—I have your letters; one to me, one to FitzGerald.

I entirely agree with you, because experience has taught me that it is impossible to make here a Constitution that people at a great distance will cordially accept. The impossibility consists of the impossibility of getting our Legislature to care enough about colonies. I wish they would care; I have been striving for years to persuade them to care; but they won't. So I give up the dream about moulding colonies into a British form by means of British-made Constitutions: I am altogether with you and Godley.

And I do really believe that so clever a man as Walpole will take this view after you and he get into friendly discussion. It may be that only a few (the very few who can be got page 199to attend to the subject) will ever embrace this view. If so, that also will be a dream. And then, either we must go on as we are till the colonies rebel, or we may take as much as we can get, standing up always manfully for our principles, and loudly proclaiming that we intend to get more as soon as possible.

But how is it possible to settle every thing about it, till we can have a meeting or several?