willing to come to my assistance,
and till the House of Commons has taken every step, but
insisting on this faction being by name elected Ministers.

To end a conflict which stops every wheel of Government, and
which would affect public credit if it continued much longer, I
intend this night to acquaint that _grateful_ Lord North, that
the seven Cabinet Counsellors the coalition has named shall kiss
hands to-morrow, and then form their arrangements, as the former
negotiation they did not condescend to open to many of their
intentions.[1]

A Ministry which I have avowedly attempted to avoid, by calling
on every other description of men, cannot be supposed to have
either my favour or confidence; and as such, I shall most
certainly refuse any honours they may ask for. I trust the eyes
of the nation will soon be opened, as my sorrow may prove fatal
to my health if I remain long in this thraldom. I trust you will
be steady in your attachment to me, and ready to join other
honest men in watching the conduct of this unnatural
combination, and I hope many months will not elapse before the
Grenvilles, the Pitts, and other men of abilities and character
will relieve me from a situation that nothing could have
compelled me to submit to, but the supposition that no other
means remained of preventing the public finances from being
materially affected.

It shall be one of my first cares to acquaint these men that you
decline remaining in Ireland.

George R.

[Footnote 1: This passage is printed accurately from the original. Its
obscurity may be removed by a slight alteration: "as _in_ the former
negotiation they did not condescend to open _too_ many of their
intentions."]

A Ministry forced in this way upon a Sovereign who, during the
twenty-two years referred to in the above letter, had struggled
successfully to resist the dictation of Parliament, and to break down
the ascendancy of powerful families and party combinations, contained
within itself the seeds of early dissolution. The King accepted them,
but never gave them his confidence. He resolved from the first to treat
them as men who had violently broken into the Cabinet; and he called
upon his friends to withhold their support from them, and to sustain him
in his resistance to their policy. The ingratitude of Lord North touched
him deeply; and in proportion as he