I agree with you in considering the sentence on Burdett--a sentence so unexpected as to call for the plaudits of all the Radicals who surrounded the Court, and the congratulations of his friends--as most calamitous; and, unfortunately, it is not the first instance in which the Court of King's Bench, or rather the present judges who preside in it, have shown that they are not proof against popular clamour and the apprehension of personal danger. On the reduction of the army, I am by no means so sure that I agree with you. I have not the means of estimating the exact quantum of troops which may be requisite for preserving the internal tranquillity of the country, but am inclined to believe that the salutary operation of the Bills of 1819, and the increase which has taken place in the Yeomanry, do afford a reasonable expectation that a less number of regulars will now be sufficient than were before required--and unless I was quite satisfied to the contrary, I am not prepared to complain of any measure which tends to alleviate the financial pressure. It is quite true that there are symptoms of some understanding between Castlereagh and Peel, though the speech of the latter plainly stated his disapprobation on several points of the conduct of Government. The most decisive is his abandonment of Pitt's old Hill Fort, which he had occupied, and returning to his former position in the rear of the Treasury Bench.