[A very exact account of this transaction is given by Lord Clarendon, by which it appears, that Talbot was committed to the Tower for threatening to assassinate the Duke of Ormond.  —­Continuation of Clarendon, p. 362.]

It was with great difficulty and mortification that he was obliged to suppress a passion which had made far greater progress in his heart than this quarrel had done good to his affairs.  This being the case, he was of opinion that his presence was necessary in Ireland, and that he was better out of the way of Miss Hamilton, to remove those impressions which still troubled his repose:  his departure, therefore, soon followed this resolution.

Talbot played deep, and was tolerably forgetful:  the Chevalier de Grammont won three or four hundred guineas of him the very evening on which he was sent to the Tower.  That accident had made him forget his usual punctuality in paying the next morning whatever he had lost over-night; and this debt had so far escaped his memory, that it never once occurred to him after he was enlarged.  The Chevalier de Grammont, who saw him at his departure, without taking the least notice of the money he owed him, wished him a good journey; and, having met him at court, as he came to take his leave of the king:  “Talbot,” said he, “if my services can be of any use to you during your absence, you have but to command them:  you know old Russell has left his nephew as his resident with Miss Hamilton:  if you please, I will act for you in the same capacity.  Adieu, God bless you:  be sure not to fall sick upon the road; but if you should, pray remember me in your will.”  Talbot, who, upon this compliment, immediately recollected the money he owed the Chevalier, burst out a-laughing, and embracing him:  “My dear Chevalier,” said he, “I am so much obliged to you for your offer, that I resign you my mistress, and will send you your money instantly.”  The Chevalier de Grammont possessed a thousand of these genteel ways of refreshing the memories of those persons who were apt to be forgetful in their payments.  The following is the method he used some years after with Lord Cornwallis:  this lord had married the daughter of Sir Stephen Fox,—­treasurer of the king’s household, one of the richest and most regular men in England.  His son-in-law, on the contrary, was a young spendthrift, was very extravagant, loved gaming, lost as much as any one would trust him, but was not quite so ready at paying.  His father-in-law disapproved of his conduct, paid his debts, and gave him a lecture at the same time.  The Chevalier de Grammont had won of him a thousand or twelve hundred guineas, which he heard no tidings of, although he was upon the eve of his departure, and he had taken leave of Cornwallis in a more particular manner than any other person.  This obliged the Chevalier to write him a billet, which was rather laconic.  It was this: 

   “My lord,

   “Pray remember the Count de Grammont, and do not forget Sir Stephen
   Fox.”