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ESSAYS

ON THE

ADMINISTRATIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN

FROM 1783 TO 1830.

I.1

ADMINISTRATIONS OF LORD NORTH, LORD ROCKINGHAM, LORD SHELBURNE, THE COALITION, AND MR. PITT.

THESE two publications throw so much light on the political history of England during the latter part of the last century, that, although they are both unfinished, we think it right to give our readers an account of their contents, without waiting for their completion.

The late Lord Holland, having abandoned his original design of writing the life of his uncle, Mr. Fox, made a full compilation of authentic materials for his biography, partly consisting of letters and other documents, partly of records of the recollections of his surviving friends. Lord Holland, unhappily, left this compilation unfinished at his death; but it afterwards passed into the hands of his

1 Review of-1. Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox. Edited by Lord John Russell. 2 vols. 8vo. London: 1853.—2. Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George the Third, from original Family Documents. By the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, K.G. 2 vols. 8vo. Second edition, revised. London: 1853.

B

confidential friend, Mr. Allen, who was in every way qualified to complete the work which had been thus begun. Mr. Allen appears to have brought the materials into a state fitted for publication- but the MS. was not sent to the press, and it passed into the possession of Lord John Russell by the bequest of the late Lady Holland. Lord John has now given it to the world in the state in which it was left by Lord Holland and Mr. Allen, but with the addition of some ably-written and judicious comments of his own. As the work consists of a substratum of original materials, illustrated by the independent annotations of three commentators, which are distinguished by certain typographical marks, it presents (as Lord John observes) 'a disjointed and irregular appearance.' It has the form of a collection of Fox manuscripts, with variorum notes. Nevertheless it contains so much authentic information, accompanied with criticism so intelligent and so candid, that no Englishman who desires to understand the history of his country between the years 1768 and 1792 can fail to read it with advantage and pleasure. Lord John, indeed, says of the work which he edits, that its greatest value will be found in the letters of Mr. Fox to Lord Holland, written between 1790 and 1805. These letters are more literary than political, and show how keen was Mr. Fox's enjoyment of poetry, especially Greek and Italian.' Of the series of letters thus described only a few appear in these volumes; but we think that Lord John scarcely does justice to the value of the documents and papers which he has already published; for many of them are highly important, and the period to which they relate comprises the most active and prominent portion of Fox's political life.1 1

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There exist two biographical accounts of Mr. Fox. One is entitled Memoirs of the Public Life of the late Right Honourable C. J. Fox, by R. Fell,

The materials for the publication to which the name of the Duke of Buckingham is attached are family papers which have been preserved at Stowe. There are some interesting letters written by Mr. Thomas Grenville when employed in diplomatic service on the Continent; but by far the most valuable portion of the work consists of the letters of Mr. William Grenville (afterwards Lord Grenville) to his elder brother, the Marquis of Buckingham. These letters were evidently written in the strictest confidence, without premeditation, and with no idea that they would ever be given to the public. For this reason they cannot fairly be compared with official or semi-official letters, which are composed in a guarded and reserved style. But, on account of their familiar and unstudied character, they afford the stronger evidence of the sagacity, judgment, and undeviating good temper of their distinguished author. The task of editing the valuable materials which he had extracted from his family archives has been committed by the Duke of Buckingham to some person whose ignorance of the events and persons of the period, and whose consequent incapacity for the work, almost exceed belief. Most of the errors of this scandalously incompetent editor have been already pointed out by a contemporary; but are nevertheless, with a few exceptions, faithfully reproduced in the new edition.2

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in 2 vols. 8vo. 1808. The other is Memoirs of the latter Years of the Right Honourable C. J. Fox, by J. B. Trotter, Esq. late private secretary to Mr. Fox. 1 vol. 8vo. 1811. Neither work is at all satisfactory.

Thus the strange blunder that the Marquis of Rockingham 'was succeeded in his title by his nephew, the Earl Fitzwilliam,' stands uncorrected in vol. i. p. 48, of the new and revised edition. Seeing that the present Earl Fitzwilliam is the son and immediate successor of the Earl Fitzwilliam who is supposed to have inherited the title of Rockingham, it might have occurred to the editor to doubt the accuracy of his statement.

2 Even after the rich harvest of blunders gathered in by the Quarterly reviewer, a few still remain to be gleaned. Thus in vol. i. p. 185, Lord

Before the continuation of this work is published, we trust that an editor may be found who has heard of the

Grenville, in giving a rumoured list of the Coalition Cabinet, says: 'Lord Keppel to return. Query, whether he is by this means to be in the Cabinet with Twitcher? I think he should appoint St. Hugh a Junior Lord.' By Twitcher is meant Lord Sandwich, who was supposed to have instigated the court-martial against Lord Keppel. St. Hugh is evidently a misprint for Sir Hugh; that is, Sir Hugh Palliser, whose bitter feud with Lord Keppel is well known. At the end of the letter, the quotation amicitiæ sempiternæ, inimicitiæ placabiles,' is used sarcastically in reference to Fox, who had cited the sentence in the House of Commons as a justification of the Coalition (February 17, 1783).

In vol. i. p. 372, the following passage occurs in one of Lord Grenville's letters: We are a little uneasy on account of Tippoo, who had made peace with the Mahrattas, and was collecting his forces with a view of attacking the Nizam, or the Rajah of Gravancore, whom we must protect, or the Camatre itself.' For Gravancore read Travancore, and for Camatre read Carnatic.

Again, in p. 416: You have never sent me any answer about the Cranbourne chair proposal, by which means that business is delayed;' where for 'chair' read 'chase.'

In vol. ii. p. 52, William Gerard Hamilton is, by the interposition of a comma, divided into two persons, Gerard and Hamilton.

In vol. ii. p. 393, Lord Grenville writes on May 25, 1798: 'O'Connor's acquittal is imputed to Miller's charge, and that to his being completely exhausted, so as to omit some of the most material points in the evidence.' Who ever heard of Judge Miller at the end of the last century? The reference is to the celebrated case of O'Quigley, Arthur O'Connor, and three others, who were tried for treason at Maidstone, on May 21 and 22, 1798. The judge who summed up was Mr. Justice Buller; O'Quigley was convicted, and afterwards hanged; Arthur O'Connor, and the three others, were acquitted.

In the following sentence from a letter written by Lord Grenville, in November, 1788, a negative appears to be wanting: The party in general are so hungry and impatient, that I think they will [? not] act upon the better judgment of their leaders, and prevent them from doing anything which allows a moment's delay' (vol. ii. p. 24).

While the editor details at length those well-known events which may be found in the Annual Register, or any ordinary history of the time, he omits to explain those less obvious allusions on which a reader is most likely to desire explanation. Thus in vol. i. p. 258, Lord Grenville writes, on May 7, 1783: 'I am in some doubt what to do about coming over to you, as on account of the prince's death, there is no levée to-day, nor, I fear, on Friday.' The prince here alluded to is Prince Octavius, son of George III.

duel between Pitt and Tierney, and who knows that Cuxhaven is not in Ireland.

Mr. Fox was first returned to the Parliament which met on May 10, 1768, being then only nineteen years and four months old. He sat for the borough of Midhurst; his seat having, as it appears, been purchased by his father, Lord Holland. He came into Parliament as a supporter of the Government, of which the Duke of Grafton was then the head; and was, following his father's politics, an eager opponent of Wilkes. He began, even at the age of twenty, to show his remarkable powers of parliamentary debate; and some of his earliest speeches, as we learn from the unwilling testimony of Horace Walpole, produced a strong impression upon the House.1 In February 1770— being in his twenty-first year-he accepted the office of a Junior Lord of the Admiralty, shortly after the appointment of Lord North as First Minister, upon the resignation. of the Duke of Grafton.2 In the Session of 1772, Mr. Fox who died on May 3, at Kew Palace, of inoculation for the small-pox, aged four years.

In vol. ii. p. 63: 'I was a little mortified at finding our friend Sir P. P. among them.' Sir P. P. is Sir Peter Parker, as appears by a list in a subsequent page, p. 83.

Vol. ii. p. 139: 'Pitt authorises me to say that he could find the means of opening a ten shilling government for him in England immediately.' A ten shilling government is a small military command with a pay of ten shillings per diem.

Vol. ii. p. 377: In a letter of May 3, 1797, Lord Grenville says to Lord Buckingham: 'Have you seen my prince? He is sensible and well-informed, though not exactly the picture of a young lover.' The prince alluded to is the Prince of Wirtemberg, who was married to the Princess Royal on May 13, 1797, and whose figure, of extraordinary obesity, was certainly not that of a young lover.

1 Both Fox and Pitt showed their uncommon powers of parliamentary speaking from their earliest attempts. Sir R. Walpole, on the other hand, who for courage, readiness, and dexterity in debate, was afterwards second to none, failed in his first speech. See Lord Mahon's History, vol. i. p. 265. Ed. 12mo.

2 The popular belief that Lord Bute continued to exercise a secret influ

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