Old Bond Street, May 16th, 1788.
My dear Lord,
His Majesty honoured me, on Wednesday, with a pretty long
conference in the closet; during which we travelled over the
whole _carte du pays Hibernois_. He was, as usual, much more
particular in his inquiries about _persons_ than about
_business_; and he seemed to be, above all, very anxious to
learn how we stood with Lord Shannon, having learnt from Mr. O.
that his Lordship was to be at dagger-drawing with us, on
account of his supposed resentment for your Lordship's supposed
ill-treatment of Mr. Adderley. I acquainted His Majesty with the
true state of that matter, with Lord Shannon's very handsome
language respecting it, and his friendly and becoming conduct
ever since; with which information the King appeared to be
highly pleased, and he was even proceeding to animadvert pretty
severely upon Mr. O. for having, as he thought, attempted,
though ineffectually, to convert this transaction into a source
of mutual coldness and mistrust between your Lordship and Lord
Shannon; but I thought it right to disculpate my predecessor
from this charge, of which I really believe him to be innocent.
The Duke of Leinster's name too was more than once upon the
_tapis_, and I detailed to His Majesty the whole history of his
Grace's political conduct and professions, from his first
interview with your Lordship down to the letter he received from
you, in answer to his application for the Mastership of the
Rolls; but I said nothing of your future views with regard to
that office, neither did His Majesty manifest any desire to be
informed of them. In general, he seemed to me to be perfectly
_au fait_ of the Duke's real character, as well as of the
character of all the other leading people in Ireland, whom we
talked over, each in his turn, not forgetting our friend, the
Archbishop of Cashel.
On points of business, as I have said, His Majesty was much more
concise, and I do not recollect anything material or interesting
that fell from him, unless it be that he expressed the most
entire satisfaction in the planning and in the execution of our
new military arrangement. I, of course, did not omit to take
this opportunity of offering your Lordship's humble duty to him,
together with every suitable assurance of your zeal, &c., for
his service; in answer to which he said many very gracious
things, and proceeded to question me very closely and _very
minutely_ about your and Lady B.'s health, amusements, house,
&c.; upon all which points I took care to be very precise and
guarded in my answers, having reason to believe that, from the
lively interest he takes in your domestic happiness, they will
make a deeper impression upon his memory than any other part of
our conversation.
Mr. Grenville tells me that he has written to your Lordship to
say that he has finally made up his mind to the acceptance of
Lord Clanbrassil's _survivance_, in lieu of the Mastership of
the Rolls; so I conclude that you will by this time have begun
your negotiation with the Duke of Leinster, the result of which
I am impatient to learn.
I have not yet been able to see either Mr. Pitt or Lord Sydney,
but I learnt this morning at the latter's office that the King
had consented that Major Coote should have the
lieutenant-colonelcy of the 70th; and the notification of the
appointment will, I believe, be sent to your Lordship by
tomorrow's post.
The papers will have informed you, my Lord, of the events of
France since my last, and particularly that the Grand Chamber of
the Parliament of Paris has refused to become a constituent part
of the new Plenary Court; so that some new expedient must in all
probability be adopted. The Duke of Dorset writes word that the
Parisian public still remain very quiet spectators of these
disputes, but it seems that in Brittany they are apprehensive of
some very serious troubles, and accordingly a strong
reinforcement of troops has been sent to the Commandant of that
province, M. de Thiard.
In Holland, the patriotic party, though still sullen and
stubborn, seem to have lost all present hope of reinstating
themselves in favour; so the Prince of Orange is now King of the
Republic, with Sir T. H., Viceroy, over him. The latter will, I
believe, be created a Peer in a few days.
The ferment in the city still continues on account of the
failure of the cotton-traders, many of whom are, it seems, so
deeply involved, that it will be absolutely impossible to devise
any artificial mode of bolstering up their credit; and it is to
be feared that their failure will occasion very great distress
amongst the merchantmen.
I send you, my Lord, two pamphlets upon the subject of this
trade, which you will find to contain some very curious and
important facts, though perhaps you will not agree with the
author in the conclusions he draws from them.
Adieu, my dear Lord. May I entreat you to present my best
respects and remembrances to Lady Buckingham. I have seen Lady
Carysfort, who is very well, as is also her child, which is the
very image in miniature of your Lady Mary.
Another letter of gossip from the same correspondent.