Lord Shelburne tendered his resignation on the 24th. "Whether," says Mr. Grenville, "that resignation was to be accepted immediately, and was or was not to be followed by the others, I do not know." It appears, however, from a letter of General Cuninghame's, that the colleagues of the Ministers were waiting in the ante-chamber, prepared to follow him into retirement.
MR. W. W. GRENVILLE TO LORD TEMPLE.
Pall Mall, Feb. 24th, 1783.
My dear Brother,
I don't write to you by a messenger, because I have nothing decisive to tell you. Lord Shelburne went in to-day to resign. Whether that resignation was to be accepted immediately, and was or was not to be followed by the others, I do not yet know. Nobody has yet been sent to. The report of Lord Gower, or some other substitution, is very prevalent.
Before you receive this, you will probably have heard from me by the messenger; if not, you may depend on it that nothing is settled. Adieu.
Ever yours,
W. W. G.
GENERAL CUNINGHAME TO LORD TEMPLE.
London, Feb. 24th, 1783, Two o'clock, P.M.