that he "has now been appointed secretary to the embassy, with the usual salary of £1200 a-year." He says, "The English ministry had intended not to appoint another secretary of the embassy, who they knew could not be received, but to suppress that office altogether from views of frugality." For the continuance of the office, and its bestowal on himself, he seems to have relied very much on the intervention of a foreign lady, his friend Madame de Boufflers; and, strange as it may seem to find such an influence effective in the councils of a British cabinet, he appears to have been convinced that, had the matter not been previously settled in his favour, her application would have brought it to a conclusion. Continuing his letter to his brother, he says, "Nobody can do more justice to the merit of my friend the Comtesse de Boufflers, than the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, who have indeed been essentially obliged to her in their family concerns. She wrote the duke about a fortnight ago, that the time was now come, and the only time that probably would ever come, of his showing his friendship to her, by assisting me in my applications; and she would rest on this sole circumstance all his professions of regard to her. He received her letter while in the country, but he wrote her back, that he would immediately hasten to town, and if he had any credit with the king or ministry, her solicitations should be complied with. He is not a man that ever makes vain professions, nor does he ever take a refusal. He would find the matter finished when he came to London; but it is a sensible pleasure to me, that I owe so great an obligation, to a person whom I love and esteem so sincerely as that lady."[279:1]
In a letter to the Marquise de Barbantane, he gives the same account of the matter.
"Have you heard of the share which Madame de Boufflers had in this event? As soon as she heard that there was a vacancy, by means of the promotion of Sir Charles Bunbury, my predecessor, she wrote to the Duke of Bedford, entreating him, in the most earnest terms, to befriend me in my pretensions, and setting all my claims in the most favourable light. The duke answered her, that he would soon be in London; and if he had any credit or authority with the ministry, her friend should not fail of success. The duke is not a man that ever promises in vain, nor is he a man that is ever to be refused; so that, from this interest alone, I was sure to have prevailed. But happily the same post brought intelligence to the ambassador, that the affair was already finished. But do you not think, that I owe the same obligations to our friend? or will you tell me, that I seek only a pretence for indulging my inclinations?"[280:1]
The statement is repeated in the following letter to Elliot.
Hume to Gilbert Elliot of Minto.
"Paris, 3d June, 1765.
"My Dear Sir,—Not finding your young gentlemen in church last Sunday, I went to see them, when I found them both confined to the house with a light fever, which has since turned out the measles in form, but with all the most favourable symptoms. I find Mr. Liston very attentive and very careful; the young gentlemen are attended by the physician of the academy. I use the freedom to tell Lady Hertford the
way in which they are governed; she tells me she would not act otherwise in the case of her own children; so that Mrs. Murray,[281:1] if you please to communicate to her this intelligence, can have no reason for anxiety. Gilbert has a greater quantity than Hugh, and greater strength to bear them.
"You know, I suppose, that I am appointed secretary to the embassy, though I have not yet received my credential letter: the present confusions in the court may perhaps retard them for some time; but Mr. Grenville has informed the ambassador that the matter is concluded, and the king has given his consent; so that in spite of Atheism and Deism, of Whiggism and Toryism, of Scoticism and Philosophy, I am now possessed of an office of credit, and of £1200 a-year: without dedication or application, from the favour alone of a person, whom I can perfectly love and respect. I find it has cost my lord a very hard pull; and when I consider the matter alone, without viewing the steps that led to it, I am sometimes inclined to be surprised how it has happened.
"Shall I tell you another circumstance that is not disagreeable to me; a certain lady, who is at present in London, hearing there was some delay, wrote in the most earnest terms to the Duke of Bedford, desiring his interest in my favour; he answered her he would soon be in London, and if he then possessed any credit or authority, she might depend upon the success of her friend. You know that he is not a man that makes vain professions, nor is he a man easy to be refused. If you guess the lady, you will conclude that it will not cost me a great effort to be grateful. The share you have also been pleased to take is not