THE CRISIS OF 1832.
[TO THE EDITOR OT THE " SPECTATOR."1
SIR,—I venture to send you enclosed letters which were writes to my grandfather, Sir James Stronge, Bart., by his step- father, Mr. William Holmes, M.P. (the Tory Whip), in May, 1832. If you think them worth printing pray do so.—I am,
May 15th, 1832.
Psavexs.
My DRAB harms,—On Saturday last the Duke of Wellington saw the King, and received his commands to forma new administration, having accepted the resignation of Lord Grey and others in con- sequence of not following their advice to create above 60 Peers in addition to the 28 already created by Lord Grey.
The Duke at once consented, but declined to kiss hands as Prime Minister, as he did not think it proper to form a head without giving it body and limbs to support it. In the latter part he has failed, and at 3 o'clock this day so reported to the King, and resigned the commission or commands imposed upon him by His Sovereign, in consequence of which Lord Grey is now with the King, who at present is determined not to make peers. The cause of the Duke's failure must be apparent. No Minister could hold office without redeeming the King's pledge as conveyed in his Message to Parliament, namely, his anxiety for an extensive reform ; and though the Duke was willing, for the sake of the King as well as to prevent the destruc- tion of the House of Peers, to yield a great deal, still there were others without whose support in the House of Commons he could not get on, such as Peel, Goulburn, Harding, and Croker, who had taken such an active part in the Reform question as to pre- clude them from forming any part of an administration prepared to introduce an extensive bill of reform, and particularly as the three first had lost character by yielding on the Catholic question, besides a few other Tories, as I know last night in the House of Commons, through their mouthpiece Sir Robert Inglis, had again evinced their determination not to forget their personal hatred to the Duke. The King will, I fear, be handed over neck and heels to the Whigs, the sixty Peers will be created, and the Revolution will shortly follow. I have had my own trouble, and more than my share, in these transactions, in which I have been treated with the greatest confidence by all parties, and had the Duke formed his Government there was nothing I thought myself fit for I might not have obtained.—Yours ever affectionately,
Wm. Horan&
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