CHAP. CLXX. A.D. 1788. the apprehension of a change would be studiously excited to prevent the public opinion from attaching itself to the apparent acting power. To oppose this, great spirit and steadiness would be necessary; but I have no doubt that the only measure would be, to assert that authority which no other person has a right to assume, and which, with an united royal family, no opposition would be able to thwart. Wherever any precedent occurs in which a declaration of the King's pleasure is necessary, that declaration must be made by the only person who can be legally presumed to be authorised to make it. The case of an evidently decided disorder is attended with very little embarrassment. There would be no expectation of change to encourage and rear up an opposition to the full acknowledgment of the right to the administration of government. It would be declared to the nation by Parliament without restriction, for any partition of authority I hold to be totally inconsistent with the frame of our government, which has provided a sufficient control in the Parliament, and admits of no intermediate and secondary control. I doubt not but some wishes might be entertained for the purposes of private ambition to create councils and devise restrictions, but they would terminate, as they ought, in the confusion of those who had the presumption to propose them. "The third case is not new. There are known forms to be observed, which should be carefully inspected and prepared. The most essential is, a declaration to be made and entered at the first meeting of council; the substance of which should be well considered and digested, because it would be taken as an indication of the spirit of the future Government. It should be short, general, and at the same time satisfactory to the public on the great lines of policy. I have not the least apprehension of any mischief, or even inconvenience, that can arise to H. R. H., but from his own virtues. It may sound harsh, and you will with some reason impute it to the coldness of age, when I say that the duties of public life in the highest state of human greatness may often require - not dissimulation, for I hold that unworthy maxim for government to be equally false and foolish, but a certain reserve and guard upon the frankness of that amiable disposition which is the ornament and delight of society. I should be completely the old man if I should permit myself to run on further. You will excuse, and I am sure not expose a too forward zeal, from my dear Payne. Yours ever, "LOUGHBOROUGH.' ""* * Copied from draught of the letter in the Rossl. MSS. The meditated coup d'état is more clearly developed in the following paper, which is written in pencil by the hand of Lord Loughborough, and which I have been informed he himself read to the Prince at a secret interview which they had together at Windsor. CHAP. A.D. 1788. Pencil memoran dum, con taining Lord Lough of the coup "Upon the supposition of a state of disorder without prospect of recovery or of a speedy extinction, the principle of the P.'s conduct is perfectly clear. The administration of government devolves to him of right. He is bound by every duty to assume it, and his character would be lessened in the public estimation if he borough's took it on any other ground but right, or on any sort of com- explanation promise. The authority of Parliament, as the great council of the d'état nation, would be interposed, not to confer, but to declare the right. which he The mode of proceeding which occurs to my mind is, that in a very short time H. R. H. should signify his intention to act by directing a meeting of the Privy Council, where he should declare his intention to take upon himself the care of the State, and should at the same time signify his desire to have the advice of Parliament, and order it by a proclamation to meet early for despatch of business. That done, he should direct the several Ministers to attend him with the public business of their offices. "It is of vast importance in the outset, that he should appear to act entirely of himself, and in the conferences he must necessarily have, not to consult, but to listen and direct. 66 Though the measure of assembling the Council should not be consulted upon, but decided in his own breast, it ought to be communicated to a few persons who may be trusted, a short time before it takes place; and it will deserve consideration whether it might not be expedient very speedily after this measure, in order to mark distinctly the assumption of government, to direct such persons at least in one or two instances-to be added to what is called the Cabinet, as he thinks proper. By marking a determination to act of himself, and by cautiously avoiding to raise strong fear or strong hope, but keeping men's minds in expectation of what may arise out of his reserve, and in a persuasion of his general candour, he will find all men equally observant of him." recom mended. to constitute the It would further appear from another paper, which is like- Proposal wise in Lord Loughborough's handwriting, that he had at one time contemplated a scheme of supplying the royal au- Prince of Wales Re CHAP. thority by a "phantom," somewhat like Thurlow's, which he afterwards joined in ridiculing so severely. CLXX. gent by a sham com mission under the Great Seal. A.D. 1788. Declara tion to be According to the constitution of this country, the Sovereign may assign any part or the whole of the royal authority to be executed by a deputy or deputies*; and the suggestion was, that a commission should pass the Great Seal in the King's name, although without his consciousness, appointing the Prince of Wales Regent :-"On the supposition of a certain though slow recovery, would it not be the natural course to commit to the Prince, in the name and by the authority of the King, the power of administration, with no other restriction than such as honest advice can suggest, and honourable engagements can secure? Could that fail to be the mode adopted, were the royal family united as it ought to be? And to accomplish both these ends, is it impossible to establish a confidence between those who fairly mean the public good? On the contrary supposition, that a recovery is not certain, the conclusion would not much vary. In my mind, it would not vary in any respect." But we are left totally in the dark as to the ingenious contrivance by which Thurlow was to be induced to put the Great Seal to such a commission. The office of Chancellor might have purchased his consent; but this was to be held by the contriver himself. The following is the "declaration" which was sent by Lord Loughborough to Windsor, and which is alluded to in one of Mr. Payne's letters. I am at a loss to understand whether it was to be read by the Prince in Council as Regent after he had seized the government, or whether it was written in contemplation of the immediate death of George III., which had several times been supposed inevitable, and so was to be the speech of George IV. reigning in his own right: "I feel, more than any other person can, the unspeakable misfortune that the nation and I have sustained by the melancholy * Of this we have still instances in giving the royal assent to Bills, and in opening and proroguing Parliament. CLXX. Prince of read by the Wales in council on vernment. occasion upon which you are assembled. The weight of the im- CHAP. portant duty I am called upon to discharge, by undertaking the government of this great empire, can only be alleviated by the consciousness of the entire affection I bear to my native country, and of the most ardent zeal for promoting its domestic welfare and its just consideration amongst the other states of Europe. Aniassuming mated by such sentiments, I shall not doubt the assistance of every the gohonest man in my unceasing endeavours to maintain and strengthen the religion, laws, and liberties of my kingdom. The constitution in church and state which my family was called to defend, shall ever form the rule of my government, and it shall be my constant study to improve the blessings of peace with the protection of the Divine Providence upon my dominions, in the support of public credit and the encouragement of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce." returns But on the return of Mr. Fox from Italy all these vaga- Mr. Fox ries were swept away. He was confidentially shown from Italy Lord Loughborough's suggestions, but earnestly requested not even to let the noble schemer know that he had seen them. and opens a corre spondence with Lord Lough Accordingly, as if things had been quite entire, he opened borough. a negotiation with the Chief Justice by the following note: "MY LORD, "I should be happy, if it is not troublesome, to have half an hour's conversation with your Lordship upon the subject of the measures to be taken by the Houses of Parliament, in case a notification to them should take place, which, according to public rumour, the state of his Majesty's health renders but too likely. It may be proper for me to state previously (though probably your Lordship knows too much of what is passing to make such information necessary), that I wish to speak merely for myself and a few friends, and have no authority from, nor indeed any communication with, any person of higher station. The very circumstance of my applying to your Lordship will also satisfy you that I mean to treat this business as wholly unconnected with general politics, about which I am afraid our sentiments still continue to be widely different. All I wish is a conference, as a member of Parliament with another member, upon a subject of very great importance, upon part of which at least our opinions are likely to be similar. I am sure I need not add, that any desire of finding out such of CHAP. A. D. 1788. Understanding between Mr. Fox and Lord Loughborough. your Lordship's intentions as you may wish to be secret is what I "Thursday. "I a "I am at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley Square." * C. J. Fox. They met; and the notion of superseding the authority of Parliament being declared inadmissible, it was speedily agreed that the constitutional course should be pursued of calling upon the two Houses to declare the King's incapacity, and to address the heir apparent, praying that he would take upon himself the exercise of the royal authority as Regent. No opposition by Mr. Pitt to this mode of proceeding was anticipated; and as the King's recovery was then considered impossible, the speedy advent of Whig rule seemed inevitable. In those days it was thought that the personage filling the throne, with the undiminished power and patronage constitutionally belonging to his high office, might easily give an ascendency to any party in the state, and choose his Ministers at pleasure. Mr. Fox, regarding himself minister elect, without giving any positive pledge upon the subject, pretty clearly intimated to Lord Loughborough that the Great Seal should be his. It seemed now to this often-disappointed aspirant as if nothing could come "between the cup and the lip; "— he began to calculate how many days would elapse before he must be hailed as Lord Chancellor; he feasted his fancy with an anticipation of Thurlow scowling as he laid down the bauble, and the congratulations which would be showered down upon himself as he carried it away from the Prince's closet; he thought with delight of placing it on the bar of the House * Rossl. MSS. |