deal of meaning neatly wrapped up in these few words: "I have considered it my duty to lay it before the King." Could Mr Huskisson hope, after that, that the Duke, with a tretnulous voice, and a tear in his eye, was to call upon him, and beg him for Godsake not to allow the Government to tumble to the ground? "I cannot," quoth the ExSecretary, "understand how the noble Duke could reason in this manner." Then he cannot understand that which is level to the meanest capacity. Not an honest man in all Eng land who would not have reasoned in the same way. "If," he continues, "I had suffered a grievance, and said that unless that grievance be redressed, I must resign; and if then that grievance was redressed, I can understand that I would have enjoyed some triumph, if there had been a divi sion of opinions in the Cabinet, and I had said, unless you come over to my side of the question I must resign, and my colleagues in office had made this concession, I could understand that then I would have triumphed-but...” Now all this is a very silly, and a very insolent supposition. No doubt, had Mr Huskisson had the foolish presumption to say so and so; and had the Duke of Wellington had the foolish servility to do so and so, Mr Huskisson would have had a triumph, and held up his head, while Great Britain would have blushed to the very ears with shame, and grief, and indignation. But never was there such a vi sionary hypothesis. So violent a fic tion can serve to illustrate nothing in a world such as that which we inhabit. Had Mr Huskisson dared to behave in that manner, he would have been kicked out with equal expedition, and less ceremony than was observed to him on the late occasion, his letter would have given the Duke even a greater "surprise," but less " cern;" and the nation would have expressed itself otherwise than in a general roar of laughter. There is al ways something awkward in illustration by hypothesis. Mr Huskisson had reason to know and feel that, when, not very long ago, the Duke of Wellington said, that if he, Mr Huskisson, had spoken at Liverpool of "pledges and guarantees," he had for ever disgraced himself and ruined his character. Your if is often an excellent peace-maker, but then it must

con

here have cut to the bone-to the heart. For that Mr Huskisson did use the words imputed to him, on the hustings at Liverpool, is at this moment the avowed belief of every man in the island, except himself and Parson Shepherd.

A high-minded man, who knew that he had been wilfully misunderstood, in a matter of this kind, would have indignantly closed the correspondence. But Mr Huskisson is anything but a high-minded man and shews in his subsequent letters how close is the connexion between insolence and servility, the haughtiest arrogance and the most abject submission. After being hit on the temple-the mark-and the jugular-why should he not have given in, instead of coming up to the scratch all abroad, puffing like a porpoise, and bleeding like a pig? Was there ever anything so lumbering and ineffective as the following attempts at warding off and putting in blows, in the London Ring? He uses his maulies like a yokel.

"Colonial Office, May 21, 1828. "MY DEAR DUKE,In justice to myself, I cannot acquiesce for a moment in the construction which your letter of last night puts upon my conduct.

knowing the motives of my own actions; "You cannot refuse to me the right of and I solemnly declare, that, in both my letters, I was actuated by one and the same feeling. It was simply this:-That it was not for me, but for you, as head of the Government, to decide how far my vote made it expedient to remove me from his Majesty's service. I felt that I had no alternative, consistently with personal ho nour, (in a difficulty not of my own seeking or creating,) but to give that vote; that the question in itself was one of minor in appearance than in reality; but I also importance; that the disunion was more felt, that possibly you might take a different view of it; and that, in case you should, I ought, as I had done on à similar occa sion with Lord Liverpool, to relieve you from any difficulty, arising out of personal consideration towards me, in deciding upon a step to which you might find it your public duty to resort on the occasion.

"It was under this impression alone that I wrote to you immediately upon my return from the House of Commons.

"If you had not misconceived that impression, as well as the purport of my second letter, I am persuaded that you could not suppose me guilty of the arrogance of expecting, that you and his Majesty's government should submit yourselves to

the necessity of soliciting me to remain in my office, or do me the injustice of believing that I could be capable of placing you in the alternative of choosing between the continuance of my services, (such as

they are,) and the loss to your administration of one particle of character, which, I agree with you, is the foundation of public

confidence.

"If, understanding my communication as I intended it to be understood, you had in any way intimated to me, either that the occurrence, however unfortunate, was not one of sufficient moment to render it necessary for you, on public grounds, to act in the manner in which I had assumed that you possibly might think it necessary, or that you were under that necessity, in either case there would have been an end of the matter. In the first supposition, I

should have felt that I had done what, in honour and fairness towards you, I was bound to do; but it never could have entered my imagination, that I had claimed or received any sacrifice whatever from you, or any member of his Majesty's go

vernment.

"On the other hand, nothing can be further from my intention than to express an opinion that the occasion was not one in which you might fairly consider it your duty to advise his Majesty to withdraw from me the seals of office, on the ground

of this vote. I do not, therefore, complain; but I cannot allow that my removal shall be placed on any other ground. I cannot allow that it was my own act; still less can I admit, that when I had no other intention than to relieve the question on which you had to decide from any personal embarrassment, this step on my part should be ascribed to feelings, the very reverse of those by which alone I was actuated, either towards you or his Majesty's government.

"Believe me to be, my dear Duke,

"Yours very sincerely, (Signed) W. HUSKISSON."

Here Mr Huskisson absolutely whines. "You cannot refuse to me the right of knowing the motives of my own actions !" Yes, the Duke can refuse to him that right. "There is no mistake, there can be no mistake, and there shall be no mistake." To know the motives of our own actions is the veriest most difficult thing in all this world. Know that, and you are indeed a Christian philosopher. The Duke judges Mr Huskisson's motives from his words and deeds-nor will he suffer him to attribute such words and such deeds to any other motives but to those from which, according to the laws of nature, they did most certainly flow. VOL. XXIV.

Men's motives are often mixed; and so, probably, were Mr Huskisson's in writing that silly and insolent letter. He has himself told us that his mind,

during its composition, was under va rious excitation-that he was fatigued, unwell, disturbed, annoyed, dissatisfied, and probably, we add, hungry, thirsty, and perhaps not a little sleepy

and yet he had no other motive, he avers, but an anxiety to relieve the Duke, from "delicacy" forsooth, and embarrassment! Now, this very statement, from his own pen and his own lips, proves that he did not know the motives of his own actions, and that, under the circumstances, the Duke was perfectly justified in refusing to him the right of knowing them-for in one and the same breath he attri butes his letter to motives utterly irreconcilable, and such as might rapidly succeed each other, but could not be co-existent. Mr Huskisson is surprised at the notion of anybody presuming to look into his heart-and expects the whole world to take all he says about himself on trust. The whole world is not quite so weak as that gaged in the "march of intellect," and comes to; the whole world is now enon the present occasion the whole world has paused to "mark time," and by that movement to declare unequivocally, that though Mr Huskisson did certainly lose his temper at last, along with his office, yet that at first he behaved, beyond all doubt, with the most complete resignation.

wished" The Duke must by this time have I my dear Huskisson" at the devil. The man was getting very prolix, tedious, and tiresome, to no earthly purpose; and going on at that rate, who could predict when and where he was likely to put a period to his political existence? Had he put in even one single hit, through the Duke's guard, we could have tolerated the prolongation of the contest. But it was plain from the first, that it was no match; that, to make use of an expression invented in our own hearing, by Mr Wyndham, the Colonial Secretary could not "make a dent in a pound of butter." Had the Duke not been one of the best natured men alive, he must have waxed wroth on such a sample of floundering pertinacity; but no-he kept sweet as a pot of honey, and pray do admire with us the point and suavity of No. 6.

P

"London, May 21, 1828. "MY DEAR HUSKISSON,-In consequence of your last letter, I feel it to be necessary to recall to your recollection the circumstances under which I received your letter of Tuesday morning.

"It is addressed to me at two o'clock in the morning, immediately after a debate and division in the House of Commons. It informs me that you lose no time in affording me an opportunity of placing your office in other hands, as the only means in your power of preventing an injury to the King's service, which you describe. It concludes by regretting the necessity for troubling me with this communication.'

"Could I consider this in any other light than as a formal tender of the resignation of your office, or that I had any alternative but either to solicit you to remain in office contrary to your sense of duty, or to submit your letter to the King?

"If you had called on me the next morning after your vote, and had explained to me in conversation what had passed in the House of Commons, the character of the communication would have been quite different, and I might have felt my self at liberty to discuss the whole subject with you, and freely to give an opinion upon any point connected with it. But I must still think, that if I had not considered a letter couched in the terms in which that letter is couched, and received under the circumstances under which I received it, as a tender of resignation, and had not laid it before the King, I should have exposed the King's government and myself to very painful misconstructions. My answer to your letter will have informed you that it surprised me much, and that it gave me great concern. I must consider, therefore, the resignation of your office as your own act, and not as mine.

"Ever yours most sincerely, (Signed) "WELLINGTON." Mr Huskisson had told us that he now considered the matter at an end; and well he might; but not so, it appears, the Duke, who, with a rare generosity, seems, after all this botheration, to have been not altogether unwilling to allow Mr Huskisson to continue a while longer in office, just ly considering, that his talents might be made useful to the Government, under proper direction and control. He therefore sent Lord Dudley to tell the half-disconsolate half-sulky Sec. that he "was a man of sense,”—and, therefore, must know what should be done to set everything right again-a message, which, when let out of the bag by Mr Huskisson, in his explanatory speech, shook the House with laughter as well it might-till it had

nearly fallen down with a pain in its side. This message Mr Huskisson called " oracular." To us it sounds was submitted to the interpretation of the least oracular response that ever the wit of man. It was in truth equi valent to this-" tell Huskisson that he is a sad blockhead-has put his foot through it-and is out-but though capsized, he knows how to right himself again-Let him withdraw that foolish letter of his, and I shall see what may be done as to permitting him to come in again." Mr Huskis mounting his high horse, in a very son having succeeded by this time in clumsy and awkward way it must be admitted, he was too big and mighty to slip off over the tail-so he continued astride, holding fast by the mane, although the "fine animal" never moved an inch, and there he sits till this day, deprived, as he dolefully whimpered, "of all that relates to personal gratification, such as the rank, the honours, the privileges, and emolu◄ ments of office."

Yet, had Mr Huskisson felt assured that there was no intention on the part of the Duke of Wellington to take him in,—and that there was no such intention must be known to every honest man-he seems to hint that he might have availed himself of the " oracular" message. "I did not, and could not, know what might have been intended; I might have enga ged in a game of political blind-man's buff, and furnished amusement for the noble and distinguished individuals about the noble Duke. The dress circle might have laughed at my tumbles, while, at the end, I might awkward, and, perhaps, irretrievable be just where I was." There is more candour than dignity in the declara

tion.

and astonishment, was the difficulty Mr Huskisson's next cause of grief thrown in his way by the Duke of Wellington, when seeking to have an audience of the King. To understand how far he was entitled to complain read the letters referring to it in unon this ground, it is only necessary to interrupted succession.

Mr Huskisson to the Duke of Wellington.

"Downing Street, 25th May, 1828. "MY DEAR DUKE,-On Tuesday last I wrote to the King to solicit an audience.

His Majesty has not yet been pleased to grant me this honour.

"In the expectation (not unnatural for me to entertain in the situation which I hold) of being afforded an opportunity of waiting upon his Majesty, I have deferred acknowledging your letter of the 21st, which, passing by altogether all that is stated in mine of the same date, you conclude in the following words: I must therefore consider the resignation of your office as your own act, and not as mine.'

"I will not revert to the full explana tion which I have already given you on this subject. Not denying that my first letter might be capable of the construction which you put upon it, I would ask you whether it be usual, after a construction has been from the first moment explicitly disavowed, to persist that it is the right one? It being, however, the construction to which you adhere, I must assume, as you laid the letter before his Majesty, that you advised his Majesty upon it, and that his Majesty is therefore under the same misapprehension as yourself of what I meant; the more especially, as I have no means of knowing whether any subsequent letters have been laid before his Majesty.

"It was for the purpose of setting right any erroneous impression on the Royal mind that I sought to be admitted as soon as possible into his Majesty's presence.

"I was then, as I am still, most anxious to assure his Majesty, that nothing could have been further from my intention, than that the letter in question should have been at all submitted to his Majesty to make known to his Majesty the circumstances and feelings under which it had been written to point out to him that I had taken the precaution (usual between Ministers in matters of a delicate and confidential nature, when it is wished to keep the subject as much as possible confined to the respective parties) of marking the letter 'private and confidential;' that I understood that this letter, so marked specially to guard its object, had been, without previous communication of any sort with me, in respect to the transaction referred to, but not explained in the letter itself, laid before his Majesty, as conveying to the foot of the Throne my positive resigna

tion.

"I should further have had to state to his Majesty the great pain and concern which I felt at finding that a paper should

have been submitted to his Majesty, and described to him as conveying my resigna

my first anxiety would have been to lay my reasons, in a respectful, but direct communication from myself, at his Majesty's feet; but that, most certainly, in whatever mode conveyed, the uppermost feeling of my heart would have been to have accompanied it with those expressions of dutiful attachment and respectful gratitude, which I owe his Majesty for the many and uniform proofs of confidence and kind. ness with which he has been graciously pleased to honour me, since I have held the Seals of the Colonial Department.

"If I had been afforded an opportunity of thus relieving myself from the painful position in which I stand towards his Ma jesty, I should then have entreated of his Majesty's goodness and sense of justice to permit a letter, so improper for me to have written, (if it could have been in my contemplation that it would have been laid before his Majesty as an act of resignation,) to be withdrawn. Neither should I have concealed from his Majesty my regret, considering the trouble which has unfortunately occurred, both to his Ma jesty and his government, that I had not taken a different mode of doing what, for the reasons fully stated in my letter of the 21st, I found myself bound in honour to do, so as to have prevented, perhaps, the misconception arising out of my letter, written immediately after the debate.

"I have now stated to you frankly, and without reserve, the substance of all that I was anxious to submit to the King. I have done so in the full confidence that you will do me the favour to lay this statement before his Majesty, and that I may be allowed to implore of his Majesty that he will do me the justice to believe, that of all who have a right to prefer a claim to be admitted to his royal presence, I am the last who, in a matter relating to myself, would press that claim in a manner unpleasant to his Majesty's wishes or inclinations. I bow to them with respectful deference, still retaining, however, a confidence founded on the rectitude of my intentions, that in being removed from his Majesty's service, I may be allowed the consolation of knowing, that I have not been debarred from the privilege of my office in consequence of having incurred his Majesty's personal displeasure.

"Believe me, my dear Duke, yours very sincerely,

(Signed) "W. HUSKISSON."

and with a restriction so unbecoming towards my Sovereign, as is implied in the words private and confidential;' that in a necessity so painful (had I felt such a necessity) as that of asking his Majesty's permission to withdraw from his service,

kisson.

"London, May 25, 1828.

"MY DEAR HUSKISSON,-It is with great concern that I inform you that I have at last attended his Majesty, and have

received his instructions respecting an arrangement to fill your office.

"I sincerely regret the loss of your valuable assistance in the arduous task in which I am engaged.

"Believe me, ever yours most sincerely, (Signed) "WELLINGTON."

Mr Huskisson to the Duke of Wellington.

"Downing street, half past 9 p.m.
25th May, 1828.

"MY DEAR DUKE,-Lord Dudley has just sent to me, unopened, my letter to you, which I forwarded to Apsley House about 5 o'clock this afternoon.

"This letter was written as soon as I was given to understand by Lord Dudley, who called here after an interview with you this morning, that his Majesty had not signified any intention of granting me the honour of an audience. No other mode, therefore, remaining open to me of conveying my sentiments to the King, I address myself to you, for the purpose of bringing before his Majesty, in the shape of a writ ten communication, what I am prevented from stating to his Majesty in person.

"I feel confident that you will not deny me this favour, and you will be satisfied by the contents of my letter, (which I now return,) that in writing it, nothing was further from my intention than to intrude myself between you and the arrangements which, upon my removal from office, (for such I have considered the result of our correspondence since your letter of the 21st,) you have received his Majesty's instructions to make.

"Your letter, communicating this fact, reached me about half past 7 this evening. I thank you for the information, and for the kind manner in which you advert to any feeble assistance which I may have been able to give to your administration, as well as for the expression of the concern with which you have advised his Majesty to place my office in other hands.

"Believe me to be, my dear Duke, ever yours very sincerely,

(Signed) "W. HUSKISSON."

The Duke of Wellington to Mr Huskisson.

person.

"Your subsequent letters did not, according to my understanding of them, convey any disavowal of your intention to tender your resignation. I laid them before his Majesty, and my answers to them, and communicated to Lord Dudley that I had done so.

"The King informed me, I think on Wednesday the 21st, that you had desired to have an audience of his Majesty, and that he intended to receive you on the day but one after. I did not consider it my duty to advise his Majesty to receive you at an earlier period.

"It is scarcely necessary for me to observe, that your letter to me of the 20th was entirely your own act, and wholly unexpected by me. If the letter was written hastily and inconsiderately, surely the natural course was for you to withdraw it altogether, and thus relieve me from the position in which, without any fault of mine, it had placed me-compelling me either to accept the resignation which it tendered, or to solicit you to continue to hold your office.

"This latter step was, in my opinion, calculated to do me personally, and the King's Government, great disservice; and it appeared to me that the only mode by which we could be extricated from the difficulty in which your letter had placed us was, that the withdrawal of your letter should be your spontaneous act, and that it should be adopted without delay.

"The interference of his Majesty, pending our correspondence, would not only have placed his Majesty in a situation in which he ought not to be placed in such a question, but it would have subjected me to the imputation that that interference had taken place on my suggestion, or with my connivance.

"I did not consider it my duty to advise his Majesty to interfere in any manner whatever.

"His Majesty informed me this day, that he had written you this morning, appointing an audience in the course of the

day.

"Believe me, ever yours most sincere

(Signed) "WELLINGTON." ly to need a word of explanation. All this speaks for itself too plainThroughout the whole affair, the Duke acted with equal delicacy, determination, and discretion. He had mentioned half past two on Sunday, as the last hour for receiving the final