Of the substance of the matters now depending, I have nothing more to add; but do not take it ill if an old man tells you plainly that if you do not on such an occasion so express and conduct yourself as to ensure the attention and respect which is due to you, it will be in vain to attempt to claim it afterwards, and that if you abandon it, you give up with it the hope of being really useful.
I have known many such discussions, some ending well, others ill. But I never yet witnessed one in which such arrangements were (as in this case) presented crudely, to be accepted or refused, without any previous discussion as to the mode of shaping them, or any facility offered, or even intimated, for softening down such difficulties as such proposals are always more or less attended with.
I must say there appears to be, with respect to both of you, a total misunderstanding of your real rank and station in the country, and in its public estimation.
Do not think that I wish your acceptance or refusal to be influenced by feelings of temper or personal offence. Far from it. The question involves much higher considerations, both public and private; but what I do most earnestly wish is that you should maintain your own dignity against aggressions which are never neglected without leading to future inconvenience, but least of all in such cases as these.
The negotiation, like various others that had preceded it, had obstacles to surmount. One of the most active members of the party invited to strengthen the Government insisted upon an understanding on certain great political questions, on which a perfect Ministerial understanding had more than once before been extremely difficult to establish. The letters sent and received will speak for themselves.
MR. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.
Whitehall, Dec. 13, 1821.
My dear B——,
The post has brought me no letter from Lord Liverpool. Perhaps the reservation in writing of my right to originate any measure which may appear to me desirable for the amelioration of the state of Ireland, either in Parliament or in Council, and of declaring that as the hope of contributing to that object is my principal inducement to accept office, so I should not hesitate at any time to relinquish it, if that would more effectually assist the object; and also of stating that Goulburn's appointment could not have had my concurrence—which are the three points insisted on in my letter—may, though agreed to by Lord Londonderry most readily, be of more difficult digestion to the Earl, particularly if, as begins to be reported, there is at the same time some hitch on the part of Peel, and that the Earl may find himself somewhat embarrassed between conflicting reservations. Still, I do not myself think that it is possible for him now to go back, as he is too deeply committed. Henry in to be in town to-night, which I am glad of, for, as Lord Londonderry goes a-shooting into Norfolk on Saturday, to-morrow will be his only opportunity of seeing him. I wish much, if Liverpool's answer is affirmative, to press forward the appointment as much as I can, in order that I may have the more time to work quietly at learning the business of the Board before I am called up to town to attend the Councils before the meeting of Parliament.
Upon sending to the Foreign Office, I find that Lord Londonderry is not expected there till to-morrow. Whatever Liverpool's answer is, it will be desirable that I should see Londonderry; and if it is in the affirmative, I should also wish to see Courtenay to learn the state of the office.