Whitehall, Feb. 14th, 1739.
MY DEAR BROTHER,
Although I have nothing else to write to you, yet I could not
refuse myself the pleasure of letting you know that I have been at
Kew to-day with Pitt, and that the account which he received from
Willis is such as to confirm and strengthen all our hopes. The
public account is, as you will see, that the King continues in a
state of gradual amendment; and every circumstance which we can
learn, affords us room to entertain the most sanguine hopes. What
has already passed in the public, on the subject of Willis, and the
violent attacks of Opposition against him, have made him more
cautious and reserved in what he says, and he particularly desires
that his name may not be quoted. But I could not find in my heart
to conceal from you the favourable manner in which he speaks of
the present situation.
His account is confirmed by that of the other physicians, who all
speak the same language. Sir G. Baker told him to-day, that if it
was the case of a common patient whom he was attending, he should
not think it necessary to give him any more medicines. The most
favourable circumstance of all is, the great abatement of the
pulse, which, till now, has always been much too high.
You will easily imagine how much speculation all this makes, and a
more curious scene, I think, I never saw. The prevailing opinion
is, that we are not to be turned out. There is a report, which is
very confidently circulated (but I do not vouch for the truth of
it), that the Duke of Portland has positively told His Royal
Highness that, under these circumstances, it is impossible for him
to take any share in a new arrangement. It is also said that they
have quarrelled about the Prince's debts, but these are points of
which I know nothing but from report.
The account which Lord Chesterfield had yesterday from his friends
at Aylesbury tallies with Chaplin's, as to the possibility of
Bernard's success, though it is not quite so sanguine as to
numbers. If he succeeds at all, this last point may be no
misfortune to him, as it will diminish the claims upon him.
Ever most affectionately yours,
W. W. G.
The Irish Parliament had met in the interim, and were debating with
extraordinary vigour and asperity the Address by which the Prince of
Wales, before he had been appointed Regent in England, was to be invited
to assume at once the functions and privileges of the Crown in Ireland.
Many of the usual supporters of the Government, including even some
persons in high employments, had joined the ranks of the Opposition; and
Lord Buckingham in his letters to Lord Sydney declares that his powers
had been annihilated by that lapse of the sovereign authority which led
to this result, and that it would be no longer proper for him to
interfere any further, except only in reference to the "usual business
of the kingdom." Acting on the pressure of these circumstances, he felt
it due to his own credit, and to the service in which he was engaged, to
tender his resignation, as appears by the following letter from Mr.
Grenville: