90] 



ANNUAL REGISTER, I8I2. 



thing occurring in the debate that 

 deserved attention on this head. His 

 lordship said, that with respect to 

 the household, it was the inten- 

 tion of himself and his friends to 

 resign the situations which they at 

 present held, previously to the 

 new administration's entering into 

 office. This intention of theirs 

 was well known ; they took every 

 means of stating it in quarters 

 whence it had any likelihood of 

 reaching the ears of the persons 

 interested ; and in particular they 

 communicated it to a right hon. 

 gentleman who took an active 

 part in the negociation (Mr. Sheri- 

 dan.) Their intention originated 

 in a wish to save the Prince Kegent 

 from that humiliation which he 

 must have experienced from their 

 being turned out of office. He 

 spoke in the name not of one or two, 

 but of ail the officers of the house- 

 hold. They all stated to his Royal 

 Highness their wish to resiii'n, and 

 only requested to know, ten mi- 

 nutes before certain gentlemen re- 

 ceived the seals, that such a cir- 

 cumstance was to take place, in 

 order that they might make a 

 timely resignation. 



Mr. Ponsonby, who rose next, 

 began with affirming, with regard 

 to what had fallen from the noble 

 lord who spoke last, that he now 

 heard it from his lips for the first 

 time in his Hfe, that nothing of 

 that import had ever been stated 

 to himself or Lords Grey and 

 Grenville, and that they never 

 entertained the remotest idea that 

 such an intention existed. He 

 then went into a history of the ne- 

 gociation with those noble lords, 

 in which he referred to certain let- 

 ters and minutes -vhich will be 

 found among our state papers. He 



adverted to the proposed removals 

 in the household, and denied that, 

 as had been affirmed, they were 

 greater than were ever before medi- 

 tated on a change of administra- 

 tion ; and he enlarged upon the 

 necessit}'^ of giving strength to a 

 ministry which would have much 

 opposition to encounter, by inspir- 

 ing a general belief that it pos- 

 sessed the full confidence of the 

 sovereign. 



Mr. Canning then rose to give 

 to the house an account of the 

 share which he and Lord Welles- 

 ley had had in the negociations in 

 question, and produced several mi- 

 nutes of communications and let- 

 ters, which we shall also copy. 

 What the hon. gentleman disclosed 

 respecting the part taken by Lord 

 Moira in tiiese transactions was 

 most material, and made a strong 

 impression on the public. After 

 defending the noble lord for ob- 

 jecting to the displacement oftiie 

 great officers of the household, the 

 right of doing which he did not 

 deny, but thought that a construc- 

 tion would be given to the exercise 

 of it which might occasion great 

 public mischief, Mr. C. said, there 

 was one point connected with this 

 part of Lord Moira's conduct which 

 he was authorized to state particu- 

 larly. Fearing that he was not 

 entirely understood by the Prince 

 when he received his unrestricted 

 comnKinds to form an administra- 

 tion, on returning to the royal pre- 

 sence, he put this question direct- 

 ly : " Is your Royal Highness 

 prepared, if I should so advise it, 

 to part with all the officers of your 

 household?" The answer was, "I 

 am." " Then (said Lord Moira) 

 your Royal Highness shall not part 

 with one of them." 



With 



