Dublin Castle, March 2nd, 1783.
My dear Lord,
A course of westerly winds having for the last anxious week cut
off our communication with England, six mails crowded upon me
yesterday such a load of public business, that I was forced to
delay till this morning the acknowledgments which are so much
due for your Grace's secret and confidential letter. I need not
say how truly I feel the extent of the partiality which I have
so often experienced, and which has certainly influenced you
against your better judgment in the offer which you are so good
as to make to me. Removed as I am from the immediate scene of
English politics, I am but little able to decide upon those
minutiæ, which are often the principal springs which move the
machine; and under this want of information, I must confess
myself much distressed by the means employed to obtain an
object, in which, for obvious reasons, I should probably not
have engaged, but which in all contingencies I should hardly
have ventured to pursue in the mode which has succeeded. Both
kingdoms stand in need of a solid and substantial Government;
and in that spirit of candour which I am sure will entitle me to
your Grace's good-will, I must acknowledge that such an
arrangement as is proposed does not hold out to me any
reasonable expectation of a duration, even as long as that of
the Ministry which it supersedes; and consequently, that the
removal of Lord Shelburne (even if that could be an object with
me) would not compensate in my mind for the real and solid
mischief which these frequent and rapid changes, which have
already taken place, and which in a few months will again
happen, must always bring upon the Government of both kingdoms;
and I need not give your Grace a more convincing argument than
by recalling to your mind the jealousy which was felt in so many
parts of Ireland at your resignation, and the ferment which the
unsettled form of Government brought forward.
I have stated these few observations from an impulse which I
cannot suppress. If I really was vain enough to think my
continuance in this or any official situation was important to
the public, I would sacrifice much to endeavour to reconcile my
feelings to it; but as I am certain that your Grace's friendship
alone could have suggested to you the option which you have
given to me, I shall truly consult that, in which I shall always
take the strongest interest, your Grace's advantage, honour and
reputation, by enabling you to send to this very difficult
situation some other person, who may have equal advantages with
myself in possessing your good-will, and whose abilities might
enable him to return that debt, by giving solid and material
strength to your Administration. But be assured, my dear Lord,
that I am truly sensible of the value of the offer, and that
this is a real gratification to me. And with these sentiments,
I am, my dear Lord,
Your very obliged and obedient servant,
Nugent Temple.
His Grace the Duke of Portland.
Lord Shelburne tendered his resignation on the 24th. "Whether," says Mr.
Grenville, "that resignation was to be accepted immediately, and was or
was not to be followed by the others, I do not know." It appears,
however, from a letter of General Cuninghame's, that the colleagues of
the Ministers were waiting in the ante-chamber, prepared to follow him
into retirement.