a THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOHN MANNERS, MARQUIS OF GRANBY P.C, M.P., D.C.L. ^ • SOME ACCOUNT OF THE Military, Political, and Social Life OF The Right Hon. John Manners MARQUIS OF GRANBY P.C., M.P., D.C.L. COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE BRITISH FORCES, MASTER-GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE, COLONEL OF THE ROYAL HORSE GUARDS, COLONEL-IN-CHIEF OF THE REGIMENT OF ARTILLERY AND CORPS OF ENGINEERS, AND GOVERNOR OF THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, WOOLWICH BY WALTER EVELYN MANNERS " There was a time when Granby's grenadiers Trimm'd the lac'd jackets of the French mounseers ; And every week proclaimed some lucky hit. And all our paragraphs were planned by Pitt." The Ox/oni Newsman s Verses for ihc Year 1767.— T. Warton U 0 n b 0 n MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1899 Ail rights ixsei-ved I'RINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. NOTE Owing to many serious lapses in the sources of information, this account of Lord Granby's life seldom exceeds the limits of a sketch, the outline of which is, in places, rendered discernible only by the background upon which it is traced. The filling in of this background has tended to a prolixness upon which the reader's good nature is invoked. My sincerely earnest thanks are due to the Duke of Rutland for information, suggestions, and — in spite of the tiresome disregard of order with which they were submitted by me — for most kindly reading the whole of the proof-sheets. To Lord Braybrooke, Lord Mostyn, and the Earl of Waldegrave, I am under an equal debt of gratitude for their ready assent to allow portraits in their collections to be reproduced. Assistance and courtesy has been invariably rendered by the Authorities of the Lord Chamberlain's Department, Eecord Office, British Museum, South Kensington Museum, Geological Museum, and Eoyal United Service Institution, either in relation to the text or the illustrations. In the Library of the last-named institution I have experienced great kindness at the hands of Captain H. J. G. Garbett, E.N., and Lieut.-Colonel E. Holden. Eeferences are supplied in foot-notes to the authorities quoted, of which a list is subjoined. W. E. M. 89, Piccadilly. The Rutland Manuscripts (Hist. MSS. Com., Eep. XII. App. pt. v. and Kep. XIV. App. pt. i.). The Newcastle Papers (British Museum). The Grenville Papers. VI NOTE, Bedford Correspondence. Chatham Correspondence. Correspondence of George III. MSS. of James, first Earl of Charlemont (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. pt. X.) ; MSS. of the Earl of Buckingliamshire (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XIV. App. pt. ix.) ; MSS. of the Duke of Roxburghe (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XIV. App. pt. iii.) ; and various Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. " Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham." " Memoirs of the Reign of King George II." (Walpole). " Memoirs of the Reign of King George III." (Walpole). " Memoirs of the Life and Reign of King George IH." (Jesse). " Recollections of the Reign of George III." (Nicholls). Memoirs of the Pelham Administration " (Coxe). Memoirs of Sir Robert Murray Keith." " Memoirs of John Cradock." " Memoirs of R. L. Edgeworth." " Memoires Militaires, Historiques, et Politiques " (De Rochambeau). Diary of Bubb Dodington. " Life of the Earl of Shelburne " (Lord E. Fitzmaurice). " Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds " (Leslie and Taylor). Letters of the first Earl of Malmesbury. Letters of Horace Walpole (Cunningham's Edition). Letters of Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk. Letters of Lady M. Wortley Montagu. Letters of Elizabeth Carter. Letters of Lord Chesterfield. " Aus meinem Leben ..." (J. W. v. Goethe). " History of England in the Eighteenth Century" (Lecky). " History of England " (Lord Mahon). „ „ (Smollett). „ (Massey). (Bright). „ „ (Green). " History of Frederick II. of Prussia " (Carlyle). " Life of Frederick II." (Lord Dover). " Theatre de la Guerre Derniere en Allemagne " (1763). "Operations of the Allied Army, 1757-1762, etc.," by an Officer who served with the British Forces. " CEuvres de Frederic le Grand," tomes iv., v., including "Histoire de la Guerre de Sept Ans " (Frederic II.). " Geschichte des Siebenjahrigen Krieges " (Archenholz). Charakteristik der, etc., etc., des Siebenjahrigen Krieges " (Von Retzow). Geschichte Ferdinand's Herzog's von Braunschweig " (De Mauvillon). Orders of March, Positions of Camp, etc., of the Allied Army under H.S.H. Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, August 21, 1758, and four subsequent Campaigns (28551-28553 Add. MSS., British Museum). " History of the Late Minority." NOTE, vii Parliamentary History. Journals of the House of Commons. Cavendish's Debates. Almon's Debates. Foreign Office Papers (Pubhc Record Office). Supplementary Military Expeditions (Public Record Office). Marching Order Books (Public Record Office). Military Entry Book and Ledger of Commissions (Public Record Office). " History of the Blues " (E. Packe). " History of the 1st, or Grenadier Guards " (Gen. Sir F. Hamilton). " Sketches of the Highlanders " (Gen. Stewart). " Trial of Lord George Sackville " (Authorized Edition, 17G0). " Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence " (Doran). Army Lists. London Oazette. Beatson's Political Index. Haydn's " Book of Dignities." Annual Register. The Historical Register. Oentlemans Magazine. Dictionary of National Biography. Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIX* SiScle (Larousse). Lodge's Portraits. " Junius' " Letters. Works of Edmund Burke. " Annals of Newark-on-Trent " (Brown). " History of Nottinghamshire " (Thoroton). " History of Belvoir Castle " (Eller). " History of Knightsbridge " (Davis). " History of Leicestershire " (Nichols). " Account of Loudon " (Pennant). " The Date-Book of Nottingham " (Sutton). " Memoirs of the Belvoir Hounds." " History of Signboards " (Larwood and Hotteu). " Tavern Anecdotes and Sayings " (Hindley). Newspapers of the time, etc. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Makquis of Gkanby, by Sir J. Reynolds {circa 1766). From the original at St. James's Palace Frontispiece The Marquis of Granby, by Allan Ramsay {circa 1742-5). From the original in the possession of Lord Braybrooke at AudleyEnd ... ... ... ... To face \2 RuTL/VND House, Knkjhtsbridge. From a pen-and-ink draw- ing by W. E. M. ... ... ... ... ... „ 55 Trooper in the Royal Horse Guards. From a drawing (after David Morier) by W. E. M. ... ... 64 Helmet worn by the 15th Light Dragoons. From a draw- ing by Capt. Kennard, 15th Hussars ... ... ... „ 134 The Marquis of Granby. From a wax cameo-portrait. Artist unknown ... ... ... ... 147 Pair of Statuettes (Bow Porcelain) representing the M.uiQuis OF Gr.\.nby, and Gener.vl Wolfe ; and Medal STRUCK in honour of Lord Gr.\nby, 1761 ... ... 156 The Marquis of Granby, by Sir J. Reynolds (1759-60). From the mezzotint engraving by R. Houston ... ... „ 292 General the Earl of Waldegrave (John, Third Earl, who shared the " Minden " Honours with General Kings- ley), BY T. Gainsborough. From the original in the possession of the Earl of Waldegrave ... ... •-. „ 306 General Sir William Faucitt (or Fawcett), by Sir J. Reynolds. From the mezzotint engraving by J. Ward ... „ 322 General John Mostyn, Governor of Minorca. From the original in the possession of Lord Mostyn, at Mostyn Hall. Artist unknown ... ... ... ••• ••• ^ 334 Gener.vl William Kingsley (who shared the Minden " Honours with General Waldegrave), by Sir J. Reynolds. From the mezzotint engraving by R. Houston ... ... „ 363 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS, AND PLANS. Worcester Transfer-printed Mugs decorated with Por- traits OF THE Marquis of Granby, and the Earl of CHATH.yn ... ... ... ... ... To /(xce 380 Snuff-box containing Miniature of the Marquis of Granby ; AND Two Memorial Medals struck on the Occasion of his Death (1770), by L. Pingo ... ... ... „ 420 REFERENCES TO MAPS AND PLANS For the Duke of Cumberland's Campaign (pp. 62-64) ; Prince Ferdinand's First Campaign, before the arrival of the British Army (pp. 65-67) ; Prince Ferdinand's Second Campaign, after the arrival of the British Army (pp. 73-94) See general map at the end of the hook. Battle of Minden (pp. 75-77, and 103-118) See plan facing 105 For Prince Ferdinand's Third Campaign (pp. 124-146, 157-172, and 178-191) ... ... See general map at the end of the hook. The Wesel Expedition See general map at the end of the hook. Engagement at Emsdorfif ... ... See map facing 1S2 Battle of Warburg ... ... ... See map 137 The Hessian Expedition ... ... See map facing 1S2 For Prince Ferdinand's Fourth Campaign (pp. 208-230) See map facing 210 Battle of Bellingshausen, or Kirchdenkern ... See plan facing 214 For Prince Ferdinand's Fifth Campaign (pp. 240-252, and 254-260) See map facing 182 Battle of Wilhelmstlial ... ... ... See map facing 2^2 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, MARQUIS OF GRANBY CHAPTER T. The courtesy-title borne by the eldest sous of the Dukes of Rutland had, prior to 1888, been for thirty years in abeyance in consequence of there bein^^ no heir-apparent to the dukedom. In that year the succession of the seventli Duke brought the distinction "Marquis of Granby " once more into use and notice. Journalistic comments to which this circumstance gave rise served only to show how little was remembered of the Marquis of Grranby whose name, four generations ago, was a household word throughout England — a name respected, honoured, and beloved by all classes of the community, rich and poor, to an extent to which history provides but few parallels. History enumerates, or, it may be said, consists of, myi'iads of names that have attained to fame ; but fame and popularity, in popularity's best and highest sense, are neither synonymous terms nor necessarily combined qualities. On the whole, instances of men to whom this "double-first" has been freely accorded by the sympathies of their contemporaries by no means fall with broadcast profusion from recording pens. A scrutiny of what modern biographical notices hitherto existed concerning John Manners, Marquis of Granby, suggests their authors' opinions to have been that he was, contemporarily, an overrated, though an eminently popular man. On the other hand, it is plain that not one of them was ever at the pains of doing more than repeat opinions derived almost exclusively from two sources, viz. the writings of "Junius" and of Horace Walpole — sources 1 2 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, about equally tainted when matters of personal character are at ''"''rhe first was a literary buccaneer, eager to lampoon the Arch- angel aabriel himself, had he, instead of Granby, been a member of the Grafton Administration: the second out-Heroded Herod m vindictiveness towards those upon whom his adverse and peevish Dreiudices fastened. . -, n i "Junius," there is no difficulty in seeing, had no personal animosity whatever against Granby ; Walpole most distinctly had " Junius practically withdrew all his libels on the Marquis ; Walpole did not ; and remains in this instance, as in many others, a far more damaging libeller than the former, because his motives are less obvious, and his statements are consequently more attractive of belief. Of the extraordinary interest and value attaching to Walpole s Letters and Memoirs, all who have dived deeply, or merely dipped superficially, into eighteenth-century records are well, and gratefully, aware The everlasting pity is that one as conscious as Walpole most surely was of the far-reaching results of his written experiences and opinions, should have been so devoid of the judicial sense, and so incapable of any attempt, even, at acquiring it What he sa.d, and equally what he left unsaid, concerning J ohn. Marquis of Granby, has had the effect of misrepresenting and obscmrmg a man who, in Walpole's own significant phrase, sat at the top of the WorW, and in the good company of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham The result of this blighting monopoly which Walpole has exer- cised over Granby's character has been that historical writers have for the most part, labelled the Marquis with the one empty word "popular," and have then cautiously passed by on the opposite side of the literary highway. And, although such writers have contmu- ally warned us against Walpole's unreliableness, they have as continually served up his mere opinions as facts often without ownin.^ from whence they derived their authority. No one has more frequently done this than Macaulay in the course of those Essays in one of which he holds up Walpole's writings to our special obloquy. That Walpole knew an exceptionally great deal of what was coing forward in his day is not disputed by anyone ; the whole contention concerning his attitude towards Lord Granby (among many others) is that he deliberately refrained from saying all he thoroughly well knew, or that he misstated his knowledge in order to indulge his prejudices. Walpole placed public affairs, in the abstract, upon no higher platform than he allotted to those of society ; MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 3 and, in the concrete, he used precisely the same instruments of personal defamation and skilful satire to assist his partisanship concerning both. "Political intrigues,"^ wrote Frederick the Great, " if they conduce to no result, deserve no more consideration than society stiuabbles ; " but Walpole was incapable of rising, con- troversially, above the intrigue political or the squabble social, and therefore remained a slave — a very witty and brilliant slave — to the violent rancour and spiteful personalities incidental to either. Since the publication of Walpole's Memoirs, records have come to light (some recently, some many years ago) which better tend to prove upon what foundations Granby's popularity was based. He was esteemed and respected by the Sovereign as a brave and brilliant soldier, a most loyal and chivalrous subject, and disinterested public man : he was beloved and — as the phrase runs — worshipped by the nation at large, especially by that section called "the people," although he never pandered to it, and disclosed no infinitesimal trace of the agitator or the demagogue ; on the contrary, he was foremost in the cause of authority, law, and order. To gather the full signifi- cance of such a popularity it is necessary to realize that it flourished in a transition period when the Sovereign was yet unidentified with entirely British interests and sympathies, and the relation of the Throne to the nation was not unattended with a large element of friction and incoherence. It was in an age of flagrant corruption, when the aristocracy, among which Granby was high-placed, strove to subordinate both Throne and people to its own political interests, that the name of " Granby " became a synonym for all that was loyal and respectfLd to his King, and for all that was noble, just, generous, straightforward, brave, and unselfish as regarded his fellow-subjects. This popularity, in spite of having been so flippantly touched upon, appears to have been one of the most moving and intensely real influences of George II.'s reign, as well as of the opening years of that of George III. ; while on more than one occasion Granby was certainly looked to as holding what journalists call " the situa- tion " in the hollow of his hand ; and on these occasions he steadfastly opposed all encroachments upon liberty, whether originating on the part of King, Ministers, or People. To attempt to write a memoir of Lord Granby now, when masses of documents are, apparently, lost, and traditions obliterated, is to * " Les intrigues politiques si dies ne m^nent k rien, ne meritent pas plus de conside'ration quo des tracasseries de Socie'te'." — " CEuvres de Fre'de'ric le Grand, ' avant-propos, tome 4. 4 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, approach that most thorny of tasks a literary reconstruction. The writer has attempted it solely because no other, let alone some more properly qualified, person has thought it a sufficiently alluring task ; and the part enacted by him pretends to nothing beyond that of a humble chiffonnier wistfully searching for scraps of fact carried upon fitful gusts of disquisition into archival nooks and corners, and there left derelict and forgotten. The little thus acquired has been grafted upon a familiar historical epoch. A very frequent citation and traversing of Walpole's statements may prove tiresome to those unversed or uninterested in the cele- brated Letters and Memoirs ; but "Walpole's portrait of Granby still practically "holds the field." The only course open to any modern inquirer after truth is to keep that portrait plainly in view, to accept those features and characteristics which are supported by corroborative evidence ; and emphatically to discard those that are proved to be incompatible with authenticated facts — an incompati- bility sometimes made clear by Walpole himself, through his prone- ness to lapse into direct self-contradiction. [1721-1735. The third Duke of Eutland succeeded his father in 1721, having married in 1717 the Hon. Bridget Sutton, daughter and heiress of Robert Sutton, Lord Lexington. Upon the death of this last, in 1723, his estates in Nottinghamshire, comprising the manors of Averham, Kelham, Rolleston, and Syerston, together with the residences of Averham and Kelham, passed to his daughter, the Duchess of Rutland, having previously been settled by Act of Parliament upon her younger sons, should such be born to her. Of this Duchess of Rutland nothing important is known. In the course of seventeen years she presented the third Duke with eleven children, of whom eight died too young to render their names worth recording. The rate of infant mortality then ruled very high ; small-pox ravaged the higher as well as the lower class, and was the cause of the death of one at least — Lady Leonora Manners — of the above eight little mortals.^ The three children who arrived at maturity, and with whom we have to deal, were — ' The second Duke of Eutland and his daughter, Lady Rachel Manners, and son, Lord Thomas Manners, died of sraall-pox in 1721-3 ; and in 1757 the third Duke announced another outbreak of the disease (at Rutland House), and asked for leave of absence from Court and his duties as liord Steward.— Historical Register and Newcastle Papers. I72I-I735-1 MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 5 John Manners, Marquis of Granby, born in 1721, who forms the subject of this memoir ; Lord Robert Manners, born in 1722 ; and Lord George Manners, born in 1728, for whom George II., and Frederick, Prince of Wales, stood godfathers. ^ The Duchess of Rutland died in 1734, aged thirty-five, at Kelham, whereupon the Sutton estates devolved upon Lord Robert Manners ; and, by Act of Parliament, he assumed the name of Sutton in addition to his patronymic of Manners. He was henceforward known as Lord Robert Manners Sutton,^ and later took up his residence at Kelham, where he became actively associated with Nottinghamshire. Of the third Duke of Rutland frequent mention will be made, since he survived his famous son, the Marquis of Granby, by neaHy a decade of a long life of eighty-three years. Many testimonies remain on record to the Duke's qualities as a devoted father, a loyal subject, a good patriot, and as a liberal landlord and neighbour. Highly educated and cultured, he understood^ and from love of them, patronized literature as well as art ; while in his several homes he maintained his family reputation for a genial hospitality which, practically, knew no limits. Unambitious, and devoted to the life of a country gentleman at Belvoir Castle, and occasionally at Haddon Hall,^ he occupied such official positions only, during the reigns of the first, second, and third Georges, as did not involve him in the intrigues of the various family factions, which in his day complicated and frequently shifted the "landmarks" of the two great political parties. Born in 1696 (William III.), he became successively a Lord of the Bedchamber to George I. ; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from George II.'s accession (1727) till 1738 ; Lord Steward of the Household from 1755 till 1761 ; and Master of the Horse from 1761, shortly after George III.'s accession, till 1766. He was one of the Lords Justices of Great Britain appointed during George II.'s absences in Hanover ; bore the Queen's sceptre at the coronations of George 11. and George III. ; and was a Knight of the Garter for more than fifty years. In 1727 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the County of Leicester, a position which involved considerable administrative activity, and the highest responsibilities. A Lord Lieutenant was then, in effect, the Viceroy as well as military head of his county, ' Historical Register, 1723. - Often as Lord Robert Sutton, simply. ^ He was the last Duke who resided there. 6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1721-1735. and in that honourable post the Duke evidently found his keenest interests. Thorouglily conversant with miUtia details, and devoting much attention to the Army, he was resorted to for advice and information in times of national danger. Such officers in the regular forces as possessed his friendship found in him a ready champion when, as was common in that age of corruption, their due claims to promotion were set aside in favour of some Court protege} A politician without prejudice, and a courtier free of certain undignified characteristics which have become identified with the term, the Duke was in every way fitted to inspire those qualities of intrepidity, simplicity, honesty, and generosity which found such a notable exponent in the person of his son, the Marquis of Granby. Even spiteful, detractions Horace Walpole throwing stones from behind the safe wall of his private correspondence — many of which missiles were levelled at Lord Granby— alluded with kindly feeling to the Duke of Eutland. He even once described him as " a noble- man of great worth and goodness," ^ a high encomium (from Walpole, that is to say) upon one with whom, from difference of social tastes and political sympathy, he possessed no intimacy. Playfair, in " British Family Antiquity," thus epitomized the Duke's character — "His Grace in public and in private always displayed the goodness of his heart, his parental affection, and a zealous regard for his King and Country. Esteemed and loved by his relations and friends, revered by his neighbours and tenants, and honoured by the world at large, the Duke of Rutland will ever be remembered as an ornament to the Peerage of England." Such was the father Avho, according to Sir William Draper's testimony,^ steadfastly impressed upon Lord Granby the necessity of never doing, or suffering, a mean action. Of Lord Granby's childish and boyish days no details have been sought, for all such — without exception — constitute the most insipid reading. But to stray for one moment into those fields of imagina- tion which are otherwise left untrodden, it may be surmised that the story of William, Lord Russell (the Patriot), and of his wife, Lady Rachel, formed an important factor in Lord Granby's nursery traditions. The stern tragedy, the romantic devotion, and pathos surround- ing the memory of those great-grandparents of Granby can scarcely ' In relation to the Duke of Rutland's influence, see the letter signed " A. B.," and attributed at the time to " Junius," pp. 364-366 ; and the Duke of Newcastle's Letters, pp. 267, 268, infra. 2 " Memoirs of Reign of George H." 3 a Junius' " Letters. I72I-I735-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. / have failed of impressing one so little remote from their influence as he was. At the time of Lady Rachel's death he was two years old, so that no very definite personal remembrance of her could have remained to him. " I hope while I hve you will always think of your old Grandmama as a friend that wishes you all the good qualities makes one useful to his country and happy to himself, and then he can't be only wise but a good man too, which is true wisdome." So wrote Lady Rachel ^ to one of lier grandsons, " Master Manners." She was eighty-seven years old at the time of her death, having been born in 163G, during the reign of Charles L This fact is interesting, in what is termed the perspective of history, as showing how one long life, by overlapping another of only forty-nine years, formed a connecting link between the period of Charles 1. and that of Lord Granby, which extended into the reign of George IIL — a space of time involving nine reigns and the Commonwealth. Besides his father and mother Lord Granby's elder relations consisted of two Dowager Duchesses, Katherine and Lucy, relicts of the first and second Dukes ; and the following uncles and aunts, all prominent figures at Court and in society : Lord AVilliam Manners,*-^ a noted patron of the turf, a mighty fox-hunter, and successful gambler ; Lord Sherard Manners ; Lords Robert and Charles Manners, both in the Guards ; Lady Katherine Pelham ; Lady Frances Arundel ; Lady Galway ; Lady Caroline Harpur ; and the Duchess of Montrose, all men Manners, and frequenters of the circles which Horace Walpole has immortalized. Lady Katherine Pelham was the wife of Henry Pelham, the Prime Minister, whose brother, the celebrated Duke of Newcastle, was thus brought into close relationship with the Rutland family. Lady Katherine was by way of being a politician, and dabbled industriously in the streams which flowed towards office and preferment.^ She herself was many years Ranger of Greenwich Park, and Housekeeper of the King's Palace there, and kept her brother-in-law, the Duke of Newcastle, frequently employed upon what he styled* "my Lady Katherine's jobbs." Before going to school Lord Granby's education was pursued » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 189. 2 Lord William was killed by a fall from his horse in 1772. In 1755 he alludes to having started from Stroxton before sunrise and arriving home after dark, and a twenty-mile ride following on " a very long chase." — Newcastle Papers, ' Lady Katherine died, aged eighty, in 1780, at her house in Whitehall. * Newcastle Papers. 8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1735-1740. under different tutors, among them Mr. Malachi Postlethwaite, author of the " Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce," in recommending whom to a place in the Salt Office ^ the Duke of Rutland described as one " whose works published his merit." Lord Granby then proceeded to Eton, where his tutor was Mr. John Ewer, a gentleman who afterwards owed all his promotion to the Belvoir interest, which finally landed him on the episcopal bench. Of Granby's Eton career nothing is known, except that it was contemporary with that of Henry Seymour Conway and William Draper ; but of the Eton of his day something may be gathered from some school accounts of his brother, Lord George Manners, who followed him there, and who was also confided to John Ewer's care. These accounts ^ show that, excluding such luxuries as " altera- tive electuaries," " purging draughts," " doses of tincture of rhubarb " at 2s. Qd. the dose, " pots of bumattem " (sic), tips to Mr. Ewer's servants, and occasional bottles of port and mountain, the total yearly expense of Eton College was covered by a sum of £100. The modern Eton boy may be interested in knowing that his proverbial smartness extends back at least to 1740. Lord George's accounts show that he indulged in a lavish supply of clean linen per week, in addition to sundry white waistcoats. Items of gloves, hair- ribbon, hair-powder, ruffles, shoe-buckles, etc., embody the requisites of the dandy of that day — the hair-powder explaining the raiso/i d'etre of the " bumattem." i\nother set of Eton bills, twenty years later in date, show that a private servant was allowed to be kept, for whose lodging £2 lOs. per half-year was charged. At the age of seventeen Lord Granby left Eton, and proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was admitted July 3, 1738,^ his tutor being Mr. Young. His residence at the University is also unmarked by any recorded events, and he quitted it too early to take a degree, and prepared for the extensive Continental tour which then formed an integral part of the education of every important member of the aristocracy, or landed gentry. Such tours were infinitely more fruitful in the lessons of life then than now, when transit has become so uniformly easy, cheap, and expeditious.* ' Additional MSS., British Museum, December 24, 1755. 2 See Appendix I. 3 Trinity College Admission Kegister. •* Edward Gibbon, before starting on his travels, wrote to his father that £1000 a year was an ordinary allowance for that purpose ; and £700 was eventually fixed as the most economical yearly outlay upon which his tour could be made. See his Letters. I740-I745-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 9 The Sturm und Drang commenced with the start from, and ended only with the return home. Roads in England were infested with highwaymen, and the Channel-crossing was effected in distressingly inadequate sailing-boats, whose departure, leave alone their arrival, was dependent upon favourable winds and tides. Lady M. Wortley Montagu ^ describes how, after being tossed about all night in mid- channel, the master of the packet-boat warned her that they were in danger, and eventually transhipped his mail and passengers into " a little fisher-boat," in which the journey was completed. Cross- ings between Dover and Calais occupied ordinarUy from five to seven hours, and passages of twenty-four hours are recorded. Lord Frederick Cavendish ^ related how, while accompanying his dying father — the Duke of Devonshire — to Spa, they were, after a pro- longed passage, prevented by a low tide and heavy sea from entering Calais harbour. In consequence, they had to take to their small boat and row through the surf some two miles to land, on gaining which they had a mile to walk before reaching Calais. Yet we grumble at the luxury of being sick during a paltry hour and a quarter ! Lord Granby was accompanied by a doctor, and his whilom Eton tutor, John Ewer.^ Granby kept a journal, a portion of which remains, entitled, " A Spasso to Broussa, Cuzicum, Troy, Macedonia, Thessalia, and some Islands of the Archipelago. Annis, 1741-1742."* The journal proclaims in every line that the schoolmaster was, indeed, abroad ; in fact, it is a sort of holiday-task replete with quotations from Strabo, Pliny, and appropriate works of reference wherewith Mr. Ewer was equipped for travel, in default of " Murrays " and "Baedekers." Of Granby's future character, the only signs afforded are through references to certain charitable institutions ; and he commends very much the founders " of such necessary charities as had for their object the feeding of the hungry." These institutions were connected with the Mausoleums which Granby visited, concerning which he wrote — " And now that I have seen all these Mausoleums wherein the Turkish Sultans lie above ground, I can't help observing that every particular Mauso- leum makes a much greater shew than Westminster Abbey, or the Chapel of St. Dennis, where many of the English and French Kings are to be seen. » Letters, vol. i. p. 400. 2 Newcastle Papers, August 30, 176-1. ' Mr. William Hewett, of Stretton Magna, is said by Bigland to have accom- panied Lord Granby on the Italian portion of his tour. A small portrait of Mr. Hewett used to hang in the hunting-lodge in Croxton Park.—'- Beauties of England and Wales " (Bigland). * The journal is at Belvoir Castle. TO LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1740-1745. Moreover the provisions made for the poor of all sorts, who may freely call for the necessaries of life at any of these Convents, have escaped the Charity of the Christians" Many inscriptions found upon walls and columns were copied into the journal. At " Troiaci, or Giaurkoe," Granby appears to have got quit of the Rev. John Ewer for a short time. " It is said," wearily wrote the Marquis, " that there are many vaults and cisterns in this Village, but I had not time to look after them because I was engaged in a Greek Dance with all the Women of the Village, who pass their Sundays very merrily dancing in a circle after the Greek manner." As an antidote to this relaxation a comparison is next entered upon respecting the probable extent of the country of Troy according to Homer, Damastes, Charon of Lampsacus, and Seylax ! Although so much of this tour was accomplished by sea, in a large Turkish boat called a volique, and much rough weather en- countered, it did not make a good sailor of Lord Granby, who complained in later years of invariable sea-sickness when crossing to and from the Continent during the Seven Years War. They started from Constantinople on November 3, 1741, and the journal ends thus — "On the 13th of June (1742) we were to the Northward of Lesbos, or Mytilene, with a high sea, and contrary wind at N.E. Next day we got into a bay opposite to Tenedos, where we came to an anchor and stayed all night. We sailed next morning early, and got through the Hellespont with a fair wind. We were all next day becalmed near Marmora, and on the 17th of June we got to Constantinople with the wind at North East." Lord Granby's tour occupied a considerable time. The above diary finishes in June, 1742, and his lordship's portrait is recorded as having been executed by Liotard, at Constantinople, in 1740. The feeling induced by the journal is one of regret that it does not record the unfettered impressions of the writer from the very moment of leaving Belvoir. So healthy a young mind in so strong a body would have produced something infinitely more readable and instructive if left to follow its own impulses, instead of the beaten track laid down for it by good John Ewer's pedantic scholarship. During Lord Granby's absence upon his travels, his name was put forward in connection with the parliamentary representation of 1740-1745] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. II the borough of Grantham. In April,i 1741, the Duke of Rutland was informed that Lord Tyrconnel had declined standing, in conse- quence of which Lord Granby would probably remain unopposed ; and, in June,^ the Duke was congratulated upon his family's success both at Grantham and Newark, which latter borough elected Lord William Manners, the Duke's brother. In politics the Duke was a Whig, tolerant and moderate for the most part, though sternly opposed to the Stewarts, and confident that the country's best interests were safeguarded by allegiance to the House of Hanover. But of factions among the Whigs, or of participation in those family cabals which for their own small ends opposed Administrations devoted to the principles of the Revolution of 1688 and the exclusion of the Stewarts, he would hear nothing. After George I.'s accession, history says that the Tory Members of Parliament scarcely numbered fifty — contemporary Toryism being identified with Jacobitism. The Whig party was numerically omni- potent, and was directed by a phalanx of "governing families" of Bentinck, Campbell, Cavendish, Fitzroy, Grenville, Lennox, Manners, Pelham, Russell, and others, who had established the Hanoverian dynasty, and intended to maintain it ; but, as the greater contains the less, so the strength of the Whig party embodied its own poor weakness of internecine family jealousy. An early opportunity for the outbreak of schism was afforded by the first two Georges themselves ; firstly, by their tendency to sub- ordinate British interests to those of the Electorate of Hanover ; secondly, by their quarrels with their respective heirs. The misunderstandings between George II., when Prince of Wales, and his father,^ do not relate to Lord Granby 's period ; but others arose, directly after George II. 's accession, with his sou Frederick, Prince of Wales, and reached their climax in 1737, in which year George II. dismissed the Prince from St. James's, and intimated that those who sympathized with him would not be welcome at Court. The Prince of Wales soon after established himself at Leicester House,* which Thomas Pennant ^ called " the pouting place of Princes," since George II. had bought it when in a similar situation of disgrace and chronic opposition. » Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 195. ^ i^ia. Granby was elected May 4, 1741. Pope, writing from Twickenham to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, said : " Our gallantry and gaiety have been great sui¥erers by the ruptiure of the two Courts, here : scarce any ball, assembly, basset-table, or any place where two or three are gathered together." * Frederick, Prince of Wales, also purchased Carlton House, which he used for purposes of ceremony. * Account of London. 12 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1740-1745. Not being in sympathy with Court squabbles, factions, or intrigues, the Dake of Rutland resigned his office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1738, and for seventeen years devoted himself exclusively to his county duties at Belvoir Castle. Horace Walpole incidentally referred to him as politically " attached to the Prince," who certainly fostered at Leicester House many views with which the Duke sympathized — viz. that English interests should be considered before those of Hanover ; that " party " should be as far as possible sunk ; and the GoN^ernment entrusted to the best men obtainable from all quarters which espoused the cause of the Hano- verian dynasty at large. These articles of political faith gained William Pitt to the " Leicester House " Court ; and between Pitt and the Eutland family a long political and personal sympathy endured, which was only once in any danger of rupture. Such, briefly, was the position to which Lord Granby returned from his foreign travels, welcomed by all on account of his charm of manner, good looks, and open-heartedness, which invested him with a natural faculty of ingratiation, whether at St. James's, Leicester House, or at the various lesser rallying-points of political hair-splitters. There was one potent element which from time to time had ralHed, and thus saved, the Whig party from its own dissensions. The Jacobite party was not yet annihilated, and had made a threatening appearance several times during the third Duke of Rutland's life. In 1701 Louis XI Y. had formally acknowledged the claims of James Edward, the Old Pretender, to the English throne ; and in 1715 the third Duke, at nineteen years of age, was well able to realize the Jacobite Rebellion of that year, the camp formed in Hyde Park,^ and how his father, the second Duke, as Lord Lieutenant of the Comity of Leicester, was called upon^ to seize the persons and arms of all Papists, Non-jurors, and others suspected of being disaffected to His Majesty George I. Jacobite activity was again rife in 1721, the year of the Marquis of Granby's birth, promoted by two causes — the universal social ruin and disorganization arising out of the collapse of the South Sea ^ " The tents are carried thither this morning ; new regiments, with new cloaths and furniture. . . . You may soon have your wish to enjoy the gallant sight of armies, encampments, standards waving over your brother's cornfields, and the pretty windings of the Thames stained with the blood of men." — Pope to Mrs. Theresa Blount, 1715. 2 Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 192. I740-I745-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 1 3 Babble,^ and the birth of Charles Edward, known later as the Young- Pretender. Behind all these Jacobite plots and threats skulked France, ready to second any promising scheme against England ; or, the scheme being successful, to invade her. On the Continent, another oppor- tunity had arisen for France to push her interests and those of the Bourbon House by aiding the Elector of Bavaria in his claim to the Austrian Succession, which had been nominally secured to Maria Theresa by the Pragmatic Sanction ; an arrangement which Prince Eugene had pithily said would have been far better guaranteed by 100,000 men than 100,000 treaties. France adopted her established plan of frightening George II. by menacing Hanover ; and in order to obtain the neutrality of the Electorate, George withdrew his active support of Maria Theresa. Sir Robert Walpole's similar, and traditionally consistent, desire for peace was largely based upon the patent certainty that a Continental war meant for England a revival of Jacobite troubles. However, England sympathized with Maria Theresa, and clamoured for war, upon which Sir Robert Walpole retired, as Earl of Orford, and was succeeded, after a brief interval of no special incidental interest, by ^Ir. Henry Pclham, who had married Lady Ivatherine Manners, liord Granby's aunt. Thus began the reign of the " Pelhamites," whom for reasons — mainly of jealousy begotten of his father's fall— Horace Walpole so heartily hated, and so unscrupulously reviled. The new Ministers voted money and men for the creation of a diversion in favour of Maria Theresa in the Netherlands, under Lord Stair. He was joined later by George II. in person, and the Duke of Cumberland ; and the Battle of Dettingen, remarkable as the last at which a British King was present, was fought and won. Events in other parts of the Continent secured the Austrian Succession to Maria Theresa and her husband ; but George II., as a German potentate, wished to assert himself among the other Electors, and England was itching for direct war with France. The Jacobite " bogey " was once again utilized, and France collected a fleet and an army, under Marshal Saxe, for the invasion of England in support of the Stewarts. The invasion was abandoned, chiefly owing to stress of weather, and Marshal Saxe, who said "the wind was ' In reference to Alexander Pope's speculations, Dr. Johnson alluded to this period as one "when the contagion of avarice tainted every mind, and even poets panted after wealth." Sec " Lives of the Poets," under Pope. 14 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1740-1745. decidedly not Jacobite," ^ repaired to the army in Flanders, where the English forces and their Hanoverian, Austrian, and Dutch allies were commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, with General Sir John Ligonier, and the Prince of Waldeck. The Battle of Fontenoy ensued, in which the French were victorious, at a cost which left them small ultimate advantage. Meanwhile, Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, remained in France ; and though active French co-operation with him had for the moment ceased, he was determined to turn to account the scare which the threatened invasion had aroused in England, as well as the reverse which she had sustained at Fontenoy, and at which battle he was rumoured to have been present. Thus began the Rebellion of the Forty-Five, to repress which energies were awakened in England which met with prompt and substantial sympathy from the Duke of Rutland, the Marquis of Granby, and other members of their family. ^ Biographical Essays " (Haward). / I745-I746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 15 CHAPTER II. History repeats itself, and the third Duke of Rutland, Lord-Lieu- tenant of the County of Leicester, received notice, September 5, 1745, from the Lords of the Council, of the landing in Scotland of Prince Charles Edward, in the same terms as were addressed to the second Duke in 1715. The time was propitious for this, the last of the Jacobite attempts upon the throne of Great Britain. Owing to the gradual establishment of a standing Army, the older and more representative force of the Militia had sunk into desuetude, and the people generally had become unaccustomed to the use of arms, or tlie idea of defending themselves, since a permanent force was maintained for that purpose at their expense. George II. returned from Hanover on hearing of the rebellion, and landed at Margate. A considerable portion of the Army was engaged in the operations in Flanders against France, so that the news that Prince Charles had landed, in spite of the reward of £30,000^ offered for his person, spread considerable excitement throughout England.^ The London Gazette held out inducements to recruits, and a bounty of £6 per man was offered ^ to all who should enlist in the four battalions of Guards, the minimum height for which was fixed at 5 ft. 7 in. without shoes. The Lords Justices had taken measures pending the King's return, and Sir John Cope, with a small force, was despatched to Inverness. A movement, by wliich he thought to lure the Pretender's army from a strong position, laid open the road to Edinburgh towards which Prince Charles at once hurried. On his march he encountered ' London Gazette, August 6, 1745. 2 Mr. H. Pelham wrote to R. Trevor (September 20, 1745) : We have scarce any regular troops in the country, and, between you and I, I don't find that zeal to venture purses and lives that I formerly remember."— MSS. of Earl of Buckingham- shire (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XIV. App. 9). ' London Gazette, September, 1745. i6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745-1746. some cavalry which Cope had left behind him, and a skirmish known as the " Canter of Colt Brigg " was fought, and won by the High- landers, before whom two dragoon regiments fled, without halting, to Dunbar. None of the clans would rise for the Government ; the Dukes of Argyll and Athol came post-haste to town, having failed of raising a man for King George, and Horace Walpole ^ " looked upon Scotland as gone." Of considerable Scottish sympathy with Prince Charles there was no doubt, though the extent of English sympathy was so far unascertained. Prince Charles established himself at Holy rood House, and, after refusing to set a price upon the King's head as an oifset to that placed upon his own, he reluctantly offered the small sum of £30, saying, he felt sure no follower of his could be capable of winning it. Troops were recalled from Flanders, but before they could arrive,^ three battalions of Dutch Auxiliaries landed at Gravesend, and enthusiasm " to venture purses and lives " having at last kindled,^ the Dukes of Bedford, Montagu, and Devonshire obtained leave to raise regiments for the King. These volunteer regiments were to be enrolled for a period of 122 days.* Yorkshire was especially active, and the Archbishop of York took a leading part in the defence of that county, where 4000 men were raised, and a body of fox-hunters, under General Oglethorpe, was converted into a regiment of hussars. At a meeting held at York, the Archbishop made a most stirring speech, concluding with the words ^ — "May the Great God of Battles stretch out His all-powerful hand to defend us ; inspire an union of hearts and hands among all ranks of people ; a clear wisdom into the counsels of His Majesty ; and a steady courage and resolution into the hearts of his Generals." The meeting drew up an Address ^ to the King, signed by all the leading men of the county, denouncing " the Popish Pretender," an example quickly followed by the corporate bodies of London and the provinces. The London Addresses contain a remarkably large proportion of foreign names ; in one from Spitalfields, they are in a decided majority, the district having been colonized by the French Huguenot silk-weavers some sixty years previously. I Letters, September 6, 1745. 2 Ibid., September 20, 1745. 3 See Mr. Pelham's letter, p. 15, note. * Coxe's " Memoirs of the Pelham Administration." * London Gazette, September 26, 1745. « Ibid. 1 745-1746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 17 Among the rest were — ^ An address from the county of Leicester, presented by the Duke of Rutland. „ „ borough of Newark „ Lord William Manners. „ „ borough of Grantham „ the Marquis of Granby. „ county of Nottingham „ the Duke of Newcastle. The last includes the names of Lord Robert Manners Sutton and Thomas Thoroton, a name of frequent occuiTence later. Zeal continued to spread, and the further raising of regiments was undertaken by the Dukes of Rutland and Kingston,'-^ Lords Herbert, Halifax, Falmouth, Cholmondeley, Berkeley, Derby, etc. The Duke of Rutland's^ was a foot regiment, of which the colonelcy was bestowed upon the Marquis of Granby (October 4, 1745), who thus, at the age of twenty-four, first became associated with the service of which, in after years, he was the idol as well as the head. No exasperating examinations preceded his commission ; all that was necessary was his re-election for the borough of Grantham, which took place, unopposed,* October 31, 1745. In September he had been appointed a deputy-lieutenant for the county of Derby. Possessed of nothing yet, save an already notorious reputation for courage, and power of attracting devotion, to tit him for the command of a regiment in the held, the Marquis's mentor must be sought in the person of his lieut. -colonel, a soldier of experience, named Stanwix, ^ who afterwards distinguished himself in Canada under Wolfe. The Duke of Rutland ^ was an honorary captain in this regiment of his own raising, and Lord George Manners served in it ; whilst Lord Robert Mannei-s Sutton ' obtained a troop in his relative's, the Duke of Kingston's, Light Horse which rendered most signal service throughout the rebellion, and practically originated the re- instatement of light dragoon regiments in the British Army. Besides the Duke's three sons— aged respectively twenty-four, twenty-three, and twenty-two— their uncle. Lord Robert Manners, served against the Pretender. * London Gazette. ' The Duke of Kingston was a fine, handsome man. of "sketchy " education and weak character, who fell a victim to the charms of Elizabeth Chudleigh, otherwise Mrs. Hervey, or the Countess of Bristol. ' See Appendix II. for the officers of this regiment. * Gentleman's Magazine, 1745, and Parliamentary Returns. ^ Afterwards colonel of the 8th Foot, and Governor of Carlisle. Drowned in 1766 while crossing the Irish Channel.— Rutland MSS., November 12, 1766. " Doyle's " Official Baronage." " London Gazette, December 13, 1745. * Chiverton Hartopp, afterwards Lieut.-Governor of Plymouth, was a captain in this regiment, and Richard Sutton clerk-chaplain. 1 8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745-1746. In spite of this respectable quota supplied by one family, the Duke, then aged fifty, appears to have had misgivings whether his own presence in the field was not expected, for a friend wrote to him ^ — " As you have elsewhere an avocation ^ of infinitely more consequence to the public, surely your attendance in quarters could never have been expected, not mentioning the subscription you have already made to His Majesty's service of three of the most gallant youths in the whole Kingdom." Poor Sir John Cope, sent, as Walpole wrote, with " no experience and no force, to fight for a Crown," was completely defeated at Preston Pans,^ September 21, 1745, an event which hastened the completion of the new regiments. On November 7, 1745,* ten companies of the Marquis of Granby's regiment were ordered into quarters at Leicester, Loughborough, and Harborough. From thence they were marched (November 12, 1745) to Nottingham, and (November 19, 1745) to Warwick, and the camp which had been formed near Lichfield. To this camp the Duke of Cumberland and Sir John Ligonier, just arrived from Flanders, were hurrying with some regular troops seasoned at Dettingen and Fontenoy, besides three battahons of Foot Guards, and some of the new regiments. A large camp of Train-bands and Guards was formed at Finchley, of which George II. declared he would take command. "The March of the Guards to Finchley,"^ painted by Hogarth, was considered by the King such a gross and undeserved libel, that he refused to accept the dedication of the print of that picture, which was thereupon transferred to the King of Prussia.^ Arrived at Lichfield, the Duke of Cumberland was joined by Granby's, Gower's, Halifax's, Cholmondeley's, and Montagu's In- fantry, together with Montagu's and Kingston's Horse.'^ The rebels were now in England. Outflanking General Wade, they entered via Carlisle, and pushed on towards Lancashire, ' Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 196. ^ Lord Lieut, of Leicestershire. ' Mr. J. Erskine, of Preston Pans, writing, September 30, 1745, to the Eev. Charles Wesley, said : " The Dragoons behaved abominably. Col. Gardiner, finding he could not stop the flight of his Eegt. of Dragoons, put himself at the head of the Foot forces, and was so mortally wounded that he dyed." — MSS. of J. Elliot Hodgkin (Hist. MSS. Com., Kep. XV. App. 2). His the best path to fame that e'er was trod, And surely his a glorious road to God." (Poem on Colonel Gardiner by Nathl. Cotton). * Marching Order Books (Kecord Office). ^ In the Foundling Hospital. ^ " History of the 1st or Grenadier Guards." " Gentleman's Magazine. I745-I746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 19 demanding money, food, and especially hoots, of the districts traversed. Wade pursued them south with 12,000 men, and Cumberland awaited them at Stow ; but the Pretender's small force of 5000 outflanked the Duke, and actually penetrated to Derby, which was requisitioned for the sum of £l9,000.i Nothing but the Finchley camp now remained between Prince Charles and London, but, against his own convictions, he took pause. Lord George Murray 2 earnestly counselled retreat, for Cumberland and "Wade were in hot pursuit in rear, and the Finchley camp lay before. Any of these three was numerically superior to the Pretender's whole army, and no encouragement had reached him of the least sympathy in England. On the other hand, a dash through, or past, the Finchley camp, would have placed London at Prince Charles's mercy, while such a stroke might have aroused the English Jacobites to action, and brought aid, presently, from France. London was panic-stricken on the " Black Friday " which brought the ominous news from Derby. ^ To oppose any Jacobite rising in London, alarm posts were advertised,* at which the six regiments of City Militia were to assemble upon the signal of seven cannon shots, fired alternately from the Tower and St. James's Park. Divided counsels engendered hesitancy among the Pretender's followers, which grew into absolute panic, and a precipitate retreat was commenced, the success of which aiforded an early proof of the sorry strategic qualities of the Duke of Cumberland, and of the excellent use made by the Highlanders of the boots collected during their southward march. Unable to outmanoeuvre and pen up the small fugitive army, the Duke, for all his numerical superiority, merely acted the part of " the pufl'd pursuer," and such skirmishes as occurred ended chiefly in favour, of the rebels. On December 1745, the "Georgia Rangers " and a detach- ment of the Duke of Kingston's Horse, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Mordaunt, and Captains Lord Robert Manners Sutton » A gentleman writing from Derby assured a friend that " the Highlanders said grace, with great seeming devotion/both before and after meals, just like any Christian."—' Memoirs of Sir Robert Murray Keith." 2 Commander of the rebels after thev entered England. 3 Horatio Walpole (uncle of Horace Walpole) wrote : - The Rebels after having got as far as Derby, with a design and expectation of coming near this gi-eat city in concert, as I imagine, with the French, who were to have succoured them by an invasion from Dunkirk." December ^^i, 1745.— Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XIV. App. pt. 9. * London Gazette. 20 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745- 1746. and Lord Byron, arrived at Preston, and the King's Regiment of Dragoons suffered severely in a skirmish at Clifton, near Penrith, the rebels shouting, *' No quarter ! Murder them ! " as they despatched the wounded English officers lying on the ground. After dislodging a party of Highlanders from Lowther Hall, which the Pretender had taken on his march south, the Duke of Cumberland got on terms with his foe at Penrith, and was worsted in a skirmish ; but, continuing the pursuit, retook Carlisle. By incredible marches ^ the rebels held on their way until Glasgow was reached, where recruits, including some French officers and men, increased their numbers to about nine thousand ; and Prince Charles commenced the siege of Stirling Castle, garrisoned by a force under General Blakeney. . Encouraged by the partial success of the Jacobite rising, France was again bent upon invading England. In consequence, the Duke of Cumberland was summoned south to meet this fresh emergency. Before leaving the north, he superseded old Marshal Wade by General Hawley, and, among other dispositions of troops. Lord Granby's regiment was ordered to Newcastle and Gateshead.^ With misplaced contempt of his adversary, General Hawley advanced carelessly to the relief of Stirling Castle, amusing himself en route. He took up a weak, undefended position at Falkirk, which Prince Charles outflanked and attacked, inflicting a crushing defeat (January 17, 1746) upon Hawley, many of whose soldiers bolted outright, in the manner so inexplicably prevalent during the Rebellion. So important a reverse brought the Duke of Cumberland back to the north. His army, according to the Chevalier de Johnstone,^ now consisted of the infantry regiments of Ligonier, Richmond, Sinclair, Albemarle, Howard, Skelton, Bland, Sempill, Bligh, Douglas, Leslie, Bernard, Roper, Sowle, Johnson, Gower, Montagu, Halifax, Granby, Cholmondeley, and the cavalry of Montagu and Kingston, with a thousand additional Horse under General Oglethorpe. Abandoning Stirling, Prince Charles marched to Inverness, which town he took ; and the Duke of Cumberland proceeded north by the east coast, in order to obtain his supplies by sea. The Marquis of Granby, finding his own regiment was to remain in garrison at, and about, Newcastle, volunteered to accompany the Duke, to whose Staff he was forthwith attached. ^ One would really think these Highlanders had wings to their feet, like so many Mercurys." — Letters of first Earl of Malmesbury, December 19, 1746. 2 Marching Order Books (Kecord Office). ^ " Memoirs of the Rebellion.'' I745-I746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 21 Lord G-eorge Manners remained with Colonel Stanwix at New- castle, of which town he soon wrote ^ they were all tired, " as the inhabitants were not over civil." Immediately after leaving London, the Duke of Cumberland wrote to the Duke of Rutland — ^ *' I hope the next news you will have in town from these parts will bring you the account of success against the disturbers of our peace and tranquility ; at least I believe we shall do our utmost." During the march towards Inverness, some operations took place in the district of Strathbogie, where Colonel Roy Stuart ^ was with a body of Highlanders. Roy Stuart tried to lure Lord Granby,* when on outpost duty, into an ambush, an attempt in which Granby succeeded in entirely outwitting him, and the Duke of Cumberland sent Colonel Conway with orders to General Bland, commanding the vanguard, to advance and surprise Roy Stuart's camp. General Bland marched, Lord Granby being among the officers who accom- panied him ; but Roy Stuart, getting wind of his danger, retreated precipitately to Keith, his men leaving a good hot dinner ready in their quarters, which Bland's troops later discussed. General Bland pursued until nightfall when, the weather turning very wet and hazy, he deemed it prudent to halt until daylight. The Marquis of Granby, Colonel Conway, Captain Halden, and others, with Kingston's Horse, a few Heavy Dragoons, and Campbell's Regiment continued, however, to drive the rebels for some two miles further towards the Spey,^ for which service they were mentioned in the Gazette. The Duke of Cumberland occupied Nairn, April 14, 174G, and on the ensuing night Prince Charles installed himself at CuUoden House,^ the residence of President Duncan Forbes.' A night » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 196. - Ibid., January 30, 1745. 3 Formerly in the Scot's Greys. He entered the French service, and afterwards that of Prince Charles Edward. See Lord Tweedale's letter (September 14, 1745). Jesse's " Pretenders." * Middlesex Journal, October 23, 1770. * London Gazette, March 25, 174G ; and letter from Conway to Horace Walpole, March 19, 1746. « After Prince Charlie's flight the Duke of Cmnberland occupied Culloden House. The Prince left his w^alking-stick there, and the Duke his box of dominoes. These relics were dispersed, among manv others, at a sale at Culloden House in July, 1897. The walking-stick is now in the possession of H.M. the Queen, and the domino-box in that of the Mackintosh of Mackintosh. The original Culloden House was destroved and rebuilt, about 1780, in the Georgian style. ^ President of the Court of Session at Edinburgh. He was an ardent supporter of the reigning Family, and his example prevented large numbers from joining Prince Charles. 22 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i745-i746. surprise which the Prince had intended upon Cumberland's position was abandoned, and the Prince fell back upon Culloden Moor. The next day (April 16) the Battle of Culloden was fought, the Young Pretender was disastrously defeated and put to flight. The Rebellion of the Forty-Five was over, and Walpole wrote ^ that London was blazing around him with fireworks and illuminations. The Duke of Kingston's Horse, Lord Robert Sutton's Regiment, greatly distin- guished itself, and three troopers in it, Nottingham butchers by trade, were credited with killing fourteen of the enemy. ^ Though defeated and dispersed, the hills were full of the fugitive Highlanders, invulnerable — so the Scottish leaders had boasted — once they gained the fastnesses which were inaccessible to any but their own people. Establishing himself at Fort Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland commenced harrying the surrounding country, employing especially Kingston's Horse, and severities occurred which added to Cumberland's name the epithet of "Butcher," from which it has never since got free. Whether deserved or not, we have no need here to inquire. Suffice it to say that much has been urged in his defence,^ as well in his accusation ; and that the fact holds that he put a final stop to the Jacobite risings whose chiefest cause of danger to England was that they brought France sniffing like a jackal for an opportune moment of attack upon her when engaged with other foes. Two months after the victory of Culloden, Lord Granby, who, though brave to heroism, was the personification of clemency and compassion, thus wrote to his father from Fort Augustus, where he remained with the Duke of Cumberland — " We have been at this place about a month, and I believe we shall stay here some time longer. The Duke (Cumberland), since he has been here, has sent out several detachments to drive in all the cattle belonging to the rebells, and to destroy and burn all their country, which they have performed with great success, having drove in several head of cattle, and burnt everything they came near, without the least opposition. The Duke sent a detachment of an hundred of Kingston's horse, 50 on horseback and 50 on foot, into Glenmorrison's country to burn and drive in cattle, which they executed with great expedition, returning in a couple of days with 1000 head of cattle, after having burnt every house they could find. The Duke has now shown the Gentlemen of Scotland, who gave out that the Highlands were inaccessible » To Sir H. Mann, April 25, 1746. ^ u Annals of Newark- on-Trent." ' See Belsham's " Memoirs of the Kings of Great Britain ; " and " History of Scotland " (Burton), vol. viii. p. 492. Also the description of the Duke's humanity at Fontenoy (" Autobiography of Mrs. Delaney," vol. ii. p. 355). I745-I746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 23 to any but their own people, that not only the infantry can follow rebel High- landers into their mountains, but that horse, upon an occasion commanded by him, find nothing impracticable. Captain Chadwicke, who commanded, says he was surprised to see the boldness of the men, who galloped up and down mountains that he thought was impossible to have walked down. I hear some of our new raised regiments are continued ; if mine should be continued, I'll get to Newcastle as soon as possible, for Stanwix writes me word that our men begin to be uneasy and want their discharge." * The uneasiness existing among some of the men of Lord Granby's Regiment, due to inaction and unhealthy quarters, increased to actual mutiny, which Lord George Manners ^ hoped would tend to bring the rest to their senses. He reported to his father his capture of thirty-nine deserters at Boroughbridge, adding that " it was too hard to keep them among a parcel of rebells, where there was a very bad distemper." Later he wrote ^ that Colonel Stanwix had ordered the prisoners to be confined in York jail, and that he himself was starting for Belvoir to consult the Duke of Rutland on the matter. Mr. Henry Fox, Secretary at War, informed Colonel Stanwix * that, in answer to a petition from " his mutinous prisoners in York jayle," the King had consented to pardon them under such circumstances as Lord Granby, the Duke of Rutland, or the commanding officer should think lit. From Fort Augustus, Lord Granby wrote further to his father — "I desired Col. Stanwix to acquaint your Grace with His R.H.'s orders about a general Court Martial, but I suppose as we shall be broke immediately it will not be put into execution. I see by the newspapers that the King allows 0 days' pay to each soldier to defray his expenses home, and the same paper mentions that Lord Berkeley has given his men 4 days' pay per man over and above the Iving's allowance. I hope your Grace will pardon the liberty I am going to take in desiring a gratuity of half a guinea a man may be given to our soldiers when they are dismissed, as it will be an encourage- ment to them to enlist again as soldiers, if any unforeseen accident should require any more regiments so to be raised, which I think not impossible, for, untill a peace is concluded, France will no doubt try to keep up the Rebellion in the Highkinds, which will be no difficult matter, if he will venture a little more money and men, for the spirit of rebellion still prevails among the greatest part of the clans, for numbers still remain in arms lurking among the hills, and those that have submitted, have brought in nothing but old rusty fire-locks and pistols, and I don't doubt every man of them, upon the landing of a few men and a little money— if the Pretender was to set up his Standard again — would join him." » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 196. ^ i^x^ 3 i^id.. June 29, 1746. ' Ibid., p. 197. ^ Ibid., p. 198, July 11, 1746. 24 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745-1746. This letter, together with that previously quoted, affords strong proof that, though the victory at CuUoden had scattered the High- landers, the final quelling of them was effected by Cumberland's subsequent operations — " butcher " or no ; and recent literature has shed an unbecoming light upon that erstwhile romantic and chivalrous character, the Scottish Jacobite. Lord George Manners arrived at Durham, on his journey south, in time for the races. ^ At the Assembly there he danced minuets and country-dances, and invited Colonel Stanwix to accompany him to Belvoir. He had just met, he wrote to his father, " four of his grenadiers 2 mounted on horseback, with their bayonets fixed, escorting Secretary Murray ^ to the South. They seemed in high spirits ; he very dejected and talks little." No wonder ! They were sure of reward ; whilst their important prisoner was contemplating death on the scaffold, or the alternative which he adopted, of turning King's evidence. Of Lord Granby's Regiment two more entries occur in the Marching Books : one when it was ordered to furnish a guard to receive from " the jaylor of Newcastle " one John Dawson, a deserter from Major-General Wolfe's Eegiment of Foot.* This prisoner was to be delivered to the next regiment of Horse or Foot on the road to London ; and thus be passed on till he was handed over to the keeper of the Savoy prison. The second entry records the march of the regiment south, resting every fourth day, to Leicester. It was soon afterwards disbanded ; ^ the Marquis receiving a letter of thanks for his services and those of all ranks of his regiment, coupled with the hope that many of the rank and file would re-enlist in the Army. "Kingston's Horse" was disbanded at Nottingham, September 15, 1746, and the Duke of Kingston received a similar letter to the above. Nearly the whole of his men re-enlisted in a new light- cavalry regiment, sanctioned by the King, called the "Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons." The Duke of Cumberland ^ was ap- pointed Colonel, and Lord Robert Manners Sutton Lieut.-Colonel, with thirteen of the former officers of " Kingston's " under him. This new Dragoon regiment soon distingushed itself brilliantly in Flanders under Lord Robert's command. » Eutland MSS., July 14, 1746. 2 Each infantry regiment comprised a certain number of Grenadiers. 2 Sir John Murray, Secretary to Prince Charles Edward. ■* The 8th Eegiment. ^ Gentleman'' s Magazine. ® London Gazette, September, 1746. I745-I746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 25 With the summons issued to the Duke of Rutland, by Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, to attend the House of Peers for the trials of Lords Cromarty, Kilmarnock, and Balmerino the scene of the Rebellion closed, so far as the Belvoir family was concerned. The first of those peers was acquitted, and the two last may be dismissed in the brief language of the Gazette : — ^ " Aug. 19th, Whitehall. Yesterday William, late Earl of Kilmarnock, and Authur, late Lord Balmerino, condemned for High Treason, were be- headed on Tower Hill." 2 The circumstances of the private raising of regiments were not unattended by adverse comment and criticism. Horace Walpole, who had quaked in Arlington Street when the rebels were at Derby and threatening London, denounced the movement, after the danger was past, with his usual emphasis of style and disregard of accuracy. He accused the noblemen, who raised the regiments, of the sheerest jobbery and self-interest, stating ^ " that not G of the Regiments were ever raised, nor 4 of them employed." This astounding assertion is refuted by records of the Rebellion. In a Committee Report* issued early in 1746 a return was made of the number of effectives in each of the thirteen new Regiments of Foot, and two of Horse. The full strength of the former was fixed at 780, the same as in the battalions of the regular Army. Of the thirteen, three were over 1 00 short of their full strength,^ and the rest showed various smaller deficiencies, ej-cpptin;/ the Marquis of Grranby's Regiment. This, owing to the popularity he thus early won, attained to the total strength of 780 effectives, while none, even, of the regular Infantry l^attalions reached that number. A motion was proposed in the Commons, by Sir W. Yonge, to the effect that the fifteen new Regiments sliould be placed upon the regular establishment for so long as they might be required. The raisers, he said,® " desired nothing for the expense of recruiting, mounting, or clothing. All they desired was that the Regiments, when raised, might be paid by the Public." And why these Regiments, which were raised with much trouble and at great cost, should have remained a burden upon those whose ' August 19, 1746. 2 Lord Lovat was also beheaded, mainly through the evidence of Secretary Murray, whom some of Granby's men brought south as a prisoner. An interesting epitome of Lovat's career occurs in Burton's " Reign of Queen Anne." 3 See his note to his letter (September 20, 1745) to Sir H. Mann. Qentleman'e Magazine, 1746, vol. xvi. p. 403. = These deficiencies were about on a level with those of the regular Army. " Almon's " Debates,'' 26 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745-1746. example and influence produced so fine a body of men at a critical juncture, and for a national cause, it is impossible to understand. The opposition to them was principally based upon the idea that they might give a dangerous influence to the aristocracy who raised and commanded them ; an idea which was vehemently deprecated by Mr. Henry Pelham and Mr. Pitt.^ The bounty alone, of 10s. 6c?. per man, asked for by Lord Granby on the disbandment of his regiment, amounted to some £400, in addition to the original heavy outlay for recruiting, clothing, and feeding these 780 soldiers. ^ Of the Colonels and other officers of these regiments Walpole also fell foul, saying they would interfere with " the brave old part of the Army who had served all the "War." ^ A more genial and intelligent estimate of the former is afforded by a letter among the correspondence of the first Earl of Malmesbury, which says — * " The Duke of Kingston, Lords Gower, Granby, Halifax, and other Lords will on this occasion march at the head of their respective regiments ; and though you cannot imagine that any of these Lords are much skilled in military matters, and consequently no great feats can be expected of them in that way, yet their personally appearing shows a true attachment to the cause they are engaged in, and will certainly emulate the soldiers they command." A somewhat romantic story remains to be repeated in connection with Lord Robert Manners Sutton. Four years after the Rebellion, Horace Walpole visited Arundel Castle and, in describing it^ to George Montagu mentioned a gloomy gate-way and some dungeons in which he (Walpole) surmised was still kept an old woman who, during the " Forty-Five," offered to disclose to Lord Robert the spot where some arms were hidden at Worksop, in Nottinghamshire. "The Duchess of Norfolk compHmented Lord Robert into dining before his search, and in the meantime the woman was spirited away — and adieu to the arms ! " The anecdote does not explain itself so fully as could be wished. Various plots were known, or suspected, to be on foot involving concealed depots of arms, and advertisements were printed in the London Gazette, notably with reference to Norwich' and that ^ Coxe's " Memoirs." 2 The arms and tents for all these regiments were issued from the Ordnance Department. On October 12, 1745, a first issue was made to the Marquis of Granby's Kegiment of 390 carbines, new pattern ; 402 pairs of pistols, carbine bores ; 202 broadswords ; 12 drums ; 390 cartridge-boxes and belts. On November 9, following, 165 tents were issued. — Military Entry Book (Record Office). ^ i.e. in Flanders. * November 12, 1745. * Letters, August 26, 1749. Worksop Manor then belonged to the Duke of Norfolk. ■ London Gazette, October 19, 1745. 1745-1746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 27 neighbourhood, in which free pardons were offered to any informers. The Norfolk and Rutland families were connected both by remote and subsequent marriages. The former partly resided in Nottingham- shire, but their implied sympathy with the Rebellion does not tally with a contemporaneous announcement ^ that they had arrived from that residence in town, and had been graciously received by the King at St. James's. The upshot of the matter was, however, clear that Walpole believed the old woman to be still, in 1749, detained in custody at Arundel, as the surest way of impressing her with the golden attributes of silence. The " Forty-Five " called into existence various effusions, poetical and otherwise, of which the following is selected. Its author was a friend of Horace Walpole, and an admirer of his father. Lord Orford. The allusion to Lord Granby's hair, and his likeness to Charles XIL of Sweden, arose from the fact that the former was completely bald at the age of twenty-four. Voltaire ^ thus describes Charles XIL :— " He was possessed of a superior and noble figure, a fine brow, large blue eyes, filled with softness, and a well-formed nose, but the lower part of his face was not agreeable ... he had hardly any beard or hair." "THE HEROES." 3 By Sir Ciiakles H. Williams. Air — " Sally in our Alley." " Of all the jobs that e'er had past Our House since times of johbing ; Sure none was ever like the last, Ev'n in the days of Robin. "For he himself had blush'd for shame At this polluted cluster Of 15 nobles of great fame All bribed by one false muster. " Two Dukes ^ on horseback first appear. Roth tall and of great prowess ; Two little Barons •* in the rear (For they're, you know, the lowest). ' London Gazette, December, 1745. ^ " Histoire de Charles XII." ' From a copy of Sir C. H. Williams' Poems containing Horace Walpole's autograph, and his MS. notes here added. Under the title of the above verses Walpole wrote : " On the 15 New Regiments." * Montagu and Bolton. * Edge umbo and Gower. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1745-1746. " But high and low they all agree To do whatever man dar'd-: Those ne'er so tall, and those that fall A foot below the standard. Three Regiments one Duke ' contents With two more places you know, Since his Bath Knights his Grace delights In Tri — a juncf in U — no. " Now Bolton comes with beat of drums, Though fighting be his loathing ; He much dislikes both guns and pikes. But reUshes the cloathing. " Next doth advance, defying France, A peer in monstrous bustle ; With sword in hand, he stout doth stand, And brags his name is Russell.^ " He'll beat the French from every trench, And blow them off the water ; By sea and land he doth command, And looks an errant otter. " But of this clan, there's not a man For bravery that can be (Though Anstruther ^ should make a stir) Compared with Marquis Granby : " His sword and dress both well express His courage most exceeding ; And by his hair, you'd almost swear He's valiant Charles of Sweden. " The next are Harcourt, Halifax, And Falmouth — choice commanders ! For these the nation we must tax, But ne'er send them to Flanders. " Two corps of men do still remain — Earl Cholmondeley's and Earl Berkeley's ; The last, I hold, not quite so bold As formerly was Herc'les. * Duke of Montagu. ^ Duke of Bedford. ^ Colonel Anstruther. 1 745-1746.] MARQUIS OF GRANBV. 29 " And now, dear Gower, thou man of power And comprehensive noddle : Tho' you've the gout, yet as you're stout Why wa'n't you plac'd in saddle ? Then you might ride to either side, Choose which king you'd serve under ; But dear Dragoon, charge not too soon, For fear of th' other blunder.^ " The faithful band shall ever stand, Defend our faith's defender ; Shall keep us free from Popery, The French, and the Pretender. " Now God bless all our Ministry, May they the Crown environ ; To hold in chain whate'er Prince reign, And rule with links of iron." ' Lord Gower had been a Jacobite. 30 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1746-1747. CHAPTER III. Having crushed the Jacobite Rebellion, England was able to resume her operations in Flanders against France, who had mean- while proved too strong for the Austrians. After the victory of Culloden the soldiers greeted the Duke of Cumberland with the cry, " Now, Billy, for Flanders ! " ^ and he sailed,^ February 1, 1747, for Holland, and assumed command, together with the Prince of Orange, of an English army strengthened with foreign allies. Sir John Ligonier ^ also returned ; and the Duke was accompanied, among others, by the Marquis of G-ranby, Lord Robert Manners Sutton, and Lord George Manners. No regular sequence of Army Lists exists prior to 1754, and available documents do not show clearly in what capacity Lord Granby and Lord George made the campaign of 1747.* Lord Robert commanded the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons, but his brothers were apparently acting as volunteers on the Duke's Staff. Lord George ^ informed the Duke of Rutland that he, Granby, and Colonel Barrington were in camp six miles from Antwerp, quartered about a mile from the Duke of Cumberland, in a pretty house with a fish-pond and gardens — just such a place as he. Lord George, " could wish for about 4 or 5 miles from Belvoir." Lord Granby furnished considerable details ^ of camps and military dispositions. The French position he described as most difficult to ascertain, from their constant marches and counter- marches. They were threatening to attack the Duke of Cumberland's camp, which was so strong Lord Granby feared they would never be such fools as to make any real attempt upon. Bob was well, 1 MSS. of Earl of Buckinghamshire (Hist. MSS. Com., Kep. XIV. App. 9). 2 Gentleman's Magazine. 3 Ligonier had written of Cumberland, from Lessines camp, before the Kebellion : " Ou je suis fort trompe', ou il se forme la un grand capitaine " (May 28, 1745)._Hist. MSS. Com., Kep. XIV. App. 9. * Their names do not occur in the Ledger of Commissioners and Military Entry Books for 1747-8. 5 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 198, May 19, 1747. « Ibid., p. 199, June 20, 1747. 1 746- 1 747-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 31 and with Hawley's detachment ; George desh'ed his duty ; and the Duke of Rutland was to tell Lord William Manners ^ that Granby would write to him touching their " next winter campaign at fox-hunting." As for Lord Robert Sutton, he pronounced himself 2 forbidden to stir out of Westerloo camp, where he was with 15,000 infantry and 4000 cavalry under Generals Somerfeldt and Hawley. He therefore knew nothing of general affairs, but understood his two brothers were well. Reverses were sustained by the allies at Hulst and Roucoux ; and a series of operations took place in the neighbourhood of Maes- tricht, culminating in the Battle of Laufifeldt, or Val (July 2, 1747), an affair richer in casualties than in decisive results on either side. The French gained the advantage, but the Duke of Cumberland took four standards and four colours, and avoided a total defeat through the promptitude of Sir John Ligonier, who led a magni- ficent cavalry charge which enabled Cumberland successfully to retire his troops. Sir John Ligonier,^ then hard upon seventy years of age, had his horse shot under him, and was taken prisoner by a French Cara- binier, to whom he instantly offered his ring and purse. The Carabinier gallantly declined the booty, and said that all he required was Sir John's sword. Louis XV. later received the anglicized Frenchman, John Ligonier, with the greatest distinction, and, on hearing the above story from him, rewarded and promoted the Carabinier. Besides Sir John, his two aides-de-camp, Captains Keppel and Campbell, were taken prisoners,'' as were also Colonel Conway ^ and Lord Robert Manners Sutton, who with his regiment of Dragoons rendered signal service in the charge, together with the Scots Greys, and each lost a standard. Lord Robert, who was wounded, wrote that, on the evening of the battle, he supped with Marshal Saxe in his tent, and upon remarking that the French loss had been very great, the Marshal replied, with the greatest indifference, "Not above 11,000."' Besides Lord Robert Sutton, five officers of the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons were reported " missing." ^ » Brother of the third Duke. 2 Rutland MSS., June 11, 1747. ^ London Gazette, etc. * Gentleman's Magazine. London Gazette, etc. " Henry Seymour Conway, Horace Walpole's cousin. • Gentleman's Magazine. " Report issued from Whitehall by authority. 32 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1747-1748. The reverses of France at sea, and in Italy, outweighed her advantages in this desultory campaign in Flanders, and she looked eagerly for peace. Louis XV. sent Sir John Ligonier back, on parole^ to the Duke of Cumberland,^ with pacific proposals which took definite form, in 1748, as the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The Duke of Cumberland arrived home in November, 1747, and the Marquis of Granby, Lord George, and Lord Robert in due time found their way back to Belvoir. The last was doubtless released on parole soon after his capture, as in the recorded case of Colonel Conway.2 Records afford more evidence of Lord Robert's doings, in this campaign of 1747, than of Lord Granby's, because the former was regularly appointed to a command, while the latter had still re- mained somewhat of a free-lance, performing Staff duties. His desire for an active military career was now interrupted by the period of peace, some ten years, which followed the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The Marquis remained a Colonel on half-pay, and was promoted to the brevet rank of Major-General in 1755.^ Upon his return home from Flanders he resumed his parliamentary life, and his name occurs very frequently upon Committees, especially those ap- pointed to consider the making of roads, in which the country had been found very deficient for strategic purposes during the Forty-Five. One of the most urgent was soon completed between Newcastle and Carlisle. Though we learn that in Uncle Toby's days our armies swore terribly in Flanders, Lord Granby's vocabulary appears to have acquired no expansion in any direction owing to his later campaign in that country. Public speaking, especially, he disliked with inten- sity ; it was the one thing in life of which he was genuinely afraid. But his short, unadorned, and infrequent utterances in the House of Commons carried that conviction with them which is inseparable from a combination of strong common sense with generous, tolerant methods of judging men and measures, irrespective of " party," or of self-interest. Lord Robert Manners Sutton also entered Parlia- ment as member for Nottinghamshire in ].747, and his Regiment (Cumberland's Dragoons) was disbanded in 1748, after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. ^ Louis had said to Sir John, on his arrival as a prisoner : " Ne vaudi-ait-il pas mieux songer serieusement a la paix que de faire perir tant de braves gens ? " — " CEuvres de Voltaire," t. iv. p. 379. 2 See H. Walpole's Letters. ' London Gazette^ March 11, 1755. 1 747- 1 749-1 MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 33 Besides their parliamentary and county duties, the three brothers were much addicted to sport. The Marquis of G-ranby, from his earliest years, was an ardent and accomplished performer across country in pursuit of either stag, fox, or hare. Anything approach- ing to an adequate account of the Marquis's sporting doings would now be scarcely possible ; but, as illustrating one side of a many^ sided character, a few details happened upon during an examination of his period may not be out of place ; especially at that point of his career, lying between the Peace of 1748 and the outbreak of the Seven Years War, when he had most leisure to devote to amusement. He was one of the finest riders of his age — not merely to hounds, but in the " all-round " sense, having been known to have accom- plished 120 miles in the saddle at a stretch. ^ Hunting was his favourite pastime as much as soldiering was his ideal of a profession. The wild stag was, principally, hunted in England till about the middle of the eighteenth century, of which sport the vale of Belvoir supplied an unlimited amount, being unenclosed as far as Newark, and abounding in deer.^ Granby's father sang the praises of " stagg- hunting," from Lord Lexington's seat at Kelham in 1719, to the Duke of Newcastle, offering him, on Lord Lexington's behalf, fifteen to twenty brace of fallow-deer " to stock Haughton Park." ^ The same (third) Duke of Rutland built the hunting-lodge in Croxton Park, in 1730, portions of which remain.* Of the Belvoir hounds the history is traced to 1730, and they appear to have been first entered solely to fox at a date slightly prior to that usually adopted (1750) when the practice became general throughout England. In 1747, while serving in Flanders, Lord Granby sent a message to his uncle, Lord William Manners, concerning " their next winter's campaign at fox-hunting," and the Marquis is assumed by the " Badminton Library " volume on hunting to have been the first Master of the illustrious Belvoir Fox-hounds. At any rate he shared that office with Lord AVilliam Manners, his uncle. In the hunting world Lord Granby was associated with the Marquis of " Rockingham, Lord Darlington, and Lord Byron, some- time Master of Ilis Majesty's Stag-hounds north of the Trent ; and in 1754 his brother, Lord Robert Sutton, was appointed Master of His Majesty's Harriers and Fox-hounds. Letters here and there to * Middlesex Journah October 23, 1770, * " Memoirs of tlio Belvoir Hounds," » Newcastle Papers, May 25, 1719. * Lord Granby often resided there. In the part that remains the widow of the famous huntsman, Will Goodall, lived until her death, in October, 1898. 3 34 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1747-1749- Mr. Thoroton^ prove that hunting was never far from Lord Granby's mind during the tedious campaigns of the Seven Years War, at the close of which he hunted regularly in the Belvoir coun- try, and at Scarborough, where he built some kennels. Scarborough ^ was a favourite resort of his, with which he was politically connected, and a year before his death one John Chamberlayne wrote — " Agreeable to your commands I have bought a pack of hare-hounds, and have sent them to Scarborough as you directed. There is 26 couple of fine, healthy hounds, boney and well mixed." ^ Though a patron of the turf and liberal subscriber to many sweepstakes, of 100, 500, 1000, and 1200 guineas, run for during a series of years at Newmarket, Ascot, and York, Lord G-ranby ap- parently took more interest in hunters and cavalry chargers than in racehorses. His grandfather, the second Duke,* and his uncle. Lord William Manners, maintained extensive racing studs ; but he person- ally appears to have had only an occasional horse in training between 1750 and the commencement of the Seven Years War. In 1751 he ran a horse called "Chance;" in 1752 " Eib " and "Brisk" at Huntingdon ; in 1753 he was represented at Newmarket and Odsey by " Rib ; " in 1754 by " Dwarf ; " and in 1755-6 he won, with an unnamed colt, two matches against the Earl of Northumberland's " Beacon." In the same last-named years he ran " Chance," " White- foot," and " a black filly " at Ascot, Grantham, and Hambleton. At " Cocking " he found a frequent antagonist in Mr. Edmund Turner, of Stoke Rochford, with whom in 1751 he fought a main of sixteen battles at Grantham, of which Mr. Turnor won eleven and the Marquis five. In 1753 this match was repeated on June 20 and ' When the AlUes were retreating before De Broghe and Contades, after the Battle of Bergen (see p. 73), Granby wrote (May 19, 1759) to Thoroton from Lippstadt: " Give orders to Eobin to deliver the hounds I promised Walsrode to the bearer." - Mr. John Cradock relates meeting frequently at Scarborough, at the table of the celebrated physician Sir Noah Thomas, the Duke of York, the Marquis of Granby, Sterne, Mr. and Mrs. Gibber, and Colonel Sloper, — Literary and Miscel- laneous Memoirs. Scarborough was represented in Parliament by Captain George Manners, who died in 1772 ; by Lord Robert Manners, 1802-7 ; and by Charles Manners- Sutton (the Speaker), 1807-31. 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 311. * One of the second Duke's most celebrated racers was " Bonny Black Mare," by " Black Hearty," by " Brierley Turk." She won at Hambleton as a three-year- old, and again as a five-year-old. As a six-year-old she beat Lord Hervey's " Merryman," conceding three stone, and " Hackwood," after which she was backed to run four times round the King's Plate course at Newmarket, without rubbing, against any horse or mare in the kingdom. A portrait of " Bonny Black Mare " is contained in the " Sportsman's Pocket Companion." J749-I750.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 35 following days, when tlie Marquis won tea battles to Mr. Tumor's six ; the latter being again defeated in 1754, in a main of nine, by five battles to four. Besides his own brothers and uncles (Lord Robert Sutton, Lord George Manners, Lord William, and General Lord Robert Manners), Lord Granby's racing associates were the Duke of Cumberland, the Marquis of Hartington, the Marquis of Rockingham, Captain R. Shaftoe, Captain Jennison Shaftoe (of the 1st Foot Guards), Mr. Thomas Shaftoe, Mr. Fisher, and many others.^ In the domain of sport Lord Granby was, therefore, as well known as in that of war, politics, or society ; and in 1749 the last was much excited by his engagement to Lady Frances Seymour, daughter and co-heiress of the stately Duke of Somerset, who had lived in such regal pomp at Petworth. Walpole ^ surpassed himself in gossip concerning this match : he estimated the lady's fortune at over £130,000, and Lord Granby's allowance from his father at £6000 a year. The fickle attention of London society might have been diverted from Granby's matrimonial prospects by considerably less than several alarming shocks of earthquake such as, in April, 1750, caused a general exodus. Within three days 730 coaches laden with patrician fugitives were counted passing Hyde Park Corner. Night was the time, as usual, most feared ; and Walpole described a party composed of Lord Granby's aunts. Lady Katherine Pelham, Lady Frances Arundel, and Lady Galway, who, with the latter's husband, left town one evening for an inn ten miles out, where they intended playing " brag " till five the following morning, then to return " to look for the bones of their husbands and families under the rubbish." ^ This story, coupled with Lady Katherine's busy pursuit of the sweets of office, presents her in a somewhat hard and worldly light. But human nature is complex, and her maternal instincts were of the strongest. Near Claremont, the Duke of Newcastle's seat, Mr. Pelham and Lady Katherine had a residence called Esher Place. Here their two sons were taken ill, dying eventually within twenty- four hours of one another, and to it Lady Katherine (who caught their complaint in nursing them) could never afterwards bear to go, or to any place which she specially associated with her dead boys.* * " Historical List of Horse Matches " (R. Heber) ; " Sportsman's Pocket Com- panion ; " " Pond's Kalendar ; " " Sporting Calendar," ' Letters, September 12, 1749. » To Sir H. Mann, April 2, 1750. ^ Horace Walpole, Letters. 36 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1750-1754. Their disease was an ulcerated sore throat, which, becoming prevalent, was called " the Pelham fever." ^ The Duke of Rutland lost a son from the same cause. London soon forgot the earthquake, and Walpole ^ airily described a party at Vauxhall Gardens at which Lord Granby was present. For the entertainment of George Montagu, Walpole on this occasion invests with the manners of a drunken lout the same Granby whom he elsewhere describes as " affording a shining example of the idea ^ that noble blood diffuses an air of superior excellence over the outward form, and refines the qualities of the mind." Under careful scrutiny, the whole tone of this letter throws doubt upon its veracity. Walpole sets forth what he asserts was passing- in Lord Granby's thoughts about his approaching marriage, and attri- butes to him ideas and motives the existence of which is founded solely upon Walpole's imagination. This feat of thought-reading inva- riably bears the same flaw, no matter whether performed by Walpole a hundred and fifty years ago or by the Society chatterbox of our own day : the thoughts supplied always coincide surprisingly with the prejudices of the purveyor, and in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred have never even crossed the brain of the individual upon whom they are fathered. Walpole added that Granby's temper had been previously ruffled by the Prince,* who had won of him, and Dick Lyttelton, £1900 ; after which H.R.H. had declined to play any longer. Lord Granby's wedding-day, September 2, 1750, is described as " a mighty topic of conversation." Walpole said that the bride's guardian. Lord Winchelsea, had tied up her property so tightly that the Duke of Rutland had endeavoured to break off the match ; and her income was now estimated to be only £4000 a year, and Lord Granby's the same. Further, they were each in debt for the sums of £7000 and £10,000 respectively. This indefatigable Paul Pry then assures Sir Horace Mann that Lord Granby had offered his bride presents to the value of £12,000, and desired that she should pay for them ! The taunt implied in this statement is, once again, scarcely compatible with Walpole's own declaration that " generosity was not only innate in Lord Granby's breast, but was never corrupted there," and that "he seemed to conceive no use of money but to give it away." ^ ^ Coxe's " Memoirs of the Pelham Administration," vol. ii. p. 305. - Letters, June 23, 1750. 2 " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." * Frederick Prince of Wales. Died in the ensuing year, 1751. ^ *' Memoirs of the Reign of George III." I750-I754.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 37 But no matter ; any stick was good enough wherewith to belabour the " Pelhamites," with whom "Walpole insisted on classing the Rutland family, despite the fact that it followed — though always independently — the policy of William Pitt, whose alliance with the "Pelhamites" was a mere political mariage de convenaiice. Lady Katherine was the only member of the family to whom the term might apply as the wife of Henry Pelham ; but even she, too, was intimate with Pitt, and at Leicester House, where the " Pelhamites " were never welcome/ Her influence and persuasion was, to a large extent, the cause of the Duke of Rutland now being pressed to leave his retirement, and his name was put forward as likely to succeed that of the Duke of Richmond as Master of the Horse. Nearly four years were, however, yet to elapse before the Duke of Rutland resumed any office. In August, 1751, the arrival of a son and heir. Lord Roos, was announced in the Granby family, whicli was subsequently increased as follows : — Lord Charles Manners, born 1754, who became fourth Duke of Rutland, 1779. Lord Robert Manners, born 1758, who died of wounds received while commanding the Rcsolufion in Lord Rodney's action in the West Indies, 1782. Lady Frances Manners, born 1753, married firstly to Lord Tyrconnel, and secondly to Philip, second son of Lord Newark. Two other daughters were born, who died in extreme infancy. In the October following Lord Roos's birth, Lucy, Duchess of Rutland, died. She lived at Beaufort House,^ Chelsea, and a quaint characteristic of her survives. When she heard of a specially in- credible incident from some gossiping visitor, she used to request her daughter to step into the next room and write it down. " Lord ! madam," Lady Lucy Manners would reply, " it can't be true."—" No matter, child, it will do for news into the country next post " ! ^ Walpole was fond of quoting this saying, in his letters, as a justifica- tion of any improbable statement. An important event of the year 1754 was the death of Henry Pelham, First Lord of the Treasury, Lord Granby's uncle by marriage. His death severed ties with which the cohesion of the various Whig factions had been satisfactorily secured ; and he was succeeded at * John Nicholls, " Recollections of the Reign of George III." 2 Lady M. Wortley Montagu's Letters, vol. i. p. 492. 3 Walpole's Letters. 38 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1750-1754. the Treasury by that interesting and astonishing personage, his brother, the Duke of Newcastle — " Holies Newcastle," as he signed himself. In the changes that occurred pressure was again brought to bear upon the Duke of Rutland to return to Court, he having been promised, according to WalpolCj^ the Privy Seal in the ^oom of the moribund Earl Gower, then " inarticulate with the palsy." The Duke of Rutland had also been very ill at Belvoir, and reported dead, when he suddenly came to town ; and his brother — "a Lord William Manners, better known in the groom-porter annals than in those of Europe, together with the whole Manners family, intimated to the Duke of Newcastle that, unless Lord Gower was dismissed in a month and the Duke of Rutland installed in his place, they would oppose the prosperous dawn of the new Ministry." ^ The determination of Walpole to be, at any cost, sparkling, effervescent, and above all things entertaining in his letters is here fully illustrated. Macaulay has severely attacked him for attempting the role of a historian ; but his more chastened style, and, at least, greater attempt at exactness in that capacity is patent to anyone who reads his letters side by side with his Memoirs of George II. and George III., in which latter works Carlyle pronounced him to be " unusually accurate, punctual, and lucid." ^ On the face of it, it does not seem probable that the Duke of Rutland, who hated London life and Court ceremony, should have been a party to, or the subject of, the " job " set forth by Walpole, as above, concerning an office to which the Duke did not succeed after all. Turning to Walpole as a historian one finds the incident thus described : — ^ " The Duke of Marlborough succeeded Lord Gower in the Privy Seal, and the Duke of Rutland, a nobleman of great worth and goodness, returned to Court which he had long quitted,^ yet without enhsting in any faction, though governed too much by a mercenary brother, and was appointed Lord Steward." Such were the true facts, and great stress should be laid upon the circumstance that the Duke resumed office ivithout enlisting in any faction : it explains much, hereafter, concerning both the Duke's and Lord Granby's political conduct. As Lord Steward of the Household, in which office he continued » Letters. 2 i^i^., March 28, 1754. ' " History of Frederick II. of Prussia." * " Memoirs of the Keign of George II." * Since 1738, or for seventeen years. I750-I754.] MARQUIS OF GRANBV. 39 until 1761, the Duke became^ responsible for all expenses and wages connected with the King's household, as well as for the good govern- ment of the same. In the Counting-House sat daily, under the presidency of the Lord Steward, one of the most ancient Courts of Justice in England, known, from the covering of the table, as the " Board of Green Cloth." This Board, according to Edmund Burke,^ originated in the principle that the King's household was a Body corporate possessed of a Government, Magistrates, Courts, and Bylaws witliiii itself.^ It had jurisdiction ^ over all offences committed in the King's Palaces, and verge of the Court ; and without the Lord Steward's Warrant none of the King's servants could be arrested for debt. Walpole's reference to the " mercenaiy brother," and the " groom- porter annals," pointed to Lord William Manners, and his frequent presence in the apartments of the Groom-Porter (an office which still survives in name), whither the Court gamblers frequently resorted to play cards.^ The Groom-Porter had the privilege of supplying chairs, tables, cards, etc., to the King's lodgings ; and to him were referred all disputes arising from cards, dice, and bowls. During the New Year festivities at Court in 1728, Lord William*^ in one evening won 1200 guineas, and the King and Queen lost 500 between them. Early in George III.'s reign gambling at Court was forbidden, but any elfect of this example upon society at large was imperceptible. ^ Beatson's Political Index. 2 Works of Edmund Burke, vol. iii. p. 368. ' Mr. Levctt Blackborne, whose letters of 1770-1 (Rutland MSS.) afford some interesting details of Charles Yorke's acceptance of the Great Seal, and of Lord Granby's last days, was Steward of this Court under the Duke of Rutland. * Beatson's Political Index. ^ " Table Talk of J. Selden/' p. 186. • " London in Jacobite Times " (_Dorau). 40 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i754-i755. CHAPTER IV. Among the many duties of the Lord Steward was that of swearing in, personally or by his appointed deputies, the Members of a new Parliament. Upon the list of those deputies in 1754, and on many other occasions, the Marquis of Granby's name appeared ; and upon the assembling of the newly elected Parliament of that year he was selected to move the re-election of the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow to the Speaker's chair. On this occasion Lord Granby made probably the longest speech he ever delivered. He addressed Mr. Dyson, Clerk of the House of Commons, as follows : — ^ " Mr. Dyson, As it is necessary, before we proceed to business to make " choice of a proper Person to preside in our future Deliberations and Debates " I rise, if the House will give me Leave, in order to propose one. The " Chair is not a Post of ease and Eepose, but of great Labour and Activity: " It requires a Person of a distinguished character, whose Authority may the " better support the Dignity of this House. " It is of the greatest Consequence that we chuse the most able person "we can find to supply this important Office; for the qualifications of a " Speaker must necessarily have great Weight and Influence in our Proceed- " ings ; and the public Business, as the Person we shall fix on may prove "more or less expert, will accordingly be either facilitated or obstructed, " expedited or perplexed. " That honorable Chair, Sir, demands in the person who shall be destined "to fill it, many Talents and many Virtues: It requires, in general, great " Abilities, it requires in particular an exact Skill in the Orders, Rules and " Methods of Parhament ; it requires a perfect knowledge of all the Powers " and Privileges of this House and a consummate Experience in the infinite " Variety of Business necessarily to be transacted within these Walls. " Besides these great Talents, the greatest Integrity and Impartiality, an " unshaken Resolution and steady Firmness of Mind are Virtues that ought " to be eminently conspicuous in the Character of the Speaker of this House. " Very dijBScult indeed. Sir, it is to find so many great qualifications united ^ From the Journals of the House of Commons, 1754. The use of capital letters is preserved just as they appeared in the report, according to the custom of the time. 1754-1755.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 41 " in any one Person ; yet we have the happiness of having one Gentleman " amongst us whom Experience has shewn us on many occasions to be equal " in ever}^ shape to this important office ; one whose great ability and "integrity has appeared in innumerable Instances through the Course of " several Successive Parliaments ; one whose zealous Attachment for our " present happy Establishment, and for the whole Constitution of this Nation " in general, is well known ; and who has a Heart warm with that Zeal and " Affection which is the proper character of a Speaker of this House, a Zeal " and Affection for the Pight and Liberties of the Commons of G'. Britain. " I perceive every Gentleman's eyes are already fixed on the R*. Hon*''^ " Mr. Onslow ; I don't doubt therefore but I shall meet with the unanimous " Approbation of tliis House when I move that Mr. Onslow may be desired " to accept of this important Trust, and that he will again take Possession of " that Chair which lie has filled in four successive Parliaments with the "greatest Ability and Integrity, with so much honour and Reputation to "himself, to the satisfaction of former Parliaments and to the Advantage of " the Kingdom. " There can but one doubt occur in the choice of Mr. Onslow, and that is "how far he himself can be induced to accept of this important and laborious " office ; and yet I flatter myself there is one Argument resulting from his " own Virtue, and Love of his Country which will be able to over-rule this " difficulty. There is no man whose long and faithful Services give him a " juster Title to Repose and Dignity than Mr. Onslow. No man has a stricter " or more indisputable Claim to every Argument of Self-Defence that can "possibly excuse his embarking again on this laborious Office ; no man can "forego the Arguments with greater Grace and Dignity; no man so likely " to sacrifice every consideration of personal Ease and Advantage to the " Interest of the Public and to the Importunities of this House than Himself. " I therefore move, That the R'. IIon"'^ Arthur Onslow, Esq., be desired to " take the Chair as Speaker." Mr. Thomas Pelham seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The transfer of the Premiership^ from the Commons to the Lords occasioned difficulties as to the leadership of the Lower House. Henry Fox, Secretary at War ; William Pitt, Paymaster of the Forces ; and Murray, Attorney General, were all potential occupiers of that position; but each embodied some disagreeable possibility of factious combination against the Duke of Newcastle, who was not less nervously than eagerly fingering the reins placed in his hands through his brother's death. A time-honoured custom, which under parallel circumstances we still follow, was adopted of selecting for the post a man possessed ' See "Reign of George II." (Bisset) ; Becky's " History of England in the Eighteenth Century ; " Bright's *' History of England ; " Walpole's " Memou-s of the Reign of George II." 42 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, of no claim to it at all — a respectable, colourless nonentity named Sir Thomas Robinson. Forthwith Pitt and Fox, under a careful exterior semblance of supporting the Duke of Newcastle, sank their own differences for the moment and applied themselves to heckling Robinson on every possible opportunity. Occasion for the shifting of this disagreeable position for poor Robinson soon arose. Though nominally at peace, England and France were gradually drifting into very strained relations respecting their rivalries in India and America. Frederick the Great was, moreover, suspected of designs upon Hanover ; and this fact, coupled with the sustained dread of a French invasion, reduced England to a condition of alarm and depression which was unrelieved by the slightest confidence felt in Newcastle's ability to deal with the threatened Continental war. To distract England from pressing her claims in America, France sought aid in Europe for an attack on Hanover, a policy which was distinctly unjust, since George II. had stipulated for the neutrality of Hanover, as regarded France, during the dispute of the Austrian Succession. George II. consequently repaired to Hanover, and, without the knowledge or sanction of Parliament, concluded some private subsidiary treaties with Hesse and Russia for a supply of troops to be paid out of the British Exchequer. Hints were thrown out in the King's Speech in 1754 of the need of supplies " for the protection of British rights in America ; " and in 1755 Parliament was informed of French preparations for war. On this occasion the Marquis of Granby, and George Townshend, moved the Address and a vote of credit, which resulted in the sum of £1,000,000 being granted for the purpose of "protecting and re- gaining the King's violated Dominion in America." The money obtained, the King's treaties were disclosed, and the cost of the subsidized Hessian and Russian troops was proposed to be met out of the vote of credit. Here, at once, was the signal for the re-sorting of factions in the Commons. Fox, who had already been intriguing with the Duke of Newcastle against Pitt, supported the treaties, and was in consequence made a Secretary of State. Pitt vehemently opposed them on the grounds that we had no direct interest in these schemes for the good of Hanover, which were un-British, irritating to Prussia, and provo- cative of war. George Townshend, who had seconded Lord Granby on the vote of credit, was " shocked to see such a gross misapplica- tion of it ; " likewise his brother Charles, who said the Address of MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 43 the previous year had only mentioned America and Great Britain — not Hanover. He appealed to Lord Granby whether such was not the case, declaring " that his Lordship's answer would be a full reply to the boldness or preciseness of aiuj Minister ! " ^ Faction, not patriotism, was at the bottom of all this noise ; and Lord Granby's conduct affords an excellent example of the level, impartial course he always strove to adopt. An opposer of Hanoverian preferences he was known to be ; and, as such, had been in sympathy with the Prince of Wales, and Pitt, at Leicester House. But in this case the danger to Hanover had arisen out of George IL's support of purely English interests in America, and Lord Granby dis- sented from Pitt's indiscriminate disregard of the King's German dominions. " With great decency," wrote Walpole,' who also si)oke in this debate, " Lord Granby said that, if anything had been done contrary to the Address, the House must judge of it ; yet he was not such an enemy to Hanover as to let the French satiate their rage on Hanoverian subjects, because their Elector had acted the part of a British King." Lord George Sackville, an individual who will absorb our attention presently, supported this view also ; and the treaties were approved by 289 votes to 121. Mr. Pitt's opposition occasioned his dismissal from office. The national disquietude which had thrown a gloom over the year 1755 was still as strongly marked in the ensuing year. Menaces of invasion by France kept the Government and the public in so trying a condition of nervousness that GOOO Hessians and 9000 Hanoverians were brought over, much to Pitt's disgust, for the augmentation of the home garrisons. It is to the credit ot these subsidized troops that they behaved quietly and well, though exposed by the neglect of the military authorities to much priva- tion, which was principally alleviated by the kindness of private gentry.^ France, however, was only massing troops on her northern coast for us to stare at while she slipped away, unobserved, to the south for the purpose of attacking Minorca, then under the veteran ' The importance attached to Lord Granby's Parliamentary utterances is reflected in this declaration made when he was about thirty-four years old. 2 Memoirs of the Reign of George II." J. West, in a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, said Lord Granby spoke with great wannth and clearness to the effect that so long as Ministers pursued the true interests of their country they would receive his support. — Newcastle Papers, December 13, 1755. ' R. Glover's " Memoirs." 44 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1756-1757. Governor Blakeney, who made a brave defence. Admiral Byng was despatched to the rescue with a fleet which, on arrival, he considered so unequal to that of the French that, after fighting an unsuccessful action, he withdrew — and Minorca fell.^ Upon this disaster the humiliated English public broke into angry clamour against Byng and the Duke of Newcastle's G-overnment. Newcastle fell into one of his attacks of political hysterics at the prospect of losing power ; a prospect made more probable by the astute Mr. Fox, who enacted the part so graphically styled " ratting," and escaped from the foundering Ministry. Newcastle clutched at every floating straw, but, deserted and despairing, he soon resigned likewise. The Duke of Devonshire, supported by the Grenvilles, succeeded Newcastle at the Treasury, and" the King had, perforce, to consent to Pitt's return to ofiice as Secretary of State, a circumstance which naturally entailed his being the esprit fort of the Cabinet. Distasteful as this situation was to George II., it was soon fated to disappear. Pitt boldly defended Admiral Byng, but both were objects of the royal antipathy. Lord Granby was equally energetic in Byng's defence, and was to have proposed a vote of acquittal ^ in the House of Commons in conjunction with Lord George Cavendish, but the Government did not, at the last, dare to press it. " Unheard and untried," says Glover in his Memoirs, " Byng was devoted to destruction by King, Ministers, and People ; " and his trial and hearing did not alter their determination. The Admiral was shot on the quarter-deck of the Monarque, and Pitt was once more dismissed owing to the King's persistent dislike of him. He had, however, carried some of his points ; the Hessian and Hanoverian mercenaries were decently got rid of, and a bill was passed for embodying a large force of Militia by means of the Ballot. This course had been put forward at the opening of Parliament in the King's Speech, and the Marquis of Granby was one of the Com- mittee appointed to consider the Address.^ With this raising of the Militia, the Duke of Rutland, as Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, was of necessity much occupied, and was energetically helped by his sons. The scheme was highly un- popular with the country people ; and Lord Robert Manners Sutton, who was actively identified with the Nottinghamshire Militia after ' Minorca then represented to us what Malta does now. 2 " Memoirs of the Eeign of George II." ' Journals of the House of Commons. 1756-1757.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 45 leaving the Army, is said by Walpole ^ to have been even in danger of his life in the town of Nottingham. Lord Granby was similarly engaged in Yorkshire (with which county the Duke of Rutland was connected), and wrote from Scarborough to the Duke of Newcastle as follows :— " I am sorry the Militia Bill has occasioned such discontent ; the country people in these parts have been very riotous ; they have visited every gentleman's house ^ and forced them to give them money. We have just heard that they have demolished several houses at York. Our friend, Mr. Osbaldeston, ' has been visited by them, his house very much damaged, and been obliged to send them money. May this spirit of sedition soon be quieted. I hope your Grace will excuse this paper and scroll (sic), as it is writ in haste."* The Duke of Devonshire's Cabinet soon fell after Pitt's dismissal, and the only possible solution of the deadlock was to reconcile the Newcastle and Pitt interests, to which end Lord Granby's conciliatory powers and popularity with all parties were much in request. Wal- pole alludes to him as " the mock champion of the people, who was negotiating to unite the Patriot ^ Minister with the late Chief ^ of the Criminal Administration." George IL was still obdurate against Pitt, and encouraged Fox to attempt to form a Cabinet. The result was that "it rained resignations," ' actual or threatened, on the part of the " Pclhamites " and the supporters of Pitt. Lord Rockingham informed Newcastle ^ that he was dressing for Kensington to tender his resignation, and that Lord Granby had just told him the Duke of Rutland would resign that day also. An awkward and threatening pause followed, during which the country unequivocally showed its preference for the guidance of Pitt. The King at last gave way, and Mr. Fox's stillborn Adminis- tration was hustled out of sight to give place to a Coalition Ministry, with the Duke of Newcastle at the Treasury, and William Pitt as * " Memoirs of the Reign of George II." 2 " On Sunday y 15th after trenity, and on the 13th of Sept., Esquier Buncombe desired all his tenants to come and assist him against the mob that was resen about the Meleatey that was loted (raised) — 1420 men with annour. Esquier Buncombe gave thern drink at his own house, and at nit he gave them meat and drink at Helmsley Blakeymour ale houses."— Pape's Biary, 1757. "Esquier Buncombe" was ancestor of Lord Feveraham, of Buncombe Park, Yorks. ' Member for Scarborough. * Newcastle Papers. 5 Pitt. « Newcastle. ' Walpole to Sir H. Mann, June 9, 1757. ^ Newcastle Papers. 46 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, ['757. Secretary of State for the Southern Department,^ and Leader in the House of Commons. This strong Government included Lords Holdernesse, Granville, Temple, Barrington, Halifax, and Anson ; Henry Fox, George Gren- ville, and Legge. The Duke of Marlborough ^ was Master General of the Ordnance, the Duke of Devonshire Lord Chamberlain, and the Duke of Rutland retained his office of Lord Steward. So considerable a struggle had not' settled itself without friction, and the King had taken steps to try and coerce into obedience some of Pitt's most formidable supporters. To this end a gentleman, whose name is immaterial, had been nominated to a place under the Board of Green Cloth without the Duke of Rutland's knowledge, and which he had intended to bestow upon Mr. Thomas Thoroton, who is described in the next chapter. When the Government was fairly established the Duke wrote to his Grace of Newcastle about the desirability of some equivalent being made to Thoroton, saying — " I am the more earnest in this request as His Majesty's coldness towards me renders it daily more requisite, for, altho' I could support my spirits in the disagreeable situation in which I find myself so long as my Honour and Character are untouched, it is too much to submit to be both frowned upon and dishonoured." ^ Lord Granby said * that his father had been very much displeased, but " was then easy," and inclined not to further dispute the affair. Although the dates of the letters do not point to any connection with the above dilemma, several had passed on the propriety of bringing Mr. Thoroton into Parhament. Lady Katherine Pelham ^ advised the Duke of Newcastle to offer him the vacant seat for Boroughbridge. She had been characteristically busy : Walpole ^ included her in " the private chorus that had not the less part in the drama for being cyphers " which had strongly dissuaded Newcastle from coming into power without an understanding with " Leicester House." Since the Prince of Wales's death in 1751, his widow, the Princess Dowager, and the notorious Earl of Bute were elaborating, at ^ The Northern Department comprised the Low Countries, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Eussia, etc. The Southern Department comprised Home affairs, and France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. These Departments were changed in 1782 into the Home and Foreign Secretaryships. — Hadyn's Book of Dignities. 2 The second Duke. ^ Newcastle Papers. * Ibid. ^ Ibid. ^ " Memoirs of the Eeign of George II," 1757.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 47 Leicester House, the schemes which were to take definite shape so soon as the Prince's son should succeed to the throne as George III. Newcastle had already offered the Boroughbridge seat elsewhere, but now asked to be released from the engagement, owing to the " great obligations I have to the Marquis of Granby ^ (as well as to all the Duke of Rutland's family, which is very numerous in the House of Commons) for his uncommon behaviour in support of me in the Commons, where he is at the head of my friends, and where his personal credit and influence are much greater than any other person's." ^ Newcastle was deeply intent upon establishing a right to lay exclusive claim to the Rutland interest, which was in reality devoted towards establishing and maintaining an piitantp. cordiah between him and Pitt. As an old friend and relation, the Belvoir family regarded the Duke of Newcastle with much affection and esteem, for in his private life he displayed excellent and attractive personal qualities. Newcastle ^ received a very biting letter from the rejected nominee for Boroughbridge, and then offered that borough to the Duke of Rutland for Thoroton, to whom " the election would not be one farthing expense, nor put him to the trouble of a journey unless it were agreeable to him." The Duke accepted the offer, and Thoroton was introduced to the baililf and burgesses as " a gentleman of great consideration in Lincolnshire, and of known zeal for His Majesty, the Royal Family, and the interests of his Country." Lord Granby being unable to do so. Lord Robert Manners Sutton accompanied Thoroton to Boroughbridge, and he was duly elected. When the composite Administration, known as Pitt's Ministry, started upon its career no possible combination could have exceeded it in strength. Pitt relegated with relief to the Duke of Newcastle all the inner wire-pullings, the patronage, the packing of Parliament, and the general party-management in which his Grace was as pro- ficient as Pitt was maladroit. Fox was kept quiet by being made Paymaster, in which lucrative office he at once commenced to repair his straitened means by utilizing to the utmost the privilege enjoyed by that official of investing, for his own profit, the large balances which lay in his ' Newcastle Papers. - Newcastle is universally allowed to have been second to none in knowledge of the value of the various factions, and prominent men. in Parliament. Lord Granby at the date of the above tribute to his influence in the Commons was only thirty-six, and exercised it through his character alone. He held no office, and belonged to no faction. ^ Newcastle Papers. 48 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1757. keeping. This privilege Pitt, when Paymaster, had consistently refused to exercise : Fox amassed a huge fortune. Pitt was allowed his own way in respect of the national policy, and became paramount in our Continental affairs as well as in the virtual management of both i^rmy and Navy. Besides the embodi- ment of the Militia, he revived a previously mooted scheme^ of raising some Highland regiments for King George's service, thereby creating an element of trust in Jacobite districts and circles by extending towards them a show of confidence. ^ The proposed force was to consist of two battalions, each of a thousand men, commanded by Montgomery, Lord Eglinton's brother, and the Master of Lovat, son of Lord Lovat who was beheaded on Tower Hill. The Master of Lovat had been attainted after the Forty-Five, but pardoned upon condition of never re-entering the Highlands. In a debate which arose, some had deprecated Lovat's appointment on the ground of inconsistency, and that he was " a disaffected Highlander who had gained what military experience he possessed in rebellion." On the other hand, it was argued that under Lovat alone would his clan, the Frasers, enlist. Lord George Sack- ville ^ defended the appointment, choosing sarcasm, as was his wont, to point his arguments. He asked why rank should not be allowed to these " extemporaneous officers " as it had been to the colonels of the new regiments raised during the Forty-Five ? This sneer, which was directed pointedly against several men then sitting in the House, did not pass unnoticed. The Marquis of Granby rose and remarked that he " was sorry to hear Rebels compared to those who had taken up arms to crush the Rebellion." * To this little passage of arms may be due the fact of Walpole's subsequent conviction that the greatest enmity prevailed between Sackville and Granby in Germany — a conviction which is proved, by the strongest evidence, to have existed in Walpole's mind alone. ^ The scheme originated in Duncan Forbes, of Culloden. 2 Scottish regiments existed before this date, considerably ; and served at Dettingen and Fontenoy. 3 Son of the Duke of Dorset. * "Memoirs of the Reign of George II.," vol. ii. p. 301. MARQUIS OF GRAN BY, 49 CHAPTER V. Having brought the Marquis of Granby to the verge of the Seven Years War by means of material too scanty to permit of the thread being dropped and resumed at hazard, a slight retro- gression (to 1752) is now made in order to deal with two important factors of Granby'slife — viz. Thomas Thoroton, and Rutland House, Knightsbridge. At Screveton Hall in the county of Nottingham, and at no great distance from Belvoir, lived the Thorotous, which family had for several centuries been connected with the Bingliani and Car Colston districts. Dr. Robert Thoroton had been distinguished in Charles 11. 's reign for his antiquarian and archasological attain- ments, which survive in his " Anti(]uities of Nottinghamshire," published in 1G77. Thomas Thoroton, M.P., his collateral descen- dant, who has been already occasionally mentioned, was about a year younger than Lord Granby, with whom he was distantly related through the Sherards, and the Chaplins of Blankney and Tathwell. Between Granby and Thoroton a long intimacy existed, which was increased by Thoroton's subsequent residence at Belvoir Castle ; and a close friendship between the Rutland family and the Thorotons ensued, which extended over four generations of the former, and two of the latter. Thomas Thoroton was one of those level-headed, accomplished men of the world who, without filling any important offices of State such as often fall to the lot of their intellectual inferiors, live in close intercourse and consultation with the highest "powers that be." Clever and amiable, full of tact, business ability, and know- ledge of men and things, he attracted many distinguished friends from among the wide circle of his acquaintance in the social and political arenas. These qualities were early recognized at Belvoir, with the result explained in the next paragraph. Allusion is made to the third Duke of Rutland's scanty cor- respondence (as comprised in the Rutland Manuscripts) in the 4 50 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, Introduction to the Calendar ^ of Vol. 11. of the printed edition of those documents. So far as holograph letters are concerned the scantiness is indeed marked, and the circumstance is owing to the Duke having been comparatively early in life crippled by what he described ^ as " an infirmity in my hands which renders writing extremely painful to me, and lays me under the necessity of writing very slowly." Such letters as he wi'ote were plainly most laboriously executed, and, as he grew older, the faint, fantastically tremulous character of his handwriting quite accounts for his personal avoid- ance of correspondence, and for his pressing need of a secretary. This secretary "Tom" Thoroton became, though the term must not be read in its crude sense. Thoroton was no mere mechanical amanuensis, but soon after his marriage (about 1750) he and his wife resided permanently at Belvoir, and Rutland House, where he conducted the whole of the^ Duke's correspondence and business : he was at once the confidant, fidus Achates, and esteemed adviser of the Duke, the Marquis of Granby, and many other members of the family. In this position he, to a large extent, continued after the third Duke's death, in 1779, until his own death, in 1794 ; and Thoroton became a very considerable personage on account of the influence he was known to possess with one of the most powerful of the old "governing families." The Rutland Manuscripts, during the third Duke's period, contain only forty letters to, and from, Thoroton, and the New- castle Papers some thirty-five to forty more — the total of which does not constitute a large correspondence ; but as letters were often signed by, and replies addressed to Thoroton personally instead of to the Duke, many of the mass which must have existed may have been removed from Belvoir among Thoroton's papers after the third Duke's death in 1779. The Thorotons' former home, Screveton Hall, no longer exists ; it is described in Throsby's extended edition of Thoroton's " Anti- quities of Nottinghamshire " as containing some spacious rooms furnished with several good portraits of the Rutland family. Throsby visited it, and says — "I had the honour of conversing with Mr. (Thos.) Thoroton, and will just observe that his mind, now advanced in years, appears clear, intelligent, and serene ; and by the testimony of his neighbours it is rich in acts of benevolence." ' Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. 5. * Newcastle Papers (in letters to the Duke of Newcastle). MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 51 In ensuing pages Tom Thoroton will be an ever-recuvring name. He represented Boroughbridge, 1751 to 1761; Newark, 1761 to 1768 ; and Bramber, 1768 to 1780, successively, in the House of Commons ; and held minor offices under the Duke of Rutland, before becoming secretary to the Marquis of Granby when Master- General of the Ordnance.^ The sole indiscretion which can be laid at his door consists in the circumstance of his family having numbered thirteen children. Of this baker's dozen John, Peter, and Charles Roos entered holy orders ; Thomas, junr., the Guards ; and Robert, official life in Ireland. John became rector of Bottesford, and domestic chaplain to the fourth and fifth Dukes of Rutland. He was an accomplished amateur draughtsman and architect, and is referred ^ to as having been active in saving the children from the calamitous fire of 1816, when the north-east and north-west fronts of Belvoir Castle were totally destroyed. The rebuilding of these portions, as well as an addition to the chapel, was carried out from Sir John Thoroton's designs (he was knighted by the Prince Regent during one of his visits to Belvoir), to whose superintendence, in conjunction with the Duchess of Rutland (^Yife of the fifth Duke), the work of restoration was entrusted. Charles Greville ^ considered that " they made a sad mess of it ; " and called the designer Sir John Thurston^ a mistake which is often repeated. Sir John was buried at Bottes- ford, where a tablet was erected, in the church, to his memory by the fifth Duke and Duchess, describing him as "during 23 years their valued friend and faithful companion." Colonel Thomas Thoroton figures in his boyhood in a letter^ from the third Duke of Rutland as being appointed a Page of Honour to the King, and as having " kissed their Majesty's hands with great credit to himself, being much applauded for his person and genteel carriage." He afterwards entered the Coldstream Guards,^ with which he served in America during the "War of Independence ; and, in 1802, represented the borough of Grantham in Parliament. He was also colonel of the Newark Volunteers, and in 1804 took a leading part in the local preparations to oppose Bonaparte's threatened invasion. Apparently he was not a hard * Thomas Thoroton was an active Member of the House of Commons for ten years after the Marquis of Granby 's death, and was prominently useful diu-ing the Gordon Riots. 2 " History of Belvoir Castle " (Irvin Eller). ' Greville Memoirs, vol. iii. p. 46. ^ February 15, 1764. * Sec letter of E. Stevens, November 26, 1776. Rutland MSS., vol. iii. p. 7. 52 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, man across country, for a poem ^ written in 1805, commemorative of a celebrated run with the Belvoir hounds, says — " Tom Thoroton known in the Vale, Who at Flintham takes up his abode, Of potterers headed the tail. Who left not a moment the road." Mary Thoroton married Charles Manners Sutton, D.D. (grand- son of the third Duke), a most popular and eminent divine, who was successively Dean of Peterborough, Bishop of Norwich, Dean of Windsor, and Archbishop of Canterbury.^ Robert Thoroton was another widely known member of this family. In 1784" he went to Ireland as Secretary to the Yiceroy (Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland), and was appointed Clerk to the Irish Parliament. Sir Jonah Barrington mentions him ^ as a con- spicuous figure in Irish political circles, whose friendship, backed by an intimate knowledge of what was going forward, on many occasions "set him (Sir Jonah) right." He was celebrated for his frank, warm-hearted character and reckless daring.* Uulike Colonel Thoroton, he was a distinguished rider to hounds, and once rode his hunter up the steep terraces of Belvoir to the Castle walls. His portrait was painted in 1781, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, for the fourth Duke of Rutland, subsequent to whose death Robert Thoroton destroyed himself owing to private troubles. Charles Roos Thoroton succeeded his brother, Sir John, in the Rectory of Bottesford and private chaplaincy at Belvoir. Such, in brief, were some of Thomas Thoroton's sons and daughters. Most of his later descendants have been soldiers. His grandson Robert, a captain in the Grenadier Guards, is mentioned as one of the handsomest men of his day, who,^ after the Battle of Waterloo, made it his business, with Captains Burges, " Mike " Fitz- gerald, and Hesse, to resent the frequent insults offered to civilian Englishmen in Paris. Thoroton was in consequence grossly insulted by Marshal Y , whom he promptly knocked down. Much excite- ment followed, and Thoroton was tried by a Court of Enquiry and acquitted. Thomas Blackborne Thoroton, Coldstream Guards, elder ^ " Memoirs of the Belvoir Hounds." ^ The Archbishop's eldest son, Charles Manners Sutton, became Speaker of the House of Commons, and was created Viscount Canterbury. 3 " Personal Sketches of my own Times." * Life and Times of Sir Joshua Eeynolds " (Leslie and Taylor), and Introduction to Crabbe's Works. ^ " Reminiscences and Recollections " (Captain Gronow). MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 53 brother of the last-named, married the heiress of Sir R. D'Arcy Hildyard, which latter name he assumed in 1815, and the Thoroton- Hildyards of Flinthara Hall are the present descendants of Lord Granby's friend, Tom Thoroton, with whose name this digression originated. From him, between whom and the Marquis of Granby such intimacy existed, we now pass to where, besides Belvoir, the scene of it was laid. The name " Rutland House " ^ has been applied to several residences formerly occupied by the Rutland family in London. Between 1529 and 1580 they occupied the old Priory of Holywell, near Shoreditch, and later settled at "Fuddle Wharf." "Puddle Wharf " hardly convinces modern ears of its obvious claims to fashionable association ; nevertheless the third Earl of Rutland was content to own a house there in which he died in 1587 ; and the Lords of Berkeley, and Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, successively dwelt there. ^ In 1598 the fifth Earl vaguely dated a letter from " my house in London," ^ either meaning the above or the house next described, to both of which the name of Rutland House sooner or later became attached. Puddle AYharf was on the Thames at the foot of St. Andrew's Hill, and the name " Puddle Dock " still remains there. Formerly * " Rutland Place," Yard," and " Wharf " kept alive the association of the neighbourhood with past society, but they have disappeared. A little more westward, and also abutting on the river, the Rutlands had another house in Ivy Bridge Lane. This was west of Salisbury Street, Strand, and the lane led down to the Thames. The centre of the lane was the bed of a brook over which the Strand roadway was earned by the Ivy Bridge. Near this spot Thomas Pennant,^ without absolutely identifying its site, says a house stood " in which many of that noble family (Rutland) breathed their last." The rent of " a house at Ivybridge " ^ is entered in a book of accounts of 1598 among the Rutland Manuscripts, and it is first mentioned in 1586,' so that the Puddle Wharf house, and that in Ivy Bridge Lane, were both owned at the same period by the Manners family. * Some of the details connected with Rutland House were embodied in an article in Macmillan's Magazine (January, 1893), On the Old Knightsbridge Road," and are republished here by permission. 2 Account of London " (T. Pennant). Rutland MSS., vol. i. p. 351. * " London Past and Present " (Wheatley and Cunningham). * " Account of London." « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 352. ' Ibid., vol. i. p. 194. 54 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, From the river-bank the Earls of Rutland next moved north- wards to Charterhouse Square, which residence is first alluded to in 1601/ and in directing from whence "the Charterhouse" is the usual term employed by them. Their house stood at the north-east corner of the square, and has left a local godchild in Rutland Court, which still marks its site. In 1656 ^ this building was acquired by the poet Sir William D'Avenant (or Davenant), Shakespeare's god- son, who, with a view to combating the depressing Puritan dulness of the Commonwealth, turned it into a sort of opera-house in Charles II.'s reign.^ Albemarle Street next contained the Rutlands' town residence : the third Duke was addressed there in 1747,* and afterwards the Marquis of Granby occasionally dated from thence. The urban homes of this one family afford an apt illustration of the westward flow of the tide of London " residential " life. Receding gradually from the vicinity of the Thames in the city, and creeping along the Strand, that life has moved and re-moved farther and farther from its former eastern nucleus, devouring like a locust- swarm the green fields and hedges across which its destiny beckoned. Time was when, to go no great distance backward, the owner of Burlington House declared he would tolerate no house farther westward than his own.^ For a space his whim remained unin- terfered with, until Berkeley ^ (now Devonshire) House came into being, and London crept doggedly on past the G-reen Park to Hyde Park Corner, opposite to which Lanesborough House was called the " country-house " " of the peer of that name, though " suburban " would have been more appropriate. So, apparently, thought Lord Lanesborough when he had inscribed on its facade, — " It is my delight to be, Both in town and country." But a far bolder leap westward was made by John, third Duke of Rutland, who, at a mile west of the turnpike at Hyde Park 1 Eutland MSS., vol. i. p. 382. 2 " London Past and Present " (Wheatley and Cunningham). ' Programme of " The First Day's Entertainment at Eutland House by Declamations and Musick after the manner of the Ancients, November 22, 1656 " (Pamphlets, British Museum). If this entertainment was considered to be cheerful the dulness of the Puritan times must have been indescribable ! Davenant wrote an Elegy on Francis Earl of Eutland. * Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 199. * Horace Walpole affirms this, and T. Pennant. « " London Past and Present " (Wheatley and Cunningham) says Burlington and Berkeley Houses were built simultaneously. ^ " Account of London " (Pennant). MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 55 Comer, acquired in 1752 a somewhat short lease of the " Well Fields " in Knightsbridge, consisting of some seven acres of meadow land. Upon this he built a Georgian residence, which in its turn became known as Rutland House — a house often, at different intervals, brightened by the presence of the Marquis of Granby, Jack Mostyn, Sir John Ligonier, and frequented by many military, political, and social celebrities of the day — among others the Duke of Newcastle, the Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke of Kingston, the Marchioness of Granby,^ afterwards known as the Beautiful Duchess of Rutland, and her husband the fourth Duke. No portion of modern London can have known the Marquis so well as that comprising the road leading from the dangerous locality of Knightsbridge,^ eastwards to Piccadilly, St. James's, Carlton and Leicester Houses ; westwards to Kensington Palace, wliere the Court principally resided. For purposes of comparison with the ground- values of Western London now, it may be worth mentioning that the rent paid in 1752 for tlie seven acres of land around Rutland House was £30 per annum, less hmd-tax — roughly £4 an acre. To resuscitate Rutland House the reader must imagine himself standing with his back to Hyde Park just westwards of the Cavalry Barracks. In front, if he knows his London, he will remember a low brick wall surmounted by a railing and pierced by four gateways from which the gates have been removed. This is the old enclosure of Rutland House which separated it from the Knightsbridge Road as it now separates Rutland Gate. The two outer gates led to the stables, offices, and land which stretched southward nearly to modern Brompton Square ; the two inner ones formed the carriage approach to the house which stood some fifty yards back. A red brick building relieved with white stone dressings, it consisted of a central portion, perfectly square, comprising a ground, first, and second floors, with a range of large attics above, concealed on the front elevation by a stone balustrade and pediment. The entrance door was blended in design, by a small pediment and balustrade, with a window surmounting it. From either flank of this central portion extended two colonnades of three arches each connecting it with two low wings ; one of which comprised the stables and coach-houses, the other the domestic offices. The * Wife of Lord Granby's son Charles, fourth Duke. • Both Lord Granby and Sir John Ligonier transacted their military business, as Commanders-in-Chief, at Knightsbridge Barracks. 56 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, projection of these wings beyond the central portion of the house formed a courtyard, partially flagged, between which and the entrance gates was a round grass-plot flanked by trees. At the back were a large garden, paddocks, and orchard ; and scattered about were a conservatory, vinery, dairy, brewhouse, fowl- houses, etc. The view extended uninterruptedly, northwards, over Hyde Park ; southwards over meadows. A private entree into the former was given to the Duke of Rutland by either George II. or George III., which survives in the present small gateway opposite to Rutland Gate.^ Beneath the colonnades used to hang some curious old jack-boots, whose history has long since been forgotten : two pairs of them were sold at an auction in 1827. In the British Museum there is a plan of the estate in Knights- bridge formerly belonging to a Mr. Philip Moreau, sold in 1759, consisting of a considerable triangular piece of land having its apex at the point where the Knightsbridge and Brompton Roads diverge. A watch-house stood at this point, and trees were dotted about from thence to Knightsbridge Green, on which a maypole remained until 1800. The only portion of the Green now left is the small grass- plot railed in near the entrance to Tattersall's. Abutting on the Green was the " Rose and Crown " posting-house which was pulled down in 1860 after an existence of three hundred years. Between it and Rutland House meadows stretched, and, beyond the former, Kingston House was later built by the Duke of Kingston, whose reputed wife so much exercised society in Granby's period by her liberal views with regard to marriage, which led her into espousing his Grace of Kingston while her real husband. Captain Hervey, was " alive and kicking." ^ Nearly equidistant between the two 'houses stood, in the middle of the then disgraceful roadway, a dissipated, rat-bitten looking tavern called the " Half Way House." This was an uncomfortable neighbour, as it depended largely for its support on the highwaymen who relieved from dulness the road between Hyde Park Corner and Hounslow Heath.^ Jerry Abershaw affected it ; and on its ^ The use of the word " Gate " in residential nomenclature is always derived from some similar association : in this instance the gate described above was probably known as " Eutland-gate " long anterior to the building of the houses now classed under that name. 2 The " Duchess of Kingston " appealed to the third Duke of Rutland, in 1775, for assistance concerning her trial, and alluded to the friendship that liad existed between the Duke of Kingston and the Marquis of Granby and Lord Eobert Manners Sutton. — Eutland MSS., vol. iii, p. 2. ^ " Memoirs of the Hamlet of Knightsbridge " (Davis). MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 57 demolition (about 1850 only !) a secret passage was discovered leading from a room in the western end to the stables, for the use of anyone requiring his horse in a hurry. The freehold of Rutland House, which as already explained was a leasehold property only, was never acquired by the dukedom. The land passed through several ownerships even in the third Duke's time, and after his death the freehold and what remained of the lease once more changed hands. Eventually it was pulled down, and " Rutland Gate " erected on its site. Had Rutland House remained to this day it would have served as an interesting memorial of times by no means remote when the Knightsbridge Road was at intervals so deep in mud as to be all but impassable, and so dangerous that it was patrolled by cavalry at night. Belated foot-passengers bound for it, or the village of Kensington beyond, used to pause at Hyde Park Corner until a sufficient number was collected to brave the lonely stretch of thief- infested road, a bell being rung to announce the starting of the party should any further loiterers be desirous of a convoy. It would have recalled the stocks which were placed near the Knight's Bridge, under which ran the West Bourne close to what is now the Albert Gate of Hyde Park ; the flood which occurred after exceptional rains in 17G8, when the Serpentine burst through the wall at its head and inundated Knightsbridge ; the riots which raged during the great constitutional struggle with which the third Duke of Rutland and Lord Granby were intimately connected on the side of Liberty, though their sympathies did not extend to the distasteful personality of " squinting AVilkes " around whom the struggle centred, and who lived hard by in Kensington Gore — a struggle which embittered Granby's last days, if indeed it did not break his kindly heart. The windows of Rutland House witnessed the processions ^ of cannon and colours ^ captured in the Seven Years War which, after being paraded before the King, were drawn from Kensington to the Tower of London ; and before them passed George II.'s funeral pageant^ when his body was removed from Kensington Palace to ' Annual Register. 2 After the Battle of Lauffeldt in 1747, the Earl of Ancram brought to London some colours taken from the Freuch. Amongst others was the standard of the cavalry regiment, the royal " Cravattes," beai-ing on one side the motto " Pour parvenir," which is nearly identical with the Rutland motto "Pour y parvenir." See London Gazette, May, 1747. ' Annual Register. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, be laid in state in the Prince's Chamber of the House of Lords. In the coaching days Rutland House was one of the last objects on the Great Western road pointed out to the stranger before reaching the metropolis, or looked for by the habitual traveller to whom the jack- boots, and leathern fire-buckets, hanging beneath the colonnades conveyed the pleasing conviction of the near approach of another journey's end.^ ^ In 1787 the owner of Rutland House desired to increase the private entree into Hyde Park to the dimensions of a carriage entrance, and asked Charles, fourth Duke of Eutland, to support the necessary application to the King. The Duke, who w^as then Viceroy of Ireland, replied, " You will let me know whether y'' application is to be made to Lord Orford, who is y*" Ranger of y*" Park, or to y'' King Himself : in y" latter case I would write to Lord Sydney. At y*^ same time, if it be to y*^ King, a greater object might be easier accomplished than this trifle as I know He is very Particular about His Parks ; at least He is so about St. James's Park, for he made a man an Irish Peer to keep him in good Humour for having refused Him permission to drive His carriage thro' y*" Horse Guards. Pray let me Hear from you as to whom I am to make y'^ application and I will do it with all Possible Zeal." In this instance neither the scope of the gateway, nor of the Irish Peerage, was increased ! I756-I757-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 59 CHAPTER YI. Uninteresting as European politics may be, from their staleness acquired in a hundred and forty years or any ineptitude with which they are here dealt, they cannot be entirely passed over if Lord Granby's period is to be even superficially described. The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) had conchided the War of tlie Austrian Succession, but had not quelled its bitternesses and jealousies. One of the chief of these arose out of the regret felt by Maria Theresa that, following the advice of England, she had ceded Silesia to Prussia in exchange for the support of Frederick the Great. In short, she wanted Silesia back. She thereupon commenced some secret understandings with Russia, Saxony, and Poland that, should Prussian aggression again threaten those countries or her own, they should make a concerted effort to crush Frederick, and divide his territory ([uietly among them. Agreed upon this, they then offered a share in the scheme, and contingent spoil, to Louis XV. through ^ladame de Pompadour. Louis XY., in an evil day for himself, relinquished an alliance which was open to him, or rather had not yet expired, with Prussia in favour of that offered him by Maria Theresa,^ whose traditional ally was England. But the whole order of p]uropean sympathies were complicated, or changed, by the results of innumerable treaties of Aix-la-Chapelle, Versailles, Breslau, Dresden, the Barrier Treaty of Utrecht, and yet others which need not be discussed. Frederick the Great, suspecting what had been done by Maria Theresa, challenged her in 1750 to show her hand. The colloquial- ism must be pardoned, for it exactly applies to the circumstances. The Empress refused to comply ; and, without more ado, Frederick marched into Saxony, penned up the Saxon Army like sheep in a fold, and defeated the Austrian Army under Marehal Browne at Losowitz. The Saxon Army capitulated ; Frederick took Dresden, and demanded the production of the secret treaties. Maria Theresa ' Voltaire said that this alliance with Austria cost France more in men and money than two hundred years of previous wars with that country. 6o LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i756-i757. had left these in the archive-room at Dresden under the care of the Queen of Poland, to whom Frederick sent Marshal Keith ^ to treat for their surrender. Humour, that salt and solace of life, is to be found even attend- ing international crises of the highest import, and Lord Dover ^ describes how, as a last resort, the Queen sat upon the chest contain- ing the most compromising documents. Keith bluntly explained that, voluntarily or under forcible compulsiou, from off that chest Her Majesty had got to come ! Finally, the papers were obtained, which Frederick published as proving his suspicions up to the hilt. Frederick spent the winter in Dresden, and, " Protestant hero " though he was dubbed, exacted the most crushing contributions from Protestant Saxony for the support of his troops. Thus commenced the Seven Years War or, as the German portion of it is also called, the Third Silesian War. Louis XY.'s mistake constituted England's opportunity. Louis' one paramount aim should have been to escape from all quarrels in which France had no direct interest, in order to devote her last man and her last sou to defend her colonial position against England.^ England at first drifted into hostilities with France without any formal declaration of war ; nor must the original inception of the war ever be attributed to William Pitt. He, many years after (when Earl of Chatham), disclaimed responsibility for what " it had been the fashion to call his German war,"* whereas he had not taken office until it was commenced, and the first treaty signed (January 16, 1756) between England and Frederick the Great. Finding the war an accomplished fact Pitt, seeing his opportunity, pursued it with all the vigour of his nature. Frederick himself pointed to the Duke of Cumberland as having precipitated hostilities by steadily fanning the flame in London when France and England first com- menced bickering.^ Cumberland's motive was to make liimself master, through military renown, of the next reign so soon as his father, George IL, should die ; and to place Henry Fox in the ^ Attainted for complicity in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. He was son of William, ninth Earl Marischal of Scotland, and was killed at the Battle of Hoch- kirchen in 1758. Another account names Major von Wangenheim as the envoy. 2 " History of Frederick II.," vol. ii. p. 10. ^ Sir Horace Mann echoed the opinion he heard expressed by many European envoys at Florence, thus : " One cannot account for the perseverance of the French in Germany, which exhausts them of money and reputation at the time that their affairs go so ill everywhere else." — September 29, 1759, to Horace Walpole, " Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence " (Doran). * " Parliamentary History," vol. xvi. p. 104. ^ " CEuvres de Frede'ric le Grand," t. iv. I756-I757-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 6l Duke of Newcastle's shoes. The rumours of French aggression, and designs for an invasion of England, were so thoroughly believed in that Frederick the Great said the mere name of " Frenchman " was sufficient to lash the people of London into fury, and that there were moments when England, who passed for being so sensible, believed herself lost beyond recovery.^ In such a condition of European affairs, the prestige attaching to the sword of so magnificent a soldier as Frederick the Great was not likely to go long a-begging. France, when too late, tried to retrieve her position, and sought to renew the treaty about to expire between herself and Prussia ; but Frederick's answer was to show the Due de Nivernois the treaty which he had just signed with England. ^ And thus England and Prussia tumbled in haphazard fashion into an alliance which was fraught with the most momentous issues for both of them ; and eventually tumbled out of it again in precisely the same manner. George II. and Pitt both welcomed this alliance, but from different motives : George, as of old, was actuated solely by fears for Hanover ; but Pitt saw a brilliant advantage to be won by joining Prussia in a struggle in which England had no direct interests whatever, and which alliance would indubitably entail an attack on Hanover by France. In adopting such a course Pitt revolutionized his own former policy, in which his sincerity and singleheartcdncss have, in conse- quence, been pertinently questioned by his critics. Ignoring his old antipathy and opposition to Hanoverian interests, he now stoutly declared any menace to Hanover to be a menace to Eng- land ; for he saw that by employing Hanoverian and other subsi- dized troops against France, he, with the addition of a very small English force, could keep a principal portion of the French armies and resources concentrated on German battle-fields whilst he put the main strength of England into the Colonial War. He would win America in Germany ! ^ ' " CEuvres dc Frederic Ic Grand," t. iv. - Ibid. ' " Our troops they now can plainly see, May Britain guard in Germany ; Hanoverians, Hessians, Prussians, Are paid t' oppose the French and Russians : Nor scruple they with truth to say, They're lighting for iVinerica." (" A Simile," Soame Jenyns.) •• Oh, Germany ! how much to thee we owe As heaven-born Pitt can testify below." (•' The Waltz/' Byron.) 62 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1756-1757. This was a grand conception, but its development soon exceeded the limits which even Pitt had set to it, and the patience of the English people, who did not understand the scheme, nor the object of sacrificing thousands of men and millions of money which brought no obvious, direct result of territorial conquest such as dazzled their eyes in the colonial section of the war. The aid to the colonial conquests afforded by the German operations was little recognized in Pitt's time ; it may now be said to have vanished out of the national memory. They became unpopular from the first,^ and it was mainly owing to the Marquis of Granby's position in the hearts of the public at home, and of the troops in Germany, that Pitt was enabled to continue that phase of the war even so long as he did. The Duke of Cumberland, then Captain-General of the British Forces, was appointed to the command of the Hanoverians, Hessians, Brunswickers, Saxe-Gothans, etc., with whom he engaged one French army, under Marcchal D'Estrees, Contades, Chevert, and De Broglie. Frederick the Great was opposed to the Austrians and Russians, to co-operate with whom a second French army presently proceeded eastwards, under the Prince de Soubise, after first driving the Prussians from Cleves, Emmerich, and various posts north of Cologne. To Frederick's operations occasional reference, only, need be made: they are recorded in some tons of literature, and the main intent of these pages is to plead for the forgotten portions of the war on the side of England. Purely English action, at the outset, was confined to isolated expeditions of combined naval and military forces directed against the French coasts. These were of Pitt's own planning. He was strangely enamoured of them in spite of their non-success ; his object being to prevent by these diversions a concentration of the enemy's forces. Of these expeditions that upon Rochefort, under Admiral Hawke and General Mordaunt, was abortive. Attached to this was Conway, Horace Walpole's cousin and favourite ; and, in the subsequent inquiry into its failure, Conway narrowly escaped being * " German wars, German subsidies, German w s, Germaniz'd councils, German usurpations — evils accursed," (" The Cries of Liberty for Kedress," etc.. The Wliisperer, No. 5, March 17, 1770 ; and see p. 205, the warning sent to Prince Ferdinand.) " At shops all round I owe for fifty things, This comes of fetching Hanoverian Kings." (" The Squire and the Parson,"" Soame Jenyns.) I756-I757.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 63 " broke," and his name was removed from the King's Staff. He had been up till then senior to Lord Granby in rank, as he was in age, but, in the years during which Conway was refused further military employment,^ Lord Granby passed over his head. To this circumstance the jealousy with which Walpole viewed Granby's successes was palpably due.^ Conway was undoubtedly hardly used ; he was brave, high-minded, and moderately talented ; but fatally wanting in decision and the power of inspiring sympathy.^ A great and devoted affection for him was the most graceful trait of Walpole's life. This digression will explain itself in many later pages. Another expedition against St. Malo, under the Duke of Marl- borough ^ and Lord George Sackville as regarded the military force, succeeded only in destroying some French shipping and naval stores. A third expedition was made later against 8t. Malo, under Commodore Howe and. General Bligh. Cherbourg was firet taken, and a military force landed in the Bay of St. Cast. After destroying some ship- ping, etc., the troops were surprised, in the act of re-embarking, by the French and terribly worsted, many being drowned in attempting to regain the ships. Before the date of this last expedition, there occurred a crowning disaster. The ])ukc of Cumberland's army was forming a barrier before the King of Prussia's provinces on the Elbe, by defending the river Weser against the French, under Marshal D'Estrces. By outmanoeuvring Cumberland, the Marshal succeeded in crossing the river, and defeated the Duke at Hastenbach. Cumberland retreated towards the sea and his transports, lying in the estuary of the Elbe, but was surrounded at Stade, where he surrendered to the Due de Richelieu, who was sent to supersede Marshal D'Estrces in spite of his recent victory. Presently Cumberland was compelled to sign the Convention of Klosterseven. By this Convention the Duke undertook that the Hanoverian troops should be disarmed, sent into cantonments, and the Auxiliaries dismissed. A defeat sustained by Frederick at Kolin aggravated the effects * Conway was not employed again until April, 1761, when he was sent to serve under Lord Granby in the Geniian War. ^ Walpole considered Conway to be Sackville's sole rival in military capacity. — " Memoirs of the Reign of George II.," vol. iii. p. 107. ' His friend Sir Robert Murray Keith said : " Conway is of a very cold dis- position*^' (Keith's " Memoirs," December 30, 1769). "Walpole himself alluded to the " disgusting coldness " of Conway's manner. * Charles Spencer, second Duke of Marlborough, succeeded to the title through his mother, daughter of the celebrated Duke. 64 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1756-1757. of Cumberland's disaster ; for the latter released the French army from Hanover and enabled it to add its weight to the odds against which Frederick was contending. Marshal the Due de Eichelieu ordered certain French detachments to join Prince de Soubise's army, and the whole entered the King of Prussia's dominions, penetrating to Halberstadt and Brandenburg. Equal to the occasion, Frederick marched westwards to meet this new foe, which he defeated at Eoss- bach, November 5, 1757. In his absence the Austrians possessed themselves of the coveted Silesia, but returning, Frederick gained Silesia once more by the victory of Leuthen. These battles, like most fought in the German portion of the Seven Years War, were advantages snatched breathlessly here and there by either side, at a mutual cost that deprived the victors of power to retain the foothold gained. The Duke of Cumberland returned home— with what feelings may be guessed, if Frederick the Great is to believed ^ — and was received with sullen indignation by the nation ; by the King with the words, " Here is my son, who has ruined me and disgraced him- self." He resigned all his commissions and military distinctions, including the grand old title of " Captain-General " of the British Forces, to which, from dynastic reasons rather than from any mili- tary fitness, he had been appointed, following closely upon so illus- trious a soldier as John, Duke of Marlborough. The title " Captain- General " was then placed in abeyance,^ to be revived if necessary, as George II. thought to do in 1760,^ and George III. in 1765 ; * but it never was revived. Sir John Ligonier, then colonel of the Royal Horse Guards, or "Blues," succeeded to the Duke's colonelcy of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards (the Grenadiers), and to the supreme position in the Army under the title of " Commander-in-Chief," which first appeared in the Army List of 1758. John, Marquis of Granby, now re-entered upon active service, after eleven years of peaceful avocations, and was appointed to the colonelcy of the "Blues," vice Ligonier. This regiment was, on its original formation, commanded by Aubrey,^ Earl of Oxford, whose colours it embodied in its uniform, and during whose career the name of the " Oxford Blues " became customary for the purpose * See p. 60 for Cumberland's share in provoking the war. 2 Lord Chesterfield wrote (November 4, 1757) : " The door seems to be not only shut, but bolted against his Koyal Highness's return." — Letters to his Son. 3 See p. 172, infra. * See pp. 307-310. 5 " Records of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards " (E. Packe), p. 54. TROOPER, ROYAL HORSE GUARDS, In the uniform worn in I^rd Granby's time. (From an uncoloured after David Morier. ) I757-I758.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 65 of distinguishing it from a blue Regiment of Dragoons brought by WilHam III. from Holland. Its ordinary title, previously, had been the Earl of Oxford's Horse. Tiiese changes were anticipatory of the increased assistance which Pitt saw was necessary to Frederick the Great, if America was to be won by sharing his quarrels in Germany. Since his victory at Ross- bach Frederick, and Pitt, became the idols of the English nation. A yearly subsidy — such as Pitt formerly thundered against — of £070,000 was voted to Frederick ; the Convention of Klosterseven was repudiated ; Hanover was to be re-armed, and 12,000 British troops despatched to defend her — but where was the General to command the whole 1 At the moment, excepting veterans, Eng- land possessed none of tried experience. Sir John Ligonier, then about eighty years old, was relegated to departmental duties at home ; Amherst, James Abercrombie, and Wolfe, all young, were engaged in the Colonial War. Frederick the Great was applied to in consequence for a com- mander, and he, delighted thus to gain control of the Hanoverian side of the war, supplied one in the person of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick,^ who had won the first advantage in the Seven Years War as General of one of tlie three Prussian armies. Prince Ferdi- nand was thirty-six, exactly the same age as Lord Granby, but, since the age of nineteen, had served, and studied war, under Frederick the Great in the first and second Silesian Wars. Prince Ferdinand entered at once upon his task, and proceeded to remobilize the Hanoverian Army, finding in Stade 30,000 troops which the French had omitted to disarm.^ To assist him he employed his nephew, the Hereditary Prince, son of the reigning Duke of Brunswick, who much disapproved the whole scheme,'' having hoped Hanover might have remained neutral after the Convention of Klosterseven, to which end he had negotiated with France. So quietly was Pitt's repudiation of Klosterseven effected, that the first intelligence gained of it, on the part of France, was that Hanover was actually again under arms, with Prince Ferdinand in command/ The Due de Richelieu was recalled by France, and replaced by the Comte de Clermont. ' Brother of the reigning Duke of Brunswick, and " a soldier of approved excellence, and likewise a noble-minded, prudent, patient and invincibly valiant and steadfast man." — " History of Frederick II. of Prussia " (Carlyle). 2 " CEuvres de Frederic le Grand," t. iv. ' See the Duke of Brunswick's letter, November 27, 1757, to his brother Prince Ferdinand, assuring him his action would disgrace his family, and bring a stain upon his country which he })retcnded to serve. — Hume and Smollett, vol, xii. pp. 419,420. •• A Keview of Mr. Pitt's Administration" (Political Tracts, British Museum). 5 66 ' LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1758. Prince Ferdinand began by driving the French garrisons out of Hanover. He gradually manoeuvred them westwards across the Rhine. The Hereditary Prince, then twenty years of age, dislodged the French, under De Chabot, from a position at Hoya on the river Weser, across which the Prince had patiently transported his troops, in a gale of wind, by means of a single raft.^ Ferdinand followed De Clermont over the Rhine and defeated him severely at Crefeldt, June 23, 1758 ; but, too weak numerically to hold his ground, the Prince retired to his former position east of the Rhine, on the river Lippe, to await the arrival of the English army. At Lippstadt, on the Lippe, he established one of his principal garrisons. The victory of Crefeldt at once established Prince Ferdinand's popularity in England, where his reputation had been pushed by Major G-rant (a Scotchman, whom Frederick the Great had sent to London with the news of his victory at Rossbach), and London rang with eulogies concerning Ferdinand of Brunswick, who had struck such an important blow in the interests of George II. on the Continent.^ After Cumberland's recall, the French, quite unjustifiably and by stratagem,^ possessed themselves of the neutral imperial city of Frankfort, where they established a large garrison and magazine, which they maintained until the close of the war. Goethe, then a child, describes how this circumstance converted, in a moment, a peaceful town into a scene of war ; and how his father hated the French Deputy-Governor, the Count de Thorane, who was quartered upon him, and invested his house with all the clatter, bustle, and unrest incidental to an important military office. Goethe had many opportunities of seeing the French officers of high rank. He describes the fine-looking Prince de Soubise ; the Due de Broglie, a middle-sized, well-made young man, keen of eye, and resolute of countenance which, no more than his manner, ever betrayed the least mental agitation."^ The city of Bremen had surrendered to the Due de Broglie in January, 1758 ; but Prince Ferdinand retook it, and established there his principal base of supply in March, 1758. Minden sur- rendered to him in the same month, and was garrisoned with a force under General Zastrow. ^ Annual Register. - See Von Retzow, and " CEuvres de Fre'de'ric le Grand," t. iv, ' See Smollett's " History of England." * " Aus meinem Leben " (J. W. v. Goethe). 1758.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 67 The English military preparations were pushed forward rapidly, and with an enthusiasm which attracted many patrician volunteers who eagerly seized the opportunity which ensured them both fun, and fighting. Those of them who had no military status were granted some nominal rank to invest them with the privileges of cartel in case of becoming prisoners. Among these volunteers were Sir James Lowther,^ " master of £40,000 a year," Sir John Armytage, the Duke of Richmond, Fitzroy,^ and Lord Downe who was later shot to pieces, and died almost simultaneously with receiving the Colonelcy of the 25th Foot, which his services and gallantry won for him. Emden, at the mouth of the river Ems, was taken by Commodore Holmes (March 18, 1758), and was used as the port of disembarka- tion of the British Army until the mouth of the river AVeser was sub- stituted for it later at the Marquis of Granby's request. Frederick's original wish was that the Rhine should have been the line of de- fence ; but in this he was overborne by George II. and his Hanoverian Ministers,^ to comply with whom the more easterly line was adopted of the river Weser which was almost anywhere fordable. Frederick consequently withdrew his garrison and artillery from Wesel on the Rhine, partially dismantling the fortifications there ; but these were presently repaired by the French, and AVesel occupied by them. The Commander-in-Chief of the English x\rmy was Lieut. -General the Duke of Marlborough,* who had returned home after the second attack upon St. Malo. Lord George Sackville, after that affair, had declared (in contempt of Pitt's expeditions) that "he would no longer go buccaneering," ^ and joined Marlborough's army after its arrival on the Continent, without having presented himself in due form before the King, who threatened to recall him. However, seasoned officers were scarce, and Lieut.-General Lord George Sack- ville ^ was permitted to remain, and as second in command. Third in rank came Major-General the ISIanjuis of Granby, after eleven years of retirement, commanding a Brigade of Cavalry, which in- cluded his own Regiment, the " Blues." Besides these were Major- General Mostyn, originally of the Foot Guards, A.D.C. to the King, ' " Memoirs of the Keip:n of George II." - Afterwards Lord Southamptou. ' Mainly by Baron Miiuchhausen. Frederick the Great politely described George II. 's obstinacy as " une ferniete heroique." — " CEuvres de Frederic le Grand."' t. V. * Master- General of the Ordnance. Bubb Dodington's Diary. • Lord George served in Flanders, and was wounded at Fontenoy ; afterwards he fought against Prince Charles Edward in the Forty-Five, and made the campaign in Flanders of 1747. 68 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1758. and now Colonel of the 5th Royal Irish Dragoons ; Major-Generals Waldegrave ^ and Kingsley, and others of lesser degree whose names will figure presently, such as Edward Ligonier,^ Lord Brome (or Broome as it was then spelt), and William Faucitt. Jack Mostyn,^ as General Mostyn's friends called him when they did not use his solriqmt of " Noll Bluff," was younger son of Sir Roger Mostyn, Bart. BrilHantly witty, genial, gallant, and good- humoured, he was universally popular in his profession, and at Court where he was a constant member of George II.'s evening party. Albeit a dashing soldier he was extremely modest, and had refused the command of an expedition to Quebec on the grounds that he professed to be no more than a simple cavalry officer.* He became a devoted friend, and companion in arms, of the Marquis of Granby, who took great interest in Mostyn's career as will be shown, by one incident especially, in describing the progress of the war. Even at this moment, the very outset of his career as a command- ing officer, the Marquis of Granby's popularity was such that fifty- two young officers applied to serve as his aides-de-camp. Of these. Lord Brome ^ was first selected ; and, though the number of appli- cants might excite no comment in these days when the size of the Army has so greatly increased, it was then thought very remarkable, as Walpole has recorded on more than one occasion.® Before commencing the events of the war, the indulgence of the reader is appealed to respecting all military details and technicalities. The history of the British army employed in the German portion of the Seven Years War, treated by a competent professional hand in- spired with British sympathy, remains unwritten ; such an attempt is not aspired to, or possible, in these pages.'' All that has so far been published is really due to foreign chroniclers, professionally com- petent, but who have not recorded all that might be said of the English officers and men who bore the brunt of the fighting during ' Afterwards third Earl of "Waldegrave. 2 Nephew and heir of Sir John, created Viscount Ligonier 1757. ^ From " Memoirs of Sir J. Campbell ; " " Political Life of Lord Barrington," etc. ^ Walpole, in his " Memoirs," characteristically asserts that Mostyn sought to curry favour at Court by serving under a Brunswick Prince in Germany. Respect- ing the chief command, Walpole wrote (February 10, 1758) : " The Duke of Marlborough commands, and is in reality commanded by Lord George Sackville. We shall now see how much greater Generals we have than Mr. Conway, who had pressed to go in any capacity, and is not suffered." See note, p. 63. * Afterwards Lord Oornwallis. *^ "Memoirs of the Reign of George IL," vol. iii. p. 192; and in footnotes elsewhere. ' An important but incomplete MS. work on Prince Ferdinand's Campaigns is in the British Museum (Manuscript Department 28551-3, Additional MSS.). 1758.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 69 the German campaigns, as much as their countrymen at home bore the brunt of the expense. Frederick the Great, in " Memoires de la Guerre de Sept Ans," treated Prince Ferdinand's operations as the merest details of his own, and wasted no time, even, over the circumstances which balked the Prince of a crowning victory at Mindeu, saying, " Le Prince n'eut pas le temps de soutenir I'lnfanterie Anglaise par d'autres Brigades." It is scarcely surprising, therefore, that Frederick should have made perfunctory reference only to a certain " Milord Granby " ^ and the troops which he commanded, especially as, at the time of writing the " Memoires," Frederick had quarrelled irrevocably with England, as he did soon after with Prince Ferdinand.^ J. W. Archenholz (" Geschichte des Siebenjiihrigen Krieges ") treats the war entirely from the German standpoint, though with occasional references to the English troops, their splendid equipment, and the horses of certain cavalry regiments, respectively bay, roan, black, and grey. Colonel J. de Mauvillon (" Geschichte Ferdinand's Herzog's von Braunschweig ") is more graphic and more generous. He awards high praise — the first rank, in fact, in the Allied Army — to the English troops ; and e(iually high praise to Lord Granby, especially to his power of controlling the difficult and heterogeneous materials of which his infantry was composed.^ But, in his natural zeal for the service to which he belonged, De ]\Iauvillon asserts that Prince Ferdinand employed the English mostly under the Hereditary Prince. English regiments were detailed, and for obvious reasons, to serve under the Hereditary Prince in some of his dashing, " wild-cat " operations U]p to the siege of Wesel ; but he was subordinate in rank to Lord Granby, and no more commanded the British Army than did Colonel de Mauvillon himself.* Nor is it certain that the English officers who most frequently acted with the Hereditary Prince— notably Major-General Griffin— received their just share of recognition. De Bourcet ("Memoires sur la Guerre de Sept Ans") does not tend to throw much light upon the general details of the war, ' Often spelt Gra^nbv. ' See p. 262, infra. ' " I really believe all the oddities of the three Kingdoms and Germany are met in this Anny.''— Earl of Pembroke to Lord Charlemont, July 16, 1760 (Hist. MSS. Com.. Rep. XII. App. pt. 5). * In June, 1700, Lord Granby himself applied for permission for Captam Ainslie to serve as A.D.C. to the Hereditary Prince, as the latter sometimes had English troops under his command, and an officer speaking English was essentially necessary to his Staff. — Newcastle Papers. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1758. which he treats from the French point of view, and not in a very kicid manner. Tempelhoff, Lloyd, Von Retzow, etc., all deal principally with phases of the war other than those in which the British were con- cerned ; and though several eighteenth-century writers expressed their hopes that posterity would one day do substantial justice to the British operations in Prince Ferdinand's campaigns, those hopes remain unfulfilled,^ for Carlyle's allusions to them are limited to translations from the above foreign authorities in his magnificent *' History of Frederick II. of Prussia." A work entitled "Operations of the Allied Army, 1757-17G2," compiled in 17G4, by "An officer who served with the British Forces," affords but the baldest details of that portion of the Allied Army with which the writer's sympathies might have been most naturally concerned. It contains a number of plans of the battle- fields, and valuable maps of the different areas of the campaigns ; excepting for the compilation of these the British Army is little indebted to it individually, and it bears evidence in the text of having also been chiefly derived from foreign sources.^ As Pitt's public never entirely mastered the plot of his German "War, there is perhaps no ground for surprise that the English par- ticipators in its triumphs, reverses, and the exceptional hardships which the circumstances of the war imposed upon them, should have failed to attract an appreciative recorder while facts were still easily accessible, and tradition was yet green. * " The history of those brilliant years is not, surely, forgotten by Military men." — MSS. of the Duke of Koxburghe, who as Sir J. Innes Norcliffe served under Lord Granby in Germany. 2 The map of the Battle of Vellingshausen is a small reproduction of the beautiful map by F. W. de Bawr, published at La Haye in 1762. 1758.] MARQUIS OF GRANBV. 71 CHAPTER VII. Lord Granby embarked at Harwich in July, 1 758, and duly arrived at Einden, where he received orders from the Secretary of State, Lord Holdernesse,^ to start for Prince Ferdinand's camp as soon as possible with the " Blues," and the rest of his cavalry. By the 25th of July the transports arrived off the Ems,^ and one man-of-war, a yacht, and thirteen transports entered the river with great difficulty, owing to lack of pilots, which resulted in one trans- port going aground ; but Lord Granby obtained a number of large boats, by means of which the horses were landed without any casualties. For this circumstance the King * signified his approval of Granby's activity. Having landed his contingent. Lord (Jranby commenced his march without awaiting the rest of the army. From Jemmengum, twelve miles from Emden, he wrote ^ to the Duke of Rutland, after which the traces of his march cease. A fortnight later the Duke of Marlborough wrote to Mr. Pitt of an uncomfortable progress to Coesvelt (or Koesvelt, due west of Miinster) — " We came here by excessive long marches, and 4 days such a heavy rain without the least intermission as I never saw before. The Foot were obliged to march all the way up to their middles in water, and not a dry spot to lie on at night." Prince Ferdinand's position was still some twenty miles distant, and the Duke of Marlborough on arrival found the former divided by the river Lippe from the French Army, which was withdrawing towards Wesel on the Rhine.'^ * Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office). - Ibid., July 25, 1758. ^ The first force despatched to Gcnnanv comprised Napier's Kegiment (12th), Kingslev's (20th), Welsh Fusiliers (23rd), Home's (25th), Brudenell's (51st), and Stuart's ^( a7th) ; and the following cavalry : Blues, Bland's (1st K.D,G.), Howard's (3rd D.G.), Inniskillings, Mordaunt's (10th Dragoons), and Greys. * Foreign Office Papers (Record Office), August 1, 1758. « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 200. " Chatham Correspondence, August 15, 1758. " Ibid. 72 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1758. Prince Ferdinand's task was now, with 12,000 English, 30,000 Hanoverians, and some Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, and Saxe-Gothan subsidiaries, fco drive 80,000 French out of Westphalia, and Lower Saxony. The first survey of affairs was not pleasing to Marlborough. He found that not only had two Hanoverian Lieut. -Generals been made senior to Lieut.-General Lord George Sackville ^ by ante-dating their commissions ; but that Lieut.-General Sporcken, who was junior to, and had served under the Duke previously, was now made a General, also with an ante-dated commission, which placed him between Prince Ferdinand and the Duke of Marlborough. Here was another instance of Hanoverian preferences, and the Duke, who had often opposed English subservience to Hanover, immediately wrote home,^ desiring that a General's commission dated prior to Sporcken's might be sent him, or else His Majesty's leave to retire from the service. He promptly received the com- mission ; ^ his objection to the English being, in his words, made " cleavers of wood and drawers of water to the Hanoverians " ^ having had the desired effect with the King. Almost immediately after the arrival of the English troops at Miinster they were attacked by fever and dysentery. The Duke of Marlborough was one of the victims, and he died in that town on October 28, 1758, much regretted throughout the Army and in England.^ This event rendered Lieut.-General Lord George Sack- ville ^ Commander-in-Chief of the English Army, with Major-General the Marquis of Granby as second in command ; while, at home, the Master-Generalship of the Ordnance was bestowed upon Lord Ligonier. According to the testimony of Lord Fitzmaurice,' then serving with the British forces in Germany, Lord George at once began the same tactics which he had adopted previously against the Duke of Marlborough, in the St. Malo expedition, of endeavouring to assume personal credit for all that went well, and to create a popularity for himself at the expense of his chief, Prince Ferdinand, who, * Lieut.-General January 27, 1758. * Chatham Correspondence, August 18, 1758. ' Dated July 10, 1758. _ •* Chatham Correspondence, August 18, 1758. ^ Smollett wrote of him : " Though he did not inherit all the military genius of his grandfather, yet he far excelled him in the amiable and social qualities of the heart : he was brave beyond all question, generous to profusion, and good natured to excess." — " History of England." ® Lieut.-General of the Ordnance. ^ '• Life of the Earl of Shelburne." I758-1759-] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 73 in the long run, proved himself more than a match for Lord George. In December all was quiet with the armies, and Sackville returned to England on military business. The troops, since November 15, had been in winter quarters, Granby being at Paderborn,^ whence he wrote to the Duke of Newcastle, begging also to be allowed leave on account of his private affairs, and Lady Granby's ill state of health. He also vehemently urged the reinforcement of their army by a Brigade of Guards, another of Foot, two Regiments of Dragoons, and from 6000 to 8000 foreign Infantry. " I do from my soul hope it is the intention of the Government to augment Prince Ferdinand's army. I think it impossible to defend such a length of country with an army so much inferior to the enemy's. ... I own I sincerelj'' dread a defeat, or a retreat to the Weser, either of which, in the light I see things, must be fatal to the common cause." As Granby was temporarily Commander-in-Chief, his application for leave was not very convenient ; but, hearing from the Duke of Rutland how urgent the reasons were, the King consented, expressing himself " extremely well pleased and satisfied with Lord Granby." - The latter Avrote,^ saying that possibilities of an action had arisen which, after all, forbade his coming,'* and again entreating reinforce- ments. Lord George Sackville joined the army March IG, 1759, accompanied by General Mostyn, the Duke of Richmond, and Colonel Fitzroy, of whom the two last were appointed aides-de-camp to Prince Ferdinand ; and the Allies left winter (piarters to march southwards. The French forces, divided into two armies under Marshal Contades (who had superseded De Clermont) and De Broglie, were looming formidably, one in AVestphalia, and the latter in the neighbourhood of Frankfort. Upon gaining this important position, which commanded the navigation of the Main and of a portion of the Rhine, Prince Ferdinand early set his hopes. With this intent, and leaving Sackville and Sporcken, with 25,000 men, near Miinster to watch Contades, he attacked De Broglie (April 13, 1759) at Bergen, to the north-east of Frankfort, but was repulsed, and Prince Ysenburg, who led the Hessians, was killed.^ We did not ^ Newcastle Papers, December 26, 1758. 2 Ibid., January 12-23, 1759. ^ Ibid. * Major Keith, of the Highlanders, also abandoned his leave to serve " his honest General, to whom both his duty and iucliiiatiou engaged hun"' (December 15, 1758). The editor of these Memoirs wrougly explains the honest General to be Conway (see Keith's " Memoirs," vol. i. pp. 97, 98). * Goethe listened to the cannonade from the roof of his father's house. The 74 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i759 call it a defeat, but one of those " strategic movements to the rear " resulted from the engagement ; and Prince Ferdinand had to fall back upon the Weser — just as Lord Granby had feared might occur. The two French armies then joined, and the superiority of their numbers made any immediate resistance indiscreet. Lord Granby wrote ^ from Alsfeld, regretting that he could not substitute " Frankfort," and announced this reverse to the Duke of Newcastle. The Allied Army had lost 2000 men ; but they were not dispirited, and the British Cavalry had escaped well. The "Blues " had one officer, and four troopers, wounded, seven horses killed, and four wounded. He thought they would remain that night only in their cantonments ; but Prince Ferdinand " kept all his move- ments secret, and marching orders never came out till late in the evening." Captain G. L. Hall ^ drew a plan of the affair at Bergen, saying " we don't allow it the name of a Battle," and sent it to Thomas Thoroton, at Eutland House, for the Duke of Rutland. He put the Allied strength at 24,000, and that of the French at 30,000, with great superiority as regarded artillery which was well served, but "luckily every ball was buried where it struck, the ground being extremely soft and marshy." Their loss, including deserters, did not exceed 2400, but all accounts placed that of the enemy at near 7000 in killed and wounded. The results of this " skirmish," " affair," or whatever it might be called, were sufficiently grave to warrant its being termed a battle outright. Prince Ferdinand's retreat by Ziegenhayn, Lippstadt, and Osnabriick towards Minden, on the river Weser, laid Miinster, Cassel, and Gottingen at the mercy of the French, who at once garrisoned those places. In the east, affairs were even worse : defeated at Ziillichau and Kiinersdorf, Frederick the Great's fortunes were reduced to so low an ebb that he meditated suicide. Dresden was in the hands of Marshal Daun ; Saxony swept clear of Prussians ; and only the dilatoriness of the Austrians in following up their successes prevented an end being put to a struggle which might have been known as the Three, instead of the Seven Years War. De Broglie ousted General Zastrow, and, intending to cut the Frankfort inhabitants were full of expectancy of deliverance from the French. The Count de Thorane, after the repulse of the Allies, spoke of it in a congratulatory vein to Goethe, senior, who lost his self-control, and retorted, " Would to God they had sent you to the Devil, even if I had gone in your company." — " Aus meinem Leben." See p. 66, ante. 1 Newcastle Papers, April 15, 1759. June 5, 1759. 1759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 75 Allies off from the AVeser, possessed himself of Miiiden as Ferdi- nand approached from Osnabriick. Prince Ferdinand, outnumbered as he was, decided that a battle was inevitable if Hanover were to be saved. He advanced to Stolzenau on the Weser, which he bridged, and then encamped on the heath of Petershagen. Contades, on arrival, had placed his army with Minden on his right, a stream called the Bastau in front, while a morass protected his left flank. De Broglie crossed to the east side of the river Weser. Between the French camp and that of Prince Ferdinand lay Minden Heath, which was destined to become classic ground. To attack asuperior force in so naturally strong a position was a hopeless task, so Prince Ferdinand sought to lure his enemy to ground where the numerical inferiority of the Allied Army would be somewhat less important. Ferdinand's inspiration was to offer to the enemy an apparent chance of cutting off a large Corps, under General Wangenheim, which he left by the Weser, at Todenhausen ; while he, with the main army, withdrew westwards towards Hille, out of sight of the French. The ruse was successful ; Contades left his camp and made for the bait, advancing (August 1, 1759) on to Minden Heath— a battle- field of Ferdinand's own choosing. Wangenheim— the bait— remained in his position (in front of Todenhausen), rendered very strong with two batteries erected by Count La Lippe Biickebourg ; but a rapid conccntrative movement suddenly displayed, advanced to within touch of his right, the com- pact front of the whole Allied Army, whose left was thus covered by Wangenheim's Corps against De Broglie's operations, who re-crossed from the east bank of the Weser, and formed Contades' right wing. An ineffectual cannonade upon AVangenhcim's batteries was all that De Broglie had to do with the Battle of ]\Iinden — the real struggle lay between Contades and Prince Ferdinand.^ The order of battle on either side was exactly reversed. Contades placed his Cavalry in the centre, flanked right and left by Infantry : on the side of the Allies an Infantry Centre was flanked by Cavalry, that on the right commanded by Lord George Sackville — " mark the sad name of him I " ejaculated Carlyle.^ The French Cavalry made several ineffectual charges, after re- pelling which the offensive was assumed by the English and Hano- verian Infantry Centre upon the French Cavalry, and with such impetuosity that the latter was at once broken and disorganized. ' For Map of " Minden," see p. 105. ^ •• History of Frederick II.,'' vol. vi. p. 14. 76 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759- The English "Minden" Regiments, "the unsurpassable six," ^ were — " Napier's," the 12 th, now the Suffolk Regiment. " Kingsley's," „ 20th, „ Lancashire Fusiliers. " Huske's," „ 23rd, „ Royal Welsh Fusiliers. " Home's," „ 25th, King's Own Scottish Borderers. " Stuart's," „ 37th, 1st Battn. Hampshire Regt. " Brudenell's," „ 51st, 1st Battn. King's Own York- shire Light Infantry. They advanced owing to a mistaken order, but once started nothing could equal the elan of their attack. As Lord George Sackville said in his evidence later, these six regiments, "it would scarcely be credited in future ages, by a single attack put to flight 40 Battalions and 60 Squadrons." For a moment the French Cavalry rallied, charged, and the Allied Infantry, raked by a harassing cross fire, lost ground ; but, supported by some Artillery, the gallaut Infantry held their own, and the whole French Army ^ retired in confusion into, and beyond, the town of Minden. As the Infantry, under G-enerals Waldegrave and Kingsley, com- menced their attack. Prince Ferdinand sent his A.D.C., Captain Witzingerode, to Lord George Sackville with orders to advance with his Cavalry towards the left and there form one line, on the fringe of the heath, in support of the Infantry. The sudden collapse of the French Cavalry Centre, its recovery, and final retreat, caused Prince Ferdinand to send off in quick succession Captain Edward Ligonier, and Colonel Fitzroy with renewed orders to advance, and to profit by the opportunity of pursuing the retreating enemy. Lord George argued, hesitated, and split hairs with these aides- de-camp, finally saying that their orders were conflicting, and that he would repair personally to Prince Ferdinand for instructions. He found the Prince, unruffled and courteous, who merely repeated his original order which, in despair, he had just sent by Wintziu- gerode and Fitzroy to the Marquis of Granby, remarking : " I know he will obey me ! " Lord Granby, commanding the 2nd Line of the Cavalry of the Right Wing, had all this while been sitting impatient for action, but out of sight of what was going on, and ignorant of Sackville's » Kausler, quoted by Carlyle. The 12th, 37th, and 23rd Kegiments suffered most (Newcastle Papers). 2 The French Army was estimated at 50,000 ; that of the Allies at 36,000. The Hereditary Prince with 10,000 men had been detached to attack a French post at Gohf eld, on the Werre. Not to be confounded with the river Werra. I759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 11 conduct. With him were Mostyn and General Elliott.^ As Lord George returned from Prince Ferdinand's presence he saw the 2nd Line of Cavalry advancing under Lord Granby, whom he twice halted. Another message partially informed Lord Granby of the state of affairs, and he at once galloped on with the 2nd Line, but it was too late. He never got near the enemy, who was thus enabled to retreat under the ramparts of Minden, and all chance was lost to the Cavalry leaders of carrying disaster beyond retrieval into the French Army, or of seeing themselves in the Gazette. The Hereditary Prince successfully cut out the French post, at Gohfeld, which he pur- sued hotly to the Weser ; so, abandoning Minden and Cassel, De Broghe and Contades retreated southwards, having sustained a loss of GOOO men in killed, wounded, and prisoners, thirty pieces of cannon, ten colours, and seven standards. Hanover was saved ; but England's whole object in the war ought to have been at the same time won. Sismondi wrote : *' Contades' Army should have been annihilated : men, horses, cannon, colours — all should have fallen into the hands of the enemy." Archenholz ^ declared that " the greatest defeat of this century seemed certain, when the faithlessness of an English General saved the French from complete destruction." The Marechal de Contades, who commended his wounded, left in Minden, to Ferdinand's charity, was recalled in consequence of this defeat : De Broglie was made a Marshal of France and Com- mander-in-Chief of the Army in Germany. Among Contades' captured papers were instructions of the cruellest description issued by the French Government for the devastation of the districts involved in the war. To reinforce De Broglie the Comte de St. Germain, with 80,000 men, was sent to the Rhine. The Allies encamped on the battlefield, and, on the evening of Minden, Lord George Sackville, Avith the utmost composure, took his place among the general officers that dined with Prince Ferdi- nand, who exclaimed in blank astonishment : " Voila cet homme autant a son aise commc s'il avait fait des merveilles ! " The " Orders of the Day " issued the day after the battle embodied Prince Ferdinand's thanks to the whole army, and espe- cially to the English Infantry and Artillery,"^ to whom the chief honours were due, and who had sustained the main share of the » Not the General Elliot of " Elliot's Light Horse." ^ " Histoire des Fran9ais." ' " Geschichte des Siebenjahrigen Krieges." * Prince Ferdinand wrote personally to Captain Macbcan : " It is to you and your Brigade that I am indebted for having silenced the fire of a battery of the Enemy, which extremely galled the troops, and particularly the British Infantry." 78 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759. losses. Upon the Marquis of Granby, who happened to be General of the day, the duty devolved of conveying the Prince's thanks to the British troops. The " Orders " continued : — His Serene Highness further orders it to be declared to Lieut.-General the Marquis of Granby that he is persuaded that, if he had had the good fortune to have had him at the head of the Cavahy of the Eight Wing, his presence would have greatly contributed to make the decision of the day more complete and more brilliant." An intimation followed that in future the most implicit obedi- ence to orders was demanded. Lord George Sackville at once wrote to Prince Ferdinand, demanding a withdrawal of the compliment to Lord Granby, which was an indirect censure upon himself. The Prince emphatically refused ; and Lord George, on August 3, 1759,^ laid the matter before Lord Holdernesse, Secretary of State, and requested his own recall from the German command. Until August 13, nothing had been officially reported home, concerning Sackville, from the Allied Headquarters ; but, in conse- quence of the attitude he was assuming, and the statements he was circulating among the troops. Prince Ferdinand,^ on that date, requested that Lord George might be recalled. His Majesty^ replied that Prince Ferdinand's application had been anticipated by Lord George's wish to return home on have. An announcement ^ followed that His Majesty had been pleased to appoint the Marquis of Granby, Lieut.-General^ of His Majesty's Forces, to be Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's British Forces then serving under the command of Prince Ferdinand in Germany. On signifying this to the Prince the King wrote : ® " J'espere que ma nomination du Lord Granby pour commander mes Troupes Britanniques vous a ete agreeable." And the Prince answered : ' "Je ne saurais me loner assez du zele, et de I'empressement que Mylord Granby temoigne pour concourir a tout ce que le service de Yotre Majeste exige." Lord Granby duly received his official appointments, and instruc- tions to take over from Lord George Sackville's secretary all his cyphers and papers. » Newcastle Papers (copy). ^ Lieut.-General, February 5, 1759. 2 Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office). 3 ibid^ « Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office). •» London Gazette, August, 1759. " Ibid. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 79 The same Gazette contained the promotion of Major- General Mostyn to be Lieut.-General ; and he thereupon succeeded to the position of second in command vacated by the Marquis. Lord Granby's own letter concerning Minden must now be recorded ; it was written two days after the battle, when the indigna- tion in camp was at its height, but it avoids all allusion to that, or to any disappointment, whatever, having befallen him. " My dear LoRDji — I take this opportunity of my friend Col. Fitzroy's setting out for England to congratulate your Grace on the compleat Victory gained by Duke Ferdinand : all the troops engaged behaved with the utmost bravery ; the British Infantry and Artillery have gained the greatest honour. General Waldegrave's '-^ behaviour has merited the applause of everybody in the Army and deservedly. General Kingsley^ behaved likewise with the utmost gallantry. Your friends Jack Mostyn and John (iranby were not engaged, yet don't think they behaved ill. " You will have much hetter accounts of the Battle than I can give, from many hands. I shall end therefore with my sincere wishes of happiness to my dear Friend Lincoln * and to 3'our Grace." Not a syllable in this letter suggests the furious indignation which was then raging throughout the British Cavalry division, and the whole Allied Army. The Duke of Newcastle replied : — ^ "I had in Sussex your short, proper, and manly letter so becoming yourself, your high rank, and superior way of thinking. I little thought I should so soon have an occasion of congratulating your Lordship upon the greatest distinction which a soldier can, at this time, have — I mean the command of all ILM.'s troops under Prince Ferdinand. I am truly sorry for Lord George Sackville whom I have long known. I don't trouble him with a letter upon this occasion, neither do I know whether it may be proper for you to say anything from me to him upon it. I must leave that to your Lordship's discretion and judgment. ... I believe His Majesty never con- ferred a command with more pleasure and more confidence than he did this upon your Lordship ; I don't moan to plead merit, for the whole was over before I came to town." A letter has gone astray from the Newcastle Papers which would have been most interesting as expressing Jack Mostyn 's opinion of Sackville in his " slap dash," picturesque style. Newcastle replied to it : — I don't wonder that you were vexed at not being engaged, but no mortal can blame you, and by what I heard by chance, in a little Closet at Kensing- ton, you will I believe soon see that the King is as gi-acious to j^ou as ever . . . above all be well with Grauby and I think nobody can be ill with him." ' To the Duke of Newcastle. August 3, 1759. ' Lieut.-General, April 10, 1759. Lieut.-General, December 13, 1760. ' Lord Lincoln. Granby's consin, and nephew and heir of the Duke of Newcastle. ^ Newcastle Papers, August 14, 1759. " Ibid. 8o LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759. A second letter of Mostyn's ^ affords some idea of what pungent matter his first contained : — ^' . . . Knowing how things of this sort are taken up and handled in England I could not but look upon myself as unlucky to have had y® chance of 2 battles in one Campaign without a right to be mentioned in a Gazette. No more mention made in those damned newspapers of your humble servant than as if 'Noll Bluff' had not been in the land of the living. . . . Our present Commander told me how kindly your Grace mentioned me in your letter to him and at the same time expressed himself very kindly to me from his own acquaintance, and good opinion of me. I have no doubt of maturing it : we are very happy under his command." The Marquis of Granby ^ acknowledged the Duke of Newcastle's congratulations, and said he had desired Lord Holdernesse to convey his grateful and dutiful thanks to His Majesty. At home the Duke of Rutland addressed the following very considerate letter ^ to the Duke of Newcastle : — " Belvoir Castle, Aug. 20, 1759. "My Lord, — His Majesty's great goodness to Lord Granby and the height to which he has raised his reputation by the confidence he hath reposed in him determined me to repair to London purposely to return my most dutyfull and grateful thanks to His Majesty for this transcendant mark of his gracious favour to my son. But the apprehensions I labour under that it may carry the appearance of exulting over the misfortunes of an unhappy person to whom I am also related * determined me to defer exe- cuting this my purpose untill length of time might free me from the censure of disregarding the sorrows of others provided their afiiiction turned to the Honour and Credit of my Family. If your Grace is of opinion that in this point I reason right, I must sollicite the continuance of your goodness to me and mine by representing at a proper opportunity to His Majesty this my reason for continuing at this place : for it would prove the most penetrating affliction to lye under the suspicion of ingratitude, or that His Majesty should conceive that I wanted that high sense I ought to have of this distinguishing mark of favour to my son. " I am, &c., &c., Rutland." Newcastle acquainted Granby (August 24) with having received his father's letter, and in reference to the late appointment said — " It pleases me to hear what universal satisfaction it gives ; . . . and delighted me to see the Dutchess of Somerset^ and Lady Granby at Court to make their compliments to His Majesty. I hear your Lordship is to have the honour of investing Prince Ferdinand with the Garter." 1 Newcastle Papers, August 28, 1759. - Ibid. ' Newcastle Papers. * The connection between the Eutland and Dorset families was but a remote one. Lord John Sackville (brother to Lord George) having married into the Bedford family of which Catherine (daughter of Lord Kussell and Lady Kachel Eussell was the first wife of the second Duke of Eutland. * Lady Granby's mother. I759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 8l (iranby's next letter to Newcastle (August 29) announced an affair at Wetter, from which camp he dated, and De Broglie's retreat to Marburg. He had appointed Lieut.-Colonel Browne to be his secretary, and hoped the King would allow Browne to remain in that capacity, as he was useful to him ; more especially as familiar with the arrangements for the large number of French prisoners then on their hands. A long private letter was enclosed, which is too interesting to abridge, written after the Allies had started in pursuit of De Broglie — " Wetter Camp. — I can assure your Grace our friend Jack never signed any paper/ he even contrived not to read any. The night the Duke's orders came out Lord George desired me to come to his quarters, when after com- plaining at the Duke's cruel treatment of him he shewed me a paper which (as he believed I knew it to be true) he hoped I would sign ; I answered there were many things in it I was quite ignorant of — orders delivered to him that 1 had never heard of till after the battle, and therefore did not know the time he received them, or how he put them into execution. In regard to what I knew myself of matters of fact I differed with him in several things, and therefore could not possibly sign the j)aper. He then proposed to me to write a letter to the Duke to clear him of some particular things relating to myself that he said was laid to his charge in regard to his halting the 2nd line. I told him I had already repeated to him several times all I could say in regard to matters of fact concerning the orders for halting which I received from him : that he was the best jud^'e in regard to his own aflairs ; if he thought those facts could be of any service to him in ret^'ard to his conduct on the day of Battle, I should truly declare to tlie Duke, if he called upon me, everything I knew, but I did not understand French enough to explain myself in a letter. 1 was then desired to let a letter be indited for me which I might sign if it pleased me— a letter was begun and almost finished, but it was so contrary to my inclinations and way of thinking that I stop't it by declaring I could not sign it ; his Lordship has shewn a paper to most of the Field Officers of Cavalry none of whom, I am almost confident, have signed any jjaper, nor, as I know, in any shape given their opinion of it. In regard to Lord George's conduct and behaviour that day the First Line are the best judges of, as they saw how he acted on his receiving his orders to advance ; I never saw him but once, never knew of the orders he had received from Ligonier and Fitzroy, never received any orders from him but those for halt. Your Grace will excuse me if I remind your Grace of my friend and Lieutenant-Colonel : ^ it was unhappy for him that the Blues had not an opportunity of shewing that the pains he had for so many years been at in disciplining them was not thrown away, and I flatter myself this unfortunate affair will not prevent his succeeding in the purchase of General Brown's Kcgiment." * In allusion to a report that Mostyn had signed a paper exonerating Lord George Sackvillc. See Newcastle Papers. - Lieut.-Colonel Johustou, of the Koyiil Horse Guards. 0 82 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i759- The above letter, written by this " young man of no capacity," ^ Newcastle later acknowledged, and said he had read it to the King, who was extremely pleased with it, especially that part relating to Jack Mostyn. Upon hearing of the victory of the Allied Army, Sir Edward Hawke, who was watching the English Channel for the French fleet destined for the invasion of England, drew up his fleet before Brest and indulged in a tremendous feu cle joie. He then sent a polite message by a Dutchman who was putting into Brest, explaining that the demonstration was in honour of Prince Ferdinand's glorious victory ! ^ Lord Granby, who now led the 1st Column of the Army, con- sisting of both Lines of the Cavalry of the Right, next wrote ^ from the camp at Niederweimar. He said the good news received of successes in other parts of the world had put everyone in the highest spirits — with the invariable, eighteenth-century consequence that " a Bumper to the good news went about." Attention must now be directed towards London, where the first news of Minden was received with an acclamation untempered by any reservations. Lord Holdernesse assured Prince Ferdinand^ "ce n'etoit qu'illuminations et Feux de Joye, et Vive le Prince Ferdinand ! " Horace Walpole^ described how every house in London was illuminated ; every street had two bonfires, and every bonfire had two hundred squibs. Then his ill-nature crept in, and, little knowing of Lord Granby's own modest and unresentf ul disclaimer of any share in the Minden glories, he wrote to Sir Horace Mann — "We conclude Prince Ferdinand received all his directions from Lord Granby, who is the Mob's hero. . . . Lord Granby has defeated the French ! The foreign Gazettes, I suppose, will give this victory to Prince Ferdinand, but the mob of London, whom I have this minute left, and who know best, assure me that it is all their own Marquis's doing ! " The first despatches had been brought by the Prince's English aides-de-camp, the Duke of Richmond and Colonel Fitzroy, and contained no allusions to Sackville. But rumours began to spread that something was wrong in Germany. Doubtless the two aides- de-camp let fall some whispers concerning the Cavalry of the Right * Walpole so described him. - Newcastle Papers, September 7, 1759. Letter to Lord Granby- 2 Newcastle Papers, September 15. 1759. * Foreign Office Papers (Record Office), August 10, 1769. s Letters, August 8. 1759. ' 1759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 83 Wing. At all events the whispers increased in scope and volume until they grew into a roar of indignation which rivalled that directed against Admiral Byng, and the facts one by one crept out. The Sackville topic entirely engrossed society and the general public. Walpole, as usual, knew everything — or thought he did. To his deservedly favourite cousin Conway he wrote — " You have heard, I suppose, of the violent animosities that have reigned for the whole campaign between him (Lord George) and Lord Granby, in which some other warm persons ^ have been very warm too." And elsewhere, relevant to this period and episode, Walpole placed the following upon record, in considering which it must be distinctly remembered that the removal of Lord George Sack- ville from the Army secured the advancement of Granby, not Conway, whom AValpole held to be Sackville's only rival : — ^ "Lord Granby . . was an honest, open-hearted young man of un- daunted spirit and no capacity, and of such unbounded generosity and good nature that it is impossible to say which principle actuated him most in the distribution of the prodigious sums which he flung away. If he wanted any recommendation to Prince Ferdinand l)esidcs tliesc ductile qualities, lie drank as profusely as a German.* Lord George's liauglitiness lost him this young man, as it had lost him the Duke of Marlboro'. Between these two Lords (Sackville and Granby) a coolness soon ensued, and divided the Army — if it can be called 'division' where almost every heart sympathized with Lord Granby." This allegation of " violent animosities " having existed between the two British commanders has been repeated, upon Walpole's authority, in various works relating to the time, though it is un- corroborated, and easily refutable. The Duke of Newcastle, not- withstanding all his shortcomings as a statesman, was at that date certainly among the best informed men in Europe — using the word "informed" in its strict sense. He knew what was going on in every department of the State ; he had his correspondents and confidants in every Court and camp in Europe ; and, above all, there was scarcely a back-staircase that did not harbour one of his dependent listeners. In his cncyclopa3dic correspondence there is no mention of this raging " animosity ; " and, that he was ignorant of any is plain in that he ^ delegated to Lord Granby's discretion ' In allusion to Prince Ferdinand. * Note, p. G3. ^ " Memoirs of the Reigu of George II.," and Walpole's note to " The Ballad of the Heroes." * See pp. 414, 415, infra. * See ante, Newcastle's letter, August 14, 1759, p. 79. 84 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759. and judgment any expression, on his Grace's behalf, of sorrow or condolence with Lord George after his supersedure in the command. Major-General Yorke, through whose hands all the war news passed, wrote that neither Prince Lewis of Brunswick nor himself had ever heard anything, at the Hague, of any disputes, or bickerings, having occurred between the Generals prior to the Battle of Minden.^ Next, to whom did Lord George, the day after Minden, turn for countenance and assistance in the strait in which he found himself, but to the Marquis of Granby himself ? Further, when the Court Martial at length was summoned. Lord George objected to one or two of the men selected to try him — notably to a General Belford,^ of the Artillery, and he was with- drawn. Had there been "animosities," would not Sackville have objected to Granby's uncle. General Lord Robert Manners', presence as a member of the Court ? Yet Lord Robert sat unchallenged throughout the trial. Last, and as usual, not least, we have the testimony of a man Avho had nothing to learn from Walpole in any department of life, and who at this particular juncture was serving with the Allied Army, and was an eye-witness of the facts in dispute. Lord Fitz- maurice, afterwards Lord Shelburne,^ says in his autobiography — " Lord Granby took decidedly the line of Prince Ferdinand from no motive of jealousy or ill-iuill to Lord George, to whom he always behaved with more than respect, and a degree of honour which went the length of delicacy on all occasions, and refinement upon some ; * but from motives of probity, generosity of nature, and a laudable ambition." The question may arise in the reader's mind — why this flogging of a horse dead since 140 years ? The answer is because the episode affords a typical specimen of Walpole's inaccuracy, of which he has been found guilty by a long array of commentators and editors, as well as by all who study his pages for information as apart from merely reading them for amusement. Lord Granby's character chiefly rests, historically, upon what Walpole wrote concerning him ; and the same looseness of statement which marks this Sackville episode should be carefully borne in mind in relation to more important events in Granby's life hereafter dealt with. ^ Newcastle Papers, August 24, 1759. General Yorke was Minister at the Hague. 2 Walpole called him Colonel Balfour, 3 Later first Marquis of Lansdowne and Prime Minister. The secret of the identity of " Junius " is said to have died with him. — " Life of Lord Shelburne," by Lord E. Fitzmaurice. * In reference to Lord Granby's conduct at the Court Martial. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 85 CHAPTER YIII. After the Battle of Minden, the French Army remained for some time at Giessen, south of the river Lahn ; and Prince Ferdinand fixed his principal head-quarters at Osnabriick. He bei^an at once to besiege Miinster, which the French governor declared he would defend to the last, in spite of the protests of the unfortunate inhabitants. The success of the Allies had enabled Prince Ferdinand to detach the Hereditary Prince with 15,000 men to the assistance of Frederick the Great, in Saxony ; and meanwhile Ferdinand gradually crept nearer to De Broglie's camp. On his arrival home, Lord George Sackville met the storm of execration and abuse which awaited him with the most perfect scncj- froid, and at once demanded a Court Martial. Old Lord Ligonier, who had probably keenly envied Sackvillc's brilliant, but neglected, chance of as nice a ride after Frenchmen as a dragoon could wish, bluntly declared that if Lord George desired a Court Martial " he had best go seek it in Germany." Both the King and Lord Barrington, the War Secretary, pre- ferred that Sackville should voluntarily sink into oblivion ; but, as he persisted in asserting himself, the King gave him another earnest of His Majesty's opinion by stripping him of all his military employments. Sackville so far had merely resigned the German command, and was home, nominally, on leave. The Lieutenant-Generalship of the Ordnance was promptly bestowed by the King upon the Marquis of Granby,^ and the Colonelcy of the 2nd, Queen's, Dragoon Guards upon General Waldegrave.^ The Duke of Newcastle^ acquainted Lord Granby of his pro- motion, and volunteered some hints respecting the Ordnance department which would require a great deal of attention so soon as a peace should afford the necessary leisure. * London Gazette^ September 15, 1759. - Newcastle Papers, September 11, 1759. ' Ibid. 86 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759- Lord Granby's news ^ was now dated principally from Kroffsdorf , about two miles from, and in easy sight of, the enemy's position at Giessen. A draft of 432 men had reached him, via Emden, to partly repair the Minden casualties, but in future he desired that the mouth of the Weser might be adopted, instead of that of the Ems, as the point of disembarkation. Miinster was partly in flames ; Marburg and Cassel were gained to the Allies by the Prince of Bevern ; the Hereditary Prince and General Wangenheim had defeated a large body of " Fischer's Irregulars," ^ thus clearing the heights near Wetter. Granby was in great hopes of hearing that these successes were to be followed by better news of Frederick the Great's struggle with the Russians. The Marquis' due acknowledgment was made, through Lord Holdernesse, for the confidence the King had shown in him — ^ " a confidence I shall try to deserve by strictly attending to the great trust reposed in me, and by zealously, as far as depends on me, promoting on every occasion the good of the Service in which I have the honour to be engaged." The Duke of Rutland ^ left Belvoir for London to thank His Majesty, of whom he received an audience, together with leave to return at once to Belvoir. The Duke wrote his thanks, from Rutland House, to the Duke of Newcastle, whom he begged to excuse him from calling at Newcastle House,^ as it would oblige him to make other visits instead of returning directly to the country. In France great preparations were at this time being made in fitting out " la Grande Expedition " which was to invade England — weather, and Sir Edward Hawke, permitting — under the command of Conflans, and Prince Soubise. "I find," wrote Granby,^ "that the French are determined to risk an invasion. If they do, I hope our ships will give a good account of them ; for though 1 should not be very apprehensive of the consequences were they to land, yet I can't help saying that if our Troops should be deprived of the pleasure of drubbing them on Land by our ships sinking them at Sea, it would save some trouble and a great deal of hurry — so I shall not be sorry." . News of the fall of Quebec, General Wolfe's death, and Monck- ton's wounds, reached Granby at Kroffsdorf. His friend George * Newcastle Papers, August and September, 1759. 2 A Free Corps in the service of France. See p. 167 (note) for some particulars of this corps. 3 Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office). * Newcastle Papers, 5 Newcastle House (formerly Powis House) still survives at the north-west angle of Lincoln's Inn Fields ; here the Duke of Newcastle transacted most of his multi- farious business and held his levees. His hospitality at Newcastle House, as well as at Claremont, was conducted on a magnificent scale. ® Newcastle Papers, September 25, 1759. I759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 87 Townshend had also distinguished himself, to whose uncle, the Duke of Newcastle, Granbj wrote his congratulations. A feu de joie was ordered at Kroffsdorf, and during its course the French camp kept up a continual " opposition " beating of drums, and firing of small arms.^ To the Duke of Newcastle Lord Granby, expressing great sorrow for the loss of General Wolfe, and for Monckton's - condition who was said to be mortally wounded, wrote : — "If the French really intend makin.f? a great effort to get once more into Hanover, considering the superiority of their numbers and without an aug- mentation of our Array here, I can't help being apprehensive of the con- sequences, notwithstanding the bravery of our troops and the great abilities of the wise and good Prince who commands them." ^ " What may be the consequence should we be obliged to retire towards the Weser, and Hesse again fall into the hands of tiie French, I shall not pretend to determine ; but during my stay in that country after the affair of Bergen, on the appearance and rumours that we should march soon to Lippstadt, I found great discontent among them, and, on our quitting Cassel, bitter complaints on their being abandoned again to the Enemy. These reasons made me earnestly wish to be stron;^ enou_c;h to act with two Armies — an offensive and defensive one ; 60,000 effectives for the offensive and 30,000 for the defensive would make me easy about the event, though the enemy would still be much superior to us." ^ As the probability of winter-quarters, for both the Allied and French armies, increased, Lord Granby began to talk of returning to England, where be could the better expedite many matters of conseciuence. The weather in November became very rainy — " Our Camp is in a very terribly dirty condition : we comfort ourselves the French are quite as badly off". They have marched some troops into cantonments on the road to Frankfort, and we are in hopes their whole Army will soon take the same road. Our whole Army forages to-day round the country for G days ; there is no mention yet of whore our winter-quarters are to be." The Rutland MSS. contain little at this period (August to December, 1759) save official letters concerning artillery, pontoons, horses, military-train, etc., and Lord Granby's life is chronicled ' Foreign Office Papers (Record Office). Granby to Holdernesse, October 25. 1759. 2 Newcastle wrote of Mouckton as "Granby's cousin." John Monckton. first Viscount Galway, married Lady Elizabctli Manners, daughter of the second Duke of Rutland. Monckton figures' in West's pictm-e. the Death of General Wolfe," and in sundry Wedgwood canioo-portraits. Newcastle Papers. Orto])or 1759. ■• Ibid.. Novem1)er 2. 1750. * Ibid., November 15, 1751). 88 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759- much more fully in the Newcastle Papers. Forgetting, nevertheless, that Granby now had to write officially to Lords Holdemesse, Harrington, and Ligonier, the Duke of Newcastle began to complain of the infrequency of Granby's private letters to him. Newcastle's thirst for news was unquenchable, and his tendency was always to suspect people of want of recognition, of ingratitude, and general neglect towards him, unless they assured him repeatedly to the contrary. The mails were unpunctual, and the Duke would write and upbraid Granby for his silence, and then acknowledge, a few hours later, the simultaneous arrival of two or three letters from him. The Marquis of Granby, in a sense, was a bad correspondent. He hated writing, a feeling which he shared in good military company,^ and indited his despatches and letters in as weak, colour- less, and characterless a hand as could, by some queer psychological freak, have become evolved from so spontaneously energetic and masculine a nature. In composition his letters were clear, easy, and concise ; and he had a conspicuous faculty of expressing himself in direct, unconstrained language upon difficult occasions, when a nature less frank would have sought refuge in platitude, and the commonplace. In October ^ the Duke of Newcastle had querulously complained of Granby's neglect, and was plainly hungering for gratitude con- cerning the Ordnance appointment ; and then,^ in a postscript, acknowledged two letters both of which expressed Granby's cordial thanks, and modest pleasure at the honour done him. These the Duke read to the King, "who promised himself everything that could be expected from Lord Granby's zeal and affection." People in England, the Duke suggested, would be easier could they hear that Dresden was once more in the hands of the Allies, and that General Imholf was master of Miinster. In extenuation of his shortcomings as a correspondent, Granby wrote : — " When I first began to be a Man of Business I forgot to set down the dates of letters received and answered, with many other things that a real man of business would be astonished at ; but I find I begin to improve, though it has cost me many a headache." * All being quiet. Lord Granby now applied ^ for leave of absence, ^ The Duke of Marlborough detested writing (see Lord Wolseley's " Life of Marlborough "). 2 Newcastle Papers. ' Ibid., October 1, 1759. * Ibid., November 2, 1759. 5 Foreign Office Papers (Eecord Office), November 2, 1759. I759-] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 89 should the King approve ; but heard through the Duke of New- castle that His Majesty expected a winter campaign, and was afraid of too many officers being absent from the seat of war. As Granby " was so deservedly high in His Majesty's favour," Newcastle dis- suaded him from leaving until tlie campaign was obviously closed, and thus summed up the situation : — " We all here see the necessity of an augmentation to Prince Ferdinand's Array, but in our present circumstances it is impossible to send any troops from hence. Mons' Conflans is sailed with his whole fleet to invade this country or Ireland, and our best intelligence tolls us that the great expedition is still behind : that the Regiments detach'd from the French Army in Germany (of which we have no account from Prince Ferdinand or Y' Lord- ship) and tlie troops now in the Low Countries are all designed to make an attempt on p]ngland in the month of Dec"" under the Marshal Soubise. Our Fleets, thank God, are strong and numerous. Prince Ferdinand will receive a letter by this post desiring and authorising him to get any Troops he can — Swiss, German deserters, or Regular German troops — in order to augment and strengthen his Army. . . . But English we have not to send. I have now, my dear Granby, told you the state of our case. I see plainly your situation. You want and you ought to have 2 armies, but tiie question is, Where to get them ? . . . And now to the agreeable side of our present situation. Sir Edward Hawke, with a great superiority of Force (strengthened since by the most manly resolution of Admiral Saunders, who is gone to join Hawke with the ships returned with him from Quebec), is in full pursuit of Mons' Conflans, and there is the finest prospect that the whole navy of France may, by the Blessing of God, have before this time received a most fatal blow. What a most glorious end of this most glorious war would that be ! ... I drink your health almost every day. . . . Lord Lincoln is shooting. My love to Jack Mostyn. . . . Lord Robert, Lord George, and Thoroton are all pure well." » Upon assuming the Command-in-Chief, Lord Granby was at once confronted with what was to become his hete noire in the form of commissariat estimates, and dealings with the Hanoverian Chan- cellerie in respect of maintenance of the subsidized troops, and the French prisoners in the hands of the Allies. Of the commissariat difficulties Lord George Sackville had already complained.'-^ The King had decided that his Hanoverian provinces should pay contributions in specie in lieu of providing the Allied Army with corn, etc., at reasonable prices fixed by the Com- manders-in-Chief. The result was that the British Exchequer reaped no benefit from the contributions, since it paid three times the proper value of the corn supplied. * Newcastle Papers, November 23, 1759. - See his letters to Pitt (Chatham Correspondence). 90 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. Newcastle, on behalf of the Treasury, and always fearing the enmity of Baron Miinchhausen and the Hanoverian Ministers, urged Lord Granby to lose no time in giving the necessary certificate for the sum of £20,000, which should then be remitted to the Hanover Chancellerie for the maintenance of the French prisoners. These were some 38,000 already.^ In October and November, 1759, Granby wrote 2 concerning the claims of the Chancellerie, but without showing the slightest inten- tion of passing them without thorough investigation, in spite of Newcastle's hints that such a course would be agreeable in high quarters. It was not until January, 1760, that Granby concluded the claims then pending, in spite of Newcastle's exclamation of, "Have done with the Chancellerie, and pay it !"^ On the 16th of January, Granby * informed his Grace that he had received the thanks of the Regency of Hanover, embodying those also of the King of England, for the manner in which he had conducted the negotiations to a close. The utter absence of a proper British department to organize the supply of the Army caused the occur- rence of a period of chaotic confusion, and resultless expenditure, which will be alluded to later. George II. having bestowed the Garter upon Prince Ferdinand for his services at Minden, the arrangements were made for the Investiture.^ The Marquis of Granby had written to congratulate the Prince on this honour, the nature of which he explained in August (1759) ;^ and in November, Mr. S. M. Leake, Garter King of Arms, was sent over with powers appointing the Marquis of Granby First Plenipotentiary, and himself Second, to carry out the ceremony.' A large and a small tent were prepared at Kroffsdorf, impudently placed within full view of the French Camp. Prince Ferdinand, escorted by a detachment of the Blues, was met by a procession consisting of — The Marquis of Granby's Secretary,^ carrying the Hood ; Colonel Fitzroy, A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand, carrying the Collar ; Colonel Ligonier, A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand, carrying the Cap and Feather ; and, The Marquis of Granby, First Plenipotentiary. ' Newcastle Papers, October 19, 1759. Granby to Newcastle. - Newcastle Papers. » Ibid., January 15. 17G0. * Ibid., January 16, 1760. 5 Besides the Order of the Garter Prince Ferdinand received £20,000, a large portion of which, Archenholz says, he distributed among his officers and men. « Rutland MSS. (draft). ^ London Gazette, November 6, 1759. 8 Probably Colonel Browne, but he employed more than one. I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRAND Y. 91 Arrived at tlie smaller tent, Prince Ferdinand sat down with the Plenipotentiaries on either side. The bands played while the Investiture was proceeded with. The Marquis of Granby then rose and made a short speech in French, to which the Prince responded. A roll of drums ensued, and the trumpets sounded, while the pro- cession adjourned to the large tent in which a great dinner was given by the Marquis of Granby.^ Prince Ferdinand dined in the habit of his Order, his Cap being held behind his chair. At the second course the Prince rose, assumed his Cap, again removed it, and drank — Firstly, the British Sovereign's health. Secondly, the rest of tlie Royal Family. Thirdly, the Knights Companions of the Garter. The Marquis of Granby rose, and in return drank — Firstly, Prince Ferdinand's health. Secondly, the rest of his Family. Thirdly, the King of Prussia. Since it may be confidently assumed that all these healths were pledged in bumpers, they constituted a formidable beginning to the evening which was yet " young." Next day Prince Ferdinand gave a return banquet, and both (the Gazette discreetly remarks) were conducted " with as much order and splendour as the circum- stances of the camp would permit." Lord Granby announced the fall, on November 2(J, of Munster,^ which, with the arrival of any good news from Saxony, would soon give them winter-quarters, he hoped, at Frankfort, where the joining them of 20,000 Prussians would end the campaign happily. They heard that Marshal Daun was retreating fast with the King of Prussia at his heels, and meantime the Allied Army was gradually going into cantonments. The King consented ^ to Lord Granby's return home as soon as winter-quarters were definitely assumed, and, in his absence, the com- mand was to devolve upon (Jeneral ]\[ostyu. " Give my kindest love to him," wrote Newcastle, " and tell him I know he can follofr, when you are gone we shall see whether he can fead.''' As to the reinforcements, desired so strenuously by Lord Granby, both the King and Lord Ligonier said * it was impossible to spare a man from England, which they were assured was shortly to be attacked » "The Ceremouy aud Feast of conferring the Order of the Garter upon H.S. Highness was perfonned and kept by the Marquis of Granby in the grandest manner upon a hill within sight of the French Army " (G. A. de Beiche, October 2C>, 175;). Newcastle Papers). -'Newcastle Papers. November 25, 175l>, =» Ibid., November 27, 1759. ' Ibid. 92 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. by the " Grande Expedition,'" consisting of 30,000 or 40,000 men under Prince Soubise. These fears were finally put a stop to by Sir Edward Hawke's splendid victory over Admiral Conflans' Fleet at Quiberon Bay, the news of which Newcastle sent to Granby in a most exultant letter.^ The total destruction of the French fleet put Granby and the whole Army in the best spirits ; 2 he was full of hopes that Admiral Saunders and George Townshend had arrived in time from Quebec, in making which attempt his " friend George had acted with his usual spirit." Lord Granby was still quartered at Kroffsdorf, and the King might be assured, he wrote,^ that all home-coming that winter would depend upon affairs in Germany. At Fulda the Hereditary Prince had, by one of his daring adven- tures, surprised and made prisoners three battalions of Wurtemburg Grenadiers on November 30. The Duke of Wurtemburg^ with 10,000 men was then serving, with a sort of roving commission, in the French cause, and — " the Grenadiers were powdered for a Feu de Joye that was intended the morning they were surprised, and the Duke of Wurtemburg was to have given a great dinner, Ball, and Supper at night to the ladies — but the Hereditary Prince very uncivilly spoilt their sport! Following upon his complaints of Granby's correspondence, the Duke of Newcastle assured him that he had most quickly become a "man of business," and that with perseverance none would do better than he. Granby acknowledged the compliment, saying — "I am afraid I am but a Jade, and that I shall ' train off; ' however if I keep in any form above an hackney I hope your Grace will not strip me and turn me out of the string, but give me another year's training. I send this by my honest friend Ned Harvey whom I strongly recommend to your Grace as a man I most sincerely love and have the greatest confidence in." ^ The victory of Quiberon Bay caused an immediate relaxation of the strain upon England's resources, and peace was even talked of as a probable result of France's disaster. A meeting of " the King's Servants" was at once held to consider the augmentation of the Allied Army, and the result of their deliberations sent direct to Prince Ferdinand. ' November 30, 1759. - December 5, 1759. ' Newcastle Papers, December 5, 1759. * Frederick the Great said the iDuke of Wurtemburg foraged and ravaged the country without distinction between friend and foe, and was followed by "toute une Synagogue de Juifs," to whom he sold his booty. — (Euvres de Frederic le Grand," t. v. 5 Newcastle Papers, December 5, 1759. ® Ibid., December 8, 1759. 1759-1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 93 Newcastle was in high feather at the collapse of Admiral Conflans— " Last year England was to be invaded, our Fleets destroyed, etc., at present I hear they intend to turn their whole force against your Army, and the King's Canadian dominions. Give a good stroke during the winter, and I will engage they give you no further trouble." ^ A hard frost succeeded the wet weather which had made the camp at Kroffsdorf so wretched, and Lord Granby sustained an accident. His horse fell on the slippery ground, and a blow on his lordship's eye culminated in a severe inflammation, for which, accord- ing to the habit of the day, he was twice blooded." ^ This trivial accident is only mentioned in order to note that the King heard of it with much regret, saying, " how remarkably satisfied all his people were with Lord Granby," who he hoped would be able to regulate all there was to be settled before coming home.^ During his absence, the Treasury thought the power of issuing money to meet current expenses would have to be vested in the Commander-in-Chief iwo tern., General Mostyn. However, Granby's departure was still impossible. He sent his congratulations on New Year's Day to the Duke of Newcastle.'^ A visit from the enemy had been expected for several days, and the troops had passed one entire night under arms, and in line of battle. De Broglie was plainly meditating some stroke, and probably wished to try conclusions with the Allies before the Hereditary Prince rejoined them with his 15,000 men : — "... If fight should be Mons' do Broglie's intention, though our army may not perhaps be quite so numerous as the enemy, we doubt not of success, as our troops are in great spirits and wish nothing better than to fight the French for Winter-quarters." De Broglie gradually retired from the J^alin towards Frankfort, and the Allied camp was moved northwards, and the head-quarters established at Marburg. Granby had quite recovered from his accident, and said he had " the pleasure of living in the greatest Harmony and Friendship with good General SpOrcken, and Count Kilmansegge ; Mostyn and Waldegrave the same." He was much concerned to hear that the King had seemed dis- pleased at the presence, at a levee, of so many officers holding cavalry commands in Germany. Prince Ferdinand had authorized Lord Granby to send home all the recruiting parties, or officei-s whom he » Newcastle Papers, December 13, 1759. - Ibid., December 17, 1759. Ibid., December 28, 1759 ; January 1, 17G0. * Ibid., January 1, 1760. 94 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. deemed should go ; and Harvey,^ Johnston,^ Preston,^ and Sloper * were all sent on account of the necessity of buying horses for their regiments.^ The King was greatly pleased with Granby's letter of New Year's Day, and with his eagerness to fight the French for winter-quarters. Newcastle wrote — ^ " Lord Robert Sutton has been most obliging to me and has taken our Militia in Notts : this will have the best effect here. ... It is the gi'eatest satisfaction to me to hear that everybody who comes from the Army is equally full of your Lordship's praises. The King is satisfied with you beyond measure, and that makes my business go on very comfortably." The campaign was now over. De Broglie established himself in Frankfort ; the Allied Army had marched northwards, and was comfortably settled in winter-quarters in Cassel, Paderborn, Miinster, and Osnabriick, and Lord Granby's thoughts were turning with relief towards his wife and children, towards Belvoir, and the hounds and horses from which he had so long been separated. Mr. Pitt was seriously at work upon the reinforcements, the Hanover Chancellerie was settled with for the time being, and everything promised a pleasant holiday. But a shadow was stealing over this fair prospect of which Lord Granby was totally unaware until it assumed, in a moment and without warning, a darkness as of night. The Marchioness of Granby was taken suddenly ill, and, after two or three days, died on January 25, 1760.' Lady Granby, who was thirty-two ^ at the time of her death, succumbed to an attack, in the head, of what was then known as " St. Anthony's Fire," ^ or erysipelas — " a St. Anthony's Fire which struck in, and seized her brain," as Mrs. Grenville ^° wrote in allusion to the event. There has been cruel work," wrote Walpole, " among the » Of the " InniskiUings." 2 of the " Blues." » Of the " Greys." Of the 1st King's Dragoon Guards. Newcastle Papers, January 4-12, 1760. " Ibid., January 15, 1760 ; and Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 203. " Gentleman's Magazine. ^ Bath Advertiser, February 2, 1760. ^ Lady Kachel Russell, writing July 1^ 1686, to Dr. Fitzwilliam, alluded to her eldest girl being ill of " St. Anthony's Fire, as we call it." In 1089 an epidemic of, supposed, erysipelas prevailed, especially in France. Public prayers were instituted for the removal of the pestilence. Some miraculous cures were announced as due to the prayers to St. Anthony, and the disease was named " St. Anthony's Fire." — " Lives of the Saints " (Rev. A. Butler). Grenville Papers, vol. i. p. 157. 1 7 59- 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRAND Y, 95 ladies ; My Lady Granby is dead, and the famous Polly,^ Duchess of Bolton, and Lady Bessborough." A very unreliable authority,^ in allusion to the same circumstance, says that Lord Granby was devotedly fond of his wife, and a false report of his having been killed in Germany brought on the attack which so soon proved fatal. As this rumour is stated to have arisen out of the circumstance of Lord Downe's death, which did not occur until eleven months later, the story can hardly be accepted in its entirety. Lady Granby was the eldest daughter of the Duke of Somerset by his second wife, Lady Charlotte Finch ; and her portrait, painted by Hogarth, is at Belvoir Castle. The Duke of Newcastle wrote ^ to Lord Robert Manners Sutton — I cannot trouble your Lordship with a letter without most sincerely condoling with you upon the great loss which Lord Granby has had. I have not had yet the courage to write to him, as I am uncertain whether he will come over or not. ... I saw Mr. Thoroton on Tuesday, from whom I had the satisfaction to hear tliat the Duke of llutland was as well as could be expected." Newcastle's doubts were removed Ijy Lord Granby himself, who had arrived back at Osnabriick prior to leaving the Army — * " I shall set out to-morrow, or next day, for England, Avhen in person I will assure my Dear Duke of iny sincere regard and friendship for him. Oh ! my dear Lord, how hapi)y was I a few days ago in my thoughts of soon being in England. The Duke of Newcastle, I am sure, feels for the cruel misfortune that has happened to his most fiiithful, and obliged friend " Graxhy." Lord Granby arrived home, and nearly the whole of his leave was absorbed by matters relating to his troops, whose health was already distressing him, to the reinforcements, and to the trial of Lord George Sackvillc. ' Letters, January 28, 1760, in allusion to the part played formerly by the Duchess, TJ^e Lavinia Fenton. of " Polly reachum " iu the " Beggar's Opera." • Her portrait, as Polly Peachuiu," by Hogarth, is in the National Gallery. 2 Mrs. George Anne Bellamy, iu her *' Apology " for her Life. ' Newcastle Papers, January 31, 17G0. * Ibid., February 2, 1760. 96 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. CHAPTER IX. Befoeb proceeding to the events following upon Lord Granby's return from Germany, a glance must be thrown over his family's doings at home, where, to repeat Chesterfield's oft-quoted and graphic sentence — ^ " The Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt jogged on like man and wife ; that is, seldom agreeing, often quarrelling; but, by mutual consent, upon the whole not parting." The ceaseless energy displayed by Pitt in opposing France in her colonial schemes, as well as in her threatened invasion of England, was communicated, throughout the country, by a reciprocal enthusiasm which the Duke of Newcastle had been incapable of arousing. The Duke of Rutland was unable, through ill health, to attend a county meeting respecting the Militia in Leicestershire, concerning which Sir Thomas Cave informed him — " The spirit of the people to oppose the natural enemy of this Kingdom is so great, that I had a roll of 50 volunteers offered me, every one a man of considerable property. It is to be wished that every gentleman of larger fortune had the same zeal, though, as to subaltern commands, there are many gentlemen, I believe, who will chearfully undertake the duty when they find it neglected by those who have large properties to defend." ^ Of colours to choose from, for the Leicestershire uniform, there still remained to the Duke those of buff, white, and yellow ; the latter " not a pleasing colour to the eye, or cleanly in the wear." ^ Volunteers from the Militia to the regular Army were urgently sought, to which intent the Duke of Newcastle* consulted Lord Robert Manners Sutton in Nottinghamshire, saying that the King was much pressed for the want of 2000 men to be drafted imme- diately into the ranks. Upon this topic Newcastle applied to the Dukes of Rutland, Kingston, and Devonshire. » " Letters to his Son," May 18, 1758, 2 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 200, April 11, 1759. ^ Ibid. * Newcastle Papers, August 4, 1759. I 1 759- 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 97 The Duke of Rutland replied— ^ I fear the levying of men to compleat the Regiments will be an arduous piece of work, and in this county impracticable, where from the scarcity of men labour is raised to a high price ; moreover the turnpike-roads now making in this county, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire will so effectually (even when the harvest is over) employ the labourer and find him subsistance that I see little hope of collecting men in these parts, almost on any terms, to answer the emergency. Could a method be found out to render practicable the scheme I proposed of annexing to each Battalion of Foot now in England one or two Companies of the unemployed Militia, to serve with these Regiments until the danger of invasion was over, I think it might very well answer the purpose of compleating the Marcliing Regiments for present service, as most of tlie Militia are acquainted with the manual exercise. . . . However, I foresee difficulty, and that it is a work of great delicacy, but in difficult times, difficult things must be attempted — nor can we hope to surmount dangers without braving them." A letter upon the same topic was addressed by the Duke of Rutland to the High Sheriff and Grand Jury at Leicester, which was published in the GazclU.P- T^ord Robert Manners Sutton atteed a large meeting at Mansfield,^ and afforded -v^^»«> - c^. Woods A. ^-^^^ MINDEN French Arm^ /Retreating yvingat roint N. ^. (FhmtM^ an^J)rrtM^ffi^s i7i.British.m THE BATTLE OF MINDEN To Face page I OS. 1759-1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 105 Lieut.-General Sir Charles Howard, President. Lieut.-Gen. Campbell. Lieut.-Gen. Earl of Ancram. „ Earl of Harrington. „ Abercrombie. „ Earl of Delawarr. „ Leighton. „ Cholmondeley. Major-Gen. Earl of Effingham „ Earl of Albemarle. „ Csesar. „ Stuart. „ Car. „ Earl of Panmure. „ Lord Robert Bertie. „ Lord Robert Manners. Deputy Judge Advocate, Dr. Charles Gould. The evidence is arranged so as to constitute, as far as possible, a consecutive and succinct account of tlie proceedings, to understand which the reader's attention is directed to two important points on the battle-field : the point to which the Cavalry of the Right was first ordered, by a little wood between Hartuin and Hahlen, which shall be called Point No. 1 ; and another, on the edge of Minden Heath, called Point No. 2. In general terms. Lord George Sackville was accused of disobey- ing Prince Ferdinand's orders ; but, in detail, he was charged with not having his Cavalry ready to march by 1 a.m. on the morning of Minden ; with having lost time in marching to Point No. 1 ; with directly disobeying orders before marching to Point No. 2 ; and with having been prompted to disobedience by motives of cowardice. Lieut.-Colonel Sloper, commanding Bland's Dragoons, proved that the horses of the Cavalry of the Right were saddled, and the troopers lying down booted in their tents before 1 a.m. on tlie 1st of August. Sloper, upon all the other issues, was Sackville's most damaging and vehement accuser, but upon this question of the saddling, etc.. Prince Ferdinand was misinformed. Some French deserters brought news to Prince Ferdinand's quarters, at Hille, that the Enemy was in motion ; upon hearing which the Prince despatched every aide-de-camp he could find to place the Army in motion : the Cavalry of the Right was ordered to Point No. 1, and Lord George was charged with being late at this post. Captain Smith, his aide-de-camp, deposed that the Cavalry marched to Point No. 1 at a proper pace ; that he was the only officer who saw the whole column pass out of camp ; and that he noticed the rear s(iuadrons were hurrying to keep up with the head of the column. He owned he was not a cavalry officer, when ques- tioned as to the pace at which the column should have proceeded. I06 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. The Cavalry of the Right must now be imagined as having arrived at Point No. 1, by a little fir- wood. The attacks of the French Cavalry having been repulsed, Prince Ferdinand first directed some operations against a French detachment which was holding the village of Hahlen,^ and sent orders to the Infantry to march at beat of drum. These orders were misunderstood to mean that the Infantry was to march at once with drums beating,^ and forthwith it advanced upon the French Cavalry Centre with the astonishing result that is a matter of history. The Hanoverian Infantry followed the English in the 2nd Line ; the Hanoverian Guards and Hartemburg's Regiment alone sharing the British attack. Prince Ferdinand, seeing this, sent his aide-de-camp, Captain Wintzingerode, to order Lord George Sackville to march the Right Cavalry Wing, by the left, to Point No. 2, at the edge of Minden Heath, and there form one line in rear of the Infantry to support its gallant attack. Captain Wintzingerode delivered this order in French. The French Cavalry was now giving way before the English Infantry, and, as "Wintzingerode returned. Captain Edward Ligonier ^ reached Sackville, informing him that Prince Ferdinand said the Enemy was retiring, and he desired his lordship to 2y''ofit by that circumstance (et il vous prie d'en profiter). Lieutenant Bisset, Captain Smith, A.D.C., Lieutenant Whiteford of the Inniskillings, and Captain Hugo, A.D.C., all deposed that Lord George Sackville at once drew his sword and marched the 1st Line of the Cavalry of the Right Wing ; but he sent no orders to the same effect to the Marquis of Granby, commanding the 2nd Line, and who Avas out of sight of Sackville. Several commanding-officers of the 1st Line stated that they understood the second order, brought by Ligonier, to mean that a Cavalry charge was intended, whereupon they ordered their men to throw away their corn, " picket-poles," and other dispensable encum- brances. Majors Marriott and Hepburn both deposed that they gathered from Ligonier's shouts, as he galloped past, that the Enemy was giving way, and the Cavalry was ordered up to charge. Now ensued the moment when the French Cavalry, reinforced and supported by Artillery, rallied considerably, and by a determined effort placed in difficulties the English Infantry, " which almost lost ground." * ^ The French set fire to Hahlen before retiring. - De Mauvillon, quoted by Carlyle in " Frederick II, of Prussia." 3 1st Foot Guards, and A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand. * Prince Ferdinand's " Relation de la Bataille de Minden." I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 107 Prince Ferdinand, eagerly awaiting the aid of the Cavahy, despatched Captain Fitzroy, A.D.C. (who arrived while Ligonier was still at Sackville's side). Fitzroy was somewhat breathless, and gave the same order, but used the words " British Cavalry." Lord George Sackville directly halted the 1st Line (which was composed of British regiments only, while that under Lord Granby comprised a few Hanoverian) and told Fitzroy not to be in a hurry, and to give his orders distinctly.^ Fitzroy explained he was breathless from galloping, but both he and Ligonier maintained that the difference in their orders as to the " Cavalry of the Right " or the " British Cavalry " was a detail of numbers only, but that the order was in the main the same, " to advance," also the destination — " to the Left." Colonel Sloper, who was near, advised Lord George that the orders could only mean an advance of the Cavalry to the Left, iiord George retorted that the aides-de-camp did not understand their instructions, and galloped off to Prince Ferdinand to receive his orders personally, leaving the Cavalry halted. Meantime the Infantry, unaided, was achieving the victory of Minden. Captain Fitzroy had preceded Lord George, and reported the facts to Prince Ferdinand, but found that the latter, weary of wait- ing, had sent Wintzingerode with a separate order to the Marquis of Granby to march the 2nd Line of Cavalry. He sent Fitzroy also to Lord Granby, saying, " I know he will obey me." The Prince merely delivered to TiOrd George, personally, the original order to advance to Point No. 2, on the edge of the Heath ; andj as Sackville returned, he saw Lord Granby already advanced clear of the fir-wood with' the 2nd Line of Cavalry : Lord George then marched the 1st Line. The Duke of Richmond and Colonel Webb presently brought orders that the Cavalry should be formed in one line. Thus the Cavalry of the Right Wing, with the 2nd Line in front of the 1st Line, had at last reached Point No. 2 ; but even these last movements were not carried out without delays, which are fully described in the Maniuis of Granby's evidence, to which we now turn. His evidence is also arranged in the order which constitutes the best narrative. Between four and five o'clock on the morning of August 1, Lord * It must bo observed tliat Sackville's conduct was all the more unaccountable as, so far, he had moved British Cavalry only, and had sent no orders to Lord Granby, whose command included both British and Foreign Cavalry. io8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. Granby was already up and dressing when he heard three or four cannon shots, at intervals, towards the Right ; he at once ordered his horse, and sent a servant to Lord George Sackville's quarters to see if anything sudden had occurred. The servant returned saying all was quiet there, and the sentinel did not know what the firing was. The Marquis got on his charger and rode oif alone towards the Right,^ to a point whence he could see the tents of that flank of our camp. Seeing that the firing was directed against Prince Ferdinand's quarters and the two British battalions covering them, and seeing and hearing nothing to the Left, he " very unhappily for himself rode on to the Right, thinking to find an attack there." On arriving he found the camp empty, the troops having been cannonaded and drawn off their ground. He then met Colonel Fitzroy and the Duke of Richmond,^ who told him the Prince had already left, and all three galloped back to the main encampment. Owing to the tremendous dust caused by the troops placed in motion during Granby's absence,^ he and his companions missed a little lane they should have followed, and he only came up with the rear column of the Cavalry of the Right as it entered the North Hemmern Field, near to Point No. 1. (The Duke of Richmond and Colonel Fitzroy joined the Prince.) The Marquis took up his position with the 2nd Line, at what we know as Point No. 1, by the wood, and to the best of his belief he thought they remained there from twenty to twenty-five minutes before starting for Point No. 2, by the heath. He could see nothing of the enemy, nor did he see it all day, nor could he see what was going on with the 1st Line of Cavalry, and Lord George Sackville. When Captain Wintzingerode was carrying his first order to Lord George, he had to pass the 2nd Line, and in so doing he stopped and asked Lord Granby where Lord George was. Lord Granby directed him, and understood him to say he was carrying some order, about advancing the Cavalry, to Sackville ; but no consequent instructions ensued from the latter to Granby. A little later Wintzingerode came again in a great hurry, and asked, "Why, for God's sake, the Cavalry of the Right had not marched," on his bringing the first order, to form one line behind the 1 Towards Hille. ^ English A.D.C.s to Prince Ferdinand. ' See Prince Ferdinand's letter to the King, in which he said he sent every aide- de-camp he could to place the Army in motion. I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 109 Infantry, at the same time saying that Prince Ferdinand wished Lord Granby to advance with the 2nd Line. Granby speedily put the 2nd Line in motion, but on condition that Wintzingerodc should proceed to inform Sackville of the fact, and to say that no confirmatory orders had reached Granby from the latter. Before leaving, Wintzingerodc led the Hanoverian regiments through the wood, while the Marquis of Granby led the " Greys," and without noticing any important obstacles either from the trees, the forma- tion of the ground, or any troops on their front.^ This movement was to the Left and towards the heath. General Elliott, of the 2nd Line, who had just previously been sent for by Lord George Sackville, now returned to Lord Granby, informing him Lord George would send him orders im- mediately, but meanwhile he must wait where he was until the 1st Line got up to him. In consequence Granby halted, well clear of the wood, having reached the spot where, as shown by the wounded on the ground, the action had first begun. As Granby waited. Colonel Fitzroy arrived witli the Prince's second message previously described, and Fitzroy's evidence is for the moment pursued : he said he found Lord Granl)y on the Enemy's, or Minden, side of the little wood, alone, and about forty yards in advance of his troops. On receiving this order, Lord Granby asked him why it was brought to him instead of to his commanding-officer. Lord George Sackville, who was not far off. Fitzroy replied that the order had been sent repeatedly, but ineft'ectually, to Lord George, and the Prince's instructions now were to deliver it to Lord Granby. In consequence. Lord Granby advanced the 2iid Line sharply at the trot, and remarked to Fitzroy that the Right Cavalry Wing was still not so far forward as the Left. To resume the Marquis' evidence, he stated that soon after, he, with the 2nd Line, arrived at Point No. 2, Lord George followed with the 1st Line. Granby at once rode up to explain why his advance had been made without Lord George's orders, whose command to halt had been obeyed as soon as received. Lord George explained that the halt had been made for the sake of adhering to Prince Ferdinand's orders to form the Cavalry in one line, and this Lord George proceeded to do at the edge of the heath. This done, he showed no sign of any further advance ; so Lord Granby, saying the Prince's orders were plainly to advance on ' Sackville's witnesses, and he himself, alleged the existence of these obstacles. I lO LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. immediately, gave the word tlirough General Elliott, to the Cavah-y mider his (Granby's) command, to follow him. Lord Granby himself galloped on some fifty or sixty yards in advance, but, after going some four hundred yards, he found the troops behind him had been again halted. He again ordered them on, and was informed they had been halted by Lord George ; where- upon Lord Granby repeated his command, and enjoined them not to halt at all except by his, or General Elliott's, orders. In spite of his efforts, we learn from Lord Granby's evidence and letter ^ that he " never saw the Enemy all day." The battle was declared to be won ; the 2nd Line received orders to rejoin the 1st, after which the men were dismounted. Replying to questions, put through the Court at Lord George's request. Lord Granby said he received no instructions from Prince Ferdinand on the day preceding Minden, nor did he know the position of the Infantry when the Cavalry first formed. Before the Battle of Bergen Prince Ferdinand sent for all the Lieu- tenant-Generals^ to receive his orders, and explanations of his disposition of battle, which he could convey very clearly, and distinctly. After the General Orders of August 2, and the feu de joie, Lord George Sackville went to Granby's quarters and asked him to make a written statement concerning Minden. Lord Granby declined to write a letter in French, or in fact any letter, but offered to accom- pany Lord George to his Serene Highness's quarters, and say what he had now done in the course of his evidence. Lord George particularly pressed him to say that, after the 2nd Line of Cavalry had passed the 1st, Lord George followed at the same pace adopted by Lord Granby. Granby replied that he really could not say, as he was fully occupied in looluiig out in front — it was a point upon which Lord George, and the 1st Line of Cavalry, were the best judges. While being very explicit as to facts, and what actually took place, the Marquis of Granby showed a marked disinclination to give opinions as to what might have occurred had circumstances been different. On being pressed, he said he considered they might certainly have pursued the Enemy had they marched as soon as the Cavalry was first formed : they might have been up some twenty minutes earlier without blowing the horses, and keeping a proper ' See ante, p. 81. * Lord George Sackville was not present at Bergen. I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. I I I line enough, without being as exact as if on parade. He galloped, and the 2nd Line came after him at a full trot, some galloping ; and the Infantry could obviously have been joined much sooner had the pace been maintained — whether the Cavalry would have been able to do much execution he could not say. On being much pressed as to whether he had shown any impa- tience, Lord Granby replied he believed he was vexed, and might have found fault with Lord George's manoeuvres, which, in his opinion, lost time. Corroborative evidence was called proving that Lord Granby passed the 1st Line of Cavalry with the 2nd. Colonel Sloper said when he (in the 1st Line) got through the wood he saw the 2nd Line considerably in front, moving on fronting the Enemy. "When Lord George overtook the 2nd Line by halting it, and resumed command of the whole, they advanced slower than the 2nd Line had done when alone. Lieut.-Colonel W. A. Pitt, 10th Dragoons (2nd Line), said he received an order from Lord Granby to follow him with his brigade. This was done at a trot until stopped by an aide-de-camp from Sackville. He told the A.D.C. as the first order was Lord Granby's his lordship must be informed of the halt ordered by Lord George Sackville. The A.D.C. went on to Lord Granby, and, in consequence they were all halted for a quarter of an hour. He, Colonel Pitt, saw no difficulties in advancing, beyond avoiding treading on the wounded : at the front he saw no General officers save Lord Granby, and General Elliott. Lieutenant John Walsh, Adjutant of the Blues (1st Line), said Lieut.-Colonel Johnston commanding the Blues sent him to Lord George Sackville to say " the 2nd Line was advancing and might the Blues follow ? " ^ Lord George said " Xo," and instantly ordered Lieutenant Walsh to go and halt the 2nd Line. Lord George Sackville's defence was as follows : — On July 31 Prince Ferdinand did not acquaint him with the probability of fighting a battle on the ensuing day, nor afford any idea of the intended plan of action. The order that the Cavalry should be ready by 1 a.m. on the morning of August 1 was obeyed, as it had been for several days previously. Between 5 and G a.m. on that morning, Lord George was awoke > The " Blues," it will be remembered, was Lord Granby's Regiment, and though not on this occasion commanded by him, was eager to follow him when he passed the 1st Line. I 12 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. by cannon-shots on the Right ; but receiving no orders he took no steps individually. Soon after, Greneral Sporcken ^ sent word that the troops were getting under arms. Lord George directly rode out, without awaiting his aides-de- camp, and was the first General officer of the Cavalry Division who joined it : " this was good fortune, as it might have happened to him not to be so early as it had to other persons." No orders had as yet reached him, but he marched the whole Cavalry of the Right Wing (1st and 2nd Lines) in the direction which he assumed he was to follow. On the march he was joined by the other Generals and the aides-de-camp ; while his orders and a guide also reached him later. The guide conducted him to Point No. 1, by the wood, towards which he proceeded at a proper pace, in order not to blow the horses, and arrived on his ground in as good time as the Infantry. He reconnoitered the ground so far as time permitted, but in consequence of having received no premonition of the battle he had not examined the ways^ leading from the camp to Minden Heath. He did not approve of the position indicated to him by the guide (Point No. 1). The fir-wood, which he had not recon- noitred, was dense, and lay more or less on both sides of him, obstructing his view of the rest of the Army and the Enemy. Moreover, the position was exposed to the fire of several batteries, and, though under no personal anxiety whatever, he objected to exposing the Cavalry before it was required. On receiving the first order, to advance by the left to Point No. 2, from a foreign aide-de-camp of no status as regarded the British Army^ he at once marched with the 1st Line ; but to the Front instead of to the Left on account of the fir-wood, which appeared to be impassable. He was soon approached by another aide-de-camp bearing a contradictory order ; in consequence of which he halted the 1st Line, and rode off to receive Prince Ferdinand's order personally. As he galloped, Lord George noticed that the fir-wood was more open than he imagined, and he instantly sent his aide-de-camp Captain Smith back (as Fitzroy continued positive as to his order) ^ Hanoverian Army. 2 After Minden, Prince Ferdinand, in his Standing Orders (August 16, 1759), desired that the Generals and Field Officers would in every camp make themselves acquainted with the roads, avenues, and environs, in order to be able to execute any sudden orders. 1759-1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. to bring up the rest of the Cavalry of the Right Wing, including G-eneral Mostyn and his brigade.^ On reaching the Prince, Sackville found him quite calm, and indicating, by his manner, no hurry or annoyance (of this Sackville made a great point) : the Prince merely ordered the advance of the Cavalry of the Right Wing to Point No. 2, adding nothing which could be construed as implying an attack on, or pursuit of the Enemy.^ Sackville returned, and saw Lord Granby with the 2nd Line advancing ; he at once marched the 1st Line, and halted Lord G-ranby in order to dress both Lines. If this was what Lord Granby had disapproved of as " Sackville's manoeuvres," Lord George flat- tered himself his lordship would not have done so had he undei*stood them to have been the outcome of Prince Ferdinand's explicit orders. Upon reaching Point No. 2 Jiord George again halted to dress the Line, and made no effort at pursuit ; firstly, because none had been ordered ; secondly, because none was possible. The battle was over, and the Enemy had retreated under the shelter of the Minden guns, and the British Infantry had halted on the confines of the enclosed ground around Minden.^ Had a charge been practicable, why was not the Cavalry of the Left ordered on, during the alleged delay, independently of the Cavalry of the Right ? " The glory of the day belonged to the six brave Regiments of Foot." The real question of the day was not who was to be blamed for what the Cavalry had not done, but who was to be praised for the extraordinary intrepidity of the Infantry. After the battle Lord George heard, among the general congratu- lations, not one single word of censure ; but on the succeeding day the unprecedented course was followed of censuring him, unnamed, in the General Orders. In doing this Prince Ferdinand " was uninformed of our manners, ignorant of the effect the orders would ' There is not a word about this order in Lord Granbv's evidence. He acted on the independent order sent through Wintzingerode and Fitzroy by Prince Ferdinand. - This assumption of Sackville's, that he possessed no independent initiative, could not have been genuine. Prince Ferdinand's tactics were those of his master, Frederick the Great, and in "Operations of War" Sir E. Hamley writes: "In Frederick's battles, while the King directed all the movements of the Infantry, we find the Chief of the Cavalry selecting his own time for the attack ; and it was necessary in supporting offensive movements that the immediate Commander should be left to his own inspirations." This remark also applies to Lord Grauby's sub- sequent career in the Seven Years War. ' The Infantry followed the French into the gardens round Minden, which circumstance originated the custom still observed by the 20th Regiment of wearing roses on the anniversary of the battle, at tfie close of which the Infantry thus decorated themselves. •8 114 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. produce here, and unacquainted upon those points with the sensi- bility of Enghshmen." As to Colonel Sloper, Lord George stigmatized his conduct and evidence as false and malicious throughout. He was not even near when the conversations between Lord George and the aides-de- camp occurred. His statements were not made until after the issue of the General Orders of the 2nd of August, and he afterwards knew he must either persevere in the strongest accusations or be punished at Lord George's desire. In support of Lord George's impeachment of Colonel Sloper's evidence, Captain Smith, A.D.C., deposed that — besides the fir-wood — a Saxe-Gotha Regiment was impeding Lord George Sackville's advance from Point No. 1 to Point No. 2. Directly the Saxe-Gotha Regiment was cleared out of the way Lord George gave the word " March ; " but Colonel Sloper, in Captain Ligonier's hearing, asked for time to get rid of picket-poles and encumbrances, and halted his squadron, although Lord George had replied that he must throw away his picket-poles as he advanced. In consequence of this impeachment of Colonel Sloper's evidence the Judge Advocate decided upon re-examining some witnesses relative to this point. Sackville objected, but the Court permitted the Judge Advocate to proceed. Then, and not till then, was the question of cowardice specifically touched upon. Lieut.-General the Marquis of Granby was consequently recalled, and asked whether, soon after the battle, Lieut.-Colonel Sloper had made any communication to him. Lord Granby replied that a day or two after the battle — he could not pledge himself ; he thought it was on the morning of the 2nd of August — Lieut.-Colonel Sloper told him that Wintzingerode, Fitzroy, and Ligonier had successively gone to Lord George with orders to march, which he did not obey. To the best of his belief Colonel Sloper added that Lord George was confused, or in a hurry— some- thing to that purpose. Lieut.-Colonel Edward Harvey, of the Inniskillings, said that Colonel Sloper, on the 2nd of August, made a similar statement to him respecting " the misbehaviour of Lord George Sackville." Captain Ligonier, re-called, said that, directly after delivering his order to Lord George, he (Ligonier) not only spoke to Colonel Sloper, but that officer leant on his arm and said — " For God's sake, Sir, repeat your orders to that man, that he may not pretend to mismiderstand them; for it is near half an hour ago that he I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRAND Y. received orders to advance, and we are still here — but you see the condition he is in ! " Lord George Sackville here, through the Court, asked for an explanation of these words. Ligonier replied that Lord George, for reasons which he (witness) could not explain, was perplexed, con- fused ; but he could not answer for Colonel Sloper's meaning. The Rev. John Hotham, Chaplain to the Staff, deposed that he was with Lord George by the wood (Point No. 1) when a cannon- ball fell near them. Lord George remained perfectly calm, and said, " You have no business here, fare you well, we shall soon be engaged." Lieut.-Colonel Hotham, Lieut. -Colonel Bisset, Lieutenant Suther- land, Captain Lloyd, A.D.C., Lieut.-Colonel Preston, Captain Williams, Captain Hugo, A.D.C., and Captain Brome, A.D.C., all deposed that they saw nothing unusual, or having the appearance of fear in Lord George's manner. Captain Smith, A.D.C., said that Lord George would have gone to his death that day had it been necessary. The Judge Advocate then, at considerable length, commented on the evidence. He said that Colonel Sloper's evidence rested, in the main, unshaken, in spite of Lord George Sackville's impeachment ; also that the evidence tended to prove that Colonel Sloper's remarks had been made prior to the issue, on August 2, of the General Orders. Lord George's avowal that the Prince received him civilly, and without censure, during the action proved nothing but that the Prince maintained his calmness, after having sent an order to Lord Granby which Lord George had failed of carrying out. The orders carried to Lord George had been, with an unimpor- tant exception, clear and identical. This had not only been proved by several witnesses, but by T^ord Granby's actual conduct in ex- plaining to Lord George his reading of the orders which he proceeded to carry out, without finding any impediments offered by the fir- wood, obstructing regiments, or impracticable ground. Evidence had amply proved that, far from being an aide-de- camp of no status in the British Army, Captain Wintzingerode had been regarded as a reputed aide-de-camp throughout the Allied Forces, and — as such — Lord George had previously recognized orders brought by him, and other foreign aides-de-camp. Lord George had, with great minuteness, endeavoured to prove that, if any time had been lost, it was of quite unimportant dui-ation.^ ' It, would appear that Lord George suggested tliat the whole, and only, delay occurred while he was galloping to Prince Ferdinand. Lord Pembroke (Lieut.- Il6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. This, at so critical a juncture, was not the point : if any time what- soever had been needlessly wasted by Lord George, he was guilty of disobedience — if not, he was entitled to acquittal. The verdict was — "That in the opinion of the Court, Lord George Sackville is guilty of having disobeyed the orders of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick . . . and that he is hereby adjudged unfit to serve His Majesty in any Military capacity whatsoever." By the King's special command this rider was added — "It is His Majesty's pleasure that the above sentence be given out in Public Orders, that Officers being convinced that neither high birth nor great employments can shelter offences of such a nature, and that seeing they are subject to censure much worse than death to a man who has any sense of honour, they may avoid the fatal consequences arising from disobedience of orders." 1 The sentence was received throughout England with intense interest, and with varying impressions, and was read ^ later at the head of each line of the troops in Germany, drawn up under arms with all the Generals present. The King's expression of " censure much worse than death" bears out Walpole's opinion^ that His Majesty considered the sentence inadequate, as the Duke of Newcastle most assuredly did. With Lord Granby's presence in England we have not yet done ; but it must be understood that he had started back to Germany on the conclusion of his evidence, and before the issue of the sentence. The Duke of Newcastle wrote to him — " I send your Lordship in confidence, by the King's order, a copy of the very extraordinary sentence by the Court Martial ; so short of what we had a right to expect, and, I may say, of the merits of the question. It is, how- ever, a full condemnation of Lord George's behaviour, and a full justification of the King and Prince Ferdinand, and what they had done."'* Guesses were made at the possible motives which had influenced Sackville ^ — that he had, for example, wished to balk Prince Ferdinand Colonel of Elliot's Light Horse) about a year later rode over the ground. He said " This I can swear, that my horse, without trotting a yard, walked from the ex- tremity of the right wing of the cavalry to where the Duke was, and there is no possibility of mistaking the place, in six or seven minutes and a half — I can't positively say which." — Hist. MSS. Com., Eep. XH. App. pt. 10. 1 Officially sent to Lord Granby, April 25, 1760.— Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 207. 2 Foreign Office Papers (Record Office). ^ " Memoirs of the Reign of George II." " April 15, 1760, Newcastle Papers and Rutland MSS. ^ Archenholz suggests that Sackville sought to ruin Prince Ferdinand in order to supersede him, I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 117 of a signal and crowning victory ; or, believing him beaten, to have sought the credit of saving the British Cavalry. Stories were raked up that the late Duke of Marlborough and Admiral Howe had previously imputed cowardice to Sackville in connection with the attack on St. Malo. The truth is to be sought in the fact that Sackville was an ambitious, scheming politician first, and a soldier only in a secondary sense, at a date when military and political power could be held simultaneously. He was a superficially clever, accomplished man whose actions were far less prompted by any honourable ambition to render public service than by an intense appreciation of his own value and importance ; the furtherance of which engrossed, and encouraged, the crafty bent of his intelligence. After Lord Ligonier, the Command-in-Chief of the Army would almost certainly have devolved upon him ; or political developments might have easily brought him the Premiership.^ Without being in the least degree guilty of cowardice as a soldier, it is quite possible that he thought to reserve his important self for a greater political future, sooner than heedlessly risk his life in what he contemptuously called Pitt's "buccaneering expeditions," so fruitlessly directed against the French coast. As to what actuated him at Minden — jealousy, pique at receiving no notification of Prince Ferdinand's plan of action — who shall say ? But, were he a mere coward, why should he, possessing commanding position and interest, sufficient talents, perfect aplomb, and fair capability of winning " the bubble reputation" in any other profession, have sought it even as near " the cannon's mouth " as he attained to at Minden ; and in the course of a war to which he repaired from nobody's initiative save his own, a circumstance which nearly entailed his recall ? The Court Martial found him guilty only of disobedieuce to orders ; and, at this distance of time when the enmities and pre- judices, aroused in the hearts of many gallant but disappointed soldiers of 17G0, lie buried with them a hundred, or more, years deep in the Past, we may safely concur in that verdict. All imputa- tions of cowardice should be dissociated from the memory of Lord George Sackville's name : the Marquis of Granby long since led the way in that direction. Commenting upon his conduct during the trial, Horace Walpole wrote — * See " Life of Lord Shelburne," by Lord E. Fitzmaurice. ' Archenholz describes him as an Englishman unworthy of his country, but neither wanting in talent, nor in personal courage. ii8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1759-1760. " Lord Granby showed the same honourable and compassionate tenderness as Conway. So far from exaggerating the minutest circumstance, he palliated or suppressed whatever might load the Prisoner ; ^ and seemed to study nothing but how to avoid appearing a party against him — so inseparable in his bosom were valour and good nature." Such unqualified praise from Granby's chief detractor should perhaps be gladly accepted without comment. But it is significant to mark how, even in this praise, Walpole must needs award an equal share to Conway ! Except for what he may have said in private conversations Conway should scarcely have been quoted, for he was not engaged in the German War until long after Minden, neither did he sit on the Court Martial, nor play any part but that of the merest spectator in respect of the Sackville drama. To com- pare him therefore, in the matter, to Lord Granby who played so eminently an important part in it, was vicariously to inflate Conway after the fashion of the fabled frog. Providentially the frog's fate did not overtake Conway on the many occasions when Walpole thus fondly tampered with his moral dimensions. The particular copy of the " Proceedings of a General Court Martial" (published by Authority: London, 1760) which was used in compiling these pages, formerly belonged to "Mr. Wm. Bateman, F.S.A., of Middleton by Yolgrave in the County of Derby." He carefully annotated the volume, and amplified it with newspaper cuttings relative to the after lives (chiefly the deaths — if the Irishism be permitted) of many of the men who figured in this historic trial. On the fly-leaves Mr. Bateman recorded that he took the book, in 1817, to read to a veteran named James Fisher, then aged eighty- two, who had served in the " Greys " at Minden. The old dragoon was intensely interested, and remembered many of the circumstances cited of the day, which he said was so intensely hot and dusty that, added to the severity of the action, the faces of the infantrymen became almost black. He was especially interested by the evidence concerning the 2nd Line of Cavalry, in which he served ; and, in regard to the order brought by Captain Wintzingerode, Fisher said he was close to the Marquis of Granby when he* received it, and observed his Lordship remove his sash and bind it tightly round his waist as he prepared to lead the Scots Greys through the fir-wood for the expected charge. One more matter concerning the Marquis is suggested by ^ Lord George Sackville repaid this by writing some detractious things concern- ing Lord Granby and his family in after years. I759-I760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 119 Walpole's estimate of the material loss sustained by Lord George.^ Walpole states ^ the Regiment to have been worth £2000 a year, the command in Germany £10 a day, and the Lieut.-Generalship of the Ordnance £1500 a year.^ Allowing for the superior pecuniary value of the Blues to the 2nd, Queen's, Dragoon Guards, Lord Granby's military and official income must at this period have amounted to close upon £8000 per annum. ' Sackville's name was struck out of the Privy Council Book by the King himself, and appearance at Court forbidden him. — Duke of Newcastle's " Memoranda for the King." April 23, 1760 (Newcastle Papers). - Letter to Sir H. Mann. ' The salary was £1100, but all offices carried profits in addition to the actual pay. I20 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. CHAPTER XL Shortly before the date of the Marquis' return to Germany, some letters afford a clue to what had resulted from his conferences. Lord Eobert Manners Sutton, in consequence of Prince Ferdinand's deficiency of Light Cavalry, forwarded to the Duke of Newcastle a proposition which had already been sanctioned by Mr. Secretary Pitt.^ " The Marquis of Graiiby ventured to flatter himself that many tenants and people of the counties where the family estates lay would eagerty enlist in a Corps under his command. The Corps was to constitute a Light Dragoon Regiment consisting of 6 Troops, each comprising 2 Serjeants, 2 corporals, 2 drummers, and 60 effective privates. . . . Lord Granby to be Colonel, without pay. Lord Robert Manners Sutton (proposed) Colonel-Commanding, with a Lieut.-Colonel, a Major, and 6 Captains. Lord Granby and the Captains to find the men and horses without any expense to the Publick, and Lord Granby engaged to raise them within two months of the Beating Order. Should Lord Robert Sutton be appointed to the head of it. Lord Granby thought that fact might also induce many of the old soldiers to return again to the service." ^ On the 28th of March Newcastle wrote to Jack Mostyn that he had that day obtained the King's sanction to Granby 's Eegiment, and supposed " that Bob Sutton must have the charge of it." ^ The King's approval of the scheme was officially conveyed to Lord Granby by the War Secretary, Lord Barrington.* The recruiting for this new regiment soon bore out Lord Granby's sanguine forecast, and the regiment was called the "21st Light Dragoons, or Royal Forresters " (s/c). Its motto was Hie et Uhique, and it obtained, during its short existence, the character of being one of the finest regiments in the service.^ Critics of the stamp of 1 March 1, 1760, Additional MSS., 32903, British Museum. 2 i.e. those who had served under Lord Robert in Kingston's Horse and the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons. 3 Newcastle Papers. * Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 205. ^ Le Roi vient d'ordonner la levee d'un nouveau Regiment de Cavalerie le'gere dont le Lord Robert Sutton est dejk nomme Colonel : on choisirai les chevaux de ce Regiment parmi les meilleur Coursiers du Royaume " {Le Courier, Avril 22, 1700). 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. I 2 I " Junius," and of Horace Walpole, doubtless at the time complained of the conspicuous Manners component among its officers, but none had a better claim to the commissions. Lord Granby relied upon his family influence to enable him to raise the regiment in a time of universal war, when the authorities could scarcely enlist another man, and the compulsory Militia Embodiment by ballot had been met by violent resistance on the part of the country people, who believed that it rendered them liable to foreign service. The 21st Light Dragoons ^ included the following officers : — Honorary Colonel — John Manners, Marquis of Granby. Colonel— Lord Robert Manners Sutton, of Kingston's Horse and the Duke of Cumberland's Dragoons, and who served with distinction through the " Forty-Five," and the Flanders Campaign of 1747. Lieut.-Colonel — Russel Manners, a cornet in the Blues, and captain in the 7th, Cope's, Dragoons, during the early portion of the Seven Years War. Among the other officers were John llolroyd,'^ Charles Harpur, and Edward Manners, who had not seen active service. Mr. Thomas Thorotou actively assisted the INlarquis' practical scheme, especially in the obtaining of suitable horses. Recruiting Orders were issued impressing upon the officers that the men enlisted must be " light and straight, and by no means gummy." They were not to be under 5 ft. T)^ in., or above 5 ft. 1) in. The uniform was scarlet with blue facings, trimmed with silver lace and buttons. The band wore black velvet hunting-caps. AVhite bear- skin horse furniture, with a silver cypher of " R.F." on blue cloth holster-caps, was used by the officers.^ Mr. Pitt bestirred himself to the utmost in endeavouring to supply Lord Granby with the necessary reinforcements ; and his lordship was furnished with full powers to sanction, at discretion, anything His Serene Highness should deem necessary for the conduct of the war. Granby, who had been appointed a D.L. for the county of Leicester, and a Governor of Christ's Hospital, returned to Germany between the 10th and 15th of April. He left a paper ' There is an illustration representing the 1st and 3rd guidons of the 2l8t Light Dragoons, which are preserved at Belvoir Castle, in Standards and Colours of the Army " (S. Milne Milne). For List of Officers see Appendix IIa. 2 Later first Earl of Sheffield, Gibbon's great friend. " The Discipline of the Light Horse," by Captain Hinde, 1778, formerly of " the Royal Forresters ; " and " Types of the British Aa-my," vol. iii. * Newcastle Papers, April 10, 17G0. 122 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. with the Duke of Newcastle with the following recommenda- tions : — " To give Lord Broome ^ the best character to the King — the best and most admirable of men. Mr. Ambler 2 for King's Council. A pension for General Elliott's ^ widow. Mr. Storer * for King's Chaplain. Captain Hall ^ for Deputy Adjutant General at home." Major-General Joseph Yorke, British Minister at the Hague, reported Granby's arrival at that place, and he reached Paderborn xApril 23, just in time to dine with Prince Ferdinand who was cele- brating St. George's Day.^ A ball followed which Granby, naturally, did not attend owing to his recent bereavement. The Duke of Newcastle's first news fi'om home ' was that a proposal for a Congress had been coldly received by France, and as peace was improbable he hoped to hear of a speedy commencement of operations — "the first stroke, it is said, is half the battle." " Their great friend " ^ considered that keeping the Militia in good order afforded the only prospect of obtaining further reinforcements. Owing to Granby's position at the head of the British Army the period is now entered upon — " When Brunswick's Prince of Fame, the pointing Star, And Manners dealt the Lightning of the War ; Like the twinn'd brothers fam'd in ancient Greece, Who fought with Jason for the Golden Fleece." ^ Both French and English were as yet unable to move, from the lack at that season, of green forage. De Broglie was riveted to his magazines in Frankfort ; and Prince Ferdinand had to keep in touch, by the Elbe and the W^eser, of supplies from Bremen and Hamburg. General Mostyn subsided into ordinary military duties, saying that, as Newcastle had divided him into two personalities, " y*' publick and y^ private Mostyn," he could not quit the first without thanking his Grace for the honour done him. He likewise devoutly hoped the coming reinforcements would not be accompanied by an older Lieut.-General than himself, as such an arrival " would hurt him more than the whole French Army." ^ Granby's A.D.C., afterwards Marquis of CornwalHs. - Afterwards represented Bramber, with Thomas Thorotou, iu Lord Granby's interest. ^ General Granville Elliott died in Germany soon after Minden. ■* Lord Granby's Chaplain, occasional Secretary, and devoted friend. 5 The Captain Hall who wrote the account of the engagement at Bergen (see pp. 73, 74). Granby thanked the King for giving Hall this appointment, May 14, 1760 (Newcastle Papers). " Newcastle Papers. ' Ibid., April 15, 1760. » Mr. Pitt. ^ " An Heroic Epistle to Lord George Sackville" (Woodford Kice). 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY, 123 These reinforcements included ^ three regiments of Dragoons, the Carabiniers, " Waldegrave's," or the 2nd, Queen's, Dragoon Guards, and six battalions of Foot, under Major-General Griffin.^ " This unanimous support of Parliament cannot but be a great encouragement to the King's Allies," wrote Lord Holdernesse ; but, unfortunately, in the matter of numbers France could always outdo us. Frederick the Great had been able to send Prince Ferdinand some 2500 Cavalry at this date, which were very soon recalled. Newcastle assured Granby that, counting the above Cavaliy, the Allied Army amounted to 1)5,000 :effectives — " a force more than sufficient to deal with M. de Broglie ; but for God's sake Begin ! " ^ The German historians, quoted by Carlyle,'* say that Ferdinand commenced this campaign with 20,000 English troops, which, with Hanoverians, etc., amounted to 70,000 as his total army. The force of 30,000 French, which under the Count of St. Germain was moving from the Rhine to join Dc Broglie, brought his grand total up to some 130,000 men.^ Both totals are stated in round numbers. The English Treasury remitted £150,000 monthly, and the Marquis of Granby had additional power to raise money upon warrants, drawn on the Treasury, should circumstances require it. A tremendous dispute arose soon after Granby's arrival. Mr. ^lichael Hatton, Commissary-General in Germany, told Baron Mimchhausen that Prince Ferdinand's operations were being delayed by the Duke of Newcastle's dilatoriuess at the Treasury, which prevented the com- pletion of the magazines at Cassel, etc., without which the Army could not march. *^ Munchhausen laid this complaint before the King and Pitt, which incensed Newcastle to the verge of frenzy ; he being desperately jealous of Munchhausen, and afraid of him into the bargain. Newcastle fell upon the Commissary-General tooth and nail. Everybody's wig was on the green both in England and Hanover, ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 206, 210, 211. 2 " Prince Ferdinand will be in raptures with the fine reinforcements you send him " (May 13, 1760, General Yorke to Duke of Newcastle). Major-General Griffin was afterwards fourth Baron Howard de Walden, and tirst Baron Braybrooke. ^ Newcastle Papers. ^ " History of Frederick II. of Prussia." * A return of the French Army in June, 1760, nuido out in French, probably copied from captured papers, represents it as numbering — 97,315 on the Upper Rhine — i.e. De Broglie and 30,560 „ Lower „ ,, St. Germain 1 27,875 (Newcastle Papers). « Newcastle Papers, April 25, 1760 ; May 2, 1760 ; Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 206, 208, 210. 124 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [176c. excepting Granby's ; and that for the good reason that he never wore one, and always maintained his coolness and fairness on such occasions. Notwithstanding his advice, and tactful intervention, Newcastle succeeded in inflaming the King : Hatton was to be recalled — " he must forgive the Lords of the Treasury if, in an affair of such expence, they had more confidence in the Marquis of Granby, General and Commander- in-Chief, than in a Mr. Hatton ! " Granby was " to ascertain the facts ; " " undeceive Prince Ferdi- nand ; " " justify the Duke of Newcastle ; " but above all " to avoid offending Miinchhausen." The air was full of hurtling vituperations concerning " the uitolerable plague of this fellow Hatton." ^ " My good friend ^ Mr. Pitt is not always proof against such insinuations as have come from Hatton," wrote Newcastle, nervously, to Granby. During his long correspondence and political relations with the Marquis, Newcastle never learnt that Granby's ideas of justice were not modified to suit circumstances. For Baron Mtinchhausen's favours, or for Newcastle's private spites, Granby did not care so much as was conveyed in the Duke of Wellington's favourite expression of contempt — " a twopenny damn." In January, 1759, he had already defended Mr. Hatton, whom, with customary self-effacement. Lord Granby had represented as deserving any credit due for the safe disembarkation of the British troops ; and Hatton was pronounced from other quarters^ to be an honest man, and an able officer. At the outset of this altercation Lord Granby^ was in bed at Paderborn with a violent fever — being bled, of course ; and his letters were written by the Rev. Bennet Storer. Storer wrote again from Osnabrtick. Lord Granby's fever had been — " very smart, attended with violent pains in all his limbs and an inflam- mation on his breast for which — and for the third time, he had been plentifully blooded." In May, 1760, the troops were beginning to move towards Fritzlar, but his Lordship could not accompany them. In spite of his illness Granby did what he could for Hatton, in whom he had complete confidence, and who was most laborious.^ In the end Newcastle, in a fine Pharisaical spirit, said "he ' Newcastle Papers. 2 i^id., April 29, 1760. 3 Kutland MSS., May 21, 1760: Letters from Mr. Orby Hunter. * Newcastle Papers. ^ Ibid., May 27, 1760. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 1 25 thanked Grod he could forgive : " if Hatton was agreeable to Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby, (hey could employ him ; but Newcastle refused to have anything to do with him personally. ^ One temporary advantage accrued to G-ranby through Newcastle's determination to humiliate Hatton, though the Commissariat in the end very much suffered. It was determined at home to send out Colonel Pierson^ to relieve Lord Granby of the responsibilities of the Commissariat Department. Pierson was, of course, subordinate to Lord Granby's orders,^ but he was put over the heads of the civilian commissaries — Hatton to boot.* Granby had already stated the utter inability of the General commanding to see to the mimdm of supply. He was on horseback, often from break of day till night, engaged in his purely military duties, and on regaining his quarters all remaining time was absorbed in necessary correspondence with Tjords Holdernesse, Ligonier, and Barrington. Newcastle's nervous temperament was further wi'ought upon by Granby's illness — My dear Lord, you must take care of y' self for the service of the public ; in our present circumstances your absence for one day is a loss. . . . For God's sake don't throw yourself away, which you will do by going out too soon. The King, the Public, and your friends want you." * Newcastle, further, enjoined Granby to postpone the society of " his jolly companions " until the campaign was closed by the winter. When convalescent, Granby wrote, from Paderborn,'^ his first letter to the Duke of Newcastle, which bears traces of great weak- ness. He had been excessively ill, and " blooded " four times ; the fever was still upon him, and his uneasiness at this enforced inaction was increased by the Duke's letters. The troops were marching on that day ; but, under doctors' orders, and the Prince's positive injunctions to obey them, Granby was remaining another day or two at Paderborn, but firmly resolved to arrive at Fritzlar in time to see the troops march in. His eventual quarters at Fritzlar were two miles distant from Prince Ferdinand's, and he wrote to the Duke — » See p. 202. 2 Foot Guards. ^ The Treasury desired that upon some points Lord Granby should maintain his supreme authority, especially in regard to the Secret Service Fund of £1000 per month. — Newciistle Papers. * Prince Ferdinand's anxieties about the Commissariat gave rise to the following : " Le Prince Ferdinand s9ait qu'il faut mener le Soldat Anglais k Tenuemi pendant qu'il a encore la pii^ce de Roost-B€ef dans I'estomac " (Le Courier, Juin G, 1760). ^ Newcastle Papers, May (J, 1760. « Ibid., May 14, 1760. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. 1 assure you I am a very obedient patient to the physicians ; at the same time I assure y' Grace that my Fever was not in the least owing to any irregularities, and my dear Duke of Newcastle may likewise be assured that I will not let ' my jolly companions ' (that I think y"" Grace calls them in one of your letters) occasion a return of my old Fever or create a new one. The great obligations I owe His Majesty will insure my not doing anything that may possibly put it out of my power of doing my duty. ... I have lately got a commission in the Inniskillings for Cornet Turton, who is now in my Family.^ . . . Nothing can make me so happy as that my friend Colonel Pierson should come over to me." The better news of Granby's health conveyed much relief to Newcastle and the King, "who had been in greatest pain about him." 2 " The King is extremely pleased with you, and has desired the Duke of Rutland to tell you to have your letters wrote in a larger hand, and blacker ink ; ^ and I have given Thoroton a specimen. I desire those to me may be in Turton's or Storer's hand, and a little blacker." Thoroton had meantime been sending equally anxious inquiries on behalf of the Eutland family : — "Lord Robert Sutton is labouring most assiduously to complete your Light Dragoons. The Regiment is half complete, and the men are all most extraordinarily fine. . . . The King yesterday put an end to the Session of Parliament, and the Town empties apace." * In pursuance of an inquiry of the King's respecting " the Royal Forresters," Thoroton sent the following memorandum to the Duke of Newcastle : — " Lord Granby's Light Dragoons — 230 strong ; not a man under 5.5| ; near 300 horses, none under 14 hands, and the greater part above 15 hands." Colonel Pierson arrived in Germany, and Thoroton ^ told Granby that his friends at home were much pleased that his lordship, by this change, was relieved of all troubles and vexations arising from Army accounts, and Treasury details. Granby assured Newcastle that Prince Ferdinand fully confided in his Grace's zeal for the cause, and hoped for speedy successes which would soon dispel all memory of the late worries ; the magazine at Cassel was fast being completed to two millions of rations.^ 1 " Family " signified personal Staff. 2 Newcastle Papers, May 20-27, 1760. 3 Both George II. and George III. were very particular about the cahgraphy and style of official correspondence. * Rutland MSB., vol. ii. pp. 210, 211 : Thoroton to Granbv. 5 Ibid., May 30, 17G0. « Newcastle Papers, May 23, 1760. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 127 Colonel Pierson's hand first appears June 5, 1700,^ in a letter from Fritzlar camp : — " Lord Granby is perfectly well, and as much beloved as he deserves. The Duke's 2 expression of him to me, amongst other compliments, was, ' QviHl avail surement la 'plus helle dme du monde.^ " Directly following upon Lord Granby's recovery came another announcement of sorrow to him, and his family. The London Ghronicle's report of the event ran — "On Monday, 2 June, 1760, died at his grandmother's, the Duchess of Somerset, in Hill S*, after eating a hearty dinner, the Hon. Lord Roos, eldest son of the Marquis of Granby." In a somewhat querulous letter, complaining of the non-receipt of news from Germany, the Duke of Newcastle wrote — " I don't mention the last loss in your family. I pray God preserve yon the two charming boys which are left." Lord Granby's reply is missing, but he acknowledged a very kind letter of condolence from Lord Holdernesse, saying he "should always remember it as a mark of his Lordship's friendship." ^ England having no more fears of invasion, the King announced his intention of sending to Germany " Hony wood's " (the 4th Horse), and " Elliot's," cavalry Regiments, under General Elliot.^ " Elliot's Light Horse" (now the 15th, King's, Hussars) had been quite recently embodied, light cavalry having been during a consider- able time out of vogue in the British Army.'' A light troop only had been latterly attached to certain heavy dragoon regiments, but the services of " Kingston's Light Horse " during the " Forty- Five," and the "Duke of Camberland's Dragoons" during the Flanders Campaign of 1747, had proved the efficacy of this arm. "Elliot's" was a sort of lineal descendant of both of the above regiments ; it was recruited from a superior class of man to that ordinarily available, and, strange to say, included a large body of ^i-devant tailors."^ A Gazette to it as "the loth Dragoons, * Newcastle Papers. - Prince Ferdinand, ' Newcastle Papers, June 10, 17G0. * Foreign Office Papers (Record Office), June 14, 17G0. ' Foreign Office Papers (Record Office); Newcastle Papers. Jnlv 22. 17G0 ; Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 219, 220. ® R. Cannon's " Historical Records of the British Army.'' ' A number of journeymen tailors and clothiers, who had come to London to petition Parliament to redress some grievance, enlisted in Elliot's." Charles Lamb refers to this in his Essay on " the Melancholy of Tailors " : Valiant I know they can be," etc. General Elliot was later created Lord Heathfield. and a portrait of him as Governor of Gibraltar, by Reynolds, is in the National Gallery. 128 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. late Cumberland's broken," and it was the first of the resuscitated light dragoon regiments of which Lord Granby's, the 21st, formed one. Granby was delighted to hear of this reinforcement and of General Elliot's appointment : — " I am sorry," he wrote, " my Regiment is not ready ; but I hope as soon as it is that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to add one more Favour to the many His Majesty has already bestowed on me by indulging my Brother with an opportunity, at the head of my Regiment, of shoAving his Zeal for His Majesty's service here in Germany." ^ The Newcastle Papers at this date contain many allusions to the Commissariat difficulties, concerning which Horace Walpole has furnished a comparison between Lords Granby and George Sackville. Commissariat details are not interesting enough to be dealt with exhaustively, but it is necessary to notice Walpole's assertion in reference to them that — " Lord Granby was tractable, unsuspicious, and not likely to pry into the amazing impositions of the German agents which Lord George had insultingly let Prince Ferdinand see had not escaped his attention." 2 Unsuspicious Lord Granby undoubtedly was — it is a common practice of men of single-hearted purpose and lofty sense of honour to attribute corresponding integrity to those with whom they are brought in contact ; and they usually suffer for it. But that Granby was tractable, or likely to tamely submit to "amazing impositions," would scarcely have been asserted had Walpole been able to examine the Duke of Newcastle's correspondence, which is now public property. That he was specially well fitted to cope with contracts, and the contractors — mostly Jews — who submitted them, would be foolish to assert ; but, that he worked assiduously and conscientiously to safeguard the public interests is proved.^ And his endeavours were maintained in face of Newcastle's repeated injunctions to "have done with the Hanover Chancellerie," and of the King's evident wish that the expenditure should be controlled by the Hanoverian officials and Prince Ferdinand alone. Soon after returning (with his " full powers "), Lord Granby was apostrophized by the Duke of Newcastle for having refused to draw for some forage accounts : — * * Newcastle Papers, June 14, 1760. 2 " Memoirs of the Reign of George H." 2 See Granby's letter (p. 179), in which he alludes to the hesitation he was held to have shown about drawing for money. * Newcastle Papers, May 9, 1760, and ante, p. 121.. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 1 29 " Your Lordship had, has, and shall have, full power to grant warrants upon the Deputy Paymaster for any money you may think necessary for the Service of the Army ... for God's sake, my dear Lord, let us have no more doubt or difficulty on this point." Granby replied that, on the latter point, he had no doubts what- ever ; but the Chancellerie having submitted to him some old forage debts, he had flatly refused to pay them, as pertaining to a period before he held the command, and as having no claim upon his monthly remittance of £150,000. However, should the Treasury wish it, he would gradually discharge these debts out of any surplus he might find himself possessed of after providing for current needs. That influences were at work which Granby proved powerless to oppose there can be no question. As will be seen, no sooner had Colonel Pierson arrived as " Commissary General," than George IL insisted on his commanding the battalion of the 1st Foot Guards (in which regiment he was Major) ; and Prince Ferdinand attached him to his personal Staff. Pierson was too keen a soldier to resist these arrangements which absorbed all his time, and the Commissariat soon fell into a condition of hopeless confusion, and deadlock. 130 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. CHAPTER XIL The advance of the Allied Army, about May 5, 1760, into Hesse was effected under circumstances, roughly, as follows. General Sporcken was left with a detachment in the bishopric of Miinster to watch the approach from the Rhine of the French Army of Reserve under the Comte de St. Germain. The towns of Cassel, Dillenburg, Marburg, and Ziegenhayn were garrisoned by Prince Ferdinand, and General Imhoff was placed in advance upon the river Ohm, near Kirchain, to hold the passes of that river against the main French Army advancing from Frankfort under De Broglie. Lord Granby remained with Prince Ferdinand and the main Allied Army (from which Frederick the Great had recalled his detachment of Prussian Cavalry), which Ferdinand was now marching, by Fritzlar and Ziegenhayn, intending for the heights of Hombourg, near the river Ohm. The Duke of Newcastle, from the safe neighbourhood of Lincoln's Inn Fields, made light of the withdrawal of the Prussian contingent, and assured Granby the Allies must number 92,000 well- conditioned, well-supplied troops, which " should give a good account of the Enemy, with the Blessing of God." ^ The French main Army advanced northwards to Griinberg, and was reported to be in bad spirits notwithstanding its numerical superiority ; Marshal de Broglie declaring that he should endeavour not to survive a defeat.^ A mistaken movement on the part of General Imhoff ^ permitted De Broglie to cross the river Ohm, an advantage which gave the French the command of that river, the possession of Amoneburg and Marburg, and enabled them to occupy the heights of Hombourg, which Prince Ferdinand had not nearly reached. Ferdinand in consequence halted, retreated from Ziegen- hayn, and presently formed his camp at Sachsenhausen. At a Council of War held June 27, 1760, it was agreed to change the ^ Newcastle Papers, June 15, 1760. ^ Ibid., Letter of Major-General Yorke. ^ General Imhoff's instructions are stated to have been confusing, but Prince Ferdinand blamed him so relentlessly that Imhoff shortly afterwards resigned. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Infantry to the 1st Line of the Allied Army, and the Cavalry to the 2nd Line in consequence of the unfavourable nature of the country for Cavalry tactics. Lord Granby remained with the 1st Line. De Broglie was pressing on via Neustadt, Rosenthal, and Frankenberg to the Heights of Corbach which General Liickner was holding. The opposing armies were soon only divided by a march of about three hours, and Lord Granby described the Allies as " under arms every morning by daylight, the Infantry gaitered. Cavalry saddled and bridled, and Artillery horses harnessed, ready to march and form Line of Battle at the firing of 3 signal guns," ^ In the interim the Hereditary Prince had been detached on outpost and reconnoitring expeditions ; his command including two squadrons of the Scots Greys, and two of Mordaunt's." '■^ In an affair resulting from one of these, near Ziclbach, the Hereditary Prince owed his life to an act of chivalry on the part of an officer of the French Cavalry Regiment of Berchiny which was badly cut up in the skirmish. The Frenchman had his pistol at the breast of the Prince whom he suddenly recognized by the ribbon of an Order, and he dropped his hand sooner than take the life of a man whose gallantry had won the hearts of the French armies.^ In another De Bauffrc- mont's Dragoons, under M. de Poyanne, were almost annihilated by " Liickner's Hussars," and the H7th (Keith's) Highlanders ''—the Highlanders returned to camp riding the captured French horses. Meanwhile the Comte de St. Germain with the French Army of Reserve was rapidly advancing from the Rhine towards Corbach, and, though Ferdinand's position at Sachsenhausen was intrinsically a strong one, it was in continual danger of being outflanked owing to the detached operations possible to De Broglie with his two armies, and his vast superiority in numbers. On the 10th of July the Hereditary Prince, with a mixed German and English force,^ was ordered from Sachsenhausen to Corbach, which St. Germain had occupied with his van-guard after driving out General Liickner's small detachment there. On the arrival of the Hereditary Prince, with whom were Major- Generals Griffin and Oheim, at Corbach, he is supposed to have ' Newcastle Papers, June 30, 17G0. - 10th Dragoons. ' Newcastle Papers, June 27, 17G0, Piersou to Newcastle. * The Highlanders had only just joined at Fritzlar and Zicgeuhayu ; they were known as the 87th and 88th Highland Volunteers— the 87th under Major Robert Murray Keith, the 88th under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell. " Twenty-one battalions and nineteen squadrons, among which were Carr's, Brudenell's, Hodgson's, Cornwallis' ; and three squadrons of Bland's Dragoons and two of Howard's, under Major-General Griffin. 132 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. under-estimated his opponents, and not to have realized the proximity of St. Germain's main army ; at any rate, he attacked with his customary dash, and a ridiculously inferior force. He soon found himself not only opposed by St. Germain in force, but threatened on his rear by reinforcements from De Broglie's army, which were moving to join St. Germain, on the heights of Corbach, from Frankenburg. Placing himself at the head of two squadrons, each, of Bland's and Howard's Dragoons, commanded by Major Mills and Lieut.- Colonel Moucher, the Hereditary Prince led an effective charge which enabled his Infantry to retire creditably ; but he lost nearly the w^hole of his right brigade of Artillery under Captain Charlton. Major-General Griffin eminently distinguished himself, both in the attack and retreat. The outposts of the camp at Sachsenhausen, where Lord Granby was in command during Prince Ferdinand's absence (who had moved to Wildungen with a large force), were threatened during this engagement, and Colonel Pierson described Granby's mortification at hearing the cannonade while not being able to stir to the Hereditary Prince's assistance ; and Granby apologized to New- castle for a short account of this affair : " being much tired with having been on horseback since 2 in the morning, owing to several alarms on the outposts." ^ Prince Ferdinand returned to Sachsenhausen camp, recalling thither the Hereditary Prince ; and the latter's defeat, which entailed a loss of eight hundred killed and wounded, and eighteen pieces of cannon, decided George II. in sending to Germany one battalion of each of the three regiments of Foot Guards,^ which reinforcement sailed for the Weser, from the Nore, July 28, 1760, under the command of Major-General Julius Caesar.^ An attempt of De Broglie's on Fritzlar was repulsed without loss to the Allies, except a serious personal one to Lord Granby. The French Hussars captured sixteen of his horses, turned out to grass, together with two which Lord Fitzmaurice had procured from England as an intended present to Marshal de Broglie.* It would be interesting to know whether his just share of this loot ever reached the Marshal. On the 14th of July the Hereditary Prince avenged his repulse 1 Foreign Office Papers, July 14, 1760 ; Kutland MSS., July 14, 1760 ; New- castle Papers, July 12, 1760. 2 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 220, 221. 3 Died in Germany from the effects of a fall from his horse in 1762. Newcastle Papers, July 4, 1760. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. of Corbach. He was sent south, on a secret expedition, to dislodge General Glaubitz who was maintaining the communications between Amoneburg and Marburg (from whence De Broglie was drawing his supplies), and with whom he came on terms near Emsdorff. Glaabitz's force consisted of five battalions of Infantry, the Berchiny Hussars, and some Chasseurs ; his principal camp was behind the village of Exdorff, his right lying towards Allendorff, his left at Emsdorff. The Hereditary Prince commanded six battalions of German Infantry, and Liickner's Hussars.^ " Elliot's Light Horse," which were nearing the Allied head-quarters after their long march from the coast, were ordered to proceed to a given remJczvom where they should join the expedition. General Elliot and Lord Pembroke (the Colonel and Lieut.-Colonel) had already left the regiment for head-quarters, and it was commanded by Major "William Erskine. Having arrived near Exdorff, after a march considerably delayed by the great heat of the weather, the Hereditary Prince sent his Infantry (tlie men stripped to their waistcoats) to get round the Enemy's Left. Upon the firing of a signal gun by the Infantry, the Cavalry, led by the Hereditary Prince, attacked the front at a gallop, upon which Glaubitz's Cavalry, taken unawares, retreated towards Kirchain, leaving the Infantry to follow as best they could. Liickner now made for the camp at Exdorff ; ^ but Major Erskine, leaving Exdorff on his right, pursued the French Cavalry, and formed on the heights between Kirchain and Langstein, thus cutting off the retreat of the Infantry. Erskine then sent detachments to chase the straggling bodies of Hussars who were crossing over the river Ohm for Amoneburg on the further bank. About sixty or seventy of the fugitives were captured. Meanwhile, the French Infantry finding their retreat by Kirchain cut off by " Elliot's," made for Amoneburg by way of the bridge called the Briicker-Miihl (which became so famous as the last scene of the war in 1702). The Hereditary Prince's Infantry and Liickner's Hussars '^ were following the French ' " Liickner's Hussars " (a Free Corps) were formed in 1757 by Oberstwachtmeister Nicolaus V. Liickner. and disbanded after the Peace of Hubertsburg. They wore a white uniform, trimmed with gold braid ; and a gold-laced, scarlet pelisse edged with black fur. The busby was ])lack. with a scarlet busby-bag. Sabretache and shabraque were both scarlet, trinnned with gold lace, and bearing the White Horse of Hanover sunnounted by a crown. — " Uuiformenkunde " (Richard Knotel), IV. Band, No. 24. Lord Pembroke wrote : " Those rogues of Hussars ran at once for plunder into the enemy's camp, and, without striking one blow or firing a single shot, got every- thing, became rich, and doubtless will be soon all barons." — Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XIL App. pt. 10. See Additional MSS., 28551-3, British Museum. 134 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. and firing on their rear ; but, for the moment, both horses and men of " Elliot's " were too blown after their exertions to charge. The Hereditary Prince rode up to them, thanking them for their brilliant conduct, and placing himself at the head of the regiment, asked them to make one more effort against the still retreating French Infantry, which could now be seen marching in one column, headed by their Grenadiers, for Nieder-Klein. " Elliot's" answered gallantly to the Prince's call, and approached the French column, forming in four squadrons on its right flank ; when within some thirty paces of them the French faced about, and poured a withering fire into the Light Horse, who charged with two squadrons on the French centre, and one on each wing. The wings were broken, but the stronger centre offered more resistance, until, discharging their carbines almost in the enemies' faces, " Elliot's " rode clean through their ranks. About 400 or 500 of the French surrendered, while the rest continued a broken retreat, this time making for a wood on the road to Hombourg (on the Ohm). Major Erskine again advanced on either flank of the French who, as he was preparing to charge, beat a parley and, to the number of 1655, laid down their arms. Griaubitz himself was taken with all his tents, and nine cannon. The casualties on the Prince's side were very serious : he him- self was wounded in the shoulder, and Elhot's Light Horse, which went into action 450 strong, lost in killed and wounded 4 officers, 125 men, and 168 horses^ — a grim baptism of fire, the memory of which is perpetuated by the word " Emsdorff " on their kettledrum- banners, and on the officers' full-dress pouches and sabretaches. As a record of a first service by a new regiment this is hard to beat. The ground covered between the first attack and the point of the sur- render extended over six miles, and the prisoners taken by " Elliot's " amounted to more than four times the total of their own strength.^ Marshal de Broglie sent his own surgeon to assist attending the Hereditary Prince, on his return to Kalle camp, who enthusiastically exclaimed to Prince Ferdinand — "Les Anglais ont fait des mer- veilles!"3 Lord G-ranby wrote to the Duke of Newcastle a high encomium ^ Captain- Lieut. Basil, and Cornet Burd, of " Elliot's," were killed. Of Cornet John Floyd Lord Pembroke wrote : " Little Floyd whom you have seen at my house, just past 12 years old, behaved most gallantly, which I was very glad of. I could only have wished he had not had his horse shot under him, for it was an exceeding pretty one I had lent him." — Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XXL App. pt. 10. 2 References : Additional MSS., 28551-3 ; Foreign Office Papers (Record Office), Granby to Holdernesse, Secretary of State. ^ Newcastle Papers, July 17, 1760. Helmet issued to Elliot's Light Horse after the Seven Years' War, and bearing the inscription : " Five Battalions of French defeated and taken by this regiment with their colours and nine pieces of cannon on the plains of Emsdorf July the sixteenth 1760." Facsimile of a sketch by Captain L. Kennard, 15th Hussars, of the specimen belonging to the Officers' Mess of that Regiment, formerly " Elliot's." i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 135 on these exploits of Elliot's Regiment, and eagerly repeated his request that his own Regiment might be sent out : " Send us the * Royal Forresters,' I'll answer for them that they will do themselves the honour of showing their zeal for His Majesty's service." ^ The Hereditary Prince's wound proved to be trivial ; his complete recovery was shortly afterwards commented upon in a letter to Granby from one of the Secretaries of State,^ and the Prince was able to play an important part in the last of the three actions belonging to this group of operations. De Broglie's and St. Germain's armies were now joined at Corbach, where, finding that he was to act subordinately to De Broglie, St. Germain (who was De Broglie's senior) retired from his command,^ which devolved upon the Chevalier de Muy.'* The Chevalier de Muy was ordered, with the French Army of Reserve, to the river Dymel, which he crossed, and presently encamped with his Right at Warburg, and his Left on the heights of Ossen- dorf, his army being between 25,000 and 30,000 strong. Marshal de Broglie remained at Corbach, and Prince Ferdinand's position at Sachsenhausen became every day more critical.^ His flanks were, both right and left, incessantly harassed by De Broglie, whilst De Muy's advance to Warburg threatened his communications with Westphalia and Hanover. He resolved upon a retreat towards Cassel, which he effected on the night of July 24-25, Lord Granby commanding the rear-guard with Major-Generals Schliiter, Griffin, Honywood, and ElHot. The Allied Army accomplished its retreat, unmolested, by the heights of Freienbergen, to the plain of Kalle, ten miles north-west of Cassel, where it encamped ; the Hereditary Prince continuing on to Wilhelmsthal. The restless manoeuvres entailed upon the Allied Army at Sach- senhausen had proved very wearing to both men and officers ; and after its retreat to Kalle camp. Lord Pembroke, Lieut.-Colonel of Elliot's Light Horse, wrote that, were it not for their confidence in the extraordinary ability of Prince Ferdinand, they should consider ' Newcastle Papers, July 19, 1760. 2 Holdernesse.— Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 221. ' " St. Germain has left the French Army in a pet with Broglie, which we are not sorry for, though we have a miracle at our head, for he was clever — consequently troublesome."— Earl Pembroke to Lord Charlemont, July 16, 1700 (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. pt. 10). * The Duke of Wm-temburg, about this period, withdrew with his 10,000 men to Saxony to take part in the Austrian section of the war. ^ The armies were so close to one another that " the advanced posts heard one another's conversations." — P]arl of Pembroke to Lord Charlemont, July 16, 1760 (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. pt. 10). 136 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. themselves in a very serious strait, threatened on all sides as they were by — " De Broglie with an incredible mob full double ours, whatever political falsifiers might say in England. . . . We have too many perpetual rouses for correspondence, and very little rest or belly-provender in return ... for never poor devils lived harder, or earned their pay more than we all do . . . lying on one's arm night after night in damned bad weather, sleeping and starving au Bivouac, or on a stone under a hedge. Notwithstanding all this, as poor beggars generally are, we are vastly jolly and happy." ^ Lord Pembroke had been recently appointed Lieut.-Colonel of Elliot's Horse from the 1st Foot Guards, but was scarcely associated with the exploits of the former regiment, as, immediately after arrival in Germany, he was given the command of a Cavalry brigade, con- sisting of the Scots Greys, Cope's, and Ancram's, acting as a Major- General. As he said, " I had the misfortune not to be then with, or see, our friends (Elliot's Light Horse) make so excellent a beginning." ^ Prince Ferdinand's aim was, with Cassel in his rear, to cover Hesse and keep the river Dymel open, upon which depended his communica- tions with the bishoprics of Mtinster, Paderborn, and Osnabriick. He is assumed to have intended to cut off the Chevalier de Muy on the Dymel, whilst maintaining the appearance of remaining in force before Cassel.^ But this scheme, threatened as the Right of the Allied Army was by De Broglie, and its Left by Prince Xavier (the Comte de Lusace), prompted a prophecy on the part of Major-General Yorke, Minister at the Hague, which was fulfilled to the letter. Yorke assured the Duke of Newcastle that the crossing of the Dymel, as Prince Ferdinand apparently intended doing, must involve the loss of Cassel.* Ferdinand left Generals Liickner and Count Kilmansegge to cover Cassel, instructing them to retire upon Miinden if attacked in too superior force. General Sporcken's Hanoverian Corps, which had rejoined the main Allied Army, was ordered to Liebenau, on the Dymel, followed by the Hereditary Prince with the British Legion,^ two battalions of British Grenadiers,^ under Maxwell, the Highlanders, and four squadrons of "Cope's" and "Conway's" Dragoons. Chance, in the shape of a dense fog, favoured these > July 28-29, 1760, to Lord Charlemont (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. pt. 10). 2 Ibid. 3 Additional MSS., 28551-3, British Museum. * Newcastle Papers. ^ The British Legion must not be supposed to have consisted of Englishmen ; on the contrary, it comprised Continental nationalities of all sorts. ^ The Grenadier companies of several regiments were formed into a battalion under Major Maxwell; later, another battalion was similarly formed. They are often alluded to as the British Grenadiers, and must not be confounded with the 1st Foot Guards. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. movements on the morning of July 29, 1760, as the troops crossed the Dymel, and formed between Liebenau and Korbeke. Prince Ferdinand marched from Kalle camp at eleven at night, Lord Granby leading the Right Wing, consisting of the British Cavalry and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Brigades of Artillery : they likewise crossed the Dymel, and the whole finally formed on the heights above Korbeke at 5 a.m., July 31. The Hereditary Prince and Sporcken were then instructed to advance by Dinckelburg, with their Left towards Dossel, to turn De Muy's Left at Ossendorf. The Allies were again assisted by a thick fog, under cover of which this corps left its camp and USzlkerd-Boutallsc. gained a valley, along which its advance was unperceived by De Muy until it suddenly debouched upon him at about 11 a.m.^ Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby followed with the Main Army — Ijord Granby still remaining with the 1st Line — the English Cavalry being led by General Mostyn, in the 2nd Line. The preliminary attack was successful, even to prematurity, upon De Muy's Left, which began to collapse upon his Centre and Right ; but Prince Ferdinand was still some five miles distant from Warburg. Ferdinand remained with the Infantry, which made dogged efforts to get up in time, and detached Lord Granby with the British Cavalry and Artillery. Granby took on the Cavalry at a full trot * De Rochambeau's Memoirs. 138 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. over the intervening five miles. Arrived at a point called Meine, he formed in line of battle, the Enemy commencing to waver as soon as Granby's Cavalry appeared, and which soon decided the day. The French rapidly broke before successive charges ; Granby, at the head of the Blues, personally breaking the French Hues three times. A fine effort was made on the part of three French squadrons, which rallied and took "Bland's" regiment in flank, but Lieut.-Colonel Johnston with one or two squadrons of the Blues rescued " Bland's," and what was left of the gallant French squadrons had to join the prevailing movement in the direction of the river Dymel. " Irish " Johnston ^ with " Conway's " took an entire regiment, with Major- General Sockman, prisoners ; the British Legion carried the town of Warburg, and a precipitate retreat of the Enemy commenced across the Dymel, in which many of the fugitives were drowned. An attempt at forming on the southern bank was disposed of by Captain Phillips with the English Heavy Artillery, and the Chevalier de Muy was soon in full flight towards Wilda and Yolksmissen, thus escaping Prince Ferdinand's intention (of cutting him off from De Broglie), but signally defeated. Prince Ferdinand, and the main body of Infantry, did not arrive until the battle was over : he ordered Lord Granby to cross the Dymel, with 12 British battalions and 10 squadrons, in pursuit of De Muy, who continued his retreat towards "Wolfshangen. Granby bivouacked for the night at Wilda, and, on August 1, as Marshal de Broglie advanced in force from Corbach towards the Dymel, Granby rejoined the Main Army at Warburg. The main losses of the Battle of Warburg fell upon Maxwell's Grenadiers and the Highlanders, who shared the principal honours of the Hereditary Prince's attack. The Blues' loss was slight. Cornet Cheney and 6 non-com- missioned officers were wounded, 2 non-commissioned officers killed, 7 troopers taken prisoners, and 23 horses killed or missing. The Chevalier de Muy left 1500 on the field, besides 2000 prisoners, 10 pieces of cannon and his papers, of which a trophy remains, annexed to Prince Ferdinand's despatches,^ in the form of an envelope addressed to — Madame la Marechale Duchesse de Broglie, Place de Yendome, Paris. ^ Lieut.-Colonel James Johnston of the 1st Dragoons, not to be confounded vAith Lieut.-Colonel James Johnston of the Blues. 2 Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office). 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, Prince Ferdinand's object was gained of keeping open his com- munications with Westphah'a, and relieving Hanover from menace ; but his success was dearly bought. In his despatch he informed the King that " Mylord Granby a infiniment contribuc avec la Cavallerie Anglaise au succes de cette action ; " ^ and in his thanks, issued on August 1, 17G0, to the troops engaged at Warburg, His Serene Highness directed the same — " to be publicly given to Lord Granby, under whose orders all the British Cavalry performed prodigies of valour which they could not fail of doing having his Lordship at their head." The Prince also thanked the officers — " in particular Colonel Johnston,^ and the Family ' of Lord Granby, in par- ticular Captain Vaughan, as they continually attended Lord Granby in the diflFerent attacks of the Cavalry and executed his Lordship's orders in the most punctual manner." Colonel Pierson related how Prince Ferdinand received Lord Granby after the action."* The Prince thanked him for the many noble actions he had performed that day, saying that he had already formed and delivered his opinion of him, and was happy to see it verified. " I may speak of Lord Granby," wrote Pierson, " in a way he can't do of himself. There never could be a day more for the honour of the English Cavalry of which Lord Granby put himself at the head and charged in the manner that was always expected of him. Neither foot nor horse could stand against it, and a general confusion ensued as soon as they began to act. . . . Col. Clinton is very well, and Gen. I\Iostyn likewise who charged with the Cavalry." De Mauvillon,^ translated by Carlyle,® recorded that — "it was in this attack that Lord Granby, at the head of the Blues, had his hat blown off; a big bald circle in his head rendering the loss more conspicuous. But he never minded ; stormed still on, bare bald head among the helmets and sabres; and made it very evident that had he instead of Sackville led at Minden there had been a different story to tell. The English by their valour, and he, greatly distinguished themselves." A letter from the seat of war corroborates De Mauvillon in describing how Lord Granby personally broke the French lines three times bareheaded.' ' Foreign Office Papers (Record Office). - Probably Johnstou of the Blues. ' i.e. Staff. * Newcastle Papers, August 1-6, 1760. * "Geschichte Ferdinand's Herzog's von Braunschweig." " " History of Frederick II. of Prussia." ' London Chronicle^ August 19, 1760. 140 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. Jack Mostyn, nob long before Warburg, had been described as unwell from a cause so singular that Colonel Pierson could not help explaining it to the Duke of Newcastle as having arisen from " a cold caught the preceding Sunday ly going to church at Lord Granby's." ^ However, he was well enough on the eventful day, and assured the Duke of Newcastle that this time — "the British Cavalry were up time enough to decide the Success and share y^ Glory of y^ day. ... 2 We drove the enemy from Warburg quite over the Dymel."3 Mostyn wTote this August 1 — the same day that Lord Granby indited his despatch to Lord Holdernesse, to which particular attention is invited. Granby commenced — " It is with the greatest satisfaction that I have the honour of acquainting y" Lordship of the success of the Hereditary Prince yesterday morning. As Prince Ferdinand could not be mentioned as an actual participator in the fighting at Warburg, Granby began by crediting the success, in general, to the Hereditary Prince. His Lordship then furnished details which have already been blended, above, with those contained in Prince Ferdinand's despatches, etc., in the description of Warburg. He next proceeded to say some kind things of the Infantry which could not get up in time : — "Gen. Waldegrave, at the head of the British pressed their march as much as possible ; no troops could show more eagerness to get up than they showed. Many of the men, from the heat of the weather and overstraining themselves to get on through morassy and very difficult ground, suddenly dropped down on their march." ^ With the Cavalry fight Lord Granby thus dealt : — " General Mostyn, who was at the head of the British Cavalry that was formed on the right of our Infantry on the other side of a large wood, upon receiving the Duke's orders to come up with the Cavalry as fast as possible, made so much expedition — bringing them up at a full trot, tho' the distance was near 5 miles, that the British Cavalry had the happiness to arrive in time to share the glory of the day, having successively charged several times both the Enemy's Cavalry and Infantry. I should do injustice to the General officers, to every officer, and private man of the Cavalry if I did not beg your Lordship would assure His Majesty that nothing could exceed their gallant behaviour on that occasion." ^ ^ Newcastle Papers, July 19, 1760. ^ i^id., August 1, 1760. 3 " We saw our Cavalry drive the French pell mail thro* the Demyl."— Letter from Sir J. Innes Norcliffe of the Highlanders (MSS. of the Duke of Koxburghe). * Foreign Office Papers (Kecord Office), August 1, 1760, Granby to Holdernesse. 5 Ibid. ' Ibid. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 141 In other words, General Mostyn was, in effect, placed in Granby's own jack-boots, and awarded all the Warburg cavalry honours. In a private letter^ to the Duke of Newcastle Granby gave a similar account, and recommended the bearer, "Capt. Faucitt, my Aide de Camp, a very deserving, worthy Officer," to his Grace's notice. William Faucitt ^ had been A.D.C. to General Elliott, at whose death, after Minden, Faucitt was attached to Lord Granby's Staff. He was a most competent and intelligent soldier, possessed, among many accomplishments, of fluency in continental languages. On this occasion he carried all the despatches, and delighted George II. by describing the battle to His Majesty in the best of German. He was awarded £500, and allowed a few days' delay, before return- ing, in which to recover from severe bruises arising from the over- turning of a post-chaise during his journey. At a levee he was given, publicly, a gracious message from the King to the Marquis of Granby and all the troops engaged at Warburg. Unfeigned delight was felt by all, from the King and his Ministers to the crowds in the streets of London, at this wiping oat of the undeserved stain which had been cast upon the British Cavalry by Sackville's conduct, just a year previously, at Minden. Lord Holdernesse conveyed His Majesty's thanks and satisfaction to Granby and the British troops : — ^ " He is extremely pleased with your Lordship's behaviour in particular, and is persuaded your example will have greatly contributed to encourage others to signalize themselves as y"" Lordship has done very meritoriously yourself: for thougli you choose to be silent upon this occasion Prince Ferdinand has been careful to apprize the Kmg how much y' Lordship contributed to the success of the day." The Newcastle and Rutland Manuscripts contain many letters of congratulation from the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Holdernesse, Mr. Pitt, Lord Ligonier, Duke of Bedford, and the Solicitor-General, ' Newcastle Papers, August 1, 1760. Served during the " Forty-Five " iu General Oglethorpe's Regiment, and as a volunteer before Maestricht in 1747-8. In 1751 bought an Ensigncy iu the 3rd Foot Guards, and served through the Seven Years War, after which he was engaged upon many military missions to the Continent. In 1766 became Military Secretary to the Marquis of Granby when Commander-in-Chief. Adjutant-general, 1778. Knight of the Bath, 1786. Colonel of 3rd Dragoon Guards, 1792. General, 1796 ; and Governor of Chelsea Hospital. P. C, 1799. Died, 1804 ; and buried in the chapel in Chelsea Hospital. He changed the spelling of his name to Fawcett, and as Sir William Fawcett, K.B., was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds (exhibited 1895. Royal Academy Winter Exhibition). 3 Foreign Office Papers (Record Office), August 12, 1760. 142 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. who remarked that " the Cavalry were determined to have no more questions asked at a Court Martial ! " Newcastle wrote to the Duke of Rutland and to Lord Granby, assuring the latter that comparisons were being made by everybody between the behaviour of our Cavalry, and our General, this campaign and the last. " The modesty of your own relation, and the generosity with which you do justice to my friend Jack Mostyn charms everybody that reads your letter. . . . Faucitt, who seems a mighty pretty man, dined with me at Claremont yesterday and said the Blues behaved remarkably well." To Jack Mostyn the Duke of Newcastle also wrote concerning the fact of " that great, good man my Lord Granby " having given him all the credit, for which generosity Mostyn ought not to fail of showing his appreciation. His Grace need not have troubled himself : Granby and Mostyn understood one another too well for the one to require, or the other to proffer, any of the florid assurances of gratitude upon which Newcastle set so much store. Mostyn replied : — ^ " I hope your Grace will do me the justice to believe that no civility, no friendship of my Lord Granby's to me can be thrown away upon me, or that I can be such a wretch as to neglect any occasion of showing him how sensible I am of his goodness and friendship to me. ... I beg leave to assure your Grace that I am most sensible of y^ honour My Lord Granby does me, that I am happy in being under his command, and that I will miss no occasion of showing that I think myself so." The only person dissatisfied with Warburg, and Granby's conduct there, was (as usual) Walpole. One turns to his letters expecting to find an acquiescence, however reluctant, in the incontrovertible fact that Prince Ferdinand's estimate of Granby, expressed after Minden, had been verified to the letter. Walpole, on the contrary, wrote in his most waspish mood to Conway, ridiculing and deriding the battle, together with Prince Ferdinand, the Hereditary Prince, and Lieut.-Colonel Johnston of the Blues.^ "The Gazette swears this no-success ^ was chiefly owing to General Mostyn, and the Chronicle protests that it was achieved by Mylord Granby's losing his hat,* wMch he never wears, and then his lordship sends over for 300,000 pints of porter to drink his own health ! " ' Newcastle Papers, August 28, 1760. " Walpole's Letters, August 19, 1760. * Walpole wrote after it was known that Cassel was lost, a circumstance which, however serious, had no bearing upon the bravery of those who fought at Warburg. * See next chapter. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, Surely this was but poor fooling, and another notable instance of Walpole's bilious determination to admit no credit in the case of such as he disliked. A three-cornered hat made of beaver is not of the first consequence as a protection against cavalry sabres or infantry bullets, nor did the fact of Granby charging bareheaded in any way enhance his valour. If anything, it was a circumstance humorous rather than heroic, that his bald head at Warburg constituted itself a sort of " Helmet of Navarre," an " oriflamme " — a rallying-point. Nevertheless the incident pleased De Mauvillon (in our own day it obviously pleased Carlyle— no easy task), it pleased Sir Joshua Reynolds — not to mention the King, and the British public. But they were wrong, all of them ; the incident was fit only to be sneered at, and accordingly Walpole sneered his utmost. The humour of the " 300,000 pints of porter " is not traceable, unless to a gift of a butt of that liquor offered by Sir William Calvert— among the many presents sent out to Germany at the time — and which is mentioned in a letter of Mr. Thoroton's.^ One most serious modification there was of the victory ; for Major- General Yorke's prophecy proved true. While the French were being hurled back across the Dymel, Prince Xavier attacked General Kilmansegge, whom he far outnumbered : Kilmansegge was forced to retire, first upon Miinden, and then across the Weser ; and Cassel, with its immense magazines laboriously accumulated at enonnous expense, capitulated. Besides Munden, Comte de Stainville attacked the garrison, all composed of German troops, in Ziegenhayn : the gar- rison surrendered, after six days' siege, as prisoners of war, and Captain de Dcrenthal, A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand, was killed. Derenthal had been a witness at the Sackville Court Martial. Prince Ferdinand maintained silence concerning the principal disaster, possibly hoping first to win Cassel again. But Faucitt, either with or without instructions, told the Duke of Newcastle that, prior to despatching him, Lord Granby had said he believed Cassel to have fallen.^ Newcastle anxiously wrote for the real facts, saying, " Silence and mystery does great harm here ; " and he informed General Yorke that neither Prince Ferdinand, Granby, Mostyn, nor Pierson had alluded to a circumstance which " could not be indifferent to His Majesty's Ministers. Granby 's next letter contained no news of Cassel ; he wrote — ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 213, May 23, 17G0, to Lord Granby. Nevvcaatle Papers, " Memoranda for the King," August 12, 1760. 144 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. " The Commissariat is going well, but I am too hiirried to do otherwise than give it over to Pierson. Marches, alarms, etc., etc., drive the Commissariat business sometimes out of our heads or at least postpone our consultations . . . the best way, I believe, will be to drub the French in a decisive action (which it is said M. de Broglie has received orders from Versailles coMe quHl coMe to attempt) as we shall then have more leisure on our hands, at present I assure Grace I have no time to spare. I am just setting out to visit the posts being General of the day ; it is near 6 in the evening and by the Duke's permission I have preferred writing letters to dining with him, a strong proof of self-denial, as I have no objection to a good dinner when hungry, and hate writing at all times. Though the Enemy is so superior in numbers should they attempt a general action I hope to send y' Grace a good account, but I can't help saying I wish we had more troops." ^ The Guards and other reinforcements had not yet reached Lord Granby's army, which owing to much sickness was once more fast dwindling. The King again questioned the Duke of Newcastle ^ concerning Granby's " Royal Forresters," which His Majesty intended to despatch to Germany, and was informed that, though the regiment had reached the strength originally fixed, the "War Office had ordered an addition of ten men to each troop. Lord Ligonier ^ testified to the high commendations bestowed upon this regiment, which he and Lord Barrington quickly recognized as a happy recruiting-ground from which to detach drafts to the cavalry already serving in Germany. Granby's two requests that his army might be completed by the middle of September, and that his Regiment might be among the reinforcements, were neither complied with> Ligonier main- tained that considering the strain placed upon the British Army and the number of actions fought in all parts of the world, England might claim to be possessed of the finest body of troops in existence.^ The old Commander-in-Chief was very ill at this time and wrote to Granby — " 111 as I am, I cannot forbear representing to you, my dear Lord, what should be wrote in cyphers, that we have no more than 2 Reg*' of Cavalry, and those full of old men who, though they may serve a year or two longer here at home are by no means fit for a Campaign in Germany. The rest are boys, hardly able to manage their horses. The 8 Regiments of Foot, §rds of them recruits, if drafted will become entirely useless." ^ Dwelling upon the requirements for America, Guadeloupe, Africa, and for opposing a threatened project of the French in Scotland, ' Newcastle Papers, August 17, 1760. 2 Ibid., August 5, 1760. Ibid., August 22, 1760. " Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 224. ' Ibid., August 26, 1760. « See p. 209. MARQUIS OF GRANBY, Ligonier concluded : " Do, my dear Lord, consider our circum- stances, and say what you would do in our place." Mr. Pitt assured Lord Granby that his heart accompanied the momentous campaign, and that his concern was in proportion to the impossibiUty of supplying all that was needed : " May one happy day on the Dymel dissipate every cloud that for some time has hung somewhat heavily on the scene." ^ The Guards arrived in the Weser, and made most creditable marches. Colonel Pierson went three days' march out from camp to meet them, and reported them very tired after nine days' incessant movement. On their arrival at head-cjuarters they were paid the compliment of furnishing, daily, Prince Ferdinand's guard consisting of a Lieutenant, an Ensign, and fifty men.^ Several mails were captured at this time by either belligerent, which must account for the lack of intelligence which existed both in London and Germany. The King and Newcastle were intently awaiting the truth about Cassel ; the Duke begging to be told every- thing : " not secrets, but public occurrences." At last the murder was out ; despatches, and a belated letter from Colonel Pierson, announced that Cassel, with its immense stores, had fallen into the enemy's hands ; and Lord Granby ^ requested both the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Holderaesse to convey his gratitude to His Majesty for the messages with which Faucitt had returned. Granby assumed that the positions of the French Avere known from Marshal de Broglie's despatches which had been lately captured and forwarded to London. Prince Xavier's army was on the east side of the "VVeser, threatening to cross. Prince Ferdinand had honoured the Marquis by adding to his existing command that of the Reserve then encamped at Maurode consisting of the British Grenadiers, the Hanoverians, the Brunswickers, Imhoff's two Battalions, and five British Regiments of Cavalry. " Finer troops," declared Granby, " I believe never were, and, at the head of them, I should be very happy to receive a visit from the Enemy." * During this period of gloom which hung over St. James's and the river Dymel Jack Mostyn, as usual, provides a laugh — though this time at his own expense. Lord Granby received notice ^ that in recognition of his lordship's high praise of General Mostyn's conduct at Warburg, His Majesty had • Kutland MSS.. August 26, 17G0. 2 Newcastle Papers, August 11, 17. 20. 17G0. =^ Ibid., August 30, 17G0. * Newcastle Papers. * Ibid., August 5, 1760. 10 146 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. ordered Lord Ligonier to offer Mostyn the Colonelcy of " Cope's Regiment." Newcastle added that as this was entirely the King's own idea he thought Jack would do well to accept it ; and that the vacant Governorship of Limerick, though procurable, was not worth his having. Considering George II.'s interest, and proficiency, in Army matters this offer was almost inexplicable.^ It inflicted a hardship upon Mostyn, and placed him in a most trying dilemma ; for " Cope's " was inferior in rank to the Regiment he already com- manded. " Cope's," or the 7th Dragoons, was absent in Flanders during the " Forty-Five ; " but the term " Cope's dragoons " was associated with such as had done little at that period save exhibit a fine turn of speed in the opposite direction to the enemy. " Swifter than clouds before the wind Or Cope before the Highlanders " is a sample taken at hazard from the satires in prose and verse showered upon poor Sir John and the dragoons, which must in nowise be identified with the 7th Dragoons, who amply, and nobly, retrieved their Colonel's reputation by many a gallant charge in the German War. Mostyn wrote to Newcastle dutifully acknowledging the King's " kindness," and plaintively saying— " My Regiment is a Royal one of 3 Squadrons, and y^ b^^ in rank ; whereas ' Cope's ' is not Royal, of 2 Squadrons and 7"' in rank. I am tumbled from a Royal Regiment to a Plebyan one : I lose my bit of Blue. Jemmy Brudenel will sing your Grace y^ song ' Oh^ my hit of Blue / ' " 3 Mostyn's own wish was to wait for " Bland's " Regiment, the 1st, King's, Dragoon Guards, which his brother-officers all considered was his due so soon as old General Bland should die. A highly official reply was despatched to the Secretary at War by Mostyn, after which he took steps to ensure its being seen by the King by privately asking Colonel Pierson to press the Duke of Newcastle to bring about that result — "You may tell his Grace," said Mostyn to Pierson, "that I wrote that letter in a large black Munickhausen * hand on purpose that y' King should read it : you may tell him too that I wish Cope, his Regiment, and Limerick all at y^ Devil ! " * On one occasion George ll. said he " would never lose a very good Officer of Foot by making him a very bad Officer of Cavahy " (Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 227, Ligonier to Granby). 2 Poems of Sir C. H. Williams, " Ode to Philip Yorke." 3 Newcastle Papers, August 17-18, 1760. * i.e. Miinchhausen. See note on p. 126. MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. CHAPTER XIII. Personal description of a famous man at his most typical period is usually found at the commencement, or the end, of his biography. In neither place does it read most appositely. Coupled with his youth- ful doings it is anticipative— premature ; and, deferred till after the chill record of his death, it comes too late to supply the requisite blending of his physical and moral attributes, except in a retrospect which not one in fifty readers is at the pains of making. An appropriate background for a written portrayal of the Marquis of Granby is supplied by the Warburg episode which saw him approaching the zenith of his popularity, and influenced some of Sir Joshua Reynolds' portraits of him. Possessed of great physical strength, tall, of robustly handsome and commanding proportions, fair of complexion, and with an abun- dance of bright healthy colouring, Lord Granby was an embodiment of precisely those characteristics which it pleases us as a nation, while it harms no other, to claim as exclusively English. His features, though far from being classical, were well propor- tioned, manly —generous superlatively. They were instinct with the lovable qualities which endeared him to all classes at home, to the polyglot ranks of the Allied Army, and even to his professional enemies the French commanders. What hair remained to him was crisply curly, and of the half-way shade which comes to most originally fair-headed men as years accu- mulate. Granby was bald at the premature age of twenty -four, and the circumstance was rendered doubly notable by his habit of appearing wigless, and, whenever possible, hatless at an epoch when men (though frequently carrying their hats under the arm) invariably wore wigs, or, if they possessed enough, their own hair, elaborately dressed en perrvque ; but never exposed their cranial nudity with the crade stark- ness of modern custom. The older men, such as his father the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Chesterfield, etc., still wore long curled wigs 148 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, descending to their shoulders, but the size was gradually diminished. By 1765 so many men had taken to wearing their own hair, curled in rolls at the side and tied at the back, that the master-peruke- makers petitioned the King's most excellent Majesty to discountenance the " mode of fashion which so generally prevails of men in almost all stations wearing their own hair," thereby endangering the trade of the " peruke-makers, hair-manufacturers, ribbon-weavers, cawl-makers, etc." This was " Protection " with a vengeance. Hence it may readily be grasped that Lord Granby's peculiarity which, in his portraits, scarcely even attracts our attention, rendered him a conspicuous figure, in or out of doors ; and the close-shaven fashion of the day increased in him a smooth, bare appearance which contemporary testimony ^ tells us became him by accentuating the fresh texture of his complexion, and the open sincerity of his expression. That he was no " beauty " man, dear to a certain sticky school of liction, will be evident if the foregoing words have achieved their main intention. The charm of his personality was due to the masculine, almost heroic, mould in which it was cast ; to kindly, gracious manners ; and to the unconscious nobility of his presence — to the rare circumstance, in short, of physically looking all that his most enthusiastic admirers held him morally to be. No man, we are assured, can be a hero to his valet ; but that exacting critic might, haply, have admitted some claim, on Lord G-ranby's part, to the appellation. Of portraits and presentments of the Marquis there is a consider- able abundance, in spite of the irreparable losses caused by the fire at Bel voir Castle in 1816. Two crayon heads executed soon after he left Cambridge are at Belvoir : one is inscribed with the words " Le Marquis de Granby, peint a Konstantinople par Liotard, 1740," and was referred to pre- viously in relation to his Eastern travels. At Audley End Lord Braybrooke possesses a large full-length portrait of Granby by Allan Ramsay, painted, according to a Catalogue of 1797, before the Marquis entered the Army — this would fix its date between 1742-5 unless it was painted by Ramsay while studying in Italy, and during Lord Granby's tour.^ 1 H. Walpole's. 2 This portrait was painted originally for John Dodd, Esq., of Swallowfield, M.P. for Beading, at whose death it was bought by Richard Aldworth Neville, Esq., of Billingbere, who succeeded to the Audley End estates as second Baron Bray- brooke (Catalogue of pictures at Audley End ; and a MS. catalogue of pictures, in the British Museum, which mentions this picture as being at Billingbere in 1797). MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 149 At this early age Granby's forehead is represented as already growing very high. His hair is light, his complexion florid, and his tall athletic figure suggestive of unmistakable health and activity. He is dressed in a long dark blue velvet coat, a white waistcoat, and scarlet breeches ; a white cravat, and lace ruffles, encircle his neck and wrists. His left hand rests on an extremely long walking-cane, and his cocked hat is carried under the arm.^ A cameo-portrait, beautifully modelled in wax, comes next in chronological sequence, having been executed in 174G, just after the suppression of the Rebellion of the " Forty-Five." Though only twenty-four years of age, the Marquis is represented quite as bald as in the painted portraits of some twenty years later. About twelve years after the Rebellion Sir Joshua Reynolds commenced the first of his well-known portraits of Lord Granby simultaneously with England's implication in the Seven Years War. Eight portraits by Sir Joshua stand upon record, and, of these eight, five remain ; two having been burnt, among nineteen other " Sir Joshuas," in the calamitous Belvoir fire, and a third at Messrs. Graves' Gallery in 1867.'-^ Besides these five, many replicas of them emanating from Reynolds' studio are in existence, to say nothing of copies. Mr. Carlyle,^ in allusion to the Marquis of Granby's hatless charges at the Battle of Warburg, says that " the excellent Reynolds " painted him " bare and bald " solely in allusion to that engagement. This statement loses point from the circumstance that, with the exception of one of the burnt portraits (of which nothing can be asserted, since no record of its details survives, apparently), aU Reynolds' pictures represent Granby not only l)areheaded, but no hat appears in any of them, even as a detail of composition. Sir Joshua's pocket-books show that the ^lanpiis "sat" for two of them in 1758 and early in 17G0, before Warburg was fought or dreamt of ; so it is plain that Granby's well-known contempt of wigs and hats influenced Reynolds before the date of the Warburg story, though the latter beyond doubt afterwards confirmed him in the idea, and more emphatically removed all raisoii d'etre for any headgear in the subsequent portraits. The 1760 portrait represents Granby three-quarter length in * " Do not some of us strut about with walking-sticks as long as leaping-poles, . . . the beaux of St. James's wear their Hats under their arms" (Malcolm's Anecdotes of London, " The History of the Fashions," vol. ii. pp. 338-346). 2 See List in Nichol's " Leicestershire," and the " History of Belvoir Castle " (Eller). ^ " History of Frederick II. of Prussia." LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, figure, and almost in profile as to the head. With his back to a column he stands with the right shoulder thrown well forward, the right hand resting on the basket-hilt of his sword, and the left in his sash. In its best examples this is by far the most typical like- ness of the Marquis among the existing portraits by Sir Joshua. Vigorously firm in pose, and instinct with energy and purpose, it best accords with the written testimonies to Granby's appearance, and character. It was finely reproduced in mezzotint by Richard Houston in 1760, and the wide contemporary popularity accorded to that print endorses the above opinion. But purely as a picture, for grandeur of conception and com- position, the portrait which Reynolds exhibited in the year 1766, under the description of " A General Officer, whole length," ^ should be awarded the place of honour. It represents Granby after he became Commander-in-Chief. Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Horace Walpole, both recorded the remark that the above picture was painted for the Marechal de Broglie. Though the whole scheme of this imposing canvas is on a far more magnificent scale than the 1760 portrait, the principal figure is less sturdily natural in pose, and is drawn with appreciably less vitality and vigour. Repeating the same aspect of the head Sir Joshua depicts the Marquis, in this instance, standing on a natural platform of raised ground to enable him to rest his left arm on the quarters of a wondrous charger, held on the " off " side by a turbaned negro. The charger is of the conventional studio-war-horse strain, in spite of the real animal having been sent for Reynolds to study ; but the fact that there is room, on this mammoth animal's wealth of back, for Lord Granby, Prince Ferdinand, and the Hereditary Prince, all three, in no way detracts from the effective backgound afforded by its tossing black mane to the " comely roundness " ^ of his lordship's head. Besides the exuberant mane, a cascade of tail falls almost to the horse's fetlocks— picturesque admittedly, but uncharacteristic of "regula- tions " during the Seven Years War. Cavalry chargers were docked to an absurd and cruel degree ; ^ and, on more than one critical occa- sion, the consequent torment of flies came near to stampeding them. ' " Life and Times of Sir Joshua Reynolds " (Leslie and Taylor). 2 H. Walpole, " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III." ^ A fashion due to William, afterwards Lord, Cadogan, Quarter- Master General in the Low Countries under the Duke of Marlborough. " Of Marlborough's Captains and Eugenio's friends The last Cadogan to the grave descends." T" The Death of the Earl of Cadogan."— Tickell.) MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Lord Pembroke, of Elliot's Light Horse, writing from Kalle camp said : " Our Cavalry excels them (the Hanoverians, etc.) much, when no flies make them mad; which the 'Cadogan' tail can't defend them against." ^ In 1747 long tails were adopted by " Cumberland's Dragoons," which followed the example of " Kingston's Horse " of the Rebellion ; and they were gradually adopted by the Heavy Cavalry after the Peace of 1763. Picturesqueness is likewise respon- sible for the introduction of Sir Joshua's negro servant as a balance to the composition, when a trooper in the Blues, or the Marquis' soldier-servant Notzel, would have been more appropriate. What has become of De Broglie's original picture ? He later suffered many vicissitudes. After the taking of the Bastille during the French Revolution he fled, among the first emigrants, to Germany. His son was execiited. Marshal de Broglie subsequently fought against France in the service of both England and Russia, and died, in 1804, at Miinster, amidst the scenes of his former campaigns against Prince Ferdinand and Granby.- It is probable that his property and household gods were confiscated, scattered, or destroyed ; what fate befel his " Sir Joshua " ? ^ The example of this portrait belonging to Her Majesty the Queen hangs in Queen Anne's room in St. James's Palace, whither it was removed from Carlton House.'* Another, at Trinity College, Cam- bridge, was presented by Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, to his father's college, where it hangs in the principal Combination-room. As a iwndanl to Her Majesty's " Granby " there hangs a portrait of Count La Lippe Biickebourg, Commander of Prince Ferdinand's Artillery, and, during the war, known among the English Artillery as "the thundering Black Prince of Biickebourg." The head of Sir Joshua's negro peers over some battle litter in the foreground of this picture also. Among the Duke of Rutland's collection at Belvoir ^ is a " Sir Joshua " which, together with yet another in that at Petworth House, Sussex, appears to be a variant of the portrait of Granby last described, embodying different accessories. The Duke of Rut- land's picture is a full-length practically identical with it in pose of figure. The left arm rests on a mortar in place of the horse. Lord ^ MSS. of James first Earl of Charleinont. 2 Grand Dictionnaire Uuiversel (Larousse). ' Since the above was written, a pamphlet by Comte G. de Contades proves this picture to be at the Chateau de Rasnes, Normandy, and to belong to the Due de Berghes. * Catalogue in Lord Chamberlain's office. The Belvoir collection includes some miniature portraits of Lord Granby, and a bust by Nollekens. 152 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, Leconfield's picture ^ at Petworth repeats the same pose, though the figure is three-quarter length only. The left arm is thrown over a rock, and the right hand grasps a baton to which, by the way, Lord Granby was not entitled. Save the last, all these pictures convey suggestions of cavalry engagements in the distance. Sir Joshua painted for the fourth Duke of Eutland another portrait of Lord Granby accompanied by his A.D.C.s " Lord Cornwallis, General Fawcett and his hussar on horse- back." 2 This picture is not enumerated among those burnt in 1816. A small equestrian portrait, probably by David Morier, depicts Lord Granby on a fine bay charger with an orthodox "Cadogan tail " which could scarcely hustle a midge. Granby is emerging at the head of the Blues from a wood. Again he is bareheaded, but his Hessian servant, John Notzel, in a blue and white hussar uniform, with busby, pelisse, and red hessian boots, is handing up the fugitive hat, which the Marquis extends his right hand to receive. This picture represents him at the Battle of Warburg, though the wood might suggest part of the Minden story having got involved, and a cavalry encounter, on a plain adjoining, is in progress, in which the " Cadogan tails " of the horses, some riderless, are accurately depicted. Large scarlet holster-caps, richly embroidered in gold, cover Lord Granby's knees ; the bridle is light and little ornamented, save by a scarlet snaffle-rein. High up in a corner of the picture-gallery at Petworth House is another equestrian portrait representing "the Marquis of Granby relieving the Distressed Soldier," painted by E. Penny. It is a somewhat grotesque work of little artistic merit. The Marquis has more the semblance of a short, rotund highwayman engaged in re- lieving the distressed soldier of what little he possesses.^ This picture, which was engraved by Houston, is chiefly notable as the sole one in which Granby appears, not only possessed of a hat, but wearing it. These military portraits represent Lord Granby in the uniform of the Blues ; a long dark blue frock (reaching to the calf of the leg) with narrow blue velvet collar, faced and turned back from the deep lappels to the extremity of the skirts with scarlet, heavily looped with gold. Over the right arm hangs a gold shoulder-knot. Lace ruffles fall from beneath wide scarlet cuffs looped also with gold. The frock is worn open over a bright steel cuirass, with gilt chasings, ' There is a small copy of this at Belvoir. 2 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 350; vol. iii. p. 59. 2 " The sick soldier aud his family are happily imagined and well executed. The Officer, which seems intended for the Marquis of Granby, not so well." — Letter to the Printer of the St. James' Chronicle, May 9, 1765. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. from beneath which appear the long flaps of a gold-laced buff waistcoat. A crimson sash is knotted loosely round the waist of the cuirass. Buff breeches buttoned on the sides far up the thigh are met above the knee by jack-boots furnished with small silver spurs. In Reynolds' 1760 portrait the basket-hilted sword then worn by the Blues is represented : in the remainder a General's sword is substituted. The hat is three-cornered, of dark blue beaver, edged with broad gold lace and looped on the left side. In some of the portraits Lord Granby wears laced cambric round his throat ; in others a black satin stock showing a white shirt-collar, or band. The engravings after Sir Joshua's pictures, tine as some of them are in tone, impart a flaccid, chubby modelling to Lord Granby's features which is not apparent in the originals. An exception, tend- ing towards the other extreme, occurs in H. Robinson's engraving of the Petworth House " Reynolds," and executed for " Lodge's Portraits." In this plate an aquiline, almost saturaiue, character is bestowed upon the Marquis' good-humoured face. Various small engraved heads, all after Sir Joshua's portraits, were executed for illustrated works, such as " Junius' Letters," and sundry periodicals ; most of these are unintentional caricatures.^ A copy of an interesting invoice relating to the 17 GO portrait, by Sir Joshua, accounts for three replicas of it. The " sizes " specified relate to the canvas and not to the figure. " The R*. Hon : Lord Granby D'. to J. Reynolds For his Lordship's picture kit-cat size,^ £18, 18, f length given to M', Fisher ) D°. D°, „ „ M', Shaftoe \ 50, — the size between a wliole & a half-length/ D°. D°, a half-length sent to M'. Calcraft ■* 42. — paid for Miniature portrait of Lady Granby'' 6. G £ . 117 , 4 " Received Jan 27"' 17G2 from Thomas Calcraft, Esq,, the contents of this Bill, being in full of all demands (Signed) " J. Reynolds *' witness Thomas Beach." ' Perhaps the worst of these is to be found iu a work entitled "A Martial Biography, or Memoirs of the most eminent British Characters " (London, 1804) ; in which the letterpress and portraits stand on about an equal level of inaccuracy. 2 Brice Fisher, Esq., M.P. for Mahnesbury, and afterwards for Boroughbridge. ^ See p. 85, Lord Granby's racing friends, * John Calcraft, Esq., of Ingres. This picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibition of Old Masters, 1894. * Painted probably from Sir Joshua's portrait of Lady Granby, which was burnt in 1816. 154 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, In the Jones Collection, at the South Kensington Museum, is an oblong gold snuff-box, chased, and enamelled with groups in the Dutch style. The box is of French make, and bears the signature " Le Sueur." Within the lid is a fine miniature of Lord Granby, around which is inscribed, "John, Marquis of Granby, to Brice Fisher, Esq., i 1764." Among the Franks and Schreiber Collections, in the British and Kensington Museums, Granby is represented by two similar statuettes of Bow porcelain. The Kensington example is minus the baton held in one hand, and the sword-blade. The tradition of the hat is conveyed by its position on the ground at his feet, where it lies among a flag, a cannon, a spontoon, some cannon-shot, and grenades. The companion, or pair, to these statuettes represents General Wolfe who, besides being contemporaneously famous, was born on the same day of the month as Granby, the 27th of January. A very good likeness of Lord Granby occurs, in the same Collections, and in the Geological Museum, on some mugs, etc., of Worcester transfer-printed ware. Over his head a hovering angel bears a wreath ; Fame blows the trumpet which Granby so con- sistently refused to perform upon himself ; and Bellona, goddess of War, presides seated on a convenient cloud. These Worcester mugs belong to pairs, of which the companion subject is, in one instance, General Wolfe ; in another, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham. All the pictures and objects enumerated, save one, represent the Marquis in uniform, the one exception being Lord Braybrooke's portrait, which relates to a date when Lord Granby was yet a very young man. His epoch is, however, so richly illustrated by the works of Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Ramsay, Hamilton, and others, to say nothing of the actual garments which have survived, that there would be little difficulty in conjuring up Granby in his maturer years decked in the sumptuous, and stately, fashions of the decline of the eighteenth century. They are recorded by eye witnesses in many letters, and memoirs. Light blue velvet coats, laced with silver, with sleeves and waistcoats of brocade ; coats scarlet and gold, dark blue and silver, or of light blue silk embroidered all over with gold and silver, and turned up with embroidered white satin ; others of lead colour richly laced with silver, of blossom-coloured velvet trimmed with gold lace, and of yellow and silver velvet, and of white and silver, are enumerated in the Letters of the first Earl of ' See previous note, p. 153. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Malmesbury.^ But though relations of Granby's are described, and he himself must certainly have been present on some of the occasions cited, he is not individually mentioned. A magnificent waistcoat of cloth-of-gold brocaded with flowers, which is said to have belonged to him, quite attains, however, to the highest possible limits of sartorial splendour ; and Granby moreover took a large size in waist- coats. This one shows an imposing chest measurement, and is, of course, made fashionably long, with deep-flapped pockets, and an apricot-coloured satin back. These dazzling garments were reserved for important occasions, the " everyday " wear being limited to varying shades mainly of plain blue, lavender, and claret, adorned with gold or silver button-holes and garters. A capacious three- cornered hat, christened after Kevenhiiller (until superseded by the small one introduced by the Due de Nivernois), completed one, and very large shoe-buckles the other, extremity of the masculine form divine. As a side light upon costume, an anonymous eighteenth-century begging-letter writer, signing himself " Necessitas," supplies some testimony. We know the appearance of " Necessitas " in these days as he slinks, pursuing his calling, about Belgrave or Grosvenor Squares ; and this is how he appeared in 17r)8, when he off'ered to impart some priceless information to the Duke of Newcastle — for a consideration.- " I shall be found," wrote Necessitas,^ " to-morrow and next day, sitting upon the nearest bench to Marlborouj^h House in S'. James' Park, between 4 and 5 in the afternoon, crackiiifj; nuts and habited in a thickset fustian frock, double-breasted, with yellow buttons and button holes." The Duke of Newcastle was so ravenously curious that it is more than probable that he in some way gave " Necessitas " a hearing : in any case he carefully preserved the letter. His Grace's name recalls attention to the business of the war from which it was diverted by this picture gossip concerning the Marquis of Granby, whose period and relations, friends and associates — military, political, and social — were once so completely recorded upon the walls of Belvoir Castle. ^ October 31, 1745; December 10, 1748 ; December 3, 1754, etc. - Newcastle Papers. ' There is a strong family likeness between this individual and " Felton." who wrote asking for an interview with the Duke of Marlborough (shortly previous to his death at Miinster), saying, You will not fail to meet the author on Sunday next, at 10 in the morning, or on Monday (if the weather should be rainy on Sunday), near the first tree beyond the style in Hyde Park in the foot-walk to Kensington." — See note, vol. xiii. pp. 10-13. " History of England" (Hume and Smollett). W. Barnard ("Felton") was tried for threatening the Duke of Marl- borough in 1758, and acquitted.— See State Trials, vol. xix. 156 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, A considerable number of these portraits fortunately still remain, comprising Lord Granby's father, mother, wife, and his brother Lord Robert Manners Sutton ; his sons, John, Lord Roos ; Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland ; Lord Robert Manners ; and his daughter Lady Tyrconnel. The Seven Years War is illustrated by pictures of Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick,^ Lord Granby, the Hereditary Prince, Count La Lippe Biickebourg, G-eneral Sporcken, Lord Brome,^ General raucitt,^ and Marshal de Broglie ; and the Wilkes episode by Lord Mansfield. Among the pictures burnt in 1816 were "the Marquis of Granby, Hussar, and Horse," Lady Granby, and a head of his lordship, all by Reynolds ; General Oglethorpe, General Lord Robert Manners, Lord Robert Sutton, Lord G. H. Cavendish, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Kitty Fisher, and John Notzel the Marquis' Hussar. The nationality of Notzel, of the Hessian Hussars, is variously stated ; Sir Joshua Reynolds called him a Swiss.^ He is said to have rendered some timely service, in action, to the Marquis of Granby, who, in consequence, employed and befriended him, and he accompanied Lord Granby to England after the close of the German War, continuing as his lordship's devoted attendant until the former's death. He is described as a very active, clever, hand- some fellow ; and on one occasion his familiarity with Continental travel caused his services to be placed, by the Marquis, at the dis- posal of Miss Chudleigh, whom Notzel attended on her visit to the Electress of Saxony.* After Lord Granby's death his son Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, employed Notzel, and bequeathed him an annuity. ' At Audley End there are two copies of portraits of Prince Ferdinand and the Hereditary Prince, the originals of which were executed for Lord Granby's aide-de- camp, Colonel Faucitt. — See " History of Audley End," by Lord Braybrooke. 2 Assuming this picture of Lord Granby and his A.D.C.s to be still in CXlStGUCG. 3 Kutiand MSS., vol. iii. p. 283. * " Original Anecdotes of the late Duke of Kingston" (T. Whitehead). In a saloon adjoining the Kotunda at Vauxhall Gardens there were placed four pictures by Hayman, illustrating the various phases of the Seven Years War, and containing portraits of Olive, Hawke, Granby, Amherst, Townshend, Monckton, Ooote, etc. Six medals were struck in honour of Lord Granby in 1759, 1760, 1761, 1770 (2), and a Memorial Medal in 1774. See " Numismatic Ohronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society," 3rd Series, vol. xi. (and specimens in the British Museum Oollection) and Appendix VIII. MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. CHAPTER XIV. After his victory at Warburg Prince Ferdinand was powerless to undertake any further offensive action, owing to his lost magazines at Cassel, and the immense superiority of the Enemy's numbers. This capture, and preponderance, enabled De Broglie to continue operations with detached forces ; that under Prince Xavier taking in succession Gottingen and Eimbeck, east of the river Weser, in addition to Ziegenhayn and Miinden, already mentioned as having fallen to the French, on the west of the Weser. Prince Ferdinand could merely endeavour to stem the tide, and gained a few skirmishes by a detachment under General Liickner, besides personally aiTCsting a foraging expedition, attempted by 20,000 of the Enemy, near Geismar. The Hereditary Prince crossed the Dymel once or twice to observe and harass the French move- ments : an attack by him near Zierenberg was repulsed with some loss to the Scots Greys ; Major Scheither ^ was wounded, and the Prince himself was nearly taken. The Allied position centred upon Warburg, near which Ferdi- nand's camp lay at Biihne, from whence Colonel Pierson assured the Duke of Newcastle that, though the loss of Cassel was most serious, the masterly position at Warburg would prevent De Broglie from making any forward movement.'^ De Broglie was, nevertheless, in almost complete possession of Hesse, and threatening Hanover. Dissatisfaction is apparent, at this date, in the despatches both to and from the seat of war. Newcastle, sore at the Cassel disaster, petulantly disputed the inferior strength of the Allied Army, in estimating which he invari- ably counted every man as " efficient," and made no allowances for the dead, the wounded, and thousands of sick in the hospitals. His remarks upon this topic were flippant in the extreme as addressed to Lord Granby who acutely felt, and persistently deprecated, the false ' Major Scheither perfonned mauy dashing exploits : see p. 210 (note) for a description of the Free Corps he conunanded. 2 Newcastle Papers, September 2, 1760. 158 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. situation in which Prince Ferdinand and he were placed — the situa- tion of being dunned for bricks and denied straw. The far greater strength of De Broglie's army is attested by historians, French as well as English, and by much contemporary evidence. ^ Even Pitt seemed temporarily to lose faith in his scheme for conquering America in G-ermany, and told Newcastle that he " de- clared, for one, that, without a Battle, he would not be for the con- tinuance of the measures in Germany another year." ^ The Marquis of Granby, on his part, was depressed in the extreme by what he held to be the remediable stagnation of affairs. Since the Battle of Warburg rain had fallen incessantly, and he reported to Lord Holdernesse that the wretched weather was causing his troops " to fall down very fast." But, as reinforcements seemed unobtainable from the War Office, he wrote his views at some length to the Duke of Newcastle from Burgholtz, near Warburg : — " I can only say, My dear Lord, that as I was convinced of the necessity there was vigourously to exert om-selves the latter end of the year, which part of the campaign has always proved fatal to the enemy, I thought it my duty to represent at home what number of men we wanted to complete us, especially as it was at H.S.H.'s earnest desire. . . . Great expences. My dear Lord, we have certainly been at in carrying on this war in every part of the world ; very great here in Germany, but they were necessary expences calcu- lated for the safety, honour, and interest of the Nation, and therefore readily granted by Parliament: should more money still be wanted for the same good and salutary ends I should not think that a recapitulation of the different great sums that have already been expended should in any shape be per- mitted to come into debate : but the only subject shou'd be — ' Can you afford, or procure, any more money ; yes or no ? ' Just the same in regard to the sending over more troops ; it is not to be considered how large a number has been already sent upon any service but, whether, if more are wanting, there is a possibility of reinforcing the service that requires it. Upon that footing, though thoroughly convinced of the great expence we have been at, and knowing the large number of Troops that have already been sent over to this country, I did not hesitate to represent what I thought was necessary for the good of the Service I was engaged in, being convinced that nothing but an impossibility from the situation of affairs cou'd have prevented an imme- diate compliance with the Request. " In regard to the superiority of the Enemy, it has always here been looked upon as great. When His Serene Highness talked of the 65,000 foot and 16,000 horse that were vis a vis de lui, he most certainly talked of effectives. Should y' Grace talk of our number of Troops in the same stile, 1 " L'Armee frangaise fut portee k cent vingt mille hommes : Ferdinande de Brunswick n'en ett guere que soixante-dix mille, y compris vingt tl vingt-cinq mille anglais." — " Histoire de France" (Martin), vol. xv. 2 Newcastle Papers, September 13, 1760. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 1 59 from tlie 97,000 men I fear y Grace must deduct some thousands. I don't doubt, however, shou'd the Enemy chuse to attack us, but we shall be able to send you some good news, as our troops are in good spirits and confident of success." ^ Newcastle began to realize that Granby was very much in earnest, and mortified ; so he quickly changed his key, and sent congratula- tions on the extension of the Marquis' command, which the King was equally pleased about : — "You cannot conceive how happy we all are at the figure you make at the head of our Troops ; and what, if possible, pleases me still more, the King told me this day that the English and the Hanoverians lived like brothers ; and that Lord Granby and Sporckcn were the best friends in the World 1 . . . We hear the French are much discontented and disconcerted ; they say the Campaign and the opportunity are lost. ... Be as active a General as you wish to be, and a good one I am sure you are and will be, but don't quite forget our money affairs. ... I dined to-day at Greenwich with Lady Katherine (Pelham), and drank your health." - With reference to this letter, Granby replied — " I most sincerely honour and love that brave, honest, and good General (Sporcken). I can assure you that there is the greatest harmony amongst the troops. I have heard of no complaints, if any have arisen." ^ Marshal de Broglie was threatening, Granby added, to pass the Weser, and was sending off his heavy baggage, and sick, to Marburg and Giessen. Two small successes were scored by the Allies at Zierenberg and Marburg. The first was a night attack by the Hereditary Prince and Major-General Griffin ^ with two battalions of Maxwell's Grenadiers, Kingsley's Regiment, and 150 Highlanders. Four hundred of the enemy, their two commanders, besides thirty-five other oflftcers, were taken prisoners, and about the same nimiber killed.^ The Hereditary Prince entered the town at the head of the Grenadiers by the Diirrenburg Gate, and Kingsley's and the Highlanders by the Warburg Gate : the scene which ensued being " most disagreeable and shocking," ^ wrote Colonel Pierson, as the British drove all before them to the market-place, where the French were shot or taken prisoners, and many of them were bayoneted, even in their beds. For this, and his previous services, £5000 was ' Newcastle Papers, September 5, 17G0. - Ibid., September 8, 1760. ' Ibid., September 20, 1760. ^ Major-General Griffin received a slight bayonet thrust in the chest from one of his own force, who mistook him in the darkness for an enemy. Lord George Lennox accompanied the Zierenberg expedition as a volunteer. * Newcastle Papers, September 2, 1760. " Ibid. i6o LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. remitted to Lord Granby for the Hereditary Prince,^ who accom- plished this attack, and returned to Warburg in a few hours, and with hardly any loss. The second arose out of a surprise march, made by Major von Blilow and Colonel Fersen to Marburg, which afforded an incident to Colonel Pierson wherewith to amuse the Duke of Newcastle. Von Billow entered Marburg, destroyed a quantity of French stores, and took many prisoners, including sixty commis engaged in the bakeries. The Governor of the Castle of Marburg threatened, in consequence, to commence firing on the town. " Fire away," replied Yon Billow, " and for each shot I will hang up one commis ! " ^ The governor changed his mind. On their return. Yon Billow and Fersen were attacked by Comte de Stainville : Colonel Fersen was killed, and eight guns and about 200 men were lost. Complaints^ reached England touching various outrages and irregularities committed by the Guards on their march from the coast ; a circumstance which was in sharp contrast to the conduct of the other troops, and thus lends colour to Hogarth's indictment contained in " the March to Finchley." The Duke of Newcastle requested to know the truth of these complaints, and Colonel Pierson did his best to exonerate the Guards, urging that they were raw, unused to active service, and somewhat irregular in conduct, but he did not believe the damagedone exceeded 400 florin. About September 10, 1760, De Broglie commenced retiring towards Cassel, which proved him to have abandoned his intentions upon the Bishoprics. He encamped on the heights of Immen- hausen, where Prince Ferdinand at once decided to attack him. The position was not a strong one, and Ferdinand knew every inch of the ground ; but he was balked of his scheme, as he was twice afterwards, in 1761 and 1762, at the same place. On this occasion, just as all his plans were matured, De Broglie suddenly retreated from Immenhausen to the entrenched camp at the Kratzenberg, under the cannon of Cassel.* In consequence of this retreat Lord Granby and his Reserve, on September 14, crossed the Dymel to Hoff Geismar, and General Wangenheim, who was observing Prince Xavier's movements on ^ Newcastle Papers, September 19, 1760, and Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3. Ibid., September 12, 1760. ^ Ibid., September 16-23, 1760. ^ Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3 ; and Newcastle Papers, September 15, 1760. i76o.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. i6i the east side of the Weser, advanced to EUershausen. Elliot's Regiment, under Major Erskine, and the Hessian Chasseurs were attached at the moment to Wangenheim's Corps, which De Broglie, as will be presently related, endeavoured to cut off. Congratulations upon the Zierenberg affair reached the Marquis from Lord Ligonier,^ and the Duke of Newcastle ; but the latter returned a disheartening reply to Granby's reconunendations con- ' cerning extra allowances to the troops already in Germany, and the necessity of reinforcing them. Newcastle said that, to tell Lord Granby the actual truth, his demand for recruits was not at all relished at home, or expected, and that the King was uneasy at a request for more Infantry than His Majesty " had understood to be necessary." ^ ' Rumours commenced to circulate in Jiondon of great hardships endured by the troops in Germany, and which, as the winter wore on, were painfully accentuated. The Commissariat Department, which had never attained to more than a hand-to-mouth performance of its all-important functions, began to fail in proportion as the Allied Army became decentralized ; and the frightful condition of the roads increased the difficulties of transport to the different corps. Colonel Pierson's appointment as Commissary General became a farce, principally owing to unopposable influences, but very largely to the self-seeking manner in which he connived at them. The King gave him the command of the 1st Foot Guards, and Prince Ferdinand attached him to his Stall" : both were flattering distinctions entailing duties more congenial to a soldier than higgling with forage contractors ; but, had he played less for his own hand and with more loyalty to his chief, for whom he professed so much affection and devotion, he would not have neglected a service which he had deliberately undertaken at the hands of the Treasury, and for no inconsiderable pay. He acknowledged that his civil and military duties were clashing, to the detriment of the former, and coolly recommended his regi- mental promotion to the Duke of Newcastle, of all men, who had specially appointed him to safeguard the Treasury (that is to say the Duke) from censures by Prince Ferdinand, if not by Pitt himself. The rumours at home gathered strength, and were utilized in certain political quarters, which shall be explained presently, to discredit the Marquis of Granby, to whose relief — Heaven save ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 227. = Newcastle Papers, September 12, 17G0. u l62 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. the mark ! Colonel Pierson had been despatched to head the Commissariat Staff. Lord Granby ^ described to Newcastle how a decisive action had again been prevented by the retreat, to the Kratzenberg camp, of the French, and he then spoke his mind freely on affairs both in Germany and London, from which latter place he showed himself to be well informed. Firstly, the employment of Colonel Pierson as a Major-General was entirely Prince Ferdinand's affair : — I had nothing to do with it, should the King disapprove, though I have every reason to think, from repeated advices, that every opportunity will be taken to insinuate privately everything to my disadvantage. I have been informed, my Dear Lord, that in many places my conduct as Commander-in- Chief has been found fault with, that I am said to have done many irregular things ; that I suffered myself to be imposed upon ; that I was ' too good- natured' to be entrusted with such a command, etc., etc. I must expect these private attacks. The great honour His Majesty has done me will subject me to envy, and many people, for different reasons, would be happy to see His Majesty discontented with my conduct and displeased with my actions. Should that happen I must be most unhappy. I should only have one comfort, the consciousness that my intentions were to serve His Majesty faithfully to the best of my abilities in the great and important trust His Majesty has done me the favour to confer on me." Lord Granby then referred to certain allowances to the troops recommended by him, saying that, as the Duke of Newcastle had practically placed him where he was, his Grace must now support him, or he must resign his command : — " I flatter myself I am not ill with the troops, but should it appear I have no interest at home ; that nothing I propose is granted, or at least with the greatest difficulty, they will think that His Majesty and his Ministers must have some good reason to distrust my heart or at least my head. They must either think that I care little whether what I recommend for the good of the Service succeeds or not ; or that at home they don't think me capable of judging what is for the good of that Service ; and it will be neither for my honour and happiness nor that of the Service that I should remain at the head of the British troops. If I can't be trusted with the disposal of five or six thousand pounds among the troops under my command as I think necessary, I am sure I ought not to have the disposal of a million and a half of public money which I am afraid will be the case." Newcastle's answer to this letter ^ assured the Marquis he was utterly mistaken in feehng that confidence in him was wanting ; with the King it increased, and he also could answer for Lord Harrington — J Newcastle Papers, September 2G, 1760, « Ibid., October 7, 1760. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 163 " If I were to mention seriously to any one man of consequence in this Kingdom that y' Lordship thought y'self shghted, and were for that reason uneasy in your present situation, he would laugh in my face ; for to be sure no man ever had more friends, or more universal approbation than yourself." Major-General Yorke, at the Hague, now took a sanguine view of Prince Ferdinand's strategic position ; but Newcastle, adopting a totally different tone to that he had, till lately, held, said he wished Iw could see Prince Ferdinand's prospects in so favourable a light. The Duke maintained that all the Prince could possibly do was to tmir tete against De Broglie and Prince Xavier. Whilst, should the Comte de St. Germain be despatched with 15,000 men (as was rumoured) to penetrate the King's dominions by way of West- phalia, the success of such a scheme was certain. " How could Prince Ferdinand, already so inferior in numbers, detach 10 or ir> thousand men against the Count and yet hold his own against De Broglie ?"i Read side by side, Newcastle's sanguine letters to Lord Granby, and the above opinions addressed to Joseph Yorke, contradict one another with remarkable flatness. On September 27, 17(J(), Lord Granby reported himself and his Reserve once more encamped at AVarburg, and described De Broglie's attempt to cut off Wangenheim's Corps beyond the Weser. De Broglie and Prince de Conde with a force from Cassel crossed the river and joined Prince Xavier's Corps, from which the strength of the expedition was increased to thirty battalions and sixteen squadrons. Granby's account was tliat De Broglie and Conde acted as " volunteers " with the above, which was under the command of M. de Luzace (Prince Xavier). General Wangenheim gained early information of the approach of this expedition, and decided that a retreat over the Weser with his little force of four Hanoverian Infantry battalions, Elliot's, and the Chasseurs, was inevitable. He made for a pontoon bridge, thrown by the Allies over the river, closely pursued by the Enemy, with whom he was meantime desultorily enofasfcd durins: eioht hours. Arrived at the bridge the Hanoverian Infantry crossed, one squadron each of " Elliot's " and the Hessian Chasseurs forming the rear-guard. The Cavalry forded over. The Infantry formed on the west bank and, breaking the bridge, en- deavoured to save the pontoons, but the Enemy now opened a severe fire from the opposite side, and Wangenheim had to abandon a > Newcastle Papers, October 3-12, 17G0. 164 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. few pontoons. He lost 92 men killed, 158 wounded and missing, and 4 pieces of cannon, which were declared useless owing " to the touch-holes having run with the extraordinary fire." The French loss was stated variously at from 800 to 1250. " Elliot's" joined Granby's Eeserve after this affair ; and on September 21 Wangenheim once more crossed the Weser to Uslar, Prince Xavier being near Gottingen.^ Colonel Pierson's account of this described De Broglie as having intended annihilating Wangenheim's Corps as a revenge for the Hereditary Prince's cou]p at Zierenberg. The Guards Pierson reported as very sickly, but Lord Granby " was very well, and making all under his command extremely happy." ^ De Broglie was now busily occupied in repairing the fortifications at Cassel, and strengthening Gottingen, which confirmed Prince Ferdinand's suspicions that the French intended remaining in those places during the winter. Consequently Ferdinand decided upon sending an Expedition against Wesel on the " Lower Rhine," which fortress had, from the first, been a thorn in his side, and an attack upon which might be successful, or at least oblige De Broglie to detach a considerable force from Cassel to its assistance. The Expedition was commanded by the Hereditary Prince with Count La Lippe Biickebourg, and consisted of 5 Divisions, amounting in all to 47 Infantry battalions, and 30 squadrons of Cavalry, of which an important number were English. The 1st Division was commanded by Lieut. -General Hardenburg, and the 2nd by Major-General Breidenbach, and both were entirely German. The 3rd Division was commanded by Lieut.- General Waldegrave, and consisted of — 1 battn. of " Kingsley's " (20th Kegt.) 1 „ "Homes'" ' 2 (25th) 2 „ Hessian Infantry 2 ,, British Grenadiers 2 2 „ Highlanders (87th and 88th) 2 squads, of " Conway's " \ (1st Dragoons) 2 Inniskillings under Major- rGen. Elliot. German Cavalry ^ , , . . (under Major- iGen. Griffin. The 4th Division was commanded by Major-General Howard, con- sisting: of — 1 Kutland MSS., September 27, 1760, and Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3. ' Newcastle Papers, October 1, 1760. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 65 1 battn. of "Griffin's" (33rd Kegt.) 1 „ " Bmdenell's " (51st) 1 „ Welsh Fusiliers (23rd) 2 squads, of " Mordaunt's " (10th, Prince of Wales's, Dragoons) 2 „ German Infantry. The 5th Division, commanded by Lieut. -General Kiknansegge, was entirely German.^ Lord Downe, and Lord Fitzmaurice, joined the Expedition as volunteers, and among the officers were " L'ish " Johnston of Con- .way's Dragoons, " Ned " Harvey of the Inniskillings, Sir J. Innes Norcliffe ^ of the Highlanders, and Lord George Lennox,^ who have been mentioned in preceding pages. The route was via Lippstadt and Miinster ; and the 1st Division, which the Hereditary Prince and Count Biickebourg accompanied, left camp September 2:^, and arrived before Wcsel on September 80 ; the other Divisions arrived later ; the 5th, under Kilmansegge, on October 16 only. Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby remained on the river Dymel ; the Allied position extending from Warburg, along that river, to beyond the river Weser, where Generals Wangenheini's and Liickner's Corps held the district between Limbeck and Uslar. The departure of the Wesel Expedition was kept very secret, and Lord Granby wrote that the general outlook was extremely gloomy. Frederick the Great had lost Berlin, and was asking for assistance from the Allied Army which it could not afford to render ; and Prince Ferdinand was entreating Granby to urge, either a reinforcement from England, or a separate expedition from thence to create a diversion in Flanders, or on the French coast. The attention of the home authorities was implored to anything, in fact, which might tend to drive De Broglie from Cassel and Gottingen, or prevent reinforcements from France being perpetually drafted to his already overwhelming armies. Lord Granby repeated and emphasized his own views on the subject, " at the risk of being found fault with." * ' Additional MSS., British Museum. 28551-3. ^ Afterwards fifth Duke of Roxburghe. 3 Lieut.-Colonel of the 33rd Foot ; he was now acting with the Grenadiers. * Newcastle Papers, October 13, 1760. Smollett records the opinion that had an expedition of 10,000 men been despatched from England to co-operate with the Hereditary Prince s attempt upon Wesel, the war might have been advantageously transferred to Flanders. Smollett does not say whence the 10,000 men were to be procured ! i66 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. Without knowing its destination, though suspecting designs upon Wesel, De Broglie became aware, about September 26, of the Hereditary Prince's march, and despatched M.#de Castries in pur- suit, towards Cologne, with 31 battahons and 32 squadrons. Arrived before Wesel, the Hereditary Prince proceeded at once to invest it, on both sides of the Rhine which part of his force crossed at Rees, and forced the French garrison of 500 men in Cleves to surrender as prisoners of war. Rheinberg and Emmerich were also taken and occupied, and the various siege works before Wesel actively entered upon, but which the Prince never had time to complete. The Rhine, and the Lippe which flows into it at Wesel, had to be bridged ; across the latter two wooden bridges were thrown, but considerable delay ensued in procuring from Holland sufficiently large boats wherewith to form a boat-bridge across the Rhine, below Wesel at Carthauser Island, where a battery was established to defend the bridge which was completed by October 14 only. Above W^esel a boom was to have been fixed across the Rhine to prevent reinforcements, or supplies, from being floated down stream to the garrison ; but this remained unaccomplished, from lack of time, among the innumerable preparations : the weakness of the chain of blockade (caused by its extreme length) necessitated its being strengthened with earthworks and batteries, while precautions had to be taken respecting the innumerable canals and streams to prevent the Enemy from flooding the land in front of Wesel. On the night of October 10-11, the trenches were opened, upon which 2000 workmen were employed ; and some sallies on the part of the garrison were repulsed on the 11th and 12th. The Hereditary Prince has been twitted by his critics^ with undertaking the siege too much sdon les regies when time was so precious, and M. de Castries praised for the speed with which he arrived to the relief of the besieged garrison. De Castries crossed the Rhine at Cologne, collected his force on October 13 at Neuss, from whence he marched to Meurs ; thus arriving within striking distance of the besiegers long before their batteries and earthworks were completed, or the boom thrown across the Rhine above Wesel. On October 14 the boat-bridge was finished,^ and on the same day the Hereditary Prince, being on the ^ See Sismondi, etc. 2 The Wesel garrison commenced a boat-bridge, which they kept hauled up under the fortifications. Two Hanoverian and three Brunswick soldiers paddled across the Ehine, from the west bank, burnt the bridge, and returned safely under a heavy fire.— Newcastle Papers, October 11, 1760 (Granby to Newcastle). 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 167 west side of the river, was the first to perceive De Castries' van- guard, under the command of De Chabot, approaching. De Chabot drove in and occupied the Prince's post at Rheinberg, and in the evening the Alhed position on that side of the Rhine was strengthened by the Prince's 3rd and 4th Divisions under Lieut.-General Walde- grave, and Major-General Howard. The 5th Division, under Kil- mansegge, had not yet arrived at Wesel. De Chabot's success enabled De Castries to send a reinforcement of 700 men into Wesel, down the Rhine. On the 15th skirmishes between De Castries' and the Prince's outposts lasted the greater part of the day, at the conclusion of which •De Chabot remained in Rheinberg, and De Castries encamped behind the Rheinberg Canal ^ and the Convent of Campen — " Kloster Campen " — the convent itself being held by Fischer's Corps.'- Meantime rumours of reinforcements marching from various points to join De Castries reached the Hereditary Prince, and he resolved to attack before their arrival, being already outnumbered on the west side of the Rhine, and unable to transfer more troops over the river from the east side without placing his bridge, earth- works, and batteries at the mercy of the "Wesel garrison. The Prince, leaving the Campbell Highlanders to guard the bridge, marched at 10 o'clock on the night of October 15, the strictest silence being preserved ; his first object being to secure Fischer's Corps at the Convent, if possible without any firing. At this stage occurred a much-disputed episode of which one version is that the Chevalier d'Assas (Captain of the French Regiment of Auvergne which was on outpost duty) having strayed outside the lines, was surprised, and taken by some of the Prince's advanced guard, who, with their bayonets at his throat, promised him instant death if he uttered a sound. " A moi ! Auverr/ne ! " promptly shouted D'Assas, and was a dead man the same instant that his voice gave the alarm to the French piquets.^ All chance of a surprise was now lost : * Leading to Gueldres. * Johann Christian Fischer was a prof^j/^ of Marshal Saxe. His Corps of Mounted Chasseurs was the origin of all the modern regiments of similar character in the French Army. His Chasseurs wore a green tunic laced with gold, a scarlet pelisse trimmed with gold lace and edged with grey fur, a black busby with white cockade and plume, and scarlet overalls. Fischer adopted a curious device of three fish arranged in a triplicate design closely resembling a fleur-de-lis. This device, surmounted by a crown and flanked by fleurs-de-lis, was worn on sabretache, shabraque, and holster-cap. — " Uniformenkunde " (R. Kniitel), Band 5, No. 59. ' There are several versions of this story. De Rochambeau (in his " Memoires Militaires, Historiques, et Politiques "), who commanded the Regiment of Auvergne, says the first alarm was given by a corporal ; the regiment began to fire at random, when suddenly one of its officers called out that the alarm was a false i68 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. Fischer's Corps was presently dislodged, but with an attendant musketry fire which warned De Castries in his camp beyond ; and he had time to make his dispositions for defence. The Hereditary Prince's attack on De Castries occurred an hour before daylight, he personally leading his right wing consisting of Infantry. Of the main engagement of Kloster Campen no explanation is given by any of the ordinary sources of information. The affair, beyond all dispute, appears to have been a " bad business " from beginning to end so far as the Allies were concerned. The Hereditary Prince's horse was shot under him, and he was slightly wounded in the leg. Mistakes arose in the darkness, and friends were mistaken for foes. In spite of a great deal of individual bravery, and a determined attack of many hours' duration,' the Allied Infantry was driven back with heavy loss. The Brigade de Normandie pursued, as the Allies retired, and was sabred by the Hereditary Prince's Cavalry, under cover of which a retreat commenced. The Hereditary Prince's wound was received, and his horse shot, at this moment ; he could not walk, and Lord George Lennox and Captain McLean carried him out of action.^ After bivouacking near the scene of the fight, the Prince continued his retreat towards the Rhine, at the banks of which a scene of the most dramatically critical nature ensued on October 16-17. The weather was stormy, the Ehine was in flood, and the boat- bridge had not only become badly damaged, but the engineer in charge announced that it could only be made available by readjusting it at a point lower down the stream. Dead tired, with a large number of wounded, and almost without ammunition, the Hereditary Prince's ill-fated Expedition, with its back to the river, awaited the inevitable arrival of the victorious De Castries. Lieut.-Greneral Kilmansegge, with the 5th Division, arrived before Wesel on October 16, only a few hours after the battle, but the troops on the east bank of the Rhine were as powerless to cross over to the Prince as he was to rejoin them, owing to the broken bridge. Whatever of the failure was attributable to the Hereditary Prince, he now exhibited his usual resourcefulness and cool determination. ^ one, and that they were firing upon friends. The Chevalier d'Assas coolly walked out of the ranks right up to the troops advancing in the thick darkness, and, before being bayoneted, shouted, " Tirez Chasseurs ! ce sont les ennemis ! " Whatever the literal facts were, somebody appears to have been a hero, and the evidence tends to prove D'Assas to have been the man. 1 Dodiugton's Diary, Appendix (Duke of Eichmond's Letter, June 21, 1783). 2 During three days and nights of incessant anxiety and fatigue he scarcely had a comfortable meal.— Sir J. Innes Norcliffe, MSS. of Duke of Roxburghe. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 169 " The Hereditary Prince's conduct as a Greneral," wrote Granby, " on no occasion has given him greater honour than on this very critical one." ^ : The Artillery was placed in front, so as to sweep the plain by which De Castries must approach ; then the Infantry, behind a slight redoubt, or Icmdwehr; and the Cavalry in the rear. A dam was raised in order to fill to the utmost a bit of a rivulet in front of the whole position, and two tumbrils of ammunition were with great difficulty floated over in boats from the east bank. De Castries arrived within a mile of this position on October 17, which day he passed the whole of in reconnoitring. It would appear that he did not realize the Prince's real condition, or the state of the bridge : - at all events he hazarded no attack. The engineer announced that the bridge would be ready by ?> a.m. on the 18th, and, during the night of the 17th, the troops began to flle off towards it. A number of wagons containing forage and straw were hastily formed into a jikhe at the bridge-head, and a rear-guard of Infantry under Major-General Howard covered the retreat over the Rhine. First crossed the Cavalry, then the Artillery, which formed opposite, on the east bank, to cover the passage of the Infantry. The night was intensely dark and stonny ; delays occurred more than once owing to accidents to the bridge, but the transit was completed without the loss of a man. The Grenadiers, under Lord George Lennox, returned to bring two guns which had been placed to cover the bridge-head. The rear-guard set fire to the Jikhe of wagons, and joined the main body on the Wesel side simultaneously with De Castries' arrival on the west bank,-^ and the boat-bridge was broken up. " Our glorious retreat closed when every man and cannon was over by the setting fire to some wagons filled with straw which smoaked the French ; and the boats and sloops which composed the bridge being disengaged from each other sailed up ( ? down) the Khine." ■* De Castries opened an ineffectual fire from the west bank which was hotly returned ; and the Hereditary Prince encamped at Bruynen, abandoning all further operations upon AVesel. Thus ended the unhappy Wesel Expedition. » Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 231. 2 De Rochambeau alludes to the hardihood of the Allies in remammg aU day by the Rhine. ^ Sir J. Innes Norcliffe relates one of the last scenes to have been " a single- handed tilt between Col. Jauard, of the Prussian Yellow Hussars, and a French othcer whom Janard cutt up."— MSS. of the Duke of Roxburghe. * Ibid. (MSS. of the Duke of Roxburghe). LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760-1761. The loss attending this disaster was — Killed ... 10 officers, 16 non-commissioned officers, 221 men. Wounded ... 68 „ 43 „ „ „ 812 „ Prisoners and missing .- 7 „ 6 „ „ „ 429 „ And 163 horses killed and missing. * Among the wounded officers were Major-G-eneral G-riffin, Major- General Elliot, Lieut.-Colonel Lord Downe (who led the 25th Kegi- ment), Lieut.-Colonel Pitt, Lieut.-Colonel "Ned" Harvey, Lieut.- Colonel Johnson, and Captains Grey and Tennant. Major Pollock of Keith's Highlanders (87th) was killed. Lieut.-General Waldegrave was shot through the hat and coat, and escaped being shot through the body, according to Walpole, because he had none ; from which it may be surmised he was extremely thin. The Hereditary Prince continued his march, and handsomely repulsed De Castries' pursuing force at Schermbeck ; after which De Castries went into winter quarters west of the Rhine, and the Hereditary Prince in, and about, Miinster. " Conway's " Dragoons and the Welsh Fusiliers were the worst sufferers. Lord Granby wrote that he had never seen Prince Ferdinand so overcome by anything as the disastrous news from Wesel which arrived while they were at dinner. Granby quickly sent off his best surgeon, Mr. Burlton,^ to assist with the wounded, and at first hopes were entertained of Lord Downe's recovery, who was shot through both arms, the body, and one knee. He is described in one letter as having received in all twelve wounds,^ He then lingered for ten weeks, during which he told the surgeons " to put him to as much pain as they pleased, so they did but make him fit for the next campaign." * The rank of Colonel was bestowed upon him, and Lord Fitz- maurice also, whose very gallant behaviour, Granby said, had done him the greatest honour ; ^ but regretfully added that he feared poor Lord Downe would not live long to enjoy his promotion.^ Nor did he : ^ For Wesel details, see Foreign Office Papers, October 19, 1760 (Granby to Holdernesse) ; Rutland MSS., October 31, 1760 (Granby to Ligonier) ; Newcastle Papers, October 25-31, 1760; Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3; De Rochambeau's Memoirs ; Archenholz ; De Mauvillon, etc. 2 P. Burlton, Inspector- General of Regimental Infirmaries. ^Walpole, January 2, 1761. * Walpole's Letters. * I speak of you, my dear Lord, from the information of those who were eye- witnesses of your behaviour on that day, and no one does my friend Fitzmaurice more justice than the Hereditary Prince himself." — Granby to Fitzmaurice, " Life of Lord Shelburne," vol. i. p. 97. « Rutland MSS., October 31, 1760. I760-I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 171 the sargeous failed of making- his shattered body " fit for the next campaign," and his brave heart ceased to beat, greatly to England's grief, where Walpole recorded that " not a mouth was opened but in praise or regret of him." ^ Meantime the Allied Army had remained quiet, though Marshal de BrogHe's movements kept every one in camp ready for instant service, and, since he showed no sign of marching southwards, Lord Granby thought nothing could avert a winter campaign.'-^ The troops, freshly arrived from England, were succumbing fast, the hos- pitals were crammed full, and the surgical staff was inadequate. Lord Ligonier was greatly concerned at the losses sustained at Kloster Campen, especially by tlie Welsh Fusiliers ; and reported his Majesty's appointment of Captain Faucitt to be Deputy Adjutant- General in Germany with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, from which date Faucitt was chiefly engaged with the Commissariat affairs.^ General Griffin was invalided home, and his wounds prevented his again serving in Germany. The inactivity of Prince Ferdinand's army had afforded General Mostyn ample leisure in which to look his gift-horse, of Cope's Regiment, in the mouth. He described himself'^ in a very racy letter as a reluctant bridegroom forced to marry Cope's widow, and said it hurt his vanity to follow " Johnny Cope," and he would much rather retain his Royal Irish nine troops until "Bland's" fell in. However, the Duke of Newcastle declared there was no help for it, and that Mostyn must accept the King's offer ; so on September 30, 1700,'^ Lieut.-General Mostyn was transferred to the Colonelcy of Cope's, the 7th, Regiment of Dragoons, an exchange which Newcastle acknowledged, after George IL's death, that " poor Jack made to please my dear old Master, and lost near £500 a year by it." 6 Lord Granby wrote from Warburg — " We have been amused for several days past, with the hopes of the enemy quitting Cassel, by reports of their baggage, hospitals and vivandiers of all sorts quitting the town ; but still there they are ! I wish they were gone, or that a hard frost would enable us to manoiuvre them out ; otherwise we must expect no settled winter-quarters." This letter expresses all that the position, for a considerable time, demands, and in consequence the course of events in London, ' Walpole's Letters. January 2, 17G1. 2 Newcastle Papers' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 233, 234. Newcastle Papers, September 20, 17G0. ^ London Gazette. « Newcastle Papers, November 28, 17G0. ^ Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 23G. 172 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, ' [1760-1761. which Lord Granby said was being utilized to his discredit, can be now scrutinized with greater leisure. In spite of the Duke of Newcastle's alfected ignorance of any schemes affecting the Marquis' position, his Grace's correspondence, in other directions, most vividly records their existence. The whole matter turned upon old Lord Ligonier's illness. The Duke of Newcastle was kept fully informed by C^sar Hawkins,^ Sergeant- Surgeon to the King, of the Commander-in-Chief's condition, which was very grave ; and his death at this juncture would have produced an acute difficulty in the selection of a successor ; and that successor certain people did not wish to be the Marquis of Granby, or the Duke of Cumberland, who had long been suspected by "Leicester House " of desiring to retrieve his military ascendency.^ Eespect- ing this dilemma the Duke of Newcastle poured out his heart ^ to Lord Hardwicke. The King had said, " if Ligonier went off, the Duke of Cumberland, though not a great General, was the only man who could keep the Army in order at home." Lord Albemarle had suggested to Newcastle that they should take Marshal Rich, or " one of the old cyphers with whom they might do as they hked." Lady Yarmouth 4 was "for no General-in-Chief at all, and that the King should do the Avhole with the Secretary at War." In this idea Newcastle was inclined to concur : — "... but I will now tell you an extraordinary story indeed. My friend C. V.s told me that ' Leicester House ' and all the Royal Family, meaning the Duke of Cumberland also, was for Lord Tyrawley. That the man ' Leicester House ' feared most, thd' they dared not say so, was my Lord Qranhy. For they should not know what to do with him at the head of the Army in case of an accident to the King, which God prevent.^ This I can easily believe. C. V. went further, and told me as a certain truth that Leicester House would be for the Duke of Cumberland rather than my Lord Granby. That I own seems incredible, but the conduct of that Court is so extraordinary that indeed almost anything may be true." ^ The two Hawkinses, Caesar and Pennell, were the Court and " fashionable " surgeons. 2 See ante, p. 60. ^ Newcastle Papers, September 6, 1760. * George II.'s mistress. ^ Count Viri, Sardinian Minister. A " back-stair " politician and intriguer. " An artful, assiduous, observant, prudent man, with the greatest spirit of intrigue that can be conceived " (" Life of Lord Shelburne," vol. i. p. 137). " He is a stupid animal in appearance this Viri" (George Selwynto Lord Carlisle, Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XV. App. 6. ^ " Leicester House" was contemplating, in the event of George IL's death, the supreme government of his successor, and consequently a Commander-in-Chief who would be little more than a lay -figure. I760-I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. Lord Hardwicke replied from " Wimple " : — ^ " I hope in God he (Ligonier) will recover, for if he should drop soon it would be a hampering business for the Administration. My Lord Granby has all the merit in the world, but he is very young and you must wait to see how things will turn out this Campaign. If that scene closes well his great Quality will stand for a good deal. I cannot understand so much as your Grace does that Leicester House should pretend to be for the Duke (of Cum- berland) preferably to his Lordship. I dare say the bad state of H.R.H.'s health is a governing reason to abate their fears of him, and they may think that in talking so, they shall have the King on their side." ^ Newcastle's next letter ^ acquainted Hardwicke that Ligonier was still very ill : — " Lady Yarmouth has endeavoured to sound the King upon a successor, but without success ; and she then asked leave to use my name in the matter, which his Majesty allowed." Accordingly Newcastle was summoned to Lady Yarmouth's, after Court, and before he saw the King. Newcastle then told her that to reconstitute the Duke of Cumberland " Captain-General " at present "would be destruction to the King's affairs both at home and abroad, — at home, for reasons often discussed ; abroad, because the sole disposition of the armies everywhere in the Duke of Cum- berland's hands would make it impracticable for Prince Ferdinand to continue his command."'^ This ''struck Lady Yarmouth ex- tremely." Afterwards Newcastle saw Pitt, who was outrageous against " Leicester House." He '* iran for tlwvjs^ not men : " he said a great deal in high commendation of Lord Granby, to whom he should give the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards if Ligonier died ; ^ that the King would not take Tyrawley, and Pitt indicated General Sinclair as the best man ; " any way he must have a General to act with in case of need." To this Newcastle " differed tofo cmlo " — he was against any Scotchman, and, if limited to those two, would be for Tyrawley. Later, Newcastle had seen Lady Yarmouth again, who said " the King was quite with him and would see him on the ensuing Friday, when he intended proposing the King and the Secretary for War to manage the Army. Should Lord Granby have any more eclat that campaign that alternative might be practicable. Sinclair the * Newcastle Papers, September 7, 1760. ^ Homme propose, Dieu dispose. The King at the time was within seven or eight weeks of his death, and the Duke of Cimiberland survived him till 1765. ' Newcastle Papers, September 17, 1760. * Prince Ferdinand superseded Cumberland after Klosterseven. * In point of emolument the Colonelcy of the 1st Foot Guards was the richest in the service, and was usually held by the Conuuander-in-Chief. ^74 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760-1761. King positively would not have ; and, to meet Pitt's objection, some one from among the older Generals could always be deputed to act for His Majesty." Hardwicke's answer ^ commented on the oddness, though truth, of the fact that Ligonier's death would constitute a great and embarrassing loss. He, Hardwicke, disapproved of the King taking the Army, and quite agreed as to Cumberland and Prince Ferdinand. Granby might do if the campaign went well, and that course would best suit the x^dministration. The letters above epitomized place the various contending interests in full view : the King ; the Duke of Cumberland ; the Princess Dowager, together with Lord Bute, and their pupil, after- wards George III. ; the Duke of Newcastle ; Mr. Pitt ; and last, but not least, Lady Yarmouth — all appear, with " C. V." flitting about the backstairs of each with bat-like volatility. For brave old Ligonier, personally, they most of them cared not a straw, and gazed at him, on his supposed death-bed, with surprise that so hoary a veteran could be of so much consequence ; and it was the veteran himself who stayed the crisis, as he had often done on very different scenes of action. In short, he got well, and soon repaired to Court where the King cordially greeted him, saying, " How do you do ; take care of yourself. I want you for many things, and in many respects." ^ Such were the complicated motives of the party which was " crabbing " Lord Granby's reputation at home. " Leicester House " was soon freed from anxiety concerning his lordship, for, in addition to Lord Ligonier's recovery, the long- rehearsed policy of that Court very shortly found its fulfilment through George II.'s death, which some say was hastened by the defeat at Kloster Campen ; others, that the news of that disaster had not arrived. Lord Holdernesse informed Lord Granby of this sudden event, and enclosed George III.'s Proclamation, and Declara- tion in Council, in which His Majesty resolved to support his Allies, and to prosecute the war with vigour. Lord Granby replied : — ^ " It was with the deepest concern that I read your Lordship's letter of the 27th of last month informing me of the most melancholy event, the death of our late Most Gracious Sovereign. I most sincerely condole with Your ^ Newcastle Papers, September 18, 1760. 2 Ibid, (to Major-General Yorke), October 3, 1760. 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 231, and Foreign Office Papers (Record Office). 1760— 1 76 1.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Lordship and the Nation on our very great loss — a loss that would have been still much more severely felt, I may say irreparably so, had we not had a descendant of the same Koyal race to take immediate possession of the Throne, and the reins of Government into his hands. We have, my Lord, this gi-eat consolation ; and the pleasing and certain proofs, from our know- ledge of His present Majesty's royal virtues, that w^e shall enjoy under His Government the same happiness we so long experienced under our late much to be lamented Sovereign," The task of combining condolence with congratulation is a hard one at all times ; and was surmounted most creditably by Granby to whom the phrase le Roi est mort^ vive le Rot ! was rendered emi- nently difficult to express by the fact of his sincere personal attach- ment to George II. This attachment was the more genuine since it was free, on the subject's part, of sycophantic servility, and, on that of the Monarch, of any consequent resentment. Lord Granby had honestly differed from His Majesty on sundry matters, but the King had appreciated him the more, and showered honours upon him with hearty goodwill. AVhatever his position in the hearts of his civilian subjects, among soldiers George II., being a practical soldier, was popular, and beloved. They remembered how with drawn sword he had gallantly ridden his white charger between the lines at Dettingen ^ — in fact, in a private letter to the Duke of Newcastle, Granby ^ said he believed " no King ever lived more beloved, or died more sincerely regretted ; " and Colonel Piereon ^ wrote that by none was the King's death more keenly felt than by Lord Granby, and General Mostyn. The British troops were ordered by Lord Granby to wear nionru- ing : the officers to cover their sword-knots with black crape, to wear plain hats with crape hat-bands, and a crape band on the arm. The colours, guidons, standards, banners, kettle-drums, etc., etc., were to be draped also with black crape.* ' Among the examples, in the Britisli IMuseuiu, of Chinese porcelain, decorated in China with European subjects and designs, are some dishes bearing a representa- tion of George H. at Dettingen : the horse is painted a colour which may be meant for bay. Among the same collection (Franks) tlie Duke of Cumberland is repre- sented on a nmg connneniorating the Battle of Culloden, and by an equestrian statuette of Fulhani stoneware. Newcastle Papers, November 2G, 17G(). ^ Ibid. •* Lord Granby 's Order-Book. 176 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760-1761. CHAPTER XV. Theob,etically speaking the discordant notes which had marred the political harmony of George II. 's reign should have been silenced by the accession of his grandson George III. The latter declared himself to be by birth, education, and sympathy a Briton ; and this circumstance provided such English Jacobites as had remained in sulky retirement from George II.'s Court with a useful opportunity of taking the oaths of allegiance to his successor, of which they freely availed themselves. Having testified their loyalty, there was no logical reason for denying them Court employment, but the Pelhamites were too tenacious of their long continued monopoly of government to be logical — much less liberal. Lord Bute, and the young King his master, have been debited with their full share of responsibility for the stormy period of faction which so soon arose ; a period illustrated by a flood of literature teeming with vituperation, recrimination, and every species of " ation " in perennial use when certain pots and kettles, called Political Parties, are busy accounting one another black. The most fruitful source of trouble was, beyond compare, the old Duke of Newcastle. With palpable insincerity he declared to Lord Granby that he did not feel equal, at his advanced age, to undertake another reign, but that he " was being overborne on all sides." Mr. Pitt, his Grace said, was behaving extremely well, and they were most thoroughly united : ^ he was also glad to hear that the Duke of Rutland had received a polite compliment for Lord Granby from the King.^ Mr. Pitt, a little later, wrote to Lord Granby : " His Majesty's conduct justly inspires respect, and his behaviour captivates whoso- ever approaches his royal person." ^ George III., in fact, did not at first evince any wish to change ^ Newcastle Papers, October 31, 1760. ^ j^^jj^^ November 7, 1760. 3 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 358. 1760.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 177 his grandfather's ministers,^ and Walpole insists that Lord Bute originally had no declared party. ^ Had Newcastle retired, Pitt's influence, and preference for an eclectic executive, might have origi- nated a combination which would have saved all parties from excesses and mistakes, and the Whigs from the egregious conviction that they alone should govern in perpetuity. But Newcastle was incorrigible. He, and his immediate supporters, shortly became furious at the appointment of Lord Fitzmaurice to be an aide-de- camp to the King, in recognition of his gallantry at Kloster Campen. Lord Fitzmaurice was considered to belong to the " country party," and to be a T017 in disguise — more or less. But Fitzmaurice's politics did not prevent Lord Granby from valuing his friendship,^ and rejoicing in his promotion. The presence of Lord Bute about the throne exasperated these self-seeking place-jobbers to the point of achieving their own ruin, and his triumph, when a compact front and calm measures would have soon grounded him on the shoals of mediocrity. George IIL's opinion, learnt at Leicester House, was that a King sliould govern personally, and choose his own ministers : His Majesty saw through Newcastle's intentions and schemes ; so determined to rid himself of the " Pelham bit" upon wliich the Sovereign had so long been quietly driven. Newcastle soon began to complain : For myself I am the greatest cypher, the young King is hardly civil to me, talks to me of nothing, and scarce answers me on Treasury matters." ^ The Duke of Devonshire, TiOrd Chamberlain, who also assumed an attitude of incipient opposition, requested, and obtained leave to absent himself from the Councils. Newcastle communicated his great dissatisfaction to Lord Cranby who merely replied that he was sorry to hear his Grace was uneasy ; but he in no way touched upon the political situation, and quickly reverted to purely military matters.^ The Duke of Rutland, Imvimj dedined entering any faction, was a calm spectator of the Court drama. Neither he nor his son had * Rutland MSS. (Letters of Lord Barriugton and Sir J. Yorke), vol. ii. pp. 357, 358. " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." — You will have heard that every- thing is settled quietly and to satisfaction in England, and that the King has been pleased, in the most gracious and friendly manner, to continue all our late Royal Master's Ministers, and has assured them that he will make their situations easy and happy to them, so that they all seem pleased, and none more so than the Duke of Newcastle."— Sir Joseph Yorke to Lord Granby, November 10, 1760, Rutland MSS. ' See p. 170, and note. ^ Newcastle Papers, November 7. 17G0. ^ Ibid., November 24, 1760. 12 178 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760. ever been numbered among " Newcastle's footmen," as George II. derisively called the regular Pelhamite supporters, but both had been, and were still, anxious to maintain a modus vivendi between Newcastle and Pitt. This alliance was singularly like that between Jack Mostyn and Cope's Dragoons ; sheer necessity, ungraced by a grain of sympathy, had brought Pitt into union with Newcastle, and the ducal schemer soon undermined Pitt's prospects of defeating Lord Bute by commencing a political flirtation with that nobleman himself. For a space Newcastle still clung to the hope of remaining in office, though subjected to innumerable shocks and surprises : — " A most extraordinary Phenomenon," he wrote to Lord Hardwicke, " appeared yesterday, of which I had the first notice by an accidental in- formation from Ned Finch at my Lady Yarmouth's. Five Tory Lords and Commoners added to the Lords and Grooms of the Bed-chamber ! " * These five Tory intruders in the Bedchamber might have belonged to a class of " intruder " which modern civilization combats with patent insect-powder, so inveterately were they loathed by the Pelhamites who, with fastidious horror, watched their entry into the royal household. This move on George III.'s part marked the opening stage of the struggle. Newcastle declared his sole reason for retaining power had been to " secure a Parliament ; " but, as events afforded a greater likelihood of "an inundation of Tories and Stuarts in every County, he should probably go out that week." ^ His Grace did nothing so salutary ; and, pending the further development of home affairs, the thread is resumed in Germany. November and December, 1760,^ found the belligerents still trying to tire one another out in their endeavours, the one to regain, the other to retain, Hesse. The Allied Army was considerably scattered in different camps ; the roads were impassable for heavy artillery, so that Prince Ferdinand was powerless to commence besieging the several French garrisons of Gottingen, Miinden, Cassel, and Ziegenhayn. Frederick the Great's hardly earned victory at Torgau had raised the Prince's hopes of Prussian reinforcements, a body of which was already reported on the march. The Allied Army was mostly in cantonments behind the Dymel ; General Liickner's detachment blockading Gottingen beyond the Weser. In spite of ' Newcastle Papers. December 5. 1760. 2 Ibid., December 7, 1760. ' Ibitl., November 24, 25, 1760. 1760— I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 179 the rigorous season, a force under General Oheim remained in bivouac near Cassel, to observe that garrison ; and two battalions of each division of the Main Army bivouacked, in turn, along the Dymel. Once winter quarters became practicable, Lord Granby desired the King's leave to come home, bringing Pierson ; and owned that he " was most sincerely tired of this long, uneventful campaign on the Dymel." In consequence of the non-arrival of remittances at this period, Lord Granby had to commence availing himself of his authority to draw upon the Treasury, and advised twenty bills, amounting to £100,000, at two months' date.^ The monthly instalment of £150,000 no longer met the expen- diture, and Granby wrote — " I fear very mucli when all the Bills coino to hand already drawn by me, with those I must necessarily still draw, however backward I might liave heen formerly,- I shall he allowed to have been ready enough with my name of late. However great the sums have been I have the satisfaction of being conscious that, as far as depends on me, the public money has been disposed of according to my instructions/' An utter weariness of the war was evident on the part of both English and French ; and Frederick the Great at this moment petitioned Pitt to gain them a peace. " Everybody seems to wish for peace in England," ^ wrote Sir Joseph Yorke, who had just been knighted, to Granby. The Duke of Newcastle declared that, after IG or 17 millions spent, the aspect of the war on the Continent was scarcely changed ; but liow could it he otherivise wlien the enemy was so superior to us in all places^ * At the seat of war itself, Colonel Pierson said " he doubted the existence of a single man, civil or military, who did not earnestly wish for peace." ^ Prince Ferdinand shifted his army further east, increasing the detachments beyond the Weser, and Lord Granby was, in December, 1760, and January, 1761, quartered in the Palace of the Prince, and Bishop, of Corvey, on the river Weser, which he had substituted for his old position in order to be more in the centre of his troops. His letters were full of gloom, expressions of weariness, and concern for the great sickness prevailing among the British troops, and the high percentage of deaths in the hospitals.^ ' Newcastle Papers, December 1, 11, 19, 17(]0. - See ante, p. 128. 3 Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 358. Newcastle Papers, December 16, 17G0. Ibid., January 2, 17G1. « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 239, 240 ; Newcastle Papers, January 2-12. 17GI. i8o LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1760-1761. Though at first confined to the Infantry this mortaUty, Granby announced, was spreading to the Cavalrymen, " who began to fall down very fast with inflammatory disorders." " It is very melancholy to see how fast our men die here," added Colonel Pierson to the tale of misery ; " there is a contagious fever that carries the stoutest men off in 2 or 3 days." The Duke of Newcastle, to whom such things were of little interest save as affecting home politics, expressed his hopes of seeing Lord G-ranby soon in England, when he trusted his Lordship would explain, verbally, what he would not do by letter — " viz. the cause of what was amiss with him." Part of what was " amiss " his Grace was apprized of in the manner which invariably reduced him to a moral pulp. He received at the Treasury, from Baron Miinchhausen, two Memorials framed by the Hanover Regency, and " backed " by Prince Ferdinand, complaining of the inadequacy and irregularity of the supply to the Army, and of the inefficiency of the Commissariat Staff. ^ This in itself was enough to alarm the Duke ; but, in addition, a certain number of officers on leave began spreading reports of the extreme distresses and hardships which the troops in Germany were suffering. These rumours took shape, and the London Chronicle 2 affirmed that a growing discontent prevailed against Prince Ferdinand, who was intercepting the full credit due to the British Generals by never allowing them completely independent commands, though the British troops were invariably placed in the most arduous positions. Forage and provisions were scarce, and the impression gained ground that Prince Ferdinand was benefiting pecuniarily by the chicanery of the Hanoverian contractors, and officials.^ Newcastle at once made for stopping the rumours rather than for seeking the causes of them. He was amazed,^ he informed Lord Granby, that so many gentlemen had been allowed to come over who were doing incredible mischief with their imprudent discourses : it was true Lord Pembroke and General Waldegrave, who were home on leave, held very different language from the rest," but the distress of the Army formed the universal topic in London. Lord Granby ^ proved that, except those on sick leave, and such officers of the Guards and Cavalry who had been despatched on ^ Newcastle Papers, December 26, 1760. - 1760. 2 See also Gentleman* s Magazine, 1760-1. ^ Newcastle Papers, November 13, 1760. 5 Ibid., and Kutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 237, 240. 1760-1761.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 181 regimental business, only some seven or eight officers out of the whole Infantry force were at home. The want of forage and regularity of supply had, said his Lordship, never been disputed ; and the answers to his strong representations made to the Commissariat Department, were the difficulties presented by the navigation of the river Weser, the scattered positions of the troops, and the infamous roads, which all but paralyzed the transport. (service : "that the German War was becoming mipopular he knew ; and of this last Campaign he was personally heartily sick." Granby's impression was that, great as the distresses were, the more exaggerated accounts of them were being circulated, for political purposes, by enemies at home, and saddled upon the officers on leave. The unhappiness which the Mar([uis endured throughout this wretched winter was deep enough ; yet it never led him, in any moment of impatience or provocation, to breathe or write a word concerning his own extraordinary personal endeavours to reduce the widespread privations. His effort was none the less grand that, at best, it could but soothe, without removing, the distresses of a great army. H(i placed his purse, his quarters, anything and everything that he possessed, unreservedly at the disposal of all whose wants he might, happily, succeed in reaching ; and, by his cheery power of conciliation and wealth of generous sympathy the smouldering ill-humour of the troops was stayed from bursting into flame. ^ The meanest camp- follower never sought his assistance in vain, much less a soldier ; and his own table was open to all officers, British and foreign, who would afford him the privilege of showing them hospitality amidst the prevailing scarcity. This solicitude for the miseries of others bore fruit, for his example spread, and " officers of different nations emulated the social virtues of the British Chief. By such means he gained the hearts of the whole Army : they followed him with confidence, and fought under him from attachment." - Yet all the sympathy accorded him by the Duke of Newcastle was the querulous inquiry why the existence of distress had been allowed to leak out at home by the granting of leave " to a glut of officers who had nothing to do but grumble ! " ^ Sir Joseph Yorke and Lord Hardwicke were each appealed to on the subject by the Duke, and both agreed that at any rate Lord Granby was the last man to blame. Sir Joseph urged* that the General Commanding- in-Chief personally issued no money, and could not possibly be ' See the account of an eye-witness in " Lodge's Portraits." - Ibid. ' Newcastle Papers, January 27, 17G1. ^ Ibid. l82 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. answerable for the Commissariat of the various Corps. Lord Hard- wicke ^ blamed the home authorities for not making better arrange- ments for the supply of the Army : — " My Lord Granby, with the best heart and the most upright intentions in the world, must necessarily be ignorant of everything relating to contracts and accounts ; and Colonel Pierson may not know enough to match him against the knaves and cheats he may meet with." ^ Newcastle was further perturbed by rumours that Lord G-ranby intended resigning his command at the close of the campaign ; so his Grace now prattled quite freely about reinforcements, and devoutly hoped that " all possible attention would be given, by those responsible, to Lord Granby's representations ; but, for his (the Duke's) part he no longer had any credit in Army affairs." " C. Y." was again put on the scent of affairs at Court to ascertain " how Lord Granby stood." " C. V." thought that his lordship stood well, but that the wish was still, in the event of Lord Ligonier's death, to make Lord Tyrawley Commander-in-Chief, and Lord Granby Master-General of the Ordnance.^ Upon this Newcastle informed Granby ^ that he had every reason to think there was no important faction opposed to him at Court — "... the King and Lord Ligonier have a scheme for recruiting you with drafts from Ireland and the Guards. . . . Drive the French from Cassel and Gottingen, and then we may be able to make our Party good." Newcastle's first and last consideration was " Party ; " it was Granby's last consideration — or, rather, it never entered his head at all. The money instalment due November, 1760, Lord Granby acknowledged as having arrived in Holland January 11, 17G1, only, and " which came very seasonably as we were in the utmost distress for the want of it." In reference to any feather-bed warriors, who might have spread over-coloured reports, Granby assured the Duke that— 5 * Newcastle Papers, January 20-26, 1761. 2 A want of organization in Commissariat matters seems to have been a general fault from the very outset of the war. Lord Barrington wrote to the Duke of Marlborough expressing surprise that the Expedition against the French coast (in which the Duke served) should have started from Spithead without any Commissary of Stores. — " Political Life of Lord Barrington," Letter, May 80, 1758. See ante, p. 63, the St. Malo Expedition. 3 Newcastle Papers, Februarv, 3, 1761. Ibid., February 10, 1761. ^ Ibid., January 22-26, 176L i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 183 -'a German Campaign was not like a Flanders one — one Battle, tranqnility for the rest of the Campaign with great plenty of all sorts of wine, &c. ; and good and early winter quarters.^ People that love their ease ^ won't love a German Campaign, which certainly is not a party of pleasure, and may not have agreed with every officer's constitution or inclination. I hope, however, that those officers who are determined to see it out will not be entirely forgot, especially Jack Mostyn, whose zeal and gallant behaviour certainly merit some mark of his Majesty's favour. I fear a thaw is coming, which may perhaps put a stop to all operations, which God prevent, for I should be very sorry to return to England and leave the Enemy in possession of Gottingen." When the campaign should close, and the fate of Cassel be determined, Granby assured the Duke his reticence should cease, and he would, in person, speak his mind upon every point, and very freely. Agreeing with opinions put forward by the Commander- in-Chief, Lord Ligonier, Granby expressed his grave doubts of the propriety of undertaking, in winter, siege-operations against an enemy " so skilled in that art," and he sincerely hoped some other means could be found to drive the French from Cassel, and Gottingen.^ Prince Ferdinand at last decided upon a sudden, and somewhat desperate, attack upon the French (juarters along the rivers Fulda, Werra, and Eder, in the depth of winter, as a final endeavour to clear the Cassel district, and drive the Enemy out of Hesse, south, to Frankfort. After having given his troops a short rest in their cantonments he formed a great magazine at Warburg, where he left a battalion to guard the magazine and bakery. To act in concert with this " Hessian Expedition " Frederick the Great contributed a corps of some GOOO Prussians, under General Sybourg. The Hereditary Prince had rejoined the Allies ; and part of the Wescl Expedition which was still in, or near, Miinster, was moved to Lippstadt : the rest remained at Miinster, under Generals AValde- grave and Hardenburg. Before Ferdinand commenced his march, some fighting occurred * " As for the Wars formerly in Flauders, I don't suppose half the difficulties existed." — Lord Pembroke to Lord Charlemont, from Kalle Camp (Hist. MSS. Com., Kep. XII. App. pt. 10, pp. 257-2G2). 2 " A race who are prouder To spend their sweet powder At halls, than on bullets — a terrible train Of crimp petits-maitrcs, Nice seamsters and plaiters Beau'd out, for the dance of a dainty Campaign." (Brookes, Air xxix.) « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 239. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. around Grottingen, incidental to some efforts made by Be Broglie to get rid of Generals Liickner, Mansberg, and Kilmansegge, who were stationed between Heiligenstadt and Diiderstadt, near the river Leine. One affair, at Diiderstadt, was won by the Marshal's brother. Count Broglie, who took 200 prisoners, on January 2, 1761 ; but, on the 3rd, this defeat was reversed by Liickner, with the aid of Kil- mansegge. They took prisoners three complete companies of the Grenadiers of France, " who bitterly reviled Count Broglie for the ill-planned manoeuvre " ^ which led to their capture. A somewhat "sporting" sally was made by M. de Belsunce, from Gottingen, with 300 Cavalry, 100 of whom carried, each, a grenadier mounted behind him. De Belsunce took prisoners 4 officers and 100 men, but the principal result of his exploit was getting a convoy into Gottingen, which garrison the Allies were hoping to starve out ; but, defeated by heavy rains and bad roads, they raised the blockade. On February 11, 1761, Prince Ferdinand issued his orders of battle : his Eight, commanded by the Hereditary Prince, was to attack Fritzlar ; his Centre, commanded by himself and Lord Granby, the Cassel district, and the French posts on the Fulda down to the river Eder ; and his Left, under General Sporcken, was opposed beyond the Weser to the French Right, under Prince Xavier and the Comte de Stain ville, in the neighbourhood of the river Werra. The Prussian reinforcements, now advancing into Thuringia, were to act in concert with General Sporcken against Prince Xavier, and De Stainville. Lord Granby commanded the 1st Column, Prince Ferdinand's van-guard, consisting of — 3 battalions of British Guards. 3 squadrons of Blues. 1 battalion of Grenadiers. Elliot's Regiment. 7 battalions of Hanoverian Infantry. The Chasseurs. 1 battalion of Hodgson's (5th Regiment). 2 squadrons of Hanoverian Cavalry. The whole British Artillery, and 1 Brigade of Count Biickebourg's Artillery. Lieut.-General Mostyn, and Major-General Julius Caesar, were attached to Lord Granby's Column, which crossed the Dymel February 11. The remainder of the Allied Army followed in three columns, and on February 12 lay with its Right to Wolfshangen, and its Left to Wilhelmsthal. Lord Granby advanced to attack the French post at Weissenstein, ^ Newcastle Papers, January 12, 1761 : Granby to Duke of Newcastle. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 1 85 on the heights due west of Cassel, in which attack, if unsuccessful, he was to be supported by the whole Allied Army. Before marching he wrote to the Duke of Newcastle a letter which shows the low condition of spirits to which the anxieties of the tedious campaign on the Dymel and Weser had reduced him. " Should the French be prepared and determined to maintain the Post," wrote Granby, " I believe it will be warm work, and should anything happen to me in this affair I hope I need not remind my friend the Duke of Newcastle to endeavour to procure a pension for Mrs. Mompesson ^ and her 2 children, and I flatter myself his Majesty would not refuse this mark of his favour on such an occasion. I don't recollect I Iiave any more requests to trouble y' Grace with, except that you will take the first opportunity of providing a King's living for Storer, who has been with me from my first coming to Germany; and will use all your interest in behalf of my friend Dr. Ewer."-^ Bennet Storer accompanied Granby, and, in a letter ^ to Thomas Thoroton, prayed that " Providence might preserve so good a man " as his Lordship in an undertaking which was on all sides considered very formidable. Colonel Pierson likewise wrote — * " the morrow may teem with events . . . tlie prospect of fighting has put Lord Granby in better spirits . . . the Infantry marclies out weak through sickness; the Guards are the strongest Brigade of the whole, and will do their duty." After this solemn prelude the French, to Grauby's surprise, retreated before him, ceding the post of Weissenstein without offering the smallest resistance. Granby then bombarded Gudensburg, which surrendered February IG. On the same day Fritzlar surrendered to the Hereditary Prince, the garrisons of both places being allowed to march out after signing agreements not to serve again during 1761. General Zastrow drove the Enemy from Felzburg and Alsberg ; and General Sporcken, aided by the Prussian contingent, defeated Prince Xavier and De Stainville at Langensaltza, taking five battalions prisoners, in addition to capturing seven colours, and large quantities of forage. The Prussians, after this engagement, appear to have retired, and rendered no further assistance to the " Hessian Expe- dition." The Allies having secured the river Eder, the Hereditary Prince, with Major-General Howard and General Zastrow, advanced • Widow of one of the Mompessons frequently mentioned in the Rutland MSS. * See w/ra, p. 195. Ewer was not yet made a Bishop. ^ Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 243. ^ Newcastle Papers, February 11, 1761. i86 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. to Homberg,! to the Heights of which Prince Ferdinand shortly advanced the Main Army after crossing the river Eder, at Felzburg, on February 18. All these successes had happened so unexpectedly and simul- taneously that De Broglie had not realized the extent of the enemy's intentions until the whole of his cordon had been driven back. Leaving his brother, Count Broglie, in Cassel, the Marshal took the field and proceeded to Hersf eldt. from whence the Hereditary Prince (February 20) forced him to retreat towards Fulda, leaving behind him immense stores of meal, oats, and hay. Count de Stainville, after his defeat at Langensaltza, likewise retreated to Fulda, pursued by Sporcken and Liickner. Prince Ferdinand made direct for Cassel, the siege of which was to be commenced at once, directed by Count La Lippe Biickebourg with a purely German force. Blickebourg's force, Frederick the Great 2 computed at 15,000 Hanoverians, and the Cassel garrison at 6000 French. Lord Granby was now speeding on towards Kirchain ; Colonel " Ned " Harvey, with a Brigade of Enghsh Cavalry, was scouring the neighbourhood of Ziegenhayn prior to its investment by General Schliiter. The Castle of Marburg was already invested by Major-General Breidenbach, and before it he was killed. He was a popular and able officer, who had commanded the 2nd Division of the Wesel Expedition ; he was succeeded by Major-General Oheim, who was instructed to place himself under Lord Granby's orders. The Hereditary Prince, and Major-General Elliot, next forced De Broglie, and Stainville, from Fulda, from whence the French retreated towards the Main, having previously burnt their magazines in Fulda. Lord Granby continued advancing (together with his additional Corps under Oheim) towards Marburg, which M. de Rouge evacuated (after burning his magazines) with some 6000 or 8000 men, and retreated to Giessen, leaving a small garrison, formed principally of the " Irish Brigade," in the Castle of Marburg. Granby later took Marburg as well as the Castle of Amoneburg, also garrisoned by the " Irish Brigade," and, crossing the river Ohm, advanced to Schrock, upon the Heights of which he encamped. ^ There are several places of this name. Homburg, the fashionable health resort, we have nothing to do with. Houiberg, with the adjacent Heights, is eight miles south of Felzburg-on-the-Eder. Hombourg, with the adjacent Heights, is on the river Ohm, twelve miles south-east of Marburg, and due south of Schweinsburg. ^ " (Euvres de Fre'deric le Grand," t. v. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 187 Prince Ferdinand followed, and on March 2, 17G1, the Main Allied Army was stationed on the Heights of Hombourg, with its Right at Niederklein ; and eight battalions of General Sporcken's Corps were ordered back to join Count Biickebourg's division before Cassel. General Sporcken, with his remaining troops, together with Kilmansegge, Wangenheim, and Liickner, rejoined Prince Ferdinand. Thus, since February 11, the Allies had driven the French fifty miles southwards from Cassel towards the Main, together with all their posts on the rivers Fulda, Eder, and the Ohm, and were now covering the sieges of Cassel and Ziegenhayn, which were both com- menced with great energy.^ Colonel Pierson might well write — " This Campaign, which with our whimsical countrymen seems to have put the Duke (Ferdinand) a little out of fashion, will probably be the greatest yet made, and then I suppose he will again be thought a General. I wish success alone did not always direct our judgements." - Lord Ligonier was delighted at Granby's accounts of these events, and replied : " Only let us get them out of Cassel, and I think our affair is finished." ^ Brilliant as Ferdinand's movements had been, a Nemesis in the shape of the old Commissariat inefiiciency followed closely upon them. General Hardenburg, with a small portion of the Wesel force from Miinster, was watching on the Eight of the Allies, to whom it was now a matter of the first importance to prevent a junction of De Broglie's reuniting forces with those he could draw from the Lower Rhine, from the French Army of Reserve. A turn in the tide became perceptible early in March. Roads, owing to alternate frost and thaw, and the ceaseless passage of troops, were in such condition as almost to cancel any claim to the term " roads " at all, and to bring all locomotion to a standstill. Artillery and transport horses were dying in such thousands that the Board of Ordnance at home was filled with dismay.'* The roads between Beverungen (where the cargo -boats from Bremen dis- charged their freights), "Warburg, and the various scenes of the Allied sieges, and manceuvres, were " paved with dead horses." ^ The Commissariat— lame at the best of times — became absolutely ' Being sent back to Warburg on business by Lord Granby, the Rev. Bennet Storer, on his return, passed Cassel and Ziegenhayn. He reported " a most infernal fire kept up on both sides " at Cassel, whilst at Ziegenhayn " the Enemy's fire was not so hot as ours, deserters said from lack of ammunition."' — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 246. = Newcastle Papers. February 21. 1761. 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 246. * Ibid., pp. 245-247. * " Frederick II. of Prussia"' (Carlyle). i88 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. paralyzed under the scattered condition of the various Corps, which the Commissaries declared ^ they sometimes could not even find ; and their Director-in-Chief, Colonel Pierson, was unconcernedly commanding (under the King's orders, and with Prince Ferdinand's sanction — not Granby's) the Battalion of the 1st Foot Guards ^ in Lord Granby's Corps. Excepting for what stores they captured, and which the French left unburned, the Allied Army must have come near being starved outright. The French, on the other hand, were being driven towards their important magazine in Frankfort ; while their various detached Corps, up till now well-nigh hustled out of their senses, were be- ginning to acquire the strength which comes of union. De Broglie was adding defensive works to Bergen, and the corps under Prince Xavier, De Stainville, and De Rouge, were drawing together about Frankfort, and Friedberg. Moreover, the Chevalier de Muy, with 14,000 men from the Lower Rhine, got past General Harden- burg and the Hereditary Prince, and joined De Brcglie. In con- sequence. General Hardenburg, with eight British battalions ^ (of the Wesel force) and two squadrons of Conway's Regiment, which had been resting since Kloster Campen, joined the Allied Army at Kirchain, as De Muy's march from the Rhine had re- lieved the Mlinster garrison from risk of attack. The main body of the Allies remained on the Heights of Hombourg on the Ohm, where Prince Ferdinand was erecting huts, and placing many of his troops in cantonments in the adjacent villages. Lord Granby passed the river Lahn below Marburg, and pushed on to Lohr, from whence he patrolled the country towards Wetzlar with the Hessian Hussars, and towards Giessen with Elliot's Light Dragoons. On the 16th and 17th March the Enemy began to advance towards him in such force, on both sides of the Lahn, that Prince Ferdinand recalled him to the Heights of Langstein, near Kirchain. Granby's letters to the Duke of Newcastle, Lord Ligonier, and Lord Holdernesse, plainly show his opinion of the turn matters were assuming — " The bad weather, by making the roads almost impossible for our Artillery, has prevented our pushing the Enemy so rapidly as we could have wished, and thus afforded them a breathing-time which they have employed in 1 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 244 : Letter of Peter Taylor. 2 In acquainting the Duke of Newcastle of the prospect of fighting (after the march of the Hessian Expedition), Colonel Pierson frankly stated his inability to attend to Commissariat details. — Newcastle Papers. 3 2 battn. British Grenadiers ; 2 battn. Highlanders ; 1 battn. Barrington's ; 1 battn. Kingsley's ; 1 battn. Home's ; and 1 battn. Welsh Fusiliers. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 189 collecting their whole force. ... All the troops from the Lower Rhine have now joined them. . . . Ziegenhayn has been vigorously bombarded, but, . . . as we are wanting in battering cannon and ammunition, and, as we don't hear that the garrison are distressed for provisions, or any other necessaries, I begin to look upon our acquisition of the place as a very doubtful circum- stance. The Enemy have made two sorties from Cassel, but were repulsed by Count Biickebourg each time with much loss on their side." 1 From this moment ensued a period of " pull Devil," or rather, ''''push Devil, push Baker." A multitude of movements forwards and backwards ensued, during which the weight of numbers told slowly, but surely, against the Allies. De Muy, and Comte de Stain- ville, crept up to Marburg, and Griinburg. Lord G-ranby was now one side of the river Ohm, now the other. Prince Ferdinand on one occasion was with him reconnoitring at the old Castle of Frauen- burg (on the Enemy's side of the Ohm). Both Generals, and their suites, were dismounted, when suddenly a detachment of Fischer's Corps, led by an Aide-de-Camp of De Broglie's, appeared within some forty or fifty yards' distance, and opened fire upon them. Some of their horses galloped off riderless, and after a brief scene of hurry, confusion, and holding on to stirrup-leathers, the reconnoitring party made its escape, leaving various articles behind. Prince Ferdinand's spy-glass, which was among the latter, was sent back the same evening by De Broglie. The Hereditary Prince and General Liickner were still on the Enemy's side of the Ohm ; the former behind Griinberg, the latter at Laubach. De Broglie ordered De Stainville to attack ; Liickner was compelled to retire, and the Hereditary Prince also, to Bergge- munden, after a sharp engagement on March 21, in which he lost 4 battalions (taken prisoners), 18 cannon, and 19 colours. Major- General Rheden was wounded, and subsequently died. This defeat, and the raising of the siege of Ziegenhayn from want of ammunition, settled Prince Ferdinand's chances of remaining in his position on the Ohm which he had retained for a month, after destroying all the French magazines from the river Eder to the Main. The effectives of his Infantry Battalions had dwindled gradually to little more than one-third of their paper establishment : " Hodgson's " Regiment (5th), after detaching a piquet of 50 men, had only 5 men left with the colours ; " Carr's " (50th) was little better, and, one battalion with another, did not exceed 200 men each. The Cavalry was equally weak, and the Commissariat was 1 March 18, 1761, Rutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 247, 248. igo LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. stuck fast in the mud. On the 23rd of March, 1761, the retreat began from the river Ohm, the Allies marching in six columns to the Neustadt Heights, the Hereditary Prince forming the rear- guard. Lord Granby, having to secure Count Kilmansegge's retreat, remained on the Heights of Langstein till the 24th, when he marched at 3 a.m. by Emsdorff and Grilsenberg, being joined by General Hardenburg's Corps. De Broglie's van-guard followed in pursuit in two columns ; one, making in the direction of Ziegenhayn, fell (March 25) upon the division of the Allied Rear-guard, under Major-Generals Schliiter and Zastrow. Both these officers were taken prisoners, with 10 or 12 others ; Schliiter was wounded, 100 men, 2 cannon, and 3 colours were lost. The Enemy retired to Ziegenhayn, pursued by the Left Wing of the Cavalry under Oheim. All that night the Allies remained under arms, marching the 26th at daylight, crossed the river Schwalm, and bivouacked at Branau. Near Fritzlar the Hereditary Prince was joined by Colonel Harvey with 2 squadrons of the Greys, 2 squadrons of Innis- killings, 2 squadrons of Ancrams, and the Prince of Anhalt with 6 Hanoverian battalions. De Rochambeau, who was harassing the Prince's rear, was repulsed, and Colonel Harvey's Cavalry took 30 or 40 prisoners. Thus, with various skirmishes, and incessant anxieties and fatigues,^ the retreat continued across the river Eder to Corbach and Wolfshangen ; the Allied Army crossing the river Dymel and taking up its old position at, and near, Warburg, on the 31st of March. Count Biickebourg raised the siege of Cassel on the 27th, and reached Warburg unmolested. " It is with concern," wrote ^ Lord Granby to the Duke of Newcastle, " that I am obliged to acquaint y"" Grace that, from the superioritj'' of the Enemy and the want of forage to subsist our troops, H.S. Highness found it impracticable to penetrate any further, or even to maintain the ground he held longer than the 22nd (March). On the 23rd, therefore, he commenced his retreat, and the same day the Hereditary Prince, attacked by a superior force, suffered some loss. In consequence of this and the immense superiority of the enemy the siege of Cassel was raised, and the Army, after constant marching and lying in Bivouac, has this night gone into winter-quarters, the major part on the other side of the Dymel. . . . The Duke made this retreat fas a pas, and did not relinquish the siege of Cassel till the very last moment. 1 " That same retreating is a very comical, ugly operation ; being kicked, then turning about again to snarl, shew your teeth, and walk on again." — Lord Pembroke to Lord Charlemont from Kalle Camp, July, 1760 (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XII. App. pt. 10). 2 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 249, and Newcastle Papers, March 31, 1761. I76i.] MARQUIS OF GRAND Y. IQI However, at least we have destroyed their Magazines and lived upon them for 2 months. So soon as I have seen the Duke and made the necessary arrangements for the Cantonment of the troops, which I believe will be in the Bishoprick of Paderborn, I propose setting out for England." This retreat of the tired army left the whole of Hesse in the hands of the French, a circumstance which they celebrated with a Feu de joie, and a Te Deim. De Broj^lie reinstated his army in cantonments in, and about, Cassel, and repaired to France to await overtures for peace. Sir Joseph Yorke reported that opinion at the Hague attributed Prince Ferdinand's failure to the King of Prussia having thwarted his plan by not sustaining the promised assistance upon which it was largely based. ^ Frederick the Great maintained he promised assistance as far as the river Werra only.^ A memo- randum of Prince Ferdinand's, dated Neuhaus, April 4, 1701, says — '•It is deputed to the discretion of Mylord Granby to determhie^ the difficulties which have till now hampered the operations of the Conmiissariat, and to effect such changes as sliall be judged the most proper to ensure the Army being better provided than heretofore." ■* To Lord Bute Prince Ferdinand reported his late movements, and the condition of the Allied Army, summing up the future position as follows : — " If we are not considerably reinforced, or, if France be not obliged to call off a large portion of her troops, we have nothing to expect save from a stroke of luck, or from any faults the Enemy may commit during the campaign." Thus ended this long and exhausting effort, occupying the winter of 17G0-G1, during the whole of which the Marquis of Granby spared himself no effort, or outlay, which could diminish the suffer- ings of the private soldiers. Frederick the Great described it as " Une Campagne oil, ue respectant point Ics hivers, on aft'rontait toutes les saisons." ^ The troops gained their winter quarters in the first days of April only, after which they enjoyed a hardly earned repose of nearly three months. ' Newcastle Papers. April G, 17GI. ^ " (Euvres de Frede'ric le Grand,"' t. v. ' Faire lever; Hterally, " to start," "to put up." * Newcastle Papers, April 4, 17G1. ^ Ibid., April 13, 1761. " " Me'moires de la Guerre de Sept Aus." Beferences for the " Hensian Expedition " : Newcastle Papers ; Rutland MSS. ; Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3 ; Operations of the Allied Army ; " •• (Euvres de Fre'deric le Grand," including " Me'moires de la Guerre de Sept Ans ; " Frederick II. of Prussia" (Carlyle). 192 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. CHAPTER XYI. Lord Granby started for England ; but, pending his arrival, the current of events must be resumed at a slightly earlier date. Both the Duke of Newcastle, and Lord Ligonier, had been endeavouring to comply with Lord Granby's recommendations respecting General Mostyn. The Military Governorship of Jersey had become vacant and was mentioned to Mostyn, though never actually offered to him. Mostyn wrote — " I have been consulting the Red Book (poor Downe's oracle and vade mecum). There I find, in the List of His Majesty's Garrisons, Plymouth set down as £1289. 2. 6 per annum, and that of Jersey as £0. 0. 0 per annum." ^ Mostyn made a signal mistake here, for, though no fixed salary was attached to the Jersey appointment, it was worth in certain fees and dues some £1200 a year. His error, however, was immaterial, as the post was given to Lord Albemarle, the Duke of Cumberland's Lord-in-Waiting and friend. But poor Mostyn was doomed to still further disappointments, instead of merited rewards. The rumours of Lord Granby's intention of quitting his command had led to the consideration of a successor. Lieut.-General Mostyn was not considered equal to the Command-in-Chief, and yet he could not have been passed over by the other Lieut.-General in Germany, Waldegrave, who was his junior. At home the only available man was General Conway, who was a few days senior in rank to either of them. Conway's name first appeared in the matter February 16, 1761,2 upon what it must have been gall and wormwood for the Duke of Newcastle to head with the words " Memorandum for Lord Bute," through whom all official matters now reached the King. After so long a time passed in the cool shade of royal displeasure General Conway's appointment to serve in Germany was decided on to the intense delight, as may be imagined, of his cousin and mentor ' Newcastle Papers, January 21, 1761. 2 Ibid. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, Horace Walpole, who in high excitement wrote to Sir Horace Mann — " Mr. Conway is going to Germany to his great contentment, as his character is vindicated at last." ^ Mostyn lost no time in expressing his opinion on the measure, couched in his customary Saxon-English — " I certainly do run down hill at home at a dam'd rate ; however I comfort myself that here, with y' Army, I am not in so retrograde a march. As to Bland's Regiment, be that as it may. It is my duty to wish y" King's will be done . . . but what can I say in regard to y' pleasure of it if Mr. Conway, a L' Gen' six short days senior to me, comes over to this Army only to wipe my nose ? What other use can his coming be of? We are already (under y® command of Lord Granby) one Lieut. General for y" Cavalry, and one for the Infantry." - Offence in other (juarters was caused by this move,^ and the Duke of Bedford's faction took up the cudgels in defence of Lieut.- General Waldcgrave who had served all through the war, with the Infantry, as Mostyn had with the Cavalry. The Duke of Newcastle, while acquainting Lord Granby of these circumstances, took the occasion of sounding him as to his own intentions — "Idle stories arc spread of your design to quit tlie command. I hope in God, for your own sake and the Publick's, that you will not think of it. By all I can learn you will be received with the utmost grace and favour. General Conway's friends have procured him a promise to serve the next campaign, but Johnny Waldcgrave lias made such a clamour about it that it is declared that, should your Lordship not be disposed to return to Germany, in that case Conway should not go." ^ Conway himself, honourable always, and free of any personal greed, sought to remove this friction by applying for leave of absence from Germany so long as Lord Granby might remain in England.^ Newcastle wrote what comfort he could to Mostyn, suggesting his return home on leave, saying — " There was an idle rumour from Brussells that dear Lord Granby was taken prisoner by the French, to which we don't give the least credit." " * Letters. March 3, 176 L ^ Newcastle Papers, March 7, 1761. ' Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George III." ' Newcastle Papers, Fehruarv 20, 1761. • •' Ibid. ' " Ibid., April 10. 1761. 13 194 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. From Hanover Mostyn replied — " I had m}^ foot in stirrup to start for England when I received word that my remaining with y*" Army would be agreeable to H. S. Highness, which being an honour I could not disregard. I hear of Gen. Conway, Lady Ailesbury,! and Lady Mary Cook, and other great personages on y' Grace's side y" water on their way to the Army .2 Your Grace long before you see this will have seen that best of men, Granby, so I need say nothing to you of him, or the stuff of his being prisoner." ^ Mostyn repeated that he could not, and would not, serve under General Conway — " I have been prouder than any man in my command, and happy in it ; happy in y^ sincerest friendship and love of our Commander, my Lord Granby, and honoured with the approbation of our Commander in Chief, H.S.H. Duke Ferdinand, beyond doubt the greatest soldier in Europe."* I had intended remaining permanently in England had not the Duke prevented my coming ; but I shall take the tirst opportunity, though I could not sham sick, nor would I desert." All possible pressure was brought to bear against any rash resolves on General Mostyn's part, and that ever cheery soldier consented to await the possible shaping of events to everyone's contentment. I wish," wrote Jack,^ "as we toast in Germany, 'Success to all Good Things,' and if a suspension d'armes should take place I conclude I may come with Duke Ferdinand's and Lord Granby's leave." The Rev. Dr. Ewer's preferment, previously touched upon,*^ at this time became possible, and a word or two concerning it will tend to show, from George III.'S attitude towards the Eutland family, that His Majesty was very far from including it in the Duke of Newcastle's personal clique which was so obnoxious to him. The Bishop of St. David's being dead Ewer's name was at once put forward by the Duke of Rutland. Lord Bute one day was discussing the vacant See with the Duke of Newcastle, in whose hands the ecclesiastical patronage had so long been placed, and asked his Grace's opinion. ' Conway's wife. 2 " Eeport says that the Duchess of Richmond and some other ladies whose husbands are going, or gone, to Germany, are going there Hkewise, and are to be at Brunswick. I much question whether their husbands will rejoice in their company, but certainly Prince Ferdinand will not be fond of such auxiliaries."—" A Lady of the Last Century " (Mrs. Montagu). 3 Newcastle Papers, April 22, 1761. * The superiority implied here of Prince Ferdinand's military genius to that of Frederick the Great is still maintained in some quarters. ' Newcastle Papers, May 25, 1761. « See ante, pp. 98, 09. i76r.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. ''If jou have a mind to oblige the Duke of Rutland and my Lord Granby," answered Newcastle, "you can't do it more efi"ectually than by giving this Bishopric to Dr. Ewer." A little later the Bishop of Winchester died, upon which New- castle suggested to Lord Bute some translations by which the See of Llandaff might be rendered vacant for Dr. Ewer, but concerning which neither the Duke of Rutland, nor Lord Granby, had yet made any application. Lord Bute replied that, before the receipt of New- castle's letter, the plan suggested in it had been already carried out. Thus Lord Granby's earnest wish was at last fulfilled, and Dr. Ewer became Bishop of Llandaff.^ The Duke of Newcastle's " flirtation " with Lord Bute was assuming developments of which his Grace has provided the key. In a private Minute describing a secret audience held with George III. Newcastle relates how he suggested to the King, with the concurrence of the Duke of Devonshire and Lord Hardwicke, that Lord Bute should be made a Secretary of State. " In any case," Newcastle urged, " Mr. Pitt must not be offended, although I have no reason to be partial to him." - His Majesty consented, and Newcastle then proclaimed Lord Bute's promotion to Sir Joseph Yorke at the Hague, slightly varying the circumstances under Avhich it was effected. His Grace coolly declared " // tcaa entirehj a measure of the Kimfs own, though he (Newcastle) had reason to suppose H.M.'s Ministers approved it." ^ The Duke of Devonshire was deputed to convey the intelligence to Mr. Pitt who does not seem to have made any objections. The argument used was plausible enough that, as Lord Bute wielded so much influence in a totally unfettered position, it would be just as well to weight him with the wholesome responsibility of the Secretaryship of State for the Northern Department, which was rendered vacant by pensioning the Earl of Holdernesse. Had Newcastle been loyal to his political alliance with Pitt there had been nothing to deprecate in this arrangement. But he was not. His object was to place himself unreservedly at Lord Bute's disposal, and thus gain George III.'s confidence ; which done Mr, Pitt might, for all Newcastle cared, have sunk to the remotest depths of the political sea. > Newcastle Papers, February 10, 1761, April 18, 1761 : Rutland MSS., voh ii. p. 241. = Newcastle Papers, March 5, 1761 ' Ibid. 196 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [176 So far Newcastle was getting quite confident again, and pro- ceeded with his plans " to secure a Parliament." Among the many borough seats which he could command was one at Newark-on- Trent, the second seat for which was held by the Rutland interest. In the latter Mr. John Manners, of Grantham Grange,^ was put forward, and the Duke of Newcastle, on his side, asked to be allowed to nominate Mr. Thomas Thoroton, M.P. for Boroughbridge. Many letters appear among the Newcastle Papers touching this election, at which Lord Robert Manners Sutton went to assist, and was taken ill at Stamford with an attack of ague, from which he suffered chronically since his soldiering days.^ " The fitt was regular," wrote Mr. Thoroton, "and I gave him some bark, and thank God he has miss'd his fitt, and is very well again." After various rumours of opposition, and an incidental row over the election of churchwardens, which during several years caused a free fight, and many broken heads, in Newark,^ John Manners and Thomas Thoroton were declared duly elected. Thoroton was succeeded in the representation of Boroughbridge by Brice Fisher, whose name appeared earlier as the recipient of a portrait, and a snuff-box, from the Marquis of Granby. A hitch now occurred which set Newcastle once more upon thorns. " Yesterday," he wrote* to the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Bute told mc the King wished to give the Gold Key'' to the Duke of Rutland and the Staffs to my Lord Talbot. Your Grace may imagine this has surprised, and not a little, embarrassed, us. I believe it is feared if the Staff is not made vacant the Key may be given that way. We have delay'd it a little, and I hope shall suspend it at least till Lord Granby 's arrival." The Earl of Talbot was a young man, belonging to the " country party," who had been much identified with Leicester House. He was a sportsman, a bit of a "bruiser," and held a reputation for adventure and free living which scarcely fitted him for the dignified office of Lord Steward, though he was by no means devoid of talent. In discussing the probability of this appointment. Lord Bute said that they would not, on any account, do the least thing that might offend the Duke of Rutland. " C. y.," whom Newcastle instantly put on the trail, declared his conviction that " the King would have Lord Talbot in a great 1 Later of Buckminster. ^ Newcastle Papers, March 21, 1761. ' Annals of Newark-on-Trent. * Newcastle Papers, March 13, 1761. ^ Groom of the Stole. " Lord Steward of the Household, which office the Duke of Rutland then held. I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 197 employment," ^ and that, should the Duke of Rutland decline to make the necessary change, alterations would be made in the Lord Steward's office which would render it disagreeable to him. The fear that Lord Talbot might be made Groom of the Stole arose in the minds of Newcastle, Devonshire, and Hardwicke, from the fact that this office conferred on its holder the power of constant private communication with the King through the nominal privilege attaching to it of handing His Majesty his shirt. This means of access to the King's ear was not deemed as befitting one professing political views such as Talbot's. The Duke of Newcastle was commissioned by Lord Bute to sound the Duke of Rutland on the subject ; and communicated the result of his interview, hoping he had executed Lord Bute's commands satisfactorily.^ The term " commands " shows the position which Newcastle had already assumed in regard to Bute. " I took down the following words from the Duke of Rutland which I think is a full answer to my question of the Gold Key. The Duke is very sensible of the King's goodness and attention to him, but in answer to my question his Grace assures me that liis present Office is tlie only one about Court which would be perfectly agreeable to him. His Grace would not say anything that could sound like underrating the great honour of the Gold Key, but I think I can observe that, in his present circumstances, it is an Office which would not be agreeable to him." The Duke of Newcastle then communicated the above to Lord Hardwicke, who said ^ the appointment of Lord Talbot was still " talked about," and he wished the proposed change could be made palatable to the Duke of Rutland, as the motives for it were so obvious. Having got matters thus far, Newcastle then wrote * one of his flattering, repellent eflFusions to l^ord Granby, informing him of Lord Bute's promotion to be a Secretary of State, eke Lord Holder- nesse, which change " ivas approved Inj all.'''' . . . " I wish you may be able to come over for a few days. ... I shall want to settle something with you in regard to yourself . . . you are in the highest light that ever young man of quality was. You have attained it by your merit. You will maintain it by the same " — and so on, ad nauseam. This letter may not have reached Lord Granby in time to be replied to before leaving Germany : no answer to it appears in the Newcastle Papers. News of his lordship's landing, and of his ' Newcastle Papers, March 13. 17G1. - Ibid., March 14, 1761. Ibid., March 14, 1761. * Ibid., March 17. 1761. igS LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. having slept at Colchester, April 13, 1761, reached the Duke of Newcastle, who at once informed the Duke of Devonshire, and hoped that our separate peace with France could be completed before another campaign should commence.^ On April 14 Lord Granby arrived in London, and Lieut.-General Conway started for the Hague to assume the command in the former's absence.2 Before Conway's departure, Horace Walpole wrote to him, "I do not at all lament Lord Granby's leaving the Army, and your immediate succession,"^ in which sentence, and sentiment, the whole foundation of Walpole's animosity to Granby lies compactly enshrined. Upon arrival Lord Granby was unwell, so that his intercession concerning his father's office could not directly be obtained. Mr. Jenkinson,* Lord Bute's secretary, in a letter to Mr. Grenville, thus touched upon the subject : — ^ " Granby continues indisposed, so that he has not been with Lord Bute. Shelburne^ has given hopes that by means of some little agents he can em- ploy he shall be able to make the Kutland family acquiesce in some expedients between what he desires and what is offered. I have in general but little opinion of these operations, though they often have more success upon a necessitous man, as Granby is, than others. I am convinced, however, that neither party will push affairs to extremities." As the above letter reflects discredit upon no one save Lord Shelburne it might have been omitted, save that such omission might be attributed to misgivings as to Lord Granby having acted, on this occasion, with his customary good faith and disinterested- ness. The only difficulty in the matter was that, the Duke of Rutland having accepted the office of Lord Steward with reluctance, and on the distinct understanding of being pledged to support nobody save the King, it became a peculiarly delicate task to disturb him ; especially as George III., Lord Bute, Pitt, and the Duke of New- castle, all wished his Grace to remain a member of the Ministry. Walpole, naturally, said that his Grace disliked the office of Groom of the Stole because it had fewer employments in its disposal.' The reason would more probably have been found in the comparative periods of absence from Belvoir incidental to the necessities of each ^ Newcastle Papers. March 17. 1761. 2 Gentleman's Magazine. ' Walpole's Letters. Afterwards Earl of Liverpool. ^ Grenville Papers. " The first Earl, father of Lord Fitzmaurice then serving under Granby. ^ " Memoirs of the Keign of George III." I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 199 office. After Lord Granby had been consulted on the difficulty, it resolved itself into the following solution. The Earl of Huntingdon resigned the office of Master of the Horse, which was accepted by the Duke of Rutland; Lord Huntingdon becoming Groom of the Stole. Lord Talbot thus became Lord Steward, vice the Duke of Rutland. All these political changes, involving the return to Court em- ployment of so many who had been previously ostracised, provided mines of wealth to Walpole's pen. At the change above described he fairly wlioo^ml again ! " If my last letter raised your wonder, this will not allay it. Lord Talbot is Lord Steward! ... As the Duke of Leeds was forced to give way to Jemmy Grenville, so the Duke of Rutland has been obliged to make room for this new Earl." ^ This is Walpole's reading of this change ; but a different version may, perhaps, be founded upon a side light afforded by another chronicler — Bubb Dodington. Three months previously Dodington - recorded that — " Lord Bute came to him and said . . . that he was uneasy about Talbot, as he would put the Steward's Staff in Talbot's liands the first day if he could. That he (Bute) heard that Talbot tliouixlit Oranhy could persuade his Father to quit it, and that otherwise he would not accept it on account of the friend- ship between him and Oranhy^ Really tliis Granby must have appeared to AValpole's eye as too genial by half ! He could create harmony in an allied army, when the first thing both of his predecessors, the Duke of Marlborough and Lord George Sackville, had done was to get at loggerheads with their German comrades ; he could frequent the Court, and Leicester House as well ; he was the strongest link in the chain which held together Newcastle and Pitt ; and, " Revolution Whig " though he was, he could extend friendship, and confidence, even unto repentant Tories. How could he hope to be spoken of favourably by such as hugged their hatreds, and unfailingly made principle subservient to prejudice ? Did the part, enacted by Lord Talbot a few months later at the Coronation, belong to the Steward's department the Duke of Rutland may well have congratulated himself on his change of office, and that his part at that ceremony was merely to bear " the Sceptre and Cross in his Robes of Estate." ^ 1 To Sir H. Mmin. - Dodington's Diary, January IG. 1761. ' Gentleman's Magazine. September, 17G1. 200 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. Lord Talbot, the new Lord Steward, aspired to play an equestrian role on the occasion as Lord High Constable,^ with Dymoke, the Champion ; to which end Westminster Hall was lighted up on September 18, 1761, and placed under a Captain's guard whilst a rehearsal took place.^ Talbot's intention was to teach his horse, after entering, to retire, courtier-wise, backwards from the royal presence. On the eventful day, September 22, 1761, Dymoke performed his part admirably well, riding George II.'s old white Dettingen charger ; but Lord Talbot's mount, either from fright or " cussed- ness," approached their Majesties tail first, while the Lord High Constable performed prodigies with hands and heels in the endeavour to reverse the order of his going. So the story ran in the collective versions told by Horace Walpole,^ and others, and it is too harm- lessly good to wish it untrue. An alleged eye-witness, however, quoted in a note to Churchill's Poems,* makes no mention of the circumstance, and says that Lord Talbot acquitted himself very well. At the subsequent banquet certain economies instituted by Talbot had curtailed the number of tables, including one which had on former occasions been allotted to the Barons of the Cinque Ports. The Barons expostulated, upon which Lord Talbot replied that " if they came to him as Lord Steward their requests could not be granted ; if as Lord Talbot he was a match for any one of them ! " The office of Lord Steward did not apparently gain in dignity or courtesy by leaving the Duke of Rutland's hands, after an administra- tion of seven years, commencing 1754. 1 Lord High Constable of England, an office occasionally revived at corona- tions, etc. - Gentleman'' s Magazine, September, 1761. ' Letters, vol. iv. p. 126, and Croker s note, etc. ^ Vol. iii. p. 1 : Mr. James Heming. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 20I CHAPTER XVII. Immediately upon hearing of Lord Granby's arrival, the Duke of Newcastle drew up a long Memorandum of questions to put to him : To enquire into Prince Ferdinand's character, manner, and conduct. His behaviour towards the officers and troops, especially the English; and the particular officers who are most in his favour among the English, Hano- verian, Brunswick, and Hessian forces. His conduct as a General. His plan at the opening of the Campaign, and at the conclusion. The reason of his not coming to an action earlier in the Canii)aign, and the suspicion of his having received private orders to decline an action in order not to endanger the King's country. State of the Commissariat ; and why the ex[)ence six times that of the French Army, etc., etc., etc." * The allusion to the "private orders" had its origin in Prince Ferdinand's practice, as a relation of the British King, of correspond- ing directly with His Majesty, a circumstance which originated a great deal of jealousy and suspicion in Newcastle's mind. At this particular moment the Duke was placed in a worse fright by a communication of Count Viri's,^ who declared that Mr. Pitt was displaying a marked inclination to attack the Treasury on the breakdown of the supply to the Army, and the consequent failure of Prince Ferdinand's Hessian Expedition. At the Treasury, Newcastle gave " check " to Prince Ferdinand by writing a letter to the Marquis of Granby, informing him of the roundabout manner in which the Prince's accusation had been made, instead of through the British Commander-in-Chief, or Colonel Pierson. The Treasury therefore had desired that Prince Ferdinand should acquaint Lord Granby, specifically, with the details of mis- management, in order that Lord Granlnj might advise the Board as to the future needs of the Commissariat, and a successor to Colonel Pierson, who desired to retire. ^ That the Prince was acting quite a single-hearted part there is Newcastle Papers, April 14, 1761. - Ibid., Memo., April 15. 17G1. 3 Newcastle Papers, April 23, 1761. 202 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. good reason for doubting. He denied to Colonel Pierson that he had made any accusation against the Treasury, whereupon Pierson showed His Serene Highness ^ the extract from his own letter em- bodying the charge, which extract had been sent to the Colonel for investigation. Prince Ferdinand then maintained his letter had been misund-erstood ; and that he was complaining of the structure of the Commissariat Department — not of its good faith ; he recommended that Mr. Hatton should proceed to England to give evidence before the Committee of Inquiry. Mr. Hatton, the " intolerable plague," and impertinent upstart, of Newcastle's earlier correspondence, arrived, and denied that the Prince's operations had been hindered by the Commissariat, but by the insurmountable difficulty of im- passable roads.2 Thus the same Mr. Hatton whom the Duke of Newcastle had done his utmost to recall and disgrace, and who was saved by Lord G-ranby's interposition, now became quite a nice, trustworthy man since his evidence aided his Grace's political cause and credit.^ The actual constitution of a Committee of Inquiry that was appointed is not obvious ; but Lord Mansfield, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, seems to have been much occupied with it. Some memoranda * supply the following details ehcited by the Inquiry : — Colonel Pierson was declared to be quite incorrupt. He had not profited by a single farthing ; but, either he was not invested with adequate authority by his commission, or did not exercise it. When regular supplies failed, the troops foraged the country,^ giving recklessly to the farmers, and others, receipts for more produce than was actually supplied. The contractors bought up these receipts from the farmers, whom they beat down to a price considerably below that represented by the paper vouchers. The contractors then delivered the vouchers to the Commissariat against payment in full. Sooner than offer their produce on these terms, which placed the profits chiefly in the hands of the eternal "middleman," the in- habitants of the country, in which the troops were quartered, concealed their stores ; scarcity ensued, and the supplies had to be obtained 1 Newcastle Papers, April 20, 1761. 2 Ibid., Memo., April 27. 1761. 3 See pp. 123-125. * Newcastle Papers, May 6, 1761. 5 In a letter written by Lord George Sackville, when Commander-in-Chief, he said nothing should be neglected, in relation to supply, which obviated the necessity of a general forage by the troops. It annihilated military discipline, and afforded opportunity for license and plunder which alienated the good will of the country occupied. — September 15, 1758, Chatham Correspondence. 1761.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 203 from outside at great expense and delay, in proportion to the distances involved. The Committee, fm*ther, came to the conclusion that the Prussian officials usurped authority, which should belong to the British Commissariat Staff, and omitted no means of defrauding the British Government. ^ Lord Mansfield gave the Duke of Newcastle another shock, by saying he considered the matter " very menacing to his Grace," 2 and then dealt with Lord Granby : — ^ ^' The post assigned to Lord Granby is cruel to him. He commands our troops, but he is not Commander in Chief. He is not in the situation the Duke of Cumberland, or John, Duke of Marlboro', were. He has no controul, he can't exercise his judgement upon the utility or necessity of the Service because he don't command in chief : therefore he can do no service but in the capacity of an Intendant. Such a duty is inconsistent with his Station, and not to be expected from any man of his figure and rank. ... I am told Lord George Sackville avoided having anything to do with it. So much for Theory. As to facts, the result of my enquiry is that there never was such a scene of abuse, cheating, mismanagement, etc. All agree that Pierson is most incorrupt, but he hates the business, don't understand it, and refers people to Massowe." •* Lord Mansfield dealt in detail w ith the various abuses, one of which was the giving of gratuities to foreigners already in British pay. *'Lord Granby was the last person likely to know of these abuses, and, even if he suspected them, it would be very ticklish for him to mention them" in the position he occupied towards Prince Ferdinand. An analysis showed that, at the moment the Army was in its worst straits, the paid receipts represented the troops to have consumed ten times their proper allowances. It would be small satisfaction for anyone, liord Mansfield added, even though the whole disgrace might ultimately fall on Prince Ferdinand. Prince Ferdinand addressed another letter to the Treasury, which the latter maintained bore the appearance of being an after-thought, or change of front. A copy of it was submitted to Lord Hardwicke,^ whose comments show that Prince Ferdinand was pleading want of summary jurisdiction over fraudulent British commissaries and contractors. ' Newcastle Papers, Miiv 5, 1761 : evidence of J. P. Fuhr. ■ Ibid., May 11, 1761. * * Ibid. " The Army finds, and finds most sensibly, that Massowe was charged witli the whole conduct of the supplies, and the British Director merely the power to pay for them." — 1761, Anon>nnous Letter, Political Tracts, British Museum. ^ Newcastle Papers, May 14, 1761. The origiual and copy are both wanting. 204 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. " How can Prince Ferdinand's suggestion, based upon the Prussian plan, succeed with us?" demanded Lord Hardwicke.^ "I suppose the King of Prussia secures the due execution of his Commissariat by his arbitrary, despotic disciphne ; and probably instantly hangs up a Commissary by Martial Law if he catches him in a Fraud, But I fear nobody can give that power either to Prince Ferdinand, or my Lord Granby, over British subjects," That Prince Ferdinand pursued, in the G-erman section of the Allied Army, Frederick the Great's policy for ensuring probity and punctuality, appears certain from a letter of Lord Pembroke's, who was now appointed to Lord G-ranby's Staff — ^ " These Contractors dare not use the Foreigners as they do us, for, if they fail, they good-naturedly hang them, while ours scarcely keep to their engage- ments, by which our sick and tired perish." ^ To the ordinary mind, Frederick the Great's treatment of fraudulent contractors and commissaries, if anything, appears too merciful fur such as can pilfer taxes, paid by a public half ruined by war, and at the same time swindle, defraud, and rob a bravely suffering army, notably the "sick and tired," of the commonest necessities of life. Yet these sordid robberies were repeated as lately as during the Crimean War ; and would occur again on the first opportunity which offered to such commercial canaille of "doing business," as they would style it. The inquiry proceeded, and, as regarded the rumours of discontent spread by the officers on leave, and which Lord Pembroke and General Waldegrave had endeavoured to silence, Lord Granby stated that " such matters had been discoursed in the Army, but in a general way only, which did not constitute any specific charge against any- one." * Since then the whole spleen of the British Army was falling upon Herr Massowe ^ whose dismissal would lead. Lord Granby was convinced, to Prince Ferdinand's resignation. Prince Ferdinand repeated his statement that it was the con- struction of the Commissariat Department that he deprecated (though as Commander-in-Chief he should, surely, have been able to alter it had he wished) ; and, in the end, no special result was attained to ' Newcastle Papers, May 16, 176L 2 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 247. 3 Charlemont MSS., July 28, 1760, — " Our Commissaries returned from the Camp of Ferdinand to buy boroughs, to rear Palaces, to rival the Magnificence of the old aristocracy of the realm," — Macaulay's " Essay on the Earl of Chatham." •* Newcastle Papers, May 17, 1761, 5 Massowe was apparently the Chief of the Prussian Commissariat Staff. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 205 by the Committee of Inquiry. It pronounced that so long as the Army was concentrated and the weather fine, the Commissariat, though extravagant, had met its duties ; bat that it broke down when winter rendered the roads impassable, and the Army was scattered injfour or five detachments.^ Lieut.-Colonel Pierson was to be assisted by Lieut.-Colonel Boyd, in spite of Lord Hardwicke's insistence that civil and military duties were incompatible, as Pierson had proved and pleaded. Later, Colonel Howard was sent to replace Colonel Pierson. Prince Ferdinand was warned that the war was so unpopular in England as to necessitate the utmost economy ; and, as the Treasury could not adequately investigate the alleged frauds, it did not touch upon them, in the full conviction that no one was more anxious to discover, and punish, the perpetrators than His Serene Highness himself. 2 In allusion to this breakdown, and the feathering of nests incidental to it, Smollett discreetly declined to give an opinion, saying : " it may be the province of some future historian, when truth may be investigated freely, without any apprehension of pains and penalties." ^ That many fortunes were made by those who catered for the Army is certain ; but even that conviction fails to account for the stupendous outlay, which during the winter of 17G0-1 exceeded the monthly remittance of £150,000 by a like sum, and even by £190,000 ; or, in other words, the monthly expenditure sometimes amounted to £340,000.* Chroniclers all pronounce Prince Ferdi- nand^ to have been a man of exceptional integrity and honour, who quitted his command as poor as when he assumed it ; and it is positively known that Lord Granby was brought to the verge of ruin by his. Can it have been that, acting upon the shady code of ethics which holds all to be fair in love and war, some of Frederick the Great's " little bills " were smuggled by the Prussian officials into the British accounts, over and above his subsidy of £670,000 per annum ? Certain it is that his financial position ' Mr. Peter Taylor, Commissary, wrote (February 20, 1761) to Lord Granby: " The British troops under vour command are so divided that I cannot find them." — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 244. 2 Newcastle Papers, May 30, 17G1, and see ante, p. G2, on the unpopularity of the war. ^ " History of England," vol. iv. pp. 259, 260. * Newcastle Papers, April 23, 1761 : the Duke to Lord Granby. ^ " The History of Modern Europe " (Russell) says that Prince Ferdinand prac- tised war as a lucrative trade ; but no authority is quoted in support of the statement. " Lord Dover's " Frederic IL ; " Carlyle's " Frederick 11. of Prussia." 2o6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. at the conclusion of the Seven Years War was a most remarkable one, considering the small resources at his disposal, and the magni- tude of the struggle he maintained. Yet he sheathed his sword free of debt, and commenced compensating towns in the "Westphalian war-area, and resuscitating agriculture and trade by bounties. But, for the general reader, the interest in the matter has lapsed, and no historian will probably now awaken those "sleeping dogs" which Smollett deemed it prudent to " let lie." The condition of the British Army in Germany on March 1, 1761, is shown by a Memorandum which Lord Granby furnished to the Duke of Newcastle : — ^ The Guards were short of their full strength by 559 men, and had 972 sick. „ Infantry „ „ „ 2978 „ 3500 ,. „ Cavalry „ „ „ 504 „ „ 489 4041 4961 The horses were short of their full strength by 1430, and 1560 were lame or sick. On paper, its total strength would appear never to have exceeded about 25,000, to which number it was increased when Generals Griffin, Caesar, and Elliot, successively joined it with reinforcements ; so that the British efficients on March 1, 1761, were 16,000 only. It was small wonder that the Marquis of Granby should have asked for either reinforcements or peace. To consider the pre- liminaries of the latter Mr. Hans Stanley ^ was despatched to Paris, and M. de Bussy arrived from thence, though the prospects still savoured of war. France was becoming apprehensive of an expe- dition which was now made upon Belleisle by England, and which General Kingsley was to command ; ^ and the Hereditary Prince had already commenced harassing the French outposts. Mr. Pitt, moreover, had declared to the Duke of Newcastle : " I will make war for Hanover as long as you please, but never make peace for Hanover." * During the General Election of 1761 Lord Granby was returned for the county of Cambridge with Lord Royston, who informed 1 Newcastle Papers, January 20, 1761 ; Memo. 2 General Mostyn wrote concerning this selection : " After Hans Stanley's being made a Minister at the Court of France, 1 can have no notion of any difficulty in making anything ; therefore why not make a Peace as well as anything else ? " — Newcastle Papers, June 20, 1761. 3 General Kingsley had returned, owing to ill health, in 1760. He did not in the end go to Belleisle, and was later appointed Governor of Fort William. * Newcastle Papers. 1761.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 207 the Duke of Newcastle of their unopposed election, and that Lord George Manners had attended as Lord Granby's representative.^ Lord George succeeded to Lord Granby's vacated seat for Grantham.'^ On the 1st of May, 1761,^ Lord Granby had, by His Majesty's command, been sworn a member of the Privy Council and taken his seat at the Board ; and, at the end of the month, prepared for his return journey, leaving a Memorandum with the Duke of Newcastle requesting that his Staff might be paid up as soon as possible, and Bennet Storer not forgotten.'^ Arrived at Harwich he was tediously delayed by contrary winds, but wrote, the 1st of June, that " the wind had come about, and he was that moment going on board." ^ In a few days he was followed by Lieut.-General AValdegrave, Lords Hinchinbroke, Suffolk, Abing- don, and Brome.*^ ' Newcastle Papers, May 8, 1761. ' A List of the Parliament elected after George III.'s accession contains the following names of incidental interest : — Cambridgeshire, Marquis of Granby Grantham, Lord George Manners. Nottinghamshire, Lord Kobert Manners Sutton. Newark-on-Trout {it„^,X-e„„, Kingston -on-Hull, General Lord Robert Manners. ^ ^ ^ {viscount Ligonier. Malton, General John Mostyn. Appleby, General Stanwix, Aylesbury, John Wilkes, East Grinstead, Lord George Sackvillc. ' London Gazette. * Newcastle Papers, May 8, 17G1. Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 250. " Gentleman's Magazine. All acting as Aidcs-dc-Canip : Lord Hinchinbroke s an A.D.C. to Lieut. -General Waldegravc. 208 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. CHAPTER XVIII. Lord Granby left Harwich June 1st and, on arrival at the Hague, was warned that the route skirting Wesel was no longer safe : he was obliged, consequently, to make a long detour by Zwolle, the Bourtange Fort, and Osnabruck, arriving at Paderborn on the 13th of June only.i He found the British Cavalry in fine order, but 12,000 were reported sick throughout the Allied Army, which Prince Ferdinand had already commenced reviewing.^ The prospects of the dawning campaign were still less reassur- ing than those surrounding the close of the last ; France having despatched Prince de Soubise, to the Lower Rhine, at the head of another considerable army to co-operate with that under De Broglie. Already General Conway had, upon arriving in Germany, com- plained to Lord Ligonier of the health, and size of the recruits sent out. Ligonier reported the complaint to Lord Granby with his stereotyped answer to all criticisms on the quantity, or quality, of the fighting material supplied to the German War ; concluding — ^ " In short, my dear Lord, you must make the best of what you have. You know how impossible it is for us to send yon one man more ; and that the King made your Lordship sensible that on the 1st May last there were 270 men in Germany more than complete, and therefore Conway's computation must go to sleep till next year." In other words a fixed number was insisted upon, by the King and the War Office, at which the British Army was held to be " complete ;" despite the fact that Louis XV. despatched Marshal after Marshal, with fresh armies, to avenge his colonial disasters by taking Hanover. That Hanover was not conquered ; that the armies of France were worn down, blockaded, out-manoeuvred, and, whenever chance ofl'ered, defeated by Prince Fredinand and Lord Granby with far inferior numbers, should be more generously recognized by ^ Newcastle Papers ; Kutland MSS., vol. ii. pp. 250, 251. - Newcastle Papers ; Precis of the Dutch Mail. ^ Eutland MSS. I76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 209 us when we read of Pitt's Wars, and his increase and consolidation of our Colonial Empire. Imagine for a moment Prince Ferdinand disastrously defeated, the Allied Army surrendered to De Broglie, and a tremendous force thus liberated from Germany to oppose England elsewhere, and to invade her at the time when Lord Ligonier owned to Lord Granby — " ivhat should be ivrote in cyphers^'' ^ — that tlie troops at home consisted of two Regiments of Cavalry composed of old men and boys, and eight of Foot, two-thirds of which were recruits ! The French fleet, it is true, had been shattered in 1750 by Sir Edward Hawke ; but one has always to reckon with the accident, the stratagem, and the unex- pected which respectively, occurs, succeeds, and happens. France had a talent for blinding us as to her intended striking-point, and was airing a project upon Scotland in August, 1760,2 the very date at which Ligonier enumerated our burlesque home-garrison in the above epistolary whisper, which he pronounced himself unwise in committing to plain writing. These conjured-up complications did not arise, fortunately for England ; ^ yet those who averted them remain — Prince Ferdinand, an obscured character in English history ; Lord Granby, an amiable, baldheaded personality who, no one exactly knows why, furnished a most popular subject to public-house sign-painters — and to Sir Joshua Reynolds, who painted more portraits of him than of any other " sitter." Directly after his return, the Marquis of Granby reported the British Cavalry and the Brigade of Guards to be leaving winter quarters for a camp near Paderborn, which he intended making his head-quarters until the Enemy's intentions were more defined, and some idea were gained " ou la bombe crevera.*^ * General Sporcken with about 20,000 men was on the river Dymel ; General Conway with the British Infantry Battalions was near Soest and Hamm ; while the Hereditary Prince was at Notellen watching for the approach of Prince Soubise, who was supposed to have passed the Rhine, and to be delayed, somewhere between that river and the AlUes, by rain which hindered the advance of his Artillery. General Liickner was stationed at Eimbeck, beyond the Weser. Marshal de Broglie had not yet returned to Cassel, where his army still remained in cantonments. » Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 356 : Ligonier to Granby. ^ Ibid. ' Lecky says the German War involved the greatest dangers to England.— "History of England in the Eighteenth Century," vol. ii. p. 54. * Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 251. u 2IO LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. The fighting strength of the AlUed Army Lord Granby maintained was not more than 60,000, in round numbers — not 78,000 as the Duke of Newcastle was still tiresomely insisting — ^ "so that considering the immense force we are opposed to — though our troops are in excellent order and good spirits — everyone with whom I have conversed wishes the war concluded with a good jpeace'"' 2 The term " everyone " can unhesitatingly be read as including Prince Ferdinand, the first person with whom Granby was likely to converse ; and this desire for peace on his and Lord Granby's part will be recalled to the reader's mind later, when it bears most cogently upon Lord Granby's political conduct. Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby commenced the fourth campaign against an enemy considerably reinforced, and still in posses- sion of Cassel, Gottingen, and Ziegenhayn. One French Army was superior in strength to that of the Allies ; the other fell short of it by no considerable number. Yet Prince Ferdinand's opening move- ments were characterized by an energy, and confidence, which augured ill for the French Marshals should they commit any of the blunders upon which alone, he had assured Lord Bute, rested his one chance of success. The French Marshals, on their side, from the moment of Prince Soubise's arrival at the scene of war, were drawn by their mutual jealousies into playing their best for Prince Ferdinand's hand. Ferdinand maintained a central position from which to watch the Enemy on his right and left, and to strike at whichever foe offered him the likelier prospect. Prince Soubise was ready ten days before De Broglie, who had been replenishing his ruined magazines in Hesse, and assembling his army between Cassel and Corbach. Soubise advanced to Dortmund which caused the Hereditary Prince to march to Hamm, where his outposts were attacked with some loss. This was amply compensated by the Hereditary Prince. He detached Major Scheither ^ with fifty Hussars who reached, and crossed, the Rhine at Bistick : in ninety- three hours they destroyed at Xanlen, Aarsen, and Gennep (between ^ " Ferdinand n'avait pas soixante-dix hommes," 1761. — "Histoire de France " (Martin). 2 liutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 254. 3 Captain George Albrecht H. von Scheither raised a Free Coi-ps of Carabiniers and Foot in 1757, the same year that Liickner's Hussars came into being. Scheither's Carabiniers wore a long pale buff frock over a green waistcoat edged with white ; black three-cornered hat with green cockade, and green sabretache and shabraque bearing a crown, " G. R," and White Horse of Hanover, in white. Uniformen- kunde " (R. Knotel), Band 4, No. 24. // 'alkcr &'Bo74tallsc. IToface'p. 210. ( i76r.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 21 I the Rhine and the Meuse) magazines estimated to have contained over 1,000,000 rations of forage, 14,000 sacks, and several boat-loads, of oats. They returned without the loss of a man, though hotly pursued, and with thirty prisoners ! Soubise continued on to Unna, and as De Broglie was still unpre- pared to march, Prince Ferdinand made the most of his time against Soubise, who was acting without any attempt at concert with his brother Marshal. The Allied Army marched from Paderborn on the 21st of June, 1761, proceeding westwards by Gesecke, Soest, and Wipprings- hausen. Lord, Granby led with the British Grenadiers, Highlanders, Hodgson's (5th), Napier's (12th), Cornwallis' (24th), Stewart's (37th), and Mansberg's, Infantry ; and the Greys, Mostyii's (7th Dragoons), and Ancram's (Uth Dragoons), under Colonel Edward Harvey. These he posted on the Heights of Rhiine to cover the forming of the main Army.^ On the 27th at 12 p.m. the Army moved on in seven columns, each of which was preceded by pioneers and carpenters, to Werle,^ whither the Hereditary Prince had already retired before Soubise's advance. Lord Granby's column was thus composed : — (3 squadrons Prussian Black Hussars. 3 ,, Elliot's. The Piquets of the Infantry. 2 battalions ^Mansberg's (Hanoverian), 3 Hanoverian G-pounders. 1 battalion Napier's, 1 Stewart's, 1 Cornwallis'. Prince Ferdinand was anxious to engage Soubise's advanced troops, under the Prince de Conde, who retreated on being cannon- aded by the head of the Allied columns, and fell back upon the right and left of Soubise's camp at Unna. Ferdinand persevered in his endeavours to provoke an engagement, but with no result. His own predicament was meantime becoming difficult. Marshal de Broglie had at length left Cassel, and had marched in such force against Sporcken at Warburg as to compel the Hanoverian General • On June 25 the Allies fired a feu de joie for the taking, by the British Expe- dition under Commodore Keppel and General Hodgson, of Belleisle and the Citadel of Palais. 2 The Castle of Werle figures in Turenne's Wars. 212 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [i76r. to retreat from the Dymel towards the main Allied Army. Sporcken lost 300 men, and (the French said) 19 cannon ; we only owned to 10, declaring the other 9 to have been old useless guns which had been purposely left in the redoubts on the Dymel. Sporcken marched to Herzfeldt, north of the river Lippe ; and De Broglie advanced upon Prince Ferdinand's rear, who was stiU unable to bring Soubise out of his camp, or attack him in it, which was rendered practically impregnable by prodigious redoubts upon its front and both flanks. Ferdinand and Soubise were but a cannon- shot apart, divided from one another by a deep ravine. On June 30, and July 1, the French attempted to cannonade the Allies without success ; and the position became hourly more critical as De Broglie, with M. de Poyanne and Comte de Guerchy, fast approached. Ferdinand decided on an attempt to get round Soubise's left flank, since move he must, and with the greatest order and silence commenced his march at 11 p.m. the night of July 1-2, in a northerly direction towards the Lippe. A terrible storm of tropical severity rendered this night march a peculiarly trying one, and reduced roads to a condition which greatly delayed the Artillery and ammunition-wagons. Morning broke before the rear-guard, under Lord Granby, had left camp. Soubise, persuad- ing himself that Ferdinand was retreating across the river Lippe, simply looked on, and took no steps to ascertain the real destination of the Allied Army, which, as soon as it got out of sight, headed westwards for the left flank of Soubise's camp. The Army marched on in five columns, and three hundred unarmed workmen preceded the van-guard, under the Hereditary Prince, to clear the route. Lord Granby's Corps formed now the left column, flanking the Allied Army on the side of the Enemy's position. Thus, while the French Army retained a fatuous sense of security, the van of the Allies suddenly debouched, from the close country, on to the Plain of Dortmund at 6 p.m. on July 2, having marched right round Soubise's Left, and gained his Rear. There never was a bolder or more masterly stroke attempted by any General," wrote Granby — " To march round so numerous an army through the strongest country, and at so small a distance that the Left Column (the Corps which I commanded) was during the whole march within 2 or 3 miles of their camp, and by thus gaining the rear of their left flank to force them to quit their strong position or risk an attack — is a manoeuvre that must amaze everyone." ^ » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 254. i76r.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 213 After recovering from their astonishment the French made an attack upon General "Wutgenau, which he repulsed, with the aid of a reinforcement of four battalions from Granby's Corps. On the night of July 2 the Allies bivouacked, and at daylight, July 3, formed on the Plain of Dortmund ; the troops being still too tired for Prince Ferdinand to hazard an action. Soubise commenced sending off baggage, etc., to "Wcrle, and on the 4th the Allies advanced to attack him, the Hereditary Prince's Corps leading on the Left, and Lord Granby's on the Right. Soubise retreated again at night, so that the Allies an'ived in time, only, to cannonade his rear and take* up his ground. Soubise continued retreating, with his rear in considerable con- fusion, and at last halted, and faced about, with the Castle of Werle (in which there was still a small detachment of the Allies) behind his right flank. Soubise was now occupying the identical camp which the Allies had vacated a few days previously. Before him was the ravine, and he threw up redoubts along the entire length of his front. A few outpost affairs resulted about equally for either side ; and, on July 5, Ferdinand advanced in six columns, more as a feint to draw out Soubise than to attack; but finding Soubise (in Granby's words) " so strongly posted in Marechal Turenne's famous camp, thought it imprudent and impracticable to persist : " after a mutual cannonading of some duration the Allies returned to their camp, the left of which was formed by Granl)y's Corps at Hemmeren, and the right by the Hereditary Prince's, within cannon-shot of the Enemy. Barren of opportunity for distinction as this last affair had been, " Elliot's Light Horse " managed to add something to their record which Lord Granby did not allow to pass unnoticed. A detach- ment of twenty men, led by Serjeant Hopkinson, was ordered to attack a French Infantry piquet of about fifty men of De Clermont's Regiment, stationed in a copse surrounded by a ditch and fence. "Elliot's" rode at the fence, and, as they topped it, the French officer in charge of the piquet took a sort of partridge-driving shot at Serjeant Hopkinson. The officer's fusil missed fire and Hop- kinson took him prisoner, much to the Frenchman's astonishment, who expected to be cut down on the spot, while the rest of the piquet was chased across a ravine into a wood, where most of it surrendered.^ » Rutland MSS. (Granby to Bute), vol. ii. p. 253; and Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3. 214 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. Prince Soubise retired from his strong position at Werle (why or wherefore is not patent to the lay mind, unless from lack of food by Ehiine to Soest ; and the AUies followed to Hilbeck, forming along the Saltz-brook which flows into the river Aese, a tributaiy of the Lippe. Marshal de Brogiie had now arrived, and joined Prince Soubise at Soest. A series of skirmishes followed upon De Broglie's efforts to advance to Hamm at the confluence of the rivers Aese and Lippe. An attack upon his outposts, July 10, at Oestlingshausen was repulsed, but, following up his advantage too closely. Marshal de Brogiie himself was nearly taken, as were seven of his officers, and many dragoons. De Brogiie on this occasion dropped his spy-glass, as Prince Ferdinand had done near the Ohm, and it was similarly returned to him. A Hessian officer, in consequence, was inspired with the following : — *' Le Marechal de Brogiie dit la Gazette Ce fameux Eeros, favori des Cieux Le dixieme perdit ses lunettes Et le seixieme ses yeux." ^ With the " seixieme " we shall be occupied soon. On July 12 the Allied Army extended itself towards the Lippe, Lord Granby leading, and encamping at Kirchdenkern, with his Left towards Yellingshausen, on the main road to Hamm. The Main Army lay between Hilbeck and Hohenover ; and the Hereditary Prince, from Wambeln to Hilbeck, forming its Right. Consecutive feints and attempts on De Broglie's part ensued, in one of which an officer ^ and several men of Keith's Highlanders (in Granby's Corps) were lost ; and Prince Ferdinand supported the right and left flanks of the Allied Army as they were alternately threatened. The turn of events was so constantly shifting that Granby wrote he was at a loss which to expect first — "the siege of Lippstadt, a Battle, or a Suspension of Arms." * One point was clear, that Granby's strong post was the key of Prince Ferdinand's position, and that which De Brogiie showed most ^ Frederick the Great says that " un partisan nomme Freytag " about this time took three convoys of flour, which upset the French Commissariat for some days. The " partisan " was the leader of Freitag's Chasseurs. G. M. Withelm von Freitag (or Freytag) commanded a Free Corps consisting of both mounted and foot Chasseurs. The former wore a green frock and waistcoat, buff overalls, and black three-cornered hat with green cockade, white belt and buttons. The foot the same, with white breeches and high black boots. The Grenadier Company wore Grenadier caps, bearing the Hanoverian arms. — " Uniformenkunde " (K. Knotel), Band 5, No. 42. 2 Annual Eegister. 3 Captain Gun was killed, and Captain Gorry wounded. * Newcastle Papers, July 15, 17G1. 1761.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. inclination to attack. On July 14-15 Lord Granby was busily employed strengthening his front with fleches and ahatis, and felling trees to place across the road to Hamm — upon which town he was to retire if compelled. All this movement and work took place, it must be remembered, in the dog-days, during which Lord Granby enjoined " all the Butchers of the Army to keep their dogs tied up, in order to prevent any bad accident happening i;i case any of them should go mad." ^ All the morning of the 15th of July Marshal de Broglie had been intently reconnoitring, and some skirmishes occurred on the out- posts ; but, as the day wore on, the French retired, and the Allies imagined all, for the time, to be quiet. About four in the afternoon Dc Broglie suddenly commenced a most determined attack upon Granby's camp, without informing Prince Soubise, whom it is sup- posed De Broglie wished to exclude from all share in his exploit. De Broglie advanced in three columns, and his van -guard, pushing along the Hamm road, drove in Granby's German light troops, while his Centre advanced upon Yellingshausen. Lord Granby dashed up from his quarters, and himself ordered all his troops under arms,^ extending his Left AVing obliquely towards the Lippe to protect the Hamm road. Almost before his troops were out of their tents, the Enemy's cannon-shot reached his camp ; but his light troops, sustained by the two battalions of High- landers, rallied, and repulsed the French outposts, of which about a hundred men and several officers were taken. Granby's Left had, for the time being, been turned. Prince Ferdinand huiTied to Granby's camp, where he found every disposition already made which he considered necessary ; and, enjoining his Lordship to defend Vellingshausen to the last extremity, the Prince galloped off to re-dispose the Right so as to move up some troops in support of the sorely pressed Left. General Wutgenau, to whose command three squadrons of Carabiniers were attached, was ordered to Granby's Left, on the Hamm road ; the Prince of Anlialt, whose command included Conway's, Mordaunt's, and the Inniskillings, under Major- General Elliot, to his Right ; and Count La Lippe Biickebourg, with the Artillery, was placed in front of the left of the Centre of the Army. * Order Book, British Museum. 2 "Die ganze Granbysche Division hatte nur eben die zeit das Gewehr zu ergreifen, und inuste ihr Lager, so wie es war, stehu lassen ; die auf den Anhohe stehenden Bergschotten waren kauin aus den zeltern heraus, so ging audi schon die Kanonade mit ihnen los." — De Mauvillon. 2l6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, Granby's Division, consisting of the British Grenadiers, the High- landers, Mansberg's, Hodgson's, Napier's, Cornwallis', and Stuart's ; the Greys, Mostyn's, Elliot's, and Ancram's, and the Hanoverian Artillery, fought, as De Mauvillon enthusiastically records, " with indescribable bravery." Before Wutgenau's arrival Granby had gradually made head against the attack, and driven the French back until all his outposl^ were regained, and "Wutgenau's, and the Prince of Anhalt's, reinforcements completed the repulse of the French, who had been likewise reinforced by the Regiments of De Rouge, Acqui- taine. Champagne, Auvergne, and Poitou, under the Due d'Havre, the Due Duras, and the Comte de Yaux. The attack lasted till about six, but desultory firing continued till ten p.m. ; and the French on retiring occupied, with a picked force, a little wooded height just outside Lord Granby's lines. Night brought little rest to the Allied Army. Prince Ferdinand continued to strengthen his Centre — in which were the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Foot Guards,^ and the Grenadiers of the Guards, under General Conway — and especially Lord Granby, on his Left, who was rein- forced by Major-General Howard, with Rockland's, Griffin's, Brude- nell's, Welsh Fusiliers, Blues, Honywood's, two squadrons of Carabiniers, and the Light Artillery ; Lord Frederick Cavendish's Brigade of Hanoverian Chasseurs and Hussars ; and Lord Pem- broke with a Brigade of Cavalry, consisting of three squadrons of Blues, two of Mordaunt's, and two of Carabiniers. In addition. General Sporcken, who had remained beyond the river Lippe since his retreat from Warburg, was ordered to cross and join Wutgenau's Division on Granby's extreme left. Granby's much-diminished ammunition was replenished, and every preparation made for the expected fresh attack at daybreak. The EngHsh and French advanced sentinels were separated from one another only by a little ravine and a field or two, and the patrols fitfully skirmished throughout the night. De Broglie informed Prince Soubise that the battle would be resumed on the 16th, but the Prince's co-operation did not amount to anything formidable ; and soon after dawn De Broglie again advanced towards Granby, commencing on Wutgenau's position, and reopened a terrific attack. Prince Ferdinand pronounced that ' The Brigade of Guards was not in the centre of Lord Granby's position as stated, in the History of the First or Grenadier Guards, by Sir F. W. Hamilton. On the 15th of July the Guards were on the extreme Eight of the Allied Army, and were moved up to the left of the Centre to replace the troops withdrawn to reinforce Lord Granby. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 217 the little height, of which the French had retained possession from overnight, and from whence the hottest fire was maintained upon Granby's left, must be " rushed." Granby had his Artillery posted on an eminence in front of his centre, and with it he first played tremendous havoc with the French post, as the British Grenadiers under Lieut.-Colonel Maxwell,^ the Highlanders under Colonel Camp- bell and Major Keith, and two battalions of Hanoverian Guards, two of Imhoffs, and Bock's advanced to the assault ; the whole commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Beck with. They soon carried the height after a short, but extremely bloody affair ; and General Sporcken having reached "Wutgenau's Division on Granby's left, De Broglie desisted, and the French retreated covered by a rear-guard of the Regiment de Rouge, the Grenadiers de France, and the Grenadiers Royaux, under the Comte de Stainville, the Comte de Sey, and the Chevalier de Modene. Lieut.-Colonel Max- well with the Grenadiers cut off the Regiment de Rouge, with its colours and cannon, and took the whole, including the Comte de Rouge, prisoner. Lord Granby despatched Lieut.-Colonel Beckwith with some Grenadiers and Highlanders, who harassed the rear of the discom- fited Enemy for some two miles on its retreat which commenced about 10 a.m. Seeing that Lord Granby had silenced and beaten off De Broglie, Prince Ferdinand drew off half the British Artillery and Lord Frederick Cavendish's Hanoverian Brigade from the Left to sustain the Hereditary Prince on the Right, which was attacked by Prince Soubise's main Army and a Reserve under Prince Conde. The Hereditary Prince was not however in any straits ; and Soubise, learning that De Broglie was repulsed and had retreated, commenced his retreat likewise to Soest. De Broglie encamped at Oestlingshausen. The second day's Battle of Vellingshausen, or Kirchdenkern, July 15-16, 1761, was all over by 11 a.m.^ The French loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was GOOD, together with 9 cannon and 8 pairs of colours. A letter of Lord Granby's later said that this first estimate was declared by further information to be more like 8000. Altogether G3 French officers were taken prisoners, and ^ The King, at Prince Ferdinand's earnest desire, bestowed a brevet Lieut. - Colonelcy upon Major Maxwell for his distinguished services.— Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 240 : Viscount Barrington to Lord Granby. ^ De Mauvillon pronounced Vellingshausen to have been the most dangerous battle Ferdinand experienced during the war. The cainp was a very critical one, save for Granby's position, the taking of which would have been fatal to the Allies. 2l8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, Colonel Piersoii invoked the Duke of Newcastle's indulgence upon a letter which he wrote in a room containing thirteen of these voluble captives, who were all to dine with Prince Ferdinand on the evening of his victory. Among the killed were the Due d'Havre, the Marquis de Yerac, and the Marquis de Rouge, who, all related, fell victims, as they were sitting under a tree, to the same cannon-shot. One is tempted to credit this shot, which wrought such havoc among the French aristocracy, to a serjeant of Campbell's Highlanders whom Sir James Innes Norcliffe watched serving a "long 6," which the Serjeant had carefully masked with boughs. The Highlander surveyed the effects of his excellent practice, ejaculating, "Now a round ! — Now a grap' ! " at intervals, as he varied his load. Sir James added that after the action he noticed grape-shot sticking in some of the dead Frenchmen like grains of Indian corn in the cob, and the round-shot had occasionally taken two or three of the enemy in a line.^ The Allied loss was about 1600 killed, wounded, and missing. Among the killed were Lieut.-Colonel Cook and Major Campbell. Captain H. Townshend, one of Lord G-ranby's aides-de-camp, was wounded, "not dangerously," Jack Mostyn announced, " unless from the circumstance of Harry being rather too fat." Poor Townshend recovered, but only to meet his fate a little later at Wilhelmsthal. The Grenadiers, and the 87th and 88th Highlanders, though covered with glory, suffered terribly. Sir James Innes Norcliffe, who served with the 88th, was introduced after the battle to G-eijeral Sporcken, who exclaimed, " Ach ! pover Bergschotten," as he gazed com- passionately upon the popular kilted heroes. ^ Though comprising all sizes, from six feet to " five-foot nothing," the Highlanders were small on the average ; Marshal de Broglie said that, often as he had regretted not being tall, he became reconciled to his moderate height when he saw what those httle Highlanders could do.^ Major Robert Murray Keith described, in a letter to his father, how Prince Ferdinand embraced him before the assembled Generals, and spoke also many flattering words of regard " for the brave little bodies : " Keith added, " I am every day more obliged to Lord Granby's goodness." ^ Ferdinand ordered a feu de joie, and remained in much the 1 MSS. of the Duke of Koxburghe. 2 " Memoirs of E. M. Keith." ^ '• Sketches of the Highlanders " (Stewart). ^ Memoirs, July 19, 1761. I76I.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 219 same position, which he continued to strengthen. General Sporcken recrossed the Lippe to Herzfeldt. De Broglie retreated to Erwite ; Soubise remained at Soest, while the Prince of Condc maintained the communications between the two armies. The Hereditary Prince attacked their outposts at Rhiine, and the busy " Elliot's " captured some forty Hussars ; but the young Prince Henry of Brunswick received a dangerous bullet-wound in the throat. He was attended by the best French surgeons, as well as the English, but died on August 8 at Hamm. During the course of these events. General Liickner had been fencing with Prince Xavier beyond the river AVeser, across which he succeeded in forcing him, and from thence to Paderborn. So far, of this campaign, the opening advantage remained with the Allies.^ Dc Broglie had intended driving them across the river Lippe, and besieging Lippstadt ; whereas Prince Ferdinand succeeded, by his celebrated march to Dortmund, in getting between Prince Soubise and his battering train which was still in Wesel. Ferdinand then forced both the French armies together, and drove them into a district already denuded of food by the Allies. Such a position was untenable, and it behoved the French Marshals either to force Ferdinand out of his Kirchdenkern camp, or to divide and retreat. They adopted the latter alternative, and De Broglie took the Paderborn route, and Soubise crossed the river Roer near Arensburg. Lord Granby wrote that, in the difficult task of selecting names for mention, when all had done well, he desired to recommend those of Waldegrave, Sandford, Mansberg, Beckwith, and his A.D.C. Captain Broome, who, with Captain Bathurst, carried his despatches home. Captain Beckwith brought the captured colours, and Colonel Fitzroy Prince Ferdinand's despatch to the King.^ In his despatch to Lord Bute, Granby asked that any deficiencies might be overlooked, as for some time he had been entirely without rest. Upon this specially important battle, as regarded the credit of Granby and the British troops, a flood of congratulation poured in from Bute, Newcastle, Ligonier, Sir Joseph Yorke, etc. The first announced the — * Henri Martin says of this period : " C e'tait uue grande victoire pour I'ennemi que de n' avoir rien perdu." — " Histoire de France." ^ The Duke of Newcastle wrote : " You have sent us over no less than 4 great officers. This affects our pockets deeply." — Newcastle Papers, July 31. 1761. 220 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. " King's satisfaction at Lord Granby's very able conduct and gallant behaviour of which all accounts were full ; and at the signal bravery and spirit of the officers and troops under his command." ^ Colonel Fitzroy, Prince Ferdinand's aide-de-camp, was instructed to inform the King that the Prince avowed himself to have been a mere bystander at Kirchdenkern, since Lord Granby had made a disposition of his troops which left nothing to be changed, and had conclusively proved his possession of the knowledge and conduct of a General. 2 After the late outburst of feeling against Prince Ferdinand in England, his pains on this occasion to award to the English Com- mander-in-Chief the honours which were so justly his due, made a very favourable impression. The Duke of Cumberland expressed his high commendation of Lord Granby's conduct, and Lord Kinnoull wrote — It is fortunate the attack was begun upon Lord Granby's Corps, and that it lay upon him to make the disposition which has so greatly illustrated his character as a General in a point which had not been so much tryed, and was consequently hitherto less conspicuous, than his spirit and bravery." ^ This tribute to Lord Granby was, in fact, endorsed by Prince Ferdinand and the Army, by the King, by Civil, Military, and Diplomatic officials, including ex-Chancellor Hardwicke ; and, what is more significant, the ex-Commander-in-Chief, the brave, but ill- starred Duke of Cumberland, who might well have felt a passing pang of bitterness in his retired obscurity. But what avails the opinions of such nonentities when the Oracle, Horace Walpole, holds another and an adverse one ? His attitude towards the war had undergone a marked change since General Conway's appointment ; and hopes that his gallant cousin might distinguish himself were interspersed with fears of battles lest he might be injured. The first rumours of Kirch- denkern were disquieting ; but so soon as the despatches were published, and the fact transpired that General Conway * was not only safe, but had scarcely been engaged, Walpole was quickly himself again : — " Lord Granby, to the Mob's content, has the chief honour of the day — rather of the two days. The French behaved to the Mob's content too, that is shamefully, and all this glory cheaply bought on our side ... if the Mob » Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 255. 2 Newcastle to Sir J. Yorke, July 24, 1761 (Newcastle Papers). 3 Ibid., July 30, 1761. * Conway was in the centre of the Allied Camp, between Illingen and Hohenover. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 221 have not much stronger heads and quicker conceptions than I have, they will conclude My Lord Granby is become Nabob ! " ' Of one " damning circumstance " Walpole v^as mercifully not aware at the moment, or he would assuredly have utilized it in his usual fashion for the conveying of disparagement, and innuendo. Hans Stanley, whose time in Paris was, so far, not much en- croached upon by any progress in pacific negotiations, disclosed to the Duke of Newcastle his discovery in Paris of a very choice and special parcel of champagne : — " I have sent our most dear and respected friend Lord Granby a provision of it : no man more than myself rejoices in seeing the advantages and glory which my country derives from Your Grace's nephew." ^ At the same time Messrs. Pye and Cruikshanks advised Lord Granby of a consignment " of G Hogsheads of the best claret." ^ After Warburg, Sir William Calvert's butt of porter provided Walpole with a satirical shaft ; but Hans Stanley's parcel of cham- pagne, and the hogsheads of the hoM claret, providentially escaped the moral exciseman of Strawberry Hill. Otherwise we should probably have been assured that, at " Vellingshausen," Lord Granby, Prince Ferdinand, and every one else, excepting Conway, were all as drunk as traditional Lords, or proverbial Fiddlers. A propos of Conway it seems clear that Lord Granby's unfailing tact soon soothed Mostyn's irritated feelings. General Conway's appointment to serve in Germany does not appear to have cost Mostyn any further annoyance, and the lattcr's correspondence regained its contented tone : — " All your friends," he assured the Duke of Newcastle, " are very well — Lord Granby (very happily for them) at their head. He is, as he ought to be, better loved and more honoured every day he lives." > Letters, July 22, 1761 : to Lord Strafford and Geo. Montagu. 2 Newcastle Papers. 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 252, June 25, 1761. References for Kirchdenkern, etc. : Rutland MSS. ; Newcastle Papers ; Annual Register; De Mauvillon ; London Gazette; "Memoirs of R. M.Keith;" De Bourcet ; MSS. of the Duke of Roxburghe ; Walpole's Letters ; Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3. 222 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, CHAPTER XIX. Soon after Kirchdenkern, a matter was entrusted to the Marquis of Granby's discretion which drew from Lord Hardwicke the remark, that " he rejoiced in the glory My Lord Granby had gained, and in this honourable mark of confidence which the King had just now placed in his Lordship." The mark of confidence consisted in deputing to Lord Granby the delicate, and secret, mission of offering George III.'s sister, the Princess Augusta, in marriage to the Hereditary Prince of Brunswick. On this topic Lord Bute addressed two letters, an official and a private one, to Lord Granby, as follows : — " My deae Lord, — Your character and generous sentiments are so well known to me, that I am certain the high approbation of your Lordship's conduct, expressed by His Majesty's order, in my last letter, will not affect you deeper than the great confidence the King is pleas'd to place in you, by committing to your care the delicate business I am now commanded to write to you upon. Your Lordship may recollect that, at our last meeting, I mention'd the King's great esteem for the Hereditary Prince, something also pass'd with regard to Lady Augusta. Since that time events have happened that endear the Prince still more, if possible, to His Majesty ; the King does ample justice to all this illustrious family ; to the superior capacity of Prince Ferdinand, to the rising genius and intrepidity of the Hereditary Prince, to the generous ardour of his younger brothers, to the firm and steady friendship of the Duke their father, and to the constant attachment and distinguished merit of Prince Lewis ; but not satisfied with this, the King wished to show their Serene Highnesses the strongest proof of his esteem and affection by adding another tye to all those that have hitherto form'd the bond of union, the Princess Augusta's hand is that pledge of friendship His Majesty inclines to give the Hereditary Prince, a nobler is not even in the King's power to offer ; his favourite sister, the first daughter of England ; the most beautiful and accomplish'd Princess in Europe, leaves the truth of this beyond a doubt. It is the King's pleasure therefore, my Lord, that you should communicate these his ideas to the Hereditary Prince and Duke Ferdinand, and that you acquaint me with their sentiments, on which will depend the more solemn steps to be taken with the Duke of Brunswick. . . The King, my Lord, ^ From this point the private letter commences. MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 223 would think it beneath his dignity to offer his sister to France or Spain, hut to this gallant family he looks upon it as a mark of his friendship — as a reward for their great and important services. ... I must observe further to your Lordship that the King, from affection for Lady Augusta and from his know- ledge of the circumstances of the Duke of Brunswick, intends to procure Her Royal Highness the full dower of Princess Royal.. This will be delivered to you by Colonel Broome, for whom at your Lordship's desire I got (tho' with difficulty) this rank." ^ The Hereditary Prince's view of this proposal seem to have been based upon very sound sense, and a determination not to be hurried. A letter from him to the Marquis of Granby says — " You are aware that I depend upon the will of my parents, without whom I should not take any important step ; and yet I confess that the point most essential for me is to know the sentiments of the Princess, as to which nothing can assure me except le honheur de lui rendre mes devoires en personne. You understand that I fully appreciate w^hat you have said, and can only respond by redoubling my zeal for the service of the King, and of a Family which I esteem." 2 Here this matrimonial project rested until the end of the war. After the Battle of Vellingshausen the movements of the armies were, at first, not attended with much of interest. General Liickner, with whom was Prince Frederick of Brunswick, recrossed the AVeser at Hameln, and General Sporcken joined the Allied Main Army. Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby followed Marshal Broglie's retreat by Gesecke, Buren, Haren, and Paderborn ; Lord Granby commanding the van-guard and ceaselessly harassing De Broglie's rear. On August 14 a strong attack was made, at whicli De Broglie was present, upon the Allies' post in Horn. The garrison held out bravely, and, seeing Lord Granby strike his tents prior to advancing to its relief, the French abandoned their attempt. Lord Granby informed Ligonier how a Corporal of his old Regiment, " the Blacks," ^ who had straggled with four Infantrymen into Horn, rendered conspicuous service to the garrison.* On August 18, 200 of the piquets of Beckwith's Brigade, by too zealously attacking an infantry post on the French rear, suddenly found themselves within 500 yards of De Broglie's rear-guard, from which some squadrons charged them ; Elliot's Light Horse rode to the rescue, and charged with such spirit, Lieut. Nangle with 60 troopers making four consecutive flank attacks, that the piquets were brought off triumphantly. ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 250. Julv 31, 17G1. * Ibid., vol. ii. p. 257, August 9, 1761. ' 4th Horse, now the 7th Dragoon Guards. ^ Rutland MSS.. vol. ii. p. 257. 224 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. After making a pause to fortify Hoxter,^ De Broglie proceeded to cross the Weser ; Elliot's, and the Prussian Black Hussars, making free with a good deal of his baggage. He left a force in Hoxter, and two considerable corps holding the adjoining heights. Prince Ferdinand proceeded to attack the right of these Corps, while he despatched Lord Granby against their left. The French commenced to cross the Weser, Lord Granby arriving just in time to cannonade them on the left, and G-eneral Wutgenau on the right. On August 21 Lord Granby prepared to bombard Hoxter, when, to his satis- faction, the garrison quitted it and passed the Weser, thus saving, as Granby wrote, "the unhappy consequences which must have attended the poor inhabitants." This completed the driving of De Broglie's Main Army to the east side of the River Weser. Prince Soubise had meantime been followed by the Hereditary Prince and General Kilmansegge, and, on August 21, invested the town of Miinster where the Allied Garrison was too strong, Granby wrote, to cause them any anxieties. Soubise also despatched the Comte de Stainville on a sort of roving expedition, including the bombarding of Hamm, which failed ; and Soubise on September 4 raised the blockade of Miinster, and, with Conde, was shortly after- wards driven by the Hereditary Prince towards Wesel on the Rhine ; and the Comte de Stainville fell back towards Cassel. For a short time the Allied Army remained west of the Weser, on the Heights of Hoxter ; and De Broglie east of the Weser, with his Centre facing Corvey. Though the records which survive of them read tamely enough, these movements had not been accom- plished without continuous desultory fighting, and arduous exertion. In a short note to the Duke of Newcastle, Granby apologized for referring him to Lord Ligonier for details, as, having been continually advanced near the Enemy, and consequently on horseback from morning till night, Granby had not done more than write his necessary despatches to the Commander-in-Chief and the War Office ; especially as at all times " he hated writing almost as much as he loved the Duke of Newcastle." Granby's reports to Lord Ligonier mention that during this march to the Weser, Lord George Lennox, with " Walsh's " Grena- diers, " Elliot's," the piquets of Lord F. Cavendish's and General Sandford's Brigades, and Colonel Harvey's Brigade of Cavalry, had done very well in an affair near the Dymel, which Prince Ferdinand 1 Rutland MSS., and " Operations of the Allied Army," etc. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 225 had witnessed, and thanked them for. The Highlanders also had done great service throughout, but had sustained great losses. Lord Ligonier replied that the King had read Gi;anby's letters with the greatest pleasure, all whose friends were delighted with his large share of the laurels lately gained by the Army.^ Newcastle represented Ligonier " as declaring in all companies " that the contents of Granby's despatches proved him to be, in all respects, what the old Commander-in-Chief emphatically called an Officer? Both Prince Ferdinand and De Broglie again narrowly escaped capture. The former was pursued by some French Hussars while reconnoitring near Hoxter, and was only saved by the devotion of his aides-de-camp, who covered his retreat with such energy that they beat off the Hussars, and escaped themselves.^ In De Broglie's case, although he got off, several of his aides-de-camp, and 200 of his escort, were taken.'^ Although both French Marshals had thus been driven from place to place by such far inferior numbers. Prince Ferdinand had entirely failed to bring De Broglie to an action, which the latter declined to risk, and now showed himself bent upon another project altogether. He recommenced marching eastwards, and pushed on expeditions towards the towns of Hildesheim, Brunswick, Wolfenbiittel, and even Hanover, levying contributions, and ravaging the districts traversed. To protect the towns of Hanover and Brunswick from the horrors of siege had been a main factor of Ferdinand's operations. De Broglie expected Ferdinand would continue his "stern chase," but Ferdinand did no such thing ; on the contrary, he sent a reinforcement to the Hanover garrison (presumably from General Liickner's Division), and decided to return towards the Dymel and Cassel, in order to cut De Broglie's communications with that all- important garrison. The Hereditary Prince, leaving General Oheim to watch Prince Soubise, returned to Warburg, towards w^hich Prince Ferdinand marched with Lord Granby ; Hoxter being held by General Sporcken's Corps. Prince Ferdinand took several posts which Comte de Stain ville's Corps had occupied wiiile the Allies were on the Weser ; and, crossing the river Dymel, advanced as De Stainville retired until the Allies reached the heights of Immenhausen. Just as Prince Ferdinand expected, this movement drew large bodies of De Broglie's troops from the east side of the Weser towards the environs of Cassel ; and, the ' Kutlaiid MSS., vol. ii. p. 25'J. - Newcastle Papers. Sei)teiuber 25. 17(51. ^ Newcastle Papers, September 4. 17G1. ^ Archenholz. 15 226 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. Enemy collecting there in considerable strength, Prince Ferdinand returned to the old strong position, so often occupied since the Battle of Warburg,^ north of the river Dymel. Another series of strategic movements of troops ensued ; the British Guards being withdrawn from Hoxter, and encamped at Burgholtz, north of the Dymel, with General Wangenheim's Division. The Enemy took the Castle of the Sabbabourg, in the Hartz Wald, which was occupied by the French and Allies, alternately, many times during the war ; and De Stainville advanced to Geismar and Greben- stein, but retired again to the heights of Immenhausen. Prince Ferdinand eagerly prepared for an early attack upon this position which he had already remarked was an inherently weak one. The only escape from it towards Cassel, once the Enemy were dislodged, was through a narrow defile in its rear, marked on few maps as the Avenue of Wilhelmsthal, where a retreating army could be wedged in, and attacked at hopeless disadvantage. The Allies marched on the night of the 17th of September in eight columns, and crossed the Dymel at 2 a.m., proceeding under customary orders to maintain the strictest silence. Their intention was to reach, with two advanced Corps, points on the right and left flanks of the Immenhausen camp. Lord Granby and the Hereditary Prince led these Corps. Giving them time to arrive at their respec- tive points Prince Ferdinand advanced, with the Main Army, to attack Comte de Stainville's front, who, if driven off the Immen- hausen heights, would find himself attacked by the Hereditary Prince, and Granby, as he entered the funnel-shaped gorge leading to Cassel. Again was Ferdinand disappointed. A remark of one writer ^ suggests that the Hereditary Prince mistook his route and debouched at a wrong point ; but Lord Granby's letter ^ conveys no such idea. He merely wrote — " He (Comte de Stainville) had no intelligence of our march till 7 in the morning, but still had time to retire in three columns under the cannon of Cassel. . . . We cannonaded his rear and took some prisoners." De Stainville retreated to the Kratzenberg camp, under the guns of Cassel, and the Allied Army halted in the district. Prince Ferdinand's head-quarters being at Wilhelmsthal, and Lord Granby at Weimar. The Hereditary Prince, with fourteen squadrons of ' Granby to Bute (Kutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 259)- 2 Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3. " Kutland MSS. vol. ii. pp. 260, 261. I76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 227 Hussars, started off to visit De Broglie's replenished magazines in Hesse, and took 150,000 rations of oats at Fritzlar. On the 22nd of September Granby wrote to Lord Bute — " This day the deserters from the enemy assure us that Mons' BrogHe has returned to Cassel, and reinforced Mens' Stainville with the whole picketts of his army ; if this last manoeuvre of Duke Ferdinand's should have obliged Mons"" Broghe to relinquish his views upon Hanover and Brunswick, and at the same time allow us to consume the forage in Hesse, which the enemy had hitherto carefully spared, 'twill certainly have had the most desired effect." De Broglie was not yet disenamoured of his scheme in Brunswick and Hanover. Prince de Soubise and Condc once again advanced from the Rhine towards Miinster, and detached M. de Conflans against Osnabriick, and Emden which, occupied only by a small garrison of Invalids (pensioners), was evacuated October 24, the garrison escaping by sea to Bremen. This had necessitated the detaching of the Hereditary Prince and General Hardenburg towards Miinster ; and meantime De Broglie returned to the east side of the Weser, where Prince Xavier took Meppen and Wolfcnbiittel, and actually commenced tlie siege of Brunswick. The extension of the war in this direction spread considerable consternation locally. The reigning Duke of Brunswick, and the Landgrave of Hesse, both left Brunswick for Hamburg which already contained some 40,000 well-to-do refugees from the war districts in Westphalia and Hesse. Everything pointed to another long winter campaign when Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby marched by Warburg, Brakell, and Hoxter, to Ohr where a pontoon-bridge was thrown across the Weser for the passage of the Army. Near Ohr they encamped, and Lord Granby, whose Corps still formed the van-guard, crossed and encamped at Gros-Hilligesf eldt (about four miles from Hastenbach the scene of the Duke of Cumberland's defeat), and General Wutgenau and the Prince of Anhalt also crossed the Weser. Prince Ferdi- nand was actually marching to follow Granby over the river when the good news arrived that Prince Frederick of Brunswick, and General Liickner, had most gallantly relieved Brunswick ; and that, in consequence of this reverse to Prince Xavier, the French had evacuated Wolfcnbiittel and were retreating from that part of the country. Granby reported Broglie's quarters to be at Stadt Oldendorff, and his troops to be at Eschartshausen, Halle, and about Eimbeck. Prince Soubise who had succeeded in doing nothing with his 228 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. 30,000 men except destroy a few stores in Westphalia, and " take Emden from 2 companies of Chelsea Pensioners," ^ again fell back upon Wesel ; and, leaving a force under General Oheim at Rheda to watch him, and support Hamm against any cowp de main, the Hereditary Prince hurried back to the Weser, which he crossed with some reinforcements from the camp at Ohr, and marched to Hildesheim to take command of General Wutgenau's, and the Prince of Anhalt's, Corps. Lord Granby announced that they were now once more marching in combination against the Enemy, and that prospects of winter quarters were brightening.^ Marshal de Broghe, Prince Xavier, Comte de Broglie, Comte de Stainville, and M. de Chabot were all east of the Weser, and De Rochambeau with eight battalions, and the " Irish Brigade," remained near Cassel. Prince Ferdinand advanced upon Eimbeck but, finding De Broglie's Centre too strong, retired towards Alfeld, ordering Lord Granby to Yorwohle, and the Hereditary Prince to Ammensen. Thinking that this savoured of a general retreat Marshal De Broglie followed the Hereditary Prince, and Comte de Broglie followed Granby, attacking him (November 7) just as his troops had pitched their camp after a most fatiguing march lasting from 10 p.m. one night till nearly 6 p.m. the following evening. Granby's outposts were driven in, but his tired men had the satisfaction, in sight of Prince Ferdinand, of driving Comte de Broglie's attack decisively back, and pursuing him to his own camp. Prince Ferdinand then proceeded to try De Broglie's left flank. General Conway with his Division joined Lord Granby at Yor- wohle, and Lord Granby moved (November 9) to Wangelstadt, and the Hereditary Prince to Vorwohle. At Wangelstadt Granby was attacked under the same circumstances as before, just as the troops had got into their tents. This attack was repulsed, and retaliated upon by Lord Granby as smartly as the preceding one ; with the result of turning De Broglie's Left so effectually that on the night of the 10th of November Marshal de Broglie, under cover of the darkness, coromenced his retreat towards Cassel, abandoning all further attempt at prolonging the campaign. The AUied Army occupied Eimbeck, Lord Granby's quarters being south of it, at Salzderhelden where he prepared his returns of the British troops, and their routes to winter quarters. ' " Frederick II. of Prussia " (Carlyle). 2 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 264. i76i.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 22g Lord Bute wrote to Granby — ^ " I am glad to inform you of the satisfaction with which His Majesty received your account of the gallant behaviour of the British troops under your command in repulsing the Enemy, and that after so fatiguing a march, with so much resolution and vigour. I congratulate you on the success of your expedition in dislodging the Enemy from so great a tract of country as they have been obliged to abandon in consequence of His Serene Highness's late operations." To the Duke of Newcastle Lord Hardwicke wrote — " Your Grace's friend, Lord Granby, has borne a most active, and honour- able, share in this enterprise, having had three different engagements with the Enemy in all of which he has distinguished himself and come off victorious. Indeed his Lordsliip's whole conduct is as generous, as gallant, and as honourable as possible ; and it is happy for the King's Service to have a man of his uncommon integrity, affabihty, and modesty -at the head of it." This sweeping of Marshal de Broglie with the flower of the French Army first over the Weser, eastwards ; and from thence, where he had gained a good foothold from Limbeck to Wolfen- btittel, southwards again towards Cassel, has been dismissed by historians in a sentence or two. The details are nearly effaced now, though vastly commended at the time, and some idea of the contemporary opinion held of the cii'cumstances, in France, may be gathered from the following. During the above events France was carrying a high head in Paris, in order to influence in her behalf the terms of the Peace proposals. The French Gazclfes contained highly coloured descriptions - of what the French armies were doing in Germany ; but a captured mail disclosed what Ministers were in truth thinking of the Marshals of France. The Allied Army must have enjoyed a hearty laugh over this capture before forwarding it to Sir Joseph Yorke,^ who laughed in the Hague, before re-forwarding it to His Majesty's Ministers to be laughed over in England. The Due de Choiseul's despatch was in cypher, but the same mail carried a non-cypher copy of it. After giving his impressions pretty forcibly, Choiseul asked the French Commanders to, at least, ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 265. * After the Battle of Warburg the French news-sheets declared their troops had routed the British Cavalry; but, overwhelmed by numbers, had crossed tlie river Dymel and formed in Line of Battle on the opposite bank. Their loss was un- ascertained, but that of the Allies was much larger. Sir Horace Mann drew Walpole's attention to the extraordinary French account of " Quebec." — See " Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence," November 10, 1759. ' Newcastle Papers, September 13, 1761 : Yorke to Newcastle. 230 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. act on the defensive since they would not, or could not, assume the offensive ; and declared that he would not advise Louis XY. to sustain the expense of the war for another year. Choiseul's private letter to De Broglie contained yet better reading : — " Qu'importe que les Generaux tachent de laTi9er leur fautes ou sur les individus, ou sur la Com* ? Ce qu'il y a de certain c'est que nous faisons la plus Vilaine Campagne qui ait ete faite de la GueiTe, meme des Russes, et que le Prince Ferdinand, en nous couvrant de ridicule a la face de I'Europe, se couvre de gloire." ^ Prince Ferdinand's head-quarters were fixed at Hildesheim, Lord Granby's at Osnabriick, the Hereditary Prince's at Miinster ; and the troops were quartered chiefly in Miinster, Osnabriick, Paderborn, Lippstadt, Hameln, Eimbeck, and Hildesheim. General Mostyn arrived earliest in England, announcing Lord Granby to be on the road :— "Jack Mostyn," wrote the Duke of Newcastle, "is come home very well. Not old, and in as high spirits as ever. He has been very graciously received, and Ligonier has most honourably recommended him for Bland's Regiment." On December 18, 1761,^ the arrival at Harwich of Lord Granby, Lord George Lennox, and General Waldegrave was announced ; and the Duke of Newcastle wrote to the Duke of Devonshire — " I am sure you will be glad to hear that Granby arrived safely at Knights- bridge 2 this evening and I am to see him early to-morrow." Immediately after Granby's arrival several Councils were held ; everyone was heartily delighted to see him, and indirectly his return even occasioned joy to Horace Walpole, who wrote to Sir Horace Mann — " Mr. Conway will get a little into the Gazette, though not in a light worthy of his name, as it will not be for action. Lord Granby is returning, and leaves the Command to him." ' Copies in Newcastle Papers, and in Additional MSS., 28551-3, British Museum. Frederick the Great also said that Ferdinand in this campaign " covered himself with glory," and was the only combatant who concluded it without sustaining any losses (" (Euvres de Frederic le Grand," t. v.). ' Gentleman's Magazine. ^ Rutland House. * Letters, December 12. 1761. MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 23 I CHAPTEE XX. The victory of Yellingshauscn ^ had so strengthened ^Ir. Pitt in his demands upon France, that he wished, by anotlier campaign in Germany, to secure the whole of Canada, the Newfoundland fishery rights, and Cape Breton, which the Duke of Newcastle was so astonished — if the wags of the day are to be trusted — to hear was an island. George III. was opposed to pressing these demands, against which France strongly demurred ; and the Duke of Newcastle, playing for what he thought the winning side, supported the King's disapproval of them. As a counter, demand France put forward some Spanish claims which Pitt emphatically declined to discuss, except with Spain alone. France and Spain then signed the Family Compact which bound the Bourbon family together against England. Pitt's unhesitating decision was to suspend the Peace negotiations, recall Hans Stanley, and declare war against Spain. The sequel proved Pitt's policy to be correct,^ but his old inability to instil his ideas into his colleagues by patient, even polite, per- suasion and sympathetic argument, frustrated it : as Dr. Johnson said of Swift, he "dictated rather than persuaded," The members of his Cabinet, one by one, grew tired of his bullying airs of superiority ; while the Duke of Newcastle and the Pelhamites were ready for any opportunity of freeing themselves of his masterful predominance. Pitt had no one so much as himself to blame that, at length, he found himself opposed by the King and the whole of the Cabinet save Lord Temple, with whom, on October 5, 17G1, he resigned. The Earl of Egremont succeeded Pitt as Secretary for the Southern Department, and the Duke of Bedford became Privy Seal in Lord Temple's place ; George Grenville assuming the Leadership of the House of Commons, and the Secretaryship of the Northern Department. ' Or Kirchdenkern. ' Lord Bute declared war against Spain in 1762. 232 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1761. Pitt accepted a coronet for his wife and an annuity of £3000 a year — court favours which offended his more democratic supporters.^ However, the old enthusiasm for him was soon proved to be yet alive, for on November 9 he attended the Lord Mayor's Banquet, and received an ovation which was rendered unmistakably significant by the complete indifference accorded to the King and Queen, and the open insults showered upon the Earl of Bute. The Marquis of Granby had been duly informed of these changes ofiicially,^ and privately.^ The Duke of Newcastle assured him no alteration would ensue towards him, and that the Lord Chancellor had just appointed Mr. Bennet Storer to the living of Hampton " in the handsomest manner towards your Lordship." Newcastle's delight, after Pitt's resignation, at what he regarded as his own resumption of absolute power, was marred only by his fear of an attack by Pitt upon the Treasury concerning the expense of the war. He longed, he said, to talk to Lord Granby about " their respective situations," and promised himself a greater number of friends than ever at the opening of Parliament, of whom " Lord Granby's friends and family were already in town." Having hampered Pitt's war policy Newcastle* was now, himself, veering round to the war again ; and the House of Commons presented an address to the King expressing its resolution to support His Majesty in the prosecution of hostilities. A copy ^ of this was sent to Lord Granby before he left Germany. To all these allusions to home politics, and their bearing upon the war, Lord Granby had made no reply whatever. Upon his arrival home he made his representations respecting the Army, the Commissariat, and schemes for recruiting, proposing that 2000 men should be drafted from Ireland and replaced there by 2000 or 3000 Swiss ; and that the Irish and English Cavalry in Germany should be respectively recruited from the Cavalry Regiments in Ireland and England. His own Regiment, the " Royal Forresters," was as popular a nest-egg as ever, and the authorities continued to draft men from it to Germany.® Having dealt with the military details of the situation, which practically amounted to what he had long been urging, Lord Granby betook himself to Belvoir, and so far as was possible severed * They dubbed Lady Chatham " Lady Cheat' em. "—Kockingham Memoirs. « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 262. 2 Newcastle Papers, October 13, 1761. * Ibid., December 4, 1761. * Rutland MSS., vol ii. p. 265. " Newcastle Papers, November 25, 1761. I76I— 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 233 himself from the political discussions, into which he was deter- mined not to enter, that were to decide the prosecution, or abandon- ment, of the war. His attendance was asked at a Cabinet Council in order that Ministers might have the benefit of his opinions and suggestions,^ and the Duke of Newcastle was emphatic in his wishes that Granby should unceasingly press the execution of the recruiting schemes upon Lord Bute. Bute was deferring these pending the conferences concerning the renewal of Frederick the Great's ^ subsidy, and the continuance of hostilities in Germany. Meantime it was decided that 2000 German deserters, and 5000 Swiss, should be utilized in England and Ireland."^ A letter from Lord Rockingham to Thomas Thoroton, at Belvoir, shows that Granby was soon occupied keenly as ever in his favourite sport : — " I have received a letter from Piettel by which I find His Hounds will not be able to come to Grantliam. I shall therefore ^vith gi-eat pleasure send mine, and much wish that they may contribute to Lord Granby 's amusement. I should be much obliged to you to inform me wliether I can have the use of Lord William Manners' Kennel or where I can otherwise have convenience for the Hounds, and also in regard to Stable lloom. I should be glad that the Hounds were over there a week or 10 days before Lord Granby went, that the Huntsman may be a little acquainted with tlie country and where the deer lie. I have writ by to-night's post to my Huntsman to have the Hounds, Horses &c in readiness against I send him full instructions." Newcastle fretted unceasingly at Granby's absence : — " I know you will be angiy with me, but I think in the present critical situation, after the arrival of the 3 posts, which My Lord Bute fixed for the time of his coming to a decision, you cannot excuse yourself to be absent." Later ^ his Grace wrote again saying he must beg Granby to be good enough to return by the following Monday, bringing Lord Robert Manners Sutton, Jack Manners, and Thoroton with him, as a disagreeable matter touching the Scotch Militia Bill was imminent in the Commons : "You can't regret being called up this weather, as the ground is covered with snow." The 20th of March found Granby back again at Belvoir, and * Newcastle Papers, January 31, 1762, ' Frederick the Great's own ideas were at this moment indefinite, and the plan was suggested of delaying the renewal of his subsidy in order to get him to declare positively for peace or war (see Newcastle Papers. February, 17G2). ' Newcastle Papers, February 20, 1762 * Ibid., February 26, 1762. * Ibid., March 11, 1762. 234 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. Newcastle announced to him the determination of the Courts of Vienna and Paris to place as large armies in the field as possible, Russia had withdrawn from the war, and Lord Ligonier said that Prince Ferdinand would have 100,000 effective men : — " I send y"" Lordship a copy I have stole of Lord Bute's letter to Prince Ferdinand whereby you will see that authentic notice is given of the recruits. ... I wish you joy on the success at Martinico which gives me additional pleasure that it was done by your friend and relation General Monci^ton." ^ Weeks passed, and George III.'s intentions respecting the Grerman War remained a mystery. In April, that is to say about four months after Lord Granby's arrival in England, Newcastle informed the Duke of Devonshire that he understood Granby had seen Lord Bute on the subject of the Hereditary Prince's marriage : — " As Lord Granby is setting out for Newmarket he may possibly not write to me, but I wish y'' Grace would ask him at Newmarket what passed with Lord Bute — especially relating to the Campaign. " Your Grace will see that in my Lord Bute's last letter to Prmce Ferdinand he refers him entirely to Lord Granby who, he says, shall be fully instructed with the Kings thoughts wpon everything. I am anxious to know what these thoughts will be, I suspect they must relate to recalling our Troops and putting an end to the Campaign." 2 Newcastle then referred to a conversation with Lord Bute from which he had gathered that — " Lord Granby will have strong instructions from the King to keep his troops in such a condition, situation, or position (T really cannot tell which) as to be able to return to England upon the first notice. To which, upon my making some hesitation. My Lord (Bute) replied, ' What ! My Lord ? Suppose this country is invaded ? ' " I thought it right to give my Lord Granby a hint. I found him extremely alarmed, and determined. His answer to me was — ' If the King gives me any orders that are inconsistent with my subjection to the commands of the General in chief under whom His Majesty has placed me, I will not return to Germany.' The case of the Duke of Ormond ^ was too fresh in his mind upon this, therefore I think we shall have some altercation." » Newcastle Papers, March 20-22, 1762. 2 Ibid., April 1,S, 1762. 3 The second Duke of Ormond succeeded John, Duke of Marlboro', as Captain- General of the British Forces, and proceeded in 1712 to Flanders ostensibly to carry on the war against France in co-operation with Prince Eugene. Ormond was instructed, secretly, not to engage the French though to preserve the appearance of hostility towards them ; to which end he entered into correspondence with the French commander Marshal Villars. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. The honourable spirit of the above declaration renders it super- fluous to say that the Duke of Devonshire's reply contained no trace of any state secrets confided by the King to Lord Granby. Did the latter possess any Newcastle might have felt certain that Granby was the last man to disclose, even if he disapproved them. But the Duke was far too anxious to be informed of what was happening to leave any stone unturned, though the conviction was slowly forcing itself upon his perceptions that Pitt's resignation had made no change in the attitude, towards his Grace, of the King and Lord Bute. Nor was Newcastle alone in his curiosity respecting the instruc- tions which Lord Granby might have received. While delivering a speech in the House of Commons against the abandonment of the German War, Pitt tm-ned searchingly to Granby and said, " I know his Lordship's zeal for the service of his country is such that, if he had received his orders, I am sure he would not now be wliere he is." 1 Sir Joseph Yorke reported, in May from the Hague, that Prince Ferdinand was marching the Allied Army out of winter quarters, but that peace would be believed in so long as the English generals did not rejoin.- In reply Newcastle acquainted Sir Joseph that, with the consent of the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Hardwicke,.and Lord Mansfield, he had decided to retire at the rising of Parlia- ment. His Grace entrusted two letters to Sir Joseph to forward to the Duke of Brunswick, and Prince Ferdinand, saying he was heartily ashamed of them as they contained no guarantee of the continuation of the subsidy to Fredei'ick the Great, nor of support- ing the German War. These departures from Pitt's })olicy he made the excuse for his retirement after having intrigued with Lord Bute against Pitt, and embraced Bute's peace policy, canying most of his colleagues with him : then perceiving that he was gaining no real footing in the good graces of either George IIL, or Lord Bute, he applied liis energies to the war again. " I have insisted," continued Newcastle, " with Lord Granby that lie should go to his command forthwith. His own honour requires it, and what really is the publick service ; though I believe they are not in haste to send him away. You ask me why don't Lord Granby get away ? I answer, first, because he has not received any directions, or answer's, to the points he is ' "History of the Late Minority." ' Newcastle Papers, May 7-1 L 17G2. ' " Coxe's Memoirs of the Pelham Administration." 236 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. solliciting, and secondly, because he will not give that attention he ought to my frequent supplications on that head." Newcastle's arguments fell lamentably short of explaining how Lord Granby could have returned to Germany without orders ; or why he should have done more than represent what reinforcements were necessary, should the war be resumed, since he had long made no secret of his personal desire — under the existing condition of the Army — for peace. This desire could not fail of becoming more pronounced after Granby's return to England. A new ballot for the Militia had caused riots entailing the slaughter of some forty-two persons, in addition to many wounded. The expedition against Belleisle was unpopular, and useless ; for not a single French regiment had been withdrawn by it from the German war-area ; and a highly significant incident had occurred in February at a general muster of the 2nd Regiment of Foot Guards (the Coldstreams) in St. James's Park.^ Volunteers were called for to fill vacancies in the battalion serving in Germany, but a total silence ensued — not a man stirring. 2 In the House of Lords the Duke of Bedford introduced a motion pointing to the utter impossibility of England placing an army in Germany equal to that of France, and consequently of her carrying on the war there to any good purpose. If anything shed a ray of popularity on the war it was the Marquis of Granby's personality alone, and even that was not sufficient to counteract elements too far removed from his individual influence. His own Regiment, "the Royal Forresters," continued to attract recruits, many of whom were drafted to heavy regiments on account of their size being above the average of light Dragoons ; but this very enthusiasm entailed its detention in England as an incentive to enlistment. Its regimental motto Hie et uhique"" may be said to have stopped short of fulfilment at " Hie,'''' for its wanderings were chiefly restricted to the peaceful limits of Herts, Bucks, and the neighbourhood of Epping Forest. The Marching Order Books of 1762 show its presence at Epping, Waltham, Stanstead, Ware, Hertford, St. Albans, Hoddesdon, Newport Pagnell, Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Stoney Stratford, Daventry, etc. At Hertford in April, 1762, the Marquis of Granby inspected it, and entertained all the officers and men at the Half Moon Inn. 1 Gentleman's Magazine, February, 1762. 2 A draft of thirteen men per company was afterwards ordered to Germany, 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Lord Granby's Bill,i ' The Half Moon ' at Hertford, Apl. 10, 1762. \ ftO (IrninoTiPQ £12 Beer 9 Servants dinners 1 10 Suppers to 20 gentlemen 1 1 7 Musicians suppers 4 French wines, 5 dozen 7 12 6 Port wine, 2 doz. & 8 2 12 Punch 5 19 4 Rnttlp« <^ rrlnc:cr>« TiTntn 3 Carriage of French wine 8 Lllc V^UUK llUIIl XJUllUUIl \ \\ Wax candles 8 Rumbo 7 Oranges & sugar 4 Breakfasts 14 0 Fireing 5 Servants 5 5 42 5 G To the 6 troops at 1 0 gs. each G3 £105 5 G " Pay to Major Whiteford the sum of 100 guineas, and place it to the account of your friend Granby. " To John Calcraft, Esq. Hertford, Apl. 10th." ''Received the contents, 13 Apl. 17G2, John Whiteford, Major R.F." The Government at last decided on the prosecution of the German War, and Lord Granby received his orders to rejoin his troops. In pursuance of his recommendations the Infantry cross- belts, which had been fouud very fatiguing on the march, were modified, and the cartouche-boxes henceforth carried on the front of a waist-belt. New clothing, and an extra supply of linen and stockings, were distributed throughout the Army.^ The transports with reinforcements, provisions, etc., sailed for Bremen, and Lord Granby took leave of His Majesty and proceeded to Harwich where he was detained several days by contrary winds. The Rev. Bennet Storer again accompanied him. Granby wrote to the Duke of Newcastle, May 28, saying that they were just setting * From an old Commou-placc Book which states the original to have been in the possession of the Rev. Harry Picrsc of Cambridge. * Gentleman^s Magazind, February, 1762. 238 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. sail, though the wind was still contrary and he expected a long passage, " which, as I am not very well, and always sick at sea, I shan't like." ^ Newcastle described himself happily settled, "a Whig country gentleman," at Claremont, where he hoped to receive occasional public news from his former colleagues : — " I hope sometimes to hear from my dear and best friend Lord Granby, and good news will make me the happiest of men ; but I can send you nothing now but my best wishes that everything may come to you that is happy and agreeable. . . . God in heaven preserve you, and send you back to us crowned with laurels and success such as may secure a good peace." ^ The Earl of Bute became First Lord of the Treasury upon the resignation of Newcastle who, after lingering so long an unwelcome and powerless actor upon the political stage, quitted it now with unquestionable dignity, and independence. The King urged him to accept a pension, which his Grace absolutely refused, though grate- ful, as he wrote to Granby,^ " for his Majesty's manner which was most polite and gracious." Whatever his faults were the Duke of Newcastle was never avaricious, personally, though he so fully recognized the power to be gained by playing upon the avarice of others. In addition to the Government patronage of which he so long had the distribution, he devoted his private fortune to the House of Hanover, and the Whig cause. At the date of his resig- nation the Earl of Radnor said he was confident the Duke of New- castle " had spent £200,000 for the present Royal Family ; " ^ and at the date of the Duke's death the Earl of Chesterfield declared him to be £300,000 poorer after fifty years of office — "a very unministerial proceeding." ^ Newcastle held a farewell levee at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields which was numerously attended by all classes and professions, save the very one which owed him most. The Bishops, all save two, enacted the part of so many Yicars of Bray by absenting themselves in a body from the fading presence of one to whom nearly each of them owed his elevation to the Episcopal bench. Before leaving Harwich, Bennet Storer expressed his disgust for them to Thoroton, saying ' Newcastle fapers, May 23. 1762. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Letters of the First Earl of Mahnesbury. 5 Chesterfield's Letters, vol. iv. pp. 428, 429. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 239 " Entre nous I own I am quite ashamed that the first men of my profes- sion, and who certainly have greater obligations to the Duke of Newcastle than to any man, should have been so wanting in paying their last comph- ment to him." ^ His Grace wittily remarked that, after all, like the generality of mankind, the Bishops were but too apt to forget their maker ! Storer also enjoined Thoroton, on behalf of Lord Granby, to trust no public conveyance for letters, and to commit nothing to writing " except what was public, and which anyone might read, for be assured all our letters are opened." The scant regard for the privacy of written communications was notorious at this period. Any letter of special importance the Duke of Newcastle invariably delayed until an opportunity presented itself of safe, private transport. When writing to Sir Joseph Yorke the announcement of his intended resignation, Newcastle entrusted his letter to an officer appointed to the army in Germany, as he " was sure letters were opened in Lombard St." ^ » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 268. 2 The General Post Office was then situated in Lombard Street. So general a distrust of the Post-office authorities renders the total absence of reserve in Horace Walpole's correspondence curiously noticeable. Dr. Johnson says Pope wjis " afraid of writing lest the clerks at the Post-office should know his secrets : " the Earl of Buckingham writing to Lady Suffolk (August 11, 17G5, Letters of Lady Suffolk) alluded to "the fear, or rather the certainty," of the examination of correspondence passing through the post; and though Walpolc (as he, personally, complained) became a nonentity, politically speaking, after his father's retirement, he must have been known to be an active purveyor of what people were saying, and thinking. 240 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. CHAPTER XXL The Marquis arrived at the Hague June 1, where he was received and entertained by Sir Joseph Yorke, and Prince Lewis of Brunswick, who gave his Lordship the fullest assurances of the attachment of the Brunswick family to the cause of the King of England.^ On June 4 Lord Granby set out for the Army by way of Miinster, where the Hereditary Prince was already posted, and concerning whose matrimonial project Granby was the bearer of messages from the King. From Miinster Granby proceeded eastwards to Brakell and Hoxter, Prince Ferdinand's quarters being at the Palace of Corvey on the Weser ; and, on June 18, the Prince reviewed the Grand Army as it marched off its ground at Brakell, after which His Serene Highness was entertained at a dinner given by Lord Granby.^ The next day the Army, preceded by Lord Granby's Corps, marched for the old position on the river Dymel, which was reached on June 20. This, the last, campaign of the war was fought under different auspices on the side of France. Lord Granby's victory at Yellings- hausen had aroused great indignation against De Broglie, and Prince Soubise. De Broglie was recalled, and, in the feminine Court in- trigues into which the matter chiefly resolved itself, he was worsted by Prince Soubise — " General inhabile et malheureux, Courtisan souple et adroit."^ De Broglie was disgraced, and, exiled in February, 1762, though according to Jomini he was the sole one among the French Generals of the Seven Years War who displayed any sustained ability. Prince de Soubise, thanks to Mme. de Pompadour's influence, returned to the chief command of the French troops in Germany, whither also Marshal D'Estrees,* for the second time, proceeded. Upon leaving its winter quarters in Cassel the French Grand ' Newcastle Papers, June 4-8, 1762. 2 Rutland MSS., vol. iii. pp. 368, 369. ^ " Grand Dictionnaire du XIX. Siecle " (Larousse). * He defeated the Duke of Cumberland at Hastenbach. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY, 241 Army under Soubise and D'Estrees moved northwards towards the Dymel. Its Right was led by De Castries, its Left by De Stainville. East of the river Weser, in the Gottingen district, Prince Xavier was posted ; and Prince Conde arrived at Diisseldorf to take com- mand of the Reserve on the Lower Rhine. ^ Prince Ferdinand and Lord Granby opposed the main Army under Soubise and D'Estrees ; General Liickner was near Eimbeck, east of the Weser, observing Prince Xavier's force ; and the Hereditary Prince was stationed at Miinster to deal with Prince Conde's Reserve. With the object of clearing Hesse of the French Prince Ferdi- nand's plan of campaign was to cut off the main French Army, in the Cassel district, and the Cassel garrison, from their communi- cations with Frankfort ; which, if successful, rendered the fall of the Cassel, Gottingen, and Ziegenhayn garrisons a mere matter of time. The Marquis of Granby opened the fighting, under Prince Ferdinand's orders, by crossing to the south bank of tlie Dymel with a portion of his Corps. He then pushed on to Wolfshangen, dislodging from thence some light troops of Count de Stainville's Corps, and occupied the heights of Volksmissen. Lord Frederick Cavendish did the like towards Grebenstein, on De Stainville's Right ; the Sabbabourg was re-captured, and Count de Stainville, with the Duke de Cogni, and De Castries narrowly escaped being taken there.^ A portion of their escort was made prisoner, and a number of horses captured. Soubise and D'Estrees advancing in force Lord Granby retired over the Dymel, having effected his object of beating up the Enemy's quarters to the north-west of Cassel, and securing the debouches of the Dymel. Prince Ferdinand having drawn the Enemy into a position behind Grebenstein (though not on the wishcd-for heights of Immenhausen), made a third attempt to pen him up in the gorge of Wilhelmsthal. On June 23, 17G2, the Allies prepared to cross the Dymel early on the ensuing morning. General Liickner crossed the Weser on the night of the 23rd, leaving a portion of his force near the river Leine to deceive Prince Xavier, and advanced in rear of the French Right under De Castries. The Sabbabourg ' Soubise's and D'Estrees' Army amounted to 111 battalions and 120 squadrons ; Cond^s Reserve to 46 battalions and 38 squadrons : Prince Ferdinand's to 82 battalions and 82 squadrons, and 5000 irregular troops (" (Euvres de Fre'deric le Grand," t. v.). 2 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 209. 16 242 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. was considerably strengtlieiied, and the Marquis of Granby, with the whole of his Reserve/ crossed the Dymel at 2 a.m. on the 24th, in advance of Prince Ferdinand, and occupied a greatly important position, which the French could have prevented, on the Diirrenburg ; from whence the French tents were seen still standing. The Main Army did not march till 4 a.m., General Sporcken's Corps forming its Left, to act in concert with General Liickner. A fate seemed to prevail against the complete success of this favourite, and promising project of Ferdinand's, and on this occasion he himself delayed the arrival of the Main Army by halting at too distant a point to form Line of Battle. Liickner carried out the first portion of his pro- gramme and, debouching near Holzhausen and Mariendorff, attacked De Castries, driving him in upon the French Right. Lord Granby continued on from Diirrenburg, arriving exactly to time at his point at Fiirstenwald ; and, hearing the French cannonade against Liickner's attack, believed it to be Prince Ferdinand commencing his assault on the French Centre. The French, surprised by Liickner's approach in rear of their Right Flank, and seeing Granby's Corps as it reached the Fiirstenwald on their Left Rear, were now thoroughly alarmed ; and commenced retreating rapidly by Wilhelmsthal, Frankenhausen, and Hohenkirchen ; while the Allied Centre, under Prince Ferdinand, was still too far distant to " get home." Lord Granby, beginning to fear another complete escape of the Enemy, sent a detachment consisting of Chasseurs, one company of Grenadiers, Campbell's Highlanders, part of Keith's, and two guns, into the wood of Fiirstenwald ; and made a rapid march, by his left, with the rest of his Corps on to Wilhelmsthal. Granby made this movement quite close to the Enemy's flank, the Infantry of which were now running, and by it he cut off a Rear- Guard which Soubise and D'Estrees had detached, under Comte de Stainville, to cover their retreat into the trap-like gorge of Wilhelmsthal. As Lord Granby was preparing, in spite of his isolated condition, to charge the rear of the French, this Rear-Guard consisting of the Grenadiers de France, the Grenadiers Royaux, the Regiments of Poitou, Acquitaine, and other picked troops, made a sudden move- ment behind him, round the wood of Fiirstenwald, and gained the ^ Lord Granby's troops at " Wilhelinstal " : — 2 battalions of Grenadiers and 2 battalions of Highlanders, under Lieut. -Colonel Beckwith ; 3 battalions of Foot Guards, and 1 of the Grenadiers of the Guards, under Major-General Julius Caesar ; 3 Hanoverian battalions (Alsfeldt's, Eheden's, and Wangenheim's), under Majors General Wangenheim; 3 squadrons of Elliot's and 2 squadrons of Blues, under Colonel Harvey ; 2 squadrons of Sprengel's " and 2 squadi'ons of " Veltheim's," under Colonel Veltheiui ; 6 squadrons of Bauer's Hussars. Twelve six-pounders. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 243 flank of his Reserve (which Granby had left there), taking the two guns, and the company of Grrenadiers belonging to the 20th, " Kingsley's." Granby's position was critical owing to the non- aiTival of the Allied Centre, which left him isolated between the Enemy's Rear-Guard and the whole of its Left Flank. Leaving the latter to go on with its running he wheeled to attack the Rear- Guard ; and, after a most desperate hand-to-hand fight, in which Granby again highly distinguished himself personally, De Stainville's temporary advantage was reversed ; he was defeated and driven back upon the Right of the now arriving Main Army, when such as had not already been taken by Granby's Reserve, surrendered to the 5th (Hodgson's) Regiment of Foot. The Grenadiers de France, the Grenadiers Royaux, and the Regiment of Acquitaine were taken almost entirely ; De Stainville, and a small portion of his force, escaped. Soubise and D'Estrees were pursued through the gorge of Wilhelmsthal to the very gates of Cassel which they reached with a loss of GOOO (2700 of which were prisoners), 170 officers (prisoners), 1 standard, G colours, 2 cannon, and the whole of the baggage and equipages. On the Left General Sporcken took 2 cannon, and hustled the Duke of Fitz James' Regiment severely, capturing a standard. The opinion stands on record that the whole of this success, so far as it went, was due to Lord Granby ; and that had Prince Ferdinand arrived with his Centre in time, or had Generals Sporcken and Liickner done as much on the Left as Granby did on the Right, the French Army should have been destroyed. ^ The only officer of any note among the killed on the side of the AUies, whose total loss was very small, was Captain Harry Townshend, of the 1st Foot Guards, A.D.C. to liord Granby. He was previously wounded at Vellingshausen, and distinguished himself at Wilhelms- thal where, in Lord Ligonier's words, " he died gloriously for his caUing." 2 Prince Ferdinand entertained all the captured French officers at a great dinner. At dessert a number of covered dishes were placed upon the table to which, just as the company was rising to leave, Prince Ferdinand drew attention, saying : " Gentlemen, there is still * Additional MSS., British Museum, 28551-3 ; Von Eetzow, and Frederick the Great. Ce fut Ik que s'engagea entrc lui (De Stainville) et Mylord Granby un combat qui de'cida de la journe'e." — " CEuvres de Frede'ric le Grand," t. v. p. 178. * Granby to Newcastle : " My Corps was very wai'mly engaged. I am sorry to acquaint your Grace that I have lost poor Harrv Townsliend." — Newcastle Papers, June 26. 1762. 244 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. something left for you." The dishes proved to contain watches, rings, snuff-boxes, and a variety of valuable presents which the French officers were courteously entreated to accept as some small compensation for the looting of their baggage.^ Captain Boyd carried home the despatches, and told Sir Joseph Yorke, on the road, how eminently Lord Grranby had distinguished himself ; and how delighted Prince Ferdinand was with the confidence he had shown " in determining his movements upon the countenance of the Enemy." Lord Ligonier was beside himself with satisfaction over Wilhelmsthal, the more so as an invasion by France was again talked of, and she was said to have 45,000 men encamped, ready, on the north coast. "Granby did the whole business" (declared Ligonier at dinner to the Duke of Newcastle), "than whom no man had ever acted with more courage, or more like a Commanding Officer, than in cutting off De Stainville's Corps from the French Army." Ligonier mentioned a slight check which had occurred owing to his own Eegiment, the 1st Foot Guards ; but added that " Granby soon recovered it, and his Blues did almost beyond what was ever done by a Eegiment of Cavalry." ^ The King's satisfaction at Lord Granby 's conduct was conveyed to him through Mr. George Grenville.^ An account of Wilhelmsthal manufactured for the reading of the Parisian public is too naive to pass over. The newspapers declared the whole affair to have been a deliberate attempt by the Allies upon Cassel, which was frustrated by the French iclio got there first, and repulsed the attack with some loss to the Allies ! Towards the Ehine the Hereditary Prince had bombarded the French garrison in the Castle of Arensburg ; the garrison surrendered and the Prince destroyed the fortifications, after which he retired to Miinster. Prince Ferdinand fixed his head-quarters at Wilhelmsthal, with Lord Granby forming his Eight on the Diirrenburg. The French passed eastwards, over the river Fulda, on June 25, leaving a Corps in the Kratzenburg camp (at Cassel), and another at Liittern- burg. Prince Xavier retired to between Gottingen and Miinden ; and Soubise, becoming anxious for his garrison in Ziegenhayn, detached De Guerchy and De Eochambeau to cover that place and Melsungen, as well as to threaten the advance of the Allies. Lord Granby, with Lord Frederick Cavendish, proceeded to oppose them. * Archenholz. 2 Newcastle Papers, July 1-2, 1762. ^ Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 270. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 245 Lord Frederick Cavendish successfully attacked several of the French posts. Hallershausen, Felzburg, and Fritzlar were taken ; and Lord Frederick advanced to Gudensburg, and approached the Castle of Waldeck — the only post on the river Eder remaining to the French. G-eneral Liickner occupied posts along the Fulda and the Weser ; and, after quitting Fritzlar, M. de Rochambeau collected what forces he could, from the French posts in the south of Hesse, and formed on the heights of Homberg, to dispute the further advance of the Allied Army. To dislodge M. de Rochambeau was Lord Granby's next task. He advanced from the Diirrenburg to Fritzlar, on the night of June 30, to act in concert with Lord Frederick Cavendish with his German Brigade. M. de Rochambeau was to be cut off by them, on his Left from Ziegenhayn, and on his Right from the Fulda. The result is described in a letter from Granby to Ligonier, which also describes the various positions of the Allied Army : — " I have not until now been able to wish you joy of the very great credit your old friends the Blues acquired on the 1st of July. I marched on the 30th (June) at night from Diirrenburg to Fritzlar with the Blues, Elliot's, Sprengel's, and Weltlieira's. There I found the two Battalions of Grenadiers and the two Battalions of Highlanders. From that point I was to proceed to dislodge Mons. de Rochambeau's Corps at Homberg by attacking his Left, while Lord Frederick Cavendish with four Battalions T)f Chasseurs and Reidessel's and Bauer's Hussars (from the point of Fcltzberg) were to attack his Right. Wiien we came near he struck liis tents and advanced a little to meet us, but when he discovered Lord Frederick's cohunn he began his retreat. Our Cavalry pressed to engage him; Elliot's led (leavinj^ the village of KattsdortF on the right) through the enclosures and charged most gallant!}'', but Col. Harvey seeing the Enemy prepared for them and that unless the Regiment was instantly sustained it was undone, followed with rapidity through the village with the Blues past a rivulet that, with the narrowness of the streets and the closeness of the Enemy, impeded their forming : but, as no time was to be lost, charged with them with only 6 or 8 men in front. ^ This had the best effect : their cUroute was complete had not their Infantry lined a little hollow way which, at the same time that it saved their Cavalry pre- vented ours from advancing. Thus they continued a very long time, charging and manoeuvring with such a continuance as did them an honour never to be forgot, and during this time Elliot's were extremely useful to the Blues, though their ammunition was entirely expended.'^ Our Infantry by this time got * i.e. abreast. 2 " The situation of the 2 Regts. was at this time very critical ; but the mutual support which they gave each other — Elliot's Dragoons by their continual skirmishing with the Enemy ; and the Blues by their niauceuvres in squadrons and by their steady countenance, kept the Enemy at bay till the Infantry came up." — London Gazette. 246 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. forward and, sustained by the Cavalry, followed the Enemy at least a league and a half, as did Lord Frederick's column, though it could not arrive time enough to attack them with us. " I can never sufficiently commend the gallantry and good conduct of the Blues and Elliot's, nor enough express the obligations I have to Colonel Harvey, Colonel Erskine, Major Forbes and Major Ainslie as well as the rest of the officers. Neither would I be thought to omit the Infantry who showed the same readiness they have ever done. " It is now time to think of the execution of my further instructions, which were to push on with the whole Corps, except the Hanoverian Chasseurs and Hussars, to Melsungen. I found it occupied by the Enemy, but it was too late at night and the troops were too much fatigued to attack it that night, during which I received H. S. Highness's orders to return to Fritzlar. " On the 4th inst. I moved to Lohn where Lord Frederick now is with his three Battalions of Chasseurs and Elliot's. Fritzlar is occupied by his fourth Battalion and 100 Arquebusiers of Freitag's. The Posts of Feltzberg and Gudensberg are likewise occupied each by 50 Chasseurs. The rest are flung into Fritzlar. Last night (5th July) with the Blues, Sprengel's Weltheim's and the Grenadiers and Highlanders I joined General Wangenheim with three Hanoverian Battalions. The Hanoverian Chasseurs and Hussars are on the Eder. General Caesar with the Guards and Lord Pembroke with Bland's are at Hoft'; and Gen. Waldegrave with a Brigade of British Infantry at the Hercules.i H. S. Highness's Headquarters are still at Wilhelmsthal, on the heights of which General Conway 2 is with the Right of the Army." ^ It will be observed that Lord Granby effected this dislodgement of De Rochambeau with the most complete success, except in the pursuit which was interrupted by Prince Ferdinand, on July 1, because the Enemy was marching in force to Melsungen, and had already crossed the river Fulda. Granby bivouacked for the night, and then returned to Fritzlar, encamping finally at Niedenstein. During the affair with De Rochambeau, who lost 120 prisoners, some of Lord Granby 's wounded officers were taken by the French. Before retiring Lord Granby sent an English surgeon with a letter to M. de Rochambeau requesting leave to attend to the English wounded. De Rochambeau alludes to this letter in his " Memoires," saying — " My most intimate friend could not have written to me in terms more frank respecting the energy and precision of the movements that he (Granby) had seen executed, by the French troops under my command, to escape the triple superiority of his force." •* ^ The colossal Hercules near the cascade at Wilhelmshohe. ' Conway's name suggests Horace Walpole ; but all he had to say of late was with reference to Wilhelmsthal (Letters to Sir Horace Mann, July 1, 1762): " Lord Granby is much commended. My chief joy arises from knowing Mr. Conway is safe." 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 270. ■* " Memoires Militaires, Historiques, et Politiques. ' Paris, 1809. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 247 On the 11th of July Greneral Conway took Waldeck Castle by means of a " bluff." He invested it on the 10th, but was really without the necessary ammunition, or means, to bombard it. The garrison of 4 officers and 150 men, thinking resistance hopeless, capitulated to him as prisoners of war, and thus the last French post on the Eder was taken, and Horace Walpole at the same time much pleased. The Main French Army was, at this juncture, on the heights of Liitternburg and Laudwehrshagen ; 8000 men were near Gottingen ; Comte de Stainville was at the Kratzenburg ; ^1. de Rochambeau and Comte de Guerchy, with IT), 000, extended from Melsungen to the heights of Homberg ; and a reinforcement from Prince Conde's Reserve was advancing with all haste from the Rhine. Soubise attempted to advance on the river Eder, but was driven back towards the Fulda by Liickner and Granby, and retired to a practically impregnable camp at the Heiligenberg. On the 13th of July Lord Granby, reinforced from Major-General Caesar's Division at Hoff, advanced to Gudensburg, bridged the river Eder, and took front before the Heiligenberg camp which was the stronghold of the French position on the heights of Melsungen. This was Prince Ferdinand's principal objective — " Hon grand but," lie wrote from Wilhelmsthal to Lord Granby, " et Votre Excellence sera, en dela, la partie principale pour agir." ^ The position, besides its great strength, served to maintain the French communications with the town of Fulda, though Lord Granby 's advance to Gudens- burg had cut off Cassel from Frankfort. Between the 13th and 23rd of July the pendulum of war swung to and fro. Ferdinand saw his plan of extending the French Army succeeded ; and he took Amoneburg, and several small chateaux on the Cassel-Frankfort route, which posts harassed the French supplies. Lord Granby reconnoitred the Melsungen position assiduously for a favourable occasion of attack. The French garrison in Gottingen, fearing to be cut off, marched out on the 15th of July, but finding itself menaced by General Liickner and Prince Frederick of Bruns- wick, it reoccupied the town. On the 23rd of July Prince Ferdinand despatched a Corps under Zastrow and Colonel Schlieffen against Prince Xavier and the Saxons' camp at Liitternburg. This was taken with 1100 prisoners, 13 cannon, and 3 standards, at a loss to the Allies of about 200 men. During the action Comte de Stain- ville left the Kratzenburg camp to assist Prince Xavier, and Prince » Additional MSS., 28551-3. 248 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. Frederick of Brunswick, during the former's absence, destroyed the defences of the Kratzenburg. This success affected the French Eight to the extent of forcing it further south towards their Centre ; and the Main Allied Army followed up the advantage by marching over the river Eder towards Lord Granby's position. Grranby carried the Falckenberg on the 24th, driving the French from the heights of Homberg, but their position at Melsungen was still maintained. At night, July 25, owing to movements of General Ltickner and Prince Frederick on their rear, the French withdrew, in considerable force, across the Fulda, leaving a numerous garrison in the town of Melsungen. Lord Granby at once took the heights, and encamped there. Prince Conde, leaving garrisons in Wesel, Coblentz, and Cologne, had advanced from the Rhine ; and between the 1st, and 4th, of August detachments of his army arrived between Marburg and Giessen, on the river Lahn. Watching him, the Hereditary Prince was near Wetter ; so the whole position, at the commencement of August, 1762, was that the two Main Armies were opposing one another on the banks of the river Fulda ; the French still retained the fortified towns of Gottingen, Cassel, Miinden, and Melsungen, and were trusting to regain their footing in Hesse, and to reopen their communications with Frankfort, through the assistance of the Prince of Coude's Army of Reserve. Lord Granby moved his own quarters to Elphershausen (some three miles south-west of Melsungen), at which place Major-General Julius Caesar,^ who commanded the Brigade of Foot Guards, died, August 10, from the effects of a fall from his horse. On the 6th, and 7th, of August batteries were raised before Lord Granby's position at Melsungen, facing those of the Enemy ; and, on the 10th, a general advance was made upon the town. Lord Granby kept up a brisk cannonade all day from his batteries (using unloaded shells in order to save the town as much damage as possible), and sent, towards evening, a detachment across the Fulda to cannonade Comte de Guerchy's camp. Prince Frederick of Brunswick skir- mished on the rear of the French Army towards the river Werra, and aU the Allied Generals were instructed to make feints from their respective positions. Granby's cannonade drove in some of the Enemy's batteries, and at 10 p.m. he made an effort to get into the * In January, 1761, Lord Granby had written to Lord Ligonier: "... and I must beg leave to recommend to your protection my friend General Caesar when- ever a vacant old Kegiment shall give him an opportunity of being recommended to his Majesty's favour." — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 240. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 249 town ; but the French stuck to their coveted post, and would neither be forced, nor frightened, out. Starvation might succeed ; and the Allied detachment was recalled from the east bank of the Fulda. Nothing of importance occurred for some days after this attempt upon Melsungen. Lord Granby repulsed, with considerable loss to the Enemy, two attacks made upon his piquets, at a cost to himself of 2 officers killed, 3 wounded and missing, and 90 rank and file killed and wounded. He summed up the position,^ to Mr. George Grenville and the Duke of Newcastle, from Elphershausen, saying that the French were suffering greatly, cut off from their main supplies, and must soon either retire, or risk a battle. Prince Condc and the Hereditary Prince were facing one another on the river Ohm ; and " all private letters, in both Armies, talked of nothing but peace." During this period of Granby's advanced position near the Enemy the Allied head-quarters remained at Gudensburg. Prince Ferdinand was longing to press on the peace negotiations in Paris by increased activity in the field ; but the Melsungen garrison continued to defy attack. The French, it is true, were suffering severely from scarcity of food and forage, and Ferdinand tried once more to coax Soubise out of Melsungen, and from across the Fulda, to attack him. Prince Ferdinand marched from Gudensburg across the Eder to the heights of Falckenberg, behind Lord Granby's camp ; and then, with his lordship, approached, exposed to the fire of three batteries, to reconnoitre the Enemy's position in and around Melsungen. It appeared so desperately strong that the Prince relinquished any idea of assuming the offensive ; but, while seeking to tempt Soubise to do so, he was not without hopes that the moral effect of this approach of the Main Allied Army might induce the exceedingly hungry Frenchmen to retreat. Towards evening Prince Ferdinand withdrew to the Falckenberg, leaving a long line of advanced piquets with fires burning to deceive the French ; and, later in the night, marched back to Gudensburg.- Lord Granby remained to await the morning, when, had the French advanced in force against him, he was to fall gradually back upon his old camp on the heights of Homberg. Morning proved the ruse to have suc- ceeded : the Frenchman no more than the Englishman cared to fight without la 'piece de Roost-Beef dans Pestomac,^ and Melsungen was abandoned to Lord Granby. Marshals Soubise and D'Estrdes ordered ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 274 ; and Newcastle Papers, August 16, 17G2. - Gentleman'^ Magazine. ^ See note, p. 125, for the remark published in Le Courier. 250 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. Miinden and Gottingen to be evacuated, leaving in Gottingen several cannon, and immense quantities of ammunition. Prince Soubise re- treated towards Hersfeldt, leaving only the garrisons in Cassel (which he reinforced with several battalions) and Ziegenhayn behind him, the former of which Prince Frederick of Brunswick was detached to blockade. The Allied Army marched to Homberg, and on the 23rd of August the Enemy quitted Hersfeldt (in which Lord Granby took a large magazine) for Fulda, west of which the Grand Army was soon sighted by Lord Granby, who was fast pushing on with the Yan-Guard of the Allies. From Fulda the French marched (August 25), and, detaching General Conway to invest Marburg on the Lahn, the Allies continued on, arriving on the 30th near Nidda. Prince Conde meantime had made unceasing efforts to pass the Ohm, and join the French Main Army. After being thrown back beyond Giessen by the Hereditary Prince, Conde tried an alternative plan of marching by Friedburg to Frankfort ; thus to accomplish the all- important junction which Soubise sought to promote by continually retiring towards the river Main. Prince Conde's Eeserve now struck a formidable blow. At Lich, on the 25th of August, he had cannonaded the Hereditary Prince who marched to Griinberg ; and Conde formed on the heights of Johannisberg (near Nauheim) which command the plain of Fried- burg. On the 30th of August the Hereditary Prince attempted to take the heights of Johannisberg, and was decisively defeated by Prince Conde. The Hereditary Prince in endeavouring to rally his troops was severely wounded by a bullet which passed through the top of the hip-bone, and came out at his back ; his English aide-de-camp. Colonel Clinton, was also wounded ; and the Prince lost in killed and wounded nearly 2000 men. Except "Elliot's Light Horse," which behaved brilliantly, and Frazer, who com- manded some " Chasseurs," no English troops were under the command of the Prince, who retreated towards the Allied Army ; Prince Ferdinand despatching twenty squadrons of British Cavalry, and the 2nd Line of Infantry, to support him. General Hardenburg assumed command of the Corps of the Hereditary Prince whose brilliant, but chequered career in the Seven Years War ceased with this disaster. The same excuse was made for him that he "mistook" the Enemy's Army for its Eear-Guard ; ^ but it is more probable that he repeated the error which his illustrious uncle, Prince ' " Celui, qui a la guerre donne le moins au hasard, est le plus habile." — " CEuvres de Frederic le Grand," Avant-propos, t. iv. 1/62.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Ferdinand, never committed, of voluntarily affording the French an opportunity of profiting by sheer weight of numbers. The Hereditary Prince was far outnumbered ; and his ill-timed attack at Johannisberg completed the junction of Conde with the French Grand Army, under Soubise and D'Estrees, which shortly was posted with its Left at Friedburg, and its Right, under Prince Xavier, on the Bergen heights— thus regaining their communications with Frankfort. This French victory changed the whole aspect of affairs. With overwhelming odds against him Prince Ferdinand retired towards the heights behind the rivers Ohm, and Lahn. Continued rain retarded his march to Griinberg,^ and, having raised the siege of Marburg, he crossed the Ohm September 11. The Enemy harassed his Rear, and took twelve or fourteen pontoons ; the Hessian " Leib " Dragoons, led by Prince Ferdinand in person, exhibiting great bravery in covering the passage of the river. Lord Granby was unmolested, and the Allied Army formed with its Right between Nieder-Klein and the Briicker-Miihl ; its Left near Schaffhoff ; General Tiiickner encamped on the lieights of Langstein ; and General Hardenburg (late Hereditary Prince's Corps) at Hom- bourg (on the Ohm). George TIL inquired anxiously about the Hereditary Prince's wound, and desired Lord Granby to send frequent accounts of his condition. The Duke of Newcastle did the same, saying, " "We talk of nothing here but Peace ; the Duke of Bedford is gone to Paris to put the last hand to it." Hans Stanley had been recalled when France put forward the Spanish claims, and the Duke of Bedford was the next Envoy. France on her side sent to London the Due de Nivernois, whom Chesterfield described as "an old friend of mine, and the most respectable man in France." ^ The Due supplanted the large " Kevenhiiller " hats, then in fashion, by a small one which was christened the " Nivernois " in his honour.'* He was so thin and small that Charles Townshend exclaimed the French had sent the preliminaries of a man to sign the Preliminaries of Peace.* The English public seems to have been greatly taken up with the French Envoy, and a Canterbury innkeeper is recorded to have been * Colonel Wintzingerode's Chasseurs were despatched to Laubach to cover the retreat of the Artillery which was actually sticking in the mud. - To Newcastle, June 10, 1760 (Newcastle Papers). ' At Bath the Due de Nivernois' very small hat adorned with a most splendid diamond button attracted much more attention than His Excellency did personally. — Memoirs of R. L. Edgeworth." Dutens' " Memoirs of a Traveller." 252 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. " boycotted," and eventually ruined, for having swindled Nivernois out of £35 I5.S. M. for one night's halt on his road from Dover.^ England and France can scarcely be better described, as to their military and political attitude at this moment, than in the words of Jack Mostyn — " The French," he told the Duke of Newcastle,^ " are on one side y^ Ohme, and we on y® other — our Posts close to each other in many places ; in short the two Armies are near enough to shake hands and be friends if that be y' humour, or to go to loggerheads if that should be thought more eligible." Leaving the Armies wearily eyeing one another with a decided tendency towards friendliness which had grown out of long mutual familiarity with each other's close proximity, it is necessary to bestow a little notice upon the retired " Whig country gentleman " who had professed himself to be so happ^ily rid of office. The Duke of Newcastle was in reality heartily sick of being " nobody." He rated people all round for not keeping him sufficiently informed upon political matters, and assured Lord Hardwicke that he was being urged to an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Mr. Pitt ; for " Lord Bute's Administration was riveted unless they did some- thing." His Grace then scolded Lord Grranby for the infrequency of his letters, declaring that he wanted to know no secrets, but merely the general trend of events, and how the Commissariat trouble was resolving itself.^ Sir Joseph Yorke's turn came next ; and, while stirring him up, Newcastle wrote — " I have not had one word this age from my friend Granby. I shall tell him I suppose he thinks it high treason to correspond with anyone that has not the honour to be at Court." * Sir Joseph replied with his usual incisiveness — ^ " Your Grace knows Lord Granby too well to wonder at his not being a better correspondent. Whenever I hear him complained of I always recollect his assuring us ' he would rather carry a letter 10 miles than write the direction.'' He has been likewise so constantly close to the Enemy and hourly engaged that I really believe he has not had time for anything but fighting, in which he has done honour to his King, his Country, his family, and himself ; and will be loved and respected as long as he lives by both friends and enemies." ^ ' Annual Eegister ; and " Tableaux d'Angleterre," 1788 (Archenholz). - Newcastle Papers. ^ Ibid., June 21, 1762, etc. * Ibid., August 27, 1762. ^ Ibid., August 31, 1762. In forwarding Newcastle's letter to Granby Sir Joseph Yorke wrote : " You wiU see that he (the Duke of Newcastle) loves the crackle of the whip still." — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 275. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. Lord Granby himself wrote that he should indeed be very un- happy to be suspected of any diminution of regard for the Duke of Newcastle, on account of the change in the latter's position : — " As my friendship for y' Grace has not interest for its foundation, no alteration in your position can make any in my firm friendship for you. As to my not writing oftener, you know, my dear Lord, I hate it ; and that from the moment I rejoined the Array I have been fully employed. Two affairs within one week with the Corps under my command is not being idle! " This was written after the Battle of Wilhelmsthal, and the affair with De Rochambeau on the heights of Homberg ; and later Granby wrote again, from Nieder-Geiss at the time he was following Soubise's retreat from the Fulda, precisely bearing out Sir Joseph Yorke's letter. Granby related that he had scarcely halted since the date of his last letter, and concluded hurriedly with the words — " I, am so near the Enemy, and the alerts are so frequent that this moment, while I am finishing my letters, I hear the Enemy is under arms, one of his camps being struck and a good deal of firing, on which I am just getting on horseback." The Newcastle Papers record a conversation, between Lord Ligonier and the Duke of Newcastle, upon what might occur in the event of any disaster happening to Lord Granby ; and rendered probable by the reckless way in which they heard he exposed him- self to danger. Ligonier named General Mostyn as " the man the most esteemed, the most likely, and proper to command," which expression proves that Ligonier was not a party to the placing of General Conway before Mostyn at the moment Lord Granby's resignation was apprehended. Newcastle in consequence wrote, ex- plaining that Lord Ligonier had evidently wished his hint should be conveyed to Granby : — " He spoke of your Lordship with the utmost afiection and respect, but said that you exposed yourself like a Hussar ; and that we could not spare you, and that you was not to be like Colonel Scheitcr ^ who has got catched at last. As an old friend, servant, and well-wisher I could not forbear just repeating this to you, and adding that you ought to take proper care of yourself for the sake of the King, your Country, and your Friends."^ Another conversation with "C. V." (Count Viri) persuaded Newcastle that Lord Bute was making great efforts to gain support in the House of Lords, and was reported to have " got " the Dukes of Kingston, Marlborough, and Portland. ' Commanding Scheithcr's CarabinierS See note, p. 210. 2 Newcastle Papers, July 19, 1762. 254 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. " The Duke of Kingston," said Newcastle, " I am afraid, has been tamper- ing with my friends the Manners, though I am persuaded without result. . . . The Duke of Kutland begins to be uneasy again in his Office, but he will do nothing without first consulting me." 1 Having cast this glimpse at the Duke of Newcastle's doings, at home, which soon expanded into more ambitious action, the scene on the river Ohm is resumed, and traced to its close. Prince Soubise and Conde having succeeded in joining their armies, and reopening their communications with Frankfort, the final struggle consisted in the French Marshals' efforts to relieve the garrisons left behind them in Cassel and Ziegenhayn. Prince Ferdinand's supreme object was to prevent this by maintaining his position on the river Ohm, and frustrating all efforts of the French to circumvent him on either flank, by the Ohm, or the Lahn. Cassel was blockaded on all sides meanwhile by Prince Frederick of Brunswick.2 All the British Cavalry and Infantry piquets were posted in the Briicker-Holz to guard the celebrated bridge called the " Briicker-Miihl," in which name the subsequent slaughter was baptized ; and the more distant bridges of the Ohm were all strongly held. The Castle of Amoneburg, on the French side of the Ohm, was garrisoned by a portion of the " British Legion " under Captain Kriise ; and a redoubt on the same side, or the western extremity of the Briicker-Mlihl, was held by a small detachment from General Hardenburg's Division. On the 13th of September, 1762, this was the general position of the Armies. The Main Allied Army lay with its Right behind Kirchain (Prince Ferdinand's head-quarters) and its Left before Langstein ; Lord Granby taking command, in addition to his own, of the principal portion of the Corps lately led by the Hereditary Prince, occupied the posts of Schweinsburg and Hombourg. Granby's Division included — 2 battalions of British Grenadiers. 3 „ Foot Guards. 1 „ Grenadiers of the Guards. 10 „ Hanoverian Infantry. ^ Newcastle Papers, Letter to Hardwicke, July 23, 1762* - Count La Lippe Buckebourg left Germany in May, 1762, for England, after the declaration of war against Spain, and succeeded Lord Tyrawley in the command of the English and Portuguese troops. Lord George Lennox resigned his appointment in Germany, and volunteered for the same service. He became Colonel of the 25th Regiment. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 3 squadrons of Bland's. 3 „ Blues. 15 squadrons of Hanoverian and Hessian Cavalry. 5 „ Prussian Hussars. The Chasseurs of Colonels Freitag, and De Wintzingerode, and 32 cannon. The French Army extended from Friedberg to Giessen, and Nieder Weimar, the Prince de Condc forming its Left at Marburg on the Lahn ; and a French detachment under M. de Levis occupied the heights of Wetter, on the Allies' side of the Lahn, a post he succeeded in seizing when Prince Ferdinand was crossing the Ohm, about September IL^ This last position, which Prince Condc had retained since his junction with Soubise, threatened the route via Franckenburg to Cassel ; and Prince Ferdinand (September 18) moved his Army in that direction, leaving Lord Granby to guard against any attempt of Prince Soubise to advance, by Granby's Right, to support Levis ; or, by his Left, to pass the Ohm. General Conway and General Liickner made the attack on the Wetter heights upon which, after driving Levis back over the Lahn, they remained encamped. The position, and nearness, of the Enemy's Left caused Prince Ferdinand to shift his head-quarters to Wetter, and move the Army by its Right, so as better to cover the important route to Franckenburg ; Lord Granby's Division moved up to Kirchain, leaving Colonels Freitag and De AVintzingerode on his Left to watch the Ohm at Ilombourg, and Schweinsburg. The effect of this was immediately to encourage enterprise on the French Right. An expedition got across the Ohm and attacked the Allied bakery as it was moving from Alsfeld to Gemiinden ; Colonel Freitag beat back the French with the loss of some prisoners. A considerable body of French Cavalry then made a more successful incursion, passing the Ohm near Hombourg, and driving back De AVintzingerode : Lord Granby had to render assistance before the Enemy was finally repulsed. The small earthwork at the " French " end of the Briicker-Miihl was captured by the Enemy (September 17) together with a Captain and 100 men of the Allied guard there ; and, on the 18th, Lord Granby constructed a fleclie on the low meadow ground at the end on the " Allied " side of the river, across which he had previously thrown an additional 200 men into the Castle of Amoneburg. This was done at Prince Ferdinand's request, the garrison there having » See ante, p. 251. 256 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. been ineffectually summoned to surrender by Soubise, who then tried the effect of bribes upon Kriise, the Commandant. Ferdinand again moved his quarters from Wetter to Schonstadt ; Granby remained encamped on the heights above Kirchain with the Brigade of Guards, Beckwith's Brigade, the Blues, and Bland's ; and General Zastrow commanded the camp immediately facing the Briicker-Miihl, guarding the JiecJie at its extremity with 200 men. Once more a lulling tendency towards peace and goodwill seemed to settle over the French and Allied camps ; and towards awaiting for a while the issue of the siege of Cassel, or the settlement of the Preliminaries of Peace. Lord Granby, who had been ill with a recurrence of fever, received on September 20 a letter,^ or message, from Prince de Soubise, assuring him that the Preliminaries were to be signed by the 25th, upon which event Soubise hoped soon to have the happiness of embracing " his lordship. The prospect of a melodramatic embrace, a la fran^aise^ cannot have conveyed much anticipative delight to so typical a Briton as Granby was ; but the suggestion breathed pleasantly, at any rate, of peace : so, deferring to the doctor's advice, Granby took to his bed in his camp at Kirchain. Between five and six, on the morning of the 21st of September, a startlingly sudden fire of small arms and cannon was opened by the French upon the redoubt at the Allies' side of the Briicker- Miihl. A thick fog masked the strength, position, and intention of the French attacking force ; and Zastrow's guard replied with a hot fire, while guns loaded with grape and round-shot were trained to scour the bridge. This preliminary duel lasted till about 9 a.m., when the fog lifted and disclosed that the attack was also directed against the Castle of Amoneburg, and that a considerable force of the Enemy, both Cavalry and Infantry, was formed on the skirt of the Hill of Amoneburg, just behind the Mill which adjoined the French end of the bridge. The Allied fire dispersed the Cavalry, and momentarily staggered the Infantry ; but a hollow lane leading from the Mill to the bridge-end enabled the French to reinforce their redoubt unexposed to our guns, while there was no cover on the Allied side to protect from the Enemy's grape-shot the reliefs 1 The alleged letter is alluded to both by Sir Joseph Yorke (Newcastle Papers October 1, 1762) and by Horace Walpole (Letters, October 4, 1762, to Rev. W. Cole), and a palpably unreliable copy of it is furnished in Lloyd's Evening Post and British Chronicle of October 13, 1762. The same newspaper (November 17, 1762) alludes to the reported letter having originated in a conversation between Prince Soubise and a British officer, who was a prisoner, and about to be exchanged for a French prisoner under the terms of cartel. Soubise in conversation with the former alluded to the improved prospect of peace, and expressed a hope of soon embracing the Marquis of Granby. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. which Zastrow marched at intervals from the Briicker-Holz to replace his 200 men behind his redoubt. Prince Ferdinand, warned by the cannonade, soon arrived from his distant quarters at Schonstadt, and the affair grew in intensity as both attack and defence became hourly more savage and obstinate. Zastrow's Division held their ground with magnificent steadiness ; the 200 behind the redoubt being relieved about every half-hour, each detachment losing (according to De Mauvillon) nearly half its number in killed and wounded.^ General Waldegrave marched to Zaatrow's assistance, and soon some 40 cannon on either side were concentrating their fire upon the rival ends of the bridge, at ranges varying from 500 to 200 yards. Our redoubt was some 50 yards from that of the Enemy, and the Mill. Directly news of the seriousness of the attack reached Lord Granby he was quickly out of bed,^ and on horseback — fever or no fever ; ^ and, as he rode down from Kirchain, surely some odd thoughts must have crossed his mind concerning Soubise's dove-like letter, or message, exhaling embraces and peace. He arrived just as Zastrow's ammunition was approaching exhaustion, and the gallant Hanoverian General marched his Division off to its quarters, having held the bridge for some eight hours. The relief of Zastrow by Lord Granby with the Brigade of Foot Guards, Beckwitli's Brigade of 2 battalions of " British Grenadiers," 2 of Highlanders, and 4 battalions of Hessians, was the signal for a still fiercer fire from Soubise's redoubt, and the Mill. The French Artillery was reinforced, and 0 Hanoverian 12-pounders increased the fire on Granby's side. Some French magazines blew up, adding to the havoc and confusion ; while, on our side the river, the Hessian Brigade, conscious that it was not the moment to indulge in sentiment, piled up the bodies of their dead comrades in their desperate need of repairing the diminishing redoubt. The defence was continued in the same manner as before by * The total loss was strangely small if this phrase is accepted literally. 2 Lord Granby's letter to the Duke of Newcastle, after Briicker-Miihl, as usual so effaced himself that Newcastle actually thought he was in bed all the time, until undeceived by Thomas Thoroton who informed him that not only was Lord Granby present but " was most excessively exposed to the danger of that memorable cannonade." — Newcastle Papers, October 20, 1762. 3 Lord Ligonier wrote to Granby (Rutland MSS., October 7, 1762): " I am to thank you for the remedies you have discovered for a fever ; it has ever been un- known till y"" time, but now it is manifest, that if a man is ordered to his bed with this disorder, he has nothing more to do than jump out of it, get on his horse and fight away, and he is cured from that instant, . . . Doctors differ, but my wish is that you would take care of y"" health, which is of so nmch consequence to your friends at all times, and to the King's service at this particular juncture." 17 258 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. frequent reliefs of 200 men. Seventeen battalions in turn held the redoubt from morning till evening ; Lord Granby's Division main- tained successfully the last fierce four hours of the defence ; ^ the Castle of Amdneburg held out ; and, about 8 p.m., the French closed their attack, having succeeded in effecting no result except a most wholesale, and purposeless slaughter on both sides. M. de Castries was dangerously wounded. The loss was about equally distributed, and the total number killed amounted to 1600— several officers of the Guards being among the 800 which this freak of Soubise's cost the Allied Army. 2 What Soubise's object was nobody divined ; but the Castle and town of Amoneburg were supposed to constitute the goal of his hopes, which supposition De Rochambeau^ confirms, stating that Soubise never expected to win the passage of the Ohm by the attack on the Briicker-Miihl.* Marshal D'Estrees was understood to have had no hand in the attack, which, Lord Granby said, "was made without his (D'Estrees') knowledge, and that he was very much out of humour about it." On the morning after, the 22nd, while Granby was visiting his outposts along the Ohm he met Marshal D'Estrees, riding along the opposite bank, who exclaimed to him across the river, ^''Milord, nous avous perdu Uen des Iraves gens, de part et d'' autre, tout inutile- MENT liier ! " ^ Kriise surrendered the Castle of Amoneburg on the 22nd of September, and Prince Ferdinand was quite satisfied that he could not have held out a moment longer. The French strengthened the Mill, and constructed a " zig-zag " leading from it to the redoubt at the bridge-end ; the Allies removed what remained of their old earthwork, and erected a strong redoubt in its place, flanked by jiklies on the right and left. Prince Ferdinand removed his quarters to Kirchain, the general situation lapsing into its former condition of uncertainty. " We are in daily expectation of a Cessation of Arms, and in hourly of coming to blows with the Enemy," wrote Granby ; " I wish it were decided one way or the other." ' " Allein die heldenmaszige Tapferkeit derselben siegte" (De Mauvillon). 2 Edward Gibbon, writing (May 18, 1764) to John Baker Holrojd (Lord Sheffield) at De Mezery's celebrated Pension at Lausanne said : " I heard likewise that your military list was augmented by a Hanoverian. I dare say the cannonading of Amoneburg has often been fought over." — Letters of Edward Gibbon. 3 " Memoires Militaires," etc. * Frederick the Great believed it was an attempt by Soubise to open the road to Cassel via Ziegenhayn. — "CEuvres de Fre'deric le Grand," t. v. Newcastle Papers, October 24, 1762 : Granby to Newcastle. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY, 259 M. de St. Victor created a little excitement by getting over the Ohm, and being chased back again by Colonel Freitag, after which M. de Poyanne stole across by Berggemiinden with a convoy for the Ziegenhayn garrison. Lord Granby marched towards Alsfeldt with the Blues, Bland's, and Beckwith's Brigade to cut off this expedition by means of a concerted movement with Colonel Freitag, who failing to act quite in concert with Granby, the latter only succeeded in driving back a portion of Poyanne's Corps, part of which, with the convoy, reached Ziegenhayn. Granby returned to Kirch ain September 28, and his quarters were shortly moved to Nieder-Klein. The commencement of October brought bad weather, and both the Allies and French proceeded to erect huts, and shelters for the cavalry horses. For twelve leagues round either camp foraging went on, leading to frequent skirmishes. Between the 11th, and the 21st of October, battalions of Infantry and 2 squadrons of Cavalry were detached from the Allied Army to Prince Frederick of Brunswick before Cassel. Of these troops the only English regiment was the 2;>rd Welsh Fusiliers. The trenches were opened before Cassel on October 10 ; from the 17th to the 24th the garrison, which was reduced to the salted horseflesh which Comte de Broglie had stored as a final resource,^ made sorties with varying success ; on the 24th Prince Frederick unsuccessfully stormed the Reisburg redoubt, but carried it on the 29th. Terms of capitulation were offered by General Diesl)ach, Governor of the garrison, on October 31, which were accepted, and signed, November 1 ; whereupon the garrison, consisting of 10 battalions and 2 squadrons, marched out with the honours of war, and joined the Grand Army. After having been taken, and retaken, several times during the war, Cassel had been held by the French since July 31, 1700. Of the besieging force a portion left for the Main Allied x\rmy, and the remainder, including the Welsh Fusiliers, invested Ziegenhayn. The Preliminaries of Peace were signed on November 3 at Fontainebleau, and news of the same reaching the French Army on the 7th, Soubise proposed to Prince Ferdinand a suspension of hostilities. Ferdinand had received no official intimation of the signature, so refused this proposal 2 unless the French garrison * Archenholz. 2 Soubise's communications, after Briicker-Miihl, seem to have been regarded with suspicion. On the taking of Ahneida, in Portugal, he wrote to assure Lord Granby that no apprehensions need be felt at the intended marching out of the French Army to fire a feu de joie ; but this assurance prompted the issue of a general warning throughout the Allied Army. — '-Entwurf des Lebeus uud dcr Thaten des Herrn Herzog's Ferdinand," etc. Berlin, 1792. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. evacuated Ziegenhayn, the position of which place in rear of the AUied Army menaced its march to winter quarters. Soubise, on his side, refused ; and the trenches were opened before Ziegenhayn on the 9th of November. By the 14th the mail arrived from England acquainting Prince Ferdinand of the conclusion of the Preliminaries. He and Lord Granby, attended by a brilliant staff of Hanoverian and English officers, rode down to the Ohm and requested an interview with Count de Guerchy ; and at 2 p.m. on November 15, 1762, the Suspension of Hostilities was signed at the Briicker-Miihl, on the Ohm, by Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick and Liinebourg, Marshal D'Es trees, and Marshal the Prince of Soubise. For twenty-four hours the scene of the late butchery was trans- formed into one of the most genuine, uproarious happiness and excitement — both Armies, French and Allied, trying to excel each other in civility, hospitality, and good-fellowship. The French commenced their march homewards on the 16th of November ; and the Allies on the 19th, to winter quarters in the bishoprics of Miinster and Osnabriick, and along the frontiers of Holland. According to the last returns the AlHed Army was thus composed at the end of the war — on "paper : The " Blues " (518), and the 3rd and 4th " Regiments of Horse " (347 each) 1212 9 Regiments of Cavalry — viz. 1st Regiment of Dragoon Guards, 705 ; 2nd and 3rd ditto, each, 516 ; 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 10th, and 11th Dragoons, each 516 (deduct- ing 1206 for 9 Light troops of 134 each, discontinued) 3627 1 Regiment, the 15th Light Dragoons (Elliot's) 718 5557 3 Battalions of Foot Guards (1st, 1063 ; 2nd, 1024 ; 3rd, 1024) 3111 12 Regiments of Foot (5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 33rd, 37th, 50th, and 51st, each 1034) 12,408 2 Regiments of Highlanders (87th and 88th, each 818) ... 1636 Total of the British Army, excluding Artilleryand Pensioners 22,712 The Hanoverian, Hessian, Brunswick, Saxe-Gotha and Buckebourg troops and the " British Ledon " amounted to 69,061. Of the British highest nominal total of 25,000 men serving in Germany, 16,000 returned home. Prince Ferdinand repaired to Neuhaus, and Lord Granby to Warburg. Against these two men 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 261 with the Hereditaiy Prince, General Sporcken, Count Biickebourg, Lieut.-Generals Waldegrave, Mostyn, and, for a short time, Kingsley and Conway, together with an Army strong in endurance and courage as it was weak in numbers, France, with an overwhelming force, had struggled in vain in order to loosen the grip of England upon the throat of the French colonial empire by conquering Hanover. With the exception of that small detached portion of Hanover lying around Gottingen, France not only did not succeed, but, at the date of the signing of the Preliminaries, her Armies were swept out of West- phalia, Hanover, and Hesse back upon Frankfort,^ and all her con- quests retaken by the Allies with the exception of the small garrison of Ziegenhayn, which must inevitably have surrendered had the war continued a few days longer. Incredible as such a result appeared in 1757, France, with her illimitable resources, enormous army, and great alliances, became the victim of a war which, in convulsing Europe, brought an extended sphere of dominion to Great Britain, alone, in all four quarters of the globe. ^ Hopes were expressed ^ that future history would bestow upon the British troops, and their Commanders, a meed of recognition adequate to their merits : if history has fulfilled these hopes their merits were indeed small. William Pitt's assertion that he won America on German battle-fields is recorded distinctly enough ; but how many among the modern reading public realize the full meaning of the words, any more than Pitt's public did at the date of their utterance ? National pride— excusable perhaps — has not tended to expatiation upon successes which were won for us under a (ierman Commander-in-Chief, in defence of the German King of England's German dominions which nobody cared twopence about ; and Lord Granby, as Second-in-Command, has suffered proportionately in historical reputation, though his contemporaneous reputation was most briUiant, and universal. "A Second in Service is never re- membered, whether the honour of the victory be owing to him, or he killed: " so spake Horace Walpole * in relation to General Conway's subordination to Lord Gra nby in the Geruian War ; yet Walpole, in spite of his dislike of Prince Ferdinand, and his implied sympathy with " seconds in service," never attributed a shred of the Prince's success to Lord Granby 's military capacity, which " the Prince of letter- writers " did his utmost to deny, and with the most far- reaching consequences. ^ Frankfort was not a conquest. 2 " (Euvres de Frederick le Grand," t. v. p. 228. * Annual Register, 1762. " Letters, September 30, 1762, 262 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. Of Pitt's own estimate of Granbj's worth evidence will be afforded in subsequent pages ; for the present the expression used by the great War Minister in relation to the German campaigns conveys all that is claimed here for the British Commander-in-Chief : "Whoever feels for the honour of England, must think himself a debtor to the Marquis of Granby." ^ A gloom was thrown over the Allied Army, soon after the signing of the Preliminaries, by the desperate illness of the Marquis, He was attacked by typhus fever at Warburg, and lay for weeks hovering between life and death, ignorant of the political turmoil at home, or of his brother's (Lord Robert Manners Sutton's) death, which events must be relegated to another chapter. The whole Army awaited the issue with the deepest concern, attached as it was to Lord Granby by the truest affection. Alluding to the circum- stance, a contemporary recorder wrote — " Whatever could have been done to animate a soldiery, to make them cheerful in service, to alleviate the hardships of war, had been effected beyond what would be thought possible within the limits of a private fortune ; and the satisfaction of a recipient always went beyond the actual benefit received, because in his greatest liberality it was evident Lord Granby wished he could do a thousand times more. By his whole conduct he inspired foreigners with a lofty idea of the English nobiHty. His character was, in fact, such as we, in romance, ascribe to our old English Barons." - Prince Ferdinand addressed his farewell to the Allied Army from Neuhaus, and, deputing the command of the German troops to General Sporcken, repaired to Brunswick. His military career finished with the Peace of Paris, though he did not actually retire from the Prussian service until 1766 ; and then under a bitter sense of injustice suffered at Frederick the Great's hands. Ferdi- nand wrote to Lord Granby on this event — "J'ai resigne titres, emplois, et pensions entre ses mains. J'avais quelque droit a sa reconnoissance. Je n'ai trouve qu'envie, mauvais traite- ment, aigreur, et toute sorte de mortifications pour mon salaire." ^ Popular education, freemasonry, literature, and the fine arts absorbed the energies of this gallant and splendid soldier after the close of the German War,* for his services in which he received from 1 Eutland MSS., November 24, 1760, vol. ii. p. 358. 2 Annual Register, 1762. 3 Eutland MSS., July 22, 1766. See ante, p. 69. Frederick the Great computed the total loss in this war at 888,000, of which 160,000 fell to the share of England and the German troops serving in her pay. In moralizing upon the want of unanimity among the European powers, which led 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 263 England a pension, in addition to the grants made to him during the campaigns, a Vote of Thanks from the House of Commons, and the Order of the Garter. to this appalling sacrifice of life, Frederick wrote : " . . . les exemples ne corrigent personne ; les sottises des peres sont perdues pour leurs enfants ; il faut que chaque generation fasse les sieunes." — " CEuvres de Frede'nc le Grand," t. v. References for the last campaiffu and the suspension of hostilities : Rutland MSS. ; Newcastle Papers; Arclienholz ; De Mauvillou ; " Frederick II. of Prussia " (Carlyle) ; Operations of the Allied Army ; " " (Euvres de BVcde'ric le Grand ; " Additional MSS., 28551-^5, British Museum; Annual Register; Gentleman'' s Magazine ; Walpole's Letters and Memoirs. 264 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. CHAPTER XXII. Before his illness became desperate Granby had received pre- monitions of the pohtical storm which was about to burst over England. The Duke of Newcastle informed him that George Grenville neither approved the terms of peace, nor would undertake their defence in the House of Commons ; consequently — "the Bold Mr. Fox is produced for that purpose, is called to the Cabinet Councils, and has the direction of the House of Commons, and the absolute disposals of all employments there." ^ Now, the bold Mr. Fox had long commanded the services, both in the Pay Office and in political business, of one whose name at this period came prominently forward — Mr. John Calcraft. The first step in this gentleman's career both Fox and the Marquis of Granby are alternately credited with having founded through the bestowal of a clerkship of £40 a year, fmn which sum, rather than upon it, Calcraft became " passing rich." He was said to be related to Fox, and his financial astuteness largely assisted the latter in rolling up the fortune which, as Paymaster, he amassed. ^ Most self-made men acquire enemies, especially if they enter the political arena. Personal abuse is a telling weapon requiring no special skill on the part of the user ; and, as material out of which to fashion it, obscurity of origin has ever been held in highest esteem. Calcraft's enemies brandished it freely. In addition, Walpole accused him of usury, and of trading in Army promotion which came slowly to such as did not employ him. An editorial note^ to Walpole's Letters traces these strictures to the circumstances of Fox having accepted office in 1754 from Walpole's hetes mires the Pelhamites ; after which date he hated Fox, and his henchman Calcraft. Through Fox's and Lord Granby's interest Calcraft obtained the * Newcastle Papers, September 22, 1762. - Walpole speaks of " Fox's millions, and Calcraft's tythes of millions." 2 Cunninghame's Edition : Note by Croker. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 265 agencies of many regiments, and gradually established a very large business as an Army Agent and Contractor, in which capacities he gained great popularity among the officers, his clients, on account of his liberal and friendly conduct towards them/ Elsewhere it is asserted that Calcraft's probity, and punctuality, in all his pecuniary affairs were universally acknowledged ; he was widely known, and entertained the leading political and literary men of his day, whilst noblemen of all shades of " party " opinion consulted him on their private affairs.^ With Lord Chatham he became, eventually, 011 terms of close political intimacy ; but we shall see in due time how Walpole accounted for that circumstance. These remarks concerning Mr. John Calcraft, of Ingres near Rochester, are pertinent owing to his having been the banker, and friend, of Lord Granby who frequently visited him ; and Calcraft's name first became conspicuous during the heat and excitement which accompanied George IIL's struggle to free the Crown from the shackles of the great Whig families. That an event of such solemnity as a Treaty of Peace between France and England should have been constituted the peg upon which to hang that struggle, forms an instructive example of how national interests may be sub- ordinated to party squabbles. The Duke of Newcastle had been as busy as a bee in order to convert the Peace-terms into a petard for the hoisting of their author, Lord Bute ; though no great while previously Newcastle had written to Sir Joseph Yorke : " Nothing but peace can save us, and in whatever way it is brought about I shall be very indifferent, provided the thing be done."'* George IIL was fully aware of Newcastle's schemes, with the Duke of Devonshire and others, for frightening His Majesty with stringent opposition, and a wholesale resignation of Whig officials ; and he met the plot considerably more than half way, with an energy which even dispensed with the ordi- nary courtesies of official etiquette. The Duke of Devonshire, Lord Chamberlain, was summoned from Bath to attend a Council at which the final terms of peace were to be settled. His Grace replied that he begged the permission^ already accorded him to absent himself from the Councils might be ' Editorial note to Walpole's " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." Even the person who has most to say against Calcraft records that he was known as " honest Jack Calcraft," but the authority is too palpably unreliable to be quoted to advantage on either side — viz. Mrs. George Anne Bellamy. ^ " Memoirs of Sir Philip Francis." ♦ Newcastle's Papers, April 30, 1762. ^ See ante, p. 177. 266 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. maintained, as he could not " hold himself responsible for measures that he had no share in ; " ^ he also alluded to the desirabihty of his retirement. Shortly after he repaired to Court, and requested an audience with the King. His Majesty, knowing the Duke of Devonshire had come to resign, determined as far as possible to forestall him by sending word through a valet de chambre refusing the audience ; and, in reply to the Lord Chamberlain's question as to whom he should deliver his Staff, announced (also through the valet) that His Majesty would send him his orders. Not choosing to retain his Staff for a moment after this pointed insult the Duke of Devonshire took it to Lord Egremont,^ and desired him to give it to the King. On either side the gauntlet was now irrevocably flung down. In excited haste the Duke of Newcastle hurried to London and begged the Duke of Rutland to fix an appointment at either Newcastle House, or Rutland House, in order to discuss the Devonshire episode and the general political outlook.^ Both Pitt and Lord Hardwicke were adverse to the adoption of any vexatious, or factious, opposition to the King ; Lord Hardwicke ^ holding that the time had not arrived for opposing Lord Bute's posi- tion as Favourite, or sole Minister, and that the present occasion was not a proper one. Pitt eventually opposed the Articles of Peace strenuously, but on what he held to be their demerits alone, and with no appeals to faction. Newcastle nevertheless was bent upon the Duke of Rutland's resignation, and the reason of this selection is supplied by Newcastle himself in a " Memo, of a conversation " ^ held with the Duke of Cumberland ^ in which his Grace suggested that " some resignations might be beneficial." The Duke of Cumberland said he was no judge of the matter ; but in the end Newcastle persuaded him that " it might le right to have some resignations of persons of high rank or of great distinction." The Duke of Rutland, Lord Powis, and the Lords of the Bedchamber were instanced as the most desirable for this purpose. The Duke of Newcastle next applied himself to foster the first of these resignations by composing a most inflammatory letter to the ' Eutland MSS., pp. 275, 276 : Duke of Devonshire to Duke of Eutland. 2 Secretary of State for the Southern Department. 3 Newcastle Papers, November 1, 1762. * Ibid., December 20, 1762. ^ Newcastle Papers. ^ Lord Kinnoull told Newcastle that rumour attributed all the opposition to bis Grace and the Duke of Cumberland. — Newcastle Papers, December 26, 1762. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 267 Marquis of Grranby of which the first draft, in the Duke's cabalistic handwriting/ and a fair copy, are among the Newcastle Papers, and the final letter among the Rutland MSS.^ It is of great length, but affords a most interesting account of the events following upon the Duke of Devonshire's resignation. Newcastle commenced by saying that Lord Granby— " must know the uneasiness which had been expressed at the sole power lodged in one particular Minister inexperienced in business in general and — as was universally thought, not yet sufficiently informed of the principles of our Constitution. ... I shall say very little upon my own personal ill-treatment, in forcing me out of my Office, setting up my own Board of Treasury against me, not allowing me the common power and credit belonging to my station cither in my particular Office or in the general conduct of the affairs of the Kingdom. The Duke of Devonshire, Lord Ilardwicke, and myself were alone in Council for supporting the AVar in Germany and renewing an annual engagement with the King of Prussia." The Duke then passed to the Devonshire episode, of which Lord Granby was informed, describing how the King had since, with his own hand, struck the Duke of Devonshire's name out of the Council books. His brother, and brother-in-law, had in consequence resigned their offices ; the King saying to Lord George Cavendish, when he tendered his Staff, " that whosoever desired to (piit his Staff, the King did not desire he should keep it." The Marquis of Rockingham received the same reply on expressing a desire to resign his position of Lord of the Bedchamber. Other resignations were talked of, but the only one relating immediately to the Duke of Newcastle was that of Lord Lincoln which he believed would take place. " I come now to what more immediately relates to your own family. . . . The whole town was full of it, and I believe Mr. Calcraft liad declared it, that the Duke of Devonshire's Staff would be offer'd to the Duke of Rutland. After Court yesterday . . . the Duke of Rutland acquainted me that the King had sent for him and loaded liim with compliments on iiis own and your account, and went through the substance of all the Articles of Peace which the King extolled mightily. . . . The King said, ' I have it now in my power to give you the first office in England with respect to the rank, con- sequences, and employments depending upon it, and that is the Chamberlain's Staff.' The Duke of Rutland desired to remain where he was, and that he should do nothing till he saw his son, my lord Granby, who was soon coming over. But his Majesty mistaking his Grace, said, ' My Lord the Chamber- lain's Staff can't wait so long, and I desire you would bring me your answer to-morrow.' ' Newcastle's handwriting was almost equivalent to a cypher code intelligible to himself, and his secretary, alone. 2 Newcastle Papers, November 5, 17G2 : Rutland MSS.. vol. ii. pp. 276, 278. 268 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. " The Duke of Kutland gave his reasons against accepting the Chamber- lain's Staff, but, however, was this day to carry his answer, and as it will be a negative I shall not be greatly surprised if they take the Master of the Horse from him, for I know they want it for the Duke of Marlborough.' . . . As the Duke of Rutland declared both to Lord Egremont and to the King that he would do nothing till he heard from you, I took the liberty to beseech his Grace to explain his intention to the King, so that his Majesty might not think that that related to his acceptance of the Chamberlain's Office, but that, in declaring that he would do nothing till he saw you, the Duke of Rutland meant M'itli regard to his continuance or not in his present office of Master of the Horse, and he promised me he would explain himself in that manner to the King. I hear that when one of the Ministers was told that this violent measure might offend the Nobility, he answered 'that it might have that effect with some few of the great Lords, but that in general it would strike terror.' What sort of comfort ought that to be to an administration in this country ? " The present case is the first that has ever happened, and if some dis- approbation is not shewed of it, in all probability these measures of teiTor w^ll be pursued ; and God knows where that will end. How can this disapproba- tion be shew'd with the least inconvenience to the publick than by the resignation of some of the most considerable persons in this Kingdom ; that would strike terrors in the proper place, under the ministers who have given this advice, and prevent them from pursuing it, or put it out of their power to do it. And allow me to say, if this is a right measure for the public, and for the persons who shall think so ; is there one man in this kingdom whose declaration, upon this occasion, would have more effect than the Duke of Rutland's ? Who so natural as one allied so nearly in every respect, by blood, by the consequence and figure of their respective families,^ united in the Country, and always united in their sentiments and connections." This tremendous letter Newcastle forwarded to the Hague, and enjoined Sir Joseph Yorke on no account to entrust it to any con- veyance that was not positively safe. While awaiting the result, Newcastle excitedly penned many missives to his friends — ^ " I hear that both friend and foe put the whole upon the Duke of Rutland's quitting, and his Grace has certainly left it with the King that he leaves that to be determined by Lord Granby. . . . That devilish Fox and Calcraft get in everywhere. The Duke (of Devonshire) apprehends Calcraft will do great hurt with Granby." With the usual tendency of sanguine partisans Newcastle stated what he tvished as being already accomplished facts. He " gathered " from Lord Robert Sutton, Lord George Manners, Thoroton, and the Duke of Rutland, that they all felt sure Lord Granby " would ^ i.e. the Rutland and Devonshire families. 2 Newcastle Papers (to Lord Hardwicke), November 9 and 13, 1762. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 269 show great resentment," and act upon this occasion as Newcastle wished him to do ; ^ though, in truth, they pledged themselves to absolutely nothing save to await Granby's arrival. A fresh fear seized upon his Grace that Granby was to be waylaid on his journey and entrapped into some pledge, so he decided on waylaying the Marquis himself. The Duke of Rutland offered no objection what- ever to the plan, and recommended,'-^ througli Thoroton, that a letter should be entrusted to some friend at Harwich for delivery to Lord Granby on landing, desiring him, however waylaid, to give no promise, or answer, to anyone until he had seen his father. Still further uneasiness arose for Newcastle, on the receipt of a letter from Granby himself,^ which was not in reply to Newcastle's mani- festo of November 5, but which showed that Granby was already aware of the events therein dealt with. " I am most sincerely sorry for this most disagreeable business about the Duke of Devonshire," wrote Granby, and then — he dropped the subject abruptly, as he invariably did allusions to party disputes ! Granby continued — " I have been confined to my bed these 5 days by an attack of fever ; this is the first day of my getting up, and I am taking Bark. " Our troops march the lOtli for Miinstcr and I hope I shall not be left behind : this unlucky fever will prevent my being in England so soon as I intended ; if it does not return I shall arrive the first week in December. I am not certain if I shan't strike from Munster to Calais to avoid the lonjr passage, which I should dread after my present disorder. The Hereditary Prince's wound is nearly closed." Here was a state of affairs ! Newcastle was declaring that Granby was " showing great resentment," * was " extremely provoked " and " dissatisfied," and Granby personally dismissed the subject in a sentence as bald as his own head. His letter, however, answered one purpose, and that was to suggest that he might not travel via Harwich where Newcastle's second manifesto was awaiting him ; so his Grace indited a third, which he despatched to Dover. In it, after the usual preamble of flattery, he went on to say that Lord Lincoln, Lord Ashburnham, and Lord KinnouU had resigned. " I have great reason to thhik the greatest oflers will now be made to your Lordship when the Ministers are sensible how much they want you. I re- member the great reason you had to complain of the neglect shew'd you this last winter when for 3 months not one word was said to y' Lordship of the troops under your command, or indeed any one thing done that you reasonably ^ Newcastle Papers (to the Duke of Devonshire), November 16. 1762. 2 Ibid., November 18, 1762. ^ jbid., November 15. 1762. ■* Ibid., November 16 and 29, 1762 : to the Duke of Devonshire. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. recommended for the Officers under your command. I have the satisfaction to know that I have endeavoured, and I thank God I have succeeded, to show the affection which I have and shall ever have, ni}^ dear Lord, for you ; I have all the reason in the world to be thankful to you for your goodness and marks of affection you have always shew'd me. I am truly sensible of them. I know there are certain persons now upon the road to endeavour to surprise you. I am sure that this is impossible, and may I entreat you, my dearest Lord, to take no resolution till you have seen your best friends, and I have the honour to lay before you the state of the present question in the manner it appears to me. Forgive me, my dear Lord ; a real concern for your Lord- ship, your honour, your credit, and reputation, and to secure to you the continuance of the highest character that any man of your age ever had, has induced me to take this freedom with you. . . . Pray send me word the moment you come to London." ^ It is scarcely necessary to point out that in all these letters (as in a mass of others not here quoted) the real issue upon which the Marquis of Granby was coming home to vote, viz. Peace or War, was barely mentioned even. His " honour," " credit," " reputation," and " high character " were to be dependent upon his voting with a particular clique among the old, place-holding Whigs, and thus securing the reinstatement of his Grace of Newcastle in power. But Newcastle protested too much. His very anxiety proclaimed the inward conviction that Granby would support the Peace ; and, conscious of his own schemes to gain so important a vote, Newcastle commenced to attribute schemes elsewhere. " I hear they intend to offer him the Ordnance, and to point out to him the Command of the Army. The opinion of all his friends and I think I may say of his Father, his brother, and Mr. Thoroton is that he will act as I should wish him to do upon this occasion. But the means that your good friend Mr. Fox has of getting at everybody, and, by his friend Calcraft, insinuating everything that can do mischief is such that the Duke (of Cumberland) fears the effect of it in this case. . . They talk confidently about the Duke of Rutland and my Lord Granby. I cannot beheve it till I see it. My Lord Bute has certainly sent for the Duke of Marlborough to town, and it is thought upon the supposition that the Duke of Rutland at 65 years of age will take the Chamberlain's Staff." ^ Something trenching closely upon the lie direct is given to a portion of the above letter of Newcastle's by another of his, proving that Granby's relations pledged themselves to nothing. It is addressed to the Marquis, and says — " Lord George (Manners) was so good as to call upon me this morning, and to express himself, as he has always done, with the greatest goodness, * Newcastle Papers, November 22, 1762. - Ibid., November 16, 1762: to the Duke of Devonshire. 3 Ibid., November 20, 1762. 1762.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 271 and friendship towards me ; hut, my dear Granhy, your whole Family will, as they ought, take your advice. I can only add that the eyes of the whole Kingdom, both friends and foes, are upon the part you shall take. I have the greatest confidence and dependance upon the continuance of your friend- ship and partiality for your affectionate friend." ^ The denouement of the situation as regards the Duke of Newcastle must have mortified him terribly. It was scarcely even dramatic, though it might have attained to the broadest farce but for one circumstance. The fever which Lord (iranby mentioned had recurred ; he had been lying most dangerously ill ; and, while Newcastle had been asserting what the Marquis " felt," thought," and declared," poor Granby had not even been able to read the manifesto of the 5th of November which was said to have so incensed him. On the 12th of December the Rev. Bennet Storer wrote to the Duke of Newcastle — " By Lord Granby's order of this day I have the honour of acknowledging the favour of y"" Grace's letter of the 5th of last month which his Lordship received when he was so ill in bed as not to be able to read it: the same reason has unhappily remained ever since whicli Lord Granby hopes will be a sufficient excuse for his silence. Indeed I am sorry to acquaint y"" Grace that Lord Granby has been confined to his bed for near this month and of late has been in a very dangerous situation ; but I have the honour and happiness to assure y' Grace that yesterday things took a more favourable turn, and last night Lord Granby slept very well." - On the same, first, day of his apparent convalescence Lord Granby called Storer, and said, "Storer, write Thoroton that I love my friend the Duke of Newcastle, but I could wish to remain quiet in the present bustle." ^ During this interval of his illness Granby received the Vote of Thanks of the House of Commons,"* and the proposed Articles of Peace, which were read to him ; but two days later he again relapsed into a still more critical condition, and con- sequent silence. It is not plain which General TiOrd Granby originally intended to receive the honour of bringing home the Army, but it was certainly not Conway who had already started before Granby's first * Newcastle Papers, December 3, 1762. 2 Ibid., December 12, 1702. 3 Rutland MSS. (Storer to Thoroton), December 12, 1762, vol. ii., p. 280. * " That the thanks of this House be given to the Marquis of Granby for the great and important services he has perfonned to his King and his Country during the several Campaigns in which he has commanded the British troops in Germany, and that Mr. Speaker do signify the same to him." — Parliamentary History ; and Rutland MSS.. vol. ii. p. 279. 272 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762. attack had shown itself to be formidable. Conway had reached Brussels when he received a request from Granby to return im- mediately to the Army/ which of course Conway did ; but even so simple a circumstance as this was twisted by Walpole to suit his " history," of which hereafter.^ Colonel " Ned " Harvey also relinquished his permission to leave, for which Storer, on Granby 's behalf, thanked him warmly, saying, " The Troops are just now, from his Lordship's illness and from all the Generals having left except General Howard, in a most perplexed situation." ^ Upon Conway's return to head-quarters at Miinster he assumed command of the British troops. In this position matters rested : while to the additional dis- tress of the Duke of Eutland and his family. Lord Eobert Manners Sutton, after a brief illness, had died at Rutland House, November 21, 1762.* Innumerable letters of condolence passed, coupled with anxious inquiries for news from Warburg, and copies of all the letters received from thence at Rutland House Thoroton despatched to Newcastle House. Lord Granby was several times rumoured to be dead,^ but on December 19 his physician, Mr. Burlton,^ informed Thoroton that Lord Granby had been somewhat benefited by " Dr. James' Fever powders," which had brought out a series of miliary eruptions. But the issue was sfcill regarded as grave in the extreme. The doctors forbade Lord Granby's being told of Lord Robert's illness and death, and letters show that his own recovery was for a time despaired of. " The event is still uncertain. God grant that the next mail may remove our apprehensions for so valuable a life," ' wrote Valence Jones ; and, Lady Katherine Pelham : " Yesterday's letters gave me some little hopes of poor Lord Granby, but I do not build too much upon them." ^ The Duke of Newcastle — " feared everything for my dear friend Lord Granby. Such frequent returns of these milliary eruptions give me the greatest apprehensions. I am glad they have given him James' powders : they often do good. ... I beg my » Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 279, December 6, 1762. 2 See p. 281. 3 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 280. * Newcastle Papers, November 21, 22, etc., 1762. He was succeeded in his seat in Parliament for Nottinghamshire by Mr. Willoughby, and in the Colonelcy of the 21st Light Dragoons by the Lieut. -Colonel, Russel Manners. 5 Ibid, and Royal Westminster Journal^ January 1, 1763. " P. Burlton, Inspector of Regimental Infirmaries. ' Newcastle Papers, December 27, 1762. 8 Ibid., December 28, 1762. 1762-1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 273 most respectful compliments to the poor Duke of Rutland, I feel for him from the bottom of my heart as well as for Lord George, and you all." ^ Dr. Robert Knox,^ who also attended Lord Granby, at last announced the possibility of recovery from "one of the most dangerous, tedious, and irregular fevers he ever remembered, and which had been borne with a firmness and composure scarce to be paralell'd." ^ The Rev. Bennet Storer, after some faintly expressed hopes, grew more confident — "Lord Granby, God be praised, continues mending. His Lordship yesterday morning ate two large slices of bread and butter with his chocolate and afterwards the same quantity with his tea. I have made his breakfast this morning, and I have the pleasure to say his Lordship's appetite was as good as yesterday. All this looks well and I flatter myself we may have the satisfaction of producing his Lordship to you safe and sound some time in February." * The Duke of Newcastle began to have hopes, and with their revival came fresh schemes. He pointed out how careless of self Lord Granby was known to be, and the desirability of his journey home being supervised by a trustworthy person.^ Could Thoroton be spared by the Duke of Rutland, Newcastle named him as " the properest man " for the purpose ; but this ingenious plan for ensuring the safe delivery of Newcastle's letters fell through. Lord Granby was considered to be quite safe in Storer's care, and, so soon as he should land, Thoroton was to meet him with "a warm and commodious post-chaise." One more return of the fever occurred,^ but of a much slighter nature: it sufficed to damp everybody's reviving spirits, and the Duke of Newcastle, under so much strain, and the irritation of being dismissed by the King ' from the Lieutenancies of ^liddlesex, Nottinghamshire, and Sussex, fell ill himself. After the manner of their day, the doctors gave him several emetics, balanced by drastic purges, and then bled him like a pig.^ Newcastle declared himself * Newcastle Papers, December 28, 1762 : to Thoroton. 2 A quarter of a century later Dr. R. Knox attended the " beautiful Duchess " of Rutland to Scarborough. He wrote to her husband, Charles, fourth Duke : " She is as beautiful as an Angel which, as an old Medicus, I dare tell your Grace." — Rutland MSS., vol. iii. p. 414. 3 Newcastle Papers. * Ibid., December 22-30, 1762. » Ibid., January 2, 1763. « Ibid., January 11, 1763. ' Ibid., December 23, 1762. * Ibid. The annals of eighteenth-century " bleeding " contain much that is now irresistibly hmnourous. An old family account-book contains a recurring item of 78. 6(/. " for bleeding the dogs." A note-book of General Kingsley's contains some 18 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1762-1763. much better for this treatment, and as he was then seventy years of age he had every right to know what agreed with his constitution. The Warburg bulletins once more improved ; and at the King's levee the best news circulated was the recovery of the infant Prince of Wales, who had also been unwell, and the Bishop of Llandaff's (Dr. Ewer) assurance that he had just read, at Rutland House, comfortable accounts of Lord Granby.^ Bennet Storer next enclosed Dr. Knox's announcement that the danger was over, and that in eight or ten days Granby would be able to take an airing, and perhaps to begin his journey. "What a happy change, Blessed be God," said Storer, "from our late most melancholy and most distressed situation. His Lordship yesterday and to-day dined heartily upon Tripe and Chicken, drank his four glasses of claret, and found himself much the better for it ! " 2 After carefully leading up to the subject Storer, with the doctor's permission, acquainted Lord Granby with his brother's death, which most deeply affected him, they having been devotedly attached to one another. It only remained now for his lordship to gain strength to travel ; and the prospect of his arrival once more revived the excitement concerning the course he should adopt in Parliament. maxims upon the subject of shipping cavalry horses. The gallant General recommends that the horses should be bled before embarkation, and again after disembarkation before commencing the march to the seat of war. (The note-book is in the possession of the family of the late Charles Kingsley.) The Bath Journal of April 20, 1772, contains the following : — " On Sunday night as the Exeter stage was going out of town the driver getting off the box at Hyde Park Corner to take in a passenger, the horses took fright and ran away with the coach, which went over the coachman, and continued running with great speed to Knightsbridge, where the coach was overturned into a ditch. None of the passengers were materially hurt, but they were carried into the Duke of Kutland's house, and some of them, by way of precaution, were bled. The coach was broke and could not proceed any farther." 1 Newcastle Papers, January 1, 1763: Lord Hardwicke to Duke of Newcastle. 2 Ibid. I762-I763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. CHAPTER XXIIL On January 4, 1763/ Sir Joseph Yorke addressed his congratulations to Lord Granby on his recovery, saying that the Prince of Orange, and Duke Lewis of Brunswick, both charged him to make their best compliments, and express their joy on the happy event. A severe frost at the Hague prevented the packets from getting in or out, so Sir Joseph strongly advised Granby to adopt the Brussels and Calais route. George IIL insisted, in spite of difficulties raised by the Dutch authorities, that the British troops should march homewards through Holland, and embark at Wilhelmstadt. It was characteristic of Lord Granby that in the midst of his terrible illness he bethought himself of asking the King to sanction an allowance of twopence a day, per man, to enable the troops to purchase small luxuries during their weary march.2 The King consented, but it is by no means sure the troops benefited by Granby's kindly forethought ; for no sooner had Lord Ligonier conveyed the King's assent, than a second despatch announced that " E. Weston " bogged to inform " Lord Ligonier " that " Lord Halifax " had applied to " the Earl of Bute " concerning " Lord Granby's " recommendation ; and the reply was that nothing could be done without a " Board of Treasury ! " ^ Amidst such a tangle of red tape it would be rash to assert that Tommy Atkins ever got his daily twopennyworth of luxmy. The 12th of January, 1708, was Granby's last day at Warburg, and he dated from thence his acknowledgement to Sir John Cust, the Speaker, of the Vote of Thanks passed by the Commons : — " SiK, — The lionour of your letter of the 3rd of last month was not delivered to me till a few days since, the Physicians who attended me in my illness having forhid any letters being given to me in the situation my health then was : this I hope will plead my excuse for your not having received an im- mediate answer. Though I cannot, Sir, be vain enough to think any services I may have done my country can have merited so high a reward as the thanks I ' Rutland MSS., vol. ii,, p. 279. ■ Ibid., December 6, 1762. ^ Ibid., p. 280. 276 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. of the honourable House, yet it was with the utmost satisfaction I received them. I shall beg to look upon them as a mark of their approbation of my conduct arising, I hope, from their persuasion of my having always zealously promoted the Service in which his Majesty has done me the honour to employ me, and of my having constantly endeavoured, to the best of my abilities, punctually to execute the wise and able orders I received. I must beg. Sir, that you will, when proper, return the House my most sincere and gi-ateful thanks for this great honour upon me, which I shall always with the utmost gratitude remember. The best return I can make will be a perpetual attention to the interests of my King and country. Give me leave, Sir, at the same time to return you my particular thanks for the obliging manner in which you com- municated to me this high honour, and believe me, &c., &c., &c., " Graxby." On the 13fch of January he started, accompanied by the Rev. Bennet Storer, Cornet George Manners of the Blues, and servants, among whom was John Notzel, the hussar. Paderborn was the first stopping-place, from whence they proceeded to Miinster, and there halted for three days' rest, and to transact military business with General Conway respecting the march of the troops, and the dis- banding of the Legion Britannique. A considerable portion of the latter, commanded by Colonel Beckwith, accepted service under Frederick the Great.^ Before resuming his journey Lord Granby addressed his farewell to the British troops as follows : — " Miinster, Jan. 21st, 1763. " Lord Granby has hoped to have had it in his power to have seen and taken leave of the troops, before their embarcation for England ; but a severe illness having detained him at Warburg, and his present state of health obliging him to take another route, he could not leave this country without this public testimony of his entire approbation of their conduct since he has had the honour of commanding them. " These sentiments naturally call for his utmost acknowledgements. He therefore returns his warmest thanks to the Generals, Officers, and Private men composing the whole British Corps for the bravery, zeal, discipline, and good conduct he has constantly experienced from every individual : and his most particular and personal thanks are due to them for their ready obedience, upon all occasions, to such orders as his station obliged him to give. ^ Frederick the Great said the sole good Lord Bute's Peace did to Prussia was that it "broke" all the Light — i.e. irregular, troops ; and the Legion Britannique, Bauer's Dragoons, and the Brunswick Volunteers, to the number of about 6000, entered Frederick's service. He sent them to Cleves, which alarmed both France, Austria, and England. Lord Bute, in consequence of fears expressed by Hanover of bad faith on Frederick's part, ordered the garrison to be doubled in Miinster, and forbade the entrance of any Prussian troops into that town. Frederick declared his sole object was to attempt to regain possession of Wesel-on-the-Rhine. — " CEuvres de Frederic le Grand," t. v. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 277 " His best endeavours have always been directed to their good, by every means in his power ; and he has the satisfaction to think he has some reason to flatter himself of their being convinced, if not of the efficacy, at least of the sincerity of his intentions, if he may judge by the noble return their behaviour has made him ; a behaviour that, while it fills him with gratitude, endeared them to their King and Country, and has covered them -with glory and honour. " Highly sensible of their merit he shall continue, while he lives, to look upon it as much his duty as it will for ever be his inclination to give them every possible proof of his affection and esteem, which he should be happy to make as apparent as their valour has been, and will be, conspicuous, and exemplary to after ages," ' Granby was next heard of at Arnheim, on the Dutch frontier, where he halted for two days ; and letters dated thence enabled Thoroton to inform the Duke of Newcastle that Lord Granby was making " short day's journies in his coach with occasional rests : " " travailing- agreed extreamly well with him, he visible grew better and better every day, bis strength increased very fast, and he was in very high spirits." ^ Stoppages at Ih'ussels, Lille, and Calais were to be made, and so soon as the last place was reached Thoroton was to start for Dover. Bustle once more permeated the " Opposition " camp at this news, and letters prove that Pitt, in bis determination to keep clear of faction, was veiling his intentions as completely from his admirers, and would-be supporters, as from his political opponents. Newcastle hoped that the first week of February might produce some alteration, and " determine the material men in the House of Commons. ... I mean Mr. Pitt, Lord Granl)y, who is expected every hour, Lord Royston, Mr. Legge, Sir George Savile, etc. ; " ^ and the Duke of Devonshire counselled " giving the Yorke family no chance " of hesitation as they seemed unsteady, but the Duke thought " Pitt was safe." Newcastle then resumed his schemes : " the great card for the publick and ourselves is my Lord Granby," ^ he wrote, and industriously set about contriving that some one should see the great card before he went to Court after his arrival. Lord Lincoln was named for this duty, but could not be implicitly depended on — " . . . the only person," declared Newcastle, *' who can do anything is my Lady Katherine Pelham. She knows as well as I do how to talk to him. These cruelties and barbarities to me and to all my friends I think will make a great impression on him."^ ' Annual Register, 1763. ^ Newcastle Papers, copy of Bennet Storer's letter, January 23. 1763. ^ Ibid., January 31, 1763: Newcastle to Hardwicke. * Ibid., January 19, 1763. * Ibid. 278 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763- The Duke wrote a final appeal, which Thoroton was to take with him to Dover, commencing with the usual preamble of flattery, and passing to abuse of Lord Bute and Fox : — " Your Lordship is so good-natured that, independent of the affront and indignity put upon me, such as I believe never was known in any civilized nation, I am sure your heart would bleed if you knew the distresses that many honest men are thrown into by these unheard-of practises." * Why the peace of Europe was to be postponed because Newcastle was " affronted," and many honest men thrown into distress, his Grace still failed to explain ; or to be persuaded that he was mainly responsible for the whole of George IIL's relentless treatment of the Pelhamites, and their dependents. Suddenly, at ten o'clock at night, February 6, one of Lord Granby's servants reached Rutland House to announce his lord- ship's arrival at Dover, by the Hanover packet-boat, that day at noon. Thoroton forwarded this news at once to Newcastle House, saying he should start very early next morning to meet Granby, "... he purposes dining to-morrow at Mr. Calcraft's on his way to town." 2 Newcastle and Lord Lincoln were scared at this news, and mutually exclaimed they "did not at all like the dining place," though a more natural one than an old friend's country house on the Dover road, for Granby (who was still limited to short stages) to have chosen, they would have been puzzled to select. He arrived at Rutland House,^ and waited on the King on the 10th of February, being most graciously received by His Majesty * in an audience of unusual length. In what manner the fact was made known that Granby intended voting for the Peace does not appear, but it was apparently ascertained directly after Court was over on the 10th. His decision must have deprived the Duke of Newcastle of all hope of office, and added much to his fears concerning a motion proposed in the Commons by Sir J. Phillips, suggesting a Committee to inquire into the present debt and expenditure of the country, and into the cost of the late war as compared with the wars of Queen Anne. The blustering Mr. Alderman Beckford seconded this motion, stating his conviction that, by continuing the war, we might have lessened the public debt by a glorious peace instead of the infamous ^ Newcastle Papers, January 29, 1763. ^ Ibid., February 6, 1763. ^ Lord Granby left a sum of money for the poor at every place he stopped at on his journey home. — British Chronicle, February 14, 1763 ; Royal Westminster Journal, 19, 1763. ■* Newcastle Papers, February 10, 1763 ; and Gentleman's Magazine. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 279 one proposed — a peace, in his opinion, more infamous than that of Utrecht. Although the Duke of Newcastle was at one with the framers of this motion on the Peace question, it embodied an attack upon him and the Treasury, concerning the cost of the war, which he had long dreaded, and suspected Pitt of fostering. Several Members spoke in the Duke's defence : Fox did not oppose the appointment of the Committee, but suggested that such matters were best adjourned until after the signature of the definitive Peace. The Marquis of Granby then rose and warmly defended the Duke of Newcastle's integrity, saying that he could not help assuring the House that the utmost care and attention had been paid by the Duke to every branch of economy in the war, the expense of which was due to the nature of that war. Speaking in general terms, the cost had been unavoidable, but whatever faults had been committed lay at the door of inferior officials abroad.^ " On the whole," said the person who watched the debate for Newcastle, " it was a very agreeable day for Your Grace's friends." This episode afforded Newcastle some comfort, and proved Granby 's personal friendship for him to be as strong as ever, in spite of their wide divergence on the great question of the hour. The terms of the Peace of Paris were approved by the House of Lords without a division, and by the Commons by ;:510 votes to 05— Lord Granby and his family voting with the majority. In a speech which is historical Mr. Pitt vehemently opposed the terms, though without associating himself with any faction of the minority. But he would have approved nothing, scarcely, which fell short of demolishing the Bourbon House ; of depriving France of her last colonial possession ; or of rendering impossible the re-establish- ment of her fleet ; and the English public, delirious with loot and conquest, was with him. It was urged that all that England demanded by the Peace was, before its signature, already hers ; and that she deserved more than mere force of arms had acquired. Soit^ — but does history leave no doubts as to France submitting to annihilation, or to such being permitted by onlooking nations whose sympathies are to the full as fickle, and as quickly swayed, as those of the ragged spectators of a gutter-fight ? Before very long Eng- land stood friendless in Europe. While agreeing that England, like * Newcastle Papers, February 11, 1763 : Letter of J. West ; and " Memoirs of the Keign of George III." (Walpole). Henri Martin, " Histoire de France," vol. vi. p. 595. 28o LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763- Oliver Twist, might have " asked for more," Macaulay ^ and Lecky ^ both describe the Peace of Paris as honourable and advantageous to us as a nation ; and Lecky probably affords the real solution of the controversy in saying that the Peace would have been popular had it been made by other men.^ The Peace of Paris was signed in February, 1763, and was ratified, in France, in March following. The arrival of the King's Messenger with the news of the ratification was the signal for salutes fired at the Tower and the Parks ; and a Day of Thanksgiving was celebrated. May 5, throughout the country. The above record of Lord Granby's conduct respecting the termination of the Seven Years War is derived from such documents as have presented themselves in the course of a not inconsiderable search. Those, however, who know their Walpole will not need reminding that the occasion was the first which he adopted for an open attack on G-ranby's integrity. Hitherto Granby had merely been " a young man of no capacity," and " the Mob's Hero ; " now his importance, and commanding influence, demanded a more definite form of detraction. History permits of no doubt that the Court, mainly through Fox, practised the most wholesale bribery to ensure a majority on the Division which was to decide, primarily, whether George IIL or the " old " Whig party was to govern ; and, quite secondarily, whether England and France should continue a devastating struggle of which most were tired, and some even ashamed. Seizing this useful fact Walpole wrote : " Whoever they could not bribe they concluded would not approve their Treaty," * and from this proposition he gives us no option of any deduction whatsoever, save the illogical one that every member of the majority ?r«s bribed. Out of the 319 members of the House of Commons forming the majority, not one voted according to his conscience ! Accordingly, Lord Granby was bribed. The War, the Brunswick Princes, Mr. Pitt, and Lord Granby had been throughout derided and ridiculed by Walpole, and he longed for peace after General Conway's departure for Germany. But, so soon as peace became a party question, that inordinate love of faction, to which Walpole in a rare fit of frankness pleaded guilty,^ possessed 1 Essays : " The Earl of Chatham." * " History of England in the Eighteenth Century." ^ " Ce traite fut mis au nombre des plus malheureux que la France ait jamais signe's," says De Eochambeau (" Memoires Militaires," etc.). * " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III." 5 In his exceedingly flattering character of himself in " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III." 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 281 him, and he tore up reputations like so much waste paper. Before Lord Granby's arrival, Walpole alluded to the impatience with which he was expected : " it is not yet certain what part he will take, and with his unbounded popularity it cannot be indifferent." ^ Walpole added that " the most tempting honours " had been offered to Lord Granby. As to Conway, he — " stayed in Germany to conduct home the troops. ... I am particularly glad that he does so, for it is not every man who has resolution enough to meddle so little in affairs as I do." ^ This of Conway, which should be specially marked, does not suggest much confidence (on Wal pole's part) in his invulnerability to temptation. The above remarks were passed while these events were in actual progress, and a fuller relation is given in "Walpole's " Memoirs," written some time afterwards, in which he adapted events to suit his own prejudices, and with a courageous disregard of dates, and facts. " Lord Granby was waylaid on his return ironi the Army and ollered the Ordnance and Command of the Army, setting aside the worthy old Marshal Ligonier, a bait gulped by the former without scruple. . . . Mr. Conway, to whom they did the honour of thinking they could not bribe him (and who- ever they could not bribe they concluded would not approve their Treaty), was decorated with the empty honour of conducting home the Army which would, and did, prevent his return before the discussion of the Preliminaries in Parliament." ^ It is unfortunate for the above story that we should know that Conway had already left the Army in November, 17G2;* that he was with great difficulty, and only with Sir Joseph Yorke's assist- ance, overtaken at Brussels and requested to return to head-(iuarters solely on account of Lord Granby's dangerous illness. The King's instructions, conveyed through Lord Ligonier,^ merely stipulated that two General Officers should remain to take charge of the troops after Lord Granby's departure, but no two were specially indicated. It was therefore a matter of pure chance that the honour of bringing home the troops fell to General Conway, and one that his short service in no way entitled him to, and which would more fitly have fallen to the lot of either Mostyn, or Waldegrave. Nevertheless the statement made by "Walpole has been copied, and ^ Letters, November 30, 17G2, to Sir H. Manu. - Ibid. ^ " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." Compare this with Walpole's satis- faction (expressed in his letter of the moment) at General Conway being detained in Gennany (see above). ' See ante, pp. 271, 272. « Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 281. 282 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. recopied, by historical and biographical writers, to prove that Conway was muzzled, because known to be so immaculate and unbribeable ; and that Lord Granby was waylaid with all kinds of dazzling offers for which he freely bartered his vote. Now, it is extremely curious that although the " waylaying " on the part of the Opposition, whose cause Walpole espoused, is traceable in minutest detail among the Duke of Newcastle's correspondence, there appears to be no evidence of Fox's emissaries, whose employment Newcastle merely suspected, but Walpole downright asserts. The only communication, forthcoming, addressed by Mr. Fox to the Marquis of Granby at this date, is among the Eutland MSS.^ It is so utterly bare of suggestion, and interest, as to render superfluous here an exact copy of Fox's coy deprecation of being called " from a retirement which was most happy " to be a Cabinet Councillor and Minister, and begging the assistance of Lord Granby and his friends " to support the honest views of His Majesty, and that dignity of the Crown which every good subject must think it his duty to maintain." Nor is there a trace of any more attention having been paid by Lord Granby to this mild, conventional petition than to Newcastle's impassioned appeals. Next, as to the alleged rewards " gulped " by Lord Granby the moment he set foot on shore at Dover, the dates and order of their offering (kindly corroborated in some instances by Walpole himself) will form part of the ensuing chapter. Suffice it to say that Granby did not receive the Command-in-Chief of the Army at this period at all. The reward which he did eventually accept was about the least, and the only one, which the King could have conferred upon a General who had seen nearly five years of continual active service, during four of which he had held the German Command with unvarying credit to himself, and honour and success to the troops he commanded. ^ Walpole 's insinuation, or rather assertion, that the Marquis of Granby sold his conscience for the Master Generalship of the Ordnance is as baseless as it is base. Granby hated languid war,^ and his individual desire for peace had been openly expressed again and 1 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 360. ^ The journals of the day spoke of considerably more important honours for Lord Granby; such as Field-Marshal, Commander-in-Chief in South Britain, or Master of the Horse. — See Lloyd's Evening Post, November 17, 1762, February 14, 1763, etc. ^ " If there be any truth established by the universal experience of nations, it is this, that to carry the spirit of peace into war is a weak and cruel policy. . . . Languid war can do nothing which negotiation or submission will not do better : and to act on any other principle is, not to save blood and money, but to squander them."— Macaulay, Essay on Hallam's " Constitutional History." 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 283 again/ as well as his mortification at the limited nature of the warfare to which Prince Ferdinand and himself were constrained. He had, with equal consistency, during his winter leave (1761-2) studiously avoided all home controversy turning upon the questions of Peace and War (beyond stating what measures were imperative if the war were prolonged) because, already, they had become degraded into party issues.^ Once, however, Cassel was re-won, and the Pre- liminaries were signed, Lord Granby's course became fixed, and never wavered. His very arrival in London would appear to have been timed to occur at the eleventh hour for the avoidance of tire- some, because useless, personal appeals on either side. To Mr. George Grenvillc he expressed himself with unmistakable emphasis on the subject of the Peace, saying — " The Duke of Newcastle is my old friend; but his Grace sliall never lead me into measures which I totaUy disapprove, and condemn ! " ^ Granby " totally disapproved and condemned " the opposition to the Peace of Paris ; and his vote thereupon was, like all his actions, straightforward, spontaneous, and as honest as the day. • See ante, pp. ]79, 181, 210, 249. = See antey pp. 232-U. 3 Grenville Papers, August 28. 1763. 284 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763- CHAPTER XXIV. The Peace of Paris was soon followed by Frederick the Great's separate Peace of Hubertsburg, and bis extremely profitable friendship with England was succeeded by a bitter, undying hatred of her. Who was right and who wrong, as between England and Prussia, has scarcely been proved to the modern satisfaction of all parties, and the controversy is irrelevant here ; but Frederick was the last man qualified to complain about " perfidy " towards allies. Frederick's hatred of England for the part she played, under the Earl of Bute, descended as a heritage to Prussia where, according to some interesting letters printed in the Times ^ newspaper, it has remained a smouldering tradition ever since. During the return march of the British Army through Holland the Highlanders had a most cordial reception, and were decorated with laurel leaves by the inhabitants, partly on account of their late achievements, and partly from equally cordial remembrances of the " Scottish Brigade " which had served under the Dutch. A similar reception awaited them in England after their disembarkation at Tilbury Fort, the welcome being notably conspicuous at Derby, as they marched north, which town had such a different experience of them during the " Forty-Five," eighteen years previously. ^ No connected march of the Army into London took place.^ On ^ January 7, etc., 1896, on the occasion of the outhurst of ill-feeling hetween Germany and England concerning " Jameson's Kaid." The experience of a year's residence, during 1869-70, in the neighbourhood of the river Lahn, upon, and near, which many of Prince Ferdinand's operations took place, corroborates the writer of those letters. Among the commonality of the inhabitants, the class in which prejudice lingers most obstinately, England and Englishmen were unmistakably unpopular. The words " Engldnder ! " and " Stumpfschwanz " (not infrequently emphasized by stones) were contemptuously shouted after British strangers. The term " Stumpf- schwanz," i.e. " bob-tail," was used in reference to our supposed national practice of closely docking our horses' tails. This has every appearance of being a survival of local memories concerning the " Cadogan tail " of Lord Granby's Cavalry. 2 " Sketches of the Highlanders" (Stewart). ^ The 1st Foot Guards arrived in February, and the 2nd in March. The former were billeted about Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the latter in the Borough and Spital- fields. It was observed that many of the soldiers wore breeches made of old tents taken from the French. — British Chronicle, March 9-11, 1763. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 285 April 5 " Elliot's Light Horse " marched in over Westminster Bridge " with every man a sprig of box in his hat in token of victory." The Royal Horse Guards (Blues) were reduced, immediately after the close of the war, from fifty-two to twenty-nine per troop ; each discharged trooper, who had served at least a year, was permitted to sell his horse for his own benefit, provided he did so before embarking for England. After its five years of harassing active service ^ the regiment was successively stationed at Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Stamford, and Northampton, and exempted from its escort duties about the Court.^ While at Nottingham it was reviewed in the Sneinton Meadow by General Elliot in the presence of the Duke of Rutland, the Marquis of Granby, and " a prodigious number of people." ^ On June 4, 1703, George IIL, attended by the Duke of York,* Prince William Henry,* and Earl De la Warr, and escorted by tlie 1st troop of Horse Guards,^ proceeded from the Queen's Palace, up Constitution Hill, to Hyde Park. At appointed places His Majesty was received and joined by Lord Ligonier, Commander-in-Chief ; Lieut-General the Marquis of Granby ^ ; Earl Talbot ; Earl Harcourt, with their attendants and led horses ; and Lord Orford, the Ranger of the Parks. A Royal salute from the Artillery greeted the entrance of this brilliant cavalcade into Hyde Park. His Majesty then reviewed the troops assembled, including others than those from Germany which were distinguished by sprigs of laurel and oak in their head-gear. The three regiments of Foot Guards went through their " new exercises." Opposite the centre of the line an officer Avas placed on a scaffold and, as he alternately waved a blue or a white flag, the Artillery and the Infantry, respectively, fired. The troops " marched past " to the music of fifes and drums, and a grand discharge of cannon con- cluded the spectacle. " Elliot's Light Horse " were enthusiastically received, and the "matrosses" much admired for the ''inimitable skill " with which they handled the Artillery. A great number of * The Blues now bear the word " Warburg " only on a standard presented to the regiment by William IV, 2 " Historical Record of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards " (E. Packe), ' Date-Book of Nottingham. * Brothers of George HI. ; Prince William Henry was created Duke of Gloucester. '1st Life Guards. * Soon after his return Lord Granby subscribed £1000 towards establishing a school for supporting the orphans of subordinate officers (naval and military) who had been killed during the war. He also gave a great entertainment to the principal military officers, returned from Germany, at the Thatched House Tavern. — Royal Westminster Journal, March 12-19, 1763. 286 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. persons " of the first distinction " witnessed this review, and about 100,000 ''othersr^ The Marquis of Granby's Eegiment, " the Royal Forresters," was not present at this parade, though many men were who had been drafted from its popular ranks. On March 3, 1763, it was publicly disbanded in the Market Place at Nottingham, and the officers and men thanked for their services by Lieut.-General Webbe. The officers were placed on half -pay and Lieut.-Colonel Eussel Manners, who had commanded it since Lord Robert Sutton's death, was soon afterwards appointed to the Lieut.-Colonelcy ^ of the 2nd, Queen's, Dragoon Guards ; and Cornet Edward Manners to the 1st, or King's, Regiment of Foot Guards, as Lieutenant and Captain. The troopers received a gratuity of £3 per head, six days' pay to carry them to their homes, and their horse-furniture and regimentals. Their arms were returned to the Tower, and the horses sold at an average price of £7 each. " Thus was one of the finest Regiments in the Service, which had cost since its enrolment some £20,000, broken up and dispersed." ^ Lieut.-General Mostyn at length got his reward for his dis- tinguished, and patient service. General Bland died, and the Colonelcy of the 1st, King's, Dragoon Guards was bestowed upon " Jack" Mostyn* in the most spontaneous manner by His Majesty.^ It would appear that Mostyn voted in the majority on the Peace question, as the Duke of Newcastle took an early opportunity of falling foul of him. ^ To our modern experience the fact seems strange that nearly every officer of importance, who has been men- tioned in preceding pages, held a seat in Parliament ; and most of them returned home from Germany, at the close of each campaign, to vote upon matters which chiefly bore upon the policy, and conduct, of the war. Mostyn, as usual, gave as good as he got, and his pen was far more facile than that of the Duke of Newcastle, in spite of his Grace's ceaseless practice. Mostyn emphatically dis- claimed any want of attention, or gratitude, in regard to the Duke ; to whom he pointed out that to be represented fairly there were two essential requisites — to understand thoroughly, and to report truly." ^ Gentleman^ s Magazine. - London Gazette, June 1, 1763. ^ Date-Book of Nottingham (Sutton). ■* General Mostyn, later, was appointed Governor of Minorca, and died February 16, 1779, at his house in Dover Street. In pursuance of George III.'s promise (p. 314), he was nominally appointed Governor of Chelsea Hospital in February, 1768, but exchanged the appointment for Minorca, in place of General Sir George Howard, K.B., who became Governor of Chelsea Hospital, March. 1768. * London Gazette, May, 1763 ; and Newcastle Papers. « Newcastle Papers. May 16 and 17, 1763. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 287 Between the Duke of Newcastle and the Rutland family perfectly friendly relations were maintained, though the former could not always suppress the pique inevitable to one holding his convictions of the necessity of sacrificing political principle to the claims of family, or party, connection. The Duke of Rutland refused the proffered promotion of the Lord Chamberlain's Staff,^ and remained undisturbed in his office of Master of the Horse. His attitude, together with a certain section of the Whigs, is touched upon, and explained, by Edmund Burke. 2 To them, who had been at so mucli pains to maintain the Brunswick Dynasty, opposition, for opposition's sake, to George III. seemed unnatural, and even disloyal. Moreover, at this point the opposition to the King was principally due to the unpopularity of his Scotch favourite Lord Bute, against whom, in Burke's opinion, much was urged that was both unjust, and frivolous. Consequently, when the onslaught upon the Whigs was commenced by the King, " a few individuals were left standing who gave security for their total estrangement from the odioui^ frindplps of party connexion, and personal attachment." ^ So far the King had in no sense put any strain upon the Constitution ; when His Majesty did eventually do so, it will be seen that the Duke of Rutland was one of its earliest and stoutest champions. And now as to the bribes " gulped " by Lord Granby. Owing to Fox's great unpopularity some changes in the Ministry became expedient, and in the April following Granby's arrival (February G, 1703) in England, he was asked to accept the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland. Here was a reward for a man in embarrassed circumstances as Lord Granby was, and principally through his generous endeavours to remedy departmental shortcomings ! * Tlic career of his own son, Irish Viceroy twenty years later, affords a useful testimony to the value of this " bribe ; " though in the latter instance the private expenditure had assumed much more serious proportions owing to the appointment having been changed to a permanently resident one. Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, was informed by his pre- decessor in this office that he must count on spending £15,000 a year of private income in addition to the official salary and allowances.^ ^ Accepted by the Duke of Marlborough. ^ " Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents." ^ Ibid. * Lloyd's Evening Post recorded a letter from Gennany which declared Lord Granby's expenditure during the war, for the relief of the soldiers, to have been £00,000 (November .10, 1702 ; and Boyal Westminster Journal (November 13, 1762). ^ Rutland MSS., vol. iii. p. 73 : Letter from Lord Temple. 288 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. In the Marquis of Granby's time this excess of expenditure over income, though greatly less than as above, was considerable.^ Walpole himself wrote, at the moment, that if Granby went to Ireland he would finish " his life and fortune ; " ^ yet, conscious that this admission was wholly inconsistent in regard to his bribe-gulping version,^ Walpole qualified it by an editorial footnote added to his published letters : " Lord Granby drank very hard, and was profusely generous." * Lord Granby declined Ireland, and soon afterwards an unex- pected event occurred, the absolute cause of which has been variously guessed at, and which thus reached the delighted ears of the Duke of Newcastle. Mr. George Onslow had the happiness to inform him "that Lord Bute resigns to-morrow morning," i.e. April 8, 1763. Mr. Fox retired to the Upper House as Lord Holland, but retained the Paymastership ; and Mr. George Grenville was invited to form the new Ministry, in which he appointed the Earls of Halifax, and Egremont, to be Secretaries of State. George III. now spared no pains to induce the Marquis of Granby to accept political office, and it was not until after long persuasion that, for the first time in his life, he consented.^ He made it abun- dantly clear that he came unwillingly into His Majesty's service in consequence of the Duke of Newcastle's retirement, to whom he had been politically, as he was personally, attached. In addition Lord Granby, in accepting the Master Generalship of the Ordnance which gave him a seat in the Cabinet, stipulated that he should support His Majesty's Government under Mr. Grenville, and in association with Mr. Grenville solely, to whom alone, among the new Ministers, he was either privately, or publicly, attached.*^ Instead, therefore, of Lord Granby having been given the Master Generalship by Lord Bute, and Fox, the moment he had his foot on the step of the post-chaise at Dover, as Walpole deliberately leads one to suppose, he accepted it three months later under the Admini- stration of Mr. George Grenville, who had not approved the Peace ' Lord Townshend, when Irish Viceroy, wrote to Lord Granby : " You were wise when you refused to come here, for I have not one day in a week to myself. The air of the Castle is abominably unwholesome. I often have my boots on from 7 in the morning and sit at business till near 5 in the evening. God knows whether I can succeed in the King's business or not ; but my health and pocket will not, I believe, be worth a beggar's inheritance. ... I shall most probably be £8000 in debt."— Eutland MSS., 1767-8, vol. ii. p. 297-300. 2 Letters, April 10, 1763. ^ In " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." * Note by Walpole to Letter (April 10, 1763) to Sir H. Mann. 5 Grenville Papers ; Diary, July 5, 1765. « Ibid., August 30, 1763. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 289 terms sufficiently to undertake their defence in the House of Commons. That the " worthy old Marshal Ligonier," as Walpole most justly calls him, resigned the Ordnance in favour of Granby is perfectly true. Ligonier received in recognition an English Barony ; and as he was then, at the age of eighty-three, monopolizing all the chief prizes of the Service, it is not improbable that he cheerfully acquiesced in this promotion of Lord Granby with whom he had been on most intimately affectionate terms, and to whose family the Ligoniers had long been attached, and indebted.^ Ligonier remained Com- mander-in-Chief, Field Marshal, and Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, besides holding a lucrative Military Governorship, and various minor appointments. The functions of the Master-General of the Ordnance were to store all the Military Magazines of Great Britain with munitions of war, of which he also issued to the Royal Navy such items as pertained to his department ; and he was Colonel- in-Chief of the Corps of Artillery, and Engineers.- Like all appoint- ments of the period, its value was not limited to the salary, which was moderate, as shown by an entry in the Journals of the House of Commons made while the office was in abeyance after Lord Granby's death — " Saved by the vacant posts of iMastor General, Secietiiry, Under Secre- tary, and Clerk to the Master General, for \ a year, £990.'' This represents £1080 per annum, from which has to be deducted the salaries of the two Secretaries, and Clerk. The Marquis of Granby, as Blaster-General, appointed Mr. Thomas Thoroton, M.P., to be his Secretary, and was succeeded in the Lieutenant-Generalship of the Ordnance by Lord Townshend.^ With his love of his profession, and interest in the welfare of the rank and file, no less than the officers, of the Army, Lord Granby found much more congenial occupation in the exercise of his military and Ordnance duties'^ than in the Ministerial functions attaching to his new honour. As none of the old Pelhamite set was included in Grcnville's Cabinet, the Duke of Newcastle soon busied himself in beating np ' The friendship between the Rutland and Ligonicr families was of old staodinj^. See tn/ra, p. 318. Haydn's Book of Dignities. ^ The George Townshend previously often referred to. * The evil results of the " Cadogau tail," during the Seven Years War, caused an order to be issued subsequent to the Peace of Paris that all the Heavy Cavalry should be mounted on long-tailed horses. 19 290 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. his supporters, and ascertaining Mr. Pitt's intentions. Tiirough the Duke of Devonshire Newcastle was assured of Pitt's friendliness towards him, though he (Pitt) would enter into no opposition. Pitt declared he should only attend Parliament on national and consti- tutional questions, and expressed his regard for the Tories, saying they should on no account be proscribed. ^ He even dined with Newcastle who was specially devoting himself to organizing an opposition to the Grenviile Cabinet, and to arranging a visit from Lord Granby to Claremont, where he was to be met by Lord Corn- wallis, the Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke of Portland, and others who had taken part in the late struggle against the King, and Bute. A day was fixed when Thoroton wrote from Eutland House to say an engagement had been entirely overlooked on the part of the Duke of Rutland, and Lord Granby, to attend their neighbour's (Miss Chudleigh's) fireworks at Kingston House. ^ Miss Chudleigh was addicted to these pyrotechnic displays on the occasions of Royal birthdays,^ etc., and sometimes they took place from a platform erected in Hyde Park opposite to her house (which still exists) in Kensington Gore. Walpole chronicles several of them with cha- racteristic details, such as the " pale blue watered tabby " costume * worn by the Duke of York on one of these gala evenings. New- castle replied he was so impatient of the honour and pleasure of seeing Lord Granby that he should expect his lordship, and Thoroton, the day after Miss Chudleigh's party at about one o'clock ; and that he must insist upon their staying that (Friday) night until after dinner on Saturday. On the 21st of May, 1763, Newcastle wrote in great spirits to the Duke of Devonshire — " Lord Granby, Thoroton, Lord Cornwallis, and Tommy Townshend are now here. I expect the Marquis of Rockingham, the Duke of Portland, and the Attorney- General ^ to-morrow." Prospective arrangements for Arscotte Races " were also touched upon. Lord Cornwallis was the Lord Broome of earlier pages, aide-de- camp to Lord Granby ; on succeeding to the title he had returned home, and entered vigorously into " opposition." His intimacy with Granby was the source of Newcastle's anxiety to bring his (Corn- wallis') influence to bear upon Granby 's political situation. 1 Newcastle Papers, March, etc., 1763. 2 j^id., May 16 and 17, 1763. ^ This fete was in celebration of the Peace. ^ June 7, 1760, Letter to Earl of Stratford. « Charles Yorke. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 29 1 Nothing satisfactory to Newcastle came of this meeting, save the pleasure of entertaining his friends ; for he was notable for hospitality in a notably hospitable age. Of eating, drinking, and eighteenth- century conviviality there was sure to be a sufficiency at Claremont ; and those who are curious as to " what there was for dinner " may ascertain the fare provided by the Duke of Newcastle,^ whose table was reckoned a very extravagant one in his day.'^ During the summer and autumn Lord Granby was present at race-meetings at Nottingham, Newark, and Scarborough, besides other festive gatherings, at all of which he was welcomed ^vith enthusiasm. At Nottingham ^ the large attendance at the Races, and Cocking, included the Duke of York, the Dukes of Kutlaiid, and Kingston, the Marquis of Granby, Lords Byron, Strange, and George Manners Sutton.* Newark Races occupied three days, and balls took place at night, one of which Mr. Thoroton is recorded as having opened by dancing a minuet with Miss Chudleigh.^ On this occasion Lord George Manners Sutton provided a representation of "The Jealous Wife," which was given before the Manpiis of Granby, the neighbouring nobility, the County Members, and the Borough Members, John Manners, and Thomas Thoroton.^ Various songs, and poetical effusions, were written in Lord Granby' s honour, such as " The British Hero," ^ by R. Rolt, set to music by Dr. Boyce ; and one, with a refrain of "Granby 0, gcn'rous Granby 0 ! ", was a favourite with the provincials who heard from the many discharged soldiers countless stories of the conduct of their Com- mander in Germany, and of his eagerness to share all their hardships, and dangers. That Commander's reputation among his equals, and the people of England at large, is indicated by the occiu-rence, in contemporary pamphlets and letters, of phrases which express the warmest personal affection, as well as respect and admiration ; and by the choice of his effigy for a large majority of the sign-boards throughout the kingdom. And yet in those famous, delightful, ' See Appendix VII. - " Newcastle, with great care I've brought for you, Hot, very hot, an exquisite ragout." ('• The Conciliad," PoUtical Tracts, British Museum), ^ Nottingham Date-Book. ■* Lord George Manners assumed the name of Sutton after Lord Robert's death, and succeeded to the Lexington estates, residing at Kelhani, and identifying him- self with the county of Notts. He married, first (1749), Diana, daughter of Thomas Chaplin, Esq., of Blankney ; and, secondly, Mary, daughter of Joshua Peart, Esq. Date-Book of Nottingham, 1764. " " Annals of Newaik-on- Trent." ' See Appendix IV. 292 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. encyclopaedic Letters/ in which nothing was too small to be recorded, from the inadequacy of Lady Backstair's bodice at the last ball, to the cut of the latest accredited Ambassador's breeches — or the mode of his hat, there occurs no word concerning the suspense amid which the nation listened, with eager ears, for the slow-travelling news from Lord Granby's sick-bed at Warburg ; ^ of the delight caused by his recovery ; nor of the congratulations which surrounded his return as the most conspicuously beloved, and popular figure of the day.^ The "Memoirs of the Reign of George III."* are equally silent concerning those matters ; though eloquent upon the " gulping " of " bribes " and " baits " which fade into unsubstantiality under the simplest analysis. Jack Mostyn was indeed right in declaring that to be " repre- sented fairly " it is necessary, above all things, to be " reported truly." The reporter far excelleme of those times was Horace Walpole, who, despite his affectation of impartiality,^ perpetually revelled in evil rather than in good report, and sometimes would have the former, even if he went the length of manufacturing it. » Walpole's. ^ See Royal Westminster Journal, January 1, 1763, etc. ^ One evening Lord Granby entered Drury Lane Theatre while Mr. King was delivering the Prologue to The Tutor. The audience stopped the performance, and clamoured for the " Granby March." Mr. King left the stage, and the orchestra not having the music of the " Granby March " pacified the house with " Belleisle " {Lloyd's Evening Post, November 11, 1765). On Lord Granby's birthday, in 1764, a grand display of fireworks was given at Woolwich, concluding with a " trans- parency " showing " Long live Granby." Colonel Williamson and the officers of the Eoyal Artillery afterwards gave a dinner at the Ship Tavern . „ . " the whole company rejoiced in the name of Granby " (Lloyd's Evening Post, January, 1764). " Junius " wrote in 1769 : " Surely it was something more cordial than esteem with which you (Granby) were universally received upon yom return from Germany." * Walpole's. * " I am bigotted to none : Charles I., Cromwell, Whigs, and Tories are all alike to me ! " (Walpole to Sir D. Dalrymple, February 23, 1764). There arc several remarks of Walpole's concerning General Conway's " ill-requited services " which explain these omissions to any student of Walpole's works ; a little later Walpole wrote an anonymous pamphlet in Conway's behalf, in which he directed the public to seek testimony to Conway's character from " that idol of every Englishman's affection, the Marquis of Granby " (see p. 400). I i 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 293 CHAPTER XXV. With Mr. George Grenville's political measures it is necessary only to concern ourselves upon those few occasions when Lord Granby's name has been conspicuously involved in them. Grenville's Administration does not enjoy, historically, an enviable reputation ; Macaulay ^ gibbeted it as the worst which had governed England since the Revolution. AValpole was in the Opposition ; and, in censuring George Grenville, he associated Granby closely with Gren- ville's errors, and with Grenville's friends in error.- To a large number of Walpole's statements the publication of the " Grenville Papers " has furnished a categorical denial. Grenville's Diary, especially, proves that both the Duke of Rutland and Lord Granby attached a very high value to Mr. Grenville's integrity and ability ; but it records repeatedly the fact that Lord Granby never wished to have been a member of the Cabinet, which he reluctantly joined at George IIL's earnest desire ; and that, throughout, he had very little to do with the men of whom it consisted. After its original construction had been altered, by the inclusion of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Sandwich, Granby said to George Grenville,^ "I do not love the Duke of Bedford, nor Lord Sandwich ^ and am not much acquainted with Lord Halifax * ; " and the Diary shows, on more than one occasion, that Granby was not in touch with any one in the Cabinet save Grenville who, consequently, was frequently apprehensive of the Marquis' resignation. Such were Granby's real relations with the Cabinet, and the individual men composing it, to which, or to whom, Walpole stoutly declares Granby was " sold," and closely attached.^ Grenville's fateful quarrel with the Press, and the development of that quarrel into the Wilkes episode, has been too exhaustively chronicled, and controverted, to require repetition. But Wilkes' • Essays : " Earl of Chatham." - " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." * Grenville's Secretaries of State. ' Grenville Papers. 5 In his Letters and Memoirs. 294 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. name is so closely bound up with Lord Granby's that to slur it over would be to ignore one of the chief influences which gradually forced upon Granby a political prominence which he neither sought, nor was fitted for. If his later life was attended by an evil genius Wilkes was it— not Calcraft, as "Walpole would have one believe. This influence of John Wilkes does not appear to have arisen out of any intimacy with Granby/ whose personal opinion of the demagogue seems to have agreed with that of Pitt, but to have resulted from precisely the same spells which Wilkes wielded over intelligent individuals, and ignorant multitudes, alike, by clothing his worthless character in the lion-skin of a question of Constitutional Liberty. One moment disclosed the Lion ; the next the Jackass ; and, in the quick confusion which none knew so well as Wilkes how to foster, and profit by, many quite unwittingly committed errors of which, presently, their consciences were afraid. After the publication of No. 45 of The North Briton,'^ George Grenville arrested Wilkes under a " General Warrant ; " that is to say a warrant in blank, enabling the holders to arrest "all and sundry " suspected of the publication of the above. Wilkes' offence, and the circumstances of his arrest under this warrant, shortly after occupied the Law Courts ; but the Opposition in the House of Commons sprung upon Mr. Grenville the abstract question of the legahty of "general" warrants. Grenville's name in the present day figures as that of the Champion of these warrants ; and Walpole represents Granby as supporting him in that attitude. Grenville's conduct each can settle to his liking ; we are concerned with Granby's, which was thus developed. General warrants were illegal ; but they had been found to be expedient, and had been issued by successive Secretaries of State for fifty or sixty years before George Grenville came into power ; ^ and precedents were in existence in such profusion as fully to justify him in the use of what, through long custom, had come to be tacitly regarded as right.* ^ Wilkes corresponded with Granby's son Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland. — See Rutland MSS., vol. iii. p. 36. 2 One of the many riots that occurred at about this date took place in front of a public-house known as the " Marquis of Granby's Head," in Holywell Street, Shoreditch, when two persons were killed and several injured. — See Malcolm's Anecdotes of London," vol. ii. p. 59. 2 See De Lolme on the Constitution, and " History of the Reign of George III." (1770). ■* See Lord Mahon's " History of England." In reference to this controversy, Lord Mahon quotes Pitt's declaration that " there had not been a violation of the Constitution but had been sanctified by the greatest Judges." 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Pitt himself ^ had issued two or three of them. The Duke of Newcastle had issued them wholesale ; and, with almost comical ncilvete, conveyed his readiness to sign a general warrant as soon as look at one, could he but reinvest himself with the requisite power to do so. 2 The sudden raising of the question of the legality of these waiTants was a useful Opposition manoeuvre, as many of Gren- ville's supporters, who understood the strict law on the subject, would certainly have been forced to vote against him. He en- deavoured to defeat the stratagem, and shelve the matter during its proper settlement elsewhere, by moving " the previous question." In an admirably witty letter ^ Walpole named Lord Granby as having been selected to make this motion for the Ministers, whom he described " as reduced to their heavy Cannon," in allusion to Granby's position as Master-General of the Ordnance. This statement was altered later to " Lord Granby refused to make the motion, but spoke for it." In what sense Granby spoke for the motion, in Grenville's support, is shown by the following excerpt : — " It is said, and universally believed, that in tlie Debate neither the Minister himself (Grenville) nor the Attorney-General defended tlie LecjaUty of the Warrants. The Marquis of Granby, and many others who voted for adjourning the Debate, expressly declared their detestation of the practise, and their sense of the necessity of 2>'>'even ting a measure so dangerous to Liberty ; and the whole Defence of that Day consisted in arguing upon tlie impropriety of deciding in Parliament a Question then depending in a Court of Judicature." In spite of this reasoning, the adjournment of the debate was only carried by the narrow Government majority of fourteen. Among the minority was a group of military men who soon after the meet- ing of Parliament had already incurred the displeasure of the King by voting against the Government. Some of these were summarily dismissed from their Regiments, a circumstance which greatly in- censed Lord Albemarle, General Conway,^ General Edward Harvey ^ (now Adjutant-General of the Army), General Honywood, and General Sir John Griffin,^ who all threatened to resign their Regi- ments. The effect of these dismissals, and intended resignations, the Duke of Newcastle said would run through the Army like wild- fire, slyly adding, " My friend Granby will find himself much embarrassed." ^ ' " History of the Late Minority." * Newcastle Papers. ^ Letters, Fehruary L'), 1704. * " A Defence of the Ministry," by Charles Townshend, Political Tracts, 1115, British Museum. * Served with Granby in Germany. " Newcastle Papers, December 27. 1763. 296 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763. In the division on the " General Warrants " debate Conway, who was a Groom of the Bedchamber to the King, again voted against his colleagues ; and his name, with those of sixteen others that had voted with him, were placed before the King who was still suspiciously watching for opposition to Court authority. A certain number of the above were invidiously selected as objects of Royal displeasure ; notably General Conway was deprived of his Eegiment, and office of Groom of the Bedchamber, while Mr. John Calcraf t ^ was dismissed from the post of Deputy Commissary-General of Musters. This action on the part of His Majesty stands out con- spicuously in history owing to Walpole's vociferous denunciation of it. Unjust, and vindictive, no one denies it to have been ; ^ but its moral value can only be rightly tested by remembering that, like the " General Warrant," it was invested with the quasi lawfulness of established precedent. In reprobating Conway's treatment Walpole conveniently forgot how, long years previously, a Minister had dis- missed a Cornet of Horse for parliamentary insubordination — the Minister having been his own father. Sir Robert, and the cornet ^ William Pitt, later Earl of Chatham.* Concerning this exciting occurrence Lord Granby showed no vestige of the " embarrassment " which Newcastle anticipated ; on the contrary he firmly expressed himself, and in the strongest manner, against the practice of punishing officers, professionally, on account of their votes in Parliament. As the punishment was notoriously of the King's personal arranging, Granby's conduct was strange in one whom, we are blandly assured, was at this moment " sold to the Court," ^ and who, in speaking up for General Conway, was deliberately invoking the King's displeasure upon his own head. The main outcome of the " General Warrant " debate, and its attendant complications, was that the coveted martyr's crown was placed upon John Wilkes' brow ; his portrait was painted for the Corporation of London, and his ugly features (which Hogarth ex- aggerated into hideousness) commenced to blossom forth upon those ' Walpole is curiously silent about Calcraft when he and Granby voted in oppo- sition to one another, though attaching the worst motives to both when they voted together, 2 " They quite mistake brave Conway's case, who think his treatment hard ; Where service plainly 's a disgrace, Dismission's a Keward." {St. James's Chronicle, May 3, 1764). ^ " Long had thy virtues marked thee out for fame, Far, far superior to a cornet's name." (" Lines to W. Pitt," G. Lyttelton). * See " Memoirs of the Keign of George IIL" (Walpole), and Croker's notes, « Ibid. 1763.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 297 indexes of eighteenth-century opinion, the sign-boards.^ Wilkes was found guilty of libel, and, failing to appear, was outlawed, and expelled from the House of Commons ; which penalties marked the end of the first stage of his career. We now pass to the relations existing, since the Peace of Paris, between Lord Granby, and Mr. Pitt. It was naturally assumed, in interested quarters, that their cordiality had ceased since Granby's declaration for Peace ; and the width of the breach between them was zealously magnified by certain Ministers, and imderstrappers, in Grenville's Government who knew that their places would be lost the moment Pitt regained ascendancy. The principal obstacle to the latter was the complicated, triangular disagreement at this moment existing between Pitt and his brothers-in-law. Lord Temple, and George Grenville. For the solving of this intricate difficulty Granby's independent politics, and popularity with all sections of opinion, offered the most promising instrumentality, especially as his wish for Pitt's return to power was thoroughly understood. Among those who feared Pitt it was therefore quickly grasped that no surer means existed of keeping him out than by asserting, and haply creating, a bitterness of feeling between him and Granby. The opportunity came in this wise. George Grenville, we are told by various authorities, was a well-intentioned, laborious bureaucrat, with an unfortunate faculty of boring his audience ; both he, and his chief colleagues, were unpopular with the King, and in Parliament ; and the reconstruction, or dismissal, of the Cabinet soon occupied the King's thoughts, who summoned Mr. Pitt to talk over those alternatives.'-^ Pitt, in the course of his conference with the King, flatly denounced the Grenville Cabinet as too exclusively " Tory," and demanded the re-inclusion of some of the lately dismissed Whig leaders — such as the Duke of Devonshire — to whom the House of Hanover was so eminently indebted. Further, he stated the neces- sity of appointing " some great and distinguished person through whom the recommendations for the Army promotions should come." " I suppose you allude to Lord Granby," said George III. " Yes," replied Pitt, " or Lord Albemarle." ^ This, at any rate, was the account of the interview which got about, and which Mr. Grenville recorded in his Diary. Pitt's remark meant primarily that, should ' A statuette of John Wilkes is among the objects in Chelsea ware presented to the British Museum by Sir A. W. Franks. — Happy age of virtue and genius, in which Wilkes is a patriot, and Churchill a poet ! " (Carter's Letters, February G. 1764). 2 See Grenville Papers for this interview. ^ Hji^^ August 28, 1763. 298 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1763-176^. he resume office, he must have a new Commander-in-Chief in place of the octogenarian Lord Ligonier ; and the phrase " or Lord Albe- marle " was zealously circulated, and made the most of by Pitt's enemies, in order to inflame Granby's mind by representing his old friend, Pitt, as setting up a rival to him in the person of Lord Albemarle ^ in revenge for the Marquis' vote on the Peace of Paris. The scheme partially succeeded. Charles Townshend wrote that he "could fix this falsehood (the Albemarle story) upon Lord Sand- wich," 2 and that he thought it had irritated Lord Granby ; but the refusal of the King to listen to Pitt's proposal, of a re-instatement of the Whig leaders, put a stop to the intrigue by confirming the position of Grenville's Cabinet. Pitt gave a flat denial to the above story, or to the assertion that he had uttered a word that could imply the least preference for Lord Albemarle. " If My Lord Granby has the Command of the Army," exclaimed Pitt, " he owes it to me ; " ^ and this declara- tion, which in due time was fulfilled by him who uttered it, proves Pitt to have harboured no deep, or lasting, resentment against Granby for opposing him respecting the Peace ; and that he thus early advocated Granby's claims to the supreme position in the Army. During this little crisis the Duke of Newcastle* covered some quires of foolscap with sketches of Cabinets, and their dependent qypMes of place-men, and hangers-on, which occupation abruptly ceased with Pitt's return to retirement. One piece of substantial comfort Newcastle recorded — viz. "that Lord Bute, Shelburne, Rigby, and even CaJcraft had totally left and abandoned the new and the great Lord Holland ! " ^ Calcraft left the Pay-Office and attached himself to Lord Shelburne, which caused Lord Holland to remark : " Well, I raised the dust, and now it flies in my eyes." ^ Not the least humourous element in this witticism lies in the circumstance that, at that date, Lord Holland was not long raised out of the dtlst himself. Outside his Ordnance duties, and his infrequent attendances at Council, Lord Granby devoted his leisure to Scarborough, and Belvoir. His constitution was still affected by the Warburg illness, but 1 a "VVere the English likely to have acquiesced in wresting out of the hands of a generous Granby the Command of an Army in which he was so justly idolized ; and who know that he is ever ready to coin his heart into drachmas for their service ? — " The Anatomy of a Late Negociation," Political Tracts, 1761-4, British Museum. 2 Grenville Papers, October 3, 1763. 3 Newcastle Papers, October 16, 1763. ' Ibid. 5 Ibid. Letters of the first Earl of Malmesbury, December 6, 1764. I763-I764.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 299 Thomas Thoroton reported him during the season of 17G3-4, as much better for the daily exercise he got at Belvoir in hunting.^ Early in 170-4 Granby was busied with the arrival of the Heredi- tary Prince of Brunswick,^ who had, through him, obtained the King's consent to a visit to England for the purpose of drinking the Bath waters, and resuming.the matrimonial project which Granby had opened during the war. Granby met the Prince at Harwich, and the last stage of the journey to London was made in the Royal carriages. While passing through the streets to the apartments prepared for him at Somerset House, the Hereditary Prince recog- nized among the cheering crowd a trooper of " Elliot's Light Horse," to whom he kissed his hand. The astonished bystanders asked the dragoon whether the Prince knew him. " Yes," was the (juiet reply, " he once led me into a scrape which none but himself could have brought me out of."^ The scrape was doubtless the defeat at the Heights of Johannisberg. The Prince's disapproval of the Peace of Paris, and sympathy with Pitt,* caused him to be very coldly received by the King, whose appearance at the theatre was scarcely acknowledged, while the Prince received an ovation. The French Embassy, in particular, showed the Prince undisguised incivility, which, a contemporary letter ^ remarked, could scarcely be wondered at, seeing how he had " followed, persecuted, and chastised the French ; the names of Brunswick and Granby are made use of by the nurses of Paris to keep their children in order." ^ The Hereditary Prince was naturalized, provided for, and married ; and with his bride arrived, after a tempestuous voyage, at the Hague where they attended a ball given by Sir Joseph Yorke, and made their public entry into Brunswick February 21, 17C4.' Of the extraordinary craze for duelling, rife at this period in England, mention is made in a letter from the third Duke of Rutland that is interesting, and eminently worth recording : — ' Newcastle Papers. - Ibid., and Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 284. 3 Walpole's Letters. January 18, 17G4. * The Prince paid a visit of two hours' duration to Mr. Pitt at Hayes. — Gentle- inati's Magazine, 1764. ^ January 20, 1764, MSS. of G. A. Aitken (Hist. MSS. Com., Rep. XH. App.pt. v.> " Some half-century later. English nurses used to frighten little Master Johnny Bull into obedience by invoking Boney." ^ The Prince inquired if he could ask some favour of George HI. for any surviWng relations of his A.D.C.. Captain McLean, who helped rescue him at Kloster Campen (p. 168), and was killed at the Briicker-Miihl. — Lloyd's Evening Post, February 13. 1764. ^ February 15, 1764. to a relation who was then at Lausanne in the company of several distinguished men, including Edward Gibbon, and John Baker Holrovd first Lord Sheffield. 300 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1764. " We are got into a very ridiculous and quarrelsome turn in this country ; Mr. Jones has been sent to his long bourne by Ensign Spain of the Marines ■; and Parson Hill, Chaplain to a Regiment of Dragoons, is killed by Lieutenant Gardiner — both by pistol shots. " The Duke of Pecquigny, son of the Duke de Chaulnes (who has the character of being too exceptious and quarrelsome), and who was very near coming to a formal eclaircissement with Lord Garlics, is now gone to Liege to fight by agreement a Suisse, or Geneva, gentleman named Vivret, grossly abused at the opera by the former. I hear their intention is decided, and one or the other must be reduced to dust and ashes — 0 tempora 0 mores! (Feb. 16, 1764). Since what I mentioned above relating to the Duke of Pecquigny and Monsieur Vivret, the affair has been decided at Dover. Monsieur Vivret disarm'd the Duke in the first onset, and a second being insisted on. Monsieur Vivret skewered his hand, lower, and upper part of his arm to his Body, which put an end to the dispute." " Parson Hill " was Chaplain to Mostyn's Regiment, the King's Dragoon Guards, and Lieutenant Gardiner was in the Carabiniers. They fought in Epping Forest, and the Chaplain received a wound which caused his death in two days ; the Coroner's jury returning a verdict of " Manslaughter at large." ^ The Due de Pecquigny's quarrels attracted much notice, and Walpole alluded to them in four letters.^ At Lord Milton's ball Pecquigny handed a lady down to supper whom Lord Garlics ^ had considered as his partner. This storm blew over. Pecquigny's second quarrel was about a gambling transaction, and Walpole calls his opponent Virette. The meeting was first fixed for Buckingham Gate, but the French Ambassador had Pecquigny arrested, and ordered him abroad. At Dover, however, he and his antagonist met. Pecquigny first apologized, and then, in the fight, was worsted as described in the Duke of Rutland's letter. They then returned to London " with their honours as white as snow." * In February, 1764, the Duke of Devonshire resigned the Lieutenancy of Derbyshire, and started in a moribund condition for Spa, where he shortly afterwards died.^ Upon his resignation Lord Granby was appointed Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Derby ; and was presented with the freedom " of the antient Corporation of Scarborough," in a gold box, as a testimony of its sense " of his glorious behaviour in Germany." * Gentleman's Magazine. 2 Letters, January and February, 1764, to Lord Hertford. 3 A Lord of the Bedchamber to George III., and later seventh Earl of Galloway. * Walpole. ^ See allusion to his journey, p. 9. 1764.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 301 In June, 17G4:, the Earl of Northumberland gave a magnificent fete at Northumberland House (in the Strand) in celebration of His Majesty's birthday, at which 1500 persons of distinction were present. Thousands of lamps illuminated the gardens, and two bands played alternately in the great gallery, and in the grounds. Lord Granby's entrance was the signal for a demonstration. The bands vigorously played " See the Conquering Hero comes,'''' after which the whole company relieved its feelings in a general " Huzza !" ^ Lord Granby's name was talked of in connection with the High Stewardship of Cambridge University, which became vacant in March, 17G4, through the death of Lord Hardwicke, whose beauti- fully written and carefully composed letters, from " Wimple," had long afforded a copious spring of support, and advice — not always followed — to the Duke of Newcastle.^ Lord Granby and his father gave out that they would do nothing, nor promise support in any direction, unless the Yorkes decided against one of their family offering himself as a candidate ; and eventually TiOrd Royston, or rather the new Lord Hardwicke, was elected to the High Steward- ship, and one of his brothers to his vacated seat for the county of Cambridge. ' Gentleman's Magazine, Juue, 1704. Walpolc is silent about tliis orcurrcncc, though careful to mention the bestowal of the Lieutenancy of Derbyshire ui)oii Granby as a reward for his vote on the " General Warrants " (" Memoirs of the Reign of George III."), and as a studied affront to the Duke of Devonshire (Letters, February 24, 1764). ^ See Newcastle Papers, passim. 302 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1764. CHAPTER XXVI. As the failure of George III.'s overtures to Pitt had strengthened the position of Grenville's Ministry, the Duke of Newcastle bustled about more actively than ever to bring together a formidable opposi- tion. With Pitt he was for a time on phenomenally cordial terms ; dinners were interchanged, and Newcastle went on a visit to Hayes where he thoroughly enjoyed himself, declaring afterwards : " Lady Chatham is the best lady of a house I ever saw." In relation to Pitt's conduct, presently, it is due to Newcastle to notice that in all his schemes at this period the invariable refrain of his letters, and "minutes of conversation," was — "We must carry Mr. Pitt along with us." ^ Pitt, on his part, declared that he would neither come in by force, nor without the King's goodwill ; he disapproved of Lord Bute, yet, if the Ministers did right, he would support them ; he did not believe in opposition in Parliament, and would take no initiative until the King, and his favourite, saw their errors.^ Newcastle's main object was a union between his faction and that led by the Duke of Bedford, concerning which he sought an interview with Horace Walpole. Macaulay ^ has expressed surprise that Walter Scott should never have tried his hand upon the Duke of Newcastle's character ; and remarked how delightful an interview might be imagined as occurring between his Grace and "Jeanie Deans." But surely this meeting with Walpole alforded matter to the full as pungent, if not quite so picturesque. Newcastle and Walpole had been long opposed, and estranged ; and, though the former does not appear to have harboured animosity, the latter's correspondence, and memoirs, teem with vindictive abuse of the Pelhamite leader who must have been well aware of Walpole's hatred, which no opportunity was lost for expressing in either spoken, or written words of stinging sarcasm. * Newcastle Papers, August 4, 1764, etc. ' Ibid., August 12-22, 1764. ^ Essay on Walpole's Letters. 1764.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Bub for the moment they had an identical axe to grind. New- castle was thirsting for vehement opposition to the Government ; and Walpole, besides being in the opposition, and devoted to factious intrigue, was full of hatred against George Grenville for his con- nivance in the dismissal of General Conway. With so much in common, as against a common foe, Newcastle and Walpole buried for a brief moment their real feelings, and arranged an inter- view. Newcastle requested to be allowed the favour of calling on Horace at Strawberry Hill ; Walpole protested himself to be quite overcome by such condescension, and begged permission to wait upon the Duke at Claremont.^ "That old heathen the Duke of Newcastle " — " that old busy Sinner " — " the wicked old Duke of Newcastle" — "that disgraceful man Newcastle," are but a few of the flowers of rhetoric which may be culled from the letters of Walpole, who, in addition, wrote of the Duke what is perhaps the most pitilessly scathing satire which one man ever penned concerning another. This is the letter he wrote when the Duke proposed to visit him, and when he had a pohtical motive which that visit might foster : — " My Lord, — I am quite confounded that your Grace should think it neces- sary to make any excuses to me, or give yourself the trouble to call upon me. I must not refuse the honour you design me, tho' if it is only from your Grace's great goodness to me, I wou'd beg to receive your Commands at Claremont, and hope, if your Grace thinks a visit to me necessary, that you will look upon it as made. May I beg your Grace will really chuse which is most con- venient to you . . . and let me know where it will be most convenient for mo to obey your commands." - Among Walpole's published correspondence the above is not included, or its sycophancy, and insincerity, would have provided his editors with subject-matter for a caustic footnote.'' Of these conferences nothing resulted sufficient to disturb Mr. Grenville's career until after the King's recovery from his first attack of mental prostration ; and in the preparation of the Regency Bill, which His Majesty at once took into consideration, he was so angered ' Newcastle Papers. - Ibid. ^ Walpole stayed to diue at Claremont during this negotiation : " I have dined to-day at Claremont. Our first meeting to be sure was awkward, yet I never saw a man conduct anything with more sense than he did. There were no notices of what is past) nothing fulsome, no ceremony ; civility enough, confidence enough, and the greatest ease." — Letters, August 8, 1764. Newcastle would appear to have given Walpole a lesson in tact, generosity, sense, and mvoir faire ; Walpole, never' thelcss, denied him any of these qualities in the course of his Memoirs. 304 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1764. by the policy pursued by Ministers,^ that he determined on another vigorous attempt to get rid of them. The Duke of Cumberland, to whom His Majesty applied for support, undertook negotiations with Mr. Pitt with a view to the formation of a fresh Cabinet. It has been said respecting Pitt's life that its most momentous issues frequently, and alternately, depended upon the (jout or the GrenviUes. In this instance the stumbling- block was the Grenvilles. The brothers. Lord Temple and George Grenville, had shaken hands ; and the former would not accept an office which the latter should first have to be deprived of. Pitt considered himself pledged to decline office without Lord Temple at the Treasury ; so the reconciliation of the brothers crippled their brother-in-law Pitt as effectually as the gout might have done. Newcastle's day was over for forming a Cabinet out of his own special following ; so the Duke of Cumberland, while deprecating Pitt's quixotism, could but make his bow and intimate to his Royal nephew that George Grenville was, just then, immovable. Such a situation was productive of but one result. The unwelcome Minister's presence beside the mortified King could only tend to increase the scope of Lord Bute's secret influence. A matter in which John Ewer's name again occurs furnishes as good a straw as another with which to test the prevailing direction of wind. The Primate of Ireland died, and the post was offered to, and refused by, two English Bishops. "With Mr. Grenville's complete concurrence and support Lord Granby then put forward the name of his old friend Ewer, Bishop of Llandaff, whom he strongly recom- mended for the vacant Primacy. In spite of this recommendation by the Prime Minister — and the one popular member of his Ad- ministration, Granby — Lord Bute, and his relative the Earl of Northumberland (Irish Viceroy), succeeded in obtaining the appoint- ment for the Bishop of Kildare.^ Lord Granby, whose devotion to Ewer has already been commented upon, took this disappointment seriously to heart, a circumstance which George Grenville ^ impressed very tellingly, and strongly, on His Majesty. He pointed out Lord Granby's very eminent services and attachment to the King, saying that he could contemplate nothing with greater uneasiness than the danger of alienating a person of so much consequence from His Majesty's service. The King seemed uneasy at this lecture, and ' Lord Granby is represented by J. G. Phillimore to have declared that Mr. Grenville was the victim of a snare laid for him, and that he acted honestly (" History of England during the Reign of George III.") See also Grenville Papers. 2 Walpole's Letters, February, 1765. ^ Grenville Papers. 1764-1765.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. said that " not only was Lord Granby a good man, but he esteemed him much, and hoped a little time would calm his mind upon this subject." ^ Shortly afterwards Parliament met and, in considering the Address, General Conway had a spirited encounter with Mr. Gren- ville concerning the scandalous treatment he (Conway) had suffered " at the hands of a profligate Ministry." Lord Granby closed the debate, speaking with marked approval of his old friend General Conway ; and declaring how much he disapproved the dismission of officers for civil reasons — the more so as he was persuaded such a course would not deter them from acting according to their consciences. 2 These wide divergences of opinion in the Ministry served to foster, both in London and the provinces, the already unsettled con- dition of the public mind. Bad trade, and various sources of discontent, were engendering throughout England a dangerous inclination to violence. The Spitalfields weavers, whose industry was entirely, and they themselves largely, of French origin, were now clamouring for protection against French competition ; and were in a chronic condition of riot and turmoil. The Duke of Bedford's opposition to a Bill framed for their relief prompted the weavers, and other malcontents, to attack Bedford House,^ in Bloomsbury Square ; but, forewarned, the Duke was forearmed : Foot Guards and Cavalry, after the necessary prelude of Riot Act, dispersed the rioters, and wounds in plenty were received on either side. Almost hourly the outlook grew more threatening ; the House of Commons was daily intimidated by mobs ; and the King announced his wish to adjourn Parliament on account of this " confusion of the weavers," who were reported to be intending still greater excesses. Mr. Grenville met his chief colleagues at Lord Sandwich's house to consider the situation, but Lord Granby was not present.* The Duke of Bedford announced that he should resign if the King chose a fresh Ministry in which Mr. Grenville was not included. From this consultation Mr. Grenville proceeded to Rutland House, where Lord Granby received him " in the kindest maimer," and heard what he had to say concerning the King's apparent intentions of adjourn- ing Parliament, and changing his Ministers.^ Lord Granby was ^ Grenville Papers. - " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." (Walpole). 3 Formerly Southampton House, where Lord Granby's grandparents often resided in Lady Rachel Russell's time. An inventory of china there, belonging to the second Duke of Rutland, who died at Southampton House in 1721, is among the Rutland MSS. (vol. ii. p. 348). * See Grenville Papers. ^ Ibid. 20 3o6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765. extremely uneasy at the news, and said that " the King was infatuated, and was running on to his ruin : as for himself he could not be trans- ferred from one Administration to another ; " and he had repeated to His Majesty that he had no personal acquaintance with any of his Ministers except Mr. Grrenville, of whom Lord Granby spoke with the highest respect and confidence, and, with whose exception, he declared he had no political "attachments" to anyone. Lord Granby added that he had long seen they ^ were playing foul with him, and that he had in consequence prepared the Duke of Rutland whose opinions, concerning Mr. Granville, agreed with his own.- Continued reports of rebellious occurrences pointed to the impend- ing necessity of military action. Another Cabinet meeting followed, also unattended by Lord Granby, and consisting of Mr. George Grenville, the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Bedford, Lord Halifax, and Lord Sandwich, at which the following drastic programme^ was drawn up for the King's acceptance, and which aimed exclusively at the final destruction of the Bute influence : — 1. The dismissal of Lord Bute (from about the King's person). 2. The dismissal of Mr. Mackenzie (Bute's brother), Privy Seal for Scotland. 3. The dismissal of Lord Holland. 4. The appointment of Lord Granby to be Commander-in-Chief. 5. The King to settle the Government of Ireland with his Ministers. This last demand was in regard to the Earl of Northumberland, then Viceroy, and a relation of Bute. " So soon," exclaimed Horace Walpole, "did those tools of Prerogative ta,lk to their exalted Sovereign in the language of the Parliament of Charles 1st " — but Walpole omits to comment upon the drift of the language which George III. was commencing to adopt towards Parliament. The " tools of Prerogative " confidently submitted their demands to the King in the afternoon of the day of their conference. Lord HaHfax previously wrote to the King — "His Majesty will determine whether it may not be proper to appoint the Marquis of Granby to the Chief Command of the Troops to-morrow, with the Earl of Waldegrave * (who offers himself as well as the Duke of Richmond ^ ^ Mr, Grenville makes use of so many "hes" and " huns " that it is far from clear who was playing foul with whom. Presumably Granby meant that Lord Bute, etc., were playing foul with Mi-. Grenville ; or Granby may have meant himself. Grenville Papers (Diary), May 16, 1765. 3 Ibid., May 22, 1765. ^ The General Waldegrave of the Seven Years War. 5 A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand in the Seven Years War. 1765.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 307 for the service), or any other General Officers His Majesty shall please to appoint. Lord Granby is a very popular man, and might save the lives of these deluded wretches which may be exposed and sacrificed by another Commander equally well intentioned, but less a favourite of the people." ^ The last sentence has been somewhere quoted as intending a direct slur upon the Duke of Cumberland. By the irony of fate the Duke, at this period, was accorded a very considerable amount of popularity for the very acts which had fastened the term " butcher " so tenaciously to his reputation. The post-CuUoden executions, burn- ings, and devastations, far from being forgotten after nineteen years, were now recalled, to the Duke's credit, by the multitude which denied to Lord Bute, to any Scotchman, or anything Scotch, a single attribute that was not loathsome, or despicable.^ George IIL, with great promptness, fixed an appointment ^ for Lord Halifax to receive such directions as His Majesty should give respecting the appointment of any Generals ; and at once ordered Halifax " to intimate, in mij name to the Secretary at AVar," that the Regiment stationed at Chatham should instantly advance towards London. The King then wrote * to the Duke of Cumberland re- questing him " to take command to-morrow morning as Captain- General ; " and suggesting Lord Albemarle (the Duke's Lord-in- waiting and friend) as " very proper to put his orders in execution." The Duke of Cumberland accepted in these words — " I shall ever obey your orders with obedience and readiness, all I hope is I am only ordered, and expected, on this occasion.^ ... I don't imagine the report ought to break a moment of your Majesty's rest. I wish God you had no more formidable enemies than these poor wretches." ^ It was after the passing of these letters that Mr. Grenville pre- sented the ultimatum. The King accepted it with the one exception of the Command of the Army, which he had bestowed on his uncle already. Later in the day ' he sent for the Marquis of Granby, who remained with him more than an hour. His Majesty explained to Lord Granby that in 1758, after the Duke of Cumberland's retire- * " Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham," May 20, 1765. - The caricatures relating to Lord Bute, and Scotland, teem with obscene and vulgar allusions. See " The British Antidote to Caledonian Poison,"' the " Scots Scourge," etc. ^ Newcastle Papers, May 20, 1765 (copies sent to Newcastle by Cumberland). ■« Ibid., May 20, 1765. * i.e. temporarily. Newcastle Papers (copy). The weavers were propitiated by materials of English manufacture, only, being allowed at Comi, and the Duke of York started on a tour with a magnificent wardrobe, " esteemed the richest ever made in England."— Gentleman's Magazine, 1765. ^ Grenville Papers (Diary), May 22, 1765. 3o8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765. ment/ George II. had promised that the Duke's position as Captain- General of the Army should be restored to him in the eveM of any insurrection at home ; and His Majesty proceeded to dissuade Lord Granby from entertaining the idea of the appointment which Ministers intended for him. The King's solicitude on this point was soon removed. Lord Granby's reply is remarkable, both as showing how absolutely clear of any share in the above scheme he was ; or how extremely hasty the Ministers had been in demanding for him what they had no possible grounds for assuming he would accept. He quite plainly told the King that " not only had he never solicited the honour of the Command of the Army, but had some points in his mind upon the subject different from what other Ministers might think right — even Mr. Grenville, who was so much his friend." He begged His Majesty to be assured that, though Mr. Grenville had made the request, he had not done it at his (Granby's) desire, but as a mark of regard for him for which he must feel greatly indebted, " for his attachment to Mr. Grenville was greater than to any man breathing." In conclusion Lord Granby desired " that no pretensions of his might stand as an obstacle to any arrange- ment which might he made for the advantage of the Kincfs serviced The crisis thus ended in compromise : George III. promised to dispense with Lord Bute's secret assistance ; and the Ministers waived their demand concerning Lord Granby, but suggested that he should receive the appointment in the event of the Duke of Cumberland's death. A considerable diminution of the popular tumult resulted in the Duke of Cumberland never actually, or officially, resuming the position of " Captain-General." ^ The Duke of Newcastle's delight was expressed with gusto at one phase of this conflict of King and Ministers — " I am glad two great strokes are struck, whoever struck them ; viz. the dead-warrant for good Lord Holland and Mr. Mackenzie — surely that will make work among them ! " ^ One conviction presents itself to the mind, from Lord Granby's conduct and declarations during these negotiations, viz. that what we are sufficiently familiar with as a mere " Ministerial Crisis " has ' Consequent upon " Kloster- Seven." See ante, p. 64. 2 The terms " Captain- General " and "Commander-in-Chief" are used pro- miscuously m many accounts of this crisis : there can be no doubt that the King intended to revive the former. ^ Newcastle Papers, May 25, 1765. 1765.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. been needlessly exaggerated by some writers into a National one. The King has been described ^ as almost as much a prisoner as Charles I. had been when in the Isle of Wight ; and the country to have been on the verge of Civil War. This is to be traced to the hysterics indulged in, both at the moment and after, by Horace Walpole. He described, in his letters, the contingency of Lord Granby's appointment as — " little short of asking (the King) for the power of the sword against him- self.2 . . . Thank God ! From 11 o'clock yesterday, when I read it, till 9 at night, when I learned that the resolution had dropped, I think I never passed such anxious hours ! Nay, I heard it was done, and looked upon the Civil War as commenced." ^ Again — " They demanded lastly, for they could no further go, the Crown itself, or, in their words, the immediate nomination of Lord Granby to be Captain- General." But this is not all ; in his Memoirs,* Walpole goes a step further, and makes an assertion which can be flatly, and unreservedly con- tradicted. Repeating how he had viewed the Army proposition with great alarm, he descants upon "the desperate ambition of the Ministerial faction, shewing their intention of usurping the Govern- ment by force, Lord Oranhy having assured timn at a Council of their friends that he woidd firmly adhere to themy ^ The King then appointed " his uncle Captain-General : this was at once firing the signal of Civil War, and the Generals named on either side." " Civil " nonsense with " General " Walpole on one side, only, would better describe it. Lord Granby did not attend the Council ; he did not assure Grenville's friends of his firm adherence (on the contrary, he disclaimed Grenville's friends) ; he had no share in the demands made ; nor did he, by word or deed, consider anything save " the advantage of the King's service." Moreover, the military forces were to be employed, under whichever leader, in quelling, not in abetting, rioters whose favourite butt for execration and ridicule was the King's alleged alter erjo Lord Bute. On these points Lord Granby's individual character is easily cleared from Walpole's misrepresentations. As regards his lordship's ' Macaulay's Essays : " The Earl of Chatham." " The power of the sword " was not even vested at the moment in a member of the Royal Family, but in Lord Ligonier. Walpole, in spite of his republican leanings, was now advocating the supreme control of the Crown over a standing Anny, the very circmnstance that had given to the Crown enormous power. Letters, May 20, 1765. ^ Memoirs of the Reign of George XXL" ^ The italics are not Walpole's. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765. too zealous advocates, the acting Ministers of the Crown, is it credible that they — possessed of any sinister intention— should have selected a man whom the Army would certainly have followed to the death, whithersoever he led ; but who was notoriously loyal — singly, wholly, and disinterestedly to the Throne ; no matter whether Grenville Whigs with Tory attributes, Pelhamite Whigs, Bedford Whigs, or Eockingham Whigs strutted their little hour on the Ministerial stage ? Or, would they have put his name before the King without first making sure of his connivance in so desperate a business ? The motive underlying George II.'s promise to the Duke of Cumberland is plain ; and George III.'s revival of it was not prompted by fears concerning Granby's loyalty, but by a desire to defeat Grenville upon the only issue concerning which His Majesty held anything like a winning card in his hand, and the playing of which every circumstance justified. Walpole's information during the course of these events was singularly good, and acquired remarkably soon after their occurrence, as a comparison of the dates of his letters with the Grenville, and Newcastle, Papers shows. How comes it, therefore, that he is as silent as the tomb — despite his ultra alarmist estimate of the gravity of the situation— upon the fact that the main element of pacification was furnished by the loyal, independent conduct of Lord Granby ? Upon the canvas which Walpole has handed down, Granby is painted as the firm adherent iof a seditious faction possessed by a desperate ambition to alienate the Army from the Crown. Macaulay scarcely went far enough in saying : " When he (Walpole) recorded gossip, he fancied that he was writing history," ^ for, in dealing with this group of events, Walpole ignored what must have been the commonest topic of conversation of the hour— he neither recorded the gossip, nor wrote the history. Such events as those just dealt with did not tend to increase Lord Granby's intimacy with the Ministers ; and there is hardly a trace of any other incidental occurrence of his name until the fall of the Grenville Cabinet, which soon followed upon these measures, and its most disastrous interference with the trade of the American colonies, through the Stamp Act. Eiots, and disaffections, in American towns were added to those at home ; and, though George III. approved of the Stamp Act, he was as eager as ever to be rid of Grenville. Pitt was again appealed to. The Duke of Cumber- land once more opened the proceedings, and the Duke of Grafton * Macaulay's Essays : " Horace Walpole." 1765.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY, was sent to Hayes with an invitation to Mr. Pitt to come to the assistance of the King.^ " If Mr. Pitt refuses after this," wrote the Duke of Newcastle, "he must be condemned by the whole world." ^ Pitt did refuse ; and the only alternative remaining to the King was to appeal to the old Whig party which he had so recently hectored, and dismissed under a vow of never employing it again. Newcastle's prophecy has stood the test of time, for Pitt's refusal to assume political command at this moment, or to join the subse- quent Rockingham Cabinet when, in commercial parlance, it was " a going concern," has been condemned, after the lapse of a hundred years, by various modern authorities, the chief of whom ^ pronounces it to have been " the most disastrous incident " in Pitt's career. The Marquis of Rockingham was invested with the headship of the Whig party, and requested to form a Ca])iiiet. Hitherto he had been best known in society, the hunting-field, and on the turf ; in relation to all three of which he had long been a cordial friend and associate of Lord Granby. Both in taste and character something in common existed between the two men. At the age of fifteen, when on his holidays from Eton, Lord Rockingham had slipped away from Wentworth Castle, on his pony, and joined the King's Forces at Carlisle to fight against " Prince Charlie," when Granby (some eight or nine years Rockingham's senior) was serving his novitiate in war. During the Seven Years War it will be remem- bered that Lord Rockingham sent his stag-hounds to Belvoir during Lord Granby's leave — in short, they were excellent friends, and fellow-sportsmen. But Granby was firm in advocating a combination of the fittest men to govern, with Pitt at their head, or at least, among them ; and, so soon as he heard of the King's determination, he stated his conviction of the fatuity of dismissing Grenville without gaining Pitt ; and of placing Lord Rockingham in a position for which he was scarcely less fit than Granby himself, whose dislike of politics, and nervousness in public speaking, were all but equalled by Rockingham's. A revival of " Pitt's Ministry " was what the country wanted, and Granby's deprecation of the Rockingham scheme might possibly have been founded on the hiowlethje of Pitt's determination not ' Newcastle Papers, June 17, 18, 17G5. ^ jbid. ' Mr. Lecky, " History of England in the Eighteenth Century." * " Memoirs of the Marquis oif Rockingham." 312 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765. to join it, for Mr. Calcraft had been for some time in the latter's close confidence.^ Lord Grranby went to Mr. Grenville and repeated his assurance of attachment to him — but him alone — in the departing Ministry, which he, Granby, had entered against his own will, " for the King's service." He sincerely regretted the step His Majesty was taking in parting with Mr. Grenville, and not liking, after the many graces and honours which the King had bestowed upon him (Granby) to throw up his office, he intended to humbly entreat the King to " resume " it ; as it was impossible for him to hold it in support of a new Ministry which he owned he disapproved. It was not his intention. Lord Granby expressly declared, to " resign," or to distress His Majesty's affairs, but to beg that he might be spared the cruel alternatives of either appearing to retain his office from lucrative motives, or to resign it from motives of opposition.^ Granby next assured Lord Rockingham that he could take no active part in, or give active support to, his Administration ; and then, at a Drawing Koom, had an audience with the King.^ The King heard Granby's declaration with signs of great agitation, and pressed him eagerly to remain in his service, which His Majesty begged him not to leave at a time when the distress of His Majesty's affairs would be thereby so much increased. Lord Rockingham had done unwisely, the King said, in asking Lord Granby to promise his active support ; and, while declining to " resume " the office of Master-General, His Majesty left Lord Granby entirely at liberty, while holding it, to act as he should think fit in the future, which the King did not doubt " would be like an honest man, and a man of honour." * As the King would not accept Granby's office, he retained it on the above terms, and others which he imparted to Grenville, viz. that he would not be " sent down to attend " by the new Ministry ; that he intended to continue the support in Parliament which he had accorded to Mr. Grenville's conduct, concerning " General Warrants," etc., or in the event of any personal attacks upon him ; but he warned Mr. Grenville, fairly, that any action ivhatever on his part which ^ Mr. Pitt paid a visit, with Lord Temple, in September, 1763, to Mr. Calcraft, who retained Pitt's confidence until his (Calcraft's) death in 1773. " You went, but in a luckier hour, To Calcraft's — Shelburne owns thy power." (" Verses addressed to no Minister ; " Political Tracts, 1761-4, British Museum.) 2 Grenville Papers, July 5, 1765. » Ibid., July 7, 1765. ^ Ibid. (Diary), July 7, 1765. 1765.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. could carry with it " the air of peevish, or factious, opposition " was contrary to his, Granby's, ideas, and would meet with his dis- approval.^ A position so anomalous was only possible at a time when strict government by "party," as we know the term, was scarcely in its cradle ; and the same names, in different combination, were found again and again serving under a variety of leaders as their respec- tive factions attracted, or repelled, one another. It is not intended to suggest that Lord Granby did wisely in acceding to George III.'s entreaties : it is merely sought to record the true circumstances under which he did so ; and to show that he carried out his deter- minations to the letter during the short life of the Rockingham Ministry, of which determinations Lord Rockingham was fully aware when he took office. ' Grcnville Papers. Sec p. 324 for the sequel to this. LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765. CHAPTER XXVII. The Marquis of Rockingham, as First Lord of the Treasury, was joined by the Duke of Grafton, and General Conway, as Secretaries of State, and Lord Northington as Lord Chancellor. After a little coquetry the Duke of Newcastle accepted the Privy Seal, and was invested with the Church patronage — a circumstance that must have caused a perceptible shudder to pervade the bench of Bishops after their conduct to him, on his retirement, in 1762. Lord Talbot, the Duke of Rutland, and Lord Granby remained in their original offices. The Duke of Bedford showed a good deal of temper on his loss of place, and circulated a report of the King having offered to make the Duke of Marlborough ^ Master of the Horse by taking that office from the Duke of Rutland. The story was so circumstantially repeated that the Marquis of Granby asked the King point blank, at a review, if it was true ; and His Majesty replied that he hoped Lord Granby Imew that no thought of remov- ing the Duke of Rutland had been entertained.^ Walpole relates how this denial, coupled with the King's general conversation on the occasion, " made such an impression on that light man Granby " that, with the addition of a promise of the first vacant Regiment for his uncle. General Lord Robert Manners, the Marquis "was entirely gained over from his late allies." ^ It is a most unfortunate circumstance for Walpole that George Grenville should have kept a diary ; but the fact cannot now be altered, nor the diary suppressed. In it is recorded not only that Granby was never united with his " late allies," but that Mr. Grenville was the individual who, before his retirement, asked for the promise of a Cavalry regiment on Lord Robert's behalf, the most probable one being that held by old Sir Robert Rich.* Another of Sir Robert Rich's offices, the Governorship of Chelsea Hospital, was at the same time requested for, and promised to. General Mostyn in • Privy Seal under Grenville. ^ Grenville Papers (Diary). 2 " Memoirs of the Keign of George III." Grenville Papers (Diary), June 5, 1765. 1765— 1766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. reversion. Grenville particularly recorded these facts as an example of the King's system, which the Ministers deprecated, of maintain- ing that all favours were bestowed directly, and independently, by His Majesty. In pursuance of this idea, George III. made no promise to Mr. Grenville, but sent for Granby, and Mostyn, to announce His Majesty's intentions to them personally. In September, 1765, the Colonelcy of the 3rd, Prince of Wales's, Dragoon Guards became vacant, and Lieut.-General Lord Robert Manners was at once gazetted^ to it in pursuance of the above promise made to Lord Granby during Mr. Grenville's premiership. A little later ^ another episode, concerning Lord Robert Manners, occurred which affords an instructive sequel to Walpole's apocry- phal story. Lord Robert was Lieutenant-Governor of Kingston - upon-HuU ; and, the Governor (General Pulteney) dying. Lord Robert was not without strong claims to the higher appointment.'^ Other candidates were, of course, in the field ; one of whom (the Duke of Argyll) not only claimed the Governorship, but threatened to quit his office if it were bestowed elsewhere ; and the Duke of Richmond, and Conway, supported him. What did " that lifjlit man " Granby do in this matter ? Walpole was watching for certain, as Conway was interested, but his record is dumb ; though the Duke of Newcastle remedies this little oversight.'' In his coiTCspondence it is told "how mightily pleased George III. was with My Lord Granby, who had been with him, and told his Majesty that he would not recommend My Lord Robert — who was Lieut. Governor, to be Governor, because he would not lay his Majesty under any difficulty." The Rockingham Ministry proceeded to comply with all of Pitt's known wishes, but he obdm-ately refused to join it ; and his late more cordial feelings towards the Duke of Newcastle were succeeded by an inveterate aversion for his Grace, who met the same in a notably disinterested spirit. Pitt's obstinate self-isolation, and the weak administrative, and debating, power of the Government caused it to make some dangerous efforts to enlist support. The Dorset interest was sought by offering office to Lord George Sackville at a moment when a revival of the Minden story was specially inopportune. Pitt, and Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, were considered sure to be offended by this step ; Lord Granby, it was feared, might be ; and » London Gazette. ' Juue, 17G6. 2 The Governorship was worth £600 per annum (Beatson). * Newcastle Papers, June 28, 17UG, etc. 3i6 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1765-1766. the Hereditary Prince's impending arrival ^ in England promised to bring these objections to a climax.^ Pitt was greatly hurt by the eventual appointment of Lord George Sackville to the Vice Treasurer- ship of Ireland ; but the Hereditary Prince (acting, one would suppose, with Prince Ferdinand's consent) acquiesced in Civil employment being bestowed upon Sackville, and was the first to shake hands with, and congratulate, Lord George at a Drawing-Room. The appointment was certainly unpopular, and Ministers found themselves by no means sure of bringing in their candidate, at an election for Rochester, against Mr. John Calcraft, who had for some years been courting that borough. George Onslow wrote that Calcraft " had the impudence to prostitute the names of Granby, Camden, and Pitt, so far as to employ them in his favour ; " ^ but on this occasion Calcraft was beaten. George IIL's impatience of the Ministers, whom fate had forced upon him, aggravated the difficulties under which they honestly laboured to introduce sound measures ; and, by the death of the Duke of Cumberland on the 31st of October, 1765, the Marquis of Rockingham lost his most influential support. His Majesty, in person, once more sounded Pitt who stipulated for two conditions before coming to the rescue of the Cabinet — 1st, that the Treasury should be offered to Lord Temple ; and 2nd, that the Duke of Newcastle should be dismissed as the one person with whom he, Pitt, could not act, or sit at Council with.^ To the first condition Lord Rockingham, and his principal supporters, declined to submit : to the second the Duke of Newcastle acceded by at once offering his resignation rather than be "the avowed obstacle to what he had always maintained was for the good of the Nation." Pitt met this self -extinction oil Newcastle's part by taking up fresh grounds for disagreement, and pronounced the revival of Court favour in regard to Lord George Sackville to be an intense annoyance to him, occurring, as it did, at the very moment of the Hereditary Prince's presence in England ; a circumstance which would suggest to all Foreign Courts that Pitt possessed but little weight in the national business.*^ ^ The Hereditary Prince, and the Princess, accompanied the Duke of York on his return from his continental tour {Gentleman's Magazine, September 8, 1765). The Prince attended Newmarket Races with Lord Granby, and afterwards visited Belvoir Castle (London Chronicle, September 28, 1765). 2 Newcastle Papers, etc. ^ Ibid., December 20, 1765. * Ibid., November 30, 1765. ^ Newcastle Papers. Ibid., Eeport of a conversation with Mr. Pitt. I765-I766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Thus the Rockingham Ministry drifted along, spasmodically- effecting much useful legislation which never gained to it the just reward of Pitt's accession to its councils. It repealed the Stamp Act (though asserting the right to tax) ; it declared the illegality of "General Warrants," George Grenville himself seconding this measure, in relation to which he asserted himself to have been always of Pitt's opinion. Lord Granby abstained from taking any share in the Government outside his own departmental duties ; and, on one or two occasions such as he had defined, voted with George Grenville against the Government. The Marquis was followed on these occasions by General Lord Robert Manners, Lord George Manners Sutton, John Manners, and Thomas Thoroton.^ The resignation of the Duke of Grafton, who declined to continue any longer in the Government without Pitt, brought Lord Rockingham within short distance of his inevitable collapse. Fresh overtures elicited the determination of that political hedgehog. Lord Temple, to decline office on any terms, so Pitt's hands were freed at last ; and he consented to consider an Administration with the Duke of Grafton as First Lord of the Treasury, and the Marquis of Rockingham as anything he should choose to be, second to that office. Rockingham declined to act subordinately to Grafton, and retired, but the old Ministry was otherwise little altered. The Office of Privy Seal, held by the Duke of Newcastle, the King informed ^ his Grace, with a smile, Mr. Pitt intended taking for himself : Newcastle resigned it, firmly refused a pension of £4000 a year, and soon found occasion to oppose this new combination which placed himself, and Lord Rockingham, in the background together. Fresh astonishment was added to that created by the insignificance of Pitt's office by his retirement to the House of Lords as Earl of Chatham. The Marquis of Granby was among the many who remained in their original places, and as General Conway, at Pitt's special desire,^ did likewise, no comments of Walpole's were made on this occasion suggestive of suborned iniquity on Granby's part. One of the first acts of the Chatham-Grafton Ministry was to secure the retirement of the veteran Commander-in-Chief, Lord Ligonier. The name of Ligonier is one which none can recall without affectionate enthusiasm. A Frenchman, and a Huguenot, he was born in 1678, and followed his relations to England, several of whom preceded the main exodus of 1685, when so many Huguenots ' Newcastle Papers, Analyses of Divisions, March 2, 3, 1766. ' Newcastle Papers. ' Ibid. 3i8 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1766. exchanged Louis XIV.'s persecutions for British hospitality. ^ Jean, or John, Ligonier entered the British Army and served through Marlborough's campaigns, gaining an early reputation for military qualities of a high order. In George II. 's reign Ligonier's conduct came so conspicuously under His Majesty's notice at the Battle of Dettingen that he invested this soldier of fortune with the Order of the Bath, in the presence of the whole Army, on the battle-field. As General Sir John Ligonier he acted as military mentor to the Duke of Cumberland in the campaign against Marshal Saxe, which culminated in the French success at Fontenoy ; from which period Ligonier's name, and career, have been frequently alhided to in association with Lord Granby's during the Forty-Five, the Flanders Campaign of 1747, and the Seven Years War, in earlier pages. In social, no less than in military circles, Ligonier moved as one of the best-known, and best-liked, men in the country of his adoption. As Colonel Ligonier he had outshone the Yorkshire squires in Scarborough society, and he was ranked in 1733 among three, at Bath, " who danced upon the high ropes of gallantry." 2 His courtly manners, good nature, and inexhaustible spirits rendered him as popular as he was eminent ; and, in writing of his riper years, Walpole ^ described him as *' polished from foppery by age, and by living in a thinking country," and as "universally beloved and respected." Up to the dates of Dettingen, and Fontenoy, Ligonier was Colonel of the (now) 7th Dragoon Guards, " my old friends the Black Guards whom I commanded for 30 years,"* he wrote of them to Granby. Ligonier then, successively, held the Colonelcies of the Horse Guards Blue, and the 1st Foot Guards ; becoming Master General of the Ordnance, Commander-in-Chief, and Field- Marshal. In 1757 he was created an Irish Viscount ; in 1763, an English Baron ; and in 1766, under the circumstances about to be related, he was advanced to an English Earldom. ^ Lady Northampton recommended Monsieur Ligonier in 1687 to the Countess of Eutland as a very fit person to be with her sons : " He has the character of a very honest man and a good scholar. He came here as a refuge, is weU born, and in every way qualified for such an employment." This was the Rev. Abel Ligonier, uncle of Lord Ligonier, and the representative of the elder branch of the family. He was presented to the Rectory of Redmile in 1691, of Croxton Kerial in 1692, and of Bottesford in 1697, by the ninth Earl, and first Duke, of Rutland. He founded a school at Bottesford, which was rebuilt in 1732 by the third Duke, restored the Parsonage house and added a handsome staircase to the same, and died 1711, greatly regretted by the poor. — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 65, etc. ; and Nichols' " History of Leicestershire," etc. 2 Letters of Henrietta, Countess of Suffolk. 2 " Memoirs of the Reign of George HI." ^ Rutland MSS., vol. ii., September 27, 1760. 1766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a portrait of Lord Ligonier, at about the age of eighty, which was exhibited at the Spring Gardens Exhibition in 17G1, and now hangs at the head of the right-hand staircase as one enters the National Gallery. The expressive, energetic face, bright grey eyes, and youthful complexion, corroborate the written testimonies to the unquenchable vivacity of his nature and constitution. He is represented in the uniform of the Blues, of which he was Colonel till 1759. The charger is the studio war- steed such as Reynolds depicted in one of the Marquis of Granby's portraits (see p. 150), and Lord Ligonier's seat upon it is one against which belief rebels as possible to a brilliant cavalry soldier who performed so much rough work in the saddle up to his sixty-eighth year, and through which he passed scatheless until he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Val.^ Such was the man whom Lord Chatham was determined to " shelve " at the suitable age for repose of eighty-eight. That Ligonier resented this circumstance is but too plain, and his chagrin was made the most of by the opponents of the Ministry. The King, and Lord Chatham, seem to have been quite agreed as to the neces- sity for the step. In regard to a successor to the chief command Lord Chatham, though favouring Lord Granby, said he considered the Army and the Law constituted matters which should be settled by the King 2 ; consequently, should His Majesty wish to appoint Lord Albemarle, he (Chatham) would not oppose him. The Marquis of Granby was finally selected by both George IIL, and Lord Chatham. So soon as the decision reached the outer world, the objectors had their say. Newcastle, whose opinions were now tinctui'ed with rancour ag iinst Mr. Pitt (as he continued to call him), wrote — " I do not suppose Lord Granby's appointment will greatly please the Army, as it will, by that means, be absolutely put into Mr. Pitt's power as everything else is." ^ Lord Bute assured Ligonier he had not, upon his honour, seen the King during the last twelve months, and that he had no hand in " the disgrace " which Ligonier had suffered.^ Lord Chesterfield inveighed against the cruelty of putting " such a boy as Granby over the head of old Ligonier," ^ and thought that, so long as the latter ' See ante, p. 31. Lord Ligonier died April 28, 1770 (a few months previous to Lord Granby's death), aged 92. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. One of his brothers, Colonel Ligonier, died at Edinburgh during the Forty-Five. * Conway's communication to Walpole, " Memoirs of the Keign of George III." ^ Newcastle Papers, August 14, 17GG. Greuville Papers, August 25, 1766. * Chesterfield's Letters, September 12, 1766. 320 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1766. should live, Granby ought to refuse the appointment. This last argument would sustain that, had Ligonier lived to the age of one hundred, he should still have been retained as Commander-in-Chief. Lord Granby himself, all this while, earnestly desired to be left as he was, and made repeated representations to this effect to Lord Chatham, whose insistence on the change is proved by a letter to him from G-ranby. It was despatched on the morning that he knew was fixed for an interview, at Hayes, between Chatham and Ligonier. Granby thus appealed to Lord Chatham from Rutland House, Knightsbridge — ^ " My dear Lord, — The unhappiness which, I am well informed, the honour his Majesty intends me will create to my friend Lord Ligonier, who I find in- tends paying his respects to yom* Lordship this morning to express his feelings upon this occasion, will excuse, I hope, my troubling your Lordship with again expressing my most real and earnest wish that I may be left in my present situation. For many reasons, my dear Lord, it would make me more happy to remain as I am, at least for the present. The honour I have for your Lordship, the friendship which I hope ever to maintain, and the fixed and determined part I have taken to support the Administration formed under your Lordship's direction, embolden me earnestly to request your Lordship (contrary, I know, to your ideas) to let the intention of my being appointed Commander-in-Chief drop, at least for the present, and that your Lordship would be so kind as to speak to his Majesty for that purpose. Excuse, my dear Lord, the liberty I have taken, and believe me to be, with the greatest respect and honour, " Your most affectionate, and faithful humble servant " Granby." The above letter had no effect upon Lord Chatham's determina- tion ; Lord Ligonier's commission as Commander-in-Chief was revoked August 13, 1766,2 and Newcastle reported that — " My Lord Granby had kissed the King's hand on being appointed Captain- General ^ and Commander-in-Chief. Lord Ligonier has not quitted his Regi- ment.'^ Mr. Conway told me he believed there were endeavours to make Lord Ligonier easy. I told Mr. Conway Places, Pensions, and Peerages did a great deal in these days." ^ ^ Chatham Correspondence, August 8, 1766. 2 Military Entry Books (Record Ofiice). 3 The term Captain -General continued to be erroneously used. The appointment ran : " The King has been pleased to constitute and appoint the Rt. Hon. John Manners, commonly called Marquis of Granby, Lieut.-General of H.M.'s Forces, to be Commander-in-Chief of all and singular His Majesty's Land Forces employed, or to be employed, in His Majesty's Service within the Kingdom of Great Britain."— London Gazette, August, 1766, ■» 1st Foot Guards. ^ Newcastle Papers. 1766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, Walpole described this appointment as having been effected — " to the mortification and emolument of Lord Ligonier, who has accepted an Irish Earl's Coronet for his ancient brows, and approaching coffin, and got £1500 pension settled on his nephew." ^ Besides the reversion of the pension, the title of Viscount Ligonier, of Clonmell, was granted in remainder to Colonel Edward Ligonier ^ of the 1st Foot Guards. To appreciate fully the dilemma in which Lord Granby had been placed it must be understood that, after perpetual disappointments and failures, his dearest wishes, and those of the nation, were at length fulfilled, and the services of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, restored to the Government of England.^ Of intolerance of any adverse opinion, of impatience of the slightest check, or refusal, no man was more continually guilty than Chatham. Had Granby refused to accept the command of the Army, his name might have been well classed with " the gout and the Grenvilles," and Chatham sent back into stubborn retirement — and for no national reason, but simply to avoid wounding the amour propre of a gallant old soldier, and friend, who was outstaying his official welcome in imagining that, at eighty- eight, he was still fit to be Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. ' Letters, September 9, 1766. 2 A.D.C. to Prince Ferdinand during the German War. 2 See Granby's letter, p. 320, in which he declared his eagerness to support an Administration formed under Chatham's direction. 21 322 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1766. CHAPTER XXYIIL Upon being officially installed in his new office, Lord Granby lost no time in appointing his former aide-de-camp, Colonel William Faucitt, to be his Military Secretary. Since the war, Faucitt had been employed on several missions to the continent, in connection with Army matters, without receiving any recognition of these and his former services.^ From this date Faucitt rose steadily to eminence. Lord Granby's official correspondence, dated as it is from " Knightsbridge," might be supposed to have been all indited from Rutland House ; but, in reality, the Commander-in-Chief's business in Ligonier's and Granby's time was conducted at the Knightsbridge Barracks, the close proximity to which of Rutland House now rendered the latter a most convenient residence to the Marquis.2 The "Horse Guards," which was originally built for the reception of two troops of the Blues, was still used simply as a barrack for a guard of the Household troops, both Horse and Foot. In August, 1766, the Duke of Rutland retired finally from public life, resigning the office of Master of the Horse in order to place it at the disposal of the King, who wished to bestow it upon the Earl of Hertford. Newcastle was " certain " that Lord Granby was incensed at this, and that he now saw his own promotion to be a compensation for his father's removal.^ Walpole confidently assumed that the affair was " a bargain," ^ and the critics in general unani- mously declared it to have been effected to the mutual displeasure of both father and son. The facts are to be found elsewhere. Lord Chatham ^ told the Duke of Grafton how the Duke of Rutland had " in the most handsome and noble manner offered his office, through Lord Granhy, for the accommodation of the King's Service." And * He had applied to the Duke of Newcastle for some minor Household post. - Lord Ligonier lived in what was then known as Brumpton Park. ^ Newcastle Papers, September 17, 1766. " " Memoirs of the Keign of George III." 5 Chatham Correspondence, August 23, 1766, 1766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 323 the King commanded Lord Chatham "to convey his approbation to the Duke of Rutland for his very meritorious conduct ; and to Lord Granby for his zeal, and speedy success, in the delicate trans- action he had been entrusted with " ^ — viz. to represent to his father that his resignation would greatly aid Lord Chatham ; an end which the Duke was ever ready to promote. Matters were proceeding much too smoothly with the " ins " to please the " oufcs," and the Duke of Newcastle impatiently exclaimed, " Pitt is mad, and drunk with his own unlimited power." ^ Whatever others were inclined to forget, Chatham was firm upon one point : he insisted upon observing the distinction between — "... th()S{3 rare acts which honour taught Our daring sons, where Granby fought ; Or those which, with superior skill, Sackv^ille achieved by standing still.^' Lord George Sackville was dismissed from the office into which the Rockingham party had foolishly thrust him when Chatham's acceptance of office was so much desired. The dismissal was com- prehensible enough ; but Lord Chatham's petulant, irritable conduct at this eagerly awaited moment, when his presiding influence should have allayed the " party " spites, so long and systematically denounced by him, was the precursor of the nervous breakdown under which he was soon fated to disappear. Newcastle was nearer truth than he imagined in saying " Pitt is mad," for the latter commenced dismissing the Rockingham followers, who still remained in the Government, at a rate which offended General Conway, drove others to resignation, including the Lord Chamberlain, and threw the Rockingham party into a condition of definite opposition at last. In less than no time opposition plots and schemes were afoot among the " Bedfords," the " Rockinghams," and the " Grenvilles," whom a fresh outburst of riots throughout England served to assist. A strong foreign demand for corn ran prices up to such an abnormal height that the populace revolted at the consequent dearness of bread ; in some districts the farmers and butchers were terrorized into selling, to the rioters, wheat at bs. a bushel, and meat at 2J^. to M. the Ib.^ The Adjutant General informed Lord Granby that the magistrates were petitioning against the removal, from rural districts, ' Chatham Correspondence, August 22, 17GG. ^ Newcastle Papers, Sei)tember 9, 1766. Tlie Duke of Newcastle had great difficulty in exchanging the name of " Pitt " for the Earl of Chatham. ^ " The Ghost," Churchill's Poems. * Gentleman's Magazine. 17CG. 324 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1766. of troops for the usual autumn reviews, which Granby consequently abandoned.^ Addresses prayed the King to forbid the exportation of corn ; and the Government proposed, as a necessary expedient, to place an embargo upon wheat and barley. The legahty of this measure was challenged — not from any motives of legislative purity, but from the chance that offered to snatch a party triumph. In the opposition no one was busier than George Grenville, who eagerly sought to divide the House upon side issues which might lose votes to Ministers. Words ran high, and much abusive language in the House of Commons was directed against Lord Chatham.^ This was precisely the conduct which Lord Granby abhorred, and denounced. At the close of a stormy debate he rose, and made a spirited declaration in vindication of Lord Chatham, who had been compared to Lord Strafford, astonishing one,^ at least, of his audience by his knowledge of the history of Strafford's time.* Upon this Grenville had the assurance to pretend to be hurt at what he con- sidered as a personal injury to himself.^ Also, Newcastle wrote — " I hear my old friend Granby made an extraordinary figure the other day in the House of Commons from the same place whence he had, some little time ago, paid the same compliment to Mr. George Grenville." ^ Granby had stoutly defended Grenville, both in and out of office, from factious, personal attacks ; and was now similarly defending Lord Chatham from onslaughts of Grenville's backed by his friends, of the hour, in opposition. Grenville whined under Granby 's vigorous denunciation of such tactics in spite of having carefully recorded, a short while previously, Granby's plain warning to him that any conduct which " could carry with it the air of peevish, or factious opposition," was contrary to Granby's ideas, and would meet with his condemnation.' Mr. Grenville's Diary, during his period of power, teems with quotations from Lord Granby's expressions of goodwill towards him ; but, after this proof of how little they were deserved, Granby's admiration underwent a notable contraction. The hopelessness of ever reconciling the ideas and aims of a public man of Granby's character with those of the opportunist class into which most professional politicians seem fated, sooner or later, to sink, is laid remarkably bare in the correspondences of his period. No » Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 288. 2 " There was a great deal of personality about Lord Chatham." — Newcastle Papers : George Onslow to Newcastle. ^ George Onslow, * Newcastle Papers, December 5, 1766. 5 Ibid. « Ibid. ^ See ante, pp. 312, 313. 1766.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. sooner did the chance offer of combining some of the strongest men in an Administration than processes of disintegration set in. Lord Chatham's implacable conduct towards Lord Rockingham placed the latter's following in the Opposition ; and, failing to secure the Bedford interest, Chatham proceeded to enlist some of the former supporters of Lord Bute. The Duke of Newcastle instantly clutched at the " Bedfords," elaborating scheme after sclieme to fuse them with the " Rockinghams," the " Yorkes," and the " Grenvilles." The sole basis of unanimity among these " Corps," as Rockingham appropriately called them, was to act (as the Irishman said) " agin the Government," and they could not even play that simple game with any regard for their partners' "hands." For instance, the annual vote for fixing the rate of the Land Tax came on ; the tax had long stood at 4s., and it transpired that George Grenvillc intended to move its reduction by l.s., a scheme which would be supported by the County Members on both sides of the House, who would not dare risk wounding their constituencies in the vital region of the pocket. Instead of cordially acting with Grenvillc, the Duke of Newcastle, together with Lord Rockingham, moved heaven and earth to " dish " Grenvillc and secure this promising motion for their "corps." They got the lead, and put up Mr. Dowdeswell to propose the reduction ; Grenvillc supported, instead of introducing his own measure, and, the County Members going solidly for the reduction, it brought about a defeat, by eighteen votes, to the Government.^ The Marquis of Granby and Sir AVilliani Maynard (Member for Essex) were almost the only County ^lembers who dared risk their local popularity by voting against this shabby party plot,- the framers of which, as a body, neutralized the advantage of their victory by their jealous claims, as separate factions, to the credit of it. The imposing subject of the relation in which the Crown was to stand to the conquests of the East India Company was fought upon the same lines ; and Lord Chatham's firm advocacy of Imperial rights over the territories acquired was maintained in the Commons by Lord Granby, General Conway, Colonel Barrc, and Alderman Beckford, the leader of Chatham's city supporters.^ Upon certain points Conway and Charles Townshend were * Newcastle Papers. - Ibid., and Wulpole's Memoirs of the Reign of George III." ^ The Alderman was often ironically styled " Minister Beckford." 326 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1767. suspected of disunion with their colleagues on the East Indian question/ so several carefully baited motions were introduced with a view to enticing them to vote against Ministers. The Duke of Newcastle was told that the King was sure it was he who stirred up all the opposition, and his Grace wrote, with a sort of timorous satisfaction, of an intended attack upon himself, in the House of Lords, by Lord Chatham for having factiously promoted the reduction of the Land Tax.^ To counteract this opposition, assurances were spontaneously given by the King of his support to the Government ; and it was even said that His Majesty intended making Lord Chatham Duke of Kent as an earnest to certain wavering adherents, as well as open opponents, who were endeavouring to force Lord Chatham into retirement.^ Lord Chatham's increasing abstention from the councils of his colleagues, who were too Httle in accord to act long in unison except under strong control, gave rise to fresh schemes for reconciling the various interests, in " opposition," by including them in the Govern- ment. These schemes were one and all frustrated by the impracti- cability of individual men, who would make no personal sacrifice for the common good ; while the "Duke of Grafton's very perfunctory performance of the Prime Minister's office placed a great deal of influence in the hands of General Conway,* who was particularly disliked by the man most difficult to conciliate — the Duke of Bedford. Lord Granby grew so weary of the higgling factions which always barred, sooner or later, the way towards fusion and political peace, that he resolved to retire from Parliament.^ He was more particularly impatient with the Duke of Bedford's unreasonable dislike of General Conway that supplied one of the main causes of friction, and disagreement, during the consultations. Not a trace is apparent in the Newcastle Papers of any participation in these bargainings and negotiations by either the Duke of Rutland, or the Marquis of Granby, though no Administration was sketched which did not include Granby as Commander-in-Chief, and Master-General of the Ordnance. More congenial occupation to political intrigues ' See NeAvcastle Papers, March 5, 1767, etc. 2 Ibid., March 12, 1767. ^ Ibid., J. West to Newcastle. 4 Grenville Papers, July 24, 1767. ^ In reference to one of the many parliamentary " scenes " which occurred at the time Sir Charles Frederick wrote to Lord Granby : " Many high words passed, and much scurrility — there was no decency of debate. God knows when it will end. . . . Aristocracy seems to be the proposed mode of this Constitution by the Opposition." —Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 291. 1767.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 327 Granby found in preparing the Reviews of the troops by the King, and his ordinary official work ; in attending the Duke of York at a ceremony, and dinner, in aid of the funds of the London Hospital ; in presiding at a meeting of Generals, and Field Officers, for the purpose of raising a fund for the support of destitute widows, and children, of soldiers dying in His Majesty's Service ; in receiving deputations of subalterns, on half -pay, with a view to an amelioration of their condition ; or in recommending Memorials to the Treasury on behalf of aggrieved officers who had suffered various " red-tape " hardships during the late war.^ Intending, apparently, to find fault with Granby, Lord George Sackvillc attacked the Government upon the disposition of troops in America. Lord Granby in reply informed Lord George that he was sorry the plan of disposition was unsatisfactory to him, as it had been drawn by his (Lord George's) own particular friend General Amherst.- The General Election approached which was to usher in one of the most important Parliaments on record. Lord Chatham's followers had been labouring for some time to induce Granby to reconsider his intention to retire,^ and his name was mentioned in connection with the University of Cambridge instead of the county. A letter from Lord Hardwicke suddenly urged the Duke of Newcastle to lose no time in seeing the Duke of Rutland, as he (Hardwicke) understood that Lord Granby was so annoyed at the Duke of Bedford's factious conduct that he intended standing again for the county of Cambridge,* if not for the University. What the precise dilemma amounted to is not clear ; but apparently the Yorke family, having convinced themselves too prematurely of Granby's retirement, had made arrangements in Cambridgeshire, any alteration of which they feared would cause disturbance in that county. The Duke of Rutland first assured Newcastle that he had long ago determined to give up all thoughts about elections ; the points suggested by the Duke of Newcastle should be submitted to Lord Granby, whose exclusive business they were ; and, in the Duke of Rutland's opinion, Granby would not choose, yet, to leave the House of Commons. Charles Yorke continued his endeavours to avert a * Newcastle Papers ; Gentleman's Magazine, 1765-7 ; Letter from General Mostyn on behalf of Colonels of Dragoons, March 3, 1766 ; Rutland MSS., vol. ii,, March 8, 1766, etc. * See Newcastle Papers, 1767. Jeffry Amherst was a neighbour, and prot€g€, of the Sackville family. =» Ibid., May 12, 1767. ■« Ibid., May 8, 1767. 328 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1767. contest in Cambridgeshire, concerning which he at last reported a meeting between Lord Hardwicke and Lord Granby, which resulted in " a new sacrifice to the peace of the county and a new proof of Lord Hardwicke's friendship to Lord Grranby." ^ Charles Yorke was to stand for the University of Cambridge, and Lord Granby, and Sir J. Hynde Cotton, for the county. Meanwhile schemes for the founding of a new Ministry continued. The Duke of Grafton suggested one^ which should include his former colleagues the Eockingham Whigs, as well as Newcastle's old following. Lord Eockingham, who was to be Premier, asked the Duke of Newcastle whether he, or his friends, would desire either Lord Granby, or the Lord Chancellor, Lord Camden, to be excluded from such an Administration. Newcastle replied that, against Lord Granby, he had no objections whatever ; but, as to Lord Camden,^ it was well known that the Yorkes would never be satisfied until Charles Yorke had the Great Seal, an appointment which would cost the valuable support of Lord Mansfield.* George III. signified, through the Duke of Grafton, his approval of this proposed Ministry "based upon comprehensive principles, and which should exclude no denomination of men attached to his Majesty's person and Government," ^ and that he was favourable to the inclusion of Lord Camden and the Bedford party. Lord Albe- marle ^ announced the consent of Lord Temple and George Grenville to serve under Lord Eockingham, in order to quash finally the Bute interest at Court, and General Conway was to lead in the House of Commons. A meeting was convened at the Duke of Bedford's house, which instantly silenced these conciliatory advances. The Duke said he had understood it was settled that General Conway should return to his profession of the Army, in which his Grace was ready to assist his promotion to the utmost ; but, as a Civil Minister and Leader of the Commons, the Duke objected to Conway abso- lutely. Lord Eockingham, who insisted on Conway's inclusion, was furious with the Duke of Bedford ; the whole transaction broke down, and the decks were cleared for the approaching Election, which was fought with a heat of prophetic similarity to that which was to inflame the future Parliament. The Marquis of Granby, as General Conway's friend, was still 1 Newcastle Papers, June 29, 1767. « j^j^^ j^jy 4^ 1767. ^ Chief Justice Pratt had heen created Lord Camden hy Lord Rockingham in accordance with Pitt's known desires. * Newcastle Papers, July 4, 1767. 5 Ibid., July 17, 1767. « Ibid., July 12, 1767. 1767.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 329 further mortified by the Duke of Bedford's obstinacy, and, as all efforts to extend a share in the Government to all parties were systematically frustrated, the Marquis threw himself, from this moment, heart and soul into the Election ; determined, as the mal- contents would not join the Government, to strengthen the latter sufficiently to act without them. A meeting took place at Cambridge to select the county candidates, and, on Lord Hardwicke's behalf, Charles Yorke proposed the Marquis of Granby " as a person of the greatest distinction, probity, and worth, esteemed by the King, and respected and honoured by the nation." ^ Yorke then proposed Sir J. Hynde Cotton as the Manjuis' colleague, and both were seconded by Lord Montfort. The meeting unanimously adopted the two candidates, and was addressed by each. Lord Granby had lately acquired property at Bramber, in Sussex, for which borough it was decided to nominate Thomas Thoroton by withdrawing him from Newark, a seat he had held since 17C1 in the Pelham interest. A new candidate was chosen for Newark, vice Thoroton, by Lord Lincoln and the Manners family; Lord Lincoln having long ago bought the Duke of Newcastle's property in that borough. Newcastle was greatly enraged about this, asserting that Lord Lincoln had covenanted to let the Newark interest remain in his hands, as previous to the purchase ; and that it was promised that the seat should be resigned to no one but Newcastle's nominee when his Grace originally decided " on bringing in Lord Granby's friend Mr. Thoroton — and a Fool I was," added Newcastle, "for doing so." Lord Mansfield was eventually appealed to by Lord Lincoln to settle this disputed family patronage. Both Lord Lincoln and his Newark agent denied the existence of the agreement with the Duke of Newcastle, and the hitter's correspondence, at the date of his communications with the Duke of Rutland and Thoroton, contains no trace of it. Newcastle accepted a compromise proposed by Lord Mansfield, but refused to be convinced by the circumstances which all proved him wrong, and endeavoured to stir Lord Rocking- ham up to similar wrath by threatening to resign the Lieutenancy of Nottinghamshire,^ and Wardenship of Sherwood Forest, which would be sure to devolve upon Lord Lincoln. "What will then become of the Whig interest in Nottinghamshire when it is at the discretion of My Lord Lincoln and lily Lord Granby, and the present Administration ? " demanded Newcastle. The selection of candidates, and prospects of the coming struggle, ' Newcastle Papers, September 25, 1767. - Restored to hiiu during the Rockiughani Ministry. 330 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1767. gave rise to several curious episodes. Upon a refusal of the Duke of Dorset, and Lord George Sackville, to support a brother of the Duke of Richmond at Chichester, the Duke of Newcastle sent on a groom, who had but just returned to Claremont with the news from Goodwood, to inquire of Lord Albemarle ^ whether the Duke of Richmond had not been " very loud against Sackville about the Battle of Minden." ^ In his new-born intimacy with the Dorset family it never occurred to Newcastle that his own thirst for Lord George's blood in 1760 could have anything to do with the question. On another occasion the absence of Lord Dudley from a debate in the House of Lords prompted inquiries as to his "soundness." Lord Sandwich wrote to the Duke of Newcastle — " I enquired the cause of Lord Dudley's absence at our last question, and find it was mere accident. His Lordship is a thorough lover of his country, but he loves a good dinner almost as much, and always eats a whole hare to his own share when he is so fortunate as to get one.^' ^ Newcastle was in frequent correspondence with Lord Winterton about the Bramber prospects, of which borough Sir Henry Gough had till then been sole proprietor — " Lord Granby has bought all the ' Windsor ' * votes at Bramber of Mr. Ambler, and . . . intends bringing in Mr. Ambler at the coming Election , and is endeavouring to secure the other seat also." ^ Respecting Shoreham, Newcastle wrote to Admiral Keppel — "The violent exertion of Ministerial power to the choice of the new Parliament, more than ever was known since the Revolution will, one time or other, be thought a grievance to be enquired into. And the entry of the great Marquis of Granby into Shoreham (where I believe his name was scarce ever known) with an Irish Lord ^ in his hand, and into Bramber in support of a lawyer, one Mr. Ambler, who stands upon the old Windsor interest that is now the new Bute interest, are events that will not pass by quite unnoticed. I think his Lordship will succeed in neither." In Derbyshire Lord Granby supported Sir Henry Harpur's candidature, concerning which many letters are among the Rutland MSS.« On the 24th of November, 1767, the expiring House of Com- mons met, and the King's Speech^ advised his faithful Commons ^ At Bagshot, ^ Lord Blaney. 2 Newcastle Papers, July 9, 1767. ^ Newcastle Papers, November 12, 1767. Ibid., June 5, 1767. « Vol. ii. p. 292, etc. •* i.e. the "Court" votes. ^ Newcastle Papers. 5 Newcastle Papers, October 4, 1767. I767-I768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, to encourage harmony among themselves, and assured them of the Royal intention to favour anything which promoted union. George Grenville spoke in a mood hostile to all sides, incm'ring thereby the Duke of Newcastle's displeasure ; and losing the recently acquired alliance of the Bedford faction. So much for Harmony and Union ! The Duke of Newcastle at this period retired to Bath feeling very ill and weak, and was treated with the accustomed tonic of blood-letting ; he was presently seized with his first " stroke of palsy," during which his chaplain and secretary, Mr. Hurdis, con- ducted his correspondence. Newcastle soon recovered sufficiently to make eager inquii'ies for Election tidings, and Mr. West sent him a programme of Lord Granby's doings : — " Lord Granby told me this day he should set out for Great Grimsby on Tuesday next and give an entertainment there on Friday ; that the Monday following he should give a supper and Ball at Scarboro'. The Thursday afterwards he should go to Bramber where he was extremely sorry he should clash with my relation Lord Winterton. I told his Lordship that he had a great deal of business on his hands, and advised him to let the latter place alone, as it would be ineffectual, from all accounts. Lord Granby said he was pledged too far to relinquish it till he saw more ; that he would have compounded it with Osbaldestone at Scarboro' ; but that now, having been accepted he should bring in Thoroton there." ^ Concerning this letter Newcastle remarked to iiord Rockingham, " My Lord Granby goes on at a fine rate ! " Lewes proved the sharpest thorn of all in Newcastle's side. He chose Colonel Hay in the Pelham interest, to which Lewes had since years belonged. At the last moment Newcastle supplanted Hay with a fresh nominee, but Hay and his friends persisted in their canvass, and he was triumphantly returned after a specially violent and bitter contest. Newcastle was more mortified by this defeat than by any other, and the form of his resentment affords an illustration of the electioneering ethics of his day. His Grace directed his agent to repair to the Constables ^ of Lewes, and to declare to them for the information of that town that his Grace withdrew his concern for their interest and emolument, as a town ; he also withdrew the plate which the town held from him for use ' Newcastle Papers, February 7, 1768. - The Constable was an important otHccr of a township who ranked after the Sheriff and the Justices of the Peace. See a paper " The OflSce of Constable," Evglish Uistorical Btview, vol. x., October, 1895. 332 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1767-1768. at balls and ceremonies, and declared that he would neither attend, nor contribute to, their diversions, nor attempt to fix the Assizes at Lewes. Such of the Duke's tenants who had voted against him were to receive notice to quit at Michaelmas following ; and such of his tradesmen, who had similarly offended, were to be paid up to date and never employed again. ^ The contest in Cumberland and Westmoreland, between the Duke of Portland and Sir James Lowther, a connection of Lord Bute's, was a typically notorious one. The Duchess of Newcastle, while with her husband at Bath, heard the Duke of Bedford relate, in the " Coffee-room " there, that Sir James Lowther declared he would any day spend £20,000 in order to make the Duke of Portland spend £15,000 ; as he, Lowther, could hold out longer, and his intention was to ruin Portland. ^ The Marquis of Granby's efforts throughout the country met with considerable results. George Yernon,^ writing from Dublin, offered congratulations on the success of the Marquis' friends in all quarters, " only I can't see the name of my friend Thoroton . . . wherever you pit him I wish him success." * Thoroton and Ambler, in Granby's interest, were in due time pitted against Lord Winterton and Mr. Lowndes, in that of Sir Henry Gough, at Bramber : " We shall meet with a very strong contest there, as my Lord Granby has, I hear, a view of making it a family borough. But sure the whole county of Sussex will be able to prevent that." ^ The result of the election was — In spite of this apparently decisive majority the election was subsequently reversed, on petition, in Lord Granby's favour.^ The most pregnant news of all, furnished to the Duke of New- castle, was contained in a message he received from Brentford — " WilJces is much ahead. We left John Wilkes a fugitive, an outlaw, and still liable to the ^ Newcastle Papers. ^ Ibid. ^ Then practising as a barrister in Ireland, and an eager aspirant to the Irish Bench. * Eutland MSS., April 7, 1768. ^ Newcastle to Kichmond, May 8, 1768, Newcastle Papers. « See pp. 339, 340. For Lord Winterton and Mr. Lowndes For Mr. Thoroton and Mr. Ambler ... 181 16 Majority 165 I767-I768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 333 punishment which the Law should inflict so soon as he surrendered himself, or was taken. In October, 17GG, he had quietly returned from France, but retraced his steps on finding the Duke of Grafton indisposed to obtaining him a pardon. In March, 1768, he returned to London just when the public mind was becoming absorbed in the electioneering struggles, and boldly appealed to the King for pardon. His main object, like that of the entire genus Demagogue, was the acquirement of an income from some source or other ; so he first threw out suggestions of support to the Court. The King peremp- torily refused Wilkes' overtures, or to pardon him ; so Wilkes decided upon offering himself as an anti-ministerial candidate to whatsoever constituency would accept him. In the city of London he failed to be elected ; but his reappear- ance in the metropolis revived the riots and disorders which had flourished around the North Briton prosecution ; the unemployed and discontented portions of the population seeing in him a means of parading their grievances. Then, as happens now, the genuine " unemployed " were joined, and increased to portentous numbers, by the loafers, blackguards, and miscellaneous dregs of a great city : and the entire mass hailed Wilkes as its champion with " Liberty " as a watchword, and played that astute, plucky adventurer's game for him to his heart's content. He next off'ered himself to the county of Middlesex ; and thus commenced the celebrated " Middlesex Election " upon which centred, presently, one of the greatest of our struggles in the cause of constitutional Liberty. The story of that election is considerably more than a thrice-told tale. The chariots and coaches stopped, and chalked or scratched over window and panel with "No. 45," while their inmates were forced to shout for " Wilkes and Liberty ! " ; the Austrian Ambas- sador treated to a sort of " frog's-march," with " 45 " chalked upon the pathetically exposed soles of his shoes ; the house windows demolished ; the blue cockades forcibly affixed to the hats of hordes of inwardly protesting wearers of Wilkes' badge — these are but a few of the mob's humours which are matters of recorded history. Knightsbridge was a specially busy scene of riot and faction- fight. The Brentford mob, coming eastwards, met there the London mob making westwards ; heads and windows were broken with zealous profusion, and at a rate which left small time to waste in discrimination between friend and foe. Rutland House and its inmates were, at that moment, much beholden to the high railing 334 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1767-1768. which protected its frontage from the increased delirium derived by the crazy masses from frantic demonstrations before Wilkes' neighbouring house in Kensington Gore. On the polling days the mob took possession of the western extremity of Piccadilly, and of all the turnpikes on the roads leading to Brentford. Wilkes was elected March 28, and on the night of his success London struggled helplessly in the hands of the rioters, who smashed the windows of every house that was not illuminated. Lord Bute's house in South Audley Street (No. 75) was attacked, and every window wrecked, two large flint stones reaching the interior of a room where Lady Bute lay ill.i The total result of the Greneral Election was strongly in favour of the existing Ministry, the historical reputation of which was fated to stand or fall by its capacity to discriminate between Wilkes the charlatan, and Wilkes the elected representative of an important constituency. Among some Latin verses ^ composed at Westminster, respect- ing the conspicuous personalities of the 1768 Election, Granby was thus dealt with : — " Quod Granbaeus habet calvum caput, semulus ergo Stulte vult crines, vellere quisque suos. Virtutes rares Granbsei imitarier sequm est, Sed calvi capitis die mihi, quis sit honor ? " ^ Two important incidental changes occurred with the new Parlia- ment. Horace Walpole was not a member of it, having announced his intention of retiring from the representation of Lynn in March, 1767 and Mr. John Calcraft ^ was returned for Rochester, becom- ing very soon a most important personage among Lord Chatham's adherents. Among other changes General Mostyn ceased to sit for Malton, having succeeded to a new position as Governor of ^ Among a list of characters sustained at a masquerade appears " A political Bedlamite, run mad for ' Wilkes and Liberty ' and" No. 45.' " — Malcolm's " Anec- dotes of London," vol. ii. p. 274. 2 Newcastle Papers : Samuel Smith to the Duke of Newcastle. ^ Done into doggrel this may be read : — " Granby's adorers his bald head imitate, And senselessly denude of hair their pate ; Eival rare Granby's virtues to the skies, But, pray ! What honour in mere baldness lies ? " ^ Walpole's Letters, March 13, 1767. ^ " The Court has lost it at Rochester, Calcraft and a Mr. Gordon are returned " (Gilly Williams to George Selwyn, March, 1768). 1767-1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, 335 Minorca ; ^ and his name scarcely appears again during Granby's lifetime.^ ' See ante, p. 286, note. - The new Parliament comprised the following names of incidental interest : — Cambridgeshire. — The Right Hon. the Marquis of Granby, Commander-in-Chief of H.M.'s Forces, Master-General of the Ordnance, and Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards Blue. Kingston-upon-HuU. — General Lord Robert Manners, Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and Lieut.-Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull. Grantham. — Lord George Manners Sutton. Scarborough. — Captain George Manners, 3rd King's Dragoons. Newark. — John Manners, Housekeeper at Whitehall. Bramber. — Thomas Thoroton (after the hearing of the Petition), Secretary to the Master- General of the Ordnance. Rochester. — John Calcraft. Middlesex. — John Wilkes. The Corporation of Rochester conveyed through Mr. Calcraft the presentation of the Freedom of that town upon the Marquis of Granby, Julv 10. 17GH. — Rutland MSS., vol. ii. 336 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. CHAPTER XXIX. Though victorious at the polls the Government had only acquired fresh difficulties to contend against, whilst losing its ablest leaders through a series of disastrous strokes of ill luck. These all tended to make the Duke of Grafton an actual Prime Minister, malgre lui, whereas hitherto he had been little more than a nominal one. At the time of the attempt to fuse the Grafton, Rockingham, and Bedford interests a correspondent of Lord Temple's wrote to him — " I perceive that Lord Granby and the rest of the Cabinet are dissatisfied with the Duke of Grafton's conduct in the management of the late negotia- tions, and I think that his (Grafton's) weariness of business made him leave more than he should have left in the hands of Conway." ^ Conway ^ had already been ruffled by Lord Chatham's imperious manners, and in January, 1768, he fell out with the Duke of Grafton, and resigned ; though George III. requested him to continue attending the Councils. Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer, had died during the thick of the canvassing ; and, most important of all, Lord Chatham was, in effect, as dead as Townshend was in fact. It was thus that the Cabinet, weakened and crippled, was sud- denly brought face to face with the Wilkes question, upon which it was hopelessly divided in opinion, at the same time that George III . would hear of no opinion at all ; but insisted that the expulsion of Wilkes from the House of Commons was a measure to be effected at all hazards, and at once. What Lord Chatham's counsels would have enjoined, had he been in a state to express them, might have been gathered from his line of conduct as far back as 1760. When the Court Martial found Lord George Sackville guilty, and his sentence was amplified by various disgraces, George II. was all eagerness to expel him from the ^ Grenville Papers : Mr. Hamilton to Lord Temple, July 24, 1767. 2 General Conway was made Lieut. -General of the Ordnance in succession to Lord Townshend, appointed Viceroy of Ireland. 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 337 House of Commons. William Pitt pointed out that, should Lord George be forthwith re-elected by one of the Sackville family boroughs, the Crown would find itself in a very uncomfortable predicament. This statesmanlike prescience of Pitt's George II. was wise enough to profit by. But in April, 1768, William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, was beUeved to have heard absolutely nothing of the Wilkes deadlock. " It seems universally acknowledged," wrote Mr. West to the Duke of Newcastle, " that Lord Chatham is past every advice, consultation, or even knowledge of publick measures . . . If Wilkes' incapacity to sit for Middlesex be intended, no one can foresee the result. Lord Granby says he believes the Session will be one of form only ; that though formerly, while there were two parties he might have said something with certainty, he can answer for nothing now that there are 200 ! " ^ After the reassembling of Parliament the Address was carried iiem. con. ; and the committal of Wilkes, under the original conviction, to the King's Bench Prison during twenty-two months (in addition to a heavy fine) removed him from public sight, though not from memory ; the pillory being only excluded from his sentence as more likely to advertise than to punish him. Serious riots occurred both before and after his imprisonment ; the Wilkes mob became a daily institution ; and the calling out of the military and the shooting of a rioter led to the trial of the officiating magistrate, and some soldiers of the 8rd Foot Guards who had been employed under the Riot Act. The Spitalfields ^ weavers to the number of some GOOO, the watermen, and journeymen con- nected with a variety of trades, took advantage of the turmoil to contribute their full share of lawlessness and intimidation ; and the city merchants were highly alarmed by a threat on the part of the sailors to set fire to the shipping lying in the Thames. Mass meetings were held daily, both Houses of Parliament were surrounded by a threatening rabble which insulted Members as they passed in or out, and rendered the air thick with the monotonous, beery cry of *' Wilkes and Liberty." Two thousand tailors in a body visited the House of Commons, but departed elsewhere after being assured that nothing could be done for them ; in fact there never was such a scene of social disorder, and widespread discontent. ' Newcastle Papers, May 3, 17G8. ^ Walpole mentions the killing of five or six people, on either side, about this time. ^ The Court still continued to wear materials exclusively of British manufacture in order to pacify the weavers. 22 338 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. A meeting was called at Lord North's, who succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer, to consider this grave crisis. Sir G-ilbert Elliot addressed it, and announced his intention of at once moving Wilkes' expulsion from the House of Commons, a determination which was violently advocated by the friends of Lord Bute. " Lord Granby, young Tommy Townshend, and Mr. Onslow were equally violently opposed to such a measure." Lord Granby said that the step proposed to be taken, at a juncture when the popular mind was so much inflamed, might produce the worst consequences, and even a RebelHon ; and that he was strongly opposed* to any such motion as that suggested by Sir Gilbert Elliot, which he should oppose to the utmost of his power.^ This declaration of Lord Granby 's considerably moderated Sir Gilbert Elliot's tone, and damped the "expulsion" party in the House of Commons. At the outset of this historic controversy Lord Granby was as sound in his judgment as Lord Chatham could have been, and as firm in his language. On Walpole's own authority we have it that in the House of Commons " General Conway was for procrastina- tion, and Lord Granby firm against compulsion ; " and that " Beck- ford from factious views, Hussey from integrity, and Lord Granby from candour, declared against so vigorous a measure " as the expul- sion of Wilkes. The term " candour " is rather inexpKcit in reference to Granby's motives, and opinions, as expressed at Lord North's meet- ing, or in the House of Commons ; but it may be read as implying sincerity, absence of prejudice, or love of fair play. In addition to being candid, however, it was nothing unusual for Granby to be found conspicuously active on the side of law and order in dangerous times ; but Walpole, in his Memoirs, must needs cast about for dirt to throw, and malice to suggest concerning this moment when Granby was on the right path, and Comuay was not. " To his (Granby's) lenity had been added the address of Calcraft who. having been treated with haughtiness and contempt by the Duke of Grafton on a late election,^ had seduced Granby from his attachment to the Court with art worthy of his master Lord Holland. Lord Granby was in his power by the money Calcraft had lent him ; and none of the enemies the Duke of Grafton raised every day proved a sharper thorn than Calcraft/' ^ This paragraph repeats Walpole's customary style of criticism, down to the invariable element of self-contradiction. What possible ' Newcastle Papers, May 16, 1768 : Newcastle to Kockingham. 2 Rochester, or Wareham. ^ WalpolCj " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 339 claim Granby's conduct might have advanced to " candour," had he been in the remotest degree guilty of any dishonourable subservience to Calcraft, Walpole does not explain. At the same date as the meeting at Lord North's, a motion was introduced in the Commons questioning the adequacy of the steps taken by the Government to suppress the riots ; Mr. Seymour express- ing his regret that the responsible Ministers had neither done their duty, nor were then in their places to explain themselves. Lord Granby replied, and insisted that the Government had done every- thing in its power, the best proof of which lay in the fact that mobs had ceased to collect about the King's Bench Prison. Admiralty yachts, and men of the Royal Navy, had been provided to assist merchants in protecting their freights in the Thames ; and as a result the merchant seamen were once more orderly. x\s to the tailors. Lord Granby was forced to laugh at them, and " guaranteed that they would disband as quickly as they had enlisted. If everything were restored to perfect quiet, as he thought would be the case in a week's time. Parliament should rise." ^ The lull in the storm, which Lord Granby pointed to, permits of a glance at his doings in regard to other topics. The Bramber Election Petition came on towards the end of 1768, and is interesting as one of the last tried under the old mode of procedure. Up to 1770 the House of Commons decided petitions very summarily, hearing them at the Bar of the House, and examin- ing witnesses who gave their evidence unsworn. The final decision was put to the House at large, and the voting was notoriously biassed by party ties, and personal sympathies. Upon these lines Lord Granby's and Sir Henry Gough's interests at Bramber were to be considered; and, with the Government majority at his back and his own immense popularity in the House, Lord Granby's chances of success were assured. Sooner than profit by this manifest advan- tage. Lord Granby proposed that the hearing of the Petition should be referred to a special Committee selected so as to better ensm-c the ends of justice : and he thus anticipated the great measure, known as the Trial of Controverted Elections Bill, which he and George Grenville introduced in 1770,^ and which was supported in the House of Lords by Lord Chatham. Lord Granby's suggestion was not followed ; and, as an instance of how political feeling may obscm'e judgment, Lord Rockingham's ' Newcastle Papers. May 16, 1768 : J. West to the Duke of Newcastle. - See p. 383. 340 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. misapprehension of his old friend's intentions is worth recording. He wrote to the Duke of Newcastle — " This attempt made by Lord Granby to bring the Bramber Petition from the Bar to a Committee has much the appearance of availing himself of power instead of trusting to meritt." ^ What the exact " meritt " was, on either side, one cannot now determine ; mutual charges of undue influence were made,^ but Lord Winterton and Mr. Lowndes had to give place to Mr. Thoroton and Mr. Ambler. An opinion on either hand may be quoted. The Duke of Newcastle remarked that he had always considered that Lord Winterton had acted very injudiciously at Bramber ; ^ and Mr. J ohn Hope * wrote that, though he considered the merits were not on Lord Granby's side, he could not vote against him, so paired on the Bramber Election with Mr. George Olive. This last admirably illustrates the principles (?) upon which election petitions were then decided, and the motives under which Lord Granby proposed the substitution of a Select Committee. In 1768 a pension of £2000 per annum was settled upon Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, charged in part upon the Irish Establish- ment.^ This was the outcome of an application made in 1767 by the Prince for the refunding of a considerable sum, which he claimed to have spent out of his own pocket to meet emergencies during the German War. General Conway moved that the sum in question should be voted ; but the House of Commons decided that all monies for which England was liable had been already paid to the Hanover Chancellerie to which the Prince should address his claim. Lord Granby eagerly advocated the petition of his old comrade and chief ; and was bitterly annoyed at the decision of the Commons, among whom a small section, only, supported the Prince from fear that his military genius might be placed at the disposal of France by a rebuff from England following upon his quarrel with Frederick the Great. George III. was probably actuated by similar considerations in granting the pension.® The Cabinet had decided upon forcing Lord Shelburne, who had long been opposed to it, into resignation. A slight improve- ment in Lord Chatham's health was made the occasion by him to retire from the Government, October 12, 1768 ; and Lord Shelburne, ^ Newcastle Papers, November 12, 1768. 2 Journals of the House of Commons. ^ Newcastle Papers. * To Lord Hope, January 24, 1769: " Tracts relating to Wilkes" (Almon). Kutland MSS., January 6, 1768 : Lord Townshend to Lord Granby. " Walpole's " Memoirs of the Reign of George TIL," and ante, pp. 262, 263. 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. without apprizing his colleagues, then tendered his own resigna- tion.i Lord Rockingham despatched the news ^ to the Duke of New- castle, who became quickly engrossed in excited anticipation as to the effect of Chatham's retirement upon the political situation. The Duke despatched letters to sound his friends as to their intended course of action,^ and begging them to attend the opening of Parlia- ment which he awaited with eager interest."* Suddenly he was seized with a fainting fit, and his Chaplain wrote at midnight of November 14, 1768, to say that his Grace was lying in a state of extreme precariousness. On the 17th the Duke of Newcastle passed unconsciously from the scene of busy life in which to the last he was still comparatively active. "My old kinsman and contemporary," wrote Lord Chesterfield,^ " is at last dead ; and, for the first time, quiet." Walpole, writing at the moment, was decently reticent. "The Duke of Newcastle is dead of a stroke of the palsy. He had given up politics ever since — his illness a few month's ago ! " ® The Newcastle Papers prove his Grace, on the contrary, to have been devoted to politics to the end ; and he may almost be said to have died with a sketch of a reconstituted Cabinet in his hand. A strangely complex character was his, to which justice has never yet been done ; and, mayhap, never will be. His faults, and follies were so conspicuously massed in the foreground of his nature that what merit lay there, or beyond, was overlooked rather than merely underestimated.^ He consequently fell an easy prey to every cheap satirist and hack-writer, as well as to such a master of studied and polished detraction as his immortal enemy, Horace Walpole. It was a trick of Walpole's to loot an enemy of his admitted virtues, as well as to attack him in the vulnerable regions of vice or foible ; a system which, at first sight, deprives the victim of every redeeming element. In describing Newcastle as " a Duke without money " Walpole omits the origin of this impecuniosity ; and, in twitting him with possessing every incentive to extravagance save generosity, the characteristic attempt is made to rob him of the most conspicuous item among his brightest traits. At an early date in his career the Duke made over ' Newcastle Papers, October 21-28, 1768. 2 Ibid., October IG, 1768. ^ See Newcastle Papers. * " I own the scene is so curious that I am not easy without seeing some of you every day to talk it over." — Newcastle to Bessborough, October 21, 1768 (Newcastle Papers). » Letters. « Letters, November 18, 1768. ^ " His vanity and some defects of character exposed him to ridicule and obscured his real merits as a statesman, and man — h e was neither without his talents or his virtues." — " Lectures on Modern History " (Professor Smith, 1811). 342 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. half of his patrimony to his brother, Henry Pelham ; ^ he was a lavishly kind and liberal relation, friend, or patron ; and he evinced the most consistent, and contemptuous indifference to the pecuniary advantages attaching to the power which he loved so well, and so unwisely. 2 To the Whig cause — as he understood it — he devoted his fortune, thus reducing his rent-roll from £25,000 to £6000 a year, in spite of which he twice refused the pension offered by George III. in recognition of the Duke's many services to the House of Hanover.^ Among little known, and rarely quoted, memoirs of people who had no object in view beyond recording their experiences, ample testi- monies may be found to Newcastle's good qualities, especially outside the pale of politics.* A strict observance of this clear line of demarcation between his public, and private, character is remarkable on the part of all his juster critics. When he was quite a young man Lady M. Wortley Montagu wrote of him : " He is very silly, but very good-natured ; " ^ and this phrase applies to his whole after career in regard to his public eccentricities as contrasted with his exemplary domestic, and conjugal life. One's mind refuses to credit that the hysterical, fawning, affected, sycophantic manners which marked Newcastle the Minister, and Courtier,^ could have been habitual to him amid the throng of soldiers, sailors, sportsmen, and hard-living eighteenth-century gentlemen who, with other sorts and conditions of humanity, received and appreciated his princely hospitality at Newcastle House, and Claremont, or during Lewes Race-week. Lord Granby, or General Mostyn, for instance, could never have enter- tained for such an effete travesty of a man the genuine affection which they undoubtedly felt towards Newcastle as he appeared to ^ Coxe's " Memoirs of the Pelham Administration," 2 Sir Horace Mann, wishing to curry favour with the Duke of Newcastle, pro- posed passing off upon him (as a Benvenuto Cellini) a coffee-pot received as a gift from Horace Walpole. Walpole disapproved the idea, saying, " I never heard a suspicion of the Duke's taking presents ; and should think he would he affronted." — " Mann and Manners at the Court of Florence " (Dr. Doran). ^ " That generous nohleman . . . was never accused, as his enemies own, of hoarding up a penny of his own or any other man's money." — Political Tracts : Letter to Earl Temple. " The world will own that I'm a gen'rous host — That, in my country's cause both night and day, Pve sweated all my substance quite away." (" The ConcHiad," Political Tracts). " Such, for example, as the " Memoirs of Mr. J. Cradock ; " or Mrs. Carter's Letters. ^ Letters, vol, i. p. 211. ® " The same ministerial attention of hugs and squeezes, and kind inquiries after children unborn, and wives never in being" (in allusion to Newcastle: "Letter from J. Wilkes, in Paris, to a Noble Member of the Club in Albemarle Street, 1764," Political Tracts), See also the well-known descriptions by Walpole, etc. 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 343 them in the intimacy of " everyday " life — an intimacy which was only impaired by Newcastle's incorrigible scheming after Greorge III.'s accession. As a statesman, the Duke attained to none of the higher levels of achievement ; he was a placeman, not a statesman ; yet his long supremacy could absolutely not have been maintained by mere borough influence and jobbery, unless backed by some degree of official ability and knowledge of affairs ; ^ otherwise he should have been in nowise more immovable from power than those whom he turned out without being, in turn, ejected by any one of them.2 Of his extraordinary energy, untiring industry, and business-like habits, proof positive exists in the Newcastle Papers, which, besides their breadth of range, contain innumerable evidences of the Duke's power to reproduce from memory, either in detail or in precis form, long conversations, or proceedings at Council, and political conferences. Of his courtesy, tact, and faculty for conducting a difficult negotiation, "Walpole himself supplies a valuable testimony,^ of which not a syllable is to be found in his well-known pen-portrait of the Duke, which even Macaulay seemed to accept ; though declaring in the same Essay * that Walpole '* copied from the life only those glaring and obvious peculiarities which could not escape the most superficial observation." The Rockingham Memoirs contain a peculiarly striking character of Newcastle as compared to that most commonly received : like the rest it may not be acceptable, as a whole, to everyone ; but it forcibly indicates the inevitable " other side " to the question. "He was courteous, affable, accessible, humane, a warm friend, a placable enemy. . . . Upon his private life rested no stain, and in an age of political immorality he was one of the most personally disinterested men of his day." * Still more striking is the following declaration. In comparing Newcastle with Pitt, Lord Shelburne, who knew both men well, wrote — " There was nothing to which he, Pitt, would not stoop to gain his point. . . . The Duke of Newcastle was, at bottom, an honester man ; but he lost the reputation of one by good nature, and want of resolution in conducting the patronage of the Treasury." ^ ' See an article by Basil Williams in the English Historical Review^ vol. xii. p. 448, entitled, " The Duke of Newcastle, and the Election of 1734." 2 As Walpole wrote in " Memoirs of the Reign of George II." 3 See ante, p. 803, and note. * " H. Walpole's Letters to Sir H. Mann " (Macaulay). * " Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham," vol. i. p. 13. " "Life of Lord Shelburne," by Lord E. Fitzmaurice, vol. i. p. 84. 344 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. Upon the abnormally morbid intensity with which the Duke revelled in political intrigue, and hole-and-corner transaction, whether in or out of office, many have tried their hands ; but none so happily as Burke, in saying that Newcastle "hurt himself by his itch of negotiation." ^ No words could more fitly convey the ruling passion, and worst blemish, of a life which has been too exclusively judged upon the evidence of wits whose trade was to amuse ; ^ or of critics into whose aims there entered neither justice, nor its appanage of mercy. With the termination of the Duke of Newcastle's correspondence an end is reached of the most valuable source of information con- cerning Lord Granby at the very moment when more light is needed upon the subject of the great mistake of his career. The King con- tinued obdurate on the Wilkes question ; and the Court party started every side issue, and utilized every argument which might tend to shake the resolution of those who declared against " expulsion." At the head of these in the House of Commons was a triumvirate of which the most influential figure was Lord Granby ; next came General Conway, whose " procrastination " had given way, tem- porarily, to firm decision ; and the hero of Quiberon Bay, Sir Edward Hawke, completed this worthy group. George III.'s opinion of these men, and estimate of the power wielded by them so long as they remained united, we have in His Majesty's own words expressed to Lord Hertford, and repeated by the latter to Horace Walpole. " The King, with emotion, told Lord Hertford how much he was hurt that Wilkes must continue to sit; for Lord Granby, Sir Edward Hawke, and General Conway had told the Duke of Grafton that they would oppose his expulsion. That Lord North was wilhng to undertake the service, but that it could not he attempted against three such men, who were in truth three of the most respected characters in the house." ^ Upon some technical matters raised concerning the legality of certain writs issued respecting Wilkes, and the 1)011(1 fides of some of the evidence brought against him, Granby, Conway, and Hawke ^ Edmund Burke to the Marquis of Eockingham, October 29, 1769. 2 The Earl of Albemarle was one of the few writers who had access to the Newcastle Papers when they were still in private keeping, he stated : " But his contemporaries would see only the superficial and ridiculous points of Newcastle's character. . . . His talents were not sufficiently appreciated. They were far above mediocrity." — " Memoirs of the Marquis of Eockingham," vol. i. p. 12. 3 " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III." 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 345 voted with the Government, as these had no bearing upon the question of expulsion. And, in regard to Lord Granby, three incidental occurrences in the House of Commons, which have sur- vived those pre-reporting days, exhibit him in pursuit of his fixed ideal of impartiality, and fair play, during this phase of the perse- cution of John Wilkes by the King and Government. A letter written by the Secretary at War, Lord Barrington, con- veying his thanks to the 3rd Foot Guards for tlieir conduct at the King's Bench Riots, was dragged into debate ; and the circumstances of their employment, and Lord Barrington's conduct in thanking them, were discussed with great warmth. Lord Granby, speaking as Commander-in-Chief, said that it was always with much concern that he heard of the military being called out ; though, if the necessity arose, and the men behaved themselves well, acting under no orders save those of the Civil Magistrates, they deserved the public thanks. As to Lord Barrington's letter that was alluded to, he should say nothing upon it, since, in his situation, it was impos- sible for him not to join with the noble Secretary at War in vindi- cating his character.^ A seditious placard having been posted up at the corner of Bond Street, a crowd collected round it ; harangues were delivered, and a disturbance was imminent. The text of the placard consisted of an adaptation of Oliver Cromwell's speech on dismissing the Long Parliament ; and conveyed the idea, in uncomplimentary terms, that the Parliament then in session should bo similarly treated. Colonel Onslow, M.P., who was passing, pluckily took the notice down, and, on December 9, 1708,2 drew the attention of the House to the writer of it, upon which a discussion arose as to whether the latter had intended his remarks against the House of Commons. Lord North was of opinion that the placard directly concerned Parlia- ment, and that notice should be taken of it. Sir John Mawbey, Member for Southwark and a friend of Wilkes, dissented, scouting the idea that the paper could be construed into an insult to the House. Sir John's tone probably betrayed a note of insincerity, for Lord Granby rose, exclaiming with considerable warmth, that he did not know what the honourable Member meant by saying the placard was not intended as an insult to the House of Commons. Under the same circumstances he (Granby) was sure that the Member for Southwark would have done the same as the honourable and gallant gentleman (Colonel Onslow) had done. " A libel, as against Ministers, ' Cavendish Debates. - Ibid. 346 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1768. or private men, was the cruellest thing in this world but when anything libellous was published against the Constitution, public notice ought to be taken of it." 2 In the sequel, the writer of the placard was committed to Newgate. The third occurrence arose out of a publication in the St. James'' s Chronicle. Besides Lord Barrington's letter to the Guards, one was addressed by Lord "Weymouth, Secretary of State, commending the conduct of the magistrate who had ordered the mob to be fired upon at the King's Bench Prison ; he having been specially instructed to act with promptness and decision. The St. James* s Chronicle reproduced this correspondence headed by a preface embodying a •scurrilous attack upon the G-overnment, evidently written by Wilkes. On February 2, 1769, Wilkes was summoned to the bar of the House from the King's Bench Prison, and he there avowed the authorship of the preface, the gist of which he repeated couched in much inflam- matory language. Lord North said it would be impossible to enter upon a debate on the subject in any orderly, and regular, manner while the prisoner stood at the bar of the House ; but Wilkes requested, and declared he should esteem it as a great indulgence, that he might be permitted to remain under the Gallery. The Marquis of Granby, though deprecating these attacks on the Govern- ment, expressed his earnest wish that Mr. Wilkes' request should be granted ; remarking significantly that " No Member need be afraid of saying what he lelieved to le rights"* Lord Barrington, the Secre- tary for War, succeeded in overruling this suggestion, saying that Wilkes could enter the House of Commons as a prisoner only.^ Simultaneously with these events the Court party was moving heaven and earth to shake the resolution of the champions of the great cause which was so unhappily associated with a scurrilous, disreputable adventurer. Fresh hares were started in order to obscure the main issue ; and across the true " line " of abstract principle a baffling variety of red herrings was drawn in the deliberate endeavour to lure the popular leaders off the scent. A change took place ; but when, or how, it originated there is nothing to prove : it can only be guessed at, but with a little wider field for divination than Walpole found it expedient to adopt for his particular purposes. Precedents were plentifully quoted in favour of the right to expel on the part of the House of Commons : and, among the fresh arguments propounded, was one to the effect that expulsion from ^ See p. 353. 2 Cavendish Debates. ^ Ibid. 1768.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 347 the House of Commons entailed, iip^io facto, incapacity for re-election. This had so far been only privately mooted in conversations among ]\Iinisters, and had not been adopted as a formal plea by the Cabinet ;^ but it already produced a great effect upon many. The first of the marvellous series of "Junius'" Letters had appeared on the 21st of January, 1769 ; and the writer was, for a time, confidently believed to be Wilkes. Wilkes' conduct at the bar of the House of Commons had deepened the aversion which most decent-minded men felt for him, personally, as a self-seeking demagogue trading on the worst instincts of the rabble. But, of all the tricks resorted to by Wilkes, that which must most surely have commended itself to the detestation of Lord Granby, General Conway, and Sir Edward Hawke, was the fact of his having caused to be distributed, among the Guards, hand- bills suggesting grievances to them, and insidiously holding out prospects of the redressal of the same, coupled with an increase of their pay, in Wilkes' name. This was nothing short of an attempt to bribe the Guards into sympathy with the prevailing disorders, or, better, into open mutiny, at a moment when the safety of London depended upon their obedience and discipline. An illustration of the reality of the danger occasioned by this disgraceful action on the part of a man whose enthusiasm was a studied imposture, and who later coolly declared that, throughout, he was " no Wilkite," is supplied in a letter from Dublin Castle. The Irish Viceroy, Lord Townshend, writing to Lord Granby said — "Here is a Doctor Lucas, the Wilks(.s/c) of Ireland, who has been playing the devil here, and poisoning all the soldiery with his harangues and writings." '-^ The effect of such an attempt upon a Commander-in-Chief, a dis- tinguished Lieut. -General, and an Admiral who was one of the brightest ornaments of the sister-service (which, equally with the Army, depended, before all things, on discipline and loyalty) may be easily realized. These were some of the causes which are known to have been at work, and which were, moreover, being urged by George III. against these three gallant opponents of his will with all the added force which could be derived from appeals to their loyalty, and ' Granby and Conway both asserted this, later, when the Cabinet was charged with having pre-arranged the theory of " incapacity." — See Cavendish Debates, etc. 2 Rutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 303, April 5, 1768. 348 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. telling references to the rank sedition which they, from His Majesty's standpoint, were countenancing in the person of John Wilkes. George III. knew well how to make the most of such appeals, and subsequently used them to considerable purpose with the miserable Charles Yorke. In proportion as the concrete element — the sham patriot, the incendiary, the libellous demagogue, the advocate of riot and mutiny — ^became more repulsively apparent, so the abstract principle grew fainter. The real point at issue — Liberty — was obscured by him who prostituted the term in constituting it his watchword ; and Granby, Conway, Hawke, the three men whom George III. had declared to represent an insurmountable barrier against the expul- sion of Wilkes, began to waver, and mistrust the rectitude of their opinion. The right of Parliament to expel, Granby maintained ; he now doubted whether that right were not better enforced against Wilkes. The change was immediate in its effect ; the Motion for expulsion was proceeded with, and the day fixed for its intro- duction. General Conway told Horace Walpole that Granby and himself had decided on absenting themselves from the debate. " Having declared themselves against violent measures they still could not concur in them ; but, disapproving Winces' attacks on the Government^ they would not defend him." ^ Conway's 2 influence is plainly evident in this invertebrate half measure, which is surely the weakest course a Member of Parliament can pursue on an all-important occasion, either in regard to his own conscience, or to his constituency. It was not likely to suit Granby's nature ; and it did not. On the 3rd of February, 1769, the Motion for Expulsion was proposed by Lord Barrington ; that is to say, the day after Wilkes' truculent appearance at the bar of the House. The debate was chiefly based upon the libels of which Wilkes had been found guilty (and was then undergoing sentence for), and fresh ones, the last of which Wilkes had openlg avoived tlie authorship to the Commons on the preceding day. Here is the sequel, told by Lord Temple to Lady Chatham : — ^ "The House of Commons was up about 2 this morning; the Expulsion was carried by no more than 82, though Conway retired without voting, and the gallant Marquis voted for it. The numbers were 137 to 219. My brother (George Grenville) made the best speech he ever made against the Expulsion." * " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III." 2 Among others, Massey alludes to Conway's " vague opinions and infirmity of purpose." — " History of England." ^ Chatham Correspondence, February 4, 1769. 1769.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 349 Whether Sir Edward Hawke voted for the Expulsion, or remained away, the various commenters of the moment do not show ; but Walpole's Memoirs state that Hawke, equally with Granby and Conway, changed his original policy. On the 16th of February Wilkes was re-elected by the freeholders of Middlesex ; the other seat for which county had lately been filled by a " Wilkite," Serjeant Glynn. On the 17th the House of Com- mons was met by the Government with the plea, previously referred to, of the " Incapacity " of Wilkes to be returned to a Parliament from which he had been expelled. This plea was advocated by Lord Holland's son, the afterwards celebrated Charles James Fox, and Dr. Blackstone. Edmund Burke opposed it, and George Grenville, who pithily quoted Blackstone's Commentaries against their author. The " Incapacity " was carried ; but, within a month, John Wilkes was again elected, and the election again declared to be void by the House of Commons : so, as the county of Middlesex declined to be beaten, the King and the Government made a new, and deeper plunge into the morass. A Colonel Luttrell, son of Lord Irnham, was selected by the Ministers to resign a safe seat in Parliament, and to contest the Middlesex seat which Wilkes was held to be incapable of filling. Colonel Luttrell's task was invested with serious risk to himself, and his life was freely speculated upon by the sporting fraternity, as well as the insurance agents at Lloyd's Coffee House. Distraction and excess once more prevailed, London was surrounded by troops, all leaves of absence to officers were cancelled ; and Civil War was considerably more imminent than at the " Captain-General " epoch some three years previously. Luttrell was warmly supported by Lord Holland, whose eldest son, Mr. Stephen Fox, proposed the Colonel at Brentford. On the day of the declaration of the Poll, Colonel Luttrell, with an escort of gentlemen on horseback, left Lord Irnham's house through a breach made in the garden wall at the back of the house, a menacing crowd having already collected in front of it. Luttrell, as he rode to Brentford, encountered several minor adventures, in the course of which, like Granby at Warburg, he lost his hat. The votes were pronounced to be — For Wilkes... For Luttrell 1143 296 Majority for Wilkes 847 350 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. Luttrell was vigorously hissed, hustled, and insulted, but escaped actual injury ; and the House of Commons, holding the 1143 votes registered for Wilkes to be null and void, declared " Henry Lawes Luttrell, Esq., to be duly elected." This decision was carried by 197 votes to 143, showing a diminution of 28 votes of the Govern- ment majority on the " Expulsion " night. On this occasion General Conway voted with Ministers in support of Luttrell's election, and an entirely fresh element was imported into the controversy. After his first lapse from the right path, Granby's doings are not cate- gorically recorded by Walpole ; but, the inference ^ is that he voted for Colonel Luttrell. The new phase upon which the question now entered, and the consequent effect thereof, is aptly described by Mr. Levett Blackborne, Steward of the Court of the Board of Green Cloth, which office he originally held under the Duke of Rutland's Lord Stewardship of the Household. " It is surprising to think what a lot of sober country gentlemen and clergy flew off in a tangent from Administration, merely from this unfortunate question ever having been started ; and yet, come to close argument with them, and it will visibly appear that they allow all the train of precedents and usage of Parliament to be on the side of Administration so far as to establish the right of expulsion, and the right of declaring incapacity in con- sequence of expulsion, so that all their complaint seems to center in its being a new case to let the minority candidate slip in (by the House's order to amend the return) against the allowed majority, and in favour of an acknowledged minority." ^ Thus opinions sprang up on all sides, chiefly tending to " darken counsel ; " Dr. Johnson,^ among so many more, missed the gist of the whole matter in dispute ; and the Government rested, for a time, on its ill-gained and spurious laurels. The mischief was done ; and Lord Granby's hands were not only stained in it, but Walpole has done his utmost to maintain that all the perfumes of .Araby could not sweeten them. He declared, and rightly declared, that " had Conway, Sir Edward Hawke, and Granby been firm in their first intentions, the House of Commons would never have ventured on such dangerous precedents." * General Conway, Walpole of course ' See Granby's speech, pp. 373, 374. 2 Eutland MSS., vol. ii. p. 313 : Levett Blackborne to George Vernon. ' Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote, in an article called " The False Alarm " : " It is incontrovertibly certain that the Commons never intended to leave Electors the liberty of returning them an expeUed Member ; for they always require one to be chosen in the room of him that is expelled, and I see not with what propriety a man can be chosen in his own room. . . . We are now disputing . . . whether Middlesex shall be represented or not by a criminal from jail." * " Memoirs of the Reign of George III." ; and see tn/ra, p. 376. 1769.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY, assures us, " strongly supported the measure (of ' Incapacity ') for the dignity of Parliament, and persuaded himself that it was founded on the law of Parliament ; " but we shall see in due time that Granby was actuated throughout the Wilkes controversy by no conscientious motives whatever : — sordid considerations, and chronic imbecility, in about equal parts, swayed Granby's votes, as usual ! But, as Granby and Calcraft were at this stage voting in opposition to one another, Walpole grouped his strictures round a later period when they were firmly voting in unison, and when Walpole's version of the story shall be religiously reproduced. For the moment it suffices to ask why Lord Granby should have been singled out, by Walpole, for special obloquy at all ? Lord Chatham has been named as the only man who, througJwut the Wilkes perplexity, maintained a just, consistent line of conduct. This is not strictly true, though there is no possible doubt that it would have been so except for the deplorable circumstance that, during the whole of the acutest throes of the struggle, Lord Chatham was withdrawn from public life ; and was generally believed to be ignorant of all passing events, great or small. It was George III. who steadily maintained his consistency, — and he was consistently wrong. Certainly Lord Mansfield, Lord Camden, the Duke of Grafton, Lord Rockingham, George Grenville, General Conway, Sir Edward Hawke, and countless others besides the Marquis of Granby, did not maintain theirs ; and law, or parliamentary procediu*e, were quite the last things upon which Granby was bound to be infallible. He tripped in the effort to follow the deceptive vagaries of one of the most bewildering, fascinating Will-o'-the-wisps that ever flitted over the quagmires with which all political abstractions are surrounded ; but, in due time, he amply retrieved his error. ^ ' At about this period, when Granby had not yet joined the ranks of the " Minority," Churchill wrote concerning the latter — "... Freedom from file to file Darts her delighted eye, and with a smile Approves her honest sons, whilst down her cheek As 'twere by stealth, her heart too full to speak, One tear in silence creeps, one honest tear, And seems to say, ' Why is not Granby here ? ' " {Independence). 352 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. CHAPTER XXX. Colonel Luttrell's election in place of Wilkes marks the lowest depth of ineptitude into which the Grafton Cabinet sank after the retirement of the Earl of Chatham ; though the mistake had been preceded by one which was fraught with far greater evils in the future. Charles Townshend, before his death, had concocted a measm-e for replacing the Is. remitted from the Land Tax by squeezing a miserable £40,000 out of America in duties upon tea, glass, painter's colours, and paper. This was a distinct revival of George Grenville's fateful scheme of forcing that colony to contribute to the home revenue. Townshend had insisted upon this scheme in the face of opposition in the Cabinet, and its result was a riotous resistance on the other side of the Atlantic. Lord Granby was one of those who strongly opposed it. The Duke of Grafton was himself against the levying of the duties which he determined to repeal ; but, with the Court and a slight majority in the Cabinet against him, he only succeeded in repealing the items of glass, paper, and colours — the miserable tea was retained in support of the principle of the " right of taxation " established by Rockingham's Ministry. The Duke of Grafton stated that he was only supported in his endeavour to repeal the duties, tea and all, by Lord Camden, Lord Granby, and General Conway. Sir Edward Hawke he believed would have sup- ported him had not illness intervened. ^ Beyond these two deplorable blunders there is no necessity to go in tracing the mistaken policy which George III. took advantage of Lord Chatham's extinction to force upon Administration. Wilkes, and the Taxation of America formed the nucleus of the discontents which had flourished under George Grenville's Government, waned under the Marquis of Rockingham's, and burst out into a transport of popular passion under that of the Duke of Grafton. Of a variety of forms in which that paroxysm found expression, the *' Letters of ^ Grafton Memoirs : quoted in Appendix to " Memoirs of the Eeign of George III.," Walpole. 1769.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 353 Junius " have attained to immortality. They have been pronounced by an oracle to spell " boredom ; " but it is their special relation to Lord Granby's life, not their authorship, which entails consideration here. On the 21st of January, 1769, the first letter ^ appeared in the Public Advertiser, at a juncture already alluded to, when Lord Granby was still opposing the persecution of Wilkes. Wilkes was early suspected of being " Junius," and there are considerable grounds for implying that " Junius " overreached himself, and defeated his own object, in his attack on Granby whose patient impartiality, already severely tried, was strained to the breaking-point by a gratuitous insult of which Wilkes was widely believed to be the author. Granby's estimate of libel was that, whether directed against Ministers or private men, it is the cruellest thing in this world,- and it was after the publication of " Junius' " first letter that Granby's long-suppressed disgust of Wilkes overcame his judgment ; and that Conway, and Hawke, showed signs of similar change. This first letter reviewed the grievances which had arisen since George IIL's accession ; and, continuing under the Greuville and Rockingham Cabinets, had culminated in an Administration in which " a Duke of Grafton was Prime Minister, and a liord North Chancellor of the Exchequer ; a Weymouth, and a Hillsborough, Secretaries of State ; and a Granby Commander-in-Chief." ^ The first four Ministers each received a special volley of abuse ; and when Lord Granby's turn arrived he was thus dealt with : — " It has lately been a fashion to pay a compliment to the hravcry and generosity of tlie Com^ in Chief, at the expense of his understanding. They who love him least make no question of liis courage, while his friends dwell chiefly on the facility of his disposition. Admitting him to be as brave as a total absence of all feeling and reflection can make him, let us see what sort of merit he derives from the remainder of his character. If it be generosity to accumulate in his own person and family a number of lucrative employ- ments — to provide, at the public expense, for every creature that bears the name of Manners — and, neglecting the merit and services of the rest of the army, to heap promotions upon his favourites and dependents — the present Commander-in-Chief is the most generous man alive. Nature has been sparing of her gifts to this noble lord ; but, when birth and fortune are united, we expect the noble pride and independence of a man of spirit, not the vservile, humiliating compliance of a courtier. As to the goodness of his heart, if a proof of it be taken from the facility of never refusing, what ' A letter signed ''Junius appeared November 21. 1768. but it is not included in the authorized edition. 2 See p. 346. » Junius"" Letters, January 21. 1769. 23 \ 354 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. conclusion shall we draw from the indecency of never performing ? And if the discipline of the army be in any degree preserved, what thanks are due to a man whose cares, notoriously confined to filling up vacancies, have degraded the office of Commander in Chief into a broker of Commissions ? " This was a fairly strong indictment to hazard against the most popular man in England, against whose influence George III. was almost simultaneously bewailing the hopelessness of prevailing ; and any decrease of whose personal prestige this letter alone attests. It will be noticed that "Junius" attacked Granby in his strongest qualities : his generosity, which scarcely fell short of passing into a proverb, was questioned ; his natural gifts, to which rather than to any studied accomplishments he owed his influence, were cheapened ; he who was regarded as the personification of honour, promised, yet did not perform ; and — he trafficked in Army com- missions ^ Sweeping as the impeachment was against the Cabinet as a whole, that portion of it which dealt with Granby might quickly have met the fate of a nine days' wonder, and provided chaff at Granby 's expense at " Arthur's," or the " Shakespeare," had not the well-meant action of a candid friend intervened. Of this probability " Junius," himself, made mention later.^ The candid friend, that took up the cudgels in the Commander- in-Chief's behalf, was his old schoolfellow Sir William Draper, whom Walpole epitomized as " a gallant officer, and friend of the Duke of Bedford and Lord Granby." He was not an entirely bad writer, but his controversial powers were of the weakest ; and, on January 26th he committed himself to paper, and Granby to the reception of a great deal of entirely superfluous and unmerited abuse.^ Sir William made, however, one notable point. He challenged " Junius " to produce a single man who could bear him out in accusing Lord Granby of trafficking in commissions ; and " Junius " withdrew the charge in his letter of the 7th of February. For the rest, Sir William attempted to justify nepotism, did nepotism exist, instead of quoting the Army List ; ^ declared that Lord Granby ^ See Letter, dated February 21, 1769, p. 356. 2 " Give all my love to Mr. Calcraft. Tell him he is to expect a very spirited and exceeding honourable defence of Lord Granby against the virulent Junius by our friend Sir W. Draper. I truly honour him for it." — Dr. Francis to Philip Francis, January 28, 1769 (" Memoirs of Sir Philip Francis," vol. i. p. 227). 2 The Army List of 1769-70 shows the following " creatures that bore the name of Manners," and the " lucrative employments " they enjoyed at the moment of " Junius' " accusations : — John Manners, Marquis of Granby, Master-General of the Ordnance, Commander- in-Chief, Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of the Royal Horse Guards, Blue ; in which Regiment no relation of his figured. Lord Robert Manners, Lieutenant-General, and Colonel of the 3rd Dragoon 1769.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 355 had acquired, in the field, " nothing but honour ; " and proceeded to demand " Junius' " proofs of Granby's alleged broken promises and engagements. " I could give some instances," prattled Draper, probably with some trivial occurrence actually in his mind, " where a breach of promise would be a vh-tue, especially in the case of those who would pervert the open, unsuspecting moments of convivial mirth into sly, insidious applications for preferment, and would endeavour to surprise a good man, who cannot bear to see anyone leave him dissatisfied, into unguarded promises." With these words Sir William Draper, Knight of the Bath, delivered himself into the hands of the Philistine. "Jimius" quickly saw the missed opportunity, (Jranby con- vivial ! of course he was ; and, at a date when conviviality was universal, " Junius " had never thought of it while casting about so vainly to find matter to (juote against the Commander-in-Chief, and out of which to extract material for disparagement. There had been such a lack, even of some semblance, of a personal fault to find ; and it was Granby's own familiar friend who suggested one just when Granby himself gave an after pretext for "Junius'" aggression by suddenly voting for the expulsion of John Wilkes. The reply came after the fatal division in the House of Commons on February o, 1709. This time "Junius " addressed^ Sir William Draper whom, after a few characteristic ^personalities, he proceeded to answer categorically. As to Lord Granby having " gained nothing but honour," were (asked " Junius ") the Ordnance, the Blues, the Command, and Patronage of the whole Army, nothing ? Of selling commissions he acquitted Lord Granby; but maintained that his military cares had never extended beyond the disposal of vacancies, in which he consulted nothing but parliamentary interests, or the gratification of his immediate dependents.'- Guards, who served in the Forty-Five, and was well advanced in the service before Lord Graubv's military patronage had commenced. Hussel Manners, Lieutenant'Colonel of "tlie 2ud Dragoon Guards, who had served in Germany until he exchanged to the 21st Light Dragoons, Royal Foresters," through the disbanding of which he was for a time reduced to the half-pay list. George Manners, junior Captain of the 8rd King's Dragoons, who had served in the Gennan War as a Cornet in the Blues. Edward Manners, Lieutenant and Captain in the 1st, or King's, Regiment of Foot Guards, formerly of tlie " Royal Foresters." John Manners, senior Ensign 24th Foot— retired same year. ' Junius' " Letters, February 7, 17G9. ^ A letter in the Gentleman's Magazine (May, 1760) cited a ctu^e in which Lord Granby declared he could not promise a certain vacant Ensigncy as the Ministcru duposed of everything. 35^ LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. " Does he not," thundered " Junius," " at this moment give up all character and dignity as a gentleman in receding from his own repeated declarations in favour of Mr. Wilkes ? " Then, dropping his pitch to a suitable minor key, " Junius " avowed that he had " never descended to the indelicacy of enquiring into Lord Granby's convivial hours. It is you, Sir William Draper, who have taken pains to represent your friend in the character of a drunken landlord, who deals out his promises as liberally as his liquor, and will suffer no man to leave his table either sorro^vful or sober. None but an intimate friend, who must frequently have seen him in these unhappy, disgraceful moments, could have described him so well." The pulverization of Sir William was complete ; and, in one's admiration of " Junius' " dialectic skill, the delicious disclaimer of " indelicacy " is well-nigh overlooked : to what fathomless depths of indelicacy he could descend was revealed in his attacks on the Dukes of Grrafton, and Bedford, in which no dirt was too offensive to his hand to be carefully grasped and flung. Quite unconscious of the sorry figure he was cutting. Sir William feebly twitted ^ his overwhelming adversary with " delighting to mangle carcases with a hatchet," in consequence of which it behoved him to " step in once more to shield his friend from this merciless weapon, although he might be wounded in the attempt." Draper forthwith "stepped in," and would have described his method better by announcing that he was about to "put his foot in it." He admitted, and deplored, the parliamentary influence exercised over military affairs ; he asked " Junius " to kindly name a single nobleman in the Army who had acquired a Regiment by seniority ; and speedily provoked a retort from " Junius " even more crushing than the first. ''I should be justly suspected of acting upon motives of more than common enmity to Lord Granby, if I continued to give you fresh materials or occasion for writing in his defence . . . his reputation has suffered more by his friends than his enemies. In mercy to him let us drop the subject. . . . You, I think, may be satisfied with the warm acknowledgements he already owes you, for making him the principal figure in a piece in which but for your amicable assistance, he might have passed without particular notice or distinction." ^ After this letter Lord Granby dropped out of the " Junius "- Draper correspondence ; and the assertion later made by " Junius " that Sir William was requested to desist from writing in Granby's "defence" is probably strictly true. Draper's intervention had ^ " Junius' " Letters, February 17, 1769. 2 Ibid., February 21, 1769 ; and see ante, p. 354. MARQUIS OF GRAN BY. 357 only served to focus upon "Junius" a fiercer light of notoriety that widely increased his influence, and capacity to sting ; con- sequently, of the swarm of hornets which were buzzing around the ears of Greorge III., and the Ministers, he became by far the most audible, and the most pungent, in spite of being invisible. Poor Sir "William Draper ! He meant loyally enough, and fell a victim to excess of zeal. However great his blunder his expiation transcends it ; for, so long as " Junius' " Letters and the memorable chapter of history which contains them shall survive. Sir William is destined to stand in the pillory, a dazed, pathetic figure bespattered and suiTounded with a rich variety of "Junius' " missiles.^ During the two or three months following upon these wranglings over Granby's character, a ray of light quietly stole into view across the prevailing blackness of the outlook. A rumour spread of better news from Hayes, and of the probable deliverance of Lord Chatham from the mysterious condition in which, for more than a year, he liad remained sunk. xVs the prospect of his recovery grew, the uneasy feeling may be easily pictured which prevailed over Court and Cabinet, both as regarded those whose transgressions had been deliberate and premeditated, or those whose common sense, momen- tarily hypnotized by the whirligig of arguments, was recalled into action by the mere mention of Chatham's name. It was decided to sound the reviving statesman's opinions upon the Duke of Grafton's doings since he had been left to run alone : the (|uestion was how to set about it. A modern political celebrity, of sporting inclinations, described a compeer as " an awkward horse to go up to in the stable." Chatham was all this — and something more. In his periods of reserve, whether caused by political worry, bodily pain, or a conjunction of both, he was about as unapproachable as the addition of a naturally imperious, impatient habit could possibly render any human being. It was not the first time that Lord Granby had been selected for this delicate service ; and the choice again fell upon him whose " understanding " " Junius " mocked at, and whom AValpole stigmatized as devoid of all " capacity." From Rutland House the mission was thus commenced : — " Knightsbridge, April 27, 1769. " My Loud, — It is wiUi the truest satisfaction that I hear your Lordship is recovered from your late attack of the gout. I hope this last fit will fully re-establish your Lordship's health. Whenever that health will permit, and ' By October, 17G9, Sir William Draper felt so poorly that he started for South Carolina to recruit. 358 LIFE OF JOHN MANNERS, [1769. it is convenient to you to admit a sincere well-wisher to pay his respects to your Lordship, if you will do me the honour to let me know it, I shall be very happy to wait on your Lordship ; being with the truest esteem, etc., etc. " Granby." 1 Lord Chatham replied the same day from Hayes : — " April 27, 1769. " My Lokd, — I have this moment received the honour of your Lordship's most obliging letter, and cannot enough express my sincere acknowledge- ments for the kind interest you are so good as to take in my health, as well as the favourable sentiments with which your Lordship honours me. I have ventured for the first time to take the air in a carriage to-day, and flatter myself I may for the present escape a return of gout, though still extremely lame. I shall at all times be proud and happy with the honour of seeing Lord Granby ; and if your Lordship will have the goodness to come to Hayes on Saturday next between 11 and 12 (in case the day and hour should not be inconvenient to your Lordship), you will bestow a very real honour and pleasure on him who is with the truest respect and esteem, etc., etc. "Chatham." 2 Of what passed at this important interview nothing is recorded in detail, except that Lord Chatham decided to see the King before entering upon any consultation with the Duke of Grafton. Earl Temple, in a letter to his sister Lady Chatham, said — " Lord Granby has made his report to the Duke of Grafton of what passed with Lord Chatham. His Grace (Grafton) justified himself as well as he could to the different things which he apprehended were found fault with at Hayes ; was ready to do as Lord Chatham should direct when he came forth ; but rather wondered that his Lordship should choose rather to see the King first, as it would be better for them to talk together and settle beforehand." ^ This letter of Temple's, who was last mentioned as refusing to take office in the Grafton Ministry, entails the explanation that (through the mediation of John Calcraft) Lord Temple, George Grenville, and Lord Chatham had recently been brought into friendly relations once more. Overtures had also been made to Lord Rock- ingham who, smarting still under the treatment he had received when Prime Minister from Lord Chatham, refused to listen to them. Another individual, within a week of Granby's visit to Hayes, appeared to be perfectly informed concerning both the visit and its immediate effects. The individual was "Junius," who took occasion once more to try his hand upon the Commander-in-Chief ; and in tracing Granby's movements now, and to the end of the ' Chatham Correspondence. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., May 6, 1769. 1769.] MARQUIS OF GRANBY. 359 crisis, " Junius " seems to hang upon the very skirts of his coat. The occasion was the hearing of a Petition lodged by the majority of the Middlesex electors against the declaration of the House of Commons that Colonel Luttrell was their duly elected Member. Counsel on both sides were heard, and proof was adduced of the votes recorded at the last Poll in favour of Wilkes, and Luttrell, respectively.^ The House was to divide on the subject on May 8 ; and ''Junius" despatched an appeal to the Marquis of Granby, under cover to Woodfall the printer of the Puhlir Advertiser^ together with the following note : — '• Friday, May 5, 1769. " Sir, — It is essentially necessaiy that the enclosed should be published to-moiTOw, as the great question comes on on ^londay, and Lord G ranhy is already staggered. If you should receive an answer to it, you will oblige me much by not publishing it till after Monday." - The enclosure was as follows : — " To the Marquis of Granby." May C, 1769. " My Loud, — You were once the fiivourite of the public. As a brave man you were admired by the army, as a generous man you were beloved. The scene is altered ; and even your immediate dependents, who have profited most by your good nature, cannot conceal from you how much you have lost both in the aflections of your fellow-soldiers and the esteem of your country. Your character once spotless, has been drawn into a public question ; att