England and Napoleon (1801-1815) by S. E. Winbolt

Author:S. E. Winbolt [Winbolt, S. E. (Samuel Edward)]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-08-26T22:00:00+00:00

RESIGNATION OF PORTLAND (1809).

Source. —Diary of Lord Colchester, 1861. Vol. ii., p. 200.

Sunday, Sept. 10th. —Received the following letter from Perceval.

[Most private and confidential. ]

Downing Street,

Sept. 9th, 1809.

My dear Mr. Speaker,

I cannot let the week close without giving you some information (though I have delayed till now giving you any, with the hopes of giving you more than I am able, even at present) upon a subject of great importance.

The Duke of Portland has resigned, the King only desiring he would keep his office till some arrangement might be made for his successor. The story is a great deal too long for a note or a letter; suffice it to say, that it is mixed in some respects with the most painful considerations that it has ever been my misfortune to have felt.

Whether it will be possible for us to form any arrangement, or what it will be, I really cannot at present state to you, as I do not know myself. According to present appearances, Castlereagh cannot stay with us, from a sense of what is due to himself; and Canning will not. Conceive me then, and my situation in your house, under such circumstances, and judge whether, if these appearances are realised, it would be just by the King or by the country in me, to affect to be able to remain either without them or some other strength, where how to acquire it is not very easy to imagine.

I wished you not to know this subject from any other quarter but myself, and I feel that I have only whetted your curiosity, and it would take a volume to communicate it fully. Possibly, therefore, till a personal meeting, I must defer the full explanation. The result, whatever it may be, you shall hear as soon as I can tell you. The cruel thing upon Castlereagh is, that though this is entirely independent of the late expedition, it is next to impossible but that the public impression will connect the two together.

I am, my dear Mr. Speaker,

Yours very truly,

Sp. Perceval.

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