#16 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1803. 
retard the formation of a strong 
and efficient government, capable 
of retrieving the errors of the last 
two years, to which alone they 
ascribed those dangers.and distresses 
of the country, which had been so 
strongly stated by Mr, Pitt. 
After this communication, it re- 
mained only that Mr, Pitt should re- 
ceive the reply of the ministers to 
the answer, which had, as is above 
stated, been made by him to their 
proposals.—~ Their embarrassment 
upon this occasion, appears to have 
been extreme.--The measure, which 
they had reluctantly adopted, in the 
hope of strengthening their own 
hands, and of enabling them to re- 
tain, if not their actual situations, at 
least such ashare of weight and influ- 
ence in the government, as would 
abundantly satisfy their highest 
claims, appeared now to have taken 
a shape, tending certainly to the to- 
tal subversion of their system, and 
probably to the dismission of almost 
all the members of the cabinet.— 
No. time was, therefore, to be lost, 
in putting an end to a transaction, 
which began to wear so unfavour- 
able an aspect. ‘The step, which 
was taken for this purpose, was no 
less unusual than extraordinary, in 
such a case. <A regular meeting of 
the king’s confidential servants was 
summoned, in order to lay before 
them, for their opinion and advice, 
@ proposal which, if necessary or 
proper to be made at all, could 
have become so only, from the ne- 
cessity or propriety of substituting 
in the place of the persons so as- 
sembled, others of more sufficiency 
foy the situations which they there 
eccupied !|~-The result of such a 
leliberation was not difficult to be 
geseen,—The liberty which Mr, 
co 
Pitt claimed of submitting directly 
to his majesty such suggestions as 
he thought most conducive to the 
success of the government, at the 
head of which he was to be placed, 
was at once determined to be whol- 
ly inadmissible, He was immedi- 
ately informed, that the sentiments 
of the ministers, as to his proposed 
arrangements, differed too widely 
from his, to admit of their advising 
that any steps should be taken for 
such a purpose. And here the 
whole affair is said to have drop- 
ped. It-had, as is believed, never 
been authorized in the quarter 
from whence alone it should natu~ 
rally have originated ; it was there~ 
fore not followed up in that quar- 
ter; and some displeasure is even 
understood to have been expressed 
against the persons, who had treat~ 
ed on matters of such high moment, 
without obtaining such previous 
warrant for it, as duty and respect 
were supposed to require. 
The ministers in the mean while 
rejoiced at having for a time es- 
caped the rock on which they had 
so nearly split, and forgot in the joy 
of this escape the danger of the 
storm to which they remained ex 
posed, They applied themselves 
with unremitted industry to impress 
on the public as favorable an opini- 
onof this transaction, as its circum= 
stances could possibly admit, They 
hoped to derive from it this advane 
tage, that in proportion as the diffi. 
culties which the state of parties 
presented to the formation of an 
efficient and comprehensive govern- 
ment were more distinctly brought 
under the public view, the anxious 
wishes of the country for the com- 
pletion of this great object, would 
be, if not diminished, at least in some 
degeee 
