the whole
Hanover army taken into British pay, with but one single negative, which
was Mr. Viner's.

Mr. Pitt gains ground in the closet, and yet does not lose it in the
public. That is new.

Monsieur Kniphausen has dined with me; he is one of the prettiest fellows
I have seen; he has, with a great deal of life and fire, 'les manieres
d'un honnete homme, et le ton de la Parfaitement bonne compagnie'. You
like him yourself; try to be like him: it is in your power.

I hear that Mr. Mitchel is to be recalled, notwithstanding the King of
Prussia's instances to keep him. But why, is a secret that I cannot
penetrate.

You will not fail to offer the Landgrave, and the Princess of Hesse (who
I find are going home), to be their agent and commissioner at Hamburg.

I cannot comprehend the present state of Russia, nor the motions of their
armies. They change their generals once a week; sometimes they march with
rapidity, and now they lie quiet behind the Vistula. We have a thousand
stories here of the interior of that government, none of which I believe.
Some say, that the Great Duke will be set aside.

Woronzoff is said to be entirely a Frenchman, and that Monsieur de
l'Hopital governs both him and the court. Sir C. W. is said, by his
indiscretions, to have caused the disgrace of Bestuchef, which seems not
impossible. In short, everything of every kind is said, because, I
believe, very little is truly known. 'A propos' of Sir C. W.; he is out
of confinement, and gone to his house in the country for the whole
summer. They say he is now very cool and well. I have seen his Circe, at
her window in Pall-Mall; she is painted, powdered, curled, and patched,
and looks 'l'aventure'. She has been offered, by Sir C. W----'s friends,
L500 in full of all demands, but will not accept of it. 'La comtesse veut
plaider', and I fancy 'faire autre chose si elle peut. Jubeo to bene
valere.

LETTER CCXXI

BLACKHEATH, May 18, O. S. 1758.

MY DEAR FRIEND: I have your letter of the 9th now before me, and condole
with you upon the present solitude and inaction of Hamburg. You are now
shrunk from the dignity and importance of a consummate minister, to be
but, as it were, a common man. But this has, at one time or another, been
the case of most great men; who have not always had equal opportunities
of exerting their talents. The greatest must submit to the capriciousness
of fortune; though they can, better than others, improve the favorabl