gentlemen to render those attempts abortive, &c. We divided, 127 with us; against us 167. Mr. Dowdeswell desired me to inform Mr. Pitt, that his view is not to contend for no new duty on cider, and explained his plan to me at large. He much wished for Mr. Pitt's approbation and assistance, and spoke in terms of warm respect for him. Adieu, my dear Lady Chatham, Ever yours most affectionately, JAMES GRENVILLE, M. DE FE'RONCE TO MR. PITT. Londres, ce 31e Janvier, 1764. MONSIEUR, La lettre que vous me fites l'honneur de m'écrire, il y a une huitaine de jours, me fut rendue au milieu des embarras multipliés qui accompagnoient naturellement le départ du Prince. S. A. S. a été très sensible à la manière dont vous vous exprimé, Monsieur, sur ce qui le concerne. Le peu d'instans que le Prince a eu la satisfaction de passer avec vous, lui ont paru très précieux, et il les rappellera toujours avec la sensibilité la plus vive. S. A. S. m'a ordonné, au moment où je l'ai quitté à Harwich, de vous réitérer, Monsieur, les assurances des sentimens d'attachement et d'admiration qu'elle conservera toute sa vie pour vous. J'ai assisté à l'embarquement de L. A. R. et S.; il a eu lieu dimanche à midi. Le capitaine du yacht ne comptoit point mettre à la voile dans la journée, la mer étant trop grosse. Depuis mon arrivée ici, nous n'avons reçu aucune nouvelle ultérieuse. (1) J'ai l'honneur d'être, &c. DE FÉRONCE. THE RIGHT HON. JAMES GRENVILLE TO MR. PITT. MY DEAR MR. Pitt, February 3, 1764. I WRITE to let you know, that the business of the inquiry relating to the breach of privilege is put off till the 13th of February. It was stirred in the House yesterday by Sir William Meredith and Sir George Savile; who applied for a longer day, upon the ground of wanting a material evidence, by the absence of Mr. Wilkes's principal servant, who was with his master in France. They succeeded in their motion, by the irresistible weight of the natural and striking justice of their demand; (1) On the 7th of February, Walpole writes to Lord Hertford: "We have not heard a word yet of the hereditary Prince and Princess. They were sent away in a tempest, and I believe the best one can hope is, that they are driven to Norway. . . . I tremble whilst I continue my letter; having just received such a dreadful story! A captain of a vessel has made oath before the lord mayor this morning, that he saw one of the yachts sink on the coast of Holland; and it is believed to be the one in which the Prince was. The city is in an uproar; nor need one point out all such an accident may produce, if true." The royal pair landed safely at Helvoet on the 2nd. no man presuming to oppose it, except Mr. George Grenville, who spoke long, and who called as loud as he could for help, but called in vain. It is impossible to describe to you the excess of passion and of prevarication (two things very clashing in other men, but in him amazingly united), that broke out in every period of his harangue. Figure to yourself assertions that were contradicted by the feeling, seeing, and hearing of every man round him. He dissuaded the House from entering into the matter: "In the delicacy of that business, to do it at all was merely wantonly and merrily," (think what words) "to force on resolutions delicate and dangerous; to say that in no case whatever a seizure of papers was legal, or that in all cases whatever" (which he said was law now) "it should be legal, were extremes full of difficulty." The House with one voice groaned, and expressed a disapprobation I never heard at some other parts of his assertions. I should be endless if I were to give you a particular narrative of the principles, doctrines, and arguments he employed. His gods left him. The Viscount Strange (1) himself was there, and declared (1) Eldest son of the Earl of Derby, and at this time chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster. He died during his father's life-time, in 1771. He always called himself Lord Strange, though the title, which was a barony in fee, had descended to the Duke of Atholl. Walpole, in a letter to Sir Horace Mann, written in 1758, tells a pleasant story of him:- "On the new taxes we had an entertaining piece of pomp from the Speaker. Lord Strange (it was in a committee) said, I will bring him down against him. Lord North was absent; the only comforter he found was in the late attorneygeneral, Mr. Charles Yorke, whose comfort was bitterness; for it only reproached him with having yielded unnecessarily to this inquiry at the first motion of it. To be short, you will find (what you expected) that the seizure of the papers is the most inextricable point of the whole affair; the most prerogative spirits, even of these times, are at a stand upon it, and want an issue. They are under great difficulties likewise on the warrant. The club met yesterday, in great figure and spirits. Honours were paid to you absent; to none else present, though the greatest were there. The Duke of Newcastle asked me, whether you had sent a message to excuse yourself the morning after your great visit. He said it should have been done. I knew nothing, but supposed every thing right was done. Adieu. Ever yours most affectionately, from the gallery; and proposed, that the Speaker should be exempted from the place-tax. He came down, and besought not to be excepted. Lord Strange persisted so did the Speaker. After the debate, Lord Strange going out, said, 'Well, did not I show my dromedary well?' I should tell you, that one of the fashionable sights of the winter has been a dromedary and camel, the proprietor of which has entertained the town with a droll variety of advertisements." THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE TO MR. PITT. DEAR SIR, Newcastle House, Wednesday, 10 o'clock. [February 15, 1764.] MR. WEST and honest George Onslow came to my bed-side this morning, to give me an account of the glorious day we had yesterday (1), and of the great obligations which every true lover of the liberties of his country and our present constitution owe to you, for the superior ability, firmness, and resolution, which you showed, during the longest attendance that ever was known. God forbid that your health should suffer by your zeal for your (1) On the 13th of February, the question of privilege, notwithstanding Wilkes's absence, came on to be debated. The House sat for eleven hours. At midnight, Mr. Grenville offered to adjourn, but Mr. Pitt begged not to eat or sleep till so great a point had been decided. On the following day the debate was resumed, when the House sat seventeen hours. On a division upon an amendment, the numbers were 207 against 197, leaving the ministers in a majority of only ten :-" Crest-fallen," says Walpole, "they then proposed simply to discharge the complaint against Wood, for a breach of privilege; but the plumes which they had dropped, Pitt soon placed in his own beaver. He broke out on liberty, and, indeed, on whatever he pleased, uninterrupted. Rigby sat feeling the vice-treasurership slipping from under him. Nugent was not less pensive. Every body was too much taken up with his own concerns, or too much daunted, to give the least disturbance to the Pindaric. Mr. Pitt bore the fatigue with his usual spirit, and even old Onslow, the last Speaker, was sitting up, anxious for the event. I have heard Garrick, and other players, give themselves airs of fatigue, after a long part-think of the Speaker nay, think of the clerks, taking most correct minutes, for sixteen hours, and reading them over to every witness; and then let me hear of fatigue !" |