APPENDIX tothe CHRONICLE. 517 



previously to submit it to the peru- 

 sal of the duke of Portland. 



In this hope I have been disap- 

 pointed by that fatal event which 

 has deprived this country of one of 

 its most upright and disinterested 

 patriots; the king of one of his most 

 faithful, devoted, and affectionate 

 subjects; and the world, of one of 

 the most blameless and most noble- 

 tninded of men. 



Thus situated, I have thought it 

 right to revise what I had written, 

 ind scrupulously to expunge every 

 reference to the authority of the 

 luke of Portland, which would now 

 stand upon my sole testimony ; re- 

 iaining such only as are supported, 

 either by writtendocuments which I 

 shall be happy to communicate to 

 your lordship ; or by facts which 

 are well known to your lordship or 

 to your colleagues, and in which, 

 for the most part, your lordship is 

 yourself concerned. 



Neither, however, can I content 

 myself with this precaution ; but 

 must protest, at the same time, in 

 the most earnest manner, against 

 any possible misconstruction, by 

 which any thing in the following 

 letter can be strained to a meaning 

 unfavourable to the motives which 

 actuated the duke of Portland's 

 conduct. 



It is impossible, indeed, not to 

 regret the policy however well-in- 

 tentioned, which dictated the re- 

 serve practised towards lord Castle- 

 reagh in the beginning of this trans- 

 action ; or that practised towards 

 myself in its conclusion. 



It is to be regretted, that the 

 duke of Portland should have im- 

 posed, and thatyour lordship should 

 have accepted, the condition of si- 

 lence, in the first communications 

 between you. 



It is also to be regretted, that I 

 should not have learnt in July, that 

 your lordship was not party to the 

 assurances then given to me, on be- 

 half of lord Castlereagh's friends in 

 general ; and that another member 

 of the cabinet, comprehended in 

 that description, had(as I have since 

 heard), refused to concur in them. 



Had I been made acquainted 

 with these circumstances, I should 

 then have resigned ; and my resig- 

 nation, would at that time, have 

 taken place without inconvenience 

 or embarrassment; and without 

 stirring those questions (no way 

 connected with the causes of my re- 

 tirement ), or subjecting me to those 

 misinterpretations of my conduct 

 and motives, which have been pro- 

 duced by the coincidence of my re- 

 signation with that of the duke of 

 Portland. 



But, however this reserve may 

 be to be regretted, it is in>possible 

 to attribute the adoption of it, on 

 the part of the duke of Portland, 

 to any other motives than to that 

 gentleness ofnature which eminent- 

 ly distinguished him ; and which led 

 him to endeavour (above all things) 

 to prevent political differences from 

 growing into personal dissention ; 

 and to aim at executing whatever 

 arrangement might be expedient for 

 improving or strengthening the ad- 

 ministration, with the concurrence 

 (if possible) of all its existing mem- 

 bers. 



And no man who knows the af- 

 fectionate respect and attachment, 

 which the manly and generous qua- 

 lities of the duke of Portland's 

 mind were calculated to command, 

 and which I invariably bore to him, 

 will suspect me of being willing to 

 estabUsh my own vindication, at 

 the expense of the slightest disre- 

 spect 



