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LONDONDERRY, ROBERT STEWART, 2ND MARQ...
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See also:LONDONDERRY, See also:ROBERT See also: His administration was denounced by a See also:faction as harsh and cruel—a See also:charge after-wards repudiated by See also:Grattan and See also:Plunket—but he was always on the See also:side of lenity. The disloyal in Ireland, both See also:Jacobins and See also:priest-led, the See also:Protestant zealots and others who feared the consequence of the Union, coalesced against him in See also:Dublin. Even there Castlereagh, though defeated in a first See also:campaign (1799), impressed Pitt with his ability and tact. With Cornwallis he joined in holding out, during the second Union campaign (1800), the prospect of emancipation to the See also:Roman Catholics. They were aided by See also:free See also:expenditure of See also:money and promises of honours, methods too See also:familiar in Irish politics. When the See also:Act of Union was carried through the Irish See also:parliament, in the summer of 1800, Castlereagh's See also:official connexion with his native See also:land practically ended. Before the Imperial Parliament met he urged upon Pitt the See also:measures which he and Cornwallis thought requisite to make the Union effective. In spite of his services and of Pitt's support, disillusion awaited him. The See also: He took his seat at See also:Westminster for Down, the See also:constituency he had represented for ten years in Dublin. The leadership of an Irish party wasoffered to him, but he declined so to limit his See also:political activity. His father accepted, at See also:Portland's See also:request, an Irish marquessate, on the understanding that in the future he or his heirs might claim the same See also:rank in the Imperial Legislature; so that Castlereagh was able to sit in the House of Commons as Marquess in 1821–1822. See also:Wilberforce discussed with Pitt the possibility of sending out Castlereagh to See also:India as See also:governor-See also:general, when the See also:friction between Lord Wellesley and the See also:directors became See also:grave; but Pitt objected, as the See also:plan would remove Castlereagh from the House of Commons, which should be " the See also:theatre of his future fame." In 1802, Castlereagh, at Pitt's See also:suggestion, became See also:president of the See also:Board of See also:Control in the Addington cabinet. He had, though not in See also:office, taken charge of Irish measures under Addington, including the repression of the Rebellion See also:Bill, and the temporary suspension of the Habeas Corpus in x8ox, and continued to See also:advocate Catholic See also:relief, tithe reform, See also:state See also:payment of Catholic and dissenting See also:clergy and " the steady application of authority in support of the See also:laws." To Lord Wellesley's See also:Indian policy he gave a staunch support, warmly recognized by the governor-general. On Pitt's return to office (May x804), Castlereagh retained his See also:post, and, next year, took over also the duties of secretary for See also:war and the colonies. Socially and politically, the gifts of his wife, Lady Emily See also:Hobart, daughter of a former Irish See also:viceroy, whom he had married in 1794, assisted him to make his house a See also:meeting-See also:place of the party; and his influence in parliament See also:grew notwithstanding his defects of See also:style, spoken and written. As a manager of men he had no equal. After Pitt's See also:death his surviving colleagues failed to See also:form a cabinet strong enough to See also:face the formidable See also:combination known as " All the Talents," and Castlereagh acquiesced in the resignation. But to the See also:foreign policy of the See also:Fox-Greville See also:ministry and its conduct of the war he was always opposed. His objections to the Whig See also:doctrine of withdrawal from " See also:Continental entanglements " and to the reduction of military expenditure were justified when Fox himself was compelled " to See also:nail his See also:country's See also:colours to the See also:mast." The cabinet of " All the Talents," weakened by the death of Fox and the renewed See also:quarrel with the king, went out in See also:April 1807. Castlereagh returned to the War Office under Portland, but grave difficulties arose, though See also:Canning at the Foreign Office was then thoroughly at one with him. A priceless opportunity had been missed after See also:Eylau. The Whigs had crippled the transport service, and the operations to avert the ruin of the See also:coalition at See also:Friedland came too See also:late. The See also:Tsar See also: In fact, Castlereagh's ejection was decided by Canning's intrigues, though concealed from the victim, months before
the armament was sent out to the See also:Scheldt. In the selection of the earl of See also:Chatham as commander the king's See also:personal preference was known, but there is evidence also that it was one of Canning's schemes, as he reckoned, if Chatham succeeded, on turning him into a convenient ministerial figurehead. Canning was not openly opposed to the Walcheren expedition, and on the Peninsular question he mainly differed from Castlereagh and Wellington in fixing his hopes on See also:national See also:enthusiasm and popular uprisings. Military See also:opinion is generally agreed that the plan of striking from Walcheren at See also:Antwerp, the French See also:naval See also:base, was See also:sound. Napoleon heard the See also:news with dismay; in principle Wellington approved the plan. Castlereagh's proposal was for a coup de See also:main, under strict conditions of celerity and secrecy, as Antwerp was unable to make any adequate See also:defence. But Chatham, the naval authorities and the cabinet proceeded with a deliberation explained by the fact that the war secretary had been condemned in secret. The expedition, planned at the end of See also: According to the ideas then prevailing Castlereagh held himself justified in sending a See also:challenge to the See also:original author, as he held, of a disloyal intrigue against a See also:col-See also:league. In the subsequent See also:duel Canning was wounded and the rivals simultaneously resigned. In private letters to his father and brother, Castlereagh urged that he was See also:bound to show that he " was not privy to his own disgrace." When Canning published, a lengthy explanation of his conduct, many who had sided with him were convinced that Castlereagh had been much wronged. The excuse that the protest upon which the cabinet decided against Castlereagh did not mention the See also:minister's name was regarded as a quibble. Men widely differing in See also:character and opinions—See also:Walter See also:Scott, See also:Sidney See also: As a diplomatist, nobody See also:save See also:Marlborough had the same influence over men or was given equal freedom by his colleagues at See also:home. Foreigners saw in him the living presence of England in the See also:camp of the See also:Allies. At the War Office he had been hampered by the lack of technical knowledge, while nature had not granted him, as an organizer, the See also:powers of a See also:Carnot or See also:Roon. But in See also:diplomacy his See also:peculiar combination of strength and See also:charm, of See also:patience and conciliatory adroitness, was acknowledged by all. At the Foreign Office he set himself at once to meet Napoleon's designs in northern See also:Europe, where See also:Russia was preparing for her lifeand-death struggle. Lord Wellesley paid a high See also:tribute to Castlereagh's conduct in this situation, and Wellington declared that he had then " rendered to the See also:world the most important service that ever fell to the See also:lot of any individual to perform." Castlereagh wisely rejected Napoleon's insincere overtures for See also:peace. After the See also:Moscow debacle Napoleon's See also:fate was affected not only by Wellington's progress in Spain, but by the attitude of the northern powers and by the See also:action of See also:Turkey, due to Castlereagh's opportune disclosure to the See also:Porte of the See also:scheme of See also:partition at Tilsit. At home, the See also:repeal of the Orders in See also:Council was carried, the damage'to British See also:trade plainly out-weighing the injury inflicted on See also:France by the restrictive See also:system. The British subsidies to the Allies were largely increased as the operations of 1813 See also:developed, but all Castlereagh's skill was needed to keep the Coalition together. The Allied powers were willing, even after See also:Leipzig, to treat with France on the basis of restoring her " natural frontiers "—the See also:Rhine, the See also:Alps and the See also:Pyrenees; but Castlereagh protested. He would not allow the enemy to take ground for another See also:tiger-See also:spring. Before the See also:Conference of See also:Chatillon, where Napoleon sent See also:Caulaincourt to negotiate for peace—with the See also:message scribbled on the margin of his instructions, " Ne signez rien "—See also:Aberdeen wrote to hasten Castlereagh's coming: " Everything which has been so long smothered is now bursting forth "; and again, " Your presence has done much and would, I have no doubt, continue to sustain them (the Allies) in misfortune." The See also:Liverpool cabinet then. and later were as urgent in pressing him to return to See also:lead the House of Commons. He had lost his seat for Down in 18os, and afterwards sat for British boroughs; but in 1812 he was re-elected by his old constituents; and again in 1818 and 182o, sitting, after he became marquess of Londonderry in 1821, for See also:Orford. Early in 1814 his colleagues reluctantly consented to his visit to the allied See also:head-quarters. The Great See also:Alliance showed signs of weakness and See also:division. See also:Austria was holding back; See also:Prussia had almost broken away; above all, the ambiguous conduct of Alexander bred alarm and doubt. This situation became increasingly serious while Napoleon was giving daily proofs that his military genius, confronting a hesitant and, divided enemy, was at its best. Castlereagh strove to keep the Allies together, to give no excuse for those See also:separate arrangements upon which Napoleon was reckoning, to assert no selfish policy for England, to be tied by no theoretical consistency. At the Chatillon conferences England was represented by others, but Castlereagh was See also:present with supreme authority over all, and it was he who determined the result. He declined to commit his country either to a See also:blank refusal to negotiate with Napoleon or to the advocacy of a See also:Bourbon restoration. He was ready to give up almost the whole of England's conquests, but he insisted on the return of France within her See also:ancient limits as the basis of a See also:settlement. Caulaincourt's See also:advice was to take See also:advantage of these overtures; but his See also:master was not to be advised. The See also:counter-projects that he urged Caulaincourt to submit to were advanced after his victory at See also:Montereau, when he boasted that he was nearer to See also:Munich than the Allies were to See also:Paris. Even before the Chatillon conference was dissolved (March 18th), Castlereagh saw that Caulaincourt's efforts would never See also:bend Napoleon's will. The Allies adopted his view and signed the treaty of Chaumont (March 1st), " my treaty," as Castlereagh called it, with an unusual See also:touch of personal See also:pride; adding " Upon the face of the treaty this year our engagement is See also:equivalent to theirs See also:united." The power of England when she threw her See also:purse into the See also:scale had been just exhibited at Barsur-See also:Aube, when at a council of all the representatives of the powers the retreat of the allied armies was discussed. Bernadotte, playing a waiting See also:game in See also: Throughout, Castlereagh maintained his tranquil ascendancy in the House of Commons, though he had few colleagues who were capable of standing up against Brougham. Canning, indeed, had returned to office and had de-fended the " Six Acts," but Castlereagh See also:bore the whole burden of parliamentary leadership, as well as the enormous responsibilities of the Foreign Office. His appetite for work caused him to engage in debates and enquiries on financial and legal questions when he might have delegated the task to others. Althorp was struck with his unsleeping See also:energy on the Agricultural See also:Distress See also:Committee; " His exertions, coupled with his other duties—and unfortunately he was always obstinate in refusing assistance—strained his constitution fearfully, as was shown by his careworn brow and increasing paleness." In 1821, on Sidmouth's retirement, he took upon himself the laborious functions of the Home Office. The diplomatic situation had become serious. The policy of " intervention," with which Great Britain had consistently refused to identify herself, had been proclaimed to the world by the famous See also:Troppau See also:Protocol, signed by Russia, Austria and Prussia (see TROPPAU, See also:CONGRESS OF). The immediate occasion was the revolution at See also:Naples, where the egregious See also:Spanish constitution of 1812 had been forced on the king by a military rising. With military revolts, as with See also:paper constitutions of an unworkable type, Castlereagh had no sympathy; and in this particular See also:case the revolution, in his opinion, was wholly without excuse or palliation. He was prepared to allow the intervention of Austria, if she considered her rights under the treaty of 1813 violated, or her position as an See also:Italian Power imperilled. But he protested against the general claim, embodied in the Protocol, of the European powers to interfere, uninvited, in the See also:internal concerns of See also:sovereign states; he refused to make Great Britain, even tacitly, a party to such interference, and again insisted that her part in the Alliance was defined by the See also:letter of the See also:treaties, beyond which she was not prepared to go. In no case, he affirmed, would Great Britain " undertake the moral responsibility for administering a general European See also:police,"which she would never tolerate as applied to herself. To Troppau, accordingly, no British plenipotentiary was Castlereagh's avowed intention to take this step without waiting for sanction from his cabinet put an end to evasion and delay. Blucher was reinforced by the two divisions; the See also:battle of See also:Laon was fought and won, and the allies occupied the French See also:capital. In April 1814 Castlereagh arrived in Paris. He did not disguise his discontent with Napoleon's position at See also:Elba, close to the French See also:coast, though he advised England not to separate herself at this crisis from her allies. His uneasiness led him to summon Wellington from the See also:south to the See also:Embassy in Paris. He hastened himself to See also:London during the visit of the allied sovereigns, and met with a splendid reception. He was honoured with the Garter, being one of the few commoners ever admitted to that See also:order. When the House of Commons offered to the See also:Crown its congratulations upon the treaty of peace, Castlereagh's See also:triumph was signalized by a brilliantly eloquent See also:panegyric from Canning, and by a recantation of his former doubts and denunciations from See also:Whitbread. His own dignified language vindicated his country from the charge of selfish ambition. His appointment as British representative at See also:Vienna, where the congress was to meet in September, was foreseen; but meanwhile he was not idle. The war with the United States, originating in the non-intercourse dispute and the Orders in Council, did not cease with the repeal of the latter. It lasted through 1814 till the See also:signing of the treaty of See also:Ghent, soon before the See also:flight from Elba. In parliament the ministry, during Castlereagh's absence, had been poorly championed. Canning had thrown away his See also:chance by his unwise refusal of the Foreign Office. None of the ministers had any pretension to lead when Castlereagh was busy abroad and Canning was sulking at home, and Castlereagh's letter-, to See also:Vansittart, the See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer, show how these difficulties weighed upon him in facing the position at Vienna, where it was imperative for him to appear. At Vienna he realized at once that the ambition of Russia might be as formidable to Europe and to Great Britain as that of the fallen See also:tyrant. His aim throughout had been to rescue Europe from military domination; and when he found that Russia and Prussia were pursuing ends incompatible with the general See also:interest, he did not hesitate to take a new See also:line. He brought about the secret treaty (See also:Jan. 3, 1815) between Great Britain, Austria and France, directed against the 'plans of Russia in See also:Poland and of Prussia in See also:Saxony. Through Castlereagh's efforts, the See also:Polish and Saxon questions were settled on the basis of See also:compromise. The See also:threat of Russian interference in the See also:Low Countries was dropped. While the Congress was still unfinished, Napoleon's See also:escape from Elba came like a thunderclap. Castlereagh had come home for a short visit (Feb. 1815), at the urgent request of the cabinet, just before the flight was known. The See also:shock revived the Great Alliance under the compact of Chaumont. All energies were directed to preparing for the campaign of See also:Waterloo. Castlereagh's words in parliament were, " Whatever measures you adopt or decision you arrive at must rest on your own power and not on reliance on this man." Napoleon promptly published the secret treaty which Castlereagh had concluded with Metternich and Talleyrand, and the last left in the French archives. But Russia and Prussia, though much displeased, saw that, in the face of See also:Bonaparte's return, they dared not weaken the Alliance. British subsidies were again poured out like See also:water. After Napoleon's overthrow, Castlereagh successfully urged his removal to St See also:Helena, where his custodians were charged to treat him " with all the respect due to his rank, but under such pre-cautions as should render his escape a matter of impossibility." Some of the continental powers demanded, after Waterloo, fines and cessions that would have crushed France; but in See also:November a peace was finally concluded, mainly by Castlereagh's endeavours, minimising the penalties exacted, and abandoning on England's part the whole of her See also:share of the See also:indemnity. The war created an economic situation at home which strengthened the Whigs and Radicals, previously discredited by their hostility to a patriotic struggle. In 1816 the Income Tax was remitted, despite Castlereagh's contention that something should first be done to reduce the See also:Debt Charge. His policy, impressed upon sent, since the outcome of the conferences was a foregone conclusion; though Lord Stewart came from Vienna to See also:watch the course of events. At See also:Laibach an attempt to revive the Troppau proposals was defeated by the See also:firm opposition of Stewart; but a renewal of the struggle at See also:Verona in the autumn of 1822 was certain. Castlereagh, now marquess of Londonderry, was again to be the British representative, and he See also:drew up for himself instructions that were handed over unaltered by Canning, his successor at the Foreign Office, to the new plenipotentiary, Wellington. In the threatened intervention of the continental powers in Spain, as in their earlier action towards Naples and See also:Sardinia, England refused to take part. The Spanish revolutionary See also:movement, Castlereagh wrote, " was a matter with which, in the opinion of the English cabinet, no foreign power had the smallest right to interfere." Before, however, the question of intervention in Spain had reached its most See also:critical See also:stage the development of the See also:Greek insurrection against the See also:Ottoman government brought up the Eastern Question in an acute form, which profoundly modified the relations of the powers within the Alliance, and again drew Metternich and Castlereagh together in See also:common dread of an isolated attack by Russia upon Turkey. A visit of King George IV. to See also:Hanover, in See also:October 1821, was made the occasion of a meeting between Lord Londonderry and the See also:Austrian chancellor. A meeting so liable to misinterpretation was in Castlereagh's opinion justified by the urgency of the crisis in the See also:East, "a See also:practical See also:consideration of the greatest moment," which had nothing in common with the objectionable " theoretical " question with which the British government had refused to concern itself. Yet Castlereagh, on this occasion, showed that he could use the theories of others for his own practical ends; and he joined cordially with Metternich in taking advantage of the emperor Alexander's devotion to the principles of the Alliance to prevent his taking an See also:independent line in the Eastern Question. It was, indeed, the belief that this question would be made the matter of common discussion at the congress that led Castlereagh to agree to be present at Verona; and in his Instructions he foreshadowed the policy afterwards carried out by Canning, pointing out that the development of the war had made the recognition of the belligerent rights of the Greeks inevitable, and quoting the precedent of the Spanish See also:American colonies as exactly applicable. With regard to the Spanish colonies, moreover, though he was not as yet prepared to recognize their See also:independence de jure, he was strongly of opinion that the Spanish government should do so since " other states would acknowledge them sooner or later, and it is to the interest of Spain herself to find the means of restoring an intercourse when she cannot succeed in restoring a dominion." But the tragic ending of Castlereagh's strenuous life was near; and the See also:credit of carrying out the policy foreshadowed in the Instructions was to fall to his See also:rival Canning. Lord Londonderry's exhaustion became evident during the toilsome session of 1822. Both the king and Wellington were struck by his overwrought condition, which his family attributed to an attack of the See also:gout and the lowering remedies employed. Wellington warned Dr Bankhead that Castlereagh was unwell, and, perhaps, mentally disordered. Bankhead went down to See also:North Cray and took due precautions. Castlereagh's razors were taken away, but a penknife was forgotten in a drawer, and with this he cut his See also:throat (See also:August 12, 1822). He had just before said, "My mind, my mind, is, as it were, gone"; and, when he saw his wife and Bankhead talking together, he moaned " there is a conspiracy laid against me." It was as clear a case of See also:brain disease as any on See also:record. But this did not prevent his enemies of the baser sort from asserting, without a shadow of See also:proof, that the See also:suicide was caused by terror at some hideous and undefined charge. The testimony of statesmen of the highest character and of all parties to Castlereagh's gifts and charm is in strong contrast with the See also:flood of vituperation and calumny poured out upon his memory by those who knew him not. Additional information and CommentsThe childhood home of Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, is Mount Stewart in County Down, Northern Ireland. Now owned by the National Trust but still occupied by Lady Mairi Bury, only surviving child of the 7th Marquess of Londonderry, the house contains portraits and artefacts of Castlereagh and his compatriots including chairs used at the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815), needleworked with the coats of arms of those present. Notable chairs include those of Wellington, Metternich and Talleyrand, Castlereagh and his half-brother, Baron Stewart. Guided tours available. Extensive award-winning gardens. Restaurant. Opening hours, charges and other details from The National Trust for Northern Ireland website.
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