of his ambition being speedily gratified by the famous CHAP. "Coalition." CLXVIII. A. D. 1783. There was no regular negotiation between the Tories and the Foxite Whigs, and no formal treaty was signed. Both Formation hating the Minister, they were gradually and insensibly of the "Counited. The energy of Fox was chiefly effective in consoli- alition." dating the Coalition; but there is no doubt that the subtlety of Loughborough powerfully contributed, by removing the scruples of Lord North, over whose mind he exercised considerable influence. The grand united attack was to be made on the articles of peace with France and America. The Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas now buckled on his armour, which had almost become rusty, and, throwing aside all his pretended scruples about the sacredness of the judicial character, mixed in the thickest of the fray. 1783. borough's peace. The debate on the "Preliminaries" coming on in the Feb. 17. House of Lords, there was a struggle between Lord Lough- Lord borough and the Prime Minister which should have the ad- Loughvantage of following the other; but the latter was forced speech up, and the former is said to have exclaimed, — "The Lord against the has delivered you into my hand." He immediately followed, and his speech was very masterly. It is reported at considerable length, but the reader will be contented with a few detached extracts from it. Thus he began: "I could not in fairness rise to offer any opinion in this debate till I had the explanation and the defence of the First Minister of the Crown, for he has the fullest information of all the circumstances under which this treaty has been concluded, and he possibly might have removed my objections to it. But having attentively listened to him, I am sorry to say that my objections are strengthened. I now clearly see that by the fault of the Government in carrying on these negotiations the country is disgraced, and, I fear, is undone. I require only one point to be admitted that the condition of the kingdom was not so desperate as to oblige us to accept any terms of capitulation which our enemies chose to offer. Neither the Prime Minister nor his colleagues have defended their con - CHAP. CLXVIII. duct by denying this position, and they have talked of the preliminaries, not as a capitulation, but as a treaty. When A. D. 1783. two powers at war have opened to each other their desire of making peace, it is obvious that some point must be fixed as the basis of the negotiation - either the actual state of possession, or the state of possession before the commencement of hostilities, or the state of possession at some intermediate period. But each of these has been considered too favourable to be accorded to us, and the only basis of this treaty has been, to correct what was distasteful to France in any former treaties which we have concluded with her." He begins with the stipulation allowing the repair of the fortifications of Dunkirk, which by the treaty of Utrecht, by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, and by the treaty of Paris, were to be demolished — thus putting our enemies in the undisturbed possession of a great port in the very mouth of the Thameswhich in time of war must be fatal to our commerce, and must expose us to the peril of invasion. * He then proceeded to the removal of the restriction to fortify St. Pierre and Miquelon in the West Indies, and Pondichery in the East, with the extension of the right of fishery on the coast of Newfoundland. He then goes to Africa, and contends that British interests had been wantonly sacrificed in every quarter of the globe. He was particularly severe upon the article, by which, upon evacuating New York, Long Island, and the positions we retained in America, we should deliver up all houses, goods, and persons found there. "If," said he, "this were the capitulation of a besieged town, it would be scandalous to surrender on such terms. At the lowest ebb of distress, reduced and almost undone, the necessity can hardly be conceived, that should oblige a state to subscribe to an article evidently inserted for no other purpose than to blast for ever the hitherto untainted honour of the nation. Francis I., vanquished and captive, wrote to his subjects, All is lost except honour,' and the spirit of that sentiment preserved his kingdom and restored his fortune. If we had It is amusing to observe what a bugbear Dunkirk was to us for a century, and how harmless it has been. CLXVIII. A. D. 1783. implored, in this instance, the aid of France and Spain, CHAP. though our enemies, the generosity of these two great countries would have interposed in favour of our fellowsubjects whom we have deserted. In every treaty that has terminated a civil war, the articles of mutual forgiveness and restoration have ever been the easiest to settle." After giving the instance of the Catalonians by the treaty of Utrecht, and the Irish Roman Catholics by the treaty of Limerick, he continues: "In ancient or in modern history, there cannot be found a parallel to this shameful desertion of men who had sacrificed all to their duty, and who perish by their reliance on our good faith. There is even a horrible refinement in the cruelty of the article; they are told that one year is allowed them to solicit from the lenity of their persecutors that mercy which their friends refused to secure to them to beg their bread from those by whom they have been stripped of their all, and to kiss the hands that have been reddened by the blood of their parents." He concluded by denying the power of the Crown to cede British territory in our possession without the authority of Parliament.* Upon a division, Ministers had a majority of 13 in the House of Lords, but there was a majority against them of 17 in the House of Commons,-for censuring the articles of peace, and Lord Shelburne was driven to resign.† Feb. 22. 1783. Loughborough, disappointoffice of Chancellor, Commis ed of the Loughborough expected to be Lord Chancellor in three Lord days. But, amid the difficulties opposed by a hostile Court to the formation of a new Government, there was an interregnum of five weeks-at the end of which the Coalition leaders found it necessary to agree to put the Great Seal into commission, the King being so decidedly adverse to have any keeper of his conscience except the pious Thurlow, - and our baulked aspirant was obliged to be satisfied, for the present, Seal. with a slight foretaste of his future greatness, by being made This question I have previously discussed in the Life of Lord Thurlow. Vol. V. p. 549. † 23 Parl. Hist. 421. 435. 571. made first sioner of the Great CHAP. CLXVIII. First Lord Commissioner.* His brother Commissioners were Sir William Henry Ashurst, a Justice of the Common Pleas, A. D. 1783. and Sir Beaumont Hotham, a Baron of the Exchequer. The Great Seal was delivered to them on the 7th of April, 1783, and two days after they were sworn in, and took their seats in the Court of Chancery. † May 26. 1783. *The following is the Duke of Portland's announcement to Lord Loughborough of his appointment:. : 'My Lord, You will receive from the Secretary of State an official notice of his Majesty having been graciously pleased to appoint you First Commissioner for the Great Seal, and of his having signified his pleasure that you attend him to-morrow at the levee at St. James's for the purpose of receiving it. But I cannot refuse myself the satisfaction of communicating to you this event, in which I flatter myself that the part I have taken is a demonstration of my respect and esteem for your Lordship, and a very convincing proof of the sense I entertain of my duty to the public. "I have the honour to be, with great regard, "My Lord, "Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, 66 PORTLAND." "I had the King's commands to offer the Speakership to Lord Mansfield; he was at dinner when I called, and therefore I cannot inform your Lordship of his intention in that respect." Rossl. MSS. Although Lord Mansfield was Speaker of the House of Lords while the "Coalition" lasted, Lord Loughborough had all the juridical patronage usually belonging to the office of Chancellor. The following is a letter to him from the Duke of Portland respecting the making of silk gowns: My Lord, On Wednesday last, I received the King's commands that Mr. Peckham, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Pigot should be appointed of Counsel to his Majesty, which I should have signified immediately to your Lordship, had it not appeared necessary, in consequence of his Majesty's gracious condescension in favour of Mr. Erskine, to obtain that gentleman's consent to the precedence which Mr. Peckham very naturally wished to recover, and in which Mr. Erskine most readily acquiesces. I therefore should have desired your Lordship to have ordered a patent of precedence to have been made out for Mr. Peckham, giving him rank immediately after the last of the King's Counsel, and before Mr. Erskine; and the proper instruments for appointing Mr. Scott and Mr. Pigot of Counsel to his Majesty in the usual form. But what I heard from your Lordship to-day in the House of Lords makes an alteration in point of form necessary, and, I should apprehend, would require a patent of precedence for Mr. Scott, to restore him to the rank which his seniority at the bar entitles him to over Mr. Pigot, as both their names were mentioned in the same minute to the King, though I understand that Mr. Scott is disposed to decline that advantage in the case of Mr. Erskine, upon account of his having been offered to his Majesty's consideration some days sooner than the three gentlemen for other appointments. I have to-day the honour of acquainting your Lordship with his Majesty's pleasure. — I have the honour, &c., PORTLAND."- Rossl. MSS. † Cr. Off. Min. Book, No. 2. fol. 29, 30. CHAPTER CLXIX. CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF LORD LOUGHBOROUGH TILL THE CHAP A. D. 1783. LORD LOUGHBOROUGH continued First Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal rather more than eight months, - during CLXIX. which time he forsook the Court of Common Pleas, and devoted himself to the Court of Chancery, but no cases of much interest came before him*, and I shall postpone my view of him as an Equity Judge till he sat there singly as Lord Chancellor. One good act which he did as Lord Commissioner should be commemorated - he gave a silk gown to Erskine-and it should be stated to his credit, that during his whole career he was always disposed to show respect for men of genius, although their political principles might differ from his own. Notwithstanding his disappointment, he put forth all his strength to support the "Coalition" in the House of Lords. He did not preside there, the woolsack being occupied by Lord Mansfield as Speaker, but although he was not formally a member of the Cabinet, he was considered the organ of the Government. Here the storm was at last conjured up which proved fatal to the "Coalition;" but great comparative tranquillity for some time prevailed, the "Opposition," headed by his Majesty, confining their efforts to the Lower House. Meanwhile Thurlow showed his factious hostility by opposing the bill for establishing the judicial independence of Ireland, which had been introduced by the late Government when he himself held the Great Scal. He particularly com * See the decisions of the Lords Commissioners Loughborough, Ashurst, and Hotham, 1 Brown's Chancery Cases, 267-337. They affirmed several decrees of Lord Thurlow reheard before them, and disposed satisfactorily of a good many questions on the law of legacies, and respecting dower and curtesy. All the three generally deliver their opinions; but Loughborough must have ruled the Court, for the other two were very incompetent. April 14. 1789. Loughborough Thurlow opposed to |