infinitely perplexed by the pressing of many quarters to be of it. The acclamations of the theatre, at the appearance of the Prince of Brunswick, exceeded any thing that ever happened. The royal family were present. The ministry were to a man silent, on the day of the votes of compliment.

MR. PITT TO M. DE FE'RONCE. (1)

[From a draught in Mr. Pitt's handwriting.]

MONSIEUR,

Hayes, ce 23 Janvier, 1764.

J'AI l'esprit si rempli, et le cœur si touché, de l'honneur qui me fut accordé hier, qu'il m'est

"Early in the winter, some gentlemen of weight and character proposed to the party a scheme of association, the purpose of which was to keep their friends together, and to give them the pleasure of meeting and conversing with each other; the idea was approved of by a great part, though not all the minority; and a tavern in Albemarle-street, kept by Mr. Wildman, was fixed upon for the place of meeting. No political business was meant to be transacted at any of the meetings. The intention was simply to preserve union." Of the Ministerial club, at the Cocoa-tree, Gibbon, in his journal for November, 1762, gives the following description: -"That respectable body, of which I have the honour of being a member, affords every evening a sight truly English. Twenty or thirty, perhaps, of the first men in the kingdom, in point of fashion and fortune, supping at little tables covered with a napkin, in the middle of a coffeeroom, upon a bit of cold meat, or a sandwich, and drinking a glass of punch. At present we are full of king's counsellors, and lords of the bed-chamber; who, having jumped into the ministry, make a very singular medley of their old principles and language with their modern ones."

(1) Chief secretary of Prince Charles of Brunswick.

impossible de ne pas vous adresser quelques mots sur l'étendue de ma sensibilité et de ma reconnoissance la plus respectueuse de toutes ces bontés inestimables, dont Monseigneur le Prince héréditaire a daigné me combler. (1)

Quelque difficile que je m'étois figuré qu'il me fut de porter plus haut l'idée que, sur la voix de l'Europe, j'avois conçu de ce jeune héros, j'ai d'abord reconnu mon erreur; et il me reste maintenant d'un si gracieux entretien les vives impressions à jamais gravées dans la mémoire de ces éminentes qualités, faites pour inspirer aux cœurs un véritable attachement personnel, en commandant toute leur vénération.

Ma goute, qui en comparaison ne m'a paru un mal, que depuis que S. A. R. est en Angleterre, me défend toujours d'espérer de pouvoir me rendre en ville, avant le jour fixé pour son départ, et de lui offrir de nouveau mes hommages, et ces vœux qui suivront partout, avec chaleur, les pas de cet illustre Prince.

Je ne saurois exprimer à quel point il m'est affligeant de ne pouvoir pas faire ma cour à Madame la Duchesse de Brunswick. Je dirai seulement sur ce sujet intéressant, qu'avec le reste de la nation, je serois inconsolable de voir

1) The following paragraph appeared in the newspapers of the 23d:-"Yesterday his serene highness the hereditary Prince set out for Hayes, in a post-chaise, attended only by one gentleman and two domestics, to pay a visit to Mr. Pitt; with whom he had a conference for nearly two hours, and expressed great satisfaction."

partir S. A. R., si ce n'étoit pour être l'objet d'envie de toutes les grandes princesses de l'Europe. Agréez, Monsieur, &c., &c.

EARL TEMPLE TO LADY CHATHAM.

MY DEAR LADY CHATHAM,

W. PITT.

January 25, 1764.

THE day you went out of town, George Grenville signalised himself in the House in a manner hitherto unprecedented. This great minister, after haranguing half an hour with great indecency, fallacy, &c. &c., against putting off the consideration of the breaches of privilege in Wilkes's affair, on account of the absence of a material witness now in Paris, found himself not only unsupported, but deserted by the whole House, and that matter is adjourned till Monday fortnight; by which time I hope the sick man will take up his bed and walk, for which there is every day more and more necessity.

The division yesterday about cider, was 125 to 167. We had four hours debate in our House. The court modestly intended to have voted Wilkes guilty, without hearing him. We obliged them to alter their question; and it is agreed that he may still make his defence, as if no vote was passed yesterday. The Duke of Devonshire supported

me with three or four sentences, uttered with great dignity, and which carried great weight. The Dukes of Grafton and Newcastle likewise spoke; but the various onsets and heat of the battle fell to the share of

Your most loving and affectionate,

TEMPLE.

The King goes to the House of Lords this morning. The hereditary Prince will be there, and afterwards sets out. (')

(1) Walpole, in a letter to Lord Hertford, gives the following particulars of the movements and treatment of the hereditary Prince of Brunswick, during his few days' stay in England:"I now come to the foolish conduct of the ministry, during the episode of the Prince of Brunswick. The fourth question put to him on his arrival was, 'When do you go?' The servants of the King and Queen were forbid to put on their new clothes for the wedding, or drawing-room, next day, and ordered to keep them for the Queen's birth-day. Such pains were taken to keep the Prince from any of the Opposition, that he has done nothing but take notice of them. He not only wrote to the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Pitt, but has been at Hayes to see the latter; and has dined twice with the Duke of Cumberland. He and Princess Augusta have felt and shown their disgusts so strongly, and his suite have complained so much of the neglect and disregard of him, and of the very quick dismission of him, that the people have caught it, and on Thursday, at the play, received the King and Queen without the least symptom of applause, but repeated such outrageous acclamations to the Prince, as operated very visibly on the King's countenance. I saw the Prince without any difficulty. He is extremely slender, and looks many years older than he is: in short, I suppose it is his manner with which every mortal is captivated; for though he is well enough for a man, he is far from having any thing striking in his person. He is gone to-day, heartily sorry to leave every thing, but St. James's and Leicester-house."

THE RIGHT HON. JAMES GRENVILLE TO
LADY CHATHAM.

MY DEAR LADY CHATHAM,

January 27, 1764.

SINCE I wrote my last, the House has been engaged in a debate upon the words of a motion for establishing a committee to consider of so much of a bill that passed in the last session as relates to the laying an additional duty on cider. The Treasury proposed an amendment to this motion, in order to restrain the consideration of the committee to an alteration, not to a repeal, of the duty, and to changes in the mode of collection. I should make you as old a woman as either Sandys (') or Rushout (2), if I were to state all the jargon that arose in this debate.

It was plain the court meant to preclude any repeal of the bill; the cider people coldly wished

(1) Many years member for Worcester. He was an active opponent of Sir Robert Walpole, and is called by Smollett the "motion-maker." In 1741 he was appointed chancellor of the Exchequer, and in 1743 elevated to the peerage, as baron Sandys, of Ombersley. He died in 1770, at a very advanced age.

(2) Sir John Rushout. He sat in ten parliaments, and particularly distinguished himself as an opponent of Sir Robert Walpole's excise scheme. He died in 1775, at the great age of ninety-one. Nash, in his History of Worcestershire, says, "his memory, good-humour, and politeness were then in their full bloom; old age, which in general is not to be wished for, seemed in him rather an ornament than a burden." In 1797 his son was raised to the peerage, by the title of baron Northwick.