view a Bill, known by the
title of the Bill of Renunciation, was prepared by Lord Temple and
forwarded to Mr. Grenville. Upon the structure, and not upon the
substance, of this Bill, innumerable quibbles were raised. The
difficulty with Lord Shelburne was, not the renunciation itself, for
that was nothing more than a confirmation of the repeal, but the
technical form in which it was to be expressed. Nobody dreamt of
disturbing or evading the principle of the measure which this Bill
simply declared anew and fortified by a more distinct enunciation; but
Ministers could not agree upon the words--for into a discussion about
words the whole negotiation finally degenerated. And thus, the fear of
compromising the dignity of England by some unguarded expression, or of
failing from over caution to satisfy the demands of Ireland, had the
effect of protracting the passage of a measure, upon the substantive
justice and urgent necessity of which all parties were unanimous.

At length Mr. Grenville was enabled to announce to his brother that
these petty discussions were brought to a satisfactory close. But the
issue, as will be subsequently seen, was not quite so near as he
supposed. The Administration had wasted so much time in verbal
criticisms, that, although they had the merit of ultimately introducing
the Bill into Parliament, they were obliged to bequeath the satisfaction
of earning it to their successors.

MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE

Pall Mall, Jan. 2nd, 1783.

My dear Brother,

After the many changes and delays which have occurred in the
course of this business, I think I may at last congratulate you,
and what is infinitely more, the two kingdoms, on its being
brought to such an issue as you desire.

I told you in my last despatch that Townshend seemed to me much
alarmed lest he should have gone too far in his letter to you,
and that at the same time I had assured him that you would not
think he went far enough, as the whole question turned upon the
point of recognition, which was very distantly alluded to in his
letter. When I saw him yesterday, his alarms appeared to be
increased. This morning, however, he told me that he had been
with Conway, who understood his authority to be quite sufficient
for what he had done, and with Lord Shelburne, who said that it
was a damned thing, and that he wished Lord Temple would have
stood it, but th