The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Eleanor Creevey, 23 February 1810
“Mr.
Whitbread’s motion [for papers relating to the Walcheren
expedition] was carried by 178 against 171. I never expected to be in a
majority upon such a question, nor did the House of Commons know what they were
doing when they voted as they did. The vote is the severest possible censure
upon the whole transaction—upon Lord
Chatham, upon the King and
upon Ministers. It is making all these different parties do justice to an
unsupported individual (Sir Richard
Strachan) whether the King will or no. It is a direct vote
against royal favoritism, and in favor of justice and fair play. There has been
nothing like it in the present reign. The truth is that people did not consider
the blow it gave to the King, but they voted as against the rascality of
Chatham and in favor of Strachan.
. . .
“Waithman
carried his motion in the Common Council for a petition to the House of Commons
against the Wellington Pension Bill. This
was one of the best hits I ever made—to get this history of
Wellington thus handed down to posterity on the
Journals of Parliament, at the suit of the first and
![]()
![]()
| 132 | THE CREEVEY PAPERS | [Ch. VI. |
![]()
greatest Corporation of the capital itself of England.
Whether it is my petition, or Waithman’s, or a
mixture, I am indifferent: either will do the business. The obligation of the
Wellesley family to me is this—that, but for me,
my Lord Wellington would only have been the object of a
resolution of the Common Council; whereas they have now kindly introduced him
with their strictures upon his character to parliamentary notice and history. .
. .
John Pitt, second earl of Chatham (1756-1835)
The eldest son of the elder Pitt and favourite of George III; as lieutenant-general he
led the Walcheren expedition (1809).
Robert Waithman (1764-1833)
Political reformer, MP, and Lord Mayor of London (1823-24); he was a linen-draper by
trade.
Samuel Whitbread (1764-1815)
The son of the brewer Samuel Whitbread (1720-96); he was a Whig MP for Bedford, involved
with the reorganization of Drury Lane after the fire of 1809; its financial difficulties
led him to suicide.
Arthur Wellesley, first duke of Wellington (1769-1852)
The Dispatches of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, K.G. during his
various Campaigns in India, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, the Low Countries, and France, from
1799 to 1818. (London: Murray, 1834-1838). Released in parts, with later supplements.
