Copy of a letter : "Arlington Street"[London], to George Canning, 1809 Oct. 2.

Explaining, at length and in detail, his position with regard to his support of Canning and the effect of that support on the Government; saying "I can have no hesitation in declaring to you, what I believe I have already stated to Perceval, that if the Selection of a first minister had depended solely on my personal wishes or private partiality, I should undoubtedly have fixed upon yourself as the person with whom I should have preferred being connected in that situation, but notwithstanding that admission, I cannot allow that at the present period, or indeed at any time since the Death of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, there has existed any individual in the Kingdom so possessing all the Ingredients (if I may use that Expression) necessary in the Composition of a first minister, as to entitle him to demand it of his Sovereign for himself exclusively, or to expect that the Country at large, or any considerable portion of it, should concur in the pretension. But supposing that, as an individual member of Parliament, I was at full liberty to consult my own inclination and to enlist myself as a Partizan under a new leader, do you imagine now, or could you suppose at any Period, that all those who would adhere to my Father or myself in Government or in opposition, on any sound and rational principle of public Conduct, would also follow us for no better reason than because we chose to indulge our private partiality in your favour, & to harrass the King and disturb his Government, by joining in a Controversy for official pre-eminence?...It is unnecessary now to enter into any discussion as to the propriety of the course which I have adopted. In a matter of duty, and or a question of Principle, I will yield my own Judgment and opinion to no man, even my most intimate Friend."