‘My dear Lord Lansdowne,—I am just now under the roof of an old retired Statesman, whose sentiments all men, however they may differ from him, must listen to with respect; and perhaps at a crisis like the present you will not be sorry to hear what has fallen from him on the subject.
‘When I mentioned, on my arrival here last night, the rumour in town that it had been proposed to form a Cabinet, the majority of which should be Catholic—the Home Secretary to be a Catholic, and the Irish Secretary a Catholic—and that the Home Secretaryship had been offered to you,—
‘He said in reply, I have the highest opinion of
Lord Lansdowne, and I can never believe
that he would refuse such an offer under such circumstances if he was fully
aware of what he refused. A Lord Lieutenant is little more than a mere pageant;
with the Home Secretary, as I know well, rests, and I may say entirely, the
government of Ireland; for with him rests the due execution of the law, now
almost a dead letter to the Catholic. The Lord Lieutenant has only to further
the
| ROGERS'S APPEAL TO LORD LANSDOWNE | 445 |
‘I wish I could give you all he said on the subject;
but I believe I have given you the purport. By some men it may be thought that
he once threw away such an opportunity as this himself, and now and then (is it
not possible?) he may think so in his solitary hours. Perhaps I am mistaken,
but the suspicion crossed my mind while he was speaking. There was a
melancholy, a sadness, a something so like regret in the tone of his voice,
that I was affected not a little by it. I write not unknown to him, and when I
told him of my intention this morning he replied, “You are welcome to
repeat all I have said. I am the last man to obtrude my opinion on anybody,
but he would be welcome to it at all times. Whatever he does he will do for
the best; but this I must say” (and it was with some agitation he
said it, a thing now unusual to him), “whoever rejects such an offer
is, in my opinion, guilty of a great dereliction of
public duty. He may make motions and speeches for another twenty
years to come, but he will never repair his loss. What a benefit, among
others, to prevent the return of such people, exclusively, to power. They
must now
| 446 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
‘Pray forgive me, my dear Lord Lansdowne, for troubling you with so long a letter at such a time; and yet why should I make any excuse for it? I have now known you for many a year, and I am very sure you will receive it in good part, and as a testimony of the esteem and regard with which I am always yours,
‘Mr. Grenville was present and went along with him in every syllable. A man who, like Lord Grenville, has filled so many high offices of the State, and who has himself discharged the duties of Home Secretary and Irish Secretary, must be supposed to know the degree and extent of the influence belonging to each. On that part of the subject he spoke with great confidence. He has once, I believe, if not twice, refused office under circumstances not very unlike the present, and may here be said to have given the result of his experience while in public life and of his meditation since he has left it.’
