Читать книгу The History of King George the Third - Horace Walpole - Страница 34
Оглавление76 Henry Seymour Conway, only brother of Francis Earl of Hertford.
77 John Waldegrave, only brother of James Earl Waldegrave, whom he succeeded in the title, married Lady Elizabeth Leveson Gower, sister of Gertrude Duchess of Bedford. His presence of mind and intrepidity at the battle of Minden established his character as a soldier.—Mem. vol. ii. p. 367. He was appropriately rewarded with the regiment of dragoons, vacated by Lord George Sackville’s dismissal. Subsequently he obtained one of the regiments of foot-guards, and was made Master of the Horse to the Queen. His love of state, not less than the handsome manner in which he lived, well adapted him to any great office at Court. He died in 1784. His eldest son, a most respectable nobleman, and also an officer, only survived him five years.—E.
78 John Mostyn, brother of Sir Roger Mostyn, Bart., and Groom of the Bedchamber to the King. He had commanded the British cavalry with distinction in Germany, and was mainly instrumental in gaining the Battle of Warburgh, the credit of which Lord Granby ascribed entirely to him. He might have risen high in the army, had he not shrunk from the responsibility of great commands. He refused the command of the expedition to the Havannah, on the ground that he did not pretend to be more than a cavalry officer. His good nature and conviviality, as well as his quiet military deportment, made him popular at Court; and George the Second liked him so much, that he generally formed one of the King’s evening party. It was believed he might have been a favourite if he pleased. His last employment was as Governor of Minorca.—Memoirs of Sir James Campbell, vol. i. p. 173.
79 John Manners, Marquis of Granby, son of John Duke of Rutland.
80 Letter (of 21st March) to George Montagu, and the note.—Walpole’s Collected Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 128.
81 Sir John Philipps, Bart., of Picton Castle, in Pembrokeshire, an opulent and influential Jacobite. He was the second son of Sir Erasmus Philipps, and had succeeded to the title and estates on the death of his elder brother. He died in 1764, leaving an only son, Sir Richard, who was afterwards created an Irish Peer by the title of Lord Milford, and died without issue in 1823.—E.
82 Henry, brother of Thomas Lord Archer.
83 Mr. Onslow died in February 1768, aged 76. A very pleasing account of him is given in the Preface to the second volume of Hatsell’s Precedents, p. 6.
84 William Pulteney, Earl of Bath.
85 Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis.
86 Dr. Hayter, afterwards Bishop of London. Vide p. 73, infra.
87 Dr. Thomas, afterwards Bishop of Winchester. Vide Appendix.
88 Charles Wyndham, Earl of Egremont, afterwards Secretary of State. Vide infra.
89 Sir Joseph Yorke, Ambassador in Holland, third son of Philip Earl of Hardwicke. He had been a captain of the Guards, and aide-de-camp of the Duke of Cumberland at the battle of Fontenoy. In 1751 he was appointed Minister at the Hague, where he remained many years, and became almost naturalized, having married a Dutch lady. His estimable conduct, and also his splendid hospitality, gave him great consideration in Holland. In 1788 he was created Lord Dover. He died in 1792 without issue, and the title became extinct.—E.
90 Admiral Edward Boscawen, brother of Lord Viscount Falmouth, a distinguished naval commander. He died this year, at the early age of 50. The late Earl of Falmouth was his grandson.—E.
91 Hans Stanley, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and afterwards Cofferer.
92 M. Bussy was one of the chief Commis of the Foreign Department at Paris. He had great experience in business, and was eminently adroit and persuasive; qualities to which he owed his nomination to this difficult post. Formerly he had been private secretary to the Duc de Richelieu, through whose interest he was employed on a mission to George the Second in Hanover in 1754. Flassan, Hist. de la Diplomatic Française, vol. vi. p. 388. See more respecting him in Mr. Stanley’s Correspondence in the Appendix to the Life of Lord Chatham.—E.
93 Memoirs of George the Second, vol. i. p. 242. It is ably drawn, and not unkindly, considering the belief long entertained by the Whigs of the Duke having betrayed Sir Robert Walpole. The more favourable portrait given by Archdeacon Coxe, from materials supplied by his family, is, like too many family portraits, feeble, flattering, and indistinct. His Grace unquestionably possessed a powerful, active, and cultivated mind. He had studied, and thoroughly understood the weaknesses of men, and was unscrupulous in the practice of all the arts of intrigue. Success usually crowned his efforts, and notwithstanding the various changes of Government, he maintained much of his power to the last. Disappointment attended only his private life, which was chilled by aversion to his wife and the want of children. Il fut riche, il fut titré, mais il ne fut point heureux—the just and natural result of a line of conduct which, as Lord Mahon correctly observes, was seldom on any occasion swayed either by virtue or generosity.—Coxe’s Life of Sir R. Walpole, vol. iv. p. 236; Mahon’s Hist. vol. iii. p. 237.—E.
94 This prediction has not been realized. The Bangorian controversy has long lost its interest, and great as was their success in their day, and great their reward—no less than the Bishoprick of Winchester—the three massive folios of Hoadley’s Works now slumber on the shelves of theological libraries. His two sons, one of whom was chaplain, and the other physician to the King, were men of talent, and are still recollected as the joint authors of that popular comedy, “The Suspicious Husband.” They were the last of their family.—E.
95 John Hay, Marquis of Tweedale, had been secretary of State for Scotland. Lord Tweedale had been one of the extraordinary Lords of Session in Scotland, and also had held the post of Secretary of State for that country. He was the last person that filled either of these offices. His connexion with Lord Granville, whose daughter he had married, brought him into public life in opposition to Walpole, and he shared the spoils of that minister. Like Lord Granville, he possessed considerable knowledge of law. He is said also to have been a good debater in Parliament. He died, without male issue, in December 1762.—E.
96 Dr. Robert Hay Drummond, brother of the Earl Kinnoul.
97 Richard Edgcumbe, second Lord Edgcumbe, an intimate friend of the author, who has given him a place in the Noble Authors. He was a humourist, and had a turn for poetry and drawing, of which some amusing specimens are noticed in the publications of his day. Walpole says, he never had a fault but to himself, never an enemy but himself.—E.
98 Lady Caroline Lenox, eldest daughter of Charles second Duke of Richmond, married to Henry Fox, Paymaster of the Forces.
99 Eldest daughter of Stephen Fox, Earl of Ilchester, by the sole daughter and heiress of Mr. Strangways Horner, whose name he assumed.
100 Holland House, beyond Kensington, the seat of the Earls of Warwick and Holland; now of Henry Fox, Lord Holland.
101 John Fane, Earl of Westmoreland, Chancellor of Oxford, Lieutenant-general in the army, and formerly captain of one of the troops of Horse Guards. In early life, when a younger brother, and a Whig, he had served under the Duke of Marlborough; and afterwards commanded “the body of troops which George the First had been obliged to send to Oxford, to teach the University the only kind of passive obedience of which they did not approve.” He subsequently joined the Jacobites in their opposition to Sir Robert Walpole, and became a high Tory; as indeed may be inferred from Lord Arran appointing him High Steward of the University in 1754, and from his succeeding that nobleman as Chancellor in 1758. He was comely in his person, and highly respected for his virtues in private life. Glover describes him as “a veteran patriot, slow, but solid; always meaning well, and therefore judging right.” He died without issue in 1762, at a very advanced age. Walpole’s Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 340. Memoirs of a distinguished Political and Literary Character, p. 121.—E.
102 Sir Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke, formerly Lord Chancellor.
103 John Carteret, Earl of Granville, some time Prime Minister to George the Second.
104 Simon Lord Harcourt, formerly Governor to the King. See an account of his resignation of that post, in the preceding reign, (Memoirs of George the Second, vol. i. p. 254.)
105 Mary Panton, second wife of Peregrine Bertie, Duke of Ancaster.
106 Elizabeth Gunning, Duchess Dowager of Hamilton, married, secondly, to John Campbell, Marquis of Lorn, eldest son of John Duke of Argyle.
107 Mr. Hammond had been in love with her, and then forsaken her. The poems which he wrote on her have been published.
108 Mr. Andrew Stone was appointed Treasurer to the Queen on her arrival. He was the well-known confident of the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pelham, over both of whom he exercised great influence. He had been private, and afterwards under secretary to the former. Latterly he had been sub-governor to the King when Prince of Wales. He was a fine scholar, and had distinguished himself at Oxford, where he was the rival and friend of Murray (Lord Mansfield). Bishop Newton, who knew him well, says that his tastes and feelings were better suited to the Church than to politics. Lord Waldegrave likewise commends his integrity. Walpole can find no fault in him, except that he had a tendency to Jacobitism, a charge which his conduct and connections proved to be unfounded. He appears to have been entirely devoid of ambition, honest, and most disinterested. He died in 1773, aged 72. The best account of Mr. Stone is in a note to Coxe’s Life of Pelham, vol. i. p. 430.—E.
109 She did some years afterwards with the King, but quite in private.
110 Dr. Robert Hay Drummond, brother of the Earl of Kinnoul, and Bishop of Salisbury, a man of parts and of the world. He was the second son of George eighth Earl of Kinnoul, formerly Ambassador at Constantinople. He had attended George the Second in the campaign of 1743, and preached the thanksgiving sermon at Hanover, for the battle of Dettingen. On his return he was made a prebendary of Westminster, and in 1748 Bishop of St. Asaph. He was a dignified and accomplished prelate. He died in 1776, in his 66th year. In 1803 one of his younger children, the late Mr. George Drummond, published a volume, intituled “Sermons on Public Occasions, and a Letter on Theological Study, by Robert, late Archbishop of York,” &c. The Archbishop’s eldest son became tenth Earl of Kinnoul.—E.
111 Dr. Hayter was supposed to be the natural son of Dr. Blackburne, Archbishop of York. This supposition is indignantly attacked in an article on the first part of these Memoirs, in the Quarterly Review. In justice to Walpole, it is only fair to state, that this was a report generally believed at the time. In the quarrel in the Princess’s household which led to the Bishop’s disgrace, Mr. Cresset, the Princess’s confident, was charged with calling him a bastard.—Edinburgh Review, No. 73, p. 5, note. The suspicious report was rather strengthened than otherwise by Archbishop Blackburne’s leaving him a large fortune. What is of more importance to Bishop Hayter’s memory is, that he bore a high character for generosity and learning. He only survived his translation a single year, having died in 1762, aged 59. Nichols’s Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 505.—E.
112 There were at this time two bishops of the same name; Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Winchester, and Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Lincoln: the latter had been promoted by Lord Granville.
113 George William Hervey, Earl of Bristol, Ambassador in Spain, son of the famous John Lord Hervey.
114 Charles third King of Spain, and before of Naples; commonly called Don Carlos.
115 The Duke positively denied having made any such communication to Bussy. See infra.—E.
116 The following note is transcribed from the manuscript memoirs of Sir George Colebrooke, Bart., M.P., Chairman of the East India Company; an eminent merchant, who sat many years in Parliament, and possessed the confidence of some of the leading statesmen of his day.
“During the time I attended Newcastle House and the Treasury Chambers on the Contract business, I had frequent opportunities of knowing how despotically Mr. Pitt governed his ministerial colleagues, and how much he was dreaded by the Duke. Some years afterwards I recollect his Grace making this the subject of lively conversation at table, at Claremont; but it was no subject of merriment at the time the transaction passed. More than once I was summoned to the Treasury to give an account of the state of the provisions, and of the money, for the army, Mr. West giving, for reason, that Mr. Pitt threatened the Duke, that if at any time a want of either should be found, he would impeach him in the ensuing session. At the Treasury I frequently met Mr. Wallis, Commissioner of the Navy, who mentioned the following memorable instance. A train of artillery was wanted at Portsmouth for an expedition. Mr. Pitt told Wallis that it must be down by a certain day he named. Wallis made some excuse for the delay, either that the transports were not ready or the winds were contrary; upon which Mr. Pitt insisted that they should go by land, a method of conveyance which was afterwards pursued.
“General Harvey, who had been sent by Prince Ferdinand to prepare matters in England for the campaign, and to carry over the English draughts, waited on Mr. Pitt to take his leave. Mr. Pitt asked him whether he had obtained everything he wanted, and the General answered, not; and he therefore came to take leave, that no blame might fall on him from the Prince. Mr. Pitt desired the General to enumerate what he wanted, and immediately rang his bell for Mr. Wood, who in the names of the different Boards signified to their officers his Majesty’s commands for the dispatch of what was required for Germany, and in four days General Harvey had in readiness what he had been as many months soliciting.
“West, the Secretary, always looked frightened; and well he might, for Mr. Pitt would have been as good as his word, which was to impeach the Commissioners of the Treasury, if they neglected anything needful for the war. At times he depended so little on them, that, notwithstanding a contract to supply the army, he caused provisions to be sent by victualling transports.
“Proceeding in the way I have mentioned, of writing in the names of the different public officers, there were numberless hiatus in their books of correspondence, and instances of orders carried into execution without their sanction. The name of Lord Barrington was principally used as Secretary at War, who did not know more than a stranger of troops being ordered on service, till the embarkation had actually taken place.
“The Duke of Newcastle, speaking himself of the cavalier manner with which Mr. Pitt treated the Cabinet, mentioned the instance of some foreign expedition which Mr. Pitt had proposed, but which, in the opinion of the ministers, and of Lord Anson, First Lord of the Admiralty, deprived Great Britain of too great a part of its internal defence. Lord Mansfield had not yet given his opinion; but Mr. Pitt, apprehensive that it would be against him, summed up the opinions of Council, a majority of which he declared to be for the expedition; adding, “The Chief Justice of England has no opinion to give in this matter thereby stopping his mouth. The Duke told Lord Coventry, that Mr. Murray, when Attorney-General, and in the House of Commons, had acknowledged to him that he was intimidated by Pitt. The more the latter found Murray to be intimidated, the more he naturally pressed him.
“I never saw the Duke in higher spirits than after Mr. Pitt, thwarted by the Cabinet in his proposal of declaring war against Spain, had given notice of resignation. The Duke had done more wisely, if he had followed Lord Hardwicke’s advice, and had resigned on the death of his late master. The Duke could not endure to part with his power, much less to devolve it on one who meant to keep it. When he last resigned the Treasury to the Duke of Devonshire, it was with a view to have it back again at a convenient season.”—E.
117 The following extraordinary notice was published in the Gazette of the 9th October: “The Right Honourable William Pitt having resigned the Seals into the King’s hands, His Majesty was this day pleased to appoint the Earl of Egremont to be one of His Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State; and, in consideration of the great and important services of the said Mr. Pitt, His Majesty has been graciously pleased to direct that a warrant be prepared for granting to the Lady Hesther Pitt, his wife, a Barony of Great Britain, by the name, style, and title of Baroness of Chatham, to herself, and of Baron of Chatham to her heirs male, and also to confer upon the said William Pitt, Esq., an annuity of three thousand pounds sterling, during his own life and that of Lady Hesther Pitt, and their son John Pitt, Esq.”—E.
118 It certainly is not the practice now (1844) to insert pensions in the Gazette. Whether it ever was so it would be difficult to ascertain, as there is no index prior to the year 1787. The impression of two very old officers, who have frequent occasions to consult the Gazette, is, that no such general practice ever prevailed.—E.
119 It was by such expressions as this that Mr. Pitt created the disappointment in the public mind, that followed the announcement of his pension. To use the words of Lord Brougham: “He did not sustain the exalted pitch of magnanimous independence, and utter disregard of sublunary interests, which we should expect him to have reached and kept as a matter of course, from a mere cursory glance at the mould in which his lofty character was cast.” Statesmen of the Time of George III., 1st series, p. 45. A pension of £4000 a year to Lord Holderness passed without a murmur, while one of £3000 a year to Mr. Pitt raised a general burst of indignation, only because the country regarded the latter as lowering their idol to the level of the jobbing statesmen of the day. The cry against Mr. Pitt was, indeed, almost universal. See letter to Mr. Conway, vol. iv. of Walpole’s Collected Correspondence, p. 184; and particularly the note containing the opposite opinions of Mr. Gray and Mr. Burke. Mr. Pitt’s noble refusal of the vast emoluments of the Pay-office, which so enriched those who preceded and succeeded him as Paymaster, entitles his conduct in all pecuniary matters to a liberal construction from posterity. What is really to be regretted, is the humiliating tone of his correspondence with Lord Bute, in accepting the pension (Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 152,) and his language at his interview with the King on that occasion.—Annual Register for 1761. But we will not dwell on the defects of a man who certainly was far above his age, not only in talent, but in real independence.—E.
120 Thomas Prowse, member for Somersetshire, which he had represented in five successive Parliaments, having been every time unanimously elected. He was an opulent, well-informed, and influential country gentleman. He died, after a long illness, in 1767, aged 59, and was buried in Axbridge Church; where the long panegyric on his tomb states—“That though frequently solicited, he never could be prevailed upon to accept any employment in the state.” Collinson’s History of Somerset, vol. iii. p. 563.—E.
121 Edward Bacon, of Earlham Hall, Norfolk, barrister-at-law, and M. P. for Norwich. He was son of Walter Bacon, of Earlham Hall, and M. P. for Norwich. Mr. Edward Bacon had been member for Lynn in 1742. He represented Norwich from 1752 to 1784, when he retired from Parliament. He died in March 1786, and was buried in the chancel of Earlham Church. His portrait is still preserved at Earlham Hall.—E.
122 A more favourable character of Sir John Cust is given in the preface of Moore’s General Index to the Journals of the House of Commons, vol. iv.; a very useful work, to the compilation of which he contributed. He added to great industry, a considerable knowledge of Parliamentary history and constitutional law; and his amiable disposition and obliging temper were no insignificant recommendations to the Speakership. He was a Lincolnshire country gentleman, of ancient family, and had inherited a great estate from his mother, the heiress of the Tyrconnels.—E.
123 Sir Hugh Smithson Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
124 John Berkeley, fifth and last Lord Berkeley of Stratton. He died without issue in 1773, having left his principal estates to Lord Berkeley.—E.
125 It is certain that Monsieur de Bussy told different persons what the Duke of Bedford had said to him, particularly to Lady Hervey, from whom I heard it.
126 George Spencer, Duke of Marlborough, K.G. He was son-in-law of the Duke of Bedford. He died in January 1817, aged 78.—E.
127 Thomas Lord Parker, eldest son of the Earl of Macclesfield, whom he succeeded in that title in March 1764. Like his father, he cultivated the mathematics successfully, and was much respected. He had been defeated in the great contest for the county of Oxford in 1757, but was seated on petition. He died in 1795, aged 72.—E.
128 The famous John Wilkes, member for Aylesbury, and author of “The North Briton.”
129 George Dempster, an East India Director, and for nearly thirty years member for the Perth district of Boroughs. He was the friend of Dr. Johnson, and the patron of Robert Burns; and is described by Mr. Croker as a man of talents and very agreeable manners. He took an active part in all the debates of the House on East India questions; and was one of the few who, after defending Warren Hastings, gave a zealous support to Fox’s India Bill. He died about the year 1790, at a very advanced age. Croker’s Boswell, vol. i. p. 418. Annual Necrology, vol. iii. p. 141.—E.
130 Peregrine Cust. He is mentioned in Churchill’s Satires.
131 Eliab Harvey, brother of William Harvey of Chigwell, in Essex, died in 1769.
132 During the administration of Sir Robert Walpole the Opposition propagated a report, which was universally believed, that the Spaniards, though at peace with us, had taken one of our ships, and cut off the captain’s ears.
133 This was the famous sentence so often quoted, and so often ridiculed, in the pamphlets of that time.
134 The Spanish Ambassador. See infra.
135 Percy Windham Obrien, Earl of Thomond, second son of Sir William Windham, and brother of the Earl of Egremont. Their sister was married to Mr. George Grenville.
136 Henry Arthur Herbert, Earl of Powis, having become male heir of this illustrious family by the death of the last peer, Henry Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, in 1738, he was created Lord Herbert in 1743, and Earl of Powis in 1748. His Lordship married Barbara, sole daughter and heiress of Lord Edward Herbert, brother of the last Marquis of Powis, and died in 1772, leaving a son, on whose death in 1801 the earldom became extinct.—E.
137 Next brother of the Duke of Devonshire.
138 Second son of Charles Lord Viscount Townshend.
139 Thomas Charles Bunbury, called, after his father’s death, Sir Charles Bunbury. [He represented the county of Suffolk for forty-five years, and died in March 1821, in his 81st year. He forsook politics for horse-racing, which he found a more congenial pursuit, and was long considered as the father of the turf. See more of him in Selwyn’s Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 180.—E.]
140 At the conferences held there previously to the Treaty of Utrecht.
141 In twenty-eight years, viz. to 1788, the King has not once been at Hanover, nor seems to design it.
142 Additional particulars respecting Colonel Barré are given in Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 41, 168–171. See especially the notes, containing extracts from the Mitchell MSS.—E.
143 Richard Glover, a merchant, who, by superior intelligence, great fluency of speech in public, and some reputation as a poet, had gained considerable influence in the City, and was thought of sufficient importance to be admitted into the councils of Leicester House. This distinction, and the success of his poems, which had all a political tendency, made him fancy himself on an equality with Pitt, Lyttelton, and the other men of talent who surrounded the Prince of Wales. The illusion was painfully dispelled. The sudden death of the Prince broke up the party; Mr. Glover’s services were no longer required; and happening to be at the time under commercial embarrassments, he sank into obscurity. In a few years, however, by diligent application, and a successful speculation in the copper trade, he retrieved his fortunes, but he never forgave the neglect of his former associates; and the memoirs he left behind him show the angry feelings he entertained, particularly against Mr. Pitt. To this circumstance he probably owed his seat for Weymouth, the borough being one of those which Mr. Dodington placed at the disposal of Lord Bute. Mr. Glover died in 1785, aged 73. His autobiography from 1742 to 1757 was published in 1813, under the title of Memoirs of a Distinguished Literary and Political Character. They are not without spirit, but show few signs of a powerful mind, and are in every respect inferior to what might have been expected from him.—E.
144 James Oswald, of Brunnikier, joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland.
145 Dr. George Hay, of the Commons, one of the Commissioners of the Admiralty.
146 George Cooke, Prothonotary, member for Middlesex.
147 Second son of John Duke of Argyle, for many years Lord Register of Scotland in Mr. Pitt’s administration.—E.
148 Robert Nugent, Esq., of Gosfield, in Essex, afterwards Earl Nugent. See infra.
149 This became a stronger truth every day.
150 Mr. Gascoyne was the only son of Sir Crispe Gascoyne, Lord Mayor of London, from whom he inherited a considerable estate. He had a strong understanding, and was esteemed highly as a man of business. His rough deportment had gained him at the University (we are told by Wilkes) the appellation of the Butcher; and he took no pains to get rid of it. He was also called “the King of Barking,” his country residence and principal patrimony being in that village, where he was much respected, and where he lies buried. He died in 1791. The late Marchioness of Salisbury was his granddaughter, and inherited his estates.—E.
151 Soon after, seeing another member give Barré a biscuit, Townshend said, “Oh! you should feed him with raw flesh.”
152 George Augustus Selwyn, of Matson, Gloucestershire, famous for his wit. His correspondence has been recently published in 4 vols. 8vo.—E.
153 Philip Francis, translator of Horace and Demosthenes, and the father of Sir Philip Francis, K.B.; a scholar and a man of talent, and a most active political partisan. He was for some time the tutor of Gibbon.—E.
154 “Of this very alarming connection Mr. Pitt had the most early and authentic intelligence, together with the most positive assurances from persons of undoubted veracity, who are at this moment in no common sphere of life.” History of the Minority, p. 30. Mr. Adolphus states the treaty itself to have been communicated to Mr. Pitt by the Earl Marechal Keith, in gratitude for the reversal of his attainder, but “that the fact, if it existed, was not disclosed to the Cabinet,” Adolphus, vol. i. p. 44. This story receives some confirmation from a cotemporary memoir of the Earl Marechal recently published by the Spalding Society of Aberdeen, and supposed to have been written by Sir Robert Strange, who had once been a zealous Jacobite. Neither the Chatham Correspondence nor the Mitchell manuscripts contain anything on the subject; and the papers of the Earl Marechal, at Cumbernald, have never been thoroughly examined. The Editor is disposed to believe the intelligence received by Mr. Pitt did not go so far as the existence of the treaty, but consisted of facts sufficient, in his estimation, to leave no doubt of the object of the negotiation between France and Spain, and of the general intentions of the Spanish government. These facts he had imparted to Lord Bute, who had not drawn the same conclusions from them. Hist. of Minority, p. 33.—E.
155 Charles Pratt was a younger son of Lord Chief Justice Pratt, and became afterwards Lord Chancellor and Baron Camden, as will appear in these memoirs. Pratt had been made Attorney-General by Pitt in 1757, and their connection was too close for the Government to feel easy at his continuing any longer in office.—E.
156 He nevertheless made a favourable impression on the Duke of Newcastle, at their first interview; and at a later period we find him very handsomely mentioned by Lord Rochford. Some of his private letters in the Chatham Correspondence, as well as his public dispatches in the Parliamentary Papers, are those of an ambassador who understood his duty, and performed it. He laboured hard, in conjunction with his friend the Marquis of Grimaldi, to restore the old connection of his country with France; and one result of their success was, the appointment of Grimaldi to succeed Wall as First Minister of Spain. Fuentes, then, for some time, replaced Grimaldi at Paris; and subsequently returning to Spain, he employed all his influence, which was considerable, in supporting Grimaldi’s administration, until the latter imprudently allowed his son, the Prince of Pignatelli, to accompany the expedition to Algiers, under the Count O’Reily, in 1777, where the Prince perished; and Fuentes, who had refused his consent to his going, was so deeply offended, that he immediately joined the opposition to Grimaldi, and contributed essentially to his retirement from office. Coxe’s History of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, vol. v.—E.
157 George William Hervey, Earl of Bristol, son of the famous John Lord Hervey, and grandson of John Earl of Bristol, whom he succeeded in the title. His dispatches prove him to have acted with great prudence as long as the disposition of the Spanish Court was doubtful and with great spirit afterwards. His connection with Mr. Pitt was in no degree of a servile character. It appears to have strengthened as that great minister was losing his ascendancy in the Cabinet, and it stood the test of his downfall. Lord Bristol died unmarried, in March 1775, aged 54.—E.
158 Amelie Sophie de Walmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of George the Second.
