observed to you, in a preceding letter, that the storm which had begun
in Paris, on the change of the ministry, would have to pass over the
whole country, and consequently, would, for a short time, occasion us
terrible details from the different parts of it. Among these, you
will find a horrid one retailed from Vesoul, in Franche Compte. The
atrociousness of the fact would dispose us rather to doubt the truth of
the evidence on which it rests, however regular that appears. There
is no question, that a number of people were blown up; but there are
reasons for suspecting that it was by accident and not design. It is
said the owner of the chateau sold powder by the pound, which was kept
in the cellar of the house blown up; and it is possible, some one of
the guests may have taken this occasion to supply himself, and been
too careless in approaching the mass. Many idle stories have also been
propagated and believed here, against the English, as that they have
instigated the late tumults with money, that they had taken or were
preparing to take Cherbourg, Brest, &c.; and even reasonable men have
believed, or pretended to believe, all these. The British ambassador has
thought it necessary to disavow them in a public letter, which you will
find in one of the papers accompanying this.

I have lately had an opportunity of knowing with certainty the present
state of the King of England. His recovery was slow; he passed through a
stage of profound melancholy; but this has at length dissipated, and he
is at present perfectly re-established. He talks now as much as ever,
on the same trifling subjects, and has recovered even his habitual
inquisitiveness into the small news of the families about him. His
health is also good, though he is not as fleshy as he used to be. I have
multiplied my letters to you lately, because the scene has been truly
interesting; so much so, that had I received my permission to pay my
projected visit to my own country, I should have thought, and should