witnessed his perjuries; and laying his hand in a solemn manner upon the table; that sacrilegious hand that had been employed in tearing out the bowels of his mother country.' Would you think that Mr. Pitt would hear this and be silent? or would you think that the House would suffer a respectable member to be thus treated? Yet so it is."*

This opening of Colonel Barré's political life is in itself very remarkable. Pitt had even then been great and powerful in office, and was generally more than respected, for he was admired even by many of the opposition, and it required the boldness of a Junius to break through the difficulties which would have paralysed ordinary opponents. It will be shown hereafter that vehemence was always a characteristic of the Colonel's eloquence; and it is said that he avowed a personal motive for this attack, on the ground of Pitt's previous rejection of his appeal from New York, and the subsequent delay of three months in preparing his commission as LieutenantColonel.

In the "Edinburgh Review" of October, 1839, are some remarks on this occurrence, in which the writer speaks of the "uniform attachment of Lord Shelburne to that great man (the Earl of Chatham), both in public and private life; with the most unvarying steadiness of which either friendship or faction is capable:" but the critic has overlooked the fact that such friendship had not commenced in 1761, at which time, on the contrary, the parties were unquestionably opposed to each other. Proceeding upon this erroneous assumption the reviewer infers that Lord Shelburne "ought to have ousted Barré from the seat to which he had elevated him, on the first opportunity, as the consequence of this brutal attack." But he qualifies his remarks by adding, "it deserves to be considered that we are unacquainted with what passed with him in private after he

Chatham Correspondence, quoting the original MS. in the Mitchell Papers, British Museum. Another interesting notice of this singular affair will be found in the addenda to Sir Henry Cavendish's Debates in Parliament, vol. i. See also Hansard's Parliamentary History, May, 1762, where it will be seen that Barré renewed the attack soon afterwards.

BARRE'S INFLUENCE AND INCOME.

43

had committed the outrage. The political adventurer may have shown a contrition as abject as his offence had been shameless; and the great man who was the object of his abuse may have been gained over to make his intercession, and prevent his ruin." The conjecture, however, is altogether groundless; Barré's abuse of Mr. Pitt was repeated; he continued to hold his seat for Wycombe; and both he and Lord Shelburne remained supporters of the ministry of Lord Bute, which Pitt opposed.

In that ministry, the Right Honourable George Grenville (the only politician to whom Junius manifested consistent attachment) had been some time Treasurer of the Navy; but in May, 1762, he accepted the more responsible office of Secretary of State.

In the debates on the articles of Peace, in December, 1762, both Lord Shelburne and Barré zealously advocated the measures of the government, which were carried in spite of the opposition of Pitt; and in the general reduction of the army which ensued, Barré's regiment was disbanded. On the 18th of March, 1763, he was compensated for that loss by the distinguished and lucrative appointment of Adjutant-General to the British Forces.

The Earl of Bute being unable to withstand the popular prejudice against him, resigned office in April; and George Grenville becoming Premier, introduced the Earl of Shelburne to office as First Lord of the Board of Trade. Barré was very soon amply rewarded for his support of the ministry, being on the 14th of May appointed Governor of Stirling Castle, in the room of Lord Loudon, deceased: and thus obtained both honorary and lucrative rewards for political services to the party he espoused, and for the losses inflicted by his opponents. Four years before, he had described himself as a friend

*

* Connected with these persons and events, it is of importance to notice the circumstance of Junius's constant advocacy or approval of Mr. Grenville; and it can hardly be doubted that the unpublished letters by Junius, said to be secretly preserved at Stowe, in a "mysterious box with three seals," would afford an explanation of this political friendship. The existence of certain letters from Junius to Mr. Grenville has been so fully acknowledged

less subaltern of eleven years' standing; he was now an influential member of the legislature, and held one of the most important and honourable appointments in the army; whilst his emoluments, as he himself stated on a future occasion, were not worth less than 40007. a year. There is every probability that he was personally serviceable to the Prime Minister, from his knowledge of America; the latter having to complete the arrangements for peace, and to provide for the expenses of the war. These facts are important, in reference to the eulogy with which Junius always mentions Mr. Grenville.

The Earl of Shelburne, during a long political career, was three times a member of as many different administrations; but he was never destined to retain office for any length of time. On this, his first entrance into official life, his tenure only lasted five months. The cause of his resignation was never truly stated until the publication of the Chatham Correspondence* (1838), which work affords many valuable illustrations of the political history of the period. From that it appears that the Earl of Bute, who retained his influence over the King, finding the Grenville ministry insecure, had endeavoured to prevail on Mr. Pitt to form a new administration, and that the latter had two interviews with His Majesty on the subject. Lord Shelburne was consulted on the occasion, and in a

by the late Mr. Thomas Grenville, the present Lord Nugent, and other members of the family, that there cannot be a doubt that such documents are preserved in that splendid mansion; although the number of them and the nature of their contents, has been often mentioned with various circumstances of exaggeration and improbability. It is not easy to conjecture the reason of their being still withheld from the public. I respectfully applied to the present Duke of Buckingham for an examination of them, or for any account which his Grace might think right to impart, but was repulsed with a laconic refusal.

*

Walpole's conjecture is shrewd and characteristic.

66

Many reasons are given, but the only one that people choose to take is, that, thinking Mr. Pitt must be minister, and finding himself tolerably obnoxious to him, he (Lord Shelburne) is seeking to make his peace at any rate.”—(“Letters to Sir Horace Mann," 2nd series, vol. i., p. 164.)

BARRÉ IN OPPOSITION.

45

contemporary private letter, it is asserted that "the convention between Lord Bute and Mr. Pitt was long carrying on, with the utmost secrecy, under the mediation of Lord Shelburne, a young nobleman who is said to be possessed of great abilities, and to have studied the system of ministerial craft with great assiduity, under that able master, Mr. Fox."* His Lordship, together with Barré, had hitherto acted against Mr. Pitt, but foreseeing a change in the political horizon, they were prepared to coalesce with one whom they had previously opposed.. The negociation, however, failed; but Lord Shelburne wrote to Mr. Pitt "to thank him for the honour of an obliging communication, and to felicitate him on a negociation being at an end, which carried through the whole of it such shocking marks of insincerity." The resignation of his office as First Lord of the Board of Trade took place only two days after this letter, and was evidently owing to his sympathy for, and co-operation with Mr. Pitt. It was announced to the latter by Mr. Calcraft in the following terms: "Lord Shelburne having resigned his situation at the Board of Trade, I think it right to inform you thereof without delay. It is with the utmost satisfaction I can add Lord Shelburne feels with very great concern what happened to you in the end of the late transaction."+

On the retirement of Lord Shelburne, the Duke of Bedford joined the administration, Mr. Grenville continuing to be Prime Minister; but Colonel Barré soon voted in opposition to the government; no doubt participating in the feelings of Lord Shelburne. By this measure he incurred the severe penalty of dismissal from the valuable and important military offices which he held; being consequently left to the resources of his half-pay, as Lieutenant-Colonel. This extraordinary act of punishment for a vote given in a legislative

* The Mr. Fox here referred to was the first Lord Holland; the father of the famous Charles James Fox.

† Chatham Correspondence, vol. ii.

capacity was sufficient to justify and provoke the severe animadversions of Junius upon those who inflicted it. In order to explain the history of the Letters of that famed satirist, it is necessary to notice briefly this vote of Colonel Barré, and the consequences which it appears to have produced.

When the Earl of Bute retired from the ostensible management of public affairs, Wilkes, in his noted No. 45 of the "North Briton," severely criticised "as the speech of the minister," the King's address to Parliament on closing the session. He asserted, with a degree of boldness till then unparalleled, that the Scotch minister still, in effect, continued to rule public affairs. He indig nantly declared, that "every preferment given by the crown will be found still to be obtained by his enormous influence, and to be bestowed only on the creatures of the Scottish faction. The nation is still in the same deplorable state, while he governs, and can make the tools of his power pursue the same odious measures. Such a retreat as he intends, can only mean that personal indemnity which I hope guilt will never find from an injured nation. In vain will such a minister, or the foul dregs of his power, the tools of corruption and despotism, preach up in the speech, that spirit of concord, and that obedience to law, which is essential to good order."*

Legal proceedings were immediately taken against the author of No. 45, who was, in fact, in custody for a few days; but he was vigorous in his own defence and brought actions against those who had arrested him. The struggle was carried on with much spirit on both sides until the meeting of Parliament, on the 15th of November, 1763; by which time, as already intimated, Lord Shelburne and Colonel Barré, formerly supporters of Mr. Grenville, had joined the ranks of the opposition.

* The North Briton, and "No. 45" especially, soon became a scarce publication; and is now rarely to be met with. The famous libel which led to such important results in Parliament and elsewhere is reprinted in Hansard's Parliamentary History, vol. xv.