Chap. XXX.} 1767. Sept. |
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spoke with boldness; but at heart he was as
timid as he was versatile.
He had clear conceptions, depth of understanding, great knowledge of every branch of administration,1 and indefatigable assiduity in business.
During the last session of Parliament, his career had been splendid and successful.
He had just obtained the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland for his brother, and a Peerage for his wife, to descend to his children;2 and with power, fortune, affection, and honors clustering around him, he fell in the bloom of manhood, the most celebrated statesman who has left nothing but errors to account for his fame.
The choice of his successor would decide on the continuance of the Ministry, of which his death seemed to presage the overthrow.
Choiseul,3 a good judge, esteemed Grenville by far the ablest financier in England, and greatly feared his return to office.
It was believed, that on the day of Townshend's death, Grafton advised the recall of Grenville; and that the King replied with strong emotion, ‘Never speak to me again of that man; for I never, my life long, will see him.’4—‘The King himself has the greatest distrust of those who would rule him, so that he never will let any one prevail,’ said the Princess Amelia; ‘were Bute and the Princess of Wales no more, Ministers would not be more stable.’5 Following his
1 Durand to Choiseul, 8 Sept. 1767.
3 See many of his letters to the embassy at London.
4 Durand to Choiseul, 11 Sept. 1767. That the King spoke very civilly to Lord Suffolk respecting his enemy Grenville after Grenville's death only illustrates a proverb of two thousand years ago. The letter of Durand is not conclusive, but Walpole had good means of information; Grafton says that Grenville was never liked by the King; and the Grenville Diary for 1765, fully accounts for the King's invincible repugnance to a minister whose stubbornness had made him turn red and even shed tears.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1859.
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