fact, that whatever misapprehension may have arisen in the public mind upon my conduct, there has been none between me and the noble lord, I shall hasten to the assertion of my right honourable friend, that I utterly disbelieved any such resignation as that of the Household was in contemplation; and that in addition, as a clencher, I offered to make a bet with him-(Here Mr. Tierney said no, it was not with him.)-Well then, that I offered to make a bet with somebody, or with any body-(a laugh)—of five hundred guineas upon the subject. Now, Sir, there is something unlikely upon the face of this story, of this offer of mine to bet with him, with every body, or with any body I, who never bet with any body, nor ever play for a single guinea. I wish he had said that I offered to stake the money, and then I am sure nobody would have believed it. -(Loud laughter from all sides)-However, I'll not cavil about it: I'll give him this 5007. bet, that is, I'll not give him the money, but I'll give him the bet-(laughter)—at the same time, if every loose word that is uttered at the moment-as for example-a friend says to me, the Household are going to resign-I reply, I'll bet you five hundred guineas they do not-ifevery casual expression like that is to be brought down to the House, and made a subject of grave accusation (hear, hear!)-I protest I shall take care how I answer to a friend who meets me in St. James's-street, and says, How do you do?-(a laugh)-I'll take three minutes to consider of my reply; and even then shall be shy of answering, unless a witness is by who can minute down my words, exactly as they fall from my lips-(laughter.)— However, I will concede to him the fact, that I did say, I'll bet you five hundred pounds the Household will not resign-five shillings would have been more likely-(a laugh)-but why did I say it? My right honourable fiiend said to me. I hear the Household are going to resign; I reped, I did not believe it. And why did I not believe it? I had never heard a syllable about the intention of the Household, till the noble lord himself told it to me; and when my right honourable friend spoke to me I knew that resignation was contingent upon a circumstance which, at the moment of the bet, was more remote from taking place than ever. Is that an intelligible answer? But now, having answered him, let me ask a question, in my turn, of the right honourable gentleman. Did I not express my surprise to him, that any thing could have arisen

to interrupt the negociations that were then taking place ?— And the answer of my right honourable friend was, that the noble lords required that Earl Moira should obtain from the Prince Regent full power to consult with them individually in the formation of a new Administration. Earl Moira wrote to the noble lords a letter, dated June 3, in which he offered a renewal of the negociations, and on the evening of that day I had the honour of meeting my right honourable friend (Mr. Ponsonby) at the Duke of Bedford's. He said to me, we hear, Sheridan, that you are of opinion the negociation can be renewed between Earl Moira and Lords Grey and Grenville. We do not think so. I answered, perhaps the difference of opinion arises from Lord Moira's letter being inaccurately worded; but that there was one thing which I knew, and which they could not dispute with me, and that was the sincere intention of Lord Moira to renew the negociations. For next day but one after that, Lord Moira wrote a minute in the presence of the Duke of Bedford, which he sent to Lords Grey and Grenville, and in the evening when I met the Duke of Bedford, he told me I was right in my assertion, as to the sincere intention of Lord Moira to renew the negociations. On the 5th I certainly did communicate to Lord Moira what it was that Lords Grey and Grenville expected, which the noble earl thought conclusive, and broke off the business. I sincerely regretted this termination of the affair, and immediately sent an express into the country to my hon. friend on my right (Mr. Whitbread). When he came to town, I communi cated upon the subject with my Lord Erskine, stating that I did not think the answer of the noble lords conclusive, as to breaking off the negociation altogether. We met at Lord Erskine's: Lord Erskine put the question to my hon. friend, if he thought the negociation was conclusively broken off by the answer of the noble lords? He replied he did not; and that instant the noble earl wrote to the Prince Regent to obtain the power required by the noble lords. I must add, that I found, with the deepest regret, next day, that the negociation had been once more broken off upon qua non, the dismissal of the Household. I did not conceive it possible, when they did meet, but that the negociation would have been brought to a successful issue, and the first I heard of its failure was on Monday the 8th of June, when a friend asked me what was to be done in the House? I replied, nothing, but moving for a new w.it in

that sine

the place of Mr. Canning; and he told me that Lord Liverpool was appointed Prime Minister. Now, Sir, I wish to offer a few words upon what I said the other night, that if my advice had been followed, not one of the right honour. able and honourable gentlemen opposite would be sitting in their places. I hope they did not consider that as springing from any personal animosity towards them: I protest to God, it was no such thing, for I have a personal respect and esteem for them all-neither was I influenced by the vote of this House, by which they had, as it were, been cashiered. My objection to them was, that they were avowedly arrayed and embodied against a principle, that of concession to the Catholics of Ireland, which, I think, and must always think, essential to the safety of this empire-(Hear, hear!) I will never give my vote to any Administration that opposes the question of Catholic Emancipation; I will not consent to receive a furlough upon that particular question, even though a Ministry were carrying every other that I wished. I could wish to see negociation entered upon with fairness and sincerity towards the Catholics, with concessions on both sides, so as to make it popular in this country, and that no alarm may be created. I am not one of those who would grant absolute unconditional concession to the Catholics; let proper guards and securities be provided, and let negociation be commenced with them upon a basis of sincerity; but my doubt is, that this negociation cannot be carried on by those who, in their hearts, are hostile to the cause. Proposals from such will never be adequately received by the Catholics; but if they proceeded from persons, whose intentions they knew to be fair and open, without any trick or fraud, then we should see them met with corresponding fairness and integrity." Mr. Sheridan assured the right honourable gentlemen opposite, that in using the expression alluded to, he had meant no disrespect or incivility to them.. He addressed himself more particularly to the noble lord (Castlereagh), and trusted that he would agree with him, that the sooner the claims of the Irish Catholics could now be granted the better. When it was seen that Ministers were giving up other things to which they were as much pledged as they had ever been to resistance to the Catholic claims-that they had conceded the point relative to the Barracks-that they had agreed to a suspension of the Orders in Councilwhen they were seen to have yielded in these respects, he

hoped they would not make the Catholic question the only 343 exception, but would give it up also. If the noble lord and his colleagues were content to do all the paltry and minute business of office, and to adopt all the suggestions of those who were generally described as their opponents, he confessed that he, for one, could not figure a more complete coalition. It was impossible that his right honourable friends on the side of the House on which he sat could object to such a mode of proceeding; and the country must surely, at length, confess, that they had got a most broad-bottomed Administration. When gentlemen talked of a strong and vigorous Administration, he conceived that they must mean an Administration composed of men who drew together, and concurred in great leading principles; but when an Administration was composed of persons who entertained contradictory opinions, however able the individuals might be, he could not look for strength or public confidence in such an Administration. He did not like coalitions between men of conflicting opinions. loved more than he had ever loved, or ever could love Looking to a man whom he any other political character best men this country had ever seen, and whose loss the -one of the greatest and country had now so much cause to deplore--he meant Mr. Fox; he could not but regret more than any other act of that honourable gentleman's life, his coalition with Lord North, believing, as he did, that the mind of the country had never recovered from that shock, as far as his right honourable friend was concerned. that another coalition, which it was attempted to bring He was of opinion about between the same right honourable gentleman and another of his political opponents (Mr. Pitt), would also have done much mischief; and impressed with this idea, he had done all in his power to support the noble lord (Sidmouth) against their united attacks. He had done so, from finding all the measures and conduct of that noble lord, and from what he had uniformly observed in him, that he was impressed with a conviction of doing right-(a laugh.)— He was sorry to see what he had said as to this noble lord received with a sneer. The noble lord alluded to had done more to re-establish the finances-more to increase the force of the country-and more to revivify the constitution, then in a most exhausted state, than any Minister we had had for many years-(a laugh.) He should like to hear what he stated disproved rather than answered by a sneer. speaking of the formation of the Administration, he could In

not help remarking, that the House of Commons on one day, by a majority of two, found that the then Administration was not fit, and then, on a subsequent day, declared their competency by a majority of 125; yet these Ministers had, during the interval, acquired no new strength. To what then could he attribute this change of sentiment, if it was not owing to the House and the country being against the conduct of those with whom the negociation had been going on? He thought the House might have been satisfied with one vote on such a subject. Even one interference in a question of that kind was a strong measure. There was but a thin partition between negativing and nominating in such cases as those, and he thought that the second attempt" had, too, the appearance of the wish to usurp the power of nominating to the Prince Regent the individual persons who should be his Ministers. He felt regret that the negociation for the formation of an efficient Administration, comprehending the two noble lords alluded to, had failed; but when it had so failed, he did wish that an attempt had been made to form an Administration without them, and still without resorting to the former men. This, he thought, might have been done by bringing forward something fresh and new; and he could not but think that it was a libel on the public, that it was lowering the country, to hold that there was nothing but those two parties from which an Administration could be formed. He regretted that no negociation of this kind could be carried on without the two parties thinking that they were set against each other, and that the communications which passed on the subject must all be submitted to the public. Such publications were to the disadvantage of this country, and to the encouragement of the enemy. He wished an embargo could be laid upon them, so that they might not get abroad, and that it might not appear, at a period when we ought to be united against the enemy, that we were so employed. He concluded by moving an bumble Address to the Prince Regent, praying that he would be pleased to order that there be laid before the House such official documents as had been laid before his Royal Highness relative to the formation of a new Administration, in consequence of the Address of the House, as far as his Royal Highness was of opinion they might with propriety be laid before Parliament.

Lord R. Seymour stated, that not only were his noble relatives and himself determined to have resigned their situ