Stanhope Street, April 27th, 1789.
MY DEAR LORD,
The pilgrimage to St. Paul's, which funck'd us all very much, has
turned out exceedingly well, for the King conducted himself
throughout the whole of that very arduous trial in such a manner as
to convince all, except those who will not see nor hear, that he is
in perfect possession of his faculties. The Princes of Wales, York,
Cumberland, and, I am sorry to say, Gloucester, talked to each
other the whole time of the service, and behaved in such an
indecent manner that was quite shocking. The King in Pall Mall was
received without applause, and the Prince with a good deal; but
from Cockspur Street to St. Paul's he had the warmest acclamations
possible, particularly in the city of London, where all ranks of
people were unanimous, which the King perceived, and since has much
praised. In parts of the Strand the Prince's dependants were posted
to give him an huzza as he passed, which flattered him most
exceedingly; but he lost his temper in the City, and he never
recovered it afterwards, for at St. Paul's he was in the worst
humour possible, and did everything he could do to expose himself
in the face of an amazing concourse of persons, and of all the
foreign Ministers.
On the return of the procession the Prince and Duke of York put on
their uniforms at Carlton House, and headed the whole brigade of
Grenadiers, and fired a _feu de joie_ before Buckingham House, the
King and Queen and the Princesses standing in one of the windows.
The Prince, before the King got into his carriage, which the whole
line waited for before they filed off, went off on a sudden with
one hundred of the common people, with Mr. Wattie in the middle of
them, huzzaing him, and was done evidently to lead, if possible, a
greater number, and to make it penetrate into Buckingham House.
The breach is so very wide between the King and Prince, that it
seems to me to be a great weakness to allow him any communication
with him whatsoever; for under the mask of attention to their
father and mother, the Prince and Duke of York commit every
possible outrage, and show every insult they can devise to them.
The report of the journey to Hanover prevails to an alarming
degree, and the King talks of it right hand and left; but it is to
be hoped the Ministers will be able to divert his attention from it
at this particular moment, for in the present unhinged state of
things it might be pregnant with very disagreeable consequences. I
believe the King's mind is torn to pieces by his sons, and that he
expects to relieve himself by a new scene, and by getting out of
the way of hearing of and seeing the Prince of Wales, with the
hopes of being able to detach the Duke of York, whom he fondly and
dotingly loves, and of prevailing on him to marry on the continent,
of which there is no chance, for in my opinion he is just as bad as
the Prince, and gives no hopes of any change or amendment
whatsoever in thought, word, or deed.
* * * * *
P.S.--It is said that the King abuses Dundas to those about him
very much, in a language that is very much copied by those whom we
all know by the term of "King's friends;" and there are some who
pretend to say that his loss of ground at Buckingham House has been
owing to the part he took against Hastings, in which he has the
reputation of having engaged Pitt to concur. I have made every
inquiry whether the King ever expresses himself to his people about
him in favour of Hastings, and I am told he is very guarded and
reserved on his subject, but that some _females_ in his house talk
loud and warmly in his favour, which occasions the attributing the
same opinions to him.
On one of the adjourned questions on Hastings's trial in the House
of Lords, Lord Maitland, standing next to Dundas, asked him what he
thought would be the result of the inquiry, to which he replied in
these words: "I don't care what is done with him, for you and your
friends in Opposition have done our business, by keeping him out of
the Board of Control." Lord Maitland on this called up Colonel
Fitzpatrick and Dudley Long, in whose presence Dundas actually
repeated his words, and they, of course, trumpeted them all over
town, and they have occasioned much conversation and much abuse of
Dundas, in addition to their former abuse on the part of Hastings's
friends. The folly of such language, especially to three violent
Oppositionists, was very absurd, weak, and ill-judged, but the fact
is certain.
I hear many complaints of Pitt and his Secretaries' personal
inattentions to Members _of_ Parliament, but they will think twenty
times before they go into Opposition; and it is most probable that
these complaints are not made till _impossible jobs_ have been
refused; I therefore only mention them as certainly existing, and
most probably as to any consequences, _vox et praeterea nihil_, at
least till the last sessions.
* * * * *
Just as I was sealing my letter a person called on me, who tells
me that divisions in the Cabinet, or rather among the Cabinet
Ministers, certainly do exist, to a great degree, about Mr. Dundas,
and has confirmed to me what I have before told you, that every
corner of Buckingham House resounds with abuse, and opprobrious
epithets against him.
A passage in a letter of Mr. Grenville's, dated the 2nd of May,
indicates an approaching event, to which many circumstances, but chiefly
the increasing weight the writer had latterly acquired in the councils
of Mr. Pitt, had for some time been obviously tending.
I wish to mention to you that Lord S. has taken great offence, from
the circumstance of having at last found out that your despatches
to him come over enclosed to me. I could wish, therefore, that for
the _very short time_ that your correspondence with him is likely
to continue you would alter this, as nothing material is likely to
arise that can render it necessary, and I am desirous just at this
particular moment to avoid any altercation with him. This jealousy
on his part, and a just sense on mine of his conduct towards you,
has entirely broke off all communication between us with respect to
Irish, or indeed any other, business. Some delay and awkwardness
necessarily arises from this; but it is unavoidable, and I repeat
that it will probably be of _very_ short duration.
The nomination of Mr. Grenville to the Home Office had been delayed only
till the arrangements consequent upon the necessary changes it involved
could be satisfactorily carried out. The means of effecting it were now
within Mr. Pitt's reach; and at the moment this letter was written, Mr.
Grenville's appointment was on the eve of being ratified.