.

I expect my brother here every day. They left Vienna in the
beginning of this month, without having concluded any treaty,
though they seem to have established a juster sense of the present
crisis than prevailed before.

Our Prussian ally has had his payments stopped, and is withdrawing
his troops. In the meantime, the Empress of Russia has done his
business, or rather her own, in Poland, the Polish army being
completely defeated, and Kosciusko, who was the soul of the
enterprise, taken prisoner.

God bless you, my dearest brother.

Believe me ever most affectionately yours,
G.

The conduct of Lord Fitzwilliam had been reprehensible from the
beginning. The suggestion of the Lord-Lieutenancy had scarcely taken a
definite shape, when he opened a communication, as appeared afterwards,
with the heads of the Irish party, and announced the system on which he
intended to govern the country. In any case, such a proceeding would
have been inexpedient and indefensible, its inevitable effect being to
commit the policy of the Administration beforehand, to deprive it at
once of all dignity and independence, and to revive those heart-burnings
and dissensions which had already so nearly endangered the connection of
the two kingdoms.

But, composed as the Cabinet was of men who were known to entertain
different opinions in reference to Ireland, the premature and
unwarrantable publicity given by Lord Fitzwilliam to his own views was
calculated to precipitate still more injurious results. So far back as
the 23rd of August, he had written to Mr. Grattan, who was then
personally unknown to him, apprising him of his approaching appointment;
and, in plain terms, calling in that gentleman and his party to his
future councils. From the very first paragraph of his letter, it is
evident that at the time when this ill-judged communication was made,
the arrangements respecting the Lord-Lieutenancy had not advanced
sufficiently far to justify him in taking any ostensible step whatever
in reference to Ireland. His own language was abundantly explicit on
this point: "Though I have not as yet the honour of an appointment to
succeed Lord Westmoreland, there certainly is great probability of that
event taking place very soon." Yet in this early stage of the
ministerial negotiations, he did not hesitate to inform Mr. Grattan that
he intended to look to "the system of the Duke of Portla