ttempted. The
French will soon receive reinforcements, and then be too strong for us;
whereas they are now most certainly greatly weakened by desertion,
sickness, and deaths. Does the King of Prussia send a body of men to our
army or not? or has the march of the Russians cut him out work for all
his troops? I am afraid it has. If one body of Russians joins the
Austrian army in Moravia, and another body the Swedes in Pomerania, he
will have his hands very full, too full, I fear. The French say they will
have an army of 180,000 men in Germany this year; the Empress Queen will
have 150,000; if the Russians have but 40,000, what can resist such a
force? The King of Prussia may say, indeed, with more justice than ever
any one person could before him, 'Moi. Medea superest'.

You promised the some egotism; but I have received none yet. Do you
frequent the Landgrave? 'Hantex vous les grands de la terre'? What are
the connections of the evening? All this, and a great deal more of this
kind, let me know in your next.

The House of Commons is still very unanimous. There was a little popular
squib let off this week, in a motion of Sir John Glynne's, seconded by
Sir John Philips, for annual parliaments. It was a very cold scent, and
put an end to by a division of 190 to 70.

Good-night. Work hard, that you may divert yourself well.

LETTER CCXVIII

LONDON, March 4, 1758.

MY DEAR FRIEND: I should have been much more surprised at the contents of
your letter of the 17th past, if I had not happened to have seen Sir C.
W., about three or four hours before I received it. I thought he talked
in an extraordinary manner; he engaged that the King of Prussia should be
master of Vienna in the month of May; and he told me that you were very
much in love with his daughter. Your letter explained all this to me; and
next day, Lord and Lady E-----gave me innumerable instances of his
frenzy, with which I shall not trouble you. What inflamed it the more (if
it did not entirely occasion it) was a great quantity of cantharides,
which, it seems, he had taken at Hamburgh, to recommend himself, I
suppose, to Mademoiselle John. He was let blood four times on board the
ship, and has been let blood four times since his arrival here; but still
the inflammation continues very high. He is now under the care of his
brothers, who do not let him go abroad. They have written to this same
Mademoiselle John, to prevent if they can, her coming to England,