USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume I > Part 103
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March 31, 1783, the Shelburne Cabinet resigned, being succeeded by the Ministry under the Premiership of the Duke of Portland. On the downfall of this Ministry in the following December William Pitt, second son of the late Earl of Chatham, and then in the twenty-fifth
* The Marquis of Rockingham having died July 1, 1782, the King appointed as Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, who immediately formed a new Cabinet-Colonel Barré becoming Paymaster General of the Forces.
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year of his life, became Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancelor of the Exchequer. Early in 1784 Pitt gained considerable applause by appointing Colonel Barré Clerk of the Pells. This office was one of the principal ones within the gift of the Minister, being a complete sinecure, worth £3,000 a year. The office was connected with the Exchequer, and it was the duty of the incumbent to make entries on the "pells", or parchment rolls. The office was abolished in 1834. Upon his appointment to the clerkship of the Pells-which office he held continuously until his death-Colonel Barré relinquished the pension of £3,200 which had been previously granted to him. In 1785 a heavy misfortune fell upon him, for which no pension or well-paid sinecure could compensate. He became totally blind. For several sessions he disappeared from Parliament. When he returned, all was changed ; his place in politics was gone ; a new generation of statesmen had sprung up. He continued, however, to represent Calne in the House of Commons until 1790, when he retired permanently.
Colonel Barré died at his home in Stanhope Street, Mayfair, Lon- don, July 20, 1802, in his seventy-sixth year. His health had been declin- ing for a considerable time previously, and a few hours before his death he suffered a stroke of paralysis. He left an estate valued at about £24,000, a moiety of which he bequeathed to the Marchioness of Town- shend, the wife of his old companion-in-arms George, Marquis of Town- shend-mentioned on page 578. October 18, 1802, in The Luzerne Federalist, published in Wilkes-Barré, the following reference to Colonel Barré's death was printed-which was the first and only mention made of the occurrence, or even of Barré himself.
"Died-in England-the Hon. ISAAC BARRÉ, Member of the British Parliament ; celebrated for the part he took in favor of the American Colonies in 1774, '75, &c. He was blind for several years before his death."
"The pre-eminence of Barré as a speaker," says Elliot in "Colonel Barré and His Times," previously mentioned, "was due principally to his extraordinary power of invective; but it would be a great injustice to suppose that there was nothing but invective in his speeches. On the contrary, some of them abound with wise maxims and good, sound com- mon sense. He was generally on what we should call the Constitutional side, and as the great Constitutional questions of that day have all been settled in his favor, it is naturally difficult for us to help being struck by his arguments. But Barré does not deserve our unqualified approba- tion. He was essentially a party man. He spoke for his party, and he voted with his party. Walpole called him a bravo, and nothing can so well illustrate the dependence of his position as the fact that, clever and eloquent as he was, the first trace we find of his making an original motion was in 1778, seventeen years after he entered Parliament. He was one of those mercenaries of the great political leaders of the last century who, after a tumultuous life of Parliamentary conflict, were content to retire into oblivion upon a pension ; men of vast abilities and too often of low morality, who flamed across the political heavens like meteors, and whose brilliant track-already beginning to fade in the lapse of time-alone remains to mark their former splendor.
"Thus Barré found himself fighting the battles of the people, and his eloquence was of a sort peculiarly adapted to such warfare. It was of an aggressive character. It is doubtful whether as a Ministerial speaker he would ever have risen to any eminence. His mind was fired by
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all the lofty principles which a popular opposition, whether rightly or wrongly, seems always to inspire. He was the champion of resistance in every form ; of mobs against soldiers ; of the people against the Parlia- inent ; of the Parliament against the Crown. The Corporation of London denied the privileges of the House of Commons ; he recommended con- cession. The American Colonies rose in rebellion against England ; he counseled compliance. His speeches abound with appeals to the moral sympathies. Virtue is eulogized ; tyranny, corruption and fraud meet with proper reprobation. Such themes can never be exhausted, and are always popular. It is doubtful whether his eloquence, stripped of such spangles as these, would ever have shone so brilliantly before the world. But Barré was not always so fortunate as to charm the House with his language or to terrify it with his invective. He was an Irishman, and his French extraction was unable to save him from the penalties of an Irish birth. On one fatal occasion, when he was speaking on the sub- ject of America, he declared in stentorian tones : 'I think Boston ought to be punished ; she is your eldest son !' The House which he had oftener driven to tears than to mirth, naturally exploded into a roar of laughter."
The writer of the foregoing is a descendant of Sir Gilbert Elliot, a Scot, who was a contemporary of Colonel Barré, and, at the beginning of the latter's public career, was the confidential friend of the Earl of Bute (mentioned on page 530). Later he became the special confidant of George III, and, if not his adviser and mentor in his political policy, was the chief advocate of that policy .* Sir Gilbert was not, therefore, a friend to the American patriots, as was Barré, and he saw little to commend in the latter's attacks on the British Ministry and its sup- porters during the early days of the American War. Governed, no doubt, by the recorded judgments and comments of his ancestor, the author of "Colonel Barré and His Times" has little to say in general commendation of Barré, and is almost silent with respect to the firm stand taken, and the brave, forceful and eloquent speeches delivered, by the latter during the most important period of his Parliamentary career -from 1775 to 1782. The writer in question is not an unbiased judge in respect to his estimates and opinions of Barré. It would be difficult to convince Americans of to-day-familiar with the speeches delivered, and the principles and policies upheld, by Colonel Barré during the Ameri- can War-that he was "a bravo," or "one of those mercenaries of the great political leaders" of the eighteenth century, or a man of "low morality."
The fact is that Barré was pre-eminently an Opposition speaker, and, as we have previously stated, possessed the power of making him- self feared, and was feared, by such Tories as Sir Gilbert Elliot-forcible and brilliant though the latter was as a Parliamentary speaker. Elliot felt, more than once, the sting of Barré's vitriolic discharges of undiluted sarcasm, just as Charles Townshend felt the force of his strong will and immediately paid him that respect which nothing but resolution and
* Sir GILBERT ELLIOT, the third Baronet of Minto, was born in 1722 and died in 1777. On the occasion of the London riots in 1771 (see page 597) he appeared in the House of Commons as the King's special ambassador, and, by an inflammatory speech in regard to the threatened liberties of the House, virtually overruled Lord North and carried a decision to which the latter was opposed. He supported the King in his policy towards America, and when, in 1775, a conciliatory motion was introduced in the House to allow the Colonies to tax themselves, Elliot, by bringing the Royal influence to bear, secured a large majority against the motion. His son, Sir Gilbert Elliot, later the first Earl of Minto (born in 1751 ; died 1814), became a Member of Parliament in 1776. He was in favor of the prosecution of the American War, and gave a general support to the Government. In 1782, however, he went over to the Opposition.
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firinness could wring from the talents of that brilliant but volatile poli- tician. The rank and influence of the disreputable Earl of Sandwich* could not protect him from Barré's attacks. As he sat in the gallery of the House of Commons he heard himself compared to Nero, and retired to fresh intrigues with new-born feelings of astonishment. And Lord North learned at first to dread the voice which in later years became the scourge of his own Government.
In a communication to The Gentleman's Magazine for August, 1817, a writer stated that he had known Colonel Barré for more than thirty years prior to his death, and that "no man, in his private character, could be more amiable, more gentle or more friendly ; his integrity no man will doubt." The writer of the sketch of Colonel Barré contained in the "Dictionary of National Biography" (III : 275) states: "As an Opposition orator Barré was almost without a rival. The terror of his invective paralyzed Charles Townshend and dismayed Wedderburn. Among the opponents of Lord North's Ministry none took a more promi- nent place than Barré. In defense he was less happy, and in society he was vulgar. It is perhaps worthy of notice that John Britton wrote in 1848 a volume to prove that Barré was the author of the 'Letters of Junius.' " Britton supposed that Lord Shelburne and John Dunning (later Lord Ashburton)-previously mentioned-assisted Barré in writ- ing these "Letters."
A story is told which describes Lord Beaconsfield as offering, in his last days, to a youthful friend this bit of counsel : "My young friend, I will give you a piece of advice-never ask who wrote the 'Letters of Junius,' or else people will think you a bore. It is one offense that society will not forgive." The identity of "Junius" and that of "The Man with the Iron Mask" were conclusively established a good many years ago; but for years to come, without doubt, arguments will be written to show that "Junius" was not Sir Philip Francis, t and that "The Man with the Iron Mask" was not Count Matthioli. The author- ship of the "Letters" is a problem which at one time literary students pursued with the same eagerness that bold explorers seek the North Pole. Over fifty persons have been namedt at different times as those to whom the authorship of the "Letters" has been attributed by different writers. Among those thus named have been : John Wilkes (see page 553), Edmund Burke, the Earl of Temple (see pages 529 and 534), Edward Gibbon, Alexander Wedderburn (previously mentioned) and, of course, Isaac Barré and Sir Philip Francis.
The series of letters signed "Junius" numbered sixty-nine, and was originally published in the London Public Advertiser between January 1, 1769, and January 31, 1772.§ The impulse of these "Letters" was not love of liberty, but detestation of the Ministry ; and as their tre- mendous personal assaults were delivered when the Ministry was most powerful and most venal, the author ran the utmost personal risk. Not only because of his vigor and his invective, but of his wild daring, "Junius" was astonishing, and for personal reasons it was necessary to conceal himself so long that he has become the literary "Man with the
* Previously mentioned on pages 528 and 538, and well known, about 1765, by the sobriquet of "Jeremy Twitcher." He was, it may be stated, the inventor, or, rather, the introducer, of the modern sandwich. He passed whole days in gambling, "bidding the waiter bring him for refreshment a piece of meat between two pieces of bread, which he ate without stopping from play."
t See note "||", page 489.
¿ See page 553, ante.
Į See Larned's "History for Ready Reference," II : 933.
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Iron Mask." Discovery would have cost him at once his means of living and his future prospects, if he were the person (Sir Philip Francis) now practically conceded to have been the writer, and he must have run the gantlet of a series of military duels. In fact, "Junius" must have paid for the discovery of his identity both with his liberty and his life. If the notorious Duke of Grafton* could have discovered him he would have silenced him quickly and permanently. But silencing is not answering, and by revealing his name "Junius" would merely have enabled the Duke to deal another deadly blow at liberty. The following paragraphs are from a speech delivered in the House of Commons in 1770 by Ed- mund Burke (see page 593), giving his "opinion" of "Junius."
"How comes this 'Junius' to have broke through the cobwebs of the law, and to range uncontrolled, unpunished, through the land? The myrmidons of the Court have been long, and are still, pursuing him in vain. They will not spend their time upon me or you. No ! they disdain such vermin when the mighty boar of the forest, that has broke through all their toils, is before them. But what will all their efforts avail ? No sooner has he wounded one, than he lays down another dead at his feet. For my part, when I saw his attack upon the King [December 19, 1769], I own my blood ran cold. I thought he had ventured too far and there was an end of his triumphs. Not that he had not asserted many truths. Yes, sir, there are in that composition many bold truths, by which a wise prince might profit. It was the rancor and venom with which I was struck. In these respects The North Briton is as much inferior to him as in strength, wit and judgment.
"But, while I expected in this daring flight his final ruin and fall, behold him rising still higher and coming down souse upon both Houses of Parliament. Yes, he did make you his quarry, and you still bleed from the wounds of his talons. You crouched, and you still crouch, beneath his rage. Nor has he dreaded the terrors of your brow, sir. He has attacked even you-he has-and I believe you have no reason to triumph in the encounter. In short, after carrying away our royal eagle in his pounces, and dashing him against a rock, he has laid you prostrate. King, Lords, Commons, are but the sport of his fury ! Were he a member of this House what might not be expected from his knowledge, his firmness and integrity? He would be easily known by his contempt of all danger, by his penetration, by his vigor. Nothing would escape his vigilance and activity. Bad Ministers could conceal nothing from his sagacity ; nor could promises or threats induce him to conceal anything from the public."
The following anecdote concerning Colonel Barré and Josiah Quincy, of Boston, was printed in Claypoole's Daily Advertiser, Philadelphia, June 20, 1794.
"A few months before the commencement of the American War Mr. Quincy, being then at Bath, in England, was viewing the magnificent new rooms in that city in com- pany with Colonel Barré. The Colonel, pointing to the pictures taken from the ruins found at Herculaneum, and addressing himself to Mr. Quincy, said : 'I hope you have not the books containing the drafts of those ruins with you.' Mr. Quincy observed that he believed there was one set in the Public Library at the College in Cambridge, Massachu- setts. 'Keep them there,' replied the Colonel, 'and they may be of some service, as a matter of curiosity for the speculative ; but, let them get abroad, and you are ruined ! They will infuse a taste for buildings and sculpture, and when people get a taste for the fine arts they are ruined ! 'Tis taste that ruins whole kingdoms ; 'tis taste that depopu- lates whole nations. I could not help weeping when I surveyed the ruins at Rome. All the ruins of the Roman grandeur are of works which were finished when Rome and the spirit of the Romans were no more-unless I except the Æmilian Baths. Mr. Quincy, let your countrymen beware of taste in their buildings, equipage and dress as a deadly poison !' "
In addition to Wilkes-Barré the following places and localities in the United States were named for Col. Isaac Barré. (1) The town, or township, of Barré, in Worcester County, Massachusetts, twenty-two miles north-west of the city of Worcester. This township was originally known as Rutland, West District; but prior to 1770 its name was changed to "Hutchinson", in honor of the Hon. Thomas Hutchinson who was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1765 (see page 587), be- came acting Governor in 1769, and Governor in 1770. When, in 1774, on account of his Tory proclivities, Governor Hutchinson resigned his
* See page 542.
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office and went to England (see page 599), his name and memory were so execrated by the patriots of the township of Hutchinson that, in 1776, the General Assembly of Massachusetts changed the name of the town- ship to "Barré." (2) The city of Barré, Washington County, Vermont. In 1780 a tract of 19,900 acres of land in Vermont was chartered under the name of "Wildersburgh" to a number of proprietors. At a town-meet- ing of the inhabitants of this tract held in September, 1793, it was agreed that a house of worship should be erected, and it was voted that the man who would give the most towards building the same should have the right to name the township. Ezekiel Dodge Wheeler bid £62, and was permitted to name the township "Barré"-for Barré, Massachusetts (mentioned above), whence some of the settlers of the new township had emigrated. In 1886 the village of Barré, in the abovementioned town- ship of Barré, was incorporated. In 1894 the village and a portion of the township of Barré were erected into the city of Barré, and out of the remaining portion of the old township was constituted the new township of Barré. (3) Barré Township, in Orleans County, New York, named for Barre, Massachusetts. (4) Barré Center-a post-hamlet in the last- mentioned township.
END OF VOLUME I.
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