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Subject Area: Economics
Subject Area: Political Theory

GALLATIN TO HENRY CLAY. - Albert Gallatin, The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 2 [1879]

Edition used:

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, ed. Henry Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1879). 3 vols.

Part of: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

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GALLATIN TO HENRY CLAY.

No. 109.

London, 24th August, 1827.

Sir,—

I had stated that the present Administration might be considered as permanent till at least the next meeting of Parliament. The promptitude with which the general arrangements were made and approved by the King, without any apparent dissatisfaction in any part of the Cabinet, had removed the uncertainty that prevailed during the first moments; and I had not paid much attention to some subsequent floating rumors to the contrary, having had very direct information corroborating the general opinion. (This was principally derived from Mr. Dennison, whom you have seen in America, one of the most promising young men of the country, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and lately married to the daughter of the Duke of Portland.)

But I have had since reasons to alter my opinion. I was stating to Lord Dudley, in a transient conversation I had with him the night before last, that the interview I had asked with him was principally for the purpose of giving explanations and making some important observations on the subject of my note of 17th instant, previous to its being taken into consideration by his Majesty’s government. But I immediately discovered that they were not at all prepared even for that preliminary discussion, that the arrangements were not completed, and that there was some cause of uneasiness among themselves. As he said emphatically that they had no head, I asked whether Mr. Huskisson was expected; to which he answered that he was most anxiously expected and wanted. His return will not make our case worse, for it is clear that his colleagues would have referred it to him, and it is not so bad to have to deal with him present and in a direct way as absent and through an intermediary. The unsettled state of the Administration can produce no other inconvenience to us but delay; and we have nothing to lose by a change,—very little to hope, it is true, for I strongly suspect that, whoever is in, Mr. Huskisson will remain.

The cause of this misunderstanding, if not compromised, will soon be known. From some hints, and from two opposite pieces in the Times and Courier of yesterday, I think it probable that the Whigs are dissatisfied, and that the opposition to Mr. Tierney’s pretensions to the Chancellorship of the Exchequer may have contributed to their displeasure.