Charles, Earl Grey: Aristocratic Reformer

113 Pages·1992·11.4 MB·English

by  John W. Derry

Charles, Earl Grey
Aristocratic Reformer
JOHN W. DERRY
i1
BLACKWELL
Oxford UK 6-Cambritl1e USA
I
~
Copyright© John Derry, 1992
John W. Derry is hereby identified as author of this work in accordance with Section
77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 1992
Blackwell Publishers
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of
criticism and review, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
Preface vi
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
Introduction
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Early Years 7
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that
it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise 2 The Impact of the French Revolution 36
circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other
3 The War Against the French Republic 65
than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. 4 Political Realignments and the Tribulations of Office 102
5 The Years of Frustration 146
Library of Co11gress Catalogi11g i11 P11blimtio11 Data
6 Fulfilment 184
Derry, John W. (John Wesley)
Charles, Earl Grey: aristocratic reformer I John W. Derry. References 218
p. cm. Select Bibliography 220
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Index 222
ISBN 0-63116-522-3:
1. Grey, Charles Grey, Earl, 1764-1845. 2. Prime ministers - Great
Britain - Biography. 3. Great Britain - Politics and
government - 1800-1837. .f. Great Britain - Politics and
government - 1789-1820. 5. Great Britain. Parliament - Reform.
I. Title.
DA536.G8.fD.f7 1992
9.fl.07'5'092- dc20
!Bl 91-23297
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Preface Introduction
In this study of Grey's life I have attempted to give prominence through
out to the key issues which dominated his political career: parliamentary At first glance the political career of Charles, second Earl Grey, possesses a
reform, the fortunes of the Foxite party, his attitudes towards formed simple and impressive unity. The struggle for the reform of parliament and
opposition and to the influence of the crown, Catholic emancipation, the the passing of the 1832 Reform Act imply that Grey's life was dominated
French wars, and civil and religious liberties. I should like to express by a single theme and crowned, after years of devoted campaigning and
my gratitude to Dr Joseph Fewster and his staff at the Department of bitter disappointment, by a deservedly triumphant conclusion. Much com
Palaeography and Diplomatic at the University of Durham for permission ment on the First Reform Act suggests that by carrying it Grey saved the
to use the Grey Papers and for their kindness and courtesy in facilitating country from violent revolution, and even if this dramatic assertion is not
and encouraging my research. I also owe a debt to my own university for a emphasized Grey's career is often seen as a straightforward example of the
term's study leave which greatly assisted work on the book, and to Miss triumph of enlightenment over obscurantism. The inscriptions on Grey's
Alison Dickens of Blackwell Publishers for the consideration and thought monument, which gracefully dominates the centre of Newcastle upon
fulness she has shown to me during the preparation of this work. Tyne, embody the myth in elegant and potent form, especially that added
to the plinth of the column in 1932, which speaks of the people renewing
John W. Derry their gratitude to the author of the Great Reform Bill. But while fulfilment
Department of History graced Grey's premiership his life was scarred by long years of political
University of ewcastle upon Tyne frustration, of ambition thwarted and hopes denied.
To see Grey's career wholly or predominantly in terms of the First
Reform Act is to distort it. Even the pious memorial inscriptions refer to
two other causes which gave continuity and significance to his career: the
advocacy of peace and the defence of civil and religious liberties. Such
issues place Grey firmly in the context of Whig politics at the close of the
eighteenth century. Although usually described as a reformer Grey was of a
conventionally traditionalist cast of mind. Shaped early in his career, his
beliefs and attitudes showed no essential change and little development.
This is why John Cannon is undoubtedly right in seeing Grey as a con
servative reformer, the founder in some respects of a distinctively English
and relatively recent type of conservatism. Faithful throughout his life to
the Foxite tradition, Grey was preoccupied with preservation and renova
tion. He was antipathetic to innovation or radical dogma. Staunchly com
mitted to the virtues of a mixed form of government and a balanced
!11trod11ctio11 Introduction
constitution, he wished to reform the system of representation in order to the transformation of the Whig party into something more like a fully
perpetuate the liberties embodied in the Revolution Settlement so that fledged liberal party, attuned to the needs and ideology of the nineteenth
future generations would enjoy the benefits of representative government, a century and less bound by its eighteenth-century origins. But such sugges
free press, the rule of law, security of property and personal liberty. He had tions rest on assumptions about the inevitability and direction of party
no sympathy with democratic theories of representation and he was tem development which Grey did not share. He tried hard to keep the alliance
peramentally averse to radicalism. Even in his youth he never advocated with Grenville in being because of the particular difficulties of opposition
universal manhood suffrage, household suffrage being the limit to which he in the first two decades of the nineteenth century. However much he
was prepared to go: a limit which he scrupulously refused to reach let alone believed the preservation of the nation's liberties was synonymous with the
pass in 1832. In his years of retirement he felt that there was little to survival of the Whig party he understood the nature of party in traditional
separate him politically from the Duke of Wellington or Sir Robert Peel. ist terms.
However memorable the Great Reform Bill was, and however much his Opposition, perhaps even more than party, was another feature which
torians debate its significance, there is a wide measure of agreement gave continuity to his career and which decisively influenced his political
upon the conservative thinking which inspired it. Grey showed consider development. For much of Grey's life opposition was still regarded with
able political skill in deciding the contents of the Bill and in procuring suspicion, as something dubious and questionable and even, during the
its passage through parliament, getting the balance remarkably right in French wars, as something tainted with sedition or defeatism or even
going far enough to satisfy reasonable grievances while preserving tradit treason. Grey's career reveals much about the evolution of opposition
ional values. His triumph was, in some respects, the final triumph of the during the years in which the dominance of Pitt was succeeded by the pre
eighteenth-century system. He believed in the representation of interests, eminence of Liverpool. Under a more active leader opposition might have
not the rule of numbers; in the primacy of the landed interest, not the developed more quickly, but Grey was notoriously lethargic, prone to
dominance of plutocracy; in security for intelligence and property, not the moods of gloomy fatalism, and inclined to allow others to shoulder the
tyranny of mass mediocrity. If his Reform Act marked the inauguration of a routine burdens of challenging a government which often appeared to have
new era it did so in the language of the classical age of the constitution, the confidence of the Commons and the support of the nation, however
preserving continuity with the past even while it sought to adjust to the much Grey lamented that his opponents were the authors of national ruin.
realities of the present. But even when indolent he remained indispensable, the one person to
Other themes must be given due prominence in any survey of Grey's whom the Whigs were prepared to defer. Gifted as he was with the ability
career. From his earliest days in politics he was closely associated with to speak lucidly and persuasively, in a style which frequently caught the
Charles James Fox. No other politician challenged the ascendancy wielded mood first of the Commons and then of the Lords, he was bored by the
by Fox from the time of Grey's entry into politics until Fox's death in 1806. day-to-day demands of politics, preferring domestic happiness in the
Personal devotion was matched only by political fidelity. Loyalty to the company of his family in his beloved orthumberland to the rigours of
memory of Fox meant that whatever the pressures of circumstance Grey's parliamentary business. He never forgave his father for accepting a peerage
fortunes were indelibly and decisively linked to those of the Whig party. and thus eventually removing him from the Commons to the Lords. Yet
After Fox's death Grey moulded Whig tactics more than any other individ when he became prime minister he formed what was the most aristocratic
ual. His dedication to Foxite principles meant that he believed his primary cabinet of the nineteenth century, and, while in opposition he had been
duty was to preserve the party throughout every vicissitude and through indifferent to the demands of regular leadership, he rose capably and
many years of frustration and impotence. This anxiety compelled Grey convincingly to the challenges of office, maintaining a firm control of
to revert to backward-looking political issues, such as the influence of his cabinet, at least until the major crisis of the Reform Act was safely
the crown, economy in public expenditure, and the preservation of the surmounted. evertheless, it is still true that opposition provides one of
independence of ::he House of Commons, as well as affirming the validity the key themes of his career. When he became prime minister he did so
of party and the justification for formed opposition. His lengthy and chiefly because the disagreements and miscalculations of his opponents had
tortuous alliance with Lord Grenville, in which he steadfastly persisted shattered the Tory party which Liverpool had built up so painstakingly
despite many disagreements, was often an uneasy partnership. It gave a for so long. Without the crisis over Catholic emancipation it is doubtful
distinct and peculiar twist to the evolution of opposition and party, so much whether the Tories would have broken up as they did after the death of
so that it is sometimes claimed that the association with Grenville delayed Liverpool, but the issue of religious tests for public office was one which
2 3
Introduction lntroductio11
was central to Grey's thinking and to the tradition which he had inherited prevented the old issue of the war from reactivating old quarrels within the
from Fox. Whig opposition, as well as those between the Whigs and their Tory
On the Catholic question Grey's outlook was consistent and undeviat opponents.
ing. He firmly supported Catholic emancipation and the repeal of the Test Grey's e:>..1Jerience demonstrated how frustrating it was to be in oppo
and Corporation Acts as they applied to Protestant Dissenters as well as to sition during a war which was, for most English people, a just and necess
Catholics. Like Fox he deplored religious tests for political offices, believ ary struggle against an ambitious tyrant. It underlined not only the role of
ing that religious disabilities should be swept aside as obsolete, obscurantist external events in determining the pattern of domestic political alignments,
and inimical to that liberty which the constitution was intended to secure but also the fact that the behaviour of politicians was more often than not a
for all subjects of the British crown. This is not to say that Grey was matter of responding to events which were beyond their control, whatever
insensitive to changing circumstances - no man who had seen George III might be said by those who felt impelled rhetorically to claim that the
break the Ministry of All the Talents on the issue of Catholic relief could relentless surge of events might easily be diverted into more amenable
ignore the strength of anti-popish feeling in the country - but even when courses. Grey's life illustrates the pressures which a unique series of
there were times at which he urged discretion in bringing the issue forward cataclysmic events put upon politicians during the era of the Revolutionary
there was no doubt about his commitment in principle. This is not to and apoleonic Wars. It was the war, more than anything else, which
say that Grey liked either Catholicism or Dissent. He loathed political meant that Grey spent most of his career in opposition and which blighted
demagogy all the more whenever it was tainted with denominational bias, the prospects for those reformist causes which he held most dear.
but when he and Grenville disagreed about other questions they could But the years in opposition were not just a long apprenticeship for
always invoke their common commitment to religious liberty. his ministry and the achievement of parliamentary reform. Despite their
They were less united in their attitudes towards the war with France. frustrations the weary years in opposition have an interest on their own
This, together with differences over the reform of parliament, heightened account. They throw light on the complexities of Grey's personality, on the
their problems in working out a viable political stance and revealed dif evolution of his political ideas, and on the nature of politics in the age
ferences in the background and e:>..1Jerience which had moulded the polit which succeeded that of Pitt and Fox, even though men found it hard to
ical development of both men since the 1790s. The shades of Pitt and Fox escape from the posthumous influence of those two giants. If Grey had
threatened to divide them, despite Fox's own loyalty to the understanding died before the reform of parliament he would still have a claim on the
with Grenville which had allowed the Ministry of All the Talents to be attention of posterity, although the historian would ·lack the comforting
formed in 1806. Grenville had once been one of Pitt's most trusted opportunity to praise the final autumnal triumph as a counterbalance to the
lieutenants. Although the crisis over Catholic emancipation wrecked the years of defeat and confusion. Grey's career exposes the presuppositions to
close relationship which had existed between the two cousins Grenville had which the opposition Whigs clung so tenaciously during their years in the
never supported a pacifist line over the French war. There were times wilderness. His words and actions reveal the fragmentation of the Whig
when he was pessimistic about the prospects of winning the war, arguing tradition, which actually embraced both Pittites and Foxites, under the
that the best that could be hoped for was a successful holding operation stresses and strains of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic War.
which might deny outright victory to the French, but his long administra Even so, the British political tradition was robust and resilient. Both the
tive experience, first in Pitt's ministry and then throughout his own, taught Conservative and Liberal parties of Victorian England owed much to those
him how difficult it was to negotiate with the French and how unlikely it eighteenth-century assumptions which invigorated Pittites and Foxites
was that a satisfactory peace could be achieved through negotiation. In the alike. The political controversies which divided Whig from Tory in the
1790s Grey had supported Fox's denunciations of the war against France, early nineteenth century were not clashes between wholly distinct and
arguing that it was unnecessary, unjustifiable and futile, but in office diametrically opposed ideologies. They were part of a vital debate within a
Grey had accepted the need to wage war, although after 1807 he was shared political tradition as to the meaning of the nation's political heritage
gloomy about the likely outcome. As long as the war dragged on Grey and in a world in which much was changing dramatically, and in which the pace
Grenville had often to agree to differ about how it was to be conducted and of transformation was intensifying in a fashion which left many contem
how it might be ended. In 1815 Napoleon's return from Elba cruelly poraries bewildered and afraid. What was being debated was the means by
exposed new disagreements, Grenville approving of firm action against which the legacy of the past was to be preserved, and in this debate Charles
Napoleon and Grey regretting it, and only the brevity of the Hundred Days Grey occupied a critical position. He always believed that it was in the best
4 5
Introduction
interests of the nation that the principal features of the constitution should
be preserved and handed on to future generations. Although Grey became
a central figure in a mythology which simplified the course of events and
misrepresented the nature of the controversy, there is no doubt that he
made a major contribution to the complex, varied and often contradictory
1
developments which enabled Victorian England to boast of its liberal insti
tutions, its social harmony, and its capacity peacefully to adjust to un
precedented social and economic change.
Early Years
Charles Grey was born at Fallodon in Northumberland on 13 March
1764. His family was a long-established Northumbrian one and his father,
General Sir Charles Grey, had a distinguished military career. Wounded at
Minden, he later served with skill and valour in the American War of
Independence, and during the war against revolutionary France - that war
of which his politician son so vehemently disapproved - he showed out
standing powers of leadership in the conduct of amphibious operations in
the West Indies. Charles Grey was his father's second son, but when he
was only three months old his elder brother Henry died and he became his
father's heir.
He was sent off to school at only six years of age, first to a miserable
preparatory school at Marylebone, which he loathed, and whose only
lasting legacy was a recurring nightmare induced by the experience of
seeing several forgers hanged at Tyburn, and then to Eton. He was
reasonably happy at Eton, but retained no particular affection for the
school. As in the case of the elder Pitt, his own experience of Eton made
him decide not to send any of his sons to a public school. Although he
wrote competent Latin verses he had no regard for what he had been
taught or for the manner in which he had been taught. After Eton he went
up to Trinity College, Cambridge, but although he enjoyed an active and
lively social life there he left Cambridge without taking a degree. He
liked Cambridge but complained of the prevalent academic emphasis on
mathematics. After leaving Cambridge he travelled in France, Italy and
Switzerland, following the usual grand tour beloved of English gentlemen
in the eighteenth century. Just as there was nothing unusual about leaving
Cambridge without a degree, so there was nothing unusual about the
manner in which he chose to spend his time. Already he believed that
what captured his interest was worthy of his undivided attention, although
pleasure was preferred to unnecessary exertion. He assumed that life was
to be enjoyed, and he allowed no thought of the morrow to disturb his
6 7
Early Years Early Years
enjoyment. He was confident that in time a congenial career, appropriate to linked Grey and his wife. Although in his sixtles he succumbed to the
his temperament and adequate to his talents, would present itself. He had flattery of the Princess Lieven, too much should not be made of their
from the beginning an absolute belief in his abilities and in his judgement. relationship. Her feelings for him satisfied his sense of vanity. And there
In July 1786 he was returned, while still abroad, at a by-election for the seems little doubt that throughout his life Grey was a vain man.
county of orthumberland. His Uncle Henry, a bachelor who had once He could be charming in the company of friends, but others found him
himself been an MP for Northumberland, was eager to procure Charles's cold, arrogant and snobbish. As a young man he was also accused of being
election. He was especially fond of his nephew and eventually Charles overfond of the bottle: drunkenness and the indiscretions consequent upon
inherited Howick, which he always preferred to Fallodon, from his uncle. drunkenness were regular features of the gossip which surrounded him as
Grey entered the House of Commons in the conventional way and for he became ever more closely associated with the circle whose social life
conventional reasons. Becoming an MP enabled him to cut a figure in the rotated round Fox and the Prince of Wales. As a young man he was also
world. It was as much a recognition of his status and family background as involved in sexual scandal. In 1785 he fell in love with Georgiana, the
it was an endorsement of his politics. At first his politics seemed thoroughly beautiful and famous Duchess of Devonshire. His affair with her lasted,
platitudinous. He wished only to win the respect of the freeholders of with varying degrees of intensity, until his marriage to Mary Elizabeth
Northumberland. Both his father and his uncle had inclined to support Ponsonby in 1794. The Duchess's marriage to the fifth Duke of Devonshire
Shelburne and then Pitt: as a soldier Charles's father usually rallied to the was unhappy. She was vivacious and warmhearted, he was sullen and
government of·the day, especially if it had the confidence of the king. At sluggish. They were thoroughly incompatible and both found consolation
the time of his election it was assumed that Charles Grey would follow the elsewhere, the Duke with Lady Elizabeth Foster, the Duchess in a series of
same course. flirtations. At first she admired Grey, but thought him as dangerous as he
But Grey soon fell for the blandishments of Charles James Fox and the was amiable. After his return from the continent and his entry into the
opposition. Although Pitt was often quick to spot young men of talent and House of Commons she found him irresistible. Of all her lovers Grey
astute in patronizing them, he seems to have been cool in his attitude to inspired the deepest affection and the most lasting devotion. Yet there were
Grey. Pitt's indifference contrasted with Fox's generous encouragement. times when she complained of his coldness and selfishness. Possibly his
Where Pitt was calculating and reserved, Fox was impetuous and affec ardour cooled when he realized that their relationship could never be
tionate. Grey readily fell under the spell of the magician. Besides, it would anything other than transient. Possibly he found the warmth of her passion
be easier to make his mark in the ranks of the opposition. By joining too overpowering. Perhaps as he sought to end the relationship she at
the opposition Grey could combine personal friendships with political tempted to maintain its fervour. The liaison produced one child, Lady
commitment. Opposition held out the prospect of taunting Pitt, reminding Eliza Courtney, born abroad in 1792 and dutifully brought up by Grey's
him of the talent he had ignored, and imitating Fox in the exploitation of parents. She eventually married Colonel Robert Ellice, whose brother was
eloquence to challenge the dominance of the first minister. It was also a already married to one of Charles Grey's sisters. His illegitimate daughter
means by which Grey could assert his own independence, defying his passed in childhood and adolescence for his sister and in maturity for
father, indulging his own impulses without concern for any feelings other his sister-in-law. His political career was in no way handicapped by his
than his own, and staking out his own claim to be regarded as a young man fathering an illegitimate daughter.
of ability and promise. Grey at this age was a man of wayward temper Grey's involvement with the Devonshires had implications which went
and restless, impatient ambition. There were times when he appeared beyond the romantic. His affair with the Duchess and his friendship
languorous, arrogantly indifferent to the rivalries of politics, but everything with Fox confirmed his political inclinations. As a boy of eighteen Grey
he had seen and heard in the Commons convinced him that he had little to had rejoiced at the fall of North, hoping that the Rockinghamites would
fear from comparison with anyone in terms of intelligence, oratory or then enjoy a secure tenure of power. The antagonism of Fox towards
judgement. Shelburne, and their differing approaches to the conduct of the peace
As well as being intelligent he was handsome and attractive to women. negotiations and the recognition of American independence, had meant
He himself was susceptible to women. Even after his happy marriage he that the ministry fell apart after the death of Rockingham. Although Fox
was easily flattered by them. His wife was so confident that she enjoyed his and North succeeded in defeating Shelburne they had in turn been ousted
deepest devotion that she tolerated his indiscretions. There may have been by Pitt, and after his dramatic victory at the general election of 1784 Pitt
affairs, but none of them could break the deep bond of affection which had established a firm command of the ministry, even though on several
8 9
Early Years Ear61 Years
questions he e:>..'Perienced rebuffs at the hands of the House of Commons. When Grey entered politics the House of Commons was dominated by
As Grey moved towards ever greater commitment to Fox, some of his the austere figure of William Pitt the Younger. Confident in both the trust
opponents wondered how profound his political allegiance was. They of the king and the abundant range of his own abilities, he was imposing
sensed ambition, and a liking for shared conviviality, as being as great a his own distinctive style upon the practice of politics. While leading the
motive as political conviction. Many members of the House of Commons nation out of the doubts and despondency engendered by defeat in north
did not regard being a Foxite as other than being factious; supporting America, he was reshaping the vocabulary of politics and devising a mode
the opposition was not looked upon as being synonymous with profound of public business which the Foxites were slow to recognize. Fox and his
idealism or high principle. As the Foxites were compelled to rely more and friends still saw politics in terms of the controversies which had been the
more upon the support of the Prince of Wales for any prospect of political consequence of the American crisis. They were preoccupied with curbing
power, many backbenchers became ever more convinced that Fox and his the influence of the crown. They believed that the chief cause of the
friends were merely opportunists, desperate men whose great gamble in misfortunes of the 1770s had been the growth of the secret influence of
1783 had been defeated by the patriotic instincts of the king and the good the crown, which had allegedly robbed the House of Commons of its
sense of the political nation. Party was still a pejorative expression. When in independence and capacity to scrutinize the conduct of government effec
May 1787 Pitt took the opportunity during debate to describe Grey as a tively, and heightened the political role of the king in a way which amounted
party man Fox denied that the description was apt, but even when he to an increase in royal power. The Foxite solution to these problems was
denied it he could not prevent himself going on to say that he hoped Grey simple. By reducing the resources of patronage available to the crown, the
would become a party man, which, in the jargon of the day, could only independence of the House of Commons would be restored and the power
mean a committed Foxite and a partisan opposition Whig. of the executive restrained. But Fox went further than this. He advocated a
Pitt's judgement had been characteristically sound. Grey's maiden much greater measure of collective responsibility in the cabinet, and most
speech in February 1787 had been an attack on the Free Trade Treaty controversially of all argued that the cabinet should choose the head of any
which William Eden had successfully negotiated with the French. There administration.
was nothing original in Grey's arguments. He was content to depict the George III resented such suggestions for two reasons. First, he believed
French as the natural enemies of Britain: a frequently repeated assertion that they infringed the rightful prerogatives of the crown as established and
on the opposition side of the House. Like Fox, Grey had little under validated by the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which the king believed was
standing of the commercial significance of the treaty. It was enough for him the foundation for English liberties. Second, he was convinced that if Fox's
that it had been negotiated by Eden, one of the agents by whom the ill ideas were carried into effect he would be deprived of any real say in the
fated Fox-North coalition had been brought into existence, and one of the choice of ministers, an innovation which he thought particularly dangerous,
most prominent of those who had gone over to Pitt when the coalition had since the king's prerogatives were themselves an integral element in the
suffered ignominious defeat. Although Grey's arguments were jaded and complex machinery of checks and balances which had secured the widely
superficial there was widespread admiration for his abilities as a debater. In esteemed harmony of the constitution, which many commentators affirmed
assurance, poise, self-control and clarity of e:>..'Pression, he was impressive. to be the explanation of British prosperity and political stability.
His fluent command of lucid English and his easy, relaxed manner made a An extensive and subtle range of issues was involved in these con
powerful appeal to backbenchers. Even his opponents were convinced that troversies. George III had an almost superstitious reverence for the con
he was a man of promise, sadly seduced by the brilliant impetuosity of Fox stitution. He was determined to defend it, so that future generations could
and the opposition. Fox was happy that he had found a young lieutenant of benefit from the wisdom and good judgement which had created a unique
verve and conviction in the parliamentary contest. For those who looked a type of limited monarchy out of the conflicts and passions of the late Stuart
little more deeply there was cause for anxiety. Arrogance and ease of era. The king sought to do his duty at all costs, though his perception of
manner were combined with indolence and a presumption that power and what his duty was could often be as narrow as it was intense. High in his
place were a natural right. Grey had taken eagerly to the House of priorities stood the necessity to secure government in the national interest,
Commons, but because he found the demands of public speaking congenial not on behalf of any single faction. George III disliked party politics. For
and the atmosphere of the House flattering he assumed, all too lightly, that him Whig and Tory were designations which had their origin in the bitter
political success was inevitable, something which was only a matter of time, disputes of the late seventeenth century; the Revolution Settlement had
and which was his alienable inheritance. rendered them null and void. Party was an attempt to make faction toler-
10 11
Early Years Early Years
able, to cloak conspiracy with respectability. Similarly, the king resented talk opportumst:Ic and erratic. Liberal historians saw him as the v1ct:Im of
of formed opposition. It was monstrous that any set of men should con the craft and cunning of George III. Contemporaries believed, with justifi
sistently oppose a government which had the king's confidence, systemat cation, that he was more truly the victim of his own impetuosity, his
ically working for the frustration of its measures and seeking to discredit it gambler's instinct warping his judgement at decisive moments throughout
in order to procure its eventual overthrow and to take the place of the his career. By associating himself so closely and so ostentatiously with Fox,
former ministers. When Burke justified party - and even he did not Grey ensured that many members of the House of Commons would
expound a fully formulated doctrine of a two-party system - George discern in his conduct a similar tendency to combine personal ambition
III believed that Burke's resourceful and imaginative intellect was being with strange and disturbing constitutional theories.
exploited in order to give specious justification to the actions of a group When Grey took his seat in the Commons in 1787 the opposition's
of selfish and unscrupulous politicians. When Fox talked of collective reputation was still clouded by memories of the Fox- orth coalition and
responsibility within the cabinet and the dignity and value of formed the fiasco of the India Bill. Like many episodes in Fox's career this had
opposition, George III had no doubt that Fox, an altogether less intel been a justifiable gamble which went disastrously wrong. It was not, as
lectual and more unprincipled man than Burke, was merely concealing the Disraeli thought, that England did not love coalitions: most eighteenth
machinations necessary for the advancement of a faction and the satisfac century administrations were coalitions of one sort or another. It was rather
tion of his own rapacious ambition in language which was as pretentious as that the conduct of Fox and North and their followers over the India Bill
it was insincere. The king's determination to defend the constitution, and revived all the doubts and suspicions which many had entertained over the
Fox's conviction that the constitution stood in need of development and coalition in the first place. George III was not alone in regarding the
change, were at the heart of the political and constitutional crisis of the coalition as a plot to destroy Shelburne before his administration had had
years 1782 to 1784. the opportunity to prove itself in office. By defeating Shelburne over the
Although in his lifetime Fox failed to convince the majority of his draft peace treaty with France, Fox and North revealed their true motives,
contemporaries of either his sincerity or his perception, his posthumous and they were never forgiven by the king for placing party advantage before
reputation demonstrated that for many years he won the hearts of his the interests of the nation. The India Bill appeared to confirm the deter
torians. Those who were preoccupied with tracing the origins of the two mination of Fox and North to seize the patronage of the East India
party system, cabinet government, and the gradual exclusion of the crown Company in order to entrench themselves in office, whatever the attitudes
from the tumult of politics, regarded the merits of Fox's case as obvious. of the king or the opinion of the political nation. Fox was the victim of
So much of what he advocated foreshadowed the conventions of the late much unfair propaganda, but he had played into the hands of his enemies
Victorian period. More recently Fox's attitudes and expectations and the and once the India Bill was introduced he was negligent and oversanguine.
motives of the men who followed him with such devotion have been firmly George III procured the defeat of the India Bill in the Lords in December
placed in their eighteenth-century context. His sincerity was unquestion 1783, dismissed the coalition, and called on Pitt to form a government.
able, in the sense that he genuinely believed that prevalent constitutional The Foxites never forgave Pitt for coming into office at the behest of the
conventions were inadequate for the purposes of government. Even when king, and their bitterness was compounded when Pitt exposed their failings,
he exaggerated the responsibility of the king for what had apparently gone called their bluff over such matters as the voting of supply to the crown,
wrong Fox saw that in a country such as Britain constitutional government and trounced them at the general election of 1784. In many respects Pitt's
implied constitutional development. But contemporaries were right in victory was a triumph for George III. The king and his minister had the
thinking that narrow political advantage was too conveniently attuned to satisfaction of knowing that the government had done even better than
what Fox was demanding. His ideas were innovative and novel, much more expected in the open constituencies. Influence and patronage were as
so in the late eighteenth century than they seemed to be from the van evident at the 1784 general election as they were at all eighteenth-century
tage point of the late nineteenth century. Most MPs regarded what was elections, but what was also remarkable was the intensity of public con
unfamiliar as shocking and dangerous. Politicians, then as now, were troversy which the contest provoked. Fox and his supporters ruefully
usually conventional in outlook. Fox's habit of combining bold and daz admitted that popular feeling was against them: a galling experience for
zling flights of idealistic oratory - whether over America or India or politicians who liked, however fancifully, to regard themselves as men of
the constitution - with what seemed like crude and selfish calculations the people. At Westminster Fox was elected only after a bitter struggle.
of immediate political advantage had the effect of making him appear Although he exploited every political ruse, the Duchess of Devonshire
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Earfr Years Earfr Years
canvassing on his behalf, he came only second in the poll, and even then mere population. They believed that interests and communities should be
had to face the subsequent anguish of a disputed return. Within the represented in the Commons, not numbers, and the theory of virtual
restraints imposed by the contemporary electoral system George III and representation, however singular it may be to the twentieth-century mind,
Pitt had won a considerable popular victory, although it was usual for gave a measure of credibility to the system, despite the anomalies denounced
governments to win general elections, which were regarded as appeals by by reformers. It was claimed that it was unnecessary for every member of a
the king and his ministers for a renewal of public confidence, rather than particular interest group, let alone the adult male population as a whole, to
being competitions between nationally organized parties for the privilege of be directly represented in the Commons. It was maintained, for example,
forming adminstrations. that the fishing interest in any county could be said to be adequately
The political system still reflected characteristics which had their origins represented in parliament if a particular borough in which the fishing
in the Revolution Settlement and the reigns of William III, Anne and the interest was predominant sent two representatives to the Commons, and as
first two Hanoverians. Since Grey committed himself to the principle of long as a significant number of fishing boroughs enjoyed the privilege
parliamentary reform early in his career, some sketch of the traditional of returning MPs then it was superfluous to suggest that every fishing
system is appropriate. The constitution was widely interpreted in terms of a borough should directly participate in the choice of MPs. For most of the
trinity of king, Lords and Commons, each acting as a check upon the eighteenth century the argument of virtual representation was a conserva
others. The House of Commons had changed little since the early seven tive one, an attempt to justify and to rationalize the system, to give some
teenth century, the constitutional experiments of the interregnum having coherence to what had been produced by centuries of evolution.
proved abortive and wholly abhorrent at the time of the Restoration in Two further points may be noted. First, the American colonists had
1660. MPs sat for county, borough or university seats. The majority of already denounced the theory of virtual representation, which some British
constituencies returned two members. Every county sent two MPs to controversialists had sought to apply to Massachusetts or Virginia in much
Westminster; as did the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, James I the same way in which it was held to apply to parts of Britain. The
having granted them this privilege. But borough representation depended Americans robustly denied that colonists in North America had the same
on the terms of individual borough charters, and these indicated the social identity of interests with British society that certain groups were supposed
structure and political circumstances of the past. The majority of boroughs to have in Britain. Second, as the pace of social change intensified, it
owed the privilege of parliamentary representation to the will of Plantagenet became possible for the theory of virtual representation to be put to
or Tudor monarchs. By the time Grey became an MP no borough had reformist purposes, since it could be argued, along traditionalist lines, that
been granted representation for over a hundred years. Suspicions of the new interests needed to be given representation in the House of Commons,
executive had led the Commons to resist attempts by the later Stuarts to even if this did not carry with it any implication of deference to sheer
extend representation by the issue of new charters. As a result borough numbers or a uniform franchise or pattern of representation. Grey came to
representation ossified and the distribution of seats was uneven. The south justify the Great Reform Bill as a means of bringing new forms of property
and west were over-represented, the north under-represented. Although and new types of interest within the political system. In doing so he was
this imbalance existed before the industrial revolution transformed British ex'Ploiting virtual representation for reformist ends, for he realized that the
society, as technological innovation and the growth of towns intensified so argument could be a potent one in persuading traditionalists that a reform
the contrast between the older centres of population and the new became of parliament need not involve accepting either democratic principles or
more extreme. London itself was under-represented. Some contemporaries democratic consequences.
believed that the secret influence of the crown had grown because the The distribution of seats was the irregular result of history: much the
archaic distribution of seats made it easier for the king to influence elec same could be said of the vagaries of the franchise. Again a contrast must
tions. Although the influence of the crown actually declined in the first be drawn benveen the countries and the boroughs. In the counties every
twenty years of George III's reign, the anomalies associated with borough forty-shilling freeholder had the privilege of voting. Since this qualification
representation were becoming more blatant and for many critics less had been establisli~d as long ago as the reign of Henry VI, by the 1780s it
defensible with every year that passed. had become a reL~ively generous qualification. But in the boroughs the
But the majority of Grey's contemporaries in the House of Commons profuse variety of the borough charters brought into being an astonishing
would have indignantly rejected any suggestion that representation at range of franchises. Every attempt at systematization runs the risk of
Westminster should be decided primarily or exclusively on the basis of misrepresentation. There was a handful of democratic boroughs, in which
14 15