Whitehall, Dec. 21st, 1788.
MY DEAR BROTHER,
I have delayed writing for these two or three last days, in hopes
of being able to give you an account of the event of our second
division, which has, as you will have seen, been deferred from day
to day, and now is finally fixed for to-morrow. The adjournment on
Friday was necessary, on account of Pitt's health. He had entirely
lost the use of his voice by a cold, so that he could not have
spoken five sentences together, and he was in other respects much
exhausted. Our friends were a little chagrined at the delay; but it
was unavoidable, and will not, I hope, be productive of any
inconvenience.
Our next question is not a pleasant one. It turns on an abstruse
maxim of law, which makes it necessary for us to take a very
circuitous mode of doing a very plain thing. The necessity of it is
forced upon us by our lawyers, whom we could not otherwise have
satisfied, with regard to the second proposition which we have
voted. I am indeed convinced, that, in strict law, they are right,
and that the mode now proposed is the regular and proper mode of
doing what is required to be done. At the same time, it would have
been more agreeable to have had a more familiar and obvious measure
to defend in such an assembly as the House of Commons.
We shall probably lose some individuals, both on this question, and
on the subsequent question of restrictions; but we have some new
recruits, who were absent by sickness, or other accidents; so that,
on the whole, I hope the difference will not be considerable,
though nothing can exceed their industry in canvassing, except the
open manner in which they offer every sort of bribe.
We have some idea of making the restrictions temporary, by which
means they will certainly be much more palatable. You will observe
that almost all the physicians seem to point out the probability of
his recovering within a year or a year and a half, if at all. This
seems to afford a real ground of expediency, besides giving a
strong topic of argument for imposing the restrictions only for a
similar time. This point is, however, not yet determined.
The accounts from Windsor for the last week, though they have
varied, are yet, on the whole, less favourable than before. Willis
ascribes this entirely to the effect of the blisters, which give
him great pain; and Willis says _that_ is, on the whole, by no
means an unfavourable symptom. The effect, however, which these
accounts produce here, is injurious to us, and must be the same in
Ireland. Our solid ground of hope does not appear to be in the
smallest degree weakened.
You will see in the Opposition papers that they are beginning to
abuse the Queen in the most open and scandalous manner. I collect
from this that they have some information, on which they can
depend, with respect to her sentiments, and I conjecture that they
are such as we could wish.
If we were together, I could tell you some particulars of the
Prince of Wales's behaviour towards the King and her, within these
few days, that would make your blood run cold; but I dare not
commit them to paper, because of my informant.
The demands of the Opposition appear to have risen and fallen with the
bulletins; and according as the King was better or worse, the resistance
to the limitations was faint or violent. The conduct pursued by the
Prince's party to obtain votes and strengthen their parliamentary
influence, is not shown in a very favourable light.