believe it would cause no more sensation than the capture of an island. As yet, every body is asking, "Who is to have this place, and who that? who are the new peers?" For Minorca, we are satisfied with the encomiums showered on General Murray* by the Duc de Crillon; we know poor Draper was mad†-and we have no further curiosity.

The country and city seem to be pleased with the change; yet moderately too. The disgraced are extremely angry, and I dare to say will show their resentment in due time; but, as only some of the greater and a very few of the lesser posts are yet disposed of, they who hope to escape in the general massacre take care to hold their tongues; and all will probably lie still, till they see whether the new Ministers are lenient or severe. The recess of Parliament, too, for the holidays, re-elections and usual jaunts into the country, and the never-to-be-violated festival of Newmarket, have dispersed many. The House of Commons meets to-morrow, and then things will begin to have a complexion. If the new Administration can make a tolerable peace, and carry any popular bills, they may maintain themselves for a time; yet I do not look on the present system as very stable. Bad as the last it would be difficult to be; and as ruinous it cannot be, for we have not half so much to lose as we have lost.

I do not send you lists of changes, for all are not yet made, and, while the undetermined are in suspense, it would be only giving you guesses that would want corrections, or unfounded reports. The

* Previous to the surrender, the effective garrison was reduced to six hundred. The surgeons remonstrated to the Governor, that a further delay of capitulation would only occasion an unavailing sacrifice of a few devoted victims, whom an enlarged scene of respiration and wholesome nutriment alone could rescue from the jaws of death. The Duc de Crillon readily granted honourable terms, and testified his regret at the sight of this brave band of invalids, marching through their disproportioned ranks to pile their arms.-ED.

In consequence of the surrender of Minorca, Sir William Draper, who, in 1779, had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the island, exhibited twenty-nine charges against General Murray, his superior in command; for doing which, al though the General received a reprimand on account of two of them, his Accuser, it will be seen, was ordered to make an apology. In 1783, Sir William published some observations on the General's defence, and retired to Bath; where he died in 1787.-ED.

Besides the changes above mentioned, the Earl of Carlisle was replaced, as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by the Duke of Portland; Mr. Rigby's post of Paymas ter of the Forces was given to Mr. Burke. His brother Richard was made one of the two Secretaries of the Treasury; Colonel Barré, Treasurer of the Navy; Mr. Thomas Townshend, Secretary at War; Mr. Kenyon, Attorney-General: Mr. John Lee, Solicitor-General; Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Thomas Orde, Under-Secretaries of State; and General Burgoyne, Commander-in-chief in Ireland.. "In forming their arrangements," says Dr. Tomline, "the new Ministers offered Mr. Pitt several situations, and among others a Vice-Treasurer-ship of Ireland, an office of considerable rank and emolument, which, it was thought, would be more acceptable to him, as it had been formerly held by his father; but he resolutely declined this and every other offer, preferring his profession of the law to any official connexion with an Administration of which he did not form a part: he had indeed determined, as he soon afterwards declared, never to accept any subordinate office, meaning an office which did not entitle him to a seat in the Cabinet. This determination did not pro

genuine alterations you will find in the Gazette. A long catalogue of new peers was expected. Only three have yet kissed hands; Sir Fletcher Norton, Dunning, and Admiral Keppel.*

I must now answer yours of March the 19th. In my last, I begged you to assist Mrs. Damer in her distress on her aunt's disorder. You would want no spur to good offices there. Lord Orford, I hear, is to be removed from the Rangership of the two Parks. It was intended by the new Ministers to leave him in the King's Bed-chamber; which out of respect they did not mean to touch. Whether his dismission from the former post had been notified to him or not, I cannot tell. I should think it had; for he has sent his resignation of the Bed-chamber also, though saying it is on account of his lameness. He has long had a very swelled leg, which I suppose balances or drains his head, and prevents it from quite oversetting again. Indeed, as he has been so warm an advocate for the late abominable system, I must a little wonder, if he is angry, that he has palliated the cause of his resignation-but who can argue on a lunatic?

It looks very much as if we should be reconciled with Holland; and, as Russia espouses that temper, I should hope pacification would spread farther. How blessed would that moment be! But we have another grievous thorn in our very side! Ireland is little less estranged than America; and a most wicked coxcomb, one Eden, Secretary to the late Lord Lieutenant,† has dared to do his utmost to heighten the rupture. As he had not sense or judgment enough to cloak his folly, it has fallen on his own head with general indignation; but, as Irish heads are not better poised, we fear consequences. You will see the detail in the papers, too long for a letter. The late Adminis

ceed from any overweening self-opinion or reprehensible ambition, but from an unwillingness to be considered as pledged to measures in framing which he had no concern." Life, vol. i. p. 66.-ED.

* Admiral Keppel was created a Viscount, and appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. On the subject of his peerage, he thus wrote, on the 2nd of April, to Lord Rockingham: "I cannot help thinking that I ought to be well satisfied with the King's behaviour throughout this business.. I need not doubt your finishing it in the properest manner, without any stipulation as to the degree of peerage or precedency of the two gentlemen of the law, in case I am called to the House as a Baron. They have kissed hands before, and the contention might breed unpleasant disputes, which are not necessary in our present situation." Life, vol. ii. p. 377.-ED.

The following is the character of Mr. Eden, afterwards Lord Auckland, as drawn by Hardy, in his memoirs of the Earl of Charlemont: "Perfectly skilled in Parliamentary language and management, of quick as well as versatile parts, consummate talents for business and correspondent industry, he was well calculated, not only to guide the nation in its newly-opened path of commerce, but to form such, establishments as would advance its progress therein, and enable them to improve what they had acquired. But for such acquisitions a more pacific season was requisite." Vol. i. p. 396.-ED.

The following is Sir Samuel Romilly's account of the proceeding here referred to: "The Ministers seem likely, at the very commencement of their administration, to have great difficulties to encounter in the affairs of Ireland. You know the Irish have long talked of throwing off the supremacy of Great Britain. A motion for that purpose has been made this session in the Irish Parliament, but lost

tration had neglected and inflamed that business, as they have acted in almost every other. Such grievous waste and negligence appear from every office, that it is very doubtful whether they will fall so lightly as they expected. Though they will be very ready to accuse, it may chance that they will be accused first. They have provoked and invited four wars, neglected all, succeeded in none, rejected every overture of peace, while tampering for peace, and by profusion and carelessness thrown away the means of making war any longer. As ministers, generals, treasurers, negotiators, they have proved themselves as incapable as any set of men who ever overturned a great country; and in the rapidity of their achievements they have exceeded all. Strange it was that they did not fall sooner! And yet their fall was instantaneous and unforeseen! My sentiments about them have been uniform. I restrain rather than exaggerate them. Every country in which we are concerned testifies to the truth of what I say. I reap no advantage from their fall, nor shall; fully content if peace is restored, and as much as can be of our Constitution, credit, and felicity. Adieu!

LETTER CCCLXXV.

May 5th, 1782.

I HAVE given the new Administration time to breathe; that is, I did

by a very great majority; since which, the different associations in Ireland have come to resolutions to assert their independence. This has been followed by tu mults at Dublin. Lord Carlisle, the Lord Lieutenant, has not dared to stir out of his Castle; and Eden, his Secretary, was near receiving personal violence from the populace as he was setting off for England. The object of his journey was to bring Lord Carlisle's resignation of his vice-royalty, and to represent to the Ministers the state of affairs in Ireland; but on his arrival, he found the Ministry changed, and Lord Carlisle deprived of the lord-lieutenancy of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and also of the vice-royalty of Ireland, which was now conferred on the Duke of Portland. Piqued at this affront, as he considered it, to Lord Carlisle, he refused to give the Secretaries of State any information; but told them he should, on the first day of the Commons meeting, make a motion relative to the affairs of Ireland. Accordingly, last Monday, he moved to repeal a clause in an act of George I. which declares the supremacy of the British over the Irish Legislature. The Ministers, particularly Fox, complained loudly of the very uncandid manner in which Eden had behaved. They said, that, for themselves, having no information of the state of affairs in Ireland, or of that people's demands, they could not judge how far the measure proposed was proper; but that it seemed, like all the measures of the late Ministers, designed to palliate, not eradicate, the evil: that the present Ministers intended to make such a settlement of the affairs of Ireland as would be agreeable to both countries, and remove all fears and jealousies for the future. Eden was desired by a number of Members to withdraw his motion, but for a long time he refused. General Conway talked of moving a vote of censure on him: at last he complied with the wishes of the House." Life, vol. i. p. 218.-ED.

In the course of his speech in the House of Commons, on the first day of its meeting after the adjournment, Mr. Fox said, "that, since he and his colleagues

not send you details of removals* and preferments, that were the mere business of taking possession, and which affect individuals, not the public, and consequently not you. Since their first entry, the most notifiable event, of that sort too, was the disposition of the Garters, given to one of the Princes, to the Dukes of Richmond and Devonshire, and to Lord Shelburne; the last a little unprecedented, as he is but a recent Irish Earl, and a more recent English Baron. The King had unaccountably reserved four-certainly, not on purpose for the three persons last named! Lord Ashburnham, to whom one had been promised, and who was still more unaccountably saved, as Groom of the Stole, by his Majesty, with the Duke of Montagu, when the new Regents left him the choice of two for mercy, has resigned in dudgeon, and not very gratefully; as two garters had certainly not been left to the King's nomination. The late success of Admiral Barringtont against the equipment from Brest is more substantial gilding, and illustrates the dawn of the new system. I wish I saw any symptoms of peace.

had come into office, they had found many more instances of the shameful neglect and mismanagement of the late Ministers even than they had suspected; such instances of mismanagement, as would render public inquiries on the subject necessary."ED.

* In consequence of the political revolution which had taken place, the Drawingroom at St. James's underwent a considerable alteration in its appearance. The Earl of Hertford, who had held the white wand of Chamberlain for more than fifteen years, and whose presence in the circle seemed almost essential to its existence, was succeeded by the duke of Manchester; and Lord Effingham became Treasurer of the Household, in the place of Lord Salisbury; but no removal was more regretted by the King than that of Lord Bateman, who had held, during many years, the post of Master of the Buck-hounds. On the subject of these removals, Hannah More wrote thus: It has affected me very much to hear of our King's being constrained to part with all his confidential friends, and his own personal servants, in the late general sweep. Out of a hundred stories, I will only tell you one which concerns your old acquaintance Lord Bateman: he went to the King, as usual, over-night, to ask if his Majesty would please to hunt the next day; 'Yes, my Lord,' replied the King, but I find, with great grief, that I am not to have the satisfaction of your company.' This was the first intimation he had of the loss of his place." Life, vol. i. p. 251.-ED.

The

Lord Keppel's appointment, as First Lord of the Admiralty, infused a new spirit into the navy; and several distinguished officers, who had been excluded from employment, were immediately restored to the service. On the 13th of April, Admiral the Honourable Samuel Barrington hoisted his flag on board the Britannia, a first-rate, in which he was despatched with a squadron to intercept a French fleet bound to the East Indies. Of these, the ships under his command succeeded in capturing eleven out of eighteen transports, and the Pégase and l'Actionnaire, men-of-war of seventy-four guns and seven hundred men. Pégase was engaged and captured by the gallant Captain Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent; who was separated from his companions by a fog. He came up with her at one o'clock at night, and, after a close engagement of three quarters of an hour, compelled her to strike. In his report to the Admiralty of this action, Admiral Barrington said, "My pen is not equal to the praise due to the good conduct, bravery, and discipline of Captain Jervis, his officers and seamen, on this occasion. Let his own modest narrative speak for itself." The Admiral also, in relating to a friend the result of the squadron's cruize, thus wrote: "But the Pégase is every

Reformation is begun, and is decorated with the King's name, who has given up many employments in the Court and its purlieus. Other popular bills, that aim at ransoming the House of Commons from its late servility to the Crown, do not pass so glibly. The Chancellor resists them tooth and nail in the other House,† and it is supposed, will not want support from his former associates in due time, nor perhaps from some of his new. These hints will prevent your surprise, should the new machine receive any jolt. There is another public business on the carpet, not connected with politics, that is no small one. Sir Thomas Rumbold, a Nabob, swelled from nothing to a million, is likely to be obliged to disgorge.

A much more important, Ireland, is yet unsettled. It must be settled, and to their own liking. These outlines will help you to a clue through the newspapers-I pretend to no more.

One of the Duchess of Gloucester's daughters is married; the ceremony took place this morning. I am just come from Lady Laura's wedding with her cousin, Lord Chewton, at Gloucester House. The Duke himself gave her away. I am returning thither for the Court at night, when the Duchess receives compliments: but the married pair are gone out of town, though it is the depth of winter. Never was there such a spring! After deluges of rain, we have had an east wind that has half-starved London; as a fleet of colliers can.

thing, and does the highest honour to Jervis. What a noble creature! were we all like him, what might not be our expectations! Is it not surprising that he should take a ship of equal force, without losing a man? He, poor fellow, has got an honourable mark above his eye, which I conceive will be of no bad consequence, rather the reverse; for as a man of middle age, it may make his fortune. The fair honour the brave, and we suppose, delight in kissing the honourable mark." See the interesting and very valuable Memoirs of Earl St. Vincent, by J. S. Tucker, Esq., vol. i. p. 74.-ED.

*The great plan of reform and economy in the Civil List expenditure was again brought forward by Mr. Burke, now become Paymaster of the Forces, and introduced to the House of Commons, on the 15th of April, by a message from the King, recommending "the consideration of an effectual plan of economy through all the branches of the public expenditure, and stating that he had taken into his actual consideration a reform and regulation in his Civil expenditure, which he would shortly cause to be laid before the House." The address thereon was moved by Mr. Burke; who, in the beginning of May, brought in his celebrated Bill to carry into a law the retrenchments which his Majesty proposed to make in the Royal Household.-ED.

Two bills, one to prevent Contractors from sitting in Parliament, and the other for excluding Officers of the Excise and Customs from voting at Elections, were speedily carried through the House of Commons; but in their passage through the Lords, they experienced opposition from the Chancellor, as well as from Lords Mansfield and Loughborough. Thurlow," says Wraxall," while holding in his hand the Great Seal, and in his own person a member of the Cabinet, expressed, with that gloomy indignation which characterized his style of speaking, the disappro bation that he felt at such inroads on the Majesty of the Crown as well as on the franchises of the subject. Unawed by the appearance of Fox and Burke, who, to show the interest they took in their success, usually appeared on the steps of the Throne while the bills were debating, the Chancellor animadverted upon them with the utmost severity, and divided in the minority."―ED.

George Waldegrave, eldest son of John, third Earl of Waldegrave; whom he succeeded in the title in 1784.