He is the great oracle of that circle.
He has seen the King's letter to Lord Grey, respecting the Garter; or at least has authentic information about it.

It is a happy stroke of policy, and will, they say, decide many wavering votes in the House of Lords.

The King, it seems, requests Lord Grey to take the order, as a mark of royal confidence in him "at so critical a time;"-- significant words, I think.
Ever yours T.B.MACAULAY.
To Hannah More Macaulay.
London: May 30, 1831.
Well, my dear, I have been to Holland House.

I took a glass coach, and arrived, through a fine avenue of elms, at the great entrance towards seven o'clock.

The house is delightful;--the very perfection of the old Elizabethan style;--a considerable number of very large and very comfortable rooms, rich with antique carving and gilding, but carpeted and furnished with all the skill of the best modern upholsterers.