Whitehall, Dec. 21st, 1786.
My dear Brother,
I have nothing decisive to say to you on the subject which we
discussed so much at Stowe, except that the particular
arrangement, which we agreed to be in so many respects
objectionable, certainly will not take place. My opinion is,
that it will end in my remaining as I am till _the other event_
happens, when it will be time enough to decide the question,
which will then occur, either of my present situation
continuing, or of the arrangement which you suggested instead of
it, which I mentioned to Pitt, and which he seemed in many
respects to like. The negotiation with respect to that _other
event_ has not yet been opened, but will immediately be so. The
period must depend upon that person's wishes as well as mine;
but mine, as far as they will have weight, are for the time
which you seemed to prefer.
I do not know whether you will understand my hieroglyphics, but
I hope to explain them to you some time next week, as Lord
Harcourt and myself have, I think, nearly settled to take our
holidays then.
We determined nothing about the Wardrobe Keeper. Lord Grimstone
has been written to about Hepburne's arrangement, but we have no
answer yet. This need not, however, delay any decision which you
may take about the other, which I am very anxious to settle
before the clannism takes place,
Adieu, my dear brother,
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.
1787.
The Dawn of Free Trade--The Assembly of Notables--Affairs of
Holland--Arthur Wellesley--The Marquis of Buckingham Assumes the
Government of Ireland for the Second Time.
Looking back upon the acts of past administrations, with a view to the
influence they exercised over the policy of their successors to the
present time, perhaps the most important measure introduced at this
period by Mr. Pitt was a commercial treaty with France, which may be
regarded as the first recognition by an English Minister of the
principles of Free Trade. Mr. Fox maintained that France was the natural
enemy of England, and that it was useless to attempt to veil the rivalry
of the two countries under commercial regulations. Mr. Pitt, on the
other hand, urged that it was their mutual interest to liberate their
commerce; and that if France obtained a market by this treaty of eight
millions of people for her wines and other productions, England profited
still more largely by gaining a market for her manufactures of
twenty-four millions.
The general principle of this treaty was to admit a mutual exportation
and importation of commodities, at a low _ad valorem_ duty. The
Opposition made great head against it in the House of Commons, but it
was finally carried by a majority of 76. Curiously enough, the treaty
was negotiated by Mr. Eden, who had held the office of Vice-Treasurer of
Ireland under the Coalition, and who was the first person to break away
from that heterogeneous confederacy, and ally himself with Mr. Pitt. His
defection was the more memorable from the fact, that the Coalition is
said to have originated with him; at all events, he divides the credit
of the project with Mr. Burke. Distinguished by his zeal and activity,
Mr. Eden was soon afterwards raised to the peerage, under the title of
Baron Auckland.
While this reciprocity treaty was in progress, the finances of France
were reduced to such a state of derangement by a system of corruption
and profligate expenditure, as to call for some strong and universal
measure of redemption. The famous Convention of Notables was the
remedial project suggested by that able but speculative financier, M. de
Calonne, who had succeeded M. Necker as Minister of Finance. This
assembly, by royal authority, of all the considerable persons in the
kingdom, excited some curiosity in England. What was thought of it in
the ministerial circles may be gathered from a passage in a letter from
Mr. W. W. Grenville to Lord Buckingham, dated the 8th of January.
A resolution has been taken by the French Government, and
declared by the King in his council, which occasions a good deal
of speculation. It is no less than the calling an Assemblée
generale, who are to consist of archbishops, bishops, nobles,
and deputies from the different parliaments, &c., to the number
of one hundred and fifty-nine. They are to meet at Versailles, I
think in the course of next month. It is not yet declared what
is to be proposed to them. But I think it probable that they
will be to deliberate on two great plans which the Government
have in contemplation; one for abolishing all the internal
custom-houses, and the other for reducing all the import duties
universally to duties from 12 per cent to 1/4 per cent, _ad
valorem_ according to certain classes. Besides this, it is
probable that the state of their finances is such as to require
very strong measures, both to provide for the existing debt, and
to make up any deficiencies arising from either of these plans,
and that Calonne thinks that he will be safer in obtaining the
sanction of such an Assembly as this. His friends give out, that
it is at his earnest entreaty that this measure is adopted. You
will probably agree with me in thinking it a hazardous one.
Mr. Grenville's prediction was abundantly verified by the event. The
issue of the project is one of the familiar incidents of French history.
The Assembly of Notables took place on the 22nd of February, when M. de
Calonne had the opportunity he desired of explaining his magnificent
plans. On the 5th of April, the Assembly was adjourned to the 12th; and
in the interval the Minister was dismissed and exiled. France became
involved in inextricable confusion, and the Notables were finally
dissolved at the close of the ensuing year.
The affairs of Holland now began to engage the serious attention of the
English Government, and Mr. Grenville was sent on a special mission to
the Hague, to ascertain the actual state of things, which, through a
series of complicated events, had at last assumed an aspect of
hostilities that appeared to threaten extensive consequences to the
peace of Europe.
Without entering into the conflict of diplomacies in which Holland was
embroiled with Prussia and Austria, the immediate point to which these
entangled transactions were narrowed at the moment of Mr. Grenville's
mediation, was the attitude taken by the Prince of Orange for the
restitution of his office of hereditary Captain-General, which had been
vested in him by the unanimous vote of all the members of the State, but
which had been recently transferred to the Deputies of Haerlem by a
formal resolution of the States of Holland. In consequence of that
resolution, the Prince had withdrawn from the Hague; and an application
which was made by the King of Prussia (to whose sister he was married)
to reinstate him in his rights, and a somewhat similar remonstrance on
the part of England, having produced no effect, the Prince, removing his
Court to Nimeguen, encamped near Utrecht, apparently with hostile
intentions. He had in vain addressed himself to the States, the
resistance to his authority increasing with each fresh attempt at
negotiation; and at length, desirous, perhaps, of averting extremities
as long as he could, he permitted his consort, the Princess, to adopt
the singular expedient of proceeding in person to the Hague, where the
States-General were assembled. This was in the month of June. It could
hardly have been anticipated that the States would consent to receive so
unusual an ambassador, or that they would even allow her to proceed on
her journey; and, accordingly, they took measures to arrest her before
she reached the Hague, sending her back under escort to Nimeguen. This
very decided step simplified the matter at once. There was no longer a
pretext for hesitation or compromise; and the King of Prussia, affecting
to regard the indignity offered to his sister as a personal insult to
himself, immediately set about organizing an army for the purpose of
invading Holland. The greatest consternation prevailed throughout the
country; and it was at this crisis, while the Prussian force was
gathering in the Duchy of Cleves, that Mr. Grenville was sent to the
Hague. On the 3rd of August, immediately after his arrival, he writes to
his brother:
Nothing new has occurred here. All eyes are turned towards the
King of Prussia, whose conduct still appears contradictory. I
trust that by to-morrow we shall know something decisive. In the
meantime his army is certainly collecting, and the Duke of
Brunswick has accepted the command. Yet his other measures
indicate much leaning towards France. I am rather in better
spirits about my own particular task here, though by no means
satisfied with what I have undertaken, and which I now think I
must have had the vanity of a French Abbé to expect to perform
in four or five days.
A hurried note of the same date, made up just at the departure of the
packet, adds that the writer intends to go to Nimeguen, and hopes to be
in England at the end of the week. On the 6th, he writes again from the
Hague, stating his intention to set out the next morning for Nimeguen,
where he should see the Princess, and expected to find the Prince and
the Duke of Brunswick, to whom it was understood the King of Prussia had
committed the charge, not only of the military, but also of the
political part of the business. A few days afterwards, a note from
Whitehall announces his return to England, adding: "There is every
reason to believe that we shall disarm without subsequent negotiation,
as you must be satisfied at last."
The course of events, however, rendered subsequent negotiations
unavoidable. On the 8th of September, Mr. Grenville writes: "Everything
is going on much as it was. The Duke of Brunswick's army is collected,
and was to act in about a day or two from this date, if satisfaction was
not previously given, which seemed not impossible." On the 11th, he
says: "If nothing has since occurred to alter the plan--which, however,
is by no means improbable--the Prussian troops were to begin their march
on this day."
It soon became obvious that the expectations founded on the likelihood
of the submission of Holland were not to be realised. In a letter of the
13th, Mr. Grenville states that "the business is drawing fast to its
crisis, whatever that may be." The Prussian Ambassador had given in
demands requiring satisfaction, including the punishment of the
offenders, within four days; in failure of which, the troops were to
act. "I doubt," he adds, "whether the State of Holland can give this,
even if they were so disposed, which is not clear. In the meantime, not
a man has moved in France, and the confusion seems by every account to
be increasing."
On the very day on which this letter was written, the Duke of Brunswick,
at the head of twenty thousand men, had entered Holland.
How nearly these events had involved Europe in a war, may be gleaned
from the next letter, which is marked "private."