[Extract]

Lord George Germain pushes actively all the preparations for the next campaign. I was assured that he was gaining more and more the King's confidence and that Lord North's credit was decreasing. Indeed, I received him and his family at my home on the same day I received Lord North and his family and they both avoided each other in marked manner. The re-assembly of Parliament will tell us more about it within a few days. I do not expect anything interesting during the course of the next week. The weather is so bad and the cold so severe that no one is in a hurry to leave his country home and get on the road to return to London.

The three Regiments of the Guards have proved their great zeal as they represented how cruel it was that they should not be of use to their country in such important circumstances. They have offered a thousand volunteers. The choice of the officers who volunteered makes it embarassing to accept their services; most of them are General Officers and they would bring more hindrance than help to the army.