The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 23 June 1827
“June 23.
“. . . I sallied forth yesterday for a walk before
dinner, and who shd. I see but Wellington coming out of Arbuthnot’s house in Parliament
Street—his horses following him. So thinks I to myself—what line
will he take? which was soon decided by his coming up and shaking me by the
hand. I said—‘Curious times these, Duke!’ and then, by
way of putting him at his ease and encouraging him to talk, I
added—‘I am what they call a Malignant: I am all for
Ld. Grey. I have this moment left
him, telling him my only fear was his becoming too much of a
Tory.’ . . . Turning me round by main force and putting his arm
thro’ mine, he walked me off with him to the House of
Lords.—‘There is no chance,’ said he, ‘of
Ld. Grey being too much of a Tory; but you are
quite right, and you may tell him from me that, so long as he keeps his
present position, unconnected with either party, he has a power in the
country that no other individual ever had before him.’
“Then he fell upon Canning without stint or mercy—said it was impossible for
any one to act with him, and that his temper was quite sure to blow him up. He
said a part of his (Wellington’s)
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had been withheld; that when he found that
his amendment to the Corn Bill, if carried, wd. be fatal to the Bill, he wrote
to Huskisson saying he was willing to
come to any arrangement so as to prevent that; but
Canning, thinking that he should beat him in the Lords,
would not let Huskisson listen to such a proposal. . . .
In short, you never heard a fellow belabour another more compleatly con amore
than the Beau did
Beelzebub—every now and then stopping and nearly
pulling the button off my coat from his animation. I am only provoked that I
omitted asking him whether he recollected a conversation of ours one day after
dinner at his house at Cambray, in which I did my best in describing the
perfidious character of Canning, but he would not touch
it. . . .
“You will be glad to hear that our impertinent Whigs
have been disappointed in their expectation of Darlington claiming his seat from Ld.
Howick. Grey told me he
waited upon Darlington and tendered his son’s
resignation, as a matter perfectly of course from the line he
(Grey) had taken, as well as his son; but
Ld. Darlington wd. not listen to the thing, and said
he should take it as a personal favor never to have the subject mentioned
again. It is very creditable to the Duke of
Cleveland (that would be) to keep up his connection
with a man that is such an infernal stumbling-block in the way of all their
honors.”*
Charles Arbuthnot (1767-1850)
Educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford, he was Tory MP for East Looe
(1795-96), Eye (1809-12), Oxford (1812-18), St. Germans (1818-27), St. Ives (1828-30), and
Ashburton (1830-31). He was ambassador to Constantinople (1804-07) and a friend of the Duke
of Wellington.
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Henry George Grey, third earl Grey (1802-1894)
The son of the second earl; he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was a Whig
MP (1826-45) when he succeeded his father. He was secretary for the colonies
(1846-52).
William Huskisson (1770-1830)
English politician and ally of George Canning; privately educated, he was a Tory MP for
Morpeth (1796-1802), Liskeard (1804-07), Harwich (1807-12), Chichester (1812-23), and
Liverpool (1823-30). He died in railway accident.
William Harry Vane, first duke of Cleveland (1766-1842)
The son of Henry Vane, second earl of Darlington (d. 1792); educated at Christ Church,
Oxford, he was a lifelong friend of Henry Brougham and a notable sportsman.
