Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third - From the Original Family Documents, Volume 1

Richard Plantagenet Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos Grenville Buckingham And Chandos

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• Publié par: ludus
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 21
• Langue: English

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George the Third, by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
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Title: Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third
From the Original Family Documents, Volume 1 (of 2)
Author: The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
Release Date: April 4, 2007 [EBook #20982]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE THE THIRD ***
Produced by Paul Murray, David King, and the Online
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MEMOIRS OF THE COURT AND
CABINETS OF GEORGE THE THIRD.
FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS.
BY
THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS,
K.G.
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1853.LONDON:
Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.
INTRODUCTION.
In the selection and arrangement of the Correspondence contained in these
Volumes, the intrusion of unnecessary commentaries and political opinions has
been carefully avoided. The letters themselves are so lucid and complete, that
the interest of the publication has been left to rest upon their details as far as
possible. But as a collection of communications of this confidential nature,
written from day to day upon passing events, must necessarily involve
numerous allusions which, intelligible at the time, are either obscure or liable to
misapprehension now, occasional notices of the principal topics and
circumstances referred to have been introduced wherever they appeared to be
required. By the help of this illustrative frame-work a certain degree of continuity
has been attempted to be preserved, so that the reader will have no difficulty in
blending these materials into the history of the period they embrace.
Contents
1782.
The Close of Lord North's Administration—The Second Rockingham Cabinet—
Mr. Thomas Grenville's Mission to Paris—The Shelburne Administration—Lord
Temple Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland—Irish Affairs.
1783.
The Renunciation Bill—The Fall of the Shelburne Administration—The Cabinet
Interregnum—The Coalition Ministry—Resignation of Lord Temple.
1784.
Mr. Pitt's Administration—Lord Temple Created Marquis of Buckingham—His
Private Notes on the Coalition.
1785.
The Breach Between the Marquis of Buckingham and Mr. Thomas Grenville.
1786.
Mr. W. W. Grenville Joins Mr. Pitt's Administration.
1787.
The Dawn of Free Trade—The Assembly of Notables—Affairs of Holland—
Arthur Wellesley—The Marquis of Buckingham Assumes the Government of
Ireland for the Second Time.
1788.
Irish Correspondence—The India Declaratory Bill—Trial of Warren Hastings—
Contemplated Changes in the Administration—The King's Interference in
Military Appointments—The Irish Chancellorship—The King's Illness—Views
of the Cabinet Respecting the Regency.
1782.The Close of Lord North's Administration—The Second
Rockingham Cabinet—Mr. Thomas Grenville's Mission to
Paris—The Shelburne Administration—Lord Temple
Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland—Irish Affairs.
As no inconsiderable portion of the Correspondence contained in these
volumes relates to the structure and conduct of Cabinets, throwing light upon
public affairs from those secret recesses to which historians rarely have access,
it may be useful, by way of introduction, to glance at certain circumstances
which, during the period embraced in the work, exercised a special influence
over the Government of the country: an influence no less directly felt in the
councils of Ministers than in the measures and combinations of the Opposition.
The history of Administration in the reign of George III. presents some
peculiarities which distinguish it in a very striking degree from that of most other
[Pg 2]reigns. The key to these peculiarities will be found in the personal character of
the Sovereign. To that character, and its immediate action upon political
parties, may be traced, to a greater extent than has been hitherto suspected, the
parliamentary agitation and ministerial difficulties which were spread over
nearly the whole of that long and eventful period. The means of forming an
accurate judgment on matters of this nature exist only in confidential details,
such as are disclosed in the collection of letters now for the first time laid before
the public. In order, however, to render intelligible the allusions that are
scattered through them, and to point out their real value as materials for the
political history of the time, it is necessary to offer a few preliminary remarks on
the circumstances to which reference has been made.
George III.—whose admirable business habits and inflexible integrity inspired
the highest deference and attachment amongst the personal friends he
admitted to his confidence—was remarkable in no one particular more than in
his jealousy of the prerogatives of the Crown. He carried his zeal in that matter
so far as even to draw upon himself the charge of desiring to strain the rights of
the Crown beyond constitutional limitations. But as these limitations have never
been accurately defined, and as it has always been difficult to prescribe the
precise privileges which would relieve the Sovereign, on the one hand, from
being a mere state puppet, without giving him, on the other, too great a
preponderance of executive power, we need not discuss the justice of an
imputation which refers to the general complexion of the King's views rather
[Pg 3]than to any particular acts of arbitrary authority. That it was the great aim of His
Majesty's life to preserve the royal prerogatives from encroachment is
undeniable; but it should be remembered that when George III. ascended the
throne, the relative powers and responsibilities of the Sovereign and his
advisers were not so clearly marked or so well understood as they are at
present; and if His Majesty's jealousy of the rights which he believed to be
vested in his person led him to trespass upon the independence of his
servants, or to resist what he considered the extreme demands of the
Parliament, it was an error against the excesses of which our Constitution
affords the easiest and simplest means of redress.
Intimately conversant with official routine, and thoroughly master of the details
of every department of the Government, he acquired a familiar knowledge of all
the appointments in the gift of the Ministry, and reserved to himself the right of
controlling them. Nor was this monopoly of patronage confined to offices of
importance or considerable emolument; it descended even to commissions in
the army, and the disposal of small places which custom as well as expediency
had delegated to the heads of those branches of service to which theybelonged. His Majesty's pertinacity on these points frequently precipitated
painful embarrassments of a personal nature, entailed much disagreeable
correspondence, and sometimes produced misunderstandings and alienations
of far greater moment than the paltry considerations in which they originated.
Amongst the numerous instances in which His Majesty insisted on the
[Pg 4]preservation of patronage in his own hands, one of the most conspicuous was
his stipulation with the Marquis of Rockingham for unconditional power over the
nomination of the household, at a moment when the exigency of public affairs
compelled him to surrender other points of infinitely greater importance. We
shall find in the course of the following letters that His Majesty's desire to
advance the interests of particular individuals interfered seriously, on some
occasions, with the convenience of the public service.
The same spirit guided His Majesty's conduct, as far as the forms of the
Constitution would permit, in his choice of Ministers. He had strong personal
likings and antipathies, and rather than consent to have a Ministry imposed
upon him consisting of men he disapproved, he would have suffered any
amount of difficulty or inconvenience. He prevailed upon Lord North to remain
in office three years in the face of sinking majorities, and against his Lordship's
own wishes, for the sole purpose of keeping out the Whigs, whom he regarded
with a feeling of the bitterest aversion. Good reasons, no doubt, might be
suggested for this passionate abhorrence of the Whigs, who, independently of
party antecedents, had given His Majesty much cause of uneasiness, by their
strenuous opposition to the measures of his favourite Ministers, and by their
alliance with his son. So deeply was this feeling rooted in His Majesty's mind,
that when a junction with that party seemed to be all but inevitable in March,
1778, he threatened to abdicate rather than be "trampled on by his enemies."
[Pg 5]Four years afterwards he explic