The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 16 November 1834
“16th.
“Here’s a go for you! The Whigs turned out
and Wellington sent for. A letter from
Lord Melbourne to Lord Grey, written at Brighton, announces this
fact . . . . Now, will this convince Beelzebub that honesty is the best policy after all? It was his
perfidy to Lord Grey about the Coercion Bill that
destroyed the Government. . . . Then the conceited puppy Johnny Russell, who gave the first blow to the
Government by disclosing the Cabinet differences about the Church, thereby
making Stanley and the Duke of Richmond resign, that he, having lost
Lord Grey and Lord
Althorp too, should be fool enough to think that he could lead
the House of Commons! Next to these two benefactors,
Brougham and Lord John, the
Tories are under everlasting obligations to Lord
Durham and his Glasgow dinner. . . . When I was here five and
twenty years ago, a King’s messenger arrived bringing an invitation from
Perceval to Lord
Grey to unite with him in making a Government, Castlereagh and Canning having quarrelled, fought and gone out of office. I
presume no messenger will come now on a similar errand from
Wellington. (After dinner)
Duke of Bedford mentions a fact
Lord Grey and I were not aware of; viz. that Peel is in Italy.
Wellington can form no Government without his
concurrence.”
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
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).
William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848)
English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and
husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor
to Queen Victoria.
Spencer Perceval (1762-1812)
English statesman; chancellor of the exchequer (1807), succeeded the Duke of Portland as
prime minister (1809); he was assassinated in the House of Commons.
John Russell, first earl Russell (1792-1878)
English statesman, son of John Russell sixth duke of Bedford (1766-1839); he was author
of
Essay on the English Constitution (1821) and
Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe (1824) and was Prime Minister (1865-66).
John Charles Spencer, third earl Spencer (1782-1845)
English politician, son of the second earl (d. 1834); educated at Harrow and Trinity
College, Cambridge, he was Whig MP for Northamptonshire (1806-34) and chancellor of the
exchequer and leader of the lower house under Lord Grey (1830).
