No

thing to be done, too, by this interference was to place a leader of the same party in an office of no mean importance; to declare, in a manner, that the principles of that party were the principles by which the ministry desired to be guided in one of their weightiest departments; to make, in short, the whig interest in the cabinet, a rising and predominating interest; and to sink Mr. Herries, and the interest of which he was a representative, into such a state of subserviency, that, while its adherents held office nominally, they were to exercise none of the prerogatives and influence of their offices. thing could be more natural than for Mr. Tierney and his friends to labour after such a consummation: they undoubtedly would have considered the removal of Mr. Herries a good gained: and even lord Goderich may have had reasons for being willing that one section of his cabinet should assume a decided superiority over the other, although his errors seem to have proceeded from mere want of energy. But all this did not make it the less unreasonable, to insist that Mr. Herries should submit to such a superiority, and to accuse him of treacherously plotting to destroy the government, merely because he thought that the whole transaction tended to create a preponderance under which he was perfectly entitled to say he would not act. A mere unintentional omission to consult the head of a department, while you are concocting measures which affect the very vitals of his department, and of which he ought to be the official leader, is not a thing to be presumed among men of business and decorum, especially when it comes from a declared political enemy,

re

or a lukewarm friend. Lord Goderich had said at the very outset, "consult the members of the cabinet who have seats in the House of Commons ;" Mr. Tierney consults Mr. Huskisson; and not only do they go the length of communicating to the nominee, without consulting that member of the cabinet in the House of Commons, without whom they must have known, unless they meant to degrade him into a nominal minister, they could not move a step, but there is nothing from which it appears that they had any intention of consulting him at all. It was only an incidental inquiry of lord Goderich which brought out the fact, that Mr. Herries was still kept in ignorance. Mr. Huskisson declares, that he could make no communication, unless he was 66 quested or authorized"; an excellent specimen of the utter want of cordiality among these gentlemen: for what authority did Mr. Huskisson require to inform a fellow-minister, that measures were going on, in which that minister was deeply in terested? what other authority than that which good feeling is to every honest man, not to keep another person in the dark about what he is doing in that other person's affairs. When Mr. Tierney goes with a list of members for the committee in his pocket, it is to the Colonial office that he goes, and to consult with the colonial secretary, not with the chancellor of the exchequer; and next day, when the colonial secretary, in consequence of Mr. Herries's remonstrances, and in possession of Mr. Herries's objections, writes to Mr. Tierney at Brighton, requesting that greater caution may be used, and no names mentioned, he does not once make even the slightest

allusion to Mr. Herries's feelings or wishes on the subject.* If Mr, Herries felt, as he probably did, and had openly said, that the transaction had been carried on either in the opinion that his approbation was matter of little moment, or with the purpose of trying how far he would allow it to be reckoned of little moment, and proving to him that the real influence of his office was in the hands of others, there assuredly was nothing in the history or probabilities of the transaction to contradict him.

Accordingly, next day, the 29th of November, he, Mr. Herries requested an interview with lord Goderich, at which he stated to his lordship the strong objections which he felt, both on public and private grounds, to the nomination of lord Althorpe, and the mode in which it had been carried so far as it had gone. Lord Goderich received the communication "with considerable agitation; admitted the wrong which had been done; and agreed that no time should be lost in obviating the objections which had been stated." Mr. Herries immediately sought an interview with Mr. Huskisson for the same purpose: he did not obtain one till next day, and he then stated to him what he had stated to lord Goderich, and, after leaving Mr. Huskisson, transmitted his objections to him in a written form, as his protest against the nomination of lord Althorpe. This was on the 30th of November; and nothing more seems to have taken place regarding the matter, till the 21st of December. During this interval, it is allowed on all hands that the government was in the Mr. Tierney's speech, 18th February.

† Mr.Herries's speech, 18th Feb.

agonies of dissolution from causes which had no connection with this dispute, for neither Mr. Herries nor Mr. Huskisson had yet spoken of resigning; and Mr. Herries had no reason to believe, that, after what had passed, the obnoxious nomination would be persisted in. Mr. Huskisson himself said of the intervening period, that, during it, "there had occurred many circumstances, which tended materially to impair the strength and shake the stability of the administration. Some of the principal of them are of a nature so notorious as to render it unnecessary for me to state them; while there are others which have come to my knowledge in such a manner as to preclude me from stating them; but the impression made upon my mind by all of them was, that the administration, as constituted at that time, was exposed to the greatest difficulties. These were to me ominous signs which I could not mistake." In truth, till the 19th of December, there was no government. Lord Goderich had formally tendered his resignation; there was no ostensible head to whom the complaints or wishes of an inferior member of

the ministry could be addressed. The nominal head was in a sea of perplexities, where squabbling and complaining would have been any thing but friendly offices. Mr. Herries, when accused of having subsequently backed his objections by the alternative of resigning, if they were not sustained, answered, and apparently with much justice, that, if he had chosen that season to press a determination of the dispute, there would have been some reason for representing him as seizing an opportunity at once to hasten and to embitter the dying moments of the expiring cabinet.

On the 19th or 20th of December, the ministry again righted for a while, and lord Goderich was still at the helm. Mr. Herries, to bring the affair of the finance committee to a close, addressed to him on the 21st the following letter.

"My dear Goderich, It is now full time that some further steps should be taken with respect to the committee of finance.

"It would, I believe, naturally be my duty to bring that subject under the consideration of the cabinet; but, after what has passed (and I advert to it with much pain), I feel that it is not at present in my hands. I must, therefore, learn from you, as head of the government, what is the course intended to be pursued for the formation of this committee, and the regulation of its proceedings.

"What has hitherto been done in this matter has taken place without consultation or communication with me, although it would seem to belong principally to my department of the public business. A negotiation has been carried on, and completed by Mr. Tierney, with your sanction and that of Mr. Huskisson, for the nomination of the chairman of the committee. The government is, I presume, fully committed to the individual fixed upon for the purpose, and to the noble house of which he is a member; and this proceeding, as I am given to understand, has been adopted with a view, in a great measure, to a political object, and as being calculated to strengthen the hands of the administration. I doubt much, whether that view be correct, and whether the calculation be a just one. But I have an objection to the arrangement upon a much higher ground. I conceive, that, in order to derive, in

the utmost possible degree, from this important measure all the public benefit which it is capable of affording, and at the same time to avoid the inconveniences to which it is liable, all political views of the narrower kindall those which are connected with particular parties and influences only-should be utterly discarded in the formation of the committee. It appears to me, that these objects would be best secured, if the committee were composed of the most eminent individuals of the several parties in the House of Commons, and the chair filled by some person of high character and respectability, either entirely unconnected, or connected as little as possible, with any of the political parties into which the House is divided.

"Whether this be a proper view of the subject, and whether, if it be so, you could yet proceed upon such a principle, you are best able to judge. I do not feel that I could act in it upon any other. In order, therefore, to relieve you from any difficulty, as connected with my situation, respecting the course which you may deem it expedient to pursue, I beg to assure you, that if, by putting my office into other hands, you can more satisfactorily execute this difficult measure, you may command my most ready and cheerful resignation of it. I place it (and I beg it to be understood as being done in the most friendly manner) entirely at your disposal."

The answer of lord Goderich, was in the following terms:

"My dear Herries,-I received your letter of the 21st, and I agree with you, that the time is at hand when it will become necessary to consider the direction of the finance committee in all its bearings, with

a view to the public good, and the satisfaction of all parties. When Mr. Huskisson returns to town, this matter must be brought to a final issue. I owe it, however, to myself to say, that you have greatly misconceived the degree in which I was a party to the nomination of lord Althorpe to fill the chair of that committee. I thought I had sufficiently explained to you, verbally, that I conceived the communication to be nothing more than casual, and I regret that it was made. When Mr. Tierney suggested to me the appointment of lord Althorpe, I said it was a proposition that ought to be well considered; but from my regard for the individual, and my old friendship towards him, I was disposed towards it. The matter ended here. When Mr. Tierney afterwards mentioned the circumstance again, I said, that, if the members of the House of Commons inclined to his nomination, I should not object, but that it could not be acted on without a consultation with the government. When I subsequently understood from Mr. Huskisson that a sort of communication had been made to lord Althorpe, on the subject, my first inquiry was, as to whether you had been spoken to on the subject, and to my great surprise, I was given to understand you never had. I then thought it right to state that you were a party to whom direct reference should be made. With respect to the latter part of your letter, in which you place your office in my hands, I cannot conceive that you have made out a case to justify you in so proceeding; but I hope that you will take no steps until an opportunity has been given for bringing the whole matter under full consideration."

On Mr. Herries's proposal to resign being communicated to Mr. Huskisson, the latter immediately announced to lord Goderich that he would resign, if the nomination of lord Althorpe was not carried through. He had been willing, he said, notwithstanding the difficulties in which the ministry was placed, to make every exertion to meet parliament, and then leave their fate in the hands of the House of Commons; but he now saw that there was no prospect of that, cordial co-operation, without which he could not hope to carry through the measures which he reckoned of essential importance to the country. This seemed to imply, that to yield to Mr. Herries on the present occasion would be to acknowledge the power of an interest which did not run in the same channel with his own. But he forgot that, in thinking so, he furnished the justification of his colleague; for, considering the quarter from which the proposed nomination had come, and the party likings and views which might fairly be said to be involved in its confirmation, the same sentiment would have been, at least equally correct in the mouth of Mr. Herries. Mr. Huskisson, however, although he had thus expressed his determination, was prevailed upon not to resign formally, till it should be ascertained whether Mr. Herries was in earnest.* New applications were accordingly made to Mr. Herries, who remained ignorant in the mean time of Mr. Huskisson's threatened resignation. If he had been aware of it, he would instantly have given in his formal resignation; but he did not learn

* Mr. Huskisson's speech, 18th Feb.

it, till the 5th of January. Lord Goderich, in the mean time, was repeating his assurances that no slight had been intended, and urging Mr. Herries not to take a step which would embarrass the government; but no approach was made to any explanation or discussion. Mr. Herries was told again and again, that he was wrong in thinking that the government stood committed to lord Althorpe; and yet he was given clearly to understand, that the government would carry lord Althorpe's nomination through. It is very evident that to press the appointment in such circumstances was to add strength to every objection which Mr. Herries had originally been entitled to take. His opponents were clearly those who had been at first in the wrong; and if, looking at it merely as a matter of personal rivalry, without any reference to the public grounds on which the proposal was defended and opposed, lord Goderich found himself compelled to say,-though perfectly indifferent myself in the matter, yet I cannot give up this nomination by the Colonial Secretary and the Master of the Mint, without losing Mr. Huskisson,'neither he, nor anyother reasonable man could blame Mr. Herries for avoiding by his resignation, a concession which could not fairly be pressed upon him. So soon, therefore, as he learned, that, if lord Althorpe was not made chairman of the Finance Committee, Mr. Huskisson would not continue Colonial Secretary, he announced his final determination to resign in the following letter to lord Goderich, on the 7th of January.

"My dear Goderich :-I have, as you requested in your last letter, (and as I promised in my answer

that I would), carefully reconsidered the subject of my letter of the 21st of December. I regret to be compelled to state, that the reconsideration so bestowed upon it has not conduced to any alteration of the judgment which I had previously formed and communicated to you. The question at issue, and upon which your judgment, not mine, is to be formed, is obviously not the mere nomination of lord Althorpe. That nomination cannot be treated as an insulated point, disconnected from the circumstances under which it was determined upon, and the manner in which it was settled; nor (which is of much more importance) can it be fairly considered without reference to the principles by which I have stated that I think every step in the formation of the committee of finance ought to be guided. In your last communication to me, you gave me to understand that I had been mistaken in supposing that a conclusive engagement with lord Althorpe had been made. It appears from your view of the matter, that little more had been done than to ascertain that lord Althorpe would undertake the office. If such be the case, I cannot but observe that it renders the positive determination to adhere peremptorily to that choice, and even to refuse all discussion of the reasons upon which I think a different course ought to be pursued, not only more unintelligible to me, but more difficult for me to acquiesce in. I should have thought that it might, upon such grounds, have still been an open question. Let me take this opportunity of renewing the assurance which I have already given you, that your determination, as the result of your judgment in this matter, to advise the king to confide to