354 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1S12. 



culties, an adequately efficient ad- 

 ministration, [ cannot deny my- 

 self the satisfaction of adding, that 

 the manner of your communica- 

 tion with me has entirely corres- 

 ponded with the habits and senti- 

 ments of a friendship of so many 

 years ; a friendship which our ge- 

 neral concurrence on many great 

 political principles has strengthen- 

 ed, and which our occasional dif- 

 ferences have in no degree im- 

 paired. 



On the public grounds which I 

 have stated, I must entreat you to 

 lay at the feet of the Prince Regent, 

 together with the warmest expres- 

 sions of my dutiful attachment to 

 his Royal Highness, and of my 

 acknowledgineiit for the favour- 

 able opinion which his Royal High- 

 ness has been graciously pleased to 

 entertain of me, my humble but 

 earnest prayer to be excused from 

 accepting office on terms which, 

 by a sacrifice of public character, 

 must render me inefficient for the 

 service of his Royal Highness's 

 government. 



I presume, at the same time, 

 humbly to solicit an audience of 

 the Prince Regent, for the purpose 

 of explaining in person to his 

 Royal Highness the grounds of my 

 conduct, on an occasion on which 

 I should be grieved to think, that 

 his Royal Highness could, for a 

 moment, consider me as wanting 

 either in duty to his Royal High- 

 ness, or in zeal fo,- the public ser- 

 vice, and assuring his Royal High- 

 ness that my inability to assist in 

 forwarding his Highness's purpose 

 of procuring strength to his admi- 

 nistration, on tlie plan which has 

 been suggested by his Royal High- 

 ness's confidential servants, does 

 not arise from any disposition, on 



my part, to shrink from the en- 

 counter of those difficulties which 

 press, at this time, upon the coun- 

 try and upon the crown. 

 I am, &c. 

 (Signed) Geo. Canning. 



No. 5. 

 Explanatory Letter from Lord Li- 

 verpool to the Marquis Wel- 

 lesley. 



Fife-house, May 19, 1812. 



My dear Lord, — After the re- 

 ceipt of the paper which you sent 

 to me in the afternoon of yester- 

 day, I should certainly have felt it 

 to be unnecessary and fruitless to 

 trouble you with any further cor- 

 respondence, if I were not desirous 

 to correct the misapprehension into 

 which you appear to have fallen re- 

 specting my opinions, and those of 

 my colleagues, upon the Roman 

 Catholic question. 



In the communication which 

 passed between us on Sunday, as 

 well as that which I previously had 

 with Mr. Canning, I certainly stated 

 my opinions upon the Roman Ca- 

 tholic question to remain un- 

 changed, and that I was not aware 

 that those of my colleagues had 

 undergone any change. 



With respect to myself indivi- 

 dually, 1 must protest against its 

 being inferred from any declara- 

 tion of mine, that it is, or ever has 

 been my opinion, that under no 

 circumstances it would be possible 

 to make any alteration in the laws 

 respecting the Roman Catholics. 



Upon the last occasion on which 

 the subject was discussed in Par- 

 liament, I expressly stated, that 

 circumstances might arise, in 

 which, in my judgment, some al- 

 teration in those laws would be 



advisable 



