The Press. — London, England, 1855-05-05 00:00:00

MAY 5, 1855. yittraturt. Memoirs of the Court and Cabinets of George 111. By the Duke of Buckingham. Vols. 111. and IV. London : Hurst and Blackett. No publication of modern day possesses higher historical value than these " Memoirs," as the work is termed, though a fitter title for it would be the " Buckingham Correspondence." It commences where the "Grenville Correspon dence," lately published by Mr. Murray, left off, and thus carries on the history of one of the most illustrious families in our annals to the close of the year 1810. In the narrative which connects the letters of the Buckingham family in these volumes there are points which criticism may carp at, though on the whole it appears to us written with great fair ness an' l intelligence, but there can be no question ..s to the importance of the corre spondence itself, and as to the light it throws on a most interesting portion of our history. Lord Grenville, his brother Mr. Thomas Gren ♦ille, and their immediate friends, played a prominent part in politics during the ten years embraced by these two volumes—from 1800 to 1810—and in their confidential communica tions to the Marquis of Buckingham and to Lord Temple there arc disclosed the motives which influenced their conduct, and the opinions they entertained on passing events and the character of their contemporaries. The correspondence of Lord Grenville repre sents him in a light at once noble and engaging—scarcely ductile enough perhaps for a politician, and too sensitive for the toil of public life, but high principled, brave, patriotic, and eminently sagacious. Of all the statesmen of his day, he best understood the character of Napoleon and comprehended the nature of the terrific contest in which England was engaged, but his mind never faltered except when he perceived symptoms of weakness in the country and Government. The Grenville correspondence is occupied with the career of that family which at tained such great political distinction in the time of Chatham ; while this Bucking ham correspondence is occupied with the fortunes of the immediate descendants of that family. The Grenvilles are of a noble stock. Richard de Grenvylle, a follower of the Con querer, became proprietor of Wotton, and from him the estate has descended through twenty generations to the present Duke of Bucking ham. Several circumstances contributed to aggrandise the family in the middle of the last century, the chief one being the marriage of Mr. Grenville with the eldest sister of Lord Cobham, which brought "princely Stowe" to her eldest son, and conferred on him the title of Lord Temple. It is strange that the estate acquired comparatively at so recent a date should have materially contributed to the ducal rank and political distinction of the Grenvilles, and yet have gained by the diaper. sion of its treasures such unenviable notoriety in our day. The great wealth and extensive connections of the first Earl Temple un doubtedly conduced greatly to the success of his relatives in public life ; and it is remark able that Lord Grenville, the son of George Grenville, should have held towards the second Pitt much the same relation of friend ship and rivalry which George Grenville him self held towards Chatham. Mr. G. Grenville was very prudent and precise in his expense, and probably, as he married well, was able to make adequate provision for his family. It was a rule with him to make no addition to his household when in office ; his salary, he was accustomed to say, made no other difference to him than that it added to the provision forhis children. When his son, therefore, the Marquis of Buckingham of these memoirs, succeeded to the estates of Earl Temple, who died with out issue, his position must have been a mag nificent one. Probably Earl Temple, whose liberality, whatever faults he had, was bound less, might have injured his fortune by his munificence ; and the Marquis in this respect seems to have resembled his uncle more than his father, as there are many traces in these volumes of his generous disposition. His brothers, however, and particularly Lord Grenville, seem to have been often hampered THE PRESS. in their political course by the narrowness of their means, though always receiving, as their father had done, the kindest consideration from George 111. When Lord Grenville retired with Pitt, on the King's refusal to concede Roman Catholic Emancipation, Lord Grenville solicited a pension for his wife in the event of her surviving him, and this, he says, The King granted in the handsomest manner, and, with an expression of peculiar kindness, told me that he consi dered my asking it at this time as a personal obligation con ferred upon himself. There is an entry to something the same effect, if we recollect rightly, in the diary of Lord Grenviile's father, bearing date some forty years previously. A glance at the contents of these volumes will show their richness in historical materials of the best kind, bearing on most important I olitictil events. First in order is the ques- tion of Irish union, when Lord Grenville was in office with Pitt, successfully carried through by the masterly mind of Lord Castlereagh. Then came the question of Roman Catholic Emancipation, which the statesmen who carried the Union believed they were bound to concede. The King was alarmed at the first mention of the measure. " What is this," he exclaimed, alluding to Castlereagh, " that this " young lord has brought over from Ireland, " and is going to throw at my head ?" Lord Grenville, writing to his brother, the Marquis (Feb. 2, 1801), said You know, I believe, that it was always my opinion—and I think it is yours--that the union with Ireland would be a measure extremely incomplete and defective as to some of the most material benefits to be expected from it, unless immediate advantage were taxen of it to attach the great body of the Irish Catholics to the measure itself, and to the Government as administered under the control of the United Parliament. Mr. Pitt and himself had framed a compre hensive plan for the settlement of the whole subject; but the King set his face against concession, and Pitt's Cabinet was broken up, though at this period the foreign relations of England were most critical, for at the close of 1800 she had not an ally on whose assistance she could depend, though her attitude was brave and high and her fleets victorious. In resigning, Lord Grenville seemed to anticipate that the successors to the Ministers going out would not be actuated by their spirit, for he said pointedly — While they continue to act in a firm, resolute, and manly manner they shall have our steady support. Probably Mr. Pitt was influenced by other motives in his determination to retire than his wish to carry emancipation. At the close of 1801 Bonaparte, on being installed First Consul, had expressed his wish to make a durable peace. He addressed a pacific letter to George 111., and he published abroad his moderation and his conciliatory desires. In disclosing these overtures to his brother, Lord Grenville wrote : My dearest brother,—l send yon for your New-year's gift a curiosity. I need not tell you that we shall say, no—l am occupied in studying how to say it in the manner the least shocking to the numerous tribe of those who hate the French and the Jacobins, but would to-morrow sign a peace that should put us at the mercy of both. God blase you. To this tone Lord Grenville firmly adhered, but the country sighed for an honourable peace, and was disposed to confide in Bona parte's sincerity. His power was indis putable; he was unstained by the 'frightful excesses of the revolution ; his military genius had extorted admiration, and he had given proofs of his capacity for civil government. When he proffered peace with apparent frank ness there seemed no longer necessity for war; and as the change of Ministry was speedily followed by a change in our foreign policy, it seems likely that Pitt foresaw the expediency of an altered course, and withdrew toifacilitate its adoption. Yet the vigorous measures of the Government which withdrew took effect under their suc cessors. For good or for ill, for strength or weakness, the machine of government con tinues to obey the direction it has received for some time after the impulse communicated to it has ceased. The expedition to the Baltic under Nelson was prepared by Pitt's Cabinet, and at the commencement of April—we are now in May, and our Baltic fleet has scarcely assembled—that battle was fought and won which dissolved the threatening confederacy 42' of the Northern powers, and placed England in a prouder position than she had ever occupied before. After all the details published of this brave and brilliant action, the graphic letters of Captain Freemantle printed here may be read with pleasure. Almost at the same date was achieved the glorious victory of Abercrombie at Alexandria, and the Govern ment of Mr. Addington thus reaped the fruits of the bold and sagacious preparations of their predecessors. These victories seem to have had the effect of hastening our negotiations for peace, as the preliminaries for a treaty were signed on the Ist of October, ISO 2. Lord Grenville before had given a remarkable proof of his prescience. Writing to his brother, he said : I certainly agree with you in thinking that Bonaparte has not the most remote idea of peace, but looks to the continuance of the war as his only salvation. Indeed, unless he can find a pretence to plunder Portugal, and perhaps Spain too, the machine of his Government cannot go on, uow that requisitions in Germany and Italy are at end. Thoroughly convinced that no satisfactory peace could be concluded, Lord Grenville wrote to Mr. Addington with great frankness, stating the course he should find it necessary to adopt. He said:— Public duty will compel me to express in Parliament my deep regret at the manner in which both these negotiations have been terminated, and my conclusion of the absolute necessity of providing, by all possible means of precaution and preparation, against the new and immi nent dangers to which 1 fear the country is exposed. The conduct of Pitt was less decided ; nor does this correspondence decisively settle the much-discussed question of the position in which the great Minister stood towards Mr. Addington at the time of the peace of Amiens. We believe the general impression to be sub stantially correct that Sidmouth did really act under the influence of Pitt's ideas, the ex- Premier believing that peace was necessary or expedient. Thus, Lord Grenville writes, Feb. 9,1802 : I find in those of Pitt's friends whom I have seen to-day a great disposition to be very sore and very angry. In the meantime, he is at Walmer with Lord Carrington, arranging, as I believe, Addington's budget and peace es tablishment. But at the same time it is probable that it was Pitt who, foreseeing the probability of a speedy resumption of hostilities, coun selled the retention of Malta. Immedi ately after the treaty of Amiens was signed he became alarmed at the aggressive spirit which the French Government scarcely took pains to conceal. At this period the Gren villes clearly became anxious to detach him from all connection with the Government. Thomas Grenville, under date of Feb. 27,1802, writes :- I had a long conversation with Mr. Pitt, two days ago, who came, and stayed an hour with me. Iwu glad to find that upon all the latter events, such as the possession of Italy and Louisiana, and the undisguised ambition and rapacity of France, he spoke in a tone full as eager as that in which I addressed him. Some months later Thomas Grenville neatly described Addington's position, fearing to offend Pitt by any display of weakness, and equally fearing to offend Bonaparte by a show of vigour. The date is Oct. 10, 1802 : It is barely possible to be sure that the fear of Pitt may be more present to Addington at this moment than the fear of the Great Consul ; but, depend upon it, he has no other courage than in the comparison of those two appre hensions, by both of which he is alternately, and sometimes jointly, so beset, as to have ample occasion for keeping all his little wits about him. As time wore on the incapacity of Adding ton's Government and the aggressive designs of the . French Government became developed together. In many respects the Government of Mr. Addington strongly resembled the pre sent one. It was a family Government. The Premier, it is justly stated iu the narrative, was striving to make the Administration as nearly as possible a family party, by the introduction of relatives, or friends on whom he could equally depend. There are sentences here exactly descriptive of our present situation. Mr. T. Grenville wrote, Jan 12, 1803 : Nothing can save us but vigorous minds in Government, and of that I see no prospect collectively or individually before all is lost beyond redemption. The following, by Lord Grenville, is still more applicable : It is painful to be penned up like sheep in a fold, under the management of half a damn men whose =quit,' for