Whilst B[ur]ke and B[arr]é strain their throats The mild SIR GREY is taking notes; And, wise as owl, is seen _composing_, For the good Premier, who is _dozing_: Whilst to each patriot’s loudest roar N[or]th answers with a well-tim’d _snore_. Till by some shriller trebles vex’d, He discants on the _good Knight’s_ text. _magic plates._ Hartley had invented an arrangement of thin iron strips to be placed as a lining under floors and above ceilings to prevent fire. An anonymous handbill of four quarto pages, dated July 1776 and called _An Account of Some Experiments Made with the Fire-Plates, Together with a Description of the Manner of Application, and an Estimate of the Expence_, contains newspaper accounts of unsuccessful attempts to burn a house near Reading equipped with Hartley’s plates. PAGE 31 _the Noble Lord, who presided in the American department._ George Sackville Germain (1716-1785), called Lord George Germain, third son of the first Duke of Dorset; M.P. for East Grinstead and Secretary of State for Colonies; cr. Viscount Sackville, 1782. As minister in charge of military operations in America, Germain bore the brunt of frequent and savage onslaughts by Opposition. His famous Kentish holiday, which delayed dispatches to Sir William Howe in New York, was long supposed to have caused Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga; Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, _Life of William, Earl of Shelburne_, 1875-76, I, 358-359; but cf. Troyer Steele Anderson, _The Command of the Howe Brothers during the American Revolution_, New York, 1936, ch. xiv. Germain’s resignation was forced in January 1782, two months before North’s government fell. _the Earl of Bute._ John Stuart (1713-1792), third Earl of Bute; favorite of George III in the early years of the reign; First Lord of the Treasury, 1762-63, but forced to resign on account of his unpopularity, to which the anti-Scots propaganda of Wilkes largely contributed. Lord North was popularly regarded as the political heir of Lord Bute. PAGE 32 _one North Briton._ George Johnstone; see last note on this page. _Mr. Laurens._ Henry Laurens (1724-1792), of South Carolina; President of Congress, 1777-78. The quoted phrases that follow are from Johnstone’s letter to Laurens, 10 June 1778, soliciting a private interview. This letter, with Laurens’ answer, was promptly made public by Congress. _Ethan Allen._ Ethan Allen (1738-1789), famous for his partisan exploits as leader of the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont; surprised and took Fort Ticonderoga, May 1775; a captive in England, Canada, and New York, September 1775-May 1778; author of a deistic treatise, _Reason the Only Oracle of Man_, Bennington, Vermont, 1784. _Dr. Adam Ferguson._ Adam Ferguson (1723-1816), LL.D.; Professor of Pneumatics and Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh; secretary to the British commissioners to treat with America, 1778.