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.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25