526 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



lively take place at the period fixed 

 by your lordship, I consented to 

 remain in ofBce. 



That on Wednesday the 6th of 

 September, finding that nothing 

 had been done towards preparing 

 lord Castlereagh for the arrange- 

 ment; and that the execution of it 

 would be attended with difficulties 

 of which I had not before been ap- 

 prized, I desired the duke of Port- 

 land to lay my resignation before 

 the king. 



Your lordship will therefore per- 

 ceive, 



That up to the 8th of Jane, so 

 far from being in possession of any 

 «« promise for lord Castlereagh's 

 removal," and from his continu- 

 ance in office being made thereby 

 "dependent upon my pleasure:" 

 —no decision whatever had, to 

 my knowledge been taken up to 

 that time ; no proposal had been 

 made to me by the duke of Port- 

 land, in any way affiscting lord 

 Castlereagh'spolitical situation; and 

 no intimation had been given to me 

 whether my own resignation would 

 be finally accepted or declined ; 



That the arrangement which was 

 in contemplation from the 8lh of 

 June to the 5th of July, in no de- 

 gree affected, and was never intend- 

 ed to affect, " the conduct of the 

 expedition to the Scheldt;" 



That lord Castlereagh's " re- 

 moval from the War Department " 

 was first determined upon as part 

 of the plan of which your lordship's 

 resignation was the basis ; 



That his «' removal from the ad- 

 ministration" was not at any time 

 •* demanded" by me : 



And, lastly, that I did employ 

 the tender of my ow.i resignation, 

 not to " enforce decision," only (as 

 lord Castlereagh's letter supposes), 



but equally to " enforce disclo- 

 sure ;" and that in fact I did ulti- 

 mately resign, rather than " en- 

 force " the intended change, under 

 circumstances so different from 

 those which I had been authorized 

 to expect. 



It cannot be expected that I 

 should labour very anxiously to re- 

 fute the charge of my having " ^m;;- 

 posed" your lordship and others 

 " to be lordCastlereagh'sy/7>wc?s;" 

 and having, under that impression, 

 deferred to your opinion and " au- 

 thority," in a matter affecting lord 

 Castlereagh's interests and feel- 

 ings. 



That your lordship, in particular, 

 as well from near connection as 

 from an active and anxious par- 

 tiality, was entitled to consultation, 

 and to deference on such an occa- 

 sion ; — is a persuasion which I felt 

 in common, as 1 believe, with every 

 member of the government ; and 

 which not even lord Castlereagh's 

 disclaimer has induced me to re- 

 nounce. 



I should not have been surprised, 

 nor should I have thought myself 

 entitled to take the smallest of- 

 fence, if your lordship had, instead 

 of concurring in the expediency of 

 a change in lord Castlereagh's de- 

 partment, protested against it, and 

 had recommended to the duke of 

 Portland to advise the king to ac- 

 cept my resignation : and it was 

 perfectly known by the duke of 

 Portland, and I am confident, not 

 unknown by your lordship, that at 

 any moment from the beginning of 

 these discussions to the end, I was 

 not only ready but desirous to ter- 

 minate them by resigning. 



But when the opinion of the ex- 

 pediency of a change in the war 

 department, had been adopted by 



so 



