The Creevey Papers
Henry Grey Bennet to Thomas Creevey, [May? 1814]
“Walton, Thursday night.
“. . . Is it true that Leveson has the credit of working the intrigue for Canning? I was sure, and I told Brougham and Whitbread so—that the visits of him and his wife to
Connaught Place announced an intrigue, and that I knew them too well to believe
that any other motive but the basest took either of them there. . . .
Brougham must rejoice at the escape of his client:
however the Canningites are no strength to these Ministers, and I look forward
to rare fun next session. If all these peerages take place, I am for a regular
attack on the prostitution of public honours, and a seriatim show-up of all the
new Ministry. . . . From what one can hear, the Congress will be a pleasant
scene for Milord Castlereagh. He cannot but
be in a scrape; and Norway, St. Domingo, the Slave Trade, Poland and Saxony,
are rare topics for future discussion. Have you read Brougham upon Norway in the last number
of the Edinburgh
Review? If not, do it, as he is very good. . . .”
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Granville Leveson- Gower, first earl Granville (1773-1846)
English diplomat and ally of George Canning; he was ambassador to St Petersburg (1804-06,
1807) and ambassador to Paris (1824-1828). The Duchess of Devonshire described him as “the
Adonis of his day.”
Samuel Whitbread (1764-1815)
The son of the brewer Samuel Whitbread (1720-96); he was a Whig MP for Bedford, involved
with the reorganization of Drury Lane after the fire of 1809; its financial difficulties
led him to suicide.
