The Creevey Papers
Henry Brougham to Thomas Creevey, [April?] 1814
“Temple, 1814.
“Dear C.,
“I write to congratulate you on this most speedy and
compleat, as well as favorable termination
* One was the rehabilitation of the Princess of
Wales, the other, probably, Roman Catholic Emancipation. † The Emperor
Alexander I. of Russia, at that time in high favour with
the English Whigs. ‡ Tierney, Abercromby, &c. |
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| 192 | THE CREEVEY PAPERS | [Ch. IX. |
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of the Revolution. I pass over the reasons for approving
of it as regards France. These are many—but I look chiefly to England. We
have been working day and night (and seldom succeeding) to knock off a
miserable £10,000 or £20,000 a year from the patronage of the Crown. This event
cuts down 50 or 60 millions at once. If we had made peace with Bpte., Prinney would have been bitterly annoyed, the aristocrats
humbled, the ministers (a good, quiet, easily-beaten set of blockheads) turned
out, and a much worse and stronger set of men put in their places; but who
could nave looked to any real diminution of Army, Navy and expenditure? It
would have been impossible. Now, there is not a pretence
for keeping these sources of patronage open. Besides—the gag is gone, which used to stop our mouths as often as
any reform was mentioned—‘Revolution’ first, and then
‘Invasion.’ These cues are gone. It really appears to me that the
game is in the hands of the Opposition. Every charge will now breed more and
more of discontent. The dismissal of officers and other war functionaries will
throw thousands out of employ, who will sooner or later ferment and turn to
vinegar. All this will tell agst. Govt. and the benefits of the peace. The
relief from taxes, &c., will never be able to tell much for them.
“One should think these things evident enough, and
yet the Cole school, and Holland House above all, are in perfect despair. I am,
however, glad to find Grey as right and
factious as can be. . . . Thanet is exactly
in the same spirit, tho’ he expects nothing from the folly and moderation of our friends and their fear of annoying
Prinnie. By the way, Ld.
Grey dines with Mother P.
on Wednesday next to meet the D. of
Glo’ster, to the no small annoyance of the Coles. . . .
Pray don’t forget that a Govt. is not supported a hundredth part so much
by the constant, uniform, quiet prosperity of the country, as by these damned
spurts which Pitt used to have just in
the nick of time, and latterly by the almost daily horn and
gun under which we nave been living.”
George Abercromby, second baron Abercromby (1770-1843)
Son of Sir Ralph Abercromby and early friend of Sir Walter Scott; he was Whig MP for
Edinburgh City (1805-06) and Clackmannanshire (1806-07, 1812-15). He succeeded his mother
in the peerage in 1821.
Queen Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1768-1821)
Married the Prince of Wales in 1795 and separated in 1796; her husband instituted
unsuccessful divorce proceedings in 1820 when she refused to surrender her rights as
queen.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Emperor Napoleon I (1769-1821)
Military leader, First Consul (1799), and Emperor of the French (1804), after his
abdication he was exiled to Elba (1814); after his defeat at Waterloo he was exiled to St.
Helena (1815).
William Pitt the younger (1759-1806)
The second son of William Pitt, earl of Chatham (1708-1778); he was Tory prime minister
1783-1801.
George Tierney (1761-1830)
Whig MP and opposition leader whose political pragmatism made him suspect in the eyes of
his party; he fought a bloodless duel with Pitt in 1798. He is the “Friend of Humanity” in
Canning and Frere's “The Needy Knife-Grinder.”
