Jane and the Barque of Frailty

Brooks’s Club

26 April 1811

My dear Miss Austen—

Your interesting communication of several hours past has given me to think, not only of Harry and the blessed days of fellowship that are long gone, but of certain events in His Majesty’s government during the years 1808–1809, viz., the conduct of the Peninsular Campaign and certain intrigues of governance surrounding it.

I am, and have always been, devoted to the philosophy and cause of the Whig party, particularly as led and espoused by that great figure of the recent age, Charles James Fox. The brief fifteen months in which Mr. Fox held the position of First Minister, during which period I was also honoured to serve— I speak of what is commonly known as the Ministry of All Talents — I may frankly state that he demonstrated to an admiring kingdom that perspicacity, restraint, and honour that must always distinguish both the statesman and the gentleman. I say nothing of his regrettable indiscretions among the female set, nor of his addiction to gaming. The fact that Mr. Fox was able to conduct himself with the acuteness and daring of a born leader, tho’ his cabinet united Whigs with men not of his own chusing but of the Opposition — a union indeed of the first minds of England — is a credit to his ability to set aside personal ambition, in the interest of King and Country, to the very day of his death in harness.

But I digress. In speaking of Mr. Fox, I would merely illustrate my own degree of experience with those men who lead the Tory faction. I have not only observed them from the vantage of my long years in Opposition; I have known several from the cradle, and others from the ministry in which we both served. You enquired of me whom I might adjudge to be enemies of Lord C. In this, I believe you had my fellow Whigs in view; I believe you expected a recital of such names as Lords Grenville and Grey, Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Brougham, Mr. Ponsonby and his ilk — all of them reasonably opposed to Lord C.’s aims, and certainly to his conduct of war during the period in which he governed that ministry. Of Mr. Fox’s nephew Lord Holland, whose dedication to his late uncle’s principles has always been frank and warm, and whose opposition to the endless campaigns in which we find ourselves has been vociferously expressed in the House of Lords, I need say little — other than that his contempt for Lord C. is invariably confined to the political realm, and never results in a social breach among their mutual acquaintance.

Your acute understanding, Miss Austen, and the various points you raise in support of your conjectures, have occupied my mind the better part of several hours. The cause at issue — the unfortunate death of that lady to which you referred, and the possibility of her end having been not of her own chusing — is sufficiently grave as to warrant my attention; but the possible consequences of too frank an avowal, and too broad an application of suspicion, must urge me to demand your discretion. Men may be ruined for a whisper; I have seen it done. Therefore, let the intelligence I now offer you be held in the strictest confidence, until such time as you feel you possess sufficient proofs, as to make the employment of your knowledge both necessary and inevitable.

Lord C.’s most determined enemy is undoubtedly not a Whig, but a fellow Tory — Mr. G.C., who suffered at his lordship’s hands on the duelling ground. I am sure I need not be more explicit. That gentleman, as he stiles himself, is without scruple or feeling; and tho’ his merits are justly regarded as brilliant, and the scope of his ambition no higher than his probable ascent, I cannot regard him as anything but a ruthless and grasping adversary. The claims of party and unity should be as nothing to such a man; and the threat of a rival everything. If you would look for your enemy, find him there.

The two men’s names have been much linked of late in the popular press, as objects of the Regent’s affection, and as possible candidates for a return to high office in a ministry of the Regent’s appointing. I will say nothing of the indignation every Whig must feel, at the defection of the Prince of Wales from that party which has ever been his chief support, and among whom he finds the better part of his friends; that is matter for another day. Suffice it to say, Miss Austen, that popular report fails in this one instance: Lord C. is certainly in the Regent’s eye, as a lynchpin of His Majesty’s desired ministry; but it is Lord Sidmouth with whom he shall serve, and the Marquess of Wellesley — not G.C. That gentleman is in bad odour with the Regent, by dint of his affection for and ties to the Regent’s despised wife— the Princess of Wales.[20]

Moreover, the celebrated duel between himself and Lord C. has only diminished his standing among his fellows, as having been justified by the underhanded fashion in which G C. attempted to oust Lord C. from the cabinet behind his fellow minister’s back. In defending his honour, Lord C. has only heightened the respect in which he is held, and has gone a long way towards regaining the admiration and affection of a populace long inclined to regard him with disfavour. G.C. knows this; he is aware that his star, already sinking, may be completely extinguished at the formation of the next cabinet; and I should not be at all surprised if so ruthless and ambitious a man should not stop even at violence to obtain his ends — by throwing scandal on the object of his jealous hatred.

You would do well to determine, if you may, whether he was acquainted with Princess T—, and what were his movements on the night in question.

I have perhaps assumed and said too much. Acquit me of having a cock in this particular fight; I stand only as observer. In relating so much of a private nature — and indeed, of speculation regarding appointments that remain solely in the Regent’s preserve — I have perhaps committed an unpardonable offence; but my esteem for Lord Harold causes me to accept the considerable trust he placed in yourself as being of unquestioned foundation.

Allow me to express my respect and admiration, and accept my sincere good wishes for your continued health. I remain—

Francis Rawdon Hastings, Earl Moira