proposal from him.

[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