DESTRUCTION OF THE THEATRE OF DRURY-LANE BY FIRE.--MR. WHITBREAD.--PLAN
FOR A THIRD THEATRE.--ILLNESS OF THE KING.--REGENCY. LORD OBEY AND LORD
GRENVILLE.--CONDUCT OF MR. SHERIDAN.--HIS VINDICATION OF HIMSELF.
With the details of the embarrassments of Drury-Lane Theatre, I have
endeavored, as little as possible, to encumber the attention of the
reader. This part of my subject would, indeed, require a volume to
itself. The successive partnerships entered into with Mr. Grubb and Mr.
Richardson,--the different Trust-deeds for the general and individual
property,--the various creations of shares,--the controversies between
the Trustees and Proprietors, as to the obligations of the Deed of 1793,
which ended in a Chancery-suit in 1799,--the perpetual entanglements of
the property which Sheridan's private debts occasioned, and which even
the friendship and skill of Mr. Adam were wearied out in endeavoring to
rectify,--all this would lead to such a mass of details and
correspondence as, though I have waded through it myself, it is by no
means necessary to inflict upon others.
The great source of the involvements, both of Sheridan himself and of the
concern, is to be found in the enormous excess of the expense of
rebuilding the Theatre in 1793, over the amount stated by the architect
in his estimate. This amount was 75,000_l_.; and the sum of
150,000£. then raised by subscription, would, it was calculated, in
addition to defraying this charge, pay off also the mortgage-debts with
which the Theatre was encumbered. It was soon found, however, that the
expense of building the House alone would exceed the whole amount raised
by subscription; and, notwithstanding the advance of a considerable sum
beyond the estimate, the Theatre was delivered in n very unfinished state
into the hands of the proprietors,--only part of the mortgage-debts was
paid off, and, altogether a debt of 70,000£ was left upon the property.
This debt Mr. Sheridan and the other proprietors took, voluntarily, and,
as it has been thought, inconsiderately, upon themselves,--the builders,
by their contracts, having no legal claim upon them,--and the payment of
it being at various times enforced, not only against the theatre, but
against the private property of Mr. Sheridan, involved both in a degree
of embarrassment from which there appeared no hope of extricating them.
Such was the state of this luckless property,--and it would have been
difficult to imagine any change for the worse that could befall
it,--when, early in the present year, an event occurred, that seemed to
fill up at once the measure of its ruin. On the night of the 24th of
February, while the House of Commons was occupied with Mr. Ponsonby's
motion on the Conduct of the War in Spain, and Mr. Sheridan was in
attendance, with the intention, no doubt, of speaking, the House was
suddenly illuminated by a blaze of light; and, the Debate being
interrupted, it was ascertained that the Theatre of Drury-Lane was on
fire. A motion was made to adjourn; but Mr. Sheridan said with much
calmness, that "whatever might be the extent of the private calamity, he
hoped it would not interfere with the public business of the country." He
then left the House; and, proceeding to Drury-Lane, witnessed, with a
fortitude which strongly interested all who observed him, the entire
destruction of his property. [Footnote: It is said that, as he sat at the
Piazza Coffee-house, during the fire, taking some refreshment, a friend
of his having remarked on the philosophic calmness with which he bore his
misfortune, Sheridan answered, "A man may surely be allowed to take a
glass of wine _by his own fire-side._"
Without vouching for the authenticity or novelty of this anecdote, (which
may have been, for aught I know, like the wandering Jew, a regular
attendant upon all fires, since the time of Hierocles,) I give it as I
heard it.]
Among his losses on the occasion there was one which, from being
associated with feelings of other times, may have affected him, perhaps,
more deeply than many that were far more serious. A harpsichord, that had
belonged to his first wife, and had long survived her sweet voice in
silent widowhood, was, with other articles of furniture that had been
moved from Somerset-House to the Theatre, lost in the flames.
The ruin thus brought upon this immense property seemed, for a time,
beyond all hope of retrieval. The embarrassments of the concern were
known to have been so great, and such a swarm of litigious claims lay
slumbering under those ashes, that it is not surprising the public should
have been slow and unwilling to touch them. Nothing, indeed, short of the
intrepid zeal of Mr. Whitbread could have ventured upon the task of
remedying so complex a calamity; nor could any industry less persevering
have compassed the miracle of rebuilding and re-animating that edifice,
among the many-tongued claims that beset and perplexed his enterprise.
In the following interesting letter to him from Sheridan, we trace the
first steps of his friendly interference on the occasion:--
"MY DEAR WHITHBREAD,
"Procrastination is always the consequence of an indolent man's resolving
to write a long detailed letter, upon any subject, however important to
himself, or whatever may be the confidence he has in the friend he
proposes to write to. To this must be attributed your having escaped the
statement I threatened you with in my last letter, and the brevity with
which I now propose to call your attention to the serious, and, to me,
most important request, contained in this,--reserving all I meant to have
written for personal communication.
"I pay you no compliment when I say that, without comparison, you are the
man living, in my estimation, the most disposed and the most competent to
bestow a portion of your time and ability to assist the call of
friendship,--on the condition that that call shall be proved to be made
in a cause just and honorable, and in every respect entitled to your
protection.
"On this ground alone I make my application to you. You said, some time
since, in my house, but in a careless conversation only, that you would
be a Member of a Committee for rebuilding Drury-Lane Theatre, if it would
serve me; and, indeed, you very kindly suggested, yourself, that these
were more persons disposed to assist that object than I might be aware
of. I most thankfully accept the offer of your interference, and am
convinced of the benefits your friendly exertions are competent to
produce. I have worked the whole subject in my own mind, and see a clear
way to retrieve a great property, at least to my son and his family, if
my plan meets the support I hope it will appear to merit.
"Writing thus to you in the sincerity of private friendship, and the
reliance I place on my opinion of your character, I need not ask of you,
though eager and active in politics as you are, not to be severe in
criticising my palpable neglect of all parliamentary duty. It would not
be easy to explain to you, or even to make you comprehend, or any one in
prosperous and affluent plight, the private difficulties I have to
struggle with. My mind, and the resolute independence belonging to it,
has not been in the least subdued by the late calamity; but the
consequences arising from it have more engaged and embarrassed me than,
perhaps, I have been willing to allow. It has been a principle of my
life, persevered in through great difficulties, never to borrow money of
a private friend and this resolution I would starve rather than violate.
Of course, I except the political aid of election-subscription. When I
ask you to take a part in the settlement of my shattered affairs, I ask
you only to do so after a previous investigation of every part of the
past circumstances which relate to the trust I wish you to accept, in
conjunction with those who wish to serve me, and to whom I think you
could not object. I may be again seized with an illness as alarming as
that I lately experienced. Assist me in relieving my mind from the
greatest affliction that such a situation can again produce,--the fear of
others suffering by my death.
"To effect this little more is necessary than some resolution on my part,
and the active superintending advice of a mind like yours.
"Thus far on paper. I will see you next ----, and therefore will not
trouble you for a written reply."
Encouraged by the opening which the destruction of Drury-Lane seemed to
offer to free adventure in theatrical property, a project was set on foot
for the establishment of a Third Great Theatre, which, being backed by
much of the influence and wealth of the city of London, for some time
threatened destruction to the monopoly that had existed so long. But, by
the exertions of Mr. Sheridan and his friends, this scheme was defeated,
and a Bill for the erection of Drury-Lane Theatre by subscription, and
for the incorporation of the subscribers, was passed through Parliament.
That Mr. Sheridan himself would have had no objection to a Third Theatre,
if held by a Joint Grant to the Proprietors of the other two, appears not
only from his speeches and petitions on the subject at this time, but
from the following Plan for such an establishment, drawn up by him, some
years before, and intended to be submitted to the consideration of the
Proprietors of both Houses:--
"GENTLEMEN,
"According to your desire, the plan of the proposed Assistant Theatre, is
here explained in writing for your further consideration.
"From our situations in the Theatres Royal of Drury-Lane and
Covent-Garden we have had opportunities of observing many circumstances
relative to our general property, which must have escaped those who do
not materially interfere in the management of that property. One point in
particular has lately weighed extremely in our opinions, which is, an
apprehension of a new Theatre being erected for some species or other of
dramatic entertainment. Were this event to take place on an opposing
interest, our property would sink in value one-half, and in all
probability, the contest that would ensue would speedily end in the
absolute ruin of one of the present established Theatres. We have reason,
it is true, from His Majesty's gracious patronage to the present Houses,
to hope, that a Third patent for a winter Theatre is not easily to be
obtained; but the motives which appear to call for one are so many, (and
those of such a nature, as to increase every day,) that we cannot, on the
maturest consideration of the subject, divest ourselves of the dread that
such an event may not be very remote. With this apprehension before us,
we have naturally fallen into a joint consideration of the means of
preventing so fatal a blow to the present Theatres, or of deriving a
general advantage from a circumstance which might otherwise be our ruin.
"Some of the leading motives for the establishment of a Third Theatre are
as follows:--
"1st. The great extent of the town and increased residence of a higher
class of people, who, on account of many circumstances, seldom frequent
the Theatre.
"2d. The distant situation of the Theatres from the politer streets, and
the difficulty with which ladies reach their carriages or chairs.
"3d. The small number of side-boxes, where only, by the uncontrollable
influence of fashion, ladies of any rank can be induced to sit.
"4th. The earliness of the hour, which renders it absolutely impossible
for those who attend on Parliament, live at any distance, or, indeed, for
any person who dines at the prevailing hour, to reach the Theatre before
the performance is half over.
"These considerations have lately been strongly urged to me by many
leading persons of rank. There has also prevailed, as appears by the
number of private plays at gentlemen's seats, an unusual fashion for
theatrical entertainments among the politer class of people; and it is
not to be wondered at that they, feeling themselves, (from the causes
above enumerated,) in a manner, excluded from our Theatres, should
persevere in an endeavor to establish some plan of similar entertainment,
on principles of superior elegance and accommodation.
"In proof of this disposition, and the effects to be apprehended from it,
we need but instance one fact, among many, which might be produced, and
that is the well-known circumstance of a subscription having actually
been begun last winter, with very powerful patronage, for the importation
of a French company of comedians, a scheme which, though it might not
have answered to the undertaking, would certainly have been the
foundation of other entertainments, whose opposition we should speedily
have experienced. The question, then, upon a full view of our situation,
appears to be, whether the Proprietors of the present Theatres will
contentedly wait till some other person takes advantage of the prevailing
wish for a Third Theatre, or, having the remedy in their power, profit by
a turn of fashion which they cannot control.
"A full conviction that the latter is the only line of conduct which can
give security to the Patents of Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden Theatres,
and yield a probability of future advantage in the exercise of them, has
prompted us to endeavor at modelling this plan, on which we conceive
those Theatres may unite in the support of a Third, to the general and
mutual advantage of all the Proprietors.
"PROPOSALS.
"The Proprietors of the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden appear to be
possessed of two Patents, for the privilege of acting plays, &c., under
one of which the above-mentioned Theatre is opened,--the other lying
dormant and useless;--it is proposed that this dormant Patent shall be
exercised, (with His Majesty's approbation,) in order to license the
dramatic performance of the new Theatre to be erected.
"It is proposed that the performances of this new Theatre shall be
supported from the united establishments of the two present Theatres, so
that the unemployed part of each company may exert themselves for the
advantage of the whole.
"As the object of this Assistant Theatre will be to reimburse the
Proprietors of the other two, at the full season, for the expensive
establishment they are obliged to maintain when the town is almost empty,
it is proposed, that the scheme of business to be adopted in the new
Theatre shall differ as much as possible from that of the other two, and
that the performances at the new house shall be exhibited at a superior
price, and shall commence at a later hour.
"The Proposers will undertake to provide a Theatre for the purpose, in a
proper situation, and on the following terms:--If they engage a Theatre
to be built, being the property of the builder or builders, it must be
for an agreed on rent, with security for a term of years. In this case
the Proprietors of the two present Theatres shall jointly and severally
engage in the whole of the risk; and the Proposers are ready, on
equitable terms, to undertake the management of it. But, if the Proposers
find themselves enabled, either on their own credit, or by the assistance
of their friends, or on a plan of subscription, the mode being devised,
and the security given by themselves, to become the builders of the
Theatre, the interest in the building will, in that case, be the property
of the Proposers, and they will undertake to demand no rent for the
performances therein to be exhibited for the mutual advantage of the two
present Theatres.
"The Proposers will, in this case, conducting the business under the
dormant Patent above mentioned, bind themselves, that no theatrical
entertainments, as plays, farces, pantomimes, or English operas, shall at
any time be exhibited in this Theatre but for the general advantage of
the Proprietors of the two other Theatres; the Proposers reserving to
themselves any profit they can make of their building, converted to
purposes distinct from the business of the Theatres.
"The Proposers, undertaking the management of the new Theatre, shall be
entitled to a sum to be settled by the Proprietors at large, or by an
equitable arbitration.
"It is proposed, that all the Proprietors of the two present Theatres
Royal of Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden shall share all profits from the
dramatic entertainments exhibited at the new Theatre; that is, each shall
be entitled to receive a dividend in proportion to the shares he or she
possesses of the present Theatres: first only deducting a certain nightly
sum to be paid to the Proprietors of Covent-Garden Theatre, as a
consideration for the license furnished by the exercise of their present
dormant Patent.
"'Fore Heaven! the Plan's a good Plan! I shall add a little Epilogue
to-morrow.
"R. B. S."
"'Tis now too late, and I've a letter to write
Before I go to bed,--and then, Good Night."
In the month of July, this year, the Installation of Lord Grenville, as
Chancellor of Oxford, took place, and Mr. Sheridan was among the
distinguished persons that attended the ceremony. As a number of honorary
degrees were to be conferred on the occasion, it was expected, as a
matter of course, that his name would be among those selected for that
distinction; and, to the honor of the University, it was the general wish
among its leading members that such a tribute should be paid to his high
political character. On the proposal of his name, however, (in a private
meeting, I believe, held previously to the Convocation.) the words
_"Non placet"_ were heard from two scholars, one of whom, it is
said, had no nobler motive for his opposition than that Sheridan did not
pay his father's tithes very regularly. Several efforts were made to win
over these dissentients; and the Rev. Mr. Ingram delivered an able and
liberal Latin speech, in which he indignantly represented the shame that
it would bring on the University, if such a name as that of Sheridan
should be _"clam subductum"_ from the list. The two scholars,
however, were immovable; and nothing remained but to give Sheridan
intimation of their intended opposition, so as to enable him to decline
the honor of having his name proposed. On his appearance, afterwards, in
the Theatre, a burst of acclamation broke forth, with a general cry of
"Mr. Sheridan among the Doctors,--Sheridan among the Doctors;" in
compliance with which he was passed to the seat occupied by the Honorary
Graduates, and sat, in unrobed distinction, among them, during the whole
of the ceremonial. Few occurrences, of a public nature, ever gave him
more pleasure than this reception.
At the close of the year 1810, the malady, with which the king had been
thrice before afflicted, returned; and, after the usual adjournments of
Parliament, it was found necessary to establish a Regency. On the
question of the second adjournment, Mr. Sheridan took a line directly
opposed to that of his party, and voted with the majority. That in this
step he did not act from any previous concert with the Prince, appears
from the following letter, addressed by him to His Royal Highness on the
subject, and containing particulars which will prepare the mind of the
reader to judge more clearly of the events that followed:--
"SIR,
"I felt infinite satisfaction when I was apprised that Your Royal
Highness had been far from disapproving the line of conduct I had
presumed to pursue, on the last question of adjournment in the House of
Commons. Indeed, I never had a moment's doubt but that Your Royal
Highness would give me credit that I was actuated on that, as I shall on
every other occasion through my existence, by no possible motive but the
most sincere and unmixed desire to look to Your Royal Highness's honor
and true interest, as the objects of my political life,--directed, as I
am sure your efforts will ever be, to the essential interests of the
Country and the Constitution. To this line of conduct I am prompted by
every motive of personal gratitude, and confirmed by every opportunity,
which peculiar circumstances and long experience have afforded me, of
judging of your heart and understanding,--to the superior excellence of
which, (beyond all, I believe, that ever stood in your rank and high
relation to society,) I fear not to advance my humble testimony, because
I scruple not to say for myself, that I am no flatterer, and that I never
found that to _become_ one was the road to your real regard.
"I state thus much because it has been under the influence of these
feelings that I have not felt myself warranted, (without any previous
communication with Your Royal Highness,) to follow implicitly the
dictates of others, in whom, however they may be my superiors in many
qualities, I can subscribe to no superiority as to devoted attachment and
duteous affection to Your Royal Highness, or in that practical knowledge
of the public mind and character, upon which alone must be built that
popular and personal estimation of Your Royal Highness, so necessary to
your future happiness and glory, and to the prosperity of the nation you
are destined to rule over.
"On these grounds, I saw no policy or consistency in unnecessarily giving
a general sanction to the examination of the physicians before the
Council, and then attempting, on the question of adjournment, to hold
that examination as naught. On these grounds, I have ventured to doubt
the wisdom or propriety of any endeavor, (if any such endeavor has been
made,) to induce Your Royal Highness, during so critical a moment, to
stir an inch from the strong reserved post you have chosen, or give the
slightest public demonstration of any future intended political
preferences;--convinced as I was that the rule of conduct you had
prescribed to yourself was precisely that which was gaining you the
general heart, and rendering it impracticable for any quarter to succeed
in annexing unworthy conditions to that most difficult situation, which
you were probably so soon to be called on to accept.
"I may, Sir, have been guilty of error of judgment in both these
respects, differing, as I fear I have done, from those whom I am bound so
highly to respect; but, at the same time, I deem it no presumption to say
that, until better instructed, I feel a strong confidence in the justness
of my own view of the subject; and simply because of this--I am sure that
the decisions of that judgment, be they sound or mistaken, have not, at
least, been rashly taken up, but were founded on deliberate zeal for your
service and glory, unmixed, I will confidently say, with any one selfish
object or political purpose of my own."
The same limitations and restrictions that Mr. Pitt proposed in 1789,
were, upon the same principles, adopted by the present Minister: nor did
the Opposition differ otherwise from their former line of argument, than
by omitting altogether that claim of Right for the Prince, which Mr. Fox
had, in the proceedings of 1789, asserted. The event that ensued is
sufficiently well known. To the surprise of the public, (who expected,
perhaps, rather than wished, that the Coalesced Party of which Lord Grey
and Lord Grenville were the chiefs, should now succeed to power,) Mr.
Perceval and his colleagues were informed by the Regent that it was the
intention of His Royal Highness to continue them still in office.
The share taken by Mr. Sheridan in the transactions that led to this
decision, is one of those passages of his political life upon which the
criticism of his own party has been most severely exercised, and into the
details of which I feel most difficulty in entering:--because, however
curious it may be to penetrate into these _"postscenia"_ of public
life, it seems hardly delicate, while so many of the chief actors are
still upon the stage. As there exists, however, a Paper drawn up by Mr.
Sheridan, containing what he considered a satisfactory defence of his
conduct on this occasion, I should ill discharge my duty towards his
memory, were I, from any scruples or predilections of my own, to deprive
him of the advantage of a, statement, on which he appears to have relied
so confidently for his vindication.
But, first,--in order fully to understand the whole course of feelings
and circumstances, by which not only Sheridan, but his Royal Master, (for
their cause is, in a great degree, identified,) were for some time past,
predisposed towards the line of conduct which they now pursued,--it will
be necessary to recur to a few antecedent events.
By the death of Mr. Fox the chief personal tie that connected the
Heir-Apparent with the party of that statesman was broken. The political
identity of the party itself had, even before that event, been, in a
great degree, disturbed by a coalition against which Sheridan had always
most strongly protested, and to which the Prince, there is every reason
to believe, was by no means friendly. Immediately after the death of Mr.
Fox, His Royal Highness made known his intentions of withdrawing from all
personal interference in politics; and, though still continuing his
sanction to the remaining Ministry, expressed himself as no longer
desirous of being considered "a party man." [Footnote: This is the phrase
used by the Prince himself, in a Letter addressed to a Noble Lord,(not
long after the dismissal of the Grenville Ministry,) for the purpose of
vindicating his own character from some imputations cast upon it, in
consequence of an interview which he had lately had with the King. This
important exposition of the feelings of His Royal Highness, which, more
than any thing, throws light upon his subsequent conduct, was drawn up by
Sheridan; and I had hoped that I should have been able to lay it before
the reader:--but the liberty of perusing the Letter is all that has been
allowed me.] During the short time that these Ministers continued in
office, the understanding between them and the Prince was by no means of
that cordial and confidential kind, which had been invariably maintained
during the life-time of Mr. Fox. On the contrary, the impression on the
mind, of His Royal Highness, us well as on those of his immediate friends
in the Ministry, Lord Moira and Mr. Sheridan, was, that a cold neglect
had succeeded to the confidence with which they had hitherto been
treated; and that, neither in their opinions nor feelings, were they any
longer sufficiently consulted or considered. The very measure, by which
the Ministers ultimately lost their places, was, it appears, one of those
which the Illustrious Personage in question neither conceived himself to
have been sufficiently consulted upon before its adoption, nor approved
of afterwards.
Such were the gradual loosenings of a bond, which at no time had promised
much permanence; and such the train of feelings and circumstances which,
(combining with certain prejudices in the Royal mind against one of the
chief leaders of the party,) prepared the way for that result by which
the Public was surprised in 1811, and the private details of which I
shall now, as briefly as possible, relate.
As soon as the Bill for regulating the office of Regent had passed the
two Houses, the Prince, who, till then, had maintained a strict reserve
with respect to his intentions, signified, through Mr. Adam, his pleasure
that Lord Grenville should wait upon him. He then, in the most gracious
manner, expressed to that Noble Lord his wish that he should, in
conjunction with Lord Grey, prepare the Answer which his Royal Highness
was, in a few days, to return to the Address of the Houses. The same
confidential task was entrusted also to Lord Moira, with an expressed
desire that he should consult with Lord Grey and Lord Grenville on the
subject. But this co-operation, as I understand, the two Noble Lords
declined.
One of the embarrassing consequences of Coalitions now appeared. The
recorded opinions of Lord Grenville on the Regency Question differed
wholly and in principle not only from those of his coadjutor in this
task, but from those of the Royal person himself, whose sentiments he was
called upon to interpret. In this difficulty, the only alternative that
remained was so to neutralize the terms of the Answer upon the great
point of difference, as to preserve the consistency of the Royal speaker,
without at the same time compromising that of his Noble adviser. It
required, of course, no small art and delicacy thus to throw into the
shade that distinctive opinion of Whigism, which Burke had clothed in his
imperishable language in 1789, and which Fox had solemnly bequeathed to
the Party, when
"in his upward flight
He left his mantle there."
[Footnote: Joanna Baithe]
The Answer, drawn up by the Noble Lords, did not, it must be confessed,
surmount this difficulty very skilfully. The assertion of the Prince's
consistency was confined to two meagre sentences, in the first of which
His Royal Highness was made to say:--"With respect to the proposed
limitation of the authority to be entrusted to me, I retain my former
opinion:"--and in the other, the expression of any decided opinion upon
the Constitutional point is thus evaded:--"For such a purpose no
restraint can be necessary to be imposed upon me." Somewhat less vague
and evasive, however, was the justification of the opinion opposed to
that of the Prince, in the following sentence:--"That day when I may
restore to the King those powers, which _as belonging only to him_,
[Footnote: The words which I have put in italics in these quotations,
are, in the same manner, underlined in Sheridan's copy of the
Paper,--doubtless, from a similar view of their import to that which I
have taken.] are in his name and in his behalf," &c. &c. This, it will be
recollected, is precisely the doctrine which, on the great question of
limiting the Prerogative, Mr. Fox attributed to the Tories. In another
passage, the Whig opinion of the Prince was thus tamely
surrendered:--"Conscious that, whatever _degree_ of confidence you
may _think fit_ to repose in me," &c. [Footnote: On the back of
Sheridan's own copy of this Answer, I find, written by him, the following
words "Grenville's and Grey's proposed Answer from the Prince to the
Address of the two Houses,--very flimsy, and attempting to cover
Grenville's conduct and consistency in supporting the present
Restrictions at the expense of the Prince."] The Answer, thus
constructed, was, by the two Noble Lords, transmitted through Mr. Adam,
to the Prince, who, "strongly objecting, (as we are told), to almost
every part of it," acceded to the suggestion of Sheridan, whom he
consulted on the subject, that a new form of Answer should be immediately
sketched out, and submitted to the consideration of Lord Grey and Lord
Grenville. There was no time to be lost, as the Address of the Houses was
to be received the following day. Accordingly, Mr. Adam and Mr. Sheridan
proceeded that night, with the new draft of the Answer to Holland-House,
where, after a warm discussion upon the subject with Lord Grey, which
ended unsatisfactorily to both parties, the final result was that the
Answer drawn up by the Prince and Sheridan was adopted.--Such is the bare
outline of this transaction, the circumstances of which will be found
fully detailed in the Statement that shall presently be given.
The accusation against Sheridan is, that chiefly to his undermining
influence the view taken by the Prince of the Paper of these Noble Lords
is to be attributed; and that not only was he censurable in a
constitutional point of view, for thus interfering between the Sovereign
and his responsible advisers, but that he had been also guilty of an act
of private perfidy, in endeavoring to represent the Answer drawn up by
these Noble Lords, as an attempt to sacrifice the consistency and dignity
of their Royal Master to the compromise of opinions and principles which
they had entered into themselves.
Under the impression that such were the nature and motives of his
interference, Lord Grey and Lord Grenville, on the 11th of January, (the
day on which the Answer substituted for their own was delivered),
presented a joint Representation to the Regent, in which they stated that
"the circumstances which had occurred, respecting His Royal Highness's
Answer to the two Houses, had induced them, most humbly, to solicit
permission to submit to His Royal Highness the following considerations,
with the undisguised sincerity which the occasion seemed to require, but,
with every expression that could best convey their respectful duty and
inviolable attachment. When His Royal Highness, (they continued), did
Lord Grenville the honor, through Mr. Adam, to command his attendance, it
was distinctly expressed to him, that His Royal Highness had condescended
to select him, in conjunction with Lord Grey, to be consulted with, as
the public and responsible advisers of that Answer; and Lord Grenville
could never forget the gracious terms in which His Royal Highness had the
goodness to lay these his orders upon him. It was also on the same
grounds of public and responsible advice, that Lord Grey, honored in
like manner by the most gracious expression of His Royal Highness's
confidence on this subject, applied himself to the consideration of it
conjointly with Lord Grenville. They could not but feel the difficulty of
the undertaking, which required them to reconcile two objects essentially
different,--to uphold and distinctly to manifest that unshaken adherence
to His Royal Highness's past and present opinion, which consistency and
honor required, but to conciliate, at the same time, the feelings of the
two Houses, by expressions of confidence and affection, and to lay the
foundation of that good understanding between His Royal Highness and the
Parliament, the establishment of which must be the first wish of every
man who is truly attached to His Royal Highness, and who knows the value
of the Constitution of his country. Lord Grey and Lord Grenville were far
from the presumption of believing that their humble endeavors for the
execution of so difficult a task might not be susceptible of many and
great amendments.
"The draft, (their Lordships said), which they humbly submitted to His
Royal Highness was considered by them as open to every remark which might
occur to His Royal Highness's better judgment. On every occasion, but
more especially in the preparation of His Royal Highness's first act of
government, it would have been no less their desire than their duty to
have profited by all such objections, and to have labored to accomplish,
in the best manner they were able, every command which His Royal Highness
might have been pleased to lay upon them. Upon the objects to be obtained
there could be no difference of sentiment. These, such as above
described, were, they confidently believed, not less important in His
Royal Highness's view of the subject than in that which they themselves
had ventured to express. But they would be wanting in that sincerity and
openness by which they could alone hope, however imperfectly, to make any
return to that gracious confidence with which His Royal Highness had
condescended to honor them, if they suppressed the expression of their
deep concern, in finding that their humble endeavors in His Royal
Highness's service had been submitted to the judgment of another person,
by whose advice His Royal Highness had been guided in his final decision,
on a matter on which they alone had, however unworthily, been honored
with His Royal Highness's commands. It was their most sincere and ardent
wish that, in the arduous station which His Royal Highness was about to
fill, he might have the benefit of the public advice and responsible
services of those men, whoever they might be, by whom His Royal
Highness's glory and the interests of the country could best be promoted.
It would be with unfeigned distrust of their own means of discharging
such duties that they could, in any case, venture to undertake them; and,
in this humble but respectful representation which they had presumed to
make of their feelings on this occasion, they were conscious of being
actuated not less by their dutiful and grateful attachment to His Royal
Highness, than by those principles of constitutional responsibility, the
maintenance of which they deemed essential to any hope of a successful
administration of the public interests."
On receiving this Representation, in which, it must be confessed, there
was more of high spirit and dignity than of worldly wisdom, [Footnote: To
the pure and dignified character of the Noble Whig associated in this
Remonstrance, it is unnecessary for me to say how heartily I bear
testimony. The only fault, indeed, of this distinguished person is, that
knowing but one high course of conduct for himself, he impatiently
resents any sinking from that pitch in others. Then, only, in his true
station, when placed between the People and the Crown, as one of those
fortresses that ornament and defend the frontier of Democracy, he has
shown that he can but ill suit the dimensions of his spirit to the narrow
avenues of a Court, or, like that Pope who stooped to look for the keys
of St. Peter, accommodate his natural elevation to the pursuit of
official power. All the pliancy of his nature is, indeed, reserved for
private life, where the repose of the valley succeeds to the grandeur of
the mountain, and where the lofty statesman gracefully subsides into the
gentle husband and father, and the frank, social friend. The eloquence of
Lord Grey, more than that of any other person, brings to mind what
Quintilian says of the great and noble orator, Messala:--"_Quodammodo
prae se ferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam_."] His Royal Highness lost
no time in communicating it to Sheridan, who, proud of the influence
attributed to him by the Noble writers, and now more than ever stimulated
to make them feel its weight, employed the whole force of his shrewdness
and ridicule [Footnote: He called rhymes also to his aid, as appears by
the following:--
"_An Address to the Prince_, 1811.
"In all humility we crave
Our Regent may become our slave,
And being so, we trust that HE
Will thank us for our loyalty.
Then, if he'll help us to pull down
His Father's dignity and Crown,
We'll make him, in some time to come,
The greatest Prince in Christendom."] in exposing the stately tone of
dictation which, according to his view, was assumed throughout this Paper,
and in picturing to the Prince the state of tutelage he might expect under
Ministers who began thus early with their lectures. Such suggestions, even
if less ably urged, were but too sure of a willing audience in the ears to
which they were adressed. Shortly after, His Royal Highness paid a visit
to Windsor, where the Queen and another Royal Personage completed what had
been so skilfully begun; and the important resolution was forthwith taken
to retain Mr. Perceval and his colleagues in the Ministry.
I shall now give the Statement of the whole transaction, which Mr.
Sheridan thought it necessary to address, in his own defence, to Lord
Holland, and of which a rough and a fair copy have been found carefully
preserved among his papers:--
_Queen-Street, January_ 15, 1811.
"DEAR HOLLAND,
"As you have been already apprised by His Royal Highness the Prince that
he thought it becoming the frankness of his character, and consistent
with the fairness and openness of proceeding due to any of his servants
whose conduct appears to have incurred the disapprobation of Lord Grey
and Lord Grenville, to communicate their representations on the subject
to the person so censured, I am confident you will give me credit for the
pain I must have felt, to find myself an object of suspicion, or likely,
in the slightest degree, to become the cause of any temporary
misunderstanding between His Royal Highness amid those distinguished
characters, whom His Royal Highness appears to destine to those
responsible situations, which must in all public matters entitle them to
his exclusive confidence.
"I shall as briefly as I can state the circumstances of the fact, so
distinctly referred to in the following passage of the Noble Lord's
Representation:--
"'But they would be wanting in that sincerity and openness by which they
can alone hope, however imperfectly, to make any return to that gracious
confidence with which Your Royal Highness has condescended to honor them,
if they suppressed the expression of their deep concern in finding that
their humble endeavors in Your Royal Highness's service have been
submitted to the judgment of another person, _by whose advice_ Your
Royal Highness has been guided in your final decision on a matter in
which they alone had, however unworthily, been honored with Your Royal
Highness's commands.'
"I must premise, that from my first intercourse with the Prince during
the present distressing emergency, such conversations as he may have
honored me with have been communications of resolutions already formed on
his part, and not of matter referred to consultation or submitted to
_advice_. I know that my declining to vote for the further
adjournment of the Privy Council's examination of the physicians gave
offence to some, and was considered as a difference from the party I as
rightly esteemed to belong to. The intentions of the leaders of the party
upon that question were in no way distinctly known to me; my secession
was entirely my own act, and not only unauthorized, but perhaps
unexpected by the Prince. My motives for it I took the liberty of
communicating to His Royal Highness by letter, [Footnote: This Letter has
been given in page 268.] the next day, and, previously to that, I had not
even seen His Royal Highness since the confirmation of His Majesty's
malady.
"If I differed from those who, equally attached to His Royal Highness's
interest and honor, thought that His Royal Highness should have taken the
step which, in my humble opinion, he has since, precisely at the proper
period, taken of sending to Lord Grenville and Lord Grey, I may certainly
have erred in forming an imperfect judgment on the occasion, but, in
doing so, I meant no disrespect to those who had taken a different view
of the subject. But, with all deference, I cannot avoid adding, that
experience of the impression made on the public mind by the reserved and
retired conduct which the Prince thought proper to adopt, has not shaken
my opinion of the wisdom which prompted him to that determination. But
here, again, I declare, that I must reject the presumption that any
suggestion of mine led to the rule which the Prince had prescribed to
himself. My knowledge of it being, as I before said, the communication of
a resolution formed on the part of His Royal Highness, and not of a
proposition awaiting the advice, countenance, or corroboration, of any
other person. Having thought it necessary to premise thus much, as I wish
to write to you without reserve or concealment of any sort, I shall as
briefly as I can relate the facts which attended the composing the Answer
itself, as far as I was concerned.
"On Sunday, or on Monday the 7th instant, I mentioned to Lord Moira, or
to Adam, that the Address of the two Houses would come very quickly upon
the Prince, and that he should be prepared with his Answer, without
entertaining the least idea of meddling with the subject myself, having
received no authority from His Royal Highness to do so. Either Lord Moira
or Adam informed me, before I left Carlton-House, that His Royal Highness
had directed Lord Moira to sketch an outline of the Answer proposed, and
I left town. On Tuesday evening it occurred to me to try at a sketch also
of the intended reply. On Wednesday morning I read it, at Carlton-House,
very hastily to Adam, before I saw the Prince. And here I must pause to
declare, that I have entirely withdrawn from my mind any doubt, if for a
moment I ever entertained any, of the perfect propriety of Adam's conduct
at that hurried interview; being also long convinced, as well from
intercourse with him at Carlton-House as in every transaction I have
witnessed, that it is impossible for him to act otherwise than with the
most entire sincerity and honor towards all he deals with. I then read
the Paper I had put together to the Prince,--the most essential part of
it literally consisting of sentiments and expressions, which had fallen
from the Prince himself in different conversations; and I read it to him
without _having once heard Lord Grenville's name_ even mentioned as
in any way connected with the Answer proposed to be submitted to the
Prince. On the contrary, indeed, I was under an impression that the
framing this Answer was considered as the single act which it would be an
unfair and embarrassing task to require the performance of from Lord
Grenville. The Prince approved the Paper I read to him, objecting,
however, to some additional paragraphs of my own, and altering others. In
the course of his observations, he cursorily mentioned that Lord
Grenville had undertaken to sketch out his idea of a proper Answer, and
that Lord Moira had done the same,--evidently expressing himself, to my
apprehension, as not considering the framing of this Answer as a matter
of official responsibility any where, but that it was his intention to
take the choice and decision respecting it on himself. If, however, I had
known, before I entered the Prince's apartment, that Lord Grenville and
Lord Grey had in any way undertaken to frame the Answer, and had thought
themselves authorized to do so, I protest the Prince would never even
have heard of the draft which I had prepared, though containing, as I
before said, the Prince's own ideas.
"His Royal Highness having laid his commands on Adam and me to dine with
him alone on the next day, Thursday, I then, for the first time, learnt
that Lord Grey and Lord Grenville had transmitted, through Adam, a formal
draft of an Answer to be submitted to the Prince.
"Under these circumstances I thought it became me humbly to request the
Prince not to refer to me, in any respect, the Paper of the Noble Lords,
or to insist even on my hearing its contents; but that I might be
permitted to put the draft he had received from me into the fire. The
Prince, however, who had read the Noble Lords' Paper, declining to hear
of this, proceeded to state, how strongly he objected to almost every
part of it. The draft delivered by Adam he took a copy of himself, as Mr.
Adam read it, affixing shortly, but warmly, his comments to each
paragraph. Finding His Royal Highness's objections to the whole radical
and insuperable, and seeing no means myself by which the Noble Lords
could change their draft, so as to meet the Prince's ideas, I ventured to
propose, as the only expedient of which the time allowed, that both the
Papers should be laid aside, and that a very short Answer, indeed,
keeping clear of all topics liable to disagreement, should be immediately
sketched out and be submitted that night to the judgment of Lord Grey and
Lord Grenville. The lateness of the hour prevented any but very hasty
discussion, and Adam and myself proceeded, by His Royal Highness's
orders, to your house to relate what had passed to Lord Grey. I do not
mean to disguise, however, that when I found myself bound to give my
opinion, I did fully assent to the force and justice of the Prince's
objections, and made other observations of my own, which I thought it my
duty to do, conceiving, as I freely said, that the Paper could not have
been drawn up but under the pressure of embarrassing difficulties, and,
as I conceived also, in considerable haste.
"Before we left Carlton-House, it was agreed between Adam and myself that
we were not so strictly enjoined by the Prince, as to make it necessary
for us to communicate to the Noble Lords the marginal comments of the
Prince, and we determined to withhold them. But at the meeting with Lord
Grey, at your house, he appeared to me, erroneously perhaps, to decline
considering the objections as coming from the Prince, but as originating
in my suggestions. Upon this, I certainly called on Adam to produce the
Prince's copy, with his notes, in His Royal Highness's own hand-writing.
"Afterwards, finding myself considerably hurt at an expression of Lord
Grey's, which could only be pointed at me, and which expressed his
opinion that the whole of the Paper, which he assumed me to be
responsible for, was 'drawn up in an invidious spirit,' I certainly did,
with more warmth than was, perhaps, discreet, comment on the Paper
proposed to be substituted; and there ended, with no good effect, our
interview.
"Adam and I saw the Prince again that night, when His Royal Highness was
graciously pleased to meet our joint and earnest request, by striking out
from the draft of the Answer, to which he still resolved to adhere, every
passage which we conceived to be most liable to objection on the part of
Lord Grey and Lord Grenville.
"On the next morning, Friday,--a short time before he was to receive the
Address,--when Adam returned from the Noble Lords, with their expressed
disclaimer of the preferred Answer, altered as it was, His Royal Highness
still persevered to eradicate every remaining word which he thought might
yet appear exceptionable to them, and made further alterations, although
the fair copy of the paper had been made out.
"Thus the Answer, nearly reduced to the expression of the Prince's own
suggestions, and without an opportunity of farther meeting the wishes of
the Noble Lords, was delivered by His Royal Highness, and presented by
the Deputation of the two Houses.
"I am ashamed to have been thus prolix and circumstantial, upon a matter
which may appear to have admitted of much shorter explanation; but when
misconception has produced distrust among those, I hope, not willingly
disposed to differ, and, who can have, I equally trust, but one common
object in view in their different stations, I know no better way than by
minuteness and accuracy of detail to remove whatever may have appeared
doubtful in conduct, while unexplained, or inconsistent in principle not
clearly re-asserted.
"And now, my dear Lord, I have only shortly to express my own personal
mortification, I will use no other word, that I should have been
considered by any persons however high in rank, or justly entitled to
high political pretensions, as one so little 'attached to His Royal
Highness,' or so ignorant of the value 'of the Constitution of his
country,' as to be held out to HIM, whose fairly-earned esteem I regard
as the first honor and the sole reward of my political life, in the
character of an interested contriver of a double government, and, in some
measure, as an apostate from all my former principles,--which have taught
me, as well as the Noble Lords, that 'the maintenance of constitutional
responsibility in the ministers of the Crown is essential to any hope of
success in the administration of the public interest.'
"At the same time, I am most ready to admit that it could not be their
_intention_ so to characterize me; but it is the direct inference
which others must gather from the first paragraph I have quoted from
their Representation, and an inference which, I understand, has already
been raised in public opinion. A departure, my dear Lord, on my part,
from upholding the principle declared by the Noble Lords, much more a
presumptuous and certainly ineffectual attempt to inculcate a contrary
doctrine on the mind of the Prince of Wales, would, I am confident, lose
me every particle of his favor and confidence at once and for ever. But I
am yet to learn what part of my past public life,--and I challenge
observation on every part of my present proceedings,--has warranted the
adoption of any such suspicion of me, or the expression of any such
imputation against me. But I will dwell no longer on this point, as it
relates only to my own feelings and character; which, however, I am the
more bound to consider, as others, in my humble judgment, have so hastily
disregarded both. At the same time, I do sincerely declare, that no
personal disappointment in my own mind interferes with the respect and
esteem I entertain for Lord Grenville, or in addition to those
sentiments, the friendly regard I owe to Lord Grey. To Lord Grenville I
have the honor to be but very little personally known. From Lord Grey,
intimately acquainted as he was with every circumstance of my conduct and
principles in the years 1788-9, I confess I should have expected a very
tardy and reluctant interpretation of any circumstance to my
disadvantage. What the nature of my endeavors were at that time, I have
the written testimonies of Mr. Fox and the Duke of Portland. To you I
know those testimonies are not necessary, and perhaps it has been my
recollection of what passed in those times that may have led me too
securely to conceive myself above the reach even of a suspicion that I
could adopt different principles now. Such as they were they remain
untouched and unaltered. I conclude with sincerely declaring, that to see
the Prince meeting the reward which his own honorable nature, his kind
and generous disposition, and his genuine devotion to the true objects of
our free Constitution so well entitle him to, by being surrounded and
supported by an Administration affectionate to his person, and ambitious
of gaining and meriting his entire esteem, (yet tenacious, above all
things, of the constitutional principle, that exclusive confidence must
attach to the responsibility of those whom he selects to be his public
servants,) I would with heartfelt satisfaction rather be a looker on of
such a Government, giving it such humble support as might be in my power,
than be the possessor of any possible situation either of profit or
ambition, to be obtained by any indirectness, or by the slightest
departure from the principles I have always professed, and which I have
now felt myself in a manner called upon to re-assert.
"I have only to add, that my respect for the Prince, and my sense of the
frankness he has shown towards me on this occasion, decide me, with all
duty, to submit this letter to his perusal, before I place it in your
hands; meaning it undoubtedly to be by you shown to those to whom your
judgment may deem it of any consequence to communicate it.
"I have the honor to be, &c.
"_To Lord Holland_.
(Signed)
"R. B. Sheridan
"Read and approved by the Prince, January 20, 1811.
"R.B.S."
Though this Statement, it must be recollected, exhibits but one side of
the question, and is silent as to the part that Sheridan took after the
delivery of the Remonstrance of the two noble Lords, yet, combined with
preceding events and with the insight into motives which they afford, it
may sufficiently enable the reader to form his own judgment, with respect
to the conduct of the different persons concerned in the transaction.
With the better and more ostensible motives of Sheridan, there was, no
doubt, some mixture of, what the Platonists call, "the material alluvion"
of our nature. His political repugnance to the Coalesced Leaders would
have been less strong but for the personal feelings that mingled with it;
and his anxiety that the Prince should not be dictated to by others was
at least equalled by his vanity in showing that he could govern him
himself. But, whatever were the precise views that impelled him to this
trial of strength, the victory which he gained in it was far more
extensive than he himself had either foreseen or wished. He had meant the
party to _feel_ his power,--not to sink under it. Though privately
alienated from them, on personal as well as political grounds, he knew
that, publicly he was too much identified with their ranks, ever to
serve, with credit or consistency, in any other. He had, therefore, in
the ardor of undermining, carried the ground from beneath his own feet.
In helping to disband his party, he had cashiered himself; and there
remained to him now, for the residue of his days, but that frailest of
all sublunary treasures, a Prince's friendship.
With this conviction, (which, in spite of all the sanguineness of his
disposition, could hardly have failed to force itself on his mind,) it
was not, we should think, with very self-gratulatory feelings that he
undertook the task, a few weeks after, of inditing, for the Regent, that
memorable Letter to Mr. Perceval, which sealed the fate at once both of
his party and himself, and whatever false signs of re-animation may
afterwards have appeared, severed the last life-lock by which the
"struggling spirit" [Footnote: _Lavtans anima_] of this friendship
between Royalty and Whiggism still held:--
--"_dextra crinem secat, omnis et una
Dilapsus calor, atque in ventos vita recessit_."
With respect to the chief Personage connected with these transactions, it
is a proof of the tendency of knowledge, to produce a spirit of
tolerance, that they who, judging merely from the surface of events, have
been most forward in reprobating his separation from the Whigs, as a
rupture of political ties and an abandonment of private friendships,
must, on becoming more thoroughly acquainted with all the circumstances
that led to this crisis, learn to soften down considerably their angry
feelings; and to see, indeed, in the whole history of the
connection,--from its first formation, in the hey-day of youth and party,
to its faint survival after the death of Mr. Fox,--but a natural and
destined gradation towards the result at which it at last arrived, after
as much fluctuation of political principle, on one side, as there was of
indifference, perhaps, to all political principle on the other.
Among the arrangements that had been made, in contemplation of a new
Ministry, at this time, it was intended that Lord Moira should go, as
Lord Lieutenant, to Ireland, and that Mr. Sheridan should accompany him,
as Chief Secretary.