A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith
Letters 1831
Sydney Smith to Lady Grey, 18 August 1831
August 18th, 1831.
My dear Lady Grey,
I am truly glad to hear such an account of Lord Grey. Pray keep us at peace if it be
possible, and deal only in glowing expostulations, not in blows. There is no
wish for war in the country, quite the contrary. It is a mere cry to defeat the
Bill;—but
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I am sure nobody wishes for peace more than
Lord Grey.
I am staying at Lord
——’s, where is that honest politician —— ——. I must confess that the rogue is a sensible,
agreeable man, but it vexes me to see such base profligacy so rewarded.
Hugh Fortescue, first earl Fortescue (1753-1841)
The son of Matthew Fortescue, second Baron Fortescue; he married Hester Grenville, and
was MP for Beaumaris (1784-85) before being created Earl Fortescue in 1789.
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).
Henry Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter (1778-1869)
High-church Tory clergyman and controversialist opposed to Catholic emancipation; he was
dean of Chester (1828) and bishop of Exeter (1830).