The Sun.
London, England, 1812-06-12 00:00:00

collect that on .any question of importance-so
many of them were absent,- for the notice -was
onlY given the day before, and there was not 'suf.--
ficienttime to make the .communication to those
wile Were absent. But the
,Right Honourable_
Gentleman had said,. that before the House of
-Commons -could come to a right understanding '
on the question, they should be made acquainted '
with the, negociations that had tal,..en place. , He
,begged leave, to state, for himself and for his No-
ble Friends,- that they had no secrets ; that the.: -
more the facts were known, the more they, should
he-satisfied—and the more; he was snre,would the
:country be induced to approve their conduct. A.
.wish -was expressed, by the Honourable Gentle
man opposite,
„that a sort of -union or coalition
should be effected amongst public Merit in. order
that they might constitute a. more powerful and,
efficient -Administratioa. The House had con,-
curred in the. same wish,
.and so did his Noble
Friend, and so did he himself. It never was their
intention to decline coming into Adminlstration
with any man who, 'upon the great political ques-
tions of the country, , and the. general maxims of
Government, could be brought to agree with them.
So
,far from wishing to exclude any, they:were -de-
sirous to unite all. At the very outset of the ne-
gociation,while itwas in the hands of MarvisWel-
lesley, they had disclaimed all personality. The'.
public, it was said, had an interest and a right in
the characterS of public men, and- it Must be al-
lowed that public- men had'an interest and a right
_in the defence of their own. characters ; he there-Y,
lore hoped he should be excused if-he appeared a
little tedious in dilating upon what, could not fail .
him, the written documents,, The first paper to
which he referred, was the.communication of Lord
Wellesley to Lords. Grey and,Gre.n.ville, in which .
he stated that:he had received the command of his ,
Royal Highness to plan an Administration ade-
quote-to the present crisis
,of affairs ; that he had-
advised his. 'Royal Highness for--'this purpose, to;;.
ascertain the views of the parties ; that he only.
. acted under his Royal Highness's commands,
and did not claim to 'be placed himself in any,
situation of ;the GovernMent. :With these views -
he demanded of their Lordships. whether they ,
Would have any objection,- first,.that the Claims:- •
of the Roman CatholicS should be taken into inn- ,
mediate consideration-with a view to conciliatory.
meastfres ; and :secondly, that the_ war in the,Pen-
insula should-be continued with adequate vigour?
.0n :the 24th:of.May,.without cavilling with Lord
_
Wellesley for his want • of authority,- their Lord-
:ships returned an answer, declaring, that, at a
moment like -the, present,_- they thought it the
-duty of public amen to : give effect-to the late re-
solution - of .the House . of- Commons, that under
..the-.present imminent and unparalleled danger of
the -country, Lord Wellesley -had selected two„,
among the many important subjects. that- would
- naturally comeunder theconsideration of Ministers, .
and-upon which their answers:should be, explicit.
On the first of these-, their opinions were too well
known,. and too- recently- expressed, to require
,-a repetition. They could :assure-.him however,
that they would warmly support any- proposal of
any Minister in favour of, that portion of his Ma-
..
.aesty's subjects.: - As to- the second,- no - persons :
could appreciate more justly the: advantages of a'
successful termination of the :war in Spain. -But
it was a qUestion not-of ;principle , but of policy,
- and to be determined by circumstances which were -
sometimes limited 'to the knowledge of 'Govern,-
mrtent alone. No public -man, therefore, would
undertake.formore than a-dispassionate consider-
ation of the subject, under all the circumstances.
•_They did not, however, mean to conceal from him
their opinion, that in the present state, of the
country, no increase should takeplace in anylaraach
of expenditure. Mr. Canning: having communi-
cated the .Same proposition to Lord Liverpool, a
minute was sent to Lords Grey and Grenville,
Which struck Lord -Grey to be differett from
that which was communicated to their Lordships;
. be therefore wrote to Lord Wellesley, statingthe
• fact ; but the difference was, soon :cleared up.—
The next paper of consequence was aminute of
the consultation of 7,Lords Grey _and Grenville on
the Ist of-June, in which he stated that, he-, had
full authority to form an Administration, and was
especially. authorised to communicate it ;to their
Lordships. Here followed the- arrangement of ,
Cabinet Ministers, which has already :appeared
before the public.- The reply of Lords Grey ,and
Grenville stated that they would accept of. -any
situation, which they could discharge usefully and:
honourably, but the principle of the propositiOn.
- submitted to them was jealousy ; the objeet of it
'evidently an attempt to balance powers supposed
to be in hostility. They -therefore declined any.
participation. In forming Administrations, the
Crown generally. applied to those who had the
confidence of the majority of the House. The ,
first And vital;principle of the Cabinet was, that .
the Members should possess the mutual confidence
, of each tither, and that there should, be- an ab-
sence of all jealousy, ' The answer having . been
delivered, nothing further passed under the au-
thority of the Regent, but Lord Moira on the 3d,
June addressed a letter to them, . representing
. that, in the answer to Lord WelleSley, they threw
an imputation on him,- and therefore he hoped
they would reconsider it. It was a measure con-
ducted in the spirit 'of fairness, and his Royal
Highness had not appointed one of the individuals
eornpoiing the proposed arrangement. This let-
ter - was written in the spirit of candour for which
the Noble Lord was remarkable, but wholly tin
authorised from any other person. -Lord Grey,
in answer, expreaSed the greatest confidence in
his Lordship's honour, and-disclaimed the idea of
attaching any imputation to his conduct. On the
4th of Jtine, Lord Grey received another letter
' from Lord Wellesley, saying that neither. Lord
Moira nor he hat' any authority to negociate,
which he lemented, deeply. Lord-Grey wrote an-
other letter to Lord Moira, stating that h e and Lord
. Grenville were ready for any further comniunica-
tion\vhich his Royal Highness might wish to con-
vey. -After this, and under the authority- of his-
, Royal Highness, a conversation -took place be-
tween Lords Moira, Grey, and. Grenville, Lord
Erskine being present, at St. James's Place, June
the 6th. Lord' Moira then stated, that he was
authorised to Consult them on.the formation of a
new Government; and a conversation having
, . taken place, the Roman Catholic Question and
the affairs of America were conceded. As &pre.