Pall Mall, March 28th, 1783.
Half-past Seven, P.M.
My dear Brother,
I am just returned from the Queen's House, where the King sent
for me about two hours ago. When I came into the room, he began
the conversation by saying, that although his time was so much
occupied in the present hour, he had wished to see me, in order
to express how much he had felt upon reading your letter to him;
that he had never been more pleased than he had been by that; so
much matter in so little space--the whole state of our present
situation so justly seen, and so accurately described--in short,
he was at a loss to say which appeared to him in the strongest
light, the affection which had dictated that letter, or the
ability with which it was drawn up.
He expatiated a good deal more on this, and then went on to say,
that he was fully convinced that your not having been here at
this moment was a very unfortunate circumstance, for that you
would have stood forth to assist him. I said I was certain that
nothing would have made you so happy as the possibility of being
of any service to His Majesty in the present crisis. He answered
that he fully believed it, and that the idea had occurred to him
this morning of sending for me, to know what I thought of it in
the present moment, as there was not time for a communication
with you. I told him that there was one very considerable
difficulty which struck me upon it--"the distance--besides that,
Sire, the finding any person for the House of Commons, where it
is most likely that the great push will be made."
This seemed to strike him. He mentioned his having sent
yesterday again to Tom Pitt, to endeavour to persuade him to
stand forward, and his having declined it. He then went a good
deal into T. Pitt's character, speaking very highly of his good
sense and integrity, but expressing his doubts whether his
health would ever allow him to take any active part; that,
however, he had received this satisfaction from his conversation
with him, that he had the pleasure of seeing that he approved of
the conduct which he had held. He mentioned his having shown him
the material letters which had passed, and then took them out of
a drawer, and gave them me to read, consisting of four. One from
the Duke of Portland, desiring to see the King. The King's note
to Lord North, desiring to see the arrangement; and Lord North's
answer, enclosing a letter to him from the Duke of Portland,
both declining to give in the list.
While I was reading these letters he went over with me a great
variety of topics, chiefly the same as in the two former
conversations, and very particularly upon the characters of Lord
North and Fox, whom I think he described very justly, though
certainly not in the most flattering colours. The first, he
said, was a man composed entirely of negative qualities, and
actuated, in every instance, by a desire of present ease at the
risk of any future difficulty. This he instanced in the American
war, and in the riots of 1780, of which he gave me a very long
detail. As to Fox, he allowed that he was a man of parts,
quickness, and great eloquence; but that he wanted application,
and consequently the fundamental knowledge necessary for
business, and above all, was totally destitute of discretion and
sound judgment. He paid many compliments to William Pitt, to
Jemmy, to the Major-General, to myself, and above all, to you,
which language, I know, he has within these few days held most
universally, which has probably given rise to the second report
of your being sent for.
In more than one instance, he made use of expressions which, if
they did not absolutely declare his resolution at all hazards
not to send again for the Duke of Portland, at least, have very
strongly impressed me with that idea. In this I may be mistaken,
but I own I so understood him; although I am utterly at a loss
to form any conjecture of what he is looking forward to.
After he had gone through a very long detail of this sort, he
dismissed me, saying, that he would certainly write to you,
through me, in a day or two; and, in the meantime, desiring that
you would understand how much he had been satisfied with you,
and how happy he should have been if you could have helped him.
You see this does not amount to an offer; and the reason is, I
think, sufficiently plain why the offer was not made: namely,
that he had been staggered at what, I fear, is an insurmountable
difficulty, with respect to the lead of the House of Commons. W.
Pitt would certainly not hear of it, after his second peremptory
refusal of the Treasury; T. Pitt as certainly not, after his
refusal, for the second time, together with the comment afforded
by a very long conversation which I had with him yesterday
morning upon the subject; Jemmy has not health, and still less
spirits, for so very arduous an undertaking; and as for myself,
even if equal in other respects, which I very unaffectedly know
I am not, still I am much too young, and too little versed in
the navigation of that tempestuous sea, to venture out in such a
hurricane as this. Indeed, upon the whole, I think the King
seemed more to wish that you should know he had entertained, and
been inclined to the idea, than to desire to press it upon you,
at a moment when it appears so very impracticable.
I said nothing in my last letter upon the subject which you
mentioned to me respecting yourself, as I had no opportunity of
dropping any hint of it to the King, when I saw him to deliver
your letter. To-night, I certainly had that opportunity, and
would as certainly have made use of it, but that I was never
certain, till the last moment of the conversation, whether it
would have ended by desiring me to state the offer to you as one
now actually made, or as one wished to have been so if
circumstances had allowed it. If it had been the former, a much
better field would have been opened for the application: as it
is, I will certainly throw out the idea, if I can find any
opportunity of doing it when he delivers me his answer to you.
I shall be impatient to hear your observations upon this
interesting conversation. I certainly did not mean to take upon
me to answer on your behalf in the negative, nor do I think I
was so understood; but the objection which I started, in order
that I might learn if any solution could be found, appeared to
him, having no such solution to offer, as it does to me, seeing
none such which can be offered, totally and absolutely
insurmountable.
In the meantime, the idea of his resolution not to give way, has
most seriously alarmed me. I wish I may prove a false prophet,
but I solemnly protest to God that I am afraid of the most fatal
consequences. In a week's time, there will not be in the
Treasury a farthing of money to defray the ordinary and current
expenses of the Government! Judge how this will operate upon the
seamen and soldiers, who are daily expecting to be paid off, and
who, God knows, do not seem to want so strong an inducement to
mutiny as must be afforded them by the total want of money. The
licentiousness of the people, already arrived at a pitch never
known in this country, is daily inflamed by newspapers and
pamphlets, while there is no Government whatever to restrain its
effects. These considerations hold out little encouragement to
any man; but they afford an inducement to every good citizen to
risk much, not only of personal ease and personal safety, but
also of personal situation and character, in the hopes of
averting the calamities which seem to threaten us. But if the
attempt should be unsuccessful (and who shall say it will be
otherwise?), it would plunge the Government into greater
difficulties, by cutting off from the King his only resource and
refuge.
Two or three days must, by their events, and by the King's
letter to you, enable you to judge decisively upon the situation
of the country, present and to come. The prospect is truly
gloomy, and the combination of calamitous circumstances such as
to leave very little reason in my apprehension to hope that this
situation will be such as we must all wish--that of a settled
Government, even in hands which we dislike, if it can be settled
in no other. In the meantime, I do not think you called upon to
transmit to the King any answer to this conversation; especially
as, I suppose, you must naturally send one to his letter,
whenever it arrives.
Adieu, my dearest brother,
Believe me ever most sincerely and affectionately yours,
W. W. G.
P.S.--The Treasury have written to Hamilton to give assurances
of the repayment of the money advanced to Lord Rawdon's
regiment, and to desire a state of that money. The natural way
would have been, to have given you credit for the whole money
due from them to the regiment; but as it is, I hope you will not
any longer think it necessary to stop the subsistence, as it has
so harsh an appearance.
Having traced the history of the coalition up to this point, we now come
to His Majesty's answer to Lord Temple, referring to these transactions.
It was transmitted in the following letter from Mr. Grenville.