Volume I Part 37 (2/2)

But you will say this may be repeated, and I shall lose the means of carrying on the Government. My answer is, that you will act in Ireland as you would act here in any of the situations of this Government; that the line is perfectly easy to be defined to every man's understanding, though not reduced to a written rule, and the limits easily seen, where the King's recommendations cease to be the casual exertions of private favour, and begin to be systematic interferences with the power entrusted to his servants. Ask yourself which is the case in this instance.

I could say much more upon this subject--particularly to state the effect which a resignation on these grounds would have--but I am satisfied, from the tenour of your last letter, that this is a step you will not adopt, except on more pressing grounds.

I have not time to add anything more to this letter--not even those a.s.surances (which are, however, I trust, unnecessary) of my constant, sincere, and zealous affection and interest in whatever concerns you. You shall hear again from me at latest by to-morrow's post.

Ever yours, W. W. G.

MR. PITT TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Downing Street, July 3rd, 1788.

My dear Lord,

Nothing could happen to give me more pain than I have felt from the contents of your letter of the 27th, and from the circ.u.mstance which gave occasion to it. I trust, however, that on full consideration you will see that there was, in some respects, less ground than you imagined for the feelings under which you wrote, and that what I have to mention to you will do away every idea of your going to the extremity you mention; which you must forgive my saying that the occasion can never justify, either towards the public or yourself. It is most certainly true that the general practice has been, and ought to be, to wait for the Lord-Lieutenant's recommendation to vacant commissions, and I undoubtedly understood that the King's wishes respecting Colonel Gwynne were to be privately intimated to you, so as to give you the opportunity of officially recommending them.

I cannot, however, find that the general rule is founded in anything but practice, or that there is any such promise as you suppose in the instructions--that the King will wait for the Lord-Lieutenant's recommendation to military commissions. There is a clause containing a promise of this nature, but it refers only to _ecclesiastical_ and _civil_ offices; and from the manner in which commissions are mentioned in the preceding article, as well as from the words of the Lord-Lieutenant's commission, it appears by no means to apply to them. There seems to me, therefore, to be, strictly speaking, nothing _irregular_ in the King's directing the appointment in the first instance; though I most sincerely wish such a step had not been taken, and am persuaded there is no danger of a repet.i.tion of it. I mention this only to show that there is, at least, no such ground for objecting in point of form to this proceeding as to compel you to take it up in the strong manner you meditated.

But whatever weight you might give to this observation, I trust from what you say in your letter, that you can in no degree feel yourself called upon to carry the business any further, unless on the supposition of receiving from Lord Sydney an official answer, justifying his former letter. He is far from having any intention of sending such an answer, and I am sure, I can prevail upon him either to leave your last letter without reply, or, if it will be more satisfactory to you, to let both that and his letter which gave occasion to it be withdrawn from the office. This is all which appears to me to be now possible. The appointment having actually taken place, and being warranted by the letter both of the instructions and the commission, it is impracticable to propose anything which would amount to disavowing the King's own act, and renouncing a power which, though I hope he will not again be inclined to exercise, he certainly seems to have reserved in his own hands.

I therefore hope that one of the two expedients I have mentioned will appear to you satisfactory, and I shall wait most anxiously to know your wishes on the subject. As to any intention in Lord Sydney or any one else to show any want of attention personally to you, or to the situation you fill, I trust you will feel the impossibility of such an intention existing; because you must know that there can exist no one motive for such an intention, and there exists, in fact, every motive for the contrary.

With regard to the disappointment of your views for Colonel Nugent, I say less on that subject, because, though I most truly regret it, and most anxiously wish to find any means of repairing it, I am persuaded from your letter, and from the nature of the King, that the mere personal disappointment is what you will not allow to influence your determination on a subject of so much consequence to the public service, and to us all. I am satisfied, however, that you will find no difficulty in obtaining your object for him on some more favourable occasion, which I hope may occur before long; and if I can find any way of making any arrangement on this side of the water, which can make an opening earlier than it would otherwise occur, you may depend upon my doing everything I can for that purpose.

I have not time to add more now, but will write in a few days in answer to your former letter. You will easily imagine how impatiently I shall wait for an answer to this.

Believe me ever, my dear Lord, Sincerely and affectionately yours, W. Pitt.

I enclose extracts of those parts of the instructions and commission to which I refer.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

Whitehall, July 14th, 1788.

My dear Brother,

I now sit down to answer your three letters of the 5th, the 8th, and the 9th, the last of which I received this morning. I am much concerned that anything which I have said respecting this business should have given you the impression of my having treated it with unfairness towards you. I do most solemnly a.s.sure you, that in every reflection that has pa.s.sed in my mind upon the subject, I have endeavoured to put myself in your place, and to ask what line of conduct would be the most desirable for you to adopt, with a view not only to any present impression, but to your permanent reflections upon it. You must allow me to say, that I persevere in my opinion, that your resigning your office on this ground would neither be justified in the opinion of the world in general, nor by your own cooler reconsideration of the subject; and I must beg you to observe that this is not my sentiment only, but that of every one of the few other friends with whom you have communicated upon it.

The only reason which you yourself adduce, in support of such a measure, injurious to yourself and to your friends, is the sort of impression which you say this transaction has made in Dublin.

To this I reply, in the first place, that I must still think that you, of all men, who ever held that situation are exactly in those circ.u.mstances in which you can have nothing to fear from such an expression; and although I cannot refuse, on your evidence, to believe the actual existence of such an impression, yet I am fully satisfied that it can neither be permanent in its duration, nor mischievous in its effects. But it is surely at least sufficient, even in your view of the subject, if such a solution accompanies this difficulty, as can leave no doubt in the mind of any man that you have weight and influence fully sufficient for carrying on the business of your situation.

It is on this ground that you rest it, and I think with great propriety, in your letter to Pitt, and his answer, which you will receive with this, can hardly fail of proving to you that you _was_ premature in stating yourself to be abandoned by those on whom you had claims. You cannot wonder that I, who had seen the activity and zeal which he has shown in this business, from his first being acquainted with it, should feel hurt at being obliged to put into his hands a complaint from you so little merited. I felt also that in the generality of that expression I was myself involved, and you must allow me to say that I could not reproach myself with having deserved it.

I trust, however, that there will be no occasion for the exertions which Pitt engages himself to make on this subject, and that your proposal will be acceded to by the King without reluctance. It seems to me that Fawcitt shows a real disposition to accommodate the wishes of Pitt and yourself, and that the terms which he proposes are by no means unreasonable. I sincerely hope that you will not find any difficulty in making the arrangement for the sort of intermediate compensation, which is effected before a Government fall. It has occurred to me that, _faute de mieux_, Hobart's office might facilitate such a plan. You know, I presume, that he is coming into Parliament here, and, consequently, that he must be desirous of making some arrangement with respect to his office which he cannot well execute by deputy. I have a place to dispose of at Chelsea (the Comptrollers.h.i.+p), which might be made worth about 200 or 250 per annum; but it is the sort of office that Hobart himself could certainly not take or execute. I have endeavoured to find some man fit for it, and who could resign to Hobart a place of equal value, but I cannot find such a man. Perhaps, in some way or other, this may be made useful to you; but you must observe that the Comptroller must be a man of steadiness, integrity, and some clearness of head.

I do not know whether Fitzherbert has written to you about Captain Macgrath. The King thinks him ent.i.tled to the preference which he claims, but Lord Sydney does not send over the despatch at present, as till this other business is settled it might be unpleasant to you.

I do not very well see how he could avoid sending over Gwynne's commission to you, as you yourself agree that there could be no idea of the King's revoking the appointment which he considered as a thing actually done. You will, I trust, unquestionably think it better to issue this commission without waiting the result of your negotiation with Fawcitt, as a few days can make no difference in point of impression with respect to a thing so publicly known, and the appearance of keeping it back is not, I think, what you yourself wish. I confess, I think, there is the same sort of ground with respect to sending over a recommendation ante-dated, which was not a part of Lord Sydney's proposal as stated to you by Pitt; that was, that both his letter and yours should be withdrawn. There could then remain nothing but the commission, without any trace how it was granted. Whereas, a recommendation of that sort must be felt by the King as putting him avowedly in the wrong, and to a greater extent than ever your construction of your commission and instructions warrants. I think them more disputable than you do, but they were sent not to prove that the _notification_ ought not to have been waited for, but that there was, according to the letter of those papers, no necessity for the _recommendation_. The mere writing to say that Lord C.'s appointment vacates his lieutenant-colonelcy, is surely no object to you; and a recommendation goes beyond the claim you can urge under the instructions. If you are satisfied with the a.s.surances you have received that the substantial cause of complaint, viz., the interference with your patronage, shall not be repeated, it is surely better to let this business rest, than to squabble with the King about the form of what has been done, and which substantially you cannot alter.

<script>