Page:A letter to the Right Hon. Chichester Fortescue, M.P. on the state of Ireland.djvu/44

 But the King's mind had unfortunately been poisoned by his Chancellor, Lord Loughborough, and influenced by the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury; and their opinions had been brought to weigh upon the King's decision by artful intrigues before the large and wise view of Mr. Pitt had been allowed to reach him.

Thus prejudiced, he rejected at once the advice of the minister who for seventeen years had possessed his confidence and the support of a large majority in Parliament.

After a compliment to the integrity and talents of Mr. Pitt, the King proceeds:—

After confessing his belief in this strange error as to the sense and meaning of the Coronation Oath, the King shows, in another passage, that he had never understood or concurred in the views of his minister in promoting the Union with Ireland:—

When the Irish Propositions were transmitted to me by a