In this epistle he expressed an extreme desire for peace, and a hearty desire to be relieved, if possible, from his most painful situation.

He protested, before God and man, that his intentions were most honest, and that he abhorred war more than anything else in the world.

He averred that, if his person was as odious to them as it seemed, he was only too ready to leave the land, as soon as the King should appoint his successor.

He reminded them that the question of peace or war lay not with himself, but with them; and that the world would denounce as guilty those with whom rested the responsibility.

He concluded with an observation which, in its humility, seemed sufficiently ironical, that if they had quite finished the perusal of the despatches from Madrid to his address, which they had intercepted, he should be thankful for an opportunity of reading them himself.