Chapter 75
With equal modesty and candour he distrusted his own ability to fill it, and he still more distrusted his own want of caution and prudence, which was his weak point. He accepted it, however, to relieve the Government from embarra.s.sment, but he accompanied his acceptance with a declaration to Lord Grey that he would gladly resign his office whenever a better man could be found to fill it. It had previously been offered to Mr. Abercromby, who refused to accept it without a seat in the Cabinet.]
[7] [These details are also far from accurate, as has now been demonstrated by the publication (1872) of Lord Hatherton's own memoir on the subject, and of the original correspondence, which proves that the letter to Lord Wellesley was written at the instigation of the Lord Chancellor, and that it expressed the deliberate opinions of several members of the Cabinet. It must, however, be acknowledged that it was written without the knowledge of Lord Grey and in opposition to his views. The subsequent communication made by Mr.
Littleton to O'Connell was made with the knowledge and concurrence of Lord Althorp, though Mr. Littleton said more to O'Connell than Lord Althorp had intended--an indiscretion which Mr. Littleton himself admitted: but O'Connell made a very base and ungenerous use of the confidence which had been extended to him.]
[8] [Mr. Littleton had but one conversation with O'Connell.]
[Page Head: POPULARITY OF LORD ALTHORP.]
The Tories have been mighty c.o.c.k-a-hoop, but their joy is a good deal damped within the last twelve hours, for it is now universally believed that Althorp will be prevailed upon to remain, and will himself be at the head of the Government. His popularity is so great in the House of Commons, and there is such a dread of a dissolution, that if this arrangement takes place they will scramble on some time longer, and at this advanced period of the session it may be doubted whether the House of Lords will throw out any of their essential measures. I met Duncannon, Ellice, and John Russell this evening riding, and they seemed in very good spirits. I have no doubt Ellice and Duncannon have had a main hand in all this business, and that they urged on Littleton to do what he did. The House was adjourned till Monday, to afford time for the new arrangement. Brougham spoke like a maniac last night, and his statements were at direct variance with Althorp's, the latter declaring that they were all out and the former that they were all still in office, and that Grey and Althorp had alone resigned.
July 12th, 1834 {p.105}
I went out of town yesterday morning, and did not return till seven o'clock; in the meantime affairs were materially altered. I met Duncannon riding with a face as long as the pictures of Hudibras, which at once told the tale of baffled hopes.
Melbourne's negotiation had failed entirely. 'Jack,'[9] who was backed at even against the field the night before in the House of Commons, would have nothing to say to it. I have not yet heard in detail the circ.u.mstances of this failure, but it will probably turn out that the King insisted upon some Conservative conditions, or an attempt at coalition, which is a favourite plan of his.
Yesterday it was generally expected that Peel would be sent for, or the Duke of Wellington. Peel called at Apsley House and was with the Duke a long time yesterday, and afterwards, as the Duke rode through the Park, Ellice, who was sitting on his horse talking to Sir Edward Kerrison, said, 'There goes a man who knows more than he did an hour ago.' It is expected that Peel, if called upon, will endeavour to form and carry on a Government; but opinions are greatly divided as to the support he would get in the House of Commons, and as to the effect of a dissolution, should he be driven to adopt that hazardous alternative. I think that almost everything depends upon the course which Althorp takes, as far as the rest of this session is concerned. His popularity in the House of Commons is very great, and even surprising; it is a proof of the influence which personal character may obtain when unadorned with great abilities and s.h.i.+ning parts; his remarkable _bonhommie_, unalterable good nature and good temper, the conviction of his honesty and sincerity, and of his want of ambition, his single-mindedness, his unfeigned desire to get out of the trammels and cares of office, have all combined to procure for him greater personal regard, and to a certain degree greater influence, than any Minister ever possessed in my recollection. There is no such feeling as animosity against Althorp. Some detest his principles, some despise his talents, but none detest or despise the man; and he is said by those who are judges of such matters to have one talent, and that is a thorough knowledge of the House of Commons and great quickness and tact in discovering the bias and disposition of the House. If Althorp abstains from any rough opposition, and endeavours to restrain others, upon the principle of giving a fair trial to those who may have taken his place because he would not continue to hold it, it is probable that the majority will avail themselves of such an opportunity for avoiding a dissolution, and give a sulky and suspicious a.s.sent to the measures of the new Ministry, for a cordial support cannot be expected. This, however, must depend upon circ.u.mstances which are still _in nubibus_. To-day must, in all probability, decide who is to attempt the task of forming a Government. Stanley, it is supposed, if invited, will not join Peel, at least not at present; all, however, is speculation, curiosity, and excitement.
[9] [The cant name given at the time to John, Lord Althorp.]
July 13th, 1834 {p.106}
[Page Head: LORD GREY AND STANLEY.]
All yesterday nothing was done; the King remains very quietly at Windsor, still in communication with Melbourne, and I believe with the Chancellor. He declines talking upon the present state of affairs to anybody. What he wanted was, that some attempt should be made towards a coalition, but this the remaining Ministers would not consent to. Poulett Thomson called on me at my office in the afternoon, and told me that it was by no means true that Althorp would not on any terms take the Government; but that he would not unless he had _carte blanche_, in which case he could not refuse it; if he did refuse, Thomson added, that everybody ought to support Peel or _any Tory_ Government. He is convinced that if Peel took the Government he would be driven out by the House of Commons _instanter_, unless he could show that he had done so in consequence of the King being deserted by the present men. I afterwards met Mulgrave, who had been riding with Althorp, who told him that though it would be very disagreeable to him on every account, and especially as regards Lord Grey, he might have it put to him in a way that left him no option. Lord Grey and his friends and family think that he has been extremely ill-used, and they are indignant with all the actors in the Littleton affair, and only burning with desire to expose those who are still concealed. Charles Grey talked to me for half an hour in the lobby of the Opera House last night, and said that Lord Wellesley ought to disclose all that was still secret in the transaction, and produce the private letters he had received from England, and by which his opinions and advice had been influenced. Such letters they know were written, and they believe by the Chancellor; this belief, whether it turns out to be true or false, is, I perceive, very general. It is inconceivable what a reputation that man has, and how universally he is distrusted, and despised as much as anybody with such great abilities can be. His political character is about on a par with Whittle Harvey's moral character; his insolence and swaggering, bullying tone in the House of Lords have excited as much disgust out of the House as they have given offence in it, and the only excuse for him is--what many people believe--that there is a taint of madness about him. The other night, in his reply to the Duke of Wellington's violent and foolish speech, he chose to turn
While Lord Grey has been very indignant against the plotters in his Cabinet he has been sorely wounded by the seceders, or rather by the chief of them, Stanley; but this has been all made up in a way soothing enough to his feelings, but not advantageous, though not discreditable, to Stanley. The latter wrote a letter to Lord Grey expressing his deep regret at having said anything to offend him, disclaiming the slightest intention of the kind, pouring forth the warmest protestations of grat.i.tude, veneration, and attachment to him, and finis.h.i.+ng by an a.s.surance that he would take office under n.o.body else. After the gross attack he made it is honourable in him to make such an apology, but it only enhances the folly of his former conduct to find himself placed under the necessity of writing a penitential letter. Lord Grey replied in corresponding terms, and he says they shall be as good friends again as ever, and that Stanley's speech shall henceforward be forgotten; but it will be very long before the effect produced by it will be forgotten, or that the recollection of it will cease to have an influence on Stanley's reputation and prospects. His especial friends, the other seceders, were as much annoyed at it as anybody; and the d.u.c.h.ess of Richmond told me that her husband regretted it very bitterly. It is but justice to Richmond to own that he has acted a fair, open, and manly part in this business, and has satisfied all parties. Lord Grey was not annoyed at what pa.s.sed between them in the House of Lords, and their friends.h.i.+p has never suffered any interruption.
July 15th, 1834 {p.108}
This interval of feverish anxiety has ended by the formation of the Administration being entrusted to Lord Melbourne. He refused to undertake it unless Althorp could stay with him. The King wanted Lord Grey to come back, and spoke to Taylor about it, but he told him it was out of the question, and therefore the King did not propose it, but he has constantly written to him in the most flattering terms, and desired he might be consulted in every step of these proceedings. Lord Grey has acted very cordially towards Melbourne, and pressed Althorp so earnestly to stay that he has consented, and last night the announcements were made to the two Houses. The Tories (the High and foolish) are down in the mouth, but Peel is himself well content not to have been mixed up in the concern. The present conjecture is that Abercromby will go to the Home Office and Durham to Ireland. n.o.body thinks the Government will last long, and everybody 'wonders' how Melbourne will do it. He is certainly a queer fellow to be Prime Minister, and he and Brougham are two wild chaps to have the destinies of this country in their hands. I should not be surprised if Melbourne was to rouse his dormant energies and be excited by the greatness of his position to display the vigour and decision in which he is not deficient. Unfortunately his reputation is not particularly good; he is considered lax in morals, indifferent in religion, and very loose and pliant in politics. He is supposed to have consented to measures of which he disapproved because it suited his ease and convenience to do so, and because he was actuated by no strong political principles or opinions.
July 17th, 1834 {p.109}
[Page Head: LORD DUNCANNON HOME SECRETARY.]
Yesterday it was announced that Duncannon is to be Secretary of State and called to the House of Peers; Hobhouse in his place and in the Cabinet, and to stand for Nottingham. This completes the concern; Duncannon Secretary of State! Who could ever have thought of him in such a station? His proper element seemed to be the House of Commons, where he was a bustling, zealous partisan and a very good whipper-in; but he cannot speak at all, and though a tolerably candid talker, his capacity is slender; he has no pretensions of any sort to a high office, and nothing but peculiar circ.u.mstances could put him in one; but the difficulty has been how to deal with Durham, for the majority of the Cabinet were decided upon having nothing to do with him, although there were some few who wanted to take him in. By I know not what process of reasoning they arrived at the conclusion that Duncannon's elevation was the only solution of this difficulty, but so it is, for I believe he would have preferred to stay in his old place. They are all in raptures with the King, and with his straightforward dealing on this occasion. In the first instance he desired Melbourne to write to the Duke, Peel, and Stanley, stating his wish that an Administration should be formed upon a wide and comprehensive plan. He wrote accordingly to each, and with his letters he sent copies of his own letter to the King, in which he gave his opinion that the formation of such a Government was impossible. The Duke and Peel each replied, with expressions of duty, to his Majesty, that they agreed with Lord Melbourne, but did not see any necessity for giving reasons for their opinions. The King, however, desired to have their reasons, which have since been sent to him by them. Stanley wrote a long letter, with a peremptory refusal to form part of any such Government. He appears anxious to pacify the Whigs by disclaiming any intention of connecting himself with the Tories. Though all the Grey family are very indignant, and by no means silent, at the way the Earl has been treated, he has behaved with great temper and forbearance, and has lent his old colleagues his cordial a.s.sistance in patching up the broken concern.
July 19th, 1834 {p.110}
[Page Head: O'CONNELL AND THE COERCION BILL.]
Two angry debates in the Lords last night and the night before; I was present at the last, but not at the first. On Thursday Lord Wicklow made a virulent attack on the Government; the Duke of Buckingham was coa.r.s.e, the Chancellor rabid, and a disgraceful scene of confusion and disorder arose. Melbourne made his first speech, declaration, and explanation, and is thought to have done it very well--a good beginning. Last night Wharncliffe moved for the production of Lord Wellesley's letter, by which the opinion of the Cabinet had been shaken about the Coercion Bill. Lord Grey made a very handsome speech indeed, throwing his s.h.i.+eld over his old colleagues, declaring he neither complained nor had he been ill-used, and entreated that the new Government might be fairly tried, and not embarra.s.sed without cause in the outset. It was certainly the speech of a thorough gentleman, but the case is after all a bad one. The dates show what must have happened. It was on the 20th of June that Mr. Littleton told O'Connell there was a discussion going on in the Cabinet, and that the Coercion Bill was not yet settled. Now on the 20th of June it _was_ settled, but on the 23rd of June came Lord Wellesley's letter, which unsettled it.[10] It is clear, then, that a communication was made to Lord Wellesley which it was confidently expected would elicit from him such a letter as would enable the authors of the communication to revive the discussion, and Littleton, not being able to wait for its arrival, antic.i.p.ated it, and told O'Connell that the discussion was begun before the cause of it was in operation. There certainly never was a more complete underhand intrigue perpetrated than this, and although no official doc.u.ment, or demi-official will now be produced to reveal the name of the prime mover, everybody's finger is pointed at Brougham, and the young Greys make no secret of their conviction that he is the man. But undoubtedly the greatest evil resulting from the proceedings and the termination of them (in the reconstruction of this Government, with its additions, and the alteration of the Bill) is the vast increase which must be made to the power and authority of O'Connell. He has long been able to make the Irish believe anything he pleases, and he will certainly have no difficulty in persuading them that he himself has brought about this state of things, that he has ousted Lord Grey, introduced Duncannon (who of all the Whigs has been his greatest friend), and expunged the obnoxious clauses from the Coercion Bill, and the fact is that all this is not very far from the truth. Between his dexterity in availing himself of circ.u.mstances and his betrayal of Littleton, between the folly of some men and the baseness of others, he has appeared the most prominent character in the drama. Even now I cannot make out _why_ everybody wished the Bill to be thus emasculated, for there would have been no difficulty in pa.s.sing it through both Houses.
To the surprise of everybody Littleton is suffered to keep his place, probably by the protection of Althorp, who may have been as dogged about him on this occasion as he was about the Speakers.h.i.+p, and as he is considered (on account of his character) so indispensable in the House of Commons, of course he can make his own terms.[11]
[10] [This again is not accurate. It was on the 23rd of June, _after_ the arrival of Lord Wellesley's letter, that Mr. Littleton saw O'Connell. The question was still under discussion on that day, and the opinions of different members of the Cabinet were much divided.
Those Ministers (including the Chancellor) who were opposed to the renewal of the Coercion Bill in its integrity wished to secure the a.s.sent of Lord Wellesley to their views. After the receipt of Lord Wellesley's letter of the 21st of June both Lord Melbourne and Lord Althorp declared that 'it was impossible to ask Parliament for an unconst.i.tutional power which the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland had been led to disclaim.'
(See Hatherton's Memoir, p. 13.) The question was not finally settled till the Cabinet of the 20th of June.
Mr. Littleton had been distinctly informed by Lord Althorp, on the same day that he saw O'Connell, that the matter was not settled, and that he (Lord Althorp) would resign rather than allow the disputed clauses to form part of the new Bill.]
[11] [This was so. Lord Althorp positively refused to hold office in the Melbourne Government, unless Mr.
Littleton could be prevailed upon to resume and retain his office as Irish Secretary. Nothing could be more honourable to both parties than this conduct of Lord Althorp; but it was due to the fact that he had himself been a party to the communication made by Mr. Littleton to O'Connell, and that he knew Mr. Littleton had been exposed to more censure than he deserved.]
July 20th, 1834 {p.112}
At Court yesterday to swear in Duncannon Secretary of State. He told me he had made Stanley[12] (the man they call Sir Benjamin Backbite, and familiarly Ben) his under-secretary, telling him he must speak, for that he (Duncannon) could not. Auckland and Duncannon will not certainly add much to the oratorical splendour of the Government. Ellice was there, and told me about a grand case the Tories have got hold of against him, growing out of Lord Western's evidence in Whittle Harvey's Committee. It there came out that Western had applied to Ellice, then Secretary of the Treasury (at the time of the great Reform election), for money to a.s.sist at the Colchester election, and he sent 500. They want to make out that this was public money, but they won't catch him. He says several individuals subscribed large sums, which were placed at his disposal to be employed to the best advantage for the cause. He will get out of it. He talked of the Government, said it was a great error to suppose it was inclined to _movement_ principles, and that in point of fact there was very little difference, except on Church matters, between Sir Robert Peel and himself, that there never was so good a House of Commons for the Government, that in all this mess--for mess it was--the Tories could not succeed in getting up a feeling or a prejudice against the Government, and it was clear they were utterly powerless there, that the House only required to be a little cajoled, and was easily led; the word Reform was still potent there, and had only to be uttered on occasions to bring the majority round when they began to show a refractory disposition.
[12] [Afterwards Lord Stanley of Alderney.]
July 21st, 1834 {p.112}
[Page Head: LORD MELBOURNE'S ADMINISTRATION.]
The Chancellor and the Hollands urged Lord Grey to take the Privy Seal. This Sefton told me as a great secret yesterday, but the indignation of the Greys burst through all restraint, and they told it 'a qui voulait les entendre,' with every expression of rage and disgust, 'adding insult to injury.' Lord Grey was more philosophical, and rather smiled at the proposition, but he did not repress the pious resentment of his children. The Grey women would murder the Chancellor if they could. It certainly was a curious suggestion. The Hollands think of nothing on earth but how they may best keep the Duchy of Lancaster, and they fancied Lord Grey's holding the Privy Seal might be of service to the Government, and if they could make him commit such a _ba.s.sesse_ so much the better. It is not always easy to discover the Chancellor's motives, but as he is as vindictive as he is false and tricking, he perhaps took this opportunity of revenging himself for the old offer of the Attorney-Generals.h.i.+p, which he has never forgiven.[13]
[13] [This view of the case is certainly unjust to Lord Brougham, who had more respect and regard for Lord Grey than for any other statesman of the time, as his correspondence with the Earl, now recently published in Brougham's 'Posthumous Memoirs' sufficiently proves.]
[The first Administration of Lord Melbourne was thus const.i.tuted: First Lord of the Treasury Viscount Melbourne.
Lord Chancellor Lord Brougham.
Lord President Marquis of Lansdowne.
Home Secretary Viscount Duncannon.
Foreign Secretary Viscount Palmerston.
Colonial Secretary Mr. Spring Rice.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Viscount Althorp.
Admiralty Lord Auckland.
Board of Control Mr. Charles Grant.
Board of Trade Mr. Poulett Thomson.
Duchy of Lancaster Lord Holland.
Paymaster of the Forces Lord John Russell.
Secretary-at-War Mr. Edward Ellice.
Lord Privy Seal Earl of Mulgrave.
Postmaster-General Marquis of Conyngham.
Irish Secretary Mr. Littleton.]
CHAPTER XXIV.
Taylor's 'Philip van Artevelde'--Goodwood--Earl Bathurst's Death--Death of Mrs. Arbuthnot--Overtures to O'Connell--Irish t.i.the Bill--Theodore Hook's Improvisation--Lord Westmeath's Case in the Privy Council--First Council of Lord Melbourne's Government and Prorogation--Brougham's Vagaries--Lord Durham's Exclusion--The Edinburgh Dinner--Windsor and Meiningen--Spencer Perceval--Lord Grey's Retirement--The Westmeath Case again--The Queen's Return--Melbourne and Tom Young--Holland House-- Reflections--Conversation on the Poets--Miscellaneous Chat-- Lord Melbourne's Literary Attainments--Lord Holland's Anecdotes of Great Orators--Execution of Charles I.--Lord Melbourne's Opinion of Henry VIII.--The 'Times' attacks Lord Brougham--His Tour in Scotland--His Unpopularity--Cowper's Secret--Canning on Reform--Lord Melbourne on Palmerston and Brougham--Canning and Brougham in 1827--Senior--Lord Melbourne and the Benthamites-- His Theology--Spanish Eloquence--The Harley Papers--The Turf-- Death of Lord Spencer--The Westmeath Case heard--Law Appointments--Bickersteth--Louis Philippe's Position.
July 23rd, 1834 {p.114}
Brougham spoke for four hours on the Poor Law Bill on Monday, and made a luminous speech; Alvanley, to people's amus.e.m.e.nt, spoke, and against the Bill; he spoke tolerably well--a grave speech and got compliments.