THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JAMES GRENVILLE MY DEAR SISTER, January 16, 1768. I DELIVERED your message this morning to Lord Botetourt ('); who appeared to receive it with tranquillity. His answer upon the spot was, that since this was the case, he intended to ask an audience to-morrow, and then mentioned something about a commission to be procured in the most respectable manner possible to Lord Chatham. The substance of what I related to him from you was as follows: that you were convinced Lord Chatham would not consent to put the seal to the Warmly company's(2) grant, without first hearing the parties who opposed it; that the state of his health made it impossible for him to appoint that hearing at present; and, under these circumstances, you could not ven (1) Formerly Norborne Berkeley, member for Gloucestershire, and a groom of the bedchamber. He was, it will be remembered, Lord Talbot's second in the ridiculous duel with Wilkes, at Bagshot, by moonlight in October, 1762. See Vol. II. p. 192. Junius describes him as "a cringing, bowing, fawning, swordbearing courtier, who had ruined himself by an enterprize, which would have ruined thousands had it succeeded." In the August following, his Lordship was appointed governor of Virginia, in the room of Sir Jeffrey Amherst; and died there in 1770. (2) The extensive works in the hamlet of Warmly, Gloucestershire, for converting copper into brass, were at this time carried on at the expense of several gentlemen of the county, who disposed of them to a company in Bristol. ture to trouble him with any thing upon the subject; therefore, Lord Botetourt must be left to take whatever measures he may think best for his own satisfaction. This was in substance what I mentioned; I believe not materially differing from your desires. Believe me to be ever Yours most affectionately, J. GRENVILLE. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JAMES GRENVILLE TO THE COUNTESS OF CHATHAM. MY DEAR SISTER, Wednesday, two o'clock, I WRITE to you this morning instead of calling upon you, because I propose to see you tomorrow, after receiving a few words from you in answer to this letter, upon a matter of as much delicacy and difficulty, both to Lord Chatham, yourself, and to every friend of his, as perhaps ever occurred to any people in a public situation. Lord Botetourt is proceeding with haste to carry his purposes into execution. What they are, or from what motives, I cannot pretend to guess; but they seem to me to be the growth of his own passions, or particular interests. On Sunday he had his intended audience of the King; and in the evening he came to my house to inform me of it. He acquainted me, that after having mentioned what he called his deplorable situation, he apprized the King of his endeavours to procure a hearing upon the caveats entered against his grant at Lord Chatham's office; of the necessity there was for immediate dispatch, and for that purpose to put the seals into commission, or other hands, for the doing justice without delay to him. If that could not now be done by his Majesty consistently with his affairs, his Lordship told the King he must apply to the House of Lords for redress; and in the conclusion delivered two papers into the King's hands, containing the motions which he intended to make, upon laying the state of his case before that House. The King's reply to him was, that he, Lord Botetourt could not expect an answer from him at that time. Yesterday, in the evening, after eight o'clock, I was desired by the Duke of Grafton to meet him at the Lord Chancellor's in Lincoln's-inn-fields. The Duke had just received a letter from Lord Botetourt, giving him notice of his intentions to move the House of Lords this day for a summons of the Lords to hear a matter of justice and a complaint against the Earl of Chatham for delay in his office. An answer to this letter was drawn up by Lord Camden and the Duke. It was framed to demand farther time for the King to consult his ministers, who had not yet had a possible opportunity to do it. It pressed his duty and respect to the King, who had not hitherto given him any answer to his application, &c. &c. What Thus the matter stands at this instant. the result of their letter has been I do not know. In the mean time, the question is, what is best to do, or what can be done? There appeared no means of apprizing my Lord Chatham of this situation, but by the King's commands through his ministers at least I could point out no other method; relying upon your peremptory refusal, for the reasons you mentioned, to undertake it yourself, and the extreme dislike you expressed to my attempting it, for the same reasons. In regard to the other, there was no possible way to prevent a public proceeding from taking place, but the obtaining Lord Chatham's consent to a temporary commission, like that which the Duke of Bedford had when he was at Paris for the late peace, and such as the Lord Privy Seal had at the peace of Utrecht, and such as many other great civil officers and others have procured in times of accidental illness or absence. The Duke of Grafton has an insuperable dislike to be the channel of conveying, in any shape, the King's commands about the seals to Lord Chatham, if that should become indispensable, and will not do it without Lord Chatham's previous consent to any measure about them. He dreads unjust and malicious constructions from the world, if the expedient should be refused. From what you told me, and from what may happen, I could give no assurances nor expectations one way or the other; that is to say, whether the expedient would be ac cepted or not. As to the motion in the House of Lords, there is no difficulty about the rejecting it; but the consequences remain, and take place in a multitude of respects. This is too large a field for me to enter upon at present. I write only to submit to your consideration, whether you will still persist in preserving an entire silence to Lord Chatham upon this matter. I will only add, that I do not believe the present event, strange as it is, to be the result of any intrigue or particular contrivance of that sort. Certain I am, that the Duke of Grafton and the rest of Lord Chatham's friends are as honourably and as justly free from every imputation about it, as they are innocent of the knowledge. I should mention Lord Shelburne's true regards likewise; but let me hear a word from you, and whether you will see me to-morrow morning. In the mean time, consult for the best, and have every comfort. I am ever Most affectionately yours, J. GRENVILLe. THE COUNTESS OF CHATHAM TO THE RIGHT [From a draught in Lady Chatham's handwriting.] Hayes, Wednesday evening, half-past seven, DEAR BROTHER, URGED by the contents of your letter to do what the situation of my Lord's health rendered most |