1 Dr Bushby

CHAP. reading man in that year." All contemporary accounts I. from his college friends agree in the same character. 1786. A picture of his mind at that period, still more curious and interesting, is yet extant in several letters to a near and dear female relative and friend much more advanced years; some of which, without violating the confidence derry, Aug. ever due to domestic and private communications, may, Castlereagh without impropriety, be given to the world as the earliest records of the opening of a mind destined to do such great things in after life.1*

to Lord

London

6, 1840;

Corresp. i.

5, 6.

10.

abroad, and

mentary contest.

in

The reason of Lord Castlereagh being taken from colHis travels lege at the early age of eighteen, was the anxiety of his first parlia- father to secure for him a place in the Irish Parliament -an entrance into which was anticipated for his own. county at no distant period. In the mean time he was sent to make the grand tour, then, as now, considered with justice as an indispensable requisite for the completion of the education and forming the manners of any young man intended for public life. In 1788 and 1789, accordingly, he went abroad and visited Paris, Geneva, Rome, Vienna, and the principal European cities. Neither the studies and habits of Cambridge, however, nor the attractions of the highest foreign society to which his rank, fine figure,

* "LORD CASTLEREAGH [aged seventeen] to LADY E. PRATT.

"October 28, 1786. "MY DEAREST LADY ELIZABETH,-Being now completely settled at St John's, Cambridge, I sit down, this being the first night I ever spent in my own house, to thank you for your letter and neckcloths. As I know you wish to hear something of the reception we met with at Sudbourne (Lord Hertford's), I have the pleasure to tell you it was everything we could wish. Lord H. received us most cordially. The first day, when we arrived, we found him in the parlour. After sitting some time, my father and I went upstairs to take off our boots. When we came down, we found dinner on the table, and Lady Horatio Lincoln and Elizabeth in the room. Lord H. did not introduce us to any of them, so that we sat the whole time of dinner in the most formal manner you can imagine. For my own part, if I had been ever so well inclined to speak to them, I did not in the least know who they were: so that we sat in profound silence. However, after dinner, that formality wore off, and we were all very soon acquainted."

"HOLYHEAD, Wednesday, 28th May 1787. "As soon as we got into Wales, such was the enchantment that we could hardly force ourselves through it. We passed four days in it deliciously: the weather has been charming, and the country in its highest beauty. We

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1788.

and elegant manners, gave him an easy entrance, diverted his mind from politics, to which he evinced an early and unmistakable propensity. Instead of joining in the usual pleasures or amusements of his age and rank, he was continually studying the newspapers, devouring the debates in Parliament, and watching with intense anxiety, in common with the whole civilised world, the progress of the French Revolution, the deceitful dawn of which was beginning to be overcast with clouds. Above all, he evinced on all occasions the most earnest solicitude for the amelioration of the institutions of his own country, then overloaded with the abuses which ever attend the representative system among a people not fitted for its reception. There exists a most valuable letter of his to a confidential friend in January 1793, throwing an important light upon the condition of Ireland at that period,11 Castleand the reasons which rendered Lord Castlereagh so resp. i. 5, 6. ardent a supporter of a parliamentary reform in Ireland

next morning breakfasted in Llangollen, passing through that heavenly country along the banks of the Dee. It was more divine a thousand times than when I travelled it before. I went to inquire after Miss Butler and Miss H. they desired to see us, and we went and stayed three or four hours with them. Our reception was the kindest possible. They inquired particularly for you and Lord C. They were attached to you, they told me, at first sight, and wish much for your return. We left them with regret, very much entertained with the singularity of their mode of thinking, and surprised, as you were, with their perfect ease and unaffected manner with strangers. We stayed long on Penmaen-Mawr, till we were worn out, rolling great stones down that immense precipice. Nothing can be more magnificent than seeing them bounding down, till at last all dashed to dust."

'BIRMINGHAM, Friday night, 1787. "We went two miles to-day out of our way to see Shakespeare's tomb. I was well repaid. On it is this inscription :

"I have still some faint hopes left that this was the production of some Irish friend; for much as I am inclined to love this country's generosity, I have not so far expanded my heart as to incline to share that most unrivalled figure of speech with you."-LORd Castlereagh to LADY ELIZABETH PRATT, Birmingham, Friday night, April 14, 1793.

reagh Cor

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1790.

11.

Severe par

contest in

and the union with Great Britain. It is now for the first time given to the public.*

The marked predilection for political life which Lord Castlereagh evinced, and those abilities for the discharge of liamentary its duties, which were conspicuous in his character, inthe county duced his father to take the earliest opportunity of bringing him into Parliament, which at that time, to natives of Ireland, was the one sitting in College Green, Dublin. An opening occurred ere long in his own county, that of

of Down.

July 1790.

"DUBLIN, 26th January 1793.

"MY DEAREST LORD,- I have been in some measure remiss in fulfilling my promise. My father wrote so fully to you on the politics of Ireland that I can only afford a repetition of his statements. By your letter of the 20th to him, which arrived last night, it is plain the news of our most important proceedings have not reached you. When they do, they will prove that your speculations in regard to the probable result of our session have not been well founded; for it is now evident that, so far from reform in general meeting with resistance, and particularly that of the representation, from the Parliament of this country, the whole is in train; and the latter especially supported by those immediately interested in resisting it—I mean the great borough proprietors. This, my dear Lord, is sufficient to show that your ideas upon Irish politics, though abstractly sound, are not the result of an accurate local knowledge of the country. Most assuredly you cannot entertain stronger ideas on the wisdom of resisting all changes than those gentlemen have uniformly done, and, added to an equal disposition, they have the most weighty of all inducements to decide their opposition-viz., personal interest. Yet these old sages have discovered that reform is a wise and necessary measure; and they, very prudently, would rather effect it themselves than let others plunge the country in confusion, or suffer the work to fall into other hands. Depend upon it, my dear Lord C., you must change your system with respect to Ireland; there is no alternative, now her independence is admitted, but to govern her by reason, or unite her to Great Britain by force. A middle path will not do. A government of gross corruption-for it is not a government of influence-extinguishing every possibility of parliamentary authority, will be no longer quietly endured. Give Ireland such a government as your own. When she abuses it, depend upon it you will then find a union a much more practicable measure; but as to continuing the present system, depend upon it it is no longer possible. Those whose daily bread is the corruption complained of, think so; is not that sufficient proof? It would require less force to unite the two kingdoms than to govern as heretofore. In the former case a short struggle might effect it, but in the latter it will require a perpetual military coercion; therefore, let them, if they will, run riot for a little time. I myself hope that this will not be the case, although there is certainly more danger than there would have been had the concession taken place some years sooner. But, at all events, let their misconduct, not their reasonable demands, be the ground of forcible interference. Under the spirit of the constitution they are justified in demanding change. When they have power they may abuse it-so may you; but when they are wild enough to do so, then your correction may be more reasonably

Down, in the north of Ireland, which led to an election contest of the severest kind, attended with important and lasting consequences to the Stewart family. That great county had been hitherto mainly in the hands of the Marquess of Downshire, whose family have there extensive estates; and that nobleman was desirous, when an election occurred in July 1790, of securing both seats for his nominee. This attempt was resisted by the Independent proprietors, who were anxious to emancipate the country applied. I am afraid the question for your decision now is (what I always imagined it would be on the first critical occasion that presented itself) not what instructions you should send to Mr Hobert, but what orders to my Lord Howe-provided it is your determination to resist and not to guide the storm. I am sure if that moment has not yet arrived it is not far distant; for I doubt exceedingly whether even your corruption, powerful though it may be, will be capable of prevailing upon Parliament to throw Ireland into confusion or to persuade gentlemen that it is better to purchase their boroughs and their emoluments than their estates. It is for you to determine whether you will embark in the reconquest of Ireland at the same time that you proceed against France and its principles.

"Your policy towards Ireland has been temporising. You have made it necessary for her to seize systematically an ungenerous moment to carry her object. Yet even at this moment there is but one voice, that when England draws the sword, that of Ireland is unsheathed with it. The wildest revolutionists have not held other language. You have attempted to support a system which your first difficulty compels you to abandon. Instead of concession, every point has been a matter of conquest, and discontent has been the consequence, when gratitude might have been the national feeling. You have tied the hands by closing the mouths of all your real friends in this country, and relied upon a parcel of sharks, who, now alarmed, for higher interests forsake you. So far have you pushed matters that, as landlords, we have no longer any influence in restraining the exertions of our tenantry to effect that which we cannot seriously tell them should be denied.

"But to forget what is past, let us consider what is to be done? Claims are coming from all ranks, both Catholic and Protestant. The rational principle appears to be to concede what shall conciliate a sufficient number to guard against tumult, and at the same time does not go to destroy the framework of the constitution. There appears to me this strong distinction between the dissatisfaction of the two sects, that the Protestants may be conciliated at the same time that the constitution is improved; the Catholics never can, by any concession which must not, sooner or later, tear down the Church or make the State their own. I believe that reform will effect itself either now or in a few years. If that be the case, and the election franchise is given to that body, a few years will make three-fourths of the constituency of Ireland Catholics. Can a Protestant superstructure long continue supported on such a base? With a reformed representation and a Catholic constituency, must not everything shortly follow? Can the Protestant Church remain the Establishment of a State of which they do not comprise an eighth part, which will be the

The Irish Secretary.

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1790.

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from the influence of one family, and united their suffrages in favour of Mr Stewart (Lord Castlereagh) and Mr Ward, 1790. though the former was so young that he only attained the legal age of twenty-one during his canvass. The contest

was carried on by both parties with the greatest keenness, and attended with enormous expense on either side. That which fell on Lord Londonderry was no less than £60,000—a clear proof how much some reform in the

case when the Catholics are coequal in political rights? At present they form the half, being as numerous as the Dissenters. This makes all the difference in the world; for enemies within and without the State tell very differently. The one destroys by legislation, the other by rebellion. You observe that we paint too strongly the danger of Protestant resentment and underrate Catholic anger. Although inferior in numbers, I consider the Protestants infinitely the more formidable body. They have thought longer on political subjects, and are excited to a higher pitch than the Catholics; besides, I do not think you are likely to appease the latter by any concession you are about to make to them. Nothing short of coequal rights will satisfy them, and these you cannot yield if you wish to preserve your Church and State; for in order to preserve the Church, the patronage of the Crown must be employed in its support. Therefore although the Catholics may have equal rights, they cannot have equal enjoyments. Here a new grievance presents itself, which nothing but the destruction of your Episcopacy and the partition of the State can redress. Depend upon it, they will struggle as much for the practical enjoyment, as they now do for the theoretical privileges, of the constitution; therefore you cannot encourage them with any hope of satisfying them unless you tolerate State dissolution. You have made an unwise alliance with that body, if it is not irretrievable. I think you had yet better decline the consummation. Rather strengthen the combination upon its own principles, and keep a hostile principle out of it. Give them anything rather than the franchise, for it forces everything else. Property will feebly resist a principle so powerful. The Dissenters having carried their reform, will have no interest in pulling down your Church, for they cannot expect to set up their own. They hate tithes, so do the Episcopalians. I think you are unnecessarily alarmed lest a coalition should take place between the Levellers and the Catholics. If the Government is purged a little, you will find very few Levellers, if any, from principle. The mob, when released from law, let their religion be what it may, are Levellers. These Government need not dread, if it be supported by its own character, and by the men of weight acting upon principle apparently more pure than its accustomed guardians. But, at all events, you must make friends somewhere, and to decide which shall be preferred, is only to recollect that the petition of grievances on the part of the Catholics must, from the nature of things, comprehend every article contained in that of the Protestants, with the addition of several peculiar to themselves; and that the closing prayer is, give us the Government at once, or give us the franchise as the means of conquering it. If you give the franchise, reflect on the multitude of reformers you create; for as long as the representation stands as it now is, the privilege is inefficient. This might be good policy, if you could hope to damp the ardour for reform in the Protestants alarmed for their ascendancy, but that moment is passed. They have taken the step, and they claim emancipation for the Catholics and repre