I will say little on the subject of Robert; you know my opinion of his capacity, and I dare say think as I do.  He is worth taking pains with.  I heartily wish those pains may have success.  The cure performed by James’s powder charms me more than surprises me.  I have long thought it could cure every thing but physicians.

Politics are all becalmed.  Lord Bute’s reappearance on the scene, though his name is in no play-bill, may chance to revive the hurly-burly.

My Lord Townshend has not named Charles in his will, who is as much disappointed as he has often disappointed others.  We had last night a magnificent ball at my Lady Cardigan’s.

Those fiddles play’d that never play’d before,
And we have danced, where we shall dance no more.

He, that is, the totum pro parte,—­you do not suspect me, I hope, of any youthfullities—­d’autant moins of dancing; that I have rumours of gout flying about me, and would fain coax them into my foot.  I have almost tried to make them drunk, and inveigle them thither in their cups; but as they are not at all familiar chez moi, they formalize at wine, as much as a middle-aged woman who is beginning to just drink in private.

Adieu, my dear Sir! my best love to all of’ you.  As Horace Is evidently descended from the Conqueror, I will desire him to pluck up the pavement by the roots, when I want to transport it hither.

(569) Now first collected.  The above letter was privately printed, in 1833, by the Rev. Robert Walpole, with the following introduction:—­“The incomparable letters of Horace Walpole, as they have been justly styled by Lord Byron, have long placed the writer in the highest rank of those who have distinguished themselves in this line of composition.  The playful wit and humour with which they abound; the liveliness of his descriptions; the animation of his style; the shrewd and acute observations on the different topics which form the subjects of those letters, are not surpassed by any thing to be found in the most perfect models of epistolary writing, either in England or France.  His correspondence extends over a period of more than fifty years, and no subject of general interest seems to have escaped his attention and curiosity.  He not Only gives a faithful portraiture of the manners of the times, particularly of the highest circles of society in which he lived; but he presents us with many striking sketches of various events and occurrences, illustrating the political history of this country during the latter part of the last century.  If any proof were required of the truth of this statement, in addition to what may be afforded by an attentive examination of Mr. Walpole’s Correspondence already published, it may be found in the three volumes of Letters addressed to Sir Horace Mann, and recently given to the world under the superintendence of Lord Dover.  The letter (now printed for the first time with the consent of the possessor of the original) was addressed to Charles Churchill, Esq., who married Lady Mary, daughter of Sir Robert, and sister of Mr. Walpole; and was written at the time when he was engaged in completing the interior decorations of his villa, Strawberry Hill.”