My dear Mr. Canning,—­I have received your letter of this day, and I did not understand the one of yesterday evening as you explained it to me.  I understood from yourself that you had in contemplation another arrangement, and I do not believe that the practice to which you refer has been so invariable as to enable me to affix a meaning to your letter which its words did not, in my opinion, convey.  I trust that you will have experienced no inconvenience from the delay of this answer, which I assure you has been occasioned by my desire to discover a mode by which I could continue united with my recent colleagues.—­I sincerely wish that I could bring my mind to the conclusion that, with the best intentions on your part, your government could be conducted practically on the principles of that of Lord Liverpool; that it would be generally so considered; or that it would be adequate to meet our difficulties, in a manner satisfactory to the king, or conducive to the interests of the country.  As, however, I am convinced that these principles must be abandoned eventually, that all our measures would be viewed with suspicion by the usual supporters of the government; that I could do no good in the cabinet; and that at last I should be obliged to separate myself from it, at the moment at which such separation would be more inconvenient to the king’s service than it can be at present, I must beg you to request his majesty to excuse me from belonging to his councils.  Ever, my dear Mr. Canning, yours most sincerely,

   Wellington.

This closed the correspondence; and it is needless to add that the Duke continued to hold aloof from the new administration.

The Duke’s explanation in the House of Lords related to two branches of charge.  The first was a charge of want of personal courtesy to Mr. Canning, as exhibited in the foregoing correspondence; the second was a general charge of hostility to the new premier, founded on personal jealousy, and on every other ground, probable or improbable, which the malice of party could suggest.  The Duke began by observing, that the House of Lords was scarcely the proper place to enter on such subjects, but that his only excuse was the necessity of vindicating his character against what had been said in another place, to say nothing of the manner in which he had been treated by a corrupt press, which if not in the pay, was under the control of the government.  He then proceeded to meet the first charge, that of personal discourtesy.  It was said, that his asking in reply to Mr. Canning’s first letter, “who was to be at the head of the new government?” was intended as an insult to Mr. Canning.  This he denied.  The letter of Mr. Canning, he said gave no information who were to form the new cabinet, or what members of the old one had resigned, or were expected to resign.  Nor was he invited, as he found the other ministers had been, to receive personal explanations on the