George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life Part 18

I have also had a great deal of conversation with Storer, have heard his grievances, and I think that he has had very just cause to complain, and if I wish or desire him to be pacified, it is not that I do not think he has had great provocation. But he has taken the only just and true line of reasoning and acting for him, which is to do whatever is the most consonant to your plan and idea, acknowledging as he ought, avowing, and giving me authority also to say, that he thinks himself obliged to you and to you only for the situation he has.

To the obligation which you have laid him under, and of which no one can be more sensible, Lord North might have added one of his own, which was, to have done what you required, and had a right to require, de bon coeur, with a good grace. Instead of that, he has permitted a little attorney,(181) upon whose good judgment and liberality he reposes for all the great conduct of his Administration, to job away from Storer and Sir Adam Ferguson half a year's salary, in order to put one quarter more into the pocket of Lord Walsingham, who had the pride, acquired by his t.i.tle, of disdaining to be in a new patent, and so pressing that the old might not expire till he had received 200 pounds more salary.

Mr. Robinson intended to have come to me on Sunday to speak upon this subject, as if it concerned me, before I had seen Storer, or knew what he authorised me to say, forgetting all his own impertinent behaviour towards myself. It is the true picture of an indolent, selfish Minister, and of a low Secretary.

March dined at my house with Greg and Warner; he had them all to dispute with, so I had few words to say. But without knowing one syllable of the story, and from mere contradiction, he supported the Secretary in his conduct, that is, he took that line as his advocate. He will in some instance or other receive the same treatment, sooner or later, from the same persons, and then what I would have said the other day will have its force.

I have told you this, that you may know how you stand in the H. of Commons, and that there no one can pretend to divide with you any obligation. I have dwelt the more upon it from knowing what language has been held by Lord N(orth's) toadeaters about Storer. You will always hear of his acting agreeable to you, and that is what he ought to do, and what will give to you the weight which is due to you.

I supped last night at Brooks's with Lord Ossory, and chiefly on his account. There was a large company besides: the D(ukes) of Q(ueensberry) and of Devonshire,(182) Percy Windham, Charles Fox, Hare, Lord Derby, Mr. Gardiner, Richard, Belgiosioso, &c., &c. I stayed very late with Charles and Ossory, and I liked my evening very much. A great deal of the political system from Charles, which he expatiated upon in such a manner as gave me great entertainment, although, in all things which regard the K(ing) and his Government, I differed from him toto caelo. Lord D(erby's?) nonsense was the only drawback upon the rest. He is the most mechant singe I ever knew.

Hare opened the Pharo Bank in the great room, but had so few and such poor punters that Charles and Richard was (were) obliged to sit down from time to time as decoy ducks. The Bank won, as Hare said, about a hundred, out of which the cards were to be paid. I do not think that the people who frequent Brooks's will suffer this pillage another campaign. Trusty was there to go into the chair, when he should be called upon. I told him that I was extremely sorry that he had quitted the Corps de n.o.blesse pour se jetter dans le Commerce; but it is at present his only resource. I cannot help thinking that, notwithstanding our late disasters, Bob's(183) political tenants will be very tardy in remitting him their rents. But between Foley House, and the run of Mr. Boverie's kitchen, with his own credit at Brooks's, and his share in and affinity to an opulent Bank, and flourishing trade, he may find a subsistence.

The D(uche)ss of Marlborough,(184) I hear, is already laying a scheme for marrying Lord Blandford to a great fortune, so by that any hopes which I might have had of my dear little Caroline being d.u.c.h.ess of Marlborough are blasted. I am told, that Miss Child's alliance is in her Grace's contemplation. I saw Ekins yesterday; he mends very slowly. Lady Althrop is breeding, Lord Harrington has another son. Lord Sandwich looks near to death with fatigue and mortification.

Burke(?) said in the House the other day that he had so little credit that his evidence was not good even against himself. All this may be, but he is the last of all his Majesty's Ministers which I shall give up. He has experience, a.s.siduity, e(t) du zele. Whether he has blundered or not I cannot tell, or been obliged to adopt the blunders of others. He has judged right in one thing, if he ever had it in his head to make a friend of me. For he has been always extremely civil, and indeed that is not only a sine qua non with me, but all that I have to ask of any of his Majesty's Ministers, and that I am int.i.tuled to at least.

Now do I wish that my coachman was come back, that I may hear how my dear little friend is, and at night I will let you know.

(180) See Storer's letter of December 1, below.

(181) John Robinson, Secretary to the Treasury.

(182) William, fifth Duke of Devonshire (1748-1811), married, in 1774, Georgina, daughter of John, Earl Spencer, the well-known beautiful d.u.c.h.ess of Devonshire; their daughter, Georgina Dorothy, married George, successor to the fifth Earl of Carlisle.

(183) Lord Robert Spencer?

(184) Caroline, only daughter of John, fourth Duke of Bedford.

Anthony Storer to Lord Carlisle.

1781, Dec. 1.--I received your short note with an enclosed letter for Boothby, which I sent into the country to him. You laugh at me when you talk about the tears at the Drawing Room. I confess to you that I left Ireland with a great deal of regret. If you had not packed me off to Parliament, I suppose that by Christmas I should almost have thought myself happy to have established myself in Dublin. There is a great misfortune in your being Lord Lieutenant, not only to yourself, but to your friends--for en fait des femmes, you can neither do anything for yourself, nor can you for me; so that (I) having no confidant but yourself, all my tender messages are perfectly put a stop to. I hope Trentham has made greater advances amongst them since I left Ireland than he did whilst I was there. He takes time to consider and moves but slowly on to the siege.

During the few days I have been in town, I have had as much of Parliament, Levee, and Drawing Room as if I had been in Dublin. I have been nothing but proper things. Lord Loug(h)borough, whom I called upon, has got the gout; but that is what I need not tell you, for he said that he should write. We had no Irish conversation, for the Duke of Queensberry was with me, and we made but a short visit.

I understand from Delmc, who came up the first day of the meeting of Parliament, that Lady Betty is coming up to town next week to lay in.

Town is very full, and the Opera is really infinitely better in every respect than ever I yet saw it or ever expected it to be.

Perhaps coming from what is very bad in Dublin makes me find what was only moderate before exceedingly good now. The roof of the theatre has been raised, and the loftiness at present of the house makes it look really well.

For the same reason it is perhaps that I was so much struck the first day of Parliament. Charles Fox, who did not speak as well as he usually does according to the opinion of many, yet in mine was astonishingly great. I never attended to any speech half so much, nor ever did I discover such cla.s.sical pa.s.sages in any modern performance. Besides (th)at, I owned, he convinced me.

I wished not to talk to you of political events, but nothing else is thought of. The events that are pa.s.sed are not half so melancholy as the prospect which is looked to. The Supply was opposed by Tho(mas) Pitt, for the first time since the Revolution, yesterday. I did not hear Mr. W. Pitt, which I regret very much, as it is said that he even has surpa.s.sed Charles, and greater expectations are formed from him even than from the other.

There surely must be some change or alteration in Administration.

Lord George Germain seemed to lay a very heavy charge the first day of the Sessions against Lord Sandwich, but what will come of it, it is difficult to say. Speculation upon political events, however justified by seeing what ought to be, is not always to be depended upon. You can judge better than I can, because you have probably sure information, and I can only form conclusions by what everyone sees and knows. From what Lord Germain said, C(harles) Fox told him that when he impeached Lord Sandwich, he should consider him as a princ.i.p.al witness.

The most melancholy events are predicted with regard to the W(est) Indies. Indeed it is true that everything is now at the mercy of the Enemy, and it is their fault if any possessions whatever, either in N(orth) America or in the W(est) Indies, remain under the British Empire. Our affairs in Ireland go on pretty well, and that is the only place where they do. (The) Lord Advocate made a downright, open speech, but Lord Geo(rge) did not understand it; though parts of it, by what the Advocate has said in debate, were most probably levelled at him.

(1781), Dec. 4, Tuesday morning.--I found, when I came home last night, this letter from your son, which I enclose. Dr. Ekins shewed me a letter from him yesterday, which was with less mistakes in the writing, and was verily (sic) prettily expressed, but it was shorter. I find my idea of the Provostship will never do. There are other arrangements for him, and the Provostship, as I hear, will be given to Dampier, Mr. North's tutor.

Burke's Motion is withdrawn. The Opposition thought this was exactly the proper moment to increase and inflame the quarrel between us and the Americans. Unluckily for them, Government is in possession of a letter from Mr. Laurens,(185) in which he expresses himself perfectly satisfied with the treatment of him, in all respects; so this was communicated to Burke. I heard of no other business yesterday, or of any news, but Lord Cornwallis, it is said, goes to Paris. I do not envy him the civilities which he will receive there.

Monsieur de Maurepas(186) heard of our defeat just before he died, and expired with a line of Mitridate in his mouth, which sounded as well I suppose as a Nuncdimittis, and was as sincere:

Mes demurs regards ont vu fuir les Remains.

An old c.o.xcomb! I wish that I could live to see our hands trempes dans le sang odieux de cette nation infernale, rather than our pet.i.ts maitres here, in Caca du Dauphin, Boue de Paris, Bile repandue du Comte d'Artois, ou vomis (sic) de la Reine. Ce sont les couleurs les plus a la mode, et pour le Carnaval qui vient.

Lord Loughborough has the gout, and is confined to his bed. To-day I have all the Townshends and Brodericks to dine here, and Mie Mie goes after dinner to the Opera with Lady Payne, so I must be dressed to be her beau, which, if it was not for the pleasure of being a.s.sistant to her, would be souffrir le martyre.

We shall adjourn next week, I believe, till after the Queen's birthday. There was a talk yesterday of changes in the Admiralty, but without foundation. Lord Lisbourne, who dined with us yesterday at Lord Ashburnham's, did not seem to think that there would be a change of any sort. I hope he means as to men then only; for if measures and conduct are not to be changed we are completely undone, supposing anything of that now left to do.

The Duke of Newcastle's youngest son is at Lisbon for his health, and not likely to live. What is become, or will become, of his eldest G.o.d knows. His Grace's pride has settled everything upon Sir H(enry) Clinton, for the sake of the name, and Oatlands is to be sold and no vestiges left, of his infinite obligations either to Lord Torrington or to the Pelhams. He is 200,000 pounds in debt, and will, if Lord Lincoln marries, of which n.o.body doubts, have probably 6,000 pounds a year to pay in jointures to Lady Harrington, and Lady Hertford's daughters, and when this and the usual charge upon the maintenance of great houses is defrayed, he will leave nothing to Sir Henry but the expense of his own monument. He is a complete wretch, and no one ever deserved more to be so.

(185) Henry Laurens (1723-1783), President of the American Congress in 1777; he resigned in 1778, and was appointed Amba.s.sador to Holland, but was captured by the English at sea and imprisoned in the Tower. After his release he was sent by Washington to Paris to negotiate for a new loan, and in 1783 he signed there the preliminaries of peace with Franklin, Adams, and Jay.

(186) Jean Frederic Phe'lippeaux, Comte de Maurepas (1701-1781), Minister of Marine under Louis XV., but banished through the influence of Mme. de Pompadour; recalled by Louis XVI., he was made first minister, and though himself more courtier than statesman, succeeded in his policy of the recognition of the United States, and brought into the Ministry such men as Turgot, Malesherbes, and Necker.

Earlier in this year Walpole had written to Sir Horace Mann: "Mr.

Fox is the first figure in all the places I have mentioned, the hero in Parliament, at the gaming table, at Newmarket." The sentence with which Selwyn, half angry and half amused, concludes the last letter of 1781, emphasises the extraordinary and commanding position which Fox held at this critical moment in the House of Commons.

(1781,) Christmas Day, Tuesday m.--. . . . I dined yesterday at Lady Lucan's. The dinner was at first designed for George and Mie Mie, but upon my explaining myself to Lady Lucan concerning that [his objection to their dining out late], this dinner took another turn, and was at their usual hour; so instead of them, I met Lady Clermont, Sir R. and Lady Payne, Mr. Walpole, and Mr. Gibbon.(187) There were a few at Brooks's, and Hare in the chair to keep up the appearance of a pharo bank, but n.o.body to punt but the Duke of Rutland and Fish Craufurd. Charles, or Richard, if he is there, never fail(s); and at their own bank they will lose a thousand in one deal, and win them back in the other; but Richard, as I was told, lost tout de bon 7,000, the other night, to this bank, in which Hare and Lord Robert have a twelfth. The whole manoeuvre, added to their patriotism, their politics, &c., &c., are incredible.

I am going to dine to-day at Delme's; he has promised me some plum porridge. His son is to dine here with George. Lady B(etty) brings him at half-hour after two. On Friday I dine at Keene's, and in the evening George and Mie Mie come, and George may renew his addresses to the young lady. Lady Lucan desires that we should choose King and Queen at her house. I have myself no objection to anything but the dinner abroad,

Tuesday night.--No letter come. At Delme's the D(uke) of Q(ueensberry), Storer, Hanger, and G. Fitzwilliams, Lady Ann, and the family. . . . Hare holding the Bank. The punters are, Charles, par interet, Fish Craufurd, par complaisance, and the D. of R., par betise. Storer's patent is at last pa.s.sed,(188) as Gibbon tells me.

I hear no more; it is likely, for this next week, to be a great dearth of news. For be the West India Islands taken, or secured, it will be no matter I suppose of concern till Charles has made a speech about them.

(187) The historian (1737-1794).

(188) See note (99).

How close were the ties of friendship which united Selwyn with Storer and Hare has been told at the beginning of this volume: the following letter will add to the picture of the group of friends and of the diversions of London society at this moment.

James Hare to Lord Carlisle.

(1781,) Dec. 29.--I stayed at Foxley till the middle of October, and then came to Town, where, for want of other amus.e.m.e.nt I chose to take the diversion of Hazard at the House in Pall Mall, and lost near 4,000 pounds in three nights to a set of fellows whom I never saw before, and have never seen since. Though it has generally happened to me to begin the winter without a guinea, I did not make up my mind to it this year so easily as I have done formerly, because I knew that I deserved to be poor for having been fool enough to lose my money at Hazard instead of saving it for Pharaoh.

Richard played at the same place, and lost 8,000 gs., which he paid immediately, though he had declared to me a few days before that he had not a quarter of that sum in the world; but you know how to estimate his veracity on these subjects as well as anybody.

Charles, in the October meetings, lost about 10,000, the greatest part of it on Races, and the rest to General Smith at picquet. The general opinion was, that Charles was extremely partial to horses of his own confederacy; this he denies, and of course is angry to hear suspected, but you and I shall not be very backward to believe it to have been the case.