result of the last general court, and the declaration of the directors themselves. I am, my Lord, with the greatest solicitude for your Lordship's health, and the success of whatever interests you in the accomplishment of your great plans for the prosperity and honour of these kingdoms, my dear Lord, Your Lordship's most obliged, C. TOWNSHend. THE EARL OF CHATHAM TO THE RIGHT HON. DEAR SIR, Bath, January 6, 1767. I AM honoured this morning by the favour of letter of the 4th, and am sorry your that any observations of my former letter should have occasioned to you the trouble of justifying the motion of the general court, the wording of which I admitted to be prudent enough; my anxious doubts and well-grounded fears turning upon the final issue of the transaction, not upon the expression of the resolution, which will, in my sense of things, be such, in either alternative, an adequate or an illusory proposal. It would be an useless intrusion upon your time to repeat here the first principle which rules me in this matter; namely, that the right is evidently with the Company; for I can venture upon no method of defining the idea of adequate, but by assuming or deciding the question of right, and by considering, consequently, whatever portion of the revenue shall be left by parliament to the Company as indulgence and matter of discretion. I will only add upon this head, that my fears do not arise from distrust of the good intentions of the directors, but from the vices and passions of the general court, to whom they are to report. Under these circumstances, I confess I am not sanguine enough to hope for an issue I shall think adequate. Allow me now, dear Sir, to assure you, that I esteem myself sensibly obliged to you for the honour of the letter I am now answering, and am not a little flattered with the attention you are so good to give to solicitudes, which are very real, and proportioned to the mighty national benefit, which is to be acquired or lost at the end of this momentous business. I feel all the extent of the very favourable and kind expressions with which you conclude your letter, and beg you will accept of my warm acknowledgments. I hope to have the pleasure of embracing you in town about the 14th or 15th. I am, with great regard and consideration, dear Sir, Your most faithful and most obedient humble servant, CHATHAM. JAMES BOSWell, esq. to THE EARL OF CHATHAM. MY LORD, Edinburgh, January 3, 1767. I HAVE received a letter from General Paoli, in which he thus talks of Mr. Pitt:-"La pubblica fama esalta fino alle stelle i talenti del Signor Pitt; ma la relazione che ella mi fa della conversazione avuta con esso lui, mi riempie ancora di maggior ammirazione e di attaccamento per la bonta del cuore di questo Pericle della Gran Bretagna." My Lord, I wrote to General Paoli the many strong and noble expressions which you uttered in a private conference to me, with as much eloquence as ever Mr. Pitt displayed in the fullest assembly; and, my Lord, I trust you will now show a generous sincerity. I would recommend to your Lordship Mr.Dick, his Majesty's consul at Leghorn, as a gentleman of great information and judgment, as to every thing that concerns the Mediterranean; and I would recommend him as a man of worth and spirit, who is warmly attached to the brave Corsicans. He will give your Lordship all the light you can desire, as to the advantages which Great Britain might derive from an alliance with Corsica, either in the way of trade or for the conveniency of war, and will faithfully execute whatever commands your Lordship may lay upon him. Your Lordship knows that a proclamation stands in force, by which the subjects of Great Britain are prohibited from holding any intercourse with the malecontents of Corsica. If your Lordship would only get us that proclamation annulled, it would be of great consequence. In the mean time, Corsica seems to be particularly unlucky. The Swiss and the Dutch had powerful assistance in recovering their liberties; but the gallant islanders for whom I am concerned have now been in arms for the glorious cause nine and thirty years, and not a state in Europe has interposed in their behalf. Let me plead with your Lordship for Corsica. Let me put you in mind of the people animated with the spirit of liberty, whom the Romans stood forth and protected against the great King of Asia, and in so doing gained more real honour than by the most extensive conquests; and let me recall to your Lordship the excellent old fable of the lion and the mouse. Far be it from me to attempt pointing out any measures to be taken by the government of my country; but surely a great free nation may befriend a small one. Is Great Britain now afraid of France; or does she owe any thing to Genoa? As an advocate for Corsica, I look up to the Earl of Chatham, and I cannot but hope for a favourable return. (') (1) In a letter written a few days before to Mr. Boswell, Dr. Johnson gives him this sensible advice: "You have somehow or other warmed your imagination. I wish there were some cure, like the lover's leap, for all heads of which some single idea has obtained an unreasonable and irregular possession. Mind your I have the honour to remain, with the highest consideration, Your Lordship's most obedient JAMES BOSWell. THOMAS WROUGHTON ESQ. (1) TO THE EARL OF MY LORD, СНАТНАМ. Warsaw, January 5, 1767. THE inclosed letter will I hope plead my excuse, for daring to interrupt one moment your Lordship's own affairs, and leave the Corsicans to theirs:" and, in a subsequent one, he says, "I wish you would empty your head of Corsica, which I think has filled it rather too long." The recommendation was unavailing: "How," exclaimed the worthy biographer in reply, "how can you bid me empty my head of Corsica? Empty it of honour; empty it of humanity; empty it of friendship; empty it of piety! No! while I live, Corsica shall ever employ much of my attention." — Life, vol. iii. pp. 4. 49. edit. 1835. (1) Mr. Wroughton was at this time British resident at the court of Stanislaus Augustus, the unfortunate King of Poland. In 1778, he was appointed envoy extraordinary to the court of He died Stockholm, and in 1780, made a knight of the bath. in 1787. In early life, Sir Thomas resided as British consul at St. Petersburg. The lively interest taken by the Empress Catherine in the welfare of this gentleman will appear by the following letter, from THE EMPRESS OF RUSSIA TO MR. PITT. "MONSIEUR, "A St. Petersbourg, ce 3 d'Août, 1759. "Je suis bien aise d avoir une occasion de vous témoigner, Monsieur, la part que je prend à tout ce qui regarde votre nation, |