Читать книгу The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 555, Supplementary Number - Various - Страница 3

FIRST LORD OF HIS MAJESTY'S TREASURY, &c. &c

DE BON VOULOIR SERVIR LE ROI.—Family Motto

The family of GREY—the Greys of the North, as they are styled distinctively from the Greys of the South, 1—is of Saxon origin. 2 They have held manors in Northumberland from the earliest records to the present time. The direct founder of the present branch was Baron Grey of Werke, ennobled by James I. and advanced to the earldom of Tankerville by William III. which titles became extinct in 1710; and the heiress carried the estates by marriage to Charles Bennet, Lord Ossulston, who was, in consequence, created Earl of Tankerville, in 1714.

The father of Earl Grey was Sir Charles Grey, who entered the army at an early age, had a command in the American war, and commanded in chief the military forces in the expeditions against the French West India Islands, the successful result of which was the annexing of Martinique, St. Lucie, Guadaloupe, &c. to our empire. He married, in 1762, Elizabeth, daughter of George Grey, Esq. of Southwick, in Durham, (of a different family,) by whom he had five sons and two daughters. He was created Lord Grey of Howick, in 1801; and Viscount Howick, and Earl Grey, in 1806. He died in the following year, and was succeeded by his son, Charles, second and present earl.

Mr. Grey was born March 13, 1764, and educated at Eton, in the same class with the late Mr. Lambton, (father of the present Lord Durham,) Mr. Whitbread, and others, with whom he afterwards acted in political life. He was then sent to King's College, Cambridge, where he displayed first-rate abilities. On his leaving the University, he set out on the tour of Europe, though only eighteen years of age. In Italy, he was introduced to the late Duke of Cumberland, in whose household he obtained an appointment. He returned to England in 1786, and soon after his arrival, was, by the interest of his family, returned to parliament for the county of Northumberland, when he joined the Whigs, it has been stated, to the surprise of his family, whose principles were those of Toryism.

At a subsequent general election, as an expensive contest was expected for Northumberland, Mr. Grey declined nomination, and was returned to parliament for Appleby, which borough he represented till his succession to the peerage. In the House of Commons his great talents soon shone forth; and, in conjunction with Fox, Sheridan, Lambton, Ponsonby, and others, he maintained an intrepid opposition to the doctrines of that darling of fame, Mr. Pitt. Immediately after his entrance into Parliament, his discussion of the minister's important treaty of commerce, may be said to have established his reputation, by the force of his eloquence, as well as by the enlarged views which he seemed to have acquired of commercial relations; which knowledge is more frequently the result of gradual experience than of early attainment.

In these stormy times Mr. Grey ranked among the head and front of contending politics. He was appointed one of the managers of that magnificent political drama—the impeachment of Warren Hastings, when he displayed great acumen in that part of the accusation termed the Benares Charge.

In 1791, we find Mr. Grey taking the lead in a measure, which, in the language of a great orator (Burke) "shed a lustre on the character and humanity of the nation." The subject to which we allude, was the melancholy situation of those who were unable to satisfy the demands of importunate creditors, and consequently subjected to the operation of a rigorous code of laws. His observation in moving for a parliamentary committee to inquire into the present practice and effect of imprisonment for debt is worthy of quotation: "it was desirable to distinguish the unfortunate debtor from the knavish one, to place the creditor in that situation which afforded the fairest and the speediest means of compensation, and to regulate the jails of this country in such a manner as to prevent unnecessary hardship and restraint. Whether they considered the practice of confining for debt men who had no means of discharging such debt, or, on the contrary, fraudulent debtors, whose creditors by no process could compel them to pay; these circumstances were alone sufficient to constitute an inquiry into the state of the laws relating to debtor and creditor." This motion being acceded to, a committee consisting of Mr. Grey, Mr. Pitt, Sir John Sinclair, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Martin, the Attorney and Solicitor Generals, and other legal gentlemen, was immediately appointed. The origin of this inquiry is an indicative of the liberal policy of the statesman as it is of the humanity of the mover.

In 1792, Mr. Grey instituted an inquiry into the conduct of ministers with regard to the recently threatened hostilities with Russia. His animadversion upon the vacillating and ruinous measures of government were characterized by that fearless intrepidity, truth, energy, and eloquence, which have distinguished his political career. The motion for the inquiry was lost, though the powerful remarks of the mover drew from Mr. Pitt the following memorable confession: "All unlimited confidence is unconstitutional; and I hope the inglorious moment will never arrive, when this house will abandon the privilege of examining, condemning, and correcting the abuses in the executive government. It is the dearest privilege you possess, and should never be relinguished."

During the schisms occasioned in this country by the French revolution, Mr. Grey enrolled himself in a political society, called the Friends of the People. He also became a member of the Whig Club, then in the zenith of its celebrity. His active advocacy of the cause of a reform in parliament was equal within and without the house of commons. To quote one of his Lordship's most recent speeches, "In 1786 he had voted for reform. He had supported Mr. Pitt in his motion for shortening the duration of parliaments. He had given his best assistance to the measure of reform introduced by Mr. Flood, before the French revolution; and, on one or two different occasions, he had originated motions on the subject." 3