124 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S04. 



that the king himself can do no 

 ■wrong: but tliat in every exercise 

 of any part of his constitutional 

 authority, those servants who ex- 

 ecute his commands are considered 

 as advising them, and are responsi- 

 ble for them both to themselves and 

 to their country. 



It was also agreed, on all hands, 

 that this principle, universally true, 

 is, nevertheless, most particularly 

 applicable to those a6ts of sovereign 

 authority, M'hich are of a harsh or 

 nngracious tendency. The person- 

 al proscription of any individual, 

 (much more, that of so great and 

 eminent a statesman as Mr. Fox,) 

 when his services were thought ne- 

 cessary by the ministers themselves ; 

 — by the parliament ; — and by the 

 people, was felt to be new to our 

 constitution, both in praftice and in 

 principle : and it was remembered, 

 that in the instances of all the great- 

 est statesmen whom tlie country had 

 seen, their sovereigns had condes- 

 cended to dismiss all recollection 

 of the opposition made by snch per- 

 sons to the men and manners of 

 preceding administrations. Such had 

 been the practice ever since the Re- 

 volution : a practice to which the 

 nation owed whatever advantage it 

 had derived from the services of sir 

 Robert Waipole, of lord Chatham, 

 and even of Mr. Pitt himself: and 

 the recollection of these circum- 

 stances natural!}' led the public to 

 ascribe their present disappointment 

 to other causes, tiian those held out 

 by the supporters of the new admi- 

 nistration. 



With respedl to the accusation 

 made by the friends of Mr. Pitt 

 against the " new opposition," for 

 declining to take a share in a go- 

 vernment so constituted, the pub- 

 lication of the letter, to which 



we have before alluded, enables us 

 to state their defence in the fair- 

 est manner, that is, in their own 

 words. 



It was understood, that when 

 Mr. Pitt consented to yield to the 

 principle of exclusion, in the case of 

 Mr. Fox, he was authorised io 

 propose to lord Grenville and his 

 friends, that they should form a 

 leading part of the administration 

 to be thus established ; and that, 

 this proposition having been con- 

 sidered by them, the answer was 

 immediately returned in a letter, a 

 copy of which was published, tho' 

 without the authority either of lord 

 Grenville or Mr. Pitt, but which 

 has never been disavowed by them, 

 and is generally allowed to be au- 

 thentic. It is as follows : ■ 



" My dear Pitt, 



" I have already apprized you, 

 *' that all the persons to whom, at 

 '• your desire, I communicated what 

 " passed between us yesterday, 

 " agree with me in the decided 

 " opinion, that we ought not to 

 " engage in the administration which 

 " you are now employed in form- 



" ing. We should be sincerely 



" sorry if, by declining this pro- 

 " posal, we should appear less de- 

 " sirous than we must always be, 

 " of renderhig to his majesty, to 

 " the utmost of our power, every 

 " advice of which he may be graci- 

 " ously pleased to think us capable. 

 " — No consideration of personal 

 " ease or comfort, no apprehension 

 " of responsibility, nor reluctance 

 " to meet the real situation into which 

 " the country has been brought^ 

 " have any weight in this decision : 

 " nor are we fettered by any en- 

 " gagement on the subjeft either 

 " expressed or implied ; we rest 



•' our 



