Mr. Canning, though he had not meant to have troubled the House on the present occasion, could not avoid answering the call which the last member, he thought somewhat unfairly, had made upon him. In his justificatory speech, which will not bear abridgment, he said, "whatever has passed verbally without these walls, by an absolute agreement between Lord Liverpool, who made the proposition, and my self, was reduced to writing, that it might be less subject to misapprehension or perversion; and to that minute, an answer upon paper was returned by me, to which, standing at the bar of my country, to answer for my conduct, I beg leave to refer." With respect to the intimation by the mover of the amendment, that he had demanded some concessions of principle as the price of his acceptance of office, he said, that he merely inquired of Lord Liverpool, as a matter of information, whether the policy and sentiments of his colleagues continued the same; and was candidly answered, that his own opinions upon this grand topic (the catholic question) remained unchanged, and he was not aware that those of his colleagues had undergone any alteration. When he was thus informed of the settled opinions of the head of government, honoured with the chief confidence of the sovereign, and possessing all the influence and authority afforded by his station, could he for an instant doubt their practical effect on the other members of the cabinet! The right hon. gentleman in conclusion affirmed, that he had seen not only no desire to grant any thing to the

catholics, but not even a disposition that an inquiry should be instituted.

Lord Castlereagh approved highly of the manner in which the motion had been met by the amendment, since, a direct negative might have been subject to serious misconstruction. The right distinction had been taken in saying that the House was not from circumstances justified at this time to interfere, not that it ought not to interfere at all. He then entered into a defence of the ministers, and of his own conduct; and asserted, that being aware that his presence might have embarrassed government in the object of availing themselves of those talents and connexions which were deemed beneficial to the state, he had tendered his resignation to his royal highness. Adverting to the case of Mr. Canning, he said that gentleman had refused the co-operation of his talents, because he could not carry a particular point; but ought he not to have apprized the House what his practical opinion on the subject was, and what was the plan by which the measure might be carried into execution? He felt as much as any man the fundamental importance of the catholic question, but it was ridicu lous to talk of creating a government simply for its discussion. He then touched upon the securities requisite from the catholic body, prior to the granting of their claims, and denied that he himself had given them any positive pledge for concession at the time of the union. He spoke of the great exertions made by the ministry for the support of the war in the peninsula, and concluded with deprecating.

the

the stamping of a stigma on an administration, the whole of which was not yet before the House, and throwing discredit on a government when there was little prospect of substituting a better in its

room.

Sir John Newport made an animated attack upon the last noble lord, as having violated the promises by which he carried the

union.

The House at length divided on the amendment, when there appeared for it 170, against it 174; majority against ministers, 4. Mr. Wortley's motion was then carried without a division. Mr. W. next moved that the address should be presented by the whole House; but Mr. Yorke having declared his intention of moving the previous question upon it, Mr. Wortley altered his motion to that of its being presented by such members of the House as are of his Majesty's privy council. A division ensued, in which the motion was negatived by 176 to 174. Mr. Wortley expressed his utter sur. prize that a motion of such high importance should by any manage

ment of finesse be suffered to remain a dead letter. A debate followed in which the Speaker was appealed to in order to extricate the House from the disagreeable embarrassment it had got into. After some discussions on the point of order, Mr. Wynn moved "that the address be presented to his royal highness the Regent by Mr. Stuart Wortley and Lord Viscount Milton." This proposal was agreed to without a division; Mr. W. asserting that he should consider the day on which he presented the adddress as the proudest of his life.

The address was accordingly presented, and on May 22d Mr. Wortley reported the following answer from his royal highness: "I shall take into my serious and immediate consideration the address which I received from the House of Commons."

A change in the ministry now became the most interesting topic of the time: and as it occasioned much discussion and conversation in both houses of parliament, we shall proceed to give a succinct and uninterrupted relation of the most remarkable circumstances at

tending it, to its final close.

Mr. Brougham first incidentally introduced the subject on May 26th, when, making a motion for an account of the London dock duties, he took occasion to observe that it was then understood " that the same vigorous and efficient administration as guided the councils of the country during the last week, possessed again the confidence of the Prince Regent, and expected to regain the confidence of the House of Commons." He also had been informed that there was an intention of moving an adjournment of the House this day, which he greatly deprecated.

Mr. Whitbread followed with a direct address to the noble lord (Castlereagh) requesting from him. some distinct information respecting his own situation and the progress made in forming an efficient administration.

His lordship in answer said, that he knew of no intention of moving an adjournment; and that his own situation was now precisely what it was last Friday (22nd), he and his colleagues still retaining their offices during the interim occupied in concerting arrangements, [G 2]

o .

on an extended basis. It is worthy of notice, though not directly connected with this topic, that, adverting to an observation made by Mr. Whitbread, his lordship, at this period, totally disclaimed any knowledge whatever that this country was on the eve of a war with America.

On May 30th Mr. Martin of Galway announced his intention of moving on the next Wednesday, if something were not done to prevent it, an address to the Prince Regent, beseeching him to carry into effect without delay his gracious declaration in answer to the address of the House of Commons.

On June 1st Mr. Canning rose for the purpose of apprizing the last hou. member and Mr. Wortley, that he had on that day received an intimation from a noble friend of his in the other house, that upon the morning of that day, the Prince Regent had given directions to him (the Marquis of Wellesley) to proceed forthwith in taking such measures as appeared to him best calculated to form a strong and efficient administra

tion.

Mr. Wortley then, in consequence of some statements which had appeared in the newspapers, put the following questions to Mr. Ponsonby: 1. Whether any person, up to this morning, did make any proposition to the right hon. gentleman, or to any of his right hon. friends, to form part of an administration; and did they give a refusal on personal grounds, or on what other grounds? 2. Whether in what had passed in those propositions, if any were made, Lis friends insisted on any, and what, conditions?" Mr. Ponsonby answered

the first question absolutely in the negative; the second fell of course.

On Monday, June 3d, the matter was taken up in the House of Lords, after a motion for adjournment from the Earl of Liverpool. The Duke of Norfolk begged previously to ask of the Earl if he was only a temporary minister until a successor was appointed. The Earl replied that he was in the same situation he held on Friday se'nnight, in which he continued only till the Prince Regent should be pleased to signify his pleasure as to any future arrangement.

He

The Marquis Wellesley then rose and informed the house that the Prince Regent had been pleased to require his opinion with a view to the formation of an administration, and that he had stated this opinion with the freedom which his duty demanded; further, that he had this day tendered to his royal highness his resignation of the authority thus vested in him, which had been accepted. then lamented, that the most dreadful personal animosities, and the most terrible difficulties arising out of questions the most complicated and important, should have interposed obstacles to an arrangement so essential to the public welfare. He had desired and obtained his royal highness's permission to state to the House all the circumstances of this transaction in which he had any share, but at the same time his advice was that such disclosure should not be called for, under the conviction that at the present crisis it would be highly mischievous. Earl Stanhope thought it was the duty of

their lordships to call for this disclosure. The Earl of Limerick declared a contrary opinion.

Lord Grenville, in agreeing as to the impropriety of a present disclosure, hoped he might be permitted to state that in the little share which his noble friend (Lord Grey) and himself had in the transaction, they had nothing to disguise or conceal, or that they should not be anxious to have laid before the public whenever the proper time should arrive. He He would not have risen on the present occasion, had it not been for the allusion of the noble marquis to dreadful personal animosities as an obstacle to the arrangement. He could assure their lordships, for his noble friend and himself, that they were actuated by no personal feeling whatever, but solely by considerations of public principle and public interests.

The Earl of Liverpool, in like manner, disclaimed for himself and those who acted with him the personal animosities alluded to.

The Earl of Moira said that it had been his office in the course of this negotiation to be the humble instrument of conciliation, and deeply lamented that differences and estrangements had rendered his endeavours ineffectual. He - then alluded to "points of form," which had stood in the way of conciliation; but said, he was sa tisfied that it was all misapprehension, and trusted that before the House met again, some arrangement would be made satisfactory to the country.

Earl Grey could not but think that the noble Earl who spoke last had overstepped the line observed -by other lords on this occasion,

He felt anxious to remove any misapprehensions to which his expression of "points of form' might give rise, assuring their lordships that his noble friend and he were not actuated by any considerations of "points of form," but by that of principles, which if not fundamental to the constitution, were at least essential to the existence of a government with a view to the welfare of the country. He likewise disclaimed for himself any of that feeling of personal animosity to which the Marquis W. had alluded.

The House then adjourned.

In the House of Commons, on June 3d, Mr. Canning made a similar communication of the Marquis Wellesley's having resigned the authority conferred upon him by the Prince Regent. Mr. Martin of Galway rose to put a question on the subject to Mr. Ponsonby, but being called to order, and finding that the sense of the House was against him, he de-` sisted.

When the House of Lords met again on June 5th, the Earl of Moira rose to discharge a duty which he doubted not that the noble Marquis (Wellesley) would have performed if he had been present in his place. This was to correct a most mischievous application that had been made of his expression relative to "personal animosity," as if it had referred to the feelings of the Prince Regent. He had distinctly to state that nothing of that quality of animosity existed; and that, as on the one band, the illustrious personage did never suggest one individual as 'a fit member, or make the reservation of a single seat to be filled

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