Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third

쾘
Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of?by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of
George the Third, by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Memoirs of the Courts and Cabinets of George the Third From the Original Family Documents, Volume 1 (of 2)
Author: The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
Release Date: April 4, 2007 [EBook #20982]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE THE THIRD ***

Produced by Paul Murray, David King, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

THE COURT AND CABINETS
OF
GEORGE THE THIRD.
VOL. I.
[Illustration: George the Third.]
MEMOIRS
OF THE
COURT AND CABINETS
OF
GEORGE THE THIRD.
FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY DOCUMENTS.
BY
THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS, K.G.
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1853.
LONDON: Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street.

INTRODUCTION.
In the selection and arrangement of the Correspondence contained in these Volumes, the intrusion of unnecessary commentaries and political opinions has been carefully avoided. The letters themselves are so lucid and complete, that the interest of the publication has been left to rest upon their details as far as possible. But as a collection of communications of this confidential nature, written from day to day upon passing events, must necessarily involve numerous allusions which, intelligible at the time, are either obscure or liable to misapprehension now, occasional notices of the principal topics and circumstances referred to have been introduced wherever they appeared to be required. By the help of this illustrative frame-work a certain degree of continuity has been attempted to be preserved, so that the reader will have no difficulty in blending these materials into the history of the period they embrace.

Contents
1782.
The Close of Lord North's Administration--The Second Rockingham Cabinet--Mr. Thomas Grenville's Mission to Paris--The Shelburne Administration--Lord Temple Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland--Irish Affairs.
1783.
The Renunciation Bill--The Fall of the Shelburne Administration--The Cabinet Interregnum--The Coalition Ministry--Resignation of Lord Temple.
1784.
Mr. Pitt's Administration--Lord Temple Created Marquis of Buckingham--His Private Notes on the Coalition.
1785.
The Breach Between the Marquis of Buckingham and Mr. Thomas Grenville.
1786.
Mr. W. W. Grenville Joins Mr. Pitt's Administration.
1787.
The Dawn of Free Trade--The Assembly of Notables--Affairs of Holland--Arthur Wellesley--The Marquis of Buckingham Assumes the Government of Ireland for the Second Time.
1788.
Irish Correspondence--The India Declaratory Bill--Trial of Warren Hastings--Contemplated Changes in the Administration--The King's Interference in Military Appointments--The Irish Chancellorship--The King's Illness--Views of the Cabinet Respecting the Regency.

1782.
The Close of Lord North's Administration--The Second Rockingham Cabinet--Mr. Thomas Grenville's Mission to Paris--The Shelburne Administration--Lord Temple Appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland--Irish Affairs.
As no inconsiderable portion of the Correspondence contained in these volumes relates to the structure and conduct of Cabinets, throwing light upon public affairs from those secret recesses to which historians rarely have access, it may be useful, by way of introduction, to glance at certain circumstances which, during the period embraced in the work, exercised a special influence over the Government of the country: an influence no less directly felt in the councils of Ministers than in the measures and combinations of the Opposition.
The history of Administration in the reign of George III. presents some peculiarities which distinguish it in a very striking degree from that of most other reigns. The key to these peculiarities will be found in the personal character of the Sovereign. To that character, and its immediate action upon political parties, may be traced, to a greater extent than has been hitherto suspected, the parliamentary agitation and ministerial difficulties which were spread over nearly the whole of that long and eventful period. The means of forming an accurate judgment on matters of this nature exist only in confidential details, such as are disclosed in the collection of letters now for the first time laid before the public. In order, however, to render intelligible the allusions that are scattered through them, and to point out their real value as materials for the political history of the time, it is necessary to offer a few preliminary remarks on the circumstances to which reference has been made.
George III.--whose admirable business habits and inflexible integrity inspired the highest deference and attachment amongst the personal friends he admitted to his confidence--was remarkable in no one particular more than in his jealousy of the prerogatives of the Crown. He carried his zeal in that matter so far as even to draw upon himself the charge of desiring to strain the rights of the Crown beyond constitutional limitations. But as these limitations have never been accurately defined, and as it has always been