taking an active part in politics when invited to do so
for a long time past; and whenever Duncannon has asked his advice
or consulted his opinions or wishes, he has invariably referred
him to Lord Lansdowne as the person whom his friends were to look
upon as their leader, asserting that he had withdrawn himself
from public life and would have no more concern with politics.
More than this, when first overtures were made by Canning to the
Whigs, it was the unanimous opinion of all those who have since
joined the Government that Lord Lansdowne and his friends could
not join an Administration of which Peel was to be a member (for
at that time the resignation of Peel was not contemplated as a
probable event), and this opinion was warmly combated by Lord
Grey, who contended that there was no reason why they should not
coalesce with Canning and Peel. What induced him to alter his
opinion so decidedly and to become so bitter an enemy to the
present arrangements does not appear, unless it is to be
attributed to a feeling of pique and resentment at not having
been more consulted, or that overtures were not made to himself.
The pretext he took for declaring himself was the appointment of
Copley to be Chancellor, when he said that it was impossible to
support a Government which had made such an appointment.

July 5th, 1827 {p.101}

The session is over, and has been short but violent enough. There
is apparently a majority against the Ministry in the House of
Lords, though they seem safe in the House of Commons. All depends
upon Canning's prudence and firmness during the recess. As to the
King, he seems desirous of living a quiet life and disposing of
all patronage; public measures and public men are equally
indifferent to him. The Duke of Wellington, who knows him well,
says he does not care a farthing about the Catholic question, but
he does not like to depart from the example of his father and the
Duke of York, to which they owed so much of their popularity. His
conduct is entirely influenced by selfish considerations, and he
neither knows nor cares what measures the exigencies of the
country demand. The present state of parties is so extraordinary
that it cannot last, and it remains to be seen whether Lord Grey
and the other Whigs will reunite themselves to the main body and
support Canning's Government, or whether they will join with the
Tories in their efforts to overturn it. Lord Grey's temper,
irritated by the attacks