Believe me always yours sincerely,
B. C.
Of Canning at this period one of his intimate friends thus speaks:—"Great as his talents for Parliament are, and great as is the want of them on the Ministerial side of the House, it is not without the utmost reluctance that the rest of the Cabinet will consent to receive him as an associate. If they make him any proposal, it will be only because they are forced to it by the opinion and wishes of their own friends, and if they make him a fair proposal, it will be a clear proof that they think that the Government cannot go on without his aid."[93] ]
A little later we learn from the same authority: "The delay that has taken place in filling up the very important station that was held by Lord Londonderry is itself a pretty good proof of the embarrassment of the King and his Ministers. Canning will be a bitter pill to them, and yet I am more inclined than I was at first to think that they will swallow it. I give Canning full credit for what he declared at Liverpool, that he knew nothing; and yet without imputing to him any Jesuitical reservation, I consider his speech to be that of a man who thought that he was more likely to come in than not."[94] ]
Canning knew well enough that he had only to wait, and the necessities of the Government, notwithstanding the aversion of the majority, would force him into the position his great rival had left vacant. Many persons of influence shared in this conviction, and though far from cordial in their admiration for this political leader, they were eager to adopt him as their colleague or superior, seeing no other assistance at hand so capable of advancing their particular policy.
THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES W. WYNN TO THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.
Broadstairs, Aug. 24, 1822.
My dear B——,
My letter of yesterday will have sufficiently put you in possession of my opinion, that although I agreed in the principle of your letter, yet the addressing it under the present circumstances to the D—— of W——, and through him to Lord Liverpool, was premature. They seem to have thought the same, though I wish they had expressed it in a manner less unambiguous.
It is difficult to make up one's mind whether it would, on the whole, be more desirable to see Canning at the Exchequer or in the Foreign Office. I rather believe that by Huskisson's assistance he would discharge the duties of the former office better than the latter, to which the disinclination of Carlton House and the very unconciliating style of correspondence in which he indulges himself (and of which the records of the Board of Control have shown me some specimens) are great objections. If, indeed, the arrangement which I chalked out in a former letter for the promotion of Lord Bathurst, Robinson, Huskisson, and either W. Lambe or C. Grant, could take place, I should have no doubt that it would be best to give Canning the Exchequer. But if the result should be, as many anticipate, to consign the Foreign Seals to your friend the D—— of W——, it is not easy to decide whether the inconvenience of that appointment would not counterbalance the benefit of removing Van.