Note 121 — Part III. FROM DEATH OF LORD LONDONDERRY TO PORTUGUESE EXPEDITION.

The accuracy of this story having been disputed, I asked Lady Palmerston, who was living in the same set as the lady in question, and also about this period residing at Brighton, whether she remembered hearing anything corroborating my information, and she said she perfectly well remembered hearing the anecdote I have narrated. But there is nothing in the Duke of Wellington’s letters to confirm it, and, like most tales of a similar nature, it probably had some foundation, but was not precisely correct either in details or dates.

The main fact, however, remains untouched, and is indeed proved by the Wellington correspondence, viz., that Lord Liverpool applied to the Duke of Wellington to obtain the King’s consent to Mr. Canning’s appointment, and that the Duke succeeded, though not without difficulty.