newsmonger or other, that which never passed between us at Hayes.

The experience of every day proves to me, that the points on which you had the most apprehensions, and which cannot properly be mentioned in a letter, are less and less to be feared; and I only wish for that hour in which I could resign the seals, and stand forth the loudest supporter of the measures of you, my successor.

On foreign points I must, from my situation, be silent, whatever may be my desire to the contrary. I must say (reasoning on the conversation we had on the subject), the almost only internal one, which the recess of parliament has allowed to bring to light, was done in the very manner and form you could yourself have wished that particular point. Words of general disapprobation, before any other measures appear, can never come from one who thinks so candidly and so justly as I have always found that you did. I must, therefore, conclude that they were brought to Mr. Grenville from some improper quarter, and must earnestly beg to submit to you, whether it should not be explained, for my sake, to Mr. Grenville, particularly as he brings me so personally into it. The mode of doing this, you will best judge.

A

I have the honour to be, with every sentiment of the most unfeigned esteem and respect, Dear Sir, Your most obedient humble servant,

GRAFTON.

MR. PITT TO THE DUKE OF GRAFTON.

MY LORD,

Burton Pynsent, August 24, 1765.

I AM extremely sorry that a report, from hand to hand, of discourse easily enough mistaken in the extent of it, attributed to Mr. George Grenville, and in which I am so much mixed, should have given a moment's uneasiness to your Grace, and occasioned you the trouble of the letter with which I am honoured, and to which your Grace will easily believe I am impatient to return an answer.

Upon a matter of this nature, it is fit to be explicit. I assure your Grace, then, that I have seen Mr. George Grenville but once since the present ministry took effect, and then in the presence of others; that I never said to him, nor to any man living, that I blamed, or in the least disapproved, either the ministers or any individual for going into the King's service, nor that I ever wished to keep the Duke of Grafton from taking the seals.

Let me now, my Lord, be as explicit in declaring what I have said, with regard to rumours industriously propagated, and which I could not acquiesce in; namely, that the present ministry was formed by my advice and approbation. To men under such impressions I have constantly averred, that this ministry was not formed by my advice, but by the counsel of others; that, from experience of dif

ferent ways of thinking and of acting, Claremont (1) could not be to me an object of confidence or expectation of a solid system for the public good, according to my notions of it; and as the authority I most wished to refer myself to, upon this subject, I have appealed to the conversation I had the honour to hold with the Duke of Grafton at Hayes. The exact and candid manner in which your Grace has given yourself the trouble to repeat the substance of that conversation, is the best proof I knew where I might securely appeal. I trust your Grace will think I am sufficiently direct upon a subject, where it would be very painful to me to be misunderstood, and especially to be conceived by any man, to entertain any sentiments of the Duke of Grafton, but those of sincere respect, esteem, and friendship. After this state of the affair, I must submit to your Grace's judgment, how far any explanation from me to Mr. Grenville would be necessary, or indeed proper, considering how often misapprehension, without intention, cannot but have had a share in this business; and especially that names are not mentioned in the intelligence.

Give me leave now, my dear Lord, to express how truly I feel the honour you do me in the continuation of your Grace's favourable sentiments and flattering wishes, upon the subject of one, who sees his zeal for the King and for the public rendered every hour more and more unavailing;

(1) The Duke of Newcastle.

who despairs of being enabled to do any essential good, and would indeed be grieved to do hurt, as far as his lights carry him. Accept then, my Lord, the sincere wishes of a Somersetshire by-stander, that the course of affairs may be so fortunate and happy in your hands, as to make your Grace as full of ardour for business, as I am of disrelish for the political scene, for which I am on so many accounts so very unfit.

I have the honour to be, with the truest sentiments of esteem and respect,

Your Grace's most obedient,

and most humble servant,

W. PITT.

Inclosed I return Mr. Hopkins's letter to your

Grace.

THE DUKE OF GRAFTON TO MR. PITT.

Bond Street, September 16, 1765, at night.

DEAR SIR,

As I received the inclosed from Mr. Fraser, one of my secretaries, who had it from the hereditary Prince of Brunswick, with an express desire that it might be conveyed to you by the most secure method, I chose to send it by a messenger, as most suitable to the Prince who sent it, as well as to the person to whom it is directed.

Give me leave only to add, that I have made no

other use of the letter I was honoured with from you last, but to say to Mr. Hopkins, that he might declare from me, that there must be necessarily some misrepresentation of what had really passed between us at Hayes. I flatter myself that you will not disapprove of this step; which, considering the accusation against me, is but slight. I have the honour to be, with every sentiment of the most perfect esteem and respect, Dear Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,

GRAFTON.

PRINCE CHARLES OF BRUNSWICK TO MR. PITT.

MONSIEUR,

Londres, ce 13e Septembre, 1765.

Je ne puis me dispenser de vous marquer notre arrivée en Angleterre; qui me fait un plaisir d'autant plus sensible, que je me flatte de jouir, durant ce séjour d'avantage qu'au dernier, de la satisfaction de vous voir, et de vous dire combien nous prenons d'intérêt à tout ce qui vous touche ; que la nation Anglaise n'est pas la seule qui vous rend justice et qui vous admire, mais que le reste de l'Europe observe vos démarches depuis que vous avez quitté le ministère, avec ce même intérêt qu'elle le faisoit lors que vous décidiez du sort des états: ce qui prouve, que le vrai grand homme ne dépend jamais des événemens.