The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1809-11-28 00:00:00

e flreintess of tte War Departeteet, should he *feted into effect:—and that His Majesty had di rected Nita to desire your Lordship to commatii age his decision to Lord Castlereagh. 't On Tuesday June the .I,7th, finding no commis. wication had yet been made to Lord Castlerrugh, , l wrote to the Duke of Portland, in terms of the strongest remonstrance, both against the conceal ment end the delay ; and intimated my determina tion to recur to my original intention, and to press the acceptanceof my resignation. Accordingly, on the following day, Weduesday, the tub of June, I had an audience of the King, iu which I humbly and earnestly repeated to Ilis Ma Testy the tender of my resignation. That same eveuing, the Duke of Portland in formed Ise that he had that day signified to your Lordship the King's desire, that kraut Lordship should corumfinicate tips intended arrangement to • Lord Castlereagh; and that the thimmumcation was to be made by your Lordship, as soon us the Espeolition had sailed, which, it was cipectesl, would be iu less than a fortnight horn that time. But before this fortnight elapsed, viz. on Wed nesday the sth of July, the Duke of Portland in funned me, that, in consideration of the difficulties attending the proposed ariangetnent. he, and these with whom he had consulted, were elopinion, that another should be substituted for it, which he trusted would also be more agreeable to me. He told me that hopes were entertained that your Lordship wield determine to offer your resignation, for the purpose of facilitating a general arrange writ. 1.1 which a complete change in the war de partin-ait might he effected crinsistehtly with Lord Castlereagh's feelings. He said. however, that your Lordship hail not yet finally made•up your mind upon the subject : but that you would pro bably come to a decision before the following Wed nesday, The Mike of Portland stated his intention, in the event of your Lordship's resignation, to submit to His Majesty the nomination of Lord IVellesley to the War Department. It was well known by . the Duke of Portland that had been alwayi anxious for Lord iVellesley'a accession to the Cabinet ; hut this was the first mention to me iu the-COWS* of tins transaction, of his introduction into the War Department.--But for a vet•ere indisposition, Lord iVellesley would, before this time, have been on his way to Simi.. On Thursday, the 13th of Jnly, the Duke of Portland 111fOrWra me, that your Lordship hail, the day before, actually tendered your resignisjion; but that your Lorilship had annexed to it the con- Albums, that no change should take *piece till after the teittlinntiois of the expedition to the Scheldt ; and that it should he left to your Loulship to choose the time of makingasny commuiticution to I..nril Castlereagh. I made the atmagest remonstrances against this new delay, and this indefinite renewal of the cortceel ment from Lord Castlereagh. 1 said. that after the repeated postponements which hail already taken place, and after the reserve which had al ready been practised towards Lund Castlereagh, I could not rely upon the execution of any arrange- Ineut which should not be stow completely settled In all its parts. And, if this; were not to be done, I most earnestly entreated that His Majesty might be advised now to accept my resignation. . _ The Duke of Portland most anxiously depre cated my resignation, as !radio:, in hilt apprehen sion, to the dissolution of the Ad iii 33 istration. Ne declared himself to he authorised to assure Me, in the must solemn manner, that the arrangement now in contemplation, should pot.itively bike place at the ternnuation of the Expedition ; that the seals of the %'ar Departinesit snoold then lie offered to. Lord W e llesl e y— an ~Ifice. (to he vacated by meat ii of your Lordship's retuQrsietit) being at the same' title to be offered to Lord Custlereagh; and that, in the interval, and without loss of time, Lord Cast le laugh's friends should take oppertuuitiee of pre paring hint for the chime, and. reconciling him to ft. by representing to hint the greut advantages to be derived from it, in the ae4uisition of additiousl strength to the Government. Not only the Duke of Portland, but ether mein- Wm of the Cabinet, Lord Castlereagh's friends, some directly, and amine through common friends, urged me, in the most ert•siest manlier, to ecquiesce In the postponement new tOrApatell. It Was repre sented to me, that if. Instead of pressing for the execution of the arrangement wow, time were a t. lowed to. Lord Cestlerragh's friends to prepare him fur the change, acid to tociviril- him to it, the er rangetneut might ultimately takcplace in an ami cable limner ; that every public otrieet might thus be answered, without any unties ...ire harshness to he feriinge of inilivi lit Os: soil tiro, so far from finding fresh imped!sivoits r.ii.rd to the execution of the arrangement, whim this time arrived. I should bud all gime. to whose releusentations I yielded. considering eeinselves pledged equally, tilt the Duke ni l'o-tlentl, to see it carried into effect. It is doe to your Lordship, to sal) liar your Lard ship'. name was not. an fir as I. recollect, specifical ly mentioned to me on this ()erasion: lout it is equal ly (ie to iniselt; to &chie, th it I never for n mo ment nor con 's I have believed, that the gr. nerd discriptaini of Lord Casilereigh's friends;" • at staid to me without except 1111 l or iiiialdication by Ili.. Dake of Portland, did not etenprehutel yoor Lordship, whose proffered resigredinii was the leis a of the whoie arrarigriuent, anti without whose e visress voisent, therefore no other "person could announce the arrangement to Lord Castlereagh. • By these reprearoletions and lissome...li, at length. most rehtetaitily, confess against my better judgment. I w is induired to acluierce in the proPreied postpneement of the change; and con sented to remain in office till the termination of the Expedition. On Saturday September the id, the result of the Expedition to the Scheldt bring then known, I wrote to the Duke of Portland. at Hidstrode, re- Wing his (iraer, that the.perind fixed for offer ing the seals of the W4r Derportnient to Lord Wel. le der was arrived. On the following Weilitesdar. the 6th of Sepeem. Ler, the Duke of Porthole! iafornic.l or, that ho steps whatever hail been takeu•by any of Lord Calf: tleresgh's friends, to reconcile him to the change, or to 'Tepee* hien fir it ; that the execiitioe of the arrangement' would he attended with other resigna tions, or at least with omit ot))ir resignation (of . which I had sever before rectifed the alight.. intl. tudienl ; and that he had himself, determined to retire. Open receiving this intelligence ) I immediately disclaimed any wish. that the arrangement, how ever positively I understood it to have been 'settled, should be carried into eflect, under circumstances tome so unexpected; and initautly reverted to that alternative" which, upon each successive stage of difficulties and delays, 1 had uniformly pressed,— that of the tender of my own resignation ;—which I desired the Duke of Portland tp lay that day be fore the King. On the following day, Thursday the 7th of Sep tember, I declined attending the Cabinet; stating in a letter to the Duke of Portland (which I left it to his Grace to communicate to the Cabinet if he should think proper), 'that I consideted my resig nation as in Ilis :Majesty's hands ; and in) self as holding my office only until my Successor should be named. On Friday the Bth, t heard from the Doke of Portland that Lord Castlereagh had sent in his resignatmn. I have been informed since (but whether correctly or not I canuot affirm), that he did so, in consequence of • communication made to him, by your Lordship, after the Cabinet of the preceding day.. On Thufsdey, the 14'1i of September, your Lord ship called u• on me at the Foreign Office, by your own apps,inttiwat. tor the purpo,e of explinoing the raurew which heel prevented your making any communication to Lord Castlereagh in th• earlier stages of the transaction. On Tuesday, Septeinher 19. your Lordship, iu ■n►wer ton letter of noon of the preceding day, ex pl.thostl to rite she grounds of your silence to Lord Cn•tlrreagh, during the hitter period of the trans action. On We +tiesdny morning, September the 2nth, I received from Lord Castlereagh the Letter which produced our meeting. from this aeon of facts it appears, • - ' That, in April. I made a representation to the King's First Minister. on the general state of the Administration ; and that, in the tonne of the dis cussions arising oat of that representation. I pro posed on public grounds, not, as Lord Castlereagh appears to have been informed, his removal from the Administratign. but the alternative of a change, eithrr in the War sr Foreign Department. That, on the loth of May, the Doke of Portland submitted to Ilia Majesty the subject of my repre sentation; and informed me, that pI. Majesty would be pleased to take it into his consideration ; That, irons the loth of May until the sth of June, I was wholly unapprized of the result of that consideration; but that, for leer of misapprehe► sion. had, in venom, (luring that interval,—viz. on the 3 lit of May,—humbly srpeated my representation, and tendered toy resignation, to Ills Majesty ; That, on or about the nth of June, for the first tittle, an arrangement w3/4 stated to nte, whit h had for its object a new diatribtif of the business of the War Department ; and that, on the 13th, I signified my aerpoesoence iu that arrangement, an far as I was concerned ; That, on the itstli, another arrangement was stated to tsar. as intended to he substituted for that in which I had acquiesced: but. that, ion the 21st, it was announced to sue that the first arrangement was finally detailed upon; was to he innauediately carried intii effect ; and was to be communicated to Lord Castlereagh by your Lordship; That, on the /711 s of June. no step appearing to hare been taken, either to execute the Intend ed urr-sigetrictit, or to apprise Lord Gastleresigh of it, 1 reationstrated against the delay,•and against the concealment front Lord Castlereagh : and that. on the gath. I again tendered my resignation ; and that on the Issue slay your Lordship received an injunction to communicate the intended arrange ment to Lord Castlereagh ; That, on the sth of July, a new plan was stated Itp inc to he in contemplation ; a plan originating with your Lordship, and depending for its execu tion upon a step to be takes, by yourself : that this plan was, on the lith. announced to me as settled, and as intended to be substituted for that which had been first proposed ; That I at that time renewed my remonstrances in the stronge►t manner, both against the delay and against the concealment ; but that it was stilted to me to be an indispensable condition of this plan on your Lordship', part; that it should not be sctcd upon till the termination of the expedition to the Scheldt; and that the time of retaking jhe commu nication to Lord Castlereagh should be left to your Lordship's discretion: That at length, in compliance with the represen• tonnes and entreaties of the Duke of Portland, and of others, Lord Castlereagles friends, and upon the most solemn *sou relives that Lard Castlereagh should in the mean time be prepared by his friends for the change, and that the change should positively take place at the period fixed by your Lordship, I con sented to remain in office ; That on Wednesd.ie the 6th of September, find ing that nothing had ficen done towards preparing Lord Caslerragh for the arrangstment ; and thut the exectition of it would be awil.ll with difficulties of which I had not before that time been apprised. I dr4red the Doke of Portland to lay my resiztut lion before the King. Your Lordship 0111 therefore perceive. That up to the nth of June, so for front being in prissessien of any promise for Lord Castlereagh's removal." and from his continuance in office twins/ tnsde therapy '• dependent upon ny pleasure ;" nn deri.ion wl►at.yer.httd. to my -knowledge. been token. up to that e; no proposal hail been tootle to the by the D of Poulain'. to any way atfectinK Lord Castle We political situatioti; and no intimation had giros to me. whether my own resignation won be finally accepted or de clined ; That the arrangement which was in contemplation from the Slit of June to the sth of July. in no de gree affected, and was never intended to allot. 64 the conduct of the Expedition to the Scheldt :" That Lord Co.tlercagles " removal from the War Department" was first determined upon as part 01 . the plan of which your Lordship's resignation wAs the basis ; That his "removal from di , . Administration" was not at any.titne demanded" Lyme; And. laraly. that I did i•mploy the tender of rny owe reignation, not to I. enforce decn.ion,"anig. (as Lord Cutleresgh's Letter supposes.) but equally to " enforce disclosure; and thit is 'let I did ultimately resign, rather than " auforce" the intended Change, under circumstances so different from those which I had been authorised to expect. Jr cannot be expected that I should labour very anxiiithly to refute the charge of my having " sup posed" your Lordship and others "to be Lord Cio•tlerragli's frisisds;" and having, under that impression, deferred to your opinion and " au thority," in a matter affectiu„.• Lord Castlereagh's interests and feelings. That your Lordship, in particular, as well from near connection as from an active and anxious par tiality, was entitled to consultation, and to defe rence on such an occasion--is • persuasion which I felt in common, as I believe, with every Member of the Government ; and which not even Lord Castlereagli's disclaimer has induced me to re tiOU nee. I should not have been surprised, nor should I .have thought myself entitled to take the smallest offence, if your Lordship had, imstrad of cuuturrin , g iu the expediency of a change in Lord Castlereagh it department, protested against it, and bed recom mend.t to the, Duke of Portland, to advise the King trlaccept my resignation: and it was perfect ly known by the Duke of Portland, and lam con fident, not unknown by your Lordship, that, a any moment from the beginning of these discus sions to the end. 1 was not only ready, but desirous to terminate them by resigning. But when tbsk . opinion of the expediency of a change in the War Department had been adopted by so many of the immediate friends of Lord Castle reagh, upon the condition that it shoulJ be recon ciled to Lord Coat lereagli's feelings, and.whea they, and your Lordship among the first, had devised and concerted with the King's first Minister the mode of carrying that object into execution, 1 cannot help thwking that 1 should have been much, and justly, blamed, if 1 had insisted upon taking the communication to Lord Castlereagh out of your hands into my own. 1 now come to your Lordship's statement. That statement is fits IVIIOWS " As it may be i-.:(erred, from • statement which has ap peared in the public papers, that Lord Camden withheld from Lord Castlereagh a communication which he had beeu &wind 14 make to hint, it is iiecrssary that it should be un drnitood, that however Mr. Canning might have conceived the runitunnication alluded - to, to have been made to Lord Camden, it was fieVCI stated to Lord Camden, tharthe coin. muoicetion was made at the desire of Mr. Canning; aud, so far from Lord Camden having been authorised to make the communoation to Lord Castkreagli v he was absolutely re. stricted from so doing. " As it may also be Wetted that Lord Camden was ex. petted to prepare Lard Castlereagh** Naiad for nay proposed change, it is necessary that it Should be understood, that Lord Camden never engaged to eontioutnicalc to lord Castle any c ircuinstaacis respecting it, before the terming tiun of the C.xpeditiou."--,'.1/oramg Chosticle, Oct. 19.) This statement appears to me to have been much misunderstood. It has been construed, as if your Lordship had meant to aver that what you were rf strktelfrose doing sued wind you Lad not ergaged to d••„ were one and the same thing :—whereas your Lordship's statenient, in point of thet, contains two distinct propositions, and refers to tau scoerate pe riods of tune. The period during which your Lorits!iip states }mural If to have turn " al solately restricted" from making a commuuication to Lord Castlereagh, ex tends from the -2fith of April, on which day the first communication was made by the Duke of Portland to your Lordship, to the time itt which the proposed arrangement for the new distribution of the business of the War Department wits sneer seded by your Lordship's - tender of your resignation. The period during which your Lordship states yourself " not to have engaged" to make n commu nication to Lerd Castler-agh, extends from the time of the tender of your Lordship's resignation to the termination of the Expedition to the Scheldt. It ought, however. to be obseryrd„ that during the first of these two periods,—from the t2lith of April to the 11th of July,—the nature of the coin snunicatiou to be made to Lord Castlereagh, and the nature of the restriction' imposed upon your Lordship, were entirely changed. Pembina, to the Eith of J uue—the communica tion which your Lordship would have had to make to Lord Castlereagh, was simply that I had repre sented the expediency of a change either in his department or mine; and that no decision whatever had yet been taken upon this representation. With respect to this communication, it does sp pear that the restriction upon your Lordship wa s absolute and isideliisitc. But knew nothing of its existence. Subsequently to the sth of June, the communicao Lion to be made to Lord Castlereagh was, that ■n arrangement was in contemplation for a new dis tribution of the bu►iness of the War Department. With respect to this communication, not only was the restriction, upon your Lordship not indefi nitely continued; but your Lordship actually receiv ed on the 28th of June an injunction to mike skis coa►►uuaication to► Lord Castlereagh at a Feriod dis tinctly verified, vie. the exiling of the Expedition. Aid this injunction was only superseded by a ►tolun tary act of your Lordship's, your tender of your own reaignation on the 12th of July, as the basis of ano ther arrange►neet. During Ake whole of the period. from the 2Rth of April to the 12thi of July, the concealment prnc tise►l towards Lord Castlereagh was either without my knowledge and contrary to my belief, or it was against ►oy earnest remonstrances. — lt was Without my knowledge and contrary to my np to the week ia which Parliament rou ; and from that time forth it was against my earnest remonstrances. Even when I learnt. in Jnne, that the communi cation had wit been made by your Lordship to Lord Castlereagh.l did not learn that van hurl beta prevented from making it by any absolute restric tion. It was not till the moritlinf July, in the course of the cliscuasions which took place from the 13th to the Roth of that month, respecting the prowl:Al for pesitponiisu the new arrangement to be found e d on your Lordship's reel e piation. and for leavimeto your Lorchhip's dowretion the tune of disclosure to Lord Castlereagh, that I learnt that the silence which you had hitherto observed towards him, had been im posed upon )Our Lordship by the it junctiou of the Duke of Portland. 1 did not till then know with whom the concealment hitherto practised hai ori ginated; I frankly own that I thought it had origin ated with your Lordship; 1 was auxious, above all thiags. that it sltottlgl not he ever sesiwcted that it had originated with me; or that I had horn a con. senting party to it. or even (till a lite period) coo. scions ()tits existence. in my correspondence with the Unke of Port. land at this period, therefors ? at the same time that I resisted the new delay then proposed, 1 disclaimed any concurrence in the concealment which littd her ! , hitherto practised--oud requested " :hat it tnimi,t be remembered hereuftvr, %hi:never that conceal nieut should he alleged against ice, as an act of in. justice to Lord Castlereagh, that it did not origin. ate in my suggestion, that, so far. from desiring it, 1 had conceived (however erroneously) your Lord ship to be the sure channel of communication to Lord Castlereagh; and that up to a very late pe riod I had bettered such communication to have been actually made." . _ _ The Duke of Portland in answer acknowledged my repeated remonstrances against the conceal. tricot ; stating himself at the seine time not to hsw hemi aware that I had at any time believed the tin,- munication to hate been actually made; lint hi• luring me that he should be of ull times recu t io avow thit the "concealment kid originated with himself, (the Duke of Portland) ; that he hod in. joined it to all those with yrhom he had conumiiii rated, from motives dhich he was at all time s ready to justify ; .and that he was desirous of tak ing whatever blame might have been, or might at my time be, incurred by it, upon himself." This, as 1 have said, was my tiist knowledge of any restriction whatever upon your Lordship', communication to Lord Castlereagh. 111 am asked why I believed your Lordship to have actually wade the communication, I answer, because it was natural that you should muke it; because the expectation of your making it was the motive which induced we to desire, (and 1 did desire) that the conanunicrition should be made to your Lordship ;—bccause the unto ner in which you . first received that commu nication (as reporfsd to me by the Duke if Portland) tended to confirm the belief that your Lordship was the tit channel of coinmunication to Lord Castlereagh ;—und because I knew not of the existence of auy impeiiiinent to your pu:suing what appeared to me (and does still appear to me) the natural ea obvious course to he pursued upon such an occasion. If it be objected, that i ought not to hare been contented with persornia7 the disclosure to have 'been made, but ought to havediligently ascerlained that it was so;—first, I answet—that no person na turally sets about ascertnin;ng that of which he en. tertairis oo doubt :--and, secondly, I answer, that the moment that my suspicion of the fact was ex cited, I di l l set about 94certainiug the troth; and that upon ascertaining it, I did remonstrate in Ike strongest manlier against the Concealment; and enforced that remoastrnin.e by the tender of my own resignation. It wa;Ois the 2Gth or 27th of June (live or silt days after Parliament rose) tlitai 1 discovered my suspicion to he founded.—On the 27tb I rennin. stratvd.—On the 29th I tendered my resignation. —And in the course of the same day, your Lord ship•(ita 1 have already stated) received au irjuiu. t tuti 'to make the COTUIL 11 ion a wail the f.A. putlition should hate gaited. The second of the two periods to which your Lordship's statempnt refers, begins from the 12th •f Joly, the day of the ttuder of your Lordship's resignntioii. _ . _ It do.-s not appear, nor does your Lordship's statement neer, that at any time during second period die restriction whicliJiad originally been im posed upon your Lordship was. tem wed ; or that any oilier existed, except that which your Lordship had imposed Nom yourself, and which was there fore no longer binding upon your Lordship, than while you might yourself he willing that it should bind you. Of the extent to which this self-imposed restric tion appears to have gone, 1 had not any suspicion. 1 knew; indeed, that your Lordship had stipulated to keep the time of the disclosure, to Lord Castle reagh, in your own hands; but. subsequently to my being made acquainted with that stipulation, 1 had received the assurances, which 1 have already described, on behalf of " Lord Castlereagh's friends:" Lid find relied upon those assurances. It was not till the Uth of September, that I learnt that those assurances bad not been carried into ef fect. It was not till the loth of Septeuiber •that I learntthat your Lordship had been no party to them. Then indeed, 1 learnt that your Lordship had!tiot only "not engaged" to make the communi cation previously to the " issue of the' Expedition being known here."—but that in July you had, " stated to one of our colleagues."—(rint the Doke of Portland)—" who was urging an earlier mime. ideation, that the time of communication, so f it us you were concerned, was for you to decide ; but that ao one bad a right to ss', you did net perform that part in the transaction in which you were con. cenied, fryou did not open gea► lips to Lord Castle reagh blare the issre of the Expedition MU known here." This information I receiver! from your Lordship. in a fetter (Lard the l9th of September. It wctl then perfectly pew to nit, I leave your Lord.hip to judge what most have been iny surprise, when after receiving from your I.ord%hip, on the evening of the 19th at September. this frank avowal of the real origin of the conceal ment maintained. duriug this latter and moat im portant period, towards Lord Castlereagh, I re ceived on the following morning Lr•rdCaatt.•reaghs letter of the same date, making ore responsible liar that concealment. I have mot to trouble your Lordship with any farther observations. I have confined myself to meters growitig out of Lord Castlereagh's letter, and out of your Lordship's statement: on thuac alone have I any right to claim your i..ordship's at tention. To this address to your Lordship I have hero compelled to resort. however reluctantly. to sloth &se toy private honour. Ar to suy charges against my public rouduct—tbis is not the mode to reply to them. !laity such shall he brought against me, at the proper time and ia the proper place I shall ba prepared to repel them. 'I haie the honour to be, With great respert,•my Lord, Your Lordship s Moat obedient bU Ige servant. , GLouo► Carouse.