ago, for the purpose of stating to me his views of the new conjuncture in which our foreign politics are placed by the late calamitous reverse of affairs, I took that opportunity of requesting that he would have the goodness to mention to your Lordship, that I unfortunately found myself differing, upon the question of peace or immediate war, from the sentiments which I understood were entertained by your Lordship.

I cannot, however, but fear, that by too long a delay in making this communication myself, I may have prevented your Lordship, in your kindness and delicacy towards me, from proposing the new arrangement which such circumstances suggest. The vote of last night upon Whitbread's motion, in which I concurred, brought us in the House of Commons to the crisis of those discussions, which are rendered unavoidable by the present relations of this country; and there seems very little reason now to expect, that any change in those relations can prevent the difference of opinion which exists from being permanently marked to the public, in the daily recurrence of parliamentary questions, in which that difference of opinion must be acted upon in debate as well as votes. As I have hitherto taken no part in them but by my vote, I am very anxious not to leave your Lordship in any uncertainty respecting the extent of my opinions, as evinced by that which I gave last night in support of Whitbread's motion.

I have never before expressed to your Lordship the sense of grateful obligation which I have felt, and shall ever continue to feel, for your kind and partial distinction of me, in conferring upon me the most valuable of all services. If any conduct of mine could tend to show me worthy of that kind preference by your Lordship, I know it would be in my wish to continue the important

trust only so long as I can reconcile the discharge of it to my own ideas, however imperfect they may be, of what is good and safe for the country. Having given notice of two motions, the last of which stands for Thursday next, I am desirous of performing these engagements; after which I shall make every other consideration give way to that of consulting your Lordship's wishes and convenience.

Believe me, my dear Lord, with the most sincere attachment,

Your faithful and obliged

FRA. HORNER.

LETTER CCXXXVII. FROM THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

My dear Sir,

Buckingham House, 29th April, 1815.

I do not lose a moment in answering your letter. I was quite sure that the honourable and delicate feelings of your mind would induce you to make the offer which you have done; and Lord Grenville did ample justice to those feelings in detailing to me the conversation to which you advert. In contributing my assistance to your parliamentary objects, I was actuated by a sincere wish to be the means of giving the public the advantage of great talents and pure honourable feelings, in the House of Commons. I have derived the warmest satisfaction from the experience of the entire success of that wish, and I shall feel the greatest regret if a continuance of the expression of those honourable feelings on your part should render the carrying into effect of the measure you advert to in your letter necessary for your own satisfaction. I will freely confess to you that I will not relinquish the anxious hope which I entertain, that the present difference of opinion which

exists between us upon one subject will not lead to a continued difference in our public line of conduct. I am happy to say that I see many reasons why such a result need not take place. Last night's vote does not in the least weaken those hopes, or change that opinion. Should, contrary to my hopes and expectations, events take that turn which may render such a radical and continued difference of opinion necessary, as may make it irksome to yourself to express those opinions whilst holding your present seat, in that case I will accept the offer so honourably tendered by you now. But assure yourself that I shall do it with the deepest regret, as I look forward to a continuance of a connection between us, so gratifying and so advantageous to myself, with an anxiety which will make me eager to postpone to the last possible moment consistent with your own feelings, the doing any thing, or the accepting any offer, which, though it may prove difference of public opinions, never can diminish the sincere regard with which I am,

I have been prevented by a good deal of business of one kind or another from writing to you at the length I promised, and partly, also, by circumstances remaining still precisely as they stood when I wrote last. I cannot, however, delay showing you, for your own private perusal, the inclosed letters, which I will

A copy of his letter of the 28th April to the Marquis of Buckingham, and his Lordship's answer.―ED.

beg you to return to me after you have read them. They will explain themselves; and I am sure you will agree with me in thinking, that nothing can be more liberal than Lord Buckingham's manner of seeing this business, or more strictly consonant to the honour that should be the foundation of such a relation as subsists between him and myself. I had a conversation to the same effect with Lord Grenville; and nothing can exceed the satisfaction which I derive from the footing on which this matter is placed. I shall continue acting in my own way, and upon my own opinions, until the event, which I do not now anticipate, of a final separation; and when that takes place, which I shall on every public account, as well as from private regard to those who have treated me with so much kindness, extremely lament, I shall then offer a second time my resignation.

I fancy I made heavy work of it last night. My stings were drawn at the beginning, by hearing that the papers were to be granted.

My kind love to my mother and every body.
Most affectionately yours,

FRA. HORNER.

TREATY WITH THE KING OF NAPLES.

The allusion towards the end of the preceding letter was to a speech which he had made in the House of Commons the preceding evening, in moving for the production of papers relative to negotiations between Austria and the then king of Naples, Murat, to which the British government had been a party. The motion referred to the same transactions as those to which Mr. Whitbread had called the attention of the House on the 22d and 25th of November preceding, on which

occasions Mr. Horner also spoke. (See p. 203.) But this time, Lord Castlereagh, the minister more directly implicated, was present; and Mr. Horner, in a long speech, entered into a detailed history of the proceedings from the commencement of the negotiations.

"It would be for the noble lord to show," he said, "whether the faith of this country, which he had solemnly pledged, had been kept-whether the promises he had made were redeemed. Let Austria, which had, unfortunately for herself, no parliament to inquire into the proceedings of her government, answer for her own conduct; but it was incumbent upon the noble lord to justify the part which the British government had taken in this transaction, chiefly through his agency. It was for the noble lord to show whether, in this instance, the British government had acted upon the just and liberal principles professed in the celebrated Declaration of Frankfort upon those principles which the allies in their proceedings at Congress, in their views of personal aggrandisement, had so shamefully abandoned. These proceedings, however, would remain for discussion. He did not call upon the noble lord to enter into them at present, or to make any disclosure upon the subject which he might deem inexpedient; but he required from the noble lord an explanation of what notoriously took place with respect to Naples."

LETTER CCXXXVIII.* TO MRS. DUGALD STEWART.

My dear Mrs. Stewart,

London, 4th May, 1815.

I should not have been so long of writing to you, if there had been any one day on which I knew any thing for certain, or could form even a probable guess,