Hamburg, I find, swarms with Grafs, Graffins, Fursts, and Furstins, Hocheits, and Durchlaugticheits.  I am glad of it, for you must necessarily be in the midst of them; and I am still more glad, that, being in the midst of them, you must necessarily be under some constraint of ceremony; a thing which you do not love, but which is, however, very useful.

I desired you in my last, and I repeat it again in this, to give me an account of your private and domestic life.

How do you pass your evenings?  Have they, at Hamburg, what are called at Paris ‘des Maisons’, where one goes without ceremony, sups or not, as one pleases?  Are you adopted in any society?  Have you any rational brother ministers, and which?  What sort of things are your operas?  In the tender, I doubt they do not excel; for ‘mein lieber schatz’, and the other tendernesses of the Teutonic language, would, in my mind, sound but indifferently, set to soft music; for the bravura parts, I have a great opinion of them; and ‘das, der donner dich erschlage’, must no doubt, make a tremendously fine piece of ‘recitativo’, when uttered by an angry hero, to the rumble of a whole orchestra, including drums, trumpets, and French horns.  Tell me your whole allotment of the day, in which I hope four hours, at least, are sacred to writing; the others cannot be better employed than in Liberal pleasures.  In short, give me a full account of yourself, in your un-ministerial character, your incognito, without your ‘fiocchi’.  I love to see those, in whom I interest myself, in their undress, rather than in gala; I know them better so.  I recommend to you, ‘etiam atque etiam’, method and order in everything you undertake.  Do you observe it in your accounts?  If you do not, you will be a beggar, though you were to receive the appointments of a Spanish Ambassador extraordinary, which are a thousand pistoles a month; and in your ministerial business, if you have no regular and stated hours for such and such parts of it, you will be in the hurry and confusion of the Duke of N-----, doing everything by halves, and nothing well, nor soon.  I suppose you ’have been feasted through the Corps diplomatique at Hamburg, excepting Monsieur Champeaux; with whom, however, I hope you live ‘poliment et galamment’, at all third places.

Lord Loudon is much blamed here for his ‘retraite des dix milles’, for it is said that he had above that number, and might consequently have acted offensively, instead of retreating; especially as his retreat was contrary to the unanimous opinion (as it is now said) of the council of war.  In our Ministry, I suppose, things go pretty quietly, for the D. of N. has not plagued me these two months.  When his Royal Highness comes over, which I take it for granted he will do very soon, the great push will, I presume, be made at his Grace and Mr. Pitt; but without effect if they agree, as it is visibly their interest to do; and, in that case, their parliamentary strength