annals
of Parliament that ever was honoured with a blue
ribband upon it." Unquestionably, Ministers felt
great anxiety relative to the individuals who might
be elected members of the secret committee, and
were not without strong apprehensions that the
Opposition would succeed in forcing into it some of
their own most able or zealous adherents. Jenkin
son, who stood fourth on the list of persons chosen,
was so impatient to learn the result of the scrutiny,
that he wrote to me while we were engaged in the
examination to request that I would transmit him
the names as soon as they were ascertained and
could be divulged. Dundas obtained as many
votes as Jenkinson had, namely, 160; but Gregory'
was placed out of all competition at the head of the
committee, he uniting the suffrages of the Minis
terial as well as of the Opposition sides of the
House, and being elected by 249 votes. Gregory
1 Robert Gregory. — Ed.

io8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
deserved that mark of parliamentary preference, he
being a very honourable, incorrupt, independent
man; simple, or rather shy and repulsive, in his
manners, unadorned by any accomplishments of
mind, but laborious, attentive to business, and pos
sessing very extensive local information on East
India concerns. He was one of the two repre
sentatives for the city of Rochester and a member
of the Court of Directors. Fox, in November
1783, named him a Commissioner for the Govern
ment of India in his famous bill, I believe. After
the dissolution that took place in March 1784,
Gregory never again obtained or accepted a seat in
the House of Commons.
Though strongly attached to Fox and to the
party acting with him, Gregory disdained to be con
sidered as a devoted partisan. I well remember
that about the very time under discussion, in April
1 781, Burke having somewhat rashly pledged not
only his own support to a measure under contem
plation, but that of Gregory (whom he denominated
" his worthy friend "), the latter, rising, with some
warmth, desired him to limit his pledges to him
self. " I stand," added he, " connected with no set of
men, but will lend my support where I conceive it
to be due, always delivering my opinion with free
dom, being as independent in my seat and in my
principles as any individual within these walls."
Burke, indignant at a reproof so unexpected and
so mortifying, made a sharp though a short reply,
exclaiming, that " if the honourable member thought
proper to renounce any connection with him, it gave
him no concern." He expected and exacted im
plicit submission from all his political friends. Mr.
Orde,' who, after filling many distinguished public
^ Thomas Orde assumed the additional surname of Powlett, and was'
created Baron Bolton, 20th October 1797.

OF MY OWN TIME. 109
situations, has been elevated to the peerage, stood
ninth upon the list. To him, as I have always
understood, was attributed x!^^ fifth report from the
Committee of Secrecy, one of the most able, well-
digested, and important documents ever laid upon
the table of the House of Commons. With the
reserve of Gregory, of Mr. Richard Jackson, who
was a friend of the Earl of Shelburne, and of Mr.
Yorke, then member for the county of Cambridge,
now Earl of Hardwicke, whom even the Opposition
admitted to be an unexceptionable person, all the
remaining individuals composing the con^mittee
were either men holdingf offices under Government,
or personally connected with the Minister. Lord
North, in the critical and perilous condition of the
East India Company, unable to obtain from the
proprietors or from the Court of Directors such
advantageous pecuniary terms for the renewal of
their charter as he thought the nation was autho
rised to demand, had recourse to his ordinary
palliative, procrastination. He renewed the charter
for a very limited period, only one year ; and by
that measure eventually originated the memorable
bill of Fox towards the close of 1783, which pro
duced such national convulsions, terminated by the
complete destruction of the " Coalition Ministry."
\Sth May 1 78 1.] The attempts to drive Lord North
from office, which, as I have observed, had been in
some measure relaxed or suspended throughout the
month of April, were renewed with augmented per
tinacity in May. But it was no longer against his
measures of finance that Opposition pointed their
blows. Sir George Savile, recovered from his late
indisposition, reappeared aS the organ of the party,
and endeavoured to induce the House to adopt
anew the memorable resolution of the 6th of April
1780, when it was declared that " the influence of

IIO HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to
be diminished." He no longer found, however, the
same aptitude to receive those impressions of
jealousy or apprehension which had operated on
the members of the late House of Commons ; and
after a very long debate, the motion made by Sir
George to refer the petition to a committee was
rejected by a majority of seventy-seven votes. The
attendance nearly amounted to 350 ; Government
dividing 212, while the minority numbered 135.
Neither Lord North, Lord George Germain, Dun
das, nor Jenkinson spoke during that evening. On
the other side, Burke remained silent ; nor did either
Pitt or Sheridan take any part in it. Yet a more
important or interesting discussion I scarcely ever
witnessed during the whole time that I remained
in Parliament, nor one of which, if I were able, I
should more anxiously wish to transmit some idea
to future times. The dangerous doctrine of a right
¦' existing In the people to form associations, to appoint
committees, and to nominate delegates for the protec
tion of civil liberty against the encroachments or
abuse of the royal power — a right evidently inde
pendent of Parliament, as well as subversive of it —
was fully discussed on that occasion. Lord Mait
land, who then rose, I believe, for the second time,
maintained that the right not only existed in the
legal sense, and was strictly conformable to the
British constitution, but, under certain circumstances,
might be highly expedient ; adding, that to associa
tions of men combined for a beneficial purpose we
were indebted for Magna Charta, for the revolution
that expelled James II., and for the introduction of
the reigning House of Brunswick. General Bur
goyne, after declaring that he had himself signed
the petition presented on that day in the capacity of
a delegate, and inveighing in language of uncom-

OF MY OWN TIME. in
mon asperity against the corruption, or rather the
prostitution, of Parliament at the feet of Ministers,
reverted to his own individual sufferings in the line
of his profession. These he detailed with great
animation, asserting that " he was driven unjustly
from a service in which he had grown old by the
machinations of power." He then subjoined, "I am
now from my time of life sufficiently disposed to
inactivity. Yet should the exigencies of the people
call me forth from my present obscurity, or if the
necessities of the state should demand the assistance
of my arm, I am ready either to act or to suffer in
the public cause."
This declaration, which seemed more fitted to
1642 than to 1 78 1, and which Hampden or Pym,
when opposing themselves to the levy of ship-
money by prerogative, might have more appro
priately made, was If possible outdone by Fox.
In a speech of unreasonable length, but of great
ability, he justified the right inherent in himself and
in every subject to act as delegates, no less than as
members of that assembly. " I avow myself," said
he, " a delegate, and if I had not acted In a dele
gated capacity, I should not have applied to this
House for redress. But out of deference to the
opinion of sojne persons with whom I act, and not
from any doubt of its legality, I have not petitioned
as a delegate." Then having panegyrised the con
stancy, incorruptibility, and perseverance of that
patriotic band who stood forth in Parliament the
champions of the British people, that impenetrable
phalanx, who were neither to be terrified, misled,
seduced, nor corrupted by Ministers, he added, " I
cannot better express myself on this point than by
adopting and repeating the words of my honourable
friend (Burgoyne), namely, that as he had devoted
his life and talents to the people, so I, whenever

112 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
they call on me, shall be ready to execute their com
mands, as far as my acquiescence is authorised by
the laws. I mean, whenever any direct and pal-
¦ pable inroad is made on those invaluable blessings
secured to us by our happy constitution." However
guarded and qualified these expressions may appear,
it is impossible not to consider them as revolution
ary, and more suited to a tribune of the Roman
republic, or to an agitator of the times of Cromwell,
than to a member for Westminster, the subject of
George III. Such indeed they seemed to many
members of the House of Commons on the evening
when they were used. Such I believe they were
considered by Burke, who took no part in the
debate, as he probably would have done, had he
thoroughly approved the principles and object of
the petition. Neither did Pitt rise to support Fox
and Burgoyne, a circumstance much remarked at the
time. Ministers, though they did not themselves under
take their own defence, but trusted to the discern
ment, loyalty, and good sense of the House- for
rejecting the specious propositions of reform sub
mitted to them, yet by no means wanted advocates
to point out the insidious and dangerous spirit of
discontent and insubordination concealed under the
declarations of Fox and Burgoyne. Sir Horace
Mann ' protested his detestation of all associations
and committees as illegal in themselves, and calcu
lated only for purposes of intimidation. While he
professed himself an enemy to court influence and
a friend to economy, he reprobated the spirit of the
petition, and exhorted the House to treat it with
contempt. Courtenay,^ employing, as he always
did, the arms of ridicule, parodied the lines of Pope,
1 Sir Horatio Mann, M.P. for Maidstone. — Ed.
^ John Courtenay, M.P. for Tamworth.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 113
when speaking of his grotto, which he applied to
the leaders of Opposition with admirable effect —
"Their wise divan the best companions grace.
Chiefs out of war, and members out of place,
Who fondly mingle in their hope-filled bowl
The feast of party and the flow of soul.
Even he whose lightning pierced rebellion's lines
For reformation forms their great designs."
The last couplet, which so pointedly alluded to
Burgoyne's American campaign contrasted with his
present occupations as a delegate, was not less felt
by the audience than Courtenay's description of the
Roman provocatives to patriotism, " Domi, inopia,
foris, CBS aliemtm," attracted all eyes towards Fox.
In language of the utmost simplicity, unaccom
panied with any ornaments of style, but on that
account more impressive. Sir William Dolben, one
of the representatives for the University of Oxford,
a man of sound and sober sense, expressed his
disapprobation of, and his total dissent from, the
petition before the House. Of the asserted increase
of the influence of the Crown so as to endanger the
future security of public freedom, he declared his
disbelief Above all, he reprobated the appoint
ment of associations and delegates for the purpose
of overawing and controlling the Legislature. He
finished by observing that so long as the constitu
tion existed, redress could only be obtained from
Parliament, and protested that he would oppose
every institution, however plausible it might appear
in theory, which tended to set up or to constitute
any power paramount to the laws and the British
form of government.
So animated a declaration, made from a quarter
of such respectability, proved of incalculable advan
tage to Ministers, who thus beheld themselves de
fended by weapons far more solid than eloquence.
VOL. II. H

114 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
It was, indeed, with a view to counteract the effect
produced on the House by Sir William Dolben's'
speech that Fox instantly rose and exerted his
gigantic talents in order to efface the impression.
The Solicitor-General, Mansfield, replied to him,
and alluding to the profession jointly made by Fox
and Burgoyne of their readiness to obey the call of
the people whenever made, " This language," ob
served he, " either imports nothing or it is strong.
indeed. It cannot mean a mere perseverance in
parliamentary opposition. If, therefore, it has any
meaning, it must be that they are ready, without
previously deciding on the motives or the justice of
the call, to seek redress in some undefined manner not
authorised by the constitution. Both those gentle
men are delegates, and both have signed the pre
sent petition as individuals." By such an anomalous
mode of proceeding, while they affect to acknow
ledge the supremacy of this House, they in reality
treat Parliament as a subordinate power in the
state, while they avow their readiness to obey
the summons of the people without reservation."
Neither Fox nor Burgoyne made any reply nor
offered any explanation relative to the import of their
expressions, but Dunning, rising when the Solici
tor-General sat down, in a speech of considerable
length, which displayed all the acute legal sophistry •
of a most able practitioner at the bar, endeavoured
to cover his friends and to justify their declarations.
He assumed as an incontrovertible principle that
associations might not only be legal, but laudable,
the culpability or merit of such unions of individuals
depending not on the act itself, and being altogether
regulated by the intention. He exemplified the
position with uncommon ingenuity, and placed it in
1 Sir William Dolben, Bart., of Thingdon, co. Northampton, M.P.
for the University of Oxford. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 115
numerous as well as striking points of view, without,
nevertheless, erasing the sentiment of condemnation
which generally pervaded the minds of moderate
and impartial men on a full consideration of the
subject. The division sufficiently proved how little
Fox could hope to overturn the Administration by
the same arguments which had produced the me
morable vote of the 6th of April 1780, and he
therefore directed his attack on a more assailable
quarter — I mean the capture and treatment of the
island of St. Eustatia.
[14/// May 1 78 I.J That defenceless possession of
the Dutch Commonwealth in the West Indies having
fallen into our hands as a natural consequence of
the war between the two states. Sir George Rod
ney and General Vaughan, the two commanders by
sea and land, proceeded instantly to make a general
and indiscriminate seizure of the property as well
as of the stores there accumulated. In the execu
tion of this act many individual cases of severe
suffering necessarily happened, all which were pre
sented to the House by Burke under a splendour
of description and a blaze of eloquence which I
have scarcely ever known exceeded even by him.
He compared the conduct of our naval and military
officers in thus confiscating private property to the
most savage outrages of the ferocious leaders of the
most barbarous ages ; and, after laying before his
audience a picture of oppression on the one hand con
trasted with misery on the other, well calculated to
awaken sympathy while it inspired indignation, he
concluded by a motion tending to institute an im
mediate inquiry into the whole transaction. Lord
George Germain, in whose department the respon
sibility lay, and from whose office had issued the
orders or instructions under which Rodney and
Vaughan had acted, while he justified their line of

ii6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
conduct as not only dictated by wisdom and policy,
but as sanctioned by all the laws of modern war and
by the code of national jurisprudence universally
adopted throughout Europe, yet strongly objected
to . a parliamentary inquiry in the first instance.
Dundas, who always threw himself into the breach
whenever the enemy attempted to storm, distin
guished himself on that night by one of the most
able speeches which ever fell from his lips. But
the First Lord of the Treasury sat silent, a circum
stance which gave rise to surmises that the measure
had not his cordial approbation, or that unanimity
did not thoroughly pervade the Cabinet.
Nevertheless, the division disappointed all the
hopes of Opposition, Burke's motion being nega
tived by nearly two to one ; only 86 supporting it,
while Government had i6o votes. I have, not
withstanding, always considered the proceedings
of Rodney and Vaughan at St. Eustatia, however
necessitated they may have been by the peculiar
circumstances accompanying the capture, as unfor
tunate in a national point of view. Neither the vote
of approbation, in which I concurred on that night,
nor my partiality for Lord George Germain and for
Lord Rodney, both of whom were my intimate
friends, prevent me from owning that the measure
has, on the fullest consideration, neither my moral
nor my political approval. It did not facilitate the
subjection of America, as was hoped and predicted
from the Treasury bench. It covered our arms
with some degree of obloquy, as if we had abused
the rights of conquest to purposes of rapine and
private emolument. To the captors themselves the
plunder of St. Eustatia produced no benefit, the
vessels on which was shipped the produce of that
emporium having been intercepted by a squadron
of the enemy under the command of La Motte

OF MY OWN TIME. 117
Piquet on their passage to England, and carried
into French ports. Nor did the evil terminate
there, for I know that the actions and suits at law
which were commenced in the Admiralty and other
courts of this country, on the part of the individuals
who sought reparation for the injuries and losses
inflicted by Rodney's orders, embittered the evening
of his life, and pressed heavily on his finances. Such
were the results of that expedition, from which very
different consequences were confidently anticipated.
\^\st May 1 78 1.] Notwithstanding the general ad
miration which Pitt's first speech had excited, and
the great expectations formed of his parliamentary
talents, yet he remained silent for more than three
months before he rose a second time, exhibiting by
this act of restraint and self-command the patience
as well as the judgment with which he knew how to
wait for a favourable occasion of presenting himself
anew to public notice. Colonel Barre having at
tempted to induce the House to nominate Commis
sioners of Accounts from among their own members,
instead of delegating so important a function to
individuals chosen, as he asserted, by the First
Minister, Lord North opposed it with his usual
ability, and assigned many strong reasons for ad
hering to the persons already in employment. Pitt
availed himself of this opportunity to confirm the
impression that he had made, or rather to augment
the reputation which he had previously acquired.
With great animation, but with still greater dignity
and energy, he endeavoured to demonstrate that
the House, in permitting persons not taken from
among themselves to perform the office of examining
and reporting on the national expenditure, volun
tarily surrendered their characteristic, most valuable
right, that of watching over the public purse. The
power of taking from the people, the odious power

ii8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of taxing, they reserved as an instrument for en
abling the noble Lord in the blue ribband to prosecute
his wild schemes of conquest or of corruption ; but
the beneficent power of relieving the distresses of
the subject they abandoned to others. He treated
with derision the idea of those Commissioners pos
sessing more experience than the members of an
assembly where every representative of the people
should be capable of superintending as well as of
examining how the treasure of the state was ex
pended. After depicting with warmth the embarrassed
and degraded condition of the country, he adverted
to the qualities, the arithmetical talents, and per
sonal qualifications of the Commissioners. Sir Guy
Carleton, he observed, however able a military
officer, might be no accomptant ; and of Mr. Pigot
he remarked, that though of a profession to which he
himself coitld not be supposed inimical (for Pitt was
then a barrister), yet the law did not necessarily
qualify gentlemen for a commission of that nature.
Towards Lord North he expressed himself with
great asperity, as a Minister who had repeatedly
shifted his ground, who had violated his pledges
given to Parliament, had purposely employed the
Commissioners in objects of minor importance, in
stead of directing them to great national inquiries,
and who only sought systematically to procrastinate,
to deceive, or to mislead, as might best suit his
purposes. He concluded by emphatically invoking
and adjuring the House not to reject the motion of
Colonel Barr^, unless they were determined to bury
their own freedom and independence in the same
common grave with the power, the splendour, and
the glory of the Empire. Such was nearly the pur
port of Pitt's second address to Parliament, made
in support of a member who represented not the

OF MY OWN TIME. 119
Marquis of Rockingham, but the Earl of Shelburne
in that assembly. It was pronounced before a thin
attendance, scarcely above 140, and exceeded in
duration his first speech by nearly double the time.
Not a word was uttered from the Treasury bench
in answer to it, nor was it supported either by Fox
or Burke. A division taking place immediately after
Pitt sat down, Government divided ninety-eight,
while the minority only amounted to forty-two. So
firm a hold of power did Lord North still retain to
wards the close of the sixth year since we had been
engaged in hostilities with America !
[i2/>^ Jtme 1 78 1.] Towards the middle of June,
Fox,strenuouslysupportedby Pitt,made anineffectual
effort for compelling the Administration to abandon
the further prosecution of the American war, and
to conclude peace with the colonies. Neither the
House nor the nation, though both were weary of
the contest, could however be induced to relinquish
it while Lord CornwaUis seemed to be advancing
with his army through the central provinces to
wards the Chesapeake. Fox's motion was rejected
iby a majority of seventy-three. On that evening,
nevertheless, it began to be palpable that the scaf
folding on which rested Lord North's power, after
more than six years of severe and almost unremit
ting attack, gave indications of an approaching fall.
H e in fact tacitly encouraged the assailants by with
drawing from the breach, if I may so express my
self, at the moment of the storm ; for though the
attempt to compel Ministers to conclude peace with
the American colonies must, if it had been success
ful, probably overturn his own Administration, yet
he never rose nor opposed it by a single word.
Lord George Germain, under those discouraging
¦circumstances, made as able and as eloquent a
defence as the nature of the case admitted ; but he

I20 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
had to struggle against insuperable and augmenting
difficulties. The country gentlemen, wearied out by
so many unsuccessful campaigns, exhibited symp
toms of reluctance to continue their support. One
or two made their recantation. Rigby and the Lord
Advocate of Scotland, who both spoke in the course
of the debate, though they resolutely opposed Fox's
motion, yet avowjed, not only that they were dis
gusted at so expensive and protracted a contest, but
implied their disbelief of its termination on any
terms short of conceding independence to America.
One noble individual only, then an Irish peer,' was
found sufficiently enthusiastic to avow that he con
sidered the struggle as a holy war ; a declaration
which he made from the Treasury bench. He was,.
indeed, himself, a member of the Board of Treasury..
The avowal attracted, as might have been foreseen,
the severest animadversions from the opposite
benches. Townshend, with very considerable in
genuity, drew a comparison between the Actual war
¦ and the Crusades undertaken in the ages of dark
ness, which expeditions bore, he said, the strongest
similitude. Both originated in folly.tor rt^dness or
'-delusion, and both conduced to slaughter or to
ruin. Fox, holding in his hand the gazette which
contained Lord Cornwallis's account of his victory
i-ecently gained over the Americans in the province
bf North Carolina, en4eavoured to deduce, even
from the British general's letter, proofs of the im
possibility of his subjugating the colonies. Bur
goyne, in a speech prepared for the occasion, detailed
his own disastrous campaign through its principal
stages down to the surrender at Saratoga ; accused
Lord George Germain of having deceived him*
with hopes or promises of aid on the part of the
loyalists which had never been realised ; and con--
^ Lord Westcote.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 121
eluded by declaring that the loss of America might
be regarded as inevitable.
But the feature of the debate which rendered it
peculiarly prominent and interesting in the annals of
Parliament was the third appearance of Mr. Pitt on
the floor of the House, and the part taken by him
In the discussion. It would seem that he had not
intended to rise, nor meditated to speak on the
question under consideration, if the allusions made
to his father had not in some measure compelled
him to break silence. Rigby, in the course of his
speech, having asserted that the late Earl of Chatham,
tlaough he denied the right of Great Britain to tax
the colonies for the purpose of raising a revenue,
yet maintained the right of the parent country to
make financial or commercial regulations, and to
establish port duties or customs on every article sent
to America, Pitt attempted to justify and to explain
that line of opinion attributed to his noble relation.
While he admitted that such sentiments had been
expressed by the deceased Earl, he denied that his
father had ever approved of the war commenced with
America, which, on the contrary, he had condemned,
reprobated, and opposed in every stage. After thus
throwing a shield over the memory of his illustrious
parent, and rescuing him from the imputation of
having countenanced or supported coercive mea
sures for the subjugation of the colonies beyond the
Atlantic, he then diverged with equal vehemence
and majesty of expression to the topic immediately
before the assembly. Referring to the epithet of
holy, which Lord Westcote had given to the con
test, he declared that he considered it as unnatural,
accursed, and unjust, its traces marked with per
secution and devastation, depravity and turpitude
constituting its essence, while its effects would be
destructive in the extreme. The English language:

122 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
seemed inadequate fully to express his feelings of
indignation and abhorrence, while stigmatising the
authors of so ruinous a system. As a specimen of
parliamentary eloquence, it unquestionably excelled
his two preceding speeches, leaving on his audience
a deep impression, or rather conviction, that he must
eventually, and probably at no remote distance of
time, occupy a high situation in the councils of the
Crown, as well as in the universal estimation of his
countrymen. Dundas, who rose as soon as Pitt sat down, seemed
to be thoroughly penetrated with that truth, and by
a sort of political second sight appeared to anticipate
the period when this new candidate for office would
occupy the place on the Treasury bench then filled
by his noble friend in the blue ribband. With con
summate ability, but with equal address, in the pro-
gress of his reply the Lord Advocate endeavoured
to prove that the late Earl of Chatham had uni
formly resisted every pretension of America to inde- ,
pendence. " If, therefore," said he, "the honourable
gentleman supports the present motion for compel
ling his Majesty's Ministers to conclude peace with
the insurgent colonies, he differs diametrically from
his noble relation, whose last breath was exhausted
in execrating those servants of the Crown that would
presume to despoil Parliament of its inalienable
rights, and to rob the reigning family of their brightest
patrimonial inheritance." I own that it has always
appeared tome such were in 1 778 the sentiments of the
great Earl of Chatham, nor was I ever convinced,
either by the explanations of his son or by those of
Fox, that he contemplated the independence of Ame
rica with other eyes than those of Lord North, and
Lord George Germain. He might, indeed, had he
survived down to 1781, have modified, changed; or
retracted his opinions in compliance with events;

OF MY OWN TIME. 123
but that he did so previous to his dying speech in
the House of Peers, notwithstanding the testimony
of the late Mr. Pitt, I never could comprehend.
Posterity may perhaps be better able to decide the
point than we can do in the present age.
The Lord Advocate admirably qualified whatever
of unpalatable or distasteful to Pitt might be found
in his assertions relative to the Earl of Chatham by
the flattering predictions of his own future and cer
tain elevation with which they were accompanied.
" He (Dundas) was unwilling and reluctant to
state to the honourable gentleman's face those
truths which, were he absent, truth itself would
compel him to utter ; but he nevertheless felicitated
his country and his fellow- citizens on the auspicious
union and splendid exhibition of abilities witnessed
by the House on that evening. With the first-rate
talents were blended high integrity, a noble and
honest independence of mind, and the most per
suasive eloquence." Such were the encomiums
lavished on Pitt by Dundas, who, though he pro
fessed, and no doubt felt at that time, the strongest
political attachment to Lord North, yet obviously
foresaw his decline, and as certainly beheld in pro
spect his destined successor, if not immediate, yet
remote. In fact, the Lord Advocate of Scotland
found himself, within the revolution of thirteen
months from that day, seated as Treasurer of the
Navy on the Treasury bench alongside of Pitt,
become Chancellor of the Exchequer under the
Earl of Shelburne's Administration. So solid were
Dundas's speculations, so sound his judgment, and
so speedily realised were his calculations of ambi
tion ! Fox concluded this eventful evening, of
which I have most imperfectly attempted to state
some salient points, by replying to all the preceding
speakers. Rigby, who had asserted roundly that

124 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
every Administration since 1 763 concurred in main
taining as a principle the unconditional dominion of
this country over the American colonies, was ad
monished by Fox "to observe a more temperate
language when he advanced such positive charges,
followed by such severe conclusions, against so
many of the highest and most respectable characters
in Great Britain." He accompanied the reproof by a
declaration that he " was not ignorant how powerfully
the Paymaster of the; Forces was supported in that
House and out of it" — words pregnant with mean
ing, which alluded in a manner too intelligible for
admitting of mistake to the secret support that
Rigby was supposed to derive from the royal con
fidence and favour. On the Lord Advocate Fox
was severe, yet liberal, and without the slightest
mixture of gall, from which no individual in Parlia
ment was more perfectly exempt, not even Lord
North or Sheridan. Fox ridiculed Dundas's pro
testations of independence of the First Minister,
his friend ; recognised the learned Lord's abilities,
nor disputed his integrity, but denied the accuracy
of various statements that he had made in the
course of his speech.
When Fox had occasion to notice Dundas's
eulogiums on the Earl of Chatham, he seemed to
pause and to weigh his expressions, for he felt
that the ground was delicate and full of danger.
" The learned Lord," said he, " has eloquently pane
gyrised the exalted virtues and talents of a deceased
consummate statesman. My youth and other causes
prevented me from being much known personally
to that great man. No individual in the House
can, however, reverence his memory more than
myself Nevertheless, I would lay in my claim for
others who, though they might not coincide in
opinion on every point of policy with that illustrious

OF MY OWN TIME. 125
nobleman, have yet rendered distinguished services
to their country." In these words, dictated by filial
piety and affection for his father's memory, he in
directly alluded to the political and party disputes
which had existed between Lord Holland and the
Earl of Chatham when both were commoners and
members of that assembly — disputes which were
destined to be revived with augmented asperity
between their sons. Reverting, lastly, to Lord
Westcote's assertion that he considered the contest
with America as a holy war. Fox remarked, " To
others the application of such an epithet to the
actual contest may appear new, but to me it has no
novelty. I was in Paris precisely at the time when
the present war began, in 1776, and Dr. Frankhn
honoured me with his intimacy. I recollect that,
conversing with him on the subject of the impend
ing hostilities, he, while he predicted their ruinous
consequences, compared their principle and their
effects to those produced by the ancient Crusades.
He foretold that we should expend our best blood
and treasure in attempting an unattainable object,
and that, like the holy war of the dark ages, while
we carried desolation and slaughter over America,
we should finally depopulate, enfeeble, and impov
erish Great Britain."
Fox's conclusion might almostbe considered as pro
phetic. " The only objection," observed he, " made
to my motion is that it must lead to American in
dependence. But I venture to assert that within
six months of tlie present day, Ministers themselves
will come forward to Parliament with some proposi
tion of a similar nature. I know that such is their
intention. I announce it to the House." Notwith
standing so eloquent and so powerful an appeal to
the passions as well as to the understanding of his
audience, the moment was not yet arrived when

126 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the majority of the national representatives could
consent to renounce all further hope of reducing the
revolted colonies to obedience. Even the attend
ance on that night fell, far beneath the vast and
awful importance of the subject. Only ninety-nine
persons divided with, Fox: 172 supported Ad
ministration ; 287 members were therefore absent.
It seemed, however, to be more a question regard
ing the King and Lord George Germain than Lord
North. There were not wanting individuals who
believed that the First Minister would have felt
little regret if Opposition had out-numbered him.
His conduct might be thought to indicate great
indifference to the result, and he probably parti
cipated Fox's apprehensions for the final issue of
Lord Cornwallis's Virginian campaign.
\_i^th June 1 781.] I have descended to more
minute details respecting this debate than I should
have done if it had not been the last which took place
on American topics previous to the catastrophe and
surrender of Yorktown. But the most interesting
discussion of the whole session, and in many points
of view one of the most interesting which I ever
witnessed in the House of Commons, took place
three days later, on the motion for amending, or in
fact virtually repealing, " the Marriage Act." It
stood altogether unconnected with Ministers or
with party politics, though originated by Fox at a
very advanced period of the year. The question
seemed in itself to be no less philosophical and
moral than a measure of state or an object of legis
lative policy. Never did Fox appear to me in a
more elevated light than on that occasion, while
pleading the cause of his fellow-subjects at large
against the shackles and impediments opposed, as
he asserted, by aristocracy, family pride, and wealth
to the matrimonial union of two persons of dissimi-

OF MY OWN TIME. 127
lar rank and condition. His father. Lord Holland,
for whom he nourished the warmest filial affection,.
had manifested similar sentiments. Fox assumed
as a principle, while reasoning on the subject, that
"passion, not reason, is best capable of promoting
our felicity in wedlock." However untenable, and
even revolting, such an assumption may appear, he
maintained it by arguments well calculated to per
suade if not to convince his hearers. I will can
didly own that they made the deepest impression
on my mind, and produced the fullest conviction
when I heard them from his lips in 1781 ; but the
lapse of six-and-thirty years has reconciled me to the
Marriage Act. General Burgoyne, who supported
the bill, and whose eloquence was usually tame,
as well as destitute of entertainment, seemed to
rise above himself and to be inspired by the sub
ject. Both he and Fox expressed themselves with
the utmost acrimony against Sir Dudley Ryder,
who had warmly supported "the Marriage Act"
when it was first introduced into the House of
Commons. They accused him of avowing a sys
tematic intention to divide the higher classes of
society from the vulgar, and to prevent their inter
mixture by marriage, thus effectually separating
persons of high rank and fortune from the mass of
the population. Burgoyne, when alluding to Fox's
splendid talents, observed that " if the spirit of the
Marriage Act had operated previous to his birth,
he would never have come into existence." Cour
tenay, in a speech abounding with humour and
irony, though of the broadest description, and
which in many passages trampled on decorum,
sustained Fox's arguments. So did Lord Nugent
in a somewhat similar strain of eloquence. On
the other hand, Burke, with no less ability than
Fox, and with equal powers of genius, appealed

128 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
to many of the strongest passions of the human
mind while he opposed the measure brought for
ward by his friend. They completely diverged on
this question in opposite directions, each dlsplaj''-
ing uncommon capacity, enthusiasm, and profound
reasoning in their respective speeches. Sheridan
likewise spoke against Fox's motion with great in
genuity, though not at considerable length ; and it
was one of the few occasions on which I have seen
them take different sides, during the whole time
that I remained a member of the House of Com
mons. Lord North, as might be expected, inclined
to oppose every innovation on the Marriage Act ;
and there could have been little doubt, as far as
the temper of the House manifested itself, that
Fox's bill would have been rejected by a great
majority, if the sense of the members present had
been taken upon it. But no division was demanded,
and Fox, abandoning it for the present, pledged
himself, if ever he should come into power, to renew
the motion from the Treasury bench.' This pledge
he never, indeed, redeemed ; but if we reflect for
how short a time he continued in office when
Secretary of State in 1782, as well as in 1783,
together with the multiplicity of matter which then
pressed upon him, we cannot wonder, though it is
possible we may regret, his not having resumed the
subject. \\6th — 2)'^th June ly^i.] The session now drew
1 Lord John Russell says, in his " Memoirs and Correspondence of
Fox," that "June 15, Charles Fox carried the commitment of his bill
for repealing the Marriage Act by ninety to twenty-seven." Five
days later. Fox's library was sold under seizure. Among his books
was Gibbon's first volume of the " Decline and Fall," a gift from the
author. Fox had recorded on the flyleaf a saying of Gibbon's, that
certain members of the Administration deserved to lose their heads,
and that, nevertheless, he accepted office under that very Adminis
tration. This record raised the price of this odd volume to three
guineas. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 129
towards a close, and Lord North prepared to with
draw his shattered parliamentary forces from the
scene of action. Not, however, before George
Byng (the " Muster Master-General " of Opposi
tion, as he was denominated) had invoked the
followers of that party to attend betimes during the
ensuing winter, " in order to terminate the wicked
and fruitless contest with America " — with so much
certainty did they calculate on complete success
whenever the campaign beyond the Atlantic should
be concluded. Intelligence arriving about this
time of the naval action fought in Praya Bay be
tween Suffrein and Commodore Johnstone,' Fox
made some severe, but, as they have always ap
peared to me, just observations on the conduct of
the British commander. That he was surprised on
the occasion cannot admit of dispute, and though he
extricated himself without sustaining any loss of
ships, yet he acquired no more honour than Keppel
had gained in his memorable battle with D'Orvil
llers. I knew Johnstone, and respected him as a
man of talents and energy of mind, but I coincided
fully with Fox in opinion that the Commodore was
much more formidable in Parliament than on the "
ocean, and more dreaded by the First Minister of
England than by Maurepas or Vergenes. Lord
North might have said of Johnstone, though in a
different sense, what Sir Robert Walpole, his Mini
sterial predecessor, observed, in 1 740, of the general
officers of that period, when the list was submitted
1 See ante p. 68. Johnstone had fought many duels in his day, com
mencing, as a midshipman, by fighting his captain, and ending with
Lord George Germain. In the action at Port Praya he showed less
of the fire-eating propensity. With sixteen ships of war and ten armed
East Indiamen De Suffren attacked him by surprise with five sail of
the line. The latter was beaten off, but he carried away with him
one of his disabled ships in the face of his enemy. " With or without
a if," writes Walpole to Macer, " Johnstone is a detestable name. I
would as soon be a Macgregor." — D.
VOL, II. I

I30 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
to his inspection, " I know not what effect they may
produce upon the enemy, but, before God, they
make me tremble." Johnstone's oratory while op
posing Government, not his naval skill or science,
placed him in command of a squadron after he had
come over to the side of Administration. He ac
quired some wealth, but gained little renown by the
expedition, which proved more beneficial to himself
than advantageous to his country. Lord North
defended him, nevertheless, with animation against
Fox's comments.
The Lord Advocate of Scotland, as chairman of
the secret committee, having laid on the table of the
House the two first reports made on the state of
the Carnatic, strenuously recommended them to the
diligent perusal of members during the approaching
recess, " as they would constitute," he said, " the
groundwork of future parliamentary proceedings."
A few days later a short but sharp and most personal
altercation took place, for I cannot call it by any other
name, between Fox and some leading supporters of
Administration. It was provoked by Fox, who, in
the course of a speech pronounced in behalf of the
Americans confined in the Mill Prison at Plymouth,
avowed that " in his opinion their cause was the
cause of freedom, of Whiggism, and of the constitu
tion, to which he ardently wished success," adding,
that " Administration, in prosecuting the contest
with the colonies, only desired to satiate their re
venge." Irritated at such imputations, Dundas
answered, "that it afforded him no surprise, to find
the honourable member rejoicing at our enemy's suc
cess, a success to which he had contributed not a
' little by his language and line of action within those
walls." But Mansfield, the Solicitor-General, with
a manly indignation, rising, demanded of Fox
" whether he meant to limit himself to mere wishes

OF MY OWN TIME. 131
and vows in favour of the Americans, or did he
intend to draw his sword, to clothe himself in the
rebel uniform, to enlist under Washington's com
mand, to fight the battles of America, and to point
his weapon against his countrymen's breasts ? "
Fox answered that he disdained to make any reply
to calumnies founded in gross misrepresentation,
and the conversation terminated. I have already
remarked elsewhere that he almost always wore
blue and buff.
\20th — -xftthjuly 1 781. J Manycircumstances con
tributed to sustain and to prolong the duration of
Lord North's Administration, notwithstanding the
misfortunes and disgraces which continued annually
to mark its progress. The mutiny in the Pennsyl
vania line, which for a moment seemed to menace
the American Congress with Internal revolt during
the spring of 1781 ; Lord Cornwallis's victory over
Greene at Guilford, followed by Lord Rawdon's'
advantage gained over the same general at Cam
den, two places situate in North and South Carolina;
lastly, the expectations formed from the advance of
the British forces into the province of Virginia — all
these events held the minds of men in suspense till
the prorogation of Parliament, on the i8th of July, "^
allowed the Minister a temporary respite from the
scene of his political exertion. The province of West
Florida had, nevertheless, been conquered by Spain,
while France reduced to its subjection the island
of Tobago. Our only acquisition consisted in the
seizure rather than the capture of the Dutch island
of St. Eustatia, in the West Indies, an" event which
served to cover Rodney and Vaughan, the naval
1 Francis Rawdon Hastings was created Baron Rawdon in 1783.
He succeeded his father as Earl of Moira in 1793, claimed and was
allowed the barony of Hastings in 1809, and was created Viscount
Loudoun, Earl of Rawdon, and Marquis of Hastings in 1817. He
died 28th November 1826. — Ed.

132 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
and military commanders-in-chief, with obloquy on
account of their severe treatment of the inhabitants.
Even on the element of the sea every encounter
which we had with the enemy, from its indecisive
nature, rather tended to augment their courage as
well as to stimulate their enterprise.
[August 1 78 1.] The severest naval action which
took place during the whole course of the American
war was the battle fought at this time between Parker'
and Zoutman, who commanded the English and
Dutch squadrons in the North Sea off the Dogger
Bank. But it bore no resemblance in its results to
the glorious victory obtained in our time by Duncan
at Camperdown, and might more aptly be compared
with the sanguinary, though indecisive, conflicts for
superiority which distinguished Charles I I.'s reign,
when the navies of Holland were led by Tromp
and Ruyter, while those of England were conducted
by James, Duke of York, by Prince Rupert, and by
Montague, first Earl of Sandwich, On this occa
sion the King, departing from his ordinary habits,
embarked on the ; Thames, accompanied by the
Prince of Wales, who had recently accomplished
his nineteenth year, and descended the river to the
Nore, where he visited Admiral Parker on board
his ship, the "Fortitude." The Duke of York,
then commonly denominated Bishop of Osnaburgh,
had been sent over by his father to Hanover, near
eight months earlier, with a view not only to his
accomplishment by visiting Germany, but to remove
him from scenes here at home ill calculated to
ameliorate his political or his moral character. One
1 Hyde Parker, the elder. He became a baronet in 1782 by the
death of his brother, the Rev. Sir Peter Parker. He was overmatched
at the Dogger Bank, and yet we had ships of war lying idle in all the
great ports nearest to the scene of action. There were 400 killed on
each side. Parker perished at sea in 1782, on his way to the East
Indies. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 133
of the defects attributed to his Majesty's natural
formation of mind, strengthened by his secluded
education during his grandfather's reign under the
Princess-Dowager's and Lord Bute's tuition, was
his supposed reluctance to become personally ac
quainted with his people. His enemies described
him as a prince averse to all communication with
his subjects except at a levee. Thus the " Heroic
Epistle " exclaims —
" Our sons some slave of greatness may behold.
Cast in the genuine Asiatic mould.
Who of three realms shall condescend to know
No more than he can spy from Windsor's brow."
Yet when the King, emancipating himself for the
first time since his accession to the throne from
these restraints, repaired to Portsmouth in June i yy^,
for the purpose of inspecting his fleet, with what
severe raillery did not the same poem endeavour to
expose him to derision ? The lines are most con
temptuous —
" There shall he see, as other folks have seen.
That ships have anchors and that seas are green ;
Shall count the tackling trim, the streamers fine.
With Bradshaw prattle and with Sandwich dine ;
And then row back, amidst the cannon's roar.
As safe, as sage, as when he left the shore."
But it would be loss of time to deny that during
the first twenty-three years of his reign, from the
period when Lord Bute came into power down to
1783, George III. was a riiost unpopular prince.
His subjects, however, have made him ample
amends for so long withholding from him the testi
monies of their affection by the general attachment
and veneration which they have since manifested
towards him down to the moment when he ceased
to sway the sceptre.

134 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
{September 1 781.] Admiral Darby, who continued
to command the Channel Fleet, had successfully re
lieved Gibraltar during the course of the spring,
when reduced to great extremity. But in the
autumn our numerical inferiority compelled that
commander to take refuge in Torbay, while the
combined French and Spanish fleets, for the third
time since the beginning of the war, occupied the
entrance of the British Channel, and even meditated
to attack us as we lay at anchor on our own coast.
So low was the naval power of England reduced
towards the conclusion of Lord North's Administra
tion, amidst the exhaustion and calamities occasioned
by the American war ; but towards America itself
all eyes were anxiously turned, where it became
evident affairs rapidly tended to some great and
decisive crisis. Lord CornwaUis, having advanced
into the province of Virginia in June, finally estab
lished himself at Yorktown in August. No position
could have been more judiciously chosen, and it
might unquestionably have been maintained under
every disadvantage against the united force of Ame
rica and of France, if a chain of fortuitous accidents,
rather than a series of able or well-combined mea
sures, had not led to the unavoidable catastrophe
which terminated the war. De Grasse, who com
manded the French fleet, was not less favoured by
fortune in finding the mouth of the Chesapeake
unoccupied, on his arrival there from the West
Indies, than he derived aid from the delays that
prevented the English squadron under Graves anti
cipating his seizure of that important station. Graves
and Clinton both successively failed only by the
short interruption of a few days, the first in occupy
ing the Chesapeake with a naval force, the last in
arriving with an army, before Lord Cornwallis's sur
render, and thereby rescuing him from the neces-

OF Ml OWN TIME. 135
-sity of capitulating to Washington. In so desperate
a situation, precluded from all possibility of relief.
Lord CornwaUis laid down his arms, and the Ame
rican rebellion, after a contest of more than six
years, finally became a revolution.
[October 1781.] It is at this period that we must
place the highest point of elevation to which Louis
XVI. attained during his reign, an elevation only to be
paralleled in the French annals by recurring to the
brilliant eras of Louis XIV. His own grandfather,
Louis XV., never stood on such an eminence in the
eyes of Europe, not even in the year 1 748, previous
to the peace of Aix-la-ChapeUe, though his troops,
conducted by Marshal Saxe, after defeating the
Allies in various general actions, had then overrun
the Austrian Low Countries and nearly reduced
Brabant. In October 1781, the King of France be
held America finally dissevered from Great Britain,
by the union of his armies with those of the insur
gents, while he received about the same period
Lord Cornwallis's sword, surrendered to La Fayette.
His forces were occupied in pursuing their career
of victory throughout the West Indies, and in the
East, Suffrein,' in his repeated naval engagements
with Sir Edward Hughes, not only maintained the
honour of his sovereign's flag, but had nearly suc
ceeded more than once in obtaining a decided
superiority over our squadron on the coast of Coro
mandel.^ The Spanish branch of the House of
Bourbon, acting in subservience to the views of the
court of Versailles, after subjecting Minorca and
West Florida, held Gibraltar besieged by sea and
.land, the reduction of which fortress, calculated to
1 Pierre Andrd de Suffren Saint Tropez, French admiral, born
1726, died 1788. — Ed.
2 These actions made us acquainted with the great advantages of
;the harlaour of Trincomalee in Ceylon. — Ed.

136 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
render for ever illustrious the reign of Charles
III., was anticipated with sanguine impatience by
the two crowns. Our commerce had not suffered
less by French depredations than our colonies had
been diminished by the arms of France. Holland,
ranging her force under the same standard, made
common cause with Louis against her ancient ally.
It only remained for them to defeat the Channel;
Fleet of England in order to dictate the terms of"
peace ; and so nearly did Guichen and Cordova,
who commanded the combined navies of France-
and Spain, appear to be to achieving that last object,
as to impress us with the utmost apprehension..
Contemplating a scene of such royal and national
prosperity, who could have imagined that this de
scendant of so many kings, that had reigned for
eight hundred years over the French in male suc
cession, would perish on a scaffold in his own
capital scarcely more than eleven years afterwards,.
the victim of his inert pusillanimity or tame inaction
in not firmly resisting the first ebuUitions of popular
violence !
As if to secure and perpetuate the Bourbon
line, the Queen of France, who had been married
more than ten years without giving an heir to the
Crown, at length brought into the world a son..
Catherine of Medicis, like Marie Antoinette oi.
Austria, had remained childless for nearly the same
period of time before she produced a successor.
The young Dauphin's baptism was performed in
this very month with extreme magnificence at Verr-
sailles. Happily for himself, he expired early in
June 1789, only a few weeks before the fatal revo
lution which took place in July swept away the
monarchy finally, to place Bonaparte on the throne-
of Henry IV. The Dauphin was in his ninth
year when he finished his short career. I have-

OF MY OWN TIME. 137
been assured by individuals who had access to
know the fact, that at the age of seven years, when
the charge of his person, according to the estab
lished usage of the old French court, was sur
rendered up by the governess, and he was then
put under the care of men, the Dauphin being
stripped in the presence of professional persons
and having undergone an examination, was pro
nounced to be without defect in his bodily forma
tion. But being made soon afterwards to sit with
his feet in a wooden machine calculated to turn
them out, it speedily affected the spinal marrow.
Whether this assertion be accurate or not, it is
certain that the vertebrae of the backbone becom
ing crooked, he fell into a state of languor accom
panied by debility. I have seen him more than
once, while in this condition during the summer
preceding his decease, taking the air in a carriage
in the gardens of St. Cloud. His emaciated ap
pearance awakened concern, but he was said not
to want intelligence, and the Queen, his mother,
whose maternal feelings were acute, manifested
the warmest affection for him while living, as well
as deep sorrow for his loss. The Duke of Nor
mandy, his younger brother, born under a still
more inauspicious planet, succeeded to his title, and
became after his father's execution the unfortunate
Louis XVII.
[November 1 78 1 .J During the whole month of No
vember, the concurring accounts which were trans
mitted to Government, enumerating Lord Corn-
waUis's embarrassments and the positions taken by
the enemy, augmented the anxiety of the Cabinet,
Lord George Germain in particular, conscious that
on the prosperous or adverse termination of that
expedition must depend the fate of the American
contest, his own stay in office, as well as probably

138 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the duration of the Ministry, felt, and even ex
pressed to his friends, the strongest uneasiness on
the subject. The meeting of Parliament mean
while stood fixed for the 27th of November. On
Sunday the 25th about noon, official inteUigence
of the surrender of the British forces at Yorktown
arrived from Falmouth at Lord George Germain's
house in PaU- Mall. Lord Walsingham, who, pre
vious to his father Sir William de Grey's elevation
to the peerage,' had been Under-Secretary of State
in that department, and who was selected to second
the address in the House of Peers on the subse
quent Tuesday, happened to be there when the
messenger brought the news. Without communi
cating it to any other person. Lord George, for the
purpose of dispatch, immediately got with him into
a hackney-coach and drove to Lord Stormont's
residence in Portland Place. Having imparted to
him the disastrous information, and taken him into
the carriage, they instantly proceeded to the Chan
ceUors house in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury,^
whom they found at home, when, after a short con
sultation, they determined to lay it themselves in
person before Lord North. He had not received
any intimation of the event when they arrived at his
door in Downing Street between one and two
o'clock. The First Minister's firmness, and even
his presence of mind, which had withstood the riots
of June 1780, gave way for a short time under this
awful disaster. I asked Lord Georp-e afterwards
•
how he took the communication when made to him.
"As he would have taken a ball in his breast,"
1 Sir William de Grey was raised to the peerage, on his retirement
from the Chief-Justiceship of the Common Pleas, 1780. He died in
May 1 78 1. — D.
2 This must be a mistake. Lord Thurlow lived in Great Ormond
Street, and in 1784 the Great Seal was stolen from his house there
(No. 45).- Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 139
replied Lord George. For he opened his arms,
exclaiming wildly, as he paced up and down the
apartment during a few minutes, " O God ! it is
all over ! " Words which he repeated many times
under emotions of the deepest consternation and
distress. When the first agitation of their minds had sub
sided, the four Ministers discussed the question
whether or not it might be expedient to prorogue
Parliament for a few days ; but as scarcely an in
terval of forty-eight hours remained before the
appointed time of assembling, and as many mem
bers of both Houses were already either arrived in
London or on the road, that proposition was aban
doned. It became, however, indispensable to alter
and almost to model anew the King's speech, which
had been already drawn up and completely prepared
for delivery from the throne. This alteration was
therefore made without delay, and at the same time
Lord George Germain, as Secretary for the Ameri
can department, sent off a dispatch to his Majesty,
who was then at Kew, acquainting him with the
melancholy termination of Lord Cornwallis's ex
pedition. Some hours having elapsed before these
different but necessary acts of business could take
place, the Ministers separated, and Lord George
Germain repaired to his office in Whitehall. There
he found a confirmation of the intelligence, which
arrived about two hours after the first communica
tion, having been transmitted from Dover, to which
place it was forwarded from Calais with the French
account of the same event.
I dined on that day at Lord George's, and thotigh
the information which had reached London in the
course of the morning from two different quarters
was of a nature not to admit of long concealment,
yet it had not been communicated either to me or

^

I40 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
to any individual of the company (as it might have
been through the channel of common report), when
I got to Pall-Mall between five and six o'clock.
Lord Walsingham, who likewise dined there, was
the only guest that had become acquainted with the
fact. The party, nine in number, sat down to table.
Lord George appeared serious, though he mani
fested no discomposure. Before the dinner was
finished, one of his servants delivered him a letter,
brought back by the messenger who had been dis
patched to the King. Lord George opened and per
used it, then looking at Lord Walsingham, to whom
he exclusively directed his observation, " The King
writes," said he, "just as he always does, except
that I observe he has omitted to mark the hour and
the minute of his writing with his usual precision."
This remark, though calculated to awaken some in
terest, excited no comment ; and while the ladies.
Lord George's three daughters, remained in the
room we repressed our curiosity. But they had no
sooner withdrawn, than Lord George having ac
quainted us that from Paris information had just
arrived of the old Count de Maurepas, First Minis
ter, lying at the point of death ; "It would grieve
me," said I, "to finish my career, however far ad
vanced in years, were I First Minister of France,
before I had witnessed the termination of this great
contest between England and America." " He
has survived to witness that event," replied Lord
George, with some agitation. Utterly unsuspicious
as I was of the fact which had happened beyond
the Atlantic, I conceived him to allude to the inde--
cisive naval action fought at the mouth of the
Chesapeake early in the preceding month of Sep
tember between Admiral Graves and Count de
Grasse ; an engagement which in its results might
prove most injurious to Lord CornwaUis. Under

OF MY OWN TIME. 141
this impression, " My meaning," said I, " is that if
I were the Count de Maurepas, I should wish to
live long enough to behold the final issue of the war
in Virginia." " He has survived to witness it com
pletely," answered Lord George ; " the army has
surrendered, and you may peruse the particulars of
the capitulation in that paper," taking at the same
time one from his pocket, which he delivered into
my hand not without visible emotion. By his per
mission I read it aloud, while the company listened
in profound silence. We then discussed its con
tents as affecting the Ministry, the country, and
the war. It must be confessed that they were
calculated to diffuse a gloom over the most con
vivial society, and that they opened a wide field
for political speculation.
After perusing the account of Lord Cornwallis's
surrender at Yorktown, it was impossible not to
feel a lively curiosity to know how the King had
received the intelligence, as well as how he had
expressed himself in his note to Lord George Ger
main on the first communication of so painful an
event. He gratified our wish by reading it to us,
observing, at the same time, that it did the highest
honour to his Majesty's fortitude, firmness, and con
sistency of character. The words made an impres
sion on my memory which the lapse of more than
thirty years has not erased, and I shall here com
memorate its tenor as serving to show how that
prince felt and wrote under one of the most afflicting
as well as humiliating occurrences of his reign. The
billet ran nearly to this effect : "I have received
with sentiments of the deepest concern the com
munication which Lord George Germain has made
me of the unfortunate result of the operations in
Virginia. I particularly lament it on account of the
consequences connected with it and the difficulties

142 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
which it may produce in carrying on the public
business or in repairing such a misfortune. But I
trust that neither Lord George Germain nor any
member of the Cabinet will suppose that it makes
the smallest alteration in those principles of my
conduct which have directed me in past time and
which wUl always continue to animate me under every
event in the prosecution of the present contest."
Not a sentiment of despondency or of despair was
to be found In the letter, the very handwriting of
which indicated composure of mind. Whatever
opinion we may entertain relative to the practl-
cabUIty of reducing America to obedience by force
of arms at the end of 1781, we must admit that no
sovereign could manifest more calmness, dignity, or
self-command than George III. displayed in this
reply. [27/^ and 2Sth November 1781.J Severely as the
general effect of the blow received in Virginia was
felt throughout the capital and the nation, yet no
immediate symptoms of Ministerial dissolution, or
even of parliamentary defection, became visible in
either House. All the animated invectives of Fox,
aided by the contumelious irony of Burke, and sus
tained by the dignified reproaches of Pitt, then
enlisted on the same side, made little apparent
impression on their hearers, who, though they
seemed stupified by the disastrous intelligence, yet
manifested the firmest adherence to Administration.
Never, probably, at any period of our history was
more indignant language used by the Opposition,
not even in 1741, previous to Sir Robert Walpole's
resignation. In the ardour of his feelings at the
recent calamity which had taken place beyond the
Atlantic, Fox not only accused Ministers of being
virtually in the pay of France, but menaced them
with the vengeance of an undone people, who would

OF MY OWN TIME. 143
speedily compel them to expiate their crimes on the
public scaffold. Dundas, who sat on the Treasury
bench, not far from Lord North and Lord George
Germain, having ventured to smile somewhat con
temptuously at the word scaffold. Fox apostrophised
him in angry terms, demanding if the learned Lord
did not think that the time was yet ripe for punish
ment ? Burke repeated the same denunciations.
Speaking of the condition of the country, he de
clared it to be extinct. " The British nation," said
he, " as an animal, is dead, but the vermin that feed
on the carcase are still alive. A day of reckoning
will however arrive. Whenever it comes, I shall
be ready to impeach and signally to punish the
authors of these calamities."
Though Fox, in conformity with the wishes of his
friends, moved on that evening an amendment to
the proposed address to the throne, yet he said that
his own opinion decidedly went to send up no
address whatever to the sovereign until the mem
bers of the Lower House could consult their con
stituents and receive their instructions. The Idea
was strongly enforced by Mr. Thomas Pitt, who not
only recommended an immediate appeal to the con
stituent body of electors throughout the kingdom,
but exhorted the assembly to withhold all supply
till that measure was carried into execution. Colonel
Barre joined in the recommendations for calling
together their constituents and demanding their
advice in a moment of such danger and public
distress. So did Mr. Duncombe, one of the two
members for the county of York.' But Burke, how
ever violent and declamatory he might be on other
points, never made the slightest allusion to revolu
tionary remedies or proposed any such experiments.
Fox's appeal to the electors of Westminster, con-
* Henry Duncombe of Copgrove, co. York. — Ed.

144 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
voked in Westminster Hall or in Palace Yard,
might indeed have been made, at least without
incurrring ridicule. But how Mr. Thomas Pitt,
who elected himself for Old Sarum, or Barrd, whom
Lord Shelburne returned for Calne, were to take
the sense of their constituents it was not easy to
explain. Such, however, were the propositions
gravely made in the legislative assembly of Great
Britain towards the close of the American war,
amidst the universal dejection or despondency of
that calamitous period. Rigby, and he only, of all
the ministerial or royal supporters in Parliament,
ventured to elevate his voice against the doctrines
inculcated by Fox. "What! Mr. Speaker," de
manded he, " is the general sense of the nation no
longer to be collected within these walls ? Such
unconstitutional and illegal appeals to the people
can lead only to disaster, tumult, and outrage. The
representative body is alone competent to pronounce
the public sentiment." Unintimidated by Sheridan,
who attacked him for speaking with contempt of
the constituent part of the community, Rigby main
tained his position with great firmness.
Burke, with inconceivable warmth of colouring,
depictured the folly and impracticability of taxing
America by force, as he described it, " shearing the
wolf." The metaphor was wonderfully appropriate,
and scarcely admitted of denial. He was sustained,
and I had almost said outdone, by Mr. Thomas
Pitt,' who, in terms of gloomy despondency, not
unaccompanied with great eloquence, seemed to
regard the situation of the country as scarcely
1 Son of Thomas Pitt, elder brother of William Pitt, the great Earl
of Chatham. The Thomas Pitt of the text was created (1784) Baron
Camelford, a title which became extinct when his clever and dissolute
son was slain, in 1804, by Captain Best, in a duel behind Holland
House, Kensington, upon a quarrel touching a woman more worthless,
if possible, than themselves. — D,

OF MY OWN TIME. 145
admitting of a remedy under such a Parliament, such
an Administration, and such a sovereign. " The
Ministers," exclaimed Burke, " assert that we have
a right to tax America. But have we the power to
enforce the right ? They cry with Shylock : Ame
rica, give us our bond ! The pound of flesh is ours,
and we will have it next your heart ! Oh, miserable
and infatuated men ! Oh, undone country ! " He
then burst into that most striking and picturesque
simile of the wolf. " ' Oh ! ' says a silly man, elated
with his dominion over a few beasts of the forest,
' there is excellent wool to be found on a wolfs
back, and I am resolved to shear him.' 'What!
shear a wolf! ' ' Yes.' * But will he submit to the
operation ? Can you get at this wool ? ' ' Oh ! I
have neither considered nor will I consider whether
it be practicable. It is my right. A wolf has wool.
All animals having wool may be shorn, and there
fore I will shear the wolf!'" I confess I thought
this apologue, if I may so term it, one of the most
impressive and convincing that I ever heard pro
nounced during the whole time that I remained in
the House of Commons. Such it was felt to be on
that evening- throusfhout the Ministerial ranks.
Mr. Thomas Pitt, or, as he was commonly called,
Tom Pitt, though a man of very superior attain
ments of mind, and possessing no ordinary powers
of oratory, rose seldom to address Parliament. But
Avhenever he spoke, his name and his consanguinity
to the great Earl of Chatham, who was his uncle,
procured him a most favourable audience. Despair
animated while it deeply tinged his speech. Con
sidering the country as already lost, he said, " It no
longer was a matter of importance what set of state
puppets worked the dismal scene. While the fatal
system remained, and the deadly secret influence
which had continued throughout the present reign
VOL. II. K

146 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
pervaded every measure and every department, it
signified little what ostensible agents were placed
at the head of affairs."
Lord North, in this moment of general depression,
found resources in himself. He scornfully repeUed
the insinuations of Fox (who had caUed him the
Prime Minister of France), as deserving only con
tempt ; justified the principle of the war, which did
not originate in a despotic wish to tyrannise America,
but from the desire of maintaining the constitu-
' tional authority of Parliament over the colonies ; de
plored In common with the Opposition the misfor
tunes which had marked the progress of the contest ;
defied the threats of punishment, and finally adjured
the House not to aggravate the present calamity
by dejection or despair, but by united exertion tO'
secure our national extrication. " The war with
America, I admit," said he, " has been unfortunate,
but not unjust. And should I hereafter, as I am
menaced, mount the scaffold in consequence of the
part that I have performed in its prosecution, I
shall continue to maintain that it was founded in
right and dictated by necessity." Lord George Ger
main was not silent on that night. He deplored
the fate of Lord CornwaUis ; avowed the active share
that he had taken in endeavouring to subjugate the
colonies ; declared his readlness^ to quit the office
which he filled whenever his resignation should be
demanded, but added, " I will neither be browbeat
nor clamoured out of it. Whenever my sovereign
calls for my situation, I shall resign it into his
hands." The debate which arose on the subsequent even
ing, when the address to be presented to the throne
was reported to the House, far exceeded in the
importance of the matter elicited the first discus
sion. Pitt, who reserved himself for this second

OF MV OWN TIME. 147
agitation of the American question, rose early, and
in a speech of extraordinary energy (throughout the
course of which he contrived with great ability to
blend professions of devoted attachment to the per
son of the King with the severest accusation of his
Ministers), he fully confirmed the high opinion of
his judgment and parliamentary talents already
entertained throughout the country. But though
Pitt spared the reigning prince, whom he depictured
as under a delusion, he did not the less bitterly
inveigh against the " baleful influence of the Crown,"
which he said had produced the contest with Ame
rica. That ruinous war constituted " the pillar con
structed on the ruins of our constitution," by which,
as he asserted, the first Lord of the Treasury held
his situation. He concluded by calling on Ministers
to state without circumlocution or deception what
were their intentions as to the further prosecution
of the American war, and to give some general
idea of the manner in which it was henceforward
to be pursued. A sort of pause took place when
he resumed his seat, while the eyes of all present
were directed towards the Treasury bench, in the
expectation that either the Chancellor of the Exche
quer or the Secretary for the Colonial Department
would stand up and make some reply to these most
pointed as well as interesting questions. But both
sat silent, though from different motives. In so
critical a moment, when the House seemed to
demand an explanation on the point, the Lord
Advocate of Scotland presented himself boldly to
public notice. After denying in the most explicit
terms that the address proposed either pledged the
assembly to continue the war against the colonies,
or could be so interpreted, he proceeded to put
hypothetically a case, which might be said to with
draw in some measure the curtain of state from

148 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
before the Cabinet, and to expose the disunion exist
ing among its members. " If," said_ Dundas, "any
Minister accused of maladministration should set
up as his excuse or his defence that he was over
ruled in the Cabinet, and compelled by the majority
to act upon opinions contrary to his own private
judgment, such an apology cannot be admitted in
this House. A Minister who, in order to preserve
his place, would submit to carry into execution
measures that he condemned, must not only be un
worthy of his situation, but would thereby betray his
trust, and merit the execration of his countrymen."
This avowal, though qualified by assurances that
it was altogether general, and had not the slightest
allusion to, or the most indirect authority from, the
First Lord of the Treasury, yet disclosed the secret
already suspected or understood by the Oppo
sition. Fox felicitated Pitt, whom he denominated
his honourable friend, on having by the effect of his
powerful oratory extracted from an individual so
nearly connected with the Administration the de
claration that the address did not pledge Parlia
ment to continue the war against America. But
Burke, in the progress of a speech less marked by
those emanations of genius which generally illumi
nated all that he uttered than distinguished by its
intemperate violence, endeavoured to prove that
the proposed address did bind the House to pro
secute offensive hostilities with France and America.
He declared the address itself to be a compound
of hypocrisy and of infamous, abandoned falsity.
Nor did he fail to paint in the warmest colours of
a distempered imagination the punishments which
he asserted would be inflicted on the unhappy
loyalists, deserted by us and left under Lord Corn
wallis's capitulation to the mercy of the Congress.
Their slaughtered remains, he said, would be ex-

OF MY OWN TIME. 149
posed on all the headlands. Notwithstanding these
combined efforts, which were sustained by Keppel
and by Townshend, the Minister divided on both
evenings in a large majority ; the address being
carried by eighty-nine. In a full House where 347
members were present. Only 185 attended the
report, of which number 131 supported Administra
tion, while the minority did not exceed fifty-four.
Nevertheless, the contest with America might be
considered as virtually arrested, though not osten
sibly terminated. More than one member known
to be ardently attached to the Crown as well as to
the existing Government declared his disapproba
tion of any further attempt to carry on military
operations beyond the Atlantic. Lord Nugent
admitted that it would now be politic to acknow
ledge the independence of the colonies. Courtenay,
though holding a place under the' Master-General
of the Ordnance, not only avowed that he never
had considered the war against America as ex
pedient, politic, or wise, but added, that he only
voted for the address on the assurances given by
persons in office that it did not pledge to the pro
secution of hostilities for the purpose of subjugat
ing America. Lord North himself, two days after
wards, explicitly stated, when addressing the House,
that they were not bound by their two recent
votes to carry on either the American or any other
war ; simply to provide for the necessary expenses
of the Government. But though the continuance
of offensive hostilities in America was thus un-
equivocaUy renounced by the First Minister, and
virtually or silently acquiesced in by Lord George
Germain, yet so far did both of them seem from
professing a readiness to acknowledge the Inde
pendence of the thirteen colonies, that they warmly
maintained the wisdom and the necessity of still

I50 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
prosecuting a defensive war in that portion of the
globe. In the House of Peers a still greater
proportionate majority supported Administration.
When Fox, presuming on the operation of the re
cent misfortune in the Chesapeake, soon afterwards
attempted to stop the progress of supplies, in
which effort he was warmly supported by Mr.
Thomas Pitt, the Opposition experienced a second
defeat, only seventy-seven persons voting with
them, whUe Lord North had 172. It seemed In
deed by no means clear during the first fortnight
after Parliament met whetnigr any official change
whatever would take place, or;\ if an alteration should
be made in the Cabinet, to what extent it would be
carried. The national forces, exhausted by so long
a contest and now opposed in every quarter by a
vast confederacy, were indeed evidently unequal to
continue the effort for subjecting America, and it
therefore became obvious that new measures must
speedily supersede those which had been prosecuted
during so many years. But the same First Minister '
might remain in power under a total or a partial
change of system, and in that case all the labours of
the minority would be frustrated in the moment of
their expected completion. The King's firmness
and tenacity were well understood by all parties.
Lord North showed hitherto no disposition to re
sign, and Parliament had given no indications of
having withdrawn their confidence from the Ad
ministration. Such appeared to be the aspect of
public affairs in the first week of December.
[\st — \oth December 1 78 i.J Fox and Pitt seemed
at this time to act in perfect political union, yet no
man who attentively considered the different spirit
which animated their speeches whenever the sove
reign became indirectly the subject of their animad
version could fail to remark their widely dissimilar

OF MY OWN TIME. 151
line of conduct.' Fox, whether he was impelled by
his consciousness that the King's moral repugnance
to many parts of his private character and to the
irregularities of his life imposed insurmountable
obstacles to his ever attaining the royal favour, or
whether, having already offended in his political
capacity beyond the hope of pardon, he relied solely
on his own talents, aided by party, to force his way
into the Cabinet and to maintain himself in that
situation ; whichever of these motives principally
actuated him, it is indisputable that in all his allu
sions to the King, although he might affect to
shelter himself under the forms of parliamentary
language. Fox always chose to consider him as ani
mated by passions and sentiments incompatible
with the benignity which constitutes the most en
viable attribute of royalty. Fox^ designated or
characterised him, in fact, as under the dominion of
resentment, unfeeling, implacable, and only satiated
by the continuance of war against his former sub
jects. In a word, like James II. rather than William
III., more as a tyrant and an oppressor than as the
head of a free country, the guardian of a limited
constitution. On the first day of the session, when an address
to the Crown was proposed, " Those," said Fox,
" who are ignorant of the character of the prince
whose speech we have just heard might be induced
to consider him as an unfeeling despot, exulting in
the horrid sacrifice of the liberty and the lives of
1 Walpole wrote in June to General Conway : " If Charles Fox could
feel, one would think that such a rival, with an unspotted character,
would rouse him. What if a Pitt and Fox should again be rivals ? "
— D.
2 In September Fox wrote to his friend Fitzpatrick: "The people of
this country deserve no pity, and certainly the King still less. It is
intolerable to think that it should be in the power of one blockhead
;to do so much mischief." — Loi'd John Russell's "Fox," vol. i. p.267.
— D.

152 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
his people. The speech Itself, divested of the dis
guise of royal forms, can only mean, ' Our losses in
America have been most calamitous. The blood
of my subjects has flowed in copious streams
throughout every part of that continent; the trea
sures of Great Britain have been wantonly lavished,
while the load of taxes imposed on an overburdened
country is become intolerable, yet will I continue
to tax you to the last shilling. When, by Lord
Cornwallis's surrender, all hopes of victory are for
ever extinct and a further continuance of hostilities
can only accelerate the ruin of the British Empire, I
prohibit you from thinking of peace. My rage for
conquest is unquenched and my revenge unsated ;
nor can anything except the total subjugation of
my revolted American subjects allay my animo
sity.'" When we consider the severity and acri
mony of these personal imputations, we cannot
wonder that they excited corresponding sensations
of resentment in the royal bosom. What accusa
tions more wounding could we frame, what motives
of action more atrocious could we suppose, and
what language more abhorrent to our feelings could
we have attributed to that conqueror whose ambi
tion so long desolated France and Europe than are
here supposed to animate George III. ? It must
be admitted even by his greatest admirers that
Fox, however eminent were his talents, yet by the
want of moderation and judgrnent sentenced him
self during his whole life to perpetual exclusion
from office, verifying Juvenal's remark upon the
injuries attendant on eloquence when he says —
" Torrens dicendi copia multis,
Et sua mortifera est facundia.''
Pitt, on the contrary, even when he appeared to be
most animated by sentiments of indignation against.

OF MY OWN TIME. 153
the measures or the Ministers, yet repressed any
intemperate expressions, and personally spared the
sovereign. He pronounced indeed in the most
unqualified terms his abhorrence of the further pro
secution of the American war ; and on one occasion
I recollect his solemnly invoking the Divine ven
geance on the heads of the Administration, who
had reduced the Empire to such a state of ruin and
degradation. But, with consummate ability, he
separated the King from his weak or evil coun
sellors ; admitted the purity of intention by which
he was ever impelled ; professed his ardent attach
ment to the person as well as to the family of the
reigning monarch ; and declared that it would be
best manifested by exposing the delusion that had
been practised on him. The Lord Advocate of
Scotland, whose distinguishing political tact and
keen discernment In all matters where his own in
terest or ambition were concerned enabled him to
descry a Minister in embryo, appears early to have
been impressed with a conviction of this character
istic difference between the two Opposition leaders.
While he continued strenuously to support an Ad
ministration the certain approaching fall of which
he nevertheless probably anticipated, he lavished
the warmest encomiums from the Treasury bench
on the hereditary talents, the brilliant oratory, and
early indications of genius in Pitt, under whose
protection, aided by his own parliamentary powers,
he speedily contrived, after Lord North's resigna
tion to reappear on the Ministerial theatre.
Notwithstanding the ostensible degree of harmony
and concert which seemed to animate Ministers in
the House of Commons during the first days of
the session, yet before the middle of December it
began to be apparent that some essential disunion
of sentiment prevailed among the members of Ad-

154 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ministration. Lord North, in fact, might continue,
as many persons imagined. First Minister after the
avowal of American independence ; but Lord George
Germain could not by any possibility remain in
office a single day after such a recognition. At
this breach the Opposition poured in, and were aided
by some of the adherents of Government, who con
ceived that by separating the two Ministers and
dismissing the latter. Lord North could yet be
preserved at the head of his Majesty's councils.
Sir James Lowther having introduced a motion on
the 1 2 th of December tending- to declare that "aU
further attempts to reduce the Americans to obed
ience by force would be ineffectual and contrary to
the true interests of the kingdom," after a long
and very animated debate, the order of the day
could only be carried by a majority of forty-one,
in a crowded House where four hundred members
were present. Some of the circumstances attend
ing that discussion were in themselves so inter
esting as to lay peculiar claim to commemoration.
Neither the personal character, the talents, nor the
eloquence of the member for Cumberland, who
originated the question, could powerfuUy recom
mend it to attention. But it was far otherwise
with the individual who seconded the motion.
Sir James Lowther's prodigious property, and that
circumstance only, gave any weight to his exertions.
Mr. Powis,' who represented the county of Nor
thampton, combined very considerable parliamen
tary ability with a most independent and upright
mind. _ Never can I forget the effect produced by his
citation from Gibbon's " Decline and FaU of the
Roman Empire," as applicable to the calamitous
position of Great Britain ! With consummate judg-
^ Thomas Powys. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 155
ment he selected some passages of the celebrated
historian in question, extracted from the reigns of
Honorius and of Valentinian III., which seemed
almost prophetically to depicture or to describe
the events of the hour under George III. The
incapacity of the Government, the contempt into
which it had fallen with foreign states, the rapid
increase of taxation, the corruption of the senate,
the expenditure of treasure, the loss of provinces,
and the pertinacit)' of the sovereign in continuing
in a hopeless contest with his revolted subjects — all
these facts, so apposite in themselves, were quoted,
or rather were read by Powis in his place, and
constituted a part of his speech. Their operation
was perfectly theatrical. A pin might have been
heard to drop, such was the silence while he pro
nounced it ; and it seemed to spread a sort of de
jection over the Ministerial side of the assembly.
Gibbon himself, who unconsciously furnished these
weapons against his friend the First Minister,
and who was at the very time a member of the
Board of Trade, was personally present in the
House. He had ceased at the last general elec
tion to represent a Cornish borough, Liskeard, for
which he was chosen in 1775, and now sat for
Lymington. Lord North was so sensible of the
injury resulting from Powis's appeal to the passions
of the House, sustained by the artillery which he
had borrowed from Gibbon, that he rose immedi
ately in order to efface the impression. In the
course of a laboured, able, and well-considered
address, he endeavoured to demonstrate that the
motion, if carried, would incapacitate and cripple
the Administration, which, if precluded or pro
hibited from carrying on any mUitary operation
on the American continent, could not successfully
combat our foreign enemies in that quarter of the

156 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
globe. But he at the same time declared his
opinion that no further hostilities ought to be pro
secuted for the reduction of the colonies by send
ing troops into the interior of the country. The
weakness of Government, and the apprehensions
entertained of the defection which might manifest
itself among their adherents, were sufficiently dis
played by Lord North in only moving the order of
the day, instead of giving a direct negative to Sir
James Lowther's proposition.
Burgoyne was not merely animated, but personal
as well as pointed in his animadversions on Lord
George Germain, and even by unavoidable impli
cation on the sovereign himself, whom he clearly
designated in terms too plain to admit of mistake.
After examining as a soldier and a tactician the
plan proposed by Ministers for retaining posts in
America and prosecuting a species of defensive
warfare, he subjoined, " These observations may be
caUed mUitary remarks, but let the House remember
that they are addressed to a military Secretary of
State. The country has not forgotten that he was
a soldier ; the country feels that he is a counsellor."
Having expressed his apprehensions for the impend
ing fate of Gibraltar, invested by the forces of
France and Spain, he made a recantation of his
error in ever approving or aiding the attempt to
subjugate the colonies, adding, " I am now con
vinced, on a full consideration of the measures pur
sued by Ministers as time has developed their
system, that the American war constitutes only a
part of a general plan levelled against the consti
tution of Great Britain, and against the universal
rights of mankind." Dundas having professed that
Lord North's declaration relative to future hostili
ties beyond the Atlantic fully satisfied his mind,
protested that had not the ChanceUor of the Exr-

OF MY OWN TIME. 157
chequer thus unequivocally renounced all further
attempt to reduce the colonies by offensive opera
tions, he must have voted on the side of the Op
position. But Burke, with great powers of wit,
treated the Lord Advocate's assurances as a sub
ject of derision. " An American war," exclaimed
Burke, " you must still have ; but as Parliament
has at length become dissatisfied with the manner
in which it was carried on, we will change the
plan, say Ministers. An American war you must
still have. We will give you your diet differently
dressed ; but it shall nevertheless be the American
war. Having squandered seventy millions in one
way, we will now expend seventy millions more in
another way." Fox as well as Barre exposed with
equal force the fallacious or loose* and unsatisfac
tory protestations of the First Minister. Lord
George Germain at length rose, and the House,
anxious to hear his sentiments, though the evening
was then very far advanced, lent him an attentive
ear. As this speech may be deemed the last
that he pronounced in his own defence while
Secretary for the Colonies, and as I listened to it
with more than ordinary interest, I shall comme
morate some passages.
Professing his coincidence of opinion with Lord
North as to changing prospectively the mode of
carrying on the war, a sentiment in which, he added,
all the King's confidential servants were united,
he nevertheless contended, that though circum
stances justified and dictated such an alteration of
system, he could not concur in evacuating New
York, Charlestown, and the other invaluable pos
sessions on the American coast still retained by
Great Britain. " If," continued he, " the House
should adopt the motion proposed, I will instantly
retire, as I consider it to include a resolution of

158 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
altogether abandoning the American war; and let
the consequence be what it may, I never will put
my hand to any instrument conceding independence
to the colonies. My opinion is, that the British
Empire must be ruined, and that we never can con
tinue to exist as a great or as a powerful nation
after we have lost or renounced the sovereignty
over America. By this opinion I will abide, because
I am resolved to leave the people their country."
George Byng having, somewhat indecorously, and
certainly in a manner unauthorised by the forms of
debate, said across the House, "You will not leave
us any country ! " Lord George, irritated, instantly
with considerable emotion exclaimed, " If the hon
ourable gentleman believes himself warranted in
impeaching me, let him do it ! But let him do it in
the way warranted by the constitution. Let him
not convoke the people without doors, and address
them, to change the Administration! It is the pro
vince of this House, with the dignity becoming its
character, to adopt a constitutional measure. Let
the House address the throne if they think proper.
If Ministers haye merited It, let them be dismissed,
impeached, and brought to punishment. But do
not from party violence injure the constitution
and risk the subversion of the country." These
were nearly his concluding words. Byng, far from
excusing the interruption, justified it. " The noble
Secretary," said he, "caUs on me to impeach him.
Let him only turn his eyes on those persons who
surround him, and he will perceive the reason that
he is not impeached. He will see a phalanx of
hired supporters ready to protect him or any other
Minister against the effects of the American war.
Give us only an honest Parliament, and we should
then see if security and impunity would result
from impeachment." No notice was taken of these

OF MY OWN TIME. 159
severe imputations thrown upon the House, and
the debate soon afterwards closed. But it became
apparent how weak were the foundations on which
Lord North's power rested, when the defection
of so inconsiderable a number of individuals as
twenty going over from the Ministerial ranks to
the Opposition side would have laid him at the
mercy of his enemies. And under the deplorable
circumstances of the war, of the finances, and of the
country, there existed little hope of a counter deser
tion back to the party of Government. Already
the minority anticipated with a sort of certainty the
approaching, if not the imminent, fall of Administra
tion. \\4th December 1781.] Nor was the paucity of
numbers the only symptom that announced a Minis
terial crisis. Two days subsequent to the late divi
sion, when the Secretary at War laid before the Com
mittee of Supply the estimates of the army, another
discussion of the American question took place,
more decisive, if possible, than any which had yet
arisen. Rigby and Dundas, acting on this oc
casion in concert, called on Lord North to state
in his place the difference of opinion which was
presumed to exist in the Cabinet. Both of them
at the same time avowed and admitted that no
further hope could be entertained of subjecting
America by arms. The First Lord of the Treasury,
while he admitted the war with the colonies to con
stitute the heaviest calamity of his life, and ex
pressed his warmest wishes for the attainment of
peace, neither owned nor denied the charge brought
forward by the Lord Advocate of Scotland and
Rigby, though he attempted to evade it under some
loose and general declarations. Wearied at length,
and attacked no less by his friends than by his
opponents, he adopted the singular expedient of

i6o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
quitting the Treasury bench and withdrawing to
one of the seats behind it, leaving Lord George
Germain alone in that conspicuous situation, ex
posed to the attacks of the Opposition. So extra
ordinary a scene, which spoke with mute eloquence,
and from its peculiarity attracted all eyes, left no
room to doubt of the dissimilarity of opinion among
Ministers on the great question respecting America.
I feel strongly impelled, if I were able, to attempt
to lay before posterity the leading features of that
most interesting debate, during the progress of
which the disunion between the two Cabinet Minis
ters in the Lower House became for the first
time so apparent as to necessitate Lord George
Germain's speedy resignation. He rose at an early
period of the evening, compelled by the assertions
and accusations of Townshend, who maintained
that the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the
Secretary of State held different or conflicting
opinions relative to the system of warfare prospec
tively intended to be prosecuted beyond the Atlan
tic. Lord George having so recently stated, with
his characteristic frankness of character, the ideas
entertained by him on the point, and his determina
tion never to recede from them, could add little to
his preceding observations. He said that " the
King's servants were unanimous on one point,
namely, that it was inexpedient and would be in
jurious to the country to withdraw the forces from
America." But Lord North, well aware that the
only chance of protecting the King from being com
pelled to surrender at discretion was to slip himself
out of the present ruinous contest, to allo-w the
American Secretary to retire, and then, retaining
his own place, with the royal and parliamentary
support that he possessed, to endeavour to extricate
the nation from its actual embarrassments, — Lord

OF MY OWN TIME, i6i
North, impelled by these motives, held a more
equivocal, oracular, and inexplicit language. Fox,
sustained by General Conway, endeavoured to force
from him a definite reply to their demands, and he
underwent during some time a species of cross-
examination ; but such was his ability and address
in eluding or evading the precise questions put to
him, that little additional information could be ex
tracted from his answers. The House remained, if
I may so say, at fault. Pitt, with great judgment,
selected this moment of painful uncertainty for his
appearance on the scene. In terms of energy he
pointed out the contradictions of the two Minis
ters with each other and of Lord North with him
self " Here, then," continued he, " we behold the
union and harmony between the members of Ad
ministration. One asserts that the object of the
contest is not to be abandoned, the other gives a
more qualified interpretation to those words. The
first maintains that the conquest of the colonies is
still to be attempted ; no, says the second, not to be
prosecuted by force. Is it possible that men, thus
ignorant of or unacquainted with each other's inten- ,
tions, can act in concert or be unanimous ? "
It was on this occasion that Pitt, observing Wel-
bore Ellis engaged in whispering Lord North and
Lord George Germain, apparently with a view of
mediating between them or reconciling their dis- ,
cordant declarations, suddenly stopped short in his
speech, then looking round upon the House, which
was hushed in mute attention, he said, with a man
ner and in a tone still more impressive than the
reproof, " I shall wait till the unanimity is better
settled, and until the sage Nestor of the Treasury
bench has brought to an agreement the Aga
memnon and the Achilles of the American war."
The observation, which, independent of its classic
VOL. II. I.

1 62 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
beauty and its severity, arose out of an accident
impossible to have been foreseen, could not, there
fore, be premeditated. Its effect was electric, not
only on the individuals to whom it was person
ally directed, but on the whole audience. The two
Ministers and the Treasurer of the Navy in some
confusion resumed their former attitudes. We
cannot sufficiently appreciate or admire the perfect
self-possession which, while addressing a crowded
House of Commons, could dictate to a youth of
little more than two-and-twenty so masterly an
allusion. The conclusion of his speech breathed
not a little of the spirit of his deceased father, while
he seemed to launch the vengeance or the indigna
tion of a suffering and exhausted nation on the
heads of Ministers, invoking in the same moment
the Divine protection on "a great and innocent
family, who, though they have not participated in
the culpability, may, and probably will be, doomed
to undergo the consequences."
Rigby now unmasked his battery, meant unques
tionably to accelerate Lord George -Germain's re
signation, and thereby enable the First Minister,
released from the double burden of the American
war and the American Secretary, to ride out the
storm. The plan was ingenious, if not solid, and
seemed to promise success. No individual in office
had so great a stake to defend as Rigby. During
thirteen years and a half he had occupied the Pay
Office without an associate, and he- could not con
template unmixed with apprehension an event so
injurious to his own interests as would prove the
dissolution of Lord North's Administration. Yet
if any opinion may be formed from the encomiums
which he lavished on Pitt's resplendent hereditary
talents and virtues, the Paymaster of the Forces
might be thought to anticipate, as not distant, a

OF MY OWN TIME. 163
new order of things, where Pitt would probably
occupy an elevated place. Rigby then animad
verted with force on the discordant sentiments
expressed by leading members of the Opposition
relative to America, some of whom (Fox and
Burke) loudly called for the concession of inde
pendence to the colonies, while others (particularly
Dunning) declared that the Minister who should
dare to propose such a measure would be guilty of
high treason. While, however, he pointed out these
contradictions of opinion among the minority, he
coincided fully with Pitt that an evident obscurity
pervaded the conduct of the two noble Lords in
office, which appeared to indicate dissimilarity of
ideas. And he added that the House, as well as
the country, had a right to demand explanation.
Still, he maintained, we were not ripe for with
drawing the troops from America. Nor could all
Fox's blandishments induce him to suggest a motion
by which, both sides of the House concurring in it
as a parliamentary declaration. Ministers might be
bound down in their future conduct towards the
colonies. But the Lord Advocate of Scotland,
who was seated on the Treasury bench between
the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the American
Secretary, and who could not, any more than Rigby,
look forward unmoved to his own fate, which must
be involved in the fall of the First Minister, answered
to Fox's invitation. Coming forward on this critical
occasion with that manly openness of character
which, if not natural to him, he knew so well how
to assume when it suited his purpose, Dundas
reiterated all the sentiments already expressed by ,
his friend. " If," said he, "there is any one of his
Majesty's Cabinet base enough to remain in office
and to conduct measures that he disapproves or con
demns, be he who he will, he is unfit for society,"

1 64 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
The declaration, so pointed, though ostensibly
directed against both the Ministers, was, in fact,
intended only against one. Lord George Germain.
If his intention could, indeed, have been doubtful,
Lord North's act in removing from his accustomed
place to another seat whUe his colleague remained
at his post, would have sufficiently explained the
mystery. This piece of dumb show, one of the
most curious that I ever witnessed on that political
stage, the House of Commons, lasted for more
than three-quarters of an hour while the debate
continued, or rather languished. But not one word
was uttered in further explanation by either of the
two Ministers. How far Rigby's and Dundas's
conduct was concerted with, or in any manner pre
viously known to Lord North, I cannot presume to
assert. Nor did Lord George Germain, as I be
lieve, ever attain any certainty on the point. Pro
bably it arose from their own view of affairs, and
was undertaken without communicating the in
tention to the First Minister, though designed to
facilitate or effect his extrication. The division
which took place on the army estimates was carried
by a very considerable majority in favour of Govern
ment, the respective numbers being i66 and 84.
From that evening, on which I accompanied him
to his residence in Pall-Mall, when he quitted the
House of Commons, Lord George, with reason,
¦considered his official capacity as virtually termi
nated, though he continued to exercise its indispen
sable functions till a successor should be appointed
to the department. The two Houses having shortly
afterwards adjourned for the Christmas recess, he
¦came to a full explanation with Lord North. At
that interview, after professing his readiness to
remain in his situation as long as it could be
beneficial to his Majesty's service while the inde-

OF MY OWN TIME. 165
pendence of America was not formally recognised,
he at the ' same time earnestly besought Lord
North to consider no object except the preservation
of the Ministry and the interests of their common
master. For that purpose he advised the First
Minister to strengthen himself by a negotiation
with some of his political enemies, and not to allow
any personal considerations towards him (Lord
George) to delay or to impede for an instant the
arrangements judged to be proper for the general
security, adding that he had no personal stipulations
to make nor favours to ask, and that he would go
down immediately to his seat at Drayton in North
amptonshire for two or three weeks, in order to
allow time to select a successor for his post, after
which he would return and deliver up the seal of
his office, on the shortest notice, into his Majesty's
hands. As the best proof of his sincerity in these
opinions, he left London a very few days subse
quent to the above conversation.
[2o/>^ December 1781.] It must be confessed
that something unpropitious seemed to overhang
the councils and to disconcert or overturn the best
matured measures of Administration during the.
course of the American war, so long as Lord North,
Lord Sandwich, and Lord George Germain pre
sided at the head of affairs. This remark or ad
mission may perhaps be considered as synonymous
with pronouncing the condemnation of those Minis
ters. But, on the other hand, it was indisputably
Lord Sandwich's fleet and admiral which gained
the glorious naval victory over De Grasse only four
months later, though Fox and his party received
the benefit of the day. Just at the time of which
I now speak. Admiral Kempenfeldt having been
dispatched with a squadron of twelve saU of the
line in order to intercept or engage a naval force

1 66 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
intended by France for the West Indies, fell in with
the enemy. As they had, however, been unexpec
tedly reinforced, so as to increase their numbers to
eighteen sail of the line, Kempenfeldt ' could only
capture some of the transports full of troops, which
he sent into our ports. No sooner had this intelli
gence reached London, than Fox indignantly pro
tested in the House of Commons that " nothing
short of treachery could have produced an event so
disgraceful and ignominious. Incapacity or ignor
ance could not alone satisfactorily explain it. An
inquiry, if not an impeachment, must be instantly
set on foot against such a First Lord of the Admi
ralty, How could they look their constituents in
ythe face if they had the baseness not to address the
throne for his removal ? " Townshend asked " how
gentlemen could think of going out of town to par
take of Christmas pastimes at a moment when, in
his opinion, the fate of the Empire would be irre
vocably sealed in twelve, or perhaps in six months ? "
" Adjourn to the 22d of next month ! " exclaimed
George Byng, on a motion to that effect being
made from the Treasury bench ; "good God ! Mr.
Speaker, at a crisis like the present, all the wisdom
of the country is required to extricate us. The
First Lord of the Admiralty has ignorantly dis
patched only twelve or thirteen ships of the line to
meet an armament of nineteen. Is this a measure
to be tolerated ? " Keppel, who, as a professional
man and a seaman, could not be ignorant that these
accusations were exaggerated if not altogether
unjust, held a much more temperate and measured
language. He admitted that there did not appear
to be any treachery, but he said there was pal
pable neglect and want of naval skill in the Board.
1 Admiral Richard Kempenfeldt, who perished in the " Royal
George," which sunk off Spithead, 29th August 1782.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 167
Lord North, not at all disconcerted by such a
load of imputations, with great calmness and good
humour assured the House, no less than Fox, that
" the noble individual who presided over the Admi
ralty, far from wishing to avoid an inquiry, was
most desirous to meet it." In a speech of consider
able length, Lord Mulgrave ' vindicated the measure
of sending out Kempenfeldt, as in itself highly judi
cious, though unforeseen circumstances had oper
ated to prevent its complete success. But Bamber
Gascoyne,^ irritated at the harsh epithets which Fox
had applied so generally to the Board, at which
he held a place, and not restrained by any delica
cies where his own character was in some measure
compromised, handled the Opposition leader more
roughly. " The honourable member," said Gas-
coyne, " is pleased to assert that we have never yet
sent out an equal naval force since the commence
ment of the war to meet the French. Has he
¦forgotten the 27th of July? And when Admiral
Darby was dispatched to the relief of Gibraltar, if
his ships were so inferior to the enemy in number
as is pretended, the honourable gentleman would do
well to inquire among his friends in France why
they did not give us the meeting. Hard words are
easily used, and the Admiralty may be stigmatised
from the other side of the House as negligent,
ignorant, corrupt, and treacherous. With more
reason, and at least as much truth, may they be
denominated the friends of Mr. Laurens and the
.rCorrespondents of Dr. Franklin." After a pro-
1 Constantine John Phipps, second Lord Mulgrave, an Irish peer,
captain, R.N.,born 1744, died 1792. He was created Baron Mulgrave
¦ of Mulgrave, co. York, in the peerage of Great Britain, in 1790.
On his death this peerage became extinct, and his brother Henry
succeeded only to the Irish peerage. This brother was raised to the
English peerage as Baron Mulgrave in 1794, and as Earl of Mulgrave
,,in 1 8 12. — Ed.
2 M.P. for Truro.— Ed.

i68 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tracted conversation rather than a debate, accom
panied on both sides with much acrimony, the First
Minister was allowed to carry his proposed adjourn
ment ; but not till George Byng, without a division,
had moved and carried to call over the House on
the 2 1 St of January. Such were the humiliating cir
cumstances that attended and ushered in the last
scene of Lord North's expiring Administration.
\21st December 1781 — 21st January 1782.] After
the surrender of Lord CornwaUis and the virtual re
signation of Lord George Germain, it might naturally
be supposed that the First Lord of the Treasury
would lose no time in endeavouring to repair the
breach, and to strengthen himself previous to the
meeting of Parliament after the Christmas holidays^
Necessity dictated measures of energy, and the
respite which the recess allowed for private negotia
tion afforded him time for making every requisite
stipulation. Nevertheless Lord North, though he
did not either oppose or refuse, by no means how
ever positively accepted even the resignation of
the American Secretary. And when Lord George
returned to London from Northamptonshire to
wards the middle of the ensuing month, to his no
small' astonishment he found his office stUl undis
posed of, and his successor not more fixed than
before he quitted the capital. He therefore waited
patiently till the progress of events should propel"
the indecision or hasten the procrastination of the
First Lord of the Treasury.
Perhaps no part of Lord North's Administration,
and no feature of his conduct as First Minister during
the twelve years that he continued in office, seems
more extraordinary, it might be even said inexpli
cable, than this loss of time at so critical a juncture.
He well knew the Opposition to be principally com
posed of two parties, called after the names of their

OF MY OWN TIME. 169
respective leaders, Lords Rockingham and Shel
burne, which bodies of men, though they agreed in
endeavouring to dispossess him of power, agreed In
no other speculative or practical principle of policy.
Scarcely were they withheld from mutual animosity
by the near prospect of the prize. If, therefore, the
point of American independence should be conceded
by Ministers, there seemed to be no obvious im
pediment that could prevent Lord Shelburne from
accepting a situation in the Government. It was
even well known that he entertained and avowed
very strong doubts on the propriety or wisdom of
making such a concession to the colonies under any
possible circumstances, doubts which were re-echoed
by his adherents in the House of Commons, par
ticularly by Dunning. He could not, therefore, it
was presumed, be altogether unacceptable to the
King. He was, besides, a man of great abUities,.
the professed disciple of the late Earl of Chatham,.
and possessed considerable parliamentary interest.
Lord North held in his hand various means of con
ciliating and acquiring his support. Besides the
post of Secretary of State, and a higher rank in the
English peerage, to both which he might aspire,
four garters were then lying on the King's table
unbestowed, one of which Lord Shelburne actually
seized on as his share of the plunder when he came
into Ministry within three months from the time of
which I speak. All these circumstances seemed,
therefore, to point out that quarter as the obvious
point of application.
I have had many opportunities of discussing this
question with persons who were well informed in
the secret springs and history of Lord North's Ad
ministration. But they differed in their solution of
the difficulty. It has been confidently asserted that
the King objected to disposing of one of the vacant

I70 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
garters in favour of Lord Shelburne, and absolutely
refused to consent to it when the proposition was
made to his Majesty by the Minister. We must
likewise recoUect that George III., who at this time
had scarcely reigned more than twenty-two years,
was encouraged by his past experience to imagine
that he might retain a Minister to whom he was
attached in defiance of unpopularity. In fact. Lord
North, from his first entrance on office, early in
1770, down to his final resignation, never had been
popular! Nor can we well doubt that if he had
felt as strong a desire to retain his Ministerial situa
tion, and a mind as determined to abide the issue
as his royal master manifested on both those points,
he might have held out until the victory of the 12th
of April would have raised the siege. Sanguine
hopes were likewise entertained at St. James's, that
even though all further attempts to subjugate Ame
rica should be abandoned, yet that the same Admini
stration might still continue to conduct the national
affairs. Nor was it at all clear that such expecta
tions were chimerical. The session of 1779 had
sufficiently proved that even after being left in a
minority on more than one great public question, a
Minister who wished to remain in office possessed
the means of doing it, almost in defiance of the
House of Commons. If the independence of Ame
rica was acknowledged, and that great impedi
ment once removed, peace would probably follow
at no long interval ; and however unfortunate he
had been in carrying on the war across the Atlantic,
Lord North might still conclude an honourable
pacification with our European enemies. In the
House of Peers he possessed a decided majority,
and in the Lower House of Parliament, which
had been recently elected, when once Govern
ment became emancipated from the American war.

OF MY OWN TIME. 171
it was with reason conceived that the Opposition
would again diminish in energy as well as in num
bers. These reasons, however destitute of solidity
they proved if we try them by the event, may,
nevertheless, perhaps satisfactorily account for Lord
North's seeming supineness in not endeavouring at
so critical a moment to divide his opponents or to
augment his own streng-th.
[2\st — 3i.y/ January 1782. J When Parliament
met again for the dispatch of business. Lord George
Germain therefore attended in his place in the
House of Commons, but the tide of opposition,
which had been so long principally directed against
him as the American Secretary, took at first another
direction. Lord Sandwich was in turn attacked by
Fox for his asserted mismanagement of the Admir
alty department; and the First Minister, unable to
shelter him from investigation, consented to institute
an inquiry. Fox said that " as the naval adminis
tration throughout the year 1781 contained or ex
hibited an epitome of all the blunders committed dur
ing the course of the war, he would, for the sake of dis
patch, confine his accusations chiefly to that period."
Lord North, while, with more of the spirit of con
cession than of Ministerial firmness, he gave way
upon every point, yet not only denied the culpability
imputed to the Earl of Sandwich, but desired the
House to observe that " his noble friend as well as
himself was ready and prepared to meet an inquiry
of a much more comprehensive description." Pitt,
joining on this occasion the general outcry raised
against an obnoxious Minister, accused Lord North
of attempting to evade inquiry by withholding evi
dence of his colleague's maladministration ; but the
chief blame which could justly attach to the First
Lord of the Treasury was the too great facility that
he manifested in furnishing documents, many of

172 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
which, when laid on the table of the House, though
only In substance, were of a very delicate nature.
The Solicitor-General, and he alone of all the Minis
terial supporters, had the boldness to oppose the
disclosure and production of such papers. Undis
mayed by the augmenting numbers of the Opposi
tion or by the state of depression to which he beheld
his friends reduced, Mansfield, with an energy of
mind that extorted admiration, entered his protest
against an inquiry which demanded such prepara
tory sacrifices. He declared his astonishment at,
and disapprobation of, the communications made in
compliance with clamour. " By permitting such an
investigation," said he, " and by producing such
materials, we destroy the British constitution and
deprive ourselves of the benefits arising from an
executive as distinct from a legislative Government.
As well might we permit all the operations of the
campaign to be discussed in this House as to pro
duce upon the table, and thereby disclose to the
enemy, the secret information procured by Minis
ters." But this single reclamation, unsupported,
proved wholly ineffectual to stem the torrent, and,
after considerable discussion, the 7th of the ensuing
month was finally fixed on for going into the inquiry.
Among the most strenuous defenders of the First
Lord of the Admiralty on this occasion was Lord
Mulgrave,' a nobleman who occupied himself a
place at that Board. His early expedition of dis
covery towards the North Pole had given him
some naval celebrity ; and as he was formed on
rather a heavy colossal scale, the Opposition, to dis
tinguish him from his younger brother, the Hon
ourable Charles Phipps, who enjoyed likewise a
seat in the House, denominated him " Ursa Major."
^ Constantine John, Lord Mulgrave (see ante, p. 167). He made
his famous Arctic voyage in the year 1773.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 173
They likewise gave him the name of "Alphesl-
baeus," I suppose from some fancied analogy be
tween him and the awkward imitator of the dancing
satyrs, commemorated by Virgil in the fifth Eclogue
of his Bucolics. Lord Mulgrave ' was distinguished'
by a singularity of physical conformation, possessing
two distinct voices, the one strong and hoarse, the
other shrill and querulous, of both which organs he
occasionally availed himself So extraordinary a*
circumstance probably gave rise to a story of his^
having fallen into a ditch in a dark night, and call
ing for aid in his shrill voice, a countryman coming
up was about to have assisted him, but Lord Mul
grave addressing him in a hoarse tone, the peasant
immediately exclaimed, " Oh, if there are two of
you in the ditch, you may help each other out of it."
In debate, if not animated, he was able, well in
formed, and pertinacious. Like Dundas, he con
trived after Lord North's Administration went to
pieces to attach himself to Pitt, who in 1 784 made
him joint Paymaster of the Forces, and six years
later raised him to the British peerage.
Towards the last days of January, after long
fluctuation. Lord North at length communicated to
Lord George the King's consent to his resignation,
so repeatedly offered, and the resolution taken to
supply his loss by Mr. Welbore EUis. It seemed
difficult to have made a selection in consequence of
which less strength would be acquired on the side
of Administration, Mr. Ellis's talents being already
1 He was a haughty spirited man, whom I should not suspect of
any possible meanness for any possible advantage. Rough as a
boatswain, proud as a strong feeling of aristocracy could make him,
and fond of coarse merriment approaching to ill manners, he was in
society a dangerous converser ; one never knew what he would say
next. " Why, holla, Burke ! " (I heard him crying out on oneoccasion),
" What ! you are rioting in puns now Johnson is away ? " Burke was
indignant and ready with a reply. But Lord Mulgrave drowned all
in storms of laughter. — P.

174 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
engaged in favour of Government by a very lucra
tive place, that of Treasurer of the Navy. His
abilities, however eminent and solid they might be,
aided by his long experience of parliamentary busi
ness, were nevertheless altogether unequal to con
tending in stormy times amidst universal depression
with the vast energies then collected on the Oppo
sition benches. He was, besides, far advanced in
years, and though his faculties might have pre
served all their vigour or freshness, he wanted fire
and animation. His appointment gave satisfaction
only to the enemies of the Minister, who exulted in
a choice that proved the paucity, or rather nullity, of
the sources from which he now attempted to derive
support. [February 1782.] Just at this period died Lord
Falmouth,' at an advanced stage of life, a nobleman
neither distinguished by his talents or his virtues,
but whose family name is connected with naval
recollections of the most gratifying kind. Lord
Falmouth commanded the yeomen of the guard at
the time of his death ; but my sole motive for men
tioning his decease is in order to commemorate an
anecdote respecting him. I have been assured
that towards the conclusion of George I I.'s reign,
when Mr. Pitt, afterwards created Earl of Chatham,
occupied a principal place in the Cabinet, Lord
Falmouth having waited on him at his levee, stated
his wish to be recommended to his Majesty for the
first vacant Garter. The Secretary of State ex
pressing a degree of reluctance to lay the request
before the King, and manifesting some disapproba
tion of the demand itself: "You wUl be pleased
sir, to remember," said Lord Falmouth, "that I
1 Hugh Boscawen, second Viscount Falmouth, a general officer in
the army and captain of the yeomen of the guard, and brother of
Edward Boscawen, the distinguished admiral. He was born in 1707,
and died 4th February 1782. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 175
bring in five votes, who go with Ministry in the
House of Commons ; and if my application is dis
regarded, you must take the consequence." "Your
Lordship threatens me," replied the Minister with
warmth; "you may therefore be assured that, so
long as I hold a place in the councUs of the Crown,
you shall never receive the Order of the Garter."
Then turning round he exclaimed, addressing him
self to those near him —
" Optat ephippia bos piger."
Lord Falmouth comprehending nothing of the
meaning of these words, but conceiving that the
monosyllable bos must allude to his name, requested
to be informed what the Minister meant by so call
ing him ? " The observation," replied Mr. Pitt,
"is not mine, but Horace's."' As little familiar
with the name of the Roman poet as he was
acquainted with his writings. Lord Falmouth appre
hending that Horace Walpole had said something
severe or disrespectful concerning him ; under that
second mistake, " If Horace Walpole," said he,
" has taken any liberties with my name, I shall
know how to resent it. His brother. Sir Robert,
when he was alive and First Minister, never pre-
1 I have heard my father relate the story somewhat differently, but
in substance the same. He said some wag chalked the words on his
(Lord Falmouth's) door, and that seeing them, he exclaimed he would
give ;^ioo to know who wrote them. The first friend he met said,
" Give me the money : Horace wrote them." Then comes the next
mistake : " Horace ! a dog, after all his obligations to me," &c. A
similar story to this was related to me in Italy. Cardinal Zanelli was
pasquinaded at Rome for his ingratitude to the Dauphin of France,
whose influence exerted in his favour had procured him the dignity
of Eminenza. Zanelli's coat-armour was a vine ; the statue exhibited
these words : — " Plantavi vineam et fecit labruscas." The enraged
Cardinal, little skilled in Scripture learning, actually promised a re
ward to whoever would tell who wrote it. Next day Pasquin claimed
the reward for himself, having marked under the words — nfith chapter
of Isaiah. — P.

176 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
sumed so to treat me." Having thus expressed
himself, he quitted Mr. Pitt, leaving the audience in
astonishment at the effect of his double misappre
hension. Early in the month of February Lord George
Germain, having resigned the seal of his office into
the King's hand, received, in recompense of his ser
vices, the honour of the peerage. The particulars
attending that elevation, which became immediately
afterwards a subject of discussion in the Upper
House, I received on the same day when they took
place from Lord George's own mouth, and they are
too curious, as well as characteristic, to be omitted
in these Memoirs. The separation between the
sovereign and the secretary was by no means unac
companied with emotion on both sides, which be
came probably augmented by the dark cloud over
hanging the throne, together with the painful cir
cumstances that produced the necessity for Lord
George's resignation. The King, who could not
shut his eyes to these facts, doubtless foresaw the
possibUity, if not probability, of greater changes in
the Administration as imminent, of which the re
moval of the American Secretary was only the
forerunner and the presage. After regretting the
unfortunate events that had dictated the measure,
and thanking Lord George for his services, his
Majesty added, " Is there anything that I can do to
express my sense of them which would be agreeable
to you ? " " Sir, answered he, " if your Majesty is
pleased to raise me to the dignity of the peerage, it
will form at once the best reward to which I can
aspire and the best proof of your approbation of my
past exertions in your affairs." " By all means,"
said the King ; " I think it very proper, and shall
do it with pleasure. " Then, sir," replied Lord
George, " if you agree to my first request, I hope

OF MY OWN TIME. lyy
.you will not think it unbecoming or unreasonable in
me to ask another favour. It is to create me a
Viscount, as should I be only raised to the dignity
of a Baron, my own secretary, my lawyer, and my
father's page will all three take rank of me." The
King expressing a wish to know the names of the
persons to whom he alluded, "The first," replied
Lord George, " is Lord Walsingham, who, as your
Majesty knows, was for some time Under-Secretary
of State in my office when Mr. De Grey. The
second is Lord Loughborough, who has been always
my legal adviser. Lord Amherst is the third, who,
when page to my father, the late Duke of Dorset,
has often sat on the braces of the state-coach that
conveyed him, as Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland, to
the Parliament House at Dublin." The King
smUed, adding, " What you say is very reasonable ;
it shall be so. And now let me know the title that
you choose." " I have already, sir," answered Lord
George, " in the possible anticipation of your Ma
jesty's gracious dispositions towards me, spoken
to the Duke of Dorset and obtained his permission,
as the head of my family, to take the title of Sack-
ville, having been compelled to renounce my own
name in order to avail myself- of the bequest of the
estate of Drayton in Northamptonshire, made me
by Lady Betty Germain in her will. I shall, there
fore, in some degree recover it by this means." " I
quite approve of that idea," replied his Majesty,
" and if you will state to me your title, I will write
it down myself before we part and send it directly
to the ChanceUor." The King immediately placed
himself at a table, took the pen and ink lying upon
it, and having committed the viscounty to paper,
asked him what barony he chose. Lord George
answered, " That of Bolebrook in Sussex, being one
of the most ancient estates belonging to his family,
VOL. II. M

178 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
and contiguous to Buckhurst, the original peerage-
conferred by Queen Elizabeth on his ancestor, the
first Earl of Dorset." When the King had copied
it he rose up, and with the most condescending
expressions of concern as well as of satisfaction,
allowed Lord George to withdraw from the closet.
As this is one of the few peerages which, in the
course of half a century, George III. has been
allowed to confer wholly independent of Ministerial
intervention or recommendation, from the impulse
of his own inclinations, its origin and creation attain
an additional interest. Lord North had not the
smallest share in the business.'
No sooner had the intention of calling up Lord
George Germain to the House of Peers become
publicly known, than the Marquis of Carmarthen^
immediately brought forward the subject before that
assembly. He endeavoured to show that it would
be derogatory to their honour as a body to admit
among them a person still labouring under the sen
tence of a court-martial ; and though his motion was
rejected by a great majority on the 7th of February,
yet he renewed the attack as soon as Lord George
had taken his seat on the i8th of the same month.
Conceiving that Lord North must, as First Minister,
have advised the measure, the Marquis attempted
to involve him in the responsibility or culpabiHty
of giving such advice to the Crown. But Lord
Sackville having exculpated the First Lord of the
Treasury from any participation whatever in the
transaction, gave the House clearly to understand
* Lord Sackville's son succeeded to the dukedom of Dorset in
1815.— Ed.
2 Francis Godolphin Osborne, born 1751. He sat in the House of
Peers as Baron Osborne. He succeeded to the dukedom of Leeds in
1789, and died 31st January 1799. The founder of the family was
Sir Edward Osborne, who served the office of Lord Mayor of London
A.D. 1583. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 179
that it flowed solely from the volition of the sove
reign. His enemies themselves confessed that
never was a more able, dignified, or manly appeal
made within the walls of the House of Peers than
Lord Sackville pronounced on that occasion. He
observed, that even admitting in all its force the
justice of the sentence passed by the court-martial,
yet that tribunal had only declared him "guilty of
disobeying Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick's orders,
and therefore had adjudged him unfit to serve his
Majesty in any military capacity whatever." But
they neither had imposed, nor could they inflict
upon him, any civil disability or incapacity. And
the attempt of the King or of the Minister of that
time to aggravate the nature or expressions of the
sentence by any harsh additions and personal com
ments could not add to its force. If, after consider
ing the sentence published in the case of the general
officer who commanded on the expedition sent in
1806 against Buenos Ayres, we contemplate the
tenor of the orders that accompanied it, and then
compare them with those used in the instance of
Lord George Sackville, we shall perceive the con
trast presented by the conduct of the two sovereigns
in the strongest point of view. Though General
Whitelock was adjudged to be " cashiered and
declared totally unfit and unworthy to serve his
Majesty in any military capacity whatever," con
sequently, though the sentence implies a much
deeper degree of error or culpability than was
attributed to Lord George Sackville at Minden,
as well as a fault far more clearly established and
recognised, yet George III., unlike his predecessor,
subjoins no injurious reflections, but simply enjoins
the publication of it as a memorial and warning to
other officers.
The Duke of Richmond, who took a very active

i8o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
part in the second debate upon Lord SackvUles
elevation to the peerage, endeavoured to prove,
from the length of time which elapsed after his
reception of Prince Ferdinand's orders to advance,
that disinclination only on his part to obey them
could have produced such a delay. As the Duke
had been personally present at Minden, and as he
declared that he held his watch within his hand
during the whole time lost in obeying the Prince's
orders, which he asserted amounted to an hour and
a half, his speech might have been expected to
make an impression on the House. But only
twenty-eight peers could be found on either debate
rto support Lord Carmarthen's motion, though the
number voting against it rose from seventy-five to
ninety-three between the two divisions on the 7th
and the i8th of February, It happened likewise,
most unfortunately for the Duke of Richmond, that
while he thus attempted to attack Lord Sackville's
personal courage, his own lay under very general
suspicion. He had brought forward, only a few
days earlier, in the House of Peers, the case of an
American Colonel Haynes, executed at Charlestown,
under Lord Rawdon's authority, in the preceding
year. The expressions or assertions which his
Grace used when relating this transaction gave
such offence to the nobleman against whom they
were levelled, that he soon afterwards caUed the
Duke to a severe account. But as he declined
giving any individual satisfaction for an act done
in his parliamentary capacity. Lord Rawdon com
pelled him to declare in his place that by his accu
sation "he had not intended any attack on Lord
Rawdon's justice or humanity," a declaration appa
rently at variance with his preceding charge. Lord
George Lennox, as I know, entertained a very
-different opinion of Lord Sackville's behaviour at

OF MY OWN TIME. i8i
Minden, as well as of the sentence pronounced on
his conduct, from the ideas expressed by the Duke,
his brother. Not two years after the facts just
related had taken place, I dined in a select com
pany with Lord SackviUe and Lord George
Lennox,' at the house of a general officer in
London. When we went up to the drawing-
room after dinner, no entreaties could prevail on
Lord George to walk first out of the apartment.
" As the son of a Duke of earlier creation, I would
do it," said he to Lord Sackville ; but, as a general
officer, nothing can induce me to precede your
Lordship." Lord SackvUle was restrained by the
exhortations and advice of Lord Amherst from call
ing on the Marquis of Carmarthen to answer to him
personally for his double attack. I had the honour
to know him before, as well as after, he became
Duke of Leeds. He was a nobleman highly ac
complished, of the most pleasing manners, of very
elegant deportment, of a lofty mind, and of con
siderable talents ; but the part which he took on
this occasion did not constitute the most commend
able act of his political life. Posterity will form
their opinion on it divested of prejudice. His
contemporaries saw it merely through the optics of
party, the most deceptive of all mediums. While
only twenty-eight peers supported the motion on
both occasions, nearly a hundred voted against it
on the final debate. These aggregate numbers
appear indeed small to us, but we must recollect the
limited extent of the peerage compared with the
present times. It was not Lord North, but Mr.
Pitt who augmented the members of that House,
if not with a profuse, yet unquestionably with an
unsparing hand. In 1782 there existed only one
1 Lord George Henry Lennox, M.P. for the county of Sussex, died
in 1805. — Ed.

1 82 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
hundred and eighty-seven English peers. We have
now above three hundred. Perhaps, however, that
augmentation, great as it is, bears only a relative
proportion to the increase of national revenue, popu
lation, and territory, within the last thirty years.
[dth — 20th February 1782. J While Lord Sack
vUle was personally attacked in one House of Par
liament, the Earl of Sandwich underwent no less
severe an inquiry into his official conduct as First
Lord of the Admiralty in the House of Commons.
Fox, acting as his accuser, united the keenest sar
casms with the most able and laborious investigation
of the naval administration. He was sustained in
all his charges by Pitt, by Admiral Keppel, and by
Lord Howe. Under this accumulation of talent
and of eloquence the Minister laboured hard to
protect his colleague, but the House manifested
indications of reluctance to extend further support
to Government. Animated by such obvious symp
toms of the decline of Lord North's influence in
that assembly, the Opposition renewed their efforts.
And if they did not overthrow, they at least shook
to its base the Ministry. After two debates, pro
tracted to a late hour, in the first of which the'
members present fell little short of four hundred, a
majority of only twenty-two appeared on the side of
Administration. After the second debate on the
20th of February, where more than four hundred
and fifty persons actually voted, a stUl smaller
majority, consisting only of nineteen, negatived
Fox's proposition attributing "gross mismanage
ment " to the nobleman at the head of the Admi
ralty. Two such divisions following close upon
Lord Sackville's resignation afforded ample triumph
to the minority, while they diffused proportionate
apprehension among the adherents of Govern
ment.

OF MY OWN TIME. 183
I was present throughout both those debates, and
voted on each evening with Ministers. Not that
I either then thought, or am even now of opinion,
that no degree of error, perhaps of blame, might
justly be attributed to the Earl of Sandwich. Fox
assumed, indeed, as a principle, that " it was not
necessary to criminate a Minister in order to ad
dress the throne for his removal from office. If he
was incapable, or unfortunate, or disliked, any one
of those causes constituted sufficient reason for his
dismission." That Lord Sandwich was eminent^
unfortunate in the selection of naval commanders
on foreign stations, with almost the single excep
tions of Barrington and Rodney, cannot be denied.
Nor was he more fortunate in saving our homeward
and outward bound mercantile fleets, many of which
fell into the enemy's hands. Neither did our squad
rons intercept, combat, and vanquish the fleets of
the House of Bourbon as they had done during the
preceding war. All these facts must be conceded.
It is equally true that he had incurred a great
portion of national ill-will and had made inveterate
enemies, particularly in the navy. He was become
very generally unpopular in 1782. If, therefore,
those two reasons are esteemed sufficient to call for
his dismission, no doubt Fox had reason on his side.
But on the article of inabUity his attack was alto
gether unjust. Few men of high rank possessed
and manifested more energy, industry, enlargement
-of mind, and variety of talent than that nobleman.
He found, on coming to the head of the Admiralty,
the magazines and storehouses of all the dockyards
exhausted or empty. He replenished them. By
the vigour of his exertions he had overcome the
dangerous combinations formed by the workmen in
the royal yards. He had repaired near one hun
dred and fifty ships of war during his naval adminis-

i84 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tration. But unanimity, concord, enthusiasm, he
neither could preserve, nor create, nor revive, among
the officers under his department. Probably this
calamity originated more in the nature of the war
than from the fault of Lord Sandwich ; the obloquy
and the punishment; however, fell upon him.
The two debates of the 7th and the 20th of
February had each their peculiar features. In the
first, Fox performed the principal part, as Lord
Mulgrave did the second ; one attacking, the other
defending the nobleman whose administration lay
under parliamentary inquiry. Keppel said little,
but Lord Howe flung all his weight into the scale
of Opposition. Pitt likewise added his powerful
eloquence to that party. If ever I beheld Lord
North in earnest, by which I mean, anxiously de
sirous to protect and to justify his colleague, it was
on the evening in question. He doubtless felt,.
that having lost Lord George Germain, and only
metamorphosed the Treasurer of the Navy into a
Secretary of State, by which transmutation no ac
cession of interest or of ability would be gained to
Government, if Lord Sandwich should likewise be
driven from his situation, his own continuance at
the head of his Majesty's councils must become very
precarious. While, however, he highly justified, and
even extolled, the Earl of Sandwich's professional
services, he admitted that many of the most popular
naval commanders were unemployed and disgusted,
but he denied that their disgust was by any means
attributable to Ministers. Sheridan, avaUing him
self with great ingenuity and promptitude of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer's assertion, called on
the admirals present by name, and invoked them
to declare the reasons of their respective retire
ment from active service. Nor did he fail to re
present Lord North's expression as insulting to>

OF MY OWN TIME. 185
those officers. Lord Howe, nevertheless, declined
to say one word in explanation of his own motives
for withdrawing from employment, though the
House waited during some moments in silent ex
pectation of his gratifying their curiosity. But
Pigot, either more irritated against the First Lord
of the Admiralty, or more implicitly devoted to
Fox, rose and explained the causes of his dissatis
faction. They were singular and obtained belief.
He asserted that having made an offer of his ser
vices to Lord Sandwich, that nobleman in reply
asked him for his interest at the India House,
where several of his Lordship's friends were under
prosecution for having arrested and confined Lord
Pigot when Governor of Madras. " On my re
fusing," continued the Admiral, " to take part in
favour of men who had caused my brother's death,
Lord Sandwich with a sneer informed me that he
would lay before his Majesty my readiness to serve
him, but from that hour I have never received any
answer." I have heard it confidently asserted by persons
who were conversant in the secret history of those
times, that between the first and the second debate
Lord Sandwich received a proposition, the object
of which was to induce him to give in his imme
diate resignation, offering him as a recompense for
this service done to the Crown and to Adminis
tration the Order of the Garter, together with a
pension of ^4000 a year for life. I have not the
least doubt of the truth of this anecdote. Indeed
Fox alluded to it in the course of the second dis
cussion relative to the nobleman at the head of the
Admiralty ; but he affected to consider it as merely
a report set on foot by Ministers in order to serve
the purpose of the day, and to mislead the coun
try gentlemen with promises or expectations never

i86 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
intended to be realised. Lord Sandwich rejected
the proposal, though coming from Lord North,
and though the state of his private fortune was so
limited or so embarrassed as by no means to place
him above looking to official situation. Such a re
jection seems to indicate that he entertained the
most sanguine, though, as the event proved, the
most fallacious expectations of the duration of
Ministry, or that he grossly miscalculated his own
interests. In less than six weeks afterwards, I saw
his furniture carrying off from the Admiralty, of
which official residence Keppel, just named his suc
cessor, was taking possession.
\2Qth February 1 782.] Fox, who opened the second
¦debate on Lord Sandwich, as he had done the first,
elated, as it was natural he should be, at the division
on the preceding question, began by observing that
"under any other Administration than the present the
number of persons who had voted with Opposition
on a former night would have been regarded as a
majority." " For," added he, "they certainly con
stituted the voice of the people ; nor would any
Minister except the noble Lord in the blue ribband
presume to retain a man in employment against
whom the popular sentiment had been so loudly
pronounced." The motion, which attributed "great
mismanagement to his Majesty's naval affairs in the
year 1781," was seconded by Pitt; and I believe it
forms the only instance on record where the one of
those two iUustrious individuals moved and the
other seconded the same question during their long
parhamentary career. In the progress of the debate,
Pitt enforced with great warmth the proofs adduced
•of the inability or misconduct of the First Lord of
the Admiralty. From every quarter Government
was assailed. General Conway, Dunning, and Sheri
dan united on the same side the powers of reason,

OF MY OWN TIME. 187
wit, and argument ; while Admiral Keppel and Lord
Howe attacked in detail by a statement of facts
the official administration of Lord Sandwich, which
they stigmatised as deficient in judgment, energy,
and activity. Lord North remained silent, but
Lord Mulgrave maintained with no inconsiderable
ability the claims of his principal to national respect,
approbation, and gratitude. Dundas, who never
absented himself or shrunk from the call of poli
tical adherence, came forward manfully on the occa
sion. It was, however, from another individual that
Administration received the most seasonable as well
as efficacious aid. Sir WiUiam Dolben, whose double
capacity as a country gentleman and as one of the
representatives for the University of Oxford gave
him a proportionate weight, though he admitted
the alleged mismanagement to be sufficiently proved
by the contents of the papers laid on the table, yet
refused to support a motion for the dismission of
Lord Sandwich. Still less, he said, could he con
cur in a vote for bringing that nobleman to trial.
In vain Mr. Thomas Pitt, with the wheedling and
querulous eloquence which characterised him, en
deavoured to demonstrate the inconsistency or con
tradiction of such a line of parliamentary action.
Vainly he tried to show that no man who concurred
in finding the culpability could hesitate to punish
the offender. Sir William Dolben stopped short,
declaring at the same time that he should not even
support the present question, if it was intended or
understood to be a preliminary to stronger and more
personal steps. It became therefore evident that
there was a point at which many individuals of in
dependent, minds and fortunes would make a stand,
and withhold their support from Opposition.
\_22d February 1782.] Every day from this time
down to the hour when Lord North suddenly threw

1 88 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
up the administration of affairs was marked by the
most violent exertions on both sides. Incredible
efforts were made to procure attendance in Parlia
ment. The Opposition, conscious that not a mo
ment should be lost, aUowed the Minister no respite.
Having compelled the Colonial Secretary of State
to give in his dismission, and impressed an inde
lible mark of parliamentary condemnation or cen
sure on the First Lord of the Admiralty, they
directed their next operations against Lord North
himself, as the head of the state machine. Scarcely
forty-eight hours after the last debate on Lord
Sandwich, General Conway introduced a motion for
addressing his Majesty "to renounce any further
attempts to reduce America by force." Notwith
standing the eloquence of the new Secretary of
State, who on this occasion displayed very consider
able talents, it became impossible to induce the
House to maintain the contest. Burke, in addition
to all the arguments suggested by the nature of
the subject and the exhausted condition of Great
Britain, oppressed the recently appointed Minister
under flashes of intolerable wit, supported by the
keenest ridicule. Never on any occasion was he
more happy In his allusions or more pointed in
his irony. After felicitating Ellis on succeeding as
heir to the noble Viscount, at whose feet he had been
brought up, and whose political opinions he implicitly
adopted, Burke compared him to a caterpillar, who
having long remained in a torpid state within the
silken folds of his lucrative employment as Treasurer
of the Navy, now bursting his ligaments, fluttered forth
the Secretary of the hour. Pursuing this compari
son with inconceivable humour, he directed the
whole force of his powerful mind in impelling his
audience no longer to support a hopeless, ruinous,
and unavailing conflict. I have always considered

OF MY OWN TIME. 189
this debate as one of the most interesting of any at
which I ever was present. General Conway per
formed the principal, but by no means the most
brilliant part in it. The Opposition, during the
course of this great siege, which in 1782 had already
lasted nearly as long as the war of Troy, selected
their assailants for each progressive attack, as Homer
does his heroes. The General, on whom fell the
present effort, was not distinguished by the superi
ority, and still less by the fluency of his eloquence.
Nevertheless he drew universal attention when, ad
dressing himself to the new Secretary of State for
America, he demanded what were the right honour
able gentleman's intentions, or on what principles
he meant henceforward to conduct the Transatlantic
contest. Nor was that attention diminished when,
expressing his apprehensions that in Ellis would sur
vive all his predecessor's political sentiments, Conway
exclaimed in the words of Horace to the Roman re
public after the fury of the civil wars —
" O navis ! referent in mare te novi
Fluctus ? " 
Lord John Cavendish was chosen to second the
motion. It must be owned that Ellis's position
demanded talents of no common order for enabling
him to meet so severe and so formidable an inquisi
tion. The Opposition rows, full in his view, were
crowded with eager candidates for power animated
by hope and impelled by ambition, while a deep
cloud overhung the Treasury bench and spread its
chilling influence over that part of the House.
The new but aged Minister felt all the awkward
ness, difficulties," and embarrassment of his situation.
There was even some degree of ridicule attached to
a man of seventy accepting such an employment
under the desperate circumstances in which he had

I90 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
taken it on Lord SackviUe's resignation. In order to
obviate these objections, Mr. Ellis, after acquitting
himself with great circumspection, gravity, and
abUity in the course of a long speech, finished by
observing that " he had come into the office which
he held to employ the remains of vigour left him by
age and infirmity for the benefit of the state." " I
have now made," said he, " my confession of faith,
and trust it may prove satisfactory to the House."
Burke instantly fastened like a vulture on the
Secretary's declaration. " A confession of faith,"
observed he, " more obscure, more absurd, more
incomprehensible, was never framed or delivered
for the delusion and calamity of mankind ! Like
confessions of faith of the same unintelligible de
scription, it can only be supported by miracles. For
what satisfaction has the young Secretary given to
the House ? Not one word have we been able to
extract from him which the last American Minister
has fnot told us five years ago. The name may
indeed be changed, and henceforward it may be
denominated a French war carried on in the fields
of America, but the fatal system remains unaltered."
Then fixing his eyes upon Ellis, " I may assert,"
continued he, "that the late Colonial Secretary,
though called up by patent to another House, still
occupies in effigy his ancient seat. There we be
hold him with all the plans for reducing America
thick upon him. He is the universal legatee of the
noble Lord, who has bequeathed to him all his own
projects, nay, his very language and ideas, his
ipsissima verba. He still lives and speaks among
us, only transformed into the appearance and form
of the right honourable gentleman."
Jenkinson having risen soon afterwards with the
intention of explaining to the House the precise
description of the war prospectively intended to be

OF MY OWN TIME. 191
carried on beyond the Atlantic and thus satisfying
the inquiries of Opposition, observed that " his idea
embraced only a war of posts, to retain hencefor
ward no regular army in the field, but while we
kept possession of certain military positions, to at
tack the enemy whenever any favourable occasions
should present themselves." As Burke had pounced
upon the Secretary of State, so Fox started up to
answer the Secretary at War. After congratulating
the House and the country that two hundred and
nineteen independent men had been found on the
recent question respecting the nobleman at the head
of the Admiralty, he observed that if the people
would only consider the number of placemen and
contractors who most unworthily occupied seats in
that assembly, the late division must be esteemed
an unequivocal majority against Administration..
" I am, however, glad," exclaimed he, " to have at
length ascertained from the speech of the gentleman
that has just sat down who is that evil spirit which
produces all our calamities. It is an individual
higher than the noble Lord in the blue ribband, for
that noble person is only his puppet and acts under
his direction. The right honourable member has
spoken out, and I will take the word of a princi
pal. Those ostensible Ministers who occupy seats
on the same bench near him are merely secondary
and subordinate agents. That infernal spirit, which
really governs and has so nearly overturned this
country, a spirit which, though not so visible as
Ministers, is far greater than them, has spoken
through his mouth. We now perceive that the war
beyond the Atlantic is to be prosecuted as violently
as heretofore, but It is to be carried, on with America,
and not in America." Jenkinson rose once more,
but solely for the purpose of disavowing that he was

192 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
animated by any spirit except his own, and the de
bate took a new turn.
When we reflect on the import of Fox's expres
sions, and consider how obviously, or rather un
avoidably, they applied to the sovereign ; if we fur
ther call to our attention that Fox was at that very
moment a candidate for high office, and became
actually Secretary of State to the prince against
whom he had levelled such imputations within six
weeks after he used them in Parliament, we ought
not to be surprised that his Majesty could not
immediately obliterate them from his recollection.
Even had they been ever so well founded, they
were not the less contrary to every dictate of pru
dence. Pitt, however violent and personal he might
be against Ministers, yet observed measures in his
indignation. The different political fortune of the
two individuals flowed principally from this opposite
line of conduct. Fox, in the ardour of his pursuit,
forgot that any moderation was necessary either
towards the King or towards Lord North. He
ought, nevertheless, to have foreseen how soon
contingencies might compel him to coalesce with
the Minister whom he now held up to national aver
sion. And he should have remembered that it Is
easier to force the barriers of state than to stand
firm within them. He seemed never to recollect
that the Marquis of Rockingham's first Administra
tion lasted scarcely ten months. His second pos
session of power was fated to be of much shorter
duration. So difficult is it, even under the British
constitution, to govern without the consent or incli
nation of the monarch !
Lord North, who never wanted presence of mind
or betrayed any defect of capacity, and who knew
that however odious the American war had become,
he was personally beloved throughout the country,

OF MY OWN TIME. 193
endeavoured to stimulate the Opposition to propose
an address to the Crown for his removal, as being,
he said, a measure more advantageous to the state
than leaving him ostensibly possessed of power,
while his hands would be fettered by resolutions of
the House. But Fox and his adherents well knew
that they could not carry any such proposition.
They were only powerful upon one point. Fox
endeavoured on his side to induce the Lord Advo
cate of Scotland to vote with them for the ter
mination of the American war, charging him with
inconsistency or with personal animosity towards
the late American Secretary if he should now sup
port the very measures when proposed by Mr. Ellis
which he had reprobated from the lips of Lord
George Germain. It must be owned that Dundas
lay open to that imputation, as did Rigby, though
they both justified themselves with ingenuity. The
Paymaster of the Forces, while he avowed that no
hope of reducing the colonies to obedience now
remained, and professing at the same time his ardent
desire of peace, yet refused to tie up the powers of
the executive Government. Both the Pitts, William
and Thomas, exerted their different oratorical efforts
on that night, and might be considered as well en-
tided to —
"Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale."
The former, dignified, impressive, collected, was al
ways heard with a sort of veneration, as the living
substitute of him who under two successive reigns
had subjected our foreign enemies while he tram
pled Opposition under his feet. The latter, solemn
and declamatory, if not theatrical ; sometimes whin
ing, yet often appealing with great effect to the
passions or to the understanding of the House,
scarcely drew less attention. Their joint co-opera-
VOL. II. N

194 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tion unquestionably conduced to the success which
crowned the party at the conclusion of the debate.
On that night the American war may indeed be said
to have virtuaUy terminated ; the question being
carried on the part of the Government by only one
vote, though near 390 members divided. Many of
those who supported the Minister seemed not less
rejoiced at the apparent conclusion of the war than
the persons on the opposite side ; and it has been
supposed with reason that Lord North himself,
whose disinclination to prosecute hostilities beyond
the Atlantic was weU known, did not really regret,
though he was necessitated to oppose, the motion
of General Conway, Far from manifesting any
intention of laying down his office in consequence
of it, he performed one of the most important
functions of First Minister only three days after
wards by opening the Budget and proposing a loan.
It Is true that he postponed the task of stating the
taxes to be imposed, but he did not the less declare
his determination to continue at the head of his
Majesty's councils ; nor did those persons who were
most in his confidence either question his sincerity
or doubt his resolution.
[25//;; February 1782.] Retaining, as itwas natural
that he should do, a deep and acute recollection of
the severe investigation (which Fox denominated
chastisement) inflicted on him for the terms on
which he had concluded the loan of the preceding
year, Lord North adopted every precaution on the
present occasion to protect himself from similar
animadversion. Instead, therefore, of allowing indi
viduals to make private offers, he preferred a close
subscription with two different sets of men, each
ignorant of the conditions proposed by the other.
Notwithstanding this renunciation of all Ministe
rial influence in the distribution of any part of the

OF MY OWN TIME. 195
loan, he by no means succeeded in disarming his
opponents or in silencing calumnious imputations.
George Byng attacked the terms as in themselves
bad, though he admitted them to be far less excep
tionable than those of 1781. But Fox inveighed
against " the mode adopted by the noble Lord
of limiting loans to a few individuals, which he
maintained to be merely a manceuvre of Govern
ment." " Under that dark cloak," exclaimed he,
" are concealed all the douceurs given to members
of this House, to placemen and contractors. Here
we may perceive how the majorities were procured
which have voted the prosecution of the American
war, as well as the rejection of the motions relative
to the navy." Justly indignant at such a charge,
and conscious of the rectitude of his Ministerial con
duct, Lord North rose to repel the accusation. " I
solemnly and seriously protest," said he, " that so
far from having negotiated the present loan with
any view to influence, I have not directly or indi
rectly recommended one person for the smallest
share or portion of it. Nor do I even know by
whom the ostensible contractors for it are supported
in making their payments. Two millions of it
were indeed offered to me, to be filled up with
whatever names I might select, but I peremptorily
refused the proposal."
Still incredulous, or, more properly to speak, de
termined not to be convinced. Tommy Townshend
affected to suppose that though the First Minister
had not interfered personaUy in the distribution of
the loan, yet the official persons who surrounded
him were unable to make the same declaration.
" Would the two Secretaries of the Treasury," he
asked, "venture to assert that they had not recom
mended individuals to fill the lists of the ostensible
contractors for the loan .? " This question called up

196 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Robinson, who protested upon his honour that he
neither had recommended nor would mention any
person to be placed on the list. Sir Grey Cooper
reiterated the same assurances, adding that they
could not, even had they been so inclined, disobey
the positive injunctions of the First Lord of the
Treasury. Burke pretended, notwithstanding such
specific declarations on the part of men in office, to
consider the bargain as calculated to conceal, while
it promoted. Ministerial influence. It is, however,
well known that never was any measure of finance
conducted on principles more pure, disinterested,
and wholly exempt from a view to sustain Adminis
tration. It was, indeed, so exempt from any im
putation or reproach of that nature, by the total
exclusion of Members of Parliament who had anti
cipated a share in it, as to have occasioned in con
sequence of the disappointment some mercantile
catastrophes, and even some more melancholy
domestic or personal scenes, over which I draw a
veil. Lord North having stated the amount of the
loan and the nature of the terms proposed, entreated
of the House to excuse him if he did not enter on
the enumeration of his intended taxes for a few
days, "possessing," he said, "neither strength of
body nor sufficient inteUectual power and clearness
of understanding to comply with the ordinary prac
tice of laying before them on the same evening both
the loan and the taxes." This indulgence was not
denied him.
It became, indeed, apparent that though a majority
of the House of Commons might be still disposed
to support the Ministry, they were altogether weary
of continuing that contest for the reduction of Ame
rica which during near seven years had produced
only an accumulation of expense, of disgrace, and
of misfortune. But, on the other hand, the Opposi-

OF MY OWN TIME. 197
tion soon discovered that the compulsory termina
tion of the American war and the resignation of
Lord North constituted by no means, as they had
flattered themselves, things synonymous or inse
parable. When General Conway, encouraged by
the event of his late motion, brought the subject
again before the House, he indeed outnumbered
the Minister on the division by nineteen, leaving
him thus in a minority.
[2yth February 1782. J On this occasion, Conway
attempted to induce, or rather to oblige, Dundas
and Rigby to vote with him, by reminding them of
their late declarations respecting the American war.
And he observed, that " if he might borrow an allu
sion from the sacred text, he should say that they,
as well as many other members of the House, had
received the gift of tongues. Cloven tongues had
alighted upon them. Not, indeed, tongues of sin
cerity and truth, but double tongues, one for Parlia
ment, the other for private society." This singular
metaphor, drawn from such a source, excited no
ordinary sensation. Lord North, who no doubt felt
that his own sincerity might become questionable
at St. James's if he did not strenuously oppose the
motion, endeavoured by every pledge and assurance
that he could give to prove that Ministry had re
nounced all intention of carrying on offensive war
beyond the Atlantic. " If, however," he added,
" no faith was lent to these protestations, and that
the truth or integrity of Ministers was doubted, it
became the House to address the Crown for their
removal, and for the appointment of successors
entitled to parliamentary confidence. Should this
House," continued he, " withdraw from me the con
fidence which they have so long reposed in me, it
will become my duty, without staying for an address
to remove me, to wait on my sovereign, to present

198 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
him the seal of my office, and to say, 'Sir, I have
served you long and zealously, but your Parliament
wiU no longer confide in me. Suffer me, therefore,
to resign into your Majesty's hands all my employ
ments, in order that they may be bestowed on some
other person, who, with better success, though not
with more fidelity or zeal, will give satisfaction to
the country.' " Then adverting to Conway's re
proach of the " cloven tongues," he subjoined with
more than common emphasis, " I do not wish for
the support of any such double-tongued senators.
I desire to stand this night solely on the merits of
my cause. And I now call upon all my friends to
put out of their view every consideration personal
to myself Let them vote according to the dictates
of their unbiassed judgment. The removal of
Ministers forms no punishment. His Majesty has
a right to call to his councils or to exclude from
them whomever he may please. I thank God, Mr.
Speaker, that mere disgrace, in the Ministerial sense
of the term, constitutes no crime. The constitution
has conferred on the King the power of dismissing
his confidential servants at his pleasure, but it has
provided that the dismission shall not entail any
criminality, because in the eye of the law ho indi
vidual can be pronounced criminal without a fair
trial." Never probably in the records of Parliament
was a more manly yet affecting appeal made by
any Minister to the feelings and principles of his
audience. When Lord North sat down the Attor
ney-General rose, and after pointing out the impedi
ments that presented themselves to an Immediate
peace with the colonies, proposed a truce as at once
more judicious, beneficial, and practicable. He
added that he had already prepared a motion for
leave to introduce a bill enabling the Ministers to
treat on this ground. And with a view to expedi-

OF MY OWN TIME. 199
tion, in order that not a moment might be lost, he
concluded by moving that "the present debate be
adjourned for a fortnight."
Alarmed at the idea that in consequence of the
Attorney-General's proposition the prey which they
had so nearly hunted down might yet escape them,
the leading members of Opposition fastened upon
it with equal violence and ability. Pitt led the way,
and endeavoured to demonstrate, as he had done in
.preceding debates, that no confidence could be re
posed in the Ministerial promises. " Was there,"
he demanded, " one assurance which they had not
falsified ? Was there any plan of operations in
which they coincided .'' No! Their whole system
was incessant vacillation, in which the House could
place no trust." With uncommon ingenuity and
acumen. Dunning, who already beheld a coronet
as Macbeth does a dagger marshalling his way, and
who within five weeks afterwards actually kissed
.the King's hand on being raised to the peerage, —
Dunning attacked the Minister's speech as the most
uninteUigible and incomprehensible farago ever pro-
;nounced within the walls of the House. He pro
tested that he did not understand one syllable of it ;
that it was a mere specimen of human duplicity,
calculated for purposes of state deception, unworthy
of reply. His learned friend (Wallace's) truce he
treated as a wretched stratagem of an expiring
party, only designed to allure over to the Minister's
side three or four undecided votes. With per
suasive earnestness he entreated the assembly to
support the motion proposed by Conway as the
only temperate and conclusive measure for binding
down the Administration. Fox added his weight
to these arguments, and stigmatised the proposed
(truce, which he denominated a trick adopted for the
purpose of protracting the existence of Ministry,

20O HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
who hoped thereby to gain the respite of a few
days. The new Secretary of State took no active part
in the discussion of that interesting evening, nor
once opened his lips. He seemed, indeed, not to
have recovered from the effect produced by Burke's
insulting irony only a few days earlier, and contented
himself with giving a silent support. Not so Dun
das. The characteristic energy of his mind always
propelled him forward, and having answered General
Conway's imputation of speaking with a double
tongue, which act of inconsistence he disclaimed
either in or out of Parliament, he warmly supported
the Attorney-General's proposal. But it was like
wise sustained from another quarter. Sir William
Dolben,' who had voted with Opposition on the
2 2d, rose for the purpose of declaring that he con*
sidered the proposed measure of a truce as the
most proper to be adopted, and refused to proceed
another step against the existing Administration,
As his example might operate with great effect
among the country gentlemen, who formed so large
as well as so respectable and independent a portion
of the assembly, Sir WiUiam was instantly assailed
from a variety of quarters. Townshend besought
him to examine his conscience before he • gave so
inconsistent a vote, while Powis ^ lamented the de
fection of an individual whose private character
justly excited universal respect, " As a friend,"
said he, "I regret, but as a member of this House
I reprobate, his line of conduct. Nor do I compre
hend how, after such contradictory behaviour, he
can look his constituents or his country in the face."
Sir Fletcher Norton endeavoured to demonstrate
that the former motion of Conway and the present
1 M.P. for the University of Oxford. — Ed.
2 Thomas Powys, M.P. for Northamptonshire. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 201
were, in fact, the same, adding that no change in
public affairs had taken place which could warrant
or justify an alteration of sentiment in Dolben.
Sir William remaining inflexible, and having risen
a second time in order to explain more accu
rately the principles which determined his resolu
tion, Sheridan opened on him a battery bf wit,
calculated to expose him to universal ridicule. It
is however probable that had Lord North sur
vived the session and continued at the head of
affairs, so important a service to the Administra
tion, rendered at a crisis of general depression and
dismay, would not have remained unrewarded. A
peerage must probably have been conferred on the
individual whose support was of inestimable value
under the existing circumstances. The detestation,
nevertheless, universally excited by the American
war had reached such a point as to overbear every
attempt to prolong its duration. Previous to the
debate, the Sheriffs of the City of London had pre
sented at the bar a petition from the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, and Common CouncU, imploring the
House to interpose in such manner as they should
conceive to be most effectual for terminating further
hostilities against the colonies. Many of the most
ancient adherents of the Minister began to waver.
Sir Gilbert Elliott,' who had hitherto uniformly sup
ported Administration, made his retractation and
joined the Opposition. Soon after one o'clock in
the morning, the cry of question became general ;
234 persons voted with Conway; only 215 ad
hered to the Minister. No sooner was the result
known and the triumph over Lord North ascer
tained from the chair, than the acclamations — for
1 Sir Gilbert Elliot, fourth Baronet of Minto, M.P. for Roxburgh
shire, born 23d April 175 1. Created Lord Minto in 1797, and Earl
of Minto in 18 13. — Ed.

^02 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
such they might be justly denominated — pierced
the roof, and might have been heard in Westminster
HaU. Two of the tellers on that eventful night
still survive ; I mean the Earl of Lauderdale and
Mr. Baron Adam. The other two, Robinson and
George Byng, are long since dead. Information of
the event was instantly transmitted, notwithstanding
the advanced hour, to his Majesty at the Queen's
House. Conway, foUowing up the blow, carried with
out any division, before the assembly adjourned,
an address to the throne soliciting the sovereign
to " stop the prosecution of any further hostilities
against the revolted colonies for the purpose of re
ducing them to obedience by force." It was ordered
to be presented by the whole House."
\ist — 4th March 1 782.] Under these critical and
portentous circumstances, which seemed to announce
still greater changes or convulsions as imminent,*
opened the month of March. The King, neverthe
less, retained all his firmness, or more properly per
tinacity, and though the reply that he made to the
Commons when they arrived at St. James's was
couched in gracious language, yet the terms of it
might be esteemed vague and general, only stating
that " he would adopt such measures as he should
think ' most conducive to restore harmony between
Great Britain and her colonies," without specifically
promising not to carry on any further operations of
war for their reduction by force. A fact which
made a still deeper impression upon the public
mind, and which the Opposition considered as elo
quently developing the royal feelings towards his
American subjects, was the appearance of General
Arnold at court^ when the King received the address,
" As seem to me^' with a strong emphasis on the pronoun. — D.
Benedict Arnold, originally a chemist and general merchant, He
determined to betray the American cause in revenge for a sentence

OF MY OWN TIME. 203
So obnoxious an individual, known to breathe an
inveterate aversion towards his insurgent country
men, standing close to his Majesty's chair on such
an occasion and at his right hand, inspired alarm
whUe it produced animadversion. Lord Surrey,'
than whom no man, of whatever rank, inherited
more of the rough spirit of the barons who forced
John to sign the " Magna Charta," and who was
never deterred by any delicacy or respect for the
prejudices of a crowned head from uttering his
opinions, however unpalatable they might prove, —
this nobleman, who began already to perform a pro
minent part under Fox in the parliamentary drama,
rising in his place a few days afterwards, reprobated
in the warmest manner " the wanton and indecent
insult," as he denominated it, offered by Ministers
in the drawing-room to the representatives of the
people. No notice, however, being taken of his com
plaint from any part of the House, it did not pro
duce any further debate or proceeding.
[4th March 1782.J General Conway, now com
pletely master of the deliberations of the House on
the subject of America, and not conceiving the renun
ciation of all future hostilities against the colonies to
have been expressed from the throne in words suffi
ciently affirmative, presented himself once more to
public notice. While he proposed and carried an
other address to the sovereign thanking him for his
gracious reply, with some inconsistency he moved
immediately afterwards to declare " enemies to his
Majesty and to their country all those who should
advise or attempt to prosecute offensive war on the
continent of North America." The First Lord of
of reprimand passed upon him by a court-martial. When Major
Andr^ was taken prisoner. General Arnold managed to escape to
the headquarters of the English commander.— -Ed.
^ Charles, afterward eleventh Duke of Norfolk ; born in 1746. He
died in 1815.— D.

204 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the Treasury, after exposing the contradiction of
the mover's conduct in thus affecting to offer their
acknowledgments to the King for his answer and
in the same breath manifesting their doubts of his
sincerity, observed that whatever might be his
private opinions, he conceived it his indispensable
duty to obey the orders of a majority of that as
sembly. " But," added he, " Parliament having ex
pressed its commands, it is scarcely possible that
any Minister can be found sufficiently bold, daring,
and infamous to advise his sovereign to act in op
position to their wishes. I cannot, therefore, con
ceive that the present motion, which assumes and
presupposes the existence of such a Minister, can
ever be necessary," Nor did this objection consti
tute the sole ground on which Lord North combated
the proposition, as he asserted that very consider
able obscurity pervaded the orders themselves,
which circumstance might incapacitate even the
best-intentioned Cabinet from knowing with cer
tainty whether they were adhering to or deviating
from the pleasure of the House.
After a discussion of considerable length, in
which Thomas and William Pitt both took part, as
well as many other members, but without mate
rially elucidating or explaining the points under in
vestigation. Fox rose, and began by expressing his
total dissatisfaction with the answer of the Crown.
He observed that he was not present in the House
when they voted an address of thanks to the King,
as he understood, unanimously, though had he been
there, he should certainly have coincided in that
testimony of personal respect to the sovereign.
The Ministers alone ought to be deemed criminal
for advising their royal master to follow a plan of
conduct opposed to the advice of his Commons.
Then, directing his discourse personally to Lord

OF MY OWN TIME. 205
North in answer to the professions of deference
which he had expressed for the orders of a majority
of that assernbly, Fox, with more asperity than was
natural to him, inveighed against these illusory pro
testations, only adopted or forgotten just as the
exigencies of his situation dictated. " The position '
of the First Lord of the Treasury," exclaimed he,
" is truly embarrassing. The majority of this House
has declared against him, yet still he retains his
place. He stands in a predicament unprecedented
since the Revolution. He remains in office when
the Commons have condemned his system. Under
circumstances so unconstitutional and humiliating
he must necessarily address his sovereign when he
enters the royal presence in language to the follow
ing effect : ' I come, sire, to advise you to adopt a
measure totally opposite to my own opinion, but
it is the opinion of a majority of the House of
Commons.' Is, then, this country so reduced by
calamities, so poor in spirit, or so indifferent to all
events as to permit a Minister to conduct affairs in
a moment big with danger like the present who
dares not carry into execution his own plans ? No
man respects more than I do the free, incorrupt
voice of the majority of this assembly, but when I
contemplate the majority, composed of contractors
procured by means the most corrupt, who have
been declared ineligible to sit here, I do not respect n
such a majority."
" I thank God," continued Fox, " that the House
of Commons has come to the resolutions which ter
minate the American war. Those resolutions have
utterly destroyed and annihilated the principle, they
have subverted the basis of the present system —
corruption. It is not credible that any Minister,
however daring or profligate he may be, can pre
sume to retain his employment after the intelligence

2o6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
which has just reached us of the capture of Minorca,
where fifteen hundred troops have surrendered pris
oners of war. The loss of that valuable possession
in the year 1 756 drove from their seats an Adminis
tration far more able and powerful than the present
Cabinet. This day a report is current that St.
Kitt's has been taken by the enemy, the most im
portant island, with the single exception of Jamaica,
which we stUl continue to retain in the West Indies.
The only victory to which the people of this faUen
country look with hope, or which they hear with
exultation, is the triumph recently gained within
these walls over his Majesty's Ministers, who are
universally regarded as the enemies of their country.
This triumph coming now has overcome corruption.
Its reign is terminated. If the conquest had sooner
taken place, perhaps some paltry, insignificant coali
tions might have been contrived, which would have
rendered less unpalatable the system itself. But
now, however Ministers may hold out for a day, a
week, a month, or even for a year, the foundation
is subverted. It must collapse, and then effectual
measures may be devised to prevent its future
revival." Such was nearly the substance of this memorable
speech, unquestionably one of the most able, as well
as persuasive, ever pronounced by Fox, and which
produced a proportionate effect on the audience.
Many parts of it were indeed unanswerable, and
the new Secretary of State scarcely could reply to
the concluding inquiries of Fox relative to the
fate of St. Kitt's, which he, however, did in a few
hesitating, spiritless sentences. Lord North re
mained silent, nor did the Lord Advocate advance
to his assistance, and under so depressed a state of
things the Speaker had already prepared to put the
question, when Rigby rose. Never could he have

OF MY OWN TIME. 207
appeared more opportunely on the scene or at a
moment when his exertions were more necessary to
reinvigorate the Ministerial ranks. His very figure
and aspect, unblushing, fearless, confident, as if
formed to stem the torrent of Opposition even
when most violent, powerfully aided the effect of
his oratory. He commenced by observing, that
though itwas not his intention to divide the House,
yet he should unquestionably give his negative to
the motion in order that it might not pass unani
mously. And he remarked on the singularity as
well as inconsistency of disapproving his Majesty's
answer and yet returning him thanks for it. This
conduct, he said, sufficiently manifested that the
charge so often made against Ministers of being
divided among themselves might with more justice
be applied to Opposition. " As to the motion,"
subjoined he, " declaring enemies to their country
all such as should advise the King to continue war
against the colonies, I consider it nugatory, because
I cannot suppose that any member of Administra
tion wUl dare to disobey the positive injunctions of
this House. But probably it has been devised and
adopted merely to calm tender consciences, thereby
to conceal dissensions. Thus the vote of thanks
and the present motion are intended to balance
each other. I imagine one set of men may have
consented to support the first under the condition
that another description of gentlemen will agree to
vote the second."
" Much has been said," continued Rigby, " about
majorities which have voted against the noble Lord
in the blue ribband. And how has he got the
better of those resolutions ? Why, by other ma
jorities. It has always been the cry that the Ins
were corrupt and the Outs were factious. But it
forms no political phenomenon that a Minister

2o8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
v^should retain his place after he has been left in a
minority. All sides of this House have been occa
sionally wrong. Lord Rockingham's Administra
tion, which repealed the Stamp Act, yet declared
the right of Parliament to make laws for America.
Even the honourable member who now represents
Westminster voted for the Boston Port Bill.' If so
little faith is to be reposed in the assurances of his
Majesty's Ministers, better move at once to remove
them from their employments." The blunt, not to
say contemptuous levity, accompanied with personal
observations of a disagreeable kind, which charac
terised Rigby's speech from its commencement to its
close, gave a new colour to the debate, while it ex
cited no ordinary commotion among the Opposition
ranks. Fox, whose early parliamentary transgres
sions, when formerly seated near Lord North on the
Treasury bench, frequently appeared to him like
Brutus's evil genius, started up to explain his un
fortunate vote on the Boston Port Bill. His excuse
seemed, I believe, even to his friends, not the most
satisfactory, as he could assign no better reason for
it than that Lord North had pledged himself, if
the tea which the Americans threw overboard was
paid for by them, he would drop all further idea of
taxation. Rigby having, in the progress of his speech, said,
rather unadvisedly, that "he was tired of the Ame
rican war, though as Paymaster of the Forces he was
by no means tired of receiving cash," which singular
expression he however qualified by adding that " he
could nevertheless speak .his opinion honestly unin
fluenced by his place," Pitt remarked with great
severity on the words. He observed that " if the
1 Boston seaport was shut by order of the English Parliament on
account of the destruction of tea (upon which duties had been laid)
by the citizens in November 1773. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 209
right honourable gentleman was not tired of re
ceiving, the nation was weary of paying cash to a
person who profited more by the war than any four
members of that assembly." Almost any other in
dividual than Rigby would have been disconcerted
by so invidious a comment, coming too from such
a quarter. But he, far from shrinking back, or
exhibiting the slightest mark of discomposure, stood
up, and directing his looks as well as his reply to
Pitt and Fox, who sat very near each other on the
Opposition side of the House, almost under the
gaUery, " I wiU just venture to remark," said he,
"that however lucrative my office may be, it has
been held by the fathers of the two honourable
members who spoke last, and I make little doubt
that, whenever I may be compelled to quit it, those
gentlemen themselves may have an eye to getting
hold of it. I repeat, I am not at all tired of receiving
money ; but I am not to be told, because I receive
the emoluments of my place, that I am therefore
the author of my country's ruin." Neither Fox nor
Pitt attempted any retort. The former, indeed, on
all occasions treated Rigby with marked regard,
and more than once expatiated on the Paymaster's
ability, independence of mind, and political prin
ciples in terms approaching to panegyric. But
Barre, after complaining that he had retained in
his hands an enormous balance of public money,
amounting to near ;^900,ooo, adverted with much
acrimony to the aspersions thrown out against the
Opposition as being only a rope of sand. Conscious
how much they were divided in sentiment upon
almost every point, he endeavoured to derive an in
ference from that very dissimilarity of opinion favour
able to their principles. " A desire to prevent the
ruin of their country, which the present Ministers,"
he said, " had nearly effected, formed the tie that
VOL. II. o

2 ID HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
bound them indissolubly together." The debate
now drew to a close. General Conway's motion
passing without any division, Rigby had acted
the most conspicuous part in the discussion, had
gallantly exposed himself, and had covered the
Minister's retreat, though the enemy kept posses
sion of the field. These were services, at such a
crisis, of no ordinary description, and could scarcely
have been performed by any other member of the
House. Indeed, had Lord North been animated by
the same tenacious, firm, and buoyant spirit which
the Paymaster of the Forces displayed, he would
probably have surmounted the storm. Already Sir
George Rodney had reached the West Indies, and
was preparing to attack the fleet of France. But
his Administration was destined to a speedy extinc
tion. \f^th March 1 782. J If the debate of which I have
endeavoured faithfuUy, though imperfectly, to trace
the outlines, unveiled so much of the concealed
machinery and private feelings of both parties
during the convulsions that preceded Lord North's
political exit, the discussion, or rather the conver
sation of the following evening, disclosed matter
not less interesting. The Attorney-General, having
moved for leave to bring in a bill "to enable his
Majesty to conclude a truce or peace with the re
volted American colonies," Fox, aware that unless
he could blunt this weapon, the Minister might cut
his way by means of it through the Opposition
squadrons which now nearly hemmed him in, rose
instantly to force it out of the hands of Government.
" The only treatment properly applicable to such a
proposition, coming from such a quarter," he said,
" would be to burst into laughter and instantly to
quit the House. Ministers, after leaving us scarcely
any possession except Jamaica and Gibraltar, after

OF MY OWN TIME. 211
refusing to suffer American agents to meet our
plenipotentiaries, under the offered mediation of
foreign powers, now pretend to desire peace. Let
the Attorney-General only look to his right and to
his left, he would there discover in the persons of
the Ministers, his friends, the greatest impediments
to a pacification. But before he sat down he had
a proposal to make to Administration. I can in
form them," added he, " as a matter of certainty,
that there are persons now in Europe fully autho
rised to negotiate peace between us and the colonies.
And though I believe those individuals will not
treat with the present Ministers, yet I can put them
in the way to make peace. Nay, more, should they
dislike personally coming forward, I would under
take myself to negotiate it for them." Observing a
smUe on more than one countenance opposite to
him, he added, that in making such a proposal he
was not more inconsistent than the noble Lord
acted, who, condemning the resolutions moved by
General Conway, yet advised his sovereign to exe
cute them. "Our affairs," continued Fox, "are so
desperate, that Ministers must either quit their
places or the country is lost. Let them enjoy then
the emoluments which they hold so precious, pro
vided I can only save the Empire. If peace can be
procured, I am ready to serve them in any capacity,
even that of a commis, or of a messenger." Con
scious that this patriotic ebuUition might subject him
to some comments, and perhaps apprehensive that
it bore the appearance of personal approximation
to a Government, the members of which he had
during many successive years held up to national
condemnation or contempt, he subjoined, " I request
it may be clearly understood, that in making the
proposition, I mean not to enter into any connection
with Ministers. From the instant when I so act, or

212 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
come to terms with one of them, I will rest satisfied
to be deemed infamous. I cannot for a moment
contemplate a coalition with men who, as Ministers,
in every transaction, public or private, have proved
themselves devoid of honour or honesty. In the
hands of such men I would not intrust my own
honour for a single minute."
This extraordinary declaration, one of the most
imprudent and ill-advised which Fox ever made in
the course of his long parliamentary life, was pro
bably intended by him to impress a belief on his
hearers and the public of the facUity with which he
and his party could obtain an honourable peace.
Nor, if considered under that point of view, did it
fail, like other political delusions practised in all
ages, to produce a temporary effect. Wearied with
the war, people of every description readily supposed
that he could succeed in disposing the Americans
to conciliation ; and they assumed with the same
credulity that Administration would either find
or fabricate impediments to a consummation so
generally and anxiously desired. Unquestionably,
therefore, the expressions used by Fox operated
favourably to the views and objects of Opposition.
I will fairly own that I was myself in some degree
duped by them, in common with others, who ex
pected from Fox's entrance into office the return
of peace, as if by a charm. The event, however,
greatly deceived expectation. In whatever way
Fox's speech affected Parliament and the nation, it
drew from the Minister a reply full of dignity, inde
pendence of mind, and becoming resentment. Nor
did he fail to mix in the dose some portion of that
wit without a few grains of which ingredient Lord
North rarely addressed the House. He began by
denying in the most forcible terms the disinclination
to peace charged against himself and his colleagues

OF MY OWN TIME. 213
in the Cabinet. Then adverting to the kind offer
which Fox had just made of his services, coupled at
the same time with his severe language relative to
Administration, Lord North observed, " These are
good and substantial reasons for not trusting his
honour in my hands. Better reasons cannot be
assigned, and as they are such, they shall serve me
against the honourable member. I will never employ
a person who publicly declares that he can repose no
confidence in me. Thinking of him as I do, I am
determined not to make him my negotiator. He
seems in a great hurry to get possession of our places.
I am, however, yet to learn that among those who
are so impatient to succeed there exists any settled
system of action. It will therefore be for the public
benefit that I should remain in office, in order to
prevent, as I have hitherto done, confusion In the
state, and the introduction of unconstitutional prin
ciples. I am for that reason resolved not to quit my
post until I shall receive my royal master's com
mands to leave it, or till the will of this House, ex
pressed in the most unequivocal terms, shall point out
the propriety of my withdrawing from employment.
As to the emoluments of my situation, God knows,
were they forty times greater than they are, they
could form no adequate compensation for my anxiety
and vexations, aggravated by the uncandid treatment
that I frequently experience within these waUs. It
Is not love of power or of greatness that retains me
in my place. I speak in the presence of individuals
who know how little I am attached to either ; but I
wiU not resign till I can do it with gratitude to my
sovereign, as well as to the public."
Fox attempted partly to explain away the harsh
epithets which he had applied to the Minister,
and parriy to hold up the speech just pronounced
to ridicule or condemnation. But Its impression

2 14 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
was indelible. Neither Wolsey, nor Strafford, nor
Clarendon, ever made a finer appeal to their con
temporaries nor to posterity. In reply to Fox's
accusations, accompanied with a sneer at his assert
ing that he continued in place to prevent confusion.
Lord North humorously observed, " I undoubtedly
have prevented much confusion ; and if I have not
prevented more, it is only because there are others
who possess greater abilities in creating confusion
than I have to prevent it. But, so long as Parlia
ment shall not think proper to remove me, either
by a vote or by wholly withdrawing from me their
confidence, I am determined to hold my situation."
Who, after so precise, so public, and so reiterated
a declaration, could have anticipated or expected
that, within fifteen days, though the House had not
withdrawn from him its confidence, Lord North
would, standing in the same place, and in the midst
of the same assembly, lay down his office ? Fox
made no further answer, and the Attorney-General's
motion passed without any division, while the minds
of all men were attracted towards the final termina
tion of a scene so interesting to every individual,
but the issue of which it was as yet impossible to
foresee frorn the conduct or the protestations of the
First Minister.
[6th March 1782.J With a view to the great ob
ject of keeping alive public clamour against Lord
North, and, above all, of not allowing the irritability
of Parliament to subside, when that nobleman, on
the following day, requested the indulgence of the
House for postponing the taxes on account of the
multiplicity of business, Burke and Fox both de
claimed with violence on the subject. The former,
after enumerating the articles of necessity or of
luxury on which taxation had already fallen within
the last few years, and deploring the state of finan-

OF MY OWN TIME. 215
cial exhaustion into which we were plunged, con
cluded by making an ingenious and fanciful expo
sition of our national condition, viewed under a
mercantile form. " On one side," said he, " we
have debtor by loss one hundred millions of money ;
on the other, creditor by loss, one hundred thou
sand men, thirteen American provinces, an annual
revenue of four millions five hundred thousand
pounds, five West India islands, besides Florida and
Minorca." This picture, addressed strongly to the
imagination and the passions, highly coloured, was
likewise erroneous or exaggerated. St. Christo
pher's, one of the islands which he included in his list
of losses, founding his assertion on false inteUigence
industriously propagated, had not been captured by
the enemy. New York, as well as Charlestown, two
most important posts, were held by our forces, and
might form objects of cession or negotiation. St.
Lucia and Pondicherry — one the key of the West
India chain of islands, the other valuable as being
the capital of the French establishments on the
Coromandel Coast — had both been subjected by our
arms and remained in our possession. But these
facts or considerations were wholly overlooked in
a moment of national and Ministerial depression.
Then diverging with his characteristic impetuosity
to Lord North's declaration of the preceding even
ing, that "he would not resign till he could do it
with gratitude to the sovereign and to the public,"
Burke exclaimed, " The noble Lord's gratitude !
Oh, Mr. Speaker, it resembles that of another fallen
angel like himself —
' The debt immense of endless gratitude.
So burdensome, still paying, still to owe.' "
Fox, on his part, attacked the Minister with no
less animosity, and declared that all the acts of his

2i6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Administration were founded in systematic delusion,
sheltered by obscurity and stamped with ignorance.
He added that " as the parting proof of the noble
Lord's gratitude, when Jamaica and Barbadoes, our
only remaining settlements of value, were lost, it
might be presumed he would think of retiring from
office." No reply was made from the Treasury
bench to such declamatory charges, calculated for
sustaining and inflaming the general fermentation.
[Sth March 1 78 2. J Unable, nevertheless, to effect
Lord North's removal or to provoke his voluntary
resignation by any censures passed on the conduct
of the American war or by any interdictions of its
future prosecution, the Opposition became of neces
sity compelled to bring forward a personal ques
tion inculpating Administration. And it must be
allowed that in conducting this measure they pro
ceeded with judicious as well as with cautious steps.
A retrograde movement or an unsuccessful attempt,
they were well aware, would at once undo all that
had hitherto been effected. Lord North, who was
individually beloved in and out of the House, even
by those who most disapproved or opposed many
of his measures, was likewise steadily supported by
the sovereign, while in the House of Lords no
prospect of any defection or change had hitherto
manifested itself. The session, moreover, advanced
rapidly, and if Easter arrived, exp'erience had proved
that a fuU attendance could not be obtained after
that period of the year except with the utmost
difficulty. All these facts having been maturely
considered in the meetings which took place among
the Opposition leaders, they determined to try the
temper of the House of Commons without delay.
Lord John Cavendish, seconded by Powis, intro
duced various resolutions, finally imputing the mis
fortunes of the war to the " want of foresight and

OF MY OWN TIME. 217
ability " in Ministers. After a very long debate, in
a crowded House, the Administration not venturing
directly to negative the proposition, yet found them
selves unable to carry the motion, though only for
the order of the day, by a greater majority than ten.
Of Lord John's speech no trace remains on my
mind, but Powis's ' address to the House was calcu
lated to produce the deepest impression. He was
indeed a man of great parliamentary talents and of
distinguished integrity, though by no means unac
companied with deep ambition. From 1782 till
1797, during fifteen years, he seems, under succes
sive Administrations, never for an instant to have
lost sight of the peerage, to which he ultimately
attained. After disclaiming all personal ill-will
against Ministers, he adverted to Lord North's
recent declaration that whenever Parliament should
withdraw from him its confidence he would then
retire. " That period," said Powis, " is arrived.
Parliament has withdrawn its confidence from the/
noble Lord. The fetters which this House has
imposed on him constitute the strongest proof of
the fact. He has likewise asserted that he only
continued in office with a view to prevent confusion.
But who are the men likely to succeed him and
what are the principles to which they stand pledged ?
Their first pledge is to check profusion and prodi
gality in the expenditure of public money. Their
second engagement is to explore the dark recesses
of the Civil List and to introduce retrenchment Into
that sanctum sanctorum of Government. Lastly,
they have solemnly promised to adopt some plan
for improving the national representation within
these walls ; not, indeed, visionary plans, but such
as may tend to diminish, if not to eradicate, the
causes of parliamentary venality. Such are the
1 Thomas Powys, M.P. for Northamptonshire, created Baron Lilford
in 1794. — Ed.

2i8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
men from whom the Chancellor of the Exchequer
pretends to apprehend confusion. Men among
whom are to be found the descendants of the most
illustrious families, possessed of the largest property,
distinguished by the most splendid talents. Among
them is the admired son of a statesman who carried
the British name and arms to the summit of glory,
and who only quitted his situation when he , dis
covered that a baneful but secret influence pre
vented him, either with honour to himself or with
advantage to the state, from carrying into execution
those counsels which he was no longer permitted to
direct. Yet from such men does the noble Lord
anticipate confusion ! "
After touching with the hand of a master these
great political keys, while the House listened in
silence, Powis drew in the same able manner the
contrast presented by Ministers when compared
with the principal individuals constituting Opposi
tion. Commencing his delineation with the new
Secretary of State, who sat opposite to him, " That
gentleman," observed he, " gives us no encourage
ment to hope that such measures will emanate from
his department as can be beneficial to the country.
He has presented us a sketch of his creed ; but I
cannot denominate it a sincere profession of faith.
At best, I regard it only as an act of occasional
conformity. He has retracted no error. He has
abjured no former principle, though he may have
yielded somewhat to the feelings of the times.
Once we remember him loud in declaiming on this
side of the House ; but he is now sunk into Mini
sterial dependency. All the starch and the buckram
/ of his composition is dissolved, and he seems re
duced to a state of complete pliability. The noble
Lord in the blue ribband is formed of the same
ductile materials. Destitute of any system of action.

OF MY OWN TIME. 219
impelled by a secret concealed influence, he submits
to adopt the principles of others. He now stands in
a predicament altogether without example, having
lost the confidence of Parliament. What stronger
proof of it than those already exhibited does he
demand ? " Proceeding to delineate in the same
caustic and contumelious or invidious colours the
remaining members of the Cabinet, he concluded
by a forcible appeal to the gentlemen of landed
property, representatives of counties or of cities.
"Would they," he asked, "continue to support an
Administration which had ruined their country ;
while order, regularity, and success might justly be
expected to arise from the exertions of the men
who must succeed them in power ? " The Secre
tary at War now rose ; for the occasion fully called
on him to come forward in so desperate a Minis
terial emergency. Within the compass of a few
periods, he compressed almost every fact or argu
ment which could be adduced in justification of his
colleagues. Never indeed did Jenkinson abuse the
patience of his audience, or lose sight of the prin
cipal object for which he presented himself to notice,
by flights of fancy or digressions of imagination.
He admitted that the war had been unsuccessful,
but he denied that its principle was unjust. " Great
power," he observed, " necessarily produces envy.
Our splendid successes during the last contest with
the two branches of the House of Bourbon had
raised us so high, that those powers have now
eagerly seized the occasion to humble us. Hence,
too, we are without allies. The monarchies of
Austria and of France have each in turn suffered
the same depression from similar causes. But are
Ministers on that account criminal ? Without at
tempting, therefore, to negative facts which are un
deniable, I will move the order of the day."

220 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
At greater length, though with no less ability,
Ellis addressed the House. In reply to Powis's
charge of subservient pliabUity, the Secretary of
State remarked that there existed no strong tempta
tions to induce him to covet his new office. " When
I accepted the seal," said he, " I was possessed of
a lucrative employment to which no responsibUity
attached. I was undoubtedly in a warm comfortable
bed, out of which I have been summoned to take an
active part in the ship of state, assailed by storm
and tempest. I find myself now in a place of
responsibility, by no means unaccompanied with
danger. When these circumstances are duly
weighed, gentlemen will find little cause to accuse
me of such excessive pliability," The occasion was
too favourable for Burke to lose. Starting up as
soon as the Secretary had finished, he attacked the
new Minister with those shafts of classic wit, satire,
and ridicule which he knew so well how to launch
against his opponents. Shakespeare as well as
Milton was ever ready at his call. "It was true,"
he allowed, " that the Treasurer of the Navy had
quitted a warm bed, with his eyes hardly open, and
ventured into a vessel leaky, foundering, and tossed
by tempestuous winds." — " He has been most un
wise so to do ; and to him I may apply the words
of Brutus, when he asks his wife —
' Wherefore rise ye now ?
It is not for your health, thus to commit
Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.'
The Secretary of State declares that he has left a
warm bed for a post of danger. In my firm belief,
it has been left merely with the intention of intro
ducing a Scotch warming-pan." The allusion to
Dundas, which was too palpable to be mistaken,
excited no little laughter ; and received in the

OF MY OWN TIME. 221
course of the evening a most appropriate reply.
Burke proceeding in his career of sarcasm, answered
Ellis under the triple character of a lawyer, a phy
sician, and a divine, in each of which capacities
he asserted that the Secretary had addressed the
House. Nor, when tired with oppressing him under
tropes and metaphors, did Burke fail to adduce
more solid arguments in support of the motion,
derived from the expenses, the disgraces, and the
calamities of so many Transatlantic campaigns. Far
from being abandoned, however, on that night by the
country gentlemen, various of them stepped for-ward
to the support of a First Minister who had in fact
committed no fault except attempting to subject
an insurgent people placed at a remote distance
from Great Britain. Sir John Delaval, Sir Harry
Houghton, Lord Nugent, Sir Edward Dering, all
professed that the support which they extended
to Administration arose from their conviction that
the Cabinet, however unfortunate, " wanted neither
foresight nor ability."
Among the most able defenders of Ministry at
this period might be justly accounted Mr. Adam,
who then held the post of Treasurer of the Ord
nance. His duel with Fox,' when added to his par
liamentary eloquence and the vigour of his char
acter, had already acquired him celebrity. From
no individual in the House did Fox indeed experi
ence so personal, and probably so painful, an attack
in the course of the present debate as from Adam.
Reminding Fox of his assertion, made on a former
occasion while addressing the House, that "the
man who on coming into office should forget or
renounce his early political principles would be
' In 1779 Adam conceived his character attacked by some remarks
of Fox. The latter conducted himself with great gallantry, and
was slightly wounded. He said Adam would have killed him had
he used any but Government powder. — D.

222 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
infamous ; " Adam implored Parliament to pause
before they called into power a person professing
tenets repugnant to or subversive of the British
constitution. As the best proof of the justice of his
allegations, he charged Fox with having more than
once declared that " the sense of the people was to
be collected without doors, from the people them
selves, and not from the representatives." Nor
was this the only sentiment calculated to produce
CQufusion held and recommended by him. Two
others, equally opposed to the wisdom of our ances
tors, had been avowed from the same authority.
He had professed himself " an advocate for annual
Parliaments, and he had expressed his desire to
alter the representation of the people." Burke, on
his part, stood pledged to reduce the Civil List. ¦ And
Adam then asked " what national concord or unani
mity we could reasonably expect, if men professing
such principles should seize on the Government at
a moment when general harmony was universaUy
admitted to be indispensable for our extrication and
preservation } "
It is probable that Fox, like other demagogues
who have made their way up to power in free
states, by mounting on the shoulders of the people
and professing opinions calculated to gain popular
favour, would gladly, when he had attained his
object, have turned his back upon the ladder which
facilitated his ascent. Not that I believe he cher
ished any principles inimical to constitutional free
dom ; but poverty and ambition combining in the
same individual naturally produce asperity of lan
guage, and he had remained more than seven years
excluded from office. Even now, though apparently
near his prey, it might still elude his grasp. We
must likewise recollect, that if ever there was a
time in the modern history of this country when

OF MY OWN TIME. 223
reform seemed to be universally demanded, it was
towards the close of the American war, when our
humiliation, our losses, and our critical position,
surrounded by enemies on every side, inflamed the
minds of men against a Government which had
produced so much calamity. Pressed therefore by
Adam, Fox rose, and as Welbore Ellis had done
on a former night, made his reluctant political pro
fession of faith. He did it in that manly, open
manner characteristic of his mind, which disdained
reserve, and might rather be accused of inconsis
tence or imprudence than of duplicity or disguise —
artifices foreign to his nature. " Two leading prin
ciples," he said, " in which he differed from Minis
ters were the prosecution of the American war
and the influence of the Crown. The general
principle of reducing that influence he strenuously
approved. The corruption of the House of Com
mons had become intolerable, and to all the resolu
tions for excluding contractors, members of the
Board of Trade, and of the green cloth, he gave his
cordial assent. If placemen and contractors were
subducted from the late division respecting the
American war, when Ministers had remained in a
minority of nineteen, the majority against Adminis
tration -would exceed a hundred on that question.
To all the details," continued Fox, " prepared for
the reduction of influence I do not subscribe ; but
I maintain that this assembly ought to be made the
representative of the nation. I likewise think that
the duration of Parliament ought to be shortened,
but I admit that it is a point on which honest men
may differ. I am, however, of opinion that annual
or triennial Parliaments would be calculated to pre
serve the privileges of the people from the en
croachments of the royal prerogative, and therefore
would form an amelioration of the constitution."

224 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Having thus answered Mr. Adam's queries, though
without noticing specifically the idea of introducing
an alteration into the representation of the people, he
diverged to another point of a very" interesting, be
cause of a personal nature. " It has been asserted,"
said he, " that an Administration of proscription is
to be formed. I deny positively the fact. I have
only declared that I can form no connection with
the present Cabinet, and that if I do, I shall be
infamous. But it is the desire of those with whom
I have the honour to act to collect all the abUity,
talents, and consideration of the country, and to
employ this body of national strength for the de
liverance of the Empire. I hope we may soon
behold an Administration settled on a broad basis
in which confidence may be justly reposed. It is,
however, only by driving the present weak and
wicked advisers of the Crown from about his Ma
jesty's person that Great Britain can ever hope to
recover from her actual disgraces and misfortunes."
Such were nearly Fox's expressions on that me
morable evening. The Lord Advocate of Scotland,
who always knew when to interpose with the greatest
effect in debate, and who waited to answer the Op
position leader, instantly rising, began nevertheless
by directing his discourse in the first instance not
to Fox, but to Burke. " The honourable member,"
observed Dundas, " whose classic redundancy of wit
always charms this audience, has been pleased,
when addressing the Secretary of State near me, to
mention his quitting a snug, warm bed in order to
make room for a Scotch warming-pan. Now I see
no reason, when I look at the gentlemen opposite me,
if their eager expectations of coming into power are
fulfilled, why it should not be an Irish warming-pan
which is to be introduced into that bed." A retort
so apposite turned the laugh against Burke. In

OF MY OWN TIME. 225
fact, scarcely three weeks elapsed before Barrd was
made Treasurer of the Navy. Having professed
his inability to comprehend how a broad-bottomed
Administration, such as Fox pretended to desire,
could ever be formed, which must proscribe half the
abUity of the Empire, the Lord Advocate called on
him to explain more intelligibly his meaning. Then
pushing the inquiries which Adam had commenced
to a greater length, he demanded " if Fox should
come into office, and should find himself left in a
minority on any of his popular or patriotic questions,
whether it was his intention in such case to avail
himself of the right which he had frequently main
tained ? Did he mean to appeal from that House
to the people ? Would he resort to his other Par
liament convened in Westminster Hall or in Palace
Yard, and complain of the Parliament sitting within
those walls ? Would he tell the people that they
were betrayed, and induce them to adopt resolu
tions calculated to operate as a control upon the
House of Commons ? " To these questions he de
manded a reply.
Under so embarrassing a load of inquiries on
subjects so delicate. Fox delivered his opinion with
great ability, neither abandoning his former profes
sions nor yet maintaining them in all their force.
Relative to the Administration which might be
formed, he declared that " they would proscribe no
individuals of whatever principles except the five
or six confidential advisers of the Crown who had
produced the actual calamities of the country. They
did not mean to proscribe the learned Lord himself,
however strongly they might reprobate his constitu
tional principles. With regard to the people with
out doors, he conceived that they possessed a right
to declare their opinion of men and things, in order
to do which they might meet and consult together
VOL. II. P

226 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
provided they did it in a peaceable, orderly man
ner." " I wiU further add," continued he, " that when
ever this House shall become lost to all sense of
public duty, so sunk in corruption as to abandon
the rights of the people and to become the passive
instruments of the Crown, then it may be justifiable
to revert to the original principles of the consti
tution, and to resume the direction of their own
affairs, so that the popular weight may be preserved
in the scale of government. The present Ad
ministration is the first since the Revolution which
has dared to deny this right." Perhaps, in Fox's
position, no words more judicious or less exception
able, could easily have been found. Nevertheless,
Sheridan, who manifested on many occasions a
sounder judgment than his friend, and who beheld
in full view the promised land of power from
which the party had been so long excluded, appre
hensive that Fox's expressions might appear rather
those of a tribune than becoming a man who now
aspired to consular offices and dignities, presented
himself to the House. Directing his discourse
pointedly to Dundas, he demanded of the learned
Lord whether, because his honourable friend had
maintained the right of an appeal, under certain
circumstances, to the people., he could be suspected
of ever exercising it when he should become a
Minister ? Did no obvious distinction exist between
a private member of Parliament applying to his
constituents, and a confidential servant of the sove
reign, holding an office at his Majesty's pleasure,
appealing to the people in that capacity against
Parliament ? " No ! " added he ; " were my hon
ourable friend in the noble Lord's place, and should
he ever forfeit the confidence of Parliament, he
would neither fly to the people nor to the throne for
support. He would not cling with the convulsive

OF MY OWN TIME. 227
grasp of despair to the helm which he could no
longer conduct. He would follow the advice given
by that learned Lord himself to a late Minister.
He would instantly retire ; not indeed, probably, to
another assembly, but to a situation more honour
able in the hearts of the people."
Lord North rose when Sheridan sat down, and
replied with his accustomed ability, though, as I
thought, not with all his usual animation ; but the
feature of the debate which attracted universal
attention towards its close was the declaration made
by Pitt. After holding up the First Minister to
condemnation under various points of view, and
observing that a change of Administration presented
the only chance for national extrication ; he sub
joined, " It is not for me to say, nor for this House
to dictate, who may be the persons chosen to fill
the offices under a new Administration. All that I
feel myself compelled to declare is, that I cannot
expect to take any share in it ; and even if the
attainment of such an object were within my reach,
I never wiU accept of a subordinate situation.'
These words, which undoubtedly had been well
weighed before they were pronounced, disclosed
without disguise, not only the elevation of his views
and the well-founded confidence that he reposed
in his own talents, but likewise his perfect inde
pendence of the two leaders, whose followers were
now preparing to storm the Cabinet side by side.
He served, indeed, in their camp as a volunteer
and an auxUiary, though without looking up either
to the Marquis of Rockingham or to the Earl of
Shelburne for immediate advancement.^ _ Relying,
with reason, solely on his personal abilities, aided
by patience, judgment, and the nature of the times,
he doubtless anticipated, at no remote period, his
attainment of every object of well-regulated am-

228 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
bition. The division did not take place till, a_ very
late hour ; and the majority in favour of Ministers
was so small, that a desertion of only six indi
viduals from the Government side to that of Op
position would have left the whole Cabinet at
the mercy of their adversaries. Yet, as pnly 446
members voted on the question, even including
the four teUers, and as consequently iii were
absent, many of whom might probably attend on
a future evening, sanguine expectations were enter
tained by both parties. It might indeed have been
supposed that a Government which rested on so
precarious a basis was already virtually at an end.
But Lord North gave the best indication, as it
was considered, of his own intention to remain in
office, by proposing only three days afterwards
the new taxes which he meant to impose for
the service of the year.' The contending parties
therefore prepared for fresh struggles ; and from
every part of the kingdom, as well as from foreign
courts, attendance was procured. The duration of
the Ministry being now evidently at issue, and
probably about to be decided in a very short time,
not exceeding three weeks, it is difficult to convey
an idea of the anxiety which agitated the court,
the capital, and the country.
\x^th March 1782.] On the last debate which
preceded Lord North's resignation. Sir John Rous,
then member for Suffolk, moved to declare that
" the House had no further confidence in Ministers."
The Opposition imagined that if this motion was
carried, no Administration would venture to continue
in office, or if they should be bold enough to defy
the indignation of Parliament, the same majority f;
would, it was presumed, next address the Crown for
^ Included therein was a tax on soap, which aroused universal indig
nation among the middle and lower classes. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 229
their removal. There then remained only one step
more to impeachment. But so equally balanced
were the two sides, that though 467 members,
including the tellers, voted on the division, scarcely
any ground was lost or gained. Government still
remained in a majority of nine, thus losing one since
the preceding debate. Yet even that single vote
being in favour of the Opposition, in so full a House
seemed to indicate that they were progressive in
the public esteem. In fact, twenty-one members
voted on this more than on the preceding division.
Among the interesting features of the debate must
be accounted the appearance of Mr. George Onslow,
commonly denominated Cocking George. He was
one of the two representatives for the town of Guild
ford, and a man of much eccentricity, as well as
irregularity of deportment. He seldom rose to
speak ; but his speeches, if they did not abound
in wit, were marked by great freedom of language
and opinion. Without circumlocution of any kind,
he accused the Opposition leaders as the principal
instruments in dissevering America from her alle
giance to Great Britain. " General Washington's
army," exclaimed he, " has been called by members
of this House our army, and the cause of the rebels
has been denominated the cause of freedom. Every
support has been given the Americans, who have
placed their confidence on the encouragement ex
tended to them within these walls. Frankhn and
Laurens are here made the subject of daily panegy
ric, and the weak parts of our interior government
have been exposed or pointed out to the rebels. It
has even been reported, and I believe it is true, that
information has been transmitted from hence to the
court of VersaiUes." A loud cry arising from the
Opposition benches, caUing on him to name the
individuals to whom he alluded, Onslow declined

230 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
compliance, adding that " he could not tell, or if he
could he would not, but that he retained his convic
tion of its truth." He concluded by declaring his
belief that the Ul success of a war, in the principle of
which almost the whole nation concurred at its com
mencement, might be with reason ascribed to those
persons who had not scrupled uniformly to avow
that they should deeply lament its being crowned
with fortunate results. Lord North himself might
be said to give some countenance to these assertions
or accusations of Onslow ; for in the course of a long
and masterly appeal to the House, some parts of
which he pronounced with evident emotion, he ob
served that "far from feeling either the contrition
or the repentance for the acts of his past Adminis
tration which gentlemen opposite asserted would
become him, he experienced on the contrary the
most perfect calm, arising from the consciousness
of not having done any wrong." " If, indeed," con
tinued he, " in any of my speeches in this House,
or in any which I have made out of doors, or in any
part of my conduct, I had held out hopes to the
Americans that they possessed friends in this country
professing to be their advocates, and who embraced
every occasion to advance their interests in prefer
ence to those of their native country, then I confess I
should think I had acted in a manner that called for
deep contrition and sincere repentance, nay, even
for humiliation, for self-abasement, and for shame."
He could not more clearly designate, nor reprobate
in stronger terms, the line of conduct adopted by the
chiefs of Opposition throughout the whole progress
of the American contest.
Reverting next to the conduct of that war, " I
deny," said he, " that its commencement is in any
degree to be attributed to his Majesty's present
Ministers. The Stamp Act was repealed and the

OF MY OWN TIME. 231
Declaratory Act had passed before I was called to
the Cabinet, though I voted for them both as a
private member of Parliament. I came into office
at a moment of crisis when others had deserted the
helm, and I have exerted my best endeavours to
serve my country." His allusion to the manner in
which the Duke of Grafton abandoned the reins of
Government was rendered more striking by the
circumstance of that nobleman's accepting the Privy
Seal under the new Administration only a few days
afterwards. When Lord North, in the course of
his speech, mentioned the misrepresentations which
he was accused of using with a view to persuade
Parliament to prosecute hostilities through so many
unfortunate campaigns, and particularly with declar
ing that we had numerous friends in America, he
displayed visible embarrassment. It became re
quisite, in order to exculpate himself, that he
should inculpate his late colleague, Lord Sackville,
nor did he hesitate so to do. " The declaration in
question," observed he, " came not from me, but
from another Minister. It fell not indeed within
the range of my department to receive such official
information. Not that I doubted it, for I am con
vinced that the Minister who made the assertion
spoke from good authority. I believe we not only
had, but that we still retain, numerous friends through
out the colonies. I confess, at the same time, that
I never thought those friends sufficient in point of
numbers, nor in any point of view whatever, either to
justify our commencing or our continuing the war
solely on their account." These significant expres
sions undraw in a considerable degree the veil from
before the Cabinet, and, like Don Cleofas in the
" Diable Boiteuxl' we are admitted behind the
scenes. How far the First Minister acted with his
accustomed prudence or elevation of mind in mak-

232 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ing such an avowal in such a place, posterity will
best decide. His position, stiU in office and intend
ing, as he asserted, to remain at the head of his
Majesty's councils unless driven out by a vote of
the House of Commons, was in itself most painful
and delicate. Probably he thought, by sacrificing
in some measure a member of the Cabinet who was
now no longer in office and who had reached the
Upper House, he might conciliate his enemies.
But in his accusation of the late American Secretary
he virtually enveloped his sovereign in the same
charge. Fox's opinion of it may be collected from
his own comments when he replied to Lord North.
" Up to this day," said he, " I always considered
the noble Lord to have acted generously by his
colleagues, as he uniformly professed to share in
their guilt, whatever might be its extent. But on
the present evening he throws the responsibility
and the blame on another Minister for having de
ceived us by erroneous or exaggerated accounts
respecting the number of our adherents beyond the
Atlantic. The noble Lord has, however, himself
deluded and deceived Parliament in a variety of
instances." The conclusion of the First Minister's speech was
unusually pathetic as well as interesting. I sat
near him, and his words were weU calculated to
remain engraven on the memory. It is indeed
probable, whatever assurances he might give to the
King or to his friends and adherents, that he never
theless considered himself as near his political ex
tinction. " My wish," exclaimed he, " is not only
for peace, but for an Administration that may act
with unanimity and effect towards the general safety.
I will not form any obstacle to a coalition in which
I shall have no share or place. There are indeed
those who well know that for some years past I

OF MY OWN TIME. 233
have been ready and willing to make way for such
an Administration, nor is it owing to any personal
desire of mine that I have so long remained in my
situation. I declare to God that no love of office
or of emolument should detain me for a moment in
place if I could with honour leave it, and if certain
circumstances, which I cannot now explain, did not
prevent my resignation. A time may come when
I can better speak upon this point. I act in obed
ience to a sense of duty, and neither advice nor
menaces can influence me to abandon it. Never
wUl I subscribe to the idea that provided Ministers
will only quit their places, punishment shall not
follow. I neither desire to avoid censure nor pun
ishment. My only demand is that the proofs of
neglect or of guUt may be established against
Ministers before censure is voted. If we deserve
censure it ought to be followed by punishment." It is
impossible not to suppose that " the circumstances "
to which Lord North so pointedly alluded, but
" which he could not explain," were the solicitations
of his sovereign not to desert him as had been done
by his Ministerial predecessors. Lord Bute and the
Duke of Grafton. There were passages in this
speech which reminded me of Wolsey's language
to Cromwell when he says —
" I feel within me
A peace above all earthly dignities,
A still and quiet conscience."
" I am able now, methinks,
Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,
To endure more miseries, and greater far,
Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer."
Indeed, so much did Lord North feel the degree of
simUitude between his own situation and the faU of
Wolsey, that, adopting the expression of the Car
dinal when one of his friends waited on him a few

234 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
days afterwards to offer his condolences, accom
panied with some marks of surprise at his resigna
tion, he answered, with the utmost good- humour
and complacency, in Shakespeare's words —
"What, amazed
At my misfortunes .? — Can thy spirit wonder
A great man should decline ? "
So much did his constitutional suavity and amenity
of character enable him to surmount every vicissi
tude of fortune, and so naturally did his improved
and classic mind suggest to him the historic images
analogous to his situation.
Fox, in his reply on that night, for he would
allow no other person to answer the Minister, made
some observations tinctured with more severity than
his placable nature usually dictated to him. Only
four days earlier, having indulged in similar remarks
upon Lord North when he laid before the House
his proposed taxes for the year. Fox, either con
scious that he had trespassed beyond the bounds of
liberality, or impelled by his own generous character,
offered the ChanceUor of the Exchequer an ample
and a voluntary apology. " I do assure the noble
Lord," said he, "that in all I have stated on the
present occasion, or at any former time, I mean not
to press upon him, to goad him, or to run him down.
StUl less is it my intention to say anything that
should hurt his mind or give him uneasiness.
Upon my honour, I nourish no such design, and
though I neither ask pardon of the chairman nor
of the committee for any expression that I may
have used, yet I ask pardon of the noble Lord if I
have offended him, — for I meant it not," We can
not help admiring a man who united such a disposi
tion with talents so pre-eminent, Pitt, however
superior he was to Fox in judgment, and in various

OF MY O WN TIME. 235
other respects, wanted that frank, winning, and open
spirit which conciliated so many friends, and re
tained them in defiance of adversity, poverty, or
exclusion from power. In the course of the present
debate, which may be considered as the last that
took place previous to Lord North's surrender,
various individuals rose to attack or to defend him.
Sir WUliam Dolben not only voted with him, but
pronounced an affecting encomium on his integrity,
honour, and domestic virtues, from which no indi
vidual had attempted to detract, and to which so
many had borne testimony. Having expressed his
anxious wishes that a coalition might yet be formed
between the noble Lord and his principal opponents
seated on the opposite benches, he added, "If,
nevertheless, a change should take place, to the total
exclusion of the present First Minister, either in
consequence of a vote of this House or from his
own spontaneous movement, I am persuaded that
he wUl exhibit a phenomenon to this country ;
namely, a Minister out of office supporting the
Government that expeUed him, instead of oppos
ing, thwarting, and embarrassing their measures."
The Lord Advocate did not abandon his principal,
but sustained him with eloquence and ability. " A
union of parties," he admitted, " seemed to be not
only the general wish, but coincided with his own
individual opinion. It was, however, to be effected
by the substantial connection of both sides, not by
putting the Government exclusively into the hands
of Opposition. The noble Lord in the blue ribband
had declared his readiness to facilitate such a coali
tion, and that he would not stand in the way of its
accomplishment," Indignant at the idea of Lord North's attempting
to capitulate, to protract, or to make any conditions
-before he laid down his employments, Pitt rose to

236 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
answer Dundas. His speech, though not long,
breathed the most determined hostihty, couched in
language of no ordinary warmth. Reprobating the
proposition itself as an insult to Parliament, not
deserving an instant's attention, he said he thanked
God that an end was likely to be put to the present
Government, but he trusted the House would not
contaminate its own purpose by allowing Ministers
to manage the appointment of their successors. It
neither was the province of that House to settle the
men who were to succeed, nor to indicate the mea
sures proper to be pursued. " I ask pardon," con
cluded he, "of this assembly, if I have delivered
myself with too much warmth, but I cannot help
feeling for my country under the distressful situation
of being governed by Ministers who manifest neither
sensibility nor shame, and who are as devoid of feel
ing as of every other quality of statesmen." To
these bitter and humiliating reproaches no answer
was attempted from the Treasury bench, though the
new American Secretary spoke for a few minutes
to an impatient audience loudly demanding the
question. Its result, when notified, inspired the
Opposition with new energy, in the same degree
that it spread dejection over the Ministerial benches.
Fox gave immediate intimation to his friends of
a motion similar in its import for the following
Wednesday, which notice he reiterated in the House
on the subsequent day. Among the members who
voted with Lord North on the last two divisions
of the 8th and the 15th of March, I must not omit
Gibbon, the celebrated historian. He had likewise
supported Administration on General Conway's
second motion for terminating the American war,
when Government was left in a minority of nine
teen. Gibbon then sat in Parliament as one of
the members for Lymington, and attended con-

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OF MY OWN TIME. 237
stantly on great questions, but I believe he never
attempted to address the House. Addison had
not displayed any parliamentary talents, though he
occupied the high office of Secretary of State for a
short time. We know that Johnson was anxious
to obtain a seat in the House of Commons, with
a view of sustaining Lord North by his eloquqnce.
We may, however, reasonably doubt whether, .not
withstanding his gigantic abilities, he would have
succeeded better on that theatre than his " Irene"
did at Drury Lane. Oratory appears to have no
connection with historical, poetical, or philological 1
capacity. Every artifice of party was used by the Opposition
to encourage their friends and to terrify or hold out
to popular odium the adherents of Administration.
Lists were published and disseminated through the
kingdom, containing the names of the members
who voted on each question, those voting on the:
side of Government being printed in red letters,
while the names of the minority appeared in black
type. Unimportant or contemptible as this circum
stance may appear, it produced, nevertheless, a
powerful effect on weak or timid individuals, and
bore some faint resemblance ; to the proceedings of
the memorable Parliament which met in 1640 under
Charles I. Lord North appeared likewise to enter
tain strong apprehensions respecting the conse
quences which might ultimately result to the King,
if not to himself, from the struggle in which Minis
ters were engaged. It was generaUy believed that
he had stated these fears to his Majesty with so
much earnestness, and had so warmly depictured
the painful situation in which the sovereign might
be personally involved if his Cabinet should be
taken by storm, as to have obtained the royal
permission for negotiating, and even surrendering

238 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
on terms. His expressions in the last debate, which
intimated his readiness or disposition to withdraw
from office, and not to form any impediment if a
coalition could be formed for carrying on the public
service, seemed fully to justify the belief that he
was authorised to make such propositions. They
were, however, treated with affected ridicule or
scorn by his opponents, both in and out of the
House, as only calculated for purposes of delusion,
in order to weaken or distract their efforts. Far
from listening to any overtures of accommodation,
they anticipated a certain triumph. Never were
moments more precious or more critical. It being
well known that the House of Commons would,
according to regular usage, adjourn on the 28th of
March for ten or eleven days till after the Easter
holidays, which in that year happened to fall early.
Lord North consequently might calculate almost
the number of hours that he had to hold out against
his assailants ; for no sanguine expectation of suc
cessfully renewing their attack upon Ministry after
the recess could be entertained by the Opposition.
Every effort, therefore, it was evident, must neces
sarily be wound up within a week or two, and
Government made the strongest demonstrations of
abiding the issue.
\i6th — \gth March 1782.J In all the depart
ments positive assurances were given that no com
promise or resignation was intended by Ministers.
Robinson made the same protestation to me at his
house in St. James's Square,' the same which was
afterwards occupied by Lord Castlereagh, and to
which splendid residence Robinson had only recently
removed from a small house in Parliament Street,
Lord North himself, whatever fluctuations of mind he
might internally undergo, personally reiterated those
1 Now No. 16, corner of King Street. — ED;

OF MY 0 WN TIME. 239
declarations to his nearest political connections. On
the 1 8th of March, Monday, he came down to the
House of Commons, spoke in reply to Sir Edward
Astley ' on the subject of some tax bill then on its
passage through Parliament, and displayed aU his
characteristic good -humour mingled with gaiety.
No man on either side of the House doubted the
firmness of the sovereign or suspected him of aban
doning his Ministers from personal timidity. Each
party, therefore, prepared to try their force, and
both expressed themselves confident of success. I
can assert, however, from the best authority, that if
the contest had been maintained, it would, according
to every probability, have terminated numerically
in favour of Administration. Robinson, then Sec
retary of the Treasury, and who knew better than
any man the composition of the House, has many
times assured me that Government would have in
faUibly divided from fourteen to twenty majority on
the day when Lord North resigned, Robinson hav
ing received the written assurances of attendance
and support from many members who were absent
on the last question. Even various of the country
gentlemen, who had hitherto voted with Opposition,
hesitated or refused to push the struggle to the
utmost extremity. They had put an end to the
American war, which they reprobated, and they
wished for a change of men as well as of measures
and of system ; but they wished it with moderation,
and were averse to using the last expedients which
the British constitution admits lest the constitution
or the state itself should suffer in the shock.
[20^^ March 1782.] On the other hand, I know
from authentic channels of information that Lord
North, during the last four months of his continu-
* Sir Edward Astley, Bart., of Melton Constable, co. Norfolk, M.P.
for Norfolk. — Ed.

240 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ance in office, repeatedly tendered his resignation
to the King, which his Majesty as often declined,
accompanying his refusal with the most gracious
and encouraging expressions. On Tuesday the
19th of March, the First Minister, apprehensive
of the event of the debate which was fixed for
the ensuing day in the House of Commons, wrote
to the King in the most decided terms resigning his
employment, and his Majesty being down at Wind
sor, Lord North dispatched a messenger with the
letter. When it arrived, the King was going out to
hunt ; having perused its contents, for which he
was probably not unprepared, he calmly put it into
his pocket, made no observation, and mounted his
horse. But he had not proceeded more than a few
paces when a page came running after him to say
that Lord North's messenger had received orders
to bring back a reply. " Tell him," said the King,
" that I shall be in town to-morrow morning, and
will then give Lord North an answer." Two noble
men, both of them my particular friends, were with
him at the time, one of whom was the late Duke of
Dorset; the other. Lord Hinchinbrook (afterwards
Earl of Sandwich), related to me these particulars.
Turning immediately to them, " Lord North," ob
served his Majesty, " has sent me in his resignation,
but I shall not accept it." If, however, the King
was apprised of Lord North's intention or deter
mination to resign, it was by no means known in
London ; and on the morning of the very day, I
believe that few individuals of either party enter
tained a doubt of the continuance of the struggle.
Still less did any person conceive that the First
Minister would spontaneously lay down his office
without giving notice to his friends and contrary to
his own recent professions. He went soon after
one o'clock to the Treasury, from whence he was to

OF MY OWN TIME. 241
repair to St. James's, where the King, as usual, held
a levde. Robinson told me that previous to his
quitting the Treasury chambers they held a long
conversation together, in the course of which he
showed Lord North, on paper, the names of those
members who had promised to support him on the
ensuing question to the number of nine, ten, or
eleven at least, not one of whom had been present
in the preceding division. And he did not hirriself
entertain the slightest suspicion of the First Mini
ster's resignation, from whom he received the most
satisfactory assurances of his intention in every case
to abide the issue of the approaching debate. After
standing together at the fire in the Board-room till
Lord North's carriage drew up, they parted about
ten minutes after two o'clock, the Minister driving
straight to St. James's, whUe the Secretary, after
dispatching a variety of official business, repaired
soon after four to the House of Commons.
It is probable that the conversation which took
place between the King and Lord North on that
occasion was never minutely reported by either to
any third person, but we may safely assume that his
Majesty endeavoured to prevail on his Minister not
to abandon him. Robinson professed himself igno
rant of all the particulars, though he entertained no
doubt that Lord North, whether from weariness and
disgust, or apprehension of the consequences that
might accrue to his sovereign, to himself, and to the
country, had made up his mind as he drove toSt.
James's to state at once to the King the determina
tion that he had irrevocably embraced of laying
down immediately his power, a resolution which he
had notified under his hand on the preceding day.
It is certain that the interview between them was
long, lasting above an hour and a half, without
any witness present, at the end of which time the
VOL. II. Q

242 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Minister withdrew in order to attend the House
of Commons. I have rarely witnessed so full an
attendance at so early an hour as on that day ; not
less than four hundred members having taken their
seats before four, both parties appearing impatient
to proceed to business. The only delay arose from
the absence of the First Minister, and he being
every instant expected to arrive from St. James's,
all eyes were directed towards the door each time
that it opened. The members on both sides who,
it was generally understood, would speak in the
course of the ensuing debate, were well known, and
as the ground of controversy had been so often
gone over, as well as on account of many invalids
who attended, and who were unable to remain long,
it was thought that the question would be brought
on before midnight.
At length Lord North, entering in a full-dressed
suit, his ribband over his coat, proceeded up the
House amidst an incessant cry of " Order" and
" Places." As soon as he had reached the Treasury
bench, he rose and attempted to address the chair,
but Lord Surrey, who had given notice of a motion
for that day, being consequently in possession of
the right to speak first, and having likewise risen, a
clamour began from all quarters of the most violent
description. In the course of this scene of disorder,
Pitt, Fox, and various other members spoke to the
point of order or precedence, the Opposition loudly
demanding that Lord North should not be permitted
to address the House or to propose an adjournment
till the Earl of Surrey had been heard. The con
fusion lasted during some minutes, with more or
less violence, in defiance of every effort made by the
Speaker to enforce silence, till, in consequence of
the earnestness with which the Minister besougfht a
hearing, and some expressions relative to the im-

OF MY OWN TIME. 243
portance of the communication that he had to make,
which pervaded the tumult, Fox having moved that
"the Earl of Surrey do now speak," Lord North
avaUed himself of that proposition to obtain a prior
ity. An instant silence succeeded to the late storm,
and as he prepared to begin his discourse, it might
have been truly asserted that " his look
Drew audience and attention still as night."
After justifying himself from the imputation of
having occasioned the recent disorder, as public
notice had been given in the House both of Lord
Surrey's intended motion and of its purport, he
stated that he had come down on that day in order
to announce from authority his Majesty's determi
nation to change his Ministers. He should himself
form no obstacle to that consummation, and he
therefore conceived it unnecessary to debate a ques
tion which had for its object a removal already pro
duced. Having then returned his acknowledgments
to the House for their long and steady support ex
tended to him, he added, " A successor of greater
abUities, of sounder judgment, and better qualified
for his situation it is easy to find. One more zealous
for the glory and interests of his country, or more
anxious to advance them, animated by more loyalty
to his sovereign, or more desirous to preserve the
constitution whole and inviolate, may not be so
easily found. The Crown has determined on choos
ing new Ministers, and I hope to God, whoever they
may be, they will embrace such measures as may
extricate us from our present difficulties, may render
us happy at home and successful abroad. I know
that I am responsible for my public conduct when
ever my country calls on me to answer for it. I
do assure this assembly that I shaU not run away.

244 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
nor will I avoid any inquiry which they may think
proper to institute respecting me." He concluded
by moving that the House should adjourn, in order
to allow his Majesty time to make new Ministerial
arrangements. It is not easy to conceive the effect
which this declaration produced in a popular assem
bly, scarcely an individual of which did not hear it
with lively sentiments of exultation or of concern,
both which emotions were heightened by surprise.
Fox having advised Lord Surrey not to with
draw, but to reserve his proposed motion for the
ensuing Monday, in case the Minister's present
declaration should not be fully and completely veri
fied, observed that whoever might be the persons
called to the counsels of the crown, he should
hold them infamous if they abandoned their prin
ciples on obtaining possession of power. He added,
that as the House had now proved their abhorrence
of a Government of influence, the new Ministers
must ever bear in mind that fact, and remember
that to the House they owed their situations.
Rigby, who probably was more prepared for Lord
North's resignation than most other individuals pre
sent, after professing the highest respect for him, as
a man and as a Minister, yet admitted that " after
the division of the preceding Friday, he was not
only justified In laying down his office, but that he
had himself advised the First Lord of the Treasury
to retire. A majority of nine, opposed to a minority
of 227, which had grown out of the distresses of the
country in consequence of the war, must overbear
any Minister, let his abUities be ever so resplen
dent." " As for the new Administration," continued
he, " I hope it will be formed on a broad, solid
basis, and I sincerely wish they may prove equal to
extricating the country. It has been asserted that
some men can make peace better than others, and

OF MY OWN TIME. 245
that the Americans will more readily treat with gen
tlemen on one side of this House than with those
who occupy the opposite benches. I shall be happy
to find the prediction verified by the fact." These
words were not forgotten when it was ascertained
how inefficient and unsuccessful Fox's attempts to
open negotiations with Holland and America sub
sequently proved.
Powis concurred with Fox in exhorting Lord
Surrey to suspend his motion for a few days, "but,"
added he, "if by Monday next every atom of the
present Administration — those Ministers who are
behind the curtain as well as the ostensible men,
the invisible as well as the visible agents, who have
so long governed and precipitated to the verge of
destruction this country — are not swept away, then I
shall wish my noble friend to renew his motion."
The Treasury bench observed a profound silence,
neither Ellis, Dundas, nor Jenkinson pronouncing a
single word throughout the course of the debate.
But a species of dialogue or interlude was exclu
sively performed by Burke and General Conway,
which lasted a considerable time, each compliment
ing the other on the situation which it was probable
they would respectively fill in the new order of
things under the Government about to be formed.
Burke indeed disclaimed having any such views
or expectations, while Conway contented himself
with only declaring that " whether he should be a
Minister or a private member of Parliament, he
would always approve himself the determined enemy
of corruption." Affecting to moderate the tumul
tuous joy of his friends at this sudden change of
affairs, Burke implored them " to be calm, and to
remember that the Ministers who were retiring
did not quit office in consequence of any address
to the throne carried on that day. They were

246 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
neither tired of occupying their situations nor was
the sovereign weary of them, and therefore the
great work just achieved would prove incomplete
if the independent members who had effected it did
not support the IMinisters whom they themselves had
raised to power."
Lord North did not, however, remain without
testimonies to his public talents, integrity, and vir
tues, even on this day of his fall. Sir John Delaval
expressed his high admiration of that nobleman's
great as well as amiable qualities and his regret
that such abilities would now be lost to his country.
Courtenay, with great pertinacity and greater wit,
addressed an audience which refused him a hearing,
and though he assured them that he was neither of
a disposition, or temper, or nation to be intimidated,
yet his efforts could not surmount the impatient
exultation of the Opposition benches. The tribute
that he paid to the expiring Minister derived a
peculiar zest, if I may so express myself, from the
circumstance of Courtenay's having always lamented
the American war as inexpedient, impolitic, and
even unjust. Indeed, he animadverted with no
little severity on the country gentlemen who had
originally propelled or encouraged the attempt of
Parliament to tax America; and on the members
seated opposite, whose clamorous and indecorous
testimonies of satisfaction overbore his voice, humo
rously comparing the latter gentlemen to Nell in
the farce of " The DevU to Pay," ' when, to her
astonishment, she wakes in Lady Loverule's bed.
Lord Surrey, at length rising, acquiesced sullenly
and reluctantly in the advice of his friends to post
pone his motion, which act he however accompanied
'^ "The Devil to Pay; "or, the Wives Metamorphosed," a comic
opera by C. Coffey, partly founded on Jevon's " The Devil of a Wife."
Mrs. Clive first came into notice in the character of Nell. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 247
with a menace that if any part of the Administration
should remain in office upon the following Monday,
he would come forward with a motion of a ver)- dif
ferent nature and far more personal to Ministers.
This declaration was received by his adherents
with loud cheers. The House now unanimously
agreed to adjourn to the subsequent Monday, the
25th of the month; and the members, actuated by
very opposite emotions, dispersed in all directions
to spread the intelligence through the capital. A
more interesting scene had not been acted within
the walls of the House of Commons since February
1 74 1, when Sir Robert Walpole retired from power.
Nor did the First Minister of George II. by any
means display in the last moments of his political
life the equanimity, suavit}', and dignity manifested
by his successor. Lord North ordered his coach
to remain at tiie House of Commons in waiting on
that evening. In consequence of so unexpected an
event as his resignation and the House breaking up
at such an early hour, the housekeeper's room be
came crowded to the greatest degree,' few persons
having directed their carriages to be ready before
midnight In the midst of tiiis confusion Lord
North's carriage drove up to the door, and as he
prepared to get into it he said, turning to those
persons who were near him with that placid temper
which never forsook him, " Good night, gentlemen ;
you see what it is to be in the secret." '
However extraordinary and unexpected Lord
North's resignation appeared at the moment when
it took place, and however certain I esteem it that
he would have carried the question on the evening
when he laid down his office by a larger majority
» The night, too, was stormy.— Ed.
' Lord North's words were, " I protest, gentlemen, this is the first
time in my life I ever derived any personal advantage from being in
xhe secKt.''—Quarifrfy Rezu-.^; xiii. 21;.— Ed.

248 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
than had supported him on the preceding debate
of the 15th, yet it must be admitted that he could
assign, not only to himself, but to his sovereign and
the country at large, many cogent if not unanswer
able reasons for retiring from power. The nation,
he well knew, was universally weary of a war the
misfortunes that had attended which, though origin
ating in the very nature of the contest, and perhaps
justly imputable to many other causes or persons
rather than to him, were attributed principally to
his errors or mismanagement. He beheld himself
now engaged in hostilities, direct or indirect, with
half Europe in addition to America. Ireland, avail
ing itself of our embarrassments, loudly demanded
commercial and political emancipation. On every
side the Empire appeared to be crumbling into ruin.
Minorca, long invested, had already surrendered
some weeks earlier after a defence protracted to the
last extremity. Gibraltar was closely besieged. In
the East Indies our difficulties, financial as well as
military, threatened the total subversion of our wide
extended authority in that quarter of the globe,
where Hyder Ali, though expelled by Sir Eyre
Coote ' from the vicinity of Madras, still maintained
himself in the centre of the Carnatic. If the First
Minister looked to the West Indies, the prospect
appeared still more big with alarm. St. Christo
pher's, attacked by the Marquis de Bouill6, might
be hourly expected to surrender ; and he had al
ready recaptured St. Eustatia by corrupting the
officer who commanded the garrison. Among all
the chain of Carribbee Islands which had belonged
to the crown of Great Britain at the commencement
of the war, we retained only Antigua and Barba
does. Such was our maritime inferiority, that Sir
^ Sir Eyre Coote, commander-in-chief in India, born 1726, died
1783.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 249
Samuel Hood, whose abilities had been scientifi
cally exerted at the head of the fleet to defend St.
Christopher's, found himself unable to hazard an en
gagement with De Grasse. Rodney had Indeed sailed
from England with a considerable reinforcement
in the month of January to join the British admiral
at Barbadoes ; but Lord North could not foresee,
nor did the most sanguine adherents of Lord Sand
wich venture to predict, the splendid victory which
Rodney obtained over De Grasse scarcely more
than three weeks after the resignation of the First
Minister. That naval triumph, which. If it had
taken place sooner, might have saved the Adminis
tration, only served to illustrate Lord Rockingham's
short Ministry.
Far from anticipating any such event, the most
alarming apprehensions were entertained relative to
the safety of Jamaica itself. If the combined fleets
of France and Spain in the West Indies, after the
reduction of St. Christopher's, should effect a junc
tion, as was apprehended, they would have exceeded
fifty sail of the line, while Rodney's whole force
scarcely amounted to more than thirty. And it
was very doubtful whether such a junction could
be prevented by any exertion of vigilance, courage,
or skiU. The loss of Jamaica would complete the
measure of the national calamities, by involving our
commerce and our finances in almost total ruin.
Under such an accumulation of defeat and of dis
aster, the vengeance of the country might demand
some victim, and the leaders of Opposition, though
neither sanguinary nor vindictive in their disposition,
might be compelled to yield to the torrent of popular
indignation. Fox, as well as Burke and Barr^, had
in fact many times alluded to the axe and the block
amongst the opprobrious epithets that they lavished
on the Ministerial errors, and such menaces might

250 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS.
be realised in a moment of national depression or
violence. The crown might be even unable to
extend protection to its servants, and the scenes of
the year 1641 might be renewed under the reign of
George III. That this picture is not exaggerated
the history of the period which I am writing suffi
ciently proves, and however exempt from personal
pusillanimity or apprehension we may suppose Lord
North to have been, it was impossible that he could
avert his view from these considerations, or not
allow them their due weight over his mind. Though
it seems to be indisputable that his final resolution
to resign was at last somewhat suddenly embraced,
yet the motives which led to it had unquestion
ably long existed, and may fully explain as well as
justify his conduct.
The termination of Lord North's Administration
and the close of the American war form a great
era in the reign of George III. Here, therefore, I
shaU finish the second part of these Memoirs.

PART THE THIRD.

MARCH 1782.

ORD North's resignation, which had been
preceded at only a short interval of
time by that of Lord George Germain,
and followed as it was by the dismis
sion of all the Ministerial adherents in
every department, with the single exception of the
Chancellor,' were in themselves events of the first
national magnitude and importance. Their impres
sion was augmented by the sudden and unexpected
declaration of the First Lord of the Treasury in
the House of Commons that " his Majesty's Mini
sters were no more " at a moment when the most
vigorous resistance on their part was universally
considered as certain. The younger portion of
society scarcely remembered any other Minister
than Lord North, and Lord Sandwich had pre
sided nearly as long at the head of the Admiralty.
To the King the former of these noblemen was
* Lord Thurlow was thrust upon Lord Rockingham, much to his
chagrin, but the King would not allow another Chancellor to be men
tioned. — Ed.

252 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
endeared by almost every personal quality or cir
cumstance which could render him acceptable in
the closet as weU as useful in his public capacity.
More than twelve years of almost daily inter
course amidst scenes of perpetual disquietude
and alarm had cemented, by the effect of habit,
the other motives for royal predilection. It may
indeed be reasonably doubted whether even Lord
Bute's resignation affected the sovereign so deeply
or so painfully as Lord North's retreat. Mr.
Grenville's Administration was regarded by many
persons as a continuation of the preceding Ministry
under another name, whereas in 1782 the King
could only anticipate a complete surrender. The
individuals, the measures, the reductions contem
plated, accompanied with the total renunciation of
sovereignty over the revolted colonies — all were
alike odious or disagreeable to the King. No man
who attentively considers these facts will hesitate in
believing that Lord North might probably have con
tinued in power as long as Sir Robert Walpole had
done if the American war had not intervened and
overturned him. Its duration, expense, calamities
and disgraces, became at length too overpowering
to be surmounted by any human ability. However
indisputable I may consider the parliamentary right
of legislation over the American colonies to have
been, yet the attempt to enforce that right by arms,
or, as Burke denominated it, "the experiment of
shearing the wolf," should unquestionably have been
renounced after the capitulation of Saratoga, From
the instant that France and Spain, listening to the
impulse of a narrow, vindictive policy, and oblivious
of all considerations except those of animosity to
wards Great Britain, undertook to sustain by armies
and fleets the cause of insurrection, we ought to
have abandoned the further prosecution of hostilities

OF MY OWN TIME. 253
beyond the Atlantic. Probably Lord North himself
was not far removed from that opinion. We are at
least in some measure warranted so to assume from
the tenor of his expressions in the House of Com
mons when speaking on the subject the last time
that he rose as First Minister previous to his re
signation. He yielded, however, to the majority
of the Cabinet, sustained by the wishes of the sove
reign. The votes of the 2 2d and 27th of February,
followed by that of the 4th of March, had, it is true,
incapacitated the First Minister for continuing war
against America ; but no reason existed to prevent
him from negotiating as successfully for the attain
ment of peace as could be done by Lord Rock
ingham or Lord Shelburne. He had declared his
perfect readiness to obey the orders of Parliament,
though he disapproved, as a measure of policy, the
resolutions proposed and carried by General Con
way. Nay, he had directed the Attorney- General
to bring in a bill for enabling his Majesty to con
clude a peace or truce with the revolted colonies,
which proposition was actually made and adopted
in a committee of the whole House on the 5th of
March, only fifteen days before his own resignation.
Public opinion, however, seemed imperiously to de
mand a change of Ministers as well as of measures.
Men long accustomed to ill-success fondly imagine
that they must benefit by the substitution of new
names. Neither the health nor the abUities of the
Marquis of Rockingham seemed indeed equal to
sustaining the fatigues or the duties of Government
at a period of such national depression. Towards
the Earl of Shelburne it is true that all eyes were
directed as to a nobleman whose talents and infor
mation were peculiarly adapted to the critical
emergency of public affairs. Nor can we doubt

254 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
that if a cordial union and co-operation could have
been effected between them and their respective
adherents, an Administration might have arisen
calculated to rescue the sovereign and the country
from their state of distress. Fox and Burke ac
knowledged the Marquis for their leader, whUe
Dunning and Barre looked up to the Earl for pro
tection. Of these four distinguished persons. Fox
only could in any degree be regarded as a free
agent. Burke, having lost his seat at the last
general election as one of the representatives for the
city of Bristol, owed to Lord Rockingham his pre
sent place in the House of Commons, being returned
for Malton. Calne sent to Parliament both Dun
ning and Barr6. Fox having not only succeeded in
Westminster, but being the only member competent
to perform the active duties of the situation whUe
his colleague Sir George Rodney was absent in the
West Indies, might be considered as standing on a
great eminence. If to this circumstance we add his
birth, his connections, the energies of his character,
and his splendid talents of various kinds, he might
doubtless have aspired to occupy in his own person
the offices left vacant by Lord North, Mr. Pelham
and George GrenvUle, who, under the late and
present reign, had been placed at the head of the
Treasury and of the Exchequer, were only younger
brothers of noble famihes. But the state of destitu
tion to which Fox had reduced himself and the mode
by which he had effected it, operated to depress him
below the level on which nature had placed him.
Pitt, though, like Fox, he possessed little or no pat
rimonial fortune, yet became First Minister, while
Fox, with abilities equally eminent, never aspired
beyond a second place in the Government. The
public voice, even under a sovereign of more relaxed
morals than George III., would not, I am persuaded,

OF MY OWN TIME. 255
have wiUingly permitted him to be placed at the
head of the finances. That place, it was evident,
must be conferred on Lord Rockingham or on Lord
Shelburne. Those persons who looked below the
surface and who knew how little personal communi
cation existed between the two noblemen in ques
tion, and how dissimilar were their opinions on many
great measures of policy, and by what different
adherents they were surrounded or impelled, argued
most unfavourably relative to the concord and dura
tion of a Ministry formed under their joint auspices.
The King, who upon every point of public impor
tance was not less accurately informed than any of
his subjects, finding himself abandoned by Lord
North, as he had repeatedly been deserted at
earlier periods of his reign by other Ministers,
chose that evil which he esteemed to be the least in
his situation. Well acquainted with the discordant
materials of which the Opposition was composed, he
sent to Lord Shelburne to signify a desire of con
ferring with him on the formation of a new Admi
nistration ; and when that nobleman attended his
Majesty for the purpose, the King proposed to him
to accept the place of First Lord of the Treasury.
But Lord Shelburne, however disposed he might be
from inclination to comply with an offer so flattering
to his ambition, felt too deeply conscious of his
inabUity to maintain himself in power independent
of the Rockingham party to venture on its acceptance.
Having stated, therefore, the necessity under which
he lay of decUning so gratifying a distinction, at
least for the present, he urged the overruling cir
cumstances that left no immediate alternative to the
crown except placing the Marquis of Rockingham
at the head of the Ministry, Sensible that he must
submit to the measure, however painful, the King
therefore, on the subsequent day, desired Lord

256 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Rockingham's attendance. At the audience which
took place, his Majesty consented to the conditions
on which the Marquis insisted before he would
agree to accept office ; ' only attempting to stipulate
as a preliminary that two of his actual Ministers,
namely, the Chancellor and Lord Stormont,^ should
be continued under the new Administration. He
could not, however, obtain such terms, nor was it
without some repugnance and after considerable diffi
culty that even Lord Thurlow was admitted to
retain his situation. A decided negative was put
on the other nobleman, whom it was determined by
the Rockingham party, at all events, to exclude from
any cabinet office. In the King's situation, as he
could neither contest nor protract, a few days suf
ficed to terminate the negotiation ; but throughout
every stage of it a marked preference was exhibited
towards Lord Shelburne. When the House of
Commons, pursuant to its adjournment, met again
on the 25th of March, an adherent of that noble
man (not a friend of the Marquis, his competitor for
power) was selected and authorised to communicate
the state of affairs at St. James's. Dunning, who
forty-eight hours afterwards kissed his Majesty's
1 The following extract from " Anecdotes of the Life of Bishop
Watson" (1818, vol. i. p. 144) contains a statement of the propositions
of the new Prime Minister. "On the 25th of March 1782, a total
change of Ministry took place. I happened then to be in London, and
had the honour of dining with Lord Rockingham on that day. When
we were alone after dinner, he gave me an account of the manner in
which the change of Administration had been effected, and he read
to me the several propositions to which he required the King's explicit
consent before he would accept the office of First Lord of the Trea
sury. The propositions were of the utmost public importance, such
as there being no veto put on the acknowledging the independence
of America, the suffering the contractors' and custom-house officers'
bill to pass, the reduction of the influence of the crown by the aboli
tion of useless offices, the introduction of a system of general economy
in every department of the state." — Ed.
2 David, seventh Viscount Stormont, K.T., born 9th October 1727,
and succeeded his uncle, the great Eariof Mansfield, as second Earl.
He died ist September 1796. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 257
hand on being created a peer,' informed the mem
bers, whom curiosity or anxiety had brought down
in great numbers to Westminster, that arrangements
for the formation of a new Administration, which he
trusted would meet the wishes of the House and
of the nation, were in considerable forwardness. In
order to allow time for their complete accomplish
ment, he moved that another short adjournment
should take place to Wednesday the 27th. The
motion, after a few words from Lord Surrey,^ expres
sive of a sort of gloomy satisfaction at the intelli
gence imparted by Dunning, was adopted.
The leaders of Opposition were nevertheless far
from having surmounted all the impediments to
their acquisition of office, and they soon discovered
that the expulsion of Lord North, though it might
open to them the door of the Cabinet, by no means
secured the durability of their Administration.^
From the first moment that the new competitors
for power appeared at St. James's, inextinguishable
jealousies arose, and mutual distrust manifested
itself on every occasion. With difficulty could they
be prevented from immediately proceeding to an
open rupture, and the external appearances of
political union which had been preserved during
several years of parliamentary opposition, dissolved
as soon as they came to divide the Ministerial
objects of plunder, or to dispute for preference in
the royal favour. The Marquis of Rockingham,
1 Lord Ashburton. At this period he was fifty-one years of age.
In their " salad days," he. Home Tooke, and Kenyon had often dined
together at a cookshop at ^\^. a head. His argument as counsel for
Wilkes against general warrants made future fame and fortune secure.
He died the year after his accession to the peerage. — D.
2 Charles, afterwards eleventh Duke of Norfolk.— Ed.
^ " Charles Fox told Lord Shelburne that he perceived the Admini
stration was to consist of two parts, one belonging to the King,
the other to the public."— Lord J. Russell's " FoxJ' vol. i. p. 292.— D.
VOL. II. '^

258 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
conscious that though he might ostensibly be placed
at the head of the new Administration, yet the
King regarded him and his adherents with senti
ments of alienation, whUe he considered Lord
Shelburne with regard and treated him with con
fidence, took umbrage at the distinction. In this
situation of affairs, before the formation of the new
Cabinet, an incident which displayed the superior
interest that Lord Shelburne possessed at court
nearly terminated at once the compact by which
Lord North had been expelled, and consequently
involved the whole embryo Ministry in total con
fusion. [27M March — yth April 1782.] Scarcely could
the Administration be said indeed with propriety as
yet to have any real existence ; for though Mr. Fox
and Lord Shelburne had been named Secretaries of
State,' and though Lord Camden had accepted the
Presidency of the CouncU, whUe the Duke of Graf
ton was made Privy Seal, yet neither the new Boards
of Treasury nor of Admiralty were constituted.
Lord John Cavendish alone had been sworn in as
the new ChanceUor of the Exchequer ; but the Mar
quis of Rockingham and Admiral Keppel, who were
destined to preside at the two Boards, were not as
yet regularly appointed. The post of Commander-
in-Chief of the Forces, as well as that of Master-
General of the Ordnance, both which had commonly
or frequently been Cabinet offices, still remained
vacant. No individual had been proposed for ele
vation to the peerage, when Lord Shelburne, avaU
ing himself of the facility which he enjoyed of access
to the sovereign, induced his Majesty to confer the
dignity of a baron on his friend and adherent Dun-
1 Shelburne withheld matters of great importance from his col
league, and the discovery of this fact, when made by Fox, is supposed
to have influenced him in his subsequent refusal to take office under
Shelburne as Prime Minister. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 259
ning. The business itself, which neither the King
nor Lord Shelburne communicated to the Marquis
of Rockingham, was managed with such dexterity,
as well as silence and dispatch, that the first intima
tion received of it, even by the persons about the
court, arose from Dunning's kissing the King's
hand at the levee on his creation. But no sooner
had the intelligence become known than it produced
the most violent fermentation and resentment among
aU the Rockingham party. Considering their chief
as equally overreached and insulted by the proceed
ing, since it became evident that Lord Shelburne
could effect for his followers objects of the highest
importance, which proved to the public his superior
and exclusive ascendancy at St. James's, they deter
mined on exacting immediate reparation.
Under this impression several of the parliamentary
leaders, among whom were Fox, Burke, and George
Byng, having repaired to Lord Rockingham's house
in Grosvenor Square, a sort of tumultuary consulta
tion was there held on the occasion. They unani
mously agreed that the First Lord of the Treasury
would be at once dishonoured in the Cabinet and
disgraced in the public estimation if the Secretary
of State, so much his inferior in official rank, could
thus, without his knowledge or participation, dispose
of the highest dignities to his own adherents. It
was maintained that the reparation ought to be no
less public than the affront, and that, in order to
wipe it away, some individual must be without
delay raised to the peerage at Lord Rockingham's
personal recommendation. This resolution being
adopted, it was next debated whom to choose for
the honour. The selection fell on Sir Fletcher
Norton, late Speaker of the House of Commons,
not indeed so much from inclination as from neces
sity, no other person appearing equally proper to

26o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
be created a peer at the same time with Dunning
as Sir Fletcher, they being both lawyers of great
eminence in their profession, members of the House
of Commons, speaking as well as voting m decided
opposition to the late Government, and rival candi
dates for power or office.
On the foUowing day, Thursday the 28th of
March, the new First Lord of the Treasury repaired
therefore to St. James's. Having obtained an audi
ence of the King, he represented the impossibility
of his continuing at the head of the intended Admi
nistration after the elevation of Mr. Dunning to a
peerage on Lord Shelburne's recommendation, un
less his Majesty should be graciously pleased to
confer the same mark of royal favour on one of his
own friends. After some hesitation, the King, ap
prehensive of the consequences to himself and to
the public tranquillity if Lord Rockingham and his
followers should suddenly resign, as they menaced,
and aware that Lord Shelburne could not support
himself alone, signified his assent to the proposition,
adding that the person named. Sir Fletcher Norton,
might kiss his hand at the first lev6e. But the
Marquis peremptorily insisted on that ceremony im
mediately taking place on the same day. In vain
the King stated the singularity, and impropriety of
such an act, contrary to all the usages of established
court etiquette, inasmuch as no individual ever was
known to be presented at the Queen's drawing-
room, by whatever title, till he had previously been
received under that denomination at the lev^e.
Lord Rockingham signified in reply, respectfully
but tenaciously, that every form must give way on
the present occasion; and he exacted compliance.
Sir Fletcher being brought forward, actua^Uy kissed
his Majesty's hand on his creation as a baron by
the title of Lord Grantley the same day in the

OF MY OWN TIME. 261
drawing-room, to the no small astonishment of the
oldest courtiers, and hardly less so of the newly
created peer himself, who, having been apprised of
this extraordinary elevation, attended for the pur
pose at St. James's on the previous notice of only
a few hours. No instance of such a breach of esta
blished usage has occurred, either before or since,
in the course of the present reign.
This subject of contest being thus regulated, and
the Rockingham party triumphant, the new Admi
nistration was at length formed, though of very
heterogeneous materials. Instead of nine indivi
duals, who constituted Lord North's Cabinet, eleven
were now admitted ; ' the third Secretaryship of
State, namely, that for the Colonies, lately occupied
by Lord Sackville, being extinguished. General
Conway,^ as the recompense of his late distinguished
services in Parliament, was placed at the head of
the army. The separation of the office of First
Lord of the Treasury from that of Chancellor of
the Exchequer made way for Lord John Caven
dish's ' entrance into the Cabinet, and the introduc-
^ The number of members of the Government in the Cabinet con
stantly varies, as some offices are made of Cabinet rank in one Mini
stry which are not so in others. In 1815 the number was thirteen ;
in 1850 fifteen. In Lord Beaconsfield's Ministry the number was
thirteen ; the present number of Mr. Gladstone's is fourteen. — Ed.
2 The Hon. Henry Seymour Conway, second son of Francis, first
Lord Conway, commanded the British forces in Germany under
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick in 1761, during the absence of the
Marquis of Granby. He was Secretary for Ireland, Groom of the
Bedchamber to George II. and George III., Secretary of State and
leader of the House of Commons in 1765, Lieutenant-General of the
Ordnance in 1770, Commander-in-Chief in 1782, and Field-Marshal
in 1793. He was cousin of Horace Walpole, the dearest of his
friends, and father of the Hon. Mrs. Damer. In 1764 George III.
dismissed him from his office as Groom of the Bedchamber on
account of his vote against the Ministry in the House of Commons
on the question of general warrants. — Ed.
' Lord John Cavendish was fourth and youngest son of William,
third Duke of Devonshire. He died unmarried, 19th December 1796.
—Ed.

262 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tion of the Master-General of the Ordnance, who
had not been admitted under Lord North, brought
in the Duke of Richmond; whUe, in order to oppose
some little balance to the preponderating ascendancy
of the Marquis's friends. Lord Ashburton (Dunning),
contrary to general usage or precedent, -was admitted
to a seat in quality of Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster. The transformation was doubtless great
in every instance, but in that of Dunning peculiarly
striking, who, from a barrister of obscure birth,
though of transcendent talents, beheld himself meta
morphosed in the space of a few hours into a peer,
a member of the Cabinet, and the possessor for life
of a lucrative as well as honourable legal dignity.
The other great objects of ambition or acquisition
were shared with tolerable equality among the
friends of the two principal leaders. The Earl of
Carlisle was replaced as Lord- Lieutenant of Ireland
by the Duke of Portland. Rigby, who during near
fourteen years had enjoyed the prodigious emolu
ments of the Pay Office without any colleague,
relinquished that enviable and lucrative post to
Burke, whose brother, Richard,' was likewise made
one of the two Secretaries of the Treasury. Wel
bore Ellis, faUen in an instant from his double ele.-
vation of Secretary, of State and Treasurer of the
Navy, made way for Barre in the latter employment^
thus verifying Dundas's prediction of the Irish
warming-pan; while Jenkinson was succeeded as
Secretary at War by Townshend.^ Kenyon be
came Attorney-General.^ We were colleagues for
the borough of HIndon in that Parliament. He
1 Dick Burke was called Duck Burke, from his waddling out of the
"Alley" after some unlucky Stock Exchange speculations.— D.
''¦ Thomas Townshend, afterwards Viscount Sydney (see vol. i. p.
264). — Ed.
^ Lloyd Kenyon, afterwards Lord Kenyon. He assisted Thurlow,
to whom he chiefly owed his rise to the Attorney-Generalship.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 263
possessed a deep and recondite knowledge of the
law, the result of severe application, and was sup
posed to be consulted by the ChanceUor on all cases
that arose of legal difficulty. It was indeed to Lord
Thurlow's friendship, and the high opinion enter
tained by him of Kenyon's ability,' that the latter
was -indebted, in an eminent degree, for being
brought forward in political life. Though he loved
wealth, he was not naturally an ambitious man. I
know that he reluctantly consented to become a
member of the House of Commons, and that he
was more than indifferent to his continuance in that
assembly. His Inflexible love of justice rendered
him superior to party attachments or to party sacri
fices, and he was fabricated of such tough materials
that you might break him, but could never bend
him. Gascoigne, under Henry IV., or Sir Matthew
Hale, under Cromwell, were not more intrepid and
tenacious of right.
I cannot forget his expressions when the question
was agitated in the House of Commons whether the
public had or had not a title to demand interest
on the balances of money remaining in the hands
of public accountants. It took place — I mean the
debate on the subject — in the month of June 1782,
when Fox might be esteemed First Minister, though
Lord Rockingham was at the head of the Treasury;
and Fox's opinions were well known to be in favour
of the accountants. For he always maintained that
" when a balance of public money lay in the hands
of a public functionary, all which the country or
Parliament were entitled to expect from him was,
that whenever the money should be demanded it
should be forthcoming." These were nearly Fox's
words, who never forgot that his father had been
1 " I hope you don't call his chaos of cases law,'' once exclaimed
Burke. — Ed.

264 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Paymaster of the Forces, that he had niade a vast
profit of those balances, and that his accounts
remained unsettled for many years subsequent to
his decease. But Kenyon, then Attorney- General,
thought very differentiy on the point. " I never
will preclude myself," said he, when addressing the
House from the Treasury bench, " from a full right
to discuss in a court of justice the question of whether
the public may not call on their servants to account
for and to refund the great emoluments made by
means of public money. I speak not from ill-will
to any man alive, but solely from a sense of duty In
an office which I have undeservedly as well as unex
pectedly been called to fill. I know not how long
I may continue in it, but if I should be dismissed
from my present situation, I shall return to much
domestic happiness, which I enjoyed before I was
called into public life. So long, however, as I may
remain in It, I am determined to do my duty."
A man composed of such impenetrable stuff might
look down on Ministers. When Mr. Eden' only
ventured to suppose that in his line of conduct rela
tive to Rigby and Ellis, who (as having been, the
one Paymaster of the Forces, and the other Trea
surer of the Navy) were both largely indebted to
the public, Kenyon could be actuated by any per
sonal feelings or motives, he instantly took fire.
"I hope," said he, with great emotion, after justify
ing himself from the imputation, " the right honour
able gentleman does not look into his own heart to
find out the motives which actuate me on the pre
sent occasion." Lord North endeavoured to explain
away Eden's expression, but the Attorney-General
made no answer. Little conversant with the man
ners of polite life, Kenyon^ retained, even when
1 William Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland (see vol. i. p. 237). — Ed.
* Kenyon was born in Flintshire in 1732. In 1775 Master Thomas

OF MY OWN TIME. 265
Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, to which
high dignity he afterwards rose, all the original
coarse homeliness of his early habits. Irascible in
his temper, Uke his countrymen the Welsh, destitute
of aU refinement in dress or external deportment,
parsimonious even in a degree approaching to ava
rice, he nevertheless more than balanced these
defects of deportment and character by strict
morality, probity, and integrity. As a member of
the House of Commons, whenever he spoke, though
he wanted grace and dignity, he could not be re
proached with any deficiency in the essential quali
ties of perspicuity, energy, and command of lan
guage. General Burgoyne,' whose exchange had
at length been effected against Laurens, the late
President of the American Congress, being thus
liberated from the military inabUities which his sur
render at Saratoga had inflicted on him, was sent
to replace Sir John Irwine in the post of Com
mander-in-Chief In Ireland.
The Duke of Bolton, as a compensation for the
service which he had rendered in the session of
1 781, by arraigning in the House of Peers the con
duct of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was made
governor of the Isle of Wight. During his elder
brother's life, when only Lord Harry Powlett,^ he
Lawrence, son of the landlord of the Bear Inn, Devizes, took his por
trait. He defended Lord G. Gordon. His death took place in 1802.
He loved Epictetus, and could dine on cold mutton. He was ever at
heart a Tory. — D.
* Lieutenant-General John Burgoyne, an illegitimate son of Lord
Bingley, M.P. for Preston. After his surrender at Saratoga to Gene
ral Gates an epigrammatist wrote — :
" Burgoyne, unconscious of impending fates,
Could cut his way through woods, but not through Gales,"
He died 4th August 1792. — Ed.
^ Harry Powlett was sixth and last Duke of Bolton. He died
childless in 1794. Jane Mary, a natural daughter of his brother, the
preceding Duke, was married in 1772 to Mr. Orde of Northumberland.
On the death of the last Duke, she succeeded to all the Bolton estates.

266 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
had served in the royal navy, where, however, he
acquired no laurels. He was commonly supposed
to be the " Captain Whiffle " portrayed by Smollett
In his " Roderick Random." Sheridan received the
appointment of one of the Under-Secretaries of
State in Fox's office, who having taken for himself
the Foreign Department, left the Home Secretary
ship to Lord Shelburne, a partition by no means
grateful to the latter personage, whose extensive
information on all subjects connected with Conti
nental or foreign affairs qualified him eminently
for that line of political employment. Mr. Orde
became his Under-Secretary. Of all the ostensible
candidates for public situation, whose birth and
talents seemed to call him forward to the service of
the state, and whose eloquence In Parliament had
eminently conduced to the triumph obtained over
the late Administration, Mr. Pitt alone remained
without post or remuneration. Not that the new
Ministers manifested either insensibility to his
merits or indifference to securing such abilities in
their immediate support. On the contrary, as the
best proof of their consideration, they offered him
the place of a Lord of the Treasury in the forma-
Mr. Orde assumed the name of Powlett, and in 1797 was created
Baron Bolton. Lady Bolton died in 1814. — D.
" I don't know whether this Lord Harry Powlett, or an uncle of his
wearing the same name, was the person of whom my mother used to
relate a ludicrous anecdote. Some lady with whom she had been
well acquainted, and to whom his Lordship was observed to pay un
common attentions, requested him to procure for her a pair of small
monkeys from East India — I forget the kind. Lord Harry, happy to
oblige her, wrote immediately, depending on the best services of a
distant friend whom he had essentially served. Writing a bad hand,
however, and spelling what he wrote for with more haste than correct
ness, he charged the gentleman to send him over two monkeys ; but
the word being written too, and all the characters of one height,
too, what was poor Harry's dismay when a letter came to hand
with the news that he would receive fifty monkeys by such a ship, and
fifty more by the next conveyance, making up the hundred by his
Lordship's commands ! " — P,

OF MY OWN TIME. 267
tion of the new Board. But in maklnsf him this
proposition, they appeared to have ill appreciated
his character, as well as to have forgotten his late
declaration in the House, and least of all to have
understood the extent as well as the depth of his
ambition. Pitt steadUy rejected every proposition
or solicitation, preferring to remain for the present
without office. Whether this refusal originated in
his consciousness of possessing talents which from
their pre-eminence enabled him at once to seize
a Cabinet place, without passing like other men
through any inferior gradations of political life, or
whether It rather proceeded from that superior in
telligence and discernment which even at so early
a period of youth showed him that a Ministry im
bued with such discordant principles and odious to
the sovereign could not possibly prove of long
duration, it may be difficult to deterrhine with cer
tainty. Probably both those sentiments concurred
in regulating this judicious line of action.
Charles Turner, member for the city of York,
and one of the most eccentric men who ever sat In
Parliament, accepted a baronetcy from the Marquis
of Rockingham. He was a man of large landed
property, situated in Yorkshire on the southern
bank of the Tees, near the edge of the bishopric of
Durham. Lord Rockingham could not boast of a
more enthusiastic or devoted adherent in either
House ; but Turner's attachment was not bestowed
on his rank or power. The constitutional princi
ples which that nobleman professed, and those only,
constituted the objects of Turner's veneration. It
was to commemorate, as he said, the era of a virtu
ous Minister and Administration attaining to power,
and not from any impulse of personal vanity or
desire of titie, that he accepted a dignity which
should date and derive from the auspicious period

268 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of Lord Rockingham's nomination to ' the head of
the Treasury. Sir Charles had many peculiarities
of character, dress, language, and deportment. In all
which he was truly original. He never wore any
coat except one of a green colour with tallyho
buttons,' for he was a decided sportsman. Yet the
love of liberty and detestation of every encroach
ment on the comforts, pleasures, or enjoyments of
his fellow-subjects, particularly in the lower classes
of society, was so ardent in his bosom, that he
declaimed against the game laws as the most op
pressive and disgraceful to our national character.
I remember in the month of February of this very
year 1782, Mr. Coke, member for Norfolk, having
proposed in the House a revisal of those laws with
a view to prevent poaching, which motion was
seconded by the other representative for the same
county. Sir Edward Astley ; Turner instantly rose,
and in animated though unpolished language in
veighed against the whole code, which he stigma
tised without reservation. "It is most shame
ful," exclaimed he, " to find this House perpetually
occupied in making laws to protect gentlemen. I
wish we made a few for the benefit of the poor. Let
the Legislature extend protection to them, and the
gentry will have nothing to fear from their depreda
tions. If I had been a poor man, I am convinced
that I should have been a poacher in defiance of
the laws. It is to the severity of those laws we owe
the increase of poachers. I wish to see the game
laws revised and stripped of more than half their
severity. My wish, nevertheless, is by no means an
interested one, for every shilling that I possess is in
' This was old-fashioned, for in the following year Walpole wrote
to Mason of the Duke de Chartres (Egalit^), " Lady Clermont made a
^reat dinner and assembly for him on Thursday. He came dirty and
in a frock with metal buttons enamelled in black with hounds and
horses, a fashion I remember above forty years ago." — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 269
land, and I am a sportsman as weU as other gentle
men." There existed not in the kingdom a more
determined enemy of the American war or of Lord
North. Turner did not want good sense, nor was
he destitute of education, but the simplicity, asperity,
and untutored roughness of his ebullitions always
produced laughter. " They call us a rope of sand,"
said he, meaning the Opposition. " I wiU teU the
noble Lord in the blue ribband what he and his col
leagues are. They are a rope of onions, for they
stink in the nostrils of the whole country." He
did not long survive his elevation to a baronetcy,
dying in the subsequent year, 1783. Turner bore
some resemblance to Fielding's Squire Western, but
with far more benevolence, probity, philanthropy,
and general humanity than is exhibited by Sophia's
father. \^ih April 1782.] Never was a more total
change of costume beheld than the House of Com
mons presented to the eye when that assembly met
for the dispatch of business after the Easter recess.'
The Treasury Bench, as well as the places behind
it, had been during so many years occupied by Lord
North and his friends, that it became difficult to
recognise them again in their new seats dispersed
over the Opposition benches, wrapped in greatcoats
or habited in frocks and boots. Mr. Ellis himself,
no longer Secretary of State, appeared there for the
first time in his life in an undress. To contemplate
the Ministers, their successors, emerged from their
obscure lodgings, or coming down from Brookes's
after having thrown off their blue and buff uniforms,
now ornamented with the appendages of full dress,
or returning from court decorated with swords, lace,
1 Lord North remarked that the Opposition had accused him of
falsehood, but that he had never been guilty of such mendacity as
that in the," Gazette" at this time, that " the King had been pleased
to appoint Lord Rockingham, Mr. Fox, &c."— D.

2 70 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
and hair powder,' excited stUl more astonishment.
I confess that it appeared to me the most extra
ordinary transmutation I ever witnessed, and the
members of the new Administration seemed them
selves not to have recovered from their surprise at
being thus suddenly transported across the floor of
the House. Some degree of ridicule attached to
this sudden metamorphosis, which afforded subject
for conversation, no less than food for mirth. It
happened that just at the time when tbe change of
Administration took place, Lord Nugent's house in
Great George Street having been broken open, was
robbed of a variety of articles, among others of a
number of pairs of laced ruffles. He caused the
particulars of the effects stolen to be advertised in
some of the daily newspapers, where they were
minutely specified with great precision. Coming
down to the House of Commons immediately after
the recess, a gentleman who accidentally sat next to
him asked his Lordship if he had yet made any
discovery of the articles recently lost. " I can't
say that I have," answered he, " but I shrewdly
suspect that I have seen some of my laced ruffles
on the hands of the gentlemen who now occupy the
Treasury Bench." This reply, the effect of which
was infinitely increased by the presence of Fox and
Burke in their court dresses, obtained general circu
lation and occasioned no little laughter.
All eyes were during some minutes directed to
wards the part of the House where the new Minis
ters, occupied in taking the oaths on their re-election,
engrossed universal attention. But no sooner had
that ceremony been performed, than Colonel Lut
treU ° (now Earl of Carhampton), rising, solicited the
1 Hair powder was then universally worn both by men and women,
and the Opposition had never discarded the use of it. — Ed.
2 Henry Lawes LuttreU, the second Earl. He was colonel of the 6th
Dragoon Guards. He died in 1821, in the 78th year of his age — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 271
notice of the assembly to the affairs of Ireland,
which from their critical position, he said, admitted
of no delay. He called at the same time on Mr.
Eden, Secretary for that kingdom, then in his place,
to explain their nature, and the embarrassment in
which they were involved. Eden instantly obeyed
the summons, and in a speech of considerable length,
well digested and by no means destitute of ability,
laid open the alarming fermentation, approaching to
emancipation from all dependence on the King and
Parliament of Great Britain, by which every class of
inhabitants was animated in the sister Island. With
one voice, he said, they declared their determination
no longer to submit to any legislation except that
of the sovereign and Parliament of Ireland ; con
cluding by a motion for leave to bring in a bill to
repeal so much of the Act of the sixth of George I.
as asserted a right in the Government of this country
to make laws for Ireland. " I do not wish," added
he, " to precipitate matters, but not an instant is
to be lost. I must set off for Dublin this night or
to-morrow morning. The Irish Parliament meets In
eight days from the present time, and Mr. Grattan
will immediately propose a declaration of rights. I
shaU be happy, therefore, to carry over the pleasing
intelligence that the Legislature of this country Is
ready to give every reasonable satisfaction t6 the
Irish Parliament and people."
Eden's motion being eagerly seconded from vari
ous sides of the House, the new Secretary of State
rose and addressed the assembly in language of
great animation, accompanied with visible emotion.
Having reprobated the line of conduct adopted by
Eden as equally factious, injurious, and censurable,
in thus unexpectedly introducing a proposition of
such magnitude, whose operation might tear asunder
the political ties that united the two kingdoms, Fox

272 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
threw himself and his colleagues in the new Cabinet
on the candour of the House for protection. He
protested that though scarcely inducted, yet they had
already employed much of their time in consultation
on the affairs of Ireland. Before many days, or per
haps hours would elapse, they hoped to bring forward
a proposition calculated to restore harmony and con
cord between the two countries. Against the late
Administration Fox declaimed with great asperity, as
having by their criminal negligence and procrastina
tion produced the actual calamity. On Eden him
self the Secretary was most severe, for quitting his
post and repairing to London, obviously with no
other intention than that of involving the new
Ministers in difficulties, before they could possibly
be prepared to produce an adequate remedy. Fox
terminated by moving the order of the day, though
he exhorted Eden to withdraw his motion ; but he,
far from manifesting a disposition to comply, re
peated his intimation of leaving England without
delay ; adding, that if the motion which he had just
submitted to the House was not adopted, it might
be too late to avoid a rupture between the two
countries. ,
Irritated at such pertinacity on his part, which
evidently originated in mischievous intentions to
wards the Administration, and might be productive
of most injurious effects to the public, several mem
bers, either connected with Ministry or composing
part of the Cabinet, successively interposed and
endeavoured to enforce Fox's exhortation. Eden
nevertheless treating these applications with silence
or disregard. General Conway, after reiterating the
request, and finding it received in a similar manner,
appealed to the House against him as highly merit
ing a vote of censure for his conduct. So strong
indeed was that impression, and such the sentiment

OF MY OWN TIME. 273
of condemnation excited, that while Conway spoke,
a loud and universal cry of " Move ! move ! Tower !
Tower ! " echoed from every part of the assembly.
I joined in it myself, almost involuntarUy, as did num
bers of other persons who were not at all attached
to the new Ministers, but who felt, nevertheless,
the censurable spirit of the motion thus suddenly
brought forward from motives of personal enmity
or hostility. Indeed, I am persuaded that if Con
way had availed himself of the effervescence, not to
say indignation, which pervaded both sides of the
House, and had moved to send Eden to the Tower, it
would have been adopted, unless that gentleman had
prevented it by a prompt submission and apology.
The discussion still continuing without any ap
proximation to the object sought, Mansfield, the late
Solicitor-General, endeavoured to defend, if not to
justify, Eden's proceeding, though he himself at
length seemed inclined to capitulate on the stipula
tion of receiving from Fox a solemn assurance that
the obnoxious Act of George I. should be repealed.
This demand called up Sheridan, who, speaking for
the first time in his life from the Treasury bench,
inveighed with equal energy and acrimony against
the extraordinary conduct of the Secretary for Ire
land. That functionary, Sheridan said, deserting
his duty, animated solely by private pique and re
sentment, had not only withheld from his Majesty's
present Ministers all the information of which he
must be in possession, but had attempted to exas
perate the state of things by a proposition big with
pernicious consequences to the two kingdoms. It
was not, however, till CornwaU prepared to put the
question from the chair, that Eden, finding the
House generally adverse to him, receiving no sup
port from Lord North, though that nobleman was
present, evidently entangled in his own web, and
VOL. II. s

274 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
exposed to some censure for the line of action which
he had adopted on this occasion, reluctantiy con
sented to withdraw his motion. Far from having
succeeded in embarrassing the new Ministers, he
had afforded them an occasion of acquiring some
degree of popularity, or at least parliamentary ap
probation, at their outset. Fox in particular, by
the manly promptitude of his reply, by his declara
tion of the system which the Cabinet meant to
follow, and the protestations of their fixed intention
to execute all their promises of reform made before
they entered on office, produced a most favourable
impression on the public mind. With the external
insignia of power and employment he seemed to
have assumed in an instant the tone, the language,
and the sentiments of a Minister of state,' though
he could not, even if he had been so inclined, im
mediately abandon the doctrines or the engage
ments to which he had solemnly pledged himself
during successive years of opposition. On the fol
lowing day he brought down a message from the
crown recommending the immediate consideration
of the affairs of Ireland, with a view to such a final
adjustment as might give mutual satisfaction to both
countries. It was adopted without a dissentient
voice or the slightest hesitation. In the progress
of his speech on the occasion he again alluded with
severity to the " palliatives which the late Adminis
tration," he said, " had used in treating the subjects
of contest existing between Great Britain and her
sister island, merely in order to obtain the unworthy
advantage of a temporary suspension of the evil.
His Majesty's present Ministers came, on the con-
* In his letters of this period Fox complains of the " wrangling,"
"jangling," and "jumbling" of the Cabinet ; but, he writes to Fitz
patrick, " Provided we can stay in long enough to have given a good
stout blow to the influence of the crown, I do not think it much
signifies how soon we go out after." — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 275
trary, with minds made up to meet the main ques
tion, to settle the distinct constitutions of the two
countries, and to establish such a union or connection
between them as might endure for successive ages."
A loyal address was voted to the sovereign re-echo
ing his gracious message, and the Ministry appeared
to commence their career at home under very favour
able auspices, at least within the walls of the House
of Commons.
Even the drawing-room at St. James's underwent
considerable alteration in its appearance as well as
the Houses of Parliament, in consequence of the
political revolution which had driven the late Mini
sters from power. The Earl of Hertford,' one of
the " ancient, most domestic ornaments " of the
court, who had held the white wand of chamber
lain during more than fifteen years, and whose
presence in the circle seemed, from long habit,
almost essential to its very existence, of course dis
appeared. The Duke of Manchester^ succeeded
him. Lord Effingham,^ a nobleman of great eccen
tricity of deportment, whose name since the riots of
June 1780 had scarcely been pronounced on the
theatre of public life, became Treasurer of the
Household in the place of Lord Salisbury. No
individual dismissed in consequence of the change
of Administration was more personally regretted
by the King than Lord Bateman,* who had held
^ Francis, the elder brother of General Conway. In 1793 he was
promoted to the dignity of Marquis. He died the year following,
aged seventy-five. — D.
' George, fourth Duke. He was born in 1737 and died in 1788.
His motto, " Disponendo me non mutando me," — "By disposing of
me, not by changing me," was made applicable to his appointment of
chamberlain. — D.
^ Thomas, third Earl of Effingham.- Ed.
* John, second Viscount Bateman in the peerage of Ireland, M.P.
for Woodstock. His mother was Anne, only daughter of Charles,
Earl of Sunderland. He died without issue in 1802, when the title
became extinct. — Ed.

2 76 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
during many years the post of Master of the
Buckhounds. I had the honour to know him
with great intimacy and to pass much time in
his society. The frankness and gaiety of his
dispositlori rendered him peculiarly agreeable to
the sovereign. Lord Bateman's descent on the
maternal side was very illustrious, his mother hav
ing been grand- daughter to John, Duke of Marl
borough, and sister to the second Duke of that
name. By his paternal ancestors he inherited only
civic honours, his grandfather, Sir James Bate
man, being knighted when Lord Mayor of London,
under George I.' At near seventy years of age.
Lord Bateman preserved all the activity of youth,
accompanied by an elasticity of mind and character
which never forsook him. He might have been
reinstated in the employment of Master of the Buck-
hounds under succeeding Administrations, but he
preferred the enjoyment of personal liberty, and
passed the last years of his life principally at his
seat of Shobden, in the county of Hereford. His
understanding was good, though he loved pleasure
of every description more than business, and he
possessed that mediocrity of talents which, never
inspiring awe, forms the best recommendation to
royal favour. Curiosity was so strongly excited to
see the new M inisters, and to remark the demean
our of persons who during many years had rarely
stood in the presence of the sovereign or frequented
St. James's, that numerous individuals attended the
levde and the drawing-room from no other motive.
Those who had always speculated on the short
duration of the present Administration, derived
additional proofs in favour of their opinion, from the
very looks and reciprocal deportment of the prin
cipal personages. Every attention shown by the
1 In 1717.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 277
King to Lord Shelburne excited the Instant jeal
ousy of the Rockingham party and hastened their
final separation. Time alone, indeed, was necessary
for making the political arrangements indispensable,
before the former nobleman could venture to throw
off his subjection to his colleagues, and to set up
for himself as First Minister.
\_^th — 25//; April 1782.] Previous to Lord
North's resignation. Fox had more than once In
sinuated in the House of Commons that If he were
Minister, he possessed the means of making a sepa
rate treaty with the Dutch, and of detaching them
from France. His friends did not even scruple to
assert that " he had a peace with Holland in his
pocket ; " expressions which, being uttered in a
period of misfortune and despondency, could not
faU of producing a forcible impression on the san
guine as well as on the credulous part of society.
One of his first attempts as Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs became, in fact, directed to the
attainment of so salutary and Important an object.
In order to effect it, he thought proper to address a
letter to Mons. Simolin, the Russian Minister then
residing at the Court of London, making through
him the offer of an immediate suspension of hostili
ties between Great Britain and Holland, as a step
preparatory to negotiation. This proposal was
afterwards warmly reiterated and seconded by the
ambassadors of Catherine II. at the Hague, But
instead of the nation deriving any benefit from
Fox's hasty overture, it was received by the States
General with coldness and treated with contempt ;
they wisely preferring to negotiate in concert with
France and Spain, whenever a plan should be set
on foot for general pacification. Baffled in this
experiment, the Cabinet next made propositions at
the Court of Versailles, with a view to produce ac-

2 78 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
commodation. They even sent Mr. Thomas Gren
vUle,' Earl Temple's brother, to Paris for the pur
pose ; while Admiral Digby and Sir Guy Carleton
were dispatched to America with instructions to
offer an immediate acknowledgment of the inde
pendence of the thirteen colonies. The Congress,
however, as if animated by the same spirit with the
Dutch, refused to receive any messenger, or even
to grant a passport to the person deputed by the
British Commissioners for commencing a negotia
tion. So conscious was the Secretary of State that
some degree of ridicule attached to the failure of his
attempt to open a treaty with Holland, as to induce
him to anticipate public opinion by mentioning it
in the House of Commons. He judiciously pre
pared his audience for the disclosure by first load
ing Lord North's Administration with the severest
epithets, as solely culpable from their negligence or
incapacity. " Wretched and fallen as the country
had been depictured," he said, " by himself and his
friends before they came into power, yet its real
condition infinitely exceeded even their own appre
hensions. His former suspicions were poor and
feeble in comparison with the fact. Our navy was
so reduced and impotent, that he thought an in
quiry ought to be set on foot in order that the
country might see the extent of the calamity." Un
fortunately for the Secretary, Sir George Rodney,
commanding the fleet sent out and equipped by
Lord Sandwich, had already gained the glorious
victory of the 1 2th of April, though the intelligence
did not reach London before the middle of the
^ The Right Hon. Thomas GrenviUe, born 31st December 1755,
succeeded his brother, the second Earl Temple, as M.P. for the
county of Buckingham. He was First Lord of the Admiralty in 1806.
He died in 1846, and bequeathed to the nation his magnificent library,
which is now one of the chief glories of the British Museum. — ED.

OF MY OWN TIME. 279
month of May. Fox aUuding next to his recent
experiment for making peace with the Dutch said,
that " owing to the incapable measures and misman
agement of the late Ministers, the greatest Impedi
ments were thrown in the way of a treaty with
Holland. If the present confidential servants of
his Majesty had only been called to his councUs
some weeks earlier, it would have been effected."
He concluded by repeating his accusations of Lord
North, accompanied with the observation that
though no man was less vindictive than himself,
yet self-preservation would render it necessary to
lay before Parliament the deplorable state of the
nation. He probably imagined that in the pro
strate position of the late Minister's friends and
supporters these imputations would pass without
contradiction or even observation. But the Lord
Advocate of Scotland,' impelled by the manly nature
of his disposition, and not at all overborne by the
Secretary's bold assertions, instantly rose to answer
him. After exhorting the Minister rather to pro
mote concord and unanimity within those walls than
to awaken dissension and ill-humour, " If," con
tinued he, " our navy is really in the bad condition
described by the Secretary of State, or has been so
grossly mismanaged as he pretends, the best way of
proving his assertion will be to produce a better
navy. And if it was such a very easy operation,
as he asserted, to make peace both with Holland
and America, why does he not accomplish it, now
that he and his colleagues have the conduct of the
business exclusively in their own hands ? Or if
they are compelled to admit that impediments
stand in the way, candour might induce them to
suppose that their predecessors found similar ob
stacles, which prevented their attainment of the
1 Henry Dundas.— Ed.

28o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
object." Fox made no reply to this animadversion
of Dundas. However triumphantly he conducted
matters in Parliament, where he experienced scarcely
any obstacle to his pleasure, it seemed impossible
for him to begin his foreign diplomatic labours more
unsuccessfully, after having held out to the country,
either personally or through the medium of his
adherents, such delusive expectations.
He found it much easier to induce the House
of Commons to listen to his propositions than to
persuade or to conciliate any of the belligerent
powers. No opposition whatsoever was experi
enced from Lord North, who, though at the head
of a routed party, yet remained the nominal chief
of a numerous body of individuals. He attended
very regularly in his place, and might, if he had
been so disposed, have greatly impeded, if not wholly
prevented, many of the measures of the new Govern
ment. But far from throwing any obstacles in their
way, he allowed them without molestation to com
plete their projects of reform in every direction.
The King having sent a message to the House on
the subject, Burke opened the system of domestic
retrenchment by bringing in anew his famous bill
for the reduction of the Civil List, so often proposed,
and so often rejected or eluded in preceding sessions.
Powis seconded the motion. The expressions
adopted by both, when speaking of the part which
the King performed in it, were not calculated to
render the measure itself more palatable to him.
Secret influence was designated clearly as the latent
evil which had so long separated the sovereign from
his people. Burke congratulated the House and
the country that " the auspicious moment had at
length arrived when his Majesty, liberated from the
secret and pernicious counsel which interposed be
tween him and his subjects, now addressed them in

OF MY OWN TIME. 281
the pure and rich benevolence of his own heart."
Words which in reality implied more censure than
commendation, since he had already reigned above
twenty years without feeling or exerting this bene
volent impulse. Powis spoke out in still stronger
language. After describing the act itself of con
tracting his royal state, in order to diminish the
burthens of his people, as entitled to the warmest
effusions of gratitude, he added, that " the message
now sent from the crown, proved the sovereign to
be at length delivered from that baneful and con
cealed adviser which had lurked unseen, and had
intercepted his gracious inclinations." Fox made
no allusion to secret influence, but he expressed his
hopes that gentlemen would be unanimous in ful-
fiUing his Majesty's generous intentions, as it could
be no longer objected that the House of Commons
ought not to interfere with the Civil List ; " the
King coming forward to his people with unparalleled
grace, and desiring to participate in their sufferings."
In fact, not one word was uttered from any part of
the House, though a smile might have been observed
on certain faces, and an address to the throne was
unanimously voted.
When, however, the bill itself came to be dis
cussed in the committee some weeks afterwards,
and the proposed reduction minutely detailed by
Burke, his plan had undergone a great alteration.
Instead of two hundred thousand pounds a year,
which sum, by a species of political arithmetic,
formed on data of his own assumption, he had calcu
lated in 1779 would annihilate Ministerial influence
in the House of Commons commensurate to fifty
members or votes in Parliament, he now proposed
onjy about a third part of that annual sum_ for
the scope of his retrenchment. Many regulations
which had appeared to be indispensable while he

282 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
was in opposition were abandoned when he spoke
from the Treasury bench, more undoubtedly from
compulsion than from inclination. Some abuses
owed their prospective toleration to the personal
respect that he said he felt for the individuals who
presided over the office or department. Others
were perpetuated from deference to prejudice or
popular predilection. All the regulations relative
to the principality of Wales, which had formed a
prominent feature of his former bill, were now, he
said, given up, or at least postponed, not because he
by any means believed that they would, if adopted,
fail to be productive of great national utility, but
because they were disagreeable to the Welsh. He
added, however, that he hoped a time would arrive
more propitious to their introduction. The Ord
nance might be safely trusted to the Duke of
Richmond's vigilant frugality. Vyner,' member for
Lincoln, observed on this clause, that "as the Duke
of Richmond was not immortal, he would vote for
the enactment of such regulations in his department
as might render it impossible for any successor at
the head of the Ordnance to abuse his power and
to plunder the public." Barr6 afterwards reiterated
in his place the same opinions as Ayere professed by
Vyner. Lord Ashburton, or rather Lord Shel
burne, extended his protection to the Duchy of
Lancaster. The Mint was left untouched; and
even two of the white wands, the Treasurer and
Cofferer of the Household, as contributing to the
splendour of the court, obtained grace. Yet, thus
mutilated and hardly recognisable, both Burke and
Powis, when returning thanks to the King for his
message relative to this subject, melted into tears
at the prospect of their approaching triumph over
court profiision and Ministerial corruption.
1 Robert Vyner.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 283
Two bills, one for the prevention of contractors
sitting in Parliament, the other for excluding officers
of the excise and customs from voting at elections,
were likewise passed with little difficulty or delay
through the Lower House, where the Administra
tion carried all before them. Sir Philip Jennings
Clerke brought in the former ; Mr. Crewe, now Lord
Crewe,' the latter. Except from Lord Nugent and
Mr. Vyner, as well as, I believe, from Bamber
Gascoyne, scarcely any material opposition was ex
perienced. Lord Nugent, besides speaking against
both the bills in every stage of their progress,
divided the House on them, but he could only carry
about fourteen votes with him, whUe Ministers had
more than eighty. Gascoyne said that the bill for
depriving revenue officers of their right of voting
violated Magna Charta, which secured to every
siibject his rights and franchises. Vyner repre
sented that sixty thousand individuals would be
disfranchised by its operation. The Secretary at
War having remarked that nothing could be more
desirable for these persons themselves than to be
thus incapacitated from voting, Mr. Anne Poulett^
observed, not without some wit, that the assertion
reminded him of the anecdote of Don Carlos and
the executioner. When the unfortunate son of
Philip II. said he expressed an unwUlingness to
submit to the stroke of the axe, the officer of justice
besought his Highness to remain quiet and suffer his
head to be taken off, as it was designed for his own
benefit. The Honourable Mr. Poulett, son of the
first Earl Poulett (who occupied the high office of
First Lord of the Treasury for a short period of
time under Queen Anne), was above seventy years
of age in 1782 when I knew him. He had been
1 The barony of Crewe was created in 1806. — Ed.
"^ Anne Poulett, M.P. for Bridgewater.— Ed.

284 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
named after that princess, who was his godmother.
Like Welbore Ellis, he always came to the House
in a full dress suit, and regularly took his place on
the Government side opposite to Rigby. He was a
steady supporter of the crown, but very rarely
rose to speak, being naturally of a grave and taci
turn disposition. His known loyalty and unshaken
attachment to every Administration which he ber
lieved to be approved by the King subjected him
to the lash of the " Rolliad." After enumerating
several other members distinguished by simUar
principles of action, the author of the poem adds —
" And Nancy Poulett, as the morning fair.
Bright as the sun, but common as the air,
I-nconstant nymph, who still -with open arms
To every Minister devotes her charms."
Mr. Crewe was accompanied by nearly a hundred
members when he carried up his bUl to the bar of the
Lords, but in their passage through that House both
bills (Sir Philip Clerke's, no less than the other)
experienced from the Chancellor, as well as from
Lords Mansfield and Loughborough, the most de
cided opposition. These pillars of the law, far from
yielding to the temper of the times, endeavoured,
though ineffectually, to stem its force. Thurlow, in
particular, even while holding in his hand the Great
Seal of England and while in his own person a
member of the Cabinet, yet expressed, with that
gloomy indignation which characterised his style of
speaking, the disapprobation that he felt at such
inroads on the majesty of the crown as well as on
the franchise of the subject. Unawed by the ap
pearance of Fox and Burke, who, in order to impress
him with respect as well as to display the interest
that they took in the success of these measures,
usually appeared in the House of Peers on the

OF MY OWN TIME. 285
steps of the throne whUe the bills were agitating.
Lord Thurlow animadverted on them with the
utmost severity, and divided in the minority on all
the most obnoxious clauses. But the stream which
ran with too much violence successfully to oppose
its current, soon secured for each of the bills the
concurrence of the sovereign.
It cannot be disputed by the greatest enemies
of reform that various of the offices or nominal
employments suppressed by Burke's bUl were be
come obsolete, destitute of any real function, and
void of apparent utility. Nor will it be denied
that the annual aggregate sum which the measure
saved to the country, though now reduced from
_;^20o,ooo to about ;^72,ooo a year, yet still formed
a considerable object of national economy. But, on
the other hand, the extinction of so many places
deprived the crown of that species of majesty pro
duced by the operation of time and "the hoar of
ages ; " advantages which no man knew better
how to appreciate and to venerate, as well as to
celebrate and sustain, than Burke himself. We beheld
him, scarcely ten years afterwards, stand forward
the determined champion of monarchical institutions,
and the zealous opposer of almost every kind of
innovation. We may likewise remark, that the
Board of Trade and the office of Third Secretary
of State, both which institutions his bill abolished,
have been since revived, from a conviction of their
respective necessity or benefit. Even the "great
wardrobe," the " treasurer of the chamber," the
"jewel office," the "clerks of the board of green
cloth," and some other appointments, which may
appear at first sight to be most exceptionable or
unnecessary, yet, as carrying us back in imagination
to the reigns of the Tudors by whom they were
instituted, diffused over the throne itself a Gothic

286 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
grandeur, calculated to protect and to perpetuate
the sanctity of the monarchical office. These adven
titious aids wiU not be despised by those who
deeply consider the nature of man, and of aU
human institutions.
Other consequences of an injurious description,
not foreseen at the time, or from which the author
of the bill chose to avert his view, have flowed from
the measure. In Burke's eagerness to diminish the
supposed overgrown influence of the crown, arising
from the distribution of offices among the mem
bers of the House of Commons, a greater injury has
been probably sustained by the British constitution.
The Minister, deprived of the means of procuring
parliamentary attendance and support by conferring
places on his adherents, has in many instances been
compelled to substitute a far higher remuneration,
namely, peerages. A review of Pitt's Administra
tion will form the strongest illustration of this re
mark. I know indeed, from the best authority, that
Burke himself lived to adopt the opinion, and^ like
other reformers or innovators, found reason to lament
the effects of his own bill. Being at Bath in a
declining state of health, not long before his decease,
I believe in 1797, the conversation turned on the
great augmentation made by Pitt to the numbers of
the House of Lords during the preceding thirteen
years. " I fear," said Burke, " that I am partly
accountable for such a disproportionate increase of
honours, by having deprived the crown and the
Minister of so many other sources of recompense
or reward, which were extinguished by my biU of
reform." Pitt, when he came into power early in
1 784, had in fact littie left him to bestow in propor
tion to the crowd of claimants except dignities, and
he was not parsimonious in their distribution. The
two bills excluding contractors from sitting in the

^''-'¦'^V.i'''dlH-M

^^U^^lM^2> G^^i^^W^

dyhr^fi^ .'/hii' C/iZtxinii^.^ .^^,

OF MY OWN TIME. 287
House of Commons and depriving revenue officers •
of the right of voting at elections for members of
Parliament, though liable respectively to some ob
jections, and though both were strongly reprobated
at the time by the greatest legal characters in the
House of Peers, yet appear to have obtained, and
still to retain, the general approbation of the
country. Many persons of high rank reluctantly disap
peared from about the King's person and court in
consequence of Burke's bill. The Earl of Darling
ton ' quitted the jewel office, and Lord Pelham ^ the
great wardrobe ; the first of which offices owed its
institution to Elizabeth, whUe the latter remourited
to the times of the Plantagenets. The Earl of
Essex ^ laid down the stag-hounds, as did Lord
Denbigh * the harriers ; while the disasters of Sara
toga and of Yorktown were thus felt by rebound
through every avenue of St. James's. Gibbon,
who had sat at the Board of Trade since 1779,
being dismissed from his official attendance in
Whitehall, found himself more at leisure to con
tinue that great historical work, which he ultimately
completed on the banks of the lake of Geneva, and
which will perpetuate his name to distant ages.®
George Selwyn lost a lucrative appointment under
the Board of Works ; and though possessed of an
1 Henry, second Earl of Darlington. The Earldom dates from 1754.
At his death in 1792, he was sixty-six years of age. — D.
2 Thomas Pelham, who in 1768, being then in his fortieth year,
succeeded his cousin the Duke of Newcastle in the barony of Pel
ham. He was created Earl of Chichester in 1801, and he died in
1805.— D.
3 William Anne Holies, who being born in 1732, cannot have been
one of the many godsons of Queen Anne who were baptized by her
name. Lord Essex was the fourth Earl of the Capel branch, and
died in 1799. — D.
* Basil Fielding, the sixth Earl,, born in 1719. He died in
i8oo.— D.
6 It is a singular fact that Walpole called Gibbon's work a " com
pilation," and had hardly patience to read the first volumes.— D.

288 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
affluent fortune, together with a borough, yet as he
loved money, no man who suffered in consequence
of the reduction of the Civil List retained a deeper
resentment towards the party who had abridged his
enjoyments and diminished his income. I knew
him with some degree of intimacy, having sat as
his colleague in Parliament during more than six
years for LudgershaU, from 1784 to 1790. He re
sided in Cleveland Row, in the house rendered
memorable by the quarrel which took place between
Sir Robert Walpole and Lord Townshend, under
the reign of George I., when the Prime Minister
and the Secretary of State seized each other by the
throat ; a scene which Gay is supposed to have
portrayed in the "Beggars' Opera," under the
characters of Peachum and Lockltt. Selwyn was a
member of the House of Commons during the
greater part of his life ; and down to the year 1 780
he constantly represented Gloucester, near which
city he had a seat at Matson. The unpopularity
consequent on the American war, throughout the
whole progress of which contest he supported
Government, occasioned his being rejected by his
old constituents at the general election which took
place in that year. He told me that during the
memorable siege of Gloucester, undertaken by
Charles I. in 1643, Charles, Prince of Wales, and
James, Duke of York, who both in turn ascended
the throne, but who were then boys, remained at
Matson. And he added, that James II. after he
came to the crown used to mention the circum
stance to his grandfather when he went to court,
observing, " My brother and I were generally shut
up in a chamber on the second floor at Matson
during the day, where you will find that we have
left the marks of our confinement inscribed with
our knives on the ledges of all the windows."

OF MY OWN TIME. 289
Selwyn possessed infinite wit. He had indeed
succeeded to Philip, Earl of Chesterfield's reputa
tion for bon-mots ; most of which that then attained
to any celebrity were either made by or attributed
to him. Their effect, when falling from his lips, be
came greatly augmented by the listless and drowsy
manner in which he uttered them, for he always
seemed half asleep ; yet the promptitude of his
replies was surprising. The late Duke of Queens-
berry, who lived in the most intimate friendship
with him, told me that Selwyn was present at a
public dinner with the Mayor and Corporation of
Gloucester in the year 1757 when the intelligence
arrived of our expedition having failed before Roch
fort.' The Mayor turning to Selwyn, " You, sir,"
said he, " who are in the Ministerial secrets, can no
doubt inform us of the cause of this misfortune."
Selwyn, though utterly ignorant on the subject, yet
unable to resist the occasion of amusing himself at
the inquirer's expense, " I will tell you in confidence
the reason, Mr. Mayor," answered he ; " the fact is,
that the scaling ladders prepared for the occasion
were found on trial to be too short." This solution,
which suggested itself to him at the moment, was
considered by the Mayor to be perfectly explanatory*
of the failure, and as such he communicated it to all
his friends ; not being aware, though Selwyn per
fectly well knew, that Rochfort lies on the river
Charente, some leagues from the sea-shore, and that
1 This was the great expeditipn got up to efface the memory of the
Duke of Cumberland's disasters, and to cripple our then menacing
enemy France. Sir John Mordaunt commanded in chief, Hawke
being at the head of the fleet. There was " blundering" before start
ing, on the way, and most of all on the spot. The expedition returned
without a regiment having been landed. The public indignation was
uncontrollable, but Sir John was brought before a court of inquiry,
and, to the astonishment of a nation who had seen Byng shot so
recently for no crime, he was acquitted; but the honour of G.C.B.
was not conferred on him for sacrificing the lives of our soldiers.— D.
VOL. II. T

290 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
our troops had never even effected a landing on the
French coast.
But it was not merely as a man of wit that I
delighted in his society. He was likewise thoroughly
versed in our history, and master of many curious
anecdotes relative to the Houses of Stuart and of
Brunswick. As he had an aversion to all long
debates in Parliament, during which he frequently
fell asleep, and as he never failed to vote with Lord
North, we used to withdraw sometimes to one of
the committee rooms up stairs for the purpose of
conversation. Talking to him of the death and
execution of Charles I., he assured me that the
Duchess of Portsmouth always asserted, as having
been communicated to her by Charles 1 1., that his
father was not beheaded either by Colonel Pride or
Colonel Joyce, though one of the two is commonly
considered to have performed that act. The
Duchess maintained that the man's name was Gre
gory Brandon.' He wore a black crape stretched
over his face, and had no sooner taken off the King's
head than he was put into a boat at Whitehall Stairs,
together with the block, the black cloth that covered
it, the axe, and every article stained with the blood.
Being conveyed to the Tower, all the implements
used in the decapitation were immediately reduced
to ashes. A purse containing a hundred broad
pieces of gold was delivered to him, after which
recompense he received his dismission. Brandon
survived the transaction many years, but divulged
it a short time before he expired. This account, as
coming from the Duchess of Portsmouth, challenges
great respect.
From his own father, who had acted a conspicuous
^ Here is probably a mistake as to the Christian name. Gregory
Brandon was the common executioner, and beheaded Lord Strafford.
He was succeeded by his son, Richard Brandon, who is believed
to have beheaded Charles I. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 291
part during Sir Robert Walpole's Administration,
Selwyn knew many of the secret springs of affairs
under George I. and II. He told me that the
former of those kings, when he came over here
from Hanover in 1714, understanding very imper
fectly the English language, found himself so Aveary
while assisting at the service in the Chapel Royal,
that he frequently entered into conversation in
French or German with the persons behind him.
Charles II., who could not plead the same excuse
for his inattention, was accustomed, as we know
from Burnet, to fall fast asleep; and Harry Bennet,
afterwards created Earl of Arlington, usually awoke
his Majesty towards the conclusion of the sermon.
Among the few individuals who had retained under
the new reign the places that they held or occupied
about Queen Anne was Dr. Younger, Dean of Salis
bury.' Anticipating the change of sovereigns, he
had applied with such success to render himself
master of the German language, that he was con
tinued in the office of Clerk of the Closet, which, of
course, gave him great access to the King, behind
whose chair he usually stood at chapel. With
Younger his Majesty often talked during the ser
vice, a circumstance which, as being very indecorous,
gave much offence. Lord Townshend, then one of
the Secretaries of State, animated by a sense of
loyal affection towards his sovereign, ventured to
acquaint him that his deportment at chapel offered
cause of regret, mingled with animadversion to
many of his most attached subjects, beseeching him
at the same time particularly to abstain from con
versing with Dr. Younger. Far from resenting the
freedom, his Majesty promised amendment, and
' Dr. John Younger was presented to the Deanery in 1705. He
was also a Canon residentiary of St. Paul's, and died in Amen Corner,
27th February 1727-28. — Ed.

292 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Lord Townshend strongly enjoined the Clerk of the
Closet to observe in future the most decorous be
haviour on his part. Finding, however, that they
resumed or continued the same practice. Lord
Townshend sent Younger a positive order, as Sec
retary of State, directing him, without presuming
to present himself again in the royal presence, to
repair immediately to his Deanery. Dr. Younger,
conceiving the injunction to proceed from the King,
obeyed the mandate without remonstrance or delay,
and the Secretary, waiting on his Majesty, informed
him that the Dean had received a kick from a
horse which fractured his skull, of which accident
he was dead. George I. expressed deep concern
at his loss, nor ever entertained the most remote
idea of the deception practised on him. Several
years afterwards, before which time Lord Town
shend had quitted his employment, the King re
viewing some regiments encamped on Salisbury
Plain, the Bishop, Dean, and Chapter of that city
had the honour to be presented to him, and to kiss
his hand. But when Younger approached for the
purpose, his Majesty, overcome with amazement at
beholding again a man whom he had long considered
as no more, could not altogether restrain his emo
tions. As soon, however, as circumstances per
mitted, he sent for the Dean into his presence, and
a mutual explanation took place. Conscious of the
rectitude and propriety of the motives which had
actuated Lord Townshend in his conduct, he neither
expressed any sentiment of anger or of resentment,
but contented himself with promising Younger to
confer on him a mitre as soon as an occasion should
present itself; an assurance which he would have
probably realised if the Dean had not shortly after
wards been carried off by death.
Selwyn's nervous irritability, and anxious curl-

OF MY OWN TIME. 293
osity to observe the effect of dissolution on men,
exposed him to much ridicule not unaccompaniecl
with censure. He was accused of attending all
executions, and sometimes, in order to elude notice,
disguised in a female dress. I have been assured
that in 1756 he went over to Paris expressly for the
purpose of witnessing the last moments of Damien,
who expired under the most acute torture for hav
ing attempted the life of Louis XV. Being among
the crowd, and attempting to approach too near the
scaffold, he was at first repulsed by one of the exe
cutioners, but having informed the person that he
had made the journey from London, solely with a
view to be present at the punishment and death of
Damien, the man immediately caused the people to
make way, exclaiming at the same time, " Faites
place pour Monsieur. C'est un anglols et un ama
teur." The Baron Grimm in his "Correspondence "
asserts that the fact took place, not with respect to
Selwyn, but to the celebrated Condamlne.' Pitt, in
order to recompense Selwyn for the place of " Pay
master of the Works," of which he was deprived by
Burke's biU, made him in 1 784 " Surveyor-General of
the Crown Lands," which office he retained till his
decease in 1790.
[26/,^ — 30/^ April 1782.] Hitherto, though Fox
might occasionally indulge in animadversions of
severity on the late Administration, yet no direct
attack upon any of the members of that Cabinet had
been made by the new Ministers or by their friends.
But Sawbridge, acting independently of men in
office, brought forward to the notice of the House
at this time as a matter of revision or censure a
* The execution of Damiens took place on March 28, 1757. He was
executed with the same tortures that were inflicted upon Ravaillac.
When he mounted the scaffold he said, " Le jour sera dtr, mais il
finira." Dr. Warner took upon himself to deny Selwyn's alleged
fondness for executions, but there can be no doubt of the fact.— Ed.

294 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
pension of ^looo a year, granted during the last
days of Lord North's continuance in power, to
Robinson, one of the Secretaries of the Treasury,
Sawbridge commented on the grant with all the
republican bitterness of his character. Lord North
defended, and Robinson explained the circumstances
attending the transaction, while the Secretary of
State availed himself of the subject and the occasion
to invelcfh against the late First Lord of the Trea-
sury, unconscious how soon he should be compelled
or induced from ambitious motives to form the
closest connections of policy, and even of friendship,
with that nobleman. After declaiming with no ordi
nary asperity against his abuse of the office that
he recently held, in order to provide for his adher
ents and dependants, after he had declared in his
place within those walls that his Majesty's Mini
sters were no more. Fox exclaimed, " The noble
Lord talks of the services of his Secretary. Would
to God that the honourable gentleman had been
idle ! Nor is the observation confined to him. It
extends to men of higher rank. I wish to heaven
they had employed themselves in services less in
jurious to their country ! I beg of the House to
understand that the pension in question, as well as
another of ;^5oo a year given to Sir Grey Cooper,
and a third pension which has not been mentioned,
were the work of the late Ministers, not of the noble
and honourable persons now called to his Majesty's
councils." Lord North having observed that the
third pension alluded to by Fox, which was one of
;^300o a year recently granted to himself, had in
variably been bestowed by the crown on aU his
predecessors in the same employment, added, that
he had refused it when offered him some years ear
lier. But the Secretary replied, " Men who have
ruined their country are not entitled to the rewards

OF MY OWN TIME. 295
of meritorious service ! Nor will the public brook
that the noble Lord shall receive a remuneration
equal to the great and popular Earl of Chatham."
Sawbridge, whose pertinacity of character inclined
him to prosecute with unremitting ardour whatever
matter he undertook, resumed the business three
days afterwards, concluding with a motion that " the
pension of ^1000 a year granted to John Robinson,
Esq., was unmerited by public service, and a lavish,
improvident expenditure of the public money." In
the course of his speech on the occasion, Sawbridge
stated that " the noble Lord at the head of the
Treasury, from his habitual indolence, intrusted
to the Secretary the whole management of that
department To him the negotiation of loans
was committed, of which lucrative transactions he
reserved to himself a share, as well as of other
contracts. To him likewise was confided the man
agement of that House, in which delicate line of
service he had displayed eminent dexterity. For
these meritorious performances, he had obtained
from the crown, besides the pension in question,
grants of lands and houses, together with the rever
sion of an office of considerable magnitude," every
particular of which the mover detailed to the assem
bly. Lord North was not present, but Robinson
without discomposure answered all the allegations,
denied some of the facts and admitted others, leav
ing the House to act on the occasion as they might
judge proper. Fox remained silent, but Thomas
Pitt, rising as soon as Robinson concluded, besought
the assembly not to forget its own dignity and the
great national objects demanding their attention by
occupying themselves in such pitiful discussions.
He therefore moved the order of the day. The
Secretary of State instantly availed himself of this
proposition, which he said met his approbation ;

296 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
though he paid many compliments to Sawbridge,
and accompanied them with the heaviest imputations
on the late Ministers. William Pitt, supporting his
relation, recommended unanimity as presenting the
only hope of national extrication, and the order of
the day was carried without any division, though
not before Lord Surrey ' had moved for an account
of all pensions granted from the 15th of February
down to that time, the 30th of April. No opposi
tion being made to it, the business terminated.
^ist — (yth May 1782.] Wilkes, who during more
than thirteen successive years in various Par
liaments had vainly endeavoured to expunge from
the " Journals" of the House of Commons the
memorable resolutions relative to the Middlesex
election,^ after being so often foUed at length at
tained his object The division which took place
upon this question, when 115 members voted with
him and only 47 against him, was attended with
the singular circumstance of Lord North and Fox
dividing together in the minority. The new Secre
tary of State, whose original political line of conduct
while supporting the Administration which he had
recently expelled, and of which he once formed a
part, made it sometimes difficult for him to maintain
the appearance of consistency, affected to speak and
to vote from the Treasury bench against Wilkes's
motion. He was, indeed, well aware of the charge
that would be made against him, and alluded to it
in his speech, which formed a tissue of contradic
tions. After observing that it was for the benefit of
the English people to give the power of expulsion
to the House of Commons, he nevertheless added
that when the public voice had been loudly pro-
^ Afterwards eleventh Duke of Norfolk. — Ed.
' The resolutions rendered Wilkes incapable of sitting. Walpole
describes Fox's speech on this occasion as " a manly and fair defence
of himself."— D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 297
nounced against it (as he admitted was the case), he
would not wish to preserve the privilege in order to
make use of it for the injury of the people. " Be
sides," subjoined he, "when the power to enforce
the privilege is lost. It becomes no longer an object
to retain such a privilege. The people have associ
ated and have compelled Parliament to listen to
their voice." Dundas likewise opposed Wilkes's
motion, but he did not the less reprobate Fox's
doctrine as dangerous and subversive of all govern
ment. " Associations," he maintained, " would lead
to every excess, for if ten individuals might legally
associate, so might ten thousand. From such meet
ings, of which Lord George Gordon had exhibited
a specimen, only confusion, tyranny, and despotism
could arise." The Secretary of State made no
reply, but having unfortunately given his Minis
terial sanction in early life to various measures
calculated for affixing parliamentary disapprobation
on the celebrated member who originated the mo
tion, Fox, therefore, probably thought that a regard
to his own character compelled him, however con
tradictory to his late line of declamation and of
action when haranguing his constituents in Palace
Yard, to abide by and to attempt a justification of
his conduct relative to the election for Middlesex.
No public man in my time, not even Dundas, ever
appeared to me to consider so little apology requisite
for the contradictions and derelictions of his political
principles, or seemed so completely to regard the
House of Commons as an assembly fit for becoming
the willing agents and instruments of every delu
sion, however gross or palpable, as Fox. The
difficulties of the undertaking never deterred or
intimidated him, and his splendid talents, which
could lend to sophistry the colours of truth, em
boldened him by turns to attack and defend, accord-

298 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ing to the situation in which he stood, almost every
position and tenet either of monarchical authority or
of constitutional freedom.
While the House of Commons was thus occupied
in measures of reform or engaged in retracting their
past parliamentary errors, the new Ministers, as if
they anticipated their speedy dismission, employed
the precious moments of their precarious power in
distributing among themselves without loss of time
the honours of the crown. Four garters which had
been found on the King's table unappropriated at
the time of Lord North's resignation they naturally
considered as lawful plunder. One only of the
number -fell to the share of the sovereign, which he
was allowed, though not without some difficulty, to
confer on his third son. Prince WiUiam Henry, after
wards Duke of Clarence. The remaining three
were reserved for themselves, with a due regard to
their respective consequence, party, and pretensions.
Lord Rockingham having long since received the
order from the hands of George 1 1., the Duke of
Devonshire, as head of the Whigs, was invested
with one blue ribband and the Duke of Richmond
honoured with another. Lord Shelburne took for
himself, as was to be expected, the fourth garter.
The Prince of Wales, then in early youth, who was
present at the ceremony of the investiture, observed,
with considerable discrimination of character, that
never did three men receive the order in so dis
similar and characteristic a manner. " The Duke
of Devonshire," said he, "advanced up to the sove
reign with his phlegmatic, cold, awkward air, like
a clown. Lord Shelburne came forward bowing
on every side, smiling and fawning' like a cour-
1 This was his character. He told Thurlow he was amazed at the
genius he found in the King. The Chancellor, who, he h6ped,would
have repeated the flattering observation, laughed in his face. — D. ,

OF MY OWN TIME. 299
tier. The Duke of Richmond presented himself,
easy, unembarrassed, and wifh dignity, as a gentle
man." The Earl of Ashburnham,' who had been during
more than six years Groom of the Stole, laid claim
to one of the garters under a promise which he as
serted to have received from the King, and of which
he endeavoured to enforce the performance. His
royal master, though he did not deny the engage
ment, pleaded his inabihty to fulfil it under the
actual circumstances of his situation, which left him
no longer any option in distributing the decorations
ill question. This excuse did not, however, satisfy
Lord Ashburnham, who addressed to the King a
letter of reproach on the occasion, couched in lan
guage which was thought too severe from a subject
to his sovereign. His resentment at the involuntary
infraction of the royal word impelled him to resign
his office, which, as being in the King's immediate
family and near his person, has always been con
sidered exempt from Ministerial interference. Lord
Weymouth, who succeeded him, had acted a much
more important part In earlier periods of his Ma
jesty's reign, when he filled during a very consider
able time the post of Secretary of State, and even
held the Lord- Lieutenancy of Ireland for a few
months, though he never crossed over to Dublin.
He was a man of very eminent talents, but accom
panied with great singularities of character. Of a
disposition highly convivial, his conversation enter
tained and delighted. In order, however, to profit
by his society, it became necessary to follow him to
White's, to sit down to supper, to drink deep of
claret, and to remain at table till a very late hour
of the night, or rather of the morning. " Junius,"
1 John, second Earl of Ashburnham, born 30th October 1724, died
in i8i2. His son George, third Earl, succeeded in obtaining a garter.
—ED.

300 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
alluding to this weU-known circumstance when ad
dressing the Duke of Grafton in June 1771, says,
referring to Lord Weymouth, " Yet he must have
bread, my Lord, or rather he must have wine. If
you deny him the cup there will be no keeping him
within the pale of the Ministry."
Earl Gower, the Lord Chancellor, and Rigby
were through life his three most intimate friends
and companions. His application to business by no
means kept pace with his abilities, nor was he ever
a popular Minister. Indeed, if we except the first
Mr. Pitt, Henry Bilson Legge, who was Chancellor
of the Exchequer during about five months after
his Majesty's accession to the throne, and perhaps
we may add to a certain degree the Marquis of
Rockingham, all three of whom were devolved on
him by his grandfather, or forced upon him by the
'nation, George III. cannot be said to have had any
Minister in any department previous to Lord
North's resignation who enjoyed popularity. We
must except from the remark Lord Camden during
the short time that he held the Great Seal as
Chancellor. Lord Weymouth attracted a consider
able portion of the indignation which characterises
Junius's opening letter, written in January 1769, for
having officially signed the order which authorised
the military to fire on the populace assembled in St.
George's Fields. " Recovered from the errors of his
youth, frorn the distraction of play, and the bewitch
ing smiles of Burgundy," says that writer, " behold
him exerting the whole strength of his clear, un
clouded faculties in the service of the crown.'' He
had preceded Lord Ashburnham as Groom of the
Stole in 1775, from which office he became Secre
tary of State for the Home Department, an employ
ment that he held about four years, being succeeded
in 1779 by the Earl of HUlsborough. Ten years

OF MY OWN TIME. 301
afterwards, Pitt created Lord Weymouth a Mar
quis.' Though the Administration of which Lord North
so long constituted the head had ceased to exist,
yet many of the parliamentary institutions that he
had originated still continued in activity. Among
the principal might be esteemed the Secret Com
mittee for inquiring into the state of the East India
Company's affairs. Dundas, their chairman, brought
forward, almost as soon as the House of Commons
met after the change of Ministers, various reports,
calculated to show the causes, not only of the cala
mities sustained in the Carnatic, but of the improper
expenditure of blood and treasure in other parts of
Hindostan. On these reports he founded a number
of resolutions, which were finally adopted by the
House. Sir Thomas Rumbold, late Governor of
Madras,^ and two of his colleagues, members of the
Council at Fort St. George, became the first objects
of public accusation. The second blow fell on Sir
Elijah Impey,^ who, in his quality of Chief Justice
of Bengal, was supposed, or asserted, in more than
one instance, to have lent his legal aid and support
to the Supreme Government from self-interested
motives, and for unjust as well as pernicious pur
poses. Hastings himself, then Governor-General
of Bengal, and Hornby, Governor of Bombay, be
came implicated or involved in these criminations.
Dundas, when mentioning the former in the course
of his opening speech to the House, admitted that
Mr. Hastings had on many occasions proved him
self a meritorious servant of the East India Com-
1 Of Bath.— Ed.
2 Rumbold is said to have been originally a waiter at White's club- _
house. He was elected Member of Parliament for Yarmouth, Isle of
Wight, on 14th April 1781. — Ed.
^ Impey passed sentence of death on Nundcomar, August 1775.
He was recalled July 1782, and impeached in 1788. Died ist Febru-
arv i8i2. — Ed.

302 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
pany, but added that he was not authorised to fancy
himself an Alexander or An Aurungzebe, preferring
frantic military expeditions before the improvement
of commerce and the cultivation of the arts of peace.
He then called on the new Ministers to aid and
support him, or, if his propositions for the ameliora
tion of our affairs in India clashed with any of their
plans, he offered to resign the whole business into
their hands.
Fox, in reply, assured him of the warmest sup
port from Administration. Our situation in the
East, as depictured by the learned Lord, held up,
he said, a mirror reflecting the state of our affairs in
the West. Then alluding to Lord North, he sub
joined, " The effects of the pernicious system which,
thank God, is at length destroyed, are felt at this
hour throughout every portion of the empire ! "
Burke, in stUl stronger language, inveighed against
the system of corruption which, he asserted, had
pervaded all the channels of the state under the
late Ministry. Measures adapted to the nature of
the imputed offences or misconduct of each of the
above-mentioned persons were adopted. Rumbold
possessed a seat in the House, as one of the repre
sentatives for Shaftesbury. Having arrived from
India early in 1781,' under circumstances that ren
dered him highly unpopular, he was restrained
from either leaving the kingdom or from alienating '
his property by Act of Parliament, and severer
measures were meditated or commenced against
him. He contrived, nevertheless, after bringing
his eldest son ^ into the House soon afterwards, to
1 In the return of members of Parliament for the Parliament of
1780 it is stated, under the head of Shaftesbury borough, "Return
amended by order of the House dated 2d April 1781, by erasing the
name of Sir Thomas Rumbold, Bart., and substituting that of Hans
Winthrop Mortimer, Esq." — Ed.
' William Richard Rumbold was elected for Weymouth and Mel-
combe Regis 30th April 178 1, — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 303
protract the proceedings and ultimately to elude
all punishment. An address was voted by a great
majority, and presented .to his Majesty, requesting
him to recall Sir Elijah Impey from his judicial
situation in India. Finally, resolutions of a nature
tending to hold out both Hastings and Hornby in
their public capacity as men who had committed
acts of the most culpable or unjustifiable kind were
agreed to in the House. But the advanced period
of the session and the unsettled state of domestic
affairs in a Cabinet divided by animosity prevented
or postponed the further prosecution of these in
teresting concerns to the subsequent year.
On the other side the Atlantic, misfortune still
accompanied the English arms. St. Christopher's,
after a long and gallant defence, surrendered ; the
islands of Nevis and Montserrat were lost. Even
the valuable settlements of Demerara and Esse-
quibo, situate on the continent of South America,
which we had taken in the preceding year from the
Dutch, were recaptured by France. Rodney, in
deed, having arrived out, joined Sir Samuel Hood
at Barbadoes, but he found himself unable to inter
cept or to prevent the arrival of a convoy from
Brest, which brought to the French admiral, De
Grasse, supplies the most essential for his projected
hostUe operations. At home, general despondency
or apathy pervaded the country. Every allegation
which had been brought forward against the late
First Lord of the Admiralty while in office was
renewed with augmented violence now that he had
retired to private life, and these clamours were
supported or encouraged by the new Ministers.
Fo^ speaking on the subject of retrenchment upon
the 6th of May, when Burke's blU for diminish
ing the royal household was under consideration,
launched out into his accustomed condemnation of

304 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the preceding Ministry. " An inquiry into the actual
state of the finances," he observed, "'was already
commenced. He anxiously wished that another
inquiry should be instituted to disclose the con
dition of the navy, which had been found deplorable
beyond conception." " As to the nature of our
foreign alliances," added he, " no inquiry is neces
sary. Should a committee be appointed to sit upon
that subject, their report must be concise : we have
none." Sir George Rodney's victory constituted
the best reply to the charges made against Lord
Sandwich.' The American war and the calamities
which it produced, not any want of exertion, fore
sight, or talent in the late Cabinet, had alienated
from us the Continental powers, and rendered in
effectual every endeavour to form connections of
policy or friendship with the European states.
Rodney himself was enveloped in the accusations
levelled against the Board of Admiralty which had
sent him out, and disasters more severe than any
that we had yet experienced were predicted or
anticipated as about to happen in that quarter of
the grlobe where he commanded. Never was the
nation less in expectation of the great victory that
impended in the West Indies than a week, or even
a day before the intelligence arrived. It required
the utmost exertions of the new Admiralty to pre
vent the Dutch squadron, which quitted the Texel
at this time, from effecting a junction with the com
bined fleets of France and Spain, commanded by
Guichen. Lord Howe,^ now restored to the British
1 This victory embarrassed a Ministry who declared that we had
no fleet fit to compete with an enemy. At the moment that Rodney,
was defeating De Grasse, the Rockingham Cabinet had superseded ,
him by sending out Admiral Pigot, and the Westminster electors
ware resolved never to vote for him again. — D.
'^ The celebrated Admiral Howe, fourth Viscount Howe in the
peerage of Ireland, was created a Peer of Great Britain by the title
of Viscount Howe, 29th April 1782, and advanced to the Earldom of

OF MY OWN TIME. 305
navy, and, like Keppel,' created an English Vis
count, effected a service so distinguished, which un
questionably entitled him to the gratitude of his
country. [yth May 1782.] If Pitt, whether from the dic
tates of profound ambition or from the calculations
of ordinary prudence, had thought proper to refuse
any place or situation under the new Ministry, he
did not on that account withdraw his individual
exertions as a member of Parliament or retire in
any degree from public view and admiration. On
the contrary, he came eminently forward at this time
as a candidate for national approbation in the deli
cate as well as arduous character of a political
reformer. The spirit of the times, which operated
greatly in his favour, removed many of those ob
stacles that might have impeded him if he had
made the attempt under the former Administration.
While Burke carried retrenchment into the palace
as well as to the table of the sovereign, Pitt aspired
to renovate or to reorganise the national representa
tion. In the progress of a speech, conceived with
consummate ability and delivered from the Treasury
bench, he endeavoured to show the vices of the
actual state of popular election and to point out the
most efficacious or salutary remedies. The abuses
aUeged by him to exist, which were indeed indisput
able, seemed at first sight loudly to demand redress.
But, on the other hand, theory and practice might
be found greatly at variance; and even the re
formers themselves, it was well known, differed
widely in their ideas or opinions on the point. The
Duke of Richmond, who carried his principles to a
Utopian and visionary length, would have extended
Howe 19th August 1788. He was created a Knight of the Garter in
1797, and died 5th August 1799. — Ed.
1 Admiral Keppel was created- Viscount Keppel 22d April 1782.
He died 2d October 1786.— Ed.
TOL. II. U

306 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the right of voting almost to the whole population
of Great Britain. Fox supported on this occasion
both with his eloquence and his vote the plan pro
posed by Pitt ; but Burke, less democratic in his
ideas of government, refused to lend his powerful
aid to a cause which he disapproved. The Secre
tary at War (Townshend), who looked forward to
the possession of a borough at the decease of George
Selwyn, his uncle, equally absented himself, as did
others of the Ministerial followers. Lord North,
though he attended the discussion and disapproved
all innovation, yet, to the surprise of his friends,
took no active part in the debate. Dundas; how
ever, supplied his place, and made an animated
appeal against the projected reform, as did Thomas
Pitt at great length with much ability. Indeed, I
thought his speech as eloquent, as persuasive, and
more solid in its deductions than that of his relative
who brought forward the question.
Conscious as Thomas Pitt was that he repre
sented only a nominal borough, since it was a no
torious fact that he elected himself together with
his father-in-law, Pinckney Wilkinson, as members
for Old Sarum,' he felt the subject demand extra
ordinary delicacy. Nor did he make a single false
step from the commencement to the close of his
speech. On the contrary, he endeavoured, with
great address, to demonstrate from his own conduct
through successive Parliaments — for he had sat, I
believe, in five — that a man returned to the House
of Commons by a single tenement might be as in
dependent, as high-minded, and as incorrupt, as he
who took his seat for a county or for the City of
London. While he paid the greatest compUments
^ In 1784 two new members were elected for Old Sarum — the
Hon. John Charles Villiers, in place of Thomas Pitt, who was created"
Lord Camelford, and George Harding, K.C, Solicitor-General, in
place of Pinckney Wilkinson, deceased.

OF MY OWN TIME. 307
,to the mover of the proposition, he denied the prin
ciples and the facts on which were founded every
one of the conclusions. Equality of representation,
Thomas Pitt observed, never was nor could have
been the basis on which our ancestors meant to
erect the liberties of England, they having allowed
the little county of Rutland to send as many mem
bers to that assembly as Yorkshire or Devon. To
one proposition for reforming the representation,
and to one only, which had been recommended by
the great Earl of Chatham, he expressed his assent,
namely, the addition of a knight of the shire or
member for every county throughout England.
Sawbridge seconded and Sheridan supported Pitt's
motion ; but Sir Charles Turner, by his originality
and blunt simplicity of diction as well as of senti
ment, attracted more attention than either the one
or the other on that evening. He said, "In his
opinion the House of Commons might be justly
considered as a parcel of thieves, who having stolen
an estate, were apprehensive of allowing any person
to see the title-deeds from the fear of again losing
it by such an inspection. That they were not the
representatives of the people was clear, for they had
carried on the cursed American war though opposed
by the voice of the whole nation." " I believe, in
deed," added he, " the present Ministers are more
honest than their predecessors, but I want the con
stitution to be so established that no administration,
however bad, may be able to convert it to the injury
of the people." Powis strongly opposed the motion,
as did Rigby, who not only treated all innovations
as dangerous theoretical experiments, but denied
that a reform in the national representation was
demanded by the people. Associations, he said,
formed exclusively of individuals who met for the
express purpose, proceeded to elect delegates, and

3o8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
these latter published resolutions in the newspapers,
which were falsely assumed to speak the public
opinion. Sir Horace Mann moved the order of
the day.
The measure itself, however interesting in its
nature, yet not being a party question, by no means
attracted the attention which had been produced by
the motions that preceded the dissolution of the late
Administration. Scarcely more than three hundred
members voted upon it, while near five hundred
had been present in more than one of the divisions
of the month of March. Pitt's proposition " to ap
point a committee for inquiring into the state of the
national representation," though it could only be
considered as a preliminary step, yet was negatived
by a majority of twenty. I made one of that smaU
majority, and it is a vote of which I not only never
have repented, but of which I more and more ap
prove on full consideration, for I have always
regarded the rejection of Pitt's attempt in 1782 to
alter the national representation as one of the nar
rowest escapes which the British constitution has
had of subversion in our time. Eleven individuals
passing over from one side to the other might have
opened wide the door of innovation, and, once
opened, what power could shut it ? The moment,
too, was peculiarly favourable to propositions of
reform and amelioration, when the nation, bent
down and disgusted by the calamities of the Ameri
can war, lent a ready ear to every project that held
out the prospect of a better order of things. When
the same subject was agitated anew in the foUowing
session the danger was over. Peace had been re
stored, and though Mr. Pitt not only brought it
again forward, but was joined by two of his most
formidable opponents — I mean Thomas Pitt and
Dundas — yet the House rejected it by a great

OF MY OWN TIME.

309

majority. So complete a change had taken place
in public opinion between the two periods ! It was
indeed difficult not to reflect, while listening to the
arguments of Pitt, who eloquently depictured the
corruption of the rotten boroughs, among which
several, he said, "were to be considered as within
the control of the Carnatic and under the immediate
influence of the Nabob of Arcot ; " that he was him
self sitting at that very time for Appleby by the
influence, or, in other words, by the nomination
of an English nabob. Sir James Lowther. To the
corrupted state of the representation, therefore, it
was owing that he had himself obtained a place in
the House of Commons.
It was equally impossible not to be conscious that
if the regulation which enacts that every member of
that assembly shall be bona fide possessed of ;^300
per annum freehold estate had been severely and
literally enforced, neither Fox, nor Pitt, nor Sheri
dan, nor many other eminent individuals, could ever
have sat in Parliament. Probably, indeed, on the
day that Mr. Pitt made his motion, he scarcely pos
sessed any property, certainly no landed property ;
and as to Fox, though actually Secretary of State,
he was known to be plunged in debts contracted
by play,' which left him without fortune, or almost
means of support. But they did not less constitute
the two most distinguished persons of the age in
which they lived, the ornaments of their country
in different lines. Fox always maintained without
reserve, in private conversation as well as in Par
liament, that to enforce rigidly the rule relative to
the qualifications of members would be at once to
exclude talents from obtaining entrance into the
' Lord Holland states in Lord J. Russell's Memoirs of Fox, vol. i.
p. 320, that "he never touched a card," meaning while he was a
Minister. Walpole says "he gave himself up to the duties of his
office."— D.

3IO HISTORICAL MEMOIR^
House. So little, indeed, may speculation and fact
agree, that if the list of representatives for the
county of York, of Devon, or of Lincoln, ever since
the reign of Elizabeth down to the present year
(1818), were to be compared with those who have
been sent to Parliament during the same period of
time from the vilest Cornish borough, we shall find
that in every quality justly recommending to a seat
in the Legislature, namely, high birth, extensive
property, distinguished talents, or public principle
and virtue, the superiority will be found, in many
instances, perhaps in most, to incline on the side of
the persons elected for the boroughs. Such an esti
mate might be difficult to make, and must be always
in some measure open to dispute ; but it serves to
prove that various principles in legislation, as well
as various abuses, do not produce the effects which
might naturally be expected to result from them in
theory. \%th — \tth May 1782.] Two great public mea
sures were successively brought forward about this
time by the new Administration, of both which the
Secretary of State formed the official organ for their
communication to the House of Commons. Both
appeared to me highly deserving of approbation, •
as dictated by a vigorous policy, or by a spirit of
wise conciliation. The first was a plan for arming
the people, or more properly an invitation to them
to arm themselves, contained in a circular letter
addressed by the Minister for the Home Depart
ment to the magistrates of the principal cities
throughout the kingdom. If we contemplate the
critical position of Great Britain in May 1782, pre
vious to our receiving the intelligence of Rodney's
victory, surrounded by enemies who had remained
during successive years almost masters of the Eng
lish Channel, while the whole East Coast, from

OF MY OWN TIME. 311
Leith down to Yarmouth, lay exposed to an attack
or to an invasion from the Dutch, who had recently
treated with contempt Fox's overtures for a separate
treaty ; if we weigh these circumstances, we cannot
with justice refuse our full tribute of praise to an act
of such judicious energy. Mr. Daniel Parker Coke,
nevertheless, animated as he always was by public-
spirited and honest, though in this instance mistaken,
views of national benefit or safety, brought the con
sideration of Lord Shelburne's letter before the
House. Mindful of Lord George Gordon's outrages,
when a furious but happily an unarmed mob sur
rounded and menaced both the assemblies of Par
liament, he called upon the King's Ministers to
explain and to justify a proceeding unauthorised
previously by either branch of the Legislature.
Thus questioned, or rather inculpated. Fox rose,
and in a speech of great ability', worthy an enlight
ened as well as a liberal statesman, assigned the
most convincing reasons for the adoption of the
measure. Nor did he omit, according to his usual
practice, to derive new arguments in its justification,
drawn from the asserted incapacity, neglect, or cul
pable want of exertion in the late Ministers, whom
he accused of keeping the country ignorant of their
danofer, and not daringf themselves to look it in the
face. He received, nevertheless, on this occasion,
both from Dundas and from Rigby, the strongest
assurances of support, accompanied with the warm
est eulogiums on the conduct of the Cabinet. Mr.
Coke himself, though sustained in his arguments by
Mansfield, the late Solicitor-General, admitted the
validity of the reasons which the Secretary of State
assigned, and only demanded that the measure
should receive the sanction of Pariiament previous
to its general adoption. No act of the Marquis of
Rockingham's Government seems entitied to more

312 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
unqualified commendation than the plan for thus
rendering the people the agents of their own pro
tection against foreign force. It has been found in
later times, when improved and extended, our best
security against internal insurrection, as well as
against the formidable armaments of revolutionary
France. [\yth May 1782.] The second measure to which
I allude regarded Ireland, and was dictated by an
overwhelming necessity, if not by enlarged and
generous views of policy. That island, completely
in possession of independence and defended by her
own volunteers, exacted with arms in her hands a
renunciation of all parliamentary or legislative supre
macy on the part of Great Britain, together with
a sImUar abandonment of the appellant jurisdiction
exercised here in the courts of law. In return for
these concessions, she offered her loyal submission
to the King of Ireland, the common sovereign of
both kingdoms. Fox, after demonstrating, with
great force of reason, that we had no alternative
left us than acquiescence, subjoined, " If, therefore, I
shall this day be compelled to move any proposition
humiliating to Englishmen, the fault is not mine.
It is the fault of those Ministers who left the
volunteers of Ireland in a condition to make the
demands contained in the addresses laid upon your
table, not, indeed, by leaving arms in their hands,
but by leaving them their injuries and their oppres
sions." " Of the volunteers themselves I must
speak respectfully, for they have acted with temper
and moderation, nor have they committed a single
act which does not excite my veneration and respect
Whatever blame may be attributed throughout this
whole business, I impute not a particle of it to Ire
land. I lay it all at the door of the late Admini
stration." He then moved to repeal the Act of

OF MY OWN TIME. 313
1 719, which declared the dependence of Ireland
on the crown of Great Britain, observing that it
would constitute a pledge to the inhabitants of the
sister island of our sincerity and determination to
conduct ourselves openly throughout every stage of
the transaction.
Mr. Thomas Pitt, who had performed a very pro
minent part in all the debates of the Lower House
during the whole course of the last and of the pre
sent session, seconded the motion, but not with
out previously entering his protest against some of
the principles and doctrines laid down by Fox on
that day, — doctrines or opinions which, it must be
owned, coming from a Minister of the crown
seated on the Treasury bench, having the man
agement of the House of Commons, and in some
measure directing the Cabinet itself, sounded very
extraordinary to loyal ears, and savoured more, as I
thought, of Algernon Sydney or of Hampden than
of a Secretary of State under a monarchy. Not a
word was uttered throughout the whole discussion
by any member of Lord North's Administration,
either in their own exculpation or expressive of
their sentiments relative to the propositions about
to be adopted. I must except Mr. Eden from this
remark, who was present In his place, and gave his
assent or approbation, qualified, nevertheless, by cer
tain reservations, to Fox's proposal. The motions
passed without a dissentient voice, though not with
out a feeling of universal humiliation. Ireland, imi
tating America, had In fact emancipated herself
from all subjection to British laws, but she still
remained obedient to the monarchy. Perhaps this
day may be esteemed the point of our lowest de
pression as a nation, during the calamitous period
of time which elapsed between the commencement
of the American war in 1775 and the peace of

314 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
1783. Only a few hours afterwards arrived the
tidings of Rodney's victory, an event which electri
fied the whole population of Great Britain, propor
tionately depressed our European enemies, and
being followed by their repulse before Gibraltar at
the interval of scarcely four months, produced our
extrication. Pitt having failed in his attempt to alter the re
presentation of the House of Commons, Sawbridge
endeavoured in some measure to attain the same
object by shortening the duration of Parliaments ;
but his motion was happily rejected, 149 voting
against It, while only sixty-one members supported
the proposition. The debate, nevertheless, was not
only animated, but gave rise to some circumstances
of great singularity. Rigby opposed it, 9.s from
him might have been expected, treating the idea
itself with contempt or ridicule, and utterly denying
that it was either the sense or the wish of the people
at large. He concluded by adverting to a meeting
of the electors of Westminster, which had been
recently held in Westminster Hall, observing sarcas
tically, that " the best sense of the assembly there
convened could not probably be collected upon this
occasion, on account of Mr. Fox's absence from it."
The Secretary of State immediately rose, and, with
the manly disdain of all little prudential arts or half
measures which always characterised him whether
in or out of office, replied that his only reason for
not taking the chair when that numerous and re
spectable body of Individuals met was because he
knew their intention of addressing his Majesty on
the late change of Ministers. Being himself a
member of the new Cabinet, he conceived it inde
corous to preside on such an occasion. " The gen
tleman," continued he, "who has just sat down
asks how we are to collect the sense of the people ?

OF MY OWN TIME. 315
Why, let him turn his eyes towards Ireland, and
see how it has been collected there. The Parlia
ment of that country spoke one language, and the
nation spoke another. In consequence the people
armed, but it is the fatality of this country never to
open its eyes till general ruin menaces, and every
man is preparing to take up a musket." We must
admit that these expressions, even if we allow their
truth and admire their energy, would have been
more suitable to the leader of Opposition than to
a man filling one of the highest offices of state. Such
unquestionably was the impression made by them
at St. James's, and I believe I might add in St.
GUes's. It was evident that Fox, even while hold
ing the seal of his department, looked more to the
approbation and support of the people for retain
ing his situation than to the favour of the sove
reign. We may even suspect that he already fore
saw or anticipated the events which took place
only a few weeks afterwards on Lord Rocking
ham's decease. Nor can we wonder that George
III. should entertain strong prejudices against a
man who seemed never to forget that he owed his
power solely to the predilection of the people, and
who only hoped to preserve it by their active inter
ference. Fox, when speaking in the House of
Commons, would have done wisely to recoUect that
another illustrious statesman, as well as profound
writer, who, like himself, passed almost his whole
life in opposition to the Government of his day, I
mean the Cardinal De Retz, has observed, " Qu'il
vaut mieux faire des sottises, que d'en dire ; "
words dictated by a perfect knowledge of human
nature and of man.
Pitt sustained Sawbridge's motion with far more
decision, more energy, and with a much stronger
conviction of its utility to the cause of constitu-

3i6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
tional freedom than was manifested by the Secre
tary of State. The latter lent only a very limited
approbation to it, adding, that " as he was convinced
the people wished it, and would have it, he should
vote for it, though he doubted whether it would be
productive of the beneficial effects expected to re
sult from the proposition." I am indeed persuaded
that if Fox had been once confirmed in office and
acceptable to the sovereign, he would have steadUy
repressed all democratic innovations, as, on the
other hand, had Pitt passed his whole life on the
Opposition bench, poor and excluded from power, I
believe he would have endeavoured to throw his
weight into the scale of the popular representation.
So much does situation as well as sentiment ope
rate on the tenor of our conduct through life ! It
always appeared to me that Pitt had received from
nature a greater mixture of republican spirit than
animated his rival, but royal favour and employment
softened its asperity, while his superior judgment
and command over himself enabled him to conceal
those emotions which Fox imprudently disclosed.
Sir Charles Turner set the House in a roar, though
at his own expense, by his answer to Rigby's ob
servations on the meeting held in Westminster Hall.
" I will make free to tell the right honourable gen
tleman," said he, "that more good sense was uttered
in that assembly, and to a much honester audience,
than I ever witnessed within these walls. The
people who attend there do not come for hire and
to get places. They meet for the purpose of assert
ing their rights, and to defend their wives and chU
dren." Powis, whose love of liberty was always
under the control of moderation, well-regulated
ambition, good sense and loyalty, opposed Saw-
bridge's experiment on the British constitution as
neither desired by the nation in general, nor, if con- .

OF MY OWN TIME. ziy
ceded, likely to operate for the public felicity and
advantage. In a speech of considerable length, full
of matter decorated with all the charms of elocu
tion, Burke brought his powerful assistance to the
same side, demonstrating how injurious to the
people themselves, to the public tranquillity, and to
the greatness of the state, the abbreviation of Par
liaments would be found in practice. He always
held and maintained similar principles, nor was
Fox, I believe, at all chagrined at the result of the
debate and of the division.'
Nearly two months had elapsed since Lord North's
resignation, during which period of time, though he
attended frequently in his place, yet, except when
personally attacked, as he had been a few weeks
before, on the subject of his own and of Robin
son's pension, he had scarcely given any marks of
political or parliamentary existence. Still less had
he thrown any impediments in the way of the new
Ministers. Even Fox's reproaches or accusations
did not seem to rouse him, though they might
painfully affect his feelings. This line of action was
probably wise and judicious, as it allowed time for
the operation of events, domestic as well as foreign,
while he might avail himself of the errors of the
new Ministers, or of their divisions. The fate of
Jamaica in the West, of our territories in the East,
and of Gibraltar in the South, were all problema
tical. Under so deep a cloud, oppressed by the
loss of America, and unpopular, he could not im
mediately emerge. Like Lord North, Jenkinson
equally withdrew from public observation, rather
affecting to take his seat unnoticed, in obscure parts
of the House, than to appear conspicuous on the
Opposition bench, though he more than once rose
to speak on points unconnected with party, as they
1 The Fox Memoirs and Correspondence indicate otherwise. — D.

3i8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
presented themselves for discussion, and he never
spoke without throwing light on the subject under
examination. Among all the eminent supporters
of the late Ministry, Dundas and Rigby alone held
together, spoke, voted, and acted under a sort of
concert, sometimes supporting the new Admini
stration, but without abandoning their former opin
ions or principles. This union, nevertheless, ter
minated with Lord Rockingham's tenure of power,
Dundas then attaching himself to the Earl of
Shelburne and Pitt, while Rigby, pressed by Govern
ment for the payment of his large balances due
to the public, finally joined the coalition of Lord
North and Fox.
In 1782 Rigby might however be considered as a
declining, if not a setting luminary, whereas the Lord
Advocate of Scotland was a rising political constella
tion. Nor could any comparison be made between
their respective abilities. The late Paymaster of
the Forces, who had risen under the patronage of
John, Duke of Bedford,' by whose friendship he
was principally elevated to the lucrative post that
he had so long exclusively occupied, derived his
principal support from the powerful party of that
deceased nobleman, better known during the first
years of the present reign by the denomination of
"the Bloomsbury gang."^ His own talents, which
had received very little improvement from educa
tion or cultivation, though admirably calculated in
1 The Minister whom Chesterfield satirically called "our Enghsh
Atlas," and whose "jollity, boyishness, and vanity" were censured by
Pelham, who said that when the Duke rode once a week from
" Woburn to London and back, he thought he had done a world of
business." — D.
^ The whole of the north side of Bloomsbury Square was originally
occupied by Southampton House, the town-house of the Dukes of
Bedford, erected in the reign of Charles II. for Wriothesley, Earl of
Southampton. The house, furniture, and pictures, including Thorn-
hill's copies of the cartoons now in the Royal Academy, were sold
by auction by Christie in 1800. The mansion was taken down soon
afterwards. — Ed,

OF MY OWN TIME. 319
many points of view for a popular assembly, yet
derived much of their effect from the dictatorial
manner of their professor. He spoke, too, from an
eminence, while holding the Pay Office, where the
festivity of his table attracted many supporters.
But when dislodged from that fortress, where he
had sustained himself so long, and removed to a
house of very moderate dimensions in St. James's
Place, his abilities sank nearer to their just level.
He might Indeed have then said to George III. as
the Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, did to Queen
Elizabeth when she observed that his house was
too small for him, "It is your Majesty who has
made me too great for my house." Dundas, on the
other hand, though no longer seated on the Trea
sury bench by Lord North, and thrown into the
shade in consequence of the change of Admini
stration, contained in himself all the materials of
which an able Minister might be composed. True,
indeed, he wanted the classic elegance of Pitt and
Fox, of Burke and Sheridan, but in masculine elo
quence, decision of character, firmness, resources
of mind, suavity of manners, application, and all
the qualities of a statesman, he manifested no de
ficiency. [18^",^ May 1 782. J Such was the general aspect
qf the House of Commons when the capital and the
country were thrown into a delirium of joy on re
ceiving the intelligence of Rodney's victory over
De Grasse, gained upon the preceding 12th of
April.' Accustomed of late years as we have been
to obtain naval advantages over the French, and to
anticipate the destruction of every fleet that effected
its escape from the ports of France as soon as we
could come up with them, it is difficult to appreciate
or to imagine its effect on the pubhc mind. We
» Long known as "the glorious I2th of April."— Ed.

320 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
had been habituated during so long a time under
Keppel, Byron, Hardy, Parker, Graves, Geary,
Darby, and their successors, to indecisive or un
fortunate engagements productive of no beneficial
results, that the nation began to despair of recover
ing its former ascendancy on the ocean. In fact,
ever since the termination of the war with Louis
XV. in 1 763, the British flag had scarcely been any
where triumphant, while the navies of the House of
Bourbon throughout the progress of the American
contest annually insulted us in the Channel, inter
cepted our mercantile convoys, blocked our har
bours, and threatened our coasts. Under these
circumstances the excess of the public exultation
was prodigiously augmented by the dejection that
pervaded all ranks during the former part of the
month of May, and by the utter apparent improba
bility attending such an event.
When I reflect on the emotions to which it gave
rise in London, I cannot compare them with any
occurrence of the same kind that we have since
witnessed in this country. The victory of Lord
Howe, gained on the ist of June 1794, glorious
and salutary as it was to Great Britain, yet seemed
to be more a triumph over Jacobinism and anarchy
than over the French nation or navy. It was
Robespierre and his regicide accomplices, not Louis
XVI., whom we there vanquished. Lord St Vin
cent and Lord Duncan unquestionably merited each
the highest eulogiums ; but they destroyed at Cape
St Vincent and at Camperdown the fleets of Spain
and of Holland, not those of France, and no Eng
lishman is insensible to the distinction. The sub
lime victory of Trafalgar itself was clouded by the
death of Nelson, which checked and tempered the
general joy. If I were to mention any naval action
the news of which seemed to diffuse sentiments

OF MY OWN TIME. 321
nearly resembling those felt In May 1782, I should
inchne to name that of Aboukir ; but in the battle
of the Nile, where the destruction of the enemy was
much more complete, though we destroyed and
blew up the French admiral's ship, we did not either
capture her or her commander. There was com
bined in Rodney's victory, as Lord Loughborough
at the time remarked in the House of Peers, all
" the pomp, and pride, and circumstance of war."
It commenced with the rising sun and terminated
with that setting luminary. The elements were
hushed, only a light air prevailing, and the contend
ing fleets were very nearly matched. Jamaica, the
prize contended for by the two nations, was pre
served by the result, while all the promised con
quests of France and Spain, so near their apparent
reaUsation, disappeared, no more to be revived even
in idea. It constituted a sort of compensation to
Great Britain for so many years of disgrace, for so
great an expenditure of blood and treasure, and
even for the loss of America itself. The country,
exhausted and humiliated, seemed to revive In its
own estimation and to resume once more its dignity
among nations. France, amidst all her past success,
declined proportionably in the opinion of Europe,
and has never since arrogated the same rank as a
naval power. It formed, in fact, the last triumph of
England on the element of the water over the House
of Bourbon before that great family itself, after reign
ing eight hundred years over the French, sunk under
the torrent of revolution and anarchy.
Lord Cranston,' one of the captains of the " For
midable," Sir George -Rodney's ship,_ who brought
over the news to this country, having, in consequence
of that commander's special Injunctions, waited on
1 James, eighth Baron Cranstoun in the peerage of Scotland. He
died in 1790. — Ed.
VOL. II. ^

32 2 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Lord Sackville, though then no longer in office as
American Secretary, in order to communicate to
him the particulars of the action, I had an oppor
tunity of hearing Lord Cranston's account of the
engagement He was sent, after the " ViUe de
Paris " struck, to take possession of her, as weU as
to receive De Grasse's sword, and he described the
scene which the French admiral's ship presented on
his ascending her side as altogether terrible. Be
tween the foremast and mainmast at every step
he took he said that he was over his buckles in
blood, the carnage having been prodigious ; but as
numbers of cattle and sheep were stowed between
decks, they had suffered not less than the crew and
troops from the effects of the cannon. On the
quarter-deck, which remained still covered with
dead and wounded, only De Grasse himself re
mained standing, together with two or three other
persons. The French admiral had received a con
tusion in the loins from a splinter, but was other
wise unhurt, a circumstance the more remarkable, he
having been throughout the whole action during so
many hours exposed to a destructive fire, which
swept away almost all his officers and repeatedly
cleared the quarter-deck. He was a tall, robust,
and martial figure, presenting in that moment an
object of respect, no less than of concern and sym
pathy.' Lord Cranston said that De Grasse could
not recover from his astonishment, the expression
of which he often reiterated, at seeing in the course
of so short a time his vessel taken, his fleet defeated,
and himself a prisoner. He was allowed to pass
the night on board his own ship, with every testi-
1 De Grasse was guillotined at Paris in 1794. Lord Duncan and
Admiral De Winter were both very tall men, and both were untouched
in their action at Camperdown, 1797. The former was six feet three
inches in height. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 323
mony of attention and regard manifested towards
him on the part of the British commander.
An opinion which became very generally preva
lent at the time and obtained much belief has made
a deep impression on the public mind, namely, that
this victory, signal as it must ever be esteemed,
might nevertheless have been rendered far more
complete if it had been immediately improved by
pursuing without delay the flying enemy. The
friends of Sir Samuel Hood strongly maintained
that position ; and, partial as I am to the memory
of Lord Rodney, I confess that there always ap
peared to me to have been some foundation for the
assertion. He was himself well aware of the charge,
and I have heard him defend the line of conduct
which he adopted subsequent to the victory by very
plausible, if not by solid and unanswerable, reasons.
He observed that it was altgether unwarrantable,
and might have been attended with the most ruinous
consequences, to have detached twelve or more ships
of the line under Sir Samuel Hood ' in pursuit of
twenty-five at least of the French, which number
remained together, as was believed, after the action,
and StUl constituted a most formidable force. If any
check had been experienced by us in consequence
of such eagerness or precipitation, it was obvious
that the fruits of the victory itself might even have
been lost Bougainville and VaudreuU, who com
manded under De Grasse, enjoyed a higher reputa
tion for naval skill than the commander-in-chief, and
might have repaired the defeat. How far these
facts or assertions may carry conviction to every
mind I cannot venture to determine.
1 Son of a Somersetshire clergyman, and born in 1724. He lived
to the age of ninety-two. He became Baron Hood (Irish peerage) in
1792 and a Viscount in the English peerage in 1796. Nelson's " Sir
Samuel Hood" was a Dorsetshire man, was born in 1760 and died in
1815, a year before his namesake. — D.

324 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Fox, when moving the thanks of the House of
Commons to Sir George Rodney, which act he per
formed in his place as Secretary of State only a
few days afterwards, mentioned with expressions of
great delight the unanimity which pervaded the
victorious fleet. " It was," he said, "with peculiar
satisfaction he could assure the House that every
letter received from the West Indies breathed the
most perfect harmony. No other dispute or com
petition existed among the officers except who
should be most forward in advancing the public
cause." But Lord Rodney, after his return to Eng
land, made no scruple of declaring the contrary In
mixed company, where I was myself present. He
even wrote to his friends In this country at the time,
in his private letters, more than one of which I have
seen, that so violent was the spirit of party and fac
tion in his own fleet, as almost to supersede and
extinguish the affection felt towards their sovereign
and every patriotic sentiment in the bosoms of
many individuals serving under him. To such a
height had it attained, that he asserted there were
among them officers of high rank and of unquestion
able courage, who nevertheless bore so inveterate
an animosity to the Administration then existing;
particularly to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the
Earl of Sandwich, as almost to wish for a defeat
if it would produce the dismission of Ministers.
Similar assertions were made b.y members of the
House of Commons in their speeches. However
incredible the fact itself may appear, and however
lamentable it must be considered if it was well
founded, yet it is not easy to conceive the anti
pathies, political and personal, that had grown up
in the English navyi during the American war.
They formed one of the characteristic features of

OF MY OWN TIME. 325
the times, and operated to the inconceivable injury
of the British name and nation.
The commencement of Rodney's public letter,
addressed to Stephens, then Secretary of the Ad
miralty, on this glorious occasion, excited a smile
among the critics and grammarians, as he stated
that " It had pleased God, out of His divine pro
vidence,' to grant to his Majesty's arms a most com
plete victory over the fleet of his enemy," whereas
it seemed rather to have been an act performed in
His divine providence. This error of a naval com
mander, unaccustomed to composition, and whose
profession was not the pen but the sword, did not,
however, attract the same comments as an official
dispatch which we have since perused, sent from
one of his Majesty's ambassadors, the Earl of Elgin,
who, addressing the Secretary of State from Con
stantinople, appeared, by some act of oblivious inad
vertence, to consider himself in Asia. Rodney's
enemies, of whom he had a great number, asserted
that after the victory was gained, he gave way to
a sort of intoxication of mind on finding himself
master of the French admiral's person and ship.
I remember they said that he seated himself in an
arm-chair, placed on the quarter-deck of the "For
midable," as the moon rose, in order to indulge his
sight with the view of the "Ville de Paris," which
lay near him in a disabled state, and whose sides
far overtopped those of his own vessel.^ And they
added that he burst into expressions or exclamations
of extravagant self-praise and complacency, mingled
with some reproaches on the want of Ministerial
gratitude which he had experienced for his past
1 The grammarians on this occasion must have been strangely
hypercritical. The expression is strictly idiomatic, meaning- out of
the fulness of God's providence. — Ed.
2 Rodney had the gout, and was obliged to sit at times during the
action. — Ed.

326 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
services. Even admitting all these facts to be true
in their utmost extent, they only prove the infirmity
of human nature, and similar instances of weakness
occur in the history of the most illustrious com
manders. Rodney, like the celebrated Marshal
Villars, who rescued France at Denain, talked per
petually of himself, and was the hero of his own
story. But posterity will not forget the debt of
gratitude due to his services, nor cease to consider
him as one of the greatest men whom the English
navy produced in the course of the eighteenth cen
tury. He unquestionably displayed self-possession
combined with science on the 12th of April, directed
in person every manceuvre, and preserved during
twelve hours that the action lasted the utmost pre
sence of mind. Lord Cranston said that he never
quitted the quarter-deck for a minute, nor took any
refreshment except the support he derived from a
lemon which he held constantly in his hand, and
applied frequently to his lips.
If Rodney did not spare his animadversions on
the spirit of political enmity and faction which per
vaded the British navy, his opponent, the Count
De Grasse, made still louder accusations, and sent
home stronger charges to the Court of Versailles
against the jealousies or rivalries which actuated the
officers serving under him on that memorable day.
Unquestionably towards the close of the action they
abandoned their commander to his fate and sought
their safety in flight, but the unforeseen manoeuvre
by which Rodney had intersected the French line
at the commencement of the engagement threw the
whole fleet into inextricable confusion,' and it is
^ " On this occasion Rodney is said to have taught them the method
of breaking the line, by which I have heard it asserted that Lord
Nelson won all his victories by sea, and Buonaparte by land ; but,
which is a still stranger thing, Lord Glenbervie told me (and I believe

OF MY OWN TIME. 327
very doubtful whether, by prolonging or even by
renewing the contest, Bougainville and Vaudreuil
would have in any measure retrieved the misfortune.
De Grasse, it is admitted on all hands, displayed
the most unconquerable firmness. He nevertheless
merited censure, at a moment when he saw before
him in prospect so vast an object as the conquest
and reduction of Jamaica, not to have suffered one
or two ships of the French line to fall into our
hands, rather than sacrifice, as he did, the whole
plan of the campaign to their preservation. I know
such to have been the general opinion entertained
throughout France, where De Grasse laboured
under popular odium to so great a degree, that
whUe after the peace of 1 783 Suffrein always re
ceived on entering the theatres at Paris the warmest
testimonies of admiration from every part of the
house, De Grasse did not venture to present him
self at the public spectacles from the apprehension
of insult. Even the court manifested similar senti
ments, and though decorated with the order of the
"St Esprit," he could not obtain permission to walk
in the annual " procession du cordon bleu " at Ver
sailles during several years subsequent to his defeat
The effect of so splendid a service rendered to
hira), that Epaminondas won the battles of Leuctra and Mantinea by
the same manoeuvre 2178 years ago." — P.
A note on the invention of this manoeuvre has already been given
in the first volume, at page 225, and the following extract is of im
portance in connection with that note.
"My friend Sir Charles Douglas, captain of the fleet, confessed to
me that he himself had been adverse to the experiment, and in dis
cussing it with the admiral had stated his objections. To these he got
no other answer but that ' his counsel was not called for ; he required
obedience only ; he did not want advice.' .... This anecdote, cor
rectly as I relate it, I had from that gallant officer, untimely lost to his
country, whose candour scorned to rob his admiral of one leaf of his
laurels, and who disclaiming all share in the manoeuvre, nay, confess
ing he had objected to it, did in the most pointed and decided terms
again and again repeat liis honourable attestations of the courage
and conduct of his commanding officer on that memorable day." —
(Memoirs of Richard Cumberland, 1807, vol. i. pp. 409-411.) — Ed.

328 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
his country, at a moment of such general dejection,
and the popularity which it justly produced, in some
measure disarmed the meditated attacks of Rodney's
opponents. Burke, who had heaped the severest
accusations upon him for his conduct towards the
inhabitants of St Eustatlus, and who was preparing
to bring forward a motion in the House of Com
mons criminating him for his acts while in pos
session of the island, immediately abandoned the
intention. With one of those classic allusions
which were familiar to his elegant mind, he ob
served that "the great national benefit performed
by the English admiral obliterated his errors, and,
like the laurel crown decreed by the Roman
Senate to Julius Caesar, covered as well as con
cealed his baldness." Even the rancour ex
pressed by the new Ministers and their friends
towards Lord Sandwich seemed to be blunted
if not moUified by this undeniable proof of his.
meritorious exertions in sending out a fleet to the
West Indies capable of vanquishing the French
naval force. It was justly said that Alexander had
conquered with the troops of Philip. No further
mention of impeachment or prosecution was made
against the late First Lord of the Admiralty. The
Cabinet, nevertheless, evincing in every part of their
conduct the reluctance with which they remunerated
Rodney's merits, had already superseded him by
naming Admiral Pigot to the command of the fleet
in the West Indies. But as he had not quitted
England before intelligence arrived of the victory
gained over De Grasse, it was evidentiy the wish
of the country, loudly expressed, that Rodney should
not be recalled at a moment when he had raised
the naval character of Great Britain, humbled France,
and saved Jamaica. The new Administration,
however, far from paying any regard to this ex-

OF MY OWN TIME. 329
pression of the public opinion, and apprehensive of
some motion being made on the subject in one or
other of the two Houses of Parliament, instantly
sent off Pigot in a quick-sailing frigate from Ply
mouth, with orders to replace the victorious com
mander. Severe comments were passed out of doors upon
the appointment made under such circumstances,
especially as Pigot had been already constituted a
member of the new Board of Admiralty. Even the
House of Commons, though since Lord North's
resignation the majority seemed completely subser
vient to Fox, yet manifested some symptoms of dis
approbation. It was, besides, commonly asserted,
that the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
owed Pigot several thousand pounds for losses in
curred at play ; and though such a report might
have originated in error or malevolence, yet it was
difficult to disprove, as Fox's notorious passion for
the gaming-table had subjected him to similar en
gagements and embarrassments.' Lord Keppel,
when questioned in the House of Peers respect
ing the fact of PIgot's appointment, felt so con
scious of the indefensibUity of the measure that he
did not dare to own it, but he contrived to evade
the inquiry by stating the want of evidence before
them to prove the nomination. It was impossible
more clearly to avow how much he was ashamed
of such a transaction. The Opposition during
Lord North's Administration, in their anxiety to
decry the Earl of Sandwich, then First Lord of the
1 The first attempts of Gillrayat caricature were made on this occa
sion. In one, Rodney is seen presenting his noble captive to the
King while the attending Ministry look amazed, and Fox remarks,
" Thi's fellow fights too well for us, and I have obligations to Pigot, for
he has lost ;^i7,ooo at my faro bank." In another, the King, running
towards Rodney with the reward of a Baron's coronet, exclaims, " I
will now make a Lord of you, and you shall have the happiness of
never being heard of again." — Ed.

330 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Admiralty, asserted that Sir Edward Hughes was
bound to divide with him a certain proportion of
whatever prize-money he might acquire, as a re
muneration for being appointed to the naval com
mand in the East Indies. "Junius" treats the
Duke of Grafton, when First Minister, in various
letters with indignation for having given a pension
of ^500 a year to Sir John Moore, whom he desig
nates as a " broken gambler ; " nor does he hesi
tate to add that the pension was " probably an
acquittance on the part of the Duke of favours
upon the turf." But how infinitely less culpable
were Lord Sandwich or the Duke of Grafton, had
the allegations been ever so clearly proved, than
was Fox, if we assume the truth of the fact im
puted to him, in acquitting his debt to Pigot by
sending him out to the West Indies !
Rodney's victory, if it had taken place two months
earlier, would probably have operated to retard or
altogether to prevent Lord North's resignation. Nor
did any man doubt that the admiral himself would
have received more distinguishing marks of Mini
sterial gratitude as well as of royal bounty if Lord
North had continued at the head of affairs than
were conferred on him by that nobleman's suc
cessors. Lord Howe and Admiral Keppel had just
been raised by their party to the dignity of English
Viscounts, without the performance of any naval
service whatever on the part of the latter officer.
Many persons thought that an Earldom would not
have constituted a reward too eminent for so im
portant a victory. We have seen that high rank
of the peerage conferred since on Sir John Jervis
for the battle gained over the Spaniards off Cape
St Vincent's, a victory, as was universally admitted,
principally due to Sir Horatio Nelson. Lord Dun
can, Lord Hood, and Lord Bridport have all been

OF MY OWN TIME. 331
created English Viscounts. It was not without
evident reluctance that a Barony and a pension of
;^20oo per annum were rather extorted from than
spontaneously conferred by the Ministry on Rodney,
accompanied with his immediate supersession in the
command. On the other hand, it must be admitted
that previous to the time of which I am now writ
ing the most distinguished naval services rarely
conducted to the peerage. Anson, it is true, from
a concurrence of fortunate rather than meritorious
circumstances was raised to it, but neither Saunders,
nor Boscawen, nor Pocock attained to that honour.
Even Hawke, far from being called up to the
House of Peers after he had destroyed the fleet of
France in 1759 at the mouth of the Loire, was
only made a Baron by Lord North near seventeen
years afterwards, and then in company with several
other individuals who were elevated to the same
dignity. It is for posterity to judge how far these
circumstances may form some excuse for the ap
parent want of liberality towards a man who had
rendered so critical as well as so distinguished a
service to his country.
[22d May 1782.] No sooner had the House of
Commons assembled after the adjournment of a
few days which followed Sawbridge's motion, than
the Secretary of State rising, moved the thanks of
the House to Sir George Rodney for his late glori
ous victory, of which event he spoke in the warmest
terms of grateful admiration, though conscious that
the triumphant commander who had achieved it
was already superseded by him in order to make
way for Pigot. Such acts of Ministerial or political
inconsistency never indeed appeared to cost Fox
any effort, as he covered them under the blaze of
sophistry, eloquence, and talent. On this occasion,
he must, nevertheless, have felt how contradictory

332 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
was his conduct in praising, rewarding, and recall
ing the same man at one and the same time. Lord
North, who ever since the 20th day of March
seemed to have remained in a sort of stupor, now
coming forward, spontaneously joined in the tribute
due to Rodney for a victory which, he said, was
not only the greatest gained in the course of the
present war, but perhaps the most complete of any
recorded in the naval annals of England. Unques
tionably the late First Minister derived a pride and
a confidence from the same event, which involved
the new Cabinet in proportionate embarrassment
After dwelling for a few minutes on the briUiant
service just rendered. Lord North concluded by
remarking that it would be proper to extend the
thanks of the House to the flag-officers of the fleet,
who had merited so well of their country. To this
proposition Fox instantly assented, with many ac
knowledgments to the noble mover for the sug
gestion, and for the first time since Lord North's
resignation some expressions of courtesy and re
spect fell from the lips of the Secretary of State,
addressed to a person whom he had hitherto only
loaded with accusations. So much had the unex
pected intelligence just arrived already mollified
the asperity of the new Administration towards
their predecessors I Mr. RoUe, then member for
the county of Devon, and since raised to the
peerage,' having asked if it was true that Sir George
Rodney was about to be superseded in his com
mand, Fox replied that he was already recalled and
another officer sent out to succeed him. Such an
act, even if Rodney had not performed so recent
and so splendid a service, could scarcely be justi
fied either on public or on private grounds, but
taking place instantly after a victory so eminent, it
excited general condemnation.
'^ The Barony of RoUe was created in 1796. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 333
Impressed with that sentiment, RoUe rose a
second time, and stated his determination to move
an address to his Majesty, that he would be pleased
not to remove the Admiral from his present situa
tion. Had such a motion been actually submitted
to the House, it is by no means improbable the
new Ministry might have been left in a minority ;
but Dundas extricated Fox from a dilemma to
which even his pre-eminent ability might have
proved inadequate without assistance. The Lord
Advocate observed that such a proceeding would
intrench on the prerogative of the crown, and at
the same time violate the rules by which Parliament
was accustomed to regulate its conduct, as the re
sponsibility of Ministers must be removed from, their
own shoulders to those of the House of Commons.
" No individual," he added, " could entertain higher
feelings of gratitude towards the gallant commander
in question than he did, but a paramount regard to
the constitution impelled him to oppose the proposi
tion." RoUe then, dropping his first intention, de
clared that he would nevertheless move an address to
the King to bestow some mark of royal favour on the
Admiral. Here, however, he was once more stopped
by Dundas, who said that a motion of such a nature
would be in fact dictating to the sovereign, in whom
alone was constitutionally vested the power of con
ferring rewards or graces, adding that it was to be
presumed the servants of the crown would offer
such advice to their prince on the present occasion
as it was worthy of him to pursue. Fox became
now as profuse in his expressions of acknowledg
ment to the Lord Advocate as he had previously
been to Lord North. In Dundas's doctrine he said
he fully concurred, and, with the decision of tone
and character natural to him, he protested that no
man or men, short of the majority of the House,

334 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
should ever induce or compel him to explain on
what grounds one officer was recalled or another
appointed. It was a royal prerogative, which he
would not allow to be either abridged or controlled.
" For," concluded he, " though I am an enemy to
the influence of the crown, I will always support its
just prerogative."
Whether the motives by which Dundas was
actuated in thus extending such opportune support
to Administration were the only springs of his con
duct, or whether any less obvious reasons prompted
him to stand forward and to extend a sort of shield
over them, must be left to conjecture. Certainly
the service rendered was one of no ordinary de
scription. But Governor Johnstone, though he did
not attempt to controvert the Lord Advocate's
assertions, yet, after expressing his sense of the
glorious achievement just performed in the West
Indies, added, " I could have desired that the
thanks of this House should have been movcjofrom
some other quarter, not from the Ministers who
have just disgraced Sir George Rodney by recaUing
him." " The Secretary of State tells us that unani-
mity reigns throughout the fleet. And is that a
reason for superseding the gallant commander, and
tearing him from the men whom he has so often,
conducted to victory ? Under such circumstances,
the very thanks of this assembly become an insult,
when accompanied by his supersession." Almost
any other Minister than Fox would have been em
barrassed under such a charge, nor was even he
altogether without evident discomposure. As, how
ever, he never abandoned a friend or a measure
because the one was in distress or the other un
popular, as he always trusted to his own powers of
mind for extrication, and the determination to send
out Pigot having been taken, he undertook to defend

OF MY OWN TIME. . 335
it His speech, nevertheless, formed a mass of con
tradictory matter. He began by denying in the
strongest terms that recall and disgrace had in them
any species of alliance. If he had entertained any
prejudices against the gallant Admiral for his con
duct at, St. Eustatlus, he said the recent victory had
obliterated them. On Johnstone he pressed with
great severity for preventing the unanimity of the
House ; but the Governor, whose tenacity in main
taining whatever proposition he embraced equalled
that of the Secretary, rose to reply. The discussion
might even have assumed a new form, if Cornwall,
the Speaker, interposing from the chair, had not
for the third time in the same day come to the aid
of Administration by calling Johnstone to order.
No further impediment being presented, the thanks
were voted and the House adjourned. Fox having
exhibited a strong proof of his Ministerial ascen
dancy over the assembly, though undoubtedly in
contr, "'iction to the opinion of a great majority of
the members present on the occasion.
[230' — 30/^ May 1782.] The public dissatisfac
tion, nevertheless, being loudly and generally ex
pressed in every corner of London on the recall
of Sir George Rodney, RoUe brought forward the
subject a second time to Parliamentary notice. He
observed that to supersede an admiral in the moment
of victory was in itself an impolitic measure, but to
send out as his successor a man who during near
twenty years had not once been at sea, and who
had never performed in the whole course of his
professional life any distinguished naval service,
constituted a most unwise and censurable act.
Rosewarne,' member for Truro, remarked that the
present Ministers were now committing against the
general sense of the country the very act which
they so violently reprobated in their predecessors,
1 Henry Rosewarne. — Ed,

336 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
namely, driving from the navy the most able and
distinguished officers. "The Earl of Sandwich,"
added he, " has been denominated by the Secretary
of State in former debates a Minister of the King of
France. He has approved himself a bad Minister
to his employer since he has confessedly sent out
to the West Indies one of the best appointed fleets
which ever quitted the ports of England." I spoke
myself on the same side in that debate, and ven
tured to assert that the only similar case occurring
in our annals presented itself under Queen Anne,
when the great Duke of Marlborough in the midst
of his triumphs was recalled in order to make way
for the Duke of Ormond. Nor did I hesitate to
declare my conviction that the victory just gained,
though perhaps less complete than the defeat of
Conflans' by Admiral Hawke in 1759, yet, under
the circumstances of the moment, might justly be
accounted superior in its effects to that or to any
achievement in our naval records. Upon what
principle, then, could Admirals Howe and Keppel
have been created Viscounts, while only the dignity
of a Baron was conferred on the man who had per
formed so transcendant a service ? Lord North,
though he said he wished to decline giving any
opinion on the recent supersession and the new
appointment, characterised it nevertheless as a hasty
measure. "If," continued he, "a similar act had
been committed under the late Administration, I
should have been attacked without mercy from
every quarter. Yet, though I do not approve the
nomination of Admiral Pigot, I value the unanimity
of the fleet so highly, that I should be reluctant
to send out any resolution which might convey a
censure upon his appointment Unanimity, both at
home and abroad, is indispensable, and though I
1 Admiral Hubert de Brienne, Comte de Conflans, Marshal of
France, born about 1690, died 1777,

OF MY OWN TIME. 337
was made a personal sacrifice to obtaining it, I shall
rejoice if the present Ministers experience it in its
utmost extent."
These sentiments, however elevated or patriotic
they may seem, were by no means received on the
part of the Secretary of State either with gratitude
or even with satisfaction. On the contrary, after
questioning the sincerity of Lord North in his ex
pressions of cordiality and his pretended wishes to
preserve unanimity among the officers and seamen
of the fleet, he observed that unless the motion
which criminated Ministers for recalling Sir George
Rodney was followed by another for their removal,
the first would be nugatory. " Did the noble Lord,"
he demanded, " mean to go that length ? And if
such was his intention, why did he not speak out ? "
Of Pigot the Secretary expressed himself in language
of great encomium, as being every way qualified to
succeed Rodney. " The crime that he had com
mitted in the eyes of the late Ministers lay in his
name being found in a certain paper, together with
those of various other admirals, deprecating the trial
of Keppel." Relative to Lord Rodney, he appeared
to labour under no small embarrassment and to in
volve himself in much contradiction. The victory
just gained Fox admitted to be brilliant, but his
conduct at St Eustatlus had produced prejudices
against him. " I am ready," added he, " to balance
his victory against his demerits and to bury in obli
vion all inquiry respecting his past conduct, unless
the intemperate zeal of the Admiral's friends shaU
provoke me to adopt another line of conduct." He
concluded by rather insinuating than asserting that
if a Baron was not considered a rank of the peerage
sufficiently elevated for Rodney's services, no objec
tion would be made to conferring on him a higher
titie. VOL. II. Y

338 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
If the Secretary expected by the style and tone
of his reply to intimidate or to silence his adver
saries on that day, the event did not justify his
assumption. Lord North, after animadvertirig with
his accustomed wit on various parts of the preceding
speech, denied the assertions made respecting -Pigot-
The late Admiralty, he observed, had offered him a
command which he thought proper to decline ; but
as Rodney had constantly refused to sign the paper
in question, might not his recall arise from that very
circumstance ? " Had his Majesty's Ministers, of
whom I formed a member," continued he, " recalled
a great and illustrious officer in the moment of vic
tory, we should have been assailed with motion after
motion in this House." Severe as Lord North
might seem in these remarks, Johnstone far exceeded
him. There existed indeed between the Governor
and the Secretary of State a degree of personal ill-
will approaching to enmity, the latter always affect
ing to regard Johnstone as an apostate or a deserter,
he having some years earlier left the ranks of Op
position and joined the Administration, by whom
he had been employed, first as a negotiator, and
subsequently in the line of his profession. John
stone, in retaliation, treated Fox as factious and as
sacrificing every consideration to party or to private
views of ambition. Starting up as soon as Lord
North had finished, " Now," exclaimed he, " I am
perfectly satisfied with the supersession of my noble
friend. The Right Honourable Secretary holds
him up as a delinquent. If he be such, unquestion
ably he ought to be recalled. I now rejoice as much
as I was previously shocked at this treatment, for
now an opportunity will be afforded him to clear
his character from the aspersions of his enemies.
Charges brought against him by Jews and traitors,
charges which he will refute with ease, and of which

OF MY OWN TIME. 339
fact I can speak with certainty, having perused
many parts of my noble friend's defence." " The
Secretary of State proposes to compromise the
charge and to bury it in an Earldom, but I scorn
such a proposal, and in my friend's name I protest
against honours which are to be purchased by such
a compromise. Honours and titles can never sit
easy on a delinquent."
After thus exhaling his resentment, he then en
tered on the particulars of the action fought on the
1 2th of April, as well as on other parts of Lord
Rodney's naval services ; but as Lord North, though
he highly disapproved the recall of that illustrious
commander, did not desire to push matters to a
question, no division took place. Ministers re
mained masters of the field, not, however, without
suffering in public opinion, which censured them in
the strongest terms. An attempt made by Sir
Francis Basset' (now Lord De Dunstanville) only
a few days afterwards to procure for Lord Rodney
a provision of four thousand pounds a year from the
crown underwent the same fate as Mr. RoUe's mo
tion ; Fox parried it in a similar manner. A barony,
with half the annual sum proposed by Basset, was
ultimately conferred on him. He returned home,
and Pigot assumed the command of the victorious
fleet ; but I believe in the course of six or seven
months that he retained it he never captured any
vessel of the enemy except a Spanish polacre,^ nor
1 Sir Francis Basset, Bart., M.P. for Penryn. He lived at Twicken
ham in 1791, and his " island" is mentioned by Walpole in a letter
to the Misses Berry (Letters, ix. 346). He was created Baron De Dun
stanville in 1796. — Ed.
'^ " A ship or brig of the Mediterranean. The masts are commonly
formed of one spar from truck to keel, so that they haye neither tops
nor crosstrees, neither have they any foot-ropes to their upper yards,
¦ because the men stand upon the topsail-yards to loose and furl the
top.gallant sails, and upon the lower yards to loose, reef, and furl the
top-gallant sails, and upon the lower yards to loose, reef, or furl the

340 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
performed any other eminent service. All the de
served popularity which Fox — for he only was
regarded as directing the cabinet — had obtained
by the measures embraced relative to arming the
people and for concUIating Ireland was more than
counterbalanced by the selection of Pigot to replace
Rodney. If the Marquis of Rockingham approved.
so hasty an act, he must be esteemed a weak or an
ill-advised Minister. If he reflectively allowed the
Secretary of State to sacrifice the public interest to
his own personal predilections or objects, he was a
highly culpable Minister. I am not sufficientiy in
formed on the point to venture on hazarding any
opinion. Posterity, better instructed, may perhaps
decide upon it Fox unquestionably lost the fairest
occasion which fortune could have presented him for
acquiring general applause and admiration by con
tinuing Rodney in the command after intelligence
had arrived of the glorious result of the 12th of
April. [June 1782.] WhUe the victory obtained over
De Grasse produced so vast and beneficial an alter
ation in the affairs of Great Britain beyond the
Atlantic, time seemed rapidly maturing another im
portant change, or rather convulsion, in the domestic
concerns of the kingdom. From the first formation
of the new Cabinet its jarring materials indicated, in
the opinions of all discerning men, their speedy dis
union and separation. Fox, conscious of the aliena
tion in which the King held him, morally as weU as
politically, possessed too much penetration not to
foresee and to predict an approaching change of
Administration. He was not without difficulty re
strained from precipitating it' by his open disappro
bation of the intended or imputed measures of some
topsails, all the yards being lowered sufficiently for that purpose."—
Smyth's "Sailor's Word-Book;' 1867.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 341
of his colleagues. The stern inflexibility of Lord
Thurlow likewise, who as Chancellor thwarted and
opposed in the House of Peers many of his measures,
greatly irritated him. Already Fox began to alter
his language when speaking of that nobleman, on
whom, while a member of the late Cabinet, he had
lavished so many encomiums at the expense of his
colleagues in the Administration. Nor did the
preference shown towards Lord Shelburne on all
occasions by his Majesty tend less to accelerate a
rupture. In this situation of things the decline of
the Marquis of Rockingham's health, though not of
an alarming nature, yet by incapacitating him to
take as active a part in public affairs as he had
previously done, removed the only remaining serious
impediment to his removal, while it facilitated the
accomplishment of those objects which prudence
and precaution alone had hitherto compelled the
sovereign to delay till the arrival of a favourable
opportunity. [\st — 2o/>^ June 1 782. J Hitherto during the
course of nearly two sessions Fox and Pitt had
almost invariably coincided upon every point sub
mitted to parliamentary discussion, but the term of
their apparent political union now approached.
Lord Mahon, who by his first marriage stood in
the near relation of a brother-in-law to Mr. Pitt,
was then one of the representatives for Wycombe.
His ardent, zealous, and impetuous mind, tinged
with deep shades of republicanism and eccentricity,
which extended even to his dress and manners, was
equally marked by a bold originality of character,
very enlightened views of the public welfare or
amelioration, inflexible pertinacity, and a steady up
rightness of intention. This nobleman, who was at
that time about twenty-nine years of age, having
introduced a biU into the House for the prevention

342 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of expense and bribery at elections, Powis strongly
opposed it Pitt replied to him, denying that the
regulations proposed would constitute any innova
tion on the British constitution, which, on the con
trary, they were calculated to renovate and restore.
Mr. Secretary Fox took the contrary side, and in a
speech of great ability, after many flattering compli
ments to his honourable friend, maintained neverthe
less that the principles of the bill had not been fairly
stated by him. " On all questions or points which
had for their object to effect an equal representa
tion," he said, " Mr. Pitt might rely on his firmest
concurrence and support. There they never could
disagree, but on the present subject their opinions
differed, and he had stated with much deference the
reasons of his dissent" Pitt did not meet these ex
pressions of friendly respect with all the cordiaUty
or suavity that might have been expected. He was
indeed lavish of his encomiums on the splendid dis
play of eloquence made by the Secretary of State,
which, he observed, impressed him with deeper
admiration, because instead of overturning the argu
ments which he had himself used, it on the contrary
supported them. The House dividing, Lord Ma-
hon's bill was carried by a majority of only one ;
and being again resumed three days afterwards, the
discussion was renewed between Pitt and Fox, not
indeed with any asperity or personality, but with
much pertinacity. Sheridan joined in the debate,
taking part against one of the most important clauses,
which being rejected by sixty-six votes opposed to
twenty-six, Lord Mahon immediately declared that
he would proceed no further in the measure. It
would not, indeed, of itself have excited much atten
tion if it had not elicited the first sparks of disagree
ment between two persons who attracted so great a
share of national consideration.

OF MY OWN TIME. 343
[lid— loth June 1782.J One of the last important
or interesting discussions which took place in the
House of Commons previous to the Marquis of
Rockingham's decease owed its existence to the
Attorney-General. That intrepid and upright law
yer, acting without any concert whatever, uncertain
of support from any quarter, but impelled by his
deep sense of public justice and of private rectitude,
brought forward to parliamentary notice the ques
tion relative to the balances of money remaining in
the hands of public accountants. The inquiry being
levelled principally, though not solely, against Rigby,
who, as late as the month of May 1781, held no
less a balance in his possession than eleven hundred
thousand pounds, he, apprehensive of some prompt
or efficacious resolution being adopted which might
subject him to difficulties of a pecuniary nature,
procured by personal applications a very numerous
attendance. I have rarely witnessed so many mem
bers present in their places at so advanced a period
of the session. To this circumstance Kenyon
alluded when he rose to make his propositions, ob
serving that it gave him pleasure to see so full a
House on such an occasion. With grave severity
of voice and manner he declared that only a strong
sense of duty actuated him in his line of conduct.
" Party views," added he, " I have none, nor have I
consulted any individual whatever on the nature
and propriety of the motions that I am about to
make. Nay, I am ignorant whether any member
of the House will second them, but my determina
tion to propose them remains unalterable." It must
be confessed that such an Attorney-General does not
arise frequently, nor could a man of so independent
a mind be acceptable to any except Ministers of the
most elevated and incorrupt description. Having
stated that his object was to compel the payment of

344 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the balances due to the public, who, he said, had a
right to the issues and profits of their own money,
he added that if he should be defeated in that House,
the courts of law would still remain open to him,
where he might bring the question to a legal deci
sion. He concluded by moving various resolutions,
one of which declared that " Rigby and Welbore
Ellis were both accountable for the interest received
by them of the balances that respectively remained
in their hands from the day of their quitting their
late offices."
No sooner had Kenyon finished than Fox pre
sented himself to notice, and after acknowledging
that his learned friend had not consulted him on
the business just opened, he contested with much
warmth and equal ingenuity the Attorney-General's
proposition. It might, he admitted, be law, but it
did not appear to him to be common sense, — an
assertion which he endeavoured to elucidate as well
as to prove by pointing out the essential difference
between a guardian who is bound to place the money
of his ward in a state to yield interest and a public
accountant, who is only held responsible for the
capital advanced to him for public purposes. I
must confess that this doctrine appeared to me to
be sound, and by no means inconsistent with the
immutable principles of justice ; but from the lips of
the Secretary of State it came with a bad grace, his
father. Lord Holland, standing in the same position
as Rigby, being accused by the public voice, though
perhaps unjustly, as a great defaulter, and his exe
cutors never having, down to that day, been able
to obtain his quietus from the Exchequer. Yet
Lord Holland had quitted the Pay Office more than
seventeen years when Kenyon agitated the question
then before the House, during all which time the

OF MY OWN TIME. 345
public derived no benefit from the balances remain
ing due from that nobleman's estate.
Governor Johnstone, who never lost any oppor
tunity of attacking Fox, though he disapproved of
Kenyon's motion, yet contrived to wound the Sec
retary in a tender part. "Why," he demanded,
" should the executors of Lord Holland be allowed
many years for paying in his balances, if Rigby and
Ellis were to be compelled to make a simUar pay
ment within the short space of two months ? As
to myself," continued he, "my reason for attending
in my place to-day was not with a design of sup
porting any particular cause, but merely from curi
osity, in order to observe what part the right
honourable Secretary would take on a question
where he is himself so personally concerned." Never
theless, Lord North coinciding perfectly with Fox
in the doctrines he had laid down and pronouncing
them to be orthodox ; Wallace, the late Attorney-
General, declaring that in his opinion the public had
no right whatever to demand any interest on the
money lying in the hands of great national accoun
tants, an opinion which he sustained by strong
reasoning ; Powis agreeing in the justice as well as
the solidity of Fox's observations, and the Chan
cellor of the Exchequer supporting the same argu
ments, under these circumstances Kenyon consented
to withdraw the obnoxious resolution. Having,
however, substituted in its place a motion for leave
to bring in a biU to enable the Exchequer to receive
the balances due from Rigby and Ellis, he was again
opposed, and on a division left in a minority of
eleven. The Secretary of State as well as the other
members of Administration supported and voted
with Kenyon, though probably Fox was by no
means displeased at the result of the day.
No rational doubt can exist that even if death

346 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
had not carried off the Marquis of Rockingham,
yet a change in the Administration would equally
have taken place nearly at the same time and
in the same manner as it was afterwards effected.
The necessity of making such arrangements as
might it was hoped secure its duration, and enable
Lord Shelburne to surmount the opposition to be
expected in Parliament, had solely prevented him
hitherto from accepting the place of First Lord of
the Treasury. But as the session drew towards its
close, that difficulty gradually ceased, while the
period which must of course elapse between the
prorogation and the subsequent meeting would
afford in all probability, if well improved, various
means of strengthening the new Ministry. Lord
Shelburne had already made advances to, and had
sounded Mr. Pitt His talents, eloquence, and
popularity, sustained by his illustrious name, ren
dered him, notwithstanding his youth, capable of
being successfully opposed to Fox in the House of
Commons. His ambition, which had impeUed him
to disdain and to reject a secondary place under the
existing Administration, pointed out to Lord Shel
burne the obvious bait by which he might be in
duced to lend his powerful support, namely, a
Cabinet office. The decorum and regularity of his
private life, altogether untinctured with the vices
of Fox's character, gave him a vast superiority in
the estimation of all those who considered correct
moral deportment as indispensable to a man placed
in public situation. In the contemplation of these
circumstances and with these intentions, it is weU
known that the King had fully determined to dis
place such members of the Cabinet as constituted the
Rockingham party, and to transfer the management ^
of the Treasury to the Earl of Shelburne. The
lapse of a few days would perhaps have disclosed

OF MY OWN TIME. 347
and produced this important event, when the de
cease of the First Minister spared his Majesty the
necessity of dismissing him from his post.
[ist July 1782.] Lord Rockingham, though
hardly fifty-two years of age, already sunk under an
infirm and debUitated constitution. A decay to
which was added a slow fever, or, as it was deno
minated, influenza, a species of epidemic distemper
by which London was visited at that season,' had
for some time undermined his strength, without ap
pearing to menace his immediate dissolution. He
was in his place in the House of Peers for the last
time on the 3d of June, where he both spoke and
voted in support of Mr. Crewe's bill for depriving
revenue officers of their vote in elections. But
when he rose to address the House, he declared
that he felt himself so severely indisposed as to
be almost incapable of uttering a word. He even
made use of a singular expression, for he added,
" The disorder universally prevalent afflicts me so
violently, that at times I am not completely in
possession of myself" His speech, nevertheless,
displayed no defect of mind. Soon after the King's
birthday, having quitted Grosvenor Square, he re
tired to Roehampton, where his recovery was con
fidently expected by his friends, and even predicted
by his medical attendants. Indeed, neither Fox
nor Burke seem to have been prepared for his
decease, though the former, with the manly but
imprudent decision that marked his political char
acter, instantly determined either to keep posses
sion of the Treasury by proxy or to resign his
office. Burke, though he perspnally detested Lord
Shelburne, yet would, I believe; have gladly retained
1 This disease had long been known to physicians, but after the
occurrence of a widespread epidemic it was given the name which it
had already obtained in Italy, from the belief that it was due to the
influence of the stars. — Ed.

348 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
his situation under a new First Minister of the
King's election, but he could not separate himself
from Fox. On that day they held a long conver
sation, which I witnessed, evidently of the most
interesting and serious description, in the Court of
Requests,' where they continued walking backwards
and forwards long after the Speaker had taken the
chair. At length they both repaired to the House,
where the Marquis's death being anriounced, warm
eulogiums were conferred on his memory from
various quarters. Frederic Montagu,^ himself a man
of distinguished probity, when mentioning Lord
Rockingham said, "Such was my opinion of his
integrity of heart and firmness of mind in resisting
every act that ought to be resisted, as to make his
concurrence or approbation sufficient to sanctify in
my judgment almost any measure." " He was,"
observed Fox, " an honour to his country and an
ornament to human nature. Others, I admit, may
have possessed more brilliant talents, but I know of
none who more truly loved his country, or who dis
played in a more eminent degree that extraordinary;
combination of firmness of mind and softness of
manners by which he was peculiarly characterised."
" Well may I be excused," exclaimed Burke, " for
mingling my tears with those of all ranks and de
scriptions of men for the inestimable loss which
we have sustained by the death of this most ex
ceUent and virtuous character ! He is gone to
1 The old Court of Requests, presided over by the Lord Privy Seal,
was abolished by i6 and 17 Car. I. cap. 10. The old Houseof Lords
sat in a room formed out of this court ; a portion of the north end of
the court was formed into a lobb.y, by which the Commons passed to
the Upper House.- — Ed.
^ Frederick Montagu was M.P. for Higham Ferrers. Horace Wal
pole writing to Mason on April 17, 1780, expresses the opinion that
Montagu would succeed Sir Fletcher Norton as Speaker (Letters,
ix. 354). He was appointed a Lord of the Treasury in 1782 and
1783.-ED.

OF MY OWN TIME. 349
appear before that tribunal where we must all
render an account of our actions, and I believe no
soul ever went with a greater and better founded
certainty of approbation." These encomiums may
have been merited as paid to his noble worth and
steady rectitude of intention, but we must remember
by whom and when they were uttered. Fox,
Burke, and Montagu all relapsed into a compara
tive political obscurity by his death. History will
speak of him with more moderation. An amiable
and a respectable individual rather than a superior
man, nature had not designed him to be the First
Minister of a great country. Junius well charac
terises his formation of mind when he speaks of "the
mild but determined integrity of Lord Rockingham."
Yet was there, as that writer elsewhere observes, a
degree of " debility " in his virtue, but the modera
tion of his character tempered the ardour of Fox
and imposed limits on Burke's enthusiasm.
The state of his frame and health, which, even in
his youth, had never been robust, and both which
were believed to have suffered severely in conse
quence of some imprudent gallantries while pursuing
his travels in the South of Italy at an early period
of his life, incapacitated him for close or continued
application during the short period of his adminis
tration.' The Princess of Franca Villa was com
monly supposed to have bestowed on him the same
fatal present which the " Belle Ferronniere" conferred
on Francis I., King of France, and which, as we
learn from Burnet, the Countess of Southesk was
said to have entailed on James, Duke of York,
* In Italy it was supposed to have been the " succession powder "
mingled with chocolate whilst in the cake, not in the liquid, we drink.
Acqua toff'ana and succession powder (pulvere per successione) were
administered, as I have heard, with certain although ill-understood
effects. Lord Rockingham desired to be opened after his death, and
was so. — P.

350 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
afterwards James II. That princess was still living
when I visited Naples in the year 1779, and Sir
WiUiam Hamilton assured me that she always ex
pressed the utmost concern for the unintentional
misfortune which the Marquis's attachment for her
had produced, as well as for its supposed results.
Leaving no issue, the greater part of his vast landed
property, as well as his borough interests, descended
to his nephew. Earl Fitzwilliam.' In Lord Rock
ingham's person, too, became extinct the title and
dignity of a British Marquis, he being the sole indi
vidual in the kingdom who then possessed that high
rank, to which Mr. Pitt has since elevated, during
his administration, eleven individuals, besides creat
ing nine Irish Marquises, where there did not pre
viously exist one peer of that order. Such has been
the prodigious increase of peerages during the pre
sent reign ! Unquestionably Mr. Pitt, in thus aug
menting the numbers of the House of Lords, was
not animated by the same intention as the Romans
attributed to the first of the Caesars, when he in
creased the Senate to nine hundred, or, as Suetonius
expresses it, " Senatum supplevit" But it will be,
nevertheless, for our descendants to decide how far
he has practically produced a similar effect on the
constitution of Great Britain, with the pernicious
consequence which flowed from the augmentation
of the Roman Senate by Caesar.
[2d — Zth July 1782.] However deeply sensible
Fox might be to Lord Rockingham's death, and
whatever steps he probably contemplated as the
natural results of such a blow, he was not so preci-
'^ The grateful nephew erected a mausoleum in Wentworth Park to-
his uncle. Beneath the dome is the statue of Lord Rockingham, and
around it are the busts of eight friends or colleagues : — Fox, Burke,
Keppel, Portland, Savile, Montagu, Lee, and Cavendish. A very
long and turgid inscription by Burke ends with the words — "Re
member, resemble, persevere !" — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 351
pitate as to give in his immediate resignation. He
remained a member of the Cabinet during several
days after it took place, and on the 2d of the month
he spoke (for the last time indeed) as Secretary of
State from the Treasury Bench. A bill for the re
gulation of appointments in the West Indies and
America being then in its progress through the
House, it was opposed by Sir George SavUe on a
principle of jealous apprehension that we might at
tempt again to legislate for the Colonies, thereby
reasserting a supremacy over them. Lord Shel
burne having introduced the bill into the Upper
House, who was well known to be very averse to
the declaration of American independence, that cir
cumstance excited still greater alarm. The Attor
ney-General, with the warmth characteristic of all
he said or did, endeavoured to allay Sir George's
fears. " The wisdom, probity, disinterestedness,
and honourable intentions of that noble person,"
Kenyon observed, "stood so firmly established in
the public opinion, that he trusted no man would
venture to reject the motives which had animated
him in bringing forward such a measure." But Sir
George Savile remaining inflexible. Fox rose and
expressed his astonishment at the incredulity mani
fested on the subject " So long as the present
Ministers enjoyed their sovereign's confidence, no
idea," he asserted, "could ever exist of coercing
America, or of renewing the system so strongly re
probated by that House. He could not speak per
emptorily for every member of the Cabinet, but he
protested that he would not himself remain one
minute in Administration after he should discover
an intention of bringing back the Colonies to obed
ience either by force or by negotiation."
Fox even proceeded to prove that, however re
luctant the nobleman in question might have been

352 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
in times past to the acknowledgment of American
independence, yet a wholesome and salutary revolu
tion had taken place in his principles from the ope
ration of events and of an overpowering necessity.
To these assurances and expostulations, which were
reiterated by General Conway, Sir George Savile at
length gave way ; but the event proved either that
Fox was mistaken, or that Lord Shelburne exhibited
a reluctance to concede American independence,
which he afterwards renounced when Fox had
quitted the Cabinet. Instead of throwing up his
place in Administration on a bare suspicion or be
lief of Lord Shelburne's intentions, he ought (as
Pitt told him a few days afterwards) to have sum
moned a Cabinet Council, and there to have ascer
tained the fact before he proceeded to extremities.
But passion, indignation, and disappointed ambition
mastering his cooler reason, impelled him, regard
less of the consequences to himself and to his
friends, to retire rather than submit to the new First
Lord of the Treasury. Pitt, more calm and wise,
took Fox's vacant seat, though not his office, in the
Cabinet, an event which the Secretary of State
ought to have foreseen as more than possible, though
probably he was not prepared for it.
If Fox had submitted to retain his office under
Lord Shelburne, after the decease of the Marquis
of Rockingham, it is not to be questioned that the
King, whatever personal objections or dislike he
might have felt towards him, must and would, from
prudential motives, have allowed him to continue
in the Cabinet Nor can it admit of a doubt that
Fox, by consenting to hold his own situation, would
have Induced Lord John Cavendish, over whom he
always exercised an unbounded ascendant, to follow
his example. Burke, who manifested the greatest
reluctance to quit the Pay Office, required rather to

OF MY 0 WN TIME. 353
be impelled in making that sacrifice than appeared to
feel any spontaneous disposition towards resigning
so lucrative an appointment, of which he had scarcely
tasted the first-fruits. Fox's private circumstances
were, moreover, so desperate, as to dictate some
attention to them, and many of his friends stood in
a similar predicament He did not affect to conceal
his own want of pecuniary resources, even when
addressing the House of Commons. Speaking of
the motives that impelled him to resign, and of
their imperious nature, which left him no alterna
tive except quitting office, he added, "Moved by
these considerations, though in point of fortune my
condition is not by any means enviable, I have re-
hnquished the pomp, the patronage, and the emolu
ments of employment. I confess candidly that I
have not quitted my place without a pang. I am
not such a Stoic as to prefer being neglected rather
than courted ; to prefer poverty to riches, incon
venience before comfort, or obscurity before power
and splendour." It was difficult to designate more
eloquently his situation. These expressions fell
from him on the 9th of July, in the progress of the
interesting discussion that took place relative to
Bale's pension. Burke, with less dignity, deplored
on the same day, in the same assembly, his ejection
from the Pay Office, and his inability to despise the
favours of fortune. " I have," said he, " a family,
and my means are small. I like my office ; the
house, the situation, and all its appendages cannot
be otherwise than pleasing to my taste. - All these
things I cannot relinquish without regret, for the
welfare of my family is most dear to me. Who
can conceive that I would lightiy sacrifice these
objects and ;^4000 a year ? I have long been sur
feited with opposition, and those who know me
weU wiU not denominate me factious." These
VOL. IL 2

354 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
lamentations remind us of Pomfret's poem on
Adam's expulsion from Paradise, begiiining —
" And must I go, and must I be no more
The tenant of this happy ground ? "
Burke's condition was in every point of view
rendered more critical in consequence of Lord
Rockingham's decease. That nobleman, by his last
testamentary dispositions, cancelled aU the money
due to him by Burke, amounting to a considerable
sum ; but, as I have been assured, did not bequeath
him any additional legacy or pecuniary mark of
regard. It was added, that Burke by no means
expressed himself satisfied with the Marquis's con
duct towards him in this respect Certainly some
of his expressions relative to Lord Rockingham, in
his speech to which I have already alluded, were
very singular, and might be regarded as equivocal.
" Among the encomiums due to that noble person,"
said he, " this was one, that he left his best and
dearest friends with the simple reward of his own
invaluable intimacy. This peculiar test of their
sincerity he demanded while alive, and it was a tax
which he imposed on their regard for his memory
when he was no more." Do not these words ob
scurely designate the fact that he received no aug
mentation to his fortune by Lord Rockingham's
will ? Embarrassed, nevertheless, as were both his
and Fox's private affairs, the resentment of the
latter at seeing the helm of state transferred to
Lord Shelburne, when added to his knowledge of
the secret machinations which had preceded it, ex
tinguished or superseded every other sentiment in
his bosom. He peremptorily demanded either that
the Duke of Portland should be Immediately recalled'
from Ireland, in order to be placed at the head of
the Treasury, as the representative of the deceased

OF MY OWN TIME. 355
Marquis, and the acknowledged chief of the Whig
party, or he tendered to his Majesty his own instant
resignation. His offer was accepted, and that of
Lord John Cavendish, as Chancellor of the Exche
quer, accompanied it at the same time.
When, after the lapse of five-and-thlrty years, we
calmly examine the motives by which Fox was
actuated in thus throwing up his office, we must
admit that he consulted more his passions than his
judgment, since he lay under no necessity of sacri
ficing either his country or his principles to the pre
servation of his employment. Lord Shelburne's
pretended insincerity or duplicity could not operate
to produce the public ruin, except by the measures
that, in his capacity of First Minister, he might
bring forward,' and whatever repugnance he might
individually feel to grant the American colonies un
conditional independence, yet the majority of the
Cabinet, after Fox's and Lord John Cavendish's
secession, compelled him ultimately to adopt that
principle. By retaining his place under the new
First Lord of the Treasury, Fox would therefore
have secured his adherence to the late Marquis's
plans, or, on his departure from them. Fox would
have carried Parliament and the country with him,
by instantly refusing longer to co-operate with a
Minister who evaded or declined recognising the
sovereignty of the thirteen States. Nor could Lord
Keppel and the Duke of Richmond have then sepa
rated themselves from him. If, instead of the vio
lent step that he took, he had acted with temper,
1 Lord Shelburne was extremely desirous to fprm an alliance with
Russia. In July he writes to Sir James Harris, our Ambassador at
St. Petersburg : " I am highly flattered that my name is not forgot
by the Empress. I hope my principles are remembered also, as they
have uniformly led me to everything respectful to the Court of Russia."
The Court of Russia was, at this time, full of fine sentiment and low
mendacity, part of " the policy of Catherine."— D.

356 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
he would have advanced the public interests, while
he consolidated his own tenure of office. The King
and Lord Shelburne, however much they might
have desired to dismiss him, could not have ven
tured on it without a pretence. Pitt might probably
have become Secretary of State for the Home De
partment, and a very strong Government must have
arisen, from which Lord North as well as his adhe
rents would have been altogether excluded. But
in order to have produced this benefit to the state,
it was necessary for Fox to begin by obtaining a
triumph over himself. He preferred more dictato
rial measures, which in the course of a few months
compelled him either to behold his enemy confirmed
in power after making peace, while he himself and
his followers remained on the Opposition bench, or,
regardless of consequences, to form a junction with
Lord North, and storm the Cabinet a second time.
Such were the injurious results that flowed from his
intemperate precipitation.
Fox, in taking this decisive step, probably flattered
himself that it would have operated to a wider ex
tent than actually happened. Though he could not
rationally hope that either Lord Camden or the
Duke of Grafton would resign, and though he
ought not to have supposed that General Conway
would lay down his office, since not one of these
Ministers depended on the late Marquis of Rock
ingham, yet he certainly calculated that his uncle,
the Duke of Richmond, as well as Lord Keppel,
would imitate his example. In this expectation he
was, however, disappointed. They both expressed,
indeed, in the Upper House of Parliament, their
great regret at his secession ; but they declined
following him out of the Cabinet, and stated the
motives for their determination. It remained during
some time doubtful whether Mr. Pitt would have

OF MY OWN TIME. 357
been appointed one of the Secretaries of State or
placed in the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The latter employment was finally conferred on
him. Mr. Thomas Townshend succeeded Lord
Shelburne in the Home Department, leaving the
post of Secretary at War to Sir George Yonge.
The Foreign Office, vacated by Fox, was last filled
up, and given to Lord Grantham. However in
ferior in energy and brilliancy of intellect as well as
in eloquence to his predecessor, he possessed solid
though not eminent parts, together with a know
ledge of foreign affairs and of Europe, having
resided several years with great reputation as Am
bassador at the Court of Madrid.'
Two of the Lords of the Treasury followed Fox
out of office. One, Lord Althorpe, has since filled
with honour to himself and advantage to the pub
lic, as Earl Spencer,^ a high Cabinet office under
Pitt's Administration. Frederic Montagu, the
other, a man equally respectable for probity and
for talents, subsequently raised to the dignity of
a Privy Councillor, was a devoted adherent of
the Cavendish and Rockingham interest. Mr.
Richard Jackson and Mr. Edward James Eliot
succeeded to these Ministerial vacancies. The
former gentleman, one of Lord Shelburne's inti
mate friends, bred to the bar, had obtained from
the universality of his information on all topics, as
I have already had occasion to remark, the appel
lation of " Omniscient Jackson." Mr. Eliot after
wards married Lady Harriet Pitt, sister of the new
1 " I have been so httle used, and, I am afraid to say, so little earnest,
in public transactions, that my situation is as new to me as the Eastern
languages. . . . Indeed, I know I was thought, when I wrote from Spain,
fo be dry."— Lord Grantham to Sir James Harris, Malmesbury Corre-\
spondence, vi. 435. — D. ,
" He was First Lord of the Admiralty during the mutiny of th^
Nore and at the battle of Aboukir. He was the founder of the gran^
' Spencer Library. — ED.

358 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; and his father eariy
in 1 784 was created a peer,'whUe the First Minister
had StiU to contend against a majority in the House
of Commons. The remaining member of the Trea
sury Board, James GrenvUle,^ whom we have like
wise seen elevated by Pitt to the British peerage
at a later period of his Administration, did not think
proper to imitate the example of his colleagues.
Mr. Orde, who became one of the two Secretaries
of the Treasury, like Mr. GrenviUe, terminated his
career as a commoner on the very same day, fifteen
years afterwards, by removal to the Upper House
of Parliament.
The peerage formed, indeed, the Euthanasia, the
natural translation of all Pitt's favourite adherents,
friends, and relations, either by consanguinity or by
alliance. It must be admitted that Orde ^ possessed
a double pretension to it from his services and his
matrimonial connection. While a member of the
House of Commons, he had distinguished himself
by drawing up more than one of the most able
reports of the " secret committee " appointed to
inquire into the causes of the war in the Carnatic,
of which committee he formed a leading member.
Dundas, the chairman, when addressing the House
on the 9th of April 1782, after paying him the
highest compliments for his assiduity and exertions,
in that capacity, added, " Such, indeed, are the
talents which Mr. Orde has exhibited in the busi
ness of investigation, that no Minister who means
to act honestly can overlook him or omit to employ
his distinguished abilities in the public service."
Great, however, as was the testimony of the Lord
1 Baron Eliot, who survived his eldest son. His successor, John, a
younger son, was created Earl of St. Germains in 1815. — Ed.
2 Cousin of Lord GrenviUe. He was created Baron Glastonbury
in 1797. — Ed.
^ Thomas Orde was created Baron Bolton in 1797. — Ed.

OF MY 0 WN TIME. 359
Advocate to his merits, which I am not inclined to
dispute, yet his best claim to the peerage consisted
in having married the natural daughter of Charles,
Duke of Bolton, in virtue of which union, and from
the failure of male issue in the person of the suc
ceeding Duke, Mr. Orde became eventually pos
sessed of some of the finest estates of that illustrious
family. The title itself, diminished to a Barony,
was revived in him together with the name of Pow
lett. Lord North remained an inactive, though not
an unconcerned or a silent, spectator of this new
convulsion in the councils of the crown which had
so soon expelled from the Cabinet one of the two
parties by whom he was himself driven from power.
Of all those individuals who had supported his Ad
ministration or occupied any eminent situation under
it, only two quitted him in order to be received into
Lord Shelburne's confidence and Ministry. The
Lord Advocate, Dundas, after eight years of adher
ence, now abandoned altogether his ancient political
leader, and, imitating the precedent exhibited by
Pitt, took office by accepting the Treasurership of
the Navy.' From this period those two eminent
statesmen continued during the remainder of their
lives inseparable in good as well as in adverse for
tune. Lord Mulgrave followed Dundas's example.
The Duke of Portland, who, as a man devoted to
the Rockingham Interest, and now, placed ostensibly
at its head, adopted of course Fox's line of conduct,
was succeeded in the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland
by Earl Temple, a nobleman of very considerable
talents and indefatigable application to business,
^ At this period there was exhibited a portrait of Dundas in a High
land garb with the motto, " Wha wants me ?" He was at this 'time
very unpopular, owing very much, probably, to the remains of the
prejudices raised against the Scotch during Lord Bute's Administra
tion and Wilkes's sarcastic and bitter observations, to say nothing of
Churchill's satire.— Ed.

36o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
though, we must admit, inferior in energy of mind
and character to either of his brothers.^
[gth July 1782.] The interruption which so im
portant a change in the Government occasioned in
the ordinary business of the House of Commons
prevented any discussion from arising in that as
sembly during some days relative to the causes and
motives of Fox's resignation. But an occasion soon
presented itself which enabled him to state all his
grievances, to unfold some portion of the mystery
that pervaded his conduct, and to bring forward
the heaviest charges against the new First Lord of
the Treasury. A pension of three thousand two
hundred pounds a year having been granted to
Colonel Barr6 by the Administration of which Lord
Rockingham constituted the head, and another very
considerable. pension being given at the same time
to Lord Ashburton, the two principal friends of
Lord Shelburne in both Houses of Parliament,
these grants, the consideration of which was un
expectedly brought forward, became severely
arraigned. It seemed, indeed, impossible not to
feel a degree of astonishment at contemplating such
profuse donations of the public money made by
Ministers who condemned Lord North's want of
economy, who were with difficulty induced to give a
pension of two thousand pounds a year to Lord Rod
ney for having defeated the French fleet and saved
Jamaica, who themselves had recently reduced the
household of the sovereign, and who loudly asserted
their- personal disinterestedness. Daniel Parker
Coke, a man who, like Kenyon, only took the
advice of his own upright and intelligent mind in
^ George, second Earl Temple, and afterwards first Marquis of
Buckingham, was son of the Prime Minister, George GrenviUe, and
nephew of Richard, first Earl Temple. His two brothers were
Thomas GrenviUe and William Wyndham GrenviUe, afterwards Lord
GrenviUe. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. x^x

o^

aU cases of public or parliamentary duty, coming
down to the House without concert of any kind,
moved for an address to request of his Majesty to
declare which of his Ministers had dared to recom
mend the grant of the pension in question to Barr6.
The three Lords of the Treasury present having all
admitted that It was the Marquis of Rockingham's
act, and Frederic Montagu, one of the number, not
only justifying it as a remuneration merited by
Barrd for his long services in that assembly, but
adding that all he regretted was his not having
signed a warrant for a similar sum to another dis
tinguished servant of the public, namely, Burke,
Barr6 himself then rose. In a speech well con
ceived and delivered from the Treasury bench he
detaUed his military sufferings and honorary as well
as pecuniary renunciations. The post of Adjutant-
General and the governrnent of Stirling Castle, both
of which offices had been conferred on him by the
crown as a reward for his services under the im
mortal Wolfe in Canada — posts of which officers
were only deprived for military offences — he had
sacrificed. " I was," said he, " an enemy to general
warrants. I voted against them in this House, and
for this political transgression I was dismissed the
very next day from my military employments. I
should now have been an old Lieutenant-General.
Had I been less a friend to the liberties of the
people, my income would have exceeded the pen
sion conferred on me. If, after such sacrifices, I
do not merit this provision, let it be curtailed or
annihilated." I confess that though I felt no predilection to
wards Barr6, whose manners, like his figure, had in
them something approaching to ferocious, yet these
circumstances produced on my mind a sentiment of
conviction or approbation. But Bamber Gascoyne,'
1 Bamber Gascoyne was M.P. for Truro.— Ed.

362 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
who yielded to few men in strong common-sense,
which he expressed with force and freedom when
ever he mixed in debate, attacked both the grant
and the Administration with great vivacity. While
he candidly admitted the deserts of the person on
whom this mark of royal and public bounty had
been conferred, he loudly inveighed against such
profusion on the part of' men who, while out of
office, had condemned the late Ministers for making
similar remunerations, and who, since they had
been themselves in power, though only a few
weeks, had practised all the faults they had previ
ously reprehended. " The people," exclaimed he,
"will soon know how to form a just estimate of
them. They declare that their predecessors have
left the Exchequer empty and the finances ex
hausted. Yet they heap new burthens upon us.
They accused the last Cabinet of want of unani
mity. But what is the state of the present Cabinet .''
Is there any union of opinion there .'' Yet his
Majesty's late servants have not made the slightest
attempt to impede their measures or negotiations.
This discord is the more culpable and dangerous
at the present moment, when the combined navies,
superior to our own fleet under Lord Howe's com
mand, are perhaps upon our coasts. A Lord of
the Treasury expresses his concern at not having
signed a warrant for a pension to another honour
able member, whose talents and merits I own to be
most eminent Why, Mr. Speaker, I have served ,
the public for twenty years and I have got no pen
sion ! If such large pecuniary compensations are
to be given to every individual of conspicuous
desert, where is the financier who can provide
funds adequate to the demand .? "
Under accusations so severe as well as just, the
late Secretary of State could not remain sUent,

OF MY OWN TIME. 363
even had he been so inclined. Having resigned his
office four days previous to the discussion then agi
tating, he had relapsed into a private member of
Parliament, and as such had resumed his ancient
seat on the Opposition side of the House, as well
as his former costume. Lord John Cavendish and
Burke were likewise seated near him, as they had
always been previous to the change of Admini
stration. So soon did Fox find himself restored to
his former position in that assembly. Below him
sat Lord North, and this approximation, the first
that took place between them, led the way to a
closer connection in the course of a short space of
time. No man could contemplate the late Premier,
now reduced like Fox to a simple individual, the
one of whom four months earlier occupied the
first place in the Cabinet, while the other had only
just resigned the seals of his department, without
making some reflections on the mutability of human
greatness. It might have afforded a salutary les
son to ambition, if any lessons or examples could
serve as checks on that passion. Fox rising, and
directing his discourse not less to Bamber Gascoyne
than to Coke, admitted that the deceased Marquis,
his friend, had concurred in recommending the
pensions conferred on Lord Ashburton and on
Barre, but he entreated the House to observe, that
while Lord Shelburne's adherents received such
distinguishing marks of the bounty of the crown,
the followers of Lord Rockingham, many of whom
could plead equal merit and equal want, remained
without provision of any kind.
After thus in some measure removing the odium
attached to the act from that party of which he
formed a member, he indirectly accused the new
First Minister of the most unworthy duplicity, of
the complete abandonment of every political prin-

364 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
ciple on which he professed to have come Into
office, and of an Intention to protect as well as to
shelter East Indian delinquents. Having next
enumerated the great points on which Lord Shel
burne and he had differed in the Cabinet, among which
he particularly specified the question of conceding
independence to America, he concluded by heap
ing upon that nobleman imputations more severe
and humUiating, If possible, than the charges with
which during many years he had profusely loaded
Lord North. In the warmth of his indignation he
even ventured to predict the probability that, with
a view to maintain possession of the power so ac
quired. Lord Shelburne would not scruple to apply
for support to the very men whom the House and
the nation had recently driven from their official
situations. He unfortunately did not then foresee
that within seven months from the time when he
was speaking he should himself, in order to re-enter
the Cabinet, form a junction with the expelled
Minister whom he had so long held up to national
resentment, and towards whom he still professed
the utmost alienation. Such were the inconsisten
cies and contradictions into which Fox's ambition
betrayed him, and from which all the splendour of
his talents could not extricate his public character,
without eventually incurring accusations nearly as
heavy as those which he heaped on his political
opponents. I find it difficult to convey to posterity anyadequate
idea of this extraordinary debate, or rather discussion,
which, during the greater part of the time it lasted,
exhibited not the slightest reference nor made the
smallest allusion to the ostensible subject before the
House, Barry's pension. In defiance of order, it
was maintained for three or four hours in the shape
of a conversation or dialogue; carried on between

OF MY OWN TIME. 365
Fox and General Conway exclusively, the Speaker
and the members present, who were very numer
ous (especiaUy if we consider the advanced season
of the year), acquiescing in a total departure from
the question under examination, from motives of
curiosity. Never, perhaps, were political disclo
sures more delicate and interesting made within
those walls. Fox, in violation of the secrecy which
his late situation seemed to impose upon him, anxi
ous to justify his own violent and precipitate con
duct by accusing Lord Shelburne of a dereliction
of principles embraced by the whole Cabinet, raised
theveil from before the political sanctuary, and laid it
in some measure open to general inspection. There
were certain parts of his justification, I own, that
carried conviction or approbation with them, but he
by no means succeeded in persuading the majority
of his hearers that he had acted wisely, temperately,
or from necessity in hastily throwing up his office.
We may safely pronounce that disappointment, not
patriotism, animated him to that improvident step,
though he might really believe that Lord Shelburne
did not mean to concede independence to America.
In reply to Mr. Gascoyne's accusation that the
new Administration was not less divided than their
predecessors. Fox observed that he had blamed
Lord North for having remained in place after he
found himself at the head of distracted councils.
" As soon as I discovered," said he, " that I stood
in a similar situation, I could not remain a mem
ber of the Cabinet without committing an act of
treachery to my country, when measures dangerous,
if not fatal, were meditated." — " I declare that I
have only resigned because I believe a new system
is about to be adopted, or rather the ancient system
revived. I feel it indispensable to come forward
to ring the alarum bell, and to warn the country

366 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
that the old system is to be pursued, probably with
the former men, or indeed with any men that can
be found for the purpose. The principles of the
late Ministry are now in the Cabinet, and the next
thing that I expect is to see the late Ministers
themselves replaced in office." — " All that is great
and good in the kingdom has approved my retreat
My noble friend (Lord John Cavendish) has like
wise given in his resignation, and the public wiU
infer that when such a, character has quitted the
Cabinet, no man of character ought to remain in
it."^" I now retire with a few select friends to a
stronghold where I confidently expect all my old
companions to join me, some sooner and some later
in the day." — " On the demise of the Marquis of
Rockingham, all men's eyes were directed to the
Duke of Portland. But instead of that noble per
son, the Earl of Shelburne has been selected."
Then, having inveighed against the new First
Lord of the Treasury, as the reverse of his prede
cessor, as a nobleman who neither regarded pro
mises nor engagements, nor systems, nor principles,
provided that by abandoning or violating them he
could acquire and retain power ; " I doubt not,"
added he, " that, in order to secure himself in
office, he will have recourse to every means that
corruption can procure. And I expect that he will
shortly be joined by those very men whom the
House has recently precipitated from their seats."
Yet, after having thus repeatedly denounced the
late Ministers, and warned the country of the im
pending danger from their being again taken into
power, by one of those contradictions common to
Fox, he concluded with declaring, that " as to any
apprehensions of letting in the old Administration,
he entertained none, because the House of Com
mons would not suffer it, the people would not suf-

OF MY OWN TIME. 367
fer it, indeed, no man would be bold enough to at
tempt such a measure."
The members of the new Administration diverged
on this occasion in widely different lines. General
Conway, with the " undetermined discretion " im
puted to him by "Junius," contented himself by
endeavouring to justify his own line of conduct and
that of the Cabinet Ministers who had declined to
imitate the example of Fox, which he did rather
with caution and delicacy than with any asperity or
acrimony. With solemn protestations he declared
that he had not been able to discover the slightest
intention on the part of the new First Minister to
abandon the principles upon which the Administra
tion was originally constituted. Those principles
he recapitulated one by one, the first and most
essential of which, forming the basis of all their
measures or deliberations, was the concession of un
conditional independence to America as the lead
ing step to peace. Whenever he should find any
ground for suspicion that the Earl of Shelburne
designed to adopt another system, he protested that
he would not remain for a day or for an hour in
the Cabinet He lamented the recent division and
secession in his Majesty's councils as well as the
loss of ability sustained by Fox's resignation. Yet
he saw no reason to apprehend that the successor
of the noble Marquis deceased would fail to pursue
the true interests of his country. Throughout every
part of Conway's speech a desire was strongly
marked to avoid coming to extremities with Fox ;
but Pitt, now seated on the Treasury bench and on
the point of accepting the office of Chancellor of
the Exchequer, observing none of these personal
managements, boldly accused the late Secretary of
State with sacrificing his country to his ambition,
his interest, or his enmities ; charged him as being

368 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
at variance not with principles or measures, but
with men, and claimed the support of the House
no longer than he should maintain that system on
which the late Administration had been driven
from power.
" The Right Honourable Secretary assures us,"
said he, " that it was with the sole view of prevent
ing dissensions in the Cabinet he retired from office.
I believe him, because he solemnly declares It ;
otherwise I should have attributed his resignation
to a baulk in struggling for power. If, however, he
so much disliked Lord Shelburne's political prin
ciples or opinions, why did he ever consent to act
with that nobleman as a colleague ? And if he only
suspected Lord Shelburne of feeling averse to the
measures which he thought necessary to be adopted,
it was his duty to have called a Cabinet Council,
and there to have ascertained the fact before he
took the hasty resolution of throwing up his em
ployment I can assure him that I entertain no
suspicions. If I did, no man would be more averse
to supporting the present Ministry than myself. I
am a determined enemy to the late ruinous system,
and if I should act in any capacity under the Ad
ministration of the present day, whenever I see
things going on wrong, I will first endeavour to set
them right. Should I fail in the attempt, then, and
not before, I will resign." Perhaps in no transac
tion of their whole political lives was the distinction
between Fox and Pitt more strikingly exhibited
than in the resignation of the former and the ac
ceptance of office by the latter in July 1782. The
judgment, patience, and self-command of Pitt en
abled him, at three-and-twenty, to mount over Fox's
shoulders, to enter the Cabinet, and in less than,
eighteen months to fill Lord Shelburne's vacant.,
place, which he held for seventeen years ; whUe his

OF MY OWN TIME. 369
antagonist, though he twice forced his way into the
councils of the sovereign, knew not how to maintain
himself in that elevation.
Lord John Cavendish, though he had recently
filled so high an office in Administration, and though
he had resigned like Fox, yet took little part in the
debate relative to Barrd's pension. He, however,
confirmed the late Secretary's declaration to a certain
degree respecting Lord Shelburne's intentions as to
America, but he appeared to act only on belief, not
on proof Indeed, he always seemed to be either
propelled or restrained at pleasure by Fox, who
held Lord John constantly before him as a political
screen. Burke, however, made ample amends for
the defect of communication on the part of the late
Chancellor of the Exchequer, and, in defiance of
the impatience manifested by the House, inveighed
with equal violence and indecorum against the new
First Lord of the Treasury, whom he depictured
as unworthy of the national confidence. " I invoke
heaven and earth," exclaimed he, "to witness that
I fully believe the present Ministry will prove in
finitely worse than that of the noble Lord who has
been so lately reprobated and driven from employ
ment." After treating Conway with great severity
of animadversion for trusting to Lord Shelburne's
assurances or professions, and comparing the General
to Littie Red Riding- Hood in ^sop,' who mistook
a wolf for her grandmother, Burke demanded
" whether, if he had lived in the time of Cicero, he
would have taken Catiline ^ for his colleague in the
1 This is a strange ascription of the nursery tale of Little Red
Riding-Hood to the fables of .^sop.— Ed.
^ Shortly after this Fox was popularly styled Catiline. Sayer pub
lished a caricature in 1785 under the title of" Cicero in Catilinam,"
which represents Fox in the character of Catiline seated on the
Opposition benches quailing beneath the eloquent invective of his
rival, Pitt, as Cicero. — Ed.
TOIL. II. 2 A

370 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
office of consul after he had heard his guilt clearly
demonstrated by that Ulustrious orator ? Would
he become a copartner with Borgia in his political
schemes after reading of his nefarious principles in
Machiavel ? " " If the Eari of Shelburne," added
he, " be not a Catiline or a Borgia in morals, it must
be solely ascribed to the superiority of his under
standing." These invectives, which only proved the extent
of Burke's enmity and of his regret at quitting the
Pay Office, made little impression on his hearers,
Lee,' who had filled the situation of Solicitor-General
under the late Administration, but who had quitted
his employment at the same time with the other
adherents of the deceased Marquis — a man of strong
intellectual parts, though of very coarse manners,
and who never hesitated to clothe his ideas in the
coarsest language — may be said to have terminated
this curious and interesting conversation. His in
decorous abuse of the new First Minister, though
couched in a more homely garb and not illustrated
by any classical or historical allusions, exceeded
in violence even the declamation of Burke. Lee
levelled his reflections and accusations not against
the ability or talents of the Earl, but against his
principles of political and moral action. He fully
admitted that nobleman's external accomplishments,
specious address, and comprehensive information.
Mr. Coke having withdrawn his motion on Barre's
pension, the House broke up ; but from that evening
the country and Parliament beheld for the first time
two individuals who might hitherto be said to have
fought under the same standard openly opposed
to each other, and who were destined never more
during their lives, under any change of circum-
' John Lee, M.P. for Clitheroe, Attorney-General in November
1783.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 371
stances, to act in political union. In fact, from this
period, though Lord North remained ostensibly at
the head of one great party, and though Lord Shel
burne, who occupied the place of First Minister,
was nominally the chief of another, yet they ceased
to be considered as the principal personages in the
state. Pitt and Fox, attracting far more attention,
were regarded by the nation at large, no less than
by Parliament, as rival candidates for the future
government of the country.
[loth and i \th July 1 782.] Lord Shelburne, when
speaking in the House of Peers on the subject of
the pension granted to Barre, endeavoured to shift
the origin, and consequently the odium, of having
conferred it on Lord Rockingham. In this attempt
he proved, however, eminently unfortunate, as his
assertions on the subject produced the most unqua
lified contradiction from the connections or adher
ents of the deceased Marquis. Burke and Fox both
denied it in the strongest terms, calling at the same
time on Lord John Cavendish to confirm their
declarations on the point. His testimony, which
was very vague, added little force to their previous
protestations, but it was natural to suppose that the
proposition must have originated with Lord Shel
burne, the patron, friend, and protector of Barre.
Yet that nobleman, when addressing the Upper
House, not only asserted that the deceased Marquis
first proposed the idea, but added that he had in
his possession a letter from Lord Rockingham on
the subject completely proving his assertion. In a
long, able, and laboured address, he endeavoured
likewise to impress his audience with a conviction
that Fox, in his secession from the Cabinet, could
have had no other motive except disappointed am
bition and rivalry. Fox, however, not only treated
the insinuation with indignant contempt, accom-

372 HISTORICAL ^MEMOIRS
panied by a positive denial in the House of Com
mons ; on the subsequent day he likewise, by the
mouth of the Earl of Derby in the other House,
where Lord Shelburne was present, declared it " to
be contrary to fact, and a direct deviation from the
truth." Not satisfied with so public a contradic
tion. Lord Derby called on the other members of
Administration who were in their places to state
their personal Information and to give evidence on
the point. Thus compelled, the Duke of Richmond,
and Lord Keppel rose, and admitted that the late
Secretary of State had differed in sentiment from
Lord Shelburne on subjects of great importance
previous to Lord Rockingham's decease. They
likewise added, that in consequence of finding him
self in a minority on the matter then agitated in the
Cabinet, Fox had declared his intention to resign
his office.
After so clear and distinct a testimony, it became '
impossible to doubt or to deny the fact, especially
as neither Lord Camden nor Lord Ashburton, who
were both in the House at the time, disputed the
authenticity of the two noble witnesses. However'
painful or humiliating these contradictions must
have been, which impeached Lord Shelburne's per
sonal veracity equally as a man and as a Minister,
he nevertheless submitted to them without miaking
any further effort to justify himself in the^ opinion •
of the public, and the circumstances that attended ,
the prorogation of Parliament seemed to indicate
his impatience under the deliberations of that as
sembly, as well as his apprehensions of the impres
sion made on many individuals by Fox's accusations,-
Lord Shelburne's courage, which was unquestion
able, had been proved in the duel that he fought
with Colonel Fullerton.' It became, therefore, im-
1 In 1780 Fullerton was member for Plympton. He complained

OF MY OWN TIME. zn
•possible to suppose that he would have tamely
endured such imputations on his private character
if he had possessed the means of effectually repel
ling or disproving them. Even on the subject of
granting American independence, there appeared so
much ambiguity, if not tergiversation and contradic
tion, in all his parliamentary speeches, as greatly
tended to persuade mankind that Fox's allegations
respecting Lord Shelburne's disinclination to con
cede the point must have had a foundation in truth.
The very principle on which he avowed, when ad
dressing the House of Peers, that he retained his
place in the councils of the crown, seemed scarcely
compatible with strict regard to political rectitude.
For he declared in the plainest language, that he
was not only adverse in his own judgment to ac
knowledging the independence of the thirteen colo
nies, but that whenever such a recognition should
be extorted from this country, " the sun of British
glory would have set" Yet in the same moment
he admitted, that as the majority of the Rocking
ham Cabinet were of an opposite opinion, he should
acquiesce in the measure, which measure, though
destructive, as he conceived, to Great Britain, he
was now ready, in his new capacity of First Lord of
the Treasury, if Parliament approved it, to carry
into execution.
No political imputation which his enemies affixed
on Lord North had operated with more force in
his disfavour on the minds of the public than the
assertion that he prosecuted the American war In
that Lord Shelburne, " with aU the aristocratic insolence that marked
his character," had dared to say that the Colonel and his regiment
were ready to act against the liberties of England. They fought in
Hyde Park, and Lord Shelburne was hit in the groin. A committee
of Common Council, " anxious for the preservation of the valuable life
of so true a friend of the people as the Earl of Shelburne," formaUy
inquired after his Lordship's safety.— D.

374 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
opposition to his own convictions, from a love of
place, or from unworthy subservience to the royal
will. But to a simUar charge the new First Mini-
ster appeared in some measure voluntarily to sub
ject himself He might however plead, as he did in
fact assert when addressing the Houseof Peers, that
" however dreadful the, impending disaster would
prove, as he believed, to his country ; however
much he deprecated and deplored it, and whatever
efforts he had made to prevent it, yet that an over
powering and insurmountable necessity compelled
him to become the agent for carrying into effect so
destructive a measure." He even succeeded, as we
know, in surmounting the King's repugnance to the
final separation of America from the British Em
pire. Fox, therefore, if he had not been impelled ;:
by animosity to Lord Shelburne, and by a deter- :
rhination not to remain in the Cabinet unless the
Duke of Portland was placed at the head of Ad
ministration, might have continued in office without
abandoning any principle. He preferred a more
violent alternative. His friends, as well as the daily
newspapers attached to his party, joined in accusing
the Minister of having undermined Lord Rocking
ham in the royal esteem by the most unworthy arts,
in order to get possession of his office, while politi
cal caricatures exhibited in the shops of the metro
polis represented Lord Shelburne habited as Guy^
Faux, so notorious for the part that was assigned
him in the " Gunpowder Plot," a dark lantern in his
hand, advancing under cover of the night to blow
up the Treasury.
Such were the sinister circumstances under which
commenced that nobleman's Administration. Even
down to the last moment that the House of Com
mons remained sitting, Burke, among the querulous
lamentations that he uttered on being so suddenly

OF MY OWN TIME. 375
ejected from his office of Paymaster of the Forces —
a misfortune which seemed deeply to affect him —
mingled the loudest exclamations against the falsity
and defect of principle in the First Minister. His
phUippIc was cut short in the middle by the arrival
of Sir Francis Molineux, as Usher of the Black
Rod, sent to summon the attendance of the mem
bers at the bar of the House of Lords, where the
King, already seated on the throne, was ready to
prorogue the Parliament. A singular fact, arising
out of the late parliamentary reforms, accompanied
this ceremony. Among the retrenchments of the
royal household which Burke's bill had made, was
included, as has been already observed, the sup
pression of the Jewel Office, which department had
been under Mr. William Egerton's control, a rela
tion of the Duke of Bridgewater, and a member
of the House of Commons. The bill having so
recently passed into a law, no new official regulation
had as yet been adopted for the removal or trans
portation of the paraphernalia of the crown. On
the occasion of his Majesty going to Westminster in
order to prorogue the two Houses, it became indis
pensable to convey thither the crown and sceptre,
together with various other articles of state. The
Jewel Office being suppressed, in which department
these dispositions previously lay, application was
made both to the Lord Steward and to the Lord
Chamberlain, praying that orders might be issued
to the keeper of the jewels in the Tower for
bringing them to Westminster on the day of the
prorogation. But those great officers of state, not
conceiving themselves to possess a power of inter
ference, directions were at length dispatched for the
purpose from the Home Secretary of State's ' office.
After some consultation held relative to the safest
mode of conveying the royal ornaments, none of

376 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the King's carriages being sent to receive them,
application was next made to the magistrates at
Bow Street, who detached four or five stout agents
of the police for their protection. Two hackney-
coaches being provided, in which the various articles
were placed, with a view to render the transporta-'
tion of them more private, the procession set out
circuitously from the Tower by the New Road,
entering London again at Portland Street, and so
proceeded down to Westminster. The blinds were
kept up the whole way, and after the prorogation
they returned by the same road, withoyt experi
encing any accident. But it is unquestionable that
eight or ten desperate fellows, had they been ap
prised of the circumstance, might have easily over
powered the persons employed, and have carried off
the jewels. The memorable enterprise of Colonel
Blood' under Charles II., who got hold of the
crown and sceptre, though he ultimately failed in
retaining possession of them, was in fact a far more
hazardous undertaking, as in order to execute it
he lay under the necessity of entering the Tower,
whereas, in the present instance, the attempt might
have been made in the street or in the New Road.
Any accident of the kind, had it taken place, would
necessarily have thrown some degree of ridicule, as
well as of blame, on a system of economy productive
of such consequences in its outset.
Among the interesting features of the session of
Parliament before us, which, on account of a degree
of mystery or ambiguity accompanying them, greatly
exercised national curiosity, may be reckoned the
proceedings commenced against Sir Thomas Rum
bold. I say commenced, because they never were
prosecuted to any consummation. This gentleman
' An attempt to steal the crown was made by a woman in 1815.
She was tried, and proved to be insane. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. lyy
returned, as has been already mentioned, from Mad
ras early in 1781, under imputations the most inju
rious to his fame. He was accused of having, while
Governor of that Important settlement, not only
amassed by every unbecoming means an immense
fortune, but of first provoking a Avar with Hyder
Ally, by acts of imprudent aggression, and then of
abandoning the country intrusted to his care with
pusUlanimous or interested precipitation. These
charges, which were solemnly brought against him
by Mr. Dundas, Lord Advocate of Scotland, as
chairman of the secret committee appointed by the
House of Commons to inquire into the causes of the
war in the Carnatic, produced a deep impression on
the public mind. We have already seen the steps
which were immediately adopted by the Legislature
to tie up and impound Sir Thomas's person as well
as his fortune ; but, in addition to these precautions,
a bill for inflicting on him pains and penalties, as a
man who had been guUty of high crimes and misde
meanours, was introduced by Dundas himself.
Such a measure, which excited general approba
tion, appeared to be worthy the national justice
exerted in punishing a great public culprit. The
Une of ambitious policy pursued by Hastings, when
Governor- General of Bengal, might possibly have
led to many misfortunes, and might perhaps merit
condemnation ; but his motives were admitted,
even by his enemies, to have been splendid and
elevated, however pernicious, as was asserted, in
their operation and consequences. The adminis
tration of Rumbold, on the contrary, seemed only
directed to sordid and selfish purposes. Every
party, it was therefore hoped, would concur in
carrying through such a bill ; and though Dundas,
after the termination of Lord North's Ministry, no
longer acted in an official situation, yet in his

378 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
capacity of chairman of the secret committee, he
spoke from a great eminence, and might expect
universal support Least of all, it was supposed,
could the Rockingham party, who had just come
into power, who professed to call to a severe account
all such as had plundered or injured the country,
and who loudly demanded an inquiry into East
India delinquencies, attempt to throw obstacles in
the path of justice. Under these circumstances, all
men expected, and most men hoped, that the bill in
question would have speedily found its way through
the House of Commons, and have finally passed
into a law. The fact, nevertheless, turned out com
pletely otherwise. Meanwhile the session advanced ;
a full attendance, as Dundas asserted and com
plained, could not be procured; the House was
frequently counted out ; and whether from the ope
ration of that cause, or from any other reason more
concealed, no rapid progress was made in the busi
ness. Sir Thomas Rumbold's person and property
remained, it is true, sequestered or restrained, but
beyond that temporary interposition no permanent
punishment was inflicted on him.
Men who had anticipated much more vigorous
and speedy as well as decisive proceedings, and
who beheld the supposed criminal thus elude or
escape, as it were, the grasp of national pursuit,
reasoned and commented on the fact. Malignity or
credulity invented reasons for whatever appeared
inexplicable throughout the transaction. Secret
springs were asserted to have been touched which
had arrested or paralysed the exertions of the pro
secutor. Time, place, and circumstances were even
particularised, all which, though perhaps untrue or
imaginary, seemed, nevertheless, not only in them
selves possible, but so well fabricated and so
minutely detailed as to appear highly probable. I

OF MY OWN TIME. 379
shall, however, relate only such facts as are un
questionably authentic.
Rumbold, though a man of low extraction and of
a mean education, did not by any means want ac
tivity, judgment, or talents. I knew him weU. In
his person he was well made and handsome,' but
his features, though regular and manly, contained
nothing in them prepossessing. His successful
exertions while Governor of Madras in reducing
Pondicherry had elevated him to the dignity of a
Baronet On his arrival in England, aware of the
storm that impended over him, he immediately con
trived to get into Parliament; and he soon after
wards brought his eldest son into the House of
Commons, by which means he came into daily
coUision and communication with those who might
either injure or could defend him. That he was
not idle is certain, and he attempted In his place as
a member of the House to justify himself from the
charges exhibited against him with some ability.
In addition, however, to these personal efforts, he
soon found means to concUiate a friend who was
supposed to have laboured efficaciously towards his
extrication. That friend, Rigby, the late Paymaster of the
Forces, having enjoyed during a great number of
years one of the most profitable places under the
crown without any colleague, had acquired a large
fortune. But his luxurious and expensive manner
of living in town, his magnificent seat at Mistley
Hall in Essex, where he maintained a splendid
establishment, when added to his purchases of
landed property, had exhausted even means so vast,
and left him, as it were, necessitous in the midst of
1 So he was ; and what is much more surprising, he had the air and
look of a man of quality. Very strange, surely, in a black-shoe boy,
for such he was at starting.— P.

:38o HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
wealth. In this situation of his affairs the termina
tion of Lord. North's Administration not only. de
prived him of his employment, but in consequence
of the system of reform adopted by the new Minis
ters, and in particular from the regulations intro
duced by Burke, his successor in the Pay Office,
which compelled him to pay into the Exchequer
the immense balances of public money remaining
in his hands, Rigby became involved in great
pecuniary embarrassments. These balances having
been vested by him in mortgages or in other secu
rities, and the public funds suffering then under
great depression, it could not be, in fact, an easy
matter to find the means of answering promptly the
demands made upon him by Government for re
payment Rumbold had brought with him from the East,
as Verres did from Sicily, very ample resources,
which he well knew how to use in time of need for
his own protection ; and Rigby's situation, which
was generally understood, might render a loan of
money peculiarly convenient That gentleman hav
ing no children, his sister's son was destined to
inherit his name and property. Rumbold had
a daughter whose age and accomplishments quali
fied her to be united to him in marriage. The
alliance being agreed on, it was supposed that by
the secret articles the East India Governor ad
vanced to his friend such a sum as greatly facili
tated those payments of the public money which
he was necessitated to furnish without delay. After
entering into so close a connection, cemented by
such binding ties, it might be esteemed natural, and
even venial, that Rigby should lend his reciprocal
aid to Sir Thomas Rumbold. Though no longer
Paymaster of the Forces, Rigby still possessed great
capacities of being useful, and he was not supposed

OF MY OWN TIME. 381
to lie under the dominion of any fastidious scruples.
Above all, his intimate friendship with Dundas, who
conducted the parliamentary prosecution instituted
against Rumbold, might enable Rigby to find means
and opportunities of diminishing those prejudices
or softening those impressions that operated most
injuriously against the accused person. No proof
has been indeed ever produced that improper means
were used to effect this object, nor do I believe that
any such were employed ; but the public being in
possession of certain facts, and observing that the
proceedings so vigorously begun in Parliament
against Rumbold seemed unaccountably to languish,
and eventually to expire towards the close of the
session of 1783, though they were nomlnaUy re
newed when the House met in the subsequent
month of December, inferred, perhaps very unjustly,
that there must exist some latent cause which had
blunted the edge of the weapon. Rumbold, it is
certain, was finally extricated ; but whether the
ostensible reasons assigned for deferring the bill of
pains and penalties formed the only circumstances
that conduced to his escape, or whether more effica
cious and cogent arguments of any kind were used,
must always remain matter of conjecture and asser
tion, like many other obscure points of biographical
history. [\e^th — 3 \st July \ 782.] The session being now
terminated. Lord Shelburne might be regarded as
secure in the possession of his newly acquired
power, at least for several months. During that
interval, means, it was naturaUy imagined, could
easily be discovered of cementing and confirming
the Ministry. Negotiations for peace were already
begun with America, which, if they proved success
ful, it was probable must eventually lead to a treaty
with our European enemies. The talents of the

o

82 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS

First Lord of the Treasury were considered as
eminently adapted to diplomatic discussions, in the
conduct of which his enlarged knowledge of the
foreign interests of Great Britain and his minute
acquaintance with the Continental courts enabled
him, it was said, to act at once with vigour and
perspicuity. If he had lost the abilities of Fox and
Burke in the House of Commons, he had, on the
other hand, secured and attached to him two men
no less able in different ways — Pitt and Dundas.
He, moreover, possessed the confidence of the sove
reign, who, as all men supposed, would from neces
sity, if not from inclination, support a Minister
preferred by himself to his present office. Lord
North might even, it was hoped, feel a far stronger
disposition to join the actual Administration when
Parliament should meet again than to unite with
the Rockingham - party, his inveterate enemies.
Under this aspect of public affairs, though Lord
Shelburne neither stood as high in the- national
opinion for severe integrity and probity as his
deceased predecessor, the Marquis of Rockingham,
had done, nor could command that parliamentary
strength which Lord North stUl in some mea
sure influenced or led, yet many persons considered
his tenure of office by no means precarious, and
augured well of its duration.
Burke's invectives against the First Minister,
which continued to the last instant that the forms
of Parliament permitted, were nevertheless sus
pended while the prorogation put an end to the
business of the House of Commons. However
violent he might be in his place as a member of the
Legislature, Burke never carried his complaints to
the people. But Fox, who acted no less as a de
magogue than as the representative of Westminster,
and who always seemed to take the Gracchi for his

OF MY OWN TIME. 383
model, anxious to appeal from his late dismission
by the King to the popular suffrage, convoked his
constituents in order to lay before them the reasons
for his resignation. They met almost immediately
after the session closed in Westminster Hall, where
he reiterated all the heads of accusation against
Lord Shelburne which he had already detailed a
few days before in the House of Commons, but
the general impression, even among that audience,
which heard him with partiality, seemed neverthe
less to be, that personal ambition and rivalry
more than real principle or patriotism had regulated
his conduct. The specious pretence under which
the meeting was assembled, namely, that of peti
tioning the crown for a more equal representation
of the people, produced, however, as might have
been expected, a unanimous assent. He then dis
missed them till the ensuing winter.'
[August 1782.] Sir Samuel Hood, whom the
victorious admiral in the West Indies detached a
few days after the defeat of De Grasse with several
vessels in pursuit of the flying enemy, having come
up with some of them, captured two more French
line-of-battle ships, as well as two frigates, off the
east end of the island of St. Domingo. Though
these eminent naval advantages secured Jamaica
from invasion or attack, yet, far from regaining any
of our insular possessions in that quarter of the
globe, on the contrary, such was our state of ex
haustion, that Spain fitted out an expedition against
the Bahama Islands, which she easily reduced to
her obedience. But the attention of the capital
and the nation became more powerfully as well as
1 Of two personages. Lord North and Ellis, Walpole thus writes in
August : "Lord North, finding Bushy Park too solitary since his sun
was set is gone on a progress into the Tory regions of Oxford and
Staffordshire, and Mr. Ellis has moulted his French horns with the
seals " (Letters, viii. 262).— D.

384 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
painfully attracted by the catastrophe of the " Royal
George," ' which took place about the sam.e time,
than by the loss of any Transatlantic settlements.
This ship, the pride and ornament of the British
navy, to the disgrace of a nation considered as
superior to every other people in nautical skill,
disappeared in an instant, as is well known, at Spit
head, carrying with her an English admiral, and, as
it was computed, nearly a thousand persons of both
sexes. I was well acquainted with Kempenfeldt,^
one of the most able as well as scientific officers In
the British naval service. It is impossible, even at
this distance of time, to reflect on such an event,
which resulted from the injudicious or careless man
ner of laying down the " Royal George," without
amazement as well as horror. The gloom and con
sternation diffused by the intelligence over the
metropolis are hardly to be conceived, and the in
credibility of the fact increased the sense of the
disaster. No parallel circumstance is to be found
in our naval annals, probably not in those of any
other European nation. In a superstitious age it
would no doubt have been considered as ominous
of the greatest national or royal misfortunes. That
tempests, fire, or rocks and quicksands, should swal
low up and destroy the proudest works of human art,
is natural, often unavoidable. When Sir Cloudesley
Shovel, under the reign of Queen Anne, perished,
together with his ship and all his crew, wrecked on
'¦ When Lord Howe's fleet returned to Portsmouth, it was found
that the " Royal George," 108 guns, required cleaning, and for this
purpose the ship was " heeled over." On the 29th August tbe work
men proceeded to work, and heeling it over too rauch, the water entered
the portholes. The ship filled and went down with all on board. Cow
per in his poem speaks of 800 men, but there were in fact 1 100 persons
on board, and 900 of these perished. — Ed.
2 He was the son of a Swedish officer, the "Captain Sentry'' of the
" Spectator," and was born in London. He was an able, brave, piouS,
and cheerful-hearted commander. — D.

OF MY O WN TIME. 385
the SciUy Islands, or when the " Victory " ' under
George II. foundered in the Race of Alderney,
with Admiral Balchen and 1 100 persons on board,
such calamities were in the order of things, how
ever much to be deplored. But in the present
instance, only an utter disregard of common pru
dential precautions could have produced so unpre
cedented an event. Her very name, and her superi
ority in size as weU as in strength to every other
ship in the service, she carrying a hundred guns,
added to the bitterness of the reflections which her
loss occasioned throughout the kingdom. Those
who recollect that the " Queen Charlotte," a man-of-
war of the first rate, carrying no guns, with an
admiral's flag, was consumed by somewhat similar
negligence, together with near 700 of her crew, on
the 17th of March 1800, near the port of Leghorn,^
may find ample reason for speculation on the singu
larity of two such disastrous events having taken
place within eighteen years of each other under the
same reign.
[September 1782.] The melancholy impression
made by the catastrophe just related became, if pos
sible, still more strongly excited immediately after
wards by other naval misfortunes equally afflicting
in their nature. If the fact of the " Royal George "
going down at her anchors, when no danger was even
f apprehended, stands without precedent in our marl-'
time records, the fatality which seemed to pursue
the ships of the line that had been captured by Rod
ney on the 1 2 th of April, as well as most of our own
1 The " Victory " man-of-war, of loo guns, was lost in a violent
tempest on 8th October 1744. The Admiral, Sir John Balchen, and
1000 men perished. — Ed. . ,. , ,
2 This was Lord Keith's flag-ship. A lighted match was kept on
deck for firing signals, and the match lay in the vicinity of a quan
tity of hay. fgnition naturally ensued. Only about 150 men escaped,
so rapid was the fire, and so imperfect the means of escape.— D.
VOL. IL 2 B

386 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
men of war accompanying the French prizes on their
return from the West Indies, can scarcely be equalled
in modern history. The chain of shipwrecks and
adverse events that attended Commodore Anson's
expedition round Cape Horn under the late reign,
which so greatly reduced the numbers of his squad
ron ; even the disasters so pathetically related In the
same work that ruined the fleet of the Spanish Ad
miral Pizarro, nearly in the same latitudes and at
the same time, — those calamities, however extraorT
dinary and tragical they appear, yet sink on a com
parison with the destruction experienced by our
devoted ships in 1782 when crossing the Atlantic'
Captain Inglefield has commemorated the fate of
the "Centaur," as well as his own astonishing escape,
when she foundered with her officers and crew.
That affecting narrative may serve as too faithful a
picture of the misfortunes experienced by the other
vessels. The " Ramillles," a name proverbiaUy un
fortunate in the English navy, was set on fire when
it became impossible any longer either to navigate
or to preserve her. One of the French ships of the
line, the " Hector," seemed to be reserved for more
severe trials of every kind, in the course of which
all that human fortitude, combined with skill and
courage, could effect was performed, by our officers
and seamen. They were almost miraculously saved,
though the " Hector " herself perished.
Over the closing scene of the " Ville de Paris,"
as well as over the fate of the " Glorieux," is drawn
an impenetrable curtain. It is certain that the last-
named vessel, a French seventy-four gun ship, com-
1 The fleet left Jamaica on the 22d July 1782, and part was bound
for New York. In September they met with continued hurricanes,
and of the seven ships of the line which formed the squadron, the
"Canada" and the " Le Caton" only escaped. The " RamiUies,"
the " ViUe de Paris," the " Centaur," "Le Glorieux," and the " Hector,'
were all lost, besides many merchant ships. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 387
manded by the Honourable Captain Cadogan, dis
appeared during the middle watch on the night of
the 17th or 1 8th of September, after firing many
signals of distress. Her llo-hts had been visible till
that time, but when day appeared no vestiges of her
were discovered, and she doubtless foundered during
the storm. Nor was De Grasse's ship, originally
purchased with so vast an effusion of blood, and her
self the pride of the French navy, ever destined to
reach an English port. The hasty repairs given
her at Jamaica could only be slight or partial, and
it was confidently asserted that, in the gale of wind
which proved so fatal, her guns breaking loose, tore
open her side and accelerated, if they did not cause,
her final destruction. Tidings of her were long ex
pected, and the nation continued to nourish hopes
during many months of her reappearance. About
this time, whUe her fate still remained problematical,
a man was brought to the Admiralty and there exa
mined, who had been taken up at sea nearly sense
less and extenuated, tied to or floating on a hen
coop. He asserted, and his testimony appeared to
be entitled to credit, that he served on board the
"ViUe de Paris" as a common saUor at the moment
when she foundered. But few or no particulars
relative to the event itself could be extracted from
this survivor, who, as I was assured by a flag-officer
that questioned him, possessed neither faculties nor
memory to recount almost any circumstance except
the fact of her loss. Admiral Graves, who com
manded the fleet, was censured by the popular voice
for having stood some degrees more to the north
ward in returning home across the Atlantic at that
season than he needed to have done, or than he was
warranted in doing by Lord Rodney's orders. But
this accusation may possibly have been more severe
than just, though I think I have heard Lord Rodney

388 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
himself state the circumstance, and express his con
viction of the injurious consequences that resulted
from navigating in too high a latitude during a time
of equinoctial gales.
Happily the gloom which these melancholy events
diffused was speedily relieved and dissipated, by
transactions of the most exhilarating nature. Min
orca, it is true, had surrendered early in the sum
mer, but Gibraltar, which fortress still resisted every
attack, attracted, no less from the prodigious means
employed for its reduction by the enemy than from
the energy and activity exerted in its defence, the
attention of all Europe. The two most memorable
sieges which are recorded in modern history, namely,
that of Antwerp, undertaken by Alexander Farnese,
Prince of Parma, under PhUip 1 1., in the sixteenth
century, and that of Ostend, begun by the Spanish
general Spinola only a few years later, however
illustrious they have each been rendered from the
long-protracted resistance made by the besieged,
were both finally crowned with success. Gibraltar,
on the contrary, repelled the assailants in the most
brUliant manner. All the means that European
art, expense, and force could collect Or combine by
land as well as by sea were accumulated under its
walls, while the two branches of the House of Bour
bon, unconscious of the lamentable destiny preparing
for themselves in the womb of time, seemed to vie
in their efforts to accelerate its fall. Charles III.,
who then reigned in Spain, already anticipated the
completion of an event which, as he justly conceived,
would render his name and reign immortal in then
Spanish annals. Under the same fallacious expec
tation Louis XVI. dispatched his youngest brother.^
Count d'ArtoIs, to assist at its surrender ; while the
Barbary powers, though by no means indifferent of
uninterested spectators of this great contest, and

OF MY O WN TIME. 389
though they are said to have put up prayers in
all their mosques for our success, yet quietly ex
pected the result without making the smallest effort
in our favour.
If Lord Rodney acquired so much personal glory
by his victory over De Grasse, General Eliott ' did
not establish a less brilliant reputation by his repulse
and defeat of the Spanish floating batteries on the
13th of September of the same year. The Ameri
can war, which at Saratoga and at Yorktown dis
played spectacles so humiliating to the British arms,
terminated with the most splendid triumphs over
our European enemies ; and this portion of the
reign of George III. (like the second Punic war in
antiquity) exhibits, between 1777 and 1782, the
greatest reverses of adverse and of prosperous for
tune. While we lost so vast an empire beyond the
Atlantic, we humbled with one hand the French
naval force in the West Indies, annihilating with
the other the combined efforts of France and Spain,
which were concentred for the subjugation of a dis
tant garrison, apparently left to its own capacities of
defence, and cut off from the obvious means of relief
But even after the destruction of the Spanish vessels
and batteries, it seemed still impossible to throw into
Gibraltar timely supplies of ammunition competent
to recruit the expenditure that had taken place dur
ing the siege. Provisions, fuel, clothing, as well as
many other essential or Indispensable articles, could
only be sent out from England. Near fifty French
and Spanish ships of the line, which occupied the
Bay of Gibraltar, appeared to set at defiance all
approach. Notwithstanding these apparently in
superable obstacles, the attempt succeeded, in oppo
sition to every impediment.
1 George Augustus Eliott was created Lord Heathfield in 1787 on
account of his memorable defence of Gibraltar. — Ed.

390 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
[October lyS?.] So low had sunk the numerical
naval force of Great Britain at this period as com
pared with the strength of the enemy, that the
utmost exertions of the Admiralty under the new
Administration could only equip and send to sea
thirty-four sail of the line, which fleet did not quit
Spithead till nearly the day on which General EUott
had already repulsed and burnt the floating batteries
under the walls of the besieged fortress. Yet never
was the real superiority of our navy in skill and
science more evidently demonstrated than in suc
cessfully throwing succours into a place invested by
sea and land without committing any event to
hazard or affording to adversaries so numerous the
slightest advantage.' Lord Howe,^ who conducted
and commanded the whole enterprise, manifested
such a combination of tactics and of ability in his
manoeuvres as place his name deservedly high in
the annals of his country. If the reputation that he
attained on this occasion seems less brilliant than
the fame acquired by Rodney in vanquishing De
Grasse, it was not on that account less permanent
or solid. Without engaging, he defied the com
bined fleets ; offered battle, but did not seek It ;
effected every object of the expedition by relieving
Gibraltar, and then retreated, followed indeed by
the enemy, but not attacked. They made, it is
true, a show of fighting, but never ventured to come
to close action. And with such contempt did Lord
Howe treat the cannonade commenced by the van,
composed of French ships under La Motte Piquet,
that having ordered all his men on board the '.' Vic
tory " to lie down flat on the deck in order that
^ " Comment va la siege de Gibraltar ? " " Mieux, elle se live" was
the epigrammatical turn given in Paris to this event. — D.
^ Lord Howe was known in the navy as " Black Dick," and he was
said to be as brave as a rock and as silent. — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 391
their lives might not be needlessly exposed, he dis
dained to return a single shot against such cautious
or timid opponents.
Pigot, who had succeeded to Rodney In the West
Indies through the favour of Fox, in defiance of
pubUc opinion, by no means emulated his prede
cessor's example of activity and enterprise. Though
placed at the head of six-and-forty sail of the line,
sustained by the reputation of a great victory, he
neither effected nor attempted any object during
more than six months that he held the command.
Such inactivity seemed to reproach the Ministry
who had sent him thither, and excited severe ani
madversions on Fox. In the East Indies, and there
only, where Sir Edward Hughes was opposed to
Suffrein, France stUl maintained the contest on the
water. That active and intrepid officer last named,
the most able of any employed by Louis XVI.
during the whole progress of the war, made repeated,
though ineffectual efforts for compelling the Eng
lish squadron to abandon the Coast of Coromandel.
[November 1 782.] While Lord Howe thus placed
in security the most brilliant foreign possession be
longing to the British crown in Europe, negotiations
of a pacific nature were carrying on at Paris, both
with America and with the other coalesced powers.
The provisional articles concluded with the insur
gent colonies, which were first signed, did not indeed
demand either any considerable length of time or
superior diplomatic talents in order to conduct them
to a prosperous termination, where almost every
possible concession was made on the part of Eng
land merely to obtain from America a cessation of
hostilities. Not only their independence was recog
nised in the most explicit terms — territory, rivers,
lakes, commerce, islands, ports and fortified places,
Indian aUies, loyalists — all were given up to the

392 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Congress. In fixing the boundaries between Canada
and the United States, ideal limits, ignorantiy
adopted on our part, were laid down amidst un
known tracts. Franklin, who, as one of the four
American commissioners appointed to manage the
treaty, affixed his liame to the instrument of pro
visional pacification, enjoyed, at the advanced period
of fourscore years, the satisfaction of witnessing the
complete emancipation of his countrymen from Great
Britain, to effect which he had so eminently contri
buted by his talents and exertions. Few subjects,
born and educated like him in the inferior classes of
society, have in any age of the earth, without draw
ing the sword in person, obtained so gratifying a
triumph over their legitimate sovereign, or have
aided to produce a greater political revolution on
the face of the globe.
[December 1782.] A First Minister who pos
sessed so slender a portion of popularity or of
influence over the two Houses of Parliament as
Lord Shelburne could command, would, it was sup
posed, have employed the long interval subsequent
to the prorogation in strengthening by every exer
tion his tenure of power. Unless he either regained
the heads of the Rockingham party or concihated
Lord North, which last measure seemed to be more
natural, it was obvious that he might, at any moment,
be crushed by the union of those leaders. On the
opening of the session, it soon, however, became
evident that no such Ministerial approximation had
taken place, and that the Administration relied for
support upon its own proper strength or ability.
But, on the other hand. Lord North and Mr. Fox,
though both acted in opposition to Government, yet
remained nevertheless still in complete and hostile
separation. Scarcely did they refrain, on every
occasion that presented itself, from personal reflec-

OF MY OWN TIME. 393
tions on each other. Neither the peace made with
the American States, nor even the recognition of
their independence by Great Britain, being however
in themselves complete till a treaty should be like
wise concluded with France, public attention became
wholly directed to the issue of the pending negotia
tions with that Court. On their termination, whether
it should prove hostile or pacific, all men foresaw
that the two great parties who now stood at bay,
without joining each other or uniting with Lord
Shelburne, would necessarily take some decisive
step most beneficial or most injurious in its results
to the Administration.
Never perhaps at any period of our history did
two successive sessions of the same Parliament com
mence under circumstances more dissimilar than
those of 1 78 1 and of 1782. At the opening of the
former, when the speech from the throne announced
the disaster at Yorktown, consternation or depression
might be legibly traced in almost every countenance.
America was lost, Gibraltar invested, Jamaica
menaced, our dominions in the East nearly sub
verted. But in December 1782 the clouds had dis
persed, not, however, so much from the change of
Ministers as of measures. We no longer pursued
the delusive phantom of subjecting the Transatlantic
colonies. Rodney, whom Lord Sandwich had sent
out to the West Indies, had captured or dispersed
a large portion of the French navy. Eliott had
destroyed the Spanish gunboats before Gibraltar.
Lord Howe had thrown supplies into that fortress,
and afterwards offered battie to the combined fleets.
Nor were our affairs throughout the Peninsula of
Hindostan less improved. Hyder Ally was driven
from before Madras. Peace had been concluded
with the Mahrattas, whUe Hughes, though not vic
torious, had frustrated all the efforts of Suffrein to

394 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
"obtain a superiority on the Coast of Coromandel.
The Rockingham Administration had scarcely in
the slightest degree contributed towards these great
national advantages. Fox had even recalled the
victorious Admiral to whom we owed the 12th of
, April. Keppel fitted out his fleets with the stores
provided by his predecessor in office, and to Lord
Sandwich was, in fact, principally due the relief of
Gibraltar. But Keppel had restored in some mea
sure that unanimity to which the British navy had
been strangers during the ' progress of the whole
American contest. Lord Howe and Admiral Bar--
rington, names deservedly cherished in our maritime
annals, reappeared on the quarter-deck, from which
they had been so long removed. The fleets of the
House of Bourbon, which during three successive
summers had approached, menaced, and insulted
our coasts, no longer navigated the English Chan
nel. Peace began to dawn upon us, and seemed to
be at no remote distance. The First Minister, sus
tained by the sovereign at St. James's, derived no
less benefit from the talents of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer within the walls of the House of Com
mons. While in probity Pitt might be placed on
an equality with Lord John Cavendish, not the
slightest comparison could be made betw^een their
respective talents, and Lord Shelburne acquired
incalculable strength from his support. On this
apparently firm foundation stood the Ministry at the
beginning of the session.
[^th and 6th December 1782.] . The speech pro
nounced by his Majesty from the throne on the
occasion may unquestionably be ranked among the
most singular compositions ever put into the mouth '
of a British sovereign. In length I believe it had
no parallel since the time of James I., and certainly
it would be vain to seek for any similar production

OF MY OWN TIME. 395
since the accession of the House of Hanover. Some
passages seemed more suitable to the spirit and lan
guage of a moralist or of a sage than of a monarch.
In the midst of it was introduced an invocation, or
rather a prayer, offered up by George III. to the
Supreme Being, imploring His divine interference to
avert the calamities which the American colonies,
in consequence of their becoming Independent states,
might experience from the suppression of monarchi
cal power. Burke held up this pious effusion of royal
charity and philanthropy to great ridicule. " The
King," exclaimed he, "is made by his Minister to
fall upon his knees, and to deprecate the wrath of
Heaven from the misguided American people, that
they may not suffer from the want of monarchy.
A people who never were designed for monarchy,
who in their nature and character are adverse to
monarchy, and who never had any other than the
smell of monarchy, at the distance of 3000 miles !
They are now to be protected by the pjayers of
their former sovereign from the consequences of its
loss ! Such whimpering and absurd piety has neither
dignity, meaning, nor common sense." It must be
owned that these comments, however severe, were
not destitute of truth. Other parts of the royal
speech afforded him equal subject for mirth and
satire. The King concluding by a demand on Par
liament for the exertion of temper, wisdom, and dis
interestedness, subjoined as his last words, " My
people expect these qualifications of you, and I caU
for them." "I believe," said Burke, "that since
the days of Charles I., who advanced into this
House and threw himself into the Speaker's chair
to find out the members who had given him offence,
such a strain of vapouring and blustering, such an
insult and indignity, has not been offered to us. Are
we to be slandered, or tutored, or instructed in the

396 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
principles of morals by his Majesty's Cabinet Mini
sters .-* " — " O wise Ministers ! Dii tibi tonsorem
donent ! To all except one, who has no occasion
for such a practitioner." The allusion to Pitt's
youth could not escape notice. After paying, never
theless, some compliments to the integrity of the
young Chancellor of the Exchequer, which were
all made, however, at the expense of the First Lord
of the Treasury, Burke declared that the only pro
per description of the speech which the Minister
had made the sovereign pronounce was to be found
in Hudibras when he says —
" As if hypocrisy and nonsense
Had got the advowson of his conscience."
Nor was Fox less severe in his animadversions on
this first production of the Earl of Shelburne in his
Ministerial capacity, though he was more argumen
tative, grave, and measured in his censures. On
General Eliott and on Lord Howe he bestowed
the highest encomiums — encomiums which were
re-echoed from every part of the House. Having
again recapitulated all the circumstances that at
tended and produced his own secession from the
Cabinet, he endeavoured to show that his resigna-^
tion, by forcing the Ministers to grant unconditional
independence to America, had been productive of
far greater advantages to his country, than he could
have rendered by remaining a member of Admini
stration. With great ingenuity and severity he
pointed out Lord Shelburne's inconsistent declara
tions, many times repeated in the Upper House,
that " he who should sign the independence of Ame
rica would consummate the ruin of his own country
and must be a traitor," now contrasted with his act
in setting his hand to their complete emancipation.
Such a contradictory language, coupled with his op-

OF MY OWN TIME. 397
posite system of conduct, could only. Fox observed,
be properly characterised by two lines which he had
somewhere read —
" You've done a noble turn in nature's spite ;
For though you think you're wrong, I'm sure you're right."
Pitt, however, who in a speech of equal ability,
though much less diffuse, answered Fox on that
evening, having defended his principal from the
heavy imputations affixed to his political line of
action in acknowledging American independence,
after his many protestations to the contrary, added,
" If I may attempt a parody on the lines just quoted,
I should say —
" The praise he gives us is in nature's spite ;
He wishes we were wrong, but clearly sees we're right"
The promptitude and elegance of this retort, made
amidst the hurry and distractions of a long debate
in a crowded assembly, excited no little admiration.
Nor did he touch with less delicacy and force of
reasoning on the circumstance of his own youth,
" a calamity under which, he owned, he laboured,
which he could not sufficiently lament, as it afforded
such subject of animadversion to his opponents, but
for which defect he pledged himself to atone by
his care, industry, and assiduity in the public ser
vice." If it had not been demonstrated already
how great an acquisition Lord Shelburne had made
in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the debates
of the 5th and 6th of December would have suffi
ciently proved the fact. Courtenay, when alluding
to it a few days afterwards, observed, " The noble
Earl at the head of the Treasury has shown his
judgment in securing such an auxiliary. Every man
reposes confidence in him. There is a species of
mao-ic in the name and lineage of Pitt, which must

398 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
produce its influence on the nation. The First
Minister, who is himself a great philosopher, has no
doubt been informed by Dr. Priestiey that the best
mode of correcting and purifying corrupted air is
by the introduction of a young vegetable."
Lord North never appeared to me, during the
whole time that I sat in the House of Commons,
whether he was in or out of office, in a more digni
fied and elevated point of view than on the first of
those two evenings — I mean the 5th of December.
His position was singular; standing aloof equaUy
from Ministers and from the Rockingham party,
holding the balance between both, placed on a sort
of elevation by the events which had taken place
since he resigned his employrhent ; sustained by
the glorious victories of Rodney and of Eliott, no
longer menaced with impeachment, animated by
steady loyalty to his sovereign, and not less pro
pelled by attachment to his country. Such was his
situation, and his language corresponded with it
Perhaps it would have been fortunate if he had con
tinued to occupy so advantageous, independent, and
patriotic an eminence, without lending an ear to the
seductions of ambition or of resentment, in forming,
as he did only two months later, a coalition with
Fox. Unquestionably he would have appeared
more an object of respect and veneration to pos
terity by persisting in such a line of political action,
superior to party, watchful over the constitution,
and attentive only to the great public interests of
the state, than by accepting a secondary situation
as the coUeague of Fox under the Duke of Port
land, — a situation which, when obtained, he was
unable to retain more than a few months, and in.
accepting which he must have made some sacrifices
of feeling and of recollection, if not of principle.
The speech which he pronounced on the first day

OF MY OWN TIME. 399
of the session was every way worthy of himself, and
breathed the genuine spirit of a statesman, who,
though no longer directing the machine, yet super
intended its movements with undiminished zeal as
well as ability. In contradiction to his usual style
of speaking, he abstained from all levity, and re
fused to avail himself of those resources of wit and
humour which he had always at command. No
sentiment of hostility or of animosity towards the
new Administration characterised his expressions.
He declared that he felt not the most distant Incli
nation to oppose the address, or to move any amend
ment, as the advantages accruing from unanimity at
the present moment would, in a national point of
view, be incalculable. From the instant that he
rose till he sat down, not a word escaped his lips
which indicated the smallest approach towards the
Rockingham party. On Fox he was even severe
when differing from him respecting various points
of the greatest public importance. Nor did he
spare Burke for his animadversions on the prayer
of the sovereign contained in the speech from the
throne. "Surely, Mr. Speaker," said Lord North,
"a heart animated by patriotic feelings like that of
his Majesty must experience the deepest sorrow at
an act so calamitous to this country as is the relin
quishment of America. His sensations are truly
those of a patriot king, and I am assured that he
felt far less for himself when he made so great a
sacrifice than he felt for his people." _
On the conditions of peace which the enemy
might offer, or which it became the Ministers to
accept. Lord North expressed himself in language
of equal dignity, wisdom, and moderation. " To
just and reasonable terms," said he, " I wUl most
cheerfully assent; but should France or Spain dis
play arrogance and injustice in their demands, every

400 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
man in this assembly and throughout the nation
will, I am persuaded, zealously concur in prosecuting
the war with vigour. We unanimously demand au
honourable treaty or a vigorous war. We are ready
to negotiate on fair and equitable principles, but if
in their Insolence or imaginary power the enemy
exact degrading conditions, we are determined to
maintain the contest with our lives and fortunes."
In terms of earnestness he recommended to the
Ministers attention in marking out proper well-
defined boundaries between the territory of Great
Britain and the American frontier ; but, above all,
he trusted that they would provide an asylum for
the loyal and unhappy sufferers who, throughout
this long-protracted struggle, had remained faithful
to their native sovereign. Over Lord Shelburne he
threw a shield, and justified his assertion that "the
sun of Britain was for ever set when the separation
of the thirteen colonies should be signed. That
calamitous event," observed he, " cannot justly be
charged to the present First Minister merely be
cause he consummates the deed. It is we, not he,
who must sustain the culpability. If the sun of
England is indeed set, the House of Commons is
the magician who has brought it down from the
skies." No part of this admirable speech justly
attracted more approbation than the part in which
he replied to Fox, who had attributed to Keppel's
exertions the advantages which we had gained on
the element of the water. " It is not a little extra^'
ordinary," said Lord North, " that the same person
who, when he came into office eight months ago,
drew a picture of our naval condition sufficient to
make every man tremble in this House, should now
stoutly affirm that our navy is equal to combating
the united fleets of the House of Bourbon. Butas
ships do not spring up like mushrooms in a night,,

OF MY OWN TIME. 401
by what magic could so great an addition be made
to our navy within one summer, unless the former
Admiralty, by their preparations of ships and stores,
had facilitated the means of victory } I would say
to the present naval Alexander, True, you have
conquered; but you have conquered with Philip's
troops." During the whole of the two debates
which took place at the opening of the session,
though General Conway and Mr. Secretary Town
shend occasionally rose, yet the defence of the Mini
sterial measures principally rested on the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. No Administration could com
mence under fairer auspices, which was destined to
terminate so soon ; not any attempt to divide the
House being made either by Lord North or by
Fox, who appeared to be reciprocally animated by
the most hostile sentiments.
[wth December 1782. J Among the weapons of
attack which the Rockingham party directed with
most success against the First Minister was the
imputation of insincerity or duplicity. It was as
serted that he interpreted the conditional or pro
visional articles concluded with the American States
in a different sense from the meaning annexed to
them by other members of the Cabinet, Lord Shel
burne, it was pretended, regarding them as capable
of being revoked or annulled In case that the pend
ing negotiations respecting peace between England
and France should be finaUy broken off, while Pitt,
Conway, and Townshend declared that they were
in every event final and irrevocable. Unquestion
ably some reasons for doubt as to the interpretation
of the word provisional might be reasonably enter
tained; and as the war with America might be
revived if the independence of the Transatlantic
States was not unconditionally and unequivocally
VOL. II. 2 c

402 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
acknowledged by Great Britain, Fox endeavoured
to probe this Ministerial wound. He did not
indeed venture to divide the House upon it nor
attempt to stop the supplies, because he knew how
insufficient was his parliamentary strength for
making either of those experiments with success.
But he endeavoured to extort a clear reply from
some of the Ministers relative to the point under
discussion. They, on the other hand, refused or
declined making any specific answer during the
actual state of affairs, and demanded time.
Burke, in his metaphorical and figurative language,
compared them to the amphisbsena, which some
credulous naturalists describe as having two heads,
one at each extremity. " Such a serpent, I hope,"
added he, " exists only in chimera ; but Ministers
resemble such an animal. They hiss an opposite
language from the head and from the tail, so that the
nation is confounded between their contradictory
stories." Even Lord North, though he approved of
the silence observed by the Treasury bench under
the circumstances of the moment, and though he
further declared that if any motion was made for
compelling the Administration, to lay the provisional
treaty before Parliament, he would give it his nega
tive, yet admitted that its interpretation was exceed
ingly problematical. As the Rockingham party was
too feeble to come to extremities unless sustained
by Lord North, Fox contented himself therefore
with laying on the First Minister the heaviest
charges of double-dealing in all his proceedings.
Powis, who joined in these opinions, said that he
held the three members of the Cabinet who had
seats in the House pledged as hostages to the
country for the ratification of the provisional treaty
according to their construction of it. Such reflec
tions thrown on the Earl of Shelburne, however

OF MY OWN TIME. 403
they might originate in the violence of party and of
political enmity, yet, as impeaching the candour and
the rectitude of his public conduct, must have been
equally painful to that nobleman himself and to his
associates in the Government.
[12^^ December 1782.] Though Parliament sat
for only a very short period during the month of
December, scarcely exceeding a fortnight previous
to their adjournment till after Christmas, yet one
very interesting debate which arose in the House
of Commons produced a material operation on some
articles of the peace then negotiating with the
House of Bourbon. Rumours, which acquired
considerable, if not implicit, credit, were circulated
throughout the metropolis stating that Lord Shel
burne had not only manifested a disposition, but
had even consented, with the approbation of the
Cabinet, to cede Gibraltar to Spain on certain con
ditions. He had indeed very early felt the pulse of
Parliament on the subject Mr. Bankes,' member
for Corfe Castle, who seconded the address to the
throne on the first day of the session, and who seems
to have been more deeply initiated in the secrets or
informed of the intentions of Administration than
the mover of the address on that occasion, alluded
in very clear and intelligible, though in general
terms to the possible, or rather probable, cession of
the fortress in question. He accompanied the inti
mation with remarks on the great expense and littie
comparative value or national advantages connected
with retaining its possession. Fox instantly anim
adverted with equal force and severity on the idea
thus suggested, which he held up to condemnation
as an act most pernicious to the state if it should
ever be carried into execution. In language of
energy he depictured the respect which our proud
1 Henrv Bankes.— Ed.

404 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
position on that isolated rock excited among the
European nations. " Cede to Spain," exclaimed
he, " Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean becomes a
pool, a mere pond, on which the Spaniards can
navigate at their pleasure. Deprive yourselves, of
this commanding station, and the states that border
on that sea will no longer look to England for the
maintenance of its free navigation." Nor did he
let pass the occasion of wounding George III.
through the sides of the King of Spain. Advert
ing to the opinion which had been given by Bankes
in the course of his speech that "the Cabinet of
Madrid, having ascertained the folly and impracti-
cabUity of attempting to reduce Gibraltar by their
recent discomfiture, would never again employ the
forces of the monarchy on so vain as well as so
ruinous a siege," Fox exposed the fallacy of such
arguments. " There may be," observed he, " near
the heart of every prince a longing after some
object which a thousand disappointments or defeats
cannot extinguish. Those who recollect the history
of this country during near nine years past wUl
agree with me that it is not easy to convince men
of their follies even when experience has proved
them to be such. We have persisted through many
ruinous campaigns in a war for the subjection of the
American colonies. What then should hinder us
from believing that Charles III. may not persevere
as pertinaciously in his longing for the reduction of
Gibraltar as a sovereign nearer home was taught to
pursue the phantom of unconditional submission
from America.?" The very truth of this observa
tion, which could not well be contested, ought in
prudence to have prevented Fox from making it in
so public a place.
Burke, supporting with all the powers of his elo
quence the positions advanced by his friend, trusted

OF MY OWN TIME. 405
that Ministers would not dare to sport with the
feelings of the nation respecting an object so justly
cherished as Gibraltar. " That fortress," said he,
" is invaluable, because impregnable. The sove
reign of Spain has not an appendage of his crown
equalling it in importance. The capitals of Mexico
and Peru are not at his disposal, and the island
of Porto Rico, if offered, would by no means form
an adequate compensation. Gibraltar is not merely
a post of pride ; it is a post of power, of connec
tion, and of commerce." In terms more measured.
Lord North appreciated its value. " I will not go
so far as to assert," observed he, " that Gibraltar is
Inestimable, and in no possible case ought to be
ceded to Spain. If peace cannot otherwise be ob
tained, such a sacrifice may become necessary, but
its price should be large, and no Ministers would
be justified in resigning a possession so honourable,
so useful, as well as so dear to this country, un
less for an equivalent of the highest importance."
The offers made by Charles III. were indeed of
such a nature as in the estimation of many able men
would have fully justified Ministers in restoring to
the Catholic King that expensive fortress. I have
been assured that, in his eagerness to re-annex
Gibraltar to the Spanish monarchy, he tendered In
exchange for it the Canary Islands together with
Porto Rico in the West Indies, the former of which
possessions, from their happy situation in the At
lantic, their climate and productions, might be
rendered most invaluable acquisitions to Great
Britain, while the latter island must be considered
as scarcely inferior to Jamaica in extent, fertility,
and pohtical importance. Gibraltar, however dear
to the national vanity, and whatever flattering recol
lections the late glorious defence might awaken,
could not, it was imagined, be put in competition

4o6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
with the Canaries and Porto Rico. In a commer
cial point of view, no comparison could indeed be
made between the two possessions, but as an object
of national consideration, respect, and power, we
shaU probably admit that Gibraltar would have been
ill exchanged for any Atlantic or West India islands,
I am of that sentiment in 1 8 1 8, though I am ready
to confess that I thought otherwise in 1782.
Sir George Howard, himself a general officer,
having nevertheless unexpectedly brought forward
in the House of Commons a discussion relative to
that fortress, and the possibUity that its cession or
alienation to Spain might be in contemplation, it
soon appeared that men of all parties were imbued
with partialities so violent in its favour, and such
indignation was manifested at the barq idea of ce
ding it, even for any equivalent however valuable,
that the intention was relinquished. No act could
assuredly have been further from Sir George's in
tention, who was an excellent courtier, than to have
agitated any subject which in its results might em
barrass the councils of the crown. But General
Conway having moved the thanks of the House to
General Eliott for his glorious defence of Gibraltar,
Howard proposed to add, " the most valuable and
important fortress of all our foreign territories."
These few words operated like the apple of discord,
and afforded to Opposition an ample field for decla
mation. Lord North was not present on that even
ing, but Fox instantly avaUed himself of the occasion.
Sir George, finding that while he had only intended
to place General Eliott's public merits in the fairest
point of view by demonstrating the importance of
his services, the motion had produced a great poli
tical question, would willingly have withdrawn his
amendment Fox, however, expressed the utmost
disinclination to consent " I do not, myself," said

OF MY OWN TIME. 407
he, " credit the reports of an intended cession of
Gibraltar, because I am convinced that there is not
in the Cabinet a single man who dares to give it
up. The amendment, if it should be carried, will
convince the public at large how false are these
rumours, but it will likewise prove to the Spanish
Government that the nation is not disposed to
permit of such a cession." Burke maintained the
same arguments, and Mr. Daniel Parker Coke de
clared that he would rather suffer his right hand to
be cut off than ever consent to restore Gibraltar.
Sir George Howard's amendment was nevertheless
finally withdrawn by consent of the House, but the
substance of the debate having been taken down in
shorthand by a person stationed in the gallery, and
immediately communicated to Lord Shelburne, he
dispatched a messenger with it the next morning
to our Minister at Paris, Mr. Fitzherbert, now Lord
St Helen's,' enjoining him to lay it before the
Count de Vergennes and the Count d'Aranda. I
know from good authority that the latter nobleman,
who was then the Spanish ambassador at the Court
of Versailles, had received the most positive instruc
tions not to sign any peace with Great Britain, how
ever favourable the terms might be in other respects,
unless the cession of Gibraltar constituted one of
the articles of the treaty. Finding, nevertheless,
after the communication above mentioned, that no
equivalent would be accepted for its restitution, and
that the British Cabinet did not dare to do it in vio
lation of public opinion, D'Aranda, in disobedience
to these orders, finally affixed his name to the act,
taking on himself the risk and the responsibility.
^ Alleyne Fitz-Herbert was created Baron St. Helen's in the peer
age of Ireland in 1791. Raised to the peerage of the United King
dom in 1 801, he died in the Isle of Wight in 1839, when the peerages
became extinct. — ED.

4o8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
[i^th — 22,d December 1782.] Previous to the
adjournment of the House of Commons before
Christmas, Fox made another ineffectual attempt to
compel the production of the provisional treaty with
America. The debate which took place on this
occasion, being in fact the last that arose of an
important nature previous to the peace with our
European enemies, and consequently previous to
the union of Lord North with the Rockingham
party, was distinguished by some very interesting
cfrcumstances. Fox grounded his motion for laying
the treaty in question before the House on the
notorious disagreement between the First Lord of
the Treasury and his colleagues in the Cabinet on
its acceptation, Lord Shelburne declaring it to be
revocable if peace should not be finally made with
France, while others of the Ministers maintained it
to be in every event final. Such a discordant exhi
bition of sentiment on so important a point seemed
to call for some explanation or disclosure on the
part of Administration. Fox, however, well aware
how weak was his numerical strength within those
walls unless sustained by Lord North, after endea
vouring to justify his demand of the treaty on
principles of public expediency, added, " I expect
support in my motion, though I do not court it I
do not indeed know whether I may calculate on the
aid of the noble Lord in the blue ribband seated
below me, as, by a strange mode of reasoning, he
brings himself to vote with Ministers though he
totally disagrees with them in opinion." The
Treasury bench preserving a profound silence,
Thomas Pitt moved the order of the day, at the
same time advising and adjuring his Ministerial
friends not to violate their oath as privy counciUors,
since nothing except misconstruction and misrepre
sentation could arise from their explanations.

OF MY OWN TIME. 409
At this period of the discussion Lord North pre
sented himself to the Speaker's notice and delivered
one of the most entertaining speeches ever heard
in that assembly. Rarely, I believe, has more wit
been crowded into so narrow a compass. Every
sentence conveyed the most delicate irony or the
most contumelious yet amusing ridicule. He began
by lamenting that the wholesome and sage advice
just given to Ministers on the subject of observing
discretion and secrecy should have come too late to
be of any use, they having already been guilty of
divulging their opinions. Having expressed his
concern that it was impossible to agree with a
divided Cabinet collectively, he said he would
nevertheless agree with them partially and vote for
the order of the day, as he should at least be sure
of coinciding with those members of Administra
tion who sat opposite to him. " For," added he,
" though I perfectly agree with the right honourable
gentleman (Fo-x) in aU his statements and principles,
yet I cannot think the present moment a seasonable
one for producing the provisional articles." With
inconceivable humour he contrasted and exposed
the different versions of the treaty, first as presented
in the King's speech from the throne at the opening
of the session, next in Lord Shelburne's language,
and lastly in the declarations of the other Ministers.
" I prefer, however," said he, " the edition of this
matter as we have it on royal paper before all the
subsequent editions, cum notis variorum, which have
been since published." On the subject of that oath,
to the strict observance of which the members of
the Cabinet were entreated by Tom Pitt to adhere,
he made some observations so ludicrous as put all
gravity to flight "If," observed he, "this mys
terious treaty depended on no contingency what
ever, it would resemble, not a privy councillor's

410 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
oath, of which we have heard so much to-day, but
a much less serious oath, of which we have all heard,
and which some of us may probably have taken.
I mean the oath administered at Highgate, by which
a man swears that he never will drink small beer
when he can get strong, unless he likes the former
best, nor ever kiss the maid when he might kiss the
mistress, unless he choose the maid in preference."
Continuing, or rather resuming, his speech as soon
as the House had recovered from the violent effects
of this simile on their muscles, he directed his artil
lery of jests against the Cabinet, of which three
members were present. "It has been asserted,"
observed Lord North, " that the contradictory ¦
opinions of Ministers might be reduced to some
certainty by subjecting them to the wisdom of this
assembly. I cannot think so, for surely the present
Cabinet is the place where we might expect, of all
others, unanimous agreement on matters of state
policy. It is composed of eleven men of distin
guished talents, immense wisdom, consummate ex
perience, and determined firmness. This assemblage'
of genius has besides as many more agents or com
missioners now employed at Paris on the important
work of peace. If such men are not able to fix the
determinate import and meaning of the treaty before
us, how can we expect it to be done within our
walls "i I have heard this House called the temple
of eloquence, of reason, of freedom, and of fame;
but I never yet knew it to be caUed the temple of
concord." As, however, though Lord North had
held up the Administration to ridicule and had so
pointedly spoken against them, he nevertheless de
clared his intention to vote for them, I believe Fox
would not have divided the House if General Con
way had not provoked him to it by asserting on
his legs that " the member who had originated the

OF MY OWN TIME. 411
debate would not dare to take the sense of the
House, well knowing by how small a minority he
would be attended into the lobby." Irritated at
such an insinuation, of which he expressed his indig
nant sense. Fox persisted, and a division taking
place on the original motion for the order of the
day, the Rockingham party could only muster forty-
six votes. Government, supported by Lord North
and his adherents, exhibited a triumphant majority
of two hundred and nineteen, thus carrying the
question by one hundred and seventy-three. It is
difficult to determine with any certainty the respec
tive numbers that voted with Administration and
with Lord North on that evening. I should, how
ever, estimate the followers of the latter at seventy
to eighty. That he could incline the balance to
which ever side he pleased was evident. He ap
peared, indeed, throughout the whole debate not
only pre-eminent in talents of every description, but
as the arbiter of the scene. Like Henry VIIL, he
might have assumed for his device " Cui adhcsreo,
prceest." Nor could Fox avoid perceiving that his
own entrance into the Cabinet, unless he chose to
serve under the present First Minister, must lie
through Lord North's assistance, and could be
effected by no other mode. That nobleman, since
the day on which he had resigned his power, had
not occupied a more dignified place in the public
eye and in parliamentary estimation. These facts,
and the reflections to which they necessarily gave
rise, produced within two months the memorable
coalition. A few days subsequent to the above
debate an adjournment of the two Houses of Parlia
ment took place till the 21st of January.
[Tanuary 1783.J Throughout a considerable part
of the month of January the greatest fluctuation of
public opinion prevaUed relative to the final success

412 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of the treaties agitating at Paris ; and as late as the
I Sth, the Queen's birthday, the prevalent ideas In
the drawing-room were generally adverse to the
probabUity of a favourable issue ; but five days
afterwards intelligence arrived in London that
peace had been signed at Versailles. Lord Keppel,
either from repentance of his conduct in having
quitted Fox after the Marquis of Rockingham's de
cease, or suspicious of the approaching dissolution
of the, actual Ministry, or (as he asserted afterwards
on the debate which took place in the House of
Peers) disapproving the articles of the treaty recently
concluded, immediately resigned his employment of
the First Lord of the Admiralty. He was succeeded
by Lord Howe, and early in the month of February
the Marquis of Carmarthen' was named Ambassa
dor to the Court of France. Though the House of
Commons met on the 21st of January, pursuant to
its adjournment, yet no business of moment was
brought forward, either by Ministers or by their op
ponents, during the considerable interval of near a
month which elapsed previous to the day fixed for
discussing the articles of the peace in both Houses
of Parliament. They had intermediately been ex
changed and ratified by the two Governments. A
more than ordinary interest was excited on the sub
ject throughout the nation ; the stabUity or dismis
sion of the Administration evidently depending on
the parliamentary approval or disapprobation of the
treaty. In the House of Lords there seemed to be,
indeed, little danger of incurring a vote of censure ;
but it was otherwise in the Lower House, where
the Minister, in addition to his own slender personal
strength, and the individuals holding offices under
the Crown, could only expect support either from
1 Francis Godolphin, succeeded his father as fifth Duke of Leeds.
He was born 29th January 1751, and died 31st January 1799. — Ed.'

OF MY OWN TIME. 413
persons inclined to maintain indifferently every Go
vernment, or from those independent members who,
disregarding all motives of party, might be induced
to approve the treaties on the ground of their ab
stract merits, and their just claim to national grati
tude. Facts such as these, which were palpable to all,
could not possibly escape the attention of him who
was most deeply interested in their result And it
has always appeared to persons uninformed one of
the most inexplicable events of our time that Lord
Shelburne, who must have perceived the great im
probability of his being able to maintain himself in
power after the conclusion of peace without the aid
of one or the other of the two great parties in oppo
sition, should nevertheless have allowed Parliament
to meet for the express purpose of discussing the
merits of the peace, without conciliating previously
the leaders of either side. Was he then indifferent
to the preservation of that office, which he had ac
quired with so much address, and not unaccom
panied with a degree of obloquy? No person can
believe or suppose it. Neither his adherents nor
his enemies ever maintained such an opinion. How
therefore are we to interpret a conduct so contrary
to all the dictates of ambition, policy, and self-
interest ? In order to explain it, I shall state such
circumstances as have been related to me by indi
viduals of eminence and respectabUity possessing
information which wUl throw considerable light
upon the subject.
It seemed certainly most natural that, of the two
parties excluded from power, Lord Shelburne should
have addressed himself to that body of men who
StUl considered Lord North as their leader. To
many of the individuals composing it I know that
he did, in fact, make advances, either personally or

414 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
by his friends. Mr. Orde,' the Secretary of the
Treasury, in whose department lay the management
of the House of Commons, was not idle during the
autumn of 1782. At his residence in Park Place,
St. James's Street, he gave Ministerial dinners, prin
cipally to members of Parliament I have myself
dined with him at that time. The American war
being terminated, the principal object of disunion
between the late and the present First Minister had
ceased to exist. Lord Shelburne was, moreover,
known to have pertinaciously resisted the concession
of independence to America. His reluctance and
pretended duplicity, or rather his ambiguity relative
to granting unconditional independence to the thir
teen colonies, formed one of the most prominent
points of accusation against him on the part of Fox
and the Rockingham party. It could not be doubted
that the King, who, availing himself of favourable
circumstances, had elevated the First Lord of the
Treasury to the place that he held, and who depre
cated no event so much as being a second time com
pelled to take Fox into his councils, would secretly
approve, and would sincerely promote, any measure
tending to exclude him from Administration. Of
all political unions that could be effected with a view
to strengthen the Ministry, an alliance between Lord
North and the Earl of Shelburne, it was therefore
assumed, must be most agreeable to the sovereign.
Nor, as I have been assured, did there exist any
insurmountable personal antipathies or impediments
between those two noble persons which could have
prevented the accomplishment of so desirable a re-
con cUiation. Lord North was the most placable of
human beings. , But though they might have been
willing to coalesce, there were other individuals in
the Government not possessed of so tractable or so
1 Thomas Orde, afterwards Baron Bolton (see ante, pp. 265, 358). — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 415
conciliating a disposition. Mr. Pitt and the Duke
of Richmond both inflexibly refused to sit in Cabinet
with Lord North, and they remained firm upon the
point Partial as I am to the memory and character of
that amiable nobleman, I am far from blaming their
determination. They considered Lord North as the
Minister who, during many years, had carried on
and supported by his ability a contest, become hope
less, which had precipitated Great Britain into dis
grace as well as debt. His subserviency to the
royal will or wishes, even if proved, would only in
their eyes have aggravated his culpability. They
regarded the loss of our American colonies as the
necessary consequence of his councils or of his ad
ministration. He was besides accused by them of
having made Parliament the corrupt instrument of
his policy, and of having purchased the support
which he received in both Houses. Political prin
ciple therefore dictated and produced their refusal
to associate him to their Ministry. Such an obstacle
was neither to be surmounted nor to be removed.
The Duke of Richmond might, indeed, have been
dismissed without apprehension of its producing
very injurious results of any kind, but Mr. Pitt was
essential to the Ministerial existence and duration.
His high character and his name joined to his emi
nent parliamentary talents formed Lord Shelburne's
best security for carrying any measure through the
House of Commons. Neither Townshend nor
Conway possessed the eloquence, ability, or here
ditary weight, all which met in the ChanceUor of
the Exchequer. If, therefore, in order to gain Lord
North, the First Lord of the Treasury had thrown
Pitt into Opposition, no exertions could have long
resisted his and Fox's united attacks, fighting side
by side. And the House itself would probably, nay,

4i6 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
infallibly, have reprobated such a junction when
attained by the expulsion of Pitt from power. These
causes prevented any attempt being made to gain
Lord North's support by admitting him and his
principal friends to places in the Cabinet, and his
friendship, it was obvious, could not be obtained on
inferior terms.
[2 1st January — i ^th February 1 783.] The strong
est indications were meanwhile given on the part of
Fox's adherents, as well as by some of the friends
of Lord North, that they intended to attack and to
arraign the treaties of peace just concluded.' No
sooner had the preliminaries signed between Eng
land and the two branches of the House of Bourbon,
together with the provisional articles made with
America, been brought down to the House of Com
mons and read by the clerk, than Eden instantly
rose to express the feelings of concern, or rather of
indignation and distress, with which the fifth article
of the American treaty inspired him. It regarded
the Loyalists, who, as appeared from the nature of
the provisions, were abandoned by Great Britain,
and left exposed to the severest treatment from the
provincial assemblies. This circumstance took place
on the 27th of January. Four days later. Fox, In
answer to some remarks which fell from General
Conway on the subject of the recent pacification,
observed that though he did not mean to anticipate
the consideration of the treaties, for which discus
sion a proper time would be appointed, yet that he
did not consider it to be as good a peace as might
have been made by Ministers. Eden^ entered his
protest on the same evening against the cession of
1 Franklin always maintained that the Opposition would never
have obtained more favourable terms than those agreed to by Minis
ters. He used prophetically to add that England would recover her
greatness and be worthy of respect. — D.
2 William Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland (see vol. i. p. 237). — Ed.,

OF MY OWN TIME. ^ly
a vast portion of Canada, comprehending no less
than 18,000 square mUes, declaring it to be his
opinion that in dissevering so large a territory from
the Empire, Administration had violated a positive
Act of Parliament On the loth of February, Fox,
while alluding to the preliminaries, said that they
did not bear on their face their justification. Lord
Nugent, though generally disposed to support Gov
ernment, yet spoke in language of the utmost
violence on the subject of the Loyalists. " If his
Majesty's Ministers," exclaimed he, " have omitted
any possible exertion in favour of those unfortun
ate men, no punishment can be adequate to their
crime. Their blood alone can wipe away the stain
inflicted on the honour of their country." Governor
Johnstone repeated these denunciations in scarcely
mUder terms, while Sheridan, who already seemed
to fix on Pitt as an object of his personal reprehen
sion and attack whenever a favourable occasion
arose, exhorted the Chancellor of the Exchequer
not to speak in so high a tone from the Treasury
bench. "If," added Sheridan, "he and his col
leagues had held as lofty a style to the enemies of
Great Britain during the late discussions relative to
peace as they do here, they would not be compelled
to stand so much on the defensive as they pro
bably must do when the examination of the pre
liminaries comes before us." Every circumstance
announced a determination to push matters to ex
tremity, and if possible to drive the Ministers from
their posts, for having sacrificed the honour as well
as the interests of Great Britain in the recent
treaties. Lord Shelburne, conscious of the approaching
danger, and desirous of averting a parliamentary
conflict so doubtful in its issue, caused overtures of
a conciliatory nature to be made to Fox, offering to
VOL. II. ^ ^

41 8 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
replace him in his late office, and to provide for his'
friends or connections who had followed him out
of power after Lord Rockingham's decease. The
King was induced, though reluctantly, to allow and
to approve of the proposals, on the ground of state
necessity, it being esteemed a less serious evil to
admit Fox into the Cabinet by negotiation than to
incur the risk of his entering it by storm. In the
first case, he would remain still in a minority, while
the Treasury would be completely independent of
him ; whereas, in the second event, he would dic
tate the law. But Fox, though he professed himself
willing to make a part of an Administration formed
upon a broad basis, and therefore disposed to listen
to the proposition, exacted one indispensable pre
liminary, namely. Lord Shelburne's dismission or
resignation. Unless the Treasury were placed in
the hands of the Duke of Portland, as the new
recognised head of the Rockingham party, and
unless Lord Shelburne were wholly excluded from
a place in the Cabinet, he peremptorily refused to
accede to any terms of accommodation. With all
the other principal individuals composing the Minis
try he declared his readiness to act, but personally
to Lord Shelburne his repugnance continued insur
mountable, and could not be removed by any efforts.
In embracing this determination, it seems impos
sible to doubt that he was more impelled by pas
sion — in using which term I mean rivalry, party
feelings, and personal aversion to the First Lord of
the Treasury — than by moral or political principle.
Even his secession from the Cabinet in July 1782,
though it originated In a difference of opinion on
a great state question of the deepest importance,
namely, the grant of unconditional independence to
America, yet was consummated from resentment
and precipitation. Probably he regretted it when

OF MY OWN TIME. 419
too late ; for it was proved by facts that, whatever
Lord Shelburne might have meditated, or even de
clared, relative to not conceding independence to
the Transatlantic colonies, he was overruled, and
compelled by the Cabinet to carry into execution
that humUiating measure. Nay, more ; we have the
authority of General Conway, when addressing the
House of Commons on the subject, for asserting
that the First Minister not only overcame and sub
dued his own reluctance to declaring the American
States independent, but by his arguments or per
suasions prevailed on the King his master to sur
mount his strongly- rooted antipathy to the same act
of renunciation. Fox, indeed, always asserted and
maintained that his resignation of office had pro
duced more benefit to the country, and had operated
more powerfully to force Lord Shelburne's acquies
cence on the point in question, than he could have
done by remaining a mefnber of the Cabinet. But
it is evident that he did not lie under any necessity
of throwing up his employment or of sacrificing his
principles. The dispute never arrived at that alter
native, for which he ought to have waited before he
came to extremities. If he had temperately and
SteadUy opposed the First Minister, appealing to
his colleagues. Lord Keppel, Conway, and the
Duke of Richmond, for support, sustained as he was
by Lord John Cavendish, the Earl of Shelburne
must have given way, or he would have been left in
a minority. No doubt Fox's secession and appeal
to the House of Commons, or rather to the nation,
forced the First Minister, as well as his colleagues,
to concede unequivocally independence to America.
But if Fox had been more master of himself, and
less under the dominion of anger or of the desire
to dictate in the Cabinet, he might have effected his
object by a menace of resignation, and yet have

420 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
retained the seal. In forming an alliance with Lord
North, as he soon afterwards did, he made a far
greater surrender of principle, and at the same time
shocked public opinion much more than he could
possibly have done by acting with Lord Shelburne,
whatever measures had been adopted by Adminis
tration. Such, as I have always understood, were the
leading principles or circumstances on which was
subsequently reared that celebrated junction be
tween Lord North and Fox, which, from its extra
ordinary nature and more extraordinary effects, has
obtained in English history, by way of distinction
from all other pohtical unions or alliances ever con
tracted in our time, the name of the " Coalition."
The proscription of Lord North by Pitt and of
Lord Shelburne by Fox of necessity drove the two
excluded Ministers into each other's arms, at once
obliterated all causes of offence between them, and
impeUed them, banishing every retrospect, as well
as in some measure setting general opinion at de
fiance, only to look forward to the joint possession
of power. As the 1 7th of February stood fixed for
the consideration of the articles of peace in both
Houses of Parliament, and as Lord North disap
proved of many of those articles no less strongly
than Fox, it became obvious that they must, in
all cases, divide together on that night against the
Administration. And if they should find themselves
in a majority, as was highly probable, it seemed to
follow that the Ministers must retire from office.
But, in order to avail themselves of their triumph
and to form a new Administration, some mutual un
derstanding, if not some principles of permanent
accommodation, became absolutely necessary to be
adopted by both individuals. Otherwise^ however
victorious they might prove in Pariiament, they

OF MY OWN TIME. 421
would probably derive no benefit from their supe
riority, and Lord Shelburne, though vanquished in
the House of Commons, might still contrive to re
tain his seat in the Cabinet as First Minister.
These considerations, in themselves most forcible,
acquiring hourly strength as the day approached for
the discussion of the peace, reproduced some symp
toms of mutual tendency towards reconciliation.
Never, perhaps, did two men exist more inclined by
nature to oblivion of injuries or to sentiments of
forgiveness than Lord North and Fox. The latter,
whatever might be his defects of character, pos
sessed in an eminent degree placability and magna
nimity of mind. " Amicltis semplternee, Inimicltlae
placabiles," was a maxim always in his mouth. The
former, too indolent to retain the burthen of en
mity, and conscious that Fox's hostility towards
him had always been more political than personal,
gladly deposited his resentments, his recoUections,
and his injuries, at the feet of his interest and am
bition. Both equally concurred in the necessity of
agreeing on some plan of concerted action, before
they took their places side by side on the front or
Opposition bench. Hitherto, though Lord North
usually or always sat there. Fox continued to speak
frpm the third bench above it, as did likewise Burke.
But however deeply they might both be impressed
with these feelings, they nevertheless abstained from
any direct interview, leaving all matters to the
intervention of mutual friends. The Honourable
Georo^e Augustus North, eldest son of Lord North,
then member for Harwich, and afterwards himself
Earl of Guildford,' acted as the negotiator for his
father on this occasion, while the Honourable Col-
"- Georfe Augustus, third Earl of Guilford, born nth September
1757 His second wife was Susan, daughter of Thomas Coutts, the
banker. He died 20th April 1802.— Ed.

422 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
onel Fitzpatrick,' Fox's most intimate friend and
companion, conducted the treaty on the other part
Eden, who enjoyed much of Lord North's confi
dence, exerted his utmost efforts to accelerate the
successful progress of the negotiation. Mr. North
by no means wanted talents, but in address, capa
city, and accomplishments, Fitzpatrick possessed an
infinite superiority. Each was actuated by a warm
desire to conduct the business to a successful issue.
Two or three days elapsed in conferences and dis
cussions, nof was it tUl a very late hour of the night
of the 1 6th of February that, after many visits to
and fro between Fox's lodgings in St. James's
Street, and Grosvenor Square, where Lord North
then resided, they finally settled the outlines of a
convention by which, on the part of the two princi
pals, it was stipulated that if they effected a change
of Administration, the Treasury should be given to
the Duke of Portland ; that Lord North should like
wise take a Cabinet office ; that a fair partition of
the spoils, in other words, of the great posts and
emoluments of the state, should be made between
the two parties, who agreed henceforward to coalesce.
And lastly, that in the debate of the approaching
evening, they should speak, act, and divide in
concert. [lyth February 1783.] Such were the general
preliminaries of the " Coalition." Many difficulties
on both sides, which impeded the progress of the
negotiation, protracted its termination, nor did either
Lord North or Fox retire to rest till four or five in
the morning, when the business was at length con
cluded. Fox, accustomed to pass the greater part
of the night at Brookes's, appeared in the House of
1 The Hon. Richard Fitzpatrick, son of John, first Earl of Upper
Ossory, born 30th January 1747. Secretary at War in 1783. He
died 25 th April 1813.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 423
Commons with his usual freshness on the ensuing
evening, and manifested throughout the debate that
ensued neither inattention, lassitude, nor fatigue.
But Lord North, whose natural somnolency was in
creased by having sat up during so many hours of
the preceding night under circumstances of consider
able agitation, as well as by the prodigious heat
arising from a crowded House, after taking his
seat near his new ally on the Opposition bench,
found himself so overcome by sleep that its effect
became irresistible. UnwiUing, probably, to exhibit
such a spectacle at such a moment, which would
have excited matter of animadversion or of ridicule
to both parties, he at length quitted his seat and
came up into the gallery. I had placed myself
there immediately over the Treasury bench, every
part of the House below being completely filled.
Lord North having seated himself by me, made
every effort in his power to keep himself awake,
but to accomplish it exceeded his ability. As the
discussion had already taken a very personal turn,
severe sarcasms as well as reproaches being levelled
from the Treasury bench against the unnatural
coalition just formed, particularly by Dundas, who
stigmatised it with the strongest epithets of contu
melious reprobation, he requested me to awaken him
as often as any such expressions should be used by
Ministers. I did so many times, but when he had
listened for a few minutes, he as often involuntarily
relapsed into repose. At the end of about an hour
and a half, during the greater portion of which time
he seemed scarcely sensible to any circumstance
that passed, he began to rouse himself. By degrees
he recovered his faculties, and having heard from
my mouth some of the most interesting or acrimo
nious passages that had taken place while he was
asleep, he went down again into the body of the

424 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
House, placed himself by Fox on the floor, and made
one of the most able, brilliant, as well as entertain
ing speeches that I ever heard him pronounce
within those walls. No man who listened to it
could have imagined that he had lost a single sen
tence of the preceding debate, or that his intellectual
powers had been clouded by fatigue and want of
rest' Lord John Cavendish, whom Fox always selected
for special and important occasions, as his high char
acter for integrity and uprightness spread a sort of
veil over the irregularities of his party, moved an
amendment on that night to the address proposed
by the friends of Administration. Lord John's
amendment was, however, couched in terms so
guarded, with a view to secure as many votes as
possible, that It might rather be termed a hesitation
in approving than any direct censure on the peace.
Even Lord North, who afterwards proposed a
second amendment, in which he recommended the
American Loyalists to his Majesty's consideration,
implied more than he asserted that they had been
forgotten or abandoned by the framers of the articles
of pacification concluded with the thirteen colonies.
The Coalition Itself, avowed by Fox, was not only
defended with the boldness and decision that marked
his character, but he retorted on the Lord Advocate
all the acrimonious expressions which fell from the
latter upon the sudden union of two such inveterate
opponents. Mr. Townshend, as Secretary of State,
excelled himself in his defence of the peace, and
^ Lord North was pre-eminent in his replies, and in nothing did he
more astonish the House than in this intuitive seizure of all the pro
minent points in debate, whilst he had evidently been sleeping the
greater time. An annotator of these Memoirs writes — " I have heard
him more than once after he had become blind, and shall never for
get the mild tone and gentle suavity of his manner, nor the respectful
attention with which he was heard.'' — Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 425
may really be said to have in some measure earned
on that night the peerage which he soon afterwards
obtained.' I never saw him display so much anima
tion nor heard him manifest such ability. Nor was
Pitt wanting to himself or to his party. But all
their efforts proved unavailing to sustain an Ad
ministration which, having been originally estab
lished on too shallow foundations, had received no
subsequent reinforcement. After a debate pro
tracted till near eight o'clock in the morning, they
were left in a minority of sixteen.^ Only nine votes,
therefore, taken from the Coalition and transferred
to Ministers, would have given them a majority, and
above four hundred and thirty members voted on
the occasion.
Many curious and interesting circumstances, some
among them of a personal nature, took place in the
course of that longf discussion which were calculated
to make a deep impression on the memory. Powis,
first of any individual who rose to speak, assumed
the existence of a political union between Lord
North and Fox, reasoned upon it as a fact consum
mated, and reprobated it in terms of the severest
irony or condemnation. " The House now beholds,"
said he, "for the first time the lofty defenders of
royal prerogative allied with the zealous worshippers
of the majesty of the people. The most determined
supporter of the influence of the crown joins hands
with the purifier of the constitution, the reformer of
the household." With great ability and still greater
candour Powis pointed out the defects and conces-
1 Raised to the English peerage as Baron Sydney in 1783, and
advanced to a Viscountship in 1789.— Ed.
2 The minority was seventeen. The peace was condemned by a
majority of 207 to 190. " I hear," says Lord Grantham to Sir James
Harris "nothing ever equalled the speech which Pitt made. . . . He
is a most extraordinary phenomenon (he was up three hours), and his
character untainted." — D.

426 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
sions of the treaties just concluded,' expressed his
regret that such features of the work should excite
his disapprobation, but added, " Yet, considering
the whole collectively and the national position at
the present moment, I am ready to give my full
assent to the address moved, and to declare my per
fect satisfaction." If similar sentiments, superior to
the spirit of party, had animated the assembly at
large. Lord Shelburne would have kept his office.
So guardedly couched indeed was the amendment
which Lord North moved, that Townshend offered
to agree with it if the noble Lord would vote for
the address, but the Secretary of State's proposal
met with an instant rejection. Burke answered
Powis's animadversions on the junction between
Lord North and Fox, the principles of which union
he justified ; though as to the fact, he neither denied
nor admitted it. " Those persons, however," ob
served he, " who hold that opinion and censure so
violently the alliance have only to direct their eyes
to the Treasury bench, where they will behold a
learned Lord sitting between the Chancellor of the
Exchequer and the Secretary of State." Dundas
instantly rose, and in a speech of considerable length
as well as of great ability, full of most galling per
sonalities to Fox, contrasted his former denuncia
tions of Lord North whUe First Minister with his
present line of action. He desired Fox to recollect
his own assertions that " almost any peace ought to
be made in order to extricate the country from its
embarrassments and to dissolve the combination of
powers leagued against us." Nor did Dundas omit
to remind him of his pretended declaration that
" he had a peace in his pocket," as well as his asser
tion of the ruined state of the navy, which incapa
citated us for continuing the contest with our Euro
pean enemies. On the newly consummated union

OF MY OWN TIME. 427
between the two chiefs of Opposition, and on the
sickly offspring of their political embrace, namely,
the motions submitted to the House, he indulged in
the keenest sarcasms.
Lord North's speech on that night was worthy a
statesman who had been the Minister of a great
empire. In a masterly manner, without any mixture
of passion, disdaining his usual appeals to ridicule,
he reviewed consecutively all the features of the
peace, and demonstrated the vices or errors inter
woven throughout almost every article of the three
treaties. While he was engaged in discussing one
of the most serious points of the question under exa
mination, a dog, which had taken shelter and con
cealed himself under the table of the House, made
his escape and ran directly across the floor, setting
up at the same time a violent howl. It occasioned
a burst of laughter, and might have disconcerted an
ordinary man. But he, who knew how to convert
the most awkward occurrences to purposes of ad
vantage, having waited till the roar which it pro
duced had subsided, and preserving all his gravity,
addressed the chair. " Sir," said he to the Speaker,
" I have been interrupted by a new member, but as
he has concluded his argument, I will now resume
mine." Governor Johnstone, with his characteristic
violence of tone and language, declaimed against
various stipulations or cessions ^ contained in the
American treaty, which, he asserted, could only
have been made by gross ignorance, geographical
and political. Among others, having mentioned
the restitution of the two Floridas to Spain, he ac
cused Ministers of an utter unacquaintance with the
value, the productions, or the naval and commercial
importance of those provinces. " I was myself,"
added he, " Governor of West Florida, and I know
its consequence. As to East Florida, it can boast

428 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
of one of the finest harbours on the globe, infinitely
superior to the Havannah — more capacious, more
safe, and more healthy." The Secretary of State,
who sat opposite to him, expressing by his looks
and gestures the astonishment which these enco
miums excited. " I perceive clearly," exclaimed
Johnstone, "that the Secretary is ignorant of the
existence of this bay. I will tell him where it is
situate, and how it is named. The harbour to which
I allude is that of Spirito Santo or Tampa, situate
on the Bay of Mexico. Its possession would be
invaluable to Great Britain." Townshend did not
attempt to deny that he was uninformed upon the
subject ; nor probably was there another Individual
within the walls of the House, except Johnstone,
who possessed any accurate knowledge of the bay
in question. Similar acts of Ministerial ignorance
are to be found in almost every treaty between
nations. Fox neither distinctly avowed, nor still less did
he deny, his junction with Lord North. " That
such an alliance has actually taken place between
us," said he, in reply to Dundas's acrimonious re
marks, " I can by no means aver; but, if it should
be formed, I see not any ground for arraigning our
conduct or stigmatising it as an unnatural union.
That I shall concur on this night with the noble
Lord in the blue ribband is very certain. The
American war, and that only, constituted the sub
ject of enmity between us. It is now terminated,
and with it has ceased our hostility." Then, having
contrasted the honourable, open, and manly charac
ter of his new ally with the evasions, subterfuges,
and insincerity which he imputed to the actual First
Minister, he endeavoured to justify himself from
some of the imputations laid to his charge by the
Lord Advocate. Nor will I deny that in my judg-

OF MY OWN TIME. 429
ment he exculpated himself fully on almost every
point. " I never said," replied he, " that I had a
peace in my pocket ; words falsely attributed to me.
But I averred that there were persons empowered
by America to treat of peace, who had applied to
the Duke of Richmond and Lord Keppel, by whom
I was authorised to mention it in this House. The
learned Lord challenges me to produce the peace
that I had projected to make when I was Secretary
of State. Will any of the King's Ministers give me
the same defiance ? I dare them to do it They
know what it is, for they have it in the Foreign
Office. If, on inspection, it disproves my assertion,
let them take advantage of it ; and let them hold me
up to public condemnation, as a man capable of
advising my sovereign to make, if it be possible, a
worse and a more ruinous peace than the treaties
now on the table." To Dundas himself personaUy
Fox addressed some of his severest animadversions.
" The learned Lord," said he, "informs us that he is
always ready to support any Government whose
principles he approves. I believe that he is sincere
in his assertion, and in order that he may always be
able to support Administration, he will take care
invariably to approve of their principles, whatever
they may be, or whoever may become Ministers."
But the circumstance which, above all, rendered
that evening memorable as well as entertaining,
was the altercation which arose between Sheridan
and Pitt. It may be said to have originated with
the former, who, adverting to an antecedent debate,
during the course of which the ChanceUor of the
Exchequer had objected to the production of a de
pending treaty, on the ground that such an act had
no precedent on the journals of Parliament, Sheri
dan treated his assertion with great asperity, not
unaccompanied with ridicule. " If," said he, " the

430 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
right honourable gentleman's youth and very early
political exaltation had allowed him time to look for
precedents or to attain a knowledge of the journals,
his discretion might have imposed some restraint on
his precipitation. He would not then have mani
fested so much indignation at the questions put to
Ministers, and which it became their duty to answer.
These facts convince me that he is more of a prac
tical than an experienced politician." Indig'nant at
the style and language of Sheridan's reprehension,
and perhaps hoping to crush at once an adversary
so galling, Pitt no sooner rose to address the House
than he directed all the force of his eloquence to
wards that quarter. " There is no man, sir," said
he, when commencing his speech, " who admires
more than I do the abilities of that honourable
member," fixing his eye on Sheridan, " the elegant
sallies of his mind, the pleasing effusions of his
fancy, his dramatic turns, and his epigrammatic
allusions. If they were only reserved for the proper
stage, they would, no doubt, ensure, what his distin
guished talents always have acquired, the plaudits
of his audience, and it would be his recompense sui
plausu guadere theatrt. But this place is not the
proper scene for exhibiting such elegances, and I
must therefore call the attention of the House to
more serious considerations of public importance."
If Pitt had pronounced this animadversion, so
pointed, classic, and personal, at the close, not at
the commencement of his discourse, and had in
stantly sat down, probably even Sheridan would
have found himself unequal to replying on the in
stant, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer might
have obtained at least a temporary triumph. But
the length of time that he remained on his legs gave
his opponent leisure for meditating a proper answer.
Individuals of the common order would have sunk

OF MY OWN TIME. 431
under the reproof, or would have displayed more
resentment than wit or composure. The reference
to his theatrical occupations was no doubt illiberal,
as well as calculated to oppress any except a man
constituted like Sheridan. He, on the contrary,
found in the attack matter of advantage over his
adversary and of exaltation to himself. Rising as
soon as Pitt had finished, and having prefaced with
a few words under pretence of explanation — " With
regard," said he, " to the particular species of per
sonality which has just been introduced, I need not
comment on it. The House will have appreciated
its taste, its point, its propriety. But let me assure
the person who has had recourse to it, that when
ever he may think proper to repeat such aUusions I
will meet them with perfect good-humour. Nay,
more, encouraged by the encomiums bestowed on
my talents, should I ever again engage In the occu
pations to which he alludes, I may, by an act of
presumption, attempt to improve on one of Ben
Jonson's best characters, the ' Angry Boy' in the
' Alchymist.' " ' The admiration excited by a re
partee so keen and so prompt cannot easily be con
ceived. Pitt never returned, a second time to the
charge mounted on the same horse, but a degree
of mutual alienation seemed always to subsist be
tween him and Sheridan, founded on the incompa
tibility of their characters, tempers, and humours.
No two men were, indeed, ever cast in more dissi
milar moulds. On the respective superiority of their
intellectual endowments I shall not venture to de
cide or to pronounce. Both were the prodigies of
their day.
Lee,^ the late Solicitor- General, rising at a very
1 Kastril, the " Angry Boy " in the " Alchemist," was one of the
vapourers of the day. "Angry boy" was used in the same sense as
a roaring boy or roarer. — Ed.
2 John Lee. Lord Rockingham writing to him in 1778 says, " We

432 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
advanced hour of the morning, as he was apt to do,
exhausted his vehemence, or rather his rage, on the
First Minister, whose character as well as his Ad
ministration, and in particular the peace just con
cluded, which he denominated " a dismemberment
of the empire, disgraceful, wicked, and treacherous,"
he loaded with epithets of condemnation. On Lord
North, as a statesman of incorruptible integrity,
manly, and superior to artifice or evasion of every
kind, he was as profuse in his panegyrics as he was
indecorous and violent towards the Earl of Shel
burne. Nor did Lee omit to express his approba
tion of the Coalition, as a political union calculated
to produce benefits to the country. During the
whole time that I sat in Parliament, I never was
present at a speech more personally abusive, or
which would have better justified interruption. Ken
yon, who was placed opposite to him on the Trea
sury bench, and who was composed of as tough, as
coarse, though not as boisterous materials, unable
to support such a string of invectives wdthout mani
festing his indignation, severely reprehended his
learned friend for "the swaggering language" to
which he had recourse, strongly reprobating at the
same time Lee's expressions relative to the First
Lord of the Treasury. No disposition being, how
ever, shown to retract or even to modify them,
Rigby interposed with an apology for Lee as being
a young member. Like his friend Dundas, Rigby
spoke and voted on that night with Ministry, but
since his dismission frorn the Pay Office, he seemed
to have lost much of the dictatorial manner and
assert that Councillor Lee, though somewhat a rough gentleman, has
as tender and as feeling a heart as any lady of the land." Lee
was a thorough party man, and a favourite saying of his was, " Never
speak well of a political enemy." Yet the only piece of patronage he
applied for was in favour of a Tory, Dr. WiUiam Scott, afterwards
Lord StoweU.— Ed.

OF MY OWN TIME. 433
style of speaking, which formerly characterised him
when addressing the House. Great anxiety and
agitation pervaded the Ministerial benches when the
division took place. As no accurate opinion could
be formed previous to the conclusion of the debate
on which side the members would preponderate, the
result when announced from the chair excited as
much exultation among the adherents of Lord North
and Fox as it spread dismay through the ranks of
Administration.' I composed one of the majority on that memorable
occasion. But I owe it nevertheless to truth and to
candour, which are the only guides or principles
that I recognise, to acknowledge that when I con
sider the articles of the peace concluded by Lord
Shelburne after the lapse of thirty years, I am in
clined to view it through a much more favourable
medium than I did at the time. Unquestionably,
of the three treaties, namely, those signed with
France, Spain, and America — for with Holland no
definitive convention had been arranged — the Ame
rican treaty was much the most humiliating as well
as injurious to Great Britain. Besides the uncon
ditional recognition of the independence of the
colonies and the cession of so many fortified places,
which it is difficult to suppose that the Americans
could have taken from us by force of arms, our
abandonment of the Loyalists seemed, in the esti
mation of people the most dispassionate, to affix a
degree of degradation and dishonour on the nation
itself To Spain we likewise ceded East Florida,
in addition to West Florida and Minorca, of both
which that power had already obtained possession.
^ The debate in the Lords was kept up till near five A.M. The divi
sion was in favour of Ministers by sixty-nine to fifty-five. Lord Fal
mouth told Hannah Moore how delighted he was to sit down to his
soup and roast at eight in the morning, at which hour several Lords
had company to dinner after the House broke up.— D.
VOL. II. 2 E

434 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
But in recompense for these sacrifices, if must be
remembered that France restored to us all our
captured islands in the West Indies with the single
exception of Tobago, while we possessed nothings
to offer her in return except the restitution of St
Lucie. The stipulations respecting our possessions
in the East Indies, those concluded relative to the
gum trade on the coast of Africa, and the articles
regulating the right of fishery on the banks of
Newfoundland, if not favourable or advantageous in
themselves, might yet have been signed between two
crowns treating nearly on equal terms. Nor, when
we consider the exhausted state of England at the
close of the American war, could they justly be re
garded as unbecoming us to concede, in order to
dissolve the formidable combination then leagued
against this country, which was sustained by the
armed neutrality of the Baltic powers.
WhUe, however, I thus readily admit Lord Shel
burne's title to national approbation, if not gratitude,
for the peace of January 1783, though I voted
against it as a member of the House of Commons,
I must maintain, and I trust satisfactorily to prove,
that if Lord North, instead of going out as he -did
in March 1782, had remained in office ten months
longer, he would have concluded at least as advan
tageous, if not a more beneficial treaty. We shall
in fact find, on examining the subject, that Lord
North either adopted or laid down all the founda
tions on which his successor in office reared that
superstructure. In other words, we must be com
pelled to perceive that Lord Shelburne only used
the materials left or provided him by his predeces
sor. The peace rested on seven distinct grounds
or principles, of which the first was the recognition
of American independence. But Lord North mani
fested a much greater readiness to obey the wishes

OF MY OWN TIME. 435
of the House of Commons on that leading point
than was afterwards shown by Lord Shelburne,
who did not yield till he was out-voted in the
Cabinet, whereas Lord North, after General Con
way's successful motion of the 2 2d February, declar
ing " the attempt to reduce the colonies to obe
dience by force impracticable," immediately took
measures for the purpose. On the 5th of March, a
fortnight before he laid down his power, Wallace,
then Attorney-General, moved in his place for leave
to bring in a bill, " to enable his Majesty to conclude
a truce or peace with the revolted colonies in Ame
rica." Fox affected to treat it with derision, because
he feared that its operation on Parliament and on
the public mind might prolong the existence of an
Administration which he had so nearly run down ;
but no impartial man questioned the First Mini
ster's sincerity, and the victory of Congress in com-
peUing Lord North, who had so long made war on
them, to treat with America as a sovereign power,
would have been more gratifying to the States than
the same triumph obtained over any other Minister
of Great Britain.
The second cause that produced peace was Sir
George Rodney's victory over De Grasse, which
event at once overturning all the plans of Vergennes
in the West Indies, secured Jamaica from any further
attack on the part of France. Of this splendid vic
tory, though Fox reaped all the benefit, Lord North
and Lord Sandwich had unquestionably the whole
merit We may even safely assert or assume that
if the Rockingham Administration had forced their
way into office three months earlier than they did,
the action of the 12th of AprU 1782 would never
have taken place or might have had a very diffe
rent termination. It is not pretended that Pigot
possessed any other merit than his connection with

436 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
Fox, cemented at Brookes's over the faro table.
The measure itself of sending him out to deprive
Rodney of the command excited just as well as
general indignation; nor did he perform a single
act of energy after his arrival which could have
accelerated or facilitated the negotiations for peace,
though Fox admitted in the House of Commons
during the debate of the 21st February 1782 that
Pigot was at the head of a fleet superior to the
enemy and adequate to every offensive or defensive
operation. Eliott's destruction of the Spanish gun
boats before Gibraltar on the 13th September, by
overwhelming all the projects of Charles III. for
the reduction of that fortress, laid the third founda
tion of the treaty, aS it disposed the Cabinet of
Madrid to terminate the war. Happily, Fox did
not recall Eliott, as he had done Rodney, nor send
Burgoyne to supersede him. Lord Howe's most
able manceuvres in supplying Gibraltar with stores
of every kind, notwithstanding the combined opposi
tion of France and Spain, formed the fourth ground
work of the peace. In the nomination of that naval
officer to the command of the fleet, and in that
measure solely, had Lord Shelburne any participa
tion or share as contributing to terminate the con
test. Nor would it be candid to deprive him of the
merit which he may thereby claim ; but neither
ought we to forget that Admiral Darby had effected
the same service in the preceding year under Lord
North's Administration, and had relieved Gibraltar
In defiance of nearly similar impediments.
The three last foundations of general pacifica
tion were all laid In the East, where, as early as
1778, Lord North had ably anticipated the French
machinations by getting possession of Pondicherry.'
* Pondicherry, on the Coromandel coast, capital of the French pos
sessions in India. It was constantly taken by the English and then

OF MY OWN TIME. 437
Of these leading causes, the most essential, perhaps,
may be deemed the separate peace made with the
Mahrattas, a measure exclusively due to that First
Minister who, in the spring of the year 1781, sent
out Mr. Macpherson ' (since Governor-General of
Bengal and created a Baronet) as a member of the
Supreme Council. I know that his secret instruc
tions were to endeavour by every exertion in his
power, and even if necessary by making consider
able sacrifices, to terminate the Mahratta war. In
compliance with those directions, on his arrival at
Madras in October 1781, without waiting to consult
Hastings, who was then at a distance from Calcutta,
Mr. Macpherson, together with Lord Macartney,
Sir Edward Hughes, and the Nabob of Arcot, Ma
hommed Ally, acting together in concert, addressed
letters jointly to the Peshwah at Poonah, expressing
to him, in the name of the sovereign and Ministry
of England, their sincere and ardent inclination to
peace. It followed in a very short space of time,
and flowed immediately from this source. Lord
Sandwich, who sent out Sir Edward Hughes to
command the British fleet in the East Indies, may
claim the principal or exclusive merit of having laid
the sixth basis of the pacification of January 1783,
for though that naval commander did not vanquish
Suffrein as Rodney defeated De Grasse, yet he re
pulsed the French admiral when we were inferior to
him in number of ships, disabled the enemy's vessels,
and finally compelled him to postpone his projects
of co-operation with Hyder Ally, thus protracting
restored to the French. It was taken in October 1778, as mentioned
in the text, and restored to the French in 1783.— Ed.
1 John Macpherson, appointed member of the Supreme CouncU of
Bengal in 1780 and Governor-General after the return of Governor
Hastings to England in 1784. Created a Baronet in 1786, returned
to England in 1787, and became M.P. for Horsham. He died un
married, i2th January 1821.— Ed.

438 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
the contest tlU intelligence of a general pacification
reached India.
The last groundwork of peace was laid by Hast
ings, acting as Governor-General of Bengal, in con-
j unction with the Supreme Council. H is promptitude
and decision, after Hyder's successful irruption into
the Carnatic, in dispatching Sir Eyre Coote with
military and pecuniary supplies to the aid of that
nearly subverted Presidency, saved Madras. He
first arrested the progress of the Sultan of Mysore,
and finally compelled him to , retreat across the
mountains of the Ghauts into his own dominions.
The vast fabric of British power in the East, ori
ginally convulsed by the errors or incapacity of the
Bombay Government, degraded by Rumbold's mal
administration, and perhaps exposed to hazard by
Hastings' plans of ambition or aggrandisement, was
ultimately preserved and strengthened. When we
fairly examine and appreciate these facts, we shall
see that though Lord Shelburne signed, or rather con
cluded the peace of 1783, yet Lord North's Admini
stration virtually made it. In fact, no Minister, how
ever able or popular, could have longer prosecuted
the war for subjugating the colonies, after near seven
years of a ruinous and disgraceful contest, but any
Minister, however moderately endowed with talents,
having in his hands the means possessed by Lord
Shelburne, might have terminated the struggle with
our European enemies on making the recognition
of American independence. Unquestionably Lord
Shelburne obtained from the French Government
great restitutions in the West Indies,' but the enemy
kept possession of Tobago, and we restored St
1 This caused great discontent in France ; but the latter country
got rid of the " humiliating clauses " in the Treaty of Paris, and was
now enabled to raise fortifications on many important points, among
others Dunkirk. Thence too, in part, the existence of Cherbourg as a
standing menace in the Channel. — D.

OF MY OWN TIME. 439
Lucie, which last island, considered as a military
post, was inestimable to France. Powis's declaration
on this great national subject, which he made in his
place when addressing the House on the 21st of
February 1 783, has always appeared to me to com
prise in it everything that can be said with justice
either for or against the peace in question. His
words were nearly these : " With respect to the
treaties just concluded, I have already admitted
that there are parts of them which I regret to have
seen. But, nevertheless, such is the condition of
the country, such the state of our finances, and so
powerful is the confederacy united against us, that
I am ready to accept the peace, such as it is, and
to say that it deserves parliamentary approbation."
Few members of that assembly united to a sound
judgment so much impartiality and public principle
as distinguished Powis.
Spain reaped the principal benefit of the treaty,
as, in addition to Minorca, she retained or acquired
the two Floridas ; these advantages were, however,
dearly purchased by her severe losses before Gib
raltar in men, money, and ships. Louis XVI., be
sides Goree and Senegal on the coast of Africa,
which possessions rendered him master of the gum
trade, recovered the islands of St Pierre and Mique-
lon, situate in the river St. Lawrence. Pondicherry,
together with the French factories throughout Hin
dostan, were likewise restored by us ; but HoUand,
in recompense for her unwise as well as unjust
aggression, lost Negapatam, her only settlement of
importance on the Coast of Coromandel. America
triumphed in the contest, and the greatest statesmen
whom England had produced, though they con
curred in scarcely any other political opinion, yet
agreed on the point that, with the defalcation of
the thirteen colonies from the crown, the glory and

440 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
greatness of Britain were permanently extinguished.
This sentiment pervaded Lord Chatham's last
speech, pronounced on the 7th of AprU 1778. "I
will never consent," exclaimed he, " to deprive
the royal offspring of the House of Brunswick,
the heirs of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest
inheritance. Where is the man who will dare
to advise such a measure ?" He considered it
as a consummation pregnant with the greatest
national misfortunes. Lord Shelburne even sur
passed him in expressions of distress at contem
plating the consequences inevitably resulting, as he
conceived, from the loss of America. Not once,
but many times, he repeated this sentiment in the
House of Peers, previous as well as subsequent X.o^
his becoming First Minister. On the lOth of July
1782, when constituted First Lord of the Treasury,
he declared that " whenever the British Parliament
should recognise the sovereignty of the thirteen
colonies, the sun of England's glory was for ever
set. He looked for a spark at least to be left, which
might light us up in time to a new day. But if in
dependence were once conceded, if Parliament con
sidered that measure to be advisable, he foresaw
in his own mind that England was undone." It
seemed impossible to clothe his ideas of despair in
stronger or more energetic language. Lord George
Germain entertained, as I know, similar apprehen
sions. Speaking in the House of Commons, on the
1 2th December 1781, he maintained as a position
admitting of no doubt, that " from the instant when
American independence should be acknowledged,
the British Empire was ruined." I heard Dunning
make almost the same declaration in the same place
on that very night Although he spoke and voted
with Opposition, yet he concurred with the Colonial
Secretary in opinion that the ruin of the country

OF MY OWN TIME. 441
would be accomplished whenever America should
be recognised as independent Here then we have
four individuals, all distinguished by pre-eminent
talents, denouncing national destruction as insepar
able from the loss of America. A similar sentiment
had impressed all classes of men throughout the
country. How are we to account for the non-fulfil
ment of these predictions ? How was the threat
ened calamity averted, and by what measures was
Great Britain after losing thirteen colonies rendered
more formidable, wealthy, commercial, and great
than before her misfortunes ? Three causes appear
to me to have principally produced so extraordinary
a phenomenon, which has no parallel in the history
of nations.
The first and leading cause was the preservation
of the British constitution. Lord North, though he
lost armies, commercial fleets, garrisons, islands, and
provinces, yet defended and preserved the palla
dium of civil liberty. He transmitted to Lord
Rockingham in March 1782, as he had received
from the Duke of Grafton in January 1770, that
invaluable possession inviolate. No Minister of
George III. more highly estimated its blessings or
held its preservation nearer his heart When on
the 2 ist of February 1783 Sir CecU Wray, then
member for Westminster, accused him of blindly
maintaining the prerogative of the crown on all
occasions, he justified himself in language equally
dignified and convincing from the imputation. I
was present and heard him. " I do not know, nor
can I conceive," said Lord North, " on what pre
mises the honourable member forms his logical con
clusion. I certainly have frequently asserted, and
I have uniformly maintained, the prerogative of Par
liament to bind and legislate for those colonies, which
were then united to Great Britain by every bond of

442 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
duty and obedience. But I defy him or any map
to specify a single instance in which I ever attri
buted to the crown any other prerogative than is
vested in it by our constitution, or than a king of
this country is acknowledged to possess by every
sound Whig, and by all those authors who have
written on the side of freedom. I never did, nor
ever wished to extend the power of that branch of
the Legislature one inch beyond the limits prescribed
to it by law. And however loudly clamour has
been raised against me as a Minister who desired
to govern only by the influence of the crown, I
trust the charge has been already found wholly
untrue." Our obligations to Lord North are great
and indelible, for never, perhaps, did any Mini
ster surmount more severe attacks than he endured.
The losses and disgraces of the American war, fol
lowed by heavy annual loans, gave rise to meetings
and associations whose professed object was not
only a change of Administration, but to effect
reforms and alterations in the parliamentary re
presentation. These convocations of freeholders,
which began in the county of York towards the
end of 1779, soon spread over the kingdom, and
were adopted in the capital at an early period of
the year 1780.
Their resolutions, patriotic in profession and per
haps in their intention, were not the less revolution
ary in practice. Like the clubs at Paris in 1 790,
they immediately appointed corresponding com
mittees, whose duty it was to prepare plans of
association for ameliorating the constitution. Men
of the highest rank, of the largest property, and of
the most unsullied character, carried along by the
torrent and impatient to overturn the Ministry, lent
themselves to the accomplishment of this work. As
early as February 1780, Sir George Savile, when

OF MY OWN TIME. 443
presenting in the House of Commons the York
petition, accompanied it with language such as
Ireton or Fleetwood might have used when ad
dressing the Rump Parliament in 1652 — language
calculated to intimidate, and appealing obviously to
external interference. These menaces were outdone
by Sir James Lowther in April of the same year
on bringing up the petition from Cumberland. He,
whom "Junius" denominates "the little contemp
tible tyrant of the North," threatened in his place
that if "the grievances enumerated were not re
dressed, the subscribers would withhold the taxes,"
thus attempting to overawe the legislative body
whom he addressed. Fox, as might well be ima
gined, far exceeded his adherents in the violence
of his appeal to the people. On the 6th of April
1 780, the corresponding committee having convened
the inhabitants of Westminster in Palace Yard,
Fox read and commented on the report presented
by that committee, while the Dukes of Devonshire
and of Portland were present at his side, but the
Marquis of Rockingham absented himself Gov
ernment having very properly ordered out a military
force for the protection of Parliament and suppres
sion of tumult or riot. Fox proceeded so far as to
declare in the House of Commons, that " if soldiers
were thus let loose on the constitutional assem
blages of the people, all who attended them must go
armed." The Cardinal De Retz, when conducting
the Parisian populace and attempting to overturn
the First Minister of that day, held and practised
precisely the same doctrine. So would Mirabeau
have done in our time, or Sir Francis Burdett and
Home Tooke.
Even previous to the actual commencement of
the American war, as early as 1774 attempts were

444 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS .
made by the enemies of Government to excite the
shipwrights and other artificers in the royal dock
yards to associate, to remonstrate, and in fact to
assume a deliberative public character, I was pre
sent in the House of Commons when Sir Hugh
Palliser related and detailed this curious fact, re
specting which no man could speak with more
accuracy, as he presided at the Navy Board when
the transaction took place. Humphrey Minchin,
member for Oakhampton, whom I very particularly
knew, having brought forward a discussion relative
to the condition of the navy in the month of March
1 781, with a view to criminate Lord Sandwich, then
first Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Hugh, in justifica
tion of that nobleman, stated broadly that " the
enemies of the country had found means to frustrate
his plans for regulating the dockyards on new prin
ciples of great public utUity." In fact, the workmen
were secretly instigated to insubordination. " As
sociations," Palliser declared, " were formed among
them. Remonstrances, clothed under the name of
petitions, were transmitted to the Navy Board ;
committees were appointed ; nay, deputies or dele
gates were sent up to London empowered by their
constituents to treat with the Commissioners of the
Navy in the nature of a congress." Notwithstand
ing the bursts of laughter which the word congress
produced from both sides of the assembly, yet Burke,
anxious to efface the impression made by the narra
tive of PaUiser, endeavoured to render the whole
ridiculous, justifying particularly the associations
formed as well as the petitions presented, which
were, he said, intended for preventing the lavish
expenditure of the public money. But Bamber
Gascoyne instantly stood forward to protect his
friend, Sir Hugh.

OF MY OWN TIME. 445
Gascoyne, with whom I was well acquainted, re
presented at that time the borough of Truro, and
occupied a seat at the Admiralty Board. He pos
sessed a clear and sound understanding, with a most
convivial disposition, though not a very cultivated
mind nor highly polished manners. Rough, frank,
and manly, he was not intimidated by Burke's elo
quence. In terms the most positive he confirmed
Palliser's account of the delegates, adding that " the
whole mischief was effected by the enemies of
England, whether foreign or domestic he would not
assert, who stimulated the inferior orders of people
to associate, to form committees of correspondence,
and to throw the nation into a ferment." Indignant
at such a charge, which involved himself and all the
Opposition leaders in the guilt of acts approaching
to treason, Burke started up, called Gascoyne to
order; but he, appealing to the chair against the
interruption, Burke, scarcely under the dominion of
reason, exclaimed that " if the honourable gentle
man proceeded any further in accusing that side of
the House with such nefarious proceedings he would
move to have the words taken down." Far from
being terrified at this menace or affected by the cries
uttered from the Opposition benches of " Take
down ! take down ! " Gascoyne, with perfect calm
ness, assured the House that no clamour would
deter him from performing his duty. He then re
peated verbatim his preceding words, declaring that
if any gentleman now wished to have them taken
down he would assist him by pronouncing them
distinctly a third time. But not an individual rose,
and Gascoyne was permitted to continue his speech
without further molestation. Yet Fox was present
at this scene, the particulars of which I relate as
they passed under my own eyes.

446 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS
How subversive of the constitution, and how de
structive of all subordination to Government were
Fox's avowed opinions, whUe he was in opposition,
on the right of the people to appoint delegates, and
thereby to dictate their pleasure to Parliament, was
apparent from his speeches or declarations on various
occasions. I recollect one in particular that I wit
nessed, the impression of which will not easily be
erased from my mind. On the 2d of April 1781,
Mr. Duncombe, one of the two representatives for
the county of York, having, in the absence of Sir
George Savile, presented a petition to the House
of Commons from several associated counties, signed
by certain freeholders whom he denominated dele
gates, Daniel Parker Coke (the Andrew Marvel of
that time) strenuously opposed its reception. He
approved indeed highly, he said, the object of the
petition, and would support it, but not the nomina
tion of delegates, whom he considered to be alto
gether unconstitutional as well as dangerous. In
this sentiment he was sustained by Powis, member
for the county of Northampton. Dunning, on the
other hand, whose law always appeared to me to be
under the control of his politics, and who did not
then foresee how soon he should be translated to
the Upper House of Parliament^ as well as to a
place in the Cabinet and to the Chancellorship of
the Duchy of Lancaster, undertook to defend the
legal or constitutional right of the subject to nomi
nate delegates. But Fox, rising in his place, far
exceeded him in boldness of affirmation and in
violence of language. " I will not sit here, Mr.
Speaker," exclaimed he, "and hear the assertion
that it is unconstitutional or illegal to appoint dele
gates, or that those delegates so named should peti
tion Parliament On the contrary, I consider it not
merely as a correct and authorised but as a laudable

OF MY OWN TIME. 447
measure in the present condition and circumstances
of this country. By what law is it declared to be
unconstitutional for the people of England to name
delegates who shall reside in London and watch
over the conduct of their representatives .¦* And
who shall presume to impede those delegates so
constituted from petitioning Parliament in loyal and
respectful terms ? Do they lose the privilege of a
freeholder because they assume the title of a dele
gate ? Certainly not. I should have been ready
to sign the petition now brought up in my delegated
capacity, and I would have defended it in my repre
sentative character within the walls of this House,
as a faithful representative of the people." Whether
such opinions are patriotic or factious, — whether
they can be maintained and acted upon without in
evitably producing confusion, — whether any man
can assume two public characters of a political de
scription, the duties of which may be incompatible
and contradictory, — are questions which must be
left to every person's decision. These principles
appear to me to be not merely democratic or repub
lican, but subversive of all good government, fit
only for the Jacobins of France in the beginning of
the Revolution, or for the modern reformers, the
Watsons, the Thistlewoods,' the Brandreths, and
the other advocates of insurrection, who wish to
overturn the present order of things. Fox, indeed,
was wholly guiltless, I am persuaded, of any such
intention. His only aim was, by means of this scaf-
1 On the 9th June 1817, Watson, Thistlewood, Preston, and
Hooper were conveyed from the Tower to the Court of King's Bench
to be tried for high treason. Watson was first tried, and was ably
defended by WethereU and Copley. His trial lasted seven days,
and the jury returned a verdict of not guilty. The Attorney-General,
Shepherd, then gave up the prosecution against the others. Thistle-
wood was less fortunate in 1820, when he was tried for a conspiracy
to murder the King's ministers ("Cato Street Conspiracy"), and was
hanged on the ist May with Ings, Brunt, Davidson, and Fidd.— Ed.

448 HISTORICAL MEMOIRS.
folding, to drive Lord North from power, to force
his own way into the closet, and to compel the King
to change- his Administration. But his ambition,
unlike that of Pitt, was not under the control of
judgment, self-command, and moderation. George
III. very properly availed himself of Fox's errors
to expel him from the Cabinet, which he twice
entered by storm.

END OF VOL. II.

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