e has talked himself out
of breath at Brooks's.

Charles dined yesterday, I believe, at Lord Rockingham's; I saw him
about five in great hurry, and agitation. What is to be done, may
not probably be concluded upon till the Easter holidays, and by that
time I hope to hear that his Majesty has been better served in the
W(est) Indias than in other parts of the world.

Negotiations for peace are much talked of. I hope that we shall
first have a little success, and then go with our proposals to
Versailles. Monsieur de Vergennes(217) says, that si l'Angleterre
veut avoir la Paix, il faut frapper a ma porte, and the sooner we
are in his cabinet for that purpose the better. If we do not begin
there, I am afraid, as Lord Bolingbroke says, we shall be suing for
it elsewhere, and at the gates of every other palace in Europe.

I have received an anonymous letter from Ireland, dated Dublin the
6th inst. I call it anon(ymous), because I believe the name of R.
Thomas to be feigned. The hand is a good one, and of a person of
fashion. He makes a demand of 500 pounds, which he says that he must
have by my means. The place I am to direct to is specified. Ekins
will carry over the letter. I rather suppose it to be from a
lunatic. He talks of not selling his voice, but I have no more light
into his scheme, or who the man is.

There is to be a great Drawing Room to-day, because Lord G(eorge)
and his bride will be presented, and with them come La Noblesse,
that is, the heads and tails of a hundred great families, to which
these young people are allied. Her head runs upon nothing but dress,
and expense; she is rather plain, as I hear, but not disagreeable.
She has made great terms for herself; her pin money is 1,500. She
will give up no part of her fortune to her husband. It is settled
upon the children; a jointure in proportion.

I saw the Duke of Bedford coming out of Charles's yesterday, so
there is another Duke for him to lead by the nose. For him he is, I
suppose,-obliged to Ossory. Young Pitt will not be subordinate; he
is not so in his own society. He is at the head of a dozen young
people, and it is a corps separate from that of Charles's; so there
is another premier at the starting post, who, as yet, has never been
shaved. I hope George will have a little more patience, but he is,
as I hear, the first speaker in his school, and by much the most
beloved, which pleases me more than if I saw the seals in his hands.

(215) Basil,