In the House, Plunket laboured, I think, a good deal in bringing his precedents to bear on the subject, and showed infinite dexterity in all this part of his argument; but when he came to the whole of the proceedings of the Grand Jury and the High Sheriff, he carried the House along with him, and ended his speech with the unanimous feeling of the House in his favour; indeed, I am not sure but that we might have carried a decided negative; however, altogether it is better as it is, more particularly as Plunket is equally satisfied.
The King comes to town to-day, and I understand has made up his mind to hold a drawing-room, and sit during the time; I doubt even his ability to do this, if he has not greatly mended since I left Brighton. We shall lose the Catholic question to-morrow, at least this is my opinion; the state of Ireland, and of parties in that country, has made a great alteration in opinions of those who were not very stout upon it before.
The papers which have been presented to Parliament regarding the negotiations at Verona, and Paris, and Madrid, are considered so far satisfactory as to meet the feelings of the country in maintaining a neutrality--that is, in avoiding to commit England to any share in hostilities; but I should say that they have given an impression that we were duped by the French Government up to the moment of the King"s Speech, and even afterwards, and that the tone maintained by England throughout the whole of the proceedings was not sufficiently high and commanding. There is also throughout the whole of the negotiations, a continued exertion on the part of England to induce the Spaniards to give way by some modification of their const.i.tution, without a corresponding attempt to induce France to remove her army. The Opposition think that the papers altogether afford them a very good case; no notice is yet given in the House of Commons upon the subject, but probably there will to-day or to-morrow.
Adieu, my dear Duke,
Ever most truly yours,
W. H. F.
P.S.--I fear poor General Grenville cannot last many days, he is considerably worse.
General Grenville died a short time after the date of this letter. He was the younger brother of Lord Glas...o...b..ry, and therefore the second son of Mr. James Grenville.
The state of our foreign relations began to create some uneasiness in the public mind; indeed, a grave complication was arising, that demanded the exercise of the profoundest statesmanship to treat in a manner worthy the reputation of this country.
THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
East India Office, April 17, 1823.
MY DEAR B----,
My letter of yesterday will show you that we do not disagree in principle as to the speech of Monday night. I cannot conceive a course more derogatory to the dignity or contrary to the interest of two great nations, than for the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to animadvert on the conduct of each other"s Government, as those of England and France have done.
Still, I am very far from viewing it in the light which it has on the first impression appeared to you, nor can I partic.i.p.ate in your apprehensions of its leading to the withdrawal of the Minister of the Court of France, or that it will be considered tantamount to a declaration of war.
Lord Grenville concurs in disapprobation of the speeches, but not to the degree which you seem to feel, and expresses his opinion that "the papers are, on the whole, satisfactory, and the last instructions _good_."
You have not stated what your objections to them are, and therefore it is impossible for me to address myself to meet them.
Ever most affectionately yours,
C. W. W.
I fear that we have not a chance of success to-night.
THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
Stanhope Street, April 18, 1823.
MY DEAR DUKE,
You will see by the papers the turbulent discussion we had last night. I was not in the House till afterwards, and therefore can only give you what I heard of the impression made, which was altogether favourable to Canning. His want of temper was condemned in the first instance, but at the same time it is thought that it will be most beneficial in stopping those strains of invective and abuse which are daily increasing, and likely still more to increase if not put down. The fact is, that the Opposition have been buoying themselves up with the hope and expectation of connexion and friendship with Canning--they now see this to be visionary, and are determined to try and drive a dissention in the Cabinet by violence; and in this they are encouraged by the language held, and general conduct of the Chancellor.
Wynn made an indiscreet speech, as far as it regarded Peel, but I hope nothing will arise from it--indeed, there is no reason to fear there may, as the explanation was perfectly satisfactory. As to our Catholic question, it is gone to the d----l, and what is to be the result of this I have not a guess.
With regard to the negotiations, I perfectly agree with you that nothing can display greater weakness than the papers do; but the feeling in the country is so strong in favour of neutrality and of the Spaniards, and also the feeling of Parliament, that you may rely on it the Government will come out of the discussion triumphantly. I do not entertain the smallest idea that France will carry her resentment so far against Canning"s and Lord Liverpool"s speeches as to recall her Minister, or to think of quarrelling with us. I can understand your feeling with regard to their declarations in favour of the revolutionary Spanish Government; but however you may feel, depend upon it no Minister, no Government, and no man is powerful enough in this country, either in political or personal character, to stand up to fight the battle of the Ultras. I should say that the King and the Duke of York would do so if they could find the means, but these are impossible, and the public odium which would follow such an attempt would be fatal to any man or set of men.
There will certainly be a Levee on the 21st, and I suppose a Drawing-room. I take it for granted some notice will be given to-day in our House of a motion on the papers. As I shall see you so soon, I will add no more.
Yours truly,
W. H. F.
The relations between France and Spain continued to attract very great attention, both in and out of Parliament, and not only were suggestive questions asked of the Government as to this country being bound by treaty to support the Bourbons in France, but the Earl of Liverpool in the House of Lords, and Mr. Canning in the House of Commons, while producing papers ill.u.s.trating the late negotiations at Vienna, Paris, and Madrid, gave an exposition of affairs that strongly reflected on the conduct of the French Ministers. A still more important debate on the same subject came on on the 24th of April, in which Lord Grenville and the Duke of Buckingham spoke in favour of Ministers.
The question of the Catholic claims came on for discussion in the House of Commons on the 17th of April, but Mr. Plunket went through the usual arguments in favour of the Catholic claims with less than the ordinary amount of success, and the last of these motions of adjournment was carried by 333 to 111. In a subsequent debate, a misunderstanding between Mr. Peel and Mr. Charles Williams Wynn, as to the system on which each considered Ireland was to be governed, threatened serious consequences, according to the following representations:--
THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
East India Office, Ten o"clock.
I have been here from ten, and am going to the Aylesbury Commission, or should have called on you. I met the Duke of Wellington yesterday in the Park, who had been sent to by Lord Liverpool in the morning, to discuss the question regarding Wynn and Peel. He threw the whole blame on Lord Liverpool for not having originally shown the papers to Peel, but said that it could not lead to ultimate quarrels--that Lord Liverpool must interfere, and that he, the Duke, was to see Peel _this morning_. It appears to me, from the Duke"s language, that the discussion and the settlement of the difference must now proceed from Lord Liverpool, as it is the complaint of Peel against him for not being apprised of the terms on which we came into the Government. The Duke appeared to entertain no doubt of settling it amicably, but my object, pressed upon him, was to take care it should be done speedily, and that no public appearance of difference should be manifested in the House of Commons. Probably you have seen the Duke of Wellington before you receive this. A good speech from you in the House of Lords to-night would be more likely to strengthen us and set us right than anything else.
W. H. F.
The Duke of Wellington had never seen the correspondence till yesterday, when shown to him by Lord Liverpool.
THE RIGHT HON. W. H. FREMANTLE TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
Stanhope Street, May 31, 1823.
MY DEAR DUKE,
I met the Duke of Wellington this morning, and had a great deal of conversation with him of a most confidential nature. He began it by asking if you had left town, saying he had received your letter, and had taken immediate steps for bringing matters right between C---- and W----.[113] That "I knew perfectly well how ticklish a gentleman the former was, and how difficult to manage, and with how little ground he was in the habit of taking exception; that in this case he knew he could have no ground, but on the contrary he (C----) ought and must know, that he owed W---- every attention and kindness for the manly and decided manner you had acted on the proposal of taking him into office after the death of Lord L----."[114] I found evidently that the Duke of W---- disliked C----, for he could not resist the pleasure of attacking and condemning him in many points of his conduct since he has held the Seals, and entered at large into it in a manner that I cannot well detail in a letter, going through his quarrel with the Chancellor, and what had since occurred in an attempt which the Duke had made to reconcile them, and in which he thought C---- had behaved with great want of judgment and temper; again, in his conduct about Spain, and on the questions regarding Ireland; but with all this (admitting of course), his value to the Government, and the necessity of keeping him in good humour if possible. It was most satisfactory to hear him say, that the whole of Wynn"s conduct in the Cabinet since he had belonged to it had been uniformly conciliatory and temperate, and such as had universally given satisfaction, and that he could not understand why C---- had taken the exception.
I see evidently from all this that the K---- still continues to feel indisposed to C----, for I am quite sure the language the Duke holds is the same held by his Royal Master; and there is another view which is not less satisfactory, namely, that he (C----) is not sufficiently strong with the Cabinet to carry everything his own way. All I should recommend to W----, and which I shall speak to him about, is to follow the Duke of W----"s advice in going on, not pretending to see the coolness, and leave C---- to amuse himself with his own ill-humour.
I was delighted to hear from Wynn of his Majesty"s gracious language about you, and at the manner in which he was received, and that you have judged quite wisely in writing to express your feelings upon it; at the same time I would recommend you not to press it further at present, but to see how matters go on, and whether anything occurs previous to the prorogation. I still think the Chancellor will go when this takes place, but not before, but I doubt of the manner in which the law arrangements are to be made.
The Government are determined to get the Irish t.i.thes Bills through if they can, and Canning told me he thought nothing could be so dangerous or desperate as to leave them still hanging over.
You shall hear from me whenever I hear anything further.
Ever most faithfully yours,
W. H. F.
[113] Canning and Wynn.
[114] Lord Londonderry.