The prime ministers of Britain, 1721-1921

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Prime ministers of Britain, 1721-1921

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THE PRIME MINISTERS OF BRITAIN

FiBST Edition - - - March, 1922
Keprmted . - - - April, 1922

Van LoopinX:

SIR EOBEET WALPOLE

AFTERWARDS EARL OF OEFOKD

FroniUpiece

THE
PRIME MINISTERS

OF BRITAIN

I72I-I92I

BY THE

HON. CLIVE BIGHAM

LONDON

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1922

TO

MY WIFE

All righU reserved

PREFACE

To tell in full the tale of the Prime Ministers would
be writing tlie history of England for two centuries and
engrossing a task portions alone of which have been
deemed sufficient for many famous pens.

The aim of these pages is more modest. It is merely
to make short sketches of the lives of the thirty-six men
who have held the helm of State since the present political
system began; to give some account of their personal
works and days rather than of their legislative acts ;
and, by assembling their records within a moderate
compass, to indicate the spirit of contiauity and the
tradition of service that have, with few exceptions,
inspired their policy and directed their ends.

Jamvary, 1922.

CONTENTS

l>A«B

INTRODUCTION : The Office of Pmme Mikisteb - - 1

OBAPTBR

I. THE WALPOLE EBA: Walpolb and Wilminoton - - 10

II. THE PELHAMS : Pelham and Newcastle - - - 32

III. THE DUKES : Devonshibb, Grafton and Pobtland - 50

IV. THE PITTS : Chatham and Pitt - - - - 74
V. THE GRENVILLES : George and William Grbnvillb - 98

VI. THE KING'S MEN: Bute and North - - - 117

VII. THE OLD WHIGS : Rockingham and Shelbtjrnb - - 138

Vni. LESSER LIGHTS : Addinqton, Perceval and Godebich - I.158

IX. THE HIGH TORIES : Liverpool and Wellington - - 182

X. TORY REFORMERS : Canning and Peel - - - 200

XL WHIG REFORMERS : Grey and Rtissbll - - - 221

Xn. THE LAST WHIGS : Melbourne and Palmbbston - - 242

Xm. THE LAST TORIES : Aberdeen and Debby - - - 267

XIV. THE CONSERVATIVES : Disraeli and Salisbury - - 284

XV. THE LIBERALS : Gladstone and Campbell-Bannbrman - 310

XVI. THE PRESENT DAY: Lord Rosebery, Mb. Balfour,

Mr. Asquith and Mb. Lloyd George - - - 329

CONCLUSION: Analysis of Peime Ministers - - 345

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF PRIME MINISTERS - 353

BIBLIOGRAPHY 355

INDEX 861

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

(AEKANGED IN CHKONOLOGICAL OBDBB)

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE, afteewabds EARL OF ORFORD iraiOMVieee
From the mezzotint by J. Watson, after Van Loo. Circa 1730.

TO FACE PAGE

SPENCER COMPTON, EARL OF WILMINGTON - - - 26

From the mezzotint by J. Fabei, after Sir G. Kneller. 1734.

THE RT. HON. HENRY PELHAM 38

From the mezzotint by K. Houston, after W. Hoare. 1762.

THOMAS PELHAM HOLLES, DUKE OF NEWCASTLE - 48

From the mezzotint by J. Faber, after Sir G. Kneller. Circa 1720.

WILLIAM CAVENDISH, 4th DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE - - 54

From the painting by Alien Eamsay at Chatsworth, by kind permission of
the Dulie of Devonsliire. Circa 1757.

JOHN STUART, 3bd EARL OF BUTE - - - - - 118

From the painting by Sir J. Beynolds at Wortley, by Irind permission of
the Earl of Whamcliffe. Circa 1762.

THE RT. HON. GEORGE GRENVILLE 102

From the mezzotint by E. Houston, after W. Hoare. Circa 1768.

CHARLES WATSON-WENTWORTH, 2nd MARQUESS OF

ROCKINGHAM 144

From the mezzotint by B. Fisher, after Sir J. Eeynolds. 1776.

WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM - .... 86

From the line engraving by E. Sherwin, after E. Brompton. 1772.

AUGUSTUS HENRY FITZROY, 3ed DUKE OF GRAFTON - - 60

From the mezzotint by C. Turner, after J. Hoppner. 1806.

FREDERICK NORTH, LORD NORTH, afteewaeds 2nd EARL OF

GUILFORD 134

From the mezzotint by T. Burke, after N. Dance. 1786.

WILLIAM PETTY FITZMAURICE, 2nd EARL OF SHELBURNE,

AFTEEWAEDS MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE - - - 150

From the engraving by F. Bartolozzi, after 1. Gainsborough. 1787.

WILLIAM HENRY CAVENDISH-BENTINCK, 3kd DUKE OP

PORTLAND 70

From the mezzotint by J. Murphy, after Sir J. Eeynolds. 1786.

THE RT. HON. WILLIAM PITT 96

From the engraving by F. Bartolozzi, after W. Owen. Circa 1792.

HENRY ADDINGTON. aftebwaeds VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH - 166

From the mezzotint by S. W. Eeynolds, after T. Thompson. Circa 1802.

WILLIAM WYNDHAM GRENVILLE, LORD GRENVILLE - - 112

From the engraving by A. Fittler, after T. FhiUips. Circa ISIO.

ix

X LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS

TO FACS PAOB

THE RT. HON. SPENCER PERCEVAL 172

From the mezzotint by C. Turner, after G. H. Joseph. 1812.

ROBERT BANKES JENKINSON, aftbrwaeds 2itd EARL OF LIVER-
POOL ..---.--- t82

From the mezzottot by J. Young, after Sir T. Lawrence. 1801.

THE RT. HON. GEORGE CANNING 208

From the mezzotint by C Tmner, after Sir T. lawrenoe. Circa 1825.

FREDERICK JOHN ROBINSON, VISCOUNT GODERICH, aftebwaeds

EARL OF RIPON ... .... 178

From the mezzotint by C. Turner, after Sir T. lawrence. 1824.

ARTHUR WELLESLEY, DUKE OF WELLINGTON - - - 198

From the mezzotint by J^. Scott, alter J. Lilley. Circa 1830.

CHARLES GREY, 2nd EARL GREY - - - - - 230

From the engraving by S. Cousins, after Sir T. Lawrence. 1830.

WILLIAM LAMB, 2rrD VISCOUNT MELBOURNE - - - 246

From the mezzotint by Mclnnes, after Sir T. Lawrence. Circa 1810.

SIR ROBERT PEEL ..... . . 214

From the engraving by and after J. Linnell. 1838.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL, apterwakds EARL RUSSELL - - 236

From the painting by Sir F. Grant, by kind permission of Messrs. Long-
mans. 1853.

EDWARD GEOFFREY STANLEY, 14th EARL OF DERBY . . 278

From the engraving by H. Cousins, after H. P. Briggs. 1842.

GEORGE GORDON, 4th EARL OF ABERDEEN - - - 268

From the mezzotint by C. Turner, after Sir T. Lawrence. 1809. .

HENRY JOHN TEMPLE, 3ed VISCOUNT PALMERSTON - - 262

From a drawing by G. Richmond. 1852.

BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD - - - 294

From an engraving after Sir W. Grant. 1852.

THE RT. HON. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE - - - 310

From the engraving by T. O. Barlow, after Sir J. B. Millais. 1881.

ROBERT TALBOT GASCOYNE CECIL, 3bd MARQUESS OF

SALISBURY .304

From the engraving by T. O. Barlow, after Sir J. E. Millais. 1887.

ARCHIBALD PHILIP PRIMROSE, 5th EARL OF ROSEBERY - 330

From a photogravure, by kind permission of the Earl of Eosebery.

ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR, aftekwaeds EARL OF BALFOUR - 336
From an engraving after Alma Tadema, by kind permission of Messrs.
P. andD. Cohiaghi. 1891.

SIR HENRY CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN - - - - - 326

From a photogravure after Colin Forbes, by kind permission of Messrs. W.
Doig. 1907.

THE RT. HON. HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH - - .338

From a photogravure after Solomon J. Solomon, by kind permission of
Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Sons, the pubhshers. 1907.

THE RT. HON. DAVID LLOYD GEORGE - - . .342

From an autotype after Christopher Williams, by kind permission of the
Autotype Fine Art Co. 1911.

THE

PRIME MINISTERS OF BRITAIN

INTRODUCTION
THE OFFICE OF PKIME MINISTER

In England Prime Ministers are a comparatively modern
institution. In the days of tlie Norman and Planta-
genet monarchs tlie King himself directed and carried
on the government of the country by the advice of his
Council. This he did through his own officers and largely
from his own revenues. Usually he chose these officers
himself, though at times they were forced upon him. For
the most part they were priests, the medieval ecclesiastics
possessing considerable advantages over laymen in the way
of education and of freedom from family ties. They often
rose to great power and rivalled the King himself. Such
were Flambard, Becket, Beaufort and Wolsey. Soldiers
like de Montfort and Warwick were rarer and less per-
manent, while courtiers of the Gaveston or Despencer type
had the least success. Most of these ministers, except
occasionally the prelates, belonged to the nobility.

But after the Wars of the Roses nearly all the old
families had disappeared. When Henry VII. came to the
throne the lay peers only totalled twenty-nine, one-third of
what their numbers had been a hundred and fifty years
earlier. The influence of the Church was also diminishing,
whilst two new classes, the landed gentry and the city
merchants, were rapidly becoming literate and acquiring
importance. The names of Howard, Seymour, Cecil,
Cavendish and Russell now first rise into prominence, and
the House of Commons is really beginning to coimt. After
the commencement of Queen Elizabeth's reign there are

2 THE OFFICE OF PKIME MINISTER

only two instances of a bishop being Lord Cbancellor or
Lord Treasurer, while the Secretaries of State have ceased
to be mere clerks. Nevertheless the Sovereign is still
paramount, presiding himself at his Council and person-
ally selecting his ministers.

Under the Stuarts this choice became much more re-
stricted and it was soon distinctly limited to members of
either House of Parliament : Strafiord and Clarendon had
both been notable commoners. The business of State also
began to be systematized, and a definite routine was
followed. With the Restoration came further changes.
Ministers were obliged to pay more attention as well as
considerable gratifications to the members of the House
of Commons, while even the King used to go down to the
House of Lords and try to influence their debates. The
Cabal established the committee idea.

In 1688 another advance was made. The arbitrary
power of the Crown was definitely checked. Parliament
became almost supreme, and a certain responsibility was
compelled from the administration. King William, who
acted largely as his own minister, took an active and con-
stant part in the government, but Queen Anne devolved
more and more of her duties upon her coimcillors. Then
came a fresh development. A foreign prince succeeded to
the throne. Entirely dependent on the goodwill of a
parliamentary majority, and speaking hardly any English,
he could not effectively control that committee of the
Council which was gradually growing into a Cabinet. He
was averse to political business and became attached to
a single minister. This minister, who led the House of
Commons, was also the leader of the Whigs and was sup-
ported by the great families of the Revolution. Gradually
he took the first place among his colleagues, communicating
the royal commands to them, and their views to the
Sovereign. From this to a more precise position was but a
short step, and the regular series of Prime Ministers is re-
garded as beginning with Sir Robert Walpole's appoint-
ment to the office of First Lord of the Treasury in April,
1721. Some authorities have considered Harley, Stanhope

GREAT OFFICERS OF STATE 3

and Sunderland as among the early Prime Ministers,* and
their portraits certainly hang in the Speaker's Gallery of
the House of Commons. But as they never enjoyed any
position analogous to that of Walpole or of the majority of
his successors, and as neither the idea nor the continuity of
the office had then been established, the consensus of
historical opinion has rarely admitted their claim.f

The office of First Lord of the Treasury had itself under-
gone several modifications during the course of centuries,
though its evolution is less remarkable than that of the
power with which it was henceforward to be associated.

Since very early times the executive government of
England had been administered through the nine Great
Officers of State — the High Steward, Chancellor, High
Treasurer, President of the Council, Keeper of the Privy
Seal, Great Chamberlain, Marshal, High Constable and
Admiral. Of these the first, third and sixth are not to
be confounded with the minor but similarly named officials
of the Royal Household (e.g., senescallus totius Anglice and
senescallus hospitii regis). In nine hundred years the
respective importance of these offices has naturally varied.
Some have increased in authority, some have diminished,
some have almost entirely disappeared. By the time that
Parliament had begun to function in the thirteenth century,
the High Steward, the prime officer of State, had ceased
to exist. His power, which was almost regal, had been
found to be too great. J Since then he has only been
appointed for limited and special occasions. By the
Reformation, three more, the Great Chamberlain, the
Marshal and the High Constable, two of them hereditary
and two largely concerned with feudal or heraldic duties,
were no longer of real weight in the government. Of the
remainder the Admiral adbered to his own afEairs, while
the Chancellor, though he still exercised a potent influence
in Council and was often the King's principal adviser, yet
tended more and more to be the first officer of the law

* Eosebery, " Miscellanies," ii. 16.

t Paul, 95, 134. Lecky, i. 507. Macaulay, vii. 410. Ewald, 3.
j Haydn, 99. Hearne, ii. 1 . The Saxon Justiciar, the lieutenant
of the kingdom, disappeared at about the same time.

4 THE OFFICE OF PKIME MINISTER

and of its highest court. Thus it came about that on the
Treasurer, the President of the Council and the Keeper of
the Privy Seal, fell the chief consideration of State affairs
and the direction of the regular administration.

Of these three the senior was the Treasurer. By virtue of
his ojfice he took precedence of all lay peers except the
Chancellor— a matter then of some moment— and by his
control of the revenue and expenditure he bulked more
largely in the eyes of the Sovereign and of Parliament than
did his two colleagues. From Queen Elizabeth's day
onward whenever there was a first minister he was nearly
always the Treasurer; and by the Restoration the custom
had already begun of placing the office in commission as
being either too powerful or too onerous to be held by a
single individual — a course which was soon followed as
regards the place of the Admiral. After the Revolution
this tendency became more pronounced. But though the
dignity and the duties were lessened or divided by this
system of a committee, the First Commissioner or First
Lord of the Treasury as he came to be styled, always re-
tained the predominant place at his own board and often
held it in the Council also.

Such was the position when on the day before her death
Queen Anne put the Lord Treasurer's white staff for the
last time into the hands of a subject — Charles Talbot, Duke
of Shrewsbury — and by so doing materially contributed to
ensuring the Protestant succession. Shrewsbury only held
the post until the arrival of King George I. some weeks later.
Since then the Treasury has always been in commission, and
the principal commissioner has nearly always been the King's
chief adviser and minister. " Thepatronage of the Treasury,"
said Fox, " is so great, that whoever filled it must have
much more power than any other member of the Cabinet."*

But there was another and less patent reason why the
first minister should preside over the Treasury. In the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was at the Treasury
that the secret service money was disbursed. One of its
principal uses was the distribution of bribes to members of
* See also Eosebery, " Chatham," 342, 343.

FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY 5

Parliament, and, as Fox justly remarked, no minister could
lead the House of Commons without being informed on this
question. Indeed, the actual management of the House
was so closely connected with the Treasury that the
Patronage Secretary and the Junior Lords have gradually
developed into the Chief and other Whips of the ministry.

At times the Prime Minister has presided over another
department; but, speaking generally, for two hvmdred years
the position of the head of the government has been united
with that of First Lord of the Treasury. The exceptions
are Lord Chatham, who was Lord Privy Seal, and Lord
Salisbury, who was successively Foreign Secretary and
Lord Privy Seal on two occasions, whilst leading an
administration.

As regards departmental work, the Lord Treasurer or
First Lord of the Treasury originally concerned himself with
the fiscal duties of his office, and he was often Chancellor
of the Exchequer and Under-Treasurer also when he sat in
the Conmions. But as higher political matters claimed
his attention the purely financial business was relegated
to his lieutenant, who latterly has invariably been a member
of the Lower House. The two places have not now been
held together for nearly ninety years, except in the case of
Mr. Gladstone during portions of his first two governments.

The salary of the Fiist Lord of the Treasury has varied
from time to time in the orurse of two centuries. As a rule,
however, it has been in the neighbourhood of £5,000 a year
to which was frequently added from £1,500 to £2,500 in
respect of the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer. Quite
recently a recommendation has been made to Parliament for
increasing the amount to £7,000 per aimum. In addition
a good house and garden, free of rates and taxes, is assigned
to the First Lord of the Treasury at No, 10, Downing Street,
while, by the gift of Lord Lee of Fareham, Chequers in the
CMltern Halls, a country estate and house with sufficient
capital to maintain them, has been settled in per-
petuity on the Prime Minister for the time being. Thus
the total remimeration received may roughly be assessed
at the equivalent in cash and kind of some £10,000 a year.

6 THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER

The house in Downing Street, called after Sir George
Downing, a Secretary of State in the time of King
Charles II., was originally offered to Sir Robert Walpole by
King George II. as a private residence.* Walpole refused it
on those conditions, but accepted it as an oJ0S.cial dwelling-
place for himself and his successors at the Treasury.
Formerly part of the old Palace of Whitehall, and adjoining
the Treasury buildings, its style, interior, and historical
associations make it eminently suitable for the purpose to
which it has been assigned.

The Prime Minister as such possesses no distinctive
uniform and, like other Cabinet Ministers, he wears on
State occasions the ordinary full-dress of a privy coimcillor.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, however, inherits from
his predecessor a black silk robe heavily embroidered
with gold and similar in appearance to that worn by the
Lord Chancellor and the Lords Justices. In this robe the
earlier Prime Ministers are often shown in their pictures.

Not until 1907 was the ofl&cial position of the Prime
Minister formally recognized, the place then allotted to
him in the scale of precedence being that of the former Lord
Treasurer, after the Lord Chancellor and before the Lord
President of the Council. He is thus the second, not the
first, lay subject in the realm. He accepts his place from
the King, not by the delivery of a staff or a seal, nor by a
declaration in Council, as do other high ofl&cials of State,
but by kissing hands like an ambassador. He receives no
letters patent, his appointment being merely notified in
the Court Circular, though his commission at the Treasury
is gazetted. " A Prime Minister is so," says Lord
Courtney, " by virtue of the fact that he was the first to
receive the summons of the Sovereign, and it was on his
invitation that others have joined him."f

Lord Melbourne, in two letters to Queen Victoria written
in November, 1841, says : " How the power of Prime Minister
grew up into its present form it is difficult to trace pre-
cisely, as well as how it became attached, as it were, to the
office of First Commissioner of the Treasury. But Lord
* Hervey. ii. 89, note. f Courtney, 115.

HIS TITLE 7

Melbourne apprehends that Sir Robert Walpole was the
first man in whose person this union of powers was decidedly
established, and that its being so arose from the very great
confidence which both George I. and George II. reposed in
hitn, and from the difficulty which they had in transacting
business, particularly George I., from their imperfect
knowledge of the language of the country. ..."

" Prime Minister is a term belonging to the last century.
Lord Melbourne doubts its being to be found in English
parliamentary language previously. Sir Robert Walpole
was always accused of having introduced and arrogated to
himself an office previously unknown to the Law and Con-
stitution, that of Prime or Sole Minister, and we learn . . .
that in his own family Lord North would never suffer him-
self to be called Prime Minister, because it was an office
unknown to the Constitution."*

The word Premier, an abbreviation of Premier Minister,
began to come into use about the middle of the eighteenth
century and is synonymous with that of Prime Minister.

The designation has now become stereotyped, though its
attributes still remain vague and expansible or the reverse,
according to the character of the holder. The Prime
Minister's power, says Lord Rosebery, " is mainly personal,
the power of individual influence."! Strictly speaking only
primus inter pares in the Cabinet on occasions he is much
more or much less. One man may be a Grand Vizier or a
Mayor of the Palace, another a roi faineant or a chairman
of committee. His duties are now so multifarious that his
secretariat is developing into a department, and they are
so constantly changing that any detailed description of
them would be ephemeral. In Lord Esher's words, " He
is the supreme co-ordinating authority, a function which
is perhaps the most important of his high office. "J
" As the architect and constructor of the Cabinet — ^Lord
Morley calls him its ' keystone ' — it is his function to hold
it together, and on his death or retirement the Cabinet is

* " Letters of Queen Victoria," i. 447-450.
t Rosebery, " Miscellanies," i. 201.
t Esher, " King Edward," 147.

8 THE OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER

automatically dissolved, though it may be re-formed
under another chief." The Cabinet being " the buckle
which fastens the legislative part of the State to the
executive part,"* the potential power of its principal
member is necessarily very great. As the Crown is the
fountain of honour, so " the Treasury is the spring of
business,"! and the fact that the individual who directs
the destinies of the British Empire is still supposed, if
only in name, to control the finances of the mother country
epitomizes to some extent the past history and perhaps
confirms the future of the first commercial nation in the
world.

The Prime Minister, besides beiug the leader of the
government and of that House of the Legislature in
which he sits, is almost invariably the leader of one of
the chief political parties, or of a section of one. This
entails upon Mni duties quite distinct from those of his
ofiice, and the two ideas not infrequently clash. On
the one hand he is the trustee of the principles of his
supporters, who have helped to place him where he is
and who alone can maintain him there; on the other
he is responsible to the Crown for the administration of
public affairs. Should he forfeit the confidence of either
he must count the cost.

In addition he is usually called upon to fulfil other
employments incident to or resulting from his high standing
in the State. As an Ecclesiastical Commissioner or an Elder
Brother of the Trinity House, he may light upon a sinecure,
but as Chancellor of a University or Governor of a public
foundation he may suffer very considerable inroads upon
his limited leisure.

There is one final position which a Prime Minister, if he
rises rightly to his high trust, can always command — the
first place after his Sovereign in the estimation of his
fellow-countrymen. This, if he has earned it, is seldom
denied him, though few achieve that mark of affection
shown in a national nickname like " BiQy Pitt," "The
Duke," " Pam," or " Dizzy."

* Bagehot, 85. f Ihid.

HIS POSITION 9

" Men in great place," says Bacon, " are ttrice servants
-servants of the sovereign or State, servants of fame,
and servants of business"; and lie accords them the first
degree of honour among subjects, as " participes curarum,
those upon whom princes do discharge the greatest weight
of their afiairs . ' ' With this Milton agrees. ' ' Whosoever in
a state," he says, " knows how wisely to form the manners
of men and to rule them at home and in war with excellent
institutes, him in the first place, above others, I should
esteem worthy of all honour."

CHAPTER I
THE WALPOLE EEA

WALPOLE AND WILMINGTON

The Eevolution of 1688 settled a controversy that had
continued for two hundred years. Since the accession of
the Tudors the power of the Crown had greatly increased,
had been rudely curtailed and had again striven to rise to
its former height. But in the course of the seventeenth
century both Parliament and the country had learnt
much. They now benefited by their experience, exercised
their strength and won the victory. Indeed, all the cards
were in their hands. The Sovereign's private revenues
were no longer sufficient to maintain a standing army; the
principles of taxation had been stabilized; and only through
the grant of supplies could government be carried on.
The Crown was soon further to be weakened by the fact
that the three next monarchs to succeed all owed their
title to Parliament, and that two of them were foreigners.
The House of Lords had also lost in collective authority
though the principal peers still controlled many boroughs,
and so could make their influence indirectly felt ; the most
potent of them were the so-called Revolution families —
the great Whig houses of Cavendish, Russell, Manners,
Bentinck and Eitzroy, with their many connections. The
House of Commons had thus become the predominant
partner in the Legislature, and the Bill of Rights was
principally concerned with making that position clear.

King William III., however, was an exceptionally alert
and intrepid man. By birth he was half an Englishman
and he had had a Continental upbringing, a formidable

10

WALPOLE: EARLY LIFE 11

combination. Aided by circumstances he was able to
withstand to some extent the new ideas. But under his
indolent and nervous sister-in-law matters changed and
in the subsequent reign the tendency towards democracy,
as it was then styled, became even more emphasized.
The House of Commons had begun to come into their own,
and the man who led the House of Commons was likely to
be a personage of the first importance.

From similar causes and at much the same time, the
Whig party obtained an exceptionally long lease of power.
The King relied on them, the Lords supported them, and
the rising commercial interests of the country were in
sympathy with them. This tide in the affairs of men was
taken at the flood by a capable Whig member of Parliament
whose name was Robert Walpole. He became himself
the first Prime Minister of England, and he transmitted
the heritage of that ofiice to his successors for the next
two centuries.

I.— WALPOLE

Robert Walpole, afterwards first Earl of Orford, was born
on August 26, 1676, at Houghton in Norfolk. He was
one of nineteen children, the third son of Robert Walpole,
a country gentleman of that place, by Mary, daughter of
Sir Jeffrey BurweU of Rougham in SuSolk. The Walpole
family had been established at Houghton for many
generations (Shirley says that they were there in King
Stephen's time),* and though not closely allied with any of
the great territorial magnates, they were essentially a solid
East Anghan stock, devoted to the care of their estates,
county business and rural sports. They were comfortably
circumstanced for their position, the estate producing over
£2,000 per annum, and for several generations they had
represented the locality in Parliament. Sir Edward,
Robert's grandfather, sat in the Restoration House of
Commons, and his son was member for Castle Rising
during the last twelve years of the seventeenth century.

There was, however, none too much money to spare, and
* Shirley, 147.

12 WALPOLE

after some years of private teaching at Massingham, a
neighbouring village, Robert Walpole was sent, at the age
of fourteen, to Eton as a King's Scholar. Not very much
is known of him there, but he was considered a good classic
and was especially fond of Horace. He also had the re-
putation of industry and some renown as a speaker. In
1696 he went on to King's College, Cambridge, again as a
scholar. While there he nearly died of smallpox, but
recovered through the care of an old Tory doctor named
Brady, who is reported to have said: " We must take care
to save this young man, or we shall be accused of having
purposely neglected him because he is so violent a Whig."*
Two years later Walpole found himself heir to his paternal
estates by the death of his elder brothers, and he jien
resigned his scholarship. He had been intended for the
Church, but his prospects having altered he now turned to
those politics which he already preferred.

In August, 1700, he married Catherine, the beautiful
daughter of John Shorter, a Norway merchant, and grand-
daughter of a former Lord Mayor of London. She brought
him then and subsequently some considerable fortune.
Several years later her younger sister, Charlotte, married
Francis, Lord Conway, a son of Sir Edward Seymour, ex-
Speaker, and father of the first Marquess of Hertford and of
Field-Marshal Conway. From these alliances resulted a
close and abiding friendship between the Walpole and
Sejnnour families. Of Walpole's younger brothers,
Horatio, afterwards Lord Walpole of Wolterton, became a
diplomat, and his constant supporter at home and abroad.
He was the ancestor of the present Lord Orford. Of his
sisters, two married Norfolk squires, while the third,
Dorothy, became the wife of Lord Townshend. for many
years her brother's political colleague and rival.

In the same year as his marriage Walpole lost his father,
and a few months later he entered Parliament as member for
the family borough of Castle Rising, which he subsequently
exchanged for that of King's Lynn. He began at once to
distmguish himself. In 1703 and 1704 Stanhope and

* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 4.

IN OFFICE 13

Spencer Compton are already writing to him to urge his
attendance at the House, as the Whigs depended upon him.*
At this time the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough were
on the full tide of their career. They recognized Walpole's
ability, while his merits, aided by their protection and that
of Godolphin, rapidly brought him forward. A consistent
Whig he interested himself actively in the business of the
House of Commons, where he soon obtained a great and
growing influence. In 1705 he was appointed one of the
Council of Admiralty, in 1708 Secretary at War, and in
1709 Treasurer of the Navy — " by my interest wholly,"
says the Duchess of Marlborough.f He thus acquired
early in his political life an invaluable experience of the
conduct of public affairs during the notable campaigns
that were then being carried on under the first captain of
the age. He also made his mark as a financier, turning his
attention especially to commercial afiairs, while his manage-
ment of the House of Commons was so successful that he
soon became the accepted leader of the Whig party in it.
He was in the close confidence of Marlborough, the Captain-
General, and of Godolphin, the Lord Treasurer, whose for-
tunes, however, were by now on the wane. From the Nether-
lands Marlborough writes to him early in Jvme, 1710: " I am
so very uneasy at the humour and temper that is now in the
covirt that I dare not trust my own judgment, fearing I
might hurt my friend, so that I desire that you will show
my letter which comes at the same time as this to 6 (Sunder-
land) and that he will advise with our friends, for however
imeasy itt may be to mee, I am desirous you should give in
answere to 42 (the Queen) what they shall resolve upon
concerning 256 (Mrs. Masham's) brother; if they approve
of my letter you must then read it to 42 (the Queen)." J And
again on August 28 : "I have received the favour of yours
of the 8th that as well as the rest of my letters brought
me the surprising news of the white staf being taken from
lord treasurer. 39 (Marlborough) has for some time been

* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 4.

f " Marlborough Correspondence," ii. 160.

t Coxe, " Walpole," ii. 22. ,

14 WALPOLE

prepared for these mortefycations, he at this distance can't
see where this will end, but he is sure to the best of his
understanding he will act like an honest man, and whilst
employed doe what he shall judge best for his queen and
country, and as he relyes on the friendship of 273 (Walpole)
he must desire to hear often from him."*

The affairs of the Whigs very soon came to grief. Marl-
borough, Sunderland and Godolphiu were dismissed, and
Walpole shared in their fall. Harley and St. John came
into power, and the end of the war with France and pre-
parations for the Treaty of Utrecht rapidly followed. The
Tories now turned venomously upon Walpole, expelled him
from the House and committed him to the Tower on a
charge of peculation. It was said that one of his friends
had received a commission of a thousand guineas on a public
contract with Walpole's connivance. But his party rallied
round him, and his popularity brought him a daily levee
while he was imprisoned. He was quickly liberated, and
was again returned to Parliament stronger than ever among
his own people.

For the next two years he remained in opposition, occupy-
ing himself largely with writing pamphlets and developing
that system of political warfare which he subsequently
made so effective. The principal Tories were believed to be
coquetting with the Pretender, while Walpole as a strong
Whig and an ardent advocate of religious toleration was
a protagonist of the Protestant succession. He was on
the winning side, and when the death of Queen Anne in 1714
again changed the ministry the Tories disappeared from
office for more than forty years.

With the arrival of I£ing George I. in England the second
period of Walpole's hfe may be said to begin. As a loyal
and leading Whig and a brother-in-law of Townshend, the
new Secretary of State, he was appointed Paymaster to the
Forces, then one of the most lucrative places in the
government, and was sworn of the Privy Council on the
same day as the Prince of Wales, the Archbishop of York
and Stanhope, Townshend's colleague.

* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 34.

IN THE CABINET 16

He was now upon the high road to success. His five
years' experience in the principal spending departments
of the State had marked him out as well fitted to control
its finances. Accordingly, in October 1715, he was
appointed First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the
Exchequer in an administration led by Townshend, Sunder-
land, Stanhope and himself, though none of them was
definitely first minister. Walpole gradually became the most
important figure in it, though he was much hampered by the
fact that he could not speak French. As George I. knew no
English, their conversation had to be carried on in dog
Latin. Largely for this reason the King ceased to attend
the meetings of the Cabinet, while the minister's power
proportionately increased.

During nearly eighteen months Walpole was principally
concerned with the impeachment of Oxford and Boling-
broke, the suppression of the Jacobite insurrection and the
punishment of its leaders. But he was not vindictive, and
he used his power with moderation — one of the earliest
statesmen to do so. Sunderland and Stanhope, however,
were bent upon getting rid of Townshend, and probably of
Walpole also. While the King was in Hanover intrigues
were started which Walpole was unable to defeat, and early
in 1717 Townshend was dismissed from his office. Walpole
would not desert his friend and at once resigned. In his
interview with the King on March 10 he said, speaking
of his colleagues to whom the royal favour had now been
given: " They will propose to me, both as Chancellor of the
Exchequer and in parliament such things that if I agree to
support them my credit and reputation will be lost ; and if
I disapprove or oppose them, I must forfeit your Majesty's
favour. For I in my station, though not the author, must
be answerable to my King and my country for all the
measures which may be adopted by administration."*
These remarks are noteworthy as being one of the first
definite enunciations of parliamentary and ministerial
responsibility. The King endeavoured to persuade him
to remain, and put the seals back in his hat as many
* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 107.

16 WALPOLE

as ten times, but Walpole adhered to his decision and left
the government.

He stayed out of o£B.ce for three years and the real
extent of his power was quickly understood, for only with his
approval could the ministers pass their bills, so great was
his influence in the House of Commons. At this time the
government were encouraging the disastrous venture of
the South Sea Company, a scheme which Walpole had
opposed, though it is said that by judicious speculation in it
he had been able to increase his own private fortune. The
country went wild and invested large sums of money, until
in 1720 came the bursting of the whole bubble. One minister
was expelled the House, another killed himself, the govern-
ment were in the direst straits, and Walpole's financial
knowledge and advice became a necessity. He was recalled
to office as Paymaster-General, and presented a scheme for
salvaging what was possible oiit of the wreck and for re-
pairing to some extent the public credit. His plan was
approved, and shortly afterwards, on April 3, 1721, he was
definitely installed at the head of the administration as First
Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
This date is usually received as the first occasion on which
there was a real Prime Minister, and it marks the beginning
of the third portion of Walpole's history.

Hitherto the King had not been particularly well disposed
to Walpole, but he now began to recognize the value of his
consummate abilities to the dynasty and to the State.
Walpole had also obtained the friendship of the Princess of
Wales, a woman of remarkable charm, tact and insight,
whose influence was subsequently to be of much assistance
to him. Other circumstances helped him. Sunderland and
Stanhope, his former opponents, both died, and Pulteney
shortly afterwards left the government. Walpole was thus
left with few competitors of his own level. Townshend
stayed on for a time, but the brothers-in-law were no
longer on good terms. " The firm," said Walpole, " is
now going to be the firm of Walpole and Townshend, and
not the firm of Townshend and Walpole as it used to be."*
* Macaulay, vi. 42.

AS PRIME MINISTER 17

The temper of the two men was incompatible, and on one
occasion they had something very like a free fight in a
private house,* to which the scuffle between Peachum and
Lockit in the " Beggar's Opera " is said to have alluded,
though Macheath was also regarded as a slap at Walpole.
Townshend eventually retired, and it is to his credit that he
never afterwards entered into opposition.

For twenty-one years Walpole now guided the fortunes
of his country, and during nearly the whole of that long
period he kept England at peace. He had already given
indications of his financial policy by devising a general
sinking fund. He followed this up by introducing the ideas
of Free Trade. He removed the duties on many raw
material imports, as well as on certain exports, and he
examined into the excise question. His foreign policy was
to expand the Colonial connection, to cultivate friendship
with France and to promote peace in Europe. Those were
halcyon days: " Cefut un temfs heureux," says Voltaire,
" pour toutes les nations."'\ In the third year of Walpole's
administration there was only one division in the House
of Commons.}

The Cabinet at this time consisted of some twelve
members, all of whom, with the exception of Walpole and
occasionally one other, sat in the House of Lords. His
position in the House of Commons had become supreme,
for the influence which he had obtained was supplemented
by the secret service funds and his rivals had disappeared.
Thus his power rose to a pitch never previously known.
With the King his relations were intimate and cordial,
though he often had to fight the German favourites. There
is a tale of his turning upon one in the royal closet and
saying " Mentiris impudentissime."^

In 1725 he was created a Knight of the Bath and the year
after a Knight of the Garter, being the first commoner to
receive that honour for two generations. On several
occasions he was ofiered a peerage, but this he refused for
himself, though he accepted it for his eldest son. When he

* Hervey, i. 117, note. f Voltaire, " Siecle de Louis XV.," 37.

f Green, iv. 10. § Jennings, 110.

18 WALPOLE

could get away from Richmoiid, where he usually lived,
he posted ofi to Norfolk to hunt or to shoot. Indeed, to
the end of his life he followed the hounds, and it was
always said that the first letter he opened in the morniiig
was that of his gamekeeper. But he was not entirely de-
pendent upon outdoor sports for his amusements, and it
was about this time that he began to rebuild Houghton
and to form the magnificent collection of pictures which
swallowed up so much of his fortune.

In 1727 George I. died, and his son came to the throne.
The change of rulers might have meant a great deal and
for some days Walpole's place was in danger. The Queen,
however, took his part, and the King's choice, Compton,
was manifestly unequal to his task. He was obliged to
have recourse to Walpole when drafting the King's speech,
and Walpole was not slow in improving his opportunity.
When the Queen's dowry came to be mentioned Compton
suggested £50,000 a year. Walpole ofiered double that
figure and also promised to induce the House of Commons
to increase the Civil List by £100,000. This settled the
question. The King sent for him, and said : " Consider, Sir
Robert, what makes me easy in this matter will prove for
your ease too ; it is for my life it is to be fixed, and it is for
your life."* The bargain was honestly kept.

When he was Prince of Wales George II. had been very
ready to criticize the leading Whigs. " Walpole," he used
to say, " was a great rogue, Newcastle an impertinent fool,
and Townshend a choleric blockhead." But as time went
on his opinions altered, and in his later days he swore by
Walpole. After the battles in the House of Commons he
used to exclaim, with tears in his eyes: "He is a brave
fellow; he has more spirit than any man I ever knew."|
Walpole, however, took a less flattering view of the King, for
he once remarked : " He thinks he is devilish stout, and that
he never gives up his will or his opinion, but he never acts in
anything material but when I have a mind that he should."^
The conduct of the government, however, was not quite
so easy in the new reign as it had been before. Walpole
* Hervej, i. 44. t Ibid., i. 186. J Morley, " Walpole," 92.

HIS POWER WANING 19

had admitted to the Cabinet men like Newcastle, Pelham
and Compton, now Lord Wilmington, who, though more
complacent, were less able than his former colleagues,
Pulteney and Carteret. These two, with Bolingbroke
behind them, now started an opposition which later on
was joined by Lord Cobham and his following, Pitt
and the Grenvilles. For the time Walpole's ascendancy
remained dominant. But his policy was by no means
always popular. His Excise Bill, a reasonable enough
measure, he withdrew in 1733 because of the enmity it
aroused. He would not be the man, he said, to lay on taxes
at the cost of blood. His removal of the restrictions on
Colonial trade were not well received by various interests at
home. Three years later his refusal to allow the Test Acts
to be repealed lost him favour with the Dissenters, and
both in Scotland and Ireland there was much dissatisfaction.
Nevertheless, he managed to maintain his position with
practically undiminished power until the death of the Queen
in 1737. With her he lost his chief friend at Court. Her
last words to him as he stood by her bedside were: " I
recommend His Majesty to you."*

Real difficulties now began. In the general election of
1734 Walpole's majority in Parliament had been lessened.
The King favoured a war policy on the Continent, with
which Walpole disagreed. The new Prince of Wales, who
was bitterly hostile to the King, kept a court of his own at
Leicester House and was the centre of the Opposition,
which was becoming strong and efiective. Finally, in the
Cabinet some would-be rivals were arising.

In 1737 Walpole lost his wife, and a few months later he
married Maria Skerret, his mistress, who also died within the
the year. His health was not as good as it had been, for
he had suffered from several severe attacks of gout which
had weakened his energy. Once or twice he offered to
resign, but the King pressed him to stay on, which he
was not unwilling to do. But though he was as masterful
as ever, his influence had narrowed and in 1739, against
his better judgment though in compliance with the wishes
* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 552.

20 WALPOLE

of the King and of most of his colleagues, he consented to
the war against Spain. The decision ran counter to all his
beliefs. " They are ringing the bells now," he said, " but
they will soon be wringing their hands."*

Despite his new policy, the opposition of Whig seceders
continued, and his own party were not as subservient as
they had been. In 1741 a definite motion was made for
his removal from all his offices and from the King's councils.
It was defeated, but his position was seriously shaken.
Onslow, the Speaker, says that at this time Walpole had
become remiss in his care for the new Parliament, and had
underrated the strength of his opponents. He had been
too long in power. Early in 1742 a strong and united attack
was led against him by Pulteney and Carteret, with whom
Newcastle and Wilmington were secretly intriguing. His
friends saw that the end was near, though Walpole thought
them in a panic and was ready to hold on. He fought hard,
but his majorities grew less and less, and on February 2,
on the Chippenham election petition, he was defeated
amidst the wild cheers of his opponents. He walked out
of the House erect, calm and cheerful, and a few days
later the London Gazette announced that he had resigned
all his places and had been created Earl of Orford. He
had been Prime Minister for twenty-one years, the longest
period for which that office has been held in the history
of England. Had he wished it he could probably have
been Lord Treasurer also. He said in one of his final
speeches: "I who refused a white staff and a peerage."!

Wilmington replaced him as a figurehead, with Carteret
in the background, while many of the former ministry
remained on. But they soon began to fall out among
themselves. Walpole had succeeded in forcing Pulteney
into the House of Lords, and in so effacing him. The
Pelhams were to a large extent his own creatures. The
King still relied upon his advice. Thus it came about that
within a year of his leaving office he exercised nearly as much
power as before. | The various charges of peculation and

* Macaulay, " Walpole," vi. 28. f Jennings, 109

t Morley, "Walpole," 247.

EESIGNATION AND DEATH 21

motions for impeacliment that were brought against him
were speedily dropped. Wilmington died the next year,
and Walpole was soon able to get rid of Carteret and to
confirm as Prime Minister Henry Pelham, who depended
almost entirely upon his old chief for guidance and support.

But Walpole's time was done. His health was failing,
and in the House of Lords he knew that he could never be
the central figure. He withdrew to Houghton, and tried
to interest himself in his pictures and his trees, lamenting
his little knowledge of books. Gout had pursued him all
his life, and worse complications now followed. But he
kept up his spirits, and though sufiering torments of pain
from stone struggled up to London at the King's request
early in 1745. This was the end. His case was beyond
remedy, and after several operations, which he bore
with unfailing fortitude, he died on March 18 at his
house in Arlington Street, and was buried quietly at
Houghton.

Walpole's family by his fijst wife consisted of three sons,
of whom Eobert succeeded to the title and estates and left
an only child, who died without issue. The second son,
Sir Edward, for some time Chief Secretary for Ireland, had
three illegitimate daughters, one of whom was afterwards
famous as the beautiful Duchess of Gloucester. Horace,
the third, was the literary celebrity. His parentage is open
to considerable doubt. He eventually became the fourth
and last earl of the first creation, and died in 1797 im-
married. Of the daughters, Mary, the elder, married
George, Earl of Cholmondeley, and the present marquess
is now Sir Robert's heir of line.

In appearance Walpole was a big, square man, well set up,
high-complexioned, fair and good-looking.

" Such were the lively eyes and rosy hue
Of Eobin's face when Robin first I knew."*

In later life he became very corpulent, " avec ce gros

corps, ces jambes enflees et ce vilain ventre," as Queen

Caroline described him.f He was a typical healthy country

* Montagu, ii. 483. f Hervey, i. 476.

22 WALPOLE

squire, devoted to outdoor sport, and lie is said to have
been the originator of the Sattixday half-holiday so that he
might get away to hunt. In Norfolk he kept open house
and was a lavish entertainer, as profuse with his own
money as he was careful with that of the State. His
weaknesses were the table, the bottle and a somewhat
excessive love of women, his amours with whom he was
often too ready to recount. His conversation even for
those days was broad. He used to say that " he always
talked bawdy at table, for in that all could join."* Bluff
and pleasant in manner, he was generous, equable and
easy of access. Yet he was not unconscious of his own
merits. " If I had not been Prime Minister," he said, " I
should have been Archbishop of Canterbury."! Rancop
he never nourished, though he could not always resist
amusing himself at the expense of his foes. With hia
old patron Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, he had a
standing feud. Much of her later correspondence is
devoted to complaints about not being able to get leave
to drive through St. James's Park or to build a suitable
approach to Marlborough House, where the lease of a
residence immediately opposite had been acquired by the
Prime Minister, not quite without intent.

In business he was rapid, methodical and facile, an
excellent financier and singularly honest. It has been said
that he managed the House of Commons entirely by bribery,
and there is no doubt that he made use of the methods
which had long been common in English politics. But the
corruption that he practised never came near to that of
the time of Charles II. or of the early days of George III.
Members were often paid for their votes, much in the same
way that some members now have their election expenses
found. Walpole merely carried on the ordinary practice,
though he did it with more success than most of his pre-
decessors. He is supposed to have been responsible for the
saying that " Every man has his price," but the quotation
is inacciirate. The real remark was made on a particular
occasion and in allusion to certain definite individuals of
* Boswell, iii. 57. t Grreen, iv. 127.

HIS CHARACTER 23

whom he said: "All these men have their price."* But,
though he was not a cynic, he had few illusions. One of his
favourite quotations was Principibus placuisse viris non
ultima laus est.

Walpole was not an orator. His speeches were simple,
straightforward and full of blunt common sense. " You
will soon come off that and grow wiser,"f he used to say to
budding reformers. But he could on occasion rise to high
flights of eloquence or irony. In one of his final fights
in the House of Commons, when the so-called patriots were
assailing him, he finished his reply with the words : " A
patriot. Sir — why, patriots spring up like mushrooms. I
could raise fifty of them within the four-and-twenty hours.
I have raised many of them in one night. It is but refusing
to gratify an unreasonable or insolent demand and up
starts a patriot. "{

Nearly all his contemporaries spoke well of him. Onslow
called htm " a wise and able minister, and the best man
from the goodness of his heart, which was characteristic in
him, to live with and to live under of any great man I ever
knew."§ Dr. Johnson, though he had written against him,
afterwards acknowledged his merits and likened him to " a
fixed star," Chatham being a " meteor." Pulteney said he
was of a temper so calm and equal and so hard to be pro-
voked that he was very suxe he never felt the bitterest
invectives against him for half an hour.|| Chatham, who
had fiercely attacked him in early life, said afterwards:
" Sir Robert Walpole thought well of me and died in peace
with me. He was a truly English minister."^ And most
of these were his political opponents.

A statesman of admirably shrewd sense and great force
of character,** " he gave Englishmen no conquests, but he
gave them peace, and ease, and freedom; the Three per
Cents, nearly at par; and wheat at five and six and twenty
shillings a quarter, "ff

* Hervey, i. 238. f Chesterfield, " Misc.Works, " iv. 36 (Characters).

I Coxe, " "Walpole," i. 659. § Morley, " Walpole," 105.

II Coxe, " Walpole," i. 756. t H. Walpole, " George II.," ii. 132.
** Stephen, ii. 168. ft Thackeray, " Four Georges," 35, 36.

24 WALPOLE

In the words of Hume lie was " moderate in exercising
power, not equitable in engrossing it."*
Hanbury Williams says of Mm:

" Thus was lie formed to govern and to please;
Familiar greatness, dignity with ease,
Composed his frame, admired in every state,
In private amiable, in public great.
Gentle in power but daring in disgrace,
His love was liberty, his wish was peace.

Whose knowledge, courage, temper, all surprised,
Whom many loved, few hated, none despised. "f

This view is endorsed by Pope, seldom a kindly critic:

" Seen him I have but in his happier hour
Of social pleasure ill- exchanged for power;
Seen him uncumbered with the venal tribe.
Smile without art and win without a bribe.
Would he oblige me ? Let me only find
He does not think me what he thinks mankind."J

Enemies he had, of course, the old Duchess of Marlborough
and Bolingbroke among the worst. They were clever enough
to appreciate and dislike the honesty of one who all his life
had been dealing with the hard facts of political morality
at its lowest. But his best friends had both character
and constancy — Queen Caroline, his brother Horatio,
Devonshire and Henry Pelham, among the chief of them.

In his book on Chatham, Lord Rosebery writes of
Walpole: " He had the advantage of being brought up as a
younger son to work, and thus he gained that self-reliance
and pertinacious industry which served him so well through
long years of high office. From the beginning to the end
he was primarily a man of business. Had he not been a
politician it cannot be doubted that he would have been a
great merchant or a great financier. And, though his lot
was cast in politics, a man of business he essentially re-
mained. . . . His first object was to carry on the business
of the country in a business spirit, as economically and
as peacefully as possible ... a hard-working man with
* Macaulay, vi. 44. | Hanbury Williams, i. 207, 208.

X Pope, " Epilogue to the Satires."

HIS POLICY 25

practical knowledge of affairs and strong common sense;
a sagacious man who hated extremes. He had besides the
highest qualities of a parliamentary leader ... he had
dauntless courage and imperturbable temper."*

He belonged to that class of legislators, says Lecky,
who recognize fully that all transitions to be safe should be
the gradual product of public opinion, that the great end
of statesmanship is to secure the nation's well-being . . .
he combined an extreme and exaggerated severity of party
discipline within Parliament with the utmost deference
for the public opinion beyond its walls.| But with all
this he kept the country quiet in what Carlyle calls a
" sturdy deep-bellied, long-headed, John Bull kind of
fashion." J

That AValpole was ambitious, that he monopolized
power, that he was intolerant of rivalry, that he was some-
thing of a cynic, that his conduct and his conversation were
often coarse — these are but examples of those flaws of
character that every human being must possess. He was
the child of his age. With all his faults he served his
country for a longer period than any other man has
ever done in his high position and kept her longer in
prosperity and peace.

To his maxim Quieta non movere he adhered throughout
his life, for he was a peace minister par excellence. " The
most pernicious circumstances," he used to say, " in
which this country can be are those of war."§ The
work he did was solid and enduring. He confirmed by
a long and wise administration two cardinal points of
the British constitution, the supremacy of the House of
Commons and the responsibility of Cabinet government.
He laid down two maxims of policy of hardly less im-
portance, that for England peace is always better than war,
and freedom of trade more profitable than its restraint.
That these guiding principles should first have been made
clear by a Whig minister was as valuable to that party
as it was to the State.

* Eosebery, " Ciattam," 144-6. t Lecky, i. 329, 344.

% Carlyle, " Frederick tte Great," XII., xii. § Green, iv. 137.

26 WILMINGTON

II.— WILMINGTON

The Hon. Spencer Compton, afterwards Earl of Wil-
mington, was born about 1673, the second surviving son of
James, third Earl of Northampton, by his second wife, Mary
Noel, daughter and heiress of Baptist, Viscount Campden.
The Comptons were a rich and ancient family who were
settled in the counties of Warwick and Northampton and
connected with many noble lines. The third earl and his
father had been ardent Eoyalists, and had spent blood and
treasure on the King's side. Several of his brothers had
been distinguished Cavalier leaders, and one had been made
Bishop of London by King Charles II. So far the family
had been strong supporters of the Crown. In 1681, how-
ever, Lord Northampton died, and soon afterwards his
eldest son and successor married a daughter of Sir Stephen
Fox. Her half-brother, Henry Fox, was to become the
first Lord Holland. Then came the Revolution. Bishop
Compton had been suspended by King James and had
materially helped his enemies. He now consented to
crown the new King and Queen as Archbishop Bancroft
had refused to take the oath of allegiance. The Comptons
thus identified themselves with the Whigs.

Spencer Compton was still a cliild at his father's death.
He was brought up at his brother's house in the country
and was first educated at St. Paul's School. He then
took his degree at Trinity College, Oxford, as the son
of a peer. Some years later he was called to the Bar
at the Middle Temple, and for a little time he practised
his profession. But in 1698, while travelling on the
Continent, he was elected member for the Eye borough
in Suffolk. He at once enrolled himself on the Whig side
of politics, the new party of his relations, and devoted
himself to his work in Parliament. He was well ofi and a
bachelor. The details of business interested him, and he
had powerful connections. In 1705 he was chosen chair-
man of the Committee of Privileges, and two years later
he was made Treasurer to Prince George of Denmark.

G, Kneller pinx.

SPENCER COMPTON

EARL OF WILMINGTON

To face page 26.

AS SPEAKER 27

Walpole was one of his friends, and in 1709 they were
colleagues on the committee for Sacheverell's impeach-
ment.

At the general election of 1710 Compton lost his seat, and
did not come into Parliament again for three years. But
he had thoroughly learnt the ways of the House of Commons,
he was a good party man and he had some abilities. On
the accession of George I. and the return of the Whigs to
power he was chosen Speaker. In his first address, when
submitting himself to the King's approval on this occasion,
he observed that " he had neither memory to retain,
judgment to collect, nor skill to guide their debates."*
Notwithstanding this perfunctory modesty, he seems to
have done his work passably well.

Having had some experience of supervising royal
finances, Compton was also appointed Treasurer to the
Prince of Wales, who soon formed a high idea of his
punctual and careful management of money. In 1722 the
rich post of Paymaster-General was added to his other
places by Walpole, so that he was at the same time a
principal officer of the King, the Prince of Wales and the
House of Commons, an unusual combination.

These various duties he succeeded in fulfilling to general
satisfaction, and in 1725 he was made a Knight of the Bath.
He had now been for ten years Speaker, as well as head of
the Prince of Wales's household, and he had become a person
of much consideration. When, on the death of George I.,
Walpole announced that event to the new King, he was
ordered to go for his instructions to Sir Spencer Compton.
This meant that Compton was to be Prime Minister, and
Walpole prepared to order himself accordingly. Compton,
however, could not cope Avith such a task. He was obliged,
as has already been mentioned, to ask Walpole's help in
preparing the King's speech to the Council — a tale that is
hard to believe of a Speaker.f Soon afterwards a question
arose as to what figures should be proposed to Parliament
for the new Civil List. Walpole outbid Compton; the
Queen's influence was strong; the King was sensible;
* Nat. Biog., xi. 450. f H. Walpole, " Letters," vii. 142.

28 WILMINGTON

and Walpole kept his place. But he was not forgetful of his
old friend. As a consolation Compton was raised to the
peerage as Lord Wilmington and shortly afterwards was
advanced to an earldom. He was also appointed succes-
sively Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council
and in 1733 he was installed a Knight of the Garter. Ap-
peased at this high rate, he did not show any jealousy of
Walpole, though Hervey says that he " hated him in his
heart."* Yet on one occasion, when suffering from fever,
he even left his bed to go and vote for his leader. |

By this time Wilmington was sixty years old. He had
had a most prosperous career. He was rich, he was a peer,
he was a Knight of the Garter, he held one of the jBrst
offices in the Cabinet, and he was a favourite of his
Sovereign. It might well have been thought that he had
reached his high-water mark. But he still remembered
that he had once nearly been Prime Minister and he longed
yet to occupy the place which he believed his merits
deserved. As the years went on and there were signs that
Sir Robert was not perhaps quite as omnipotent as he had
been, Wilmington began to hanker and cast about for the
succession. Friends and parasites were ready enough to
egg him on, nor was he above intriguing with Newcastle and
others of the same kidney. In 1739 there came a chance,
but it did not materialize. Two years later, however,
matters looked more promising. Walpole's policy on the
Spanish War had estranged many of his adherents and he
had become more slack in his control of the House of
Commons. A strong cabal, led by able opponents, was
banded together against him, and the Queen, his old
friend, was dead. In 1741 the concerted attack was
launched, and Wilmington voted against the Prime
Minister. The latter carried the day, but early next
year he was defeated. Newcastle, Carteret and Pulteney
came to terms. Wilmington, to whom the King had
always been attached, was to be their cover. The
details of exactly how the change occurred are obscure,
but it seems that when the crucial moment came the new
* Hervey, i. 209. | Jennings, 109.

AS PRIME MINISTER 29

arrangements were made with Walpole's approval. When
at last the hour struck, and the great minister relinquished
the reins of power that he had held for more than twenty-
years, it was to Wilmington that they fell.

Then, in Lord Rosebery's words, " there is a great crash,
and the spectators expect to see the world in ruins. But
when the dust has cleared away it is seen that things are
much as they were ; Wilmington scarcely visible in Walpole's
seat; Newcastle rooted in his own; Walpole with Pulteney
his protagonist seated smug and dumb among the distant
peers."*

But though Wilmington succeeded to the name of Prime
Minister he was a puppet whose strings were pulled by
Carteret, while Walpole bulked large behind the throne.
The position was well recognized by everyone. A ballad
of Lord Hervey's, in which Carteret is supposed to address
the King, thus describes it:

" Tie Countess of Wilmington, excellent nurse,
I'll trust with tte Treasury, not with, the purse,
For nothing by her I've resolved shall be done :
She shall sit at that board as you sit on the throne. "f

While another rhyme of the times says:

" See yon old dull important lord
Who at the longed for money board
Sits first but does not lead.
His younger brethren all things make,
So that the Treasury's like a snake,
And the tail moves the head. "J

Wilmington had achieved his ambition at last, but he was
not long to enjoy it. By the end of the year he was away
ill at Bath; he never recovered, and soon became unable to
transact any business. Perhaps the principal event in his
administration was the victory of Dettingen, where
George II., then in the sixtieth year of his age, fought on
foot against the French, whjle Carteret drove about the
battlefield in a coach. § By July, 1743, Wilmington was dead .

* Rosebery, " Chatham," 505.

t H. Walpole, " Letters," I. 209. J Hanbury Williams, i. 139.

§ H. Walpole, " Letters," III., i. 253.

30 WILMINGTON

His place was at once filled by Henry Pelham, the leader of
the House of Commons. He had never married and his
wealth passed to his nephew, the fifth Earl of Northampton,
through whom much of it eventually descended to the
family of Cavendish.

There is a kitcat portrait of him by Kneller, in a velvet
coat, with a long wig and a ribbon. His retreating chin
and vacuous expression show neither looks nor intelligence
though some signs of obstinacy. But he was not devoid of
wit. Once, when he was in the Chair, a member who was
being talked down complained that he had a right to be
heard. " No, Sir," said the Speaker. " You have a right
to speak, but the House has the right to judge whether it
will hear you."* He is also credited with a remark about
the Duke of Newcastle, " that he always lost half an hour
in the morning which he was running after for the rest of
the day without being able to overtake it."t

For most of his life he lived in St. James's Square in a
fine house that stood where the Army and Navy Club now
is, and he also had a villa at Chiswick, where he indulged
largely in the pleasures of the table. Horace Walpole
thought him " the most solemn, formal man in the world,
but a great lover of private debauchery " ; J and Hervey
describes him as " a plodding heavy fellow with great
application but no talents, and vast complacence for a
court without any address ; he was always more concerned
for the manner and form in which a thing was to be done
than about the propriety or expediency of the thing itself.
. . . His only pleasures were money and eating; his only
knowledge forms and precedents ; his only insinuations bows
and smiles. "§

" Let Wilmington with grave contracted brow
Eed tape and wisdom at the Council show.
Sleep in the Senate, in the circle bow."||

Such were the views of his contemporaries, and it cannot
be said that he has left any very different or more lasting

! Jf^fings. 579. t H. Walpole, " George II.," i. 163.

t Ibid., 178 n. § Hervey, i. 32, 33. H Ibid., u. 156.

SUCCESSION ESTABLISHED 31

impression on succeeding ages. He is a nebulous form at
tLe best, dominated by the more powerful figures that
surround him, an insubstantial shadow following Walpole,
much as Addington followed Pitt, sixty years later, or
Goderich did Canning. Yet Wilmington filled for nearly
thirty years the four highest places in the State to which a
layman can aspire. He seems to have been honest, con-
scientious, well-meaning and precise, perhaps even loyal
as the times went, but as to character and talents he was
little more than a cipher. It may be that he possessed
other merits, but

" Paulum sepxiltae distat inertise
Celata virtus."

A capital move had thus been made in the theory of a
Prime Minister. In the long administration of Walpole
the idea of a single chief to the Cabinet had been accepted,
while Wilmington and Pelham's rapid succession to the
post established some idea of continuity. Henceforward,
though with occasional weaker links, an unbroken chain
of first ministers of the Crown was to be maintained,
ever gaining strength by the temper of its constituents,
the suppleness of its hold and the tradition of its length.

CHAPTER II
THE PELHAMS

PELHAM AND NEWCASTLE

The rise of the family of Pelham is a remarkable
instance of what could be done in the early part of
the eighteenth century by the twin virtues of wealth and
connection.

Thomas Pelham, the son and heir of a Sussex baronet,
had married Lady Grace Holies, daughter of Gilbert, third
Earl of Clare. Her brother, the fourth earl, was the husband
of Lady Margaret Cavendish, daughter and co-heiress of
Henry, Duke of Newcastle, and on the latter's death with-
out a son in 1691 Lord Clare succeeded to a part of his large
estates and a considerable fortune. Two years later his
kinsman, Lord Holies of Ifield, left him another property.
The Holies family had a good record on the Whig and
Protestant side, and at the Revolution Lord Clare had
materially helped to promote the succession of the House of
Orange. He was now an exceedingly rich man, and he
procured from King William the revival of his father-in-
law's dukedom for himself, though with some difficulty.
Under Queen Anne he became Lord Privy Seal, and was
then able to get a barony for Pelham, his sister's husband,
whose elder boy, Thomas, he had determined to make his
principal heir, having no sons himself.

This Thomas Pelham had been born on July 21, 1693, and
Henry, his younger brother, two years later. They had
been brought up together at Halland Hall, their home in
Sussex, and had both been sent to Westminster School.
Thomas, however, had gone on to Clare Hall, Cambridge,

32

PROGRESS OF THE FAMILY 33

while Henry matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford, under
Dr. Richard Newton, who had previously been his tutor.

Their father. Lord Pelham, as he had now bebome, was a
good Whig, had been for many years member of Parliament
for Sussex, and had held minor offices in the government.
By a previous marriage he had had two daughters, one of
whom was married to Charles, Viscount Townshend, after-
wards Secretary of State and already a leading politician.

In 1711 there were three deaths in the family, by all of
which Thomas Pelham materially profited. First his
uncle, the Duke of Newcastle, from whom he inherited a
considerable portion of the vast Nottinghamshire estates
and with them took the additional name of Holies. Next
his father, to whose barony and patrimony of Halland Hall
he also succeeded. Thirdly, his half-sister. Lady Towns-
hend, whose husband, two years later, married Dorothy
Walpole, sister of the future Prime Minister.

In 1714 Queen Anne died. Young Lord Pelham was
only just of age, but he declared himself a strong supporter
of the Hanover succession; he was rich, he was related
to half a dozen of the leading Whig families, and he
was a brother-in-law, a la mode deBretagne, of the leading
man in the House of Commons. By this interest he was
at once created Earl of Clare and made lord-lieutenant of
the comities of Middlesex and Nottingham.

Next year came the Jacobite rebellion. Thomas and
his younger brother Henry raised a troop of horse in
Sussex, and Henry went ofi to fight at Preston. As a
reward Thomas was advanced to the dukedom of New-
castle. He had thus attained the highest rank in the
peerage at the age of twenty-two. Eighteen months later
he married Lady Henrietta Godolphin, daughter of the
second earl of that name and granddaughter of the Duke
of Marlborough. This brought him into close relationship
with Sunderland, who was then Secretary of State. When
the split came between Sunderland and Walpole, New-
castle left the latter and followed the former, for which he
was made Lord Chamberlain and a privy councillor and
was given the Garter.

34 PELHAM

I.— HENRY PELHAM.

In the same year, 1717, Henry Pelham was first elected
member for Seaf ord, and took Ms seat among the supporters
of the government. After his short experiences as a
volunteer he had made some journeys on the Continent.
He now returned to England, but he did not deliver his
maiden speech in the House of Commons until May, 1720.
On the return of Walpole and Townshend to oiSce a few
weeks later, he was appointed to the post of Treasurer of the
Chamber. Next year Walpole became Prime Minister,
and Henry Pelham was given a place at the Treasury Board.
Newcastle now renewed his old connection with Walpole,
and on Carteret leaving the Cabinet in 1724 he suc-
ceeded to his place as the Southern Secretary of State.
A year later Pelham was made Secretary at War and sworn
a privy councillor. In 1726 he married Lady Catherine
Manners, daughter of John, second Duke of Rutland.
Newcastle then made over to him half his paternal estate,
and with the money thus received Pelham purchased Esher
Place, near Claremont, his brother's fine house in Surrey.
Here he spent all the time he could snatch from Parliament,
taking great interest in his gardens, which Kent embellished
and which Pope recalls :

" Pleased let me own, in Esher's peaceful grove,
(Where Kent and nature vie for Pelham's love,). . *

Pelham was Walpole's firm friend and loyal supporter,
more personally beloved by him than any man in England.f
" Harry Pelham is now my support and delight.
Whom we bubble all day and we joke on at night. "J

He frequently acted as a mediator between his difiicult
brother Newcastle and Walpole. Newcastle, having got all
he could in the way of titular rank, had now turned his
attention to office. Determined to engross everything that
he thought worth having in that direction, he devoted
himself to the management and increase of the numerous
boroughs that he controlled, and his parliamentary influence

* Pope, " Epilogue to the Satires," ii. 66-9. f Hervey, i. 143.

t Montagu, ii. 493.

IN OFFICE 35

gradually became very powerful. At the same time he
attended with um:emitting industry to his departmental
duties, for he had few other tastes, rural pleasures never
attracted him and his marriage was childless. He was
neither intelligent, loyal, nor easy to get on with, but
Walpole found his busy application not without its use.

On George II.'s accession it looked as if the fortunes
of the Pelham family might be obscured. Ten years
previously the old King had imposed Newcastle on the
Priuce of Wales as a godfather to one of his children. The
younger George had objected, and had called the luck-
less Newcastle a rascal. The King, who would not
tolerate such treatment of his Lord Chamberlain in his
Palace of St. James, had in consequence turned the Prince
out of doors. It might have been expected that with
the new reign the old quarrel would be remembered.
But it was not to be so. George II. observed that
Newcastle was not fit to be chamberlain to a petty
German prince, and the ladies of the Court laughed at
him and called him Est-il permis, the usual preface
to his trite remarks; but he was kept on in his place as
Secretary of State.*

The steady progress of Henry Pelham also continued.
In 1730 he was given the post of Paymaster-General.
Besides the salary of £2,000 a year, it carried large profits
with it, illicit but customary. From these, however,
Pelham refused to benefit. This was the more to his credit
as gambling was one of his principal recreations, and he
needed a considerable income to recoup his losses, having
nothiag like the wealth of his elder brother. He still stuck
closely to Walpole, to whom both friendship and interest
bound him. Naturally of a quiet and pacific disposition, he
was a man of courage where his friends were concerned. In
1732 he had an altercation with Pulteney in the House of
Commons which nearly led to a duel, and the next year
he came boldly forward when quite alone and protected
Six Robert from the attack of a crowd of his opponents
outside the House. He drew his sword and stood out,

* Coxe, " Walpole," i. 329.

36 PELHAM

saying, "Now, gentlemen, who will be the first to fall ?"*
Only on one occasion in all his career did he vote against
his chief, a practice which was then by no means uncommon
even with ministers.

Newcastle was not nearly so faithful a colleague, and when
Walpole's power began to show signs of declining he was
one of the first to begin a correspondence with the Opposi-
tion. He introduced several measures which embarrassed
the Prime Minister, and on Queen Caroline's death he
established a fresh interest at Court through the Princess
Amelia. During the Spanish War he was perpetually
wrangling and blustering, and high words often passed
between him and his leader. Walpole, however, knew the
value of his support, though he was never deceived as to
his loyalty. " His name is perfidy," he used to say, and
Hervey wrote of him:

"For granting his heart is as black as his hat,
With no more truth in this than there's sense beneath that."!

At last, in 1742, came Walpole's fall. The year before
both Newcastle and Pelham had done battle for him,
but now, when defeat was certain, they arranged, largely,
it seems, under Walpole's directions, for the change of
goverimaent and the succession of Wilmington. Although
Newcastle had been for some time intriguing with
Carteret and probably with Pulteney, he had no desire
to have a strong ruler again at the head of afiairs. But
Wilmington was an inofiensive and impotent make-
shift, and when next year he showed signs of failing in
health, the two brothers had recourse to their old leader.
Walpole, who was now Lord Orford, though out of office,
remained nearly as powerful as ever, and his advice and
influence with the King was great.

Pelham, on Wilmington's taking office, had been offered
the place of Chancellor of the Exchequer, but he had pre-
ferred to keep to his old post, with the lead of the House
of Commons. Walpole- thought he had made a mistake, for
he writes to him in July, 1743 : " If you had taken the advice

* Jennings, ii. 117.

t H. Walpole, "Letters," i. 209; Macaulay, vi. 25.

BECOMES PRIME MINISTER 37

of a fool and been made Chancellor under Lord Wilmington
the whole had dropped into your mouth. Lost opportuni-
ties are not easily retrieved."* Pelham, however, was made
First Lord of the Treasury, while Newcastle acquired an
increased share in the control of the government. Carteret,
who had become Lord Granville, stUl remained a potent
factor in the Cabinet, but with Walpole's aid he also
was got rid of a year later, and the two brothers then re-
mained supreme. Newcastle, writing to Lord Chancellor
Hardwicke on November 10, 1744, says: "By what the
King said to your lordship and by Lord Granville's looks
afterwards I should fancy the thing is over; and that they
will take their resolution this day or to-morrow. Perhaps
Lord Granville may desire to be President, with a garter.
I own I do not quite see the necessity of flinging him into
a rage of opposition, if we could, without it, find means of
satisfying Lord Orford and a certain number of his friends;
for without this last we have no ground to stand on, and
shall, I fear, be obliged to shew in a few months that we
have not strength to support the King's afiairs though he
should put them into our hands. My dear Lord, perhaps
nobody but you can carry us through; and you can."t
This was the regular Newcastle style.

The system continued essentially the same as that of
Walpole. " The fall of an unpopular minister," says
Gibbon, ' ' was not succeeded according to general expectation
by a millennium of happiness and virtue: some courtiers
lost their places, some patriots lost their characters. Lord
Orford's offences vanished with his power; and after a short
vibration the Pelham Government was fixed on the old
basis of the Whig aristocracy." J

Diiring Walpole's long and placid administration Pelham
had imbibed the principles of sound finance and had learned
to appreciate the benefits of peace. He now endeavoured
to follow in the footsteps of his master, who died early in
1745. He constructed what was called the Broad Bottom
administration, to which various sections of the Whigs

* Coxe, " Pelham," i. 83. f Ibid., i. 187.

t Gibbon, 20.

38 PELHAM

and a few Tories were admitted. The Cabinet was mainly
made up of dukes, Pelham being tbe only commoner in it.
Almost at the start he had to deal with a war with France,
followed by the defeat of Fontenoy and the Jacobite rising.
To meet public opinion the ministry was obliged to enlist
the best supporters available. Among the most active of
these was William Pitt. More eloquent than any man in
the House of Commons, he was a highly dangerous opponent.
He had powerful friends and connections — ^Lord Cobham,
the Grenvilles, and Lyttelton — and his inclusion in the
government was to Pelham a matter of necessity. But
the King refused, for Pitt's speeches had offended him.
Pelham again urged it, but the King remained obdurate,
with Granville behind him. At last Pelham determined to
kill two birds with one stone. He took his courage in his
hands and resigned. During two days Granville vainly
tried to form a ministry. Then Pelham came back;
Granville was definitely discredited; and Pitt was admitted
to a minor post in the government, and a few months
later was promoted to Pelham's old place of Paymaster-
General. Matters now ran more smoothly. The Opposi-
tion almost ceased to exist, for the Tories had to recover
from the effects of the Rebellion of 1745, while the
chief Whigs were all on the side of the ministers. In
1748 the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed. Three
years later Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Bolingbroke,
two constant fomenters of trouble, both died. Pelham's
task became easier, and he occupied himself mainly with
financial measures for consolidating the National Debt and
reducing its interest.

But though the political future was promising, his own
was not. The early death of his two young sons had
much shaken him, and his health was far from strong.
The disputes between the brothers had already nearly
wrecked the ministry on more than one occasion.* Pelham
longed for some relaxation from his labours, for Newcastle,
though generous to him with money, was jealous and
quarrelled with him almost as much as he had done witlh
* Dodington, 264.

IF". Hoarepinx.

R. Houston sc.

HENRY PELHAM

HIS DEATH 39

Walpole. The constant work of the House of Commons
weighed heavily on him. He tried to retire, but the King
had a fixm trust in him and insisted on his remaining. He
turned again to his work, but it was not for long. Early
in 1754 he caught a chill from walking in St. James's
Park and then standing by an open window. It developed
into erysipelas and on March 6 he died suddenly, aged
about sixty, after having led the government for nearly
eleven years.

The country was agitated and dismayed. The King
exclaimed that now he would have no more peace. The
Whigs especially deplored Pelham's loss. It fell on the
same day that a new edition of Bolingbroke's works had
appeared, and Grarrick wrote of it:

" The same sad morn to cliurcli and state,
So for our sins 'twas fixed by fate,
A double stroke was given ;
Black as the whirlwind of the North
St. John's fell genius issued forth.
And Pelham's fled to heaven."*

The Tory squires, however, who had not relished his taxes
nor his reduction of the funds, celebrated him in another
vein:

" Lie heavy on him, land, for he
Laid many a heavy load on thee."t

Pelham was his brother's heir, but he only left daughters.
The husband of one of these eventually succeeded by a
special remainder to Newcastle's title and estates, and from
her the present duke is descended. Another daughter
married Lord Sondes, a cousin of Lord Rockingham.

Pelham was a man of some presence and dignity, of a
florid, healthy constitution, but " careless of his health,
most intemperate in eating, and used no exercise." J There
are good pictures of him by Hoare and by Shackleton,
showing a broad, pufEy face of a placid and kindly ex-
pression, not without thought and spirit. He had simple,
unobtrusive manners, and was singularly generous and

* H. Walpole, " Letters," ii. 372. f H. Walpole, " George IL," i. 219
t H. Walpole, " Letters," ii. 374.

40 PBLHAM

honest. A devoted father and husband, he was happiest
in his country pursuits,

" Where in the sweetest solitude . . .
From courts and senates Pelham finds repose,"*

though much given to the picquet-table at White's when
in London. Cautious and mild as a politician, he was
chiefly anxious to carry on the government with economy
and peace on the lines of his powerful predecessor. With-
out much ambition himself, he had had all his life to bear
with his busy, -onstable and importunate brother, though
he would have been well content to live in quiet could he
have evaded the trammels of ofiice. But Newcastle pushed
him on, while George II., who disliked changes, knew when
he had got a good minister, and insisted on having full value.

Chesterfield called Pelham " a very inelegant speaker. "f
Waldegrave says of him:

" He had acquired the reputation of an able and honest
minister; had a plain, solid understanding, improved by
experience in business, as well as by a thorough knowledge
of the world; and without being an orator, or having the
finest parts, no man in the House of Commons argued with
more weight, or was heard with greater attention. He was
a frugal steward to the public, averse to continental extra-
vagance and useless subsidies ; preferring a tolerable peace
to the most successful war; jealous to maintain his personal
credit and authority; but nowise inattentive to the true
interest of his country. "|

Henry Pelham was a sound, though timid, statesman.
With the tradition of Walpole behind him, the King's
favour, the loyal support of the whole Whig connection,
and hardly any opposition to meet, his political lot lay in
pleasant times. He governed the House of Commons by
the usual methods of bribery, though he was absolutely
free from venality himself. Content to pursue an even
course, anxious to avoid adventures, careful in finance, firm
in his administration at home and pacific in his policy
* Thomson's "Seasons," " Summer," 1431.
t Chesterfield, " Miscellaneous Works," iv. 45. (Charact.)
$ Waldegrave, " Memoirs," 18.

NEWCASTLE SUCCEEDS 41

abroad, his period continued the golden days of Whig
government in the eighteenth century. ' Had he not been
thrust into the shade by Walpole and Chatham, his
sterling merits would have been more widely recognized.
His real value was most seen when he was gone.

NEWCASTLE

Newcastle professed to be shattered by his brother's
death, but he lost no time in securing his vacant place.
He writes to Lord Albemarle on March 28, 1754 :

" I have the greatest loss that man can have, and now
have no view but to endeavour to pursue his measures,
serve his friends, and particularly to do everything that
can best comfort his poor family. The King's charity,
goodness, and confidence are not to be expressed, and I
have no comfort so great as that of following my dearest
brother's example to the best of my power; to do the King
the best service and give him the greatest satisfaction. It
is for that reason that His Majesty has commanded me to
go to the head of the Treasury, as thinking (and in that the
King shall not be deceived) that nobody could so punctually
observe all that has been intended as myself. I shall
endeavour to make the same friends by doing my best to
deserve it."*

This sounded well enough, but in selecting his friends
Newcastle almost at once made a cardinal error. For
some reason still not clearly understood he omitted to
promote the powerful Pitt. For ten years Pitt had re-
mained in a subordinate though well-paid place, doing hard
work in the House of Commons and often supporting
measures of which he did not approve. His abilities were
pre-eminent and he was well on in age. He felt now that
his chance had come. Remonstrances with Newcastle were
in vain. So Pitt threw down the gauntlet and brought the
great guns of his eloquence to bear on the ministry. In a
short time he was dismissed from ofl&ce. A succession of
salvos then burst upon the wretched Robinson, who had
* Coxe, " Pelham." ii. 307.

42 NEWCASTLE

been put up to lead in the Commons. To withstand these
attacks Newcastle enlisted the help of Fox, to be Secretary
of State and to take Robinson's place. Fox asked who
would have the management of the members — i.e., the
distribution of the secret service money. Newcastle said
he was going to keep that himself. " My brother, when he
was at the Treasury, never told anyone what he did with
the secret service money," said the Duke, " and no more
will I."* Fox, who was touchy and liked power and money,
was much dissatisfied, but he undertook the work. In the
meantime Pitt continued to bombard the ministers, and
at last Fox resigned and joined him. This combination
was too much for Newcastle. The French War was going
badly, and the defeats irritated public opinion. He had
no good man in the House of Commons. For two and a
half years he had held on, but he saw that now he must
compromise or retire — at any rate for a little. He made
a final efiort to separate the two new allies, but he failed,
and at last, in November, 1756, after a series of querulous
and feverish manoeuvres, he was constrained to resign, and
Devonshire and Pitt took over the government.

But Newcastle's borough influence in the country, his
parliamentary connection, his alliance with nearly all the
great Whig families, and his experience of oflBice, had made
him an almost indispensable friend and a very dangerous
opponent. The new ministers thus found that they were
unable to continue without his support. They recognized
the inevitable and in July, 1757, a treaty was patched up
between Pitt and Newcastle, Devonshire gladly making way.

The negotiations which led to this coalition were pro-
tracted and devious, and on Newcastle's side they were
often ludicrous. But eventually an arrangement was come
to. Newcastle was to be First Lord of the Treasury and
to manage the patronage and the placemen; Pitt was to be
Secretary of State and to direct the policy.

Then, in Lord Macaulay's words, "... out of the chaos
in which parties had for some time been rising, falling,
meeting, separating, rose a government as strong at home
* Macaulay, vi. 59.

PRIME MINISTER 43

as that of Pelham, as successful abroad as that of Godolphin.
. . . Newcastle brought to the coalition a vast mass of
power, which had descended to him from Walpole and
Pelham. The public offices, the church, the courts of law,
the army, the navy, the diplomatic service, swarmed with
his creatures. The boroughs . . . were represented by his
nominees. The great Whig families, which, during several
generations, had been trained in the discipline of party
warfare, and were accustomed to stand together in a firm
phalanx, acknowledged him as their captain. Pitt, on the
other hand, had what Newcastle wanted, an eloquence
which stirred the passions and charmed the imagination,
a high reputation for purity, and the confidence and ardent
love of millions. The partition which the two ministers
made of the powers of government was singularly happy.
Each occupied a province for which he was well qualified;
and neither had any inclination to intrude himself into the
province of the other. Newcastle took the treasury, the
civil and ecclesiastical patronage, and the disposal of that
part of the secret service money which was then employed
in bribing members of Parliament. Pitt was Secretary of
State, with the direction of the war and of foreign affairs."*

The ministry was soon celebrated over the whole globe
for its military and naval achievements, and if Pitt was
the directing spirit of victory, Newcastle, for his part, kept
the House of Commons and the country contented at home.
These, indeed, were his palmiest days of wire-pulling and
patronage. Walpole and Pelham were dead, and Pitt cared
for none of these things. Newcastle was able to surround
himself with sycophants and clients, to hold daily levees, to
indite interminable letters, to eat magnificent dinners, and
to pay his duty to the King and the princesses. Not that
he neglected the business of state, for in this he was as as-
siduous as he was in all his occupations. But he loved the
panoply of power, and he had it now to his heart's content.

For a few years all went well. Lord Chesterfield, writing
in May, 1758, says: " Domestic affairs go just as they did;
the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt jog on like man and

* Macaulay, vi. 70.

44 NEWCASTLE

wife; that is seldom agreeing, often quarrelling; but by
mutual interest, upon the whole not parting."* It was
the calm before the storm.

During the old King's reign no cloud marred the horizon,
and the political future of the government looked singularly
promising. But when at last he died and the new heir came
in, the sky rapidly began to lose its brightness. A Scots
member of the young King's household, Lord Bute, hitherto
only a courtier, had determined to become a politician.
When Newcastle went to the palace with the draft of the
King's speech, the Whig First Lord of the Treasury was
referred to the Tory Groom of the Stole. He was aston-
ished, but he did not demur. Shortly afterwards Bute was
made in rapid succession a privy councillor, a Knight of the
Garter and a Secretary of State.

Pitt had seen which way the wind was blowing and did
not tolerate it for long. When his advice was disregarded
he spoke out, and then, as the disregard continued and
Newcastle did not support him, with impetuous contempt
he resigned. But the Newcastle code of politics was
difierent; in it, according to Lord Stanhope, "the next
best thing to a firm retention of office was the prospect of a
speedy return to it."f For a year the old duke bore rebuffs
and disavowals of his policy with the best grace he could
muster. But at last he found that if he stayed on he would
have to submit to Bute not only his policy, but also his
patronage.

In a letter to Legge early in 1762 he says: " I was this
day at Court in order to speak to My Lord Bute but he was
not there. I will endeavour to see him to-morrow and shall
do my utmost . . . but I am sorry to observe to you that
the present conjuncture is not the most favourable for a
recommendation of mine." J To such a state of political
impotence was the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister of
England, reduced. But there were limits even to his
patience, and when Bute ceased to dictate and merely
ignored him, he finally steeled his mind to go. In October,

* Chesterfield, ii. 411. f Stanhope, " Hist.," iv. 385, 386.

i Original correspondence.

EESIGNATION AND DEATH 45

1762, he resigned, at the age of sixty-nine, after having been
continually in office, with the exception of a few months in
1756-7, for forty -five years. He refused to accept any
pension and went out with some dignity. Nothing became
him in office so much as his leaving of it. " It moves one
to compassion," writes a contemporary, " to think of the
poor old Duke himself. A man once possessed of £25,000
per annum of landed estate, with £10,000 in emoluments of
government, now reduced to an estate of scarcely £6,000 per
annum, and going into retirement (not to say sinking into
contempt) with not so much as a feather in his cap, and but
such a circle of friends as he has deprived of their places."*

Bute succeeded to his place, and proceeded to pile Pelion
on Ossa. Within a year he had deprived the old minister,
in company with the Duke of Grafton and Lord Rocking-
ham, of the three lord-lieutenancies which he had held since
the days of George I. Newcastle's rage and amazement
were unbounded, but he bided his time. Twelve months
later Bute had disappeared; in two years more Grenville,
his successor, had been dismissed, and in 1765 Newcastle,
now in his seventy-third year, was able to return to office
as Lord Privy Seal under Rockingham. But this short
Whig administration lasted only until 1766, and then Pitt,
his former rival and colleague, formed a new government
and Newcastle retired.

This was the end of Newcastle's political career. He
stUl corresponded, intrigued and complained, but he had
ceased to carry much weight; he was becoming senile, and
in 1768 he died.

He left no children, and his dukedom, which had been
re-created with fresh limitations, descended to his nephew.
Lord Lincoln. His income, through his political expendi-
ture, had been reduced by nearly three-quarters, for though
he had often bribed others, after the custom of his day,
he had never profited himself, but had lost heavily by his
tenure of office.

Newcastle was neither a handsome nor an attractive
man. There are several pictures of him, but coronets,
* Ellis, 2nd aeries, iv. 454.

46 NEWCASTLE

robes, wands and inscriptions are more striking features in
them than looks, expression or figure. Superficial virtues
he undoubtedly lacked. Waldegrave, writing in 1759,
describes him at some length :

" Ambition, fear, and jealousy, are his prevailing
passions.

" In the midst of prosperity and apparent happiness, the
slightest disappointment, or any imaginary evil, will, in a
moment, make him miserable; his mind can never be com-
posed; his spirits are always agitated. Yet this constant
ferment, which would wear out and destroy any other man,
is perfectly agreeable to his constitution: he is at the very
perfection of health, when his fever is at the greatest height.

" His character is full of inconsistencies; the man would
be thought very singular who differed as much from the
rest of the world as he difiers from himself.

"If we consider how many years he has continued in
the highest employments; that he has acted a very con-
siderable part amongst the most considerable persons of his
own time ; that, when his friends have been routed, he has
still maintained his ground; that he has incurred His
Majesty's displeasure on various occasions, but has always
carried his point, and has soon been restored both to favor
and confidence; it cannot be denied that he possesses some
qualities of an able minister. Yet view him in a difierent
light, and our veneration will be somewhat abated. Talk
with him concerning public or private business, of a nice or
delicate nature, he will be found confused, irresolute,
continually rambling from the subject, contradicting him-
self almost every instant.

" Hear him speak in parliament, his manner is ungrace-
ful, his language barbarous, his reasoning inconclusive.
At the same time, he labours through all the confusion of a
debate without the least distrust of his own abilities; fights
boldly in the dark; never gives up the cause; nor is he ever
at a loss either for words or argument.

" His professions and promises are not to be depended
on, though, at the time they are made, he often means to
perform them; but is unwilling to displease any man by a

CHARACTERISTICS 47

plain negative, and frequently does not recollect that he is
under the same engagements to at least ten competitors.

" If he caimot be esteemed a steady friend, he has never
shewn himself a bitter enemy ; and his forgiveness of injuries
proceeds as much from good nature as it does from policy.

"Pride is not to be numbered amongst his faults; on
the contrary, he deviates into the opposite extreme, and
courts popularity with such extravagant eagerness, that he
frequently descends to an undistinguishing and illiberal
familiarity.

" Neither can he be accused of avarice, or of rapacious-
ness; for though he will give bribes, he is above accepting
them ; and instead of having enriched himself at the expense
of his master, or of the public, he has greatly impaired a
very considerable estate by electioneering, and keeping up
a good parliamentary interest, which is comimonly, though
perhaps improperly, caUed the service of the crown.

" His extraordinary care of his health is a jest even
amongst his flatterers. As to his jealousy, it could not be
carried to a higher pitch, if every political friend was a
favourite mistress."*

He was a man of marvellous industry. Burke says:
" There was nothing I was so much surprised at in the late
Duke of Newcastle as that immense and almost incredible
ease with which he was able to despatch such an infinite
number of letters."! All of them he seems to have written
with his own hand, and they are singularly slipshod and
diffuse,

Horace Walpole gives a specially venomous account of
him, ia which all his betrayals, all his vices and all his
failures are set down. " Jealousy," he says, " was the
great source of aU his faults, with a ridiculous fear. His
houses, gardens, table and equipage swallowed immense
treasures; the sums he owed were only exceeded by those
he wasted. He liked business immoderately, yet was only
always doing it, never did it;" and so on. " His life had
been a proof that even in a free country great abilities are

* Waldegrave, 11-14. f Burke, " Corresp.," i. 168.

48 NEWCASTLE

not necessary to govern it."* Mucli of this may be
exaggeration, but there is no doubt that Newcastle was the
favourite butt of political pamphleteers and cartoonists of
the day. The tales of his slobbering and bustling, of his
malapropos remarks, of his flattery, of his tears and fears,
of his ignorance and folly, are as well known as they are
numerous. His hurrying, ungainly walk, his disordered
clothes, his vacant manner, his fidsome embraces, all make
up a singularly repellent figure.

" His natural gifts so low, he strives in vain
To climb a height that dulness can attain. . . .
Let him but keep his outside show of power
He'U act with Oxford, Granville, Bath or Gower."t

From his earliest days he was a politician. At twenty-
one " he paid a large crowd in the city to halloo for King
George on Queen Anne's death. "J He never seems to have
had any other serious tastes, and his private delights were
centred in his banquets at Newcastle House and his fruit
gardens at Claremont, from which, says Walpole, " the
piueapples are literally sent to Hanover by courier. "§ He
did, it is true, " affect to be in love " with the Princess Amelia
after the death of Queen Caroline, but there does not seem
to have been much more in the afiair than a desire to
increase his political influence — at the expense of Sir
Robert Walpole. || That he was hospitable, generous and
indefatigable in assisting his friends is certain. His other
good qualities are not so prominent. But a man even with
the material advantages of Newcastle does not hold high
political ofiice for nearly fifty years and become twice Prime
Minister without possessing considerable abilities. Perhaps
his strongest asset was knowledge, that knowledge of
politics, of people, of public business and of precedents,
which cannot be acquired by intuition or by study, but
only from long experience at the centre of affairs. By such
talents and by his influence in Parliament he gradually made

* H. Walpole, " George III.," iii. 265.

t Hanbury Williams, ii. 140, 142. J Coxe, " Pelham.'-'

§ H. Walpole, " Letters," ii. 123.

II H. Walpole, " Letters," i. 135 ; Hervey, ii. 544.

G. KneUer pinx.

J. Fdber sc.

THOMAS PELHAM-HOLLES

DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

Tofacepaae 48

THE END OF AN EPOCH 49

himself a necessary factor in the government, or made the
King and his colleagues think him so. When he went the
myth exploded, but while he remained on the political stage
his collaboration was always sought for. His experience,
his rank, his riches and his control of the House of Com-
mons, had served to keep him in power; and power, with all
its concomitants of patronage, business and consideration,
was his only ambition. To acquire or to retain these he
would run any risks and descend to any depths.

" Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte suprema
Permutet dominos et oedat in altera jura."

When place was to be pitted against perfidy there was
never any hesitation in his mind. Walpole and Chatham
both recognized this, and appraised Newcastle accordingly;
but his influence and his utility had to be reckoned with,
and they were both sufficiently sensible men to value
compromise.

Newcastle shares with Palmerston the distinction of
having held some political office for a longer period than
any other Prime Minister. That and perhaps the negative
virtue of omitting to enrich himself at the public expense
in days when he could easily have done so withoiit much
comment have ensured him a place in history.

With his death an epoch maybe said to have passed away.
He had heard of Cromwell from his father, and could
himself recollect King William and Queen Anne. He had
met the great men of the Revolution, and had known
Marlborough, Godolphin and Sunderland, Addison, Swift
and Pope. He could remember Louis XIV. and the Old
Pretender as definite dangers, and Walpole and Chatham
as rising politicians. With him the permanent rule of the
old Whigs really finished, and some of his successors who
were born in his lifetime were to see a fresh system in which
dukes and white staves, close constituencies and port wine,
gradually became of rather less account in shaping the
destinies of England.

CHAPTEK III
THE DUKES

DEVONSHIRE, GEAFTON AND PORTLAND

The eighteenth century was the heyday of dukes m
England. Before the Restoration they were few in number,
to be counted on a single hand. But Charles II., perhaps
from his recollections of the French Court, where they
abounded, started making them at a rapid rate. William
III., Anne and George I. followed suit, and by 1721, the
year in which Walpole became Prime Minister, there were
as many as thirty-two dukes, considerably more than exist
to-day. For forty years they had been created at an
average of one every fifteen months. It is true that more
than half of them have now disappeared — Albemarle,
Ancaster, Bolton, Bridgewater, Buckingham, Chandos,
Cleveland, Dorset, Kent, Kingston, Monmouth, Montague,
Ormonde, Schomberg, Shrewsbury, Wharton, and others
that have been revived since, are all instances; and this
is not including the foreign duchesses such as Kendal
and Portsmouth, who had achieved a more dubious
eminence. Thus there were quite sufficient members
of the highest rank in the peerage to monopolize most of
the principal offices in the Cabinet or at Court, and as most
of the dukes were wealthy and influential, while many
were desirous of place, they formed an appreciable element
in the politics of the time. " In those days," says Lord
Rosebery, " an industrious duke could have almost what
he chose. . . . Pelham's administration contained five
dukes; he himself was the only commoner in it, and he
was a duke's brother. . . . The two Secretaries of State
were both dukes."* Their position was indeed so important,

* Rosebery, " Chatham," 264.
50

DU.CAL MINISTRIES 51

their quality so revered, that their mere name was of very
considerable value to any Cabinet. The only Prime
Minister who ever succeeded in leading a government, first
as a Whig and then as a Tory, was a duke. In twenty-six
years, from 1757 to 1783, out of nine Prime Ministers four
were dukes. In the last hundred years only one has filled
that place. Of the four eighteenth-century dukes the first,
Newcastle, was something quite sui generis. His origin
was difierent to that of the other three, Devonshire, Grafton,
and Portland, whose paternal grandfathers had all been
dukes before them. His had been only a country gentle-
man. His rank, wealth and borough influence helped him,
but he was also a genuine working politician. Out of the
fifty-four years of his political life, reckoning from his
coming of age, he was forty-six years in some sort of
ofl&ce. Devonshire, Grafton and Portland between them
barely averaged one-quarter of this stupendous record,
and not one of them ever approached Newcastle in zeal
and industry.

These three dukes, then, may fairly be regarded as be-
longing to a class apart. Not great men themselves, they
were often used as respectable and awe-inspiring covers for
other ministers. The elder Pitt, a shrewd judge, always
selected them for this dignified position. They were good
rallying-points for their party, and as a rule they were more
acceptable to the Sovereign than comparatively novi
homines like Pitt and Fox. But though they lacked genius,
they were men of character and fair ability, who gave quite
as much to the State as they got from it. Free from
personal ambition and little attracted by office, they were
more independent and detached than the regular politician,
and in their own way they set up a standard.

I.— DEVONSHIRE

William Cavendish, first styled Marquess of Hartington
and afterwards fourth Duke of Devonshire, was born in
1720 — both the month and place of his birth are un-
certain. He was the eldest son of William, the third duke.

52 DEVONSHIRE

and Catherine, only daughter and heiress of John Hoskins,
of Oxted, in Surrey. When he was nine years old his father
succeeded to the dukedom, so that he was brought up in
the most brilliant and the soundest traditions of the Whigs.

The Cavendishes, who dated from the days of the early
Tudors, were at the head of the Revolution families. The
first duke had presided at that meeting of magnates which
determined to bring over William of Orange, and to the
Protestant succession his family had ever adhered. His
son had married a daughter of the patriot Lord Russell,
and so further cemented his anti-Jacobite connection.
The third duke was content to shine with a subdued light,
but he was a Whig of the purest water and of much weight
in the coimtry. According to Waldegrave, he " had great
credit with the Whigs, being a man of strict honor, true
courage, and unaffected affability. He was sincere,
humane, and generous; plain in his manners, negligent in
his dress ; had sense, learning and modesty, with solid rather
than showy parts ; and was of a family which had eminently
distinguished itself in the cause of liberty.

" Many would have followed him, had he given proper
encouragement ; particularly those who professed the purest
Whiggism, and were neither quite satisfied with our
ministers, nor quite determined to oppose them. But he
did not affect to be a party leader; besides, he had an
esteem and friendship for Mr. Pelham, though he had not
the most favorable opinion of the Duke of Newcastle."*
He was among Sir Robert Walpole's oldest friends, had
supported him consistently, and had served under him
as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland from 1737 to 1744. His
daughter, Lady Rachel, soon after his death married
Walpole's nephew.

The young Lord Hartington was educated, so far as is
known, at home, and then travelled for some time on the
Continent. He had ' ' many of the good qualities of his father, ,
but seemed less averse to business and better qualified
for a court."! He came early into politics. At the age of
twenty-one he was elected for Derbyshire, and remained a
* Waldegrave, 26. f Ibid., 85, 86.

PEIME MINISTER 53

member of tlie House of Commons for ten years. During
this time lie was closely concerned with all the events
following on the fall of the Walpole administration, though
he held no official position. In March, 1748, he married
Lady Charlotte Boyle, daughter and heiress of Richard,
Earl of Burlington, who brought him a large accession of
English and Irish property. In that year Lady Mary
Montagu writes of him: " I do not know any man so fitted
to make a wife happy."*

About this time his father, who had little love for office,
gave up his place of Lord Steward, with his seat in the
Cabinet, and retired to Chatsworth. In 1751 Hartington
was called up to the House of Lords in one of his father's
baronies, and shortly afterwards he accepted the place
of Master of the Horse and was sworn a privy councillor.
He was a friend of Henry Fox and was on good terms with
Pitt, but was not otherwise very active in Parliament.

In 1754 Pelham died. He was succeeded as Prime
Minister by his brother Newcastle. " A faint offer of the
Treasury," says Lord Rosebery, " was made to the Duke
of Devonshire, which he wisely declined."f But New-
castle was anxious to have a Cavendish in his Cabinet, and
early in the next year Hartington, who had just lost his
young wife, was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
Eight months later his father died, and he became Duke of
Devonshire.

In the meantime Newcastle had succeeded, by means of
the curious intrigues and manoeuvres which distinguished
him, in estranging first Pitt and then Fox. The latter in
October, 1756, resigned his office of Secretary of State,
and soon afterwards the ministry began to crumble.
Foreign afiairs were going badly, and the credit of the
government had sunk. Pitt, whom the King had ap-
proached as Newcastle's principal opponent, now recom-
mended the appointment of Devonshire as First Lord of the
Treasury, mainly on account of his high reputation, the
royal favour he enjoyed and the number of his friends.

* Montagu, ii. 160.

t Eosebery, " Chatham," 339; H. Walpole, " George II.," i. 381.

54 DEVONSHIRE

Pitt himself was to be Secretary of State, with the chief
power in the Cabinet. To much of this the Duke was
averse, but eventually it was forced on him on the grounds
of public policy, and he kissed hands on November 4.
" Yet," says Waldegrave, " he did not accept till His
Majesty had given his word that, in case he disliked his
employment, he should be at full liberty to resign at the
end of the approaching session of Parliament."*

Once the question was settled, Devonshire approached
his task with zeal and sincerity. He writes to Legge, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, on November 6, 1756 :

" Deae Mr. Legge, '

" I am just come from Kensington where I have
acquainted His Majesty that Mr. Pitt acquiesces in the
Southern department and submits Lord Holdernesse's con-
tinuance to the King by which means I flatter myself that
this Country may at least gain a breathing time, pray G-od
some means may be found out to save her. I received your
Letter and have done everything in my power to comply
with what you desire, as yet I have not had the success I
could wish but you may depend upon me that nothing
shall be wanting on my part to show my regard to you.
I send this by a flying Pacquet and hope you will be so good
as to come up directly, that no time may be lost. I am to
go tomorrow morning early with Lord Temple to Hayes
in order to settle matters farther and propose being back
time enough for Court. My best respects to Mrs. Legge
and believe me to be,
" Dear Sr,

" Yr most faithfull humble servt,

" Devonshire."!

His ministry, however, was unsuccessful. Newcastle
commanded the principal borough influence in the Com-
mons, and wanted to come back. Pitt had few friends
and was as yet a man of little connection, except with the
ubiquitous Grenvilles. The unfortunate trial of Admiral
Byng damaged the government, and the King loathed Lord
* Waldegrave, 86. f Original correspondence.

A. Ttamsay pinx.

william cavendish
4th duke of DEVONSHIEE

To face page 64

RESIGNATION 55

Temple, who was Pitt's brother-in-law and one of its
principal members. Devonshire was uneasy in his place
and was not particularly fond of his colleagues. The King
knew this: " The Duke of Devonshire," he said, "has acted
by me in the handsomest manner, and is in a very disagree-
able situation entirely on my account. I have promised
that he shall be at full liberty at the end of the session, and
I must keep my word."*

His Majesty accordingly began to look about for a new
minister and first pitched upon Lord Waldegrave, one of
his own household. The plan came to nothing, though
Devonshire was privy to it, being very ready to leave office.
Various solutions were sought, and at last, in July, 1757,
an arrangement was come to between Newcastle and Pitt,
and an administration was formed imder their leadership.
Devonshire, who had been made a Knight of the Garter
and appointed Lord Chamberlain on the death of the old
Duke of Grafton, was then able to retire from his ungrateful
place at the Treasury. " Pitt and Leicester House," says
Waldegrave, " for a time paid great court to him; but when
they perceived that he had a will of his own, in some
material articles; that he would neither totally abandon
his old master, nor renounce his former friends, all cordiality
and confidence was immediately at an end. . . . Though
he had been disgusted by faction and perplexed with
difficulties, he lost no reputation; for great things had never
been expected from him as a minister; and in the ordinary
business of his office he had shown great punctuality and
diligence, and no want of capacity."!

He continued at Court until the accession of George III.,
when new counsels began to prevail. To Bute and the
Princess of Wales all the Whigs, and especially Devonshire,
were extremely distasteful. Little time was lost in making
the change felt. In 1762 Bute became Prime Minister,
and he quickly found the opportunity he desired. . . .
" The Duke of Devonshire," says Macaulay, "was especially
singled out as the victim by whose fate the magnates of
England were to take warning. His wealth, rank and

* Waldegrave, 100. f Ibid., 140-1.

5

56 DEVONSHIRE

influence, his stainless private character, and the constant
attachment of his family to the House of Hanover, did not
secure him from gross personal indignity. It was known
that he disapproved of the course which the government
had taken, and it was accordingly determined to humble
the Priace of the Whigs, as he had been nicknamed by the
Princess Mother. He went to the Palace to pay his duty,
' Tell him,' said the King to a page, ' that I will not see
him.' The page hesitated. ' Go to him,' said the King,
' and tell him those very words.' The message was de-
livered. The Duke tore ofi his gold key, and went away
boiling with anger. His relations who were in office in-
stantly resigned. A few days later, the King called for the
list of Privy Councillors, and with his own hand struck out
the Duke's name."*

The Duke at once resigned his lord lieutenancy of
Derbyshire. He writes to the Secretary of State, Lord
Halifax, on December 30, 1762 :

" The removal of the Duke of Newcastle and Lord
Rockingham from the Lieutenancies of their respective
coimties, appearing to me a clear indication that His
Majesty does not tMnk fit that those who have incurred his
displeasure should continue his Lord Lieutenants, and, as I
have the misfortune to come within that description, His
Majesty having been advised to show me the strongest
marks of his displeasure that could possibly be shown to
any subject, I look upon it as a respect due to my sovereign,
and I owe it to myself, not to continue any longer in such
an office. I must therefore beg the favour of your Lordship
to carry to the King my resignation of the Lord Lieutenancy
and Gustos Rotulorum of the County of Derby.

" I am, etc.,

" DEVONSHIEE."t

This was the end of his political life. Early in 1764 he
became ill; in August he set ofi to Spa, sufiering from
dropsy, and on October 2 he died there at the age of f orty-

* Macaulay, vi. 235; Jesse, "George III.," i. 144.
t Albemarle, i. 156.

CHAKACTERISTICS 57

four. He was the shortest lived of all the Prime Ministers,
and his death was universally regarded as a real calamity.
He left several sons, from one of whom the present duke
is descended, and a daughter, who married the Duke of
Portland, afterwards Prime Minister. Several of his pos-
terity have attained high distinction in the public service;
and among the dukes those of Devonshire have alone
enjoyed the honour of all receiving the Garter.

In his young days Devonshire was one of the best-looking
men in London. With a long narrow face, fresh complexion,
tall and well set up, he was a singularly attractive figure.

A man of great independence and fearlessness of
character, he was honest, cool and resolute. Office he never
sought; it sought him. Indeed, his name was sufficient
to form, though not perhaps to maintain, a government.
Of his private life too little is known. He says that he did
not read the newspapers, though he went a good deal to
the play. He was a friend of Garrick's and when Lord
Chamberlain used to invoke his aid as to his duties in
regard to the stage, which he treated with considerable
humour. Dr. Johnson had said of the third duke that, " If
he had promised you an acorn and none had grown that
year in his woods, he would not have contented himself
with such an excuse; he would have sent to Denmark for
it — so unconditional was he in his word; so high as to the
point of honour."* His son was, " like his father, naturally
averse to public business, but, like his father also, was
highly esteemed by all parties for probity and truth, "f

Devonshire, indeed, was a man too good for his age.
Pitt did not appeal to him as a man, nor Fox as a politician.
The former's views were too ideal — he wanted power; the
latter's were too material — he wanted place. Devonshire
wanted neither; he wanted peace and a quiet life; but he
was too loyal to his country and his party to avoid what
he held to be his duty. Arid though he kept to his motto,
Cavendo tutus, he was a man of a high spirit, and like his
ancestor, who had defied a Stuart King, he was well able
to hold his own with one from Hanover.

* Boswell, iii. 186. t Stanhope, "Hist.," iv. 127.

58 GRAFTON

II.— GRAFTON

Augustus Henry Fitzroy, afterwards third Duke of
Grafton, was born on October 9, 1735, the second but elder
surviving son of Lord Augustus Fitzroy by Elizabeth,
daughter of Colonel William Crosby, an Irishman of good
family, who had been Governor of New York. His father,
the third son of the second duke, was a naval officer of some
distinction, who had been M.P. for Thetford, but he fell
a victim to malaria at the siege of Carthagena when only
twenty-five years old. A few years later, by the death of
an vmcle, yoimg Fitzroy, at the age of twelve, became heir
to the dukedom. This, he says, " turned my brother
and myself over to the care of my grandfather."* With
his prospects his upbringing underwent a material change.

Lord Euston, as he was now called, went to live at
Wakefield, and was sent to school first at Hackney and
then at Westminster. As a boy he met the famous WiUiam
Pitt at Lord Cobham's seat atStowe, and conceived a strong
admiration for him. At sixteen, in right of his birth, he
took his degree as Master of Arts at Peterhouse, Cambridge,
and then started off to make the grand tour. He was
accompanied by a Monsieur AUeon, a Genevan, whom he
describes in his memoirs as " a real gentleman, and a man
of great honour, with much knowledge of the world; but
who was more fitted to form the polite man than to assist
or encourage any progress in literary pursuits ! . . , In
this tour we stretched down as far as Naples, and passing
through the South of France, making a second stay at
Geneva, we visited Switzerland, a very small part of
Germany, and turned through Holland, back by Flanders
to Paris, with the intention of making a longer abode in
that city than we were afterwards enabled to accomplish.
Our stay at Paris and Fontainebleau, however, was not
less than five months; and I had, thro' the means of Lord
Albemarle, our ambassador, in whose family I was in-
timate, the opportunity of seeing the best company at
* Grafton, 3.

THE SECOND DUKE 59

Paris, which I cultivated much to my satisfaction."* He
read history, the principles of government, and " the sound
system of Mr. Locke," and was by no means lacking in
industry. Returning to England in 1754, just after
Pelham's death, he found the various parties of political
men " ambitiously struggling to advance their own power
and that of their friends, and appearing to be less attentive
to the state of the nation."f

In 1756 he came of age, and married his first wife, the
Hon. Anne Liddell, daughter of the first Lord Ravensworth.
He was then elected member for Bury St. Edmimds, and
appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales.
A few months later his grandfather died from a fall out
hunting, and Lord Euston succeeded to the title and
estates, and was soon afterwards made lord lieutenant of
Suffolk.

The old duke had been a remarkable character. The
grandson of Charles II. and of his minister Lord Arlington,
he had shown the firmest loyalty to the House of Hanover,
and had been a lifelong friend of Greorge II. " He was,"
says Waldegrave, " a few days older than the King; had
been Lord Chamberlain during the whole reign, and had a
particular manner of talking to his master on all subjects,
and of touching upon the most tender points, which no
other person ever ventured to imitate.

" He usually turned politics into ridicule ; had never
applied himself to business; and as to books, was totally
illiterate; yet from long observation, and great natural
sagacity, he became the ablest courtier of his time; had
the most perfect knowledge both of King and ministers;
and had more opportunities than any man of doing good or
bad offices.

" He was a great teazer; had an established right of saying
whatever he pleased; and by a most intimate acquaintance
with all the Duke of Newcastle's evasions, had acquired
... an ascendant over him. . . ."J

The young duke thus started well. " When I waited on
His Majesty at Kensington, and was admitted into the

* Grafton, 3-4. t ^^^ *• t Waldegrave, 114.

60 GEAFTON

closet, in order to deliver the ensigns of the Order of the
Garter of my late grandfather, the King, after a few
common questions, said, and with tears evidently rising in
his eyes, ' Duke of Grafton, I always honoured and loved
your grandfather, and lament his loss. I wish you may be
like him; I hear you are a very good boy.' "*

Grafton went down to the country, and for the next few
years took no particular part in politics, devoting himself
to his estates, hunting and the turf. Early in 1761 he
again made a journey to France and Italy for his wife's
health, but his relations with her began to be strained, and
soon after their return the two were separated.

George III. was now King, Pitt and Newcastle had
retired, and Bute had come into power. Grafton was a good
Whig and came up to do battle. He made his first speech
in the House of Lords against the peace with France. " It
was, he says, too declamatory, but " it had one good effect
at least, for it called up the Earl of Bute."! It seems also
to have succeeded in annoying the minister, for, in company
with Newcastle and Rockingham, Grafton was deprived
of his lord lieutenancy. This thoroughly identified him
with his party. He saw Pitt often and lived a great deal
with Lord Temple. He visited Wilkes in prison, and gave
considerable attention to politics, though he stiU spent
much of the year in the country. But when in London he
was active and keen. Horace Walpole writes of him about
this time: " He is appearing in a new light, and by the
figure he makes wiU soon be at the head of the Opposition
if it continues. "J

Grafton was concerned in several of the negotiations of
the Whigs to bring Pitt into power, but finding this im-
possible, he eventually consented in July, 1765, to take
office as Secretary of State in Lord Rockingham's ministry.
He was then just thirty years old. In this place he remained
nine months, resigning the seals after a second attempt to
bring in Pitt had failed. On that occasion he seems to have
acted with spirit and loyalty.

The Rockingham administration only lasted until July,
* Grafton, 10-11. j Ibi^-' 24-25. f H. Walpole, " Letters," iv. 52.

J. Eop'pmr pinx.

AUGUSTUS FITZROY

3kd duke of GRAFTON

To face vaae 60

PRIME MINISTER 61

1766. Pitt was then called upon to replace it. In making
up his Cabinet he determined that Grafton should take
the Treasury, while he reserved the post of Privy Seal and
Prime Minister for himself. Grafton states that he himself
was very much against this arrangement, but was com-
pelled to agree. Writing forty years later, he says: " Mr.
Pitt's plan was Utopian, and I will venture to add that he
lived too much out of the world to have a right knowledge
of mankind."* He also describes his astonishment at Pitt's
taking an earldom, of which he was ignorant until two days
before ministers kissed hands.

The government which now assumed office was a
heterogeneous mosaic of adherents of the King, of Chatham
and of the ofl&cial Whigs. At first it hung together, though
with some difl&culty. Like its predecessor, it was regarded
as " Light summer wear." But soon Chatham, its leader,
became ill and retired to Bath, where he refused to deal
with his work or to hold communication with anyone.
Indeed, he was verging on insanity. Grafton writes of
him; "From this time he became invisible, even to the
Lord Chancellor and myself; and he desired to be allowed
to attend solely to his health, until he found himself to be
equal to any business. Here, in fact, was the end of his
administration. "f By March, 1767, the chief conduct of
affairs had developed upon Grafton.

In a reign of six years six Prime Ministers had now suc-
ceeded each other with a celerity unknown in England
before or since. Bread was short, the American War was
brewing, the Witkes controversy was ragiag. The ministers
were discredited, for they were as inexperienced in business
as they were unpractised in debate. Their new chief had
inherited some of his royal ancestor's less attractive
characteristics, and he gave them full rein. Separated from
his wife, he had formed a connection with Miss Nancy
Parsons, a lady known for her easy virtue and faded
charms, who was the heroine of the lines :

" From fourteen to forty our provident Nan
Has devoted herself to the study of man."

Grafton, 91. t tt^-> 124, 125.

62 GRAFTON

Her admirer did not scruple to entertain her publicly at
Ids house in London, or to lead her out of the Opera in the
presence of the Queen. Even in those easy days this was
thought rather daring behaviour for a Prime Minister, and
particularly for one whose government was not prospering.
His hounds at Wakefield and his horses at Newmarket
claimed as much of his time as his mistress, and public
interests sufiered accordingly. Walpole in 1768 compared
him to " an apprentice, thinking the world should be post-
poned to a whore and a horse race;"* while Grenville says
in a letter: " The account of the Cabinet CouncU meeting
being put off, first for a match at Newmarket, and
secondly because the Duke of Grafton had company
in his house, exhibits a hvely picture of the present
administration."t

But Grafton saw matters in a very different light. He
thought himself HI- treated by Chatham, and was always
talking of resigning. The position of the government was
as pitiable as it was desperate. To remedy it, efforts were
made to induce some of the Whigs to come in, but with
little success. Lord North, however, consented in 1767 to
become Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Grafton was genuinely anxious to get rid of his office,
and he only kept it from a sense of duty. His numerous
letters to Lady Chatham begging for interviews with her
lord — which he never got — illustrate his position at this
time. He writes to her from Newmarket on October 5,
1768:

" Madam,

" It would give me the most cordial satisfaction to
be able to have the honor of seeing your ladyship for one
quarter of an hour, at any day, or hour, after Saturdaynext,
that you shall be pleased to command me to wait on you at
Hayes. It is so long since Lord Chatham's health has
allowed his lordship to see me, that struggling in a most
arduous career, where friendship to him could alone bring

* H. Walpole, " Letters," v. 107.
t Grenville, iv. 176.

RESIGNATION OF CHATHAM 63

me from a life mucli more pleasing to my own mind, I
think, I am entitled from tMs circumstance to claim the
favor I beg of your ladyship, in order to disburthen my
mind on some particular subjects; and that your ladyship
may know, at least, that my whole conduct has not, nor
shall have, any other bias, than that which brought me
forward into my present situation. I shall be in London on
Saturday, and hope to find the favor of a line from your
ladyship, to whom

" I have the honor to be, with the truest esteem
and the most profound respect,

" Madam, etc., etc.,
" Countess of Chatham. " Grapton."*

At last Chatham definitely resigned. Of this Grafton
says : " I shall ever consider Lord Chatham's long illness,
together with his resignation, as the most unhappy event
that could have befallen our political state. Without
entering into many other consequences at that time, which
called for his assistance, I must think that the separation i
from America might have been avoided; for in the following
Spring Lord Chatham was sufficiently recovered to have
given his effectual support to Lords Camden and Granby
and Genl. Conway, with myself, who were overruled in our
best endeavours to include the article of teas with the other
duties intended to be repealed."!

Grafton stayed on in office, and early in 1769 the Letters
of Junius began to appear, which pilloried him perhaps
beyond his deserts. But their effect was enormous, and
without the name of Chatham behind him he could not
long support their attacks. Camden, the Lord Chancellor,
was opposing him; he was outvoted in the Cabinet, and
Chatham, who was on the road to recovery, showed a
hostile disposition. This combination made Grafton's
position quite untenable, and early in 1770 he determined
to resign. The King approached Lord North, and after
some trouble, succeeded in persuading him to accept the
seals. He then wrote to Grafton:

* Grafton, 218. f ^&«^- 225.

64 GRAFTON

" Duke of Grafton,

" In consequence of what you said last night, I have
convinced Lord North of the necessity of my consenting
to your acquainting your friends tomorrow of your in-
tention of retiring, among whom I hope you will see the
Duke of Newcastle,* n -o

" Queen's House,

"January 28, 1770.

" 23 m. ft. 8 f.m."

Grafton had in the meantime somewhat mended his
private affairs, for he had got rid of Miss Parsons in 1769.
Shortly afterwards he married as his second wife Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir Richard Wrottesley and niece of the Duke
of Bedford. On this occasion the King gave him the
Garter. He had also been installed as Chancellor of the
University of Cambridge, an appointment which gave him
much pleasure, for he was still something of a student.
He was, however, not yet free from public cares. Within
a twelvemonth he accepted the place of Privy Seal in Lord
North's ministry, though he made the rather remarkable
reservation that he should not be summoned to the Cabinet.
For some years he remained in support of the Tory govern-
ment, but in 1775 a definite disagreement on the policy
adopted towards the American colonies caused him again
to resign. His letters and interviews with the King on
this occasion showed an honest and patriotic desire for
conciliation and a bold spirit of truth.

He now returned definitely to the Rockingham Whigs,
and resumed his intimacy with Camden and Fox. Much
of his time, however, he passed at Euston or Wakefield,
occupied with his country pursuits, the militia and his
health, about which he had become very fastidious. After
Chatham's death in 1778 two attempts were made by Lord
North to bring him back into the ministry, but Grafton
adhered to his old friends and still vehemently opposed
the American War.

In 1782 North at last resigned, and Rockingham
* Grafton, 250.

KETIREMENT AND CHARACTER 65

formed Ms government. Grafton now again accepted
the Privy Seal, whicli lie retained through Shelburne's
administration, though with little content. He com-
plained of being insufficiently consulted, and was not at all
sorry to go when Portland came in the year after. A few
months later William Pitt became Prime Minister, and
Grafton was offered his old place for the third time. But
on this occasion he declined, and when the question was
renewed the next year it again came to nothing.

He now gradually retired from politics, though he
occasionally spoke in the House of Lords. His real in-
terests lay in the country, and during his later life in a
rather unexpected study of theology, which eventually
determined him to become a Unitarian. He was also a
collector of rare books, many of which he read. Surrounded
by a large and happy family, he became in his old age a
contented and venerable figure, his youthful errors and
vagaries forgotten, his high position and patriarchal
respectabihty alone remembered. He survived until 1811,
dying at the age of seventy-seven.

Grafton's appearance as a young man was not prepossess-
ing, for he had the saturnine countenance of Charles II.
But though his face was forbidding and he was not tall, he
had a graceful carriage, an elegant figure and a great air of
breeding. In later years his white hair and pronounced
profile gave him a handsome and dignified aspect, and in
his fine picture by Hoppner he looks the type of a benev-
olent aristocrat. As a speaker, though his action and
delivery were good, his matter was not equal to his
manner.

Lord Stanhope says that " he was upright and dis-
interested in his public conduct, sincere and zealous in his
friendships, and by no means wanting in powers either of
business or debate. Unhappily, however, as his career
proceeded, experience showed that these excellent qualities
were dashed and alloyed with others of an opposite tenor.
He was wanting in application, and when pressed by
difficulties in his office, instead of seeking to overcome
them, would rather speak of resigning it. . . . Still,

66 PORTLAND

however, in spite of every disadvantage and defect, he con-
tinued through a long Ufe much respected by all who knew
him for the uprightness and integrity of his public motives ."*
Grafton was a fair example of a Stuart : well-intentioned,
loyal and honourable, not without capacity and taste, but
bored by business, lacking in industry and determination,
and overmuch given to sport and pleasure. His high rank
and early promise brought him great place, but want of
endurance and the misfortunes of the times made him fail
in it. A competent colleague in ordinary circumstances,
he was called upon to act as a leader in days of difficulty,
and for this he had neither the character, the energy nor
the courage.

III.— PORTLAND

WUliam Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, first styled Marquess
of Titchfield and afterwards third Duke of Portland, was
born on April 14, 1738, the eldest son of the second duke
by Lady Margaret Harley, daughter and heiress of Edward,
second Earl of Oxford, Prior's " noble, lovely little Peggy."
His mother had brought in with the blood of the Cavendish
and Holies families part of their vast possessions, including
Welbeck Abbey, and this alliance had strengthened the
strong Whig sentiments that had been maintained by the
Bentincks since their arrival in England with King
William III.

Lord Titchfield was educated at Eton and Christ Church,
Oxford, and soon after he came of age was elected- M.P.
for Weobly, in Herefordshire. He only remained a few
years in the House of Commons, for early in 1762 he suc-
ceeded his father. At this time he is said to have been
one of the wealthiest and best-educated men in Britain.
There was at first some question of his marrying Lady
Waldegrave, Sir Robert Walpole's granddaughter, who was
famous for her beauty, but eventually in 1766 he took as
his wife Lady Dorothy Cavendish, the only daughter of
the fourth Duke of Devonshire, who had been Prime
Minister ten years previously. At the age of twenty-eight
* Stanhope, " Hist.," v. 311, 312.

IN OPPOSITION 67

he became Lord Cliamberlain in Rockingham's short
ministry, but in a year he was out of office. He was a
vehement Whig, and for the next sixteen years he devoted
his time and money to fighting the Tories and the King's
party, by which his fortune suffered not a little. Horace
Walpole writes in 1767: " In the counties they are all mad
about elections. The Duke of Portland, they say, carried
£30,000 to Carlisle, and it is all gone already." (This was
his borough war with Sir James Lowther.) And again in
1768: " Lord Rockingham, the Duke of Portland and the
Cavendishes agree in thinking we have no enemies but
Lord Bute and Dyson."* (" Mungo " Dyson was M.P. for
Yarmouth, and one of Bute's creatures. Lord Albemarle
says of him: " He was one of those parasitical persons who
serve Governments a little and disgrace them much. By
birth a tailor, by education a Dissenter, and from interest
or vanity in his earlier years a Republican."!)

Portland at this time lived at Burlington House, which
belonged to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Devonshire.
With Rockingham, Fox and the principal Whigs he was
intimate, but according to Walpole he was not known to the
mass of his party nor particularly well off. " He has lived
in ducal dudgeon with half a dozen toad eaters secluded
from mankind behind the ramparts of Burlington wall, and
overwhelmed by debts without a visible expense of two
thousand pounds a year. "J

Throughout the American War, however, he remained an
active and indefatigable opponent of the government's
policy. Burke, writing to Rockingham in 1773, says that
he spoke extremely well: " If his Grace gave his excellent
understanding a direction that way, I am sure he would
make a public speaker of very great weight and authority."§

The aftermath of the American War at last proved too
strong for Lord North, and the King was compelled again to
admit the hated Whigs to his councils. Rockingham
became Prime Minister, and Portland, as one of his chief

* H. Walpole, " Letters," v. 68, 106. t Albemarle i. 306.

J H. Walpole, " Letters," viii. 253.
§ Burke, " Corresp.," i. 417, 418.

68 POETLAND

supporters, was sent to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant. His
financial afiairs liad recently improved, and he was soon
to ialierit an additional £12,000 a year by the death of his
mother. He was now given the opportunity of showing
what he could do in a high public position. He acquitted
himself with success, for though he only remained a few
months in Dublin his administration was firm and humane,
and his despatches manifest breadth of view and a liberal
spirit. In July, however, Rockingham died, and Shelburne
was called upon to take his place. Shelburne, as an old
follower of Chatham, was regarded as heterodox by most of
the Whigs, who had little confidence in him. Accordingly
there was a grand split in the party, and Portland, Fox,
Burke and the Cavendishes retired from the government.
Their attitude was that they and not the new Prime
Minister were the real Simon Pures. For the moment they
did not prevail, but early in the next year the new adminis-
tration came to grief, and after an interval of over a month,
caused by the King's obstinacy and party intrigues, the
so-called Coalition ministry was formed by Fox and North,
with Portland as its chief. Fox had the directing voice,
though not to the extent that was commonly believed,
the idea that the Duke was " a block to hang Whigs on "*
being much exaggerated. Indeed, he showed considerable
tenacity of his principles. The day before finally accepting
the new ministry the King, who was himself one of the most
stubborn men in Europe, said to North: "Well, so the
Duke of Portland is firm?" "Yes, Sir," said North.
" Well, then, if you will not do the business I will take
him."t It was one of the earliest victories over George III.'s
attempts at direct rule, and might have meant much.

Portland was undoubtedly a convinced and honest Whig,
and he was no hankerer after office. Yet his alliance with
North, the leader of the Tories, is not easy to fathom.
The influence of Pox and an inveterate distrust of Shelburne
were probably at the bottom of it. The Coalition ministry,
however, was radically unsound. It included spirits

* H. Walpole, " Letters," viii. 351.

t H. Walpole, " Last Journals," ii. 612

PRIME MINISTER 69

entirely opposed to one another, while the King from the
very first was against it. For eight months it existed on
sufferance, its principal record being the India Bill. Then
the King seized his chance and dismissed it at a moment's
notice. On December 17 it fell, execrated by all parties, and
its ruia secured the undisputed dominion of the Crown for
the next fifty years. William Pitt, who had been Shel-
burne's Chancellor of the Exchequer, became Prime Minister.

Portland now embarked upon a fresh period of opposi-
tion, in some ways rather disillusioned. But he had other
occupations besides politics. He interested himself in art,
and gave much of his time to increasing and arranging the
magnificent collections at Welbeck, in what Mrs. Delany
once called " a glare of grandeur." The miniatures, the
manuscripts, the " bales of pictures," and the vast library,
provided work for a lifetime. Walpole called Welbeck in
those days a " devastation."* In 1787 the duke acquired
from Sir William Hamilton the priceless relic of Roman
glass known as the Barberini or Portland vase, which is
now in the British Museum. But while he ranked as a
Maecenas he continued to lead the Whigs and to maintain
what unity he could within his party, though this gradually
became increasingly difficult.

In 1792 the extreme line taken by Fox on the French
Revolution alienated many of the older Whigs. Pitt
thereupon approached the more moderate section, which
was led by Portland, and offered them places in the
government. The negotiation came to nothing, mainly
owing to Portland's loyalty to Fox, with whose new political
opinions, however, he strongly disagreed. But later on
fresh overtures were made, and eventually in 1794, just
after his wife's death, Portland agreed to join Pitt's
ministry, and accepted the Home Office. At the same
time he received the Garter, which had already been offered
to him. Two years earlier he had been elected Chancellor
of the University of Oxford. There is not any doubt of
the high-minded and conscientious spirit which animated
him throughout these negotiations; the mass of his
* H. Walpole, " Letters," iii. 32.

70 POETLAND

party inclined to compromise, and lie risked losing tlie
support of his principal followers from his hesitation to
leave Fox.

Dm-ing the next six years he was in control of the domestic
affairs of Great Britain and Ireland, and it was un-
doubtedly at this time that his best work was done. He
dealt with the many thorny questions that then arose,
including the Eebellion in 1798, with a sufficient share
of sense, strength and discrimination. But his almost
autocratic position at the head of a great administrative
department of nearly unlimited powers gradually hardened
his ideas to a more conservative temper, and, with revolu-
tion in the air and colleagues who favoured a repressive
policy, he became less and less inclined for the reforming
programme of his old party.

In 1795 his eldest son had married a daughter of General
Scott, and five years later Canning married her sister.
This strengthened his connection with the Tories and stiU
more identified him with Pitt's policy. On the change
of government in 1801 Portland, who held the anti-
Catholic view, adhered to Addington, and accepted the
post of Lord President of the Council in his Cabinet. But
he took a much less active part in afiairs, and did not show
his former energy. Malmesbury, a close friend, describing
a conversation with him in 1803, said: "The Duke in-
variably the same in the opinions he gives in private, and
ever observing the same invariable sUence in council; his
language and professions of political faith to me — and he
gave it most fully and without reserve — ^was the wisest and
the most judicious possible, but it squares so little with what
the Government do that it is manifest he has no weight."*

During Pitt's second administration Portland remained
on in the Cabinet without a post, and on Pitt's death he
resigned with his colleagues. But in 1807, on the fall of
Grenvnie's short ministry, he was again called upon to
form a government. Largely at the instigation of Lord
Malmesbury, he had taken the very unusual step of writing
to the King, while Lord Grenville was still in office, and
* Malmesbury, iv. 214.

J. Reynolds pinx.

J. Murphy sc.

WILLIAM CAVENDISH-BENTINCK

3rd duke of PORTLAND

To face page 70

HIS SECOND MINISTRY 71

suggesting to His Majesty a course of action for defeating
the designs of the Whigs in regard to Catholic relief.
Persons, he said, " will be found able to carry on your
Majesty's business with talents and abilities equal to those
of your present ministers. If your Majesty should suppose
that in the forming of such an Administration, I can ofEer
your Majesty any services, I am devoted to your Majesty's
commands; but while I say this I feel conscious that my
time of life, my infirmities, and my want of abilities, are
not calculated for so high a trust."*

His offer was accepted, though it was twenty-four years
since he had been at the head of a government, and it had
then been the Whigs whom he led, while now it was the
Tories. He was almost in his seventieth year, failing
rapidly in strength and past much work. But, although he
was fully conscious of his limitations, he behaved with
courage and steadfastness. " My fears," he said, " are
not that the attempt to perform this duty wiU shorten my
life, but that I shall neither bodily nor mentally perform
it as I ought." His forecast was correct. He was unequal
to his task. He carried on for two and a half years, during
much of which time his administration was without a con-
trolling spirit. Perceval, Liverpool, Canning and Castle-
reagh each directed their own departments much as they
pleased and with considerable lack of unison. The
responsibilities and worries of office, added to continual
ill-health, were too much for the old duke. In August,
1809, while driving to Bulstrode, he had a paralytic stroke,
from which he never recovered.f Shortly afterwards he
resigned his post, and in October he retired to Welbeck,
to die a few weeks later. For many months he had been
suffering severe pain which he had borne with great pluck
and little complaint. But he had far outlived his powers
and the duties of his office were too intricate and onerous
for him to perform.

His immediate progeny was not undistinguished. His
younger son. Lord William Bentinck, became Governor-
General of India, and his grandson. Lord George, was the

* Malmesbury, iv. 362. f Jesse, " George III.," iii. 533.

6

72 PORTLAND

leader of the Protectionists against Sir Robert Peel. The
present duke is his great-grandson.

In appearance Portland was distinctly a handsome man.
He was tall, with a broad brow, strong profile, clear com-
plexion and an expression of dignity, benevolence and
sincerity. He was no speaker : " He possessed in an
eminent degree the talent of dead sUence."*

Portland has been variously described: " A convenient
cipher." " A cool, sagacious, determined oligarch."
" His character was unimpeached, but he had never at-
tempted to show any parliamentary abilities." " Entirely
unfit for his situation both in character and talents," Such
were the diverse opinions of his contemporaries. But on
one point there is agreement : he was honest, patriotic and
never self-seeking, striving to do what he held to be his
duty to the best of his abilities. That these abilities were
limited is sufficiently clear. His decision was halting, his
habits procrastinating, and his manners too retired for a
successful party leader. But he never sacrificed the
calls of his office to those of his own affairs, his pleasure
or his health. The strongest of party men, he yet was
willing to put aside his earliest traditions and his oldest
friendships for what he conceived to be the good of his
coimtry.

His career was remarkable. He had, in the words of
Lord Fitzmaurice, " the singular distinction of being twice
Prime Minister of England, first as the leader of the
narrowest section of the Whig party, and afterwards
as chief of the most Tory of Tory administrations."! Such
turns does the wheel of Fortune reserve for those who never
sacrifice to her.

With Portland it may be said that the days of the ducal
Prime Ministers were done, for Wellington was formed of a
different clay and cast in another mould. But the three
here mentioned all came of a sound and enduring stock,
with their roots deep down in the land. In the eighteenth
century there were fourteen Prime Ministers. Pour only
* Bell, 227. t Fitzmaurice, ii. 225.

THE DUKES' WORK 73

have left a male line extending to the present day. Three
of these were dukes, while the fourth, Shelburne, was so
nearly of the ducal quality that he had the promise, and
his grandson had the refusal, of the coveted golden coronet.
Not striking exponents of science, laws or learning, they
were a good pattern of the aristocrat who cared little for
office, but much for duty. Their work contributed some
stability to the State and their patriotism an example to
the public.

CHAPTEK IV
THE PITTS

CHATHAM AND PITT

The family of Pitt is undoubtedly the most distinguislied
in the political annals of Englaoid. Modest in origin and
little aided by wealth or connection, it gave the country
two Prime Ministers of its own name; it nominated two
more, the hereditary chiefs of the houses of Cavendish and
Fitzroy; it introduced to power a third pair, its relations
the Grenvilles; and it left as a legacy behind it the lesser
luminaries of Addington, Jenkinson and Eobinson. For
two generations it dominated the fortunes of England.
It doubled the House of Lords and controlled half the
House of Commons. Its policy acquired much of the
British. Empire and withstood the assaults of her fiercest
foes. It initiated parliamentary reform, religious tolera-
tion and modern finance. Under it the Tories rose to
their highest pitch and maintained their longest lease of
power. Before it the Whigs sank into oblivion for sixty
years.

Yet two only of the Pitts attained distinction. Taken
together their lives covered less than a century, and they
have left no posterity to transmit their name, their titles
or their estates.

I.— CHATHAM.

WiUiam Pitt the elder, afterwards Earl of Chatham, was
born in London on November 15, 1708. He was the
second son of Eobert Pitt by Harriott, daughter of the
Hon. Edward Villiers, of the Grandison family, who had
taken the surname of his wife, Catharine Fitzgerald. This
Robert was the son of Thomas, better known as Governor

74

EARLY LIFE 75

Pitt, who had made a fortune in the East Indies, where he
acquired the great Pitt diamond. He had then come home,
bought up some rotten boroughs, and had settled at
Boconnoc in Cornwall. He was a man of ungovernable
temper, and to his hot blood, inflamed by the suns of India,
may probably be ascribed the gout and the insanity which
pursued his descendants.*

Although his father was a rich man, Robert Pitt was not
blessed with much wealth, and his son William when sent
to Eton was placed on the Foundation.! At school he gave
considerable promise, though his health even then was poor.
Hemy Fox, George Lyttelton, Richard and George
Grenville and Henry Fielding, were among his contem-
poraries. He went on to Trinity College, Oxford, in 1726,
but was compelled to come down by illness, and he finished
his education at Utrecht. In 1731 he joined the
1st Dragoon Guards, and for some years did regular
garrison duty in England, steeping himself iu the literature
and history of his profession. In 1732-1733 he made a
tour abroad, visiting France and Switzerland and learning
all he could during his stay, for at this time he was a wide
and constant observer.

The colonel of his regiment was Richard Temple,
Viscoimt Cobham, a distinguished soldier, and owner of the
palatial house of Stowe in Buckinghamshire, whither he
invited the young cornet as his guest. His Grenville and
Lyttelton nephews were the Eton friends of Pitt, whose
elder brother, Thomas, had married one of their sisters.
Though all Whigs, they were inveterate opponents of Sir
Robert Walpole, then Prime Minister, and this connection
first turned Pitt towards politics. Pitt had, indeed, some
leanings that way, for Lord Stanhope, his uncle by marriage,
had risen to be Secretary of State in the reign of George I.
An opportunity of entering Parliament occurred in 1735,
and Pitt was nominated by his elder brother for the pocket
borough of Old Sarimi.

For a poor man the House of Commons was rather a
venture, but he entered on his new career with energy
* Eosebery, " Chatham," 25, 508. f Ibid-> 27.

76 CHATHAM

and soon showed his mettle. On the Prince of Wales's
marriage he made a speech which so much annoyed the
ministers that he was deprived of his commission. This
drove him into the arms of Leicester House, and as a con-
solation he was given an appointment at the Court of
his Royal Highness as Groom of the Bedchamber. Under
the guidance of Pulteney, the Pitts, Grenvilles and
Lyttelton now formed a band known as the Boy Patriots,
which bitterly and continually assailed the Prime Minister.
Pitt rapidly rose to be its leader, and his remarkable oratory
and his extraordinary command of language put him in the
forefront of the Opposition.

In 1742 Walpole fell and was succeeded by Wilmington.
A year later Henry Pelham came into power, though
Walpole remained until his death the real directing spirit.
The Grenvilles now began to get into office, but Pitt did not
succeed equally well, for his previous attitude had
ofiended the King. But he was a factor to be reckoned
with in the House of Commons, and the Pelhams did their
best to retain his support. In 1744 the old Duchess of
Marlborough left him a legacy of £10,000 for his
" patriotism," by which she meant his onslaughts on her
favourite enemy Walpole. She also bequeathed him one
of the Hampden manors in Buckinghamshire, and further
secured for him the possible reversion of the great Sunder-
land estates. These windfalls made a difference in his
financial prospects, which had so far been very scanty, and
his conduct underwent a change. Hitherto he had always
attacked the so-called Hanoverian system, by which
the German dominions of the Crown received what was
thought unduly high consideration in the policy of England.
Now, however, he showed his desire to come to terms with
the King. In this he met with difficulties, for George II.
was obstinate and had a good memory. But the Pelhams
knew that Pitt might be a danger, and at last they were
obliged to force him on the King. To achieve this object
they even went so far as to resign for a couple of days, and
so eventually succeeded in getting him admitted to office —
though only in the humble capacity of Vice-Treasurer of

MINOR OFFICE 77

Ireland. This was in March, 1746. Two months later he
was promoted to be Paymaster-General and sworn a privy-
councillor. The King was so annoyed, it is said, that he
shed tears as Pitt knelt before him.

For nearly eight years Pitt now supported the govern-
ment, a powerM speaker and a constant help to his party,
Newcastle he did not like, but with Henry Pelham, the
Prime Minister, he was friendly. He had followed his
example in refusing to take any of the customary but Ulicit
profits of the Pay Office, and by so doing he had acquired
wide popularity in the country. Pelham wrote of him in
1750: " I think him the most able and useful man we have
among us, truly honourable and strictly honest. He is as
firm a friend to us as we can wish for, and a more useful one
does not exist."*

Since taking office Pitt had broken off his intimacy at
Leicester House, and in March, 1751, the Prince of Wales
died. A new figure had then appeared upon the scene.
This was Lord Bute, a Scotsman and a Tory, who was
soon to exploit his influence with the Princess Dowager and
with the young heir to the throne.

Three years later came the death of Pelham. His
brother Newcastle at once seized on his place, and after
some obscure and discreditable intrigues Pitt was jockeyed
out of the promotion he had fairly earned, for by his merits
and his value to the government he had deserved a high
if not the highest post in the Cabinet. But he was away
ill at Bath, and les absents ont toujours tort. '

Pitt was deeply offended. He talked of withdrawing
from politics altogether, and for a time he remained in
seclusion. But the pause was brief. Suddenly it was
announced that he was to marry Lady Hester Grenville, the
sister of his old friends Lord Temple and George Grenville.
His energy revived. He returned to London and instantly
fell upon the government — impiger, iracundus, inex-
orahilis, acer. His friends resigned, and Newcastle began
to tremble. There was but one reply. Pitt was dismissed
from his place. His eloquence redoubled and his irony
* Coxe, " Pelham," ii. 370.

78 CHATHAM

was so trenchant, his invective so tremendous, that he
rapidly succeeded in routing the ministers. Their affairs
abroad were not prospering, and divisions at home spelt
disaster. First Fox resigned and then Newcastle; and
at last the King was obliged to call in Pitt's aid to deal
with the urgent question of the war with France. After
much negotiation a fresh government was formed in 1756,
under the Duke of Devonshire as First Lord of the Treasury,
Pitt becoming Secretary of State, with the principal power.
" My Lord," he said to the duke, " I am sure that I can save
this country, and that nobody else can." *

For four months the new ministry lasted, but the in-
fluence of Newcastle was stUl predominant in the Commons,
and most of the Whig lords followed him. Devonshire
could not continue. Then came further negotiations,
lasting this time for eleven weeks, and finally in the spring
of 1757 a combined government was formed, with Newcastle
at the Treasury and Pitt in charge of the war and of Foreign
Affairs, " I used the Duke of Newcastle's majority," he
used to say afterwards, " to carry on the public busines8."t
This was a sound and effective alliance. Newcastle
looked after the men, Pitt contrived the measures. Pitt's
policy was vigorous, swift and comprehensive, while his
conversion to the King's views was complete. Every-
thing he proposed was done, and everything he did was
right.

" No more they make a fiddle-faddle

About a Hessian torse or saddle.

No more of continental measures,

No more of wasting British treasures.

Ten millions and a vote of credit,

'Tis right. He can't be wrong who did it. "J

This was the period of Pitt's glory. The next four years
were signalized by some of the most brilliant victories at
sea and on land, and by some of the most splendid colonial
acquisitions in the history of Great Britain. For these Pitt
was primarily responsible, and his fame in Europe rose to
the highest pitch. He was regarded as the greatest

* Macaulay, vi. 68. t Lecky, ii. 463. J Macaulay, vi. 73.

SECRETARY OF STATE 79

minister that England had ever known. The most cele-
brated men living joined in his praises. Frederick the
Great, writing to him in 1761, says:

" Tout le cours de votre minist^re n'a ete qu'un en-
chainement d'actions nobles et genereuses, et les imes que
le ciel a fait de cette trempe ne se dementent pas: c'est
en consequence de ces sentiments, que toute I'Europe
admire en vous, et dont j'ai eu plus d'lme occasion de me
louer, que je suis avec autant de confiance que d'estime,
Monsieur,

"Votre tr^s afEectione ami

" Fredeeic."*

" England has been a long time in labour," said the same
prince, " but she has at last brought forth a man."f
In the same year Voltaire thus addresses him:

" Au ChAteau de Fbenay,
" Pees de Geneve,

" Monsieur, " ^^ •'"*'"^' i^^i-

" While you weight the interets of england and
france, yr great mind may at one time reconcile Corneille
with Shakespear. Yr name at the head of Subscribers
shall be the greatest honour the letters can receive, 'tis
worthy of the greatest ministers to protect the greatest
writers. I dare not ask the name of the King; but I am
assuming enough, to desire earnestly so great a favour.
Je suis, avec un respect infini pour votre personne et pour
vos grandes actions. Monsieur,

" Votre tr^s humble et tr^s obeissant serviteur,

" Voltaire

" (Gentilhome ord. de la chambre du roy}."%

But this apotheosis was not to last for ever. In 1760
King George II. died. His grandson succeeded and the
whole system of afiairs altered. First and foremost the
Whigs were to be dismissed . Bute, a disciple of Bolingbroke

* Chatham, ii. 111. f Jesse, "Etonians," i. 105.

% Chatham, ii. 131.

80 CHATHAM

and the ami intime of the Princess Dowager, was put into
the ministry. With the King behind him, he soon became
all-powerful. Intrigues began against the policy of Pitt,
which did not always please his colleagues. He was out-
voted in the Cabinet, and in 1761, on the question of the
Spanish War, he resigned with his brother-in-law Temple.
He accepted no honours for himself, but his wife received a
peerage and a pension, A few months later Newcastle fol-
lowed him into opposition, and Bute became Prime Minister.

There is no doubt that Pitt, popular as he was in the
coimtry, had been difiQ.cult and overbearing with his
colleagues and pompous and uncongenial to the King.
Lord Waldegrave, writing of him about this time, thus sets
out his qualities:

" Mr. Pitt," he says, " has the finest genius improved
by study and all the ornamental part of classical learning,
. . . He has a peculiar clearness and facility of expression ;
and has an eye as significant as his words. He is not
always a fair or conclusive reasoner, but commands the
passions with sovereign authority; and to inflame or
captivate a popular assembly is a consummate orator. He
has courage of every sort, cool or impetuous, active or
deliberate. . . .

" He is imperious, violent and implacable; impatient
even of the slightest contradiction; and, under the mask of
patriotism, has the despotic spirit of a tyrant.

" However, though his political sins are black and
dangerous, his private character is irreproachable; he is
incapable of a treacherous or imgenerous action; and in the
common offices of life is justly esteemed a man of veracity
and a man of honour.

" He mixes little in company, confining his society to a
small junto of his relations, with a few obsequious friends,
who consult him as an oracle, admire his superior under-
standing, and never presume to have an opinion of their
own."*

Bute stayed in power only a year, and was then suc-
ceeded first by George Grenville, with whom Pitt had now
* Waldegrave, 15, 16.

PRIME MINISTER 81

quarrelled, and next by Rockingham. In the meanwhile
endeavours had been made to bring back Pitt into the
government, but he had declined to accept office except on
his own terms, which meant the complete restoration of the
Whigs. This the King refused, and matters remained as
they were. In 1766, however, a compromise was arrived
at, and Pitt was again sent for. He was ill and beset by
obstacles, for several of his friends stood out, but at last he
succeeded in patching up a makeshift administration of
" patriots, courtiers. King's friends and republicans,"*
some of whom hardly knew each other by sight. Grafton
received the Treasury, Shelburne became one of the
Secretaries of State, and Pitt as Prime Minister took the
Privy Seal. At the same time he was raised to the peerage
as Earl of Chatham, and received a pension for three lives
of £3,000 a year.

This was the turning point of his fortunes. His title
and his pension at once deprived him of much of his
popularity, while his bad health, which had been intermittent
for years, now became permanent. " There is still a little
twUight of popularity remaining round the great peer,"
Avrites Burke to Rockingham in August, 1766, " but it fades
away every moment."t

His ministry had hardly been constituted before Chatham
hurried off to Bath, where, says Walpole, " they stood up
all the time he was in the rooms. "J His illness increased,
a dreadful melancholia which bordered on insanity super-
vened, and from the beginning of 1767 he took no further
share in public business.

Grafton was left to control affairs, and with the most
disastrous results. In the autumn of 1768 Shelburne, who
had fallen out with Grafton, left the ministry, and shortly
afterwards Chatham followed him. A year later, however,
his health began to improve. He returned to Parliament,
and allied himself with Rockingham . Then he turned upon
Grafton, and Grafton soon resigned. But in the meantime
the King had found another minister who would suit him

* Burke, " Works," i. 171. f Ibid., " Correspondence," i. 107.
J H. Walpole, " Letters," iv. 503.

82 CHATHAM

better than any he had yet had — one who would not dictate
to him, and who yet could manage the House of Commons.
This was Lord North; and for the rest of Chatham's life
Lord North remained Prime Minister.

Throughout the long years of the disputes with the
American colonies Chatham opposed the arbitrary
measures of the Tory government and supported the cause
of liberty. " It is not repealing a piece of parchment,"
he said, "that can restore America; you must repeal
her fears and her resentments."* But circumstances were
against him. His health remained wretched, and much
of his prestige was gone. He was no longer the Great
Commoner of earlier days. George Grenville and the old
Duke of Newcastle, his former colleagues, had died, while
Shelburne, his principal supporter, was distrusted. Thus
his name and fame far exceeded his power. Occasionally
recourse was had to him as to a Delphic oracle, but as a
politician he was almost forgotten. He lived mostly at
Hayes, a house which he had bought near London, and at
Burton Pynsent, an estate in Somersetshire which had been
left him by an admirer. His attendances in Parliament
were rare . When he came up the ministers shivered. When
he drove away they breathed again.

Early in 1778 North, who was in serious diihculties, re-
commended the King to ask Chatham to form an adminis-
tration. The King refused. He wrote to North on March
15 : "I declare in the strongest and most solemn manner
that though I do not object to your addressing yourself to
Lord Chatham, yet that you must acquaint him that I shall
never address myself to hina but through you; and on a
clear explanation that he is to step forth to support an
Administration wherein you are First Lord of the Treasury;
and that I cannot consent to have any conversation with
him till the ministry is formed."!

This, of course, would not suit Chatham, and North
stayed on. The end of the great man was near. On
April 7 a motion was made in the House of Lords to petition
the Crown to withdraw its fleets and armies from the

* " Nat. Biog.," xlv. 362. f Jesse, "George III.," ii. 202.

HIS APPEARANCE 83

revolted provinces of North America. Chatham came
down to oppose it. The efiort was too much for his
strength and brought on a fit during his speech. He was
carried home insensible and a month later he died. He was
in his seventieth year. His past glories were then recalled.
His debts were paid, his loss was mourned, and he was
given a public funeral in Westminster Abbey, with perhaps
the highest honours ever accorded to a British statesman.

He left two sons : John, who succeeded him in the title,
and William, afterwards Prime Minister. Neither of them
had any issue. His daughter. Lady Hester, married her
cousin. Lord Stanhope.

In appearance Chatham was tall, slight and erect. His
carriage and manner were dignified, if somewhat theatrical,
his countenance grim and even repellent. Shelburne says
that he had " the eye of a hawk, a little head and a long
aquiline nose." * This was his principal feature, and it used
to be remarked at Court that " when he bowed the tip of
his long nose could be seen between his legs."t He was
" very well bred, with all the manners of the vieille cour,
with a degree of pedantry in his conversation."* " He had
manners and address," said Chesterfield; " but one might
discern through them too great a consciousness of his own
superior talents. He was a most agreeable and lively
companion in social life, and had such a versatility of wit
that he could adapt it to all sorts of conversation." J

Chatham was a statesman of the highest order for con-
ception, design and execution. A thorough imperialist,
he was yet a sound Whig. One of the earliest advocates of
parliamentary reform, he stigmatized the system of
borough representation as " the rotten part of our con-
stitution,"§ and the King accordingly called htm " a
trumpet of sedition."|| But in finance and the detail of
business he was ill-equipped. His style in writing was
turgid and often verbose, though he was an ardent
admirer of that of Bolingbroke.H In the King's closet he

* Fitzmaurice, i. 77. f Albemarle, ii. 82.

% Chesterfield, " Works " (Characters), iv. 64. § May, i. 333.

11 North, i. 261. If Jesse, " Etonians," i. 112.

84 CHATHAM

was obsequious, but in tbe Cabinet he was absolute. It is
said tbat h.e even wrote out the naval orders for the
fleet, and that the First Lord of the Admiralty had to sign
them with the writing covered up. He used to put on
full-dress to go down to his office, and his under-secretaries
were never allowed to sit in his presence.

On one occasion, when confined to his bed by the gout,
he sent a message to the Master General of the Ordnance,
Sir Charles Frederick, to attend him immediately. " The
battering-train from the Tower," he told him, " must be
at Portsmouth by to-morrow morning at seven o'clock."
The Master General attempted to explain to him that it
was impossible. " At your peril, sir," said the great
minister, " let it be done; and let an express be sent to me
from every stage tUl the train arrives." By seven o'clock
the train was at Portsmouth.*

As a colleague he was dictatorial and taciturn, often
sententious and obscure. He was an actor, he was
afEected, he loved display and he was to some extent an
advertiser. But these minor defects were far outbalanced
by his loyalty, his sincerity and his amazing talents. As
an orator he was undoubtedly one of the first in ancient
or modern times, a true rival of Demosthenes. He had
read little in later life, and, like Walpole, he made mistakes
of fact in his speeches, but their brilliancy and power easily
outshone such faults. His best efforts were spontaneous.
Few fragments of them remain, but what does will bear
repetition. Speaking on liberty, he said: " Magna Charts
— the Petition of Right — the Bill of Rights — form the
Bible of the English Constitution. Had some of the
King's unhappy predecessors trusted less to the commen-
tary of their advisers and been better read in the text itself,
the glorious Revolution might have remained only possible
in theory, and their fate would not now have stood upon
record, a formidable example to all their successors. "f And
again: " The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance
to aU the forces of the Crown. It may be frail — its roof
may shake — the wind may blow through it — the storm
* Seward, ii. 364. f Jennings, 130.

HIS ORATORY 85

may enter — the rain may enter — ^but the King of England
cannot enter ! — all his force dare not cross the threshold
of the ruined tenement."*

In a famous speech on the American War, he said : " If
I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a
foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay
down my arms — ^never ! never ! never !"t

The grand manner and the noble gestures that accom-
panied these sonorous phrases immensely enhanced their
efiect.

Chatham's mental activity when he was in good health
was enormous. He was inspired by ambition, patriotism
and a burning love of liberty. To foreigners these qualities
often appeared dangerous and overweening. The Due de
Choiseul, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, writing
to his ambassador in London at the time of the formation
of the 1766 ministry, says: "Nous ne pouvons com-
prendre ici quel a ete le dessein de My Lord Chatham en
quittant la Chambre des Commimes. II nous paroissoit
que toute sa force consistoit dans sa continuation dans
cette chambre, et il pourroit bien se trouver comme
Sampson apr^s qu'on lui eut coupe les cheveux. Ce que
nous avons a craindre c'est que cet horn me altier et ambi-
tieux, ayant perdu la consideration populaire, ne veuille se
relever de sa perte par des exploits guerriers et des pro jets
de conqu^tes qui puisse lui procurer de la reputation. . . .
My Lord Chatham a pris une charge trop forte d'etre
le Gouverneur de tout le monde et le Protecteur de
tous."t

Profuse in expenditure and often in debt, he was a
religious man, a kind father and a good husband, but
he had few friends and fewer followers. " At the time
of his decease," says Macaulay, " he had not in both
Houses of Parliament ten personal adherents. Half
the public men of the age had been estranged from him by
his errors and the other half by the exertions which he had
made to repair his errors. His last speech had been an
attack at once on the policy pursued by the Government

* Jennings, 130. t Brougham, i. 38-42. % Fitzmaurice, i. 411.

86 CHATHAM

and on the policy recommended by the Opposition. But
death at once restored him to his old place in the afiection
of his country."*

Walpole and Chatham were perhaps the two most
notable ministers that England has ever had. They were
both Whigs, but Whigs of a very different complexion.
Dr. Johnson used to say that Walpole was a minister given
by the King to the people, while Chatham was a minister
given by the people to the King. Both started from
a similar class, though Walpole had a longer and perhaps
a more equable descent. Neither had much to help them
in the way of birth, fortune or connection. Both were
Etonians and King's Scholars, a singular compliment even
for Eton. Then came divergence. One started early in
politics and married young. The other started late and
married later. It was the fable of the hare and the tor-
toise. One was always healthy and easy-going. The
other was always ailing and nervous. In their political
career, both were ambitious and both monopolized power,
but one devoted himself to commerce and finance, the
other to victories and colonies. The first, the man with
the tranquil temperament, maintained his country in peace
for its longest known period. The second, of transcendent
talents, conducted her in short and hectic administrations
through her most successful wars. Both accepted earl-
doms, both attained the full span of life, and both died
comparatively poor. But the steady man left England
still prosperous from the effects of his beneficent rule,
while the genius survived to see it struggling with defeat
and disaster, and sank to his grave disappointed and
almost in despair. The cool stability of Walpole has
bequeathed to posterity a more lasting legacy, the restless
fire of Chatham an imperishable name —

" Clarum et venerabile nomen . , . quod nostrse proderat urbi."

" Eecorded honours," said Junius, " shall gather round
his monmnent and thicken over him. It is a solid fabric
and wUl support the laurels that adorn it."t

* Macaulay, vii. 278. f Junius, ii. 161.

WILLIAM PITT

EABL OF CHATHAM

To fact page 86

EAKLY LIFE 87

II.— PITT

William Pitt the younger was born at Hayes on May 28,
1759. He was the second son of William Pitt, afterwards
Earl of Chatham, and of Lady Hester GrrenviUe, daughter
of Richard GrenviUe and the Countess Temple. His
mother was created a baroness in 1761. At the time of his
birth his father as Secretary of State was leading the
British government, and was perhaps the most famous
man in Eiirope.

Like his father, William Pitt had very poor health as a
child. For this reason he was educated at home until he
was fifteen, when he was sent to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge.
There he took his degree in 1776. Lord Chatham had taken
great pains to guide his son's studies into the most profitable
direction, which in his opinion was oratory. His principal
method was to let him first read through a passage from
some Latin or Greek author, and then translate it aloud
into the best English that he could muster. In this manner
Pitt early acquired that rapid copia verborum which is so
useful to the speaker. Never given to games, he was in-
dustrious in his studies — ^Thucydides, Hume, Locke and
Adam Smith were his favourite prose authors, but beyond
his own the only modern language with which he had any
acquaintance was French, and of this he knew very little.
His classical attainments, however, were considerable.

In 1778 Lord Chatham died, and his younger son found
himself left with only a limited income. He had deter-
mined to go to the Bar, and he was accordingly called at
Lincoln's Inn in 1780. For a short time he went the
Western Circuit, but he had always been deeply interested
in^politics, and he looked for an opportunity of entering
Parliament. After a request to Lord Rockingham and
an attempt at Cambridge, both imsuccessful, he was
offered by Sir James Lowther the close borough of Appleby,
for which he was elected in January, 1781. He attached
himself to Lord Shelburne, his father's old follower and
friend, and stepped at once into the arena. Burke, on

7

88 PITT

hearing his first speech, said: " It is not a chip of the old
block, it is the old block itself."*

Early in 1782 Lord Eockingham came into office, from
which the official Whigs had been excluded for sixteen
years. He offered Pitt a minor post in the government,
which was declined, Pitt being determined to accept
nothing less than Cabinet rank. Three months later Lord
Shelburne himself became Prime Minister, and without
hesitation he made Pitt his Chancellor of the Exchequer at
the age of twenty-three. But Shelburne was unpopular,
and had only a small party to support him. The King was
a doubtful ally. Fox and North, with the preponderance
of the Whig and Tory connections, were banded against the
ministry, and in such circumstances it could hardly survive
for long. In February 1783 it fell. On this occasion Pitt
delivered what was regarded as the finest speech ever made
by so young a man, and the Bang, anxious to keep the
power in his own hands, sent for him and asked him to form
a government. But Pitt was wary. He saw that the
ground was not yet firm enough under htm, and he decided
to wait. Accordingly the Coalition ministry was brought
together, a complex mass of discordant elements. It was
disliked by all, and many men from both parties deserted
it and joined themselves to Pitt. During part of the
eight months through which it lasted Pitt visited France.
He returned in November, and threw himself into the fray
against Fox's India Bill. It passed in the Commons, but
was defeated in the Lords, and the King, who was himself
bitterly hostile to it, thereupon dismissed his ministers
and again sent for Pitt. Pitt now accepted, and on
December 19, 1783, he walked into the House of Commons
as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the
Exchequer. He was then twenty-four years of age, the
youngest Prime Minister ever known.

With some difiiculty he formed an administration, and
when it was completed he himself was the only member of
it who sat in the Lower House. No one thought that it
would last for more than a few weeks, but Pitt knew what
he was about. .

* Jennings, 147.

HIS FIRST MINISTRY 89

At the beginning of his ministry he suffered a series of
defeats in the House of Commons, but with unexampled
courage and dexterity he held on, relying on the support
of the King and the peers. Gradually the Opposition
began to tire, and he omitted no means of conciliating
popular approval. Shortly after he took office the lucrative
Clerkship of the Pells had fallen to his gift. But, although
a poor man, he refused to take it for himself, and so gained
a lasting reputation for honesty and disinterestedness.

Three months later, when matters showed signs of
improving, he advised the King to dissolve Parliament.
The general election sent him back with a triumphant
majority, which was to keep him in power for seventeen
years. He now took in hand the national finances, to the
betterment of which he devoted all his talents. His
success was rapid. The King, writing to him in July,
1784, says: " It is with infinite satisfaction that I learn
from Mr. Pitt's letter that the various Resolutions proposed
yesterday to the House of Commons on the subjects of
the loan, the subscription for the unfunded debt, and the
taxes were unanimously agreed to."* It was on this
financial policy that Pitt's government was based. Its
main priaciples were a sinking fund and a reduction of
customs duties, and they soon began to bear fruit. He
followed them up by a commercial treaty with France, and
later on began to encourage parliamentary reform and to
attack the slave trade. At this time everything that Pitt
did seemed to succeed. Gibbon in a letter in October,
1784, says of hun: " A youth of five and twenty who raises
himself to the government of an Empire by the power of
genius and the reputation of virtue is a circumstance un-
paralleled in history and in a general view is not less
glorious to the country than to himself."! The RoUiad a
year later parodies this sentiment:

" A sight to make surrounding nations stare :
A Kingdom trusted to a schoolboy's care."

In 1785 Pitt purchased HoUwood, a small estate in Kent,
where his few intimate friends, William Grenville, Wilber-
* Stanhope, " Pitt," i., app. xii. f Gibbon Corresp.

90 PITT

force, Dundas, Eose and Addington, used to visit him.
He rode, worked and saw a little company, but otherwise
led a quiet and retired life.

His ministry continued without many obstacles for
several years, but in 1788, on the Kegency Bill caused
by the King's first attack of insanity, strenuous efforts
were made to dislodge Pitt by Fox and the friends of
the Prince of Wales. The King's opportune recovery,
however, saved him, and he found his position much
strengthened.

His popularity at this time was remarkable, for when it
was known that his private circumstances were embarrassed,
a sum of £100,000 was subscribed in the City and offered
him. as a free gift. He refused it unconditionally, but
the proposal illustrates the esteem in which he was held.
Shortly afterwards the King wished to give him the Garter,
but this also he declined. The King in reply says : " I have
just received Mr. Pitt's letter declining my offer of one of
the vacant Garters, but in so handsome a manner that I
cannot help expressing my sensibility."* In 1792, how-
ever, he accepted the place of Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports, with a salary of nearly £3,000 a year and Walmer
Castle to live in.

His position now began to alter. The French Revolution
had rapidly grown to a head; it soon occasioned important
changes in the opinions not only of Pitt but also of other
political leaders. Burke and Fox took different sides, the
latter being inclined to favour the new doctrines, while the
former was all for law and order. In 1793 England declared
war on France, and thenceforward Pitt was carried along
by the tide of circumstance. Indeed, he never really
understood the meaning of the French Revolution. He
was not, like his father, a war minister, but he was driven
into a position which he could not avoid. Hitherto he had
been a mild and moderate reformer, though the Whigs had
long looked at him askance, and he never entered Brooks's
Club after 1784.")" He now became an energetic and almost
arbitrary reactionary. In 1794 Portland and several of the
* Staniope, " Pitt," app. xiii. f Brougliain, i. 201, note.

HIS DIFFICULTIES 91

more moderate Whigs accepted oflQ.ce in tte government.
This strengthened Pitt's hands, and he was able to put a
firm policy iato effect. The militia were called out, the
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended, and repressive measures
were imposed in England and Ireland to prevent the French
revolutionary spirit from spreading. The war began and
the political horizon rapidly clouded.

During the dark and difl&cult years that followed, Pitt's
conduct of afiairs, despite his policy, remained uniformly
cool and consistent. In the suspension of the Bank Act,
the several naval mutinies, the rebellion in Ireland, and
the various projects for national defence, he showed the
same clear view, the same careful thought, and the same
rapid decision. Yet his military measures were rarely
successful, though he usually succeeded in convincing the
House of Commons that they were. It was said that during
a long and calamitous period every disaster that happened
outside the walls of Parliament was followed by a triumph
within them. The Opposition had so much diminished
in power that the influence of Pitt was supreme;

His political duel with Tierney in 1798 marked a change.
The work that he had to deal with was crushing, and his
health showed frequent signs of failure. His naturally
weak constitution had not been improved by the lack of
exercise that the cares of oflB.ce entailed, nor by the large
libations of port wine which he regularly took as a tonic.
His pecuniary afiairs also remained much involved, though
they did not often trouble him. Extremely careful of the
public money, he was singularly improvident of his own,
and his household expenditure was lavish to a degree for
which there was no necessity and no return.

Meanwhile the war continued with only moderate results,
though the victories of Wellington in India and of Nelson
in Egjrpt enhanced Pitt's prestige. Ireland he had kept
under control to some extent, and at the end of the cen-
tury he was able to pass the Bill for the Union. Foreign
afiairs, with the aid of his cousin GrenviUe, he had managed
fairly well. He had been seventeen years in ofl&ce, with
few failures and many successes to his credit. He was

92 PITT

still liked by the King and admired by the people, while
his own party idolized him.

Suddenly there came a hitch. Pitt had promised his
Irish supporters that he would give efiect to some measure
of Catholic relief. He opened his proposals to the King,
but the King, who thought them a violation of his Corona-
tion oath, would not hear of them. Addington, the
Speaker, was called in to negotiate, but George III. was
adamant, and Pitt would not desert a principle. An im-
passe resulted, and early in 1801 Pitt resigned. The King,
says Lord Malmesbury, had for a long time since been
dissatisfied with Pitt's and particularly with Lord Gren-
vUle's " authoritative manners " towards him, and an
alteration in his ministry had been long in his mind.* To
the country, however, the news was a bolt from the blue,
though Pitt endeavoured to soften the blow. With his
approval the King confided the government to Addington,
who was one of Pitt's closest friends. Pitt promised to
support him, and persuaded most of his colleagues
to keep their offices. But the change was too radical
to inspire public confidence. On the announcement of
Pitt relinquishing the Treasury, the funds fell five points,
though no one believed that the new arrangement would
continue for long. The King was well aware that in losing
his minister he had lost a tower of strength, and he is
reported to have drawn Pitt and Addington aside into
a wiadow at a levee at St. James's, and to have said: " If
we three do but keep together all will go well."| The
pious wish was not fulfilled.

Pitt now reduced his attendances in Parliament, though
he was still consulted by the new Cabinet. He lived chiefly
at Walmer, for his money matters had become worse, and
eventually he was compelled to sell Holwood and to accept
a loan from some of his private friends.

In March 1802 the Treaty of Amiens was signed. Pitt's

late administration of the war had been criticized by some

of his opponents, but their motions had been defeated and

his popularity remained as great as ever. It was about

* Malmesbury, iv. 22. f Pellew, i. 331, note.

HIS SECOND MINISTRY 93

this time that Canning's song " The Pilot that weathered
the storm " was written for a dinner in honour of Pitt's
birthday. It is emblematic of the confidence which the
nation felt in him.

In the meantime, however, Pitt and Addington had
become estranged. This was partly due to the former's
disapproval of the government's conduct of foreign policy
and partly to the active hostility of Malmesbury, Canning
and Rose, Pitt's priacipal friends. Several overtures were
made to him to enter Addiugton's ministry, but they were
unsuccessful, and gradually he became identified with the
Opposition. Leisure disturbed him: he had no outside
interests; power to him was a necessity.

In 1803 war was again declared on France. Addington's
government was hesitating and weak, and it soon became
clear that Pitt would be compelled to resume the direction
of affairs. With Fox and Grenville he united in an attack
on the ministers, and in April 1804 they resigned, and
Pitt at once returned to office. During these three years
he had borne himself with the most careful regard to the
country's welfare and with rare restraint.

In forming his second administration Pitt was imable to
enlist the services of his late allies. The King objected to
Fox, and Grenville would not join alone. Pitt greatly
resented the latter's defection. " I will teach that proud
man," he said of his cousin, " that in the service and in the
confidence of the King I can do without him, though I
think my health such that it may cost me my life."* He
fell back on his other friends, and a year later a reconcilia-
tion was effected with Addington, who then re-entered the
Cabinet.

The country was now embarked on its long final war with
Napoleon. The key of Pitt's policy of resistance was
Continental alliances. But his difficulties were consider-
able, for his old Foreign Minister had left him, and he had
arrayed against him some of the strongest men in the House
of Commons. This was largely due to the King's op-
position to Fox, which had prevented the formation of a
* Stanhope, " Pitt," iv. 174.

94 PITT

really strong government. Pitt's health was also much
enfeebled, and he bore his heavy share in public business
less easily than before. The defeat at Ulm and the death of
Nelson affected him severely, though his spirit never
flagged. At the Guildhall banquet on November 9, 1805,
replying to the toast of his health, he said: " I return you
many thanks for the honour you have done me; but Europe
is not to be saved by any single man. England has saved
herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe
by her example."* It was his last speech in public.

In December he went to Bath. There he received the
news of Austerlitz, which shook him terribly, and was
probably the immediate cause of his death. " Eoll up that
map," he said, pointing to the map of Europe; " it will
not be wanted these ten years." He returned to Putney,
became weaker and weaker, and died on January 23, 1806,
his last words being, " Oh, my country !"t

His debts were paid by Parliament, and, like his father
before him, he was buried with a public funeral in West-
minster Abbey. " After the lapse of more than twenty-
seven years," says Macaulay, " in a season as dark and
perilous, his own shattered frame and broken heart were
laid, with the same pomp, in the same consecrated mould." J
He had died on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day on
which he had first entered Parliament — the greatest genius
in the management of that Parliament that had ever lived.

Pitt was forty-six years old at his death. Only one
Prime Minister had lived a shorter life, and only one had
held the office for a longer time. He had never married,
though there had once been a suggestion that he should
espouse Mdlle. Necker, afterwards Madame de Stael.§ He
was for some years much attached to Miss Eden, a
daughter of Lord Auckland. But his finances precluded
their union, and his health perhaps did not encourage it.

In appearance Pitt was thin and upright, with a pro-
minent profile, chestnut hair, a " port-wine " complexion
and a pointed nose. His eyes were siQgularly brilliant.

* Stanhope, " Pitt," iv. 346.

f Ibid., 382. Lord Eosebery gives another version, " Pitt," 297.

j Macaulay, vii. 279. § Brougham, i. 208, note.

HIS QUALITIES 95

His carriage was dignified, though he had a rather prim,
grave and disdainful manner. At times he was imperious
and even inclined to arrogance, but when warmed with
eloquence the light of genius animated his expression and
gave him extraordinary majesty. His voice was sonorous,
his gesture gracious and his choice of words full and
apposite. In language he was extremely versatile, ex-
celling equally in lucidity, in obscurity or in sarcasm,
though he never approached the oratory of his father.*
His budget speeches were rarely dull and always convincing,
and as a financier he surpassed all his contemporaries. A
man of unrivalled self-possession, he was at once eager,
calm, of admirable judgment and of punctilious honour.
His industry was immense, his grasp of mind vast and his
sense unerring. Having come so young into high office,
his authority, decision and resource gradually became so
undisputed, rapid and ready that he acquired a unique
position in Parliament. With the King he was a mayor
of the palace, with the country a tradition, and with his
party a magnet that attracted and enchained their loyalty.
" He had," said Canning, " qualities rare in their separate
excellence, wonderful in their combination."! " Dispens-
ing for near twenty years the favours of the Crown, he
lived without ostentation, and he died poor."

Of his political development WraxaU says: " It appeared
to me that Pitt had received from nature a greater mixture
of republican spirit than animated his rival (Fox); but
royal favour and employment softened its asperity." j May
takes much the same view: "He had been born and
educated a Whig. He had striven to confine the influence
of the Crown, and enlarge the liberties of the people. But
before his principles had time to ripen, he found himself
the first minister of a Tory King, and the leader of the
triumphant Tory party. The doctrines of that party he
never accepted or avowed. If he carried them into effect,
it was on the ground of expediency rather than of prin-
ciple."§

* Windham used to call it " the State paper style," May, i. 491.
t Stapleton, 87. J May, ii. 20, note. § Ibid., 25.

96 PITT

In private life and among his few intimate friends and
relations Pitt could put ofE the cares of office and become
a simple and amusing companion. He used to play cards
on occasion, and even in middle age he would indulge
in bear-fights with children and sometimes with adults.
His health was so dependent on regularity that the least
alteration of his habits often upset him for several days.
Neither the turf, play, the theatre nor field sports appealed
to him. In his relations with women he was exceptionally
moral — a matter which afforded the KoUiad much material
for lampoons — but to the bottle he was a devotee. Riding
back late one night in 1784 from Addiscombe, where he had
been dining with Jenkinson, he galloped past the toll-gate
at Streatham without paying the fee, and was fired at by
the gatekeeper, who mistook him for a highwayman.

" Him as te wandered darkling o'er tte plain
His reason lost in Jenkinson's champagne,
A peasant's hand but that just Fate withstood
Had shed a Premier's for a robber's blood.'""

In general knowledge he was deficient, for he had never
had the opportunity of acquiring it, and for literature and
art in their wider sense he cared little, his reading being
limited to the ancient classics and a few of the greater
English writers such as Shakespeare and Milton. Lord
Grenville called him the best Greek scholar with whom
he had ever conversed. Like his father he was a keen
gardener, but his work was his real pleasure, and even
this was limited, for he was essentially a House of Com-
mons man. Legislation and administration interested
him far less than the management of Parliament, in which
he was a past-master.

Three-quarters of his time in ofiice were spent in striving
to resist the Revolution in France, the rebellion in Ireland
and the ruin of Europe. To withstand such calamities
he was often driven to harsh expedients. Yet much of
his earlier policy was thoroughly liberal. He was a con-
sistent advocate of parliamentary reform, of the abolition

* Wraxall, " Mem.," ii. 490.

W. Owenpinx.

F. Bartolozzi sc.

WILLIAM PITT

To face page £

HIS POLICY 97

of slavery and of Catholic relief. His sympatMes were
with the middle classes, for he believed in Walpole's
maxims and understood the benefits of free commerce and
production. He leavened the patrician oligarchy of the
Whigs with a new plebeian aristocracy, and he is credited
with having said that anyone with £10,000 a year had a
right to a peerage. A sound and practical fiixancier, he
abolished eighty-five sinecures, among other economies,
and saved the Exchequer accordingly. His principal
intimates and supporters were all new men. Canning —
whom he loved as a son — ^Rose, Addington, Jenkinson,
Ryder and Dundas, and he left them a legacy of political
power which lasted a quarter of a century. His long tenure
of office made a definite break with the old system, for
none of the Prime Ministers who followed him, except the
aged Duke of Portland, had ever served with Chatham,
Rockingham or North. Thus his policy remained for
many years a pattern for succeeding statesmen.

A patriot like his father, Pitt enjoyed a longer but a less
successful lease of power. Engaged for most of his life in
a defensive war, his liberal tendencies were warped and his
projects of progress deferred. He had enough to do in
steering the ship of state through a sea of troubles, in
constant danger of rocks ahead and of mutiny on board. If
his speech was stern and his hand heavy, it was because
he had to save England at once from her friends and her
foes. His spirit never faltered, his vision was not dimmed
and, like his father, he was most formidable in defeat.

" Per damna, per caedes ab ipso
Ducit opes animumque ferro."

What their country owes to the Pitts she is not likely to
forget.

CHAPTEK V
THE GEENVILLES

GEORGE AND WILLIAM GRENVILLE

The Grenvilles were an old and ricli family of Buck-
ingliamsliire squires. They had intermarried with the
Temples, another old and much richer farmly in the same
county, and by this alliance had ensured their future.
Their history was at first simple. Richard Grenville of
Wotton, M.P. for Wendover and Buckingham, had lived
the ordinary life of his ancestors. He had married Hester
Temple, and died in 1727, a country gentleman. But
Richard Temple, his brother-in-law, was a very different
person. Having gained considerable distinction as a
soldier under Marlborough, he had received successively
the command of a series of regiments, a red ribbon, the
lord-lieutenancy of his county and a peerage, which was
entailed on his sister failing male heirs. He much enlarged
his fine house of Stowe, where he entertained Bolingbroke,
Pulteney, Congreve and Pope, and was altogether an
important figure in the first half of the eighteenth century.
But towards the end of his days he had fallen out with Sir
Robert Walpole. He then collected round him his
nephews by blood and marriage, Grenvilles, Lytteltons
and Pitts, all yoimg and brilliant Etonians, and prepared
to do battle. They were sound enough Whigs, but they
were eager for a fight against the old minister, especially
on behalf of their hospitable uncle. Lord Cobham. They
were called " Cobham's cubs," the " Cousins," the " Boy
Patriots," and soon became serious thorns in Sir Robert's
flanks, for they practised their politics with skill and
strategy. To Cobham and his successors politics were a
regular profession, by means of which the fortunes of
England and of the Grenvilles were to be advanced pari

98

THE GEENVILLE IDEA 99

passu. This spirit he inculcated into those who came after
him, and they responded nobly to his expectations. With
every generation a solid accretion of land and wealth, a
step in the peerage and a comfortable share of places and
pensions were achieved. Templa quam dUecta, ' How dear
are the Temples," was a weU-chosen motto for the com-
bined families.

George and William Grenville, Chatham and William
Pitt, were in their own eyes and ia those of the world very
considerable people, for they were Prime Ministers of
England. But to the head of the house of Grenville, and
perhaps subconsciously to themselves, they were but so
many pawns on the exchequer board which were to aid
him in securing a sinecure, a Garter, a white staff or a better
coronet. This family solidarity, these mass tactics of dis-
cipHned acquisitiveness, help to explain their careers and
the curious race influence to which they were subjected.
They rated themselves high, and on those who had
patronage to dispense they exercised the fascination of
basilisks. For many years it was an axiom in the Pitt
family that " the GrenviUes must be taken care of."
Later on, in the days of Liverpool, Lord Holland says:
" AU articles are now to be had at low prices except Gren-
viUes";* and less than a hundred years ago a Duke of
Buckingham fought a Duke of Bedford in Kensington
Gardens for calling the GrenviUes a famUy of cormorants.

Of the two GrenvUles who became Prime Ministers neither
rose to fame. They were both Whigs, and the King was a
Tory. They were both obstinate, and so was he. And
although they were clever and competent men, neither their
abiUties nor their address were of the sort calculated to
overcome royal prejudices or to conciliate popular favour.
" The brotherhood," said George III., " must always either
govern despotically or oppose government violently."!
But though integrity and talents may not always achieve
success, dogged determination usually commands respect,
and that respect, albeit rather grudgingly accorded, the
GrenviUes rarely failed to earn.

* Gibbs, ii. 408. f Jesse, " George III.," iii. 369.

100 GEOEGE GEENVILLE

I.— GEORGE GEENVILLE

George Grenville was born at Wotton on October 14,
1712, the second son of Eichard Grenville aforesaid and of
his wife Hester, daughter of Sir Eichard Temple, third
baronet of Stowe. She subsequently became heiress to
her brother, afterwards Lord Cobham. Of GrenviUe's
earliest days not much is known. He and his elder
brother Eichard were sent to Eton, where they were in
the Lower Fourth when Pitt was in Sixth Form. Gren-
ville went on to Christ Church, Oxford, and then read for
the Bar at the Inner Temple, where he was called in 1735.
His intention was to practise, and for some few years he
did so, but in 1741, at his uncle's request, he came into
Parliament as member for Buckingham, a seat which he
held vmtil his death, twenty-nine years later. His brother
Eichard was already in the House of Commons, as were
several of his cousins and connections, Lytteltons and
Pitts. He joined theic band, became a critic of the
administration, and is mentioned by Horace Walpole as
making a " glorious speech "* in the memorable debates of
February, 1742, when the great Sir Eobert fell.

As soon as the Pelhams were fairly established in power,
two years later, a place was found for GrenviUe at the
Board of Admiralty, and in 1747 he was made a Junior
Lord of the Treasury. He was an industrious, careful and
capable official, and did his work well. In 1749 he married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Wyndham, and sister
of Charles, Earl of Egremont. " She was a strong-minded,
probably an ambitious woman," says Lord Eussell, " and
was believed to exercise great influence over her husband's
political conduct."! In this year his uncle died, and his
mother became Viscountess Cobham. Eichard Grenville
lost no time in getting her made a countess, employing
George's good offices for that purpose. In 1752 she also
died, and Eichard, who then became Lord Temple and had
married an heiress, found himself one of the richest men

* H. Walpole, " Letters," i. 118. f " Bedford," iii. 324, note.

HIS SLOW ADVANCE 101

in England. His relations were gradually getting into
office, and in two years William Pitt, already famous, was
to marry his sister. George Grenville's position thus looked
promising, and his political future seemed assured.

He had by now become Treasurer of the Navy, and was
soon admitted to the Privy Council. In 1754, however,
Pelham died, and Newcastle ignored Pitt V claims to pro-
motion. Pitt and Grenville accordingly attacked the
government, and shortly afterwards they were dismissed
from it. But Pitt was a dangerous enemy to provoke.
He drove Newcastle within a year to resign, and iu 1756
Grenville resumed his old place under Devonshire, Pitt's
nominee as the new Prime Minister. Seven months later,
after a few weeks out of office, he resumed it a third time
in the combined Newcastle and Pitt ministry. On this
occasion he had hoped for the rich post of Paymaster-
General, for money meant a good deal to him. That place,
however, was given to Fox. Grenville thought that Pitt
might have got it for him, and the grievance rankled. But
he was patient as well as ambitious, and he continued
friends with his powerful brother-in-law, who was now
Secretary of State, helping him in his work and becoming
godfather to his younger son William.

With the accession of George III. and the entry of
Lord Bute on to the political stage the balance shifted.
The latter began to oust Pitt from Grenville's afiec-
tions. In September, 1761, Bute already calls Grenville
by his Christian name, and speaks of the " approba-
tion of a few friends I highly regard, amongst whom
George Grenville stands in the foremost rank."* When in
1761 Pitt and Temple left the ministry, Grenville remained
on, and this apparent desertion subsequently occasioned
a quarrel between him and them. Barrington, writing on
October 9, says : " Lady Hester Pitt is a peeress. Mr. Pitt
has a Grant of £3,000 for his own life and two others; and
, . . Lord Temple resigned the Privy Seal the very day
that his brother-in-law got a pension and his sister a
coronet. George Grenville has refused to be Secretary of
* Grenville, i. 388.

102 GEOEGE GRENVILLE

State and will have tlie conduct of tlie House of Commons,
remaining Treasurer of the Navy. He is already a
Cabinet Coimcillor and will be at all the private meetings
of the ministers. However, the Seals go in the family, for
Lord Egremont has got them."*

Grenville was now offered Pitt's place, which, however,
he refused. There was then a question of his becoming
Speaker, but this honour he also declined, at the King's
express desire. He writes to Mr. Prowse, another candi-
date for the Chair: "The King having been pleased to
signify to me his earnest wishes that I should decline going
into the chair of the House of Commons, to which the
favourable opinion of many very considerable persons,
however unworthy I may be of it, proposed to have called
me, it becomes me from every motive both of gratitude
and duty to obey, though I will freely own to you, for
many reasons, that I do it in this particular and at this
time with the greatest reluctancy, as I should have looked
upon the Chair as the highest honour that could have
befallen me, and as a safe retreat from those storms and
that imeasiness to which all other pubUc situations, and more
especially at this juncture, are unavoidedly exposed."|

Eventually Grenville agreed to take the lead of the
House of Commons, while continuing to be only Treasiirer
of the Navy. There is a detailed account of the trans-
actions in his memoirs and those of his wife, from which
it would appear that he 'acted with some loyalty and
reserve throughout the negotiations.

In May, 1762, Newcastle followed Pitt out of office.
Bute became Prime Minister, and Grenville succeeded him
as Secretary of State, though he did not take over the
management of the members of Parliament. In October
he was moved to the Admiralty to make room for Fox
who replaced him as leader of the House. In this step-
down Grenville acquiesced, though with considerable
demur. Bute, however, was grateful, and when in April
1763 he was compelled by his own unpopularity to resign
it was Grenville whom he recommended as his successor.
* Ellis, 2nd series, iv. 444. f Grenville, i. 398.

R. Houston so.

GEOKaE GEENVILLE

To face page 102

HIS MINISTKY 103

The King agreed, and Grrenville moved to Downing Street.
He knew that Bute expected to control him, but he had
not any intention of submitting to such a control.

Then began what Macaulay called " the worst adminis-
tration that has governed England since the Kevolu-
tion."* One of Grenville's first acts was to dismiss his elder
brother from the lord-lieutenancy of Buckinghamshire;
this was done within a month of his taking office, and was
ostensibly due to the King's dislike of the line followed
by Temple in the Wilkes affair. About this the brothers
naturally fell out again, and Pitt again took Temple's side.
Bute still remained in close touch with the King, and the
ministers soon began to find his presence and secret advice
extremely embarrassing. Grenville voiced his complaints,
which Bute, of course, resented. In August Lord Egremont
died. He was one of the Secretaries of State and Gren-
ville's brother-in-law. Bute seized the opportunity of
attempting to bring Pitt back into office, and he almost
succeeded. Grenville then definitely broke with Bute and
insisted upon his retiring to the country. Some such
move, indeed, had become a necessity owing to the general
belief that the hated Scotsman still influenced the King.

Writing round to his friends at this time, Grenville says :
" Lord Bute out of regard to what he thinks will be most
for his Majesty's interest has declared that he is determined
to retire and to absent himself not only from the Councils
but from the presence and place of residence of his Majesty
until the suspicion of his influence on public business shall
be entirely removed."! This agreeable circular Grenville
made the King approve of before it was despatched.

The King disliked Bute's dismissal quite as much as
he resented the way in which Grenville had enforced it, for
GrenvUle never hesitated to say what he thought in the
bluntest possible manner. On one occasion, writing in his
diary an account of an audience, he says : " The King
grew warm and said ' Good God, Mr. Grenville, am I to be
suspected after all I have done ?"'J

Grenville's bearing was nearly as arrogant, didactic and

* Macaulay, vii. 241. f Grenville, ii. 106. % Ibid., ii. 210.

8

104 GEOEGE GRENVILLE

tiresome as that of Ms brother Temple, whom the King
absolutely abhorred. But occasionally he met his match.
During this session, when speaking in the House of
Commons on the unpopular cyder tax, he had asked where
else he could get the money. " Tell me where," he repeated
several times. Pitt, who was sitting opposite, hummed
Howard's well-known lines, " Gentle Shepherd, tell me
where." The House was amused, and the nickname
" Gentle Shepherd " stuck to GrenviUe for the rest of
his life.*

The Wilkes prosecution had already damaged the
ministry. The King, who was never above sowing discord
among his ministers, continually commiserated GrenviUe,
telling him that his colleagues Halifax and Sandwich
were working against him. The American Stamp Act now
added to their troubles. Early in 1765 Grenville at last
noticed that the King began to show him signs of coolness,
distance, estrangement and embarrassment, due, perhaps,
to his " continual remonstrances." On the Regency Bill
being brought in. His Majesty was deeply offended with the
ministers at the omission of his mother's name. He
privately sent for Pitt, and even for Temple, and again saw
Bute. Grenville coniplained strongly about this want of
confidence, and the King resented this still more. The
ministers next made definite propositions to the King as
to alterations in his system of government ; and to these
His Majesty was unwillingly forced to agree. More bad
blood was set up. Grenvflle, with his usual tact, selected
the occasion for asking for some sinecure posts for his
family. The King then determined to get rid of him at any
price — even that of a Whig. He came to an arrangement
with Rockingham, and on July 10 or(3fered Grenville to
resign the seals. At his audience the King said that he had
found himself too much constrained, and that when he had
anything proposed to him it was no longer as counsel, but
what he was to obey."! To the Duke of Bedford he
remarked that he had given his ministers all the confidence
necessary for the despatch of public business, but that " as
* Jennings, 126 (sense). f Grenville, iii. 213.

HIS EAELY DEATH 105

to favour they had not taken the way to merit it. When
Mr. Grenville has wearied me for two hours, he looks at
his watch to see if he may not tire me for an hour more."*
As the Duke of Wellington said many years later,
George III. was " no listener."t

Rockingham only stayed in ofl&ce a year. Then
Chatham's ministry was formed, but neither Temple nor
Grenville were included in it. The two brothers had
become reconciled, and they now joined in opposiag their
brother-in-law. Early in 1767 Grenville succeeded in
defeating a clause in the budget, for which he gained much
applause. In the summer there was a question of Grafton's
resigning and of Lord Eockingham's returning to office with
the support of Temple and Grenville. Nothing, however,
came of the project, for Grenville's views were very strong
as to asserting the sovereignty of Great Britain over her
colonies, while Rockingham held different opinions.

In December 1769 Grenville's wife died. She had long
been ailing, and her death was a severe blow to her husband
whose assistant and adviser she had always been. He
never really recovered from the shock, and survived it
less than a year.

Early in 1770 he passed a Bill for regulating contro-
verted elections to the House of Commons, a most useful
measure and the principal political legacy by which he is
known. In the summer he became ill and rapidly
sickened, and in November 1770 he died. He left three
sons — George, afterwards first Marquess of Buckingham;
Thomas, the famous book collector, and William, who
subsequently became Lord Grenville the Prime Minister.
None have descendants in the male line now living.

Grenville's appearance was not prepossessing. He was
thin, colourless, rigid in carriage and punctilious in manner.
As a speaker he was often tedious and redundant. He lacked
tact both in the House of Commons and with the King,
whom he lectured, hectored and bored. His pertinacity
for places and pensions, even at the most inauspicious
moments, resembled his brother's unportimity for titles

* H. Walpole, " George III.," ii. 160. t Jennings, 158.

106 GEORGE GEENVILLE

and orders. But he had his good qualities. He had in-
herited but a small fortune, and had early formed an
economical plan of living in his small country house at
Wotton. There he spent only his private income, always
saving his pay. But he was neither penurious nor in-
hospitable, and his brother, the magnificent lord of Stowe,
thought it worth while to borrow his servants, his wine and
his silver in order to entertain his princely guests. He
writes from Stowe on September 14, 1768 :

" Deak Bkother,

" An express brings me word that the King of
Denmark will accept of an early dinner; this changes my
whole plan and distresses most exceedingly. I must beg
the loan of your cook and your plate and will accept a dozen
or so of your hermitage. The plate I wiU send for but
beg you to despatch your cook in your one horse chaise
as fast as possible. Your most truly affectionate

" Temple."*

GrenviUe had acquired an exceptional knowledge of the
practice of the House of Commons, and was rightly called
" a good Speaker spoilt." Horace Walpole says that he
" was confessedly the ablest man of business in the House
of Commons, and though not popular, of great authority
there from his spirit, knowledge and gravity of character."!
Lord Chatham styled him " universally able in the whole
business of the House, and after Mr. Murray and Mr. Fox
certainly one of the very best Parliament men."{ Knox,
who knew him intimately, says: " Mr. GrenviUe, under a
manner rather austere and forbidding, covered a heart as
feeling and tender as any man ever possessed. He liked
office as well for its emoluments as for its power; but in
attention to himself he never failed to pay regard to the
situations and circumstances of his friends, though to
neither would he warp the public interest or service in the
smallest degree. Rigid in his opinions of public justice

* GrenviUe, iv. 363. f H. "Walpole, " George III.," iv. 188.

t Chatham, i. 106.

HIS CHAEACTER 107

and integrity and firm to inflexibility in tke construction
of his mind, lie reprobated every suggestion of political
expediency. . . , He was far from being indifferent to the
good or ill opinion of the public. . . . That tediousness
and repetition which his speeches in Parliament and his
transactions with men of business were charged with were
occasioned by the earnestness of his desire to satisfy and
convince those he addressed of the purity of his motives
and the propriety of his conduct."* An account of him
written in 1765, when he was Prime Minister, calls him
" calm, deliberate, economical, attentive, steadfast to
business early and late, attached to no dissipations or
trifling amusements, always master of himself and never
seen either at White's with the gamesters or at Newmarket
with the jockeys . . . easy of access and of unblemished
integrity."

Burke thought well of him. In his speech on American
taxation in 1774 he said: " Undoubtedly Mr. GrenvQle was
a first-rate figure in this country. With a masculine
understanding and a stout and resolute heart he had an
application undissipated and unwearied. He took public
business not as a duty which he was to fulfil, but as a
pleasure he was to enjoy; and he seemed to have no
delight out of this House except in such thiags as in some
way related to the business that was to be done within it.
If he was ambitious, I will say this for him, his ambition
was of a noble and generous strain."!

GrenviUe was a bad example of Horace's vir Justus et
tenax propositi. Neither the wiU of the people nor the
King's countenance could shake his solid mind. He was
" Junius' pet statesman . . . the model and antitype
of all constitutional pedants. "J Wedded to ofifice, his
motto might have been esse est administrari. No one will
ever call h im a great statesman, a great speaker or a great
leader. In Lord Rosebery's words, he was merely an
" able, narrow, laborious person."§ In some ways, indeed,
he was singularly unfortunate, for he was responsible for

* Chatham, iii. 486, note. f Burke, " Works," i. 163.

t Stephen, ii. 202. § Eosebery, " Chatham," 21.

108 WILLIAM GEENVILLE

one of the worst Acts tliat ever passed througli Parliament.
He had serious faults of character. He was obstinate,
over-proud of his family, and inclined to overrate his own
abilities and to underrate those of his friends. He was
jealous, he was ambitious, he was avid of power and place.
But, despite all this, he was an honest, industrious and
capable public servant, doing his best for the State and
maintaiuiag through a chequered career, ia unsympathetic
surroundings, a soimd and straightforward reputation.

II.— WILLIAM GRENVILLE

William Wjmdham GrenviUe was born on October 25,
1759, at Wotton. He was the youngest son of George
GrenviUe and of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir WiUiam Wynd-
ham. When he was four years old his father became
Prime Minister, while one of his uncles was Secretary of
State. Two other uncles were Lords Chatham and Temple,
so that he was born and bred into the purple of high office.

As a boy he was remarkably advanced. There is a good
copy of verses that he wrote to Lady Temple at the age of
eleven, and at school he already showed his later tastes
for books, gardens and politics. On leaving Eton he went
to Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a distinguished
classical scholar. In 1780 he was entered at Lincoln's Iim,
and two years later was elected member for Buckingham,
his father's old seat. His name and his connections made
his abilities more prominent. In 1782 Lord Shelbume
came into office, with William Pitt, GrenvUle's first-
cousin, as his Chancellor of the Exchequer. The moment
was propitious, and before he had been a year in Parlia-
ment young Grenville was appointed Chief Secretary for
Ireland, under his brother, Lord Temple. Even at this
early age his opinions were considered of value. Dm-ing
the interregnum after Lord Shelburne's resignation, Gren-
ville was twice consulted by the King on the political
situation and made the repository of his confidences.*
During the reign of the Coalition he was for a few months

* Buckingliam, i. 189, 212» Jesse, " George III.," ii. 423, 442.

HIS RAPID EISE 109

out of office, but at the end of 1783 Pitt succeeded as Prime
Miaister. Grenville was then sworn a privy councillor
arid made Paymaster-General, the most lucrative place
Pitt could give him. In 1786 he was appointed Vice-
President of the Board of Trade, while his brother had
been created Marquess of Buckingham.

Grenville devoted himself to the work of his office and
to supporting the ministry of his cousin, to whom he
afforded continual and most useful assistance. Three years
later, on the death of Cornwall, he was elected Speaker of
the House of Commons, at the age of twenty-nine. This
great position, which he accepted on condition that it
should not " prejudice his other views," he held for only
five months, when he was appointed Secretary of State for
the Home Department. About this time, Fox, while
animadvertkig on GrenviUe's opposition to the impeach-
ment of Warren Hastings, made the following prophecy:
" I am concerned to hear such doctrines . . . fall from
such a person — doctrines most inauspicious to the country,
if, as his rank and abilities highly entitle him to expect, he
should at some future time become, himself, first minister."*

In the next year, 1790, he was raised to the peerage as
Lord Grenville, and a few months later was made Foreign
Secretary. Shortly afterwards he received the rich office
of Auditor of the Exchequer, which he held at £4,000 a
year for forty years. Such a rapid rise through so many
of the principal offices of State had rarely been seen
before. But Grenville was quite capable of justifjdng his
promotion.

For nearly ten years he now held the seals of the Foreign
Office, acting also as leader of the government in the House
of Lords. He was skilled in the politics of Europe, he had a
good knowledge of foreign languages, and he had studied
deeply the law of nations. He had an hereditary aptness
for the routine of business, with accuracy of detail and
unfailing industry. Few other avocations distracted his
attention, and he became a most competent and experi-
enced Foreign Minister.

* Wraxall, " Post. Mem.," ii. 146.

110 WILLIAM GRENVILLE

In 1792, when liis financial position was assured, he
married Anne Pitt, daughter of Lord Camelford, and thus
further allied himself with his cousin's family. He also
purchased Dropmore, a small estate in Buckinghamshire,
where he began to bidld a charming house and lay out
gardens. He writes about it to his future wife: " I am
more and more delighted with my purchase in Bucks, and
have already begun upon the small addition I am making
to the cottage. I shall be much disappointed if you are
not pleased."*

His marriage seems to have been responsible for a con-
siderable alteration for the better in his appearance. Lord
Mornington, writing to him in October 1792 says : "I
cannot tell you with how much pleasure I saw your menage.
I told Pitt that matrimony had made three very important
changes in you which could not but affect your old friends
— (1) a brown lapelled coat instead of the eternal blue
single breasted, (2) strings in your shoes, (3) very good
perfume in your hair powder."*

Grenville's house and his marriage were in the future to
count for much more with him than the struggles and toils
of politics. He had not yet succeeded to the riches that
were to smooth his later years. Writing to his brother in
December 1796 about the War Loan, he says : " Lord
Spencer, Lord Liverpool, Pitt and Dundas subscribe
£10,000 as I have done; the two last will, I believe, have
stUl more difficulty in finding it than I shall."!

Throughout the French Revolution he carried on the
external business of the country with a firm, tactful and
wary hand. Malmesbury and Canning, both good diplo-
matists, were his friends; and though he was personally
opposed to the overtures for peace which Pitt made to
France, he subordinated his opinion to those of his chief.
His work at his office was of the highest order, his des-
patches being models of strength, lucidity and diction.

In 1801 came the split between the King and Pitt on
the subject of Catholic emancipation. Grenville, a strong
Whig on such questions, resigned with his cousin and went
* Boyle, 42, 43. f Buckingham, ii. 351.

PEIME MINISTEE 111

into opposition; but while Pitt contented himself with a
more or less passive role, Grenville and Canning attacked
Addington on every occasion. In their battles they were
joitied by Fox, and when in 1804 Addington was obliged
to retire, Grenville declined to serve with Pitt again unless
Fox was iacluded. The ministry, he said, was being
" formed on a principle of exclusion/'* But the King
refused to accept Fox, and Grenville accordingly remaiaed
outside the government. It seems that for some time he
had been wavering as to who should in future be his leader.
He was stUl a Whig, and he had, like all the Grenvilles, a
tremendous belief in and reverence for his own family and
their politics. He considered them the equals if not the
superiors of anyone, not exceptiag even Pitt himself.
Canning, talking to Malmesbury ia 1802, said of Gren-
ville: " He cannot be persuaded but that Lord Buckingham
would be a good and popular Prime Minister, and whenever
his family come upon him with this idea, it bears down
before it every other consideration." Malmesbury replied
that " this was nothing new to me, that I had been con-
vinced of it for many years; and that although I believed
Lord Grenville and lus party had rather see Pitt first
minister than either Addington or Fox, or any indifferent
person, yet that they had much rather see Lord Bucking-
ham fixst minister than Pitt."t Such ideas were exactly
those of Grenville 's father and uncle, who had always
thought themselves better men than Chatham. It may
be also that in his own mind he had begun to demur to
the ultra-Tory policy of Pitt.

Grenville undoubtedly acted a loyal part in standing by
Fox, and he soon reaped his reward. On Pitt's death early
in 1806 he was called upon to form the ministry of All the
Talents, a government which included nearly all that was
then best on the Whig side of politics— Fox, Grey, Erskine,
Spencer, Sheridan, Petty and Windham. It has been said
that Fox was its real leader, and that Grenville played
a secondary part, but this is an exaggeration. Fox had
not been in office for over twenty years, he had latterly
* Yonge, i. 143. t Malmesbury, iv. 90.

112 WILLIAJil GEENVILLE

been much away from Parliament, and he was in very poor
health. GrenviUe, on the other hand, had been a Secre-
tary of State for twelve and a minister for eighteen years ;
he had a recent and far more varied experience of public
business than any member of the Cabinet, and he was strong
and well.

The ministry, however, did not fulfil its promise. Fox
said of it, " We are three in a bed." It passed one memorable
Act for the Suppression of the Slave Trade, but otherwise
its career was as short as it was inglorious. In four-
teen months the Catholic question was again brought
forward, and the opportunity again enabled George III.
to change his advisers. Grenville resigned, and the
Duke of Portland came into oflB.ce. In his accoimt of this
transaction the King said that " Lord GrenvUle had
behaved towards him very properly, and never forgot
himself, or manifested any unbecoming harshness, or used
any expression at all bordering on menace to go out. He
only said at the conclusion of his audience . . . that if the
Bill did not pass he could not consistently with his principles
and duty continue to serve His Majesty in any ofl&cial capa-
city. . . ."* Sheridan, however, thought that GrenvUle
had been much too quixotic in resigning. " I have known
many men," he said, " knock their heads against a wall,
but I never before heard of a man collecting bricks and
building a wall for the express purpose of knocking out his
own brains against it."f There is, however, no doubt that
GrenviUe was really glad to get out of ofl&ce. He writes to
Lord Buckingham on March 27, 1807 : " The deed is done
and I am again a free man, and to you I may express what
it would seem like afiectation to say to others, the infinite
pleasure I derive from my emancipation."!

GrenvUle was not yet forty-eight, but his ofl&cial life was
now finished. In 1809 he was elected ChanceUor of the
University of Oxford, an appointment for which he was
eminently suited and which gave him the greatest pleasure.
In 1811 he was largely concerned in the Regency BUI, and

* Malmesbury, iv. 372. f May, i. 90.

X Buckingham, " George III.," iv. 149.

T. Phillips pinx.

WILLIAM GEENVILLE

LOED GRENVILLE

To face page 112

LATER LIFE 113

it was then intended by the Prince ai Wales, had he changed
the ministry, that Grenville should have been Prime
Minister. Later on ofiers were also made t6 him and to
Lord Grey, both by Perceval and by the Regent, to join the
government, but he declined them. He was, indeed,
wedded to the delights of his beautiful home at Dropmore,
where he gradually amassed splendid collections of books,
marbles, china, priQts and pictures, and had planted the
rarest flowers and trees. His wife had inherited Bocon-
noc in Cornwall, the home of her family, and GrenviUe had
thus become a rich man. So he turned his miad to his
gardens, his library, his estates, and to the pleasures of
rural retirement, caring less and less for politics . Literature
was another solace, for he edited the letters of his uncle.
Lord Chatham, printed an annotated Homer, and wrote
" Nugse Metricse," an attractive volume of translations
into Latin from Greek, Italian and English. His friends
he now advised to foUow Lord Liverpool, while in foreign
afiairs he adhered himself to the policy of Canning, who
had been his pupil and subordinate.

He stiU. occasionally spoke in the House of Lords, and
RonuUy, in 1813, says of one of his speeches iq favour of
abolishing the capital penalty for shoplifting : " For strength
of reasoning, for the enlarged views of a great statesman,
for dignity of manner, and force of eloquence. Lord Gren-
vUle's was one of the best speeches that I have ever heard
delivered in Parliament."*

In 1815 GrenviUe was concerned with the Corn Laws,
and he subsequently served on the secret committee
appointed by Sidmouth to consider the repressive measures
adopted in connection with the Luddite riots. In this
matter he approved generally of the ministerial policy,
and now rather drifted away from the old Whig ideas and
did not oppose the government. In 1822 his nephew, the
second Marquess of Buckingham, was raised to a dukedom,
and the Grenvilles saw their fondest ambitions realized.

The projects of parliamentary reform which came to
the fore in the next reign did not meet with Lord Gren-
ville's approval, though in other directions he still kept to
* Romilly, iii. 95.

114 WILLIAM GEENVILLE

his liberal ideas, being a firm believer in Catbolic relief
and in Free Trade. But lie lived almost entirely in the
country and*canie little to London. Soon after 1830 lie
was struck by paralysis, but he did not die untU January
1834, when he was seventy-four years of age. He left no
issue.

Grenville had few personal attractions. " Nature," says
WraxaU, " had bestowed on him no exterior advantages.
His person was heavy and devoid of elegance or grace, his
address cold and formal, his manners destitute of suavity.
Even his eloquence partook of these defects."* His square
and ponderous figure, his stubborn face and expression
suggested the tenacity and strength of the bull-dog. But
beneath all his apparent austerity of manner he had a
heart, for he idolized his wife, and on hearing of his cousin
Pitt's death he burst into a flood of tears, and he is said
never to have forgotten his memory. His unconciliating
manners and imbending nature caused him to be disliked
both by George III. and George IV. — one of the few points
on which they agreed. To the former he was repugnant
as what he called " Popish," and perhaps also as the son
of his old bugbear, George Grenville; to the latter because
the style of ms conversation did not descend to the requi-
site level of Carlton House .f The old Lord Liverpool wrote
of him in April, 1807 : " Lord Grenville is the most extra-
ordinary character I ever knew. He has talents of un-
common industry, but he never sees a subject with all its
bearings, and consequently his judgment can never be
right. He is not an ill-tempered man, but he has no
feelings for anyone, not even for those to whom they are
most due. He is in his outward manner offensive to
the last degree. He is rapacious with respect to himself
and his family, but a great economist with respect to
everyone and to everything else. J

Grenville was a man of character as well as ability.
Born a Whig and brought by circumstances and family

* WraxaU, " Post. Mem.," i. 277.

t Auckland, iv. 378, 389. Jesse, " George III.," iii. 534.

j Auckland, iv. 308.

HIS CHAEACTER 115

connection into a Tory government, he maintained most
of his early principles throughout a long life. He had his
own well-considered opinions, and he generally stuck to
them, yet he recognized his limitations. " I am not com-
petent to the management of men," he wrote to his
brother, " and never was so naturally, and toil and anxiety
more and more unfit me for it."* " He was," says Lord
Malmesbury, " the closest character possible — ^never relieved
his mind by trusting anyone."! But in council and execu-
tive work he was of a high level. With all the moral and
mechanical qualities of his father he had a far broader
grasp and compass of intellect. Both as a speaker and as
a despatch-writer he always displayed complete mastery
of his subject, and for that reason he acquired exceptional
weight and authority in the House of Lords and in the
various embassies abroad. His interest in history made
him a minister and a writer of exceptional value. An
ardent advocate of the war with France, whom he regarded
as England's chief enemy, he was a firm support to Pitt
throughout his first ministry, and to his able conduct of
foreign affairs may largely be ascribed the eventual vic-
tories of England over Napoleon.

GrrenvOle's career was in some ways unique. At twenty-
three he was in the ministry, he was the youngest Speaker
of the House of Commons since the time of Edward III., and
he had filled four of the highest offices in the State, including
that of Prime Minister, before he was forty-eight years old.
But remarkable as were his successes in life, his merits
were not unequal to them. Learned, industrious, honest,
acute and determined, he brought to the highest concerns
of State a master mind. Perhaps the least known of his
celebrated family, he was undoubtedly its most brilliant
statesman. His pride, his tenacity and his reserve do not
detract from his merits.

Such were the GrenvUles. Their race had risen in a
century from country squires to the highest rank in the
* Buckingham, iv. 133. f Malmesbury, iv. 44.

116 THE GRENVILLES

peerage. They had acquired immense property and owned
some of the finest houses in England. They had directed
the councils of their country, held the first places in the
State and drawn close on a million of public money from
its coffers. " Within the space of fifty years," says
Macaulay, " three first lords of the treasury, three secre-
taries of state, two keepers of the privy seal and four first
lords of the admiralty were appointed from among the sons
and grandsons of the Countess Temple."* Then their
fortunes began to decline. They became a striking illus-
tration of Galton's theory in " Hereditary Genius," that a
series of marriages with heiresses does not produce heirs.
Generation after generation the males of the race decreased.
Their wealth diminished, and their domains were sold. A
century and a half after Richard Grenville first obtained his
earldom there was no longer a Duke of Buckingham, his
broad lands had passed to others, and now the palace of
Stowe has fallen into the hands of the auctioneers, and the
famous name of Grenville is almost forgotten in England.

* Macaulay, vi. 254.

CHAPTER VI
THE KING'S MEN

BUTE AND NORTH

In the last years of Queen Anne the Tories had again
struggled back to power after the serious damage they had
sustained at the Revolution. But their hold was precarious.
Bolingbroke did them little good and the Pretender much
harm. The Treaty of Utrecht and the High Church party
discredited them stiU further, and when in July 1714
Lord Oxford handed over his white staff, England was not
to see another Tory government for eight-and-forty years.
The Hanover succession and the Jacobite rebellion drove
them quite outside the pale. " Throughout the whole of
the reign of George I.," says Macaulay, " and through
nearly half the reign of George II., a Tory was regarded as
an enemy of the reigning house and was excluded from
all the favours of the Crown. Though most of the country
gentlemen were Tories, none but Whigs were created peers
and baronets . Though most of the clergy were Tories, none
but Whigs were appointed deans and bishops. In every
county opulent and well-descended Tory squires com-
plained that their names were left out of the commission of
the peace, while men of small estate and mean birth, who
were for toleration and excise, septennial parliaments
and standing armies, presided at quarter sessions and
became deputy lieutenants."* The winning side knew
how to maintain their position. " When the Hanover
succession took place, the Whigs became the possessors
of all the great offices and other lucrative employments;

* Macaulay, vii. 206.
117

118 BUTE AND NOETH

since whicli time, instead of quarrelling with tlie preroga-
tive, they have been the champions of every adminis-
tration."* As their chief opponent said, " the appella-
tions of Tory and Jacobite . . . are always ridiculously
given to every man who does not bow to the brazen image
that the King has set up."f

But as the long years rolled on the Whigs gradually
became divided. By 1746 the House of Stuart had been
finally beaten and that of Hanover definitely established.
Danger had disappeared. In 1760 came a sweeping change.
The old half-foreign King died. He was succeeded by a
young Prince, born and bred in England, who had imbibed
his views of government at the well of Bolingbroke. His
chief advisers had hitherto been his mother, a German
princess, and her Scottish favourite. Lord Bute. The
policy that they advocated and that George III. adopted
was that of the Patriot King. To put this into practice
the first essential was that the Whig magnates should be
ousted from the government. Such was the line that
the Sovereign chose for himself. He followed it for most
of his life, but it led far from the haven that he sought.
The American colonies had to be jettisoned, the hated
Catholics to be embarked, and the ship of State was
finally to drift on to the rocks of the Reform Bill. But all
this mattered little. The Whigs had been displaced and
George III. was a King.

At first it was not always easy to find pilots of the right
temper, for, once at the helm, they often tried to steer
their own course. The King's earliest choice was ephe-
meral and by no means successful, but later on he did
better, and what had failed in the green tree of Bute was
put through with North in the dry.

Quicquid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi.

* Waldegrave, 20.

t Bolingbroke, " Spirit of Patriotism."

J. Reynolds pinx.

JOHN STUART

3rd earl of BUTE

To face page 118

EARLY LIFE 119

L— BUTE

John Stuart, afterwards tliird Earl of Bute, was born
on May 25, 1713. He was the elder son of James, the
second earl, and of Lady Anne Campbell, daughter of
Archibald, first Duke of Argyll. His family had been
settled for several centuries iq the island from which their
title was taken, but though ancient and claiming descent
from the princes of Scotland, it was not famed beyond the
confines of that kingdom. Of moderate means, it had
only recently been ennobled, Bute's grandfather having
been raised to the peerage at the time of the Scottish Union.

Bute lost his father before he was ten years old, and
was then sent to Eton, where he seems to have received
most of his education. At the age of twenty-three he
married Mary, daughter of the Hon. Edward Montagu and
of Lady Mary Pierrepont, the famous letter-writer, and
through her became connected with the Sandwich and
Kingston families. In 1737 he was elected a representative
peer for Scotland, but having voted against the govern-
ment he was passed over for the next Parliament, and was
for some time out of the House of Lords. For the next
ten years he lived a quiet and obscure life in Scotland,
occupying himself with agriculture, botany and archi-
tecture, as little known in politics or society as he was to
the world at large.

In 1747, by a lucky chance, he made the acquaintance
of Frederick, Prince of Wales. It was at a race meeting.
Rain had begun to fall, and the Prince had retired to a tent
and called for cards. There was no one of sufficient quality
to take a hand with him until an equerry recollected that
he had seen Lord Bute on the course. Bute was brought
in, presented, and sat down at the table. An invitation
to Leicester House followed, and in a short time he was
established there as an ami de la maison, though the Prince
himself never had any great opinions of his talents. He
used to say that Bute was "a fine showy man who would
make an excellent ambassador in a court where there was

9

120 BUTE

no business." " Such," says Waldegrave, " was His Eoyal
Highness's opinion of the noble earl's political abilities;
but the sagacity of the Princess has discovered other ac-
complishments of which the Prince her husband may not
perhaps have been the most competent judge."* Whatever
the truth was, it soon began to be bruited about that Bute
was the Princess's lover, and after her husband's death
in 1751 he certainly became the principal person in her
household. He was the subject of an apposite retort.
The Princess had been commenting on the levity of one of
her maids of honour. Miss Elizabeth Chudleigh — afterwards
the notorious Duchess of Kingston — and had asked her
" les raisons de cette conduite." " Ah, Madame," replied
the young lady, " chacun a son but."

In the teeth of the old King and his ministers Bute was
next appointed Groom of the Stole to the young Prince
George, though the King refused to give him his gold key
personally, and the Lord Chamberlain had to slip it quietly
into Bute's pocket. His influence became as paramount
with the heir-apparent as it was with his mother, and he
was soon regarded as a power to be reckoned with in
the future.

In 1760 George III. came to the throne. Newcastle,
the Prime Minister, attended with a draft of the royal
speech for His Majesty to approve. " My lord Bute is
your good friend," said the King; " he will tell you my
thoughts."! Bute's corrections on this occasion only
amounted to substituting the word " Briton " for " EngUsh-
man," but the cue was given for the line to be followed.
Bute was a Tory and a disciple of Bolingbroke's. He be-
lieved in his own capacity to be a great minister. He had
the ear of the King, and his advancement was not delayed.
On October 27, two days after the King's accession, he was
admitted to the Privy Council. Five months later Lord
Holderness retired by arrangement, and Bute was ap-
pointed Secretary of State in his place, though hitherto he
had had no official experience. He soon began to intrigue
in the Cabinet. This was not difficult, for Pitt's ways were
* Waldegrave, 38, 39. f Jesse, "Etonians," i. 257.

PRIME MINISTER 121

neither conciliatory nor popular, the King disliked him,
and Newcastle was always ready for a job. A cave was
formed against the Great Commoner; he was outvoted on
the question of the Spanish War, and in October 1761 he
resigned. So far George III. had adhered to the policy laid
down by his mentor. The Patriot King " must begin
to govern as soon as he begins to reign. . . . His first care
will be ... to purge his court and to call into the adminis-
tration such men as he can assure himself will serve on the
same principles on which he intends to govern."*

Bute now made friends with George GrenvUle, who was
already in the ministry, and with Shelburne, whom he
designed to bring in. As soon as the time was ripe, in
May 1762, Newcastle was given his conge and Bute suc-
ceeded him as Prime Minister. Four months later he was
made a Knight of the Garter. No rise for a political
recruit had ever been so rapid.

Shelburne says of him at this time : " He panted for the
Treasury, having a notion that the King and he understood
it from what they had read about revenue and funds when
they were at Kew. He likewise had an idea of great
reformations . . . and a confused notion of rivaUiag the
Due de Sully — all which notions gradually vanished.^f

But his hasty and astonishing elevation had not made
Bute's seat firm. At first surprise, next annoyance, and at
last rage, greeted these arbitrary alterations in the
administration. Bute was a Scotsman, he was a Tory
and he was a royal favourite. He had succeeded in
antagonizing not only the chief Whig families— which was
his intention— but also the mass of popular opinion, which
was not at all what he wanted. While Pitt was acclaimed
in the City and in the country, Bute was hooted and
lampooned, his coach was attacked, and jackboots and
petticoats were publicly burnt near his residence as a
delicate allusion to his amours with the Princess Dowager.

He began to feel that in some respects a rose resembles a
thistle. But quern Deus vult perdere prius dementat. He

* Bolingbroke, " Patriot King."
f Fitzmaurice, 141.

122 BUTE

continued his insensate policy. He made the King insull
the Duke of Devonshire, who was his Lord Chamberlain
a recent Prime Minister, the leader of the Whig party and
one of the first noblemen in England. He made him
dismiss the Dukes of Newcastle and Grafton and Lord
Kockiagham from their lord-lieutenancies. He even
hounded out of their places all the minor myrmidons who
might possibly be connected with the Whigs — house-
keepers, messengers and tide-waiters.

These were the last straws. Gradually he perceived that
his position was becoming untenable and he cast about
how best to retreat. He determined to cease being the
ostensible leader of the government, but to put a puppet in
his place and then to pull the political strings in secret.
For this purpose he engaged George GrenvUle in a closer
intimacy and gave him the lead in the House of Commons.
Grenville was competent and ambitious, and Bute thought
that he was easy to manage. But in this he was mistaken.

Before retiring definitely, Bute had determined to get
the Peace of Paris agreed to by Parliament. It was a hard
and a hazardous business, but he did not scruple about
the means he employed. Fox, a past-master in such arts,
was given the management of the House of Commons over
Grenville's head, and was supplied with almost unlimited
money from the secret service funds to secure the necessary
majority. A regular office was opened at Westminster,
where the votes of members of Parliament were bought
more openly and more shamelessly than in the palmiest
days of Walpole or Pelham. As much as £25,000 was
paid out, it is said, in a single morning. But the Peace
was passed, and in May 1763 Bute disappeared behind the
throne in a lurid glow of Satanic glory.

He had advised the King to appoiat Grenville as his
successor, and this was now done. But almost immediately
a change in Grenville's attitude became visible. Bute's
excuse for resigning had been his own vmpopularity.
Grenville alleged the same reason for not consulting him.
Bute then tried to induce Pitt to upset Grenville. The
scheme broke down, and Grenville retorted by compelling

LATER LIFE 123

the King to dispense altogether with Bute's counsel and to
relieve him from residing in London. Bute accordingly
went ofi to the country, and perhaps was not very sorry
to go. His circumstances had become extremely un-
pleasant. '■ He went about the streets/' says Chesterfield,
" timidly and disgracefully, attended at a small distance
by a gang of bruisers, the scoundrels and ruffians that
attend the Bear Gardens."* On one or two occasions he
had even been in danger of his life, and had been rescued
by the Horseguards.

From a personal point of view he had achieved much of
what he wanted. He had got a British peerage for his
wife, a well-paid place for his brother, the Garter and the
highest position in the State for himself. The death of his
father-in-law had recently brought him a considerable
fortune, so that he no longer depended on the emoluments
of office. Yet all this was dust and ashes. He retired to
Luton, and Jenkinson, his secretary, describes him there
in 1764, " in the lowest dejection of mind, scarce speaking
a word, complaining and in a gloomy mood."t

It was, in fact, the end of his part in politics. But the
world did not think so. Common belief credited him for
years with being the secret, unconstitutional and baneful
adviser of the King, and minister after minister adopted
the same view. It was not true, for George III. had rapidly
come to dislike as much as he had formerly favoured him. J
At last Bute was driven to go abroad, and he vanished
for a time in Italy, where he used to travel incognito as
Sir John Stuart, lamenting his unhappy lot. He felt his
position keenly. To Lord Hardwicke he writes in 1767:
" I know as little, save from newspapers, of the present
busy scene as I do of transactions in Persia, and yet I am
destined for ever to a double uneasiness ; that of incapacity
to serve those I love and yet to be continually censured for
every public transaction, though totally retired from courts
and public business."§ His bad name long followed
him. He was called John Thistle, Jack Boot, the Scotch

* Jesse, "George III.," i. 269. f Grenville, ii. 497.

t Brougham, i. 49. § Albemarle, i. 360.

124 BUTE

Thane and so on. In 1769 a rabble attacked bis house in
South Audley Street, and two years later his efl&gy, with
that of the Princess Dowager, was beheaded and burnt by
chimney-sweepers on Tower Hill. Such was the price he
paid for his brief spell of power.

When he was able to get away to Scotland, to Luton,
to Wales or to Christchurch, where he had a solitary villa
on a cliff, he interested himself in his old hobbies. He
collected a fine gallery of pictures and a good library, he
built and laid out gardens, and he entertained the literary
celebrities of his country. For letters he had a real regard,
and one of the few facts by which his administration is
remembered was the grant of a pension to Dr. Johnson.
Yet he led a lonely life, though he had a large and prosperous
family, to whom he was much attached. Thus he con-
tinued for many years dismal, retired and avoided, until
at last in 1792 he died a forgotten man. Four years later
his eldest son was raised to a marquessate. The present
peer is his descendant.

Bute was of a personable figure, handsome, tall, slim
and with a fine leg. The latter is much in evidence in the
picture of him which Ramsay painted in 1760. It was
still further embellished by the engraver three years later
by the addition of the recently acquired garter.

He had " a supercilious manner and a theatrical air of
the greatest importance." " He was a tolerable actor,"
says Macaulay, " and was particularly successful as
Lothario. He dabbled in geometry, mechanics and botany
. . . and was considered in his own circle as a judge of
painting, architecture and poetry."* But the soundness
of his attainments was always a matter of dispute. Walde-
grave questioned them. " There is," he says, " an extra-
ordinary appearance of wisdom, both in his look and manner
of speaking; for whether the subject be serious or trifling,
he is equally pompous, slow and sententious. Not con-
tented with being wise, he would be thought a polite
scholar, and a man of great erudition : but has the misfortune
never to succeed, except with those who are exceeding
* Macaulay, vii. 216.

HIS CHARACTEE 125

ignorant : for Ms historical knowledge is chiefly taken from
tragedies, wherein he is very deeply read : and his classical
learning extends no farther than a French translation."*

Occasionally he could speak well. On the question of
the Peace in 1763 the Duke of Cumberland, a fairly com-
petent critic, called his speech " one of the finest he ever
heard in his life." His delivery, however, was halting
and solemn. Townshend likened it to minute-guns.

Dr. Johnson, who knew something of him and was well
disposed, had little opinion of his judgment or capacity.
" Lord Bute," he said, " though a very honourable man,
a man who meant well, a man who had his blood full of
prerogative, was a theoretical statesman, a book minister,
and thought the country coxild be governed by the influence
of the Crown alone." f He " took down too fast without
bmlding up something new," Chatham used to maintain
that he had " ruined the King and the Kingdom."

He was religious and generous, though he had a passion
for intrigue. Of this his long correspondence with Shel-
burne on the subject of Fox in 1762-3 is a curious example.

Shelbume, who had known him intimately and had
served in his government, has perhaps written the best
appreciation of his character. He was, he says, " proud,
aristocratical, pompous, imposing, with a great deal of
superficial knowledge, such as is commonly to be met with
in France and Scotland, chiefly upon matters of Natural
Philosophy, Mines, Fossils, a smattering of Mechanicks,
a little Metaphysicks, and a very false taste in everything.
Added to this he had a gloomy sort of madness which had
made him affect living alone, particularly in Scotland, where
he resided some years in the Isle of Bute with as much pomp
and as much uncomf ortableness in his little domestick circle
as if he had been King of the Island, Lady Bute a forlorn
queen, and his children slaves of a despotick tyrant. He
read a great deal, but it was chiefly out of the waybooks of
Science and pompous Poetry. Lucan was his favomite
poet among the ancients, and Queen Elizabeth's Earl of
Essex his favourite author and object of imitation. He
* Waldegrave, 38. t Jennings, 121.

126 BUTE

admired his letters and had them almost by heart. He
excelled most ia writing, of which he appeared to have a
great habit. He was insolent and cowardly, at least the
greatest political coward I ever knew. He was rash and
timid, accustomed to ask advice of different persons, but
had not sense and sagacity to distinguish and digest, with
a perpetual apprehension of being governed, which made
him, when he followed any advice, always add something
of his own in point of matter or manner, which sometimes
took away the little good which was in it or changed the
whole nature of it. He was always upon stilts, never
natural except now and then upon the subject of women.
He felt all the pleasure of power to consist either in punish-
ing or astonishing. He was ready to abandon his nearest
friend if attacked, or to throw any blame off his own
shoulders. He could be pleasant in company when he
let, and did not want for some good points, so much as for
resolution and knowledge of the world to bring them into
action. He excelled as far as I could observe in managing
the interior of a Court, and had an abundant share of art
and hjrpocrisy."*

Some of these blasting criticisms are probably too
severe. They were written at a time when Bute was looked
upon as an arch-plotter of Machiavellian subtlety. It is
known now that he was merely an ambitious, rather vain
and shallow Scotsman, of some culture and considerable
leisure, who coveted place and fortune, and who deceived
himself into thinking that he could begin to learn the
business of politics at forty-eight, and that directing the
smaU court of the Princess Dowager had taught him
to control the British Empire. He paid heavily enough for
his mistakes, for they pursued him to the end of his life; and
through a long and embittered old age he always regretted
the distant days of his transitory power.

" Nessun maggior dolore
Che ricordarsi del tempo felice
Nella miseria."

* Fitzmaurice, i. 139-14:1.

EARLY LIFE 127

II.— NORTH

The Hon. Frederick North, commonly called Lord North
and afterwards second Earl of Guilford, was bom on April 12,
1732, the eldest son of Francis, third Lord Guilford, and of
Lady Lucy Montagu, daughter of George, Earl of Halifax.
His father was the grandson of the celebrated Lord Keeper
North, and had succeeded to the peerage in 1729, shortly
after his marriage. It was several years before he had any
issue and, as both he and his wife had been very intimate
with Frederick, Prince of Wales, in whose household he was
a Lord of the Bedchamber, there was some belief, in view
of Frederick North's remarkable resemblance to George III.,
that he owed more to his Royal Highness than his
Christian name.

The Norths were an ancient famUy originally settled
in Cambridge and subsequently in Oxfordshire. They had
been distinguished alike in the senate, the study and the
field, and the Lives of three of them form a classic of the
English language. But the third Lord GuUford was not
remarkable for character. George II. called him " a very
good, poor creature, but a very weak man."* For a short
time he was Governor to the young Prince George, and
during all his long life he retained considerable influence
with him. Frederick North, his son, was only a few years
older than the prince, and as boys the two were a good deal
together and were close friends.

North was first sent to Eton, where he attained some
distinction. He was nicknamed Blubbery North, though
whether from his fat or his tears is not quite clear. He
became an elegant if not a profound scholar, and had some
turn for verses. He went on to Trinity College, Oxford,
took his degree in 1750, and then made the grand tour on
the Continent, staying for a time at Leipsic. When he
came home he had the reputation of knowing French,
German and Italian, in those days a rare combination.

In 1751 the Prince of Wales died, and next year Lord

* Hervey, ii. 435.

128 NORTH

Guilford was raised to an earldom and his son took the
courtesy title of Lord North, an old barony to which his
father had succeeded. Two years later he was elected
member for Banbury, a pocket borough of his family. He
quickly made his name in the House of Commons, not
less for industry and ability than for wit and good temper.
Horace Walpole writes to Montagu in 1754 : " I hear of
nothing but the parts and merits of Lord North,"* and
George Grenville said about the same time : " North is a
man of great promise and high qualifications, and if he
does not relax in his political pursuits is very likely to be
Prime Minister.^f

In 1756 North married Anne, daughter and co-heiress of
George Speke of White Lackington, by whom he had a
numerous and singularly united family. His domestic life
was one of the most attractive traits in his career, and his
home seems to have been a pattern of happiness and virtue.

In 1759 he was appointed a Jimior Lord of the Treasury
by the iufluence of the Duke of Newcastle, to whom he
was distantly related, and he remained in that position until
Lord Rockingham came into power six years later. In that
ministry North refused to serve. In 1766, however, Lord
Chatham made him joint Paymaster-General, and in March,
1767, he was offered the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer
by Grafton. This high position, with equal modesty and
good feeling, he declined. In his letter to Grafton he says :

" My Lord,

" As I returned from your Grace's this evening a
reflection suggested itself to me, which I think I ought to
communicate to you. What has passed this evening be-
tween your Grace and me need not be known to any but
his Majesty and ourselves. But if I wait on the King at
the Queen's house to-morrow, the negotiation will become
public. It will soon be known that I have declined the
offer, and such a report wUl, I am afraid, be an additional
weakness to Government. I have the highest sense of
gratitude both for the honor of being thought by his
* H. Walpole, " Letters," ii. 405. f Albemarle, i. 344.

AT THE EXCHEQUER 129

Majesty worthy of so great an employment, and for the very
gracious manner in which the offer is intended to be made.
But, as my resolution is fixed upon a thorough conviction
that my acceptance of the seals will not be of any real
service to the King, I should think it advisable that they
should not be publickly offered to me, or indeed to anybody
else, before it is certain that they will be accepted.

" I submit this consideration to your Grace out of a
sincere goodwill to Government, and a grateful sense of
my duty to the King. If it should appear of any weight
to his Majesty or your Grace, I hope to have a line from
you before half an hour after eleven o'clock to-morrow
momiug. If I hear nothing from you before that time, I
will then set out for the Queen's house, in obedience to His
Majesty's commands delivered to me this evening.
" I am with the greatest respect, my lord,
" Your Grace's most faithful
" humble servant,

" North."*

Nine months later, however, on Townshend's death,
North accepted the same place with the lead of the House
of Commons. He had now found his real vocation, for he
was an active and sensible man of business, lucid in ex-
planation and genial and popular with his fellow-members.
Eigby, writing to the Duke of Bedford early in 1769, says:
" Lord North opened his Budget in the Committee of Ways
and Means; and in the four and twenty years that I have
sat in Parliament ... I verily think I have never known
any of his predecessors acquit themselves so much to the
satisfaction of the House."!

By this time Chatham had left the ministry, and Grafton,
his successor, was gettmg into deeper and deeper diffi-
culties. In the winter of 1769 he was attacked by his old
chief, and in January 1770 he informed the King that
he must resign. This the King kept secret, for he was
aware that both Chatham and Rockingham expected to
be sent for, while he had determined himself to put in
* Grafton, 123. t Bedford, iii. 408.

130 NOKTH

Lord North. North was a moral man after the King's
own heart; he had been his early friend and companion;
he was not closely connected with any of the great Whig
lords; he agreed generally with the King's own political
views and was usually ready to take his orders, and he was
exceptionally competent at his work. The King ac-
cordingly wrote to him on January 23, 1770: "Lord
Weymouth and Lord Gower will wait upon you this
morning to press you in the strongest manner to accept
the office of First Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.
My mind is more and more strengthened in the rightness
of the measure which will prevent any other desertion."*

North, who had at first demurred, eventually accepted,
and a few days later he became Prime Minister. His first
prospects were not encouraging, for he had to repel some
severe attacks in the House of Commons. There had
already been divisions of opinion in the Cabinet on the
subject of the American colonies, and Grafton had found
himself in a minority. He says in his memoirs : " Lord
North, become principal minister, brought in the repeal of
aU the port duties, except that on teas : and as I had been
greatly hurt when I could not carry the point in the
Cabinet, to have the teas also exempt, it was some satis-
faction to think that I was no longer in administration nor
a sharer in a measure so ill-fated and unwise.^f

The Opposition, however, had been weakened by the
death of George Grenville and the illness of Chatham. The
latter again retired into seclusion, and when he emerged
was more willing to tolerate the government, for he writes
of North in 1775 : " He serves the Crown more successfully
and more efficiently upon the whole than any other man
to be found could do. "J

For a time, then, everything went well. North was
accommodating with the King and agreeable with the
House of Commons. Honours were showered upon him.
He was made Chancellor of Oxford University and Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports, while his wife was appointed

* North, i. 11. t Grafton, 252.

X Chatham, iv. 332-333.

PRIME MINISTER 131

Ranger of Bushey Park and given an excellent house.
Later on His Majesty made Mm a very considerable present
of money, from £20,000 to £30,000, as Ms financial affairs
had become embarrassed.* His official income rose to
£12,000 a year. In 1772 he received the Garter while he
still sat in the Commons, and there he had the then unique
distinction of being " the noble lord in the blue ribbon."

His successes were often due to Ms popularity and his
pleasant and easy-going manners. His cheery and placid
temperament and even his fat and rubicund appearance
helped him considerably. Ready of access, simple in Ms
demeanour, he seemed free from ambition and was yet
devoted to his duties. The tales of Ms wit and good-
humour are numerous. He was very difficult to upset.
Once, wMle he was speaking, a dog got into the House of
Commons and punctuated every remark he made with a
disconcerting bark. There was a good deal of laughter,
but the offender was at last driven out. Shortly after-
wards it found its way back and began to bark again.
North glanced at it and dryly remarked: " Spoke once."t

He was much inclined to somnolence, or to the appearance
of somnolence, on the Treasury bench. On one occasion an
opponent who was belabouring him with invective was so
enraged at tMs that he exclaimed : " Even now, in the midst
of these perils, the noble Lord is asleep." Without opening
Ms eyes North said wearily, " I wish to God I was !"t

During the American war, while making a speech at a
City dinner, North had announced an advantage that had
just been gained over " the rebels." Fox, who was pre-
sent, at once took him to task for alluding in such terms
to " our fellow-subjects in America." " Very well, then,"
said North, " I will call them ' the gentlemen in opposition
on the other side of the water." "f

On the day that he finally resigned office it was bitterly
cold and snowing. In consequence of the sudden news
the House rose unexpectedly early, and many members
who had not ordered their carriages had to wait for them.
Lord North, however, had his at the door. He put one or
* Jesse, " George III.," ii. 252. f Jennings, 132 et seq.

132 NORTH

two friends into it, and making a bow to his opponents who
stood round, lie said, " Good-night, gentlemen; it is the first
time I have known the advantage of being in the secret."*

The task that North had to tackle when he became First
Lord of the Treasury was not easy, but at first he did
pretty well. With Wilkes, with Junius, with the India
Bill, he managed to deal and on the whole to satisfy the
country. But the American question was a much more
knotty problem. His colleagues hesitated as to the line
to be followed, and when the young Charles Fox stood
out for a liberal policy North dismissed him in a laconic
letter: " Sir, His Majesty has thought proper to order a
new Commission of the Treasury to be made out in which
I do not perceive your name."!

When hostilities began in 1775, the mass of public opinion
was on the side of the administration. But as time went
on and more and more blood and treasure were expended
matters changed for the worse. The reverses of the war,
the further wars with France and Spain, and the resulting
deficits and taxes, gradually stirred up a serious opposition.
North saw the danger, and for three years he strove to
resign, but the King always prevented him. In the mean-
time North became more alarmed. He was the responsible
minister, he was the King's friend, and there was a strong
feeling against their arbitrary rule. He had received
many favours himself, but he had been sparing in the
distribution of honours, for he had never attempted to
increase the peerage on the scale that Pitt did later on.
In 1781 a government loan, which gave exceptional
advantages to his supporters, did him no good in the public
estimation. The difierent sections of the Whigs had at last
come together, and desertions began from his own side.

The loss of Minorca brought matters to a crisis. Votes
of want of confidence were put up, and North saw that
his position was no longer tenable. In earlier days he had
made overtures to Chatham, to Shelbiirne and to others
to join his Cabinet, but he had been rebuffed. It was now
too late to compromise, for the Whigs knew their strength.
* Jennings, 135. I Ibid., 154.

THE COALITION 133

Again lie importuned the King to allow him to retire.
This time the King consented, though calling him a'
deserter. With bitter heart-searohings His Majesty then
turned to the Whigs, and in March, 1782, North was given
a pension of £4,000 a year and went ofi in delight.

Rockingham succeeded, but died three months later,
and then Shelburne came in. He soon found himself in as
great difficulties as North had been, though with less
experience and less backing. Early in the next year he
in his turn approached North, asking him to join and help
his government. But North had already pledged his
word to Fox, and was preparing to return to power as a
member of a Coalition ministry.

This is the most difficult part of North's history to
understand. The first of the Whigs, Fox had been for
many years North's most virulent opponent. He was
more disliked by the King than was any other statesman.
North was the King's friend and the mainstay of the
Tories. Such a collusion was like mating fire with water,
and the King made many efforts to get some alternative
Cabinet. Pitt and North were both urged to become
Prime Minister. But it was in vain, and at last, when
Shelburne resigned some weeks later, the seals were handed
to Portland, while Fox and North became the two Secre-
taries of State. This imholy alliance the King never
forgave, and the ministry was doomed at its birth.

There were at once considerable defections of Whigs
from Fox and of Tories from North — men who could not
comprehend or tolerate the abnegation of lifelong principles
by their trusted leaders. Many of them went over to Pitt,
who seemed to stand for honesty and patriotism. The
whole business left a nasty taste in tne mouth of Parliament
and of England, and the government did not long survive.
In a few months the defeat of Fox's India BUI in the Lords
gave the Kiag an excuse; he sent for the seals at midnight
and dismissed his ministers. It was on this occasion that
Sir Evan Nepean, one of the under-secretaries, came to
Lord North's house and said that he must see his lord-
ship, even though he were in bed. "Then," said Lord

134 NORTH

North, " he must see Lady North too." Nepean came in,
North told him where to find the seals, and then turned over
and went tranquilly off to sleep.*

Pitt took ofl&ce and North returned to opposition. He
still filled a considerable place in politics, but he was not
the man he had been. His sight was failitig, he was tired,
and he had lost much of his reputation for consistency.
Yet he occasionally spoke with his old sense and humour,
and the House of Commons always welcomed him — but his
parliamentary career was done.

In 1790 his father died and he succeeded to the peerage,
but he had now become almost blind, and he lived in retire-
ment at Bushey or at Tunbridge Wells. With his family
his life was quiet and happy, for he was as devoted to them
as they were to him. To the end he kept up his spirits,
his cheerful and amusing conversation and his generous
heart endearing him to a wide circle of friends. In August
1792 he died, at the age of sixty, leaving several children.
Their male line, however, has now become extinct, and the
present peer is descended from Lord North's brother.

North was a famous figure of the eighteenth century.
WraxaU thus describes him: " In his person he was of
the middle size, heavy, large and much inclined to
corpulency. There appeared in the cast and formation
of his countenance, nay even in his manner, so strong a
resemblance to the Royal Family, that it was difficult
not to perceive it. Like them, he had a fair complexion,
regidar features, light hair, with bushy eyebrows, and grey
eyes, rather prominent in his head. His face might be
indeed esteemed a caricature of the King, and those who
remembered the intimacy which subsisted between Frederic,
the late Prince of Wales, and the Earl, as well as Countess of
Guilford, Lord North's Father and Mother, to which
allusion has already been made, found no difficulty in
accounting, though perhaps very unjustly, for that
similarity ."t North, indeed, was distinctly an ugly man.
His eyes were large and rolling, and he was very short-

* Jesse, " Etonians," ii. 277 (sense). Lord Rosebery gives another
version. " Pitt," 45. f WraxaU, " Memoirs," i. 489-4:90.

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FRBDEKICK NORTH

LOED NORTH

AFTJiRWAEDS 2ND BAKL OP GOILFOED

To face page 134

HIS CHARACTER 135

sighted. His tongue was too large for his mouth, and he
had some difficulty in articulation. He spoke in a sing-
song way and his voice was monotonous, but the drollery
and good nature of his words redeemed these blemishes, for
with all his witticisms he rarely said anything unkind.
" He was powerful, able and fluent in debate, sometimes
repelliag the charges made against him with solid argument,
but still more frequently ... by the force of wit and
humour. . . . He possessed a classic mind full of informa-
tion. It was impossible to experience dullness in his
society. Even during the last years of his life when nearly
or totally bhnd and labouring under many infirmities : yet
his equanimity of temper never forsook him nor even his
gaiety and powers of conversation.

" As a statesman, his enemies charged him with irre-
solution, but he might rather be taxed with indolence and
procrastination, than with want of decision. He naturally
loved to postpone, though when it became necessary to
resolve, he could abide firmly by his determination. Never
had any Minister purer hands, nor manifested less rapacity.
In fact, he amassed no wealth, after an administration of
twelve years."*

Wraxall's opinion is borne out by most of liis con-
temporaries, though the King afterwards called North " a
man composed entirely of negative qualities, one who for
the sake of securing present ease would risk any difficulties
which might threaten the future."

Burke, a lifelong opponent, said that he was "a man
of admirable parts, of general knowledge, of a versatile
understanding, fitted for all sorts of business; of infinite
wit and pleasantry, of a delightful temper and with a
mind most disinterested . . . but he wanted something
of that vigilance and spirit of command that the time
required."! Grafton, his old chief, thought him " in private
life an upright honourable man, and his talents were
unquestioned; but he neither had the peculiar talent him-
self of conducting extensive war operations, nor was the
abUity and judgment of his coadjutors sufficient to make

* Wraxall, " Memoirs," i. 494 et seq f Burke, Works, ii. 126.

10

136 NOETH

up tlie deficiency ... he became confused when lie was
agitated by the great scenes of active life."* North has
been blamed for the loss of the American colonies ; but the
words that he spoke in his defence after leaving office were
true. " I found the American War," he said, " when I
became minister. I did not create it. It was the war of
the country, the Parliament and the people. "f

After North's fall from power, Gibbon dedicated to him
one of the volumes of his history in the following memor-
able lines : " Were I ambitious of any other patron than
the public, I would inscribe this work to a statesman, who,
in a long, a stormy, and at length an unfortunate adminis-
tration, had many political opponents, almost without a
personal enemy; who has retained, in his fall from power,
many faithful and disinterested friends; and who, under
the pressure of severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigour of
his mind, and the felicity of his incomparable temper.
Lord North will permit me to express the feelings of
friendship in the language of truth, but even truth and
friendship should be silent, if he still dispensed the favours
of the crown."t

The unsolved problem in North's character is how he
prevailed upon himself to join Fox in 1783. It was
certainly from no wish for power, for several times during
the negotiations he was himself offered the post of Prime
Minister. He had just had twelve years of office; he was
weary, and he was not ambitious. But he was much
under the King's influence: he distrusted Shelburne, with
whom he thought Fox might otherwise unite; he probably
believed that without his support no government could
last long, and that if he stood out his party would suffer;
and he was naturally easy-going and willing to oblige.
This combination of reasons perhaps supplies the answer.
Mr. Lucas thinks that he really feared impeachment, and
ascribes his motives to " the instinct of self-preservation. "§
That his action was due to base, to personal or to factious
motives no one who considers his career is likely to admit.

* Grafton, 287, 303. f Jennings, 135.

i Gibbon, " Eoman Empire," iv. (Preface). § Lucas, ii. 209.

THE KING'S FRIENDS 137

He loved a quiet life, but he bore the heavy burden of
affairs in evil times with patience, with industry and with
a cheerful soul, without ever having his honour questioned
or making an enemy. That he allowed a dogged and
exacting master to bear down his too facile temperament
was his misfortune — a misfortune that his name has had
to sustain through all subsequent history.

Bute and North were essentially the King's men. They
first mobilized the King's friends, and were the early
pioneers of his strategy. They had rough ground to break,
but from the King's point of view they were not unsuccess-
ful, for they opened the trenches against the Whig citadel,
and it soon capitulated. The long rule of Pitt and Liverpool
consolidated their work.

CHAPTEK VII
THE OLD WHIGS

ROCKINGHAM AND SHELBURNE

In June 1765 Mr. George Grenville resigned the seals
of office. ThouglL hardly a man of progressive or liberal
tendencies, lie still called himself a Whig. For half a
century the political fortunes of England had been con-
trolled by the various sections of that party, and only once
in those fifty years had a Tory been ia power. He was the
ill-starred Earl of Bute, and he had survived but a twelve-
month.

The pendulum was soon to swing the other way. For
the next two generations the Tories were to reign supreme.
Some desultory ministries of shattered and divided Whigs
were, it is true, to break in upon their reign, but these
ministries between them were to last barely eight years.
It was the beguming of the end. The sun seemed to be
setting upon the families of the Revolution.

During the first half of this period of eclipse the Whig
party was inspired by two great commoners, Fox and
biirke. Its two divisions were led by a pair of great lords,
Rockingham and Shelburne. Of the two peers, one was
eminent by his moral, the other by his intellectual qualities.
Separated by the schism of party, they yet pursued the
same aims. Both, through many years of failing fortunes,
with constant courage though disappointed hopes, fought
a losing fight on behalf of their beliefs. When, more than
sixty years later, the Whigs at last returned to power, the
principles they had advocated were to be passed into law
by their not unworthy successors, Grey and Russell.

138

EARLY LIFE 139

I.— ROCKINGHAM

Charles Watson- Wentwortt, successively styled Lord
Higliam and Lord Malton, and afterwards second Marquess
of Rockingliam, was bom on March 19, 1730. He was
the fifth but eldest surviving son of Thomas Watson Want-
worth by Lady Mary Pinch, daughter of Daniel, seventh
Earl of Winchilsea. His father was a grandson of Edward
Watson, Lord Rockingham, and Lady Anne Wentworth,
daughter of the great Earl of Strafford. Through her the
famSy had acquired vast estates in Yorkshire, and Thomas
Wentworth was thus rapidly advanced to be a knight of
the Bath, a baron and an earl, until in 1746 he received a
marquessate. It was of him (then Lord Malton) that Sir
Robert Walpole had said : " I suppose we shall soon see our
friend Malton in opposition, for he has had no promotion
in the peerage for the last fortnight."*

Charles Wentworth was educated at Eton. He was of
an adventurous character and a loyal Whig, for in the
winter holidays of 1745, when fifteen years old, he rode
off from Wentworth with a single servant to join the Duke
of Cumberland's forces against the young Pretender. His
letter of apology to his mother on this occasion has been
preserved. He writes from Carlisle :

" Dear Madam,

" When I think of the concern I have given you by
my wild expedition, and how my whole life, quite from my
infancy, has afforded you only a continued series of afflic-
tions, it grieves me excessively that I did not think of the
concern I was going to give you and my father before such
an undertaking; but the desire I had of serving my King
and country as much as lay in my power, did not give me
time to think of the undutifulness of the action. As my
father has been so kind as entirely to forgive my breach of
duty, I hope I may, and shall have youx forgiveness, which
wiU render me quite happy.

" I am. Madam,

" Your very dutiful son,

" HlGHAM."t
* Albemarle, i. 138. t ^6«^-. '• 139.

140 EOCKINGHAM

He went on from Eton to St. Jokn's College, Cambridge,
and then travelled in Italy where, according to WraxaU,
some imprudent gallantries damaged an already weak
constitution.

In 1750, when he was only twenty, his father died, and
he succeeded to all his honours. Shortly afterwards he
was appointed lord-lieutenant of the North and West
Ridings of Yorkshire and made a Lord of the Bedchamber
to the King. The year after he came of age he married
Mary, daughter of Thomas Liddell of Badsworth, and in
1760, before he had taken any leading part in politics, he
was created a Knight of the Garter, an honour which,
according to the Duke of Newcastle, he had solicited from
the King. Owing to his position and wealth he was already
regarded as one of the most prominent Whigs, and on the
Duke of Devonshire's name being struck ofE the Privy
Council by George III., Rockingham resigned his office at
Court and a few weeks later was dismissed in company
with the Dukes of Newcastle and Grafton, from his lord-
lieutenancy. He gives an account of this transaction in
a letter to his old general, the Duke of Cumberland.

" gjj, November 3, 1762.

" After the repeated instances of your Royal
Highness's condescension towards me, I hope it will not
appear presumption in me to take the liberty to inform
your Royal Highness of the motives and manner of my
conduct.

" The late treatment of the Duke of Devonshire seemed
to me, in the strongest light, fully to explain the intention
and the tendency of all the domestic arrangements. I,
therefore, had the honoiir of an audience of his Majesty on
Wednesday morning, wherein I humbly informed his
Majesty, that it was with great concern that I saw the
tendency of the counsels, which now had weight with him:
that this event fully showed the determination that those
persons who had hitherto been always the most steadily
attached to his Royal predecessors, and who had hitherto
deservedly had the greatest weight in this country, were

HIS FIRST MINISTRY 141

now driven out of any share in the government in this
country, and marked out rather as objects of his Majesty's
displeasure than of his favour : that the alarm was general
among his Majesty's most affectionate subjects, and that it
appeared to me in this light — it might be thought, if I
continued in office, that I either had not the sentiments
which I declared, or that I disguised them, and acted a part
which I disclaimed.

" His Majesty's answer was short; saying that he did
not desire any person should continue in his service any
longer than it was agreeable to him."*

Rockingham was thus definitely in opposition, and he
so remained during the dreary domination of Bute and
George GrenviUe. The King, when he had succeeded
in thoroughly discrediting the latter, made attempts to
induce Pitt and others to form a government. But these
failed, and he was compelled to resort to the Old Whigs,
whom he had determined never again to employ. In June
1765 a meeting of the Whig magnates was held, and it
was then agreed that Rockingham should be their leader.
Devonshire had just died, Newcastle was very old and
Portland was too young. Rockingham had already been
approached, but he was neither strong, ambitious nor
self-confident, and had not been at all desirous of coming
forward. The King was equally surprised. " I thought,"
he said, " that I had not two men in my bedchamber of
less parts than Lord Rockingham."! Office, however, was
now thrust upon him. He became First Lord of the
Treasury and took for his private secretary Edmund
Burke. In forming his administration he did his best to
enlist Pitt and Shelburne, who were heterodox Whigs, but
they refused to help. Their turn was to come later, but
their present defection crippled Rockingham.

In October the Duke of Cumberland died. He had been
a brake upon the headstrong and disingenuous vagaries
of the King, and a warm supporter of the Whigs, and his

* Albemarle, i. 142-143.

t H. Walpole, " George III.," i. 291.

142 EOCKINGHAM

loss to them was serious. Their friends diminished and
their enemies increased. Throughout the winter matters
went badly. The Cabinet was disunited. They repealed
the American Stamp Act, but the effort shook them, and
Eockingham became daily more and more disgusted at the
obstacles he met with at Court. The King, and the divisions
in his own party, damaged him as much as did his official
opponents. Again he tried to bring in Pitt, but again
without success. His government had been called " a
" lute-string administration which could not last,"* and the
prophecy was to come true. Grafton now left it, and it
began to crumble. During the early summer of 1766 the
King continued to intrigue against his ministers, and as
soon as he had arranged with Pitt to take their place he
dismissed them early in August.

Rockingham acted with forbearance and dignity. Like
the Roman poet's hero, in arduous affairs he kept an
equal mind. In a year of office he had done much,
and his work was not forgotten. Before he left London a
deputation of merchants thanked him for his exertions
in favour of the civil and commercial interest of the kingdom,
and on his progress through Yorkshire he received similar
addresses in half a dozen of the principal towns.

A few of his friends remained on for a short time in the
new ministry, though Chatham was strongly opposed to
the official Whig connection. Ill-health, however, soon
withdrew the latter from politics, and within a year
Grafton, on whom his place had devolved, was asking
Rockingham to support the tottering government.
Although this proposition did not materialize, it gave
Rockingham an opportunity of speaking his mind to the
King. " I said," he writes, " that when I had the honour
of being in his Majesty's service the measures of Adminis-
tration were thwarted and obstructed by men in office,
acting like a corps; that I flattered myself it was not entirely
with his Majesty's inclination and I would assure him
that it was very detrimental to his service."!

Rockingham's main object now was to regain parlia-
* Macaulay, vii. 251. ■( Albemarle, ii. 53.

HIS SECOND MINISTRY 143

mentary liberty and to support the cause of tlie American
colonies. Witli this end in view lie spoke to the limited
extent that he was able, he disciplined his party, and he
encouraged his friends. In 1769 Chatham recovered his
health, emerged from his retirement, and forming an alliance
with Rockingham, thus restored to the Opposition some
unity. Grafton's ministry soon fell, and Lord North came
into office. To the whole series of ministerial measures
for colonial coercion Rockingham continued to offer a
strenuous resistance. He spoke, he wrote, he negotiated.
In many of his letters can be seen the bold hand of Burke,
whose influence on his mind was strong.

In 1775 the party was inspired by the adhesion of Charles
Fox. Three years later Chatham died, and Rockingham
was approached as to forming a government, though
without result. Again in 1780 Lord North tried to induce
him to join his Cabinet, but Rockingham would not com-
promise. During all this time the American War had
gone from bad to worse. At last came the end. North
resigned, and Rockingham, after sixteen years in opposi-
tion, was recalled to the head of affairs. But his health
had now given way, and he knew that to accept oflS.ce
meant only holding it for a Uttle while. Yet he did not
hesitate or repine. There were long negotiations before
the King could make up his mind to a purely Whig
administration, but eventually he was obliged to yield;
and on March 27, 1782, Rockingham kissed hands for the
second time, with Shelbume, Portland, Fox and Burke
as his colleagues.

The ministers were at once plimged into the thick of
ofl&cial business, and Rockingham's physical strength
soon began to fail. Peace, Ireland, Catholic relief,
parliamentary reform and national economy claimed his
care. Thurlow said that Rockingham " was bringing
things to a pass where either his head or the King's must
go in order to settle which of them is to govern the
country." * The reduction of expenses and the suppression
of political sinecures was one of his first projects, and almost
* May, i. 52.

144 ROCKINGHAM

his last letter to the King is on this subject. After as-
suring his Majesty that the royal household wUl not be ia
any way affected, he proceeds : " In this plan nothing is
taken away, except those places which may answer the
purposes of us, or of those who hereafter may be your
Majesty's ministers, and which "may serve to carry points
and support interests of our own and of theirs, and not of
yours.

" I have many friends, and your Majesty wUl easily
believe that at this time when you honour me with your
gracious attention to my recommendation, it would be the
pleasantest thing in the world to me to be the channel of
your Majesty's favour to twenty or thirty places of ease
and emolument for those friends. The denying myself that
satisfaction has been the greatest act of self-denial of my
whole life. . . . My situation in the country, my time of
life, my state of health, I hope the known character I
bear, will I trust not suffer your Majesty to conceive that
the idea of popularity would so far affect my judgment
as to incline me to a measure which would prejudice or
endanger the decent or necessary means of a well-ordered
Government."*

It was the first real effort to deal with the evil of parlia-
mentary corruption, and it meant the end of bribery.
But Rockingham had no time to effect his reforms. He was
already suffering from water on the chest, and influenza
now ensued. On June 2 he made his last appearance
in the House of Lords, and shortly afterwards he left his
house in Grosvenor Square and retired to Roehampton,
where he was confined to his room. Throughout the month
he became weaker, and on July 1 he died, his death being as
much of a surprise as it was a calamity to the country,
for it meant the complete collapse of a united Whig
party. AH his honours became extinct, as he had left
no issue, and his estates passed to his eldest sister's son.
Lord Fitzwilliam. Rockingham had possessed a imique
distinction. Though he had twice led a government, and
though his tenure of office was short, only fifteen months
* Albemarle, ii. 478-480.

J. Reynolds pinx.

CHARLES "WATSON-WBNTWORTH

2nd marquess of BOCKINGHAM

To face page 144

HIS CHARACTER 145

in all, he had never held any other political place than
that of First Lord of the Treasury.

In appearance Rockingham was a man of fine figure,
tall, spare, dark and sallow, with the somewhat sad
expression of an invalid. Most of his pleasures lay in the
country, for he was a great patron of the turf and loved
gaming. As a young man he once ran a match from
Norwich to London between five geese and five turkeys.*

As to his character and abilities there is little doubt.
The former was of the highest, the latter only moderate.
He laboured imder the heavy handicap of beiag born to
high rank and great wealth, with poor health and a retiring
spirit. In debate he was diffident, awkward and nervous.
In company he was shy and lacked many of the outward
graces. But he was an honest, thoughtful and dignified
man, with a clear intellect, a cool temper, kind manners and
a generous heart. A constant and convinced Whig, he had
the same confidence in his own priaciples which he strove
to inspire in others. An innate want of energy and
determination alone marred his success.

Lord Albemarle, his biographer, says of his first ad-
ministration: " In no one year between the Revolution
and the Reform BiU were so many immunities gained
for the people or ... so many breaches ia the Constitu-
tion repaired. . . . Had George III. possessed common
sincerity. Lord Rockiagham's efforts to preserve the
American Colonies would probably have been effectual."!
As to his conduct of his party, Chatham thought " that the
Rockinghams and Cavendishes and such ancient Whig
famiUes who had ever been true to their principles and
consistent in their conduct ought to take the lead." Lord
Stanhope, however, calls him " timid, feeble and indecisive,
though with the best intentions;" and Jxmius, speaking of
his " mild but determined integrity," admits a degree of
' debility ' in his virtue."J

Whatever may be the truth, he has secured two brilliant
panegyrics. He was, says Macaulay, " A man of splendid

* H Walpole, " Letters," iii. 38. f Albemarle, i. 141, 142.
X Junius, i. 94, 101.

146 ROCKINGHAM

fortune, excellent sense and stainless character. He was
indeed nervous to such a degree that to the very close of his
life he never rose without great reluctance to address the
House of Lords, But though not a great orator he had in a
high degree some of the qualities of a statesman. He
chose his friends well, and he had ia an extraordinary degree
the art of attaching them to him by ties of the most
honourable kind."*

Burke, perhaps a prejudiced critic, wrote his epitaph,
some lines of which deserve to be transcribed. They are
engraved beneath his statue in Wentworth Park.

" CHARLES, MARQUIS OP ROCKINGHAM.

" A man worthy to be teld in remembrance, because he did not live
for himself. His abilities, industry and influence were employed
without interruption to the last hour of his life, to give stability to the
liberties of his country, security to its landed property, increase to its
commerce, independence to its public councUs, and concord to its empire.
These were his ends. For the attainment of these ends his policy con-
sisted in sincerity, fidelity, directness and constancy. His virtues were
his arts. In opposition, he respected the principles of Government;
in Administration, he provided for the liberties of the people. He
employed his moment of power in realizing everything which he had
proposed in a popular situation— the distinguishing mark of his public
conduct. Reserved in profession, sure in performance, he laid the
foundation of a solid confidence."t

Rockingham was neither a great statesman nor leader,
but he was undoubtedly a great instrument in the hands
of that Providence that watches over the British Con-
stitution. To his reforms, and especially to his abolition
of many of the numerous places and pensions in the gift
of the King, may largely be ascribed the gradual trans-
ference of the power of the Crown and of its control over
Parliament into the hands of ministers, while from the date
of his death it may be said that the bribery of members of
Parliament and royal interference in the votes of the House
of Commons virtually ceased.

* Macaulay, vii. 253. f Albemarle, ii. 486 et seq.

EARLY LIFE 147

II.— SHELBURNE

William Fitzmaurice, afterwards second Earl of Shel-
burne and i&rst Marquess of Lansdowne, was born in Dublin
on May 20, 1737. His father, the Hon. John Fitzmaurice,
was a younger son of Thomas, first Earl and twenty-first
feudal lord of Kerry. His mother, Mary Fitzmaurice
of Gallane, was a cousin-german of his father's. The
Fitzmaurices, descended from an almost fabulous Italian
ancestor in the ninth century, were one of the most ancient
families in Ireland and possessed vast tracts of land in the
south of that kingdom. Thomas, Earl of Kerry, had added
to his patrimony by marrying Anne, only daughter of the
famous Sir William Petty, Physician-General to the Army
in Cromwell's time and subsequently Surveyor-General
of Ireland, in which capacity he had amassed an immense
fortune. This fortune, by the failure of heirs male, de-
volved in 1751 on John Fitzmaurice, who, taking the name
of Petty, was then raised to the peerage, made Earl of
Shelburne and later on given an English barony. His son
then took the courtesy title of Lord Fitzmaurice.

William Fitzmaurice spent his earlier years at his grand-
father's home in county Kerry, where he led a rough life
and received little education. With his change of prospects,
however, he was sent to Christ Church, Oxford, and there
had some opportunity of expanding his intelligence. At
the age of twenty he entered the Foot Guards, with whom
he served iir^the expedition to Rochefort and afterwards
at Minden under Lord Granby. Here he distinguished
himself remarkably and for his gallantry was promoted
colonel and made an aide-de-camp to the King. He was
also elected to the House of Commons, but his father dying
in May 1761 he never took his seat, but entered the House
of Lords direct. By his wealth and his military reputation
he was marked out for advancement and almost imme-
diately he came into touch with Lord Bute, who used him
as a go-between in some of his abortive negotiations with
Henry Fox and also sold him his house in Berkeley Square.

148 SHELBURNE

Shelburne showed ability and made some good speeches
in the House of Lords, and on George Grenville's coming
into office, he was appointed, by Bute's influence. President
of the Board of Trade. He joined the ministry in the
spring of 1763, when he was just twenty-six years old.
He was next concerned in the negotiations with the Bedford
Whigs and with Pitt, but did not succeed in enlisting their
support. In consequence, after barely five months of
office, he resigned his place. Towards the end of the year
he spoke against the government on the Wilkes question,
and was then dismissed from his Court appointment. He
had thus alienated the King, Fox and Bute, though he
stUl remained a friend of Pitt's. He now retired for a time
to Bowood, his home in Wiltshire, where he occupied him-
self with beautifyiag the grounds, collecting a library
and entertaining celebrities in the world of literature and
art. Johnson, RejTiolds, Bentham, Priestley, Hume and
Goldsmith were among his friends, and he was able to
develop his remarkable talents and increase his attainments
in their society.

In 1765 he married Lady Sophia Carteret, daughter of
John, Earl Granville, Walpole's old opponent. By her
he had a single son. In the same year Rockingham came
into office and offered Shelburne his former place at the
Board of Trade. But Shelburne refused to join the Whig
government, and his friend Barre took the same line. In
the next year, however, on Chatham forming a ministry,
Shelburne became Secretary of State for the Southern
Department, a post which then included American and
Indian affairs and was one of the most important in
the Cabinet. He was among Chatham's principal fol-
lowers, and when a few months later illness drove his
great leader to the privacy of Bath, Shelburne's position
was not a little affected. He did not agree particularly
well with Grafton, who wished to reduce the scope of his
department, while the King and the Princess Dowager
remembered and resented his conduct in the Wilkes affair.
His management of his office was not universally approved,
and he was subjected to a good deal of criticism. Burke,

HIS UNPOPULARITY 149

writing in 1768, calls him " as adverse and as much disliked
as ever."*

In the autumn of 1768 Shelburne, who was a true Whig,
opposed the policy of applying force to the American
colonies, and Grafton then determined to get rid of him.
This Shelburne anticipated by resigning on October 19.
He at once became the target of the pressmen. It was
said of him : " Before he was an ensign he thought himself
fit to be a general, and to be a leading minister before he
ever saw a public office." f His negotiations and intrigues,
as they were then considered, had done him harm, and it
was at this time that the nickname of " Malagrida," a
notorious Jesuit of Portugal, was first given him. How-
ever undeservedly, he had certainly by now acquired a re-
putation for insiucerity which adhered to him for most of
his political career.

On the fall of Grafton early in 1770, the Whigs ia
opposition were for a short time united against North, the
King's long-wished-for and heaven-born minister. But
their counsels soon became divided. Some seceded to the
King's friends, some were for moderate and some for ex-
treme measurcfs, and the party was broken up between
Rockingham, Chatham and Bedford.

Early in 1771 Shelburne lost his wife, a young and
attractive woman. He felt her death deeply, and went
abroad for some months to France and Italy. After his
return he resumed his work against the government,
devoting time, money and industry to this object. But
lack of unison still prevented the Opposition from achieving
any practical results.

On Chatham's death in 1778 Shelburne succeeded to the
leadership of his smaU following, for his abilities were
undoubted and his position considerable. A year later
he married as his second wife Lady Louisa Fitzpatrick,
daughter of John, Earl of Upper Ossory, a countryman of
his own. He was still regarded with doubt and dislike by
many. His extreme views on American independence, his
sympathy with the mob in the Gordon Riots, his alternate

* Burke, Corresp., i. 159. f Fitzmaurice, ii. 167.

150 SHELBURNE

support and opposition to Rockingliam, and his ambiguous
speeches ia Parliament, combined to make him a popular
subject for criticism and mistrust. Nevertheless, his rank,
his wealth and his many accomplishments could not be
ignored; and though the Whigs might not care to serve
under his command, they were ready enough to include
him in their ranks.

In 1782 North resigned. The King, who was threatened
with Eockingham, sent first for Shelbume, hoping thereby
to avoid the official Whigs. But Shelbume knew that
he could not form a ministry, and that Rockingham
alone was the man. He so informed the King, saying to
Rockingham : " My Lord, you coidd stand without me but
I could not without you."* Grafton, who was no particular
friend of Shelburne's, admits that in this matter he acted
with honour and credit. Rockingham accordingly accepted
the Treasury, and Shelburne, who represented the King,
again became Secretary of State, his department including
Irish and American matters.f Charles Fox, the son of
Shelburne's old enemy, was the other Secretary, and was
responsible for French and foreign affairs. The first
business of the new government was the conclusion of
peace with the United States and with France. Quarrels
at once arose between the two ministers as to whose depart-
ment was chiefly concerned and whose shoidd be the
directing voice. Mutual antipathy increased their dis-
sensions. On July 1 Rockingham died. The King,
anxious to have what he called a Broad Bottom administra-
tion, then wrote to Shelburne as follows :

" Lord Shelburne must remember that when in March
I was obliged to change my ministry, I called upon him to
form a new one, and proposed his taking the employment
of First Lord of the Treasury, which he declined, to ac-
commodate Lord Rockingham. The vacancy of that
office makes me return to my original idea, and offer it to
him on the present occasion, and with the fullest political
confidence; indeed he has had an ample sample of it, by
* Fitzmaurice, iii. 131. f May, i. 53.

-'^("^''SSiS'Ws,^

T. Gainil'Orough pi,

F. Bnrtolo::i sc.

william petty fitzmaukice

2nd earl of SHELBURNE

afterwards marquess of lansdowne

To face page 150

PRIME MINISTER 151

my conduct towards him since his return to my service. I
desire he will therefore see the Chancellor, the Duke of
Grafton and others, either in or out of office, and coUect
their opinions fully, that he may be able to state something
to me on Wednesday, He is at Liberty to mention my
intentions with regard to him, and to set forward in forming
a plan for my inspection. The letter I wrote this morning
and the conversations I have held with him previous to it,
are the fullest instructions I can give on the subject.

" Windsor, July 1, 1782." ^•■^•

This appointment gave the deepest umbrage to Fox
and to some of the Rockingham Whigs. They regarded
Shelbume as an interloper and assailed him on all sides,
Burke calling him " a Borgia, a Catiline and a serpent with
two heads." t But only a few of his colleagues resigned,
and Shelburne was able to complete his administration.
It was not strong, for he had no considerable party to
support him, but it possessed the invaluable help of
William Pitt, who now first took office as Chancellor of the
Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. Thurlow
and Grafton also remained in the Cabinet.

The work before the ministers was still eminently un-
popular. They had undertaken to finish an unsuccess-
ful war, to reform the expenditure and to limit the
number of political places and pensions. With some
diflB.culty the negotiations for peace were carried through,
but they afiorded the Tories and the discontented Whigs
plenty of opportunities for criticism, of which they did not
hesitate to avail themselves. Among other attacks it was
freely insinuated that Shelburne was pro-American and
pro-French, and that he was speculating financially on the
peace — suggestions untrue enough, but not calculated to
promote his interests. The proposals for the reduction
of expenses annoyed both the King and the politicians.
Thurlow, the Chancellor, played a double game, and Grafton,
who had always disliked Shelbume since he had been
supplanted in Lord Chatham's favour, was a dubious ally.

* Fitzmaurice, iii. 222. f l^^-> iii- 235.

11

152 SHELBURNE

Early in 1783 the preliminaxies of peace came on for
discussion. Shelburne was well aware of liis weakness in
Parliament. He had endeavoured to enlist Fox's support
and tad also sounded North, but the two had already come
to an agreement between themselves. Grafton took the
opportunity of resigning the Privy Seal, while an adverse
vote in the House of Commons gave the ministers a
severe blow. Nevertheless, there were hopes of an ar-
rangement, when, on February 24, Shelburne unexpectedly
handed in his resignation. He was convinced himself and
he was probably right in thinking that the King had tricked
him. " George III.," he used to say, " had one art beyond
any man he had ever known, for that by the familiarity of
his intercourse he obtained your confidence, procured from
you your opinion of difierent public characters, and then
availed himself of this knowledge to sow dissension."*

For a period of several weeks the country remained
without a proper government, though Shelburne and his
colleagues carried on the public business to the best of
their ability. Then, early in April, the Coalition ministry
emerged, made up of Portland, Fox, North and Cavendish,
and destined itself to survive but a few months. Within
the year it had disappeared and Pitt had formed the famous
administration which was to develop into a Tory hegemony
of nearly half a century. Shelburne, who had gone abroad,
hastened home, but he was not asked to join the new
Cabinet. It was clear to everyone that his abilities could
not outweigh the hostility and want of confidence that
surrounded him. The view of Pitt, who had been most
loyal to his leader, was that the " influence of prejudice "
prevented his applying to Shelburne, and also that " Shel-
burne's known principle was to be absolute ... to absorb
all power."! In this opinion Rose and Dundas, two of
Pitt's most intimate friends, both concurred.

Pitt, however, did not forget that Shelburne had been

his father's friend and his own chief. In 1784 he ofiered

him a marquessate, with the promise of a dukedom should

that dignity ever again be conferred outside the Royal

* Fitzmaurice, iii. 363. -j- Ibid., iii. 412.

LATER LIFE 153

Family. This Shelburne accepted, taking the title of
Marquess of Lansdowne. He was already a Knight of the
Garter, and owing to his early promotion had become
almost the senior general in the Army. He now resumed
his interests in the country, where he concerned himself
with the condition of the poor, with agriculture and with
the management of his estates. To the principles of Free
Trade and parliamentary reform he adhered, and he re-
mained an ardent Whig throughout the French Revolution,
never deviatiag from his belief in political liberty. Latterly
he became estranged from Pitt, first on Indian matters —
for he strongly supported Warren Hastings — and subse-
quently on the coercive measures adopted in Great Britain
and Ireland in the last decade of the century. These views
eventually brought him again into political alliance with
Fox, though the alliance never developed into friendship.

In 1789 he lost his second wife, from whom the present
Lord Lansdowne is descended. Thenceforward he lived
mostly at Bowood, occupied with architecture, books, the
fine arts and gardening, surrounded by friends, a generous
host and an instructive philosopher. His view of himself
at this time he gave in a speech in the House of Lords —
perhaps the best he ever made. " The fact is," he said,
" that throughout my life I have stood aloof from parties.
It constitutes my pride and my principle to belong to no
faction, but to approve every measure on its own ground
free from all connection. Such is my political creed."*
Dr. Johnson, not always a sound critic, took an emphati-
cally different view. Boswell had asked if Shelburne was
not a factious man. " Oh yes. Sir," replied Johnson, " as
factious a fellow as could be found; one who was for sacking
us all into the mob !" " How then. Sir," said Boswell,
" did he get into favour with the King V " Because,
Sir," said Johnson, " I suppose he promised the King to do
whatever the King pleased."!

Shelburne maintained his faculties and interests for
many years, and died in May 1805 at the age of sixty-
eight. Had he lived another year he might well have
* Fitzmaurice, iii. 433. f Boswell, v. 174.

154 SHELBURNE

returned to the highest office, for he was by far the most able
survivor of the old Whigs. Several of his descendants have
risen to the most eminent positions in the State, and one at
least is said to have refused the dukedom promised to his
ancestor.

In appearance Shelbuxne was handsome, somewhat
resembling the Bourbons, hale and high-complexioned, with
a blufi, hearty expression. Although his early educa-
tion had been neglected, he had largely supplied this de-
ficiency in later life, and his attainments and knowledge of
books and of foreign coimtries were exceptional. Wraxall
says: " In his person, manners and address the Earl of
Shelburne wanted no external quality requisite to captivate
or conciliate mankind. AfEable, polite, cormnunicative,
and courting popularity, he drew round him a number of
followers or adherents. His personal courage was indis-
putable. Splendid and hospitable at his table, he equally
delighted his guests by the charms of his conversation and
society. In his magnificent library, one of the finest of its
kind in England, he could appear as a philosopher and a
man of letters. With such various endowments of mind,
sustained by rank and fortune, he necessarily excited
universal consideration, and seemed to be pointed out by
nature for the first Employments. But the confidence
which his moral character inspired did not equal the
reputation of his abilities. His adversaries accused him
of systematic duplicity and insincerity."*

As an orator he held the highest rank, being commonly re-
garded as second only to Chatham. But his speeches were
often ambiguous and obscure, and he tended to repetition.

The RoUiad touches on some of these defects:

" Lost and obscur'd in Bowood's humble bow'r,
No party tool — no candidate for pow'r —
I come, my lords, an hermit from my cell,
A few blunt truths in my plain style to tell.

I say it still : but (let me be believed)

In this your lordships have been much deceiv'd,

* Wraxall, " Memoirs," ii. 62.

HIS CHAEACTER 155

A noble Duke affirms I like hia plan :

I never did, my lords ! — I never can.

Shame on the slanderous breath which dares instil

That I, who now condemn, advis'd the ill.

Plain words, thank Heav'n, are always understood;

I could approve, I said — but not I would.

Anxious to make the noble Duke content,

My view was just to seem to give consent.

While aU the world might see that nothing less was meant."*

He was an economist of some repute, a disciple of Adam
Smith, and a connoisseur in the arts, Ms house in Berkeley-
Square being th.e centre of a considerable party as well as
the " asylum of taste and science." Beaconsfield called
him " one of the suppressed characters of English history
and the ablest and most accomplished statesman of the
eighteenth century, "f With such endowments and op-
portunities, it is perhaps remarkable that his merits were
not more widely appreciated, nor his political success
longer maintained, for the only real faults in his character
appear to have been a certain secretiveness and suspicion
of others and too much readiness to lend himself as a go-
between. His beliefs were certainly sincere, for he stuck
to them throughout his life, while his political pluck was
never called in question.

His career, therefore, and his deserts seem at first sight
out of harmony, but the apparent discord can be explained.

Born an Irishman and not a scion of any famous English
family he was, what was more important, unconnected
with any of the principal Whig houses. His blood was
bluer than theirs and his nobility more ancient, but to them
he was as much a Petty as a Fitzmaurice, and his claims
to consideration seemed rather derived from Cromwell's
chemist and surveyor than from the Crusaders or the
Plantagenets. Brought up under his grandfather, an old
Irish despot, he had early to learn to dissemble and to
smile. As a young man he went off to the wars, showed his
mettle, and received exceptional notice — which, perhaps,
did not greatly endear him to his comrades. Succeeding
soon afterwards to a peerage and a princely fortune, he
* RoUiad, 225, 226. t Buckle, ii. 271.

156 SHELBURNE

was seized upon by Bute, the suspect Scotsman, and, after
being used to juggle with Henry Fox, was pushed into
high place long before his time. Here he reaped the whirl-
wind. His association with the wicked earl was always
remembered; the hatred of Holland House never abated.
Again he came into oflB.ce, this time as the protege of the
mighty Chatham. But the Chatham of those days was very
difierent from the former Great Commoner. Cantankerous,
tjTxannical, mysterious and ailing, his support was largely
illusory, while Grafton's jealousy was very real. Later on
came the letters of Junius and the speeches of Burke to
weigh down the scales still more. Then Chatham died,
and Shelburne grasped at the mantle of Elijah. This still
further embittered the Whigs. They were the authorita-
tive party, the magnates by hereditary right and the
gentlemen of the House of Commons " who were elected
in Lord Rockingham's dining-room." " Shelburne was
factious," they said, " he was a foreigner, he was a Jesuit,"
and then, as that did not seem enough, " he had sold
his country." Such remarks have been heard before and
since. But they did their work. He was forced to vacate
his place, and even the son of his old friend, whom he
himself had brought into power, found that it was inex-
pedient to employ him, whether willingly or not.

Luckily, Shelburne was a man of courage, of dignity, of
independent character and means. He stuck to his liberal
creed, not indeed as a bigot, but as a man of common
sense. He was able to understand the French Revolution,
which Pitt never succeeded in doing. In a letter written
to President Washington in 1794 to introduce M. de
Talleyrand, he says : " In the present situation of Europe,
he has nowhere to look for an asylum, except to that
country, which is happy enough to preserve its peace and
its happiness under your auspices, to which we may be all
of us in our turn obliged to look up, if some bounds are not
speedily put to the opposite storms of anarchy and
despotism, which threaten Europe with desolation."*

As things were in the eighteenth century, the direction
* Fitzmaurice, iii. 515.

THE WHIGS 157

of political ajSairs had lain in the hands of a Whig oligarchy.
Shelbume did not belong to this oligarchy; he was inclined
to be an autocrat, and he believed ia measures rather than
men. The Whigs were tired of autocrats; they had not
forgotten Chatham, and they usually put men before
measures. To them Shelburne was an interloper and a
heretic. But that he was a better and a more capable
Whig than many of his contemporaries is unquestionable.
It may be that he was too clever, but he was always
consistent. His profession and his practice were " Peace,
Retrenchment and Reform." His own crew indeed
defeated him, but he went down with his flag flying.

CHAPTER VIII
LESSEE LIGHTS

ADDINGTON, PERCEVAL AND GODERICH

In th.e course of nearly twenty years' tenure of ofl&ce the
prestige and the power of the younger Pitt had attracted
to his party many of the most promising and most am-
bitious of the political youth of the country. Personal
friends, sprigs of the aristocracy, newly ennobled partisans
and freelances of more modest origin alike flocked to his
banner. Some brought talents, some industry, some
wealth or connection and some the simple wish for place.
Pitt had thus a wide field from which to choose his captains.
Behind him he had the solid phalanx of the country party,
the " surly squires " who when Burdett spoke

" resigned their port and ran
To tear the dangerous but large-acred man."*

The GrenvHles were already well provided for, and Pitt was
free to turn his attention to fresh blood. This he did with
remarkable success.

In the half-century following the Peace of Amiens ten
Tory Prime Ministers, besides Pitt, led the government.
Excepting Stanley, who was still in the nursery. Peel,
who was at Oxford, and Wellesley, who was soldiering,
all of these had been Pitt's proteges or colleagues. One,
Canning, was to attain eminence by his genius, while three
others, Portland, Liverpool and Aberdeen, were to acquire
a humbler merit by their devotion to the public service.
Of those that remained, Addington was an early friend of
Pitt's and the son of his father's doctor; Perceval was an
able writer, lawyer and speaker whom Pitt had picked
* Jennings, 209.
158

PITT'S LEGACY 159

out to help him; while Robinson, afterwards Lord Goderich,
was a nephew of Malmesbury's, a cousin of Hardwicke's
and a disciple of Canning's — all of them among Pitt's
intimate counsellors. None of the three achieved par-
ticular celebrity; but they were able to rise to the first
position in the State by the tradition and the name of their
potent protector, and to bask in the mellow splendour of
office long after his sun had set. And those were the palmy
days of office. During the fifty years in which they acted
as Prime Ministers, North, Pitt, Addington, Grenville and
Liverpool drew an average annual salary of £10,000 apiece,
while in the course of the whole of their political lives, what
with pensions and sinecures such as the Cinque Ports, the
Royal Parks and the various auditorships and tellerships
of the Exchequer, they must have received well over a
million pounds of public money between them. It is true
that they each gave something like twenty years' service
to the State, more or less, but the reward, in the currency
of those days, was adequate. Thus the legacy which Pitt
left to his friends and immediate successors was not one
to be despised.

I.— ADDINGTON

Henry Addington was born in London on May 30, 1757,
the eldest son of Anthony Addington, M.D., a physician of
Reading, and of Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Hiley,
headmaster of the grammar school at the same place. The
Addingtons had been settled on a small estate at Fringford,
in Oxfordshire, since the sixteenth century, though little
is known of their early history. Anthony Addington was
a doctor of considerable skill and reputation, who, after
practising in the county, had come up to London. In this
capacity he attended Lord Chatham, who conceived a close
friendship for him, and this friendship was continued
between their two sons.

Henry Addington was educated at Cheam, at Winchester
and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he won the
Chancellor's gold medal for English Essay. Of the ancient
classics Homer was his favourite, though he was never a

160 ADDINGTON

great Greek or Latin scholar. His intended profession was
the law, and he was duly entered at Lincoln's Inn. At the
age of twenty-four he married Ursula Mary, eldest daughter
of Leonard Hammond of Cheam, and then established himself
at a small house in Southampton Street, London, intending to
take to practice. During the next two years, however, his
intimacy with William Pitt, then rising to power, turned
his thoughts to politics. Pitt was anxious to have some
real friends at his side in Parliament, and, encouraged by
him, Addington in 1784 was elected member for Devizes in
place of Mr. James Sutton, his brother-in-law. At this
time he was only personally acquainted with three members
of the House of Conamons and had little ambition. But
constant association with the new Prime Minister urged
him forward. In January, 1786, Pitt asked him to second
the Address in the following formal letter:

"Downing Steeet,
" My dear Sir, " ^"'"'^'y *' l'^®"

" The approach of the session makes me naturally
anxious to see the moving and seconding the address placed
in respectable hands. On this groimd I should feel parti-
cular pleasure if you could be prevailed upon to undertake
the latter; and if you have no strong objection, I flatter
myself your kindness and friendship to me wiU incline you
to comply with this request.

" I will not disguise that in asking this favour of you,
I look beyond the immediate object of the first day's debate,
from a persuasion that whatever induces you to take a part
ia public, will equally contribute to your personal credit,
and that of the system to which I have the pleasure of
thinking you are so warmly attached.

Believe me to be, with great truth and regard, my dear
Sir, faithfully and sincerely yours,

" W. Pitt."*

Addington's speech does not seem to have set the
Thames on fire, but he stuck to his work, and his letters
* Pellew, i. 40.

BECOMES SPEAKER 161

show an increasing interest in politics. One is interesting
for its reference to two future premiers:

February 22, 1787.

" We had a glorious debate last night upon the motion
for an address of thanks to the King for having negotiated
the commercial treaty. I was not in bed till three o'clock,
which to a committee man is rather an unseasonable hour.
A new speaker presented himself to the House, and went
through his first performance with an eclat which has not
been equalled within my recollection. His name is Grey.
He is not more than twenty-two years of age, and he took
his seat, which is for Northumberland, only in the present
session. I do not go too far in declaring that in the
advantages of figure, voice, elocution, and manner, he is
not surpassed by any one member of the House ; and I grieve
to say that he was last night in the ranks of opposition,
from whence there is no prospect of his being detached.
Mr. G-renville, I should also say, did himself peculiar
honour, and indeed has laid the foundation of a very high
reputation for great information, and unremitting per-
severance. Of Mr, Pitt and Mr. Fox, I say nothing,
excepting that they were quite themselves."*

Addington had been four sessions in Parliament before
he made his second speech, and it is clear that debate was
not his forte. He devoted himself, however, to com-
mittees and to the business of the House, with which he
made himself thoroughly acquainted. His circle of friends
was increasing, and his name was constantly mentioned
in connection with office, though so far nothing definite
had been offered him. In June 1789, however, GrenviUe,
Pitt's cousin, was suddenly transferred from the Speaker's
chair to the Home Office. Pitt, who was all-powerful,
determined that Addington should succeed him. He was
accordingly proposed by Lord Graham and seconded by
Mr. Grosvenor, and on his election by a considerable
majority he enjoyed the special distinction of receiving the
* Pellew, i. 45.

162 ADDINGTON

King's approval in person — an honour partly due, perhaps,
to the fact that old Dr. Addington's advice had recently-
been sought on His Majesty's illness. This was the be-
ginning of a friendship which George III. long maintained,
and which not a little influenced Addington's later career.

Although only thirty-two years of age, he entered upon
his duties in the Chair with general approbation, for it was
felt that his abilities were of the sober and dignified
order and likely to be in harmony with the traditions of
that high position.

He made a satisfactory and popular Speaker. The year
after his election a salary of £6,000 a year was voted him,
the first occasion on which a definite provision had been
assigned to his office by the House of Commons . His father
had just died, and in 1790 he was able to buy a small house
near Reading, where he used to spend the recess.

He kept up his friendship with Pitt, and was among his
most constant guests. He was one of four at a small dinner
in Downing Street, with Grenville and Burke, when Pitt
remarked, apropos of the French Revolution, that things
in England would "go on as we are until the day of
judgment." " Very likely, Sir," said Burke; "it is the
day of no judgment that I am afraid of."*

In 1793 Addington was offered the post of Secretary of
State, but after some consideration he declined. His
talents, he felt, were better suited to the place he already
held. He was, however, kept in close touch with the
Cabinet business, and knew most of their secrets, for during
the sitting of Parliament Pitt generally shared his supper,
and Addington often had his work cut out in restraining
the Prime Minister from drinking the extra bottle. The
two friends also stayed with each other in the country, and
Addington's position in Pitt's confidence and his experience
in his own office gradually gave him some weight in affairs.

In February, 1801, the momentous question of Catholic

relief began to cause dissension between Pitt and the King.

George III. was unalterably opposed to this breach, as he

thought it, of his Coronation Oath. He took the first

* Jennings, 168.

PRIME MINISTER 163

action in the matter by writing to the Speaker, requesting
him to use his influence with Pitt to induce him to meet the
royal views. The King had real respect and liking for
Addington. He had recently visited him at Woodley, his
country home, to inspect a troop of yeomanry which
Addington had raised and commanded. George III. re-
garded him as a moral and pHable man, and when the
negotiations were not successful he determined to change
his minister and to put Addington in Pitt's place. He
wrote as follows:

" QtFEEN's House,

" February 1, 1801.

" The King has received this morning the expected paper
from Mr. Pitt. He is desirous of returning an answer to it
in the course of the day, as he cannot bear to keep a man
whom he both loves and respects under a most unpleasant
state of suspense, when, on the real matter of the com-
munication, his Majesty's opinion is most completely and
unalterably formed. He therefore is desirous of seeing
Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons this forenoon as
early as Mr. Addington's attendance at divine worship may
be over, and that he will then come here in his walking
dress, as the King would wish to have his safe opinion as
to the mode of conveying sentiments that certainly will be
afiectionate, though the determination cannot be pleasing,
but these are meant to be so couched as to stave off the evil
though without (encouraging) the smallest hope of ever
giving way, where conscience and every duty to the
country point out the culpability that must attend the
King's departing from what he feels to be his religious and
^'i^ilduty. "GeoegeR."*

Pitt, however, remained obdurate and resigned. After
some delay occasioned by the King's illness, Addington,
on March 14, received the seals as First Lord of the
Trea sury and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was already
a privy councillor, and after twelve years in the Chair he
probably felt fairly sure of himself, especially as Pitt had
* PeUew, i. 288.

164 ADDINGTON

promised Mm his countenance. But Addington with Pitt
as his friend and in the judicial position of Speaker was
very different from Addington as a political leader and
debater across the floor of the House, when opposed by Pitt
and Pitt's friends.

At first matters ran smoothly enough, but after the
Peace of Amiens criticisms and hostilities began. The
comparison between the late and the present minister was
too severe. The world said:

" As London is to Paddington,
So is Pitt to Addington."*

And whatever Pitt may have thought himself, Pitt's
colleagues out of office resented Addington's presence
extremely. The European outlook was stormy. The
King was ill. The Opposition was strong and competent.
Addington had, it is true, his majority, and he managed
to retain the royal confidence. But this gradually became
his sole support, and it was insufficient to maintain him.

Until the end of 1802 his friendship and correspondence
with Pitt continued. Pitt was consulted on many
questions, and gave his approval to the budget. But
Grenville, the late Foreign Secretary, and Malmesbury,
the most prominent diplomat in the country, were Ad-
dington's constant opponents. The policy of his ministry
was pacific. Pitt's policy was the reverse, and his friends
were determined to keep him up to it. They considered that
the conduct of the finances and the defence of the country
were unsound, and that Pitt alone could put them right.
Canning was particularly virulent against Addington,
whom he called le medecin malgre lui, " the Doctor,"
and his house the "Villa Medici." Early in 1803
Addington realized the extreme insecurity of his position
and made attempts to induce Pitt to re-enter the Cabinet.
But his efiorts were fruitless, Pitt was not in good health,
and he was dissatisfied with the way in which the govern-
ment was being carried on, but he was determined not to
take office except as Prime Minister. Lord Melville was
* Jennings, 185.

HIS RESIGNATION 165

sent by Addington to see Pitt and hear Ms views. Melville's
letter from Walmer Castle on March 22, 1803, says of his
interview with Pitt:

" He stated, not less pointedly and decidedly, his senti-
ments with regard to the absolute necessity there is, in
the conduct of the affairs of this country, that there should
be an avowed and real minister possessing the chief weight
in council and the principal place in the confidence of the
King. In that respect there can be no rivality or division
of power. That power must rest in the person generally
called the First Minister ; and that Minister ought he thinks
to be the person at the head of the finances."*

Addington, however, was not yet disposed to resign,
so Pitt, who had for some time absented himself from
Parliament, now began to resume his attendance, and on
one or two occasions divided the House against the
ministers, though without getting a majority.

In 1803 war was again declared on France, and it became
clear that the government must soon go. What might
perhaps serve in peace was not fit to deal with a war of
giants. The attacks on the ministry redoubled and its
votes began to dwindle.

Pitt and Fox were thus working together, and on
April 25, 1804, they succeeded in leaving Addington with a
majority of only thirty-seven. This determined him to
retire. On May 10 he handed over the seals, and was
succeeded by Pitt. The King offered him an earldom and
a pension for his wife, both of which he declined. But the
Royal Lodge in Richmond Park, which he had received
some time previously, was continued to him for his life, and
he had also appointed his eldest son to a highly paid
permanent office and had secured places for several relatives.
He took the lead of a party called " the King's friends,"
' Between Addington and Pitt there was now a distinct
coolness, and this lasted until the end of the year. The
King, however, was anxious for them to resume their
friendship, and mainly by the good offices of Lord Hawkes-
* Pellew, ii. 116.

166 ADDINGTON

bury, the future Lord Liverpool, a reconciliation was
arranged. Pitt then asked Addington to re-enter the
Cabinet, and the latter after some hesitation agreed. In
January 1805 he was sworn Lord President of the Council
and created Viscount Sidmouth. With the King he re-
mained on the best of terms and in this month he dined
with His Majesty t^te-a-t^te at Kew, " an honour not
conferred on any subject since Lord Bute."* But there
stUl remained a feeling of soreness and the seeds of dis-
union, and in the following July, after other disagreements,
he again resigned. Six months later Pitt died.

A change seems now to have taken place in Sidmouth's
outlook : it was not for the better. Hitherto he had tried
to be a statesman; now he became a politician, and place
began to count. He was approached by Grenville and
accepted office as Lord Privy Seal, and subsequently as
Lord President, in a Whig government. In twelve months,
however, the ministry of All the Talents ceased to exist
and for the next few years Sidmouth was left out of office.
At this time his health was very uncertain, his son was
suffering from illness and in 1811 his wife died. These
troubles withdrew him to some extent from politics, but
in 1812 he again showed more active concern in them. In
April of that year he became Lord President under Perceval
and soon afterwards Home Secretary under Lord Liverpool,
a post which he continued to occupy for nearly ten years.
His long administration of the domestic affairs of the
country is not of much interest, but it is generally regarded
as having been reactionary. He had, however, difficulties
enough to meet. The Luddite and Manchester riots, the
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the censorship of
the Press and the Six Acts all occurred during his tenure
of office. The war had brought about unrest and unem-
ployment : they had to be dealt with, and there was little
glory to be gained. Addington, however, carried through
his duties with moderate success, an undistinguished
member of an undistinguished government. By the time
that George IV. succeeded he had held office in six
* Jesse, " George III.," iii. 412, note.

T. Thompson pinx. S. IF. Reynolds sc.

HENRY ADDINGTON

AFTEEWAHDS VISCOUNT SIDMOUTH

Tafacepagc 166

HIS CHAEACTER 167

administrations and for a period of nearly thirty years.
Canning used to say that he was like the smallpox, that
everyone was obliged to have him once in their lives. *

But he was getting old, and at last he determined to
retire. In January 1822 he was replaced by Peel, and
though he remained for another two years a member of the
Cabinet, his active work was now finished. On his retire-
ment a pension of £3,000 a year was conferred upon him.

In 1823 he had married as his second wife the Hon.
Marian Scott, widow of Thomas Townsend and only
daughter of Lord Stowell, whose large fortune he in-
herited twelve years later. He then resigned his pension.
In 1832 he voted against the Reform Bill, but he had ceased
to take much part in politics, and his later years were
tranquil and devout. He survived nearly all his contem-
poraries, and died in 1844 at the great age of eighty-five.
The present peer is his descendant.

Addington was a man of a fine face and figure, tall, erect
and dignified. His appearance probably helped him not
a little in his earlier career. In manner he was imposing,
and he never forgot "his short and unreal caliphate."!

His character bears some resemblance to that of
George III., his patron. Green calls him a weak and
narrow-minded man, and as bigoted as the King himself. J
He was religious, domestic, upright and painstaking. Of
a quiet spirit, though without much talent, he was tenacious
of his opinions, an energetic friend and had some literary and
general interests. By his critics he was thought conceited,
pompous and incompetent. But his lot lay in troublous
times, and his association with the mighty spirits of a
clashing epoch emphasized his mediocrity. The first
premier who was drawn straight from the middle Classes, he
was conscious of what in those days was a serious handicap.
He realized his limitations and attempted, not without
success, to expand them by industry, patience and correct
conduct. A Tory by nature, his views occasionally showed
some faint signs of liberalism, though more in principle
than practice. Neither as a speaker nor an administrator

* Jennings, 186. f MacaiJay, vii. 401. J Green, iv. 351.

12

168 PEECEVAL

did he do more than maintain a level of respectability.
Of his private life not much is known. He was a regular
church-goer, careful of his money, an active officer of his
local yeomanry. His chief amusements were riding and
writing modest poetry. Eldon, Wellesley and Wilberforce
were among his friends. Towards the end of his life he was
looked upon as a sort of political Nestor, but chiefly, it seems,
by those who had no actual experience of his achievements.
Addington's career crossed two diverse centuries. Born
in the reign of George II., as a boy he could remember Lord
Chatham when he was Prime Minister. In his old age he
must have often seen Queen Victoria and Gladstone as a
young member of Parliament. He was distinctly not a
great man, but having had greatness thrust upon him, his
appetite for power was whetted. He strove to do his duty
creditably, but he was a minnow among tritons.

II.— PEECEVAL

The Hon. Spencer Perceval was born in Audley Square,
London, on November 1, 1762, the fourth son of John,
second Earl of Egmont, by his second wife Catherine,
daughter of the Hon. Charles Compton, a nephew of the
Lord Wilmington who was formerly Prime Minister. The
family of Perceval, ancient and distinguished, was origin-
ally from Somerset, but had long been settled in Ireland.
In the eighteenth century, however, the first and second
earls had occupied themselves with English politics, both,
as Irish peers, being able to sit in the English House of
Commons.

Perceval's father died when he was ten years old, and
his eldest half-brother, who was considerably his senior,
succeeded to the peerage. Perceval was sent to Harrow
and then to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained
the English Declamation prize. In 1783 his mother died.
She had been created Baroness Arden, and Perceval's elder
brother of the whole blood inherited that title with a con-
siderable fortune. He himself, however, was left with a
younger son's portion of only £200 a year, and he had to
devote himself seriously to the Bar. He was called at

EARLY LIFE 169

Lincoln's Inn in January 1786 and went the Midland
Circuit, of wMch he afterwards became the leader.
Romilly says that he was a great acquisition to their
society: " With very little reading, of a conversation barren
of instruction and with strong invincible prejudices on
many subjects, yet by his excellent temper, his engaging
manners and his sprightly conversation he was the delight
of all who knew him."*

In 1787 his brother, Lord Arden, married a daughter of
Sir James Wilson, of Charlton, near Woolwich. Perceval
fell in love with her younger sister, who was unusually
pretty. But Perceval and his brother were very different
persons as regards eligibility, and there was considerable
opposition to the marriage on the part of the lady's relations.
Not until 1790 did it take place, and then the bride was
" only dressed in her riding-habit, "f

By the interest of Lord Northampton, who was his
cousin, Perceval was now given a small sinecure at the
Mint — Surveyor of the Meltings and Clerk of the Irons —
which was worth £120 a year. Even this pittance was a
welcome addition to his income, for the young couple were
very badly ofi. At first they lived in lodgings over a
carpet shop in Bedford Row, moving afterwards to
Lincoln's Inn Fields. In the first six years of their marriage
they had five children, and Perceval had to work hard to
make both ends meet. But he did so with energy and
success. In 1790 he had published a political pamphlet
which brought him an introduction to Mr. Pitt. In con-
sequence of this he was retained by the Crown on the trial
of Paine in 1792, and of Home Tooke in 1794, and in the
latter year he was made counsel to the Admiralty.

Two years later he took silk, and had by then begun
to make a name at the Bar. At this point in his career
Pitt suddenly offered him the post of Chief Secretary for
Ireknd, and at the same time undertook to secure him
against future financial loss. In his letter Pitt says: " It
would be impossible to propose to you to exchange your
present situation and prospects for anything so precarious
* Romilly, i. 91. t Walpole, "Perceval," i. 12.

170 PERCEVAL

as the line of politics, if there were not at the same time
the means of ensuring to you some provision of a permanent
nature. On that point and on any other particulars which
may require explanation I shall be happy to converse with
you fully."* Perceval, however, did not hesitate. In a
long but modest and sensible reply he declined the ofier,
purely on the grounds of his family and their prospects.
" Even if you were prepared," he writes, " to offer me such
terms as I should think sufficient to answer the claims of
my family upon me, I would not accept them, because I
should feel they would be so much too great for any service
I could render to the Public, that you could not grant them
with any degree of credit to yourself, or indeed without the
inexcusable profusion of the public money ."f It was rare
to find at that time so much dignity and so much considera-
tion for the public interest, and Pitt did not forget it.

Three months later a vacancy occurred at Northampton.
Perceval was the deputy recorder and a cousin of Lord
Compton, the late member. He was elected at once, and
again at the ensuing general election. He had now to
make his mark in the House of Commons. This he found
very difierent from Westminster Hall, and at first he made
slow progress. But he spoke continually, answeriag the
leaders of the Opposition with weighty and pointed argu-
ments, and supporting the measures of the government.
He was a strong Tory, and his forensic experience stood
him in good stead. His grasp of affairs widened, his
diffidence diminished and his reputation increased.

In 1798 Pitt fought his duel with Tierney. Eyder,
afterwards Lord Harrowby, was his second. Before the
meeting he asked Pitt whom he thought most competent
to succeed him in case he should fall. Pitt reflected and
then said that " he thought Mr. Perceval was the most
competent person, and that he appeared the most equal
to cope with Mr. Fox."J It was a remarkable tribute,
and enhanced the consideratibn which Perceval already
enjoyed.

In this year Perceval was made Solicitor-General to the
* Walpole, " Perceval," i. 20, 21. f ^&«<^-> i- 23, 24. f Ibid., i. 151.

ATTOKNEY-GENEEAL 171

Queen and solicitor to the Board of Ordnance, and soon
afterwards was given a similar employment by the
University of Cambridge. His emoluments increased.
By the year 1800 he was making nearly £2,000 a year,
a good income in those days for a King's Counsel.

In 1801 Pitt resigned on the OathoUc question, and
Addington took his place. Perceval was appointed
Solicitor-General in tJie new government, and he then left
the King's Bench and in future confined himself to the
Chancery Bar. Next year, on Law's becoming Chief
Justice, he was promoted to be Attorney-General. Much
of his work was outside Parliament, and he did it with
equal ability and care. His merits as an advocate were now
universally recognized, and just before the fall of Addington
he was offered the place of Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas, with a peerage. But this he refused, and he took
a courageous and prominent part in defending the tottering
ministry, for which he was much admired.

On Pitt's coming back to office in 1804, he was most
anxious to retain the help of Perceval, whose value he
thoroughly appreciated. He employed Lord Harrowby
to sound him, and eventually Perceval agreed, but on the
terms (1) that Fox should not be in the government,
(2) that Addington's administration should not be in-
criminated, and (3) that the Catholic question should be left
alone. Pitt made no difficulties, and Perceval remained on
as a leading member of his administration. When a year
later Pitt died, and GrenviEe replaced him, Perceval took
over the lead of the Opposition in the House of Commons.

He had a poor opinion of the ministry of All the Talents,
and said that " a more incompetent government for the
detail of business was hardly ever seen."* A strong party
man, in his view little that the Whigs did was ever right.

About this time Perceval was unfortunate enough
to incur the enmity of the Prince of Wales, the friend of
Fox and the Whigs, firstly as regards the guardianship of
Miss Seymour, in which Mrs. Fitzherbert was involved, and
secondly with reference to the conduct of the Princess.

* Walpole, "Perceval," i. 195.

172 PERCEVAL

In both cases Perceval was engaged on the side opposed
to the Prince, and this was not likely to benefit his prospects
should a Regency occur.

In October 1806 Fox died, and Grrenville then en-
deavoured to iuduce Perceval to enter his government.
Perceval, however, would not hear of the suggestion. A few
months later the Catholic relief question came again to the
fore. Grenville supported it, while Perceval opposed it vehe-
mently . His speech against the proposal did much to defeat
the ministry, and shortly afterwards GrenvUle resigned.

The Tories now resumed office under the nominal
leadership of the old Duke of Portland, who was nearly
seventy years of age and had been Prime Minister twenty-
four years earlier. On March 18 Grenville writes to
Buckingham from Downing Street : " The general opinion is
that the Duke of Portland is to come here, with Perceval,
who in that case will of coiorse be the real minister."*
Perceval was one of the most promitient and industrious
of the younger men, and he was made Chancellor of the
Exchequer, with the lead of the House of Commons. At
first his appointment raised some difficulties. The salary
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was then only £1,300
a year with a house. Perceval in 1804, when Attorney-
General, had made over £9,000. Without any capital and
with a large family dependent on him, he felt that he could
not afford to bear such a loss, and he rather demurred to
accepting the post. An arrangement was accordingly
come to, though with some opposition, by which he was
also appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster during
pleasure. This gave him the financial security that he
needed.

In order to get some country air, he bought a house near
Ealing, at present the public library, to which he used to
ride out from Downing Street after transacting his official
business. Much of his work was new to Mm and he
found it heavy, for the ministry was not strong, although
it comprised many notable men. Seven future Prime
Ministers were in it: Perceval, Liverpool, Canning,
* Buckingham, iv. 14A.

G. H. Joseph pinx.

SPENCER PERCEVAL

To face page 17

PRIME MINISTER 173

Robinson, Wellesley, Peel" and Palmerston. But it liad
no real chief and its machinery was disunited.

In 1808 the delicate question of the Duke of York and
Mrs. Clarke's sale of commissions came before Parliament.
Perceval took a moderate line about this and treated it
with great tact. Sir Arthur Wellesley, the future Diike of
Wellington, said that he had never heard a better speech.
Perceval also carried through the measures of blockade
against the Emperor Napoleon which were known as the
Orders in Council. In his budgets he showed considerable
financial capacity, and he was generally regarded as the
principal pillar of the government. The Duke of Portland
was failing in health, and exercised little control in
the Cabinet. Perceval and Canning, who was Foreign
Secretary, had both an eye on the succession, and they
had some correspondence on the subject, which did not
much help matters forward. In the meantime a long
quarrel between Canning and Castlereagh culminated in
a duel, and largely as a result of this Portland notified
the King of his resignation, Canning and Castlereagh taking
the same course. On September 23 Perceval wrote from
Windsor to Lord GrenvHle:

" My Lord,

" The Duke of Portland having signified to His
Majesty his intention of retiring from His Majesty's service,
in consequence of the state of his Grace's health. His
Majesty has authorized Lord Liverpool, in conjunction with
myself, to communicate with your lordship and Lord Grey,
for the purpose of forming an extended and combined
administration.

" I hope therefore that your lordship, in consequence of
this conununication, wiU come to town, in order that as
little time as possible may be lost in forwarding this
important object; and that you will have the goodness to
inform me of your arrival.

" I am also to inform your lordship that I have received
His Majesty's commands to make a similar conamunication
to Lord Grey of his Majesty's pleasure.

174 PERCEVAL

" I think it proper to add, for your lordship's informa-
tion, that Lord Castlereagh and Mr. Secretary Canning
have iatimated their intentions to resign their oflB.ces.

" I have, etc.,

" S. Perceval."*

Some negotiations followed with Lords Grey and
Grenville, but they led to nothing, and on October 4 the
King appoiated Perceval Prime Minister.

The new Cabiaet was soon formed, and Perceval seized
the reins with a firm hand. Early ia 1810 he had the
opportunity of taking for himself one of the rich teUerships
of the Exchequer, a life office. This, though he was a poor
man, he declined to do, following Pitt's example. The
session passed off with success, but at the end of the year
the illness of the King made a Regency Bill necessary.
This was a complicated and difficult measiire to pilot
through Parliament, for the Prince of Wales wanted more
power than the government would give him. Throughout
the debates Perceval conducted himself with striking
courage and independence, though he had all the Prince of
Wales's friends and most of the Royal Family against him.
Eventually the ministers carried their point, and when the
Prince of Wales became Regent, perhaps conscious of the
feeling in the country, he continued the same government
in office.

By the beginning of 1812 Perceval's position was well
assured. He was recognized as an able man and a
resolute leader, and much was expected of him. But his
days were finished. On May 11, as he was entering the
lobby of the House of Commons, a madman named
Bellingham, a bankrupt who had recently left prison,
stepped forward and shot him dead. This calamity caused
an intense sensation and wide regret in the country, for
Perceval was only in his fiftieth year, and was a respected
and popular figure. In the speeches that were made in his
praise both friends and foes joined. He was buried at
Charlton, and Parliament voted him a public monument,
* Buckingham, iv. 375.

HIS CHAEACTER 175

a grant of £60,000 to his family, and an annuity of £2,000
to his wife and eldest son. He left numerous children
and has many descendants now living.

Of personal advantages Perceval had few. He was thin,
pale and singularly short in stature. " Little P." Lord
Eldon used to call him. This lack of attractions he could
not supplement much by social arts or hospitality, for he
was always dependent on his industry for his livelihood, and
had not much time nor money for other objects. As a
speaker, though no orator, he was an acute, go'od-
tempered debater, watchful of every fair advantage against
his opponents. Even his critics used to allow that single-
handed " he had beaten all the Talents."

As to his character, all his contemporaries are agreed.
He was calm, sincere, affectionate, iatensely religious and of
a severe and upright morality. " His private virtues were,
in fact, so great that his satirists used them as the basis
of their attacks upon his public conduct " — e.g., " I say I
fear that he will ruin Ireland and pursue a line of policy
destructive to the true interest of his country; and then
you tell me that he is faithful to Mrs. Perceval and kind to
the Master Percevals."* But as regards his political
qualifications there is more dispute. Napier calls him
narrow, factious and illiberal, and Green takes much the
same view. He was always bitterly opposed to Catholic
emancipation and to parliamentary reform, a constant
advocate of the French War, a strong Tory, and in principle
at any rate a firm supporter of the prerogative. With
" nimbleness of mind and industry of application," he was
yet " the slave of violent prejudices."!

Perceval was a man of limited views and of dogged
tenacity, but an honest and able minister, whose private
virtues strengthened and confirmed his conservatism.
He had no time to pass any great measures, for his career
was cut short before he had established a claim to real
success or failure. Indeed, it may well be that his
martjrrdom was the salvation of his poUtical reputation.
But he governed the country with firm and clean hands,

* Walpole, " Perceval," ii. 313. t Brougham, i. 248, 253.

176 GODERICH

and had sufficient confidence and reliance in himself to be
unaffected by the taunts of genius, the threats of princes
or the allurements of riches.

III.— GODERICH

The Hon. Frederick John Robinson, afterwards Viscount
Goderich and Earl of Ripon, was born on November 1,
1782, the second son of Thomas, second Lord Grantham,
by Lady Mary Jemima Yorke, daughter of Philip, second
Earl of Hardwicke. The Robinsons were a Yorkshire
family who had represented the city of York in Parliament
for several generations. They were settled at Newby and
were of considerable wealth, while the Hardwicke alliance
eventually brought them the estates of the ancient line of
de Grey. The first Lord Grantham had been that Sir
Thomas Robrason who had acted as Secretary of State
under Newcastle, and had incujred the irony and ridicule
of the elder Pitt. A painstaking and conscientious official,
he had been rewarded with a peerage. The second lord
had served as ambassador in Spain and as Secretary of State
under Shelburne, but died in 1786. A brother-in-law of
Malmesbury and a friend of all the leading politicians of
the day, his offspring were likely to do well. Indeed,
he reckoned Cromwell among his ancestors.

His son Frederick was educated first at Harrow, with
Aberdeen and Palmerston, and then at St. John's College,
Cambridge, where he won the Browne medal for Latin
verse. For two years he acted as private secretary to his
cousin, Lord Hardwicke, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland,
and in 1806 he was elected member for Carlow and next
year for Ripon. He joined the Tory party, and being well
connected, pleasant and popular in society and in the
House of Commons, in 1809 he was made Under-Secretary
for the Colonies, and then a Junior Lord of the Admiralty.
Two years later he was sworn a privy councillor and became
Paymaster-General. He accompanied Castlereagh abroad
in 1813, and remained with him during the negotiations for
peace. At this time he was considered a handy man of

HIS MERITS 177

business, and was credited with possessing " the smartness
and classical recollection " of Canning.

Hazlitt says of him: " I am not going to claim for this
gentleman the honours due only to first-rate talents, but I
am sure that there are several persons who are admired in
the Commons as master-builders in state-science, and whose
voices guide whole flocks, who, however, at the same time,
have not half the knowledge, half the good sense, or half
the taste of Mr. Robinson. He is the most promising and
the least assuming of all the young aspirants: he scarcely
ever puts himself forward, but whenever he speaks in
confirmation of the arguments or the statement of his
superior oflS.cers, it is impossible not to feel some surprise
that one who ought to be in the principal ranks should still
be confined to the second. His narration and his reasoning
are remarkable for perspicuity and point, and if, now and
then, it falls to his lot to declaim, on any of the more im-
portant topics which occupy the attention of Parliament,
he never fails to interest the House by an unaffected anima-
tion of style, which seeks no aids from fustian or coxcomical
antithesis. Indeed, his distinguishing feature is a well-
instructed good sense, by which on all occasions he is able
to accommodate his tone and diction to the importance of
his subject with the most pleasing nicety of proportion.
Unlike the rest of the young men, who always assume the
most dignified and the most solemn tones, even when they
bring up a report of a committee, Mr. Robinson seems to
have no taste for mock-pomp. On a common subject
his tone is conversational, though never flippant: on a
great subject he can rise to the proper height without
laborious straining."*

In 1814 he married Lady Sarah Hobart, daughter of the
f oiirth Earl of Buckinghamshire, and settled into the routine
of minor office. He possessed capabilities, though he was
not particularly active in developing them. In society he
was a sort of genial butt. He had, says Croker, " an absent
enthusiastic way of telling stories which were often very-
much mal a propos." There was an old tale of Lord North
* Hazlitt, " Pari. Portraits," 177-178.

178 GODEEICH

being asked by a neighbour at dinner, "Who is that frightful
woman opposite ? " " Oh," said North, " that is my wife."
" No," said the other, " I meant the monster next her."
" That," said North, " is my daughter, and I may tell you,
sir, that we are considered to be three of the ugliest
people in London." This ancient joke Robinson retailed
many years later to the lady next him at a party. He re-
marked that it was not received with as much relish as he
had recounted it, and he then recollected that he was talking
to the monster in question.*

He had acquired some slight reputation for a knowledge of
political economy, and in 1815 he introduced a Protection
bUl restricting the importation of foreign corn. In
consequence of this his house in Old Burlington Street was
broken iuto by the mob and his pictures and furniture much
damaged. Liverpool, however, thought well of him, and'
in 1818 made him President of the Board of Trade
and admitted him to the Cabinet. His colleagues were
astonished, for he was still considered an unknown quantity.
" Why Fred Robinson is in the Cabinet I don't know," said
Legge, " nor do I recollect to whom he is supposed more
particularly to belong, "f His vague, nervous and busy
manners were a subject of ridicule, and he was called the
Duke of Bordotradovitch, the Duke of Fuss and Bustle
and so on. But although he seemed to do little beyond
occasionally answering a question on trade, the name of
a sound financier stuck to him.

On the reconstruction of the ministry at the beguming
of 1823 Robinson, who had now attached himself to
Canning, was promoted to be Chancellor of the Exchequer.
This, according to Lord Colchester, nobody thought would
answer. But for the next four years he remained at the
Treasury, where he used to be so sanguine about his
budgets that he was nicknamed " Prosperity Robinson."
With the help of his able colleague Herries, he introduced
several measures of fiscal reform, for " he had the faculty of
using the brains of his subordinates. "{ Croker writes of
him: " Robinson must work and some are even of opinion
* Croker, i. 330. t Colchester, iii. 38. t Wolf, i. 18.

r, Lawrence pinx.

FKEDERICK ROBINSON

VISCOUNT GODEEICH

AFTEKWARDS EARL OF RIPON

7^0 face page 178

PEIME MINISTER 179

that he would with a little practice become an excellent and
powerful debater . . . but I doubt his making the effort."*
Yet Liverpool still believed in him, for in response to
Robinson's application to go to the Upper House so as to
have less work and help him in the debates there, he writes
in December 1826: " Your voluntarily quitting the office
of Chancellor of the Exchequer at the present moment
would infallibly bring on the crisis which must lead to the
dissolution of the government, "f

Lord Grantham, Robinson's elder brother, had now
become heir to the earldom of de Grey and its large estates.
He had no sons, and Robinson was next in the succession.
This alteration in his prospects did him no harm.

On Canning's accession to the head of affairs in 1827
Robinson was made Secretary for War and the Colonies,
and at the same time was raised to the peerage. Perhaps
a subconscious admiration for wealth and virtue made him
choose the appropriate title of Viscount Goderich. At
the same time he assumed the lead in the House of Lords,
though not with any striking success. Four months later
Canning died. It was generally expected that the Duke
of Wellington would become Prime Minister, but the King,
ready to get a pUant servant, sent for Goderich, as a leading
Canningite, and commissioned him to form a government.
Goderich succeeded in retaining most of the Cabinet and
in inducing the Duke of Wellington again to accept the
command of the army. But in a short time difficulties and
discontents of every kind began to divide the ministry.
Goderich had not sufficient weight or activity to hold it
together, and neither Whigs nor Tories would defer to him.
He was hardly a Prime Minister at all, and he used to say
himself: " On the contrary, quite the reverse." In that
capacity he never met Parliament, for early in 1828, after
some disputes between Huskisson and Herries, two of his
principal supporters, he decided to resign, alleging among
other reasons the state of his wife's health.

The Duke of Wellington replaced him, but did not include
him in the ministry. In 1830, however, on Lord Grey's
* Croker, i. 230. f Yonge, iii. 441.

180 GODBKICH

coming into power Goderich agreed to join tlie Whig
Cabinet, and took his old place at the War Office. Two
years later, to accommodate a transfer of places, he was
made Lord Privy Seal, created Earl of Ripon, and given
the Garter. Greville's account of this comprehensive and
remarkable promotion is as follows: "I have heard to-
night the Goderich version of his late translation. He
had agreed to remain in the Cabinet without an office, but
Lord Grey insisted on his taking the Privy Seal, and
threatened to resign if he did not; he was at last bullied into
acquiescence, and when he had his audience of the King
his Majesty offered him anything he had to give. He said
he had made the sacrifice to please and serve him, and
would take nothing. An earldom — he refused; the Bath —
ditto ; the Garter — that he said he would take. It was then
discovered that he was not of rank sufficient, when he said
he would take the earldom in order to qualify himself for
the Garter, and so it stands."*

Croker was very much annoyed at this transaction, as he
considered that a Canningite should never have joined Grey.
In 1834, however. Lord Ripon, as he was now styled, left
the government on the Irish Church question, and remained
out of office until 1841. He then became President of the
Board of Trade in Peel's administration and soon after-
wards was made President of the India Board. Here he
remained until 1846 when Peel's government resigned.
He did not hold office again and died in 1859 at the age
of seventy-six. His son, a distinguished statesman who
served for many years under Mr. Gladstone, was created
a marquess in 1871, but the title is now without an heir.

Lord Ripon was a pleasant-looking man, with fat, rather
undefined features and a bright complexion. Mr. Wolf
calls him " of an unmasculine spirit, shallow and smug. . . .
With all Sidmouth's mediocrity and appetite for place, he
had none of his courage and consistency."! Gladstone,
who was his Vice-President at the Board of Trade from
1841-1843, had but a poor opinion of his talents. " In a
very short time," he says, " I came to form a low estimate
* areviUe, ii. 367; Wolf, i. 17. f Wolf, i. 5, 14, 18.

HIS CHAEACTEE 181

of the knowledge and information of Lord Eipon."* And
this was despite Peel's description of him as " a perfect
master " of the subjects of commerce.f His speeches were
shallow and diffuse, though occasionally humorous. In the
Cabinet his indeterminate views carried little weight, and
there is no doubt that he was regarded by many as having
changed his colours rather too often. "His political
convictions," in the words of Lord Crewe, "were limited
to those announced by the diverse governments of which
he was a member."J

A singularly ineffective Prime Minister, Eipon lacked
all the qualities of leadership. Disraeli called him " a
transient and embarrassed phantom. "§ Amiable and dis-
tracted, he was never strong enough for the places he filled,
and his want of character made his political vagaries seem
those of a trimmer. Yet from a material point of view
he cannot be reckoned unsuccessful. The younger son of
a recently ennobled race, of limited means and intelligence,
less application and no particular policy, he was for thirty
years in ofl&ce and for twenty a member of the Cabinet.
He achieved an earldom and a Garter, and rose to be Prime
Minister of England. His name has thus the permanent
honour of being included in the roll of those distinguished
statesmen who preceded and followed him. Among other
good fortunes, he has never fallen into the hands of a
biographer.

* Morley, " aiadstone," i. 250. t ^^A., i. 240.

% Times, November 22, 1921. § Buckle, ii. 282.

CHAPTER IX
THE HIGH TOBIES

LIVERPOOL AND WELLINGTON

By the beginning of the nineteentli century the predilections
of King George III. and the genius of Mr. Pitt had firmly
consolidated the Tory machine. At the latter's death
there was a momentary break, and the Whigs put up the
best men that they could muster — Grenville's ministry of
All the Talents. But it had the Crown and the country
against it, it gathered no laurels, and it disappeared in
disaster after the lapse of a twelvemonth. The reins of
power were then again seized by the stronger party, and
were passed on from hand to hand by a series of half a
dozen Tory ministers who directed the afiairs of the country
with sufficient success for the next twenty years. They
were, it is true, not a little aided by the fact that England
was for nearly half that time engaged in a colossal war
against a world despot, and that after his final defeat
internal conditions at home seemed to call for a firm control.
Opposed to them they had only the remnants of a dispirited
and divided party, without a policy or a leader. Their
task, therefore, was not too difiicult. Few of them rose
above a level of mediocrity, but the war was brought to a
victorious conclusion and the business of State was con-
ducted with some degree of progress. These results were
due lin the main to the common sense and sound ruling of
two men — one a civilian, the other a soldier. They
realized that the body politic needed a rest, and they were
content to pursue the golden mean, to advance at the pace
of the slowest arm and to avoid adventures either at home
or abroad.

182

T. Laivrenee pinx.

/. Young sc.

EOBBBT JENKINSON

2nd EAEL of LIVERPOOL

To face page 182

EARLY LIFE 183

I.— LIVERPOOL

Robert Bankes Jenkinson, later styled Lord Hawkesbury
and afterwards second Earl of Liverpool, was born on
June 7, 1770, the elder son of Charles Jenkinson and of
his wife Amelia, daughter of William Watts, sometime
Governor of Bengal. The Jenkinsons were a respectable
family of baronets dating from the Restoration. They
had been settled in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire since
the days of Queen Elizabeth, and had often represented the
former county in Parliament. Their sympathies, like those
of most of the country gentlemen in the eighteenth century,
were on the Tory side.

Charles Jenkinson, a younger son, was born in the reign
of George I. A political writer of some merit he had been
secretary to Lord Bute, and after the latter's resignation
had become an active leader of the party known as the
Kin g's Friends.' Appointed a Lord of the Admiralty under
Grafton and Secretary at War under North, he joined
Pitt's government as President of the Board of Trade,
and held that post for many years. He was a man of
considerable ability, though very unpopular, and was
principally responsible for passing the commercial treaty
with the United States. His sister was married to Mr.
Speaker Cornwall, and he was closely connected with the
coterie that surrounded Pitt. In 1786 he was raised to the
peerage as Lord Hawkesbury, and three years later he suc-
ceeded to his cousin's baronetcy.

Robert Jenkinson had thus a good political ancestry.
He had lost his mother at his birth, and was brought up by
his father at Addiscombe Park, near Croydon. At fourteen
he went to Charterhouse, and thence on to Christ Church,
Oxford. His father watched his school and university
career with attention, and Jenkinson seems to have
profited from his advice. Livy, which he called " a
lounging book,"* and Plato were his classical favourites,
but politics were even then his chief interest. He was

* Yonge, i. 9.

13

184 LIVEEPOOL

studious and had not many intimates, his principal friends
being Grranville Leveson-Gower, afterwards Lord Gran-
ville, and George Canning.

In 1789 he went abroad, and spent three important years
in travelling through France, Germany, the Netherlands
and Italy, where he learnt much of the politics and some-
thing of the language of those countries. During this time
he was elected to Parliament as member for Appleby, a
seat which he subsequently exchanged for Rye. Like Pitt,
he thus came into Parliament under the auspices of the
Lowthers and for the same borough. His maiden speech
was on the Russian armament question, and it left a
remarkable impression. Pitt described it as " not only a
more able first speech than had ever been heard from a
young member, but one so full of philosophy and science,
strong and perspicuous language, and sound and con-
vincing arguments, that it would have done credit to the
most practised debater and the most experienced statesman
that ever existed."* This was high praise even from a
Prime Minister about the son of his colleague.

In 1792 Jenkinson was again on the Continent, and his
letters show the industry and discrimination with which he
informed himself on foreign questions. At the end of
that year he spoke against parliamentary reform and in
general support of the anti-revolutionary measures of Pitt.
Shortly afterwards he was given a seat at the India
Board.

The French War had now begun, and all good Tories
turned to arms. Jenkinson became colonel of the Cinque
Ports Fencible Cavalry, a regiment of yeomanry, and for
several years he did not attend much in Parliament, being
detained by his garrison duties in Scotland and elsewhere.
This exile he did not always appreciate. He writes from
Dumfries: " The style of living here is rather gross though
very hospitable. The servants are few and very dirty;
but there is a great quantity of meat put upon the table,
and after dinner the bottle passes rather quicker than I
like."t

* Jennings, 204. f Yonge, i. 35.

SBCRETAEY OF STATE 185

In 1795 he married Lady Louisa Hervey, daughter of
Frederick, fourth Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry,
and sister of Lady Elizabeth Foster, afterwards Duchess
of Devonshire. This alliance materially benefited his
position.

In 1796 Jenkinson and his father were strongly opposed
to Pitt's policy of admitting American ships to the West
Indian islands, and there was some talk of their resigning.
They remained on, however, and as an additional hallmark
on their loyalty an earldom was given to the father and the
well-paid ojB&ce of Master of the Mint (£3,000 a year) to the
son. Lord Hawkesbury, as he was henceforward known,
had by his travels and speeches acquired the reputation of
being an authority upon foreign afiairs; and though during
the next few years he was not often heard in the House of
Commons, this knowledge was to stand him in good stead.
When Pitt resigned in 1801 he pressed his friends to remain
on in the government, and in the transfer of offices which
ensued on the formation of Addington's Cabinet Hawkes-
bury was made Foreign Secretary in succession to Gren-
ville. He was only thirty years of age, and though he had
been some time in a minor office, such promotion was an
exceptional compliment.

His first business was the conclusion of peace with
France, a thorny and devious task in which he acquitted
himself with credit. In 1803, at Addington's wish, though
not apparently at his own, he was called up to the House
of Lords in his father's barony, and on Pitt returning to
power the next year he exchanged the Foreign for the
Home Office, with the lead in the Upper House. This
rapid advance, however well merited, was the cause of some
jealousy, and there was a certain coolness with his friend
Canning, but the misunderstanding was settled amicably.
Shortly afterwards Hawkesbury was the means of bringing
together Pitt and Addington, who had latterly been
estranged. His conduct on this occasion showed much
sense and tact, and increased the regard he already enjoyed
in the Cabinet. The King acknowledged his good offices
with gratitude.

186 LIVERPOOL

" Windsor Castle,

" December 24, 1804.

" The King has the greatest satisfaction in expressing to
the Lord Hawkesbury his thorough approbation of the
judiciousness and fairness of his conduct in the arduous task
of bringing Messrs. Pitt and Addington together, who both
are certainly attached to His Majesty, and that will be the
real bond of their union and will rekindle in their breasts the
friendship which has from a very early age consolidated
them, and which false friends and backbiters had for a time
apparently destroyed, but there is good reason to believe
had not really effected. The King is most desirous to
know how the meeting ended yesterday and whether Lord
Hawkesbury augurs well from his first interview.

" George R."*

Hawkesbury, like his recent predecessors, Addington
and Pitt, and like the earlier Tory ministers, Bute and
North, was personally not unacceptable to George III.,
and to this fact some, at any rate, of his political success was
undoubtedly due.

In 1806 Pitt died. The King pressed Hawkesbury to
take the premiership, but he refused, for he knew himself
unable as yet to keep a strong government together. He
accepted, however, the place of Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports before going into opposition. On Fox's death later
in the year, Lord Grenville was generally credited with the
intention of dissolving Parliament, a move which it was
thought would benefit his party. On hearing of this
Hawkesbury, it is said, although he was not in office,
wrote direct to the King and urged him not to consent.
When the Whig ministry was shortly afterwards dismissed,
the King again desired Hawkesbury to become Prime
Minister, but the Tory party had settled that the Duke of
Portland should be their nominal leader, and Hawkesbury
accordingly returned to his old place as Home Secretary.
A year later, in 1808, he succeeded his father as Earl of
Liverpool, and then moved to Fife House, Whitehall.
* Yonge, i. 176.

PEIME MINISTER 187

In 1809, on Portland's resignation, there was again a
chance of his assuming the lead of the government, but
this time it was given to Perceval. Liverpool took over
the Secretaryship of War and the Colonies, at that moment
perhaps the most important place in the Cabinet. He was
thus the responsible minister during the Peninsular
campaigns of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he was
in close and constant correspondence. There is little doubt
that his knowledge, his understanding and his application
to business rendered real service to the country throughout
the next few years. The experience which he had gained
in the different departments of State had by now so in-
creased his reputation that when in May 1812 Perceval
was assassinated, both the Regent and the Cabinet came
to the conclusion that Liverpool alone could carry on the
government. He was accordingly appointed First Lord of
the Treasury, being then just forty- two years of age.

The ministers were almost at once beaten on a vote of
want of confidence. They offered their resignation, and
the Regent made two attempts to form an administration
with Lords Wellesley and Moira. Neither succeeded, and
by Jime Liverpool was definitely Prime Minister, an office
which he was to hold for fifteen years. Shortly afterwards
the House of Commons affirmed their support of his
Cabinet by a large majority. Indeed, it was difficult to
question his fitness for his new post, though he was still
little known outside England. It was about this time that
Madame de Stael asked him, " What had become of that
very stupid man, Mr. Jenkinson?"* Writing to the Duke
of Wellington two days after his appointment, he says :

" With respect to myself I feel placed in a most arduous
and difficult situation from which I should have been most
happy on many accounts to have been relieved; but could
not under the circumstances have shrunk from it with
honour, and I owe it now to the Prince to use my best
endeavours for carrying on his government." f

Liverpool now strove in a long series of letters to bring
Canning back into ofl&ce, but Canning remained impractic-
* Earle, ii. 1-36. t Yonge, i. 399.

188 LIVERPOOL

able, and would not admit Castlereagh's right to lead in the
Commons. A new minister, however, was appointed Chief
Secretary for Ireland. This was Peel, and a letter of
Liverpool's shows the early presage he had formed of his
talents. Writing to the Duke of Richmond, then Lord-
Lieutenant, he says: " He has a particularly good temper
and great franliness and openness of maimers, which I
know are particularly desirable on your side of the water."*

Although the ministry had made an unpromising start,
it soon became exceptionally powerful and permanent.
After terminating successfully the greatest war that England
had ever waged, it devoted itself to dealing with the
difficulties that ensued at home. In the multifarious work
of government Liverpool showed his knowledge and ability.
His despatches are all lucid and definite, and he appears
to have informed himself in detail on nearly every subject
before him. He spoke continually in Parliament, where
he was distinguished by his moderation of temper and his
fairness to his adversaries.

There were many questions to take in hand. The position
of the Princess of Wales, the Orders in Council, the Con-
gress of Vienna, Napoleon's escape from Elba and the
abolition of the slave trade successively occupied his
attention. By 1816 conditions in the United Kingdom
had become serious. The distress arising from heavy
taxation, imemployment and the depression of trade called
for speedy remedies and a far-sighted policy. Finance and
Ireland were continual troubles and throughout Europe
democracy was rising to view. Liverpool had at last
succeeded in inducing Canning to join the government as
President of the Board of Control, and the latter's reputa-
tion for liberal views gave the ministers an accession of
popularity. This was needed owing to the strong measures
which they were soon obUged to take at home. In 1817,
during the disorders and riots which occurred all over the
country, Liverpool did not hesitate to act rapidly and
firmly. He insisted on the peace being kept, called out the
troops and suspended the Habeas Corpus Act. Later on
* Yonge, i. 425, 426. •

HIS ADMINISTEATION 189

tlie Mancliester riots were met by the Six Acts, though
the ministers acquired thereby the name of reactionaries.
Liverpool's good relations with GrenvUle and other
Opposition leaders enabled him, however, to get a fairly
general support for his measures. In another direction,
the resumption of cash payments, a financial policy was
followed, at Peel's advice, which was no less decided and
perhaps more beneficial.

In 1820 George III. died, and the new reign began with
Queen Caroline's trial. It damaged the government
considerably. Canning had resigned, but two years later
he was appointed to the Foreign Office in the place of
Castlereagh. This important post gave him a strong
position, and he soon began to take a more prominent place
in the Cabinet.

In 1821 Liverpool had lost his wife, and a year later
he had married Mary, daughter of Charles Chester and niece
of Lord Bagot. His health was failing, largely from the
effects of overwork, for he had been the active spirit and
presiding genius of the government in its foreign and
domestic policy ever since its formation. Now, however,
he allowed himself to be influenced by the Canniagite section
and remitted some of his supervision of the conduct of
business. The remaining years of his ministry were com-
paratively quiet. He was interested in Catholic relief and
in modifying the Corn Laws; and showed a real wish for
progress, relying largely on Canning's advice and help ; but
latterly jealousies arose in the Cabinet which worried him
not a little, and it was said that Canning's intrigues hastened
his Ulness. Throughout the year 1826 he had been ailing,
and in February 1827 he had a serious attack of apoplexy,
followed by dropsy. Two months later he resigned, and
then remained in a state of paralysis until his death on
December 4, 1828. He left no issue, and was succeeded in
the title by his half-brother.

As a young man Liverpool was distinctly handsome,
tall, slender and graceful, with an engaging air. In later
life the cares of ofiice stamped their marks upon his face,
but though his expression had hardened, his broad brow and

190 LIVERPOOL

thoughtful gaze showed his calm and even character. He
was a thoroughly sensible, well-informed man. Backward
on some points such as Catholic emancipation, forward
on others like Free Trade, he was always logical and fair.
In literature and art he took considerable interest, and his
knowledge of history was wide. He was a firm believer in a
fixed and permanent government (like his own). Writing
to Croker in 1824, he says:

" The works of Burke . . . contain the whole strength
and secret of the Whig cause. ... I look to him as
one of the great oracles of my cormtry. . . .

" The real cause of the continued agitated state of men's
miads for the first few years of the late King's reign was
that the Government was changed almost every year, and
perpetual changes had the effect naturally of destroying all
confidence. No one knew on what he had to rely. This
continued till Lord North came to the head of Government.
Lord North, though a man of very considerable talents,
was by no means qualified for the situation, and never
wished to have been ia it; yet he had a very strong Govern-
ment when the American War began in 1 774, and it continued
so for several years.

" It is a curious historical fact that Queen Elizabeth,
who bears the character of a capricious woman, was the
most steady Sovereign in her politics that ever filled a
throne; she knew when she was well served, and kept the
same Minister for more than forty years."*

A recent critic, Mr. Alington, says of Liverpool's
administration: "The period is one of typical Tory
government; uninspired by large ideas, but fruitful in
useful reform — the eminently characteristic reward of a
Prime Minister at once so useful and so uninspiring as Lord
Liverpool."t " A Lord Liverpool," Bagehot remarks, " is
better in everyday politics than a Chatham."!

But although Liverpool was no genius, he was equally
far from being a dullard, and the name of the " arch-
mediocrity " which has so often been applied to him imputes
an inefficiency which he was far from displaying.

* Croker, i. 270. f Alington, 87. J Bagehot, " The Cabinet. "

HIS CHARACTEE 191

Of his private life little is known. His friends were few,
for he was a nervous and retiring man. To George III. lie
was sympathetic, but the Prince Regent never hked him,
though he had to recognize his value. Brougham says that
" No minister ever passed his time with so little ill-wUl
directed towards himself, had so much forbearance shown
him upon aU occasions, very few enjoyed so large a share
of personal esteem."* A firm but quiet man, well equipped,
industrious, calm and cautious, he was neither a pusher
nor yet a sluggard, but was content to take things as they
came without striving to anticipate them. Through some
of the most eventful and difficult years in the history of
England he was thought the fittest man to direct her
fortunes. He attempted no brilliant feats himself, but
he chose his subordinates with discrimination and skUl,
and was able to turn the talents of a Wellington, a Canning
or a Peel, in the right direction and to the best advantage,

" Moderation and judgment," says Lord Morley, " are
for most purposes more than the flash and the glitter even
of the genius."! Liverpool was essentially a man of these
qualities, and by their exercise he successfully maintained
the balance of the State through a long and hazardous
epoch and gave it time to recover its equipoise.

II.— WELLINGTON

The Hon. Arthur WeUesley, afterwards first Duke of
Wellington, was born in Dublin on April 29, 1769 — though
some authorities say at Dangan Castle on May l.t He
was the fourth son of Garret, first Earl of Mornington, by
Anne Hill, daughter of Arthur, first Viscount Dimgannon.
His grandfather, Richard CoUey, came of a family which
had been settled at Castle Carbery, in county Kildare, since
the days of the Tudors. Several of them had sat in
Parliament, but otherwise they had attained no special
distinction. In 1728 Richard CoUey succeeded to the
estates of his connections, the Wesleys or Wellesleys, and

* Jennings, 204. f Morley, " Study of Literature."

X Mr. Gibbs says on board ship between Holyhead and Kingstown.

192 WELLINGTON

then adopted that name. Eighteen years later he was
raised to the Irish peerage, and in 1760 has son was advanced
to an earldom. The latter, though little known as a
politician, was an agreeable and hospitable man who was
much devoted to music. He died in 1781, at the age of
forty-five, leaving a family of six sons, three of whom
attained high distinction in the public service.

In the year of his father's death Arthur Wellesley was
sent to Eton with his younger brother Gerald . He remained
there until 1784, and then went to on Angers in France,
where there was an excellent military college. Just before
he was eighteen he received his first commission in the
73rd Regiment, being promoted lieutenant shortly after-
wards. In 1790 he was elected member of the Irish
Parliament for Trim, a pocket borough under the control
of his eldest brother, and was appointed an aide-de-camp
to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. A year later he got his
company, and in 1793 he became successively major and
lieutenant-colonel of the 33rd Foot — so rapid could pro-
motion be under the old system of exchange and purchase.
" The great Duke himself," says Thackeray, " was a dandy
once, and j obbed on, as Marlborough did before him."* His
political work was unimportant. He occasionally spoke,
but not with much efiect, and he was principally occupied
with the pleasant duties of the Viceregal Court,

In 1794 the French War began. Wellesley took his
battalion successfully through the Flanders campaign, and
showed courage and capacity as a leader. Three years
later he was sent with them to India, where his brother.
Lord Mornington, had just been made Governor-General.
He now had real opportunities of displaying his military
talents. He rose to the occasion. In a series of campaigns
he brilliantly distinguished himself, and had risen to the
rank of major-general by 1799. Five years later he was
made a Knight of the Bath, after the victory of Assaye.
When he returned to England in 1805 he was a famous
soldier, for it was recognized that, however much influence
might have opened the way, genius alone could have main-
tained such a career.

* Thackeray, " Book of Snobs."

IN THE PENINSULA 193

He next received command of a brigade in Sussex, and
was soon afterwards elected to the British Parliament for the
borough of Eje. Early in 1806 he married Lady Catherine
Pakenham, daughter of Edward, second Lord, and sister
of Thomas, second Earl of Longford. It is said that this
marriage was more determined by his respect for an old
promise than by any very deep attachment.

In the next year, on the Duke of Portland coming into
power, Wellesley was appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland,
though he stipulated that this office should " not impede
nor interfere with his military promotion or pursuits."*
Accordingly, a few months later he was sent on the
Copenhagen expedition, and for his conduct ia this cam-
paign he was on his return publicly thanked in his place
ia the House of Commons.

In 1808 he was promoted lieutenant-general and given
command of the troops to be sent to the Spanish Peninsula.
At first he had difiiculties, for he was hampered by his
instructions and his colleagues, but after a short super-
session he returned to Portugal in 1809 and began a long
and eventually victorious struggle against the marshals of
Napoleon. In that year, having driven Soult out of Oporto
and won the battle of Talavera, he was created Viscount
Wellington. The next year he was compelled to fall back
on the fines of Torres Vedraa. His task was not easy;
he had superior forces against him, and he was much
troubled by lack of confidence both in his own army and
in the ministry at home. But by consummate patience,
courage and strategy, he was able to triumph over these
obstacles and, advancing again in 1812, he stormed Ciudad
Rodrigo, won the battles of Salamanca and Badajoz and
entered Madrid. He had already been promoted general,
and for these services he was now successively raised to
an earldom and a marquessate. During the following year
he succeeded in crushing Joseph Bonaparte at Vittoria and
drove the French across the P)nrenees, receiving for this a
field-marshal's baton and the Garter. In 1814 he invested
Bayonne, defeated Soult at Toulouse and successfully
terminated the war. He was then created Duke of Welling-
* Maxwell, i. 223

194 WELLINGTON

ton and appointed Ambassador in Paris. On his return to
England he received addresses of thanks from both Houses
of Parliament, with the estate of Strathfieldsaye and grants
of money amounting to £500,000.

Wellington was now sent to Vienna to attend the Congress
for the reconstruction of Europe, but Napoleon's escape
from Elba early the next year brought him back to England.
He assumed command of the allied forces, met the Emperor
in Flanders and finally defeated him on the field of Waterloo
on June 18, 1815. This terminated his active military
career, which had been accomplished in eighteen years"
service and by the time he was forty-six. His rise in reputa-
tion, rank and fortune had surpassed that of any military
leader since Marlborough, and his achievements were not
less than his rewards. The remainder of his life was to be
devoted to diplomacy and politics.

After remaining in France until the government of the
Bourbons was re-established, Wellington returned again to
England and joined the Cabinet as Master-General of the
Ordnance. Lord Liverpool, the Prime Minister, was an old
friend, a man of his own age and views, who had been
Secretary for War during his early campaigns in Spain.
Considerable sympathy existed between them, and the
popular Duke's strong Tory and aristocratic leanings
strengthened the administration. In 1820 and 1822 he
attended the Congresses at Vienna and Verona, where his
prestige and experience were of high value. In the latter
year he was somewhat alienated from the government by
the appointment of Canning as Foreign Secretary, for he
distrusted Canning personally and disliked his democratic
ideas. He was in little sympathy with the recognition of
the Spanish- American Republics or the liberation of Greece,
though he did not carry his opposition to the point of
leaving the government. But on Canning becoming Prime
Minister in 1827 Wellington resigned his place in the
Cabinet, as well as the post of Commander-in-Chief to
which he had recently been appointed. Three months
later, however, on Canning's death, he resumed the latter
office under Goderich. At this time the Tories had hoped

PRIME MINISTEE 195

that Wellington would become Premier. They were dis-
appointed, but they had not long to wait. The new
government was already moribund, and when, early in
1828, Goderich was obliged to retire, Wellington reluctantly
agreed to succeed him. It was on this occasion that he
found George IV. in bed at Windsor " dressed in a dirty
silk jacket and a turban nightcap, one as greasy as the
other." The King's first words to him were " Arthur,
the Cabinet is defunct,"* and he then proceeded to mimic
their resignation with the levity they seemed to deserve.

In forming his ministry Wellington took as his Home
Secretary and principal lieutenant Peel, of whom he had the
highest opinion. His government was strong, but the
power of the Whigs was now increasing, and on Peel's advice
Wellington proposed and carried a sweeping measure of
Catholic relief, of which he personally disapproved. In-
deed much of the policy he had to pursue was distasteful
to him, and he disliked the position which he held. He
considered that he was not qualified for it, and that he had
accepted it at the greatest " personal and professional
sacriS.ce," for he had had to give up the command of the
army, which did not again revert to him for fifteen years.

In 1829 he was appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports, and for the remainder of his life he lived as much at
Walmer as at Strathfieldsaye, which was too large and
expensive a place for his means.

His government was not popular. The Canningites had
left it, it consisted almost entirely of the highest Tories and
its views were thoroughly reactionary. Yet it was opposed
by many of the ultra-Protestants, and on account of the
attacks made against him as intending to introduce Popery,
the Duke was compelled to fight his only duel. It was with
Lord Winchilsea, and was a bloodless encounter. When,
on George IV. 's death, the question of parliamentary
reform again came to the fore, the Duke took the oppor-
tunity of asserting that the " legislature and system of
representation deservedly possessed the full and active
confidence of the country."! This finished the ministry.
* Jennings, 248. f " Annual Register," 1830, 154.

196 WELLIJ^GTON

Shortly afterwards a motion was carried against him on
the Civil List, and in November 1830 he resigned, and was
succeeded by Lord Grey.

In the Reform Bill debates Wellington took a prominent
part in opposition, and in the spring of 1831 the windows
of Apsley House were broken by the mob. The Dulfe
then put up the iron shutters which are still to be seen.
At this period he passed through a phase of great odium.
In the Sunday Times of October 16, 1831, it is stated that
" The Duke of Wellington was hung in effigy on Monday
morning in King Street, Seven Dials ; and at the expiration
of an hour was cut down." It was not long, however,
before he recovered his old popularity.

In May 1832 Grey resigned on a defeat in the Lords,
and Wellington was again asked to form a government.
He failed, and Grey returning to office the Reform Bill
was finally passed, Wellington abstaining from voting at
the King's request and advising his friends to do the same.

Two years later, on Lord Melbourne's dismissal, in 1834,
Wellington took over the government pending Sir Robert
Peel's return from Italy. He was gazetted First Lord of
the Treasury and sworn in as Secretary of State, and in
this capacity he transacted by himself nearly all the political
business of the country for three weeks. On Peel's arrival
Wellington became Foreign Secretary, and so remained
until the ministry resigned a few months later.

He had now attained a position never before occupied
by a subject. He had been Commander-in-Chief, Prime
Minister and Foreign Secretary, while he held numerous
other offices, such as Chancellor of Oxford University,
lord-Ueutenant of Hampshire, Master of the Trinity
House, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Ranger of
the Royal Parks. He was the greatest captain of the age,
the victor of Waterloo. His prestige on the Continent
was as high as it was in England, and the mere weight of
his name could almost make or mar a ministry.

In 1831 he had lost his wife with whom he had never got
on particularly well. His health had begun to cause him
trouble, for he suffered from epileptic fits, which were

LATEE LIFE 197

often brought on by abstention from food for as many as
twenty-four hours. But his life was as regular as it was
abstemious, and he devoted himself with the closest atten-
tion to his many duties, of which politics was only one.

In 1837 King William died, and to the yoimg Queen
Victoria, Wellington became a constant and loyal personal
adviser. He invariably subordinated party to national
considerations, and his plain and honest counsel was nearly
always wise. For six years he remaiued in opposition, but
in 1841, on Sir Robert Peel returning to oflS.ce, he rejoined
the Cabinet as leader in the House of Lords, though without
taking the control of any department. The year afterwards
he was reappointed to the command of the army, which had
again become vacant. Through the long Corn Law debates
he firmly supported his leader, in whom he trusted and
whose policy he was always ready to accept. " The Queen's
government," he used to say, " must be supported."* That
was his watchword through life.

In 1846, on Peel's leaving office, Wellington began to
take less part in politics, though he still attended regularly
to his work at the Horse Guards and his other offices.
During the Chartist riots in 1848 Macaulay describes his
consultation with the Cabiuet on the means to be taken for
the protection of London as the " most interesting spectacle
he had ever witnessed."! To the very end his opinion was
continually sought by the Queen, her ministers and the
nation, and when, in 1852, he died suddenly at Walmer,
his death was regarded as a loss to the whole people. He
received a public funeral and was biiried with almost regal
magnificence in St. Paul's Cathedral. His titles took a
page of print. In addition to his English honours, he was
a prince in the Netherlands, a duke in France, Spain and
Portugal, a marshal in seven European countries and a
knight of twenty-four orders of chivalry. He left several
children; the present peer is his grandson.

The Duke of Wellington was of medium height, spare
and erect, with a hawklike nose and bright piercing eyes.
He had a firm resolute step, and his activity and personal
* Jennings, 251. t "Nat. Biog.," k. 201.

198 WELLINGTON

endurance, botli physical and mental, were phenomenal.
In dress he was remarkably neat and particular. He
always rode if he could and hunting was his favourite
amusement. He hardly ever gambled. Books he read a
good deal, his favourite authors being simple and direct
narrators of fact — Caesar, Hume, Clarendon, Gibbon and
Adam Smith. French and Spanish he knew weU, and he
was a firm believer in the need of a general education for
officers. He was extremely courteous and precise, though
his language always retained a flavour of the camp. As he
became very deaf and spoke very loud in later Ufe, his
conversation was occasionally rather disconcerting. The
charms of ladies he appreciated, and Mrs. Arbuthnot and
Lady Shelley were among his most intimate friends. Of
men, his favourite associates in old age were Croker and
Peel.

Wellington's principal characteristics were simplicity and
strength. He was manly, straightforward, public-spirited,
self-reliant and full of nervous energy, with a strong will,
a lively and quick temper and an active, busy mind.
Always looking to the future, he had little sentiment and
hardly any sympathy for weakness.

Of his abilities as a soldier there is no question. He
was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant military leaders
in history. Yet he was a lover of peace. " A great
country," he used to say, " ought not to make little wars."*
" He excelled," says Lord Eoberts, " in that coolness of
judgment which Napoleon described as the foremost quality
of a general."! Of Waterloo he used to say: " I never con-
templated a retreat on Brussels. Had I been forced from
my position I should have retreated to my right, towards
the coast, the shipping and my resources . . . my plan
was to keep my ground till the Prussians appeared and then
to attack the French positions — and I executed my plan." J
Massena he thought the best of the French marshals. " I
always found him," he said, " where I least desired that
he should be."§

As a politician — and he was occupied with politics for
* Gleig,493. t " Nat.Biog.,"lx. 203. J Gleig,429. ^ Ibid., 4:28.

J. LiiUy pinx.

ARTHUR WELLESLEY

DUKE OP WELLINGTON

To face page 198

HIS CHAEACTER 199

two-thirds of his life — Wellington's career was much less
successful. He had neither the wish nor the tempera-
ment to become a party leader He was a poor speaker,
for his articulation was indistinct and his delivery too
vehement. Like Pitt, he was a Tory of the deepest
dye, the " child and champion of aristocracy." His sayings
illustrate his political views. Writing of Italy in 1811, he
says: "Trust nothing to the enthusiasm of the people.
Give them a strong and a just and if possible a good
government, but above all a strong one."* Of Ireland:
" Shew me an Irishman and I'U shew you a man whose
anxious wish it is to see his country independent of Great
Britain."! Of parliamentary reform : "It would rob the
upper classes of the political influence which they derive
from their property and possibly eventually of the property
itself." I Of diplomacy : " I have no time to do what is not
right."§

He was a lucid and pithy writer. His military despatches
were fine examples of strong and sensible English, and he
used to say in later life, " I can't think how the devil I
could have written them." " His Cabinet papers," said
Peel, " were marked by comprehensiveness of view, sim-
plicity and clearness of expression and profound sagacity ."||

Wellington was ambitious, though first of all he wished
to do his duty to his country. " I propose to get into
fortune's way," was one of his early remarks, and his
motto was Virtwtis forturwi comes.^ In all his hopes he
prospered, for " his name," said Palmerston, " was a tower
of strength abroad and his opinions and counsel were
valuable at home. No man ever lived or died in the
possession of more unanimous love, respect and esteem from
his countrymen."**

Apart from his military victories, Wellington's greatest
gift to humanity was the example he set of single-minded
devotion to duty, with no other object in view but the
benefit of mankind and the good government of his country.

* Nat. Biog., Ix. 193. t l^^-> 19*- X I^^-' 198.

§ Jennings, 252. || Parker, ii. 535.

11 Nat. Bios., Ix. 203. ** Ashley, ii. 250 (1879).

14

CHAPTEE X
TOEY EEFOKMEES

CANNING AND PEEL

The early part of tlie reign of George III. had been an anti-
climax of arbitrary government in England. Elizabeth
was a despot, but her rule was even and her ministers
permanent. The Stuarts, unstable and shifty, never took
hold of the nation, and when the House of Hanover suc-
ceeded to the crown they profited by the history of their
predecessors and readily adapted themselves to the new
constitutional system.

The first two Georges, whatever their private faults may
have been, were solid and sober monarchs who trusted to
their Whig advisers and adhered to the principles of the
Revolution. Indeed, they had no option. But with the next
generations fresh methods were inaugurated. George III.
had learnt experience in a hard school, but he had also
learnt the art of ministerial management. By the time
that he had been twenty years on the throne he had
acquired such political power and such an insight into men
that no minister could stand long without him. Largely
by his arts the Tories were firmly established. To North
succeeded Pitt, to Pitt, Addington, Portland and Perceval
— for the intermediate Whig miaistries were so short as to
be inconsiderable. All of these were pledged in the main
to the King's policy and supported by the King's friends,
and even the mighty Pitt himself, born a Whig and imbued
with liberal tendencies, had to go down, when his progressive
pro] ects did not square with the King's views . The Regency
followed with the unimaginative Liverpool. In the eyes
of|the old Whigs and the new Radicals a crisis was ap-

200

GEOEGE III.'S POLICY 201

proaching. Reactionary measures, they said, were carried,
reasonable measures were refused, revolution was withstood
by war, war was waged by press-gangs and taxes . Poverty,
unemployment, coercion and riot ensued. At last the pot
began to boil over, and a choice between rebellion or reform
had to.be made.

For the old King himself the nation had always felt love
and loyalty. He looked blufi, honest and hearty — Farmer
George. His insanity, his family cares, even his political
losses, had endeared him to his people all the more. But
with the seven princes, his sons, the case was different.
They had singularly Uttle to recommend them. Debts,
wine and women were their chief claims to notoriety. All
large, healthy men, not one of them was distinguished for
any national service of eminence or utility, and it is
remarkable that only one has left legitimate descendants in
the male line. Had the Salic law operated in the House
of Hanover, a German duke would to-day be King of
England.

The immediate successors of George III. had to bear
the brunt of his policy. Of these the first and the worst
was George IV. With some abilities and the tradition of
his father behind him, he had the advantage of inheriting
a strong and established government. He got ofi with a
liberal policy abroad and Catholic emancipation at home.
The second to succeed was William IV., a man of re-
markably limited education and intelligence. He came
in at a bad moment and had to meet the full blast of the
Reform Bill. In the circumstances he weathered it fairly
well. The third Sovereign was a young and inexperienced
Queen. Her lot was the repeal of the Corn Laws and the
substitution of Free Trade for the immemorial practice of
Protection.

These four cardinal changes in the whole system of the
policy of Great Britain took place in a period of less than
twenty years and were carried out mainly by the efforts
of four men. Canning, Grey, Peel and Russell. Two of
them were Whigs and two were Tories. The labours of the
first had been intermittent, and he died before they bore

202 CANNING AND PEEL

fruit. Those of the last were to some extent subsidiary,
and their apparent effect was dissipated through a long
and chequered career. But Grey and Peel each accom-
plished in his own lifetime a definite work of historic
importance to Western civilization, and the name of each
is for ever associated with ideas which, though to many
they then spelt disaster, stand now in the minds of all for
freedom.

Since the first formation of the more modern political
parties the Whigs had always been regarded as the pro-
tagonists of the policy of reform and the Tories of that of
restraint. But during the closing years of the eighteenth
century there had been an interchange of thought between
them, and prescription had not remained so unalterably
opposed to progress as hitherto. Like the Whigs, the
Tories also had now got their democratic projects, and
although in point of time the former had planned their
reforms earlier, the latter were to have the first opportimity
of putting their policy into practice. They had a genius
to make the start. Canning, though it was reserved for his
less forward successor, Peel, to accomplish the more
apparent and more material results. These two leaders
had by no means the same aims, and often disapproved of
each other's methods. Both extremely clever men and
both sprung from the middle rank of life, by temperament
and predilections they differed immensely. Yet in the
main their policy tended in the same direction. While the
Whigs turned their chief attention to domestic concerns,
the Tories were usually as much occupied with the external
interests of England. The results achieved by the work of
the latter made an enormous change in the outlook and
position of their party and of their country. To the one
they imparted a new strain of ideas which saved it from
inanition in the next generation; to the other they gave
fresh strength and weight in world politics and world
commerce, which enabled it to support with ease and honour
the approaching democratic movements abroad and the
hardly less radical reforms at home.

EAELY LIFE 203

I.— CANNING

George Canning was born in Dublia on April 11, 1770,
the only son of George Canning, a gentleman of Garvagh,
by Mary Anne, daughter of Jordan Costello. Tlie Cannings
had been settled in county Londonderry for some two
hundred years as small squires. George Canniug the elder,
a barrister with little practice who had written a volume
of poems, had made what his father considered an im-
provident marriage with a penniless Irish beauty, and had
been disinherited of his small property in consequence. He
fell iuto difliculties, and died in 1771, leaving his wife and
only child in poverty. Luckily his younger brother
Stratford Canning, a prosperous merchant and banker in
London, came forward and provided for their support.
Mrs. Canning had gone on the stage, but her son was now
sent to Eton, where he gave early promise of his future
eminence. He was forward, industrious and clever, a good
speaker and writer. He edited a paper called the Micro-
cosm, made many important friends, and rose to be Captain
of the School. In a letter written on September 27, 1786,
he says: " I am now at the top of Eton School. I am the
first of the Oppidants (Commoners you call them). I was
to have been put on the foundation, but I did so much
dislike the idea, and so evidently saw the great difference
of behaviour and respect paid to the one situation in pre-
ference to the other that I prevailed on my uncle (being
aided by the advice of Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan, who gave
their opinions in my favour) to give up the idea."*

He went on to Christ Church, Oxford, where he distin-
guished himself still more, winning inter alia the Chan-
cellor's Latin Verse Prize. He professed the most liberal
principles, and was intimate with Burke, Fox and other
leading Whigs whom he met at his uncle's house. He also
became a fnend of Robert Jenkinson, afterwards Lord
Liverpool, whose span of life almost exactly coincided with
his own. With a brilliant reputation Canning then came
* Eton School Lists, xxxix.

204 CANNING

up to London, and in 1791 was called to the Bar at Lincoln's
Inn and was elected to several clubs.

The French Eevolution was just rising to its height.
Canning, although his salad views had been Whig, took
a strong line against it. His poetry and his writings had
brought him into notice. He was attracted to Mr. Pitt's
policy, and Mr. Pitt wanted clever young men to help him
in Parliament. There was more chance for a man of no
family under the Tories than imder the oligarchical Whigs,
who could not find a place worthy of their merits even for
Burke and Sheridan. Canning was ambitious, talented
and not without push. He joined the party in office, his
change in politics giving rise to the lines:

" The turning of coats so common has grown
That no one thinks now to attack it ;
But never yet has an instance been known
Of a schoolboy turning his jacket."*

A seat in Parliament was ofiered him by Pitt and he
came in for Newport, in the Isle of Wight, when he was
only twenty-three. His first speech was not particularly
successful. It showed that lack of feeling and sincerity
which always hampered his oratorical efforts, but it showed
also that it was made by no ordinary man. His looks,
his talents and his social qualities helped him on. Pitt
took a great fancy to him, and in 1796 gave him the place
of Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office. Lord Grenville,
Pitt's cousin, was then the Secretary of State, and for the
next few years Canning devoted himself to the work of his
department under an exceptionally able and well-disposed
chief. He spoke comparatively little in the House of
Commons, but, when he did, it was with point and spirit.
Soon, however, he began to get restless. He felt that he
was not advancing quickly enough, and he enlisted his
friends' support on his behalf. His endeavours were not
without result. In 1800 he made a fortimate marriage
with Miss Joan Scott, a daughter of Major-General Joha
Scott, of Balcomie, in Fife, and sister of Lady Titchfield,
the wife of the Duke of Portland's heir. She was a
* Temperley, 33 (another version).

FOREIGN SECRETARY 205

vigorous, intelligent woman and brought him, it is said,
£100,000. At the same time he was given half of the
well-paid place of Paymaster-General and sworn a privy
councillor. His prospects looked promising, but a few
months later Pitt resigned office on the question of Catholic
relief and Canning, who sympathized with his leader's
views and had become one of his closest friends, followed
him into retirement.

Canning now absented himself from Parliament until
he could get a seat independent of the government, and
coming in for Tralee in 1803 he began openly to oppose
Addington's ministry, while he lost no opportimity of
making matters difficult for them with Pitt and GrenviUe.
He was bitter and effective, and there is little doubt that
he largely contributed to the fall of the " Doctor " in 1804.
On Pitt's return to power, however, he was only given the
post of Treasurer of the Navy, considerably less than he
might have expected.

In 1806 Pitt died, and Canning again found himself in
opposition, where he took the lead of the party known as
" Mr. Pitt's friends." On two occasions in this year
his old chief. Lord Grenville, who was now Prime Minister,
approached him with offers of a place in the Cabinet, but
Canning felt that any personal offer which did not also
include his supporters must be refused. In March, 1807, the
Whig ministry was dismissed. The Duke of Portland formed
a government and Canning was at once installed as Foreign
Secretary, being then nearly thirty-seven years of age.

Portland was old and was not a man of powerful intellect.
He never, or hardly ever, spoke in the House of Lords after
becoming Prime Minister. Perceval, Liverpool, Canning
and Castlereagh, each directed their own departments, and
there was not too much union among them, while between
Canning and Castlereagh, the one Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, the other Secretary for War, there was jealousy
with plenty of opportunities for disagreement. Canning's
policy was a wonderful combination of tact and energy,
and to his selection of Spain as a battlefield and his support
of Wellesley as a leader against Napoleon the subsequent

206 CANNING

successes of England were largely due. Perhaps his most
remarkable coup was despatching ships and troops to
Denmark, with whom England was not at war, bombarding
Copenhagen and capturing the Danish fleet.

In 1808 took place the ill-fated despatch of General Sir
John Moore to Corunna. It was followed a year later
by the expedition to the Scheldt. In both these ventures
Canning took a difierent view to Castlereagh as to policy
and execution, and at last he told the Duke of Portland
that there must be an alteration of ofiices or that he must
resign. Portland, however, did nothing definite and
eventually Canning and Castlereagh both resigned in
September, and then fought a duel, though before they
had actually given up the seals. This damaged them in
public opinion, and when, a month later, Portland hi m self
retired, Perceval succeeded him as Prime Minister, an
office which Canning had coveted and had indeed offered
the King to undertake. " From the moment when Canning
resigned office in 1809 misfortunes never ceased to fall
thick upon him for the space of a dozen years. During this
time he made no appreciable advance in popularity and
lost much in dignity and power."*

Canning was much disappointed, but he continued to
support the government, though remaining outside it.
At this time he was probably the only English statesman
of commanding ability, but his unstable and intriguing
temper made him a difficult colleague. A few years later
he became reconciled to Castlereagh, and in 1812 Liverpool
offered him the Foreign Office on the condition that Castle-
reagh was to retain the lead in the House of Commons.
This arrangement Canning refused to accept, though he
afterwards regretted his decision as much as did his friends.

In 1814 a further attempt was made to conciliate him
by offering him the embassy in Portugal, whither he was
intending to take his eldest son for his health. This post
he undertook, and he remained abroad for two years, visit-
ing Paris and keeping himself well in touch with foreign
politics. He was received in Paris, says Gronow, " with
* Temperley, 109.

INDIA OFFICE 207

a distinction and a deference perhaps never before be-
stowed on a foreign diplomatist."* His mission to Lisbon,
however, did not much increase his reputation, and ia 1816
he returned to England, and now at last accepted office
as President of the Board of Control, the then India Office.
He was elected for Liverpool, where he made the acquaint-
ance of the Gladstone family. He stayed in his new post
for about fovir years, and gained the entire confidence of the
directors by his powerful administration. Outside his own
department his maia iaterest was to obtain religious
toleration for the Catholics, a promise given to the Irish
by his old leader which he always strove to fidfil.

In 1820 George IV. came to the throne, and the thorny
question of his Consort at once arose. Canning had already
been concerned in Queen Caroline's affairs, and was iq-
chned to take her part. In order not to embarrass his
colleagues, he offered to leave the government, but
eventually he stayed on until the trial of the Queen was
decided on. He then resigned definitely, and the King bore
him no good-vriU for the line he had taken. Meanwhile
Canning had occupied himself with securing the reversion of
the Governor-Generalship of India, and early in 1822 this
high position was proposed to him, and he accepted it.
A few months later, just before he was starting for the
East, Castlereagh's death again opened the Foreign Office,
and after great hesitation on the King's part Canning, who
was obviously the man for the post, was appointed.
George IV., writing privately to Lord Liverpool, called this
" the greatest sacrifice of my opinions that I have ever
made in my life."t '^^^ royal feelings were well concealed,
for Canning writes on September 17, "I have reason to
be contented with the King's behaviour at our first
interview; and I have learned from good authority that
His Majesty professes himself to have been 'pleased and
satisfied ' with mine."!

This was the period of Canning's glory, for he was
eminently suited to his place, and in the next few years
his best work was done. He had a firm friend in Liverpool,
* Gronow, i. 163. f Yonge, iii. 199. J Stapleton, 363.

208 CANNING

and though there were at first some difliculties on his
rejoining the Cabinet, he gradually brought the King and
his colleagues round to his own point of view. Though a
Tory in name, his views were liberal, and his efforts were
all in favour of popular freedom. He successfully resisted
the coercion of Spain by France, he procured the recogni-
tion of the Spanish American colonies, and he was also
largely responsible for the independence of Greece. In
home politics he continued a strong advocate of Catholic
emancipation and of the mitigation of the Corn Laws.
"The business of the reformer," he said, "is to redress
practical grievances."*

Early in 1827 Liverpool fell seriously ill. Canning, who
was laid up himself from a severe chill caught at the Duke
of York's funeral, had for some time had his eye on the
premiership. On Liverpool's ilLuess becoming mortal,
various moves took place between the King and Canning,
but the latter was adroit and was determined to secure the
succession. Eventually he was commissioned to form a
government, and he then asked the Duke of Wellington to
join him in the following letter :

" Foreign Office,

" April 10, 1827,

" My dear Duke op Wellington, ^ ^•'^"

" The King has, at an audience from which I have
just returned, been graciously pleased to signify to me His
Majesty's commands to lay before His Majesty, with as
little loss of time as possible, a plan of arrangement for the
reconstruction of the Administration. In executing these
commands it will be as much my own wish as it will be
my duty to His Majesty to adhere to the principles on which
Lord Liverpool's government has so long acted together.
I need not add how essentially the accomplishment must
depend upon Your Grace's continuing a member of the
cabinet.

" Ever, my dear Duke of Wellington,

" Your Grace's sincere and faithful servant,
" George CANNiNG."f

* Temperley, 104. f Wellington, Supp. Desp., April, 1827.

T. Lawrence pinx.

GEOKGE CANNING

To face page 208

PRIME MINISTER 209

Wellington, however, had never liked Canning, and
would not accept, alleging that the letter was not straight-
forward, as it was, he said, written before the King had
made any definite appointment. With Peel, he accordingly
seceded from the government and resigned his office of
Commander-in-Chief. The feud with the Duke was never
healed. More than three months later, and only a few
weeks before Canning's death, the King writes to him as
follows:

" Dear Mr. Canning,

" I delay not a moment in acquainting you with a
circumstance that has just occurred very imexpectedly to
me — a visit from the Duke of Wellington. I can only
attribute this visit to its being the anniversary of my
coronation. Our interview was not long, and our con-
versation for the most part was on general topics. Of
course it was impossible here and there, occasionally, not
to have some reference to matters which have recently
occurred. I found the Duke extremely temperate, but I
could easily perceive, from little expressions which now
and then dropped, that the most assiduous pains have been
taken, and are still actively employed, to give the strongest
jaundiced complexion to the past, as well as the present
state of things, and to keep up, if not to widen as much as
malice and wickedness can contrive it, the breach which
exists between him and my Grovernment. I sincerely hope
that you are rapidly recovering from the odious lumbago.
" Believe me always,

" Your sincere friend,
" EoYAL Lodge, Lt.K.

" Thursday, July 19, 1827,
" Ealf-fast two 'p.m."*

Caiming, however, managed to make up a ministry of his
3wn and some of Lord Liverpool's followers. It was
irehemently opposed in Parliament, and this much upset
lim. Early in July he became indisposed, largely from
;he efiects of his previous chill. He went to Chiswick
* Stapleton, 600.

210 CANNING

hoping to recover, but lie became rapidly worse, and on
August 8 he died. One of his last remarks was: " This
may be hard on me, but it is harder still upon the King."*
He was buried in Westminster Abbey; a statue was
erected to him, and in recognition of his services a vis-
county was conferred on his wife. He left several children,
one of whom afterwards became Earl Canning, the cele-
brated Viceroy of India. None of his descendants in the
male line are now living.

Canning was a man of fine appearance, with an ample
forehead, an oval face and a pronoimced and handsome
profile. He was an amusing though rather a hot-tempered
man, not unaddicted to the bottle, talkative and well
aware of his own merits. Scott thought him " witty, accom-
plished, ambitious." For many years he lived at the
Albany in Piccadilly, and was a notable figure in society,
" The Joker " being his usual nickname. Moore called
him " St. Stephen's fool, the Zany of debate." With all
his talents, he never enjoyed the full confidence of his
colleagues, for he gave the idea of being too self-assertive
and too self-seeking. He was difficult in the Cabinet, often
an ungenerous opponent, and of a most sensitive and
volatile disposition. But with many faults he was an
orator and a statesman of the highest order, and once he
felt that he was supreme and that his personal aims were
not in jeopardy, " his views became far-sighted, his policy
enlightened and his actions noble."

" Canning," says Macaulay, " was Pitt's favourite
disciple, young, ardent and ambitious, with great powers
and great virtues, but with a temper too restless and a wit
too satirical for his own happiness."! Croker, his intimate
friend, writes to Brougham: " Poor Canning's greatest
defect was the jealous ingenuity of his mind. Like an
over-cautious general, he was always thinking more of what
might be on his flanks and in his rear than in his front.
His acuteness discovered so many tortuous by-paths on the
map of human life that he believed they were much more
travelled than the broad highway. He preferred an
' * Stapleton, 604. | Macaulay, vii. 401.

HIS CHAEACTER 211

ingenious device for doing anythiag to the ordinary
process."*

One of Ms maxims was that nothing can be done without
a great deal of pains. His speeches, of which Brougham
said that they " came from the mouth rather than from
the heart," were rarely spontaneous. " I prepare very
much," he used to say, " on many subjects; a great part of
this is lost and never comes into play; but sometimes an
opportunity arises when I can bring in something I have
ready, and I always perceive the much greater efEect of
these passages upon the House." Peel remarked that
Canning before speaking would often make a sort of
lounging tour of the House, listening to the tone of the
observations which the previous debate had excited, so that
at last when he himself spoke he seemed to a large part
of his audience to be merely giving a striking form to their
own faults." t Aberdeen, an experienced critic, preferred
his oratory to that of either Pitt or Fox. Several of his
phrases are famous; "If we are told we must have war
sooner or later, I say later " ; and that respecting the
recognition of the South American Republics : " I called
the New World into existence to redress the balance of the
01d."+ This was typical of him, and his colleagues did
not at all relish the personal pronoun.

His despatches were often amusing. He once astonished
the British Minister at The Hague by sending him a
message which when deciphered read:

" In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch
Is giving too little and asking too much ;
With equal protection the French are content,
So we'll clap on Dutch bottoms just twenty per cent.,
Twenty per cent., twenty per cent.
Nous frapperons Falek with twenty per cent."§

Some of his early poems had been of a high level, " The
Loves of the Triangles," " The University of Gottingen,"
and " The Candid Friend," being among the best known;
and his caustic wit in the Anti-Jacobin did much to dis-
credit the English extremists in 1797. Because of his

* Croker, ii. 352. f Jennings, 220.

X Ibid., 221. § lUd., 222 ; Temperley, 193.

212 CANNING

literary talent lie was a special favourite with, the Press,
and this certainly helped to make him Prime Minister.
Lord Holland called him " the first logician in Europe."*
In politics Canning was regarded as the type of the New
England. His lifelong fight for the relief of his fellow
countrymen from religious disabilities and his efforts in
favour of popular self-government among Continental
nations had put him upon a pedestal for many of the
reforming spirits of those ardent days. " The party of
Mr. Canning," says Ashley, " was the party of the generous,
brave and intellectual Englishman of the early part of the
nineteenth century."| His ministry, says Mr. Temperley,
" had broken that close aristocratic clique of Tories who
had so long monopolized power. "| Yet by his contem-
poraries he was never considered sound. Neither Welling-
ton nor Grey trusted him, though after his death both
Disraeli and Gladstone claimed the heritage of his name.

He was undoubtedly an intriguer, jealous and selfish in
temperament, but the strength of his spirit and the clearness
of his intellect were not really much affected by these flaws
of character. " The gigantic mind of Mr. Canning," said
Palmerston, " was not to be pinned down by Lilliputian
threads." A far cleverer man than Liverpool, his friend
and colleague. Canning achieved far less material success.
Both died under sixty, but the brilliant and erratic genius
was as much out of oflS.ce as in, while the dull and steady
plodder held the reins of power nearly all his days. Many
hard things have been thought and said of Canning, but it
must be remembered that he was a man born without
advantages of birth or fortune, conscious of the possession of
exceptional powers, and inspired with the determination
to put into effect the principles of liberty to which he was
devoted. Part of his success was posthumous, but part he
achieved in his lifetime, though with toil, stress and disap-
pointment. Endowed with perhaps as great natural gifts
and as keen an ambition as any Prime Minister, he held
that ofl&ce for the shortest time of them all.

* Creasy, 501. -f- Ashley, i. 125.

t Temperley, 235.

EARLY LIFE 213

IL— PEEL

Robert Peel was born at Chamber Hall, near Bury, on
February 5, 1788, the eldest son of Robert, afterwards
Sir Robert Peel, by Ellen, daughter of William Yates, a
cotton manufacturer of Bury. The Peels were a Lanca-
shire family who had been largely responsible for the
founding of the cotton industry and its development by
mechanical devices. In this way they had acquired a very
considerable fortune. Robert Peel the elder then settled
at Drayton Bassett, in Stafiordshire, built Drayton Manor,
became member of Parliament for Tamworth, and received
a baronetcy from Pitt, whose policy he had supported. At
the birth of his eldest son he is said to have fallen on his
knees and dedicated him to the service of his country,*
and in later life he used to prophesy that his son would
never display his talents in their fulhiess imtil he held the
supreme place.

Young Robert Peel was sent to Harrow, and stayed there
four years; his career was uneventful, but among his
schoolfellows were Palmerston and Byron. He went on to
Christ Church, Oxford, where he took a double first in
classics and mathematics, then a most remarkable achieve-
ment. With a brilliant reputation, he turned his attention
to politics and in April, 1809, he was elected member for
the pocket borough of Cashel. A year later Perceval
appointed him to the post of Under-Secretary for the
Colonies and War. Here his official chief was Liverpool,
and when the latter became Prime Minister in 1812 Peel
was promoted to be Chief Secretary for Ireland, his
admitted abilities and his frank and open manners being
his recommendation. In this position he remained for
six years, pursuing a somewhat reactionary policy—
" Orange Peel " he was called — but he got a knowledge
of the Irish and of the Catholics from which he subse-
quently profited. In 1817 he became member for Oxford
University, but next year resigned his place in the govern-
* Peel, " Private Letters," 12.

214 PEEL

ment, being tired of an ungrateful task. In 1819 lie served
as chairman of the committee on the resumption of cash
payments, and was responsible for restoring to the country
a sound system of currency. Canning called this "the
greatest wonder he had witnessed in the political world."*

In 1820 Peel married Julia, daughter of General Sir John
Floyd, and after receiving several offers of a place in the
Cabinet at last accepted the post of Home Secretary in
January 1822. He had by this time risen to a high
position in the House of Commons, for he had talents,
fortune and character. His work was excellent, and
Canning considered him the most efficient Home Secretary
ever known. His experiences in administration had
gradually modified some of Peel's opinions, and he now
concerned himself with reducing the severity of punish-
ments imposed by old statutes, and removing restrictions
on the liberty of the subject. It was his first move in the
direction of reform.

On Liverpool's death in 1827, Peel retired from the
Cabinet, his views on Catholic emancipation differing from
those of Canning. During this year he succeeded in re-
uniting the different sections of the Tory party, and in
January 1828 he took office xmder the Duke of Wellington
as Home Secretary and leader of the House of Commons.
It was then that the Dxike, who was not very sanguine about
the success of his government, said : " How are we to get
on with the thing ? I have no small talk and Peel has
no manners."!

Ireland was at this time on the verge of a rebellion,
and Peel saw that a repeal of the restrictions on Catholics
was necessary to avoid civil war. Accordingly he recon-
sidered his position and prepared the necessary biUs.
He resigned his office and his seat in order to put himself
straight with' Parliament and his constituents. Then,
having been reappointed and re-elected, he succeeded ia
passing his measures. "The credit," he said, "belongs to
others and not to me. It belongs to Mr, Fox, to Mr.
Grattan, to Mr. Plunket, to these gentlemen opposite, and
* Parker, iii. 569. f Jennings, 260.

7, Linnellpinz,

SIR EGBERT PEEL

To face page 2U

HOME SECRETARY 215

to an illustrious and right honourable friend of miae who
is now no more/'*

In the next two years Peel created the metropolitan
police and framed several bills for consolidating and re-
forming the law, but in November 1830 the Duke's
ministry was defeated, and Lord Grey came into office.
In the same month Peel succeeded to his father's baronetcy
and a large income. He was now in opposition, with the
whole strength of the Whigs and of the country pitted
against him. But he was quick to show his mettle. He
opposed the Reform BUI through aU its debates with his
utmost strength, and so was able to win back the Tory
support which he had lost by his action on the Catholic
ReUef Acts. When the Whig ministers resigned in 1832
he was asked to form a government on condition of himself
bringing forward reform, but this he declined, preferring
to adhere to his principles.

The Reform BiU was passed, and nearly annihilated the
Tories. In the first reformed parliament Peel appeared as
member for Tamworth, at the head of a small and dispirited
band of representatives of the old system. He at once set
about organizing the new Conservative party. He opposed
the extreme radicals and frequently acted with the govern-
ment, making it clear that he was prepared to support
moderate and reasonable progress. He had become by far
the most important man in the House of Commons, for
he had held office for sixteen years and had himself carried
many really liberal measures. Greville writes of him
in 1834: " Peel's is an enviable position; in the prime of
life, with an immense fortime, facile prineeps in the House
of Commons, unshackled by party connections and pre-
judices, imiversally regarded as the ablest man, and with
(on the whole) a very high character, free from the cares
of oflS.ce, able to devote himself to literature, to politics, or
idleness, as the fancy takes him. No matter how unruly
the House, how impatient or fatigued, the moment he rises
all is silence, and he is sure of being heard with profound
attention and respect."f

* Jennings, 257. f Greville, iii. 64.

15

216 PEEL

On Lord Grey's resignation in the summer of 1834, Peel
was asked by the King to form a coalition with Melbourne.
This he refused to do. A few months later, in November,
Melbourne was dismissed, and Peel who was in Kome,
was sent for by an express courier. In the interval the
Duke of Wellington administered the govermnent by
himself. On December 9 Peel arrived, and was ap-
poiated First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the
Exchequer — the last statesman, with the exception of
Mr. Gladstone, to combine those two offices. He at once
dissolved Parliament, and succeeded in somewhat in-
creasing his following at the general election, though not
sufficiently to give him a majority. He met the House
of Commons, but having been defeated six times in as many
weeks, he resigned on April 8, 1835, and was replaced by a
Whig government under Lord Melbourne.

Peel now again became the " prudent wary leader in
opposition." He gave his attention to the formation of a
strong, moderate and discipliaed party, whose policy was
" to maintain intact the established constitution of church
and state." In the next few years he attracted to his side
Stanley, Disraeli and Gladstone, while his supporters rose
to 320 members. His own views had enlarged, he was as
patriotic as he was powerful, and a political opponent was
able to declare in the House that " the right honourable
member for Tamworth governs England."*

In 1839 Melbourne resigned on the Jamaica question.
Queen Victoria summoned Sir Eobert Peel to form a
government, but refused to accede to his wishes that the
ladies of her household should be changed. As they in-
cluded wives and daughters of his opponents. Peel felt
bound to insist upon his request. But the Queen remained
obdurate, and Melbourne accordingly resumed office. The
opportimity, however, soon recurred. Early in 1841 Peel
defeated the ministers, first on the budget and then on a
want of confidence motion. They resigned, and he became
Prime Minister for the second time in August of that year.

He now formed a remarkably strong Cabinet, and at once
concentrated upon domestic legislation. The finances of
* Thursfield, 163.

PRIME MINISTER 217

the country were in a very unsatisfactory state, with, high
duties and annual deficits. There was intense distress
among the working classes. Chartism and anti-Corn Law
agitation were rampant. In addition to these troubles the
government was discredited abroad; it was at war with
China and Afghanistan, and it had recently succeeded in
antagonizing France and America. Peel was to show the
stufi he was made of.

In March 1842 he introduced his budget. It proposed
an income tax of sevenpence in the pound and an immense
diminution of indirect taxation. It was widely acclaimed
in the country and the funds went up four points. During
the five years that he was in office he continued a similar
policy, reducing the duties on over a thousand articles
and totally abolishing those on six hundred more. This
was the beginning of that Free Trade which he had long
had in view, and which he called " the progressive and
well-considered relaxation of restrictions upon commerce."*
Its object was to give " a new scope to commercial enter-
prise and an increased demand for labour." Its success
was enormous, and the Whigs, whose principles had been
appropriated, began to fear for their future.

Peel next reorganized the banking system of the
country, and placed that branch of finance on a sound basis
built up with a f oimdation of securities and bullion. He
came of a family conversant with and accustomed to the
manipulation of money; in that intricate science he had
become an expert, and he now placed his unrivalled know-
ledge and ability at the service of the community.

His third task was to deal with the Corn Laws. These
had originally prohibited the importation of foreign wheat
except when the price had risen exceptionally high in the
home market, though since 1828 a sliding-scale duty had
been substituted. In 1842 Peel passed a moderate measure
revising this scale and decreasing the price of corn. This
created considerable consternation among his followers.
But more was to come. In 1845 the English harvest was
ruined, and disease of the potato crop appeared simul-
taneously in Ireland. Famine began to spread, and Peel
* Nat. Biog., xliv. 217.

218 PEEL

determined that protection for agriculture must go alto-
gether. " The remedy," he wrote to Lord Hejrtesbury on
October 15, 1845, " is the removal of all impediments to
the import of all kinds of human food — that is the total
and absolute repeal for ever of all duties on all articles of
subsistence."* He proposed to act by Orders in Council, as
the crisis was urgent. But the Cabinet was terrified and
disagreed. In December Peel accordingly resigned. Lord
John Eussell tried to form a government, but failed, and
Peel returned with all his former colleagues except Stanley.
Parliament met in January 1846. Peel had been deserted
by many of his own party, but he knfew that he could reckon
on sufficient support from his opponents to pass his bills.
The time was short, but he determined to make it suffice.
In a series of brilliant speeches he expounded the doctrines
of Free Trade, enduring the taunts of his former friends as
well as the attacks of his foes. But his policy triumphed.
On June 25 the Repeal of the Corn Laws was passed by the
Lords, and on the same night Peel was defeated on an Irish
Coercion bill in the Commons. His final words on this
occasion will not be forgotten. " It may be," he said,
" that I shall leave a name sometimes remembered with
expressions of goodwill in the abodes of those whose lot
it is to labour and to earn their daily bread by the sweat
of their brow, when they shall recruit their strength with
abundant and untaxed food, the sweeter because it is no
longer leavened by a sense of injustice. "f Foilr days later
he resigned his office.

His retirement created universal consternation in Europe,
and the revolutions which now rapidly succeeded each other
on the Continent were probably not unconnected with it.
It was felt that liberalism had received an almost vital
blow and must assert itself if it was to live.

Peel's work was now done. During the remaining few
years of his life he led no party, but constituted himself the
guardian of Free Trade. He refused the Garter and all other
honours; his position in the eyes of England and of the
world was above such distinctions. In June 1850 he was
* Peel, "Memoirs," 121. f Jennings, 264.

HIS CHAEACTER 219

tkcown from his torse on Constitution Hill, and lie died
a few days later. He left five sons, one of whom became
Speaker of the House of Commons, and he has many male
descendants living.

Peel had a tall and elegant figure, brown curly hair, clear
blue eyes, a low-toned voice and a constitution so strong
that he could work for sixteen hours a day. " His ex-
pression was radiant," though in later life it became some-
what careworn. Rather nervous, cold and awkward in
manner, his memory and dramatic powers were remarkable.
Carlyle calls him "rustic, affectionate, honest, reserved
with a vein of mild fun." His wit, on the rare occasions
that he chose to exercise it, was extremely apposite. Once
when O'Connor had remarked in the House of Commons
that he did not care whether the Queen or the Devil was
on the throne, Peel drUy replied: " When the honour-
able gentleman sees the sovereign of his choice on the
throne of these realms, I hope he'll enjoy and I'm sure he'll
deserve the confidence of the Crown."*

His early speeches were not particularly promising. A
satire published soon after he first sat in Parliament says :
" I give and bequeath my patience to Mr. Robert Peel; he
will want it all before he becomes Prime Miaister of
England; but in the event of such a contingency, my
patience is to revert to the people of England who will
stand sadly in need of it."t His later efforts were better.
Although long and weighty, they showed a splendid com-
bination of argument and detail, and his words were often
inspired with the confidence of victory. In reply he was
proAipt and discreet, though not very lively. By the deft
lance of Disraeli he was occasionally discomforted.

In society "if he thaws," says Greville, " he is lively,
entertaining and abounding in anecdotes."! In art he
took a considerable interest, and he formed a valuable
collection of pictures. He liked the country, he managed
his estates, he strove to be a hospitable host. But, like
the younger Pitt, he was at his best in the House of Com-
mons. " What he really was," said Disraeli, " and what

* Jennings, 261, f I^^-' 254- t Greville, iii. 35.

220 PEEL

posterity will acknowledge him to be is the greatest
member of Parliament that ever lived."*

A brilliant statesman and a true patriot, he was, in the
words of Lord Morley, a man of " skill, vigilance, caution
and courage."* Wellington, who regarded him with
intense admiration, said: " I never knew a man in whose
truth and justice I had a more lively confidence."!

In his father's opinion Peel was a Whig at heart, but the
early disturbances of the times he lived in and his respect
for a firm government caused him to adopt measures that
seemed even then severe. As he gained experience and as
his mind developed he recognized the needs and claims
of his countrymen, and he was courageous enough to submit
his own views to what he believed to be right, even at the
cost of sacrificing the principles in which he had been
educated. " England," he said, " is governed by pubUc
opinion." The welfare of England came first in his
thoughts and was always the passion of his life, and he never
allowed any consideration, not even his own consistency, to
stand in its way. Lord Rosebery calls him " one of the
princes of mankind."^

Alone of all the Prime Ministers Grey and Peel achieved
the supreme success of seeing the principal policy of their
Lives put into practice under their own auspices. Chatham,
it is true, was able during a few brief years to contemplate
the splendid results of his foreign victories, but in old age
he saw his country sinking under distress. His son was
continually concerned with defence, and nearly all the
remaining first ministers of the Crown were so fully occupied
in carrying on the regular business of state, that they were
content enough if by compromise or opportune measures
they could preserve peace and deal with the difficulties of
the day. But Grey in his early and Peel in his later years
each conceived a comprehensive scheme of public reform,
vaster in scope than anything that had then been devised.
Each was able to plan and to pass into law measures which
their contemporaries hailed and posterity has confirmed
as marking epochs in the history of England.

* Jennings, 265. f "Nat. Biog.," xliv. 222.

J Eosebery, " Miscellanies," i. 188

CHAPTER XI
WHIG EEFOKMERS

GREY AND RUSSELL

The two Whig Reformers were quite different men from
their Tory compeers. The former stood for land and
birth, the latter were representatives rather of brains and
trade. Through the circumstances of their times the
political chances of the Whigs had developed more slowly
and later than those of their rivals. Canning and Peel were
both members of the government when in their twenties,
whUe Grey and RusseU had to wait until they were near
their fortieth year. The same tardiness pursued them
throughout their career, for they attained Cabinet rank
later and held office for less time than did their Tory
opponents, though their natural lives lasted for a longer
span.

In some sense this backwardness and these hopes deferred
colour aU their work, great though it was. Their reforms
are so long delayed i that they seem in a way laboured
and antiquated when they come — ^they lack the dash of
novelty and the fire of youth that Peel and Canning's
fresh and brilliant strokes convey. While the Tory leaders
are well in advance of their party, cheering and beckoning
it on, the Whigs are striving to keep up with the main body
of their followers. Yet the race is not always to the swift,
and when the merit of either side is weighed it is hard
indeed to say to whom the palm should fall — to the talented
tribunes of the people or the sedate patricians of the senate,
to the first flights of the Tories or the more wearied efforts
of the Whigs.

The Whigs, indeed, at the end of George IV .'s reign were

221

222 GEEY AND RUSSELL

in a difficult position. Hazlitt, in his essay on " Tte
Jealousy and Spleen of Party," says: " The chief dread of
the minority was to be confounded with the popvdace, the
Canaille, etc. They would be neither with, the Government
nor of the People. , . . The Whigs . . . make up for
their want of strength by a proportionable want of spirit.
Their cause is ticklish, and they support it by the least
hazardous means. Any violent or desperate measures on
their part might recoil upon themselves.

" When they censure the age
They are cautious and sage
Lest the courtiers ofiended should be."

. . . Nothing can be too elegant, too immaculate and refined
for their imaginary return to office. They are in a pitiable
dilemma — having to reconcile the hopeless reversion of
court-favour with the most distant and delicate attempts
at popularity. . , . Neither can anything base and
plebeian be supposed to ' come between the wind and their
nobility." . . . The reputation of Whiggism, like that of
women, is a delicate thing, and will neither bear to be blown
upon nor handled."*

Such were the inherent and the extraneous troubles that
hampered the hereditary apostles of progress.

I.— GREY

Charles Grey, subsequently styled Lord Howick and
afterwards second Earl Grey, was born at FaUodon on
March 13, 1764, the second but eldest surviving son of
Colonel Charles Grey of Howick by his wife Elizabeth,
daughter of George Grey of Southwick in Durham. His
family, who had been made baronets in 1745, was one of
the most respectable in Northumberland, being related to
the Greys of Berwick, of Warke and of Chillingham.
Since the days of the Border wars they had been dis-
tinguished in arms, and Colonel Grey had followed that
profession through all his life with honour and success. He
* Hazlitt, '\PIaiii Speaker," ii. 434-436.

EAKLY LIFE 223

served in the American War and against th.e French in the
West Indies, rose to the rank of general, was created a
Knight of the Bath and a privy councillor, and in 1801
was raised to the peerage. Five years later, when his son
sat in the Grenville Cabinet, he was advanced to an earldom.

Charles Grey the younger was educated at Eton and at
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took several prizes for
English composition and declamation. He then travelled
abroad for about a year, and in 1786 was elected member of
Parliament for the county of Northumberland, UnKke
the rest of his family, he became a determined Whig, and
attached himself to Fox and the friends of the Prince of
Wales.

At this time Pitt was threatening the Whig territorial
interest and to that interest Grey belonged. He had
qualities which marked him out as likely to be a leader of
his party. He was remarkably taU and good-looking, and
soon became a friend of many of the Whig ladies, especially
of the Duchess of Devonshire . His manners were attractive
and his abilities above the ordinary. His first speech was
an unqualified success, for he spoke " clearly, easily and
correctly, with dignity, simplicity and grace." But he
lacked wit and suavity, and was often too lofty and severe.
From the first he set his face against the government and
aU their works. He began by attacking the French com-
mercial treaty and next the patronage of ministers. Against
Pitt he specially directed himself, and in the debates on
the debts of the Prince of Wales and on the management of
the Post Office he showed exceptional vehemence and
acrimony. This did not do him very much good, though
his ability was imquestioned. " Grey's eloquence," says
Wraxall, " excited greater admiration than either his
display of judgment or command of temper."* He also
took part in the impeachment of Warren Hastings, where
" his eloquence, youth and figure attracted a numerous
audience."f

When the French Revolution broke out. Grey sided with
the more advanced Whigs and strongly opposed Pitt's war
* Wraxall, "Post. Mem.," ii. 353. f ^&«^-. i"- 45.

224 GREY

policy. At the same time lie began to interest himself in the
question of parliamentary reform, to which he remained
devoted all his life. He helped to start the " Society of
Friends of the People," a somewhat factious organization
for promoting constitutional change, which was largely
used as a political weapon. Grey presented some of its
petitions to Parliament, but he afterwards rather regretted
his connection with it. " One word from Fox," he used
to say as an old man, " would have kept me out of all that
mess of the Friends of the People."* It was not until 1797
that he brought in his fixst bill for Parliamentary Reform,
which was defeated by 165 votes in a House of 350.

In 1794 he had married Elizabeth Ponsonby, daughter of
William, afterwards first Lord Ponsonby. This alliance
brought him into close touch with many of the leading Irish
Liberals, and for the next few years he remained an active
and constant opponent of the government, questioning
their policy, moving for papers and dividing against them.
But as regards the war with France, once it had begun, he
supported vigorous measures.

On the rejection of his Reform Bill in 1797 he seceded
from the House of Commons except for the purpose of re-
sisting the Union with Ireland. It is doubtful whether these
tactics did him much good. " Secession," Lord Shelburne
remarked, " either means rebellion or it is nonsense."t
Grey, however, was not at all sorry of an excuse for keeping
away from Parliament. Hitherto he had lived mostly in
Hertford Street, Mayiair, or in the neighbourhood of
London, but he now established himself more permanently
at Howick and soon became so accustomed to country life
that it was difiicult to induce him to leave it. He was not
well off, the journey was long and expensive, and he was
also much discouraged, it was said, by his father's accept-
ance of a peerage and the consequent damage to his own
Parliamentary future. Fox, who knew his value, used to
urge him to come up to London and to bring his wife with
him. " When you are in town without her," he writes,
" you are unfit for anything, with all your thoughts at
* Jennings, 226. f "^nc. Brit.," art. "Grey."

IN THE CABINET 225

Howick."* But Grey did not by any means see eye to eye
with. Fox, and still resented having been misled by him on
the question of the Prince of Wales's marriage.

Grey's father had now become a supporter of Addington,
and some attempts were made to enlist his son in that
ministry, but he refused. Later on there was an idea of
inducing him to join Pitt's second administration, but here
he declined to come in without Fox, and to Fox the King
would not agree. Altogether Grey's prospects at this time
were discouraging, and he was very much depressed about
his future. Writing to his wife in 1804, he says: " I feel
more and more convinced of my unfitness for a pursuit which
I detest, which interferes with all my private comfort, and
which I only sigh for an opportunity of abandoning
decidedly and for ever. Do not think this is the language
of momentary low spirits; it really is the settled convic-
tion of my mind."t

But in 1806 there came a change for the better. By the
formation of Grenville's Cabinet the necessary conditions
of Grey's taking office were fulfilled, and he accepted the
place of First Lord of the Admiralty. This he exchanged,
on Fox's death some months later, for that of Foreign
Secretary, with the lead in the House of Commons. But
neither at the Admiralty nor at the Foreign Office had he
long enough time to show his capacity, though he laid the
foundations of a firm friendship with Grenville, which was
largely responsible for such cohesion as was maintained in
the Whig party during the next decade.

Early in March, 1807, Grey, who was now known as Lord
Howick, his father having been made an earl, asked leave
to bring in a bill for the admission of Catholics to the army
and navy. To this the King immediately objected. A
week later the ministry was dismissed, and Grey went into
opposition for nearly a quarter of a centiiry.

In the course of this year his father died and he succeeded
to the peerage, while a few months later, by the death of
his uncle, he inherited the family baronetcy and estates.
This enabled him to live at Howick with more ease and

t Jennings, 225.

226 GEEY

comfort than heretofore, and he reverted without much
regret to his Northumbrian fastness.

In 1809 Grrey and Grenville were approached by Perceval
with a view to a coalition, but the overture was rejected.
Later on, in 1811 and 1812, at the commencement of the
regency and on the death of Perceval, several similar sug-
gestions were made by the Prince of Wales for the formation
of a new ministry, in which Grey and Grenville were to play
the leading part. Owing, however, to the continual changes
in His Royal Highness's counsels and to the strictly correct
attitude of the two Whig lords nothing definite resulted.
Grey's severe manner and unsympathetic temperament did
not make matters easy, and ever since the repudiation
of Mrs. Fitzherbert he had had but little opinion of the
Regent, and he did not hesitate to say what he thought.
Lady Hertford, at that moment the reigning beauty at
Carlton House, he described in the House of Lords as an
" unseen and pestilent secret influence which lurked behind
the throne."* Such remarks did not endear him in high
places, and his subsequent action in refusing to countenance
a divorce bill against Queen Caroline precluded any chance
of his receiving office while George IV. was alive.

During Liverpool's ministry Grey accordingly took
a decreasing share in politics. He gradually became
estranged from Grenville, and identified himself with the
most intransigeant of the Whigs, In 1824 his wife died,
and he lived more than ever at Howick. Three years later
he refused to co-operate with Canning and fiercely attacked
him, George IV. having told Canning that on no account
must Grey be included in the ministiy. In 1828 it was
thought possible that he might join the Duke of Wellington,
and had the latter shown any signs of adopting a liberal
policy it is probable that he would have done so. But the
Duke adhered to the most Tory of Tory programmes, and
when, after the general election of 1830, he definitely
rejected all idea of parliamentary reform, the cards re-
mained in the hands of the Whigs. On November 15
the Duke's government was defeated in the House of
* Nat. Biog., xxiii. 177.

PRIME MINISTER 227

Commons, and the next day King William sent for Lord
Grey, who had become, by the elimination of others and the
efflux of time, the recognized leader of the Whigs.

Grrey was now sixty-six; he had only been in office for
twelve months in his life, and that was twenty-four years
ago. Many of his contemporaries were dead or retired,
and he had to trust almost entirely to new men with whom
he was not intimate. But he did not hesitate, and easily
formed his ministry. It included Brougham, Palmerston,
Melbourne and John Russell, with a large number of
his own relations, for he was a good deal of a nepotist and
stuck to the ancient Whig ideas as to prescriptive family
rights. He immediately set about preparing a bill for
Parliamentary Reform. On March 1, 1831, it was intro-
duced and passed its second reading in the House of
Commons by a majority of one. " I have kept my word
to the nation," he said to Princess Lieven.* Next
month the government were defeated by eight votes, and
Grey then advised a dissolution. The general election
brought him back with increased strength, the Reform
Bill was introduced afresh, and on this occasion it passed
the Commons by 136. In the House of Lords, however,
it was thrown out by forty-one votes. Its defeat was
accompanied by tremendous demonstrations of anger and
riot all over the country. But Grey kept cool and deter-
mined to try again. He advised the King to prorogue Parlia-
ment at once. It was a bold move and was not entirely
unexpected, for the Tories had prepared to present addresses
against a dissolution. Prompt action was called for, and the
King stood loyally by his minister. He said that he would
drive down to Westminster then and there. The equerries
told him that the State carriages were not ready, " My lord,"
he said to Grey, " I'll go if I go in a hackney coach." f

Another general election confirmed Grey's position, and
a Cabinet minute of November 11, 1831, says: "Your
Majesty's servants . . . cannot hesitate to express their
entire concurrence in the opinion already submitted to
Your Majesty by Earl Grey, that it is absolutely indispens-
* Trevelyan, 285. f Ibid., 295.

228 GREY

able that they should have the power of proposing to
Parliament at the commencement of next session, with
the fullest iadication of Your Majesty's approbation and
support, a measure of Parliamentary Reform founded on
the same principles as that which has lately been rejected
by the House of Lords."*

In the new Parliament Grey introduced an amended bill.
This was easily passed in the Commons, and was carried
on its second reading ia the Lords by a majority of nine
in April 1832. But on May 7 Lord Lyndhurst moved
a wrecking motion which succeeded. Grey was prepared
for this manoeuvre, and he recommended the King to
create sufficient peers to overcome the opposition. His
advice was refused, and he at once resigned. Wellington
and Lyndhurst attempted to form a new ministry, but
could not do so, and Grey was recalled. He then obtained
from the King the necessary promise as to a creation of
peers in a letter which is one of the landmarks of the con-
stitution :

" The King grants permission to Earl Grey and to his
Chancellor, Lord Brougham, to create such a number of
peers as will be sufficient to ensure the passing of the Reform
BiU, first calHng up peers' eldest sons.

" William R.f
" Windsor,

" May 17, 1832."

On this being made known, many peers abstained from
voting, and the bill was finally passed and shortly after-
wards received the royal assent. This historic scene, the
last that was to take place within the walls of the ancient
palace of Westminster before its destruction by fire, has
been well recorded on canvas — the Whig seats in the House
of Lords packed with peers, those of the Tories quite empty;
half a dozen commissioners in their scarlet robes, with
Brougham in their midst, on the bench in front of the throne;
an illustrious duke — Sussex — standing solitary beside it;

* " Grey," i. 373. f Jennings, 58. Trevelyan, 348.

HIS CHARACTER 229

and at the distant bar the Commons crowded closely together.
This was Grey's triumph. It was forty years since he had
mooted his first project for parliamentary reform, and
he now saw it become law when he was sixty-eight. Such
devotion to a cause was unique in the annals of politics.

This was the real work of his ministry. What followed
was of little moment. In the course of 1833 the Cabinet
became divided on the subject of Irish coercion, and there
were numerous disputes among its members. Grey felt
his advancing age, his objects were accomplished and he
was anxious to sever himself from affairs. He took the
opportunity of retiring, and was succeeded by Melbourne
in July 1834. Early in the next year, on Peers resignation,
he was again asked by the King to form a government,
but he refused, and for the rest of his life lived quietly at
Howick, dying there ten years later. He had had a family
of fifteen children, ten of whom survived him, and several
of his descendants have been distinguished for their
services. The present earl is his great-grandson.

In appearance Grey was tall, slender and handsome,
with good features and a pale complexion. Creevey called
him in his old age " the best dressed and handsomest man
in England."* He was a fine type of an old-fashioned
north-country squire, haughty, narrow, independent and
severe, not by any means a genius, but high-minded and
strictly honourable. In debate he was nervous, impetuous
and inclined to be argumentative. Attached to the Whig
ideas of constitutional liberty and representation, he did
not have the opportunity of putting his views into effect
until the enthusiasm of his youth had diminished and his
own party had far outstripped him in their liberal aspira-
tions. Thus he was to some extent merely an instrument
in the battles of the Reform BiU, and he moved with, rather
than led, public opinion. But though he sometimes seemed
to be halting in policy and manner, there is little doubt that
his calm and cautious temperament enormously facilitated
the passage of the great measure with which his name is
identified.

* Creevey, ii. 225.

230 * GEEY

In a long parliamentary life Grey had only enjoyed a
solitary year of office before he became Prime Minister,
though he had had several opportunities of taking it. This
fact appealed strongly to the nation as a proof of his single-
naindedaess and honesty of purpose. The first object he
had set before him, as a young man coming into the House
of Commons, had been parliamentary reform. For this
and for kindred measures of liberty he had fought through-
out his whole career. Ostracized for his opinions, he had
spent many years of disappointment in a distant retreat.
Almost at the end of his days his chance came. He seized
it without hesitation and utilized it with imexampled pluck
and discretion. Immediately afterwards he again retired
to his northern home, proud, silent and cold, but fortified
by the knowledge that he had done, perhaps, more for his
country in two years than had been done by his party in
a century —

" That Earl who forced his compeers to be ji it,
And wrought in brave old age what youth j ad planned."

" No statue has been erected to Lord Grey in the pre-
cincts of Westminster. The new Houses of Parliament
must serve him for a memorial."*

II.— EUSSELL

John Russell, afterwards styled Lord John Russell and
subsequently first Earl Russell, was born in Hertford Street,
Mayfair, London, on August 18, 1792. He was the third
child of a Lord John Russell who was the second son of
Francis, Marquess of Tavistock, and grandson of John,
fourth Duke of Bedford. Lord Tavistock dying before his
father, and his elder son, the fifth duke, leaving no issue,
his second son, the aforesaid Lord John, became the sixth
duke in 1802, and from that date young John Russell took
the courtesy prefix. His mother was Georgiana Byng,
daughter of George, fourth Viscount Torrington. She died
when he was eight years old, and the next year his father
* Trevelyan, " Grey," 369.

T. Lawrence pinx.

chaeles grey
2nd earl grey

To face page 230

EARLY LIFE 231

removed to Wobum on succeeding to the dukedom. The
Russells were a rich and ancient race settled in the two
counties of Devon and Bedford since the days of the
Tudors, and had long been distinguished for their patriotism
and liberal politics. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries they had been one of the principal families of
the Revolution, and they disputed with the house of
Cavendish the leadership of the Whig party.

The sixth duke, a member of the Society of Friends of
the People, had served as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland during
the short ministry of Lord Grenville, but had held no other
official posts, though his position and wealth gave him
considerable influence.

His son, John Russell, was a weakly child, small and often
ailing. He was sent first to Westminster and then to a
private tutor's. Later on, after short visits to Ireland,
Scotland and Portugal, he went to Edinburgh University,
and afterwards set out on an extensive tour in Central and
Southern Europe, continuing his classical studies in the
meanwhile. By the time that he returned to England he
had enjoyed almost unique opportimities of meeting and
seeing the most important men and things in Europe. He
bad ridden with Wellington at Torres Vedras and talked to
Napoleon at Elba. He had walked with Walter Scott on
the Tweed and breakfasted with Charles Fox in London.
He had travelled through Spain and Italy, France and
Germany, and had acquired a lively interest in the politics
of his own and the principal Continental coimtries.

Early in 1813, before he was yet of age, he was elected
member for the pocket borough of Tavistock. His party
were out of office and were to continue in opposition for
seventeen years; they thus had urgent need of young,
imbitious and able politicians. At first Russell's health
3hecked his regular attendance in Parliament, and the
Dosition of the Whigs was sufficiently discouraging to afEord
lim an excuse. But gradually he became more active.
Public expenditure, Catholic emancipation and parlia-
nentary reform were his favourite subjects; and at the
lame time he did a large amount of writing — history,

16

232 EUSSELL

memoirs, essays, plays and translations all occupying Ms
attention. Few of his literary productions got him much
celebrity, but they enlarged his mind and developed his
talents.

In 1819 he made his first important speech on parlia-
mentary reform, which he then continued to press forward
year after year with unabated energy. With hardly less
patience and pertinacity he urged the claims of the Catholics
for relief from civil disabilities. He had to wait a long time
before he got any results, but in 1821 he managed to have
the corrupt borough of Grampound disfranchised, and in
1828 he succeeded in making the Tory government repeal
the Test and Corporation Acts. He had in the meanwhile
gained a considerable name as a speaker, and when in 1830
the Whigs at last returned to power, as one of their most
capable and active members, he was made Paymaster-
General. He was thus thirty-eight years of age before he
first received ofl&ce.

But Russell's training in opposition had been of the
highest value to him. As one of the most constant advo-
cates of parliamentary reform. Grey selected him to be a
member of the small committee which drew up the Reform
Bill, and to him was confided the duty of pUotiag it through
the House of Commons. On March 1, 1831, he iutroduced
his propositions amidst breathless silence, which was at
length broken by peals of contemptuous laughter from the
Opposition as he read the list of the hundred and ten
boroughs which were condemned to partial or entire dis-
franchisement.* But he carried out his difficult task with
such courage and ability that after the general election
which ensued on the bill's first defeat in 1831, Grey asked
him to join the Cabinet. Again he introduced the bill
in the face of considerable hostility, and this time it was
carried by a large majority. " Lord John," said the Duke
of Wellington, " is a host in himself."! When eventually,
after the long fight with the House of Lords, the Reform
Bill became law, Russell found himself one of the most
popular men in England. He never afterwards attained
* Macaulay, " Letters," i. 173. f Jennings, 276.

HOME SECRETARY 233

!0 high a place in the estimation of the public. Even at
;his stage of his career he was difficult to deal with, and
ilready in 1832 he thought of resigning on the question of
[rish Church reform. Two yearsj later he carried his
)pposition so far as to speak against the government on
;he same subject, and his action, which had much to do
Nith Grey's retirement, led to Stanley's famous remark:
' Johnny has upset the coach."*

For a few months Melbourne now became Prime Minister,
md on Althorp's removal to the House of Lords he re-
jommended to the King that Russell should take over
;he lead in the House of Commons. To this suggestion
iVilliam IV. was strongly opposed. " His Majesty," said
Melbourne, " stated without reserve his opinion that he
Lord John) had not the abilities nor the influence which
(ualified him for the task, and observed that he would
aake a wretched figure when opposed by Sir Robert Peel
,nd Mr. Stanley. . . . His Majesty had further objections.
le considered Lord John Russell to have pledged himself
o certain encroachments upon the Church, which His
lajesty had made up his mind and expressed his deter-
aination to resist."!

Shortly afterwards the Whig government was dismissed,
nd Peel became Prime Minister. Early in 1835, however,
lelbourne returned to office, and Russell was then appointed
lome Secretary and leader of the House of Commons,
n the same year, when he was nearly forty-three, he
aarried his first wife, Adelaide, daughter of Thomas Lister,
f Armitage Park, in Staffordshire, widow of the second
lOrd Ribblesdale. She died three years later, leaving two
aughters.

At first Russell had a good deal to contend with. He
^as not particularly popular in the House nor very easy
ith his colleagues. The King disliked him, and did not
esitate to show it, though he gradually came to recognize
.ussell's merits and sincerity. After a time matters went
tore smoothly. Russell was a thoroughly capable minister,
jen and industrious, though handicapped by his health.
* Jennings, 378, note. f Walpole, " Russell," i. 208.

234 KUSSELL

He interested himself especially in Ireland and was the
means of passing several acts of benefit to that country,
but his impatience became more pronoimced and he was
still a very uncertain quantity in the Cabinet. His careless-
ness about conciliating his Radical followers and his
supercilious manners often gave ofience. Lord Lytton in
the " New Timon " wrote of him:

" Next, cool and all unconscious of reproach,
Comes the calm ' Johnny, who upset the coach.'
How formed to lead, if not too proud to please —
His fame would fire you, but his manners freeze.
Like or dislike, he does not care a jot:
He wants your vote, but your affections not;
Yet human hearts need sun, as well as oats.
So cold a climate plays the deuce with votes :
And, while his doctrines ripen day by day,
His frost-nipped party pines itself away."*

In 1839 the government were compelled to resign, from
not being supported in a division by the Radicals. Owing,
however, to Sir Robert Peel being imable to satisfy the
Queen on the Bedchamber question, Melbourne resumed
the seals, though much weakened in power and prestige.
Russell now took the Colonial Ofl&ce. A year later he
was again at variance with his chief, this time on accoimt
of Palmerston's foreign policy in the Near East. Again
he threatened resignation, but by Melbourne's tact and
the Queen's pressure he was induced to remain. Palmer-
ston's independent methods of conducting the business of
the Foreign Ofl&ce much disturbed him, and he put his
opinions on paper.

" November 19, 1840.

" My dear Melbourne,

" In the days of Lord Grey, every important note
was carefully revised by him, and generally submitted to
the Cabinet. As Paymaster of the Forces, I then had more
information and more power of advising than I have now.
At present I receive the most important despatches in a
printed form some days after they are sent. . . .

" Now it cannot, of course, be expected that I am to
* Walpole, " Russell," i. 304-305.

PRIME MINISTER 235

defend in the House of Commons acts which I have not
dvised, and of which the editors (of newspapers) are as
ognisant as myself. . . .

" To this day I am not aware what was written to Lord
Jranville in consequence of our two Cabinet meetings.

" All this is very unpleasant, but I think it best to tell
'ou what I feel. I beg, however, that you will not send
his letter to Palmerston. « y . i

" J. Russell."*

In 1841 Russell married as his second wife Lady Fanny
SUiot, daughter of Gilbert, Earl of Miuto. He then left
he house in Wilton Crescent which he had hitherto occupied
iud moved to Cheaham Place, to accommodate his family,
\rhich was outgrowing his means.

In the summer of 1841 the Whig government fell, and
5ir Robert Peel took ofl&ce. He at once began that course
)f liberal legislation about which it was said " that he had
iaught the Whigs bathing and walked away with their
!lothes."t He initiated his comprehensive measures for
ihe reorganization and repeal of the Com Laws, measures
n which many of Russell's followers were only too ready
io concur. Russell himself was in sympathy with him,
md when in December 1845 Peel resigned in consequence
)f differences with his colleagues as to the repeal of the Corn
Daws, it was for Russell that the Queen sent. He writes to
liis wife on December 11 from Osborne: " Well, I am here,
md have seen her Majesty. It is proposed to me to form
1 government; and nothing can be more gracious than the
manner iu which this has been done. Likewise, Sir Robert
Peel has placed his views on paper, and they are such as
p-ery much to facilitate my task."|

Russell found it impossible, however, to combine a
nainistry, and Peel eventually returned to office. But
six months later Peel was definitely defeated, and on
June 28, 1846, Russell became Prime Minister. At this time
tie was not particularly well off, and early in the next year

* Walpole, " Russell," i. 363. f Jennings, 317.

t Walpole, "RusseU,"i. 410.

236 RUSSELL

the Queen offered him Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park,
a delightful house which he kept for the rest of his life.

His ministry was at first popular and successful, its only
discordant note being the rather questionable manner
in which Palmerston carried on the work of the Foreign
Ofl&ce without consulting the Queen or his colleagues
in the Cabinet as much as he might have done. Russell
usually agreed with Palmerston's policy, but the Queen and
the Priace Consort often did not. Her Majesty took
exception to the way in which despatches were sent off or
altered without her approval, and on the point of form
Russell held a similar view. Thus dissensions arose.

The various revolutions in Europe in 1848 emphasized
the different attitudes of the Queen and her Foreign
Secretary, and a correspondence began to pass between him,
the court and the Prime Minister, which gradually became
acrimonious. In this dispute, which eventually led to a
break between Russell and Palmerston, public opinion was
generally with the latter. The policy of the government
was, in fact, becoming identified with him rather than with
its leader, and when in December 1851 Palmerston was
dismissed from oflS.ce ia consequence of his unauthorized
though unofl&cial approval of the new French regime.
Russell was severely shaken. Two months later, on an
amendment of Palmerston's to a militia bill, the ministry
was defeated and resigned. It had passed various liberal
measures, but its chief claim to fame in the eyes of the
country had been its conduct of foreign affairs. Russell
came in for a good deal of criticism. " Some men com-
plained that he had parted from Lord Palmerston; others
that he had endured him too long : some that he had in-
troduced a Reform Bill; others that his measure had not
been larger."*

Punch, parodying the " Ancient Mariner," wrote at this
time :

" Grumbling, grumbling everywhere.

And aU my friends did shrink —

Grumbling, grumbling everywhere,

A fact that none could blink.

* Walpole, " Eussell," ii. 151.

F. Grant pinx.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL

AFTERWARDS EARL EDSSELL

To face page 236

COALITION GOVEKNMENT 237

Ah, well-a-day in what bad books
I was with old and young ;
And by everyone Lord Palmerston
Into my teeth was flung."*

Lord Derby now formed a government, which survived
for ten months, when it was defeated on the budget. In
the meantime negotiations had been going on between the
Liberals and the Peelites, and on Derby's resignation the
Queen, as a compromise, sent for Lord Aberdeen. She wrote
to Russell on December 19, 1852, as follows:

" The Queen has to-day charged Lord Aberdeen with the
duty of forming an administration, which he has accepted.
The Queen thinks the moment to have arrived when a popu-
lar, efficient, and durable government could be formed by
the sincere and united efforts of all parties professing Con-
servative and Liberal opinions. The Queen, knowing that
this can only be effected by the patriotic sacrifice of personal
interests and feelings to the public, trusts that Lord John
Russell will, as far as he is able, give his valuable and
powerful assistance to the realization of this object."!

To this rather impalatable proposal Russell was willing
to agree. There was considerable difficulty in arranging the
different posts in the Cabinet so as to suit all the interests
concerned. At last it was settled that Russell, who had
been a few weeks at the Foreign Office, should lead in the
Commons, without holding any other place, while Palmer-
ston took the Home Office, and Clarendon became Foreign
Secretary. The ministry started well, but, like most
coalitions, it had the elements of disruption iu it. The
Whigs and the Peelites were jealous, Palmerston still took
an interest in foreign affairs and was by far the strongest
man in the government, while Russell was inclined to
resent his own diminished position. It was the eve of the
Crimean War. Aberdeen would not take sufficiently active
measures, though Palmerston and Russell continually urged
him to do so. The counsels of the Cabinet swayed from
side to side. Russell then had to drop his new Reform BiQ,
which mortified him. very much, and in 1854 he threatened
* Walpole, " Eussell," ii. 151. t ^i^; "• 161.

238 KUSSELL

to withdraw from the ofl&ce of Lord President whicli he
had latterly held. Gradually he became more and more
dissatisfied with the government's policy, and in January
1855 he definitely resigned. Immediately afterwards
Aberdeen himself followed suit. Derby, Lansdowne and
Russell were then each asked to form a government, but
they all failed, and it was clear that Palmerston alone could
lead with any prospect of success. Russell's uncertain
conduct had lost him his popularity, and the coimtry felt
that a strong and decided man was needed to deal with the
war. After a short delay Palmerston accordingly became
Prime Minister. At first Russell would not accept ofiice
in his government, but he agreed to go and represent Great
Britain at the Vienna Conference, and promised that after-
wards he would take the Colonial Ofiice. His mission at
Vienna lasted imtil the summer, but it was not felicitous,
for he took a different view from Lord Clarendon, the
Foreign Secretary, as to the procedure to be pursued. In
consequence there was a considerable outcry against him
in England, partly no doubt uninformed and unfair, but
sufficient to make his presence in the Cabinet embarrassing,
A motion of want of confidence in his conduct was pro-
posed, and in July 1855 he retired, though he continued
to support the ministry.

For some years he now turned again to literature, and
during this time he produced his best known work, the
" Life of Charles James Fox." But he still made incursions
into politics and was often a thorn in Palmerston's side.
In the latter's defeat in 1858 Russell was not unconcerned.
Two years later, however, he joined Palmerston's second
administration as Foreign Secretary. Shortly afterwards,
in 1861, he was created a peer as Earl Russell, his age and
health inducing him to seek some relaxation from the
heavy work in the House of Commons.

Until Palmerston's death RusseU was now entirely
occupied with the business of his own department and with
the lead in the House of Lords. His management of
foreign affairs was not particularly successful, though Lord
Derby's criticisms were perhaps too severe. " The foreign

PRIME MINISTER AGAIN 239

policy of the noble earl," he said, " as far as the principle
of non-intervention is concerned, may be summed up in
two truly expressive words — meddle and muddle. During
the whole course of his diplomatic correspondence, wherever
he has interfered — ^and he has interfered everywhere — he
has been lecturing, scolding, blustering, and — retreating."*

In 1862 Lord Russell received the Garter, and in October
1865, on Lord Palmerston's death, he again became Prime
Minister. But his capacity for leadership was gone and
his powers were failing. Eight months later, on a hostile
division, he resigned, leaving office finally in June, 1866,
when almost seventy-four years of age. For some time
he still interested himself in politics and literature, but
he gradually became decrepit and was compelled to cease
from active work. He passed his later years at Richmond,
and died in May 1878. He left several children by both
his marriages and has male descendants now living.

Lord Russell's personal appearance was against him.
His face was pale and drawn. He had a massive head
and broad shoulders, but his body was disproportionately
short and small. AU his life he siifiered from a poor diges-
tion, which explained many of his defects. " His outward
form," says a contemporary, " was frail and weakly; his
countenance sicklied over with the effects of ill-health and
soHtary self-commiming; his figure shrunken below the
dimensions of ordinary manhood; his general air that of a
meditative invalid. But within that feeble body was a
spirit that knew not how to cower, a brave heart that could
pulsate vehemently with large and heroical emotions, a soul
that aspired to live nobly in a proud and right manly career.
His voice was weak, his accent mincing with affectation,
his elocution broken, stammering and uncertain, save
when in a few lucky moments his tongue seemed unloosed
and there came rushing from his lips a burst of epigram-
matic sentences — logical, eloquent, and terse, and oc-
casionally vivified by the fire of genius. "f But though
as a speaker Russell was rarely powerful, of ten halting and
cold, in retort he was very ready. Sir Francis Burdett,
* Jennings, 314. f Ibid , 279.

240 EUSSELL

who had turned from Radical to Tory, once took occasion
after a speech of Russell's to sneer at his " cant of
patriotism/' " I quite agree," said Lord John, " with the
honourable baronet that the cant of patriotism is a very
offensive thing. But I can teU him a worse — ^the recant
of patriotism."*

His preoccupation was remarkable. Once at a Court
Ball he was sitting next to the Duchess of Sutherland in front
of the fire. He suddenly rose, left her without saying a
word and went and sat down ia another part of the room
next to the Duchess of Inverness. This change of place
was noticed by many of those present, and was thought to
indicate some quarrel. A friend said to him that he hoped
there was nothmg in it. " Not at all," said Russell; " it
was only that the fire was too hot." " I hope you told the
Duchess of Sutherland the reason why you got up and left
her," said the friend. " Oh no," said Lord John, " I
didn't, but I told the Duchess of Inverness."*

His liberalism, though sound, was not extreme. He
followed the opinions of Fox — " that men are entitled to
equal rights, but to equal rights to unequal things."!
Universal suffrage he opposed, and he never pursued peace
with the intensity of Aberdeen, though for the old traditions
of the Whigs he had a thorough veneration. But he was
hampered by a curious inclination to criticize or even
to controvert his best friends and allies. He was always
resigning and always at the most awkward junctures.
Sidney Herbert once said of him: " Lord John drops his
resolutions as if they were his coUeagues."J This habit, for
it became very nearly a habit, undoubtedly laid him open
to the imputation of playing for his own hand, and he
suffered for it materially, for he had frequently to change
his constituencies. In later life, after he had been
Prime Minister, it was perhaps natural for him to hesitate
about serving xmder Aberdeen or Palmerston, but his
general attitude towards his party was never very genial.
Constant indisposition and pressure of circumstances
probably embittered a rather jealous temperament.
* Russell, " Collections," 16-18 (sense), f Jennings, 279. J Ibid., 282.

HIS CHAEACTER 241

As an old man lie took more generous views. Not long
before his death, he wrote of himself: " To speak of my own
work, I can only rejoice that I have been allowed to have
my share in the task accomplished in the half-century
which has elapsed from 1819 to 1869. My capacity, I
always felt, was very inferior to that of the men who have
attained in past times the foremost place in our Parliament,
and in the councils of our Sovereign. I have committed
many errors, some of them very gross blunders. But the
generous people of England are always forbearing and
forgiving to those statesmen who have the good of their
country at heart. Like my betters, I have been misrepre-
sented and slandered by those who know nothing of me;
but I have been more than compensated by the confidence
and the friendship of the best men of my own political
connection, and by the regard and favourable interpretation
of my motives which I have heard expressed by my generous
opponents from the days of Lord Castlereagh to those of
Mr. Disraeli."*

Russell had the difficult task of combiniag under one
flag the old Whigs and the new Radicals. He lacked the
debonair charm of Melbourne, the cheery pugnacity of
Palmerston and the inspiring eloquence of Gladstone.
He had no gifts of face or fortune to help him, and little
of that spirit of compromise which in some hands can so
often oil the wheels of politics. Yet with all these dis-
advantages and with singularly able competition on his
own side and that of his opponents, he succeeded in per-
forming remarkable services to his country. To a large
extent he may be called the founder of modern Liberalism.

Such were the reformers, Tory and Whig. They had
formidable foes to encounter, they made many mistakes,
but they laid the axe to the roots of the tree of privilege,
that steady growth of centuries, and within a few decades
pocket boroughs and patent places, golden prebends and
purchased colours, were to fall to the ground and to vanish
in a holocaust of repeal.

* JeDuings, 283.

CHAPTEE XII
THE LAST WHIGS

MELBOURNE AND PALMERSTON

Oliver Ceomwell's attempts to introduce a less aristo-
cratic style into the government of England were not an
unqualified success, and at the Restoration the old ruling
caste easily resumed its position of an imperium in imperio,
an oligarchy within the narrow ranks of an exclusive society.
The vagaries of James II. made this an essentially Whig
connection, founded on a few powerful and wealthy ducal
houses, cemented by their influence in Parliament and
buttressed by the sober-minded Kings who had been im-
ported from overseas. The glories of Marlborough, the
abilities of Walpole and the boroughs of Newcastle
developed their control to such an extent that for the first
sixty years of the eighteenth century the Whigs had an
almost permanent hold on ofl&ce. Then a fortuitous
combination of events began to sap and shatter their
strength. The policy of George III. and of Pitt at home,
that of Robespierre and of Bonaparte abroad, reduced
them to impotence. For sixty years they were ostracized,
and when at last they came back to power they had the
seeds of dissolution in them. With their former policy they
had retained their archaic traditions of family connection,
by which practically every Whig Prime Minister had been
related or allied more or less closely to his predecessors.
The pure ichor that ran in their veins could not be con-
taminated by a transfusion of baser blood. This principle
of political afl&nity was adhered to by Grey, and was
singularly epitomized by Melbourne and Palmerston, with
whom the old Whig party may be said to have come to an

242

FAMILY TRADITION 243

en(L Its illustration deserves record. Lord Melbourne
was a brother-in-law of Lord Palmerston. His wife was a
cousin of Lord Grey's wife and of the Duke of Portland's
wife, who was herself a daughter of the Duke of Devonshire.
Through Lord Egremont, Melbourne was himself a cousin
of Lord Grenville, and so was connected with George
Grenville, Lord Chatham and Pitt. Both his wife and his
mother were great-nieces of Lord Rockingham's sisters.
Rockingham was a cousin of Pelham's daughter, and
Pelham was brother to the Duke of Newcastle and brother-
in-law to Lord Townshend, who stood in the same relation
to Walpole. Thus in four generations Melbourne's col-
lateral ancestry included a dozen Whig Prime Ministers,
all of them, with the exception of Chatham, nobly born
and nearly all of them rich.

Despite their long exile in the wilderness of opposition
the Whigs still stuck to their old system and allowed
hardly any outsider within the charmed circle. They pre-
sented to democracy a much closer corporation, a far more
adamantine ring than did the Tories. New men such as
Canning, Peel and Disraeli were thus able to lead the
party of privilege forty years before Gladstone was admitted
to a similar position in the party of progress. This limpet-
like adherence to what had come to be regarded as fossilized
methods was a serious shock to the younger generation,
and it had much to do with the final disappearance of the
Whigs from practical politics. They had outlived their
utility, and their most pious hopes of earlier days were soon
to be outstripped by the Liberals who supplanted them.
History had left them behind.

When the rival names were first coined, a Whig had
meant a Scots Presbyterian rebel and a Tory an Irish
Papist outlaw. Neither description was complimentary
or strictly accurate, but each contained some germs of
truth. Roughly speaking, the former party supported the
Parliament, while the latter swore by the King. As time
went on these tenets became modified, but their general
idea remained comparatively constant. The Whigs repre-
sented the great landowners and commerce. They wanted

244 MELBOURNE

peace and a little progress. Tte Tories stood for the smaller
squires and the Churcli. They liked extreme stability with
a dash of adventure. Later on the Whigs split into two
sections, one advocating reform from above, the other reform
from below. Rockingham embodied the first and Chatham
the second programme. Neither succeeded, the party was
broken up and the Tories ruled for half a century. When,
with the advent of Grey, the more liberal policy prevailed,
it came too late to benefit its promoters; the times had
changed; the Radicals had arisen, and the old Whigs
gradually sank into a limbo of obscurity from which they
have never emerged. They became the shade of an
almost forgotten name,

I.— MELBOURNE

The Hon. William Lamb, afterwards second Viscount
Melbourne, was born at Brocket Hall, in Hertfordshire,* on
the 15th of March, 1779, the second son of Peniston, the first
viscount, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Ralph
Milbanke, a Yorkshire baronet. His putative father was
the son of Sir Matthew Lamb, a Southwell attorney who
had amassed a large fortune in his profession, not always, it
was said, by the most scrupidous methods. The latter's
son, Peniston Lamb, had been a constant supporter of Lord
North's administration. For his services he was raised to
the Irish peerage ia 1770, advanced to a viscounty eleven
years later, and in 1815 given an English barony.
There was, however, a general belief that William Lamb's
real father was George Wjnidham, third Earl of Egremont,
whom he strongly resembled in appearance and who had
been passionately in love with his mother. She had been
a lady who possessed great attractions and numerous
admirers, iacluding the Prince of Wales. Byron called her
" a sort of modern Aspasia." There was therefore
considerable colour in the supposition and, if it was
correct. Lamb had inherited the blood of the Wjmdhams,
one of the most distinguished families in eighteenth-century
politics, and was a cousin of the Grenvilles.

* Or at Melbourne Hall on March ISth. Dunkley, 12.

EARLY LIFE 245

Lamb was educated at Eton, where he was in Sixth
Form, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the
Declamation Prize, taking his degree in 1799. Five years
later he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and he held
a solitary guinea brief at the Lancashire sessions. The
appearance of his name upon it, he used to say, gave him
the highest feeling of triumphant satisfaction that he had
ever experienced in his life, far more than his appointment
as Prime Minister.*

In 1805 his elder brother died, and Lamb became his
father's heir. He then married Lady Caroline Ponsonby,
the youngest daughter of Frederick, third Earl of Bess-
borough. She was nineteen years of age, and as beautiful
as she was talented. By this alliance he became connected
with the great Whig families of Spencer and Cavendish.
In the same year his sister Amelia, who was many years
later to become Lady Palmerston, married Earl Cowper,
another powerful Whig. Lamb's political associations were
thus cast on the Liberal side, and when in 1806 he was
elected member for Leominster he attached himself to
Lord Grenville, who was then Prime Minister. His
party had been for twenty-four years in opposition, and
after this single year in ofl&ce they were to repeat that
experience.

At first Lamb was by no means an ardent politician, for
the claims of society attracted him more, and it was there
that he made his earliest reputation. He was, however,
a strong supporter of Catholic emancipation, and this
unpopular view cost him his seat at the general election of
1812, after which he remained out of Parliament for about
four years. But in 1816 he was returned for Northampton,
a constituency that he subsequently exchanged for Hert-
fordshire. For some time his family affairs had caused
him trouble. His only son was an imbecile, and his wife
had become infatuated with Lord Byron and had published
a novel in which the poet figured as the hero. Matters
dragged on from bad to worse until Lady Caroline's mind
became affected, and in 1825 she was separated from her
* Hayward, i. 255.

246 MELBOURNE

husband. The afiair caused great pain to Lamb and
embittered much of his life.

But during all these years he had not been idle. Office
was closed to the Whigs, but there were other spheres in
which he shone. At the Eegent's court and in the intel-
lectual circles of London; at Carlton and Holland Houses;
as a wit and a cynic, a lover of ladies and a centre of fashion,
he was as prominent as he was popular. In his own home,
though his domestic life was shattered, he became an in-
dustrious, profound and versatile student, and amassed a
store of information and of philosophy that were to serve
him well in years to come. Castlereagh used to say of him
that he might become Prime Minister if he would only shake
off his easy ways and set about it.* His natiural qualities
equalled his attainments. " Bound to succeed, and to
succeed easily," says Mr. Lytton Strachey, " he was gifted
with so fine a nature that success became him. His mind
at once supple and copious, his temperament at once calm
and sensitive, enabled him not merely to work but to live
with perfect facility and with the grace of strength."!

When in 1822 Canning became Foreign Secretary, Lamb
was offered a small post in the government, which he
refused, and it was not until five years later, when Canning
became Prime Minister, that he first took any office. He
was not at the moment in Parliament and he was already
forty-eight, as late an age as any Prime Minister began
official life, but he had always been an admirer of Canning,
and he agreed to accept the place of Irish Secretary.
When his name was proposed to George IV. the King said:
" William Lamb — ^William Lamb: put him anywhere you
like."J

Lamb remained in Ireland for nearly a year, through the
successive ministries of Canning and Goderich, and at first
he consented to stay on under the Duke of Wellington.
But a few months later he resigned with the rest of the
Canningites, directly it was certain that the policy of the
government was to be purely Tory.

In July 1828 his father died, and he succeeded to the
* Hayward. i. 257. f Strachey, 60. X Torrens, i. 223.

r. Lawrence plnx.

WILLIAM LAMB

-2nd viscount MELBOURNE

To face page m

PEIME MINISTER 247

peerage and a considerable fortune, with Brocket Hall and
Melbourne House (now Dover House) in Whiteball. Two
years later, on tbe Whigs coming into ofl&ce, he was made
Home Secretary, and soon had his time fully occupied in
dealing with the demonstrations and riots that arose all
over England and Ireland at the time of the Reform Bill.
For this reason he was unable to take any great part in the
passage of that measure, for which, indeed, he had but little
sympathy, though he regarded it as inevitable.

On the resignation of Lord Anglesey in 1833 Melbourne
was ofiered the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, which he
declined. His abilities, his even temperament and his
wealth had marked him out for a higher position.

In July 1834 Lord Grey, weary of the quarrels of his
colleagues, determined to retire, and Melbourne was rather
unexpectedly sent for by King William. Having first
ascertained that Lord Lansdowne would not form a govern-
ment, he undertook to do so himself. His popularity had
made the way easy for him. Durham, speaking of a
possible successor to Grey, had said: " Melbourne is the
only man to be Prime Minister, because he is the only one
of whom none of us would be jealous."* But though his
ministry was almost the same as that of Lord Grey, dis-
sensions soon arose in it, due principally to the difficulties
made by Durham and Brougham and to the King's dislike
of Lord John Russell. The death of Lord Spencer and the
consequent removal of his son. Lord Althorp, to the House
of Lords deprived the government of one of its most
important members in the House of Commons, and in
November 1834 the King seized the opportunity and
suddenly dismissed his ministers. Melbourne, however,
took this "in his usual foco curante way," went off
to the play and roared with laughter.f Writing to Grey
of the King's coup, he says: " I am not surprised at his
decision, nor do I know that I can entirely condemn it."|
But in public opinion the act was considered a straining of
the prerogative, and though Sir Robert Peel was able to

* Bulwer, ii. 203, note. t Croker, ii. 245.

I Nat. Biog., xxxi. 435.

17

250 MELBOUENE

will enquire about this, in order that there maybe no neglect
on my part."*

The political history of his government was not parti-
cularly distinguished, but it carried on with moderate
success until 1839, when it was almost defeated on the
Jamaica Bill. Melbourne then resigned, but as the Queen
refused to agree to Peel's recommendations, he again
returned to office " behind the petticoats of the ladies of
the Bedchamber." The first period of his government, up
to 1837, had been fairly active, while the second, on to
1839, had been one of compromise. The third portion,
to 1841, was weak and inconclusive. No important
measures were passed, and only with considerable difficulty
could the necessary majorities be obtained. Finally, after
a vote of want of confidence, a dissolution and heavy defeats
in both Houses, Melbourne resigned in August 1841. Soon
afterwards he had a slight seizure and his activity diminished.
He continued to act as leader of the Opposition for a short
time, but he gradually relinquished that post to Lansdowne
and then took much less interest in politics. In 1846, on
the Whigs returning to power, Eussell became Prime
Minister, but Melbourne was not asked to join the govern-
ment, an omission which he felt a good deal. After this
he kept more and more in retirement, his health becoming
very feeble, until in November 1848 he died at Brocket,
an almost forgotten man. His wife had predeceased him,
and he left no surviving issue. His title became extinct,
but his property passed to his sister. Lady Palmerston.

In appearance Melbourne was a strikingly good-looking
man, dark with somewhat foreign features, tall and well
built. Haydon the painter called him " a handsome lion."
Leslie says of him : " His head was a truly noble one. I
thinlc indeed he was the finest specimen of manly beauty
I ever saw; not only were his features eminently handsome
but his expression was in the highest degree intellectual."!
He had a joyous laugh, a deep musical voice, was free from
aU affectation, frank in manner and full of humour. His
gait and dress were at once careless and perfect, though his

* " Letters of Queen Victoria," i. 160. f Torrens, ii. 259.

AND QUEEN VICTOKIA 249

doubt the most memorable and the finest part of his career.
He modified his old free-and-easy manners, his broad con-
versation, his casual methods of business and his somewhat
cynical ideas, and entered zealously and conscientiously
on duties for which he had hardly hitherto seemed
eminently suited. Few deny that he discharged them
with the greatest tact, loyalty and sense. Some of their
correspondence illustrates the close and affectionate re-
lations between the Queen and her Prime Miaister. On New
Year's Day, 1838, he writes:

"... Lord Melbourne feels most deeply the extreme
kindness of your Majesty's expressions. Whatever may
happen in the course of events, it will always be to Lord
Melbourne a source of the most lively satisfaction to have
assisted your Majesty in the commencement of your reign,
which was not without trouble and difficulty, and your
Majesty may depend that whether in or out of office Lord
Melbourne's conduct will always be directed by the
strongest attachment to your Majesty's person, and by the
most ardent desire to promote your Majesty's interest,
which from his knowledge of your Majesty's character
and disposition Lord Melbourne feels certain will be always
identified with the interests of your people."*

Immediately after her Coronation the Queen's first letter
is to her Prime Minister:

" Buckingham Palace,
" June 29, 1838.

" The Queen is very anxious to hear if Lord Melbourne
got home safe, and if he is not tired, and quite well this
morning.

" Lord Melbourne will be glad to hear that the Queen
had an excellent night, is not the least'tired, and is perfectly
well this morning; indeed, she feels much better than she
has done for some days.

" The Queen hears that it is usual to ask for an additional
week's holidays for the boys at the various Public Schools
on the occasion of the Coronation . Perhaps Lord Melbourne
* " Letters of Queen Victoria," i. 132.

252 MELBOURNE

and always lived, lie was a Whig ; but he was a very moderate
one, abhorring all extremes, a thorough Conservative at
heart, and consequently he was only half identified in
opinion and sympathy with the party to which he belonged
when in ofl&ce."*

His remarks were often as cynical as they were amusing.
Once when there was a question of dealing with the Corn
Laws, Melbourne called up the stairs to his colleagues after
a Cabinet dinner: " Well, what are we to say about this ?
Are we going to raise the price of corn, or lower it or keep it
steady ? I don't care what we say, but we'd better all say
the same thing."! On® of his common remarks was:
" Most letters answer themselves;" while another, in reply
to the Radicals' constant requests for reforming legislation,
was: " Why not leave it alone V't

Candidates for honours he specially derided. " What
does he want now," he asked about an importunate peer;
" is it a garter for the other leg ? "§ Of the same order he said
that " its advantage was that it had no damned merit about
it." " A garter," he said, " may attach to us somebody
of consequence whom nothing else wUl reach; but what
would be the use of my taking it ? I cannot bribe myself."||
His first attack of illness he called " only a runaway knock,
but he shouldn't care to know the fellow who gave it."

But with all his airy nonchalance, his patriotism was
thoroughly straightforward. When the young Queen was
anxious for Priace Albert to be made King Consort,
Melbourne strongly dissuaded her. " For God's sake, let's
have no more of it, ma'am; for if you once get the English
people into the way of making kings you will get them into
the way of unmaking them."f[ To his party he was always
faithful. Dining once at Windsor in his later years, he
said to the Queen, apropos of Peel's conversion to Free
Trade: " Ma'am, it's a damned dishonest act."**

Melbourne's conduct to his Sovereign in the early years
of her long reign was an invaluable and memorable con-

* Greville, vi. 242-3. f Jennings, 231 (sense).

J Nat. Biog., xxxi. 438. § Torrens, ii. 258. || Jennings, 231.

i EusseU, " CoUections," 29. ** Strachey, 138.

HIS TASTES 251

critics found fault with them. Disraeli describes him at
Queen Victoria's coronation " with his coronet cocked over
his nose, his robes under his feet and holding the great
sword of state like a butcher."*

Melbourne's personal popularity, his good company and
his amusing conversation contributed largely to his political
advancement, for neither as an orator nor a statesman did
he show any special talents. In business he had the re-
putation of being idle, but he always knew his subject,
though he often liked to pretend that he did not. His easy,
genial and witty manners and his knowledge of the world
and of human nature supplied the want of other gifts.
" Ability," he once said, " is not everything. Propriety
of conduct — the verecundia — should be combined with
the ingenium to make a great man and a statesman, "f

As to his literary tastes, Greville says that " He lived
surrounded by books and nothing prevented him, even
when Prime Minister and with all the calls on his time to
which he was compelled to attend, from reading every new
publication of interest or merit, as well as frequently
revelling among the favourite authors of his early studies." J
It was by this omnivorous reading that he acquired the
" vast fund of miscellaneous knowledge with which his
conversation was always replete and which, mixed up with
his characteristic peculiarities, gave an extraordinary zest
and pungency to his society. His memory was extremely
retentive and amply stored with choice passages of every
imaginable variety, so that he could converse learnedly
upon almost all subjects and was never at a loss for copious
illustrations, amusing anecdotes and happy quotations."^
The same writer says of his politics: " He never was really
well fitted for political life, for he had a great deal too much
candour and was too fastidious to be a good party man.
. . . And still less was he fit to be the leader of a party
and the head of a government, for he had neither the
strong convictions nor the eager ambition nor the firmness
and resolution which such a post requires: from education
and turn of mind and from the society in which he was bred
* Buckle, ii. 32. f Jennings, 228. % Greville, vi. 243.

254 PALMERSTON

II.— PALMERSTON

The Hon. Henry John Temple, afterwards third Viscount
Palmerston, was born at Broadlands, near Romsey, on the
20th of October, 1784, the eldest son of Henry, the second
viscount, by Mary, daughter of Benjamin Mee of Bath, a
lady of considerable personal attraction and fortune. The
Temples were originally an English stock, but they had
been much connected with Ireland in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Sir John Temple was Speaker of the
Irish House of Commons, and his brother. Sir William,
Master of the Rolls. In 1722 the family had received an
Irish peerage. The second Lord Palmerston, who was
settled in Hampshire and sat in the English House of
Commons for forty years, attained little distinction in
politics, but he and his wife were persons of taste and
fashion. They travelled abroad, spent a good deal of
money and were hospitable and popular figures in society.
Henry Temple was for some time in Italy as a child,
but in 1795 he was sent to Harrow, where Aberdeen and
■ Althorp were his schoolfellows. There, according to a
contemporary account, he was thought the best-tempered
and most plucky boy in the school, though he achieved
no classical successes. In 1800 he went on to Edinburgh to
attend the lectures, and he subsequently proceeded to
St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his degree
jure natalium.

In 1802 he succeeded his father, when he was only
seventeen years of age. Lord MaLmesbury and Lord
Chichester being left as his guardians. He had selected
politics as his profession, and he made three unsuccessful
attempts to get into Parliament. Of the first of these, at
Cambridge, Byron wrote :

" Then would I view each rival wight,
Petty and Palmerston survey,
Who canvass there, with all their might.
Against the next elective day."*

* Byron, " Hours of Idleness."

HIS CHAKACTEE 253

tribution to the good of the State, With, consummate
art he guided her mind into the constitutional way of
government, firmly withstanding the arbitrary influences
to which she might have been exposed. On these grounds
he deserves a fame which might otherwise have been denied
him. Without much wish or call for self-restraint, he
might easily have been a mere man of pleasure. Born
to looks, wit, fortune and place, he yet led a life that in
many ways was sad and solitary. His wife's vagaries and
misfortunes, and the ill-health of his only son had taken
all the heart out of him. He became pensive, cynical and
seeming to care for things much less than he really did, for
Lady Palmerston, his sister, who knew him best, always
Said that earnestness was the essential element of his
character. The opportunity of teaching his young Sovereign
how to reign, of lavishing his affection and experience upon
her, came as his salvation, and he nobly redeemed his
career.

As a man he had probably the most attractive
personality of all the Prime Ministers. He was loyal,
learned and infinitely entertaining, a scholar, a gentleman
and a patriot. It is true that he lacked energy, afiected
indolence and was often content to let things slide, but he
was a conscientious supporter of the policy bequeathed
him by Grey. He transmitted from the old Whigs to the
new Liberals the tradition of a quiet government of
reasonable progress. He avoided antagonizing the Con-
servatives, on whom the full meaning of the Reform Bill
had just dawned, and curbed the passions of the Radicals,
who were so anxious to cull its earliest fruits. At the
precise moment that he led his party he was just the man
required, one whose glove was more felt than his hand,
though his light touch and easy grasp concealed its strength,
sense and sincerity. His motto, like that of a previous
and similar age, was

" Misce still titiam consiliis brevem,
Dulce est desipere in loco,"

but his counsel was as sound as his folly was attractive.

256 PALMERSTON

had been re-elected there several times, but in 1826 the
government candidates were allowed to stand against him.
He appealed to his chief, the Prime Minister, but could get
no redress. After a hard fight he succeeded in keepiag his
seat, mainly by the help of the Whigs, but he much resented
the Tories' action in the matter. " I told Lord Liverpool,"
he says, " that if I was beat I should quit the government.
This was the first decided step towards a breach between
me and the Tories, and they were the aggressors."*

In AprU 1827 Canniag became Prime Minister. Palmer-
ston, who had now been twenty years in the government,
was put into the Cabiaet and was again offered the post of
Chancellor of the Exchequer. This time he accepted, but
soon afterwards Canning receded from his promise, saying
that he must keep the place for himself. He suggested,
however, that Palmerston should be Governor-General of
India. This Palmerston did not want, preferring to remain
on in his old place of Secretary at War . In August Canning
died and Goderich succeeded him. Like his predecessor,
he also offered the Exchequer to Palmerston, but again
the offer fell through and the post was given to Herries,
largely owing to the interference of the King, who disliked
Palmerston. In his account of the Privy Council at
Windsor Palmerston says: " Goderich then asked the King
if he would not see me and explain the matter to me. I
went in; and George assured me how much esteem and
regard he felt for me, and how happy he should have been
to have had my services at the Exchequer if he had not had
the good fortune of obtaining those of Mr. Herries, un-
questionably the fittest man in England for the office. I
bowed, entirely acquiesced, and thanked His Majesty for
the gracious and flattering manner in which he had spoken
to me."t

When the Duke of Wellington came into office early in
1828 Palmerston and the other Canningites stayed on with
him for a few months, but they then left on the East Retford
disfranchisement question, as it was clear that the govern-
ment was committed to a thoroughly Tory policy. Palmer-
* Bulwer, i. 154, 155. f 1^^., i. 378; Wolf, 397.

EARLY OFFICE 255

In April, 1807, when he was twenty-two, he was ap-
pointed a Junior Lord of the Admiralty, through Lord
Malmesbury's interest with the Duke of Portland, and
shortly afterwards was elected member for Newport in the
Isle of Wight. His abilities were as promising as his
friends. On the resignation and death of Portland in
October, 1809, Perceval sent for Palmerston, then only just
twenty-five, and offered him the post of Chancellor of the
Exchequer. Palmerston wisely refused. Writing to Lord
Malmesbury, he says : " Of course one's vanity and ambition
would lead to accept the brilliant offer first proposed; but
it is throwing for a great stake, and where much is to be
gained, very much also may be lost."* He accepted, how-
ever, the ofl&ce of Secretary at War, which dealt with the
finances of the Army and was quite separate from the
Cabinet place of Secretary for War and the Colonies. It
obtained for him admission to the Privy Council. In this
post he remained for nearly nineteen years, the part of his
life during which he was a professed Tory.

Palmerston now devoted himself to his work as an
official and a landlord; to making occasional speeches on
a few subjects in the House of Commons; and to going
into society, where he was much sought for and extremely
popular. He was content to limit himself to his own
duties and showed little signs of ambition or excessive
energy, though there was one question, that of Catholic
emancipation, which he always supported actively.
During Liverpool's long administration he was successively
offered the pk.ce of Chief Secretary for Ireland, one of the
governorships in India, with the eventual promise of the
Viceroyalty, and the post of Postmaster-General with a
British peerage. All these he declined, being content to
lead his regular life in London, at Broadlands and in
Ireland, superintending his estates and his racing stables,
mixing with his friends and conducting the affairs of his
department. Thus for the first half of his career he took
no prominent part in politics, although he had plenty
of opportunities of doing so.

Since 1811 he had sat for Cambridge University, and
* Bulwer, i. 92.

268 PALMERSTON

later the King suddenly dismissed the ministers. Palmer-
ston, writing to his brother on November 16, says :

" We are all out ; turned out neck and crop. Wellington
is Prime Minister, and we give up the seals, etc., to-morrow
at St. James's at two. . , . This attempt to reinstall the
Tories cannot possibly last; the country will not stand it;
the House of Commons will not bear it ! . . . I shall now
go down to Broadlands and get some hunting; and if
Parliament is not dissolved may perhaps run over to Paris
for three weeks in January."*

His forecast was correct. Early in 1835 Peel was com-
pelled to resign. Melbourne returned to the Treasury and
Palmerston to the Foreign Office. He had lost his seat at
the election of 1834, but he now reappeared as member for
Tiverton. He had not so far made many political allies
among the Whigs, though Melbourne was his close friend.
Fully occupied with the business of his own department,
he had comparatively few opportunities of distinguishing
himself in the House of Commons, but on his own ques-
tions he was supreme, and during the next six years his
reputation was immensely advanced. His policy as regards
Continental relations was modelled on that of Canning —
the maintenance of England's position in general support
of freedom — and he was determined to make her a principal
figure in Europe, feared and respected by all.

In the eleven years of his control of the Foreign Office
from 1830 to 1841 he had, in the words of Sanders, " raised
the prestige of England to a height which she had not
occupied since Waterloo. He had created Belgium, saved
Portugal and Spain from absolutism, rescued Turkey from
Russia and the highway to India from France."!

At the end of 1839 he had at last taken to matrimony,
having married at the age of fifty-five Lord Melbourne's
sister, the Dowager Countess Cowper, a lady a few years
younger than himself. She was a famous hostess, distin-
guished by her charm, intellect and experience, and she
materially assisted her husband in his work. Their home
at Cambridge House, Piccadilly, now the Naval and Military
* Bulwer, ii. 207. f Nat. Biog., Ivi. 22.

FOREIGN SECRETARY 257

ston's views had for some time been approximating to those
of the moderate Whigs, and in January of this year he had
written of the latter to his brother : " I very sincerely regret
their loss, as I like them much better than the Tories and
agree with them much more."*

In 1830 Wellington approached both Melbourne and
Palmerston and asked them to join his government, but
this they declined to do unless Grey and Lansdowne were
brought in also. Croker was sent by the Duke to see
Palmerston in order to get him to reconsider this decision.
Palmerston recounts the interview in his diary: " Croker
said, ' Well, I will bring the matter to a point. Are you
resolved or are you not to vote for parliamentary reform V
I said, ' I am.' ' Well then,' said he, ' there is no use in
talking to you any more on this subject. You and I,
I am grieved to see, shall never again sit on the same bench
together.' "f This conversation may be said to mark
Palmerston 's definite change to the Whig side of politics.

Accordingly, when Grey soon afterwards was com-
missioned to form a government, he ofEered Palmerston
the Foreign Ofl&ce. During many years Palmerston had
interested himself in European afiairs and had kept up a
constant correspondence with his brother William Temple,
who was in the diplomatic service. He had also travelled
a good deal abroad, and had many friends on the Continent.
The Foreign OflBice was therefore a very suitable place for
him. He accepted it with pleasure, and at once plunged
into work that interested him and that he was thoroughly
competent to deal with. In a short time he became a
strong and efficient Foreign Minister and a valuable
addition to the government. One of his first acts was the
definite confirmation of Belgium's independence. It has
been cited as the most enduring monument of his policy.
Greville says that he was at this time unpopular in the
Foreign Office and with the diplomats, though few denied
his capacity and industry. Talleyrand, indeed, thought
him the most capable man in the Cabinet. J

In 1834 Melbourne succeeded Grey, and a few months
* Bulwer, i. 220. f I^'^' i- 383. % Greville, iii. 360 (sense).

260 PALMERSTON

Ambassador wittout taking the pleasure of tke Queen or
communicating with the Cabinet. It was maiataiued that
he had transgressed the royal injunctions and ignored
his colleagues, and in consequence Russell felt bound to
relieve him of his oflice. In December Palmerston ac-
cordingly left the government. It is now generally believed
that this move was a pretext to get rid of a minister who
was too democratic in his Continental policy for the abso-
lutist tendencies of the Prussian Court, of the Orleans family
and perhaps of the British Crown. Certainly his dismissal
was regarded as a blow to Liberalism all over Europe
where he was thought a devil incarnate. The Germans
used to say —

" Hat der Teufel einen Solm
So ist er sicher Palmerston."*

But Palmerston did not have to wait long for his revenge.
Two months later he moved an amendment against a
government bill on the militia. The Cabinet was defeated
and at once resigned. Palmerston remarked " I have had
my tit-for-tat with John Russell."!

Lord Derby now became Prime Minister and asked
Palmerston to join him, strongly against the Queen's
wishes. " If you do it," she said, " he will never rest till
he is your master. "J Palmerston, however, declined.
The Tories only remained in office for ten months when
their budget was thrown out and they in turn retired.

A Coalition ministry of Whigs and Peelites was then
formed under Lord Aberdeen and in this Palmerston became
Home Secretary. The work was entirely new and not of
very great interest to him, but he discharged it with the
same diligence, facility and success that he had shown in
other departments. Foreign affairs were still his principal
concern, and seeing that the government's policy on the
Eastern Question was weak and indecisive he did his best
to infuse vigour into it. But the counsels of the Coalition
Cabinet were halting and divided, and strive as he would
he could not vitalize them. To bring matters to an issue

* Nat. Biog., Ivi. 26. f Reid, " EusseU," 195.

I Buckle, iii. 343.

HIS INDEPENDENCE 259

Club, was tlie principal social and political centre in London.
Thus, when the Whig miaistry resigned in 1841 Palmerston
had risen to a very high place in the estimation of the
country. Physically he was as strenuous as he was men-
tally. In this year Lady Lyttelton records his " rowing for
two or three hours before breakfast and also . . . bathing
and swimming in the Thames at the same time of day."*

During his five years of opposition from 1841 to 1846
Palmerston took rather more interest in domestic politics
than he had done hitherto, though he kept closely in touch
with foreign affairs. In 1846 Peel resigned and Lord John
Russell became Prime Minister. He was rather nervous of
Palmerston's stalwart policy, but he reappointed him to
his old post. The revolutions of 1848 afforded the Foreign
Secretary plenty of opportunities of exercising his activity,
and his activities were not always very felicitous. He cared
very little for precedents when a principle was at stake, and
such incidents as his reception of the Hungarian revolu-
tionary leaders took away the breath of the Queen, her
Consort and her Prime Minister. These occurrences in
process of time led to difficulties and criticism. The Queen
disagreed with his policy on the Continent and further con-
sidered that she should be consulted before the despatches
were sent ofi. Russell, though he generally accepted
Palmerston's views in the main, held that his methods were
irregular and might tend to embroil the government.
Continual reprimands were sent to him from Windsor, and
eventually the Queen wrote a minute indicating the
procedure that she desired. To this Palmerston for a time
conformed, but he soon recurred to his old habits. He
was sure of the soundness of his preaching and his practice
and he knew that he had public opiuion behind him. " The
attack upon his policy had not merely failed; it had covered
him with fresh popularity. Four years of office had de-
prived him of the confidence of the Crown; but he had
gained, in exchange for it, the confidence of the people."f

In 1851 came the coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon. Of this
Palmerston privately expressed his approval to the French
* Lyttelton, 311. f Walpole, " Russell," ii. 63.

262 PALMEESTON

the purpose ; and lie trusts that he may be able in the course
of to-morrow to report to Your Majesty whether his present
expectations are in the way to be realised."*

Ten days later he writes to his brother: " A month ago
if any man had asked me to say what was one of the most
improbable events I should have said my being Prime
Minister. Aberdeen was there, Derby was head of one great
party, John Russell of the other, and yet, in about ten
days' time they all gave way like straws before the wind,
and so here am I writing to you from Downing Street as
First Lord of the Treasury."!.

He was an old man, and it was generally believed that
his health would not stand the fresh strain he had to face,
but he quickly showed himself as capable of composing a
Cabinet as he had been of directing a department. " He
was seventy-one," says Lord Morley ; " he had been nearly
forty years in office ; he had worked at the Admiralty, War
Department, Foreign Office, Home Office; he had served
under ten Prime Ministers — Portland, Perceval, Liverpool,
Canning, Goderich, Wellington, Grey, Melbourne, Eussell,
Aberdeen. . . . The press he knew how to manage. In
every art of parliamentary sleight of hand he was an expert,
and he suited the temper of the times, whUe old maxims
of government and policy were tardily expiring, and the
forces of the new era were in their season gathering to a
head."t

The situation was bad, but Palmerston rose to the
occasion. The war was brought to a conclusion, and a
satisfactory treaty of peace was signed. The Queen began
to appreciate Palmerston's abilities, and marked her altered
views by giving him the Garter. Two years later the Indian
Mutiny afforded him another opportunity of showing his
strength and discretion in a crisis. The ensuing general
election confirmed the Liberals with a large majority, and
after several easy sessions in Parliament Palmerston re-
marked that, like the Roman Consuls in a triumph, he ought

* " Letters of Queen Victoria," iii. 122. f Ashley, ii. 76.

t Morley, " Gladstone," i. 543.

PEIME MINISTER 261

he resigned his post m. December 1853. This had its effect ;
an ultimatum was sent to St. Petersburg and Palmerston
resumed his ofl&ce. He had done some good and his
bold action had confirmed his reputation. During the early
part of the Crimean War Palmerston's courage and advice
were of the highest value. The campaign, however, went
badly, the Opposition denounced the government's mis-
management and early in 1855 Russell, who was also a
member of the Cabinet, sent in his resignation. Aberdeen
followed his example, and after both Russell and Derby
had failed to form a ministry the Queen found herself
obliged to send for Palmerston. This was a tremendous
change from the attitude of three years before, but the
Queen, who had adhered to the practice of the constitution,
now recognized the popular desire. In a memorandum
of her conversation with Lord Derby on January 31, she
notes his saying " that the whole country cried out for
Lord Palmerston as the only man fit for carrying on the
war with success, and he owned the necessity of having him
in the government, were it even only to satisfy the French
government."* The Queen accordingly wrote to Palmer-
ston, who replied at once :

" 144, Piccadilly,

" February 4, 1855.

" Viscount Palmerston presents his humble duty to Your
Majesty and with a deep sense of the importance of the
commission which Your Majesty asks whether he will under-
take, he hastens to acknowledge the gracious communica-
tion which he has just had the honour to receive from Your
Majesty.

" Viscount Palmerston has reason to think that he can
undertake with a fair prospect of success to form an
Administration which will command the confidence of
parliament and effectually conduct public affairs in the
present momentous crisis, and as Your Majesty has been
graciously pleased to say that if such is his opinion. Your
Majesty authorises him to proceed immediately to the
accomplishment of the task he will at once take steps for
* " Letters of Queen Victoria," iii. 102.

''SNN"'

y. Richiii.Oii'J'del.

hbnby john temple
3ed viscount PALMEBSTON

To face page i62

264 PALMERSTON

and almost asleep. It gradually became clear that he
could not last very long, and soon after the general election
in the summer of 1865 he had a seizure. He remained on
at Brocket, and there on October 18 he was found dead
at his work. " The opened despatch box on his table, and
the unfinished letter on his desk testified that he was at his
post to the last,"* He left no issue.

Mr. Lytton Strachey in " Queen Victoria " thus describes
"the gay portentous Palmerston": "He was a tall big
man . . . with a jaunty air, a large face, dyed whiskers,
and a long sardonic upper lip. . . . He lived by instinct —
by a quick eye and a strong hand, a dexterous management
of every crisis as it arose, a half-unconscious sense of the
vital elements in a situation. He was very bold . . . but
there is a point beyond which boldness becomes rashness —
and beyond that point Palmerston never went."t

In private life he was a man of exceptional energy, a good
landlord, a keen sportsman, a genial and amusing member
of society, an excellent husband and a loyal friend. Office
he liked, regarding it as the legitimate prize of a public man,
but he never avoided its duties or responsibilities. His
management of the House of Commons was as adroit and
fortunate as his general administration. His sayings are
singularly characteristic. " I believe weakness and irre-
solution," he wrote to Stratford Canning in 1850, " are on
the whole the worst faults that a statesman can have;"{
and again : "I have never known any public men who
after a certain teniire of office did not pray to be quit of it,
nor any who, having been turned out of office, did not wish
after a very short time to get back to it."§ Of Louis
Napoleon he said: "His mind is as full of schemes as a
warren is of rabbits." He did not hesitate when necessary
to criticize his colleagues. When Gladstone opposed his
plan of fortification for the south coast Palmerston said
to the Queen : " It is better to lose Mr. Gladstone than to
lose Portsmouth and Plymouth." || Of a dull Scottish peer
who coveted an honour he remarked: " Give him the
Thistle; he is such an ass he is sure to eat it." His de-

* AsHey, ii. 273. f Stractey, 151-152. t AsUey, ii. 287.
§ Ibid., ii. 317. || Nat. Biog., Ivi. 30.

HIS SECOND MINISTEY 263

to have someone to remind him that he was not, as a
minister, immortal. Soon afterwards, on February 19,
1858, he was outvoted by a combination of parties on an
imimportant division. He had become, perhaps, a little too
self-confident, and it is said that his rather brusque and
dictatorial manner was the cause of some of his followers
not supporting him as they might have been expected to do.

Palmerston resigned and Lord Derby became Prime
Minister, remaining in power for over a year. The Tories
were then defeated, and, after Lord Granville had been
unable to form a government, Palmerston again took office,
and held his position from June 1859 until his death in
October 1865. His second ministry, however, was not
remarkable for any legislative measures of importance.
He was nearing eighty, and was content to carry on the
regular business of the coimtry, to keep his party in hand
and to maiatain his undisputed lead of the House of
Commons. The admiration that his pluck, energy and
dexterity evoked was almost universal. Lord Chancellor
Westbury, writing to him in 1860, says : " I cannot close
this note without expressing to you with the most un-
feigned sincerity my admiration of your masterly leadership
during this most difiicult session. Great knowledge, great
judgment, great temper and forbearance, infinite skill and
tact, matchless courtesy and great oratorical talent rising
with each important occasion, having in a most eminent
degree marked your conduct of the Government and your
leadership of the House of Commons."*

Palmerston, indeed, had become an institution in
the country. In 1860 one of his horses almost won the
Derby, and his name and personality were as well known
and popular as those of any man in England. Up to 1864
he rode and shot, went out to dinner and mixed in society
with his accustomed geniality and vigour. But after this
signs of failing began, for though he had an excellent con-
stitution and was temperate and healthy, his age began to
tell severely on him, and towards the end he used to sit
through the debates in the House of Commons weary
* Ashley, ii. 203, 204.

18

264 PALMERSTON

and almost asleep. It gradually became clear that lie
could not last very long, and soon after the general election
in the summer of 1865 he had a seizure. He remained on
at Brocket, and there on October 18 he was found dead
at his work. " The opened despatch box on his table, and
the unfinished letter on his desk testified that he was at his
post to the last."* He left no issue.

Mr. Lytton Strachey in " Queen Victoria " thus describes
" the gay portentous Palmerston " : " He was a tall big
man . . . with a jaunty air, a large face, dyed whiskers,
and a long sardonic upper lip. . . . He hved by instinct —
by a quick eye and a strong hand, a dexterous management
of every crisis as it arose, a half-unconscious sense of the
vital elements in a situation. He was very bold . . . but
there is a point beyond which boldness becomes rashness —
and beyond that point Palmerston never went."t

In private life he was a man of exceptional energy, a good
landlord, a keen sportsman, a genial and amusing member
of society, an excellent husband and a loyal friend. Office
he liked, regarding it as the legitimate prize of a pubUc man,
but he never avoided its duties or responsibilities. His
management of the House of Commons was as adroit and
fortunate as his general administration. His sayings are
singularly characteristic. " I believe weakness and irre-
solution," he wrote to Stratford Canning in 1850, " are on
the whole the worst faults that a statesman can have;"{
and again : " I have never known any public men who
after a certain tenure of office did not pray to be quit of it,
nor any who, having been turned out of office, did not wish
after a very short time to get back to it."§ Of Louis
Napoleon he said : " His mind is as full of schemes as a
warren is of rabbits." He did not hesitate when necessary
to criticize his colleagues. When Gladstone opposed his
plan of fortification for the south coast Palmerston said
to the Queen: " It is better to lose Mr. Gladstone than to
lose Portsmouth and Plymouth." || Of a dull Scottish peer
who coveted an honour he remarked: "Give him the
Thistle; he is such an ass he is sure to eat it." His de-

* AsHey, ii. 273. f Strachey, 151-152. J Ashley, ii. 287.
§ Ihii., ii. 317. || Nat. Biog., Ivi. 30.

HIS CHAEACTER 265

scription of the typical Englishman is famous : " Fat man
with a white hat in the twopenny omnibus."*

He was a ready debater, though no great orator. " His
style," says Mr. George Russell, " was not only devoid of
ornament and rhetorical device, but it was sUpshod and
untidy in the last degree. He eked out his sentences with
' Hum ' and ' Hah,' he cleared his throat, and flourished
his pocket handkerchief, and sucked his orange; he rounded
his periods with ' You know what I mean ' and ' all that
kind of thing,' and seemed actually to revel in an anti-
climax : ' I think the hon. member's proposal an out-
rageous violation of constitutional propriety, a daring
departure from traditional policy, and, in short, a great
mistake.' "f

One of his especial arts was always to seem in tune with
the predilections of the majority and to voice the opinion
of the country, but though he had his fingers on the keys
his style was casual and never laboured. Lord Shaftes-
bury thought that his light and jaunty manner did him
great disservice in his early years. But beneath this
debonair style and apparent insouciance there lay the
most sterltng qualities. " Look to Lord Roehampton," says
Lady Montfort in " Endymion," " he is the man. He does
not care a rush whether the revenue increases or declines.
He is thinking of real politics: foreign affairs; maintaining
our power in Europe." J Yet he never lost sight of detail.
His experience df his own department was profound, and
Gladstone called his handwriting one of the two perfect
things he had known .§

" He had won," says Ashley, " a character in Europe for
being resolute, and was regarded as the embodiment of
English pugnacity." An excellent judge of character,
a firm friend and a generous enemy, he had consummate
sagacity and patience, while his power of concentration
was enormous. Always willing to wait, he rarely made
material mistakes. His critics have called him a weak
Liberal, but his early efforts for the extinction of the slave

* KusseU, " Collections," 60. t ^6*<'-. 167.

I Disraeli, " Endymion," chap. 64.
§ Eosebery, " Miscellanies," i. 219.

266 PALMERSTON '

trade and his vigorous support of democracy in Europe
are hardly consonant with such a character.

Foreign politics were his principal interest; in them he
was on his own ground, and he had the rare knack of know-
ing how to interest the British people in them. Domestic
affairs meant much less to him than they did to most of
his contemporaries, yet when he was Home Secretary he
was able to give a very real weight to his department.

Somewhat resembling Melbourne in his easy manners
and his devil-may-care attitude, he was, in fact, burning
with an active patriotism. The famous words Civis
Romanus sum embodied his beliefs and his aims.* For
him his country was the best country in the world, and as
far as lay in his power he would maintain its position against
all comers. To this bull-dog creed was due his popularity
and much of his success. His Whig colleagues often re-
garded him askance, for his ways were not always theirs ;
but intrigue and self-seeking were entirely foreign to his
nature, and detached as he was from many of their views
he always stuck firmly to them.

He held political ofl&ce for forty-seven years, vying in
that distinction with the Duke of Newcastle; he sat in
Parliament for well over half a century; he was a member
of a dozen administrations; he was Prime Minister, and
led the House of Commons when past eighty, a record
thoroughly in keeping with his character, pluck, and
endurance.

Palmerston was indeed a fine type of an intelligent and
virile Englishman, able, active and straightforward. He
looked at questions on their merits, but before all things
he was a patriot. To his conduct of the public affairs of
Great Britain during the long years in which he held ofl&ce
may largely be ascribed the dominating and prosperous
position in the world to which she subsequently rose.

This was the end of the Whigs. But tradition dies hard,
and Mr. Gladstone, through his wife, and Lord Rosebery,
through his mother, have maintained the old Whig system
of political ancestry almost down to the present day.
* Hansaid, Speech of June 25, 1850.

CHAPTER XIII
THE LAST TOEIES

ABERDEEN AND DERBY

Canning with his brilliant democratic policy and Peel
with his solid domestic reforms had given England a new
lease of life, but for the moment their party was shattered.
The government of the second was defeated in 1846, the
foreign policy of the first had lost credit two years later.
The Tories, checked, bewildered and divided, were enraged
with the men who had, as they thought, betrayed them and
led them astray, albeit they were dimly conscious that the
new programmes had much in them which would be hard to
beat. The large majority remained Protectionist and anti-
democratic, but they were without a guiding spirit. They
cast about for a leader, and unable to find one exactly to
their mind they fell back upon a peer of birth, talents and
fortime, who had recently been a Whig and who, therefore,
might be regarded as a moderate man and one likely to
bring both their wings into line. The minority, the
Peelites, followed a similar course, and chose another peer,
hardly less distinguished, who believed in their doctrines
but was still a sound Tory. Both selections seemed well
enough made, but unfortunately the new chiefs were men
of cross-bench minds, not intensely interested in politics
and little suited to inspire or direct a party in distress.
The natural resiilts ensued. The two lords hesitated to
take office, and compromised with ministers when in oppo-
sition. Their old beliefs and their other avocations re-
strained and reclaimed them, and after some short and
vacillating spells of power they each made way for a man of
the people who knew what he wanted and had the courage
and the ability to do it.

267

268 ABEEDEEN

I.— ABEEDEEN

The Hon. George Gordon, afterwards fourth Earl of
Aberdeen, was born at Edinburgh on the 28th of January,
1784. He was the eldest son of George Gordon, Lord
Haddo, and grandson of the third earl. His mother
was Charlotte, daughter of William Baicd, of Newbyth,
and sister of Sir David Baird, the distinguished soldier.
The Gordons were an ancient Scots family who had risen
to distinction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
and were the owners of considerable estates in the county
from which they took their title. They were an active and
energetic race. Of Lord Haddo's six sons two became
admirals, two colonels, one was a distinguished diplomatist
and a privy councillor, and one Prime Minister.

George Gordon's father died when he was seven years
old, his mother when he was eleven and his grandfather
when he was seventeen. He was left under the guardian-
ship of William Pitt and LordMelvUle, who interested them-
selves seriously in their trust. He was first sent to Harrow,
where Althorp and Palmerston were his schoolfellows.
Then, on succeeding to the earldom in 1801, he went for a
tour on the Continent, spending much of his time in Greece.
He came back an ardent PhUhellene and soon afterwards
founded the Athenian Society. An article that he wrote
on the topography of Troy gained him Byron's lines:

" First in th.e oat-fed phalanx shall be seen
The travell'd thane, Athenian Aberdeen."*

In 1804 he matriculated and took his degree as a noble-
man at St. John's College, Cambridge. The next year
he married Lady Catherine Hamilton, daughter of John
James, first Marquess of Abercorn, by whom he had
several children.

In December 1806 Lord Aberdeen was elected a Scottish

representative peer, and as a follower of his late guardian

Pitt he joined the Tory party. In the course of the next

two years he was invested a Knight of the Thistle and was

* Byron, " English Bards and Scotch Reviewers."

T. Lawrence pinx.

GEORGE GORDON

4th earl of ABERDEEN

To face page 26S

EARLY LIFE 269

made a Fellow of the Royal Society. He occasionally
spoke in the House of Lords, but was chiefly occupied
with art and history, becoming President of the Society
of Antiquaries, and writing several works on architecture.

In 1812 he lost his wife. He turned his attention to
active work, and the next year was sent on a special mission
to Austria. A few months later he was appointed am-
bassador at Vienna, when he was not yet thirty years
of age. Here he formed a close friendship with Prince
Metternich the statesman. A contemporary calls him at
this time, "of a sound and cultivated understanding,
impenetrable discretion and polite but somewhat grave
and restrained manners."*

He accompanied the Emperor Francis through the
Leipsic campaign and saw some military service. Sub-
sequently he represented Great Britain at the Congress of
ChatiUon and signed the Treaty of Paris. For these ser-
vices he was in 1814 created a peer of Great Britain and
sworn a, privy councillor.

In 1815 he married as his second wife Harriet, daughter
of the Hon. James Douglas, of the Morton family, and
widow of Viscoimt Hamilton. She was a sister-in-law
of his late wife.

He now settled down in Scotland, and for some years
again enjoyed a period of political repose. He was content
to live quietly at Haddo House, interesting himself in agri-
culture, forestry, the management of his estates and the
care of his growing family. His diplomatic experiences
had confirmed his Tory beliefs, and he still distrusted inno-
vations. Accordingly on Liverpool's death in 1827 he
came forward and spoke against Canning's administration.
A year later he joined the Duke of Wellington's govern-
ment as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. When
approving this appointment George IV. said of him that
" he was an excellent politician and that it was very
advantageous to get a person in the Duchy who would
keep Knighton down."t

On the secession of the Canningites from the government
* Gibbs, i. 16, note. f Colchester, iii. 539.

270 ABERDEEN

four months later Aberdeen was appointed Foreign Secre-
tary. It might have been expected that his knowledge
of Continental afEairs would have fitted him for this posi-
tion, but he seems to have had little initiative or decision
of his own. He was all for non-interference abroad and
clearly showed the Metternich influence. His tenure of
office, however, included the recognition by Turkey of
the independence of Greece and that of Louis Philippe
by Great Britain. In domestic affairs he manifested some
signs of liberalism by his support of the repeal of the
Test Acts.

After 1830 Aberdeen remained in opposition until Sir
Robert Peel's short administration of 1834r-1835, when
he acted as Secretary for War and the Colonies, though
without showing any special strength or ability. He was
still regarded as a cautious, narrow, though very level-
headed Scotsman.

During the second Melbourne ministry Aberdeen was
again in opposition and little to the fore, though in 1840
he introduced a bill which was intended to avert the
threatened schism in the Scottish Church. It was a half-
and-half measure, unsatisfactory to both sides, and was soon
withdrawn; but three years later a similar bill was passed
for the same purpose, though it also had but little effect.

On Peel returning to office in 1841, Aberdeen resumed
his old post as Foreign Secretary. His conduct of affairs
now showed rather more character than previously and was
distinctly beneficial to the country, though still inclined to
be pacific. To his conciHatory policy was largely due the
prevention of hostilities with the United States in 1842
and with France two years later, for generally speaking his
line of action was eminently discreet. He was a loyal
follower of Peel and held progressive views in some phases
of home politics, for he gave as cordial and unhesitating
support to the repeal of the Corn Laws as he had previously
done to Catholic relief. He left office with the rest of the
government in 1846 and showed remarkable generosity
to Palmerston, who succeeded him as Foreign Secretary.
Aberdeen desired to have an interview with him and said :

LEADER OF THE PEELITES 271

" When I came into office five years ago, you wanted to
come back again and tm:n me out, and you accordingly
attacked me in every way you could, as you had a perfect
right to do. Circumstances are very different now. I do
not want to turn you out, and I never mean to come into
office again, and I am therefore come to tell you that I am
ready to give you every information that may be of use
to you and every assistance I can."* Palmerston was much
touched at this spontaneous offer from a political opponent,
and it probably had a great deal to do with his accepting
Aberdeen as a chief some years later.

For the next few years Aberdeen again took no prominent
part iu Parliament, speaking only occasionally, and then on
foreign politics. But the death of his old chief iu 1850
made him the recognized leader of the Peelites, and he was
obliged to come more to the front. A year later he was
asked to join Lord John Russell's reconstructed govern-
ment. This he refused to do owing to differences of opinion
on the Ecclesiastical Titles Assumption Bill, and for the
same reason he declined to form an administration of his
own. In 1852, however, after the fall of Russell's govern-
ment, an exchange of letters took place between them as to
a possible coalition of the Whigs and the moderate Con-
servatives. Aberdeen wrote :

" Haddo House,
" My dear Lord John, " ^^Pt^^^^ 16, 1852.

" It was no doubt rather a strong proceeding on the
part of the Duke of Newcastle to suggest, to you of all men,
the propriety and expediency of sinking the title of Whig.
It is true that neither he nor I have the least desire or in-
tention of assuming the appellation; but I presume that you
would never think of acting with us unless you were per-
suaded that our views were liberal; and assuredly, in any
connection with you, we should not be prepared to abandon
a Conservative policy.

" Although the term may appear a little contradictory,
I believe that ' Conservative Progress ' best describes the

* Greville, v. 406.

272 ABEKDEEN

principles whicli ought practically to influence the conduct
of any government at the present day. This was Peel's
policy, and I think will continue that of all his friends.
For one, looking at the actual state of affairs, I have no
objection that the progress should be somewhat more rapid
than perhaps he ever intended.

" Ever most sincerely yours,

" Aberdeen."*

The result of this correspondence was that a basis of
agreement was estabhshed between the two statesmen.
This enabled the Queen, on the fall of Lord Derby's ministry
in December 1852, to send for Aberdeen and to ask him
to attempt a combination between the two progressive
parties. He succeeded, and formed an apparently strong
Coalition government of Whigs and Peelites, RusseU and
Palmerston being the principal of the former, and Gladstone,
Herbert and himself of the latter. Such a promising and
popular collection of politicians had not been seen since
1 806 . Although most of them had previously been strenuous
opponents, they now agreed in the main on domestic affairs,
and they were all in favour of Free Trade and moderate
reform. But, like most coalitions, they soon fell apart.
Aberdeen himself had called his venture " A great experi-
ment, hitherto unattempted, and of which the success
must be considered doubtful."f Party divisions began in
the Cabinet, each section thinking that it had not its fair
share of influence. Within a year of the ministry's forma-
tion,' Russell teUs Aberdeen that " The Whigs write to me
imagining that I have some influence in politics and
ecclesiastical appointments. It is a mistake." And
Aberdeen replies : " To say the truth, I thought that I had
done little else than comply with your wishes either at
the formation of the Government or ever since."t

Besides these minor differences at home the Eastern
question had arisen abroad. The vehemence of Palmerston
strove to overbear Aberdeen's pacific views; it had only a

* Walpole, " Russell," ii. 156. f Morley, " Gladstone," i. 449.

$ Walpole, " RusseU," ii. 165.

PRIME MINISTER 273

half-success, and without any decided policy the ministry
gradually drifted into the Crimean Wa,r, This was
contrary to all Aberdeen's beliefs. He had said earlier
of his government: " England will occupy her true position
in. Europe as the constant advocate of moderation and
peace."* His wish was now to be frustrated. Writing to
Russell early in 1854 he says: " I wish that I could feel as
much at ease on the subject of the unhappy war in which we
are about to be engaged. The abstract justice of the cause,
although indisputable, is but a poor consolation for the
inevitable calamities of all war, or for a decision which I
am not without fear may prove to have been impolitic and
unwise. My conscience upbraids me the more because
seeing, as I did from the first, all that was to be appre-
hended, it is possible that by a little more energy and
vigour, not on the Danube, but in Downing Street, it might
have been prevented."!

The Prime Minister had no enthusiasm, the Cabinet was
at loggerheads, the military preparations were defective
and all failures were attributed to the government.
Aberdeen was worried and always looked Ul. Palmerston
complained and urged him to put more energy into the
campaign. Russell criticized and took the same view.
But Aberdeen was unwilling to displace the Duke of New-
castle, who was Secretary for War. He hesitated and
temporized. Losses, sufferings and expenditure irritated
the public. Eventually in January 1855, on a hostile
motion to enquire into the conduct of the war, Russell left
the Cabinet. It was in this debate that Bulwer Lytton said :
" Dismiss your government and save your army."| A week
later, on the motion being carried, Aberdeen himself
resigned. The Coalition government had been a thorough
failure. Disraeli wrote of it: " The country was governed
for two years by all its ablest men, who by the end of that
term had succeeded by their coalesced genius in reducing
that country to a state of desolation and despair." §

The Queen, however, stood by her Prime Minister, and

* Morley, " Gladstone," i. 449. f Walpole, " Russell," ii. 204.
X Buckle, iii. 556. § Disraeli, " Endymion," chap. 100.

274 ABERDEEN

to mark her confidence in him gave him the Garter. But
the consolation was of small value. His active work was
done. Henceforward he took little share in politics, though
for the remaining six years of his life he did his best to keep
his followers together and to exercise a moderating in-
fluence. He died at Argyll House, St. James's, on the
14th of December, 1860, aged seventy-six. He left several
children. The present marquess, who has represented the
Crown in Ireland and Canada, is his grandson.

Aberdeen was dark, spare, pale and grave in appearance,
cold and formal in manner. As a young man he had a
distinctly attractive face, and he is the subject of one of
Lawrence's best portraits. In 1846, however. Lady Lyttel-
ton calls him " more of a scarecrow than ever, and quite
as stiff as timber. ' ' * Though a dull and ungraceful speaker,
his matter was always sound and impressive. In private
life he was a delightful companion, full of reading and
general information, while his real interests in classical
history, in art and in agriculture were shown by his
practical work. Among his few intimates he was held in
the highest veneration. Sir James Graham called him " a
perfect gentleman . . . who is honest and direct, and who
will not brook insincerity in others."! Lady Peel, writing
just after her husband's death, says that Aberdeen was " the
jrieTid whom he most valued, for whom he had the siacerest
affection, whom he esteemed higher than any."J

As a foreign minister he was timid and restrained, but
in domestic politics his ideas were thoroughly advanced
and liberal. Without any special abilities he was a
direct and singularly courageous advocate of unpopular
opinions if he believed them to be right. In the face of such
able and energetic men as Pahnerston and Russell, who
were competing for what he did not covet, he had little
chance, and his ministry of clever men, led by a compro-
mising chief, soon fell in pieces like similar coalitions before
it. But his own reputation did not suffer. " He belonged,"
says Delane, " to that class of statesmen who are great

* Lyttelton, 358. f Morley, " Gladstone," i. 449.

X Eosebery, " Miscellanies," i. 210.

HIS CHAEACTEK 275

without being brilliant, wbo succeed without ambition,
who without eloquence become famous, who retain their
power even when deprived of place. He denied that his
vocation was politics, but his friends knew him better;
they appreciated his clear head, his tolerant nature, his
vast experience and his perfect integrity."*

Aberdeen was a Tory by origin and education, but his
natural good sense and his knowledge of foreign countries
had shown him the advantages to be derived by England
from reasonable progress and constitutional development.
Not a candidate for office, he felt that it was his duty to serve
his country when called upon, and even to subordinate his
own opinions to those of men whom he regarded as his
superiors in intellect and decision. But when these con-
flicting theories were put to the hard test of practice the
experiment faUed, and Aberdeen's altruism and modera-
tion were ruthlessly overborne in the stern battles of reality.
An able, sincere and experienced man, he was a possible
Prime Minister in times of peace; but in war his pacific
temperament, his imcertain counsels and his hesitating
decision spelt danger and might easily have spelt defeat.

II.— DERBY

The Hon. Edward Geoffrey Stanley, later styled Lord
Stanley and subsequently fourteenth Earl of Derby, was
bom at Knowsley on the 29th of March, 1799, the eldest
son of Edward, thirteenth earl, and of his cousin Charlotte
Margaret, a daughter of the Reverend Geoffrey Hornby,
rector of Winwick. The Stanleys, one of the oldest, richest
and most distinguished families in England, had been
settled in Lancashire since the fourteenth century. They
had been strong Whigs, but their consideration was so great
that even the Tory George III. respected them and wrote
to Lord North: " The head of the Derby family is the proper
person to fill the office of Lord-Lieutenant of the county of
Lancaster, "f

The thirteenth earl, a staunch but inconspicuous Whig,
* Gibbs, i. 18, 19, note. f North, ii. 13.

276 DERBY

did not succeed his father until late in life. He was an
ardent zoologist and ornithologist, and possessed the largest
menagerie and aviary ever formed by a private collector.
These and his enormous expenditure were his principal
claims to fame.

His son, Edward Stanley, was educated at Eton and at
Christ Church, Oxford, where he gained the Chancellor's
Latin Verse prize. Although he did not take honours,
he showed remarkable classical talents and a facile elegance
in English composition. Even at the University he was
a brilliant speaker, and, it is said, used to benefit by the
teaching of his grandfather's second wife, who had been Miss
Farren, the celebrated actress.

In 1820, the year that George IV. came to the throne,
Stanley was elected member of Parliament for the close
borough of Stockbridge a few weeks before his twenty-first
birthday, but for some years he took no part in politics.
In 1824 he travelled extensively in Canada and America,
and on his return to England he married Emma Caroline,
daughter of Mr. Edward Wilbraham, afterwards Lord
Skelmersdale. As a Whig he was. in favour of parliamentary
reform, and in 1826 he changed his nomination seat for
that of Preston, where there was a popular franchise. Soon
afterwards with some other Whigs he accepted office in
Canning's government and became Under-Secretary for
the Colonies. He kept this position imder Lord Goderich,
but refused to serve imder the Duke of Wellington. For
two years he then voted with the Opposition, and when in
1830 Lord Grey formed his Whig ministry, the first there
had been for twenty-three years, Stanley was appointed
Chief Secretary for Ireland and sworn a privy councillor.
At his bye-election he was defeated, but he soon found
another seat at Windsor, His Irish administration was
drastic but not unsuccessful, for he knew his own mind
and stuck to his policy. O'Connell, then the most powerful
man in Ireland, quarrelled with him almost at once, but
Stanley never hesitated to fight his opponents and to carry
through measures with which he was well acquainted. The
Irish Board of Works, the Irish Education Act, the Tithe
Act, and the Church Temporalities Act, were all due to his

LEAVES THE WHIGS 277

initiative. On tlie Reform Bill his attitude was at first less
definite. He was quite ready to promote an agreement on
its details, and nearly obtaiued some concessions from the
Tories. In debate, however, he was an active and slashing
advocate of the bill, and was largely responsible for its
passage through the House of Commons. It is doubtful,
however, whether he really much cared for it or imderstood
the full meaning of the change. But his abilities and his
name ensured reward, and in 1833 he was advanced to the
Colonial Secretaryship in the place of Goderich, who was
moved out of the way with some difficulty. Here he intro-
duced a moderate measure for the gradual abolition of the
slave trade, handling it with much sagacity.

In May 1834 Lord John Russell, in a speech on Irish
tithes, declared in favour of some State appropriation of
Church property. The question was one on which the
Cabinet was divided, Stanley himself being against seques-
tration, and it was on this occasion that he made his
remark about "Johnny and the coach."* The Cabinet
determined to come to a compromise on the subject, and
Stanley accordingly left them and severed his connection
with the Whigs. He was a serious loss, for he was their ablest
debater and one of their best men of business. Russell
afterwards called this the most memorable period of
Stanley's career, and said that his skill, readiness and
ability would probably soon have qualified him for the lead
in the House of Commons.

In this year, by the death of his grandfather, he succeeded
to the courtesy title of Lord Stanley. On leaving the
government he had a small following, but though at first
he gave some support to his late colleagues, he frequently
spoke bitterly against them. In December 1834 when
Peel formed his short ministry, Stanley thought it best to
decline office, but in July 1835 he formally joined the
Conservatives, and during Melbourne's second administra-
tion he was a vigorous and active opponent of the Whig
government. His debating powers were now at their
highest level. " Clever, keen, neat, clear," Macaulay said
of him later on.f

* Jennings, 278. t Macaulay, " Letters," ii. 435.

278 DERBY

On Peel's coming in, in 1841, Stanley again became
Colonial Secretary. He was in theory something of a Free
Trader, but he would not go to the lengths that Peel in-
tended, and gradually differences arose between them. To
obviate this awkward position in the House of Commons
Stanley was called up to the House of Lords in one of his
father's baronies. But the dissensions grew, and on Peel's
declaration for a total repeal of the Corn Laws in the autumn
of 1845, Stanley gave up his place. Peel himself then
resigned, and after Eussell had failed to form a ministry the
task was offered to Stanley. He declined, however, to
attempt it, for he said that if he were to take office he
would have no colleagues. To Protection as an economic
system he was by no means indissolubly wedded, but
" Protection was, in his opinion, necessary for the main-
tenance of the landed interest and the colonial system, the
two pillars on which he conceived the British Empire to
rest."* This he declared in the House of Lords in May
1846, in a speech which is perhaps the best he ever made.
With Bentinck and Disraeli he now formed the Protectionist
party, though it is doubtful whether he was really in fuU
sjrmpathy with them.

In the summer of 1846 Peel was defeated and Russell
succeeded him. During the next five years Stanley spoke
and acted with constant eloquence and effect against the
government, and on its temporary resignation in February
1851 he was twice sent for by Queen Victoria but was unable
or unwilliag to form a ministry. In his own view this was
mainly due to the want of courage shown by his supporters.
In the following Jime his father died and he succeeded to the
earldom, and in the same year he was elected Chancellor
of Oxford University in place of the late Duke of Wellington.

Early in 1852 Lord John Russell was defeated on a snap
division. The Queen again sent for Lord Derby, and on
this occasion he was successful in making up a government;
but it was untried, unknown, and had a majority against
it in the House of Commons. Accordingly, on his advice,
Parliament was dissolved in July, and after a general
election the Conservatives found themselves in a small
* Nat. Biog., liv. 57.

H. P. Briggs pinx.

edward stanley
14th EAEL of DEBBY

To face page 278

PKIME MINISTER 279

minority, the Peelites holding tKe balance. Derby vainly
endeavoured to induce Palmerston to join him. Shortly
afterwards he was defeated on his budget and in December
he resigned, and was replaced by Lord Aberdeen.

The Protectionist policy, of which Derby himself was
only a lukewarm supporter, had not helped the Conserva-
tives and they were now for some time seriously divided.
The Crimean War Derby strongly opposed, but once the
country was definitely embarked on it he promised the
ministry his general support, though much of its work
compelled his criticism. On Aberdeen's resigning in
1855, Derby, as leader of the Opposition, was asked to
succeed him, but he was again unable to enlist the
help of either the Peelites or Palmerston, and would not
take office alone. Palmerston accordingly became Prime
Minister. This gran rifivio undoubtedly damaged Derby's
reputation for poHtical courage, and though his decision
was probably right from the point of view of the country,
neither his name, his eloquence nor his character ever
quite redeemed him in public opinion.

" Cum semel occideris et de te splendida Minos
Fecerit arbitria,
Non, Torquate, genus, non te facundia, non te
Restituet pietas."

For the next few years he followed the ordinary tactics of
opposition, impugning the government's principal measures
and occasionally dividing against them. But his health
was not good, his party was insubordinate and he was glad
of the excuse of his literary, racing and other occupations to
keep as much away from Parliament as he decently could.
In the House of Commons Disraeli did all the heavy work.

In February 1858 Palmerston resigned on the minor
question of the Conspiracy Bill, and Derby then formed a
purely Conservative administration. He saw that there was
little chance of its enduring, but he thought it worth while
to give his supporters the experience of office and to accus-
tom the public to them. In foreign policy he was fairly
successful, but on a franchise bill which he had felt obliged
to introduce in 1859 he was defeated, and accordingly

19

280 DERBY

lie again advised a dissolution of Parliament. The elec-
tions went badly, and in June a want of confidence motion
was carried against him. He then resigned and was
again replaced by Palmerston. On leaving ofl&ce on this
occasion he was created a Knight of the Garter.

Derby's position was now difl&cult. He had not a large
enough party to conduct the government, and he could not
induce the Peelites to join him. Yet he was anxious that
a more or less stable ministry should carry on the business
of the country. Accordingly he came to a sort of under-
standing with Palmerston to legislate on moderate lines,
while in exchange, as he said, his own party " kept the
cripples on their legs."* For some years, therefore, Derby
left the government more or less alone, the principal work
of the Opposition being done by his lieutenant, Disraeli;
but occasionally, as for instance when there was a desire
to intervene in the German-Danish War in 1864, he exer-
cised his powerful influence for peace.

It was during this period of comparative inactivity in
politics that he first attained celebrity as a writer. In
1862 he had privately printed some translations of poems
from Greek, Latin, French, German and Italian. They
were received with considerable approval, and this en-
couraged him to proceed with his rendering of the Iliad
into blank verse. This work, of unquestioned merit, was
published in 1864 and rapidly went through six editions;
it is still regarded as one of the best English versions of
Homer. During the Lancashire cotton famine of 1862,
Lord Derby acted as chairman of the Relief committee
and to his energy, generosity and business knowledge
was due much of its success.

In October 1865 Lord Palmerston died, and on Russell's
resignation eight months later Derby became Prime Minis-
ter for the third time. But he was old, he was suffering
from gout, and Disraeli was the real moving spirit of the
party. Derby, however, paid great attention to the pre-
paration of the Household Suffrage Reform Bill in 1867.
He called it " a leap in the dark," though it " dished the
* Nat. Biog., liv. 59.

HIS CHARACTER 281

Whigs."* In January 1868 he became seriously ill,
and next month he resigned and was succeeded by Disraeli.
In the autumn of 1869 he died at Knowsley aged seventy.

He left three children, and both his sons, as well as his
grandson, the present earl, became Cabinet ministers. It
is understood that he had been offered a dukedom, which he
declined, and that his eldest son could have had the crown
of Greece had he wished for it. He preferred to remain an
English peer.

Lord Derby was a handsome man, with aquiline features
and a vivacious and agreeable expression. His manners
were pleasant and even familiar, though in reality he held
aloof from all but his intimates. When young his temper
was frank and cheerful, but in later life it was much less
genial. Melbourne in 1839 called him a man of great abili-
ties, but of much indiscretion and extremely unpopular.
More than twenty years later Disraeli, writing to Lady
Londonderry, says : "As to our chief, we never see him. His
house is closed, he subscribes to nothing, though his fortune
is very large, and expects, nevertheless, everything to be
done."t But there was never much sympathy between
the two colleagues. Derby regarded Disraeli as an adven-
turer and disUked his visits to Knowsley, " as it bored him
to give up translating Homer in order to talk politics."!

As a speaker Derby had remarkable qualities — a fine
tenor voice, an animated delivery and a luminous and
impressive style. Before speaking he was nervous, but
once he had begun he was absolutely composed and cool.
Macaulay said that his knowledge of the science of parlia-
mentary defence resembled an instinct. His dashing and
rapid attack in invective and argument are celebrated in
Lytton's " New Timon ":

" The brilliant chief, irregularly great,
Frank, haughty, rash, the Rupert of debate.
Nor gout, nor toil his freshness can destroy,
And time still leaves all Eton in the boy.
First in the class and keenest in the ring,
He saps like Gladstone and he fights like Spring. "§

* Jennings, 314. f Buckle, iii. 547.

J Buckle, iii. 528. § Jenmngs, 310.

282 DEKBY

He was a religious man and a keen and accomplished
scholar. His latinity was easy and his English prose and
poetry admirable, " the pure Saxon of that silver style."*
He had also a good knowledge of the French and German
languages and took a real interest in education and
literature. He was equally devoted to country sports and
to the turf, and, though he never succeeded in Avinning any
of the principal classic races, he had a famous stable and
made nearly £100,000 in stakes alone during the twenty-
two years that he kept it up.

As a business man and a large landowner in Lancashire,
he was full of common sense, and his work for his own
county and for the nation during the Cotton Famine was
never forgotten.

Lord Derby was thus a man of many interests, of which
politics was only one. His ideas of statesmanship were
neither profound nor particularly constant, and he had
few broad constructive views. This absence of any fixed
political beliefs explains the many political changes which
he made during his life, for he was in turn a Whig, a
Canningite, a follower of Grey and of Peel, a Protectionist
and a moderate Conservative. These tergiversations un-
doubtedly weakened his influence in the country and modi-
fied his own character, so that he was the less inclined to
assume ofl&ce. Yet he was three times Prime Minister,
more than anyone had ever then been, though it is true
that his tenure of the office only amounted to some four
years in all. In his earlier days he was a man of great
vitality and combativeness, though not of deep thought or
inspiration, taking the business of State rather as he took
his other occupations, and usually ready to go into the
front of the battle. To him the manner of getting a thing
often meant more than the thing itself, and the fight more
than the victory. In old age he was content to fill a passive
role if reasonable peace and progress were ensured.

As the hereditary chief of the house of Stanley, Derby
commanded a high place in the State. His attainments
and his eloquence confirmed and enhanced his position.
* Jennings, 310.

NEW PARTIES 283

His ancestors had been credited with a special flair for
forecasting public opinion and for finding themselves on
the winning side. These gifts he can hardly have inherited,
for he seldom profited by his altered views : his ministries
were more often defeated than victorious and politics
were rather a burden to him than a blessing. A later
counterpart of the eighteenth-century dukes, he regarded
the claims of public duty as pre-eminent, though distaste-
ful, and he shone more as a partisan and a subordinate
than as a tactician or a chief. He left a name, brilliant
indeed and distinguished, but more memorable for integrity
and patriotism than for sagacity or success.

With the disappearance of Aberdeen and Derby from the
political stage, the day of third parties seemed for the
moment to be done. Patriots and King's friends, seceders
and Canningites, Peelites and Protectionists, had all
successively played their parts and made their exit, and
it looked as if only the historic characters were in future
to fill the scene. But the pause was short. Within a few
years new protagonists were to arise, first the Irish and later
on the champions of Labour, representatives, perhaps,
of race and class, but none the less destined materially
to modify the long enduring battle of principle between
the Tory and the Whig.

CHAPTER XIV
THE CONSEKVATIVES

DISRAELI AND SALISBtJRY

In the year 1868 the Mid- Victorian era had attained its
zenith, or, as some might say, its nadir. The aged chiefs
of the Whig and Tory parties, scions of the houses of
Russell and Stanley, had just retired from politics and two
new men, middle-class representatives of intellect and
commerce, had assumed their places. The political career
was at last open to the talents. But rank, birth and social
qualifications were not as yet to lose all their value. In
the next half-century each party was to revert to earlier
traditions and to choose as their leader a peer, though he
had now to be of very exceptional eminence.

The Conservatives, as they had come to be called, had
shed the heresy of Protection and their creed had crystal-
lized into a blend of the policies of Pitt, Canning and Peel.
They had adopted some ideas of moderate reform and ia
parts of their programme were hardly to be distinguished
from their opponents. But in. one particular they adhered
to the old dogmas of the eighteenth century, they relied
on and utilized to the full the support of the Crown. It
stood them in good stead. While strictly maintaining
an attitude constitutionally correct towards all her
ministers. Queen Victoria was latterly more ready to oblige
her Conservative than her Liberal advisers, and this shade
of preference indirectly increased their influence. The
House of Lords was gradually moving over to their side
and was soon to become a definite adjunct to their party.
With these aids they were able for a generation successfully
to withstand the advancing inroads of democracy. Im-

284

BAELY LIFE 285

perialism was tlieix principal weapon and commercial
progress their soundest rampart, and through the next
thirty years, peaceable and prosperous, they were ade-
quately armed. Later on, when more serious troubles
began to appear, they had to devise different schemes of
defence and to look about for more modern methods of
attack.

I.— DISKAELI

Benjamin Disraeli was born at 22, Theobald's Road,
London, on the 21st of December, 1804, the eldest son of
Isaac Disraeli and Maria, the daughter of George Basevi,
an architect. Both his parents were middle-class Italian
Jews, whose families had settled in England in the course
of the eighteenth century. They were respectable people
of no special note. The elder Disraeli had inherited a
competence from his father, who had been engaged in
business. He had devoted himself to writing, and the
" Curiosities of Literature," the " Life of Charles I." and
other works came from his pen. A student of Voltaire and
of Rousseau, a friend of Byron, Scott, Southey and
Rogers, he had travelled abroad and imbibed modem ideas.
Being but a casual observer of his hereditary religion, he
seceded in 1817 from the synagogue and his children were
shortly afterwards received into the Church of England.

Benjamin Disraeli was educated at private schools, at
Islington, Blackheath and Epping, where he acquired a
limited quantum of the classics, and then, at the age of
seventeen, was articled to a firm of solicitors in Old Jewry.
He remained with them for three years, attending moder-
ately well to his business, but eagerly pursuing his studies
and moviQg a little in literary society. In 1824 he went
with his father for a short trip through the Netherlands
and along the Rhine, and here he had his first insight into
the glamour of romance. " I determined," he wrote years
afterwards, " when descending those magical waters, that
I would not be a lawyer." *

To give scope to the ambition which thus early inspired
* BucMe, i. 53.

286 DISEAELI

him Disraeli needed money. The quickest road to obtain
it was, he thought, speculation. Accordingly he embarked
in partnership with a fellow-clerk named Evans and
engaged in various stock exchange transactions, by which
ia six months he lost as many thousand pounds — a debt
which he took many years to liqmdate.

In the course of this venture he had written some
pamphlets on American mining companies, and John
Murray, the publisher, who was a friend of his father's,
noticed his ability. Under his auspices a newspaper was
projected of which Disraeli was to be one of the leading
spirits, but before its publication his financial difficulties
compelled him to retire from it. His literary ambition and
want of funds combined, however, to make him write a
novel, and before he was twenty he had completed " Vivian
Grey." For this he received £200 from Messrs. Colburn,
who advertised it well, and it appeared with striking success
in 1826. j

In the following year Disraeli was ailing, so he went off
with some friends for another journey to Switzerland and
Italy. Here he again revelled in the scenes which he was
afterwards to portray. Layard, who met him on his way
home, wrote later: " I still retain a vivid recollection of
his appearance, his black curly hair, his affected manner,
and his somewhat fantastic dress."*

For nearly three years Disraeli's health contiuued very
uncertaiu, and he was despondent and depressed about his
future. He published " Popanilla," but did little else,
though he continued his reading with assiduity. His
family moved, in 1829, to Bradenham in Buckinghamshire,
and there he wrote " The Young Duke." For this Colbum
gave him £500, and when published it became as popular
as his previous venture. With the money he received
Disraeli started off for an extended tour in the East, visiting
Spain, Albania, Greece, Palestine and Egypt. By this time
he had become a rather celebrated character in romantic
and minor political circles. His clever conversation, his
social vagaries and his curious dress enhanced his reputa-
* Buckle, i. 111.

AS A NOVELIST 287

tion. At a dinner at Lytton Bulwer's in 1830 he wore
" green velvet trousers, a canary-coloured waistcoat, low
shoes, silver buckles, lace at his wrists and his hair in
ringlets." " We were none of us fools," says one of his
contemporaries, " and each man talked his best; but we all
agreed that the cleverest fellow in the party was the young
Jew in the green velvet trousers."* The Orient provided
him with plenty of subject-matter for further novels, and
" Contarini Fleming " and " Alroy " were the result.

By 1832 he was back in England, restored in health and
certain of a regular income from his pen. He now turned
his attention to politics. " Poetry," he said, " is the safety
valve of my passions, but I wish to act what I write."t
The town of High Wycombe lay near his home. He
determined to contest it. The Eeform Bill struggle was
at its height. " I start on the high radical interest," he
wrote. ... " Toryism is worn out and I cannot con-
descend to be a WTiig."t His canvass, however, was not
successful, and he found himself at the Isottom of the poll.
A few months later he made another attempt, this time
as an independent, but he met with the same result. He
returned to London and plunged afresh into society, where
he was received with open arms. " My table," he writes to
his sister in June 1833, " is Uterally covered with in-
vitations, and some from people I do not know."§ He was
now a light in the world of literature and fashion, but his
determination to succeed in politics was unabated. In
1834 he met Lord Melbourne, who asked him what he
wanted to be. " I want to be Prime Minister," he replied.
Melbourne gave a very long sigh, and then said very
seriously: " No chance of that in our time. It is all ar-
ranged and settled. Lord Grey . . . will certainly be
succeeded by one who has every requisite for the position,
in the prime of life and fame, of old blood, high rank,
great fortune and greater ability. . . . Nobody can
compete with Stanley." Years afterwards, on hearing
of Disraeli^s coming promotion to be leader of the Tory

* Buckle, i. 125 and Enc. Brit. f IbU., i. 201.

t Ibid., i. 211. § Ibid., i. 233.

288 DISRAELI

party, the old Premier exclaimed: "By God, the fellow
will do it yet."*

In 1835 Disraeli again fought the Wycombe seat and
was again beaten. He now threw in his lot with the Tories,
towards whom he had gradually been moving, and greatly
increased his value in their eyes by writing his political
" Letters of Rimnymede." He also published two more
novels, " Henrietta Temple " and " Venetia," and fought
another election at Taunton.

At last in July 1837 he succeeded in winning a seat
and was returned as one of the representatives for Maid-
stone, being then thirty-two years old. His first speech in
ParUament was not a success, for his pugnacity as a new
member aroused opposition, and he had to submit to
continual interruptions. But he held on untU his voice
was drowned by the clamour, and then finished with the
memorable words: " I have begim several things many
times, and I have often succeeded at the last, though many
have predicted that I must fail as they have done before me.
I sit down now, but the time will come when you will hear
me."t Peel cheered him loudly, a very rare tribute from
him, and warmly welcomed him to the Conservative ranks.

Active and industrious as he was, Disraeli's progress in
politics was at first slow, and he was much hampered by his
debts. But in 1838 Wyndham Lewis, his parliamentary
colleague at Maidstone, suddenly died. He was a rich
man with an attractive -wife, Marianne, daughter of a
Mr. John Evans, a naval lieutenant. Disraeli had been
her friend, and he soon became her suitor, though she was
twelve years older than he was. His courtship prospered,
and in August 1839 he married her and moved to her house
in Park Lane. Nevertheless, his financial afiairs remained
much embarrassed, for he still owed over £20,000. But
his marriage helped, his speaking improved and by 1840
he had so made his way forward in the House of Commons
that he was consulted by Peel and was summoned to a
" shadow Cabinet " of the leading members of the Opposi-
tion — the only attendant who had not served in a govern-
* Torrens, i. 426. f Hansard, December 7, 1837.

IN PAKLIAMENT 289

ment. In 1841 he was elected member for Shrewsbury, and
on Peel becoming Prime Minister, both Disraeli and his
wife strongly urged his claims for office, but Peel was
obdurate and Disraeli was not given a place. It is believed
that at this time Stanley, who was in the Cabinet, was
very hostile to him; but the disappointment was intense.

Disraeli, however, did not repine for long. He continued
to speak in Parliament, to travel on the Continent, to go
out into society and to iacrease his reputation for deter-
mination and ability. He now formed with George Smythe,
afterwards Lord Strangford, Lord John Maimers and a
few others, the party of " Young England " — followers of
the principles of Pitt and Canning, who believed in the
genius of a new Toryism, reconstructed on a popular basis
and in strong opposition to the old Whig and modern
Liberal doctrines. They severely heckled the ministers,
who regarded them with deep disfavour. Graham, writing
to Croker in 1843, says: " With respect to Young England
the puppets are moved by Disraeli who is the ablest man
among them. I consider him unprincipled and disap-
pointed, and in despair he has tried the efiect of ' bullying.' "*

In 1844 Disraeli published " Coniugsby," the manifesto of
his recent ideas. It had an instant and remarkable success.
Three editions were sold in as many months, while 50,000
copies had to be sent to America. It enormously increased
his position, and about the same time the eloquence and
sarcasm of his speeches became more damaging than ever
to the government. Peel and Stanley he principally
attacked. Of the latter's incautious tactics he once said:
" The noble lord is the Prince Rupert of Parliamentary
discussion ; his charge is resistless ; but when he returns from
the pursuit he always finds his camp in the possession of the
enemy, "t

In 1845 " Coningsby " was followed by " Sybil," a tale
which showed the popular side of Disraeli's new policy.
Simultaneously he diverged still further from the govern-
ment, and when Peel began definitely to expound his Free
Trade proposals, the Protectionist cave came into being
* Croker, iii. 9, f Jennings, 310.

290 DISKAELI

under Stanley, who had left the Cabinet, Disraeli and Lord
George Bentinck.

In 1846 the Repeal of the Corn Laws was passed, but
immediately afterwards the government was defeated on
the Irish Coercion Bill, and Peel resigned. This was
Disraeli's victory. " The boys," he said in " Tancred,"
when speakiug of the earlier Sir Eobert, "beat him at
last."* The words had come true again.

At the beginning of 1847 Disraeli took his seat on the
front Opposition bench, and from this time he may fairly
be regarded as one of the principal men of his party. He
now became member for his own county of Buckingham,
and he also published " Tancred," which gave his views
on Eastern politics and the Jewish question. On Russell's
Jewish Relief Bill he voted for his race, and his friend
Bentinck took the same side, in consequence of which
the latter was compelled to retire from the leadership of the
Protectionists, who thus remained for a time without a
chief. " Nobody can think of a successor to Bentinck,"
says Greville; " and bad as he is he seems the best man
they have. It seems they detest Disraeli, the only man of
talent, and in fact they have nobody."f This, indeed, was
to some extent the reason of Disraeli's rapid advance; he
had few competitors and none of his own calibre. Soon
afterwards Bentinck died, and Disraeli remained the only
man of commanding talent on his side in the Lower House.

Early in 1849, after some opposition and hesitation on
the part of Stanley, Disraeli was chosen as the leader of
the Conservatives in the Commons. " I think," said
Guizot, " your being leader of the Tory Party is the greatest
triumph that Liberalism has ever achieved."J It was,
indeed, a remarkable achievement in English politics for a
new man of alien origin and unsupported by wealth or
connection.

A year previously old Mr. Isaac Disraeli had died.
His son now came into the possession of Hughenden Manor,
near Beaconsfield, where henceforward he lived — its
purchase had been largely due to the generosity of his loyal

* Buckle, iii. 1. t Greville, vi. 114.

t BucUe, iii. 137.

AT THE EXCHEQUER 291

friends the Bentincks. He was already a J.P. and a D.L.
for the county, and he now began his favourite career of a
country squire, attending to county business and farmers'
meetings and generally concerning himself with the im-
provement of his small estate. But he did not remit his
attention to politics, and in the next few years he made
many careful and excellent speeches on finance and foreign
affairs — ^propounding on the latter question a definite
programme of peace, the avoidance of meddling abroad and
the discouragement of liberalism in Europe. Protection,
however, was still the weight round his neck, and it was
responsible for keeping his party out of permanent office
for many years.

In 1851 Lord John Russell resigned, but the Tories
came to the conclusion that they could not form a ministry,
and the Liberals accordingly resumed the seals of office.
A year later, however, the government had lost Palmerston
and were proportionately weaker. They were definitely
defeated, and Lord Derby, as Stanley had recently become,
was able to complete an admiaistration. After having
approached Palmerston, for whom Disraeli had generously
ofiered to make way, but who declined to join, Derby asked
Disraeli to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer. Disraeli
remarked that it was a branch of public business of which
he had not any knowledge; to this Derby made the typical
reply : ' ' You know as much as Mr . Canning did. They give
you the figures."* Disraeli accepted, and at the same time
became leader of the House of Commons — the first instance
since the days of the younger Pitt of a direct ascent to that
place of a man who had never held office. It was an almost
inexperienced Cabiaet — Derby's " team of young horses."!

Disraeli settled down quickly to his new work, and in
his nightly letter to the Queen adopted a much more
brilliant style than had hitherto been the custom. Her
Majesty soon began to take a liking to him. She writes on
May 1, 1852 : " The Queen has read with great interest the
clear and able financial statement which the Chancellor of
the Exchequer made in the House of Commons last night
and was glad to hear from him that it was well received."t

* Buckle, iii. 344. f Jennings, 312. f Buckle, iii. 364, 365.

292 DISEAELI

Disraeli with his usual flair did not neglect this openiag,
and began to lay the foundation of his later friendship
with his Sovereign. The general election in the summer,
however, did not improve the prospects of the government.
Their attitude on Free Trade was equivocal and in Decem-
ber they were defeated on Disraeli's first budget. Derby
then resigned, and Lord Aberdeen became Prime Minister
of the luckless Coalition.

During the Crimean War Disraeli had not any special
part to play, and he was never saddled with any of the
difl&culties that arose from it. He did his duty in opposi-
tion and looked forward to a return to power. But when
early in 1855 Aberdeen's Cabinet was compelled to resign,
Derby refused to take office unless he was supported by
Palmerston and Gladstone. He had no man, he said to the
Queen, " capable of governing the House of Commons."*
Thus, to the bitter disappointment of many of his friends,
he let the chance slip through his fingers. Palmerston
formed a government, and Disraeli, now over fifty years
of age, found himself again relegated to the wrong side of
the House. Indeed, for thirty-two out of his thirty-nine
years in the Commons' House he was out of office, a record
not surpassed by any Prime Minister. The Conservative
party was now thoroughly discouraged, for Derby and
Disraeli were not by any means agreed as to the policy
to be pursued. Derby was ready to keep Palmerston ia
office, as he acted on more or less Tory lines, but Disraeli
wished to attack him with a strong and militant party.
The more active tactics were naturally the more popular.

In 1857 the general election left the Whig government
well established, while the conduct of the Indian Mutiny
and the Chinese War had redounded to Palmerston's
credit. But he had become careless and had alienated
some of his supporters. Almost by an accident he was
defeated early in 1858 on the Conspiracy Bill. He re-
signed, and on this occasion Derby accepted the Queen's
offer and formed an administration. Disraeli again went
to the Exchequer and led in the House of Commons.
At first he had some difficult times. There was a perma-
* " Letters of Queen Victoria," iii. 102.

PEIME MINISTER 293

nent majority against Lim, and on the India Bill there were
several dangerous divisions. But with much tact and
temper he managed to steer through the session. Early
in 1859 he introduced a Reform Bill — the bill of " fancy
franchises." Too liberal for the Tories, and not liberal
enough for the Radicals, it was largely opportunist in
character and was easily defeated. Derby then dissolved
Parliament and having a vote of want of confidence
carried against him after the general election, he resigned in
June and was replaced by Palmerston. Disraeli now
again returned to the cold shades of opposition, while his
party continued as before to accord a general support to the
Whig government. But he had profited by his year in
office, his name was more established in the country, his
statesmanship had developed and with the Queen he had
become a favourite.

In 1865 Palmerston died, and in the early summer of
the next year his successor. Lord Russell, came to grief
on a Reform Bill. For the third time Lord Derby became
Prime Minister, with Disraeli as his lieutenant. Taking
their cue to some extent from their predecessors, the
government made the Household Suffrage Reform Bill
their chief plank, and this they passed in August 1867
largely owing to Disraeli's management and skill. It was
a great personal triumph, and when in February 1868
Derby was compelled to retire through ill-health Disraeli
succeeded to his place. He had just passed his sixty-
third birthday when he at last attained the object of his
life. " Yes," he said, in reply to some congratulations,
" I have climbed to the top of the greasy pole."* But his
parliamentary position was for the moment insecure. He
soon got into difficulties over the Irish Church and other
measures, and in November he thought it best to dissolve
Parliament. The Liberals came back with a considerable
majority, and Disraeli resigned on December 1. He re-
fused a peerage for himself, but his wife, at his request,
was created Viscountess Beaconsfield.

Gladstone succeeded as Prime Minister. Disraeli, whose
health for some time had not been very good, now took the
* Buckle, iv. 600.

294 DISRAELI

opportunity of getting some rest in the country and was
again able to devote himself in part to literature. In 1870
hepublished " Lothair," which had an enormous circulation.
Two years later his wife died. She had been his constant
friend, adviser and admirer, and her loss seriously affected
him. For some months he was greatly depressed, but his
friends, especially Lady Chesterfield and Lady Bradford,
gathered round him, and he gradually accustomed himself
to his new conditions. Politics had entered on a fresh
phase, and these served to distract him. Early the next
year Parliament was dissolved and the Conservatives won
the elections. Gladstone resigned and Disraeli became
Prime Minister for the second time on February 18, 1874.

His political task was now comparatively easy, for he
was immensely popular in the country and had a large
majority behind him in the House of Commons. Un-
fortunately his health had become a serious trouble, for he
had suffered from several severe attacks of gout and his
activity was much diminished. Accordingly he devoted
himself chiefly to a general supervision of the government,
varied with occasional personal strokes of policy such as
the purchase of the Suez Canal shares and the Queen's
title as Empress of India. He soon felt, however, that he
must have still easier work, and in August 1876, at the
Queen's suggestion, he went up to the House of Lords as
Earl of Beaconsfield.

The remainder of his life was mainly concerned with
world politics, and more especially with the Eastern
question. Roughly speaking, this meant the preservation
of the interests of England in the Mediterranean, in Egypt
and in India from the Russian advance in those directions.
For all such affairs Beaconsfield by his knowledge, training
and sympathies was peculiarly well fitted, and he entered
on them con amore. The Bulgarian atrocities, the rout of
Servia, the Constantinople conference and finally the Russo-
Turkish War, rapidly succeeded each other. With con-
siderable difficulty in the Cabinet, but with the Queen on
his side, Beaconsfield enforced a firm policy against Russia;
and by sending the British fleet up the Dardanelles he

W. Grant jn/ix-

BENJAMIN DISBAELI

AFTERWARDS EARL OF BEACONSFIELD

Ttiface yngc 294

AT BEELIN 295

checked her designs upon Constantinople. This move,
however, caused the resignation of the Foreign Secretary,
Lord Derby, the son of the old Prime Minister. Hostilities
eventually came to an end, and Beaconsfield and Salisbury,
who had taken over the Foreign Office, went to the Congress
of Berlin as plenipotentiaries for Great Britain. This was
the zenith of Beaconsfield's career. His diplomacy was
as effective as his determination, and he vastly impressed
the Germans. " Der alter Jude," said Bismarck, "das
ist der Mann." Beaconsfield got Cjrprus and nearly all
he wanted for England and came home in a blaze of
popularity, bringing " Peace with Honour."

The Queen was full of admiration for his personality and
his success, and insisted on giving the Garter to him and
his colleague. She writes on July 17, 1878: " The Queen
was much touched by Lord Beaconsfield's very kind letter.
Would he not accept a marquisate or a dukedom in addition
to the blue ribbon ? And will he not allow the Queen to
settle a barony or viscounty on his brother and nephew ?
Such a name should be perpetuated."* But Beaconsfield
was wise, modest and content.

The next two years were chiefly remarkable for the
Afghan and Zulu Wars, which did not redound much to
the reputation of the government. In 1880 the general
election came round. Gladstone, who had nomiaally
retired from politics, again took the field. He was able
to accuse the ministry of haviug neglected domestic
legislation and increased public expenditure. They were
heavily defeated, and the Liberals returned to power with a
majority of 160. On April 21 Beaconsfield finally resigned
his office.

He was old, ill and tired, but with dogged energy he
reverted to his earliest pursuits and prepared his last
novel, " Endymion," for publication. He received for
it the prodigious sum of £10,000, the highest figure that
had ever then been paid for such a production. It was the
last flash in the pan. Early in March 1881 he became ill,
suffering from gout and asthma, and on April 19 he died

* Buckle, vi. 347.

20

296 DISRAELI

at his house in Curzon Street. His sudden death occasioned
a widespread and genuine public mourning, and " Prim-
rose Day," recalling his favourite flower, is stiU kept in
his honour. He left no issue and his title became extinct.
He was buried at Hughenden and a statue at the public
expense was erected to him in Westminster Abbey.

In appearance Beaconsfield was a large and powerful
man, with a high broad forehead, sunken lustreless eyes,
black curly hair and a small tufted beard. His counten-
ance, always mysterious and impressive, in old age was
painted and had an almost ghastly look. In many ways he
showed his Asiatic origin. His love for dress, for show and
for dramatic effect was tjrpically Jewish, though these
traits were much less prominent as he grew older. He
spoke with an even and almost monotonous voice, in low
and searching tones, and rarely seemed animated even
when launching his coolest and deadliest shafts of sarcasm,
nor did he ever show any sign of appreciating his own wit.

One of the leading elements in his character was his
passion for romance and his belief in the destiny of his race,
though both were curiously blended with an intense
patriotism for England. Magnificent ideas appealed to
him, and his policy seemed to move through an atmosphere
of Elysian light or Stygian gloom. The Orient, with its
colour, its riches and its mysteries, exercised a peculiar
fascination on him, and he had all the Eastern reverence
for creeds. " My conception," he said, " of a great states-
man is of one who represents a great idea — an idea which
may lead him to power — an idea with which he may iden-
tify himself — an idea which he may develop — an idea which
he may and can impress on the mind and conscience of a
nation."* These ideas he used to embody in those cele-
brated watchwords with which he so often rallied his party,
for he had a marvellous dexterity in coining phrases:
" Imperium et Libertas " — " Peace with Honour " —
" Sanitas Santitatum." The cardinal principles of his
adopted country he thoroughly imderstood. Its three
master influences, he said, were industry, liberty and
* Hansard, " Speech on the Address," January 22, 1846.

HIS SAYINGS 297

religion, wliile " tlie Tory party, unless it is a national
party, is nothing."*

As a young man his vnt was almost Satanic and his
conversation like "the foam of the sea." He "talked
like a racehorse approaching the winniag-post"; "Tory
men and Whig measures"; "Diplomatists the Hebrews
of politics ";t "Drunken recruits full of spirit." Of
Grladstone's first administration he said: "Her Majesty's
min isters . . . have lived in a blaze of apology," and " the
country has made up its mind to close this career of plunder-
ing and blundering." J When asked if he had seen GreviUe's
memoirs, which had just been pubUshed, he answered:
" No, I do not feel attracted to them. I knew the author,
and he was the most conceited person with whom I have
ever been brought in contact, although I have read Cicero
and known Bulwer Lytton." Yet modesty was by no
means one of his own virtues. Nearly everything he did
he thoroughly admired, though he knew how to conceal
his admiration. AU through his life this confidence in his
own star upheld him and iaspiced his immense energy and
unbounded patience. " You and I," he said in old age
to a young man of his former faith, " belong to a race which
can do everything but fail."§ But with all his powers of the
tongue and the pen, he had a singularly generous nature
and rarely nourished rancour. His taciturn manner and
apparent cynicism in later life were much more due to
fatigue and ill-health than to lack of interest, kindliness
or humour.

His relations with women were peculiar. So much did
he depend upon their sympathy and instinct that their
society was a necessity to him, though on their intelligence
he set no great store. His earliest friend was his sister, to
whom he freely opened his heart. His wife he adored,
though he said that she never could remember which came
first, the Greeks or the Romans. After her death his
platonic amours with Lady Chesterfield and Lady Bradford
became a vital part of his existence. The former at the

* Speech at Crystal Palace, June, 1872. f Sichel, 291.

{ Jennings, 334, 335. § Russell, " Collections," 241, 296.

298 DISKAELI

age of seventy refused his hand, while the latter received
as many as 1,100 letters from him in the last eight years of
his life. With Queen Victoria his success was unparalleled.
" He used to engage Her Majesty in conversation about
water-colour drawing and third cousinships of German
princes. Mr. Gladstone harangues her about the policy of
the Hittites or the harmony between the Athanasian creed
and Homer."*

These arts Disraeli himself admitted. Late in life he
once said to Matthew Arnold: " You have heard me called
a flatterer, and it is true. Everyone likes flattery; and
when you come to Eoyalty you should lay it on with a
trowel."! Another remark that he made to Lord Esher
of speaking to the Queen was: "I never deny; I never
contradict; I sometimes forget." f

Of the advantages of rank he was fully conscious. The
peerage and the baronetage were valuable assets for which
he had a real respect, despite the apparent gibes in his
novels. His first government contained at least half a
dozen dukes, and to his last days a title still slipped off his
pen or his tongue with thorough relish.

But these minor traits of the visionary, the conjurer,
the cynic or the snob, were but a small part of the man
himself. Like Chatham, and perhaps like Canning, Disraeli
was a genius, not only as a novelist, a politician and a
statesman, but as one of the outstanding figures in history.
By his own unaided power he had raised himself from
nothing to everything, and his own generation with reason
regarded him as something more than human and endued
with an art akin to magic. His history was undoubtedly
something unique — a wonder for all time. Sir WiUiam
Harcourt, an old friend though a political opponent, wrote
to him on his going up to the House of Lords: " To the
imagination of the younger generation your life will always
have a special fascination. For them you have enlarged
the horizon of the possibilities of the future."! In moving
an address to the Crown for a monument to Beaconsfield

* Eussell, " Collections," 191. f Buckle, vi. 463.

t Ibid., V. 498.

HIS CAREER 299

in Westminster Abbey, Gladstone, Ms lifelong opponent,
said: " Tlie career of Lord Beaconsfield is in many respects
the most remarkable in parliamentary history. For my
own part I know but one that can fairly be compared to
it . . . and that is the career of Mr. Pitt." And he went
on to recall " his extraordinary intellectual powers, his
strength of will, his long-sighted persistency of purpose and
his great parliamentary courage."*

When Disraeli started his life all he had in his favour
were his daring, his perseverance and his skUl. By these
and by these alone he attained to the summit of his high
ambitions. Patient, intrepid and adroit, he fought through
the petty obstacles of youth; he took the world by storm,
first as a writer and then as a speaker; he overbore the
covert envy of his friends and the open opposition of his
enemies; he consolidated and enthralled an historic party;
he evolved an imperial policy, and he rose to command the
afiections of his Sovereign and to direct the councils
of his country. There he adorned the position that
his merits had won, and thus closed a career at which
mankiad still marvels.

II.— SALISBURY

Lord Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-CecH, afterwards
third Marquess of Salisbury, was born at Hatfield on the
3rd February, 1830, the third son of James, the second
marquess, and of Frances Mary, only daughter of Bamber
Gascoyne of ChUdwell Hall, Lancashire, sometime M.P.
for Liverpool. The Cecils had been settled in Wiltshire
and Hertfordshire since the days of the Tudors, and their
descendant claimed as his ancestor the Lord Burleigh who
was chief minister to Queen Elizabeth, and the Lord Salis-
bury who served King James I. in the same capacity.

Robert Cecil's grandfather had been Lord Chamberlain to

George III. for twenty years, and his father, a strong Tory,

became Lord Privy Seal and Lord President in Lord

Derby's governments of 1852 and 1858. Cecil himself was

* Hansard, May 9, 1881.

300 SALISBUEY

thus born and bred in a pronounced Conservative atmo-
sphere, whicli was strengthened by his education and
natural bent of mind.

He was sent first to Eton at the age of ten, and then on
to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1847. There he became
secretary and treasurer of the Union Debating Society and
took a fourth class in mathematical honours, though other-
wise he did not specially distinguish himself. A few years
after coming down, however, he was elected a Fellow of
All Souls.

In 1851 Cecil started for Australia and spent nearly two
years visiting that colony, where the gold mines were then
much to the fore. After his return, in 1853, he was elected
member of Parliament for Stamford, and he shortly began
to manifest a deep insight into certain phases of politics.
His earliest speech, on the Oxford University BiU, was made
in defence of property and of the letter of the law. These
religious education and foreign affairs remained his
principal political interests through life. At first he took
a rather dashing and unconventional line in debate, though
in matters of moment he was serious and loyal. He helped
to oppose Roebuck's motion against Lord Aberdeen during
the disasters of the Crimean War, and took a busy part in
the domestic reforms of 1856.

In 1857 he married Georgina Caroline, daughter of Sir
Edward Alderson, one of the Barons of the Exchequer,
a lady of very remarkable character and talents. The
marriage did not please his father, and for some time Cecil
found himself by no means well ofi. But he was full of
grit and knew his powers. He took up writing as a pro-
fession, and during the next eight years he contributed a
long series of important and able essays to the Quarterly
and Saturday Reviews, the latter of which belonged to his
brother-in-law, Beresf ord Hope, the member for Cambridge
University. Cecil's pen materially augmented his reputa-
tion. His successive articles on Poland, the Danish
Duchies, Lord Castlereagh, and Foreign Policy, showed
him to be a man of thought and knowledge, whUe his
reasoned attacks on the Liberal government and his clear

HIS INDEPENDENCE 301

compreliension of the mission of Conservatism marked Mm
out as a practical politician. The utilitarian standpoint of
modern statesmanship, the abandonment of the old feudal
basis, and the protection of property and its influence were,
he claimed, a necessity. There should be no repining, the
fait accompli must be recognized loyally and the party must
go forward on new lines. His speeches at this time were
perhaps less restrained than his vigorous written English,
though this displayed hardly less pungency and sense.

In 1865 Cecil's elder brother, who had long been blind,
died, and Cecil then assumed the courtesy title of Lord
Cranborne. His prospects were now much improved, for
he became the heir to an historic name, house and fortune.
In July of the next year, on Lord Derby's coming into
office for the third time, he was offered the Indian Secretary-
ship of State and joined the ministry at the age of thirty-
five. In his department he had no special opportunities of
distinction, though in the Cabinet he made his weight felt.
But his ideas on popular government did not tally with
those of Disraeli and he could not bring himself to accept
the principles of the projected Reform Bill. Accordingly
in March, 1867, he resigned his place, and from dislike
of the new Conservative system he nearly retired from
politics. A year later Disraeli became Prime Minister.
Cecil had now succeeded his father, and began to take as
important a position in the House of Lords as he had
previously held in the Commons. There was, indeed, a
movement among the Conservative peers to choose him
as their leader in the Upper House, but to this Disraeli
objected and Salisbury himself refused. On Lord Derby's
death he was elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford,
and he also became Chairman of the Great Eastern Railway,
an office which he held for four years with singular success.
His attitude in opposition was moderate. It was the duty
of the House of Lords, he said, to give the country the
opportunity of expressing its views, but, after that ex-
pression, to abide by the result. In this spirit he facilitated
the passing of Gladstone's Irish Disestablishment Bill,
with which he personally disagreed.

302 SALISBURY

In 1874 Disraeli returned to o£&ce, and Salisbury again
accepted the post of Secretary for India. To many people
this was a matter of astonishment, for he was believed still
to disapprove of and to distrust Ids leader. But Disraeli
had done his best to conciliate him, and Salisbury was
su£&ciently reasonable and patriotic to sacrifice his private
views to what he thought was his public duty. Yet he did
not on occasion hesitate to take exception to portions of
Disraeli's policy. To one of his caustic speeches about the
" bluster of the House of Commons " Disraeli retorted by
calling him " a master of gibes and flouts and sneers "* —
that being the particular form of iavective in which
Salisbury excelled. But gradually the two men began to
realize each other's value and power, and to pull more
easily together. Disraeli, writing to the Queen on
November 12, 1874, says of a Cabinet meeting: "Lord
Salisbury spoke with much moderation and said that he
would be satisfied with a compromise . . . and that
neither in this nor in any respect did he wish to urge his
views against a majority of the cabinet. "|

Salisbury's administrative work at the India Office had
been brilliant, and his study of foreign politics had made
him a high authority on Russian afiairs and the Eastern
question. For this reason he was sent in 1876 as High
Commissioner to Constantinople, where he took a very
independent line and disagreed with the Foreign Office
view. The Porte did not accept his suggestions, but
Salisbury much increased his own reputation.

Early in 1878 Lord Derby, who for some time had
disapproved of Beaconsfield's forward policy against
Russia, resigned the Foreign Secretaryship, and Salisbury
was put in his place. " He was," says Mr. Buckle, " to
hold the seals of the Foreign Office for thirteen years in all,
and to be the dominating influence in British foreign policy
for the whole of the final period of the nineteenth century. "{

Disraeli, now Lord Beaconsfield, had come thoroughly
to trust Salisbury, regarding him as a man of commanding
ability, while Salisbury acquired favour with the Queen
* Jennings, 421. f Buckle, vi. 279. J Ihid.

LEADEE OF HIS PAKTY 303

and took a firm hold of his new office. In June he accom-
panied his chief as a plenipotentiary to the Congress of
Berlin, and although Prince Bismarck was not, or said
that he was not, impressed by Salisbury, whom he called
" a lathe painted to look like iron," Salisbury's own country-
men took a different view. His knowledge and diplomacy
were of the highest level, and on his return he received the
Garter and a very considerable accession of respect and
popularity. He had done all the spade-work at the Con-
ference with what Beaconsfield called " a consummate
mastery of detail."* He now contiaued his work at the
Foreign Office and in the House of Lords with the same
acumen and tenacity. He knew exactly what he wanted.

" In our foreign policy," he remarked, " what we have
to do is simply to perform our own part with honour; to
abstain from a meddling diplomacy; to uphold England's
honour steadily and fearlessly, and always to be rather
prone to let action go along with words than to let it lag
behind them."t

In 1880 the Liberals came into office, and Beaconsfield
dying a year later, Salisbury was elected leader of the
Conservative party in the Lords, while Northcote was
chosen to hold the same position in the Commons. During
the long period of dual control from 1881 to 1885 Salisbury
was less prominent. His powers were still not fully under-
stood, while his later sagacity and moderation had yet
to develop. Some of his speeches wete still somewhat
indiscreet and he was little known to the majority of his
party. But he gradually became a real leader and a sound
statesman. He learned when to oppose and when to com-
promise. The Irish Bills of the Liberal government he
fought fiercely, but on the Household Suffrage Act of 1884
he agreed to confer with the ministers, and eventually
made the best bargain he could on that much disputed
measure.

In June 1885 the Liberals were defeated. Gladstone
resigned, and Salisbury was sent for by the Queen. He
was reluctant to take office, for he did not wish to deprive
* Buckle, vi. 332. f Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 334.

304 SALISBUEY

Northcote of the post of Prime Minister. At last, however,
he agreed to accept the position, determining to retain
the office of Foreign Secretary, while Northcote went to the
Upper House as First Lord of the Treasury and Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach led in the Commons.

In the next six months Salisbury's firm and acute policy
was able to settle the difficult question of the Afghan
frontier, for which he subsequently won Mr. Gladstone's
approbation. But when as a consequence of the recent
Eeform Bill Parliament was dissolved in December 1885
the Liberals and Irish came back into power. Salisbury
resigned in January 1886, and Gladstone resumed office.
The first Irish Home Rule Bill was introduced. Lord
Hartington had not joined and Mr. Chamberlain now
left the ministry and the bill was thrown out in June.
After a second general election the position of the
Conservatives was improved, and Gladstone in turn
resigned. Salisbury then offered to relinquish the lead of
the government to Hartington, but this the latter declined,
and Salisbury was again appointed Prime Minister. North-
cote, now Earl of Iddesleigh, went to the Foreign Office,
and Lord Randolph Churchill became Chancellor of the
Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons. A few
months later Churchill, disapproving of the Cabinet's
poUcy, gave up his office and was succeeded by Mr. Goschen.
A fresh shuffle of places was then made, and Salisbury
resumed the Foreign Office.

During the ensuing six years the government pursued a
broad but cautious imperial policy. The colonies in
British East and South Africa, Uganda and Borneo were
acquired — perhaps some of Salisbury's most lasting work.
An imderstanding with Germany was attempted, and to
forward it the island of Heligoland was exchanged for
Zanzibar. In home affairs county councils were estab-
lished in England, and a bill was passed for the purpose of
giving free education to children. British commerce made
exceptional progress all over the world, and this period was
perhaps the most prosperous in the nineteenth century.
A general election, however, was too long deferred, and

/. E. Miilaia pinx.

T. 0. Barloio sc.

robert gascoyne-cecil
3rd MAEQUESS of SALISBUEY

To face page 304

PKIME MINISTER 305

wken it came in 1892 the Liberals and Irish were returned
to office, though only with the narrow majority of forty.

A Home Rule Bill was now again introduced. It
succeeded in passing the House of Commons in 1893, but
Salisbury advised the peers to reject it, and it was accord-
ingly thrown out by 419 to 41.

Soon afterwards Gladstone retired from the premiership,
and was succeeded by Lord Rosebery. A year later, in
June 1895, the Liberal government was defeated on a
minor motion, and Salisbury came into office for the third
and last time. He now formed a coalition with the Liberal
Unionists, who were led by Hartiagton, now Duke of
Devonshire, and Chamberlain. Salisbury himself again
took the place of Foreign Secretary, while his nephew, Mr.
Arthur Balfour, became first Lord of the Treasury and
leader of the House of Commons.

Another seven years of important but unobtrusive legis-
lation followed, though the goverimient was principally
distinguished by the pacific victories of its foreign policy.
Four separate crises, each of which nearly led to war, were
successfully eluded — ^Venezuela, with the United States,
and South Africa, with Germany, in 1896; Port Arthur, with
Russia, and Fashoda, with France, in 1897. In the Near
East the Concert of Europe was inaugurated to prevent
as far as was possible the misgovernment of the Christians
in the Ottoman Empire. All these victories, Pyrrhic
perhaps, but none the less valuable, were directly due to
the diplomacy of the Prime Minister.

In 1899 the South African War broke out. Other
counsels might have perhaps avoided the contest — as yet
it is too soon to know — ^but once the struggle was inevitable
Salisbury pursued a slow but sure policy which eventually
resulted in success. He was becoming an old man and his
health had begun to fail, but he determined to stick to his
post until the war was finished. In 1900 he exchanged the
place of Foreign Secretary for that of Lord Privy Seal
and materially lightened his work. In May 1902 peace
was signed, and in August of that year he retired from
office, being succeeded by Mr. Balfour. Twelve months

306 SALISBURY

later he died in his seventy-third year. He was buried
at Hatfield, a statue being erected to him in West-
minster Abbey. He left a considerable family and
several of his sons have become distinguished men. The
present peer, who has held high office in the Cabinet, is the
eldest.

Salisbury was a big, heavy man with a large head, a
broad brow and a thick beard. In mind as in body he was
a massive personality, thoughtful, sound, deeply religious,
a constant churchman. He had read widely — science,
history, theology and some English poetry. In chemistry
he was an ardent experimenter, though it is doubtful
whether he had any talent for original research. His work,
however, in this direction was at any rate practical, for
in his own engineering shop he devised the electric lighting
of Hatfield. There, at his house in Arlington Street and
at his villa on the French Riviera, he spent most of his time,
for although he had been made Lord Warden of the Cinque
Ports in 1896, he lived little at Walmer and he did not much
care for visiting his friends. In his own home he was an
affectionate husband and father and an ideal host. Society
bored him, and in it he seemed less genial and more aloof.
A man of extreme reserve, intolerant of shams, though
singularly acute and alert in matters of moment, he was
very little known by his contemporaries. He was often
thought an enigma and a dreamer, his preoccupation was
remarkable, and he was careless of his appearance. " His
dress,"' says his daughter, " was never his strong point."*
He had a very limited recollection of names or faces, though
his deafness and short sight in later life were often really
responsible for his lapses. On one occasion he is said to
have been walking along Downing Street with a colleague,
when a passer-by saluted him by taking off his hat. ' ' Who
is that man ?" he asked. " That," said his friend —
" why, that is So-and-so; he has been in the Cabinet for
the last two years." Another tale, doubtful, perhaps, but
hen trovato, describes him looking through a long list of
names of candidates for the post of British envoy at some
* CecU, i. 17.

HIS CHAEACTEE 307

minor and distant court. When he came to the bottom
of the list the last name struck a chord, and he said:
" Brown — Brown. A good old English name. Give it
to Brown."

As a young man he was a facile, vigorous and witty-
speaker, albeit with a rather unf ortimate kind of sarcasm.
The caustic comments and frequent indiscretions that he
used to blurt out gave him a reputation for bitterness that
was probably undeserved — " the ill-advised railing of a
rash and rancorous tongue," Sir William Harcourt once
called it.* It was a form of humour which became modified
by age. Later on, though he never attempted high
flights of oratory, he could deliver the most masterly and
impressive speeches, and his plain, matter-of-fact words,
full of simple and direct common sense, were extremely
effective on his fellow-peers in the House of Lords. When
the spirit moved him he could be an entertaining and even
a brilliant talker. No one, says Mr. Eussell, " can listen
even casually to his conversation without appreciating the
fine manner full both of dignity and courtesy ; the utter
freedom from pomposity, formality and self-assertion,
and the agreeable dash of genuine cynicism which modifies,
though it does not mask, the flavour of his fun."t Lord
Eosebery says that . . . "his eloquence showed pre-
eminently the literary faculty " and that the brilliant pen
he wielded may be reckoned with that of Canning and Lord
Beaconsfleld ... his despatch on the Treaty of San
Stefano being " one of the historic State papers of the
English language." " He was a public servant of the
Elizabethan type, a fit representative of his great Eliza-
bethan ancestor." J

Temperamentally a student, if not a recluse, of high
intellect and robust thought, he had a firm will, and after
he had pondered a question in his own mind he rarely de-
viated from the course he had chosen. When he first went
to the Foreign Office he signalized the policy he intended
to follow by a striking and comprehensive circular des-

* BucHe, V. 327. t Russell, " CoUections," 202.

J Rosebery, " Miscellanies," i. 266-274.

308 SALISBUEY

patch which was sent ofE the day after he had taken over
the seals, and it has been suggested, with some degree of
truth, that Beaconsfield went himself to Berlin in 1878 so
as to be able to keep an eye, and if necessary a hand, on
his too capable and independent colleague. The two
statesmen became united in policy as time went on, and
they were always loyal to each other, but their relations
never developed into real friendship.

Salisbury's tastes were simple, his mind of the broad
English pattern. Character he preferred to cleverness,
questions he weighed on their merits, impracticable ideas
he despised ; and these traits really constituted his so-called
cynicism. Politics he never considered an exact science,
but he held that excessive democracy was inimical to
individual freedom, and that public discontents could best
be resisted by dogmatic religion, production and security.
He had an especial reverence for the Queen, who recipro-
cated it and called him a greater man than Disraeli, and a
strong belief in the House of Lords, whose duty, he said, it
was to represent the permanent as opposed to the passing
feelings of the English nation.* Yet he regretted leaving
the Commons. On Beaconsfield being raised to the peerage
in 1876, Salisbury wrote to him: " In this case it is fadlis
ascensus. As one of the shades who is on the wrong side
of the stream, I must honestly say that I think you will
regret the irrevocable step when you have taken it."f

As a Foreign Minister he believed in England's main-
taining the balance of power in Europe, and at one time he
was not averse to an alliance with Germany. In a letter
of October 1879 describing an interview with Count
Munster, then German Ambassador, he says: " I stated
to him our view — that Austria's position in Europe was a
matter in which we took deep interest, and considered
essential; that if Russia attacked Germany and Austria,
Germany might rely on our being on her side. I said:
' I suppose the service you would want of us would be to
influence France and Italy to observe neutrality.' "J

Strong and pacific, a cautious but fearless diplomat,
* Jennings, 423. f Buckle, vi. 114. f Buckle, vi. 491.

HIS POLICY 309

Salisbury was a firm upholder of th.e constitution and an
advocate of a pacific imperialism that was not to be
hurried; he was the originator of the Colonial conferences.
" Political equality," he wrote, " is not merely a folly —
it is a chimsera. . . . Always wealth, in some countries
birth, in all intellectual power and culture, mark out the
men to whom, in a healthy state of feeling, a community
looks to undertake its government ." * For nearly fourteen
years he was Prime Minister, a period of time only exceeded
by Walpole, Pitt and Liverpool. A wise, straightforward
and effective patriot, his own view of Castlereagh does not
describe him amiss himself: " A practical man of the
highest order, who yet did not by that fact forfeit his title
to be considered a man of genius, "t

* CecU. i. 159 f Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 342.

CHAPTEE XV
THE LIBEEALS

GLADSTONE AND CAMPBELL-BANNEEMAN

Modern Liberalism may be said to begin with tbe first
government of Mr. Gladstone. Lord Eussell to some extent
had laid the foundations of the edifice on the plans drawn
by Grey and Peel, but the superstructure was almost
entirely reared in the last generation of the nineteenth
century, and its principal architect was the prosperous and
learned High Churchman who had been in earlier life such
an inveterate Tory. The policy of his old age was perhaps
disproportionately occupied with Ireland, but in the main
the principles of peace, individual liberty, progressive
reform and sound finance informed it all. These tradi-
tions were transmitted to his immediate successors, who
pursued them in a similar spirit and with hardly less real
results. Of the more recent developments of popular
democracy it is at present too soon to speak, but at a dis-
tance of over fifty years few Liberals will be found, what-
ever their particular denomination, who would demur to
or dissent from the cardinal axioms which inspired their
party in the middle days of Queen Victoria. That the
three earliest exponents of Liberalism were Scots or of
Scottish origin and were all men of distinction in letters
should not detract from the shrewdness or the sense of their
statesmanship.

L— GLADSTONE

William Ewart Gladstone was born on the 29th of De-
cember, 1809, at 62, Eodney Street, Liverpool, the fourth
son of John (afterwards Sir John) Gladstone by his second
wife, Anne, daughter of Andrew Eobertson, of the family

310

/. B. Millais pinx. T. 0. Barlow sc.

WILLIAM EWABT GLADSTONE

To face page SIO

EARLY LIFE 311

of Struan, sometime Provost of Dingwall. His father was
a Scotsman from Lanark, wh.o had settled in Liverpool
some twenty years previously and had become a wealthy
corn merchant and shipowner. Originally a Whig and
a Presbyterian, he became a Churchman and a strong
supporter of Canning, was later elected member of Parlia-
ment for Lancaster, and eventually was created a baronet
in Lord John Russell's first administration.

The Gladstones, who originally spelt their name with a
final "s," were a solid Lowland family, religious, commer-
cial and stable, who were thoroughly representative of
successful middle-class energy in the early part of the nine-
teenth century. They lived in a quiet, sober but com-
fortable fashion at first in the town and subsequently on
an estate they purchased in Scotland. William Gladstone
was sent in 1821 to Eton, where he stayed for six years,
rising to the sixth form. He was studious, keen, a promi-
nent writer and speaker, and always remained a fervent
and loyal admirer of his school, though he once described
it as " a very good place for those who liked boa;ting and
Latin verse."* One of his earliest recollections there was
walking from the Christopher to the corner of Keate's
Lane with Canning, on whose policy he afterwards modelled
much of his own. He went on in 1828 to Christ Church,
Oxford, and there devoted himself more earnestly to work.
He became President of the Union, and in 1831 took a
double first, as Peel had done nearly a quarter of a century
before. He thus had a promising reputation, and after
six months spent in travelling in Prance and Italy was
elected, by the Duke of Newcastle's interest, as Conser-
vative member for Newark when he was just twenty-
three years of age. He was most diligent in his parlia-
mentary duties, and, though he had spoken little. Peel
thought his abilities so remarkable that on coming into
office in December 1834 he made him a junior Lord of the
Treasury and soon afterwards Under-Secretary for the
Colonies. The ministry, however, only lasted a few months,
and in 1835 Gladstone was back again in opposition.
* Morley, " Gladstone," i. 47.

21

312 GLADSTONE

He continued active in study, politics and serious
society. He had always been deeply religious, and tlie
Tractarian movement at Oxford now led him to publish his
first book, " The State in its Relation with the Church,"
a work in support of established religion, which, though it
did not gain him many converts, confirmed his claim to
exceptional powers of thought and knowledge. In July
1839 he married Catharine, daughter of Sir Stephen
Glynne, eighth baronet of Hawarden, and cousin through
her mother of the Pitts and Grenvilles. Two years later
Lord Melbourne's ministry fell. Gladstone then became
Vice-President of the Board of Trade under Peel, and was
sworn a privy councillor.

In this ofiice he showed extraordinary capacity for busi-
ness and especially for figures, and he was almost entirely
responsible for the tariff reduction bill of 1842. The insight
he thus acquired into the details of commerce began to
incline his mind towards Free Trade and to the modifica-
tion of the Corn Laws — the coming policy of his leader.

In May 1843 he was made President of the Board of
Trade and then became a member of the Cabinet, when he
was not yet thirty-four. His position grew rapidly, and he
was soon regarded as Peel's principal lieutenant in the
House of Commons. Early in 1845, however, he felt him-
self obliged to resign on the question of an increased grant
to Maynooth College, his strong feelings on Church matters
and the position he had taken in his book compelling him
to disagree with his chief. But in December, after Peel's
resignation on the Repeal question and Russell's failure to
form a government, Gladstone returned to the ministry
as Secretary for the Colonies. On his appointment he
vacated his seat at Newark and, feeling himself honestly
debarred from standing there again, he remained out of
Parliament for over a year, though a Cabinet minister.

In July 1846 Peel was defeated and resigned. Glad-
stone then made a short journey to Germany and resumed
his old interests in the classics and the Church. At the
general election of 1847 he was elected member for Oxford
University, a seat which he held for eighteen years. About

AT THE EXCHEQUEE 313

this time lie became concerned in the affairs of his brother-
in-law's estate of Hawarden, which was in financial
difficulties. Mainly owing to Gladstone's labour and con-
tributions of money, the property was eventually put upon
a solvent basis, and nearly thirty years later he inherited
it on Sir Stephen Glynne's dying without issue. The
business was complicated and engrossing, and it occupied
him continually for the next few years. For this reason
and also because the Peelites, or Free Trade Conservatives,
were now a very small party in the House of Commons, his
political activity remained rather ia abeyance until Peel's
death in 1850.

On the temporary resignation of Russell early in 1851,
Lord Stanley, who was attempting to form an administra-
tion, asked Gladstone to join him, but this the latter de-
clined on Free Trade grounds. The Conservatives, however,
came into office as a Protectionist government a year
later, but the Peelites still adhered to their waiting policy.
" They were always," it was said, " putting themselves up
for auction and then buyiag themselves in."* At the
general election in July 1852 they found themselves
definitely in a position to control the balance, and it was
about this time that Gladstone's particular hostility to
Disraeli was first developed. A sound financier himself,
he thoroughly disapproved of all Disraeli's budget pro-
posals. In December a combination between the Liberals
and Peelites defeated the government, and Lord Aberdeen
came into office with a Coalition ministry. It contained
many discordant elements, including Russell, who led in the
Commons, and Palmerston, who was Home Secretary.

Gladstone now became Chancellor of the Exchequer and
moved from Carlton House Terrace, where he had hitherto
lived, to Downing Street.

His first budget was an unqualified success. Greville
remarked of it that it had raised him to a great political
elevation, while the Queen and Prince Albert expressed
similar approval. " The first year of the Coalition govern-
ment," Aberdeen wrote to Gladstone afterwards, " was
* Sichel, 295,

314 GLADSTONE

eminently prosperous, and this was chiefly owing to your
own personal exertions and to the boldness, ability and
success of your financial measures."*

With 1854 came the Crimean War and consequent rifts
in the Cabinet. Gladstone concurred with the government
policy, though without enthusiasm. He was much more
occupied with University and Civil Service reform, though
he was anxious to support the Christian populations in
the Near East.

In January 1855 the Coalition ministry resigned. Lord
Derby, who at first tried to form a government, asked both
Palmerston and Gladstone to join, but they refused. Lord
Lansdowne and Lord John Russell then made similar
ofiers, but with no better result. At last, with great
hesitation and under strong pressure from Lord Aberdeen,
his late leader, Gladstone agreed to join Palmerston's
ministry, but a few days later he left it on the question of
an enquiry into the conduct of the war. He then rather
veered to the official Conservatives, who had now practically
abjured Protection, but he was really in a state of political
isolation, and on Derby's forming his second government
in 1858 he felt it best not to join. In May 1858 Disraeli
himself urged him to take ofl&ce, but Gladstone kept to his
former decision. In October of that year, however, he
agreed to go out to the Ionian Islands to regulate their
position, and there he remained for about five months,
during which he did some useful constructive work as
High Commissioner. In this year he published his book on
" Homer and the Homeric Age."

In 1859 Lord Derby was defeated, and Palmerston
returned to office. Gladstone now again accepted the post
of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and thus definitely joined
the Liberal party. The next six years were specially
marked by his budgets, in which he set the finances of the
country in order upon a broad Free Trade basis, and by his
sympathies for the cause of Continental and particularly
Italian freedom, in the attainment of which his influence
was a leading factor. It was at this time that he made the
* Morley, " Gladstone," i. 484.

PEIME MINISTER 315

famous utterance, " There is no barrier like the breasts of
freemen. ' ' * But though he gained an increase of reputation
he also raised up numerous opponents, and in the general
election of 1865 he was defeated at Oxford and had to find
a seat in Lancashire. In that year the death of Lord
Palmerston gave him the definite lead in the House of
Commons, but Lord Russell, who succeeded as Prime
Minister, was only able to hold the government together
for eight months. His Reform Bill was practically de-
feated in June 1866 and the Liberal Cabinet then resigned.

Gladstone now took his place on the Opposition bench for
the first time for many years. Russell soon afterwards
determined to retire from the leadership of the party, and
on Gladstone devolved the principal conduct of the resist-
ance to the Conservative ministry under Derby and
DisraeK. At the general election in 1868 the Liberals
were returned by a large majority. Disraeli then resigned,
and on December 1 Gladstone was sent for by the Queen
to form a government. He was at Hawarden felling a tree
when the message from Windsor came. On reading it he
merely said, "Very significant," and went on with his work.f

The construction of his Cabinet was not difficult. It was
sound and homogeneous, and for the next six years the
output of legislation was remarkable. Irish disestablish-
ment, Irish land acts, education, army reform, the ballot —
these were all new measures which were added to the
international work made by the Franco-German War and to
the many extraneous incidents occurring in a long adminis-
tration. By March 1873 public opinion had begun to
tire of too much progress, and the government were just
defeated on an Irish University Bill. DisraeU, however,
would not form a ministry, and Gladstone continued in
office. In August he also undertook the duties of Chancellor
of the Exchequer on a rearrangement of the Cabinet. His
prestige, however, was shaken, and in January 1874 he
advised a dissolution, which resulted in a victory for the
Conservatives. On February 17 he resigned office, declining
a peerage which the Queen ofiered him.

* Morley, " Gladstone," ii. 4. t i^-> "• 252.

316 GLADSTONE

He now determined to retire from politics, Ms reasons
being his age— he was sixty-four — the absence of any
positive aim in his party, and an idea that he was perhaps
out of sympathy with them. Lords Granville and
Hartington took his place in the Lords and Commons
respectively, and for five years he now remained in com-
parative political seclusion, chiefly occupied with literature.
But the Eastern question and the wrongs of the Christian
nations in the Balkan peninsula again made a strong call
upon his sympathy and brought him back to the front, and
in 1877 he began to resume his former activity.

In 1879 he made his famous Midlothian campaign, a
succession of inspired declamations which had an immense
effect on the country. Next year came the general
election. The Liberals carried everything before them,
and Gladstone was triumphantly returned to Parliament.
Lord Hartington having declined to attempt the formation
of a government, the Queen was obliged to confide the task
to Gladstone, and he again became First Lord of the
Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1880. He
was then seventy-one years of age. His second ministry
was not as successful as his first had been. It partook
much more of the nature of a coalition and included in it
several disruptive elements. Unfortunate events abroad
marred its career. It passed a Reform bill, but a war with
the Boers, Majuba, troubles in Egypt, Khartoum, the
questions of Russia and Afghanistan, as well as the con-
tinual menace of the Fenians in Ireland, gave it a series of
damaging blows. Gladstone had not quite the control
that he used to have, or at any rate he did not exercise it.
Although his concentration was still intense, his policy
tended to be rather diffuse and dogmatic. In June 1885
a combination of the Conservative and Parnellite parties
defeated him on an amendment to the budget, and on his
resignation Lord Salisbury, after some demur, took office,
though the Liberals still controlled the House of Commons.
The Queen on this occasion again pressed Gladstone to
accept an earldom, but again he refused.

Salisbury could not long continue with a hostile majority

LATER MINISTRIES 317

in the House of Commons, and in the winter Parliament
was dissolved. The general election resulted in giving
the Liberals 333 members, the Conservatives 251 and the
Parnellites 86. Gladstone was thus dependent on the
Irish vote. In January 1886 the Conservatives were
defeated, and Gladstone became Prime Minister for the
third time, with a promise of some measure of self-govern-
ment for Ireland in the front of his programme. Lords
Hartington and Derby refused to join the Cabinet, but
Lords Spencer, Granville, and Rosebery, Mr. Chamberlain,
Sir W. Harcourt and Mr. Campbell-Bannerman became
members of it. An Irish Home Rule Bill was introduced.
To many Liberals it was unsatisfactory, and on the 8th of
June it was defeated. Gladstone then dissolved Parlia-
ment, and returning with a considerably reduced following
resigned in July and was again succeeded by Salisbury.

The immediate effect of the Irish Bill was a split in the
Liberal party, which kept it from permanent ofl&ce for
twenty years and which was soon followed by a further
split in the Irish party.

Liberal Unionists and Gladstonian Liberals, Parnellites
and anti-Parnellites, now came into being. Gladstone was
nearing eighty, and for the greater part of the next six
years he took a less active part in politics, travelling a good
deal in France, Italy and Germany. Occasionally he
undertook a speaking campaign, and his popularity with
his own supporters still remained unchallenged. His name
had become principally identified with Home Rule, but his
age, his attainments, his experience and his consummate
powers of oratory maintained him in an unrivalled position.

In 1892 the Liberals and Irish won the general election
by a small majority, and Gladstone became Prime Minister
for the fourth time, at the age of eighty-two. He took the
ofl&ce of Lord Privy Seal, as well as that of First Lord of
the Treasury, with the lead in the House of Commons.

A new Home Rule Bill was framed. Through an ex-
ceptionally protracted session it was tediously fought out,
largely by Gladstone's own efforts, and it passed its third
reading in the House of Commons by only thirty-four

318 GLADSTONE

votes. The Lords at once threw it out by the enormous
preponderance of 419 to 41. This marked a definite break
in Gladstone's political engagements. He had done his
best for Ireland, though without final success.

Early in 1894 he was in disagreement with his Cabinet
on the question of the naval estimates, and he was also
greatly handicapped in the House of Commons by his age,
his deafness and his failing physical powers. The moment
seemed propitious for him to retire from politics, and
accordingly, in March 1894, he resigned his ofiice and was
succeeded by Lord Eosebery. The remainder of his life he
passed at Hawarden or at Cannes, still wonderfully vigorous
and alert, though his health gradually weakened. On the
19th of May, 1898, he died at the age of eighty-eight, having
been Prime Minister for over thirteen years. He left a
widow and several children, one of whom, the present Lord
Gladstone, has risen to Cabinet rank and been Governor-
General of South Africa. He was accorded a public funeral
and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Gladstone was a tall, handsome man with a strong
profile, firm mouth, thin lips and prominent chin. He had
remarkable physical strength and phenomenal energy,
enabling him often to do as much as sixteen hours work a
day even in later life. His voice was clear, flexible and
musical, though his utterance was marked by a slight
Lancastrian burr. In speaking his gestures were varied
and animated. As an orator he was in the very foremost
rank, for he could equally sway the House of Commons
or a public meeting. He was one of the first Prime
Ministers who made regular progresses and campaigns
of platform-speaking through the country. " It is a new
thing," wrote Lord Shaftesbury in 1879, "and a very serious
thing to see the Prime Minister on the stump."* But his
copious language, his discursive style and his intense
passion often marred his best efiects. In debate he was
apt and ready, but he excelled in attack much more than
in retort. As an administrator of the national finances he
was probably unsurpassed, and his finest work was done as
* Jennings, 368.

HIS CHARACTER 319

Chancellor of the Exchequer. His lucid methods, his
economy, his thoroughness, his regard for detail and his
knowledge of business fitted him eminently for this
office. As a leader he possessed most of the faculties for
inspiring and retaining the confidence and loyalty of his
party — eloquence, sincerity and courage.

Gladstone's dominant characteristics were love of religion
and love of right. He believed intensely in all his own
political creeds, whatever they might be for the moment,
and could hardly understand any genuine difierence from
them. Yet he was essentially modest and humble, con-
tinually ascribing his successes to a higher power. Born
and bred a Tory, but a Tory of the younger school of
Canning, he gradually moved across the political arena —
like many of his predecessors. Power he delighted in
and pursued, but much more for the good that its exercise
promised than for any personal profit.

Throughout much of his political career he was in
advance of his party, and at times he had to undergo
considerable odium in consequence. But his progress
from one point of view to another was always clear, logical
and honest, and he never changed his views except as the
result of reason. He was a scholar of a very high order —
well versed in both the ancient and modern languages
and their classics. Music he delighted in, and in his own
simple forms of outdoor amusements^scenery, forestry
and walking. In humour and the lighter sides of pleasure
he was wanting, and he could only with difficulty appreciate
a joke. He had always regarded life so seriously, so much
as an ordained and godly pilgrimage, and his days were so
closely packed with official business, literary labours or
regularized recreation, that he had neither the desire nor
the opportunity to turn aside from his fixed paths. This
got him a reputation of overrighteousness, and to many he
seemed a stern, cold, wrong-headed man. But to his
intimates he showed deep afiection and sympathy, and on
occasions he could manifest true generosity to his political
opponents.

Disraeli was a Mephistopheles that he could never com-

320 GLADSTONE

prehend. Neither his books, his policy nor his enigmatic
and cynical views appealed to Gladstone in the least: for
Gladstone was nervous, emotional, strenuous, interested,
while his great opponent seemed to typify many of the
opposite qualities. Disraeli considered him malignant
towards himself, and it is true that some of Gladstone's
fiercest invectives were directed against the " mystery
man " — though the invectives were rather those of the
patriotic puritan than of the individual enemy. Their
epic fight continued for most of their political lives :

'E^ o5 S^ TO. irpmra Siacrr-^Trjv epLcravTC
'Atp^iStj'S T€ ava^ dvSpwv Kal 8tos 'A^iXXevs.

As early as 1839 Macaulay wrote a sketch of Gladstone
which portrays traits that distinguished him for many
years after. " His mind," he said, " is of a large grasp,
nor is he deficient in dialectical skill. But he does not give
his intellect fair play. There is no want of light but a
great want of what Bacon would have called dry light.
Whatever Mr. Gladstone sees is refracted and distorted
by a false medium of passion and prejudices. His style
bears a remarkable analogy to his mode of thinkiag,
and indeed exercises great influence on his mode of
thinking. His rhetoric, though often good of its kind,
darkens and perplexes the logic which it should illustrate.
Half his acuteness and diligence, with a barren imagina-
tion and scanty vocabulary, would have saved him
from almost half his mistakes. He has one gift most
dangerous to a speculator — a vast command of a kind of
language, grave and majestic but of vague and uncertain
import."* Itwasthus " he rode the whirlwind of politics. "f

Gladstone had certain defects which seriously handi-
capped him. He was too inclined to be credulous, not
always a good critic of character, often intolerant. Al-
though his manners were ceremonious and his demeanour
towards ladies " a model of chivalrous propriety," like
Peel he had no small-talk. " He is so consumed by zeal
for great subjects," said Mr. George Russell, " that he

* Macaulay, vi. 328. f Rosebery, " Miscell.," ii. 213.

HIS POLITICS 321

leaves out of account the possibility that they may not
interest other people."* Indeed, he was strenuous to a
degree that bordered on the hot-gospeller. But as Wilber-
force wrote of him: " When people talk of Gladstone going
mad they do not take into account the wonderful elasticity
of his mind and the variety of his interests. This is his
safeguard joined to entire rectitude of purpose and clearness
of view."|

Undoubtedly the fact that his relations with his
Sovereign were never really genial or sympathetic limited
the scope of his influence. " He speaks to me as if I was
a public meeting," is a remark ascribed to Queen Victoria.*
Yet his private friends were numerous and they included
the greatest names of his day in the Church, in art and in
letters. His reading was profound, more profound perhaps
than his writings suggest, for the multiplicity of public
affairs just prevented him reaching the highest pitch of
scholarship.

His political experience was vast. In the course of a
busy life he had seen or known nineteen past or future
Prime Miliisters of England, and had mixed with nearly
every society from the days of the Regent to the verge of
the twentieth century. And in a sense it was his excep-
tional age and position that in the end defeated him.
He became the single survivor of a past epoch, an historic
figure towering above younger generations, an oracle that
obsessed and almost crushed his disciples. To the Irish
question he eventually became so closely wedded that in
the eyes of half England that was his leit motif, while the
famous budgets of the sixties and seventies and the whirl-
wind speeches of the Midlothian campaign were almost
forgotten. To-day it is too soon completely to focus his
right place in history, but the chief landmarks, the salient
facts of his career can hardly be mistaken. A great orator,
scholar and patriot, intensely animated by religion,
driven forward by a desire that his country should do right,
and gifted with the deepest resources of mental and bodily
strength, he devoted his life to faith, to knowledge and to

* Russell, " Collections," 191. f Jennings, 360

322 CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

action. He made many successes and many failures —
as he himself was the first to admit — but after a longer
and more strenuous life than any of his predecessors had
enjoyed he left behind him a name for steadfastness, for
integrity and for piety, which few statesmen of his rank
have emulated and which certainly none have excelled.

II.— CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

Henry Campbell, afterwards Sir Henry Campbell-Ban-
nerman, was born at Kilvinside House, near Glasgow, on
the 7th of September, 1836, the second son of Sir James
Campbell of Stracathro House, Forfar, by Janet, daughter
of Henry Bannerman, a rich Manchester manufacturer.
His grandfather, James Campbell, came to Glasgow from
Menteith in 1805, and set up there as a yarn merchant.
He had two sons, who subsequently started a large tailoring
and drapery business. One of them, James, rose to be
Lord Provost of his city and was knighted in 1841. He
became a very wealthy man, purchased an estate and was
a strong Conservative.

Henry Campbell was educated fiist at the Glasgow High
School, next at Glasgow University, and then at Trinity
College, Cambridge, where he took his degree with double
honours in classics and mathematics. At the age of
twenty-four he married Sarah Charlotte, daughter of
General Sir C. Bruce, a woman of great strength of character
and intelligence, and his close and constant friend and
adviser through life. He was a good man of afiairs, able,
keen and sociable, and became an early member of the
Lanarkshire volunteers, rising to the rank of captain.

Until 1868 he worked in his father's business, but he
then turned to politics, and at his second attempt in that
year was elected member for Stirling boroughs, a consti-
tuency which he represented for the whole of his political
career. He showed himself a strong and independent
Liberal and an ardent supporter of the general policy
of Mr. Gladstone, particularly on Scottish afiairs and
education. In 1871 he was appointed Financial Secretary

SECEETARY FOR WAR 323

to the War Office, under Cardwell, and was soon known
as a hard-working and popular minister.

A year later he inherited the large fortune of his
maternal uncle, with a Kentish estate, and he then took
the additional name of Bannerman.

In 1874 the Conservatives came into office, and for the
next six years he took comparatively little part in the House
of Commons debates, speaking as a rule only on Scottish
or army questions. On the Liberals returning to power in
1880 he resumed his old place, with Childers as his chief.
Two years later he was transferred in the same capacity
to the Admiralty, and represented that department in
the House of Commons, Lord Northbrook, the First Lord,
being in the Upper House. In 1884 he was made Chief
Secretary for Ireland, where Lord Spencer was then Lord-
Lieutenant. Here he remained for only a few months,
but during that time he managed to perform his duties
with credit, and it was said of him that he was perhaps the
only man who left that difficult post without having
damaged himself politically. Parnell called him " an
Irish Secretary who left things alone — a sensible thing
for an Irish Secretary " ; while Healy said that he governed
Ireland with Scotch jokes.*

In the short government of 1886 Campbell-Bannerman
was Secretary for War, entering the Cabinet then for the
first time. He had declared himself thoroughly in agree-
ment with Gladstone's Home Rule policy, and this opened
up promotion for him. After the resignation of the
Liberals in that year he worked hard on the Opposition
side, and also served in 1888 as a member of the Royal
Commission on the civil administration of the naval and
military departments, of which he signed the minority
report.

In 1892 the Liberals again came into power, and
Campbell-Bannerman returned to his old place at the
War Office. He was by now a well-known and considerable
figure in the House of Commons, distinguished alike by
his personal and political good qualities. When Lord
* Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 303.

324 CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

Rosebery's government was defeated in June 1895 on the
cordite question, a War Ofl&ce matter, Sir William Harcourt
said of him that there was " no more able, more respected,
or more popular minister in the House."* It was felt that
he had been hardly treated on this vote, and in the resigna-
tion honours he was knighted and given the Grand Cross
of the Bath. At this time he was very anxious to be
elected Speaker of the House of Commons, a choice that
would probably have been agreeable to both political
parties, but his colleagues in the Cabinet, aware of his
merits as a minister and perhaps as a possible leader,
dissuaded him from it.

In 1897 the affairs of South Africa began to loom on the
political horizon. Campbell-Bannerman was selected as
a member of the South African Committee on the raid of
Dr. Jameson, and agreed in its findings. His position in
the party now rapidly became more important. In 1896
Lord Rosebery retired from the Liberal leadership, and his
place was taken by Lord Kimberley in the Lords and Sir
William Harcourt in the Commons. Two years later the
latter in turn withdrew, and at a meeting at the Reform
Club in February 1899 Campbell-Bannerman was unani-
mously chosen to succeed him. He was recognized as
a thoroughly sound Liberal, an able and active adminis-
trator with a long experience of office, and, though he was as
yet comparatively little known in the outside world, he
enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his colleagues and
his followers in Parliament. He at once showed that he
was determined to lead. Home Rule, he said, could no
longer be made the first item in the Liberal programme, but
the old watchwords of Peace, Retrenchment and Reform
he firmly upheld. The policy of the South African War he
opposed, though once the war was begun he supported the
measures necessary for carrying it on. But the details of
the campaign he continually criticized, and his famous
remark on the " methods of barbarism " of the system of
concentration camps nearly caused a permanent division
in his party. At this time he had great difficulties to
* Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 304.

PRIME MINISTEE 325

contend with. The right wing of the Liberals, led by Lord
Rosebery and Mr. Asquith, advocated a more imperial
policy, while the left wing, with Mr. Lloyd George as a
protagonist, gave their principal attention to peace and
domestic reforms. Campbell-Bannerman strove to come
to terms with the seceders, though he never concealed his
views. The first duty of the ministry after victory had
been secured would be, he said, " to aim at the conciliation
and harmonious co-operation of the two European races
in South Africa . . . and to restore to the conquered states
the rights of self-government."* To this policy he always
adhered and he was subsequently able to give it effect.
But in the meantime he underwent unmeasured obloquy
which he met with rmdaunted courage.

In 1903 Mr. Chamberlain launched his fiscal proposals
for Colonial Protection and Tariff Reform. They split up
the Conservative government and several members of the
Cabinetresigned. Campbell-Bannerman took full advantage
of the movement, proclaiming the vital necessity of Free
Trade to a country situated as was England. He was
strongly supported by all sections of the Liberals and by
many Conservatives. The use of Chinese workmen in South
Africa under questionable conditions supplied another
ground for attack on the government. The Unionists had
lost many of their leading men by death or retirement, they
had been ten years in ofl&ce and their counsels were divided.
In December 1905 Mr. Balfour determined to resign.
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, as the leader of the official
Liberals in the House of Commons, was at once sent for
by King Edward. Only a section of the party adhered
to Lord Rosebery; Sir William Harcourt and Lord
Kimberley were dead, and there was no one else likely to
be able to form a strong government. Campbell-Banner-
man accepted, rapidly composed his Cabiuet, in which he
included Mr. Asquith, Mr. Haldane, Mr. Lloyd George
and Sir Edward Grey, and then at once dissolved Parlia-
ment. " Some attempts had been made to induce him
to go to the House of Lords, but he firmly resisted any
* Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 306.

326 CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN

such suggestion. " It is I," he said, " who am the head of
this Government; it is I who have the King's command.
... I will not have any condition of the kind imposed
upon me."* The Liberal programme for reforms in the
many questions of housing, rating, licensing, poor law, plural
voting, payment of members and the like attracted the
country; and the party was returned to power by a larger
majority than any since 1832. With the Labour members
and without the Irish they had a preponderance of some
270 votes over the Unionists.

Campbell-Bannerman at once accorded self-government
to South Africa and set up the Union. In the next session
he brought in three of his promised reforms. All were
passed by the House of Commons, while one, the Trades
Disputes Bill, was accepted by the Lords. But the Bill
for abolishing Plural Voting they rejected, and the
Education Bill they so amended that it had to be dropped.
In consequence of these refusals of the Upper House to
accept measures thus sent up to them, Campbell-Banner-
man carried a resolution in the House of Commons that
the " will of the people should be made to prevail." It was
a presage of the Parliament Act passed by his successor.

This completed his work. In the summer of 1906 his
wife had died. His attendance on her during her last
illness had been a severe strain on his strength, and her
death was a serious blow to him. He was over seventy
years of age, and the labours of the ofl&ce which he held
had immensely increased. He had insisted on remaining
in the House of Commons, despite a strong wish of some
of his colleagues that he should accept a peerage. The
combined burdens proved too much for him. In November
1907 he had a heart attack. He went abroad to Biarritz
for some weeks and returned to the House of Commons in
February 1908; but influenza then supervened and he
became rapidly worse. On April 4 he resigned his post,
and on April 22 he died, leaving no issue. He was buried
at Meigle in Scotland, and a tablet was put up to him in
Westminster Abbey. At the time of his death he had
* Shaw, 263.

C. Forbes pinx.

SIB HENEY CAMPBELL-BANNEEMAN T

Po/ace page 326

HIS CHARACTER 327

become the Father of the House of Commons, having sat
in it for just on forty years. He was the first Prime
Minister to receive as such a definite place in the scale of
precedence, that of the former Lord Treasurer.

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was a solid, well-built
man, with a rubicund fat face, clear bright eyes and a
humorous expression — a tjrpical w^U-to-do Scotsman.
Though a man of ample means, a good linguist, a well-read
scholar and a traveller, he never moved much in general
society, living for the most part at Belmont Castle, an
estate which he had purchased in Fife, in London or at
Continental watering-places. It is too early to attempt
to estimate his political place in history, for he has only
been dead fourteen years. But his personal qualities
were simple and well known. Of imperturbable good-
temper, cheery, modest, fearless, generous and determined,
he was an honest, sound and pluc%" commander in the most
difficult days. Not an orator, he was a ready and witty
debater and a strong and effective speaker on public plat-
forms. "Simplicity of character, directness of vision
and extraordinary toleration " distinguished him. " He
saw afiectation through and through."* An example of
Tout vient a qui sait attendre, his long service, his
popularity, and his wise, firm and constant courage gave
him a leadership which he had deserved and which he
maintained with credit. He was, said Mr. Asquith, " calm,
patient, persistent, indomitable. He was the least cynical
of mankind, but no one had a keener eye for the humours
and ironies of the political situation. He was a strenuous
and uncompromising fighter, a strong party man, but he
harboured no resentment. He met both good and evil
fortune with the same unclouded brow, the same unruffled
temper, the same unshakable confidence in the justice and
righteousness of his cause, "f

In the forty years that had elapsed from the commence-
ment of Gladstone's first administration to the death of
* Shaw, 236. t Nat. Biog., 2 Supp., i. 311.

22

\

328 CAMPBELL-BANNEEMAN

Campbell-Bannerman the Liberals had been in office for
a much shorter period of time than there opponents.
Divisions of policy and of party had handicapped then-
hold on the country and weakened their strength. But at
last the clouds had broken and a rosy dawn shone before
them. With an immense majority, a popular programme
and a capable Cabinet, they seemed destined to enjoy an
exceptionally long lease of power. But

" Fortuna ssevo Iseta negotio
Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax
Transmutat incertos honores."

A constitutional struggle, domestic dissensions and
a world-war of colossal magnitude rapidly changed the
whole face of politics and by 1915 England was again
under the sway of a coalition, the first she had experienced
for more than sixty years.

CHAPTER XVI
THE PEE SENT DAY

LORD ROSEBERY, MR. BALFOUR, MR. ASQUITH
AND MR. LLOYD GEORGE

Four past or present holders of the ofl&ce of Prime Minister
are now alive. Three of them have attained their seven-
tieth year; three are distinguished men of letters; three
belong to the Liberal side of politics and three have passed
most of their political lives in the House of Commons.
All are prominent and honoured figures in public life, and
some of them are likely to play a further part in the affairs
of state in the future. It is far too soon to attempt here
any review of their history or estimation of their work
when neither is finished; such criticisms would be incom-
plete and impertinent. But it will not be amiss to give
some short account of the principal facts in their lives,
apart from those which are matters of opinion or dispute.
In this manner it may be possible to observe the modern
trend of the highest political careers under the rapidly
changing conditions of society and the wide developments
of modern democracy.

The first quarter of the twentieth century has not yet
elapsed, but in sixteen years three successive Prime
Ministers have all been drawn from the same side of politics
and from the so-called middle classes of the community.
Only once before has the power been held for so long a period
by men unsupported by birth or connection, and not for a
century has it remained so continuously in the hands of
a single party. Such a sequence seems to point a very
striking moral and to indicate a crucial change in the
canons of the old order.

329

330 LORD ROSEBERY

I.— LORD ROSEBERY

The Hon. Archibald Philip Primrose, first called Lord
Dalmeny and afterwards fifth Earl of Rosebery, was born
at 20, Charles Street, Berkeley Square, London, on the
7th of May, 1847. He was the elder son of Archibald, Lord
Dalmeny, and grandson of the fourth earl. His mother.
Lady Catherine Stanhope, a daughter of Philip, fourth
Earl Stanhope, had been one of the most beautiful women
of her day. After the death of her husband she married
the last Duke of Cleveland and to the end of her life was
a famous figure in society.

The Primroses had been settled in Perthshire and
Midlothian since the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Cavaliers in the Great Rebellion, they had been raised to
the Scottish peerage in 1700 and advanced to an earldom
three years later, while in 1828 the fourth earl had received
a barony of the United Kingdom. Rich landowners, they
were connected with many of the leading families in the
kingdom, and collaterally with those of Pitt and Grenville.
The fourth earl, who lived to the great age of eighty-four,
was a link with the French Revolution, the Regency and
the Reform Bill, while his son had sat in Parliament for
fourteen years. A political career was thus the heritage
of their descendant.

Archibald Primrose lost his father when he was only four
years of age, and then took the courtesy title of Lord
Dalmeny on becoming heir to his grandfather. He was
brought up principally in Scotland until he went to Eton.
There his tutor was Mr. William Johnson (afterwards
known as Mr. Cory), a man of exceptional genius and
attainments, whose chief recorded remarks of his pupil
were that he wished for palmam sine pulvere, and that
he was a budding bibliomaniac. In his company Lord
Dalmeny travelled to France and Italy in his holidays
and was early introduced to the delights of literature and
art. In his school work he showed no remarkable industry,
though plenty of talent, but he distinguished himself on

archibald primrose
5th earl of EOSEBEEY

To face page 330

EAELY LIFE 331

the river, pulling an oar in the Monarch, and he was also
elected a member of Pop. In 1866 he went on to Christ
Church, Oxford, where he was one of the last of the
gentlemen-commoners or " tufts." His University career,
however, was prematurely cut short, for the College
authorities did not take the same view that he did as to the
necessity of racehorses as a part of the official curriculum,
and he was compelled to go down without having taken his
degree. Two years later he succeeded his grandfather and
took his seat in the House of Lords.

In 1871 Lord Rosebery made his maiden speech on
seconding the address. Subsequently he used to speak
regularly once or twice every session, and he acquired a
reputation for unusual eloquence and ability. In 1873 he
was appointed lord-lieutenant of Linlithgow and some-
time later on of Midlothian. He was also made a com-
missioner of Scottish Endowments.

At the age of thirty he married Hannah, only daughter
and heiress of Baron Meyer de Rothschild, who brought
him an immense fortune. In the same year he was elected
Lord Rector of Aberdeen University and began to take
an increasing interest in politics. Mr. Gladstone was then
starting his famous Midlothian campaign, and in this Lord
Rosebery played a prominent part. His influence and his
means were employed with considerable effect on behalf of
the Liberal leader, and they contributed not a little to his
success. It was Mr. Gladstone who called him " the man
of the future."

Lord Rosebery, by his abilities, his rank and his wealth,
was thus marked out for high place. In 1880 the Liberals
were returned to power, and a year later he was appointed
Under-Secretary at the Home Office. This post, however,
he only held until May 1883. He then resigned and made
a long journey in Australia, where he occupied himself
actively in imperial questions. A year later he brought
forward one of his earliest motions on the reform of the
House of Lords, a subject which has always been in the
forefront of his programme.

In February 1885 he rejoined the government as First

332 LOED ROSEBERY

Commissioner of Works and Lord Privy Seal, and in the
short Liberal administration of 1886 he was promoted to
the important position of Foreign Secretary. After the
defeat of the government in that year he went ofE to travel
in India, and during the ensuing long period of opposition
he bore his share in the debates in the House of Lords,
where his powers of oratory had by now won him a leading
place. In 1890 he lost his wife, from whom he inherited
Mentmore in Buckinghamshire.

On the resumption of ofl&ce by Mr. Gladstone in 1892,
Lord Rosebery again became Foreign Secretary and
remained so until March 1894, when, on Mr. Gladstone's
retirement, he succeeded as Prime Minister as the personal
choice of Queen Victoria. He then became First Lord
of the Treasury and Lord President, relinquishing the
Foreign OflS.ce. A year later the government was defeated,
and Lord Rosebery, whose Cabinet had not hung together
very well, at once resigned.

In the meantime he had had many other activities. He
had interested himself seriously in municipal government,
and from 1889 to 1890 had acted as the first Chairman of
the London County Council. His racing stable had brought
him remarkable success and popularity, for he had won the
Derby for two years running, 1894-1895, a feat never before
accomplished by a Prime Minister. His taste in the arts
and in letters and his wealth had enabled him to form
large and important collections of books and pictures; and
henceforward his pursuits lay as much in the direction of
literature as of politics. In 1896 he determined to resign
the leadership of the Liberal party. For some years he
headed the Liberal League, an imperialist or right wing
association, but he gradually found himself out of sympathy
with the main body of the Liberals on Home Rule and other
subjects to which he had never been much drawn.

About this time the late Mr. George Russell, a critic
and colleague well qualified to speak, wrote of him: " In
appearance, air and tastes Lord Rosebery is still young.
In experience, knowledge and conduct he is already old.
He has had a vivid and a varied experience. He is equally

HIS TALENTS 333

at home on Epsom Downs and in the House of Lords. His
life has been full of action, incident and interest. He has
not only collected books, but has read them; and has found
time, even amid the engrossing demands of the London
County Council, the Turf and the Foreign Ofl&ce, not only for
study, but — ^what is much more remarkable — for thought. ' ' *
And he goes on to notice Lord Rosebery's brilliant gifts
of observation, humour, conversation and sympathy.

After the death of Queen Victoria, Lord Rosebery made
fewer incursions into party polemics, though he still retained
a small but important following, which included such
notable figures as Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey and
Mr. Haldane. But when Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman
announced his programme on the fall of the Conservative
government in 1905, Lord Rosebery declined to serve
under that flag, though his lieutenants were willing to do so.
For many years now he has not spoken in the House of
Lords, but his contributions to literature have been hardly
less striking than his successes as an orator. His principal
writings include studies on past rulers and statesmen —
Cromwell, Napoleon, Chatham, Pitt, Peel and Churchill.
They have established his claim to a high rank as an
historian and a master of the English language.

Lord Rosebery, who is a K.G., a K.T., an F.R.S. and
Chancellor of London University, was made Earl of Mid-
lothian, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, on the
occasion of King George's coronation. He now lives a
very retired life and rarely appears in public. He has lost
his younger son, Mr. Neil Primrose, a promising politician,
who died of wounds in the recent European War, but he
has an elder son living, as well as two daughters, one of
whom is married to Lord Crewe.

II.— MR. BALFOUR

Arthur James Balfour was born on the 25th of July, 1848,
at Whittinghame, in Haddingtonshire, the eldest son of
James Maitland Balfour of that place, and of Lady Blanche
* Eussell, " Collections," 205.

334 MR. BALFOUR

Cecil, daughter of James, second Marquess of Salisbury.
The Balfours were an old Lowland family of lairds who
had long been settled on their own lands, an estate of
considerable value. Mr. Balfour the elder died when his
son was only eight years of age, and the latter was thus
much thrown with his mother's relations. He went in due
course to Eton, where he was fag to the present Lord
Lansdowne, and then on to Trinity College, Cambridge.
Here he took second-class honours in moral science in 1869,
proceeding M.A. four years later. He was an athlete of
some distinction, and has maintained a high place as a
player of both varieties of tennis and of golf even in later
life.

In 1874 he was returned unopposed as Conservative
member for Hertford, a borough largely under the influence
of the Cecil family. At this time his uncle. Lord Salisbury,
was a leading member of the Cabinet, and, on succeeding
to the Foreign OflB.ce soon afterwards he took his young
nephew as private secretary. In this capacity Mr. Balfour
accompanied Lords Beaconsfield and Salisbury to the
Berlm Conference in 1878 and so had the opportunity of
getting an early and important experience of public
business and European politics under two master minds.
The Conservative government, however, went out of ofl&ce
in 1880, and Mr. Balfour, while in opposition, acted with the
so-called fourth party, an independent and very militant
wing of freelances made up of Lord Randolph Churchill,
Sir John Gorst and Sir Henry Drummond-Wolff. Of these
Mr. Balfour, though perhaps not the most industrious, was
certainly not the least redoubtable in debate.

About this time he published his first book, " A Defence
of Philosophic Doubt." He had become the centre of an
intellectual coterie of fashionable society which regarded
him as a future leader of eclectic thought and politics.
Although he had not apparently taken the House of
Commons very seriously so far, he was destined for rapid
advancement. His versatile attainments, his talents
as a writer, a speaker and an athlete, his slim, agile figure
and his attractive personality, appealed to many. His

PEIME MINISTER 335

uncle, who was shortly to become Prime Minister, had
also a strong belief in his capacity.

In 1885 the Conservatives returned to power, and Lord
Salisbury appointed his nephew President of the Local
Government Board, when he was sworn a privy councillor.
In the next year, after Mr. Gladstone's short administration,
he was made Secretary for Scotland and admitted to the
Cabinet, and from 1887 to 1891 he was Chief Secretary for
Ireland. This was his " baptism of fire."* He distin-
guished himself equally in his parliamentary and adminis-
trative duties and he soon rose to a prominent position
in the estimation of his colleagues and the public. On the
death of Mr. W. H. Smith in October 1891, Mr. Balfour was
selected to succeed him as leader of the House of Commons,
and he then took the office of First Lord of the Treasury,
the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, being Foreign Secretary.

The Unionist government were defeated at the general
election next year, and Mr. Balfour then led the Opposition
in the Lower House until the return of his party to power
in 1895. In that year he published what is perhaps his
best-known work, " The Foundations of Belief." He now
resumed his former place in the Cabinet, where he remained
until the retirement of Lord Salisbury in the summer of
1902. He then succeeded his uncle as Prime Minister, being
just fifty-four years of age.

Since 1885 he had sat for East Manchester. That city
was the centre of the school of Free Trade, a question which
was now again to come to the fore. The Protectionist
doctrines of Mr. Chamberlain began to divide the Unionist
party, and Mr. Balfour's talents were exercised to the full
in endeavouring to maintain some agreement. But his
efforts were not very successful and after several defections
among his principal followers and the usual defeats re-
sulting on an exceptionally long period of office, he deter-
mined to resign in December 1905. The ensuing general
election was won by the Liberals with an immense majority
and Mr. Balfour lost his seat, though he was soon after-
wards elected member for the City of London, a constituency
* Lucy, " Lords and Commoners," 53.

336 MR. BALFOUR

which he long represented. He remained leader of the
Unionist party up to 1911, when further dissensions caused
him to retire from that position. He continued his political
career, however, though rather less actively than before,
and he also made further contributions to literature.

In the Coalition ministry of Mr. Asquith in 1915, Mr.
Balfour accepted the place of First Lord of the Admiralty,
and in the following year he became Foreign Secretary
under Mr. Lloyd George. In that capacity he undertook
a special mission to the United States in connection with
their entry into the European War, and in this deUcate
duty his tact and skill were of unrivalled value to the
country. After his return to England in 1918, he attended
the Peace Conference in Paris, where he acted as one of the
British delegates. He was subsequently appointed Lord
President of the Council, and he is also British representa-
tive on the Council of the League of Nations.

He has never married. Recently he has taken com-
paratively little part in the business of the House of
Commons, though at the age of seventy-three he is still
an active man, and, on occasion, can easily hold his old
place in debate. He moves in the serener atmosphere of
diplomacy, while music, art, games and society share his
other interests. He has been called " a politician among
philosophers and a philosopher among politicians." He is
Chancellor of Cambridge and of Edinburgh Universities,
and is an F.R.S. and a member of the Order of Merit.
Early in 1922, after the Washington Conference, he
accepted the Garter and an earldom.

III.— MR. ASQUITH

Herbert Henry Asquith was born at Croft House, Morley,
in Yorkshire, on the 12th of September, 1852, the second
son of Joseph Dixon Asquith, of that place, and of Emily,
daughter of William Willans, a rich manufacturer of
Huddersfield. Both his father and his paternal grandfather
had been in the woollen trade, and were prominent Noncon-
formists, while the Willans family were Congregationalists

J. Tademapinx.

ARTHUE JAMES BALFOUR

AFTERWARDS EARL OF BALFOUR

To face page 836

EARLY LIFE 337

and strong Radicals. The Asquiths themselves came of
an old Puritan stock, and all their leanings lay towards
the Liberal side of politics.

Mr. Joseph Asquith died in 1860, and his widow, who
was much broken down in health, then went to her parents'
home in Huddersfield, where her children came under the
care of her own relations.

After some preliminary education at home, Henry
Asquith was sent to the City of London School. During
these years he lived with his brother in lodgings in Pimlico,
and was taught early in life to fend for himself. At the
age of fourteen he used to practise speaking, and, like
Lord John Russell before him, was a constant votary of
the play. An apt and ardent worker, he succeeded
when only seventeen in winning a scholarship at Balliol
College, Oxford, and went up there in 1870. He had the
reputation of being a strong classic, and he soon became
a no less brilliant conversationalist. His University
career was crowned with honours. He became Craven
Scholar, he took a high degree with first-class honours,
he was President of the Union and he was elected a Fellow
of his College. His contemporaries were convinced of
his future distinction, and he was the centre of a group
of clear and sound thinkers and speakers.

" See Asquith soon in Senates to be fiist
If age shall ripen what his youth rehearsed."

On leaving Oxford he acted for a few months as tutor to
Lord Lymington, Lord Portsmouth's son, and after having
eaten his dinners was called to the bar at Lincoln's
Inn in 1876.

In the next year he married his first wife, Helen, daughter
of Frederick Melland of Manchester, and settled in Hamp-
stead. He had only very moderate means, and for a long
time he had but little work at the bar. To supplement his
income he used to write for the Spectator and the Economist
and to lecture for the University Extension Movement.
But about 1884 he began to get into practice. Two years
later he was able to win a seat in Parliament, being elected

338 MR. ASQUITH

M.P. for East Fife, a constituency which, he represented for
nearly a generation. He was a strong and determined
Liberal and though he had not at first much leisure to
devote to Parliament, his debating powers were soon
recognized. At the bar he now made rapid progress, and
in 1889 he was engaged as junior counsel with Sir Charles
Russell in the famous case of The Times versus Parnell.
His able management of this suit confirmed his position
as an advocate and a lawyer. A year later he took silk
and briefs began to come into his chambers very quickly.
Mr. Gladstone had conceived a great admiration for ms
abilities, and on the Liberals coming into ofl&ce in 1892
he did not hesitate to put the young Q.C. straight into the
high post of Home Secretary, with a seat in the Cabinet.

Mr. Asquith had lost his wife in the preceding year, and
with a young family to bring up, his duties in the House
of Commons to attend to and the business of a great
department of State to conduct, he needed all his energies.
He showed that he was equal to his task, and earned the
reputation of being the best Home Secretary of modern
times. Problems of industry, labour and social reform
chiefly occupied his attention, but he never failed to take
a line of his own in the support of law and order when the
necessity arose, making it clear that he was above all party
considerations where the State was concerned. His pro-
jects were broad and bold. "It is both a higher and a
harder task," he once said, " to make than to take a city.
Patriotism, like charity, begins at home."* His principal
measure, the Factory Bill, was subsequently passed into
law by the Conservative government.

In 1894 he married as his second wife Margaret, daughter
of Sir Charles Tennant, Bart., a lady of exceptional intel-
lectual and social qualities, who brought him some accession
of fortune.

A year later Lord Rosebery was defeated and resigned,

and Mr. Asquith found himself in opposition. During

the next ten years the Liberal party was divided and

dispirited and its prospects sank at times to the lowest

* Speader, " Asquith.," 64.

S. J. Solomon pin X.

HERBEET HENRY ASQUITH

By kind permission of Messrs. Raphael Tuck & Sons, the publishers.

To face page £

PRIME MINISTER 339

depths, but Mr. Asquith. always remained a tower of
strength to them. He had returned to the bar and prac-
tised in the higher courts, but he kept well to the front in
politics, and on Lord Rosebery's retirement from the
Liberal leadership in 1896 his name was canvassed as
his possible successor. He stood aside, however, and
though he subsequently associated himself with Lord Rose-
bery and the Liberal League, in company with Sir Edward
Grey and Mr. Haldane, on all the main points of policy
of his party he was constantly loyal to his left-wing col-
leagues. At last, in 1905, the luck of the Liberals turned,
and on Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's becoming Prime
Minister it was patent that only Mr. Asquith could be his
first lieutenant.

In December 1905 he was appointed Chancellor of the
Exchequer, and while holding that position was responsible
for the Old Age Pensions Act and for two eminently suc-
cessful budgets. Sixteen months later, on the death of
his leader, he became Prime Minister, and remained at
the head of the government during the crisis of the struggle
with the House of Lords, the Parliament Bill, the Irish
troubles and the first haH of the European War.

For a short time in 1914 he held the seals of the War
Ofl&ce as well as those of the Treasury, and for the next
two years he also acted as Chairman of the Defence
Committee. In 1915 he reconstructed the ministry on a
Coalition basis, admitting several of the leading Unionists
to it. In the summer of the next year he lost his eldest
son, Mr. Raymond Asquith, a young barrister of excep-
tional talents and promise, who gave his life fighting
in the trenches in France.

By this time he had held the oflS.ce of Prime Minister
continuously for eight years, a period only exceeded in the
last century by Lord Liverpool. The complexity and pres-
sure of the vast duties of directing the affairs of the British
Empire had enormously increased, and the stress and
magnitude of the cataclysmal contest in which the country
was engaged had told heavily upon him. Towards the
end of the year 1916 differences arose between him and his

340 MR. LLOYD GEORGE

principal colleague, Mr. Lloyd George, as to the composi-
tion of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, and in
December he retired in the latter's favour. His speech
on this occasion was described by Mr. Redmond, the Irish
leader, as a masterpiece of " magnanimity, reticence and
patriotism."*

At the general election two ^ears later Mr. Asquith
lost his seat in East Fife, and for a short time he was out of
Parliament. In 1920, however, he was returned for Paisley,
a constituency for which he still sits. He now leads the
Independent Liberal party.

Although his classical and literary attainments fairly
entitle him to be called a man of letters, Mr. Asquith has
only written a single book, an " Election Guide," which
appeared in 1885, but his published speeches form a litera-
ture of their own.

He has several sons living, and is at present perhaps
the most prominent political figure in the country who is
not in ofiice.

IV.— MR. LLOYD GEORGE

David Lloyd George was born on the 17th of January,
1863, at a house in York Place, Oxford Road, Manchester.
He was the elder son of William George, a schoolmaster,
and of Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. David Lloyd, a
Baptist minister of Carnarvon. The Georges had been
well-to-do farmers in South Wales, but William George
had struck out a new line and become an itinerant teacher,
wandering to London, Liverpool and other places, until
at last he came to the Unitarian schools in Hove Street,
Manchester, where his son first saw the light. A Non-
conformist and a man of thoroughly Celtic temperament,
he had led a hard life without much material success.
Shortly after his son's birth he moved to a small farm at
Bulford, in Pembrokeshire, where he died a year later at
the early age of forty-four.

Mrs. George, with two small children, was left in difl&cult
circumstances, and she was glad to be able to move to the
house of her brother Richard Lloyd, who was a boot-
* Hansard, December 19, 1916.

EAELY LIFE 341

paaker in the little village of Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth
in Carnarvon. There, at the National school, her sons were
educated up to the age of fourteen. Mr. Lloyd George is
said to have shown considerable capacity for history and
arithmetic, and later on he devoted himself assiduously
to learning sufl&cient Latin and French to enable him to
pass the Preliminary Law examination for admission as a
solicitor, the career he had elected to follow. In 1879
he was articled to a firm in Portmadoc, which was a legal
centre in. Carnarvon, and for the next few years he worked
with spirit and energy at his profession. He became a
member of the local debating society and showed an
intense interest in politics, writing articles for the North
Wales Express and taking a forward part, even at his early
age, in the advanced Liberal and national movement that
was then beginning in the Principality. In 1881 he went
up to London for a few days, and paid his first visit to the
House of Commons. Of this he recorded his impressions
in his diary. " I will not say," he wrote, " but what I
eyed the assembly in a spirit similar to that in which
William the Conqueror eyed England on his visit to
Edward the Confessor, as the region of his future domain.
vanity !"*

In 1884 he passed his final test and was enrolled as a
solicitor. He resolved to set up for himself, although
he might have had, by the influence of his late employers,
a good place as a managing clerk in another firm. He
started in business in Criccieth, at first independently
and subsequently in partnership with his brother. By
hard work, adroit knowledge of the people and effective
speaking in the various county courts, he gradually built
up for himself a promising practice.

In June 1888 he married Margaret, daughter of
Richard Owen, a prosperous farmer in the neighbourhood
of Criccieth, and began to become a figure of real impor-
tance in North Wales. His persuasive oratory was im-
mensely popular, he was a man of the people and he
worked for them. Continuing his interest in local politics,
* Spender, "Lloyd George," chap. 3.

342 MR. LLOYD GEORGE

in the foUdwing year he was chosen an alderman of the
county council. He was also adopted as the parlia-
mentary candidate for the Carnarvon Boroughs, and at a
by-election in 1890 he just succeeded in winning the seat.
This was a remarkable triumph for a young man of only
twenty-seven, without any of the aidsof fortunebehindhim.
His reputation as a speaker had preceded him to the House
of Commons, and when he first spoke there it was seen that
the youthful Welsh Nationalist was not a mere irrespon-
sible demagogue. He adhered to his popular ideals,
and as his influence in his native country was growing
every year he was a factor to be reckoned with.

In 1893 he raised the question of Welsh Disestablish-
ment and soon became a thorn in the sides of his leaders.
Many Liberals regarded him as an extremist and it used
to be said that he was in part responsible for the fall of
Lord Rosebery's ministry. But among the left wing of the
party he was looked upon as one of their most able and
eloquent fighters, and already he had a small though
insistent following.

In 1897 he transferred a part of his legal business to
London and eked out his limited means by contributing
to the press, for his young famUy was now beginning to
grow up and he had a hard fight to get on.

During the South African War Mr. Lloyd George came
out as a very prominent opponent of the policy of the
Unionist government, and his unrestrained and downright
speeches earned him much opprobrium. But he stuck to
his own views, for he never hesitated about taking an
unpopular line if his beliefs led him that way. He was to
reap the reward of his couxage.

In 1905 the Liberals at last returned to power. No man
of the stronger Radicals had deserved more than Mr. Lloyd
George. He was appointed President of the Board of
Trade, with a seat in the Cabinet, and his remarkable talents
for tact and conciliation brought him very considerable
repute in his administration of that department of
State. When, in 1908, Mr. Asquith succeeded Sir Henry
Campbell-Bannerman as Prime Minister, the post of

C. Williams pinx.

DAVID LLOYD GEOEGE

To face page Si2

PEIME MINISTEE 343

Chancellor of the Exchequer, which had been refused by
Mr. Morley, was offered to Mr. Lloyd George. He accepted
it and then began to put into effect some of his ideas
for the betterment of the people. The Old Age Pensions
Act had just been passed, and this he determined to supple-
ment by another and more far-reaching measure. He
travelled in Germany and studied on the spot the con-
ditions relating to the insurance of workers. There he met
Herr Bethmann-HoUweg, then Minister of the Interior,
and other leading Prussian statesmen, and so got his first
sight at close quarters of the men whom he would one day
have to fight. On his return to England he brought in his
National Insurance Bill, which he followed up by a series
of comprehensive and democratic budgets, and he rapidly
became the first man in the government after the Prime
Minister. He was still considered by the more moderate
men as a dangerous iconoclast, and his inspired philippics
against class and privilege, his subversive schemes of
taxation and his campaigns of agitation all through the
country roused an apparently implacable hatred among
the Conservative party.

On the outbreak of the European War in 1914 Mr. Lloyd
George at once came to the very front line of politics as
the man of energy and action. His magnetic powers of
speech, his immense versatility in administration and his
consummate adroitness in party management gradually
fixed the attention of the nation upon him more than on
any other politician. In May 1915 he became the first
Minister of Munitions and soon put his fertile ideas of
" speeding up " into that vital side of the struggle. A year
later, on the death of Lord Kitchener, he went to the War
Office and infused some of his imagination and vigour into
that department also. He was always for the most direct
and unexpected methods, and his apparent disregard for
the precedents of government eventually brought him into
conflict with his leader. In December 1916 Mr. Asquith
resigned and Mr. Lloyd George was called upon to take
his place as Prime Minister of the Coalition government.
It comprised not only many Liberals but also the most

2o

344 MR. LLOYD GEORaE

virulent of his former opponents among the Conservatives.
Yet he was able to keep his colleagues united and two years
later the war was brought to a successful conclusion.
Mr. Lloyd George then acted as the principal British
delegate at the Paris Peace Conference, and was largely
responsible for the treaty which was signed in 1919 at
Versailles. A year later he received the Order of Merit.
Since then he has remained at the head of the govern-
ment, dealing with the many complicated and disruptive
issues which have latterly arisen in all parts of the United
Kingdom and of Europe. He has now been for sixteen
consecutive years a member of the Cabinet — a record
unsurpassed for nearly a century — and Prime Minister
for over five years. He is still the undoubted master
of the House of Commons, though he is much less seen
there than formerly. Although he is credited with many
social qualities he goes little into the world, but among
his few interests outside politics, music and golf are said
to claim a place. He is fifty-nine years of age, and has a
family of several sons and daughters.

From these jejune facts may be drawn some limited ideas
of the personalities of the four living examples of British
Prime Ministers. Contemporary opinion will hardly deny
the exceptional level of their eloquence and their mental
abilities, and will probably admit that they have not
derogated in their conceptions of duty from the great
traditions of their predecessors. How high they have
risen in statecraft and in leadership and what measure of
genius they have displayed in the government of an empire,
it will be for posterity to say.

CONCLUSION

ANALYSIS OF PEIME MINISTEES

In th.e two centuries from 1721 to the present year there
have thus been thirty-six Prime Ministers of England.
Their names, arranged in the order of their first taking oflS.ce,
are: Sir Robert Walpole, Earl of Wilmington, Henry
Pelham, Duke of Newcastle, Duke of Devonshire, Earl of
Bute, George GrenvUle, Marquess of Rockingham, Earl of
Chatham, Duke of Grafton, Lord North, Earl of Shelbume,
Duke of Portland, William Pitt, Henry Addington, Lord
Grenville, Spencer Perceval, Earl of Liverpool, George
Canning, Viscount Goderich, Duke of Wellington, Earl
Grey, Viscount Melbourne, Sic Robert Peel, Lord John
RusseU, Earl of Derby, Earl of Aberdeen, Viscoimt
Palmerston, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, Mar-
quess of Salisbury, Earl of Rosebery, Arthur Balfour,
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Henry Asquith and
David Lloyd George.

Between them they have led fifty-two administrations,
one being four times, two three times and nine twice at
the head of affairs. This means that a Prime Minister's
average total tenure of office is five and a half years, and
that the average length of an administration is four
years. Some have much exceeded these limits. Between
them seven ministers were leading the government for a
total of over a hundred years, or an average of nearly
fifteen years each, while twelve others between them only
covered twelve years.

It is interesting to compare these figures with the similar
figures in the case of France, the European cotintry most

345

346 Al^ALYSIS OF PRIME MINISTEES

resembling our own in its constitutional system. In the
fifty years since the commencement of the Third Eepublic
in 1871 there have been thirty-seven Presidents du Conseil
— the equivalent of our Premiers — and some sixty-five
administrations, or an average of sixteen months' leadership
for each individual and nine months for each ministry.
In England, in the same period, there have been only eight
Prime Ministers and only thirteen administrations — an
average of over six years for each minister and four for each
administration.

As regards their origin, of the thirty-six British Prime
Ministers, five have been Scotsmen, three Irishmen, one
Welsh and one of foreign extraction. Of the remainder,
who were English, six have come from Yorkshire and
Lancashire, while Disraeli used to say that five were
Buckiaghamshire squires.* Of those that were English-
men properly so called, the families of more than half are
recorded as having been settled on their own lands in
the year 1500, but very few had those three centuries of
nobility which, according to Lord Russell, alone gave
enough wisdom to rival in the House of Lords that of
the bench of bishops or the occupants of the woolsack.!
Nearly every one of their surnames is simple, either one or
two syllable words, and it is curious that the letters " P "
or " G " begin either the names or the titles of half of their
number. Twenty-five have been the sons of peers and
eighteen heirs to a peerage. All except four have been
born in easy or affluent circumstances and all except
four have been brought up in the country. Seventeen
were at school at Eton, five at Harrow, four at West-
minster, one at Winchester, one at Charterhouse and one
at St. Paul's. Seventeen went to Oxford, thirteen to
Cambridge and one to Edinburgh University.

Their average age for entering one or other House of
Parhament has been twenty-five, though seven went into
the Commons and four into the Lords at twenty-one.
Three only entered Parliament as late as thirty-four.

* He included timself. Jennings, 346.
t Jennings, 283.

AVERAGE AGES 347

All except three have married, and at the average age
of twenty-nine, though one ventured on matrimony eight
years earlier and three not until after they were forty.
Eight have married twice. Their wives have nearly always
been of their own class. Sir Robert Walpole's second wife
being perhaps the only exception. Twenty-five have left
some issue, though only nineteen have now descendants
living in the direct male line.

Their average age for first receiving any political office
has been thirty-two, though three were given a place when
only twenty-three and three not before they were forty-
eight. Their average number of years spent in office was
twenty, though Newcastle held an office of some sort for
forty-six and Palmerston for forty-seven years, while
Rockingham only did so for fifteen months. Forty-four
years was their average time spent in Parliament, of
which twenty-three in the Lower and twenty-one iu the
Upper House. Six Prime Ministers passed all their
parliamentary life in the Lords and eleven never left the
House of Conmions.

Their average age for first becoming Prime Minister was
fifty and for last ceasing to hold that position fifty-nine.
One, however, first became Prime Minister at twenty-four
and one not until he was seventy. One completed his
tenure of that office as early as thirty-four and another as
late as eighty-four. Fifteen were Prime Ministers while
in the Commons and nineteen while ia the Lords: two
filled the place in each House.

Twenty-one were Prime Ministers as Whigs or Liberals
and fourteen as Tories or Conservatives, while Portland led
a government in each capacity. The average length of
the Tory premierships has therefore been six, while that of
the Whig has been only five years. In the last half -century
these periods have increased to eight and five and a half
years respectively. Every other Prime Miaister, on an
average, has led two administrations. It is remarkable
that the Scotsmen have only averaged two years and the
Irishmen about fourteen months in their tenure of the
premiership. A Saxon apparently suits the place best.

348 ANALYSIS OF PRIME MINISTERS

Seven or eight have changed their politics during their
parliamentary careers.

Only eight Prime Ministers can be said to have had any
other profession than that of politics. Of these, two were
soldiers, one a novelist, one a business man, while four
followed the law. Nine or ten achieved some distinction
in literature apart from politics, and half a dozen were
notable on the turf or in the hunting field. Four
fought a duel. Three had been Speakers of the House
of Commons. About ten seem to have been really
religious men. As to character their most distinguishing
trait, common to nearly all, has been honesty of purpose
and straightforwardness. Hardly one has " an eyesore in
his golden coat."

Their average length of life has been seventy years,
though one died at forty-four and one at eighty-nine. Six
attained the age of eighty. Eight died as Prime Minister.
In other words most of them have been strong and
healthy men, though as Lady Montfort said, " AH Prime
Ministers have the gout."* In 1792 no less than nineteen
past or future Prime Ministers were alive, while the
lives of three of them overlapped so as to cover two
hundred and twenty-five years and touch the reigns
of eleven British sovereigns. A hundred years ago it
was said that only one man had ever led the House of
Commons after sixty. In the last sixty years four have
done so when over seventy and two of these were over
eighty.

The typical Prime Minister of the past has therefore been
born the heir to a peerage, brought up in the country
and educated at Eton and Oxford. Elected to the House
of Commons at twenty-five and married four years later,
he has first come into office at thirty-two. At forty-eight
he has entered the House of Lords, and two years later
has become the leader of a government. He has finally
relinquished the position of Prime Minister at about
sixty and has died at seventy, leaving a family behind
him.

* Disraeli, " Endymion," ckap. 100.

HONOURS AND ISSUE 349

It has usually been held that high office brings great
rewards, but comparatively few Prime Ministers have been
materially benefited by their place apart from its power
and patronage. Some nine or ten have received pensions
or houses, such as Richmond Lodge or Walmer Castle,
for a limited term. Several, on the other hand, have
seriously diminished their fortunes by their tenure of office
— Walpole, Newcastle, Portland, Perceval, Russell and
Mr. Asquith are cases in point. A few have had their
debts paid posthumously by Parliament.

As to honours, the salutary maxim that a Prime Minister
confers but does not accept them has been well maintained.
The idea that an earldom is the right of an outgoing Premier
may be true, but the practice of profiting from it has
been little observed. Five only received this dignity
at a single step and in two of these cases it was assumed
during their term of office partly, at any rate, for the ex-
pedition of public business. Two others were promoted
ia the peerage and one received a viscounty, which, it may
be said, he had previously earned by serving as Speaker.
But as five Prime Ministers were already dukes and so could
not hope for any accession of titular rank, while of the
remaiader eight died in and one is now in office, only twenty-
two can be said so to have completed their service as really
to have been eligible for such rewards. Thirteen of these,
or two-thirds, did not avail themselves of the opportimity,
and it is now forty-five years since a Prime Minister has
been raised to the peerage. Twenty-two Prime Ministers
have received the Garter, but this honour can hardly be
considered in the same light as a peerage, since during the
last two hundred years it has but rarely been conferred
upon commoners, though several have had the refusal
of it.

As has been stated above, twenty-five Prime Ministers
left some issue. One of these, however, had only daughters
and, of the remainder, the male issue of three became extinct
in the first generation, and that of two others in the second
and fourth generations respectively. Thirteen of the
twenty-five have left some twenty-four descendants in the

350 ANALYSIS OF PRIME MINISTERS

male line who have achieved Cabinet rank or its equivalent,
in which are included such offices as those of Speaker or
Governor-General.

All this, it may be said, does not bring us any nearer to
the touchstone of leadership, the ingenium versatile which
makes the ruler. For though statecraft may not be an exact
science, neither is it wholly empiric. There must be certain
laws for its conduct which lead to fame. Why, for instance,
did Pulteney, Carteret, Fox, Hartiugton or Chamberlain
never attain to the highest place when many men of
much less calibre succeeded ? What was the quaUty they
lacked 1 The question is difficult to answer, the common
denominator is hard to find. Perhaps the explanation is
that the solidity and calmness of the British temperament
prefer something simple, slow and easy of compre-
hension to remarkable cleverness or transcendent genius.
Emerson says that " the rulers of society must be up to
the work of the world, and equal to their versatile office;
men of the right Caesarian pattern, who have great range
of affinity."* This is the evrpoma which so few have
possessed. Adventitious aids, such as birth, fortune or
family connection, were undoubtedly of the first assistance
to many, though such great ministers as Walpole, Chatham,
Disraeli and Gladstone certainly did not enjoy them. The
personal magnetism which compels confidence and loyalty
and the golden tongue of oratory were given to few. Their
presence made a leader strong, but their absence did not
necessarily preclude his rising to power . The only common
factors that at first seem apparent are a sound education,
an early entry into politics, application to business and
good health ; and these speU success in every profession.
Pitt said that patience was the quality most needed, f

There is, however, another clue which may point to the
secret. Lord Rosebery, in his book on the early life of
Chatham, itself a compact history of much of the politics
of the early eighteenth century, lays stress upon the im-
portance of heredity, of tradition and of environment on
the formation of character. In such influences perhaps
* Emerson, " Manners." f Stanhope, " Pitt," iv. 407.

THEIR QUALITIES 351

lie the determining factors tliat go to make the political
leader of men, that fit him certare ingenio, contendere
nohilitate. The remembrance of distiaguished ancestors
and the desire to emulate their services — ^the historic
surroundings of Eton or Westminster, of Oxford or
Cambridge, and the wish to be worthy of their name — free
association and loyal competition with ingenuous friends —
must perforce make deep impressions on a young mind.

Such a criterion, if applied to the Prime Ministers, appears
a singular solvent. The fathers of more than three-
quarters of them and the grandfathers of more than half
had sat in Parliament before them. Three of them had
fathers or fathers-in-law and four had brothers or brothers-
in-law who were also Prime Ministers . There were numerous
instances of more distant relationships; indeed, the argu-
ment of family connection could be carried to almost any
extent. More than three-quarters were educated at some
one or other of the great public schools and at one or
other of the Universities and there formed their first
friendships and fought their first fights. Their conversa-
tion, their interests and their ideals at home, at school
and at college were much concerned with public affairs.
Their early life had thus been imbued with a sound
tradition, it had been inspired by an active and honest
patriotism, it had been passed in a national atmosphere.
The right metal was prepared. When it had been forged
in the fire of Parliament it lay ready for the hand of
fortvme to take or to thrust aside.

" Fortes creantui fortibus et bonis .
Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam
Rectique cultus pectora roborant."

One further point deserves thought. It comes from
a soTind critic . Lord Waldegrave had been closely attached
to the personal service of two of his Sovereigns. He had
known intimately ten of his contemporaries who had been
or were to be Prime Ministers, including Walpole and
Chatham. He had himself been offered the seals of the
Treasiiry, which he had refused. A hundred and sixty
years ago he wrote these pregnant words:

352 ANALYSIS OF PEIME MINISTEES

" It is a common observation that men of plain sense and
cool resolution have more useful talents and are better
qualified for public business than the man of the finest
parts, who wants temper, judgment and knowledge of
mankind. Even parliamentary abilities may be too highly
rated; for between the man of eloquence and the sagacious
statesman there is a wide interval."

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF
PRIME MINISTERS

{All First Lords of the Treasury except those marked with an asterisk.)

1721 (AprU). Rt. Hon. Robert Walpole, M.P.t

1742 (February). Earl of Wibnington.

1743 (August). Rt. Hon. Henry Pelham, M.P.t
1754 (March). Duke of Newcastle.

1756 (November). Duke of Devonshire.

1757 (June). Duke of Newcastle.

1762 (May). Earl of Bute.

1763 (April). Rt. Hon. George Grenville, M.P.f
1765 (July). Marquess of Rockingham.

*1766 (July). Earl of Chatham. Lord Privy Seal.
1767 (March). Duke of Grafton.
1770 (January). Lord North, M.P.f
1782 (March). Marquess of Rockingham.

1782 (July). Earl of Shelburne.

1783 (April). Duke of Portland.

1783 (December). Rt. Hon. William Pitt, M.P.f
1801 (March). Rt. Hon. Henry Addington, M.P-t
1804 (May). Rt. Hon. William Pitt, M.P.f

1806 (January). Lord GrenviUe.

1807 (March). Duke of Portland.

1809 (October). Rt. Hon. Spencer Perceval, M.P.f

1812 (May). Earl of Liverpool.

1827 (April). Rt. Hon. George Canning, M.P.f

1827 (August). Viscount Goderich.

1828 (January). Duke of Wellington.
1830 (November). Earl Grey.

1834 (July). Viscount Melbourne.

1834 (December). Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Peel, M.P.f

f Also Chancellor of the Exchequer.
353

354 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

1835 (April). Viscount Melbourne.

1841 (August). Et. Hon. Sir Robert Peel, M.P.

1846 (June). Lord John Russell, M.P.

1852 (February). Earl of Derby.

1852 (December). Earl of Aberdeen.

1855 (February). Viscount Palmeraton, M.P.

1858 (February). Earl of Derby.

1859 (June). Viscount Palmerston, M.P.

1865 (October). Earl Russell.

1866 (June). Earl of Derby.

1868 (February). Rt. Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P.

1868 (December). Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.f

1874 (February). Rt. Hon. B. Disraeli, M.P. (Earl of Beaconsfield,1876).

1880 (April). Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.f
*1885 (June). Marquess of Salisbury. Foreign Secretary.

1886 (January). Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P.
*1886 (July). Marquess of Salisbury. Lord Privy Seal and Foreign
Secretary from 1887.

1892 (August). Rt. Hon.W. E. Gladstone, M.P., and Lord Privy Seal.

1894 (March). Earl of Rosebery, and Lord President of the Council.
*1895 (June). Marquess of Salisbury. Foreign Secretary until 1900 and
then Lord Privy Seal.

1902 (August). Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour, M.P.

1905 (December). Rt. Hon. Sir Henry CampbeU-Bannerman, M.P.

1908 (April). Rt. Hon. H. H. Asquith, M.P., and Secretary for War
in 1914.

1916 (December). Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George, M.P.

t Also Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1873-74, and 1880-82.

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INDEX

The sv/rnames of peers are omitted when identical with their titles

Abkboobn, J. Hamilton, 1st Marquess
of, 268

Aberdeen, Catherine, Countess of. See
Hamilton

Aberdeen, G. Gordon, 3rd Earl of, 268

Aberdeen, George Gordon, 4th Earl of:
birth, early life and marriage, 268;
Ambassador at Vienna, second mar-
riage, in Cabinet, 269; Foreign
Secretary, 270; leader of the Peelites,
271; Prime Minister, 272; Coalition
Government, resigns, 273 ; death and
character, 274, 275; mentioned, 158,
211, 237-8, 240, 254, 260-2, 279, 283,
292, 300, 313-4, 345

Aberdeen, Harriet, Countess of. See
Douglas

Addington, Anthony, 159, 162

Addington, Henry, Ist Viscount Sid-
mouth: birth, 159; M.P., 160;
Speaker, 161; Prime Minister, 163;
his difficulties, 164; resigns, 165;
created a peer. Lord President, Home
Secretary, 166 ; retirement and death,
167; character, 167, 168; mentioned,
31, 70, 74, 90, 92, 93, 97, 111, 158,
180, 185, 186, 200, 205, 345

Addison, Joseph, 49

Albemarle, G. Keppel, 6th Earl of, 67,
145

Albemarle, W. Keppel, 2nd Earl of, 41,
58

Albert, H.R.H. Prince Consort, 236,
252, 259, 313

Alderson, Sir Edward, 300

Alderson, Georgiana, Marchioness of
SaUsbury, 300

AU^on,M.,58

Althorp, J. C, Viscount. See Spencer,
3rd Earl

Amelia, H.R.H. Princess, 36, 48

Anglesey, H. Paget, Marquess of, 247

AnHe, Queen, 2, 4, 14, 32, 48, 49, 50, 117

Arbuthnot, Mrs., 198

Arden, C. G. Perceval, 2nd Lord, 169

Argyll, Archibald Campbell, Ist Duke

Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of, 59
Arnold, Matthew, 298
Ashley, Hon. E., 212, 265
Asquith, Herbert Henry: birth 336;
early life, marriage, writing, 337;

361

M.P., work at bar, Home Secretary,
second marriage, 338; Chancellor of
Exchequer, Prime Minister, Secre-
tary for War, 339; resignation, 340;
mentioned, 325, 327, 333, 342-3, 345,
349

Asquith, Joseph, 336, 337

Asquith, Raymond, 339

Auckland, W. Eden, 1st Lord, 94

Augusta, Princess of Wales, wife of
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 56, 56,
77, 80, 118, 120, 121, 124, 126, 148

Bagehot, W., 190

Bagot, W., 1st Lord, 189

Baird, Charlotte, Lady Haddo, 268

Baird, Sir David, 268

Baird, William, 268

Balfour, Arthur James: birth, 333;
early life, M.P., at BerUn, 334;
Local Government Board, Irish
Secretary, leader of House of Com-
mons, Prime Minister, resigns, 335;
at Admiralty, Foreign Secretary,
Lord President, diplomatic work, 336 ;
mentioned, 305, 325, 345

Balfour, J. M., 333

Baimerman, Sir Henry Campbell. See
Campbell-Bannerman

Bannerman, Henry, 322

Bannerman, Janet, 322

Barr6, Colonel, 148

Basevi, George, 285

Basevi, Marie, 285

Bath, Earl of. See Pulteney

Beaconsfield, Earl of. See Disraeli,
Benjamin

Beaconsfield, Viscountess. SeeLewis,M.

Bedford, John Russell, 4th Duke of,
64, 104, 129, 149, 230, 231

Bellingham, J., 174

Bentham, Jeremy, 148

Bentinck. See Cavendish-Bentinok

Bessborough, Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd
Earl of, 245

Bethmann-Hollweg, Herr, 343

Bismarck, Prince, 295, 303

Bolingbroke, Henry St. John, Viscount,
14, 15, 38, 39, 79, 83, 98, 117, 118

Bonaparte. See Napoleon

Bonaparte, Joseph, 193

Boswell, James, 153

362

INDEX

Boyle, Lady Charlotte, Duchess of

Devonshire, 53
Boyle. See Burlington
Bradford, S. L., Countess of, 294, 297
Brady, Dr., 12
Bright, Rt. Hon. J., 304
Bristol, Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of,

185
Brougham, Henry, 1st Lord, 210, 211,

227-8, 247-8
Bruce, Sarah Charlotte, Lady Campbell-

Bannerman, 322
Bruce, General Sir C, 322
Buckingham, George Grenville, 1st

Marquess of, 105, 109, 111, 112
Buckingham, Richard Grenville, 1st

Dukeof, 99, 113
Buckle, Mr. G. E., 302
Burdett, Sir Francis, 158
Burke, Rt. Hon. Edmund, 67, 68, 81,

87, 90, 107, 135, 141, 143, 146, 148,

156, 162, 203, 204
Burlington, Richard Boyle, Earl of, 53
Burwell, Sir Jeffrey, 1 1
Burwell, Mary, 11

Bute, James Stuart, 2nd Earl of, 119
Bute, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of: birth

and early lite, meets Prince of Wales,

119; Secretary of State, 120; Prime

Minister, 121; unpopularity and

retirement, 122; later life, 123;

character, 124-6 ; mentioned, 44, 45,

65, 60, 77, 79, 80, 102, 103, 118,

137, 141, 147, 148, 156, 166, 183, 186,

345
Byng, Admiral Hon. J., 54
Byng, Hon. Georgiana, 230
Byron, G. G., 6th Lord, 213, 244, 245,

264, 268, 285

Camden, C. Pratt, 1st Earl, 63, 64

Camelford, Thomas Pitt, Lord, 110

Campbell, Lady Anne, 119

Campbell, Henry. See Campbell-
Bannerman.

Campbell, Sir James, 322

Campbell, James, 322

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry: birth
and early life, M.P., 322 ; in Ministry,
Irish Secretary, Secretary for War,
323; knighted, leader of Liberal
party, 324; South African War,
Prime Minister, 325; death and
character, 326, 327; mentioned, 317,
333, 339, 342, 345

Campden, Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount, 26

Canning, George: birth and education,
203 ; M. P., Under- Secretary, marriage,
204 ; Paymaster - General, Foreign
Secretary, 205; duel with Castle-
reagh, resigns, in Portugal, 206;

President of Board of Control,
Foreign Secretary, 207; Prime
Minister, 208 ; death, 210; character
and wit, 211, 212; mentioned, 31,
70, 71, 93, 95, 97, 110, 111, 113, 15S,
169, 164, 167, 172-4, 179, 184, 187-9
194, 201, 202, 214, 221, 226, 243, 246,
256, 258, 262, 267, 269, 284, 289, 291,
298, 307, 311, 345
Canning, C. S., 1st Earl, 210
Canning, Mrs., 203
Canning, Stratford, 203, 264
Cardwell, E., 1st Viscount, 323
Carlyle, T., 219
Caroline, Princess of Wales, wife of

George IV., 188-9, 207, 226
Caroline, Queen, wife of George II.,

18, 19, 21, 24, 36, 48
Carteret, John, Lord, afterwards Earl
Granville, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 36, 38,
148, 350
Carteret, Lady Sophia, Countess of

Shelbume, 148
Castlereagh, R. Stewart, Viscount,
afterwards 2nd Marquess of London-
derry, 176, 188, 189, 205-7, 241, 246,
309
Cavendish. See Devonshire and New-
castle
Cavendish, Lady Dorothy, Duchess of

Portland, 66, 243
Cavendish, Lady Rachel, 52
Cavendish, Lord John, 152
Cavendish-Bentiuck. See Portland
Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord George, 71,

278, 290
Cavendish-Bentinck, Lord William, 71
Cecil. See Salisbury
Cecil, Lady Blanche, 333, 334
Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. J., 304-5, 317,

325, 335, 350
Charles II. , King, 6, 22, 50, 59, 65
Chatham, John Pitt, 2nd Earl of, 83
Chatham, WUliam Pitt, afterwards 1st
Earl of: birth, 74; early life,M.P., 75;
his success, 76; Paymaster-General
and marriage, 77 ; Secretary of State,
78; his fame, 79; resigns, 80; Prime
Minister and Earl of Chatham,
retires, 81; later life, 82; death, 83;
character and oratory, 84-6; men-
tioned, 5, 19, 23, 24, 38, 41-4, 51,
53-5, 60-4, 68, 87, 97, 99, 100, 102,
103-5, 108, 111, 120, 122, 125, 128,
129, 130, 132, 142, 143, 145, 148, 149,
151, 156, 157, 159, 168, 176, 190,
220, 243-4, 298, 345, 350-1
Chester, M., Countess of Liverpool, 189
Chesterfield, A. E. , Countess of, 294, 287
Chesterfield, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl
of, 40, 43, 83, 123

INDEX

363

Chioheater, T. Pelham, 2nd Earl of, 254
Childers, Bt. Hon. H. C. E., 323
Choiseul, Due de, 85
Cholmondeley, George, 3rd Earl of, 21
Chudleigh, Elizabeth, Duchess of Kiag-

Bton, 120
Churchm, Lord R., 304, 333-4
Clare, Gilbert Holies, Earl of, 32
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Ist Earl of, 2
Clarendon, G. W. Villiers, 4th Earl of,

237, 238
Clarke, Mrs., 173

Cleveland, H. Vane, 4th Duke of, 330
Cobham, Richard Temple, Viscount, 19,
38, 58, 75, 98

Colbum, Mr.,286

Colchester, C. Abbot, 1st Lord, 178

Colley, R., 191

Compton, Bishop, 26

Compton,' Catherine, Countess of
Egmont, also Baroness Arden, 168

Compton, Hon. Charles, 168

Compton, C, Lord, 170

Compton, Spencer. See Wilmington

Congreve, William, 98

Conway, Francis Seymour, Lord, 12

Conway, Field-Marshal Hon. H., 12, 63

Cornwall, Mr. Speaker, 109, 183

Cory, W., 330

Costello, Jordan, 203

CosteUo, Mary Anne, 203

Courtney, W., Lord, 6

Cowper, Countess. See Lamb, Amelia

Cowper, P., 5th Earl, 245

Cranbome, J. E. W., Viscount, 301

Cranbome, Viscount. See Salisbury

Creevey, ITiomas, 229

Crewe, Robert Milnes, Marquess of , 181,
333

Croker, Rt. Hon. J. W., 177, 180, 190,
198, 210, 257, 289

Cromwell, Oliver, 49, 242

Crosby, Elizabeth, 58

Crosby, Colonel WiUiam, 58

Cumberland, H.R.H. W. A., Duke of,
125, 139, 140, 141

Dalmeny, Lord. See Rosebery

Dalmeny , Archibald Primrose, Lord, 330

Delane, J. P., 274

Delany, Mrs., 69

Derby, Countess of. See Hornby

Derby, E. Stanley, 13th Earl of, 275-6,
278

Derby, Edward Geoffrey Stanley, 14th
Earl of: birth, 275; early life, M.P.,
marriage. Chief Secretary for Ireland,
276; leaves Whigs, becomes Lord
Stanley, 277; Colonial Secretary,
resigns, succeeds his father. Prime
Minister, 278; again Prime Minister,

279; publishes his Homer, his third
ministry, 280; death and character,
281-3; mentioned, 158, 216, 218,
233, 237-8, 260-3, 272, 287, 289,
290-3, 301, 313-5, 345

Derby, E. H. Stanley, 15th Earl of, 295,
302, 317

Devonshire, Georgiana, Duchess of, 223

Devonshire, S. Cavendish, 9th Duke
of, 304-5, 316, 317, 350

Devonshire, William Cavendish, 3rd
Duke of, 24, 51, 52, 53

Devonshire, William Cavendish, 4th
Duke of: birth, 61; M.P. as Lord
Hartington, 62 ; marriage and Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland, succeeds his
father, 63; Prime Minister, 64; Lord
Chamberlain, and resigns, 66; his
treatment by George III,, death, 66;
character, 57; mentioned, 42, 66, 78,
122, 140, 141, 243, 346

Disraeli, Benjamin, afterwards Earl of
Beaconsfield : birth and early life, 285 ;
early novels and travels, 286; can-
didate for Parliament, 287; M.P.,
marriage, 288; Young England, 289;
his political advance. Chancellor of
Exchequer, 291; in Opposition, 292;
Prime Minister, 293; again Prime
Minister, peerage, 294; Congress of
Berlin, retirement and death, 295;
his character, eloquence and policy,
296-9; mentioned, 155, 181, 212,
216, 219, 241, 243, 251, 273, 278-9,
280-1, 301-3, 307-8, 314-6, 319, 334,
345, 350

Disraeli, Isaac, 286, 290

Douglas, H., Countess of Aberdeen, 269

Douglas, Hon. James, 269

Downing, Sir George, 6

Drummond- Wolff, Sir Henry, 334

Dundas. See Melville, Viscount

Dungannon, A. HiU, 1st Viscount, 191

Durham, J. G. Lambton, 1st Earl of,
247

Dyson, Mungo, 67

Eden, Miss, 94

Edward VII., King: and Campbell-

Bannerman, 326
Egmont, John Perceval, 2nd Earl of,

168
Egremont, Charles Wyndham, 2nd

Eari of, 100, 102, 103
Egremont, George Wyndham, 3rd Earl

of, 243, 244
Eldon, John Scott, Ist Earl of, 168, 175
Elizabeth, Queen, 1, 4, 183, 190. 200, 299
Elliot, Lady Fanny, Countess Russell,

236
Erskine, T., 1st Lord, 111

364

INDEX

Esher, E. Brett, 2nd Viscount, 7, 298
Euston, Earl of. See Grafton
Evans, Lt. J., 288

Fielding, Henry, 75

Finch. See Winchilsea

Finch, Lady Mary, Marchioness of

Bockingham, 139
Fitzgerald, Catherine, 74
Fitzherbert, Mrs., 226
Fitzmaurioe. See Kerry and Shelbume
Fitzmaurioe, E. G., Lord, 72
Fitzmaurice, Hon. John, 1st Earl of

Shelbume, 147
Fitzmaurice, Mary, 147
Fitzpatriok. See Upper Ossory
Fitzpatrick, Lady Louisa, Countess of

Shelbume, 149
Fitzroy. See Grafton
Fitzroy, Lord Augustus, 58
FitzwiUiam, W., 4th Earl of, 144
Floyd, General Sir J., 214
Floyd, Julia, Lady Peel, 214
Foster, Lady Elizabeth, Duchess of

Devonshire, 185
Fox, Rt.Hon. Charles, 64,67, 68, 69, 88,

90, 93, 109, 111, 112, 131, 132, 133,

136, 143, 150, 151, 152, 161, 165,

170-2, 186, 203, 211, 214, 223-5, 231,

240, 350
Fox, Henry, afterwards 1st Lord

Holland, 26, 42, 51, 53, 75, 78, 102,

106, 122, 125, 147, 148, 156
Fox, Sir Stephen, 26
Francis, Emperor of Austria, 269
Frederick, King of Prussia, 79
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 38, 76, 77,

119, 127, 134
Frederick, Sir Charles, 84

Garrick, David, 39, 57

Gasooyne, Bamber, 299

Gasooyne, Frances Mary, Marchioness
of Salisbury, 299

George I., King: and Walpole, 14, 15,
17; and Wilmington, 27; and New-
castle, 35, 48; mentioned, 4, 18, 50,
117, 183,200

George II., King: and Walpole, 6, 18,
19, 36; and Wilmington, 18, 27;
and Pelham, 38, 39, 40; and New-
castle, 27, 35, 78; and Devonshire,
53-5, 78; and Chatham, 53, 76, 77,
78; and Bute, 120; mentioned 14,
28, 29, 59, 79, 117, 118, 127, 168, 200

George III., King: and Newcastle, 44,

120, 121, 122; and Bute, 44, 77, 80,
102, 103, 104, 120, 123, 126, 137;
and Devonshire, 56, 122. 140; and
G. Grenville, 99, 102, 103, 104, 122;
and Rockingham, 122, 140-5; and I

Chatham, 61, 81, 82, 83, 104, 121,
141, 142; and Grafton, 59, 60, 63, 64,
122, 129; and North, 63, 68, 81, 82,
127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134,
136, 137, 275; and Shelbume, 88,
148, 150, 152, 153; and Portland, 67,
68, 69, 70, 71 ; and Pitt, 88, 89, 90,
92, 93, 95, 110, 163; and Adding-
ton, 92, 162, 163, 165, 166, 167; and
W. GrenviUe, 92, 99, 108, 112, 114;
and Liverpool, 173, 174, 185, 186,
191; and Perceval, 173, 174; men-
tioned, 22, 55, 164, 182, 189, 190,
200, 201, 225, 242
George IV., King: and Pitt, 90; and
W. Grenville, 113, 114, 226; and
Perceval, 171, 172, 174 ; and Goderich,

179, 195; and Liverpool, 191, 207;
and Wellington, 195, 209; and
Canning, 207, 208, 209; and Grey,
226; and Melboume, 246; and
Aberdeen, 269 ; and Palmerston, 256 ;
mentioned, 166, 187, 201, 221, 223,
225, 244, 276, 321

George V., King, 333

George, David Lloyd. See Lloyd
George

George, Mrs., 340

George, Prince of Denmark, 26

George, William, 340

Gibbon, Edward, 89, 136, 198

Gladstone, Herbert, 1st Viscount, 318

Gladstone, Sir John, 310

Gladstone, William Ewart: birth, 310;
early life, M.P., in ministry, 311;
first book, Board of Trade, Colonial
Secretary, 312; Peelite, Chancellor
of Exchequer, 313; Ionian Islands,
314; Prime Minister, 315; Midlothian
campaign, second ministry, 316;
third ministry. Home Rule, fourth
ministry, 317; retirement and death,
his oratory, 318; character, 319, 320;
policy, 321, 322; mentioned, 5, 168,

180, 212, 216, 243, 264, 266, 272,
292-5, 297-9, 303-5, 327, 331-2, ,
335, 338, 345, 350

Glynne, Catherine, Mrs. Gladstone, 312

Glynne, Sir Stephen, 312-3

Goderich, Frederick Robinson, 1st
Viscount: birth, early lite, M.P.,
Paymaster- General, 176; marriage,
177; President of Board of Trade,
Chancellor of Exchequer, 178;
created a peer and made Secretary
for War, Prime Minister, resigns, 179;
created Earl of Ripon, 180; character,
180, 181 ; mentioned, 31, 74, 159, 173,
194, 195, 246, 266, 262, 276-7, 345

Godolphin, Lady Henrietta, Duchess
of Newcastle, 33

INDEX

365

Godolphin, Sydney, 1st Earl, 13, 14,
43,49

Gordon. See Aberdeen

Gorat, Sir John, 334

Gosohen, Rt. Hon. G. S., afterwards 1st
Viscount, 304

Gower, Granville, 2nd Earl, 130

Grafton, Augustus Ktzroy, 3rd Duke
of: birth and early life as Earl of
Euston, 58 ; marriage, M.P., succeeds
his unole, 59; Secretary of State, 60;
First Lord of the Treasury under
Chatham, and Prime Minister, 61;
his conduct and difficulties, 62;
resigns, 63; second marriage. Privy
Seal, 64; resignation and death, 65;
character, 66; mentioned, 45, 50, 61,
81, 122, 128, 129, 135, 140, 142, 143,
148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 156, 345

Grafton, C. Fitzroy, 2ud Duke of, 55,
58,59

Graham, James, Marquess of, after-
wards 3rd Duke of Montrose, 161

Graham, Sir J., 274, 289

Granby, J. Manners,Marque3s of , 63, 147

Grantham, T. Robinson, 2nd Lord, 176

Grantham, T. Robinson, 3rd Lord, 179

Granville. See Carteret

Granville, G. L.-Gower, 2nd Earl, 263,
316-7

Granville,G.L.-Gower,lstEarl,184,235

Green, Richard, 167, 175

GrenviUe, Hon. George: birth and early
Ufe, M.P., marriage, 100; Treasurer
of the Navy, 101 ; leader of House of
Commons and Secretary of State,
102; Prime Mioister, 103; dismissal,
104; his death, 105; character, 106-8;
mentioned, 45, 62, 75, 77, 80, 82, 99,
121, 122, 130, 138, 141, 148, 243, 345

Grenville, Lady Hester, Countess of
Chatham, 62, 77, 87

Grenville, Richard, 87, 98, 100

Grenville, Thomas, 105

Grenville, WiUiam W., afterwards
Lord Grenville: birth, early Ufe,
M.P., and in office, 108; Paymaster-
General, Speaker,peerage and Foreign
Secretary, 109; marriage, 110; in
opposition. 111 ; Prime Minister, 112;
later life, 113; character, 114, 115;
mentioned, 70, 89, 91-3, 96, 99, 105,
159, 161-2, 164, 171-4, 182, 185, 189,
204, 205, 225, 231, 243, 245, 330, 345

GrevUle, C.,180, 215, 219, 251, 257, 290

Grey, C, 1st Earl, 222, 223

Grey, Charles, 2nd Earl: birth,
222; early life, M.P., 223; marriage,
secession from Parliament, 224;
in Cabinet, 225; in opposition, 226;
Prime Minister, 227; Reform Bill,

228; resigns, death, 229; charactert
230; mentioned. Ill, 113.161, 173-4',
179, 180, 196, 201, 202, 212, 215-6,
220, 232, 242-4, 247-8. 263. 257, 262,
282, 287, 310. 345

Grey, Elizabeth, 222

Grey, George, 222

Grey, Sir E., afterwards Viscount. 325,
333, 339

Grosvenor, Mr., 161

Guilford, 2nd Earl of. See North

Guilford, F. North, 1st Earl of, 127, 134

Guizot, M., 290

Haddo, Lord. See Aberdeen

Haddo, George Gordon, Lord, 268

Haldane, Rt. Hon. R. B., afterwards
Viscount, 325, 333, 339

Halifax, George Montague, 1st Earl of,
127

Halifax, George Montague, 2nd Earl of,
56, 104

Hamilton, Lady Catherine, Countess
of Aberdeen, 268

Hamilton, Sir William, 69

Hamilton, Viscount, 269

Hammond, Leonard, 160

Hammond, Ursula Mary, Viscountess
Sidmouth, 160

Harcourt, Sir WilUam, 298, 307, 317,
324-5

Hardwioke, P. Yorke, 2nd Earl of, 123

Hardwioke, P. Yorke, 3rd Earl of, 159

Harley. See Oxford

Harley, Lady Margaret, Duchess of
Portland, 66

Hartington, Marquess of. See Devon-
shire

Hastmgs, Warren, 109, 153, 223

Hawkesbury. See Liverpool

HazUtt, W., 177, 222

Healy, Mr. T., 323

Herbert, Sydney, afterwards Lord, 240

Herries, Rt. Hon. J. C, 178, 179, 256

Hertford, Francis Seymour, 1st Mar-
quess of, 190

Hertford, Isabella, Marchioness of, 226

Hervey, John, Lord, 29, 30

Hervey, Lady Louisa, Countess of
Liverpool, 185

Heytesbury, W. A"Court,l8tLord, 218

Hicks-Beach, Sir M., afterwards Earl
St. Aldwyn, 304

Higham. See Rockingham

Hiley, Mary, Mrs. Addington, 169

HiU. Hon. Anne, Countess of Morning-
ton, 191

Hoare,W.,39

Hobart. See Buckinghamshire

Hobart, Lady Sarah, Viscountess
Goderioh, 177

366

INDEX

Holdernesse, B. Darcy, 6th Earl of, 54,

120
Holland, H. Fox, 3rd Lord, 99
Holies. See Earl of Clare
Holies, Lady Grace, 32
Holies, Lord of Ifield, 32
Hope, Beresford, 300
Hornby, 0. M., Countess of Derby, 275
Hornby, Rev. GeofErey, 275
Hoskins, C, Duchess of Devonshire, 52
Hoskins, John, 52
Howick, Lord. See Grey, 2nd Earl
Huskisson, Rt. Hon. W., 179

Iddesleigh, Earl of. See Northcote
Inverness, Duchess of, 240

James I., King, 299

James II., King, 26, 242

Jameson, Dr. L. S., 324

Jenkinson. See Liverpool

Johnson, Samuel, 23, 57, 86, 124, 125,

148, 153
Johnson, W. See Cory, 330
Junius, 86, 107, 132, 145, 156

Kerry, T. Fitzmaurioe, 1st Earl of, 147
Kimberley, J. Wodehouse, 1st Earl of,

324 325
Kitchener, F.-M. Earl, 343
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 30
Knighton, Sir W., 269

Lamb. See Melbourne

Lamb, Hon. Amelia, Viscountess
Palmerston, 245, 250, 253, 258

Lansdowne, 1st Marquess of. See
Shelbume

Lansdowne, H. Fitzmaurice, 3rd Mar-
quess of, 238, 247-8, 257, 314

Lansdowne, H. C. Fitzmaurice, 5th
Marquess of, 334

Layard, Sir H., 286

Lee, Lord, 6

Legge, Mrs., 54

Legge, Rt. Hon. Henry, 44, 54

Lewis, Marianne, Viscountess Beacons-
field, 288, 293, 294, 297

Lewis, Wyudham, 288

Liddell. See Ravensworth

Liddell, Anne, Duchess of Grafton, 59

Liddell, Mary, Marchioness of Rocking-
ham, 140

Liddell, Thomas, 140

Lieven, Princess, 227

Lincoln, H. Clinton, 9th Earl of, after-
wards 2nd Duke of Newcastle, 45, 64

Lister, A., Lady John Russell, 233

Liverpool, Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl
of, 110, 123; his career, 183, 185;
his opinion of Lord Grenville, 114

Liverpool, Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl
of: birth and early Ute, 183; M.P.
and yeoman, 184; marriage. Foreign
Secretary, 185; Home Secretary,
186; Prime Minister, 187; his work,
188; death, 189; character, 190, 191;
mentioned, 71, 74, 96, 97, 113, 137,
178, 187, 194, 200, 203, 205-9, 213,
226, 265-6, 262, 269, 309, 345

Lloyd, Rev. David, 340

Lloyd, Richard, 340

Lloyd George, David: birth, 340;
early life, solicitor, marriage, 341;
M.P., South African War, Board of
Trade, 342; Chancellor of Exchequer,
Minister of Munitions, Prime Minister,
343; Paris Peace Conference, 344;
mentioned, 325, 336, 340, 345

Londonderry, E., Marchioness of, 281

Longford, Edward Pakenham, 2nd
Lord, 193

Longford, Thomas Pakenham, 2nd
Earl of, 193

Louis XIV., King, 49

Lowther, Sir James, 67, 87

Lymington,N. Wallop, Viscount, after-
wards 6th Earl of Portsmouth, 337

Lyndhurst, J. Copley, 1st Lord, 228

Lyttelton, George, 1st Lord, 38, 75, 76

Lyttelton, Lady, 259, 274

Lytton, E. Bulwer, 1st Lord, 234, 281,
287, 297

Macaulay, T. B., 1st Lord, 42, 55,
85, 94, 103, 116, 117, 124, 145, 197,
210, 281, 320

Malmesbury, J. Harris, 1st Earl of, 70,
92, 93, 110, 111, 115, 159, 164, 176,
254, 255

Malton. See Rockingham

Manners. See Rutland

Manners, Lady Catherine, wife of Henry
Pelham, 34

Maimers, Lord John, 289

Mansfield, W. Murray, 1st Earl of, 106

Marlborough, John Churchill, 1st Duke
of, 13, 14, 33, 49, 98, 194, 242

Marlborough, Sarah Jennings, Duchess
of, 13, 22, 76

Masham, Mrs., 13

Massena, Marshal, 198

Mee, Benjamin, 254

Mee, Mary, Viscountess Palmerston, 264

Melbourne, P. Lamb, Ist Viscount, 244

Melbourne, Viscountess. See Milbanke

Melbourne, Viscountess. See Ponsonby

Melbourne, WUUam Lamb, 2nd Vis-
count: birth, 244; early life and
marriage, M.P., 245; literary pursuits,
popularity, Irish Secretary, 246;
Home Secretary, Prime Minister,

INDEX

367

247; again Prime Minister, 248;
with Queen Victoria, 249; his death,
250; talents and wit, 251, 252;
character, 253; mentioned, 6, 7, 196,
216, 227, 229, 233-4, 241, 242, 243,
257-8, 262, 266, 270, 277, 287, 345
Mellarid, Frederick, 337
Melland, Helen, Mrs. Asquith, 337
MelviUe, Henry Dundas, Ist Viscount,
90,97,110,152,164-5,268

Metternich, Prince, 269, 270

Milbanke, Elizabeth, Viscountess Mel-
bourne, 244

Milbanke, Sir Ralph, 244

Minto, Gilbert EUiot, 2nd Earl of, 235

Moira, F. Hastings, 2nd Earl of, 187

Montagu, Hon. Edward, 119

Montagu, Lady Lucy, Countess of
Guilford, 127, 134

Montagu, Lady Mary, 53, 119

Montagu, Mary, Countess of Bute, 119

Moore, Sir J., 206

Morley, J.,Viscount, 7, 191, 220,262,343

Mornington, Earl of. See WeUesley

Munster, Count, 308

Murray, John, 286

Murray, WiUiam. See Mansfield

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor, 93, 173,
188, 193, 194, 198, 205, 231, 242

Napoleon III., Emperor, 259, 264

Necker. See Stael

Nelson, Admiral Viscount, 91, 94

Nepean, Sir Evan, 133, 134

NewcaBtle,Henry Cavendish, Duke of, 32

Newcastle, H. P. Clinton, 4th Duke of,
311

Newcastle, H. P. Clinton, 5th Duke of,
271, 273

Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles,
1st Duke of: birth and early life, 32;
Earl of Clare, Duke of Newcastle,
and Lord Chamberlain, 33; Secretary
of State, 34; his intrigues, 36, 37;
quarrels with PeUiam, 38; Prime
Minister, 41; trouble with Pitt,
resigns, 42 ; Prime Minister again, 43 ;
trouble with Bute, 44 ; resigns again.
Privy Seal under Rockingham, death,
45; character, 46-9; mentioned,
18, 19, 20, 28, 30, 33-9, 61-2, 55-6,
59, 60, 77-8, 80, 82, 102, 120-2, 128,
140, 141, 176, 242-3, 266, 345, 347, 349

Newton, Dr. Richard, 33

Noel. See Campden

Noel, Hon. Mary, Countess of North-
ampton, 26

North, Hon. Frederick, Lord North,
afterwards 2nd Earl of Guilford:
birth and early life, 127; M.P.,
marriage, 128; Chancellor of the

Exchequer, 129; Prime Minister, 130;
his popularity and wit, 131; diffi-
culties, 132; resigns, joins Coalition,
dismissal, 133; succeeds to peerage,
death, 134; character, 135, 136;
mentioned, 7, 62-4, 67-8, 82, 88, 97,
118, 137, 143, 149, 160, 152, 159,
177, 183, 186, 190, 244, 275, 345

Noriih, Lord Keeper, 127

Northcote, Sir S., afterwards Ist Earl
of Iddesleigh, 303, 304

Northampton, J. Compton, 3rd Earl of,
26

Northampton, J. Compton, 5th Earl of,
30

Northampton, S. Compton, 8th Earl of,
169

Northbrook.T. G. Baring,lstEariof,323

O'ConneU, D.,276

O'Connor, Mr., 219

Onslow, Rt. Hon. A., 23

Orford, Earl of. See Walpole

Owen, Margaret, Dame Lloyd George,

341
Owen, Richard, 341
Oxford, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of, 66
Oxford, Robert Harley, 1st Earl of, 2,

14, 15, 117

Pakenham, Lady Catherine, Duchess of

Wellington, 193, 196
Palmerston, Henry John Temple, 3rd
Viscount: birth and early life, 264;
M.P., offered the Exchequer, Secre-
tary at War, 255; long service, 256;
joins Whigs, Foreign Secretary, 257;
successful administration, marriage,
258; again Foreign Secretary, diffi-
I culties with Queen Victoria, 259;
dismissal. Home Secretary, 260;
Prime Minister, 261; again Prime
Minister, 263; death, 264; his sayings
and character, 265, 266; mentioned,
49, 173, 199, 212, 213, 227, 234, 236,
238-9, 240, 243, 248, 268, 270-4,
279, 280, 292-3, 313-5, 345, 347

Palmerston, Henry Temple, 2nd Vis-
count, 254

Palmerston, Viscountess. See Lamb

Palmerston, Viscountess. See Mee

PameU,Mr.,323,338

Parsons, Nancy, 61, 62, 64

Peel, Sir R., 1st Bt., 213

Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Bt. : birth, early
life, M.P., Chief Secretary for Ireland,
213 ; marriage. Home Secretary, 214 ;
his Idgh position, 215 ; Prime Minister,
216; his reforms, 217 ; his defeat, 218 ;
death, character, 219; poUcy, 220;
mentioned, 72, 158, 173, 180, 181,

368

INDEX

188, 189, 195-9, 201, 202, 209, 211,
221, 229, 233-5, 243, 247, 250, 252,
258-9, 267, 270, 272, 277-8, 282, 284,
289-290, 310-3, 320, 333, 345

Pelham, Hon. Henry: birth and parent-
age, 32; early life, 33; M.F., Secretary
for War, friend of Walpole, 34;
Paymaster-General, 35; leader of
House of Commons, 36 ; Prime Minis-
ter, 37; his policy, difficulties with
Newcastle, 38; death, 39; his
character, 40; mentioned, 19, 21, 24,
30, 31, 43, 50, 62, 76, 77, 122, 243, 345

Pelham, Sir Thomas, 1st Lord, 32, 33

Perceval, Hon. Spencer: birth and
early life, 168; marriage, barrister,
169; M.P., 170; Solicitor- General and
Attorney-General, 171; Chancellor
of Exchequer, 172; Prime Minister,
174; his assassination, 174; character,
175; mentioned,71, 113, 168, 187, 200,
205-6, 213, 226, 255, 262, 346, 349

Petty Fitzmaurice. See Shelbume

Petty, Sir William, 147

Pitt, Hon. Anne, Lady GrenviUe, 110

Pitt, Hon. William: birth and early
life, M.P., 87; Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and Prime Minister, 88;
his change in policy and conduct of
affairs, duel, 90, 91; resigns, 92;
Prime Minister again, 93 ; illness and
death, 94; his character, 96, 96;
policy, 97, mentioned, 31, 66, 69,
70,83, 99, 108, 110, HI, 114, 115, 132,
133, 134, 137, 161, 158, 159, 160,
161-6, 169, 170-1, 182-6, 199, 200,
204-6, 210, 211, 223, 225, 242-3,
268, 284, 289, 291, 299, 309, 330,
333, 345, 350

Pitt,Liady Hester, Countess Stanhope,83

Pitt, Robert, 75

Pitt, Thomas, 76

Ponsonby, Elizabeth, Countess Grey,
224, 243

Ponsonby, Lady Caroline, Viscountess
Melbourne, 245

Ponsonby, W., 1st Lord, 224

Pope, Alexander, 24, 49, 98

Portland, William Henry Cavendish-
Bentinck, 3rd Duke of: birth and
early life, M.P., marriage, 66; Lord
Chamberlain, in opposition, 67;
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and
Prime Minister of Coalition, 68;
dismissed, joins Pitt as Home Secre-
tary, 69; Lord President, 70; Prime
Minister again, death, 71 ; character,
72; mentioned, 51, 90, 97, 112, 133,
141, 143, 152, 172-3, 186, 187, 193,
200,205-6, 243, 255, 262, 345, 349

Portsmouth,!. N. Wallop,5thEarlof ,337

Priestley, Dr., 148
Primrose. See Bosebery
Primrose, Rt. Hon. Neil, 333
Prowse, Mr., 102

Pulteney, WiUiam, afterwards Ist Earl
of Bath, 16, 19, 20, 23, 28, 35, 98, 360

Ramsay, Allen, 124

Ravensworth, H. Liddell, Ist Lord, 69

Redmond, J., 340

Reynolds, Sir J., 148

Ribblesdale, T. Lister, 2nd Lord, 233

Richmond, C. Lennox, 4th Duke of , 188

Rigby, Bt. Hon. B., 129

Ripon, 1st Earl of. See Goderich

Robespierre, C, 242

Roberts, F. S., 1st Earl, 198

Robertson, Andrew, 310

Robertson, Anne, 310

Robinson, Hon. Frederick. See
Goderich

Robinson, Sir Thomas, afterwards
1st Lord Grantham, 41, 42, 176

Rockingham, Charles Watson-Went-
worth, 2nd Marquess of: birth and
early life, 139; succeeds to peerage,
resigns his court appointment, 140;
Prime Minister, 141; dismissal, 142;
Prime Minister again, 143; his early
death, 144 ; character, 145, 146 ; men-
tioned, 39, 45, 56, 60, 64, 67, 68, 81,
87, 88, 97, 105, 122, 128, 129, 133, 138,
148, 149, 150, 156, 243-4, 345, 347

Bookingham, Thomas Watson- Went-
worth, 1st Marquess of, 139

Romilly, Sir Samuel, 113, 169

Rose, Rt. Hon. George, 90, 93, 97, 152

Bosebery, Archibald Primrose, 5th
Earl of: birth and education, 330;
succeeds to peerage, marriage, in
ministry, 331; Privy Seal, Foreign
Secretary, Prime ICnister, London
County Council, Liberal League,
332; his writings, 333; mentioned,
7, 24, 29, 50, 53-7, 220, 266, 305, 307,
317-8, 324-5, 338-9, 342, 345, 350

Rothschild, Baron Meyer de, 331

Bothschild, Hannah de. Countess of
Bosebery, 331

Bussell, Lord J.,230

Bussell, Lord John, afterwards Earl
Bussell: birth, 230; early life, M.P.,
literature, 231, in Cabinet, Beform
Bill, 232; leader of House of Com-
mons, marriage, 233; unpopularity,
234 ; second marriage. Prime Minister,
235; difficulties with PaUnerston,
defeat, 236; in Coalition ministry,
237; goes to Vienna, Foreign Secre-
tary, and raised to peerage, 238;
Prime Minister again, death, 239;

INDEX

369

character, 240, 241 ; mentioned, 201,

218, 221, 227, 247-8, 269, 260-2,

271-4, 277-8, 280, 290-1, 293, 310,

311-S, 337, 345-6, 349
EusseU, Rt. Hon. G. W. E., 265, 307,

320, 332
Bussell, Sir Charles, afterwards Lord,

338
Russell, William, Lord, 52
Rutland, John Manners, 2nd Duke of, 34
Ryder, Hon. D., afterwards 1st Earl

of Harrowby, 97, 170, 171

Sacheverell, Dr., 27

St. John. See Bolingbroke

Salisbury, F. M., Marchioness of. See
Gasooyne

Salisbury, G. C, Marchioness of. See
Alderson

Salisbury, James Cecil, 2nd Marquess of,
299,334

Salisbury, Robert Gasooyne Cecil, 3rd
Marquess of: birth, 299; early hfe,
M.P., marriage, writings, 300; suc-
ceeds to peerage, Indian Secretary,
301; at Constantinople, Foreign
Secretary, 302; Prime Minister, 303;
again Prime Minister, 304; third
ministry and retirement, 305 ; death,
character, 306-9; mentioned, 5,
295, 316, 334-5, 345

Sancroft, Archbishop, 26

Sandwich, J. Montagu, 4th Earl of, 104

Scott. See Stowell and Eldon

Scott, General John, 70, 204

Scott, Hon. Marian, Viscountess Sid-
mouth, 167

Scott, Joan, afterwards Viscountess
Canning, 204, 210

Soott, Sir W., 210, 231, 285

Seymour, Miss, 171-

Seymour, Sir Edward, 12

Shaftesbury, A. Ashley, 7th Earl of, 265,
318

Shackleton, W., 39

Shelbume, Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st
Earl of, 147

Shelbume, William Petty Fitzmaurice,
2nd Earl of: birth, military career,
succeeds to peerage, 147; President
of Board of Trade, resigns, marriage.
Secretary of State, 148; second
marriage, 149; in opposition, 160;
Prime Miniater, 151; resigns, 152;
created Marquess of Lausdowne, his
death, 153; his talents, character,
154-7; mentioned, 68, 69, 73, 81,
87, 88, 108, 121, 126, 132, 133, 136,
138, 143, 176, 224, 345

Shelley, Lady, 198

Sheridan, R. B., Ill, 112, 203, 204

Shorter, Catherine, Lady Walpole, 12

Shorter, Charlotte, Lady Conway, 12

Shorter, John, 12

Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, Duke of, 4

Sidmoiith, Viscount. See Addington

Skelmersdale, Lord. See Wilbraham

Skerret, Maria, Lady Walpole, 19

Smith, Adam, 165, 198

Smith, Rt. Hon. W. H., 335

Sondes, L. Monson, 1st Lord, 39

Soult, Marshal, 193

Speke, Anne, Lady North, 128

Speke, George, 128

Spencer, G. J., 2nd Earl, 110, 111, 247

Spencer, J. C, 3rd Earl, 233, 247, 254 ,

268
Spencer, J. P., 5th Earl, 317, 323
Stael, Madame de, 94, 187
Stanhope, J., 1st Earl, 2, 12, 14, 15, 16, 75
Stanhope, Lady Catherine, Lady Dal-
meny, afterwards Duchess of Cleve-
land, 330
Stanhope, P., 4th Earl, 330
Stanhope, P. H., 5th Earl, 44, 67, 65,

145
Stanley, Lord. See Derby
StoweU, W. Soott, 1st Lord, 167
Straohey, Mr. Lytton, 246, 264
Strafford, T. Wentworth, Earl of, 2, 139
Strangford, George Smythe, Lord, 289
Sunderland, C. Spencer, 3rd Earl of, 3,

14, 15, 16, 33, 49
Sutherland, E., Duchess of, 240
Sutton, James, 160

Sussex, H.R.H. Augustus, Duke of, 228
Swift, Jonathan, 49

Talleyrand, M. de, 156, 257
Tavistock, Francis Buaaell, Marquess

of, 230
Temple. See Palmerston
Temple, Hester Grenville, Countess, 87,

98, 100, 116
Temple, Hon. William, 257, 258, 262
Temple, Richard Grenville, Earl, 54, 58,

60, 75, 77, 100, 103-6, 108, 116
Temple, Sir John, 254
Temple, Sir Richard, 100
Temple, Sir WilMam, 254
Tennant, Margaret, Mrs. Asquith, 338
Tennant, Sir Charles, 338
Thurlow, E., 1st Lord, 161
Tiemey, Mr., 91, 170
Titohfield, Marchioness of, 204
Titohfield, Marquess of. See Portland
Torrington, G. Byng,4th Viscount, 230
Townshend, Charles, 2nd Viscount, 12,

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 33, 34, 243
Townshend, D., Viscountess, 33
Townshend, Rt. Hon. Charles, 129
Townshend, Thomas, 167

370

INDEX

Upper Ossory, John Fitzpatrick, Earl
of, 149

Victoria, Queen: and Wellington, 197;
and Melbourne, 248, 249, 252; and
Peel, 216, 250; and Kussell, 234-7;
and Palmerston, 236, 259, 260 2,
264; and Aberdeen, 237, 272, 273;
and Derby, 260, 261, 278, 292; and
DisraeU, 291, 294, 295, 298, 302; and
Salisbury, 303,308; and Gladstone,
298, 313, 315, 316, 321; and Lord
Rosebery, 332; mentioned, 168, 201,
251, 272, 284, 310, 333

Villiers, Harriet, wife of Eobert Pitt, 74

Vaiierss Hon. Edward, 74

Voltaire, M. de, 79

Waldegrave, Countess of. See Walpole,
Maria

Waldegrave, James, 2nd Eari, 40, 46,
52, 64, 55, 59, 80, 120, 124, 351

Walpole, Dorothy, Lady Townshend,
12,33

Walpole, Hon. Horace, afterwards 4th
Earl of Orford, 21, 30, 47, 48, 62,
67, 69, 81, 100, 106, 128

Walpole, Hon. Sir Edward, 21

Walpole, Horatio, afterwards Lord
Walpole of Wolterton, 12, 24

Walpole, Maria, afterwards Duchess of
Gloucester, 21, 66

Walpole, Eobert, 11

Walpole, Sir Edward, 11

Walpole, Sir Robert, afterwards 1st
Earl of Orford: birth, 11; early life,
M.P., marriage, 12; Treasurer of the
Navy, 13; Paymaster-General, 14;
First Lord of the Treasury, 15;
Prime Minister, 16; his government,
17-20; his death and family, 21; his
character, 22-4; poUoy, 25; other-
wise mentioned, 2, 3, 6, 7, 27, 28, 29,
31,33-7, 48,49, 52,66, 75, 76, 84, 86,
97, 98, 100, 122, 139, 242-3, 290, 309,
345, 347, 349, 350-1

Washington, George, 156

Watson. See Rockingham

Watson-Wentworth. See Rockingham

Watts, Ameha, 183

Watts, W., 183

Wellesley. See Wellington

Wellesley, Hon. Gerald, 192

Wellesley R., 1st Marquess, 168, 187, 192

WeUington, Arthur Wellesley, Ist Duke
of: birth, 191; miUtary career in

India, 192; marriage, M.P., Chief
Secretary for Ireland, commanding
in Peninsula, raised to peerage, 193;
at Vienna, Waterloo, joins the
Cabinet, 194; Prime Minister, 195;
in opposition. Foreign Secretary, 196 ;
death, 197; character, 198, 199;
mentioned, 72, 91, 105, 158, 173,
179, 187, 205, 208-9, 212, 214, 216,

226, 231-2, 246, 256-8, 262, 269, 278,
34S

Westbury, R. Bethell, 1st Lord, 263
Weymouth, T. Thynne, 3rd Viscount,

130
Wilberforce, Samuel, 89, 168
Wilbraham, Edward, Lord Skelmers-

dale, 276
Wilbraham, Emma Caroline, Countess

of Derby, 276
Wilkes, John, 60, 61, 103, 104, 132, 148
WiUans, Emily, 336
WiUans, WiUiam, 336
WiUiam IIL, King, 2, 10, 49, 50, 52, 66
Wilham IV., King, 258; and Goderich,

180; and Wellington, 196; and Grey,

227, 228, 248; and Melbourne, 233,
247, 248 ; and Russell, 233 ; mentioned,
197, 201, 229

Wilmington, Hon. Spencer Compter,

Earl of: birth, family, and early

Ufe, 26; M.P., Speaker, K.B., 27;

Privy Seal and Lord President, 28;

Prime Minister, death, 29; character,

30; mentioned, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21,

31, 36, 76, 168, 345
Wilson, Jane, wife of Spencer Perceval,

169
Wilson, Sir James, 169
Winohilsea, Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of,

139
Winchilsea, G. Pinch, 10th Earl of, 195
Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel, 95, 114, 134,

135, 154, 223
Wrottesley, Elizabeth, Duchess of

Grafton, 64
Wrottesley, Sir Richard, 64
Wyndham, Elizabeth, wife of George

Grenville, 100, 105, 108
Wyndham, Sir William, M.P., 100, 108

Yates, E., 213
Yates, W., 213

York, H.R.H. Frederick, Duke of, 173
Yorke. See Hardwicke
Yorke, Lady Mary, Lady Grantham,
176

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