to encourage him, so as to draw this country into granting too many advantages of trade to Ireland. If that kingdom is to have any graces of that kind, I desire they may be granted with a sparing hand, for every favour granted there is only a reason for asking a greater.

April 8. 1778.

MAY not the political exit of Lord Chatham incline you to continue at the head of my affairs? If it will not, you cannot be surprised that I again mention it; Iand if I must here add, that I cannot begin to form any plan till Mr. Thurlow is in possession of the Great Seal

May 12. 1778.

I AM rather surprised at the vote of a public funeral and monument for Lord Chatham. But I trust it is worded as a testimony of gratitude for his rousing the nation at the beginning of the last war, and his conduct as Secretary of State, or this compliment, if paid to his general conduct, is rather an offensive measure to me personally. As to adding a life to the pension, I have no objection.

May 19. 1778.

I NEVER meant to grant you the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports for life. The being once persuaded, when quite ignorant of public business, to grant that office for life to Lord Holderness, for a particular object, is no reason for doing so now. I daily find the evil of putting so many employments out of the power of the Crown; and for the rest of my life I will not confer any in that way unless where ancient practice has made it matter of course. I will confer it on you during pleasure, with an additional salary to make it equal to the sum received by Lord Holderness. It must be termed an additional salary, that the income may not be increased in other hands.

Sir R. Walpole's pension during life was natural; he had firmly for twenty years withstood a strong Opposition: the Crown deserted him, and his enemies came into office; no other mode, therefore, would have done. Mr. Grenville got the reversion of the Tellership before he came into the Treasury, as a compensation for resigning his pretensions to the Speaker's chair. Lord Northington's pension for life was a shameful bargain of the idol of the House of Commons* to get the Great Seal for Lord Camden. In addition to the Cinque Ports, I shall not object to a reversion of a Tellership to your family; but I should much prefer your remaining at the head of the Treasury, where many opportunities will of course arise by which I may benefit your family without fixing a bad precedent.

Why is the appointment of Mr. Thurlow not concluded? You want to retire, and yet will not take the first step to enable me to acquiesce in your request.

July 12. 1778.

I HAVE read the narrative of what passed between Sir James Wright and Dr. Addington, and am fully convinced of what I suspected before, that the old Earls, like old coachmen, still loved the smack of the whip; and Sir James Wright, to appear a man of consequence, has gone beyond his instructions. Certainly it would have been wiser if no message had been sent.

October 13. 1778.

SPAIN will join France next spring; but I trust the British navy will then be in a state to cope with both nations. Armed as France and Spain now are, no peace could be durable or much less expensive than war. must now be decided whether France or Britain should

It

yield. You may depend on my readiness to sheath

Lord Chatham.

the sword whenever a permanent tranquillity can be obtained.

November 14. 1778.

IF Lord North can see with the degree of enthusiasm I do the beauty, excellence, and perfection of the British Constitution as by law established, and consider that if any one branch of the empire is allowed to cast off its dependency the others will inevitably follow the example, he will not allow despondency to find a place in his breast, but resolve not merely out of duty to fill his post, but with vigour to meet every obstacle that may arise. He shall meet with the most cordial support from me. But the times require vigour, or the state will be ruined.

April 21. 1779.

You are much above any little intrigue, which certainly is very prevalent in the composition of the Attorney-General*, and still more in that of his pupil, Mr. Eden. I recommend you (to) place your chief political confidence in the Chancellor†, who is a firm and fair man, always ready to give his opinion when called for, yet not ambitious of going out of his own particular line, therefore will not attempt the part of a Mentor, which the two other gentlemen have too much aimed at. Every quarrel with him must be healed by a job.

June 11. 1779.

THE object of Sir W. Meredith's address is pretended to be the desire of peace with America-that of Mr. Eden is to be employed as a private negotiator with Franklin to effect a peace.

No man in my dominions desires solid peace more than I do; but no inclination to get out of the present difficulties, which certainly keep my mind very far from a state † Lord Thurlow.

*Mr. Wedderburn.

of ease, can incline me to enter into the destruction of
the empire. Lord North frequently says that the advan-
tages to be gained by this contest never could repay the
expense. I own that any war, be it ever so successful, if
a person will sit down and weigh the expense, they will
find, as in the last, that it has impoverished the state
enriched; but this is only weighing such events in the
scale of a tradesman behind his counter.
It is necessary
for those whom Providence has placed in my station to
weigh whether expenses, though very great, are not some-
times necessary to prevent what would be more ruinous
than any loss of money. The present contest with
America, I cannot help saying, is the most serious in
which any country was ever engaged. It contains such
a train of consequences that they must be examined to
feel its real weight. Whether the laying a tax was
deserving all the evils that have arisen from it, I should
suppose no man could allege without being thought (more)
fit for Bedlam than a seat in the senate; but step by step
the demands of America have risen. Independence is
their object, which every man not willing to sacrifice
every object to a momentary and inglorious peace must
concur with me in thinking this country can never sub-
mit to. Should America succeed in that, the West Indies
must follow, not in independence, but for their own in-
terest they must become dependant on America: Ireland
would soon follow; and this island, reduced to itself,
would be a poor island indeed.

June 12. 1779.

AMERICA, from distress, begins to feel; and gentlemen who pretend to be Englishmen are bringing forward questions only to raise the drooping spirit of America!

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