Volume I Part 19 (1/2)

My dear brother, Ever yours, W. W. G.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March 24th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

Since I wrote last, things have again taken a different turn; though I am not sufficiently informed of the particulars of what has pa.s.sed to say any more than that the King has insisted upon seeing the list of inferior arrangements, which having been declined (obviously from a want of agreement upon the subject), the King wrote a note to the Duke of Portland, which was very decently handed about at Brookes's last night, to say that he would trouble him no further on the subject.

To-day the prevalent report during the whole morning, was, that Pitt had accepted; but when c.o.ke put the question to Pitt in the House of Commons, previous to making his motion, the latter said that he knew of no Administration being formed.

c.o.ke then made his motion, which I enclose to you, as nearly as I can recollect it. Very little opposition was made to it, and it pa.s.sed without a division, though not without a good deal of conversation on the part of Fox, Lord North, and Pitt. Nothing, however, material pa.s.sed beyond the old ground of coalition and non-coalition. Pitt's speech was inimitable. McDonald made a speech which was not very pleasant, supposing that Pitt should join the Gowers, as it turned entirely upon an avowal of all his old principles, which he charged Lord North with having abandoned, &c., &c.

I am utterly at a loss as to forming any conjecture, but my wishes are very strong that the King would suffer the new allies to make their arrangements, and try their strength. Adieu.

My dear brother, Ever most affectionately yours, W. W. G.

T. Pitt's daughter is either dying or actually dead, which prevented his attendance. I pity them exceedingly, for no people dote more on their children.

MR. c.o.kE'S MOTION TO ADDRESS HIS MAJESTY.

”That His Majesty will be graciously pleased to take into his serious consideration the distracted state of his kingdom after a long and exhausting war, and will condescend to comply with the wishes of this House, by forming a Government which may be ent.i.tled to the confidence of the House, and may have a tendency to put an end to the unhappy divisions of the country.”

Two days after the date of this letter, Lord Shelburne, who still nominally held the Seals, formally resigned. The scene at the levee on this occasion, which may be described as _le commencement de la fin_, was not only curious in itself, but helped greatly to increase the perplexity in which these strange transactions plunged even those persons who had the best opportunity of observing them. ”I am just come from the levee,” says General Cuninghame, writing on the 26th of March: ”the Duke of Portland was there, and scarcely spoke to. Lord Shelburne, Mr. Pitt, Lord Howe, and the rest of the Ministers present, were loaded with attention. After the levee, Lord Shelburne resigned in ample form.

It is universally understood Mr. Pitt will not undertake. These circ.u.mstances put together, puzzle the world more than ever.” It was a spectacle in perfect harmony with the unparalleled oscillations of the preceding six weeks to see the retiring Ministers overwhelmed by royal condescension, and the heads of the incoming Administration (for in the extremity to which His Majesty was now reduced there was literally no choice) treated with undisguised aversion.

On the 26th, Mr. Grenville saw the King, and placed in His Majesty's hands the letter Lord Temple had written on his suggestion. There is not a cranny of the negotiations--which still hung, and which now appeared even farther from a conclusion than at the beginning--left unexplored in this luminous Correspondence. It is quite evident that the King resisted the coalition to the utmost extremity, that he tried every available individual, and some even who were not in a position to bring any strength to the Government, before he submitted, and that in the end he submitted only under the compulsion of an overruling necessity.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.

Pall Mall, March, 27th, 1783.

My dear Brother,

I received your letter on Tuesday night so late, that I was not able to take any steps towards delivering its enclosure till yesterday, when Lord Sydney acquainted the King, at my request, with my wish to see him. I went there in the evening. Lord Ashburton was there before me, and had an audience of near two hours. When I went in, I said that you had been highly flattered with his gracious communication, and had been encouraged by it to trouble His Majesty with a detail of your situation, and the circ.u.mstances in which you stood. He received it very graciously, saying, that he was infinitely obliged to you for it; that he would take the first moment to look it over, and would certainly answer it, which should pa.s.s through my hands, as he had never been more satisfied, &c., &c.

He then entered into a detail of what had pa.s.sed since I saw him last. This, however, differs so very little, if at all, from what I have before stated to you about the Cabinet which was proposed, and the subordinate arrangement which was refused, and upon which the whole negotiation broke off, and has never since been resumed, that I will not trouble you with it over again.

One thing, however, is worth mentioning, of which I was not before apprized, that the King complained of personal incivility from the Duke of Portland.

Since the negotiation with the coalition broke off, the Government has been repeatedly and most eagerly pressed upon Pitt, who has, however, yesterday, once more firmly declined it.

What the present intention is, I have scarcely a guess. The King seems as much disinclined as ever to open the negotiation again, and yet I see no resource which he has. He complained much that no one would step forth, and asked me whether I thought Tom Pitt could be worked upon. To this I gave little answer, except my ignorance, &c.; but I believed I might have answered decisively in the negative, as he declined even with William Pitt.

He then entered into a conversation on the subject of Ireland, stating your universal popularity there, and inquiring about different people, particularly Scott. This brought us to the precipitate appointment of the Duke of Portland, and to the insult which had been offered by it to Lord Carlisle, and his astonishment that immediately afterwards he could accept such an office under him.

He mentioned Lord Ely's having applied to be invested in England, and his having desired Lord Sydney to refer the letter to you.