Part 22
MY LORD,--Being much hurried at present I must refer your Lordship to the public reports for an account of the further proceedings of the Cortes and of the events which have lately taken place in this country. I shall only say in general that we are still full of confidence. A measure, which I have taken the liberty of strongly recommending to some of my friends among the deputies, will probably be moved in the Cortes this day or to-morrow. It is to pass a decree making it a fundamental law of the state that any King of Spain or Prince of the blood royal who shall marry a _foreigner_ without the consent of the Cortes, shall by that act forfeit his title to the crown. The subject of this decree, independent of its general policy, is immediately to anticipate any new trick or stratagem which Bonaparte may probably devise, should the campaign in Portugal prove, as we hope, signally disastrous to his arms, by marrying Ferdinand to a Frenchwoman or an Austrian, and bringing him to Spain as King, in order to create new factions and disunion. This law will probably be proposed by Arguelles, and I have little doubt will pass.
Your Lordship will perceive from this that we are at present more afraid of the artifices than of the arms of Napoleon.
Some discussion will likewise soon take place in the Cortes with respect to the assumption of the title of _Majesty_
by them; a measure which, I was aware, would be liable to much misconstruction in England. I shall write your Lordship more fully on this and some other subjects by next packet; in the mean time, your Lordship may be assured that there was no intention, by the assumption of this title, to degrade the royal authority.
I beg leave to offer my best respects to Lady Holland and Mr. Allen, and have the honour to be, &c.
R. CAMPBELL.
_Mr. R. Campbell to Lord Holland._
Cadiz, Dec. 20th, 1810.
MY LORD,--The decree which I mentioned in my last letter with respect to the marriage of the Princes of the Spanish Blood Royal was actually proposed by Capmany, and discussed on the 10th. Capmany’s motion was that no King of Spain or Prince of the blood royal should contract matrimony with _any person whatever_, without the consent of the Cortes lawfully assembled; this is more general and, as a fundamental Law of the State, more consistent, perhaps, with sound policy, than the decree to which I alluded. The motion was referred to the committee on the constitution, and I hope they will lose no time in deciding upon it.
Such had been the shameful intriguing and trafficking for places and pensions, for titles and ribands and crosses and promotions in the army and navy, frequently conferred upon the most worthless individuals, during the government of the Central Junta and of the late Regency, that the _self-denying_ decree appears to me to have been absolutely necessary to give the Cortes that degree of public confidence and popularity which alone could render their labours of any benefit to the nation.
With respect to the title of Majesty, I am convinced that, in assuming it, the Cortes had no intention to degrade the royal dignity and that no democratic views lurk under this measure. Your Lordship will be pleased to consider the very peculiar circumstances under which they met. The nation was _then_ for the first time in the history of the Monarchy represented by deputies that had the least shadow of a claim to fair or legitimate election; they had to give to their country what it never possessed before--a _Constitution_, by which the hitherto despotic power of the King should be limited, and which should be binding on him as well as on the people. They had to prescribe to him the conditions upon which the Spanish nation were willing that he should continue to wear the crown. It was necessary that, at the first moment of their meeting, they should make some kind of public and solemn expression of the sovereign and inherent rights of the nation, lawfully represented, to form and establish the fundamental laws of the State. The title of Majesty was therefore not assumed with levity; its expediency was maturely considered. It was requisite that the multitude and all ranks and classes of the State should at once receive the deepest impression that the authority and dignity of the _present extraordinary_ Cortes were paramount to every other; before which all other authorities and dignities must, for the present, bend. It was necessary, therefore, that they should be addressed in the language corresponding to the high dignity of their situation--they could not otherwise have taken or maintained possession of the lofty ground upon which they now stand, especially in a country where, more than in any other, respect and authority are connected in the minds of the vulgar with title and external appearance. Besides, the title of Majesty had just been given to the _Central Junta_ and to the late Regency; and if the Cortes had not assumed the same title, it might have been considered as a public acknowledgment of inferiority in power and dignity to these two bodies. Had the Cortes taken the title of _Highness_ and left that of _Majesty_ with the _Regency_, how would it have sounded in the ears of a Spanish public that his _Majesty_ was nominated by and responsible for his conduct to his _Highness_? I have not heard it even insinuated that any future Cortes (or by whatever other appellation the elective representatives of the people shall be distinguished) ought to be addressed by the title of Majesty. This title, it is generally understood, when the Constitution is established, should belong to the King _alone_, as the hereditary representative of the power and Majesty of the nation.
In addition to all this, your Lordship will have observed that the title of Majesty was more general in its application in Spain than it is in England. In England it belongs exclusively to the King; in Spain, it was likewise given to the _Camera del Consejo Real_ and to the _Consejo de Guerra_. I ought to beg your Lordship’s pardon for hazarding these hasty opinions, which I submit with great sincerity to your more enlightened judgment.
A fungous growth of political pamphlets and periodical publications issue daily from the press. We have the _Conciso_, the _Tertulia_, the _Buen Español_, the political _Telescope_, and I believe the political _Microscope_ and the political _Spectacles_; none of these have any merit except the _Conciso_, which gives the best diary we have yet had of the proceedings of the Cortes; but we have likewise the _Semanario_, revived by Quintana, which maintains its ancient reputation, and the _Patriot in the Cortes_, as yet chiefly distinguished for its boldness. Some numbers of these last I shall do myself the pleasure to send to your Lordship by the first good opportunity. I should have requested of Mr. Wellesley or Mr. Vaughan to take charge of any parcel or packet for you, but they reside at present in the _Isla_, whither I seldom go; and which is so crowded that I could not procure in it a house or accommodation of any kind. We are and have been in daily expectation that the Cortes will transfer their sittings to this city. The Cortes have committed and are _daily_ committing a great many errors; but they are the errors of inexperience, and as they have upright intentions and are not indocile they will, I hope, soon correct such mistakes as they may inadvertently fall into, more especially when the forms are once established which are to regulate their future proceedings; and I am happy to say that this necessary regulation, the want of which has been already on many occasions severely felt, will soon take place.
I have seen exaggerated accounts in the English papers of the yellow fever which prevailed here; it was not virulent nor general, and has now, I believe, entirely vanished.
The French have at last succeeded in throwing a few nine-inch shells within our walls from their battery on the _cabezuela of the Trocadero_. One fell near the signal tower, almost in the centre of the city, and distant from the _cabezuela_ about 2500 French _toises_, greater by 200 _toises_ than any range of a shell formerly known. Not more than a dozen altogether fell within the walls; they fortunately did no damage and occasioned very little alarm. I am assured by Artillery officers that the charge of powder necessary to throw a shell to such a distance is so great, that after a few discharges the mortar will be rendered entirely useless. A few shells were first fired two or three days ago, a few more the next day, and they have since been silent. We are informed that one of their mortars burst.
A general enlistment is now carrying on here and rigorously executing, of all unmarried men _without exception_ from the age of 16 to 45. Men we can find in abundance, but where we can get the means of clothing, arming, and subsisting them, unless we receive very liberal aid from England, it is difficult for me to conceive; two days ago, notwithstanding every measure of economy that has been adopted and is adopting, there was not a dollar in the treasury. The Government had applied a few weeks ago to the _Junta_ of Cadiz for the loan of a million of dollars, to be repaid upon the arrival of the _Bulwark_ from Vera Cruz; this the _Junta_ had the scandalous indecency to refuse, except upon the condition that the regulation and collection of the customs of the port of Cadiz should be committed exclusively to their management, with other stipulations, the effect of which would have been to erect the _Junta_ into a little petty sovereignty. This proposition was rejected with indignation, and the conduct of the _Junta_, upon this occasion, has justly rendered them extremely unpopular. Yesterday morning, the Government, being absolutely without a dollar, made application to the _Consulado_, and a meeting of the most respectable merchants being called most of whom never had any concern with the _Junta_, a great many very patriotic speeches were made, the million of dollars was immediately granted, without interest or condition of any kind and to be repaid whenever it was convenient for the Government. The _Bulwark_ fortunately arrived in the evening, but has not brought so much money as was expected, only a million and a half dollars for the public treasury and about two millions private property.
I am sure I must have now tired your Lordship completely with this long and uninteresting letter, to which I shall here put a close, and have the honour to be most truly,
Your most obedt. Servt.
R. CAMPBELL.
INDEX
(_The figures in italics refer to the notes only_)
Abbot, Charles, Speaker (afterwards Lord Colchester), and Public Debtors Bill, ii. 89, 90, 94, 95
Abercorn, John James, 1st Marquess of, i. 201, 202, 257; ii. 56, 67, 68, 69, 70
Aboukir, battle of, ii. 31
Adair, Sir Robert, i. 263; ii. 270, 274
Adam, William, M.P., Attorney-General to Prince of Wales, ii. _229_, 273, 274, 283, 284
Adderley, Mr., i. _235_, 237, 243, 245, 252, 253, 254, 265, 266, 269, 271, 273, 274, 276, 279
Addington’s Administration, ii. 280
Addington, Henry (Viscount Sidmouth), ii. 132, 147, 202, _210_, 211; and Catholic Emancipation Bill, ii. 213–19, 221, 223
Addison, Joseph, ii. 64–5
Affleck, Sir Gilbert, i. 147; ii. 104
Alfieri, Vittorio, i. 48, 56, 140, 145
Ali Pacha, ii. 173
Allen, Dr. John, ii. 280
Amelia, Princess, her death, ii. 265, 266
American Treaty, the, ii. 194
Amherst, William Pitt (afterwards Earl Amherst), i. 129, 264; ii. 29, _264_
Amiens, Treaty of, ii. _195_, 237
Andover, Viscount, his death, ii. 43
_Annual Register_, the, i. _226_, _237_; ii. _30_, _41_, _106_, _126_, _163_, _175_, _178_
_Anti-Jacobin_, the, i. 7, 205, 243; ii. _42_
Apodaca, Admiral, ii. 245, 246
Armstead, Mrs., _see_ Mrs. C. J. Fox
Assessed Taxes, i. _164_, 165, 169, 170
Association of the Friends of the People, i. 14, 15, 101, 102
Aston, Col. Harvey, i. 261
Auckland, Lord, i. 101, 236; ii. 71, 77, 96, 173–4, 227; and the Divorce Bill, ii. 77, 96
Auerstadt, battle of, ii. _187_
Augustus, Prince Frederick, Duke of Sussex, i. 8, 35, 47; ii. 82, 84
Austerlitz, battle of, ii. _161_
Baia, i. 23–4
Balbi, Comtesse de, i. 7, 86
Bathurst, Rt. Hon. Charles Bragge, ii. _222_, 223
Beauchamp, Lady (afterwards Lady Hertford, _q.v._), i. 96
Beauclerk, Charles George, i. 124, 233, 234, 235, 244; his disposition, i. 121, 122, 256; ii. 34, 80
Beauclerk, Mrs., i. 232, 233; ii. 34, 50, 80; character, i. 234, 235, 256; marriage, i. 244
Bedford, Francis Russell, 5th Duke of, i. 98; ii. _74_, 87; his manner and qualities, i. 270; on the Divorce Bill, ii. 78–9; builds Russell Square, ii. 106 and note; his death, ii. 149
Bedford, John Russell, 6th Duke of, in Ireland, ii. 199, 200, 225
Belgrave, Robert Grosvenor, Viscount (afterwards 1st Marquess of Westminster), and Sunday newspapers, i. 258
Belsham, William, his _History of Great Britain_, ii. 236, 244–5
Bentinck, Lord William Cavendish, ii. 290, 291
Berington, Father Joseph, ii. 247–8
Berkeley, Frederick Augustus, 5th Earl of, i. 262; ii. 82
Berthier, General, i. 200–1
Bessborough, Lady, i. 54–5, 122, 124, 126; and Lady Ann Hatton, ii. 69
Biddulph, Mr., his Committee on Public Expenditure, ii. 206–7
Bojanowitz, Mme., and Lord Thanet, i. _233_, 248; ii. 102
Bonaparte, Jerome, ii. 178
Bonaparte, Joseph, i. _175_, 200; ii. 246
Bonaparte, Mme. (Josephine), i. 200–1
Bonaparte, Napoleon, _see under_ Napoleon
Bordeaux, Jérôme de Cicé, Archbishop of, ii. 22
Boringdon, Lord (afterwards 1st Earl of Morley), i. 190, 241–2; ii. 19; and Duke of Somerset, ii. 46
Boscovitch, Roger Joseph, i. 19
Bouillé, Marquis de, i. _151_, 152, 153
Bragge, Rt. Hon. Charles, _see_ Bathurst
Bristol, Frederick Augustus, 4th Earl of, and Bishop of Derry, i. 141, 169, 242; and Lady Holland’s portrait, i. 138, 142; prisoner in Milan, i. 219
Brougham, Henry, Lord, on C. J. Fox’s writings, ii. _58_
Browne, William George, i. 33, 172–3, 207–8
Brunswick, Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of, his manifesto, i. 14
Buenos Ayres, ii. _185_, 189, 192, 203–4
Buller, Mr. Justice, i. 184–5, 186, 233
Burdett, Sir Francis, i. 251; ii. 8, 50–1, 136
Burke, Edmund, on capture of Toulon, i. 97
Burr, Aaron, ii. 190–1
Busaco, battle of, ii. 264
Caffarelli, Charles Ambroise de, ii. 153–4
Calonne, Charles Alexandre de, i. _231_; ii. 34, 36–7, 160
Cambridge, Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of, ii. _113_, 114
Camden, Lord, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, i. _188_, 189, 190
Camelford, Lord, on La Fayette, i. 71
Campbell, R., his letters to Lord Holland on the opening of the Cortes, Appendix B, ii. 297–305
Camperdown, battle of, i. _148_
Campo Formio, treaty of, i. _148_
Canning, George, i. 123, 216–18, 239, 257, 259, 265, 273, 274, 277; ii. 52, 98, 222, 248, 277, 288; his Preface to the _Intercepted Letters_, ii. 44; and Lord Grenville, ii. 208, 210, 211, 285–7; and Danish Expedition, ii. 239–40; duel with Lord Castlereagh, ii. 247
Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of, ii. 226
Carlisle, Frederick, 5th Earl of, i. _194_, 267; ii. 48; and Lord Kenyon, ii. 93, 95–6
Caroline, Princess, _see_ Wales
Castlereagh, Viscount, Chief Secretary in Ireland, i. 206; ii. 254, 280; his duel with Mr. Canning, ii. 247; his principles, ii. 277–8
Catholic Emancipation Question, the, ii. 128, _199–200_, 201–5, 213–17; Lord Holland in favour of, ii. 76; Bill withdrawn, ii. 218–20
Chaplin, Thomas, ii. 15, 104–5
Charlotte, Queen, her letter to Prince of Wales, ii. 289
Clairon, Mlle., her _Memoirs_, i. 247–8
Clare, John Fitzgibbon, Earl of, in Ireland, ii. 131
Clarke, General (afterwards Duc de Feltre), and peace negotiations, ii. 168, 175–6
Clarke, Mrs., ii. _282_
Cockburn, Capt. (afterwards Admiral Sir George), ii. 292
Coigny, Mme. de, i. _237_; ii. 150; her witticisms quoted, i. 245; ii. 41–2, 49
Coke, Thomas William (afterwards Earl of Leicester), ii. 193, 286
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, writes against C. J. Fox, ii. 237–8
Copley, Sir Lionel, i. 232, 256–7
Cornwallis, Charles, 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess, i. _115_; in Ireland, i. 190; ii. 131
Cornwallis, Admiral the Hon. William, ii. 132–3
Corresponding Society, the, i. 206, 250
Corsica, i. 120
Cortes, first meeting of the, ii. 270–1; Appendix B, 297–305
_Courier_, the, i. 258; ii. 237
Cowper, William, i. 125
_Creevey Papers_, ii. _253_
Cumberland, Duke of, ii. 224, 290
Curran, John Philpot, ii. 33
Custine, General, i. _78_, 82
Czartorisky, Adam Georges, ii. 166
D’Albany, Comtesse (Princesse de Stolberg), i. 48, 135, 140
Dalton, General, i. 92, 93
Dampierre, General, his monument, i. 88–9
D’Armfeldt, Baron, i. 46–7, 49–50, 51, 52–3, 55, 56, 123–4
Darnley, John, 4th Earl of, i. 104, 277
D’Artois, Comte, i. 198; and Mr. Pitt, ii. 50–1
Devonshire, Georgiana, Duchess of, i. 5, 26, 27, 97, 105, 171, 244
Digby, Edward, 2nd Earl of, i. 122, 276
Divorce Bill, the, ii. 77, 93; Duke of Bedford on, ii. 78–9; passed House of Lords, ii. 84; rejected by Commons, ii. 96
Dom John, Regent of Portugal, ii. _261_
D’Oubril, M., and peace negotiations, ii. 162–3, 165, 166, 168, 173
Drummond, Sir William, and Sicily, ii. 211–12
Dumont, Pierre Etienne Louis, i. 229, 234, 236; his conversation, ii. 11, 23–4, 39
Dumouriez, General, i. _53_, 59, 81, 85, 87, 150–1; ii. 110
Duncan, Admiral, i. 160–1
Dundas, Henry (afterwards 1st Viscount Melville), i. 72, 102, 231; ii. 191, 223, 227
Dunkirk, siege of, i. 92–3
Dupont, General, in Andalusia, ii. 242, 245
Dutch Expedition, the, ii. 23, 32, 35
Eden, William Frederick, ii. 254
Egremont, George, 3rd Earl of, i. 103; ii. 104, 105
El Arish, treaty of, ii. _72_
Eldon, John, 1st Earl of, ii. 93; and George III., ii. _192_, 193, 223, 224
Elgin, Thomas, 7th Earl of, i. 86, 87, 104, 105, 146
Elliot, Sir Gilbert (afterwards Lord Minto), i. 99–100, 118; and Toulon, i. 98, 119; and Corsica, i. 120; his character, i. 161–2; on Emma, Lady Hamilton, i. _242_; Governor-General of India, ii. 196; and the Prince of Wales, ii. 198
Elliot, Hugh, British Minister in Dresden, i. 13, 50; ii. 121
Ellis, Charles Rose, i. 5, 6, 15, 218, 242
Erskine, Thomas, 1st Lord, i. 102, 164; ii. 202; on religion, ii. 60; on Serjeant Lens, ii. 94
Fagniani, Maria (afterwards Lady Hertford), ii. _163_
Farquhar, Sir Walter, ii. 49, 135
Faulkner, Thomas, his _History of Kensington_ quoted, ii. 63
Ferdinand III. of Tuscany, i. 48–9
Ferdinand IV. of Naples, i. 26, 28, 29
Fergusson, Robert Cultar, i. _233_, _246_, 247, 250, 251, 254, 262; ii. 103
Fersen, M. de, i. 87
Fingall, Arthur James, 8th Earl of, and Catholic Question, ii. 205
Fitzgerald, Lady Edward (Pamela), i. 181–2, 188, 208
Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, i. 181, 182, 260; his arrest, i. 185; his death, i. 187, 189; and character, i. 188
Fitzgerald, Lord Henry, i. 112, 186, 188, 189, 273
Fitzgerald, Lady Lucy, i. _234_, 235–6, 244, 246, 254
Fitzherbert, Mrs., i. 245, 258; ii. 49, 83
Fitzpatrick, General, i. 201, 254, 255–6; ii. 57, 58–9, 148; his epigrams, i. 267–8; letters to Lord Kenyon, ii. 48; on C. J. Fox, ii. 84–5
Fitzwilliam, William, 4th Earl, i. 181; ii. 127; and Prince of Wales, ii. 131
Flahault, Mme. de, ii. 155–6
Fontana, Felix, i. 51–2, 118, 139; his _homme de bois_, i. 117
Forfeiture Bill, the, i. 275
Fox, Miss, i. 127, 147, 254, 256; on Mrs. Fox, i. _149_
Fox, C. J., Mrs., i. 149, 150, 228; ii. 180, 181
Fox, Charles James, and the Association, i. _14_, _15_, 102; his opposition to the war, i. 97; and Sir Gilbert Elliot, i. 99–100; and Mr. Grey, i. 100–1; and Lord E. Fitzgerald, i. 186; and Lord Thanet’s case, i. 246; and Mr. Francis, i. 268, 269; and peace negotiations, ii. 46–8, 163–6; his _History of the Revolution_, ii. 57–8, 78; his _Memorials and Correspondence_, ii. _140_; and secession, i. 148, 163; ii. 74; and Napoleon, ii. 150; on Lord Holland’s debut in House of Lords, i. _169_; his illness, ii. 167, 169, 171–5, 178, 179; death, ii. 180–1; and funeral, ii. 187; referred to, i. 69, 70, 121, 149, 153, 165, 177, 214, 227–8; ii. 44, 45, 126
Fox, the Hon. Charles Richard (afterwards General), i. 267; ii. 5, 7, 8, 121, 148–9, 236, 252, 259, 272
Fox, the Hon. Georgina Anne, ii. 247
Fox, the Hon. Henry Edward (afterwards 4th Lord Holland), ii. 234–5, 244
Fox, General the Hon. H. E., ii. 26, 42
Fox, the Hon. Stephen, i. 249; ii. 25, 125
Francis, Sir Philip, i. 230, 255; ii. 78, 141; on C. J. Fox, i. 268–9
Frederick William II., i. 168
Frederick William III., i. _167_, 168; ii. 118, _187_, 188
Frere, Bartholomew, i. _265_; ii. 186, 293
Frere, John Hookham, succeeds Canning as Under-Secretary, i. 243, 265
Freyne, Manuel, General, ii. 245
_Further Memoirs of the Whig Party_, Lord Holland’s, ii. _284_
Genlis, Mme. de, ii. 110–11
George III., i. 97; ii. 130, 268; fired at, ii. 80; his coolness, ii. 81, 89; his madness, ii. 131, 265, 275, 276; and Catholic Emancipation Question, ii. 128, _199_, 201–3, 214–21, 224; on the death of C. J. Fox, ii. 182; and Lord Eldon, ii. _192_, 193
Gibbon, Edward, i. 2, 69, 96–7; ii. 37, 39
Godoy, Manuel de (Prince of the Peace), ii. 172, 243
Grattan, Henry, arrested, i. 191, 192
Grenville, Rt. Hon. Thomas, i. 226; ii. 182; and ‘Virtuous Triumvirate,’ i. 118–9
Grenville, William Wyndham, Lord, i. _72_; ii. _147_, 170, 171, 269–70, 284, 286, 287; resigns office, ii. 128, 129; and Catholic Emancipation Bill, ii. 213, 215, 217, 219, 221; Chancellor of Oxford, ii. 249, 256; and Lord Buckingham, ii. 256; and the Regency, ii. 267, 281–4; and the Auditorship, ii. 285–8
Grey, Charles (afterwards Viscount Howick and 2nd Earl Grey), his character, i. 98, 100–2, 171; and Prince of Wales, i. 178, 190–1; ii. 282, 283; and secession, i. 215, 270; ii. 74; and Parliamentary Reform, ii. 73; and Mr. Tierney, ii. 137–140; his plans for an Administration, ii. 171; and the Foreign Office, ii. 184, 185; and Catholic Emancipation, ii. _200_, 201, 203, 214, 216, 217; and Mr. Whitbread, ii. 245; and Lord Grenville, ii. 284–8; referred to, i. 210, 211, 214; ii. 172, 178, 181, 197, 224–5, 227, 269
Gustavus III. of Sweden, i. _46_, 49–50
Gustavus IV. of Sweden, ii. 188–9, 279
Halford, Sir Henry (Dr. Vaughan), influences Prince of Wales, ii. 290
Hamilton, Emma, Lady, i. 143, 242–3; ii. 13
Hamilton, Sir William, i. 123, 143, 219, 243
Hardwicke, Philip, 3rd Earl of, ii. 223–7
Hare, James, i. 204, 223, 226; ii. 53; and Lord Macartney, i. 241; on Sheridan, i. 224
Hatton, Lady Ann (afterwards Lady Abercorn), i. _55_, 122; ii. 56, 67, 69
Hertford, Lady, ii. _163_; and Prince of Wales, ii. 275; _see_ Beauchamp
Hervey, John Augustus, Lord, i. 47, 54, 103, 112, 115–16
Hobart, Robert, Lord (afterwards 4th Earl of Buckingham), i. 236–7, 243, 257
Hobhouse, Sir Benjamin, ii. 55
Holland House, i. 181; its history, ii. 62–6