tion with his old colleagues he offered
Peel, if he would stay with him, to recall the pro-Catholic
Lord-Lieutenant and send a Protestant. Peel wanted the Duke to
give up the army and take the Treasury, which he would not hear
of. He was miserable at the idea, and opposed it so strongly that
they could not press it upon him. However, the Peers--meaning all
the Lords who had made such a stir--applied to the Duke to put
himself at the head of the Government, but he hardly sent an
answer to their application--he would not hear of it.

[17] [Right Hon. Charles Arbuthnot, the most confidential
friend of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he lived.
He was known in society by the nickname of 'Gosh,' by
which he is frequently described in these Journals.]

[Page Head: ANECDOTES OF CANNING.]

I may here introduce some anecdotes of Canning told me by Lord
George Bentinck, his private secretary:--

Some time after they had been in office (after Lord Londonderry's
death) they found in a drawer, which apparently had been
forgotten or overlooked, some papers, which were despatches and
copies of correspondence between Lord Castlereagh and Lord
Stewart. These despatches were very curious, and more particularly
so after his attack last year on Canning for misappropriating the
secret service money, for they gave an account of his own
employment of the secret service money in getting Italian
witnesses for the Queen's trial. There was likewise an account of
the discovery Stewart had made of the treachery of an office
messenger, who had for a long time carried all his despatches to
Metternich before he took them to England, and Lord Stewart says,
'I tremble when I think of the risk which my despatches have
incurred of coming before the House of Commons, as there were
letters of Lord Londonderry's written expressly "to throw dust in
the eyes of the Parliament."' These were his own expressions, and
he said, 'You will understand this and know what to say to
Metternich.' In fact, while Lord Castlereagh was obliged to
pretend to disapprove of the Continental system of the Holy
Alliance he secretly gave Metternich every assurance of his
private concurrence, and it was not till long after Mr. Canning's
accession that Metternich could be persuaded of his sincerity in
opposing their views, always fancying that he was obliged to act
a part as his predecessor had done to keep the House of Commons
quiet.

From