covered; and if he was to be ill, perhaps my having the opportunity of showing him I have talents as a nurse is better than his having had to nurse himself. I am enchanted with everything here. But I leave them all on Thursday.1 Mr. Pitt to Sir Walter Farquhar, Bart. MY DEAR SIR, Walmer Castle, Feb. 9, 1803. Mr. Hulke2 will have given you an account of the fresh attack which I have had of bile, from which his prescriptions have almost entirely relieved me. I know, however, that it will be a satisfaction to you to receive from myself the account of my amendment; and I think it may also be material to mention to you that some sensations of gout, which I have felt slightly at times during the last three or four days in one of my feet, are become more settled and distinct within these few hours, and that the pain and swelling (though neither of them are considerable) are sufficient to require rather a larger shoe than common, and to leave me no doubt of the cause from which they proceed. I need not trouble you further at present, and I hope by the beginning of next week to be able to move to town or This was Lady Hester's first appearance at Walmer Castle. She was then preparing to cross from Dover to Calais, having been invited to accompany her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, of Cheshire, in a Continental tour. 2 Father, I believe, of the gentleman who on several occasions attended the Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle, and was with him when he died, September 14, 1852. its neighbourhood without any inconvenience, and to have the pleasure of seeing you. Believe me, &c., W. PITT. DEAR MAHON, Mr. Pitt to Lord Mahon. Walmer Castle, March 10, 1803. I am very much grieved and rather surprised (after what had passed) at the strange letter from Lord S. It certainly puts an end to all reasonable ground of hope from that quarter, and is in the manner of it very provoking. But as no good can arise from any answer you can return to it, I think it clearly best for you to take no notice of it, and to let the business drop in silence. I hope my brother will be able to find the paper you want for Estcourt, and shall be very impatient to hear on what terms he thinks you can proceed. Your account of James' gives me great pleasure, and your kindness and affection to him will, I hope, be repaid as it deserves. I am very sorry Charles is coming away from a place which he likes, and which was so well suited to him. The sum you propose to allot to each will, I hope, be quite adequate, and is one which is very liberal and generous in you to spare. I shall be most happy to see you here again the first moment you have to spare, without interruption to The Hon. Charles and James Stanhope were the younger brothers of Lord Mahon. your business with Estcourt, and when you have shaken off the remains of your very troublesome complaint. I do not like at all the account of your being so much reduced in strength. If you are not already better, pray consult Farquhar immediately. Affectionately yours, W. P. Lady Hester Stanhope to F. R. Jackson, Esq., His Walmer Castle, Oct., 1803. You can easily figure to yourself that I have not much time to spare from the charming society I now live in. To express the kindness with which Mr. Pitt welcomed my return,' and proposed my living with him, would be impossible. One would really suppose that all obligation had been on his side! Here then am I, happy to a degree, exactly in the sort of society I most like. There are generally three or four men staying in the house; we dine nine or ten almost every other day. Mr. Pitt absolutely goes through the fatigue of a drillsergeant. It is parade after parade, at fifteen or twenty miles distant from each other. I often attend him; and 1 From the Continent, with Mr. and Mrs. Egerton, in the previous August. Lady Hester was then wholly without a home, owing to the death (in April, 1803) of her grandmother, Lady Chatham, with whom, since early in 1800, she had for the most part resided at Burton Pynsent. it is quite as much, I can assure you, as I am equal to, although I am remarkably well just now. The hard riding I do not mind, but to remain almost still so many hours on horseback is an incomparable bore, and requires more patience than you can easily imagine. However, I suppose few regiments for the time were ever so forward; therefore the trouble is nothing; and if Mr. Pitt does not overdo it, and injure his health, every other consideration becomes trifling. You know me too well not to be aware of the anxiety I am under upon this account; and the extreme care I take, or rather endeavour to take, of this blessing (so essential to him in his present active line of conduct, and therefore invaluable to his country), is kindly rewarded by his minding me more than any other person, and allowing me to speak to him upon the subject of his health, which is always an unpleasant one, and one he particularly dislikes. There is no use in flattering a man who is not ill from fancy, and makes but too light of his complaints. Therefore I pursue quite a different plan; and I am happy to be able to tell you sincerely I see nothing at all alarming about him: he had a cough when I first came to England, but it has nearly or quite left him; he is thin, yet certainly strong, and his spirits are excellent. Mr. P. is determined to remain acting Colonel when his regiment is called into the field. Some persons blame this determination, but I do not; he has always hitherto acted up to his character: why should he, then, in this instance prove deficient? I should not be the least surprised any night to hear of the French attempting to land; indeed, I expect it; but I feel equally certain that those who do succeed in this will neither proceed nor return.1 DEAR MAHON, Mr. Pitt to Lord Mahon. Margate, Oct. 24, 1803. In our way here Lord Carrington and I have been comparing Lord Stanhope's answer with the preceding proposals; and Lord Carrington has just written to Harrison to desire him to make the inquiry, which strikes us as essential under the 24th Article. You will probably call on Harrison on the subject. Adieu! Captain Cobb and his brave troops are impatiently waiting for us on the field of battle. Ever affectionately yours, W. P. Lord Carrington to Lord Mahon. Deal Castle, Nov. 18, 1803. Pitt being obliged to go to Dover to-morrow afternoon, I have agreed with him that the mar 1 Such was the feeling at that | lampoons. Thus writes or sings time of the entire people, even Peter Pindar : |