506 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



that it should be immediately acted 

 upon, and lord Castlereagh ac- 

 quainted with it. Lord Castle- 

 reagh, however, was not acquaint- 

 ed with it, and Mr. Canning ac- 

 quiesced in its being concealed 

 from him, 



Undoubtedly, lord Camden was 

 acquainted with the transactions ; 

 but it is not true that his lordship 

 ever undertook to make the dis- 

 closure to lord Castlereagh, nor 

 did he ever make it. It is also 

 true, that Mr. Canning was tho- 

 roughly apprised that it was not 

 made known to lord Castlereagh. 

 And it is further true, that lord 

 Castlereagh, being kept in profound 

 ignorance of the decision for his re- 

 moval from office, was permitted, 

 though in fact virtually no longer 

 a minister, and in this state of de- 

 lusion, to continue to conduct the 

 entire arrangement of the cam- 

 paign, and to engage in a new ex- 

 pedition of the most extensive, 

 complicated and important nature, 

 under the full persuasion, not that 

 Mr. Canning had supplanted him 

 in office, and possessed in his pocket 

 a promise for his dismissal, but 

 that he really enjoyed (as during 

 the period he in outward show and 

 daily concurrence, experienced) 

 Mr. Cannning's sincere liberal and 

 bonajide support, as a co-operating 

 and approving colleague. It is 

 further known, that Mr. Canning 

 having thus in his pocket lord Cas- 

 tlereagh's dismissal, and having ar- 

 ranged with the duke of Portland 

 that it should be carried into exe- 

 cution at the termination of the ex- 

 pedition, he did, on the 3d Septem- 

 ber, the day that the account ar- 

 rived from lord Chatham that he 

 could not proceed to Antwerp, 

 write to the duke of Portland, de- 



manding the execution of the pro- 

 mise made to him. What were all 

 the difficulties which were started 

 from time to time against the im- 

 mediate execution of this promise, 

 it would be extremely difficult to 

 detail; but there cannot be a doubt 

 but the question of the writership, 

 which it has been attempted to con- 

 nect with this transaction could 

 have nothing to do with it ; as Mr. 

 Canning never contended for lord 

 Castlereagh's removal from the go- 

 vernment, but from the particular 

 office he held, and into which he 

 wished to introduce lord Wellesley. 

 It appears that the demand of the 

 fulfilment of the promise led to the 

 resignation of the duke of Port- 

 land, and subsequently of Mr. Can- 

 ning. And it further appears, that 

 as soon as the whole of this unpa- 

 ralleled conduct was, at this late 

 period, disclosed to lord Castle- 

 reagh, he immediately placed his 

 resignation in his majesty's hands. 

 — On the truth of the above facts 

 the public may rely ; and they can 

 no longer be at a loss for the real 

 causes and grounds of the demand 

 made by lord Castlereagh for sa- 

 tisfaction from Mr. Canning. 



Mr. Canning's Answer to Lord 



Castlereagh's Statement. 

 The Jbllotving has been ushered to 

 the world as the statement of 

 Mr. Canning on the subject of 

 the difference which led to the 

 recent duel between himself and 

 Lord Castlereagh. 

 It is perfectly true, that so long 

 ago as Easter Mr. Canning had re- 

 presented to the duke of Portland 

 the insufficiency, (in his opinion) of 

 the government, as then constituted, 

 to carry on the affairs of the coun- 

 try, under all the difficulties of the 



times ; 



