Earl of Shelburne

“ The noble Earl is fond of cant terms. I will give him one which has been popular in the nation ever since the 9th of last July. It is called a day famous for his infamy. The minister of England reprobated, in the House of Parliament, with all that can degrade a man and a politician, without a defender, without a friend. And yet who is it can positively say that there may not be, after all this, in the world (though not in Kerry or Wiltshire) some person who can speak well of the Earl of Shelburne? A bad character should not be the ruin of a minister. ”

“ The Earl of Shelburne is a man who must prosper in a court. He knows when to relax, and when to tighten the line. Look at his conduct upon the late volunteer bill; 'You ought to have power to force the people,' said Lord Stormont—'I admit your principle,' replied the Earl of Shelburne; 'Government, for true political uses, should have a power of compelling the subjects. Your maxim is excellent ”

“ It is no answer, that any man may be a knave, and that the basest blockhead may deceive the brightest genius. There is a train of management and mystery throughout this business, to which neither envy nor enmity can refuse applause.
Treachery to his friends! a minister laughs at the exploded term. It is a language which exists only to be despised. The Earl of Shelburne has the example of one of his present colleagues before him, that no tie should bind a statesman; and the less temptation to infidelity the greater virtue in the villainy. ”

“ His system is defined and decisive.—The Earl of Shelburne is above the weakness of persisting in a principle which militates with his interest. He is not rash enough to adhere to any series of opinions which may impair his power, although his honor and consistency were the victims of his compliance. He never entertains a peevish prejudice for old sentiments when they are inconvenient, and has so fortunate a ductility, that he can bend to all sides, and adapt himself to all situations. ”

“ Fox to men of letters, but he never sought their flattery, and his patronage was never very beneficial. He is no sycophant, and abhors those who are. His own vanities are enveloped in his ambition, and he never administers to the weakness of another.—The Earl of Shelburne has a vast display of patronage, but the talents of most of his clients were of so abstracted a sort, that out of the eight millions who inhabit this island, not eight persons will ever take the trouble to judge of their merit. ”

“ His being in such a station is the thing (and perhaps the only thing) that would fix that capricious being, the Duke of Bedford, whose present intention is to resign and take no other employment. If that should be the case he would dine a fifth Duke at Devonshire House within this twelvemonth.
"The second, Lord Shelburne, has uncommon abilities, great activity, and loves you sincerely. I need say no more to you of him than that he cannot with decency or ability remain as he now is; if he has an employment it must be a very high one, and he will fill it well. ”

“ But there is always a resource in the principles of a mean politician. Where there is no decent pride there can be no honest passion. A hint given in private, to the editor rejected in public, produced the effect; and, from being the most clamorous against him, he suddenly feels a zeal, like inspiration, for the Earl of Shelburne's favour. ”

“ Shelburne replied. On his way to London he had had an interview with Pitt at Bath, and consequently spoke animated not only with the consciousness of a good cause, but with the knowledge that he was the mouthpiece of a more powerful statesman than himself, though possibly this was one of the occasions when he felt that the Great Commoner had preferred throwing the responsibility of overt action on others, to taking it on his own shoulders. ”

“ Shelburne wrote in reply to the question of the Lord-Lieutenant, "that neither the King nor his servants have any predilection for any men or set of men whatever; that having nothing else in view than to conduct the King's affairs honourably and safely to the mutual satisfaction of the Crown and people, they must naturally choose to see the public business carried on without being obliged to make any changes whatsoever among his servants, as long as they are both able and willing to serve ”

“ The barony became extinct by the death of Lord Shelburne without issue in 1696. It was revived in favour of his brother Henry in 1699, who was further created Viscount Dunkerron and Earl of Shelburne in 1719. ”

“ I entirely agree with you, my Lord, 'that a man would gain more credit, and certainly would be much more sure of preferment, by an ingenious rhetorical apology for the want of every human virtue, than by possessing, without the power of announcing them, every great and good quality that can adorn human nature.' This I think, my Lord, was precisely the qualification that recommended your good countryman Mr. Dundas, to the Earl of Shelburne. Men of that description are always welcome to him. ”

“ The most important of these papers are two autobiographical fragments forming an account of Lord Shelburne's own early life, with a sketch of the political history of England and of the characters of the leading statesmen of the period and of events up to 1758. What may be called two editions exist, and of these it is difficult to settle which is the earlier in date. Both are imperfect and show a complete absence of revision, especially the less complete of the two, which, however, contains some interesting matter of its own. ”

“ Shelburne at once redeemed the pledges he had given. "His Majesty," he writes to Bernard, " is extremely sorry to observe any degree of ill-temper remaining in his Colony of Massachusetts Bay, or that points should be so improperly agitated as to tend to the revival of disputes which every friend to America must wish to be forgotten. They have seen the Parliament of Great Britain give due attention to all well-founded complaints of the Provinces, notwithstanding they appeared to them in some parts not so properly urged. ”

“ During the period of which the political history has been narrated, Lord Shelburne continued to employ his leisure in the management of his estates in England and Ireland. Some of his reflections on the subjects thus brought to his notice and on kindred topics will be found in the following paper: [1] —
England
"Man is made to be dependent in some respects, independent in others. Religion, morality, and necessity, point out his duties to others. Pride, knowledge of life, and reflection, suggest those which he owes to himself, and confirm those he owes to society. ”

“ The ambiguous position he had for some time past occupied in a ministry, from the chief measures of which he was known to differ, could be justified by facts known only to a few persons; while the politicians best acquainted with the wheels within wheels of the recent negotiations, were also those most interested in making the character and conduct of Shelburne appear in an unfavourable light. His sudden rise to very high office when a young man increased the number of his enemies. ”

“ Mais l'homme dont je ne puis assez parler, assez me louer, et pour qui ma reconnaissance doit durer autant que ma vie, est le Lord Shelburne, à qui je dois cette noble hospitalité, dont je crois qu'il serait difficile de trouver un autre exemple. J'ai déjà dit l'attention qu'il eut de me faire recevoir à mon arrivée par son frère et ses amis, et de me donner si bonne compagnie en attendant qu'il revînt. ”

“ To Bute the struggle seemed mainly one for the personal rights and prerogatives of a patriotic King; to Pitt it was a struggle for the freedom of the crown from cabals and connection and for an efficient executive. Bute therefore had now determined to seek the evils he knew not of, rather than those of which he had daily experience, and he commissioned Shelburne to treat, not only as before with Bedford and Gower, but with Pitt as well. ”

“ These suspicions were soon converted into positive opposition.
"Though Lord Shelburne had the confidence of the King from March 27th, when the Administration was dismissed,"—so he writes himself in an unfinished memorandum on these times—"yet from the influence of the Rockingham party, their number in the Cabinet, and their numbers in Parliament, it was impossible for him to do much good. He found it easier to prevent evil. ”

“ Before concluding his speech Shelburne adverted to the state of affairs in America, which he described as "the native offspring of ministerial ignorance, obstinacy and want of principle"; and in England, where the immediate object of the Ministers was, he said, to increase the influence of the Crown and the power of the sovereign. ”

“ Lord Shelburne must remember that when in March I was obliged to change my Ministry, I called upon him to form a new one, and proposed his taking the employment of First Lord of the Treasury, which he declined to accommodate Ld Rockingham. The vacancy of that office makes me return to my original idea, and offer it to him on the present occasion, and with the fullest political confidence; indeed he has had an ample sample of it, by my conduct towards him since his return to my service. ”

“ It is no wonder that so young a man should have made a slip. This would do him honour. I think at all events it is highly material that Lord Shelburne should not by any language in the House of Lords appear to change his conduct, let the blame fall where it may. I do not wish he should appear but in that dignified light which his station in my service requires, and which can only be maintained by his conduct in the whole negotiation of peace having been neat, which would not be the case if Mr. Fox could prove that independence was granted otherwise than as the price of peace ”

“ Lord Shelburne’s loss was felt in the House of Lords. But it was in the Commons that the Ministry were now feeblest. ‘I don’t see how they can meet Parliament,’ said Chesterfield. ‘In the Commons they have not a man with ability and words enough to call a coach.’
In February, 1765, Shelburne married Lady Sophia Carteret, one of the daughters of the Earl of Granville. The marriage was a very happy one. Not long after it, he began to form his library. ”

“ During the progress of my work I came to the conclusion that sufficient materials would exist for a Life of Lord Shelburne, if, in addition to the papers at Lansdowne House and Bowood, the papers of Lord Bute in the possession of the Earl of Harrowby, and those of Henry Fox, the first Lord Holland, at Holland House, were at my disposal. ”

“ Anything that would just give us breathing time, and serve to break the dangerous confederacy against us, would be a prosperous event. But when the grievous task was shifted to others, how did the language differ! The navy grew as it were by magic. The resources of the State became immense. The condition of the country flourishing; and the Ministry were to be tried by the strictest and most rigid law."
There was yet another reason against dissolution. Shelburne's extensive ideas of Reform had alarmed many of his own colleagues and had probably frightened the King himself. ”

“ It may seem strange to say, that the man who is destitute of political consistency, should be endued with political courage. Yet I think the noble Lord in his own person absolutely reconciles this apparent paradox. I do believe he has some share of boldness. It is to this Mr. Burke alluded, when he affirmed in the House of Commons, that he thought it twenty times more dangerous to trust the Earl of Shelburne with power, than the old ministry ”