FOOTNOTES:

ENGLAND TO BE HUMBLED.

In January, 1801, Paul sent an ambassador to Paris to arrange a treaty of alliance. Bonaparte's hopes seemed likely to be more than fulfilled. An attempt made on his life on December 24, which many Frenchmen absurdly believed to have been abetted by the English government, gave him the opportunity of crushing his domestic foes. England, the object of his passionate hatred, was bereft of her Austrian ally; he was pressing Spain to invade Portugal unless she would close her ports against English ships; the northern powers werestriking at England's maritime lordship; her navy would be deprived of stores, and her people of foreign wheat. An alliance with Russia would enable France to become dominant in central Europe, to overthrow the British supremacy in the Mediterranean, and to preserve her hold on Egypt. Soon every state would shut its ports against British ships, and England's sea-power would be overthrown by the power of France on land. Paul held out yet greater hopes; he would undertake a joint invasion of India and drive the British from the east. Though his wild schemes did not meet with Bonaparte's approval, Paul set an army in motion for the conquest of India. Yet neither the government nor the people of England was dismayed by the isolation of their country nor the number of their foes. Nor had they cause. Bonaparte, great general as he was, could not understand the nature of England's strength, and was indeed profoundly ignorant of all that concerned maritime power and commerce. The British navy was in admirable condition, both as regards material and men; it was blockading the Dutch in the Texel, and the ships of France and Spain in every port in which they lay from Toulon to Flushing, and the thunder of its guns was soon to be heard in the north. In India Lord Wellesley had not only crushed resistance and added a vast territory to the company's possessions, but was establishing the British rule on a firm basis, and there, too, British ships would have to be reckoned with. On January 14 the government placed an embargo on the ships of Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Orders were sent for the capture of the Danish colonies in the West Indies, and a fleet was prepared to sail for the Baltic under Sir Hyde Parker, and with Nelson as second in command.

Yet, though undismayed by her foes, England was sorely dismayed by the sufferings of her poor. Peace was very needful for her. Wealth indeed was rapidly increasing; her foreign trade which in 1792 was £44,500,000 in value had risen to over £73,750,000. But the poor lacked bread. The increase in the manufacturing population caused an increased demand for food, and England depended on supplies of cereals from abroad. The war restricted the importation of corn and sent up its price. The hopes fixed on the harvest of 1800 were disappointed; the stock of the previous year was exhausted, and wheat rose tothe famine price of 120s. a quarter. Bread riots were raised in various places, and were in some cases due to a belief, existing even among persons of education, that the high price of corn was largely caused by the dealers. Some dealers were prosecuted under the old statutes against "forestalling and regrating," and when one named Rusby, charged with buying oats at 41s. a quarter and selling them again in the same market at 44s., was found guilty, Lord Kenyon congratulated the jury on the benefit which their verdict conferred on the country. On appeal his law was questioned and the proceedings dropped. The future looked even darker than the present, for the Russian embargo cut off a main source of supply. The desire for peace was general. Pitt, whose health was giving way, was full of anxiety, for the scarcity seemed likely to embarrass the government in its efforts to maintain the honour of England, and might even compel the country to assent to a peace alike disadvantageous and fallacious. "The question of peace or war," he wrote in October, "is not in itself so formidable as that of the scarcity with which it is combined".

He determined on an early meeting of parliament, believing that some relief might be afforded by legislation, and that, at the least, it would quiet the public mind and check the rise of disaffection. Besides measures for the encouragement of home agriculture, which would necessarily operate slowly, he planned others to meet the immediate crisis, for though as a disciple of Adam Smith he disliked interference with the regular course of trade, he considered that the situation of the country rendered some regulation necessary. Grenville differed from him. He held closely to the maxims of political economy, and though he did not oppose him in the cabinet, he urged on Pitt in private that all interference with the process by which supply and demand counteracted each other must be harmful. Pitt held to his own opinion. Parliament met on November 11. The king's speech invited it to consider means by which agriculture might be extended, and, for the present, the best means of stimulating the importation of grain and promoting frugality in using it, and checked the foolish and mischievous outcry against the dealers by pointing out that the ordinary practices of buying and selling were necessary in the existing state of society. Acting on the reports of committees, parliament granted bounties on the importation of corn and rice, and prohibited the use of corn in distillery and the manufacture of starch, the exportation of provisions, the making of bread solely from fine flour, and the sale of bread within twenty-four hours of its baking. The opposition reproached the government, and especially Pitt, with having caused the scarcity by the rejection of Bonaparte's proposals for peace; but motions for an inquiry into the state of the nation, for immediate negotiations with France, and for the dismissal of the ministers received scarcely any support. It was not from parliament that Pitt's ministry was to receive its death-blow.

IRISH UNION DESIRABLE.

Almost as soon as the Irish rebellion was quelled, the project of a legislative union with Great Britain was publicly discussed. Such a union existed from 1654 to the restoration in 1660. At the time of the union with Scotland, in 1703 and 1707, the Irish parliament proposed a union, and its wish was disregarded. Since then various writers on politics had recommended it, chiefly as a means of giving Ireland freedom of trade. The improvement in the material condition of the country which began in the fourth decade of the century strengthened the spirit of nationality, the Irish interest became dominant in politics, religious animosity decreased, and during the American war Ireland, instead of looking to a union as a means of attaining prosperity, found herself in a position to demand the concessions she desired. The abolition of restrictions on her trade in 1779-80 removed the chief motive which had impelled Scotland towards union; the grant of legislative independence fostered the national pride. The constitution of 1782 left Ireland connected with Great Britain only by the unity of the executive in both countries. The Irish parliament might have expressed disapproval of a war or alliance entered on by Great Britain and might have refused supplies; it might have imposed excessive duties on English goods, might have refused a commercial compact with Great Britain, and did so in 1785; it might have taken a different course from the British parliament on a constitutional question, and did so on the regency question in 1789. The empire was weakened by lack of union. English statesmen, and above all Pitt, saw that the tie, precarious in quiet times, might break under some stress, and desired to strengthen it by an incorporate union, and the king heartily agreed with them.

For Ireland a union afforded the only chance of tranquillity, for catholic emancipation could not safely be granted without it. Since the extension of the suffrage to Roman catholics in 1793, emancipation unaccompanied by union would have placed the government of the country in the hands of a popish democracy; for the catholics outnumbered the protestants by three to one, and the act of 1793 established little short of manhood suffrage. A catholic parliament would have made Ireland no place for protestants, and would have provoked a civil war, in which, unlike the late rebellion, England would probably have had almost the whole catholic population arrayed against her. With a united parliament the catholics might enjoy equal privileges with their protestant neighbours, and would be powerless to oppress them. The war with France revealed the dangers of the existing system; the rebellion left the two religious parties at deadly feud; the protestants feared catholic vengeance, the catholics held the protestant ascendency in deeper hatred since the rise of Orangeism and the barbarities of '98. The time seemed ripe for the fulfilment of Pitt's long-cherished hope of union. He desired to do the catholics justice and intended that the union should provide for emancipation, a provision for their priesthood, to be accompanied by an increase of theregium donum, the endowment granted by William III. for the support of the Irish presbyterian ministers, and the commutation of tithe; and this comprehensive scheme was warmly approved by Cornwallis. But the principal men of the government party in Ireland were strongly opposed to the admission of catholics into the united parliament, and in October, 1798, Clare convinced Pitt that the proposal would wreck the chances of union. Pitt therefore dissociated emancipation from union, adopted a scheme of union on a protestant basis, and left the settlement of the just claims of the catholics, which was necessary to the successful working of a union, to be effected later.

CATHOLIC SUPPORT.

The intended union was announced and advocated in a pamphlet by Cooke, the Irish under-secretary. The protestants generally were hostile to the scheme, some from feelings of national pride, others from dislike to the threatened overthrow of the political ascendency of their party. Catholic support might be gained if there was reason to expect that union would be followed by emancipation, a provision for the clergy, whichwould entail a royal power of veto over episcopal appointments, and the commutation of tithe. Dublin was strongly against a measure which would injure its position as a capital; and the lawyers, who would also lose by it, were formidable opponents. In preparation for the coming struggle the government informed the catholic bishops that, though emancipation could not be included in the measure, they were anxious to make provision for their clergy; a few anti-unionist officials resigned or were dismissed, and the demands of some of the government party, who, as usual, clamoured to be rewarded beforehand, appeared to have been satisfied. The king's speech at the opening of the Irish parliament on January 22, 1799, though not mentioning union, recommended some effectual means of strengthening the connexion. The address was carried in the lords by 52 votes to 17. In the commons it was moved by Lord Castlereagh, the chief secretary, and was strongly opposed by Plunket, Ponsonby, and others. After a debate which lasted from 4p.m.to 1p.m.the next day, the government had a majority of only one, and in a subsequent division was in a minority of 5. On the 31st Pitt, in an eloquent speech, moved resolutions for a union in the British house of commons. Sheridan, Grey, and Burke's friend, Laurence, fought hard against them, but were in a minority which varied from 45 to 15. In the lords they were agreed to without a division, and in April both houses adopted an address in favour of union.

The failure of the government in the Irish parliament was hailed with delight and rioting in Dublin. The prospects of the union soon began to brighten. The cabinet made it clear that the measure would not be abandoned. As it seemed likely that the protestants would offer the catholics emancipation in order to induce them to combine against union, Cornwallis was authorised to declare that the government would resist to the utmost any concession to the catholics so long as a separate parliament existed. No definite promise was made to the catholics, but their hopes were excited. In the autumn, Castlereagh, who came over for the purpose, represented to the cabinet the importance of gaining their support; he was told to inform Cornwallis that the cabinet was favourable to emancipation, and that without giving the catholics "any direct assurance," he might safely solicit their support. This he did with general success;and the catholic bishops and many of their clergy, allured by the prospect of a provision from government, were active on the unionist side. The unionist party was further strengthened by the state of the country. Many districts were infested by bands of men, survivals of the rebel armies, who murdered, robbed, and intimidated their neighbours, and mutilated cattle. A fresh outbreak of rebellion seemed likely in the spring; the large British force already in Ireland was augmented, and an act was passed giving the lord-lieutenant power to authorise the capital or other punishment of those convicted by court-martial of rebellion or attacks on the king's subjects. The opinion that Ireland needed a new system of government gained ground. Yet the feeling against union remained overwhelmingly general, specially among the protestants.

A MAJORITY SECURED.

A majority in parliament had to be gained by the ministers. The county members, who were independent, for the most part were, and remained, anti-unionists. The preponderance of power lay with the 236 members for the 118 boroughs, of which only eight were free from all patronage. Nearly all the remainder belonged to borough-owners and were regarded as their personal property. A large number of them would be disfranchised by a union. Not to compensate the owners would have been contrary to the general moral standard of the age when uninfluenced by party feelings, and would have made union impossible. As Pitt in his reform bill of 1785 proposed to buy up the patronage of the English close boroughs, so the government determined to compensate those Irish borough-owners whose boroughs were to lose both members. The price of each borough was eventually fixed at £15,000, the market value, and as eighty-four were disfranchised, the sum paid for them was £1,260,000. This was not bribery; it was an open transaction, and the money was paid alike to opponents and supporters of the union. The services of great men were secured by peerages and other dignities. During and at the end of the struggle twenty new Irish peerages were created, sixteen peers were promoted, and five received English peerages. Most of these grants were mere bribes, and so too were the many places and pensions which helped to swell the unionist party in parliament. Some money, though the amount must have been small, was probably also spent in bribery. The government would notrisk a general election; the union was to be carried by the existing parliament. Gradually sixty-three vacancies were created in the commons, some by death, some by acceptance of office, most of them doubtless by the resignation of members who would not follow their patrons by becoming unionists, and others, probably, through the purchase of seats by the government from sitting members. The vacancies were eventually filled by supporters of the union. While, then, the extent of the corruption practised by the government has been exaggerated, the union was undoubtedly carried by corrupt means.

Nevertheless, Pitt did not corrupt the Irish parliament; it was corrupt already: he merely continued the immemorial methods of dealing with it on a larger scale than before. Nobles and gentry chose to sell themselves, and, in order to rid Ireland of a source of trouble and danger, and Great Britain of a cause of weakness, he paid them their price. Cornwallis murmured at having to negotiate and job with "the most corrupt people under heaven"; but he did his share of the work. Castlereagh, personally not less honourable, who had much of it to do, did it without compunction, for it was, he said, "to buy out and secure to the crown for ever the fee-simple of Irish corruption, which has so long enfeebled the powers of the government and endangered the connection". It was essential to the welfare both of Great Britain and Ireland that the union should be effected, and that it should be effected without delay; and it could not have been effected by any other means than those which Pitt adopted. It was better by giving these greedy politicians their price to put an end to a system maintained by perpetual corruption, worked in the interests of an ascendant minority, distrusted by the mass of the people, incapable of affording the country the blessings of domestic peace, and dangerous to the security of the empire.

The Irish parliament began its last session on January 15, 1800, and the address was hotly debated. Grattan, who had not appeared there since 1797, spoke with extraordinary eloquence in support of an amendment on the side of legislative independence. Though the vacant seats were not nearly all filled up, the amendment was rejected by 138 votes to 96. The anti-unionists were furious; they raised a fund of £100,000, paid or promised, for the purpose of out-buying the ministers, bought some seats,and paid and offered bribes. The catholics, the yeomanry, and the Orangemen were urged to combine to withstand the union. Some rioting took place in Dublin, but there was no serious outbreak; for the Orange grand lodge kept the society quiet, and the mass of the people, except when excited by agitation, regarded the question with indifference. A fierce struggle ensued in parliament, and it was not until March 28 that the articles of union were carried and sent to England. They were debated at some length in both houses of the English parliament, but were carried by large majorities. They were next presented in the Irish parliament in the form of a bill. It was vehemently opposed. In the debate on the commitment, on May 26, Grattan delivered an oration against it, splendid in diction and inflammatory in tone, and was answered by Castlereagh who spoke, as indeed he spoke throughout these debates, with conspicuous dignity and moderation. The majority for committing the bill was 118 to 73. It was then passed by the English parliament and received the royal assent on August 1. A new great seal and a new royal standard were made for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and on January 1, 1801, the king's new title was proclaimed, from which the words "King of France," retained since the time of Edward III., were omitted.

By the act of union Ireland was to be represented in the united parliament, in the upper house by four spiritual lords sitting in rotation and twenty-eight temporal lords elected for life by the Irish peerage, and in the lower by 100 members.[313]The right of the crown to create fresh Irish peerages was restricted. The established Church of Ireland was declared one with the Church of England, and the preservation of the united Church of England and Ireland was to be "an essential and fundamental part of the union". Commercial interests were mainly settled in accordance with the proposals of 1785, and some Irish manufactures were temporarily protected from suffering by British competition. The debts of the two countries were to be kept separate for twenty years, or until they should be to each other in the same proportion as the respective contributions of the two countries; and until their amalgamation the annual contributionof Great Britain towards the expenditure of the United Kingdom was fixed at fifteen parts and of Ireland at two parts. The first session of the united parliament was opened on January 22, 1801, the members for Great Britain being the same as those of the previous parliament.

THE CATHOLIC QUESTION.

The Irish catholics could have prevented the union. They made it possible, some by giving active help, others by maintaining neutrality; and though no definite promise had been made to them, they were led to expect that union would be followed by emancipation, a provision for their clergy, and the commutation of tithe. Pitt recognised this, and further held that his work would be incomplete without these healing measures, which would give "full effect to the great object of the union—that of tranquillising Ireland and attaching it to this country". Accordingly, in September, 1800, as soon as the union was effected, he called a meeting of the cabinet to consider these questions. He said nothing to the king on the subject, thinking, doubtless, that it would be less difficult to gain his consent if a complete plan was presented to him as the policy adopted by the cabinet. The risk was great, for in 1795 George, as we have seen, held that to consent to emancipation would be a breach of his coronation oath, and so lately as the autumn of 1799 he told Dundas that he hoped the government was "not pledged to anything in favour of the Roman catholics". Loughborough, the chancellor, saw an opportunity for ingratiating himself by betraying the prime minister. When he received Pitt's letter summoning him to the cabinet meeting on the catholic question, he was with the king at Weymouth, where George often resided in the summer since his recovery in 1789. He showed the king Pitt's letter, excited him against emancipation, and furnished him with arguments. Lord Auckland, the postmaster-general, who was allied with the chief Irish anti-catholics, was his cousin, and, probably at Auckland's suggestion, the Archbishops of Canterbury and Armagh wrote to the king to strengthen him against emancipation. When the cabinet met, Loughborough agreed to the commutation of tithe, but objected to any further concession, and the matter was adjourned.

Pitt again brought it before the cabinet in January, 1801. The king's feelings were then generally known, and the Dukeof Portland and Lords Westmorland and Liverpool more or less decidedly joined Loughborough in opposing emancipation. On the 28th George attacked Dundas on the subject at a levee: "I shall," he said, "reckon any man my personal enemy who proposes such a measure". He requested Addington, the speaker, to remonstrate with Pitt. On the 31st Pitt wrote him a long letter setting forth the general grounds of his desire for emancipation, by the substitution of a political oath for the sacramental test, and for a provision for the catholic clergy, adding that if the king refused his consent, he must resign office. George, after taking counsel with Addington, replied that he was bound by his coronation oath to refuse his consent, and proposed that both he and Pitt should say no more on the subject. In answer Pitt wrote on February 3 that he must resign office as soon as a new ministry could be formed. George, who was incapable of appreciating his splendid services, and showed later that he must often have chafed under his control, invited Addington, a dull man after his own heart, to form a ministry. He consented, and on the 5th the king accepted Pitt's resignation. Dundas, Grenville, Spencer, and Windham decided to go out with Pitt, so did Canning and others who held minor offices, and Cornwallis and Castlereagh also retired. Pitt promised his help to Addington, whose father had physicked the Pitt family, and persuaded some of his followers to join the new ministry. As it was to be an anti-catholic ministry, his conduct has been held to prove that he was paving his way to a return to office, and that the change, so far as he was concerned, was, to use Fox's expression, "a juggle". It should be remembered that the country was engaged in a deadly conflict, and that its safety was always Pitt's first consideration. Emancipation was hopeless. He had felt bound in honour to break up a strong ministry because he could not carry it, and it was his duty to do what he could to strengthen the new ministry so long as it did not prove incapable of guiding the country in critical times.

PITT'S IMPENDING RESIGNATION.

In this, as in every part of these transactions, his conduct was honourable and straightforward. He would not continue in office when thwarted by the king on a question of great importance, nor would he consent to disappoint hopes which he had encouraged and by which he had benefited. That he wasinfluenced by any other motive, such as that his continuance in office would hinder peace, is a vain imagining. He has been blamed by an eminent historian for not having persevered in his attempt to overcome the king's determination, which on other occasions had yielded to pressure.[314]On none of these occasions had George's religious convictions been concerned. Some experience of the power exercised by religious prejudice in strengthening the resistance which a naturally obstinate person can make to reason, persuasion, and the force of circumstances, leads me to believe that Pitt was right in accepting the king's decision as final and in not engaging in a struggle which might, especially at that time, have had disastrous consequences. Short of such a struggle he did insist on his policy in the only way open to him; he resigned. Where he was to blame, and he acknowledged it, was in keeping his intentions secret from the king. Whether if he had communicated them to the king at an early date, he would have gradually won George over to his policy, it is impossible to say; he certainly went the wrong way to work in disregarding the right of the crown to be consulted on the policy which the prime minister hopes to carry out.

The impending resignations were announced in parliament, and Sir John Mitford, the attorney-general, was chosen speaker in place of Addington, but the completion of the ministerial arrangements was delayed, and Pitt remainedde factoprime minister. To prevent public inconvenience he brought forward his budget on the 18th. He announced a loan of £25,500,000 for Great Britain and £1,500,000 for Ireland, afterwards increased by another £1,000,000, which the commercial prosperity of the country, though then in the ninth year of the war, had enabled him to negotiate, at the rate of about 5¼ per cent., and he proposed fourteen new taxes to defray the interest. The budget was well received. The delay in the change of ministry was prolonged by the king's illness. He had been much excited and distressed by the late events, and on the 20th again became insane. The Prince of Wales approached Pitt on the subject of a regency, and Pitt told him that, if the necessity should arise, he should propose the restrictions of 1789. By March 6 the king'scondition was materially improved and the question became of no further importance. George bade Willis, his doctor, tell Pitt that he was quite well, adding, "but what has he not to answer for who is the cause of my having been ill at all?" Pitt was much distressed. Would an assurance, he asked Willis, that he would not again trouble the king on the catholic question "be material to his health?" "Certainly," Willis replied, "and to his life also."[315]Pitt bade him give the king the assurance. George was much comforted.Pitt's surrender has been blamed in strong terms.[316]It cannot be defended completely. The question was of deep importance to Ireland, and he treated it as a personal matter. It is, however, unfair to represent his conduct as an attempt to resume office. His followers constantly urged him to invite Addington to retire, for they justly regarded him as incompetent, and when they heard of Pitt's message to the king, they expected that their wish would be fulfilled. But Addington had received his appointment, and was not likely to resign it willingly, and Pitt, as Canning complained, would not make any "forward movement towards the king". Nothing was to be got from him except that, if the king and Addington earnestly wished him to continue, he was ready to discuss matters. On the strength of this, Dundas and others went to Addington, who rejected their proposal that he should offer to make way for Pitt, and Pitt himself told them that their action was improper.

PITT RESIGNS OFFICE.

Pitt would willingly have continued in office. He loved power, and he knew that England needed him and the strong ministry of which he was the head and soul, but he was not a man to barter principle for office. His message to the king is intelligible, as a prime minister of our own time has pointed out, without so mean an interpretation.[317]He recognised that while the king lived catholic emancipation could not be gained save at too high a price. George was sixty-two, and his life was thought to be precarious; no one could foresee that he would outlive Pitt, who was twenty years younger. An attemptto force the question on him would have again brought on insanity, and would perhaps have killed him. Pitt was deeply moved by the king's words, and yielded to feelings of pity and personal affection for the sovereign he had served for seventeen years. On March 14 he gave back the seal of the exchequer into the king's hands. Once again then, and not for the last time, did George defeat the policy of his ministers and drive them from office. In this case the blame chiefly rests on the traitor Loughborough, who, for his own purposes, happily to be foiled, interfered between the king and Pitt and excited the king's religious prejudices. But George's conduct at this crisis cannot be viewed wholly apart from his earlier attempts at personal rule, for it proves that he was unable to understand that his ministers were responsible for his political acts. His refusal to assent to emancipation deprived Ireland of the happy results which Pitt expected, and brought much trouble on the country. As regards its effect on the empire at large, it is enough to say that it took the helm of state out of the hands of Pitt.

FOOTNOTES:[301]Grenville to Whitworth, Nov. 1, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.[302]Acton to Nelson, Aug. 1, 1799,Nelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins, p. 325.[303]The latest discussions on this affair are in Captain Mahan'sLife of Nelson, 2nd edition, 1899;Engl. Hist. Rev., April, 1898, July, 1899, October, 1900;Athenæum, July 8 and Aug. 5, 1899; Mr. Gutteridge'sNelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins(Navy Records Soc.), 1903, containing documents, with theDiario Napol.and theCompendio di Micherouxfrom theArchivio Storico per le province Napol., xxiv. (1899), pt. iv.; Marchese Maresca'sIl Cavaliere Micheroux, 1895; Madame Giglioni'sNaples in 1799, 1903, and two articles by Dr. Hueffer in theRevue Historique, Sept.-Dec, 1903, and Jan.-April, 1904, to which I am indebted.[304]Mahan,Life of Nelson, i., 439.[305]Whitworth to Grenville, Nov. 1 and 13, and Dalrymple to Huskisson, Dec. 31, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.[306]Whitworth to Grenville, Dec. 5 and 24, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.[307]Whitworth to Grenville, Dec. 13, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.[308]Martens,Recueil des Traités conclus par la Russie, xi., 5-7.[309]Whitworth to Grenville, March 18, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.[310]Same to same, April 2, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.[311]Whitworth to Grenville, March 6, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.[312]Mahan,Influence of Sea Power on the French Revolution, ii., 17, 18.[313]In 1801 the population of Great Britain was about 10,500,000, and of Ireland about 4,500,000; in 1901 the population of Great Britain was 36,999,946, and of Ireland 4,458,775.[314]Lecky,History, viii., 512.[315]Lord Colchester,Diary, i., 255-61. Malmesbury (Diaries, iv., 31-32) says that Pitt wrote a contrite letter to the king, which seems a mistake (see Stanhope,Life, iii., 303-4).[316]Lecky,Hist., viii., 523. Pitt has been admirably defended by Lord Rosebery (Pitt, pp. 226-28).[317]Lord Rosebery,u.s.

[301]Grenville to Whitworth, Nov. 1, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.

[302]Acton to Nelson, Aug. 1, 1799,Nelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins, p. 325.

[303]The latest discussions on this affair are in Captain Mahan'sLife of Nelson, 2nd edition, 1899;Engl. Hist. Rev., April, 1898, July, 1899, October, 1900;Athenæum, July 8 and Aug. 5, 1899; Mr. Gutteridge'sNelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins(Navy Records Soc.), 1903, containing documents, with theDiario Napol.and theCompendio di Micherouxfrom theArchivio Storico per le province Napol., xxiv. (1899), pt. iv.; Marchese Maresca'sIl Cavaliere Micheroux, 1895; Madame Giglioni'sNaples in 1799, 1903, and two articles by Dr. Hueffer in theRevue Historique, Sept.-Dec, 1903, and Jan.-April, 1904, to which I am indebted.

[304]Mahan,Life of Nelson, i., 439.

[305]Whitworth to Grenville, Nov. 1 and 13, and Dalrymple to Huskisson, Dec. 31, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.

[306]Whitworth to Grenville, Dec. 5 and 24, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.

[307]Whitworth to Grenville, Dec. 13, 1799, MS. Russia, R.O.

[308]Martens,Recueil des Traités conclus par la Russie, xi., 5-7.

[309]Whitworth to Grenville, March 18, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.

[310]Same to same, April 2, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.

[311]Whitworth to Grenville, March 6, 1800, MS. Russia, R.O.

[312]Mahan,Influence of Sea Power on the French Revolution, ii., 17, 18.

[313]In 1801 the population of Great Britain was about 10,500,000, and of Ireland about 4,500,000; in 1901 the population of Great Britain was 36,999,946, and of Ireland 4,458,775.

[314]Lecky,History, viii., 512.

[315]Lord Colchester,Diary, i., 255-61. Malmesbury (Diaries, iv., 31-32) says that Pitt wrote a contrite letter to the king, which seems a mistake (see Stanhope,Life, iii., 303-4).

[316]Lecky,Hist., viii., 523. Pitt has been admirably defended by Lord Rosebery (Pitt, pp. 226-28).

[317]Lord Rosebery,u.s.

ON AUTHORITIES.

For the sake of convenience an attempt is made to classify the authorities used in writing this volume under different heads; the plan adopted is unscientific, and books noted under one head belong partly to others, but it has, perhaps, the one merit of clearness. The editions quoted here are those which have been used.

(1) General histories of England for the period 1760-1801:—Lecky,History of England in the 18th Century, 8 vols., 1879-90, from which much help has been obtained. It is a work to which every historian of the period must be deeply indebted, and though faults may be found with its plan, it holds a high place among our histories for learning, moderation, and philosophical treatment. The history of England is carried down to the outbreak of the war in 1793, that of Ireland to the Union.Adolphus,History of England from the Accession of George III., 8 vols., 1840-45, a laborious and impartial record of events, viewed from a conservative standpoint.Massey,History of England, 4 vols., 1855-63, ends 1803, chiefly treating of home affairs; neither animated nor philosophic, written from a liberal point of view, unduly severe to the king, but deriving some value from the author's legal and parliamentary experience. LordStanhope,History, 7 vols., edit. 1853, vols. iv.-vii., ends 1783, trustworthy, dull, and whiggish. To these must be added Sir T. E.May(Lord Farnborough),Constitutional History of England from 1760 to 1860, 3 vols., 5th edit., 1875.

(2) The chief manuscript sources consulted:—The great collection of theDuke of Newcastle's Papersin Add. MSS., British Museum, extremely important down to 1767, specially with reference to ministerial intrigues, the old whig methods of government, the negotiations with France in 1761-62, and the growth of the cabinet system. ThePitt Papers, a mass of letters addressed to Pitt (Earl of Chatham) and William Pitt, and some to Lady Chatham, together with various political memoranda. These papers have been sorted into differentbundles, to which the numbers given in my footnotes refer, and a manuscript index of them has been made by Mrs. Lomas of the Record Office, where they are at present deposited by their owner. They have been used in the preparation of theChatham Correspondence, and by Lord Stanhope, but the field is large and may be gleaned with profit.Foreign Office Correspondence(despatches of ambassadors, etc.). With respect to these, the kind and efficient help given me by Mr. Hubert Hall, of the Record Office, is gratefully acknowledged.

(3) Akin to these sources are various publications of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. Among these special reference should be made to the Reports on Mr. Fortescue'sDropmore MSS., 3 vols., containing the papers of Lord Grenville, of the highest interest and importance, specially from 1793; the Duke of Rutland'sBelvoir MSS., 3 vols., withinter aliathe fourth Duke of Rutland's correspondence while lord-lieutenant of Ireland, 1784-87; theCharlemont MSS., also essential for Irish history;Lord Dartmouth's MSS., vol. 2, American Papers to 1776, and Mrs.Stopford-Sackville's MSS., and SirE. Strachey's MSS., both throwing much light on the conduct of the war with America.

(4) Of pre-eminent importance is theParliamentary History, xv.-xxxv., and its complement, SirHenry Cavendish'sDebates of the House of Commonsduring the parliament of 1768, 2 vols., edit. by Wright, 1841, begins May, 1768, and ends March, 1771. It is much to be wished that the remainder of these valuable reports should be published from the manuscript in the British Museum. Dodsley'sAnnual Registerhas historical chapters written by Burke, perhaps to 1778, and chapters in many later volumes probably written under his supervision; they are of course generally excellent. The volumes for the later years of our period contain many useful state papers. Burke's speeches, pamphlets, and letters, of which the edition used here is hisWorks and Correspondence, 8 vols., 1852. For his life seePrior,Life of Burke, 2 vols., 5th edit. (Bohn's Lib.), 1854, Mr.J. Morley,Burke, a historical study, 1867, andBurke(Engl. Men of Letters Series), 1879.

MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE.

(5) Political and other memoirs and printed correspondence:—H. Walpole(Lord Orford),Letters, edited by Cunningham, 9 vols., 1880, the letters in vols. i. and ii. are of earlier dates than 1760. A more complete edition, in 16 vols., by Mrs.P. Toynbee, is in course of publication by the Clarendon Press.Walpole'sMemoirs of the Reign of George III., 1760-72, edited by Mr. Russell Barker, 4 vols., 1894, and hisJournals of the Reign, 1771-83, edited by Doran, 2 vols., 1859. These works are of considerable historical value, butWalpole was not a politician; he was a whig for personal reasons rather than from conviction, and his sentiments were largely determined by filial prejudice and the interests of his friends; his views are generally superficial, and his judgments of persons biassed, sometimes contradictory, and often unjust.Dodington(Lord Melcombe),Diary, edited by Wyndham, 1785, ending with 1761.Harris,Life of Lord Hardwicke, 3 vols., 1847, useful to 1764, and with an account of the circumstances preceding C. Yorke's death in 1770, written by his brother.Bisset,Memoirs of Sir Andrew Mitchell, 2 vols., 1850. Mitchell was ambassador at Berlin in 1760 and later. The Memoirs are based on his correspondence (Add. MSS. British Museum and elsewhere), and throw light on the causes of Frederick's angry feelings towards the British government, and the negotiations for peace in 1762.The Grenville Papers, edited by W. J. Smith, 4 vols., 1852, consisting principally of the correspondence of Richard, Earl Temple, and his brother George, first lord of the treasury, 1763-65, together with George Grenville's diary of "memorable transactions" during his administration, which gives a full account of the relations between the king and his first minister. The Papers are of primary importance for the first eleven years of the reign. [Almon,]History of the Late Minority, 1765, a clever account of the politics of the parliamentary opposition from 1761, attributed to Lord Temple, and written in his interest.Correspondence of John, fourth Duke of Bedford, 3 vols., 1846, well edited by Lord John (Earl) Russell, the last part of vol. ii. and vol. iii. cover from 1760 to 1770. The correspondence and extracts from the duke's diary afford a striking picture of the whig system of government by "connexion"; they have much on the negotiations for the Peace of Paris, the ministerial crises of 1763 and 1765, and the discord between the whigs which was fatal to their chance of effectually resisting the king's policy. The work is a necessary complement to the Grenville papers.A Narrative of the Changes of Ministry, 1765-1767, told by the Duke of Newcastle, edited by Miss M. Bateson for the Royal Hist. Soc. (Camden Series), 1898, from the Newcastle Papers (see sec. 2), giving an interesting account of the king's efforts to supply the place of the Grenville ministry, the difficulties both on the king's side and that of Pitt which kept Pitt out of office, the duke's discomfiture when the king put Pitt in power in July, 1766, and his attempt in 1767 to arrange a coalition between Grafton and the Rockingham party.

The lack of any sufficient biography of Chatham rendersThe Chatham Correspondence, 4 vols., 1840 (see sec. 2,Pitt Papers), well edited by Taylor and Captain Pringle, of peculiar importance; vols.ii.-iv. contain letters both from and to Chatham, which illustrate the whole of his career during our period. Pitt's political position and conduct, 1761-65, and specially his relations with Bute, are the subject of an interesting study,William Pitt und Graf Bute, by Dr.A. von Ruville, Berlin, 1895.William Pitt, Earl of Chatham(Heroes of the Nation Series), by Mr.W. D. Green, M.P., 1901, is good from 1760, so far as its limits allow. Earl ofAlbemarle,Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham, 2 vols., 1852, an ill-arranged book, has letters of value, exhibits the policy of the Rockingham whigs, their differences with Pitt (Chatham), and their efforts for reform.Autobiography and Political Correspondence of the Duke of Grafton, 1898, edited by SirWilliam Anson, with an excellent introduction and useful footnotes, gives valuable notices of the first Rockingham ministry, the weakness of the administration formed under Chatham, the collapse of all ministerial vigour during his illness and when Grafton was nominally at the head of affairs, and the views of the whigs with regard to the constitution.The Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 1768-83, 2 vols., 1867, edited by W. B. Donne, with copious notes and comments, shows the king's system of personal rule through his ministers in full working, the position held by North under it, and his unavailing attempts to resign office when forced to carry out a policy he disapproved, together with much that concerns the conduct of the war. LordEdmond Fitzmaurice,Life of the Earl of Shelburne(Marquis of Lansdowne), 3 vols., 1875-76, based on papers at Lansdowne House and elsewhere, represents Shelburne's political conduct in as favourable a light as possible; the parts relating to the quarrel between Shelburne and H. Fox in vol. i., the negotiations in Paris in 1782 and 1783, and the quarrel with C. J. Fox, are perhaps specially useful, but the whole work down to 1784 is necessary and authoritative.

LordStanhope,Life of Pitt, 4 vols., 2nd edit., 1862, founded on unpublished papers (see sec. 2,Pitt Papers); a good biography and a standard and indispensable work. With this should be read LordRosebery,Pitt(Twelve English Statesmen Series), 1891, an admirable appreciation of Pitt's work and character. LordJohn(Earl)Russell,Memorials and Correspondence of C. J. Fox, 4 vols., 1853, has many letters of importance, but is otiosely edited, andLife of C. J. Fox, 3 vols., 1859-67, more concerned with politics, which it treats from a strongly whig standpoint, than with biography. SirG. O. Trevelyan,Early History of C. J. Fox, 1880, written on the whig side, ends with 1774.Court and Cabinets of George III., edited by the Duke of Buckingham, 4 vols., 1853-55 (vol. i. begins at 1782, and1801 is reached early in vol. iii.), contains the correspondence of the brothers Lord Temple (later Marquis of Buckingham), Thomas, and W. W. Grenville (later Lord Grenville); the letters of the last named are of much value; they are supplemented by theDropmore MSS.(see sec. 2).Diaries and Correspondence of the First Earl of Malmesbury, 4 vols., 1844, edited by the third earl, chiefly concerned with the foreign relations of Great Britain; his despatches, letters, and journal while minister at St. Petersburg, 1770-80, at the Hague, 1784-88, at Berlin, 1793, and during his mission to Paris in 1796, and to Lille in 1797, are of first-rate importance. In vol. ii. are reports of two conferences with the Prince of Wales on the subject of his debts in 1785. Malmesbury (Sir James Harris) was one of the Portland whigs, joined in their secession, and was much trusted by Pitt.Correspondence of Marquis Cornwallis, 3 vols., 1859, well edited by C. Ross, has several letters relating to the war with America, an account of his interview with Frederick of Prussia in 1785, many despatches and letters written by him as governor-general of India, 1786-92, and a large mass of correspondence during his vice-royalty of Ireland, 1798-1801.Journal and Correspondence of Lord Auckland, 4 vols., 1861-62, edited feebly by Lord Auckland, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Auckland (Eden) was a personal friend of Pitt until 1801. His letters while ambassador at Paris, 1785-87; correspondence relating to the regency question, 1788; his letters from the Hague, 1792-93; some on the course of the war, and those referring to the recall of Fitzwilliam and to the catholic question in 1801, are to be noted. He was chief secretary for Ireland in 1780, and was closely allied with Beresford and the protestant ascendency party.Political Memoranda of the Duke of Leeds, edited by Mr. O. Browning for the Camden Soc., 1884, specially valuable for its account of the whig scheme for a coalition in 1792. Also edited by Mr. Browning,Despatches of Earl Gower, 1885. Gower was ambassador at Paris, 1790-92. LadyMinto,Life of Sir Gilbert Elliot, afterwards Lord Minto, to 1806, 3 vols., 1874; vol. i. contains information as to the illness of the king and the regency question; vol. ii. as to the secession of the Portland whigs; Elliot, whose sister married Lord Auckland, and whose wife was a sister of Lady Malmesbury, was one of the party. His letters, while he was employed on a diplomatic mission at Toulon during the siege, as viceroy of Corsica, at Naples, and as minister at Vienna, 1799-1801, are worthy of attention. SirN. W. Wraxall,Historical and Posthumous Memoirs, 1772-84, 5 vols., 1884, carefully edited by Mr. H. B. Wheatley, diffuse and amusing. Wraxall's inaccuracies, or worse, have been exaggerated,and his work, which goes to 1789, together with some later "reminiscences," is of value, specially as regards its portraiture of public men of a secondary rank. Wraxall was a follower of North until 1783, and afterwards, until he resigned his seat in 1794, generally supported Pitt.Diaries and Correspondence of George Rose, 2 vols., 1860, edited by L. V. Harcourt. Rose was secretary to the treasury during the whole of Pitt's first administration, and was intimate with him. Vol. i. contains, among other matters, an account of Pitt's resignation; vol. ii. has some reminiscences which the king communicated to Rose in 1804.The Diary and Correspondence of Abbot, Lord Colchester, edited by his son, 3 vols., 1861, vol. i. andPellew,Life of Lord Sidmouth(Addington), 3 vols., 1847, vol. i. should be consulted for the circumstances of Pitt's retirement. LordHolland,Memoirs of the Whig Party, 2 vols., 1852, edited by his son, Lord Holland. As the writer was the nephew of Fox, who was much attached to him, and by 1800 was himself a prominent member of the party, these papers have great authority; many of them refer to events and persons belonging to our period. Along with much else which does not concern political history, theLife of William Wilberforce, by his sons, 5 vols., 1838, contains some interesting notices of public affairs before 1801, along with a record of Wilberforce's efforts in and out of parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. See alsoPrivate Papers of W. Wilberforce, 1897, with a character of Pitt by Wilberforce.

(6) Miscellaneous books, pamphlets, etc. On public finance, seeHamilton,Inquiry concerning ... the National Debt, 1813;Newmarch,On the Loans Raised by Mr. Pitt, 1793-1801, a highly valuable and interesting treatise;Parliamentary Report, Accounts, xxxiii., 1858, on the national debt, andS. Dowell,History of Taxation in England, 4 vols., 1884. On the commercial treaty with France of 1786, see Countde Butenval,Précis du Traité de Commerce, 1786, Paris, 1869, and Auckland Corr. as above. Some of the articles by SirG. C. Lewis,Administrations of Great Britain, 1783-1830, edited by Sir E. Head, 1864, are founded on Memoirs, etc., noted in sec. 5, and are excellent commentaries on them. The private life of the king is written byJesse,Memoirs of the Life and Reign of George III., 3 vols., 2nd edit., 1867, in itself scarcely to be reckoned as of historical value, but giving copious references to authorities. Life at the court is vividly described in MadameD'Arblay's(Miss Burney's)Diary, 7 vols., 1854; a new edition by Mr. Austin Dobson is in course of publication. The Diary should be read with an allowance for the writer's dislike of her work at court, which Macaulaydoes not perhaps sufficiently consider in his essay. His other essays relating to this period should be read, but the views of history which they present must not be accepted in all cases. BishopDouglas,Seasonable Hints from an Honest Man, 1761;Case of the Troops Serving in Germany, 1781;Mauduit,Occasional Thoughts on the Present German War, 1761,and other pamphlets. Many of the Caricatures ofGillray,Rowlandson, and others are valuable as historical documents. In default of the originals, seeWright,England under the House of Hanover, 2 vols., 3rd edit., 1852, republished in one vol. asCaricature History of the Georges[1867?].

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