116 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



CHAP. VIII. 



State of Parties at the Close of the Session of Parliament in the Year 1803 

 illustrated by an intercepted Letter ^ from Lord Gretivillc to the Marqvis 

 JVellcsley. — Account of that Letter — generally conceived an authentic 

 Document — and why. — Situation of the grea tPolitical Parties at the Com- 

 mencement of the Year — Union in Public Conduct of the '■• Old^' and 

 " Neiu" Oppositions — gradual Accession of Mr. Pitt and his Friends 

 thereto — Mr. Addingtons Administration draics to a Period — and termi- 

 nates — Mr. Put accepts the Office of Prime Minister — and forms a Go- 

 xernment, to the Exclusion of the Two Parties xcith which he had lately 

 acted — Great Disappointment of the Public thereon — Defence made for Aim 

 ' — on what Grounds — Letter from Lord Grenxille to Mr. Pitt. 



I 



N our last volume, we brought 

 down tlie narrative of the poli- 

 tical situation of the different par- 

 ties in parliament, to the close of 

 *he session in 1 SOS, The publica- 

 tion of an intercepted letter, writ- 

 ten about this period, from lord 

 Grenville to the marquis Wellesley, 

 governor-general in India, enables 

 «s to exhibit, for the information of 

 our readers, a general view of this 

 Eubjedt, such as it was then repre- 

 sented, by a person having a consi- 

 derable share in these transaction* ; 

 and writing, in the most unreserved 

 manner, to his intimate friend. 



The letter in question was pub- 

 lished by the enemy. Of the mo- 

 tive and practice of such publica- 

 tions, m<'st men will, on cool re- 

 flection, be inclined to disapprove: 

 ])ut as this, and a subsequent letter 

 to Mr. Pitt, from the same person, 



were inserted in all the public pa, 

 pers of the day, and throw a consi- 

 derable light on the political trans- 

 actions of the times, our readers 

 will naturally cxpe6t, that they 

 should find a place in this collec- 

 tion. 



With respc6l to the letter to lord 

 Wellesley, it seems just to ob- 

 serve, that the original has not yet 

 been published. A bald, and in 

 some places, evidently, an inaccu- 

 rate translation of it info French, 

 was printed by the government of 

 France; and this was again re- 

 translated into the Fnglish news- 

 papers. It is probable, therefore, 

 that there must be considerable va- 

 riation in the expressions, although 

 the sense has perhaps not been ma- 

 terially altered. 



" My dear Wellesley,* 



" Two days ago, I received your 



letter, 



* The letter here inserted, was one of eighty-four, from individuals in Great Bri- 

 tain, to their correspondents in Indin, found on board the iidiniial Aplin, East In- 

 dia Company's ship, bound to Madras, when captured by the French squadron, 

 under Admiral Linois. 



It will be recollected, that this letter has undergone a double translatior.. 



