him, but I cannot dawdle him as Horry Walpole does Tonton, for Me du Deffand's sake, nor does he seem to expect it. He has the accueil of a respectable old suisse in my hall, where I meet him on coming home in a posture couchante. Adieu; till I have letters, remember me kindly to all, but to the dear children in particular. It is a great grievance to me not to see them. Je vieillis, et je m'en appercois. (165) The Prince of Wales. (1781,) June 11, Monday evening.--. . . . The Duke of Q(ueensberry) dined here to-day, and, by an accident, the Duke of Dorset. I had also Mr. Selwin who was a banker in Paris, a worthy man, but a more splenetic one I never knew, with an extreme good understanding. We are of the same family, by his account, although I do not know the degree of affinity in which we stand to each other. To-morrow I find a Motion(165) is to come from Fox concerning America, to which he may, contrary to his expectation or wishes, find in the friends of Government an assent. People now seem by their discourse to despair more of that cause than ever. There has been wretched management, disgraceful politics, I am sure; where the principal blame is, the Lord only knows; in many places, I am afraid. The Duke of Gloucester is going to-morrow, as I hear, to Brussels, to meet the Emperor. I hope for our sake that they will be deux tetes dans le meme bonnet, but la difference en est trop evidente. That between our master and his son is not less, if report says true. They have great reason to be uneasy, I believe, but they must, when they reflect, think, that their own conduct has been very much the cause of it, and that they either have not read history, or forgot it. The Pharo bank goes on, and winning; cela s'entend. The winnings are computed to be 30,000. Each of the bankers, to encourage him in his application and to make him as much amends as possible for the waste of his constitution, is entitled to a guinea for every deal from the bank; and so our Trusty is in a way of honest industry, dealing at the pay of a guinea every ten minutes. There is also an insurance against cards coming up on the losing side, which is no inconsiderable profit to the underwriters. Offly has had unexpectedly fallen to him, by way of legacy, an estate of some hundreds a year, which enables him to punt till past five in the morning. I had a very pleasant day yesterday at Gregg's, and as often as I mention these excursions I have a long dissertation from the Duke [of Queensberry] upon the folly of having a country house at above ten or fourteen miles distance from London; which reflections will end in nothing but a condemnation of what he has, and never procure the enjoyment of that which I am sure he would like above all things if he had it. His uncertainty is in some measure the cause of my own, but shall not govern it, beyond the present year.