efore refused to discuss the present proposals,
which tended to destroy the groundwork of the Constitution. Respecting
the suggested truce of silence he wrote as follows: "Mr. Pitt once
acquainted with my sentiments, his assuring me that he will stave off
the only question whereon I fear from his letter we can never agree--for
the advantage and comfort of continuing to have his advice and exertions
in public affairs I will certainly abstain from talking on this subject
which is the one nearest my heart." The meaning of these words is not
easy to fix; but apparently the King meant to say that his silence on
the subject was conditional on Pitt promising never to bring it forward
again. Now, Pitt had made no such promise. He required that, while the
King was examining the proposals of his Cabinet, he would abstain from
setting his counsellors against it. George III evaded this request,
thereby leaving himself free to talk at large against Catholic
Emancipation while he was supposed to be examining its details. We may
be sure that this sentence clinched Pitt's resolve to resign at the
earliest possible moment.[583]

He said so in his reply of 3rd February to the King. He expressed both
regret at the King's resolve on this question, and a desire to consult
his convenience, though continuance in office even for a short time
became very difficult in view of the King's refusal to undertake to
discountenance the use of his name during the interval. In every respect
the accession of another Minister was to be desired. Pitt closed this
painful correspondence with a letter, also of 3rd February, requesting a
pension of L1,500 a year for Long, one of the secretaries of the
Treasury, whose private means were so slender as to leave him in
discomfort if he should resign. The King briefly assented to Pitt's
retirement and to Long's pension. To Long's services the King accorded a
few words of thanks: to those of Pitt not a word. This is the more
remarkable as Pitt was then suffering from an attack of gout which
depressed him greatly; but, as we shall see, the King in private
expressed his deep obligations, and requested him to keep in office
until all the new appointments were settled.[584] This involved a delay
of nearly six weeks, which were among the most trying of his career.

On 5th February the King succeeded in persuading Addington to form a
Ministry. Accordingly on the 10th he resigned the office of Speaker,
being succeeded by S