own persuasion
is, that with a very little firmness, the Convention of 1793 will
vanish like that of 1783; but this is no reason for neglecting
reasonable measures of precaution.

Ever most affectionately yours,
GRENVILLE.

In these letters occur the first allusions to Dropmore, Lord Grenville's
seat in Buckinghamshire, which he had recently purchased, and upon the
embellishment of which he bestowed all the spare hours he could rescue
from the fatigues of public business. The trees, acknowledged in the
following letter as having been just received from Stowe, were destined
to convert a common into pleasure-grounds, under the direction of his
accomplished taste, which "made the wilderness smile," and transformed a
remote country nook into a scene of singular and matchless beauty.

The state of Europe, and the views of the writer in reference to it, are
treated at large in this letter, which is of great historical value as
an exposition of the firm and judicious course pursued by Lord Grenville
through a period of universal panic and confusion. To have kept England
in tranquillity aloof from the perils that were devastating the
continent, and to have sustained her in such prosperous circumstances as
to justify the hope that in the next year the Government might be
enabled to announce a further remission of taxes, furnishes a triumphant
answer to the charge so frequently brought against Mr. Pitt's
Administration, of wantonly encouraging a policy that plunged the
country into a profligate war expenditure.

LORD GRENVILLE TO THE MARQUIS OF BUCKINGHAM.

St. James's Square, Nov. 7th, 1792.
MY DEAR BROTHER,

The trees arrived safe at Dropmore yesterday, and we were at their
unpacking in the middle of such a fog as I never saw before. They
will answer admirably well for my purpose, and will make a great
figure on my hill in the course of a century or so, provided always
that the municipality of Burnham does not cut them down sooner.

I cannot deny that you have some reason to complain of my silence
for the last month, but you have the kindness to assign the true
cause; unless, indeed, I was to add another almost equally
strong--I mean the absolute want of anything to say. This sounds
strange, but it is not the less true. The _events_ you read in the
newspapers, often before I get them, and they have been such as it
could giv