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The family of GREY--the Greys of the North, as they are styled
distinctively from the Greys of the South,[1]--is of Saxon origin.[2] They
have held manors in Northumberland from the earliest records to the
present time. The direct founder of the present branch was Baron Grey of
Werke, ennobled by James I. and advanced to the earldom of Tankerville by
William III. which titles became extinct in 1710; and the heiress carried
the estates by marriage to Charles Bennet, Lord Ossulston, who was, in
consequence, created Earl of Tankerville, in 1714.
[1] Wilton Castle, on the Wye, was for several centuries the
baronial residence of the Greys of the South, who derived
from it their first title, and became its owners in the time
of Edward I.--See _Mirror_, vol. xiv. p. 305.
[2] The barony of Werke was given to the family of Ros, Barons of
Hemsley, in Yorkshire, by Henry I. for the service of two
knights' fees, and was in their possession till 1399; but in
the next year was found to belong to Sir Thomas Grey, of
Heton. It gave title of baron in 1622, to Sir William Grey,
who died in 1674. The village of Werke, and its ruined castle,
are all that remain of the possessions of the barony; the
former consisting of a miserable cluster of thatched cottages;
the latter of mere fragments of ashlar work, near its
foundations and lines of its moat. The village stands on the
margin of the Tweed: and the castle is celebrated in the
border annals. Heton, of which we have just spoken, in Edward
the First's reign, belonged to William de Heton; and in the
next reign, to Sir Thomas Grey, captain of Norham Castle. Sir
John Grey, of Heton, in 1420, was graced with the order of St.
George, or the Garter; and from him the estate descended to
the Tankervilles.
The father of Earl Grey was Sir Charles Grey, who entered the army at an
early age, had a command in the American war, and commanded in chief the
military forces in the expeditions against the French West India Islands,
the successful result of which was the annexing of Martinique, St. Lucie,
Guadaloupe, &c. to our empire. He married, in 1762, Elizabeth, daughter of
George Grey, Esq. of Southwick, in Durham, (of a different family,) by
whom he had five sons and two daughters. He was created Lord Grey of
Howick, in 1801; and Viscount Howick, and Earl Grey, in 1806. He died in
the following year, and was succeeded by his son, Charles, second and
present earl.
Mr. Grey was born March 13, 1764, and educated at Eton, in the same class
with the late Mr. Lambton, (father of the present Lord Durham,) Mr.
Whitbread, and others, with whom he afterwards acted in political life. He
was then sent to King's College, Cambridge, where he displayed first-rate
abilities. On his leaving the University, he set out on the tour of Europe,
though only eighteen years of age. In Italy, he was introduced to the late
Duke of Cumberland, in whose household he obtained an appointment. He
returned to England in 1786, and soon after his arrival, was, by the
interest of his family, returned to parliament for the county of
Northumberland, when he joined the Whigs, it has been stated, to the
surprise of his family, whose principles were those of Toryism.
At a subsequent general election, as an expensive contest was expected for
Northumberland, Mr. Grey declined nomination, and was returned to
parliament for Appleby, which borough he represented till his succession
to the peerage. In the House of Commons his great talents soon shone forth;
and, in conjunction with Fox, Sheridan, Lambton, Ponsonby, and others, he
maintained an intrepid opposition to the doctrines of that darling of fame,
Mr. Pitt. Immediately after his entrance into Parliament, his discussion
of the minister's important treaty of commerce, may be said to have
established his reputation, by the force of his eloquence, as well as by
the enlarged views which he seemed to have acquired of commercial
relations; which knowledge is more frequently the result of gradual
experience than of early attainment.
In these stormy times Mr. Grey ranked among the head and front of
contending politics. He was appointed one of the managers of that
magnificent political drama--the impeachment of Warren Hastings, when he
displayed great acumen in that part of the accusation termed the Benares
Charge.
In 1791, we find Mr. Grey taking the lead in a measure, which, in the
language of a great orator (Burke) "shed a lustre on the character and
humanity of the nation." The subject to which we allude, was the
melancholy situation of those who were unable to satisfy the demands of
importunate creditors, and consequently subjected to the operation of a
rigorous code of laws. His observation in moving for a parliamentary
committee to inquire into the present practice and effect of imprisonment
for debt is worthy of quotation: "it was desirable to distinguish the
unfortunate debtor from the knavish one, to place the creditor in that
situation which afforded the fairest and the speediest means of
compensation, and to regulate the jails of this country in such a manner
as to prevent unnecessary hardship and restraint. Whether they considered
the practice of confining for debt men who had no means of discharging
such debt, or, on the contrary, fraudulent debtors, whose creditors by no
process could compel them to pay; these circumstances were alone
sufficient to constitute an inquiry into the state of the laws relating to
debtor and creditor." This motion being acceded to, a committee consisting
of Mr. Grey, Mr. Pitt, Sir John Sinclair, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Martin, the
Attorney and Solicitor Generals, and other legal gentlemen, was
immediately appointed. The origin of this inquiry is an indicative of the
liberal policy of the statesman as it is of the humanity of the mover.
In 1792, Mr. Grey instituted an inquiry into the conduct of ministers with
regard to the recently threatened hostilities with Russia. His
animadversion upon the vacillating and ruinous measures of government were
characterized by that fearless intrepidity, truth, energy, and eloquence,
which have distinguished his political career. The motion for the inquiry
was lost, though the powerful remarks of the mover drew from Mr. Pitt the
following memorable confession: "All unlimited confidence is
unconstitutional; and I hope the inglorious moment will never arrive, when
this house will abandon the privilege of examining, condemning, and
correcting the abuses in the executive government. It is the dearest
privilege you possess, and should never be relinguished."
During the schisms occasioned in this country by the French revolution, Mr.
Grey enrolled himself in a political society, called the Friends of the
People. He also became a member of the Whig Club, then in the zenith of
its celebrity. His active advocacy of the cause of a reform in parliament
was equal within and without the house of commons. To quote one of his
Lordship's most recent speeches, "In 1786 he had voted for reform. He had
supported Mr. Pitt in his motion for shortening the duration of
parliaments. He had given his best assistance to the measure of reform
introduced by Mr. Flood, before the French revolution; and, on one or two
different occasions, he had originated motions on the subject."[3] One of
these was in 1793, when he presented a petition for reform and a shorter
duration of parliament, from the Society of the Friends of the People: his
motion for a committee was lost by 280 to 41. Another occasion to which
his Lordship alludes, was in 1797, when he proposed, in his plan of
parliamentary reform, to give to the county of York four new members; to
divide each county into two districts, each returning a member.
Copyholders and leaseholders were to have equal rights of voting with
freeholders, as were all householders paying taxes in cities and boroughs;
and parliaments were to be triennial. This motion was, however, negatived
by 149 votes.
[3] Speech on the second reading of the Reform Bill, in the House
of Lords, Oct. 4, 1831.
In 1795, Mr. Grey opposed with great firmness, Mr. Pitt's motion for the
adjustment of the Prince of Wales's debts, and moved for the reduction of
the Prince's income. He professed himself ready to support the real
splendour of the royal family "as any slippery sycophant of a court;" but
said he thought there was more true dignity in manifesting a heart alive
to the distresses of millions, than in all those trappings which encumber
royalty without adorning it. He asked whether the legislature should give
an example of encouraging extravagance at a moment when the prevailing
fashion of prodigality among people of fortune was rapidly destroying
their independence, and making them the tools of the court, and the
contempt of the people. He knew the refusal to pay his debts would be a
severe privation to the Prince of Wales; but it would be a just penalty
for the past, a useful lesson for the future, and a proper deference to
the severe pressure and privations endured by the people. Mr. Grey's
amendment was supported by what was then a strong majority--99 to 260; and
the original motion carried: his conduct on this occasion seems never to
have been forgotten by the Prince of Wales, the Regent or the King. It
should here be mentioned, that, with equal justice, Mr. Grey subsequently
defended the rights of His Royal Highness from the shackles proposed to be
laid on him as Regent.
Mr. Grey's opposition to Mr. Pitt's measures continued unabated for many
years, while he remained equally steady in his attachment to Mr. Fox. His
bitter hostility to the union between Ireland and England may be said to
have produced one of his most celebrated speeches. Neither was he dazzled,
nor misled by the splendid talents of Burke, at this time in highest
repute. When Mr. Fox was deserted by Lords Fitzwilliam, Carlisle, and
other alarmists, Mr. Grey unchangingly adhered to him; and when Mr. Fox
and Lord Grenville formed a Whig ministry, in 1806, Mr. Grey, then, by his
father's elevation to the peerage, become Lord Howick, was appointed First
Lord of the Admiralty, and one of the Cabinet Council. He next succeeded
Mr. Fox as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and leader in the House of
Commons. This ministry was ill-formed, and wanted unity of purpose: their
abolition of the Slave Trade was a redeeming measure, in which Lord Howick
bore a conspicuous part; but his lordship's motion for the emancipation of
the Catholics brought about his dismissal from the ministry.
Lord Howick, soon after, by the death of his father, succeeded to the
title of Earl Grey; and by the death of his uncle, Sir Henry Grey, to the
family estate. Ill health, for a time, kept his lordship from public life:
he retired with no place but that of a Governor of the Charter House, and
without pension or sinecure. Upon the resignation of the Duke of Portland,
in 1809, his successor, Mr. Perceval, proposed a coalition with Lords
Grenville and Grey, which was at once rejected by the latter. In the
following year, his lordship "felt it his duty to arraign and to expose
the gross mismanagement of the government, and their repeated and
dangerous misconduct," in Parliament. In the same session, he charged the
lord chancellor (Eldon) with a crime little short of treason, in having
set the great seal, in 1801 and 1804, to commissions for giving the royal
assent to several bills, whilst the King was in a state of mental
infirmity, under medical care, and subject to personal control. The motion
was negatived by a majority of 189 to 64; "but Lord Eldon has not
forgotten the accusation, or forgiven the mover."[4] In 1812, another
attempt was made to bring Lord Grey, with Lord Grenville, into the cabinet;
but this was rejected as promptly as before.
[4] Life and Reign of George IV. by William Wallace, Esq. 3 vols.
1831.
Lord Grey again retired to private life. In 1817, his lordship reappeared,
and moved an amendment to the parliamentary address to the throne, urging
rigid economy, retrenchment, and an inquiry into the state of the nation.
In the same year he brought before the House of Lords, the notable
circular of Lord Sidmouth for the prosecution of libels by magistrates.
"It is a singular fact," observes an acute historical writer,[5] "that
Lord Grey, on this occasion, made an able and erudite law argument; which
all the law lords, including Lord Ellenborough, made vain efforts to
refute; and which Lord Ellenborough had the manliness to eulogize;"
notwithstanding which Lord Grey's motion for a copy of the opinion of the
law officers of the crown was negatived.
[5] Life and Reign of George IV. By W. Wallace, Esq. 3 vols. 1831.
During the trial of Queen Caroline, the wisdom-tempered zeal of Lord Grey
ranked him amongst the most efficient, as he was the most eloquent, of her
defenders: his lordship, in conjunction with Lord King, also made
successive attempts, by motions, to quash the investigation.
To the administration of the Earl of Liverpool, it need scarcely be added,
Earl Grey was thoroughly hostile: his aversion to the policy of Mr.
Canning was equally decided; and the same independent spirit urged him to
oppose the measures of the Wellington cabinet, except the memorable
measure of Catholic Emancipation, by the proposal of which he had lost
office in the year 1810. His lordship's eloquent efforts in this cause
must be alive in the recollection of the reader.
We are now fast approaching the consummation of one of the grand objects
of his lordship's political life. By the dissolution of the Wellington
cabinet, in 1830, Lord Grey became at the head of the present
administration. His first act was the introduction of the grand measure
for parliamentary reform, which, for sixteen months past, has interested
the whole population of this mighty empire. His lordship's emphatic
expressions, on this occasion, are "familiar as household words." "He made
it a condition on accepting office, that Parliamentary Reform should be
introduced as a government measure. That condition having been assented to
by his most gracious sovereign, by this measure he was prepared to stand
or fall." Gratifying as would be the task, we need not detail the
incidents of the last few months of his lordship's career. Our eulogium
would be poor indeed, while nine-tenths of the journals of our country are
perpetuating his good deeds; while his political integrity has become
exemplary to every cabinet in Europe; and millions are about to burst
forth in "the loud festivity of mirth" to celebrate the virtue of their
popular minister.
Earl Grey married in 1794, Mary Elizabeth Brabazon, daughter of Lord
Ponsonby, by whom his lordship has had a numerous family: the eldest son
and heir apparent being Viscount Howick, born in 1802. In our outline of
Lord Grey's public life, the reader may have observed his Lordship's
fondness for the retirement of the domestic circle. This accords with his
recent declaration in parliament: "he was fond of retirement, and in
domestic life he lived happy in the bosom of his family. Nothing could
have tempted him to embark on these stormy seas--