Copy of a fragment of a letter : Park Lane [London], to "Arbuthnot", 1807 Feb. 12.

Relating news and offering his opinions on the state of the Army and the Government; commenting on the advantage gained by the Russians on December 20th; saying "The french were undoubtedly defeated in their object but partly I am afraid from the reasons they give, the badness of the Roads, and from what I hear of the Force and what I know of the Composition of the two Armies, I fear that the opening of the Campaign will not be fortunate for our Allies. There are rumors of an Army to be sent from this Country to which there is no doubt this objection, that we have no Army to send, but I believe we have a pretty large Body of Cavalry which if it can be Transported would be of material service to the cause since Infantry can be muster'd upon occasion. There is no appearance of Austria stirring at present. The Emperor now seems determined to pursue the same course which the King of Prussia did formerly and will probably some day or other meet with the same Fate. In the meantime, we have been in my opinion shamefully negligent of our Internal Defence. The Volunteers going down of course & nothing done to supply their Place and addition made to the regular Army, but I have reason to hope that Ministers are now sensible of the necessity of taking different Measures. They are about to put the Training bill into Execution and there is an anxiety for some effective mode of augmenting the Army, but whether any thing will be done upon this head or whether the whole will be left to Windham is more than I can determine;" commenting on the loss of Buenos Aires; concluding "In proportion as the Political Atmosphere abroad is overcast with Clouds that at home is clear and Serene, the present government being [illegible] beyond the possibility of being disturbed unless for want of something else to do they chuse to gnarl(?) amongst themselves and I presume they have too much regard for their Country to be such fools. They have done nothing and they have no Popularity but the Opposition are not Popular either, and in respect to Party or to Domestic concerns in general, the Country appears to be in a state of indifference, something like the French under every Government which has succeeded that of Robespierre."