EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL ROSS. MY DEAR Ross, Mansfield Street, Nov. 10, 1784. I this morning saw Mr. Pitt at his request, when after a long conversation with great temper, he proposed to me to take the Tower; I declined it saying, that though I should have had no objection to the Tower at first, on the supposition of Lord G. L.'s preferring Plymouth, that now it was known that there had been a negotiation; that it was not originally intended; and that it did not come as a spontaneous mark of the King's or Mr. Pitt's personal regard or attention to my services, it would rather be construed into a political bargain. He said that he trusted both our characters would put us above such an imputation. He declared upon his honour, that, instead of intending me any slight, he wished to give me every mark of his esteem and friendship; that if he had inadvertently offended, he could only ask pardon and offer any reparation in his power; that he could give me no stronger proof of this than by offering me the Tower, which he again pressed me to take. I professed myself perfectly satisfied with this, and with much civil language, which I used throughout the whole conversation without departing from a proper dignity, I desired some hours to consider of my acceptance: I have just notified it to him with assurance of total oblivion of all that has passed. I have wrote a letter of the same sort to Lord Sydney, and so this disagreeable affair has ended better than we could have expected. I have not time to say more at present. Yours, &c., CORNWALLIS. EARL CORNWALLIS TO THE RIGHT HON. WILLIAM PITT. DEAR SIR, Mansfield Street, Nov. 10, 1784. The fairness and candour of your behaviour to me, and your obliging expressions of friendship, have determined me never to turn my eyes back to whatever fatality occasioned the disagreeable subject of our conversation. I shall most thankfully accept the Tower from you, and I shall erase from my mind every idea that I could ever have been slighted by Mr. Pitt. I have the honour to be, &c., CORNWALLIS. DEAR ROSS, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL Ross. Mansfield Street, Nov. 13, 1784. I have nothing material to say, but that I have got the Tower, which in point of income and security I suppose to be as good as Plymouth; the manner we will not talk of. Every thing has been most perfectly cordial between Pitt and me, and with the others all is forgot and forgiven. I have been sitting on a courtmartial on Colonel Debbieg;' as the court is not yet dissolved, I can only say that we were a miserable set of judges. Yours, &c., CORNWALLIS. DEAR ROSS, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL Ross. Mansfield Street, Nov. 19, 1784. As I have received no answer to all my letters, I conclude that you have been still wandering about the country. I am rather pleased to think that you will receive them all together, so that you will avoid in part the uneasiness which the first would have occasioned. You will not, however, think the whole injury done away, or be surprised when I say, that I still feel most sensibly and seriously mortified. The behaviour of a certain personage when I was presented was much as usual; I thought, considering all things, rather dry. Lord George Gordon is enlisting men publicly for the Dutch service, besetting the Treasury with mobs, and will probably soon set fire again to the town. I am, &c., CORNWALLIS. MY DEAR LORD, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LORD SYDNEY. Culford, Dec. 7, 1784. I am sorry I had left town before you sent to me. I have no desire to exchange the Tower for any other Government; but if Mr. Pitt should at any time wish me to do it, I shall be much inclined to acquiesce in any arrangement that may be agreeable or convenient to him. I inclose to you a letter which I have received 1 Colonel, afterwards General Debbieg, R.E., b. 1731, d. June 27, 1810. 2 Lord George Gordon (godson of George II.), son of Cosmo, 3rd Duke of Gordon, b. Dec. 25, 1751, d. unmarried, Nov. 1, 1793, in Newgate, where he was confined for a libe on Marie Antoinette. M.P. for Ludgershall, from Nov. 1774, to July, 1780. His share in the riots of 1780 is well known. He wrote some violent and absurd letters to Mr. Pitt, with reference to the subject above mentioned, for which see An. Reg. of this year. from my old friend Charles O'Hara, not with an idea that you can render him any service (knowing as I do how few things there are to give, and how many persons there are ready to receive); but as he mentions some reliance on your good will towards him, that you may, if you please, have an opportunity of saying something civil either directly from yourself, or through me. His zealous services under my command, and the pains he took, and the success he met with, in reconciling the Guards to every kind of hardship, give him a just claim, independent of our old friendship, to my strongest representations in his favour. I am, &c., CORNWALLIS. DEAR ROSS, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL Ross. Culford, Dec. 21, 1784. I have received your letters of the 28th and 14th, and am glad your northern tour did not disagree with you. It is impossible that Ballindallock' or Lapland could produce worse weather than we have had this last fortnight. Lord Rawdon was here some days, but could get no partridge shooting, which we commonly have in perfection at this time of the year. East India matters must I think go ill. Our friend Dundas, although a very clever fellow, is, I fear, but a short-sighted politician. You know I was partial to a great part of Fox's Bill. Rawdon talks of affairs in Ireland as still in a most dangerous way; but I find he is hostile to the Castle, and I fear will soon be so to the ministry here, in spite of my endeavours to prevent it. 1 The seat of General Grant in Invernessshire, now the property of Sir George Macpherson Grant, his heir. 2 Right Hon. Henry Dundas, created Viscount Melville, Dec. 24, 1802, b. April 28, 1742, d. May 29, 1811; m. 1st, July 16, 1765, Elizabeth, dau. of David Rannie, Esq., of Melville Castle; 2nd, April 3, 1793, Jane, dau. of John, 2nd Earl of Hopetown. M.P. for the county of Edinburgh from Nov. 1774 to March 1784 (except for a few months in Yours, &c., CORNWALLIS. 1782, when he sat for Newtown in the Isle of Wight), and then for the city of Edinburgh, till he was made a peer. Solicitor-General, and then Lord-Advocate, from 1775 to 1783; Treasurer of the Navy; President of the Board of Control; and Secretary of State,generally holding two offices at the same time, from Jan. 1784 to March, 1801. First Lord of the Admiralty from May, 1804, to May, 1805. Keeper of the Signet from 1783 till his death. CHAPTER VII. Mr. Pitt's offer of the Governor-Generalship declined by Lord Cornwallis — Compensation to American Loyalists - Fortification of the Seaports - Mission of Lord Cornwallis to Frederick the Great Their interview at Sans Souci Military Manoeuvres in Silesia · Lord Cornwallis accepts the GovernorGeneralship - Sails from England. DEAR ROSS, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL Ross. Mansfield Street, Feb. 23, 1785. I had hoped to see you so soon that I omitted writing. I am sorry your journey is postponed. I was again most violently attacked a fortnight ago to take the Governor-Generalship. Mr. Pitt's letter was kind and flattering to a degree, and he earnestly requested an interview. I agreed to go to him; our conversation was, however, rather superficial on the business, and he desired me to talk to Dundas. I easily found out from him that (after having lost sight of my going for six months) it was now taken up to prevent some disagreement in the Cabinet. He told me that if I would say I would go, many things which I objected to in the Bill should be altered. I was well aware of the danger of a declaration of that sort, and indeed, from their manner of conducting India business ever since the Bill passed, their disagreements at home, and the circumstances attending the appointment of their Generals,' and the present sudden application to me, merely to get rid of a momentary rub amongst themselves, I was convinced it would be madness in me to engage; so that, after taking twenty-four hours to consider, I gave a very civil negative. I will tell you all this transaction more at large when we meet. endeavoured to give this very important matter the fairest and most impartial decision in my own mind: I think I was not biassed by any improper love of ease, and I hope that I have acted for the best. The Ministers were so hard run last night on the 2 1 The three Generals were Lieut.-General Sloper, Bengal, Lieut.-General Sir John Dalling, Madras, and Brigadier-General Lawrence Neilson, Bombay. Lord Cornwallis did not rate any of them highly, and their subsequent conduct fully justified his opinion. I 2 At the close of the poll for Westminster, a scrutiny was granted by the returning officer. In the first session of the new Parliament the House of Commons decided by large majorities. that it should be continued, but a reaction took place when it appeared that, after many 1 Westminster scrutiny, that it is supposed they must give it up. The most dangerous rock still is Ireland: how can they satisfy both countries? Besides, there are certainly dissensions in the Cabinet.2 Brodrick is past all hope, and we may daily expect to hear the worst. My family are all well, and, with the rest of your friends, are impatient to see you. Believe me, &c., DEAR ROSS, CORNWALLIS. EARL CORNWALLIS TO LIEUT.-COLONEL Ross. London, March 7, 1785. I was glad to find by your letter of the 1st that you approve of my conduct in regard to India; I believe you know how much I value your approbation. As I am in the habit of running down frequently for a week to Culford, I wish you would let me know four or five days before you come up. I have assured that he need not be afraid of seeing you, for that you so totally despair of working any reformation, that you will not throw away a lecture upon him. Indeed, he seems determined on the destruction of himself and his unfortunate children. As for his wife, it does not much signify. 3 I had a letter this day from Grisdale, who tells me he shall be in Paris by the first week in April. Brodrick continues much the I am your most affectionate friend, same. MY DEAR LORD, EARL CORNWALLIS TO LORD SYDNEY. CORNWALLIS. Mansfield Street, April 26, 1785. Having understood from Colonel Hamilton' that you wished me to explain my sentiments fully concerning him, I can with truth former country he carried his resolutions by large majorities, but, in the latter, Mr. Orde, on Aug. 12, 1785, could only muster 127 to 108, and the plan was dropped. 2 If these supposed dissensions in the Cabinet ever existed, they must have soon been made up, and certainly nothing resulted from them. No contemporary history or memoirs, nor any papers to which the Editor has had access, throw any light upon this allusion. There may have been some discussions on the subject of Parliamentary reform, a scheme obnoxious to most of Mr. Pitt's colleagues, but which nevertheless he brought on, April 18. 3 Hon. Henry Brodrick, d. June 16, 1785. 4 Colonel Hamilton, North Carolina regt. |