Oswald had urged upon him in 1783,[1] how the old doctrines could be made to apply to neutral States, when America had arrived at such a pitch of magnitude? "The question," he said, "had assumed a very altered aspect. Was it possible to prevent America carrying any kind of goods as a neutral nation? He would defy the wildest ministers that ever could exist, supposing it possible to have wilder ministers than we had, to prevent America from becoming the carrying country of Europe. He admitted it was unpleasant to lose the power we once possessed, but what the land lost by the encroachment of the sea in one place, it gained by its receding in another. If we were obliged to forego the maritime code, it would be succeeded by other sources of wealth."[2]
Pitt had intended that the union between England and Ireland should be immediately followed by a measure for the relief of the Roman Catholic population from the disabilities under which they suffered. The prejudices of the King proved however too strong for his more enlightened minister, who on the 5th of February 1801 accordingly resigned. Addington, the Speaker of the House of Commons, was charged with the formation of a new Government. Before his final arrangements were made, the King again fell a victim to mental disorder, and the question of the Regency was once more forced upon public attention. The Prince of Wales, sure of the support of Fox and his friends, looked forward to forming a Ministry after his own heart. But in Lord Lansdowne he foresaw an obstacle to his plans, believing him to be irrevocably hostile, owing to the speech which he had made on the Regency Bill in 1788, expressing a complete agreement with the views of Pitt.[3] Ultimately at the
- ↑ Memorandum by Oswald on Neutral Rights, February 1783.
- ↑ Parliamentary History, xxxv. 1199.
- ↑ Notes of a Conversation between Lord Lansdowne and , 1798. A conversation between the Prince Regent and Mr. Grey is recorded in a paper which runs as follows:—
"Friday, January 26th, 1790.
"Last night I went to the Duchess of Gordon's a little before twelve o'clock. The Prince of Wales soon after came up to me & seemed to desire a private Conversation. He began by saying things of general Civility as to the Line I had taken in Parliament, & soon proceeded to ask me if I had dined at Mr. Fox's Birthday the day before? On my Replying in the Negative, he observed that strange Things had been said there—
