despatch will be of a less unpleasant cast.

I confess it I confess it appears directed to under

to me that Lord Cornwallis, having been take and carry the measure of Union, and having been fully authorized, by various despatches, to make arrangements with individuals, to which not only the faith of his own but of the English Government was understood to be pledged, will be very harshly treated, if the wisdom of his arrangements, now the measure is secured, is to be canvassed at a moment when the pressing necessities under which those arrangements were made cannot but be very fresh in the recollection even of persons on the spot, but certainly cannot be fairly estimated by those who were removed from the scene of action.

If the Irish Government is not enabled to keep faith with the various individuals who have acted upon a principle of confidence in their honour, it is morally impossible, my dear Lord, that either Lord Cornwallis or I can remain in our present situations: the moment it is surmised that we have lost the confidence and support of the English Government, we shall have every expectant upon our backs, and it will remain a breach of faith, as injurious to the character of Government as to our own, having given an assurance which we were not enabled to fulfil.

I am fully aware of the responsibility to which the Irish Government has been subjected in the exercise of the authority which I conceive to have been delegated to them at the outset of this measure the importance of the object could have alone induced the King's Ministers to grant such powers; and I hope they will now, in deciding what remains to be done, advert to the nature of the struggle as well as the authority which the Irish Government conceived itself in the possession of. Whether that authority has been abused, is certainly a consideration to which those who were employed to administer it must be subject. It certainly has been exercised successfully, as far as the object is concerned, and not for any purposes personal either to Lord Cornwallis or myself. Whatever has

been done, has proceeded from the best view we could form of the necessities of our Government; and I feel assured that the King's Ministers, in reviewing it after the object is attained, will not be disposed to canvass it upon the cold grounds of abstract convenience in point of patronage, much less with any disposition to avoid the charge of having made the favours of the Crown, in an unusual extent, auxiliary to the measure.

In so long a struggle, in a certain period of which, after the defection of seven members in one division, the fate of the measure was in suspense, it is not wonderful that the scale of favours should have been somewhat deranged; if, in two or three instances, and I do not believe it will appear in more, certain individuals, availing themselves of circumstances, obtained assurances of favours to which in strictness they are not entitled. I should hope it will be reckoned rather a misfortune arising out of the state of parties than a fault, and that there will be rather a disposition to support the faith of Government than to supersede engagements, now the measure is secured, which, though they may be deemed improvident, when viewed unconnected with the accompanying circumstances, were certainly made with no other view than for the accomplishment of the object.

On the subject of English Peerages, whatever embarrassment may incidentally arise from compliance with the Lord-Lieutenant's suggestions, in strictness he has no right to complain, as he certainly never was authorized to make any engagements of such a nature. Had Mr. Pitt explained himself on this point, in answer to a private letter written by Lord Cornwallis some weeks since, expressly to ascertain how far he might hope for some accommodation in British Peerages, it certainly would have saved him from much of his present embarrassment, as I know he inferred from Mr. Pitt's silence that his wishes would be assented to, and was led, under that impression, to engage himself more explicitly relative to Representative Peerages than he would otherwise have done.

Under the impression that, by possibility, any difference of opinion should at present exist between the Government of the two countries, which, if not reconciled, must place both Lord Cornwallis and myself in the most painful predicament, I have been induced to write more at length than I proposed. It was my intention to have written to you in answer to your last letter; but the subject of it, you may well believe, cannot very much interest me, so long as there is any doubt upon a point which concerns my feelings more intimately.

Private.

Ever, my dear Lord, yours most affectionately,

CASTLEREAGH.

Mr. Cooke to Lord Castlereagh.

London, Wednesday, June 18, 1800.

My dear Lord-Genoa surrendered the 5th-the garrison are prisoners of war. The capitulation is in the Moniteur of the 13th.

I am writing at King's elbow, and have no other news.

There are the strongest feelings here in your favour, and they wish you not to let Lord Londonderry be an Imperial Peer, as they say you will ever be able to command that rank for your family.

I do not mean to come up till Saturday, when I am to meet Sir J. Nichols, on Admiralty business, of which I request that you will apprise the Lord Chancellor, that he may not take steps respecting Barrington.

I beg you will present my duty to my Lord-Lieutenant.-I long for a full account of the masquerade. Ever most truly, &c.,

Private.

E. COOKE.

Mr. King to Lord Castlereagh.

Whitehall, June 19, 1800.

My dear Lord-I have just received your letter of the 16th, on the subject of which you will have learned, from

Cooke's letter of Saturday last, that you are perfectly right, and that they are wrong, in wording our joint Address of the 27th May for your concurrence.

Your Union Bill is on the road, but ours will be the first Act, of which, I suppose, we shall send you an exemplification, in like manner as you sent us an exemplification of the Representation Act. It matters not which Act passes first: all that is necessary is, that the Acts should be mutually exchanged and recorded in both countries.

My dear Cooke-I thought, from the complexion of your first letter, that you were not altogether au fait of the impression under which the Duke of Portland's despatch was written; and I am glad that, without the delay of waiting for a communication from hence, King put you so far in possession of the state of affairs as to enable you to explain yourself upon them.

I am not much surprised that Ministers should abstractedly wish to get rid of B- though I should feel very much so, if they should put that or any other awkwardness in competition with Lord Cornwallis's honour. They sent him into this country, to risk an established character, at the close of a political life, and I cannot easily persuade myself that Mr. Pitt will give him up on a point of patronage, after what he has accomplished. But, from King's arguments, it appears that the Cabinet, after having carried the measure by the force of influence, of which they were apprised in every despatch sent from hence for the last 18 months, wish to forget all this: they turn short round, and say it would be a pity to tarnish all that has been so well done, by giving any such shock to the public sentiment. If

they imagine they can take up popular grounds by disappointing their supporters, and by disgracing the Irish Government, I think they will find themselves mistaken. It will be no secret what has been promised, and by what means the Union has been secured. Disappointment will encourage, not prevent disclosure; and the only effect of such a proceeding on their part will be, to add the weight of their testimony to that of the Anti-Unionists, in proclaiming the profligacy of the means by which the measure has been accomplished.

Both the Duke of Portland's despatch and King's conversation seem to represent the sixteen new Peerages as created for the sole purpose of carrying the elections, and they say, we don't care if the half of the number is chosen against Government; the English of which is (if it has any meaning at all) that it is of little importance to us whether Lord Cornwallis is enabled to fulfil the expectations he has given, for the security of the measure, to its friends in the Lords or not: now the point is carried, let its supporters take care of themselves- let the Government, under whose faith they acted, settle it themselves as they can; and, notwithstanding the authority under which Lord Cornwallis acted, and which he never exercised in favour of a personal friend of his own, we are determined now to sit in judgment on all his engagements, to new-model them upon a communication not made in the most amicable terms, as best suits our own convenience, and, having condemned his conduct, to call upon him to preach moderation to his supporters; and, instead of fulfilling his engagements, to acquaint them that it is expected, from their known attachment to the King's Government, that they will waive their claims and be perfectly satisfied with whatever the popular sentiment enables his Majesty's Ministers to do for them.

It appears singular to me, that the most superficial observer should suppose the new peerages were conferred for any purposes of support connected with the House of Lords: they are all granted either to persons actually members of or connected with the House of Commons.