6

respect. He had particularly scandalized the public by the reckless manner in which he disposed of his church patronage. This is illustrated by the following anecdote, which was related by the great Lord Chatham at his own table, in the presence of a gentleman from whom I received it :-"Returning late from the House of Lords one night, and when just preparing to go to bed, Lord Chancellor Northington was told that his coachman was taken so alarmingly ill as to be thought dying, and that the poor fellow desired to have a clergyman to pray by him. His Lordship learning that the curate of St. Giles's lived in the neighborhood, directed him to be sent for, and then went to bed, giving his butler orders to sit up for the clergyman, and, according to the habits of hospitality observed in his Lordship's house, particularly charged that the reverend gentleman should be treated with all the refreshment he might choose. In the morning Lord Northington asked the butler if the clergyman came, and how he was regaled? The answer was, 'Yes, my Lord, he came, and a very agreeable, merry parson he was. In pursu ance of your Lordship's orders, I asked him what wine he would like, and he chose Burgundy.' 'Very well, so I suppose he had it,' said Lord Northington. Sure enough he had,' said the butler, and he took a second bottle.' 'Bravo!' said Lord Northington, he must, then, be a jolly dog' and his Lordship laughed, and seemed much amused at the butler's report. It occurred about that period that Lord Northington was rather perplexed with strong conflicting applications for a living in his gift then vacant, and pressed for by the Squire of the parish on the one hand, and by a friend of Government on the other hand, whom his Lordship did not like to affront; and, to settle that puzzle, he said to the butler, 'Where's your Burgundy friend? I am disposed to give him a living I don't immediately know what else to do with.' The curate was of course delighted with the kind proposal, and readily accepted the living. Some considerable time afterwards, something occurred to recall the circumstance to Lord Northington's memory, and he asked the butler 'how his Burgundy friend got on?' The answer was, 'Very ill, my Lord; the Squire of the parish was so offended at your Lordship's having rejected his candidate, that he set his face against the gentleman your Lordship preferred, and has exchequered him about the tithes, and persecuted and involved him so deep that I fear he'll be quite ruined.' Ah! said Lord Northington, that's very unlucky: but I think I have just now another living vacant that will suit him he shall have that,— and then I hope he'll be a match for the Squire.'"

:

CHAPTER CXLI

CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE OF LORD NORTHINGTON.

My Lord President and ex-Chancellor Northington, while labouring for the public good,-in the new arrangements was not

forgetful of what was due to himself. As an indemnity [A. D. 1766.] for his sacrifice of the Great Seal, it was agreed that, in addition to the salary of his present office, he should receive an immediate pension of 20007. a year; that on his resignation of this office the pension should be raised to 40007. a year; and that he should have a reversionary grant of the office of clerk of the Hanaper in Chancery for two lives, after the death of the Duke of Chandos.

Although Lord Northington held a high appointment at the commencement of this motley administration, his connection with it was fleeting, and this is not the place to tell of the mortification, failure, and eclipsed fame of the "Great Commoner," become Earl of Chatham,when he found himself, from physical and mental infirmity, unable to control the discordant materials of which he had thought fit to compound hie new Cabinet.*

The only measure of the Government in which Lord Northington took any part was the embargo to prohibit the exportation of corn; and here he exhibited his characteristic rashness and recklessness,—which seemed to be aggravated by age and experience.

On account of the almost unprecedented succession of wet weather in the summer and autumn of 1766, the harvest had failed in many parts of England, the price of bread had risen alarmingly, and a famine was apprehended. A foolish proclamation was issued against "forestallers and regraters," which-not increasing the quantity of corn, nor lessening the demand for it-in as far as it had any operation, aggravated the evil by interfering with the operations of commerce. An order was then made by the King in Council, in which Lord Chatham, though absent, concurred, prohibiting the exportation of corn, and laying an embargo on ships loaded with cargoes of corn about to sail for foreign countries, where the scarcity was still more severe. Although it probably would have been wiser to have left the trade in food entirely free, without duty or bounty, the measure was generally approved of, and the Government

* Lord Northington, from the time of his appointment as Lord President, frequently corresponded with the Duke of Grafton, who was at the head of the Treasury. Being at the Grange in September, 1766, he writes to him: "I have not spent my time here without regard to my new employment, having perused the papers which I brought down here, and which have been long in arrear. am sorry Lord Chatham is laid up; and shall only add, that I think no journey inconvenient which tends to the King's service, or to express the great personal regard with which I am, my dear Lord," &c.

was actuated by the best motives in resorting to it. Still it was contrary to law; for there was no statute to prevent the exportation of any sort of grain, however high the price might be, or to authorize the Crown to interfere on such an occasion. Those concerned in the embargo were therefore liable to actions, and required to be indemnified. This was the rational view of the subject taken by Lord Chatham himself in his maiden speech in the House of Lords, on the first day of the ensuing session. He said, "it was an act of power which, during the recess of parliament, was justifiable on the ground of necessity;" and he read a passage from Locke on Government, to show that, "although not strictly speaking legal, the measure was right in the opinion of that great friend of liberty, that constitutional philosopher, and that liberal statesman." Upon this footing, a bill of indemnity would have passed without difficulty. But Lord Northington, for some unintelligible reason, contended that the measure was strictly legal, and that no indemnity was necessary. He went so far as to maintain that the Crown had a right to interfere even against a positive act of parliament, and that proof of the necessity amounted to a legal justification. Seemingly unconscious that he was [A. D. 1767.] standing up for a power in the Crown to suspend or dispense with all laws, he defied any lawyer to contradict him, and, saying "he was no patron of the people," he even went on to throw out a sarcasm against the noble Earl at the head of the government, for his past popular courses.

*

Lord Mansfield, never displeased with an opportunity of chastising Lord Northington, clearly showed that the power he claimed for the Crown was utterly inconsistent with the constitution, and, if it ever in any degree existed, was entirely at variance both with the letter and the spirit of the Bill of Rights.†

The ex-Chancellor, though, to the amazement of mankind, countenanced by a great constitutional lawyer, who was expected to scout such absurd doctrine, never seem to have rallied from this downset. I cannot discover that he again opened his mouth in parliament, although he continued sulkily in office till the close of the following year. Finding that, in the absence of Lord Chatham, there were dreadful distractions in the cabinet, and that he had no weight there, he soon became desirous of retreating to the quiet enjoyment of his pensions and his sinecures.

He communicated his wish to resign to the Duke of Grafton, and they sent a joint representation to Lord Chatham, pointing out "the present

*The inconsiderate manner in which he had originally agreed to the measure may be learned from an extract of his letter to the Duke of Grafton, dated 31st August, 1766:-"I come now to that part of your Grace's letter which more immediately relates to my office; the revival of the prohibition of the exportation of corn, by order of council, pursuant to the late act-which I have not here. And I am of opinion, that it is absolutely fit and necessary, as I stand at present informed." In truth, the order was directly.contrary to the late act; and the President of the Council advises an order, supposed to be framed on an act which he does not see, and with which he is wholly unacquainted! Surely, we are less slovenly nowadays in our mode of transacting public business.

† 16 Parl. Hist. 245–313.

state of the King's affairs from the want of his Lordship's support and influence, and from the unfortunate situation of his Lordship's health,the administration having been rested, ab initio, on his Lordship's weight and abilities." They seem to have received a very rough answer from him, as we may conjecture from the following note, addressed by Lord Northington to the Duke of Grafton :

"My dear Lord,

"I have the properest sense of your Grace's communication of a letter, most extraordinary, and as relative to ourselves, most absurd as well as dangerous. My sentiments must remain as they were in justice to my own honour, my duty to the King and the public, and the peace and quiet of of my own mind. I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect," &c. While Lord Northington's resignation was under consideration, he paid his respects at St. James's, and then sent to the Duke the following account of his reception :

"My dear Lord,

"I was this morning at Court, and had the honour of speaking to at the drawing-room, but as he had no command for me, and several persons of ministry going in, I did not trouble the closet. But I thought it fit to signify to your Grace, that I am convinced, from circumstances, that it is wished by many to pause till after the session is up. And I could perceive, by the discourse of a noble neighbour of mine, that the thing you are enquiring after is as extensive as I thought it, and too large for your reception. The many alluded to above are not of our friends, and it being my permanent opinion that we should penetrate through the present cloud, I send this for your better and cooler judg

ment.

"The Sy was beginning a long account of the state of America, &c. &c. But in the midst of this hurlothumbo they were both called in, staid a long time in the closet, and I left them there. .. My Lord, the affection I have to your Grace's sentiments, honour, and abilities (and you know I can speak on this occasion only from truth), has induced me to suggest every material circumstance relative to your Grace's conduct in this nice and important crisis, and if my friendship outruns my judgment, I am confident that I shall not only receive your pardon, but thanks for my warmth in endeavouring to express myself,-My dear Lord, "Your Grace's," &c.

Lord Northington was induced to delay his resignation, and to retreat into the country-whence he wrote a letter to the Duke, in which, after expressing his satisfaction at having been present when his son was unanimously elected for Hampshire, he says,

66

Though the air and retirement have afforded me some ease, the weather hath as yet debarred me of any relief. I barely walk, and am without strength or appetite. Though I was not surprised that your Grace received no satisfaction in the information you inquired after, yet I lament

* Word illegible.

it, as it daily confirms what I have long suspected, that the rancour and intoxication of faction would sap the very foundations of government. The contagion is so widely spread that it is beyond me to know whither to turn to avoid it. I hope, however, your next may afford me more comfort, as I am sensible of your Grace's discernment to discover, and zeal to pursue, every avenue that may open and lead to the stability of your King and country."

A few days after, the Duke wrote to him an enormously lengthy despatch, giving him an account of negotiations with the [JULY 18.] Duke of Bedford, Rigby, Conway, Lord Gower, Lord Rockingham, &c., and thus concluding: "One favour I must entreat of your Lordship, who, considering the consequences it is of to the public, must not refuse-which is, though out of office, to assist the Cabinet, and particularly myself, with the advice which your ability and great experience in public affairs will make so essential to the King's service." In his answer, Lord Northington says,

"I think myself much obliged to your Grace for communicating to me, in so clear and historical a manner, the progress of po[JULY 20.] litical matters since I left London." After tedious comments on recent intrigues, and praising the Duke for continuing in office, he thus concludes: "As to myself, my Lord, I thought it my duty frankly to open my state of health, and its insufficiency to an office so extensive and of so much attendance: it was but just both to the King and to his ministers, as I was and am morally certain I shall never re-establish my strength to sustain that burthen, but I desire to be laid at the King's feet as one that out of office will be as zealous as in-and as one that will ever to the best of his abilities support his Majesty's Government, and, without a compliment, never with so much pleasure as when your Grace is at the head of it."*

Being still pressed by the Duke of Grafton, in the King's name, at [AUG. 3, a. D. 1767.] tion might be remodelled, he wrote back,least to defer his resignation till the administra"You are pleased to open the immediate plan of carrying on government in the interim till a better can be formed. I also learn from your Grace's letter that in his Majesty's present situation it is his wish, and your Grace seems to think it will be a convenience, that I should for a time retain the great employment which his Majesty, out of his abundant grace, was pleased to confer on me. I can have but one

* The Duke, in his Journal, after setting out his own composition in extenso, thus proceeds:-"It will be proper also to introduce here Lord Northington's answer. We lived in full and mutual confidence in each other: he had about him the genuine principle of a Whig,1 and in all transactions I found him to be a man full of honour, a disinterested gentleman, and, though much devoted to the King, with great zeal for the constitution. As a lawyer, his knowledge and ability were great; but his manner and speech were ungracious. I shall ever do honour to his memory wherever I hear his name brought forward."

'I should be curious to know the definition of a Whig, which would include Lord Northington, who might be a very sound politician, but was as little of a Whig as his successor Thurlow.