Charles James Fox, born in London on January 24, 1749 and died in Chiswick on September 13, 1806, was a British statesman and one of the main political figures of the Whig Party whose parliamentary career spanned from the end of the 18th century century to the beginning of the 19th century. One of England's greatest orators, he is best known for his rivalry with William Pitt the Younger.
Known for his anti-slavery commitment, he was a supporter of the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution. He held various important ministerial offices and was as such the first Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Youth
Fox was born at No. 9 Conduit Street, London. He is the third son (and second surviving son) of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, supporter of Robert Walpole and opponent of William Pitt the Elder, Secretary of State under George II of Great Britain, renowned for his venality, representative of the old Whig oligarchy. His mother, Caroline Lennox, daughter of Charles Lennox of Richmond, was a direct descendant of Charles II of England. His eldest brother, Stephen, later 2nd Baron Holland, was a minor politician until his early death in 1774, and the younger brother, Henry, had an honorable military career.
The disease struck his two older brothers in childhood, killing the younger. Also Henry Fox develops a disproportionate attachment for his third son, declaring him "infinitely engaging, intelligent and pretty" and preferring, from the age of three, his company to any other during meals. The common anecdotes of her being too indulgent towards Charles are legendary. It is said that one day, Charles having expressed the desire to break his father's watch, the latter would not have punished him, after he had dropped it on the floor. Another time, when Henry had promised his son that he could witness the demolition of a wall in the property, he would have discovered that it had already fallen and would have ordered the workmen to rebuild it, so that Charles could attend its dismantling.
Left free to choose his own education, Fox entered the fashionable Wandsworth School in 1758, directed by Monsieur Pampellonne, then studied at Eton, where he developed a passion for classical literature, hence his father withdrew it twice in 1761, to attend the coronation of George III, and in 1763, to visit the continent. During this trip, which took them to Paris and Spa, his father made him discover the game, and he lost his virginity, at the age of fourteen, with Madame de Quallens. When he returned to Eton at the end of the year, he was "dressed in red-heeled shoes and Paris-cut velvet, adorned with a pigeon-wing hairstyle tinted with blue powder and a newly acquired French accent”, and receives the whip from the hands of Dr. Barnard, the director. These three tastes acquired in adolescence gambling, women and interest in foreign countries and their fashion entered into their way of life and were part of their character until the end of their lives.
Fox entered Hertford College, Oxford in October 1764, but he abandoned his studies before obtaining any degree, showing a certain disdain for his "nonsense". Figure of the English golden youth, spoiled by a benevolent father, he made several trips through Europe, becoming famous in the Parisian salons, meeting leading personalities, such as Voltaire, Edward Gibbon, the Duke of Orleans and the Marquis de Lafayette, and becoming the co-owner of a large number of thoroughbred horses with the Duc de Lauzun. He quickly stood out for his eccentric attitude and dissolute lifestyle:in 1774, he was in debt to the tune of £140,000.
At this time, Fox was also known for his sartorial extravagance and set the tone in this area. Following a trip around Europe, he introduced to London clothing customs then in favor at the court of Versailles, such as ribbons, lace, brocades, powders and “red heels”. At nineteen, Fox is thus the most prominent representative of the proponents of this fashion that is called “Macaroni”.
Debut in politics
In the general election of 1768, Henry Fox purchased his son's election as MP for Midhurst, West Sussex, although Fox, aged nineteen, was legally too young to sit in Parliament. Fox spoke 254 times in the House of Commons between 1768 and 1774 and soon gained a reputation as a great orator. However, he began his political career in the conservative camp and was very hostile to the radicals, whom he described as "canaille". These positions would later earn him bitter criticism and accusations of hypocrisy. A supporter of the Grafton and North governments, Fox distinguished himself in the campaign launched to punish the radical John Wilkes, who dared to defy the Commons. This stand resulted in Fox and his brother Stephen being insulted and covered in mud by the crowd of Wilkes supporters in London
An American Loyalist town, Foxborough in the colony of Massachusetts, is named in his honor. However, between 1770 and 1774, Fox's promising career took a decisive turn. Promoted Lord of the Admiralty by Lord North in February 1770, he resigned on February 15, 1772 because of his fierce opposition to the Royal Marriages Act, the provisions of which incidentally called into question the legitimacy of his parents' marriage. On December 28, 1772, North appointed him Lord of the Treasury, but he again abandoned his post in February 1774, on the pretext that the government had reacted too weakly to the printing and public distribution of copies of parliamentary debates. Behind these incidents is a family resentment against Lord North, who refused to raise the Barony of Holland to an earldom. But the fact that such a young man could so lightly abandon a ministerial post caught the attention of the Court. George III, observing Fox's licentious private life, takes his attitude for presumption and judges that Fox cannot be counted on to take anything seriously.
The American Revolution
Released from government in 1774, Fox experienced a profound transformation in his political options, under the influence of Edmund Burke, who became his mentor, and the American Revolution. He then approached the Whigs of Rockhingham, supporters of a conciliatory path with the Insurgents.
During this period Fox became the leading and harshest critic of Lord North and the American war in Parliament. In 1775 he denounced North to the Commons as "the stubborn pilot who had led the nation into present difficulties...William Pitt the Elder, King of Prussia, no, Alexander the Great, never fired more than one campaign than the noble lord lost—he lost an entire continent. Fox, who occasionally corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and met Benjamin Franklin in Paris, predicted that Britain had little hope of subduing the colonies, and interpreted the American cause, which he endorsed, as a struggle for freedom. against the oppressive policy of a despotic and unjustifiable government. It was during this time that Fox and his followers took to dressing in tan and blue, the colors of Washington's Army uniforms. Fox's friends, the Earl of Carlisle, observed that the slightest failure of the British government in America was "a great cause of amusement to Charles." From 1778-1779, he was a supporter of the right of the American colonies to self-determination. Even after the American defeat at Long Island in 1776, Fox said, "I hope it will be a point of honor for us to uphold the American pretensions in adversity as well as we did in their prosperity, and that we do not 'never abandon those who have acted unsuccessfully on Whig principles. On October 31 of the same year, Fox replied to the King's address to Parliament with "one of his finest and most animated speeches, and with such severity" that, when he sat down again, no member of the government tries to retaliate
One of the most crucial elements in understanding Fox's political career is the mutual enmity that binds him to George III, which makes him America's fiercest war prosecutor. Fox is convinced that the king is determined to challenge the authority of Parliament and the balance of institutions established in 1688, and to establish a form of absolutism in imitation of the continent. George III, in return, regards Fox as a man who has "abandoned all common principles of honor and honesty", who is "as despicable as he is odious", and feels "unbounded dislike". It is difficult to find in history two figures with a more contrasting temperament than Fox and George III:the first is an inveterate gambler and a bon vivant, the second is famous for his frugality and his family virtues. On April 6, 1780, John Dunning's motion that "the influence of the Crown has increased, increases and must be diminished" is passed in the Commons by 233 votes to 215. Fox considers the event "glorious", affirming the 24 April that “the question, now [is]...whether this fine cloth (i.e. the constitution) [must] be preserved in this freedom...for which blood was shed; or whether we [must] submit to this system of despotism, which [has] so many advocates in this country. »
Fox, however, was not present in the House at the commencement of the debate on Dunning's motion, being then occupied in the adjacent eleventh-century part of Westminster Hall, where he was presiding before a large audience at a rally in front of a large banner on which read:"Annual Parliaments and Equal Representation". It was during this period that adopting a more critical attitude towards the influence of the Crown, Fox joined the radical movement of the end of the 18th century. His look is affected:he then puts on simple clothes, he appears dirty, unshaven. He attends radical meetings, speaks there and harangues the crowd. He embodies the new formula populist politician. When the Gordon Riots broke out in London in June 1780, Fox – although he lamented the mob violence – declared that he would rather “be ruled by a mob than by a standing army”. Later, in July, Fox was re-elected by the populous and prestigious Westminster constituency, with around 12,000 votes, and acquired the title of “man of the people”.
The institutional crisis
When North resigned in March 1782, faced with the disaster of the war, and was replaced as head of government by the Marquess of Rockingham, Fox obtained the post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. However, after finally recognizing the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, Rockingham died unexpectedly on July 1, 1782. Fox refused to enter the government of his successor, Lord Shelburne, dividing the Whig Party. Fox's father was convinced that Shelburne, a supporter of William Pitt the Elder, had frustrated his ministerial ambitions at the time of the peace of 1763. In February 1783, Fox formed an unholy alliance with North to regain power. Basing their agreement on a simple conjunction of interests and the distant memory of a happy collaboration in the early 1770s, the two men, who had insulted each other during the American war, together formed a coalition, known as the coalition Fox-North, and force the King, with a comfortable majority made up of the Tories of North and the Whig opponents of Fox, to call upon them to form a government.
This coalition came to power on April 2, 1783, despite the king's resistance. George III is panicked:he deeply despises one and believes he has been betrayed by the other. However, this is the first time that he has played no role in the formation of a ministry3. Although William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, is nominally the head of government, the two men are both Secretaries of State. The respective ambitions of Fox and North are tempered by the King's continued efforts, in total disagreement with Fox.
Once Fox, who returned with enthusiasm to the post of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, ended an epistle to the king with these words:"Whenever your Majesty shall have the gracious pleasure of condescending to express your inclinations on a concern of your Majesty's ministers, will be to show how sensitive they are to your Majesty's kindness. The king replied, "No answer." For a time, George III seriously considered abdicating, after the complete failure of his American policy and the forced arrival of Fox and North, but he refrained, mainly because of the faults of his son, George Augustus Frederick , a notoriously extravagant womanizer, playful and very related to Fox, who is able to swear in three languages. Indeed, he is furious to see a man in his eyes so morally corrupt having an ascendancy over the Prince of Wales. The latter, who according to a well-established tradition, hates his father, rubs shoulders with Fox who put his former mistress in his arms.
But the coalition, which had a comfortable majority, lost power after a year, following the actions of the "Friends of the King", supporters of George III. Fox proposes the East India Bill, a reform bill placing the oppressive colonial administration of the English East India Company, which then controlled a large part of the Indies, under the supervision of an office of governors answerable to Parliament and no longer at even to resist the corruptions of the Crown. It was passed by the Commons with 153 votes to 80, but, the King having meanwhile declared that in his eyes, all the peers who will vote for the project will henceforth be considered as personal enemies of the Crown, the House of Lords, where the he opposition was led by Lord Shelburne, repelling him by 95 votes to 76. Taking this failure as a pretext, which discredited the coalition, the king dismissed Fox and Noth, before appointing William Pitt the Younger in their place, who, at 24 , is the youngest Prime Minister in the history of British institutions. Fox uses his majority in Parliament to oppose Pitt's appointment and then the various measures he pushes through the House. Finally, in March 1784, the king dissolved Parliament. Following the general election of 1784, Pitt obtained a comfortable majority.
In his own constituency of Westminster, Fox faces a tough fight. The Duchess of Devonshire, who is believed to be Fox's mistress, leads an energetic campaign on his behalf, during which it is claimed that she kissed a shoemaker to win his vote. On polling day, Fox was re-elected by a slim margin, but legal complications (encouraged, to some extent, by Pitt and the King) prevented the final announcement of the results for more than a year. In the meantime, Fox sits as a representative of the Scottish "rotten burgh" of Tain Burghs, where he had managed to get himself elected as an unlikely citizen of Kirkwall, Orkney (which is one of the burghs in the district). The experience of those years would be crucial in Fox's political training. His suspicions are confirmed:he believes that George III personally sabotaged the Rockingham-Shelburne and Fox-North governments and interfered in the legislative process, dissolving Parliament when its composition bothered him. Pitt – who is a small landlord without a party – seems to Fox the tool of the crown's entrenchment. However, the King and Pitt had broad popular support, and many in the press and in the public alike viewed Fox as a troublemaker challenging the institutional order and the rest of the King's powers. He is often caricatured as Oliver Cromwell and Guy Fawkes during this period, as well as Satan, "Carlo Khan" (by James Sayers) or Machiavelli.
The opponent
He remains a strong man within the Whig movement. A constant defender of tolerance and freedom, he was favorable to the French Revolution and never ceased to advise peace with France. His support for the French Revolution of 1789 led to a split within the Whigs between the partisans of the Revolution and his adversaries who regrouped behind William Pitt the Younger, which reduced the forces of the parliamentary opposition.
After the September massacres, Fox abandoned his Francophile positions. In fact, he appears in Jacques-Louis David's cartoon, The "Army of Jugs", as a goose, perhaps because of his overweight.
He then belonged to the Society of Friends of the People, which brought together Whigs in favor of the idea of a constitutional monarchy but opposed to that of a republic. In 1792, Fox took over one of the only important laws of his career, known as the Libel Act, which gave the right to juries to determine what was libel and who could be guilty of it.
Fox is however convinced that the king and the ruling classes represent a more serious threat to the Constitution than the action of the British radicals and as such he protests against the reduction of freedoms, such as the suspension of Habeas Corpus during the conflict with France.
Privately, Fox married his mistress, Elizabeth Armistead, in 1795, a union which was not to be made public until 1802.
Fox and other opposition MPs were deliberately expelled from Parliament in 1797. He followed the Peace of Amiens of 1802 acting to replace Henry Addington, when Pitt succeeded William Wyndham Grenville. He was elected Foreign Associate of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres in 1802. On Pitt's death in 1806 he again received the portfolio of foreign affairs, but he died in Chiswick House a few months later, when he was going to sign the general peace. His wish to be buried in Chertsey was not honored, as the country demanded that he be buried in Westminster Abbey.
Miscellaneous
Twelve volumes of his speeches, collected in London in 1815, were translated with those of Pitt by Hauvry de Janvry and Laurent-Pierre de Jussieu in 1819. Fox had composed a History of the two last Stuarts, which was not published until after his death and which was translated by Abbé Barthélemy Philibert d'Andrezel in 1809. His Memoirs were published in 1806 by Horace Walpole and in 1854 by Lord John Russell, together with his Correspondence.
He was friends with the Marquis de La Fayette, another actor in the War of Independence of the United States and the French Revolution. He stayed several times in Seine-et-Marne at the La Grange-Bléneau estate, where he symbolically had ivy planted over the main entrance, at the same time as the Peace of Amiens.