Hall, and passed ten very pleasant days there, en trio, with William* and Lady Caroline Lamb. I was at Kensington, both Saturday and Sunday last, and dine there again to-morrow. The Princess was quite well; very anxious about the dear good King; talked a great deal about you, and expressed much impatience for a letter from you, giving an account of the wedding, and its antecedents and consequences.

Nothing is talked of, but the fluctuations in the King's health, and the probable consequences, till I am wearied to death of the eternal discussion. Sometimes, he is said to be so much better that Parliament is to be immediately prorogued; then he is considerably worse, and the Prince is to be appointed Regent, with full powers, the next day. The King's situation is so doubtful that Perceval is resolved to protract measures as much as possible, and the regal power is at present to be confided to a commission of Lords Justices; then again, the Prince, and the King and the Lords Justices, are all to be laid on the shelf together, and the regency is to be vested in Her Majesty Queen Charlotte.

*Now Lord Melbourne.

"All these projects in their turns are sifted, and supported, and contradicted, and laid down again, leaving one,, at the end of the discussion, just as ignorant and as confused as at the beginning. So that I grow quite wearied and impatient with the subject, and am in the precise situation of Sir Philip Francis, when the Prince was telling him a long prosing story, which still went on and went on, without coming to a conclusion : Well, Sir? well, Sir?' cried Sir Philip, out of all patience Well, Sir, well! and what then, Sir? what then?' At last, the Prince said, Why, what's the matter with you, Sir Francis? what do you want?' 'Want, Sir, want? What's the matter with me? Sir, I want a result.' And this is precisely the only thing now which I want to hear about the Regency. Moreover, it is at least certain that latterly the King's general health is worse than it was; in particular, he has lately had an internal complaint, which in his peculiar circumstances is said frequently to be the forerunner of idiotcy.

"For my own part, I am for having the Queen at the head of the government. It is certain, that having a man there, has as yet produced but little good against Bonaparte, and therefore

I should like to try a woman.

Who knows, but

the Queen may be the very woman mentioned in the Revelations, who is destined to be crowned with glory, and conquer the beast; and, therefore, as soon as she is appointed regent, I would immediately have her send a challenge to Bonaparte; decide the whole dispute by single combat; and, if she will but follow the example of that illustrious heroine, the Princess Rusty Fusty, in setting her back against a tree, and defending herself with her fan and her scissors, I make no doubt she will have the same success, and lay the holy Roman Emperor dead at her feet.

"In the midst of all these political speculations, Lord Grey has made the disputants a low bow, and has gone back to Northumberland, to remain there till the middle of January. I asked Lord Lauderdale, if Lord Grey's friends did not find fault with his being out of the way at such a moment, By no means,' answered he with great gravity, Lady Grey is to be confined very soon, and he sacrifices every thing to the consideration of his wife. He was quite in the right. I always do the same thing.'

* This is rather a strange affirmation for the man who is surnamed "The Father of Divorces."

"London is very full, and the Duchess of Gordon has had some good assemblies. The Princess of Wales lives quietly; never has above four or five people at dinner, and has quite given up going to the play; though she owns, she considers this is a very great privation. I have been teased into promising to put together some showy spectacle for Covent Garden; and the Princess insists on its not being produced before Easter Monday, as she says that, till then, she has no hopes of being allowed to visit the theatre.

"I am quite impatient for your return to town, not only because I shall be very glad to see you again, but for your own sake, that you may see La Perouse. I am certain you will be pleased with it, out of all measure. I saw it the other night, and was quite delighted and I promise myself great pleasure in seeing the pleasure which it will give you. There is besides a new actress, a Miss Booth, who promises to be the greatest acquisition that the stage has made for many years. She plays Mrs. Jordan's characters with great sprightliness: a very pretty little figure (but not a very pretty face, at least, to my taste); great intelligence, much appearance of sensibility and naïveté, and, above all, a voice very

sweet, touching, and so articulate, that it can be heard all over the house, even in a whisper. She dances, too, remarkably well, and is very good in pantomime. The only thing in which she fails, is her singing, which is abominable; but I trust, (as she is to set herself to the study of music immediately, with all her might and main), perhaps, she may mend this deficiency.

"How do you like Thalaba? There are always so many nothings to be done in London daily, that I have not read ten lines for the last ten weeks, till I came to Holland House, where I have galloped through two volumes of Madame Du Deffand's Letters, and with much amusement, though the anecdotes are in themselves of no great value; still, being written on the spot, and at the moment, they have a vivacity and interest which make one read letter after letter without weariness. The extracts from Lord Orford's letters contain frequently excellent things; and indeed, in Madame Du Deffand's own general observations, there is much good sense and plain truth; but that sense and truth, being generally grounded upon knowledge of the world, and experience of its inhabitants, it unfortunately follows, of course, that the information which it conveys, must be of a disagreeable and humiliat