great abilities have been duped by low cunning.  But be it what it will, he is now certainly only Earl of Chatham; and no longer Mr. Pitt, in any respect whatever.  Such an event, I believe, was never read nor heard of.  To withdraw, in the fullness of his power and in the utmost gratification of his ambition, from the House of Commons (which procured him his power, and which could alone insure it to him), and to go into that hospital of incurables, the House of Lords, is a measure so unaccountable, that nothing but proof positive could have made me believe it:  but true it is.  Hans Stanley is to go Ambassador to Russia; and my nephew, Ellis, to Spain, decorated with the red riband.  Lord Shelburne is your Secretary of State, which I suppose he has notified to you this post, by a circular letter.  Charles Townshend has now the sole management of the House of Commons; but how long he will be content to be only Lord Chatham’s vicegerent there, is a question which I will not pretend to decide.  There is one very bad sign for Lord Chatham, in his new dignity; which is, that all his enemies, without exception, rejoice at it; and all his friends are stupefied and dumbfounded.  If I mistake not much, he will, in the course of a year, enjoy perfect ‘otium cum dignitate’.  Enough of politics.

Is the fair, or at least the fat, Miss C——­with you still?  It must be confessed that she knows the arts of courts, to be so received at Dresden, and so connived at in Leicester-fields.

There never was so wet a summer as this has been, in the memory of man; we have not had one single day, since March, without some rain; but most days a great deal.  I hope that does not affect your health, as great cold does; for, with all these inundations, it has not been cold.  God bless you!

LETTER CCLXXXIX

Blackheath, August 14, 1766.

My dear friend:  I received yesterday your letter of the 30th past, and I find by it that it crossed mine upon the road, where they had no time to take notice of one another.

The newspapers have informed you, before now, of the changes actually made; more will probably follow, but what, I am sure, I cannot tell you; and I believe nobody can, not even those who are to make them:  they will, I suppose, be occasional, as people behave themselves.  The causes and consequences of Mr. Pitt’s quarrel now appear in print, in a pamphlet published by Lord T------; and in a refutation of it, not by Mr. Pitt himself, I believe, but by some friend of his, and under his sanction.  The former is very scurrilous and scandalous, and betrays private conversation.  My Lord says, that in his last conference, he thought he had as good a right to nominate the new Ministry as Mr. Pitt, and consequently named Lord G-----, Lord L------, etc., for Cabinet Council employments; which Mr. Pitt not consenting to, Lord T-----broke up the conference, and in his wrath went