The Ministry of All the Talents
(February 1806 to March 1807)
Summary. Lord Grenville's Whig administration,
nicknamed 'The Ministry of All the Talents' or talented men, was in principle in
favour of relief for the Catholics but did not see how the king could be
persuaded to consent, and so it would have preferred if the Catholics would be
content for the moment with administrative measures. Squabbles among the
Catholics arose which were not settled for nearly two decades. Grenville
proposed to the king a simple extension of Irish law regarding Catholics in the
army which annoyed the king. Before matters could be explained, a party of
Tories who felt that the Whigs would make an unfavourable peace with Napoleon
suggested to the king that they could form an administration under the aged Duke
of Portland.
*************************************************************
Grenville’s
Ministry
The Catholic Question
*************************************************************
Grenville’s Ministry
[February 1806] When Pitt died none of his ministers felt able to form a ministry.
The king sent for Lord Grenville who insisted that Charles James Fox, a
well-known supporter of the Catholic claims, be included. At an earlier period
Fox had greatly annoyed the king by his support for the colonists in the
American War of Independence. He had also obtained the repeal of the Act called
the Sixth of George I (1719) which made English legislation applicable to Ireland. Most of the leaders in Parliament provisionally
supported Grenville, and the ministry was nicknamed 'The Ministry of all the
Talents' by an Irish journalist named Eaton Stannard Barrett, and by this name
it was always subsequently known. Charles Grey, Lord Howick (later Earl Gray)
became First Lord of the Admiralty, and on Fox’s death, Foreign Secretary. This
brief ministry is chiefly remembered for abolishing the slave trade. But Lord
Howick’s timely positioning the British fleet off the coast of Portugal laid the seed for the ultimate overthrow of
Napoleon.
In
making his Irish appointments Grenville had a freer hand than his predecessor
Earl Fitzwilliam, the Whig Lord Lieutenant in 1795, for the strongest opponents
of the Catholics had been removed from office in Ireland on various grounds over the preceding decade. The
Duke of Bedford, a noted agriculturalist, was appointed Lord Lieutenant, with
an Englishman named William Elliot as Irish Secretary. George Ponsonby, one of
the leading Irish Whigs, became Lord Chancellor, Sir John Newport a banker from
Waterford Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, and Sir Henry Parnell became a
Commissioner of the Irish Treasury. Newport's chief interest in life was searching out for
waste in public spending. The moderate Tories, Plunket and Bushe, retained
their offices as Attorney General and Solicitor General. Henry Grattan refused
office.
Fox
realized the impossibility of changing the king's mind over the admission of
Catholics to Parliament or to high offices. He thought however that quite a lot
could be done for the Catholics within the existing laws, for example, by removing
magistrates who had been notoriously oppressive, by making their entry into the
army or the corporations of towns easier, and by
appointing those with qualifications to the public offices open to them. He
also thought something could be done about tithes to make them less oppressive
(DEP 14 Aug 1810).
William
Elliot later described the 1806 programme the Whigs envisaged as including the
granting of some more civil privileges to Catholics, modifying the tithe
system, ensuring value for public money spent on (Protestant) education, and
enforcing the residence of the clergy of the Established Church (DEP 13 Aug 1807). The Duke of Bedford
was the first Lord Lieutenant not to take part in the annual Orange parade around the statue of King William in Dublin.
The Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act and the other similar Acts were allowed to expire
and all those detained under those Acts were released. (One of those released,
a gentleman named Tandy, brought a private action for
damages of £10,000 against another gentleman named Morris who had reported a
private conversation of his in 1798 to the Government. This had resulted in his
incarceration in 1803 to the ruin of his business. He could not prove private
malice though he suspected it so the verdict went to the defendant SNL 3 July 1806).
Sir
John Newport introduced a Bill to allow the free import of Irish corn into Britain. The Corn Interchange Act (1806) proved to be of
immense value to the Irish economy for in conjunction with other laws like the
Corn Laws it meant that for the next forty years Ireland was the only country with free access to the
British market for cereals. Newport
also persuaded the Lord Lieutenant to take up the question of the expenditure
of public money on education. Bedford set up a Commission, which produced several
factual reports culminating with one in 1812 that contained its
recommendations. On this final report all future Government policy on education
in Ireland was to be based. With regard to inland
navigation, Bedford shifted the emphasis from developing the
port of Dublin to developing the inland canals and waterways. Newport raised the annual grant to
Maynooth College for the education of Catholic priests from £8,000 a year to £13,000.
He also gave a grant towards a proposed institute of further education in
Cork, known as the Cork Institution. A Presbyterian
clergyman named Thomas Dix Hincks was the chief promoter of this Institution.
There
was a serious outbreak of agrarian crime in the west of Ireland. Those involved in this particular conspiracy
were known as the Threshers. Agrarian crime followed its usual pattern of
murder, robbery and intimidation. The Ministry was considering the
re-introduction of the special legislation when it collapsed. The reason for
introducing special legislation to deal with agrarian terrorists was the
intimidation or murder of witnesses or jurymen if brought to trial in the
ordinary way. Special short-term legislation, usually lasting for the length on
one parliament, had to be repeatedly brought in. After Irish independence an
attempt was made to dispense with special legislation but after only a few
months the new Irish Government was forced to bring in anti-terrorist
legislation and make it permanent.
Napoleon
was meanwhile occupied in central Europe. In
October 1806 the Prussians were crushed at Jena, the last of Napoleon's spectacular victories. He
was to continue to win victories but at enormous cost. From the Prussian
capital, Berlin, he issued his 'Berlin Decrees' establishing the
'Continental System'. His aim was to strangle British trade by refusing to
allow any British ships to enter any ports in Europe under French control. Next the Russians were defeated at Eylau and
Friedland, and were drawn into the system. The southern states, Portugal, Sicily, and the Papal States, did not yet belong to the system and Napoleon
set about remedying this. His moves were to have profound repercussions in Ireland. Lord Howick, now Foreign Secretary, sent a fleet
under the command of Earl St. Vincent to cruise off the coast of Portugal, England's oldest ally. The British fleet was able to
rescue the Portuguese royal family, and secure the Portuguese fleet, when
Napoleon sent General Junot to occupy Portugal. The Irish peer, Lord Hutchinson, a close friend
of the Prince of Wales, was sent on an embassy to Russia, and was present at the battle of Eylau. Howick,
at the same time, in accordance with Whig principles began putting out feelers
to the French to see what terms for peace might be offered. [Top]
The Catholic Question
The
Irish Catholics at the beginning of 1806 were engaged in disputes among
themselves. Fox, among others, advised them not to petition for Emancipation,
pointing out that if the Ministry fell on this issue, as well it might, their bitter opponents would come into office. Ryan,
following the custom of the time, asked Fox to keep his name in mind when a
public office suitable for a Catholic became vacant in Ireland. For this he was accused by Keogh's faction of truckling
with ministers. The matter was completely above board, but this did not prevent
the usual cry of 'sell out'. In September 1806 Fox died within a year of Pitt
his great opponent in the Commons. It should be noted about Keogh’s charge that
if Catholics asked for a public office they were denounced as traitors, and if
they did not, the Government could be accused of not employing Catholics. The
same kind of logic was later applied to refusing to allow Catholics to take
degrees in the universities, and then denouncing the Government for not
employing Catholics in positions were a degree was required.
[1807] By the beginning of l807 the party
in favour of tackling the issue head on gained the upper hand, and a petition
was prepared. From a reference in the Dublin
Evening Post it would appear that Ryan's and Keogh's followers had been
holding separate meetings, and each had produced a petition. To avoid an
appearance of division they agreed to hold a joint meeting and decide either to
petition or not to petition. Keogh harked back to 1791 and 1792 when he himself
had carried on organizing the petition against all advice to postpone it, and a
Relief Act was passed in 1793. (A more plausible reason for the passing of that
Act was that Pitt had just declared war on the French Republic and wished the Catholic question settled.) A new man at the Catholic
meetings, Daniel O'Connell, said that their claim was just and that they should
press ahead with petitioning no matter which party was in office. Never, in all
his life did O'Connell show any understanding of the nature of parliamentary
tactics. Diplomacy was not in his nature.
At another meeting, it was proposed
to select a deputation to wait on Mr. Grattan to ask him to present their
petition. Keogh objected to a deputation, as that seemed to imply that there
was something to negotiate about:
'He did not mean to enter into the
subject whether the suspicions against any individual of the deputation of 1805
were justified...but he deprecated any negotiation, he would listen to no
compromise - the petition was to be granted or not, there was no medium' (DEP 26 Feb 1807).
A
letter was published in the Post
calling on the Earl of Fingall to exercise leadership, to express what really was his own opinion, and to put a stop to the petition.
There was nothing to be gained and everything to be lost by petitioning at this
present moment. In 1805 it could be argued that the House had not discussed the
question recently, but this was not the case now. Their ally, Grattan, however,
refused to present the petition. The Earl of Fingall assured Bedford that most Catholics would be content with minor
concessions for the moment, like being allowed to be sheriffs, or to be further
promoted in the army.
Lord
Grenville accordingly began by getting the king's permission to extend to the
army in England (and consequently throughout the world) the right
of Catholic officers, conceded to the army in Ireland in 1793, to be promoted up to the rank of
colonel. This would actually have just legalized existing practice. The king
stated that he would agree to this but to nothing further. But Grenville
thought that he would allow a further concession, namely promotion to the rank
of general, and indeed thought that he had received the king's consent to this
alteration. At this point Addington, now Lord Sidmouth, said that he did not
agree with the further concession. Grenville introduced his Catholic Officers
Bill. When the king's opposition to any concession became apparent Grenville
withdrew the Bill.
Not everyone in Parliament agreed
that this was the time to put out feelers with regard to peace in Europe. Following the victory at Eylau despite heavy French losses,
Napoleon would seek to maximize his gains. A number of the leaders of the various
Parliamentary groups who were in favour of a more vigorous conduct of the War
met in the house of the Duke of Portland. They agreed to form a Ministry aimed
at prosecuting the War with vigour, and not introducing an Emancipation Bill
while that Parliament lasted. Moderate Tories like Castlereagh and Canning
found themselves able to back this programme. When the king became aware of
this, though the offending Bill had already been withdrawn, he asked Lord
Grenville to give an undertaking never to trouble the king's conscience with
the question again. This demand was probably unconstitutional and Grenville,
who could not agree to it, was forced to resign.
A
Ministry was formed under the Duke of Portland, and successive members of this
ministry, Portland, Spencer Perceval, the Earl of Liverpool, George Canning,
and Arthur Wellesley, followed each other in the office of Prime Minister for
the next twenty three years. Replying to the demand by the
king that they should not bother him with concessions to Catholics. they assured him of their loyalty but managed to avoid any
commitment on the constitutional point. A Dublin journalist, Frederick Conway, remarked that the
Catholics at the time were not too troubled at the development. They were in
favour of prosecuting the War from which very many were benefiting financially,
and the Prince of Wales was expected to come to the throne shortly. What they
did not foresee was that their bitterest opponents in the ascendancy faction
would be able to entrench themselves in the Irish administration in
Dublin Castle and would have a virtual monopoly of making public appointments
until they were rooted out of office by the Whigs in the 1830's.
Sheridan's remark applied much better to the Irish
Catholics than to the Whig ministry, that he had heard
of madmen beating out their brains against a wall, but never of a madman
constructing a wall for that very purpose.
[Top]