THE RIGHT HON. HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM. Little Warwick Street, November 22, 1766. MY LORD, I HAD the honour of your Lordship's note, acquainting me with the intention of dismissing Lord nothing was done to deprive the country of such an effectual interposition that parliament now met earlier than usual, and that it was not in itself desirable to hurry away upon every rumour all the principal persons of the nation from every extremity of the kingdom, and to crowd them into the metropolis. That such a conduct would be a mark of weakness and temerity, especially in a country in which sudden distresses are so liable to be created and aggravated, either from lucrative views, or from a factious spirit. That had he advised the calling of parliament upon the first intelligence he received, (which was but a suggestion of apprehended scarcity, and could be no more, as the harvest was not threshed out or known) he would justly have been censured for the alarm to the public, and the inconvenience to individuals, which a precipitate convention of parliament must have occasioned; a step which would have created an imaginary scarcity, though a real one had not existed. That these considerations determined his Majesty, with the advice of his council, to issue that order of prorogation under which parliament now met: that under the former prorogation parliament could not meet consistently with usage, for that it was always usual in the last proclamation of prorogation preceding the session, to declare the parliament to be prorogued to a certain day, then to meet for the despatch of business, a material notification not inserted in the former, because it was not decided to meet then. That a new prorogation therefore was necessary, and that the usage was never to give less than forty days' notice. That this was a very salutary custom, and that nothing could be so perilous as sudden and surreptitious conventions of parliament. That it might well be considered as the law of usage and of parliament, though not perhaps of the land, that Edgecumbe, on account of his having refused the bed-chamber in lieu of the treasurership of the house not less than forty days' notice should be given; that therefore the prorogation could not properly have been for less than forty days. That indeed parliament was by this last proclamation prorogued for somewhat more than forty days; but that this was done when only a surmise of scarcity had been suggested before the threshing out of the harvest, and whilst the danger had only been talked of, not expected. That it was some time after this prorogation before the conjecture of scarcity was verified, and the riots began; and that then the time for meeting of parliament was publicly fixed, and the interval could not be shortened except by calling parliament suddenly, contrary to proclamation, and with a stretch of power, and a precedent infinitely more dangerous than the delay of their meeting, and the issuing of the embargo. That this indeed was so illegal, that the legislature had thought it necessary, by a particular clause in the militia bill, to empower the crown to call parliament, in the particular cases of actual invasion or rebellion, in fourteen days, notwithstanding any prorogation to the contrary. That this delay therefore arising from parliament's being prorogued for somewhat more than forty days was not faulty at the time, no danger being in probable expectation then which could require an earlier meeting: that after the proclamation the delay was unavoidable; and that, in fact, it was so far from being detrimental, that it had been advantageous. He ridiculed the stress which had been laid upon the possibility of calling parliaments fourteen or fifteen days sooner, and of setting every member of parliament in the kingdom upon a horse to ride post up to London and having thus defended the time of calling parliament, he proceeded to defend the issuing of the embargo during the interval of parliament by legal authority, as an act of power, justifiable before parliament on the ground of necessity; and read a paragraph of Mr. Locke to show, that though it was not strictly speaking legal, yet that it was right in the opinion of that great friend of liberty, that constitutional philosopher and liberal statesman." In the House of Commons, Mr. Conway moved for leave to bring in a bill for protecting the persons acting under the hold; and I must confess to your Lordship, that I heard it with great concern and surprise, as I think Lord Edgecumbe a man of that character and consideration, as should rather entitle him to the favour of government, than to any bad treatment; and as I understood, when this matter was formerly talked of, that there was no intention of taking his staff, but on some arrangement made to which his Lordship should consent. I own the bed-chamber, though in many respects very honourable, does not appear much to suit the age and situation of Lord Edgecumbe; so that I can neither be surprised at nor condemn his refusal; and from the particular situation I stand in, well known to your Lordship, must confess myself much distressed and hurt with what passes on this occasion. I have not the least disposition to any factious or caballing spirit; but your Lordship knows, besides my want of taste and ambition for high employments, the difficulties which lay upon me when I accepted; and there are in such situations feelings, which no man of honour and delicacy can divest himself of. I must farther say, that there are circumstances respecting Lord Edgecumbe that in a very particular manner affect myself: one, the great regard and friendship borne to him by the late Duke of order of council; which passed both Houses. Upon this occasion, Mr. Flood states, that "Lord Chatham, like himself, on hearing this affair, desired the bill to be made as strong as possible, and to be extended to the advisers, and to be made declaratory as well as indemnifying." Devonshire; the other, that on a vacancy in one of his boroughs t' other day, he without hesitation at once chose my nephew Lord Beauchamp; and I must also say, that the influence of Lord Edgecumbe in parliament, his command of boroughs, and more than all, the offence that will, I doubt, be given to a set of gentlemen of great weight in this country, and the disquiet it may occasion his Majesty's government, are reasons that ought, in my poor opinion, strongly to weigh against this measure; which I hope your Lordship will still prevent, before its execution; as I must declare, without the least peevishness on the part in which I feel concerned, that I cannot with honour continue long in the situation I am in, unless I can preserve that reputation of fairness and consistency which I think I must forfeit by a seeming concurrence in such repeated injuries to those with whom I lately acted, and to whom I conveyed an engagement, as I understood that far from being the objects of particular neglect or resentment, they would rather, in preference, meet the favour and protection of government under the present administration. I am very sorry I had no opportunity of laying my thoughts on this subject before your Lordship sooner, and shall now only add, that I am, with the greatest respect, Your Lordship's most humble and obedient servant, VOL. III. K H. S. CONWAY. THE RIGHT HON. HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY TO THE EARL OF CHATHAM. Little Warwick Street, MY LORD, Friday 4 o'clock, November 25, 1766. HAVING this moment heard a thing which gives me the greatest pleasure, as it is a means of putting an end to the great difficulty I and several of my friends have been under, I cannot help taking the first moment of communicating it to your Lordship. It is the very handsome, and certainly accommodating offer of Lord Besborough of accepting the bedchamber instead of the post office; provided it shall please his Majesty to give the latter to Lord Edgecumbe. I have no doubt of your Lordship's goodness and readiness to promote and obtain this from his Majesty, for the mutual ease of ministers, and so many concerned. I am, my Lord, with great respect, Your Lordship's most humble H. CONWAY. (') (1) Upon the 25th of November," says the Political Register, "the Earl of Besborough, who was one of the joint-postmasters, offered to make room for Lord Edgecumbe, by proposing to resign that post in favour of his Lordship, and taking the bedchamber, which had been offered to that lord. But this obliging offer was rejected: upon which the Duke of Portland, the Earls of Besborough and Scarborough, and Lord Monson resigned the next day; and these resignations were immediately followed by those of Sir Charles Saunders, Sir William Meredith, Admiral Keppel," &c. |