JET. 31.] AND SIR JOHN MOORE. 417 



' ' At the Cockpit I had much conversation with St 

 Stephen, and found his tone about politics greatly 

 altered and quite lowered. He is melancholy about 

 the convention, angry at the generals, and has not the 

 smallest hopes of Spain. I presume he speaks Perce- 

 val's sentiments to a certain degree. He denies the 

 meeting of Parliament till after Christmas or the birth- 

 day, positively. Wilberforce is going to Bath for a 

 month, so he must have changed his opinion, if he 

 ever had the one mentioned by Tierney. 



" It is singular to see how changed the public senti- 

 ments about ministers are. Every one of all parties 

 (and I have seen more Tories than Whigs) admits 

 that they are damaged to the greatest degree. I 

 cannot help regretting that none of our friends are 

 on the spot. 



" Canning is on bad terms with his colleagues, talks 

 loudly against the convention, and indeed washes his 

 hands of all concern with the expedition, which was 

 concerted by Castlereagh and Perceval, with scarcely 

 any consultation of military men. Perceval wrote the 

 answer to the address (as I always thought). This 

 you may rely upon, and that Canning disapproved 

 of it. 



" The king and Duke of York violent against every- 

 thing Spanish and Portuguese, generals, &c. The offi- 

 cial people despond about Spain. 



" Now for the last piece of news which I have just 

 heard in Kidgway's shop, where a man came who had 

 been one at the Duke of Portland's, and said that the 



VOL. T 2 D 



