The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 555, Supplementary Number

In 1791, we find Mr. Grey taking the lead in a measure, which, in the language of a great orator (Burke) "shed a lustre on the character and humanity of the nation." The subject to which we allude, was the melancholy situation of those who were unable to satisfy the demands of importunate creditors, and consequently subjected to the operation of a rigorous code of laws. His observation in moving for a parliamentary committee to inquire into the present practice and effect of imprisonment for debt is worthy of quotation: "it was desirable to distinguish the unfortunate debtor from the knavish one, to place the creditor in that situation which afforded the fairest and the speediest means of compensation, and to regulate the jails of this country in such a manner as to prevent unnecessary hardship and restraint. Whether they considered the practice of confining for debt men who had no means of discharging such debt, or, on the contrary, fraudulent debtors, whose creditors by no process could compel them to pay; these circumstances were alone sufficient to constitute an inquiry into the state of the laws relating to debtor and creditor." This motion being acceded to, a committee consisting of Mr. Grey, Mr. Pitt, Sir John Sinclair, Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Martin, the Attorney and Solicitor Generals, and other legal gentlemen, was immediately appointed. The origin of this inquiry is an indicative of the liberal policy of the statesman as it is of the humanity of the mover.

In 1792, Mr. Grey instituted an inquiry into the conduct of ministers with regard to the recently threatened hostilities with Russia. His animadversion upon the vacillating and ruinous measures of government were characterized by that fearless intrepidity, truth, energy, and eloquence, which have distinguished his political career. The motion for the inquiry was lost, though the powerful remarks of the mover drew from Mr. Pitt the following memorable confession: "All unlimited confidence is unconstitutional; and I hope the inglorious moment will never arrive, when this house will abandon the privilege of examining, condemning, and correcting the abuses in the executive government. It is the dearest privilege you possess, and should never be relinguished."

During the schisms occasioned in this country by the French revolution, Mr. Grey enrolled himself in a political society, called the Friends of the People. He also became a member of the Whig Club, then in the zenith of its celebrity. His active advocacy of the cause of a reform in parliament was equal within and without the house of commons. To quote one of his Lordship's most recent speeches, "In 1786 he had voted for reform. He had supported Mr. Pitt in his motion for shortening the duration of parliaments. He had given his best assistance to the measure of reform introduced by Mr. Flood, before the French revolution; and, on one or two different occasions, he had originated motions on the subject." ³ One of these was in 1793, when he presented a petition for reform and a shorter duration of parliament, from the Society of the Friends of the People: his motion for a committee was lost by 280 to 41. Another occasion to which his Lordship alludes, was in 1797, when he proposed, in his plan of parliamentary reform, to give to the county of York four new members; to divide each county into two districts, each returning a member. Copyholders and leaseholders were to have equal rights of voting with freeholders, as were all householders paying taxes in cities and boroughs; and parliaments were to be triennial. This motion was, however, negatived by 149 votes.

In 1795, Mr. Grey opposed with great firmness, Mr. Pitt's motion for the adjustment of the Prince of Wales's debts, and moved for the reduction of the Prince's income. He professed himself ready to support the real splendour of the royal family "as any slippery sycophant of a court;" but said he thought there was more true dignity in manifesting a heart alive to the distresses of millions, than in all those trappings which encumber royalty without adorning it. He asked whether the legislature should give an example of encouraging extravagance at a moment when the prevailing fashion of prodigality among people of fortune was rapidly destroying their independence, and making them the tools of the court, and the contempt of the people. He knew the refusal to pay his debts would be a severe privation to the Prince of Wales; but it would be a just penalty for the past, a useful lesson for the future, and a proper deference to the severe pressure and privations endured by the people. Mr. Grey's amendment was supported by what was then a strong majority—99 to 260; and the original motion carried: his conduct on this occasion seems never to have been forgotten by the Prince of Wales, the Regent or the King. It should here be mentioned, that, with equal justice, Mr. Grey subsequently defended the rights of His Royal Highness from the shackles proposed to be laid on him as Regent.

Mr. Grey's opposition to Mr. Pitt's measures continued unabated for many years, while he remained equally steady in his attachment to Mr. Fox. His bitter hostility to the union between Ireland and England may be said to have produced one of his most celebrated speeches. Neither was he dazzled, nor misled by the splendid talents of Burke, at this time in highest repute. When Mr. Fox was deserted by Lords Fitzwilliam, Carlisle, and other alarmists, Mr. Grey unchangingly adhered to him; and when Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville formed a Whig ministry, in 1806, Mr. Grey, then, by his father's elevation to the peerage, become Lord Howick, was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, and one of the Cabinet Council. He next succeeded Mr. Fox as Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and leader in the House of Commons. This ministry was ill-formed, and wanted unity of purpose: their abolition of the Slave Trade was a redeeming measure, in which Lord Howick bore a conspicuous part; but his lordship's motion for the emancipation of the Catholics brought about his dismissal from the ministry.

Lord Howick, soon after, by the death of his father, succeeded to the title of Earl Grey; and by the death of his uncle, Sir Henry Grey, to the family estate. Ill health, for a time, kept his lordship from public life: he retired with no place but that of a Governor of the Charter House, and without pension or sinecure. Upon the resignation of the Duke of Portland, in 1809, his successor, Mr. Perceval, proposed a coalition with Lords Grenville and Grey, which was at once rejected by the latter. In the following year, his lordship "felt it his duty to arraign and to expose the gross mismanagement of the government, and their repeated and dangerous misconduct," in Parliament. In the same session, he charged the lord chancellor (Eldon) with a crime little short of treason, in having set the great seal, in 1801 and 1804, to commissions for giving the royal assent to several bills, whilst the King was in a state of mental infirmity, under medical care, and subject to personal control. The motion was negatived by a majority of 189 to 64; "but Lord Eldon has not forgotten the accusation, or forgiven the mover." ⁴ In 1812, another attempt was made to bring Lord Grey, with Lord Grenville, into the cabinet; but this was rejected as promptly as before.

Lord Grey again retired to private life. In 1817, his lordship reappeared, and moved an amendment to the parliamentary address to the throne, urging rigid economy, retrenchment, and an inquiry into the state of the nation. In the same year he brought before the House of Lords, the notable circular of Lord Sidmouth for the prosecution of libels by magistrates. "It is a singular fact," observes an acute historical writer, ⁵ "that Lord Grey, on this occasion, made an able and erudite law argument; which all the law lords, including Lord Ellenborough, made vain efforts to refute; and which Lord Ellenborough had the manliness to eulogize;" notwithstanding which Lord Grey's motion for a copy of the opinion of the law officers of the crown was negatived.