900 
was informed that he was arrived 
at the Lion d’Or ; I sent a compli- 
ment : he answered it in person, 
and settled at my house for the re- 
mainder of the day. -I have eat, 
. drunk, and conversed, and sat up 
all night with Fox in England, but 
it never has happened, perhaps it 
never can happen again, that I 
should enjoy him as I did that day, 
alone from ten in the morning till 
ten at night. Our conversation 
never flagged a moment ; and he 
seemed thoroughly pleased with the 
place and with his company. We 
had little politics, though he gave 
me, in a few words, such acharac- 
ter of Pitt, as one great man should 
give of another, his rival ; much of 
books, from my own, on which he 
flattered me very pleasantly, to Ho. 
mer and the Arabian Nights: 
much about the country, my gar- 
den, (which he understands far bet- 
ter than Ido) and, upon the whole, 
I think he envies me, and would 
do so were he minister. The next 
morning I gave him a guide to walk 
him about the town and country, 
and invited some company to meet 
him at dinner. The following day 
he continued his journey to Bern 
and Zurich, and I have heard of 
him by various means. The peo- 
ple gaze on him as ona prodigy, 
but he shews little inclination to 
converse with them.” 
Again (September 1788), he says, 
¢¢ In his tour of Switzerland, Mr. 
Fox gave me two days of free and 
private conversation. He seemed 
to feel, and even to envy the hap- 
piness of my situation ; while I ad- 
mired the powers of a superior man, 
as they are blended in his attractive 
character, with the softness and 
simplicity of a child. Perhaps no 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
human being was ever more per- 
fectly exempt from thé taint of ma- 
levolence, vanity or falsehood.” 
From Switzerland he proceed. 
ed to Italy, and he had arrived at 
Bologna, on his way to Rome, 
when, in the middle of November, 
a messenger overtook him, with 
an account of the royal indisposition, 
which was likely to furnish him 
with much laborious discussion. 
He immediately quitted Bologna, 
and returned with such rapidity, 
that,, on his arrival in London, on 
the 24th of the same month, he 
became himself severely indisposed. 
The parliament met on the 20th of 
November, and were informed of- 
ficially of the inability of his rajes- 
ty to attend to the affairs of govern- 
ment, and-adjourned for the consi- 
deration ofaregency. Fortunately 
for the country, in the midst of 
this unpleasing contention, his ma- 
jesty recovered, and was able to 
attend to public business early in 
1789. 
The health of Mr. Fox was now 
so much impaired, as to alarm his 
friends exceedingly. He accord- 
ingly went to Bath, on the re. 
commendation of his physi. 
cians, and was received in a man- 
ner the most complimentary to his 
character, In the course of a month 
he was happily recovered, and re- . 
turned to his parliamentary duty 
with renovated vigour. 
In the various probabilities of 
war, which happened this year, 
Mr. Pitt was defeated in his exer- 
tions, and that of his party. The 
contention with Spain concerning 
Nootka Sound (another Falkland 
Island) was speedily adjusted. And 
wheu Russia was menaced fer her 
Turkish politics, Mr Fox not only 
3 exerted 
