George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life Part 20

. . . Hardly any other man has produced such masterpieces with so little effort." He was the author of "Vathek," an Oriental romance, and other works. He was an enthusiastic collector, and he made Fonthill, where he lived in later life in eccentric seclusion, a complete museum.

(1782,) Feb. 19, Tuesday morning.--I wish that I could repeat and describe, as well as I can hear and attend to what is said to me, when people speak sense and to the purpose, and are not trying to mislead you. When I went to Brooks's it was in search of the Duke;(199) there I found him at dinner, altercating Lord Sackville's cause, and Stirling, with Charles, Lord Derby, &c., &c. You may imagine with what candour and fairness his arguments were received.

I am, it is certain, a friend to him, and not to Charles, but all partiality or prejudice laid aside, I think my friend as good a reasoner as the other; but one employs his faculties in the search of truth, and the other in disguising it and subst.i.tuting falsehood in its room, to serve the purpose of Party.

I soon left them and went to White's; I like the society there better. There was a dinner also for the Lords, and there was Lord Loughborough, Lord Buckingham, Duke of Dorset, Lord Cov(entry), Lord Ash(burnham), &c., &c., &c. I stayed with Lord Loughborough, Lord Ash(burnharn), and Lord Cov(entry) till past two this morning. The Duke changed his court and came to us, to plead in the common pleas, but with us there was no dispute. There was one who would have disputed if he could, which was Cov(entry), but Lord Loughborough has such a variety of incontestable facts concerning the affair of Minden, the opinions of foreign officers relative to P(rince) Ferd(inand's) whole conduct in respect of Lord George, the faction and partiality and injustice in the proceedings of the court martial, with so many arguments and precedents against the Question of yesterday, that poor Cov(entry) had not a word to say but that he had been soliciting privately--which I do not credit--the Lords in Opposition not to bring on this question, which at the same time he rejoiced at. Lord Ash[burnham] is among many others one whom Cov(entry) is practising constantly his astucity upon, and whom he thinks that he deceives. I was extremely entertained.

I have no liking and esteem for Lord Sack(ville), or ever had, any more than acquaintance with him, but from the first to the last I have believed that he has been sacrificed to the implacable resentment of P(rince) Ferd(inand), the late Duke of c.u.mb(erlan)d, and the late King, helped on by all the private malice and flattery in the world; and all which I heard last night, of which I cannot have the least doubt, confirms me in that opinion. I am clear in nothing concerning his personal merit, or defects, excepting of his abilities, and when these could be of any use to Party, they were extolled, and his imperfections forgot. He was invited to take a share in Government by the people who think, or have pretended to think, him a disgrace to the peerage.

I am sorry for it, but Lord Carm(arthen)(200) has in all this made but a miserable figure. I am sorry, from wishing well towards him, that I had not been apprised of this. I could have a.s.sured him of what even the best of his own party would think of his Motion, after it was made. I know that Lord Cambden(201) was strongly in his private opinion against it. [The] Lord Chancellor(202) spoke out I hear; his speech was admirable, en tous points; and upon the whole, I believe Lord Sackville to have been infinitely more served than hurt by this proceeding.

I saw on Brooks's table a letter directed to you from Hare, so I hope that it was to give you an account of these things, partial or impartial. I have no doubt but his account will be an amusing one. I left him in his semicircular nitch at the Pharo table, improving his fortune every deal. I wish Monsieur Mercier would come here and write a Tableau de Londres as he has that of Paris, and that he would take for his work some anecdotes with which I could furnish him.

It is thought that we shall be run hard in the House to-morrow. And so we shall, but we shall not be beat, as Charles gives out, and does not believe. I suppose our majority will be about twenty.

Absentees in the last Question on both sides will now appear. I hope that Government will send two Yeomen of the Guard to carry the Fish down in his blankets, for he pretends to have the gout. He should be deposited sur son maniveau, and be fairly asked his opinion, and forced to give it, one way or the other, en pleine a.s.semble, for at present it is only we who can tell s'il est chair ou poisson. . . .

(199) Of Queensberry.

(200) See note (82).

(201) Charles Pratt, Earl Camden (1713-1794). Lord Chancellor in 1766; the friend of Pitt (Lord Chatham).

(202) Thurlow.

(1782, Feb. 19?) Tuesday night, 8 o'clock.--I saw Lord R. Spencer and Lord Ossory to-day, who tell me that they suppose that we shall carry the Question by ten, if the Question is put; but it is imagined rather by them that the Ministers will give it up. Ellis has added another footman to his chariot, and is a Minister in form, and fact, and pomp, and everything. Lady Ossory is just come to town. Lord Clarendon has wrote a copy of verses upon Lord Salisbury's Ball, which the Ess.e.x's are so kind as to hand about for him. The verses are not numerous. There are not above two stanzas, and not good enough to suppose that they had been composed even in his sleep; so much nonsense and obscurity and want of measure and harmony I never saw in any composition before. But as they love to laugh at his Lordship in that family, so, as he had the absurdity to communicate them, they are determined that they shall not be suppressed. . . .

Weltie's Club(203) is going to give a masquerade like that given by the Tuesday Night's Club. I hear that all the different parties in Opposition are determined to draw together in this Question, how much soever they may differ afterwards, in hopes, I suppose, by their united force, to destroy this Administration. Young Pitt has formed a society of young Ministers, who are to fight under his banner, and these are the Duke of Rutland, Mr. Banks, Lord Chatham, &c., &c., and they a.s.semble at Goostree's.(204)

To-morrow no post goes, as I am told, and on Thursday Storer shall give you an account of what will have pa.s.sed in the House; he will do that better than I can. He attends at his Board very exactly. You have done a great thing for him, and no one seems more sensible of it. Lord Cov(entry) would have persuaded me to-day that things were going very ill in Ireland, but till I hear it from you I shall not believe it. All my accounts. .h.i.therto have had a different tendency.

I hear from one quarter that a change of some sort in Administration is determined upon, and that the Chancellor has the task of composing those jarring atoms to prevent the King's Cabinet from being stormed. That Lord Sh.e.l.lbourne will be taken in, de quelque maniere ou d'autre. Storming a Cabinet is a phrase coined in my time, to express what I cannot pretend to say that I do not understand, but how the fact is practicable, invito rege, will be for ever a mystery to me, and if it happens with his consent I am yet to learn how the Cabinet is storm(ed). I will never believe but if a prince very early in his reign had a mind to set a mark upon those who distinguish themselves in Opposition with that view, he would never have the thin(g) attempted. It may be necessary to change measures and men, but why it is necessary that particular men must be fixed upon you, whether you will [or] not, I do not conceive, nor will ever admit as [a] possibility, while the Laws and Const.i.tution remain as they are; so with this I wish you a good night.

(203) Weltzie's Club was at No. 63, St. James's Street. Weltzie was House Steward to the Prince of Wales, by whom the Club was established, in opposition to Brooks's.

(204) This club was at No. 5, Pall Mall, which was occupied by Almack's before it was taken over by Brooks' in 1778, and removed to St. James's Street. Goosetree's was quite a small club, of about twenty-five members, of whom Pitt was the chief.

(1782, Feb.) 26, Tuesday m(orning), 11 o'clock.--. . . . I went last night, after the children were in their beds, to White's, and stayed there till 12. The Pharo party was amusing. Five such beggars could not have met; four lean crows feeding on a dead horse. Poor Parsons held the bank. The punters were Lord Carmarthen, Lord Ess.e.x, and one of the Fauquiers; and Denbigh sat at the table, with what hopes I know not, for he did not punt. Ess.e.x's supply is from his son, which is more than he deserves, but Malden, I suppose, gives him a little of his milk, like the Roman lady to her father.

A very large company yesterday at Lord Rocking(ham's). The whole Party pretends to be confident of their carrying the Question to-morrow, if people are properly managed and collected. I do not believe it, but they do. The main point will not be more advanced in my opinion.

(1782,) March 1, Friday.--George seems so well today that there does not seem wanting the coup de peigne. I have not heard a cough to-day. We have been walking. It is the finest day that ever was, and we are going in the coach to meet one part of His Majesty's faithful Commons, who go to Court at two o'clock with their Address.

People are either so close, cautious, or ignorant, that among those I converse with I can be informed of nothing which is to happen in consequence of the last majority. It may be nothing at present, but the Opposition is in great glee, to judge from their countenance. I shall know before I sit down to dinner not only the K(ing's) answer, but the manner of the answer also.

Lord Ossory is this morning gone to the Levee, and others of his sort, I suppose, with a design to countenance and spread the credit of their coming in. Fish, as I hear, doubles and trebles all his flattery to Charles, and now and then throws in a compliment to Lord N(orth), not being quite sure of what may happen, and then adds, "In that respect I will do him justice; I do not think better even of Charles, as to that"; and goes on in this style till the whole room is in a laugh.

But now I have a story to tell you of his Grace the Duke of Richmond.(205) Lord Rawdon, I hear, came over from Ireland for no earthly reason but to oblige his Grace to a recantation of what he had said in the H(ouse) of L(ords) about Haines. He wrote to him here a very civil but a very peremptory letter, and at last Lord Ligonier(206) went to him, at Lord Rawdon's request, with the words wrote down which his Grace was to use, on his subject. At first the Duke hesitated, but Lord L. said that he recommended it to him to read it over carefully, and then decide; that he was limited as to time, and hinted that, upon a refusal, he should be obliged to come with another message. The Duke complied very judiciously, and a speech was made accordingly; and Lord Huntingdon was present, and heard justice done to his relation. The Duke was conscious of the part which he was forced to take by what he said to Lord Lothian and to Lord Amhurst; and this, as I am told, is the third time that his Grace has been compelled to make these amendes honorables. I am glad to have heard this, because so much mechancete deserves this humiliation. It may be that in telling me the story, it was aggravated, but I believe the fond of it to be true, and that his Grace deserves this and ten times more, and so probably Mr. Bates will directly or indirectly let him know.

Sat.u.r.day morning.--Mr. Walpole came to me last night, as George and I were playing together at whist with two dummies (for Mie Mie and Mrs. W(ebb) were gone to her dancing academy), and he stayed with me till near eleven; so I was obliged, finding it so late, only to scrawl out three words to let you know that the little boy was quite well. . . .

I do not find upon discourse anything exaggerated in the least in regard to his Grace. Lord L(igonier), to those to whom he chooses to talk upon this subject, is very explicit, and from these I had it.

It was the same with Mr. Clavering and Colonel Cunning(ham). Now for the Address. I saw all these brouillons and their adherents go by; that starved weasel, Charles Turner, in his coach, grinning and squinting: Wilkes(207) in his; Charles F(ox) and Ossory, laughing in Charles's chariot, a gorge deployee. They were not detained long.

The King beheld them come up the room with a very steady countenance, and one which expressed a good deal of firmness. I have been told by several that he is shrunk, and does not look well. I have heard that the Chan(cellor) sat up with him the other night, and till five in the morning. Of this I know nothing.

He made them the only answer which he could, in my opinion, have made with any propriety, had he been less displeased than he has reason to be with these people. But he laid such an emphasis upon the words, "By the means which shall seem to me the most conducive," &c., &c., that the answer was by no means acceptable, or the reception; and what will follow from it and what (be) voted upon it, the Lord knows.

Next week will be one of bustle, and I will beg Storer to be circ.u.mstantial in all he relates to you of the House of Commons, as I shall myself, as far as it shall come to my knowledge.

At the Levee Charles presented an Address from Westminster. The King took it out of his hand without deigning to give him a look even, or a word; he took it as you would take a pocket handkerchief from your valet de chambre, without any mark of displeasure or attention, or expression of countenance whatever, and pa.s.sed it to his lord-in-waiting, who was the Duke of Queensberry. It was the same with Sir Jos(eph) Mawbey. He spoke to none but one word, and it was inevitable, to Admiral Kepple, who had bouche son pa.s.sage. When he was upon the throne the Chancellor was at his right hand, and looking with such a countenance as affords to the people of Brooks's much occasion of abuse. Arnold(208) was behind the throne. The King looked much displeased with Mr. Conway, the mover, at the right hand of the Speaker.

I do not find that they expect any immediate changes to follow from this, but so various is the discourse at White's and at Brooks's among themselves, that it is difficult to collect anything which is worth recording.

I went last night to Brooks's, and stayed with them all after supper, on purpose to hear their discourse, which is with as little reserve before me as if I was one of their friends. Charles says that it was some comfort to him to have frightened them, at least; but he was so candid to me as to own that from the beginning of this emeute he could not perceive in me the least expression of fear or disquietude whatever, and that, to be sure, he did not like.

The truth is, I have made up my mind to whatever shall happen. I wish the King to be master, and he may be so, if he pleases, I am confident, and all whom I saw at Brooks's last night anneantis as politicians, if he will stand but firm upon the ground on which he now is.

Sir G. Cooper(209) tells me that two only were lost by the disappointment of the Loan. Several Scotch members went off, for reasons but too apparent, and which justified but too much the character given of them. Mr. W. lays this upon Rigby's agitated, restless humour and intrigue, but how much he has contributed to this bustle I am sure I cannot tell. If I was in his circ.u.mstances, I should not be disposed to hazard any change.

The Taxes, which were to come on on Monday, are put off till Wednesday. Questions will be followed by questions, but all will not be carried by a majority against Government, if the King expresses an inclination to yield as to measures and to be resolute as to men.

I own that to see Charles closeted every instant at Brooks's by one or the other, that he can neither punt or deal for a quarter of an hour but he is obliged to give an audience, while Hare is whispering and standing behind him, like Jack Robinson, with a pencil and paper for mems., is to me a scene la plus parfaitement comtque que l'on puisse imaginer, and to n.o.body it seems most [more] risible than to Charles himself.

What he and his friends would really do with me, if they had me in their power, I cannot say, but they express in their looks and words nothing which I can fairly interpret to proceed from ill-will. I have been lately not so contentious or abusive as formerly, no more than I have flattered them, and my appearance among them is from mere curiosity, and to amuse you by my recitals more than from any other motive.

(205) Charles Lennox, third Duke of Richmond (1735-1806). He was a Whig of strong liberal opinions. In 1782 he joined Lord Rockingham's Cabinet as Master General of the Ordnance. He resigned office when Fox and North came into power in 1782. In 1783, on the fall of the Coalition Ministry, he joined Pitt's first Administration, from which time his opinions grew more conservative.

In 1795 he gave up office but continued to give an independent support to Pitt. Richmond's handsome person, high station, love and patronage of the fine arts, and his political ambition and capacity, combined to make him one of the first men of the time.

(206) Edward, Earl Ligonier, died 1782, of the Irish peerage, and a general in the English army. His grandfather was a native of France, and a Huguenot. His uncle was Marshal Lord Ligonier.

(207) John Wilkes (1727-1797). He first made use of the power of the press in politics. In 1782 his election for Middles.e.x Was finally p.r.o.nounced by Parliament to be valid.

(208) Benedict Arnold (1741-1801). Arnold, after brilliant military services on behalf of the revolted Colonists, had entered, in 1780, into negotiations with General Clinton to give up to the English commander the position of West Point with its stores. Major Andre was sent to him on behalf of the English general. Arnold's treachery was discovered, and he had barely time to escape to a British sloop.

In 1782, after being given the rank of Brigadier-General in the English army, he came to London.

(209) Sir Grey Cooper, died 1801, one of the Secretaries of the Treasury from 1765 to 1782, and again under the Coalition Ministry.

Noted for his administrative ability and accurate knowledge on questions of finance.

The correspondence must again be interrupted to continue the narrative of the parliamentary struggle. On receipt of the King's answer to the Address which, it has already been stated, was carried without a division, Conway moved another hostile resolution, to the effect that those who should advise the further prosecution of the American war should be considered enemies of the country. This was also carried without a division, but Lord North still remained in office.

On March 8th, therefore, the attack was renewed, Lord John Cavendish bringing forward a resolution which concluded with the words, "That the chief cause of all these misfortunes has been the want of foresight and ability in his Majesty's Ministers." The Government were still able to depend on their place-holders, and averted a direct defeat by carrying the order of the day by ten votes.

The Opposition was as obstinate in a.s.sault as the King--for it was virtually he against whom the attacks of Fox and his friends were being pressed--was in defence, and on the 15th of March a direct resolution of want of confidence was only defeated by nine votes.

Notice was promptly given of a renewal of the struggle on March 20th, but when that day arrived Lord North came down to the House of Commons and announced the resignation of the Government. It was one of the momentous declarations in English history. It virtually proclaimed the independence of the American colonies and the beginning of a new epoch of ministerial responsibility to the House of Commons. Among the frequenters of St. James's Street the first thought was how would their own political fortunes be affected.

Fox's declaration that an end had come to a political system was received with incredulity. To Selwyn it was a time at once of annoyance and interest. He feared for his sinecure offices; he had, as has been already pointed out, grown accustomed, like many others, to the Administration of the King and Lord North. He had no personal liking for the fallen Minister, and he had watched the career of Fox from boyhood with mingled admiration and disgust. He could not realise him as a Minister.