George Grenville, 1st Baron Bute

“ A majority for the peace had to be insured before the preliminaries came before parliament. Grenville was dissatisfied with some of the articles, and would in any case have been too scrupulous for the work which had to be done. Bute was driven to apply to Henry Fox, whom both the king and he cordially disliked. Fox, who had previously sold his support to Bute at the price of a peerage for his wife, was offered Grenville's place as secretary of state and a peerage for himself, if he would take the management of the commons. "We must," George said, "call in bad men to govern bad men." ”

“ He recommended George Grenville as his successor, and employed Shelburne as an intermediary in his negotiations with the Duke of Bedford and others for the formation of a new ministry. Bute hoped to make use of Grenville as a political puppet, but in this he was destined to be disappointed, for Grenville quickly resented his interference, and complained that he had not the full confidence of the king. In August 1763 Bute advised the king to dismiss Grenville, and employed Shelburne in making overtures to Pitt and the Bedford connection. ”

“ Negotiations were again opened with Pitt, this time through the Duke of Cumberland, but failed, owing to the action of Lord Temple, with whom Grenville had been lately reconciled. Upon Lord Lyttelton's refusal to form a ministry the king was compelled to retain Grenville in office. The latter, however, insisted that the king should promise that Bute should no longer participate in his councils, and that Bute's brother, James Stuart Mackenzie, and Lord Holland should be dismissed from their respective offices of privy seal of Scotland and paymaster-general. ”

“ The Duke added, his party, Conway and Grenville, would be too strong for Bute. I said, the whole nation united would certainly be too strong for him; but that union would never happen, for there were not places enough to content all. The more his Grace and his friends were averse to Bute, the sooner Grenville would court him: the Tories and the Scotch would always adhere to him. I said at last; “My lord, I will not be unreasonable; offer Grenville to be Paymaster.” Still the Duke reverted to the dismission of some of Bute’s friends. ”

“ My object was to make the Rockinghams submit to him, or prevent his resignation. He would not hear of Grenville. They stickled for the Bedfords, urging that it would prevent Bute from turning them out again; whereas, it was more likely to advance it, as Grenville would stoop to Bute rather than remain subordinate to Rockingham and Conway. The intractable man of all was, as usual, Lord John Cavendish. The Duke of Portland himself, inveterate as he was to Bute, had the sense to see that if they came into place before the new Parliament, it would secure all their elections. ”

“ Lord Bute, who was of a different opinion with regard to Germany, and who talked as if he was determined to recall the troops or make the peace, and was hard pushed by the Duke of Bedford to this (whose friendship he was obliged to court, notwithstanding what had passed) , as well as some other of his friends who were determined to continue their opposition to it, thought therefore a single million sufficient. Mr. Grenville, who was intrusted chiefly in the House of Commons, and the other Lords of the Treasury were strongly for asking only a single million. ”

“ The election presented one noteworthy incident; Horne Tooke, though in holy orders, and consequently supposed to be disqualified, presented himself for election at Westminster; he retired before the close of the poll, and the question of the qualification of clergymen to sit in parliament was not decided until 1801. In consequence of the hostility of the chancellor, Pitt needed some one to lead his party in the lords, and chose William Grenville, the secretary of state for home affairs, who was created Baron Grenville. The expenses of the armament against Spain amounted to nearly £3,000,000 ”

“ Grenoble (57) , a strongly fortified city of France, capital of the dep. of Isère, on the river Isère, 58 m. SE. of Lyons; there are several fine old cathedrals, and a university with a library of 170,000 vols.; the manufacture of kid gloves is the staple industry.
Grenville, George, statesman, younger brother of Earl Temple; was called to the bar in 1735, and six years later entered Parliament; held various offices of State, and in 1763 succeeded Bute as Prime Minister; his administration is noted for the prosecution of Wilkes (q. v.) ”

“ There was now no other course open to the King than to ask Grenville to remain in office, to which request the minister assented, but only after delivering to the King a lecture on the duty of a sovereign to be loyal to his recognized advisers, and extracting from him a promise that Lord Bute [Pg 276] should never again interfere in affairs of state. Yet, in spite of this undertaking, it became known to the Prime Minister that, a few days later, Bute attempted to reopen negotiations with Pitt. ”

“ They would now be so much stronger than last year, as the King would not now have an option to make between them and Lord Chatham; and therefore Lord Bute would be obliged to support them now, as what he hates most is the connection of Grenville and the Bedfords.” I earnestly begged the Duke to make no overtures to Lord Rockingham till the session was closed, as the distance of six or seven months to another session would make him and his followers more tractable. The Duke was desirous of getting rid of Lord Shelburne ”

“ The vice-admiral of America is a mere feather; but there is more substance in the notion of the Viceroy's quitting Ireland. Lord Bute and George Grenville are so ill together, that decency is scarce observed between their adherents: and the moment the former has an opportunity or resolution enough, he will remove the latter, and place his son-in-law (740) in the treasury. This goes so far, that Charles Townshend, who is openly dedicated to Grenville, may possibly find himself disappointed, and get no place at last. ”

“ Had George Grenville lived many months longer, the friendly ties which, after years of estrangement and 105hostility, had been renewed between him and his brother-in-law, would, in all probability, have been a second time violently dissolved. For now the quarrel between England and the North American colonies took a gloomy and terrible aspect. Oppression provoked resistance; resistance was made the pretext for fresh oppression. The warnings of all the greatest statesmen of the age were lost on an imperious court and a deluded nation. Soon a colonial senate confronted the British Parliament. ”

“ He was resolute to withstand the people as he had withstood the Crown. His one standard of conduct was the approval of Parliament; his one aim to enforce the supremacy of Parliament over subject as over king. With such an aim as this, it was inevitable that Grenville should strike fiercely at the new force of opinion which had just shown its power in the fall of Bute. He was resolved to see public opinion only in the voice of Parliament; and his resolve led at once to a contest with Wilkes as with the press. ”

“ The king made various attempts to induce Pitt to come to his rescue by forming a ministry, but without success, and at last had recourse to the marquis of Rockingham, on whose agreeing to accept office Grenville was dismissed July 1765. He never again held office, and died on the 13th of November 1770. ”

“ He has been bled twice or three times; the greatest pains are taken to keep this illness from the public; but my authority is good, and what I can depend upon. He looked very ill when I last saw him, and I think Lord Grenville must have found his appearance much altered. The impression of my mind is that the complaint is in the head. He has been agitated to a degree by the birth of this Clarence child, and by all the difficulties surrounding him; and not less from finding that he has no resource, but must submit to whatever his Ministers may decide as to the Queen. ”

“ In one important qualification Grenville himself acknowledged his deficiency. ‘I am not competent,’ he says in a letter to his brother, ‘to the management of men. I never was so naturally, and toil and anxiety more and more unfit me for it’ (The Court and Cabinets of George III, iv. 133) . Though not a great orator, Grenville was a successful speaker in the House of Lords, where his weighty and sonorous speeches, though sometimes long and tedious, were listened to with attention. ”

“ His indomitable spirit rose up stronger and stronger under the load of public hatred. He fought out the battle obstinately to the end. On the last reading he had a sharp altercation with his brother-in-law, the last of their many sharp altercations. Pitt thundered in his loftiest tones against the man who had wished to dip the ermine of a British King in the blood of the British people. Grenville replied with his wonted intrepidity and asperity. ”

“ Grenville participated so strongly in his feelings that he indicated his determination of following his example. After stating in a subsequent letter that he thought he saw in the King's mind "a strong wish to take into his own hands this piece of military patronage whenever it falls," he proceeds to observe upon the consequences.
[Pg 133]
The whole transaction gives me the greatest uneasiness, because I am not afraid to say to you, fairly and openly, that the measures to which, I fear, you may ultimately be driven in consequence of it are of a nature which I fear extremely ”

“ At the same time, I should imagine, though undoubtedly he did not say anything that approached it, that he was doubtful whether his Government meant to stand stout. The language of the Ministers' friends is, that they mean to try the question of the Liturgy; and if they are beat, then to resign in a body. I believe this to be the real truth, and I know they have been urged to this by several county members. It is impossible to describe how full the King was of the Oxford Address. Pray tell Lord Grenville this, if he is with you (which the papers state) . ”

“ Lord King's conduct is worse than your brother's, who was not at the moment aware of "his honourable friend's" intention, and really does not know the details of your father's conduct as teller. I find from Charles W—— that Lord Grenville is equally outrageous with Lord King. It is evident that the Mountain are moving heaven and earth to lower you and your friends, but it will not do. I dread all the discussions arising from the Catholic question; Canning consulted no one, and I really believe not a soul was aware of his intention previous to his giving the notice. ”

“ Pitt was a man of excitable nerves, sanguine in hope, easily elated by success and popularity, keenly sensible of injury, but prompt to forgive; Grenville's character was stern, melancholy, and pertinacious. Nothing was more remarkable in him than his inclination always to look on the dark side of things. He was the raven of the House of Commons, always croaking defeat in the midst of triumphs, and bankruptcy with an overflowing exchequer. ”

“ Some of Grenville's colleagues, indeed, looked upon his conduct as nothing short of political suicide, notably Sheridan, who is reported to have said that ‘he had known many men knock their heads against a wall, but he had never before heard of any man who collected the bricks and built the very wall with an intention to knock out his own brains against it’ (Lord Colchester, Diary, ii. 109) . In September 1809 an unsuccessful attempt was made to induce Grenville and Grey to join the ministry on the resignation of the Duke of Portland. ”

“ He was known to all the leading men in public life as a keen politician and a well-informed man. For many years he was in the closest confidence of George Grenville, to whom he communicated from his house in Parliament Street, Westminster, an abundance of political gossip (Grenville Papers, ii. 133 to end) . ”

“ On the 23rd of December, a resolution, vigorously opposed by Lord North as instituting a fiction in lieu of the royal authority, was adopted, empowering the Chancellor to affix the Great Seal to such Bill of Limitations as might be necessary to restrict the power of the future Regent; but Ministers had no sooner succeeded in carrying their object to this important stage, than a new impediment presented itself. On the 2nd of January, 1789, Mr. Cornwall, Speaker of the House of Commons, died. It was immediately decided [Pg 85] that Mr. Grenville should be proposed to succeed him. ”

“ Pitt went into the strongest expressions about your conduct, which he concluded by saying repeatedly, 'Lord Temple and he agreed you and your friends only had acted a thorough part.' I think he has stronger light since Monday from George Grenville's quarter, though they have not met; in some shape or other there seems security. He went into arrangements, is most determined to keep Lord Bute at bay though not altered in sentiments of gentlemanlike conduct towards him or anything reasonable for the great person's friends. ”

“ His mischievous abilities soon forced him again into employment, which as naturally led him back to his old monarchic principles, to support which, he, so lately a champion of the constitution, was made Attorney-General, and at length Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
George Grenville was the very counterpart of Wedderburne. He was not only educated a Whig, but had leaned to republicanism. Becoming Prime Minister, no man had shown himself more despotic. When overturned by his own violence, he reverted to opposition ”