ll wares than the Minister of a great
empire. What the supposed plan of this _contracted_ war is to be, I
never have been able to learn; and, indeed, it requires all the
good temper one can muster to make so discouraging an inquiry.

Meanwhile, orders are said to be already issued for raising sixty
thousand new recruits in the hereditary states of Austria, but no
hopes are given of assistance from Hungary, where the harvest has
been, in many places, uncommonly deficient.

We have done what we could to urge them to be active in Sardinia,
now the French appear to be retiring; and though an invincible
prejudice to that quarter prevents Thugut from doing all he might,
yet he expresses a readiness to concur in an attack upon Nice, if
the English fleet would co-operate, as soon as the equinoctial
snows have fallen to guard the mountains of the Milanes.

There are, however, bad reports of Kosciusko declaring war against
Austria, which will be both a reason and a pretext for suspending
enterprise, if any would otherwise be undertaken. The Duc de Guiche
has a project of collecting the Gardes du Corps, of which he says
he thinks he could soon muster twelve hundred. He and the French
here are grown very anxious about Comte d'Artois' journey to
Rotterdam. We expect impatiently to hear from you of our return.

With respect to Vienna, Lord Spencer having considered this
business as now come to a point, which requires some new shape and
fresh regular negotiation, writes to request leave to return home,
and only waits for it to set out immediately. In that request
(after all the consideration which I can give to it) I feel that I
must likewise beg to be included, so as to return with him at the
same time. The line of foreign mission is one to which I own I
cannot reconcile myself; it leads certainly to a claim for future
competency, but it seems to me little likely to assist those views
of honest ambition, which are certainly, though I hope to no
improper degree, still more forward in my mind than those of
emolument. In this view it was, that upon a former occasion of
arrangement, I had declined the Hague, which certainly is the first
of all the situations in that line, but which still has the
objection of banishing from all connections, social as well as