CHAP. people.' CLX. A.D. 1789. Disappointment of the the King's recovery. Feb. 19. 1789. He added,—" I have given my allegiance already to the House of Hanover. I worship the Gods of our glorious constitution, but I will not worship PRIAPUS.” Alas! the Whigs were disappointed, and the laugh was finally with the object of their vituperation. When the Whigs by Regency Bill, with its restrictive clauses, had been read a second time in the House of Lords, and had made some progress in the Committee, rumours were publicly spread that the King's malady was abating, and on the 19th of February, as soon as prayers were over, the Lord Chancellor left the woolsack, and said," the intelligence from Kew was that day so favourable every noble Lord would agree with him in acknowledging that it would be indecent to proceed farther with the bill when it might become wholly unnecessary. Amidst the general joy which the expectation of his Majesty's speedy return must occasion, he would therefore move the adjournment of the Committee." This was agreed to, and the House rose. Feb. 24. regularly opened under a commission by the King's authority. On a subsequent day the Chancellor declared that he had Parliament lately been as much as an hour and a quarter with the King, and that very day a full hour-when he had found his mind to be clear and distinct, and that he appeared perfectly capable of conversing on any subject that might be proposed to him. The Committee was several times adjourned, and at last, on the 10th of March, there was produced a commission to which the Great Seal had been regularly put, under a warrant, signed by the King, authorising the same Commissioners named in the sham commission "to open and declare certain farther causes for holding this parliament." Then the Commons being summoned, and the Commission read, the Chancellor, one of the Commissioners, said, “His Majesty being, by the blessing of Providence, recovered from the severe indisposition with which he has been afflicted, and being enabled to attend to the public affairs of this kingdom, has commanded us to convey to you his warmest acknowledgments for the additional proofs which you have given of your affectionate attachment to his person, and of your zeal Burke's Speeches, iii. 361. ous concern for the honour and interest of his crown, and the security and good government of his dominions." CHAP. CLX. A.D. 1789. Thurlow retained the Great Seal, but his character was seriously injured. Although he impressed on the Queen, and Thurlow's on the King when recovered, a conviction of his zeal to com- reputation injured ply with their wishes, his colleagues, as well as his opponents, with the were fully aware of his insincerity, and by degrees the full public. extent of his double-dealing during the King's illness became known to the whole nation. of Mr. Pitt. From this time he fostered a deep enmity to Mr. Pitt, which His hatred he was at no pains to conceal. Considering himself the personal "friend," and most cherished minister of the King,— boasting that the House of Lords was entirely under his control, and unconscious of his reputation with the public, he greatly over-estimated his political importance, and was disposed to set himself up as the rival of the man, who by splendid eloquence and spotless character now ruled the House of Commons, and who, with the exception of the Whigs (lamentably reduced in numbers) was respected and supported by the whole nation. The Prime Minister had no desire to quarrel with the Chancellor, but was resolved to keep him under due subordination. For the present, therefore, he contented himself with submitting a good-humoured representation to the King, which admitted the Chancellor's abilities and services, but hinting at his waywardness, stated how desirable it was that there should be entire cordiality among the members of the cabinet. King wrote to Thurlow on the subject, and received such an answer as led him confidently to hope that Mr. Pitt would have no reason to complain again on this subject." * out. Mr. Pitt's representaKing as to tion to the Thurlow's conduct. "The Nov. 1789. Tomlin's Life of Pitt, ii. 513. It would appear from the " Rolliad," that even before the King's illness the public believed that Thurlow went on very uncomfortably with the cabinet, and that there was a great desire to turn him In the " JOURNAL of the Right Hon. HENRY DUNDAS" we have the following entry: -" March 9th, 1788. Got Thurlow to dine with us at Wimbledon - gave him my best Burgundy and blasphemy, to put him into good humour. After a brace of bottles, ventured to drop a hint of businessThurlow damned me, and asked Pitt for a sentiment [toast]. Pitt looked foolish Grenville wise." After an account of the other members of the cabinet, he proceeds with the Chancellor. "Thurlow very queer. He swore the bill [India Declaratory Bill, then pending in parliament] is absurd, and a correspondence with those cursed directors damned stupid. However, will vote CHAP. Thurlow's conduct for the next For two or three years the Government went on pretty smoothly, Thurlow, although discontented and sulky, abstaining from any public attack on the Government - but watching for an opportunity of showing his sense of the supposed ingratitude of the young man he pretended to have patronised and promoted. During this interval the Chancellor hardly ever spoke in parliament. In the first session after the King's recovery he three years. did not once interfere for the Government, unless in repressing an irregular conversation commenced by Lord Stormont, about the treaty with Prussia *; and he testified his contempt for the part taken by his colleagues in the other House by throwing out, on the first reading, Mr. Beaufoy's bill, which Mr. Pitt had sanctioned in the Commons for celebrating the centenary of the Revolution. † June 3. 1790. But (wonderful to relate!) he allowed to pass through the House without opposition a bill, remarkable as the first that passed, to mitigate the atrocious severity of our criminal code -enacting that women convicted of high or petty treason, instead of being burnt to death, as they had hitherto been, should be hanged. ‡ During the whole of the following session, he never opened his mouth, except upon Lord Hawkesbury's complaint of having been obstructed by the military when coming down to attend the service of the House. The Lord Chancellor took up the matter very warmly, insisting that, for such an and speak with us.-Pitt quite sick of him says he growls at every thing, proposes nothing, and supports every thing.' N. B. Must look out for a new Chancellor - Scott might do, but cants too much about his independence and his conscience- - what the devil has he to do with independence and conscience? - besides, he has a snivelling trick of retracting when he is caught in a lie— hate such puling fellows. GEORGE HARDINGE not much better- must try him though will order him to speak on Wednesday."— Rolliad, 22d ed. p. 516. George Hardinge had not answered, for he died a Welsh Judge. 28 Parl. Hist. 138. The motion (so unusual and so affronting to the House of Commons) for throwing out the bill in this stage being made by the Bishop of Bangor, was warmly supported by the Lord Chancellor, and carried by a majority of 13 to 6. 28 Parl. Hist. 296. The deliverance of the nation from slavery and popery was celebrated in Scotland, without an act of parliament, by the authority of the Church, when Dr. Robertson delivered the sermon in the hearing of Lord Brougham, then a boy-of which his Lordship has given us such an interesting account in the Life of his distinguished kinsinan. - Men of Letters, 270. See 4 Adolph. 484. * CLX. A. D. 1790. from his the Go vernment in of Lords, the House insult, no apology could be accepted, and that their Lordships CHAP. must, in justice to themselves, institute inquiries for the purpose of discovering and punishing the delinquents. Since the formation of the present Government, Thurlow Thurlow had hitherto been considered its organ in the House of displaced Lords; but Mr. Pitt declared, that he was never quite position as certain what part in debate the Chancellor would take, and organ of less quiet times being in prospect, he was very unhappy lest some important measure, on which depended his reputation and his stability, might be defeated, after being carried triumphantly through the House of Commons.† He therefore resolved, at the meeting of the new Parliament, in Nov. 1790, to have in the House of Lords a new leader, in whom he could place confidence. The person proposed for this post was Mr. William Grenville, who had been Speaker of the House of Commons, and not giving satisfaction in that office had been taken into the Cabinet, and was giving striking proofs of his talents as a statesman.‡ The King unwittingly thinking that the arrangement would be agreeable to the Chancellor, by saving him trouble, at once consented to it, without consulting him, and Lord Grenville took his seat on the ministerial bench. Thurlow was deeply mortified, but having no plausible cause of quarrel, he for the present concealed his chagrin. Still he persuaded himself that he held Lord Grenthe first place in the King's favour, and he hoped that he might, ere long, be able to avenge himself of such a slight. him. "His coolness and reserve towards Mr. Pitt increased, although there was no difference of opinion between them on any political question." § ville substituted for For a season the Chancellor concealed his resentment, and Debate on he even had such a control over his feelings as to support armament. the Russian * 28 Parl. Hist. 874. †The Marquis of Stafford, and other common friends, had repeatedly remonstrated with Thurlow respecting his demeanour to Pitt, but entirely without effect. Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 513. I have heard the late Lord Holland several times say, that considerable abilities are not well adapted to the chair of the House of Commons; for all the Speakers in his time had been pronounced "excellent," except Lord GRENVILLE, and he failed, although the only clever man among them. § Tomline's Life of Pitt, ii. 513. CHAP. Lord Grenville on the new leader's first appearance in that character in the House. A discussion arose respecting a A. D. 1791. very doubtful measure of Mr. Pitt, which he was soon obliged to abandon the armament against Russia, on the taking of Ockzakow and Ismael. Lord Grenville moved the address of thanks in answer to a message from the Crown, announcing, that in consequence of his Majesty not having succeeded in bringing about a satisfactory adjustment of the differences between the Sublime Porte and the Empress Catherine, he deemed it necessary to increase his forces by Earliest sea and land. Earl Fitzwilliam having moved an amendparliament ment censuring the conduct of the Government, Lord Loughborough made a speech, memorable as containing one of the carliest expressions of opinion in Parliament on the French revolution, which he still regarded with hope and with favour. March 29. Having inveighed bitterly against the general policy of Mi notice in of the French revolution. 1791. nisters, who seemed disposed wantonly to interfere with the concerns of foreign states all over the world, and particularly condemned the threatened rupture with Russia, he highly eulogised the magnanimous declaration of the National Assembly of France, that "they would for ever avoid wars on speculative and theoretical points,”— which ought to have suggested to us a wiser and more elevated system than that Speech by which we were pursuing. He said, "the revolution in Lord Lough. borough in praise of it. Thurlow's defence of France presents to us the means of reducing our establishments, of easing the people, and of securing to the nation, for a length of years, the blessings of peace. But instead of this, we ransack the most obscure corners of the earth for enemies, and wish to rush into hostilities against a great empire which is our natural ally, and the present enlightened sovereign of which feels for this country sentiments of unmixed respect and good will." The Lord Chancellor, stimulated probably by personal the Russian rivalry and dislike, left the woolsack, and answered this armament. speech in a very contemptuous tone. He abstained from any general defence of Ministers, but he insisted that the objections to the proposed address were wholly frivolous, as the Crown was entitled to confidence on such an emergency, and no noble Lord, by agreeing to the address, was pledged |