for having, as far as I was able, supported Government; and I have demanded protection. I see the difficulty of your own situation and the delicacy which you must use as to yourself; I do not, therefore, do more than state to you what has passed, and that imperfectly, through hurry, leaving it entirely to you to interfere or not interfere, as circumstances direct you. Feeling certain of your friendship, I put nothing upon you, only expecting from you a fair and constant representation of my conduct everywhere. If anything new occurs, I shall take the liberty of troubling you.

I am, with the utmost regard, your obliged, humble

servant,

J. BERESFORD.

LORD AUCKLAND TO MR. BERESFORD.

Palace Yard, Thursday, Jan. 15th, 1795, 3 o'clock. MY DEAR BERESFORD, I received your letter this moment. It is necessary that I should go immediately to the House of Lords, and I am not sure that I can get away before the post starts. On Tuesday evening the subject of your letter was whispered to me as a secret by a person who I since discover had learnt it from Lord Westmoreland, who the same day made a similar communication to Mr. Pitt. I wrote about it to Rose, who came to me instantly; I never remember to have seen him more astonished or more affected. He went to Mr. Pitt, and wrote to me that Mr. Pitt's sensations on

the subject were as strong as ours could be; that he hoped there was some mistake in the statement, "because it would be an open breach of a most solemn promise." Rose came to me again this morning about it. I shall see him to-night, as soon as he comes from the House of Commons, and I will take my measures.

The moment is most unfavourable for such a discussion, as we received only this morning the news of the stunning catastrophe, which I have long in vain foreseen and predicted, that Holland, Zealand, &c., with their stores, shipping, riches, &c., may at this hour be presumed to be in the full possession of the French, and that the remnant of our armies is retreating to Germany. God knows the consequences, but we must not sink under it. The madness of the Rockinghams in thinking of jobs, offices, &c., as indecently and insatiably as they have done, in a such a moment, passes all comprehension.

It is impossible, I think, for Mr. Pitt to submit to the injury done to you; certainly he cannot with honour.

As soon as I return from the House I mean to transscribe and send him a proper extract of your letter, which is as well conceived and expressed as possible; and as to the rest, I will consult and concert with Rose, who is like a brother to you in this matter. No more at present; your sentiments are wise, honourable, and right. Be of courage. I will write fully to-morrow or Saturday.

Yours most affectionately,

AUCKLAND.

MR. BERESFORD TO LORD AUCKLAND.

Dublin, 15th Jan., 1795.

MY DEAR AUCKLAND,-Uncertain of the ground on which I stand, I have endeavoured to conduct myself with as much firmness and propriety as I am capable of. I have seen from the beginning that the great object has been to induce me to go out willingly, and seem pleased, in order that it might be pleaded against me in England that I accepted of terms, and renounced protection. I have, therefore, from the first to the last, taken care to avoid giving them this plea. I declare that I am an injured man; that I am turned out of office; and I will not resign. If any one reason for displacing me can be produced, save only that I have supported Government, and that my office is wanted in order to be given to some other person, in order to support, not Government, but the governors of Government, I am ready to resign; but if no other reason can be given, I have a fair call on Mr. Pitt for support. I fear that my city business is going all wrong. Thus you see the old proverb verified, as we say in Ireland, "Single misfortunes never come alone." My wife also is ill, and must, I believe, go to Bath.

In all circumstances, ever yours,

J. B.

LORD AUCKLAND TO MR. BERESFORD.

Palace Yard, Jan. 16th, 1795.

MY DEAR BERESFORD,-After finishing my hasty

scrawl to you yesterday, I went to the House of Lords,

where Lord Westmoreland took me aside and asked me if I had heard from you. I answered that I had, and stated the general purport of your letter. He said that it tallied exactly with an account which he had received through another channel, and that he should wait upon Mr. Pitt respecting it to-day. On his intimating that he should also perhaps have a letter from you, I said that if it should happen that you did not write, it was not through any want of attention or confidence towards him, but from delicacy, and a wish not to implicate your friends more than was necessary in the discussion. I must add that he expressed great zeal, and a warm and honourable attachment to you and the Chancellor. Rose came to me, and expressed all that affectionate eagerness which you have always experienced from him.

He

I wrote to Mr. Pitt to say that a letter which I had received from Ireland made it necessary for me to have a quarter of an hour's conversation with him. appointed me at ten o'clock this morning. I put your letter into his hands, and desired him to read aloud, which he did, with such comments as you may well

suppose.

It is not necessary to enter at this moment into all that was said. He asked me if I had He asked me if I had any objection

to place the letter in his hands, and let my name be brought forward in it. I told him that he was perfectly welcome to use the letter in whatever manner might best answer our mutual view in the business. I withdrew the last paragraph, because it was unconnected with the real business, and implied a power of embarrassing Government, which you certainly have in a

great degree, but which is not necessary to be brought into view. I take for granted that it is to be the subject of a discussion to-day with some of the Ministers most concerned, and also that it has been carried to the closet; and I am authorised to hold a serious conversation on the subject with one of the Cabinet.

I asked what answer I should give to you in the meantime, and was answered, "Tell him that I have learned the particulars in question with great surprise and great concern; that in the unexampled pressure and difficulty of public affairs at this precise moment I cannot yet say more; but that you are to hear from me again in a few days, and in the meantime render justice to what you know are my real sentiments."

I will write again on Monday, and in the meantime I shall probably again hear from you. The truth is, that if it were possible to come to a decisive explanation on this subject, it would have been done at the moment; but the state of the country, under the accumulation of calamity and danger, is such that management is necessary from every principle of public duty. It is wonderful that at such a crisis Lord Fitzwilliam can lend his name to an indecent, cruel, and unjust course of jobbing-contrary, also, to what was understood by a most solemn promise. It is of course in their plan to force the Chancellor, &c., from their situations. Perhaps you know that it was originally in view to give the seals to Serjeant Adair. What a strange and blind ignorance of the country to be governed! I am anxious to hear

a James Adair, M.P. for Higham Ferrers 1790 and 1796.