itting the general terms and the necessity of forming a strong
Government.

I found him, however, I think, a great deal more irritable on the
subject of the King, full of anger, and vexation, and complaint of
the difficulties in which the Cabinet was placed; every hour
increasing those difficulties from the conduct _he_ was pursuing,
not only by his _flirtation_ with the Opposition, but by his
strange whims and orders respecting the Coronation, and the
impatience he already shows at any reductions, particularly when
they touch the military. However, these are things that must be
fought, and as I again repeated, the sooner the better. I found,
however, from the Duke, that the great resistance was made to the
re-introduction of Canning (and this is, I think, material for you
to know). _He_ cannot forgive him, and the particular offence is
the letter he wrote to B----, explaining the grounds of his conduct
regarding the Queen, and in which he stated he "was no party to
laying the green bag on the table of the House of Commons," which
is a direct falsehood. By this you will observe where the _hitch_
rests; and it is likewise gratifying, with your views of the
subject, to feel that the Cabinet consider a strong Government can
only be constituted by the admission of Canning; indeed, the Duke
entered into this part with a great deal of reasoning on the state
of the House of Commons.

The more I hear and see of the matter, the more convinced I am that
the whole thing hangs on a thread; that if the King dared turn them
out he would, that is, he would submit to the influence of Lady
C---- in so doing, but I don't know that if it were not but for
this influence he would be so disposed. That the Cabinet knowing
this are cautious not to give him any good ground, and not to
exasperate him at the present moment. You cannot imagine the state
of irritation in which the Duke was this morning, and I think not a
little of it arose from the result of an interview which Lord
Anglesea had with the King yesterday, for he said to me among other
things--"You have no idea the mischief that is done to us by
persons who have an opportunity of seeing and conversing with the
King. Lord Anglesea saw him yesterday, and this has interfered
already in our proposed military reductions." Afterwards he
said--"