The Political History of England – Vol XI

Similar in character to the above, but only of importance after 1801 are the following: Life of Perceval (2 vols., 1874), by his grandson, Sir Spencer Walpole, written largely from the Perceval papers, especially valuable for the ministerial crisis of 1809. The Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh (12 vols., 1850-1853), edited by his brother the third Marquis of Londonderry, consisting mainly of military and diplomatic correspondence. Sir Archibald Alison, Lives of Lord Castlereagh and Sir Charles Stewart, the Second and Third Marquesses of Londonderry (3 vols., 1861), much more political than biographical; valuable and appreciative, but not rich in documents. The Dispatches of the Duke of Wellington during his various Campaigns in India, Denmark [etc.], from 1799 to 1818 (12 vols., 1834-1838), compiled by Lieut. – Colonel Gurwood (really extending to 1815 only); Supplementary Despatches and Memoranda of the Duke of Wellington (15 vols., 1858-1872), edited by his son, the second Duke of Wellington, extending from 1797 to 1818; Despatches, Correspondence, and Memoranda of the Duke of Wellington (8 vols., 1867-1880), by the same editor, extending from 1819 to 1832. The second and third of these series contain not only the duke's despatches, but the vast mass of political correspondence which passed through his hands. In spite of the great size of the collection, very little that can be considered trivial is included. It is our most important authority for all foreign relations between 1815 and 1827, and between 1828 and 1830. Sir Herbert Maxwell, The Life of Wellington (2 vols., 1899). Horace Twiss, Life of Eldon (3 vols., 1844). C. Phipps, Memoir of R. Plumer Ward (2 vols., 1850), containing important political correspondence from 1801 onward, and Ward's diary from 1809 to 1820. Ward held numerous minor offices in the government and was on terms of intimacy with Perceval and Mulgrave. Moore, Life of Sheridan (2 vols., 1826), valuable for the crisis of 1811. The Greville Memoirs; a Journal of the Reigns of King George IV. and King William IV. (3 vols.), edited by Henry Reeve. References are to the first edition, 1874. New edition, also including 1837-1860 in 8 vols. (1888). Greville was clerk to the privy council from 1821 to 1859, and as such possessed exceptional opportunities for making himself acquainted with secret political transactions and with the personal qualities of successive statesmen. The Creevey Papers (2 vols., 1903), edited by Sir Herbert Maxwell, not of first-rate historical importance, full of gossip and scandal. Creevey was a whig member of parliament, 1802-1818, 1820-1828 and 1831-1832, and treasurer of the ordnance, 1830-1834. Stapleton, The Political Life of George Canning (from September 1822 to August 1827) (3 vols., 1831), very full and valuable, especially for foreign relations; strikingly deficient in documents and dates. George Canning and His Times (1859), by the same author, largely written from memory and therefore untrustworthy. Yonge, Life and Administration of Lord Liverpool (3 vols., 1868). Memoirs of Sir Robert Peel (2 vols., 1856-1857), prepared by Peel himself, and dealing with the Roman Catholic question, the administration of 1834-1835, and the repeal of the corn laws. The memoirs, which are of the highest importance, consist mainly of correspondence and are studiously fair. Parker, Sir Robert Peel (3 vols., 1891-1899), a large collection of Peel's correspondence with a brief connecting narrative by the editor, of great value even for the periods covered by the Memoirs. The Correspondence of King William IV. and Earl Grey, from November 1830 to June 1832 (2 vols., 1867), edited by Henry, Earl Grey, valuable for the history of the reform. The Melbourne Papers (1889), edited by Sanders, throw light on Melbourne's relations with William IV. and with Brougham. Torrens, Memoirs of Melbourne (2 vols., 1878), polemical, and sadly deficient in documents. Lord Hatherton, Memoir and Correspondence relating to June and July, 1834 (published 1872), edited by H. Reeve, on events connected with the fall of Grey's ministry. The Croker Papers (3 vols., 1884), edited by L. J. Jennings. Croker was secretary to the admiralty from 1809 to 1830. The papers, which are very full from 1809 onwards, consist of correspondence and selections from Croker's journals and correspondence. L. Horner, Memoir of Francis Horner (1843). E. Herries, Public Life of J. C. Herries (1880), a defence of Herries against the sneers of whig writers. Lord Dudley, Letters to the Bishop of Llandaff (Copleston), (1840), and Letters to Ivy (1905, edited by Romilly), interesting and often vivacious, but not of first-rate importance. Sir Henry Bulwer (Lord Dalling), Life of Palmerston (2 vols., 1870), extending to 1840. The first chapter of a third volume, edited by Evelyn Ashley (1874) makes good a few omissions belonging to this period. The work consists mainly of correspondence and extracts from Palmerston's journal. Memoirs of Baron Stockmar (2 vols., 1872-1873), by his son Baron E. von Stockmar, edited by F. Max Müller. Stockmar was a confidential agent of Leopold, King of the Belgians. The memoirs contain a narrative by William IV. of the political history of his reign to 1835, including the circumstances of Melbourne's resignation in 1834. Campbell, Lives of the Chancellors (8 vols., 1848-1869). The last volume contains excellent sketches of Lyndhurst and Brougham, based largely on personal knowledge. Correspondence of Princess Lieven and Earl Grey, 1824-1834, edited by G. le Strange (1890). Letters of Dorothea, Princess Lieven during Her Residence in London, 1812-1834, edited by L. G. Robinson (1902). Letters of Harriet, Countess Granville, 1810-1845 (2 vols., 1894).

(4) Miscellaneous books. Sir G. C. Lewis, Administrations of Great Britain (1783-1830), edited by Sir E. Head, 1864, has been mentioned among the authorities for volume x. It is a valuable history of the inner political life of England, but suffers from a strong whig bias. Lecky, History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century (5 vols., 1892), though nominally closing at the union, throws light on Irish history at the beginning of the nineteenth century. A. V. Dicey, Lectures on the Relation between Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century (1905), is very suggestive. Halévy, La formation du radicalisme philosophique (3 vols., 1901-1904), and Sir L. Stephen, The English Utilitarians, vols. i., ii. (1900), are valuable for the history of the radical party. C. Creighton, History of Epidemics in Britain (2 vols., 1894), contains an excellent account of the cholera epidemic.

ON THE GREAT WAR.

(5) Books dealing with the great war are numerous. The following have been already noticed among the authorities for volume x.: Dr. Holland Rose, Life of Napoleon I. (2 vols., 1904), our most trustworthy guide for the career of the French emperor. The book has gained not a little from its author's independent researches at the British Foreign Office. Captain Mahan, Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire (2 vols., 1893), and Life of Nelson (2 vols., 1897), valuable for their general view of the naval warfare and commercial policy of the period. James, Naval History of Great Britain, 1793-1820 (6 vols., ed. 1826; vols. iii. – vi. extend from 1801-1820), very full and accurate, largely used in this volume for the American war. Sir John Laughton, Nelson (English Men of Action Series, 1895), and articles in the Dictionary of National Biography.

To these must be added Alison's History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 (20 vols., 1847, 1848), an uncritical but still a standard work. The reaction against Alison is probably due in large measure to political causes. In addition to the European history which gives its title to the book, it contains a narrative of the American war of 1812-1814. The classical though far from trustworthy narrative on the French side is Thiers, Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire (21 vols., 1845-1869), translated into English by Campbell and Stebbing (12 vols., 1893-1894). See also Lanfrey's incomplete History of Napoleon I., English translation (4 vols., 1871-1879), bitterly anti-Napoleonic. The negotiations precedent to the outbreak of war in 1803 are to be found in Mr. O. Browning's England and Napoleon in 1803, containing despatches of Whitworth and others, published in 1887, and in P. Coquelle, Napoleon and England, 1803-1813, translated by G. D. Knox (1904), based on the reports of Andréossy, the French ambassador at London. Sir H. Bunbury's Narrative of Certain Passages, etc. (1853) is of the highest value for the war in the Mediterranean. The Times of September 16, 19, 22, 26, 28, 30, and October 19, 1905, contains an excellent series of articles on Nelson's tactics at Trafalgar. For the Moscow campaign, the Marquis de Chambray's Histoire de l'Expédition de Russie (3 vols., 1839) is perhaps the most reliable of contemporary narratives. There is a good account of the campaign in the Rev. H. B. George's Napoleon's Invasion of Russia (1899). For the Peninsular war, W. Napier's History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France (6 vols.; vols. i. – iii., ed. 1835-1840; iv. – vi., 1834-1840) is of the highest literary as well as historical value. C. Oman's History of the Peninsular War (in progress, vols. i., ii., 1902-1903, extending at present to September, 1809) makes good use of Spanish sources of information. The Wellington Dispatches have been noticed already in section 3. The Diary of Sir John Moore, edited by Sir J. F. Maurice (2 vols., 1904), is of value for the campaign of 1808-1809. For Waterloo, in addition to Maxwell's Life of Wellington, and Rose's Life of Napoleon I., Chesney's Waterloo Lectures, 1868; W. O'Connor Morris, The Campaign of 1815 (1900), and J. C. Ropes, The Campaign of Waterloo, may be studied with profit. Morris's work must, however, be discounted for his extravagant admiration of Napoleon's genius and his faith in the Grouchy legend. For the disputes with the United States and war of 1812-1814, see chapters in the Cambridge Modern History (vol. vii., 1903); Bourinot, Canada (Story of the Nations), (1897); J. Schouler, History of the United States of America under the Constitution (6 vols., 1880-1889); and Mahan, Sea Power in Its Relations to the War of 1812 (2 vols., 1905).

ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

(6) For European politics and foreign relations generally, in addition to some of the books mentioned in the last section, we have C. A. Fyffe's History of Modern Europe, 1792-1878 (ed. 1895), a very readable book, which includes the results of some original study, and Seignobos, Political History of Contemporary Europe, English translation (2 vols., 1901), an useful but not always accurate book. The great French work, Histoire générale du IVe Siècle à nos jours (vols. ix., x., 1897-1898), by numerous authors, edited by MM. Lavisse and Rambaud, is naturally of varying merit; the chapters on France and Russia are the best, and there is a very full bibliography at the close of each chapter. The Cambridge Modern History, vol. ix., Napoleon (1906), is a similar compilation by English writers. Alfred Stern's Geschichte Europas seit den Verträgen von 1815 (3 vols., 1894-1901, to be continued to 1871) is perhaps the best general history of the period following the great war. The Memoirs of Prince Metternich (5 vols., English translation, 1881-1882, edited by Prince Richard Metternich, extending to 1835) contain much that is valuable for diplomatic history. For French history see Duvergier de Hauranne, Histoire du gouvernement parlementaire en France (1814-1848, 10 vols., 1857-1872), which, in spite of the title, does not extend beyond 1830. For the Greek revolt, vols. vi. and vii. of G. Finlay's History of Greece (7 vols., ed. 1877) are important. American policy is treated by J. W. Foster, A Century of American Diplomacy (1901). Sir Edward Hertslet's Map of Europe by Treaty (4 vols., 1875-1891), while professedly confined to the treaties dealing with boundaries, contains the majority of those of general historical interest. It covers the period 1815-1891. Le Comte de Garden, Histoire générale des traités de paix (14 vols., 1848-1888, vols. vi. – xv., extending to 1814), and F. de Martens, Recueil des traités et conventions, conclus par la Russie (tomes xi., xii. (Angleterre), 1895-1898), contain the principal treaties belonging to the period. The Castlereagh and Wellington Despatches have been noticed under section 3.

(7) For Indian history: James Mill and Wilson, History of British India (10 vols., 1858), vols. vi. – ix., noticed as an authority for volume x., ends in 1835; Sir Alfred C. Lyall's Rise and Expansion of the British Dominion in India (1894) contains a brief and masterly sketch of the subject. See also A Selection from the Despatches, Treaties and Other Papers of the Marquess Wellesley (1877), well edited by S. J. Owen; the first two series of the Wellington Dispatches, noticed under section 3; and the vast mass of information collected in Sir W. W. Hunter's Imperial Gazetteer of India (14 vols., 1885-1887).

(8) For social and economic history: Dr. W. Cunningham's The Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times, vol. iii., Laissez Faire (1903), extending from 1776 to 1850, is now the standard work. Reference has also been made to G. R. Porter, Progress of the Nation (1847), a work abounding more in statistics than in narrative, and to Sir George Nicholls, History of the English Poor Law (2 vols., 1854). Nicholls took an active interest in social and economic questions from 1816 till his death in 1857. He probably understood the working of the poor-law better than any other man of that date, and the poor-law legislation of 1834 and 1838 was largely founded on his suggestions. He was one of the poor-law commissioners of 1834, and was permanent secretary to the poor-law board from 1847 to 1851. Sir G. C. Lewis, The Government of Dependencies (1891), edited by C. P. Lucas, and Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies, vols. i. – v. (1888-1901), are of value. For literary history, Saintsbury's History of Nineteenth Century Literature, 1780-1895, (1896), is an excellent guide. For educational progress at Oxford University reference may be made to the Report of H.M.'s Commissioners appointed to inquire into the State, etc., of the University and Colleges of Oxford (1852), which contains a good historical summary. The report of the similar commission appointed for Cambridge hardly touches the progress of studies, and is therefore of less value to the historical student.

APPENDIX II.

ADMINISTRATIONS, 1801-1837

1. ADDINGTON, March, 1801.

2. PITT, May, 1804.

3. GRENVILLE, February, 1806.

4. PORTLAND, March, 1807.

5. PERCEVAL, October, 1809.

[142] On May 23, 1812, after Perceval's death, the Earl of Buckinghamshire was appointed chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster.

6. LIVERPOOL, June, 1812

[143] Also treasurer of the navy.

7. CANNING, April, 1827.

8. GODERICH, September, 1827.

9. WELLINGTON, January, 1828.

10. GREY, November, 1830.

11. MELBOURNE, July, 1834.

PROVISIONAL ADMINISTRATION, November, 1834.

12. PEEL, December, 1834.

13. MELBOURNE, April, 1835.

1

So Vansittart himself, in Pellew, Life of Sidmouth, i., 371. Southey and Captain Mahan have erroneously supposed that Vansittart accompanied the naval expedition and was sent by Parker in the frigate from the Skaw.

2

Annual Register, xliii. (1801), chapter i. The average price of wheat in 1800 was 112s. 8d. the quarter, whereas the highest annual average in the half century before the war had been 64s. 6d. On March 5, 1801, the price of the quartern loaf stood as high as 1s. 10½d. On July 23 it was still 1s. 8d. The harvest of this year was, however, an excellent one. The price fell rapidly during August, and by November 12 was as low as 10½d.

3

Cornwallis, Correspondence, iii., 382-487.

4

In a letter to Charles Carey, dated October 22, Fox went the length of expressing extreme pleasure in the triumph of the French government over the English (Memorials of C. J. Fox, iii., 349).

5

Malmesbury, Diaries, iv., 60, 62.

6

Lecky, History Of Ireland, v., 465.

7

Lanfrey, Napoleon I. (English edition), ii., 202; Pellew, Life of Sidmouth, ii., 164.

8

Browning, England and Napoleon in 1803, pp. 1-6.

9

Browning, ibid., pp. 6-10.

10

See especially Hawkesbury's despatch in Browning, ibid., pp. 65-68, and Whitworth's despatches, ibid., pp. 73-75, 78-85.

11

Whitworth's despatch of March 14, in Browning, England and Napoleon, p. 116.

12

Browning, England and Napoleon, p. 218.

13

Buckingham, Court and Cabinets, iii., 242; Lewis, Administrations of Great Britain, p. 225.

14

Buckingham, Court and Cabinets, iii., 282-90; Pellew, Life of Sidmouth, ii., 113-31; Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., 20-39.

15

See vol. x., p. 399.

16

Pellew, Life of Sidmouth, ii., 145-47; Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., 88-93.

17

For a list of Canning's squibs, belonging to this period, see Lewis, Administrations, p. 249, note.

18

It was not fair to hold Addington entirely responsible for the promotion of his brother, who had been a junior lord of the treasury under Pitt. The taunt came with a particularly bad grace from Canning, who had himself been paymaster-general in the last administration.

19

Pellew, Life of Sidmouth, ii., 250.

20

Annual Register, xlvi. (1804), p. 34.

21

Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., 135-44.

22

See the letter in Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., appendix, pp. i. – iii.

23

There is preserved a sketch in Pitt's handwriting of a combined administration with Melville, Fox, and Fitzwilliam as secretaries of state, and Grenville as lord president.

24

Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., appendix, pp. xi., xii.

25

The best account of Pitt's return to power is to be found in Stanhope, Life of Pitt, iv., 113-95; appendix, pp. i. – xiii. The story is told in a very spirited manner by Lord Rosebery, Pitt, pp. 238-44.

26

Rose, Life of Napoleon I., i., 450-53.

27

Napoleon actually crowned himself, although he had originally intended to be crowned by the pope.

28

Malmesbury, Diaries, iv., 338.

29

Nelson's tactics at Trafalgar are explained in a series of remarkable articles in The Times of September 16, 19, 22, 26, 28, 30, and October 19, 1905. For incidents of the battle see Mahan, Life of Nelson, ii., 363 sqq.

30

Rose, Life of Napoleon I., ii., 53-57, 63-65.

31

Colchester, Diary (Feb. 4, 1806), ii., 35, 36.

32

Holland, Memoirs of the Whig Party, ii., 91-94.

33

Holland, Memoirs of the Whig Party, ii., 173-205, 270-320; Colchester, Diary, ii., 92-115; Malmesbury, Diaries, iv., 357-72; Walpole, Life of Perceval, i., 223-33; Buckingham, Courts and Cabinets, iv., 117-50. Holland accuses the king of treachery and duplicity, and Lewis (Administrations of Great Britain, p. 294) repeats this charge in milder terms. But the documents quoted do not prove any want of straightforwardness, and the king's conduct was the logical consequence of his action in 1801.

34

In the following year Napoleon consented to evacuate all the Prussian fortresses except three, on condition that the Prussian army should not exceed a total of 40,000 men.

35

Annual Register, xlix. (1807), 249-70, 731-38; Rose, in English Historical Review, xi. (1896), 82-92.

36

Captain Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire, ii., 272-357, shows that the policy of the orders in council was essential to British safety.

37

The course of this war is related continuously in chap. v.

38

Rose, Life of Napoleon I., ii., 190, note.

39

The best account of the quarrel, especially in its relation to the composition of the cabinet, is to be found in Walpole's Life of Perceval, vol. i., chap. ix., and vol. ii., chap. i. Lewis, Administrations, pp. 314-15, finds a double ground for Canning's resignation in his failure to obtain the removal of Castlereagh from the war office and in the refusal of the king and cabinet to allow him to succeed Portland as prime minister. It is quite clear, however, that at the time of Canning's resignation no decision had been come to about a successor to Portland. Some correspondence had passed between Canning and Perceval, in which each had refused to serve under the other, but that this correspondence was unknown to the cabinet as a whole is proved by Mulgrave's letters to Lord Lonsdale of September 11 and 15 (Phipps, Memoir of Ward, pp. 210-17); in the former of these he discusses Canning's probable conduct without referring to this correspondence, while in the latter he only knows of such negotiations as subsequent to the resignations of September 6 and 8. So, too, Eldon's letter to his wife of September 11 (Twiss, Life of Eldon, ii., 88-90), places the whole correspondence between Canning and Perceval after Portland's resignation on September 6. The king was not informed of Canning's views as to a successor to Portland till September 13, and the cabinet minute of September 18, advising co-operation with Grenville and Grey, mentions the selection of Canning as prime minister as a course open to the king.