The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to James Currie, 28 July 1805
“. . . You must know that I came out of the battle of
the session] very sick of it and of my leaders. It appears to me we had
Pitt upon his very last legs, and
might have destroyed him upon the spot; instead of which, every opportunity for
so doing was either lost or converted to a contrary purpose. Could the most
inveterate enemy of Pitt have wished for anything better
than to find him lending £40,000, appropriated by law to particular publick
purposes, to two bankrupt merchant members of parliament who voted always with
him?† and could the most pertinacious derider of Fox’s political folly have dared to
conceive that Fox on such an occasion should acquit
Pitt of all corruption, and should add likewise this
sentiment to his opinion, that to have so detected him in corruption would have
made him (Fox) the most miserable of men? . . . In short,
between ourselves, my dear Doctor, I believe that Fox has
no principle about publick money, and that he would give it away, if he had the
power, in any way or for any job quite as disgusting as the worst of
Pitt’s. It is a painful conclusion this to come
to, and dreadfully diminishes one’s parliamentary amusement. You can have
no conception how feverish I became about Fox’s
conduct during this damned Athol
business‡ I talked at him
* She was Emma,
daughter and co-heiress of Sir James
Colebrooke, Bart. † Boyd,
Benfield and Co., to whom
Pitt advanced the sum named
out of money voted for Navy services. They were Government agents, and
shortly afterwards went bankrupt. ‡ The 3rd Duke of
Athol having inherited the sovereignty of the Isle of
Man through his wife, daughter and heiress of his uncle, the |
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| 38 | THE CREEVEY PAPERS | [Ch. II. |
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in private, and no doubt vexed him infernally; but this
you’ll say is but poor work, to be making myself enemies in the persons
whose jobs I oppose, and to quarrel with my own friends for not opposing the
jobs too. I must have some discussion with my conscience and my temper before
the next campaign, to see whether I can’t go on a little more smoothly,
and without prejudice to my interest. . . . I see a great deal of Windham. He has dined with me, but my opinion
of him is not at all improved by my acquaintance with him. He is, at the same
time, decidedly the most agreeable and witty in
conversation of all these great men. . . .”
Paul Benfield (1741-1810)
Indian nabob who entered into an unfortunate banking partnership with Walter Boyd; he
died a pauper interned in France during the war.
Emma Bennet, countess of Tankerville [née Colebrooke] (1752-1836)
The daughter of the banker Sir James Colebrooke, first baronet; in 1771 she married
Charles Bennet, afterwards fourth Earl of Tankerville. She was the cousin of the Sanskrit
scholar Henry Thomas Colebrooke.
Walter Boyd (1753-1837)
Scottish-born financier who operated out of Paris in partnership with Sir Robert Herries;
he was MP for Shaftesbury (1796-1802) and Lymington (1823-30).
Charles James Fox (1749-1806)
Whig statesman and the leader of the Whig opposition in Parliament after his falling-out
with Edmund Burke.
John Murray, third duke of Atholl (1729-1774)
The nephew of the second duke (d. 1764); he was MP for Perthshire (1761) prior to
inheriting the title; in 1765 he sold the sovereignty of the Isle of Man to the British
government.
William Pitt the younger (1759-1806)
The second son of William Pitt, earl of Chatham (1708-1778); he was Tory prime minister
1783-1801.
William Windham (1750-1810)
Educated at Eton and University College, Oxford, he was a Whig MP aligned with Burke and
Fox and Secretary at war in the Pitt administration, 1794-1801.
