THE

BRITISH MAGAZINE.

OCTOBER 1, 1823.

MEMOIR OF THE RIGHT HON. EARL GREY.

THE national characteristics of steadiness and perseverance for which England has been distinguished, and to which she has been indebted for some of the best and most honorable results, is nowhere displayed more eminently than in the conduct of men of a high rank in politics. However various and however violent may be the dif ferences of opinion with respect to the principles upon which their political conduct is established, no man withholds from them that respect which their firmness and integrity demand, and which often gives to an erroneous and inefficient policy a certain lustre, which gilds its very ruin, and saves it from the contempt it would else fairly merit.

CHARLES BARON GREY DE HOWICK, in the county of Northumberland, is one of those public persons of whom, as Englishmen, we cannot fail to be proud, although we may always feel it necessary to dissent from his political opinions. He is descended, though not directly, of an ancient family, and that branch of it to which he belongs has been settled in the county of Northumberland for many years past. The nobility of the family is, however, of recent date, the first peer being the father of the present earl, who was created by a patent of the late king, dated the 21st of June, 1801. The first Earl Grey was a very meritorious and skilful officer, who had been actively employed in the service of his country from the age of nineteen. During the - American war, to the principle of which he is said to have been opposed, he was among the few officers who supported the honour of the British arms, and whom even the discouraging effects of an unworthy cause could not bring to betray their own reputation and the military fame of the country by indolence and cowardice, the shame of which can never be wiped away.

In the year 1793 he commanded the expedition against the West India settlements in the possession of the French, the result of which was only partially successful, owing to the insurrection which broke out among the slaves, and was directed against the English interests. The failure, however, was by no means to be attributed to the commander; and upon his return to England he received promotion and reward, and ultimately was created a peer.

The present Earl Grey is the eldest son of the nobleman we have just mentioned. He was born in the year 1764, and educated in Scotland he gave proofs, at a very early age, of the possession of talents which might fit him for the most important offices in the state when experience should have matured them. At the early age of nineteen he was returned a member for the county of Northumberland: VOL. I. Oct. 1823. Br. Mag. 2 x

several years, however, elapsed before Mr. Grey distinguished himself in his senatorial capacity; and the debate on the negotiation relative to the Falkland Islands, in 1790, seems to have been the first occasion upon which he displayed the powers of his eloquence. Soon after this he openly took part against the administration, and did not scruple to denounce Mr. Pitt's politics as injurious to the nation, while he manifested a contempt and even a personal hostility towards that minister. A speech made by him in 1792, respecting the misunderstanding with Russia, excited considerable attention from the boldness of the tone with which he canvassed the conduct of the administration, and in which he went the somewhat ridiculous length of asserting that they were open to an impeachment. The following extract from one of his speeches on this subject will show that he could not, or would not, bridle the hostility we have mentioned, and that his temper led him into the use of language which nothing but the privileges of parliament would enable us to distinguish from mere bullying, and which was in the main as untrue as it was useless :

The right honorable gentleman (Mr. Pitt) had indeed been considerably affected by the extravagant praise bestowed upon him on former occasions; and as the character of the late Earl of Chatham stood high, the present minister deemed it necessary to assume a dictatorial air, that he might pass for a person who could give the law to the different powers of Europe. In consequence of the incense so lavishly bestowed upon him, he had been prancing through every court on the Continent, and, after much gasconade and bluster, met in each nothing but discomfiture and disgrace. The success of the right honorable gentleman in the affairs of Holland had elated him in such a manner, that it came into his head that he could parcel out kingdoms and conduct negotiations with the same ease as he laid on taxes or supplied the want of arguments by the division of majorities in that house. His friends, and those who pretended to be his friends, flattered him into that belief. We heard no more of the olive branch, the language of which is usually followed by firmness, and, in the end, with substantial profits and well-earned applause. On the contrary, his partisans longed for a war in which he might distinguish his talents in conducting the vessel of the commonwealth through all the thunder of cannon with the same ease that he conducted it in the gentle tide of peace; nay, he seemed to wish for it himself: his imagination was heated like that of Don Quixote, when kindled into all the ardour of chivalry by reading books of romance-the laurels of his father faded in his eyes-he out-heroded Herod.'

The French Revolution had now made a certain progress, and the diffusion of the principles upon which it was carried on caused the government of this country to feel considerable danger, and to look anxiously to the preventing the mischief which might ensue. The parliament was suddenly assembled in December, 1792, and the speech from the throne exposed all the evils which were then thought to be imminent. The opposition, of which Mr. Grey was now a prominent member, seized this as a pretext for censuring the minister; and Mr. Fox, then the leader of the party, denied that any of the assertions in the speech were true.

The question of Parliamentary Reform was agitated more strenuously than before; and it was urged that acceding to the wishes of the people in this respect would be sufficient to restore the nation to tranquillity and content. From this period up to 1806 Mr. Grey was among the most celebrated of the parliamentary orators, and was looked upon by the opposition as one of the warmest and most serviceable sup. porters of their party; his years, his vigour, and his talents, all combining to promise a much longer duration of his aid than could be expected from Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, and many others.

In 1806 the death of Mr. Pitt did that for his opponents which their own exertions never could have done; it dissolved the ministry, and brought them into power. Among the appointments which then took place was that of Mr. Grey (then Lord Howick) to be First Lord of the Admiralty; and afterwards, on the death of Mr. Fox, which soon followed that of his political rival, to be Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

The two chief topics towards which all Lord Grey's endeavours had been directed, with that pertinacity which we like in a bad cause, and which in a good one is the most valuable quality that a statesman can boast, were a Reform in Parliamentary Representation and the Emancipation of the Catholics. The first of these is an Utopian dream, which it would be a waste of time here to discuss: the second was (as it ought to be, and as it always must be) vain in itself, and full of disappointment to its advocates. The new ministry convinced the people of England that although, individually, its members possessed respectable talents, and were men of personal worth, they were not statesmen, and, least of all, were they capable of managing a govern. ment, the best principles of which they did not understand. The urgent interests of the nation required that the administration should be in other hands, and the Whig party were dismissed, and other persons employed, who, if their parts were less brilliant, proved they understood better the spirit and interests of the constitution, and who were eminently useful.

In 1807 Lord Grey succeeded, by the death of his father, to the estates and title of his family, and, of course, took his seat in the House of Peers. Here the scene of his labours being necessarily limited, he has been less before the public; but still he suffers no occasion to pass without exercising that vigilance which he thinks necessary, and expressing his opinions upon the affairs of the government. Upon the occasion of the Queen's trial, the manliness and impartiality of his conduct, and the eloquence of his speeches, contributed mainly to the turn which that unfortunate business had taken, and established more firmly than ever his lordship's reputation. He may be called the head of the Whig party, and is as well its principal ornament as its strongest support.

MEMOIRS OF MADAME DE BONCHAMPS.

The delightful Memoirs of the Countess de la Roche Jacqueline have already familiarized us with the most interesting details of the war in La Vendée. They are not only strictly true, but they present in so charming a manner the narration of that ill-fated contest, where

piety, loyalty, and courage, fell before the powers of vice and blood, that little remains to be said upon the subject. The small volume now before us has, however, peculiar claims to our attention. It is more of a personal narrative than an account of the war; and the circumstances which it relates, although they are of no importance in a political point of view, possess a powerful claim upon our sympathy and compassion.

The Marchioness de Bonchamps is the widow of one of the most celebrated of the Vendéan chiefs. He was a young nobleman who had been employed in the military service from his boyhood; but at the commencement of the Revolution he had been for some few years living in retirement upon his patrimonial estate of La Baronnière, near St. Florent le Vieil. His wife, the authoress of the present Memoirs, had borne him two children, and he hoped that the care of educating them would not have been interrupted by the tumult of the civil disorders which had broken out. As it was sufficient cause of suspicion in those days to be honorable or rich, the Marquis was soon accused, and, appearing before the Conventional Tribunal at Anjou, he was acquitted. He foresaw that his life, as well as that of every other honest man in the country, was in the greatest peril ; but, not knowing how to direct the flame which he saw about to burst forth, he remained inactive in his own domains.

At length the murder of the king, and the arbitrary orders of the convention for a levy of 300,000 men, roused the popular feeling in La Vendée. Some of the inhabitants fell upon the republican party, and, having obtained a partial success at first, they solicited M. de Bonchamps to take the command of them. It is not our intention, nor indeed is it that of the author, to trace the progress of this disastrous war it may be enough to say that, of all the chiefs who took a part in it, none seemed to have been better qualified by courage, coolness, and experience, to ensure its success, than M. de Bonchamps; and to none can be more truly ascribed the greater part of the advantages which were gained.

During the whole progress of the war, while her husband lived, Mad. de Bonchamps remained in the neighbourhood of the army with her children. Her obedience to his requests, and her affectionate attachment to him, are told in the most unaffected and delightful manner. The following extract is one, among many, of the events in which she is displayed in this light. Her husband had been badly. wounded by a prisoner, whose life he had spared:

'I found M. de Bonchamps suffering very much, not only from the wound which he had just received, but from an old one which had opened afresh. He entreated me to rejoin my children; but, having seen he was very ill attended, because his servants, and all who surrounded him, occasionally left him to repulse any blues who passed by, I went, not without danger, to fetch my children, and I soon returned to him with them. I slept in his room, the better to attend him. Whilst we were in this sad situation, the other chiefs sent to him the Prince de Talmont, to consult with him on military operations. The prince, whom we did not know, and who had never seen M. de Bonchamps, thought, from his reputation, that he was at least fifty years old. He

found me in the ante-room, where I was staying to prevent persons going into my husband's chamber whilst his wounds were dressed. M. de Talmont, seeing that I gave orders in the house, approached me, saying, “Young lady, oblige me by informing your father of my arrival."

The day after this visit we also received one from MM. de Lescure and Henri de la Rochejaquelein, with whom my husband had always been intimately united.*

'These gentlemen came to entreat my husband to make an effort to repair to his army, because the peasants, having him no longer to lead them, lost every day a portion of their zeal and ardour. M. de Bonchamps determined to depart immediately, in spite of my solicitude; and, whilst his servants were hastily engaged in preparing for his departure, I myself loaded his pistols, a thing which he had taken pleasure in teaching me to do, saying "that the wife of a general ought to make herself capable of rendering such a service to her husband in time of need." I obeyed him in this particular as in every other; but to load his arms was to me a most painful duty. I could hardly refrain my tears in considering that he would only use them in the exposure of his life to the greatest danger. I have followed him to many battles without experiencing so painful a sentiment. I felt his dangers less when I shared them; for inaction renders fear insupportable.'

At the battle of Chollet the Marquis was mortally wounded, and lived but a few days after the engagement. He died, however, as he had lived, like a Christian soldier, and employed his last moments in procuring from his officers and soldiers a promise that the lives of five thousand prisoners then confined in the church at St. Florent should be spared. In this example of mercy the Marchioness also was not slow to follow her deceased husband when an opportunity offered: 'I followed the army to the end of the war. At the taking of Fougères, the generals having suffered themselves to be carried away by their ardour in the pursuit of the blues, the officer charged with the guard of the prisoners, having to complain of the cruelty of some of them, wished to retaliate, and in a moment of rage ordered these unhappy republicans to be shot. Being immediately informed of it, I ran to the place where the execution was ordered; it seemed to me that the name which I bore gave me the right and the power to prevent this barbarity; I recalled to their minds the last words of M. de Bonchamps on his death-bed ;-I threatened the officer himself with death at the hands of the Vendéans who followed me, if he committed an

This was the young Henride la Rochejaquelein, who, when the Vendéans chose him for one of their chiefs, addressed to them this energetic harangue: "My friends, if I advance, follow me;-if I turn back, kill me ;-if I fall, avenge me. This extraordinary young man, who was killed as well as his worthy brother Louis, is interred in the cemetery of Saint Aubin. "Chance (says M. Genaude) has placed their epitaphs upon their tombs ;-the plant which is called the Flower of Achilles there grows in profusion." This always appeared to me more touching than the tradition of the laurel which springs from the tomb of Virgil.'-[Note by Madame de Genlis.]