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 Wellesley 'the ignorance and presumption and licentiousness' of the English press (, i. 41). As regards the Roman catholic claims, on which the cabinet was divided, he was against concession. 'Ireland has been kept connected with Great Britain by the distinction between protestants and catholics since the Act of Settlement. The protestants were the English garrison. Abolish the distinction, and all will be Irishmen alike with similar Irish feelings. Show me an Irishman and I'll show you a man whose anxious wish it is to see his country independent of Great Britain' (Suppl. Desp. 7 July 1812; cf., i. 95, and ii. 20; Speeches, 17 May 1819).

The immediate results of peace and retrenchment in England had been depression of trade, surplus labour, distress, disturbances, and repressive legislation. The rough handling of the Peterloo meeting on 16 Aug. caused exasperation; the six acts followed, and the Cato Street conspiracy of Arthur Thistlewood [q. v.] Among Wellington's first duties was to advise as to the use of troops in dealing with mobs (Desp. 21 Oct. and 1 Nov. 1819). On 29 Jan. 1820 George III died, and this raised the question of Queen Caroline. In June Wellington and Castlereagh on behalf of the ministry held conferences with Brougham and Denman, but no agreement was come to. The bill of pains and penalties was brought in, but was dropped after the second reading. Without going far enough to please the king, the government had gone too far for many of its supporters, and Canning resigned. Wellington was made lord lieutenant of Hampshire on 19 Dec. 1820, and soon gave offence by speaking of 'the farce of a county meeting,' with reference to an address to the queen from that county (Speeches, 25 Jan. 1821).

He was lord high constable at the coronation of George IV, as at the two subsequent coronations. The tone of public opinion had become, as Peel remarked, 'more liberal—to use an odious but intelligible phrase—than the policy of the government' (, i. 170). To strengthen the latter, Liverpool wished to bring back Canning, but the king was obstinate; and Liverpool had to content himself with 'the rump of the Grenvilles' and with Peel, who became home secretary in January 1822. It was suggested that Wellington should go to Ireland, where outrages were on the increase, but he was against it, and Wellesley was made lord lieutenant (, p. 289).

Castlereagh, who had become Lord Londonderry, committed suicide on 12 Aug. 1822. Wellington had noticed that his mind was unhinged, and had warned his doctor (Desp. 13 Aug). He persuaded the king to accept Canning as foreign secretary, and he himself took Londonderry's place as British representative at the congress which met in September at Vienna and transferred itself to Verona. His instructions, drafted by Londonderry for himself, were supplemented but not substantially altered by Canning (Desp. 14 and 27 Sept.) The main subjects for discussion were Turkey, Italy, and Spain; and it was the latter that chiefly engaged the attention of the congress. Wellington stated his case for non-intervention with singular force. But Alexander was bent on putting down 'Jacobinism,' of which he considered England the supporter, and Austria and Prussia followed his lead. The three powers came to an agreement with France that, in case of need, she should send troops to help Ferdinand against his subjects, and that they should support her (Desp. 5 and 19 Nov.) On other points Wellington was more successful. He left Verona on 30 Nov., and at Paris on his way home he made a formal offer of British mediation between France and Spain. This was done against his own opinion, and it was declined, as he anticipated (Desp. 10 and 17 Dec.)

As a last effort, Lord Fitzroy Somerset was sent to Madrid in January 1823, to urge the moderates on Wellington's behalf to come to terms with the king, not only to prevent the invasion of their country, but to save their colonies. His mission proved fruitless; and in April a French army entered Spain to restore absolutism. Attacks were made in parliament both on the policy of the government and on Wellington's course at Verona. Wellington defended himself (Speeches, 24 April), and the government obtained large majorities, for few thought that England should have gone the length of war. The re-establishment of absolute monarchy in Spain by France hastened the recognition of the revolted Spanish colonies by England. This was the work of Canning, and was strenuously opposed by Wellington. He had little sympathy with the flashiness which coined the phrase about calling a new world into existence, or with the trade motives which lay behind. He held that 'in a view to our own internal situation, to our relations with foreign powers, to our former and our existing relations with Spain, considering the mode in which the contests with these states has (sic) been carried on, and to our own honour and good name, the longer the establishment of such relation is delayed the better' (Desp. 7 Dec. 1824, 7 May 1828).